New RVer w Springdale 202RD

[BobandJulie]

I love camping and had an Inteck Chase Flyer; it is basically a box with a mattress (w heat and A/C). Lovely little camper but wanted something more comfortable for aging bones.

Still sifting through all the nuances of the plumbing, electrics, and trailering a larger unit. So far, a great adventure. Shutting down for the cold few months and working through winterizing, etc.

Here is my question. I live in a townhouse community and store my unit locally. Are there public areas I should consider when flushing my gray water system post winterization or is it reasonable to use the first day camping to flush at the camp pump station?

Not comfortable draining gray water in the street and don't really have a large driveway to park temporarily.

Thanks in advance any advise provided....

-Bob

[curtiscapk]

I know some that take theirs to a dump station to winterize.

[BobandJulie]

Thank you. I just did a web search for 'RV dump stations near me' and came up with a few!! Did not even consider this before. $10 dollar fee. A bargain!

Regards,
Bob
2023 Springdale 202RD
2019 F150 V6 Platinum

[curtiscapk]

I did mine at the last campsite I was at.

[dutchmensport]

To unwinterize we will select a campground that has full hook-up. Then, once there, simply unwinterize. The sewer dump is right there too.

Now, (IF) we are home, I'll unwinterize in my driveway. But, we also live in the country, have our own septic tank, and I "can" dump grey water on the ground. I probably "could" even dump my black water on the ground, but that would mean a nasty mess for "us".

Now, I usually winterize late November. Around Christmas time to the end of the month, we normally head out for the Southern part of the USA. I plan my trip carefully and usually, the first night traveling we are not far enough South to unwinterize yet. We usually stay in a motel.

The second night, we've planned on a campground (usually in Tennessee) that has full hook-up and there we unwinterize.

If we return home and Indiana is still in a frozen state, I'll reverse the route and plan on staying at the same campground we unwinterized. Only this time, before taking off in the morning, I'll winterize again. It will give me an opportunity to really flush out my black tank again this way and get the water lines winterized.

Often, at that point, we'll just drive straight home and skip the motel. What is normally about 5 hours of driving end up being about 10-12, but we've learned once we reach that point, all we want to do is get back into our own drive way.

Now, if Indiana has passed the freezing temperature days, I'll just leave the camper unwinterized and head home. State Parks open their water and dump station beginning April 1 (normally). So, no motel needed if we return home in April.

[JRTJH]

Typically, in the early spring, there's lots of people wanting to get out and enjoy that "first weekend of nice weather" and campgrounds in metropolitan areas are "jam packed with trailers"... That means the dump stations are, for the most part, also "jam packed". It's not "friendly camping" to spend a lot of time at a busy dump station while other people are "patiently (at least at first) waiting for you to finish messing with your rinse and dump of the fresh water tank.

There's a difference in dumping gray tanks and draining the fresh water tank.

If what you're planning is to dump gray tanks and move away from the dump station, no problem, but if you're intending to fill/flush/drain/begin to sanitize the fresh water tank, then "tying up the dump station" is likely to be viewed in a negative manner by those people lining up behind you.

So, depending on what you're planning to do at the dump station, it may be more "fellow camper friendly" to just rent an overnight full hookup site and spend the day not only leisurely de-winterizing, but also enjoying the first camping weekend with those full hookups, so you can fully check out and prepare the trailer for the upcoming camping season.

[BobandJulie]

Excellent suggestions. Thank you.

[spicercars]

Welcome from northern MN.

[CedarCreekWoody]

Get a campsite with full hookups and take all of the time that you wish.

[MrKABC]

Greetings and welcome fellow 202 owner! You're going to love it.