Guest Author - Evanne Schmarder

You’ve packed the RV, read the map, plotted your course and arrived at the campground without incident. After checking in you’ll mosey on over to your site and get set up. This article will touch on my humble method for making a simple site a temporary homestead. The more experienced you become, the more routine your set up will become.

Prior to parking, it’s a good idea for the driver to get out, assess, and discuss the best positioning for the camper, taking into consideration the water, electric and sewer hookups – often not in one single location – slide out obstacles, ground levelness, and room for your awning. As you pull into the campsite make sure someone is outside the vehicle to watch for any potential hazards – low hanging tree branches, utilities, etc.

Once you are in your site, chock your tires so you don’t inadvertently roll and level your RV using jacks and/or blocks. Motorhomes are rather simple – pull in and level with hydraulics or use blocks under your tires. In the case of a trailer, level side to side via blocks under your tires, extend your front landing jacks and unhook. Using your landing jacks, level front to back then extend your back jacks firmly for stability.

Next, check the electric panel for appropriate power. I use a simple (20 amp plug in conjunction with a 30 amp adapter) red light/yellow light polarity tester to make sure it’s wired correctly then a digital volt meter to check voltage – looking for 2 or 3 volts on either side of 120 – and no action (less than 1 volt) across the ground and neutral. If all is well turn off the breaker, plug in your power cord, turn on the breaker, and get the refrigerator going.

Next up are the other hookups – water, sewer, and cable TV if available – in that order. Briefly run the water at the spigot to flush out any rust or sediment. Place your water filter (which is attached to a pressure regulator, right?) on the park’s water hookup, attach the hose, run some water through it to expel air, and screw it on to your RV’s water connection. The sewer hose should be sloped down towards the hookup - not much runs uphill. Cable TV is straight forward. If you use a satellite dish wait until the RV is setup and then deal with it.

For safety reasons, I never run with my propane tanks open so they must be opened at every setup. Easy enough.

With the outside under control it’s time to get the living area setup. Remove any travel bars from your slide outs. Can’t always remember that step? Tie a long, bright ribbon on the travel bar and make sure it hangs over the slide edge so as to be visible when the bar is in play. Open the slide – again having a spotter outside if there’s any chance it might come into contact with something incompatible – like an electric box or water post.

From there, go about removing safety bars from the fridge, closet sliding doors, medicine cabinets, etc. If necessary, put up the roof mounted TV antenna (again, I use a visual reminder so I don’t forget that step when leaving) and the knick knacks, laptop, floor lamp, etc.

A few more chores and a quick look around tells me I’m home!!