momentum – Roving Dutchmen

Exploring California

Leave a Comment / Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2022-07-20 2022-07-20

We are horrible at updating our blog posts, but I do seem try to post to instagram more frequently, so if you haven’t yet follow there for more frequent updates on our adventures!

Some of you may remember Yogi Bear, and it seemed like a fun theme park to take the kids. What we did not realize was that neither of them had ever watched the show, so to prep them we had them watch two episodes. Anyways, when Yogi Bear came out we thought they would want to meet him, instead they both ran really fast the other way! Tyler finally felt a little better when we answered his question: “Is there a human in there?”. This kid has never seen these dressed up stuffies, but he immediately realized there had to be a person inside, so proud of my little man!

Lawson’s Landing was a tip from my cousin, it’s a no frills campground just north of San Francisco. We got to park our rig right on the sea wall, with basically our patio hanging over the water. How awesome is that! We went on a walk along the beach and a sea lion followed us all the way, calling out to the kids and showing off. Went on a little hike in Samuel P Taylor State Park and got immersed in some redwoods. But mainly we sat on the beach and did some digging, driving monster trucks and watch other people dig for clams. We had never seen any clam digging before, but it was not going to be the last time.

Thousand Trails, the time share for RV’ers. When we bought our rig we received a year included. In Arizona in winter most of the parks are 55+ and we just never bothered, but we suddenly noticed there were a few parks on the map. Online never worked, so I finally called and booked us a week at Russian River. There is no nightly cost, this is payed as a yearly membership, so for us this basically means free camping with (partial) hookups! It’s a wonderful little campground, with some tight corners, and I am super proud of Eric for getting us into our spot. That was a tight fit.

There was a nice little river where the kids got to float and toss rocks. We also got to see the wonder that is Old Faithful Geyser of California, one of only three geysers in the world coined with the name, ”Old Faithful.” The kids had a lot of fun feeding the goats, and Tyler learned a lot about earthquakes and tsunami’s.

Then Tyler had the request to go to an aquarium. Never one to deny requests that don’t need a screen, we pulled out our phones and looked for the nearest aquarium –> Aquarium of the Bay at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco! How were we ever going to get our dually truck into those narrow streets and find a parking spot. A little searching found plenty of parking on the other side of the bay, in Sausalito, and then we even got to have a ferry ride into the city, right past Alcatraz and the Bay bridge.

I wanted to be back at Elk Grove for the Sacramento County Fair to see my cousins kids show their animals, so back to Tudesko Construction. But planning is not my best skill unfortunately, so we got there on the weekend after, sorry guys! We did get to explore the Sacramento County Fair, and Ty got to go on a couple of rides with his cousins, and we got to see a demolition derby!

Last but not least before heading up into Oregon, we stayed at Lakeshore Inn & RV in Lake Shasta. We ended up in a nice spot next to the pool with a view over the valley. The lake was so low, it really made an impact, realizing the lack of water and the impact that is having on the landscape, and further down on agriculture.

We came here to visit Lake Shasta Caverns, we took a boat trip across the lake and then had a wonderful tour inside the cave. We saw some great formations and even spotted a few bats.

Adding a washer/dryer

1 Comment / Family / By rovingdutchmen / 2022-05-23 2022-05-23

We finally did it. We added a Splendide washer and dryer in the front bedroom closet. Our rig comes with washer dryer prep so you would assume you just slide them in and hook them up. Unfortunately that is not the case.

The first issue Eric encountered was that the floor in the front closet was not level. It was not even made out of one piece! A piece of plywood did the trick and a stable base was created.

Up next was the scariest part, in order to install a vented dryer you need to drill a 10 cm hole through the side. And no, you do not do this where the arrow points, if only it was this easy. Instead, you remove the back wall, the insulation and then try to measure and figure out where you will end up on the outside so you can put tape there and not cause a whole lot of splintering. I wasn’t there, so I can’t really tell you how this part went, but it looked great finished.

With the vent in place and the floor reinforced we Eric was able to install a tray that should in theory contain any leaks. He also installed the duct for the dryer, and we dangled it on the ceiling for the time being.

