Photographing Backyard “Wildlife”

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Not all of us will get the chance to go on safari - instead, look around your back yard (or the area around your RV):  

Although a telephoto lens is useful, and advisable if you are planning to photograph big game, lots of backyard wildlife is waiting for your camera no matter what lens you are using. Although this image of a chipmunk was made in my driveway with a Nikon DSLR with a 70 - 200mm lens, many point & shoot cameras have long enough zoom ranges to make a shot like this. For this picture I set out a couple of grapes,  mounted the camera on a tripod about 15′ away & waited.  The waiting is the important part whether you are shooting chipmunks or any animal. Until they are comfortable with you they are likely to stay out of sight. Eventually, as long as you appear non-threatening and don’t move around, they will accept the fact that you are there and go about their primary business - eating!

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Map your Driveway Invitations

You sure meet a lot of nice people on the road. At RV parks, and especially at the rallies, we meet people all the time who say, “If you’re ever traveling thru my neck o’ the woods, stop by. We have a big driveway and a 30amp hookup!” Our answer is, “Be careful when you say that, because we’ll actually do it!”  We love visiting people by staying in their driveway.  Here we are at a good friend’s in Florida:

How do we remember where these places are? We put them on a custom Google Map. Watch the video below to see how to make one yourself.

Chris Guld
www.GeeksOnTour.com
Computer Education for Travelers

A reflection back over the last 6 years

From the desk of the Firedude

Nearly after 6 years into full timing and now retirement again (as a host) I have sat back and reflected on my full-timing experience. I’ve asked myself, was it the right decision? I spent 33 years as a firefighter retiring as a Captain. I started right out of high school and was able to retire at the young age of 50. I spent my entire life going a 100 mph fighting fires and helping people. I wouldn’t have had it any other way. We were always RV’ers and camped on days off and vacations. It was my dream to someday buy me a NEW 5th wheel and travel and full-time for as long as I wanted and enjoy myself. Then if and when we wanted to get another home and call it an anchor point and come and go as we wanted at some point we would. I see no end.

Right after we began full-timing all these feelings started to hit me all at once. I missed my firefighting family, my kids, friends, all the calls and helping people. After going 100 mph for 33 years, it was hard to adjust and slow down. I would see a fire truck go by going to a call and would get a sick feeling, one of emptiness. At times I would get teary eyed. Even though we all work for retirement someday so we can relax and enjoy ourselves, I found it hard to give up. Still I was going to follow my dream of full timing because in reality I won?’t be able to do what I was doing anymore and this was my retirement dream.

So reflecting back over the past 6 years of full-timing what do I think? My fears of losing my firefighting family, friends and family have dwindled. I still and probably always will have that ache in my heart of ending my wonderful career. You might think that’s weird because most say “thank God I don’t have to work” or “go back to that job anymore”! I have found out I have a new family and friends as well! All the wonderful people we’ve met since we began our full-timing journey some of which I met on the forum here and have became good close friends. The adventures, less stress, it’s all good. I could have NOT followed my dream, but couldn’t see myself sitting around watching TV, mowing lawns, emptying trash and doing nothing day after day. I didn’t want an over stuffed recliner with a permanent imprint of my butt in it. I chose to be a camp host. It was a transition for me. I went from 100 mph to 50mph and now finally around 25 mph. I still get to help people. One reason for establishing my website to help those in pursuit of the lifestyle. Going from 100 mph to 0 mph would have been disastrous. There of course has been much travel mingled in as well.

In reality I still see my firefighting family. Some have even came over and camp with me. They call me to check up on me and give the latest scoop on things. My other friends call or visit often as well. One son is a firefighter and with the same department so he keeps me informed. We see our friends often and now have the ability now to go see distant friends and family that we couldn’t before. Between all this and our new RV friend’s life is settling down some and my dream is finally settling in place and becoming reality. Would I do it again? Yes indeed. Am I having fun? YES! I won’t get into the cost thing as there are so many variables and every one’s situation is different, but for me it is definitely less expensive and the benefits are wonderful. I even get asked quite frequently in the campgrounds about full timing and my choice. I tell people to follow their dreams whatever they may be, we only get one shot at it. Full timing has been a wonderful transition for us. We have gained so many wonderful new friends. The choices and opportunities and adventures are virtually unlimited. I’m sure some of you have read my humorous posts in the full timing forum on my adventures as a Host. It’s been a kick to say the least. I have finally written a book on my adventures as a full-timer, host and as a retired firefighter. It is filled with outrageous humor, the serious side of full-timing and many of my adventures. It tells all sides of the lifestyle. The good, bad, and ugly. All those of course come along with conventional living too! The point was in the serious side was to show how full-timers coped with the serious health issues and things like that.

