tbutler

Many people use a mailing service such as The UPS Store. Here's what you get: 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 apply There 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

It's a wonderful life on the road, traveling in a motor home. The more she rolls the better it gets. Enjoy.

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.

We visited the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, MO this week. The memorial was built immediately following the World War. It was known as The World War at the time because there wasn't a second one and everyone hoped there would never be another one. Of course today we know that wasn't the case. There has been a second world war and a succession of other wars of smaller scale, revolutions, regional wars, proxy wars between world powers, a never ending sequence of violence between countries continues today. We are now in the 100 year anniversary of many of the final events of World War I. With that much time to reflect on the events that led up to the war and all the subsequent events, a clear analysis can be done. The memorial built in 1921 has been completely reworked to be more than a memorial, it is now a first class museum. While the war seems quite distant, Louise and I found the events and lessons of the war to be very relevant to current events. The introductory film explores the events and causes leading up to the war. The museum documents every aspect of the war from the battle conditions in various battlegrounds, the countries involved, the weapons used, the heroic acts and the human suffering of those involved in the war and those caught in the middle of the war. At the present time, there is a traveling exhibit that includes among other things, the actual declaration of war signed by Woodrow Wilson. To read the words and realize the tremendous commitment putting the signature on that document would take is quite sobering. If you are in the Kansas City, MO area this summer, stop by to visit this outstanding national museum.

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.

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.

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.

So I've been reading through this entire post. Just a couple of points. You don't have to just cool the air in the coach. The entire coach is at 100+ degrees when the temperature inside is over 100. That means the furniture, the floor, the walls, especially the ceiling and any cargo you have on board is also at 100+ degrees. Heat comes in through the basement as well as from the engine compartment. This is why you run the air conditioners before the coach gets hot. It is easier to evacuate the heat as it accumulates than to try to cool every component of the coach once is hot. One of the biggest heat inputs comes through the windows, that huge windshield is not double pane and is a great heat collector. 1. Park the coach facing north if at all possible. Anything you can do to keep the sun from shining into the windshield will help. In cold weather, park facing south! 2. I would never own a coach without some kind of sun screen for the front windshield. In fact, when I purchased my coach, I also purchased sun screens for every window on the entire coach. The less electricity I have; the less shade I have; the hotter the temperature; the faster I put up the sun screens. Newer coaches have the dark shaded windows, they will help reduce the solar heating of the coach. 3. Use any awnings you have to shade the side windows. All windows are good heat collectors, even double pane windows. If you don't have awnings, they would be a very cost effective upgrade compared to adding an additional air conditioner. With awnings, the sunlight shining through the windows should be significantly reduced. They are even more effective than sun screens. If you have a 50A coach, a second air conditioner could be a good addition. You would at least be able to run two air conditioners when plugged into shore power. With the generator, perhaps only one. We can run both our air conditioners with 30A - but that is about all we can run. 50A gives us the ability to run both air conditioners and much more.

I purchased a Flojet macerator many years ago. It wasn't the portable model, ours is installed in the sewer compartment. I can hook up a 3" hose to the tank outlet and it goes through the macerator. I don't use this routinely but it is very handy when a close sewer outlet is not available. At my mother's home, the clean-out mentioned in one of the posts above was about 70 feet from the motor home. It was easier than driving 10 miles to the nearest dump station. Lately we've been staying at our daughter's home in California. Their clean-out is about 50 feet away. We use it for our long term stays at their home. I don't know how far I would have to go to find a dump station from their location. It does take longer to empty the tanks than a 3 inch hose. If it is taking a half hour to dump, it is probably because the impellers are worn. The impellers push the chewed up waste through the hose. They are made of rubber and will wear out. When it starts to take longer than usual it is time to replace the impellers. Flojet pumps are used in marine applications, I used to purchase the rebuild kits at West Marine. I just checked and they carry Flojet fresh water pumps but not the macerators. But with further checking, they do carry Jabsco macerators. Flotjet is a Jabsco product. So you may be able to get them there. PPL Motorhomes also sells Flojet, they may have rebuild kits. I wouldn't want this as the only means to dump tanks but it is a handy alternate method and I wouldn't be without it. Oh, and the other reason is that you are going to have a hard time getting a 3" hose to work uphill! It seems to be a health regulation in the northeast US, that all sewer connections must be at least 6 inches above ground.

