RE: Newbie Question: Do you leave the Water Heater on?
Hi Lindai - sounds like you are at Coyote Valley! If so, you can buy a portable tank and an Extend-A-Stay (they have them at the campground store or Camping World down the road). When the bottle empties, you can put it out and they will come by and pick it up to fill it.
If you have electric heat, that would probably be a bit easier.
--kevin
RE: Full-time Indefinitely
I've only been on the road fulltime for three years now, but I have never had anyone tell me what I have to have or hit me with "what if" scenarios. I have, however, seen a lot of people doing fulltiming a lot of different ways. Actually, I am pretty sure everyone I know does it slightly different than the next guy. We are fulltiming in a 40' diesel pusher, and we have friends fulltiming in an 18' Oliver trailer. We are all having a blast!
That is the real appealing thing about this lifestyle. We are currently living a certain way because I still work fulltime, and as such, we have limited time to see things in the area in which we are. So, we take off afternoons, venture out on weekends, run in to town for breakfast. Other friends we have made are not working as much as I do, and they have all kinds of free time to venture off. But, we have talked and decided that at any time I can cut way back on my work, downsize the rig, and do more venturing.
There are many ways to do things, and usually your way is the best way! Only you know how much you need to cover existing expenses, and living on the road can be super cheap or super expensive. Choose where you want to be and go there!
Good luck and enjoy your adventure!
kevin
RE: Keeping your RV exterior clean
I use a waterless car wash product on the RV and the Jeep. Works great!
--kevin
What's the name of the product you use?
The product is DWG - Dri Wash N Guard. It cleans and leaves a polish, making the process pretty easy. I like it especially because you can use it on any non-porous surface - paint, glass, chrome, etc. It takes me about 20 minutes to do the Jeep, and about three hours to do the entire MH, although I usually just spot clean the MH.
The product does contain petroleum distillates, so I would not use it on a rubber roof. I don't use it on my roof either - I wash it with water a couple times a year when it gets real dirty.
DWG does not contain silicone, Teflon, PFTE, or abrasives. I have been using it for a few years now and am very happy with the outcome and being able to clean my vehicles whenever I want :) A Google search will bring up lots of dealers to buy it from.
Note: Just so that there is no weirdness, I am disclosing that I sell this product. I am not selling it here, but rather recommending it. I used it for a while and liked it so much I started selling it to support my cleaning habit :) It has been discussed on this forum before, so you can do a search to find other testimonials.
--kevin
RE: Just Curiuos..... Carbon Footprint.. House vs RV ?
I am a little confused by some of the replies. I think that no matter what you want to call this "green movement", it is not all bad. With all of the "green" attention, it has made consumers think just a little more. Since the beginning of our modern society, it seems that the thought of using everything we have and then throwing it away was no big deal. Raw sewage in the oceans, plowing down forests as fast as we could cut them. Landfills bursting at their seams.
My reply was much longer, but in its place I would just say don't throw out the bath water. Hopefully all this will give a little attention to our wasteful societal habits. Living in a dirty, cluttered house won't kill you, but it is much nicer when things are tidy. I like to think of the world around me the same way.
I hope I am just reading the replies wrong.
RE: How Many Miles?
Over the three years we have been fulltiming, we have averaged 8k on the RV and 12k on the Jeep. That puts us to about half of the "average".
--kevin
RE: Just Curiuos..... Carbon Footprint.. House vs RV ?
I think the response from the woman is a typical thought when people see large RVs, or trucks, or even SUVs. It is a little surprising she went all eco-terrorist on you :)
I would much rather try to enlighten these folks rather than just tell them it is my right to do what I want because I am an American. I think a lot of people just see a big RV and figure we are driving these around while running the A/C full blast on our 6000 sq ft home. Or that we drive these beasts every day and never sit in one place. Non-RVers don't really get the concept - especially the fulltimer concept.
I like to talk to people about it and let them know that I have made a significant decrease on how I impact our resources. I remind them that I only heat/cool about 400 sq ft of space. I tell them about how 100 gallons of water can last us a week, where the average household uses 100 gallons a day per person. My fridge is less than half the normal size, so I support local grocery stores and fruit/veggie stands - I don't load up at the huge warehouse monster stores that don't buy locally.
