tbutler
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Posts posted by tbutler
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As Bill Adams said, the right turn is the greatest challenge. Your rear tires are a significant distance behind the front tires. When you turn, the rear tires will be inside the line of the front tires as they turn. That means wide right turns. In traffic, on city streets, I'll fudge over to the edge of the right turn lane or even if traffic is light I'll take some of the next lane. This is necessary when your are turning into a single lane. If it is dual lane, the two lanes should give you plenty of room for the lane if you can use both lanes (no other traffic). Turning into a single lane if traffic is light you can use the opposing traffic lane or a left turn lane if one exists and this will make the right turn easier. I never rush to make a right turn. If I'm in the way of other traffic, they will wait. Sometimes the need to use another lane means waiting for traffic to clear, just be patient you will get a break in traffic. Many times, other drivers are considerate and will stop well in advance of the intersection to allow you to make the turn. I do the same when approaching an intersection if there is a large truck or motor home in a similar situation.
We tow four wheels down, no tow dolly. The car will track just a little bit inside the track of the rear tires of the motor home so you will want your rear tires well clear of the curb or other obstructions. Many years ago I got into a situation where traffic was directed through a narrow single lane U turn in a parking lot. The lane was bordered on both sides by a standard 6" curb and also had some large boulders on the inside of the curve. The rear wheels of the coach cleared the curb, the boulder got the running board on the SUV. I should have stopped and disconnected, lesson learned.
We towed with a tow dolly for one year, our first year. I don't recall that towing with the tow dolly was that much different from the four wheel down mode. Both will track slightly inside the rear wheel track in any turn, left or right.
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We replaced the cordless pleated hades on the side windows in our Windsor in 2011. We have the MCD pull down shades, day and night, all around, except the front (driving area) windows. They are working well and still look like new. I love a dark room for sleeping and they fit the bill perfectly.
We still have the curtain on the front windows because I haven't seen something that really excites me. MCD does make a power shade that covers the whole front window but it is quite expensive. It would also complicate the access to the panels under the cabinets. I've had several times I needed to get into the space above those panels to get access to the rear of the cabinets. Any time you want to change electronics in our coach, rerouting or changing cables and power cords involves access to the rear of those cabinets. Right now, it is difficult enough to have to remove all the curtain hardware. I would hate to have to take down the entire one piece shade.
We do have the external sun screens on all the front windows and I highly recommend them for reducing the heat coming in those windows. They give us privacy while allowing us to see outside during the day. For now we're still using the curtains at night. I'll be following this discussion to see what other suggestions and ideas there are for replacing curtains.
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Jim,
What brand and model of awning do you have? Does it have a remote control? Is it the only power awning you have?
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No extended warranty for us. When we purchased our first (used) coach, we purchased the GS plan. First call for work came several months later. First response, well you haven't had your plan very long. I canceled.
If you read the contract carefully, there will be a clause regarding maintenance. It will specify that you must follow the manufacturers suggested maintenance. Which means that you not only have to follow the maintenance schedule, you have to maintain proof that you have followed the schedule. Receipts have to be kept. Receipts have to show the date and mileage. Miss one and they could have you on a technicality. They have actuaries (who calculate the frequency of the various kinds of failures and their cost) to figure their risk to the nth degree. They price their product not to cover their risk but to cover the risk and make a profit. They have lawyers to challenge any large claim. Everything is neatly stacked against you.
What do you have? Fear. What if... And they play on that to sell you their product. If you can take a hit and still keep going, you are OK. If your finances are thin and a big hit would put you out of business, you likely need the insurance if you can afford it. This is especially true if you have a large balance on your motor home loan. You could end up making payments on a motor home that you can't use because you can't afford the repairs.
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Speaking strictly from an arithmetic perspective, looking at what we have spent on our current motor home, $270,000 and the current value, we've spent (or lost if you prefer) about $200,000. Amortized over the 14 years we've owned the motor home that is about $14,000 per year. The initial investment amount includes loan interest for the purchase of the motor home. Would I do it again? Absolutely.
Now, what did we get for our $200,000? Yes, there are experiences, read my blog for a few. We also got freedom. Freedom that is hard to imagine until you experience it.
