RE: For all you dry campers

[campingeyedoc]

 luvtacamp
Could you hook up to the tow vehicle to recharge the battery?

[raven339]

 luvtacamp
You could, and that s what I ve done in the past...But I ve since learned that it s not a good idea, neither for your deep cycle battery, nor for your TV.
 
 I ve come to believe it s best to get the battery capacity you need and then recharge it properly...
 
 I used to use an Interstate grp 24, now I use a Trojan grp 31...
 
 Skol...

[OC Campers]

 luvtacamp
We ve gone ten days dry camping withut depleting our battery. The refrige and water heater run on propane and are left on 24/7. i m stingy with the lights, make the kids read at night with a rechargable lantern. Since we spend all our time outside by the fire we don t use any power in the trailer.
  Even though our trailer has a shower, we prefer to camp where showers are available nearby. Many of the laundry mats in areas we camp in have nice pay showers as well.
  For water I always stop and fill the trailer before I park and I have a 7 gallon tote to re-fil. I also carry about 100ft of hose and a plastic slip on adapter to hook on to the campground faucets that don t have threads. With this I can easilly re-fil without lugging the water.
 
 Randy

[kminton]

 luvtacamp
luvtacamp,
 We stayed at the Cades Cove camp ground within the park.  They have potty facilities and a place to get water (we filled it up before we parked and then had a 2.5 gallon container that we carried back and forth from the water spikot outside the bath house).  We carried drinking water bought at the store and only used the water from campground to wash dishes and take quick baths.  Reservations are a must a Cades cove (we hear) after May 1st.
 
 We have also stayed at LazyDaze campground in Townsend.  The sites are really close but they do have water, electricity, sewer and cable.  Last year s Eastern Rally was held at Little River Campground in Townsend.  There is a review in the campground review section.  We rode through there and it seems nice too.   There is also Tremont Hills (I think is the name) in Townsend.  All of these are privately owned and located very close to the entrance to the Park.  They pretty much have nice facilities and pools.  Once again, reservations are a necessity.
 
 If you are going to stay a long time, personally, I would want to stay somewhere where I could get a long hot shower.  We stayed a long weekend at Cades Cove (3 nights).  I sort of like to have some information about weather and news while we are camping and couldn t do this at CC.  We of course didn t have a generator but survived.
 
 Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
 Kerri

[KeithS]

 luvtacamp
Dry camping just means that you have no hook ups. Everything that is powered is powered by the battery. First thing that you should do is be prepared to leave all your 110 Volt stuff at home. Second thing you should do is replace all the 110 Volt only stuff you have by AC/DC compatible products. For some things, like a coffee maker, the current requirements will either make DC (battery) operation impossible or so current draining that the applicance will quickly soak up all the juice in your battery.
 
 Many state parks are Dry Camping only, but most have running water, bathrooms and even hot and cold showers, so many of the " amenities"  are still there.
 
 Lastly, since you won t be hooked to " city water" , you ll have to fill your water tank that s in your pop up. Do it at the campground. towing water is a real waste of energy.

[ForestCreature]

 KeithS

towing water is a real waste of energy.          

 I have to disagree with that statement. Maybe that s where towing with an 8 cyl is more economical than a 6 cyl. Our mileage is the same taking water or leaving it behind. Even full of water we don t know it s back there most of the time.