Looking for E/W/S tips to cope with crippling anxiety about fist outing

[RVNewb]

Howdy!



I've made either a bold, brave decision, or a crazy one - you tell me.



We are going out this weekend (Memorial Day weekend) for our first RV experience: a 25-day, cross-country trip in a 2022 GulfStream Conquest 6280. I looked at maybe 100 or more RVs online before picking this one based on it having enough seatbelts and just barely enough sleeping area for our crew (2 adults, 5 kids aged toddler to a junior in high school). I really wanted a 24-footer so it would be easier to drive and park but those just weren't big enough inside for our family to buckle up, or sleep without a tent. I made a bit of an impulse decision here, as I usually would spend a year researching something before making any big decisions, but, I just sort of fell lin love with this RV. Now I have a million questions and feel panicked.



I have this 30-foot behemoth and I'm now dreading the first time I have to load it up with kids and groceries and roll out bound for a campground 8 to 12 hours away. Did I mention, I've never driven anything larger than an SUV?


What advice and tips can you offer on these concerns:

1. Camping Reservations. We're not finding any campgrounds within a 10-hour drive that have spots available for our first 3 nights (which fall on Memorial Day). How important is a reservation? Do you have any luck just rolling in without a rez and hoping for the best, at the end of a full day of driving? Does it work or do you end up boondocking? Would you not even consider heading towards a specific destination unless you have a rez? My main concern is that we may not have full hookup, or might have only E&W with no S, or might end up boondocked unexpectedly.
2. Electric. Picturing 7 people boondocking in a Walmart or truck stop parking lot (if we can't find any campsites), if we're in a very hot area in summer (say, over 80 degrees F at night), should we be running our generator all night long for AC? Or what do you do, just open the windows and try to sleep through the heat?
3. Electric 2: If I do boondock it and try to sleep through the night with AC running off of generator, this model RV will shut down the generator as soon as we hit a quarter tank of vehicle fuel left, to prevent us from getting stranded. So at that point, does everything in the fridge spoil? Do you hit that point at midnight, or at 5am, or...? I've just no idea if the generator and 55 gallon fuel tank will run all night, half a night, a quarter night, etc.
4. Water. 7 people and 1 toilet in an RV with a 37 gal freshwater tank. How many flushes are we going to get before that tank is full and we can't use it again until we find a dump station? If we've used it some while driving, and stop where we can't refill it, then 7 people use the toilet again before bed (probalby two or three times per person!), and one or two of us use it once or twice again while people are sleeping, are we going to fill up that black water tank before dawn arrives? And then what, no more using the toilet until we find a dump station, which could be half a day's drive away, is that right?
5. Campsites that aren't full hookup. Traveling with kids, is it realistic to try to camp anywhere that doesn't have full E/W/S? I'm finding some options on our route that have the water and electric, but only a dump station at the exit. If they don't offer campground bathhouses and toilets, then am I going to find myself moving the RV twice a day to empty out our black water tank?
6. No Toad. We will not have a towed car, by the way, so please let me know how crazy that decision sounds. I'm mortified of the 30-foot length as it is, and can't imagine adding to it by pulling our SUV behind it. Plus, I think that adding to the length would eliminate maybe 15 or 20% of campgrounds due to exceeding their max length; I already had to give up on one I wanted that only accepts up to 25 feet total length. We plan to find campgrounds that are within walking distance (of about a mile; we walk a lot) to an attraction like a river or lake. If we need groceries or want to go sightseeing, we'll have to take the RV. How much of a pain will it be to break camp, go get lunch and see an attraction, then come back and reinstall E/W/S, twice a day? We don't have slideouts or exterior gear to set up.
7. Abandoning Campsites. I'm concerned that when we load up and drive off from our campsite, that even if I paid up 2 or 3 nights already, when I come back, there could be someone parked in it. Is there some sort of camper code, like, a cooler in the driveway, or something, that will tell other drivers, "Hey I'm gone but I'm coming back in a little while?" I'm considering a single folding chair, or a folding table and chairs, or just a clothesline with wet clothes on it.
8. Propane. How do you get more propane in an RV that doesn't have removable propane tanks, but it's built-in/permanently attached under the RV?
9. Sewage. When you go to a dump station at a campground (that doesn't have Sewer hookup at the sites) or a public rest area, is the area around the dump pipe covered in black water? I'm a little concerned about walking in a damp area, or an area that has a brown, standing puddle around it, then getting right back into my RV's living area with a toddler who eats off the floor.

The specs on Betty are:

Sleeps7Length 30 ftExt Width 8 ft 4 inExt Height 11 ft 3 inInt Height 6 ft 11 inGross Weight 12500 lbsFresh Water Capacity 37 galsGrey Water Capacity 38 galsBlack Water Capacity 31 galsFurnace BTU 25000 btuGenerator 4.0 kW OnanFuel Type GasolineEngine 7.3L V8Chassis Ford E350Horsepower 350 hpFuel Capacity 55 galsNumber Of Bunks 1Available Beds RV QueenTorque 425 ft-lbRefrigerator Type Double DoorRefrigerator Size 10.2 cu ftCooktop Burners 3Number of Awnings 1LP Tank Capacity 42 lbs Water Heater Capacity 6 galWater Heater Type Gas/ElectricAC BTU 13500 btuAwning Info Electric w/LED LightsShower Type StandardElectrical Service30 amp





Thank you so much!!! Any/all tips are appreciated!