RV Tour and Tips

This post is a bit overdue. I wanted to learn how to live in these quarters before I posted pics of it. To start out, I started setting aside things to bring about two weeks before leaving. You want to keep things simple and down to necessities when playing this kind of trip.

Our RV is a 25ft motorhome. We rented it from Cruise Across America. They have a rental spot on north I-35. I was able to book this unit with unlimited mileage during a special. Otherwise there is a whole charge per mile situation. The vehicle cab, and the living quarters are all attached. We did not bring any other form of transportation, so that left exploration of towns being as we arrived, or as we left. Like I had previously noted a lot of our stays are one night stays, with a few being two nights. In the mix we have one hotel stop, but all the rest are RV resorts.

RV Resorts range in price from low, like $50 to high $200 a night based on amenities. They also attach a “lock fee”. Basically they allow you to pick your spot at the resort BUT if you want to 100 percent secure that spot you need to pay a lock fee. This varied from $20 to $30. Sometimes I paid, sometimes I didn’t. Everything worked out both ways. Also, canceling your RV reservation, even with tons of notice, is hard. They somehow always find a way to keep most of your money.

Design: This RV has basically 3 sleeping areas of relative comfort. There is the over-the-cab sleeping area that you climb up into, the dinette fold-down, and the actual bed. I took the actual bed (with the 2 dogs and kitten), my brother slept in the over-the-cab quarters, and my husband slept on the fold-out dinette. I really liked that the back area near the bed had a curtain, so you can pull it for privacy or when you need to change or shower. When folded down, the dinette took away space to sit, but we really didn’t notice and it helped create a space for the dogs to sit when we were in motion.

I brought all the bedding for everyone. You can rent it, but gross. So I made sure this was all as comfy as possible with my own bedding. I also brought some Thames “Frasier Fir” linen spray. This helps keep the place fresh. Also, you need to bring or buy a Dustbuster. This is absolutely key to your sanity to keep things clean. We also brought some rugs to use in the bathroom and in the RV. This is a nice touch to make it seem a little less gross when your feet hit the floor, especially getting out of the shower.

Supplies: I basically just made sure we had a trash can, trash bags, paper plates, utensils, and an air fryer! This is a small air fryer, so its impact on space wasn’t huge, but it allowed for some flexibility when cooking. The RV does have a stove and a microwave. For some reason, I just didn’t want to mess with the stove. I think it was because, at home, I am in charge of cleaning, and I just didn’t want to open that door on this trip.

The microwave was used some, but more to hold things when we were in motion. Water! I packed lots of water. I also just brought a base of stuff so we could make something of nothing basically. Hot dogs, buns, ketchup. I planned this trip to the best of my ability, but I didn’t know any of the places. So a lot of times we were in the middle of nowhere, so being able to make something simple was great!

Bathroom: One thing I felt was essential was a “shower bag.” I bought two of these, and they come with hooks to hang in the closet, but you can also hang them in most shower rooms. I made sure to keep all my shampoo stuff, razor, deodorant, face scrubs, and toothbrush in there. Anything I needed to get ready was all in one place. I also brought our own towels and kept those stored in a cabinet. There needed to be plenty so we could use them at the pool or in the shower. I just bought a couple of packs of beach towels. That way I knew they were big enough for any shaped body.

The RV has a medicine cabinet and small sink outside the bathroom door, which was awesome for toothpaste, meds, Qtips, etc. We use the RV resort facilities for pooping since it is such a small RV, and also because draining all the wastewater is so gross. It really is. There is no way around it. You need gloves because the stuff is in a long tube, and when you store it, it can leak water on you. We started just storing ours in a box, so we didn’t have to fight getting it back into its weird storage hole.

This brings me to laundry. This is tough. Mostly all (except 2) function on coin operated machines. I asked my husband to go to the bank and get some rolls of quarters but he didn’t. So we found ourselves needing cash, to get coins. It is very annoying. I know it can be different because one place had an app where you could add funds, another did Venmo, but asking $3.75 to wash and $3.75 to dry without having a way for anyone to get coins is a lot.

Pet Supplies: I brought one bag of essential pet supplies. I just put it all in a large cooler bag, and that took up a lot of space on the counter. This carried their wet food, treats, bowls, etc. I brought a smaller bag of dry food and was able to store that in one of the cabinets. I knew I was getting a kitten prior and packed some supplies, which I kept in the under-RV storage.

Speaking of under-RV storage, there is a lot! So you can pack chairs, a grill, or whatever extra stuff you may need. One last tip: Talk to your vet about getting some diarrhea antibiotics so you can take them on the trip for your dogs. Their stomachs get upset with change too. It doesn’t mean they are sick, but even when we are having the most fun, the change can be enough to wreck our guts. So this was a lifesaver for our journey. Hint hint… this is also a lifesaver when boarding your dogs. I also packed it for the rest of my crew who are boarding at BHV.