New member, going full time

[nbsandhills]

Hi, my name is Tina.

We are moving to our next adventure in life and going full time starting next weekend. Right now im still finishing cleaning out the rental house and putting stuff in storage. Am also trying to sort out my camping gear to decide what to take and what to get rid of. Since most of our camping has been tenting and now I have a 5th wheel, I'm finding most of the stuff will fit nicely. Im still planning on packing one tent for hikes but am going to throw the others into storage for now.

I've pulled a gooseneck horsetrailer all over the country in all types of terrain and weather for the last 20+ years. Weights, axles, floors, brakes and tires have always been a priority so I'm hopeful that experience will be a benefit now

The 5th wheel I bought is 29', so a little shorter than the 35ft horsetrailer I've been dragging around. Its an older 5vr (gotta start somewhere) but its been extremely well cared for.

I'm very excited to get started and have been researching like crazy for the last six months. I currently live in Vancouver, WA and I work this area and the Portland, OR area. My job is somewhat flexible, and there appears to be lots of campgrounds around this area but so far they are all full. I've been on numerous waiting lists for about 3 months so far not having any luck, so getting a little anxious about where we are going to go when my lease is up on the rental house next Friday.

If anyone has suggestions please let me know. Thanks!

[Kirk W]

First, welcome to the Escapee forums! We are happy to have you with us and we will do all that we are able to help you.

 

Am I understanding correctly that you do not plan to travel but to just move the RV into one of the local RV parks as a semi-permanent home? If that is what you have in mind you might be able to find a mobile home park which would accommodate you for a reasonable price. I did a Google search on RV parks and found 6 of them listed in that area. Also on Google for Portland RV parks I found 7 more listings. Doing that same search but under Beaverton brought several additional parks.

 

Looking in RVparkreviews.com brings up some 8 Portland listings and looking under Vancouver brought a list of 24 RV parks located there.

Another source might be to visit an RV supply store and get a copy of the Good Sam Campground Guide in paper and use that to locate parks to consider or you could use their internet site to see what they have in that way.

 

I do hope that there is something in this that you find to be helpful. Feel free to join in anytime with comments, questions, or just to join a conversation!

[nbsandhills]

Thanks for the feedback!

Im on all the waiting lists now for rv parks in my area. I wont do a mobile home park even tho a few have rv spaces available. The couple I looked at (mobile home parks) were super sketchy. There is a lot of homelessness in this area and the heroin users are rampant. Most of the rv parks I've researched are clean and safe.

For the next few weeks I had wanted to stay at an RV park with the hopes of getting out into some other more remote areas around mid-june. I want to make sure I'm comfortable with the setup and everything is working properly before taking off for parts unknown and boondocking.

I also have to stay pretty close until the 16th of June, as that's when my son gets out of school. After school is out, I'm going to transfer out of here. Thinking wyoming for a bit, then colorado, new mexico...course that could change depending on my job. plus, transfers sometimes happen in a day and sometimes it can take months. I just dont want to be spending ridiculous amounts of money on rent anymore when we arent planning on being here much and we have no intention of staying much longer. We just moved out here last summer and want to explore a bit before heading back east, however we know for certain now that city life is not for us.

I wish I would have bought a 5th wheel years ago!

[Medico]

Welcome to Escapees and good luck finding a safe place to stay. It's somewhat late for booking sites. Once you get through the first season, plan well ahead for next year.

 

I have never experienced a winter in your area. Do the parks stay open year around? This would be a great question to ask any perspective parks. If not, you might find yourself moving to warmer climates in the winter. Is this something your job will allow?

[LindaH]

The Portland/Vancouver area should be OK during the winter. Yes, it can get cold and rainy, but it would be nothing like trying to survive a winter in an RV in, say, Michigan!

[nbsandhills]

We've only experienced one winter here and it was pretty mild. It got down into the 30's a couple times, and it does rain often.

Our goal is to start traveling east and then south with the hopes my job lets me tranfer as we go. I want to be able to explore the country and see things I've driven by but never had the chance to visit. If that makes sense?

Since we moved here last July, ive had to work 2 full time jobs just to make rent and I'm tired of working 100+ hrs a week just to give it all away. Plus, we haven't had time to see or do anything since we got here as I'm always at work.

Definitely time to cut some expenses and take the opportunity to enjoy life.

Two years ago, we did a trial run camping for 5 months. We tented and travelled the perimeter of campgrounds and parks around the area I was working. At that time, it worked pretty well for maintaining my employment and seeing some awesome country. (We had one solid week of rain/hail and we had marauding racoons, lol) lessons learned and decision made to buy a fith wheel asap! Lol

That experience gave me the opportunity to meet some fulltimers and most were glad to show us their outfits and give us an idea of the fulltimer lifestyle.

Fast forward to now... we are making the plunge next week. The plan is to see as much as we can and then move out towards less populated areas. Its gonna be great!

[Clay L]

A couple of the places you mentioned in your second post could be a real challenge in the winter. You will go through propane like crazy and will have to make sure pipes (water and sewer) don't freeze.

In past years when we were full timers visiting relatives here in Palisade CO in November, we have used 30 gallons in 5 days or so.

[nbsandhills]

A couple of the places you mentioned in your second post could be a real challenge in the winter. You will go through propane like crazy and will have to make sure pipes (water and sewer) don't freeze.

In past years when we were full timers visiting relatives here in Palisade CO in November, we have used 30 gallons in 5 days or so.

I lived in Alamosa for 2 years. Went through 7 chords of wood and two 350 gal tanks of propane during the winter. Beautiful country, but pretty cold in the winter. I think we got above -24 a couple times. Not a lot of wind until spring tho. Love the high mountain desert, probably wouldn't work very well in a 5th wheel. I still want to go back sometime, to visit.