How to recognize the different Types of Campers and RV's

Over our lives, my wife and I have owned a number of different types of Recreation Vehicles.
We originally started out camping with tents, and we eventually moved up to Pop-Ups, then Trailers and then finally Motorhomes. 

We changed types of campers as we found over our lives that our camping lifestyle changed in parallel with our normal life changes.

RV Slides - add room to your RV, but they must be maintained.

The addition of Slides to RV’s has revolutionized the interior designs of RV’s, by giving you, the owner much more floor space to enjoy once you arrive at your campsite. 

If your RV has one or more slides, and nearly all of the newer ones do, there are a few things you should know.

How to keep COOL in your RV

OK, you're HOT!

That's my assumption, if you are reading this Blog Post.

And in an RV, if you don't take certain precautions, you can get really hot while vacationing in the deep South of the United States.

But, don't despair, there are some things you can do to make your RV much more comfortable in the heat and it only takes a little thought and self-management.

RV Sewage Management - Best Shaken Not Stirred

Typical RV Service Center

One thing that a camper ends up knowing how to do, is how to properly dump and maintain their RV Sewage tank.
And, I can tell you that almost all of my fellow campers have a Horror story they tell about "that time they saw....."
Because, honestly, when something does go wrong while someone is dumping an RV Sewage tank it is definitely a bad situation, that they will remember for the rest of their life.

Current Surge vs. Running Current in Campers

What is going on?

OK, There you are, sitting comfortably in your Camper, and all of a sudden everything electrical quits working. 

The first thing you do is Yell at the Wife or Kids, and ask them what the heck they did to cause the Electric to die. 

 They, of course deny everything, so you walk around your camper to your Campsite Electrical Hookup, and you see that your power cable is connected OK, and the Campground breaker is not kicked.

So, now what? 

You realize that the problem is in your own Rig, and not with the Campground Electrical System. 

As you walk back into your Camper you think: "Let the Games Begin!"

Surge Current-

Normally, when an electrical appliance is running normally, it draws a steady level of current. The thing you need to remember is that, sometimes, under certain conditions, appliances can draw 2 or 3 times as much current for a short period of time than they normally do. Usually this happens when it starts up or cycles and this is called Surge Current.

Here are some examples;

For instance a Roof Air Conditioner unit might draw 3-5 Amps when running, but when it is turned on, or the compressor cycles, the Surge Current can be as high as 13 to 15-Amps.

Also, he heating element in your Hot Water Heater does not stay on all of the time. It has circuitry that controls the water temperature, by cycling the heating element on for short periods of time to maintain the waters temperature. If you take a shower, all that water you used must be replaced and heated to temperature before the element turns off, which draws more current than when it is at temperature.

And, in case you didn't know it, one of the major power culprits in a Camper is the Coffee Pot. It draws several Amps when started up (remember, it is boiling water, and doing it pretty fast) and then the temperature drops back and just keeps the Pot warm, but even this pulls a steady couple of Amps depending on the type of coffee pot.

Other Current pigs include; Hair Dryers, Curling Irons, and Toasters, among many other of your handy electrical devices. 

Then there are your many Low-current drawing devices whose power consumption, although minimal individually, will stack up to a significant load, such as; Cell Phone Chargers, PC's, Music Players, Fans, Electric Toothbrushes, and on and on.

And remember a Convection Microwave oven operates as a microwave heater, but some versions can also operate as a regular oven with a Convection blower system which re-circulated the air in the oven past a special heating element and back over the food in order to actually bake; similar to your electric oven at home. In this mode it draws a lot more current than when in the Microwave mode of operation.

Peak Surge Current:

 At times, you will get a certain Current Stack-up in your RV. This occurs when everything is running normally, and then at certain times of the day (mornings and Dinner Time usually), you will mysteriously experience a problem with your Camper's Circuit Breakers kicking out on you.

As an example: There you are sitting there in your RV. It’s around 5PM, you have just taken a shower, and have settled down in front of the TV to catch the end of that ball game you want to see. 

Your wife looks at you and senses that no serious cooking on the Grill is going to happen this day, and she decides to warm up the left-over Pizza in your Fridge for dinner. Man… Life is good on the road.