We also went from four cars and a house and a condo to one RV and a small car. I spend less each month in fuel because we are no longer commuting, but rather working from home. We use a waterless carwash product to clean the RV and Jeep. We use less water to wash clothes, dishes, and ourselves.
You can then ask them how that adds up on their scorecard :)
No matter where you are on the Green Thing, fulltime RVing consumes less. We use less resources, we have fewer "things", we live more simply. Isn't that essentially the Green Movement?
--kevin
RE: Internet
BigRabbitMan:
Thanks, great info. I'm looking at a very nice coach with a lot of Motosat equipment. I need the best possible internet service for business as the wife and I full time.
I was in the same situation, as I am a fulltimer and work fulltime from the road as a programmer. I needed phone and internet to be able to do this. I ran a satellite setup for a while, but soon found out that it did not solve my needs. The primary issue was that the satellite was not able to handle VPN, which I need to do my work. The other issue was that if I was in a place without cell phone reception, the satellite didn't have the bandwidth to run a voice solution and everything I needed for work (WebEx meetings, for example).
I eventually figured out that being places without cell phone reception will have to wait until I am retired. We now run two Verizon air cards - load balanced in a Cradlepoint router. I am able to run VPN through the router, and still use my other machines outside the VPN. I then have my phone for business, or I use Skype on my non-VPN machine.
I have used park wifi in the past, but typically the Verizon EVDO service is most reliable. I don't miss being out in the middle of nowhere without cell service, because being able to work on the road allows me to fulltime before retirement. I don't feel like I have missed out on any fulltime experience because I plan travels around being in cell range.
EVDO and cell service has been the "best" for my situation.
--kevin
RE: How long have you been Full-timing ?
I was wondering as my DH, myself and our daughter are about to begin a life of full-timing, just how long have "you" been full timing ?
How old were you when you started ? Where do you go in the winter ?
Why did you pick the rig your in ? How many of you full-time with Children ? Just wondering and waiting for the house to sell.
We have been fulltiming 3 years now. We were 43 and 34 when we got started.
In the winter, we follow the warmth. We obviously messed that up, as we are in Denver right now and it is unreasonably cold.
The major reason we picked the rig we are in is because it had a space for a dedicated office. As I am still working, I needed a workspace that would accommodate my sometimes long work hours.
My kids are grown and on their own, but we have met quite a few fulltimers that are homeschooling their kids.
Good luck!
kevin
RE: TV...above cockpit or dash level? Which do you prefer?
... My home TV is mounted about 18" off of the floor. I only have to move my head about and inch to look up where my coach TV would be located.
haha - I was thinking about the same thing. My eyes do this cool thing where they can pivot up to see something that is not exactly at eye level. Couple that with the fact that most of my TV viewing is done in a "relaxed position", as opposed to me sitting straight up with perfect posture. But, then again, maybe my neck-cricking days are still ahead of me...
RE: When Is Enough Enough?
This story is very confusing, for those of us who can fix just about anything.
I can NOT imagine what kind of multiple/serious deficiencies there could be in this proprietary chassis from Tiffin. I gotta ask, what kind of "driving problems" could there be that a shop could not fix readily? Did they leave some structural members out? Did welds break? Did the wheels fall off? WHAT?
I can't imagine that it could be such huge issues, as it did make it from Red Bay to the dealer before it was purchased. So, at least it made it 2k+ miles. Could something major have happened after it arrived at the dealer?
RE: Younger Campers
YAY!!! Sooooo happy to have found the 'younger' crowd. (Although we're in the older group of this crowd seeing as I'm 29 and Josh is 30! lol)
I posted about this a while back and got some grumpy posts saying I need to give the older folks a chance. ;) ...snip...
haha - I have seen the same. Somehow saying that we enjoy meeting and hanging with people in our own demographic it is disrespecting them! However, I can't remember ever reading one of the "grumpy"s posts complaining about kids or bikes or campfires or music or Playstation 3s or staying up past 10pm or ..., where a younger person pipes in with "hey - give us younger folks a chance!!".
heh - I guess that is just the way it goes ;)
RE: luxo dp's with lousy kitchens
We cook dinner probably 5 of 7 nights in our MH. I am pretty sure my rear two burners are getting jealous of Center Front burner. It sees all the action.
