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Old 04-23-2017, 05:20 PM   #1
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Loading and unloading tips?

We have been 5th wheel rvers for about 12 years or so. We love the many ways we use our 36ft 5th wheel and enjoy cooking our own meals which od course means loading food as well all the other stuff one takes along.
We are tiring of the process of loading it before travel and unloading it upon our return home. Extended trips are not such a big deal but shorter trips are.
I'm looking to see what tips you all have to lessen the drudgery of loading and unloading your unit.
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Old 04-23-2017, 05:23 PM   #2
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Keep your rig plugged in and the frig on loaded with food. As for the other things fully stock the bathroom so that you only need load the personal things when you travel. I like to say I have two of everything one for the stick house and one for the TT
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Old 04-23-2017, 05:27 PM   #3
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We keep our camper plugged in, so we can leave drinks and condiments in the fridge. Then we just have to bring the main course food out.

We don't bother with suitcases or anything, my wife just puts all our clothes in a laundry basket folded up. We keep another one in the shower stall in the camper, when we change, old clothes go in the basket, which gets tossed in the wash when we get home.

Things like coolers, propane fire pit, grill, chairs, stay either in an area in the garage so they can go right in the bed of the truck, or they stay in the storage area of the camper. I try to unpack as little as possible. We use paper plates usually, but our camper has its own coffee maker, utensils, cleaning supplies, etc etc.
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Old 04-23-2017, 05:30 PM   #4
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We keep it plugged in but many times we take fridge items from home into the rv fridge. Don't keep it loaded. I guess the goal there is to keep hours off the fridge. Maybe that would help with some items. Will be a few months before we go again.
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Old 04-23-2017, 06:27 PM   #5
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We keep it plugged in but many times we take fridge items from home into the rv fridge. Don't keep it loaded. I guess the goal there is to keep hours off the fridge. Maybe that would help with some items. Will be a few months before we go again.
Why keep hours off the fridge? An RV fridge has no moving parts.
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Old 04-23-2017, 06:57 PM   #6
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Mine does
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Old 04-23-2017, 06:58 PM   #7
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We plug into shore power as soon as we arrive home...keep our TT fully stocked only things we remove are meds, laundry, etc. refrigerator is left on... if we are going to be home for a few weeks part of the frig turns into a adult beverage cooler...nothing like watching the Red Sox on a rainy day and have cold beverages at hand.

