Motorhome Rally in Vermont

  by Chris Guld of Geeks on Tour: Just a small part of the 550 coaches at NorthEast Area Rally in Essex Junction, VT in 2009 We’re on our way to Vermont for the FMCA NE Area Rally July 21 to 24, 2011.  We were there a couple of years ago and enjoyed the area (near Burlington) very much.  It’s on the shores of Lake Champlain and the rally even includes an optional buffet dinner cruise on the Lake. The FMCA NE Area Rally in Essex Junction, Vermont If you’re anywhere in the area, come join us!  We will be presenting 5 of our Geeks on Tour seminars plus our new hands-on class, “Picasa Photo Editing.’  The hands-on class requires pre-registration at the rally – all the others are free as part of the extensive Rally seminar schedule. For more details on our seminars at the rally, check out our Geeks on Tour Facebook Page.  For more details on the Rally, see the FMCA NEAR page. Here’s a video of Geeks on Tour being interviewed at the NE Area Rally in 2009 – notice the beautiful weather!  This year promises to be the same.  Read More →

If you liked the Ecco futuristic green RV, wait till you see the Donk dinghy

By Bob Difley If you liked the NAO Designed Ecco that I posted about a few days ago, a green out-there “RV” of sorts, then this is the dinghy for you, the Badonkadonk–designed by the same design firm. The same design firm, NAO, has also designed . Following is a shortened description from their website. “Feeling like your SUV blends into the crowd? In need of something to transport your groceries by day and serve as a mobile party or arsenal by night? Meet the Badonkadonk, a one-of-a-kind “armored land cruiser/recreational tank”. To look at it, one might think it to be a hovercraft, but in fact it runs on four off-road wheels, concealed by a unique industrial-strength rubberized flexible skirt that shields and protects the wheels to within an inch of the ground, while still allowing for enough flex to give clearance over bumpy and uneven terrain. The roof of the Donk features a guard rail and durable rubber matting, making it the ideal place to carry up to 3 friends or several hundred pounds of cargo. Slide open the roof hatch and you’ll find the interior fully carped and cozy, with accent lighting, glove box, controls and room to seat up to 4 people, or 2 comfortably. Donk Driving The Donk was designed to be as versatile as possible, and that includes the ability of the craft to be piloted from either a seated position within the armored shell, or from an exposed, standing position out the hatch, thanks to a pivoting control stick and... Read more

Mark’s RV Garage Episode #12 RV Internet Show Released

RV Education 101 releases Episode #12 of the new Internet based RV How-To series titled “Mark’s RV Garage.” The new episode is available for viewing at www.rvconsumer.com and on You Tube             On this episode of Mark’s RV Garage:  * Mark installs a Wingard TV Antenna, a 13,500 btu roof AC unit by ASA Electronics, Maxx Air II vent covers, a Jensen stereo system and new LP gas lines on the vintage Yellowstone restoration project.   * See what the Cape Hatteras KOA at the North Carolina Outer Banks has to offer in the way of amenities and local attractions.  * All of this and more on this episode of Mark’s RV Garage.  If you missed previous episodes of Mark’s RV Garage they are archived at www.rvconsumer.com for easy retreival and viewing Episode # 13 will be available for viewing on 25 July 2011. Happy RV Learning, Mark Polk www.rvconsumer.com www.rveducation101.com  Read More →

