RE: What kind of gas mileage from the Ford V10?
I drove my 2007 v10, 35' 20,000 rig about a 1000 miles over two days recently. No toad, ran generator for decent amount of the trip, totally TOTALLY had my foot in it...into headwinds half the time, 65mph or more where it was legal because we were in a huge hurry. The good news: When needed, the power is super with this engine, I could pass people and get power when needed. The bad news: MPG was about 6.1 which actually isn't that bad considering how hard I was pushing it. With everybody else's info so far, I'd say the V10 is pretty consistent!
RE: Lake Ozarks Campground close to activities by boat?
Great input Hafta, thanks so much! We'd really prefer not to rent a car, is there "stuff" to do for kids similar to the dam area (as I recall it many many years ago was very kid oriented but if it's now seedy...) is there another area on LOZ that has that kind of action packed atmosphere?
THanks!
Ted
RE: Lake Ozarks Campground close to activities by boat?
Thanks Shirley. Is the Lake map you are looking at online? I've pulled up several but they all seem to be of poor quality in one way or another.
I think the action and resturants is where we want to be so sounds like Deer Valley for us. I looked at their website and sent Bev an email regarding how to reserve a spot. Thanks for all your help!
Ted
RE: Lake Ozarks Campground close to activities by boat?
Looks like Deer Valley or LOZ State park. Would love to hear from folks who've stayed at both and would compare them?
Shirley, which would you pick? Which one is closer to the dam?
Thanks so much! Ted
RE: Camping outside of Camp Grounds? Where?
Tom, that description of Iowa and around Iowa is VERY helpful! Thank you very much. I'll look into all those places. We have a fam reunion in Northern MN every year right on the Canadian Boarder and so the MN Natl Forests are an annual opportunity and I had not even thought of that until you outlined tese "nearby" options for Natl Forest.
THANKS!
RE: Lake Ozarks Campground close to activities by boat?
Odessa...just to clarify, sect 4 site 139 of LOZ State Park?
We will be going during the week, so and before school is out so I hope the big boat traffic is not too bad then?
Thanks all!
RE: Camping outside of Camp Grounds? Where?
Get a copy of this book - Camping with the Corp of Engineers.
http://www.rvbookstore.com/corps.html
According to my copy there some very inexpensive campgrounds at Coralville Lake- $6.00 but they're probably $8.00 now because my book is a little old. There are also some free ones by the Mississippi in both Iowa and Illinois.
At Coralville now it's 10-14 for a standard site at the COE campgrounds.
I guess I'm getting from everyone that "boondocking" doesn't necessarily mean "free" which I thought is what folks meant. I thought that a CG, when they said "I never stay at CG's" included state and county and Corps of Engineer type campgrounds as well. Thus I erronously thought they were camping around at great places for free. I don't mind paying for the sites and the prices seem reasonable, I just wondered if there was something I was missing when it came to boondocking for nothing in decent places. So thanks for all the input, I understand it better!
RE: Camping outside of Camp Grounds? Where?
Ok, so state, county, and federal lands. No National Parks here in Iowa, and when I search the state parks they all charge about the same as a private CG and provide electric, water, sewer, one even has cable. Same with our county parks, all charge about 20-25 bucks a night.
So I guess our parks must charge a lot more than the rest of the states if you are all getting no-fee areas at state and county parks? We don't even need a specific "site" made for camping, but I don't see much in Iowa where you can just pull into public land of some kind and find an area and camp? Anyone from Iowa or the boardering states know of some good spots like that?
Camping outside of Camp Grounds? Where?
I've been reading this forum for over a year now getting advice on purchasing an RV, and it's sooooo helpful! Thanks to all of you for sharing. Now that we bought one, I'm reading more on the topic of using it, camping, having fun with the RV lifestyle!
My question is...I see many folks say things like "we never camp in a commercial campground" or "I have not stayed in a CG for years!" so where are they camping? We could have fun "boondocking" in our unit for a few days at a time, but I'm not sure where you can go do that? Especially if you'd like to run the generator? Where do people go to camp, if not at the campground?
I'm not talking while on your way somewhere, you stop at wally world overnight. I'm talking, where do you camp where you can set up the lawn chairs, have a campfire, hike or fish or whatever with the kids, where besides a campground do you go? We don't need the ammenities like swimming pool, laundry, cable, or even electricity or water so if I could figure out where to go and not have to pay CG fees for stuff I don't need, that would be great!!?? Thanks!
Ted
RE: Lake Ozarks Campground close to activities by boat?
