by Harvey the RV
If you are like me and love to get away from the daily hassle of work then a motor-home is for you! Traveling across the USA in our Class C motor home, was the most freeing experience I have ever had. and my hope is that I can give you some insight on what to expect, what you may need, and how to make the most of your money, and your time.
When looking for an RV we initially looked into a tow-able one that requires a truck to pull it, but with 3 kids and an expected 5,000 mile journey (we ended up traveling over 8,000 miles) we decided a Class C motor-home was the way to go, for many reasons, but mainly the fact that the kids can use the rest room without having to pull over (huge plus for a having a motor-home). Shopping for an RV is a lot of fun in my opinion, just going through the list of options were both fun and exhausting, if that makes any sense, all kinds of questions came up like, do we want more sleeping space? more room for when were in motion? do we want tvs? The options are virtually endless (I only wish our budget was), after searching and searching we ended up getting a 32’ class C motor home that we quickly named “Harvey the RV”.
Our first trip in Harvey would be one that we would never forget! Guys I normally am the type of person that will tell you to make sure this is a good decision, make sure this is really what you want, but I’m going to be completely honest, I LOVE OUR MOTOR HOME, and if you ever have the chance to rent or buy one, do it at least once, my bet is that you will be hooked after that.
Feeling totally free
We got to see so many places through the windows of our new family member named Harvey. When planning our first trip we wanted to see and experience what the road really had to offer. We were in a fortunate position where we had just about the entire summer break to explore and play. There was only one scheduled stop during our trip, and that was in central Minnesota for my sisters wedding (that I was the DJ for), after that we were going to travel till the money ran out IT WAS AMAZING!
My wife and children had never ventured west of the Mississippi river let alone seen a the rocky mountains, so, naturally that’s where we went. (see more of that trip here)
Finding camping sites
At first we tried to map out paid spots to stay during our trip, but after a few days we realized this was going to put us above our budget, luckily I found a free Website called Campendium and no they are not paying me, I just love how easy it is to use, on there you can choose a destination, search spots near you and read reviews from other campers. this handy app allowed us to find some of the most remote and beautiful places in this great country of ours, like the photo below (I was actually sitting on the step of the RV when I took this picture) this was atop a beautiful mountain just across from Pikes Peak in Colorado, and the camping site was free!
The essentials
When deciding to go on the road for a few days, weeks or months at a time you will need the basic essentials see Top 10 must haves for your first trip. there are many things that you would normally think of that you have available at your home, simple things like, RV toilet paper (yes there really is a difference between RV and household use toilet paper), you need to have the proper equipment to maintain both you, and your equipment.
While serving in the marines as a diesel mechanic (MOS 3521) I learned many things, one being “always be ready to have a backup for your backup” and this easily rolls over to traveling in an RV. when traveling and camping you may stay a night or two in some absolutely beautiful places but you may be in the middle of nowhere with little to no cell phone signal and completely cut off from civilization much like the photo below, we found a great site using our favorite app, this was in the south western corner of South Dakota, the sights were so peaceful and relaxing, we were parked about 30 feet from a gorgeous lake, and views for miles. That night we got hit by a pretty gnarly lighting storm on the first night that completely saturated the ground making our planned over night stop in to a 3 day adventure. Planning was very important here, if we didn’t have the proper equipment and supplies this fun adventure would have been much more stressful.
We cant wait to share our experiences on the road, and hopefully keep you from doing some of the same mistakes we did.
What cool spots have you seen? what questions do you have as a first timer?
