It’s 103 degrees, I am standing on the side of i5 with cars and big rigs whizzing past me at 75 miles per hour, the entire time I am staring down at the tire and thinking,” what the fuck am I doing?” This was the start of my first trip in our new to us toy hauler.
We are rookies when it comes to the RV life. Roughing it for me was a hotel with no room service, and only two towels. Trailer wise I had experience from my extensive years in horses and showing. Over the years we have acquired quite the pack of dogs who have some special needs, so they just can’t be left in anyone’s care. Why? Let’s put it this way if you don’t keep things in order, my house can be the equivalent of a pack of rabid squirrels… at a rave… that have anger and impulse control issues… so maybe not squirrels at a rave but a Metallica concert is more accurate. This made traveling as a family impossible. For years we looked into different options; sometimes taking two vehicles to events was the only way. We considered a dog trailer, which for those not in the dog world looks like this, 
The reason I am showing the dog trailer is there are going to be people who do not agree with how I choose to transport my dogs. Here is a disclaimer, if you are not interested in the safety measures I have put into place, temperature monitors, crates, set up, cameras, raw food, how the week long trip progressed, where we stopped, or how to travel with dogs who have a bite history then you probably should just scroll on by. This isn’t for you. I am sorry I cannot transport 5-6 dogs loose in the cab of my truck,
nor do I feel any better with them crated in the bed of the truck for 12 hours, and the dog trailer? Well if you have ever seen a single axle trailer going down the road at 75 mph, you would think nope too. I did consider a dual axle but it still didn’t solve our other issue; where would we sleep? I have been known to sneak up to 5 dogs into the Marriott before but let’s be honest you can only do that so many times before the maid does a crate count when she’s doing her morning cleaning. SO, for those of you who have made it this far buckle up this is going to be a long one. For those not really interested in the trailer but the trip, I am breaking it up so those segments are easy to find. Enjoy!
The choice in RV
As a family we discussed getting a RV for a little over three years, we were addicted to shows like Big Time RV, constantly watching and trying to decide what would work for us. I personally just couldn’t make the commitment. I had a few friends who transported this way but it was a such a taboo thing to talk about it was hard to get a lot of feedback on what REALLY works. We considered a bunk house model and removing bunks but I wasn’t happy with the construction on some of those models. Admittedly RVs can be built like absolute shit. I decided I wanted a toy hauler. Upon observation the garage seemed to be better built than your average trailers, I mean it kind of has to be it’s hauling ATV’s motorcycles and has to be equipped to take that weight. Toy haulers are FAR from cheap. I didn’t have many things on my checklist other than I wanted the ability to close the door separating the dogs from the living space vs it being one open large space. Trailers that offered that design were extremely expensive. For something I wasn’t sure was going to work I wasn’t about to spend $90k on a coach that would be worth $70k the second I left the lot. We started looking around used and when asking about installing a 5th wheel hitch a friend of ours expressed interest in selling theirs, we jumped at the chance. We ended up with a well maintained, 39ft 2007 Raptor, the tow vehicle is a 2015 Ford F250, which of course had some modifications made to make towing easier on it. It was the perfect blank slate for what I wanted to do, and gave us the opportunity to see, ” is this the life for us?” without investing too much money. To be honest our friends gave us such an amazing deal we could resell it and come out ahead even after the modifications I was making.
Modifications
For a few months we simply left the trailer in the front of the house and spent time in it, trying to figure out what we needed to change to make it workable. Right away we realized we needed one, if not two more additional air conditioners installed. I ordered arguably some of the best crates made to be anchored in the garage. We chose Impact crates. We have a couple dogs who tend to break out of just about anything, this is also our crate of choice at home. They stack nicely, although I have read different reviews that they rattle once anchored we didn’t notice any of that.
Why not go custom? Believe me this crossed my mind and it would have been a fraction of the cost. I have custom steel crates in my daily driver. However what if this didn’t work out? who would buy my custom crates? If I installed a bunch of shelves etc in the trailer would I limit who would want to purchase our trailer if we in fact wanted to upgrade? How easy would a huge block of crates be for me to pull out and clean in the event of an accident? We wanted crates we could still use outside the trailer, and could be cleaned with ease. To the right of the picture you’ll see something black in the background, that is a plug in fridge where we have their raw and the stainless steel cart is for prep. In a perfect world I would love an industrial size sink back here, and in some of the new ones that’s a possibility. On top of the fridge is a power source to charge our collars. I also use it to diffuse essential oils when parked.
One thing to ALWAYS keep in mind when adding things to your trailer is your weight. You want to try and keep things as light as possible. The heaviest thing back there was probably the fridge and the yeti coolers.
Safety
We already touched on the crates but how would I monitor the dogs from the truck? Have you met me? I am neurotic when it comes to our dogs. We purchased a variety of cameras to monitor the dogs which we tested extensively prior to our voyage.
