To RV or not
to RV: That is your question!
After having taking our first RV rental
trip, many of you have asked about our experience and what would we
recommend and so forth. So, instead of answering each question
separately, I promised a post all about RV life as we found it. Our
situation was somewhat unique since we flew to Las Vegas and rented
the RV there. Renting an RV from your home town would be different
since you could equip it with everything you wanted. We were limited
to what we could fit in 4 suitcases and a carry on (Southwest
Airlines does not charge for these). But that was sufficient for us.
(ours in on the right)
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Torrey, Utah RV park
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So here goes: (remember, this is just our experience)
Advantages ( to an RV over
renting a car and staying at motels/lodges)
Meals: We made one stop at
Wal Mart and bought pretty much everything we needed for 10 days. We
did plan to eat out every now and then but never ended up doing so.
It was just so convenient to eat in or beside the RV. So we spent
very little money on food. You have a refrigerator (which runs all
day kicking into propane mode when you are parked without
electric), microwave and stove-top
(and oven-never used) with you at all times. We also discovered
that even simple sandwiches taste so much better after you've been
out in the fresh air hiking. Everything tasted better!
You can pull over and take a nap
whenever you want to. After some of the early morning hikes, this
was wonderful
You are out in the beauty of
nature.
You are probably more apt to meet
people this way. We went to a wine and cheese event at one RV park.
There were other such events available.
So close to the outdoors yet way
cheaper than the national park lodging (if you can even get a
reservation). I only went with RV Parks this time since I didn't
know much about Utah state parks and most national parks were
already booked full. We averaged $40 a night for RV parks. I
just checked Zion Lodge out of curiosity. Half of April, 2017 is
already sold out (as is November, 2017). The rates are $209 a
night. $256 for Bryce Canyon lodge in April 2017,
$400 for a room in Moab during peak season. I
booked all of my RV parks about 2 weeks ahead and no problem
getting a spot. You can get Motel 6 and others for cheaper, of course. Somehow that brings the experience down a notch, I think.
Not having
to pack and unpack every day is wonderful. We could wake up, throw
on some clothes and off we went
I have to
use a CPAP every night due to sleep apnea (and due to Dave can't
get any sleep either if I'm snoring and gasping for air). It was so
convenient to set up the apparatus once and not have to set up and
take down every day.
Disadvantages
RVs are gas guzzlers, no way
around it. Especially when you are going up and down steep slopes in
the Utah & Arizona mountains. We had a Class C
with a truck frame. We estimate we got around 9 miles per gallon.
We put in around 170 gallons (for approx. 1500
miles) so just the gas cost us $425. (Gas price was running
average of $2.50)
In many of the national parks, 25
feet is the limit for what size RV can toodle around the park. Any
larger, you cannot drive in. BUT.. the same national parks have
shuttle services (free) which are better anyway since parking is
limited. With a 22 ft RV, we were able to go pretty much anywhere we
needed to.
Costs we did not anticipate:
We were hoping our car owner
insurance covered RV rental as it does for auto rental. The agent
at the rental place said “Oh, yes. Many insurance policies cover
RVs.” She called our insurance who had to call the underwriters.
30 minutes later we found out we were not covered. Daily rates were
around $13 for part of it and $16 for
part of it (liability, body damage, I don't know what...) so we were
required to get the one and added the next because damage to an RV
can be VERY EXPENSIVE. That was another $330 or so. Out of
curiosity, I wondered what annual RV insurance cost if you own an RV
and this is what I found: depends on the state, Michigan being by
far the most expensive
Michigan
median annual cost: $4,490
District
of Columbia median annual cost: $2,570
Oregon median annual cost: $1,108
They give
you 50 miles mileage a day. I thought “give you” meant free
but it meant that was your basic package (included in what you
paid). Anything over that is charged at around
32 ¢ a mile. We went 1500 miles so you do the math....
Kachin. Kachin.
Costs we avoided-
You could rent
your sheets, pillows, towels and such for a fee. We brought our own
you could rent
pots, pans, dishes and such for a fee. We brought our own
You need
toilet paper (single ply-they emphasize!). Other campers left behind
rolls so we got that for free!
