User Tag List

Page 3 of 5 FirstFirst 12345 LastLast
Results 21 to 30 of 42
  1. #21
    Site Sponsor
    Join Date
    Jul 2017
    Location
    SW Indiana
    Posts
    1,956
    Mentioned
    42 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    I’d advise one person to a checklist. Otherwise nobody knows for sure the list is complete. I have 6 checklists that are under constant change. Road Ready Inside. Road Ready Outside. Consumable Packing. Packing. Setup Inside. Setup Outside.
    John & Kathy
    2014 F250 Lariat FX4 6.2L SBCC
    2014 Reflection 303RLS
    SW Indiana

  2. #22
    Setting Up Camp
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Upstate Eastern NY
    Posts
    22
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Smile It is all by. comparison...

    We first began camping decades ago with a tent. You really can't imagine how much gear needed to be loaded and setup. And of course then needed to be taken down, and unloaded and put away when you returned home. Or how long that all took. We slept on cots. We cooked, ate, washed dishes and played cards at the picnic table which was covered with a tarp that the wind like to raise the devil with most of the time. Not to mention if the weather turned foul. It is a good thing we were young.

    As we aged we moved up to a used, relatively newer, but small pop up that was easy to tow. This was amazingly better, faster, drier and warmer. Boy did we appreciate that little popup.

    A few years later we traded for a larger, used but newer, popup because we are tall and didn't really like that we stretched head to foot the entire distance to the outside walls, which could be kind of damp in the cold, early morning hours.

    The newer one seemed so roomy compared to our first little popup. It was the first time I had hot running water. What a treat! I would make French toast on the little two burner stove and we played cards with the grandkids at the bench table while it rained outside. We had so much fun. We just loved it!

    Then last year we retired and decided we wanted to go on a cross country excursion and that we needed a trailer. The setting up and taking down of a popup would not work out on a long journey.

    We purchased a used 2017 GD Imagine 2500RL. For us the setup and packup seem a breeze. We are truly amazed at the comfort and ease of it all.

    I guess it is all in what you are used to.

  3. #23
    Seasoned Camper bryancass's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
    Location
    Victor, NY
    Posts
    234
    Mentioned
    3 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Rebecca View Post
    We first began camping decades ago with a tent. You really can't imagine how much gear needed to be loaded and setup. And of course then needed to be taken down, and unloaded and put away when you returned home. Or how long that all took. We slept on cots. We cooked, ate, washed dishes and played cards at the picnic table which was covered with a tarp that the wind like to raise the devil with most of the time. Not to mention if the weather turned foul. It is a good thing we were young.

    As we aged we moved up to a used, relatively newer, but small pop up that was easy to tow. This was amazingly better, faster, drier and warmer. Boy did we appreciate that little popup.

    A few years later we traded for a larger, used but newer, popup because we are tall and didn't really like that we stretched head to foot the entire distance to the outside walls, which could be kind of damp in the cold, early morning hours.

    The newer one seemed so roomy compared to our first little popup. It was the first time I had hot running water. What a treat! I would make French toast on the little two burner stove and we played cards with the grandkids at the bench table while it rained outside. We had so much fun. We just loved it!

    Then last year we retired and decided we wanted to go on a cross country excursion and that we needed a trailer. The setting up and taking down of a popup would not work out on a long journey.

    We purchased a used 2017 GD Imagine 2500RL. For us the setup and packup seem a breeze. We are truly amazed at the comfort and ease of it all.

    I guess it is all in what you are used to.

    Wow, your story is almost exactly like ours. :-) Started with two-man dome tents... had a baby, then got flooded one time. Bought a cheap used 1970s Rockwood popup (canvas tenting!) in 1995 and did a lot of work to fix it, including new counters and rebuilding the wooden frame in front and back. Sold that 10 years later and stepped up to a 2000 Coleman Bayside with a slideout even! Had a garage fire in 2015 and lost all camping equipment and everthing else in the garage, including the popup. Just this summer bought a 2017 GD Imagine 2150RB and have used it once so far. It's like a portable palace - a queen bed, TV, comfy chairs, microwave and shower! lol

    Bryan
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 1988-01-24.jpg   1996-03-01.jpg   2006-MISC-303.jpg   P1040520.jpg  
    Last edited by bryancass; 10-26-2019 at 07:12 PM.
    2017 Imagine 2150RB
    2016 Silverado CC LTZ with 8-speed transmission

  4. #24
    Fireside Member
    Join Date
    May 2018
    Posts
    44
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    It can take as much prep to do 2 days as 2 months. It takes a large amount of time just to get the RV ready to go out the drive way. Once you are one the road you take care of things as they come up. We have found that is a PIA to do weekend trips. We like to go for several months at a time.

