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.

Are you planning on Storing or Using your Camper in the Off-Season?

Dons Camper on its new site, Pic by Don

OK, Fall is in the Air, people. The question is, are you planning on traveling in your camper in cold weather?

Well, I am. My wife and I are doing something a little different this winter.

We placed our fifth-wheel in a campground in Virginia, near where our kids, grandkids and friends live. This way, we will not be towing it anywhere, but we can drive there and use it whenever we want.

We have been storing our RV for the off-season the last two years. And we realized that we were going up to visit and we would stay in hotels, usually for 5-7 days at a time.

But, the problem was that hotel stays has gotten so expensive, in addition to the costs of eating out so much that we decided to place our RV on a site near our family for the off-season, with hookups of course.

Now, we will visit more often, and we will stay quite a bit longer. And, most importantly, we will be in our own cozy camper that, as all campers know, is our second home and is so much better than stay in than some cramped hotel room.

As all of you dedicated campers know, in a camper, you are sleeping on YOUR bedding, sitting on YOUR Sofa, and walking in YOUR carpet. ANd you have no worries about who might have been in the room before you or how healthy or clean a person they were.

In out camper, we have everything we want, for our lifestyle, and we are so much more comfortable.

Also, we already have our own clothes in the camper, so we haul less "stuff" back and forth when we do visit.

SO, I suggest that you, my fellow camper owners who are just storing your camper for the off season, consider placing it at a site, somewhere, that you can use it as your second seasonal home.

We love having this new option for our lifestyle and we are getting some off-season use from our camper.

DON

PS. Here is a link to my article on How to keep Warm in your RV. Click on it for some great tips on keping comfortable in your camper during Cold weather.

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Towing Connector Wiring Reference

RV Towing Cart

With the many methods of towing in the RV world, you must have an electrical connection between the RV and the towed vehicle for lights turn signals brakes etc.. 

Pre-made cables are available at most Camper part stores, as well as kits for wiring into the wiring harness of vehicles.

RV Coaches have the 6-pin or 7-pin connector mounted near the Hitch. Some of the wiring systems are simpler than others, but there are standards for the connectors and wiring. 

Here is a short overview of the connectors:

4-Pin Tow Connector

The standard 4-pin connector is a flat plastic connector, with 3 pins either male or female, and the 4th pin the opposite sex. The connector shown is for the wiring of the towing vehicle. The pins and their usage are;

PIN-1=Ground (male pin) White wire,
PIN-2=Tail Lights (and license plate light and side lights)= Brown Wire,
PIN-3=Left Turn & Stop Lights (Yellow Wire),
PIN-4=Right Turn & Stop Lights (Green wire).

6-pin Connector

The standard 6-pin connector is a “Keyed” round metal connector with the following connections. Those shown are from the wiring side of the towing vehicles connector. The Pins and their usage, are;

PIN-A (center pin = 12V (and is either red or Black),
PIN-TM -(at the guide) = Tail Lights (usually Brown wire),
PIN-GD =Ground (usually White),
PIN-LT=Left Turn Signal (usually Yellow),
PIN-RT=Right Turn (usually Green), and
PIN-S= Electric Brakes (usually Blue). This pin is used to provide a variable voltage to the electrical brakes of larger tow trailers and campers to assist in stopping them.

7-Pin Connector

The standard 7-pin connector is a “Keyed” round metal connector with the following connections. Those shown are from the wiring side of the towing vehicles connector. The pins and their usage, are;

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PIN-1=Ground (usually White),
PIN-2=Electric Brakes (usually Blue),
PIN-3=Taillights (usually Green),
PIN-4=12V (usually Black),
PIN-5=Left Turn (usually Red),
PIN-6=Right Turn (usually Brown), and the
Center PIN= Auxiliary Power or Backup Lights (can be wired for either)



by DON BOBBITT

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How to Calculate your vehicles Towing Capacity

Tow HitchAdapter, Pic by Don Bobbitt

When you get in to the world of Campers, unless you have a self contained Motorhome, you will need to become knowledgeable about such things asl camper weight, camper tow connectors, tow vehicles and tow vehicle towing capabilities.

The link below is to a Hub article of mine where I describe what you need to know in order to calculate how much weight your vehicle can safely tow.

I include such valuable information as the definitions for GVWR, Curb Weight, Tongue Weight, GTWR, and much more.

