4 hour ? rule

[booster]

We have always bought into the class B idea that you can be out in 1/2 hour on a spur of the moment trip. Probably true, if you are regularly going somewhere, and the van is 80% ready to go. A family illness and passing has made it so we don't know when, or if, we will have time to go for a couple of days of recovery. It appears to us, if you aren't regularly camping (every couple of weeks), that it is more like 4 hours to get on the road. Flush tanks, maybe sanitize, cool frig down, maybe stop for supplies, load up everything, treat tanks, get fuel, etc. How long does everyone else take to get ready to go, should the opportunity appear?

[markopolo]

How long............ too long

In theory all I need is my keys. In practice we usually get the B ready the day before. I'd say half a day to get ready - not rushing or moving too fast Plus cooling down the fridge at least the night before. I left the fridge on after the second to last trip because we were heading out again in a week.

There was a topic on the RT yahoo group some time back where one person maintained a set of "RV" clothing and shoes etc., so their van was always in a state of near readiness. At the time, not too many people agreed with the theory or did that. Lately though, I thought that might be a good way to go.

[mlts22]

The funny thing... I do exactly that. My current rig has a set of shoes, clothes, and clean undies ready to go. I also have a complete set of bedding, kitchen utensils, and such as well. I even have a set of USB chargers that remain with the RV. The only thing that transfers is food stuff, and possibly my e-Reader. That way, with my current rig, I'm ready to travel at any time without any packing needed, except perhaps having a clear plastic tub of critical items that you can grab from your house and sling into the van at a moment's notice.

I've found that keeping some hard-sided (I prefer the hard plastic because they are better against leaks) freezer gel packs in the S&B house freezer. That, and some food that gets rotated out (i.e. eaten) that is in a section just for the "grab and go" part of the fridge. I use plastic bags for that. That way, when it comes time to load up, you turn the fridge on, toss 2-3 freezer packs in the "B"s freezer, 1-2 in the fridge part, throw the food from the bags into the fridge, and that part is complete in minutes.

I'd probably say the longest part would be making sure the water in the FW tank is fresh, but part of every 1-2 weeks might be to run the generator with a load on it, dump the FW tank into the BW and GW tanks, empty the waste tanks, fill the FW tank back up (perhaps toss a chlorine tablet in it), and call it done.

[slipbobber]

The B and I are ready to go in minutes. The precious partner takes a little longer. While I do keep clothes, shoes and toiletries in the van she "needs stuff". We are lucky enough to get out for a 2 day trip every other weekend. I spend about an hour a week making sure the B is ready to go.

[WrongWayRandall]

It takes us about 30-45 minutes to hit the road. I keep most equipment, bedding, etc. in the bus at all times, so all we need to do is pack our clothes, toiletries, the dogs and their gear, and food.

- Randy

[gdoug]

It takes us about 45-60 leisure mins to get on the road as we prep the Trek right after the last trip. That is, the day after the trip the Trek gets fueled, cleaned, restocked with clothing and things we forgot on the last trip or different items needed if the next planned trip is to a place of a different nature, ie, beach site instead of a forest site. The fridge is turned on and the tires are checked the night before departure. At departure we load the bikes/rack, grill related stuff, fire wood, the food and any last minute items and go. No rushing. Stay relaxed. That's what it's all about. The goal is to pull out by 9. If we miss it, so what.

[Photog]

It takes us a couple of hours to head out. Our tanks and water get dumped and filled after each trip, so they are always ready, until winter when we convert to "dry mode".
For clothes, we only keep a couple jackets, photo vests and boots in the van. We have to load up our clothing, depending on the adventure.
We have a set of refrigerated condiments ready at all times. We figure out the other groceries once we are on the road, and stop at a grocery store after the first couple hours of driving. We need to stretch any way, so we use that time to fill in the fridge and pantry.

[ennajean]

All we have to do is put food in frig....put bikes on the rack and we are set to go. Everything else is all in the B ready to go.

