Category: Safety on the Road
MUCH MORE THAT JUST A GPS (The Rand NcNally RVND7710 cont.)
November 3, 2011 by Professor95 · 4 Comments
RV’ers take note – this thing is much, much more than just a typical GPS. My Garmin Nuvi is an excellent GPS product. It always finds an address and routes me there. But, it lacks many of the extended features offered in the Rand McNally RVND7710 specifically designed for folks driving RV’s. At first, I was disappointed in the RVND7710. The address interface was unfamiliar to me and I could not get the docking software to recognize my serial number or access the full manual. But (always a but) I quickly discovered that everything I needed to learn and remember about the operation of the RVND7710 was right in front of me programmed into the unit and accessible under TIPS, TUTORIALS and FAQ that appear as an operator option immediately after the unit boots up. I absolutely did not need an online or printed manual – it was all programed into the deice! Thankfully, the RVND7710 also includes an AC power adapter. This allowed me to “play” and learn how the unit... [Read more...]
Is a GPS Designed for RV’s Finally Available? (plus a “little” GPS history lesson)
October 28, 2011 by Professor95 · 8 Comments
I was only eleven years old on October 4, 1957, when the Russians launched Sputnik, the first satellite man had ever put into space. I remember well the specter and awe that I, and my fellow six-grade classmates, felt as we watched the news reels of this new machine orbiting the earth and how the Russians had “beat us to it.” Little did I know at the time just how much that crisp October day would change not only my life but also the lives of people all over the world. Fifty-four years later the sky is cluttered with approximately 3,000 functioning man-made satellites operating in earth’s orbit. This is out of more than 24,500 total satellites that have been tracked since Sputnik was launched. (….this also means 21,500 must have fallen back to earth ) We – like in “you and I”, not just the military, use the majority of these satellites every day – often unknowingly. TV, radio, telephone communications, weather reporting, mapping, and finding out where we are going... [Read more...]
Frame failure and homelessness…
September 20, 2011 by Dana Ticknor · 9 Comments
Approx. 2 years ago, our family went from owning our own house to being houseless - we sold our sticks and bricks and bought a toy hauler to call home while we travel the country. In the past few weeks, we have gone from being houseless but with a home (our toy hauler), to being homeless. Our 5th wheel has suffered frame failure. And it’s not just our frame that is experiencing failure, I believe that there is a failure of the RV community to realize that this is a problem that happens to 5th wheels all too commonly (and a few other rvs too!). So, are you sitting down? Because I’m writing you a book here about our experience… We had never heard of frame failure before having to deal with it ourselves - after all, something like that couldn’t happen to our beastly rig – these hunks of wood and metal are designed to withstand the rigors of use and the tumult of being hauled down the highway at 60 miles per hour. Aren’t they? ... [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...]
VISITED BY AN UNWELCOME GUEST (This one will not be invited back!)
September 1, 2011 by Professor95 · 3 Comments
We met on the Internet It was not in one of the usual chat rooms, or singles dating sites like eHarmony or Zoosk as one might expect. She just popped up out of nowhere and introduced herself without hesitation. At first, I was shocked at how forward she was – her blatant introduction caused me to become suspicious and worried. She was young, wild, and a “fast mover”. She didn’t seem to be the least bit bashful and announced her intent to visit the clear blue waters and white sandy beaches of the Bahamas – even if she was not welcome. There was some mention about coming to North Carolina and Virginia. Maybe she would stop over for a night and we could spend a little time together. My sleep that night was restless. I couldn’t get her off my mind. I dreamed about our possible meeting. I got out of bed and picked up my laptop computer, logging into her personal social network site. I had to see what she was doing at the places she visited. Her most recent... [Read more...]
Hurricane Irene: “Get the Hell off the Beach”
August 27, 2011 by Rex Vogel · Leave a Comment
Hurricane Irene made landfall near Cape Lookout, North Carolina, just before 8 a.m. EDT with Category 1-force winds of 85 mph. This graphic shows an approximate representation of coastal areas under a hurricane warning (red), hurricane watch (pink), tropical storm warning (blue) and tropical storm watch (yellow). The orange circle indicates the current position of the center of the tropical cyclone. (Credit: noaa.gov) The center of Irene is located about 5 miles north-northeast of Cape Lookout, North Carolina, or about 60 miles southwest of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and is moving to the north-northeast near 14 miles per hour. The center of Irene is forecast to cross through the North Carolina Sounds, through the Outer Banks, and back into the Atlantic today, then riding up the coast with an eventual landfall anticipated on Sunday along Long Island then on the other side of Long Island Sound in Southern New England as a minimal hurricane. Tropical-storm-force winds will continue to... [Read more...]
