From zero experience to Full Time... Tomorrow!

**Diesel_And_Desflurane** · 03-13-2021, 08:43 PM

Hi Everybody.

My wife and I have 3 nights of RV experience between us, in our lives. Those 3 nights came in the form of a Cruise America rental in Death Valley, just before COVID took off, in January 2020. Today we took possession of a used, 2019, gargantuan Momentum 376TH.

I am a nurse anesthetist, traveling around the country delivering high quality anesthesia care through various travel nursing contracts. My wife works remotely in a marketing job that she has held since 2011. I have done anesthesia work for some time, and for the past year and a half I did this work on a traveling basis, checking in and out of hotels, airbnb's, and hospital provided lodging. Those accommodations became kind of taxing on my wife and I, as some towns don't have decent extended stay hotels, and begging people to let us bring our dog and cat was stressful and sometimes impossible. So, towards the end of 2020, we decided to buy an RV and bring our home with us on each assignment.

We had been on the west coast for 4 years immediately preceding this adventure. We sold most of our stuff, packed a U-Haul trailer, and drove from CA to MO, where my current contract began on Feb 1. We struck a private deal with a seller on a Facebook RV forum. He agreed to delivery the RV from North Carolina to us in Missouri, for a few extra bucks. The seller ran into some title issues, and so the delivery was delayed by a month. In the meantime we rented a storage unit to store the stuff we planned to use in the RV, and checked in to an extended stay hotel. As inconvenient as I thought it was at the time, looking back, I think we lucked out, because much of February in Missouri was spent in the single digits, with some nights hitting -15F! We were OK being in a hotel instead of freezing and trying not to destroy our new to us RV.

Today we took possession of the RV. The seller backed it into a nice city park campsite for us. Next week I will trade in my Ram 1500 that I love, in order to buy a truck capable of hauling this thing. We are parked in Missouri until June. At which point we will head to Maine for the summer. Before we leave, I'm going to take an RV driving school course.

In the meantime, I'll be reading and posting on here a lot, as I try to figure out how to adjust to full timing from near zero experience. Please bear with me! It may be comical...

**RV Sailor** · 03-13-2021, 09:43 PM

Originally Posted by Diesel_And_Desflurane

Hi Everybody.

My wife and I have 3 nights of RV experience between us, in our lives. Those 3 nights came in the form of a Cruise America rental in Death Valley, just before COVID took off, in January 2020. Today we took possession of a used, 2019, gargantuan Momentum 376TH.

I am a nurse anesthetist, traveling around the country delivering high quality anesthesia care through various travel nursing contracts. My wife works remotely in a marketing job that she has held since 2011. I have done anesthesia work for some time, and for the past year and a half I did this work on a traveling basis, checking in and out of hotels, airbnb's, and hospital provided lodging. Those accommodations became kind of taxing on my wife and I, as some towns don't have decent extended stay hotels, and begging people to let us bring our dog and cat was stressful and sometimes impossible. So, towards the end of 2020, we decided to buy an RV and bring our home with us on each assignment.

We had been on the west coast for 4 years immediately preceding this adventure. We sold most of our stuff, packed a U-Haul trailer, and drove from CA to MO, where my current contract began on Feb 1. We struck a private deal with a seller on a Facebook RV forum. He agreed to delivery the RV from North Carolina to us in Missouri, for a few extra bucks. The seller ran into some title issues, and so the delivery was delayed by a month. In the meantime we rented a storage unit to store the stuff we planned to use in the RV, and checked in to an extended stay hotel. As inconvenient as I thought it was at the time, looking back, I think we lucked out, because much of February in Missouri was spent in the single digits, with some nights hitting -15F! We were OK being in a hotel instead of freezing and trying not to destroy our new to us RV.

Today we took possession of the RV. The seller backed it into a nice city park campsite for us. Next week I will trade in my Ram 1500 that I love, in order to buy a truck capable of hauling this thing. We are parked in Missouri until June. At which point we will head to Maine for the summer. Before we leave, I'm going to take an RV driving school course.

In the meantime, I'll be reading and posting on here a lot, as I try to figure out how to adjust to full timing from near zero experience. Please bear with me! It may be comical...

We will be in NY, Vt, NH for Three different weeks and then three weeks in Maine in August.keep in touch

**FT4NOW** · 03-14-2021, 05:46 AM

Congrats. Make sure to search the forum for winter camping and understand what is needed in below freezing temps. For tow vehicles, you should look into the F450, but if you're not a Ford fan, definitely need a dually for sure with the 376 (I'd get one with the 5th wheel prep whatever brand truck you get). If you dont have a hitch yet, search the forum for that as well. B+W Companion is a good one to start looking at.