How to Calculate your Vehicles Towing Capacity

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How to SHop for the Right RV for Your needs

The link below is to an article of mine that should be an important read for anyone who is shopping for a new or used Camper.

This article provides you with the right questions to ask yourself and then to use in your selection of the right camper for your needs and desires.

It will give you numerous tips to help you get the right unit for the right price.

How to SHOP for tthe right Camper.

You have to click on the Link and check the story out.

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A Review of the GARMIN nuvi465T GPS Navigator for your RV

GARMIN nuvi465T Navigator - pic by GARMIN

Using your GARMIN GPS Navigator - the Nuvi465 for CAR, TRUCK and RV drivers

This article is my review of the GARMIN nuvi465T GPS Navigator unit.

I have been using mine for almost a year now and I consider it the absolute best NAVIGATOR for the price and functionality for any RV owner.

It can be used in the CAR mode or the TRUCK mode if you are traveling in your RV, and be assured that you are using a quality unit that is providing you with real-time data for your safety and traveling confidence.

Click on the link above to read my more detailed review of this great unit.

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If you are interested in the nuvi465T, click on this link to find the latest and lowest pricing on AMAZON.

GARMIN nuvi465T available on AMAZON

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TRIP Preparation - You and Your RV - Prepare for the Worst and Enjoy the Best

TRIP Preparation - You and Your RV - Prepare for the Worst and Enjoy the Best

This article is designed to remind you of all of those little things that you need to do to make sure that your vacation trip will be fun and you will avoid those nasty roadside accidents and problems that haunt so many other campers.

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Here is a great online vendor whose products are high quality and often are available at reduced pricing and Shipping.
Like almost all campers, the right clothes, and sporting equipment are necessary for that next level of camping fun. Check the site out.



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An RV Buying SCAM - Look Out

An RV Buying SCAM - Look Out

I have my RV listed for sale, and I was contacted by a potential buyer, or so I thought.

Luckily, I went to my bank and learned how to handle a sale properly, and it turned out that I was actually dealing with a Scam artist. read this to protect yourself.

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Check out this link to my SHOPIFY STORE where I design and sell Quality name brand T-Shirts with custom designs such as this one for the RV OWNER:

NULIVIN4U Shopify Store

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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.

Day 2 and 3

OK, day-2 was a little rough the next morning!

Way too many Jalapeno's and different cheeses and onions and green peppers and spices.

Oh ...... and corn chips!

Looked good!

Smelled Great!

Tasted Fantastic!

Next Morning?  Not such a great idea in the copious quantities that they were consumed.

So, my plans for yesterday were dramatically modified so I could stay in the house and near the throne!

As to my "Open Display" food management plan on the counter top?

Well, I have had a couple of accidents that dumped enough stuff onto the floor so that when I walk into the kitchen, I am greeted with a medley of crunching sounds as I walk through.

I was going to vacuum, but then I figured that;  What the Heck!

Leave it and just vacuum the kitchen ONCE!

The day before Helen gets home.

As to the crunching sounds from the crushed chips?

I had a great idea.

I put a pair of Crocs at the doorway into the kitchen, and slip them on when I go into the kitchen, and off when I leave.

Working Great so far.

Today?  Well.my internal systems are back to functioning properly, so I will be down at the RV for a couple of hours tinkering with that noisy roof fan in the kitchen.

I will either fix it, or make sure that it is so broken that it will need to be replaced.

PS. You know those Eggs that you can pour from a carton?
I found some this morning, in the back of the fridge.
A note to you all ......... Don't spill that stuff on a rug!
What a sticky mess!
I decided to let it dry and maybe I can rub it off then.
Wish me luck.

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?

On the Road ..... finally!

You would not believe what we have gone through over the past week.

You think that this picture is of an RV, Right?  Nope, it is a used RV wrapped around a new Fridge!


As the old Country song says; "I been Lied to and ..............".

Anyway, the Fridge is completed (or so I have been promised?)

And, early in the morning we are going to drive down to the CW store, long before they open, and load up our new Fridge with food, and finally head to Texas.

I am going to try to get on the road early enough to get out of MB, and on the South side of Atlanta by tomorrow afternoon.

If all goes well, I will pop into a campground for thenight and get a good nights rest and continue on from there down to Baton Rouge.

I figure that two long days of driving, and I can make up for one of the days we lost.