Vote for Your Favorite Park

The second annual America Is Your Park campaign was recently launched by National Park Foundation, in partnership with Coca-Cola, America’s State Parks, and the National Recreation and Park Association. America Is Your Park campaign urges families to get out and discover fun ways to get active in the park while helping their favorite park win big. Families can vote for their favorite park to win the title of “America’s Favorite Park” and a $100,000 recreation grant made possible by the Coca-Cola Live Positively initiative. “Our national parks are home to our country’s treasures—from our iconic landscapes to the hallowed places where history happened,” said Neil Mulholland, President and CEO, National Park Foundation. “Thanks to dedicated partners like Coca-Cola and the America Is Your Park campaign, our nation’s parks can continue to receive the vital support they need.” Last year, thanks to more than 1.6 million votes cast by its supporters, Bear Head Lake State Park in Ely, Minnesota, was named “America’s Favorite Park.” The following two articles may be of interest: Minnesota state park wins national contest How Bear Head Lake won national contest? Bear Head Lake is using the recreation grant to build a new warming hut to ensure safety and comfort for winter sports enthusiasts all season long. Vote for your favorite park. Pictured above Great Smoky Mountains National Park. © Rex Vogel, all rights... Read more

Is this the direction of green RV design?

By Bob Difley The design collective NAU released a green concept RV called the Ecco, a camper that doubles as an all-electric car. The Ecco’s idea of space-saving is a lot like a mico-home and car combination used for only temporary living. The expansive surface area permits installation of solar panelsto recharge the vehicle’s lithium-ion battery. The aerodynamic five-person Ecco, roughly eight feet wide, sixteen feet long, and six feet tall, slightly smaller than the boxy VW camper, is built with lightweight aluminum. When parked, the Ecco unfurls a sail-like back that allows people stand up inside, unfold beds, and even access a toilet. The Ecco also has a 240 volt plug-in for modern charging stations when the sun isn’t shining. But you’ll need to do a bit more than collect your spare change to buy one, though a price hasn’t been announced, it will likely price out at over $100,000. Read more. Check out my website for more present day RVing tips and destinations and for my ebooks, BOONDOCKING: Finding the Perfect Campsite on America’s Public Lands(now available in a Kindle version), Snowbird Guide to Boondocking in the Southwestern Deserts, and 111 Ways to Get the Biggest Bang out of your RV Lifestyle Dollar.  Read More →

Boondocking 101: Why would anyone want to boondock?

By Bob Difley Though you’ve heard about boondocking from other RVers and on blogs but never tried it you might wonder why anyone would want to camp where there were no water, sewage, or electrical hookups. After all, camping in an RV in an RV resort or upscale campground is pretty comfortable, and living without those hookups would seem to make it less enjoyable. But in reality, all modern RVs have been manufactured to be not only mobile, but also to be independent of appendages that hook them up to land-based resources. All RVs have a holding tank for fresh water, and most of the time two holding tanks for waste, one from the toilet and one from the shower and sinks. They also have a house battery or batteries to supply 12-volt electricity to the RV in lieu of plug-in 120-volt power, and a generator to produce 120-volt electricity directly to both the 12-volt and the 120-volt systems, and to recharge the battery/ies. So when using your RV’s systems rather than a campground’s, it opens up many more camping possibilities. There are vast natural areas on public lands for enjoying your RV lifestyle, such as in our national forests (photo Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest) and on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The National Forest Service (FS) manages the nation’s 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands–193 million acres. The BLM manages approximately 253 million acres–one-eighth of the landmass of the country—most of it... Read more

Are You Bear Aware?

Wildlife is a huge part of the mountain and wilderness regions of Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Arizona, Alaska, Alberta, and British Columbia. Deep snowpack, more grizzlies Grizzly bears are powerful, top-of-the-food-chain predators, yet much of their diet consists of nuts, berries, fruit, leaves, and roots. Bears also eat other animals, from rodents to moose. (Credit: talktocanada.com) Numerous encounters between grizzly bears and humans have been reported this spring, attributed to a growing bear population stuck in the low country as a result of the deep snowpack. High winter snowpack levels mean bears are moving to lower elevations and are likely to stay there longer than in previous winters. Grizzly bears are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, but their numbers have been growing in recent years, increasing the chance for encounters with humans, according to Chris Servheen, the grizzly bear recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In addition, heavy snowfall this winter has taken longer to melt in cool spring weather. “You have more bears, and then you have these high snow levels so the bears can’t be in the mountains where they want to be,” Servheen said. In a nonfatal encounter, two hikers were mauled by a bear in the Gallatin National Forest (Montana) when they came across a young grizzly bear and a sow chasing an elk. The 36-year-old woman tried to climb a tree when the sow bit her in the leg. The man was bitten in... Read more

