Category: RV

Live by the Checklist

Where to start?

Hold on let me get out my checklist.

Frist, always use a checklist. When we first started out living in a RV, there were many things we had to remember. It was new to us, so the things that needed to happen before leaving was fairly long. But alas, I am getting ahead of myself.

When getting your first RV, you usually have a quick walk through only 10 or 15 minutes. In that 15 minutes, you are told where the water hook up is. How to turn on the pump. Where the dumps are at. Where the battery hook up is. When all is said and done, only thing that has happened is the delivery guy got his stuff checked off a checklist.

The dealership has everything closed up, ready to hook up, and they move it out to an open parking lot for you to drive off.

Back the truck up and hook up the hitch. Now what?

With our first 5th wheel, it was delivered, and set up. After seeing everything that needed to happen we asked the question, “What if we forget something?” In no way is the answer a good one.

In comes the Checklist.

We borrowed a Checklist from another RVer to get started. Made a few modifications to it. Made it our own so that it worked for our family and our rig.

Every trip we go down this checklist and make sure everything that needs to happen before we hook up is completed. A few things on this list are: Fuel up truck, close slides, make lunch, turn off A/C, wipe under the slides, check tire pressure. A few things you may not thing of: add water to tanks, open blinds, and secure the TV’s.

Everything on the list are things that may create a problem. May be an expensive error. May be a catastrophic mishap. We use this checklist to avoid breaking something unintentionally.

Below you’ll find a file linking to a checklist we have used and lived by. You can borrow our check list and make changes to it for your benefit.

We have also included this check list in the back of Our Travel Planner (click here to check it out) . A paperback book form of our planner that we use on a daily basis while planning our travels.

BOM-set-up-breakdown-check-listDownload

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The 5 resources we use when planning a trip.

If you are like us, you want to travel all the time. Each location comes with new experiences, new people, new foods, new…you get the point. While we are at one place, we start thinking of the next place to go. Someone may have mentioned a new city to see, a trail to hike, or a waterfall to see.

Sometimes each of these things get scribbled onto a post-it note that may or may not get looked at again. This is NOT the most efficient way to go about planning a trip. But please do tell of any places we should see in the comments.

Lets take a look at the 5 resources we use to make planning a trip easier.

  1. Internet
  2. Google Maps
  3. Phone
  4. Road Atlas
  5. Our Travel Planner

Internet: Once we have figured out where we want to be at next, we start looking at the area. This starts with an internet search of the area. Yes, some of the search is “What to do in ________” and this almost always gets a good starting point of things to do. If the list is short, it may keeps us to a shorter stay. If the list is long, we may stay longer in the area.

We check on the FCC website to make sure we will have cell coverage for work, or at least find out where there is bad coverage in the area we are looking at. This starts narrowing down where we will want to stay at what park or camp ground.

Google Maps: Plotting out the Points Of Interest (POI) we found on the internet search gives a visual layout of the area. Different pins show the stuff we want to do from hiking to eating, maybe even brewery and coffee.

Here we decide about the distance we would be willing to drive to see the POI’s on our things to do list. Normally we like to stay within 30 minutes of driving, but up to an hour is acceptable depending on availability, price, and amenities.

Also in Maps, we start looking for locations to stay. If it is a short amount of time, and cool weather, we don’t need full hook-ups and 50 amp electric. During times like today when I am writing this, we NEED 50 amp electric, along with Sewer hookup. 100° and higher weather means both AC’s and daily showers.

Most places have online booking and a website. Website shows how the campground looks, the lay-out and the amenities there. Booking websites are great, as long as they give you a conformations.

Phone: When the booking site is down, or they don’t have online booking, we use the phone. Yes you can still book a campsite on the phone with the campground directly. This also gets a chan/ce to ask questions like: “Is the pool open?” “How is the water pressure?” “How good is my cell service there?”

Road Atlas: This gets a quicker view of the major roads in and out of the areas we want to be in. Major roads are usually RV safe with a 13’6″ height, we need to be sure we fit. This combined with looking in Google Maps, we have a good idea of the route to take.

Our Travel Planner: This is a hard copy of a book. In this book we put each of the places we want to go. This has a layout per month, along with reservation information. Check in times and reservation information is now in a location to grab and go as soon as we hit the gates. Some places we go intentionally does not have cell service, or is spotty, so we do not have to rely on our internet to see our information. This book has been one of the best additions to our planning. It also helped reduce the amount of resources we use when planning.

Title Page for Our Travel Planner 18 month 2024
Our Travel Planner 18 Month 2024

Here is a link to Our Travel Planner for a description, and a direct link for sale.

We do try to plan more than one trip at a time because we are mobile. Our Travel Planner helps keep us organized and on track not over lapping or skipping days.

What resources do you use for your travels? Let me know in the comments.