But, I am not going to push it.  IF I have problems, or get tired, or whatever, I am going to pull into a truck stop or a Wally-World and shut down early.

I have done those 10-hour-plus driving days, and they really pull you down.

I don't need that.

So, I will have to play this whole first part of our trip to Texas by ear.
What does ON-THE-ROAD look like?

Check it out!

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!

Preparing the RV and Ourselves for a 6-month trip

OK,
 We're Back!
Yep, We have been sitting around at home for several months, but now we are getting down to the wire.
We have set a tentative "pull-out" date for the first of September, and we plan to stay on the West Coast for the Winter.
Today, I am taking the RV down to the local Camping World to have the Fridge checked out, because it acted a little funny on our recent trip to VA.  So, better safe than sure.
After the Fridge, I will need an Oil change, along with some filters, etc.
More on this later.
Also, we are starting to pull our personal stuff together.
What we do, is take the 3rd bedroom of our house, and use it as a kind of staging area, for what we are going to eventually load into the RV.
This seems to work best for us, as we can walk in there at any time, and check if we have placed a certain item of clothing, or computer accessory, or whatever, in the staging area.
More later

Back Home and Preparing for our TRIP

I can't believe that I have been so long without posting to my Blog.

But ..... I do have an excuse, if you will allow me.

Right after the last post, I went through a series of physical problems that sapped my desire to write.  I say physical problems and not illness' because I wasn't realy sick the whole time, I just went from one probem to another.

First, we had arrived in the TT-Clermont FL campground, and I got food poisoning at a local restaurant ..... twice in two weeks.  Each time, I had the typical symptoms of nausea and diarrhea. This, of course, screwed my system up, and I went into several days of Gout.

Now Gout, is very painful, and really restricts your movements.  And the cure, for me as a transplant recipient, is the drug Colcisine.  A regimen of this pill also makes you sick and gives you a strong case of diarrhea for several days.

Perhaps you now see the trend here?  A lot of Nausea and Diarrhea.  Great for weight loss, but it really makes you weak and lethargic.

Add to this the fact that I am a new Diabetic, and I spent the time at campgrounds, sitting in the RV, sick and taking my appropriate drugs for the symptoms of the day.

Now, during this time, I did have a day or two at a time that I didn't hurt, but never really got my strength back, or my desire to write.

Well, we finally returned to our home in MB, and I have my strength back, along with a clear non-drug-befuddled head.  So, I am giving this update to our travels. There were several interesting things that happened that I will write about in the next few days, along with our planning process for a short summer trip in May-June.  And, I really do have to start the process of planning our West Coast trip.

That's it for now, and Have a Good Day!

Not Full-timers ----- Yet!

We are not Full-Timers Yet!

W want to be, but we have certain Health constraints that we are working very hard at managing so we can be Full-Timers for a few years.  We have mentioned the Health conditions we both have, and I feel that all of them are manageable if we planwell and set-up everything just right.

We have met a lot of people that are Part-Timers, and they tend to define that as taking one 3+ month trip a year, plus a couple of short 1 or 2 week trips. 

Helen and I call ourselves Most-Timers, because we return to our home in Myrtle Beach when we need to tend to Doctor Visits, Our House, our Cars, Legal Issues, or most importantly our Family in Virginia and NorthCarolina.  You think about it:----- two people, with Dentists, GP Doctors, both with Orthopaedic Doctors, my Nephrologist, add Colonoscopies, Eye Exams, my new case of Diabetes, and we are going crazy to get on the road and heal, if nothing else.

The wanderlust sets in after about 3-4 weeks at home, and we really try to get things done and wrapped up as quickly as possible, so we can hit it again.

So, Most-Timers it is, for us, for now, with a steely eye on Full-Time RVing.

Selecting our first Class-A RV

The Learning Process:

Our learning process on Class-A RV's started with our looking at a lot of RV's, new and used on a number of RV and Auto sales lots.  Now, this is a painful process to a certain degree as you have to listen to, and eventually reject a lot of dealers.  Remember, they all want a fast sale, and when you push back, they lose interest, so you really have to play their game up to a point by feeding them words they want to hear like:

"We want to get into RVing, and have decided on a Class-A, but we don't know a lot about them.  Could you show me a few, and explain why I would want this model?"

"We have looked at a few, but we don't know a lot about this brand!"

