For "tRaVersing Thursday" or RV Day:
Top 12 National Park campgrounds
"This list might surprise you, especially when Channel Islands NP, with no road access, is on the list. But it will give you something to 
ponder — and motorhome and trailer access is possible at most of the parks. See the list here."
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RV tech shows "watch outs" for used RV buyers (video)
"If you're shopping for a "good deal" on a used RV, don't let your heart get ahead of your head. Here's an interesting video from an RV technician who walks you through someone's "great deal" that really turned out to be a lemon.
This is a guy you might like to take with you when you're considering buying a used RV — even one that's touted as that "great deal that you just can't pass up." Watch the video, and you might save yourself a major headache."
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Redneck Airlines offers RV discount
"Some airlines are desperately trying to lure back RVers who've discovered that RVing beats the pants off airline travel. If you are unsure whether you are on Redneck Air, peek into the flight deck and observe the pilot's flight check."
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How to hand crank an RV slide out
"What to do when the slideout jams while you are on location. Here's how to hand crank it back into place."
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How a paper cup can save the day at an RV sewer hookup
"Every once in awhile, typically in older RV parks, you can run into a problem with a sewer hookup. Here's an easy way to handle this uncommon situation. This is so simple you'll say "Why didn't I think of that?""
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An RV horror story. Don't let this happen to you!
"What happened to one RVer couple should never happen to anyone. Nobody was hurt — it was not that kind of an incident. But the RV was totaled. And imagine the horror the couple felt when they returned to their fifth wheel trailer to find it ruined by . . . well, watch the video."
From me: Remember to turn off the water at the spigot anytime you go anywhere. You never know what leaks can spring up.
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Fifth wheel travel trailers — invertors and generators
"Dear Gary,
Do fifth-wheel travel trailers have inverters? If they do not, then I need one with a generator, right?" Robert P. (Avon, IN)
"Robert, many 5th wheel travel trailers are 
indeed equipped with an inverter. In some cases, however, they may not power all 120-volt AC loads in the same manner as an on-board generator. Some trailers are equipped with both an inverter AND a generator. It just depends on that manufacturer. No hard and fast rule here..." More at: http://www.rvdoctor.com/2011/05/5th-wheel-travel-trailers-inverters-and.html
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A hot idea for gauging LP in your cylinders
"Take your kettle, fill with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, pour the hot water in one place over the tank — where the tank collar meets the tank. After the kettle is empty, place your hand at the bottom of the tank where the hot water ran down the tank. If there’s any propane in the tank it will absorb the heat from the water and the tank will be cold. From that start point, run your hand upwards along the hot water path. When you reach the point where the steel of the tank gets hot, you’ve reached the level of the propane in the tank. You now know if you’re good to go or if you need to top-off or completely refill your propane tank." by George Bliss
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Propane Co's Under-Fill Tanks
"Propane companies are saving money by under-filling the tanks they sell."
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Leveling an RV
"How level must an RV be for everything to work properly?
Many RVers wonder what the magic solution may be for a perfectly level RV. The technical experts from betterRVing.com weigh in and help make the magic a reality. The answer to the importance of leveling an RV may surprise you."
CLICK THE VIDEO TO SEE THE TIP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fG2Jrb7av5I
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RV Tips:
Leveling an RV
"How level must an RV be for everything to work properly?
Many RVers wonder what the magic solution may be for a perfectly level RV. The technical experts from betterRVing.com weigh in and help make the magic a reality. The answer to the importance of leveling an RV may surprise you."
CLICK THE VIDEO TO SEE THE TIP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=fG2Jrb7av5I
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Coach-Net adds RV tire protection program
"This new option for RVers, in addition to the usual towing, battery jumping, fuel delivery services, etc., will include a tire protection plan that offers tire and wheel hazard protection from nails, potholes, debris and more." More at: http://www.coach-net.com/News/071513_HazardProtect.aspx
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Show your support for nationwide farmers markets
"The best organic food is what's grown closest to you. Use our website to find farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area, where you can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other goodies.
Support the concept of farmer direct to the consumer markets across the country. What could be better for an RVer to find these markets wherever we travel." http://www.localharvest.org/
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RV refrigerators are different
"RV refrigerators are much different than the one in your house. They don’t have compressors and they work off the principle of absorption. You should turn the RV refrigerator on several hours before putting food in it. It is best to leave it on overnight and put your food in it just prior to leaving. Always keep a small thermometer in your RV refrigerator so you can monitor the temperature. Food can begin to go bad at about 40 degrees." Tech Tips from Mark Polk
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Lock your freezer and fridge doors
“There are usually mechanical locks for the freezer and main refrigerator doors. Use them always, and make sure they are on your check-off list before leaving camp. Without the locks both doors will fly open on bumpy roads and in hard turns.” Bill's Hints
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Off-roading in an RV? Really?
