RV Cooking Show – Crockpot Turkey Breast for Thanksgiving

Holiday greetings, friends,   Poof! All of a sudden we’re coming into the busy, busy winter holiday season so I’ll make this brief. Do the words “RVing” and “turkey” in the same sentence have you shaking your head, thinking “can’t happen”? Well think again! In this episode of the RV Cooking Show host Evanne Schmarder shares her little turkey secret…the crockpot. Moist, tender, and easy. Take a look at Crockpot Turkey Breast for Thanksgiving, we think you’ll agree…it’s delicious!! We’ve also got some goodies in the Thanksgiving archives: Try Mom’s Famous Cranberry Sauce…folks in 18 countries over five continents did and gave it a thumbs up. I’d always been on the lookout for an easy and elegant sweet potato recipe…well, here it is. No video – just a text recipe – but worthy just the same. Go a bit “rouge” yourself this year with one of our wacky but delish recipes…Trash Can Turkey for the adventurous or double the sauce recipe, use turkey breast instead of chicken, and crockpot a Trailblazer Turkey. Question: do you track your RV travels? I’ll share my method in this RV Cooking Show episode and have blogged about it around the RV Cooking Show virtual campfire – our blog. Check it out here. May I take a moment to say that I’ll be counting YOU, our loyal viewers, among my many blessings this year. Happy thanksgiving to you and yours. Most sincerely, Evanne and the RV Cooking... Read more

VIDEO: Is this tow vehicle SAFE?!

Recently, we saw a fellow towing a 31-foot Airstream Classic with a minivan. The Classic is the heaviest Airstream model. The 31-footer weighs about 10,000 pounds. Does this seem like a wise combination to you? On a similar note, a friend recently send me a photo of someone towing a 25-foot Airstream with a Saturn sedan. Wow, towing a 25-footer with a Saturn? I am impressed — and concerned. Without running a numerical analysis, I’m immediately concerned about the stability of that rig. I don’t know the exact wheelbase and weight of the Saturn, but one must wonder how the rig handles on a windy day. What about the braking distance? A secondary issue is the impact & wear upon the transmission of that tow vehicle. Would you want to buy that Saturn? I suspect the transmission is toast. This is why you should have an inspection performed when buying a used vehicle. But back to the more pressing issue of SAFETY… Towing recommendations factor in a margin of safety for adverse conditions. If you are MAXING OUT the capacity of your tow vehicle, there’s little to no margin of safety when things go wrong. Suppose the wind picks up, or you have to make a sudden emergency maneuver. That’s when the combo gets dangerous. Accidents happen. People get killed. There’s much gnashing of teeth! Just because something is possible, that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. Those old images of people towing Airstreams with bicycles are not meant to... Read more

Geotag your photos with Picasa 3.5

Maps and photos.  I can’t think of two things more near and dear to a traveler’s heart than maps and photos.  Being able to combine the two is the ultimate.  But, being able to do it *easily*??  Well, that’s not possible is it? It is now. Picasa (the free-from-Google digital photo management program) released a new version last month.  And one of the major improvements is in the ‘Geotagging’ feature.  Instead of requiring that you use Google Earth, they have embedded a full Google Maps ‘Places’ pane right into Picasa.  Placing a photo at a place on the map is as simple as clicking on the photo and clicking at the place on the map.  I show you how to do this in the video below. Note: You can make it play in full-screen by clicking the icon in the lower right of the playback window that looks like an X . If you’re new to Picasa, or want to learn more, I’m excited to announce that I’ll be co-hosting a webinar (seminar delivered over the web) with Google on November 13.  Register for the free Picasa Webinar here. Geotagging Video: by Chris Guld of Geeks on Tour  Read More →

VIDEO: One Way to Secure Your RV After-Hours

Gear to Get with Brian Brawdy Recently I got up early one morning to catch the sun rise. I jumped out of my RV and walked about twenty yards in the direction of the beach. Before I saw or heard him, I could feel someone else was there. A dark silhouette loomed in the shadows. I instantly said “Good Morning” startled a bit at his presence. Wearing a black skull cap, jacket and pants the figure stood there as I approached. Before I could get any closer, he suddenly turned and briskly walked away. Read more  Read More →