Let's imagine taking a trip from home to Alaska. Most people will go for a week or two, perhaps a little longer then return home. There are the expenses of going to and from, expenses while in Alaska including a place to stay, a rental car, food and fuel. Meanwhile you have the utilities, upkeep at home, mortgage (if you have one), insurance, etc. Somewhere in the back of your mind is the condition of your house. Is the air conditioner still working? There was a storm in the area are there any wind damages? I hope that our friend Joe remembers to pick up the mail. Will our son have time to cut the grass? I wonder if I left the iron on... Meanwhile, the time you leave home until you return you are on the travel treadmill. You have plane reservations, hotel reservations, special tours or events, all scheduled. So you methodically go from one experience to the next. Along the way you learn about an interesting event nearby but, too bad, you have reservations in another location tomorrow. Want to go back to Alaska another time? You have to plan another trip. Will you do it? I'm betting against it. There are so many other places to go. So likely, that trip to Alaska becomes the only time you will be there in your life.
Now imagine that your motor home is your home. As you travel, your expenses are just part of your ordinary budget, food (we eat most meals in so it is groceries, not restaurant bills and we control our diet), fuel, campground fees (when not boondocking), maintenance, insurance, mortgage, etc. Your expenses will rise slightly on the way to Alaska and while there simply because the cost of living is higher in Canada and Alaska. So the expense of taking that trip is not significantly different from your normal living expense. We spent three months on that trip in 2006. We were able to see and enjoy things that most people traveling from home can not experience. All the while, we had not a care about anything related to a permanent house. Along the way you learn of a nearby experience. No problem, we'll extend our stay for a few more days (or relocate to an area close to that experience). Our trip planning is done on a daily basis. If we like a place, we'll stay longer. If we've seen all we're interested in we'll head on down the road. If a campground is full we'll find another. We did this in Anchorage. The campground had a site for us for three days. We did what we could, then went down the Kenai Peninsula toward Homer. Before we left, we made reservations for two weeks in Anchorage and would return to stay there later. Our travels are flexible in a way that is almost impossible when traveling from home. From time to time, no matter where we are, we'll just take a day or two and stay at home. We have no compulsion to be out running at full speed to see everything. We aren't on vacation, we are living where we are. The freedom of not having a schedule is hard to understand if you haven't experienced traveling that way.
On the way to and from Alaska, we explored British Columbia in depth. Also on our way to Alaska we spent several weeks visiting our daughter and her family in California. This was just one summer out of the 9 1/2 years we were full time. We continue to live in our motor home for six months of the year. We now have a winter home, a mobile home in a park in Edinburg, Texas. So we are in the motor home full time each year from about the end of April until the end of October. I would have been happy to remain living in the motor home full time but marriage is a partnership and Louise said she needed to have a home again. She had done 9 1/2 years on the road, how could I say no to that request. At this point she still relishes the freedom of our summer travels and at the same time looks forward to returning to our winter retreat.
As to health care, we had employer based health care for the first 11 years and had to return our original home location for health care except for emergency type care. Emergency care would be "out of network," and was covered with a higher deductible. Once on Medicare, our insurance became nationwide. Since we had children near our original employment, we combined family visits with medical care. We are both in good health and an annual visit was all we needed generally. I had both knees replaced in 2011 while we were parked in my daughter's driveway. Recovering in the motor home was at least no worse than in a regular house. The distance to the bedroom and bathroom was much shorter than in a real home and just outside my door was plenty of are to walk for exercise. I even used the outdoor steps to their basement to build strength and flexibility on stairs. Follow-up home care visits were also easily accomplished in the motor home. The nurse/therapist simply came into the motor home for my check and treatments.
Now, to your most recent inquiry. We have been out of our motor home for maintenance only one time while full time and that was a single night when the coach was in the paint shop overnight. We've had painting done and not been out of the motor home overnight but this one shop wasn't able to accommodate us. We routinely have service done at Cummins, Freightliner and other shops and have never, repeat never, had to spend a night in a hotel. Both Cummins and Freighliner have RV friendly locations but we've visited their regular truck facilities also and never been refused overnight accommodations in our own coach. In many cases, they will pull it out of the shop in the evening so we can have the coach until the next morning. If one case, we had a valve dropped in our first coach. Cummins had us towed to a spot in front of one shop door, the coach stayed outside while they ordered parts and repaired the engine. We never left the coach. They allowed us to use their bathrooms during the day and we weren't there long enough to fill the black water tank. The gray tank could be emptied into a nearby drain. I used a bucket to take several gallons at a time and pour it down the drain. We just had a water heater replaced at American RV in Evansville, IN. They had electric hookups for us, we came in the night before, plugged in and were ready to go at 8:00 a.m. They worked through the day, brought the coach back out for the night. We plugged in and stayed until they finished, doing the last remaining work while the coach was on the lot.