And then the moment of truth, bringing in the washer. We removed the door to the front bedroom and the door to the closet and the handle bar in the hallway and drove the washer up the ramp through the garage and living room and into the bedroom. It took a bit of manoeuvring, but in the end she slid right in.

The dryer is a lot lighter, so getting it to the bedroom was a breeze. But installing the duct to the back while it was in the closet not so much. I was contemplating just taking out the side wall. But in the end we succeeded, and we are now the proud owners of our own washer and dryer!!

Spring Cleaning? No, Upgrades!

Leave a Comment / Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2022-04-12 2022-04-12

…aka, “Boulder” National Park, according to Tyler.

We’ve been radio-silent for a little while now, but we’ve been super busy! In a bit of a roundabout trip, we were down in Tucson for the Xscapers convergence, and then we headed to Joshua Tree National Park for a week of boondocking with friends we met back in Switzerland, and then we had to go pick up our solar system components from Flagstaff!

Once we picked up the components, we raced 800 miles up to Elk Grove, California, where we set up shop at a family ranch, our first “moochdocking” experience. We came with a laundry-list of projects to complete:

Solar panel installation
Inverter + charger upgrade
Battery capacity expansion
Washer/dryer installation
Starlink setup

…and that’s just the big ticket items. We’ll post more details on each project in the days to come!

A month of travel and adventure

Leave a Comment / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2022-03-03 2022-03-03

So much has happened since we left Buckeye. We spent a wonderful week with the Ruprecht family first at Shadow Ridge RV resort and then exploring BLM land in Ajo, AZ. Camping is more fun with friends! The best moment for me came when Tyler asked Eric for his helmet, and then looked on in amazement when Tyler rode off, pedalling on his bike. I had not realised Eric had not seen him ride before.

We continued boondocking in Marana near Tucson. We met with a few other families we met through Fulltime Families, and had some nice evenings around the campgrounds hearing stories from much more experienced nomads. We even got our knives sharpened by a very entrepreneurial 14 year old girl, “Dull is Dangerous” is her motto. She is going places!

Then off to Buckskin Mountain State Park along the Colorado River. After a lot of desert, the kids had some good times playing in the river. But best of all was meeting up with my friend Annie. I knew Annie back in Amsterdam in my late teens. It was the strangest thing to realize it had been almost 20 years since I last saw her. She visited with her 2 dogs and we were able to rig up an ez-up tent from our back patio to create another room.

From Buckskin we returned to the SARA Park Rodeo grounds at Lake Havasu for the Escapees Winter Blast Hangout. This promised to be a lot of fun, with firework shows almost every night. We found that the best show was actually on Sunday, when they were determined to let off all their fireworks in one grand display, so that they could avoid the pit of despair that awaited all unused fireworks at the end of the show.

Weather had been beautiful and we felt super fortunate to snag a few nights at Lake Havasu State Park right at the lake. Unfortunately winds picked up again and temperatures dropped, so the peaceful time at the beach was more reminiscent of a stroll along the beach at Scheveningen.

Then off to Quartzsite. This place is a boondockers paradise in winter, with a lot of long term options. Most places allow you to stay max 14 days, but here you can buy a permit for the whole winter season, and many people take advantage of this. We gathered here for a Grand Design rally. It was somewhat surrealistic to see all these same luxury RV’s parked together in the middle of the desert. We met some very nice people, and were amazed by the solar setup done by Joshua of Rooted Off Grid, they have solar panels on slide-out racks, which look like wings on their modified-3-axle Solitude 390RK, which gives them 6kWh of power, allowing them to run their RV like it has full electric hookups.

After Quartzsite, we had a few days to kill before heading to the Xscapers Convergence in Tucson. I had heard many good things about Lake Mittry near Yuma and wanted to check it out. And though it is pretty amazing, it just was not for us. The water was unreachable for the kids and we encountered plenty of mosquitos. Now if you have kayaks or want to spend your time fishing from one of the many jetties jutting out into the lake, this would be the place to go. Anyhow, I decided it was time for full hookups before our next 8 day stretch boondocking, so we booked at a random RV park half way. We are at Sonoran RV Park in Gila Bend, there is not much here, but the park is super nice. We drove in and a friendly gentleman led us right to our spot. The kids and I got ready for the 90 degree pool giving Eric time to set up our site. After spending a few weeks in the desert a large body of water is such an amazing thing. Tyler took a minute, but with some help from a friendly surrogate grandmother quickly found his confidence again swimming around. Aidan was not really sure what to do with so much water, but after almost an hour of clinging to me found that the top step was awesome to lay on and semi crawl and scoot back and forth. By the end of our pool visit he was jumping into my arms from the side.

