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While I don’t own the LevelMate Pro (keep thinking about it), I know lots of people who have them and I have yet to hear anyone complain or not use them. All my friends have fiberglass/Azdel walled trailers though. One friend is solo and loves not having to get out and check the level - turn it on, pull up on the Andersen levelers until it indicates level. I’ve sort-of looked at them a couple of times but can’t quite figure out where I would mount it. I keep using a level - it’s low-tech, no power required, doesn’t need to be set up and I can move it around. But it takes a lot more effort to get in and out of the trailer (I’ve had the level indicators on the sides of the trailer but they end up breaking in the high heat I often find myself in).

I use both the Lynx levelers and the Andersen rocker type levelers for my trailer. I have a love-hate relationship with the Andersen - when they work, they work great and and are faster, quicker and a neater solution. However, they can slip - the Beech Lane version Kirk posted might be better. The second problem with the Andersen is that my axles are fairly close together and the Andersen won’t fit between the wheels (you need to lift both tires on the low side if you have a double axle trailer). I cut off part of the end to get them to fit. It works. There’s also a Camco version that seems to be shorter/smaller and I’ve read of people being able to use them without having to cut off the end. There’s also a limit to how much lift you get with the Andersen. It’s usually enough for most campgrounds but I have run across a few spots that it wasn’t quite high enough and I’ve used several sets of Lynx levelers to get level.

I’m semi-active on a photography forum and used to be very active on another one (now defunct). I can definitely see why someone would want to join an Escapees BOF photography group. I’d be attracted to something like that, while I enjoy seeing/reading things that semi-pro and pros from around the world post, I’d also like something that’s more on my level. When I asked about a new battery charger that my manufacturer came out with that had a USB-C cord, I wanted to know what types of charge rates I would get using the USB-A outlet connected to my trailer’s 12V system. That was greeted with “huh?” answers, while many here would know exactly what I was talking about.

Another subject for a different article: what do spouses do when their partner passes away? I’m active on a different RV forum and know people who have gone through it. All of the people went different ways - from the wife who sold their rig right away to the wife that drove their rig back to their home 1500 miles away from where her DH passed away and continued camping on her own.

Kirk makes a good point. I thought I was a light-weight and lucky - I’ve never had to deal with much more than the usual maintenance issues and a couple of flat tires. But Kirk’s point about having to deal with life problems hit home - I’m solo and was diagnosed with breast cancer last year. I was getting ready to leave Las Vegas when I got the news and had to decide where I was going to go for treatment (not there), where I was going to stay, how I was going to be able to manage those times when I couldn’t drive myself (like to surgery). I was lucky that a couple I’m friends with (and fellow RVers) offered to take care of me when I couldn’t. I found a cancer center for treatment, then found a park reasonably close that had 2 sites available and moved in right away, my friends coming down a couple of weeks later. They stayed for 6 weeks, being my caregivers until my sister could come and take over. It all worked out, but was so different than what I had thought I would do if I had some sort of medical emergency. I’m very grateful for all of my friends, without whom I would not have been able to manage.

Is this a matter of great minds think alike? BTW, I thought the hard-wired EMS too much install for me so I also use the portable. Works well and has warned me several times of potential issues.

Water pressure regulator definitely - I’ve stayed at parks that say their water pressure could reach up to 100 psi in places. My trailer was only designed for somewhere between 40 and 50, don’t want any plumbing leaks caused by high pressure. I have a Progressive Industries EMS (electrical management system). It protects against both high voltage and low voltage (which can also be damaging), plus wiring problems like reversed polarity or open ground. You can get cheaper surge protectors but they don’t protect against as many things.

There’s two problems when it comes to e-bikes: first, finding a rack that will be sturdy enough for them and that don’t say “not recommended for RVs”. Second the travel trailer has to be able to handle that much weight on the back of the trailer, I know that my trailer’s frame is too light for even a regular bike on the back, an electric bike is out of the question. Along with the frame question is the question of weight distribution - how are you going to keep the tongue weight from getting too light when you add all that weight to the back of the trailer. I once followed a trailer with a couple of bikes on the back, watching the bikes and the back of the trailer bounce around so much that I thought the driver must be having a hard time keeping the rig under control. Some of the people I know have put bike racks on the front of their TV instead of trying to put them on the trailer.

