Steven@146

At this moment we are at the Escapee's in Livingston, camped in the older part, everyone seems to be wearing masks, practicing good SD. Even the people walking their dogs may not be wearing a mask but have it with them in case they stop to talk, but always at a distance. Using the laundry facilities everyone is being responsible seems like. These sites are a little closer together but still plenty of room to keep away from each other. The park volunteers are doing a great job and everyone seems to be following the rules. Now maybe the local Walmart isn't as good with people practicing SD and using masks. 

Monday we leave for Northern Indiana  to help take care of the Wife's parents in their mid 80s and isolated at home,  give other family members a break, and it will take 3 days to get up there. Very rural community. We will be staying in a winter campground up there and already have camping reservations along the way and have paid online to keep contact to a minimum. We should be able to pull in to our site, set up, spend the night, break camp and head out again without ever, or very little interacting with anyone. Stopping for fuel shouldn't be a real problem, just practice good SD, wear a mask and use hand sanitizer and keep to ourselves. We'll be fine to get up there.

Once we get up there, we will not be having the usual family gatherings for the holidays that we usually have. Probably get together individually with family members one at a time using good SD practices but not the big gatherings. Come Dec 28th its back down to Texas for the hard winter months. We are careful and responsible and stay away from people who are not, so I foresee no problems traveling. We keep an eye on the states where we will be staying overnight, but so far none are going lockdown.

yes. we are setting here in the  Livingston escapees park, I can sign-in but selecting anything i keep getting a 404 error

Yes i was having the same issue. Was trying to get to Smart Weigh and started to get that error and random characters and scrambled data elsewhere. Still not totally ok. Was worse accessing from my Iphone,desktop is a little better but still some problems

1 hour ago, JimK said:

 

This whole topic has made me nervous about the condition of my fuel, the tank and the filters.  I went close to a full year with very low mileage before I ran through a tank of diesel and refueled.  At that point I took the truck in for an inspection, oil change and replacement of oil and fuel filters.  The charge was over $700, not including the inspection.  The fuel filter changes alone were about $350.  Now close to another year has gone by and I have driven about 1500 miles during the year.  Two weeks ago I went back for another inspection and skipped all the maintenance.  Now I am concerned what I need to do.  I decided to change the oil myself for about $60 and forego changing the filters.  The filters are about $110 but the real problem is the location and difficulty of changing the oil and front fuel filter.  I did buy the specialized tools needed.

 

With us going fulltime its going to be a problem doing maint myself. For my Cummins I can get the 3 Mopar filter package for @ $100 off Amazon, 2 fuel filters and the oil filter, then 11 qts of Shell Rotella T6 at a lot of different places. But what to do with the used oil and old filter discards. You got to have a change pan and all the stuff that goes along with it. A lot of campgrounds do not want you working on your vehicles. Silly people discarding their old oil and fuel filters in the trash.

In our case the fuel filters last about 15,000 miles between changes about the same time as the oil needs changed. For me I only use Mopar filters, keep them changed when called for, try to always fill up at quality fuel stations, only use quality DEF or at stations with DEF at the pump, I don't worry too much about stuff growing in the fuel system, put in an additive when I think its called for and just drive it.

Ram service at dealerships have a huge markup on their parts, plus labor. yes i have run into dealerships wanting to charge me $700 for an oil change. Recently we just went over 30K miles on the truck and it was time for the AISIN transmission fluid change, they wanted $1000 for that. Of course the service writers job is to upsell and make a profit for the service department telling me that it requires Mopar specific fluid for the AISIN transmission, you can't use anything else. BS, there is a factory tag on the transmission  that says use Mobile 3309 fluid. Yes and they will use scare tactics on people to get them to buy into their repair quotes.

But now that we are fulltime, i'll have to bite the bullet or time our travels where we can be close to family or friends and still do the maintenance myself, or an independent shop that will do what I tell them and even supply the parts to them to get the regular maintenance done.

South Central Texas, Austin and surrounding area, is becoming more popular with winter folks. Obviously its not the Florida coast, but some people find it more economical than Florida. Bastrop TX, 25 miles southeast of Austin is building RV campgrounds faster than you can count, and older parks are expanding. Kerrville Tx just west of San Antonio, is another place catering to winter RVers. There is still plenty to do and see all within easy driving distance of Austin, San Antonio San Marcos areas. Or if you prefer the Texas gulf coast is still cheaper than a lot of places in FLA, so they tell me.

