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tbutler

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Posts posted by tbutler


  1. You might want to check to see if the local UPS store will provide a legal residential residence.  There is a difference between a street address and a residential address.  You may find some companies and government agencies that require a residential address.  Things like voting, passport and drivers license may require a residential address.  A box at the UPS Store may not work to get those items.  An address like the Good Sam, Escapees or FMCA mail forwarding service are structured to give you a residential address that will work for all of the above.  Investigate the difference carefully.

    We used MyHomeAddress in Emery, SD for 11 years, until we went back to a fixed home.  They are a smaller operation but provided just what we needed including taking care of registration and licensing of our coach and toad, assisting with voting registration, etc.  If you want to stay with a Florida residence, I would suggest looking for a smaller operation located in Florida.  As a state with no state income tax, they surely have some small operations that can meet your needs. 


  2. It sounds to me as though the USPS forwarding should work fine for you with one exception.  The USPS does not forward magazines.  For the FMCA Magazine or any other, you would have to change the address with the magazine distributor.  That can take time to go into effect.  They print labels or send mailing lists to printers months in advance in many cases.  I would contact the magazine by phone to determine how they prefer to handle this.  Given the decline in magazine readership in recent years, they should be willing to do most anything for a regular reader.

    The alternative is to read the on-line version of your magazines.


  3. Lived in the St. Louis area all my working life.  The roads can be fine in January or they can be impassible.  Storms are pretty well forecast these days.  You can check before you start out, look at the weekly forecast on the Weather Channel to see what will be affecting the various routes you are considering.  Make your choice based on the weather.  If you encounter bad weather, you can either change your route to avoid the worst weather as you travel or you can find a campground and sit it out until the storm passes. 

    We are very fortunate that the US has the robust road system that it does.  That and the generally competent road department personnel and first class snow clearing and road treatment equipment ensures that you shouldn't be delayed more than a few days if caught in a storm. 

    Several things to watch out for in winter driving.  Fog will obscure the roadway and the traffic ahead.  Especially in a large vehicle, you need to be very cautious about traveling in fog.  It usually doesn't last through the day so you can wait for the fog to lift before going on.  I would be very cautious about traveling in fog that restricts your view. 

    Fog can also freeze on roadways, particularly on bridges and overpasses.  This can make an invisible sheet of ice which will put you in a spin in a second.  If temperatures are near freezing be very aware of the road conditions and watch for black ice (which you really can't see).  Even when the air is clear and temperatures are above freezing, the bridge surface may still be cold and may have a coating of ice.

    If you travel more northern roads, the above may be something to consider.  Again, these kinds of things can be pretty well forecast and taking a northern route may turn out to be very interesting.  If not in the winter, perhaps in the spring on your return when cooler temperatures may be desirable.

    We always try to travel with options for delay.  It is best not to get into a situation where you feel you have to be somewhere on a certain time.  If that is the case, plan to leave early.  If the trip goes smoothly, you can enjoy some of the roadside attractions along the way.  The National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, the Will Rogers Memorial and Museum in Claremore, OK, the American Quarter Horse Association Museum in Amarillo, TX, are all right along I-44 and I-40.  Each of these is worth a day if they interest you.  All have sufficient parking for RV's.

    I can give you a number of "on the way" attractions in the St. Louis area or in other locations if  you are interested.  What matters most here is to know what your interests are, what do you want to see?


  4. Going to Glacier?  Take your passport.  It is joined on the north (just across the border) by Canada's Waterton Lakes National Park.  There is great scenery, a picturesque lodge and restaurant, and we saw more wildlife in a day there than in Glacier for a week.  If you've never crossed into Canada this makes a nice choice for a first time.  We didn't take the coach, just a day trip.


