I am married however my husband travels for his job and is gone 90% of the time. I am a mother of 3 grown children and we have 2 young grandkids under 3 years of age. I live 4 hours away from any family members going in different directions in Texas. We have made the decision to try out fulltime RVing, we are looking into Class A or Class C, but I will be alone most of the time with my 4 lap dogs. This way I can go where my husband is for a while, when he's in Texas, or go to the town where my daughters and grandkids live (Odessa, Texas) for awhile or go to visit my sister (Dallas, Texas) maybe spend a couple of months at a lake during summer months. I'm used to being by myself and I'm not really a scared kind of person, however I am wondering if most RV parks are safe? How hard is it to learn how to drive an RV or park an RV or set it up once parked? Are most parks pet friendly? Where do you go to learn how to set up and maintenance your RV? Dumping and hooking up and boondocking and black hose grey hose?? It's all foreign to me..so where do I learn. Thanks for any information. Oh I am located in Kerrville, Texas..45 minutes from San Antonio.
Bob and Cheri said
03:53 PM Jan 4, 2013
First of all Welcome to the friendliest forum on the net. There are many women that RV alone. Many are on this forum and exchange ideas and questions regularly here. Don't be afraid of asking questions here as we all feel that the only Dumb Question is the one not asked.
As far as learning how to operate your RV the dealer that you purchase your Rv from should go over those details with you at the time of purchase. At that time is a great time to ask questions as each type of Rv have some differences from each other. But there are all types of Rv's on this site and willing to answer your questions.
So once again, Welcome!
Terry and Jo said
04:07 PM Jan 4, 2013
Welcome, Randa.
You will find the RV Dreams forums participants to be very friendly and helpful, and with all the knowledge that they have, many quiestions that you may have can be answered here. So, with that in mind, feel free to ask your questions.
There are online resources that are helpful with regards to finding RV parks that are pet friendly. Since I am having a mental block as to the internet URL names, I'll let others provide that information.
As far as driving either a class A or C is concerned, there are RV driving schools, but that may be something that you have to look for in the area where you live. It might even be that a dealership offers an abbreviated course of instruction that would help to get started. There are other options that would be beneficial once you have the basic knowledge, one of which is to find a large, empty parking lot (such as a large mega-church) where one can go to practice by putting out something in the way of traffic cones to practice backing into or turning around.
You will also want to consider having a Toad (that is a towed vechicle behind the RV) with which you can use to travel around cities without having to drive your RV everywhere. If you were to go with a small class C, that might not be so necessary, but if you choose larger units, it becomes more important. Look into the possibility of using your present vehicle for that purpose by checking to see if it can be towed "four-down," which means that it does not need a trailer or tow dolly for that purpose.
Good luck with your research and planning. And, we're glad to have you as part of the "family."
Terry
DebandDon said
10:03 AM Jan 5, 2013
Mimi (Randa),
There are many sources for "how to's" in RVing. Just Google them. Here is one. RVGeeks uploads frequent "how to's" to YouTube. Watch the one below and then you can search YouTube for other RV "how to's" and there will be more there by RVGeeks.
-- Edited by DebandDon on Saturday 5th of January 2013 10:04:44 AM
Edit by moderator: Activated link. Terry
-- Edited by DebandDon on Saturday 5th of January 2013 10:05:23 AM
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Saturday 5th of January 2013 11:51:11 AM
WestWardHo said
07:37 PM Jan 5, 2013
Welcome, there is a whole thread on the front page for solo RVers. Many are single but you could share a lot. One thought tho is may parks restrict dogs to two max. You might want to check that out.
Dog Folks said
11:27 PM Jan 5, 2013
While hosting at a south Fla. State park we have met many singole women "on the road."
One lady we met had a very similiar story to yours. She was from Michigan and her husband does not like to camp, so she camps all alone for about 4 months a year, each winter.
Mimi2717 said
10:26 AM Jan 6, 2013
Thanks for all the replies on where and how to find information. Today DH and I went to an RV Expedition they are having in San Antonio, Texas, I left more confused than when I got there but it did give me alot to think about. I will continue to check them out until I figure out what will work for me. I still have atleast a year to do so. Still extrememly excited...keep the info coming, I'm enjoying hearing everything you have to say. And thanks WestWardHo I will certainly check that out, It would not be an option if my dogs can't go.
