titanbus

Why drive in Canada, they will want your guns and your whiskey! Go across the UP of Michigan on Hwy 2, drop down to either I-90 or 94 and you can visit Mt. Rushmore and Custer's Battlefield site enroute. Lots of pioneer western history enroute. Once out west, you can enter Yellowstone via Cody or Bozeman on viable roads.

Highly recommend Moab, great access to both Arches and Canyonlands. At least 2 good RV parks there, one downtown and one out the north side of town which is a first class operation. Downtown was fine, but tight in a 42 motorhome. Nice folks at both parks, stayed at both in May 2012.

We did a lot of research, measuring in Lowe's, Home Depot, etc., and opted for the Samsung 19.7 cuft French Door/Bottom freezer unit. (About $950). Samsung also makes the unit in a 21.7 cuft model, that fits the same hole but is 4 inches deeper. We went smaller because it would pass thru our emergency window without removing the window, barely went thru but worked out fine, and still has 50% more space than the Norcold. This is a low amperage compressor, has worked well on the inverter, a square wave 2000 watt Dimensions original issue on our 2007 Allegro Bus. I had previously replaced the house batteries with 4 12v AGM Lifelines so I have about 420 Amp-hrs there. We do not dry camp, except for an occasional overnite, and could always run the generator if necessary. The Norcold was junk, and a fire hazard. We have about 8 months and 18,000 miles on the Samsung. It is great to wake up, open the door and see "36 deg." in there!

Rutledge Park, just south of Asheville is a great spot for a motorhome with kids. Big lake, nice area. Asheville is a nice town, minor league baseball, Blue Ridge Parkway, Chimney Rock State Park etc. We spent several days there last summer in a 42 ft motorhome. Our Labrador Retreiver liked the lake!

We had a Norcold 1200 LRIM in our 2007 Tiffin Allegro Bus. All diagnostics checked out, checked the flue effect, baffling etc., and added a third fan. We also purchased a stand alone cooler (Whynter) which can freeze meat, to get us through last summer's travels. In the end this Norcold unit is a $4000 boat anchor which would effectively cool about 30degrees below outside air temp. That would suffice in Canada, not in the Continental US. All the above synptoms translated to a faulty cooling unit. The Norcold It also catches fire. We bit the bullet and installed a Samsung model 197, which holds the temp right where you set it. Amazing! The Samsung costs less than the replacement cooling unit. And until they start making the cooling units out of stainless steel, those will continue to corrode. So my recommendation is to get down to your appliance dealer and pick out a new reefer that will fit in your bus, and call Billy T's Premiere RV in Scott LA for an input date. They did a great job for me, with a lot of cabinet work to fit the taller Samsung in place.

The Element is an excellent TOAD. It is a great roomy little SUV. Easy to get in and out of for me at 6-4, and the dogs as well. We pulled our 2 wheel drive 2006 model over 8500 miles this summer, no problems whatsoever. We follow the recommended predeparture procedure by checklist, and we will do the same at every rest stop, or Labrador break. Change trans fluid (easy to do or $60 at dealer) per schedule and do the above and you should have no problems. Element and CRV have notorious OEM undersized battery, so a battery cutoff switch is recommended, on the POS post if you are going to install a breakaway system. We tow behind a Tiffin 42 tag axle and she doesn't even know the little Honda (3400 lbs.) is there. James Mago Clear Lake Shores, TX