You know that now we are all dying to find out what they get, don’t you? I belong to a forum for Lance owners. There are several couples who have “gotten their feet wet” with Tab trailers then bought a Lance with a walk-around bed a year or two later. All of them have had nothing but good things to say about the trailers, just that they outgrew them. There’s also one couple that have been full-timing in a (good sized) truck camper for several years. It can be done if the couple wants it.

That’s great news, Kirk. Thanks for posting the update, it’s a big relief!

Would the amount of power going from the truck to the trailer through the 7 pin connection be enough to keep a big battery bank full of power? My own experience with a small travel trailer is that the amount of power that the truck provides to the batteries is fairly small - the wire size that truck and trailer manufacturers use is small and there’s significant voltage loss. To add to the comments and confusion about whether a truck will provide power to the trailer for house batteries - newer Ford F150s have a sort-of hand-shake procedure you have to do to activate that circuit. I had to ask at a dealership to find out about that. My current SuperDuty truck doesn’t need that - it provides power as soon as it’s turned on. I know my Norcold absorption fridge is pretty efficient as a cooler - I often travel with it turned off and use blue ice bricks. I used to use the penny on the ice cube but now have a fridge temperature sensors to keep track of what’s going on.

It’s a really cute trailer and I know a couple of people who own them. The one person I met who was full-timing in one was single and was towing with a Wrangler - it was about the biggest trailer that would work for her. She was quite happy with it. I full-time in a trailer that’s bigger, but not huge by any means (16-1/2 foot box, 21’ overall). It has a transverse bed like the TAB does and while it took me a bit to figure out how I was going to make it work, it’s not that big of a deal to keep it made up. I know of several couples (younger than I am) who don’t mind the crawl over aspect, though at my age, if someone else was in my life I would have a trailer with a walk-around bed. As has been brought up above, it really depends on the two people. They need to spend some time in it, trying out how to live in it, where to put their clothes etc. I have a storage unit and visit it a couple of times a year to swap out seasonal clothes. I have the storage unit for other reasons - I would not want to pay for one just to keep seasonal clothes in it, but since I have it, using it to store off-season clothes works for me.

I think there are more smaller TT than most people see or realize are out there. They tend to be harder to find, at least the better quality ones are. I like the NuCamp trailers I’ve seen. Lance ( Lance ) still makes small TT as well as truck campers, though they now have models that are about 30’ overall (NOT small!) that are selling well. I think their best seller is still one that’s 23’ overall, and they make 4 models that are 21’ or less, one without a slide. I was going to add the specialized Black Series to the small TT list, because the couple I’ve been in seem small. I knew they were heavy but didn’t realize just how big they really are until I looked at the specs. They are longer than they look inside, so don’t fit into the small TT category.

I didn’t speak up before because the OP said no towing. But I full-time in a 21’ (overall) travel trailer, GVWR of 5500 lbs, so there are some people here on this forum who want small and light. I recently went to the Las Vegas Camping World for a sail switch and their lot was full of various RVs. Some of them were used, and while they did have a few smaller trailers (among the used ones, two were brands Camping World doesn’t carry), the vast majority of units were a lot larger than I would want. Maybe the reason salesmen will try to upswell you is that they have a lot more inventory of large RVs.

I’ve run across the age rule here and there, and there’s always been the caveat about sending photos of older rigs for approval. This is the first time I’ve heard of an owner not including the caveat. And the vast majority of places I’ve stayed at with the age rule have said 10 years before they wanted to pre-approve the rig. Saying no rigs earlier than 2015 (6 years) is a bit short (IMHO). If an owner doesn’t want to approve older rigs, fine - that’s his right as the owner of the property. It’s also my right to stay somewhere else. My first choice would be to call around to all the parks in the area and find somewhere else to stay. If I absolutely had to stay at that location for some reason, I’d probably lie about the age. Don’t sweat it just because a new owner is being picky.

