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Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Yuma
Rivers Edge in Winterhaven, CA right across the Colorado River and next to the first exit to Yuma should have space - and they have trees!
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KO
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10/21/13 09:21pm |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: Golf Cars in Campgrounds
The RV resort I stay in swells in size when the snowbirds get into town. The golf cart count definitely starts to rise. The resort is almost a 3/4 mile in length and for the old folks who want to use the pool, do their laundry, play cards or participate in the evening functions it is convient.
Many of the people who live here full time are single, many are wounded vets from Korea and Viet nam and this is their home. The carts provide them a way to get out in the fresh air and visit.
Now having said all that, their is definitely a "one upsmanship" within the golf cart ranks. They have all sorts of ATV, and golf cart upgrades. I have always said that I'd you want to see the latest in toys just go to a RV resort and you will see them.
To each their own. It's their money, so if it makes them happy go for it!
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KO
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10/19/13 07:25am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Protocol for fueling diesel
Not a true statement for Arizona. I work here and use the truck lanes often when driving my RV.
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KO
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10/19/13 07:11am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Orlando, FL to Arizona (Grand Canyon)
If you are near Kerriville Texas and ready for a stop - Buckhorn Lake Resort. A nice place. Right off the interstate,great dog run, and nice and clean.
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KO
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10/18/13 12:41pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: road altitudes
Altitude in the southwest can be deceiving. The south rim of the Grand Canyon is at 7000' and the north rim is at 8000'. Bryce Canyon is around 8000-9000'.
I am sure you have seen pictures of people there but it does not appear to be so "high".
Your concern crossing the mountains should be about the grade and not the altitude. The I-10 grade is not noticable except there are are several grades that will get your attention for a short period of time. You will see a sign on I-10 notifying you are crossing the Contential Divide and are up around 4000' - but it comes at a complete surprise as the climb is so gradual.
There are other more pressing concerns when traveling out west - and wind is the one on my list that I watch. The wide expanse doesn't stop the winds and they can get pretty gusty. If in loose sand area sand storms are a real danger.
As for a grade to avoid - I would stay away from I-70 thru Colorado but it is one of the most beautiful drives in America.
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KO
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10/17/13 12:34pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: road altitudes
I-10 crosses the Contential Divide in New Mexico at 4585 ft. It is a slow climb and does catch you by surprise when you get there.
I-10 in Arizona does get above 5000 ft.
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KO
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10/15/13 11:18pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Orlando, FL to Arizona (Grand Canyon)
Houston and San Antonio are no fun driving so I always do very early in the morning. El Paso can also be a bear but you can time that with rush hour traffic.
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KO
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10/15/13 10:59pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Protocol for fueling diesel
I usually drive solo as I use my RV as a place to live while at work 5 months out of the year. I drive Florida to Arizona and have a toad. I never use the car lanes always the truck lanes. For me it is safer and faster.
Some of the best conversations I have had is with truckers while refueling.
If you pull forward ( there is usually a yellow line) they don't mind you being there.
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KO
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10/15/13 04:15am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Looking...an HP Computer question
Buy a Mac.
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KO
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09/24/13 09:06am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Anode Rod for Atwood
Do you have one now? If so, do you know when/if it was ever changed?
Not much of a problem to change but for an upgrade not sure i would mess with it.
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KO
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09/24/13 08:57am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: myrtle beach to tampa
I agree with the 301 routing. Just be advised that I-4 is not a bad highway from Orlando to Tampa. All the construction is completed 3 lanes all the way and not a bad drive - once you get thru Orlando.
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KO
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09/23/13 10:36am |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Anyone else have this A/C issue or is it just me?
No the A/C shouldn't "act" different. Are you sure your 30 Amp service was supplying the full 30 Amps? If you were in a campground and everyone had their A/C running it could have reduced the overall electic.
Another thing, did you clean the air filters in the coach? Many times they can get pretty clogged and this will reduce the A/C efficienty. I would also suggest getting on top of the roof and cleaning (with a high powered blower or vacuum) the A/C intake filter(s). This can get clogged and reduce the efficiency. Here in Yuma AZ I have to do this about every 3 months as it gets clogged easily.
