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Joined
Nov 9, 2022
Posts
6
Location
Idaho
Hello Fellow RV’ers.
We just bought our new “Traveling Home” and are excited about getting out to see the country. Wife is retiring in a couple of months and have been looking forward to getting out to enjoy “Our Time” together and see the country, wherever that may take us!

We are in Idaho and would like to start with a couple of relatively short distance trips to get use to the new home. We have owned a 5th wheel in the past but it was a much smaller one. We also currently own a 27 foot “Bumper Pull“. It has been great, but it’s not really “Livable”. Great for weekend camping/hunting trips but decided that if we are going to be spending months at a time, that we needed something a little more comfortable.

That said, we are looking for any Tips, Tricks and suggestions to make life on the road simpler and more enjoyable. Looking for destination suggestions on the west side of the continental divide to start with.

We purchased a 41’ 5th wheel so parking it is going to be a little bit more limited than I am use to but as long as we plan in advance...

Also looking for feedback on any of the multitude of RV publications to consider. Don’t want to spend hundreds of $$ on subscriptions that I may never use so I will gladly take any suggestions.

One of our first trips is probably going to be to the Grand Canyon and would like input for specific things we should look for, inexpensive places to camp…

I have also heard that there is a Hot Air Ballon festival in Arizona, but don’t know when or where. Does anyone have any information or suggestions about that?

Thanks in advance and hope to meet some of you out there across this big, wide, beautiful country.

Lauren and Carol
 
Welcome to the forum. You’ve come to the right place to get answers to your questions. Just to make things easier and organized, and to make sure that all of your questions get answered, please start a new post for each question you have. If you ask 7 or 8 questions in the same post, it’s just about guaranteed at least 2/3 of them will get overlooked.

With that, what do you have for a truck to pull that monster.
 
Welcome to the forum. If you go into trip reports, journals logs. There's a lot of good information in there. We did a trip called ( trip of a lifetime out west from Michigan). One place I would add to this is Capital reef national Park.
 
Rene, Thank you.

My tow vehicle is a 2020, 1 ton RAM. Hope and expect to have no problems there As this purchase was made specifically for towing a big rig. Just hadn’t decided on which trailer at the time.

I don’t have ant specific questions just yet, but I’m sure I will have a bunch of them.

I am familiar with “Old School” 5th wheels. Had one about 12-15 years ago, but I’m sure the game has changed dramatically since then, LOADS of new features and new ways of doing things since then!

Just looking for any helpful tips and tricks that others have come up with for making RV Living more enjoyable.

We are just starting on this chapter of our live. Haven‘t even picked up our new home away from home yet, just trying to learn as much as I can BEFORE we hit the trail. This and maybe some other forums will be coming along with us, I will always be looking for new tips along the journey. Maybe even answering a few questions myself as my level of knowledge increases.

Thanks again,

Lauren and Carol
 
Welcome to the forum. If you go into trip reports, journals logs. There's a lot of good information in there. We did a trip called ( trip of a lifetime out west from Michigan). One place I would add to this is Capital reef national Park.
Thanks HikerBob,
I quicklu looked it up. Looks like and amazing place. Will include it in our planning for the Southern Utah trip.

Will also checkout the Trip reports and Journeys.

Lauren and Carol
 
Welcome! A few ideas for destinations.

I drove out west this summer and you have some great parks in your vicinity. I enjoyed glacier NP (you need to be 6 month proactive when reserving camp sites at recreation.gov). I also enjoyed Craters of the Moon. Castle Rocks SP (ID) was stunning as well. I was tent camping at the time, so not sure about RV amenities like electrical. Craters of the Moon was first come, first serve.. I took a chance as it was a long drive but really glad I did it
Have fun no matter where you decide to go!
 
Welcome! You've come to a great place for advice. We're newbies, so I'll be following your adventures. Grand Canyon is near the top of our list for when I retire in '24.
 
Lauren and Carol
The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta come highly recommended from us. It is in the first week of October every year and if you do not have a better plan already, get on the website and make arrangements to camp on one of their available grounds. Yes, there are cheaper things to do, but one of the three camping areas will serve you well. Only one is FHU. None are cheap, but the experience is worth every penny. We were last there in 2010(?) and it is still one of our big memories.
Matt
 
There is a balloon festival in Lake Havasu, AZ in January 2023. Not nearly as big as the one in Albuquerque (which is beyond fabulous!) but still fun. The area is a classic southern Arizona snowbird spot too. Lots of boondocking and a number of resorts in the area. The nearby state parks are probably already booked for this year, but no harm in trying. 2023 Official Havasu Balloon Festival and Fair | Lake Havasu City, AZ
 
Welcome to the forum. You’ve come to the right place to get answers to your questions. Just to make things easier and organized, and to make sure that all of your questions get answered, please start a new post for each question you have. If you ask 7 or 8 questions in the same post, it’s just about guaranteed at least 2/3 of them will get overlooked.

With that, what do you have for a truck to pull that monster.
1953 Mercury Monterey convertible with a 125 HP flathead V8 engine. :) (Anyone remember the reference?)
 
First advice is once you are both retired to learn to travel more slowly and stay more than a couple of days someplace, as you might have been doing when you were on "vacation" and had to see a lot in a short time.

Also, you probably will want to plan long in advance for events like the balloon festival because it is hard to find camping spots for big events, unless you are planning on boondocking in the desert. Even boondocking takes planning because you will need to research where you can boondock and where you can't.
 
Lauren and Carol
The Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta come highly recommended from us. It is in the first week of October every year and if you do not have a better plan already, get on the website and make arrangements to camp on one of their available grounds. Yes, there are cheaper things to do, but one of the three camping areas will serve you well. Only one is FHU. None are cheap, but the experience is worth every penny. We were last there in 2010(?) and it is still one of our big memories.
Matt
Thank you for the info. I will start looking right away.

Also thanks to UTTransplant for the alternative festival site. Hope to get into one them. If not will try for next year.
 
First advice is once you are both retired to learn to travel more slowly and stay more than a couple of days someplace, as you might have been doing when you were on "vacation" and had to see a lot in a short time.

Also, you probably will want to plan long in advance for events like the balloon festival because it is hard to find camping spots for big events, unless you are planning on boondocking in the desert. Even boondocking takes planning because you will need to research where you can boondock and where you can't.
Thanks Judy. Good advice, especially since I have been retired for a few years now and am chomping at the bit to get going. Since I do all the driving, won’t have to tell her to ”slow down”. However, it will be something I will have to plan ahead for. 🐌
 
What does this have to do with this post? Did you put it in the wrong post?
I'm guessing you don't remember the reference. When Luci and Desi pulled that big old TT with a car. Someone asked what kind of truck he was going to tow his with. This came to mind. :)
 
I'm guessing you don't remember the reference.
It's difficult to remember something you never knew. Not everyone, not even every RVer, has seen the movie you're referring to. I only have a vague idea about it because of a discussion about it by some folks several years back. Not everyone likes that brand of comedy...
 
Only us really old folks can remember the old Lucile Ball movie "The Long Trailer" but I am part of that bunch. Did not remember the specfic car however, just that they got into a lot of trouble pulling that big trailer with that big car!
 
What does this have to do with this post? Did you put it in the wrong post?
In most of the movie "The Long, Long Trailer" the tow car was a 1953 Mercury Monterrey convertible (towing a 6000 lb 32 foot trailer!) but in the mountain-climbing scenes an almost identical '53 Lincoln Capri was substituted because it had a much more powerful engine.
 

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