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Old 04-25-2010, 05:44 AM   #1
Msjan
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Travel Breaks

We are getting ready to set out on our first long trip with our Montana (we are traveling from South Florida to California). We are planning on driving about 300 or so miles per day which means we will be taking at least two or three rest stops. My question is -- how do you handle putting the slides out?? Do you turn off some of them or do you just let them all out?? With the 3400, the only slides that we would really need are the kitchen slide and the large slide with the table and sofa. Is there something that can be done or retrofitted to make turning off and on the slides eaiser as turning the valves to shut off the slide is really bothersome??

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Old 04-25-2010, 05:57 AM   #2
exav8tr
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Jan and Bill, If your're talking about putting slides out at rest stops, we don't do that. If you are talking for overnight we put them all out. We have a 3400 also and can get to the kitchen enough to fix lunch on the road. Usually, the DW will fix sandwiches and put them in the refer and we just grab them when ready and use a picnic table at the rest stop. The valves on our model are difficult to open and close so we just leave them all open. I was told early on that if I wanted a different valve set-up I would have to change out the entire manifold unit, no thanks!!
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Old 04-25-2010, 06:03 AM   #3
Msjan
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Thanks for your quick reply -- one of my concerns is that my husband likes to take a cat nap during the day and I have no where to sit -- on our last trip I ended up just sitting in the truck while he slept.
And I and my husband (bill maietta on the MOC) would definitely agree that there is no way we are going to change the entire manifold.
We have traveled before in a sob 5'er and in a moho and have always been able to choose which slides we wanted to put out -- and of course, the slide that I would want out first is the last slide to go out.
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Old 04-25-2010, 06:09 AM   #4
Mrs. CountryGuy
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We have probably only opened slides 2 to 5 times since mid 2003. When we travel, we can get to the frig, and the potty room. If we eat in Tana, which is rare, I want to stand, enough sitting in Big Butt.

We will pack a few snacks and drinks and put in Big Butt, since I need to eat about every 2 hours. We usually grab our snacks at a rest area, right outta the back seat.

As frequently, we stop for lunch at someplace nice, or in truck stops, which ever presents the easiest way that has parking for Big Butt and Tana.

Personally, my comfort zone does not allow for those slides to be opened in parking areas or rest areas with lots of traffic. I have nightmares of someone coming along and clipping that extended slide as they pull into the parking spot next to me.

You will find what works for you. SO, I did not answer your question, except in the negative. We almost never extend the slides during rest stops.
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Old 04-25-2010, 06:14 AM   #5
Msjan
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Thanks again for the quick reply --

I guess my biggest question is what to do while my husband sleeps as I am NOT a daytime sleeper and sometimes his nap can be 30 minutes or so.
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Old 04-25-2010, 06:18 AM   #6
Parrothead
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Like the others we do not open slides at rest stops. The spaces are usually not wide enough. We keep paper goods for lunch in the above the washer/dryer and can get to the frig. We either use the picnic tables or sit on the steps. You could keep a small folding chair or camp stool handy to sit in. I often sit in the truck if Ed wants to lay down. We stay with the 200-250 miles per day. We are retired which means no need to hurry.
Happy trails......................
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Old 04-25-2010, 08:04 AM   #7
ALAN
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As the others have stated, we do not put out any of the slides, even though our 2010 3400 allowed us to select which slide to extend. You might want to rethink the 300 mile per day plan. That is a lot of miles unless you are in a hurry. We tried to keep our milage under 200 and not travel every day but stop for a couple of days in between. Retired we were in no hurry.

