Pat60

Hey, hey, Gary...now I would never have thought of pulling in the slides in high winds...fantastic idea and thanks for that hint. When we were in the Keys last May, a storm blew up right off the campground we were staying in...it would not move, it just sat there. They had closed the bridge which was just a quarter mile from the campground (Fiesta Key) and that storm just pounded us...the bus rocked and I was ready to abandon ship!! I watched the weather report on tv and then the electric went so we had to sit through that and hope it would pick up some steam and move which it eventually did but I was not a happy camper. I am looking forward to heading down the road...you have a safe trip driving north and I will be thinking of you. Thanks, Gary, P

Hey, hey...we have a satellite on our motorhome roof but we are taking an extended trip and are thinking about throwing the tripod and the sat dish in the back of the SUV for use when we are on a site full of trees with no reception. First of all, I hate dealing with a portable sat but sometimes it is a necessary evil. It has been so long since I set one up can anyone take me through the steps after I get the dish on the tripod. I have the meter and the compass. It is probably the most hated aspect of rv'ing...portable sat dish setup. I would appreciate someone takingme thru the steps from step one...THANKS Pat

Thank you, Gary and Tom... We won't be traveling on the Mem Day weekend...we will already be in the Mountain Creek Campground in Gardners...we never travel on holidays. I do have a weather alert radio...living in FLA I have had one for years and I have used it on the road traveling. There is a website that gives you the counties and the megahertz to change your weather radio...I have that printed out. I have the weather bug on my laptop as well as The Weather Channel...I have their side gadgets so I have instant access to weather. Since we have a farm and animals I am always aware of weather around here and as boaters we always looked at weather and now motorhome travel has us doing the same. The one thing that concerns me is being in a motorhome during severe weather. I have seen many photos on Orlando's tv stations of the damage done by high winds and our small tornadoes. Thank you once again... Pat

Gary, coming from Ocala, FL where do I pick up I-81 as you suggest and where does I-77 come in??? I can see from all the direction people that they are taking us straight up I-95 to DC and we do hit a lot of big city traffic along the way... I can see taking I-81 would avoid same. Can you give me directions from Ocala into the Gettysburg area!! Thank you. Pat

Hi, can anyone give me some springtime weather information for traveling up from Ocala to the Pennsylvania area and then onto New York. We thought we would leave the end of May to get up to Pennsylvania...weather seems to be extreme right now. When do the springtime storms settle down into just summer t-storms vs. tornadoes and violent weather??? Thanks Pat

Thank you, Gary, for the information. I will have to look at the various directions I have gotten from AAA Trip Tik, Mapquest and Trailer Life's...I am betting they are all the same. The only one I haven't looked at is my GPS. I am hoping that this nasty spring weather will be gone by the time we set out late May. Thanks again. Pat

Hello, fellow rv'ers... We are leaving from Ocala, Fl to Gettysburg, Pa...will we be going through any mountain ranges? Then from Gettysburg we will drive on to Niagara Falls...will we be going through any mountain ranges along that route... Thank you. Pat

Thank you for all your great traveling tips...have printed them out for later reference. We just got back from the air show in Lakeland, FL which was fantastic. Had no idea how large this air show is. Already made reservations for next year's show. Have not yet set a definite date for leaving on our trip north but hope to add to this blog along the way. We are looking at around the middle of May and being gone for a couple of months. This will be our first extended trip and there is much to plan for both for on the road and leaving the farm behind. There is so much to remember such as how to get medications (Medicare prescription plans do not allow for preordering meds) while on the road, etc. I have lists for my lists...ha!!! Once again thank you. Pat

We will be leaving Ocala, Fla., sometime in May to head up to Gettysburg, then on to Niagara Falls, then to Bar Harbor, then to Washington, D.C., and then back home to Ocala. Does anyone have good tips about where to eat lobster in New England and any other tips about your trips to Gettysburg (you can ride horseback to tour the battlefields), Niagara Falls and Bar Harbor (we will definitely want to do Acadia)? Thanks. Pat

