Full Time RVing Info

Several people have asked us about RV full timing, and they are considering the lifestyle for themselves. We’ve had in person conversations, and email exchanges as well. We decided to place some of the information into our blog.

Sandy says: full timing is great, but it is not for everyone. You do a lot of downsizing and suddenly you don't have a permanent house. It was scary at first. I have to admit that once we were rid of all the stuff, the house, and the bills, it was a relief to know I did not have to go to work everyday just to pay for things that were no longer making me happy. I am a lot happier now, and I feel more relaxed than after an hour of yoga.

What's great is that you can enjoy better weather in the winter and still have a cabin (on wheels) by the setting of your choice at any time.

Things I don't like: finding a place and time to do my quilting, but I am working on it! It can feel a little cramped at times, but the great outdoors usually fixes that problem. Hunting for or digging out well-stored items and then wondering what was I thinking when I packed everything. But we have only been doing this for less than 3 months and I hope to get better as we travel around the US.

We decided on our Bluebird partly because it doesn’t have slide-outs, it feels more solid, and our cats would be with us as we travel down the road. The slide-outs have some problems, but a lot of people like them. If a slide-out breaks while out, you don't go anywhere until it is fixed or you figure out how to get it back in. If it is very windy out, the slide-outs may need to be pulled in and traveling they are in, and that makes for a more enclosed area.

My suggestion is to physically get out there and look at different rigs. When you are looking at the rigs, think of how you would live in it. Would you be able to cook in the small kitchen area? What about storage areas? Enough room in the shower? If you decide on slide-outs, can you live in it with the slide-out in because of bad weather/travel? It is just like buying a house just smaller.


Dan says: The best full timers’ link on the internet is Escapees Forums, so research there first. On the forums, the question of 5th wheel versus motor-home versus trailer has been discussed many times. There are all types of “how to” questions/discussions. You can spend days/weeks reading old posts - very informative:
http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php .
People on the forums are very good at answering all questions. Escapees RV Club is designed for full-timers, and is inexpensive, offers a TX address and mail forwarding as well. Escapees has some campgrounds, and options to lease/buy lots as well.

Most people choose TX, FL, or SD for "domicile". All are state income tax free. We chose SD and use http://www.americas-mailbox.com/ in Rapid City as our mail forwarding service - it is our address. We use a Verizon air card for internet connectivity, $60 a month, with a 5 gigabyte per month limit. We connect through a roof cell antenna, amp, wireless modem, laptops, wireless printer - details are elsewhere on our blog. We use Verizon for our cell phones as well.

With 5th wheels, you MUST have a big enough tow vehicle. Pulling power AND stopping power for safety is a must. A Ford F350 dually is marginal at best with a large multi-slide 5th wheel. A 550 class, or Medium Duty Truck (MDT), or Heavy Duty Truck (HDT - think semi) is highly recommended. Once into the 38-40' foot multi slide 3 axle 5th wheels, only a MDT or HDT is safe - read escapees forum website linked above for sections on MDT/HDT.

Once you have a MDT/HDT to safely pull a large 5th wheel, then it becomes your (large) drive around vehicle when you park the 5th wheel. The 5th may get hot or cold while you pull it. When you pull over for a break, you lock the tow vehicle and walk back to the 5th wheel. The upside is more room, and it is more like an apartment on wheels.

When you have a Motor-home (coach), you climate control it while you drive, and can pull a small economy vehicle behind to run around in when parked. On safe wide 4 lane roads, the passenger can walk back to use the restroom, grab a snack etc. When the driver pulls over for a break - he/she can walk back to the rest-room or for a snack in seconds, without leaving the vehicle (think busy rest stop with questionable folks hanging around, or a driving rain).

If you travel with pet(s), they are right with you in coach; usually they are back in the rig with a 5th wheel. With a coach, you may already own a car you can tow behind - links below with info on that.

So you are trying to decide on either a 5th wheel, or a coach, plus a tow truck or tow car, and if you have a budget less than $$ big bucks to get started, as most of us do, you run into these choices:

Choice one is a new/newer, lower cost, but also lower quality rig that really is not designed for full-timing. It WILL begin to fall apart over time - how long do you envision full timing? If you go this route pay the $100 or so to join RV Consumer Group and get their ratings. http://rv.org/

Choice two is an older high end rig designed for longevity, but perhaps needing to be updated for modern technology and to upgrade/replace some aging items like tires, batteries, fridge, hot water heater, etc. I recommend option 2, but saving $10,000 on your allotted budget for upgrades/replacements (perhaps better converter/inverter, solar, GPS, XM radio, tires, batteries, etc). It helps to be mechanically inclined and able to work on 12 volt power systems.