There have been two major body work repairs on our coach. In both cases we were able to return to our now winter home and we took the coach to the shop and left it. So, those might have worked as above but we didn't have to try to stay in the coach. We did have some body work done on the coach and were able to stay in it through the whole process.
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This discussion is ill considered on the part of all parties. We all have reasons for choosing the type of motor home we have purchased. There is no reason that we all have to have the same type of motor home. Nor does someone choosing a different type of motor home constitute an insult to those who have other types of motor homes.
Louise once told me that her idea of roughing it was spending a night in a Holiday Inn. When we went shopping for a motor home we chose a Class A. I've managed to keep her happy in a motor home for 16 years now.
Louise and I have at times made adjustments in our travels. We almost always try to limit the miles we travel to save money. That means we plan our summer travels so we aren't driving willy-nilly all over the country. Sometimes it works better than others but it has always been our habit to avoid back and forth trips. We use Gas Buddy to find the cheapest fuel and I have a credit card that gives me 5% cash back on fuel purchases at any gas station (Kroger, Safeway and Costco are exceptions). During the years of the highest prices we tended to stay longer in campgrounds and travel less often. That works great for places like Yellowstone. A person could easily spend a month at Yellowstone if they wanted to see it all. Making cavalier statements about people owning motor homes not caring about the price of fuel is not honest or helpful. If you are truly that rich, you are boasting, not a noble trait.
Several years ago we traveled to New Zealand and Australia. We spent four months touring those two countries in a very small Class C. It had the sleep-over cab but in all other respects it was the same as a Class B motor home. As we traveled, we realized that all the things we were used to doing when traveling in the US in our Class A had prepared us very well for the extended experience in this smaller motor home. By the way, we saw 1 Class A motor home in New Zealand and we saw 1 Bus Conversion in Australia. Everything else is Class B or C or the much more common trailer.
The rental motor home was affordable for us, it fit our travel perfectly. We seldom spent more than two nights in one place. The set up consisted of putting it in park. The take down consisted of putting it in drive. If we needed to shop for something we did it on the way from one location to another. We could park in the grocery store parking lots which were in some cases difficult in even the small Class C. Fuel was in the $2 per liter range for diesel fuel and we were getting 16 miles to the gallon with the diesel engine. We were very happy about that. Yes, I can do the conversions and they are correct, in both quantity and distance for fuel and in the currency conversion as well.
My point is that just because you have an RV that suits your needs doesn't mean that everyone has to have the same RV. Let's face it, if everyone purchased just one kind of RV, manufacturers wouldn't offer so many different kinds. This is the USA, we live in a country where if you can find a few hundred people who want to purchase something, someone will manufacture it and it will be on the market.
Some of us remember the standard black telephone. When the monopoly was broken, we started seeing phones in different colors, smaller phones, wall phones, Princess phones, portable phones, flip phones, smart phones, who knows where it will end. The French have a saying, "vive la difference." Long live the difference! Now let's get on with it and start trying to be helpful to each other. It's what families do.
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Check my blog here on the FMCA forum. I posted this after a visit to the WW I Memorial and Museum in Kansas City, MO. I highly recommend a stop there. The Truman Library and Home are there as well. We stay at Campus RV in Independence. A small but very nice park, reasonable rates, friendly people and an occasional train at night to help you sleep.
While in the St. Louis area you might be interested in Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Illinois. Within sight of the St. Louis Arch is the largest Native American mound in North America. There are a series of mounds built by a large community that existed in the St. Louis area. In fact, St. Louis is sometimes called Mound City because of the mounds that existed west of the Mississippi. Those were destroyed by early settlers before their significance was appreciated.
We regularly run from the St. Louis area through KC and on into South Dakota on I-29 If you are musically inclined, a stop at the National Music Museum in Vermilion, SD would be worth your time. Vermilion is just off I-29 a few miles.
If not before, hope to meet you in Gillette. Enjoy the trip.
Why not keep us all up to day with your own blog here on the forum...
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Yeah, what Herman said. And I'm with Carl, I have no idea what dumping cables are. Maybe a picture or further explanation would help.
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Looking for campgrounds? Check RVParkReviews. Put in the state and the community or a nearby community and get listings of parks and reviews from people who have stayed there. We use that and also the AllStays Camp and RV app on our smart phone/pad.