When is the best time to visit National Parks in the US?

Yes we have asked this question a time or two. Then we looked at our schedule, and found out that what others think the best time to visit National Parks are. Well, it does not line up with our available times.

Our son asked about going out to see the Grand Canyon. I had never been there, Sonya has passed through once, so we decided that is where the vacation would take us in 2023. We found a time that worked with work schedules and applied for the time off. We started planning.

The list started being compiled from an Atlas, a large book of National Parks, and of course, Google Earth.

We took out Our Travel Planner, blocked off the dates, and started penciling in our intended trip. Our Travel Planner allows us to keep all the information about locations and reservations in one convenient spot.

We packed up our home and hooked it to the truck and started our journey to north Florida to stage for the long drive west. During this slow move time, we made reservations to assure AC for the pup in locations that she was not welcome.

Our list of places to see include Arches, Zion, Petrified Forest, Roswell, and of course, a part of the Grand Canyon. This is a big list to keep track of and knowing the cell phones and cellular internet will be intermittent at best, everything got laid out on a calendar and the reservations and ticking information listed near the times we will use them.

When we set off on this summer adventure, it was before we saw the infographic put out by the National Park Experience. As we are headed west from Florida, and seeing temperatures on the rise from mid 90’s to the low 100’s I really wish I would have seen this sooner.

At the time of this writing, we are 5 stops in, headed west. The real adventure starts soon, and of course, we’ll try to keep some great photos coming for everyone.

Here is the graphic, and the blog it was in is linked below.

Best Times to Visit U.S. National Parks, from thenationalparksexperience.org
Best Months to Visit Each National Park (With Color-Coded Calendar)

What? You mean you DON’T have this in your car?

I know the saying “Expect to Self Rescue” is something a few of us know, and many have never heard before. So why not be at least somewhat ready for whatever life throws at you?

Most of the time the grey matter between the ears is enough to get through a lot of situations. I assume you think that way too? I know I’m not MacGyver, and I know that I need more than a paper clip and bubble gum to get out of a few situations.

As an RVer, I expect something to go wrong while out in the real world. To simplify the process of getting back on the road, or back to camping, or back to life, I make sure there are certain tools on hand in my truck at all times.

Lets take a look behind the seat:

  • Umbrella
  • Hiking stick
  • Tow Strap
  • BIG Jack
  • Lug Nut Wrench
  • Orange Tire Plugs/Plug Kit
  • Air Pump

Umbrella, well, gentlemen, you keep the umbrella in the vehicle so that the lady in your life doesn’t get her hair wet. Nope, not an emergency, but very important in the “happy wife, happy life” category.

Hiking Stick. This too is useful if you find yourself on the hiking trails. Oops, also not for emergency.

Tow Strap. Here is a piece of kit that you don’t need until you NEED it. RVing puts us sometimes off the beaten path, and hopefully close enough to others that if we need to get UN-stuck, we can use it to tie to another vehicle to get out of a sticky situation.

BIG Jack. I have tried to get a tire up off the ground using a 2 ton jack before, on a 10 ton trailer. It didn’t move, at all. So to a tool store to get a bigger jack. Now I have a 12 ton bottle jack that stays in the truck. I know that I can lift the truck or the trailer now.

Lug Nut Wrench. Bot the truck and the 5er has the same size lug nuts. A breaker bar and the proper size socket is always in the tool box. If you are unsure, or have multiple lug nut sizes, a 4-way wrench may be the way to go. Don’t forget the key if you have security or locking lug nuts on your car.

Orange Tire Plugs/Plug Kit. Orange plugs are heavy duty tire plugs. These are used for truck tires, and tires that are under higher pressure. The Plug Kit is used for plugging holes when they happen in a tire. In my plug kit, I keep a set of wire cutters to use to grab the nail or other object that is in the tire causing the leak.

Air Pump. The High Volume inflation pump can be used to air up tires that have a leak, or change pressures if temperatures have lowered your tire pressure. If you have a flat, add air, find out the ‘why’ your tire went flat, fix the hole, and fill to the tire pressure for your vehicle (see sticker in driver door jam.)

Of course, there is always roadside assistance, but once again…”Expect To Self Rescue.”

This is not the whole kit that I keep, but some of the bare basics that I make sure are close at hand. Let me know in the comments if there is something you MUST have, or something you’d like to learn to use.

Barnes On Move: Our Story

The whole family was participating in the rat race. But we were a multi-generational home. To accommodate everyone, we up-sized our house. Enlarged our footprint, and had to live bigger. This included more time for maintenance, cleaning, repairs, cleaning, and just taking care of the time sucks.
We thought the pool would be a great addition. But that took money to upkeep, it was only usable part of the year. We used more time keeping it up than actually using it.
The yard was great, but that required mowing, or paying someone else to mow. So this took time and money.

