Jim & Alice

Interesting, Barb. My wife and I are 'staying in place' over by Yuma... motorhome covered and A/C handling things well... but when we go out to do things, we find it very tiring after just a short period of time. When we were in our 20's, we lived in Louisiana for a few years and routinely worked outside in the heat/humidity - no problem. Things change, I guess!

Yes, Kirk, the RV Cover was completed Thursday, and we moved under it on Friday (two nights ago). It does make a tremendous difference! Our (very) initial impression is that the temperature of the whole RV Motorhome is reduced by 10-20 degrees. Our A/C over the last two days does run continuously during the daytime, but does 'thermostat-out (76)' during the evening sleep hours. Overall, things are much cooler... just like we hoped. We also built it big enough that we can park our tow car (Honda CR-V) alongside the Motorhome (under the shade) as well as set out patio furniture, etc. Right now (10:30AM), it is 118 outside, and 79 inside. So things look good at this point. And I think you are right, investment wise... for potential future sell, we built big enough to handle the largest 5th Wheel comfortably (we have 36' Motorhome). Notable, on our 1/4 mile street, we are the 4th RV Cover to be installed in the last 5 months. These are good things.

Yes, we are there now.

If you are in the AZ Yuma area, Coyote Wash in Wellton has lots with two full hookups, city services, and a closeby small town for needs (or 15 miles to urban Yuma). Five years ago my wife and I figured that it would be nice to have a winter home site that we owned and could 'anchor' out of if need be (Hospital needs, etc). We bought a lot here. Now, when COVID-19 came along, we were fairly well prepared to 'stay-in-place'. Dealing with the summer heat is a challenge, but manageable.

Absolutely!

As a retired Township Treasurer (ie, 'tax collector'), I have seen this tragedy from all sides. It can be very hard on good folks that didn't realize that declaring/establishing a domicile has ramifications. In Michigan, it is common for retired folks to own properties in, say, Florida... while retaining the home back in Michigan. And that is where the problem possibilities start.

In many states, it is the City, Township, or County Clerk's office that manage Elections. Go to their web site, or call them, to have an "Application for requesting a Ballot" mailed to you. Give it some advance time, as again, it is just an Application... for a ballot. Then when you fill it in, mail it back to the Clerk, who will then validate it, and mail the official "voting ballot" back to you. Then you have to fill that one out, and return it to the Clerk for your votes to be counted. This does take some time.

DocJ. that could make a significant difference for my wife. We are in the process of recording the channels we watch on Dish... and will use that list to determine the optimal Streaming lineup. Thanks for letting me know about that ability (re-order channels) on YouTube.

That is good to know, Docj. I anticipate the most difficult task in this move is going to be 'managing change'. The more I can make it look procedurally like Dish, the easier things are going to go. If I can make this automatically power up to the Roku screen (channel menu), I think that will be half the battle. At the moment we are without Centurylink WiFi while our Lot construction is being completed, but as soon as I have WiFi service restored I plan on having the Roku devices ready to go, having started the streaming contract(s), and (even) having read the manuals. Then I can jump on the transition from Dish to Roku Streaming....

Bobsallyh, one of the mistakes I made when we bought our (great) motorhome, was to have a new Traveler Dish installed on the roof, but only feeding a new HD TV that I installed in the living room. That means I don't have an external portable Dish hookup. Many times have I regretted that mistake! Thanks for the thought.

Yep, really does make a difference to me - I have an 'unlimited' Verizon that throttles down at 15 GB. And it really does throttle down. I keep it for traveling purposes. Glad you have one that is grandfathered in.

Thanks, trailertraveler! This is great help. I especially noted your comments on: Roku devices, 5G, Ethernet, and locast streaming. I will check all these things out as I go along. The immediate need will be to handle the loss of Dish due to a RV Port Cover being constructed that our MH will be parked under. In this location (Wellton, AZ) we are serviced by Centurylink for WiFi coverage. Other locations that we stay throughout the year generally have fee-based WiFi that I may (or may not) also use the streaming service. Also, my wife is the TV watcher in our family.... and she is not very technically inclined... so simplicity of use (Streaming vs. Dish remote) will end up also being a factor as to what gets used where.