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Old 04-24-2017, 12:04 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by tcrossan View Post
We have been 5th wheel rvers for about 12 years or so. We love the many ways we use our 36ft 5th wheel and enjoy cooking our own meals which od course means loading food as well all the other stuff one takes along.
We are tiring of the process of loading it before travel and unloading it upon our return home. Extended trips are not such a big deal but shorter trips are.
I'm looking to see what tips you all have to lessen the drudgery of loading and unloading your unit.
Piece of Cake...I let the DW do it! Seriously. She is retired and is always ready to go RVing like NOW. I still work full time (from home office at least) and letting her do the packing keeps her from standing in the office door staring at me asking "Can we go?" I just ask: "Are you packed".
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Old 04-24-2017, 12:10 PM   #9
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Ours doubles as our earthquake safety kit, so it mostly stays loaded with fresh water tank full.
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Old 04-24-2017, 12:11 PM   #10
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Oh, and our FW storage is about 6 miles from the house, so as mentioned above, have duplicates for all the bathroom stuff, spices, basic ingredients that stay with the FW all the time. We have 15 amp power but we don't turn on the fridge until a day or two ahead of leaving. We only load/unload perishable foods each trip, so it isn't too bad. We may bring some clothing items home, but we have a stacked washer/dryer so we clean any soiled clothes/linens on the last day out. We change out the RVing clothes seasonally so trucking our clothes back and forth is minimal. But then again I may have forgotten something because the DW is in charge of packing!
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Old 04-24-2017, 12:22 PM   #11
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We keep our TT plugged in and fully stocked with everything that's non-perishable. When we want to go somewhere, we just need our clothes and a quick trip to the supermarket.
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Old 04-24-2017, 12:29 PM   #12
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I think we will try leaving more clothes and non parishibles in 5thw. We live in FL and are alway wary of fruit rats getting inside. They did $8,000 damage to our neighbors Seneca. Not worth the risk to leave anything edible thats not in a metal can.
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Old 04-24-2017, 05:16 PM   #13
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Like many other posts, my TT is always fully loaded and ready to go with everything except perishable foods and some clothing. My goal was to *not* have to worry about remembering to haul things in/out of the TT/house when I am ready to head out. I even keep my cat's dry food sealed in a mouse-proof container and in the TT ready to go. I forgot it once and had to find a grocery store to buy him a can of people salmon for food. That was the last time I stopped keeping his food in the TT. I do take the cat food out of the TT during the winter to avoid mice/critters, which I have never had, but I leave the non-perishable food in the TT otherwise. RVing is supposed to be easy; stock your 5er with as many basics as you can to simply things. I keep a list of what needs replenishing/replacing and do so when I return from a trip if it does not need to be replaced during a trip. Super easy to stay on top of everything I need in the TT, save for perishable foods.
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Old 04-24-2017, 06:24 PM   #14
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We stay fully stocked, clothes and extras get put in collapsible wagon. As we think of things it goes in wagon. We generally make one trip to TT. We don't do suitcases, clothes go from wagon to wardrobe. Then reverse process when we get home. Elapse time loading and unloading is less than 1 1/2 hrs. for 4 days or more, 30 mins for weekend trips.
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Old 04-24-2017, 08:56 PM   #15
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X2 on the collapsaible wagon for reducing trips to tt about 100 feet away from back door. Food clothes etc neede for trip are carried this way. Stock can goods first trip out remove any left overs last trip in. Keep both refrig plugin in, as we are going about every other weekend from now to November. Outside refrig is great for water and drinks while doing yard work, also will store watermelon as needed often, DW sold Tupperware while I was in college and has a ample supply of canisters. Great for stables, sugar, flour coffee etc, gallon size leave in camper. Have picked up some Tupperware at garage sales as well. Have second set of all kitchen gadgets coffe pot, ice maker, crockpot etc. even second electric tooth brushes, only left home without that once!
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Old 04-27-2017, 08:05 AM   #16
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I live in south Alabama and the summers get pretty hot. My wife are only able to camp 4 - 6 times a year for 3 - 5 days at a time. Our concern is things left in the trailer will get too hot between trip. So, we pretty much empty it after each trip.
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Old 04-27-2017, 08:24 AM   #17
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Nothing the rats can eat.. everything else stays. We get out the cloth items that got used and bring the clothes we plan on wearing on "this" trip that may have gotten taken out. It has its own towels(kitchen and bath) and other dedicated stuff...
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Old 04-28-2017, 06:59 AM   #18
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Tfmdgm, that's pretty much our story. We go a bit more than that but the heat is atrocious here in Tampa Bay area in summer. I leave ac run on 80° but inside cabinets it gets very warm. I like the wagon idea and will give that a try.
We keep utensils and "non-edibles" year round. Clothes always come in as they smell musty if left long term. Humidity is as bad as the heat. I'm adding a dehumidifier this summer as we won't be going much due to some home projects.
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Old 04-28-2017, 07:09 AM   #19
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We keep almost everything in the 5er, since we go somewhere just about every month. We have a basic set of clothes (enough for 5 days in any weather), non-perishable foods (in the pantry), snacks, case of bottled water (in the closet), drinks, etc. We also would use these items in case of emergencies, in which we would need to head out in the trailer on short notice. The refrigerator is just about always on, unless we are bringing it to the dealer for something (rare).
The only things we load are:
perishable foods
additional clothes for the time of year/area we are visiting

That's it.

Even though it gets very hot here, we don't turn on the a/c until the day before we are leaving. It costs a bunch to run that thing!
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Old 04-28-2017, 07:11 AM   #20
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tcrossan - Do you have any idea of how much running the AC at 80 in Tampa adds to your power bill?
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