Then all of a sudden, the AC units both quit, the TV's die, and you wife turns to you and says that the Convection Microwave is not heating. You have just experienced one of the many cases of “PEAK SURGE CURRENT”.

You see,……. typically, your 110 Volt AC power source coming into your RV has a peak current capacity of either 15-Amps, 30-Amps, or 50-Amps. If you exceed this, the exterior CG Breakers kick out, but more than likely, your RV breakers are designed for lower levels of current and they kick out first. 

You have just had a Peak Current stack-up for a short period of time, that in total was enough to shut your Power system down, or at least part of it..

Let me explain another way. For instance your roof AC units were on. You had just taken a shower, and your Hot Water Heater was probably drawing it's peak current re-heating the fresh water in it's tank. 

Your TV, Satellite System, Voltage Converter System (which powers your DC lights, the Fridge and other DC accessories), are all drawing a steady current of several Amps. Normally, you have plenty of excess capacity, but when the Convection Oven was turned ON, it started drawing high current, and at the same time the AC units cycled back on. So, momentarily your total surge current exceeded your breakers capability. That is how Surge Current can affect you in your RV.

How to Reduce Surge Current problems-

Now, nothing was really wrong, and it is not that hard to find a kicked Circuit Breaker, and reset it, But there are several lessons to be learned here.

One fact is, accept it, over time you have built up a collection of too much Electrical Stuff in your Camper, and you need to take a serious look at what is drawing current, and can any of it be replaced with newer, more efficient stuff. Or can I do something else?

I know, you love that old Stereo, and your old Tube-type TV that came in the RV still works great, and your Mom gave you that old Coffee Pot ten years ago, and your wife Blow-dries her hair every morning with that old 1500-watt dryer and has no plans to change. 

And you love your home-made waffles for breakfast that uses your old Waffle maker, and on, and on, and on.

Fact Two is, have you taken a good look at your major appliances like the Fridge, Microwave, TV's, and Air Conditioners, etc. When was the last time they were serviced is one question you must ask yourself, 

 Often, if serviced properly, many of these will not only operate more efficiently, but often they will draw less current.

Another question you might ask yourself wehn looking around your camper is; If this appliance died, would I spend the money to fix it, or go ahead and replace it? 

This can help give you a good perspective on going ahead and spending money on a new one. Invariably, the new units will be much more efficient than the older ones.

Third, you and the Family must work together and plan when to do certain things throughout the day. You should try to spread out the times when you are getting these Current Surge situations.

Current Consumption reduction Tips;

1- Plan your Hot Water usage during the day so the How Water Heater is used at non-peak times, or if you have a dual heating water heater, most RV manufacturers suggest that you turn on your Propane Water heating system about 5-minutes before you need Hot Water. 

 This gives you Quick Hot Water in the Tank. Then you should turn the Propane Hot Water system OFF and turn the Electrical Hot Water system ON for keeping the water Hot while you are using Hot Water. 

 Oh, and when you do not need Hot Water, Turn the darn system OFF, you are just wasting energy, and bringing your How Water systems closer to their End Of Life (ie. EOL).

2- Make your Coffee the first thing, so the Pot will only be keeping the Coffee warm during breakfast preparation. And don't wait for the Automatic TURN-OFF to happen as with most Coffee Pots. 

Turn the Darn thing OFF, when done. 

 My Wife and I, in our older Rigs, poured the whole Pot, when done, into a large Thermos, and drank the still hot Coffee over the next couple of hours, without using extra electricity. 

 We also use the Thermos when on the Road.

3-Make your Toast or Muffins, before firing up the Convection Oven or Electric Frying Pan to prepare the meal itself. 

 Remember in the Old Days, you went to GrandMa's house for dinner and she already had hot biscuits and buns cooked and wrapped in a Towel in a basket. 

 Take the Hint, make the Bread and keep it warm the old-fashioned way. It will not kill you to eat bread that does not put blisters on your tongue.

4- Buy lower wattage Blow-Dryers and Curling Irons, and other small appliances, and if you must keep using them wait until mid-morning or mid-afternoon.

5- And, the best tip of all; if the Campgrond has Bathrooms with showers, sinks and power receptacles, and of course if they are clean, utilize these whenever possible instead of the camper's whenever possible.

