Assateague Island: RV-ers, help a newbie out?

[Zhoen]

My parents are kindly letting me borrow their RV to camp at Assateague Island around 4th of July (Yep it's gonna be crowded, yep, I've got reservations.) I know nothing AT ALL about RV life. (I *DO* know about the horses, though, BTDT!!!)

I'm planning to bring our screen tent and patio furniture for an outdoor living room sort of deal. The site has a picnic table and fire ring, plus there's a kitchen and dining room inside the RV. And if I can't figure out the plumbing on the rig, the park has bathrooms, so I'm not worried about that.

So, anybody got some some great tips/tricks/hints/links they'd be willing to share?

I'm up for anything from packing-tips to recipe ideas to campsite decorations, beach activity ideas... you name it. I'm more ready for my June 2017 Disney trip than my July 2016 beach trip!!! Yikes!

 

[peg110]

Well... What kind of RV is it? Pop-Up, Travel Trailer? 5er? Motor Home? Make and Model could help to give tips and tricks (or concerns). Things that could be an issue with a 5er will not even be a concern with a Pop-up.

Some Ideas to be mindful of... Have an RV water hose (Typically will be WHITE) and ONLY use it for the fresh water supply. Have a pressure regulator too. (I learned that the hard way).

Make sure you know how to deal with the Waste Water (Black and Grey) if your RV is so equipped. This could be disastrous for someone that doesn't know what and how to work those controls. Have some rubber gloves handy for this as well.

A crock pot can be an awesome item to have with you. You are on vacation and you don't want to spend your vacation COOKING. My new thing is also those "Bags" for the crock pots. You can "Prep" a crock pot meal and even freeze it in the bag. (Tip... Freeze it in the bag AND in the crock itself so that when you are ready, you know it will fit in the pot.) Then on your trip you can take it out of the freezer/cooler, drop it in the crock and turn it on... 6, 8 10 hours later (or whatever time it needs) dinner is ready. Clean-up means throwing the empty bag away and a quick wipe out of the crock.

For those "Towels" we bought a collapsible dry rack similar to http://www.amazon.com/Honey-Can-Do-...64090056&sr=8-2&keywords=collapsible+dry+rack (ours is a bit different though). That way you don't have a bunch of beach towels littered around. Alternatively (depending on your site) some Cord/rope to tie between trees can work for this too (if it's allowed)

I am sure you will get tons more tips as well.

 

[parrothead64]

Are you staying in the state park or the national park? If the state park, are you in the electric loop?

 

[jbrostek]

Assateague Island as far as I know is a dry campground meaning there is zero hookups at the drive in camping sites. That being said you will need a generator if you plan to power anything like a crock pot and to keep batteries charged on the RV for 12v items. There is potable water and a dump station on the Island and the 'bathrooms' are chemical toilets (think portaJon) and cold water showers.

There is a "generator free zone" camping area so be mindful of that is your site you will have issues with the neighbors.

I would bring a few extra 5 gallon water jugs as a backup for water use. You can use the RV facilities, but keep in mind your tank useage and be prepared to have to pull out use the dump station. Depending on how long your stay, how well you can conserve water including showers, you could easily do a few days between dumping gray water and refilling fresh water. The black tank again depending again on how many people and how much water used per flush would not need to be emptied as often.

 

[parrothead64]

Assateague Island as far as I know is a dry campground meaning there is zero hookups at the drive in camping sites. That being said you will need a generator if you plan to power anything like a crock pot and to keep batteries charged on the RV for 12v items. There is potable water and a dump station on the Island and the 'bathrooms' are chemical toilets (think portaJon) and cold water showers.

There is a "generator free zone" camping area so be mindful of that is your site you will have issues with the neighbors.

I would bring a few extra 5 gallon water jugs as a backup for water use. You can use the RV facilities, but keep in mind your tank useage and be prepared to have to pull out use the dump station. Depending on how long your stay, how well you can conserve water including showers, you could easily do a few days between dumping gray water and refilling fresh water. The black tank again depending again on how many people and how much water used per flush would not need to be emptied as often.