Can anyone recommend a ramp for a motorhome for my large arthritic dog to climb to get up the stairs of the RV???? Have looked at various websites and have seen a couple to use with a fifth wheel but not a motorhome. Might have to build one I am thinking. Thanks

We are planning to spend next summer traveling. I know that online banking is the key to getting bills paid while we are gone but my question is what do you do about bills that come to the house liike electric, phones, cells, insurance, etc. that are not online for viewing and paying. Credit card accounts can be viewed online so you can pay that easily each month... You can't have your mail forwarded if you are traveling around the country... Do I need to call these companies to inform them beforehand that we are planning to be gone and how do I obtain what is due and owing for that month's bill so I can pay it while on the road... There must be an easy way to do this... We are used to traveling for a couple of weeks at a time so when we get home we can pay bills that have come in. Any help and advice would be appreciated. Thank you. Pat

I am not a newbie Rv'er and I have had a GPS for quite a while. I currently have a Lowrance IWay 600...unfortunately, I am on my third replacement unit. I am not happy with this GPS but my husband wanted a large screen and at the time that I purchased the original this was the largest screen. I have had nothing but trouble with all the units... My question to longtime GPS users is "have you experienced problems with your units being out in the sun/heat for long periods of time on the road?"... Living and traveling all around FLA we are always hot pretty much of the time and after a couple of hours sitting on the dash while traveling I am experiencing problems. I enjoyed reading about the various GPS units that ya'll are using...especially the Garmin 465T. Eventually I am going to buy a new one as I am disgusted with the Lowrance. I will give the 465T a hard look. And yes, you definitely need to have a good road atlas when traveling as well as the "Next Exit" book. Thank you. Pat

Thank you very much for your replies...I appreciate the information. I must say that we have already replaced all the batteries to the tune of almost $1,000.00. No one offered to us waterless batteries and you can be sure when the time comes to do this again we will definitely check out the waterless batteries. Meanwhile we will also consider the pennies. Thank you once again.

We have a 2-year-old Tiffin Phaeton motorhome. We have it serviced regularly. We keep it plugged into 50-amp service at home. We use it periodically. In March my husband opened the battery compartment and discovered a bulging battery and corrosion all on the bottom of the batteries. We took it in for service. All four batteries had to be replaced and the floor of the compartment was cleaned and painted before new batteries were put back. One month later, when preparing for our next trip, my husband opened the battery compartment and, lo and behold, corrosion was starting all over again on one of the new batteries. We were told several reasons for this and then finally service told us that it is our fault that this is happening. We are supposed to check the batteries every three weeks for the water level because we keep it plugged in all the time. For two years we did not have this problem and all of a sudden we have a battery problem and one month in between the replacement of the batteries. My husband always checks each compartment before each trip so we know that between January '09 and March '09 there was no corrosion. Can anyone give us some advice on this subject? We were told that we are probably going to have to replace the batteries every two years ... this is almost a $1,000 expense. Thanks

Thank you very much for replying to my question of which antenna to buy with the Alfa adapter. I definitely was going to ask Pasadena which antenna to purchase along with the unit. And I do realize that this may not work in all situations but at least I have the unit to try when I find myself in a situation like I did at the campground on Long Key, FL when the WiFi was in the office and cantina only.

I found your comments about a USB wireless modem to capture WiFi weak signals helpful. We recently stayed in a campground on Long Key, FL in the FLA Keys and you had to go to the cantina or the office for WiFi. It was an inconvenience. I am amazed that if I had one of the below units I could have had WiFi in my motorhome. I have researched both the Alfa and the Engenius units but you did not mention the brand of antenna that you bought to replace the mini antanna that came with the Alfa unit. You indicated that the Alfa can be used with Windows Vista but I didn't actually see it listed on any of the specs that I looked at. I also didn't see Vista listed on the Engenius either but apparently it is as the other person mentioned it in his reply to you. Please let me know what antenna that you bought and I am assuming that you purchased it at Pasadena Networks also. Thank you.