Great info, thanks Shirly. Ok, I love boating 33 miles worth, but I'm not sure the 1 yr old can handle that much (she doesn't like the wind at 40mph for too long and it would take us all day at 12mpg :-)
So, maybe I should be looking at Deer Valley and Frankie and Louies...as it appears to be closer to the stuff? Is the dam mile 0 and then goes up from there?
RE: Lake Ozarks Campground close to activities by boat?
Thanks for all the input folks, keep it coming if any of you have other suggestions, espceially if you've camped/boated in the area with little ones.
Shirley, so am I to understand that Red Oak, close to Capt Rons is also close to several other "stuff" to boat to for the kids to do? Like is there any toursity shopping we can boat up to and dock and go get tee shirts or souviners etc? If they have in out service that is great! Just wonder if they are convenient to the "main drag" whatever that is...and how far would that be by boat...are we talking 2 miles or 12 approximately? When I was there LONG ago, the dam area I thought had most of the stuff, but I have no idea if you could "boat up to that area and dock" to go do the "stuff".
Thanks!
Ted
Lake Ozarks Campground close to activities by boat?
Hi,
We are trying to plan a trip to LOZ during the week before school gets out so we can avoid crowds. We have boys (11, 8, 6) and a baby girl (1) so we actually LIKE the toursity type stuff like cave tours, family friendly resturants, kids activities.
My question is, can anyone recommend a campground with a large boat ramp so we can eaisly put our 22ft boat in with our class A MH...that is also somewhat close by water, via the boat, to "stuff" to do like resturants, activities. I have not been to LOZ for three decades, so I have no idea if there is even a place (by the dam? or otherswise) where we could boat from a campground to the "activities" and then dock the boat (without worry) to go do the fun stuff then boat back to camp?? I suppose we could always take a cab to the camp tours if we didn't want to drive the RV but if we could boat to some type of "pick up" point for that type of thing it would be ideal!
Any info is greatly appreciated! :-)
Ted
RE: Would you consider buying a new Class A today?
ttymeg,
I agree with you analysis on buying new vs new in certain instances and I went through the same dilemma a few years back. I searched and searched for a 'like new' used unit for a deep discount, however when it came down to it I was able to by a brand new unit for less than what most people were trying to sell the exact same 2-3 year old unit for.
Good, great and even outstanding deals are out there and you have to educate yourself before pulling the trigger. It sounds like you have made a great deal and the important thing is you are spending time with your family. Depreciation doesn't really matter when the kids sit back and remember all of the fun things they did with their dad and mom over the summer when all of their friends just sat and played video games.
Best regards!
BIN-GO Silver, I couldn't agree with you more about in the end the cost of an RV is priceless with kids. See my profile for my thoughts on this very thing (I see kids as lunar orbiters!). I would have bought an RV if it cost me four times as much, new or used, as long as it would meet our (6 person plus friends) needs. :-)
RE: Would you consider buying a new Class A today?
Ha, Silver, I agree with you on the "sucker" in the room. No way I paid $75K although there are plenty of USED units for sale at that price which is exactly my point. Now is the time to buy new, as you can get a NEW unit for a used price because of the lack of demand out there.
Sticker on this unit was $107K fully equipped with auto levelers, dvd player, flat screen tv, back up camera, etc., RV Direct price new, which people herald all the time as some ultimate buy price, was around $75K base equipped. Used units with low miles and no warranties are out there for around $65-70K.
Thus if you can get a new one for 10-15K below the used prices and 20%-30% below the RV Direct new price which would be tens of thousands below sticker, then my point is not necessarily to discuss the cost of my unit, but rather to illustrate the point of this thread...this is exactly the time to buy a new unit. The depreciation curve that everyone worries about regarding a new unit will be much less impact, if even at all! In fact, with warranty and the ability to care for the unit, know it's flaws, proactively maintain it, your total cost of ownership right now might very well be much better (cheaper both short and long term) on a new unit than if you buy the unknowns of a used. My point isn't even with my unit, but rather buy new as a concept in general based on the thread question...as I think these deals are out there on new models of every genre.
I just took my new unit in to the shop for a few minor issues (broken drawer, auto jacks needed computer reset, caulk behind bathroom sink peeling a little, step out light not working, fender support needed to be redone in one place, short or lose connection in the back up camera wiring, that type of stuff) and it was all covered under warranty. Used unit, this would have cost me in either several hours time spent (when I could be camping) or in $$ to the shop. Thus the point in cost of ownership is what I was trying to illustrate.
I'm sorry if the "joe public" phrase seemed offensive, I didn't mean it that way. When I talk to my analyst about stocks he uses that as a generic term regarding the "buying consumer" all the time so I never thought it offensive.
