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What To Take On
Your RV Vacation Excursion!By: George Smith Vacation.excursion whatever you choose to call it, if it involves an RV, it becomes a real to do. And if you're new to the RVing style, it becomes a real whoopti-do! Let's take mystery out of RVing and put the "good" back in "goodtime". The first question is, where is my destination. The second question is, where do I rent an RV? Now, the destination part for me was simple. I, or we as the case may be, chose the beach. Then we went on-line to Parks and Recreation. Then we contacted the Parks and Recreation and made our reservations.
  What we found was that we could not choose our exact space at the campsite, we had to wait until we arrived there to see what would actually be available. And that was all right with us. We knew, after all, that we'd be so excited to be there, that we'd probably arrive there early anyway.
The hardest part of our reservations was deciding at which beach to vacation. What we found out was that many people have already booked the prime months and that we needed to have made our reservations months and months and months ago. We also learned that when you find there is an opening at your destination, take it, as it will not last long. We also had to decide how far we wanted to drive. One of the RV rental companies had a limit of 500 miles in three days. So, we had to ask ourselves if that mattered. It didn't. Okay, our next thought was, North beaches or South beaches, and then which beaches. With that in mind, off we went to dream of sandy shores, the sounds of the surf and a clean shower every night. We soon found the perfect spot. Now it was time to book the camper. We went on-line to see what was available. Most of our friends have RV's, so we know what they can come with and what is available. We didn't expect a luxury suite at the Waldorf, but we did want comfort.  The site we found was extremely helpful and we were able to see all we needed to at a profoundly late hour. Isn't the Internet great!
We were able to see and discuss the convenience and inconvenience of each vehicle they had available. We chose the one for a large family, even though it was just my wife and myself. We felt the extra room would behoove us as we packed and unpacked our necessities and our gear, and also as we'd have a little more moving around space as we found things and maybe did a little shopping. We then found our local RV distributor and reserved the one we had seen on-line. It was really very easy and non-complex. As a note, upon arrival, it did take a little time, as I had to view a video on the care of the RV.  Yes, there is care. For instance, how to "dump". Yes, the sewage. Thank goodness the beach site we choose had a dumpsite, otherwise, we'd have to find one before returning the RV. I also learned how to fill the beast with water, propane, etc. By this time, the wife was reconsidering a hotel room. I assured her, I'd take care of it.
So far, that meant I was in charge of the BBQing and the waste management. And she was in charge of the cooking, still sounded good to me! We were off to make a list of what we needed. So we listed our activities. Walking in the water and starfish hunting. We made a list of all of the things we needed. It was extensive. Clothing - beach clothes for the daytime, bathing suits, jackets and pants for the cold evenings, a few outfits for going to town and one for a nice evening. Towels for swimming, towels for showering, toilet paper, toothpaste, brushes for teeth and hair, sun lotion, sun burn lotion, soap, shampoo, and other little bottles of sundries. Then we came upon the kitchen supplies.  Pots, pans, knives, silverware, plates, glasses, dishtowels, salt, pepper, Tabasco, dish soap, sponges, broom, etc. Then there was the menu plan and the food shopping. And it was there that I began to think of a hotel room, with room service. But in the end we had decided we wanted the conveniences of a home, no shared walls, and the ability to step right onto the shore, all for a minimum amount of money.
So, we continued with our list. Little BBQ, briquettes, fire wood, wooden matches, little outdoor camping grill for coffee and marshmellows, outdoor tent with sides for wind w/stakes, bucket for collecting, maybe a fishing pole, definitely kites, hats, can't forget the hats. And the list went on. We began packing what we could and placed things in boxes by the front door for easy transporting. When the day finally arrived, I picked-up the RV at the first moment available. My wife was busy with the last minute packing, as if there was anything left in the house. I pulled up in front of the house and began to load the packed boxes by the front door. Yes. Boxes. It was a bit much, but we did have everything we needed for one heck of a good time! 
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