Bill w/bus

Two trips to Alaska. One 2001 that lasted 9 weeks to and from Maine. Second was in 2016. Left the RGV late April and arrived back first week of November. Cruise is great for seeing the islands and seaports. The real trip is by road. Take your time. Cross over into Canada in May. We spent Memorial Day (US) weekend in Whitehorse and they just opened the tourist places. Enjoy the drive Bill

OK Alabama will probably have snow. We tried all the winter locations - Florida, Arizona, Alabama/Mississippi. finally landed in the Rio Grande Valley. That was 11 years ago. Cost is in the range of $1500 to 2000 for 5 months. Electricity is in the range from $0.14 to 0.19 per kilowatt. Winter activities in most parks. Bill

Contact your local Elks Lodge and apply for membership. Many have RV sites and/or allow you to park. Passport America will pay for the annual fee after two or three nights. Escapees Parks most in the 20-25 $/night. BLM, COE are excellent spots. State parks but watch out for added fees, like daily entrance fee added to camping fee. Midwest has a lot of town, city and county parks. Some only ask for a donation. Any tourist area will be higher cost. So save your money to visit the tourist areas. Bill

I would add Passport America as an alternative source of less expensive campgrounds. The Escapees RV Parks are primarily south and west. But very useful for travel. Enjoy Bill

Haven't visited for a while but this discussion has been going from before the internet and forums. It used to be around the campfire. Went through a series of motorhomes. One of the best was a 1970 Dodge made by Swinger. Then a 1986 Class C Rockwood. Traded for a 1990 Pace Arrow 30ft. Several problems, once the cabinet over the dinette came crashing down when the three screws finally gave up. Then we went to a Maine Wheels meet in York, Maine. We were surrounded by converted buses. That was an eye opener. This was May 0f 1994. In March of 1995 I brought home a 1970 GM 4108. This is a 35 foot pushed by a Detroit Diesel and a Spicer 4 speed. By the time I traveled from Macon, GA to Pittston, Maine I could shift without grinding and without use of clutch. Took us two years to complete the conversion. First few trips no problems. No cabinets fell. Ran well at 9-10 MPG at 70mph. We decided that approaching 70 years we really should have an automatic transmission. Not that I couldn't shift but was concerned that my left leg/knee would be bothered with the clutch operation, Found an MCI, a 102A3, that would accomodate everything we wanted for eventual full timing. Our biggest problem was the blasted toilet. Gasket, seal and RV Techs until i finally figured out why not to buy dometic parts. RV appliances - stove three burner and toilet. Refrigerator, sinks, faucets, clothes washer, clothes drier propane are all standard household. Took us less than two years to complete the conversion from bus to motorhome. If it breaks I know how it was built. Bill

Most truck stops have a CAT scale. All moving companies have scales. All junkyards, excuse me metal recycling center, have scales. Method for motorhomes - drive on until drive axle is just off platform that's front axle. Then way entire unit. Then drive forward so front axle is off the platform. Side weight is a little tricky. You need about two feet of level side clearance to get just one side on the platform. So four weights will yield all the corner and axle weights. Yes individual weights are ideal but this method will get you close to actual. Good luck, Bill

From the little news I saw, the bridge is shutdown pending repair. With the amount of vehicles using I40 the traffic the alternative route I55 will be clogged. If I was going that way I would avoid Memphis until the bridge repair is complete. Yeah I know it's going to add miles but it would be better than hours of frustration sitting in a traffic jam. Bill

I would STRONGLY suggest a driving and RV instructor. There is one that I am familiar with is the RV Driving School. The school has both driving instruction and the RV knowledge instruction. You don't need to have your HOME rendered unlivable because you didn't know. Good luck Bill

Chesapeake Bridge Tunnel - check the price before you have to give them an arm. Other than that it's flat and easy. I forgot which way the toll is applied at the Bay Bridge. So check on that. Don't try to cross the bridge tunnel with high winds you won't be allowed. Bill

I like Kirk's routing and stop suggestions. But, if you can (passport required) cross after Niagara to Canada and return to the states at Port Huron. Go north to the ,Mackinaw Bridge and then US 2. This avoids getting around Chicago area and the tolls from NY through to Wisconsin. And it's a much nicer ride. A caution note verify your toll costs before you get surprised. Most toll rates have increased this year. Yes to Thermopolis and Cody. Bill

I second that, but traffic can back up in heart around Chattanooga. 2 AM got on to I24 from I59 and went three miles and then sat for a!most an hour. Accident someplace. You have three interstates converging in the area. Obviously avoid rush hours. Mid day isn't bad. Good luck, Bill

Running four panels two in series, MPPT controller max is 120VDC. Four panels in series is max at 130VDC at 70F. A max observed voltage is 58+ VDC , that is two panels in series. Probably would have OK with four in series. But, the flambe part was a concern. Panels did well today in South Texas while waiting on the tire fixer, about 5.5 KWH in four hours. Was still in the campground but it plugged in. Bill

I would caution against using an RV for the stated purpose. Very few if any, will survive -20/30 below zero without water or waste system freeze up. Most units will struggle to maintain +65 when the outside temperature goes below +10. Summer conditions easy. Spring and fall okay. Mid November through mid April not really doable in, even in a well insulated unit. Sorry to be a wet blanket but advise against. Bill