RE: Would you consider buying a new Class A today?
Yes, I just did after over a year of looking at them. We got an OUTSTANDING deal on a new class A, 2007 still on a dealer's lot. Now that the 2009's are rolling in, and the economy and gas prices are causing supply to outpace demand there are deals deals deals! If you look at the cost of gas people freak out about 10 cents...if you drive 10,000 miles in a car per year and get 20 miles to the gallon *being conservative here, that's 500 gallons a year times 10 cents is $50 folks...so let's say it goes up 50 cents, that's $250...so eat out at Olive Garden 5 fewer times a year? If gas is that big a concern, then probably doesn't make sense to look at a new "anything".
The way you get ahead in life is contrarian thinking. When Joe Public thinks SELL, you buy because things are on big-time sale. When Joe Public thinks, buy buy buy, you SELL at huge gains from what you bought at when Joe Public was freaked out and selling at huge discounts (like right now). I bought my MH for way WAY under wholesale NADA. Avg Retail...a joke, tens of thousands less than that. The dealer was happy, I didn't screw them or have any kind of inside deal relationship-wise or anything, they needed to move the unit and handed me the keys below what they paid. I think I could eaisly sell it for what I bought it for in about 3-4 years. I bought new, with the new smell, new everything, new factory warranty and components warranty...for less than most folks are trying to sell similar models 3-8 years old with all their inherent problems.
Yes, absolutely buy things now, new. Now is the time.
Well, tell us what you bought and what you paid for that two year old lot queen? I hope you changed all of the fluids since it has probably been sitting on the lot since mid 2006.
Silver, it's a 2007 model year Mirada 350DS. While the dealer would prefer I don't blab the price all over the place, if you really truly want an idea when I say "outstanding deal way under wholesale NADA", do a search on 3-5 year old comparable entry level similar quality gasser class A's for sale by private parties that have two slides and when you get a feel for that price range, take about 15-20K off that and you'll likely be guessing close to my buy price.
Thanks for the tip on fluids, but in my PDI we went through all the fluids and they changed them and I stayed overnight in the unit at the dealers property, at their invitation, as they have hookups for new customers just for such purpose(a nice touch I thought and contrary to so many who seem to get rush job PDI's) to go through and check every detail out that I wanted. They were a class act in my opinion and treated me like I was paying full sticker on a $350K coach. So, I think the delivery was as close to if it had just hit the lot as possible as opposed to a "lot queen" as you suggested.
RE: First Annual Iowa Rally 6/20-6/22 POSTPONED DUE TO FLOODING!
Hey All! After a year of looking, we just got our first RV and are super excited to get out and "GO RVing!" Three boys 11, 8, and 6 would be with me so I'm just wondering if the rally is a good idea for them? We don't want to bother anyone, and they are super kids and very well behaved, but we're new to this whole thing so could use some advice? We'll bring our boat and love tubing and boating on Coralville anyhow, but is this type of rally something we should consider as a family type fun event or what do you recommend?
Sounds like the loop is full, but if some others are setting up in close spots we could possibly do that as well right?
Ted
RE: Would you consider buying a new Class A today?
Yes, I just did after over a year of looking at them. We got an OUTSTANDING deal on a new class A, 2007 still on a dealer's lot. Now that the 2009's are rolling in, and the economy and gas prices are causing supply to outpace demand there are deals deals deals! If you look at the cost of gas people freak out about 10 cents...if you drive 10,000 miles in a car per year and get 20 miles to the gallon *being conservative here, that's 500 gallons a year times 10 cents is $50 folks...so let's say it goes up 50 cents, that's $250...so eat out at Olive Garden 5 fewer times a year? If gas is that big a concern, then probably doesn't make sense to look at a new "anything".
The way you get ahead in life is contrarian thinking. When Joe Public thinks SELL, you buy because things are on big-time sale. When Joe Public thinks, buy buy buy, you SELL at huge gains from what you bought at when Joe Public was freaked out and selling at huge discounts (like right now). I bought my MH for way WAY under wholesale NADA. Avg Retail...a joke, tens of thousands less than that. The dealer was happy, I didn't screw them or have any kind of inside deal relationship-wise or anything, they needed to move the unit and handed me the keys below what they paid. I think I could eaisly sell it for what I bought it for in about 3-4 years. I bought new, with the new smell, new everything, new factory warranty and components warranty...for less than most folks are trying to sell similar models 3-8 years old with all their inherent problems.
Yes, absolutely buy things now, new. Now is the time.
