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Joel, Several other entries in the Motorhome: Buying a motorhome forum deal with extended warranties, and there are good ongoing discussions about each of them: RV Warranty insurance Extended warranty, which company is best? Extended Service Plan - What do you suggest? I don't know of a site that compares the various companies' plans. I know that there are several major plans available but have encountered some small more product/dealer oriented programs as well. If there is a site out there for comparing the programs I'll bet someone knows about it.

We were into our second week in Denver last week. Louise was busy taking care of her mother and while I could help some, Mom was getting better and mostly needed supervision. Louise needed a nightly debriefing. So being the restless sort, I thought ... "I have always wanted to add a glider certification to my pilots license. Here I am in one of the glider meccas of the U.S. for an extended period of time. I wonder what opportunities there are?" A quick check on the WWWeb brought me to Mile High Gliders in Boulder, CO. I called and talked to the owner, Dave. He set me up for an interview with an instructor the following day. On Wednesday, I met Sean, late 20s, learned gliders in Hawaii and looked the part! Sean did a short interview, took me out and introduced me to their instructional gliders. We pre-flighted one, climbed in and went flying. I had the controls for a bit during the first flight and then we landed. These teaching sessions will be short; we don't go far from the airport and then return. After landing we hooked up to the tow plane again and were airborne in short order. This time I got more stick time, some practice following the tow plane (not as simple as it looks), turns, stalls and flying the landing pattern but Sean did the landing. We parked the glider after two flights because the wind was picking up. While you can fly gliders in winds, they weren't suitable for the practice that I needed to do. Thursday the weather was not suitable, for flying either. I spent a few hours at the airport after dropping off our motor home at Camping World. We are getting a new inverter/charger installed, so I turned our home over to the experts at Camping World in Wheat Ridge, CO. They had told us we could stay in the motor home Thursday night. A call from them Thursday confirmed that, so I made it a point to arrive before closing time. When I arrived I found we had no 12V current in the motor home. That meant no heat, no water. Even the refrigerator wouldn't work without the 12V for the controls. I caught two workers in the shop and prevailed upon them to help. Since they couldn't find the problem, they hooked up a 12V battery to the refrigerator to keep it running. We stayed the night with Louise's sister. Friday I spent the morning at Camping World. I worked with a crew of four to five techs who were buzzing around the motor home like bees at a hive. They tested everything and talked back and forth, seeking the source of the problem. They thought the 12 V was working when they left the unit Thursday night. Eventually, after much searching, the "a-ha moment" occurred. Dan said if they couldn't find the problem with the power, perhaps the ground was the problem. Viola. Connect the ground on the inverter and everything works again! I don't understand it, and that is why I have these guys working on it. I thought the DC was grounded to the frame of the motor home and they were testing the power at various points against the frame. They got nothing until connecting the ground at the inverter! At that point I was off to the airport. Friday was a good day to fly and I was able to fly six times. The first flight I took over the stick at 500 feet above ground and with each flight I was doing more of the flying. I made all six landings. The second flight we were 200 feet above ground when I got the stick. From there on, I was doing take-offs and landings. By Friday afternoon, I was walking on air. What a great experience. Before leaving the airport , I signed on for their intense five-day program, which should get me the glider certification on my pilots certificate. This was possible because I already had a pilots license and lots of experience in the air. I had been practicing many of the skills needed already. Now all I had to learn was to deal with the silence of flying in a glider, right? Not really, it is more complicated than that. Basically, I have to learn all the things that are unique about flying a glider. If I didn't have the pilots license it would have taken at least twice as long to get to the glider certification. Upon returning to Camping World to pick up the motor home, we found it parked heading out the driveway, a good sign. We paid the bill, picked up the keys and then went back to our parking spot at The Prospect RV Park. Everything seems to be working fine so far. I reloaded the compartment with access to the inverter, and when I closed the compartment door, I found water dripping from the refrigerator access door outside. Removing the access panel, I was greeted with a fine mist of water coming from the ice maker connecting hose. I knew this problem, because I had replaced one about two years ago. So I shut off the water at the valve immediately before the faulty hose and turned off the ice maker. Saturday I took Louise to the airport in Boulder to see the operation and perhaps watch me fly. It was not to be -- the weather was low clouds and flying, while possible, would be just up and down without any chance to practice other maneuvers. I worked several hours with John, a physics professor, on some of the book work required. We returned to Denver and enjoyed some family time with Louise's two sisters and her mother. We did some shopping. Louise needed some new walking shoes and my Nikes were wearing thin on the soles, so off to the mall for shoes. On the way home I stopped at Lowe's and picked up a replacement hose for the ice maker. I couldn't find the connections for the clear plastic hose that was originally installed and which I had replaced several years ago. I bought a stainless-steel reinforced hose with fittings for under three dollars. The one-foot hose fit fine and now perhaps I won't have to replace that part again. The water is back on and the ice maker works! Time for a drink! Sunday we woke to sunshine. I was off to the airport and spent the day there from 9 a.m. until about 4 p.m. I worked on my pre-solo written exam in between flights. John took over my flight instruction today and gave me a good workout with three flights in the morning. After a break in midday, we returned to flying in the afternoon. The winds had now picked up and the flying was more difficult. The fact that I was flying in these conditions meant that they were confident in my ability to cope with the challenge and still learn. Three more flights in the afternoon and I was finished for the day. I turned in my pre-solo exam to John and left hoping that I would see the solo on Monday. The forecast for Monday is once again low clouds and rain. Tuesday looks better. If all goes well, I'll be able to take my FAA check ride by Thursday or Friday. We are hoping to leave Denver on Saturday, May 2. I'd love to have a new pilots license in my pocket. I have almost half of the flights I paid for under my belt and the forecast suggests at least four of the next five days will be good for flying. I think I'll make it!

