tbutler

Wish I could. We're babysitting granddaughters in California right now. We'll spend a little vacation time with the family in Oregon and then head south about the 15th or 16th of October. Tom

I had that problem, put in a spare that I keep handy and it didn't stop. I took it to a shop and they said they found a blown fuse so if replacing the switch as Ray says doesn't do the job, the next thing is to check fuses. I don't know which fuse, didn't think to ask, just glad to have the alarm off!

I don't know a way to check the switch other than to check it when everything is running. If it is very warm to hot, I would suspect high resistance that should not be there. I'd be surprised if the resistance would be so high that you could test with a normal meter. You could check for specific appliances by turning them on and watching the lights. Shut off the refrigerator, leave it off for an hour or two. Then turn it on and watch the lights, listen for the compressor to kick in, see if the lights dim. You could do the same with the microwave, washer/dryer, air conditioners one at a time, etc.

After our three day stay at L'Anse au Claire we set out on a drive across Labrador. We had some idea of what we faced but only the journey would really tell us what was ahead. I had queried numerous people about the nature of the road and received many different assessments. Depending on personal perspective and the vehicle being driven the same road may get widely varying descriptions. That was certainly the case for the road from Red Bay to Goose Bay. Labeled as the Labrador Coastal Highway, it connects coastal villages from L'Anse au Claire to Goose Bay via road routes. This is a recent development. These villages have historically been connected by boat and ferry. A few of the villages have airfields and all are accessible by helicopter today. Leaving L'Anse au Claire, Labrador on Saturday morning, we drove north on NL Hwy 510. As in our previous trip north from L'Anse au Claire we drove about 10 miles in dense fog. Then suddenly the fog was completely gone, the sun was shining. Once we reached Red Bay the paved road turned to gravel. We were facing about 328 miles of gravel road. The road started out very wide, probably 40 or 50 feet wide. We were able to meet vehicles without getting too close together. The gravel was small and the road was smooth as a gravel road can be. There was nothing to reduce dust however and we generated our own tail of dust as did every other vehicle on the road. With a large vehicle there is almost no speed at which you won't raise a dust cloud. Dust would plague us for the entire 328 miles of road. About 30 miles from Red Bay the road began to narrow. Just 95 miles into the gravel we encountered our first challenge. We had a flat tire. I'm going to describe this flat tire as a lucky flat tire. The tire monitoring alarm sounded just as we were passing the road to Charlottetown. I slowed immediately and pulled into a clearing at the roadside. It was the outside dual on the drivers side. We got out, heard the leaking tire and immediately disconnected the toad. Once that was done I backed the motorhome into the clearing to get it completely off the road. Then I set out in the toad to the fishing village, Charlottetown, just 12 miles from the motor home. Reaching Charlottetown I drove almost all the way through town before finding the general store. I went in and explained my situation. A conversation between two ladies and a young man resulted in the name of the person in town who could fix our tire. The young man said he would lead me to Ivan's place of business. He did so and introduced me to Ivan. While I was talking to Ivan, he was on his way back to work. Ivan had several reasons why he couldn't come right away to do the job but as soon as his daughter returned with his truck he would come fix the tire. He said about two hours. I returned to the motor home trusting that Ivan would show up sometime in the afternoon. Two hours later Ivan pulled up next to the motor home and proceeded to fix our flat tire. It was a 1 1/4 inch metal screw that punctured the tire. Before leaving us, Ivan advised us that the next place to get off the road would be just before we crossed the Paradise River. He seemed to be encouraging us to continue on to that rest area. He also advised us that we could get internet access at any of the highway department garages along the route. You see what I mean when I call the flat tire a lucky flat tire. Being 4:00 in the afternoon now and only about 150 miles for the day we decided to take Ivan's advice and continue on to the Paradise River. The ride was uneventful until about 20 miles before the rest area. Those last 20 miles were extremely rough, potholes and large rocks dotted the surface. We drove slowly and still gave the rig a good shaking. We reached the rest area about the time the sun set. We had now completed 150 miles of our gravel road challenge, We had driven about 200 miles since leaving L'Anse au Claire that morning. During the day we have been accompanied by a variety of vehicles from large trucks to small cars. Traffic was never heavy. Many times there was no traffic in sight and other times we might meet several vehicles in a row. Cars and large trucks were able to pass us relatively quickly so we never had a group of vehicles in trail for very long. The scenery along this section of road was typical of what we had seen in Newfoundland, lakes and forest. We saw many a small camper parked in the brush alongside a lake. Usually there was only one camper, as if people preferred to be the only person at that lake. If you love to fish, this must be near ideal. There were roadcuts that indicated the glaciers had been here. We saw numerous cuts through eskers, deposits of water worn stones that were from rivers that flowed within the glaciers. When the glacier melts, it leaves these are snake-like ridges and the road cuts through them show the rounded boulders and gravel of water born rocks. Charlottetown was located on one of may fjords along the Labrador coast. Goose Bay is at the western end of the largest of these fjords on the eastern coast of Labrador. Along the way we were seeing a great deal of road work. Much of the work seemed to be widening the road to match the roadway we started on. Being so remote, the rock for road construction and repair was being quarried on site from the roadcuts, hauled to a nearby rock crusher to be processed to size and then hauled back to the site where needed. We saw mine size trucks and equipment, much beefier than the typical road repair equipment we see in the US. In most places traffic was stopped by a flagger and the delays weren't too long due to the sparse traffic. I believe I mentioned the flies which are abundant and quite a pest in Labrador. Many of the flaggers wore fly nets covering their head and neck area and had gloves on so that there was a little skin as possible exposed.

