tbutler

Welcome back to FMCA and the forum. Your experience will be very welcome here on the forum. We need many different perspectives on the motor home lifestyle participating in the forum. You will make this a richer forum. Off hand I can thing of a number of discussion related to destinations and routing for trips that you could offer some of your suggestions to help those seeking information.

There are lots of cool things that make RVing easier. RVing is possible without any of these. When we got our current motor home it had a lot of nice features that made life easier and more convenient on the road. Here are just a few... We have air leveling which is automatic. No jacks to worry about sinking into the ground or breaking up the asphalt. I press a button twice, once to determine the state of level and the second time to activate the automatic leveling. This starts by dumping all the air out of the air bags so we will be at the lowest level (reduces the height of the step above the ground when you exit). When we get a little out of level (maybe a wheel sinks into the ground a little or the waste tanks get a little heavier, it never notices when I move from the rear to the front of the coach ) then the system automatically re-levels. It checks every half hour and adjusts as necessary. Now I consider this real sweet. I used to carry a set of boards to keep the jacks from sinking in on soft spots. I would get down on all 4s to position the boards and occasionally have to add boards as the jacks pushed down into the ground. When we are ready to move, I press the "Travel Mode" button and wait for the air pressure to come up. Bring in the slides and we're ready to go. Life is easier now. Once upon a time I set up a satellite dish manually, aiming it manually at a satellite (this is the very definition of tedious) and connecting it by cable to the input on the coach. Now I have an automatic dish. Flip a switch to activate the search and in a minute or two we have satellite television service. It is so convenient that we often stop at a rest stop and pick up satellite signal and get the latest information, news or weather while we have lunch. Our first motor home had no slide outs so much of the travel was one way only. We still have a traffic jam at the refrigerator but with two slides we can easily move around most of the coach. You can have three or four slides for even more room and they make a full wall slide that takes out a large section of one whole side. Some floor plans are eliminating the refrigerator traffic jam by putting the refrigerator in a different location than ours. We have a generator as we did with our first motor home. The inverter (this is a must have item in my motor home - AC current 24/7 keeps DW happy) with this one has an auto start function that takes care of keeping the batteries charged when we aren't hooked up to shore power. When the battery charge drops below a preset level the generator comes on to charge them and then goes off once they are charged. It can even start the generator when the thermostat calls for the air conditioners! Like all great inventions, this one has given us some trouble. I'm still struggling to get this to work properly after we upgraded to a true sine wave model with greater capacity. I thought I was getting something better but it hasn't proven to be so yet. I love the power cable reel in this motor home. Beats handling the heavy power cable by hand, lifting it into a bay when finished. We have a macerator for the sewer that give us flexibility in how we handle emptying waste tanks. I use the macerator for long distance runs instead of keeping long sections of the 3" stinky slinky around. Slide trays in the storage compartments make it easy to access the "stuff" in the center of the storage compartments, especially in pass through storage compartments. I have installed tire pressure monitors on the motor home and the toad. This is a peace of mind thing. I know that I should get a least some advance warning of tire problems before it becomes critical. We have power door locks on the house door and the compartment doors. One button locks and unlocks all the compartments. Both of our motor homes have had back up cameras. I wouldn't have such a large vehicle without one. I usually have guidance from DW but it is reassuring to know that I can also see what is going on. Now, our coach is not the top-of-the line for conveniences; there are much fancier coaches with other great conveniences. It is just a matter of how many you feel you want, need and/or can afford.

Michael, The thought had occurred to me that the e-mail might have come from another source but I ignored that thought! The net result was your sharing of this link which is much more powerful than the answer to your single question. Now we have a tool to answer lots of questions! Thanks for sharing.