One thing I’ve learned is to follow my dreams. I will always have that empty feeling of not being an active firefighter anymore. I miss the lights coming on and the alarm going off at 2 am and charging down the road red lights and sirens going to a fire or medical aid to help someone. That ache will never go away I’m afraid. I can say though that full timing has been wonderful and second best! Besides my firefighting family the best people in the world are RV’ers! So many new friends, it’s great! Follow your dreams. In reality? I have not lost any family and friends at all, but have gained a new family and more friends! Life is good! Rv’ing and full timing is good! I just wanted to personally thank all you wonderful RV’ers I’ve met helping make my dream come true. the great folks of RV.net and my time as a moderator have made it most memorable. did I make the right decision? you betcha ya I did. This winter I’ve chosen to anchor near my old stomping grounds, spend time and the holidays with the family and even a trip to Tuscon. Life is grand. In my opinion with todays economy I am doing pretty good in this lifestyle!

http://firedude.thefiredude.com

Digitizing Old Photographs & Slides

There are a couple of reasons to move your collection of slides and prints to digital images.  First, it will preserve them in their current state, that is as long as you keep the digital files alive - more on that later. Second, by getting them out of albums stored on the back shelf, you will enjoy viewing them as screensavers on your computer or using a digital picture viewer. Third, as RVers, space is at a premium.  If you have a home base (or a relative does) you can keep thousands of images in a space smaller than a paperback book while leaving the originals on a shelf.

There are a couple of considerations when digitizing images:

1. How many are you planning to process?  It the number is relatively small, the amount of labor involved is not all that important.  If you are doing thousands, you might want to stick with the faster methods.
2. What kind of quality are you looking for?  If all you want are files that you can look at on a laptop, show on a digital picture viewer, or your cell phone, and are planning on keeping the originals, low resolution scans are fine, and will be less expensive, faster to process, and offer more options.  On the other hand, if you are planning to make 16″X20″ or larger prints from the files, and are replacing the originals with the digital copies, you are going to need more expensive high resolution files made with professional equipment.
3. How much are you willing to spend? By far the easiest way to digitize your images it to let someone else do it.  There are plenty of services out there that, for a fee, will turn your slides & negatives or prints into digital files.  The price ranges from as little as $.16 per print & $.25 per negative or slide to well over a couple of bucks per copy, depending on the final file size, how much cleaning up of the image is necessary, and the volume. All you need to do is pick out the prints & slides you want digitized, mail them off & a few weeks later they come back, along with a CD(s) or DVD(s) of your images. Some services worth checking with include ScanCafe, Larsen Digital Services, or choose from a Google Directory of Services.
4. Although a flat bed scanner will do a great job digitizing prints and many of them state they will scan slides & negatives, a dedicated slide/negative scanner will work better if most of your images are stored as slides.  Dedicated slide scanners range in price from a few hundred to many thousands of dollars.  The advantage of the more expensive versions is higher resolution (not necessary unless you are planning to make large prints from your slides & negatives) and automatic stack feeding - very much worth it if you are doing hundreds of slides - stack 50 in the feeder & come back when done.
   Still, I’d think twice about doing it myself with a dedicated slide scanner.  If you can borrow one it may be worth it cost wise, however think about the time involved.  By the time you finish loading, doing even minor editing, you will spend 4-5 minutes per slide, more if scanning negatives.  If you have the time, go for it, otherwise, look for faster solutions.
5. A low tech method that is faster than a scanner, at least for prints is to shoot the images with your digital camera. It will take a little time to set up a copy stand, but it could be as simple as a tripod for the camera & a board to tack the pictures to.  A pair of lamps aimed at the photos at 45°, and you can shoot hundreds per hour.  It will help if you order your photographs by size so you don’t have to keep zooming the camera in & out.
   If you are copying slides and can live with less than ideal quality, set up your slide projector & shoot the projections.  Another solution for slides or negatives is an adapter that goes on the front of your camera. This is just one example, but there are a number of them designed for many different cameras. A Google search for “slide copying adapter for camera” comes up with lots of them. If you are shooting negatives, you will need to invert the image file to turn it into a positive.  In Photoshop, use Images>Adjustment>Invert.
6. How are you going to store your image files? - Actually, how is not quite what I mean.  I’m not as concerned with the exact method as I am with making sure you will be able retrieve the files in the future.  Whether the images are stored on a hard disk (or two - mirrored disks make sense - you can purchase a 1TD drive for under $200.00 which will hold hundreds of thousands of images) or a bunch of DVDs, or what ever storage method is available, it is important that you make sure updated computers, operating systems & drives are capable of reading the image files.  You must be an active archiver - As I’ve said in past articles, you don’t want to have to send out your equipment to a retrieval service to get back your images! Which ever method you choose to store your files, make sure you always have at least two copies of everything.  That way when the first method fails (note that I said when, not if) you have the second to retrieve your data.

