kb0zke

To each his own. We have stayed at KOA campgrounds in the past, but not if we can find something better. We've found that they, like other commercial parks, try to pack as many rigs into the available space as possible. We'd much rather stay at a COE park, a State park, or a city or county campground. In fact, we're slowly compiling our own list of city/county campgrounds that we like. We're not at all interested in the exercise room or swimming pool, so why pay for something we're not going to use? Some people say KOA stands for "Keep On Adding" as it seems that there is an additional fee for almost everything that we might want, and no deductions for the things we don't want. For us, a KOA is an acceptable overnight spot, but we'd never want to stay at one for more than one night - too expensive.

Kirk, are you still using it? We did a bit of research just now and it seems that it has been removed from most things that used to have it.

I believe that the above information is correct for ALL of the mail forwarding services in SD, not just Escapees' service.

Part of the reason why some States have shorter lengths permitted than others may be that their roads are narrower and maybe have more curves. The Interstate Highway system has design standards that are uniform nationwide. Other highways are designed in the States, and don't meet those standards. Particularly in the East, roads may still follow what was, essentially, a foot path. Yes, it has been widened some, and some of the sharper bends have been straightened, but it is still more suitable for a car than for a MH towing a vehicle or a large truck towing a larger 5'er. While I'm thinking of it, pay attention to height restrictions on your proposed route.

We've driven in rain a few times in the five years we've been on the road. Not a big deal IF the wipers are up to it. Part of the reason we chose a no-slide MH was that we have a curious cat. She sleeps in a carrier while we're driving. When we stop for lunch we let her out. We like having the coach at a comfortable temperature all the time. As I type this it is 92* here, headed for a low of 72, so both air conditioners are running. Tomorrow we're traveling about 350 miles. The generator will be running, as will both a/c units, and the coach will be comfortable the whole time. That's one advantage of a MH. On the other hand, we're finding that we are staying in one place far more than we thought, so we're wanting to trade the Foretravel for an Airstream. Yes, we'll have to give up having the coach at a comfortable temperature while traveling, but we're not traveling as many days as we thought we would five years ago. Remember that what is right for you today may not be right five years from now. So what? Very few people get the perfect RV the first time. Do your research and buy what seems to be the best for you for now. As you travel and use your coach you will find that maybe you would be better off with something else. Trade. Repeat. There is a reason why there are so many RV options available. Not every RV is right for every person.

I generally consider PPL's prices as the bottom end for the condition of the RV. Their business model is to keep the price low so the rigs move quickly. Do some research to see what rigs similar to the one you are considering actually are selling for. Sometimes a seller really needs to get rid of their rig and are willing to take any somewhat reasonable offer. Others are wanting to get top dollar for it, and are willing to wait for the right buyer. When you find something that suits you AND passes inspection, make an offer. Just remember, though, you are probably not the only one looking at the rig. Particularly with sought-after coaches, you have to be ready to jump when the right one comes along.

Congratulations! Are you on airforums? If so, post the pics there, too. If not, join and then post.

Welcome. Other than the price, it sounds like you are describing our Foretravel. We've been full-timing for five years now and love it. We started out towing a Jeep Liberty, but last year we moved up to a Lincoln MKT. In the interest of space I'm sending you a PM with some additional thoughts.

Back to the original question, there is probably no way that an RV can be both mouse-proof AND usable. The best you can do is make it as tough as possible for the little critters to get in. Anything that touches the ground can be a path for them to come in, so your first line of defense is to reduce those routes. Putting out the stinky slinky and water hose ONLY when needed reduces those two access routes. Yes, that means using the tanks in the RV. Unless you are boondocking, you pretty much have to have the electric cord out, so do what you can to fill the opening for it. If you have drop-down jacks for leveling you have another route for the critters to climb up. Again, not much you can do about those. Some people put white rope lights out around their rigs. The theory is that the mice won't cross them. We put them out for a few years, and didn't have any mice. However, I was buying the cheap Wal-Mart ones (put out with the Christmas stuff in October), and they would last a few months. When the last set died I didn't replace them, and I saw evidence of a mouse last week. Once the mice have gotten into your rig, you will have to deal with them. The old-fashioned mouse trap, baited with peanut butter, and placed where they run AND where you can easily get to it seems to work as well as anything else.

