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Good point. I have already used google earth to look at a few Walmarts that allow dry camping overnight and a couple of them would be a little challenging to get into with my combination even though they were less than a mile off the interstate.

Thanks, we have stayed at Deer Run several times over the years. It is an excellent CG but we never checked their longer term rates. If I recall weren't their pull thru sites only about 70' long?

We previously did a 2.5 year stretch of full timing in our 39' fiver. I had newly retired for the second time and even though we wintered for 3 or 4 months in Florida we pretty much stayed in vacation mode. In other words, we were putting around 20,000 miles on a year running all over the U.S. trying to see all the highlights as quickly as possible. We never really tried dry camping nor did we consider weekly or monthly rates at campgrounds. We simply planned where we wanted to go next and booked the CGs. Some were $30 a night and some were as much as $70 a night. Annually we probably were spending $12,000 or more. This time around we have a RV that obviously can handle short dry camping periods without any modifications. Currently we are staying put in SW Florida. I am beginning to map out our first several months of desired travels which will begin in April sometime. I have a spot set up for an extended stay in central Illinois to allow us to visit family and friends there. It is only $330 a month including utilities. Other than that I am using RVParky app to find some different dry camping spots. We also have the names/numbers of a couple CGs we will be calling in Alabama that may offer cheap monthly rates. Right now my procedure for searching is to find a possible site, google earth it to see exactly what it looks like, check crimereports.com to see what goes on there, and then if it is a privately owned CG call and get all the information. My question is to other full timing folks with larger coaches and/or longer toads, how do you seek out your CGs? Do you have other publications/apps that get you started? What are some of the deals you find when booking for a week or a month instead of daily? After a while do you just keep using some of the same CGs for extended stays and use your toad for sightseeing from there? My goal is to cut our annual camping fees down to under $9,000 or so.

Mike, I agree with everything you said. Having just joined a few months ago I guess I wasn't as vested so the way the vote turned out didn't "upset" me, it just made me take another hard look at the value and importance for us to continue membership in FMCA. As a full timing retired couple the different local clubs didn't really peak our interest. It was more about belonging to a motor coach only organization that would tailor their benefit/discount programs toward us, and not just RVers in general. We hoped any FMCA publication would be more interesting to what type of RVing we are doing, and not just RVing in general. We live in a world of constant change, 99% of which is driven by dollars. It seems to me that FMCA is no different and has went from a special RV group that had a lot to offer a select group, to just another large catch-all camping group that will have a little something for everyone. In the next few months I think many motor coach members will be trying to determine if that "little something" that FMCA will be offering in the future will be worth the dues.

When we were full time before (2013-2014) we had the MiFi, two I-phones, and I-pad, and a couple laptops. Verizon did not have an "unlimited" plan back then and we would use around 12 to 16 gigs easily. When we were in the RV everything went through the MiFi, including our printer. If we were out and about our phones could still use data from the plan, just not through the MiFi, which stayed in the RV. I guess this is just another way of stating what has already been said?

Going good Carl, thanks for asking. Still re-fitting trailer and getting it ready. Have all the cabinets in and will be working on installing a couple windows in it after the holidays. The coach hasn't had any issues to speak of. We have scheduled our first short road trip for next week, just staying in Florida. I'm fortunate that I'm in this CG, there are a couple Ventana owners here and a couple more will be checking in after January 1. I'm sucking all the information I can out of them!

Good point Carl. I was still pondering on deciding if I should even sign up for any type of roadside assistance when Good Sams sent me a free 1 year deal. Not sure why they did that but now I have them for a year. My car insurance has it for about $18 a year, my Harley has it for less than that. The Mini Cooper automatically came with it. I've got so much roadside assistance I can't keep it straight.

I found this formula on another forum and have been using it to wash my RVs, cars, and Harley for a year now. It works great and maintains the wax that is already present. Both of these ingredients are sold at Walmart: McGuires Gold Car Wash and Turtle Ice Car Wash (mix 50/50). Not sure why is works to good, but I only wax once a year now and all of our stuff sits in the sun 365 days a year.

Richard, this is exactly where we are at. I will give it another few months but I doubt that the membership benefits will not exceed the dues for us. As full timers belonging to GS and Passport are no brainers because you get your dues back in the first month with discounts. About the only discount I am possibly looking at taking advantage of with FMCA is the tire purchasing program, and that won't be for another 3 or 4 years. As new DP owners we will wait and see if the FMCA contributes to any of our other needs or if we find the publications interesting/informative.