My recommendation would be to look at Windsor in Ontario, Canada if you are willing to cross the border in your motor home. We stayed in a nice park on the east side of town, I can't remember the name but found it on AllStays, Windsor Campground Inc., 4855 Concession 9, Windsor. It is just off the 401 (freeway) near the airport. Crossing the Ambassador Bridge, you are on Canadian Hwy 3 which runs right into the 401. You would need to go through customs going into Canada and when returning to the US. The area around Windsor is beautiful. The area was settled by many loyalists during the American Revolution and their English gardens and landscaping show that heritage. If you go south from there you can visit Point Pelee, the southernmost point in Canada. And as an added bonus, crossing from Detroit into Windsor you will be driving south into Canada. While in Ontario, you might enjoy visiting the towns of London, Cambridge, and Stratford. Stratford is on the Avon River and they have a Shakespeare festival. We enjoyed walking along the park along the Avon River and saw several swan nests, with hatchlings that actually all left the nest in a parade to the water and then swam away.
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Yes, that could be one opinion. What were the criteria? The article says, "By far the most important criteria for selecting an RV club is the cost savings possibility." Given that criteria, Passport America which isn't really an RV Club by my standard qualifies here. I'm guessing that many of the "savings" programs that FMCA has were not considered. There are so many and they are very specialized, discounts for tires, roadside service, etc., they were simply too many and too varied for them to consider easily. Some of our benefits save money but they are hard to evaluate, Stopping Spots, FMCA Assist, FMCA Forum, so many more. So if your criteria is saving money, this is their list.
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I didn't know this until I attended a Freightliner workshop at the Monaco International Pre-rally in Celina, OH this summer. Freightliner Custom Chassis (their motor home chassis division) has service centers that are called Freightliner Oasis Dealers. The link will take you to their dealer finder. With 90 service centers being Oasis certified, specializing in motor home service, you should be able to find one along your route.
If you don't find one along your route, call their contact number, 800-FTL-HELP. We were told that if you had a specific problem they might be able to refer you to a shop that has experts in certain aspects of chassis service and repair.
I see your Freightliner dealer in Forest City is an Oasis Dealer. Otherwise, you probably couldn't do better than TRUCK CENTERS, INC., 2000 Cassopolis Street, Elkhart, IN 46514, Phone: (574) 262-3441,Toll-Free: (800) 686-7364.
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The Howell Observatory is operated by Mississippi State University. In Flagstaff, the Lowell Observatory is the location where Pluto was discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930. They have a great program there including telescope tours, astronomer talks and evening observing for guests if the weather permits. The view of Flagstaff at night from the Observatory is quite beautiful.
We do much of the above I-10 drive each fall as we return from northern California or Oregon. It is boring if you drive it many times as we have but if it is your first time, it lets you see a variety of landscapes. It is the shortest route and it is as Byron said, there are no challenging grades along that route. If you need some entertainment driving west Texas, you can count the dead deer along the highway. Doing that will convince you not to travel in twilight on that stretch of I-10.
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Your trip figures to be 1339 miles via I-10. My numbers below won't add up exactly due to manipulations necessary to get segment mileage with my planner. Three nights, four days travel means about 300 to 350 miles per day. Below are four segments that will give you an idea of where each puts you. From there, you can add or subtract to fine tune your trip. I could name parks along the way, each of these locations has some parks available and they also have Walmart stores. In addition there are rest areas if you are inclined to stop at those. You haven't specified your specific interest as to stopping accommodations so I'll leave that to you. We use RV Park Reviews (computer based) and AllStays Camp and RV (the mobile phone/ipad app) to find places to stop as we travel. In cases like this trip we usually set a mileage per day goal and then see how we feel. If we're slow getting away the first day we'll make it up on a later day. If the weather is good and we have plenty of daylight we might extend another 50 or 100 miles to find a better stopping spot. I like to avoid rush hours when navigating cities like Phoenix, Tucson and El Paso. Tucson is the easiest of these three. Phoenix is very busy most of the time but becomes near impossible during rush hour times. El Paso has a kind of N bypass that might be worth it if you don't mind a little mountain driving coming in Woodrow Bean TransMountain Road (near Canutillo, NM) over to the 375 Loop in Texas. I dislike traveling through El Paso but when on I-10 I'll do it if I can avoid rush hours. We frequently will try to drive through a large city in the evening just before sunset so that we are leaving the city as the morning rush hour traffic is coming into the city. The other alternative is to pull up an hour or two short of the city and then plan to get through after 10:00 a.m. the next morning.
