Thoughts on Our Full-Time Options?

[varmonter]

Our first Attempt at ft was this summer.
We loved working as park hosts in wy. We own
A home in vt and are returning in 10 days to sell
It and buy a Mh. The 32 ft tt is too small . We've only camped in it till now. It didn't take long to
Realize we need more space. Physically and emotionally. . My limited experience will tell you
Not to spend the money on a TT only to turn
Around and have to spend the money again
On a mh. You won't save mpg by going the truck
Vs mh route. A gas pickup will get 5mpg towing a
Big tt or 5th wheel. And 15_18mpg when not.
A diesel pusher will get 6_9 mpg and when
Not in use your toad will get 30.
Don't make the same mistake we did.

[Pyropete]

Originally Posted by varmonter

Our first Attempt at ft was this summer.
We loved working as park hosts in wy. We own
A home in vt and are returning in 10 days to sell
It and buy a Mh. The 32 ft tt is too small . We've only camped in it till now. It didn't take long to
Realize we need more space. Physically and emotionally. . My limited experience will tell you
Not to spend the money on a TT only to turn
Around and have to spend the money again
On a mh. You won't save mpg by going the truck
Vs mh route. A gas pickup will get 5mpg towing a
Big tt or 5th wheel. And 15_18mpg when not.
A diesel pusher will get 6_9 mpg and when
Not in use your toad will get 30.
Don't make the same mistake we did.

Definitely.. My plan was to stay in each place for months if I can. Either winter in high desert of NV or if I could get to AZ I would winter there. I have a big circle I wanted to do and rounding that circle once every 2 years and finding different spots. I am alone with a cat (will probably get a small Lhasa when it's time for me to start my adventure) and planned on getting a 36-40' fifth wheel with front living space (LOVE that floor plan). Gas and such scare the crap out of me. I am always afraid it's going to cost me a fortune. It's like $200 or there about to get from Sacramento to Reno, and to Winnemucca it's another $200..

[Dan McMartin]

Originally Posted by Pyropete

Definitely.. My plan was to stay in each place for months if I can. Either winter in high desert of NV or if I could get to AZ I would winter there. I have a big circle I wanted to do and rounding that circle once every 2 years and finding different spots. I am alone with a cat (will probably get a small Lhasa when it's time for me to start my adventure) and planned on getting a 36-40' fifth wheel with front living space (LOVE that floor plan). Gas and such scare the crap out of me. I am always afraid it's going to cost me a fortune. It's like $200 or there about to get from Sacramento to Reno, and to Winnemucca it's another $200..

Gas isn't as bad you you think. Obviously, it depends on the price but we typically spend less than $200 month on gas, sometimes much less, even though we move about once a week and about 400-500 a month on average. I too though it would be a bigger expense but it's not that bad and better yet, under you control since you determine how often and how far you travel.

That doesn't include the gas for our toad but that's not that bad and we've got a Jeep that gets about 16 mph.

[stuccosteve]

I have been running around this country in class A’s for 30 years. Never full time just for 2 purposes, take my family skiing and occasionally camping. After my 3rd son I knew I would never be able to afford big family trips to the Rocky’s so I bought a 20 year old gas A and started tinkering with it to get it set up for cold weather. That was back in latter 80’s, motorhome we’re still a bit rough around the edges. Very few manufacturers considered making their rigs for extreme cold weather.

I would relocate all water supply to inside the coach and insulate my holding tanks and wrap heat tape on them. Often I would upgrade the heater as well. The trick was figuring out how to deal with the hot water heater, I would build a insulated exterior surround that I would remove when firing up the heater, as long as the heater ran it wouldn’t freeze. Needles to say we had all kinds of experiences. I even would put a more aggressive set on the duals and keep chains for the outside tires. Never got stuck and we punched through some heavy snows. Mind you we always waited out any storms and only rolled in the mountains during the day.

We sat slope side at many western resorts over the years and New England, it’s a different lifestyle and breed, Taos used to have front row parking for RV’s. I can give you all kind of tips but it’s something you have to experience to really get it. So now days it’s a bit different, my kids have kids, but my wife and I still spend quite a few weeks bumming around the ski resorts. The best part is somewhere in the mid nineties coach builders started putting cold weather packages in their rigs. Now days most of the higher end coaches are so well designed that with a little foresight you can sit warm and comfy at 7,000 feet and use all your features without worrying about freezing up.

We upgraded to a 2001 HR Navi, it’s a big rig, 43’ with a tag. It has everything required to function quite well in the mountains. The features that really matter when cold weather camping are insulated windows, heated wet bays and an Aqua hot. You have to be on top of your maintenance, I always mount remote temperature sensors in any location that needs to stay above freezing. Small quartz heaters can also protect your wet bays when it starts getting down in the single digits. Our rig has an engine preheat loop that runs through the aqua hot, always have a warm diesel ready to go. I let the air out of the bags and get the coach as close to the ground so wind can’t supercool the underside.