As you read discussions of operations of a variety of coaches you realize that each manufacturer may have differences in their recommended operation. Likewise differences in equipment installed on the coach may affect the way things operate. What follows is a brief description of the operation of our coach. Don't make assumptions about how your system operates. We have HWH air leveling and no jacks so we're always on airbags. With this arrangement, we can press the air leveling button once and it shows where the coach is low with yellow indicator lights. The second press activates the automatic leveling process which begins with a complete air dump of the leveling system. This evacuates the air through the pressure release valve which is located at the low point in the air tank and this forces accumulated water from condensation out of the tank. Once the air is evacuated from the leveling system and the bags are empty, the leveling system replaces air on the low point, sides first, front or back last until the coach is level. Initially the air to raise the coach comes from the braking system. If the engine is not running when leveling, the electric pump takes over when pressure drops below 100 pounds. The purpose of dropping the air bags to zero is to lower the coach to its lowest position and then raise it only enough to level. The air pressure on the braking side drops but not to zero. After one day parked and on auto level, our air brake pressure gauge reads 88 pounds. That will slowly go down over time. We have no instruction to take the brake system to zero pressure in my owners manual. When leveled on air bags there is another system that controls valves to maintain a level coach. Air bag pressure is maintained at 100-110 psi when parked by a small electrical air pump maintains that pressure only on the leveling system side. When driving the engine air compressor maintains system pressures for the brakes and the suspension system. When we air up we take the pressure up to 130 psi where the automatic vent kicks in, this again removes any water accumulation in the tank and we know that the air bags are inflated to travel mode. In travel mode, there is a separate set of valves that control air bag inflation and ride height. Our slides operate with the engine off but AC electric to the coach, either shore power or generator. There is a lock out that prevents our slides from operating when the engine is running. We put the slides in when the system is in travel mode, remove the chocks and disconnect the electrical cord. We start the engine, check lights on the toad and we are on our way. Our owners manual has a completed diagram of the air brake and air bag leveling system and describes the operation fully. The two systems are separate at some times and co-joined at other times. The brake side is dry and the air bag side of the system is wet (the electric compressor has no air dryer). Understanding the connections and way they operate will help you assess whether your system is operating properly. We keep a laminated sheet with the brake check procedure for air brakes in the side pocket next to the drivers seat and use that as our checklist when checking the air brakes. Several parts of the procedure for testing the air brake system require pumping the brakes to drop the pressure. If you have air brakes and haven't run a complete brake check you should get a copy of the procedure from the DOT (ours is from the Texas Drivers Handbook) and keep it handy. The procedure checks for leaks in the system as well as recovery rates when pressure is dropped. Rates are specified for rate of pressure loss and for rates of recovery. We don't run through a full check of the system every time we drive but before each long trip we'll run through the procedure. And did I say, we use chocks?