VIDEO: Boondocking & Green RVing w/ the PowerSource 1800

Gear to Get with Brian Brawdy One of the necessities of Green RVing, boondocking & dry camping is the ability to generate power. By tapping into the free and ubiquitous energies of the sun, I’m able to go off road, off the grid while staying out longer. In this video, I look at the cutting edge technology of the PowerSource 1800. A uniquely designed solar powered generator. For more information on Brian Brawdy or Greening your RV, please visit BrianBrawdy.com  Read More →

Extend the Life of your RV Awnings

Awnings are a great feature to have on your RV. There are several different types of RV awnings and they serve different purposes. There are window and door awnings that provide shade and keep rain away from your RV windows or entry door.  There are slide-out awnings that help protect the top of the slide-out from debris and water. And there are patio awnings. Patio awnings extend the living area of our outdoor world. Similar to the front porch of your home, the patio awning provides us with shade and cover from a light rain when we want to sit and enjoy the great outdoors. The awnings on your RV will provide years of reliable trouble free operation, if you take the time to do a little preventive maintenance and cleaning. Read more  Read More →

Winter Battery Storage & Maintenance

I was recently asked a question and felt like the answer could be useful to lots of RVers, so I am using the question as the topic for this article. Q: Hi Mark, we live in Colorado and we are preparing our RV for storage. I just had the RV winterized, but I am concerned about how or what to do to store my RV batteries. Any advice would be appreciated. A: The two most common causes for RV battery failure are undercharging and overcharging.  Undercharging is a result of batteries being repeatedly discharged and not fully recharged between cycles. If a battery is not recharged the sulfate material that attaches to the discharged portions of the plates begins to harden into crystals. Over time this sulfate cannot be converted back into active plate material and the battery is ruined. This also occurs when a battery remains discharged for an extended period of time, like during storage. Sulfation is the number one cause of battery failure. The second leading cause of battery failure is overcharging. Overcharging batteries results in severe water loss and plate corrosion. With that said let’s look at how to properly store your RV batteries. Before we talk about storing the batteries we need to talk about battery safety. Lead acid batteries contain sulfuric acid which is extremely corrosive and can cause severe burns or even blindness. And the hydrogen gas that batteries produce, when they’re charging, is very explosive. When you work around batteries you need to wear safety... Read more

Tribute to early RVers: my parents

by Chris Guld, Geeks On Tour One of the seminars we taught at the Gypsy Journal Rally was one of our very favorite topics: “Creating Narrated slideshow movies with Photo Story 3”  We have our routine and material down pat with this one, so my mind was free to wander a bit in getting prepared.  It dawned on me that since my Mom is with us it would be cool to show a sample Photo Story movie using pictures from my family’s RV travels in the 60s.  RVing in Alaska, Mexico and Canada are popular topics in RV circles – and we did it in the 60s.  So, I made sure my Mom was in the audience for this seminar and I quickly put together this little movie as part of our presentation:   To learn how to make your own narrated slideshow/movie, see our tutorials at: http://geeksontour.com/photostory.cfm It’s SOOO easy!  And, Photo Story is free, just like everything else we teach.  Read More →

VIDEO: Green RVing with tomorrow’s explorers

It is easy to get caught up in what it takes to be a Green RVer. There are discussions of solar panels, wind turbines, alternative fuels and tire pressure. There are discussions about recycling, vehicle weight, gas mileage and sustainability but the true encouragement, if not solely for the next generation of RVers, the true passion behind Green RVing is the planet we will leave behind for our children and grandchildren. Read more  Read More →

VIDEO: 11AM Campground Checkout Times – ANNOYING?

Today I’m filing a blog entry in the LongLongHoneymoon.com complaint box. Early campground checkout times are one of my chief annoyances with the camping industry. Read more  Read More →

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