My name is Cathy I am new to this forum

Cathy · 11-08-2011, 08:25 PM

In fact I have never been a member of a forum before. A few weeks ago I purchased a 26' Sunline Solaris. I plan on going full time RVing. I think this forum looks interesting and I am interested in meeting new people and getting tips and advice. Glad to be part of your group. I am trying to figure out how this forum stuff works I hope I posted this to the right place

**JohnB** · 11-08-2011, 08:30 PM

Welcome Cathy

Congrats on your new coach!!! Glad you found us and this is for sure the right place to stop in and introduce yourself.

We are here to help, ask away any question. You have come to the right place for Sunline info. And we like to hear about your camping adventures too.

Happy camping and again welcome

John

Cathy · 11-08-2011, 08:32 PM

Hi John
That was fast. Thanks
Bye for now

Poppy & Nana · 11-08-2011, 08:41 PM

Hi Cathy...watned to take the time to welcome you to the forum.....don't be concerned about positng in a wrong "section"....you will soon notice that we are not that "fussy"....what model Sunline did you purchase?

**Tweety** · 11-09-2011, 04:34 AM

Congratulations on the Sunline and your decision to go full timing! When do you hit the road?

Cathy · 11-09-2011, 08:14 AM

Hello Poppy and Nana and Tweety
It is nice to be part of an active forum. You all seem so nice.
My trailer is a 26" Solaris. Just perfect for me and my little dog (toy poodle) Emma.
I am not exactly sure of my travel plans but I am thinking in January, I will be tired of the cold weather and in search for warmer weather.
I am on the look out for a used little rv generator. If anyone has some advice on the size, model and so forth your advice will be appreciated.
Bye for now.

Poppy & Nana · 11-09-2011, 11:29 AM

Cathy - what do you plan on using the generator for? I for one can tell you not to waste your money on the "cheap" generators....we had a Coleman and after one use gave it to the kids for use at their house and bought two Honda 2000ie's....The noise of the Coleman was terrible......I also hear that the Yamaha's are good genies also, and not loud!

Post what you plan on using it for and I'm sure you will get many replys....

Cathy · 11-09-2011, 02:02 PM

Thanks for the advice. I will be using it to run the appliances in the trailer when I am not hooked up to electricity.

rebellious78 · 11-10-2011, 07:30 AM

Congrats on your Sunline purchase and Welcome to the SOC Forum!!!

**Sunline Fan** · 11-10-2011, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnB

Congrats on your new couch!!!

???

I hope it's ultraleather, to get such special recognition! lol

mainah · 11-10-2011, 01:30 PM

If you are not running your A/C a 2000 watt is fine. There are several 2000 watt inverter generators on the market from around $600 to $1,000 the Honda gets all the attention but I would not turn up my nose at a Kipor or even a Ryobi for a good bit less money you do pay for the quiet there are $180 generators on the market that work fine but you'll need ear plugs. Welcome to the site there are a lot of good people that can help you out with any questions you might have.

DKP · 11-10-2011, 07:12 PM

Hello Cathy. Great to have another Sunline in Ky. We found Diane's T-1950 in Tenn last month and brought it home to Ky. Hope you enjoy yours and much as my wife and I do ours.

**JohnB** · 11-11-2011, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunline Fan

???

I hope it's ultraleather, to get such special recognition! lol

Well.... it's and upgrade!!! LOL Fat fingers...

Cathy · 11-12-2011, 11:49 AM

Thanks to everyone for your welcomes and advice.
I am looking at some discount membership clubs like Good Sams club, if I go full time I will be on a budget. I found this websites that claims to have camp sites for 10.00 Discount Campgrounds As Low As $10.00 A Day but I don't know if they are for real.
Looks like most sites are around 25.00-30.00 a night unless I stay long term a month or so. Does anyone have any advice about the discount membership clubs. Looks like many of them have block out dates, weekends and holidays. On the west coast the national forests let people dry camp along rivers and such not in campgrounds you can stay for free for approx. 14 days in most national forest. Is there anything like that in the midwest or southern states. I have a ? about state parks are they usually less expensive and do they have length restrictions.I will read everything I can on this forum and others to learn about full time rving before I head out.
I'll tell you the gas is a killer my truck only gets about 8 miles to a gallon while towing. 2000 Dogde Ram 1500 WD 5.9 liter engine. Does anyone have any tips on how to get better gas mileage.
Bye for now.
ps I look forward to catching up with some of you, I will keep an eye on your calender of events.

