Kirk W

I'm not sure of her age but am very sure that she was younger than I. Any idea what caused her death? Really sad to hear.

Is that the Judy who went by SchoolMarm on these forums? She was a retired school pirnciple and traveled alone. If the same lady she spent a lot of time with the USFWS.

Unless changed very recently, the TX DMV does list licenses from Escapee mail services here as PMB. Both my wife and I had that on our licenses for the entire 12 years that it was our domicile address. What is different here is that the TX legslature has made addresses like the Escapees legal for all purposes in TX.

I always start the refrigerator the night before we pack up to travel. The black stuff probably came from a new, carbon water filter. They suggest flushing them for 3 to 5 minutes before each use. A new water hose will both smell and taste when you first connect it but only needs flushed for a few gallons of water. RV ovens do not have enough mass to heat evenly but if you put either an unglazed tile or pizza stone into it that will cover nearly the entire bottom of the oven will make it heat much more evenly. Thanks for sharing the list! It is important to remember that the main reason some of us know many RV answers is that we have made more mistakes than you have. But I like to think of them not so much as mistakes, but as learning experiences! 😁 One day we should share a list of things that RV folks either have done, or will do at some future date.

The generator starter normally gets power from the coach battery. If you hear a click when pushing the start switch on the generator but no starter cranking, that probably means low voltage to the starter from the coach battery. You may want to try starting the chassis engine and allow it to run a few minutes and then try starting the generator again as that will add power from the chassis alternator to the available battery power. If your coach battery is pretty old it may not have the power capability to crank the starter any longer. How old is the coach battery? Have you measured the available voltage from the coach battery with an accurate meter? It probably needs at least 11V in order to crank.

That just depends on where they stay. If you use Passport America or Happy Campers half price groups you can save a lot, but not in prime tourist areas or in peak seasons. It is better to budget for the typical RV park prices as you can easily adapte to lower prices but not so easy if the cost was under estimated. And I'm not quite a novice for living in an RV. I have belonged to PA for many years and those discounts are difficult to find in popular areas. If you choose to dry camp and stay in parking lots and truck stops, that can save a great deal, and you can also go where the discount parks are, then you can use these. A lot depends on where you wish to go. If you limit yourself to 4 years you will be more likly to stay in the higher priced locations more of the time, but if you decide to stay out longer, then you will have much more lattitude in where you stay and to visit the toursit areas in slow seasons and that too can save you money. All of that said, you would be wiser to allow for a higher cost and then work to findw ways to lower it. There are many ways to save money on the road, if you manage things to be frugal, and don't make a priority of seeing things. One benefit of your access pass will be Army Corps of Engineers parks which often are very nice and you get half price benefits there. I use those a great deal. National park campgrounds will depend on wheter they are operated by a vendor or the park as not all vendors honor the pass. In general, the most expensive parks are those near the coasts. If your priority is more to save money then you will be able to park at far less cost than if your priority is to visit the major attractions. If your main purpose is to get away from the city and you like rural areas, you may want to try living as an RV volunteer which would supply you with a free site and some amenities, but you will also be expected to stay for a month or longer in that location. We did a lot of volunteer positions and by so doing we seldom stayed in a commercial RV park, but you need to realize what the highest cost could be.

The answer to this question depends on you. There are many happy RV travelers in any type RV made but they don't all enjoy every different type. I have towed trailers and traveld in motorhomes and we enjoy both but there are some major differences. Have you ever towed a trailer? Some people do not enjoy traveling that way and others are not comfortable backing one, which is a necessity. None of us can tell you what is best for you as we don't all agree on what is best for us. The saving money part is probably not a very valid way of thinking. Most of us spend pretty much the same in our lifestyle no matter what we choose to live in. I suggest that you take time to read this collum which was written by one of the major authors of RV articles, back some years ago, but which even today explains much about the cost of living in an RV. You can live frugally in an RV but because the biggest expense to such travel is fuel and RV parks charge less for longer stays, constant travel is expensive. RV sites in areas that most of us find attractive today will cost between $50 and $100 per night if only stopping for a few days. Many parks have weekly and monthly rates that are somewhat less, but you need to understand that they are rising in cost, just as everything is.

You either put it on a trailer, dolly, or get something else to tow. To tow it would most likely destroy the transmission at least and possible worse. I think that you should go to the first one and see how much you learn, the if there are still questions, go to the second as well. Even with many years of RV experience, we attended 2 major RV shows in process of selecting the RV that we lived in fulltime.

You didn't tell us enough about the Jetta to be sure, but it would seem that it can not be towed on it's wheels. Check with REMCO Towing website to be sure but I suspect you can't.

OOPS! They list in order, 6 different models of Garmin, then models of Magellan, and a TomTom as the top models with over 5" screens.

I don't know if it is the case in Oregon, but TX has a form that the seller can file which will remove the previous title and registration which then causes the buy to get ticketed if he should be stopped and avoids any liability or legal issues from the sale. I'd check to see if Oregon has a similar form.

On the tools, much depends on which ones you will use as your skill set plays a major role. I don't carry a large set of mechanic tools as I do only limited work in that area but I do carry extensive electrical tools and a few wood tools. On the gun issue, I suggest that you get a copy of Traveler's Guide to the Firearms Laws of the 50 States.

