Dry Camping Adventure

We’re dry camping, aka boondocking, at an RV campground for the first time.  On the road, we did dry camp a few times at Wal Marts and Flying J Travel Plazas. But those were only for the night.  This time we’re doing it for three weeks.

Dry camping means no hookups for water, electricity or sewer. You bring your own water and you generate your own electricity.  For some RVers, dry camping is a way of life. We met a couple in their late 70s who traveled all through Alaska last summer in their 40-foot rig, dry camping all but 3 nights!

Water Becomes Gold

Our years in Denver, especially the drought years, trained us well in being aware of our water consumption.  In Denver, over-consuming hit the pocketbook.  Here, daily usage affects comfort and convenience.  How fast we use the water in the RV tank determines how soon and how often during the next 21 days we’ll have to drive the RV somewhere to refill the water tank.  Fortunately, we can shower at the bathhouse. (We’re already in the habit of doing that. The RV hot water tank heats only 6 gallons – sufficient for a quick shower, but not enough for a long, leisurely one or to wash my hair. Plus, heating the water consumes precious propane.) But we still need to wash dishes and flush the toilet occasionally.  We’re watching our consumption closely.

Generating Power

Without an electric hookup, our electric outlets, coffee pot, toaster and microwave need to be powered by the generator. It runs on gasoline. We lucked out yesterday when we filled the RVgas tank for $2.599 a gallon. Other stations over a 100-mile stretch were charging up to $2.739. Usage becomes a matter of cost and convenience because there’s only one way to refill the tank – drive 8 miles up the road.

Fortunately, this campground has a nice heated recreation center where we can plug in our computers, recharge David’s camera battery, and work away.  And the RV’s solar panel recharges the house battery, which runs the lights (but not the wall sockets) when we’re dry camping.

Unfortunately, we’ll have to go without enjoying David’s delicious Crock Pot pork roast. It’s yummy, but running the generator for 8 hours seems a bit over the top.

Staying Warm

Our intention was to always be in temperate climates where the need for heat or air conditioning would be minimal. We’re in Florida where it’s supposed to be warm, but the reality is it’s COLD!  We’re just north of Tampa and 50 degrees is the forecast high this week. Today it got up to 43 and last night the mercury plunged to 25 degrees.  The heater runs practically nonstop, and that’s with the thermostat set at 68.

When we need heat, we consume propane, which at $3 and more per gallon is even more precious than gasoline.  (Whether we have hookups or not, we need to use our propane to heat the RV.) If this week is any indication, we’ll need to break camp at least once to fill the propane tank.  We’re minimizing our usage at night by putting the thermostat as low as tolerable, wearing ski hats and lots of layers, and piling blankets and sleeping bags on top of the covers. No need to heat the entire RV if we can keep ourselves cozy. We actually become as snug as two bugs in a rug. The downside is it’s mighty difficult to rouse ourselves out of bed in the morning.

Dumping

One of the facts of RV life that tickles me is this: Whether one has an old, humble RV or an expensive brand new one with all the bells and whistles, you still have to dump your own sewage.  Even with hookups, you have to flip the levers, and wearing long rubber gloves, flush and recoil the hose. Guys who freak out at changing a dirty diaper seem to have no problem doing this. And men who at one time wielded power in the corporate world, rarely doing a menial task, are now dumping sewage.

Dumping becomes a major inconvenience when dry camping (or at a site without onsite sewer hookups). When we need to dump, we have to break camp (pull in the slides, pull up the levelers) and drive to the dump station.  It’s less than 50 yards away from our current site, but we still have to go through all the gyrations.  This is another situation where reducing water consumption and using the bathhouse pay off – in this case with fewer trips to the dump station.

Yup, there are a few “inconveniences” with dry camping. But at $5 a day, especially when your budget is tight, the financial advantage far outweighs the inconveniences.  At least that’s how I see it at the beginning of this 21-day stretch.  We’ll see how I feel in a week or so!

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