We always try to find campground that are kept up and built by the Army Corp. of Engineers.
They are always the cheapest places to camp and they are also the cleanest.

 

http://www.freecampgrounds.com/

 

So what about hookups? Don't you pretty much have to go to rv parks for hookups?

 

I keep a used bar of soap inside the compartment that I keep the water hose and "wash" my hands after dumping.
Dump the Black Water first, then the Grey Water, then rinse the hose with the provided water at the dump site. THEN, wash your hands and you're done.

Hay

 

Keep some latex disposable gloves handy. Dump, then throw gloves away. Still wash your hands of course.

 

Most state parks we've stayed at have electric hookup, central water (fill up on the way in), and dump station. That's all you need.

 

We camp all the time, 27' Sunnybrook, 7200#.

Couple things:
1. The hitch. Make sure it's setup correctly. Use weight distribution bars and sway control. DO NOT SKIMP HERE. Have a pro help you set it up right the first time.
2. Tire pressure. Make sure your truck and the trailer are inflated exactly as the manufacturer wants it. Make sure you have a good spare for both AND MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A JACK THAT CAN LIFT THE TRAILER. Your trucks jack probably cannot lift the trailer.
3. Try to drive the TT around a bit before you go on the trip. Get a little use to how it pulls.
4. When you do travel, keep your speed down. Don't follow too close and be prepared to be cutoff by some idiot in a ricer.
5. Fill your tanks, fresh water and propane.
6. You will need an adapter for the electricity to plug into a 110 outlet. Some campgrounds are wired this way and it's a real disappointment not to be able to plug in.
7. Don't trust the idiot lights that tell you how full your tanks are. The first one to fill up will be your gray tank so be prepared to dump it more often than the black tank especially if you use the shower.
8. Did I mention, slow down?
9. We do leave our propane on while traveling so that the frig stays cold. Your call.
10. Find good wheel chocks. I use wood I had laying around my shop. Block the wheels both sides and bring a few flat pieces for getting things level.
11. 25' of white hose may not be long enough at some CGs. Your call on buying more.
12. You may need to buy a water pressure regulator. Some CGs put out more water pressure than the TT can handle. A $3 regulator can really save the day.
13. Latex gloves and waterless hand soap. After dumping it's a good way to cleanup and kill the germs.

Enough of my thoughts. Have fun, be safe.

Jim

 

1.5 Nat'l Forest/BLM campgrounds (they're cheap)

3.5 Walmart Parking Lot (they're free)

Really though, some of our best RV outings were actually boondocking in the mountains or desert. No fees, no neighbors.

 

For this trip, I'm looking at 6 nights in the same place. I'm going to need hookups. I now know to ask the rental company if they supply the water hose, and the electric adapter.

One of the questions I have is around how the power is fed to the trailer. How does the fridge stay cold while driving, and how does the water get pumped if not on hookup?

 

I'm good with the hitch setup, I've been towing enclosed car trailers for years.

 

The fridge will either run on 12volt, propane or 120v. My camper has an auto switch or a gas/ elect. switch. I usually leave it on auto..
For the electric hookup, just tell the campground what you have and they will set you up, usually If I remember right its either a 30 or 50 amp service. I usually am fine in my 27' with the 30amp service. I have never popped the breakers out on the box. Just make sure you have the right plugs. Its usually the big 3 prong plug for the outside. I picked up an adapter from Walmart to go from that big size to a standard 120v house plug so I can plug in anywhere I am at, especially at the house when loading the camper. Otherwise you have to run the propane for the fridge, and we like to have the air going while loading. These campers get hot without air!!!
The kids also like to play in ours while loading.

 

So the adapter is for going from the big three prong to a regular plug. And the trailer should have a switch that automatically decides if it should run off of gas or electric? Does the whole rv run off of propane if there isn't electricity? I've never been around an rv before, but am very technical with vehicles and trailers.

