bruce t

You can buy a residential fridge and simply change over the compressor. We had our electrician swap out the compressor for a 12 Volt Dansfoss unit. Work like a charm for years even when the motorhome exceeded 120f inside in some locations!! 😒 Once you go all electric you will never go back.

RV the RAM/Sprinter conversions are all over the world. We just sold our Fiat van. We looked at some B class conversion last time we were in the USA. Boy were they expensive for what you got. B class are trendy at the moment and the manufacturers are taking advantage of the trend.

100% agree Ray. Its what I call the Wal-Mart syndrome. We complain about price then complain about quality. Buy a $30000.00 car and we get a "real" warranty. Buy a $200000.00 and all you get is sawdust in your draws!

I have a simple Samsung tablet that I use to find camping spots. It's not connected to the internet. (I downloaded the package a few years back and occasionally log on to update it. But it Is never connected while on the road). Yet it always knows where I am. How is it connected? Who's watching? I can turn the tablet off and back on again way out where there is no cell signal. Yet it still picks me up. Maybe I'm wanted by the FBI! Or maybe the Chinese think I'm important! Or maybe we are all just ignorant of what freedoms we have given away.

Hal 9000 is alive and well.

RV I have no idea. I'm just making a point about who and what you can trust.

Huawei. Ask yourself why this Chinese company is being watched very very carefully. Ask yourself about CCTV devices. The reality is that nowadays no one knows who is watching who. No one realy knows what devices are even connected to God knows who or what. We pay as much as possible with cash. We turn off all devices as soon as we are finished with them. Trust no one.

If you have no connections, ie cell phone or Wi-Fi turned on in your vehicle, how does your navigation work? Just saying. If your vehicle knows where it is then what other devices are also working without your input? I have no idea. Just posing a question.

Deadliest is a bit of a catch all phrase. How many times have you heard the world's deadliest snake? World's deadliest car? Now that would be an interesting statistic. A NP 'may' be the "deadliest" simply because it's the most visited.

I bet there are "better" site out on BLM land. And somewhat cheaper. I know where I would rather camp.

Just a FWIW. Here in Australia the ABS, (Australian Bureau of Statistics. The official government body responsible for all sorts of data), has just released some interesting road statistics. For the past year 78% of all accidents involving trucks/heavy transport were caused by a car. I guess similar figures would apply in the USA!!

I posted above that the driver clearly didn't know where his left rear corner was. That's just bad driving. No excuses. Also lay off the truck driver. Who here knows if he had other vehicles behind him? If he braked what would the chain reaction have been? Too many assumptions. That idiot in the motorhome had a brake pedal. It obviously wasn't attached to his brain. Assuming he had a brain!!

I wonder who here has driven a heavy rig and been caught in the wrong lane? 40 ton rigs can't, and shouldn't, change lanes like a sports car. Was the right lane rig better geared than the truck trying to pass? Who knows. But the idiot driving the C Class simply made a dumb move. He had no idea where his left rear corner was. Trying to save a few minutes has cost him big time.

Some years back folks were falling over themselve converting their cars to LPG. There were specialist fitters everywhere. It was the "future". Now where are they? Gas stations have removed their filling browsers. The environmentalists now want to ban ALL gas. Be wary of those who promise a new future. Remember Beta v VHS? Kirk I don't recall the circumstance of our renewal. So maybe I just wasn't aware that I could keep my old number. Back in 1996 we had to move our address, insurance etc from Georgia to Texas. I think I was with Alexander and Alexander insurance and they had some issues with us not having a SSN. Hence the move to Texas and SKPs.

RV I joined SKPs back in 1996. Let my membership laps in 2000. Then rejoined. Hence the higher number. "Conflict resolution" ? No idea. Try "Dispute resolution" that I wrote.

RV FWIW I joined SKP's back in the 1990's. Does that count for anything? Nah. Who cares. Another FWIW. I have a piece of paper hanging around somewhere. It's my qualification as a "Dispute resolution and mediator 'something' ". I'm not looking for it for the exact words. But one thing I did learn early on. Is that at soon as someone starts to get personal then they have lost the debate. Think about it for just a moment.

