Second Chance

Hmmm... I'm a retired RN. In all of our biology and nutrition classes, we were taught that protein provides 4 calories per gram - regardless of the source. On what are you basing your comment? You're also commenting on a thread that's 4-1/2 years old without referencing to whom your comment is directed. Rob

We're spending the winter on Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. The propane companies won't/can't come on post to fill privately owned or rented tanks, so several of the folks in the FamCamp here have the 100 lb. vertical tanks (kinda tall and skinny). One of the guys assured me that "it's not too bad" getting the thing in and out of the truck to go refill (at 176 lbs. full). With three bad discs in my back, Laura wouldn't let me do that, so yesterday I picked up two extra 30 pounders at Tractor Supply and had them filled. With four of them, that gives me 120 lbs. total capacity and they're much easier to get in and out of the truck. I got some of those stabilizer bases for them and they strap in very nicely (and are stable on the concrete pad when not in use). Rob

I was a recreational sailor for over 30 years... I would not get out on the water in that thing. Rob

We have traveled in our RV in 34 of the states (more if you count other modes of travel... but we don't). My wife spent her first 7 years in Argentina, then finished growing up in Costa Rica. (Her family spent furloughs every five years back in the states.) As an adult, she lived in Spain for ten years (and traveled all over southern Europe) and back in Costa Rica for another seven. Together we have visited Canada and each has visited (she studied two summers) Mexico separately. I lived in Somalia for a year and have visited Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia (as an unwelcome guest after a coup attempt in Nairobi), The Netherlands, England and Scotland. My memory isn't what it used to be, so I may have left something out... Rob

Thank you for posting this, Robert - though it saddens me. I'm originally from Cruces and what family I have left are still there. We're aching to get back west, but it doesn't look like that'll happen until at least next spring. Stay safe and healthy! Rob

On Aggies... my late wife's father graduated from Texas A&M. His brother, my wife's uncle Frank, graduated from UT. In 1970, Uncle Frank bought a brand new Olds Delta 88... white. He drove it straight to a paint shop to have it painted burnt orange below the "belt line." Uncle Frank kept a 6' stuffed Bevo on the bed in his guest room in Dallas (my wife and I had to find someplace to put it when we stayed at his house). In the mid '70s, Cindy (my late wife) thought it would be funny to order an Aggie T-shirt for Uncle Frank for his birthday (out of her dad's A&M alumni magazine, of course). It was maroon with white stripes and had an Aggie logo on it. Uncle Frank did not acknowledge the birthday gift. He was a marathon runner and, some years later, admitted that he got the shirt - but would only use it for running after dark when he couldn't be identified. When he got tired of doing that, he used it to check the oil on his Olds. It took us a while to find out what had transpired, but the wait was worth it. So - did you year about the Aggie terrorists who were injured attempting to blow up a school bus? They burned their lips on the exhaust pipe. (I graduated from the UT system... twice. I have a few Aggie jokes.) Rob

What Linda and Kirk are saying is absolutely true. I'll just add a little anecdote. Our previous fifth wheel did not have tank heaters on it. It had a thin Coroplast (corrugated plastic) underbelly, but that had no insulation on top of it (the floor was well insulated - though that doesn't help the tanks which are below the floor). There was one small, 2" heat duct going back to the kitchen island and fresh water tank area from the furnace. Anyway, against my better judgement I let my wife talk me into spending the holidays near grandkids at the tip-top of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. The week before Christmas an arctic air mass moved in... we had single-digit lows and highs around 21 - 22F with 45 MPH winds for five days. We had a heated water hose and the water standpipe had heat tape and insulation on it, but I filled the fresh tank during the day, disconnected the heated hose, and ran off the tank and pump. I waited until the warmest (if you could call it that) part of the day to drain the gray tanks every two to three days and the black tank once a week. We went through 60lbs. of propane about every four days during this time. Through all this, neither the fresh nor waste tanks froze (the Pex water lines to the kitchen island did, though). The mass of the fluids in the tanks takes a lot longer to drop in temperature and freeze than does water in a hose or Pex line. This is just for perspective - hope it helps. Rob

Of all places! It's under "Settings" (on the left). Rob

amarie1, As bigjim suggested, it helps others answer your questions better if we have a little information on your rig. An easy way to do this is to go into your profile and create a signature (like mine below). Include as much information as you're comfortable with. This way, you won't have to repeat it every time you ask a question and members won't have to ask you before they answer. Rob

I don't know that it would catch much of the smoke. Also, refrigerated ACs aren't overly effective if the outside temps are too cool. Wouldn't hurt to try it. Rob