That is the National Park, the state park side has one electric loop. That is exactly why I asked, she is very limited depending where she is.

 

[peg110]

Yeah, I wasn't thinking to much about "Dry Camping" when it came to the "Crock Pot" idea.... I am not familiar with the Assateague Island so I apologize for that.

If you are dry camping, you DEFINITELY need to be mindful of your water and waste usages.

 

[Zhoen]

Hi Guys, thanks!

Yes, after I posted I double checked, and we ARE in the state park, but NOT in the electric loop (heck, for that week, I'm happy to have gotten anything at all! Ut's easier to get BOG dinner ressies for 20 than to get on the electric loop at Assateague!!! ) I do have a generator that can be used when it's not the "quiet hours," but I'll definitely try to minimize it for ambiance. On the other hand, I drive a mom-mobile, and THAT has an electric outlet... yep, I've been known to cook bacon on an electric skillet out-da-back of my van!!! Seems like a crockpot would work the same. Good idea about the crockpot, thanks!

Ok, added a laundry line to the list for the towels, but we might just bake them on the picnic table a lot of the time.

I'm thinking that if we run the generator a bit each day, we should have enough charge for the lights at night... here's hoping...

Since we'll be using the comfort stations for showers and such, I think we'll be ok on water, and there are fill-ups/dumps in the parks. We've tent-camped there before, so worst-case scenario, it'll be a big, metal, storm-proof tent.

Oh, and it's a motor home, not super-big, I'll have to ask my parents about the make and model... it's about 20-25 feet, I think... not one of the big bus looking things... Unfortunately it's in storage upstate right now, so I am going of memory until they bring it down.

 

[jbrostek]

I always assume no power there because the small area with power is nearly impossible to get. Smaller RV means less fluid storage, but still should be able to use the bathroom in the RV for times when the walk is not easy. Of course that means dumping the use as well.

 

[peg110]

Smaller RV means less fluid storage

Okay, taking it a bit

You'd think the smaller the RV/Camper, the less the water storage, however, I have been looking for an "affordable" Truck Camper (Those suckers are EXPENSIVE), and many of them have fresh and black tanks upwards of 40 gallons. My old 27' TT only had 40 Gallon Fresh tank and something like a 30 Gallon Black tank. It's funny, sometimes how they configure these things.

Okay...

 

[IngmarP]

The state park can get very windy very suddenly. Be very cautious with the camper's awning, as they are really sensitive to wind gusts. Never go off and leave it open or leave it out at night. Even tied down they can lift and rip the supports right off the camper. And take plenty of bug spray. The mosquitoes there are legendary. Keep away from the horses, they are wild and dangerous--big fines for feeding them.

Just thought of one more thing. We once saw someone with a brand new camper pull off to the side of the road to get water. He instantly sunk up to the axle in the sand and it took a tow truck 2 hours to get him out. So don't leave the pavement even a little.

 

[Zhoen]

The state park can get very windy very suddenly. Be very cautious with the camper's awning, as they are really sensitive to wind gusts. Never go off and leave it open or leave it out at night. Even tied down they can lift and rip the supports right off the camper. And take plenty of bug spray. The mosquitoes there are legendary. Keep away from the horses, they are wild and dangerous--big fines for feeding them.

Just thought of one more thing. We once saw someone with a brand new camper pull off to the side of the road to get water. He instantly sunk up to the axle in the sand and it took a tow truck 2 hours to get him out. So don't leave the pavement even a little.

Duly noted, and kinda scared

 

[FtW Mike]

Not very familiar with Assateague but as we do go to other CG's on Delmarva Peninsular the screen house will be a must as will bug spray. We try to plan on meals that are simple and easy with a small X Wing grill for cooking on. Hint if you do use the fire pit and grill you may want some Alum foil to cover it with. If you do pot/pan cooking here cover exterior of them with some liquid soap to make clean up way easier ( I swrl some liquid dish soap on bottom and then wuse a paper towel to spread around ) Paper plates and plastic utensils make clean up easier as well. Battery powered lanterns will serve you well both inside and outside the coach