VIDEO: Just in time for Halloween – DEVIL’S TOWER!

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our E-mail Digest or RSS Feed. We will then send you the stories that are posted each day in an e-mail digest. We use a service called Feedburner for delivery of these emails. You will receive an e-mail from Feedburner after you subscribe and you must click on that email to activate your subscription. Thanks for visiting and enjoy all the information! RV.Net Blog AdminDevil’s Tower is a national monument located in the northeastern corner of Wyoming. It’s one of those road trip icons of the all-natural variety. If you are driving into the state from South Dakota (say, from visits to Wall Drug and Mt. Rushmore) it beckons. It’s located about a half hour off the main interstate highway. It merits the detour. If you have ever watched Steven Speilberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, you probably recognize Devil’s Tower. In the movie it served as a meeting place for aliens. It was a brilliant choice of location, because there’s something truly otherworldly about this place. It’s a mountain of rock that looks like no mountain you’ve ever seen… For the rest of this article, check out our website: LongLongHoneymoon.com Also, now you can BUY SEAN’S BOOK ABOUT RV CAMPING ON KINDLE FOR ONLY $2.99! NOW ON KINDLE!  Read More →

Rand McNally TripMaker® RVND™ 7710: Multi-Stop Trips

We have been evaluating the Rand McNally TripMaker® RVND™ 7710. Our favorite feature of the device is all the ways it can inform you about sights and services that are coming up just ahead in your route. We wrote about this in our previous article ‘What’s Up Ahead.’ Today, my topic is Multi-Stop Trips. With most standalone GPS devices, you get directions to a single place. The trip starts from where you are. You are asking, ‘How do I get from here to that single place.’ The RVND is one of the devices that allow you to plan and save trips with multiple stops. When you reach one stop the device notes that you have arrived at your first destination. When you turn it on the next time, it is ready to pick up where you left off and guide you to the next stop. Here is a video that shows exactly how to create a multi-stop trip with the Rand McNally TripMaker® RVND™ 7710. Trouble watching this video? Try the Youtube version.  Read More →

Exploring the Southwestern deserts on the cheap

By Bob Difley Thursday’s stock market rally–in fact the whole month of October–have been good for investors. However, for most of us buy-and-hold investors, we still have a long way to go to get even, let alone get ahead. Fortunately, as RVers–especially if you are a fulltimer or long-termer like a snowbird–there are ways we can keep expenses down while waiting for our portfolios to recover. Here are some ideas for keeping expenses in check heading into snowbird season: If you are heading soon for your winter snowbirding roost, take time to plan your trip so that you are able to spend your travel nights without paying for a campground. Get a list of Walmarts, Kmarts, and other stores that permit overnight stays, or plan to arrive every afternoon in public lands where you can camp free. You could save almost enough in campground fees to pay for your fuel. Once in the desert, plan to camp in central locations, like the hub of a wagon wheel, where you can leave your rig by day and explore out the spokes of the wheel with your tow or toad to save fuel. Buy a couple guide books so you don’t have waste time and gas. Mike and Terie Church’s Southwestern Deserts book is among the most informative. And buy a desert places-to-go-and-things-to-see, wildflowers and plants, and birds and wildlife handbooks as well. Unless you particularly like big cities, avoid them for camping destinations. Yes, they have lots of entertainment options, but so does... Read more

Tips to a Long Lasting Generator

If a generator is properly maintained and cared for it is quite possible it will last longer than the RV itself. Here are some of my tips to a long lasting generator. 1)      Carbon Monoxide Poisoning:  My first tip won’t extend the life of your RV’s generator, but it could save someone’s life. Carbon Monoxide gas is invisible, odorless and deadly. If for any reason your RV does not have a functioning CO gas detector you need to purchase and install one designed for use in Recreation Vehicles (follow the manufacturer instructions for proper installation). Test the CO detector for proper operation prior to each RV trip. Inspect the generator exhaust system before starting the generator, and never run the generator set with a damaged or leaking exhaust system. Do not leave windows open when running the generator and do not park in close proximity to obstacles like buildings or other RVs when running the generator set. Be cautious of other RV owners running their generators close to where you are parked, and never sleep while the generator is running.  2)      Preventive Maintenance: The key to a long lasting generator set is periodic maintenance. When it comes to generator sets we are primarily concerned with two types of maintenance, preventive maintenance and routine maintenance. Both can add years of life to your generator set. Preventive maintenance is maintenance you perform on your generator before a problem exists. These checks are designed to prevent... Read more