As I understand it from the above statement, you are plugged in and charging batteries when noticing the dimming. That sounds like a normal occurrence when a large appliance switches on. Is the furnace coming on when the dimming occurs? If you have a household refrigerator, it could be the refrigerator compressor kicking on. Air conditioners or perhaps Aqua Hot if you have that could also be responsible. As batteries get weaker, this effect might be more noticeable. You could also check the battery cables and switches to be sure they are clean and connections are tight. I had the house battery cut-off switch fail last fall. I was getting all kinds of electrical gremlins until the switch failed completely. When I replaced the switch all the gremlins disappeared!

Must be telepathy! Hello rwitt! A few years ago my go-to for repair work was Iron Horse RV in San Antonio. They did a replacement for a friends air conditioner last fall and really botched the job so I can't say I would recommend them. Perhaps they have learned to read directions or just have enough experience with the new units to get it right. Our friend was in the same situation and his replacement doesn't come close to matching the originals in appearance. The difference in wiring is what caused the problem with Iron Horse RV. It was an easy fix but they had to travel from Edinburg back to San Antonio ($$$ and time) to get it fixed. There is also Texas RV Supply in San Antonio. I've stopped there on the way south and had work done, They have a perfect record with me so far... I've been taking my Monaco to Bert Ogden RV Center in Mission when I need work done in the RGV. They have done several jobs for me and do satisfactory work. They are located at 1400 E Expressway 83, (956) 585-4444. You will have to work your way through the Bert Ogden switchboard (persons, not recordings my last experience). A possible answer to your problem would be to look to the salvage industry for quick replacments. There are RV salvage yards all over the US. Many will ship to your location. You could probably find used units that match (model, not necessarily color) the original ones. The link above will take you to a website that has a composite listing of sites. We'll be back in the RGV in late October.

By my count we have now put our motor homes on ferries 12 times. The worst was the a ferry that had a door so small we had to fold the mirrors in to get through the exit door. The smallest was across the Yukon River, it held three motor homes. So my answer would be, by now it is pretty routine. Just hope I never get that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach!

You may not believe this but Monaco is still in business. They still have the records from before the bankruptcy and they can give you specific information about equipment installed on your coach. Call Customer Service, (877) 466-6226. Have your coach number ready. The coach number is on the vehicle data sheet on the wall behind the drivers seat in most Monaco coaches. The coach number is not the VIN. Look at the Unit Serial Number. The last six digits of the Unit Serial Number are your coach number. Write it down and keep it handy for future use. You can order replacement parts if they are available. Give them the coach number and they have a complete equipment list right down to the switches and light fixtures. They may be able to suggest the best available replacement for your air conditioner since the original is no longer available.

It has been almost a month since we finished our trip to Newfoundland and Labrador. I needed the time between the trip and this post to put it all in perspective. We had a wonderful interesting and sometimes challenging trip through Newfoundland. On the 22nd of August we took the motorhome on the ferry from St. Barbe, Newfoundland to Blanc Sablon in Quebec. While waiting to board the ferry we were treated to a very interesting event. A moose swam across the bay from the far shore to St. Barbe. After shaking off some water the last we saw of the moose she was strolling into St. Barbe. It was quite a long swim but there wasn't a hint of panic or tiring, she just kept stroking away until she reached the shore. The trip across the Strait of Belle Isle was interesting. The ferry was tacking against the current all the way across and it was noticeable in watching from the deck as we approached the landing at Blanc Sablon. We were to learn later that many shipwrecks occurred in the area due to the strong current. I enjoyed watching sea birds and the villages on the Labrador coast. Once we reached Blanc Sablon, QC, we drove north about six miles to L'Anse au Claire, NL. We stayed at an RV park associated with the Northern Lights Inn in L'Anse au Claire. The park was very humble, utilities were at the rear of the coach, the surface was gravel and our 40 footer was by far the largest vehicle in the park. We were happy to have full hookups and internet service. We traveled north to the Point Amour Lighthouse one day and enjoyed climbing the Lighthouse to the top for a great view of the coast. Stories of lighthouse keepers are most interesting and this one was no exception. The lighthouse owner bought a Ford Model T which was the first vehicle in Labrador. There are pictures of the lighthouse keeper and his family and other items from the late 1800's. The lighthouse itself has walls constructed of local stone and has walls that are six feet thick. The next day we drove north to the Red Bay National Historic Site. The drive was quite instructive. We had been socked in fog all night long. Driving north we drove out of the fog about 5 miles north into bright sunlight. The road meanders north from one bay to the next. Between bays the road goes up and over high hills. Each bay hosts another small village. Red Bay is a small town and the site of 16th century Basque whaling camps. Recent excavations on land and underwater resulted in discovery of a large ship for transporting whale oil back to Europe. There was also a small whaling boat known as a chalupa recovered. That chalupa is on display in the welcome center. Imagine a chalupa that has been on the bottom of the bay for close to 500 years. Artifacts from the camps and the large ship are on display in a visitors center. The archaeological work that was done is amazing. We took a boat across to an island that was the site of several whaling camps. Walking a trail we saw the remains of various buildings or shelters where whale blubber was rendered and whale oil was put into barrels for shipment. Before leaving Red Bay we drove north just a few miles north to scout out the next part of our trip. From Red Bay north toward Goose Bay there is a single road, the Coastal Road. The road is entirely gravel until you reach the area of Red Bay. The final 20 miles into Red Bay are paved. If all you want to do is see a little of Labrador I would recommend that you take the toad to Sablon Blanc and stay at the Northern Lights Inn. The Inn looks quite nice and has a restaurant. Another possibility would be to take a tour which would include bus transportation to the tourist sites mentioned above as well as a stay at the Northern Lights Inn. We wanted to do more than this so we brought the motor home over on the ferry. After three days in L'Anse au Claire we set out to see the rest of Labrador. I'll describe that journey in my next posting.