On the project side of things, we’ve expanded our battery capacity to 12v 600Ah, giving us ample power for longer boondocking stays, though we still need to expand our solar array to match it. We also made wooden slats for our bed, which are a lot prettier than the plywood we used before!

Lake Havasu Balloon Festival and Skyline Regional Park

2 Comments / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2022-02-02 2022-02-02

We had bought tickets for the Lake Havasu Balloon Festival while we were still in Switzerland. It sounded like it would be a lot of fun, it was in the area we wanted to be in, and it would give us a chance to practise some more dry camping. We just needed to fill one night between leaving the bash and our reservation at Lake Havasu State Park. Driving through Quartzsite, and up into Havasu we had seen a lot of camping on BLM land. BLM stands for Bureau of Land Management, they manage a lot of land in the United States, and often it is allowed to camp free of charge for a certain period of time. We drove out of the Rodeo grounds and turned left, not sure where we were heading. About 15 minutes on we came to a left turn that looked promising. We got off the road and found ourselves a nice camping spot.

The kids went to bed and Eric turned in early. I grabbed my hammock chair and blanket and sat out on the back patio. There were many other campers around us, but all a nice distance away. I could hear some chimes ringing and saw some fires in the distance, but mostly it was just me and by book and a drink, and a giant full moon.

The next day we had breakfast, pulled in the slides and hitched up. I was determined to be one of the first ones in so we could snag a nice spot right on the beach. We drove in at 9 AM, and they told us we could pick just about any spot we wanted. The kids loved our new back yard and we spent a lot of time just exploring.

We did have some scary nights with heavy winds. The slide toppers that protect our slides were slapping in the wind making it all sound a lot worse. The biggest gusts even made the RV shake, and although you know you are on solid ground and nothing is going to happen, you sleep with one eye open.

We got to witness one mass balloon ascension, and it was magical. It was early in the morning and we saw our first balloon through the window. We quickly walked out and towards the shore line, and could see the balloons taking off one at a time filling the sky. Aidan and Tyler were mesmerised, until the sand was more interesting again.

The wind however meant that the balloons could not take off on any of the subsequent days. We visited the festival grounds and Tyler had a lot of fun at the carnival going on the various rides. Aidan was a little jealous he wasn’t allowed yet, and was not accepting our explanation that he was just too short. He will stand on his toes trying to prove you wrong.

Parking on pavement also meant we finally got to put on our SnapPads. They are big rubber covers that go onto our jacks and give us much better grip when we are parked. All it took was a good cleaning, a spray of FlexSeal (spray-on liquid rubber) and then very carefully lowering the jacks onto the pads. Much easier to do when the kids are locked into their car seats.

Before leaving Lake Havasu we also got to pick up our bed frame. We had wanted to change our bed to sleep along the length of our RV so that we didn’t have to crawl over each other to get in and out, and we wanted it mounted on the lower braces (it’s technical, but it just makes it easier to move). Neither of us are welders, so we had to find someone to build the frame for us. Now logistics while traveling are a thing to get used to; you can’t start calling ones you’ve settled into town, by the time they can help you, you are three stops further. This time though we got lucky, we were around long enough and started calling early. We found a great group of welders, Mansell Welding, and they were able to take on our project. I sent them a sketch of what I wanted and somehow they managed to turn it into the real deal. We pulled the RV up to their shop and it fit like a glove. We still need to do the finishing touches, like putting in some nice boards and night stands, but it is functional and super awesome!

Our next stop was Skyline Regional Park in Buckeye, close to Phoenix. We needed to be back in Phoenix for me to finally get my Arizona drivers license. I had passed the written test but was anxious about doing the driving test. Also it turns out 3 point turns, really one of the only requirements for getting your license here, are impossible in a long bed crew cab dually (within their cones). So to make things easier, we hired a driving school and I am now a fully licensed driver and am actually allowed to tow our 45 foot fifth wheel. I know I will need to at one point, but for now I am just getting used to driving a giant truck!