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Old 04-25-2010, 10:10 AM   #8
boylanag
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Like said above, we do not put slides out either. There is not enough room for us in the parking lots of rest areas for slides to safely put out. We pack lunch in cooler in back seat and use rest stops or scenic byways, if they are in the area. We don't like traveling more than 200 miles max per day, either. That way we can leave the campground late in the morning and arrive at the next one in the early afternoon. The ONLY times we travel more than 200 miles or 4 hours is if we have to be someplace at a certain time and the time is short. We try to travel even less than that. I don't even wear a watch any more. If I really need time, I can look at my cell phone. As for something to do, you could keep up with the MOC forum or other such activity with your computer. Have a great trip!
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Old 04-25-2010, 11:06 AM   #9
CasaDelSol
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Hi...if he sleeps on the bed you can sit on the sofa. Yes? or am I missing something? We have a 2955RL but both the sofa and bed would be accessable in a 3400 also.
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Old 04-25-2010, 11:20 AM   #10
billhoover
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We have a 3400, and like most do not extend the slides at rest stops. If it was me, I'd let the napper have the bed, then I'd climb over the sink/counter and sit on the sofa. Also, I think 300 miles a day is an easy day. For us leaving at 9 and stopping at 4 is an easy day and covers around 380 miles.
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Old 04-25-2010, 12:10 PM   #11
Mudchief
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We don't put the slide out either. After driving we want to stand therefore we fix our lunch and stand and eat it and if we want to sit down we just go out to a table. I did label the valves so I would know which ones to close so only the one that I might want to open would.
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Old 04-25-2010, 12:34 PM   #12
randye
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we have the 3485SA rear front room,kitchen and upper bathroom and bedroom. The bedroom slide goes out first and the kitchen, and bathroom is acessable with all the slides in. If we stay the night and a Walmart or Big Parking lot, like we did recently in Mesquite,Nevada. We leave the Montie hooked up and put down the rear stabalizers and just put out the bedroom slide. It works great and fire up the Generator just to air up the sleep number bed. Hope this helps. As was stated above we carry our lounge chairs from CW, in the Kitchen or the Truck so if we want to sit we have them handy.
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Old 04-25-2010, 12:50 PM   #13
richfaa
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You can take the main slide on the 3400 out about a foot or less and be able to get to the sofa, etc if need be. We do not let the slides out on a break as we can get to the fridge, pantry and john.
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Old 04-25-2010, 02:22 PM   #14
exav8tr
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Jan, We have gone to using folding chairs in the shade when we wanted to sit outside and there is no picnic area. My chairs are easily accessible the way I pack the basement, they are the first things I pull out. Perhaps a nice recliner would work when you have no other place to sit. I actually prefer sitting outside than inside, Of course, If you are in inclement weather this may not be a viable option. Hope this helps, otherwise what Richfaa says might work for you. I just don't like extending slides in a rest stop, If, for some unknown reason they will not retract, I am really up the creek......
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Old 04-26-2010, 03:28 PM   #15
footloose
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We have the 3075RL 2010 model. We swapped the recliners for the dining table and chairs. Thus we can easily walk in to the kitchen, the pantry, the bathroom and bedroom. All is accessible. We swivel the chairs and each sit down for lunch. We chose this model because it would fit into our best friends' gate. We've found it works extremely well on the road. Perhaps you could swap something around to make access easier. We're sure you will find what works for you. Have a great trip to the West.
Dick and Sharon
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Old 04-27-2010, 06:17 AM   #16
RickW
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I guess we are a little different. On the road we will push out the door side slide in the 3400. Depding on the spot it may only be pushed out 1 foot or all the way, but I always look for a spot where the slide is not in traffic. Look for a spot with a curb the slide can slide over. Or we will look for a large parking lot instead of a rest area/stop. On back roads the rest areas are less busy and not a issue.

As for the kitchen the wife has a wicker basket that rides on the counter next to the stove. She keeps a loaf of bread there and a few bags of snack size chips and peanut butter. We also have full access to the fridge. We can also reach the micorwave if the door side slide is out so if we want a hot lunch that is a option too with the inverter on.

With the one slide out it also give the dog room to move to the rear of the trailer. It gives us all a lot more room instead of being on top of each other.
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Old 04-27-2010, 09:49 AM   #17
mhs4771
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We have the 2955 floor plan and bought it specifically because we have access to all areas. We stay over night quite often at Wal-Marts, and don't like to put the slides out. Granted access to the opposite side of the bed requires crawling over the bed and the main TV is out, but then we have the 12V bedroom TV if we wish to watch a little before going to sleep.
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Old 04-27-2010, 09:54 PM   #18
JimnJulie
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Don't do what I did! Last year on the way to Florida Julie got very tired and had to Lay down for a nap. We were at a rest area and we too never put out the slides due to width and "the other guy" pulling in beside us. So being the nice guy I closed the door, put the steps away, and pushed the hand rail against the trailer and went over to a nice bench and sat in the sun to "people watch". Well the only "people" I didn't watch was the one sleeping (or at least I thought she was sleeping) in our trailer. Guess what, when one wakes up and the other one has put the hand rail against the door, the one that is no longer sleeping cannot get out of the trailer. I guess my hearing is not good enough to hear someone screaming at me while there are trucks and cars coming and going from the rest area, and unless one is looking straight at the trailer one also cannot see the bedroom window raising and lowering multitudes of times. After about a half hour for some unknown reason I "thought" I noticed the window move and went to check it out! P.S. we are still married!!!!
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Old 04-28-2010, 06:00 AM   #19
footloose
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by JimnJulie

Don't do what I did!
At least you had a happy ending. She could have sleepily opened the door and stepped out!
Dick and Sharon
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Old 04-29-2010, 05:22 AM   #20
TAKPAK
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Msjan, you didn't say if you do some of the driving or not. Depending on state rules, he could nap in the trailer bed while going down the road, IF you are driveing. Here in Oregon, the state law is......in a fifth wheel only, someone CAN ride in the trailer, IF there is an exit available (bedroom window on the 3400) AND there is a way to communicate with the driver (two way radios). So, depending on state laws, and if you switch drivers, there is "napping options". Not for me, the DW absolutely refuses to drive anything bigger than her car. But, that's OK, lots of rest stops. We try not to do much over 300 miles a day anyway.
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