tbutler

Hey, thanks for the reference Carl. We took Canada 99 going N to Prince George. Known as the Sea to Sky Highway, for you it would be the Sky to Sea Highway! It is a great trip unless you have had your fill of scenery and remote travel in Alaska. We found interesting stops along the way north from Horseshoe Bay where there is a fantastic mining museum (Louise and I both enjoy mining and industry sites). We stopped to rest at a lake, lots of logs along the shore. We watched and heard an otter devouring a large fish, crunch, crunch, crunch, yummy with crunchy bones. Each town along the way has something to offer, great experience. Going south, take the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island because, hey, when will you ever get a chance to get there again? The Dingy Dock Pub in Nanaimo is a unique and excellent place to have lunch or even better, a sunset dinner. Beautiful scenery and more on Vancouver Island, spend a day around the Provincial Museum in Victoria, see Buchart Gardens, absolutely spectacular, it's another day experience. Spend a week on Victoria Island. You can catch the Blackball Ferry back to the mainland, Port Angeles, on the Olympic Peninsula or take the Canadian ferry back to mainland Canada. Either way you will make your way back to I-5. We also loved our time on the Olympic Peninsula, plenty to see in the National Park and along Hwy 101(small and curvy, take your time) on the Hood Canal (not a canal it is really a fjord carved out by glaciers) on the way south to Tacoma where you pick up I-5. Diesel was never a problem as long as you don't mind the prices, now discounted with the exchange rate with Canada being what it is. When we traveled to Canada in '06, the exchange rate was in their favor. Now, 99 is not interstate highway. There is a short but snaky section which would be downhill going south and it is two lane all the way. We loved that part of the trip, would not have wanted to miss it. We did all this with the 40' coach in the signature below, towing a Trailblazer EXT.

The Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville is a must see attraction at Christmas. It is a monster Marriott Hotel, shopping center, open air restaurants and more, all within a six story atrium (indoors). The whole place is decked out with outrageous decorations, Christmas trees, lights, and garland. Miles of garland, ornaments that are 10 feet tall hanging from the ceiling, Christmas trees 20 feet tall made entirely of poinsettias. You will have to pay for parking (not cheap for RV's - stay in an RV park and take the toad or a taxi to save on parking) but once inside, it is free for the seeing. Spend as much of the day as you want, have lunch, enjoy stretching your legs for a while.

You have to remember that the furnace is heating not only the air but all the cold furniture and the walls and ceiling. If the outside temperature is really cold and if the insulation in the coach is thin, you could be losing heat to the outside through the walls and ceiling. All RV's are not insulated as a house is. We have a 40 foot coach and one furnace. It sometime takes 20 or 30 minutes to cycle off for that kind of temperature change then will run again shortly. This may repeat for several hours until everything (walls, floors, stuff in cabinets, clothes in closets, etc.) has warmed We have good insulation and double pane windows except the windshield. Do check the functioning of the furnace but don't expect home performance from an RV furnace.

Safari was part of Monaco at the time your coach was manufactured. You could contact them and see if they can help you. Their customer service line is 877-466-6226. The line is still active, ask for the parts department. They may have information on your coach and be able to help you get replacement parts. When I have called they always ask for the last six digits of the Mfg. serial number (not the VIN) If that doesn't work, you may have to try salvage yards. There are a number of them devoted to RV's that are located around the country. The link here will get you to an extensive list of those salvage yards. You can also search for other articles regarding salvage parts by putting that in the search slot on the FMCA forum page, top right. Specify Topics under the search criteria (on the left) and that will get you dozens of discussions on salvage parts and possibly some other references. The salvage yard, Colaw, is widely used by people that I know. They do ship parts and stand behind them if there is a problem.

I can't argue with you, we're having a cool spell right now. I cancelled out on golf today, rain showers and cloudy skies. Sun and 70's tomorrow. We had a touch of snow, just white on the top of the grass, Friday, December 8. That was our first real cool spell for the winter.

