Category Archives: RV Travel

Washington state to Florida

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Our original plan was to stay in WA until about Labor Day, then make a leisurely trip to FL with a few sightseeing stops along the way. In early June, I emailed a farm in SD where I worked for one season, wanting to confirm that I’d still be able to stop at one of the produce stands and get some farm fresh (hopefully double yolk) eggs as we cruised thru. To my deep regret, she informed me that produce might not even open for the season since a workamper cancelled. Hmmm. I debated talking to Mary about my idea since I wasn’t sure how she’d react but finally decided to go for it. I talked to her about my time at the farm, including how remote it was, and mentioned that she would probably be able to earn some cash as the resident chicken wrangler. To my surprise, she was all in. I finalized details with the farm, gave my notice at Amazon, raced to finish up my remaining RV projects, and off we went.

As we were preparing to leave Arlington, Mary decided to move the recliners herself while I was doing something outside. Bad move. She strained something in her back. We left on schedule but by the time we hit Wyoming she was still in pain. A local doctor confirmed that it was a muscle injury and there was really nothing we could do about it except rest and give it time to heal. We continued on and stopped to see Old Faithful on the way. It amazes me how they can predict the eruptions but we only had to wait about 15 minutes after our arrival to see it in all its glory. Next stop: the farm.

I had seriously considered spending a night at a nearby KOA, just to check things out before the final leg, but since we were so early, I pressed on. And promptly regretted that decision. My Google maps failed me, even though I still had a pin from my last visit. So there I was, relying on 5 year old memories, down a gravel road with a large 5th wheel. I saw something that looked familiar and made a left hand turn. Bad, bad move. They’d had lots of rain the day before so we were heading down a poorly maintained road with lots of large puddles. At one point, we thought the 5th wheel was sliding off the road. I stopped after going through the next puddle, with no farm in sight and called the owner. We quickly figured out where I was and they came out with a 4WD truck and tow rope. I got pulled backwards through the last puddle, they opened a farm field gate and I got turned around and back to the farm. Shortly before turning into their RV section, she stopped me and asked me to check it out on foot with one of the guys. They had put in a couple of new sites since my last visit and one of them looked suitable. I headed for it, driving through a weedy area instead of staying on the road. That part worked out OK and I got lined up on the site – and promptly sank almost to the axles right next to the utility pole. I was ready to stay there but the ground was so soft (because of the recent rain) that I couldn’t get the RV leveled. After that I decided we would get out of the hole and head back to the KOA for at least 2 nights while things dried out. I lost track of time but it must have taken an hour or 2 to get out of that rut. We set up at the KOA and relaxed that night.

The next day we drove back to the farm to discuss options and get some free eggs. Game plan was to come back the next day, for a different spot and wait for one of the guys with a lot of stock trailer experience to back the RV in since we might get only one shot at it. Came back mid morning the next day and parked near an electric outlet to keep the frig running and batteries up. Wait and wait and wait and wait. Suddenly one of the guys comes running up to me and says we have to move it now since there’s rain heading our way quickly. I get the RV in position, back up about 10 feet and realize I need to reposition. This time it’s going in nicely. Not perfect but pretty good. Our big concern was that I was going to sink again. Since that didn’t happen, I jockeyed it a few more times and got it setup just right.

The next 3 months were uneventful, except for the owner having a very bad year. The biggest impact of that on us was that she was stingier than usual with the eggs and produce. We still managed to survive and departed the area just after Labor Day.

This would be the long part of the trip, with several stops planned, other than overnight. Since Mary likes Spam (the meat), our first stop was the Spam museum in Austin MN. I was very surprised at the history of the company, especially during WWII. Moving on, we bypassed the Iowa 80 truck stop and headed straight for NW Indiana to visit family and friends. We got our fill of Chicago style hot dogs, another Chinese buffet and more specialty chocolate than I should have had. Found out that an old childhood friend and his GF have an RV in central FL so we’ll get to see them this winter.

After about 5 days, we headed over to Shipshewana IN and continued exploring that little Amish/Menonite town. We were heartbroken that our favorite ice cream shop in town had closed the month prior. I was really looking forward to that. We also met one of my FB friends who happened to be in the area visiting the RV museum in Elkhart.