Three thoughts on this thread: 1. I usually fill and dump once a week when we're parked for more than a week. When I'm not filling or dumping the hoses are stowed. Why not leave the stinky slinky attached? Sewer flies. Secondary reason is that we've had to leave a park quickly due to imminent flooding. Putting the hoses away, while it only takes a few minutes, is still a few minutes that don't have to be spent when time is of the essence. 2. We used to live on a small farm and frequently had cats dumped near us. We put out some food each morning and evening, and kept water outside, so that those cats would stay around, but not so much food that they didn't hunt some. In the 15 years we lived there we never had a problem with mice or snakes in the house. Now that we're on the road we have one indoor cat. In the eight years we've had her she has gone outside on her own twice, both times when she was less than a year old. The last time she went outside without permission there was a lot of cold, wet white stuff on the ground and she didn't like it at all. We also had two dogs on the farm. One was quite happy to have her kennel to call her home. The other liked a chain on a run. He could run 50 feet on a 12' chain. There were no obstacles to his chain so that he couldn't tangle himself up on anything. How would you make sure that your chained cat wouldn't get tangled on tires, jacks, etc.? 3. "And, I found over the years, it requires a younger cat to keep up with the coach going down the highway." The picture that comes to mind is the cat, still on the leash under the coach, running as fast as it can as you drive down the road. I'm sure that you don't actually do that, but what DO you mean?

Our story, FWIW: We started our full-time journey without any campground memberships, just a membership in Escapees. Our plan was to drive a day, stay for some period of time, and repeat. We then joined Passport America on an annual basis, and quickly found that we could save quite a bit of money that way, so after a couple of years we went to a lifetime membership. We also checked out some of the Escapees Parks. We found them attractive, so we checked out a couple of the co-ops and ERPUs, with the idea that maybe one of them might be a good winter headquarters for us. Earlier this year we became leaseholders at The Ranch. Spot, you may want to do something similar. As was mentioned above, buying C2C or TT new is very expensive, while buying a used membership is much less expensive. Passport America is pretty cheap, and with a one-year membership you can try as many parks as you want. Each park sets their own rules about when and how many nights you can stay for half-price, so they aren't a great choice for long-term stays, but are great for traveling. Now, if you are looking at C2C or TT just to be able to use their network of parks, and you may or may not make use of your home park, then look at the maps of where the parks are located and chose the one that best suits your planned travels. Just remember that your annual cost for your home parks will be part of your annual travel costs. If you don't make much use of the system you may well find that it is cheaper to just pay the regular rate.

That's my opinion, too. We visited Corpus Christi a few years ago and drove the Jeep out on the beach a bit just so I could exercise the 4WD. Our MH was parked several miles away, so we didn't worry too much about the salt air since we weren't going to be there very long. We were advised to take the Jeep to a good car wash that would spray off the underside of the car. We were told that if a tow truck had to get you from the beach it was considered a retrieval, not a tow, and the fees were astronomical. There are some boondocking sites near the National Seashore office. There may be a small fee for their use, but it would be FAR less than the cost of a retrieval from the beach. You might also check into time limits. I'm not sure how long you can stay there, but few places allow more than two weeks.

Someone posted a rant on another forum about their experience at an Escapees park. I'm not going to give any other identifying information, as I encouraged them to share their experience with the good people in Livingston. Their experience got me to thinking about the differences we've encountered at the Parks we've visited. I know that the Co-ops are not owned or run by Escapees, but that they got their start from the club, and that each co-op has individual rules, with some pretty much as standard (must be a current Escapees member, at least one person must be over 55, etc.). I know that some, but not all, Parks offer long-term leases (ERPU). The ERPU sites, as I understand them, require an up-front lease payment and an annual maintenance fee. The initial lease period is five years, and can be extended as often as desired. When the site is no longer wanted, the initial lease payment is then refunded. I've heard that some Parks offer annual rates, but there is NO return of any payment. True? If so, does that annual lease allow the leaseholder to put up their own shed, build a dog run, etc.? Every park we've been at, whether COE, State park, or commercial park, required pet owners to keep pets on a leash and not leave them outside unattended. We've seen examples of people who obey the letter of the law (the dog is on a leash) but not obeying the spirit of the law (the leash is an extendable one, so the dog is really allowed to run free over a circle with a radius equal to the length of the cord in the leash). Some parks seem to do a better job of enforcing a leash length than others. One time a manager of an Escapees Park told me that the managers are trained to be managers, and can go from one park to another, but are expected to stay at one park for at least several months at a time. Some managers, apparently, work certain months at "their" park, then spend the rest of the year doing something else, while someone else is the manager. Is that manager training done in Livingston, or by a manager at a park?

