GR "Scott" Cundiff

4 hours ago, Twotoes said:

I too may be going to Michigan in May, from Wisc. I have a 43 foot Class A DP. How windy is it normally? Is there a toll to cross? I am also thinking of taking the Ferry instead. Have been told that RVs are ok on the Ferry. What is the cost for a round trip in a big rig? 

Just to be clear - the ferry I mentioned and posted the photo of is a passenger ferry that takes you out to Mackinac Island.

We had no problem crossing the bridge. 

One of the ferries takes a side trip once in a while and goes under the bridge prior to heading on out to the Island.  It is well worth the effort.

It is a bummer.  I just installed Bitwarden on the PC, an iPad, and, on my Android.  I was able to export all my information and import it into Bitwarden.  Everything seems to have synced between my devices.  Of course, the apps each have different setups so there are three learning curves (especially iPad which is always out of step with eveything else).  For now I have disabled LastPass so I can try living with Bitwarden.  

Might be better to use onboard water.  You can always temporarily hook up to refill.  Now, if you are staying monthly the heated hose might be a good investment.

We got our second Pfizer shots yesterday, 3 weeks after the first.  So far few side effects - sore arms and my wife just felt bad overnight and this morning.  

We got our vaccines in Grayson county, Texas, from the county.  Very well organized.  We "live" in Polk county but aside from when I filled out the form online to get on the waiting list no one ever mentioned residence throughout the process

Here's hoping that all who want to be vaccinated will get the opportunity sooner and not later.

I don't know if this is better, but try this:

1. Go to campgroundreviews.com

2. On the map, click on Texas

3. On the "filter" bar click on "Park Types"

4. Pick CoE Campgrounds

You will get a map with CoE campgrounds, click on any of the markers for a review of that campground.  As you move the map around CoE's appear in whatever state you have centered.

Apparently the new membership does give fulltimers what they've been asking for - the ability to buy an extra week 4 times a year, two holiday booking, an expanded Trails Collection program just for them.  

However, that's a lot of money even if you could buy it outright.  If a person stayed in Thousand Trails every night of the year, though, it might be worthwhile.

We really like our membership - it has saved us tons of money.  Ours is an old Alliance membership upgraded to Elite and it's really the best deal out there so far as we are concerned.

If I was buying a Thousand Trails membership I'd probably be looking in the used market (i.e. Campground Outlet) rather than going with this membership.

3 hours ago, Kirk W said:

TX continues to be one of the top states in getting people vaccinated, in spite of the problems that have been experienced here. I suspect that the size of the TX distribution system and the speed with which it is being put into action may be a factor in difficulties. Hopefully other states are watching and will learn from what is done here to resolve any problems.  

 

From what I can see, the Federal gvt was getting the vaccines out to the states, the state was sending it to those who had signed up to administer it in the counties and cities, and then it was left up to the locals to follow the priority guidelines to actually give the injections.  At first, the general thinking by most was to hold back a reserve of the second injection so they would be sure they could follow the guidelines for the second shot.  

Texas did all the above, but then, decided that the locals, in some cases, weren't handling it all that well, so they initiated the hubs to become the primary distribution points.  Meanwhile the Feds decided that with so much vaccine being produced that there was no need to hold the reserve second injections back.  

Things have started happening faster in the state.

At least that's my understanding of it all from my internet educated point of view.

10 hours ago, Jim & Alice said:

We got our vaccinations two weeks ago in Texarkana, Texas, Moderna.   Shots were in the 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM timeframe.  My wife had no side effects.    For me, by the following morning, I had fever, bone aches, headaches.,, which lasted all day, Tylenol helped tremendously.   Went to bed that evening and woke up side-effect free the next morning.   And very grateful for the vaccinations...   No problems ever since.

I'm one of millions of internet medical experts 😀 - but from what I read, having a reaction like you did is an indication that you have a well functioning immune system.  Still, knowing what we are dealing with, I'm sure it caused you some concern at the time.  I know I would have been concerned.

3 hours ago, Kirk W said:

Where in TX are you? 

Sherman

Here in Texas we signed up on multiple waiting lists.  We are in group 1b - over 65.  It took about a month, but yesterday we got a call with appointments for today.  Having specific times made it quick with short lines.  Got Pfizer, so far no side effects at all.

We have had a few friends here in north Texas get vaccinated.  One said their Dr called them and offered it to them.  He told another friend, and that person called their Dr who had them come in and get it.  There's a Texas website with a map showing where to get vaccinated.  We called one, but they didn't have any more at this time.  Called another and they offered to put us on their waiting list for sometime in the next couple of weeks.  

There was no mention of residents or not.

Here's a link to that map: https://txdshs.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html

We really can't complain too much about 2020.  We haven't been sick or out of work.  Our family and close friends are doing fine.  

As things worked out, our travels would have been pretty limited even without corona.  We set aside travel for the year and helped out in a couple of interim situations, staying busy all year long.

Since we didn't do any travel, and since my annual expense sheet is all about RV travel, I'm opting to not publish our RVing costs this year.  Basically, it would only list monthly campground fees plus upkeep.