Here is an extensive answer to your question about a home base, related to choosing a place, location, state, for establishing a domicile. Even if you have chosen the state, I think there are important issues discussed on this website.

Here is a link to a reference that I submitted almost exactly a year ago. It has an extensive discussion of all the considerations you should take into account when selecting a domicile when traveling on the road full time. I did check and the link is still active. There is plenty to read here and all of it is important if you want to have the best possible full timing experience. There are probably some considerations you haven't thought of yet. There have been a number of discussions of this topic on the FMCA forum. You can find them by typing the word domicile in the search box at the top-right of this page. On the left side of the search box, select topics from the drop down menu. My posting a year ago was in a discussion titled, Domicile, Which is Best?

A poisoned mouse that dies where other animals can eat it will still be poisonous to the animal that eats it. It really doesn't matter if the animal is endangered or not, human activity has reduced the habitat for many animals, all owls included, to the point that further damage to the population will eventually put them on the endangered list. Taking small steps to protect any animal is better than having to take large measures to prevent their extinction. Traps and methods that discourage or drive mice away are the best solution. Poison should only be used as a last resort solution. The National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America (which does include Mexico) lists 19 species of owls, there is no Mexican Owl listed in this authoritative listing of birds. The term Mexican Owl is a common name used locally for another species of owl. This guide also shows a small area in western Texas where Spotted Owls do live. It would be a very rare sighting if Spotted Owls showed up in Galveston as their normal range is in thickly wooded canyons and humid forests. Besides the Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis), we also have Barn Owls, Long-eared Owls, Short-eared Owls, Great Horned Owls, Barred Owls, Eastern Screech-Owls, Western Screech-Owls, Flammulated Owls, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owls, Elf Owls, and Burrowing Owls in Texas. One or more of these species may be what is locally referred to as a Mexican Owl.

I just posted in your other query on annual fees. We found our friendly place January 2002, the first year we were full time. We have wintered at Sandpipers Resort in Edinburg, TX every winter since then. Until 2010 we were on an RV lot. In 2010 we put a mobile home on a larger lot and that is now our official residence. Prior to that we had a mailbox and an official residence at My Home Address in Emery, SD. Like Texas and Florida, South Dakota has no state income tax. For years our doctors were in St. Louis, MO, where we were employed before retiring. Our health insurance was linked to our employer and we had family in the area so we usually made that our first stop when we headed north each spring (late spring, end of April or early May). When my daughter and family built a new home in a rural area west of St. Louis I paid them to put in an RV pad for us with water, sewer and 50A electric, and we spend a month (or so) with them visiting family. We give them a generous contribution each year to pay for our electric and also helped with babysitting when their children were younger. We also have a daughter in California. They have a gravel spot next to their house and we've been parking with them for about a month each year, usually in September and early October before returning to Texas. They put a 50A outlet on their garage wall that we can use. Water and sewer are available but I have to use the macerator to access their sewer clean out. We have the same arrangement there, babysitting (until their girls are a little older) and a payment for our electric. For several years, 2003 through 2008 we spent a month at my mother's house near St. Louis with facilities much like those in California. That worked well as it made it convenient to do odd jobs and fix things around the house for her. We had some very nice visits, quite valuable in her final years. When we set up housekeeping in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, we moved our medical connections to the RGV as well. I will visit my doctor for my annual check-up next week, about six miles from our park.