On this second choice we looked at used high end 5th wheels and tow trucks, bus conversions, Country Coach and Newmar motor-homes, and finally Bluebird Coaches. Bluebird Wanderlodges were very expensive when new and were/are high end rigs - see below for some links.

http://www.rvtrader.com/ will give you some ideas on used rigs, and NADA on line has some pricing info. Specific Bluebird info is below in case these coaches interest you. Search for "Bluebird" and also for "Wanderlodge" if you look for NADA pricing, or when searching for rigs for sale.
Good links:

Campground reviews: http://www.rvparkreviews.com/
Passport America 1/2 price camping: http://www.passportamerica.com/

How to:
Poop sheets by Fred http://www.phrannie.org/phredex.html
Tow car wiring for lights: http://www.roadmasterinc.com/pdf/85-1409-E.pdf
Set up for towing car: http://www.blueox.us/ and http://www.towingworld.com/
Modify your car for towing: http://www.remcotowing.com/
What cars can you tow w/o modifying vehicle: http://www.motorhomemagazine.com/output.cfm?ID=213607

NADA Prices: http://www.nadaguides.com/SectionHome.aspx?LI=1-28-0-5000-502-579-50251&l=1&w=25&p=0&f=5602

Sewer hoses: sewer master is superb - tons better than our old hoses - http://www.dmbruss.com/zFullTimeLifeStyle/FTLS_Sewer.htm

Bluebirds are available in several types. Some of the newer Wanderlodges ran almost a million dollars new, and were designed (when maintained correctly) to be million mile rigs. There are superb support owners groups on line to maintain these rigs - a very knowledgeable group you rarely find with other rigs.

Bluebird (BB) links:
I like this one best: http://www.wanderlodgeownersgroup.com/forums/

More BB links:
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/BlueBirdBMCowners/
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/WanderlodgeForum/

Some "Birds" for sale are listed here:
http://www.birdconnection.com/

And more for sale here – and a great guy to deal with on consignment coaches, with some really good deals right now. This guy used to own the company producing Dupree sewer dump valves, used on many rigs. He has been around Bluebirds most of his life - one of the top experts in the country: http://www.buybyebluebird.com/ Prices are WAY down from 1 year ago.

To learn about Bluebird models/changes year by year start here 1st: http://www.vintagebirds.com/
See history and at top left of the page click on model changes (Includes model list for each year and a cheat sheet as to what a FC/PT/BMC/SP etc are).

We had an 83 Bluebird Wanderlodge FC35 before this coach. On transmission, 5 speeds are better than 4, and 6 better than 5. I prefer a 4 stroke engine over a 2 stroke. I prefer PTs and BMC over FCs. On FCs, I prefer the 87 - 89 years. The SP is nice.

The PTs with 2 stroke Detroit engines and 4 speeds will be lucky to get 5-6 MPG. BMC/FC/SP will likely get 8 MPG (which is what you see at best on all big motor-homes pulling a tow car). A PT with 5 speeds will do better on MPG than the 4 speed. If you have the bucks, a PT with a Detroit 4 stroke engine and 6 speeds is very nice - and decent mpg for a high end bus based coach.

Our BB BMC is on a Spartan chassis with a Cummins 4 stroke engine and an Allison 6 speed trans with 2 overdrive gears. It is simpler than the Wanderlodges, yet still has great build quality. We plan to keep ours for a very long time.

Wichita Mountains NWR, OK

We hope you had a very nice Memorial Day Weekend. This picture was taken at Ft. Sill’s Historic Museum area.

We arrived in Lawton on Tuesday, 19 May with our new refrigerator installed. We decided to stay at the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge just outside of Lawton, Oklahoma. What a great choice! This feels more like retirement in the slow lane. The Doris Campground has 50-amp electric, but no water or sewer hookups, so we are semi-dry-camping. We are parked in a heavily wooded area with no close neighbors. We barely have room for our coach and tow car with all the trees. Right from our campsite we have seen deer, wild turkeys sounding off to warn the others about a coyote wandering through, squirrels, and many birds waking us in the morning instead of an alarm. There is a lone buffalo hanging around the campsite and grazing nearby. He spends most of his time around the public restrooms, but he has been roaming around the campgrounds as well. He does not seem to be bothered by people. Of course, people tend to go out of their way to walk around the buffalo’s personal space.

We drove to the top of Mt Scott, which is located on the eastern edge of the Refuge. It is one of Oklahoma's most prominent mountains, rising 2,464 feet above sea level. On our way to the top of Mt Scott, we were surprised to see two skateboarders coming down the hill with their buddies in a car behind video taping them! One of them threw his arms up and with a big grin, yelled “WooHoo!” as he passed by us. On our way back down the hill, we saw the guys getting ready for another run. We found a good stopping point on the side of the road and waited for them. You can see the daredevils’ pictures along with many others in our album Wichita Mountain NWR.

Our granddaughter, Bryanna, spent Thursday night with us after her last day of school. We took her for a bike ride around the campground the first evening, pointing out deer and a buffalo along the way. We sat around a fire later and ate barbequed hot dogs and S’mores. While sitting around the fire, we heard crashing in the underbrush. We were surprised to see a lone buffalo running between the campsites. We were glad he did not run directly through our area. No one got hurt, but he did scare a mother with a toddler near the public restrooms. The next day, we took Bry for a hike, seeing wild turkeys, a coyote, turtles, lizards, and Canadian Geese.

On another night, Mad Max was watching the buffalo that meandered within ten feet of our rig. After the buffalo passed behind our rig, Max disappeared under the chair for hours. When he would come out, he would stare down the hallway towards the back with his worried look (wide-eyed, radar-ears, tail-wagging). It took us a while to figure out that he thought the buffalo was still back there and might be inside!