My favorite way of showing my images is as the screensaver for my computer.  Although screensavers are not really necessary with modern monitors, they offer a great method of viewing your pictures.  You can also use slide show software (built into most operating systems & photo editing software) to show your pictures, or put together a Powerpoint presentation.  If you don’t keep a computer running all the time, a digital picture viewer (or digital frame) will provide a good way to show your images.  Since the quality of digital picture viewers is all over the map, I’d put together a USB thumb or flash drive of your images & take it to the store so that you can look at the images before buying.  Also, view it at the distance you will be viewing in your RV.  It is easy to purchase one too small to be useful, however they get more expensive as the size (and quality) increases. Remember, you can purchase an entire laptop PC for less than $600.00 these days, so don’t spend too much for the digital frame!

Another way to view your images is on your TV.  Thee are a number of ways to do this.  Many DVD players are capable of showing JPEGs as a slide show.  If you have the software, you can build a picture CD or DVD that can be shown on many DVD players.  Many digital TVs have inputs that can be connected to the output of your computer. There are also boxes that can be used to connect a computer through a wireless network to a TV. One example is Apple TV.

There are many other viewing devices. I have hundreds of my photographs stored in my iPhone.  Woe to the poor person who asks if I have a picture of my granddaughter! There are even keychain picture viewers! The joke about the proud parent or grandparent bringing out a wallet foldout 4′ long of images is no longer a joke - you can carry around hundreds or even thoudands of pictures.

Converting your original slides, prints & negatives can be a good backup to your original film material, and provide a practical way to view the images.

RV Cooking Show - Incredible Annapolis and Maryland Steamed Shrimp

Replete with big time history, fantastic food, shopping galore and their trademark City Dock, Annapolis has a lot to offer. What better way to spend a few days than wandering around this small city/big town soaking in the culture, enjoying the clink-clink-clink of sailboat masts and the sparkling blue Chesapeake Bay. This episode of the RV Cooking Show takes you on a fun tour of Annapolis, courtesy of our special RV Cooking Show guest – Annapolitian Mary Jane Eckert. And for all of you dog lovers out there don’t miss Mary’s tip on Annapolis’ premier dog park and beach!

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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

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The $1,128,000,000 Campground

Airstream RV Blog #84 - The $1,128,000,000 Campground from Sean Michael on TheLongLongHoneymoon.com.

How valuable was this camping experience? We’ve been told that a half acre of land on the Las Vegas Strip recently sold for $47 million. And yet, here’s a massive swath of such land dedicated to a full hookup RV campground. So using these numbers as reference, I guess our little campsite is worth at least $5,000,000 — and the campground itself is worth around $1,128,000,000. Read more

Will you live your Dream looking out the backyard window?

From the desk of the Firedude

A reprint from 2005

I recently have gotten many private messages from those who are wanting to or considering full-timing. Some say it’s their dream. I thought I’d offer my take on it for those interested. Keep in mind it’s just my humble opinion and I honor everyone’s needs and opinion on the matter. This is just mine………………………….

The ‘ol Firedude is a simpleton I reckon. I worked my whole 33 year career as a firefighter, paying the mortgage, taxes, fighting with my mower and weed-eater and looking out my backyard window. I always had this dream over the years of selling out and full-timing in my RV. Of course these were just dreams of a man who ran 100 mph every day chasing sirens and red lights and beat himself up over his career narrowly escaping death on a few occasions and in the end winding up with a disabling injury. One that’s not obvious to an onlooker but nevertheless there and painful at times to say the least.

Towards the end of my career I began to have those “dreams” more often of full-timing. For several reasons I couldn’t keep the house AND live my dream. That wasn’t what really bothered me though. What really bothered me is I realized I would probably never live my dream at all. It was just a “picture” out my backyard window. I retired at 50 with all my health benefits paid for for life and had my health. Not rich money wise by anyone’s standards. I was looking out my backyard window one day and it hit me. I just worked most of my life and now it was time to retire from a career I loved more than anything in the world. Now it’s time to sit here and keep looking out my window and maintain this house because I might need it someday. I’ll just keep sitting here looking out my window and having my dream.

Nope I sold the house, bought my RV and began living my dream. I wasn’t about to sit there the rest of my life worrying about what might happen down the road or even when for that matter. I have met so many people who sat and looked out that window at their dreams and never did anything about it because what ifs. Those folks passed on and never lived their dream. Not for me.

