Full Time RV Living–Following Up Comments on a Blog

When I post a blog article, and someone comments, I receive a notice in my email box.

I then try to take the time to reply to their comment. . .thinking that they are receiving a notice back in their email box. . .

evidently. . .not so!  Now, to me, two way communication is a huge percentage of the fun in blogging. . .

I love to write what I think. . .and then I love to see what others think in return. . .

so all this time that I’ve been replying to all of your posts. . .evidently you didn’t even know about it!  (sad face)

As best as I can tell, (I’m doing an experiment). . .the only way you know if there is a reply to your comments. . .

or even follow up comments is to click on the SUBSCRIBE to Comments at the bottom of the blog. . .

I’m going to try it on a few blogs that I love to read and comment on. . .and see if it works. 

I researched on my Blogger Dashboard today. . .and just don’t see any other way to do it. . .

if you have more information or a better way. . .please let me know. . .

Thanks,

Janice

Full Time RV Maintenance–Keeping the RV Potty Fresh and Clean

Have you guys discovered these little disks that you stick on the inside rim of the potty?

Not sure how much actual cleaning power they have. . .but they do make the potty room smell nice. . .

Of course, I had a coupon. . .so it was worth a try. . .I like ‘em. . .

Full Time RV Maintenance–The RV Stove. . .Again!

Yesterday. . .I was in one of THOSE moods. . .a CLEANING MOOD!

They don’t strike very often. . .but when they do. . .watch out. . .LOL!

Because I rarely EVER use the RV Stove (I hate it!). . .

I was contemplating setting my countertop toaster oven on top of it,

so. . .I decided that it need a really good scrubbing before I did that.

It wasn’t that I really thought it was that dirty. . .after all, I rarely use it. . .

and I wipe it down. . .even lift the lid and wipe down under. . .

but if it was going to serve as a storage space, it should be really, really clean. . .

right. . .so I took it apart. . .well, just the top portion. . .not the whole thing.

Who designed this thing?  What were they thinking. . .

not a new thought for me. . .I think that almost every time I use the crazy thing. . .

but really. . .as I removed the screw, and pulled out the burner. . .

there are all sorts of little crevices and indentions under there. . .

and guess what?  Each one was filled with grease and stuff. . .yuck!

Go check yours out. . .I bet it’s the same. . .so even though you take the

top off, and wipe around under there. . .you can’t get to some of those places.

Hmmm. . .what to do, what to do?  Pulling it out, and replacing it with a

sealed burner unit would be my first option. . .however. . .

that’s not gonna happen. . .at least not right now.

I’m still thinking of solutions. . .there has to be a way to prevent stuff

from falling through, and causing issues. . .

Is it just me. . .are you able to keep your RV stove absolutely spotless? 

If so, would you please share. . .

Just sayin’

Janice

Addendum: I decided adding a couple of pics would be interesting, so here they are:

Once I had all the burners out, and everything scrubbed spic and span,

I decided a coat of paint might help.  Since what I had on hand was a  can

of Rustoleum Hammered Aluminum, that is what I used. . . 

perhaps it will be a little easier to wipe down, now that it's no longer

the dull flat aluminum like the burners. . .we'll see. 

This is my temporary solution to cover the holes around the burners. . .

miniature pie pans that I normally use to make small cobblers and such. . .

I'll need to look for something else to use, as I can't really sacrifice these. . .

but they'll do for the interim.

and here is the toaster oven on top of the stove. . .

one of our better investments. . .it cooks great. . .

I can make homemade bread again. . .

and it doesn't heat up the entire place like the RV oven does. . .

We'll see how it goes!

Full Time RV Travel–How Do You Plan Ahead for Bad Weather?

What do you do if you are in a state that is susceptible to hurricanes and/or tornadoes? I know you can handle snow and some rain in your RV but what about the scary stuff...what do you do? I guess a hurricane gives a lot more warning but tornadoes don't.

Another great question from our Ready To Go Full Time RVing FaceBook Page. . .

Because we travel full time, and have a fairly flexible schedule,

we make every effort to NOT be in severe weather areas

during high season. . .hurricanes on the coast late summer, early fall . . .

tornadoes in the middle of the country, late spring, early summer. . .

however. . . we were in Houston when Hurricane Ike decided to head our direction. . .

we packed up and left for Austin. . .which is about four hours inland,

and although Austin anticipated some outer storm effects,

fortunately that ended up being far enough away.