This usually turns into one of those "Chevy is better than Ford" debates. We are "planners" when it comes to running around the U.S.A. in a large RV. IMHO there are some pretty good free I-phone apps that can be helpful when you are sitting around planning a destination or looking up some campgrounds or boondocking sites. But when using these apps just keep it in mind that they probably are not considering your height, length, and weight. We use a Trucker's Atlas (available from most Truck Stops or on-line). I can consult it for the next days route to make sure there are no trouble spots for a rig my size. Our actual navigation is currently by using a Truck/RV GPS plus the one that came with our Newmar coach. We like to have one dedicated for the passenger and one just for the driver with the driver's volumn turned off. A Truck/RV GPS generally has a larger screen. You can enter your RV's specifics, like height, weight, length, etc., and it will route you where you are legal. There are a few really good brands on the market and they have gotten pretty cheap.

"I'm hoping to get the coach home to my garage, where I have control over the repairs." I'm just going to toss out a guess, based on an estimate I had years ago on having my 40' boat hauled across country. If hauling that coach 1,000 miles or more is going to cost $5,000 to $8,000 are you sure it is worth it? Are you going to save all of that by having it in your garage for repairs vs having it repaired where it is? What is the issue with it? Are you going to fix it yourself?

It wasn't me on I-40 having a K-9 run through my coach. I think that was Carl. Based on my LEO experience though there could be circumstances where a K-9 could be ran inside a RV on a roadside check point. For example, if the K-9 was ran around the outside of the RV for a "free air sniff" and detected the odor of narcotics, then they may elect to put the dog inside without a warrant. Legally when it comes to search and seizure, an RV is a slippery animal. When you are driving and mobile on the highways it is more or less considered a vehicle. Once you park it off the road for the evening and start fixing a drink it is considered your "home". There are many circumstances where an officer could search a vehicle without a warrant but there are not many circumstances where an officer could search your home without a warrant. Maybe Carl will jump in here and tell us more about his adventure when the K-9 assaulted his RV.

Guess I could have tried a kick, he was so big and drunk I probably would have just broke my foot though. Since it was the middle of the night and there were no other humans around for 20 miles I just stepped back and verbally told him what was about to happen. He must have believed me because he cuffed himself after I tossed the cuffs over.

Come on Carl.....I've always trusted my Uncle Sam.....he let me enlist when I was just 17 years old and promised me I would never leave the U.S. Five months later I started to think he may have lied when I found myself frozen in Germany, then 9 months later when I was sunburn in a shithole further away I suspected he wasn't on the up and up after all. But in all fairness he did let me finish in the middle of the scrub in New Mexico!

I am going to Port Charlotte RV after the holidays and ask them about screen tire covers. I have heard they will custom fabricate them for DP coaches. I would love to have a set made using magnets instead of snaps. Let us know how your project goes!

To each his own, but I wouldn't bend down to wipe 303 on a tire that looked like that let alone drive the coach they were on! That is like driving your rig with the fuel gauge on empty just to see how far it will actually keep going. Not safe IMHO. Back in the day if I stopped a commercial vehicle with steer axle tires like that I would take the vehicle out of service and it would not move until the tires were replaced. But like I said, to each his own, maybe the pic makes it look worse than it is.

Just a word about pepper spray, or any type of defensive spray. Had a rather large drunk individual refuse to cooperate when I told him he was under arrest for DUI. I am 6'1" and he probably went 6'6" and 300 pounds. I almost emptied my pepper spray canister onto his face and head and he just laughed at me! Needless to say it doesn't work on everyone.

Lee, since you initially posted I have taken delivery of my coach and purchased my car hauler (enclosed) to tow my Harley Trike and Mini. Haven't ran across the scales yet but just going by the listed manufacturers weight I will probably see my loaded trailer come in about 8,000 pounds. That is adding up all the listed weights of vehicles and the trailer plus about 300 for extra gear. Not sure how much your car will weigh or if you are thinking a regular 24' car hauler, but you should easily be able to stay below 10,000 pounds. I'm confident my 400hp will handle all of this and more just fine.

