Welcome to Full-Time RV living!

[Oz]

  CWVRV is "home" to several RV full-timers, traveling about on the freedom of the open roads.  We all greatly enjoy the stories of their challenges and adventures.  These members support themselves in various ways.  They face unique situations and have developed a very keen knowledge of their RVs, cities and towns, highways and byways an a lot more.  It takes very special people to let go of the trappings of a concrete foundation and embrace the possibilities ahead of them as full-timers.

    This topic is dedicated entirely to them and to those who want to share their living dreams.  You're not going to find them "at home", and you may never spy them passing by on some road somewhere, but you can always visit them here!  Who better is there to find out what it's really like to be a full-timer than from our "Classic Adventurers" themselves.

     A huge thanks for the continuing and enthusiastic support of Kevin & Patti Smith who, shortly after joining our group, embarked on their full-time adventure.  Also to those others who have been rolling down the asphalt ribbons for years now and made us as much a part of their lives as the wind and the weather.  A Special thanks goes out to Gromit440 for providing the inspirational for title of our full-timers. 

    You'll find many topics on this message board which cover topics specific to full-time RV living.

     Now, I'll turn over the board for the introductions, stories, and advice from our very own "Classic Adventurers."

[gromit440]

Well said! It's really a scary experience to sell all one's "stuff" and head out in search of freedom to live, see, and enjoy whatever comes your way along the trail .... off the ever spinning squirrel cage we all seem to run in most of our lives. Once our "stuff" was sold/donated, it was like getting a monkey off our backs...and after over a year, I couldn't even tell you what most of the "stuff" was....lol. We rented our house in Pinehurst, NC to supplement our income, meager as that is. But, you would be surprised how little green it takes to full-time, especially if your set up for boon-docking. And, the folks we meet along the way are great....a very independent sort always willing to share a tale, a laugh, and help, if needed.

We tend to trek along the "back roads" and have probably only logged a couple of hundred miles on the "slab" of the over 10,000 traveled so far. The small towns and scenery, experienced at a slow pace, have a lot to offer the spirit, mind, and soul.

I imagine this board will grow to be of great importance to those of us full-timing in classic RVs....and we would like to offer folks sharing the "Classic Adventurers" dream, whether actually full-timing or just thinking about it, any help we can provide. Rock on adventure freedom riders!

Jeff & Sandra

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Hey everyone!  We first left "mundania" after I got out of the Navy.  We sold the house, bought a 1972 Futura motorhome which we nicknamed "The Ark," and off we went!

At first we intended to live off of my Navy retirement, but things were very tight.  So, we fell into working at Renaissance Faires and Medieval Festival...which was a hobby of ours for years before.

Two years ago, we decided to start our own business at RenFaire, since selling jewelry just wasn't all that fun...lol!  Thus Siege The Day was born!

We have logged a lot of miles and made a lot of friends...and working at the faires is a blast.  We do pretty well even in this economy, but then, expenses are very low compared to living in Mundania. 

Anyhow, at the same time that we started our own business, we bought Excalibur, our 1977 Itasca C27AL.  She runs very well, gets decent fuel economy, and because she spent most of her life in Death Valley, there is absolutely no water damage at all.  Even the original roof is deadpan flat.  We have done a lot of work on her and replaced a lot of systems...and we are just getting started...lol!

We travel with 2 German Shepherds, a Himilayan cat, and a Cayuga duck...thus the reason our old RV was named The Ark! 

We have reams of experience with different campgrounds, fixing things on the fly, boondocking, updating and upgrading systems, driving in various conditions, etc.  And of course renfaires and operating a mobile wood shop.

Its a very good life that I highly recommend, even though there are hardships and you can get cabin fever after a while...not a lot of room in these old rigs...lol!  But the good WAY outweighs the bad!  My bloodpressure went from very high to normal, my cholesterol level is now normal, and I've lost 60 lbs since getting on the road...and its not from dieting!...lol!  Much lower stress levels are what I attribute it to.

We will be here to answer questions, and no doubt to ASK a lot of questions from our fellow fulltimers and CW members!

Love all you guys!

Kev and Patti

[gromit440]

Hey Kev & Patti,

You folks have been on the road a long time. Way to go. Thank you for offering any input you may have in situations we may find ourselves in .... scratching our heads on what to do. We're presently in Vero Beach....where are you now?

The weather in Florida has been glorious, eh? We will be traveling to Raleigh, NC soon to attend our daughter's graduation from NC State. Hope there are no ice storms! When we return, maybe we can stop by where you folks are staying for a visit...or visa versa along the way.