Now we started the southbound part of the trip. First ‘vacation’ stop was Asheville NC where we got to do some whitewater rafting on the French Broad river. The water level was a little low so the ‘excitement’ level was also a little low, but still an enjoyable paddle. We also got to see a little bit of downtown Asheville because of an unplanned stop. This was more significant about 10 days later when we saw the devastation that the remains of a hurricane brought to the area we had recently visited.

Next stop Savannah GA. The city hasn’t changed much since the last time I was there. We took advantage of the free shuttle from the RV park and got tickets for the trolley tour of the city. It really does make a big difference who your driver is. We got on and off a few times, and they are not created equal. Again, I over indulged on ice cream and fudge. Oh well, we’re on vacation, right?

Southbound again. Next stop St. Augustine. The weather was absolutely perfect, just like it’s been for most of the trip. We got here early enough in the day to drive into the city and check out parking for the trolley so we wouldn’t have to worry about a free shuttle schedule to return to the RV park. The next day we arrived bright and early for a good parking spot and saw much of the town before we disembarked for a walking tour of the old fort. It’s actually a national park and I was kicking myself for not bringing my national park pass but they just issued me a new one, free of charge, since I’m a veteran. After touring the fort, we walked across the street to have an overpriced meal at an Italian restaurant then, naturally, more fudge. On the way back to the truck, we also stopped at the Ripley’s museum and saw some truly hideous displays.

Before starting the trip, I had built in some extra days in case of problems and one stop that we bypassed completely. We called our winter destination to make sure our site was available early and got lucky. We pulled in without problem and got setup, including dropping the kitchen deck. About 10 days later, a hurricane was heading directly for us. Those forecasts change frequently and I was initially going to stay in place, then changed my mind after seeing some wind forecasts in the 70mph range. We packed everything back up and headed north well ahead of the hurricane and the thousands of other evacuees. The plan was to stay in St. Augustine for a couple of nights and play it by ear from there. I reserved 2 nights on line and we headed for the same park we’d stayed in to visit the city. On our way there, we got a call from the office that evacuation orders had just been issued for them effective the next morning. We could stay for one night but that would be it. I found another park in GA that had room for us so we just headed straight there. We stayed a couple of nights, had a very disappointing country buffet and watched weather forecasts for FL. It didn’t look like our area got hit too bad so we headed south once more, verified from the road that our park still had electricity and water and were back on our site well before nightfall. We’re still a little leery of the weather since hurricane season officially goes through the end of November. As of mid-November, we still haven’t put the deck back down but hope we’ll be able to do that soon.

The Poor Tax – it’s not just for shoes

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For those of you who aren’t aware of the poor tax, it goes something like this. If you’re poor and you need some product, you tend to buy a lower quality version of the product. I typically use shoes as an example. A poor person who needs shoes might buy a new pair that will only last 6 months. A rich person will buy a much higher quality shoe that could last 5 years. The poor person will spend more for shoes over the course of that 5 years than the rich person did with one purchase. Obviously, this concept applies to more than just shoes.

Just this week I realized that I’ve been paying the poor tax for computer printers. Now, I don’t really NEED a printer in the RV anymore, but it certainly comes in handy at times, and because of my IT work history I just feel kind of naked without a printer. I’ve always purchased inkjet printers since they’re so cheap to buy. The problem with them is the cost of replacement ink cartridges. And that’s compounded by the fact that mine see so little use. The cartridges typically either dry up or leak between uses. Just a few days ago, Mary wanted me to print a shipping label for her so she could return something.

I haul the printer out of the cabinet and open the box (that keeps it safe while traveling). I look at the zip lock bag holding the ink cartridges and sure enough, the color cartridge had leaked. I try printing with just the black cartridge and get nothing. So here I sit with a $50 printer/scanner/copier, probably looking at my 3rd set of cartridges, at about $45 a set, and finally said ‘Enough’.

I started researching ways to prolong the life of the ink cartridges and everything boiled down to ‘print at least weekly’ and didn’t mention anything about driving down bumpy roads at highway speeds LOL. Decision time. I found a low cost monochrome laser printer with good reviews for $110. Per their specs, the starter toner cartridge should print about 700 pages. I could be dead before I print that much. And if I need color, I’ll just go to the nearest office supply store or printing place. For the scanning/copying, which I’ll probably need more of, I found a portable single sheet scanner for under $100. Hopefully, I won’t have to revisit this subject anytime in the near future.

