T1B

Hey fatso, were you tent camping or did you rent a camper?

We haven't been camping for a few years but want to take it up again. We have a good supply of tents, which we have always used, but are thinking of trying the more sophisticated approach and I wanted to get your feedback. The OL is a little leary of renting due to the fact that you have no idea of what the previous renter(s) may have done in there. This became an even stronger aversion after seeing the first season of Breaking Bad.

Mikey wrote:Hey fatso, were you tent camping or did you rent a camper?

We haven't been camping for a few years but want to take it up again. We have a good supply of tents, which we have always used, but are thinking of trying the more sophisticated approach and I wanted to get your feedback. The OL is a little leary of renting due to the fact that you have no idea of what the previous renter(s) may have done in there. This became an even stronger aversion after seeing the first season of Breaking Bad.

Believe it or not, we are doing an RV swap with an internet fliend. The last time we were out here, we thought, wow, wouldn't it be cool to travel this area in our RV. Trouble is, carting it across country is time and money consuming, particularly at 4 bucks a gallon. Anyhooo, last summer I was reading a thread on a toyota motorhome message board I frequent for info on keeping up old ass RVs. I came across a dude in Watsonville wondering if anyone in the U&R was interested in wife...errrr RV swapping. I figured this could be the perfect opportunity. So, I responded to him.

Last fall, he and his OL came out here, as his wife's niece was getting installed as UConn's new prez. We were able to meet face to face which made me feel a little better about flying across country to use somebody's stuff. We then made arrangements. He and his wife are coming out in late september to visit her family. She is from long island. They will be taking our RV for a week or so.

Mikey, RVing is for some people. I like it. The wife...well, not as much. She'd be happier in a larger rig with a real bedroom. But, that is partly because we are still traveling with 2 rather large kids. These smaller RVs really are best suited to couples, which pretty much means you as your youngest is in college. So, maybe a Toyhouse would suit you.

So, if you need all the comforts of home, look at the ford/chevy C Class rigs. Older ones can be had dirt cheap. Trouble is most of those things get 5-8 mpg. You will occasionally come across a diesel version, but, they are rare and more $$$$ The toyota pickup based ones can get anywhere from 12 to 20 mpg. The smaller older 4 cylinder 4 speed jobs can even crack 20 mpg if driven carefully enough. Another option are the bigger A class ones. The diesel pusher models, even the old ones cost $$$$$, but, they are awesome and some might even get 10-12 mpg. There are newer mercedes diesel powered C class models on the sprinter chassis that will get near 20 mpg. They are a little bigger than the toyotas, but, I've never seen a used one advertised at less than 50K.

So, if most of your RVing is fairly local and you want the extra space, you can find older big ones cheap, but, they will cost you 50 cents a mile or more just in gas. If you like to do a little more exploring and can get by with tighter quarters, check out the toyotas.

Thanks for the info. We've thought about buying an RV but the new ones are a lot of $$ with a kid still in college, and spending that much cayshe sort of commits you to using it a lot. Used is a possibility, though. Also thought about buying a pop-up tent trailer, which can be had a lot cheaper, and just haul it around with the old (99) SuperDuty. It only gets 12-15 mpg without towing anything, but at least it's paid for. It would prolly need some work before I'd trust it on any long trips though.

The numbers don't justify a motor home. You are paying for a lot you really don't need in a timely manner. How many times you going to us e it a year ?

Motor homes have engines and transmission and drive trains.

Trailers are a better value as long as you keep your towing requirement to no more than what a 3/4 ton pickup can pull reasonably and safely.

Seeing as you already own the super duty, a trailer or a slide in camper makes sense. The advantage of an actual RV is the ability to walk around in it while you are rolling down the road. Also, you can just pull over in a rest area or the local wallymart and catch some ZZZZs Not sure I'd try that in a pop up.

Prolly ought to just leave the OL home.

If it were up to me, I'd consider just going back to tent camping, but the OL hates tents. Another idea I have had is minivan camping. Yank the back seats, throw in an air matress and you have a nice little 1 bedroom RV minus the kitchen/terlit that can get 25 mpg. And this allows you to do the wallmart/rest area crash for the night thingy.

Mikey wrote:Thanks for the info. We've thought about buying an RV but the new ones are a lot of $$ with a kid still in college, and spending that much cayshe sort of commits you to using it a lot. Used is a possibility, though. Also thought about buying a pop-up tent trailer, which can be had a lot cheaper, and just haul it around with the old (99) SuperDuty. It only gets 12-15 mpg without towing anything, but at least it's paid for. It would prolly need some work before I'd trust it on any long trips though.

You should be able to swing it easily with all that cheap alternative energy you're producing with my tax dollars.

~ smackaholic

What are these tents and RVs you speak of? I thought camping meant a night at a Holiday Inn.

Toddowen wrote:Camping sucks when it's humid.

Heat you can pretty much cope with, so long as you find shade and a good swimming hole. Cold? Just be prepared with the right gear. But there is nothing worse than waking up on a soaking dewey morning, like what occurs along the Maine coast this time of the year.

A night of that, and you'll be ready to fucking KILL your significant other. Especially when you find that every single hotel-motel-cabin-stale-smokefilled-dive-walls covered with moose cum efficiency in the entire state of Maine is booked solid.

This is why an RV makes sense. Just pull into one of the 47 parking lots at the LL Bean store in freeport and crash. They even leave one of their stores open 24/7 so the RVers can go in there to take a dump and avoid having to pump their black tanks. It is nice having a terlit on board, but, it's even nicer if you can get through a trip without having to use it.

Mikey,

You might just want to stick with tents unless you are doing summer camping up in the desert where having a generator and an AC is kinda nice. Actually, maybe you could just put some wheels on that magic shade tree and tow it behind you.