Community Forums

MEDATOAD · 01-21-2019, 03:07 AM

Just getting into RVing. Have the truck and the 5th wheel hitch. Still researching 5th wheels.

I'm from Messachusetts.

I intend to first have a few short trips just to learn the ropes of the trailer, towing and handling etc. Once comfortable with everything I hopefully will be able to criss-cross the Canadian provinces from east to west, hit the ALCAN and spend some time in Alaska then return across the top of the US. I anticipate that will take around 3 months plus. I am still planning the route and stops.

For those of you that are on the road for extended periods but still maintain a home I have a couple of questions. I don't have anyone that I can rely on to get my mail and let me know what is in it. Actually I do but I don't want to burden my son with getting the mail and things like that as he lives 20 miles away from me.

1. How do you receive your bills that come up from your home/base camp itself such as taxes, electric, water, gas etc? I pay all my bills on line but still get paper copies in the mail. I guess I can apply for electronic billing but not all credit cards, municipalities and utility companies have that.

2. I am retired military. I get my prescriptions through Express Scripts where they mail my prescriptions to me. For those in a similar situation how do you get your medications to you when on the road?

3. What do you do or how do you prepare for any medical emergencies that may arrive?

4. I am already looking into having a service take care of the lawn and other maintenance around the outside of the house.

5. As I said I am in the process of planning my route. Are there any publications, internet sites, or other sources of information that I can investigate to help me plan my route. I have ton of places I want to see in my bucket but it is a little daunting trying to figure out. Also kind of worried about the 5th wheel not being able to travel on some roads because of extreme roughness or low underpasses that would scalp the top of the camper. Help with that.

6. Do you recommend having a CB radio in case of emergency when there is no cell phone service? OVER.

7. I am a AAA member and can get roadside assistance for the camper through AAA but not sure about what they would actually cover yet. Any other travel insurance that you would recommend.

8. What to you do about warranty service or if out of warranty what do you do about getting things like your refrig, eater, electric fixed while on the road?

I have a bucket more of questions but this is already long enough. I will be hitting you all up with more in the future I am sure. I am so looking forward to getting on the road this spring

but as I plan and learn I also learn that the more I find out the more I need to find out. At this point the unknown seems a little daunting

Thanks for your opinions, experience and advise in advance. All greatly appreciated.

txcpl · 01-21-2019, 04:45 AM

Take a look at Escapees and all they have to offer. You can probably find the answers to many of your questions through them.

Good luck

momdoc · 01-21-2019, 04:58 AM

Welcome to the forum.

You are joining a good group of folks here with good info to share. I will try to answer some of your questions:
1. ALL of our bills and banking is done on line with NO pony express mail. And any mail we get we use a mail forwarding service such as St. Branden.s Isle or Escapees mail
2. Rx's either mail service or what ever pharmacy (CVS etc your plan uses) you can transfer to a local branch
3. There are multiple sites to look at, RVpark reviews, Trip wizzard are a couple
6. We do not use a CB
7. AAA will have a plan you can use. Contact them
8. Service work we do on the road where ever we are. Mobile service many times is better and faster than trying to find an RV center that will be able to help you.

Hope some of this helps and enjoy the adventure.

marjoa · 01-21-2019, 05:14 AM

Lots of questions, lots to learn.

Escapees for a large portion of your questions:
https://www.escapees.com

Youtube is your best friend:
https://www.youtube.com

All other questions you have...have been asked many times here and all you have to do is do a forum wide search:
How you do a forum wide search:
• Go to the green box at the top of this page
• Make sure IRV2 button is selected
• Type a brief subject you want to search (i.e. getting medications on the road)
• Hit the search button

You'll have enough reading for a year.

Good luck.

georgelesley · 01-21-2019, 05:20 AM

We just made friends with our mailman. He holds our mail as long as we are gone and I call him when we are a few days out and he brings it. We take care of him at Christmas. We use Express Scripts being retired military also. Just call in advance, let them know your plans and they will send enough to cover your trip.

We just did Tennessee to Alaska last summer took three months. Bills are all done online, I built up a credit with all of the utilities and pay enough each month to cover the bill automatically. Same with cell phone. BTW, Verizon is best coverage nationwide. Also worked in Canada well for us but lots of no service areas in Canada and Alaska. We just planned to spend a bit of extra time in a city to catch up on important stuff as needed..

