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Jo Ann just saw an article that says Iowa and Minnesota require RV's over 10,000 pounds to weigh at the highway weigh stations. Anyone have any real personal knowledge of this? I was under the impression that the weigh stations on the highways are for commercial vehicles and they don't want an RV in there.

FWIW, I just went to Ford's web site and looked up the Transit Van. This is what they say: "Properly equipped, the Transit® can tow up to 4,500 pounds. * *When properly equipped. Max towing varies based on cargo, vehicle configuration, accessories and number of passengers."

Well, our first night of real boondocking turned out to be less than expected. Our original plan for tonight was to stay at a fairly new commercial campground in Klines Corners, NM. Then Jo Ann suggested that we boondock tonight, so we checked. Sure enough, there are some BLM lands in the right area. We tried calling to find out more, but no one answered the phone. In fact, the calls didn't even go through. So, we decided to just check it out. It was still early, so we found the one that said they had a campground with electric and water as well as disbursed sites. Sign told us how to pay, and plenty of sites to choose from. No one around to ask where the free area was, so we picked a site and paid the $20. We're at Rob Jaggers Camping Area near Capitan, NM. We have a geezer pass, so we might have been able to stay for only $10, but since there wasn't anyone to ask we decided to just pay the full amount. It is less than half what we would have paid at Klines Corners anyway. We are in a pull-thru site with 50A and water and a beautiful view - for $20.

I don't answer calls from unknown numbers unless I'm expecting it. My voicemail greeting is in a foreign language (not Spanish) and people who know me will leave a message, even if they don't understand what I said. The would-be scammers don't know what to do with it, so they hang up.

"I owned one of the old Econoline vans, and yep, you really did sit over the axle. But I sure wouldn't want to tow much of a trailer with one..." True, as they only came with 6-cylinder engines as I recall. On the other hand, having some additional weight at the rear would keep the rear tires on the ground when you slammed on the brakes.

We really miss the large tanks on the Foretravel. We're learning to deal with having half the tank capacity, though, in exchange for 10% of the maintenance costs.

We've been practicing boondocking for the past month or so, mainly by turning the 50A breaker off for a day or two. This week we're practicing water conservation, just to see how long a tank will actually last. Next month we'll boondock three times for two nights each: Brown Springs Campground near Farmington, NM; Sand Island Campground near Bluff, UT; and near Green River, WY. There are several sites near Green River and no permits or reservations needed, so we'll check them out as we get there. Does anyone know anything about any of these campgrounds? Our travel trailer is 40' long, pulled by a 4wd F350.

We have a friend who is in his 80's, widowed, who still pulls his trailer cross-country every year. Other friends are somewhat younger than us and are no longer traveling much. Health and finances probably have more to do with travel decisions than anything else.

Glad she's back. Happy trails.

The owner's manual should give you the proper answer. If not, call the factory's customer service number. I actually removed the one that came with our trailer for a time. We were installing an electrical upgrade, so many other things were replaced, too. I now have a true battery disconnect switch that is mounted very close to the batteries.

Bruce, you nailed it with your first paragraph. What works for you may not work for me, and what works for me may not work for you. The biggest problem I see with both of those trailers is that they are designed by EV engineers, not campers, and certainly not by full-timers. I didn't poke around on their websites much, but I didn't see much about weights, tank capacities, etc. How will these things perform on cloudy or rainy days? What about wooded campgrounds, like may State parks? Water usage varies quite a bit. We met some Airstreamers last year that say they go 7-10 days on a tank of water, but I noticed that they were making several trips each day to use the campground facilities. How long would their water last if they didn't use other water? Next week we're going to experiment some. Sunday afternoon I'm going to fill and dump, then we'll go as long as we can using as little water as we can while still using only our own water. That will tell us how long we can boondock.

"Physically 67, mentally 14." My mind says I'm 37. My back and knees beg to differ. Question: When you get old enough to know better?

COE is our first choice, followed by State parks and local parks. We'll go to a commercial park if that works best, but we check the others first.

When we hit the road in 2014, we had some things stored with family members, but everything else was with us in the Foretravel. Five years ago we got our lot here at The Ranch, so now we're here for the winter and can change out stuff as needed. We traveled for several years before deciding on getting a winter base. Most of the Escapees co-ops have waiting lists and require a visit prior to getting on the waiting list. There are also parks that have some lots with long-term lease arrangements, so be sure to check out the various options. We have a couple of lots coming up here due to current leaseholders moving to a fixed location close to doctors. That can be an issue for some, so as you look around be sure to keep that in mind if it applies to you.

There are lots of stories about pets that eventually return home, sometimes years later. Not sure I've heard any about pets that manage to find a home that moves around the country, though. Since your cat is chipped, I would think that any animal shelter/pound would check for that, and you would be notified that your pet is at a certain place. We worry about our cat, too, sometimes. She hasn't been outside by herself in over 10 years. The last time she was a kitten and there was a bunch of cold, wet, white stuff all over the ground and she didn't like it one little bit. When we had the Foretravel we just put her in her kennel when it was time to travel. Now, we have to put her in the kennel and carry it to the truck. When we come home she will often meet us at the door, and then scamper in the direction she thinks we will go. So far no attempts to go outside.