I had to look it up because our rates went up last year. This is the rate for a mobile home lot at Sandpipers Resort in Edinburg, Texas. We paid $3440 for our annual fee on a lot, 40 x 100 for our mobile home. We have to pay for our electric separately, otherwise no additional fees related to the lot. Water is included in the annual rental fee. We have our motor home parked in the driveway next to our home. The annual fee for RV lots is less, I don't have a current amount and I can't quote a monthly rate either. We have a heated pool, hot tub, tennis courts, shuffleboard, frequent dances, karaoke nights on a regular basis. Each week a group of about a dozen or more motorcycles set out to explore the Rio Grande Valley. There are a host of other activities in the park. We have an active golf group and a bowling league. There are no pull through lots in the park so you'd have to learn to back it in. There are some parks here in the RGV that are more expensive and others that are less. Granted, the Rio Grande Valley is not the place to be in the summer time unless you are really looking to lose some weight by sweating but it is a great place to spend the winter! Right now the high temperature for the day is 49 degrees but we will see 60;s and 70's for highs next week.

At FMCA in Indy, they had a Prevost with the wiring compartment opened, no way to work on that, just go to the manufacturer and pull out your credit card. I was amazed that Talgutbir was able to trace the wiring through the spaghetti that exists beneath my dash.

My solution was not as elegant as the fancy swing out mounts. We picked up a bargain (what was a bargain at the time) when Circuit City was going out of business. Floor model, fit inside the box. You can see results in my posting from many years ago here on the forum. Screen size is sacrificed but the increased resolution more than makes up for that. I had to use the base mount as the rear mounting apparatus on this TV was plastic. It would not have survived the frequent earthquakes we experience. With the space around the TV, I didn't have to worry about speaker location, it works fine in the small space of the bedroom and a viewing distance of about 10 to 12 feet.

Can't expect everyone to be like you. Not many jobs where you can take weeks off from work. Would you vote to shut down FMCA for your idea of the holiday season (with pay for all employees)? Think of everyone working in the shops, stores, gas stations, police, fire and even the minister or priest, getting paid for the job. Louise is also Lutheran and she celebrates as you but works it into a busy life. And I wouldn't define beta testing the website as commercial exactly, it is volunteer work for a non-profit organization. Enjoy your holiday in the way you want, in this country you are free to do that - and all others are free to spend their time as they wish.

I attended a workshop at FMCA this summer. An excellent presentation by Master Tech RV showed a sample of their work. Presentation by the company owner and operator. Excellent facilities, high quality work. I had a water leak in our shower and used their tech's on site to fix that. They did a very nice job. They are located in Elkhart, IN

You haven't indicated the model so what fits is a question I can't answer. We did our replacement for our Norcold 1200 in 2011. The link will take you to my post with information and pictures. There are numerous other discussions on this topic. As said above, a search for Norcold or for Residential Refrigerator will get you to some of the other posts. There are a variety of models that will replace that unit, most will require some adjustment in the cabinetry. You will get a larger refrigerator if you fill the space successfully as the rear part of the Norcold is devoted to the cooling equipment and the empty space needed to operate it safely.

For sixteen years we have returned to the Rio Grande Valley, in the southern tip of Texas, each fall. We enjoy the mild winters and the abundance of recreation, natural resources and wildlife in the area. The December issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine is dedicated entirely to the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). This publication from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is an excellent resource for those looking for a spot to visit in the winter, perhaps like us, you'll find it to be just what you are looking for in a winter residence. In commemoration of their 75th year in publication they decided to focus on a single area of Texas and the staff decided that focus had to be on the RGV. They sent the entire staff to the RGV, housing them at Estero Llano Grande State Park south of Weslaco. Every article in this issue of the magazine is about the RGV; its people, nature, history and recreation. A one year subscription (10 issues) costs just $18.00. There are regular offers in the magazine for $12 per year and 2 years for $20. You should be able to purchase this issue at any Texas State Park. You can read any or all articles in this issue at: https://tpwmagazine.com/