Missed the generator part of the question.. Why? Do you know that the Aqua Hot system is relatively low power consumption? I don't know your system but regardless you are probably using less than 12/15 amps at 12VDC. Therefore your alternator is working just a little more than without the system on. Bill

Exactly! Why not? There is no logical reason for not running the heating system anytime. Most installs include a heat exchanger to get heat from the engine cooling system and transfer the heat to the house heating system. Run the Aqua Hot when you want/need the heat regardless of driving or not. Enjoy your heat as we have for 25 years. Bill

That is on for next summer when plan a return visit to the Black Canyon. Thanks for the info. Bill

The Northeast, I am including every state from Virginia through northern Maine, has always been tough to find campground spots on short notice. As has been written, no new campgrounds have been built. And they are getting old. So size is critical. If you have a big rig you are in trouble without reservations. Until we converted to full timing we had house in central Maine. Talking with neighbors we heard the stories of expensive campsites and low availability. When we go to Northeast, we will makes reservations in key plas. Then we can travel our way without reservations. Look into Fraternal organizations as an option. Elks, Moose, Eagles are known to be accommodating. Some even have hookups/campgrounds. We have stayed in American Legion, VFW parking lots plugged into an outside receptacle. Campgrounds will be expensive and tightly spaced in the tourist areas. Think Bar Harbor. On the other hand take the Mt Washington Cog Railroad, spectacular trip, and camp in the parking lot overnight. The lot has a view of the trains as they go up and down. Do a lot of reading and planning and a few reservations and you will have a great time. Bill

After 10 years of service the bathroom fantastic vent thermostat has failed. And better yet it is defined as an obsolete part. Any thoughts suggestions on how to proceed? Thanks, Bill

NM is great for being. We like Taos, the BLM campgrounds on the Rio Grande about 10 miles south of town. Also the cave dwelling in the Gila National Monument, north of Silver City. If you go there is campground south of the NM with a pretty good hot spring access. Enjoy. Bill

We had in order: tent trailer pop up. Truck camper. Small Class A, Class C, Class A. Bus conversion, and a second bus converted, converted by us as was the first. We vote motorhome regardless of class. The truck camper was a sort of motorhome. We could get from the truck cab to the camper without going outside. Of course that was over forty years ago. We like the convience of one floor living and the bathroom is always available. Our $0.02 Bill ,

Voltage? If 12V then 4 O, as in four zero guage, is not unreasonable. I use 2 O within the battery bank, four 8D deep cycle AGM at 225AH, and 4 O through fuse and switch to inverter on plus side and 4 O to ground through current shunt. My system is "24V" which means we operate a float voltage of 27 V. Magnum 4000 is the inverter/charger with solar worth about 25amps at max charge. When these batteries fail then it is some kind of lithium battery for us. There calculation sites for cable sizing based on current and length of the cable run. Remember the longest run defines the cable diameter. Bill

People have become locked to the mantra of "electric vehicles only". Rather foolishly. What about hybrid vehicles? Diesel engines are very efficient, especially when run at constant speed. Consider then a vehicle with a battery bank and a small efficient diesel engine. For a medium sized car that should yield fuel milage on excess of 60 MPG. For the big trucks and buses maybe above 12 MPG. Penalty would be hill climbing. Slow uphill, charge battery on the downhill. Years ago, early 60's, trucks crawled up the hills. Now trucks pretty much fly up the hills. Would doubling the fuel mileage be worth the additional time through the mountains? Consider that. Then we come to the electrical grid and the power supply available. Power supply is limited to the generators available. Solar, when the sun is shining, hydro, wind, when the wind is moving, oil/gas/coal fired steam plants and finally nuclear plants are the major sources of power for the grid. Then there is the grid, that collection wires/transformers/switches, that delivers the power to the outlet. Power plants are being shutdown in many states. Some have reached end of life and others have regulated out . The best part is the capacity is not being replaced. And now the push is on for electric vehicles. Should be interesting to watch this drama unfolding. Of course the politicians will never accept the responsibility for poor decisions. To wit, California lacks the ability to supply the power demand. And who is to blame? Of course the utilities. Think about the long term effects. Bill

Yes, stay south on I 10. Are you going to drive hard every day? Or do you have time to see some things? Florida will be chilly in December. Not bad. See Sarasota, Ford and Edison estates. Ringling circus museum. Keys are great. Elks lodge in Tavernier is a great stop but reservations needed. Bahia Honda SP, can't remember which island, is great by itself but close to Key West. Awaiting your answer. Bill

Fantastic fans move a lot of air and the cover must be designed for that criteria. We had vent covers but the fan blades picked up a lot of dirt. Technicians told us that we needed more air volume to prevent the dirt from staying on the fan blades. Changed out the covers and cleaning interval more than doubled. That was the time that Fantastic Fan was owned before being sold to Atwood, or who ever. Bill

There are slides at 500# available.. A steel frame of 1.5" , 1/8 " angle iron, a plywood floor of 3/4" plywood and you have a fine pullout for toolboxes. Slides are cheap but worth the price. Mine have worked for 12 years. With a 200+# toolbox, a 2' long box for electrical tools and spare relays etc, a smaller box for plumbing tools and fittings, and finally a box loaded with drill bits for the load on the slides. Bill