There are several web sites that have trip planning and low clearance info. We also carry and use a lot, the motor carrier atlas. Buy it on Amazon or any truck stop. If an 18 wheeler can make it, so can you. RV Trip Advisor is good as is Allstays which is what we use.

To save money on campgrounds we use Passport America a lot. It gets you off the interstates more so you can see stuff and saves you 1/2 price. We also stay at military bases occasionally. Good place to restock. Several sites there as well, we use Ultimate mil cg app. We use casinos often for boondocking, some also have minimal hookups. Allstays.com has lists of them as well as military bases, Walmarts, and lots of other info you will want.

Welcome to the site, thanks for your service, and maybe we can see you on the road someday. Good luck!

Finance · 01-21-2019, 05:41 AM

For mail, we use https://www.sbimailservice.com

For communications beyond the reach of cell systems https://explore.garmin.com/en-US/inreach/ . Plans for these are affordable. Of course there's always satellite phones, but too expensive IMO.

Indy Glenn · 01-21-2019, 05:59 AM

Some thoughts in red below.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by MEDATOAD

Just getting into RVing. Have the truck and the 5th wheel hitch. Still researching 5th wheels.

I'm from Messachusetts.

I intend to first have a few short trips just to learn the ropes of the trailer, towing and handling etc. Once comfortable with everything I hopefully will be able to criss-cross the Canadian provinces from east to west, hit the ALCAN and spend some time in Alaska then return across the top of the US. I anticipate that will take around 3 months plus. I am still planning the route and stops.

For those of you that are on the road for extended periods but still maintain a home I have a couple of questions. I don't have anyone that I can rely on to get my mail and let me know what is in it. Actually I do but I don't want to burden my son with getting the mail and things like that as he lives 20 miles away from me.

1. How do you receive your bills that come up from your home/base camp itself such as taxes, electric, water, gas etc? I pay all my bills on line but still get paper copies in the mail. I guess I can apply for electronic billing but not all credit cards, municipalities and utility companies have that.

If you go paperless, you will get your bills in email form versus paper.......I suggest you get a cell phone with a hot spot and not rely on camp ground wifi for our bills. Taxes you should know the time schedule and plan accordingly. As far as some not having on line services - give them a call when the latest bill is posted - - you should know that schedule as well.

2. I am retired military. I get my prescriptions through Express Scripts where they mail my prescriptions to me. For those in a similar situation how do you get your medications to you when on the road?

I also get my prescriptions through Express Scripts - I have found they send refills very early and I always seem to have a ninety day plus supply on hand. You can always take yourself off auto fill and call Express Scripts with an address to mail your medicines to if at a location for a period of time.

3. What do you do or how do you prepare for any medical emergencies that may arrive?

At the mercy of the local area - FMCA does have a feature that helps with medical evacuation and getting your rig home if need be, check them out on line (FMCA.com) and tell them Glenn sent ya....

4. I am already looking into having a service take care of the lawn and other maintenance around the outside of the house.

5. As I said I am in the process of planning my route. Are there any publications, internet sites, or other sources of information that I can investigate to help me plan my route. I have ton of places I want to see in my bucket but it is a little daunting trying to figure out. Also kind of worried about the 5th wheel not being able to travel on some roads because of extreme roughness or low underpasses that would scalp the top of the camper. Help with that.

Get an RV GPS that takes in to account your RVs stats and warns if you have a low clearance ahead. There are also apps with low clearances, wind, mountains, whatever you want! There are many apps and web sites for trio planning. You can get an online Trip Tik from AAA or one from the AAA office if need be - Good Sam has a trip planning feature on their web site, and Point Flying J had a trip planning feature on their web site under the locations tab, which shows you where their fuel stops are and you can even filter in stations with RV lanes. There is a paid site called RV Trip Wizard that may be for you.

6. Do you recommend having a CB radio in case of emergency when there is no cell phone service? OVER.

I have one - not much traffic but helps from time to time with weather and road conditions.

7. I am a AAA member and can get roadside assistance for the camper through AAA but not sure about what they would actually cover yet. Any other travel insurance that you would recommend.

In my view, there are better options for road side assistant than AAA.

8. What to you do about warranty service or if out of warranty what do you do about getting things like your refrig, eater, electric fixed while on the road?

Get a list of authorized dealers with repair shops. Keep in mind all repair shops for new RVs are not created equal - - I'd do multiple "shake-down trips" prior to heading out for a 3 month+ trip!

