Moeller - The complete book of boondock RVing: camping off the beaten path

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We wish to thank the following people and companies for their help and support during the writing of this book: Chuck Campbell, RVing writer and photographer; Ben and Barbara Bachman of Bachman Enterprises for their TurboKOOL photos and charts; Chad Christ of East Penn Manufacturing Company, maker of Deka batteries; Miriam Robbins of Southwest Windpower for the wind generator photo; Gary Baxter and Tony Boatwright of Magnum Energy, maker of pure-sine-wave inverters; Rich Zinzer of Northwood Manufacturing for a good selection of photographs of its Nash and Arctic Fox trailers; Pamela Gray-Hann of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for the great map of solar brightness in the United States; Daren Hatfield of Iota Engineering, maker of smart battery chargers; Stan Hackathorn of Wrangler NW Power Products for his help with high-powered alternators; Dave Needham of Progressive Dynamics, makers of fine RV products including converters; Sharon Halcomb of West Marine and Steven E. Paley of Navimo USA for the picture of Navimo flexible water tanks; and Bob Neudecker and Denis Pichii of Xantrex Technology, for pictures of several of their products. We also wish to acknowledge Greg and Deb Holder of AM Solar for working with us and adding to our knowledge of solar power. They are truly two good friends.

We also wish to thank two more very dear friends, Bob and Lynne Livingston, who have encouraged us in our writings, photography, and RVing. Bob is the man who knows the answers to all RVing problems. Thank you for being such good friends, and for having such a great sense of humor.

Lastly, I would like to thank my late wife, Jan, who was a superb writer, photographer, and traveling companion. I am giving her half of the authorship of this book even though she couldnt contribute to the work because of her illness. She did, however, encourage me to finish the book. Back some thirty years ago, when we wrote our first book, she did 95% of the work, but very generously gave me half the credit. She was a wonderful lady.

Websters New World Compact Desk Dictionary defines boondocks as "a jungle; the back-country; or a hinterland." As Jan and I understand it, the word derives from the Tagalog word for mountainbundokand was picked up by U.S. soldiers after the Spanish-American War when they were sent into the jungles of the Philippines. It became more popular during the Vietnam War and has been used more and more by the general public ever since.

Boondock RVing (or camping) is, by an RVers definition, camping with your RV in a place where there are no electrical hookups, water faucets, sewer drains, and phone or cable TV connections. This is also called dry camping or primitive camping. Boondocking RVers are people who have their RVs equipped for this type of camping.

We first started boondocking in the 1960s, and during that time, we had two different RVs. Our first rig was a rented pickup camper, which we took on a grand tour of most of the western states. It had minimal equipment aboard: an icebox, two 110-volt lights, a two-burner propane cookstove, a water tank with a hand pump at the galley sink, a Humphrey propane mantle light, and a chemical toilet, which was just a large wooden box with a seat and cover, filled partly with water and chemicals to control the smell.

(RVIA)

The trip was boondocking at its best. Our home was always with us, and we were able to pull off the road whenever we chose to eat, sleep, and rest. Camping life was simple thenand delightful. At night we would park our camper in a forest campground. With a gas light hissing away, we had comfortable warmth with plenty of light for reading and a battery-powered, shortwave radio for entertainment. The only problem we ever encountered was the lack of a furnace or heater, which we keenly felt when an early September snowstorm in Yellowstone Park left behind 6 inches of snow.