Day 1 Victorville to Phoenix, AZ = 356 miles
Day 2 Phoenix to Las Cruces, NM = 391 miles
Day 3 Las Cruces to Fort Stockton, TX = 284 miles
Day 4 Fort Stockton to San Antonio, TX = 312 miles
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As to the life of the batteries, yours are approaching 5 years. My experience with 6V wet cell batteries has been they die in about four years. In my experience, they never gave me any warning, just quit taking a charge and went dead. I switched to the sealed AGM batteries in 2014. This is the fourth summer on the road for those batteries.
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Many people use a mailing service such as The UPS Store.
Here's what you get:
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A street address, not a P.O. Box number
Have your mail and packages delivered to your personalized mailbox at The UPS Store. -
24-hour access*
Pick up your mail when it’s convenient for you. Your mail and packages stay-safe and confidential. -
Package acceptance from all shipping carriers
We accept packages from all carriers, so you’ll never miss a delivery. -
Package and mail receipt notification
We can text or email you when your mail and packages arrive in your mailbox. -
Mail holding and forwarding**
We’ll hold your packages in a secure location for pick up at your convenience or we can forward them to you, wherever you are. -
Call-in MailCheck
Save time. Save a trip. Call us to find out if you have mail. -
Mail Boxes Etc. Certified Packing Experts®
Access to our expert staff to help you find the right packing and shipping solutions.
*Available at participating locations
** Additional fees may applyThere used to be a company called Mail Boxes Etc. but it seems that UPS has taken over that franchise. You may find independent mailing service companies offering similar services. In either case, there should be locations available within a few miles of your "home." I used the find a store to confirm that there are about a dozen UPS Store locations in Knoxville alone.
If you are concerned about cost, one way to minimize costs may be to have mail forwarded only occasionally. We used a mail service for ten years. During that time we usually had mail forwarded about once a week. We would call or e-mail to let them know where to send the mail. They would send it to a US Post Office addressed to us at General Delivery. We would go to the post office to pick up the mail, show I.D. and receive our mail. Now we travel only in summer and we have a friend pick up our mail. We leave Priority Mail envelopes addressed to us, General Delivery (needing only the city, state and zip). Our friend fills out that information and drops it at the post office. We are functioning fine with delivery once a month. Obviously, we do almost everything important via the internet. We do all banking, bill paying, etc. via electronic payments. Most of our payments are automatic now, we just have to monitor them and ensure that the bank account will handle them. We have always used Priority Mail for our mail forwarding to ensure that it arrives promptly and we aren't stuck hanging around for days waiting for the mail to show up at the post office. You can experiment to see what schedule and service does the best for your situation.
For work opportunities that provide a site, the National Park Service, National Monuments, National Wildlife Areas, National Forest Service and Corps of Engineers Campgrounds have many opportunities. Many State Parks also employ camp hosts or other positions and provide a campsite as compensation. The Workamper News is probably your best single source but don't overlook the possibility of other opportunities such as those above.
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A street address, not a P.O. Box number
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I have never heard of a Canadian Proof of Insurance. Does that mean a Canadian Insurance Policy? My policy states simply that No Coverage is provided in Mexico. It makes no mention that I can find anywhere regarding Canada. Nor can I find any requirement for a proof of insurance card for Canada. I have searched the Canadian site referenced above and can find no mention of vehicle proof of insurance. We have traveled extensively in Canada and if required, this is one that I missed. Also, our Medicare (original Medicare) supplement does provide medical coverage for a period of 60 days when traveling outside the US. Check with your Medicare policy.
Regarding food, the requirements change from time to time. Consult the website referenced in my post above (May 26, 2016). Generally there are only a few items that may be a problem.
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Clearly there are those who do shop for RV's with fuel mileage in mind. The OP did specify "Diesel Motorhome MPG" and it is located in the Class A topic. The OP or monitors placed the question in the Class A category in the presumption that only Class A coaches were diesel coaches. We all know that there are Class C coaches that are diesel and yes, even some Class B coaches are diesel. The question raised, "After all, does anyone go shopping for an RV with fuel economy being a high priority?" has been answered by someone who has answered with a yes, I do statement. I don't see that as a problem. I think we should try to keep the discussion on a factual basis, not getting sidetracked into personalities.
