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Forum
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RE: What happened to camping/RVing?
We like a mix of camping styles---dispersed camping or primitive NF campgrounds, mixed with RV parks close to larger towns or cities. We live in a small town, and like to use our RV to 1) get totally away from people or 2) have a comfortable place to stay near to interesting areas we want to visit.
If the weather isn't amenable to sitting outside in the evening, we like to watch a movie or surf the web. And I like to stay in touch with my sweetie-pie grandkids during my travels--- so a cell phone signal is good to find. But we don't sit around inside all day or evening glued to electronics. It doesn't have to be an all or nothing proposition.
No reason it has to be all one or the other. The point of having a RV is to have your own comfortable bed anywhere you want to go.
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coolmom42
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04/03/14 08:50pm |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
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RE: Boondocking safety
The one concern I have while looking for a boondocking spot is accidentally stumbling into someone's marijuana crop and/or backwoods meth lab (or some other illicit operation). It pays to be observant while driving around; learn the signs of these activities and beat feet in the opposite direction if you see them.
Meth has become the scourge of small-town/isolated areas in Tennessee and many parts of the country. Manufacturers are universally users and they are NOT people you want to mess with, regardless of your self-defense abilities.
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coolmom42
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04/03/14 08:38pm |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
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RE: Winter Travel - First time - Tips - Suggestions??
You are way over-thinking this.
De-winterize at home before you leave. Pour a gallon of antifreeze in each holding tank. Run the furnace or a couple of space heaters the night before leaving. Run the cab heat while travelling. Tie open your cabinet doors or whereever the plumbing runs to let it get some heat.
You will have no problem finding a site with electric so you can run heat in Kentucky or Tennessee or further south. You will be out of freezing temps before the second night out.
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coolmom42
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11/16/13 07:56pm |
Snowbirds
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RE: Hometown...
I'm about 40 miles south of Dover, go to LBL often. I don't often camp there, since it's such a short drive for me. Lots of good photo opps in LBL and Ft. Donelson. I really enjoy going there.
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coolmom42
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11/16/13 07:40pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Weird Odor
My guess is that someone working on the trailer has left some butts in it, in some place that is not obvious. Take it apart with a fine-tooth comb... under the bed, under the dinette seats/furniture, every drawer, cabinet, the space around the water heater, the wardrobe, medicine cabinet, anywhere else they might have been into.
And if you can't find it, take it back to the shop.
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coolmom42
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11/16/13 06:54pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Too good to be true?
take a drive this weekend. look for the normal stuff...i think there is a check list soemwhere. it is getting the time of year where people want to unload campers before they deal with winter storage.
This.
It actually sounds like a realistic price.
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coolmom42
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09/24/13 10:16am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: 4% rule for retirement
I am considering retiring in the next few years and as I look online I see many references to what is referred to as the 4% rule. The 4% rule basically says in your first year of retirement you can withdraw 4% of your savings. In subsequent years you adjust your withdraws to account for inflation. I see some problems with this idea but basically it seems like fairly sound advice. Is this rule quite widely accepted as gospel?
That's a pretty widely accepted and sound type of advice.
You have to be prepared to invest for the long haul, and ride out some ups/downs in the market. You have to invest moderately aggressively to maintain a return rate over 4% so as not to run out of money.
A good financial planner has software to run many scenarios for you...with variables including age at retirement, life expectancy, rate of withdrawal & rate of return, that will show your odds of running out of money in your lifetime.
Generally the best thing to do is to go into retirement with zero debt and low expenses. (Of course that's always a smart way to live.) That gives you a lot of flexibility to ride out unexpected expenses and fluctuations in the economy.
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coolmom42
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09/20/13 06:11am |
Around the Campfire
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RE: beginner advice on campground selection please
Most National Parks do not have shower facilities. Check in detail for each park, though. And most of them have limited spots with full hookup.
State parks are highly variable---no way to know except looking at the park website.
Almost all privately owned RV parks will have electric and water, some have limited sewer. The quality of the facilities is EXTREMELY variable. Look on RVParkReviews.com for info on any privately owned (and some public) facilities you are interested in.
There are a couple of categories you didn't mention:
US Corps of Engineer Campgrounds---many of these are very nice, usually have limited amenities.
National Forest Service campgrounds--often in very very nice locations, and usually pretty inexpensive. Amenities range from full hookups and big shower facilities, to zero.
Many areas of the country have abundant city and county camping facilities as well. They are usually inexpensive, but again amenities are highly variable. Most of those seem to be in the Midwest & plains states.
You can find all kinds of info about all publicly owned campgrounds on a site called uscampgrounds.info. It's a great site. Very useful for trip planning.
I find that having internet access while you travel is CRITICAL to finding a place to stay. The best way to get that reliably is with a 4G wireless hot spot. Check out Verizon or ATT for the best coverage. Pick a device and then go to mobilekarma.com for a good deal on a used one. You can prepay it and keep it working for just the months you are travelling if you don't need it otherwise.
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coolmom42
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09/20/13 06:01am |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Just got a TT, overwhelmed by what I need to fill it :)
Start minimal and keep a running list of what you are missing. DO always have a notepad and pen/pencil handy.
You can get items with some wear from your house to leave in it. You won't be using them as heavily in the camper as at home. Replace in the house as needed.
You can also buy small bottles of things like dish detergent and refill as needed from the big one in the house.
Goodwill or some other thrift store is a good place to get tableware. DO make sure you have at least one good heavy pot and skillet for things that can scorch easily.
