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kb0zke

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Everything posted by kb0zke

  1. It would also help if States would post what speed to slow to when passing those protected vehicles. Some say to slow X mph. Does that mean X mph less than what I'm already driving, or X less than the posted speed limit? I drive a maximum of 65 mph when towing, and usually more like 60. If the sign says to slow 20 mph, and the speed limit is 70, do I slow to 40 mph or 50 mph? I do pull over on four-lane highways, and frequently I'm passed on the right by someone who thinks that I just moved out of their way. They either don't see or don't care about the vehicle on the shoulder.
  2. Thanks, Kirk. Regular camping is fine for us. By then I hope that we'll be ready to boondock, but we spent two years in WY so we know that it can get warm during the day.
  3. kb0zke

    Quartzsite 2024

    The solar panels will be installed next week, and I'll take delivery of the Victron stuff then. That's in Bernalillo, NM. The following week we're back down to Las Cruces, NM to the dealer for some warranty and service work. Once that's done we'll work our way west. I'll bring some tools along and see how much of the new stuff I can install on the way. Tim, that's what I wanted to know. We'll wander out somewhere along the way while we're there.
  4. kb0zke

    Quartzsite 2024

    Jo Ann and I plan to be at Arizona Sun RV Park 24-31 January. Although the main purpose is to visit the RV show, we also want to learn more about the Quartzsite experience, especially boondocking. Our trailer probably won't be ready for boondocking by then, which is why we have a reservation at a commercial campground, but it certainly will be ready for 2025. Looking forward to seeing some of you fellow Escapees there.
  5. Just saw that registration opens 10 January. We'd really like to go this time. Do we need to stay up late and try to register at 00:00:01 a.m. on the 10th in order to get in, or can we register at a more civilized time? As first-time attendees, should we volunteer for something, or just take in as much as we can?
  6. kb0zke

    Questions

    Thanks for the reminder, Linda. Yes, that will be a factor in what's next.
  7. kb0zke

    Questions

    Thanks, Steve. Just what I was looking for.
  8. kb0zke

    Questions

    Background: We're full-timers in reasonably good health. We have enough money to take care of our needs and a reasonable amount of our wants. We're not locked into any particular type of RV. We've had a Class C, a DP, and a travel trailer. We didn't two anything with the Class C, and actually only had it for a couple of years and a couple of trips, basically to see if an RV was something we might enjoy. We had the Foretravel for 10 years. The first year we didn't tow anything with it, but after that we towed a Jeep Liberty until it got sick. Then the Jeep grew up into a Lincoln MKT. A year ago we decided to go to a travel trailer, so the MKT grew up into an F350 and the Foretravel became a Grand Design Reflection 315 RLTS travel trailer. Part of the reason for going from a MH to a TT was the desire to reduce the number of engines to maintain. We went from three to one, and that's a good thing. The combined length of the Foretravel and Lincoln was about the same as the combined length of the F350 and Reflection, but the weight is a lot less. Questions: I know of one couple that uses their HDT as their daily driver. The truck is heavily customized to suit their specific needs. We don't need anything close to that. How practical is using an HDT as a daily driver? Our F350 is about 22' long. How does that compare to an HDT? How much work is involved in putting a small car or Jeep on the bed of the truck? How easy is it to get service done? I can take the F350 into any Ford dealer and they can take care of it. I'm guessing that shots for HDT trucks aren't quite as common as Ford dealerships? I'm thinking that if I need to have another vehicle for the daily driver I'm pretty much back to a MH, but without the generator's engine, so two engines to maintain.
  9. Thanks. This is exactly what I was looking for. We're going to really try to slow down our travels this year.
  10. Our Alaska trip has been postponed until 2025, so the big thing this year will be following the Mississippi River most of the way from Minnesota to New Orleans. We'd like to stay at some COE campgrounds that are at some of the locks. By then we'll have our solar system completely operational, so some boondocking would be a possibility, too. The trip will be in two parts. Part one will be in August and take us from Chaska, MN (yes, I know that's not on the river) down to the Saint Louis area. Then in November we'll do part two, from St. Louis down toward NOLA. We probably won't actually go all the way to the end (been there already), but somewhere down there we'll turn west and head back to The Ranch. Any suggestions?
  11. Today we decided to spend some time exploring a bit, so we drove the truck out to all three sites. The main purpose was to see what BLM boondocking sites are like. The first one we visited was Sunset Reef. The highway was fine, the paved road from the highway to the rock road to the campground was fine, too. At one point we got up to 10 mph on that rock road. We met a motor home that was leaving as we were pulling in. I pulled a bit off of the road so he could pass. If we had had the trailer attached I'm not sure that I would have moved over as far as I did, which would have made it tighter. As was mentioned above, the actual campground is nice. A nice tent area and covered picnic tables at the pull-thru RV sites. A vault toilet is present, as is a dumpster. A few miles down the road is Chosa Campground. It, too, is very close to the main highway. There are several differences between Chosa Campground and Sunset Reef. The entrance to Chosa Campground is directly from the paved road, so no rocky road. There are no specifically designated RV campsites. There are some designated tent sites, though. There is also no vault toilet present. Thee was a dumpster, though. Hackberry Lake Dunes Complex is WAY out in the boonies. Nothing but oil wells around. There are several covered picnic tables that more or less mark the campsites. I didn't drive through the whole area, as the sites are more spread out than at Sunset Reef, so I don't know if there is a dumpster or vault toilet there. The short road in is rather rough, but it is short, so even going at walking speed won't take too long. Now, a question: are these three campgrounds typical of BLM areas? I'm thinking more about the rough road at Sunset Reef more than the covered picnic tables.
  12. kb0zke

