New Family to RV living..

[bluebird]

Elo there, have lived in a motorhome for some months at a time in my life but recently moved to Oregon with my family; initially planning to stay in an apartment (though i hate the idea of signing away months or years of my life to one area when I'm not sure where exactly I want to be right now; shouldn't it just feel right if you've found it and feel like home? I dislike literally throwing away around 1500 a month in rent but I think I won my husband over to switching to fulltime RVing. Just bought a new truck and getting a fifth wheel or camper soon. I am excited; wanting to get something a little outdated but solid bones that we can renovate and live in for awhile while I build up more savings and credit for business plans in future! Then will sell the renovated camper and get an airstream beyond that. Anyway; I want the RV for freedom and fun times. At this point we all want to do some adventuring (me, my husband, 8 year old girl, and dog.) I am having visions of the beautiful places we will venture to and sleep. Quick questions though; hopefully someone has time to answer. Are showers easy to come by still even during the pandemic? Is a small fish tank in a camper doable-anyone does this? 

[sandsys]

2 hours ago, bluebird said:

Elo there, have lived in a motorhome for some months at a time in my life but recently moved to Oregon with my family; initially planning to stay in an apartment (though i hate the idea of signing away months or years of my life to one area when I'm not sure where exactly I want to be right now; shouldn't it just feel right if you've found it and feel like home? I dislike literally throwing away around 1500 a month in rent but I think I won my husband over to switching to fulltime RVing. Just bought a new truck and getting a fifth wheel or camper soon. I am excited; wanting to get something a little outdated but solid bones that we can renovate and live in for awhile while I build up more savings and credit for business plans in future! Then will sell the renovated camper and get an airstream beyond that. Anyway; I want the RV for freedom and fun times. At this point we all want to do some adventuring (me, my husband, 8 year old girl, and dog.) I am having visions of the beautiful places we will venture to and sleep. Quick questions though; hopefully someone has time to answer. Are showers easy to come by still even during the pandemic? Is a small fish tank in a camper doable-anyone does this? 

Welcome to a great group of people who will help you however we can.

Winter in an RV in Oregon is not going to be pleasant. It can be done but with what you'll likely pay for fuel to run the furnace you may not save any money over renting an apartment and you certainly will not even then be as warm.

Many places have closed their shower facilities during this pandemic with no idea of when they will reopen.

I can't imagine a fish tank in a trailer working. An RV is basically an earthquake moving down the road. How will you keep the water in the tank?

Linda Sand

[bluebird]

1 hour ago, sandsys said:

Welcome to a great group of people who will help you however we can.

Winter in an RV in Oregon is not going to be pleasant. It can be done but with what you'll likely pay for fuel to run the furnace you may not save any money over renting an apartment and you certainly will not even then be as warm.

Many places have closed their shower facilities during this pandemic with no idea of when they will reopen.

I can't imagine a fish tank in a trailer working. An RV is basically an earthquake moving down the road. How will you keep the water in the tank?

Linda Sand

Hello thanks for your response...Im a believer in if there's a will there's a way-and that being positive allows you to see all possibilities while doubting yourself shuts you down from everything but worries or what ifs that arnt even here in the now but things that can be overcome if you can take things one step at a time; locking you into nothing better than what you have..not everyone shares that philosophy but hey to each their own. I typically lower the water line to a couple inches if I'm moving the tank which lately I've had to do quite a bit; it works fine and tank life is good. Just wanted to hear if other people had experience with it and any tips and tricks they learned. We just have a betta and some snails. I have a glass lid that goes on top to keep from splashing, getting an in water filter, and replacing sand with gravel so it does not swish during travel. Ok then-am looking into places with full hookup if I have to til the pandemic clears up-was curious on experiences people are having with showers outside of that though since we wanted to do some sight seeing on weekends mostly. Interesting you mention winter being harsh here lol...I just came from Michigan (I've lived in Oregon for a few years before as well along the coast); this isn't much of a brutal winter if you ask me-it's usually warm enough to rain instead of snow most winter atleast where I've stayed-...a single small space heater keep an entire small 2 bdrm house decently warm from freezing temp. I didn't mention boon docking; that isn't the plan for now but will likely get a diesel heater if I desire that in future!

[Kirk W]

Welcome to the Escapee forums! We are here to help so you did come to the right place. 

9 hours ago, bluebird said:

Are showers easy to come by still even during the pandemic?

This question leads me to suspect that you have very little, if any knowledge of modern RVs. It would be a very unusual fifth wheel trailer that didn't have a shower and toilet in it. If you stay in longer term campgrounds you will also have a connection to water, electricity, and sewer, which means that there is really no reason that you can't shower as needed in your RV. If you are thinking of parking the RV somewhere other than in an RV park, then you will have a need for all three of the connections, water, sewer & electricity just to live there each day. 

You didn't say where in Oregon you have in mind to live, but the amount of winter experienced can be quite wide ranging, depending upon what part of Oregon. There is no part of Oregon that will not get cold enough to require use of the furnace most of the time, so propane will be needed. Coastal areas will usually see temperatures in the 40's, and very wet, with occasional temperatures below freezing, while eastern Oregon does commonly get well below freezing and experience snow. What you do not seem to grasp is that an older RV will not be well insulated and so will require significantly more heat than would a house of similar size. Compared to MI, Oregon winters are mild, but they are wet and cold, particularly for an 8 year old. 

5 hours ago, bluebird said:

Ok then-am looking into places with full hookup if I have to til the pandemic clears up-was curious on experiences people are having with showers outside of that though since we wanted to do some sight seeing on weekends mostly.

