I love that there are so many ways to RV. I recently did a vid where I talk about how to have a 23 gallon black tank last 26 days. That means I had to super conserve on fresh 46 gallons) and grey (35 gallons) water too. The issue is less about the tank being mostly empty causing smells than it is about the P-trap under the sink drying out if it’s not being used. Running a small amount of water in the sink to refill the P-trap often solves the odor problem. Same is true after a travel day on bumpy roads -that can slosh the water out of the P-trap too.
County and City parks are great finds too. Near Chicago, Kane county has 2 parks that are great. Water and 50A hookups. 2 week stays. In Elgin and in Big Rock.
We are on the road about 20+ weeks out of the year in the Spring and Fall for the past 6 1/2 years. Over the past 3+ years, we have stayed at very few private campgrounds. We stay almost exclusively at State Parks (and CoE Parks, National Forest/BLM, City/County Parks). The quality of the camping is far superior to private parks. Like you, I don’t care about the lack of “amenities”. I don’t need a pool, or a trampoline, or a mini-golf course. Yeah, not having full hookups is a little less convenient, but using the dump station on the way out is not a big deal. It is the best way to RV (in my opinion) and it isn’t used by so many RV’ers…which is fine by us!
Could you talk about how your are able to get reservations for the full two weeks? Do you plan 6 months out? I would love a video that really gets into the nuts and bolts of planning for full time as we are about 8 months out! :~)
We normally stay in state parks and have for the last 35+ years. We don’t have a big rig. Currently, we have a 29’ class C and tow a small car on a tow dolly. We are fine. We’ve also had 29’ travel trailer, hard side popups, and tent sided popups. We’ve even done the tent thing. We live near Chicago and normally camp in Michigan state parks. In 35 years of camping in Michigan, we’ve only done one private campground. Their state parks have improved over the years and the showers/bathrooms are pretty good. Even though we have a class C now, we still use the campground facilities. Many of the Michigan campgrounds are very popular and you really need to make reservations 6 months in advance (this is the earliest they allow) and 14 days max. Weekends are really busy during the kids summer break. We’ve been in some of their campgrounds as late as mid-June and the campground was basically empty (even the weekend). Depending on the campground, the campgrounds are pretty open. As they start updating the campground infrastructure, they are including some full hookup sites. In most of these campgrounds, the sites are pretty roomy and they have some that will accommodate bigger class A rigs. We take up a bit more space as well due to the tow dolly. We still have plenty of room. The biggest con for us is the Michigan state bird, the mosquito (no, it’s not the state bird-Minnesota claims it too). Common to wooded areas. We have been in some of their campgrounds that did not have 50A electricity. In more recent times, we have seen more. We’ve stayed in a couple of Illinois state parks, they were fine as well. We did a trip to Yellowstone and mostly stayed in private campgrounds, including a few KOAs. The cost of the campgrounds is the plus. In Minnesota, we have used county campgrounds. To get into a state campground needed reservations made months before the desired time. During the summer, spur of the moment trips may not work too well.
So you have touched on in this video and I saw it in another one that is near and dear to my heart: using paper plates and other disposable things when boondocking to save water. There is a quote from Annie Leonard, former executive director of Greenpeace USA: “There is no such thing as ‘away.’ So, when we throw anything away, it must go somewhere.” My wife and I are about to be full-time in a few weeks (amazing it is so close!) intending to mostly boondock. One of the main reasons is we are doing this is to enjoy this amazing Earth. It seems counter-intuitive to me that one of the things we do to make this lifestyle easier on us is to use a lot of one-time-use things that will end up in landfills. My thinking... I know that when folks tent camp or camp in small teardrops that don't have gray tanks, they wash their dishes outside and allow the water to just run off into the woods. I think we can really reduce how quickly we fill up the gray tank by washing dishes outside when that is permitted. On the note of the paper in the toilet vs doggy bags, we are 100% on board with that! We have gone one step further: we installed a composting toilet, so we won't ever have a black tank to empty!!!!! (P.S. I do make sure the bags are designed to be biodegradable )
I can’t even get into a state park in California, I have been trying to get into Carlsbad State Beach for over 3 years lol. So apparently wherever this is at must either be Hot, Humid, or have lots of bugs 🤣🤣 Yes I will dump dishwater, and leftover black coffee. All those things are great but they all take room and in a Class B you just don’t have it.