  5. #25
    Seasoned Camper
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Location
    Greenville, SC
    Posts
    131
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    We are in the same boat but a bit ahead of you. We got our first trailer, an Imagine 2670MK, in August and have had 6 two night weekend trips. Two were at campgrounds and 4 boondocking at two different colleges for football game weekends. Three were a two hour trip and three close to five hour. We are still learning as each trip seemed different or we tried something different in terms of where to get gas, water and dump; something I try to plan ahead of time. Some things we noticed or changed are:
    - The initial and final setup should be the same and gets easier. The first time I had some thin wood planks for under the stabilizers and front post, now I have those and some 8x8 wood blocks and two half size cinder blocks. Having the right sizes and qty makes it easier.
    - We use to have a cooler with ice in it but now use four large freezer blocks which keeps things dry in the cooler and lets us put two blocks in the rv freezer and and fridge when we get there to help cool it down and not wait to put stuff away. No ice or wet items to have to deal with or wait for the fridge to cool down. If we had it at home the cooler would go away so next house will have a place to put it.
    - Optimising gas, water, and dump stops to have one or none versus two each way.
    - We have gone three weekends in a row with a two week break twice with the last three weekends coming up. I pack enough for the three so I'm just bringing once bag once and bring out a laundry bag after each trip which I could probably just do at the end of the third.
    - Each trip we seem to have continued to make it how we want; bringing more stuff that stays, adding command strip hooks, knob extenders, hooks for hanging grill utensils and stuff under the pass through, got a new travel grill and the splitter and connectors to hook it up to the rv outlet with the stove top. So each trip there was some work to do that was really still just making it like we want it. That is getting less and less each time and I only have one or two more simple things that I plan to do before our next three weekend trips.

    I am looking forward to some longer trips but know that wont happen until 2021.

  6. #26
    Setting Up Camp
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Upstate Eastern NY
    Posts
    22
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by bryancass View Post
    Wow, your story is almost exactly like ours. :-) Started with two-man dome tents... had a baby, then got flooded one time. Bought a cheap used 1970s Rockwood popup (canvas tenting!) in 1995 and did a lot of work to fix it, including new counters and rebuilding the wooden frame in front and back. Sold that 10 years later and stepped up to a 2000 Coleman Bayside with a slideout even! Had a garage fire in 2015 and lost all camping equipment and everthing else in the garage, including the popup. Just this summer bought a 2017 GD Imagine 2150RB and have used it once so far. It's like a portable palace - a queen bed, TV, comfy chairs, microwave and shower! lol

    Bryan
    Agreed Bryan. My husband tells people we have three homes. A home in NE NY, a condo in Florida, and the GD!

  7. #27
    Rolling Along
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Location
    Michigan and Florida
    Posts
    550
    Mentioned
    7 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Background: When I was a kid I remember my parents took us camping in tents, then a used pop-up, then a new pop-up, and finally a no-frills travel trailer. When I married my wife we got a used pop-up, then my parents old travel-trailer, then bought a 38 foot travel-trailer for that we used for 25 years. Then we switched to a FR 5th wheel, and finally our Solitude 379FL.

    In all of the above, the main goal of our changing units was to improve usefulness and fun but greatly reduce the amount of physical work and time required to make the vacation happen. If there are children going as well, especially if they are too young to be unsupervised or to help out then more dedication as well as preparation is required as mentioned in the other posts. In other words, make sure the benefits outweigh the work involved.

    If you camp often then you already have some sort of list, either mental or written, of things your have to do and then things you have to pack, then reverse the process when you get back home. After several trips this will become automatic. Some can be done ahead of time and others cannot be done until the day of departure.

    My wife and I have been camping for almost four decades, but rarely for just a weekend. We feel that going for two or three days, including travel time, is not worth the investment of time, tasks, and expense. We have always taken at least one week, and for the last 20 years, two week vacations.

    All that being said, the point we are trying to make is that with time and practice, you will find your groove. Since I work mostly out of town for days on end my wife has to do most of the gathering of stuff (clothes & food) and loading the RV while >I< am in charge of the "mechanical stuff". We have two vehicles (I like to fish) to keep road-worthy, and all of the RV stuff. Sometimes we help each other, but we each have things we are responsible for which helps us to double-check each other. We have this "going camping" thing down to a science. In time, you will too. Sure, we almost always forget something, but the entire experience is much less stressful and more anticipatory. If at all possible, please try to go for at least a week. We found years ago when I had a high-stress job that it takes a full week to unwind, then another to fully relax. Have fun.

