kb0zke

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?

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.

Interesting. I got the information from the BLM office in Carlsbad.

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.

"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.

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.

"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?

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.

"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.

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.

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.

The man who bought our Foretravel is from The Netherlands. He was told that he could not register a vehicle here since he wasn't a US citizen, so he established an LLC (which he owns) in Montana that owns the Foretravel. Since none of that mattered to us I can't verify whether that might be true.

We're doing all sorts of mods to our Reflection. The first major one was a water softener. Currently the water softener and the two (large) filters are in a very large tub in the front of the pickup's bed. After we get back to The Ranch this fall I'm going to add a cargo shelf at the rear, mounted in the small receiver spot. That will hold the water softener stuff and maybe a few other small items. Thursday I installed a breaker in the line from the solar panel to the solar controller. That's more of an on-off switch, but it will still provide some protection. The Furrion solar controller now serves as a very large paperweight, as it has been replaced by a similar Victron one. The plan is to replace the existing solar panel with four residential ones, 400W each, and the two 12v 100AH LiFePO4 batteries with two 24v 200AH LiFePO4 batteries. A 24v to 12v converter will also be added. The biggest item will be a Victron MultiPlus II unit. I'm currently laying out how it will all fit. It is MUCH cheaper to erase a few lines on a piece of paper than to move a heavy piece of equipment.

Larry, check out https://suitesownersinternationaltravelclub.vbulletin.net/

We're making the plans for the trip now. Part of the project is adding more solar and LiFePO4 batteries so we can boondock some.

We sold our Foretravel to a man from The Netherlands. He had to set up a Montana LLC to buy the coach. We got the money (wire transfer) directly into our bank account before he had even seen the coach! The first time he drove it was when he drove it away. When we bought the trailer that replaced the Foretravel we bought from a dealer. Never again! Somehow they miscalculated the sales tax (4%) and didn't send enough to SD. They had to wire the extra money (all their expense, fortunately) before we could get the plates.

My two cents worth: Looking back at what was is only useful if it is for the purpose of planning what is to come. What was useful in the past that can be updated to be useful again? Why did we do what we did then? Is that still necessary? Is there a better way to do that? FB seems to be where the younger people are going - for better or worse. We own a Grand Design Reflection 215RLTS, and I'm on mygrandrv.com owners' forum. It seems that most GD owners, though, are on the FB group. I'm not on FB, so I can't compare the two. Sometimes we keep doing the same thing because that's the way we always did it. It may take a young person to ask why we're doing it that way. When we analyze the situation, we find that we don't really need to do it that way anymore. What do I want to see here? I'm pretty happy with it as it is. I grumbled about the update a few years ago, but I've gotten used to it (I don't like change). Perhaps the moderators could be a bit more aggressive it moving posts to more appropriate sections and editing subjects to make it easier to search for topics, but that's about it.

Before we started full-timing we did a couple of years of research. Then we bought a "learner" trailer for some real world experience. Then we bought our Foretravel and planned to full-time for five years, then evaluate. That was in 2013. We're now in our Reflection travel trailer and still on the road. How long will we continue on the road? That depends. We're getting to the age where our minds say we're 25, but our backs and knees beg to differ. We're starting to look at what we will do when we need to get off of the road. Jo Ann and I will celebrate 40 years of marriage this fall. I'm still amazed that she has put up with this opinionated German for this long.

"INVERTER: If you need a 12 VDC to 120 VAC Inverter and a new charger also, consider a COMBINATION INVERTER CHARGER to simplify wiring" I'm a contrarian here. I prefer single-job devices. I'd rather have a separate converter and a separate charger. That way if one of them goes down the other is still there. The downside, as mentioned, is that a combination device saves weight and space.

"Buy a $500000.00 RV and in 12 months you are on your own. WHY?" Because they can. I'm old enough to remember when a car that made it to 100,000 miles was something really special. When our 2015 Lincoln MKT hit 100,000 miles it was time to change the spark plugs for the first time. What happened? Competition from Europe and Asia. Americans started buying those funny-looking little cars in larger numbers, and Detroit noticed. The same thing is unlikely to happen in the RV world because the American consumer has changed. Now, price is everything. Think about the high-end brands in 2000. How many of those are still around? How many do you think will still be around in 2025? How many are still stand-alone companies (not part of Thor or Forest River)? Back when we were researching, more than 10 years ago, we talked to a couple who related their experience and that story has stuck with me. When they got ready to go full-time they bought a "popular brand" motorhome brand new. (They didn't say what brand it was.) Within a year they realized that it didn't have the quality to be a full-time coach, so they traded it even-up for a 10-year-old Foretravel. Quality costs money and is heavy. This time around we really wanted an Airstream, about a 2005-2008 or so, but didn't find any during the time we had to buy something, so we bought this Reflection. Yes, we have three slides and a warranty, but it is far from an Airstream, which would have cost us the same amount of money and not had the slides (which we would rather not have).