Like Texas BBQ and Country music? We have been in Bastrop TX  at the Bellamont RV Park staying Aug- Oct. $525 / month, water, sewer and metered electric, with cable TV and internet (not completed yet). Brand new park just opened this summer, 92 sites but only 35 completed so far, gravel sites, hiking trail, small fishing pond, on site laundry facilities. Or $575/ month which includes a 10x10 Sturdy-Built wooden storage shed at the back of your site big enough for bicycles or motorcycles. It is 1 mile to many stores like Home Depot or Lowe's but quiet. https://bellamont.com/

We are moving for Jan- March 2021 and have reservations in Galveston at an RV Resort for $700 / month, huge park with several on site attractions, concrete sites, many amenities, 1/4 mile from beach. Gives you some kind of idea about costs.

I have not heard of a covid problem at campgrounds in this area. People are acting responsibly, face covering and distancing. Costs seem to be anywhere between $475 - $800 / month for FUP sites depending on the amenities offered by each CG.

1 hour ago, Kirk W said:

I used to put Sta-Bil fuel treatment in the gasoline motorhome any time it was going to sit for a month or more, as I was advised by Ford tech rep. shortly after I bought it. Now I have a diesel truck that, thanks to covid19, now sits far more than it is driven and it is taking a long time to use up a tank of fuel. My question is, what fuel treatment do you use for diesel fuel, if any, and how long is fuel then good for?

Hey Kirk, We have 2 Cummins diesel trucks. Most of the time we are in warmer climates, Texas winter, Northern states summer. Of our trucks, One is driven a lot and the other sits a lot. In my mind it isn't so much the diesel fuel going bad as it is the microbial problem growing in biodiesel. If i use a diesel fuel treatment it is Power Service Products which carries a Cummins Engine endorsement, usually listed on the container just to keep the microbes at bay.

The 2500 diesel truck that sits a lot ,I only keep the tank half full and when down to 1/4 put some in to bring it back up to 1/2. This in my mind keeps the diesel fuel fresher. I will use PService diesel clean additive at intervals but not all the time.  Our 1 Ton diesel, driven a lot, gets lots of fuel run through it and I'll use a PService diesel clean additive at intervals between tanks. About every time I add DEF, which equates to about every 3000-3500 miles.

Now if we travel up to northern states in the winter, the suppliers switch over to winterized diesel in October so I don't worry about gelling unless we get trapped in sub zero temps, then I would use an anti-gel, anti-microbial treatment.

Power Service Product white bottle - winter, PS product silver bottle for summer.

 

RV PRE-FLIGHT CHECK LIST BEFORE TOWING

 

EXTERIOR

 

·       GAS OFF / BOTH TANKS                                                                         PULL TEST

·       DUMP BLACK TANK & FLUSH                                                 ALL REAR & MID JACKS UP & LOCKED

·       DUMP GREY TANKS                                                                FRONT JACKS JUST OFF THE GROUND

·       STOW SEWER HOSE AND CAP                                               APPLY TRAILER HAND BRAKE

·       WATER OFF STOW HOSE & FILTER                                        TRAILER WHEELS STILL CHOCKED

·       STOVE FAN VENT CLOSED                                                      TRUCK IN FORWARD GEAR

·       AWNINGS STOWED LOCKED                                                 FOOT OFF BRAKE - PULL ON HITCH

·       CABLE TV DISCONNECTED

·       ROOF CHECK                                                                                       ROLLING BRAKE CHECK

·       SLIDES FULLY RETRACTED                                                      ALL WHEEL CHOCKS STOWED

·       REAR & MID JACKS UP & LOCKED STOW BLOCKS                TRAILER FULLY HITCHED & LOCKED

·       POWER CABLE DISCONNECTED                                             TRUCK IN FORWARD GEAR

·       CHECK TIRE AIR PRESSURES                                                        FOOT OFF BRAKE PEDAL

·       CHECK RIM LUG NUT TORQUE                                                 ROLL OUT – APPLY TRAILER HAND BRAKE

·                                                                                                                 TRAILER STOPS TRUCK

 

 

HITCH

 

·       CHECK REAR & MID JACKS UP – BLOCKS STOWED                       ICOE BUG OUT BAG

·       CHECK LUBE DISC PIN BOX                                                    EXTRA KEYS TRUCK & TRAILER

·       HITCH PINS / LOCKS IN PLACE, OPEN LOCK ARM                 EMERGENCY CONTACT LIST                                                                          

·       HITCH 5TH WHEEL – DROP TAIL GATE                                     REQUIRED MEDICINES

·       JAWS LOCKED ON KING PIN                                                  SPARE CONTACTS / GLASSES

·       LOCK ARM CLOSED & LOCKED/PIN                                       DRIVERS LICENSE / IDs  / CREDIT CARDS

·       7 WAY POWER PLUG                                                             CELL PHONEs & CHARGERs

·       EMERG BRAKE AWAY CORD ATTACHED                               LAP TOP COMPUTER & CORDs

·       PULL TEST –                                                                                     FLASH LIGHT

·                                                                                                                 INSURANCE CARDS CONTACT INFO

