2009 January RV Shows - Make your plans now!

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our E-mail Digest. 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 Admin

Just when the holiday season winds down, the RV Show season begins, and there are some great RV shows coming up in January 2009. If you find yourself new to RVing, looking to get a great deal on an RV, or just looking for something fun to do when the “after-the-holiday-blues” set in, you’ll want to be sure to head to one of these RV shows. For about the same price as a movie (between $5-10 per adult), these shows provide access to the very latest RVs and RV-related gizmos and gadgets.

Read more

Not All Tag Axles Are Built The Same

Last week we looked at some of the features and benefits that may be derived from having a tag axle coach.  This week we’ll examine the differences of various tags and learn that not all tags are built equally.

One of the first things that is apparent, is the two totally different appearances between say, a Monaco Roadmaster tag and a Freightliner tag.  Or a Spartan and a Prevost.  Both the Roadmaster and the Spartan chassis have a matched look.  That is, the deep dish like tag axle wheel is identical to that of the drive axle ahead.   A view of a Freightliner or Prevost chassis reveals two different wheel center profiles.  The tag essentially looks more like the front wheel, than the drive.  I personally, far prefer the matched rear wheels. Read more

Winter electrical safety concerns

With the arrival of winter (at least in my part of the country) and if you are planning to continue camping into the cold weather, we must be concerned about keeping the RV warm and toasty.  Most of us have a propane fueled furnace to do this, but many RVers either supplement the propane furnace with an electric space heater, or totally rely on an electric heater.  While this is a good way to conserve propane, it presents at least two concerns for the RVer.  First is to insure the electrical system in the RV, and the campground power source is adequate to power the heater, and then of course, we have to make certain the electric heater itself does not present a fire hazard.
Read more

Ways To Reduce Fuel Costs: One Method #1

This week, kicking off today, November 2^nd, is dedicated to “Ways To Save” while enjoying RV-ing. On that note, I have two blogs today.  Both focus on saving through the reduction of fuel costs.  One that really works, and one just to put a smile on your face.  I will leave it up to you as to which is which.

There are many ways that we can reduce fuel consumption while still using our class “A” coaches.  Some help more than others, but combined, all can add up to big savings.  I wish to discuss one. “Managing your Allison transmission to reduce fuel consumption.”

Though many vehicles are now available with the “Bullet Proof” Allison transmission, I want to look at the larger units generally found in today’s heavier vehicles which feature the “Economy Mode” function. Read more

Walt Disney World’s Fort Wilderness RV Campground — at Halloween!

Airstream RV Blog #57 - Disney’s Fort Wilderness from Sean Michael on Vimeo.

Recently, someone asked us to name a few favorite camping locales we’ve discovered on The Long, Long Honeymoon. I’m partial to remote, rural, dry camping sites out West, in obscure places far removed from civilization. But my wife has different tastes. Her favorite is probably that little full hookup spot we found down in Florida. What was its name? Oh, right… Walt Disney World. Perhaps you’ve heard of it?

Any way you slice it, Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground offers an outstanding RV camping experience. Here are a few thoughts about camping with Mickey… Read more

RV Tailgate Parties - An Art Form?

Airstream RV Blog #56 - Tailgating! from Sean Michael on TheLongLongHoneymoon.com.

According to Wikipedia, “in North America, a tailgate party is a social event held on and around the open tailgate of a vehicle.” Which begs the question, what is a tailgate party in South America? A form of sociopolitical rebellion? Read more

Winter Escapes: Southwest Desert Snowbird Roosts

You know what fall means. And it’s not just football season, raking leaves, getting out the woolies, and dusting off the storm windows.

It’s time to think southern latitudes. Migration season. Follow the birds. Get away before your holding tanks freeze up and the mountain passes clog up with snow.
If you are a first time snowbird, just thinking about it (it doesn’t take RVers long to figure out which direction to head in the winter), or even if you always go to the same winter roost, below and in following weeks’ blogs, are some of the places I’ve spent the snowy-blowy months and are worth checking out for yourself.

Read more

PIGS FLY (over RVs at Albuquerque’s Incredible Balloon Fiesta!)

Airstream RV Blog # 85 - When Pigs Fly (The Balloon Fiesta!) from Sean Michael on TheLongLongHoneymoon.com.

One of the best upsides to RV ownership, as we’ve discussed, is the ability to haul around your own hotel room. It’s even better when you park it right next door to a major community event. That’s just what we did in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when we attended the fantastic International Balloon Fiesta. Owning an RV made attending this extraordinary festival even more fun. Here’s how… Read more

Why Drillers Love the DRILL, DRILL, DRILL Mantra

An interesting fact I discovered online somewhere (I don’t remember just where) is that in the breakdown of gasoline at a retail price of less than $3 gallon, the producer (driller) keeps 95 cents. No wonder exploration and drilling companies want to open up as many new fields and grab as many leases as they can. It probably makes good economic sense to them to get the leases first (as well as any controversial area leases they can obtain due to a temporary panic in the economy due to either oil shortages or price spikes), then sit on most of them and not drill until (1) they extract the oil from the easiest, most economical, and most profitable fields first, and (2) then in the future when new technologies emerge for extracting the more challenging oil fields, like oil shale, where they are betting that oil will rise to such a high price that drilling for oil almost anywhere will be profitable–and they will already hold the leases. (Gary, one of the commenters on one of my blogs points out that it still takes more energy to extract oil from shale than the energy they derive from it.) Read more

Custom Maps with Google Maps

You’re not a real traveler if you don’t like maps! I’ve been staring at maps and dreaming about places all over the world since I was a little kid. My favorite Christmas present was a world atlas. There’s no better ‘wish book’ than an Atlas!

I still like to look at maps and dream, but now I also like maps to show where I’ve been! I love sharing my travels and, what better way than to show your travels on a computer map and let your viewers click on points for more information.

That’s exactly what Google Maps lets you do with it’s ‘My Maps’ feature. Here is a map of our 2008 travels. You can use the zoom in and zoom out tools, or you can click on any marker, or route line to see more detail - maybe a picture or a link to a blog post.

View Larger Map

Read more

Next Page »