What's your best RV experience?

[Boundiful]

Have a memory of a great trip?

A holiday that was worth the cost of the RV?

Some amazing story of success?

Let us know.

Boundiful

 

[campergirl]

I think every trip is our best experience 

I used to tent with our 2 little girls, but that got old quick. My husband, however, is a die-hard rough-it kind of guy, and he was opposed to the idea of a trailer. He thought it was unnecessary and excessive. Not to be deterred, I set out on the search for the perfect trailer. It just so happened that my sister was in the market to sell hers, after her kids have grown up and moved on, and it was a great deal. Mr. Holdout then declared that I could buy this trailer if I wanted to, but it was my thing, and he'd not be taking any responsibility for it.

Ok, how hard could it be?

It really has been a huge learning curve, from figuring out even what a hitch is to trying not to be so nervous about backing up and parking. This year I even learned how to turn on my oven as opposed to just the stove lol! I've had to put in quite a bit of time and money to get the old rig updated and fixed up, but I wouldn't trade the experiences for anything. I am lucky enough to have a very flexible boss (DH) with very flexible hours, and I get to spend a great deal of time camping with my girls and friends. DH does come along sometimes, and eventually I'll teach him how to do all the things that need to be done. For now, I get a huge kick out of being able to say that I can do it all myself!

I also love that I can teach my girls these skills, and my 10 year old is getting to be an expert guide for hitching

This will be our 3rd summer with our trailer. I would be very hard-pressed to say that I'm good at this, and every single time out I learn something new, and I figure out another bit of maintenance on my own. But although I'm no expert, I'm getting better, and I absolutely love it! There is nothing in the world like that first cup of coffee early in the morning, sitting outside as the mist comes off of whatever lake we're at. And the sound of the girls laughing as they find their bugs or figure out some new camping game, is priceless.

Thanks for starting this thread, Boundiful!

Kathy

 

[RoyM]

You and those girls will treasure the memories for the rest of your lives. Too bad hubby insists on missing out.
Our first extended rv trip was last summer, we had two weeks to find somewhere to escape the rain so southward ho. Spent four fabulous days in Reno then headed west to the coast. We found some incredible out of the way places we would have never seen had we stuck to the interstates and motels.
The best parts were the helpful, warmhearted people we met along the way. We were able to socialize with fellow rv'ers in almost every camp ground. The love of rv'ing is a wonderful ice breaker.

 

[gwcowgill]

Every trip is a great experience, some of the best memories was when the kids were small, now it is leaving SoFl for parts unknown.

 

[Boundiful]

You and those girls will treasure the memories for the rest of your lives.

You are absolutely correct. Some of my favorite memories are of the family camping trips. All we had was a big tent but it was a lot of fun. We camped at Mt. Hood in Oregon and to this day nothing compares to those memories and that location.

Boundiful

 

[campergirl]

You and those girls will treasure the memories for the rest of your lives. Too bad hubby insists on missing out.

Oh, he does come along when he can -- we're self-employed, which means always working! And he does enjoy it when he's with us, but still doesn't want to learn lol!

I agree about the wonderful people. I've met some of the most friendly, helpful and generous people out camping.

 

[BernieD]

When people ask "which is our favorite RV destination/camping/campground?" we usually answer either Quartzsite or our next one. I'm am thinking that the answer to this question is the same.

 

[1GypsyRose]

A bad day of camping is better than a good day working  ;D

 

[carson]

An answer from the eternal optimist:  Travel from point A to point B...say 2000 miles, without a single problem/hiccup during the trip. Makes my day..or days...  ;D

  Has happened, but rarely...

Carson FL 95.3?



 

 

[Jeff Brown]

Last summer we went out for around 20 days at the end of June and racked up 3500 miles touring the Pacific Northwest.  We stayed in Cannon Beach for a few days, Lake Wallowa for a few days, Kalaloch Campground for a few days, down the coast to Cape Lookout for a couple of days, a few days in the Redwoods at Jedediah Smith State Park then on to home.  It was a ton of miles in not a lot of time, but we did enjoy ourselves a LOT.  We hiked every day even on travel days and we saw what I think is the most beautiful part of our country in probably the best time of year to see it.  My son wont remember that trip since he was just about to turn 2 when we took it, but we will always remember how he responded to each new place and experience.  Everyone says we move too much and too fast on our RV journeys; but maybe it is part of my A.D.D, at least in this point of my life, I just have to be moving along every 3 to 4 days.  So much to see and only approximately 2 weeks a year to see it in!