The inertial braking systems (Brake Buddy, Ready Brake, etc.) offer the economy of being easily able to move the system from one vehicle to another. They have a drawback for diesel coaches because the engine brake will set off the inertial system thus applying the toad brakes every time the engine brake is activated. On long downhill slopes (mountains) that means that the toad brakes are getting a good toasting while the coach service brakes are cool. In essence, the toad becomes a supplemental braking system for the engine brake. Since you are getting a gas coach, you won't have the engine braking. Downshifting to a lower gear with a gas engine can produce the same effect but most people don't use this technique often with a gas coach. Your driving habits and the terrain in which you expect to operate will affect your decision. Personally, I think that the proportional braking offered by systems linked to the coach service brakes offer the best choice.

From your description of the behavior of the lock when the key turns, I suspect you need to find a locksmith to solve your problem.

What a terrible experience. From our experience when we were full time, I've found it possible to stay at the repair facility with the motor home through almost all repairs. When not in the motor home I like to be at hand were I can ask questions and when possible peer into the shop to see what is going on. It has been a learning process regarding repair shops. I've had good, bad and so-so experiences. I get the best service from the factory service center when it comes to the manufacturers items. When appliances need attention I'll try to get them to an authorized repair shop.The engine goes to Cummins, the transmission to Allison. We make appointments before taking the coach in for repair and let the shop know in advance that we will be staying with it including living in it each night. There was one paint shop where this was not possible. Everyone else has been able to accommodate our needs. Even today when we are just traveling for the summer, we're far from home and we expect the same service. If there is any way possible for you to be available for the day or days when the work needs to be done, do it. It will be vastly better than leaving the coach to be worked on when they don't have something else to do. It also means that you can ask questions as the work proceeds and set an expectation that they will let you know what is being done and ask you questions about the work as it proceeds.

One way to check is to call Monaco (877) 466-6226. Have the coach number ready when you call. The coach number is not the VIN. The coach number is listed behind the drivers seat on the wall on most Monaco coaches. They will want the last six digits of the unit serial number. Make a note of that number and keep it handy. Anytime you need parts or technical information they will ask for that number. They maintain a complete record of all equipment originally installed at the factory. I find this a particularly valuable resource! If the previous owner had the recall done at a factory service center or a Monaco Dealer, they should have the repair information in the coach records. If that wasn't done, they should be able to tell you how to conduct a physical examination or where to take the coach to have someone check and/or perform the recall repair.

Is the key turning when you try the lock? Can you hear the electronic lock release when it is activated? If you can turn the key and it still won't release and/or if you hear the electronic lock release then it may be a failure of the linkage between the handle and the latch. I've had that problem with our compartment door latches. With full width compartments I've crawled through to disassemble the latch mechanism from the back side of the door. I'm sure that isn't an option with the Aqua Hot compartment. Our water compartment lock failed in this manner and we had it repaired while at the factory service center in Coburg, Oregon. When I asked the tech how he had done it he said he was able to pry the side of the door open just enough to be able to get to the latch and physically release it. That door was a narrow door (16"). He said it would not work with a wide door.