6- Charge your Cell Phones, 2-Way Radios, and other small battery powered devices at night, which is a low current usage part of the day, and keep them off of the chargers during the day. 

These and other such ideas can help you run without kicked breakers.

NOTE: You also need to realize that your RV Breakers, including your Ground-Fault Breakers, are initially designed to kick OFF at a certain level of Current. Once a breaker has kicked OFF several times, it will not be as robust as it was originally. In other words, it will be susceptible to kick OFF at a lower current than it was originally designed for. SO, if you continue to load these breakers at or near their limits, you will just be compounding your problem over time.

DON BOBBITT

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CHECK OUT THESE USEFUL AMAZON PRODUCTS

Home Remedies for You and your RV when on the road

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Red Cross Emblem, pic by Don Bobbitt

When you're traveling, you sometimes need to be creative when dealing with household and health situations.

The reality is that you just cannot carry everything in your RV that you have in your home. 

Of course, it goes without saying that you should never leave home without your required medications, as well as a well-prepared First Aid Kit.

But many times you will have situations pop up, that you need a remedy for. Things that you did not prepare for, but happen anyway.

The following is a collection home remedies and alternatives from various magazines, other campers, manufacturers, etc. for improving or eliminating pesky problems or temporarily relieving some simple health issues.

CAUTION: You still need to read the labels of all items carefully, for your safety ,and always use common sense, Please!
 As a disclaimer, I do not accept any responsibility for whatever happens (good or bad) if you try any of these remedies listed in this document.
 If you try one of these, and it works or if it does not, let me know. Also, If you have a Remedy of your own that works for you, send it to me and I will probably add it to this list.