I have, bought lumber at the Ace Hardware that was located near where my house was. They had the regular indoor store and then they had a yard that had lumber, wood trim and such things.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen one - the website makes them look interesting. The larger one (the Terra) looks like it may be the one you ordered (?) and could indeed be towable by a half-ton, though it would depend on the particular half ton - not all half tons are created equal. The trailer’s GVWR of 7500 lbs is within the tow rating of many half tons. It doesn’t say whether the tongue weight is “dry” or an estimate of what it might weigh out of the factory with options. I might be concerned about tongue weight when loaded, if the weight given is out of the factory (and definitely if it is “dry”). Looking at the design (very nice from the photos), I think the tongue weight would run heavy because the trailer is built over the tongue. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as far as towing is concerned, but might be an issue for some half ton trucks if they are low in payload. I’d like to see one sometime, it’s one of the prettier designs I’ve seen recently and the floor plan looks very functional.

Different parks have different policies, and sometimes they differ even though the parks are within 2 miles of each other. I once talked to a park about staying for 6 weeks. I had figured what the cost would be based on their published rates for 1 month (I was going to arrive the 1st) and then 2 weeks at their higher weekly rate. When I talked to them, they said they would charge me the higher weekly rate fro 6 weeks - no monthly rate available unless I were going to stay there indefinitely (I asked about staying for 2 full months). I ended up staying at a different park not far away and paid the monthly rate for 2 months (and ended up staying the full 2 months, really enjoyed it).

I got a text yesterday informing me that some of my data has been compromised - name, address, phone number and DOB. They go on to say that “NO information indicates that my SSN, personal financial or payment information, credit/debit card formation, account numbers or account passwords were accessed.” I’ve been a T-Mobile customer (pay monthly, not prepaid) for years, they were the only cell service where my home was for a long time. I’ve been very happy with them. I don’t have a credit freeze, but there is a possible fraud alert. Almost a year ago I had thought I had fallen for a phishing text, but later found out that it was legit. There were two different systems involved and the two didn’t talk to each other, making me think I had gone somewhere I shouldn’t have. I left the alert on my account. Data breaches seem to be inevitable - my data (some sort of it) has been involved in at least 3 or 4 big data breaches.

I guess everyone sees different things in the movie based on their life-experiences. I agree that the flow of the movie was slow, but would disagree with you that there was no decision-making or character development. Maybe it wasn’t character development in the normal use of the word, but there was definite character change to me. Compare the first scene of Fern holding her late husband’s jacket to her chest for a moment, then putting it in a box and closing the door of her full storage unit. One of the last scenes in the movie is of her smiling to her friend and saying that she doesn’t need any of the stuff in his pickup truck. The first scene is a woman grieving, the later scene is a woman who has walked through the grief process and is no longer holding onto the past. Definitely a change in character. Fern makes a number of decisions about what type of life she wants - first her sister and then Dave offer her a more traditional, stable life. She appears to be tempted by Dave’s offer, comparing what she has as a single woman on her own (sleeping in her van that night) with the life Dave is offering her. She drives away - decision made. Sorry you find the Arizona desert depressing - I love it and find it far less depressing than snow covered roofs and roads. I seem to have transitioned from a mountain-girl to a desert rat over the past 2 years. Everyone is different and this is a movie that each of us will see different things in. I saw the movie as being about grief, letting go of the past and moving on to a different life. The movie is dark, moody and slow, and many will see it as depressing. I look at the plot and the scenes I relate to on a very personal level and don’t see it as depressing as most people seem to.

