Hi Everyone. Well, after 15 years the RV-Dreams Community Forum is coming to an end. Since it began in August 2005, we've had 58 Million page views, 124,000 posts, and we've spent about $15,000 to keep this valuable resource for RVers free and open. But since we are now off the road and have settled down for the next chapter of our lives, we are taking the Forum down effective June 30, 2021. It has been a tough decision, but it is now time.
We want to thank all of our members for their participation and input over the years, and we want to especially thank those that have acted as Moderators for us during our amazing journey living and traveling in our RV and growing the RV-Dreams Family. We will be forever proud to have been founders of this Forum and to have been supported by such a wonderful community. Thank you all!!
My name is Jim and we have been boondocking up in the Rockies for a few decades now. A few years back we picked up a 25 ft bunk house that I am slowly converting to dry use. We usually go out a week or two at a time so my biggest concern was fresh water and power since we use the furnace at 9-10000 ft even in the summer.
So far we have added extra battery going from 95 ah to 385 ah and doubled our FW to 60 gal. Picked up a used Champion 3500/4000 that we used last year a few hours a day to stay charged up. Replace the lights with LEDs and this year added 230w of solar left portable. A 500w inverter has let us use smaller items. We haven't run the generator since getting the solar but take it as a back up and possible AC which isn't needed at that altitude.
Next year the inverter will be a 2000w PSW and a 220w solar system will keep the inverter bank up while the 230w panel runs the trailer. A bit of over kill as together they are good for 30a of power from 7 to 7 each day but I got them for $50 each so we will suffer through it. Getting a Oxigenics shower head will extend the water farther.
We prefer to camp out in the middle of no where by ourselves where we hear nature and the sounds we make which is very little. We did stay in a dry CG at a lake for the first time in 20 years and was shocked at how much people run their generators. One person ran a Honda EU 3000 24/7 unless they left. They are quiet generators but waking up to one at 5am was interesting to say the least.
I look forward to meeting you all, learning a bit and helping out if I can.
Jim
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2011 Amerilite 25bh pushing a 03 Expedition up the hills. 750w of solar, 675 Ah battery bank, 1250fc inverter, Champion 3500/4000
Hey Jim,
Boondocking in the Rockies sounds like an incredible way to spend some time. Must be absolutely beautiful - can't wait to see it in person.
I know what you mean about others running their gennies all the time - we've been at county parks where people would run a noisy one all day - that miserable sound seems to travel forever.
If you've poked around these forums just a bit - you know what a good bunch of people are here. Welcome!
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Sean & Christine - and the pups, Samantha and Apollo
We are really blessed with the mountains and how much boon docking there is up there. Hopefully the trailer lets us travel and see more of the country, something we didn't consider in the tents.
I look forward to getting to know all of you. I find the sheer diversity of camping fascinating and online is the biggest campground of all.
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2011 Amerilite 25bh pushing a 03 Expedition up the hills. 750w of solar, 675 Ah battery bank, 1250fc inverter, Champion 3500/4000
Hi Jim! We've just returned to civilization after boondocking for 6 months at 10,000' in Utah. It was our first time out and quite an adventure. We didn't have the solar power you have, but what we did have helped out. Our land in Utah is in the middle of an Aspen Forest so direct sunlight was an issue. We ran our generator 1-2 hours each morning to stay fully charged up. Wasn't really necessary, but after you experience one night with no heat because of a dead battery you learn to pay closer attention! We have a 60 gal FW tank which we refilled once a week by hauling our own water in 55 gal drums from the town 4,000' down the mountain, only 12 miles away but a 37 minute drive. We filled up our barrels once a week when we went for groceries and mail. You didn't mentioned your grey and black tanks. How did you handle that? We put in a septic system on our lot and were able to dump once a week into our own system. Where we were at there is no electricity, no water, no phone service, no radio or tv reception. The most relaxing (although there was hard work!) summer I've ever spent. Can't wait to go back when the snow melts. When we left there was 10" on the ground and will eventually accumulate to twenty feet by February. Steve and Kate
Wow, I envy you. I can only imagine 6 months of boondocking at a time. Having the trailer up there and set up sure would be nice and we would be able to go up more often. That said we have only used the same spot more than once twice in all these years. There is just so much boondocking here that using the same spot twice means we are missing a incredible spot we haven't seen yet.
We dump our tanks when we get home and while we come close on the longer trips, we haven't filled the 54 gal of waste tanks yet. We tented for a long time so a navy shower every day or two is pure luxury for us and we still use a few cups of water to do dishes. A water run would be a 100 mile round trip and it takes me a half hour just to get the trailer out of the boondocking area.
Luckily I have never pushed our battery too far but we did end up using the truck and a set of jumper cables to stay charged up the first trip out. Now the solar and extra battery make it so we don't even think about it. We can handle anything but running the AC or cooking a turkey in the microwave.
The show level dropped within a 100 ft or so of us this last trip and that meant it was time to go. Even with a 4x4 it isn't fun trying to get us out when I can't see the ruts we came in on. Be forced to leave a rig up there and it will be totaled by the snow in the spring.
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2011 Amerilite 25bh pushing a 03 Expedition up the hills. 750w of solar, 675 Ah battery bank, 1250fc inverter, Champion 3500/4000
