How would you arrange your "love it or hate it" voyage?

[TherapyBound]

*******

[Zulu]

Good question, but I don't think a week is enough time to give you the feel of anything, except driving fast.

Boondock for a week, stay in a campground for a week, etc. but don't try it all.

[TherapyBound]

*******

[sandsys]

I would spend a few nights at Larry & Penny Thomson campground near Miami to get familiar with the rig then a couple nights in the Everglades to get a feel for the boonies then wing it from there depending on what I learned from those nights.

https://www.miamidade.gov/parks/larry-penny.asp

https://www.nps.gov/ever/planyourvisit/camping.htm

Linda

[chiefneon]

Howdy!

Depending on what part of the country your in for boondocking. For us when we boondock we like the weather to be comfortable enough to sleep at night. We don’t run a generator to use AC during the night. 

“Happy Trails”

Chiefneon

[Kirk W]

A week is hardly enough to test several lifestyles. I don't think that you should even think that is what you are doing but rather that you will be familiarizing yourself with RV travel. Keep in mind that there are many, many different ways of living in an RV and that the choices are only limited by your imagination. Since you are in Florida, I would agree with what Linda suggested and do so knowing that you will only scratch the surface and mostly learn about the RV. Being in FL you have access to a very wide range of RV park facilities and what amenities will be depends to some degree on the time of year that you choose to take the week trip. The Everglades NP has some great camping oportunities for getting away from the city but Florida has nothing to match the Bureau of Land Management's LTVA's where you are truely away from all city, and no remote areas like the national forests of the west where you may not even see any other RVs. With only a week to spend, do not try to cram in too much or it will be all work and little or no play. This life is supposed to be fun so make sure that you choose some things which will be. This is to be a trial run and not an endurance test. 

[TherapyBound]

*******

[remoandiris]

17 minutes ago, Bigthinkers said:

 We've got one week (that's non-negotiable), and we want to familiarize ourselves with the BASIC functions of staying in a campground and staying off-grid. We know it won't teach us everything we need to know. We do think it will help us get a tiny glimpse into things like how to hook up; how to pull into a space; how to put the slides out; how to cook without setting off the fire alarm; how to shower without draining the tank; how to fill and empty the tanks; we're talking BASIC.

Move daily.  First night campground, second night boondock, then repeat.  After a week of that, you will have your tiny glimpse and BASIC understanding.

[Kirk W]

41 minutes ago, Bigthinkers said:

how to cook without setting off the fire alarm;

Now if you manage to achieve that you will have acomplished much! Part of the problem is the proximity of the alarm to the stovetop in many RVs. If the rental RV has a range hood you can probably succeed, but if it doesn't you will have a major challenge.  We still set ours off from time to time. The key is to know how you get the battery out before you cook much. 

[TherapyBound]

On 6/15/2019 at 9:41 PM, Kirk W said:

Now if you manage to achieve that you will have acomplished much! Part of the problem is the proximity of the alarm to the stovetop in many RVs. If the rental RV has a range hood you can probably succeed, but if it doesn't you will have a major challenge.  We still set ours off from time to time. The key is to know how you get the battery out before you cook much. 

*******

[sandsys]

2 hours ago, Kirk W said:

The key is to know how you get the battery out before you cook much. 

It also helps to have someone tall enough to reach the smoke detector. Then you open doors and windows and turn on fans. And don't put the battery back before you are done eating so all the smoke has time to dissapate.Yep, we all know to be prepared to do all that.

Linda

[FL-JOE]

Okay, you are in Florida and you will be doing this short rental "experiment" within 100 miles or so.  I assume you will be doing it during the summer, or at least not during the winter when the snowbirds flood into Florida?

What immediately comes to mind for me is all the issues involved with trying to boondock in Florida in the summer.  You will probably either be running your generator for air conditioning the whole time or sitting around in your underwear.  I think I would skip any idea of trying to boondock or dry camp in a rental RV in Florida during the summer.

Why not just pick 3 different available campgrounds and visit them for a certain number of nights.  That will give you a little road experience and some experience setting up and breaking camp in different locations.

I think you are reading too much into a "dry run" or a test run.  Just keep it simple and enjoy the week or so in the rental, since it will be very expensive.

[TherapyBound]

*******

 

[sandsys]

2 hours ago, Bigthinkers said:

This is meant to be specifically focused on brushing up on the basics of Rv-ing and get a feel for being in a campground and being without hookups.