mainah · 11-12-2011, 03:07 PM

I don't know how old your are but a life time pass to the national parks for seniors is $10 for camping I think it's 50% off nation wide. A lot of camp sites give discounts to Good Sam members. As for gas mileage the key is speed my Tacoma takes a huge hit when I kick it up still no prize when I slow down but I do pick up 2-3 MPG 10MPG at 70+ 12 to maybe 14 when I slow to 55. Again I don't know how heavy you Solaris is but I'm sure it's a good bit heavier then my T1700 and that's a factor

**JohnB** · 11-12-2011, 07:33 PM

Hi Cathy

While I'm not in the full timing mode, yet anyway..., this one club we found was mentioned by many retired full timing folks. The original 50% Discount Camping Club - Passport America Discount Camping Club

We where looking into using it ourselves as it is accepted at some of the State Parks near us. However in our case it excluded weekends. But during a week day it would work. Since our weekday camping over a year is somewhat limited we never got it.

State park discounts I'm sure vary by state. We use to have a Cardinal Camper card in Ohio. Cost was around $35 a year and in our case it paid for itself. That program gave I think 10% or 15% during the season and another 5% out off season. Even on weekends. The state must of been loosing on it as they stopped it a number of years ago. They now have a new program and we get points. These points all boils down to only about 3 to 4 nights free a year. Better then nothing but not as good as the older program.

The Good Sam's Club. We have been a member since 2004. It adds value to our camping experience but I have not yet saved a lot or much having it. And they for sure have a very aggressive mailing campaign. I think I get RV insurance, RV repair service and other service offers every month. The amount of mail is a bunch...

I know we have other members here who are Good Sam's Members and they may be able to offer savings tips they they have received. I do have the Good Sam Emergency Road side service. Never had to use it yet and hope I never do.... but it is there if I need it and closer to being able to handle a TT broke down on the road then the auto policies which do almost nothing on a TT.

Good luck

John

Cathy · 11-12-2011, 09:59 PM

Thanks everyone for your help.
Happy camping
Bye for now.

kanyonkitty · 11-13-2011, 02:39 PM

Hi Cathy,

Welcome to the group and congrats on your Sunline Purchase. Do you happen to know what model # Sunline you purchased, just curious. You have joined a very friendly, helpful RV group.

The wealth of information/experience among our members is just amazing. If you have any questions/issues with your Sunline, all you have to do is create a post here, and someone will surely be able to help you.

Oh yeah, we sure like to see pics of our wonderful Sunlines, exterior and interior. Also, if you make any modifications, we'd like to hear about them.

Kitty

OhhWell · 12-08-2011, 06:29 AM

Hello Cathy and welcome.

If you are a Sams club member, they still have the Champion brand 2000w inveter quiet generator for about $500. At least down here they do. Champion is like Kipor and manufacturers cheap chinese generators but has a solid reputation for insisting on quality from their China plants and also excelent customer service.

I am not affiliated with the company believe it or not! I just did a ton of research before buying a generator. Because our budget was very low and we needed to run the AC, we went with a 3500watt non-inverter Champion. It is noisy. Not as noisy or piercing as the coleman type with the little lawn mower muffler but still a noticeable drone. It's comperable to a Onan 4000 that we have on the back of a bus where I work. I would feel awfull running it in a campsite with neighbors close by. Lucky, the situations when we need it usually don't have tightly packed camp sights and I can baffle the noise towards the woods.

If you do go the quiet route, it is extremely unlikely that you will be able to get the AC to start up with a 2000w or lower generator. You can sometimes get around this by installing a large cold-start capacitor on the AC compressor and running nothing else but the AC. Also, the quiet generators are not as quiet when running under a full load.

Anyhow, there is alot of info here about generators and even more at the rv.net boards. Please ask though if you wind up with a specific question.