  5. I attended a seminar by Master Tech RV at the convention in Indy this summer.  It was an excellent, professional presentation.  About a day later we discovered a leak which I traced to the shower valve.  I went to the Master Tech RV table in the registration area.  They agreed to come look at our problem.  It took a run for parts and a second visit.  Job done.  No problems since.  They were friendly, excellent workers and the price was on the high side.  It was a mobile job and there were two men on the job at all times.  If what you want is high quality work and are willing to pay the price for that quality, they should meet your needs.  They do all types of remodeling work, ceilings, furniture, electronic dash, exterior. 


  6. An air drier would be important if inflating the tire from the beginning, less so when adding a little air to bring the tire up 5 psi.  Not saying it isn't a good idea, just not all that important considering the amount of air being added.

    Regarding psi, my front tires require 110 pounds to carry the load and I run them at 115 to be just a little on the high side.  It's not a hard ride if the tires are at their carrying capacity at that pressure.  When I had Goodyear tires the pressure required was 105 and I ran them at 110.  Switching to Michelin, their chart bumped me up 5 psi.


  7. Hello Bill and Janet,

    We left Fort Morgan, CO on September 1 headed west toward California on I-80.  Guess we were lucky, we missed the road alligator.  What a story, I'm not surprised, just impressed with the things you carry with you and your ability to use them.  We are in Valley Springs, CA right now, leaving next week for the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque then heading back to Texas for the winter.  Have a good remainder on your trip.


  8. Be very careful, the springs on these awnings are extremely strong.  Think like garage door springs, if you don't maintain tight control it can really injure you.  I would never remove the mounting without taking the tension off the spring.  Carefree of Colorado has technical information for their awnings on-line.  Basically, the slide toppers will require unwinding the fabric completely, locking the roller and removing the fabric from roller which also requires removing it from the RV.  Then you wind the roller, I'd give it no more than one additional revolution, then reinstall the fabric, release the lock.  Too much tension on the fabric can cause difficulty for the mechanism that opens the slide-out.  It can also lead to breaking the spring.

    The process can be largely done from the roof, working over the edge when the slide is in.  When it comes time to install, it may help to have someone on a ladder on the ground to help feed the fabric onto the roller.

    I've had a broken spring (snow loading on an open slide), when that occurs, the fabric will not retract at all.  It sounds to me as if you just need to tighten the spring.


  9. You can buy the AC 110 V variety for about $100 on sale at Lowe's or Home Depot.  They are the small two to three gallon compressors that go to 150 psi.  After years of fiddling with the on-board air I gave up and purchased one.  It resides in my mid-compartment right by the 110V outlet in that compartment.  I have enough hose to get to the entire coach and the toad when connected.  The only good way to get to 120 psi is to have something that goes near 150 psi.  Our on-board system cycles to 130 then dumps so the only way to get close to 120 is to get it when it is just before cycling and at 130 psi, trying to get to 110 takes a great deal of patience.

     


  10. OK, who can pass up the chance to talk sewage?  Like it's source, everyone has an opinion and we all know ours is the "only" right way to do things.  That is because what we do has worked for us.  

    For us, the gray water is always open until it is time to dump the black water.  We love taking long showers, Louise likes to keep up with laundry with our Splendide washer/dryer.  Our black water tank is 40 gallons and with our Thetford Aria II Deluxe toilet (electric) set on minimal water, we go about two weeks between dumps.  For those interested in mileage, that amounts to as much as 4000 miles per black water dump or if you wish, 400 miles per gallon!  Our gauges don't work, Louise knows the "sound" of a full black water flush.  :D 

    So we dump black water when it is 90 to 100% full when it works in terms of schedule and travel.  We always try to follow that with a nearly full (60 gallon) tank of gray water.  Our gray water mileage is considerably lower than the black water (a familiar story I'm certain).  We dump gray water at rest stops when on the road, some do have a dump station out west.  At other times we dump gray water when we stay in a campground. 

