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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Traveling cats
Is it easy for them to get behind or stuck behind slide outs? Guess it probably depends on the coach.
Yes, it's one of the things that you really have to watch for. We don't move any slides until all the cats are crated. I made bolsters that fill the slide gaps when the slides are in, so that they can't get into a bad spot when we let them out for rest breaks.
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lj_cox
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11/16/08 06:33pm |
RV Pet Stop
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RE: Traveling cats
We worried about traveling with our three cats when we first got our fiver this year, but by now they're old hands. One of them is letting us know he's ready to be on the road again!
They travel in carriers in the back of our pickup; they seem to prefer being in the carriers to roaming free. Mostly the two calm ones sleep; the skittish one meows a bit but settles down after a while. We made up washable pads for the carriers and we travel with cat cleaning wipes (I figure if it's safe to wipe the cat with it's safe to wipe the carrier with.) If there's an accident (one of ours gets travel sick with rough roads) we wipe out the carrier and change the pad, fast and easy.
Our vet suggested stopping every few hours to give them a break. It turns out every four to five hours is about right for all of us; we set up their water bowls and let them into the trailer for a half hour, go get a meal or a break ourselves, and they're ready to go again when we are.
The only catch is that once we stop for the day the food bowls have to hit the trailer floor right after the cats do. They're quite insistent about that! I do carry fancier food for travel days; 'treat' food helps them all eat and settle back into a routine.
It's a huge plus to this sort of travel that we don't have to worry about them when we're gone.
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lj_cox
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11/14/08 11:00am |
RV Pet Stop
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RE: Dangerous Driving Around Curves or Exits
We've found that we are more top-heavy towing than not. As the technician at the dealership said, after making sure that the deal was done, "You want to be careful, they're tippy."
In our experience the posted speed limits on those caution signs aren't just a good idea anymore, they're a requirement. The trailer tracks significantly inside of the truck, so what is a wide turn for the truck puts the fiver wheels close to the curb. It's not a problem, just another thing to be aware of.
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lj_cox
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10/24/08 05:39pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Asheville, NC to Hiawassee, GA
Everything I've seen about the gas/diesel situation suggests that diesel stocks are ok. Carrying extra sounds like a good idea, either way.
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lj_cox
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10/01/08 08:02am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Asheville, NC to Hiawassee, GA
Thanks for the thumbs-up. Yes indeedy on the advance reservations; I think we got the last space they had that we'd fit into.
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lj_cox
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09/24/08 01:46pm |
Roads and Routes
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Asheville, NC to Hiawassee, GA
We're heading down to Northern GA for the Georgia Mtn. Fall Festival. Looking forward to it but wondering about the route. Google takes us on 40W to 74W, then onto 23/441 down to Franklin NC where we pick up 64W into GA. Then 175 down to 75 to 17. We're driving a F-350 dually and towing a 35 ft fifthwheel. Any insight on the route? Anything to avoid?
Thanks in advance for any help.
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lj_cox
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09/23/08 04:15pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: wash the dishes or paper plates?
Another vote for wash the plates. Paper plates and bowls while traveling, to cut down on chores for travel day, but I just like real dishes better, and since I am the dish washer..
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lj_cox
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09/20/08 10:50am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Holding tanks prep question
Camping World sells Odorlos (sp?), which comes in little packets; that might be it. I've heard good things about it. We're currently using Pure Power, and plan to try something else soon. I think most of the treatments are ok, and I plan to experiment until I'm happy with one.
If you're the one that will treat the tanks, why couldn't you use whatever you like best? Nothing says you can't try each of the two treatments and see which one works best for you. I don't think I'd double up, though. The potential for bad chemical combinations is something I just don't want to mess with.
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lj_cox
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09/17/08 07:04pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: How Do You Level this Thing?
We like lynx levelers, and after a recent trip where the "slope" of the site was due to ruts on one side of the gravel pad (bad rains the week before we got there) I'll be taking the advice here and adding a shovel to the kit. Just a little bit of dirt/gravel moving would have neatly solved our level issue.
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lj_cox
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09/01/08 11:53am |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Basement storage
Is there any other cheaper alternative that anyone has come up with? Maybe sourcing the sliders somewhere else?
For what it's worth, I'd check the RV surplus places. There's RV Surplus in Elkhart and I am sure there are others. They seem to sell everything you'd need to build an RV from the ground up; they must get basement sliders in there from time to time.
Personally, I prefer to use bins.
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lj_cox
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07/18/08 06:15am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Going alone (gulp)
We were just at French Creek State Park a week or so ago. The sites look a little small but we had no problems parking our 34 ft fiver. It's wooded and lovely. Pretty crowded on the weekend, deserted on weekdays. There aren't individual water spigots at every campsite; they're scattered throughout the campground. I didn't see any site where the water was too far away to easily fill the fresh water tank. Lots of chipmunks, bold as brass. Hopewell Furnace Nat'l Historic Site is a short drive or hike from the campground and well worth a visit (small fee for adults); they have a self-guided tour on the weekdays that they're open, and volunteer interpreters doing living history stuff on the weekends.