All these little things that are “normal” just seemed to take away from the time in the day to see the world, travel, learn, explore, and quality family time.

We finally decided to do what we though right for our immediate family system. Parents were all healthy and had moved out on their own. The oldest child had moved out. So now was the time for us.

Sonya and I had traveled significantly throughout childhood.

When Sonya was a child, she road tripped with her family all over the US, to include out west, and up to Alaska. She has checked off all 50 states, and 9 different countries to this day.

When BJ was a child, he hiked/camped with his dad. Along with road trips in the South East. I have 30+ states, and 3 countries.

When we got together, we day tripped a lot to different Florida cities, from Tampa, to Daytona, St Augustine, to Key West.

One year-2016, we packed up our youngest, only 5 at the time, loaded up a tent, a cooler, and some clothing and headed north. This road trip took us up the eastern seaboard all the way to Quebec Canada.

The trip was a huge success! We saw many of the “not destination” things that were interesting and historical, along with food. On that trip there were only a couple hotels, but a few friends to couch surf with. All in all we consider this a “trip of a lifetime.”

That trip reignited the want to travel.

Here’s the timeline. We tent camped for a while. Found an easier way to do it, a Wolf Pup tow behind camper. A glorified tent (with bathroom) on wheels. This was small enough to be pulled by a Jeep Cherokee, and big enough to sleep, cook, and entertain.

We outgrew this when our son reached about 4′ tall. He could no longer sleep on the dinette table sleeping area. It got sold, I wonder how that lil trailer is doing?

We then got back in a tent, but not nearly enough thanks to the heat and bugs in Florida.

We got a boat, loads of fun! How does this fit? Well, we camped ON the boat in Hontoon Island near Blue Springs, Fl.

Come 2019, before the great lock down of COVID, we discussed going full-time in a Camper. Many hours researching, looking, shopping, we settled on a 5th wheel bunk house.

2021: Purchased the camper, sold the house…It was go time.

From then, we have moved around Florida into areas we had visited, but never had enough time in. We have lived in the Keys. We have lived on a river. We have lived near the springs. We have lived near the beach a few times. In horse country, in the country, near the retirement areas, and we have yet to get to all the places we want to see in our home state.

Outside of Florida, we have RV’d into Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Texas. We will adventure farther out every time we get a chance.

This adventure is for us to see this state, and country we live in, along with looking at places we may want to settle down at in the future.

Follow, like, and share and follow along with our adventure. We may not be doing everything correctly, but we are doing it…

Putting a 5er on a Diet

Part of living full time in an RV, means making choices. Sometimes that with locations, other times, that has to do with what you can or can not take with you to your next location.

We have gone through processes of eliminating some of our favorite dishes. You know that one coffee cup you cant live without with the cute cats on it. Or getting rid of the 4th pair of running shoes when you only have one pair of feet.

But how do you shave weight from a trailer when you want to carry an extra bag of chocolate chips?

We have seen some things that are attached to the 5th wheel that do not serve a purpose for us. Two of the obvious ones for us where doors and valances.

This new Keystone Arcadia 3550mb only has 2 doors on hinges dividing sleeping rooms. We took them down and put up curtains. This shaved about 5 pounds per door. They opened in a manor that was intrusive to moving around the house.

The valances on the windows. These were brown boxes placed on top of the blinds to give it a more homely feel. Counting around our 5er, we have 13 different windows with these little brown boxes attached.

With a short discussion with the family, we decided they were not needed. The valances where visual clutter and a dust catcher.

Each was held on by 4 screws, and took only a couple minutes each to get off the walls. About an hour later, I weighed the whole stack and found that we cut 31 pounds of valances off the RV. 31 pounds!! that is almost 4 gallons of water. Or could be 30 bags of coffee. That is the weight of a big box store bicycle.

So putting our 5er on a diet let it lose over 40 pounds in a matter of a couple hours. I wish I could lose weight that efficiently.

How to light stove/oven in an RV with Propane

Living in the RV does not mean you lose all the creature comforts of home. Reality, the RV is home. Breads, baked goods, baked pastas, and dehydrated foods are all things we love to have for meals or snacks. To get this we do have to bake in the RV. One issue we see is added heat coming in the RV, but that is a necessary evil to deal with.

Our Keystone Sprinter 32BH comes with 2 30# propane tanks. They are linked together at the regulator with a switch and an indicator.

Make sure your tank is turned on, turn the handle counter clockwise until it stops, and if you have a selector switch, have it pointed to the tank you just turned on.

Our stove has 3 burners and an oven. This is why we have 4 knobs controlling the flow of gas into the stove. The 5th knob is an ignitor. Twisting this produces the spark that lights the gas!