What are your interests? Are you looking to see the wild and scenic side of things? If so, the National Parks and many other scenic sites would be of interest to you. If you are interested in art museums, it is quite a different tour. I have a background in geology, meteorology and astronomy so I love to hike up a volcano or explore lava caves. If I can visit a canyon or mine, I'm in heaven. I try never to pass up a chance to tour an astronomical observatory. You get the idea. Now, what are your interests? What kind of things do you really want to see? It might be a ranking of two or three things, perhaps civil war sites, scenery and big cities. Give us some direction and somebody will come up with suggestions. Of course you will want to prioritize your travel with northern states in late spring, summer and fall and leave the southern states for the winter. Unless you want to do some skiing! Since this is a side trip from the original discussion, you may want to post your question again as a separate topic where the topic title will indicate the nature of the discussion. Perhaps a title like "We're visiting the lower 48 and want suggestions for what to see."

I am an example of that. South Dakota requires only a regular driver's license to drive a motor home. When I got my license I picked up the booklet for a commercial truck driving license and read it over carefully to help me understand how the air brake system works. I have also taken a safe driving course at an FMCA Convention. I highly recommend both. I am a pilot and one of the first things you learn when you are flying a different airplane is how all the various systems work. No one wants to be having a problem while traveling 120 miles per hour and having to read the book to figure out how something works! If people treated driving like flying, there would be far fewer accidents. There is another discussion on the forum related to drivers license requirements in various states for driving motor homes of various weight classes. You can read about that in this discussion.

You can see the evidence on the highway of what happens when the air pressure is lost and your parking brake engages while driving. Every once in a while, a tractor trailer rig will blow an air pressure hose to the trailer. When it happens the trailer wheels lock up and you'll see the black skid marks trailing off the driving lane onto the shoulder! If it were to happen in your coach you'd likely have everything that isn't tied down piled around the drivers seat or in your lap! In our case, it would be all drive axle wheels that would lock up. That's more excitement than I need!

Welcome to the forum rheasley! We did the upgrade to the Wii Fit Plus and are enjoying the enhancements. I had to laugh at your copilot, Jack Russell's are never short on energy! Good to have another Monaco with Trailblazer toad on board. The thing I love about the Wii Fit is that the exercises tone the muscles and help maintain flexibility plus they are easy enough that even a Marine can do them!!!

OK Wayne, I'm biting! What is ROFLO? I'm sure you will send me to a tweeting dictionary somewhere. I'm not hip yet! Sounds to me like you might be finished doing nothing! Time to get up on that horse again, get out of the recliner! HA HA!

Michael, It is great that you got a quick reply which answered your question. I wish that the person who gave you the information would have given their reply on the forum rather than an e-mail. Having that reply on the forum rather than in an e-mail would be so much more helpful for all of us. I encourage everyone to post all but personal messages on the forum rather than via e-mail. If you will paste the contents of that reply (or at least the link to Fleetwood) onto a message here with this topic, everyone would have the link for the Fleetwood archives.

We've never had a problem with our Carefree of Colorado units. I am not familiar with the A&E design. If it is retarding the slide out movement, it sounds as if something is about to be broken or bent. I would take it to a repair center to have it fixed before the repair becomes much more expensive. Right now it may be a matter of fixing a broken spring or adjusting the tension on the unit. If it isn't fixed you could be buying a new slide topper or perhaps even repairing damage to the slide out mechanism.

I've given up on paying that stubborn German woman anything!!! I love her but she is way too proud to take payment from one of her children. She has a to-do list for me every time I come so I work it out in labor of one kind or another. So I try to minimize our impact on her utility bills as best I can.

Brett, Thanks for the suggestion about changing the belts on the engine. I haven't had any problem but changing now will put new belts in place and I'll have the old belts as a spare in case of emergency.

There is another discussion on this forum that deals with reciprocity and other aspects of drivers licensing. You can read through the various comments here. Reciprocity of drivers license applies to all 50 states and all of Canada as well. The above discussion has more information and I encourage you to read through it carefully.

We just got notification from our mailing service in South Dakota that we would be required to provide proof of citizenship, documentation of social security number and several bills with our address on them to renew our drivers license next time. So South Dakota is falling in line with other states, complying with the Department of Homeland Security requirements. If you have a South Dakota drivers license, you should be aware of this new requirement and take steps to meet it before you go in to renew your drivers license. The official communication is from the South Dakota Driver Licensing Program Office.