"We just came into a little money, and we are looking in this price range"

"I don't see exactly what I want.  I really would like for it to have - - - - - -- - -.  Here is my phone# and email, could you check around for me, and let me know if you see what I want?  Oh Yeah, could I have your card?"

I could go on and on, but you get the drift here.  You need to talk to a lot of them, and take the time to learn about the differences in brands, models, potential problems and drawbacks, and pricing.  You need to make an informed decision.  These things cost a lot of money, and you don't want to make the mistake I made (more on that later).

The second thing we did in our learning process was to take advantage of eBay.  There are always hundreds of Campers and RV's listed on eBay, by private owners as well as dealers.  And, the listings have pictures as well as a lot of detailed data.

SO, I recommend that if you do not have an eBay account, get one.

eBay allows you to search for and find items (RV's) and add them to your own personal "Watch List".

I went on line once a week, and reviewed what I had listed, and I did not hesitate to call the individual or dealer, and draw out whatever new information on what they were selling.  Each one would brag on their unit and tell you what was better about theirs than any others I might mention.  A Great learning experience.

I also went to the NADA site (NADA.COM), on the web and went through the tedious process of entering the details on any RV I was interested in, and printing out the pricing which included the 4 values they provide;

1. Low Retail Base, 
2. High Retail Base, 
3. Low Retail w/Options, and 
4. High Retail w/Options.
   

These are supposed to be the range of the potential value for the RV that you entered the Data for, but there is  another number that the NADA data does not include, and that is the approximate discount off of Retail that the dealers work with in making a deal.

This discount is generally 10% to 12%, in a normal economy, and can be higher if; the economy is down, the model you are looking at is not a popular one, the manufacturer has gone out of business (this has happened a lot over the past year), the unit you are looking at is not in good condition, or has obvious repairs needed.

My First RV Purchase:

After about six months of looking on lots,dealing with dealers and individual sellers, I was comfortable enough to start making offers.

Helen and I decided we would find an older unit in pretty good condition, and use it for a year to confirm that this is what we wanted to do.  We figured that either way, good of bad, we would fix up the easy things on what we bought and after a year, sell it ourselves, and then get ourselves a new unit that fill our personal requirements.

I had made several offers and not closed the deals, when I finally found a 36-foot 1996 Pace-Arrow Vision in the Tampa FL area that looked good and was reasonably priced according to everything I could find out about it.

The only problem was that I was a little "car-poor" at the time with 3 vehicles in the driveway.  One of them was a Ford Explorer that I had run up a lot of highway miles on, over it's 5 year life, and although being in great condition, and looking great, it did not get very good gas mileage, thus it was proving to be very hard to sell.

In my negotiations with the owner of th RV, I casually offered to trade him the Explorer, and to my surprise he asked for pictures and details.  I sent what he wanted, to him, and he counter offered a price including the Explorer.  We negotiated for a couple of days, we closed the deal, and I sent him a deposit.

The next week, Helen and I packed some linen, some food in a cooler, and a few other necessities, and hit the road to Florida.

Inspecting the Pace-Arrow:

We arrive at the sellers house, and - - - - - well the RV did not look as good as the pictures, and Helen and I went into a spin with the seller, but - - -  we finally we calmed down, walked around the block, and decided to give the unit a thorough inspection before we made up our mind.

We spent the next hour climbing all over the RV, and considering it's age, it was actually in pretty good condition.  What had made it look worse was that the owner had let it sit for several months and it had gotten dirty, and there were a number of easy to fix cosmetic things on the inside, all easy to repair.

On the plus side we had the seller concerned enough to offer us a nice discount off of the agreement, and we finally went to the bank and closed the deal.

Driving my new (used) RV home.

I had planned and mapped our return trip in great detail, and we felt comfortable pulling away from the sellers house, and finally onto US-95 North.

We were somewhere just south of Jacksonville, when I decided to get some gas, so we checked my travel package of maps, phone numbers, etc, and we saw that we were coming up on a PILOT Stop.

So, we took the appropriate ramp and at the Stop sign, I lookedy and instead of a giant Truck stop, here I am at a facilit slightly larger than your neighborhood gas station.  Well, I was committed now, so I saw that I could pull around the station and line up for a pump (barely) where I could get my gas, and still get out of the station and back onto the road.

Here is where I should mention that an RV has a totally different turning profile than a car, and that your RV povits on it's rear tire. (See my other Blog donsrvinfo.blogspot.com for details on this penomenon and how to handle it.

