RV water extender makes boondocking more fun

To limit fuel expenses, full time RVers Dale and Lisa Forsythe try not to travel too much. They save money by staying at Bureau of Land Management dry camping areas during winter. To assist them with their boondocking lifestyle they added an additional solar panel, doubled the battery bank and added a smaller inverter to use with electric appliances that didn't require the use of the larger inverter. But the most significant upgrade was the addition of a 65 gallon fresh water tank to the back of their Pick-up. He hooks up this auxillary tank directly to his fresh water city connection. In order to move the fresh water from the back of his truck through the city connection he installs a water pump between them. He taps into his 12 volt battery bank with these jumper cable type clamps. Then he hooks the hose up to his rig and the big tank and flips the switch. The 12 volt water pump is a demand pump so it only runs when they turn on the water inside the rig. The big tank fits neatly behind the truck cab just in front of the 5th wheel hitch. When they go to town to shop they stop and fill it up. Having the extra 65 gallons makes their boondocking lifestyle much more enjoyable. They've been at this going on five years now and are having a blast. Squeezing every drop out of the RV adventure - Jim Twamley, Professor of RVing

RVer saves money for fuel by staying overnight for free at Lowe’s

As is frequently the case with RVers we were heading down the road with no idea where we were going to spend the night. We had reservations at another campground the next day but were not sure where we would wind-up in the interim. When I reached my quitting point we were in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. We pulled into a Lowe’s parking lot and I asked the customer service clerk if they allowed RVers to overnight in their parking lot. She wasn’t sure so she called the manager and he said no problem as long as we parked at the far end off to the side. We moved RV-1 to the far reaches on a nicely mowed grass median next to the Staples parking lot. We could have watched TV using our power inverter but there was nothing worth watching. Instead we enjoyed a couple games of scrabble and a refreshing nights sleep. In the morning after a hot shower I fired up the generator and made a fresh pot of coffee, ate breakfast and hit the road. By saving $25 on a camp space I was able to put another five gallons of diesel in the tank. Thank you Lowe’s for the kind use of your parking lot. You’ll be seeing more of my business in the future. Helping you stretch your fuel dollars - Jim Twamley, Professor of RVing

Working Around A WalMart No Overnight RV Parking Situation

Sam Walton loved RVers because they spent so much money at his stores. WalMart is a great place for RVers to shop because you can get groceries, hardware, auto parts, craft supplies and RV stuff all under one roof. You can also do some birdwatching there time permitting (really, no kidding, click here for more bird tales - Bird Watching On The RV Road.) But what happens if you've been traveling all day and you pull into a WalMart to spend the night and see a sign that says "no overnight parking." Well, you could just move on down the road or you can consider other options. A great idea is to buy a copy of the book that lists WalMart stores that do not allow overnight parking - you can buy it here at RVbookstore.com First, you should look around and see if the sign is for the actual WalMart parking lot or does it belong to another business sharing the same parking lot. If it's a shared parking lot chances are that the sign only applies to the other stores and you may be able to stay in the part of the parking area controlled by WalMart. Your second option is not to spend the night, but to spend several hours "resting" after you shop. To be honest it costs me more to spend the night in a WalMart parking lot than it does to stay at an RV park because I usually end up spending far more in the store than I do for renting a site. However, it's late and you don't know where an RV park is and frankly you're pooped. Fill up your shopping cart with whatever items you intend to buy and before you check out find the manager and tell him or her your RV is parked in the parking lot and you don't intend to spend the night, but you will be parked there for a couple of hours putting away groceries, reading the paper and resting up for the next leg of your trip. Ask them to inform security of your intentions and that you will be gone before anyone might complain and oh, by the way, when does the bakery put out the freshly baked donuts? RV friendly managers will understand and say something like, "OK, just be sure you don't spend the the night and the donuts will be ready at 5:30 am." Funny, but you never see signs that say, "No Over Day Parking." So, in my view if you're at a 24 hour WalMart there really is no such thing as "Over Night" because it's a 24-7 operation. Still, local authorities may come by and wake you up and tell you to move and that's the risk you take. Please click on the word "comments" below and tell us what kind of experiences you've had "resting" in your RV after shopping at WalMarts with "No Overnight Parking" signs. Doing my best to interpret the sign's of the times - Jim Twamley, Professor of RVing

Are You Considering Long Term Boondocking

Long time RVer Larry Bean is from Prospect, Oregon. He and his wife Fran have been boondocking in Winterhaven, California since October 2007. He’s camped with several other boondocking buddies but they were not the first to camp in this place. The Hernando De Alarcon expedition camped in this same neighborhood on September 5th, 1540 and were the first Europeans to see Alta California. They didn’t have RVs but used boats to go up the Colorado River. The terrain hasn’t changed much since then and there’s really not much to see anyway. But the weather is warm during winter and attracts thousands of snowbird RVers each year. The Town of Yuma is just up the road with all the amenities one needs. The Mexican boarder is within walking distance and you can fish in the canals a stone’s throw away. What more does a boondocker need? Well, they need water. Since the Beans do laundry in their rig they need lots of it. In the back of his Freightliner he carries a 125 gallon fresh water tank with an on demand water pump like you have in your RV. He just hooks the water pump into the “street” connection of his Avion 5th wheel and it’s just like hooking up to the water at an RV park. So what do they do with waste water? They throw a 55 gallon tank into the back of their pick-up and use a macerator to fill it. They drive the truck to a dump station and the rest is history. Yes, but where do they get the electricity to run the washer and dryer? His generator is more than adequate to handle the washer and dryer. Most boondockers use solar panels and wind generators to recharge their batteries during the day. The price is right and the location excellent. You can learn more about boondocking by visiting our blog on that subject here RVtravel Boondocking. With cell phones, satellite TV, internet, water, electric and waste water disposal taken care of it’s easy living. It sure beats shoveling snow and scraping ice off your windshield every morning. With an eye on everything RV - Jim Twamley, Professor of RVing