We do plan on returning to the road this year.  But, as we are more aware now than ever that our plans are written in Jell-o.

Here's our end of year wrapup blog.

You might look at PPL in Houston.  Buy a used rig and then put it on consignment with them to sell when you leave.  I think that rather than a Class C I would buy a travel trailer or 5th wheel and pay someone to move it to a long term RV park.  The trailer would take a lot less of an investment.

2 hours ago, ToddF said:

Scott, I love your Thousand Trails FB group. (Peaked via my partner's account). Wish I could be on FB but I can't deal with social networks. Lots of great pictures and reviews!

Thanks Todd - so many of these type of groups become places for people to come and gripe about not getting their own way about something.  By keeping the focus on photos and reviews the general "feel" of the group is more positive and helpful.

On 12/15/2020 at 7:04 PM, DanZemke said:

Bill,

I investigated the RVillage Thousand Trails group, based on your recommendation, a few months ago.  It seems to have a wider focus than the old Yahoo Group.  And it also seems to have a higher signal to noise ratio, for TTN members, than I wanted. 

From the RVillage website: "A group for people interested in, or members of, Thousand Trails.  Share your favorite preserves, ask questions about the memberships, talk about the latest news.  While this is a positive group, legitimate concerns are welcome."  

A prime motivation for trying to migrate members of the Yahoo group here, was that I was uncomfortable with losing the ability to actively collaborate.  If TTN tried to do something that harmed many TTN members, without a means to collaborate, we would be impotent.  I don't anticipate that will happen, but want a viable path for negotiation if it does.

Can't help but mention that I actually wrote that description.  I started both the Thousand Trails and Fulltimers groups on RVilliage.  After a few months I lost interest in keeping them going and passed the leadership on to other, more interested parties.  I think that since then, the leadership has been passed along at least one other time.

For now, I continue to do blog reviews of Thousand Trails and other places we stay.  I also started a Facebook group focused on photos and reviews of Thousand Trails.  That group started slow but has now grown to over 800 members.  

Here's an informative, interesting article on how the vaccine was developed so quickly:

How They Made a Vaccine So Fast (lifehacker.com)

For those who don't want to read, some of the main points are:

1. Viruses like SARS and MERS are in the same family as this one - so much research was already done
2. Considerable work had already been done in developing this type of vaccine (nothing of the virus, itself, is in it)
3. The government cut a lot of red tape - for instance the FDA promises new drug reviews within 10 months of their submission - in this case they reviewed it in 3 weeks.
4. The pandemic got worse - normally, people in the trials are given either the drug or the placebo and then there's a longer wait to see who gets sick and who doesn't.  The more people getting the virus, the quicker researchers can tell how effective (or not) the vaccine is.
5. The government guaranteed payment enabling companies to actually start making the vaccine before it was approved.  Normally, they don't do that because of the financial risk.

Are you giving or getting?

Yep, looks like we are back.  Don't know if anything has changed, but so far as good.

To each his own.  We flush it - Scott brand.  No problems over 8 years of full time.

3 hours ago, Mike Diesel said:

Do the sewer hoses typically have to be elevated / supported and off the ground at most campsites?  

Even if it's not required it just might keep the guy with the weed whacker from nicking your hose.

Here are a few "must haves" for us:

A tire pressure monitoring system

Progressive surgeguard

Rinoflex sewer hose + extension

Adjustable water pressure regulator

Roadside safety reflectors for breakdowns

Extra fire extinguishers

Oxygenics shower head

All I can say is that if flushing caused our water heater to come on it would be on all the time.

Here's my approach.
1. Decide on a general route and destination, like the Black Hills of South Dakota via Atlanta and Mammoth Cave
2. Go to Google Maps and let it map the route
3. Decide how many miles you want to travel that first leg of the trip, say 200 miles
4. Right click on the starting point, select “measure distance”
5. Drag the marker out along the route to around that distance – you can then drag the line from the side to make it more closely match the highway route and more closely match your desired distance
6. You now have a target area for a place to stop.  Go to campgroundreviews.com and look up the area and start reading reviews, looking for a suitable spot
7. Having completed that part of the trip, go back to your original map, click on that stop and start the routing process again.

Here's a blog I did on myapproach to planning: http://pastorscott.com/travel/travel-planning-i-confess-im-a-planner/

3 hours ago, Smokier said:

Greetings,

Thank you @Kirk W and @GR "Scott" Cundiff for the responses and definitions. We (the bride and I) are in the pre-retiree category (58/59).

We have dear friends who are FT'ing it now and having a blast.  We hope to join them in a few years.   Our goal is to sell everything, and go with a HDT / 5th wheel combo.   My task is to learn, plan and study the do's/dont's and watch out fors.   Your Budget sharing and experiences help tremendously.

Thank you,

Smokier

 

Best of luck in your planning!  You'll find the best HDT information available here on this forum.

So far as budgeting information, I imagine you'll have to look at people's pre-2020 information to find anthing useful.  2020 has been such an atypical year that I doubt there will be much that will be helpful.  In fact, I won't publish my expenses this year.