Thank you Wayne! So many good ideas out there. Both these are excellent solutions for keeping drains sealed.

Mikemopar, I don't have experience with the 300 Cummins but did have an 8.3 liter Cummins, 1994 vintage. That engine as our current Cummins 400 was coupled with an Allison 6 speed automatic transmission. The 8.3 liter Cummins was pulling a little over 15 tons plus a toad of almost 6000 pounds. Our experience was that you could expect the engine to pull down on a 6% grade to a speed of 30 to 35 in third gear on a long 6% grade with that load. I don't know what your total GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight) will be but that might give you something to compare with. Today our Cummins 400 ISL does about the same with our 16 ton motor home and the same toad. I don't consider that to be too bad a problem. With any large vehicle and the characteristics of the diesel engine, you will get about the same. I am usually able to pass the loaded trucks easily on such grades without straining the engine. More important, I have never encountered a grade that we couldn't climb with either engine. Compare your weights to our vehicles and perhaps that will help you decide the capability of the engine/motor home you decide to finally purchase. Remember that a motor home is not a car and you will not find one that will perform or drive like a car. Travel in a motor home can be very relaxing if you go with the flow rather than trying to always get somewhere fast. Enjoy your journey!

Thanks Gramps! This is great news. To be followed we hope with better news. Glad to see this article.

I recently picked up a Rand McNally Deluxe Motor Carriers' Road Atlas at Flying J for less than $30.00. Among the benefits are highlighted truck routes. For these truck routes it also gives all low clearance locations in each state. We have used a previous edition for four years and decided it was time to get the latest information. Yes there are length restrictions for almost every state and they vary widely. Tow laws are also a part of this publication. The pages of the atlas are laminated and they do last for years of heavy use. It includes all of Canada and Mexico. Our rig is 40 (Windsor) + 20 (Trailblazer) + 5 (BikeE bicycles) = 65. I don't always use the truck routes, there are some great back roads and I will sometimes brave them. We have traveled in all 50 states and all of Canada with the exception of Quebec, Newfoundland/Labrador and Nunavut. I have been stopped by low clearance once when I wasn't anticipating it, railroad underpass in Pennsylvania. I don't use it but there is a big rig campground directory available. You might check it out on the internet (www.big-rigs-rv.com/) and/or at an RV dealer. We go to all kinds of campgrounds but don't have the trailer. We tow the Trailblazer on a tow bar and it can be unhooked in a few minutes. The above mentioned Trailer Life Campground Directory has a pretty reliable listing of the typical size of campsites including length. Call ahead and specify the length of your rig and the campground host/owners should be able to tell you if they can give you a site to accommodate your rig. We always do this when we want to be able to park without having to unhook. Owners are usually eager to fit you in if they can. You have some ambitious plans, enjoy the trip!