Our last MH had four burners, a gas oven, and a microwave. The gas oven turned into storage, which was a waste. That thing would take so long to heat up, then it never cooked evenly. We tried a tile in the oven, and all of the other tricks mentioned here. Baking something in the summer? Forget it. I hated that oven.
Our current MH has three burners and a combo microwave. Between that and the Weber BabyQ, it gets everything done that we need. The convection oven is awesome. It doesn't cook any faster (actual cooking time), but it heats up fast and cooks evenly. We cook pretty simple food, but we aren't heathens.
RE: Younger Campers
jrdbrn - maybe you can look into changing up the places you are going. We are younger (than normal) fulltimers, and it really depends on where we go as to what the crowd will be like. Look for family campgrounds or campgrounds around places known for outdoor activities - water skiing, rafting, biking, 4-wheeling/offroading, etc. The more strenuous or adventurous the activity, *typically* you will find younger crowds.
In my signature is a link to NuRVers.com. It is a website where a lot of "pre-retirement age" RVers gather. We have members in their 20s all the way up. Median age is ~34 years old. It doesn't sound like you are fulltiming, but there are others out there doing what you are doing. However, as we have found out, the older crowd loves to have fun too - they just have earlier bed times :)
--kevin
RE: RV burglary
I must live under a rock. From the sounds of things, it appears that crime is something new. I must have totally missed out on the crime-free society. I remember having a bunch of car stereos stolen from me in the 70's. Maybe it was the 60's and before that our society was so pure.
Nope, couldn't have been the 60's. I was 6 when we went camping in the 60's, stayed in a canvas tent. My dad's Coleman cooler was stolen with his beer. He was not happy.
Must have been the 50's.
RE: Good Sam avatar
You bear the mark of the Beast.
Apparently Affinity Group thought it would be a good idea to apply a scarlet letter to those that have given them money. Hopefully it is easier to get rid of than the spam they send out :)
RE: Where do you do your maintenance?
I try to go with the "don't ask / don't tell" way of maintenance. I have Speedco or Cummins do oil changes, and I will do the other maintenance myself at campgrounds. I usually do it during the week when the population of the park is low, and keep things real clean. I have torn apart my wet bay several times, and although it is obvious I am working on something, I have never been hassled.
I think that rule is to keep parks from becoming oil pits, and I can understand that. However, if I need to fix something before going on the road, I am going to fix it.
I think it you don't make a big production of it and keep things tidy, nobody will hassle you.
--kevin
RE: Anyone have a 2006 HR Ambassador 40 PLQ
We have a 2006 Knight 40PLQ, and the only problem is that this floorplan is so great that I think it will be almost impossible to upgrade in the future. I have walked through a lot of new MHs, and nobody has a layout like this.
We picked this floorplan when we set out to be fulltimers because I needed some workspace, and the "sitting area" in the bedroom looked perfect. I think I have one of the coolest mobile offices ever.
The power from the 330 ISC Cummins is sufficient, although it would be nice to have a bit more push when crossing the Sierras and the Rockies. I have done most of the maintenance myself, and we have had very few issues. The one chassis-related problem was quickly handled by Cummins - they fixed a leaky fuel tank.
The '06 Knight/Ambassador has the same chassis as the Diplomat/Endeavor, so GVWR is the same between the two, but the Dip/End have the power advantage with the larger engine. We run close to GVW and do a bit of mountain driving. We are a little slow on some of the climbs, but nothing too annoying.
We had both A/C units replaced in the first year. I understand that there were a lot of '06s that had A/Cs with bad start capacitors. Other than that, we have really had no issues (other than self-imposed) with any of the house components. Monaco has been great with helping with small issues over the phone. Cummins also seems to be very competent with the chassis, so I would not worry about the Monaco issues of late. You might need them for parts support, or to get information from, but their condition won't harsh your ownership experience at this point (unless there is something majorly wrong with your prospective coach).
It is a great floorplan, and a really nice rig. It is not as fancy as the upper end coaches, but I'm not a real fancy guy. It has exceeded our expectations in our almost three years on the road. I think that if I were to upgrade, I would look at '07 Camelot/Scepter in the 42PLQ floorplan. Can't imagine having a MH now without my office in the back!
Good luck!
