popndelly

Downsizing from a 1400 sf townhouse to a 34 ft 7 inch Motorhome was pretty easy. We gave away just about everything - without much hesitation. Unless you count the 10x15 storage unit....... It is full of books and Christmas decor. But no coffee makers reside there. Pot 1: Cuisinart Grind and Brew coffee maker It was too big for the counter. It pulled too much electricity. Did we really need a 10 cup coffee maker for just the two of us? So it found a new home with our son. We can lovingly use it when visiting our in-law room there. Pot 2: Keurig No mess usage. Still too big for the counter. Very expensive to buy K Cups. Made the lights flicker. Bought those do-it-yourself K-Cup filters and pods. Too much trouble. So we moved the Keurig to the office. (I - Delly - had stocked up on the K-Cup sale at Target - couldn't miss the chance to buy all of that Caribou Reindeer Blend!) Just can't waste all of that coffee. Pot 3: French Press coffee pot No one really knows how to grind coffee for that pot. And you have to boil water first. And it is too much mess to clean... Pot 4: Hamilton Beach Single Serve Scoop Coffee Maker It fit on the counter. We could use our favorite coffees. Never had a decent cup of coffee from it. It clogged most of the time - thus flooding the small counter it resided on. Spent more time cleaning up a mess than actually drinking coffee. SO, no more holiday commercials for Pop! Six months and four coffee pots later we left home for a month with one purchase on our list: buy a coffee maker that was small, easy to use, and produced good coffee - we gave up on great coffee. POT 5: STOVE TOP PERCOLATOR We wandered into Ace Hardware in Greenville, TN. Asked the salesman (he was older than us and thought we had dropped out of crazy somewhere) if he had a percolator coffee maker. "You mean one of those camp types?" "Well, we might have one somewhere over here....." Sure enough - there were actually 2 on the shelf ...... along with years of dust......... "That's it!" we exclaimed as the salesman walked away, pretty sure we had lost our minds. We couldn't wait to get back to the RV and make some coffee. Small. Does not need counter space - fits in a cabinet when not in use. Does not require electricity. The coffee is actually hot. The coffee is good - we will work on the grinding and perking to maybe one day have a GREAT cup of coffee! So why did I give away 6 antique percolators only to go looking for a new one? Now we have a new "grind and brew" system. Next quest: Find the perfect coffee beans, roasted just to my taste ....

While hiding out in Pigeon Forge, TN recently, we made new friends - from Ontario. I say hiding out because we were in the middle of a sabbatical and still trying to find peace and quiet in our lives. And quite suddenly the peace and quiet were gone. Vvvrrrrooommm! A brand new motorhome came flying by (well I don't think they were holding to the 5 mph speed limit). SCREECHHH. CRUNCCHHHH. They were backing into the site next to us! The motorhome jerked to a stop. The door flew open. Three big dogs came barking and bounding out - running wild. Into the creek. Happy to be out. Voices yelling. Five people appeared. The Canadians had arrived. Very friendly folks. On their first RV adventure. Introductions were made. Stories were shared. Their excitement was contagious to these old timers - after all, we have been in our RV FOR ALL OF 7 months! Turns out they had driven all day from Canada to Pigeon Forge. What a drive! On this their maiden journey in the RV, they didn't have a water hose - we have 3 extras at all times. Their still in the box sewer hose was too short - but our extra one wouldn't fit their connectors. No worries - off to Walmart they went - in the RV. For the next several days we watched from our site, enjoying their adventure. Like all 5 people riding bikes with 3 dogs running with them. And piling all their gear on the patio, disconnecting the electric and taking off to drive somewhere in the RV. And returning each day with new stories to share - like the Moma bear and her cubs on the side of the mountain. I think backing into a site needs a little refinement - their water cooler and outdoor stove may never be the same after being hit a couple of times! We learned a lot from our Canadian neighbors last week. Plan ahead - but don't rob ourselves of the fun in the adventure. Be aggressive in meeting our campground neighbors - everyone has a story to share. Live our dream - be very grateful for the opportunity we have TODAY to enjoy life and our RV.

Delly had a heart attack in January. Add 68 inches of snow this winter and it was time to find warm weather and start recovering! Pop was granted a one month sabbatical - a nice perk to his work - so we unhooked the Coach and headed South. Of course that was the day after another snow storm..... First stop was WalMart somewhere in Virginia. Our first time to boondock at WM. 'Twas an interesting experience, but afforded us a good nights sleep and a place to buy supplies. On to Baileyton RV Park for a couple of days of sunshine! Visited the Andrew Johnson home in Greenville, TN. Nice history stop. Rest. Sunshine. And a lightening storm about the time we were breaking camp...... Now parked in the Cartersville/Cassville - White KOA in Georgia - visiting our baby brothers and taking my mother shopping. Yes, we drove over 800 miles to take her to buy stuff to fill her nursing home room........ Next stop is Pigeon Forge, TN. Still looking for warmer temps...... Maybe somewhere farther South - that is a hard thing to admit for this Maryland girl! But this year I need healing and health from sunshine.

