AN RV LIFE

Visit the Links on these two Memes to read and see pictures of life around the world:  EVERYDAY LIFE  AND THAT'S MY WORLD

We've had a few questions recently (well, a couple anyway) about our Full-Time RV life  ... and what the term RV actually means.  It really is a catch-all for the many types of RECREATIONAL VEHICLES.    The term "Full-Timers" is commonly used to distinguish those who have made their RV their only home from those who use one just for camping and vacations.   

Many retirees use their RV as a Winter home when they head to warmer climates, while still maintaining a stick-and-brick home "up North".  These folks are refered to as "Snow Birds".

But we decided shortly after we retired that two homes were one too many, so we sold the house we'd lived in for almost 30 years and for ten years we lived and traveled full-time in our Fifth-Wheel RV.   Now it is parked back in the Pacific Northwest and is our West Coast home. 

Because a year ago last Winter we pulled the Fifth Wheel cross-country to Florida for what we thought would be a one-winter visit.  But we just fell in love with the Fort Myers area and  Upriver resort and ended up buying a Park Model trailer here.  We still consider ourselves to be full-time RVers -- but in a different way from how we started out.

Park Models (we fondly call ours the Canal Cottage) are licensed as an RV but, when in place, look more like a small house.  

They can be moved, but not by your average guy (or truck).  

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 Here are a a couple pictures of a park model (not ours) in the process of being moved out of a spot at the park where we were staying.

Park Model RVs do not have  water tanks nor batteries.  They must be hooked up to sewer, water, and electric in a Park.   Building codes require them to be not larger than 400 or 450 square feet of floor space. You aften see either a deck or an enclosed "Florida" or "Arizona" room built beside them. The ones that look like  houses are usually not moved many times.  They are set up on supports, and securely fastened to the ground. The axles and towing hitch are usualy removed. The utility attachments are made similar to a "Stick and Bricks" site built house.

 Fifth-wheel RVs are designed to be hitched to a special support on the tow truck. They  have two levels inside with steps to the upper level. They also are limited to 400-450 square feet of floor space.  They usually have one or more "slide outs".  These are additions to the rooms that move in and out on tracks to add more space to the inside of the trailer.   They are self contained, meaning  that you can live in them for some time without being "hooked-up" to park utilities.  They have fresh water tanks, waste holding tanks, batteries -- which are often used with inverters to change the 12 volts to household voltage, propane fired appliances and pumps to provide pressurized water.   Living or camping without hookups is refered to as "boon-docking".

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So, now that we're bi-coastal, with a tiny RV home on both sides of the country, we use our Class B Motor home for travel.  

Class Bs are really way too small to be used as a Full-Time home.  But ours has everything needed for exploring and traveling for short lengths of time.  

 It is also small enough -- and economical enough -- to serve as our daily driver. 

Here's a link to an earlier post that shows some inside pictures of our RoadTrek.

  
Here are some Google pictures of some other types of RVs:

With a fifth-wheel trailer, like ours,  you drive your truck and pull your house.  In this RV, called a Class A Motor Home, people drive their house and usually tow a car behind them. All of he newer ones have slideouts.  The price range is huge and the amenities on the upper-end ones  can be quite amazing. 

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A Class C Motor home is smaller than a Class A, but bigger than a Class B.  Don't ask me why.    It's like a a large camper built on the truck chassis and often has slide-outs as well.  We've owned a couple of versions of a Class C -- ours were hand-built by Bill on used trucks though.  They were a lot of fun -- I wish we  had some good pictures of them.
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 Here's an Airstream trailer, just one example of a pull trailer.  It hitches on to the tow vehicle like a utility trailer.

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This is a pickup camper.  We had one of these for a while after the kids were grown, but before we retired. 

Comments

[J Bar]

Great transport post.

[Mona]

I can imagine you'll having good times driving on holidays with your RV. Great to learn about how you spend you vacations. Have a nice weekend!

[Beth]

Sounds like you are fully enjoying retirement! I'd love to live in Florida OR California, but for now we're working in the midwest. Love your photos of the birds - ? pelicans. What a serene place to call home.

[Rhonda]

Hi, Sallie... Indeed, RoadTrek's are super nice travel vehicles. Your's is beautiful. I've never owned one; I have a 23'Coach House... which is manufactured in Fl., as you may know. Class B's are easy to drive, park, and keep clean. Looking at the picture of your RT makes me want to climb in and go... to anywhere!

[George]

I think it's neat that you have both coasts covered. We've been tempted by RV's, but have so far resisted that temptation.

[Margot]

This was very interesting even to a fellow fulltimer. We have only stayed in one RV resort that had Park Models so I'm not very familiar with them. I enjoyed reading and learning more about them. I think it's a wonderful way to retire if a person, or couple, have the urge to travel and see as much as they can. We always spent our free time in campgrounds so fulltiming seemed like the perfect retirement solution for us. So glad you shared this lifestyle with everyone.

[Pam]

Interesting post, Sallie. I'll take the first three, please. Just send me the bill and I'll tell ya the checks in the mail :)

[Lady Fi]

What a great way to spend retirement!

Love those luscious mangoes in your previous post too.

[diane]

You certainly are experienced RV travellers/livers. It must be fun to have a house up north and one down south. I would love to have a place in Tasmania for summer and back here for winter. You have a small one too.You are well set up.

[VioletSky]

I remember our family having a trailer as a kid and I was astonished when I went to a RV show a couple of years ago. Ours was very small and spartan (in the 1970s)!!

[Hazel]

Fascinating-I'd actually looked up RV., but your detail is great to read!The excellent snaps add to the story! have a great season!

[Chatty Crone]

It sounds like an awesome way of life and a great way to see the states. sandie

[Carletta]

Saturday Hubs and I were out and near the river and it was filled with boats. I thought about you and your post about putting the boat in storage.
I don't think I could the RV full time; but I sure wish I could see some of the wonderful places yours has taken you.

[Rajesh]

Very informative and beautiful shots.

[Joe Todd]

Sallie you know what I miss most about not working at an Rv dealership any longer. All the great people. One of my jobs was to do the "walk thru" with new buyers and I had an opportunity to meet a lot of neat people. Great post as usual. Linda and I are processing food from the garden. We spent the last 2 days doing peaches LOL

[EG Wow]

I bet you have some wonderful adventures!

[carolyn Ford]

We have friends who do this, too. They never cease to amaze us with their fun filled journeys. Enjoy!

[Sylvia Kirkwood]

Wonderful way to enjoy the country -- both sides! Terrific! When our four kids were little we got a big Winnebago -- at least it was big for those days, and it was a great way to travel with four kids! Have a great week, Sallie!

Sylvia

[Barb]

Well, you have chosen to live in two very beautiful parts of the US while traveling to and from to see other sights. Sounds like a fun life!