Problem:	Proposed Remedy/Solution:
Anti-Fog Glasses and Goggles	Coat the lens’ with Colgate Toothpaste and then wipe off.
Arthritis	Spray WD-40 on the area of pain and rub it in.
Athletes Feet	Mix Cornstarch and Hot water, and soak feet.
Baked on Food	Soak overnight in water with 2 Efferdent tablets.
Bee Stings	Apply a Meat Tenderizer to a Bee Sting for relief
Bicycle Chain sticking	Use PAM cooking spray if no other lubricant is available.
Burn (Minor)	Colgate or Crest toothpaste works well for temporary relief.
Burnt Tongue	Pour some sugar on it for relief.
CD scratches	Apply Peanut Butter (Smooth), and then wipe it off with a Coffee Filter.
Chigger Bite	Apply Preparation H for relief
Chigger Bite	Place Fingernail polish onto the bite, and the larvae will suffocate within a day and you can pop it off to heal.
Clean Toilet stains	Use a mixture of Kool-Aid and water to clean stubborn Toilet stains.
Dandruff (Heavy)	Pour Vinegar on your scalp to loosen and remove dandruff.
Diarrhea	Make a Tea of Ginger (1-tbs Ginger & Hot water) and drink it 3 times daily to stop Diarrhea.
Diarrhea	For relief of Diarrhea, boil some Rice and drink the water.
Dirty Grout	Use Listerine to cut the dirt and/or place some toothpaste on a moist rag or sponge and scrub.
Facial Treatment	Elmer's Glue - paint on your face, allow it to dry, peel off and you will see the dead skin and blackheads lifted off.
(To Dry) Fingernail Polish	Use PAM Cooking Spray
Fleas in the Carpet	Use 20-Mule Team Borax and let it sit for 24 hours before removing.
Fungus (on Toenails or fingernails)	Use Vicks Vapor-Rub on the nails to reduce or kill the Fungus.
Grass Stains	Karo Syrup will break grass stains down, but can present a job removing the Syrup later, so do not leave it on too long.
Grease Stains	Coca Cola will clean many grease stains
Hair Conditioner	Budweiser Beer.
Hair Conditioner	Cool Whip works well, but will take about 15 minutes to soak in.
Hair Conditioner	If your hair is really Dry then try Mayonnaise as a Conditioner to get some oils back into your hair.
Headaches	Drink some Ginger tea (1-tbs Ginger Powder and Hot water) to sooth Headaches.
Immune System	Eat Garlic regularly to boost your Immune System.
Insect Stings	WD-40 will ease the pain.
Inflamed Eyes	If ou have any Carrots, cook them to a mush, place this in a moist cloth, and place this over your eyes to sooth them.
Lice	Mayonnaise will kill lice.
Menstrual Cramps	Chamomile Tea will help reduce Menstrual Cramps.
Mice	First, cut up a small cheap sponge into 1-inch squares. If you then place a few drops of Peppermint Oil on the Sponges, and place them in the Baggage Compartments, the Mice will go away. Re-juvenate the Peppermint Oil on the sponges every 6-8 weeks, for an ongoing solution.
Mosquitoes	First of all, If you are going outside, be sure you are clean, as Mosquitoes love sweat.
Mosquitoes	If possible, head for high, dry ground, also a nice wind also helps keep them away.
Mosquitoes	Mouth Wash. Putting a little Listerine in a spritzer, and spraying your legs and arms will keep them away for a while.
Mosquitoes	To ease the itching from Mosquito bites, rub the sites with rubbing alcohol or white vinegar.
Paper Cut	Super Glue or ChapStick. Glue is used instead of sutures in many hospitals, and works well with cuts to protect them from germs, and .seal them for healing
Poison Ivy Rash	To prevent the rash from Poison Ivy, if you brush against the plant, immediately wash the area with warm water and soap, then wipe the cleaned area with Alcohol pads
Puffy Eyes	Apply a little Preparation-H to the eyelids, keeping away from the eyes.
Paint removal from hands	Use PAM cooking spray.
Remove Labels from glassware	Rub with Peanut Butter
(For) Shiny Hair	Use Brewed Lipton Tea
Sore Throat	Steep Sage leaves in hot water, and make a tea. Drink the Tea to sooth a sore throat.
Spiders	It seems that a good temporary remedy for Spiders, and some other insects is the good old Flea-&-Tick collar. If you cut a new collar up into small 1-inch pieces, and place them in the corners of all of your rooms in your RV, it will keep the Spiders away. Of course, they need to be replaced regularly, just as they would on your pet.
Stains on Clothes	Use toothpaste on a cloth to rub stains and wash off.
Stinky Feet	Soak your feet in a Jello mixture.
Stomach Gas	Chamomile Tea will help reduce Stomach Gas.
Sunburn	Empty a large Jar of Instant Nestea into your bath water and soak.
Swollen Eyes	Place wet teabags on the bags under your eyes to help reduce the swelling.
Tick Removal	Do not “rip” the Tick loose, or cover the site with Nail Polish, as you could end up with an infection. You should grasp the Ticks body with a pair of tweezers and pull gently and it will eventually release it’s hold. Then clean the site with Alcohol or an Antibiotic if you have it.
Toothache	For temporary relief of a toothache, suck on a Tea Bag as the pain can be reduced by the Tannins in Tea.
Upset Stomach	Chamomile Tea or Ginger Tea will sooth an upset stomach.
Urinary Tract Infection	Drink 3-4 cups of Cranberry Juice a day to help reduce Urinary Tract infections.
Vomiting	Chamomile Tea will help reduce Vomiting.
Wine Stain	Pour granulated salt on the stain and it will soak up the stain. Then clean.
Wound Infections	Apply Honey to a wound to discourage infections. The moisture is good for a wound and the Hydrogen-Peroxide in Honey acts as an antibacterial.

Again, as a disclaimer, I do not accept any responsibility for whatever happens (good or bad) if you try any of these remedies listed in this document.

DON

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Just RV and CAMPER BATTERIES

Battery Dwg by Don Bobbitt

Here is a link to my article on HubPages where I walk the novice through just what your RV batteries do for you as well as how to care for them.

Properly cared for batteries will last for several years and give you great service.

Click on the link below to read my article.



How to care for your RV Batteries.

A Typical Pull Out??

What a start for a 6-month trip!

We talked the CW in MB into actually finishing the installation of our Fridge last night, so they, of course, made the mechanic work over until it was installed and working OK.

Then, as instructed, he parked the Rig outside of CW for us to take our unit early and hit the Road!

Well, we got up at 5:30 this morning. Yes, I said, 5:30AM!