On Saturday, our daughter Misty brought our grandkids Bryanna and Violet out for barbequed hot dogs, grilled pineapple, and S’mores. We took a walk around the campground and saw quite a few deer, but no buffalo. Violet got very excited over the “big dogs”. She started to squeal until we explained the deer would run away.

Dry-camping for seven days is a new experience for us. We are not used to rationing water for more than a couple of days. We learned very quickly how to save water after running low before the third day, and refilling at the entrance to the campground. Ticks became another concern for us. Every time we planned to be outside, we coated ourselves in bug spray. Every time we came back in, we checked our clothes and ourselves. We started checking our cats as well. During one of our walks, we saw another camper checking his dog. Dan overheard the owner say to his dog, “Why do I keep finding ticks on me, but not on you?”

We will be heading towards South Dakota on Tuesday, 26 May.

McKinney Texas, MCD Innovations.

On our way to McKinney, we stopped overnight in La Grange, TX. The campground is located right on the Colorado River and only six blocks from the historic downtown area. We walked along the river path and into town. The river path was beautiful and very calming. The courthouse in the center had a couple of gargoyles perched on top.

Our new blinds and sun-blockers were installed by MCD Innovations. Each window has a solar shade, and a night shade. We did the front windshield with powered blinds, and manuals with driver and passenger front side windows, 2 large living room windows, the dining table and kitchen window. We changed to heavy side curtains in the bedroom in the past, and kept those. MCD made a front windshield valance, a valance over side passenger and driver, and a small drape over the dining table for a finished look. The blinds look great and give us so much more privacy. They roll up slowly and smoothly with a single tug. The solar blinds block heat and sun, while letting light in. You can see out easily, but folks outside cannot see inside well. Basically you see shadowy figures if backlit by lights or other windows. We have pictures of our new window coverings in MCD Duo Blinds.

We met a few of the other couples also waiting for their blinds to be installed. One couple had a very friendly and beautiful Australian Shepard – Buddy, and he is in the photo link as well.

Full hookups are provided in the parking lot at MCD, backed in against the building. We stayed over Saturday night, driving out on Sunday afternoon for a short drive. We decided to get a new propane/electric refrigerator in Denton, TX, on Monday afternoon. Our 94 Bluebird BMC still has the original Dometic RM 2807 box, with the previous owner putting a rebuilt cooling unit in at some point in the past. The Dometic Classic RM 2820 "should” be a direct replacement. As full-timers, we are ready for a long term fix with a new fridge, no repairs on the current one. We measured the aisle and the entry door, so we think they can get the old one out and new one in ok without removing the windshield, as is common on some coaches. We will know the answer in a couple of hours.

We stayed last night in the Camping World parking lot dry camping (no hookups). Tonight we will stay near Denton since the new refrigerator will not be installed until late in the afternoon. We should be in Lawton, OK by Wednesday at the latest, for a one week stay.

Change of Plans:

We canceled our trip to Padre Island National Seashore and extended our stay in Rockport by one week due to windy weather. Our plans to spend a few days camping on the beach would not have been fun if we were being sandblasted each time we left the coach. We spent the week kayaking in sheltered waters, swimming, and enjoying some local restaurants.

Sandy has been using the large patio awning to create an outdoor sewing area for her quilting projects. The spring inside the awning popped one day and we could not roll it back up automatically. You can say the awning’s old spring has sprung. So we hand rolled it (19 feet long, 7 feet wide), and tied it off at the top as a safety measure. The new spring on order arrived today and we hope to have it installed tomorrow morning before we leave the area.

We have been on-the-road for seven weeks (or almost 2 months) now. So, do we like our new lifestyle? That would be a definite Yes! We are feeling more relaxed and healthier than we have for years. We are spending more time being active indoors and out. We have had our run-ins with Mother Nature as well – furry caterpillars dropping from trees, a small invasion of ants and of course, mosquitoes. But, we have also made friends with squirrels and deer. Our new friends, the squirrels, will strategically sit in the big tree watching us through our front window. “Hey! I know you are in there. I’m hungry. Where are my peanuts (or cherry tomatoes, or grapes)?” When we open the door, there’s one of our friends sitting on the patio waiting to be fed. We were pretty sure that one of the mornings when we opened the blinds we would find a squirrel hanging onto the window ledge – “Hi there! Got any nuts?” The winter-Texans have them well trained for asking for handouts.

There are additional bird pictures from the Birding Center and the Rockport Beach area. They were added to our Kayaking and Surrounding Area folder in webshots this week. Here are few pictures of our cats enjoying their time outdoors. Grey at age 17 does well off the leash, but we stay within several feet of him. Squirrel and Dusty remain in harness with leash attached, and enjoy laying, rolling on, and eating the grass while watching for birds and squirrels. Even though they are wearing harnesses and a leash, we cannot walk them. The leash does help us keep them under control though.


For anyone wanting to know who won the sand carving contests, here is a link to the Texas SandFest 2009 Winners website. The competition was good and the winners are very deserving.