Nope! Just your run of the mill science teacher!

Of course it would have to be raining when this happened. The cats sure knew what they were doing didn't they? We started carrying a spare key in the toad for just such an emergency! Imagine the fun if the cats (or dogs or grandkids) had jumped on the parking brake release. I keep a collar under the parking brake release so that it can't be depressed by accident. I also chock the wheels every time we stop! Trust but verify!

I'd love to hear more about this... How do you get locked in so you can't get out? Was it a malfunction of the door lock? How did they finally resolve the problem? This could be helpful information in case we have friends with the same problem!!!

Several thoughts on your problem. First, I have tried a number of tank additives and we are currently using the odor control from 5 Star Happy Camper, http://www.5starhappycamper.com/index.html Over the last four years we have found their product economical and effective. We have tried several others but always go back to this product. Purchased in bulk it doesn't take up too much space for a year's supply. We pack a 6 month supply in two 40 oz. containers which are about the size of two TP rolls. We then order the 130 oz. size and refill the smaller containers as needed. The large container is stored at "home" which for us is my daughters home. No product will make the black water smell good but this product is very effective in our experience and it is friendly for septic systems. I agree that you must have some kind of leak in the venting system or the tank. The fact that this occurs only when the tank is 3/4 full or more suggests that the vent pipe extends into the black water tank a distance of about equal to the top 1/4 of the tank. Once the level of the liquid reaches that level, the vent pipe will be blocked off. Resulting odors will find their way out through any weak spot in the system. This would be around the vent pipe, perhaps a bad seal on the vent pipe entry into the tank or a crack in the top of the tank. Such an escape route would be near ground level and would explain why you would smell the odor as you sit outside your coach. Hope this helps.

Gary, I should have mentioned the Flying J provision to get cash price at truck pumps requires the Flying J Credit Card. I got mine last fall when they changed to this method. Yes, you are right, the 5% discount beats the cash discount price. I usually am patient enough to use the RV pumps if they aren't too convoluted to get into. I too find them to be a challenge sometimes with our rig, also about 65 feet. Getting the cash discount plus the 5% cash back beats it all! I tend to avoid the truck pumps because of the amount of spilled diesel and the difference in the cash price provisions. But when necessary, I do use them.

We arrived in Denver last Monday to help care for Louise's mother who had a heart attack, angioplasty and a stent inserted into an artery to resolve the situation. She had great care at Exempla-Lutheran Hospital in Wheat Ridge and even at age 88 was able to leave the hospital on Wednesday. We took her home to Louise's youngest sisters home. Louise's sister took her mother in five years ago when she could no longer live alone. Mom has been able to care for herself during the day while the rest of the family works. Now, that has changed if only temporarily. Her mobility is down, her medications are up and she needs help with simple tasks. We are filling the gap providing "day care" for her while she recovers from her surgery. What happens when we leave depends on how well she recovers. Now if you have been watching the news, you know that a major winter storm has been slowly moving across the mountain states. Forecasts for Denver ranged from a foot of snow to as much as 24 inches. Mountain areas got plenty of snow and I-70 across the mountains was closed due to avalanche danger. There was an avalanche on one of the smaller highways in Colorado. It took two cars off the road but luckily no major injuries. For us the rain started on Friday morning. We drove north to pick up Mom for a doctors visit. When we got to their house about five miles north, they had three inches of snow already. We are staying at The Prospect RV Park in Wheat Ridge, a suburb of Denver. It's not fancy but very affordable and close to where Mom is staying. Friday morning the rain had formed a small lake near the rear of our motor home. We have water and electric but no sewer on this site. The manger, Nancy, has promised us a site with a sewer connection as soon as one is available. Meanwhile we are showering at Louise's sisters house. We took Mom to the doctor and returned home. The blanket of wet snow on the driveway almost prevented us from making it up the incline into the garage. After getting Mom settled in the warm house I went out to shovel the driveway. The snow was coming down in large heavy wet flakes. It wasn't long before everything I wore was wet. About halfway through the job, my nephew Frank came home and pitched in shoveling. Between the two of us the driveway, walk and porch were cleared in short order. I love shoveling snow so much, I may give up the full time life and buy a house way up north somewhere - NOT! After an early dinner, we headed for home. I spent ten minutes wiping snow off the Trailblazer, put it in 4WD and started to back away from the curb in front of the house. The roadway slopes down into the gutter at the curb and the slick wet snow under the tires was now ice. I could get the Trailblazer to move but the front tires just slid, I couldn't get it to turn away from the curb. I loaded up our gear and Louise and tried going forward but no luck. I got the shovel and cleared a path behind the rear wheels - no luck. So I dug out all four wheels and finally freed ourselves from the curb. The residential street was deep in slushy snow but the 4WD handled it nicely. Once we made it back to the main roads, they were clear enough to make travel easier. The rest of the trip back to Prospect RV was uneventful. When we arrived I saw that the small lake at the rear of the RV was now a large lake. The only place to park the car was right next to our front door. Even then, we were in the shallows of the lake when we got out of the car. The snow on our roof blocked the satellite dome and we were reduced to watching local TV. This morning the rain resumed and warmer temperatures (it's almost 40 now) have cleared the snow off the satellite dome. Louise is enjoying West Side Story on the encore drama channel. Except for snow on the roofs the area here at Prospect RV is now a big wet lake. We have been reassured that it will soak into the ground quickly but it is still raining. Warm weather later this week will bring relief and we'll be able to get around the motor home but for now we are staying inside rather than wading out! It isn't this wet in Denver normally so everyone here is glad to see the moisture. We didn't get the huge snowfall that was forecast but what we did get has certainly made a mess. It was just a matter of a few degrees. If the rain we got, an inch and a half today alone, had been snow we'd be buried now! So no matter how bad it is, it could have been much worse.

