Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture, and RVs

A few years ago, a friend of mine — who also happened to be one of the most talented comedians I’ve known — suffered a heart attack. As a comic, this guy was absolutely hilarious. He was always bursting with rambunctious energy and zany, off-the-wall humor. So his heart condition came as something of a shock to me. It just didn’t seem possible that a person so full of life could also be so ill. But my friend never recovered from his heart attack. He died at age 43. Airstream RV Blog #72 – Randy Pausch from Sean Michael on Vimeo. Read more  Read More →

Best Pet-Friendly RV Parks in North America (Part II)

Okay, so we didn’t get a tremendous response on your favorite pet-friendly RV parks in North America, so we’re going to try again. I do think this would truly be a great list to compile. And what better source than to get the information from you, the RV experts, who have visited these places and can relate your experiences first-hand. Read more  Read More →

Don’t Forget The Trailer

In “Minimize Resistance, Maximize Fuel Economy, Part II” post, we discussed the importance of checking your trailer’s alignment. We recently had a customer come in who took this advice to heart, and decided to have his double-axle fifth wheel trailer checked out. Indeed, it was out of alignment, but that was only a small part of the story. Read more  Read More →

More On Tires

Well I really stepped in it last week and as Sven pointed out about a minute after I posted that I did not answer the question in the title. That was what is the correct tire pressure? Well, if we hang in a bit I promise that I will answer the question. A hint is that there is no one answer but perhaps we can clear up the formula. Larry wrote that the “air limit is stamped on the side wall of the tire”. That is basicly true but there is also a weight stamped with the PSI number and usually more to the statement. larry has it half right. The Firestone T559 tires sized 9R22.5 12PR on my old Foretravel says the following: “max load single 4540 LBS at 105 PSI cold,” and then a second sentence, “max load 4200 at 105 PSI cold.” First of all why the difference in the tire pressure between single and dual? According to my sources it is the clearance between the dual wheels to make sure the tire side walls do not touch during deflection.  The statements on the tire side walls says that you can carry 4540 pounds of weight at a specific pressure and the tire will have the correct foot print and side wall deflection for a combination of low heat build up, good ride and handling and good tread wear. The entire statement must be taken in context and does not mean that this is the correct tire pressure under all conditions for this tire. Jerry wrote, “OK under inflated is not good.  So where do I get an accurate tire gauge?  Where do I find a air... Read more

MS Streets & Trips 2008 GPS Product Review (Part 1)

It seems the popularity of GPS navigation continues to grow as more and more people turn from paper maps to LCD screens.  Just over two years ago I had four vehicles, only one of which had an on-board GPS navigation system.  Today, while I only have three vehicles, it is interesting to note that all three are equipped with on-board navigation.  All three have between 5″ and 7″ screen, a services data base, trip routing and voice guidance.  They do, however, have some short falls when it comes to trip planning, routing and making changes while on route.  So I jumped at the chance to try out the new 2008 Microsoft Streets and Trips full GPS offering.  Testing this in Canada would also add to the challenge as it is often found that many mapping software programs and related embedded data bases are not always up to date compared to that found throughout the U.S.A.   To properly evaluate the product, we will divide the trial into two sections.   First we will look at the general features and user friendliness including street level detail, route planning, data base, available tools and related functions.  We will follow that next week with a hands-on trial run, when we take it to the streets of the unfamiliar-to-me city, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.  I had used MS Streets and Trips before when I had an earlier version sometime around 2001.  At that time I found the program a great help for trip planning, distance calculating and just plain direction... Read more

RVers, Choose Your Fuel

By Bob Difley How would you like to pull into a filling station and have a choice of different fuels, all of which you can use efficiently in your existing gasoline engine. That’s the ‘Holy Grail of Energy Security,’ says Don Hillebrand, director of Argonne National Laboratory’s* Center for Transportation Research. “An engine that can run on whatever is available has several major security advantages.” With today’s strangle-hold on fuel by the oil industry, your options are gasoline, gasoline, or gasoline. If you want to use another fuel, your choices include diesel, also a petroleum based fuel for which you need an entirely different engine, or electric—also requiring a different motor/engine configuration—and which has yet to become part of mainstream transportation. The spark-ignition engine being developed by Argonne’s “omnivorous engine project” would run on a variety of liquid fuels, such as gasoline, ethanol and butanol. Butanol is an organic alcohol that can be fermented from biomass or made entirely with solar energy from algae. It has an octane rating closer to that of gasoline than ethanol, which is also an alcohol fuel. Vehicles able to run on straight gasoline or 10% ethanol will run on butanol. Butanol tolerates water contamination better and is less corrosive than ethanol and more suitable for distribution through existing pipelines used for gasoline. These factors piqued the interest of both DuPont and BP that formed... Read more

External Flash

An external flash is a useful device to add to any camera system.  Even if your camera has a built-in flash, it is probably limited in the amount of light it is capable of producing. If you find your flash photographs come out too dark, an external flash unit may help.  Of course there are always limits.  No built in or external flash is going to illuminate the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls or a football stadium, although you will often find many photographers trying. Read more  Read More →

RV Today Archive – Extended Day Kit

This video provides a demonstration on how to install an extended stay kit, which will allow you to extend your stay without running out of propane. It is a step by step guide, and illustrates checking for no leaks. This kit runs a barbecue and other plants right off your motorhome tank, but it also allows you to use a cilinder, so you don’t have to use the propane in your motorhome,  Read More →

Campfire safety, it’s not all light my fire baby!

This week I want to talk about campfire safety. I realize and hope I am talking to the people that already are safety-minded about fires, but since this is one of the most frequent causes of injuries while camping, I thought it deserved a strong mention. The campfire is one of the nicest parts of camping. My family loves to sit around the campfire telling stories and making s’mores (if you promise to read this to the end I will give you the new s’mores recipe we are using!). As the night goes on and the wear and tear of the day starts to take it’s toll and the fire burns down, we become quiet and begin watching the fire and the almost hypnotic effect it starts to have. Finally, when someone either yawns so wide it looks like the top of their head is going to fall off, or falls asleep, then it is time for bed. It is also most useful for cooking and heating water for dishes if you are dry camping. But, like any tool, you must learn how to use it safely. You don’t give a 4-year-old an axe and say go have fun.  Likewise you don’t give a 4-year-old matches and say go have fun… but, at any age, you can learn about fire safety. Most of what I am going to say is common sense but, like my Grandfather used to tell me, “Common sense isn’t that common anymore.” So, please read this, and if you learn one new thing that can make you safer, it will have been worth it! Read more  Read More →

Hey Ranger! The Whirlwind Tourist

Most national and state parks offer enough things to see and do to fill a vacation, and one solution to higher gas prices is to spend more time enjoying a single destination. Many of us like to visit new places, however, and the siren song of “just one more stop” can be hard to resist. Proving that anything can be taken to excess, the character in the following true story gets my vote for an appearance on “Extreme Stopover – Whirlwind Tourist Edition.” Read more  Read More →

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