I'm not quite sure what you are thinking of in terms of places to stay? RV parks for long term living do have full hookups, and most places that have no hookups also have no shower facilities. In addition, you will need laundry facilities and if the RV has those, it will require a water connection and sewer connection. You also mention renovating the RV, which leads me to wonder where you plan to live while doing that, what your skill levels are and how familiar with RV construction the two of you are? Where do you plan to live while doing this and how long do you expect that to take? Have you budgeted to be able to replace the RV appliances as needed, since any RV of 10+ years old may need some/all of them replaced?  How large a budget do you have for buying the RV and renovating it? 

There is no doubt that what you are proposing can be done. The question that you should be asking is, are we people who can do this and be happy doing it? 

[fpmtngal]

IMHO, I have an RV to use the facilities, including the shower.  I don’t use campground showers unless I have to for some reason, I much prefer my own.  

As others have pointed out, many campgrounds have closed their restrooms and showers completely, only accepting fully enclosed rigs.  And I spent 2 months at a very lovely resort type of campground that didn’t have showers and toilets at all.

Some people I know compare an RV (at least trailers) as being constantly subjected to a 6.0 earthquake.  Being originally from California, I know what a 6.0 earthquake feels like and a lot can happen to something subjected to those kinds of forces.  And I make sure my stuff won’t be tossed around, fly out of cabinets, shift if subject to an emergency stop or evasive maneuver for some reason.  I’ve seen such things happen - for instance, I thought a railroad crossing looked level, but it wasn’t.  I hit it too fast for how rough it was, and found when I got to where I was going, a valance and blind over a window had fallen down - the screws had pulled loose from the cabinet above where it was mounted.  Granted, this was my mistake, but I really had thought the crossing looked well maintained and smooth.  A fish tank might be problematic under those conditions.

Good luck with it.

Edited August 19, 2020 by fpmtngal

[kurtsara]

5 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Welcome to the Escapee forums! We are here to help so you did come to the right place. 

This question leads me to suspect that you have very little, if any knowledge of modern RVs. It would be a very unusual fifth wheel trailer that didn't have a shower and toilet in it. If you stay in longer term campgrounds you will also have a connection to water, electricity, and sewer, which means that there is really no reason that you can't shower as needed in your RV. If you are thinking of parking the RV somewhere other than in an RV park, then you will have a need for all three of the connections, water, sewer & electricity just to live there each day. 

You didn't say where in Oregon you have in mind to live, but the amount of winter experienced can be quite wide ranging, depending upon what part of Oregon. There is no part of Oregon that will not get cold enough to require use of the furnace most of the time, so propane will be needed. Coastal areas will usually see temperatures in the 40's, and very wet, with occasional temperatures below freezing, while eastern Oregon does commonly get well below freezing and experience snow. What you do not seem to grasp is that an older RV will not be well insulated and so will require significantly more heat than would a house of similar size. Compared to MI, Oregon winters are mild, but they are wet and cold, particularly for an 8 year old. 

I'm not quite sure what you are thinking of in terms of places to stay? RV parks for long term living do have full hookups, and most places that have no hookups also have no shower facilities. In addition, you will need laundry facilities and if the RV has those, it will require a water connection and sewer connection. You also mention renovating the RV, which leads me to wonder where you plan to live while doing that, what your skill levels are and how familiar with RV construction the two of you are? Where do you plan to live while doing this and how long do you expect that to take? Have you budgeted to be able to replace the RV appliances as needed, since any RV of 10+ years old may need some/all of them replaced?  How large a budget do you have for buying the RV and renovating it? 

There is no doubt that what you are proposing can be done. The question that you should be asking is, are we people who can do this and be happy doing it? 

Are they asking if showers are available in the campground showers?

[2gypsies]

I think your question of showers has been answered.... RVs have showers.

Fish tank? Give it a try. I've not heard of anyone having one but perhaps you can get it to work.  You said you only have one fish so it's worth a try.

Airstream in the future?  If staying in cold climates they aren't very well insulated.  We have a friend who was in Arizona and was freezing at night.  They also don't make good use of storage for a full-timer.  However, anything can and has been done.

Good luck!

[sandsys]

Do you know about earthquake putty, sometimes called museum putty? It helps keep things in place while moving your trailer. I'd put some under the fish bowl and again under the glass top before moving. That should help as well as your plan to lower the water level. Having only one fish also helps. 

You do need to consider the insulation in an RV as well. It has nowhere near the R value of that in a house or apartment. Plus having the underside of the RV exposed can be a problem as well. Some people skirt the RV with insulating materials to help with that. Some RVs have enclosed tanks that are heated by furnace ducting but some have tanks that just hang from the bottom of the RV so are more susceptible to freezing. You might want to read up on RVs designed to withstand colder weather. Arctic Fox is one brand. Our experience is that temps can get down in the 20s at night as long as they get back up into the 40s during the day without damaging exposed tanks. If you are determined to do this, you will find the ways to make it happen. Just keep on researching and asking questions and we'll try to help you get there.

Linda Sand

[kurtsara]

7 hours ago, 2gypsies said:

I think your question of showers has been answered.... RVs have showers.

I think they are asking if campground showers are open. 

[Star Dreamer]

There are ways to smooth out the ride on a 5th wheel but they can be expensive, there are air ride 5th wheel hitchs and air ride suspensions. Also the location you put the fish tank will help with motion. Do not locate it behind the trailer axles, (think of riding in a school bus at the very back). The longer the distance is between the hitch and the trailer axles will give a smoother ride. You will find storage in a 5th wheel much better than an Airstream.