bruce t

Kirk this is a 'stacked' thread. Being RVers we all have wandering genes so we are way ahead of the pack. I can remember years back Nat Geo doing a survey of university graduates with world geography questions. They were embarrassed by the results. I guess in these troubled times that won't improve but internal travel should improve. Travel is like football. Some like it some don't. Don't encourage it. If you do then those wonderful spots will become crowded and we will all start complaining. We have been lucky. Travelled many parts of the world. But seen little. Touched down and transited many airports. Attended business meetings in foreign cities and seen nothing of those cities. Driven across US states in blizzards in white knuckle conditions and seen nothing. So my list of states and countries is vague because I don't really know the definition of what qualifies as "been there". One of my favorite authors said you can drive from coast to coast in the USA on the interstate and see nothing.

Folks we've drifted off the track here. Yes we are all a bit round in our later years. It's called old aged spread. Well not so old aged spread!! But why did we go RVing? For us it was to simplify our lives. To suck in the clean air. What there is of it now days!. To see what's over the hill and behind the tree. To eat what they are eating and to see how they live. To open our eyes and see how the other 99.99% live. FWIW we love the USA. Sure you guys do it in style. We love that aspect of the USA. Sure your National Parks are wizbang but so are your trails. Go more than 100 yards from the trail head and the world opens up. The CCC was the best thing that America ever had. Those guys, and gals, gave you assets that are beyond belief now days. Something we can only dream of here in Australia. If you ever want to trade your system for ours just hollar.

Hey Dapperdan I'm trying to preach 'simple is better' and you go and throw a rig like that into the mix. Would go please go away and stop annoying me! 😂

On another thread about solar I raised the question about why we need all our 'stuff' while RVing. Which made me think about why we went RVing in the first place. Different answer for different folks I guess. Some to see the world/country. Some to see family. Some to work. All while traveling with all the comforts of home. But for others RVing is an escape. An escape from this ever nuttier world we are living in. An escape to a simpler life style. Me/us. Well health and the almighty dollar drove me into a health crisis. So a search for the simpler life style found us in an RV in a foreign land called the USA. Had 5 wonderful years traveling. Health improved. So what did we do. Returned to Australia. Went back to work. Started the cycle all over again. Health went south. Back to the USA 8 years later. Another motorhome. 10 years later health caught up to me again. Folks in Lexington hospital were brilliant. Saved my life. Shipped me back to Australia. Now we have a simple little motorhome without all the complications here in Australia. Moral? Oh yeah there's a moral to this story. Life's short. Stuff is expensive and only complicates your life. You father and grandfather and great grandfather got on just fine without it. Ask yourself why you really want to go camping and if you really need 3 a/c units, the coffee machine, the bread maker, 3 tv sets, or any tv sets at all. Who wants to watch politicians scratch each others eyes out anyway? Why do you go RVing?

The sad thing is that the very reason we go camping is to get away from thing things we take with us. Think about it!

It's all about lifestyle and expectations. We have 200 watts of solar and 210amp batteries and get on just fine. No a/c and no long showers. Always boondock. As a rule of thumb 2 x the solar watts for the battery amps. Without upsetting our American friends I would suggest Australian RVs are way ahead of American RVs in the way of independent camping. We have to be!!

Simple choice for me. A class pushers are a PITA to service. Super Cs can be serviced at any truck centre. And for truck centre prices.

Yes but ask your self why so many Australian's got flu shots. It's because of covid-19 fears. So either way covid-19 has lowered the flu season.