We packed our fridge stuff, our overnight bag, and of course Helen had to sanitize the house because Star is coing down for the weekend and using our house, and we drove in the dark of night down to the CW store.

We finally got down to the RV, loaded up, and pulled up to a Gas station that sells Diesel, and I can get my Rig into with the Jeep tied to it.

Guess What?

6:30 in the morning is when all of the Beer and Cola distributors deliver their goods for the day to these roadside establishments.

And ............ Just guess where they park?  Right at the end of the long line of fuel pumps, which b ythe way is where they put their only Diesel fuel pump.

So, I had to go inside and ask;  "Which one of you is the Miller guy, and which one is the Bud guy?

Well, out of 5 different guys in there, two of them lifted their heads with a very impressive scowl, and both of them said; ME, WHY?

I stepped back a bit and then I responded.

"Hey Guys, I have an RV out side and I need to get to the Diesel pumps, and you guys are blocking them."

Well, Their scowls deepened and one said;
"I got about twenty more minutes before I am finished",
and the other looked at me as he wanted to remove some of my organs, and said,
"and I need more time than that".

I just smiled at them both and responded;
"Well, I am presently blocking the road, going down to a subdivision, and there are already two cars out there with pissed off people in them."

"I'll just go out there and tell them that you two guys need more time, and they should talk to you?"

"Who Knows?" I said;  " Maybe a Cop will drive up and I can explain to him why I can't move my Rig because you two are blocking the pumps and are too busy to move your trucks."

As I turned to go out the door, I heard several strings of profanities thrown at me but the two guys actually got to their trucks, before I could get to my Rig.

As they moved, to where they should have been anyway, by the way,I smiled and waved to them, mouthing the words "Thank You!" over and over.

I filled up ($236 poorer) and I hit the road "South  Bound and Down", as the song goes.

We put in a good 7-1/2 hours in the RV with only a couple of "Stretch, Pee and Eat" stops.

Finally I was south of Atlanta (daily goal #1), and into Alabama (daily goal #2), so we looked for a CG to crash in for the night.
No Wally-World and No Rest Area, tonight.
I wanted AC, Hot Food, Cold Wine, and a good nights sleep.
I plan to run tomorrow!

So, We are presently sitting in a CG in LaGrange, Ala. and:    OMG!     OMG!     OMG!

I will have to tell you about this place after we leave in the morning.

What a Dump!  (but with Good Intentions!)

The Adventure has begun!

In NEW ORLEANS, Kind of!

OK, we were driving along , and we pulled over at a Rest Stop so I could stretch my legs and get rid of some of the Soda I had been drinking all day.

I realized that I was good for 2 maybe 3 hours of driving and we would need to stop for the night.

Looking at the map on my computer, I realized that the end of my day was going to be roughly right across Lake Pontchetrain  (???) from New Orleans.

So, it didn't take us long to decide to sort of "re-arrange" our cross country schedule.

And, we did!  We mad a couple of phone calls, and we had a 3-night reservation at a, RPI campground in a little town called Abita Springs.

Nice Campground, but crappy roads to get to the entrance.

We crashed here, and the first night we just drove a couple of miles up to a little Brew Pub and had Dinner, and made our plans for a day in the French Quarter the next day.



Well. as they say; It was on my "Bucket List" to do, and I did it!

Let me tell you something that I learned while bouncing around on Bourbon Street, Royal Street, and many others with names that I can't remember right now.

Back to what I learned.

I learned that the smell of decades of Vomit is not as glamorous as I remembered in my Youth traveling the world.


It kinda takes the edge off of the enjoyment of the food in the restaurants. You know what I mean?

Add the pungent odor of the Horse Poop dropped in the streets throughout the day.

And top all of this with the marvelous soaring temperatures, high Humidity, and absolutely no Breeze.

Now you have an idea of why everyone is drinking so much.

The damned place stinks and is miserably hot, but I do have to admit that, once my senses were dulled, the great Cajun Food, and cold drinks, and great Music won the day for me.


We had a good time overall, and I got the obligatory T-shirts.

Today?  We are laying back and Chillin', preparing for a really long run tomorrow.

But, it should be worth it! Then we sit back and roam around teh south San Antonio area.

