A Woman’s View — Introduction

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Welcome to a new blog: RVing from a Woman’s Perspective. Many of the existing blog entries are designed for men and women, but over the years I’ve found that when women get together, there is a special language for communicating. This is no different within the RV lifestyle.

I envision this blog as a safe place to ask the “stupid” questions, talk about feelings about being on the road, and generally find a community of women for those days when you are traveling or parked by yourselves. This blog is designed for ALL women, whether traveling solo or with a partner or spouse. Read more

Hey Ranger! Need a Travel Game? Try Mascot Mayhem

Sooner or later we all experience one of those days when bad weather confines us to the camper, or perhaps you’re on the road and in desperate need of a diversion from “Are we there yet?” Either situation is a good opportunity to try a travel game I’ll call Mascot Mayhem.

All you need is a state highway map or road atlas and a little imagination. If you’re a high-tech traveler, you can probably use the map on your GPS unit or laptop computer. Read more

Photographic Panoramas

One of the interesting projects you can do with any camera is to create a panorama. The first step is to choose the scene that makes sense to use the technique.  Although there is no reason you can’t make a vertical panorama, most are used to depict wide, horizontal scenes. About the only thing they don’t work for is a square image, however the technique can be used to improve any image.  I have shot panoramas of ocean beaches, harbors, rivers, and even a ballroom full of people.

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A Weighty Issue

Weight and loading are perhaps the biggest issues affecting the safety, handling and longevity of RVs. But if you’re new to RVing, you’re probably wondering why. After all, there doesn’t seem to be so much concern over weight in a car or even most pick-ups and SUV’s, so why RV’s?

The simple reason is that RV’s are both a vehicle and a home, and they are subject to build considerations not found in any other industry. If you want ideal balance in car, you do things like shift the weight rearward, use lighter components in the front, etc.-and side to side balance isn’t in issue unless your passenger is significantly heavier than you are. In an RV, manufacturers usually don’t enjoy that kind of freedom. Think about what sells an RV. Is it the performance or handling? Nope-it’s the floor plan! Manufacturers have to make an nice floor plan that attracts customers when they walk into the coach on a dealer lot. The problem is, the layout that draws customers in may not be perfect for weight balance. After all, you can’t have the appliances staggered from side-to-side throughout the galley, for example, to keep weight balanced…no one would like your floor plan. Then there’s the placement of the tanks, the generator and the storage bays, and they can all conflict with one another. It’s all about compromise, and some coach builders are better at it than others.

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Forgotten Maintenance

In my last post, “Don’t Forget About the Trailer“, I talked about a customer of ours whose fifth wheel trailer was in serious need of attention, and ended it by promising to touch on his tow rig in the next post. As it turns out, the tow rig needed almost as much help as the tow rig, but the owner didn’t know it.

An otherwise well-maintained truck, we started asking him about the maintenance schedule and found that the power steering fluid had not been flushed in 100,000 miles. From the outset, that might not seem like a big deal, but the power steering is subjected to a lot of heat and stress. Factory recommendations may vary, but we recommend that the power steering fluid be changed every 3-5 years, or 50,000 miles. Power steering pumps in heavy duty applications like this customer’s F-350 4×4 are under more stress than in passenger cars, because they are moving more weight. And, bigger tires common on 4×4 applications create even more resistance. Read more

First Flight

As fulltimers for nearly nine years, we have found that getting sufficient exercise can be challenging. I try to walk 8-10 miles a day at least 5 times a week. Not only does it keep me active and in somewhat good shape, it gives me time to solve the world’s problems, if only in my mind. I enjoy the quiet time with myself.

Here, at Heise, I have a routine. I leave the cg at about 5am and walk the river road. At that time of the morning, there is nothing moving but me and some of nature’s critters. About two miles into my walk is an Osprey nest I have been watching for months. I saw the parents repairing the nest after the winter and watched them nesting. After the chick hatched I watched it grow. Mom and Dad were diligent, feeding and caring for it. For days the chick teetered at the edge of the nest, getting up enough courage to fly.

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Did you see the video clip about the rescued lion?

Okay, forgive me, as this is not a story about RVing, or even RVing with pets. But it is a story that speaks to the heart, and my experience has been that RVers, being good-hearted people themselves, appreciate stories that do. And since the good folks at RV.net were nice enough (or crazy enough) to give me the ability to post here, I’m going to share this video clip with you just in case you haven’t seen it elsewhere. It’s the story about a rescued lion named Christian.

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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

Best Pet-Friendly RV Parks in North America

I thought it would be fun to compile a list of your favorite pet-friendly RV parks in North America. There is no right or wrong answer here, and the list will represent places you’ve visited and whether you think they are especially “pet friendly.” Read more

Computer Education for Travelers

We just completed 4 days of teaching computer seminars at the FMCA (Family Motor Coach Ass’n) rally in St. Paul, Minnesota. We taught 8 seminars to audiences of 200-400 people. It was very gratifying to see so many RVers hungry for the computer education we have to offer. One woman came up to me with a big hug saying she loved me! Apparently, after our seminars, she realized that she was doing so many things the hard way. We had just made her life so much easier, she exclaimed.

Why do travelers, in particular, need computer education? Read more

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