But absolutely for us!
As I sit listening to the meadowlarks and other song birds serenading us out on the prairie, and watch the winds sway the tall grasses to an unspoken melody, I know that we made the right decision to go full-time! How else could we have the time to fully enjoy the splendid scenery and history that is our United States?
In our 40+ hour work week lives, we didn't have more than a few weeks vacation and it was never enough! We'd be back to Monday and the grind again before we knew it!
We've been married for 15 years, have spent the past 4 plus years together 24/7 in our rig. This life style isn't for everybody, but there is a growing percentage of Americans that have decided to trade "time" for the "things & stuff" of "normal" day to day existence. Off the grid, but not out of the loop.
With our satellite internet, solar panels, inverter and some sunshine we are as connected as we want to be with the outside world. And the natural world is just outside my window!
RV Camping Home
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Thursday, May 31, 2007
RV Camping over Memorial Day Weekend!
Ahhhh, Memorial Weekend! The "traditional" beginning of summer.....pools are opening, people are digging out the fishing tackle, and shaking out the camping equipment.
Most people decide it's a good weekend to "head for the hills" here in Colorado. For many of them, this may be the first and only weekend they camp all year!!! May seems just a bit too early for camping in the high country and this past weekend was no exception with snow levels around 7500 feet.
We opted for the lower elevation start to the summer in the Comanche National Grasslands in Southeastern Colorado, near La Junta. We were with family and friends that had been planning this trip since January, so we were all ready for a fun few days together out on the prairie. The wildflowers are as beautiful as you'll ever see with all the snow on the eastern plains this past winter.
Lots of awesome food and fellowship, campfires and laughs, a trip into Pinon Canyon to see the largest dinosaur track site in North America, and a tour of Bents Old Fort turned our 3 days into a really good time for all of us! We had a blast!!
Did we mention rattlesnakes? Yes, the prairie rattlers are out, and I got to see my brother do a real live impromptu snake dance that would have made Dancing with the Stars proud!
Comanche National Grassland Travelog
RV Camping Home
Most people decide it's a good weekend to "head for the hills" here in Colorado. For many of them, this may be the first and only weekend they camp all year!!! May seems just a bit too early for camping in the high country and this past weekend was no exception with snow levels around 7500 feet.
We opted for the lower elevation start to the summer in the Comanche National Grasslands in Southeastern Colorado, near La Junta. We were with family and friends that had been planning this trip since January, so we were all ready for a fun few days together out on the prairie. The wildflowers are as beautiful as you'll ever see with all the snow on the eastern plains this past winter.
Lots of awesome food and fellowship, campfires and laughs, a trip into Pinon Canyon to see the largest dinosaur track site in North America, and a tour of Bents Old Fort turned our 3 days into a really good time for all of us! We had a blast!!
Did we mention rattlesnakes? Yes, the prairie rattlers are out, and I got to see my brother do a real live impromptu snake dance that would have made Dancing with the Stars proud!
Comanche National Grassland Travelog
RV Camping Home
Friday, May 25, 2007
RV Camping - Boondocking Location Access
We boondock almost continually, so we feel pretty experienced when it comes to finding good places to camp. You must keep in mind that our boondocking rig is a 36' class A diesel pusher motor home, so good boondocking location access is a constant issue for us. There are people that would argue that what we use for boondocking is too big, but since we also live full time in our RV, we actually think we have the perfect rig.
Access issues for us include overhanging trees and rocks, road width and strength of road and campsite surface. Strength of road surface will vary from place to place. In Arizona, a section of old Route 66 is open to vehicle traffic, and the rough broken asphalt looks inviting to us. Beware of places like this because the old water overpasses may not be safe for your vehicle's weight! A tow truck would have a devil of a time extracting your RV if the bridge broke.
Forest Service roads are often quite well maintained, but beware of narrow sections in turns where water may have eroded the edge of the road. Many an RV has become trapped in a washout or have slipped off the road entirely in such places.
Currently, we're camped 8 miles up a gravel road. When we came in, the road was dry and smooth. The night after we set up camp, we got almost 2" of rain. We took the Jeep for a drive on these rain soaked roads, and I can assure you that trying to access this area during wet weather would be impossible with a large RV. We've now had a couple days of dry and the road is back to its smooth hard surface.
We think knowledge of weather is almost as important as where we camp because is will impact our ability to enter or leave and area. We don't head into unfamiliar areas with the motor home, and explore first with our Jeep. We seldom have a problem finding great boondocking locations accessible with our rather large RV.
RV Camping Home
Access issues for us include overhanging trees and rocks, road width and strength of road and campsite surface. Strength of road surface will vary from place to place. In Arizona, a section of old Route 66 is open to vehicle traffic, and the rough broken asphalt looks inviting to us. Beware of places like this because the old water overpasses may not be safe for your vehicle's weight! A tow truck would have a devil of a time extracting your RV if the bridge broke.
Forest Service roads are often quite well maintained, but beware of narrow sections in turns where water may have eroded the edge of the road. Many an RV has become trapped in a washout or have slipped off the road entirely in such places.