Eat som of that Tex-Mex food.

Drink some of that Lone Star beer.

Take a lot of silly pictures!

I can't wait.

In Texas and Lickin' my Wounds!

Yeah, That's what I said;  LICKING MY WOUNDS!

We pulled out of Abita Springs, just north of New Orleans right at daybreak.

We topped off our fuel tank (Gulp!-------$242).

And we pulled out onto I-12 (which blends into I-10 in Baton Rouge) and put the Rig in Auto-Pilot.

We stopped to Pee twice, and eat Lunch when we crossed into Texas, otherwise, we cranked.

We ran at 70-73 mph, (cruise control) the whole trip except when one of the many Brain-Dead drivers, that populate the Roads of America, tried to kill us.  This only happened every hour or so, so I guess most of these "Zombie Roadies" were busy preparing for Halloween ..... or whatever.

Anyway, we rolled up to San Antonio, and took a left in to the "Hill Country" of South Texas.

It really is beautiful, and we are going to drive back through there and catch some good Pics to share in a couple of days.

And, there I was, over 9-1/2 hours of jockeying a Big RIG on the Interstates, Back aching, eyes burning, arms weighing over a ton each, and what happens?

There we are less than to miles from our CG, and my Garmin decides to Piss in my Oatmeal.

That;s Right, Piss in my Oatmeal!

The map system tells me to turn right onto a little street called, what else "D" street.

Hell, I didn't know!

I've never been here before.

Well, it turns out that my CG is very near a booming Lake area, Medina Lake.

It is booming so much that many of the aggressive developers have gone out and run bulldozers through teh Mesquite trees and Cactus, and Rocks and Sand, and marked off hundreds of streets.

They even put up signs with proper names on them.

So, some A-Hole at Garmin, went and added these unreal streets to their maps.

So, what is the Big Deal?

OK, These streets are wide enough for one car to go down.

I own a 42-foot, Rig with a 18-foot Jeep tied to it's tail.

Try to make a turn at an intersetion that is this narrow.

I only drove 6-blocks and made two turns before I got to a real Road.

I figure that I only took out 6-10 Mesquite trees and a couple of Cactus with the RV.

Needless to say, I now need; not only a good wash job, but also a good Buff and Polish of the paint job.

Anyway, we checked in to the CG, and went over and selected a campsite.

I unhooked the Jeep, and?

The Battery was Dead.  I had put the ignition key in the wrong position, and the RV sucked down the RV battery.

I had to bum a Jump off of a fellow camper, and we backed into our site.

What else could go wrong?

You will not believe this, but You remember that our trip started two months late while we waited for some major parts for the Fridge?

Well, We opened the door, to assure that it had switched voer automatically to AC fro Propane, and

OH Yeah!

The Freakin' Freezer Temp was 35, and the Fridge temp was 48!

The damned newly rebuilt Fridge was not operating properly.

We walked around and cursed for a while and then after we calmed down, we opened some nice Chardonnay, and went Zombie for the night.

We got up this morning and those temps had dropped to 31 and 35, so we had hope that we could use the Fridge after all.

But, again, Murphy stepped in, and while we took a midday trip to Bandera, the temps had drifted back up to 33 and 37.

I called the brilliant people at Camping World, and they gave me a list of things to test and check tomorrow and call them back.

Banderas was cool,and I will write about it tomorrow, but right now, I think we have another couple of bottles of that Chardonnay somewhere, and ........ you know ....... What the Hell!

We are on Holiday! What else could go wrong?

G'Day!

From San Antonio TX, to Mesa AZ, in 2 days

Yeah, we broke it down.

On Monday, we drove 9-hours to El Paso TX, and crashed in one of those secure roadside RV parks.

You really need to use these sometimes, even though they cost a little more at times.

We were only 2-3 miles from the Mexican Border in Ciudad Juarez,, which is just outside of El Paso, so we went for the extra security.

Early the next morning (Tuesday), we pulled out for another long drive of almost 8-hours, and we were in WACO TX.

I went straight to the Camping world there, and started the process of getting my Fridge checked out and beginning the approval process for the Insurance company.



The idiocy of the process required by the insurance companies is at a level that would try anyone's patience, but we are hanging on.