If you want to save the learning curve I would recommend looking at the offerings of 15-20 year old higher end coaches, they have the options I mentioned and some great deals are out there. For us it’s all about safe and sensible, we are always aware of what the weathers going to do and plan accordingly. All mountain travel is done during the day and only when the roads are good. We don’t have to worry about going anywhere, in fact when rolling down the highway and we know we’re going to catch a storm I will pull into a self service car wash bay and wait the storm out.

If you have a tag make sure you lift it when driving slowly in deeper snow, you want all your weight on the drive tires. I look at it this way, big trucks and semi rigs are completely at home running the same roads, the drivers generally make good decisions on when to roll and when to sit, watch the trucks. This year I am hoping to do the holy grail of big mountain skiing, 6 weeks in the Canadian Rockies on the “Powder Highway”. Look it up, it’s pretty awesome, ski areas that make our rocky mtn. Areas look small, some would think it crazy but most of the travel is down at reasonable elevations, there are always the passes, do your diligence and make sure the weather is right before heading over the big ones.
Don’t ever be afraid to pull off and wait it out, live to ski another day.

[Pyropete]

What kind of hobbies to people keep themselves busy with? I have loved to collect cards.. Pokémon, Baseball, Magic ect.. Also LOVE astronomy, but I doubt I will be able to take my 12" dobsonian. That thing is like 5ft tall and huge! Downsizing to a 8" most likely. I LOVE to mountain bike, but I am so out of shape now. I like to hike and metal detect as well. I love animals, and love to foster kitties. I love to sit around and do nothing too.. Naps are fine too lol..

[twogypsies]

Originally Posted by Pyropete

What kind of hobbies to people keep themselves busy with? I have loved to collect cards.. Pokémon, Baseball, Magic ect.. Also LOVE astronomy, but I doubt I will be able to take my 12" dobsonian. That thing is like 5ft tall and huge! Downsizing to a 8" most likely. I LOVE to mountain bike, but I am so out of shape now. I like to hike and metal detect as well. I love animals, and love to foster kitties. I love to sit around and do nothing too.. Naps are fine too lol..

If you're planning on boondocking make room for the 12" dobsonian! You'll have many, many clear night skies.

If folks have hobbies that requires equipment you need to keep that in mind when looking for the right size/type of RV.

[grindstone01]

Originally Posted by twogypsies

If you're planning on boondocking make room for the 12" dobsonian! You'll have many, many clear night skies.

If folks have hobbies that requires equipment you need to keep that in mind when looking for the right size/type of RV.

I agree that RV and hobbies are a good mix. I like antique tractors so we stop at any tractor show while traveling across country. You don't have to own them to enjoy the hobby.

[HJLowell]

Tractors ? Yes

County fairs, nothing like a day or two at a County or State fair.

Even South Florida has a great state fair.

Antique Tractors , Tractor and Truck pulls
Antique furniture in the 4-H building
Lots of livestock

Homemade ice cream
Sit and chat at the Grange hall
Good home cooking.

My sister and children show at least 6 livestock shows a year.
The last was Dark county Ohio following Delaware County Indiana.
This fall and winter.
Louisville
Dalas
Kansas city

Plus steam engine shows
Craft shows
Quilting shows

All have Great Homemade Ice Cream
Or they should??? Dont you think.

Then the horse racing, little Brown jug, Derby ?

Sulky raising

My goodness.

Outlaw Sprinters, on Dirt

That keeps us buisy the other weeks.

Findlay Track, wayne county


Volusia county, etc etc

Maryland county fairs
Carroll and Howard countys we like to attend annually with our Daughter and 3 boys.

Hobys ?
Who needs hobys with 4 children and 11
Grandchildren [emoji6][emoji106][emoji41][emoji7][emoji7]

[jim1521]

We started full-timing in June. We have two places that we will mostly travel to: GA and FL. Originally we were going with a big Newmar, Monaco, or Beaver diesel. Then as we started thinking it through, we realized that we were going to be spending a lot of money on a diesel engine that we wouldn’t use much, as well as being caught in a smaller living space. Wife said let’s save the money and buy a nice big 1-ton dually and get the fifth wheel with the exact floor plan that we want.

The truck is also used for towing our boat, Home Depot runs (we built a 48’ x 16’ deck at our site in GA), and many, many other uses that simply would have been impossible had we gone the Class A route. We estimate that we saved anywhere between $40,000 - $100,000 by going in this direction vs buying a Class A.

Regarding the snow camping for skiing, towing a fifth wheel to a camp site, then using the 1-ton 4WD to go to the slopes would be a great solution.