Let’s go over how to light the stove. LP gas has to flow from the valves at the knobs down to where the fire will be lit. The burners will light quickly because the travel is short. Turn the burner knob to a medium spot and strike the ignitor. This should give you a nice flame on top. If you are coming from an electric stove to a gas stove, it may cook hotter than you expect, therefore experiment some.

Seems simple enough, right? But with the oven, don’t get in a hurry. Hold the pilot on, count to 5 strike the igniter. Probably wont light the first time, count to 5 again, and strike. Our oven usually takes about 20 seconds for gas to get to the pilot light. Once the pilot is lit, hold the knob long enough for the heat coupler to get hot. This tells the stove it’s ok for the pilot light to get gas, because there is a flame. Then set your oven to the desired temperature.

Turn on the exhaust fan! This moves gasses and exhaust out of the rig. If something smells rotten, turn off the knobs, open some windows, let it air out and then try again!

Happy cooking! Comment below on your favorite dishes to cook or bake!

Warranty stories

Who doesn’t like the smell of a new RV? The fresh paint, the off gassing of the carpet, the drops of antifreeze in the shower…

Along with all the goodness of putting your fresh finger prints on everything comes the idea that during manufacture, mistakes were made. Barnes On Move along with many other RV owners suggest having a shakedown run with your RV on the first available time possible. For us, we will always camp in the parking lot of the dealership the night of purchase, maybe even a few extra days.

The idea here is to find broken stuff, get it on a list, and added to the file before leaving on any long trips. Hopefully someone can fix the small things immediately for you before taking total possession of the unit. Sometimes they forget to turn the hot water bypass off on the water heater. This can actually cause a burned out element in your electric side of the water heater, but that is a story for another time. If you have particular questions about your unit, they can then answer it on the spot and not try to do it over the phone or bringing the unit back in.

So here is our story of how the warranty work went for our unit. As you know, we began our RV journey late 2021 with the purchase of a Keystone Sprinter 32BH. The layout was good, the price was reasonably in budget, size was large enough for 3 person family, 2 dogs, and 1 Russian tortoise.

First biggest problem we found was NO hot water. Being the curious tinkerer I am, I went digging. First found out that one of the wires was not hooked up to the gas controller. Secondly, the bypass was still ‘on.’ Third, the electric side did not work at all. Called the service center at the dealership, and was told, bring it in so we can take a look at it. Break out the calendar, and set a date.

Keeping track of days here, 1 day for setting appointment and finding problems.

Day of appointment getting close, we move into the campground at the dealership. Morning of appointment, we have to move out the humans, the dogs, the tortious, and find a place to relocate for the day. Reminding everyone we are full time.

Everyone is moved out, slides in, porter takes our house back to the bays. A few hours later I get a call, ‘we’re all done, come get your unit!’ I then ask about the water heater, and they said…”all fixed.”

Crank up the truck and head to the dealership. Chat up the service writers for a few minutes and find out by implied words that a less than favorable tech worked on my rig. This kills my warm fuzzy feeling and we plug up the trailer to double check that work.

It appeared from a quick look that the tech’s troubleshooting was only running water in the sink to see if it was warm. Full grey tank reinforced this idea. Of course, my electric side of the water heater still doesn’t work.

Call over the tech, he tries again.

After watching him flounder a few minutes I show him how to check the electric heating element and he then realizes it was busted. He finally swapped the element, but it shouldn’t have taken an owner showing how to do a job.

Oven never worked higher than 350° until it was replaced.

Door was not installed correctly. Only authorized to reinstall door.

Leaking window. Only sealed the outside, yes it stopped the leak, but the sealer that should have been between the window and frame may have a defect.

Loose negative terminal.

Every problem we see takes multiple days and makes it difficult for a full time family. I am saddened by the quality of rigs from the ‘Rona’ times. I don’t know what we would have done if it was months wasted at the dealership.

Oh yea…extended warranty. $200 evaluation fee. $50 deductible at that shop. And multiple days to get work or parts.

Warranty work is just a part of life with any purchase, I hope your stories are more entertaining than mine!

Comment or tweet @BarnesOnMove with your story!

Where are we?

This week we are in Eustis FL!

Plans include, but are not limited to: Breweries, Coffee Houses, Restaurants, Hiking, and small town photography! If you are near, reach out, we’d love to hear from you.

This relocation is being used to catch up on publications and business practices that we have neglected while at home base.
Last month or so we have spent getting our doctor’s appointments completed. Catching up with maintenance of RV, warranty work, repairs, etc.

Drone services have expanded into photogrammetry (a lot of photos that gives a high resolution image of the ground.) And I am learning 3d imaging of buildings and large objects to be used in 3d worlds, or advertisements and information to clients.

Please take a minute to share our blog/website/social media so we can share what we have learned with a wider array of people. Thank you.

-B

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