More Newness to the forum anyway!

[peacetara]

Hi All!

My name is Tara, I'm in my 30's, I've been living in Ferdy (My van) for over 2 years now. Ferdy is a 1999 E-350 Diesel, he gets ~ 20MPG and I love him dearly!

I stay mostly along the western US. I'm deaf, I wear hijab (head covering) and am teaching an ASL class at the next RTR (http://www.cheaprvliving.com/gatherings/).

I don't have any exit from this lifestyle planned, but I can't say it's a forever home either. I do want to add a travel trailer to Ferdy, so the kids will have an easier time traveling with me and so that I can stand up inside (I really miss that!)!

With Love,
Tara

[Bethers]

Hi Tara and Welcome. I'm hard of hearing, but not deaf. I've always wanted to learn asl. Maybe someday I'll catch one of your classes.

[BirdbyBird]

Welcome to the forum. Your journey sounds like it has taken you to many places that some of us waited to adventure out to only after retirement, etc. Hope you like to post pictures, we love to learn from others of places to see and things to do.

[peacetara]

Hi @bethers and @BirdyBird

@bethers I'm technically HoH too, but I'm also mute, so it's easier to just identify deaf, especially since ASL is my language of choice.

@BirdyBird hrm, I'll see what I can do:
http://www.womenrv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=13331

With Love,
Tara

[MelissaD]

Hoosier Welcome

[peacetara]

@MelissaD

Can I ask you 100,000 questions about your fifth wheel setup?! I've been looking into fifth wheels, as they are so roomy and magnificent inside, but I'm so afraid of hooking them up and stuff, is it a pain? is the day to day having to get out of the truck to go do anything in the house a pain?

Well ok, just two, really I'm just interested in your overall perspective on fifth wheels. As a single lady I just worry it will be too much technical mumbo jumbo that I'll get frustrated and give it back before I ever leave the lot! Well mostly I'm worried about the day to day logistics of it, more than the startup learning curve.

With Love,
Tara

[avalen]

welcome

[MelissaD]

Well Tara, it depends upon how you use it. In general if you tend to move often a RV like a Class A, B or C (motor home style) may be a better fit. If you tend to go somewhere and sit for a week or so, the 5th wheel or a travel trailer (TT) may be a better option. Larger trailers tend to tow better as a 5th wheel. We tend to go somewhere and sit for a week and take the pickup and tour around.

It takes us 30 minutes to an hour to get all set up or to pack it back up. The motor home type RV you can just park it and your done for the night. If you have solar panels or generator you may not even need to hook up shore power. My 5er is pretty useless without shore power. Like the motor home I can last a couple of days before I need fresh water or to dump tanks. There is an element of security of not having to exit the vehicle to get from the driver's seat to the bedroom. As a truck driver the 5th trailer is familiar to me.

With auto levelers and other options the "stinky hose" is probably the worst chore either way.

[IrishIroamed]

Hi Tara - welcome to the forum.

[peacetara]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome!!!

@MelissaD Thank you! I tend to go in spurts, I have a sort of loop, I travel from Seattle, WA to Tucson, AZ. I generally don't spend more than 2 weeks in any one spot(14 day limits and all).

I prefer free camping, so I generally visit BLM/NF land whenever it's along my route. I seem to have 2 modes, *travel mode* where I'm just moving up/down I-5 or HWY 1 or something (depending on how fast I have to go to meet some deadline by other people) For instance my sisters birthday is coming up, so I have to be in her town for that, so I have a hard deadline, and am just moseying my way up the freeway driving about 1hr a day. I try really really hard even in hard-deadline approaching, travel mode to only drive about 1hr in any given day, worst case I'll do 2 1hr stints in a day. I'm just not a fan of driving. I have a day job (over the Internet) so I work during the day anyway.

But then I might go a few months without any deadlines looming and go into *relaxing mode*, so I'll generally go in the direction of my next deadline, but will happily stop for a week or two every chance I get! I try really hard to keep my deadlines few and far between, and generally am in the southwest for the Winter, and the summer up north somewhere.

I don't know what I'd do without solar power, It's a definite MUST HAVE for me! Lasting only a few days wouldn't work very well for me, I'd want to be able to stay out for 2 weeks before having to go into town. I manage that just fine in my van now for two weeks, with < 20 gals of water, so I'm thinking I can cope ok.

With Love,
Tara

[Bethers]

Tara, I can be very conservative also - I have gone three weeks on my small tanks without dumping or getting fresh water. Most people say they run out of fresh water first - I'm so conservative when boondocking, that it's the black tank that rules my life lol. And 3 weeks was pushing it on that tank for me - but 1-2 is easy for me to do.

I, too, love my solar - wouldn't want to ever be without it. I have a friend who says his doesn't work well on overcast days, but either I don't use as much or something, but as long as I'm not blocked entirely by trees and have the sky overhead, my panels completely recharge my batteries.

I hope you try to meet some of us in Q - whether at the gtg, or separately from it - but the most of us will probably only be there for the gtg and a little more possibly - around the time of the big show in Jan.

[peacetara]

Hi Bethers,

I'll be at the RTR there http://www.cheaprvliving.com/gatherings/, I'm teaching an ASL class there. If the dates work out, I'd love to pop over and meet some of you @ the GTG. Of course the RTR is free, and I would welcome all of you to the ASL class I'm teaching (currently scheduled for Friday Jan. 9th, 2015 @ 2PM)!! It should be fun, I did it last year, and everyone seemed to enjoy it!

With Love,
Tara

[gingerK]

Welcome, Tara from the Midwest! Sounds like you have an interesting life

[MelissaD]

Lasting only a few days wouldn't work very well for me, I'd want to be able to stay out for 2 weeks before having to go into town. I manage that just fine in my van now for two weeks, with < 20 gals of water, so I'm thinking I can cope ok. Tara

Well if you can last that long on 20 gallons you'd last a lot longer in a camper like ours than we will and Beth I can't see us lasting 2-3 weeks on a black tank although I would last 4-5 days on a cassette toilet I had in my semi (2.5 gal waste tank I believe). Tank sizes vary and the 5er's tend to have large tanks. I have 47 gal of fresh water. I've seen some toy haulers with 100 gal tanks. I have 2 black tanks at 40 gal each and 2 grey tanks at 40 gal each since I have a bath and a half and two bedrooms. The extra black tank is for the 2nd bathroom. Some of the water conservative types could probably last a month or more.

Point is tanks sizes vary greatly so read the specs carefully.

[Bethers]

Melissa, I could probably last 2+ months with your tanks I've never understood grey tanks that will hold more than the water tank storage. I'd run out of water long before my grey tanks would fill. I guess it could be nice for places with only partial hookups.