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lj_cox
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07/01/08 02:51pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Young FT wannabees - nice RVs for growing families?
In my opinion, fifthwheels in general have the best living space of all the RV types. YMMV, of course.
Like you, we wanted to get a unit we'd love for years, not something we'd be looking at trading in a year. My best advice on that front is to take your time to look at a lot of different models, and think about how they would work with you life. I'm very, very glad we didn't have the money to buy when we first started looking. Our fiver (purchased in Feb. after 18 months looking) is very different from the models we started out liking when we were first exploring the concept of RVing.
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lj_cox
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06/29/08 11:32pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Newbie- advice sought
One thing that you will have to watch if you use an RV for this project is carrying capacity. All RV's have maximum weight capacities that should not be exceeded, and books are heavy. Even if you can fit all the books you want to take into the RV's storage, it might exceed the carrying capacity and thus be unsafe. Not saying that it can't be done, just that it's something to watch out for. If you want to load everything up and make one long trip, perhaps a truck and cheap motels or making lodging arrangements with the shelters you are serving might be more optimal. Otherwise, assuming the cargo would exceed capacity, you could plan a series of loops, returning to home base to restock between trips, or plan to ship some of your cargo at set times to pick-up points to reload.
These forums, heated discussions aside, are among the best resources on learning to RV that I've found. Surfing through them and reading the FAQs section will give you a wealth of knowledge on what to expect from RVing.
Good luck with your project; it's certainly worth doing.
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lj_cox
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06/29/08 10:57am |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Where to keep dirty laundry?
We use a mesh laundry bag and it fits neatly in the closet of the fifthwheel. At the end of the trip or on laundry day towels and sheets get added as needed and everything gets hauled off to the laundry.
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lj_cox
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06/03/08 02:54pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Need information on 5th Wheel selection
We recently purchased an '07 Hitchhiker II LS (the lightest of the NuWa brands) and we love it. After 18 months of looking, no one beats NuWa in maximizing storage, and the 32.5 LKSBG is the perfect floorplan for us.
Best advice I have for you is look, look, and look some more. I am so glad that when we first started looking at fifthwheels we couldn't afford to buy; we'dve bought a fifthwheel that we would have been dissatisfied with very soon, because at that point we hadn't really thought about what we liked and didn't like and how we were most likely to use the trailer.
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lj_cox
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05/26/08 03:31pm |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: Filling gas cans & static shock?
I've never seen ANYONE take a gas can, put it on the ground, fill it, and put it back in their vehicle. Have any of you? Do you do that?
I ALWAYS do that. Plus keep the nozzle of the gas line in contact with the rim of the can opening.
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lj_cox
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05/21/08 11:12am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: RV endorsement hassle
no such requirement in Pa.
Actually, in PA if your rig is over 26k lbs GVWR you need a non-commercial class A (for trailers over 10k lbs.) or class B for motorhomes over 26k.
From the PennDOT website: link
What Class of Driver's License Do You Need?
In Pennsylvania, driver’s licenses are issued specifically for the class and type of vehicle you operate. Therefore, the class of driver’s license you should have depends specifically upon the type of vehicle you operate. Generally speaking, the majority of applicants for a Pennsylvania driver’s license will be operators of regular passenger vehicles, pick-up trucks or vans.
Classes of Driver's Licenses
Non-commercial Driver's Licenses
* CLASS A (minimum age 18): Required to operate any combination of vehicles with a gross weight rating of 26,001 pounds or more, where the vehicle(s) being towed is/are in excess of 10,000 pounds. Example: Recreational Vehicle, when the towing vehicle is rated at 11,000 pounds and the vehicle towed is rated at 15,500 pounds (total combination weight of 26,500 pounds).
* CLASS B (minimum age 18): Required to operate any single vehicle rated in excess of 26,000 pounds. Example: Motor homes rated at 26,001 pounds or more
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lj_cox
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05/12/08 11:31am |
Fifth-Wheels
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RE: cats/fleas/what do you use?
We use Frontline. I find the over the counter preparations to be ineffective. Don't feed garlic to cats; it can be toxic to them.
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lj_cox
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05/03/08 02:35pm |
RV Pet Stop
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RE: Any Air Mattress Recommendations?
We intend to replace our sleep sofa mattress with one of these:
Air mattress for sleep sofa
We slept on one when we spent a night in a friend's fifthwheel; very, very comfortable, folds up like the regular sofa mattress, and it's as high as a regular bed. (I have trouble clambering up off the floor some days.)
Hope this helps!
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lj_cox
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04/25/08 07:48am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Floor replacement
Desperado,
What a beautiful job! Thanks for all the hints; I expect this will hit the to-do list one of these days and it's nice to see that it can look so good if we do it ourselves.
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lj_cox
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04/03/08 08:07am |
Fifth-Wheels
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