tbutler

Brett, Some good points here. I would consider using a different chemical than chlorine. I know this is the standard for public water systems but I haven't used chlorine in years. Chlorine is so corrosive, it chemically attacks seals and other components. I worry about what chlorine is doing to the plumbing in the motor home. Besides valves and seals, the faucets and drain hardware will be attacked by chlorine. I used to add a small amount of chlorine to any stored water but my hoses were breaking down at a high rate. Since stopping this practice, I have had many fewer hose failures. Now I concentrate on keeping the water fresh. My hoses are kept fresh by connecting ends rather than sterilizing them constantly. I use flat hoses and those are thoroughly drained and dried before storing. In addition with each use I give them a good flush with fresh water before making the connection to the motor home. I am also choosy about the water that I store. If possible I'll use the water for several days in a campground before filling the fresh water tank. If it is exceedingly hard or has any questionable characteristics, I'll not fill with that water and wait for another source if possible. Of course if boon-docking regularly we sometimes don't have a choice but then that water won't be stored for long. If water has been stored for a longer time than desired, I'll simply drain it and rinse rather than running it through the system. I always keep some water in the storage tank for emergencies so after draining I'll refill to at least half full with fresh water. Being full time it usually isn't a problem keeping the fresh water tank in good condition. It is a different game for those who use their coaches only occasionally. Finally, we have adopted the practice of purchasing filtered water in bulk for drinking purposes. I don't believe it is possible to maintain a 100% sanitary drinking water source in an RV water system given all the variables in where we get water from. It only takes one bad water source to contaminate the whole system. That combined with the fact that the fresh water is invariably found adjacent to the sewer connection both in the RV and in most campgrounds raises the likelihood of some kind of contamination for even the most conscientious person.

Steve and Lynette, Thanks for the great post! Duluth! We were just telling another couple about our visit to Duluth last summer. We stayed at the marina and loved watching the Great Lakes ships coming and going under the high bridge! Really had a fantastic time and recommend a stop there to everyone. I know what you mean about being in one place too long. We have occasionally packed up and taken a short trip during the winter and then returned to our winter home. We love our winter park and all the great people there. One year we spent two weeks at Big Bend National Park in late March. The desert plants were all in bloom and the weather was perfect for hiking. We did some 4 wheeling on some of the remote roads and just generally enjoyed the park. It was a refreshing break from the routine golf, bike rides, tennis, bowling, swimming, water volleyball and other activities at our home park. Besides the wonderful people and great activities, the advantage of staying at one winter location is that we have an annual lease on our lot. We can just show up and know our space is there for us. We have made improvements which can be sold to someone else if/when we decide to go somewhere else for the winter. The rates in south Texas are quite reasonable. If we stay five months, we are paying about $15 per night plus the electric used, about another $3 per night. Not bad for a first class facility. This coming year we will break up the winter stay with a cruise in March. We also do some weekend trips with friends. I fly small airplanes and we flew friends to Port Aransas, TX for a weekend. We are thinking our next trip to Alaska will be via the ferry on the inside passage, making stops at landings along the way for extended visits. Newfoundland is on our radar this summer. We're not sure if we'll take the coach or just the toad. There is a presentation at the FMCA convention in Bowling Green on Newfoundland. It is on my list of must see things. Not having to make definite plans is part of the joy of full timing.

AnnHester, I was reading the post, http://community.fmca.com/index.php?showtopic=244 Driver Licensing - SC and Other States when it occurred to me that you might have to consider the regulations in your home state for your drivers license if you are using your motor home in support of your business and deducting motor home expenses related to your business. If you read my post there, the response from the South Dakota drivers license bureau indicates that a commercial drivers license is not required if the motor home is used for recreational purposes only. That is South Dakota, what about your state? If their laws are similar, then you might need to get a commercial drivers license to stay on the right side of the law.

Ann, The short answer is yes, you can deduct some of your expenses while traveling in the motor home on business. The long answer will have to come from a tax attorney or a tax accountant who can sit down with you to discuss your specific situation. Things like the amount of time spent working vs. vacationing or sightseeing and visiting friends and relatives, etc. as well as whether you have a permanent home may affect how the law applies. There are IRS publications that you can use for initial guidance if you don't mind slogging through the legalese. Check the IRS website to download the latest of these. Of course those will currently be last years laws and regulations (Tax Year 2008). You will have to check again at filing time to get the latest word.

