New RVer

[Esahic]

Hello everyone,

My family and I just purchased our first RV. WooHoo!

We originally wanted a motor home, but after looking at all our options, checking out from really old to brand new, from class A to trailer, going to dealerships, and actually trying a few out. We finally decided on a travel trailer.

We purchased a 2019 Forest River Cherokee Grey Wolf 29TE

The reason we choose a pull bumper travel trailer was because first the cost. I was able to get a 2 year old trailer for 18k and it had everything we wanted without having to do any extra work remodeling. The second reason we got this trailer was it had 2 separate bedrooms. This was something we wanted for our daughter and planned for since my wife is expecting. We are going to have our family of 4 go from living in a 2000 sqft. house to this trailer..... eventually in the near future.

This trailer is a little longer than I wanted, but it was the smallest we could find with 2 rooms.

I would love to get information from the community on things I should know as a newbie going into our journey. So if you have a link I should read or any info that is a must know, please let me know. I'm excited to learn and start this new learning experience. My family and I are so excited to start traveling and to get away from working 9-5(rat race)

Now I need to start researching and looking for a TRUCK to pull the trailer.... Wait did I forget to mention we bought the carriage before the horse?! This is a topic for another thread.

 

[SeilerBird]

Welcome. Spend a lot of time on this web site. At the top of every page is a link to the library. It is full of stuff that will answer a lot of your questions. And don't be afraid to ask questions, even really dumb questions.

 

[Rene T]

Hello everyone,

We are going to have our family of 4 go from living in a 2000 sqft. house to this trailer..... eventually in the near future.

Now I need to start researching and looking for a TRUCK to pull the trailer.... Wait did I forget to mention we bought the carriage before the horse?!

First, welcome to the forum.
Are you saying you plan on living full time in the trailer?
As far as the truck, I think you did the right thing. It will be easy to spec out a truck for you. Most times people already have a truck and then try to find a RV and they?re unable to find what they want because of the tow capacity of their truck. Of course, the salesman usually says that ?your truck will do able to pull it with NO problems?.

 

[Rene T]

And don't be afraid to ask questions, even really dumb questions.

Don?t listen to Tom,  there are no dumb questions. If you don?t know the answer it?s not dumb to ask  ;D ;D ;D
Tom is a jokester.

 

[Esahic]

Here are a few pictures of our Camper I have attached.

 

[Rene T]

Very nice.

 

[Esahic]

Hey Rene, We do plan on living in the trailer full time by the end of the year. We are looking for a place to park it. Going to rent a spot until we can find land to park it. We want to travel and stay at parks for a year on the road.

 

[Rene T]

Hey Rene, We do plan on living in the trailer full time by the end of the year. We are looking for a place to park it. Going to rent a spot until we can find land to park it. We want to travel and stay at parks for a year on the road.

What part of this beautiful country do you live in?
It may be helpful if you go into your profile and create a signature of yourself telling us a little bit about you.

 

[Matt_C]

Esahic,

Rene is correct, a good sigfile will help us help you much better. 

I hope you realize that everybody that writes here was born knowing everything we needed to know about RVing.  (Right!!)
I am going to pass along the best advice everybody should give anybody thinking about this stuff.

PLAN TO Spend at  least the first night in your driveway.  (Maybe more until you get things hammered flat.)

You have acquired an 8000# unit.  That means serious truck, but do not miss the WDH (weight distributing hitch) this can make towing way safer and more comfortable.  As to what truck (here after labeled TV- Tow Vehicle) for this TT (Travel Trailer), I am too long out of the industry to give you a good answer.  I hope others will. 

There is another piece of universal advice here.  Inspect the roof.  Water leaks are the biggest cause of the demise of all types of RVs. 

When you get your plan more complete, be sure to ask for opinions here and on other boards.  There is probably someone that has the BTDT teeshirt in the drawer.  He will love sharing it with you.

Matt

 

[Esahic]

Hey Matt, One thing I really liked about the dealership we purchased from is they do a full inspection and then spend 1-2 hours showing us everything we need to know. We will be doing that this Monday 01/25th. I think I added a Sig. I live in Arlington Texas currently. We plan on traveling to the North east for our first big trip. We are thinking of buying land in Maine, Vermont or some other area near there. First we will travel there in our Camper and see if we like it. We love Colorado but its so expensive to buy there.

 

[Rene T]

We plan on traveling to the North east for our first big trip. We are thinking of buying land in Maine, Vermont or some other area near there.

Don?t forget NH as a possible.

 

[Esahic]

Well I see that is where you are located. NH is defiantly another area we want to explore and possibly buy land. My wife and I have only lived in Texas, we want to experience the snow, but are worried about how cold it really gets up north. I guess worst case we just drive back south. Right?

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

I've lived in Wisconsin, Maine, Massachusetts and Canada for a while.  Those were incentive enough to get as far away from that misery as possible.  Been here 30 years now.

There's no way you're staying in a trailer in that climate.  They're not made for it and anyone who tries is met with problems.  It's not fun.  Maybe during the summer but I wouldn't buy land just to experience an area.  When your house has wheels you can see many places and do many things.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Esahic]

Great point Mark. We won't be buying land till we find the area we like. We plan on traveling till we find somewhere we enjoy and decide to stay. That cold temperature was a concern of mine especially having a young child and another on the way. That is why I need to learn more about heating my camper.

 

[Alfa38User]

Heating a camper in cold weather is not easy. It takes a lot of work and ... propane. Young children are a deal breaker in this kind of weather.
I see that Ren? T has suggested NH, a nice place to live and visit in the summer!! But.... ask him where he is  right now!!! Heh, heh... Wish I could join him but the virus keeps us up north this winter.