Jackhal49

You can count me in too. I also won't able to join any meets until summers. We are retiring and going full-timing next summer, but we are looking to volunteer/workamp some place in the southwest next winter. We don't know where yet but we are working on it. My name is Jack and my wife is Peggy. I am retired Navy 21 years service. FMCA #403927. Let us know what happens at the meet. Thanks, Jack

Thanks, GreenBeaver. Yes, I meant to say volunteering at AZ State Parks. I will contact him. Thanks Again. Jack

Has anyone workamped at an Arizona state park? What were your experiences like -- good, bad or whatever? We are interested in workamping there next winter when we go full-timing. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Jack and Peg

Hi TBUTLER, We are not sure right now if we are going to sell the home right away or rent it out to our son and his better half. Wish I knew you were here in Maine as you could of stopped by as we have plenty of room for you and your MH. We live near Bath, Maine. I hope you had a nice visit here, it is really pretty in the summer and fall when the blackflies aren't around nor the mosquitoes. We have this last one winter to make it through then we both retire in July to full-time it. We are so ready! Our plans are to winter either in Texas, Az, or NM, where ever we can get a nice workamping position and the winter is mild. In fact we plan to start sending out our applications pretty soon for the winter of 2010/2011. We have been going through lots of stuff and just plain getting rid of things. Important items like paintings my mother and grandfather did we are dividing up within the family. Most of it we discovered is just stuff collected over the years and just haven't used just pack ratted it away. It is amazing the stuff we gather for no apparent reason. We started out with "if we haven't used it in the past year get rid of it", now we are at the point if we haven't really needed it in the past week, get rid of it". Hopefully, by spring we will be cleaned out and by summer ready to head out on the road. I have the feeling it is going to be a very long winter! After this winter I plan not seeing snow at all if I can help it! Peg is just plain tired of the cold winters too, she wants a place that is warm! Oh, my father-in-law winters in Texas at Alamo Palms in the extreme southeast of Texas right on the Mexican border. Hope all is well with you and the misses and you are have an awesome time RVing! Jack

I have a Winnebago 05 Journey with a 350 Cat C7 engine. Does this engine have one or two fuel filters??

1. Jack Halpin 2. Navy 3. 21 years, 1970 - 1991 4. AGC/AC 5. Weather Forcaster/Weather & Ice Recon. 6. Lakehurst NJ, Fleet Weather Central Guam, NAS Brunswick, ME, NSFA Port Huneme, CA, McMurdo Station, Antarctica, Fleat Weather Central Rota Spain, Naples, Italy, USS Saipan LHA-2 Med & Africa

I always add biocide to my fuel tank every time I fill-up and use a diesel additive as well. It doesn't cost that much and I know my tank will be free of alge, etc. I have found Walmart in my area sells both biocide and diesel additives. It is worth every penny for just the peace of mind to know I'm protected. It is a lot easier to keep a tank clean than it is to get one cleaned. Happy RVing All!!

Thanks all for sharing! We are planning to go full-timing next summer when both of us will retire. We have already started downsizing and getting rid of just stuff we have collected over the years. Some of the harder items to deal with is lots of slides and pictures we have taken over a lifetime. I am currently digitizing all our sides and pictures and saving them on CDs and flash drives making several copies of each plus giving my grown children copies as well. We started thinking about full-timing 4 years ago and have been researching and talking to every full-timer as well. We are going to sell our stick and brick house, hopefully the market is better next spring/summer. We hope to find volunteer work someplace in Texas for the winter of 2010. Looking forward to traveling and getting away from the long winters and short summers of Maine. Hope to meet you all on the road in the future.

Big No on this one! I have a 350 hp Cat diesel, large oil capacity so have a shop do it. I do all types of other work on the MH but engines and transmissions I leave up to the professionals. I believe there was a thread earlier on this topic. Happy RVing, all!

I was surprized to see a non-hybrid escape automatic could be towed four wheels down. I did look up in the FMCA towing guide for 2009 and it said it could be towed four down, however, earlier models stated regular automatics could not be towed 4 down. I know the hybrid can be towed 4 down as it has a special transmission. I wondering if there was a misprint on the regular auto trans? Something doesn't sound right here. I have the 2008 escape hybrid and it is an excellent tow car and well built as well, we love the car. Good Luck & Happy RVing!!!