We bought our Reflection TT in February, so we got the new plates then. We planned our route from Wyoming to Missouri to go through Sioux Falls so we could get the new plates for the truck ourselves. Came home with new plates and stickers for the truck and a new sticker for the trailer. The only hitch was that they wouldn't accept our check. It had our legal Sioux Falls address on it, but since it is a PMB they wouldn't take it. We had to use a CC and pay the extra fee.

It depends on why we're there. One campground we frequent is just a big parking lot with electric and water - and one dump station for 200 sites. Why do we go there? It is very close to family. Another is also a parking lot, but with FHU for the six sites. Why there? It is free (donations accepted) and about a day's drive from our winter base. COE parks are generally our first choice, followed by State parks. City and county campgrounds are often good finds, but require more work to find. We generally avoid commercial campgrounds, but we do have a lifetime Passport America membership, and we've already saved far more than it cost, even with using it only once or twice a year. KOA is pretty far down on the list for us, as we're not interested in swimming pools or miniature golf. On the other hand, we've been to two that were pretty much the only game in town. If we're moving fairly quickly we're only going to stay one night, so as long as it is fairly quiet we're find. I do keep a log of where we stay each night, and more than once we've found a place that was so nice we decided to go back for a longer stay some other time.

We started researching several years before we bought our Foretravel. For the first year, every question answered seemed to generate two or three more questions. Eventually, though, we got to where we had an idea of what we thought we needed and wanted. During that time we visited every RV show we could, every RV lot we could, and asked questions at campgrounds (we were tent camping then). When it seemed that the full-time life might be a good fit for us, we bought a learner trailer, a Heartland mpg. We went on several trips with it, some of a month or so. Since we didn't kill each other, we decided that it would work, and we put the mpg up for sale. While we were waiting for it to sell, I focused on motorhomes that fit our specs. Since I didn't know when the mpg would sell, we didn't contact anyone about any of them. Eventually we got a check and then the real search began. I had a list of about 6-7 coaches that looked good, so we started with the one closest to us. We never looked at any others. It turned out that we dodged a bullet, as there were things about the others that I learned later on that would have made our travels less enjoyable. That doesn't mean that all was smooth sailing, er, driving, though. Five years into it we had to have an inframe engine overhaul which had us in a hotel for six weeks and cost over $25,000. Our needs have changed in 10 years, and earlier this year we sold the Foretravel and purchased a travel trailer. I suspect that we won't have this 10 years, as it isn't the quality of the Foretravel. That's really my two main points. Buy a quality rig first and you will have fewer problems overall. Second, your needs will change over time, so be prepared to change your coach.

I suspect that jules2go has already purchased something, but I thought I'd chime in anyway. Might help someone else. We weren't planning to buy a new trailer, but that's what we ended up with. We were looking at used Airstreams, somewhat longer than what the OP wanted, and weren't finding much that we liked. I asked for other suggestions, and Grand Design was mentioned. We also looked at some others, but the Grand Design Reflection 315RLTS seemed to meet our needs. We stopped in at a dealer on our way back to The Ranch and looked at one. A few weeks later we bought it. I'm not sold on slides, even after having this one for several months, but it is what it is. The sink is in an island, so no flexible plumbing to leak. There are only two small windows on the street side and the dinette area is on the curb side, so we have a view of our campsite when eating. We looked at a similar trailer that was pretty much identical to this one, but with the kitchen and living/dining slides reversed, and didn't like that as well. Grand Design customer service is great. We've had dealings with two dealerships and one was good, the other not. Before you buy do your research on the dealer!

It has been almost two years since the original post on this thread, but it is still interesting to see that, really, there are very few times when we full-timers have to leave our rigs for any length of time due to repair needs. Yes, it happens, but it isn't common. The original concern was what to do when it is a sudden need. That, of course, depends on your circumstances (where you are, pets, mobility issues, etc.) and one person's situation will be different than someone else's. You just have to deal with what is there. The second original concern was the lack of a speedy response from the repair shop. That's a bigger issue. Sometimes we are stuck with a shop that has a less than stellar reputation, but often we are able to do a bit of searching and find a better choice. Some shops will go out of their way to help someone who is stranded, even to the point of asking a local customer to wait a bit while they concentrate on the stranger with the emergency. When we find those places, we need to thank them publicly. Several years ago we had a problem with the windshield on our Foretravel. We did some searching, and made an appointment online with a noted company. When we arrived, they said they didn't work on motorhomes. They then proceeded to give us a really good temporary fix - and then wouldn't take any money! We sent the shop a Wal-Mart gift card and suggested they might enjoy some treats on us.