Spring 2024 Travel Recap

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We left the Rio Grande Valley in Texas on March 3rd and arrived in Arlington Washington on March 21st. How’s that for a recap? JK

As usual, it was an interesting trip. We covered about 2700 miles without any truck problems or RV suspension problems. That visit to the trailer repair shop in Houston TX has paid off. I’m just now getting to the point where I’m not looking at each vehicle that passes us, checking to see if they’re pointing at something wrong behind me.

That’s not to say we didn’t have any issues at all. Our first stop was at an Army RV park in San Antonio. We’ve stayed there before. They have nice concrete pads and I’d planned on rotating the truck tires there instead of the gravel pad we had in the RGV. Apparently the truck tires are getting heavier or I’m getting older. That little task took a lot out of me and decided to extend our stay one extra night to rest a little more. When we left the RGV, I also noticed that the slide topper on the kitchen slide wasn’t rolling up smoothly when bringing in the slide. That’s the one that I recently replaced and pinned it incorrectly so the internal springs released all their tension. Carefree of Colorado has instructions on their website about how to re-tension the springs and I followed those to the letter but it wasn’t enough.

I’d been thinking about buying another taller ladder for some time so I took advantage of the extra day to do just that. I used my military discount at Lowe’s to get a 10 foot ladder ($25 off) and added an extra turn on the tension. It was a real pain with the topper still installed. And it turns out that wasn’t enough. So, I’ll remove the topper entirely over the summer and do it again from scratch. On the brighter side. the new ladder travels well on the truck racks that used to carry kayaks.

We continued westward with a couple of 1 night stays until we got to Tucson. I had planned 2 nights there before heading to Quartzsite but those plans quickly changed. We were only able to get a dry camp site. No power, no water, no sewer. I filled up the freshwater tank at their dump station and we started setting up on the site. I dragged our new generator out and got it fired up and connected. Mary started putting out the slides and we heard a terrible noise coming from the big living room slide. I’ve never heard that sound before but I’ve read countless posts on FB groups that told me it was most likely the gearbox. At that point it was Friday afternoon and I was tired and not looking forward to that repair, even though I had a spare gearbox and the proper tools. Mary started calling mobile RV repair shops. Besides the normal problems getting a tech quickly, we were once again on a military base. Some companies will not take calls on a military base simply because it’s a hassle for civilians to get cleared onto the base. The earliest appointment we could get was Tuesday morning. We agreed to that and told them we’d cancel if I got the work done prior to that. The next day we ran into a couple who had seen us in San Antonio a few days prior and the husband helped me get the slide fully extended. That was basically the 2 guys throwing themselves at the ends of the slideout while Mary held the ‘extend’ button. A few hours later I had the motor and gearbox replaced, the cables adjusted properly and the slideout operating normally. Again, I felt the effects of old age and extended our stay by 2 nights. Fortunately, our freshwater lasted the entire time. That was certainly helped by me taking showers in the nearby bath house.

It was a fairly short driving day from there to Quartzsite AZ. The plan was to stay in an RV park in town and just drive the truck into the desert to check on BLM camping sites. All of that happened as advertised. BLM camping in Quartzsite was an interesting sight. Everything from million dollar Prevost busses to tents and everything in between. We got the lay of the land and talked to a few people to figure out how they did things for an extended stay. We could’ve done it for a few nights but I’m not sure nearby campers would’ve appreciated our generator running 16 hours a day. Most folks who stay long term have solar panels and just use their gennys on cloudy days. We headed back into town for the RV park with all the amenities. And I realized that I had goofed on the reservations for our next stay at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas. They couldn’t change the reservation so we had to extend one more night in Q.

One of the reasons I picked this particular RV park in Q was because they are in the Passport America network. That’s a nationwide discount camping club. The participating parks all have their own conditions for using the discount. In this case, you could only use it for a 2 night stay, which is what I’d reserved. Now I needed to get one more night at their standard rate. Not a big deal except this park had a very strange policy. All the sites had an electric meter and you typically see those used for monthly stays. This park’s policy was that electric was include in your rate for a maximum of 2 days and if you stayed longer than that you would be charged for actual usage starting on your first day. When I booked the third night in the office, the lady explained all this. I told her I understood but it was the only time I’d seen a policy like that in 18 years of RVing all across the country. I saw their maintenance guy take the reading mid afternoon the day before we left. They were supposed to charge my card after we left for the actual usage but never got around to it.