When I update my units (one in car, other in motor home) this fall, variance from the GPS maps will be sent to Garmin. This data goes to the mapping unit which will compare my variances with those reported by others who are updating their units. Then they will need to verify the route changes. If your GPS is set to record and report changes to its maker, you are like a scout, gathering data and returning it to headquarters. I suspect it takes a while for these to show up in the updates. Keep in mind that our data goes to Garmin and only those who use Garmin maps would see those updates. I don't think that the companies share their map information. Rand McNally will have to get their update information from their users! We traveled many roads that are taken by few people so I would guess that the report we submit will be pretty valuable. When they get around to incorporating that into the maps will be anybodies guess. Few travelers on those roads also means low demand for the data so it may get low priority compared to routes in cities with 100's of users a day and dozens of reports of variance from users where I might be the only one reporting variances for some of the routes we were on. We've traveled over 10,000 miles, 19 states and 5 provinces of Canada so far this summer. We'll add at least six more states before settling down in Edinburg, Texas for the winter. We're being good little scouts for Garmin!

I chock our wheels whenever we hook up at a campground. I also chock the wheels when we park on steep slopes. It's old school. FMCA used to have a code of conduct. One of the items in the list was that you were to chock the wheels when you parked. It would have saved these folks a whole lot of misery. Perhaps FMCA should reinstate that among the tips from other motor home owners in the basics listed under "Advice for motorhomers, from motorhomers." My chocks are stored in the compartment with the shore power cable. I put them out when we park and remove them when I disconnect the shore power. I saw an individual rip the shore power cable out of the reel at a rally one time. He just wanted to reposition the coach and pulled forward without unhooking. Chocks would have prevented that misery also.

Welcome aboard! Hope you have a good ride!

I have to apologize to alltooledup, I missed your post. No, we have not used or purchased an extended warranty. I had a few items fixed under the new coach warranty but they were relatively minor compared to the costs for the remainder of the ownership period. To Drummer Mike, let me know where you are and I'll come collect those drinks! It will only cost me $3.55 a mile to get there! See you down the road...

My EMS doesn't sense amps, it detects 220V or 110V. 30A electric supply for RV's is 110V with one hot lead, a neutral and a ground wire. 50A electric supply for RV's has two 110 V hot leads which are opposing phase. In our RV, the electric is never used as 220V, the two incoming leads are used as two separate 110V supplies. The EMS looks for two hot leads which are opposite phase and this indicates 50A service. If the two hot leads are the same phase (ie. 110V) indicates 30A service and it limits usage to keep it under 30A. If the supply is 20A then there is a button to push to select that supply limitation as a 20A looks exactly the same (both 110V) as a 30A to the EMS. Again, our EMS has no way to detect amps, only the voltage of the hot leads. If the leads are same phase it sees 30A. If it sees opposite phase, 50A. 30A adapters supply electric to both 50A legs but both legs are receiving electric that is in phase, not opposite phase. That is why the EMS looks for the 220V opposite phase electric and interprets the supply as 50A if opposite phase and 30A if same phase. We have stayed in RV parks where the outlets were 50A but the supply was from a single wire (split at the outlet) and thus both sides of the 50A outlet were same phase. The EMS detected this and would limit our usage to 30A because the supply wasn't 220V. If your coach works properly with a 50A supply but the 30A cord isn't working, take a test meter and check the 30A cord and the drop from the house. Check also to be sure that the drop from the house is wired properly for an RV. Here is a good source of information on proper wiring for RV's.

