2 reviews
(5)Abe G.
3August 2024
We were thankful to be picked up by Tim at the airport with the RV, which eliminated the need for a taxi. He was nice, but unfortunately gave us some misinformation about the RV. He explained to us in detail not to tamper with the hot water panel. He also illustrated to release the gray water before black water followed by a brief overview about the refuse tanks and how to measure the levels. Unfortunately, The levels of all the tanks via the gauges (black water, gray water, fresh water) were all out of calibration. There was also a leak of fresh water about 1 gallon every 3-4hours coming from somewhere really high in the undercarriage of the RV near the passenger rear side overflow valve. We were supplied with 4 shower towels and half a role of paper towels and 2 toilet paper rolls and eating utensils. Our plans were to drive towards Seward and were out of cell phone reception when we decided to boondock to avoid driving in the dark. We took the coldest shower ever that night, and eventually I had to sort out and read all of the manuals to figure out how to get hot water. In the manual, there was a very important on/off switch at the hot water machine that needed to be switched on. So, I went against Tim’s advice (the RV representative) and turned on the switch after he advised me not to tamper with the hot water heater at all. Thankfully, the manual was located in the RV. We took a trip to Target and stocked up on supplies (plastic trash bags, dish washing soap, dish washing sponge, filters for the coffee maker, paper towels, toilet paper, cutting board, and some clorox cleaning cloths, kitchen/hand washing towels, hand soap) which were all not supplied. I had asked the representative on outdoorsy in advance for jacks (to balance the RV) and a spare tire and associated equipment, and none of it was supplied. When I asked Tim in person about the jacks for balancing the RV, Tim said that we wouldn’t need it. Unfortunately, balancing the RV was a problem which we were not able to resolve, so we often had to place rocks under the tires to add some lift to the RV and get it balanced. The electrical gauges to determine the various tanks were not calibrated, which led to a guessing game for fresh water ,gray water, and black water. Unfortunately, Tim also advised us to release the gray water first and then the black water, which was wrong and can be cause for black water contamination to get into the gray water tank, and can lead to a terrible smell that can come up through the kitchen and bathroom sinks. He also said that the hose next to the gray water/black water dump station was potable at the nearby gas station, which turned out to be wrong. When I asked the gas station attendant (near where Tim lived) the attendant stated that the water that is near the dump station is NON-potable. and that they had a Potable water station at the front of the gas station. We lost our confidence in Tim’s advice to drink the water at the kitchen sink due to possible contamination. Tim used the wrong hose (non potable) and partially filled up the tank for us during the initial orientation, but we were in a hurry to get to the store before closing time, so we passed up on filling up the tank to full and continued on our way to the store for supplies. By the way, Tim was willing to illustrate how to clean out the tanks, but the RV should have been prepared for us before arrival, as the tanks were completely full of gray and black water refuse. We ended up getting drinking water at the store instead. Tim was a nice likeable kind of guy, but his direction and advice was not accurate and drinking non potable water can be a severe health risk. The gas station attendant (located a block from Tim’s residence) was concerned for our drinking water safety after Tim had already partially filled the fresh water tanks with nonpotable water. Overall, the RV was very comfortable, and felt relieved to have had read every single manual in the paperwork drawer, otherwise we would not have had hot water at all. If you’re bringing your iphone or smart phone and want to listen to music, youll need to have a converter that connects your smart phone to a regular headphone jack, as the stereo does not utilize bluetooth. I made an effort to bring walkie talkie hand held radios so that I could get my passengers to help me while maneuvering in parking lots and RV spaces, and this was very helpful. The main entrance to the door was not easy to use when unlocked, so we ended up entering and exiting through the drivers side or passenger side door more often that not. The weather was perfect except for the first day which rained all night, and we ended up finding out that the seal in the skylight above the shower leaked down on the floor of the RV. We ended up keeping a shower towel on the floor to soak up the water leaking from the ceiling. This problem could’ve been really bad, but we only had rain for our first night. I’ve read that there is often rainy weather, but we were lucky. Although we got into a rythym of emptying out the black and gray water every other day, (because the gauges didn’t work) we really did have a great time using the RV. We are already looking for our next RV holiday for next summer in AK, but sadly will probably not be using this particular RV provider. It is my hope that the owner makes the necessary repairs to make this RV fully functional again. All of my interactions with the outdoorsy RV owner were all very nice, but we were left with an impression of less than par for its functionality. I considered myself lucky that I had reviewed this exact model on youtube to get acquained with this models functions ahead of time, and that was unfortunately more useful than our guided personal tour. If the owner had fixed all of the above listed items, this RV has the potential to be a total blast and user friendly, which is why I have clicked on the button that I would use this RV posting again. By the way, the main door was easy to open from the inside, but very difficult to open from the outside while unlocked. The coffee maker never worked, and this was almost a full on disaster as my wife had pre-ground our home coffee and was looking forward to a nice cup in the morning, but luckily we found awesome coffee shops along our paths everywhere. Hopefully the owner replaces the coffee maker. Again, with some minor repairs for leaks at the ceiling and leaks underneath, a full detail hygeine cleanout of the fresh water tanks to make it safe again, and proper maintanance and calibration of the gauges, and adding balancing jacks, this RV would be awesome an choice.