We are boondocking at Harvest Hosts for about half the nights on this trip. Boondocking is a term used by RVers to describe RVing without being connected to electricity, water, or sewer. Boondocking is also called dry camping. Our RVs are totally self-contained, with a freshwater tank, electrical power, and sewage tanks.
Harvest Hosts is a membership network of wineries, breweries, and farms that invites self-contained RVers to stay overnight for free. The proper etiquette is to buy something from the hosts, such as a bottle of wine, a pair of alpaca socks, lavender soaps, or whatever is produced at the host location.
Harvest Hosts locations limit parking to one of two RVs so there is no one else around besides us. The places are very quiet without noisy neighbors running around. The views tend to be expansive since you are not sandwiched in between other RVs like you are at some RV parks.
Close attention to the freshwater tank level, gray and black tank levels, and the state of charge of the house batteries is required while boondocking. When a RV is hooked up to water and sewer at a campground, you can drain the gray and black tanks anytime you want, and you have an unlimited supply of fresh water. The electrical connection provides unlimited power.
The house batteries are charged by running the generator. Normally I run the generator for several hours in the evening and again the next morning. The house batteries are also charged by the motorhome engine alternator. I don’t have a good feel yet for the actual state of charge on the house batteries. The six house batteries have 900 amp-hours of capacity. I can get a ballpark estimate of the state of charge of the battery by looking at the voltage level of the house batteries, but that is just an estimate. I really need to get a battery tender monitor to tell me how much battery capacity is left. For now, I am trying to stay on the safe side and not let the battery get down below a 50% state of charge.
After several nights at Harvest Hosts locations, we check into a regular campground. While at a regular campground we can dump the gray and black tanks, refill the fresh water tank, and connect to 50 amp service to completely recharge the house batteries.
We can go about a week before the gray and black tanks fill up to capacity. Running the generator in the evening and following morning usually charges the batteries up to close to a 100% state of charge.
We are also boondocking in BLM lands. BLM stands for Bureau of Land Management. BLM lands are owned by the federal government and free to stay on. There are 247 million acres of BLM lands comprising 1/8 of the landmass in the United States. The BLM that we stayed in Utah was remote and very dark at night. The night we stayed here I wanted to go outside to see the stars, but the area was pitch black. I couldn’t see anything outside the RV. I was afraid of being eaten by wild animals that I could not see if I stepped outside the RV at night.
While boondocking, the RV really does feel like a home on wheels. When hooked up at a campground, while still being home on the road, you are in a facility with other people. When dry camping and being completely self-contained, your home really is where ever you park it.
It’s always a pleasure to read your travelogues!
Thank you for your kind words Rosemarie.