Grizzly Bear Kills Man in Yellowstone

For more from the “Best RV/Caravan Blog 2011,” please visit our award-winning website: LongLongHoneymoon.com Yesterday a couple of hikers experienced a “worst case scenario” bear encounter. After embarking on a hike near Yellowstone’s Canyon Village (where as a college student I chopped veggies in the employee kitchen) they surprised a mama grizzly bear and her cubs. The bear defended her cubs, attacking the husband and wife. The park service issued this description of the attack: “At approximately 11:00 a.m., at a point about a mile and a half from the trailhead, the couple walked out of a forested area into an open meadow. It appears that the couple spotted a bear approximately 100 yards away and then began walking away from the bear. When they turned around to look, they reportedly saw the female grizzly running down the trail at them. The couple began running, but the bear caught up with them, attacking the husband. The bear then went over to the wife, who had fallen to the ground nearby. The bear bit her daypack, lifting her from the ground and then dropping her. She remained still and the bear left the area.” Other hikers heard the woman’s screams and called rangers to the scene. But it was too late. Tragically, the husband was mauled to death. The park has closed hiking trails near the mauling, but the bear will not be hunted or captured. This is because she was acting naturally in defense of her cubs. It was a textbook... Read more

Woodall’s FREE iPhone/iPad App is Available!

Woodall’s, a Camping World company and the leading brand in campground directories, today announced the launch of RV & Camping Copilot, the most comprehensive campground mobile application available for iPhone and iPad. The free app provides RVers and outdoor enthusiasts instant and convenient access to more than 12,000 private and public campgrounds and RV parks in the United States and Canada, plus Mexico. Woodall’s RV & Camping Copilot can be downloaded for free from the Apple App Store and provides complete campground information, including amenities, services, types of campsites, on-site recreation and identifies many camping discounts offered at parks. Private campgrounds also include Woodall’s 5W/5W Rating System, which is the most trusted consumer campground rating. “Woodall’s RV & Camping Copilot is a groundbreaking mobile application that provides RVers and family campers access to campground information from the comfort of home or their home on the road,” said Marcus Lemonis, CEO of Camping World. “This mobile app is the first of its kind, and we are pleased to lead the industry into the mobile space. But more importantly, we are thrilled to offer this app to camping enthusiasts for free.” The Woodall’s mobile application interface is intuitive and easy to navigate. It will offer the ability to search campgrounds by city, state/province, nearest location or by campground name in an easy one-click search format. Users will... Read more

Get your Verizon Droid or iPhone before July 7?

It’s been rumored for quite a while that Verizon’s unlimited data plan for smart phones will be going away.  I still can’t find anything official on Verizon’s site, their Data Packages page still states that Smartphone’s data plans are Unlimited, but this discussion on RV.net’s forum is pretty convincing that the unlimited plan will be no more as of 7/7/2011.  It will be replaced with a 2GB limit for the same $30.  If you’ve been considering this purchase, you should visit the store before the 7th. Is Unlimited Data Important? Your data plan is a separate line item from your phone’s voice plan.  Your voice plan gives you minutes of talk time, your data plan gives you Internet usage measured in GigaBytes.  If you just want your email, and some basic web browsing, and you only use your phone’s data plan for your phone, then 2GB may be sufficient.  But, if you want to watch videos on your smartphone, or if you want to use your phone’s data plan to tether to your computer, then you’re going to go over that limit.  How do you know you’re going over?  You can check your data usage at any time on your Verizon account.  There is also a setting to have Verizon email you when you’ve used over 50%.  The unlimited data plan means you don’t have to worry about it!  And, heaven knows, we could use one less thing to worry about! Do you want a Smartphone? If you’re anything like me, you do!  There is some... Read more

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