Rich, Yes they are fine above freezing. This winter has been the challenge. Will find some spray this week. PopNDelly

We have a 2014 Winnebago Sightseer 33C with 50 amp service. Stopped at a state park with 30 amp. Tried plugging electrical cord to Surge protector, then 30 amp dog bone into power. Didn't work. Here is what Progressive Industries said would work: All you need to do is plug your RV into the SSP-50 and then put your 50 to 30 dogbone adapter on the male end of the SSP and plug into the 30 amp plug. Same thing we did. Any suggestions?

Another Lippert question: our rear jacks won't retract unless we use manual mode. Lippert says it is the cold weather and that we need to spray the jacks and retract once a week. Any suggestions on silicone spray? Headed on a cross country trip next month and sure to have issues.......

Thanks for that advice. We noticed the routing suggestion was I-80. Why pay tolls if you can avoid them??

We are taking out on our first cross country trip in April. A month of wandering. Taking I-80 (or somewhere near there). Any must sees? Must stays? Must take with us? Which GPS to buy?

Anyone else experience the kitchen plumbing system coming apart when the slides are moved? We are now in our 4th flood. Seems the system is not fitted properly to accommodate the slide movement.

We picked the wrong Winter to live in our RV!!! Yep, I am conceding that this Winter has been a little too much for this newbie. I am sitting here watching a squirrel try to maneuver a tree - he slid down the ice like a sliding board! 30 inches of snow - no big deal. I (Delly) love snow - as do Pop and Elly May. 18 below wind chills - staying warm with 400 gallons of propane connected to the coach. ICE STORM --- no electricity or water to hook up -- doing just fine as long as we can get fuel for the generator! ICE missiles shooting at the Coach --- just a little scary. Even the dog curled up in a ball and hid from that noise! Despite all of that and now on day 2 without utilities, we are snug and warm. Guys here at our camp added more fuel to the generator. We took showers down at the neighbors' house (they have power and water). Snow melt does well for dishes and toilets. The sun is shining. All is well - until we climb on the roof and see how many missiles holes we have --- LOL. See all of the limbs??? They may look small, but with 25 mph winds, they sounded like bombs! Very thankful that the trees didn't come down too! Our son Josh is now calling us "Popsicle" and "Delly Bar" It is only February 6, 2014. Wonder how many more Winter days we will experience??? So far, this has been one wild Winter in our RV Adventure!

Danger! Danger! Watch out for the slides! On the first morning of our RV adventure, Pop went outside to walk to our office - another perk to our simplified living. We were given an office on the mountain where we live - complete with internet connections and space for Pop's books. The sun was shining, it was a perfect Fall morning. I (Delly) was organizing things in the cabinets since we had just moved in the night before. Clump, clump, clump, down the steps. Crunch, crunch, crunch ---- "ADELE!!!!!!!!!!" I opened the door and there was Pop, holding his head and blood everywhere. " Now what did you do?" I not so compassionately asked. "The slide!" "Huh?" "I ran into the slide!" Fast forward to the ER near our new camping spot. Triage nurse: "What happened?" Delly: "He ran into a slide on our RV." Triage nurse - trying desperately not to laugh - "Well, let's get you fixed up." Fast forward to the ER Doc: "now, how did this happen?" Delly (because Pop was too busy trying not to pass out from the head pain and loss of blood): "We live in our motorhome and he ran into a slide." ER Doc: silence - well, not really - he was trying not to fall over laughing. ER Doc while probing the gash on Pop's head: "it's not too bad. A few staples will fix it. I can give you an injection to numb it - but that will be painful - or I can just staple it. Staples won't hurt as much as the injection." Brave Pop: "Just staple it." Lesson learned: watch where you are walking and wear sunglasses. Especially watch out for a 12 foot high, silver wall......…..

Almost Full Time RV Living We are now completing our 4th month of living in our 2014 Winnebago Sightseer 33C. In the winter. In Maryland. During a record cold winter. With 30 inches of snow so far....... Yep, most people think we are either completely crazy or having a really wild mid-life crisis. If this is mid-life, then we have many more years for the adventure! The saga began nearly 20 years ago with a desire to simplify our lives. Then, four years ago we were bored and decided to chase away the winter blues by going to a RV show. We caught the fever and spent the next 3 years researching and planning. Sold the house. Gave away almost all of the 'stuff' we had accumulated over 37 years. Ordered our RV. Moved into the "parents" room at our son's house while waiting on the RV to be built. So here we are, parked on a beautiful mountaintop, insulated with one-inch foam board for skirting, an electric water hose (yep - water and electricity all in one), fleece blankets on all windows (over the sun shades and night shades), 400 gallons of propane, and an Eden Sure electric heater. So far - and it is only early February - we have experienced -18 windchill and lost water 4 times - all due to the water sources freezing. That electric water hose does not let the water freeze going into the RV! Join us on this adventure as we share our story - sometimes funny, sometimes hard to swallow, and sometimes just plain ole crazy!Pop N Delly

Roch, Any special hints on towing a manual Subaru? We are in the process of buying a Crosstrek, manual transmission. Do you use a braking system? What about lights? PopNDelly

We are looking at a Subaru Crosstrek to tow. We got the same reply from Subaru - can flat tow manual transmission. Has anyone tried the Crosstrek? We are currently towing a 2007 Chev HHR, and the wiring went crazy on our first road trip. Still waiting to find out how bad the damage is. Believe it was from faulty wiring with the Brake Buddy.