Using Weather Underground to research our planned route, we have completely rerouted. . .

In early summer 2009, we were headed to Yellowstone to work camp. . .

by way of Mt Rushmore in South Dakota. 

Our anticipated route was through Oklahoma, Kansas, and up. . .

after checking forecasts, we ended up going through

Missouri and up through Iowa. . .which allowed us to skirt the predicted

thunderstorm activity. . .and thus, the possible tornados. . .

We also have a NOAA radio. . .haven’t used it yet. . .but we do have it!

At Weather.gov you can also plug in an area, and see any anticipated weather events. . .

What precautions do you take. . .and what resources do you use to avoid severe weather?

Stay safe out there,

Janice

Full Time RV Living–Will You Ever Buy Another House?

hmmmmm. . .fellow RV’ers, Marsha and Paul who write Where’s Weaver

ran across a deal they couldn’t pass up. . .and bought a house. . .

Now, because I’m still young. . .ha ha. . .I’m still thinking. . .

I don’t EVER want to own another house. . .however. . .

I know that things can change. . .

So. . .what are you thinking. . .do you see yourself ever

having a place and becoming a snowbird like Marsha and Paul?

Read more of their story here. . .

Send me a note. . .tell me what your plans for the future might be. . .

Safe travels,

Janice

Full Time RV Living–I am a Remodeler

We’ve been looking at Motor Homes, used motor homes. . .

It doesn’t matter to me what the inside looks like, as far as carpet color,

couch color, dining room chair covers, etc. . .’cause I’m probably going

to change it all anyway. . .and make it into my home. . .my way!

When we were looking at the fifth wheel we’ve lived in for the past nine years,

one of my comments about the bedroom was. . .something will need to be done in here. . .

and it was, almost immediately. . .even though the rig had never been lived in.

I take that back. . .the very first thing I did, was take out the lazy susan under the sink,

in order to have a place for the trash can. . .

Trust me. . .unless you do some gaudy, theme based, horrendous remodel. . .

you are seriously NOT going to affect the value. . .believe me, it depreciated

considerably when you hooked it up, and pulled off the lot. . .unlike real estate used to be,

these things are most certainly NOT an appreciating asset.

Now, I’ve never painted the inside of one. . .although I’m certainly considering it.

Most everything I’ve ever done could be undone if need be. . .

Here’s a great article with more ideas and tips for updating or remodeling. . .

it’s called Remodeling Used Class A Motor Homes. . .but these tips could certainly

be applied to any type RV. . .

Send me a note, and let me know what type of updates and remodels you’ve done. . .

Janice 

Full Time RV Living–Tips for Buying an RV–Especially a Used RV

There are so many variables in your choice of what type of RV is best for your situation,

that I’m always somewhat amazed how many times we are asked that exact question. . .

We have RV friends who live in their standard bumper pull rig very comfortably,

others have very high end fifth wheels, with huge customized RV Haulers,

others live and travel all over the country in their twenty year old motor home,

and still others have upscale, upper class motorhomes with all the bells and whistles. . .

Each of these are completely and totally thrilled with what they are in. . .

so, as you can see, it’s completely a matter of what is going to work for you. . .

Here’s a great article for those just beginning to search. . .

especially if you are thinking of buying a used unit. . .check it out!

RV Buying Tips

Send us a note. . .we’d love to hear all about what you are looking at,
or what you are traveling in. . .

Happy Dreaming and Planning,

Janice

Full Time RV Living–I Want a Bicycle. . .but. . .Where Will I Put It?

Once again, fellow RV Blogger “Sparky”, who writes Where’s Eldo,

has influenced my blog for the day. . .

She’s always writing about some bike path she’s exploring,

and taking beautiful pics to go along with her ride. 

Now, Sparky’s gone and gotten a new bike. . .and with all her descriptions and research. . .

she’s convinced me that I need a bike too. . .

I even have one all picked out

for my birthday present in a couple of weeks. . .

it looks like this one. . .only purple. . .not really, really expensive. . .just a nice riding bike!

The problem is. . .I don’t have anywhere to store a bike. . .and hubby’s already saying

uh uh to the bike rack on the ladder. . .but never fear. . .I’m still researching. . .

working out a solution. . .I just know there’s a fix. . .I just know it!

I’ll let you know as soon as I figure it out. . .ha ha!

