The Family Camping Blog

Overshadowed by tourist havens Yosemite National Park to the north and Kings Canyon National Park to the east, the Sierra National Forest itself offers numerous lakes, water falls and granite-capped peaks. We had just completed a short break-in trip with our new motorhome, and with only eleven short days until the long Memorial Day weekend, we decided to venture-out a bit further. In California, all the best campgrounds fill-up months before any summer holiday weekend, but even on short notice, we were able to choose from among several great campgrounds in the high Sierra's.

Rancheria campground lies on the northeast shore of Huntington Lake, at around 7,000 feet. It is a large campground, with some 150 sites, but it doesn't feel crowded. The individual sites are large and private, some of them quite primitive and suitable only for tents. There is fresh water and restrooms available, but no RV dump. In fact, the closest RV dump is at Camp Edison on Shaver Lake, 18 miles back down the mountain. Camp Edison is not blind to this fact, either, as they charge $20 to use their RV dump. Good stewards of the land that we are, we did indeed pack-out everything that we packed-in, and dumped our tanks for $5 at Case de Fruta, on the Pacheco Pass near Gilroy, CA.

While the kids were playing on the lake's narrow beach, we spotted a pair of Bald Eagles nesting on an adjacent shoreline. Both the adult male and female took turns flying nearly over our heads, providing us with a rare (for us) glimpse of these great birds-of-prey.

Posted to Backcountry Trips at 07:25 PM |Permalink | Comments (2)
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Since we switched from a trailer to a motorhome, we no longer have a vehicle to sightsee with. This meant that we would either have to stay in the campsite (not really an option), or find a vehicle that could transport a family of five, and still be light enough to tow behind our motorhome. The Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR) of all these 1 1/2 ton Ford-based motorhomes is 20,000 pounds. GCWR is the total weight of the motorhome, plus the weight of whatever it is towing. Using the "20% Rule", that is, you should stay at least 20% under the maximum weight rating of your vehicle if you want to maintain good driveability and performance, we needed a vehicle that was as close to 4,000 pounds as possible, and hopefully less. If you add these limitations (seating for five and 4,000 pounds or less), along with a vehicle that can be flat-towed (all four wheels down - most manufacturers do not recommend their vehicles be flat-towed), there was all of about one option; a 2006 (2007's can not be flat-towed) or earlier Suzuki XL-7.

That is how we ended-up with a 2006 four wheel drive Suzuki XL-7, our new "toad", which is RV slang for the car you tow behind a motorhome. Yes, RV'ers have their own language. The next order of business was to prepare the Suzuki for being towed. This entails tearing the front end off of the vehicle so that a mounting bracket for the towbar can be bolted to the frame.

The entire project took two hours, and was a relatively simple procedure. As you can see in the final picture, when the towbar is not in use you cannot see the attachment points on the mount (they're in the openings on either side of the license plate). Before we can tow the Suzuki we still have to wire-up the lights, but that is for another day!

Posted to Camping Tips at 07:10 PM |Permalink | Comments (2)
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After a year of camping in our Outback trailer, we decided to try a motorhome this year. Pulling a trailer up and down the west coast was easier than we thought, but we think a motorhome will be even easier. And, of course, we won't miss the setup and tear-down regimen of trailer camping (crank the tongue-jack up, install weight distribution bars, crank the tongue jack down, etc.). Make no mistake; we loved our Outback trailer (see Three Things We Love About the Keystone Outback in March), and would not hesitate to recommend one.

We resisted the urge to go longer than our current 26 feet, which is not easy to do, once you start walking through RV's! The 30+ foot floorplans are like mansions on wheels, but we like the ability to fit a 26 foot RV into most places that we want to go. Another consideration was the 14,050 pound Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of all these Ford-chassied motorhomes. Our 26 foot, single slide RV weighs about 11,350 pounds empty; leaving just 2,700 pounds for people, cargo, propane, and water. A 32 foot, dual slide motorhome might only have about half of that capacity. The floorplans are very similar; the kids sleep in a forward bunk, and we have a bedroom in the back with a fullsize queen bed (most RV queen beds are 60 x 74 inch "short queens"). The additional space provided by the slideout is amazing. In the Outback, you had to plan your moves in advance and once you got somewhere, you had to stay. Not so in the motorhome! Kids can play on the floor, adults can pass each other in the kitchen; it's not much different than our kitchen area at home. The 6' 10" ceiling height also helps provide a sense of spaciousness.

We are a bit sad to see the Outback go. It was a solid dry-camping solution that served us very well. We hope our new motorhome allows us to escape quicker on Friday evenings, and get to our destinations in more comfort than our SUV/trailer combination did.  

Posted to Camping Tips at 01:28 PM |Permalink | Comments (0)
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