Bill w/bus

You obviously have not tasted the Texas Sweets. Come to the Rio Grande Valley to get some. Putting any sweet substance on a Texas Sweet would be sacreligious. Bill

In no particular order. Elks, Passport America, Escapees Quick overnight is rest area, Walmart , Casino Bill

The common cause is the cable from the turret and up the arm to the LNB, Low Noise Block amplifier, which is the stuff at the end of the arm. If you can read the voltage at the end of the arm. Should be 13V DC or 18VDC depending on polarity selected by the receiver for the channel selected. I have replaced that cable twice in ten years. Can be purchased from Winegard. Replacement requires being on the roof. Good luck, Bill

Received the long form in 1990. I got annoyed at the detailed questions. Basically mind your business. The form had every box checked where multiple answers were available. In 2000 got the long form again. Checked every box again. A couple weeks later a neighbor, working for census, came in the driveway. He said "Bill about the census form, it wasn't properly filled out." I replied that the number of people living in the house was properly enumerated. After some discussion he admitted that were no legal consequences and left. Number of people at that address is all that is required. My $.02 Bill,

Thanks AlF. We travel with a dog so the long ferry is not being considered. 60th High School reunion mid August in Gloucester, MA so need to be back in time. That would be about six weeks. Still thinking, Bill

Thanks

Thinking about touring Newfoundland this summer. Prefer not to stay in campgrounds. What are the rules for boondocking on the island? How about some pointers on where to look for info. Thanks Bill

Message no antenna connection. That means the controller is not connected to antenna. You can check the voltage and continuity on the antenna controller. PITA but a doable job. I would suspect that you will find a faulted controller cable or bad connection at the antenna. When the cable from from the LNB's is faulted then you won't receive some satellites. However the dish will align on the satellite arc. If aligned on the arc then on the turret you can check the voltage either ,13V or 18VDC. If good, then check continuity from turret to LNB. Or just call Winegard and order the 4 coax cable bundle. Bill

I would caution everybody about registering a motorhome to a business. If you are over 26,000 lbs and registered to a business then you are a commercial vehicle. That means CDL, annual physical and logbook that electronic log is a your cost, business insurance etc. Bil

Reclaim asphalt as a top coat. Might want to spring for an engineering soil study. Local road construction companies usually have one available. They know the local souls and the requirements fora good road. Bill

Fairly new tires rarely have rapid air loss. Known to us non professionals as a blowout without insertion of a sharp piece of something. I had the left steer tire blowout as I entered one the Texas Creek bridges in the oil patch west of San Antonio. Vehicles had dragged a lot of gravel onto to the road . Not a fun ride but stayed in the right lane, two lane bridge. I did remember to add fuel. I know the speed didn't increase but I always had control. Yes you drove over something. And yes you get an attaboy for not jumping on the stop pedal. Congrats on surviving a potential disaster. Bill

Yes, fix the wiring. Then change the nozzle, Webasto specfic, and clean out the fire box. You need to pull the burner tube, sheet metal, to expose the heat exchanger find. That should be all it needs to perform well.

Bah! Humbug! No toll roads for us. In the Northeast it is almost impossible without using the tolled roads. That's why we only go there to support our son and family in New Hampshire. Most of the country you can find alternatives to the money roads. We really like the US and state roads. Try US 36 across Kansas and Missouri. Nice road and nice towns to drive through. Use US 64 to go east and west. Or US 50. Around the big cities we either avoid completely or use the big roads. Bill me

Concur on the January arrival. Not South Dakota. Texas or Florida for driver's license etc. You can buy your truck and trailer anyplace. But. It would be easier in state. Do not but any vehicle from the snow belt states due to rust issues. Maybe, just maybe with a thorough inspection if it was a great deal. Good luck in your travels, Bill