    Water

    I need to talk to Grand Design about some other stuff, so I'll ask for the capacity of each tank. Yes, I did forget about the third grey tank, since we don't have a washing machine. We've run nearly dry on fresh water a couple of times, but never found the grey tanks to get completely full. One time the kitchen sink seemed to be draining slower than normal, and when I dumped it did seem to be fuller than normal. We do have a portable waste water tank, and have used it a bit. They are a LOT more work than just hooking up a sewer hose, but when you need one, you really need one.
  13. kb0zke

    Water

    There are two grey tanks, one for the kitchen and one for the bathroom. I'm not sure that the capacity GD shows is actually correct. I suspect it is more like 50 gallons total for the grey. I'll call Grand Design next week and ask them to verify the tank sizes. If those numbers are correct then a bladder ought to be a big help.
  14. kb0zke

    Myth Busters

    When we first got our Foretravel, back in 2013, we were told to let it idle for five minutes before shutting down after the day's travel. The reason was to let the turbo cool. Later on we learned that we didn't have to worry about that, as the time sitting still while checking in counted, as did the time it idled while putting on the tire covers before leveling. We did have to let it idle some at the beginning of the day to build air pressure, but once air was up we were generally ready to pull out. We tried to do as much as we could before we started the engines.
  15. kb0zke

    Water

    We're in the process of adding a rather robust solar and battery system to our travel trailer, so we should be good for a week or so on power. Unfortunately, increasing the tank capacities isn't as easy. We always run on the tanks (we're full-timers) so I have a pretty good idea of how long a tank of fresh water lasts. If we use disposable stuff for meals I can wash dishes only once a day, which would let us go for maybe five-six days. The challenge will come on the weekend, when we both want to shower for church on Sunday. Any other ideas to stretch the water?
  16. Reminds me of something that happened a couple of years ago. The church I was serving as Head Teacher has a light fixture way up in the peak of the ceiling that shines down on the chancel area. It wasn't working properly, so the electricians were there to figure out what was wrong. There is a laser smoke detector in the balcony (in the back) that shines to a reflector in the front. If smoke interferes with that laser beam the fire alarm goes off. The electrician gets the ladder set up (30+ feet of it) and climbs up. When he started reaching for the light fixture he interrupted the laser and set off the fire alarm. To his credit he safely climbed down the ladder! Yes, we counted it as that month's fire drill.
  17. kb0zke

    BLM app

    Interesting. I got the information from the BLM office in Carlsbad.
  18. Some thoughts that passed through what's left of my brain: How much RV experience do you have? How much towing experience? I ask because I saw someone who was on their first trip with their brand new truck and trailer fail to avoid a tree while going around a curve in the park. Quite a bit of damage to the trailer and some to the tree. They were so spooked by the incident that they refused the offer of another site and insisted that we block the (nonexistent) traffic on the road while they turned around in a parking lot across the road so they could make a left turn onto the road. I'm pretty sure they went home and the next day took the trailer back to the dealer with instructions to fix it and sell it. If you haven't had an RV before, you may be in for an expensive surprise. Many people go through several rigs before finding the right one for full-timing. Things that you think will be important turn out to not be all that important, while something you overlooked turns out to be really important. That's why many buy used for the first couple of rigs. They don't have the big depreciation hit that someone who buys new may have. When we were researching we met a couple who bought a "popular brand" (that's all they said) of motorhome brand new for their full-time rig. Within a year they traded it even-up for a 10-year-old Foretravel because they could see the difference in quality. Some people have said that they have had difficulty in getting financing for an RV without a job. We've not run into that, but it is something to be aware of. As far as financing, do some checking around and see what deals you can get for both truck and trailer. A credit union may be willing to do a deal that banks can't. Also RV dealerships sometimes have several lenders available. Truck deals are all over the place. A deal that's good today may not be available tomorrow, and something that wasn't available today is available tomorrow. RV warranty and service isn't like automotive warranty and service. You will be able to take your truck to any GMC dealer for warranty work or normal service. Not so with the trailer. Yes, there are Alliance dealers all over the country, but you will be behind all of their own sales customers. Some people buy the trailer from whichever dealer has the best deal, consider that the trailer has no warranty, and get any needed work done at their own expense from their preferred provider. Others choose a dealer that has the best reputation for service and figure that the additional money they pay up front covers that reputation and they will have a somewhat better trailer because of it. Kirk's suggestion of buying, registering, and storing the vehicles in your intended domicile State is a good one. The only issue I can see is that, if you choose a State that's quite a ways away you may pay as much in fuel to go there to get the truck and trailer whenever you want to use it prior to going full-time.
  19. kb0zke