That is a place I have wanted to go. You have a 40' and I a 45', will there be a problem for me? On roads and campgrounds? Do you reserve ahead, before you go? Thanks Carl Carl asked a good question so I'm going to answer it with this post. I've seen a few 45's on the road here. We've been able to find places to stay without a problem though the number of places with full hookups is limited. The standard is 30 Amps with water and a dump station. There may or may not be wifi and signal strength when they have wifi varies considerably. In many cases, you have only one choice of where to stay but we've been able to stay where we wanted almost always. We've found parking spots in cities a few times, Wal-Mart two nights in Clarenville, Royal Canadian Legion two nights in Deer Lake. We've also stayed in roadside pull-outs, one paved, one dirt/gravel. Visitors centers are common stopping spots for the wifi and parking is generally good but not always. Some visitors centers will allow overnight parking but most simply don't have enough room for that. We have found RV parking spots that aren't large enough for our rig but usually there are few places used and we've been able to park across several spots or park along a curb. In a few cases we've called campgrounds a few days ahead and been able to get a space reserved. The one area where this didn't work was around Gros Morne in mid-August. It's a popular National Park. We got a place to stay right on Bonne Bay for the first few days of our visit right in the heart of the park. When we wanted to relocate on the north side of the park all the close parks were filled. We found a place with full hookups about 30 miles north of the park and made that work. As in the US, you will find the National Park Campgrounds unsuitable for large RV's. We tried in Terra Nova National Park and there were sites that would have worked but they were all occupied. We pulled into several sites but slides and trees were a problem so we gave that up. That park didn't have any close private parks to stay at so we ended up taking on short day hike and went on our way. You will likely find yourself staying with the campgrounds that are near the Trans Canada Highway as the smaller roads on the peninsulas are narrow, no shoulders and in places pretty rough. We tried a few of the peninsula roads with the motor home and managed OK but it takes a lot of patience. Those roads are better done with the toad. There are many beautiful harbors and interesting places to see on these peninsulas. If you don't travel them, you miss much of the beauty of Newfoundland. Now in Labrador we are in a park just north of the Strait of Belle Isle ferry landing in Blanc Sablon. The park was full Thursday night, last night only a couple of small vans. The space is small and we are parked into the regular roadway with just enough room for traffic to pass. It was the best space available at the time. Someone had the space on the end of the row which was on a curve and would have been no problems. This park is gravel, pick your own spot, first come, first served. The parks here are gravel or grass and you may find tree limbs and maneuvering a problem in some. Others are wide open and not a problem. We haven't found any campgrounds that would be classified as a resort type parks in the US. The ferries here are all capable of handling large vehicles. They have many trucks on each ferry run. We did make reservations for our ferry trips. For the ferry from Nova Scotia we made reservations months ahead. For the ferry from Newfoundland to Labrador we called a few days ahead and got a space without a problem. I would not hesitate to come again. You will find yourself in the company of many smaller campers in most cases but hey, you drive what you've got! Had to laugh on ferry to Blanc Sablon we were in line with a small van camper and I noticed the license plate was Switzerland. I struck up a conversation with the driver on the trip across the strait. He laughed saying, "Our campers are like our countries. US is big, Switzerland is small."