We have always had diesel coaches. Our braking system (Roadmaster's Brakemaster system) works off the coach air. When brakes are applied in the coach, the air pressure line to the toad applies pressure via a air cylinder to the brake pedal in the toad. The system is totally proportional (light braking in the coach causes light braking in the toad, ditto for hard braking). Also, the brake in the toad will not be affected by using the engine brake on the diesel coach. Inertial systems will activate when the engine brake is applied as anything that slows the toad will activate the inertial brake. Adjusting an inertial system may help but if it completely avoids this you will likely lose much of the braking assistance the system can provide. Having the brake in the toad on continuously while making a long downgrade descent will result in hot and worn brakes in the toad. Installation involves connecting the air line from coach to toad, snap connections at both ends, takes a minute or less. We have to install the brake cylinder, a pin connects it to the mount installed on the floor under the drivers seat and the other end clamps onto the brake pedal. The line from the brake cylinder to the incoming feed from the motor home is installed under the dash, another snap connection. We also have a break-away system which will apply the brakes if the toad happens to "take a left turn when we are making a right." Having the toad roaming free is never a good thing. There is a pressure storage cylinder (in the engine compartment of the toad) that will apply pressure to the brake in the toad if the break-away cable connecting the coach to the toad ever pulls the plug (a switch activator). That is an additional piece of the Brakemaster system but I consider it a very necessary given that we are traveling on public roads with other traffic. A free roaming toad will most likely destroy itself and may well destroy other property or kill other people. We keep a tote bag in the toad with the break-away cable and air hose. The six feet of cable and hose coil into a 12" x 1" space. The brake cylinder is stored in a storage bag that came with it. The cylinder assembly is about 18" x 3" overall. Depending on our situation, these are either stored behind the drivers seat on the floor or if we are staying in an area for a while or may have passengers along, they will be behind the rear seat in the cargo area of our toad.

Ditto here. We were full time from 2001 until 2010, now travel all summer, winter in our mobile in Texas. Our current coach has 170,000 miles on it. We've visited every state in the US in the motor home, except Hawaii. We have visited every province in Canada except Nunavut. We don't stay in high end campgrounds or resorts, we do boondock occasionally, everything from Wal-mart to vacant property and rest areas. We have never had a single incident when we felt threatened. Louise will put the step cover in when we aren't in a campground. Given enough of us out and about, someone will have a problem from time to time but my experience says that it is very rare. When I returned from Viet Nam, I took great personal delight in being able to relax in the back yard and not be under the gun. Living in a peaceful land where being civil and kind to one another in a time of peace is one of the things that I am most thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

