For "tRaVersing, or RV Day":

I am writing this journal on my old computer to see if LW and Blogger will connect today.
No, they wouldn't connect, so I have had to copy and paste into Blogger again.
I don't like Blogger, the spacing, font, links, and pictures don't come out right.
____________

RV refrigerator rear venting

An RVer recently asked if it was possible to install an LP-fired RV refrigerator so that the lower venting of the 'fridge would come from the "toy hauling" section of his RV. No, we don't mean stepping into the cargo area to get access to the refrigerator, we mean installing the refrigerator inside the "living area" of the RV, on a common wall to the cargo area. If you're thinking about it, in a word, "Don't." Read more.
__________
The olden days when mobile Internet access was slow. . . very, very slow

RVtravel.com editor Chuck Woodbury received this email from reader Bob Hoffman in response to his essay in RV Travel News 519 about his early days on the road when he carried a small portable darkroom and typed on a manual typewriter.

Dear Chuck,

"Your story about using a typewriter reminded me of my first RV computer experience back in 1984. On that first RV trip, I carried along a VT-100 computer terminal, a 300-baud acoustic coupler, a 100' extension cord, and a 100' phone line. I'd stop at a pay phone, dial the 800 number of the computer I accessed in Huntsville, Alabama, then put the phone on the acoustic coupler and run back to the RV to access it from my terminal. At the time, I thought I was the height of technology. Though 300 baud was slow, it was much faster than the 110 baud that I'd been using back in Huntsville on a teletype machine back in the 1970s.

You can imagine the strange looks that I got from passers-by, wondering if I was doing something illegal or just plain crazy. Sitting there with my generator running and strange wires running 100' from my RV to the phone booth certainly raised a few curious looks. But, it got the job done and I was able to continue making a few bucks while traveling, which was and is always my intent."

Visit Bob's website InternetOnTheRoad.com
___________
How are your RV batteries connected?

Dear RV Doctor,
"The two house batteries in my motorhome have been removed to be replaced. They were 6-volt batteries but the person who removed them does not remember if they were wired in series or parallel. The motorhome is a 2005 Cross Country. How should the house batteries be wired?" --Will S., (Seminole, OK)

Read Gary's response.
___________

Sink Away exterior sink keeps dirt outside

"Now have a sink and water supply on the outside of your RV with Sink Away Exterior Sink! The ultimate campsite convenience is an RV sink outside where it's really needed!

Self-contained, portable Sink-Away mounts almost anywhere on RV exteriors and is ready to keep dirt and messes outside where they belong. Its ideal for washing hands, paws, faces, and fresh food–even for cleaning fish.   Sink-Away is lightweight, compact, easy to store, with optional accessories. It comes with the sink and frame, 3/4" water supply inlet connection, unique flexible gooseneck faucet, drainage hose, and mounting bracket. Coiled Hose sold separately." More at: http://www.greatrvaccessories.com/2012/01/sink-away-exterior-sink-keeps-dirt.html
____________

glideAWAY bike rack enables easy access to hatchbacks and SUVs

"If you tow a hatchback or SUV behind your motorhome you know the difficulty of carrying bicycles on a rack and accessing the rear hatch with the rack and/or bikes in place.

Heininger's Advantage glideAWAY deluxe 4 bike carrier eliminates the irritation with other rear mounted carriers of having to take your bikes off every time you want access to your vehicle from the back. http://youtu.be/p5iO2TFaDvI

Designed to hold up to four bicycles with 1-2" top frame tubes, the ingenuous accordion style folding arm construction of the Advantage glideAWAY allows it to be pulled away from your vehicle with the simple lifting of the handle of its spring loaded safety latch, located behind its main upright support post. " More at: http://www.greatrvaccessories.com/2012/01/glideaway-bike-rack-enables-easy-access.html
____________

Tech Tips from Mark Polk, Generators need exercise, too


"When I worked at an RV dealership, every spring our service department was booked with appointments for generators that either wouldn't start, or if they did start they had that all too familiar surging sound. This was a result of letting the generator sit for periods of time without starting and exercising it. Lack of use is one of the biggest problems with generators. In gasoline generators the fuel breaks down and gums up causing hard starting and surging problems. This can happen in as short a period of time as two months." Read more.
__________

Random RV Thought

A tiny broom, sometimes sold at toy stores, can do a good job of cleaning a floor, even most carpets. No power is needed except human power and the broom stores easily in a closet. It can also be used to tidy up a campsite.
__________

On This Day:

First Boston Marathon held, Apr 19, 1897:

"On April 19, 1897, John J. McDermott of New York won the first Boston Marathon with a time of 2:55:10.

The Boston Marathon was the brainchild of Boston Athletic Association member and inaugural U.S. Olympic team manager John Graham, who was inspired by the marathon at the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. With the assistance of Boston businessman Herbert H. Holton, various routes were considered, before a measured distance of 24.5 miles from the Irvington Oval in Boston to Metcalf's Mill in Ashland was eventually selected.

Fifteen runners started the race but only 10 made it to the finish line. John J. McDermott, representing the Pastime Athletic Club of New York City, took the lead from Harvard athlete Dick Grant over the hills in Newton. Although he walked several times during the final miles, McDermott still won by a comfortable six-minute, fifty-two-seconds. McDermott had won the only other marathon on U.S. soil the previous October in New York.

The marathon's distance was changed in 1908 in accordance with Olympic standards to its current length of 26 miles 385 yards."
__________

Truck bomb explodes in Oklahoma City, Apr 19, 1995:

"Just after 9 a.m., a massive truck bomb explodes outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The blast collapsed the north face of the nine-story building, instantly killing more than 100 people and trapping dozens more in the rubble. Emergency crews raced to Oklahoma City from across the country, and when the rescue effort finally ended two weeks later the death toll stood at 168 people killed, including 19 young children who were in the building's day-care center at the time of the blast.

In December 2000, McVeigh asked a federal judge to stop all appeals of his convictions and to set a date for his execution. Federal Judge Richard Matsch granted the request. On June 11, 2001, McVeigh, 33, died of lethal injection at the U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was the first federal prisoner to be put to death since 1963."
___________

Yesterday:

When I tried to publish my "Bird" journal from Live Writer to Blogger, it wouldn't do it. I spent a couple of hours trying to remedy it, but to no avail. It was shopping day, so Misty and I went to get Jay, telling him that I only needed to make two stops, the DG store and Petsmart.

But he was going to a sleep clinic last night, so wanted to go thrift shopping for some pajamas. We stopped at several shops, and he found them, and I bought some nice clothes, too. It was past lunch time when we were through looking, so we had to go home. I never did get to DG or Petsmart!

All afternoon I tried all sorts of things to make Live Writer and my blog recognize each other, but ended up copying and pasting some of it straight to Blogger.

Jay and his mother are staying at his sister's house while he has to go to the sleep clinic. As they were afraid that Maddie, the little Yorkie, would jump in his sister's pool and not be able to find the steps, she is staying with us.
I had to copy and paste into Blogger again.  I don't like Blogger, the spacing, font, links, and pictures don't come out right.  I have a support ticket in, so maybe it can be fixed today.