This time, I git a little smarter, and while the CW technicians jumped through the appropriate hoops to prove that the Fridge was indeed bad, we went over and checked into our campground.

This proved valuable later as we could go over to the CG, and do laundry, take a shower, and just overall kill time.

Now, here it is, Friday, and the inspector has sent his report to the insurance TODAY, and now we must wait for Monday for the insurance company rto approve the purchase of the replacement Fridge body.

Then we have approximately two weeks before it is delivered for installation.

Installation will take 6-hours, and then another overnight functional test before we can leave AZ.

I have to re-schedule my reservations in California, yet again, but we have accepted the situation, and are now going through a lot of Maps and Visitor guides to put together a plan for taking our Jeep out into the Deserts (just a little ways) and north to the Mesa/mountail areas.

I hope to get some really good photo's over the next week.  Can't wait!

Right now?

Well, we had a great lunch at a Restaurant/Saloon called the Dirty Water Saloon, and are back at the RV catching up on our web sites and mails, ans a little bill paying.

Later, when it cools down (97F at the moment), we will take another walk around the CG

See Ya!

On to El Paso

We are presently at Medina Lake just south of San Antonio TX, in case you couldn't tell by my other blog.

Well, I still have a bad Fridge, and have just decided (2-hours ago) to head to Mesa, AZ.
We have taken all of the meat in the freezer that we have been babying for almost a week,
and has cooked every damned bit of it.

We then stored all of this in Zip-lock bags and packed it into a coupel of styro-foam coolers that I just picked up cheap.



For Dinner tonight, we will have MEAT, with a couple of sides of MEAT, followed by a tasty DESSERT of MEAT!

MMMMM!- MMMMM!

We will drive for around 8-hours tomorrow (across the West Texas desert!)
and stay over in a CG just east of El Paso, TX.

It has a Pull-Through site I have reserved for the night.

Using it, we can just pull in, and hook up to; Elec. Water and Sewage, and lay in for a good nights dinner and nights sleep.

We will pull out early and hit the road for around 7.5 hours and get to Mesa,AZ around 3:00PM, in time for my appointment at the local Camping World.

They are supposed to try to fix whatever has gone bad with the Fridge for us.

But, we will have to spend the night
hooked up while they run a required Diagnostic test
that requires that the Fridge be run wide open for a number of hours.

The next morning they can decide what to replace.

The bad thing is we spend the night in a CW parking lot.
The good thing is that we will pull over to Apache Junction (18-miles away)
and lay up there for 9-10 days before we go over to California.

Who was it that said that camping is an Adventure, didn't know the half of it.

Well, I gotta open a bottle of Cabernet, and start packing up some stuff.

On the Road for the Winter ..... I Hope!

Well, we have been dealing (or is it not dealing?) with our RV Fridge problem for over two months now, and we just finally decided to do something!

We loaded up the RV, which took us three days, believe it or not, and we hit the road.

We decided that we could handle living out of coolers for a few weeks, at least, and still be on the road, to .......... SOMEWHERE!.

So, we pulled out yesterday, and drove up to Lynchburg, and are presently parked in our daughters driveway.

We will spend a few days with our kids and grandkids, and visit a few other relatives and some friends, and then we will head west.

On the drive up, I discovered that, in this cooler weather, our Fridge does seem to operate, somewhat in the LP-Gas mode.  SO, if this holds up, we can keep our fresh stuff cold as we hop across the country, and we will just have to use a couple of coolers for drinks and ice.

Once we get to the West coast, I guess we will attempt to get our Fridge fixed by someone out there.

I don't hold out much hope though, as it seems that Dometic has shut down their factory in Sweden back in July, and haven't finished building their new factory in Elkhart, IN.  ANything that they are shipping seems to be just what they have in their warehouse over there.

From this, even my simple mind can figure out that parts are going to be scarce for a while yet.

Dometic, though, just doesn't seem to be worried about customers with parts problems.  Their standard response is; maybe in the next shipment in two weeks?

Ya just gotta love em!

Anyway, I will get online tomorrow and re-route our trip to take into effect that our starting point is no longer in SC, but in VA.

Should be fun, Huh?

We spent a week in LaGrange, last night!

Yep, That's right!