  8. #28
    Fireside Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Posts
    47
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    We enjoy setting up and moving from different areas. It's really not that big of a deal after you do it a few times. We consider it part of having a rv and look forward to it. We have traveled to and from destinations with several one or two night stays in between. Every campground or rv park has a little different appeal. Instead of driving long distances daily to get to a destination, we like to take our time and enjoy it. We recently flew to Florida and stayed in hotels for a week. After seeing what was checking into and out of those hotels and knowing what was in the bed you are now sleeping in---well let me tell you, we really appreciate our rv and having it as our own.

  9. #29
    Fireside Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
    Location
    Utah
    Posts
    46
    Mentioned
    1 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Lots of good things here. Here are few we use.
    1 - Keep trailer stuff in the trailer. With dedicated camping gear always in the trailer it is less packing.
    2 - We park the trailer (upgraded to the 5th this year) parked next to the house. I added a 50 amp outlet to the side of the house. I rent a paved spot from the neighbor, I only have 9 feet to property line. The pavement starts at our house and goes West ~ 60 feet. The downside to this is I have to look in the trailer too often to find my wife.
    3 - If we go for a weekend we always book the stay from Friday (as soon as we can get in) through Sunday night. This lets us enjoy Friday evening after set up until we want to leave on Sunday, even though we have the site until check out on Monday. This reduces the rush to pack up and get out on time (whatever time check out is) and gives us as much of Sunday as we want. It also reduces the line if we have to use the dump station before we leave.
    4 - Have a routine. Each of you should have things to do to leave home and then again to leave the campsite. Write them down in order if you have to until you get it down. The more often you do it the faster you will get. You will learn the tricks that work for you and your rig. We are empty nesters now but we did this when the 4 boys were little and still at home.
    5 - We make a menu for the entire trip (one night or two weeks). This makes shopping and packing easier. You can relay this to others that might want to join and you can alternate meals which will reduce packing.

    Figure out what works for you and enjoy it. Even though we Winterize and un-Winterize as many as 4 times during the Winter (Typically - First of October through End of April) we have a system that works for us.

  10. #30
    Fireside Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Posts
    70
    Mentioned
    0 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by SJMaye View Post
    My wife and I have used our 2500RL three times now. Each time we learn something new. Aside from gaining an understanding of the trailer mechanical and electrical systems we are trying to find our groove when it comes to RVing vs just getting a hotel room. We bought the trailer because we were sick of hotel rooms and eating out all the time. We thought if we had a trailer we would have a place of our own to come back to rather than the hotel crapshoot we had been experiencing. We also liked the idea of being able to cook there rather than eating out all the time.

    All this has worked out, however, we were not prepared for all the preparation, setup, takedown, cleaning time for every trip. I am thinking the reason for this has been our trips have all been only 2 night stays. So, all the setup and takedown feel like a lot just because we were not there long.

    I hope I have explained this well. Anyone have recommendations?
    If you change 2500RL to 2600RB this is exactly me including the number of trips. We did 3 so far and winterized. This may not apply to you at all but this is what we do. Ill try to cover the whole thing. I am brand new to RVing or truck or even towing. Me and my wife work Monday through Thursday and I work from home on Friday. Camper is at storage which is half an hour away. I pick it up Thursday night and leave it on the road hooked to the TV since our driveway is short. I fire up the refrigerator after parking. It is usually cold by Friday morning. Before I start my work Friday morning, I check tire pressure and battery status of all things RVing. During the day whenever I get breaks, me and my wife pack food and clothes. All other basics are already in the RV like toiletries, coffee maker, pancake stuff, pans etc. We use disposable plates but have coffee mugs. When I am done at 3, we throw the food in refrigerator, clothes under the dinette in a bin and everything else on the floor in bins and we leave. First time we took 2 hours and the 3rd time we left under 30 mins. Once we get to the site, we back in, level, connect water and electric. I have a tape with me and measure the distance to sewer hookup to make sure it is within reaching distance but I keep that part for Saturday morning. We have a table cloth, 2 chairs, firepit and beer for Friday night. Usually we take some food from home for dinner Friday night(that is the plan but worked only once). Saturday is to relax and enjoy the day. Before we turn in for Saturday night, i put the chairs, table cloth and awning in. Sunday morning we wake up, cook breakfast and head out. That is usually an hour and a half worth of work. She takes care of the inside and I do everything else. We use a checklist in google keep. It is connected to both our phones so if she marks it done, it is done on my phone too. Ill try to share that list here. We have separate list for regular setup, teardown, storage place setup and teardown. And please pardon my english. I am an immigrant.

Page 3 of 5 FirstFirst 12345 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

DISCLAIMER:This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Grand Design RV, LLC or any of its affiliates. This is an independent site.