Water vapor collecting on the interior of a motor home can cause problems from fogged windows to mold and delamination of wall and roof panels. Preventing this accumulation of moisture inside the motor home is the purpose of this article. I have seen discussions of this problem with varying levels of understanding. I hope this helps to advance the understanding of water vapor problems in motor homes. There are several reasons that moisture control in a motor home is more difficult than in a sticks and bricks house. Size is a big factor. Inside my Class A motor home, with about a 360 square foot floor plan, I have less than 2500 cubic feet of air. In a small home with a 1000 square foot floor plan there are about 8000 cubic feet of air. More air allows more water vapor to be absorbed before noticing a problem. The smaller your motor home, the more extreme this factor becomes. The other major factor is the difference in insulation. Even the best motor homes have marginal insulation compared to houses. If the insulation is lacking or thin in some areas of the motor home, those areas will be most strongly affected by moisture accumulation. As a result, normal activities you do in a house now cause problems in the motor home. Activities which account for most of the problems are cooking, washing and showering. These activities involve heated water which enters the air in quantity. This moisture will be removed from the air by any cold surface in the motor home. In our motor home we have pretty good insulation and sealed double pane windows everywhere but the windshield. So the first place we see moisture accumulate is the windshield. I have read of complaints of others finding moisture on outside walls behind the couch or inside cabinets. The latter two are likely cold because heated air in the motor home is not circulating to those locations. As a result, the wall surface there is colder than other surfaces in the motor home. Water vapor however does not need forced air to move it from one place to another. Water vapor will spread evenly throughout any mass of air, moving from areas of high concentration (like the shower or pot on a stove) to areas of low concentration, a process called diffusion. Since cold surfaces take water vapor out of the air, converting it back to water, areas near cold surfaces will be areas of low concentration of water vapor and it will continue to migrate to these locations and water will continue to condense until the level of water vapor in the entire motor home has dropped or the cold surface has warmed. As a result of the above, the time when you have the most serious problems with water vapor is during cold weather. The solution to the problem is simple though not entirely obvious. Any time water vapor sources are active in the house, showering, cooking, even washing dishes, the water vapor must be actively removed from the motor home. By actively removing water vapor, I really mean using the ventilation fans to remove water vapor. Any time you use a vent fan, you must have an open window or other vent to allow outside air into the motor home. Now, if this is only a problem during cold weather that means you must allow some cold air into the motor home as the vent fan pushes out the moist air. Even if it is raining outside, the air you bring in will have much less moisture than the air being exhausted. Cold air can't hold as much water vapor (this is why cold surfaces remove water vapor from the cold air near their surface). So there you are, taking a shower on a cold day and I am telling you to turn on the vent fan and open a window! If you do this, your windows and windshield won't fog up, moisture won't collect on walls or ceiling. Put a small electric heater in the bathroom while you shower to deal with the incoming cold air. The furnace or heat pump will take care of the cold air in the rest of the house. Yes, it costs more to heat that cold air but you only need to do so during the brief period while cooking, washing or showering. An additional step you can take is to dry the shower after use. If you step out of the shower and leave it wet, that water will evaporate into the air and will contribute to any moisture condensing on windows and walls. I use a squeegee to wipe the water from the walls and door and then sweep the water from the floor down the drain. If you want to keep the shower really clean, you can wipe any remaining moisture off the walls and door and you won't have any water spots. But this moisture wiped off with a cloth or sponge will enter the air in the motor home fairly quickly so it won't reduce the moisture problem. That is why I use the squeegee first. Water down the drain is not going to come back into the air in any significant quantity. Finally, I want to mention problems caused by water vapor in warm weather. If you are running your air conditioner, you should be following the same rules above to save money rather than to maintain your motor home. The water that drips from your air conditioner is water that condenses from the air in your motor home as it is passed over the condenser coils of the air conditioner. Water vapor carries heat energy. When water evaporates it removes heat (think of what you feel like when you get out of the swimming pool). To condense the water out of the air in the air conditioner takes energy. Heat from the water vapor is transferred to the coils as it changes back into water. This makes the air conditioner work harder (or longer). If you aren't paying an electric bill I guess you wouldn't care about the cost of operating your air conditioner but the park owner will be concerned about that cost and it is factored into the rate you pay for your site. Ventilating to remove excess moisture from the air while showering or cooking, even if you are drawing in warm outside air, is more efficient than having the air conditioner do it. In very few cases would the incoming air contain more heat than the heat contained in the water vapor you are removing with the vent fan. A few basic facts. Water moves heat energy around very efficiently. A gram of water (a very small quantity - about 30 drops) requires 1 calorie (a unit of heat energy) to raise its temperature 1 degree Celsius. When you melt one gram of ice at 0 C and change it into one gram of water at 0 C it requires 80 calories. This is why ice is so efficient at keeping your drink cold. As the ice melts it absorbs a large amount of heat, 80 calories, for each gram of ice melted. That same 80 calories would raise the temperature of one gram of your drink 80 degrees Celsius. Now, as spectacular as this seems, the numbers are even more amazing for the water to water vapor change. Changing one gram of water to one gram of water vapor takes 540 calories. This is true whether boiling water on a stove or evaporating water from your skin when you get out of the swimming pool. No wonder water cools you so nicely as it evaporates. So water vapor carries this huge amount of energy with it. When it condenses on the windows of your motor home it is warming them, that heat is then transferred to the cold air outside. When water vapor condenses on your drink glass it transfers that heat energy to your drink. This is why even a thin insulating layer on a glass will efficiently help keep the drink cold. One gram of water vapor on the side of your drink glass will warm one gram of your drink 540 degrees Celsius! Or another way of saying that is to say one gram of water condensing on the outside of your drink glass will raise the temperature of 540 grams (about 10 ounces) of your drink one degree Celsius!