By mid-August we had been in Newfoundland for three weeks. Our final week we explored the Northern Peninsula. This is the large peninsula on the western coast of the island. The peninsula is defined by the Long Range Mountains which run the length of the peninsula. At the southern end of this area is Gros Morne National Park. We stayed for two nights at a campground on Bonne Bay while exploring the southern portion of the park. The campsite was a parking lot type campground which doesn't sound exciting except that, parked nose-in, we were looking out the windshield at Bonne Bay just 15 feet away. Bonne Bay is actually a fjord, a glacially carved valley which is flooded with seawater. So we had beautiful scenery right there. We visited the Discovery Centre just a few miles from our campsite. There we learned about the key points of interest in the park and picked up information on ranger-led hikes. One of particular interest was the Tablelands Hike. The Tablelands are a series of flat topped mountains which are made of peridotite, material from Earth's mantle. The mantle is the layer of Earth that lies just below the crust. These mountains were pushed up in the collision between continents. Gondwanaland (now mostly Africa) and Laurentia (now mostly North America) collided forming the supercontinent Pangea. In the collision, Laurentia was pushed down under Gondwanaland. When the continents separated as the Atlantic Ocean began to open between them, a portion of Earth's Mantle was dredged up and became the area called the Tablelands. We took the hike and walked on Earth's Mantle. It isn't the only place in the world where you can walk on the material of the mantle but as our guide pointed out it is the only place where you can park your car and walk off the parking lot onto Earth's mantle. The next day we moved to the north side of the park for another two days. To get from the south side to the north side was about 70 miles as we had to go around Bonne Bay. On the way to our campground which was located north of the park, we had reserved a boat trip on Western Brook Pond. Pond sounds like a small body of water but that isn't the case here in Newfoundland. They call this body of water which is 14 kilometers long, 525 feet deep, a pond. It is a fjord that is cut off from the sea. At one time sea level was higher and the water was salty but now it is fresh water. This is a glacial valley and has all the characteristics of glacial valleys everywhere. It has a broad flat floor with steep valley walls. We couldn't see the floor but we sure saw the valley walls. There were waterfalls and towering cliffs through almost the entire trip. The trip started with low clouds, see the photo with this posting. During most of the trip we had beautiful sunlight but as the trip was ending in late afternoon the clouds once again closed in on the mountain tops. Either way it was a spectacular boat ride. We spent another day visiting the official Visitors Center for Gros Morne. Gros Morne means high mountain and the mountain that bears that name is the second highest in Newfoundland. Newfoundland was glaciated and glaciers destroy mountains so the second highest mountain in Newfoundland is less than 3000 feet above sea level. By the way, the rocks of mainland Newfoundland are part of the Appalachian Mountain Chain. The rocks of the Long Range Mountains, of which Gros Morne is one, are part of the Canadian Shield. The Canadian Shield is the northern portion of Canada which has some of the oldest crustal rocks on Earth. Leaving Gros Morne National Park behind, we drove north on a road that hardly shows up on road maps of the area. Our GPS only shows this road at the highest resolution. It is the newest highway in Newfoundland, having replaced a gravel road only ten years ago. So if you're looking at a map of Newfoundland and it shows the only road that goes up the Northern Peninsula as a small road, it is the equal if not better than many of the roads on other peninsulas. In fact, in some ways it is better. There are a few scenic pull-outs and some picnic areas, many of which are RV friendly. This is in stark contrast to some older roads which were strictly for getting from point A to point B, no funny business like stopping to look at scenery or having a picnic. As with all the roads in Newfoundland as you get near the end of the road the pavement becomes progressively worse! Still, it was all suitable for RV travel. We stopped along the way to do some hiking and see Thrombocites at Flower's Cove. Thrombocites were one of the few life forms that left any evidence of their existence in Precambrian time, more than 600 million years old. These were single celled communities that grew in warm shallow seas. They look like a pan of biscuits, one round topped mass next to other round topped masses. One mass was about six to eight feet in diameter and the whole collection could stretch out to 50 feet in diameter. In places these large groups were adjacent to another large group. We saw similar features in Australia last year, Stromatolites are also single celled masses growing in warm shallow seas. In the Australian example, they were still living. The Thrombocites were fossils, now rock masses that replaced the original living cells. Near the northern tip of the Northern Peninsula we pulled into Viking RV Park. We spent two nights here while exploring L'Anse Aux Meadows National Historic Park. This park encompasses an area where evidence of Norse settlements was found only a few years ago. Parks Canada has done a wonderful job of preserving and interpreting this site. The evidence is quite clear and the interpreters do a wonderful job of communicating the nature of the evidence and the nature of the Nordic settlements. Over 1000 years ago, the Norse visited and lived at the site. They discovered North America 500 years before Columbus discovered America. They didn't stay, returning to Greenland and eventually to Iceland and Norway. The entire tip of the Northern Peninsula celebrates this Norse connection. We booked a dinner theatre program, in St. Anthony, billed as a Viking Dinner. Our last night in Newfoundland was spent enjoying a sporting good dinner. A variety of seafood and game served up buffet style with a bit of wine and some Viking bluster made for a fun and interesting evening. On our way home we were rewarded with our first sighting of moose. We had been told on the boat ride that there are four moose for every square kilometer of Newfoundland. In a month of roaming The Rock, as they call it, we had seen nary one. This night as we drove back to our RV Park we were challenged by one large cow as she wandered onto the road. I stopped before we hit her at which time she looked startled and fled into the brush at roadside. Just before reaching the campground we encountered a bull moose in the middle of the road. He decided to run down the yellow stripe so we pursued him at a respectful distance. Louise tried to get a picture through the windshield but couldn't so I took the camera and handed her the steering wheel. I held the camera out the window and took a number of pictures as she steered the car. We were traveling slowly which was fortunate, I've got the camera out the window, Louise is laughing uncontrollably at the sight of this male moose jogging down the highway in front of us. He eventually departs the road to one side and I stopped to regroup. As I'm handing the camera back to Louise, looking in the mirror I saw the moose come out of the brush and dash across the road and into the brush on the other side. Like a chicken, he simply wanted to get to the other side! The next day we packed up and headed for St. Barbe where we would catch the ferry to Blanc Sablon, Quebec and then drive to L'Anse au Clair, Labrador. After topping off the fuel tank in the motor home we lined up at the ferry terminal. Shortly before the ferry was ready to load I noticed that many people were looking out into the water between the dock and the beach to the north. I expected to see a dolphin or a whale but it wasn't that at all. There in the water was a moose swimming across the bay. So our final, good bye moose was swimming in the bay and then having made it to the beach was walking into the town of St. Barbe! As we crossed the Strait of Belle Isle and the shore of Newfoundland faded into the distance I felt a wisp of regret, leaving such a beautiful and interesting place. It had been a great month and I was wishing it could last longer. We had been treated so well and there was so much more to see. Perhaps we'll be able to return another summer.