The baby monitor tied as the MVP of our trip! We tested it at home. I could not only see and hear the dogs, I could also monitor their temps up to 900 ft away which works perfect for the cab of the truck! I anchored the sensor to the feeding cart and was able to get a good view of all the dogs. If we parked close enough I could carry the monitor into a restaurant and still view them.
The monitor above runs on battery and is rechargeable the camera requires 110v. It didn’t occur to me I wouldn’t ALWAYS be running my generator. When we left at 5 am, the trailer was a cool 62 degrees and with all the vents open maintained that going down the road, the AC wasn’t needed, therefore neither was the generator. How would I run the camera with no power? I don’t know how we survived before Amazon Prime but I quickly found a portable charger which powered it without fail for over 12 hours. Problem solved. I plan to purchase a couple more of these to have on hand.
Sensor push definitely ties for MVP of our monitoring system, however it does, just like the baby monitor have some distance limitations. Sensor push runs on blue tooth, so as long as you are within distance it works like a champ. You can program your alerts, it is surprisingly accurate. It was right on target with the baby monitor in terms of temperature reading. No plugging in, or outlets are required for this one and no monthly fees. You also do NOT need wifi or a cell signal. Like I said as long as you have blue tooth and are within range it works.
The nimble, also known as the epic disappointment. There are many people that have had good luck with nimble, but for lack of holding back, it’s a hunk of shit. Total disappointment.
Nimble runs on the Verizon network which does not have the best coverage in the areas we travel; west cost, Oregon, Washington, and Nevada. My reason for getting the nimble was for when i was out of range of the trailer where the other monitors wouldn’t work. When you purchase the Nimble you pay a monthly fee on top of buying the unit. The unit runs on battery and can be plugged in. We lost the network about six hours from our destination. Although the signal could have been spotty once the unit looses service you have to reset it to get it going again. Not exactly convenient to say the least. We were on the road from Wednesday to Monday and I was not able to reset it til I got to Visalia which is about 6 ours north of where we were staying, this was only after resetting it twice. One other notable thing we observed is the Nimble was reading 10 degrees warmer than our other two monitors. They are all placed in the exact same spot, leading me to believe it may not be as accurate as I would like. The customer service is also “unique”. They do not respond to technical issues on the weekend, when you know most of us are traveling and it does not respond in real time but about every thirty minutes is seems to update. I asked the company about this and they said if it goes over my programmed setting it will alert me right away. I am not sure how you feel about this but I don’t want to wait. If I blow a fuse, or my generator stops I need to know ASAP that the temp has changed even a degree. There are other monitors out there I will be checking out to replace this one.
Keeping everyone cool
We had two additional air conditioners installed; one in the garage and one in the bedroom. ANYONE you talk to that has a trailer over 30ft will say in temperatures above 90 degrees you are going to need more than one unit. Note: you cannot run all three at one time without blowing a breaker. We weren’t worried about that. Our primary thing was the dogs comfort. We debated installing ourselves but decided to use a local business Feather River RV . He did a wonderful job. We can actually plug the dogs unit into a 110v cord and run it separately actually making it possible if we wanted to run all three while parked.
How do you keep them cool back there? My garage has a few vents where I can control how the air is funneled in as well as sliding windows. If you are not moving (getting fuel) it is hard to maintain cool temps unless you are parked and have the entire trailer open. That being said there is a catch 22, if you open your garage with plans to close it back up after fueling you will loose ALL your cool air. The only time I had the garage open was while camping. My dogs are acclimated to high temps but the trailer never got about 82 in 103 degree heat. The dogs had Ryobi Fans which move a good amount of air as well as a Ryobi Air Conditioned Cooler . The cooler does not blow very hard but if you place a fan in front of it, it does produce a good deal of cool air. I recommend using a huge block of dry ice or regular ice vs ice cubes.
We try to travel before 5 a.m. in the cooler part of the day. I will be getting into the trip here shortly but at one location we didn’t leave til after 10 a.m. ,we did run the generator and their air conditioning unit, which kept them at 72 in 100 degree heat. For the most part when parked (camping) I left the trailer all the way open and ran fans. There was one day I decided to run the generator. This actually was a huge hindrance to my dog. He was unable to acclimate himself to the temperature outside to work. Needless to say I didn’t do that again.