When I get too old or due to health reasons I can’t travel anymore I’ll simply put the RV I have at that time in a park somewhere or sell it and rent or if the opportunity and means arise buy a small place. Pretty simply. I don’t want a house to maintain or even worry about having to sell to pay for medical expenses or a retirement facility. I don’t want the maintenance of such either.. If I can’t live in my RV any longer due to age or health I figure I’ll have to go into a care home anyway! Surely if I couldn’t live in my RV what would make me think I could handle a large home and everything to go with it??

My dad always told me, son when your dead you are gone a long time so do what you want and live your dreams the best you can. He’s right. I am living my dream and enjoying every minute of it and refuse to sit around worrying about tomorrow. It may never come. I hope the guy who bought my house looks out that rear window and sees his dream. I’m glad I’m not still there looking out that window dreaming. I’m living it now.

I know my outlook is not for everyone, it’s just the view of a old retired fire captain who had a dream and decided to live it. Everyone has their own needs and opinions on such. I just couldn’t sit there and look out that window at my dreams anymore and do nothing but leave a butt imprint in a recliner because I couldn’t afford to go anywhere or do anything. That’s not me..

If you have the means to keep your home or bank the money to buy one later and it works for you then great! My RV is my home. I love my home and enjoy my home. In my eyes it hasn’t depreciated. It’s MY home. In the meantime home is where I park it. Pretty simple stuff.

Money and material things used to come into play. Not anymore. A simple life and happiness are my priorities. Not worrying about tomorrow. If I spent all my time worrying about depreciation and appreciation I wouldn’t have time to live my dream!

I’m not sitting there looking out my backyard window dreaming. I’m on the outside looking back in and glad I decided to do what I did.

Whatever you do just don’t fail to live your dreams!! There isn’t a next time. There’s a million reasons and excuses not too. I almost got hung up in that scenario. If I did I’d still be sitting there looking out that window as time passed me by. I’ve never regretted it and haven’t looked back.

Living my dream I found a pot of gold.and an Adventure to boot. Incidentally my RV is not a toy as some may say, It’s my home and a comfortable one at that.

© 2008 Tony Cornett originally written 2-11-05

Healthy Eating: A Few Simple Tips

By Lynn Difley

Are you tired of counting calories, carbohydrates, or sugar in each food item? Do you feel overwhelmed by all the contradictory information about what you should eat and what you should shun? We in America tend to follow the latest food fad, from low fat to low carb in a head-spinning short time.
Despite our obsession with eating healthy, we are growing steadily more obese and the unhealthy risk factors for chronic and life-threatening diseases are increasing. What’s a poor bloke to do?
Eat food. No joke, many of the items on our plates or our Styrofoam boxes are not food items at all, but a mixture of processed non-food items. Consider the ridiculous notion of Atkins bread–bread that has the least amount of what makes a bread a bread.

To make your own choices, follow this practice:

• Don’t eat anything with a list of ingredients you can’t pronounce, or do not recognize.
• Trans fats and high fructose corn syrup are two warning phrases that indicate that the food is far from the way Mother Nature created it.
• Eat food that you have cooked, or could cook.
• Eat food that your grandmother would recognize.

And Another thing

Downsize rather than super size. Our tendency is to listen to the advertisements that tout “less fat” “fewer calories” “low carbohydrates” and then give ourselves open season on the quantity. We are eating 300 more calories than we did in l985. That’s enough to gain a pound about every 11 days. Multiply that by a year, and you will find out why the trousers you bought two years ago have become tight.
A few other tips about overeating:

• Don’t eat in front of the TV, or computer.
• Avoid seconds.
• Shop and eat better quality, not greater quantity.
• A Super anything is not necessarily tasty, as a matter of fact, you may consume three times more calories in your desire to have it taste better.
• The better the quality of food you eat, the less you will need to feel satisfied.
• How about one tiny square of the finest chocolate? It will make you feel like royalty, as you consume it with full awareness and appreciation.

Plants vs Meat

Eat lots of plants. Meat is not the enemy, but the quantity of meat as well as its overemphasis is what causes problems. Small amounts of meat can be used, as in Mediterranean, Asian, Indian, or Mexican cuisine to flavor, rather than be the whole meal. You are not doing your arteries or your waistline any favor when you gobble down a 10 oz steak.
Appreciate your food. No matter what you eat, sit down and savor it. Life is too short not to include the simple joy of eating delicious real food, prepared with love and care, served with joy, and shared with loved ones.

Theatre Photography

Since this was part of what I did for a living prior to retiring, I thought it might be useful to make some suggestions for photographing performances.  Although most of you will probably not photograph plays, the techniques are useful for sports, concerts, dance shows, and many other types of presentations.

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