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Living our dream…
Hello PC members,
We wanted to,say hello to everyone, it has been awhile since I have posted anything, but continue to read PC daily and learn, laugh, and enjoy it all. We bought the Royale March 21st from our new friends Peter and Trina Campbell from Wheatland Wy, and both of us just love the coach. Since the 1800 mile trip home to NC, we have traveled to,Greensboro NC to vist with Peter at his clinic, to NC beach for Easter, to Asheville NC to visit my son, and numerous local rides around Charlotte….putting 3300 miles on the coach.Being I am a trucker by trade, I have driven almost 3,000,000 miles, many many different trucks from bucket of bolts,to,top of the line Peterbilts, but have never had such a smooth sweet ride as the Royale…unreal, and enjoying the automatic 6 speed transmission….to hell with 18 speeds!!! We are going on a nice trip in June..leaving NC for Nashville, then onto my hometown of Huntsville AL to drop daughter off at Space Camp, to NOLA, to Memphis, then back to Huntsville for my 40th HS reunion and pick up daughter. It will be our first time to hit a campground and planning on staying at the rv park in Nola and Tom Sawyer in W Memphis AR.We are looking forward to rolling on down the road.. More good news, I was able to get the coach into my small warehouse and with 50 amp service…barely fit with 1 1/2 inch to spare with bags down, but did. I know Jon…you clear by half an inch!!!!! Crazy man
A few questions for y’all….
Want to get a infrared grill…what kind and where to get it?
manual awnings..when leaving coach to go touring around…leave them out or retract? Realize if weather moving in should not be out
Mice…what should I do with coach in my warehouse to keep them out? Winter probably when would be issue?
Should I carry a a step ladder and what size?
looking for LEDs marker side etc…any recommended sites budget minded?
Once again, a big thank you to Jon, Peter, and Tom for helping me make an educated choice of coaches….we love it!
Happy Motoring and be safe,
Dave
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13 Replies
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Dave & Karen,
Welcome to PC and the Bus world…
Here is the ladder we use and love
http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/12-5-foot-telescoping-extension-ladder/69451It’s not cheap but it’s super well built and most importantly safe. I cut some up a foam noodle to wrap the top rungs that hit the bus and it works great.
On awnings… our hard fast rule is if we aren’t sitting out under the awning it’s not out… no exceptions… in the last year I have broken 3 of the 4 wind sensors on the roof and don’t plan on replacing them because I don’t trust them anyways…
I can’t help you on the rest of the questions… but I am sure others will
Good Luck and be safe…
Bill
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Welcome to PC…
Awnings…if we leave our coach awnings are in, no exceptions
Mice…we always have mice bait traps around the bus barn. In the fall when there activity is looking for warmth I change all old baits to fresh. With our bus barn that’s 2 in every stall, front and rear.
Ladder…Bill’s .recommendation on ladder with cushions is a good one.
LED’s …the best service and quality products have been with http://www.superbrightleds.com
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All good advice. I will echo the awning comments. If you are not at the coach the awnings are to be retracted. Even if you are at the coach, if the wind starts to kick up, retract the awnings. Too many of us have had an expensive lesson when we failed to retract awnings.
Ladders, grilles, etc are purchases to make after you have given some thought to how you are going to store them for carrying. Typically you are going to need a tool box, chairs, some small tables, ladder, grille, cleaning supplies such as a bucket, towels or chamois, fluids such as soap, wax, wheel polish, etc., a set of steps or a platform, an entry mat, awning rods, etc. The ideal situation is to buy those items with consideration to how much room they take up.
You may consider a pair of bicycles and the space they take up more important than cleaning supplies for example. But no matter what you feel important to carry you need to select those things with consideration for the need to carry other items as well.
Before you buy anything look at other people’s coaches and see what they use and what they carry. That will also help you understand how to use the space you have available also.
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Dave,
Royale made a good product and one of the few with wood interiors. Congratulations!
Ditto on the telescopic ladder. If you go this route, I strongly suggest the heavy weight version. I also carry a 6′ foot free standing ladder.
LED replacement bulbs are available in so many places. I have used superbriteleds.com with good results. I have also used some of the Chinese sellers on eBay with pretty good results. When replacing 50+ ceiling bulbs, I went the eBay route.
I’m not a fan of LED replacement bulbs for tail lights. I replaced my fixtures with LED fixtures from superbrightleds.com.
Ditto on the main awning. I have manual Zip Dees and tend to leave the small ones out unless a storm is coming. The main awning is in when we’re not at the coach. Lesson learned the expensive way from the automatic awning I had on a plastic coach that couldn’t close fast enough for the big time down pour.
Mouse traps around the warehouse would be good. Another thing I see the carnival guys do is dust their tires with ant poison. Given you are in a enclosed space, you might want to use bug spray around the inside perimeter of the space.
After 3M commercial miles you probably slow down and pull into for all truck inspection/weigh stations. Now you can enjoy maintaining speed and driving by.
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Dave….Now you know what we’ve all been talking about ! Does your coach have a drop down front bumper and a small joey bed ? If it does, it’s the perfect place for the fold up gas grills from Coleman. One thing we miss about or XL, the same space on the H is stuffed full of Cruisairs.
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Dave & Karen, I’ve been on a multi-year quest for the perfect compact grill and after buying and rejecting at least 6 I have still not found it. My quest has been for a gas grill, as we dry camp pretty often. You may be on the right track with electric infrared. The downfall of most compact grills I’ve seen is that they don’t cook well. Of those that actually cook well, they often either take up too much space or are difficult to clean (I’m looking at you,Coleman Road Trip). If mice are a potential issue, you want your grill really clean before you put it away, so look for easy disassembly and consider cleanup as you shop. Cleaning up the grill at a campground is not as easy as it is at home on your patio, at least for me. I don’t know about others, but I’m not allowed to bring grill parts into the bus for cleaning. Whatever grill you get, I suggest you find one that will fit inside a big plastic bin with a snug lid. It seems that no matter how well I clean mine, when I flip it up on end to put it away I find a dribble of grease dripping out from somewhere.
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Much better avatar there Gil than you standing out there waving for help. HA
I like it.
Later
bv -
back on thread
Welcome Dave, nice to have another big rigger in here.
Later
bv -
Hello Dave
We are going to buy the Solaire infrared grill. We haven’t decided yet between the Anywhere and Everywhere models but I think it will be the Everywhere because it is a little smaller and a bit lighter weight.
There is a dealer locator on their website plus they are sold on Amazon.
If you haven’t checked out the YouTube videos for this product, you might want to do that for more info.
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Dave & Karen,
I left all the things you need in the bus and they were new when Peter got it. Must be he needed all that stuff for his Liberty.:)
I use the ladder Bill suggested and also this one for day to day stuff: Ladder
Gil – You’re right, Royale did a good job and Dave has one of the few with no wood, it’s light laminate.
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Buy a big cat for mice they like the heat in winter ?,awnings put in when not in use , BBQ I have six of all kinds call me I will send you one , ladder I carried both, side makers are hard wired in on that bus I have all the LEDs for the side I will send you them did not get around to changing them out some old worn out trucker bought the coach before I could do it LOL !!!!!!!!!!!
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If an old worn out trucker remembers correctly, in Wyoming they use their cats to apply tire gloss!!! Hurry up and send lights, a birthday candle puts out more light!!! Don’t send any grills that might have residue of cat chitlings!! Ladder, you did not want me on a ladder to view the cardboard roofing!! By the way, you are in Cali, what the hell are you up?
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We have been thrilled with our Teaxas Sizzler Jr and carry case.
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