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I wonder if the reference to damaging the phone had something to do with battery life? This is the battery information for our iPhone. " Rechargeable batteries have a limited number of charge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced. The iPhone battery isn’t user replaceable; it can be replaced only by an Apple Authorized Service Provider."
Using the phone heavily (as a hot spot) may require replacing the battery earlier than if used only for calls and messaging. I can find no reference from Apple regarding any possible damage to the phone as a result of using it as a hot spot.
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In Williams, AZ, the Canyon Motel and RV Park is a good place to stay. There are others but we didn't make advance reservations and it was the closest we could get to the Grand Canyon. The town of Williams is small but has nice tourist stops, bars, restaurants, shops, etc. It is about an hour drive from there to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Park at huge parking lot at HQ and ride the bus from one place to another along the South Rim of the Canyon.
From South Rim to North Rim is a long scenic drive. If you can't get reservations in the park on the North Rim, there is a nice National Forest Campground at Jacob Lake. You don't have any hook-ups but can use the generator. Weather is high altitude, cool at night. You are about an hour from the North Rim but it's a scenic drive. The North Rim is beautiful. It is also much less visited. You can drive to the lookout points and walk out to see the canyon. Those who are limited in hiking should find this an easy explore. We got advice from the campground hosts, take the first left to the Canyon sights (can't remember the name). There are a dozen or so stops along the rim. There are nice overlooks at the North Rim HQ. We ate dinner early one evening. We got a table at the window overlooking the Canyon. WOW, it was a spectacular meal and view. You will never get this on the South Rim.
From the North Rim (Jacob Lake Campground) we drove north to Zion. We stayed in Sand Hollow Reservoir State Park near Hurricane UT. Nice facilities, full hookups, about an hour from Zion. Zion itself is another park and ride National Park. You can enjoy the ride into and out of the park but the heart of the Canyon is a bus ride. Stop, get off, walk about. There are great hikes for those who are able. Otherwise, just ride the bus from stop to stop. Enjoy the view at each place, perhaps walk a bit to the canyon walls. The scenery from inside the canyon is Awesome. The road from the east has the tunnel which has restrictions for large vehicles (RV's included). You pay a fee and are escorted through the tunnel which is closed to traffic so you can drive the center of the road where the tunnel is high enough to allow your passage. Check the Zion Canyon National Park website for details and schedule.
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It's a wonderful life on the road, traveling in a motor home. The more she rolls the better it gets. Enjoy.
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I use Garmin products, not because they are perfect but because they are reliable and function better than other systems I have seen or used. I started with a handheld or portable Garmin Aviation GPS III that I used for almost 20 years of flying.
Next was a Garmin eTrex Vista, a handheld unit primarily designed for hiking and exploring. I began using this one for navigation with our motor home in 2003. It wasn't designed as a road friendly unit but it gave me a "shortest route" and distance to destination information.
In 2012 I purchased an auto GPS, a 3450LM (LM = Lifetime Map Updates). I used it in the motor home and also in our toad. Once we parked the motor home we would move it from the coach to the car. At the time, Louise was using a truckers atlas (she still does) to check road clearances which cover truck routes but not all routes. It has a 5" screen and is still being used in the car. With the map and software updates, it works better than new.
In 2014 we took the 3450 with us to New Zealand and Australia. I purchased a map set from Garmin for those two countries. It came as a micro SD chip that plugged into the 3450. If anything the map information for those countries was perhaps better than for the US. There are far fewer roads to update so it is likely easier to get it right. I was amazed to zip through roundabouts with no problem. Almost every road intersection in these two countries (well, lots of them) are roundabouts and when driving on the wrong (left) side of the road, having the GPS was worth its weight in gold.
In 2015 I purchased a 2757LMT (Lifetime Map and Traffic) which is just a larger auto GPS. It has a 7" screen which is easier for me to read where it sits on the motor home dash. I have the Route 1 data set for clearance information for the US and Canada. I keep that set as well as all my Garmin maps up to date, checking all for the latest information before leaving on any trip. With the current Garmin management system, Garmin Express will prompt me to get the latest updates. Yes, this does take some data but once done, all the information you need to travel anywhere in the US and Canada is on-board. No further internet data download is needed.
I also have a Garmin Approach G6 for golf. It has most every golf course in North and South America, Europe, New Zealand and Australia. It also updates. As with the auto GPS units, Garmin Express keeps me notified of updates that are available.
