Sculptor

This is one I have not considered. I think it could work out, but it brings me back to the “where”.

I lived in central Florida for a few weeks, on my way to Miami in 75. I’m familiar with love bugs. What a mess. At least they don’t bite.

Thanks Linda, Your first line sums it up very well. The retirement dream for many is have a house or two in your favorite location. Neither of us have a clue where that is, so weather is a starting point for us. Relatives particularly kids are second. Maybe backward, but they both are living in places with cold winters or hot summers. OT: I managed to bring the desktop into the RV for now. Time will tell if it’s going to fill the gap until I get a laptop. 🤓 Slide repair has risen to the top of the list as of now.

An abandoned missile silo, the west is full of them. 😁

Thanks Gypsies, that link looks like many morning coffees. 🙂

Thanks WeBe, no I never have. No reason except I don’t know anyone. That’s not a very good reason.

Agree Bill, and thank you. We love the water, but don’t need to be near it. And thanks for the reminder about the border situation, I have heard speculation there will be fewer Canadian visitors. On the other hand RV sales are up everywhere and more people are looking for spots. Hmmmmm...

Thank you Bill. I haven’t been west at all not counting 2 weeks in Lost Wages in the summer. I didn’t think there would be much difference in temps.

Thank you Barbara, of course my request is like the domicile question I posted a month or so ago. It’s all very subjective. I like the stories and the process that got a person to their choice or choices. For us, lack of biting bugs would be a factor. Since we are new to retirement AND full timing, budget is bothering me more than usual right now. For example I like bouncing around every couple of weeks in principle, but 2 weeks plus 2 more weeks at different parks could end up costing a lot more than a month at one. Your advice to move more often would let us learn more about warm winters. i just looked at I-10 on a map. What a great suggestion! I think a winter driving along the south border is an awesome idea.

I read this topic and it’s helpful. https://www.rvnetwork.com/topic/137485-winter-location-suggestion/ We just started our full time adventure this month. We have an HDT pulling a 36’ fifth wheel. We are looking for less expensive suggestions for wintering in the south. We only have a bit of experience with Florida, and I agree it can be buggy and crowded in most areas. I have family in South Miami which is my only interest. I wonder if Ft Meyers is less expensive than Miami area? According to many, Arizona is just about the best for weather. We have never been there. Texas either. We can find links to RV parks all week long but I’m asking for help to narrow it down if possible. thanks in advance,

Hi Mark, I have just started looking for this coming winter. Went full time this month. That’s my excuse for not doing it sooner. 🙂 any recommendations or links you can post?

There was one we saw across the river that looked sizable, but we were across the river so didn’t drive through it. All others we saw were just as you describe, they looked like storage lots not campgrounds. 🙂

We stopped here in the southern Appalachian mountains for a couple of weeks. I didn’t see much in this forum so I wanted to jot some of it down. Most of the campgrounds we have seen are small, apparently to make room for the mountains all around. Call ahead. One campground I called, insisted they had big rigs stay there often. We drove through in our car and found it would have been a no go. We found a very nice campground that Is big rig friendly. We are about 60 feet total. We fit our 36 fifth wheel in with a bit of room to spare. The sites are average width, so with both slides out there is just enough room for a fire ring and picnic table. No pull throughs that I am aware of. Our HDT is parked in the overflow a short distance away. This is a very nice and well kept park. The hosts are very welcoming and helpful. Be aware there are mountains here. There will be some long grades so my advice to anyone is to slow down. The Great Outdoors RV Resort Franklin has much in the way of daily shopping needs, with a nice little downtown for specialty shops. There are a few restaurants but we have not tried most of them. Rollie Polie Pollies was good. Avoid Fat Buddies BBQ. Franklin is roughly central to many mountain towns. Silva, Dillsboro, Bryson City, Cherokee, Highlands, and further out, Cashiers and Murphy. The main 2 lane highways are often very tight and curvy, not recommended for a long rig. We seldom saw semis on these roads. We traveled NC 64 3 or 4 times but in our car. We also drove 19 to Nantahala. These are both very scenic and I highly recommend them, but with a car not an RV. Highlights include: The Smokey Mountain railway and museum, Harrahs Casino, high end shopping in Highlands, fly fishing and outdoor outfitters in many towns, seemingly endless hiking, rapids, rivers, many waterfalls. Not comprehensive, but this might help for planning.

Looking forward to it. 🙂

We are going full time in 2 days. Thank you for the truth, and thank you for this last advice. My feeling on your story above is that the travel experiences you have had were quite positive. Weather and virus notwithstanding. The bad experiences center around your main transportation. I think you are on the right track to consider swapping just that part of your whole gig for another model. Opinion from someone who has not been there. The advice above, to go from full time to part time is also good advice. We didn’t do that because we don’t know where we would like that 4 walls to be.

Hi Michael, I have the 10k since we had a 31 foot feather lite. 5k dry weight. I don’t know what the tongue weight was but I never noticed the indicator drop much at all. If I remember right the torsion design depends on rubber for its cushion effect. It makes sense that it would have a limited life span. Wish I was more help.

Hi Chevy, we used a Gen Y hitch. I can’t tell you if it was better for the trailer than a straight receiver on an HDT frame because we never pulled without it. One thing is better than the shocker type, no air pressure.

I gave up on domestic pickups for the same reasons. I had 170k on my GMC. At least 5 sets of brakes and rotors. 1 differential rebuild at 50k before ever pulling anything! Brake lines rusted through. Second differential and whole rear axle because the E brakes rusted away, about 130k. I said buying a $70K diesel won’t fix these defects so I found this group and bought my first HDT. Welcome!

X3, thats how I did mine too.

find a friend with a second story wooden deck.

http:// Not the best but not terrible either. I got carried away with the clearance to the tires.

4 State, Iowa 80, I think even northern tool? I choked on the shipping, so I spent way too much time making my own.

Tip the mirror out at the bottom, lift/tap up a short distance, (Think it click releases) then tip out at the top, slide up. Then you decide which screws will remove the housing etc, if needed. The video is the same one I used.

Hi Phil, a few posts above, I posted a link I found about the Texas licensing requirements for an HDT motorhome. My assumption is, the couple who wrote the article were misinformed about the need for the testing and licensing they did. Is that too simple of an assumption? And thanks also for your expertise in these matters. Quoted: the bottom line is that you must have a CDL-B type of driver’s license to (A) drive non-commercial, personally owned vehicles like a motorhome, (B) if that vehicle exceeds 26,000 pounds GVW, or (C) has air brakes. We met all three criteria. http://www.aboutrving.com/rv-topics/moving-to-texas-and-passing-the-motorhome-driving-exam/

Thank you very much for looking this up for me Ken! I can see that domicile could be done easily enough with an actual address. We might have an option that would work better than a PO Box.