Currently, we're camped 8 miles up a gravel road. When we came in, the road was dry and smooth. The night after we set up camp, we got almost 2" of rain. We took the Jeep for a drive on these rain soaked roads, and I can assure you that trying to access this area during wet weather would be impossible with a large RV. We've now had a couple days of dry and the road is back to its smooth hard surface.
We think knowledge of weather is almost as important as where we camp because is will impact our ability to enter or leave and area. We don't head into unfamiliar areas with the motor home, and explore first with our Jeep. We seldom have a problem finding great boondocking locations accessible with our rather large RV.
RV Camping Home
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
RV Road Service
We're sitting on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere and not moving until we get the major diesel fuel leak repaired, or a huge tow truck arrives.
The Story...
We stopped for lunch, started walking the dog, and while the inter-cooled diesel was idling and cooling down from highway speed cruising, we saw fluid leaking from the back of the motor home. A glance at our towed Jeep found diesel covering its front end, so we stopped the engine, had lunch, and investigated the source of the leak.
Brian quickly discovered a bolt, or plug of some type had "disappeared" from the fuel distribution block causing our serious leak. We're lucky to have a good physical breakdown location as we're well off the road, only problem is no cell phone service.
We set up our Datastorm Internet antenna and looked for auto parts in the nearest town (25 miles). Since it's late in the day, we decide to spend the night along this quiet state highway, and take the Jeep into town in the morning for parts since it looks like an easy repair. Auto parts guy was helpful, and away I go with what I think I need. Get to motor home, only to find out that finding the correct plug to go into the fuel block is going to be a problem. What I bought doesn't fit!
Back into town and call our road service Coach-Net.com. At first they want to tow our motor home about 75 miles which we don't want. They tell us if we can find a mobile repair closer than 75 miles, they will pay service charge and we will be responsible for parts and labor.
We asked the auto parts guy about a local mobile repair and was referred to a local shop. By this time, it's late in the day, but we are able to arrange for next morning repair with our road service and the mobile repair company. The reason I don't give these guys a plug is that they don't do much mobile repair, and they don't want to be considered a mobile repair company. We were lucky that we went into town and inquired, otherwise a phone call would have been turned down.
Repair guy showed up, and we're on our way. Coach-Net covered the service call charge, and we paid for a simple repair. This is only our most recent experience with Coach-Net. In the last 4 years, we've need them for 2 flat tires, and one other mobile service call. "Two Thumbs Up!"
RV Camping Home
The Story...
We stopped for lunch, started walking the dog, and while the inter-cooled diesel was idling and cooling down from highway speed cruising, we saw fluid leaking from the back of the motor home. A glance at our towed Jeep found diesel covering its front end, so we stopped the engine, had lunch, and investigated the source of the leak.
Brian quickly discovered a bolt, or plug of some type had "disappeared" from the fuel distribution block causing our serious leak. We're lucky to have a good physical breakdown location as we're well off the road, only problem is no cell phone service.
We set up our Datastorm Internet antenna and looked for auto parts in the nearest town (25 miles). Since it's late in the day, we decide to spend the night along this quiet state highway, and take the Jeep into town in the morning for parts since it looks like an easy repair. Auto parts guy was helpful, and away I go with what I think I need. Get to motor home, only to find out that finding the correct plug to go into the fuel block is going to be a problem. What I bought doesn't fit!
Back into town and call our road service Coach-Net.com. At first they want to tow our motor home about 75 miles which we don't want. They tell us if we can find a mobile repair closer than 75 miles, they will pay service charge and we will be responsible for parts and labor.
We asked the auto parts guy about a local mobile repair and was referred to a local shop. By this time, it's late in the day, but we are able to arrange for next morning repair with our road service and the mobile repair company. The reason I don't give these guys a plug is that they don't do much mobile repair, and they don't want to be considered a mobile repair company. We were lucky that we went into town and inquired, otherwise a phone call would have been turned down.
Repair guy showed up, and we're on our way. Coach-Net covered the service call charge, and we paid for a simple repair. This is only our most recent experience with Coach-Net. In the last 4 years, we've need them for 2 flat tires, and one other mobile service call. "Two Thumbs Up!"
RV Camping Home
Saturday, May 19, 2007
Finding RV Dump Stations
Part of the "fun" of owning an RV is dumping the black and gray waste holding tanks. Finding places to dump the tanks can be a bit difficult when you are traveling unless you are paying for full RV hookup sites.
Keeping in mind that almost every city and town has an RV dump station somewhere, here are some tips to help you find free and fee locations to empty your waste holding tanks.
State & National Parks - Park campgrounds almost always have a dump station available for anyone paying the park day use fee.
Truck Stops/Gas Stations - Many truck stops such as Flying J, and TA (Travel America) have free RV dump stations. Many gas stations also have RV dump stations.
Community & City Parks - Smaller towns often have a city park where camping is allowed that includes an RV dump station.
City Water Treatment Facilities - Many waste water treatment plants offer sanitary dump facilities. You may have to use the same dump station that large septic pump trucks use.