They don’t really talk about sites along FS 22 - but there are two write-ups from people who went to the intersection of FS 22 and FS 270, then south of 270 a bit. The two reviewers said that sites along FS 22 looked small for their rigs and others were already occupied. Both thought their respective sites on FS 270 were excellent (level, open gravel areas). I’ll probably try FR 22 first, perhaps dropping the trailer at the first site I can find and then scouting further either on foot (if the place I drop the trailer is good enough to stay at) or with the truck.

While I can certainly understand how good boondocking sites might get ruined when it becomes common knowledge. On the other hand, I don’t really have a good idea how to find a reasonable spot. I’m heading to the North Rim area next week and am planning on boondocking on national forest land - but since I’ve never been there, I’m depending on Campendium to lead me to a spot that’s reasonable, at least for an overnight until I might be able to scout out a better one (I have no idea how long I’m going to stay - couple of days at the most). I’m getting way out of my normal comfort zone doing this.

In general I wouldn’t recommend buying a membership resort, unless you are planning on using the home resort and understand all of the ins and outs of the membership plan and how to it will work while you are traveling. For some people they are an excellent choice, but not for everyone. A friend of mine has Coast-to-Coast and RPI, and finds that their traveling style is too spontaneous for the system mostly (they have to reserve 3 days out). They have enjoyed several really nice parks though, so they keep paying the annual fees. I wanted to buy into Thousand Trails when I first got the trailer over 5 years ago, but found all of the different types of memberships too confusing, so I held off. I’ve now been full-time for 2 years and still don’t feel that my particular RVing style fits in with membership resorts. But that’s just me. As far as other clubs go: Escapees, definitely. Excellent education/information, use their mail forwarding address and so on. I joined Good Sam right away because of the 5 cents off a gallon of gas at Pilot/Flying J - the closest and cheapest gas station to where I lived was a Flying J and I usually filled up there 3-4 times a week. I’ve hardly used it for anything this past year since I haven’t been traveling much and there’s no handy Flying J or Pilot station. I know that many GS parks give the same discount to AAA members as they do to Good Sam members, and one gave a better discount to veterans. I have Passport America. It doesn’t take many stops before you’ve paid for it. It isn’t as useful as it once was - as noted a number of parks are no longer accepting it and those that do often have restrictions so that they only accept it off-season, and usually only for a couple of nights. I recently joined Harvest Host, but have yet to use it. I haven’t been traveling much and there didn’t seem to be any on my route when I was. I’m reserving judgement - I don’t drink alcohol so wine tasting isn’t something I’m going to do, and most of the people I know who like it have been staying at wineries, enjoying sampling and buying some excellent wine.

I-10 west of Phoenix isn’t the greatest, but it’s not as bad as I-40 between Kingman and a little past Williams. The section around Flagstaff used to be bad but at least the part I drove had been resurfaced. Otherwise I’d only rate Arizona’s roads as fair, at least the routes I’ve traveled. California roads are lousy. 99 was under construction the last time I went that way and many of my friends say it is now in better shape than I-5 through the San Joaquin Valley. That doesn’t include Bakersfield where it may well be still under construction. I thought the roads I was on recently in Nevada were pretty good, but I haven’t explored much of the northern part of the state. Las Vegas not so much - I can’t think of when I’ve been there in the past 25 years when there’s not been construction. It’s like as soon as they finish a road, they tear it up again. I do know that the changes Nevada has made south of Boulder sure confused my truck’s nav system’s routing for a bit. I was in Oregon recently and found the roads I drove (97, 58, with only a very small section of I-5) to be very good and the traffic not bad at all.

If they are negotiable on size, they might want to also check out the two Lance bunkhouse models, the 2185 and the 2445 for comparison. They have some design features that make them close to 4 seasons (say 3-1/2? I wouldn’t want to spend the winter in Minnesota in one). The 2185 may be too small, but it’s been around for a long time so finding a used one will be easier. The 2445 is bigger and fairly new. It had some initial design problems when it first came out two years ago (or about that) so I would be a careful about a used one - research is needed more than with other models. There are a couple of other design issues I’m not crazy about, but the owners I know seem to really like them. Either one would match well with a 2500 truck.