·       FRONT JACKS FULLY RETRACTED                                               INTERNET BLACK BOOK

·       STOW WHEEL CHOCKS & LEVELNG BLOCKS                            PERSONAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS

·       FRONT JACK FOOT UP – LOCKED                                               CHANGE OF CLOTHING

·       MAIN DOOR HAND RAIL LOCKED                                              WATER BOTTLES / ENERGY BARS

·       REAR LIGHTS CHECK – WALK AROUND                                                                    

·       LOCKED STORAGE COMPARTMENT LIGHTS OFF

·        

·       BUG OUT BAG IN TRUCK

·       REAR CAMERA, GARMIN, TPMS CHECK

·       ADJUST TRUCK MIRRORS

·       TOW/HAUL MODE ON – EXHAUST BRAKE ON

·       ROLLING TRAILER BRAKE CHECK

·       SAFE DRIVING

This is our external check list for our 5th wheel. It is kept in the pocket of the truck console. I may not always be the one to drive the rig. Lets see how this posts cut and paste instead of trying to attach a file.

On 9/4/2020 at 2:04 PM, Bill&Anneli said:

We went thru the Costco website to find an ACA provider - they were really helpful and knowleagble about what we would qualify for etc. Didn't try to sell us anything, directed us to the website, to type in the info so we could narrow it down to what we qualify for etc. Then we could click on the plans, read the fine print to learn about the things that are of importance to us. After we were educated we could call back and ask specific questions, help signing up etc. This took weeks for us. Here is the link.  https://www.cbcins.com/

Remember, the income/subsidy thing for the ACA plans is a bit tricky and VERY important. - If you apply for insurance for 2021, you have to estimate your income for 2021. The exact amount of income on which your eligibility for the tax credit is based is not determined until you file your 2021income tax return (which you would do usually spring 2022). Say you take the tax credit. THEN, when you file your 2021 income tax return (usually in April 2022) - you will know if you either qualify for more of a credit than you got (ie your income turned out lower than estimated) THEN you get a tax refund, or the refund is applied to whatever you otherwise might owe the IRS for past years.

If your income turns out higher than you estimated, you may have to PAY BACK the tax credit to the IRS. I have seen folks owe as much as $18,000 to the IRS because they signed up for a $1,500/month plan, took the full tax credit and paid $0 premium per month. Only to be shocked when they filed their income tax return a year and half later (from when they signed up for that insurance), had higher income than they estimated and now have to pay all that money back to the IRS.

So estimate your income very carefully, err on the conservative side (ie estimate high), because you will eventually get all the credit to which you are entitled when you file your income tax return. I think its better to get money back from the IRS than to owe them money.... Ofcourse best is to estimate exactly right - but who has a perfect crystal ball. 

IF your circumstances change during the year after you sign up for the market place insurance and tax credit - NOTIFY the exchange immediately of your change in income so they can adjust your tax credit accordingly in the middle of the year. One example is if you cash in Retirement funds (IRA, 401K etc) - that is INCOME that counts for this purpose. This could wipe out your eligibility for the tax credit. So consult your tax professional about this!

There does not seem to be any PPO plans in the ACA network - all HMO, so geographically limited. We are healthy, and think maybe an HMO would work for us if we plan once a year trip to Texas, schedule our regular medical etc then. And supplement with a Skymed type plan (that flies you "home" in an emergency). The HMO plans we looked at do cover out of area true medial emergency, and then all follow up  treatment etc needs to be in the HMO area. This probably only works for people who don't go to the doctor often and are willing to pay for some office visits out of the area out of pocket if needed. This option gives us peace of mind that if we have a major medial event we are covered (albeit we have to go to Texas, we probably wouldn't do much traveling anyway if we had a major medical event like stroke, heart attack etc). And we have the option of paying out of pocket for minor things if we don't feel like driving all the way to Texas for a simple doctors office visit.

Now, maternity care is a totally different situation, you need regular appointments, and I for one, would prefer the same doctor to care for me thru pregnancy and deliver the baby.... so would think long and hard about traveling full time without ability to go see that one doctor. But we're all different.