We are in rally mode. We do this every two or three years. It is a fun thing to watch the coaches gather, a small city literally pops up almost overnight. Thousands of people bring their houses, whether full timers or just camping for the week, they have almost all the comforts of home. And, at the end of the week we will all scatter to the four points of the compass and the city will just disappear - poof! Our rally attendance began last week. We were one of the last arrivals at the Monaco International Pre-Rally in Celina, Ohio. Monaco International is a chapter of FMCA, in this case the chapter is open to owners of all the Monaco family of coaches, including Safari, Holiday Rambler and Beaver. We like their pre-rally before an FMCA Convention and this one lived up to our expectations. We arrived Wednesday, July 5, in time for the 4th of July Picnic. Many gathered earlier in the week just for the chance to sit around and visit informally before the actual rally began on the 5th. By the time we arrived, most of the coaches were already parked. There had been significant rain so they were being quite selective with the parking. Even so we were directed to drive across a field up to a road on the far side. As I did so, I could feel the coach lugging in the soft ground. I kept a steady foot on the accelerator and managed to pull up to the road. More rain was forecast so after seeing some of the coaches that had arrived earlier, now with wheels sunken well into soft soil, I went in search of lumber to place under my rear wheels. At Menard's I purchased two 3/4 inch plywood pieces 2 feet by 4 feet. I also purchased four 2x12's four feet long, one for each tire. The 2x12's supported the tires while the 3/4 inch plywood under the 2x12's kept them from sinking into the ground individually. I now had a 2 foot by 4 foot pad to put under each rear dual. At this point let me point out our coach has air leveling only, we have no jacks which could be used to raise the rear of the coach. So I pulled forward far enough to put the pads behind the wheels and backed onto the pads. It worked, I was solid, for the moment. The front wheels sunk in some but being near the road, the soil was more solid there. I could move them if I had a solid surface for the drive wheels. By the end of the rally on Sunday, the whole assembly on the left rear had sunk into the ground about 3 inches. Still, the tires were now on a solid surface. It rained several times more during the rally, such that there were large puddles in the street which weren't gone by Sunday, our planned departure date. Saturday afternoon as festivities were winding down, I made a run to Menard's and picked up two pieces of 3/4 inch plywood, 2 feet by 8 feet and four 2x12's six feet long. This would give me additional support as I pulled off the pads I was parked on. I was certain enough that the wheels would just sink into the now saturated soil when I tried to pull out if I didn't have some support under them. Part of the convincing came from watching other coaches being pulled out by wreckers. Louise described our departure from our parking spot as the Egyptian method, kind of like moving stones for the pyramids. Place a set of boards in front of the tires, pull onto them, move the set that were under the wheels ahead, pull onto them, move the boards again. By then we were close enough to the road to put the short 2x12's in front of the tires and the plywood in front of that. I accelerated firmly until the tires were near the end of the plywood and then eased off to let the rear tires "coast" across the last of the soft soil. The left rear was running on mud and the tires pushed mud up eight inches between them. The resulting mud sculpture was impressive. We were out without damage, delay or expense. Yes, I could have used my road service for this but if I can keep the wrecker away from my rig I'm happy. We left Celina Sunday afternoon and drove to Anderson, Indiana. We spent the night at a very nice RV park, Timberline RV Resort. There we purged our waste tanks and recharged the fresh water tank in preparation for our stay at the FMCA Crossroads to Fun, Indy-2017. We arrived at the north campground shortly before noon Monday. There was a line of coaches waiting to be parked. We waited patiently and then impatiently for more than 30 minutes before finally reaching our assigned space. The north campground is pretty far from the activities of the convention but we have bicycles and they run a shuttle so we are happy to be here. More importantly, we are in a real campground with 50A power (which we paid for), water and sewer at our site (which was a pleasant surprise). We have learned never to expect this but sometimes we just get lucky. Louise was ecstatic. She can tolerate dry camping for a short period of time, we had just completed 5 days living on our tanks. She much prefers to have all the nice features of our coach working fully. I am certainly happy. It is Tuesday, the convention starts tomorrow. We woke up to thunderstorms this morning. It continues to rain this afternoon. Almost 3:00 p.m. now, we are under flash flood warnings until noon tomorrow and it continues to rain off and on with the occasional lightening and thunder. We are not in an area subject to flash flooding but if we travel we know there are already roads closed in the area due to flooding. We are parked on a solid surface, gravel is below the grass growing in this area. No worries about tires sinking into a soggy grass surface. So this year, we won the lottery. Now if we can get the storms to move on we'll let the fun begin. I certainly don't know for sure but I think FMCA may have scheduled us to be in the campground on Monday because the full hookups makes it easy for us to be on-site for a week. I assume then that those without hookups are being parked this afternoon or tomorrow morning. It would be a tough day to arrive and set-up. My heart goes out to those who are faced with this challenge and to the parking crew that is out in this weather getting everyone safely situated for the convention.

I love the term remodel. Like new carpet and maybe a different color paint. What is actually proposed is a restructuring of the organization. Like tearing out walls and moving doors and windows around. The comparison to AARP says it all. We will no longer belong to the Family Motor Coach Association it will just be FMCA. What will FMCA stand for? Fix My Car Albert - or something like that. After the Board meets here in Indianapolis, if the change is approved, it will be voted on by the membership. Nothing is a done deal until the membership approves it. It will be difficult to make our voices heard given that the organization controls the major means of communication. Press the organization to allow an equal voice to the opposition and then tailor the message carefully to reach all of our members.

