Road Trips and RV Adventures: Personal Stories Plus Tips for Worry Free RV Travel

By Paul Cox

My wife and I have traveled extensively on the back roads of America for over 50 years. 'Road Trips and RV Adventures' is a collection of interesting and sometimes funny personal stories created from daily journals written as we ventured off down the road during our first four years as full time RV travelers.

Mixed in with the stories, I enjoyed sharing personal comments, tips, and advice about lessons learned, what to take and how to pack it, participating in ‘road style’ trucker talk, and preparing for unexpected situations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paul Cox
• Release date: Oct 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005931261

Paul Cox

Paul and Sharon Cox have been traveling for a very long time. Paul’s travelingbug was passed on by his parents who began taking road trips right afterWW-II. Born in the late forties, Paul joined his parents and his older sisterson automobile adventures early on in his life and Sharon quickly caught onshortly after their marriage in 1972. Over the next twenty years, the coupletook all five of their children along on hiking, camping, and RV journeys.They got the RV travel bug after borrowing Paul’s parent’s 1972 Shasta traveltrailer. Since then, they have owned a camper van, a slide-in truck camper, atravel trailer, a large 5th wheel trailer which they pulled with a giant custom made International truck, and most recently, a 28-foot class C motorhome.They are still at it even as they grow older. Sharon just celebrated her 81stbirthday and Paul is not far behind! Sharon worked as a Sales Auditor untilher retirement in 1992. Paul earned a BS in Industrial Resource Management and worked for the Department of Defense as a Production Facilities Division Head.In addition to traveling in their RV, Paul has enjoyed two other activities since hisretirement in 1999. He studied Horticulture and became a Washington StateUniversity Master Gardener (now Emeritus). The garden around their homein Gig Harbor was recently featured in a regional garden tour which broughtover 1,000 guests to their grounds over a period of two days! He also haswritten several articles on a variety of gardening subjects."Sparks of Memory" is a collection of journal based chronicles of Paul’s adventures and sometimes misadventures experienced while on road trips, hiking and camping excursions, and RV journeys over a period of 75 years.

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It’s Not A Perfect Process

Re: Journal Entry of Saturday, October 16th 1999

AUTHOR’S TIP: Research first, then shop around:

Following your decision to purchase an RV, spend some time looking around. Not at dealerships though. Not yet! Ask any salesperson and they will all tell you that what they are selling is the best on the market. They may even quote statistics to convince you that you need not look any further. Really! The sales lot is the last place to visit.

Start by looking at what others have purchased. Maybe even ask some folks what they think about their rig. Do they like everything about their rig or are there one or two minor things where they think that maybe they could have done better? Try visiting a state park campground where you can wander around and maybe casually comment how nice someone’s rig looks. Be a tourist. Strike up a conversation. Tell them you have decided to Go for It! and ask if they have any advice for you starting out. Ask how they came to decide on the outfit they have.

Decide what type of rig will best suit your wants and needs. Are you going to be a weekender or a fulltimer? Will you travel continuously or park for months on end? Is it your goal to beat everyone to the top of a mountain pass or do you want to be as safe as possible? Have you considered the weight of all your stuff? Decide how you plan to use your RV and then go look for those that best fit your needs.

Truly, nothing is perfect, be it a slide-in truck camper, a camper van, a travel trailer, a fifth wheel, or a motorhome. My wife, Sharon, and I know this to be true from the standpoint of personal experience. You see, we have owned not one of these RVs, but one of each of them. We have embarked upon one after another fabulous travel adventure over the last 50 years, seeing what there is to see around our country and especially what is around our own backyard in the state of Washington. In the early years we had five children tagging along with us and we kind of catered our travel to points of interest that they could learn about and enjoy at their level. As they grew up and began to leave home to do their own thing, we got even more adventurous. We joined with some friends our age, and started following the sun, spending our winters exploring the desert Southwest.

As our time away from home grew, we required bigger, stronger, and homier RV’s. In 1999, following Paul’s retirement, we decided to sell our stick-built home and become full time RVers.

That was when we purchased our fifth wheel. At that time, our Travel Supreme was one of the nicest big rigs around, especially being pulled by a smaller version of the giant load hauling trucks. Our tow vehicle of choice was an International 4700 low profile medium duty truck, customized with a special bed to suit storage needs and for mounting our air-ride fifth wheel hitch. We even got compliments from interstate truckers who would tell us over their CB radios what a good looking rig we had.

Our brand new 1997 fifth wheel and 1998 International 4700LP truck

For most people, two things come to mind following the purchase of a new rig. Sharon and I are not exceptions.

The first thing is: Did we pay too much? We all want to believe that we got a good deal.

The second thing is: Will something go wrong? Who doesn’t worry that their new toy might break?

The price printed on the large bright yellow tag on the windshield of the new international tow vehicle was $39,500. It had been on display at the dealership for a year. and was offered at the reduced price, down from the original $46,000.

NOTE: A new Ford F-450 in 2022 could run about $97,000.

The dealer had already ordered a newer display vehicle and the salesman made the mistake of honestly telling us that they needed to get this one off the lot to make room for newer models. We got the price down to $36,000 with an all cash offer.

I said to Sharon later, I think we got a good price on our truck!

You’ve always been good at negotiating, she smiled back at me, and having the cash sealed the deal."

Similarly, the 1997 Travel Supreme fifth wheel that we selected had also been on display and was one of two that hadn’t sold. It was September of 1999 and the year 2000 models were already filling up the dealership’s display lot. It was advertised at a ‘reduced price’ of $41,000 but following negotiations that spanned a couple of days, we walked away with a purchase receipt of $34,000.

