By Bob Difley The Wild West was typified in the settling of Arizona as migrants, Civil War veterans, gamblers, gold seekers, missionaries, and flim-flammers headed west to seek their fortune. The town of Prescott – if you can call a hodgepodge of tents and crude cabins a town – became the first territorial capital, and the first governor’s mansion was…
Read MoreAuthor: Russ De Maris
Class A owners ask: Can you spare a tire?
By Russ and Tiña De Maris An RVer lamented that his brand-new motorhome had no spare tire. Concerned about what kind of outcome he’d face should he have a flat or blowout, he struggled mightily to get a spare and put it on board his rig. Some colossus motorhome jockeys tell us they rely on their road service provider to…
Read MoreRV Mods: Table drop-leg chewing floor? Here’s a quick fix!
By Russ and Tiña De Maris If you own a “vintage” RV, you probably have a “bag of tricks” you reach into to make your RVing life easier. Older equipment can sometimes act up, and there’s not always a modern fix for problems. Here’s one we ran into. Some RV dinettes are equipped with a single, folding leg. With the…
Read MorePolitics: Would the end of mortgage interest deductions hurt RVers?
By Russ and Tiña De Maris As Washington lawmakers battle it out over a tax plan, everyone wonders who the winners – and losers – will be. We don’t have a working crystal ball, but published information about the House tax bill, which has already passed, could be of interest to RV buyers – and present-day owners who’ve floated loans…
Read MoreTrim your RV weight and increase storage space, too
By Adrienne Kristine There is a direct connection between reducing the weight inside your RV and increasing the mileage for every gallon of expensive gas you purchase. Storage space is limited, but you can make the best use of the space you have by thinking outside the box or can. When you shop for groceries and sundries for your home,…
Read MoreCoyote camping: Your RV at home on the open desert
By Bob Difley Boondocking around Quartzsite on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and called Long Term Visitor Areas (LTVA) is an easy and effective introduction to desert boondocking and snowbirding. Support services and supplies are plentiful, and the great gathering of veteran boondockers, much like the mountain man rendezvous of 150-200 years ago, stand ready to…
Read MoreNational parks: Did you make your reservation?
By Russ and Tiña De Maris Some say America’s national parks are more than beloved – they’re being “loved to death.” The popularity of some parks makes for more than just irritable bears – irritable visitors have become the order of the day as parking spaces are scarce, and the so-called solitude of many parks gives way to shoulder-to-shoulder crowds…
Read MoreSome household cleaners may not be RV-friendly
Courtesy shurhold.com Editor’s note: The following is information provided by an RV products manufacturer. While there is plenty of product “puffing,” our readers may find some of the non-advertising information useful when working on their RVs. A clean RV provides the same level of accomplishment and pride as a spotless home, but the products used to get to that point…
Read MoreHeading to the desert? Read these tips
By Bob Difley If you are planning to head south to the deserts this winter for the first time, here are a few tips to help make your winter escape comfortable, safe and stress-free. • Add a few desert guidebooks to your library, such as Southwest Camping Destinations by Mike and Terri Church, an excellent guide to the RV resorts, campgrounds and…
Read MoreClean your RV’s interior (and more) with Baby Wipes
By Jim Twamley Baby wipes are so powerful I don’t know why we allow them to be used on babies. Really, these things have potent cleaning power. We used to mop the floor but now we do the job with wipes. They cut through dried up, caked on spills with ease and dry much faster than mop water. They do…
Read MoreHave you checked your rig for recalls?
By Russ and Tiña De Maris This could be a cautionary tale for us all. And while the investigation hasn’t closed at this writing, it may be that the experience that befell a North Carolina RVer may actually have been “prophesied,” in a manner of speaking. Joe McPherson of Old Fort, N.C., was piloting his Class A motorhome down a…
Read MoreNational park fees to skyrocket — Comment now or forget it
By Russ and Tiña De Maris The calendar is quickly closing in on the last day to make comments on the National Park Service’s move to possibly jack up entry fees on some of the most popular parks in the U.S. In a move that Department of Interior Secretary Ron Zinke calls “targeted fee increases,” 17 parks would see entry…
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