When we went full time we had some ideas of how we might plan our travels. It is apparent reading the posts and blogs that each of us has different ways of approaching the question of where shall we go? Jump in and share your thoughts and practices. One of our basic tenants is common to many full timers. We will go south in winter! However, when we began talking about going full time, I envisioned spending the winter moving from place to place across the southern US. Instead, our practice for the entire eight years of our full timing has been to return to the same RV park in southern Texas. It happened by chance that we were in Texas our first trip out in the motor home. First, I signed up for a course in flying unusual attitudes. This was near Tomball, Texas at DW Hooks Airport north of Houston. While staying at the RV park in Tomball the owners mentioned the Rio Grande Valley as a wonderful place to spend the winter. The second piece that brought us to south Texas was an offer from some friends to meet us in San Antonio. They used to live in San Antonio, really loved the area and offered to show us around. We stayed for the month of December in San Antonio. By the end of the month, the temperatures were regularly near freezing at night. On New Years Day 2002 we had to either renew for additional time at the park near San Antonio or go further south. We elected to go further south. As we drove, the temperatures got warmer, the plants were green and then there were the palm trees! We checked in at one of the 100 or so RV parks in the Rio Grande Valley. We decided to stay for a week. Before the day was out, we signed up for two weeks and then for two months. We've been back to that same park every year since. Spring and fall travels have been our time to visit family. We also take care of our doctor and dentist visits since those have to be done in the St. Louis area where our employment health insurance is based. We have family scattered across the country. One of Louise's daughters and her family live in California, another of Louise's daughters and her mother in Colorado. My mother is in the St. Louis area. My son and daughter and their families live there as well. We try to see them all whenever we can. The trips to Colorado and California are usually planned around our summer plans. The year we went to Alaska we stopped in California for a month before heading north. This spring we spent a month in Colorado before heading east to St. Louis and on to the Maritime Provinces of Canada. We'll make a swing through California this fall. Our travels in summer are typically focused on natural wonders. We explored the deserts and National Parks of California our first summer out. We followed Lewis and Clark up the Missouri River in 2004 taking side trips to Glacier, Yellowstone and Mt. St. Helens. We've spent a summer in Alaska and climbed volcanoes, walked on glaciers and traveled to the Arctic Ocean. We're always interested in nature, we hike and climb in remote and seldom visited locations. We have been to all 49 of the continental states and through most of Canada. Our summers are never stationary. We are always touring through the late spring, summer and early fall. Others have different habits of travel. Share your preferences with us. Those who are considering or new to full timing might find some interesting ideas among our experiences.

Jose and Karen, If you are using a PC, you may be able to use Microsoft Office Picture Manager. Right click on your photo and go to open with... See if MS Office Picture Manager is one of the options. If it is and you open the photo with that software, you will see at the top an edit function. One of the options under Edit is Compress Images. You can experiment with this function, it will reduce the memory required but won't crop the photo. When you compress the image the memory size is shown so you can if the image will work on the web site. You can crop and do other things with other editing functions.