Here are some ratings by Consumer Reports.

But if you do this be sure to read the entire loan document as it could have a clause allowing them to call the loan if you move to a place not acceptable to the lender. Of course, you really should read every word before signing any document.

I started using a Garmin and had two of those when I changed to one from Rand McNally but went back to Garmin where I will stay unless something major happens. I have found Garmin to have excellent support and I love the program Basecamp that they supply users free as it means that I can plan a route on my computer and then download it to the GPS.

I am not sure that we can say what the majority do, but it is wise to at least consider where you want to domicile and also both when and how. The 3 most popular states are TX. SD. & FL because none of those states have an time requirement to be legal, no state income tax, and all 3 accept your email service address for things like driver's license, vehicle registration and for insurance purposes. If you are Medicare elgible or do not need to buy health insurance it makes that choice far less difficult but if you do then probably FL will be your best bet. I prefer TX for several reasons but health insurance was not an issue for us, thanks to my former employer. I recommend that you read a few articles about domicile before you make that decision. I suggest this one and this one. It may be advantageous to set up your new domicile address at least before you buy the RV because of taxes and registration fees. You will need to do some comparing of those before you choose but it will likely cost less to register the RV only one time and then insure it in the chosen state. If you will not have an address in NC you will need to get one somewhere as you must have an address in the state you choose to register the vehicles in and not all states accept less than a physical structure home address.

We have owned both new and used RVs over the past 40+ years and have had mostly good experiences but buying used requires more RV knowledge since you won't have any factory warranty. You can buy an "extended warranty" one new or near new RVs but most companies will not write the extended for an RV that is more than 10 years old. That is because they are nearing the time of more failures to pay for. It is also the reason that I would advise you that if you do shop used, you should stay with RVs of 5 years or less age and you need to get the RV inspected by a professional before you purchase it to lower your risk. If you do choose to purchase an extended warranty on whatever you buy, I suggest that you read this article on them before you do so. In motorized RVs my preference would be to buy from Winnebago, Allegro, or Newmar as they have the best reputations and records. Newmar does not build any class C units but they do build the Bay Star line in lengths from 27 - 33'. From Tiffin there is the Open Road Allegro that starts at 32' or their Wayferer line in 24 & 25' lengths.

A favorite event among Escapees members, Escapade offers a prime opportunity to combine educational resources with building your RV community! If you're intrigued about what all Escapade includes, follow the link to see a recap of 2019's event and learn about some of what's in store for 2020.Tickets go on sale September 10, so mark your calendars!

While you may not have had PMB in your address, by definition all mail forwarding services are providing a private mail box(PMB).

That sounds very high priced to me. You don't give enough information to get an accurate price but the highest listing that I can find on the NADA guide for any 2005 Sunseeker is <$30k! Forest River is not one of the leading companies for quality reputation. And as to class A when compared to a class C, I really think you are making a mistake if you don't at least take a look a a few of the smaller class A's since there are several that are making small ones today and the living space for the length is much better. A 2005 Sunseeker would be between 27' and 32' in length and the Winnebago Intent (2019) ranges from 29' to 32' in length. Either one of them will be 102" in width. Of course, if you are looking at one of the smaller Sunseekers, then you may still prefer the class C but you should at least look and perhaps do a test drive. Winnebago also makes a series of class C rigs and those go as low as 22' in length. A 2005 year model, Winnebago Chalet series class C is listed on NADA for $36k.

Welcome to the Escapee forums! We are happy to have you with us. A class C tends to be a very popular choice for single RVers, particularly femails but I suggest that you also look at some smaller class A rigs as well since they have more room, more storage, and cost very little more. As to new or used, we have owned both and each has some advantage. A new RV typically has 1 or 2 trips for warranty repairs, while any repairs on a used RV will be at your expense. With a used RV there is always the risk of buying some previous owners headache. The cost of repairs can be mitigated by the purchase of an extended warranty but it is important to know that some of them pay well while the cheap ones seldom pay for much. Budget is the most important thing to keep in mind as you shop. Do not put much trust in the sales person, no matter how nice & honest they may seem. They get paid more if you pay more and many of them know little about what they are selling, but are good at acting like they do.

The problem could be either something in the a/c unit or the choice of generator. Keep in mind that not all RV a/c units are the same capacity and they have different power requirements. I have a small travel trailer and operate our air conditioner with power from a standard, 15a house outlet often and have powered it from a 2000 watt inverter/generator. Without being there with a clamp-on ammeter to see what the a/c is actually drawing we can only guess at what may be the problem. It would help some to know more about your RV and the a/c that you have. Does your RV have a 50a or a 30a power cord? What is the BTU rating of your a/c and what make and model is it?

We owned a Honda inverter/generator which we carried in the tow truck for 3 years and sold it just yesterday because we only used it one time. We almost never dry camp nowadays so ours was mostly dead weight and another thing to care for. Whether you need one or not depends mostly on how you use your RV. If you expect to do a lot of dry camping then you probably would use one but we have never spent 2 consecutive nights dry camped since we downsized to our current travel trailer so it just wasn't used.

2gypsies is correct. Check it out at Escapade 2020 as well as the above link.