It really is dependent on your area. Ca by far has been our hardest state to get into state parks. We literally gave up. Maybe because the weather year round is decent. In other parts of the country there is shoulder season when it’s more available. Summer, however, is always hard to get in. Maybe get out of CA! lol
Now, I dunno about that “pros” but we just try and keep it real. So glad you thought the info helpful. Thanks so much for watching. We have so much more to share. 😜👍
In Ohio state parks, near us, have several fresh water spickets located around the campground loops. There are also grey water areas around the loops to dump your grey water. This way, if you are tent camping, car camping or staying for additional days and saving water. There are places to dump out your dirty sink water.
Have you ever thought about taking a garbage bag and putting it one or two of them over the toilet seat putting some horse bed pellets they are little pellets that are made of ground up wood that they soak up urine etc and when you're done you put your trash and everything in it and then you bag it up tied up and you throw it in the dumpster. No worse than babies dirty diaper. And it doesn't smell because the pellets soak up all the urine. I've had to use 5 gallon buckets for many years. And when I found out about the horse pellets that are betting pellets that absorb urine. You can buy them at tractor supply store. It made a world of difference.
Wow. Now that’s an idea… but I’m afraid I’m not willing to go to that level of commitment and effort. lol I Love how you have it figured out and working for you though.
Yea, that would be a challenge. I’d say finding someone you trust that would allow you to store it, or leaving it hooked up at a park where a neighbor might keep an eye on it.
We are 44ft. For two weeks I’d say book as early as they will allow you for holiday or summer travel. Most state parks open up booking 6 months in advance, but it varies. Off season I got a full two weeks within a couple of months before but even if you don’t go that far in advance, just keep checking for cancellations. I have booked a week and then caught a second week later.
Hey there! You may want to consider a macerator pump. It allows you to have the black tank in the truck bed. You won't have to pull it and you can go much further when you are boondocking. I really upped this by getting a 100 gallon black water bladder. I also got a Gen Y to free up the bed space.
Indeed. We have one. In this video we just wanted to show he traditional method as most state parks have a pretty close dump. We’ll have to do one using the macerator pump next time. Great reminder
Great tips! We love state parks! We have a water bag too. The first one I busted because I did not have the bag at tailgate and had to move it after the fact. Not good. lol. Also- you might want to consider getting a SoftStartUp.
Hey friend. Thanks for the reminder about soft starts. We have them on all the acs. Totally forgot to mention that (duh), hope to see you guys again soon.
State Parks I recommend, everyone I have been in Michigan has been wonderful. My favorite was the Wilderness State Park, about 7 miles west of Mackinaw City & Mackinaw Bridge. Wilderness State Park is right on Lake Michigan and is just beautiful! Between Wilderness State Park and Mackinaw City is the Headlands Internation Dark Sky Park which we stopped at in the evening. They often have presentations around 8pm. Mackinaw City is the southern location to catch a ferry to Mackinac Island. Mackinac Island is a MUST-see, there are no cars, all the transportation is horse and buggy, bicycle, or foot.
on your pump wiring you can install a $2 toggle switch on 1 of the wires to turn off and on instead of it coming on when attaching the wires to the battery
@@liketheresnotomorrow I like your idea of using a "spare" water pump, but here's what I would do differently, get a 7--way trailer wiring connector, use the brown wire to connect a switch and connect the ground, wire then connect to water pump. if you turn on parking lights, it will energize the brown wire, and it all is one neat wiring adapter that will plug into the existing trailer plug in the bed of your truck, no need to carry a spare battery.....