    By the way, fun fact, in New Zealand and Australia it is standard practice to drain gray water to the ground in the campground!  Some have drain connections at the campsite but many it is just drain to ground.  They don't have large RV's or campers.  It's mostly dish washing and hand washing water.  We showered and used the toilet facilities in the campgrounds.  They were spotless in New Zealand and near spotless in most Australian campgrounds.

    Sewage stories, every RV'ers glory.  No wonder it made a special scene in RV, the movie!


  11. You are paying for the diesel engine, big $$.  Get a quality coach.  Your Holiday Rambler is a quality coach, you'll know quality when you see it.  Our coach is still solid and going strong.  There are really deluxe coaches in the 40+ category that are reasonably priced in the same general age as your coach.  I like checking FMCA Magazine for used coach prices.  Just one indicator.  Then you can look at some of the references Wildebill has given above.  We just gave a 2008 Monaco Signature a close look, too much coach for us but really nice at a pretty good price.  A friend of ours sold their 2008 Monaco Diplomat last year.  The Monaco's or Holiday Ramblers 2008 and before are from the original company, good coaches.  We are at 167,000 miles right now.


  12. On 9/26/2017 at 2:09 AM, manholt said:

    Thank you Tom.  ...  I do think that, like you, if we get everything down to "One Tipi", it will be a lot less stress and a whole lot less expensive!

    Is our thinking correct ?

    I would definitely say yes but everyone is different.  Some people simply have to have a house and can never get past that.  I moved a dozen times in the military and later.  I even designed and built our home at one time, thinking we'd stay there forever -- not!  Louise had moved many times as a youngster including some time living in their car.  When I married her she had been in her house for 22 years.  She had a different perspective on leaving the house but she bit the bullet and learned to love full timing.  Ultimately she said she needed a home and I had to respect that.  So now we have our mobile home (right sized for retirees, not a 10 room palace for two).  She is always happy to hit the road in the spring and happy to get back into the house in the fall.  I know the time is coming when I'll have to give up the motor home but until then, I'm enjoying all it's advantages.  Change is inevitable.  My answer is, "Do whatever is right for you at this time".


  13. Good suggestions so far.  Winter is not impossible.  We've been on the east coast in December, drove in snow from Tennessee to South Carolina.  Just take it easy.  Woke up a week later to 3" of snow on the ground, headed for Indianapolis.  It depends on the kind of snow, how it is staying on the road and your experience with driving in snow.  If you're from Pennsylvania you should have the basic snow driving skills.  We made a trip in March from deep south Texas to Pennsylvania.  No snow that year but the funniest thing was when we got into Arkansas.  My wife turned to me and said, "Why are all these trees dead?"  I had to laugh and laugh.  When we left our campground in Edinburg, Texas, the flowers were blooming all along the highway.  Many of our trees were green year round and those that weren't had leaves by late February.  She was thinking that spring had sprung, everywhere.  Boy did we find out it hadn't when we got to Pennsylvania.  You know March in Pennsylvania, it's not warm.  March is a great month in south Texas, stick around and enjoy some really nice weather.  By the end of March you are waking up to 60's with highs in the mid 80's, maybe time for a northerner to flee!


  14. I don't know exactly what your off the road demands are.  We always traveled to visit our children when we were full time.  That is still what we do in the summers.  Right now we are with our youngest and her family, two granddaughters and a husband/hunter/fisherman.  So we are parked for a month and then will be back on the road again.  Even if you're off road time is back in your home area, you could do that in the motor home.  When you go full time and give up the fixed home, you simplify your life considerably.  Trying to manage a motor home and keep up with a fixed house doubles your work and some of your expenses.  It requires constant adjustment, moving from the motor home to the fixed house and back.  You will make the decision that fits you best but I can tell you that even if you have to return home periodically, you will experience an amazing freedom having only a mobile lifestyle.