What you are looking for is SPOT. This is a communication device that is used by adventurists, hikers in remote areas, pilots, off-roaders, long distance bicycle riders, mountain climbers, remote RV'ers, etc. It is a satellite communication device. The communication is limited, you can send a pre-arranged message that has your GPS coordinates. You create the message and where you want it to be sent. Your location can also be tracked by those who you give your code to so that your children, for instance, could check to see where you were if they hadn't heard from you in an unusually long time. Costs are quite reasonable. According to the web site, the equipment is currently on sale 50% off ($75 + tax). It is, like On-Star, a subscription service ($199 per year) but the rates are way less than a satellite phone. Use as many times as you need, no per call or per message charges. Please don't press the emergency button unless your life is in danger. You may incur charges from the rescuing agency if they send helicopter or search crew! You can also purchase an insurance policy to cover any emergency rescue charges. Another possible solution does exist. I have heard but haven't tried, calling 911 even if your phone indicates no service. I have been told that if there is service from any provider it will pick up and connect a 911 call. If anyone can confirm this - having used this - this would be welcome information for all of us.

Well, we still need more information. The status of your tanks should be factored in. How many gallons of fuel, propane, fresh water, gray water and black water were in the coach at the time of weighing? If you don't have exact amounts, you should give us your best estimate of those values. That way we can calculate a fully loaded coach. If everything was completely full, then there is no need to do further calculations on tanks. Likewise, if there are other loads that you occasionally carry they should be factored in. For example, we annually rescue about 10 to 15 cases of wine from California. When we are loaded with wine (we, being the coach), the weight of a case of wine at 50 lbs per case needs to be factored in, that is an additional 500 to 750 pounds we normally don't carry. If distributed evenly, it would only be 125 to 200 pounds per corner of the coach but since it is unlikely that we are going to put 5-8 cases in the center of the front axle and another 5-8 cases in the center of the rear axle location I allow 200 to 300 pounds additional weight per corner while doing my best to evenly distribute the load in the coach. The chart gives good tire information but it isn't what is needed to find inflation values. We need to see the load/inflation chart for your tires. That chart gives a full range of weights that the tire is capable of carrying and it lists a pressure for each weight range. For instance, for my tires, the single tire carrying a weight of 6810 pounds should have an inflation of 105 PSI. Factor in 10%, it gives 115 PSI. The next weight category is 7070 and it should have an inflation of 110, add 10%, it would be 120 which is the max inflation for my rims and tires.

It would be nice if you provided a link to the product that you are describing. You can find Guardian Plates by searching but it doesn't come up as the first choice. I had never heard of these. I constructed my own and installed just a few weeks ago. Thanks for the post with the information.

I believe that your main concern is the area east of Seattle on the return trip. October 15 is really early for snow concerns along most of the rest of your route. You probably know the area around Seattle better than I. Snoqualmie Pass on I-90 is one area that I'm aware of that can be a problem. The key to travel in winter conditions is to consider your route to be tentative at all times and to be patient. Watch weather shows each morning, watch the sky ahead as you travel and if anything gives you concern check weather conditions frequently. If it looks like storms on your route may be a problem you can either stop at a convenient location, a campground along the route, Walmart, or a rest area. You have the ideal vehicle for waiting out a storm. Your room is with you, you have groceries on board and you can keep warm. In a campground you have power, water and electric. At Walmart you have groceries and other supplies. In a rest area you have security and are safely off the road. You can plan your trip in detail before leaving but there is no reason that you have to follow that exact trip. Here in the US we have without a doubt the most robust road system in the world. You have so many routes available, you can literally choose from hundreds of ways to get from Seattle to Philadelphia. Use that rich resource to your advantage. Taking an alternate route may cost a little more or much more in fuel expenses and time but if you focus on the trip, not the destination you can be quite happy taking a detour around bad weather. We've done this on-the-fly many times. With today's technology, you can watch storms live on your phone, tablet or computer as well as using TV programs. By the way, while you are just concerned with getting there and back, I always look a trip as a chance to explore new territory. Even if just driving through, taking a different route gives you a chance to see different towns, perhaps different states and perhaps different terrain. See the northern Great Plains on the way east, take a southern route through the central Great Plains or the Gulf Coast for warmer weather on the return trip. We try our best to never take the same route out and back. Why waste the chance to see something different. We do the same when traveling to or from familiar destinations. Enjoy your trip.