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| RV park facing Monument Valley |
State parks vs RV
parks vs National Parks
I booked almost all RV parks because I
was a little unclear whether the state parks offered everything we
thought we needed. But I did book one state park and discovered we
probably should've done more state parks. (Except there often are no
state parks near the national parks). I didn't even consider national
parks because I had heard you have to reserve way ahead of time.
Also, now I am reading the following “no full-hookup”..”no
electrical” and so forth. (I just checked for future plans) Just
for your interest...
National Parks sample:
Yosemete
National
Electrical,
water, and sewer hookups are not available in
Yosemite, although dump stations (with fresh water) are available at
Upper Pines Campground (all year), near Wawona Campground (summer
only), and near Tuolumne Meadows Campground (summer only). Generator
use is
allowed, but only between 7 am and 9 am, noon and 2 pm,
and 5 pm to 7 pm. Generator use is not allowed at other
times.
Maximum
RV/trailer lengths: In
Yosemite Valley, the maximum RV length is 40 feet and maximum
trailer length is 35 feet, however,
only a total of 12 sites of this size are available
(six sites each in Lower Pines and North Pines, which are open
spring through fall). Many more sites exist in Yosemite Valley and
elsewhere in Yosemite that can take RVs up to 35 feet or trailers up
to 24 feet.
Zion
National
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| Sand Hollows state park Near St. George Utah |
State
Parks Vs RV Parks
We
only stayed in two state parks but found that your campsite is much
bigger and prettier. In RV parks, you are lined up side by side with
only a picnic table in between. Not a problem, but also doesn't give
you that “camping” feeling. Our 22 ft camper was usually
nestled between 2 monster bus sized contraptions
State
parks are slightly cheaper but not by much. (RV parks are around
$40-$50 a night- state parks were $35 or less. Both usually offer
full hook up. Cheaper sites are available if
you don't have full hook-up and if you don't mind dumping
your black water after the stay. Easier and probably smells better
to hook up the sewer line each night)
You
have to pay to use the showers ($2) in Utah state parks. (Not in
Texas!). Your RV has a shower but ours had a limit of 6 gallons of
hot water at a time. OK if you have short hair but not quite enough
for my long hair wash! Very tight quarters.. But
very nice not to have to go outside late at night or early morning
in the cold weather to get your business done!!!!
The
locations of State parks are always more wonderful than RV parks but
RV parks are everywhere! (there are usually no state parks near the
national parks.) I made advance reservations for all of our nights
but you can get spots pretty late in the game at RV parks.
You
would need to get a state park pass if you planned on camping
several nights. Each state has different prices.
RV
parks have laundry, free coffee in the morning, showers, toilets,
often swimming pools, one night we sat in a hot tub, social events,
stores to buy necessary items, full hook-ups, cable TV hook-ups (but
didn't work well most of the time) and most of all Free Wi-Fi!! (No
Wi-fi at state parks). I would love to say we went unplugged on
vacation but I still needed to call my mom and send her pics and
keep up with my emails (I am not retired yet and I run my own
business). We watched a few Netflix shows when we were too tired to
even sit outside but not ready to sleep. Also used the Wi-Fi to
check up on the next day's activity possibilities or to learn more
about what we had just seen that day.
Driving
the monster:
Dave
drove the RV. I did not. It was pickup
based, but bulkier.
A lot of the roads are on steep edged cliffs, lots of curves, in
other words, terrifying to drive for someone afraid of heights (me).
Would I have driven it on a flat monotonous road? (Texas for
example?) Probably not. I am not good at judging widths and lengths.
Sometimes even with my minivan! I am not a good candidate to be a
driver of an RV. Dave had no problems driving it. They come equipped
with a back-up camera. Would've been a lot harder without that.
Interesting
to know:
Our
RV rental place told us 85% of their RV rentals in the summer were to
Europeans. Of that, 80% are German! The Europeans apparently love
RV-ing in America. They buy and rent all of their supplies when they
get here, so at the RV place, there were 3 baby car seats left behind
for anyone to use. Also, camping chairs and other things. Not
guaranteed but interesting to note. In the national parks, we heard
more foreign languages than we did English.
Any
other questions?