Southwestern Desert Destinations: Lake Havasu City

By Bob Difley You might not want to visit Lake Havasu in the summer when temps stay above 100 degrees for months, sometimes reaching 110 degrees or more for days at a time. But in winter you will find a warm, sunny winter destination popular with snowbirds. And if you just planned to pass through Lake Havasu City on your way south to the Parker Strip, Yuma, or Quartzsite, pay a visit to the Lake Havasu Tourism Bureau, at 314 London Bridge Road (enter from the parking lot, not from London Bridge Road) and pick up theior multiple page list of the extensive activities available during the temperate winter months. That alone may tempt you to stick around for awhile. Because of its fine restaurants and cultural agenda, Lake Havasu City has attracted upscale winter visitors as well as year round retirees. As a result you will find a surprising list of events and activities, quite unlike the summer’s line up of rowdy LA basin fast boat owners and personal watercraft users. Several upscale RV resorts and campground lie within city limits for easy access to the area’s activities. Locally produced little theater plays and musicals are surprisingly well done, with several programs offered during the season. The new Lake Havasu Museum of History, next door to the Tourism Bureau, has on display historic artifacts and archives dating from the earliest Colorado Indians through the reconstruction of Robert McCulloch’s London Bridge. In addition to cultural events auto shows... Read more

ANOTHER FACET OF THE RV LIFE

By Barry Zander, Edited by Monique Zander, the Never-Bored RVers What’s happening to us?   We are full-timer RVers shanghaied by a project of our own making that has extended far longer than originally intended. When we first set out on our endless journey in August 2006, we had two goals in mind: First, to visit all 50 states in our RV (or a rental in Hawaii), and Second, to look for a place where we would eventually settle down when the ravages of age or a change of interests overcame us. As for the first goal, we have thus far visited 36 states and three Canadian provinces in our RV.  We haven’t made it to the Northeast (as RVers), including the Maritimes yet, but we expect to be there in 2013.  On the other hand, one of the glories of retirement and/or working from the road is that you don’t HAVE TO fulfill your plans.  Dreaming is acceptable. In searching for the perfect place in which to build a nest, we ruled out the cold climates, although we gave a lot of thought to buying a cabin outside of Sandpoint, Idaho.  It was as picturesque as they come and the price had been reduced to practically pocket change. I’m not a numbers-cruncher by any stretch of the imagination, but I have kept track of our stops from 2006 until February 2011 – it comes to 380 camping places, with return visits to only about seven sites, always looking for the perfect stopping spot. Nine months ago we passed through a small mountain village in what we call “an island in Southern California”... Read more

RV Poll Results (4th Installment)

Every few months I like to post some of our previous RV poll results. I think it makes for some interesting reading. You can see how other RV enthusiasts responded to various RV related topics and it might make you consider an aspect about RVing you haven’t considered in the past. Keep in mind that these RV poll’s are only intended to give me some idea of what our newsletter readers are interested in, how they use their RVs, and of course just for fun.         RV Poll Question: What is your favorite season of the year to use your RV? RV Poll Response: Spring 8%, Summer 25%, Fall 35%, Winter 3%, Year Round 28% RV Poll Question: Have you ever had any plumbing lines freeze in your RV? RV Poll Response: Yes 24%, No 76% RV Poll Question: Do you treat the fuel system in your RV, or any other gasoline powered equipment, with a fuel preservative while sitting in storage? RV Poll Response: Yes RV 11%, Yes other equipment 22%, Yes both RV & equipment 34%, No 25%, NA 8% RV Poll Question: Do you travel in your RV with the propane cylinders, or tank, turned on or turned off? RV Poll Response: Turned on 73%, Turned off 27% RV Poll Question: Do you plan to use your RV more in 2011 than you did in 2010? RV Poll Response: Yes 73%, No 22%, New RV owner in 2011 5% RV Poll Question: I purchased my first RV from: RV Poll Response: Dealer 59%, Private owner 35%, Family member 2%, Friend 3%, Given to me 1% RV Poll Question: Do the passengers in your motorhome wear seatbelts while traveling? RV... Read more

VIDEO: Having a BABY… in an RV!