[Davydd]

We do it every which way is described here and no matter what we always forget something.

[Rok]

Sounds like we're a little slower, but we're still fairly new at this and we don't keep too much in the RV yet. We are still figuring out what we need. For instance, we haven't ever had to use the roll-over leveler set that we started with and that has been removed from the van.

We get a little faster each time we go out.

.......Rocky

[Mike]

Originally Posted by Davydd

We do it every which way is described here and no matter what we always forget something.

Seconded.
We always try to forget something inexpensive and readily available at Walmart......

Seriously, lately it depends on lots of other items falling into place, much like "the stars aligning".
In a real sense, we can probably be ready to go in 24 hours, including physically prepping/testing all the on board systems, and creating/checking the "must haves" list.
Our latest challenge will be figuring out the litter box floor plan for our 4 legged passenger. He's an indoor cat, and we hope to keep it that way on the road.
What do others traveling with cat(s) do about/with the sandbox? Back of the bus while mobile, move forward at night?

[Davydd]

We have a 14 inch space between the driver's seat and the cabinet behind. A cat litter pan fits nicely there out of the path of travel. We clean it almost immediately after each use and it doesn't have to be moved around when stopped. Another GWVan owner has a different cabinet than we have behind the driver's seat that has a deep drawer. They removed the drawer and put the litter box in that spot.

[Mike]

That looks pretty good to me. Wish we had just a bit more space behind our driver's seat. Our floor plan is similar with a cupboard there. Ours it a bit tighter on the shorter wheelbase, though. We may have to do the move it around thing, at the back between the twin beds during the day, and move it forward to the cab at night. I'd thought about the drawer under the third seat as a possibility, but the box would have to be a smaller footprint to fit in it. Still, food for thought.
Thanks.

[WrongWayRandall]

Originally Posted by Davydd

We do it every which way is described here and no matter what we always forget something.

You'll note that I didn't specify that I never forgot something , just that it only takes us a short time to hit the road. In all seriousness, once we started using checklists we found that we got on the road sooner (without rushing, this is supposed to be fun!) and we didn't forget much, mostly just what didn't get put on the checklist after the last trip

- Randy

[gordonhks]

We had an extensive checklist in April, when we migrated from Florida to Missouri for the summer. 45 minutes after leaving the Florida home, I discovered that I had left my money, credit cards and license in the bedside stand that it resides in at night. Unfortunately you can not replace that at Walmart....

But to answer the question posed in the post, we can be ready easily in 4 hours, but we tend to bring the van over from storage 24 hours or so prior to get the refrigerator cooled down for the food transfer.

[mlts22]

One thing I do is have a plastic tub. Wallet, keys, everything I try to remember that I might need (tablet PC, phone charger, cable), I chuck into that the night before. Of course, I will end up forgetting something, but the trick is trying to lower those chances.

[Mike]

Is it better to take it, and not need it, or need it, and not have it?
(and the wisdom to know the difference? )

I've always used a short but comprehensive checklist I make up weeks before we leave, and we're usually good to go with everything we'll need. Once mobile, if we do find we need something we left behind, we either buy it if it's important enough, or I add it to the list for next trip.

[stanw909]

I have triple everything. House. Class A. Class B. Took off with my daughter for 2 days. Got there and no pillows. Wife took them out a couple weeks ago and put them in the Bounder for trip in that. I forgot to put back. Dang it.

[maczero]

4 hours is the norm? Takes me just 3 minutes and that's only because I like to have all the curtains open for maximum visibility while driving.

I also keep it fully loaded with clothes, toiletries, vacation gear, and even food. I'm curious why some think this is a bad idea.

[garmp]

But what about the other way, leaving a campground? 20 minutes tops and that's with the instant up canopy up. Coolers on the bench, the barbie out, but cool, and assorted camping paraphernalia scattered about. This is one of our joys of a B!!!