I absolutely love boating but I am equally passionate about hiking in the mountains. I loved boating the Great Circle Loop but there was little opportunity for hiking. Beach walks are wonderful but now that I live in the West with so much proximity to mountainous national and state parks, RVing seemed like a natural choice.
I know that a number of you are considering getting an RV in the future and here are a few things that we’ve learned:
Type of RV: This is the first decision that you’ll have to make. Class A rigs look like buses, are usually diesel-powered, can carry more weight and have more water and holding tank capacity, have better suspension and hydraulics, can tow a vehicle more easily but are higher priced, are usually 36 ft ++ which is sometimes a problem finding sites in national park campgrounds.
The majority of RVs are trailers, 5th wheels which are both pulled by trucks which then can be disconnected, and the last category is Class C motorhome like ours. There are also RV vans and hybrids. Most of the above category are more moderately priced, are gasoline-powered, are made with lighter weight materials due to weight restrictions based on the engine and chassis requirements, are a good entry level vehicle and are usually less than 34 feet which make if easier to find a site in a national park. Actually a 28- 30 foot rig would be the ideal for more national park site availability but you might have to sacrifice some comfort items inside the cabin.
You can rent RVs from your local area or drive to where you would like to tour and rent them there. We have seen a lot of rental RVs in all the national parks and it is a great way to try on this lifestyle and see if you like it.
Traveling Costs: We are getting 7-9 mpg at an average speed of 55-60 mph on mountainous Western back-roads and highways which is pretty good fuel-efficiency in RV land. It helps to have some downhill sections and a following wind every once in awhile.
RV sites in a national park are around $9.00-12.00 per night with the Senior Pass (age 62 +) and you are not charged per foot. This is such a deal.
Reservations: Reservations are needed in national and even some state parks in April. This was a surprise to us. We had reservations at all the national parks initially, but then our plans changed and we lost some reservations, but lucked out at Arches National Park when there was a last-minute cancellation at 3pm. National parks do keep some sites on a first-come basis so make sure to ask about this. They also have handicap-designated sites.
Dry Camping: Dry camping is camping without electric, water or sewage hook-ups and if you are in an RV, you rely on your generator, inverter, water and holding tanks as well as propane tanks for heat, refrigeration and stove. We did this at Arches National Park but make sure to fill-up your water and dump your holding tanks before dry camping.
We always loved anchoring on a boat and there are opportunities for experiences like this in lands managed by the National Forest or the Bureau of Land Management. We look forward to trying this in the future. We’ve been told that there are also plenty of boondock places around the country where you can enjoy the solitude of a special place without cost but we haven’t tried this yet. Full time RVers are reluctant to pass this information along fearing they will be overrun but we will pursue this.
Typical Trip Day: We have found that a trip of 250 miles with fuel and lunch or site stops in about 6 hours is very doable. We start our trip with Willie Nelson’s On the Road Again to get in the mood and the rest follows easily. We follow the yellow road lines rather than red and green buoys and it is so much easier. On our boat we did 7 knots for 6 hours with an average trip of 40+ miles so we are now traveling at warp speed in the RV. Do we miss the challenge of boating—maybe occasionally. We have road maps of all the destinations and use our car GPS which is way less complicated than nautical navigation.
Auxiliary Transportation: On our boat, we had our dinghy, bikes and occasionally rented a car from Enterprise. The big decision for an RVer is whether you will tow a car. Class A motorhomes regularly do; 5th wheels and trailers can disconnect their trucks to get around, but the choice for a Class C motorhome like ours is harder. If we towed a car, it would have added more weight and we would have to eject other things; we opted to carry a motorscooter and a bicycle, can rent from Enterprise when we need a car in the future and now will have to take the motorhome into a national park like Mesa Verde when the distance is too far for the various bikes.
Driving an RV: If you can drive a car, you can drive an RV with a little practice. RVs have brakes; boats don’t so we start with a definite advantage, but there is no autopilot like on a boat. We have been buffeted by wind and storms in the RV which probably is a bit unusual, and not like a boat which has wind, seas and current constantly.
Be careful of potholes and uneven roads in an RV as these conditions can upset your cabin cargo or your tilt-a-rack motorscooter which happened to us in Denver. Go slow on all small ramps into a shopping center or gas station as everything can shift--we learned this the hard way also.
Cabin Accommodations: We often joked on our 32 foot boat that we wished that we could occasionally make it bigger; in an RV, you can with the use of slide-outs which increase your living space in various areas by 2-4 feet. We have more creature comforts in our 2009 RV compared to our 1985 boat which is more a reflection of newer vs. older.
Systems: We had to add a generator, inverter, etc. to our 1985 boat but our 2009 RV comes with these plus propane heater, AC, big fridge, stall shower, queen bed etc. which makes living easier.
Despite what you’ve seen in the comedy RV movies, grey water (sink discharge) and black water (toilet discharge) tanks are pretty easy to discharge. I find that the RV systems are more user-friendly and I understand the mechanics more easily.
Cold Weather Camping: We did not plan on doing this but have hit some freezing nighttime temps on this trip. Our rig is equipped with tank heaters which keeps the holding and water tanks from freezing and this is a good option to have. We have had occasional snow and we have found that it is a good idea to close the slide-out areas early before snow accumulates or you will have to face ice jams when you try to pull in the slide-outs when you want to travel.
Roadside Assistance: We are new to RVing and liked that our Jayco RV came with a roadside assistance plan with the warranty. We have not had to use it but it's good to know it's there. It can also be purchased through your insurance.
Social Time: We have not spent much time in campgrounds as we have been busy hiking and touring, and we have noticed that RVers in national parks are pretty transient and on pretty different schedules. On the Loop or ICW, boaters are all herding together based on wind, seas and season and migration patterns are probably more predictable. We've heard that this is also true for the FL and AZ RV snowbirds but for RVers touring the national parks in April, this is less so. We've met probably more hikers on trails than RVers in parks.
Docking: Everbody's favorite maneuver whether on land or water but it is much easier in an RV. Many of the parks have pull-through sites which are super easy. Sometimes you have to back-in which is harder for the trailer-type rigs but patience, practice, a good set of hand signals and a sense of humor helps with this.
Once you are in your site, you have to level-off your RV as the ground surface is often very uneven and you may be pitched to one side or uphill/downhill. This may create problems for your fridge, cause your doors to fly open or have stuff slide off your countertops. Class A motorhomes often have hydraulic levelers which makes the job pretty easy. The rest of us have to use devices under our wheels to prop up the offending side--we use Lego-looking levelers in varying combinations but will be looking for more efficient ways to do this.
Whew—that’s a lot of information and I hope that some of it is helpful to you. Right now we are going to continue boating and RVing for as long as we are able and enjoy the best of land and sea and we truly are a “Full House.”
