rv – Roving Dutchmen

Xscapers Bash 2022

Leave a Comment / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2022-01-18 2022-01-18

We left Yuma and made it up to Lake Havasu where we stayed at the Sara Park Rodeo Grounds to attend the Xscapers Annual Bash. We had an early arrival ticket so that Eric could attend the “RVers Boot Camp Express” to learn everything there is to know about RV’s in one day.

We were one of the first to arrive, but in the next 2 days the place filled up with about 400 full time RV’ers ready to party! We were set up in the family section and met many new friends. Tyler had a blast playing with all the kids and joining in on all the activities, and Aidan really found the artist within him.

The bash was also an opportunity to have mail delivered, and Nadine decided to pick it up with the boys while Eric was in class. Big mistake, Aidan almost got buried! Luckily there were other families there to help and two teenagers were instructed to help with the heavy lifting.

A ferris wheel was being erected and Tyler was adament to be the first one on it. It only took sneaking out of the opening ceremony to make that happen. Nadine joined him, and they had some amazing views as they spun around while watching the sun set behind the mountains.

Tyler and Aidan also proved to be super party people. Ty found an awesome green hat and quickly made many friends. Aidan has discovered music, and just can’t sit still when the band starts playing, he runs right on to the stage and starts shaking his little hips.

What else… there was a bouncy house, a bucking unicorn that Tyler stayed on for almost a minute, a bit of karaoke, video games, face painting, and climbing up the giant dirt pile.

The first thing boondocking taught us, is that the dealer installed battery will not get you through the night, and worse still it will not run the coffee machine in the morning. Eric’s bootcamp knowledge was going to be put to the test! We had bought a great lithium battery, but unfortunately after several attempts of charging it we found that is was a dud. A second battery was waiting for us 3 hours away at Eric’s parents, so after the kids went to sleep Eric left to go pick it up and return the next morning. He got everything installed, and even installed a new converter so that we can actually get a full charge. Now we can really boondock! He also installed our side cameras, and had a bit of a scary moment when he had to drill in to the side cap. He is becoming quite the handy man, I think maybe he’ll be signing up to become a certified RV technician before the year is up.

After such a busy week, at least we found a great place to relax. We are parked right at the beach of Lake Havasu, with a great big sand box right at our feet. Driving up, Tyler asked: “Do we have our sand toys?”.

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!

Merry Christmas!

Leave a Comment / Family, Story / By rovingdutchmen / 2021-12-27 2021-12-27

Merry Christmas everyone! We had a lovely Christmas, both at our new home in the RV, and at my sister’s house with the rest of Eric’s family.

With a cold weather front closing in, we’re adjusting our travels slightly, heading south towards Winterhaven California, rather than Camp Verde Arizona, but we’re still planning for the Xscapers Annual Bash in Lake Havasu in just under two week’s time!

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.