How early do you leave a CG ?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

UK-RV

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 25, 2005
Posts
822
Location
UK
Hi

After reading the post of the guy who was robbed at the KOA, I had to ask this question :-

The guy had booked into the KOA and was planning to leave at 4am the following morning.

So, given that most CGs have a quiet time until 7am or 8am, how many of you think it is OK to wake your neighbours when leaving your site/CG before 7am ?

Personally, I think it is extremely selfish to book into a CG knowing you are going to leave at such a time.

The same goes for people driving in after 10 or 11pm too.

Or do you guys think it is OK ?

Paul
 
Although we don't travel in the dark, we understand why some do; time constraints, less traffic, etc.  An RV arriving late at night won't bother us IF all they do is pull in to a site, and quickly, and quietly, make their hookups.  Same for leaving early, don't run the engine for 15 minutes to warm it up (modern engines don't need that warm up period anyway), just start and pull out.  They key is quietly.  A minute or to of minimal noise won't disturb me.
 
Paul,

What Ned said. Would it be less selfish to do this when overnighting at Wal*Mart?

A few weeks ago we stayed at a campground that had a lot of oil/construction workers living there for a few months. (The office personnel didn't tell us that when we checked in). Most of these guys fired up their engines and left for work around 5.30-6.00am. Although I wasn't an especially happy camper, I wasn't totally unhappy about it. Should they have gone to work late so I could sleep in?
 
Hi Tom

I think if you stay at WalMart you get what you pay for - Trucks, RVs, 24hr shoppers and even a late-night racetrack for local bikers (had that before).

If the CG you mention had a quiet time policy, and they then chose to accept a number of construction workers, perhaps they should notify people checking-in that the quiet time policy had been suspended and offer you the chance to cancel without penalty.

Perhaps I just like my sleep too much - it usually takes me an hour or so to nod off.

Paul
 
It's their buck that is paying for the site and they don't tell me when I can come and go, I don't feel it's my place to tell them.  Although thru the years many many people have told me WHERE to go.  I try to do it quietly cuz I'm an early riser and mover.  I just hope they will show me the same courtesy and do likewise.  If they don't so what,  I retired and a couple minutes of sleep one way or the other isn't going to ruin my trip to whereever.
 
Ned said:
Although we don't travel in the dark, we understand why some do; time constraints, less traffic, etc.  An RV arriving late at night won't bother us IF all they do is pull in to a site, and quickly, and quietly, make their hookups.  Same for leaving early, don't run the engine for 15 minutes to warm it up (modern engines don't need that warm up period anyway), just start and pull out.  They key is quietly.  A minute or to of minimal noise won't disturb me.

Ned,

One small exception. Air ride coaches do need about 5 minutes to air up the bags if they are completely down. If one doesn't put down the jacks then, in most cases, the bags will stay full. This can irritate some neighbors but it is necessary.
 
UK-RV said:
....perhaps they should notify people checking-in that the quiet time policy had been suspended....

No disagreement Paul. My traveling companion did let them know the following morning that they've turned the CG into a trailer park. They agreed, but I guess they liked the short-term incremental revenue.
 
Jim

We have to have our engine running to raise the jacks, bring the slides in and fill the air bags.

As I cant get into the utility bay with the slides out (my large size rather than restricted utility bay), we would have to run the engine for a few minutes, switch off to do the utilities and then start it up again.

However, if it is dry out, we now tend to pack away the utility stuff the evening before we are due to leave as you can bet it will be raining heavily if we do it the morning we leave - and then we have no alternative other than to go out in the rain (then I usually just send Ann-Marie anyway  ;D).

Paul
 
Our air pressure comes up in just a few minutes, and I don't object to others doing that.  It's those that think they need to warm up for 15+ minutes that bother me.  Our slide comes in and the jacks come up before we ever start our engine.  I know some coaches don't work that way, but it takes no more time for that than to get the air pressure up.
 
I think a lot depends on the time. If someone next to me fires up their engine at 4 or 5 am, odds are, it's gonna wake me up. And odds are, I'm not going to get back to sleep easily. As for it being "their buck that is paying for the site," well, I paid for my site, too, and I expect to be able to sleep. I can accept anything after 6 am (and I'm a late riser) and anything up until 11 pm but the time period between those hours should be QUIET. I think that's just common respect for your neighbors.

As for Wal-Mart (oh, jeez, here we go again on a new Wal-Mart argument), you get what you pay for, just like rest stops, truck stops, roadside pullouts, etc. I may not like it when the trucker comes into the rest stop at 2 am, parks next to me, keeps his engine running all night long and leaves at 6 am, but, hey, that's the way it is in a rest stop.
 
Wendy

I think you're spot on with the CG and spot on with WalMart too.

Until we got to Florida, we tried to stay in a WalMart twice each week - not really to save money (although now we're paying Florida CG rates it's helped) - but we did it as most WalMarts are located near to Restaurants and we could have a drink and walk back to the RV. Then, it took a lot to wake us anyway. LOL

Paul


 
I have two setup levels "overnight" where in some cases I can pull up jacks and run in under five minutes, and "Longer" where I'm not leaving the park much before noon, will take that long to finish my AM net run, take down the dish, take in the outside stuff, you get the picture I'm sure.

