Scared of Dry Camping in New Interstate

[Lily&Me]

Excellent idea, Skater!

That's the way to do it.....baby steps.



Maggie

[Protagonist]

Originally Posted by Skater

Suggestion for those afraid: Go to a campground with electricity. Don't plug in. Try to rough it. Plug in when you would run the generator, then unplug. See how it goes.

Also works for learning to ration your water supply. Fill the fresh tank rather than hooking to municipal water. See how long you can make it last before you run out. And if you use more than you expected, you've got hookups right there so you don't have to break camp to get more.

Fortunately, the tanks in a late-model Interstate are pretty well balanced with regard to capacity. You should run out of fresh water just before gray tank is full to capacity, since some of the water ends up in the black tank. When it's time to fill the fresh tank again it's also time to dump the waste tanks.

[gghayes]

You all have been very helpful with your replies. I still have to locate where I can get the information on the solar panel . Is it in the area where it shows how much charge the battery has?
Gloria

[Lily&Me]

You might call the service department at the dealership where ypu purchased your rig, gghayes.

We had ours on speed dial for the first couple of months, and he walked us thru many things.



Maggie

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Hittenstiehl

Not trying to minimize the apprehension but you could think of it like this: dry camping or boondocking is sort of like a picnic or a night under the stars.

No lights, no problem, have a couple of expandable battery lanterns. Light up your inside and outside.

No heater, no problem, a decent sleeping bag and some blankets. Leave a light layer of clothing on if your not sure how chilly it will get. I even took a duvet off my bed at home one year to put on top of the sleeping bag as it was going to freeze.

No fridge, no problem, take some non perishables that are still comfortable for putting together a meal.

No potty, no problem, a bucket works if needed.

Point is you can do this. Its new and you haven't worked out the unknowns but with each trip it will be more comfortable. Take a friend, a phone, water, clothing and snacks and have a blast.

The only elaboration I'd add here is that carrying onboard water that is not within the fresh water tank can solve the potty issue for gravity model toilets if for some reason you cannot run your water pump (such as your batter is running too low to use). I keep a 10 liter military-grade jerry can full of potable water in the slot beside my fresh water tank (my Interstate is built on a T1N Sprinter so I have space there). Other owners have reported using iced tea jugs and other containers for supplemental water. If you take a bit of that water, strategically time the opening of the crapper flapper, and slug your potty with the water, it's the same result as flushing.

We have been Interstate owners for about seven months now. I've / we've boondocked in four cities / towns / remote areas thus far and I've only had full hookups in one additional location, that being earlier this week (Pecan Grove RV park in downtown Austin Texas - *highly* recommended if you can manage to secure a reservation, which can be tough). After four boondocking trips, the hookups seemed like quite the amazing luxury - along the lines of, "Ah, so THIS is how the other half lives!!"

[Lily&Me]

Yep, hook-ups are really nice....but so is the absolute sense of freedom and independence that comes with being able to pull in anywhere suitable and know that you have everything you need.

Dry-camping is something everyone should learn to feel comfortable with, IMO, because you never know what the day might bring......

For the same reason, don't let yourself run out of water or propane, let your batteries get too low, etc.



Maggie

[LucasS]

The guys at my dealership (Toscano RV) agreed the wiring was crap and upgraded that. My XC came with an inverter that were using. The thing is they worked when I first had them installed but then I pushed a button on the controller and whatever I did made them stop working. Whoops.