My sister in Las Cruces, NM, sent me a photo last night of the sunset from their place - same thing... that much farther east. We have full-timer friends who summer in Bend, OR. This past week they couldn't even see the sun. They were finally able to leave Bend yesterday en route for their winter place near Palm Springs, CA. The wife wrote Laura last night and said that it was good to be able to breathe again. Rob

We have a Vaiar and really like it. If you get one, be sure and add an in-line water filter/trap if you don't use a tank. Rob

I didn't want to move my Battle Born LiFePO4s behind the basement wall in our fifth wheel (didn't want to redo the wiring and move the ATS, inverter, solar charge controller, etc.), so I left them in the front compartment (non-heated) and put BB's thermostatically controlled heating pads on them. The pads are 12VDC and take their power directly from the batteries. They come on at 35F (temp inside the battery boxes) and turn off when the temp gets back up to 45F. We'll be wintering at the top of the Chesapeake this year and the converter/charger will supply the power for charging the batteries and heating the pads. Rob

As I said, "Some will say..." That's not my position. I happen to agree with you, Linda. Rob

How true, Linda. Our son-in-law is a pilot for one of the major airlines. His company has said no furloughs through the end of the year... but no-one can predict what the aviation industry is going to look like after that or for the next five years. On the people side, Laura was just talking about how she may never be comfortable being in crowds again or just walking up and hugging people like we used to. Rob

I'm with 2gypsies. There are so many places in the east to see the colors without traveling so far. We have seen the fall colors in the Smokies (in fact, anywhere in the Apalachians), New England, and all up and down the coast - beautiful! We're hunkering down for the fall and winter at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland near grandkids. The fall colors around here can be beautiful, too. We spent a fall in Cincinnati near another grandkid a few years ago... that was beautiful. Shall I go on? Rob

I've found that most U-Haul locations aren't certified to fill anything larger than a 30 - 40 lb. cylinder. In my experience, their prices are also significantly higher than other sources. Rob

As my late wife's mother would say, there are two sides to this and I can argue either one. Buying used certainly saves you a lot of money on depreciation - but if the unit needs too much "bringing up to snuff," that could eat into your savings from buying used. Some will say that if you buy a unit that's a couple of years old, the bugs will already have been worked out. It's sometimes difficult to find exactly what you want on the used market. If that's the case, and you are willing to wait, ordering one from the manufacturer just the way you want it and with the options you want will get you into a rig that you'll be satisfied with, too. We just sold our five year old fiver this past winter and moved into a new one we ordered (optioned the way we wanted). So far, we have not had any quality issues other than with the Chinese made LED puck lights (and all rigs have them). The manufacturer sent me a box of replacements directly without having to go through a dealer for the warranty claim. We negotiated a good deal on the RV, but we still paid "new" prices and understand that the depreciation is nearly all up front. Since we are full-time and this is our home, we are happy to have it "our way." Rob

We just had a conversation with Laura's PCP about this when we contacted her this week (via the practice's secure messaging system) about a minor issue. We normally do our annual visits in the January/February time frame. When we told the PCP we hoped to see her then, her response was (paraphrasing), "If it works out and is safe for you to travel. If not, we can do an e-visit." All of our providers have been extremely accommodating since we hit the road - and even more so since the onset of the pandemic. Now, if we could just figure out a way to do an e-visit for a dental cleaning and check-up... Rob

That's why I always use the "All Activity" function to look at the forums every day. It lists the latest posts regardless of which topical sub-forum they're in. Rob

The rack itself weighs 23 lbs. and then you'll have the weight of the bike. That's a lot for a 1.2" tube (unless the the "tube" is solid). You might get by with it, but I would be nervous. If I recall, you're in a class C? Is there any way you could secure the bike inside the RV for the trip? Rob

I agree.

Because of the G-forces at the back of an RV, I wouldn't trust any rack with a 1/25" tube. There are bike racks that are certified by the manufacturer for RV use. Swagman has several... this is the one we use: Amazon link Rob

I'll concur with Scott. The two stretched mentioned are pretty bad. We've done the I-20 route through Shreveport as recently as this spring. "Potholes" and "rough" aren't strong enough words. Rob

Then I'm voting for the control board or the resistive heating element(s) on the fridge (some models have one electric element, others have two). If you have a multimeter and are comfortable doing this type of thing, you can use Google and find out how to check output to the heating element from the relay and/or check the resistance of the heating element. If you're not experienced in this type of thing, don't do it since it's 110 AC. Rob