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Where do you find qualified help? The good ones are making top dollar elsewhere. You struggle with people learning the craft, and where do they go? In search of more money. Remember! Everyone needs a college education because the professors need a constant demand in order for their salaries and pensions to be pumped up. Vocational high schools are floundering. We need more of them. In 1962 I attended the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign for around $200 a semester including most books. Slept at home on Chanute AFB with my family.

My guess is dealers that once gave good service and followup on warranty issues can no longer find qualified workers. The good ones moved on to better pay or retired. There are dealers in the my area that once gave good service. They now sell units that are serviced by an outside company. Are the sales reps honest about that😎? Joe Leamont can certainly tell us how hard it is to find good help.

When I entered the industry in 1965, an 8V71 was a hot item. Nothing wrong with using the truck lanes. The hard pull west of Needles California has a truck lane. When the outside temp is over 110 it is used by all manner of vehicles. Motorhomes included.

Still like my cash plan. We get the advertised price in green on the sign along the interstate. Never a problem. Everybody likes cash and I get to talk to people .

Gotta be some liability there. You have the documents. Do not let the dealer have access to your coach until possible proof of fraud is verified. Who does not know how to scroll between actual mileage and trip mileage today? Something stinks, but you will have to pay a lawyer. Oh well! Good luck! 👍

Never been there but I will add it to my list. Cool breezes off of Lake Michigan and perhaps some wind blowing pleasant temps across the UP from Lake Superior. Have read of a nice park around Cedarville on the UP. There are some spots on the water looking at Lake Huron. Maybe some Great Lakes freighters motoring by. 851 feet or so.

Flying J was built on servicing the trucking community. He would not have built one that was inconvenient for his customers. The founder started catering to RV owners also. Maybe Gas Buddy gets it wrong? Have never used their site, but the prices that I saw when it was Flying J were consistent. Pilot of course now owns Flying J. There was a Pilot just west of Knoxville on I-40 a very few exits from one of the busiest truck fueling exits in the country. Flying J, Petro, and TA were all there . Trucks got off for one reason. Fuel. Funny though that the very nearby Pilot was competitive. However further west in lonely Cookville Tenn. Pilots price was twenty cents or more higher. Their CEO is one aggressive business man. Doesn't make him a bad person though. Perhaps that is why prices now jump around a bit. Back in the day, they didn't.

OH shoot! Forgot to answer Kay about spares. I learned that lesson early as an owner operator. Limped over Donner Pass Westbound because of no replacement cartridge for my Racor. Bought some bad fuel from a small western chain called Bingo. After that experience, I stocked up on replacements and stayed away from the Bingos. I have multiple spare filters in our Phaeton.

I plan my fuel buys carefully, and when I absolutely have to buy fuel from a small player, I sample the fuel by placing it into a fruit jar that I carry specifically for sampling. If it looks good, I buy what I need. Gotta be a light green usually with no obvious contaminants. The TA was never a favorite of mine. I did and still use the Petros when necessary. They were a cut above and still seem to be even though TA bought them. Oddly, I have never seen a mom and pop across the street from a Flying J offering fuel for a much lower number. We also use cash for fuel. I estimate the needed amount, pay cash at the fuel desk, and then fuel. If I can't get it all in our tank, I go in for a partial refund. Works every time. Have never known anyone to charge more for paying cash. When I was a trucker I used the Flying J card and really chalked up the rewards points. I often used 500 or more gallons a week, used a Racor fuel/water separator, and was very happy with the lack of appreciable water to drain. Only used additives back then for winter driving. Saw a lot of temps below zero as I traveled the northwest. Started trucking in 1965. The more sophisticated fuel filtering that goes on now did not exist then. Do not remember even air dryers , but we got by. Barge gas! 🤔🙄

Will add this/ 27 psi is pretty much normal. On a really chilly day it might approach 30. No living human could possibly teach Motorhome 101. Still struggling with remedial Motorhome classes and that started in 1986 with a rental to be amplified by a purchase in 1988.🙄 ,

If you have to line up behind big rigs at the J or Pilot, that means you are getting good fuel. The fuel trucks are constantly at work trying to keep the big rigs fueled. Everybody gets maybe a small dose of bad stuff (but not enough to clog filters) because the constant deliveries keep the In ground tanks washed out. In spite of what the occasional miscreant thinks , have never gotten any bad fuel at the Flying J. Years ago, maybe early 90s I was able to engage a Flying J tanker driver in conversation at the Amarillo station. He probably would have been disciplined by the manager for being forthcoming, but I remember him saying that the tanker was used around the clock and the local pipeline fuel rack was nearby. The amount of fuel pumped daily was amazing. I wanna say close to 100,000 gallons a day, but I would not bet big money on that. It was a major fueling station for big trucking companies and small guys like me. It was Texas with low taxes , and fuel got more expensive as you headed west. My point is , once again, that if you have to wait behind a lot of big rigs to fuel, you are getting quality fuel from a high volume store. That is why I prefer the Flying J. I do have a story about bad fuel and no replacement filter while going over Donner Pass. Another time. Learned a lesson on that encounter . Never again. It applies to anybody with a diesel powered motorhome.

