kb0zke

Reviving an old topic. We're looking to get a stand-alone GPS. As some mentioned, the navigation system that comes with new cars/trucks is good as of when it was installed, but over time new roads are built and existing roads are straightened, which sometimes leaves us "driving" off the road. The system doesn't quite know what to do with that. The phone navigation works well in a car, less so with a pickup, and a lot less well with an RV. What's the current thinking about a good GPS? We have a pickup towing a 40' travel trailer.

Recently we either visited or tried to visit three Escapees parks. We're full-timers with a winter base at The Ranch, the co-op in Lakewood, NM. We've been leaseholders for several years now. The first park we visited was Dream Catchers in Deming, NM. This is a pretty quiet park, with a mix of "permanent" residents and people who are passing through. Like other Escapees parks we've visited, they have Happy Hour on the schedule. We showed up at the appointed time and found we were the only ones who did. The manager said it is rare for anyone to come to Happy Hour there, or, for that matter, any of the social activities. Most people are only there for a night or two, on their way to somewhere else. Since the park is literally right at the exit from I-10, that's not surprising. There are some extra-long pull-through sites for those of us with longer rigs. The second park we visited was the SKP Saguaro Co-op in Benson, AZ. This is a large park with lots happening. We were there only for one night, and were assigned one of the two paved pull-through sites with full hookups. The other sites had no hookups. VERY different atmosphere from The Ranch. Lot prices are pretty high. The third park we wanted to visit was Rover's Roost, Casa Grande, AZ. Unfortunately, our trailer is 40' 9" long, so we are too long to visit there. This is also a co-op. We talked about visiting without the trailer, just to see what it was like, but our schedule didn't permit that. Maybe some other time.

To each his own. I've had eye doctors try to talk me into plastic lenses and contacts. I always say no to both. I have glass lenses with lined trifocals. Yes, I'm old-fashioned and stubborn. Glass lenses have worked just fine for me for 65 years, so why change now.

I probably would have taken it to an auto parts store and asked them to match it. If they had it in LED I'd buy one. If not, I'd buy what they had and then go looking for an LED version.

Darryl&Rita, which campground in AJ? We were at the KOA twice in January and February, once going out to Q and once coming back.

And as long as you remember WHY you took that picture.

Sold.

Thanks. We'll plan on leaving on Thursday morning. Probably leave a donation for CARE in lieu of the chips and dip (which we don't need anyway).

All of a sudden we have a family reunion and a retirement right after Escapade - 700 miles away! We could probably make those if we left on Thursday, driving all day Thursday and Friday. We're not signed up for the Flaming Gorge trip since we were just there recently. What will we miss if we leave Thursday morning?

"Is there some sort of common cause for such a thing?" Yes. Counterfeit parts. Some years ago Apple got some counterfeit caps. They were used in the iMac machines (goes back a few years, doesn't it). They lasted until the warranty was us, then started dying. There were enough that Apple replaced boards with those caps at no charge even though the warranty was long past. Both of our daughters had those machines when they went to college. Thanks to those bad caps one of the girls got her husband. You often get what you pay for, but you seldom get more than you pay for.

Sold!

We have a water softener and only use our fresh water tank. I connect one hose to the faucet and the other to the trailer. When the tank is full I put the hoses away. When I fill I also dump. Again, the stinky slinky comes out, is hooked up, tanks are emptied, and hose is put away. I doubt that any of our hoses have been out for more than thirty minutes at any one time. Why not stay hooked up? Sun, tripping hazards, and we like to have very little out just in case.

We have an account with Wells Fargo that has some money in it. Don't use it a lot, but do use it some. If they close accounts with no notice, how do we get our money back? Or do they just keep it? Should we just close the account on our own?

We are starting to move toward more cash payments, since it is easy to get cash from WalMart. We generally don't carry a lot of cash with us. We have a debit card that is connected to an account which pays us a pretty good interest rate if we use the debit card a certain number of times each month. We therefore use the debit card for smaller purchases, and sometimes we separate a grocery trip into two purchases just to use it twice. We try not to use the debit card for really small purchases, as we understand the merchant has costs, too.