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KO
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09/19/13 09:57am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Rand McNally GPS
Great question -
The unit does take input in various ways. You can enter an address, location center (aka center of Phoenix), an intersection or Lat /Long.
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KO
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09/14/13 02:50pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: When to use the Air system dump button?
when you pull into your campsite and before you deploy your stabilizers. It owers the coach so you don't hace to extend to much and makes it easier to get in and out of the coach - lowers the steps.
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KO
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09/13/13 02:19pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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Rand McNally GPS
I posted about the Rand McNally RV GPS available at Camping World in a previous post. I have used the unit on a cross country solo trip since then and here is my review on the unit’s performance.
The first trip was in my Tahoe from Tampa, FL to Orlando FL. I make this trip about a dozen times a year for business. I have a Verizon mifi unit that I use in my RV, so I put that in the car and logged the GPS unit to the internet.
The unit routed from my house to I-4 via the same back roads that I would normally take. I encountered very heavy rains on the way to Orlando (I-4 traffic was traveling about 35-40 MPH!). You can display weather on the unit and “Precipitation and Intensity” is one of the available selections. This seemed to accurately portray the weather. I’ll give it an A+ for this feature.
When I got to the outskirts of Orlando around 4:00 PM the unit routed me around Orlando via toll roads with little traffic. It took me right to my destination. This is a route I had not done before so I was impressed. On my return trip the next day at 2:00 PM the unit routed me via the route I normally use. I figure the unit was using its predictive traffic feature to route via the toll road the day before and the shorter route the next day. If this is true I will grade the unit giving it an A.
I packed up the RV the next day and the following day I left Tampa for Yuma AZ in my RV towing my Honda. I was traveling solo, except for my dog who managed to stay in bed for almost the entire trip. I make this trip 4 times a year but I still rely on my GPS unit for enroute information. It is a 36 hour trip and you get to use all of the features – if for no other reason but to fight boredom on the road.
It routed me the same way I normally travel – to no surprise (I-75 to I-10 to I-12 – I-10 to I-8). The hard parts are Houston, San Antonio and El Paso as traffic is heavy and driving a 55 ft rig solo gets your attention.
When in the vicinity of San Antonio it routed me via bypass to Austin and then back to the Interstate. I have had several people tell me this is a better route. I think it is a toss up, but I cannot fault the GPS as I would have been in San Antonio at the beginning of rush hour traffic. I missed that so I am happy. I will give a grade of B+.
I ran into some heavy rain and winds north of San Antonio and the unit was very valuable to me in showing where the heavy rains and 20 MPH + winds were occurring. I give it a grade of A+ for this.
I stayed in Buckhorn Lake Resort in Kerrville TX. The GPS located this campground when I was 268 miles out. It provided me with the phone number and I dialed using hands free and made a reservation while on the road. It found all of my camp sites on the 4 day trip. The campground search is very good as you can get all commercial campgrounds, National, State or county parks. It will give you details of the campgrounds and supposedly pictures or videos of the park but I never saw any of these at any of my chosen campgrounds as they were not available. I give this unit an A+ for this feature.
The day I left Kerrville headed west to Ft. Stockton – the GPS unit told me to get on I-10 East. I reprogrammed the unit for Ft. Stockton but it once agin tried to get me to go I-10 east. This is a serious flaw as I should be going west bound. The unit worked well once on the road but… I give the unit a big F- for this!
One of the amazing things I liked about this unit was the fuel capability. I always stopped at Truck Travel centers for my diesel fuel stops. I am towing and cannot back up so I don’t want to get trapped, as a result, I paid higher amounts for diesel. This unit gives you the ability (if connected to internet) to get fuel prices along your route. It takes a few minutes (5 – 10 minutes) but it does give pretty accurate figures. I found prices can vary as much as .46 a gallon at the same exit! There are many “mom and pop” truck stops that do have discount fuel and I was able to find and use these for most of the trip using the unit. I saved several dolasr on this trip from this feature. It gets a big A+ for this feature.
Another fuel feature is logging fuel stop information. After refueling, you press the add fuel button, it has the date, location and last odometer setting. It usually has the name of the station. You add the gallons and the total amount it calculates price per gallon and MPG it then save the data. You then get a report of how much you spent in fuel by quarter or year. I like this feature – I give it an A+.
