Category: Preparation & Readiness
Bits and Pieces – On the Road Again
October 15, 2012 by Professor95 · 2 Comments
While I love to write, our recent adventures have left little time for sitting down at the computer and keying up a blog. I have more ideas than hair on my head (BTW – I am not bald) but by the time the opportunity to write gets here I am too doggone tired from all of the day’s exciting activities and end up going to bed! Just to give readers an idea of what is going on, we left the zip code address in Virginia right after Labor Day. Since then we have traversed across North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and into Kansas. Our plans are to leave our current spot in Hutchinson and head south to Branson, MO, for a few days taking in many of the shows, exhibits, tours and having some just plain old fun. From there we may swing north again to Elkhart, IN, to see Amish Country and the birthplace of our RV. Since we are expected in North Myrtle Beach, SC, by November 1st for a two week stay with friends in our Cedar Creek RV Owners... [Read more...]
Best Kept Secret in Camping: Maricopa County Parks & BOGO
October 4, 2012 by Rex Vogel · 1 Comment
One of the best kept secrets in the World of RVing is campgrounds located in county parks! But where are they, and how do you find them? A delightful end to another day in paradise at Usery Mountain Regional Park. © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved Sometimes they’re located in Woodall’s and Trailer Life Campground Directory. Often times they’re not. County parks are often relatively small and off the beaten path. But if you’re looking for a quiet place to relax, do some bird watching, hike a near-by trail, or do some great sightseeing, it might be well worth seeking out some of these neat spots. A county park system worth checking out is Maricopa County Regional Parks in Arizona. The parks circle the Phoenix metropolitan area and all are within a 45-minute drive from central Phoenix. And unlike Arizona State Parks, no Maricopa County park has been closed or has suffered cutback in services. With 10 regional parks totaling more than 120,000 acres, Maricopa County Regional Parks... [Read more...]
RV Insurance Claims: Driver Inexperience & Forgetfulness
September 30, 2012 by Rex Vogel · Leave a Comment
First party insurance claims involving recreational vehicles can often be traced to driver inexperience and forgetfulness. (Source: claimsjournal.com) The majority of claims occur within the first 90 days of ownership or at the beginning of the season, according to International Insurance Group, Inc., an independent Arizona RV insurance agency. “This is due to the nuances and size of RVs. Most drivers aren’t accustomed to the wide angles, required clearance and space required to maneuver their rig.” Gradually, as RV drivers gain experience, the claims associated with RVs change, reports claimsjournal.com. Lenny Richileau, director of the specialty vehicle claims unit for Allied and Nationwide Insurance Companies calls them the “I forgot” claims. “Experience does not eliminate claims, but it seems to change the nature of the claim. With experience, claims are less about hitting the post at the gas station, taking out the top of the rig, trying to fit under an underpass with low... [Read more...]
SUMMER TOMATOES AND GASOLINE
September 8, 2012 by Professor95 · 1 Comment
We’ve stuck pretty close to the brick and mortar dwelling this summer. Now that both of us are retired, we are not locked into summer travels when it is often too hot, expensive, and crowded. Knowing we were going to be here during the summer months of July and August, I once again got out the old ’55 Ferguson tractor and rototiller to prepare a planting bed for tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and beans. We generally transplant our tomato plants outdoors sometime after the middle of April when the chance of frost is minimal. If the weather is good, we can expect succulent, vine ripened tomatoes beginning in late June. A fresh tomato and mayonnaise sandwich is always a summer favorite. When the crop comes in, we have tomatoes running out the kazoo. There are so many tomatoes we become wasteful, cutting sandwich size slices out of the center of the ripe fruit and throwing away the rest. We give tomatoes to all our children, neighbors and friends that have none – they often... [Read more...]
CAMPING WITH A CPAP
August 19, 2012 by Professor95 · 6 Comments
CPAP is an acronym for “Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. It is a mode of respiratory ventilation commonly used in the treatment of sleep apnea. Ten years ago, very few individuals owned or used CPAP machines at home. Now, the numbers of people using CPAP have risen quickly as sleep study technicians and doctors are prescribing them to their patients. It all started for me last winter. I would awaken in the morning feeling as if I had never been to bed. I was tired and took frequent daytime naps. My wife, and bed partner, noticed one night that I appeared to stop breathing (she was still awake – reading a book). It really scared her because she thought I had a heart attack and was dead. Fortunately, I was not dead – I apparently had an episode of sleep apnea. I made an appointment with my primary care physician to see about my chronic fatigue. After he did the customary exam, he told me that he would set up an appointment for a sleep study. How can anyone sleep... [Read more...]