Every FMCA member should be using the Flying J fuel discount program. For diesel, you get cash price when using a credit card (this amounts to about 5 to 7 cents per gallon over credit card price). Plus, you get a 1 cent per gallon discount, which doesn't sound like much, but if you couple that with the discount to the cash price, it is significant. If you haven't applied for the RV Discount Card, stop by Flying J or visit the web site and put in your application. I have the Flying J credit card as well but don't find it to be saving me much money. There are better credit cards with cash-back provisions for fuel purchase. I don't know about the availability of these today; several that I use have been trimmed back to limit their value to me. Discover offers a 5% discount but recently limited it to just $5 per month! I use it to feed the toad. If I spend $100 on fuel in a month, I'll get a $5 cash back credit. We also have a Chase and Citi card that offer cash back for fuel, groceries and drug store purchases. The grocery discounts don't apply at discount stores (Wal-Mart). Chase still offers the 5% discount the card started with several years ago. Citi recently trimmed theirs back to 2%. Still, that is significant savings. A 5% discount on diesel at $2.20 per gallon amounts to 11 cents per gallon cash back. At 2% it is only 4.4 cents per gallon. If (when) fuel prices go back up, the discounts are bigger. At $4 per gallon, 5% gives you 20 cents a gallon and 2% gives you 8 cents a gallon. Multiply these amounts by your normal fuel purchase (100 gallons is not unusual for our Windsor. At 10 cents a gallon, that saves me $10 on a tank of fuel. Every month or so we are getting a check for $20, $50 or $60 from our credit cards! The caveat, of course, is that you must be paying off your credit card balances every month. If you are paying them interest, then they win and you lose! These cash-back offers work on fuel purchased at Flying J after their discounts have been applied. So you get cash price with a credit card at Flying J plus a penny discount and then use a cash-back credit card to pay for the fuel.

