The RV is the perfect solution for vacations during quarantine and homeschooling while on the road. You get to see amazing locations while in a clean living space that is all your own. You can pick up and go whenever you want. What can get better than that?
Five lessons learned from our first week with the Wolf Pup travel trailer.
- Towing vehicle strength
- Pull through RV site
- Hot water heater limited
- Picnic table provided
- City & state RV parks only 1 septic dump
The towing vehicle needs to be able to pull the weight of the travel trailer fully loaded. The Wolf Pup travel trailer fully loaded was about 4,000 lbs. Our Honda Pilot could tow up to up to 5,000 lbs. But with all the luggage inside the trailer, the Honda Pilot could not drive more than 60 miles an hour on the highway. This may not seem like a big deal at first, but we soon realized that a 10-hour trip becomes a 12-hour trip if you are only driving 60 miles per hour on the highway. For future trips, we ended up using a larger vehicle to tow.
The most important words to remember are “pull through RV site.” As you reserve your RV site, ask if they have a pull through. It will make your life so much easier because there is no backing up involved.
Our water heater had only enough hot water for washing your hair or shaving your legs, not both. I learned to wash my hair first. Then, take a shower after. When I turned on the hot water for my youngest to play in the bath just before dinner, the hot water ran out after a few inches had filled the tub. I have since learned that some RVs have an instant hot water heater which may be worth checking out.
Most RV parks offer a picnic table next to the rental site. We used this daily since the dining table converted to my youngest son’s bed. Eating outside encouraged the feeling that we were on vacation. But some mornings it was too cold to eat breakfast outside.
I love the state and city RV parks because they have trees and hiking trails, but often they only provide electricity and water at your site. It was a surprise for us to learn that the septic dump is only at one location for the whole state or city RV park. The black water from the toilet will need to be dumped by moving the travel trailer to the septic dumpsite at least once a week. You can make interesting conversations with other RV travelers as you wait in line to dump your poop.
Let’s talk about Poop!
A septic tank gage shows the fill level of two tanks.
1. black water = poop
2. gray water = shower & sink water