In any event, we will be heading for Lighthouse Point and Pompano Beach to visit our moms.....and then on to Flamingo....and then on to Punta Gorda. Good luck with your shows! I hope this forum may inspire others make the big move to RVing full-time. It's worked out very well for us. And you as well, I think.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

We are in Bunnell right now until the end of December and into the first week of January.  Bunnell is on the East Coast, a ways south of Jacksonville, a little south of St. Augusting, just south of Palm Coast, and a wee bit north of Daytona...lol!  If you have the time and want to stop by, we are at the Thunder Gulch Campground...very cool place that feels like home.

After the first week of January, we'll be hopping all over Florida, from Fort Meyers, to Gainesville, to Tampa, and to Fort Lauderdale area.

Would be cool to hook up with you guys and camp for a while!

Kev and Patti

[gromit440]

We've been trying several different fix possibilities to the analog to digital TV changeover that takes place in February that apply to full-timing/boondocking in RVs.

We want to be set up to get free HDTV as monthly payments for a bundle of channels we never watch do not fit in our strategic plan. Can you believe the over-the-air ABC channel we have watched here in Vero Beach being broadcast from the West Palm Beach area showed infomercials all afternoon?? Sheeesh! What do you suppose is in the works for freebies down the trail? Hmmmm. I sense more adjustments to our plan coming soon?

Has anyone else toyed with HDTV dongles? Or, had any experience with store bought HDTVs reception in remote areas....and their power comsumption?

Jeff & Sandra

[ClydesdaleKevin]

We just installed a new Winegard Sensar III antenna that is digital ready, HDTV ready, and powered by 12 volts as a signal booster, and the reception with analog is great.  I don't know much about HDTV, if you need a special box or a paid account or whatnot.  I do know that our TV, which is a Sharp flatscreen LCD TV, is digital ready.  And I also did a little research, and apparently digital broadcasts are going to be over the UHF band, not VHF anymore.  So you have to have an antenna that is UHF ready.  The new Sensar III is set up already for both UHF and VHF.

Kev

[gromit440]

Kev,

We installed the Winegard Sensar III antenna last spring while we were on the outer banks of North Carolina ... works sweet... and I used this antenna on the HDTV dongle I just purchased that hooks up to my laptop. We got about 15 HD digital channels with the HD dongle but only a few worked...sort of.

I have learned that you have to have a very strong signal for HD to work properly on a TV or a laptop and we are about 60 miles of West Palm....where the signals we were tuning into came from. From what I've been able to gather on the Winegard website, the Sensar III has an amplified gain of about 15dBs and is rated for up to 40-45 mile range. We are getting decent analog reception on a few channels from about 60 miles ... but not strong enough for good HDTV.   

Also, a computer geek at the local Best Buy said HD tvs in this area do not work at all unless one has a roof mounted rotating antenna and/or is subscribed to cable or satellite. So, it appears that receiving free, over the air, HDTV after "the change", we will probably have to be within 10-30 miles of a tower...and, using our Winegards.

For remote areas while boondocking and power conservation is crucial?? Still have to work that out I guess....lol. Thank you so much for your input. 

Jeff

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Hey Jeff and Sandra!

We don't do a lot of boondocking...usually just overnight at Walmarts and truck stops, so it hasn't been a huge issue for us to conserve power.  The longest we have had to boondock so far was about 6 days at the Tablerock Renfaire in Salado, TX a couple of years ago, and it was cool enough not to have to run the AC at night.  We ran the genny during the day.

Kev

[gromit440]

Hey Kev & Patti,

Looks like there are several ways to full-time, eh? We prefer traveling the back roads and staying in off the beaten path camps. But dry-docking has different issues than "improved" campgrounds. We can go for about two weeks before we have to return to civilization.....only to empty our holding tanks and get groceries.

I discovered, in lieu of solar and wind systems with their price per watt running about $4-6 a watt, a Xantrex 40 amp. charger (about $125) has worked well. It takes about 1 1/2 hours of charging using our genset to bring our house battery (8d) up to about 12.9 volts...with 12.8 volts being fully charged. This is becoming more and more viable with falling gas prices.....considering what it takes to run the genset vs. the start up price for solar or wind.

In any event. This full-timers board may be of great help to those traveling as we do. It's all good fun!

Take good care,

Jeff

[gromit440]

Full-timings involves some twists and turns. We left Folly at Sandra's brother's house in Vero Beach and took to the skies to Raleigh, NC for our daughters graduation ceremonies at NC State there. The weather for the week was supposed to be 60ish and sunny. Wrong! Been 40-60 with fog, cloudy skies, and spittin' rain most of the time. Reminds me of when we were in the Seattle area up until about the middle of November. People there seem to do quite well in the winter though, but we are thoroughly spoiled by the sun and balmy breezes in Florida over the winter.  8)

We should be back in the RV sometime in January....headin' for the Fort LaDeDa area and then on to Flamingo for some serious and spectacular boondocking.  If anyone has the chance, Flamingo in the winter is great. However, in the heat of the summer, I understand it's even free to stay there, but there are many stories of campers and their RVs being carried off by the mosquitoes and never heard from again. Also, it is said, the huge and vicious summer mosquitoes are rumored to hide behind trees and that they carry guns.  :o Sounds like one would never have a chance.