That is why it is so important for those who are going full time and choosing a state to examine carefully all the aspects of moving to any given state. There are questions of the tax system, not just income tax, there is property tax and personal property tax, inheritance tax and laws, vehicle inspection and licensing laws and fees, registration fees, drivers license laws for large vehicles, etc, etc, etc... Full timers can find a state that is advantageous for them if they really look. It can help stretch your retirement income and make your life easier.

Time flies when you're having fun! Louise and I retired just over ten years ago and haven't looked back since. We've enjoyed several trips across the Atlantic and almost nine years of full time motorhomeing around the US and Canada. We've gone from zero grandchildren to six. We are celebrating a rich full decade and looking forward to the next ten being better yet. We wish everyone a very happy fulfilling new year!

Steve, You should not be concerned about carbon monoxide if you are using electric only. Carbon monoxide is produced by incomplete combustion and using the electric you are not burning anything (except your hard earned dollars). Tom

When you press the button you are opening a valve that pressurizes the parking brake system so that the brakes are held open against the spring pressure that closes them if air pressure is lost. When you pull up on the button, you are locking out the air pressure system from the parking brake system and venting the pressure in the parking brake thus engaging the system by letting the springs set the brakes. If your pressure isn't up to minimum working pressure (90 pounds in our rig) when you lift the button then the parking brake won't be released and the valve will vent again. Once minimum working pressure is reached you should have no problem. Now, here is the important part... If you don't have minimum working pressure and you were able to release the parking brake, your service brakes likely don't have enough pressure to work effectively. That would be a bad place to be with no parking brake and no service brakes. So this is a safety feature. If you are sure the pressure level is at a working level and you still find the parking brake won't release when the button is depressed then you should have the valve checked. Valves do sometimes fail and if so this one should be replaced ASAP.

Steve, I'd drain the fresh water tank and the lines in the coach if you are storing it in a cold climate. That would be the fail safe if something goes wrong and the heater quits working. There should be instructions for draining the lines in the coach in your owners manual. If you would rather, you could treat the system with an antifreeze made specifically for RV water systems. Of course you could always have this done by a RV service center or your dealer. A second concern I have deals with the exhaust from the Aqua Hot in an enclosed space. While the open burning of the Aqua Hot will not produce the amount of carbon monoxide an internal combustion engine does, carbon monoxide is caused by incomplete burning and almost all burning produces some carbon monoxide. In addition, an elevated level of carbon dioxide and depleted oxygen level could cause other problems. If your garage is not ventilated or you do not have an exhaust outlet to the outside, I would suggest that you carefully check the owners manual for the Aqua Hot for information about usage of the diesel fuel capability in an enclosed space.

Gary, I missed your post. Brett has the solution. I can add that we did this for several years before giving up on it. We carried four 2 x 6 boards which we staggered so that the tires were going up 1.5" in steps to gain 3." For those who don't know, a 2 x 6 is actually 1.5" x 5.5." We would put two boards under each ramp and extending out far enough so nothing drags. We did not find it necessary to fasten the boards to the tow dolly, only to be sure everything was well lined up so we didn't run off the boards as we were pulling up onto the ramps. I'm glad I no longer have to drag around those dirty boards!