NOTE: A similar new 5th wheel in 2022 would run around $98,000.

We got lucky on the first of the two things that come to mind upon completing our Big Rig purchase.

Did we pay too much? Our answer was, No, we did not pay too much!

So, we got our rig all loaded up, added a few things that we considered essential, like smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. They weren’t included back then, and unfortunately, many people didn’t even think about those things. Our big fifth wheel did have one tiny fire extinguisher mounted near the floor on the wall beside the bathroom door. I left that one there but mounted two substantially larger extinguishers, one in the kitchen, and one in the bedroom.

Brand new 1997 Travel Supreme Fifth Wheel

We’d been RVers long enough to know that there would be a need for some tools and other maintenance items, like extra water filters, extra water hoses, sewer hose extensions and supports, electrical adaptors, and other items that are frequently lost by travelers in RV’s. For example, how many times have you arrived at a site and found a water regulator still attached to the hose bib? If you happened to be one who is guilty of leaving a regulator behind, ask the camp host at your next stop. They just may have a couple and if they do, will give you one with a smile and a knowing look.

AUTHOR’S TIP: Packing list for fresh-water system in order from the source to the RV. (2) indicates having more than one easily damaged or lost item:

1. Water pressure regulator (2)

2. Y fitting for water hose (Enables getting water from the spigot without disconnecting from the RV)

3. Water hose (2)

4. In-line water filter (2)

5. Anti-kink hose end connector

6. In-line hose shutoff valve (2)

Complete the entire assembly before hooking up to the RV. Turn on the water and fill the assembly until water runs smoothly out the end (This will remove air from the assembly and excess carbon from a new water filter).

Close the in-line shutoff valve at the open end to stop the water flow, then attach the assembly to the RV and re-open the in-line shutoff valve.

DURING FREEZING WEATHER:

I recommend a heated and insulated water hose plus waterproof foamed rubber insulation to wrap all parts and fittings including the campground source spigot if it is not insulated. Tape or tie with string to secure insulation in place.

NOTE for fulltimers:

Some full time RVers that may be parking in one place for several months may wish to add a compound water filter assembly with two or more chambers and a water softener if parked in locations with hard water sources. Both should be wrapped with insulation during cold weather. If these items are sitting on the ground, place an insulating foam pad underneath.

About the second thing that comes to mind when purchasing a new RV and/or tow vehicle, Will something go wrong? We were not so lucky. Here’s the story…

Our first move after hitching our two new purchases together in Fife, Washington, was to drive to Salem, Oregon. We had been renting an apartment as our temporary residence and obtaining new Oregon State driver’s licenses, thereby becoming Oregon State residents (and saving us from having to pay the sales tax in Washington). We parked our new rig in a brand new RV resort in North Salem where we could conveniently transfer our belongings from our apartment to the fifth wheel. We went back and forth for a week but finally found new homes for all of our stuff.

NOTE for full timers:

When loading a new RV for the first time as a fulltimer, weight limits must be a consideration. What my wife and I did as we embarked upon our full time RV adventure was to wait. We waited until we knew what essential items were ‘must-have’. To find out, we made three lists. For about two weeks, we made a list of items that we used around the house on a daily basis, a weekly basis, and a seldom used and just for fun basis. Priority was given to the daily use items. And if you have multiples of the same item, don’t just load them all. Dishes, for example. Maybe take just one for each person instead of place-settings for 12. Place settings for four seemed nice for us.

While loading things into your new home on wheels, make a note of where you put everything. That’s something you can refer to when hunting for something. Go as far as we did and create a spreadsheet on your computer. Include the item and its location in the RV. Use it for shopping. That way, when you replenish supplies, your weight limits stay healthy. Don’t shop without a list! I guarantee you will lose track of what you have! Once you get all of the daily basics on board, drive to a weigh station to find out how much more you can add. Hopefully, if you paid attention to load ratings when you were shopping for your rig, you’ll have plenty of capacity left for the weekly stuff and even the fun stuff! And by the way, if you do this, you will have an inventory list to look at when you need that one little thing but forgot where you put it. More on weight later in this chapter.

One Last Thing: Don’t lose your stuff!

As you put things away in your new rig, be sure to secure them and ‘Rattle proof’ them. Nothing is more embarrassing than having to stop alongside the road to go retrieve your sewer hose when you forgot to put the cap on the holding tube or bumper tube, Or even losing a box of stuff out of your pickup truck that fell out because you didn’t tie it down. Also, there is nothing more irritating than listening to some unidentified rattle while driving down the road. Hint: It’s usually something in a cupboard…. Stop the rattles with paper towels and non-skid materials. For example: A small piece of non-skid shelf liner is enough to keep dishes from rattling. Use more non-skid between stacked pots and pans.

At some point during this process, we gave notice to the apartment manager that we would be moving out. We had let her know what we were up to when moving in and that our stay would be short. She was very nice to let us move in on a monthly basis with no lease agreement. We thanked her for allowing our short stay of just two months and gave her a tip of $100!

Now it was time to hit the road! Except…

There are a few things that need to be done with a fifth wheel or any RV for that matter. Before pulling up stakes and moving on, we do these simple checks: Dump the holding tanks, check. Disconnect the power cord and put it away, check. Disconnect the water hose, check. Put the water pressure regulator away so that you don’t leave it behind, check. Bring the slide-outs in, check.

Wait! Bring the slide-outs in! Our big slide-out on the passenger side would not come in. Pushing the ‘out’ button and then pushing the ‘in’ button again produced nothing but a slight rattle.

It’s not supposed to rattle! Try it