The Journey
Rise and shine! It’s RV time! We got up and hit the road at five a.m. This being our maiden voyage we knew we would be slow going. Our itinerary included a stop at a Harvest Hosts location which was about three hours from our final destination, Marvel K9 Academy. Harvest hosts is a unique camping experience. Harvest hosts has a yearly membership of $40 and for that you get a list of museums, farms, distillery, wineries, etc that allow you to park over night for free in your self contained RV. I was very excited to try this out. Traveling with our dogs and the size trailer we have can limit our RV park options. Our dogs would never do well in a KOA with alot of noise, small children, and dogs, they would sooner do better camping in the Wal-Mart parking lot. We had to fill up approximately 3 times. When you’re as tall as a semi and over 55 ft long you really have to plan your stops. My husband being a truck driver told me to stick to truck stops for a few reasons; multiple services in one location. Easy in and out for diesel and if I am alone I would likely have no problem getting help if I was in a jam getting turned around. Let’s not forget unlimited free soda and coffee with my Love’s Travel Stop card! Almost all the major travel centers have an app for you phone. You can locate the closest one and which services they offer. Other truck stops include pilot and TA, there are also many privately owned truck stops that also offer services including a dump station. Just remember if you park overnight do NOT put your slides out. The spots are limited and just wide enough for a semi. If you put your slides out you are taking away from the spots to either side. Be respectful we are technically their guests, this is their job.
BLOW OUT!!!!
Half way through Bakersfield, I am just starting to relax and BAM! I look in my side view mirror and see some smoke. We had a blow out. We pull off to the side and the center tire is shredded. I quickly checked my dogs, they were all sleeping as if nothing happened.
Now before I get that lecture we should check everything better, one week before we left we had the tires inspected we changed out one but Les schwab thought we had about one season left. I probably should have explained to them I don’t drive 100 miles, we drive over 500 one way to train our dogs. We tossed the spare on and I called Les Schwab, Bakersfield I asked if they had our size tires in stock, the manager said he had four… good enough. I wanted as many replaced as I could get. He was very nice on the phone, asked how far out I was and if I needed any additional help. I was only about 15 miles from him, I told him I would see him in 30 minutes, we were going to go slow. When we arrived, per that Les Schwab running to greet you service they came out to assist us. The manager, Jason said he was getting two more tires brought over from another Les Schwab so we had all new rubber. They told us go get some lunch we got this! The shopping center the store was located in had a few different options for food. We hadn’t eaten since 6 a.m. we were now getting close to 3 pm, we were starving. I wasn’t sure about leaving the dogs, the generator was running but still, I don’t leave my dogs! The guys said we will watch over them, one was a former marine who also had Malinois. He said,” if anything happens I’ll run over to get you.” I took my baby monitor and we headed over to eat.
After quite possibly the best burger ever, we start walking back, to see not one, but four Les Schwab tire technicians working on our trailer. They, without a single doubt went above and beyond. They wanted to meet the dogs, so we got Bane out and they were able to say hi to him and watch some obedience. I now wish I had gotten a picture of the entire staff with him, they were amazing!
Harvest Hosts
We were back on the road! We now had a new concern are we too late for our Harvest Host winery? Per Harvest Hosts they encourage you to arrive during business hours not only to be respectful but to also experience what the business had to offer. After what took place there was NO way I was going to get there by 5:30. I called our hosting winery to explain our dilemma. They were extremely nice! There was no problem, they told me where to park and wished me a safe trip. We arrived about an hour after closing. There was one other trailer there. The winery was closed. We got our dogs out walked the 90 acres and went to bed. The parking for this location was somewhat close to the road but peaceful none the less. It’s an experience you can’t compare to any thing else. Since we arrived late we wanted to stay til they opened to make a purchase to show our appreciation. As part of the code of conduct we are asked not to share our exact locations, which I completely respect. This is only to encourage people to pay the $40 and go through this small business that supports other small businesses and farms. We LOVE this program. We are actually planning a trip in October to visit a museum, a lavender farm, a distillery, and a working farm located along a river.
Final Destination
Once our wine was purchased and we thanked our hosts we loaded up for our next stop, Marvel K9. Leaving at 10 a.m. we hit zero traffic through Los Angeles. We arrived at our friends facility and set up camp. Marvel K9 Academy is located in the heart of wine country, Temecula. Their new facility is 20 acres set in a peaceful surrounding with lots of great RV parking, even for monsters like mine.
Although we had some hiccups; fridge didn’t really stay cold, luckily I have another fridge, the blow out, and other minor details I don’t understand why I waited so long to do this! Like I said I don’t think regular national park type camping is for us but boon docking and remote locations is! My son walked the property with the dogs, was able to shoot guns in the evening, and run his RC cars all over the 20 acres when we weren’t training dogs. In the evening after dinner he could walk back to our little home on wheels under the light of the moon, a star filled sky, and see the occasional shooting star.
My son is sixteen and in all the years I have been traveling this is the first time he was able to go. My favorite part was definitely getting up and cooking them breakfast after walking all the dogs around the property.
I also enjoyed just hanging out after a long day training and a warm shower.
I am not usually a “YOLO” type person but if you have considered buying a trailer, do it! Don’t wait. Your kids aren’t getting any younger. What’s holding you back? Our first experience although not without it’s issues was one my son will never forget and those memories are priceless.
Running With Scissors 