Janice 

Full Time RV Living–Lather, Rinse, Repeat. . .

This week two different RV Bloggers have written about just

living normal everyday RV’ing life,  when there’s nothing

exciting going on. . .ya can’t run everyday. . .

sometimes ya gotta just stay home and catch up!

I hope you’ll read their stories. . .

from Nick who writes the Gypsy Journal Blog

What Can I Say?

and Judy who writes Travels With Emma

A Real Blast From the Past

If you read both their posts. . .where do you fall in the daily blogging spectrum?

I guess I tend to fall more in line with Judy. . .some days there’s just nothing at all excitin’

going on. . .and really nothing at all to share. . .however. . .

Nick was a newspaper owner, and has been writing almost his whole life.

I look forward to his daily posts. . .even the daily life, nothing going on ones. . .

What’s your take?

Full Time RV Maintenance–Here We Go Again!

Every single time after we get the RV all hooked up, and ready to roll. . .

we take a moment, and ask the Lord to send angels of protection

to camp round about us, and to protect those on the road with us. . .

 

 

So many times, when things have happened, as they always will. . .

it has been at an opportune moment in time. . .

at a place where we could pull over safely.

 

Once again, today, God in His infinite wisdom and mercy. . .

allowed us to get the rig all the way into the RV Park. . .

in fact, we were backing the rig into the space when the power steering went completely out!

 

It ends up being a very minor fix. . .thanks again Lord. . .but we could see where a hose was

spraying fluid out. . .and driving it to the repair shop didn’t seem like such a great idea. . .

and. . .that’s why we pay for roadside service. . .so here they are. . .hooking us up.

 

Since our truck is now 11 years old, we expect these types of minor inconveniences. . .

this time it’s an elbow in the power steering line, that rubbed against something,

and caused a hole. . .go figure.

 

We are teaching a ministry workshop in Austin this weekend. . .about two hours away.

Not sure why we needed to be delayed in our departure. . .

but age, wisdom, and a lot of hard knocks,

has taught me that God knows the reasons. . .so we’ll just go with the flow. . .

say a prayer that we will be a blessing this weekend!

 

Janice

Full Time RV Maintenance–Circuit Board and Humidity

A blogger friend wrote about taking their rig in because the furnace fan was coming on,

but the burner wouldn’t light. . .the fix. . .a new circuit board.

This story brought back memories of the circuit board on our furnace. . .

it just kept going out. . .on about the third trip for a replacement,

the service guy explained that because we lived on the Texas Gulf Coast,

where the humidity is like 100%. . .and a thunderstorm rolls in off the bay

almost every afternoon. . .our circuit board needed some protection.

His suggestion was to take silicone (you know, the clear kind in the tube)

and put a light layer of it all over the circuit board. . .so we did. . .and I guess it worked,

cause we never had to replace the circuit board again.

. . .now the dirt daubers that built a nest in the furnace

because we didn’t have enough sense to put on a $7 screen. . .well that’s a different story altogether!

Oh the things you just don’t know when you start out to live in an RV. . .pages of stuff. . .

So, have you ever heard of such a solution?  This was an older gentleman that told us this,

and we greatly appreciated the suggestion, and took him at his word

that he knew what he was talking about. . .

Where Have the Years Gone?

Today, Morgan, my middle grand daughter turns 14. . .how can that be?

I’m pretty sure this pic was taken just the other day. . .certainly not 13 years ago. . .goodness!

Miss Morgan is by far the most precocious of all our grandchildren. . .

there is never a dull moment when she is around. . .

here she is gathering seashells. . .still her favorite activity at the beach.

When we can get her to sit still and focus. . .she is quite the little artist. . .very, very creative!

I love you Mo Mo. . .Happy Fourteenth Birthday!

Full Time RV Maintenance–Tools–How Many Do You Have?

My blogging friend Jeannie was writing about having tools and loving tools. . .

and it got me to thinking. . .

A girls gotta have tools too. . .I mean, we gotta talk gender neutral here. . .right?

So. . .here’s my tool stash. . .it’s very basic. . .but easily accessible. . .

Hubby keeps the “man” tools in the real tool box. . .

Whadaya think. . .what’s in your tool stash?

Full Time RV Living–Not a Lot of Fun Day. . .

So today was the day that we got to make an early morning trip

to Quest Diagnostics for bloodwork. . . yippee!  First, ya gotta fast. . .

which is not so bad, except that it means skipping the

morning coffee. . .since I like mine with creamer. . .and then. . .

so ya don’t hafta fast too long. . .you need to do an early morning appointment. . .

