First All-Electric Motorhome Introduced at Louisville RV Show

By Bob Difley The first all electric motorhome, a creation by MVP RV of Riverside, California, cruised the highways for 180 miles at between 65 and 70 mph, and set the standard for those who follow. That’s a considerable increase in mileage between charges from the first mass market electric cars. Even so, there are at present few charging stations on the nation’s highways which are needed to move electric RVs between campgrounds, so it may be some time before you can walk into a dealer lot and buy an electric motorhome. Read more  Read More →

In an Enclave of Peace

By the Never-Bored RVers   T’is the season of peace … but, it’s not easy to find peace if your RV is parked in an urban setting.  For two of the past four weeks – ever since leaving Death Valley, California – we have been in Orange County (a.k.a., “The O.C.”), a suburb of 2,000,000 people and all of them crowding the freeways, surface streets and luxurious shopping centers at the same time. Peace is hard to find around these parts. We have landed in O’Neill Regional Park, a serene setting just outside the City of Lake Forest in Southern California.  It’s a beautiful county-owned park sheltered by lots of trees and space between campsites, a far cry from city noises but not far from shopping and attractions.   More on O’Neill in a few moments … Within hiking distance or a short drive from the park is an enclave of peace we enjoy.  It’s up a narrow, very tight winding road that leads to the Ramakrishna Monastery operated by the Vedanta Society.  The monastery sits atop 40 acres of largely undeveloped rolling hills in Trabuco Canyon.   This is absolutely not a place you can reach in a motorhome or pulling a rig, but you can make it in a car. Open to visitors between the hours of 9 and 11 a.m. and 3 to 5 p.m. each day, the ­­­­compound has sat isolated from the threat of urban development for almost 80 years, having fought off one intense effort by urbanizers to grab parts of the wilderness surrounding the few modest buildings used for spiritual... Read more

Photo Gifts Made Easy with Picasa

Still have some people on your gift list?  There are lots of gift ideas that can be made from your own photographs.  Some of them can be ready to pick up at your local Walmart or Walgreens today, and some can be mailed overnight for an extra charge.  Normally, it takes a week or so to receive the gift.  You can even have it shipped directly to your recipient.  It’s all done online with your digital photos, a credit card, and a shipping address. What can you Order? You can order anything from simple prints of your photos, to framed or ‘floated’ wall masterpieces.  You can also order professional hard-bound books of your pictures – I love these books for special keepsake gifts.  Then there’s the fun stuff.  Photo gifts that are also useful, like mugs, tshirts, or mouse pads.  Most of the providers listed offer all of these things, but they each have their specialties.  You can check them out on their various websites before selecting one thru Picasa.  Here’s a partial list of the websites, but make sure to come back to Picasa before actually ordering!  Read on to see why. Check out the offerings at these providers, then come back to Picasa to order: CVS, Kodak Gallery, PhotoStamps, fotoflōt, Walmart FOTO.com, Lifepics, Snapfish, Walgreens, RITZPIX, Shutterfly, American Greetings PhotoWorks, Snaptotes Picasa’s ‘Shop’ button makes it easy If you use Picasa, all you have to do is select the photo, or photos you want to use and click the Shop button. ... Read more

Gr8LakesCamper: Holiday Gift Guide

Here — in no particular order (or rhyme or reason) — is a somewhat decent holiday gift guide for RVers, starting with three new products from the Fastway company: Fastway Flip automatic jack foot The new Fastway Flip automatic jack foot adds 6 inches to your jack instantly, and flips up and down automatically as you retract or extend the jack. The Flip jack foot eliminates the hassles of storing and stacking wood blocks, or finding a place to store a removable extension. The Flip jack foot puts itself away each time you use it. No springs, cables, or pins are required. The Flip jack foot installs easily using pilot holes in the foot as a guide; then a single bolt (supplied) mounts the Flip to the bottom of the jack. The Fastway Flip jack foot fits most tongue jacks round or square, with models to fit 2-inch and 2 1/4-inch jacks. Maximum tongue weight rating is 1,400 lbs. and designed for use on horse, RV, cargo, boat, and utility trailers. For more information call (877) 523-9103 or visit www.FastwayTrailer.com. Fastway ONEstep tandem axle wheel chock The Fastway ONEstep is the fastest and easiest tandem axle wheel chock. The ONEstep wheel chock eliminates common chocking hassles like ratcheting, pinched fingers, bending or kneeling down, splintery wood chunks, and stuck wedges pinched by trailer movement. The ONEstep chock sets quickly in place by simply stepping down on the scissor arms, and removes easily by pulling up on the cable handle, even when wedges have been pinched... Read more

Emulate congressional goals: Cut spending but maintain your RV lifestyle

By Bob Difley Soon the lame duck congress will pass the baton to a new house consisting of many new representatives elected on the platform of cutting costs and reducing debt. A noble effort, as long as the costs being cut do not affect our particular interests. So with that aim in mind, it would be a good time to look at ways to cut our RVing costs, while not diminishing our RV lifestyle or causing unwanted hardship. At first, some of the suggestions listed below may appear to do that, but in actuality, most are just a matter of changing habits and adjusting priorities. I’m sure you can add some more, that’s what the comment section is for, so you can be heard also. Stay longer at campgrounds.  Check out the weekly rates, sometimes significantly less expensive than the daily rate. You will also reduce your total annual mileage and fuel used. Boondock more often. Save on campground fees and grid electricity usage. Stay at your boondocking campsite longer. Practice conserving your resources, water, electricity, holding tank capacities to stretch your boondocking days. And (Note: book plug coming) consider buying my ebook, BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America’s Public Lands which shows how to become an effective boondocker. Drive 55. Lower speeds produce more miles-per-gallon, and you will enjoy the scenery more at lower speeds. Avoid jack-rabbit starts and quick stops. It’s all about torque and kinetic energy and fuel usage. Keep tires properly... Read more

