Northwest RVing
The Northwest RVing Blog site is hosted by MHRV (Manufactured Housing and Recreational Vehicle) Show Association. Each year, MHRV presents three important trade shows in the greater Seattle area to promote and display the RV Lifestyle. We are all about RVing and hope you will enjoy the many articles posted here about RVing in general and about our upcoming shows.
To Reserve or Not Reserve?
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- Written by Shari and Hutch
Choosing Curiosity as Your Guide
“Tourists don’t know where they’ve been, travelers don’t know where they are going.” ~Paul Theroux
As we write from the parking lot of a Walmart in Maine, we can’t help but reflect on the poignancy of this article. We had other ideas for this weekend, but a quick tire change on our trailer revealed a more complex issue. Of course it’s Friday, and it can’t be addressed until Monday. So, here we wait, making the most of the opportunity, exploring the area on foot and by bike while limiting our driving to short hops around town. If we had firm reservations or plans, they would have been canceled. We would have been stuck with the fees, disappointment, and whatever goes along with it.
Maximizing Your Batteries for Fall & Winter Camping
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- Written by Dave Helgeson
Luckily those of us in the Pacific Northwest that live on the more temperate side of the Cascades can enjoy camping in our RV throughout the year including the cooler fall and winter months.
In addition to soaking in the fall colors and winter scenery, my wife and I enjoy clamming, storm watching, geocaching and sitting around a roaring campfire with friends. If you also enjoy the freedom that comes with boondocking like we do, you will not be hooked up to shore power in a campground which leaves your batteries up to the task of powering your RV.
Keep Your RV Safe From Theft
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- Written by Dave Helgeson
Many RVers are concerned about theft of their RV when they are away from it. First of all, know that crimes against RVs and their owners are extremely low and the chance of your RV ever being stolen is close to zero.
While my wife and I regularly boondock leaving our RV unattended out in the middle of nowhere, our biggest concern relating to theft of our travel trailer is when we drop it along a stretch of lonely highway while we enjoy a side trip in our tow vehicle to a ghost town or other out of the way place in the middle of nowhere. Who knows what criminal element might drive by, see our RV sitting on the side of the road and circle around to take a closer look. Discovering it to be temporarily abandoned, it would only take a minute for a bad guy with a truck to latch onto our travel trailer and head down the road to points unknown.
Trial By Fire - I Mean Hail
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- Written by Emily Helgeson
On June 24th God blessed us with our second child, a sweet little girl. Fast forward a couple months and while we so enjoyed the extra time at home with our son Nolan and little Molly, we were getting itchy for a vacation. While we were happy to have a summer baby, to avoid the need to bundle her so much, summer camping was still on our minds.
FreeRoam App for Boondocking
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- Written by Dave Helgeson
If you have been following this blog through the years or attended one of my boondocking seminars, you know I recommend using the PublicLands.org website and/or app to determine the boundaries on federal land on which to boondock. Lately there have been a bunch of new apps coming out promising to be a boon to boondockers, (sorry I couldn’t resist the pun) supposedly listing thousands of places to boondock on public land. While I have been underwhelmed by their listings (one app only shows two designated dispersed camping areas in Montana, a state which is nearly 30% federal land), I have been impressed by their overlay maps showing federal land boundaries.