As I understand this system it works on an ionic basis, not magnetic though as I said, it seems like hokum to me. I like the suggestion of FMCA purchasing one for me to try. I think I'll try to get Easy Water to give me one to try as a way into this market! Why should FMCA put up the money to have their product tested? Good suggestion. I'll let you know how it goes.

We have owned two motor homes, a used (third owner) 1994 Monaco Dynasty and a brand spanking new 2004 Monaco Windsor. We have had no end of minor problems that have been fixed at Monaco rallies and at the factory as well as the dealer. I could list them but it would take too long. Given that, keep in mind that a motor home is like few other vehicles. We were at a Allison shop in Tennessee when an owner of a bus conversion came up and started a conversation. He reasoned that RV's were like boats, there was always something to be fixed. We were in for routine maintenance but I understood what he meant. An RV is a complex animal. Not at all like your car. We have AC and DC electric that power an endless list of convenience items, a full plumbing system and an endless list of appliances all manufactured by third parties. Every time we drive, our home (we are full timers) has a magnitude 3 or 4 earthquake, sometimes even a 5! Imagine being a quality control person who has to check everything on the motor home before releasing it. This one has two slides, the next has four slides. There is a full home theater set up to be checked. One has satellite TV and you don't even have a subscription to check that out, the next has just an antenna. Check all the plumbing for the shower, bath, kitchen, washer/drier. We owned our motor home for a YEAR before we realized that there was a heating vent that had been covered with carpet! I have learned to do as much work on the motor home as I can. I purchased a full supply of fittings for the rear support on the drawer slides in our motor home after the first one failed! I found a suitable substitute at Lowe's and bought about 24 packages. I'm about 80% done with those replacements. The next year our manufacturer went to a completely different system. I'm guessing they heard from many other owners that had the same experience we had. I keep a supply of cabinet hinges, drawer latches and switches on hand for the eventual failures. We are replacing our inverter in the next week because the old inverter lost the auto-gen start and fixing it would cost almost as much as having a new full sine wave inverter installed. Monaco repairs many items at rallies that are sponsored by the company - at least they used to before the recent bankruptcy filing and subsequent pending sale to Navistar (International Harvester). I know that manufacturers could do better but the wonderful machines we drive are light years from the early motor homes. They will get better if the market will support them in the future. But if they get perfect, most of us will not be able to afford them. Maybe we can't afford them now! Who knows? Enjoy it while you have it.

The good news is that Louise's mother is now home with her youngest daughter and family. Of course the reason she could come home instead of a nursing home is that Louise and I are here to take care of her during the day while everyone else is away at work. She needs constant supervision. We'll be taking her to doctors visits and doing errands for her. We feel fortunate to be able to do this since we are retired. Having the motor home means that home is just a short distance away most all of the time. It is about as convenient as this duty could be. Thanks for the concern and yes, whatever time we have left with our parents is well worth whatever sacrifices we make to be there for them.

Let me ask a few questions that might help others answer your question. When you say you are trying to hook up your satellite from the house, I assume you are talking about the receiver unit (the box between the dish and the TV). Is this correct? What model and satellite provider is this box? The more details you can give, the better the responses you will get here. When you refer to instructions, I would have to assume you are using the Winegard instructions. Have you tried to contact Winegard for technical support? Have you tried to contact the provider of the receiver, you satellite TV provider, for technical support? I'm not familiar with the Wingard system so can't really help you with anything specific to do to correct your situation. For our Direct TV system, a specific receiver box is required to make the system work with the KWH dish. You may not have a receiver box that is compatible with the Winegard system.