Also, we found that the Fixed Indemnity plan thru RVer exchange specifically excludes maternity care, so you want to ask for that stuff in detail before signing up- they may have supplemental stuff  they could sell you for that. We spoke to John Fitzpatrick at the RV exchange, he was very helpful, sent detail/fine print etc so we could answer specific questions we had. 

I agree, this whole insurance thing is time consuming, frustrating, complicated and there are way too many people out there just selling stuff they don't fully understand. Take the time to research this and educate yourself, I don't know of any shortcuts. Good luck !

Thank you for posting, we are right there with you thinking the same thing. 

In our case we re-estimated our income for 2020 and found we will be over the cut off limit for a subsidy. Don't forget to add the stimulus money the gov sent you to your income for 2020. So for Nov, Dec we would have to pay full rate for health insurance @ $1500-2000 / month.  Wife retires Oct 6, health coverage ends Oct 31.

Now the Wife's COBRA through her former employer is actually lower @  $ 1000-1100 / month. So we will go with her former employer COBRA plan for Nov, Dec. Then for 2021 our estimated income will be basically cut in half so we would quality for a subsidy. We will plan and estimate very carefully but I'll pick up medicare in July when I turn 65. 

Even when you think you have somewhat of a handle on this health care subject, you still feel like there are monsters hiding under your bed!

Just my thoughts coming from a position of owning TTs and 5er. Its not a race setting up or tearing down. The job is what it is no matter what type of RV you have.. I take my time doing the tasks, As soon as you start trying to do things faster or take short cuts, that is when you will forget and damage something.

With our TT, yes we had lift bars and the weight distributed hitch and manual stabilizing jacks. It just took a little longer for either task. With our 5er, its the companion hitch and pin. I carry a step stool from harbor freight so I can reach up and over the truck rear dual fender to do the hitch functions. I painted a white stripe down the middle of the pin box so the wife can more easily back the truck in and align the hitch to the pin. I also use an air hose manual reel from HF that I mounted on the overhead of the storage compartment, cost all of $25. Its up and out of the way, not taking up floor space in the compartment, handles the 30 ft 50 amp cord nicely. The wife and I share the tasks. The 6 way one touch level up system on our 5th wheel makes the tasks easier, but we still take our time setting up or tearing down. Some people with knee, leg or hip problems find it better in a TT than a 5th wheel, less stairs to climb.

There is a lot more storage in our 5er but you have to be mindful of not over loading. Just because you have room to store more crap, that does not mean you have to fill it up. Towing, there is a real difference between a TT and 5er. So much better towing a 5th wheel, however turning and backing up are different than a TT. It just different not more difficult. 

Really it is all about what a person likes the best and works for them, MH, TT or 5er.

We have visited Galveston Island many times from the Austin area, as we could get there in 3.5-4 hours for a 4 day weekend. Love it there. Have stayed at Dellanera right off the beach for a week or so, Jamaica Beach and Galveston Island Rv Resort 1/2 mile or so from the beach. Kept the RV and Truck washed at least once a week, saw no signs of excessive corrosion, but it is a concern and you have to be aware of it.  

Yes I have seen vehicles and RVs parked right on the beach, not a good idea.

Being mobile is good if your job or training / education dictates you being mobile. But living fulltime in an RV can be just as expensive as a stix and bricks home or apartment. You really have to work at it to make it cheaper and with very minimal debt.

You want to stay mobile, OK.

What do you say people, 80-85% of RVs, regardless of manufacturer, all use the same appliances, microwave/convection oven, water heater, AC units, refrigerator, stove, so on and so forth. Most of the manufactures, on new units, have a one year warranty on appliances. A lot of these items fail often new and need repair or replacement. A lot of new units have problems right off with the pex plumbing leaks in the water systems.

Buying a new 5th wheel in the 36-39 ft range, mid price point is going to run you $60-75,000, are you ready for that? High price point RVs over $100,000. I would not go cheap low end light weight RV here, they will not last. Travel trailers can be a little cheaper, maybe,  but are susceptible to the same problems as 5th wheels.  

I know you have a 1 ton truck, but a lot of the RVs have huge pin weights, in the 3300 - 4000+ pound range depending on the RV. Always use 20-22% of a 5th wheel RV GVWR for an estimate of pin weight. 12-14% for a travel trailer tongue weight. Truck Payload capacity is far more important than towing cap for a truck. Also think about RV cargo carrying capacity. Some RVs look great, but have very low CCC, in the 2000# range. That is not a lot for all your stuff! Some have very high CCC, like ours 4,478 pounds, but that also means its heavy on the truck and heavy to tow.