I had to check my last blog entry to see when it was posted. It was September 6, not quite three months ago. Since then we have been on the go... We spent a month with our daughter and her family in California. Our granddaughters are growing up fast but a few golden moments still to go. We took them to a working farm. A 1940's version of a poor working farm. We slept in the rehabbed chicken coup. The girls fed the cows, gathered the eggs, bottle fed some really large calves, made friends with an aging bull that was as big as a house, well, maybe a chicken coup. The girls loved the tire swing and the adopted kittens. Thankfully they didn't ask to take them home. During our stay in California I spent several days communicating with everyone in government I could to convince them to get on top of the situation in Puerto Rico following hurricane Maria. My comments were the same that I heard from numerous others, this was an extreme circumstance. The nature of the island and the near total destruction was going to make recovery here much more difficult than any other area. Today as I write this, most of the island remains without electrical power and hundreds of thousands of island residents have left the island and come to the mainland US, mostly to Florida. There are many in and near Houston and throughout Florida who are dealing with the aftermath of Harvey and Irma yet today. They are so much better off than those in Puerto Rico. Roads and bridges remain out of service. Food and water are difficult to get in many locations. Huge numbers of people are living in what remains of their homes with no hope of secure shelter in the near future. Give what you can to agencies involved in hurricane relief. Our return trip from California has lately involved a trip north to Elkton, Oregon to the Oh-Ho (the Oregon House) for a week with the above family. This year they were off to Mexico and we got relieved of grandparent duty a week early so we made plans to attend an event we haven't been able to see in 16 years on the road. We were able to get last minute reservations with the Monaco International Chapter of FMCA to attend the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque. I can spell it without looking it up or playing word check lotto - now. We invited our friends, former FMCA members, now without the big wheels, to join us at the Fiesta. Five days dry camping with four adults on board - and we loved it! The event is spectacular. We were parked four rows back from the launch field. Our gathering point for meals and socializing was right on the front line. I attended most launches and recoveries. I was hooked. If you attend, and if you love balloons for the flying or the beauty or the excitement of the launch and recovery, you will love it also. There were 550 balloons this year and most launched in the morning and returned by noon. The evening glow is fun, no flying but great chance to visit with pilots and crews. We left Albuquerque buoyed by the events of the five days at the Fiesta. We paced ourselves across west Texas and headed for Corpus Christi. Since 2012 I have been active in a group called Texas Master Naturalist. Formed from a splinter group from the Master Gardner group in San Antonio in 1998, the Texas Master Naturalist program has expanded to more than 40 chapters state-wide. Each year there is a statewide meeting of participants. In years past the meeting has been at remote resorts near interesting nature sites. As the size of the organization increased, the character of these meeting has changed. This year almost 600 Texas Master Naturalists gathered at the Corpus Christi Omni Hotel. I have attended several of these events and enjoy the chance to meet and talk with Texas Master Naturalists from other areas and learn about what they are doing. We spent the weekend of October 20 - 22 in Corpus Christi before making the trip to our winter retreat in Edinburg, Texas. So now we're home. Unpacking, cleaning up our mobile home residence, settling in to our winter routine. We have excellent lawn care during the summer but now that's my job. Lots of little things like having the air conditioner serviced, loading the refrigerator, turning on the DirecTV receivers, getting caught up with six months mail that has been stored. We have the letter stuff delivered but the rest sits in a container waiting for our return. I have created our bicycle ride schedule for the park, Louise has conducted her first book club meeting. Louise spend a weekend in Austin for her retirement occupation, the Texas Silver Haired Legislature, a senior citizen group organized to promote and look out for the interests of senior citizens. She is very good at this. So the holidays are upon us. We will bicycle South Padre Island Tuesday this week. We play golf on Monday, I bowl in a league (as a substitute for a friend) on Wednesday, Thursday is a day of leisure for me, my chance to mow the lawn. Louise plays cards with groups of ladies whenever she has a chance. Friday our park bowling league begins it's season with an organizational meeting. The weekend? This weekend we are painting the deck and porch. With luck, we'll have that finished tomorrow. I spent last Sunday helping band birds, a citizen science activity. We capture birds in mist nets, the birds are measured and weighed and tagged with a leg band and released. If or when they are recaptured, we learn about their travels, habits, age, and many other possible bits of information. It is basic avian research. The kind of thing that professional scientists are too busy to do. The professionals are delighted to have the data. They, their graduate students, and others use the data to increase our understanding of the life of birds. This is one of my volunteer activities for the Texas Master Naturalist program. I will attend a chapter meeting Monday night and will receive my re-certification pin for 2017. Re-certification requires eight hours of advanced training and 40 hours of volunteer work each year. Retired? Yes. How else would I be able to do all this?

Regarding Oasis dealers, this is what the Freightliner website lists as the distinction of Oasis dealers. They indicate more than 90 across the country. I have the 24-7 Direct app and it works great for finding dealers. The app lists all the services each dealer provides. "OASIS DEALERS The Freightliner service network includes more than 90 Oasis Network dealerships specializing in RV service: Dedicated motorhome facilities and service bays Specially trained service technicians Secure parking Amenities exclusively for motorhome owners To find an Oasis location near you, use the locator tool above, download the 24/7 app, or call 800-FTL-HELP." Now, given that, once on the app, any indication of the Oasis designation is missing as far as I can find. I can't tell but don't think that the app locates only Oasis dealers. Nor can I find any reference or search capability on the main Freightliner home page. This is similar to what I see with the Cummins Coach Care. There is a corporate attempt to make accommodations for motor home owners but the word never gets to the people who are designing the website or contact information. The RV facility designations tend to be pretty much stealth designations, hard to find. So you get the response Oasis... what?

