Flying your favorite flag high above your RV isn’t just for NASCAR anymore.
We fly our flags when riding in the desert so it’s easier to find camp when we get close. This was really handy when the boys were younger. We’d let them ride around the area close to camp and the rule was they always had to be within sight of the flags.
We fly our flags when tailgating football games because every other rig and any fan within the radius MUST know who we’ll be cheering for inside the stadium.
We fly our flags in campgrounds where there is enough height to do so.
And, most importantly, we fly our flags when I can get Mark to comply. Oftentimes after we’ve set up camp I will gleefully ask if we can put the flag up. Happily, he says yes more than no.
We bought our first flags and flag pole many years ago from Poles and Holders along with a ladder mount. The only drawback was we had to climb the ladder a couple of steps in order to put the pole into the holder. Poles and Holders gives you a free US Flag with every pole purchase; I like that. We used to have season tickets to ASU football and would often tailgate. Flying our flags helped our friends find us before the game. Our first flags besides the free one were ASU and Coors Light. Sadly, the high winds at Ocotillo Wells where we ride have frayed them both beyond repair. We added an NAU flag when our younger son went to college there.
We upgraded our pole and bought a light topper when we bought our Phaeton. We also found a better ladder mount at Flag Pole Buddy. Both websites have a wide range of lighted toppers to choose from.
The flagpole is easy to set up and take down and is stored in a handy storage bag. I keep our flags in a small Rubbermaid tote box in a storage bay. We leave our lighted topper attached to the top of the pole. It’s a battery operated red, white and blue stick. My in-laws have a rotating beacon on the top with a solar flag light immediately under it to light their US Flag. The pole collapses onto itself for storage so for set up, simply pull it all out. Make sure you pull the parts pretty hard and place the provided pins into the holes at each new junction as this will prevent the pole from collapsing back into itself. That, my friends, is a loud noise you don’t want to hear in the middle of the night. Trust me, I speak from experience. Just one time thank goodness.
Next, slide the flag mounts down the pole to accommodate your flag size. Ours are all 3 x 5, so we slide the flag mounts down three feet for each flag. Attach your flags and you are ready to fly!
The ladder mount we have now is a “slip in” design. You slip the pole around the two C-shaped plastic holders mounted at the top of the ladder and place the bottom of the pole in the secure bottom holder mounted at the bottom of the ladder. The great thing about this is you can slide the pole into the holder all while standing on the ground!
Now that we had the fancy new flag pole to go with our fancy new to us RV, we needed more flags! Don’t worry, I haven’t gone completely flag crazy. So far we’ve added a State of Arizona, Cardinals football, yellow smiley face and University of Oklahoma where our older son is going to grad school. We’ve also replaced the tattered ASU flag with a new one. Now that I’ve listed them out, I think I need a few more. Sshh, don’t tell Mark.
Am I the only one that gets flag envy sometimes? I enjoy seeing all the different flags we see in campgrounds and out in the desert. I did get serious flag envy Memorial Day weekend when we were up in Happy Jack, AZ for the weekend. One of the trailers had a giant wind sock gracefully wafting in the wind. The signal was terrible so I couldn’t buy one right then and there; had to wait until we got home. If you’re interested, they are officially called kite tails and come short or long. I bought a 20-footer and absolutely love it. Sometimes we just fly that and other times we fly the tail with some flags.
All this flag talk makes me want to add another one for our next trip. Hmmmm