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**el Rojo** · 03-14-2021, 08:12 AM

I will 2nd what FT4NOW said. Get a dually in whichever brand you buy. 4:10 (rear end) gears make a big difference when towing. We also have the B&W hitch. One thing I like about it is you can visually see it's locked.

Red

P.S. Welcome aboard!

**Ynot4me2** · 03-14-2021, 08:49 AM

Welcome to the group, don't be shy to ask any questions.

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**[email protected]** · 03-14-2021, 10:36 AM

Congrats, welcome to the fulltime club. You're taking on a lot right off the bat but you're starting off right with the driving course. Learn all you can about the systems in your specific RV, power AC and DC, water and propane. Learn about maintenance of your rig and maintaining the systems in it. Whatever state your drivers license is from check to see if a special drivers license is required for towing your rig because of the combined weight. Definitely a 1 Ton DRW or better will be needed. My advice - Do Not skimp on the tow vehicle, payload capability is as much important as towing capacity. Before my wife retired from her hospital, she used to park our 1 Ton DRW next to the ambulances in the parking garage. Starting out take it slow and easy, you'll get there, thats part of the adventure.

Questions? Ask away, we all started out somewhere.

**Diesel_And_Desflurane** · 03-14-2021, 06:59 PM

Thanks all!

Today was super stressful. Moving always is. Trying to figure out what we need and where to put it, vs what we need to send back to storage out of state vs what goes to Goodwill. Also trying to learn the RVs systems is a huge task. Today when unhooking the water I thought I destroyed the Nautilis system by unhooking while it was still pressurized. I got soaked and water came pouring out of the city water inlet. I quickly snapped open the drain stopcock and I don't know if that made it less damaging, but once it drained out completely, I reconnected and filled the pipes without further incident.

As far as tow vehicle-- I am selling my Ram 1500 to a dealer tomorrow, then going to another dealer and picking up a 2014 F450 with 170k on the odometer for 39,000. I'm spending money like its a habit. I've never bought a diesel before and never purchased a vehicle with that many miles. I'm really hoping it turns out to be a good truck. I looked for what I know to look for - rust, leaks, smoke, and engine blow by, and it seems okay in that regard.

Back to work tomorrow, should be a nice rest from this weekend!

**FT4NOW** · 03-14-2021, 07:08 PM

Originally Posted by Diesel_And_Desflurane

Thanks all!

Today was super stressful. Moving always is. Trying to figure out what we need and where to put it, vs what we need to send back to storage out of state vs what goes to Goodwill. Also trying to learn the RVs systems is a huge task. Today when unhooking the water I thought I destroyed the Nautilis system by unhooking while it was still pressurized. I got soaked and water came pouring out of the city water inlet. I quickly snapped open the drain stopcock and I don't know if that made it less damaging, but once it drained out completely, I reconnected and filled the pipes without further incident.

As far as tow vehicle-- I am selling my Ram 1500 to a dealer tomorrow, then going to another dealer and picking up a 2014 F450 with 170k on the odometer for 39,000. I'm spending money like its a habit. I've never bought a diesel before and never purchased a vehicle with that many miles. I'm really hoping it turns out to be a good truck. I looked for what I know to look for - rust, leaks, smoke, and engine blow by, and it seems okay in that regard.

Back to work tomorrow, should be a nice rest from this weekend!

Sounds like you're busy...since you're spending money, I'll help you spend some more....but not much. Look online at Forscan, you can goto Forscan.org. you'll need a special ELM27 OBD2 adapter, but it will let you hook up a computer to your truck and change numerous settings. The program is free, but you need to apply for a trial license to change anything, also free. It's all explained on the website. Get the USB version of the adapter, it works better than the BT or Wifi.

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**Diesel_And_Desflurane** · 03-15-2021, 04:50 AM

Thanks, I'll check it out. What kind of settings would someone want to change on an F450?

**Diesel_And_Desflurane** · 03-15-2021, 04:54 AM

Here's an embarrassing newbie question--

How do you stay warm? I'm in a 376TH, which has 3 A/C's which provides me with 3 options of climate control from the One Control system: Living, Main, & Bedroom. Only the "Main" option allows for you to select heat, the other two are just A/C and fan. So I can heat the main living area of the couch with the furnace that way. However, when we go to bed and close the door (to keep the cat out), it gets cold in the bedroom. I've always been taught not to leave electric space heaters unattended, or on while asleep, since they can spark, short and do other funny things like catch fire...

Additionally, is it safe to leave the fake fire place thing on overnight to heat the main section of the coach and save propane? Or should I treat that the same as a traditional electric space heater and turn it off when I go to bed/leave the RV?

Thanks!