We were tired.  I had driven over seven hours in the RV with a Jeep in Tow, and it was time to quit.

Oh, I was OK, but I needed to stare at something other than a white line on the right and a dashed line on the left.

I had wanted to make it to Montgomery, AL, but I decided to find a campground.

I got on the web, and found several in Auburn, AL. and we called a few.


Guess what?

It was Saturday, and what would think goes on at this time of year in Auburn, AL?

Right on College Football game.

It turned out that there wasn't an empty caming site within 30-miles of Auburn.

So, we backed off and found a little, and not highly rated CG in LaGrange.

It is called Hoofers.

Not a clue how it got it's name, but I had a weird feeling, but we went ahead and called them anyway.


The phone rang and a person answered and gave me directions.

Which I wrote down, by the way.

It went like this:  You take exit-18, take a right off of the ramp.  Go down three stoplights and take a right on the "14-Spur" at the foot of the water tower.
Go 3-4 miles and take a right on Hwy-27, go about a mile on the right and we are there.

OK, Simple right?

Idid as told, and turned right on US-27 ...... and I drove for 7 miles. No Campground.

I have been here before, so I pulled over and called the CG again.

The same guy answered, and I explained my problem.

His response was. "Lordy!" I'm not sure where you are."

TO which I responded; Well, If yoy live here and can't tell me how to get there, I am in big trouble  because, I damned sure don't have a clue."

He seemed upet with my anguage, but ai calmed down and went through what I had done, and he said;

Oh, You took US-27, you needed to take state hwy 27!

So, after a minute or so, I peeled myself off of the roof and as calmly as possible mentioned the fact that someone, not from the area, would probably need to know this distinction in the future.

He was silent for a few seconds and agreed that he would keep this in mind.

Needless to say, we had a communication problem, but, by this time I was so tired that I was going to find this damned CG and stay there.

Little did I know!


I kind of knew that I was in trouble when he gave me his Cell phone number, and said if I had any more problems, that I should call him on it, because he was leaving the office, but wanted to be sure that I got into the CG.

OK, three more calls and I was finally on a road that he agreed was the right one.

He told me that; You can't miss the CG. It is right next to the John Deere dealership!

Cold Chills went down my spine.

And, let's ignore the fact that the 3-miles he said was ahead, was really 5.3 miles.

I finally found the John Deere Dealership, and sure as hell, there was a campground right next door.

Oh, Did I mention that he said it was owned by the same person as owned the Hoofers restaurant on the property.

So, we pulled in, and ..... the Office was closed.

It was only 4:00PM, and the office was closed!

I had to take an envelope and put my "cash" money in it and slide it into a slot like at a bank.

Then we went down to the camping sites.

They were all about 30-35 feet long!

So, I improvised.

I pulled into two sites lengthwise and to hell with it!

If no one was running the place, I figured I could do whatever I wanted.

BTW!  There were around 70-80 sites, and there were 3  campers in the whole place.

I looked arund as I was hooking up and then I saw the signs;

PRAISE GOD!   JESUS SAVES!  VICTORY TO GOD!

I had Arrived!

My Beer drinking, swearing, and stinky feet Ass was ensconced in a dyed-in-the-wool religious zealots CG.

I told Helen, and we figured!  We would shut up, talk to no-one, and get out in the early hours, so wat could go wrong? Right?

So, we finished hooking up and walked up to the Restaurant.  CLOSED! Out of Business!

No problem, we walked out to the street for a look.  IF you can't eat John Deere paint, well, we weren't going to eat out that night.

SO, we walked back to the Community building! CLOSED!

We saw a sign that said; WASEERIA!
We walked over and: two restrooms, a table TV, four chairs and rwo washing machines.
But, the AC was on and working.

We waked back outside the whole comples was connected to a big Church, Also closed!

I was ready to pray for a Beer by this time.

We talked things over, and we finally decided.

We went back to the RV.

We turned on the AC.

We turned on the TV.

We opened a couple of bottles of Chardonnay!

We RELAXED!

We went to Bed.
We slept well, and we;

Got the Hell out of "La Grange" before daylight the next morning.

Yep!

We spent a week in a LaGrange ...... last Night!

Goodnight!