drifters2, You haven't said how long you plan to take for this trip. The distances are very great across the west. You will put on plenty of miles and it will take quite a while to drive all this distance. When it comes to travel through the west, you are going to see some mountains. The best roads will be the interstate highways. The interstates, however, don't offer the scenery or the shorter routes. From White Sands I would take I-25 N and then I-40 W to Gallup. Then take US 491 N through SW Colorado to US 191 to Arches. Near Arches we stayed at Portal RV Park in Moab and found it to be a fine full service campground. I would take a route through Utah that goes to Arches (might as well see Canyonlands while there). Next I would head for Capital Reef via US 191, US 95 and US 24 through Glen Canyon. This is a beautiful scenic route, better than the Interstate raceway. The road from Capital Reef to Bryce is Spectacular but will take you over a high mountain pass, across a knife edge ridge with a tremendous view and then into Bryce Canyon. We stayed near Bryce Canyon but not in the park. I believe that Bauers Canyon Ranch was near Glendale on US 89. From there we could take the toad to explore Bryce and Zion Canyons. The road to Zion via Hwy 9 has a tunnel that I would not advise taking in a large motor home. It is possible though they have to close the tunnel to traffic from the opposite direction and you have to drive the middle of the tunnel to do so. Take the toad through once before you decide to try the motor home. The other route via Cedar Breaks is high elevation, I haven't traveled that route. Again, explore with the toad as that route could get you to I-15 for your trip north to Salt Lake City. Otherwise, Hwy 89 offers a route north to I-70 which will get you to I-15. At this point you are closer to Las Vegas than Salt Lake City. You could save that for the return trip or for a later stop. Coming into Salt Lake City from the east you have a long steep downgrade as it lies at the base of the Wasatch Mountains. This is from our experience in the area several years ago. You may find locals who have better suggestions but this worked for us. At each campground where you stay you can consult with locals about the nature of your intended route and get their suggestions. Regarding mountain travel, take your time, don't let the coach accelerate on the down slope. If you are driving a diesel, use the engine brake. Keep the speed in check and you'll be fine. As you get some experience you will become more at ease with mountain travel.

With ten days available you aren't going to escape the cold weather without driving most of the days so how about a skiing vacation in the northeast? If you don't know how to ski, take the boys and you can all learn together. Vermont, New Hampshire, upstate NY all have ski resorts. You may or may not be able to find one with an RV Park that is open this time of year. You could also do some winter hiking. Find some interesting short trails. I don't know any boys who would pass up the chance to plow through snow on a hike for a few hours. If the weather is good, the outer banks of NC might be fun. There are RV parks there that are open year round. You could do the beach thing there though not as good as Florida. You might be able to play some golf and get the boys started with golf or tennis. Kitty Hawk is pretty adult but the boys could see where the Wright Brothers took their first flight. South Carolina also has summer beach resorts that are begging for tourists during the winter. Going west to Hershey, PA might be fun for the boys. The amusement park is likely closed but I think there are still winter activities there. Baltimore has a great aquarium. I've found our children love zoos and aquariums. Washington, DC is a little too adult for your seven year old but you might find something at the Smithsonian that would entertain them. Do a science museum tour, Philadelphia has the Franklin Institute, lots of hands on stuff there. Check out the science museum in Baltimore. Most large cities have science museums. Many are very hands on oriented. Look into children's museums also. We love the one in Indianapolis, great dinosaur stuff, lots of things for the kids to manipulate, do, dress up, etc. The Boston Science Museum has a fantastic static electric show and is a very fine museum. If I think of more, I'll add them later.

Since Disney Wilderness Resort is in Florida, I would guess you are somewhere in the eastern or southeastern US. Given the age of your boys, you might enjoy a few days at Sea World in Orlando. We took our daughter there many years ago. Lately she took our 8 year old grandson and 4 year old granddaughter and they really enjoyed the visit. If they are interested in space travel, the Kennedy Space Center might be fun for them. With luck you might even get to see a launch. Just hanging out along the coast, picking up shells on the beach and/or fishing could be fun. I'm sure that others from the southeast will have further suggestions. If I'm wrong about where you live, let us know and we'll have some other suggestions.

Thanks guys, I've added your resources and suggestions to my list of places to see. We are hoping to do some exploring in Colorado this summer. Washington and Oregon will have to wait for another year though we love what we have seen there in the past. We'll be back for more fun in the near future. I re-read my post since it was several months old. I can't decide if asking for "good roads for 4 wheeling" is an oxymoron! Anyway, thanks for bringing this discussion alive.

Dan, Have you towed a car behind your motor home before? I ask this question because it is tough duty for a car in my opinion. There may be slightly less debris stirred up by a motor home than by a tractor trailer truck. If you've ever been traveling at close distance behind a tractor trailer truck you get a sense of what your toad is experiencing with its nose pinned to the rear of your motor home. I would hesitate to put an expensive car behind a coach.