Dreamers

We are a little worried about it. I did fit into 2 places at Costco recently. It was off to the side by the loading docks, so lots of room to maneuver. I have an e bike that we’ll carry on a rack. I was hoping to find something light weight that would carry both of us short distances. We’ll see how it goes.

Thank you Hi again. I wanted to thank everyone on my first reply but it went to just one answer. I was hoping you would tell me that Joe’s RV supply sold replacement caps designed to fit around hoses and cords. A cone shaped stopper cut in half with a hole in the middle would work great if the holes and stopper could be sized right. I guess that doesn’t exist though. We will try the scouring pad ideas first. I want something not too hard to setup and breakdown since we don’t plan to tow anything. I am anticipating some day trips from the campsite. Dreamers (soon to be living that dream)

Thank you

Hi everyone. We finally have our motorhome, a 2022 35’ Fleetwood Bounder. My question is, how do people seal up the openings provided for the hose and the power cable? The Bounder has nice round openings in the water hookup and power compartments that have threaded caps. The openings are plenty big enough for small animals to get in. What do people use to seal these up when they are in use?

OK, seems like we are closing down on this topic. I am quite happy with all of the advice. We'll see if we ultimately go for the upper 30's for length or sacrifice something. The driving school should help us to determine that answer. 2gypsies and Zulu still think my yard trends in max length should/might continue but I don't have the agreement on the 36' yet, so don't hold your breath. I decided to use a micrometer instead of a yardstick to measure it the extra 3 feet and it took forever. Boy, that's a big difference. You have both given good advice too. We haven't been doing test drives in the past, but we weren't ready to buy. We will start doing that if we find something good or very close. Babaraok, your advice is right on, I know. I have read it before and have followed it at dealers. At the show, we couldn't truly check out access of the slides being in, but we want full access to the bathroom and rear bed with the slides in. You never know when a nap might be in order. Sandsys, I still lke your Winnebago. I haven't seen any good used ones yet. Kirk W, I agree about a set budget, mostly. The budget was based more on what we felt would get the job done than on what we could afford. We will need to have the more serious discussion on that to determine a range that we will stick to. Our retirement seems to be in good shape financially. At least based on our expectations. Does your forum have discussions on reasonable cost expectations for extended, not full time, traveling? Maybe we are underestimating things. I'll start checking around on that. Tee Jay, I almost left you out. I don't like how you can't reply directly to individual comments. I haven't seen Country Coach rated that well for reliability. That seems to be mostly what they have at the dealership. Are those better than I've heard?

Thank you all again. I don't mind people making suggestions that work for them and may not work for me. If you briefly explain why, then I can apply that reason to my own circumstances. As for the king bed, I have set it as an absolute requirement. My wife and I were sleeping in a spare bedroom following painting our room. It was a queen size bed and she couldn't sleep at all. I won't buy a motorhome without a king for us. I consider diesel pushers to be superior to gas for comfort and longevity. I'm not stuck on diesel though, especially with the big difference in price. We would love to find a motorhome that meets our needs based on our current expectations on the first try, but we are not so arrogant that we think we know everything that we will find important as we start traveling extensively. I love this group and all the people that have taken time to try to help us. I am very glad I decided to post my question. I haven't looked up the driving schools around here even though 2gypsies gave us the link. I hope we can attend one. It may answer a lot of questions for us. I think we can find a motorhome that meets our living needs if we go to 36', but definitely 37' (sorry Zulu, 40' will never fly for our first MH).

Ok, thanks again. We didn't know driving schools for RV's existed. It sounds like a number of you have used them. Also, we didn't know about the S.M.A.R.T. group. I am a Navy veteran from the nuclear submarine engineering side, so that group sounds real good. We are in the area of Roanoke, VA, so we'll be looking for opportunities around here. Tee Jay, auto leveling is on our must have list. I thought it was all with jacks. Is suspension leveling just a diesel thing or is that available in gas models too, if you know?