Maybe Mr. Bean, whoever he might really be, would do alright with his training and expertise?  :police:

[gromit440]

We're presently in the Lighthouse Point area just north of Lauderdale. The weather is perfect....70-80 days and 55-68 nights. Hey Kev, we may be in your area about January 20 or so....ifin you're still there. Will your show still be in process?

Also, here's a quick tip for full-timers needing to get somewhere by air. After searching the usual web sites for airline tickets, the best price from Raleigh to Orlando was about $98 with a stop in Atlanta. Then, I saw an add on TV for Southwest Air announcing their January 2009 travel specials. Low and behold, their price for the same trip was about $75....NON STOP! Choosing Southwest, our daughter dropped us off at the Raleigh airport at 11:45 am and we got in our Hertz Rental Car near the Orlando airport at 3:55 pm and were back in Folly in Vero Beach by dark .... SWEET! Lesson learned: one must search ALL the airlines as the typical search engines do not include some of them.....Southwest being one such airline company. Bottom line, we saved about $50 and enjoyed a direct flight. Seems it still pays to shop around!

Jeff

[ClydesdaleKevin]

We are in Fort Myers right now, and will be until next weekend.  Then we go straight up to Gainesville for the Hoggetown Medieval Faire.  We are going to break down camp and our display tent next Sunday night and be on the road Monday so we can get a good camping spot at Gainesville.

Kev

[gromit440]

Hey all,

Well, after over 10 weeks in camp Punta Gorda, Fl., we're hoisting the anchor, raising the sails and plan to meander our way to a cooler and less humid climate ... probably the GA and NC mountains somewhere. The stay here was fabulous thanks to the beautiful South Florida winter weather and our loving hosts.

We completed necessary repairs and maintenance on Folly for now, got the Mopeds running well that we carry on a motorcycle carrier attached to Folly's behind, and rearranged and tossed out a lot of stuff we have dragged around for about a year and a half of full-timing. It's interesting all the stuff we thought we would need when we started out and have never used since, the same as many full-timers have reported before us. Still learning the ropes, I suppose.

Parting Punta Gorda after having such a relaxing and enjoyable time is such sweet sorrow, but we are inexplicably drawn to adventures we know we will experience that await us down the trail. Take good care everyone! And, we hope your adventures this season will be happy ones!

Best to all,

Jeff and Sandra

[angrybreadbox73]

imglad to see yall fulltiming it idk could i be considered a fultimer living in my semi most the time lol yall kkep it safe out there and the shiney side up this is one trucker that will be on the lookout for ya btw my cb handle it mountain man

[angrybreadbox73]

winter season is upon us!!!!!!! with all the cold we are probly asking ourselves to winterize or not i myslef will winterize unless i find a permanent spot but thats topic for anothe board i posted.  ok lets say you may be like me and do winterize well i insulate almost all of my windows anyway for when i am in the toaster mainly because if i insulate as much as possible i will use less resourses heating the inside this includes but not limited to all outside compartment doors frige propane batt box ect but be sure to have ventiation holes

[Thundercloud]

Hey ya'll ya I got tired of renting houses and I've studied how easily a fixed location can go bad especially living in these times of constant uncertainty. People for the majority take there city power for granted etc. Its good to have a fully equiped RV for so many reasons including survival. I never realized either that you can find ok starter rigs for under $3000 but its true. Chances are though its going to need some tlc. Mine did and still does. Thanks to you guys though I'm not alone. This is my first RV and there is so much to learn. I didn't check mine out very well. I just handed the guy 2700 bucks. It was a gamble but at least the motor and tranny and drivetrain work good. I had a lot of mysterious water leaks like the pull tabs under the bathroom sink.... The back of the toilet valves, my bathtub nossle had a gap in it between the wall so water was coming through there. (That seemed like a manifacturing defect) , the elbow under the kithen sink, the roof where the CB intena is was letting water through..... The list goes on but I fixed all that. I quite drinking so projects are good for me and I have plenty. Lol One good thing to do is start the engine at least once a month and put fuel stablizer in it if your a sleeper like me and shift the transmission through all the gears to pump the fluid around. oh and I just put some ply wood on the sunny side to protect my tires from cracking. Also it snows where I live so I built wood covers for my skylights to protect them from the load. I'm living comfortably in it full time by myself on a Resort and its all I need. I'm going to drive it around a bit this summer. Maybe take her out to a lake or something and let it prove itself before I take it much further but Id love to see Yellowstone one of these days.