My former wife, her teenage daughter and I literally lived in a 36ft class A motor home for 6 years and we had a ball, but I can assure you, it is a learning experience.

If I can impart to you no other advice I would suggest before you worry about what additional things you should stock, sit down with a cup of coffee, tea or other beverage and take stock of what you are already planning to load. Remember that space is absolutely critical so you have to examine everything your planning to load to make sure that nothing is duplicating function.

A Puma!!
My daughter works in the Puma plant!
A divison of Forest River in Goshen Indiana.
My husband also works for Forest River, in
a different plant.

We just have a popup. The first thing we were advised to do was get what we thought we needed and then camp close to home as a trial run so we could run back and get more supplies if needed. It also gives you a chance to see how well the air conditioner cools or the heater heats, etc.

Congrats on getting your RV!

I'm sure there are lots of things you will need but won't realize until you're all set up and don't have it. I like to keep ours stocked with paper products, TP, paper plates, cups so that I don't have to haul the same things out every time. Also, found out it's nice to have toiletries already there too, so just pick up an extra deodorant, soap and such things. I keep about 6 to 7 towels along with washcloths there at all times.

Make sure the bed is comfy before you buy your sheets! Ours was not so we ended up putting a feather thingy on top of the mattress which helped tremendously and that could change the size of sheets you need. I just used two king flats, that way I have plenty of tucking room, not saying that is the best way to do it but it works for us. Oh yeah, movies if you have the DVD player. We still discover things that we need off and on and we've been camping for about two years now. Anything you can stock permanently will help reduce the work for your next trip. Enjoy!!!

Mine came with one brand new set of the Queen Short sheets but you can buy them for very cheap at camping world, they do have a website. If you join Good Sam you get a significant discount at camping world and other places like pilot and flying J truck stops.

I bought additional of all the kitchen utensils I thought I would need, and a full set of inexpensive knives, forks, spoons etc. I was at camping world and they had an entire set of very nice unbreakable microwave safe dishes on their clearance rack for $10 I got that for the RV. I always have the paper stuff in there too though and plastics.

Don't forget things like scissors, finger nail clippers and files, a full medical kit with alcohol, ointments, antacids, cold and flu over the counter stuff, you never know if you will be sick on a trip and need something.

Lots of good soft towels and dish rags. All the bathroom stuff, toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouth wash, hair products, a mini dryer, I don't want to have to pack and unpack stuff like that so it lives out there.

Sponges and scrub brushes for the kitchen and detergent.

We bought a coffee maker for the RV so we don't have to keep moving our house one.

I bought plastic bins to put in the cabinets that hold all of my stuff so it does not go flying around all over it works great. I leave some food like canned goods, spam, Vienna wieners, deviled ham and some dry soup mixes. Stuff that will not spoil. I started buying pringles instead of regular chips so they don't get crushed.

We use these little pods you drop into the toilet to keep the smell away and make it much easier to clean at dump time. We get them at camping world.
http://www.campingworld.com/

Porta-Pak Tank Deodorizer

rv bedding

Good Sam

forgot this link

we bought fil flannel sheets and they worked fine but then they also shrink often...

go to www.checkoutthewynns.com, they are blogging as they travel the states in their rv. I've been following for a while and find it quite interesting. They have alot of good information about full time rv ing.

I bought this bed cover that is really comfy from Amazon and it fits the queen short mattress perfectly even though it says it is for reagular queen and the skirt on it that holds it on is excellent quality I would highly recommend this item.
Hollander Ultimate 400 Tc Cuddlebed
It really did help the comfort level, our mattress is very firm, I needed something to give a little softness. It went on and stayed on and it did not affect how our sheets fit at all, we use the queen short sheets.

I use regular queen sheets. Send me an email and I'll send you some of the info I sent raven and ruthie. I'm on my phone right now so cant pull it up and send it right away. Congratulations!

Thanks everyone! I'll make a list with your suggestions.

How cool Marry! Yes, it is a Forest River... wonder if your daughter helped make ours?

Sending an email to you Tami!

I wish I could remember what info Tami sent me...My sheets don't fit well but they work...The bottom I just tuck in good and haven't had a problem....Forest River makes a good RV...we almost bought a Forest River Motor home but someone beat us to it and our Motor home is exactly like the Forest River except ours is the bunk house model...even the interior coverings and colors are the same. The forest river we were going to buy had a great mattress but ours isn't all that great.

I honestly just went through my kitchen and had more than enough extra stuff to put in the rv. The only thing I bought was some silverware and I bought some walmart stuff that works great and I bought some light weight dinner ware.

You have mail Lydia! Raven, did you delete our emails? I think I still have them if you think they will help Lydia. I can look for them and forward them.

If you haven't started putting your things in the RV the best tip I was ever given was to put a notebook on the table and write down EVERYTHING that goes into your home away from home. That goes from the bedding right down to the toothpicks. If you also write down where it is going to be stored you will save yourself so much time when you get on the road and can see at a glance what you need for the next meal or what you forgot to bring. If you think of it place that list where you can see it and check off items as you use them or take them back inside when you get home like the laundry. After a few trips out you will see things that you forgot...things you need to add and also the things you can remove because you didn't need them in the first place...coming from an overpacker here.
I cooked all our meals and I use a lot of spices etc...they take up way too much room in the rv so I took tic tac boxes and put the names of each spice on the cans. Camera film containers or pill bottles from the drugstore work well too. By using some spices from the house I saved money and found that the ones in the rv if left for a period of time only get damp anyway, therefore it wasn't too much to replace

Wonderful advice... and I thank you all too.. Larry and I are looking at 5th wheelers and really like the Heartland Big Horn... but not yet decided on any one yet.... still looking around...

no I still have them that was not me

Ooops I saw later it was Ruthie who mentioned the info I shared. I might still have those emails too.