In Las Vegas we were woken up in the middle of the night by the propane/carbon monoxide detector going off. It had reached the end of its useful life and was beeping to let us know. We were there on the weekend and I couldn’t find a nearby RV dealer with the correct replacement so I cut one of the wires to silence it for the rest of the trip. On our arrival in WA, I ordered a new one from Amazon and had it the next day.

Somewhere between NV and WA we also had a problem with our drop down lights over the dinette table (something like this https://www.amazon.com/Kitchen-Pendent-Brushed-Decorative-Dinette/dp/B073RQM81C/ref=asc_df_B073RQM81C/ ) One of them had come loose while traveling and swung into the other one, shattering the glass. I disconnected the one that came loose and stowed it in the truck for the remainder of the trip. After arrival in WA, I removed the one with the shattered glass and used a part from it to reinstall the other light. We’ll go light shopping at some point in the near future.

But wait! There’s more! When we stopped for the night at a Love’s RV Stop in Bliss ID, the bedroom slide started making noises. They didn’t sound exactly like the noises from the living room slide but were still concerning. The next morning I moved a picnic table under the bedroom slide and pushed on it while Mary was hitting the retract button. We got it fully retracted and decided not to use the bedroom slide again until we got to our final destination (only 2 days).

So, on March 21st we pulled into our home for the summer. It’s a fairly small park, but agreeably close to the Amazon fulfillment center where I’ll be working. We’re starting off on a water and electric site until a full hookup site opens up next month. All the slides are out and I have time to figure out the bedroom slide problem. The park has some donated totes which I’ve been using to empty the gray tanks into and pull to the dump station. We’re close enough to the dump station that I decided yesterday to buy a cheap 100 foot hose for dumping the gray tanks. I’ll still have to use the tote for the black tank although I hope to only have to do that chore once before we move.

Paging Dr. Google

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Reliable, quality health care and RVing don’t often go hand in hand. Health care can be tough even if you’re in a ‘normal’ life situation: living in one place and getting health care from your employer. Factor in the different ways people RV and it gets much trickier.

Let’s start with the (relatively) easy ones. There are fulltime RVers on Medicare, or working remotely with company health insurance, who keep their primary care providers. They either don’t wander far or plan their travels to swing through their home base for scheduled and routine appointments. Sure, they have to worry about something happening away from home but other than that they have one doctor who is a known quantity and they are a known quantity with the doctor. Now let’s visit the other end of the spectrum.

It seems like the fulltime RVing life has become more popular to younger people in recent years. I see them all the time in the workamping groups. Many are families with young children. They think life will pass them by if they don’t do it now. Or they have terrible jobs. Or high house payments. Or they’re just getting out of a terrible relationship. Take your pick for the reason, but they’re out there. Usually with no health care or, at best, catastrophic coverage. This would terrify me, especially with children. They’re basically rolling the dice, hoping that everyone stays healthy, hoping that there are no undetected conditions lurking inside. Their medical plan is basically whatever emergency room happens to be closest when illness or injury strikes. This is also the group most likely to declare medical bankruptcy or start a Go Fund Me page to pay for a necessary procedure or medications.

Now let’s talk about my group, the ones in the middle. We have decent health insurance with national coverage but no home base and no primary care provider. It used to be pretty easy visiting a new doctor. Prior surgeries? One or two. Medications? One. As I age, the list of both gets longer and I realize that the doctor is at a definite disadvantage not knowing my medical history. But sometimes that doesn’t really matter. Finding a good doctor can be tough. Imagine landing in a city with 500 doctors and you don’t know a single one. You can ask your neighbors and they’ll recommend someone, say they’re the greatest, without any knowledge of the other doctors. You can check Google reviews but the same applies there. It’s mostly folks who only have experience with the one doctor they’re rating. All this is leading up to my latest medical rant.

Mary needed reconstructive foot surgery. We checked with neighbors for recommendations. She checked Google reviews for specialists who accepted her insurance. She went in and had the surgery. I guess time will tell how successful it was but during that process I developed a foot problem and made an appointment with the same doctor. My problem was not easily diagnosable, even with X-rays. On the first visit he was very confident that all I needed was an insert. On the next visit, when he was going to provide the insert, we talked a little more and he revised his diagnosis. He thought the problem was caused by nerves from 2 very specific spinal discs and suggested I consult my regular doctor. Well, since he was very specific about spinal discs I made an appointment with a chiropractor. They weren’t very confident in his diagnosis but still thought they could help. After 2 appointments, I decided they couldn’t help and were just wasting my time and money (since they weren’t covered by insurance). So, more research and an appointment with a different podiatrist. He took his own X-rays and listened to my description of the problem, along with a physical exam. He actually said some things that made sense to me. My problem started shortly after I left Amazon last summer. While I was working at Amazon I was wearing composite toe shoes and from previous experience wearing them in a warehouse environment, I got a wider width than usual. After leaving there, I went back to wearing my regular width running shoes. He measured my feet and I found out the problem foot was slightly wider than the other foot. Three different doctors – four different opinions. We’ll see if the problem clears up with wider shoes.