Here is a simple fix that I arrived at several years ago. When traveling we sometimes go for a week or so without a hookup to sewer and water. During this time we don't use the washer/drier in the motor home. Drive a little bit and the water in the drain trap will slosh out and evaporate until the trap is no longer sealing the passage to the gray water tank. Once that trap no longer seals the gray water tank, a very unpleasant odor is drawn into the motor home. No amount of tank treatment will completely prevent this odor. The solution is to keep the drain filled with water. I drilled a hole in the closet floor above the drier drain pipe in our motor home. Then I put a transmission filler funnel in the hole with the long extension of the funnel into the drain pipe for the washer. I attached the funnel to the back wall of the closet with a single screw just to stabilize it in an upright position. Now when we haven't used the washer for some time I will pour a glass of water down the funnel and keep water standing in the trap. This is much simpler and uses less water than running the washer for even a short time. It only takes a small glass or two of water occasionally to keep the drain filled. Problem solved! If you haven't used the shower in a while, the same process, a glass or two of water down the drain will keep that trap filled as well. Both traps have gone dry from time to time and we now watch them pretty closely.

A friend of ours came to our door last week and shared some useful information. Our winter resort, Sandpipers, has several WiFi antennas. From time to time one of the units will drop out. Knowing I had been having difficulty with the unit nearest to our lot he suggested we try a modem and antenna he had been using. I said sure, let me see how it works. I loaded the software and installed the modem. Now I was able to connect to any of three park antennas even though I was located quite far from one of them. I had good strong signal at an antenna that was 1000 feet away! So if one antenna went off line for one reason or another, I could connect to another that was still working! Instead of seeing three or four WiFi signals from other computers and the park system, I now was seeing 20 or so signals from other computers and every antenna in the park. I looked for something like this several years ago when we were touring British Columbia, Yukon and Alaska. Campgrounds with WiFi seldom had strong signals and I would have to go to the office to get signal. It was better than having to connect to a phone line but still less convenient than working from the motor home. I went to a computer shop then looking for exactly what I had now! They said there was nothing available. I assume this product has appeared in the last two years. The modem is an ALFA Network wireless USB adapter, Model AWUS036H. It puts out a 500 mW signal and greatly improves reception. My friend ordered a larger antenna, 12 inches, to replace the 3 inch antenna that comes with the ALFA modem. Both items were less than $80 including shipping. He purchased these through Pasadena Networks, LLC www.wlanparts.com If you are frequently experiencing marginal WiFi reception, I heartily recommend this modem and antenna. The modem works with Windows systems through Vista and Mac OS.

I have seen advertisements for Easy Water water softeners that don't use salt or add sodium to the water. Their web site easywater.com gives some information but the scientist in me says it sounds like hokum! The unit for this water softener is a small box, works on 120 VAC, and has a sleeve that fits on the incoming water line. It works with plastic as well as copper water lines. On the surface it looks ideal for motor homes. It takes little room, weighs very little and not having to use salt or chemicals to process the water are all positives. My question, does it really work? They claim the system realigns the mineral molecules in the water so they won't precipitate out in your hot water heater or affect the soap in your shower or washer. I haven't found any independent evaluation of this water softening system. If you have seen an independent evaluation or have experience with this system either in your motor home or in your home, I would like to hear from you about your experience.

One problem I have encountered with the time zone adjustment. I just went back to change time zones and found that the auto DST adjustment doesn't seem to be working. If I enter the correct time zone the time shown is one hour off. If I select the time zone one zone to the east then the time is correct. I have the auto adjustment box checked (default) but it doesn't seem to take effect.