RV livability - where in the country will you be staying a lot of the time? Hard winters in an RV takes a lot of work preparing for and expensive, think propane. You have to keep the RV furnace running to keep the water pipes from freezing. Two 30 pound tanks are not going to cut it. You can not relay on just electric heaters. Then think about Skirting along the bottom of the RV to keep the cold wind out. You can not go cheap light weight RV here, the bottom side of the RV, walls, roof had better be insulated well, maybe even double pane windows. Staying in warm climate, southern states, you better have two AC units to keep the coach cool.

Also, today they are cranking out a lot of new RVs to keep up with demand, a lot of short cuts are being made, shoddy work, meaning a lot of new RVs, regardless of manufacturer, have problems in the plumbing and electrical systems right off the bat. Do you have time to drag the RV back to the dealer for repair? RV dealer service centers are overwhelmed with repair work. A lot of dealers will not work on your repairs if you did not buy it there. You might be waiting weeks to get it repaired, now your hold up in a hotel/motel. Are you knowledgeable and handy with tools? Can you fix it yourself?

Just to add RV maintenance - RVs are not buy them and forget maintenance. I have 4 pages of maintenance items that have to be done monthly, quarterly, biannual and annual. Can you repack wheel bearings? They need to be done annually. What type of suspension does the RV have, leaf springs, shackles and bushings? If so the bushings better have wet bolts for greasing quarterly, more or less depending on how often its towed. Never lube bushings or bearings, don't trust them. Independent suspension and disk brakes = higher end RVs with higher initial prices. 

This is only the beginning of what you need to educate yourself on. I am not trying to kill your dreams but you better be realistic and well educated on RVs before jumping in.

I can echo what Kirk said, Texas is a huge state, from Dallas/Ft Worth north area down to Big Bend on the border, or Lakeview in the east with large pine forest to El Paso desert terrain in the west. Or the gulf coast, Galveston, Port Aransas down to Corpus Christi.

Central Texas, Austin area is where we are now. There are lots of RV parks and Campgrounds in the Austin area, Bastrop, Kerrville, Johnson City, Fredricksburg, Texas Hill Country, San Marcos, and farther south like San Antonio, on and on. Yup the Escapee's park  just north of Houston at Livingston is a nice park and very reasonable rates if you are an Escapee's member. You can also learn a lot while there. Conroe in the same area has some nice parks. The KOA in Conroe is very nice.

The Bastrop area is fast becoming the RV/Mini Home campground/park capitol of Texas. There are now some 30-35 RV Parks within a 10-15 mile radius of Bastrop. Most are very nice retired, long term, snowbird type of campgrounds with anywhere from 60 to 100 plus camp sites per park. I would not consider these as "resorts" but most of them have some type of central hall where bingo and card games abound. All of them are full hookup type parks and some have WiFi, cable TV, laundry or camp store services at the campground. Some have swimming pools / hot tubs, spas or exercise rooms, or lakes and the like but most do not. This area is also home to a lot of State Parks and COE, LCRA parks with limited consecutive day stays and most do not have sewer connections at camp site but dump stations.

Best bet is to spend some time on the net looking at campground web sites in the area you want to stay to see what amenities the campgrounds offer and their monthly rates. Rates vary widely from $475- $800 per month depending on what amenities the park offers. As an example the campground we are at now, Bellamont RV Park Bastrop, is brand new, just opened this summer and is not completely finished yet but will have 90 plus sites all full hookups. Gravel sites with sodded grass, and is 525 per month with metered electric and laundry, US Mail lock box facilities on site but not much else yet.

 

Good Luck and safe travels.

Thanks, I was able to find a web site ehealth.healthsherpa.com where I can plug in our data and it comes back with multiple plans, and data for each plan, and monthly costs. We do qualify for a subsidy because we will be just under the 64K cut off when the wife retires and stops work in Oct and we lose our healthcare Oct 31.

All of the plans it comes back with are HMO plans through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, ranging from $180 - $1200 per month, based on what deductible we choose and the coverage we want. Now that may not be so bad. Here's what I am thinking, we will do some traveling through the year but always return to Texas for the winter around December of each year, staying until around March/ April or longer, of the next year before traveling again.  Right now our GP doctor is in Austin, he accepts all the plans presented on the ehealth web site, and we could keep him and schedule a visit for our annual medical stuff Jan-Apr staying at an RV park near Austin. Once that's done we could move over to Livingston and get any vehicle registration stuff done if needs be. Then free to roam Texas until we head out again for parts unknown in late spring.