The highlights of each stop:
1. Cannon Beach: seeing the sea life on the amazing rock formation as well as walking the downtown and used children's books for 25 cents at the local library. 
2. Wallawa Lake: Boating with my family from Idaho and just spending time with my brothers.  We only get to see each other for a few days each year and it is a very special time. 
3. Kalalock Campground: The path across the highway from the campground is AMAZING, it could have been the set from Raider of the Lost Arc or the Ewok scene from Star Wars.  Huge moss covered amazing rainforest.  The drift wood covered beaches were pretty awesome too!
4. Cape Lookout: The black rocks made excellent building stone for my son while we walked the beach.
5. Smith State Park: Maneuvering around smith state park in a class A was the tightest driving conditions I have ever experienced but the HUGE trees and the river we so spectacular I couldn't dream of not going back to enjoy it again.

We mostly stayed in either state or federal parks on that trip, all of them were clean and affordable.

Jeff Brown

 

[SargeW]

For us it's every time we get in and turn the key.  Just the thrill of seeing whats around the next corner keeps us interested. Even to places we have been before because something has changed or been modified since our last visit. 

 

[Just Lou]

My best RV experience came in 2006.

After requiring, and surviving, two quadruple heart by-pass operations (multiple heart attacks) over 12 years, and then having a minor stroke and being diagnosed with A-fib and congestive heart failure in 2005, I decided to start removing items from my "bucket list".

I bought a used '97 Bounder, put new tires and exhaust on it, along with a few electrical modifications that I needed to support some medical equipment and outfitted it to tow my old Honda accord.  In June of 2006 I headed to Alaska.  I had driven a Class-A motor home exactly 37 miles before I started that trip.

My BEST RV experience was completing that 14,000 mile, 3.5 month trip, with absolutely NO problems.  I don't consider the loss of an RV wheel cover, a water heater door or the only King Salmon that I managed to hook as problems.

PS - I still have, and still use, the old Bounder.  Every year a few more items come off the "bucket list". 

 

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

Porky,

If there was a "like" button on here, like Facebook, I would punch it for your story!! Great lesson!

Kim

 

[Boundiful]

Part of this story was posted in the "What's your worst RV experience?" thread.

I had both my worst and best experience on the same day. Mostly because I officially only started sleeping full time in my RV today.

So here goes:

Okay, since I started this thread I might as well add something.

Here's my story. I bought a 1991 Bounder on May 3rd of this year and sold all of my large stuff and moved into it yesterday. I was sleeping in my apartment for the whole month of May minus a day or two that I spent in the RV. I'm new to the RV thing and I'm tired of paying rent. So as of yesterday my motorhome is my only home. I live in sunny San Diego and just plan to park on the streets and bay areas and keep a low profile and also keep moving from parking place to parking place. We'll see how that goes.

After a long month of selling all my stuff and worrying a lot about if I was doing the right thing or not I finally spent the first official night in my RV.

The night started off bad as you can read in the "What's your worst experience?" post but it got better.

I did get a good night's sleep and had to move my RV early in the morning before 7am because I was parked in a street cleaning zone. That was okay. I wanted to get up early and drive to a bay only a few miles away and wake up to a beautiful place. I did.

It was a little cold in the morning but in a brisk kind of way. It felt good. I was parked near the bay and had a great view. I took out my lawn chair and just watched the partly cloudy skies change. It was feeding time for Swift birds and I loved watching them dive into the water and come back up in the air and hover.

After lounging for awhile I splurged and went to eat at an all-you-can-eat buffet and had a great salad along with all the other foods I ate. I've been living on burgers and fries for a long time so I needed the vitamins and minerals, or so I told myself. It was great.