I know there has been another thread on flu shots but rather than hijacking it I thought I would put some data into perspective. The below link is some flu data from Australia. For those only needing the information without reading the whole article - In Australia there has been 532 flu cases during our winter in 2020. Compared to 188600 during 2019. In August there were 120 case compared to approx 60000 for August 2019. You will need to read the article to see the conclusions. But in a nut shell while covid-19 is 'killing' folks it is also saving lives! Here in Australia there has been a net gain. ie there have been more lives saved than have died from covid-19. (Caveat about Australia's death total from covid-19. One failed hotel quarantine in Victoria accounts for approx 750 of Australia's 850 deaths. Without that bungle Australia would 'only' have approx 120 covid-19 deaths). Social distancing and hand washing are the key!! https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/flurelated-hospital-admissions-plummet-from-900-to-just-1-in-brisbane-thanks-to-covid/news-story/93aadbab3a7867a3a5711f1dc8d2883b

Here in Australia, seeing Australia has been mentioned a few times, there are 2 basic types of flu shots. Live and dead. (I don't know the technical terms). Flu shots are free for many/most Australians or $20.00, about US$14.00, at a pharmacy. What's the cost in the USA? As mentioned the flu is less of a concern this year due to the measures in place for covid-19. The drop in flu deaths has more than out weighed the deaths from/with covid. So there is a positive news item about covid-19 you won't see on most of the media. There may be a positive with the covid-19 virus and that is our change in habits. Maybe, just maybe, those habits will become long term. That may mean a drop over all in flu cases. No more jabs😊

You don't say what size, amp hour, your battery is.

In a country with lots of dirt/gravel roads I think it's a no brainer. Front radiator. Easier service done at any truck centre. I dream of super c class RVs.

It's not just length. Height can also be an issue in many parks.

Way back some years ago we had a Holiday Rambler on a Ford chassis. At a FMCA rally we had it weighed. Front left was way heavier. Had the generator, kitchen etc all up in that side/corner. Bad design. We took those figures and the paper work to the Holiday Rambler factory service center. They checked the numbers on their scales. They had no idea. Units were calculated not weighed. Result was a trip to a Ford dealer. They installed new heavier springs in the front. No cost to us. Service guys told us that many manufacturers don't design RVs in house. Weights are estimated and the factory simply went by the "should be" calculations. That was back around 1997. So it's possible for each corner to have way/weigh different weights!!!!

We have purchased both new and used. 3 new 1 used. The used one was the best deal. The minute you drive out the gate your new rv will depreciate big time. So is new worth it? Only if you want something no one else has used. Financially used is the way to go IMHO. If you buy a used rv put some money aside for repairs from the get go. But there are used and there are used. A 5 year old motorhome with 5000k on the clock would ring my alarm bell. Sitting RVs get lot rot. A well loved but used rv is what I would look for. But it's a crap shoot. Do your home work and narrow the odds. We bought a used high end coach from a dealer without ever seeing the unit. We knew the type of coach it was. The dealer had great reviews. So we narrowed the odds. Then put money aside for repairs. We never spent 10% of our repair nest egg over the next 5 years. ( the same dealer had a 1.6 million dollar coach on his lot with 60+ faults. 1 year later it sold for $600000. So faults come in all price ranges). Good luck.

Everyone is affected by the covid-19 problem. But those I really feel for are those thousands of foreigners who have RVs stored in the USA and can't travel to use them. How do they maintain them? How do they have them inspected, registered and insured? We were 'fortunate' that I got ill and had to sell before returning to Australia. So badluck good luck.

The day we picked up the keys for our first motorhome. After that there were very few bad days. I always sleep with the shades open. Each morning I look out the window and if I'm looking down at the grass it's a good day.

Keep in mind that cassettes will require emptying every 3-4 days. So breakdown shouldn't be an issue. SOGs come on as soon as you flush and stop as soon as you stop flushing. So smells should go out via the SOG. I'm not aware of what Napisan is. All I know is that tens of thousands of Australians swear by it.

Another perspective. Here in Australia cassette units are very common. In fact holding tanks are only on the largest RVs. So what to do? Napisan is the most popular product to make your #$@& smell pretty and keep everything clean. There are alternatives. https://www.vanishstains.com.au/products/powders/vanish-napisan-oxi-action-powder/ As for ventilation see this link. https://www.aussietraveller.com.au/sog-toilet-ventilation-system SOG's are available from various manufacturers. Empty cassettes down dump points NOT common toilets. The volume may come back to greet you!!