When Kristy and I travel in our Airstream, we become “part-time full-timers.” In other words, we are full-time Airstream travelers for an extended period of time. But (so far, anyway) we always return to the comfort of a house sans wheels. Our longest stretch full-timing in our 25-foot long tin can is five months. It’s always a bizarre sensation when we return to our brick-and-mortar home after a few months in the Airstream. In the vast world of cavernous recreational vehicles, our Airstream is pretty small. But there’s a strange transition that happens when you adjust to the full-time experience. You get used to it. After a couple weeks of full-timing, you quickly adjust to the new normal. While this may seem extreme to some, for others a five-month Airstreaming journey is just a warmup. Yes, there are those who travel for even longer periods of time in even smaller rigs. Enter Lani and Chris, a young couple who have traveled for a couple of years in a 23-footer. This is another couple who decided to push the “work from home” concept to the extreme. Why wait for retirement to travel? If you can work from anywhere, then why not work from anywhere you want? When plotting the course of their telecommuting adventure, they chose between two seemingly dichotomous paths. “I gave Lani two options,” Chris said. “We could either move to Argentina and experience life in South America, or we could move into an Airstream and see the United States. She chose… For the... Read more

Rand McNally TripMaker® RVND™ 7710: What’s up Ahead?

7” GPS device designed specifically for the RVer and camper Website: Rand McNally Cost: $399.99 by Chris Guld, www.geeksontour.tv We received our evaluation unit of the RVND 7710 in early September and used it to navigate from the New Jersey Shore to Ohio, and then south to Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  There is a lot to this device and our review will be in a series of articles.  The first things I want to tell you about are the special features that none of our other devices can give us. Next Exit Information I know several people who swear by their ‘Next Exit’ book which gives all the amenities to be found at every Exit on America’s Interstate Highways.  Although that sounds like a great tool to have, we refuse to have any more books in our RV.  The Rand McNally TripMaker® RVND™ 7710 now offers a similar set of information available at your fingertips as you drive down the road.  Here’s how it works.  During navigation, there is an icon on the screen that represents the Exit amenities – actually it’s a square of 4 icons: Food, Fuel, Lodging, and All.  Touch that with your finger, or the provided stylus, and you’ll see a list of the upcoming exits. Just touch the Exit info button and a list of upcoming Exits appears with the number of Gas, Food, and Lodging amenities Now you touch the Exit you want to see and you’ll get the detail of those amenities. If there are more than will fit on one screen, you will see up and down arrows to the right... Read more

Vintage Trailer Restoration Project Captured on Video

  Earlier this year video producer Mark Polk, of RV Education 101, decided to produce an online RV series, titled “Mark’s RV Garage.”  Polk explained the goal of the show was to help educate and entertain RV consumers and RV enthusiasts. When considering a feature segment for the new RV series Polk decided to tackle a vintage trailer restoration project. Little did he know at the time the scope the restoration project would entail.  Unforeseen damage, below the surface of the exterior metal, would result in dismantling the project trailer down to the bare frame and rebuilding it from the ground up. Adding to the complexity of an already daunting challenge Polk’s plans included upgrading the old trailer with modern day RV equipment and amenities. As season one of the new RV series progressed each step of the vintage restoration project was captured along the way. What initially began as a 10 episode season evolved into 17 episodes, culminating in the season finale where the finished product was revealed to viewers for the first time. When asked to recap season one of “Mark’s RV Garage” Polk responded, “I think anybody who likes RVs, or is thinking an RV might be in their future would not only enjoy watching the vintage restoration project unfold, but could learn a great deal from the series too. To view season one episodes of Mark’s RV Garage visit this You Tube link Happy RV Learning, Mark Polk RV Education 101 RV Consumer  Read More →

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