"There are some amazing, beautiful places that an RV can get to ... some are slightly off the road. Off-roading in an RV? What if you get stuck? Find out all about it this week from Rich Miller, "The Wanderman.""
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On This Day:
Nixon signs national speed limit into law, Jan 2, 1974:
"On this day in 1974, President Richard M. Nixon signs the Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act, setting a new national maximum speed limit.
Prior to 1974, individual states set speed limits within their boundaries and highway speed limits across the country ranged from 40 mph to 80 mph. The U.S. and other industrialized nations enjoyed easy access to cheap Middle Eastern oil from 1950 to 1972, but the Arab-Israeli conflict changed that dramatically in 1973. Arab members of the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) protested the West's support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War by stopping oil shipments to the United States, Japan and Western Europe. OPEC also flexed its new-found economic muscle by quadrupling oil prices, placing a choke-hold on America's oil-hungry consumers and industries.
The embargo had a global impact, sending the U.S. and European economies into recession. As part of his response to the embargo, President Nixon signed a federal law lowering all national highway speed limits to 55 mph. The act was intended to force Americans to drive at speeds deemed more fuel-efficient, thereby curbing the U.S. appetite for foreign oil. With it, Nixon ushered in a policy of fuel conservation and rationing not seen since World War II.
The act also prohibited the Department of Transportation from approving or funding any projects within states that did not comply with the new speed limit. Most states quietly adjusted their speed limits, though Western states, home to the country's longest, straightest and most monotonous rural highways, only grudgingly complied. Even after OPEC lifted the embargo in March 1974, drivers continued to face high gas prices and attempted to conserve fuel by buying revolutionary Japanese economy cars. For many, a desire for fuel-efficient automobiles became the standard until the trend toward gas-guzzling sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) emerged in the 1990s. In 1987, Congress authorized states to reset speed limits within their borders, but proponents of the national maximum speed limit law claimed it lowered automobile-related fatalities, prompting Congress to keep it on the books until finally repealing it on November 28, 1995.
Today speed limits across the country vary between 35 and 40 mph in congested urban areas and 75 mph on long stretches of rural highway. U.S. drivers now drive almost as fast as their European counterparts, who average between 75 and 80 mph on the highway. On some roads in Italy, it is legal to drive as fast as 95 mph."
From me: I suppose some folks here think they are in Italy!
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Yesterday:
I didn't take Misty when I went to get Jay, as he wanted to get a plank out of the lake. Jim, the mechanic still hasn't been well enough to finish working on my little Puddle Jumper. If I leave blind Misty alone in the van, she might fall off the seat, which is a lot higher up. If I take her out of the subdivision in the van, she has her seat belt harness on, or in a carrier. We looked at the plank, and realized that we would have to have a longer rope than the one I carry in the van.
When we got back here, we knew that for the cross fence to be in line with the existing fence that we would have to move three posts, or it would look awful. We ran a string line from end to end, and we got two posts out and reset one. So that Misty couldn't get out of the back yard, we put temporary barriers up until we could finish it.
We drove down to the lake before I took Jay home. Armed with a longer rope with a rock tied to the end, Jay threw it over the 2x12x16, and steered to to the shore. I put the ball mount in my receiver hitch, tied the rope to the ball mount, and pulled it out of the lake. They have just finished rebuilding the fishing dock, and this board must have got away from them.
As it was wet and too long to put in the van, I carefully towed it to Jay's house. I had that hitch put on 4 years ago, but it's the first time it's been used until yesterday.
2 comments:
If I ever hook on to a huge fish in Lake Conroe, I will call you to come pull it out for me (grin). Those planks are expensive. Good rescue.
Hi DD,
The last time I saw a fish almost as long as that plank, it was a catfish that had been caught in Lake Livingston. I was very upset with the fishermen, as they were going to transport it, LIVE and gasping for water, in their jon boat in the blazing TX summer sun. I thought that was so cruel.
I wouldn't go through all that for a catfish, as I don't eat them, but recycling lumber is a different thing.
Happy Tails and Trails, Penny.
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