While our coach is a totally different line, it is a Monaco product. The cabinet for our TV had screws in the bottom which held the anchoring structure in place. I would look at the underside of the counter-top on the cabinet below the TV. Also, look around the frame, particularly on the right side. That panel may be removable. Any screws are likely to be hidden with covers of some kind. If all examination fails to show a way to get into the cabinet I would call Monaco support and talk to a technical representative there. Have your coach number ready when you call, it is the last six digits of your coach serial number, not the VIN. Look for it in the technical specs on wall behind the drivers seat. The contact number for Monaco is listed in your owners manual, 877-466-6226.

Just a quick note, disregard if you are experienced at border crossing into Canada and back to the US. You will have to go through Customs at each border crossing. There are rules about what you can take with you from one country to the other. Alcohol, tobacco and firearms are almost standard questions going into Canada. You also have to clear US customs on the return to the US. Be prepared, US Customs and Border Protection and Canada Border Services Agency web sites have the needed information. You will need US passports for each person on board to cross each time.

CA 17 runs across every stream entering Lake Superior in that area. Great scenery but as Ian said, it is hilly and slow. If you are looking for scenery, there are some great stops, waterfalls, petroglyphs, Provincial Parks, etc. At Sault Sainte Marie you can quickly cross into the US to refuel and restock with groceries, etc. We also enjoyed touring around the Sault Sainte Marie area, the locks and the lake freighter tour on the US side are interesting. There is also a train route on the Canadian side, up north, a day trip up and back to an area with waterfalls. It gives you a nice look at the remote countryside. There is much to see if you have the time. The Sudbury area is the heart of nickel mining and a stop at the Big Nickel, a mining and refining museum is very interesting. East of Toronto, we love the London, Cambridge, Stratford (on the Avon River), on down to the southern tip of Canada at Point Pelee National Park. From Windsor, you can re-enter the US by driving north into Detroit!

We make similar trips to desertdeals69! Coming out of the Coburg, Oregon area we like Hwy 20 east to CA 78 to US 95 south. Those are some little traveled but decent 2 lane roads. US 95 south through Nevada to Las Vegas is pretty good road and again, not too heavily traveled until you get into Las Vegas proper. Las Vegas traffic is nothing like Los Angeles. There are passing lanes on long grades, nothing steep, no high mountains, you are running in the basin and range on the east side of the Sierra Nevada and the road follows the low ground most of the time. Take US 93 out of Las Vegas, cross the spectacular new bridge at Hoover Dam, on to Kingman where you can pick up I-40 east to Flagstaff. From Seattle to Portland, I-5 is really heavy traffic. In southern Oregon you will encounter several passes with curves in the stretch from Wolf Creek to Medford, OR. Depending on the season, weather can be a problem in this area. We do everything we can to avoid the Los Angeles area. We made the run up I-5 from San Diego to Sacramento early in our travels and pretty much decided to avoid it if at all possible. The traffic in certain locations can be quite heavy. When we are coming from central California heading for Oregon, we are on I-5 from Sacramento on north and it isn't too bad.

OK, if one leg exceeds 50A, you will trip the breaker, cutting off both lines. But up to 50A per line, you are good. I'm certain there are coaches that might exceed 50A per line but our coach would never make it unless I start plugging in electric heaters. I do sometimes push a 30A breaker to 28 or 29 amps and if the breaker is good and the line is good, it is no problem. In fact recently I was on a 30A line using 18A when the second air conditioner kicked on. I happened to be looking at the amperage at the time. For about 3 seconds we were pulling 34A and the breaker didn't trip. John is correct, the wiring must be adequate to supply 110/120 V per line at 50A. Older parks with inadequate wiring will limit the usable amperage you can draw. I am puzzled as to what exactly these statements mean, " 100 amp is coming not to far out power cord for that will be like a fire hose" and "and ther fear their ugly head when the temperature goes up and air conditioning load is up" I always try to re-read what I've typed before sending and correct mistakes if there are any. Just a friendly suggestion.

You need to move to a new neighborhood! Stay in an RV park instead of an RV resort. Stopping in a few smaller parks will make you feel much better about what you have. We travel all over the country staying in all kinds of parks. We are frequently the "fanciest" rig in the park! If you enjoy traveling and using your motor home you'll soon stop worrying about how big and fancy some of the other rigs are. No matter what you have there will always be someone who has a bigger, fancier, newer rig than yours - unless you are incredibly wealthy. Our coach will be 14 years old this November. It has 163,000 miles on it and has given us an incredible number of grand adventures. There a many coaches with fancier features, larger engines and other things we don't have. We love our coach. Funny story. We were on a cruise around FIji, the Society Islands, the Marquesas and the Tuamotu Islands. Pulling into one port there was a large industrial looking ship at anchor in the bay. Taking a boat tour of the island we were informed that the large black ship anchored there belonged to a wealthy individual who had purchased it, an older icebreaker, and had the interior completely re-done. It was a luxury yacht in industrial clothes! You can't judge a book, a boat or an RV by it's cover!