And on the topic of driving, it was at Skyline that Tyler decided he was ready to get on his bike and peddle. We got his bike out, and for the next 45 minutes or so he kept at it. My little boy can ride a bike now! Pretty amazing. Go Tyler!!!

Skyline was also where Eric got to use his tools extensively for the first time. I had picked up a bunkbed for the boys, but it was 9 inches too long to fit into the slide and needed to be shortened. Eric did an absolutely amazing job, shortening all the pieces and drilling all the holes so we could reinstall the hardware. It all fit together perfectly and the boys have a great new bed to sleep in and loads of floor space to play on.

Doing these kind of renovations while you are actually living in your rig can be somewhat stressful and it needs a lot of planning. But I love it when a plan comes together!

Next up camping with full hookups in Ajo, AZ and meeting up with a wonderful family we met at the Bash.

Happy New Year!

4 Comments / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2022-01-03 2022-01-03

We’ve been escaping the cold down in Winterhaven, California this week, which is next to Yuma, Arizona. So technically, we crossed our first state line!

Pilot Knob RV Resort, our refuge from the cold

We had our first small parking mishap. A very rusty water spigot suffered, but we were able to shut it off immediately. A good lesson in communication, and thankfully not an expensive one!

We made one major upgrade this week: our mattress! We went with a Purple Mattress Queen, and it’s a great combination of support and comfort, while not being too heavy (110lbs) nor too tall (9″), both of which are important for using it on our Happijac Bed Lift system. We’re still on the lookout for a welder to produce a custom aluminum frame, which will let us turn the bed 90 degrees, and gain some space, but we’re sleeping much better already!

Putting the kids in prison, Yuma Territorial Historic Prison

We will be heading to the Xscapers Annual Bash next week, where we’ll be “boondocking” for about 10 days. That means we’ll be surviving self-contained: no water, sewer or power hookups; we’ll rely on our own battery/solar, generator, and holding tanks. It’s a bit intimidating, having that as our first boondocking, but at least there will be plenty of support around!

First Travel Day

1 Comment / Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2021-12-23 2021-12-23

Last week was our first “Travel Day”. That’s the common term used for days when you pack up your campsite and RV, and haul it down the road to the next location. Now, that may not sound like much, but you’re essentially packing your house like it were luggage, and then subjecting it to a series of small earthquakes for a few hours.

We stressed about it for a couple of days, but the day arrived! All the water and sewer work, which takes a fair amount of waiting time, we managed to do the afternoon before. Dirty jobs, done dirt cheap, and all that.

Everything went without a hitch. No, wait, there was definitely a hitch involved. But smoothly! We stopped amongst the truly Big Rigs for a pitstop about halfway through our 3h20m drive, and then backed in to our new spot in one good “swoop”.

Our site, at the Desert Tortoise Campground at Lake Pleasant, Arizona, is absolutely gorgeous. It has only two downsides: no sewer hookups, and it’s very un-level. Lack of sewer hookups only means we’re reliant on our own onboard holding takes, and so need to be a bit more conservative (since we’re here for 2 weeks). The un-level site however meant that things inside are a bit trickier. So, Aidan and I went shopping! In the meantime, Nadine and Tyler started working on the boy’s room: step 1, rip out the old bed!

We’re here through the holidays, slowly getting the hang of everything, still futzing with the stereo and other random projects, and meeting some very friendly neighbors. We even popped back down to Avondale for a family visit, and saw some very fancy Christmas boats!

Until next time, Merry Christmas!

Welcome, Home!

4 Comments / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2021-12-14 2021-12-15

We got it! Our 2022 Grand Design Momentum 397TH was delivered to us on Friday morning.

A big thanks to Brian from Roadrunner RV Inspections, and RV Driving School, who helped us inspect our RV before accepting delivery, and then teaching Eric how to drive the beast! Eric drove the RV right off the delivery lot and into the sales parking lot, before we even signed for it! His first time towing anything at all. Then off to driving lessons, and then to our first camping spot at the KOA in Tucson, Arizona. We’d been staying at that KOA for a week in a cabin, but now it was time to move in to our RV!