DocJ... GlennWest... Second Chance... Thanks for the response, guys! Yes, DocJ, I do have a reliable CenturyLink Internet Wifi into our lot. Been excellent for years now. And it appears to me that 'streaming' will be the wave of the future... I will keep our Dish account for when we are in locations not served by Hi speed WiFi (about half the year). Again, thanks for the feedback, Guys - I will try to put up a post on this with what we end up doing... and how it is working.

Thought about that, Twotoes, but that would require a cable link from the permanent dish to the Motorhome's Dish system. I am looking for something less involved.

I have had a “Dish Satellite Traveler” on the Motorhome for years, works fine. We recently decided to install a RV Port (Cover), and will lose my Dish Satellite Signals when we park under it. I do have a robust Wifi. I am looking at moving TV viewing from Dish to internet Streaming services… and am pondering a Roku device plugged into my Samsung TV (HDMI), and trying the ‘Fubo’ streaming services for TV channels that we currently watch. Anyone been thru this before? Any advice to offer? Thanks in advance!

X2

Excellent advice, Rich&Sylvia. I find much usefulness in the Groups... Butterfield Stage... Michigan History... South Dakota... Military...

Thanks, Rod. We'll see where it goes from here. Wish you well too!

Interesting story - Thanks for sharing. I have been on Facebook for about a decade... very light use up until the last couple years. I used it mostly for retaining contacts with home folks/events/information. In the last year, I picked up on 'Groups' and 'pages'... like ones for the Butterfield Stage, Michigan History, South Dakota, etc. Very beneficial to me!. Lately, there has been a huge increase on FB for politics. Inevitable, I suppose. I find the disinformation incredible... replete with "youtube experts"... crass opinions, and outright lies. This fact has caused me to re-think FB... and put in place some of their more tight security measures. For the time being, I plan on continuing with FB... mostly for contacts with old friends and beneficial Groups. I hope things don't get worse.

Thanks, Doc. I am quite surprised at this article. Seems like a 'hit job' for unknown purposes. I am well aware of Kiplinger's Newsletter... Respectable... but I never used their services. Indeed, I have a 70 year-old friend just buy his (and wife's) first motorhome. Interesting world nowadays.

We have a map obtained (If I recall correctly... ) at the Local US Forest Service Office (Mystic Ranger District) in Rapid City on Hwy 16 S. about a mile south of the Catron intersection. And, I find that using Google Maps in advance... printing off intended travel areas is useful also - when I know where we are going!

Plenty of fuel stations... check a map of the area, and the small towns serviced by a paved road generally have Stations. In the Summer time, this area (Black Hills) is a heavily visited region... You shouldn't have a problem. BUT, if you drive some of the beautiful mountain back roads, dirt type, you can go on for miles & miles seemingly... without much civilization! Carry a map.

Don't know of any covered lots... but there is this one (Winterhaven, next to Yuma, off I-8) that we have observed (only) that has beautiful trees that seem to provide great cover: https://riversedgervresort.com/contact-us/ You might try them.

Kirk hits it pretty well. Also, there is the 'Old Hill city Road", from Hill city to Keystone. And adjacent to Spearfish Canyon Rd, is the "Roughlock Falls Rd (dirt) that extends up into the mountains... eventually going by a place called "Cement Ridge" lookout Tower. Enjoy!

Its been a number of years, but we have taken the US 2 route from Montana to St. Ignace - The thing I remember most is a lot of small town "stop-and-go" driving thru Minnesota-Wisconsin into Michigan. I would X3 the Tee Jay route, with a possible modifier... I-80 to Omaha, cut North on I-29 to Sioux Falls, I-90 all the way to Montana