So, why the title about Dr. Google? I know the medical community generally frowns on the use of Google to research your own medical issues. But sometimes you get a much better consensus from Google than actually visiting doctors, in much less time and no cost. As a functioning adult I can order labs just about anywhere in the country from Quest Diagnostics. As a travelling RVer, I can get many medications without a prescription and at low cost across the border in MX. Sure, I have to do a little more homework and get follow up labs at some point but that’s usually easier than trying to get a doctor appointment if you’re not already an established patient. Of course, none of this applies to emergency conditions or serious injuries. I really don’t feel like setting and splinting a broken bone on my own. But for everything else, Dr. Google is my first stop.

A Very Painful Goodbye

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Back in May of 2007 I became acquainted with a stray cat at a campground in the middle of nowhere South Dakota. That cat came to be known as Dakota and crisscrossed the country several times with me. During her kitten phase, she would bite my toes while I was sleeping. She stopped that after only 2 or 3 flying lessons. During her adult phase, she would fearlessly walk up to strange dogs to introduce herself. She never once caught a squirrel but she never stopped trying. In the first 5th wheel, she would jump on the sink in the bedroom, in the middle of the night, and whine until I turned the cold tap on for her to drink out of. She outlasted 2 wives and a few serious relationships. When it was allowed, she was an outdoor cat, doing what outdoor cats love to do. When I discovered that she’d lost quite a few teeth, she became an indoor cat. Eventually, she even became a lap cat although I didn’t think that would ever happen. She crossed over the rainbow bridge peacefully the afternoon of 7/6/23. I may get another rescue cat in the future but I’m not sure I’ll ever have a better cat.

And last but not least, Dakota the watch cat.

Another “exciting” trip

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It was nice leaving the RGV without a strict timetable. I had stops planned for a nice, leisurely drive up to Indiana. Our first stop was just outside Austin TX, checking a new possible winter destination. And that’s where things started to go wrong.

The campground was waaaay off the beaten path. During the last mile of the drive to the gate there was a narrow section of road with trees close on either side, and a pickup truck coming from the other direction. Silly me. I assumed that the trees would’ve been trimmed properly for big RVs. We didn’t feel or hear anything during that 50 yard stretch. After registering at the campground, I stood on their porch and looked down at the RV and thought ‘Why is my antenna upside down and 20 feet back from where it should be?’

We pulled into the site and got set up before I ventured onto the roof. The King Jack antenna would need to be replaced, along with 2 vent caps. Fortunately, the air conditioning shrouds and the exhaust vent covers were all OK. I didn’t see any other damage on the walk around so I felt pretty good that it was so minor and I could do all the repairs. There was an RV dealer nearby that had an antenna but it was much more expensive than what I’d seen online so we lived without live TV for a few days.

On to our next stop for a 2 night stay and I discover another issue. The main awning won’t go out. Oh! The motor cover got torn off by that nasty group of trees and all the wires were disconnected. After looking at it for awhile I could tell something else was missing but was able to connect the power wires and get the awning to extend. Of course, I had to reverse the wires to retract it. Back online for more research and found the missing part. Unfortunately, it wasn’t something typically stocked by RV dealers so that would have to go on the back burner for a few days. But there was one other bonus. As I’m walking around the RV I notice a crack in the corner of the kitchen slideout box. Wonderful! This is the very heavy slide so that’s just not good news.

We decide to keep driving and just extend the kitchen slide partially until repairs can be made. Driving through Arkansas we bypass a planned stop so we can spend an extra day camped on the Mississippi River. Enroute we stop at a Camping World just outside of Little Rock for a replacement antenna. It listed for $199 in the store but at the register I showed them their online advertised price of $140 and they honored that price. We spent 3 nights on the shores of the Mississippi River, watching barges go up and down the river and visiting with one of Mary’s old friends. Oh, and making repairs on the roof. At least the weather was nice while we were there and we found a nearby Dairy Queen.