Snowbird destinations: New Mexico

D.H. Lawrence said it best: “I think New Mexico was the greatest experience from the outside world that I ever had. It certainly changed me forever….The moment I saw the brilliant, proud morning sunshine high over the deserts of Santa Fe, something stood still in my soul, and I started to attend….In the magnificent fierce morning of New Mexico one sprang awake, a new part of the soul woke up suddenly, and the world gave way to the new.” Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe. © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved “The Land of Enchantment” is scrawled across the New Mexico license plate. To someone who hasn’t visited New Mexico that may just seem like a phrase produced by Madison Avenue or a chamber of commerce. But a visit to New Mexico will quickly enchant and thoroughly cast a spell over you, and you’ll wonder why it took so long to make that initial visit. Renowned New Mexico artist Georgia O’Keeffe once said, “If you ever go to New Mexico, it will itch you for the rest of your life.” Like millions of folks from all over the world, we came to know exactly what she meant. The people, the culture, the cuisine, the landscape, the climate—New Mexico just gets under your skin and takes hold. Whatever form it takes, the New Mexico mystique is a powerful force to reckon with. The mystique of New Mexico’s American Indian tribes is extremely powerful. The Navajo, Apache, Ute, Hopi, and Pueblo cultures all call New Mexico home. Their unique languages, colorful... Read more

Here’s What Every RV Owner With A Dog Should Know: How To Teach Your Dog To “Potty” On Command

When you’re setting up your RV, does your dog embarrass you by “pottying” in places he shouldn’t? It’s funny, but it’s also embarrassing. Without an “Elimination Command” your dog is left to guess where and when you want him to “potty”. Here’s how to teach your dog to eliminate on command: The trick is to start associating your command word (we use: “Get Busy”) with the behavior your dog is already doing. What you’re going to need to do is: Set up a strict feeding and watering schedule. If you’re not currently traveling, then take your dog out to your backyard on leash, to the same spot and – right after a meal, walk him back and forth and keep repeating the command, “Get buys, Get busy, Get busy” until he eliminates. Praise him lavishly, as soon as he finishes his potty break. Your goal is to start building an association to the command. To start linking the command phrase, “Get busy” with the act of eliminating. After a couple dozen times, your dog will begin to develop a conditioned response when he hears you begin to repeat the “Get busy” command. We’re able to take our dogs pretty much anywhere, and within a couple of minutes of giving the command, our dogs will potty– knowing exactly where WE want them to do it. This command is simple to teach and from the dog’s perspective, it’s just an extension of housebreaking. Here’s a short video I made that demonstrates how it’s... Read more

Snowbird destinations: Utah

Few other states can match the geological diversity of Utah, which sits at the junction of three geophysical regions: the Rocky Mountains, the Colorado Plateau, and the Great Basin. While in Utah, explore mountains, deserts, colorful canyons, cool caves, natural bridges, arches, and a big, bold, briny lake. Pictured above: Arches National park. © Rex Vogel, all rights reserved With its unworldly scenery and unusual history, Utah ranks among the most intriguing destinations in the U.S. This large western state has magnificent mountains, stark deserts, colorful canyons, cool caves, natural bridges, colorful arches, and a big, bold, briny lake. Utah is home to five national parks and seven national monuments, making it a paradise for RVers who love the outdoors. Also, the state is justly famous for its excellent skiing, river rafting, biking, hiking, and backpacking. Although Spanish explorers and mountain men visited Utah in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, settlement was slow due to the state’s harsh conditions. In 1843, John Fremont explored what is now the Great Salt Lake Valley area, noting not only its weirdly saline water but the fertile valleys shadowing the mountains. Fremont’s findings inspired Mormon leader Brigham Young, then in Illinois, to plan a caravan west to an empty land where his people would not be persecuted. “This is the right place,” Young stated when arriving with his followers in 1847. The Mormons quickly laid out a city, dug irrigation... Read more

What is a “Green Certified” RV?

I just returned from the 48th annual National RV Trade Show in Louisville, Kentucky. There was a good representation of exhibitors and manufacturers at the show and attendance was up from last year’s scaled down show. All good signs that the RV industry is on the rebound. Read more  Read More →

RVIA Show, New Product Introduction

One subject that will always create a lot of conversation on the various RV forums is when someone asks about running their air conditioner via an invertor, powered by batteries.  The educated consensus is typically that you can probably do it, but the energy storage capacity of a battery bank will not power the A/C unit for any significant amount of time, thus rendering the system practically useless.  I worked a little math on this and, assuming my math is correct, a typical 13000 BTU coleman A/C unit will consume about 3800 watts per hour and a set of Trojan T-105 6 volt batteries, fully charged, has about 5400 watt hours available, or less than 2 hours of operation until the batteries are fully discharged.  Since we don’t want to discharge our batteries more than about 50%, or about 2700 watt hours, or in terms of a cold RV, about 42 minutes of operation.  In other words, not a very practical arrangement. Enter the Topleader Group Limited our of Dongguan China who were showing their line of DC operated roof top A/C units.  The photo below shows their DL-1200 unit. According to their literature, the AC unit operates on 24 volts DC, at 600 watts, and produces from 6200 BTU cooling.  I am going to assume that in the air conditioner has an internal inverter which converts the battery DC voltage to AC in order to run the compressor, either that or it actually operates with a DC motor.  Either of these schemes would be different from the typical US made A/C unit which... Read more

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