 

If you're not trailerparking it, you do need to meter your water and electricity. Brush your teeth with a cup of water, shower by getting wet, turn shower off, soap up, then rinse. Most modern RV's have a pretty good amount of freshwater, but you'll run out of holding tank first in most.

Use public restrooms where you can for #2. When using the RV's toity for #2, lining the bowl with TP helps it all go down at once. Alternately you can fill the bowl with water first, but then we get the water problem above.

If you choose more or less dry camping, pick an RV park every 4 or so days. Then you can catch up on your laundry, have a long shower, top of the batteries, empty the holding tanks, etc.

Oh..some disposable surgeon gloves are valuable when emptying the holding tanks...and rinse out the hose before storing. iI you hook up to the sewer, keep the valve closed until you have some liquid volume built up.

A propane lantern is usefull. It adds light and heat if the nights are cool. RV heaters suck quite bit of battery. Besides, what's camping without a Coleman in the mix eh?

There's no need to run the fridge while tooling down the road. As long as it stays mostly shut and you have quite a bit of cold stuff in there, it will keep. A little 6-packer for drinks on the road is a good deal. Take 2 (or more) ice bottles, blue ice, whatever and exchnge them each day, freezing the recent one each night. Extra ice jugs in the fridge and freezer compartments keep everything that much colder/longer. Cycle them as needed.

When hooked up to shore water it will be pressurized just like at home. When not hooked up, a 12v pump will activate. Note you usually have a master switch for the pump, commonly above the range on the stove hood. the shorewater is direct to your pipes. I've never had an issue, but if the pressure is very high, a pressure reducer is recommended. Note that the fresh water resevoir for the 12v pump is not filled via the same inlet as shorewater.

When doing the sightseeing in popular areas, get your campsite early afternoon. You can then leave and finish the day touring. by 5:00 those last few sites can easily be gone.

Make the rental outfit give you a good run down on how everything works.

There's tons more, but these tips should help. When in an RV park, talk to some of those that really look like they know what they're doing. Most are happy to show a newbie some tricks.

All Camping Worlds and most supermarkets, WalMart etc will let you camp overnight in a pinch. Not scenic, but generally safe and you might need supplies in the a.m. Skip the lawnchairs, etc if you do this. Highway rest areas...same thing.

 

Yes on adapter and yes, it will auto switch from gas to electric. Our frig will sometimes go into what they call "Check" mode. I just turn it off and then turn it on and it selects the appropriate power source.

As for propane, the furnace, water heater, stove, oven, and frig will run off of propane but you need some kind of elec. to run the fans. That's what the batteries are for, that and powering the lights. With good batteries and propane you can camp a long time in comfort. What you can't run are the microwave and A/C unless you want to bring a generator along.

Hope this helps.

 

I don't know if it's been mentioned, and being this will be a rental camper, you may not care to do this, but here's a little something I do. This may be handy for even long time campers if they don't already do this.

The order mentioned about dumping the tanks is correct. 1st black, then grey. This is where my part kicks in. Once empty, I shut the valves and go back inside and start filling the black water tank with clean water. This takes time, so best not even think of doing this if there is a line, works well at a full hook-up site.

I let the tank fill and have timed it a few times. I fill until I see water coming up the elbow at the bottom of the toilet drain. I go back out and dump it again. Then I fill it ~ half full (based on time).

I hit the road with a half full black tank. After getting on the interstate, the first rest area with a dump site indication, I pull in and dump the black tank again.

One time, the sewer end of the hose (not the valve end) moved out of position accidently. And trust me, having that water being sloshed around really cleans up the tank ... a LOT! Luckily the area around the sewer area was sloped, and everything went down. And luckily, there was a water hose there ... it was needed and used liberally. There was noone else trying to dump at the rest area, so there was no pressure to hurry. When I left, everything was in great shape.

But suffice it to say, I was a bit surprised how much ... stuff ... was removed from the tank. So I do that every time now. Especially when the camper is coming home and won't be used for a while.