9 am is early people. . .early I tell you!  So now it’s done, and we just need to do

the annual checkups in a couple of weeks to get the results. . .yippee again!

Since we’re out and about anyway. . .and since the Anna’s Linens store close

to us didn’t have as many valances as I needed. . .

and since I’m tired of looking at naked Levolor shades. . .

we may as well run over there and pick them up. . .

yes. . .success! 

Hmmmm. . .that lampshade looks so cute draped in that valance,

I may just need to do a lampshade cover too. . .lol. . .we’ll see!

Anyway, getting curtains up will be my project while

Dave is teaching a class next week. . .another yippee!

I’ll share before and after pics once it’s done. . .

At least we have a nice treat to look forward to this afternoon. . .

meeting fellow RV’ers, Vickie and Bill of Sentimental Journeyz

at the Catfish place in Conroe, for an early dinner. . .

they just arrived back in the home country from New Mexico,

and we just arrived back from Colorado. . .

so we should have lots to talk about. . .

Later,

Janice

Full Time RV Travel–Quick Overnight Stays. . .What do you do?

Do you ever overnight at "Travel Centers," you know truck stops, and what has your experience been?

I loved this question posted on my FaceBook RV Page. . .

We don’t have a generator in our fifth wheel, so we’ve never “dry camped” anywhere. . .

whether it be a Walmart or Cracker Barrel parking lot. . .

or at a truck stop “travel center,”

but I do read on RV’ing blogs about lots of folk who do. . .

In fact, you gotta read this story, written by Sparky of Where’s Eldo fame. . .

they had an incident after parking lot camping at Cabela’s. . .scary stuff!

Since we have no experience. . .what’s your advice. . .

or tips and tricks to overnite stops in a parking lot?

Full Time RV Maintenance–To Velcro or not to Velcro

After three years of moving all the coffee supplies off the counter

every time we move. . .I finally gave in. . .

and decided to velcro them down. . .

 

Here’s why I am trying it. . .Dave is teaching classes all over the state this winter. . .

so we are going to be moving a lot. . .and often.

 

I decided it will be just as easy to pull them loose and clean ever so often,

as it is to move them back and forth. . .if I hate it. . .

I’ll just take it all loose and go back to the old way. . .

 

What do you think?

Full Time RV Living–Routine Maintenance Means What to You?

Message:
living full time in my 36' fifth wheel now......thinking about staying
in it for retirement....just had some questions about routine
maintence?

 

I received the email above from a new RV’er. . .

thought they posed a great question. . .and wanted to get your thoughts.

 

Routine maintenance of course includes the daily cleaning you would do even in your house. . .

and then there’s the wash job the outside needs ever so often. . .

washing the bugs off the front is an almost every trip chore!

 

We wax ours about once a year. . .yuck!

 

Empty the black tank once a week, and do a back flush. . .

that keeps the yuckies, and the smellies down. . .

 

Window washing and cleaning is constant, as is dusting. . .

there’s no end to the dusting. . .where does it all come from?

 

I keep most routine maintenance chores listed on my Google Calendar,

so the reminders pop up as needed. . .

 

Not really a maintenance issue. . .but keep a Travel Journal. . .

I also do this on my Google Calendar. . .

sure makes it nice when you want to remember where you were and when! 

Wish I would have started this at the beginning of our travels. . .

I’m slowly going back and adding in all our trips. . .

 

I’m sure there are tons more tips. . .what do you think. . .any ideas to add?

 

Hubby checks the batteries, and adds distilled water on a regular basis. . .

every three months or so. . .same with the hot water heater. . .

you gotta clean it out, or it will fill up with gunk.

 

Add bug screens to your furnace and hot water heater vents. . .

they are cheap, and will prevent dirt daubers from building a nest (we know this from experience.)

 

I’m sure there are tons more things that I’m not thinking of at the moment. . .

what would you recommend. . .any ideas?

Full Time RV Living–Photos and more Photos–all to be organized

I’m uploading and organizing pics from the past . . .

20 disks down and 100 more to go. . .don’t think I’ll finish today!

 

anyone remember these little gems?

 

here’s my handy dandy external floppy disk drive. . .

 

I’d certainly entertain ideas on how to speed up the process. . .LOL!