RV I haven't even bothered to read your post. Whatever I, or others say, you will spend time on the internet looking for something to cut and paste. You win. I bow to your superior intellect and wisdom. I'm off to harness my horse.

Right on RV. But if you search around you will find many similar news/stories along the same lines. I posted a random link. My point is that the future hasn't yet been decided. They are always promising break throughs with new batteries. Same with hydrogen. Base load green electricity hasn't yet been solved. Plenty of promises. Will green energy be enough to recharges a billion or so EVs? Can they solve the hydrogen storage and transport issues? I've said a number of times that I'm all for change. But not with my tax money. Not by governments 'forcing' me to change. Let the free market make the change. After all they never band horses did they? But the public drove, pun intended, the change to ICEs. Australia's government is 'giving' tax money to those who buy an EV. A$7000.00 the last I heard. That's my tax money. It's going to those who can afford an EV. The 'poor' folks can't even afford a used ICE so how is this change going to happen if the vast majority can't afford it? Get politics out of it and let the market decide.

I'm not entering the debate but simply posting this for food for thought. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCxtO1qjnSA Maybe Alice has gone down the wrong rabbit hole!!

Someone needs to reintroduce the CCC.

We lived/RVed in the USA for approx 8 years. In that time we learnt many things that we greatly appreciated about the USA. At the top of the list would be the parks. Be they National, State, City or county parks. COE, forestry or whatever. The park system is a wonderful asset. Much to the credit of folks like the CCC back in the 20-30s. Im not sure many Americans realise what a wonderful asset they have often on their doorstep. The problem is that many parks are being worn out by their popularity. Goodness knows what will happen to them if they become more popular. I think that park danger comes from the humans who take so much for granted. What's the solution? I have no idea but someone had better find a solution soon or the problems will only get worse.

A few years back we spent 15-20 minutes trying to find a park at the Newfound Gap in the Smokies NP. The crowds were out. It was a Sunday. It was the peak of fall colours. Wife and I had been hiking many sections of the Appalachian trail and we wanted to hike north from the car park. Day hike. 4-5 hours out and 4-5 hours back. The first 2-300 yards of the trails was like sale day at Walmart!!! Crowds? Gosh push and shove. But after about 500 yards we were all but by ourselves. A mile further up the trail we could have hiked naked without fear of being seen. FWIW we don't hike naked. 😉 Go to Arches NP. Crowds!!! Try Canyonlands. The south section. The Needles. Car parks are all but empty. Hike the Confluence trail and you will be lucky to see anyone else on the trail. Yet it's spectacular. My point is that I would rather take the risk with the bears and poison ivy than the traffic in a NP. The postcard views of NPs are overrun with folks who can't go further or simply don't want to go further. There's an upside in that the small percentage of worn-out sections of the parks preserve the vast majority of the park. But my guess it's more damaging for your health sitting at home eating popcorn in front of the TV.

Just to throw a curved ball!! Define "visit"? There are millions of folks who stop at the visitors center and tick that NP off their list. Some NPs we have done just that. Stopped. Read the information and drove on. Other NPs we have pulled the hiking boots on and hiked 20 miles into the park. Far away from the car parks. How many folks have driven to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Looked over the edge from one of the car parks and called done? I'm not being critical. Just a thought about what "seeing a NP" realy is.

One other consideration. Storage. For the last 10 years we based ourselves around Dallas/Fort Worth. We were lucky finding storage each time we returned to Australia. But storage can be very hard to find. We also used Dallas as there is a direct flight back to Australia. That saves more than one headache.

Linda the link Kirk posted is from 2009. I haven't read through it for some time but doing so just now I can't see much that is out of date. Phones and internet aside much of the information is still relevant. Anyone who is considering such an adventure is encouraged to do their homework and double check everything. What worked for us may, or may not, work for others.