Does anyone do short RV trips?

[Christine]

I've got a small A-class and it's parked at home all plugged in with fridge running and the temp adjusted so it won't freeze in winter.

So if I want to go for a trip I grab my wallet, phone and laptop - unplug the power cable - and then I drive off! I stop at a grocery store to buy fresh food. Then stay away for a night - or for a couple of months.

If I show up with it at trail races, I can just imagine how many people are going to want to use the toilet to avoid the long porta john lines

I would never let anyone use my bathroom. Except close friends and family. If needed I would say "Sorry - it's almost full".

 

[Sarah in SC]

A maxim to which I have steadfastly adhered my entire life.

And I agree Christine, no randoms, just folks I actually know, that are camping with us.

 

[RunningBum]

Problem is, I know of lot of people at many of these races. Friends will become close friends when they need to go, lines are long, and it's getting close to race time. And you never know when you will need help from one of them on the course. I've seen people end their races to help carry someone out to a road, or walk with them to help them through a rough patch. Or share beers and snacks after a run. It can be a pretty tight community, which is good, until you are the one with the gold.


About the only thing I could get away with is explaining that this little van has a real small capacity, really only meant for a small family weekend at most, not a whole campground. Or I could say that dumping is such a pain that I'm not even using it.


What I need to do is find someone that has one and ask how they handle it. I see very few though. Usually none, except for a doc who shows up a lot for medical support, and he's got a good excuse for keeping his clean.

 

[HFWR]

Just tell them your pit bull gets agitated around strangers...

 

[spncity]

I have a maceration pump from Flojet that hooks to the rv and then uses a hose to the cleanout of my septic. Only way to go. Works great and can go anywhere.

Hey, would that work if the clean out is 100-110 feet from the RV? Also it is slightly (not dramatically) uphill from the RV to the clean out.

 

[HFWR]

Hey, would that work if the clean out is 100-110 feet from the RV? Also it is slightly (not dramatically) uphill from the RV to the clean out.

As many learned while w*rking at megaconglomocorp, "Sh!t rolls downhill"...

 

[doneat54]

Hey, would that work if the clean out is 100-110 feet from the RV? Also it is slightly (not dramatically) uphill from the RV to the clean out.

No, it will not move waste uphill (even slightly).

 

[ivinsfan]

Thanks for the info on the draining at home, and all the other good stuff here. Now I just need to get over the cost, and also see if my HOA would balk at parking a class B in my side drive. RVs are not allowed, but the Roadtrek 170 looks a lot like a van so maybe it'd pass. I suspect it's whether my neighbors complain, and I have one neighbor who I'm very friendly with but is a rules junkie.

I'd be a rules junkie on this one too. Once you start looking the other way on anything but passenger vehicles it's a very slippery slope. Some HOA areas have a separate gated and locked area for boats and RV's.

 

[harley]

Problem is, I know of lot of people at many of these races. Friends will become close friends when they need to go, lines are long, and it's getting close to race time. And you never know when you will need help from one of them on the course. I've seen people end their races to help carry someone out to a road, or walk with them to help them through a rough patch. Or share beers and snacks after a run. It can be a pretty tight community, which is good, until you are the one with the gold.

About the only thing I could get away with is explaining that this little van has a real small capacity, really only meant for a small family weekend at most, not a whole campground. Or I could say that dumping is such a pain that I'm not even using it.

What I need to do is find someone that has one and ask how they handle it. I see very few though. Usually none, except for a doc who shows up a lot for medical support, and he's got a good excuse for keeping his clean.

Maybe they could just use one of these other camper's bathrooms since they're at the race anyway.

 

[sailor]

It sounds like if we're going someplace with hookups it's no big deal, but if we're boondocking there might be enough more involved to make an overnighter unlikely. That's good information, and I'd appreciate hearing more opinions on that.

We routinely RV (and tent) just for a weekend.
In our experience, no hookups for a short trip is even faster.
We borrow a truck camper from DW's parents.
With water+electric hookups we can get from pulling in to the first beer in 7 minutes. Sewer hookup maybe 3 more minutes (longest part is putting the disposable gloves on)
Setup involves: getting the jack pads under jacks, electric jacks down, plug in electric, get water hose & filter out of the drawer, connect the water, slide the slide out, turn water heater on, get refrigerator bars out, get the camping chairs & welcome mat out (otherwise kids drag a lot of dirt in)

Our prep at home is longer, as we need to move everybody's clothes to the camper and food to the fridge and pantry (~ 20 minutes).
Optionally adding bike rack and 5 bicycles is a little painful (10-15 minutes)

Dumping the tanks at the end of the stay maybe 5 minutes.
Unpacking and cleaning the camper after the trip 20 minutes.

 

[NW-Bound]

I've pulled trailers a lot, and IMO it's a PITA...

The one thing that might make us change our mind is if pulling a toad behind a camper is as much of a hassle as pulling a trailer. We'll see about that when we do our rental experiments...

I have never pulled any trailer larger than a U-Haul moving trailer, but I know that pulling a toad behind my class C is a lot easier than a truck pulling a large trailer. The motorhome is much larger than the toad, so if the motorhome fits through a space, the toad will follow. In fact, it is easy to forget that the toad is behind, and I need to allow space behind me when pulling in to a gas station and to make sure that the toad does not stick out. Or due to the rear overhang of the motorhome, if I parallel park then pull away sharply from the curb, I will cause the toad to jump the curb and ruin its steering. And as you cannot backup while flat-towing a car, one has to plan the exit before pulling into any lot. People with a class A pulling a toad have even more of a problem, and they manage.

I don't know how you will try to pull a toad with a rental motorhome. They don't rent toads, and it costs too much to set up your car for flat-towing just to test the water. Not all cars can be flat-towed anyway.

With a smaller motorhome like the Roadtrek, one can do without a toad, although I have seen a Roadtrek towing a Smart car.

 

[RunningBum]

Yet another drawback I've thought of is that the cats hate car travel, so I don't think I could take any longer trips with them. I could have someone watch them but I'm not crazy about that. I seem to be finding more reasons not to get an RV right now than to get one, so that convinces me it's not time. Maybe in another 10 years...

 

[Jack_Pine]

Hey, would that work if the clean out is 100-110 feet from the RV? Also it is slightly (not dramatically) uphill from the RV to the clean out.

Definitively no problem uphill. My hose is 50 feet and no issue. Not sure why not. Sure there is a limit but don't know what it is.

 

[Bamaman]

Definitively no problem uphill. My hose is 50 feet and no issue. Not sure why not. Sure there is a limit but don't know what it is.

It's best if the sewage clean out is within 25 feet or so of the RV. I have two 25' hoses, but prefer to only use one.

And you know what they say about S--T always flows downhill. The same premise still applies. Black water cannot flow uphill.

For those that don't camp in RV's, black water tanks are kept closed until they're relatively full. Then they're dumped all at once and flushed with water. Depending on the size of tanks, it may only be once a week. I keep my gray water valves open all the time, however.

 

[RetireAge50]

Yet another drawback I've thought of is that the cats hate car travel, so I don't think I could take any longer trips with them. I could have someone watch them but I'm not crazy about that. I seem to be finding more reasons not to get an RV right now than to get one, so that convinces me it's not time. Maybe in another 10 years...

10 years. For cats? Yikes.

 

[RunningBum]

10 years. For cats? Yikes.

And all the other excuses I'm finding for not getting one.