RVer Entertained By Road Signs

As a long time RVer I’ve crossed the country back and forth and enjoy seeing unusual signs. We frequently see signs that say things like “Elk” or “Deer Crossing” or “Moose next 5 miles”. When I first began driving I would get excited and attentive, thinking I might actually see wildlife. We laugh at these signs now because in our experience these signs actually mean, “There is no chance at all you’re going to see anything of the sort.” So why do states waste the metal and manpower to erect signs like these? So hunters can have a little target practice? Just about every other sign you see with a “dancing deer” has bullet holes in it. It would be more entertaining for states to put up signs like, “Road Kill next 5 miles” or “Birds” or “Armadillo Crossing”. Granted, if you hit a moose or a large deer doing 65 mph you could get killed, but, other than entertainment value do these signs really help? Let me know your opinion. Jim Twamley, Professor of RVing

RVers Now Enjoy DVDs on the Road for Only $1.00 a Night

Almost every RV has a DVD player because it's a great way to watch your favorite movies. Now you can rent DVDs for $1.00 + tax, per night with no late fees. You can pick up your DVDs at the “Redbox” fully automated DVD rental kiosks that are conviently located at many McDonalds, over 350 Albertsons grocery stores. Redbox has over 3,500 kiosks nation-wide and they are growing fast. The best news for RVers is that you don’t have to return the DVDs to the same kiosk. You can return them to any Redbox kiosk anywhere in the US. So I could pull into McDonalds and pick up a couple DVDs in Myrtle Creek, Oregon right off of Interstate 5 (exit 103) and return them a few days later in Kansas City, Mousouri. You can pay with cash or credit card. Each kiosk has over 70 new releases to choose from. You can keep the DVDs as long as you want for $1.00 per night plus tax. You can even order you DVDs ahead of time on the internet and then pick them up at your nearest kiosk and Redbox will provide you with an alternate location if the nearest kiosk does not have the title in stock. Now that’s great news for RV enthusiasts who love new movie releases. Check them out here: Redbox

Keeping you up-to-speed on the latest RV issues - Jim Twamley

Need Some Kick In Your Tunes?

James Carter demonstrates his Music Tote at an RV show.This is a great music machine! It is a great sounding set of amplified speakers with retractable speaker chord and ample storage for your CD player, IPod, DVD player, MP3, satellite radio, laptop and almost any electronic device with an earphone jack. The Music Tote really has a nice stereo sound, is portable and durable. It has additional storage for 12 CD’s or DVD’s and an additional zipper storage pocket. It runs on 9 volt batteries or you can use the AC/DC adaptors. Not a bad deal for $30.00 plus S/H. Music Tote comes with a 90 day limited warranty.

RVBB labs rates this system at 3.5 bologna’s
Musictote

RVer Soars With the Birds

Jim and Bronwen Soukup are full time RVers traveling in this 40 foot diesel pusher Tradewinds LTC made by National. Yesterday I watched as Bronwen broke the surly bonds of earth and took off for the wild blue yonder in a Grob 103 sailplane. Her pilot, Bruce Waddell has been flying sailplanes for 29 years and tells me this aircraft was made in Germany but is no longer in production. It weighs 860 pounds and the price tag of an equivalent plane if purchased today is around $90,000. When this plane catches an updraft and gains altitude it's called “soaring.” When it has to rely on the tow plane to gain altitude it’s called “gliding.” RVers are known to be adventurous and some are downright daring and Bronwen is no exception. This sortie is called the, “High Performance Deluxe” and cost $179.95. This included a 45 minute flight over the Estrella Mountains with views of Phoenix and the surrounding countryside. The tow plane released the “sailplane” 5,000 feet above the “sailport.” These sailplanes are sleek and usually only have one or at most two wheels up front for landing and one in the tail section. The landing gear wheel has a disk brake which allows the pilot to stop the plane right in front of the hanger. The pilots literally have to push these planes on and off the runway by hand, so they want to stop as close to the hanger as possible. The nose of the aircraft holds the tow rope in place with a single set of jaws which is released by pulling a chord inside the cockpit. Bronwen doesn’t weigh very much, so Bruce had to add 50 pounds of weight to the nose of the sailplane to adjust the center of gravity. Arizona Soaring is the nation’s #1 soaring school with a large fleet of sailplanes and professional instructor pilots. You can learn more at http://www.azsoaring.com/ Bronwen poses with Bruce after the sailplane adventure.Here is a video of Bruce and Bronwen coming in for a landing after “buzzing” the field at better than 100 mph.

TV Dishes

Go to any RV park and you will see portable TV Satellite dishes all over the campground. The ubiquitous TV Dish is most often mounted either as a permanent mouunt on the roof of the rig or as a stand alone. Most stand alone dishes are mounted on a tripod. I have seen other configurations, the most notible one being one mounted on PVC pipe and inverted to make a lower profile for wind resistance. Many RV'rs with a permanently mounted roof dish will also carry a stand alone dish for times when they are parked under a tree or other obstacle that would prevent optimum signal from the roof mounted dish. They usually have several lengths of cable 25, 50 and 100 feet for various contingencies. If you have comments about your dish or ideas about how to make them more effective or links to other sites with more information, please leave a comment for others. Thanks, and Blessings! Jim

RV and Satellite Radio

A satellite radio is an excellent companion for RV’ers. It used to be that when you were camping out in the boonies or traveling along I-80 through Nevada you couldn’t get radio reception. Not anymore! Now you can get all the radio programs you want for a small investment and a low monthly fee. There are currently two satellite radio companies you can use – XM™ or Sirius™. What you need. 1. A receiver. 2. An antenna. 3. A FM radio or a set of headphones. I purchased the XM Rodie ™ from Staples for $80.00 and it came with the automobile installation kit which includes a cradle, cigarette lighter power plug, and a magnetic antenna. I mounted the cradle on the dash and ran the antenna wire along the inside of my door frame weather stripping (easy) and the magnet attaches to the roof. I drilled two tiny holes and mounted the receiver cradle on the dash of the truck. You can play this through your FM radio or plug earphones into the cradle. I usually use the earphones. You can pass many a mile enjoying music, news, financial reports, NPR, comedy and whatever your heart desires.

Once we are set up at the RV park I pull the receiver off the cradle in the truck then put it into my XM boom box for indoors. The boom box is weather resistant and can be used outside as well as inside. I don’t know how it works, but the antenna is able to pick up satellite inside the RV. It has a remote control and has good sound quality. You may also use headphones with the boom box. I bought the boom box at WalMart for $80.00.

I pay $12.00 a month, but you must purchase a year in advance. If you sign up for more years the price gets cheaper – down to about $10.00 a month.

If you don’t want the boom box, you can purchase an indoor kit for around $50.00 and play it through your RV’s built in FM stereo system. It operates the same as in your automobile – by playing through an unused channel on your FM radio.

You can preprogram the XM radio to all your favorite stations. This makes it easy to change stations when you are driving. They also have holiday programming. From now until Christmas, we are listening to a variety of Christmas music – all without commercial interruption!

Only the music channels are free of commercials. The talk and news stations have commercials. One of my favorites for the RV lifestyle is the Weather Channel. This feature alone is worth the price of the system!!