OK, so Super C or class A. The Renegade Veracruz looks promising, looking at the current model, which of course is way too expensive. We'll keep our eyes open for used Renegades. The Dynamax used to be rated well, and the construction still is, but I read that their customer service has fallen off. Even if I buy a used model, I may have to deal with their customer service at some point. You all have convinced me that a 36 or longer' model would not be as limiting as I expected. I have seen some very good class A's that meet our needs at 36'. We were really treating the 35' limit as absolute, though. It will now depend on whether my wife could become comfortable driving something that long. I expect to do the vast majority of the driving, but we think it would be good if she could drive it when necessary/convenient. We were offered a deal on a 36' Entegra class A last year for under $100,000 that had everything and didn't buy it because it was too long. We really like the looks of the Newmar's but they seldom, if ever put in a king size bed. We have seen some Winnebago's that are close, so we may look at their options on some of the new sites that you folks have recommended. I wish there were more options for renting in our area (the sticks of Virginia), but there aren't. It seems that we should figure out how important the length is to our ability to both drive it. When we considered 35' a hard line maximum, it didn't matter because she thought that it was at least possible for her to drive something that big. She would be happier with 32' or less but we both realize that there aren't any Harry Potter enchantments on RV's that make them bigger on the inside than the outside. Too bad, where is magic when you need it? At least with the advent of so many slides, we kind of approximate that magic. 2gypsies, thanks for the added advice on the slides. I hadn't thought about the limitations that would exist with slides on both sides. It seems that some flexibility will be more important than usual if we go with a longer motorhome and try to fit into smaller spaces. Thank you all again for your advice and your time. I didn't even have time to reply for the last 2 days, but people kept weighing in for us. My wife and I both grew up in camping families, at opposite sides of the country. Camping families always seem more friendly and outgoing. It's nice that the trend has survived.

Decided this next question should be separate and I haven't studied the forums here for an answer yet. One reason we want to stay under 35' is sate and national park site availability. Is this still a valid breakpoint? The drive-ability difference between a 35' and a 36' can't be much, I wouldn't think, but we need to draw the line somewhere. I have read that campsites are strict on where they draw their lines. 35' doesn't mean 35-6. I imagine their are lots of debates on this. Any comments for us based on what we have shared?

Thank you all so much. I really appreciate so many responses so quickly. Rich & Silvia, we would love to go to the Quartzite show if the virus has calmed down by then. Your Sightseer wouldn't work for us though. Gypsies, thanks for the site. I've done a couple of searches and bookmarked it. It will probably be infrequent that we would have the adult couple and the teenagers at the same time. We have 3 kids, all married. The couple most likely to join us has a 1 year old today. They went with us to Alaska when we rented a motorhome up there before they had their child. The main thing is that at least one of the other beds should be adult couple friendly. They were fine in the overhead bunk in Alaska, but it had a good depth to it. Our daughter with the teens now has a 1 year old too. If they ever join us, there will be a tent along. Kirk, thanks for the invitation and advice. I may join. I plan to join a few groups once we get going. Your top 3 are also my top 3 from my research. The others that seem good are Entegra and Fleetwood. What do you think of them? Phil, thank you. We get so close, I hope you are wrong. I want to hear honest opinions though, even if it's not what we wish to be true. Ray,In's site had a Fleetwood that was perfect until it turned out to be 36'. The site first claimed it was 33' and got my hopes up. We aren't tall or even very big people, but my wife doesn't sleep well if she thinks she's close to the edge of the bed. We want our cake and eat it too, dang it. We'll keep trying for a little while. Ray,In, thank you, I love the site. I am leaning to the class A solution. I believe they have generally better load capacity. I'll make sure to do the math before we buy. Sandsys, I do like the looks of the Journey Express. A diesel pusher that is 34.9' would definitely maximize some things for us. I don't see any on the market right now to really look at. Thank you all again, very much.

Hi everyone. My wife and I both love to travel. We have rented class C's and really enjoyed traveling with family. We have been researching motorhomes for the last 2 years and went to the Hershey show last year. I am less than 2 years from retirement and we are ready to buy. We can't find a motorhome with the features we want. Maybe some of you can help us. Here is what we think we want: Class A or C, 30 to 35'. The upper limit is based on park availability and my wife's comfort level. We want a king size bed for us, and the room for at least 1 other adult couple and 2 teenage girls. We think bunks and a non claustrophobic cabover bed would work. Gas or diesel would both work. We expect to take several cross country trips with just us or with the grand kids (the teenagers). So storage, a decent sized refrigerator a pantry, and enough seating are all very important. We would love recliners because we really like to put our feet up, but we see these in so few floor plans, we don't know if they are realistic. We want a dinette that will seat at least 4. The TV should be easily viewed by those 4 in comfort. So, does this motorhome exist in a reliable brand? We prefer to buy used but may splurge for perceived perfection. We have budgeted around $100,000, so we know the used route is more likely. So far I would just like help with a make, model and year that gets us want we want or very close. If you think some of our desires are misguided, please feel free to help us there to. Thank you. Dreamers of the day we are on the road again.