Now we probably have not paid enough of our deductible to be of any use in the first 4 months of the year but  annual physical stuff should be covered. At least it gets us through until I turn 65 in July of 2021, then I drop off and maybe get a supplement and go on medicare, the Wife can then pick a new plan for just her.

Now in the event that we are outside of the area and need medical attention it being only an emergency situation, the HMO plan would still pay some of the costs since it was an emergency. This happened to us for real back about 8 years ago when I wound up in a hospital emergency room in Middletown Ohio while visiting the kids for the holidays. The HMO plan through the Wife's work we had then did pay a lot of the costs since it was an emergency situation. Once we got back to Texas home base I went to our local hospital and had the surgery done.

A least that is my thinking now, still a little fuzzy but becoming a little clearer. At lease I have multiple plans to look at, all be it from the same healthcare provider and disect and drill into without a bunch of vultures hounding me daily!

The wife and I just went fulltime. She retires in Oct and we lose our healthcare Oct 31 so we are looking. I just turned 64 and the wife is 62, no major pre-existing conditions. We need some coverage for at least a year until i turn 65 and things change again with me going on Medicare. We have lived in Texas for 17 years with a stix and bricks, now fulltime. We have changed our address to Escapee's Livingston.

I will tell you we are totally frustrated and fed up with weeding through all the crap. All we wanted was to get some quotes from different insurance providers with coverage information so we can best decide what to go with, but no you have to talk to an agent. Once they get your phone number the vultures swoop in! I had to turn off my cell phone to keep the vultures at bay receiving 35-40 phone calls in one day all wanting to sell me their health insurance. One told me I need to go out and apply through ACA, I looked at it on healthcare.gov, never got so much as a dimes worth of  information before I was shoved over to signing up and supplying a god awful lot of documents and crap,  that was a total disaster! I am sick of it and we are no closer to finding something.

Now we got some information through the Escapee's  forwarded to the Philadelphia American Life and health insurance as others have talked about here. Yes it says right up front its an Indemnity plan. Received a whole lot of information and statements in little tiny print with a quote of $1200 per month for both of us. About the same amount as if we went with a cobra plan from my wife's old employer.

Isn't there anywhere a person can go to get unbiased information without having to go through an avalanche of agent phone calls only hawking their specific crap from god knows where in the country? One of our questions is, whats the problem with an indemnity plan?  Except that as a fixed benefit your bill for services, somewhere in the country, maybe way over what they will pay, but it works anywhere in the country. Some of it doesn't take effect for 90 days after you sign up and some until after a year after you sign up. One person told us we need a PPO plan, or something that works across the whole country no matter where we may be, well no kidding, that much we figured out on our own!

PPO,s Major Medical, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas, HMOs, Indemnity Plans, the whole quagmire pot full of mud, we are not any closer to getting good unbiased information and making a decision than we were a couple months ago. And changing our residence to FL is a non starter. 

I'm ready to go out and scream, I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!

Sorry for the rant,

i might do just that, thanks. she has the ability to take a pic of a check with her phone for deposit purposes, I cant do that with my bank. But then again I dont get hardly any checks written to me for deposit.

14 hours ago, JeffreyPMC said:

Thanks everyone...  Steven, what is the purpose of transferring you banking to Livingston?  Convenience or some legal reason? 

Convenience mainly, we'll be traveling through the Escapees park in Livingston from time to time. We don't need to establish Texas residency since we have lived in Texas for several years. Right now my bank accounts are with First National Bank of Bastrop Texas. Its a local bank only.  I doubt we will come back to Bastrop once we leave. For those RVers changing their residency to Texas and using an Escapees mailing address it would be helpful in establishing their Texas residency to move their banking. But you could have your banking anywhere. My wife will probably keep her Bank of America account out of Austin..

We just changed ranks to fulltime. We have been members of Escapee's for a while now, also the Texas Escapee's chapter, reading, learning and lurking on the Escapee's site . We have lived near Bastrop Texas for 17 years. We have been going through this transition for over a year. We have the RV rig we want. Listed the house in July and got an offer in one day, and now we are in the final closing. Since July 4th we have been living fulltime in the RV in the back yard to keep the house clean and get rid of the final furniture we have left. Come Aug 1st this Saturday we will pull the RV over to a nice site we reserved at a new long term campground that just opened up in Bastrop Texas (Bellamont Campground). We'll stay there for the next couple months so the wife can finish out and retire Oct 9th. We already have our Escapee's mailing address and just waiting to turn it on. Sometime in Oct we'll travel over to Livingston and finish up the transition, get our banking moved, register to vote and so on. We have already stayed at the Escapee's park a couple times over the last year or so.  