We learned about reservations and holidays the hard way. We had attended a conference, and then decided to go to a State Park near where some relatives were - over the Independence Day holiday. Called the relatives and told them our plan. They told us that we wouldn't get anything and to camp in their driveway. We made our reservations for Labor Day weekend a couple of weeks ago and got one of the last spots in that park. We'll be campground hosts over Independence Day this year, so that's taken care of. The park where we are now is a first-come, first-serve one (city park), so we got here about a week before Memorial Day and paid for a month. If we don't have reservations we like to arrive as early in the day as possible. Once or twice we've had to wait until the current occupant left, but usually we can get a spot right away. Part of that is arriving during the week, rather than on a weekend. If we don't have reservations, we figure out where we want to land, and Jo Ann starts working the computers and phones. We have yet to stay at a Flying J/Pilot, Cracker Barrel, or Wal-Mart, but I suppose that some day that will be our only option.

Several years ago I bought a three-pack of Rescue Tape (red, clear, black) and have used maybe 1/3 of each. When used as designed it works well.

Our s-i-l works remotely and they have talked about going full-time for a year or so. The question that I couldn't help them with was how to handle travel. We prefer to travel on weekdays, so that we are landed for the weekend, but then we are retired. We leave after any rush hour and stop before the afternoon one. How do those of you who have to work set hours handle the travel part? Our son also works remotely, but as long as he gets 80 hours in in a two-week period the company is happy. Yes, sometimes there are meetings at specific times, but otherwise he pretty much sets his own schedule. Unfortunately, he isn't at all interested in the RV life. Too bad, as it would really work well for him.

PPL is a legitimate outfit that sells lots of recreational vehicles each year. They tell a potential customer (buyer or seller) upfront what they will have to pay PPL and what optional services you can have. It cost far more than $300 for them to handle a sale. The person who offered to advertise and sell someone's rig for $300 is most likely a scam. Sorry if I didn't make that clear.

Many people suggest that you keep about $10,000 to spend the first year on repairs and upgrades, with the emphasis on repairs. Get the rig working correctly first, then spend money on making it better for your purposes. A solar system is more important to someone who boondocks a lot, while it isn't as necessary for someone who only stays in FHU parks. Also, living with the coach for at least several months will point out to you what needs to be done first. You may know that certain things need attention immediately (and the price reflected that fact), but other things won't become obvious right away. This will also allow you to work out the best deals on parts and labor, and maybe you can combine some projects. When we bought our coach six years ago we were not at all impressed with the curtains, but we knew that there were other things that were more important. Once we thought we were ready to start on the curtains, we made a plan. We ordered one MCD shade for the window by the dining table. When it arrived I installed it. In the meantime Jo Ann recovered the chairs and the valance with matching fabric. We liked the MCD shade, so later we ordered the shades for the living room windows. Again, Jo Ann recovered the valances with material to match what we wanted in that area. We've not yet done the bedroom windows, but when we do them, it will be the same deal: valances will be recovered to match what we want in that room. Some repairs and upgrades you can do yourself, while others are best left to professionals. The more you can do yourself the less cash it will take.

I think I'd have to agree. This sounds like a scam to me. PPL is a consignment company. You take your rig to them and they have it on their lot for customers to see. They handle the paperwork of the sale and take a cut of the sale price. Assume that the type of deal you heard about was legit. YOU still have your rig, so YOU have to make the appointment to show it to the potential buyer. So what are they doing for you? Advertising? You are already doing that. Maybe they can write a better ad? Go to a nearby college, or even high school, and pay a faculty member there to write the ad for you. Pictures? For $300 they aren't going to send a photographer out to take pictures of your rig. If you can't take good photographs, find someone who can and pay them something. For that $300 you could hire some professionals to prepare a great ad to put up on RV Trader. Better yet, find the owners' forum for your brand and post it there.

If you have ever visited PPL you will quickly see why no one here seems willing to rent out their RV. There are companies that rent RV's, usually Class C rigs. You pay plenty for the rental of those, because they expect that when you bring it back they will have to spend time and money cleaning and repairing it before the next customer can have it.

Welcome to the forum. If you can post a picture of it and which year and model you have you may get a better response. In the meantime, do you have any manuals with your rig? That may answer your question. Our coach came with three notebooks full of information, since each appliance had a manual. Most newer rigs have hot water heaters that don't use a pilot light, but if yours is an older one it may have a pilot light. It sounds to me like it may be a way of lighting the pilot light from inside, rather than going outside with a lighter.