Congratulations on a great first year. We are also from Maine. Our first real full time year was 2016 when we went to Alaska from our winter home in the Rio Grande Valley and returned. Back in Maine for short summer. Came back to Maine to clean up some details for a month . On your west coast trip don't miss Quartzite. Visit both Escapees park in CA. Death Valley, Joshua Tree NP, and start at the Grand Canyon work the Canyons north up to the Arches NP. That should get you started on the right path. Enjoy Bill

Buy the Milepost now for winter reading. Get new one for your trip. The Churches camping book is great. We did solo twice in 2001 and 2016. No problems with finding a place to stay. Don't miss Dawson City and of course Chiken and Eagle. It is a long trip. We we're 13K miles in2001 from Maine. About 12K miles from South Texas in 2016. Bill

We have used as far as Nebraska from the south. And last summer around Minot. And no we didn't think about the highway number until I checked the road atlas. By Then it was obvious, same road as passes by the winter site. Bill

StarCraft tent trailer in 1970. Traded that an 70 Ford station wagon for 10.5 ft slide camper and IH pickup. Both campers were used but vehicles were new. USNavy transfer from Idaho to Virginia caused the change to the slide in camper. The unit had a side door entry that was only about a foot to the ground. Excellent for two young children and two dogs. Built an insulted boot for access to cab from the camper. We we're flexible, then. Bill

When you head south use US 83. When you get to the place where campgrounds are every where, you in the Rio Grande Valley. There Winters are mostly warm and windy, some wind to wow. But the prices are reasonable and company is fun. Bill

Put Medora, North Dakota on your list of places for a summer visit. The NP is the Teddy Roosevelt . Great story of his time in the badlands as a cowboy. The park scenery is spectacular. We viewed the bison herds and the wild horses. Impressive to see horses running just to run. The Medora Musical is an evening show. In an outdoor amphitheatre. A great show for the family. Professional performance with a movable set. Yes, it is a tourist town but not overly so. Bill

Near Sheffield, PA is the Kinzau State Park and Skywalk, free entrance. Going to Maine two routings. Well more than two but to get through the heavily trafficked roads only two. One is I84, to I90, I495, I95 to Maine Turnpike exit in Yarmouth to I 295 then either US 1 or continue to US 201 to ME 226 to ME 17 to UsS1 in Rockland/Camden. Or I81 to I90 then continue as above. If using the I80 then continue to Stroudsburg and take US 209 North to I 84 in the Milford area. A lot of hills in and out of Scranton on 81/84. 209 runs through Deiaware Water Gap RA. Avoid the rush hours 6-9 and 3-7 in CT and MA/NH . Enjoy Bill

Agree with stay out of the heavy traffic areas. I have begun to really hate the interstates. I know that the two lanes are slower(that's the red roads on the paper map) but somewhat safer. Agree with stay out of the packs. When I first started driving, 1958,my father beat that into my head, among many other things, "Maintain a bubble around that gives you options." Bill

I don't think I would think about a trip until the inspector had delivered a final inspection report with pictures/video to support. I have worked with an RV inspector and his attention to detail was impressive. Cost is not inexpensive but you will have an accurate representation of the unit's condition. Bill

Use Purogene as alternative to bleach. Bleach takes at least two rinsed to clear the odor from the system. When, not if, you sanitize your water system make sure that you adhere to at least a thirty minute soak after the solution is flowing from all the water outlets. A proper sanitizer solution is a mild acid solution with the antibacterial addition. I use Purogene with citric acid powder mixed together and added to the water system via the pump. Maybe a once a year project. For less frequent usage then sanitize once and drain the system when going into storage. Add the Purogene at rate of one ounce per thirty gallons. Should fix your problem. Good luck with your system. Bill

We have found that the fuel prices with big three on the interstate exits were as much as $0.60/gal higher than local stations maybe a mile away. In the Portsmouth, NH area the TA was $3.15/gal versus the Shell station on the RT 1 bypass at $2.85/gal. Thank you Gas Buddy. That was our highest price for fuel since leaving South Texas in late April. We used to fuel almost exclusively at Flying J. Haven't used them in the last three years as their prices are ridiculous. I do provide prices to the Gas Buddy but am not a member. Bill