Put Tab A Into Slot B…
July 25, 2012 by Traveler8343 · 2 Comments
Do you know how, after doing something thousands of time, it becomes second nature and you can do it without really thinking about it? Well, that’s kind of what this story is about, except in reverse. Let me explain: After a 300 mile drive, my tired wife and I pulled into a service station for another all-too often refill of our gas tank. My wife usually does this, since she uses the stop as an opportunity to visit the station’s restroom. As she walked around the back of our SUV, I pulled up on the gas tank door release lever. I watched in my rear view mirror as she swiped the credit card and lifted the nozzle from the pump, while turning toward the car and inserting the nozzle in the tank. As I watched, she then pulled the nozzle out of the tank, looked at it for a moment, and then reinserted it again. After another moment, she removed the nozzle and turned back toward the pump. She seemed to be staring at it as if something was wrong. “What’s wrong?” I called... [Read more...]
WHATS A TOAD? – A RV Newbie’s Vocablulary List
July 8, 2012 by Professor95 · 3 Comments
I couldn’t help but laugh at Dalin Brinkman’s July 5th blog sharing his dismay over the vocabulary folks new to RVs encounter. Later in the day, I began to think more seriously about Dalin’s dilemma. The part of me that is still a teacher kicked into high gear. I remember all too well how overwhelmed my beginning students were when they were exposed to an entirely new vocabulary during my first few lectures. I decided to try and do something that just might give those still wet behind the ears with RV lingo a leg up on understanding – so I did what I would do with my students and whipped up a vocabulary list with simplified definitions intended to help them get started. Please, for those readers that are veteran RVers and accomplished linguist in the field, keep in mind that this is my seat-of-the-pants first time attempt to provide such a listing on this blog site. If you have an obscure term or RV related abbreviation you want to add, please feel free to use the comments section. ... [Read more...]
End of the Road: Assisted-living RV Park
July 7, 2012 by Rex Vogel · 2 Comments
Pearl and Bud Crispell hit the road in their recreational vehicle the day after they retired in 1976. And for decades they traveled the country at will living in their 40-foot motorhome. But, as is the eventual story of all road warriors, the day came when they hit the proverbial ‘end of the road’. Unable to manage some aspects of their life and care, living on fixed incomes, and not wanting to become a burden to friends and relatives, the Crispells pulled into the country’s only assisted-living RV Park, the Escapees Care Center in Livingston, Texas, according to AOL Real Estate. At 93 and 90, Pearl, a retired nurse, and Bud, a former IBM engineer, are not without age-related health issues. But her mind is “sharper than my husband wishes it was,” Pearl says. And she has no desire to trade the small confines of their RV for a bigger “land-based residence,” as Escapees call conventional houses. “We didn’t retire to entertain our family,”... [Read more...]
ARE YOU READY FOR TOLLS ON I-95? (Virginia thinks so…….)
June 30, 2012 by Professor95 · 5 Comments
I-95 runs all the way from Maine to Florida. It represents the major north-south corridor along the right-hand coast of the United States. It is also a major route for RV travel as anxious vacationers head to either cooler or warmer destinations, depending upon the season. If you are one of the millions of travelers that use this major highway, you just might want to put a few extra dollars in your cup holder because the Commonwealth of Virginia wants to put toll plazas on I-95 in Sussex County – for both north and eastbound traffic coming from and entering North Carolina. The proposal calls for a $4 toll for cars and a $12 toll for large trucks. While it has not been stated, this typically translates to $2.50 for each additional axle beyond two. Thus, a travel trailer with twin axles being towed by a pick-up truck would pay something like $9 at the toll plaza. If crossing all 178 miles of I-95 in Virginia, this would come out to about 5-cents additional per mile of travel. If... [Read more...]
Bears, Boredom and Bullies
June 29, 2012 by Good Sam Team · 1 Comment
Each spring our family makes an annual pilgrimage into the wilderness. This year, like most, we selected a cozy campground that sits tucked away in a mountain forest as our base camp and settled in for a few days of hiking and exploring. Our campfire provides a relaxing atmosphere at the end of each day’s activities. Spring is the perfect time of year for our family. The weather is sunny and cool, wildflowers are blooming and showing off a thousand vibrant colors, and wildlife is out in abundance. The happy melodies of songbirds provide a wonderfully calming musical backdrop as we hike, stopping frequently to photograph the many splendors that the forest offers. Wild Animals Enjoy Springtime Too During the first day of our trip while hiking we enjoyed watching a pair of gray squirrels dancing to the music of a ruby-crowned kinglet as he roosted atop a lodgepole pine. At lunchtime we made our way back to camp just in time to see a black bear lumbering his way through a nearby meadow,... [Read more...]
