bpixley

Have you looked to http://fulltimefamilies.com/ as a resource?

http://flatheadlakerv.com/ http://www.polsonrvresort.com/ http://koa.com/campgrounds/polson/ http://www.edgewaterrv.com/

Did your coach ever have any lapbelts installed for the couch or dinette seats? Mine had some bolted under the couch. Never knew they were there in mine until I dug under the couch after I bought it. The lapbelts were bolted to the floor/frame.

SR 36 from Red Bluff to the 101. Now that's a good driving skills test with some 10% grades.

While travelling today in our RV on Interstate 15 near Barstow, CA, I drove past an RV and tow car that had ran off the road. The embankment on the side of the highway went down about 15 feet. The RV was on its side and ripped apart. My heart was heavy with grief for the driver and anyone else that may have been in the RV. That wreck really hit home since that could be anyone of us (including my family). With CHP and Fire on the side of the road already, I did not stop. But I did pray for them. The video from my dash cam show part of the wreck. I later looked at CHP's dispatch website and found that it was not a fatality (except for their dog). It appears that they ran off the road. At the end of the day, I continue to think about it and pray for everyone of us to be safe as we travel down the road.

Larry, A long time ago, I came across a great resource on the subject of RV electrical issues. The site is written by Mike Sokol. Here is one page from his site: http://www.noshockzone.org/rv-electrical-safety-surge-strips/ While I have not come across improperly wired campsites, I have experienced other power issues, such as under and overpower problems. This can also cause problems. Grab a cup of coffee and read a lesson at a time. Each lesson is very well written and builds upon the previous lesson. In the end, you will have a very good understanding of all the the types of electrical problems you can encounter. In the end, I decided that I did not want the problems to happen to me, so I invested in a device of each of my rigs. I have been camping with my Dad since the early 70's and he has never owned a surge device. Never had a problem. Although he recently purchased one because he didnt want to pay for the damage it could cause.

Here is a story from Florida about red light cameras and how they are reducing the yellow light time. http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=316418 It reminded me of this thread started a year ago. The OP was specifically referencing Port Richey, which is one of the cities involved in red light camera money grab. Just a reminder to driver beware in Florida. If you think you will make the yellow light, you wont. As the camera is flashing, just smile and save (no, wait. That's Good Sam). I mean smile and wave.

Having a living quarers horse trailer, a toyhauler, and a DP, i own both Surge Guard and Progressive Industries. I have portable models and a hardwired model. My dislikes for the Surge Guard portable model: 1) the anti-theft device is a huge chunk of plastic that you have to buy separately 2) only had idiot lights to tell you if there was a problem (although new model has LED display) Based on those dislikes, I bought the PI portable model. The anti-theft device was built in and the LED told me what the failure was. This device was very helpful when we were at state fairgrounds and power was unstable. It was not like I could easily find someone who could fix a pedastal or even cared there was a problem. Now I have PI's hardwired unit for the DP and I am very happy. I have an LED display and one less thing left outside. When you look at the Surge Guard models today, they are better than their older models since they added those displays. However, I still leaned toward PI because they had been offering models with good features for much longer. My impression was that PI put some thought into their products instead of wiring slapped into a box with 3 idiot lights.

I have been using this app on my iPad since it came out. So far, I like the functionality. The only downside so far is I found that it does not contain every campground in the database. However, that does not prevent me from entering an address or lat/long. I also have other apps that help me look up campgrounds (see below). The only problem I have found so far is not all rest stops show up when you look for them on your route. When you first install the app, make sure you are on a WiFi network as you will have to download a lot of data. I also have the Navigon app to use as a backup, which is what I used to use. As with any GPS apps you use with your iPad, your will want to plug in a power cord while you are heading down the road. Along with the Rand McNally app, I use for the following apps for trip planning: 1) Allstays Camp & RV 2) Allstays Truck & Travel 3) iExit For mounting the iPad, I use a combination of hardware from ProClip and RamMount. The iPad Mini also provides a smaller footprint than the full size iPad.

To calculate stopping distance, you look at different factors to estimate stopping distance: Perception distance + Reaction distance + Brake lag distance + Effective braking distance = TOTAL STOPPING DISTANCE With air brakes there is an added delay: the time required for the brakes to work after the brake pedal is pushed. With air brakes, it takes time (up to one half second) for the air to flow through the lines to the brakes. At 45 MPH, you are traveling at 66 feet per second. Perception distance = 3/4 second or approx 50 feet. Reaction distance = 3/4 second or approx 50 feet. Brake lag distance = 1/2 second or 33 feet Braking distance on dry pavement = approx 97 feet. Total stopping distance = approx 230 feet Now you look at how long was the light yellow. A good reference for this information would be a commercial trucking drivers guide published by the DMV. Bruce