It has a virtual dashboard screen that you can call up at any time. The unit has a speed limit warning. You can set the value to what ever you desire – the default is 5MPH over the speed limit. You get an audible “speed warning” if you are traveling over 5 MPH the speed limit. On the Tahoe trip it drove me nuts; in the RV I loved it! The speed limit is pretty accurate except in construction areas. I drive around 66 MPH so I don’t get the speed warning much, except when going down a hill or a sudden change in speed limit – like when approaching a border patrol station. It has the current milepost data and is almost dead on with the mileposts on the highway. I‘ll give this feature a B.
I used some of the weather features when in the Arizona deserts – such as temperature, humidity. Not sure why any of this is useful but it made for some nice color displays. Overall grade is C.
You can purchase a traffic antenna for about $80. This is supposed to give you live traffic information. I purchased the unit and it worked well on day one. I never got it to work on the rest of the trip as it kept telling me it was a premier web service. Why then did I have to buy an antenna? Overall grade F-!
The virtual dash has three trip settings. I set one when I left Tampa as it would give me total miles traveled. I reset setting 2 every day so I knew how far I traveled that day, and setting 3 was used at each refuel stop so I knew how far since last fill up. Nice feature but the odometer setting seems to be not right. I t has me as traveled about 1600 for the total trip but I know it is about 2275 miles. I don’t trust the numbers – so I give it a grade of D.
I loved the feature that allows you to locate rest areas along your route. The system also included east bound rest areas – not something I care about when traveling west bound. It also identified Wal-Mart and other areas to park so nice feature. Overall grade of A.
Due to pilot error, I made a wrong turn while in the Austin TX area. I was in heavy traffic and I was trying to figure out how to turn around. The GPS successfully got me in the right direction using only right turns - it was a 3.2 mile round about - but I will gladly take it given the heacy traffic. I give this capability a grade of A.
These are my findings – your mileage may vary. Hope the review helps.
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KO
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09/13/13 12:17pm |
Technology Corner
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Rand McNally RV GPS
I just bought the RV GPS from Camping World. I drive Florida to Yuma AZ solo twice a year ( 4 trips). As I have no copilot, my GPS is very important to me. I liked the 7 inch screen and campground feature.
I have used it twice in my car for test drives. In both cases the unit made me take some really round about way to get to my destination. The last one, I was at Target and had to turn on the main drag and should have gone straight down the road for 7 miles. The unit tried to get me to turn left at several stop lights. It did correct itself when I did not obey. And yes it was set for car not RV.
I also programmed it to go for Tampa to Yuma. It directed me to get off the interstate and drive some highway for about 40 miles and the to get back on the interstate.
I know GPS are noted for their capacity to take you out to lala land, but this unit is really scaring me!
Anyone else having this type issue with this unit?
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KO
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09/01/13 03:01am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Where to Stay in Vegas?
Oasis Las Vegas Resort has my vote.
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KO
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05/11/13 06:57pm |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: What Android apps do you find useful?
I just came across country from Ca to FL - solo. I had no problem with weather until this recent severe weather storm came across country. I was hit by large hail in Kerrville TX and then had to follow this storm across country.
I used an app called RadarNow!. It is amazing as it is like having a weather radar in your vehicle.
Free trial and then $2.99 per year but i think it is well worth the price!
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KO
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05/11/13 06:54pm |
Technology Corner
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RE: I-10 coast to coast?
I live in Tampa FL and work in Yuma AZ. I make the I-10/I-12/I-8 drive about 4 times a year usually in my RV. I drive solo and am usually on a time schedule. I can make it in about 4.5 days in RV and in about 3.5 days in a car.
You do have to watch winter weather - usually winds can get scary out west. Seems like it is always raining in Mobil AL.
I used to dislike the west Texas part of the drive, but it is now my favorite part as traffic is not heavy and the Texas hill country is pretty.
Enjoy the trip.
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KO
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04/18/13 03:40pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Yuma Tire recommendation
Just bought 4 tires for my car and found out they are cheaper in El Centro. Go figure!
Just bought my RV tires in Tampa FL so no help...
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KO
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04/18/13 03:23pm |
Class A Motorhomes
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