X2. Even then, your second one may not be exactly right. About the time you think you have it right, circumstances change, and something else makes more sense. My suggestion is that you try to figure out what you will be doing and what sorts of things will be necessary for you to accomplish that. For example, if going up and down steps is difficult, you probably don't want a 5'er, since going from outside to the upper level is about a flight of stairs in a house. If you are going to stay in one place for several months at a time, a towable probably makes more sense than a MH. Spend some time talking about what you want to do and how you want to live. Are you going to boondock a lot, some, or never? Are you going to be going to luxury RV resorts or will you be in COE parks? If you are going to boondock a lot you will be looking for solar, superior batteries, low-current appliances, and large tanks. If you are going to be at FHU sites all the time it doesn't matter how big the tanks are or how much current the appliances draw. Next, get into every RV you can, no matter the type, condition, or cost. Imagine yourselves living in that. "Wash" the dishes, "make" the bed, "take" a shower, "watch" television, "prepare" a meal. It won't take you very long to figure out what floor plans will work for you and which ones won't. Look at rigs that are several years old to see how they age. You can buy some very low-priced rigs that are ready for the junk yard after a few years of full-time use. That same money can buy you a used high end coach that will still look fairly new even after you've used it for several years. What's the difference? The quality of the construction. Pay attention to the difference between Gross Vehicle Weight Rating and Unloaded Weight. That difference is how much weight you can carry while traveling. In the case of a MH it includes the weight of the people, pets, fuel, water, groceries, television, etc. Some vehicles don't have much difference between GVWR (the most the rig can weigh) and the empty (dry) weight. Also find out what is included in that empty weight. Sometimes a dealer will spec a trailer with NO propane tanks or batteries and only one air conditioner. That keeps the price low and the empty weight low. They then advertise it that way. When you want propane and a battery, the price and weight go up. Dealers also like to quote the empty (dry) weight to unsuspecting customers. They may even tell you it is towable by a half-ton pickup. While they are technically correct, by the time the trailer is loaded for actual use it is beyond the safe ability of the half-ton truck. Travel trailers (bumper pulls) are the least expensive type of RV, and diesel pusher motor homes are the most expensive, at least as a general rule. Get used to the idea of something towing something else. A travel trailer of 5'er will require a truck. A MH can tow a fuel-efficient car or an off-road Jeep, or whatever else you want. You will have two or three engines to maintain with a MH, one or two with a towable. What's the extra engine? The generator.

Kirk, our system is a Voyager purchased from Camping World. The camera is about 40' from the monitor. Our Foretravel is a steel frame for the walls and ceiling, covered with foam insulation and fiberglass on the outside, walnut wood on the inside. I think we paid around $600 for it six years ago. I suspect that a similar system from Amazon would be cheaper.

We have a box that gets all receipts. When it starts looking like it may be an attractive kitty toy Jo Ann starts putting them into the computer. Each receipt is compared to what Quicken thinks it is (info downloaded from CC), and details fixed (not everything at Walmart is a transfer). Those receipts that are important for other reasons are then filed in the appropriate place, while the rest are fed to the shredder. Should someone decide that we had driven off without paying for our fuel we would have the receipt to prove that we did pay. The receipt would also have the mileage written on it, so it would be easy to prove that the receipt is, in fact, for the fuel we just purchased. The date and time stamp would also support that.

An apparently single man in a VW Van camper is setting up as I type this. Don't know whether he is full-time, part-time, or just here to fish. We met a couple who full-time in a 1973 (yes, 73) Dodge van conversion. They aren't small people, but are minimalists. A major factor in your decision will be what you want to do. If you are going to set up at a nice COE or State park and then stay there for several days to a couple of weeks, nearly anything will work. If you are planning to set up at a site and use it as a base while you make day trips to various places in the area, you will probably want to have a living space and a separate vehicle for going places. In short, your planned use will have a big effect on what you choose. Your finances will also affect your choice. The cheapest route is one that lets you use a vehicle that you already own. While few passenger cars can tow much, many SUVs can tow a trailer. Some vehicles can be towed on their own wheels so you don't need another trailer. Check your owner's manual to see what your current vehicle is capable of. If you will have to trade vehicles no matter what, consider what you are going to be doing. A motorhome can tow another vehicle. While it can be something that is very fuel-efficient (think Smart Car), it doesn't have to be. You can have a Jeep set up for extreme off-road exploring if you want. If you're interested in a motorcycle, you can put a couple on a small trailer. Each could be set up for different purposes. A truck towing a fifth-wheel or travel trailer gives you a mobile apartment. If you go with a travel trailer you have the bed of the truck available for whatever you want to put there (within weight limits, of course). You could even put those two motorcycles I mentioned above there. The 5'er gives you more space, both living space and storage space, but costs you most of the bed. Watch side-rail height. It is easy to get a truck that is too tall to tow a 5'er. That's not as much of an issue with a travel trailer, unless you start going to an extreme. Will it get old packing everything up just to go to the store? Maybe. I'm getting a bit tired of packing everything up each Wednesday to drive a few yards to the dump station, but that will only happen three more times and then we move on. You've gotten several different suggestions here. Consider what we've told you in light of what you think you will be doing. Seriously consider buying used, as once you hit the road you will get a better idea of what you really need and want.