GPS units are great, however, there is nothing like having the right set of paper maps to plan a route. I agree with others having a Rand McNally large scale motor carriers road atlas is very important as it lists heights of bridges and overpasses so you do not take a route that will make your MH a convertable. I just bought a Magellan RoadMate 1470 which I like as it has a larger screen than most. I do wish they would come out with a GPS unit like boat chart plotters which have a real map with you position overlayed on the real map but I have yet to see one. The beauty of GPS systems is you most always know exactly where you are at and you can always reference a road map to make sure the GPS unit is giving you the best route to you destination. Just remember they are not flawless. The best way to check out the GPS units is to go to a store that has a good display where you can check out each unit and see how you like its map presentations and if is user friendly or not. Good Luck and Happy RVing!

Just in case you are still checking this forum, you will need a 30 amp surge protector seeing you have a 30 amp service. You can either purchase one that plugs into the end of your electrical cord and then into the campground service or you can buy one that is hard wired into your electrical system. They are pretty easy to install and usually have good directions and you only have four wires on each side of the surge protector to hook up. If you have room in your electrical bay to install a hard wired unit I would susgest you go with that. I have heard of the temporary units disappearing but if it is hard wired in your electrical bay you can lock it. Good Luck! It is a small price to pay for the protection it provides. I have heard of cases where a surge has knocked out lots of electronics in rigs. Very expensive to replace that stuff! Happy RVing! Jack

You may have had a defective belt or when it was first put on someone nicked the belt thus weakening it. If the mechanics couldn't find a problem I wouldn't worry about it, but keep a close eye on it for a while just in case. Happy RVing!

Where your new MH is pretty much covered by its warranty, IMHO I don't think you need an extended service plan yet. However, once the warranty is up on the major items like the engine and transmission then would be the time to get an extended service plan otherwise you are just paying extra for what you are already covered for. I would invest in a towing/break down plan, just in case you do break down your towing is covered. Towing can be very expensive! My MH I bought used its an 05 Journey and I did purchase a CSP through Good Sam. Some may say that is a waste of money, however, it is worth the piece of mind if any thing major does break down and where I have just bought the MH I want to make sure I'm cover until I get to travel in it for a year or better to know the MH inside and out. Hope that gives you some help and answering you question. Good Luck and Happy RVing!

Whoops had some problems trying to edit! LOL

Hi Gramps and All. Very sorry to hear about your loss Derrick. I'm Jack and my wife of 39 yrs is Peggy and we are new to RVing, however, we have been camping since we were kids. We met at a campgrounds when we were teenagers, I was working there and she was camping with her parents. We even honeymooned at the campgrounds we met in a borrowed Banner TT. We bought a used 05 Winnebago Journey 34H last fall from a private party who babied it so we were really lucky as it is just the MH we wanted. We live in the mid-coast region of Maine and have for over 24 years, love the area, but are really starting to dislike the very long and cold winters. I am a retired Navy weather guesser, retired in 1991 and am now a science teacher and Peggy is a safety specialist for the Dept of the Navy. Our plans are to retire in the summer of 2010 and go full-timing and can't wait. We have friends and family scattered across the country so we can have fun traveling and visiting, especially our daughter and family in Colorado. There is a lot of country out there we want to see while we still can. If you all are RVing in Maine look us up we are only 1/2 mile from Meadowbrook Campgrounds. We also have 3 golden retrievers (Charlie, Oliver, and Anne) who will be traveling with us. We are also new to FMCA (# 403927) and got introduced to MHing through my father-in-law who has been RVing for quite some time now in their Winnebago Adventurer. Hoep to see you all on the road too! Good Camping and Happy RVing!!

I bought a kit that cleans and sanitizes the tank in two steps. I don't like the taste or smell of chlorine in my water and it is really hard to get rid of. I also have a very good water filter that connects to the inlet on the water tank or the city water inlet. Do not want any contamination in my water. The kitchen sink also has a separate water filter just for drinking water. I fill our water tank from our deep water well so I know the water is good and clean, however, I still run it through the filter system. I'm very careful about any campground water that goes into my tank and it has to be filtered. Can't be too careful.

I just got the Coleman Roadtrip LXE grill and love it. Very versatil as it not only has the regular grill top but also has a griddle and a cook top for large pans so it is like having an out door kitchen. Easy to clean, comes apart for cleaning and it stores away really easy even has a case to put it in. It can be used on a table or use the nice stand that is so easy to set up plus very sturdy.