Out of Foristell, Missouri, headed to London, Kentucky, we had fine weather, plenty warm, and lots of clouds. Traffic moved well, lots of road repair. Looking for Wayne77590 but no connection. He left Kentucky heading up I-64 for Missouri. We had corresponded via messages on FMCA Community but just couldn't make a meeting work for us. Our departure was delayed by an awning repair. We got away from the repair shop about 2:00 p.m. It turns out Wayne was pulling into an RV park in Villa Ridge, Missouri, about the same time. We were through the St. Louis metropolitan area by 3:00 p.m., so the rush hour was not a factor. The Illinois speed limit for motorhomes and vehicles towing trailers is 55 miles per hour, which is a very relaxing pace. We ride the slow lane and let the four-wheel zippers roll by. As the day gets later, we debate about a stopping place for the night. Our trip to London, KY, is a distance of 450 miles, so the late start and slower speed limit make an overnight stop a necessity. We stopped at a rest area along I-64 in Indiana, but it is posted no overnight parking. We decide to stop before we go through Louisville, Kentucky, and the only possibility is the ever popular Wal-Mart. There is one in Corydon, about 30 miles west of Louisville, so that is our chosen stop. We arrive and find a parking place next to a trailer that has been dropped by a truck driver. This will be a quiet neighbor. I go into the store for a few items. A check at customer service confirms that we are welcome to spend the night on the outer lot where the trucks are parked. The next morning I am up early and cleaning off the windshield and nose of the motorhome. I want fresh bugs! Besides, they are easier to remove if they haven't been sun dried! It is a rare day when we don't start out with a clean windshield. Louise is up somewhat later. We set out for Louisville well after the morning rush. Out of Louisville we pick up I-75 south, which will take us to London. We were going to stop at a rest area for lunch but somehow missed it completely. There was a sign for tourist information at one exit; perhaps that was supposed to be the rest area. Louise served up lunch on the road. Some finger food to keep me from gnawing on the steering wheel. We arrive at Levi Jackson State Park in London, Kentucky, about 2:00 p.m.

Travis, I had Dish Network for years and had a dish that we set up at each site. It would take me some time to get it aligned until I got a device (Satellite Finder, Catalog Item # 14067, now on sale $32.22). It gives a needle movement and a tone to indicate presence of signal and signal strength. While this device is in the line to the TV, you can swing the dish around until you find a satellite. I attached a short length of TV Cable to the box so I could hook it to the dish and then hook up the feed to the coach to the other side. Once the satellite is located you remove it from the circuit and store it until the next time you set up. It doesn't tell you which satellite you have. On the TV in the coach, your companion can tell if you have the correct satellite and using the menu, can tell you signal strength for fine tuning. This worked great with Dish Network and I am sure it would work as well for Direct TV. I switched to Direct TV when our new motor home came with the Direct TV equipment all set up. Their receiver worked with the KVH dish we had so we just stayed with that. Now with the KVH, I just hit a button and it finds the satellite and we have TV! Can't be easier than that. One tip a camper shared with me early on is to look for another Dish (or Direct TV if you have their service) and see where it is pointing. You'll be within a few degrees and it shouldn't be hard to find from there.

Hello F389263, Welcome to the forum. I've been over US 2 from eastern ND to Glacier NP and found it to be a delightful highway. It is mostly two lane, don't get in a rush. There are small towns, points of interest along the way and great Great Plains scenery to be seen. Along US 2 they farm wheat in sections, not acres. You'll cross the Mighty Missouri and can visit the Corps of Engineers Dam on the Missouri at Fort Peck Reservoir. There used to be camping there, check to see if there still is. This would be a nice rest stop along the way. We found a nice ice cream shop (Bergie's Ice Cream) in a shop along the highway. Look for it, a refreshing stop. The highway is a major trucking highway along the northern border so there are plenty of diesel stations. I had our generator serviced along the way at a Cummins dealer on the ND/MT border. The pavement was in good shape in 2004, the last time we traveled this route. Enjoy!

Under the Miscellaneous:General Discussion in this forum, you will find several discussions dealing with foggy and/or discolored windows. I have posted several resources in those discussions. One in particular mentions taking out the old window glass, having new glass made to match the old window and then replacing the glass. This might be the least expensive option. Also, RV Salvage yards are an inexpensive source for complete replacement windows. I have posted a listing of salvage yards as well. You will find that under General Discussion:A Great Source for Motor Home Information

I want to second Brett's comments. You may not be looking for legal advice but that is exactly what you need. You should consult an attorney who specializes in this area of law in your current home state and/or in your new state of residence. I wouldn't consult an attorney who is trying to sell you on an LLC. An attorney who is selling you something is in conflict of interest in advising you on the legality of the thing they are selling. You want to get the hard facts, not simply somebodies experience which may or may not be legal. Lots of people get away with things that aren't legal until something happens. Read the articles that tmoning posted above carefully. These people were going along happily until suddenly someone noticed that a number of RV'ers were using this method to avoid taxes and suddenly they were in trouble. In each case they clearly stated that they made a mistake and it wasn't worth the trouble they had. There is some good advice in those articles. Notice that each says they consulted an attorney. That is why I suggest you seek out an expert in the specific problem you are seeking an answer for.