After that plans are to travel up to Northern Indiana to stay close to the Wife's parents, health wise they are fading fast. Give other family members a little brake. Hopefully before the snow flies we'll travel back down to Texas and probably winter on Galveston Island at the Jamaica Beach Resort. We love Galveston and have been there many times. Then come Feb we can renew our Texas vehicle registrations, visit our doctors and get our yearly check ups and so forth done. Come April or May who knows were we will end up.

It's been a long road to get here, but we can smell the freedom. 

Timely as we are going through this right now so i second what Kirk has said. It is much easier if you have already been living in Texas. We have lived in Bastrop County for 17 years. House is in the closing phase and we have been living in the RV in our back yard. Come Aug 1st we'll move the RV temporarily to a new long term RV park that just opened up near Bastrop (Bellamont RV Park) so the wife can finish out her last 2 months before retirement. We already have our new Escapee's mailing address in Livingston. All we need to do is put in a change of address to our local post office, then go online and get all our records / accounts updated to our new mailing address. In Oct  we'll travel over to Livingston to get our banking transferred, register to vote and so forth. Now that we are living in the RV probably need to Smart Weigh again,,,,,,LoL.

2 hours ago, solber said:

Mission accomplished..... I took (and passed) my written test yesterday for my Class B license. I did ask for a learner's permit and was told that is what I got. You are correct Steven@146, it does cost a bit more, but I figured that since my husband has his Class B license and he would love some help driving our rig from Texas to Oregon in a couple of weeks, I decided it was worth the extra money. This way I can legally help him drive and that was my goal. 

The lady at the DPS office told me that my learners permit would be valid until my Class C license expires in several years.  I find that VERY tough to believe and I won't rely on that answer.  Once we get home from Oregon a month from now, I will have lots of current drive time under my belt and I'll take the drive test.  Looks like I should schedule it now as our closest DPS office is booking appointments in September already!  I'm thinking that I will continue to watch the wait times on line and opt to visit a smaller office for my drive test.  Our local office includes a stretch of driving on I-35 (my husband did this one) and I'm not even thrilled with that in my car, let alone in the bus with a person grading me, sitting in the passenger seat 🙂 Thank you all for the input!

Great! Congratulations! Now on to the fun!

HAHAHA! When I took my driving test we were driving the streets of Austin, 4 lane divided street elevated grass median with concrete curbs. We came upon an auto accident and they had the street closed. We just sat there with the 4 way flashers on. It was going to be awhile, We were the first vehicle in line, the testing instructor ask me if I thought I could move up to the first crossover and use it to make a U turn into the southbound lanes. He said don't worry I'm not going to grade you on a U turn. With a 53 foot rig I took up all the Northbound lanes, made the turn, took up all the Southbound lanes and didn't even touch the concrete curbs with the tires. Didn't need to use a 3 point turn. He said nice turn! We had a good laugh about it. Super nice testing instructor!

I was a little concerned about it too in the beginning. Yes there are some Texas DPS testing locations that do not see this RV issue all that often so there is some confusion at some of the DPS testing facilities. Turns out I didn't have anything to be concerned about. I used two different testing facilities. The local small office DPS where I took the written test, it was easy, the driving test at the Austin / Pflugerville DPS mega center was just as easy, 20 minutes tops. You have to lose 32 points in the driving test to fail. You have to be a real klutz to lose that many points.

Don't be concerned, don't worry about it, its not that difficult, just have all your paperwork ready for them to look at.  You can renew the Class A or B non-CDL drivers license online. My truck GVWR is 14,000# and our 5th wheel is 16,800#.

Yes there is a learners permit available for the time between taking the written test and the actual driving test, but it cost extra and is only good for 2 weeks IIRC. The written testing facility offered it to me, I didn't need it. I scheduled the driving test online as soon as I could. Using the learners permit to drive the rig, you must have a Class A or B licensed driver with you.

 

Steve, Texas Class A Non-CDL licensed

My .02. Looking for our 5th wheel we took a year to pick one. We had Montana, Jayco and Solitude in mind. After reading Trailer Life for over a year, rarely did we see any complaints about the Solitude. Reading as guests the forums for Montana, Jayco and Grand Design Solitude, weeding out the BS from the truth we narrowed our list to Jayco and Solitude. Well at the Austin Texas RV show we fell in love with the Solitude S Class. It had everything we wanted and did not want. We ended up with 30% off MSRP and bought the 2019 Solitude S Class 3350RL in February of 2018. That model is now discontinued and we are glad we bought it when we did. It has been great and have had no problems since purchase. Its never been back to the dealer yet for repair. At 37 feet, its not real heavy but is at 16,800 # GVWR but cargo capacity of 4,478#.

