Thanks for all the comments and warm welcome everyone. For those who supplied specific suggestions, I’ve put my responses below and possibly asked some other questions.
Dennis45, thanks for the warning about the TV. I’ve talked to the folks at the RV dealer, and their suggestion is to attach it to the slide out tray in the unit and then secure it. I’ll be picking it up this weekend and moving it into storage nearer my house so I can bring things over to it, take it out to practice with it (esp. backing and parking) and install what we need. Since the TV is new, I also have the box and foam packaging that I can use If I need to.
SarahW, thanks for the input, especially the suggestions of where to find more info on these forums. IRV2 is a great resource… it just takes time to learn where to look. I am starting to master the search function however!
We did take good notes… and I videotaped the walk through… then went home and transcribed the notes on the various systems, etc. DW wondered what had happened to me while I was doing this… since it took about 2 ½ hours… but we have comprehensive notes on most of what I think we need to know to get started. Putting the awning up and down a few times was definitely a good exercise!
Gripper… thanks for the RV Park Review info. I’m working on figuring out our itinerary now so that we can (mostly) plan out reservations.
HarleyChief… your point about things bouncing more behind the rear axle is a good one. That’s about where the TV will be when mounted. I’ll have to give that some serious thoughts. The roads getting out of Michigan are really terrible this year… and most truckers have complained about our highways for decades. The weather and lack of money (from the State) really impact the roads around here. We do have full propane tanks and will start the refrigerator at least one day before we leave. Of course, if I just open the door of the unit and the refrigerator now, everything will freeze! It hasn’t been above about 20 degrees since December! And that’s only happened the last day or so.
I’m working on getting the appropriate 2 x 10 material together… and do have a couple of BAL Chocks to keep the unit stable. One thing I’ve wondered about is a king pin tripod? Don’t think I’ll buy one yet… but wonder what others thing about them? And Velcro is a great idea.
JudyH… You’re right about the passes to the Federal parks. We got those as soon as we were 62. It’s the best bargain you get from our Government!
MSHappyCampers… It’s good to hear you liked your Cedar Creek! We spent a lot of time looking around at different units… and while I spent a lot on the truck, we wanted to purchase a litely used, relatively quality unit until we really figure out what we want. DW loved the floorplan of this 5er and immediately wanted to put a deposit on it. She sure surprised me! But after a bit of negotiation and lots of crawling around the unit, we made an offer and got it for what we thought was a good price. I think it was a unit that was driven to a campground or property (for the most part) and parked for the summer. The tires are barely worn… they just need to be replaced due to age.
Cgrueter… Hope that things work out for you… and if you find out anything that you want to share, send us a message!
wa8yxm… Thanks for the heads up on the screws… Before we head out I’ll take a wall around the unit and just check everything I can get to. That’s probably something I’ll need to check on ‘regularly’ as we go down the road anyway. When we went through the walk through, the technician was very thorough with us and mentioned the square bit driver. I’ve got a fairly complete drill driver set I’m planning to bring along in the unit and have those bits. He (the tech) also made sure we knew how to operate the slides in case the motor went out and gave us a new flexible 1/4 “ drive bit for that. I’ll have to make sure and secure it in the bay with the motor so I never misplace that piece!
As for waiting until mid-March, it’s not because I want to but because of other commitments. This was a perfect year to head south in November. We’ve had snow on the ground since well before Thanksgiving… and there have only been a couple of years where that’s been true in the 30 years we’ve lived here. Of course, the weather hasn’t been looking so good in the south either! Lots of chilly days down there this year.
Thanks for the input on the water system. I spoke with the tech yesterday when we went through the unit. He never mentioned the sanitation step… though he did say we could do that when we wanted to… I just forgot to ask the question yesterday. I’d love to sanitize the system before we use it, but that won’t be possible before we leave home… can’t leave the unit with water in it overnight in March! So I guess we’ll have to head south and try to get to a campground that will allow us to do that. It may be a bit of work… but I’d feel much better with the water. I have several 5 gal collapsible water containers and a few 2 ½ gallon ones as well… so we can bring those with us for drinking, etc.
I do have the pressure regulator as well as a 45 degree elbow and potable water hoses. BTW, the air purging sounds a lot like what I do with my underground sprinklers each fall… I’ll have to consider doing that in my unit next fall.
We have a complete set of Corell we use at home… glad to hear it is a good choice for the RV. We’ve purchased the anti slide mats and will start installing it in all the cabinets once we get the unit near home.
Thanks for the input on the closing of cabinet doors. I’ll have to really inspect those over the next month and come up with appropriate solutions as you’ve suggested to make sure they don’t open. And thanks for the hint about opening the cupboards for the first time!
Grimesy… Thanks for the advice! I’m working on the corkscrew… and I have a special box to gentle hold my case of wine! I’m also sure the CC will be screaming all the way
out and back on this first trip! It really hasn’t stopped since we bought the 5er and new truck
Thanks again everyone! I’m sure this is the beginning of a great adventure!
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