Hello dbeck, Welcome to the forum. One thing you can try is to note the SAE number usually found stamped on the headlight lens near the bottom. Take this to an auto supply and see if they can match that up. This may be your cheapest replacement and should be original equipment. If this fails, tech support for Monaco is back up and answering the phones, 1-877-4Monaco (877-466-6226). They should be able to help you with a supplier for your headlights. As Bebop mentioned, your dealer is always a good resource. If you don't have a dealer, this would be a good opportunity to find a local dealer and establish a relationship with them. Having a dealer who knows you is invaluable when in a pinch.

Welcome to the forum Joe and Karen, I see from your profile that you have a National RV Tropical with Freightliner chassis and Caterpillar engine. While not specifically familiar with your coach model, I can guess that you have a large 75 - 100 gallon tank and would assume the problems with foaming of diesel fuel and feedback happens as the tank nears full. If that isn't the case, the fuel filler tube must have a sharp bend in it as Brent mentioned above. My tube is short and feeds directly into my tank. I only get feedback as the tank nears full. I solve this problem by tilting the coach away from the side I am filling on. With air suspension this is easily accomplished by raising the side used for filling while lowering the opposite side. This delays the feedback until the very last fuel into the tank. I never do this when fueling before parking as there needs to be some air space at the top of the tank for expansion due to temperature change of the fuel. If I am going to drive away from the station and go some distance then I'll pack in all the fuel that I can using this method. If you have jacks to raise your coach, tilting might be more of a problem. First, I would never use the jacks on asphalt without some boards or other support to keep them from damaging the surface. With three jacks, put the front (single jack) down first then raise the side where you will be filling. The jack arrangement is made to pivot on the front jack and tilting will not strain the chassis and will allow the fuel to flow into the tank until just the side near the fill tube is empty. If you have four jacks, the process must be done more carefully as the two jacks on the high side must be used in harmony, neither exerting more lift on the frame than the other. To do otherwise will put a twisting force on the frame. If you use the two jacks on the fill side and raise them carefully so that both are lifting the coach equally, you can tilt the coach and fill the tank near full. The foaming and feedback can be controlled by slowing the flow of fuel from the nozzle. This is more easily accomplished with the smaller nozzles common at diesel pumps for the general public. Using the diesel pumps for trucks at a truck stop gives you a larger nozzle and much higher fuel flow rate. Truck tanks typically have no tube into the tank. There is simply a hole at the top of the tank. This creates much less problems for truckers. For those of us with a filler tube, our solution is to slow the flow of fuel to reduce the feedback. When it does start to back up, best to stop rather than spill fuel. Even if you do have a sharp bend in the fill tube, tilting the motor home may help reduce the foaming and feedback as it would increase the slope of the angle of the tube where it enters the tank. This should allow the fuel to flow faster into the tank and reduce feedback. If this doesn't work, you may just have to slowly fill the tank and deal with the feedback as it occurs.

I agree with Brett. Our waste tank sensors haven't read accurately for the last three of the five years we have owned our motor home. Experience will tell you how long you can go without emptying the black water tank. It does fill amazingly slowly. Ours is a 40 gallon tank and the two of us working as hard as we can will take almost two weeks to fill the tank! I make a note on the calendar when I dump the tank and then plan to dump again in about 10 to 12 days. I always try to have the tank near or above 3/4 full before dumping. If possible I like to dump the black water tank just after a good day's driving. I have never used ice. I do carry several buckets (2 gallon) which I use for washing and cleaning the outside of the RV and toad. When I dump the black water tank, I'll pour several buckets of water directly down the toilet. This is much more effective than using a hose or sprayer. With the bucket I put 2 gallons down the toilet in about 5 seconds. This breaks up solids in the drop zone right under the toilet. We have a sprayer rinse built into our coach. Even after using it and getting a clear stream of water flowing from the black water tank, using the buckets will bring out dark water with some TP for several buckets. After the third or fourth, the water finally runs clear with the bucket dump. How, you ask, do I know this? I have a clear plastic piece between the tank outlet and the hose. I stay outside while Louise dumps buckets of water down the toilet. We keep dumping until the water runs clear. We never need to use more than three or four buckets of water. I can also get a sense of how much water is in the waste tanks by watching the sensor for the fresh water. That sensor does accurately register the level of water. As our use approaches 60 gallons, the capacity of our gray water tank, I know we are approaching a full gray water tank.