An alternative to the Kiley Mold product is from Plak-R. Their ladder mount is designed so the plate in the plate holder can be quickly removed to use the ladder then returned just as easily. When you remove the plate holder, the ladder is unobstructed. There are two clip pins that secure each plate and you simply remove them and the plate holder and plate lift out of the mounting brackets. At an FMCA Rally several years ago I purchased a decal of our FMCA plate and put it on the front of the coach above the windshield. The decal was clear with the black numbers looking like they are painted on our coach. You could also get colored backgrounds if you wished. The company that did this is Simply Etched Stickers, their web site has contact information and a schedule of rallies they have attended this year. Installation was simple and the sticker still looks great after two years.

I'm with Rich. We've been traveling in the motor home for 15 years, about 200,000 miles now and my major concern is fire, not theft. It all depends on where you travel but we've never had a single security problem and we don't make a habit of staying in premium parks. In fact, we often boondock and not always a Walmart. Bad things do happen. If someone breaks into your RV, you'll lose a lot of valuable stuff. Our safes may or may not stop the thieves. Ours are portable and not particularly well hidden. We were parked near a motor home that burned several years ago. I was particularly pleased to see the contents of their safe after the fire. The fire marshal and sheriff opened the safe, the contents were in usable condition. That was a Sentry Safe just like the ones that we have. What do we keep in our safe? Not much in the way of valuables, our cash reserve is less that $200 usually. We have our legal papers, passports, other documents that would be useful in an emergency. Mostly what thieves would find would not be worth their effort. Our computers would likely be much more useful. I would never discourage anyone from running a tight ship when it comes to security, keep it locked when you aren't around.

Brett's recommendation is a great source of information. I've bookmarked it for future use. I'm a weather geek, having taught weather for many years and being a fan of weather for a lifetime. I prefer a simpler approach using forecast information that is easier to digest. Any source that can give you storm warnings and watches will be useful. When I put together weather information, my sources are the Weather Channel (DirecTV Channel 362), Weather Now (DirecTV Channel 361), and Weather Bug. You can use the Weather Bug web site or download the desktop version. I use the desktop version on my computer and the app for my iPad. Since getting the iPhone and iPad, I use it most of the time. The iPad/iPhone version is easier to use, finds your current location automatically and shows you radar centered on where you are with your location marked on the radar map. You can easily zoom in for more detail or out for the bigger picture. The Bug gives me local conditions wherever I am and local radar, regional radar and national radar with motion if desired and also has forecast information, storm warnings, etc. The iPad version of Weather Bug even works in Canada where we are traveling now. I can select Canadian Radar and get the radar (or current conditions, forecasts, etc.) in Newfoundland or anywhere else in Canada. I've used these sources any time I'm concerned about, in or near storm conditions. With winter travel concerns it is always necessary that you have flexibility in your schedule. If you are traveling on a strict schedule then you should probably avoid taking routes that may be subject to snow or other bad weather. If your schedule is flexible you can always delay travel for a day or two which will take care of most fall and spring storms. Winter storms can stop safe travel for longer periods of time and bring the added problems of extreme cold weather. Be cautious about get-home-itis. This is a hazard that has caused many an aviation accident. The tendency to push the trip on to the destination despite weather conditions just to get home or to another destination as soon as possible. Respect nature, when the weather goes bad, park it!