Kirk W

If you are in the Dallas area and need emergency health care for a dog or cat, there is an exceptionally good and well equipped facility called MedVet. They do not do routine care only emergencies and veterinarian referrals. The hospital is on a par with the best of the human hospitals and they have at least 1 veterinarian and 2 licensed vet techs on duty 24/7 with other veterinarian specialists on call as needed. As you may surmise, they are expensive but the care is pretty much the same as you would get at any major hospital.

Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners I must admit that I don't remember ever checking for a veterinarian's license or any type of clinic accreditation when choosing a vet. I can say that not all vet clinics look the same here in Texas or probably any other state. On the occasions that we needed a veterinarian when we were on the road we did always get a recommendation for someone locally and the same has been true even here in Texas. Our current vet clinic was recommended by 3 of our neighbors who also have dogs and 2 of them went there after being less that satisfied at another clinic. The cost of veterinarian services has risen markedly over the years and very often the cost of needed medical care is such that a pet is put-down (a nicer way to say killed) because one can't afford necessary care. As a result, the level of care and of veterinary clinics varies widely in an effort to make such care affordable. I remember back when our youngest son spent a day with a vet as part of a HS career day, the vet he was with told him that the reason vets weren't making what medical doctors do is because of health insurance. The rise of pet insurance may well be part of the current prices. Just over a year ago we adopted a dog who needed to be rehomed at 7 years old. He had not had regular health care and the owners had only occasionally visited a vet shot clinic in a parking lot and nothing else. Tyson (our dog) was taken to our current vet care facility and we had him completely examined which resulting in him having 14 teeth removed, 7 of which were impacted, for a cost of $2800. He did much better after that and so things went well for the next several months. One evening when I took him out before bed he would try to pee and start crying in obvious pain. After several attempts he did finally relieve himself but the next morning he was back to see the vet. X-rays showed that he had 3 bladder stones in his urethra and several more in the bladder. Our vet said that the needed emergency surgery was more than his facility could do and that our choice was an emergency surgery clinic or put Tyson down. He recommended MedVet, Dallas and cautioned that the cost would be at least $3500, possibly more. I swallowed hard but he was a significant part of Pam's happiness and even I had become attached so off we went to get emergency surgery. The cost turned out to be $6000 but while I didn't really want to spend that much, how can you say no if you can afford to do otherwise? MedVet Dallas is an emergency hospital that is on a par with most hospitals for humans. There is at least 1 vet and 2 licensed vet techs on duty there 24/7 and they have a staff of about 20 vets or pretty much every specialty that there is. The recovery room after surgery has a vet tech for every 4 patients and the facility has all of the same equipment for pets that you find in any major hospital. They do not do routine care and are emergency or veterinarian referral only. Had I known a year ago what Tyson was going to cost, I'd never have agreed to adopt him but what do you do once his is in the family? If you ever need emergency care for a dog or cat in the Dallas area there is none better than MedVet but it is probably also the most expensive. Tyson has turned out to be by far the most expensive pet we have ever had, and he was given to us free!

Ultimate Guide to Take an RV into Flaming Gorge It has been a few years since we were last there but this guide seems to be pretty accurate.

In a thread currently running on the fulltime forum, one of our newer forum members, LiiveWorkDream has given some information that to me is so important that it needs to be shared where it will be read by as many members as possible. I am quoting the information he has shared below. I may be the only reader who didn't know this but since I suspect that it isn't common knowledge, am repeating it here as I believe that it is important for us to know. We are not currently traveling but we have traveled with a dog on most of our RV travels as well as when traveling by car. I also just checked to see if the vet clinic we use at present is so accredited and it is! 😊

I would say that the answer to that is pretty obvious? There is a very active Escapee Facebook page and while don't know how active it is, there is also an Xscapers Facebook page which I suspect is active as well. For some reason, even though there are still many new Escapee members who are retired and thus might be less than 60 years of age and most would be under 70, yet the number of active participants in this forum continue to dwindle. If half of the active members have responded to this poll, that means that we are down to 120 members still active. When I first joined this forum I don't know how many participants there were but I do know that there were 50 or more posts per day and now we seldom have more than 5. I know why the number of participants of age 70 and above are declining as I know or have known many of them and most that have left have stopped RVing and more than a few are deceased. What I haven't been able to figure out is why we don't seem to attract the newly retired RV folks and what we can to about it. I wish that I knew an answer!

While that was once true, have you never heard of the Xscapers Group, which is for the still working Escapee member? That is currently the fastest growing part of the Escapees RV club. When Escapees was created in 1978, most of the membership was still working and 60% of them were under the age of 50. When we first attended an Escapade about 20 years ago there were a few children there and by 2010 when Travis Carr joined the business there were almost none. But today the Xscapers are the most rapidly growing segment of the club and Escapade now has Kids Scapade specifically for children and each year since it's inception is had gotten bigger. There continue to be many retired or retiring folks joining the club but the average age of the membership is declining. That is probably a very good thing for the future of the club, even if it does leave some of us out of the mainstream today.

That is a Blue Sea systems, single circuit switch and as the previous post states, it most likely there to isolate the coach battery. In your picture it appears to be mounted on the wall and if it is near the exit door then it ia pretty sure to be for the coach battery. If we are correct, the switch should be in the on position when you are using your coach and turned off when you put it into storage. In the off position you should not have any lights or 12V appliances.

That can happen even if the pet is not elderly. The mini Schnauzer that we took on the road with us developed pancreatitis after only 2 years on the road and at the age of 9. Saying goodbye to her was one of the most difficult things that we experienced while on the road.

Looks pretty close.

If you wonder why we might consider you to be young, the youngest of my 3 sons turned 55 last March! 🤪

While I'm not trying to speak for Rod, it sees to me that the point was to see what other's opinions on the issue are, and that was successful. To me one of the more interesting aspects of the poll is that it seems to have changed significantly since a similar one was run about 15 or 20 years ago. While that may be true in the recent past, over the long term, Investopedia has a very different opinion. In terms of averages, stocks have tended to have higher total returns over time. The S&P 500 stock index has had an average annualized return around 10% over very long periods (higher if you include dividends), while average annual real estate returns are often more in the 4-8% range.

Having gown up in Kansas, it is clear that you, like many others didn't see much of Kansas. This was taken not from from where my relatives live in the Kansas Flint Hills. You should also return to Oklahoma and travel through the areas east of OK city.

If the cost per mile is any consideration you need to keep in mind that with diesel running 30-60ȼ more per gallon than gasoline, the difference in fuel milage will not offset the additional cost of fuel. Having owned both diesel and gasoline vehicles, I assure you that most owners find that the diesel maintenance costs more as well.

Since this is a destination trailer//park model, where is it located? What is the monthly park rental cost? Typical utilities bills?

Loss of federal highway funds, true but not fines, or at least none were ever reported in the Dallas area. Can you share some sort of documentation about those fines? Highway money is a pretty good hammer and is used by Congress over states quite frequently.