Chasing Adventure

Boondocking – the art of camping without full hookups (water/electric/sewer). Basically, the rig is a very comfortable tent (unless it’s hot out…).

First lesson, drive times. We stayed 3 stayed at a KOA in Tulsa to learn about the rig and make sure everything works the way it is supposed to. We probably should have taken more than 3 days, but we had a Uhaul trailer that had an end reservation date.

It’s about a 14-15 hour drive from Tulsa to our final destination in NE Tennessee and previously, we stayed over one night one the way. I thought it would be okay to stay over two nights and that would leave us plenty of time. What I didn’t really anticipate, was the difference in trip time from Google maps to RV pulling. The first day of the trip was supposed to be six hours, according to Google, so I thought we could do it in seven (fuel, eating, Tigger walks, etc.). It was closer to NINE. I downloaded the RV Life app, and learned to plan routes that way since it took into account the size/weight/length of my rig. Now, we have a better understanding of how long it will actually take to get somewhere.

So many people recommended Harvest Hosts as a fun way to experience different places, we decided to start right away. We weren’t quite ready for this level of camping, so we learned some hard lessons pretty quickly. Our first night, we stayed on this cute family run farm. I wish we could have gotten in before dark to spend more time with the family (and for easier parking). Lesson learned. Thankfully, the weather was perfect for sleeping with the windows open, however the rooster on the farm noticed as well, and made sure we knew we were staying on a farm.

There was plenty of place for both of us to park, and the animals didn’t seem bothered by our presence at all. At the crack of dawn, we heard the rooster from further away, then he came closer – I guess to make sure we were awake! After a long drive, and knowing we were leaving in the morning, we left Maverick attached to Pearl, leveled it the best we could for the slides to come out, and just crashed after making some sandwiches. We spent quite a bit of time discussing the leveling since everything we read said we needed to unhook to level. We now know we just need to get the weight off the truck first, then we can get the weight off the trailer tires next.

With boondocking, that means no shore power. We had our batteries and the solar on the top to keep them charged, but that only provides power to a few key things – lights, slides, jacks, fridge and the USB ports. Essentially, we could level the rig, open it up, and charge our phones. We didn’t realize we couldn’t use the outlets, so that meant no coffee. Lesson learned. After a stop for caffeine and protein, we were on the road for our next destination, another boondocking location.

Our next place was Del Monaco winery, about five hours away. We arrived a couple hours before they closed and parked in the provided gravel lot. We enjoyed a couple wine flights with cheese and crackers, while Tigger laid in the cool grass and enjoyed a game of frisbee. It was warmer, so we stayed outside for as long as possible since we couldn’t use the AC to cool down Maverick. Still unsure of the leveling situation, we didn’t even put the slides out, just moved his car bed to the hall, made sandwiches, and called it a night.

Lessons learned – plug the coffee maker into the truck for the morning brew, learn how to manually level the rig and don’t depend on the auto level, and it’s best to fully know what works and what doesn’t PRIOR to going off grid. Will we do this boondocking option again? Absolutely.