Anyway, I won't go on any longer about my day but it was a good one and still is. Right now I'm at a library writing this at about 8pm. I found out that they leave the wifi on all the time even when the library is closed and I'm parked right next to the library. I get a poor signal out on the street but if I bring my laptop next to the building and sit on a bench I get great speeds. I will look into something called a Cantenna to hopefully get a good enough signal that I can get good speeds while sitting in the RV.

That's the first day. I hope to have many more good days ahead.

Boundiful

 

[luv 2 camp]

I'd rather be lost at the lake than found at home.  Some of our greatest memories are camping trips. From the flooded out tent to the $500.00 pop up the 27ft tt , 29ft 1 slide 5ver & now the 40ft  3 slide 5ver.  I just can't imagine the family memories we would not have if we were found at home sitting in front of a TV.  ;D

 

[nvrver]

Barge trip in Dec. 2001 with 21 other Rvs, two RV barges with full hookups, one party barge and Miss Georgie our tug.  From South of New Orleans we did the Coastal Inland Water Way West then on the Mississippi near Baton Rouge then back to New Orleans.  A seven day trip thru Camping World Tours, we did not travel at night and spent the last night tied up near the French Quarter in New Orleans.  A trip of a lifetime, I understand these RV barge trips are no longer done, I'm sure glad we did it while they were.  The tour was called ON & Beyond The Mississippi.

 

[Lou Schneider]

Several years ago I was headed back to San Francisco from Quartzsite in early February.  The weather forecast warned of a couple of strong Pacific storms coming onshore, so I pulled into the SKP park in Coarsegold to wait them out.

The second day was a lull between the storms.  On the spur of the moment, I decided to make a day trip into the Yosemite Valley, about 50 miles from the park.

It was nothing short of spectacular.  There was a fresh coating of snow on the ground, temperatures were in the low 50s, warm enough for nothing but a light jacket if you stayed in the sun, and there was plenty of that.  Best of all, the place was deserted - everyone had been scared off by the storms.

I hiked back to Mirror Lake, found a sun-warmed rock ledge and just drank in the view.  This trail is one of the most popular in the valley, I met a total of 3 people the whole way.

Later I visited the Awhawnee Lodge and warmed myself in front of their lobby fireplace.  Normally the lodge is off-limits unless you're a registered guest, today it was empty and nobody cared.

I got back to the RV shortly after sunset - then snuggled in nice and warm while the second storm blew in the next day.

 

[jim and di]

The best trip and memory happened three years ago. Diane and I took her 91 year old mother to Ft. Myers to see the Red Sox in spring training. Ruth had become a Sox fan when we took her from Sunny AZ to Boston for the balance of her time here. The trip was far too much for her, airports, hotels and condo elevators and eating out every night. We knew we were not doing much traveling until she left us to be with God.
Diane's friend suggested a rental RV, we got a 30 foot Airstream Land Yacht. Ruth got in the passenger seat and beamed, she came back from a 10 day trip looking and feeling better than when we departed. We searched for a rig and after 7 months we settled on out current MH. She had many trips around new England until she passed. When we head out to Yellowstone in July we will stop in Kingman, AZ and take her to the mountains and leave her with her Benn, so maybe the best is yet to come.
Jim

 

[Tony_Alberta]

Barge trip in Dec. 2001 with 21 other Rvs, two RV barges with full hookups, one party barge and Miss Georgie our tug.  From South of New Orleans we did the Coastal Inland Water Way West then on the Mississippi near Baton Rouge then back to New Orleans.  A seven day trip thru Camping World Tours, we did not travel at night and spent the last night tied up near the French Quarter in New Orleans.  A trip of a lifetime, I understand these RV barge trips are no longer done, I'm sure glad we did it while they were.  The tour was called ON & Beyond The Mississippi.

That sounds awesome.  I would love to do the same thing up (or down) the McKenzie River in the NWT.  I spent 10 days visiting family in Norman Wells, NWT.  Very nice but only 20 miles of roads in summer and you can only get in via airplane, boat or winter road.  Hmm, looks like you'd be able to drive in or out on the Dempster Hwy from Inuvik.