  15. The GPS unit works off satellite.  It's always on, no gaps in coverage.  My cell phone is here and gone depending on where we are located.  How does your cell work in Canada?  Do you roam or purchase some other kind of connection?  The GPS works everywhere, Newfoundland, Alaska, all over Canada.  I took it to Australia and New Zealand, it worked fine there also.  Once I put in destination, I don't have to touch the GPS.  A cell phone offers a nice addition but it doesn't match the coverage of a GPS unit.


  16. If you are buying a used coach, you are buying it as is, no guarantee of quality or condition.  You are the inspector.  With that caveat, it doesn't make much difference whether you purchase from a dealer or individual.  A dealer may give you a break for a short period of time but that won't last.  Having a dealer does give you someone to go to for repair work.  However, we've had very good luck taking our coach to dealers all over the country.  Some are more helpful than others but we've been refused by very few.  More often, we encounter scheduling problems.  Still, when we really need service, we've been able to get it on short notice. 

    Buying from an individual, you get what you drive away with from the sale.  You can eliminate the middle man.  On the other hand you may be dealing with someone who has an exaggerated expectation of the worth of their coach.  Do a lot of comparison pricing to see what coaches of similar age and mileage are selling for. 

    In both cases, you will want to give the coach a good personal inspection before completing the deal.  The best time to get repairs made is before the sale.  As an alternative to having repairs done by the owner or dealer, you could negotiate on the price to compensate for needed repairs or damage.  With limited experience with motor homes, you might want to enlist the support of a friend who is familiar with motor homes to help with the pre-purchase inspection.  Another way to go is to hire an RV tech to do the inspection for you.  They could give you a list of things they see as problems with a coach.  By the way, anyone purchasing a new coach is also advised to do this very same thing.

    Regarding camping in a diesel motor home, I'll stick by the term.  We stay at RV Parks and in campgrounds.  I've done car camping, river float trip camping, backpacking and youth camping.  To be sure, camping in a motor home is not like being in a tent.  And we do have many of the comforts of home.  When we were parked next to the Matanuska Glacier in Alaska, it sure felt like camping.  Louise says that spending the night at Holiday Inn is roughing it.  I know she thinks of this as camping.  :P 


  17. We started with a 1994 Monaco Dynasty, no slides.  Our next and present coach is a Monaco Windsor, 2004, with two slides.  Two slides are better than none!  If you really want to stretch out or you like to dance, four slides are nice.  With four slides you will find yourself working under the slides to get into the storage compartments.  I have a few bruises and cuts from two slides.  I arrange my materials as much as possible to be on the slide-free side.  We're not strangers to older RV parks and have camped in Canada and Alaska extensively.  There are times when two slides limit where we can park, the problem will be greater with four slides.  Our slides have presented few problems in terms of operation.  That isn't true for all coaches.  When you find a coach you like, do some searching for comments from owners of that brand and model.  I believe some slide mechanisms are more likely to cause problems.  Nothing will stop you faster than a slide that won't retract.  It usually happens somewhere other than at home.

    Both our coaches have been diesel.  I wouldn't shy from them.  I had never owned a diesel nor do I do my own maintenance.  We usually put 12,000 miles plus on the coach during a summer of travel.  Our current coach has 167,000 miles, all but the delivery mileage are ours.  Yes, maintenance will cost you some $$ but I know that we have a nice ride and we aren't shouting at each other over the engine noise that a gas coach can produce in the cockpit.  Going on 14 years old, we are replacing interior flooring, a few appliances, lighting, water heater, etc.  The air conditioners are original and still working.  Over the years we've had several visits to paint shops for touch ups and accident related repainting. 

    RV'ing is not the cheapest way to travel but if you like the lifestyle, there is no better way to travel.  For us it's been worth every penny.


  18. Yes, view signatures is turned on.  I saved again, still no signatures.  I assumed that the FMCA office would be the source of support information.  Apparently, we are the support experts.  It would be nice to hear from someone at FMCA in regard to this problem.  They are running the software and should be aware of and fixing problems.

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