Many state highway rest areas have RV dump stations available free.
Resources for finding RV dump stations vary. Two nationwide internet web sites offer the best information we've found so far. Sanidumps.com, and RVdumps.com have good lists of RV dump locations in all states and Canada.
Ask the local chamber of commerce.
Private RV parks usually let you dump for a price.
Check the yellow pages...call septic pumping companies for a dump station recommendation.
RV Camping Home
Keeping in mind that almost every city and town has an RV dump station somewhere, here are some tips to help you find free and fee locations to empty your waste holding tanks.
State & National Parks - Park campgrounds almost always have a dump station available for anyone paying the park day use fee.
Truck Stops/Gas Stations - Many truck stops such as Flying J, and TA (Travel America) have free RV dump stations. Many gas stations also have RV dump stations.
Community & City Parks - Smaller towns often have a city park where camping is allowed that includes an RV dump station.
City Water Treatment Facilities - Many waste water treatment plants offer sanitary dump facilities. You may have to use the same dump station that large septic pump trucks use.
Many state highway rest areas have RV dump stations available free.
Resources for finding RV dump stations vary. Two nationwide internet web sites offer the best information we've found so far. Sanidumps.com, and RVdumps.com have good lists of RV dump locations in all states and Canada.
Ask the local chamber of commerce.
Private RV parks usually let you dump for a price.
Check the yellow pages...call septic pumping companies for a dump station recommendation.
RV Camping Home
Friday, May 18, 2007
Camping Season...Are You Ready?
With the Memorial Day weekend and the "traditional start of summer" nearly upon us, it's a good idea to be thinking about getting the RV ready for camping season. What really brought this to mind was a family member that decided to pull their pop up camper out of storage early just to be sure that they were ready for the season.
First off, there was the flat tire that needed changing before exiting the storage lot. Now many folks are able to store their RV's on their property so they will know about such things, but our family members live in an area where extended parking of an RV is restricted. Be ready to change a tire if you have to.
They next get the camper home and find out that the water pump didn't get all the water out for winter and is now leaking. Again, if they would have "assumed" that everything was OK, they would have hit the road and had had a difficult problem to live with. By checking early, a new water pump was obtained, and now a trouble free camping trip is in their future.
Don't forget about using checklists so you don't forget a thing. Look around and especially under your RV. Things may loose or leaking that you are not aware of creating an unsafe situation. I've heard too many stories, and seen too many accidents over the years involving RVs to not take safety seriously.
So get your RV ready and head for a great camping site.
RV Camping Home
First off, there was the flat tire that needed changing before exiting the storage lot. Now many folks are able to store their RV's on their property so they will know about such things, but our family members live in an area where extended parking of an RV is restricted. Be ready to change a tire if you have to.
They next get the camper home and find out that the water pump didn't get all the water out for winter and is now leaking. Again, if they would have "assumed" that everything was OK, they would have hit the road and had had a difficult problem to live with. By checking early, a new water pump was obtained, and now a trouble free camping trip is in their future.
Don't forget about using checklists so you don't forget a thing. Look around and especially under your RV. Things may loose or leaking that you are not aware of creating an unsafe situation. I've heard too many stories, and seen too many accidents over the years involving RVs to not take safety seriously.
So get your RV ready and head for a great camping site.
RV Camping Home
Monday, May 14, 2007
The Difference Between Boondocking and Dry Camping
We wish there was universal understanding of the difference between the terms dry camping and boondocking when it comes to RV campsites. RV Camping defines boondocking as remote location camping away from developed camping facilities.
Overnight RV parking locations such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, shopping centers, restaurants, etc. should not be considered boondocking. The same is true for any public developed campground or horse camp. Whenever you are camped on private commercial property, or in public developed campgrounds without RV hookups, you are dry camping.
Boondocking is really advanced RV camping. There is little information about specific boondocking campsites, which means you need a sense of adventure to find great camping locations. Look at any RV magazine, and you will see beautiful pictures of an RV next to a lake or stream with a great view of the mountains beyond. Those pictured boondocking campsites are really out there, you just have to look hard to find them.
Does the difference between dry camping and boondocking really matter? Probably not, but when somebody says they are boondocking at Wal-Mart, I figure they just don't understand that some of us know the difference between dry camping and boondocking.
RV Camping Home
Overnight RV parking locations such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, shopping centers, restaurants, etc. should not be considered boondocking. The same is true for any public developed campground or horse camp. Whenever you are camped on private commercial property, or in public developed campgrounds without RV hookups, you are dry camping.
Boondocking is really advanced RV camping. There is little information about specific boondocking campsites, which means you need a sense of adventure to find great camping locations. Look at any RV magazine, and you will see beautiful pictures of an RV next to a lake or stream with a great view of the mountains beyond. Those pictured boondocking campsites are really out there, you just have to look hard to find them.
Does the difference between dry camping and boondocking really matter? Probably not, but when somebody says they are boondocking at Wal-Mart, I figure they just don't understand that some of us know the difference between dry camping and boondocking.
RV Camping Home
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