Ok! So I had this great excursion of air and space planned for this spring in Florida. It was so simple, depart south Texas, drive north, keep making right turns until we got to Lakeland, Florida. Then we got a phone call from Louise's sister. Her mother had a heart attack on Friday, April 10. Our plans immediately took a tailspin into the trash can and we shifted gears. After some discussion I canceled my tennis match for Saturday morning. Louise arranged to get us out of the couples water volleyball tournament on Saturday afternoon. Then I made a first pass at getting ready for travel by taking down the external sun screens and wheel covers. They were all rolled and stowed in the dark and quietly too, it was after quiet hours. The fresh water tank is flushed and filled and I start organizing my desk (some call it a nest) area. The GPS is loaded with the maps and waypoints for the route. Louise began packing up all the little decorations that make the RV a home during our winter stay. Saturday morning I'm up early taking care of communication details with family and friends. I check the weather forecast for the next few days along our route of travel. The computer, disk drives and printers are stowed. Then I began the serious work of washing off the worst of the south Texas dust that had accumulated over the last few months. Everything comes out of our small shed and it is carefully packed away in the Trailblazer and Windsor. Then our tables, chairs, porch and other gear that will be left behind are stowed in the shed. Meanwhile Louise has systematically organized and secured the interior of the motor home. Nothing is going to rattle or crash when we pull out. A quick shower and we are out the gate at 6:20 p.m. Our route now takes us north to San Antonio, then northwest toward Denver. The GPS has plotted a course that I would never have worked out on my own. Leaving I-10 west of San Antonio, we head toward Lubbock, Amarillo, Lamar and Limon on our way to Denver. From I-10 to Limon is completely new territory for both of us and we enjoy the sights as we keep pushing on to the north and left. Our first overnight was a parking area north of Alice, Texas. The next day starts with rain, wet roads and light showers give way to cloudy skies, perfect for driving. Traffic is light, this is Easter and most people are with family. The smaller highways have little traffic. As we near Amarillo we encounter more showers including a quick hail storm as we pass through Hale, Texas. The hail is soft and the rain is hard for about three minutes. Then it is all over. After fueling at Flying J, we locate a Sam's Club parking lot. The GPS said it would be a Wal-Mart but the data must be old. The Sam's Club is new! We park at a back fence. A sign on the fence says "no idling, shut off engine" so we comply. We covered over 600 miles on Sunday. It is a nice quiet place for the night. Next morning up early again. The temperature is 30 degrees cooler than the previous day and the tires are all low on pressure. I air tires while Louise makes breakfast and tidies the interior. Continuing northward through the Texas Panhandle and through the Oklahoma Panhandle we encounter some of our roughest roads. I watch the LCD TV that I installed to replace the old CRT. I am pleased to see that it is handling the rough roads with no problem. We talk history, here and there we see an old soddy. Contrast that with the immense wind farms we see throughout northern Texas. In places we see new wind generators right next to old windmills pumping water for livestock. Louise catches an occasional nap, I drive. She can drive and does frequently but I am intent on keeping us moving. At 4:05 p.m. we pull into Prospect RV in Wheat Ridge, CO. Nancy has arranged for us to park on a space temporarily until she can put us in a better spot. We won't have a sewer connection until we move. They have turned on the water in this part of the park today or we wouldn't have had water either. We are glad to be parked. Hooked up and showered we are off to see Louise's mother. Seventy two hours ago we were going to Florida. Forty eight hours ago we departed Sandpipers. Now we are living in Denver! What great flexibility the motor home gives us. Louise's mother had a stent inserted into the offending artery and is doing well. I hope I'll be able to stand such surgery when I am 88 years old. We'll be here for as long as needed to assist with her care. When Louise's sister and family are able resume caring of her with their full work schedules, we'll salvage what we can of our summer plans.

OK Wayne, you win! I laughed until I cried! The worst I could claim from my motorcycle days was a bumble bee that got between my helmet and my ear! I managed to stay on the road and get stopped to dig it out. Fortunately it was disabled by the impact! Too bad you didn't have someone capture your adventure on videotape! You could win the annual Funniest Home Videos contest!

Wayne, Surely would enjoy getting together. Unfortunately, everything I wrote was changed when Louise got a call from her sister. Louise's mother had a heart attack last Friday and we immediately changed plans. We may yet get to Florida and if it hits your time frame, we'll try to get together. Right now we are in Denver, Colorado! Louise's mom is doing well and may be released from the hospital in the next few days. I hope I am that plucky when I get to 88! Enjoy your trip!