Thank you guys! Great information. I've bookmarked the fuel price sites and use MapQuest but hadn't picked up on the fuel prices on that site. The information comparing prices of the majors with other suppliers will be useful to many of our members. We all appreciate saving a little money on fuel!

Thanks Tireman9! I'm enjoying learning about tires from you! The high pressure warning was a temperature thing. We had been near Crater Lake in Oregon and were in Sacramento when the alarm went off. We had been at altitude in Oregon for some time and I do adjust pressure to keep it on target for this kind of change. Coming from the mountains and the cool temperatures into a near 100 degree day in Sacramento and then sitting in traffic with the sun shining on one side of the coach was I think the cause. At least the sun was the final factor as the tires on the shaded side of the coach were not affected. Their pressure was high but not high enough to set the alarm off. Even the inside dual on the sunny side was not affected, only the outside dual and the front tire on the coach. For Gary, I have been in the rear of the coach when Louise is driving and have never noticed any unusual vibration from unbalanced tires. It is also possible to sense the vibration of the rear tires in the drivers seat. The vibration of the drivers seat is primarily a result of the rear of the coach while the steering wheel action is a good indicator of the vibration of the steer tires. I'll balance the rear tires next time and see if I can tell the difference.

Welcome stearn, Go to the conventions tab at the top of this page. Select: Conventions:Bowling Green:Family Registration Down near the bottom of the registration form is the category passport. The rate shown is for two people. Passport is for admission to the ground without motor home parking. As you can see, you won't save much over the people who register for motor home parking without services. You might as well bring your motor home and stay on the grounds. It is really convenient to have a place to put up your feet between activities. There are so many great things to do and see. Tour the motor homes on display, visit vendors, take in the entertainment, take in some of the great variety of workshops or just get some free ice cream and visit with other FMCA members. Whatever you do, don't miss this convention! See you there!

Old Buck, Your situation illustrates the problem with having no particular state for a residence. Many people get by without a problem doing this but then if you get caught, you have a difficult time. Win or lose on this one, it is still going to cost you some money. When we went full time, we picked a state, got our drivers license, vehicle licenses, address and consulted an attorney to have our trust documents brought into agreement with that state. We vote in that state on a regular basis. When we have purchased new vehicles we pay excise tax on them in that state. All of these things would be considered by a court if there ever were a question about our state of residence. With things scattered among many states you can pick and choose which ever state has the greatest advantage for a particular need but the courts can rule the same way and it likely won't be in your favor. Establishing a clear state of residence is your best defense against this problem. You might have to pay some taxes but after all, taxes are the price of civilization.

One more thing to check. I had a friend relate this to me lately. His refrigerator had never worked well on gas and he tried a number of things. It wasn't until he had his LP regulator checked and found the pressure on the line to be low that he was able to solve his problem. If you have always had low gas pressure, the flame might look normal to you. Only if you have seen the gas flame when the refrigerator is working well would you be able to make a comparison. Also while talking about refrigerators, it might be good to check the Norcold web site: http://www.thetford.com/HOME/CUSTOMERSUPPO...64/Default.aspx if you have a Norcold refrigerator. They have been adding models with certain serial numbers to their recall list. Models on the recall list have a history of catching fire. Read the list and information carefully as some serial numbers given are on the cooling unit on the rear of the refrigerator.