Tahoe is absolutely beautiful. Had a very enjoyable 8 night stay with Betty in Reno area. Went to Tahoe twice in our rental car. As others have asked, where are you staying?

Smart newbie/ Welcome aboard as well. He bought a rig with a side radiator or so it seems. Wish that I had done that.🙄

Kay/ it is always better to have filter replacements and not need them than to need one and not have it.😉 They had a replacement and would not sell it to you? I would have gone to the manager.

When the founder and CEO of Flying J died in an aircraft accident (at least so I read and I remember seeing his Jet at an airport along I-15 north of Ogden, maybe Brigham City). The management eventually wound up in the hands of others. I read his daughters got the company in trouble when diesel prices skyrocketed. They entered into a long term contract for diesel supplied to their stores. Prices later settled down and then dropped. They sold to Pilot. Almost never my choice in decades of trucking. Flying J was where I slept in my rig safely, fueled with quality fuel (fuel water separator told me so), enjoyed their corporate restaurants, their free showers with fuel coupons, their burritos when running hard and no time to enjoy a good meal. Pilot has changed a lot of things there, but as an RVer, I still try to fuel there when I can. Lots of room for big rigs and big motorhomes. If you are insistent on the cheapest fuel, maybe you picked the wrong hobby. It is a hobby and an expensive one. I enjoy convenience and pleasant employees.

Betty met with her surgeon for a follow up (Dr. Ebert) yesterday, almost five weeks after the replacement. He was impressed with how well she is doing. And so am I. Tickled would be a better description. As Wayne and others said, do your rehab exercises without fail. She has followed everyone's well meaning instructions. Actually does extra. She walked across the parking lot from the rehab center to my Toad without a cane. Surprised me. Setting there listening to fill in for Rush while reading a newspape when the knock at the door came. Her Doc said folks her age sometimes take 6 months to get where she is. Thanks for the prayers

Engine cooling fan right? Took NASA soldering course at Redstone Arsenal as part of my Nike training. I always felt like there insistence on perfection was worthwhile.

Trucking career spanned 46 years. Most of the problems expressed in the last day have never happened to me. is it that I am blessed. Nope not me. Can guarantee! Just good at what I did. Two fender benders in the first two years of my career. One driver entered the intersection through a red light after setting there a bit. Told the police officer it was his fault and he received a citation.. The other was a back street ice under snow slide that bent the corner of my cab. My fault clearly. After that, tons of accident free miles. Always managed to position various and many mirrors on my rigs to eliminate any blind spot. Yes it can be done, but probably not on a motorhome, un less you want to do some serious modifications. I want the camera because of the head on that Richard talked about. I will watch the sides and the back on my on. I do not want to have to monitor video offered by a camera on steroids. If the camera records speed from a GPS system, could the system be impounded by law enforcement. Someone hits you head on because he is texting and you are 8 or 10 miles over the limit approaching a steep climb. Camera impounded as possible evidence. You are now hiring a lawyer? GPS has gotten a lot of truckers and some RVers in trouble because they can not spell a destination properly. Will not bore you with accounts but they were both hilarious and tragic. If you can not read a map as a backup for your GPS entry, stay away from me please.

Good for you! Thank you for the update! Please keep us posted. Our Dometic has all of the capacity that we need.

Knew that I would stir something up with my last post. Kinda thinking that I will go with a plain Jane dash cam. Time and date. If you are involved with an accident, chances are that the investigation will happen then. Someone pictured crossing the line or pulling into an intersection after not stopping when required to by a sign or a traffic signal at an intersection should be enough. I am a very careful driver. You would be bored riding with me. Slowly approach stop signs. Try to anticipate stale green traffic lights. My brake pads and rotors last longer than the car satisfies me. Why give up privacy for the sake of GPS. Big brother. My two cents.

Just a thought. If your foot gets a little heavy once in awhile, would you want a GPS system?

My if we were in the market for a change I would look ar the compressor model, but how new and tested is it? Have never heard anything negative about he "Amish" boiler replacement as Wayne has noted.

Thank you Richard. I know there reputation with boiler units. Did not know that they make a compressor unit using only a 1K inverter. Gotta look in to that.

I do know that independent truckers have installed them. Truckers have to be on guard for erratic drivers that think nothing about cutting off an 18 wheeler that might weigh in at 80,000 lbs just to get to an exit that they decided they needed. Dash cams can often save a bump in insurance rates and even a citation. I am with Herman. I know that there are members that use them and maybe we should start. I would put one on our Phaeton's dash if I knew the best way to go.

Do not think that they are describing a compressor system on their website. The so called Amish Cooling unit is similar to Norcold and Dometic boiler units for cooling, but the company has a much better reputation. The Amish do not use electricity in their homes 😎 . Therefore they must use an absorption type fridge to preserve food. There are Amish in northern Indiana and locations in Ohio. Perhaps this company makes versions of what the Amish use or even make them to sell to the Amish. Have heard of handy people buying the unit that they offer for the do it your self crowd. Other RVers have gone right to the factory for installation. Have never heard a negative thing about the company. We would consider having one of their units installed while comparing the pros and cons of a residential fridge in the area our Dometic occupies setting over the coach circuit panel. Would be a job to move that.