RV Newbies! 2018 – Our First RV – Our First Year – How did we do?
For years we were looking at travel trailers in hopes of someday owning one. In January of 2018 after looking at a variety of brands & floorplans, we purchased a 2018 Coachman 248RBS travel trailer aka “Gidget”. This is the story of our first year as RVers.
Late March 2018 we get ready to head to Lake Cachuma Recreation area, which is a Santa Barbara County Park. As I hitch up, I note the hitch ball moving slightly when weight of the trailer was added. We have an “Equalizer” hitch which requires a special thin walled socket we didn’t have. So with some help, a large pipe wrench & very long cheater bar, we tightened the ball significantly. On the way out, we stopped by the dealer to have them tighten the ball up further, thinking they have this special socket but…no…they simply used an even larger pipe wrench, a longer ‘cheater’ bar & more people. In the end, the ball has remained tight & we now own a very expensive socket.
Upon late arrival to Cachuma, fortunately our more experienced friends had dinner waiting after an uneventful camp set up. We’ve driven by Cachuma many times but never stopped there. Wow, what a beautiful place. Our first trip was only a few days but all in all, we had an awesome time & were excited about our next outing.
April 2018 we again went to Cachuma, (first solo trip) We had one small issue in that our black tank was emitting nasty odors. We were serious newbies, & while we have a black tank flush, which we used our previous trip, it appears to be an art form that we’ve since mastered somewhat.
June 2018 Pismo Coast Village RV Resort in Pismo Beach California. This RV park is unique in that you can get directly on the beach without leaving the park. We used our outside kitchen more extensively here as we were more protected from wind than at Cachuma. We’ve visited Pismo in the past, but only at hotels. The RV experience was far better than any of our previous visits to the area & staying at hotels. It was also far more economical as we no longer need to eat out all the time. That doesn’t mean we don’t have some meals at restaurants, it just means we don’t have to do it at EVERY meal. In the past, we’ve found that staying at hotels & having to eat out all the time to be the biggest expense while traveling. Additionally, for health reasons, Rosanne has a limited diet. Finding the right foods for her has always been challenging when traveling in the past. Now, things are far more relaxed, simple & economical in that she can pack many of these types of foods on-board.
Mid August 2018, off to the Monterey Peninsula & specifically Laguna Seca Raceway for the Monterey Sportscar Reunion…AKA Monterey Car Week. This was our first ‘dry camping’ experience. One of our biggest obstacles was that the water is tainted in Monterey, so we had to bring our own for the entire trip. Laguna Seca has shower facilities on site, so we felt good about the prospect of dry camping for 10 days & we have a generator for items on the rig that require household current.
The other issue was that as you will see in the video, our campsite was on the most uneven surface that we had dealt with to that point. It took effort but we managed to level out the rig.
It was here we learned an important lesson…don’t get in a hurry! We arrived late & the sun had already set. Add to that the difficulties in leveling & I was feeling rushed. I then disconnect the rig from the truck & it moved about two inches…because I had forgotten to chock the tires! We got lucky this time…and now I have labels on the hitch to remind me to chock!!
We’ve been to this event before but never for an entire week due to cost. In 2017, before we had “Gidget”, we came up Friday & left Sunday. Total expenses including, event tickets, lodging, food, fuel etc. was nearly $1600.00…yikes. Compare that with 10 days this trip, where the total of ALL expenses was about $2200.00. Quite a difference in our book.
October 2018 back to Pismo Beach for Rosannes’ reunion with childhood friends at the home of one of her classmates in Arroyo Grande. We have done this many times over the years but this year was even more special.
November 2018 “Flying Flags RV Resort” in Buellton California. Nice park & close to Los Olivos, Solvang, Jalama Beach & more. Another great time.
Late December 2018 Chula Vista RV Resort in San Diego. The place is beautiful & right next to a Park & Marina. We were married in La Jolla & have been to San Diego many times. This trip was truly special as well & certainly different from all the past visits.
We learned something obvious as our furnace failed due to a faulty circuit board. So we picked up an electric heater. This might be obvious but we had been to mostly full hook-up sites but were burning our own propane to heat the rig. Duh…now we use the electric units and save a bundle on propane…and far quieter than the furnace.
So that’s it…2018…our first year…enjoy the video and safe travels!
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