Several years ago we began using WEB Odor Control Filters with a filter layer and an activated carbon layer. These come in a cut-to-size format complete with a plastic grid to provide backing for the filter to keep it from being drawn up into the air intake. I found these at Lowe's for about $10. You can use them in two ways. I started by cutting them the same size as the original filters. After they became dirty, I would reverse them as half of the filter is not over the air intake and doesn't pull as much air. Lately, I have begun cutting them to half the size of the original filter and using the original filter folded in half for the non-intake area. I can get three of these filters out of one package so the cost of each is about $3. The filters are much more effective than the foam filters that were original and the carbon layer is supposed to control odors. The original filters were always pulled up into the air intake and were thus not very effective. The plastic grid takes care of this problem. I can even use the scrap pieces to make an effective filter when I have collected enough of them. These filters are green in color which makes it easy to glance up at the filter and notice the dirt on the surface of the filter. I recently replaced the filter on the front air conditioner after just three weeks of near full time air conditioner use. During the summer and/or dusty conditions, watch your filters carefully. They can collect a lot of dirt fast. One factor to consider when making a change in filters is the air flow. These filters do not seem to reduce the air flow. A reduction of air flow could cause problems with the air conditioning unit freezing up.

There are wireless cameras on the market now and I would consider one of them with the possible complication of the greater distance between the normal car application and the length of your Class C. Many that I have seen are license plate installations, fitting onto the rear license plate bolts. I would plan to install your rear camera near the roof line of the rig if at all possible. This keeps it out of much of the dirt and spray you will have near pavement level with the Class C. A good rear view camera is essential in a vehicle this size. Even with a good rear camera, there is no substitute for having a team mate watching your back side when backing up. I have had several close calls when backing up without someone watching my rear end when backing up. Once a stick from a nearby tree punctured the fiberglass rear near the roof, out of sight of the camera. Another time a tree limb hooked under the slide out cover fabric and tore it several inches. It is impossible to see everything.

SeaJay, Lucky you aren't parking at Zales or some other regular jewelery store. Maybe you should try Lowe's or Home Depot, at least Willa would find something you could use! Louise would be happy if we parked at Baskin-Robbins! One thing just came to mind. I was watching the news and there are 5 states that are facing midnight deadlines on their budgets. Most rest areas I am familiar with are state run. In the past we have seen some that are closed for remodeling and sometimes just closed with no repair activity showing. I suspect highway rest areas are likely to be high on the budget cutting list and we may begin to see more of them closed. I don't know of any source that lists closed rest areas other than going to individual states department of transportation web sites. Does anyone have a source that lists those rest areas that or closed? I see that the Next Exit has an on-line version but do they keep up to date on closed rest areas?

jmaz62 and 2driftrs, Thanks for contributing to the discussion. Selling our house took much longer than we wanted. We had it on the market all summer. We moved out on July 7, 2001. By September we had cleaned it out entirely and ready for the next owner. The market took a hit and loans became more expensive after 9-11. We decided to let it ride until we got the price we wanted for it. In truth, if it hadn't sold like it did, we would have become anxious and perhaps negotiated the price down some. You know what your situations are and what you want from your house. I would encourage you to take your time as much as possible with the sale. Selling a house isn't something most people do often and it would be a shame to be caught in a tight market and take a low sale price in the hurry to get out of the house. One possible way to deal with this might be to do some work camping to allow you to get on the road and still maintain the house payments and necessary maintenance on the home. Many campgrounds and parks offer a free site for doing work in the campground. There are also income possibilities for mobile workers. The best source I know for these opportunities is: www.workamper.com I did this for a while but decided it took too much from my travel experience. Others have found employment that they enjoy and consider it an important part of their experience.

