Category: RVing & the Legal System
DRIVE YOUR RV LIKE A TRUCKER!
January 13, 2012 by Professor95 · 10 Comments
I would like to ask you a question. It is a tough question – not only to answer honestly, but for me to ask because I KNOW it could be interpreted (wrongly) as an insult to your inner ego. Are you really qualified to safely drive your RV? And if you answered yes (or even no ), the next question is: Do you always adhere to the rules and regulations that outline safe driving practices for RVs? If you are still with me and not totally insulted by my suggesting that you just might not be fully qualified (from a safety viewpoint) to drive your RV – take some time to consider the following discussion and then process the content with an open mind. Once a driver moves from a family type automobile to a motor home or even a 26-foot travel trailer pulled by a 1/2 ton pick-up, everything changes. Your stopping distance, passing range, acceleration time, and visibility are only the beginning of what is different. There is a reason statistics show that the percentage of rear-end collisions... [Read more...]
Is your RV insurance adequate???
October 31, 2011 by Dana Ticknor · 7 Comments
As we have been dealing with the frame failure of our Gulf Stream 5th wheel, we have found the learning curve to be quite steep! It has been nearly 2 months since we realized that the ‘up-stairs’ part on our frame was cracked in all 4 corners, and that our rv was not structurally sound. Fast forward those 2 months, and our RV is finally getting fixed (over the course of the next month). No thanks to the shoddy workmanship and lack of customer service on the part of Gulf Stream. Even tho the first welder who looked at it said that the frame was inadequate for the weight of the trailer built upon the frame, and the repair shop who is fixing it for us now attributes the failure to ‘shoddy workmanship’ and a lack of fasteners attaching the sidewalls to the frame, Gulf Stream has yet to communicate with us about the failure despite our numerous contacts with them. (on a side note, the repair shop has said that they will be cutting out that entire front part... [Read more...]
Unforgettable RV Trips — A Series — Number 1
September 12, 2011 by Traveler8343 · 3 Comments
Dateline 1974 We were a young family with two children. We loved camping and often went out six or more times a year but, as our family grew, things were becoming complicated. During a tent trip to the Smokies, our youngest had breakfast in his highchair while sitting outside—in his snowsuit. It was then that we decided it was time for a change. We began putting money aside for one special trip every year in a rented RV. We still went tent camping in between our RV trips whenever the weather was mild, and even purchased a VW camper in 1970. Well, not the official VW camper, that was beyond our budget. We bought a new VW van and then made some modifications, including a jalousie screened window, a roof vent, an exterior oil cooler, a front-end spare tire mount, a large rooftop rack and a storage box-bed-bench seat. Between our van, our tent and a sometimes-yearly RV rental, we spent the next fifteen years roaming the east coast between Maine and Tennessee. We were happy, but we still... [Read more...]
Camping and RV’ing Support American Jobs (Opinion-Editorial Submission)
July 21, 2011 by Professor95 · 3 Comments
Jobs, jobs and more jobs. That is what this Country needs right now to get us out of the economic slump. Any time unemployment rises, our economy suffers. While all of our politicians keep trumping ideas and probable solutions for putting Americans back to work, none has addressed the positive impact the ownership and use of recreational vehicles has on our economy. RV’ers contribute to the employment of hundreds of thousands of American workers. It is estimated that for every RV built, sold and used by families in the USA, two full-time jobs are created or sustained. There are at least 8 million (8,000,000) American households that own at least one RV. We also annually visit many of the 13,000 privately owned RV parks and 1,600 public facilities that cater to RV’s – many more can be counted if we include tent campers. It all begins with the manufacture of RV and camping components from raw materials. We need steel, aluminum, fiberglass, lumber, plastics and rubber... [Read more...]
Making Ugly Faces at Dogs is Not Permitted
June 22, 2011 by Traveler8343 · 3 Comments
Minnesota! Now, who wouldn’t want to live there? Where men are men and women are good looking and all the children are above average… (Thanks to Garrison Keilor and his Lake Wobegon for that). Natural beauty, support for culture and education, good jobs that let hard-working people hold their heads up high, and friendly laws that protect the innocent and scare the dickens out of miscreants… These, I think, are good measures for judging where we might want to live… As are its laws, which I believe are an important measure as to how well they protect the innocent, the trustworthy, the loyal and the brave — our pets. Did you know that in Oklahoma it is against the law to make ugly faces at a dog? And in Normal, Ohio “It is against the law to make any faces at dogs, ugly or not.” [Read more...]