On to our last stop before visiting family in Indiana. It was a very small RV park in the middle of Illinois and I don’t think they ever decided what kind of park they wanted to be. From the name and size, they were just supposed to be an unattended, overnight, no frills stop. Then they started adding amenities and a rule that you had to change sites after 2 weeks. Either way, it was convenient.

We made it to Cedar Lake IN the next day. This would be a water/electric site for a week but a very short drive to visit Mom and sis so we dealt with the shower house. First stop was for Chicago hot dogs. Man they tasted good after so long without. Italian beef sandwiches and gyros were a couple of days later. It was also time to make reservations at https://shipshewanatradingplace.com/rv I’d visited them a few years ago with slide cable issues and they fixed me up right on my site. This time I was already thinking something more catastrophic that would require us to drop the RV off for weeks.

We arrived at Shipshewana and the RV tech came out to look at the crack before we parked. Remarkably, he remembered me from my previous visit. Not my name, but my face and the problem. He thought it was more cosmetic than structural but also noticed a broken cable. OK, I thought, I’ve replaced those myself. We got setup on the site with 2 slides extended and I got a better look at the broken cable, and the wall around it. At that point I was back to thinking major, very expensive repair. Stopped at the office and their service schedule was booked out at least a couple of weeks. I couldn’t stay on my site that long due to previous bookings for Memorial Day and rallies. They talked to the tech again and he came to the site for another look. It was bad but not catastrophic. He could come out after hours (Friday) and start reinforcing that corner. Whew! We started running into problems with the cable replacement and he called a stop for the night, and also called a factory rep to assist him the next morning. The Norco/BAL factory rep was a real wizard with cables. We both learned a lot from him. That left a few more minor issues, which were taken care of in the bay on Monday. While waiting for that, I finished repairs on the awning with parts that had just arrived the day before. All told, we didn’t miss a night of sleep in the RV and the repairs were under $1k.

We also got to visit the RV museum in Elkhart and a number of Amish shops right here in Shipshewana. It seems like the Amish are embracing E-bikes. They’re not as prevalent as the buggies and horses but still noticeable. It really is an interesting area and we’ll have to come back sometime when we don’t need repairs.

While all the repairs were going on, I was also looking for my next Amazon job. I really didn’t expect to have any problems with this since they have such a high turnover rate. The first place I wanted ran out of openings AND had ridiculously high RV site rents nearby. Second place had no openings. I expanded my search and found another possibility that I applied for. The first appointment would require us to leave here 2 days early but, again, we couldn’t find a monthly site nearby. I withdrew that application and applied elsewhere. Almost had to withdraw that one but finally found a park with monthlies. Hopefully, this will work out for a few months to replenish the bank account.

Email Problems

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I created a separate area for computer stuff but decided to add this in the regular blog since it’s more likely to affect traveling RVers.

This particular problem certainly won’t impact everyone but if my hard-earned knowledge helps a few folks then it will be worth the effort.

A little background might be helpful. When I started fulltiming there were still many people using AOL (I was NOT one of them). Other folks got their email address from whatever local Internet Service Provider they paid to get connected to the internet (via dial up modem). Since I would be traveling all over the country, this presented a problem. I could either establish an account with a national provider (and change my primary email address) or dial long distance to connect with my local provider to keep my email address. I chose the first option. I purchased a hosting package with a national provider, created a new primary email address and got a few other options, like this web page. I still had to worry about connectivity wherever I went but that problem went away as WiFi became more readily available. Since there would be times when I didn’t have Internet access, I chose to use a local email client so all my emails would be stored on my computer instead of a remote mail server. This system has worked well for over 15 years.

So what’s the problem now? Well, a few months ago we were in an area that had T-Mobile Home Internet. We signed up and it was great. Just $50 a month for blazing fast Internet. Only one piece of equipment to plug into an outlet. When we were ready to leave, we decided to keep the account active until we got to our next location. Bonus! It also worked great at our new location. We had much better bandwidth than with the RV park WiFi. Life was good….until it wasn’t.

I hadn’t made any configuration changes to my email but all of a sudden my outgoing emails started getting blocked by a spam protector. I went through their remediation process and emails started flowing again. Then they started getting blocked again. This time the spam company recommended I make a specific configuration change. That sent me on a wild goose chase that lasted hours. The actual problem was the IP address being provided to me by T-Mobile Home Internet. Someone else had abused that address previously and got it blacklisted.