Solar panels are in the truck, which is at Arizona Sun RV Park. $300 moves them from my truck to yours.

We're at Arizona Sun RV Park. The towbar is with us. $250 moves it from my truck to yours.

Got in, set up a bit, and headed over to the Happy "Hour". Saw several people we knew and met new people. Bit Tent tomorrow.

I got an email this afternoon from our SD mail service asking us to write to our State Senators to vote for the amended SB17 (SB17A). The amended version makes it clear that we DO have the right to vote in SD. Unfortunately, the email also said they could be voting on SB17A today. I immediately sent an email to the Senator that represents our address, but not sure if it got there before the vote, or if it would even be read before the vote.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the Happy "Hour" tomorrow afternoon. Four of the six solar panels will be installed in early February, when we get back here after Q. The other two are listed for sale in the Classifieds. I'd really like for them to go away soon.

I bought six of these panels, thinking they would all fit. The installer says only four will fit, so I have two extras. I bought them from A1 Solar last month. I'm in Apache Junction, AZ right now, headed to Q next week. $300 for the pair.

Give some thought to what you actually can tow. "A motorhome can tow anything smaller than itself" isn't true. Somewhere in your information is how much it can tow. That will be limited by how much the MH already weights (remember Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating) and the receiver limits. Within those limits, what sort of vehicle do you want to tow? It will be our daily driver while you are on the road, but it can also do more. If you are not into off-road adventures, and are interested only in spending as little as possible on fuel, look at one of the small cars. If you are into extreme off-road adventures, set up a Jeep or similar vehicle for that. Most of us are somewhere between those two extremes. Our last towed was a 2015 Lincoln MKT. Good fuel economy and very comfortable ride, and a surprising ability to swallow quilts.

In 2020 we did a two-week build at Hobbs, NM with Care-A-Vanners. When it was over we returned to our lot at The Ranch. As I was doing the outside stuff I noticed a green area to the lower right. Huh? I moved my had into that area and my hand was behind the green blob. I went into the Foretravel and told Jo Ann that I thought I had a detached retina. This was Sunday evening, and we both had regularly scheduled eye doctor visits in Roswell the next day. We headed to the hospital in Artesia, wrongly thinking that, if it was a detached retina, they would probably send me to the hospital in Roswell. The various people I talked to in Artesia didn't know any more than I did, and they even called the University hospital in Albuquerque. That hospital said to go home and tell the eye doctor about it the next day, so we did. Jo Ann got her regular eye exam. The doctor looked in my eye, then left the room. A few minutes later we were both called into the office and told that we were to head up to Albuquerque immediately. You well-traveled Escapees know that Roswell is about an hour north of The Ranch, and ABQ is several hours past Roswell. We headed back to The Ranch, packed a suitcase, and headed back north. The next day I saw an eye doctor at the University hospital, who said I would have surgery the next day. Surgery went well, and after a quick checkup, we were on our way back to The Ranch. This was February, 2020. Shortly after we got back, the governor shut New Mexico down. Jo Ann's new glasses were delivered to the eye doctor in Roswell, but they didn't want her to get them. She objected to that, and eventually they decided that, since she had already paid for them, they had to deliver them to her, so she was permitted to walk in, get the new glasses fitted, and immediately leave. I couldn't get a regular eye exam because that wasn't considered medically necessary by the governor. In July of 2020 we left The Ranch for my two-year stint as the Interim part-time Head Teacher at Trinity Lutheran School, Riverton, WY. As we were leaving Roswell, heading toward I-25, the eye doctor's office called. The governor had finally decided to allow eye exams. I told them we were heading out, and they asked when we would be back. I said two years. I got the eye exam in Riverton.

Between Carlsbad and Artesia, NM. Or, as some say, between the bats (Carlsbad Caverns) and the aliens (Roswell is about 60 miles north). It is one of the Escapees co-op parksw.

On our way to Quartzsite. We'll be staying at the Arizona Sun RV Park.

Where is that? We're on our way to Quartzsite, be there the last week of January, then work our way back to The Ranch for a couple of months.