There is excellent advice and information above. I'll just add our own experience with rest stops and other stopping places. We have stayed at rest stops along the roads all over the US and a few in Canada. We have never been asked to leave. If an area is posted, we'll not push the issue unless we are desperate for a place to stay. Most rest areas are noisy and too close to the highway for peaceful sleep but we have an eye out for the good ones where you are away from traffic. Then if we can get an end spot next to a curb, we'll put out our slides. We like Wal-Mart if we can find one. We always ask and make a purchase - you always need something from Wal-Mart. On my way in to ask permission, I will round up stray carts near where we are parked and return them to a cart corral. Likewise, any cart I bring out will go back to a cart corral. We have stayed at Casino's, city parks, grocery stores, Lowe's, Home Depot, Linens and Things in a shopping center (there's a story- below) and on a bowling alley parking lot. We've stayed on the parking lot of closed shops and stores, once on the parking lot next to a closed factory. We usually do this when we are traveling long distance and we don't make a practice of stopping until shortly before dark so it isn't like we are staying for half a day. Likewise, we are out early in the morning, not lingering after business starts to pick up in the morning. We usually stop after driving for a while in the morning and have breakfast. On two occasions, we were able to park on museum parking lots before visiting the museum the next day. We had permission in both cases. In all cases, we try to park as far from the store entrance as we can. Think about your exit also. Try to park so that you can't be parked in and not be able to get away in the morning when you want to. We have air leveling so don't have to worry about jacks and can level without worrying about damaging the surface. A previous coach had jacks and if I wasn't careful, they would punch through asphalt. Can't be doing that on a parking lot! If we have a spot where there will be no traffic on the drivers side, we'll put out our slides. We have two slides on the drivers side of the coach. We use our generator as necessary but are careful to try to shut it down before we go to bed for the night. We even do this in truck stops. During the high fuel prices last summer, we noticed many of the truckers were shutting down at night. This was a welcome change. We have never had a problem with vandalism or with any threatening activity of any kind. We are very careful to keep the toad, bays and our door locked at all times. If possible we'll park under or near lights for added security. A recent article mentioned keeping the toad keys on your bed stand and using the alarm button if there is a problem. I consider this a good idea. One word of advice I haven't see above, if you are the vehicle driver don't imbibe in any adult beverages. You wouldn't want to explain to a HP officer that you couldn't drive because you had been drinking and were in no shape to drive. This could be cause for a long discussion and/or a signed note from officer friendly! You could try the line that you are just too tired to drive and wanted to get some sleep. It would be hard for an officer to insist on your driving under those circumstances. We have found excellent parking at rest stops along I-70 in Kansas where they have loops for the dump station and you can park along the loop without obstructing traffic. That keeps you away from the trucks and the loops are usually farther from the highway. There are large unpaved truck parking lots along I-80 in Wyoming. We were parked at one of these one evening and watched a herd of antelope gather together and move up into the hills nearby as we ate our dinner. I-80 in Utah has rest stops well off the highway about an hour west of Salt Lake City. You'll find favorites along your frequent routes of travel and develop an eye for other good spots. Our stop at Linens and Things was in New Jersey, just south of New York City. We were looking for a stopping spot. It was after dark and we were totally lost. We had encountered a RR bridge we just barely got under. We got turned around and back to the shopping center we had passed earlier. This time we pulled in. The emptiest part of the lot was next to Linens and Things. We had a good nights sleep which was ended at about 6:15 a.m. when the manager knocked on our door. He was very nice but asked us to move soon because we were parked where he instructed his employees to park. I told him we would do so. He asked where we were headed and I told him Connecticut. I explained that we were lost in the dark last night and couldn't find our way back to the highway. He gave me directions to get back to the highway and then added that we should be on the interstate ASAP because we wanted to be across the Tappanzee Bridge before 7:00 a.m. or it would take us several hours stuck in a traffic jam to get across. I thanked him and we got on the road in about 10 minutes. Breakfast was in Connecticut that morning!