Hello. WE really need to meet up one of these days. In the last video you were at the Sturgis Escapee whoya (I was in the Black Hills, who knew?! haha).. I have not attended one of those yet... a little nervous about that. Anyway... my comment was.. if in a state park with toilets, dump the dish water in the sink or toilet at the restrooms if concerned about dumping on ground. Some say yes, others say no... but that is a compromise.. I think... Thanks for sharing. Safe Travels.
100%. It depends. If you only have a little water you might be able to do that. We were a ways away, but you totally could. You’d just be going over there a lot! Sometimes they even have sinks for washing dishes near the restrooms. It’s just easier to dump into the tote after a week and be done with it:
Honestly, managing water has been my biggest fear for boondocking and staying at state parks. I have a little one so it is hard to get most things done, otherwise it wouldn't be an issue. Thanks for covering this very helpful topic!
I've learned through experience I can have 3 people in my Springdale for 6 days being judicious in water and toilet use. I learned some hacks from OJT and RU-vid. It can be done as long as you know your rigs capacity.
Excellent video guys!!! Love the cheap state parks too and most are big rig friendly as you mentioned. Our TH is 48ft and some change, so recon on google earth is your friend!!! We have the same bladder and a 12V water pump too. What we did is got the Anderson connectors and a roll of 10 gauge wire. I made a 20 ft pigtail off our 8 lithium battery bank with a female Anderson connector. Then I attached a male Anderson connector to our the same thing 12V water pump, Vair air compressor, and our 12V portable macerator pump we use to pump our black tank to the sewage tote. It’s a fairly easy project and simplifies and streamlines the process. 👍😃🍻
Excellent info. We also use a macerator pump for times when the dump is too far from us to tote and we need to put it in the truck bed. We’ll probably do a video for the people the next time we do that.
We’re getting in to more State Parks too. We’re a big rig (45’ Toyhauler). Our biggest issue has been reservations… and availability. We work full time too so the during the week thing works and we run out on the weekends anyway, so that is a great flow for us too! So far our favorite is Cherry Creek State Park in the Denver area. We haven’t done that campground review yet but that’s coming!
I hear ya. We are headed through the Dakotas, Wyoming this summer and CO in the fall. Most were already booked. So we’ll mostly boondocking now. Which is fine if the temps behave,
@liketheresnotomorrow The reservation thing is so bad I think it's CA wants to do something about it. We've been in places where we checked the reservation and it all looks booked. You ride through that same park and it's virtually empty for the time we requested. It really makes booking a challenge. Especially when most states require the reservation months in advance. We're trying to figure out how to Crack that code! Oh, another one.... we're also getting into city, county, COE and Fairground parks. Same idea 💡
I’m a new follower and trying to convince my family to consider full time rving, and I really enjoy your videos! You guys have excellent and very informative content! Great job!
Thanks for all the great ideas. On your water pump from the bladder what about mounting that pump inside a pelican case and use quick disconnect water hose fittings and then make a simple power connection in your bed with a power switch? Lot of explanation but basically put that pump in a water proof box with a power plug and switch ? Keep the ideas coming.
VA has amazing state parks. Shenandoah State Park will have some sites that will fit your rig and it is right up by the northern entrance to Shenandoah National Park.
We stay at state park alot. We wash dishes in tub keep 5 gallon free pickle bucket by door and dump dish water in it till near full all the state parks we stay at have grey water dump in camp area every 10 or 15 site a we dump it there. Not on the ground.
Most of the time, no. They generally include it in your reservation fee... however, we have had a couple where we had to pay the $7 entry fee once. They usually list that info on the state park website when you book. There has been one park where it was a daily fee, and we decided not to stay there because of it. That has been the only one we came across doing it this way. Of the ten state parks we have stayed at only one asked us to pay the entrance fee one time.
We used to tent camp and we would wash our dishes in the sink outside the bathrooms, or wash them in a tub and then dump the tub at the sink. All the state parks that we have been to have a big sink. It’s gross to dump your dirty dish water at a campground and it attracts animals.