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coolmom42
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09/19/13 09:17am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Sudden New Smell !!!
If your gray tank stinks really bad, sanitize it using the same amount of bleach you would use for a fresh water tank.
Dump, then fill and dump clean water, then fill halfway, add the right amount of bleach, finish filling. Leave it for about 24 hours, then dump again.
No need to use a huge amount of bleach, or leave it for ages.
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coolmom42
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08/30/13 10:19am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Humidity & Refer.
Increased humidity will make ANY type of refrigeration take longer to cool down. The water vapor in the air has a high heat capacity and it has to be cooled, too.
However, in humid Tennessee, where the dewpoint is often about 70 degrees, our fridge will cool from 90 degrees down to 36 degrees in about 12 hours, with it empty, on either electric or propane, AND with keeping the door closed! Opening the door is the worst thing you can do.
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coolmom42
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08/30/13 10:13am |
Truck Campers
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RE: Long article on Cell phones in Yellowstone and Glacier
Cell phones & internet access make traveling MUCH easier. For some of us, it's important to stay in touch with family. I like being able to upload photos, check weather forecasts, and make travel reservations.
HOWEVER, I don't feel the need to have the phone on 24/7 and be talking on it all the time. I leave my phone turned off or in 100% silent mode a great deal of the time when traveling.
It's pretty simple---if you don't want cell phone access, just turn your phone off. DUH.
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coolmom42
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08/23/13 10:28pm |
RV Parks, Campgrounds and Attractions
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RE: campgrounds around Missuola Montana
Jim and Mary's on US 93 just a little north of town is very nice. Full hookups, super-clean showers/laundry, beautifully maintained. The owners are very pleasant and helpful. The sites are gravel and some are not perfectly level, we did use one block under the tires on one side.
I had to email back and forth a few times to make changes in our plans. Got a prompt reply each time. I also shipped a box of hiking clothes since Delta was going to charge me an arm & leg to check 2 bags. Had it delivered to the office and picked it up. (My boyfriend was there with the RV and I flew in/out of Missoula.)
There is a little traffic noise but not really enough to be annoying. Otherwise the campground was very quiet.
We stayed there a total of 4 days just a couple of weeks ago. For weekend reservations, call a week ahead. They were filling up on weekends in early August.
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coolmom42
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08/23/13 10:22pm |
RV Parks, Campgrounds and Attractions
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RE: Thermopilis, WY
Not trying to Hijack this post, but has anyone else driven south out of Thermopolis through the Wind River Canyon and felt like the river was running UPHILL? I had dreams about this for 25 years before I was able to get back there and when we went through I had the same sensation, again -- Loved It -- one of my top five drives anywhere!
Thanks,
YES!!!!
I never did figure out what was going on with that. I thought I was losing my mind.
And the museum in Thermopolis is amazing, especially in such a tiny little town!
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coolmom42
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08/06/13 08:23pm |
RV Parks, Campgrounds and Attractions
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RE: My Top 3 Mods
*LED lighting
*Memory foam mattress
*2 x 6 V Trojan T105 batteries
*Oxygenics shower head (yes I know that makes 4!)
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coolmom42
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08/01/13 09:11pm |
Do It Yourself Modifications and Upgrades (DIY)
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RE: Fridge On Propane
a really....really long time......
I pretty much strictly boondock.....
and I can go all summer plus some with out a fill up.... and we are out almost all the time.
the limit is going to be the battery...not the gas
This.
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coolmom42
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08/01/13 12:21pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Yellowstone in September
Try the USFS campground just north of the town of West Yellowstone on US 287. It's called Baker's Hole. About 1/2 electric, vault toilets, no showers, no dump station, water spigots about every 4-5 sites.
We stayed there in 2011 and the camp host told us it pretty well cleared out after Labor Day. We arrived on a Thursday in August and had our pick of electric sites.
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coolmom42
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07/31/13 06:08am |
RV Parks, Campgrounds and Attractions
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RE: Verizon Jet Pack Data Usage
I would suspect that you have a trojan virus on your laptop. I run several servers and one was hacked recently - it was sending out over 1 million emails per hour! I am now trying to clean up a log folder that has over 18 million tiny files in it - will take several days to delete.
Time to clean the laptop and find out what's causing the issue. If you have Win7 or 8 then the Task Manager has a 'performance' tab that allows you to see the volume of data traffic on your WiFi or Ethernet connection - when connected, check the numbers - you will see then if it's your laptop generating the traffic and if it is high and constant then it's more than likely a Trojan.
I agree, you have some type of virus or malware.
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coolmom42
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07/30/13 09:27am |
Technology Corner
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RE: rvparkreviews web site---how do I sign up?
OK I will give it another shot! Apparently there's something I'm missing.
I agree, it is a very helpful site. That's why I want to contribute!
UPDATE: I figured it out. You have to go to the "submit review" link on the front page, then on over to the signup page.
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coolmom42
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07/29/13 05:56am |
RV Parks, Campgrounds and Attractions
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rvparkreviews web site---how do I sign up?
I was interested in registering on rvparkreviews.com, to be able to offer some (hopefully) helpful input for other RVers.
It won't let me register without downloading a PDF "converter" which also contains a toolbar and a bunch of advertising.
Is this "normal"???? I despise getting stuff like that on my computer. Has anyone else tried to sign up there recently?
It's really disappointing that an otherwise great website is promoting this type of adware.
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coolmom42
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07/26/13 10:14pm |
RV Parks, Campgrounds and Attractions
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