    BLM app

    "There's an app for that." Even the BLM is getting into the act. CarryMap is their app that will let you find interesting places to visit.
  20. I know this is an older thread, but someone may appreciate some additional information. BLM has two camping areas near the Cavern. Sunset Reef, as mentioned above, and Chosa Campground are both south of the Cavern. Hackberry Lake Dunes Complex is NE of Carlsbad (the Cavern is SW) and is closer to The Ranch. That is more of an off-road vehicle area apparently, but there is boondocking available there. If you don't already know about it, the BLM has an app that can help find interesting places to visit. It is called CarryMap.
  21. "Lithium batteries don’t like being kept at a true 100% state of charge for extended periods of time. Lithium does best when cycled, rather than sitting full." We are in the process of installing a substantial solar array on the roof, two 24V 200AH LiFePO4 batteries, and a Victron MultiPlus II. Most of the time we have shore power. I've noticed that the current LiFePO4 batteries (two 12 V 100AH) are always at 100%. I assume that is because the converter is working properly and keeping them charged. Should I do something different?
  22. I'll be buying a CB radio in the near future, and I'll probably get one that has both AM and FM. I think I'd like to get one with upper and lower sideband, too, but I'm not sure that such an animal exists. In the meantime I have a 2 meter ht in the truck whenever we go anywhere.
  23. "I let the office know and the park policeman visited them to inform them of the policy. They left the site dirty anyway...I guess, just to show him. " I realize this thread is a couple of years old, but I thought I'd add an experience we had this summer while hosting. A camper left a site pretty messy. I cleaned it up, but before I did I took a few pictures and texted them to the park superintendent. That camper was flagged in the State reservation system, so if he makes a reservation at any park in the State they will know that he left a mess behind. My guess is that a similar system operates elsewhere, too. As a campground host, I can see and read the flags, but I can't flag anyone myself. That has to be done at a higher level. Another camper was flagged for overstaying the checkout time (by several hours) without notifying anyone about the delay.
  24. We had a couple of situations at one of the parks we hosted at this year. In one case a camper had a relative in the hospital who was dying (she was over 100, so not unexpected). We worked with them to find them a site for each night. Since they were in a van they vacated their site each morning. One day it looked like there would be no electric sites available, but one opened up as they came back into the park, so we moved them from the basic site they had paid for to the electric site. They kept us posted each day. The second one also involved someone in the hospital. This time, though, it was the camper. She had to have emergency surgery, so her husband had to move from site to site. Again, he kept us posted each day and I had his cell phone number so if something changed in his favor I could call him right away. The third one was an individual who had a different attitude. She paid for a certain number of nights, but was rarely seen in the campground. The day she was supposed to leave her stuff was there, but she was not. The phone number we had on file didn't work. Checkout was 2:00 and she finally showed up at 6 to pay for another couple of nights. If the Ranger hadn't been busy with something more important she would have come back to find her stuff gone. When the second stay was up she pulled the same stunt. When I mentioned that the park superintendent wanted to talk to her she got mad, packed up her stuff, and left. She said she would never return. A few weeks later she was back, but VERY nice to us and made sure she was gone by checkout time. I suspect that somewhere along the way she may have been visited by the Ranger. As hosts, we understand that emergencies do happen. We're more than willing to work with someone who has a true emergency if they are willing to work with us. "A coworker got sick so I had to work an extra three hours" when the job requires you to have a cell phone doesn't cut it. I could tell many more stories about the experiences there, but I won't. Most people are willing and able to follow the rules and smart enough to let someone know about a real emergency. The rest will either learn or be unhappy.
  25. Clay's comments above are pretty close to what I would have said. I'd add that not everyone wants the same things. People with satellite systems and/or solar systems want few trees. Those who don't may want more shade. When we had our mpg trailer a 50' site was plenty long. Now we have a 38' travel trailer pulled by a crew cab F350 with 8' bed, so we would want a pull-through site to be at least 65' long. Last month a group of Prevost owners who had large trailers with their fancy motorcycles in them came to the park we were at. Many of those who had pull-through sites hung out at both ends. Those who had back-in sites often had the trailer tires off the back end of the pad. This is a fairly new park, and sites are pretty long, so you can guess how long these rigs were.
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