I can’t force T-Mobile to do anything but I have options again. I can still send email through my webmail instead of the local email client. Or, I can connect through a different WiFi and still use Thunderbird. I may even be able to reboot the Home Internet box to try to get a new IP address assigned. I’ll test that later.

UPDATE: The reboot of the Home Internet box worked. I got assigned a new public IP address that was not on a block list. Ain’t DHCP grand? Also, even though this article talks about T-Mobile Home Internet I suspect it could also apply to RVers using Starlink.

Bad luck or charmed life?

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We left the PNW allowing plenty of time to get to Houston TX, with good reason as it turns out. We made it precisely 110 miles down the road before pulling into a rest area and noticed smoke rising from the front driver’s wheel well. It didn’t take long to figure out that the brake caliper had seized. I tried taking the tire off to see if I could free the caliper but one of the lug nuts refused to budge past a certain point. Good Sam Roadside Assistance to the rescue. Despite a few miscommunications a very large tow truck arrived a few hours later. We had already reserved a spot at a nearby RV park and Good Sam set up an appointment for us at a nearby Dodge dealer. After a 3 day delay (and new rotors, calipers and pads on the front axle) we were back on the road.

It’s amazing (or not) how much you pay attention to every little sound driving down the road after repairs. Just hoping that nothing else is going to rear its ugly head. But it didn’t. All the way through Oregon, Idaho and into Utah. We rolled the dice on the Hill AFB FamCamp without reservations, mainly hoping for somewhere with great WiFi for a paid interview with User Testing. Well, we got a site for 3 nights and had 2 days before the interview. Naturally, I looked for a Chinese buffet and found a very good one. But while driving through town I noticed some vibration coming from the truck. Damn!! Bright and early Monday morning I drove into town to get it looked at. Surprisingly, they were able to start troubleshooting immediately. The mechanic took it for a short test drive and put it on a lift as soon as he got back. More bad news. The driveshaft was on its last leg. Their first call for a replacement part was the nearby Dodge dealer, where they were informed that the part had been discontinued. They finally tracked one down but it would be several days before it arrived. As I type this, we’re still waiting.

More money for repairs. Bad news. More delay. Bad news. Finding the problems without major accidents? Charmed life. Being in a very safe RV park with full hook ups and shopping within walking distance while we wait? Charmed life. With any luck, the charm will continue and the repairs will be made as quickly as possible and we’ll be on our way again soon.

Random Thoughts from the PNW

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For those who don’t travel much, PNW is the Pacific NorthWest. I’m on my fourth visit to the PNW, third in an RV. Sometime last year, I spotted a campground ad looking for help over the summer and, after some discussion, Mary and I applied for and got the jobs. It looked like fairly easy duty and enough time off to explore the area.

Well, next time, I should probably check Google maps a little better. The initial plan was to spend a lot more time hiking in Olympic National Park. It looked very doable last year but now that we’re here, the driving times are somewhat excessive. This week we planned a trip to the Hoh Rain Forest to get my free veteran’s pass and hike a couple of short trails. Well, besides a 2 hour drive to get there it was the middle of the day and the line of cars to get to the visitor’s center was one and a half hours long. So we turned around and drove another hour plus to the Port Angeles visitor’s center where we were in and out in about 3 minutes. Bonus: Asian Buffet in Port Angeles and a short waterfall hike nearby.

For several months I’ve been reading about the heat wave covering much of the country. Here on the Pacific Coast of Central Washington, we haven’t had that problem. It’s rarely hit the 70s during the day and much chillier at night. At the end of July, the heat pump and a space heater still get daily use. But at least we’re not paying for electric.

And an unexpected bonus. Washington is well known for its apple orchards. A few years ago I became acquainted with a variety called Super Cosmic Crisp. In most parts of the country they’re very expensive. Around here I’ve been able to find them on sale at different stores for $0.99 a pound!! For those of you who haven’t tried them, they’re just as sweet as Honey Crisp but much denser. A good sized Cosmic Crisp can almost be a meal by itself.