The earliest I've ever pulled up and ran was around 1am at a flying J truck stop..... All time constraints are off at truck stops
 
Paul,

I can run the jacks up and bring the slide in without the engine but doing the jacks causes a loud alarm in the coach if the air pressure is down. I really hate that so I start the engine to bring the jacks up. :) The slide is always done before starting the coach.

I try never to spend any more time than necessary if leaving early. Most of the time we don't get underway until about 0700.
 
Ned.

I agree one should not idle for 15 minutes. There are even rest areas on I84 in NY that don't allow trucks to idle more than 15 minutes. If one does idle for any length of time they should be using the fast idle which is even worse!
 
We have to have our engine running to raise the jacks, bring the slides in and fill the air bags.

I am surprised that a late model MH requires the engine running to raise the jacks and bring the slides in. Jacks are raised by springs and slides are moved by hydraulic pressure whose pump is run from the house battery.

But sticking with the topic, I always leave a campground at 5 or 6 am and never considered this to be in violation of the cg's quiet hours. I consider quiet hours to mean no loud music, talking or generators.
 
Paul,

I guess if I pay for a campground I  think I  can arrive or leave at any hour.  I  think my neighbors have the same privilege.  Now I hope to be courteous and I hope I luck out and get  folks for neighbors who share my times to get up and sleep in.  Quiet hours only apply to loud noises, parities or running of generators.  Coming and going is part of  a campground.  If a campground is too noisy I leave or use ear plugs in the case of large trains! 

I pay for the time I use the campground and don't think it selfish for others to have their personal schedules as well.  Just me.


Betty
 
I agree with Betty.  While we very seldom get going before 08:00 or later we don't expect other to comply with our schedule any more than we would comply with somebody elses schedule unless it was somebody we were traveling with.  Now as for running diesels for long periods of time is IMHO inconsiderate of others not to mention their own engine.  I find diesel pickups to be more offending than motorhome engines when the go in and out at all hours.  Trains don't even bother me. ;D
 
JamesOne said:
I am surprised that a late model MH requires the engine running to raise the jacks and bring the slides in. Jacks are raised by springs and slides are moved by hydraulic pressure whose pump is run from the house battery.

But sticking with the topic, I always leave a campground at 5 or 6 am and never considered this to be in violation of the cg's quiet hours. I consider quiet hours to mean no loud music, talking or generators.

James,

It depends upon the manufacturer. Some have designed their systems so they won't work unless the engine isn't running. Within manufacturers they also design systems that won't work if the engine is running. Don't ask me why. :) Many slides today, I think the majority, are run by electric motors. Hydraulic slides presented too many problems.
 
If ya gotta go, ya gotta go!  Having tented and traveled in a pop-up campers years ago, I can related to being awakened by motorhomes leaving at all hours, and tenters arrriving late and throwing around tent poles, as well as inconsiderate motorhome owners who run their generator all night, etc.. It's a difficult situation for campground operators trying to keep the peace, when there's really not much that can be done about it because the problem is usually already driving down the road by the time the problem gets to the management by complaints.

That being said, if I had to depart at 4am, I'd probably just leave the night before to get a head start to my destination, then just stop at a rest stop or Walmart for a nap and avoid the whole issue.  I feel bad knowing that I'm causing a disturbance. I don't use campgrounds to stop and sleep for a few hours, that's why I have a motor home.

A campground having  a parking area near the gate with an electrical outlet would be a nice feature for motorhomes having to leave overnight.  The party could just move their rig to the spot closer to the exit and plug it in until the have to leave, at which time they cold just unplug and leave without disturbing others.  That would also free up the site earlier for the campground.
 
I am surprised that a late model MH requires the engine running to raise the jacks and bring the slides in. Jacks are raised by springs and slides are moved by hydraulic pressure whose pump is run from the house battery.

We try not to run our engine any more than necessary to avoid disturbing others - usually not a problem because we don't arrive late or leave early most of the time.  However, we have diesel pusher with air leveling.  On arrival we have to wait for the leveling system to "come up" to a certain point on the guage (when we hear the "spitter"), after which we turn off the engine and put out the slides.  We have no jacks, but after bringing in the slides we press a button for the air system to level the coach (you may hear air hissing as various bags fill or empty).  On leaving we have to turn on the engine for a few minutes to bring the coach up to ride height, after which we turn off the engine and bring in the slides.  When we're ready to leave we again turn on the engine.  If it's still at ride height we can drive away immediately, but if not, we have to wait again for the "spitter" that indicates we're at ride height.  We never just let it idle for lengthy periods which Cummins says is unnecessary for modern engines.  Keep in mind that every manufacturer has its own directions for leveling and slide movement, so what we do may not be what someone else does in the same situation.  Also, whether we run the engine is an issue independent of springs, hydraulics, and batteries.

We've encountered a few cases where we felt our engine would either be too noisy or perhaps direct diesel fumes directly into our neighbors coach and in those cases we think it's nice to forewarn them so they know what to expect.  We don't like to listen to other people's engines or breathe their fumes, so they should be able to protect themselves against ours.

ArdraF
 
Back
Top Bottom