What do Earthquakes and Hurricanes have in common?
August 25, 2011 by Professor95 · 2 Comments
Some folks on the west coast have been laughing about our recent earthquake on Twitter – but for a community that is not used to the ground shaking it is no laughing matter. The “Big ‘Un” for us east coasters hit Tuesday a little after 1 p.m. Buildings shook, chimneys toppled, foundations cracked, and groceries flew off the shelves of area stores. The reading was 5.9 – the most significant quake in our area in the past 114 years. Since the main quake Tuesday, we have recorded seven after-shocks, the most recent this morning around 1:30 a.m. with a 4.6 reading. I slept right through it. I guess those zero gravity sleep number beds don’t shake during earthquakes. Groceries flew off the shelves in Louisa during the earthquake While the epicenter of the quake was only about 50 miles west of our home, we escaped any damage on our property. Some of our neighbors within hollering distance have huge cracks in their home’s foundation. What I consider scary is the North... [Read more...]
From Tacoma to Nashville, RV Repairs Slowed Us Down, But Didn’t Stop Us From Having a Great Experience
August 18, 2011 by Guest Blogger · 1 Comment
(Guest Blog Post by Bob Kasprzak) My trip from Tacoma to Nashville has been plagued by repairs that have cost us a months delay. But the people who repaired out vehicle were excellent, cost efficient and timely. We traveled from Tacoma to Zion to Albuquerque to Nashville, TN in our 1986 Mini Winnie. We stopped at 1000 lakes Campground in Torre, UT to get a leaky tire fixed. The owners brother, ‘Biggie’, operates an RV repair service next to the campground. He repaired our problem, a frozen wheel axle quickly and at a very reasonable price. Just outside of Memphis an passing motorist notified us that we had a trailer problem and I pulled over to find the tire in shreds. Our road service insurance took us to a local Walmart where I bought two new larger tires and changed them in the parking lot at 10PM. Once we arrived in Nashville, our transmission quit working and ‘Mr. Transmission’ came to our rescue, fixed the tranny in one day again at a decent price. We found... [Read more...]
Sally’s Revenge and the Bear that came to Dinner – Part 2
August 17, 2011 by Traveler8343 · 2 Comments
(Continued from “Sally’s Revenge and the Bear that came to Dinner,” Part 1) Well, that big pile of hair that Sally pulled out of the bag wasn’t a wig; which was my first guess. As both families stood around that first morning; deep in the forest in Matthew’s Arm Campground at beautiful Shenandoah National Park, I might have grumbled a bit. We had been waiting for forty-five minutes while Sally finished her morning preparations for taking a short hike on the Appalachian Trail. She primped, painted and brushed. But it was the amount of time and effort that she was taking with that huge mass of hair that she was pinning onto her head that finally got to me. “Is she ever going to be finished with that wig?” I whined (yes, I whined, but I was at my breaking point, okay?). It’s not a Wig; it’s a Fall!” my wife hissed, “And keep your voice down!” “Well,” I hissed back, “I’m going to go berserk if she decides that she needs a pedicure before we... [Read more...]
DON’T BECOME A VICTIM OF RV LOCK-IN (or, how to fix an important safety fault.)
August 12, 2011 by Professor95 · 6 Comments
We had pulled into a rest area/welcome station just across the state line. Due to our RV’s longer length, we had to park with the big trucks. While Nancy took Oscar for his walk, I popped into the camper to complete a quick check of the contents then closed the door and headed to the Men’s rest room. Upon returning to the truck, I saw Oscar sitting in the front seat looking out the window. The assist handle next to the camper’s only door was jutting out in the open position. Figuring that I had neglected to move the handle in to the transport position, I snapped it back in front of the camper door and made myself comfortable in the driver’s seat of the truck, all the time assuming Nancy had left Oscar in the truck and made a visit to the Lady’s rest room. An unusually long period of time had passed and I was getting worried about Nancy. Then, a trucker rapped on my door indicating for me to roll down my window. He looked up and said, “Hey, mister, your wife is locked... [Read more...]
