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Happy RV-versary to us!!
It was exactly one year ago to this day that I blogged about our new RV! When we first bought it, I had great intentions of blogging about all of our adventures. And then I took a hiatus on blogging. And then I started blogging again. And then fall/winter rolled around and we paused our RV trips for a bit through the holidays.
I feel like I’m finally getting consistent again with my blog and I want to continue sharing the fun we are having with our RV, plus our RV tips and diy updates! Eventually I’ll catch up on our past trips, but for today I’ll share our fun over this past [President’s Day] weekend and then I’ll share a few good things we have learned as RV newbies, that I think might be helpful for other newbies reading this!
President’s Day Weekend
We’d been itching to get out, and being that it was our RV-versary it made sense to get away to celebrate, right? Our friends own a nice piece of property in Newberry Springs, just past Barstow. Their property has a mobile home on it along with a few spots that they’ve set up with hook-ups for RV’s. It sits on a private lake that can be used for boating, fishing, and swimming. What fun! It’s also in the middle of the desert which means there is a lot of wide open space for off-road vehicles. They invited us to come out last summer, but between our two schedules, we couldn’t find a weekend that would work. Even though it’s winter (and the lake is drained for maintenance), we decided it would be fun to go anyway. There’s always off-roading; not to mention games and campfires!
As luck would have it, it was super cold this past weekend and the wind was a tad bit crazy. BUT, we didn’t let that stop us from having fun! Campfires were out because of the high winds, but we were still able to make s’mores inside our RV’s. We played lots of games and had family dinners together and played with their toys and just hung out and got to connect as friends. It was a lot of fun!
Aubrey learned how to drive stick shift in their dunebuggy. I don’t know the real name for this off-road vehicle, but I’ll just call it a dunebuggy. I’ve gotta say that I was pretty impressed with how well she drove, being that she’s only 13 and it was her first time driving a vehicle other than bumper cars. She had no fear!
The boys spent most of their time on the ATV. It was both of their first time driving an ATV and they both did really well. I admit I was a nervous mom but I loved watching them have fun. Our friends created a little course on their property, so they went round and round and as they got more comfortable they were a little more adventurous on the bumps and turns.
They also had fun riding with Jeff to some sand dunes where they found the “Sandhouse”. How cool is this?
On our way home, I finally got brave enough to drive a few miles. A year of owning this RV and it was the first time that I had enough courage to drive it! It was only 5 miles of straight road, but you gotta start somewhere! I did make it into the parking lot of our pit stop at Eddie World and even parked alongside the curb.
On another note, if you ever find yourself traveling along the 15 freeway through a town called Yermo (just outside Barstow), you must stop at Eddie World. It is a gas station but you’d never guess that once you step inside the doors. It is a magical Candyland inside, with every sort of candy you can think of and a variety of stuffed animal displays and other trinkets. They have an entire section of sugar-free candy and offer gluten-free food choices in their bakery! There truly is something for everybody!
And now, as promised, I am sharing some valuable tips that we have learned in our first year as RV owners.
Helpful Tips For Beginning RV-ers
#1. Take a test run to a local camp site. I recommend finding a place with full hook-ups so that you can test everything out; your electric, sewer and water. Staying close by home is helpful so that you can make a quick run home for anything you’ve forgotten or may need (it’s guaranteed to happen!!)
#2. Keep a notepad and paper handy, especially on that first trip! No matter how well you plan, there will still be things that you will realize you’ve forgotten or ideas that will come to mind to make things easier. Write it down as you go!
#3. Vent covers: Jeff invested in vent covers for the roof of the RV. They go over the existing vents but you can keep them open all the time: wind, rain or shine, and the weather does not get through. We’ve had good rainy season here this year and even with the vents left open, we haven’t gotten any water inside the RV. This is a standard vent cover and the exact ones that Jeff bought:
#4. Make sure to have good working gloves and tools for your RV. There will always be a screw you need to tighten or something that needs to be fixed. You also want disposable gloves for when it comes time to hook up the sewage!
#5. If you’re gonna travel for an extended length of time anywhere, do yourself a favor and invest in a mattress topper!! RV’s mattresses aren’t known for their comfort. Rather than buying a whole new mattress, you can buy a memory foam topper. They can be pricey in the store; the best deal we found was on Amazon!! Plus, they make a short queen size, which is harder to find in stores.
#6. When storing your RV, put a clean bucket of water in the shower. This will help keep moisture in your RV so that it doesn’t get too dry during storage.
#7. One word: Poopori!! I have a problem with smells. I smell everything and in tight quarters the smells can get to be a little overwhelming, especially in the pooper. If you fill your toilet bowl with water and spray it with 2-3 pumps of poopori before you go #2, it will help to keep the smells at bay. I also keep a glade plug-in the bathroom and have a wax warmer (Scentsy) in the “kitchen” to freshen up the smell of our little home. I’ve had people walk into our RV and tell us how nice it smells!
#8. Most RV owner’s probably already know this, but you need to use special toilet paper for your RV! We have actually had RV friends who didn’t know this, so that’s why I think it’s worthy of bringing up. You want TP that is made for RV’s; it is specially designed to break down which will prevent messy clogs. Ewe.
#9. Also, get toilet treatment drop-ins. After you empty your tank, add a gallon of fresh water and drop in one of these bombs and it will treat your tank while you waste. This is the brand we buy.
#10. Get a water filter! The previous owner of our RV kept it in immaculate condition…except that he didn’t have a water filter. So we ended up with hard water deposits which turned into calcium deposits which in turn, turned into tiny little rocks that clogged up our pipes. Jeff had to take apart the toilet and faucets to clean out the sediment. Since we’ve added a filter, we’ve had no problem! It also filters out bacteria, odors, chlorine, bad tastes and so much more! Trust me, you want a filter. You can buy them one at a time, but it’s more cost effective to buy the 2 pack and you’ll want to change it every few months.
#11. If your RV sits for a long period of time (a month or more), try putting a fuel stabilizer in the gas tank. This keeps your fuel fresh and removes water to prevent corrosion. It also cleanses the carburetors and fuel injectors.
#12. Don’t forget to take your RV out every now and then in-between trips. We try to take our RV out at least once a month, even if it’s just a trip to family dinner or to Camping World! It is good to run the fuel through the engine and run your generator.
Be sure to check back next week, when I share my easy tutorial on making a privacy curtain for the overhead bunk (plus a couple other easy updates we’ve made)!
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