SO, I pulled past the pump, and made my turn to line the RV up.  I suddenly heard a screeching sound and looked back and immediately slammed on the brakes.  It seems I had just tried to move the concrete and steel protection post that you see at most gas stations near the pump, with one of the side compartment doors, which by the way is made of thin aluminum.  The POST WON and I now had a concave baggage compartment door, with very little paint on the bottom part.

Added salt to the situation, came when the gas station manager came out laughing, and telling me that it looked lik his post was OK, so there would be no extra charge for cleaning my paint off of his post.  He then went on to tell me that that happens every week or 2 to an RV, so he was used to it.

Helen and I humbly filled up with gas and left to continue on our trip home.

We crossed into Georgia and stopped at a nice campground for the night. We actually had a good night, everything on the RVworked for us, we had a hot dinner, and sat outside with a bottle of good wine to celebrate our new lifestyle, even if the RV was somewhat bruised, so to speak.

The next morning, over a hot breakfast, we cheerily decided that "this was the life", we had learned a valuable lesson, and finally hit the road again.

I should mention here that it turns out that probably 75% of US-95 was under construction, and we were seeing more Orange cones along both sides of the road than we had ever seen before this trip.

We had driven an hour or so, and we were nearing a bridge.  The Cones had funneled all traffic into 2 narrow lanes with a speed limit of 60-mph, when we saw a bridge ahead.  Then about 1000 feet before the bridge, the speed dropped to 55-mph, and there were construction people and equipment everywhere.

I slowed down, and stuck to the right lane, but was noticing that the double-lines on my side and the white line on the passenger side were barely wider than my tires, so I backed off some more as I approached the bridge.

Suddenly, my mirror filled with a very large Tractor truck with a wind cowling on it, and the Truck's right tires were right on the double lines.  I looked to the other side, and the cones were right in the white line. This meant that my RV itself was wider than the allowed lane width.

My immediate choice was, Truck or cones, or brakes. IfI chose Brakes the RV directly behind me would hit me, If I chose Truck, it would either hit me, or hit the bridge, so I took out 8 cones (yes, Helen and I both counted the thumps) while the Truck passed me like a bolt of lightning, and obviously speeding. I pulled back to the left immediately, but I didn't stop, basically because there was no place to stop without getting hit in the rear by the Class-C motorhome behind me, as I mentioned.

By the time I crossed the bridge, I had decided that I was not stopping until I got to the next Rest Area on US-95. Well, it turns out that Georgia doesn't believe in Rest Stops, I guess, because the next one was in South Carolina.

As I drove to the Rest Area, I had previously noticed that the Class-C was always a mile or so behind me, so by the time I did stop, I was expecting all kinds of terrible things to happen.

I finally pulled in to the Camper parking area, and was getting out my tools to work on whatever damage I had to the RV, when the driver of the Class-C RV pulled in and the man and woman came over to our rig.

They looked at the damage, turned to us and started laughing.  They said that when I hit those cones they were obviously not made of rubber, because they exploded into a million tiny reflective pieces of orange and white plastic and that flew everywhere.  While continuing to laugh, they said they drove through this beautiful cloud in time to see 5 construction workers jumping over the end of the bridge abutment.

Helen said "Oh my God, were they hurt?" and the other woman said that "probably only their pride, the ground was on the other side of the abutment, and was at the same level as the road, so it looked like they just jumped and rolled away out of surprise more than anything."

They continued on in to the rest rooms still laughing at us, and we surveyed the damage.  It came down to, a piece of the front fiberglass fender missing, a door mutilated on the battery compartment, and a cracked piece of fiberglass right in front of the door.  Luckily I had the two best car body tools for this type of job with me;  A drill, a pop-riveter, and a roll of Duct Tape.

Helen fixed lunch and I performed a makeshift repair job.  We had lunch, and finally hit the road again, on our way home.

We got home, unloaded the RV, and finally relaxed enough to survey our experience.  And, it had been an experience.

We opened a bottle of Chardonnay, sat down, and went over the whole experience, slowly and in detail. Our own laughter started, and by the time we got to the bottom of the bottle of wine, we calculated that the most expensive thing we had to do to the RV was repair the results of our trip, so we went to bed!

It turns out that we did fix the RV, and we used it for over a year and had many great times in it.  We also sold it for a small profit and went on to buy the WRONG NEW RV.

That's another story.