Terry and Jo said
05:00 PM Jan 6, 2013
As an afterthought, I think there are a few RV dealers in New Braunfels, which it not too far from you. There is a lady that we know by the name of Melinda King, and I think she works at one called Evergreen RV (or something like that.) If you happen to be over that way in your looking and researching, she is a very honest individual that we met while we were researching for ours. In fact, she was a factory rep for DRV Suites, which is the brand we bought. While they might not have what you are looking for, Melinda is very knowledgeable about RV's and a lot of topics related to them.
I am married however my husband travels for his job and is gone 90% of the time. I am a mother of 3 grown children and we have 2 young grandkids under 3 years of age. I live 4 hours away from any family members going in different directions in Texas. We have made the decision to try out fulltime RVing, we are looking into Class A or Class C, but I will be alone most of the time with my 4 lap dogs. This way I can go where my husband is for a while, when he's in Texas, or go to the town where my daughters and grandkids live (Odessa, Texas) for awhile or go to visit my sister (Dallas, Texas) maybe spend a couple of months at a lake during summer months. I'm used to being by myself and I'm not really a scared kind of person, however I am wondering if most RV parks are safe? How hard is it to learn how to drive an RV or park an RV or set it up once parked? Are most parks pet friendly? Where do you go to learn how to set up and maintenance your RV? Dumping and hooking up and boondocking and black hose grey hose?? It's all foreign to me..so where do I learn. Thanks for any information. Oh I am located in Kerrville, Texas..45 minutes from San Antonio.
As far as learning how to operate your RV the dealer that you purchase your Rv from should go over those details with you at the time of purchase. At that time is a great time to ask questions as each type of Rv have some differences from each other. But there are all types of Rv's on this site and willing to answer your questions.
So once again, Welcome!
Welcome, Randa.
You will find the RV Dreams forums participants to be very friendly and helpful, and with all the knowledge that they have, many quiestions that you may have can be answered here. So, with that in mind, feel free to ask your questions.
There are online resources that are helpful with regards to finding RV parks that are pet friendly. Since I am having a mental block as to the internet URL names, I'll let others provide that information.
As far as driving either a class A or C is concerned, there are RV driving schools, but that may be something that you have to look for in the area where you live. It might even be that a dealership offers an abbreviated course of instruction that would help to get started. There are other options that would be beneficial once you have the basic knowledge, one of which is to find a large, empty parking lot (such as a large mega-church) where one can go to practice by putting out something in the way of traffic cones to practice backing into or turning around.
You will also want to consider having a Toad (that is a towed vechicle behind the RV) with which you can use to travel around cities without having to drive your RV everywhere. If you were to go with a small class C, that might not be so necessary, but if you choose larger units, it becomes more important. Look into the possibility of using your present vehicle for that purpose by checking to see if it can be towed "four-down," which means that it does not need a trailer or tow dolly for that purpose.
Good luck with your research and planning. And, we're glad to have you as part of the "family."
Terry
Mimi (Randa),
There are many sources for "how to's" in RVing. Just Google them. Here is one. RVGeeks uploads frequent "how to's" to YouTube. Watch the one below and then you can search YouTube for other RV "how to's" and there will be more there by RVGeeks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBIWlgk2Yak
Don
-- Edited by DebandDon on Saturday 5th of January 2013 10:04:44 AM
Edit by moderator: Activated link. Terry
-- Edited by DebandDon on Saturday 5th of January 2013 10:05:23 AM
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Saturday 5th of January 2013 11:51:11 AM
One lady we met had a very similiar story to yours. She was from Michigan and her husband does not like to camp, so she camps all alone for about 4 months a year, each winter.
As an afterthought, I think there are a few RV dealers in New Braunfels, which it not too far from you. There is a lady that we know by the name of Melinda King, and I think she works at one called Evergreen RV (or something like that.) If you happen to be over that way in your looking and researching, she is a very honest individual that we met while we were researching for ours. In fact, she was a factory rep for DRV Suites, which is the brand we bought. While they might not have what you are looking for, Melinda is very knowledgeable about RV's and a lot of topics related to them.
Terry