Many different view points on having firearms in our coaches and/or the need for them in the first place. Everyone has their own feelings based on life experiences and view points. I basically went from military service and VN to a career in law enforcement. Unfortunately I have seen first hand how cruel people in our "peaceful land" can be to each other. The chances of becoming the victim of a violent crime while traveling around the country in a motorhome is probably 10% or less. If you are unarmed and counting on dialing 911 to save yourself or your spouse then all I can say is good luck to you because you will suffer greatly. If you are aware that there are cruel individuals all over this country that will slit your throat for enough money to purchase a gram of crack cocaine, and you stay vigilant and maintain a firearm for self defense, then there is probably less than a 1% chance you will be the victim of a violent crime. My beliefs are not based on what I have seen on television, they are not based on any political agenda or affiliation, they are based on what I have watched happen to good honest citizens by the thousands of scum bags throughout this country. If putting your interior step cover in place at night doesn't work for you, then you may consider a night chain. I have a hand rail just inside the door on my 4369 floorplan. I simply have a length of small heavy gold tone chain that goes from it to around the door handle. I'm sure someone strong enough could break it with enough tries or force, but in the meantime it should wake everyone in the coach up.

I carry 24/7. In addition there is still a weapon available for my DW when I'm not around. I have never really felt threatened while traveling. For me it is more out of habit. After 34 years a LEO it is just second nature. I am probably more serious about it the last few years because of all the mass shootings all over our nation. I certainly would not want to be close to a horrible situation like that and not be able to help innocent people by hopefully putting a well placed bullet into the head of the shooting scumbag. I like a small 5 shot revolver for everyday carry, loaded with self defense loads. The other handgun is a 9mm Smith auto with a much larger capacity. I have a sawed off 12 gauge loaded with #4 but it would have to be a pretty drastic situation before I would ever dig that thing out. Now that I'm full timing I should probably just get rid of it altogether.

Carl, I can't begin to describe my excitement. There is no buyers remorse, or at least not yet. Delivery day was a long one. The walk around demo took every bit of 2 hours. I asked a lot of questions and Cindy took video of their presentation of some of the stuff. Since we had moved onto our other coach it also took us a couple hours to transfer stuff over. Anyway, when we left the dealership we were pretty beat up and just wanted to get back to the CG and set up, which was only one exit away. When I got to my site I had to do a little back and forth so I was positioned just right with my new enclosed trailer. Anyway, while backing up and hearing the "beep beep" of the backup alarm plus air being released from the brakes.......it was a feeling hard to describe.......almost like getting your first big bicycle when you were a little kid, or when you hit your teens and Sally Rotten Crotch agreed to go out with you......it was just pure EXCITEMENT! After living in it for over a week and traveling in it for just under 5 miles......it is great! Before anyone runs out and deals on one based on my vast experience they probably should consult someone who has actually owned a Ventana and traveled in one for a little longer than me. All joking aside, I really love the coach and I'm thinking it will be a good one for us to full time in.

It will be interesting to see if this new Sprint plan roll out was any better coordinated and organized than the Verizon one.

Thanks for taking the time to respond. Just before I pulled the trigger on one of the UPS Stores in Cape Coral we decided to go another direction. A good family friend had purchased a condo and moved to our area of SW Florida last year. She is there all year and offered to let us use her address. When we were full time previously we did the same thing, except we used our oldest son's address in Illinois. We have everything changed over (DL, registrations, etc.) and the mail is being forwarded to her residence. It works out very well because we were already a key holder for her place and she was one for ours. When we travel we will stay in touch with her and she can forward us our mail. We plan on leaving her the large soft envelopes she can stuff with our mail for forwarding. I will keep in mind your advise though. If something happens and we have to go another route someday I certainly will look at Escapees.

Just checked the old paperwork for the Cornerstone extended warranty on my traded coach. It was a pretty good deal at 5 years for just over $1,700 that included the engine/tranny plus coach. Since we only had it for just about 1.5 years there should be well over $1,000 coming back from it. So I guess another way to look at it is having the protection on my old coach cost me around $20 some dollars a month. Cornerstone (USA Travel Care) can be pretty reasonable if the dealer doesn't try to make 100% to 150% off the deal.

When it was all said and done I bought another Cornerstone extended warranty. It was a slightly different program than with my used gas coach. I didn't want extra coverage to duplicate the engine to 60,000 miles but wanted more coverage after the Newmar warranty ran out. So I got the Cornerstone one that excludes the diesel but covers most of the rest of the coach. It was barely over $3,000 for 5 years, which in reality is only 4 years because of the Newmar warranty. I guess I'm willing to basically buy $750 worth of insurance a year against having to replace an air conditioner, residential frig, Oasis, or any number of coach items. It is a gamble one way or another.