Everyone is different, get your must have list together, research, research, research, then make your pick.

I am new around here but just an FYI for the Ram Cummins, when we bought our 2019 3500 here in Texas it did not have the plug in cord for the block heater. From what I read all Ram Cummins engines have the block heater installed, they just don't give you the plugin cord. For our travels up to Northern Indiana for the holidays, Instead of paying the dealership a high price for the option (which is the cord), I got one off Amazon for a few dollars and just plugged it into the block heater and ran the cord out through the grill. Works great!

 

And yes I usually leave it plugged in all night or if you want like he said, just plug it in an hour or so before you start it. Or don't worry about it, "Wait To Start" then turn on the seat warmers!!!

Well Hello Class of 2020. The Wife and I will be joining ya'll next year. Currently we live 8 miles from Bastrop Texas near Austin. I am retired, Wife will next year in Sept. We will put the house on the market in spring and hope to have it sold before May. Still have to get rid of a lot of stuff yet but we are working on it. We are not new to RVing just will be new to the fulltime lifestyle. We  purchased in February a new fulltime living capable 37 foot 5th wheel and new 1 Ton truck to pull it. We will live in the RV here till Sept then travel up to Northern Indiana and Ohio where the rest of the family lives. Just after the Holidays 2020 will come back to Texas for the winter. Most likely winter in the Bastrop area since  we have lived here 17 years, have lots of friends here and there are now some 30 RV parks in and around this area. Winters here are not bad cold wise. Last night got down to 29* but this afternoon its supposed to get up to 62*. We really also love the Gulf Coast and Galveston Island and will probably share winter time there also. We will keep our Texas residency. Have the Class A Non CDL Texas drivers license already. We recently made a camping trip to Livingston to check it out and got the grand tour of the mail facility. Also did the SmartWeigh while we were there. We will get the paperwork done and transition our residence to Polk county.

We are members of the Escapees Alamo Texas Chapter and attend their Rally's.  Our Rally's are centered around the Texas Hill Country. They are great fun and we have made some good friends with this group.

We have Escapees membership stickers on our truck back window, if you see us stop by and say hello.

Steve & Tami Cass

I am new to the forum but thought I would relate my experience since I just received my Class A Non-CDL Exempt. Yes there is still confusion at the different DPS offices but I got through it with a little problem that was resolved quickly.

My rig 2018 Ram 3500 GVWR 14,000#, RV 2019 5th wheel GVWR 16,800#

March 2019 - I had all the forms filled out a head of time. Paid $11 and took the written test at the DPS office in Bastrop. The Special Requirements and the Combinations test were both required and passed. They gave me a form and instructions how to schedule the Skills Test online before 90 days.

I scheduled the Skills Test at the Pflugerville (Austin) DPS Mega Center for a couple weeks later. Drove my rig to the testing center. Upon checking in for the Skills Test the confusion started. They thought I had a Motor Home towing a Pickup Truck and was taking the test for a class B license. Once I explained to them I had a pickup truck towing a 5th wheel trailer and that I applied for a class A, they looked at the rig and said ok.

The checked  the truck license plate and windshield sticker for being current which includes the safety inspection. You can not renew the truck plate without the passing the safety inspection. Then they checked truck insurance card.

Next was the RV, they went looking for the trailer safety inspection sticker they used to put on the tongue of trailers, but they don't issue those stickers anymore. They are like regular vehicles now, you can not renew your trailer license plate without first passing a vehicle safety inspection. I had the safety inspection report given to me by the RV dealer and it stated the trailer passed inspection, they accepted it and then looked at the insurance card for the trailer.

The Test- checked lights and horn. Had me back up in a straight line for 50 feet. Then on the road we went making turns, changing lanes, stopping at lights, lasted all of 30 minutes and they got me in before my appointment time. Piece of cake! Really nice people at the DPS Pflugerville office!

I found out you can take the written tests and pass them, then pay for a learners permit that will allow you to drive your rig on a class C license BUT you must have a Class A or B licensed driver with you. The permit is good for 14 days and is renewable but you must pass the Skills test before 90 days. When I took the Skills test they asked if I had a learners permit, I said no I didn't think I needed one since my last truck/ trailer combo was under the 26,001 and now my new truck/trailer combo was over the limit. Nothing more was said.