I've got my own camper now.

[TheDave]

Well now I actually own my own Travel Trailer.  Memories of camping in the Adirondacks in NY as a kid in the tent while my parents slept in the Pop-up drove me to get a Travel Trailer.  I have been looking for a few years for a camper that had to have the following 2 items before my wife would camp....a toilet and a shower.    Go figure I would have been happy with a  pop-up.  Oh well since she had never been camping before I guess I had to compromise for her sake. (don't we all)    I just purchased a 1990 Kit (Roadrunner) Monerty 184.  The person I purchased it from really took great care of it, or at least I think so.  He added a 3 foot deck on the back for extra "stuff".  I think I will be using the deck to drag along my 3 y/o daughters PINK Escalade electric car, and a few bikes.  I think the trailer will be a good starter for us (Wife, 3 y/o and 1 y/o daughters and myself.)  I will be calling the trailer "Daddy's ESC".  Our TV is a 2002 Chevy Trailblazer LTZ.  I am happy with the over size of the TT for the TV but the TV is rated at 5700 and the GVWR on the TT is 5900  .  I am hoping that I will not have that much to tow.  I suspect that it will weigh in around 4800-5000 fully loaded.  Of course no water in any of the tanks during travel to keep that weight down.  We will be trying our TT out this weekend at the Picacho Peak State Park in AZ.  Lets just see how much we have forgoten to bring with us.  I have been lurking around the board for a while so I am sure to be warned of the weight dangers of the TT weight.  Thanks for listening and Happy camping.

TheDave

 

[Riverdog]

Dave,

Your wife has the same requirements as mine ... her own toilet & shower.  Some of our friends kid us and say "that's not camping" to which we say -- fine call it RVing, it's more fun no matter how you look at it.

Enjoy your new trailer.

Riverdog

 

[ArdraF]

Of course no water in any of the tanks during travel to keep that weight down.

Congratulations on your new toy.  It will be a lot of fun and a great way to travel with kids.

As to the water tanks, as a long time RVer I advise traveling with at least SOME water in the tank.  You'll need it for flushing the toilet, washing hands, and any cooking enroute.  We were once at a national park when approached by a very abject man with a large pan in hand.  Seems he believed in traveling without any water to keep the weight down (in his case he thought it would help his gas mileage which would be miniscule).  Unfortunately, there was no water in this park and he needed to borrow some so they could flush the toilet and make morning coffee.  His comment was, "If I come back without any water my wife is going to kill me."  Sooo, you might want to rethink your water situation.  The idea is to be prepared for any eventuality - especiallly if a shower and toilet were high on the list to get your wife to agree to RVing! 

Along those same lines, we had friends who used to dry camp at a favorite park on a lake .  On one of their trips their little boy who was about three at the time got really sick to his stomach.  His mother told me it was wonderful to have a tank full of water because she just put him in the shower and hosed him off.

Hopefully you won't encounter either of these situations.

Happy camping or RVing or whatever you choose to call it!

ArdraF

 

[Wendy]

Hi Dave. Congratulations on the new toy. If it makes you feel any better, the IRS also like the 'toilet' rule for RVs (they don't care if it has a shower). If it has a toilet, cooking area, and place to sleep, you can deduct any interest as a second home.

Enjoy your first trip....lucky you, you're in a warm place
Wendy

 

[Ron]

Welcome to the RV Forum and congratulations on your new toy.. Please look around the forum,  join in on any of the on going discussions, start new discussions, or ask questions.