All this said, we do cross check the GPS information with other maps. Louise is the navigator and she is primarily a paper map person but will use my iPad when I prompt her to do so. We will check and vary from routing that the GPS offers. Sometimes when we need to zoom in on roads in an area, the iPad has maps that can help answer questions. The satellite views provide more than simply road maps can and are thus useful.
The Garmin map information can be downloaded to your computer as well. Base Camp is the Garmin program for planning and manipulating maps. I have the older MapSource software from Garmin to do my rough trip planning. Sometimes the routing that MapSource suggests is different from the routing that we get from the stand-alone units. I don't try to interface the computer and download routes to the GPS but it can be done. If you keep the computer updated (free with lifetime map updates), you can look at the road information much easier on a large screen. I find it much easier to explore on the computer than on the stand-alone units.
Garmin auto and other GPS products are available at WalMart, Amazon and almost any other major general merchandise company. The 3450 cost me about $349 from Amazon in 2012. The larger, more modern 2757 was just under $200 at WalMart.
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I took our coach to car wash facilities at every opportunity when on our Alaska trip. Most of the parks along the route have some kind of coach wash facilities, power washer or wash/rinse brush. Other than that trip, I wash the entire coach with a hose and brush several times a year unless we encounter some really terrible dirty driving. Otherwise, I use a bucket, sponge and chamois and do "spot" washing on a continuing basis.
The windshield and the front get debugged every time we drive, even when driving days at a stretch. I have found that the easiest bug wash is done when the bugs are fresh. Stale, dried bugs get to be really difficult to remove. If we've picked up some splash dirt from rain in a campground, I'll do the bottom section of the coach, the compartment doors and below. Frequently the rear tires will spray the rear section of the coach and that section will get a wash.
When the roof gets a coating from trees or birds, I'll get up there with the same equipment and give it a good cleaning. We have had restrictions on washing (time of week, time of day, permits required, etc.) where we live in Edinburg, TX. Those restrictions don't apply to a bucket/sponge wash. That is the case also in most campgrounds. I have never paid a crew to wash our coach.
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It is amazing to see this old thread come back to life. Everything I said above about MCD is moot by now. They quit producing sunscreens four or five years ago. I still have mine, they are serviceable. I had them on the coach at Indy 17. External screens stop the sun's rays and thus it's heat outside the coach. Once the sunlight enters the coach, internal screens will only delay the progress of the heat moving into the coach. Tinted windows absorb the heat and more is transferred into the coach than with external sun screens. Still, the downside of the external screens is the time it takes to put them up and take them down and store them. Part of the reason MCD got out of the sunscreen business is the movement to tinted windows and internal shades.
If I were looking for sun screens today, I'd look for those that are most easily put up and taken down. If they aren't convenient, you likely won't use them as often.
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Our first motor home was our first RV. We purchased a 1994 Monaco Dynasty in 2001 and went full time shortly after. The alternator failed in the first 4000 miles. When tracking down information on the replacement we found that the previous owner had put in a cheap replacement and had re-wired the wiring to make it work. Going back to the original alternator and rewiring cost us plenty. So the original owner may have fixed things but were they fixed right? After about 30,000 miles we had an exhaust valve break, destroying a cylinder, the head and the turbocharger.
So we traded for a new coach, a 2004 Monaco Windsor. Going from a 10 year old coach to a new coach was like night and day. The systems were much more advanced. I told Louise that the conveniences of this coach easily added ten years to the time we could continue motor homing. We now have 163,000 miles on that coach. We've had some repairs, some upgrades, and some modifications. We plan to continue that.
Recently at a rally, we took a look at a beautiful 2008 coach, just four years newer than our current coach but a much more luxurious. It was tempting but it meant going deep into debt for a coach with many older systems. I'm sticking with the known factor, our trusty Windsor. In keeping our coach on the road, we're amortizing the initial depreciation. Our purchase cost per mile is now less than $2.00.
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in All About You
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For both our new members, welcome.
Poohbear, you should come to south Texas, there is a great full service campground just across the street from the south tip of South Padre Island. Isla Blanca County Park is just a short walk to the beach. It's a great place to spend the winter if you like the beach! Windsurfing, deep sea fishing, and seafood restaurants are just a few of the attractions.
A tip of the hat to Sharon and Linda. We have known a number of women who have taken on the RV lifestyle and enjoyed it. We'll wish you more than just luck, we hope you find your trips to be filled with the same enjoyment that we have.