We’ve been very busy sorting through everything, and figuring out where things should go, and more importantly, how this thing works! Who knew how much time we’d spend thinking about water and sewage! Nadine’s been doing a fantastic job making it feel like home, too. Pancakes & Christmas lights, amongst other touches, go a long way!

There have been a few minor build issues we’re dealing with, but on the whole, nothing major. The stereo hisses, for example, but more annoyingly, the Lippert OneControl system, which controls our whole rig, and you should be able to access on your phone, isn’t working. We’ve made progress on both items, especially with some great support from Grand Design’s Rockford Fosgate technician on the stereo issue, who walked Eric through a full diagnostic over the phone! We’ve also been busy installing extra bells and whistles: a backup camera, and a tire pressure & temperature sensor system.

That aside, we’re very happy with our new home! It’s gorgeous, spacious, and I hope will treat us well (so long as we treat it well!). The kids have been loving the back patio, and so have the parents: enclosed play space! Tyler’s been making friends with the neighbors, and really asking about everything; endearing, but exhausting!

Our first “Travel Day” is coming…!

Full-Time Waiting

Leave a Comment / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2021-12-03 2021-12-03

We got our first taste of full-time RVing, at the Full-Time Families Hangout in the White Tank Regional Park. There were about 18 families “boon-docking” at the group camping area there, which means they were running without “shore” power nor water and sewage. Instead, they relied on batteries, solar, or generators for power. Tyler and Aidan were amongst the youngest participants, but had a blast… Especially when they hired a bouncy castle!

We didn’t have our own RV yet, so we stayed at a nearby farm we found on Airbnb. This turned out to be a great location for us as well, as the host family had a son well-matched to Tyler, who taught him how to handle 1-week-old piglets, and how to properly climb a treehouse. And how to keep the adults out, by means of a trap door. In any case, a great time had by all, and we met some amazing full-time families whom we hope to meet again soon on the road!

The boys admiring the farm animals. That’s Kevin Bacon in the middle.

We’re now waiting impatiently for our rig to arrive in Tucson, Arizona. We’re hopeful that it will arrive this week, though it will still be next week or so until we could possibly drive it off the lot. But it’s so close!

Buying a Rig

Leave a Comment / Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2021-07-12 2021-07-12

Step 1 of moving into an RV full-time? Buy an RV. We toured quite a few models during our last US road trip, mainly focusing on 5th wheel bunkhouse and toy haulers.

The main reason for looking at 5th wheels was for safety during travel. We have two little ones, and it seems very few motorhomes (Class A/B/C) are well-equipped for safely holding a car seat in the direction of travel, secured to the frame. With a 5th wheel, the tow vehicle has standard auto safety features, so car seats are no problem.

A second reason for a 5th wheel is that we then have a separate vehicle for moving around when camped, without the RV part. Having that as a single vehicle for both purposes makes things simpler, especially when it comes to making it comfortable for the children.

A third reason is space: 5th wheel RVs have a ton of it! Eric is relatively tall at 194cm (6’4”), and most 5th wheels have tall ceilings that avoid the closed-in feeling, especially in the master bedroom. And the living room ceiling is easily in excess of 2.4m, generally taller than most ceilings in Switzerland. And let’s not forget that 18cu-ft refrigerator! The size of our refrigerator in Switzerland? 10cu-ft. That’s standard.

So it came down to bunkhouse models versus toy-hauler models. The bunkhouses are cute, but we liked the versatility of the toy-hauler garage for being able to use it for a bunkhouse, office and/or playroom. The rear patio options are icing on the cake!

The final point that sold us on a toy-hauler was carrying capacity. So many of the RVs being sold barely have carrying capacity for actual full-time living for a family of four. The toy-haulers, especially 3-axle variants, have in excess of 3,000lbs of carrying capacity. That’ll do, without having to make too many compromises.

So, we ended up choosing the 2022 Grand Design Momentum 397TH, a 43-foot triple-axle 5th-wheel toy-hauler with a 13-foot garage and a raised rear patio option. It has enough space for the four of us to live comfortably, and it looks like a luxury hotel room on wheels!

It’s on order, and we hope to receive it by the end of the year. Next up: a tow vehicle.