I have a bucket more of questions but this is already long enough. I will be hitting you all up with more in the future I am sure. I am so looking forward to getting on the road this spring

but as I plan and learn I also learn that the more I find out the more I need to find out. At this point the unknown seems a little daunting

Thanks for your opinions, experience and advise in advance. All greatly appreciated.

Good luck to you - - - - - yes - - there is a learning curve - - make sure you have lots of patience and a sense of humor.

You are planning to go to some remote places - - plan accordingly, have what you need with you!. You may consider a 5th wheel with a generator for those remote camp sites.

As we used to say at work: "Overcome and adapt!!"

Out.....

g

MSHappyCampers · 01-21-2019, 09:11 AM

Hi ! Welcome to IRV2! We're sure glad you joined the gang!

I'm not the guy to answer those questions but noticed that you are kinda new on IRV2 and wanted to say hello! Have fun and keep her between the ditches!

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

Mr_D · 01-21-2019, 09:15 AM

Going to watch this as I'm contemplating the same questions.
My son lives 20 miles from me but can't be depended on so no one to check on the place or mail.
Most bills are on auto pay now but a few won't work with that.
No warranty on my rig but not many places can reliably work on a high end CC which complicates repairs. Some people will say the subsystems are all the same which is true but CC installed them in their way, which sometimes wasn't standard.
Most of my neighbors already have yard service so I'll ask around.
For prescriptions I use Walgreens and they are pretty much everywhere.

MEDATOAD · 01-22-2019, 03:56 AM

Wow what a great group. Lots of great information.

Many sites to check out.

Thank you all for sharing you knowledge, experience and expertise. I makes me feel much more comfortable as I undertake a new adventure. Keep the info coming.

Thanks.

Ret.LEO · 01-22-2019, 04:13 AM

Good luck with number two. Express Scripts is a very difficult company to deal with. We have them also. They are actually the pharmaceutical administrator of our insurance company. There's some prescriptions they will not pay for through a local pharmacy. Good Rx is a good alternative. You will have to pay out of pocket but at a extremely reduced price.
Possible solution would be to pick out a pharmacy once a month on your route to have your Doc fax the prescriptions to.
If your plan with Express is like ours do you get three months supply for the price of two? Wouldn't that get you close to the time needed for your trip?

georgelesley · 01-22-2019, 05:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ret.LEO

Good luck with number two. Express Scripts is a very difficult company to deal with. We have them also. They are actually the pharmaceutical administrator of our insurance company. There's some prescriptions they will not pay for through a local pharmacy. Good Rx is a good alternative. You will have to pay out of pocket but at a extremely reduced price.
Possible solution would be to pick out a pharmacy once a month on your route to have your Doc fax the prescriptions to.
If your plan with Express is like ours do you get three months supply for the price of two? Wouldn't that get you close to the time needed for your trip?

I am not defending Express Scripts as I found the initial enrollment and auto delivery setup not as easy as it could be. However, they do not decide what they pay for or not. That is up to the actual plan itself, in our case Tricare. ES just does what the actual company tells them to do.

Again, I have found a quick call to them a few weeks ahead of a long trip and they do a vacation override and send enough to cover the trip. I now have a three month supply always on hand so shorter trips are not a problem.

We buy scripts over the counter for my mother in law and after considerable research we found Sams the cheapest and they are nationwide, should you need that service.

Greyeagle · 01-22-2019, 05:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by georgelesley

I am not defending Express Scripts as I found the initial enrollment and auto delivery setup not as easy as it could be. However, they do not decide what they pay for or not. That is up to the actual plan itself, in our case Tricare. ES just does what the actual company tells them to do.

Again, I have found a quick call to them a few weeks ahead of a long trip and they do a vacation override and send enough to cover the trip. I now have a three month supply always on hand so shorter trips are not a problem.

We buy scripts over the counter for my mother in law and after considerable research we found Sams the cheapest and they are nationwide, should you need that service.

DittoX2

jenandjon · 01-22-2019, 05:37 AM

I have a CB though I rarely use it. Not much chatter on there now days but I have it anyway. I was a long haul trucker. Old habits are hard to break.

About the 5th wheel. I will pass on the advice I got. It served me well.

Don't buy the cheapest one on the market. They are not well built.

Don't buy an brand new one just because you want one or because the guy down the road has one. They lose value too fast and being its your first you will probably go through 3 before you figure out what you really like and want.

Buy the highest quality used one you can afford.