First Time

[jcohen1216]

Hi all!

My daughter (11) and I (38) are renting an RV this summer for a week long trip to Shenandoah National Park. This will be our first time with an RV, and I have a question regarding RV Parks. In my reading, it seems as though there is quite a lot of etiquette involved in staying in an RV Park. Of course I want to make sure that we are doing everything on the up and up and not impeding on anybody else's stay.

The RV we are renting will be our only mode of transportation. As such, we will be using it to travel around the park, and to and from our other destinations. It seems that a lot of people seem to tow a car or have another mode of transportation with them. Is it common to come and go in an RV throughout the day?

Thanks so much for any advice!

[bigred1cav]

watch the tail swing, width is greater than an auto, three speeds slow, slower and stop

[garmp]

A 26' Phoenix Cruiser here and if we stay at a "touristy" type park we rent a car for the day of what ever. In the park, to get a bag of ice, ice cream cone, whatever we use our bicycles. Something else to carry around, but they do come in handy.
Good luck to you and safe travels.

[wing_zealot]

Using an RV as a commuter vehicle will generally work out best if its about 24-feet or less. But you can always try it and see how it works out for you. An alternative would be an Enterprise rent a car (or anyone that will bring it to you).

[DavidandDayle]

And walk around the unit whenever you are going to drive it out. You want to make sure that the electric, water, sewer and cable connections are stowed. Check the TV aerial. Check the steps and any slide-outs.
Be cautious about where you leave the unit downtown. People have an idea how much stuff there is in an RV. We tend to take up 2 to 4 parking spots (a 30-footer) and it's nice to have a drive-through.

We only used the rig for touring on one trip. Ever since then we've rented a car.

[John_Wayne]

Also remember you don't need to hook up the water and sewer hose all the time you pull into a site. Just fill the fresh water tank and use it till you need to refill it. And drain the gray and black tanks as they fill up. This will save you time when you want to take off for the day sight seeing. The electric you may want to hook up each night if the site has electricity, will let you use the microwave and A/C if you have it.
When you hook up the sewer hose drain a little gray water first to make sure connections are not leaking, then shut the gray, and drain the black tank then the gray tank to flush out the sewer have. Have fun

[Yosemite_Sam1]

Stop (often) and smell the flowers, see the sights/views/attractions.

[Grit_dog]

Welcome!
And hope you have a wonderful trip.
The fact that you asked about etiquette means you have about 90% of it already down pat, as you must already be a considerate person.
You don't need to tow a car. 24' isn't any sort of real or physical limitation, although longer = more care needs to be taken, especially if you're not used to driving large vehicles.


And yes, if you pull up camp during the day, it's customary to leave something marking your campsite as occupied, if it's not essentially an RV park, where your camp site registration is monitored by a host on site.
Helps keep A holes from poaching your site.

Good luck, have fun.

[Lynnmor]

The SNP has numerous scenic turnouts that will be more of an issue with a large RV. Plan on early or less congested times to stop at those. Try to keep your RV out of the way as best you can, unlike “that guy” that hogs the limited space.

As mentioned earlier, don’t walk thru the campsites of others without permission. The SNP is one place where I was hiking (bushwhacking) thru thick brush and broke out at an occupied campsite, the “lady” had a fit.

[rexlion]

If you take a dog, don't let it bark much or run loose.

Don't drain your soapy water (we call that "gray water", versus the "black water" of the toilet tank) on the ground.

When backing into a campsite, don't just look around behind you. Look UP, too! Don't ask me how I learned... 😉

[Lwiddis]

You'll have a great time! Yes, some sightsee in their RV and go in and out of their campground space. Doesn't bother me or anyone else as far as I know.

[TexasShadow]

definitely leave something in your site to show it is not available. some people use orange cones, others leave a sign or an old lawn chair.

[monkey44]

Talk to other campers, most of us will assist and answer any questions. OR, explain any issues you need explained.

Night noise and bright night-lights are something that often annoys other campers.

[QCMan]

That will be a nice trip! Plan on leaving very early in the morning to get off the island. The Cross Bronx gets awful after 6 am! The BQE is hair raising for any rv. Once you hit Jersey it will be a lot better. Make sure you reserve your spot(s) as far in advance as you can. Ask the campground if you need to leave something in your site while you are gone as some will see an empty spot as available. As mentioned above, common sense tends to prevail when figuring what should and shouldn't be done in a campground. Just imagine the way you would expect those around you to act and you will be ok. Have a great trip!

[DrewE]

That sounds like a wonderful vacation!

Etiquette is far less complicated than it sometimes appears here. Basically, if you act respectfully towards the other campers, you'll be doing very well...which means such things as avoiding loud noises during quiet hours, not walking through other occupied sites, driving at reasonable (slow) speeds through the campground, and those sorts of common-sense things.

There's nothing wrong at all with taking the motorhome to leave and drive around for awhile. Setting up and tearing down camp can be a bit of a hassle, lessened by not setting up more than you need. (It's things like clearing off the counters and stowing junk properly that I find the most annoying in these sorts of situations; if you try to keep unnecessary odds and ends to a minimum, and put things away when you're done using them, it'll help.)

I recommend putting together some sort of a checklist for breaking camp to be sure you don't forget to do something. When you discover something that you forget to do, add it to the checklist for the next times.