SusanMargaret

We are Canadians and have just bought a 23' travel trailer and truck. which is very exiting.
With our two dogs we plan to travel within Canada and head south in the winter for a few weeks. I would welcome any suggestions and advice that you may have for us, books for read, or anything that would help us be better prerpared. Also, I see that there are a number of campsite organisations that we could join to get reducing camping fees - which ones are worth the money? This is a new adventure for us and a bit scary.

Anonymous

I just bought an RV myself. There are loads of RV-specific sites full of very friendly and helpful people. My favorites are woodalls.com, irv2.net, rvonline.com, and fmca.com. Most of these sites have various discussion groups for newbies, specific categories of RVs, topics of interest (electrical systems, etc,) and other resources.

You can also find lots of interesting and supportive discussion groups on Yahoo, there seems to be at least one group for very brand!

GoTravel

I think Utahtea has a fifth wheel.

TTT for Susan.

utahtea

We had a 24' travel trailer for 10 years while our two boys were young. It had bunk beds for them and it was great!

RV.net had a very active forum on recreational vehicles. They have specific boards on "Beginner RV'ers", "Travel Trailers", "Family Camping", RVing in Canada & Alaska" and many, many more. You will get a lot of help over there.

http://www.rv.net/forum/

When we had the trailer we liked the Trailer Life Magazine. We changed over to the Motorhome Magazine when we purchased the motorhome. We belonged to Good Sam and members get a 10% discount at Good Sam Campgrounds. They also put out a little monthly magazine called "Highway Hearld".

For finding campgrounds I like the Trailer Life Campgrounds, RV Parks and Services Directory. This book also list the Good Sam Campgrounds.

My all time favorite maps are from AAA. My favorite computer maping program is "Micrsoft Streets and Trips".

My best suggestion would be to do a short local trail run. This will help get any bugs out and it might help you make a list of things you need to bring.

Happy Camping!!

Utahtea

Anonymous

I read a great tip on one of the newbie boards: Your first overnight should be at home in your own driveway, so you can just run in the house for the things you didn't realize you needed!

gail

When you head south for the winter, (I am assuming you mean crossing border into US), make sure you know what papers and immunizations the dogs need. And if you are going someplace really nice and warm, stop and pick me up.

Fairhope

Come see us in Alabama!!

rapunzll

You might see if you can find this movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047191/

Seriously, you will have a blast, you meet some of the nicest people in the world camping. On, and of all the states I have camped in, my home state of Michigan and New York state have the best state parks!

dfrostnh

We like to keep our trailer stocked with towels, bedding and cookware so the only thing we need for a trip is our clothes and food. Make sure you have extended mirrors and an anti-sway bar. There are times when you might not have electrical hookups so it might be a good idea to see how long you can go on battery power. We always carry bottled water for drinking. Camping near home the first time out is excellent advice.