We are still in Missouri which is unheard of since we began living full time in our motor home. The weather has made us wonder if we need our heads examined. We keep telling ourselves this is why we haven't done this before. We were going to be here later than usual this year and we have two grandchildren with June birthdays we haven't celebrated with them for a while so, why not make the best of it? Kaitlyn is six years old this year. For her birthday she chose to go to the Magic House (www.magichouse.org) in Webster Groves, Missouri. As a teacher I had been there many times before, even taken groups of students numerous times. The Magic House has grown since I was last there! They have a large parking lot and on a weekday it was packed. Inside the place was swarming with children. It was noisy with kids everywhere. Kaitlyn and her brother Ryan fell in with the crowd quickly. There were dress up costumes in story land and a beanstalk for the kids to get from floor to floor. They could navigate that faster than adults on the stairs. There were mysteries to be solved complete with revolving bookcases and hidden rooms. The kids could crawl through the duct work to find clues and then go through the fireplace into the next room. There were slides, puzzles, a shadow wall with a strobe light to record your movements on the wall. The kids and adults played with one thing after another. Both of them enjoyed the rooftop garden. With plastic vegetables in a mock garden, they could harvest their crop and then cook and eat in the kid size house. Kaitlyn did a thorough job of sweeping out and cleaning the house while Ryan re-planted the vegetable garden before we could leave this exhibit. This attraction rivals any I have seen for activities you can touch and do. Louise and I have a tradition of being swept out of places by the cleaning crew at closing time and this was no exception. The children were going to be sure they got their money's worth. Dinner at a local favorite Italian restaurant finished Kaitlyn's birthday celebration. Just over a week later, Ryan had his 9th birthday. Given his choice, Ryan will ask to go to the St. Louis Zoo. Perhaps it was the hot weather and some encouragement from Mom that led him to choose the City Museum (www.citymuseum.org). Located in downtown St. Louis, the City Museum is a unique collection of urban discards from factory machinery, stores, banks, buildings and other items. You can't possibly see everything there is to see here. The ceilings, walls and floor are covered in items from the city. There is an extensive climbing area outside the museum that goes up three stories to several airplane fuselages then on to other items like a crane, tree house, and much more. You can enter this corridor made mostly of tubes constructed of rebar from several points in the museum. Within the museum, every surface is covered with things to see and do. A two story slide is covered with conveyor rollers so as kids slide down they can hold their hands up and spin the rollers as they slide down to the first floor. Ryan immediately headed for the aquarium and we spent over an hour looking at all the animals. There were sharks and rays to touch. Docents brought around snakes and turtles for children to touch. Both Ryan and Kaitlyn were turtle rustlers for the turtle race. Even in the aquarium there were tunnels everywhere for the kids to crawl through. They would disappear in one place and we never knew where they would reappear. Another area had skateboard type surfaces for the kids to run and slide on. Another extended time here. You just can't wear out the kids. Once again, we were among the last to leave the museum. After leaving the City Museum, we stopped at Lambert International Airport to pick up Louise who had been in Kansas City trying out for Jeopardy! This is her second try to get on the program. She qualified last time but they select from the pool of qualified applicants by a random process and she wasn't chosen within the year of her qualification so she had to try out again. Our final stop for the evening was Canoli's Restaurant in Florissant, Missouri. This restaurant has been a favorite of Louise and I for many years. We enjoyed sharing it with our daughter and her family. About a week before all the above started, we spent a Sunday afternoon with my daughter and her family. The four of them, Louise and I all rode about a seven mile stretch of the Katy Trail State Park (www.mostateparks.com/katytrail). The Katy Trail is a rails to trails park that starts in St. Charles, Missouri and follows the Missouri River westward almost 3/4 of the way across the state. Ryan has his own bicycle and did the complete 14 mile round trip on his own. Kaitlyn has a half bicycle that attaches to dad's bike. She can pedal or coast as she pleases. We rode, drank water, ate strawberries and apples we carried with us and picked mulberries off the trees along the trail. As we packed up our bicycles, we decided that pizza was the perfect end to the day so it was off to CJ's Pizza in Foristell, Missouri. One of the treats of living in St. Louis is the excellent theater we have at the Muny Opera (www.muny.org). In an outdoor setting in Forest Park, site of the 1904 Worlds Fair, is a theater which seats nearly 13,000 people. We took the children to the Muny Opera for a production of Annie on Tuesday, the 27th. We were prepared for hot weather with cool drinks and wet cloths. It turned out to be quite a comfortable evening. Both children enjoyed their first theater production. This afternoon the kids came to the door of the motor home and asked me to go for a hike in the woods with them. Ryan had the Rocks and Minerals book that he got for his birthday and he wanted to go find some rocks. We hiked down to the creek and searched for rocks along the creek. We found several but Ryan was most interested in just exploring the woods and stream. Kaitlyn was always out in front, often somewhat off course. I had to keep guiding her back toward the house on our return home. Being with the children keeps us young. We'll be leaving here soon but staying here in Missouri with our children and grandchildren has been a wonderful experience we hope to repeat often in the future.