Being in a campground does not mean you have to use the hookups. In fact, it's where I go to test tank limits since I can just use the tanks until I need to use the amenities but then they are right there. But, running a generator in a campground that does have hookups can make neighbors unhappy. We were once parked so close to neighbors they didn't even like the sound of our water pump so we had to use city water instead of water from our tank. We preferred using from our tank to have a reason to refresh it frequently. That neighbor noise is one of the reasons I suggested Thompson park--their sites are spaced around the outside of a circle so the neighbors aren't as close as in some parks. And the Everglades are far enough off the beaten track to help you understand what it means to have the grocery store be miles away although a week may not be long enough to actually experience that.

Linda

[Twotoes]

Since you only have a week I would start out in a State Park with no hookups. If it has hookups don’t use them. May go to two different parks so you get the feel of moving around and backing in etc. Do this for the first 3 nights. See where your tank levels are at and then double them as if it were a week and you will know how long you can go without hookups. Run your generator to recharge your batteries. This will give you some indication of how long you can go on a charge without shore power. Then for the balance of the week go to a campground or two. Hook up each time to get the experience. Dump your tanks at least twice to get the experience. Have fun, enjoy. 

[sandsys]

9 minutes ago, Twotoes said:

Dump your tanks at least twice to get the experience.

Add lots of water through the toilet first. You need a full flow to get a good dump.

Linda

[TherapyBound]

*******

[FL-JOE]

20 hours ago, Bigthinkers said:

We'll be doing this in October. We're in the tourism industry, so we know when busy seasons are, and where we can be in Florida in October and avoid most of the influx. We'll head up into the panhandle. We're not looking for any particular "experience" (we know the state extremely well; there's nothing we need to see or do here).

This is meant to be specifically focused on brushing up on the basics of Rv-ing and get a feel for being in a campground and being without hookups. It's not meant to be a vacation.  Because our extended travel will be primarily business-related, we want to get an idea of what we'll need to pay attention to to make that work, hence wanting to get a brief feel for campground AND boondocking. We know what most of the challenges will be, but there's nothing quite like DOING it and having to problem-solve to help focus the mind.  

 

I guess if you are only trying to "brush up on the basics of RVing and get a feel for being in a campground and being without hookups" a short term rental would be one way to go.  Good luck with your adventure.

[TherapyBound]

*******

[2gypsies]

6 hours ago, Bigthinkers said:

That's great advice, sandysys and Twotoes. Hadn't thought about just not using the hookups. It really is about getting a feel for how much water we use, how quickly tanks fill, how our energy consumption is, how to hook up hoses, etc, so I don't suppose we HAVE to be out in the boonies to do that. Hadn't really considered that idea.

Thanks to all for your replies! They really do help fine-tune my focus.

This is exactly what I would recommend.  Go to a state park with  full hookups, if possible, since you seem to want to experience public parks.  Come into the park with a full tank of fresh water and empty grey and black.  The first days do what they call '"dry camping" ( in a campground without hookups).  See how much water you use and how fast the other tanks fill.  See how long it takes before running out of power.  When any of them needs help then plug in for the remainder of your stay and you'll probably need to dump the grey, at least.  A full hookup site will help.  This will give you a basic idea but definitely not foolproof.

As to not setting off the smoke alarm when cooking - we had a plastic bowl cover with elastic (not a stiff plastic) that we found in a .99 store.  I believe it came in a set of 3 sizes.  One of them was a size that fit over the smoke alarm in the kitchen area.  If we were going to make toast, especially, we'd put the cover on the alarm (stored with our toaster so we always knew where it was).  That solved the problem.  You have to remember to remove it though!!  It seemed that only toast set off the alarm.  We never fried foods other than eggs & the alarm didn't go off with eggs.

[TherapyBound]

*******

[jpatrickc]

You can allways boondock or dry camp in a campground. Just disconnect your power and water. Fill your water tank and make sure your battery is charged then disconnect. The advantage of doing this is that if you run into a problem with water or run out of battery power you can easily connect and not ruin your day. 

[JimK]

My wife and I bought an Rv and parked it in the driveway for a few months while we finished our jobs, finished downsizing, and got the house on the market and sold it.  There was no time for some sort of test run.  We did check out the appliances and systems, modified the storage and replaced the mattress.  Other than that the only use was for a temporary home for the cats when the house was being checked out by prospective buyers.  When the house sold, I retired and we took off in the RV.

Learning to operate an RV is not rocket science.  A great many things are similar to staying in a small house or apartment and the differences are easily mastered.  

Anyway I don't see much point in spending a few days getting used to a rental RV.  If you are trying to decide if the RV lifestyle is for you, a few days are not likely to help.  I think it took us about 3 months to get used to living in an RV full time.  We traveled almost daily so it was disorienting to wake up in new locations, often new States.

[TherapyBound]

*******

[scouserl41]

Try this. Pick a campground that appeals to you. Camp half the week with hookups. Unplug from the hookups for the other half of the week. That way you can always plug back in if something goes wrong. Enjoy!!

BnB