Baroo!  Welcome to all my furry and non-furry followers.  Lindsey here with my latest Bark Report.  

This time, I am going to Bark at you all about RV Newbie Tips.  Mom and Dad get lots of questions from people who have never had an RV, and I want to help them out because they are so busy trying to help fellow RVers!

Everyone seems to make the same mistakes even when warned by veterans.  Dad says sometimes it’s just a learn by doing, but other times you can avoid some expensive mistakes if you take heed of a few of these tips. 

RV Newbie Tips

The first thing that is super important is to know you can’t drive your RV like a car.  You have to remember that it is a really big thing that is not a sports car.  It takes longer to speed up, longer to stop, you have to take corners slower and sometimes wider, and watch the potholes and railroad tracks.  

Dad has been surprised by some railroad crossings. I thought I was going to lose my choppers from the tooth-jarring experience.  Scared me barkless with the sudden rattling of everything inside.

Hey, watch the driveway aprons when entering parking lots.  Some of them can be quite abrupt.  It is best to try to take it at an angle to avoid scraping (technical term, bottoming out) the hitch or rear of your RV.  It can bend the hitch pin if too severe or damage the undercarriage.

I need to remind you to be kind and not to cut off someone on the road either.  It’s just not nice.  Gives RVers a bad rap.  Not only that but you could cause an accident if you cut them off too close.  You’re in an RV for the adventure.  

Slow down and take the time to check out the scenery.  To be a nice RVer, when traveling on single lane roads, if you can, pull over somewhere to let traffic pass.  The locals will think better of you.

The next thing is your stuff.  Just because you have lots of storage places doesn’t mean you can fill everything up to max. By manufacture specs, they tell you how much weight you can carry.  Don’t exceed it.  It can cause tire failure among other things. (See Dad’s cool articles on tire safety.)  Been there, done that, not good.  

Your RV is not your sticks and bricks.  You just can’t take everything with you, be it to live full time or even on vacation in your RV.  Pack only what you need for the vacation.  Your entire wardrobe or kitchen doesn’t need to come with you on vacation.

I love Dad’s favorite saying. He calls it an “RVR,” Repair Vehicle Regularly. BOL!  If you drive it, it’s going to need repair.  Even if you just let it sit somewhere, it will require fixing at some point.   Mom says it’s like a mini earthquake rolling down the road.  

We had things in our Fifth Wheel that just disappeared after one trip, never to be found again.  Towables seem to get more of that action going on back there than a motorized.  At least with a drive one you can listen to it or see it as it happens.

Next, on the hit parade, I want to bark at is cleaning.  You may think that you are uber clean, but I’m here to tell you it’s not enough.  No matter how clean you think it is, your RV will still require constant cleaning.  A clean RV equals less chance of those disgusting, nasty bugs to find their way in.  

Plus, remember you are constantly going in and out in all different places (sand, grass, leaves, water) which will come in on your feet.  Mom is constantly sanitizing the kitchen and floor for any bits of food or crumbs that I happen to miss on the floor.  She even wipes my puppy paws every time I come in.  Gees!

Big DON’T is dumping food down your sinks.  It all ends up in your tank which can cause a whole bunch of problems, foremost messing up tank sensors.  It’s hard enough to get them to read accurately without dumping grease and food down there.  Go easy on the toilet paper.  Count to 10 every time you flush and use septic safe brands.  

TP likes to stick to the walls of the black tank or clog it.  You could get a nice poo pile in your black tank.  Dad adds this new green stuff that got our black tank sensors working again!  Check out Dad’s article about a great flush out your black tank!

Mom loves paper towels.  She wipes everything down before washing dishes. And easy does it on the dish soap.  You waste a lot of water if you have to constantly rinse the sink out to get the “bubble bath” down the drain.  Clue. If it bubbles back into the other sink before going down, too much.  If Boondocking, all that rinsing is water from your fresh tank.

Next, I want to bark at you about is noise.  (Hey, Dad, I get it!  He says I bark all the time. Corgi on duty!)  Keep it at a reasonable level.  RV walls are thin. If you can hear people outside, they can hear you inside. 

Which brings up another point.  Don’t arrive late.  Those big old noisy diesel engines with their beep, beep, beep back up sound does not make for a good neighbor.  Plus it’s harder for you to get situated in your site without incident.  And you don’t want an incident, especially after dark. 

Do you all realize that RVs have something called a Power Booster button? This needs to be on to receive over the air channels.  Remember to also choose TV ANT (or Cable) on the box. Scan your TVs at each campground -option typically found on your remote menu button.  

Dad loves the Jack antenna they are now using on RVs.  It has lights that tell you where the best signal is for your antenna before you scan.  We had replaced our batwing one with one of these bad boys when we had our other RV.  GRRRR-ate! 

Before I bark off, make sure you are level on your site for your RV Refrigerator.  If the gunk (that’s a technical term) in the coils can’t flow, it can cause overheating and major problems, if not now, down the road. (Get it, down the road?! I do crack me up sometimes.)

So on that note, time to catch my daily snap.  As always, any questions, or if I’ve missed anything, Bark at me below.  Until next time,

Lindsey out. zzz zzz