I have read that many RVers are selling their MHs and buying TT / FW / TH and 'storing' them at CGs close to recreation areas. They use their 30+ mpg cars to drive to and from the CG and save considerable money / gas doing this each weekend they use the RV.
My question: Is anyone doing this our in the SoCal desert and if so, what do you think about the concept?
I had a TT stored at Pismo. I still had to drive my truck over with the toys, so no gas savings there. I had to load all the groceries, clothes, bedding and sacks full of other******in my truck, haul it over there and then put it in the trailer, then hook up and tow the TT to the dunes. It was darn near an all day job not to mention a frustrating hassle. So I bought a TH and keep it at home. All the stuff stays loaded except food and clothes. I do that the night before, so when I get ready to leave I just hop in my truck and take off. Four hours later I'm drinking a cold one on the beach. And this is actually costing me less than storing my trailer at Pismo. Storage was $60 a month which is $720 a year. Even at diesel prices today that will almost pay the fuel for 3 trips. And since my TH is parked at home I can clean it and tinker with it anytime I want.
People have different needs, but this method suits me best
We use our Travel Trailer to TRAVEL. If I just want to park it, I'll just stay home. Course I'm retired, and do NOT live in the city.
Chuck
Wonderful Wife
Lovely German Shepherd.
1999 Mercedes ML320 TV
2003 Wanderer 187TB Toybox (3620# UVW, 4800# loaded) Not yet camped in Hawaii, 2 Canada Provinces, & 2 Territories. I can't be lost because I don't care where this lovely road is going
scbullis wrote: I don't understand it personally. If you're not going to travel with it, what's the point of owning it? I'll stick with my motorhome and it's 8 MPG.
This is the TOYHAULER forum. People generally buy TOYHAULERS to haul TOYS to their destination. Pulling a TOYHAULER down the highway is not the primary objective but more a means to an end. The REAL traveling starts when we get to where we're going
I think for us, we do both. We keep our Raptor at a CG that is part of a small private Golf Club here in the Peoria area. We have a spot on the lake, power, access to water and a dump station and the best part is the fact it is 10 minutes from our home. We can play golf, fish, swim, paddle boat etc... It enables us to use our TH even when we are not running it down the road for only about $200.00 per year not including our club membership for golf which is relatively inexpensive. We have been doing this now for 2 years and we love it. Of course, we cannot wait until we load up and head 4 hours south to St. Joe State Park to ride 3-4 times a year. Will it be more expensive this year than last, well, yes, but, in the grand scheme of things, probably less a hundred dollars more a trip for something we have a lot of money invested in terms of the TH, the toys and the TV. The memories we are creating are the priceless intangibles of the whole deal.
Big Dave
2008 F350 Superduty 6.4 TD "Bumbles"
2007 Keystone Raptor 3814
2004 Polaris Sportsman 700 EFI
2008 Yamaha Raptor 250 SE
2007 Yamaha YZ85
2006 Polaris TB250
Assorted other toys
2 Boys who only know one speed
The RV/ATV 6400 acre resort(Cloud 9 Ranch) we belong to in southern Missouri has on site storage for maybe 2000 campers, a lot of people that use the resort a lot, use the storage all of the time. Very handy!!!!
http://cloud9ranchclub.com/
* This post was
edited 05/29/08 07:49am by BIGDADDY650R *
2004 CHEV.2500 225/70R/19.5 , BD exhaust, and other goody's.
2004 40' KZ 3-SLIDE TOYHAULER
We have friends who store theirs somewhere out by (excuse the spelling...chick here...forget it I'm not even going to attempt it) O. Wells. He keeps it there during riding season so he just has to bring his bike and stuff. Seems to be working well for him but I would be nervous having it so far from home.
Back in the day (when I was in better shape) I had 2 Sea Doos and a Malibu Sunsetter and a 26’ TT. It was a PITA to haul everything to the lake. So for the summer I would keep everything just outside the lake in storage. Then I would haul everything back in the fall. The people that ran the storage where great. They had a little market and offered other services like:
Plug in the trailer to power
I could call them in a list of supplies and they would stock the TT up for me
They would even move the TT to the lake and park it!
Of course you paid for the service. But when you consider it was 190 miles to the lake. The fuel and time savings where (to me) well worth it. At the end of the month I would get one (sometimes large) bill to pay.
During the months we go off-roading (Oct-April) we have been towing everything back and forth, almost every other weekend, sometimes every weekend. We have discussed storing our TH with the quads in it near the Imperial Sand Dunes to avoid the unnecessary wear/tear on the truck and also to improve fuel mileage. We have pros and cons. The wear/tear on the truck vs packing food, clothing, gasoline, etc in the truck only to haul it out the trailer (turn on the fridge, etc). The reason we left the conventional 5er to a TH was to have the convenience of not double towing, hauling gas cans, etc. We don't pay storage right now because our TH sits in the backyard. As for the truck, we'd save a few miles per gallon which would add up with the frequency of our trips.
During the summer months when it's 'river' time...we keep a spot at the CG from April to Sept. Both the TH and the boat stay out there all summer. The TH is fully hooked-up with the boat parked beside it. We jump in the truck with all the food, gas, clothing, etc too...but the difference is that we still don't have to connect to the TH, then tow it to where we're going to camp at...it's there, all level, power, sewer...done. The downfall to this though is that if I want to go somewhere else with the 5er, it's a HUGE inconvenience because it's not at home.
So when you ask if anyone is doing it...oh yeah they are. It seems I keep hearing of more and more that are planning on storing in Holtville, Dunes Edge or Glamis Dunes Storage.
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