I've had numerous sites like this where the sewer connection is elevated either by the land contour or more aggravating is the elevated pipe. That seems to be a requirement in states in the northeast. With a fifth wheel, the sewer exits the unit at a higher level than in a motor home. No choice but deal with it - walking the hose to drain the last amount - or use the macerator. Sure hope the connections and the condition of the hose will prevent leaks!

The last time FMCA was in Gillette, we picked got an FMCA decal made by Simply Etched Stickers, now using the name Graphics on the Road. That was in 2013, still looks great! I put it on the front of the coach, above the windshield on the passenger side. I'm using the second egg on the ladder on the rear as the paint(ink) on the first one has faded. The cost was reasonable and they made them on-site. You could order one or two and not use the physical plate. I think they look much better than the traditional plate. This company also does all the fancy window decoration decals. Good people with a good product.

On our coach, I just engage the engine brake and it will downshift automatically as the speed allows. If it doesn't slow the coach enough, then I use the service brakes to reduce speed. As it comes into range (RPM) to allow a downshift, it will do so. I watch the RPM and when it nears 2400 to 2500 for our coach, it is about to shift up to the next gear. Applying the service brake will keep that from happening if I don't want it. I have never had to use the up/down arrows to downshift, the Allison 3000 does it all. One of the keys here is to top the hill at a reasonable speed. When you see the steep grade sign, ease up on the throttle and coast over the hilltop. Then engage the engine brake before you start accelerating on the downgrade.

Boerne, Texas is a great place to stay to see the San Antonio area. We spent a month at Alamo Fiesta RV Park there several years ago. Just stopped recently and friendly and nice sites as we recalled from before. From there you will have access to the "hill country." This includes some really scenic country to the east and west of San Antonio. You will be about an Hour from Austin and less than 30 minutes from downtown San Antonio. Catch a holiday parade in San Antonio if you can. The River Walk is a favorite of ours. There is the Mission Trail NP, a good place to get your National Parks pass. There are way more than three days of things to see here. Gruene has a great dance hall for boot-scootin'. Fredericksburg, the home of Admiral Nimitz, has the National Museum of the War in the Pacific. I like to use the AllStays Camp and RV app to find campgrounds and places to stay. They have all the Wal-Mart stores indicated for overnight parking or not allowed. It also lists everything from dump stations to fuel and repair shops. It has many small campgrounds that aren't listed in other resources. We also depend heavily on RV Park Reviews to find the right kind of park for us. Enjoy your visit and come back soon!

For those attending next year, we just returned from our first time this year. We are Monaco International members and stayed with that group in the campground just south of the launch field. We were a five minute walk from the field or you had the option to sit in the group assembly area and watch everything from that viewpoint, a few low buildings on the field block total view of activity. As Bill Adams said, morning activity then not much happening until evening. We had a great time. There is nothing like being on the field in the middle of all the activity as they prepare and launch the balloons. Then if the weather is right, many will return to land back on the same field an hour or so after taking off. Again, being right in the activity was spectacular. I was making a movie of a balloon coming right at me to land. I had to grab the tripod and step out of the way as the Zebras (launch and landing officials) ushered the basket to the ground. Nothing like being in the middle of it all. By the way, we were able to get tickets to attend in September, seemed to be less interest from the group this year. Even a few spots were left at the last minute due to cancellations. They were taking non-member and non-Monaco coaches, as long as you were FMCA, you could have had a spot there if your timing was right. It may be a trend, maybe just this year, but it could be a possibility to check in the future. These were really premier sites, dry camping, we were in the fourth row of motor homes from the field. I stood on the roof one morning and watched a balloon land about 100 feet behind us, just off the parking lot.