And now I have to edit because I forgot all about my bicycle rides. First, it’s great not dealing with high temps while riding. Second, it’s way better than road riding in Texas. Down there I always, always, always had to worry about loose dogs charging me. I had to work on my balance down there so I could keep riding and swing a bicycle lock cable at the same time. Here in Washington the few barking dogs I’ve encountered have been behind fences and closed gates. Maybe as a byproduct of that, there are lots of deer roaming the streets in town (bucks, does and fawns). Today I unexpectedly spooked a black bear. He was very close to the road edge and either heard or saw me approaching. As I passed him he was heading further into the brush, very loudly and quickly.

12 Days, 3000 Miles

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Another long trip is in the books. Over the winter in the RGV, I’d done repairs on both the RV and the truck and we were just hoping for an uneventful trip. HA! said the universe.

It started out well enough. On the first day northbound, I thought there might be a problem with the inverter (necessary to keep the refrigerator running while traveling). By the second day I was 100% certain. After checking breakers and fuses, Mary started calling around to find a new inverter. We found a few places that would work, for a cost of around $200. We made it to our second overnight stop and had to make a decision about the inverter. During the long drive, I had plenty of time to think and finally recalled a similar problem I had a few years ago with the inverter. When we got to the RV park, I completely disconnected the battery connected to the inverter, waited a minute or two, then reconnected it. Lo and behold, the inverter was working again. $$$ and time saved.

On we drove, ever westward. Going across New Mexico on I-40 we started hearing an unusual noise while braking. By the time we got to our scheduled casino RV park stop, it was very noticeable. We’d stopped early enough to start looking for a mechanic. Google is really great but sometimes the listings are real outdated. I called 3 or 4 nearby mechanics. I got voice mail for one and dutifully left a message (they never called back). One said they were very busy but he would check with his boss and call me back (he never did). The others came up with invalid numbers. By that time, most businesses were closed. I started looking further away, at a Dodge dealer, and settled on that for my last resort option. I also looked a little closer at the maps and found a few more options in a nearby town. Early the next morning, I called a small shop and they could see me right away. Within 2 minutes of arriving at the shop, me and my truck were on a lift. They’d pinpointed the problem and I had new front brake pads installed in under 30 minutes at a very reasonable price. We did a quick restock at Walmart and stayed another night at the casino just to rest up a little more.

While driving towards Albuquerque the next day we decided to skip one stop in Arizona. Between the price of diesel and the wind direction, it just wasn’t worth it. We did, however, stop at a small native American owned trading post (with RV park) long enough to tour the Grand Canyon for a day and enjoy a couple of good meals in their restaurant.

Now we’re heading northwest, over halfway to our final destination. Made it to our next stop in Utah without problems, although we were getting tired of the monotonous scenery. Because of the short driving day, we unhitched the truck to get some cheaper diesel and a local pizza. This particular park was mostly full of permanent RVers, much like many of the parks we’d stopped at. Getting out of the spot required some thought and consideration but we made it without any scratches. Then about 2 hours later a passing car notified us that we had a problem. Pulled over quickly at the end of an on ramp and walked around the RV. Well, halfway around. That’s all it took to notice a broken spring hanger and 2 tires touching each other. This was the same spring hanger that just got rewelded in San Antonio last December. Good Same Roadside Assistance was worthless in this situation. I Googled mobile welders and found one nearby (in Ogden) who responded immediately. Looks like he did an excellent job welding the hanger and even stayed to help me reattach the leaf spring. His price was very reasonable and we made it to our next scheduled stop without losing a day.

This should have been our last 1 night stay prior to arrival at our summer gig. We were all looking forward to fully setting up and settling in. We were heading north in Washington when we noticed another strange sound, this one coming from the transmission area. I just had the clutch and flywheel replaced a couple of months ago in Texas so this came as a real surprise. We had to backtrack about 20 miles to a Dodge dealer. After inspecting underneath the truck, they couldn’t definitively diagnose the problem further than a fluid leak. I found a nearby RV park that had room for us and setup there for a night with plans to return to the dealership when they opened the next morning to at least fix the leak. Dropped off the truck the next morning and while walking back to the RV park got another call from them. They admitted a mistake in the source of the leak, needed to order another part that would arrive the next day. That part was the most expensive repair of the trip but it arrived early enough in the day for the truck to be ready to go by noon. They also advised me that the guy in the RGV did NOT install all the parts he charged me for. I’m fighting over that now.

Anyway, after 12 days and 3000 miles, we finally made it safely to Copalis Beach Washington where we’ll settle in until the fall.