mptjelgin

On this message board not an issue at all. Some of the most prolific posters haven't been in an RV in years.

The standard process is to wind the spring with the awning 2' away from the coach wall. The number of turns depends on the length of the awning: up to 12ft long awning = 8 turns13-14 ft = 9 turns15-16 ft = 10 turns16.5 - 18ft. = 12 turns19 ft-up = 13 turns. The spring should be wound in the direction that tries to pull it back into the wall of the coach. Then as it extends, it winds the spring even tighter. The tensioning of the spring is a dangerous process. If it gets away from you it will cause serious injury (People have lost fingers performing this process), so make certain that you have the process figured out completely, including how to hold the spring tension firmly during the entire process.

There is a Mike Sokol video on the SoftStartUP site with what looks to be legitimate test of the product, with amperage surge readings. It appears that the device actually "clamps" the available current during start-up to prevent overloading breakers, generators, etc. It is an interesting way to accomplish a "Soft Start" but, based on this video, appears to work. One wonders what the voltage drop at the A/C unit might look like during start-up with the available current limited. Mike Sokol SoftStartUP review video.

From the Happy Campers website: "Happy Camper is a club for RVers and campers of all types. From the Passport America website: "Passport America is the "Original" & World's Largest 50% Discount Camping Club!" Anyone can call themselves a club, and most RV "clubs" are essentially businesses. I would include Escapees in that category.

From the page for the Rose Parade HOP (Which I note is "SOLD OUT. WAIT LIST ONLY".) Cancellation Policy 1 Business Day from Booking: Full Refund More Than 90 Days to the event: 75 % Refund 30 – 90 Days to the event: 25% Refund 30 Days or Less to the event: No Refunds It seems that you are due a 75% refund, but 75% of what? The deposit that you paid or the total price of the HOP? It appears the Escapees is interpreting it as 75% of the total price, meaning that you be required to pay 25% of the total price, which is half of the deposit you've already paid. I would make an argument that they owe you a 75% refund of the funds you've paid, which would get you another $300. Maybe they'll go for that. Once again a reminder that Escapees is a for-profit business, not a benevolent "club".

Good evening Scott- Very nicely written summary of the factors leading you in a different direction. My wife and I went through exactly the same thing, having gone full-time in March 2010 and enjoying it up into 2020. We spent most of our time volunteering at National Wildlife Refuges and Fish Hatcheries, along with some State Parks and State Wildlife Areas. But in Spring 2020 our volunteer gigs were all cancelled due to COVID, with no real idea of when things would get back to "normal". We had an RV lot in Central Texas to hole up in, but as you note if you're not actually travelling an RV starts to seem like a less than optimal place to live. We did one more volunteer gig but COVID was still impacting things and our heart really wasn't into it. So we bought a home in this same area, sold the big fifth wheel and bought a smaller TT. Frankly our idea of taking spontaneous shorter trips hasn't worked out because of the demand for camping sites and the absolute inability to get into a Texas State Park for more than a couple of days without making reservations months in advance. Oh well, we're getting that figured out as well. Throw in a little bit of medical and some of your "been-there-done-that" sentiment and we're happily off into the next chapter of our lives. We are doing more international travel and visiting a few locations within the US that we still have on our list. But now by plane, rental car, and Airbnb. We're so thankful to have gotten our full-timing in when we did, as the situation was really changing in the final couple of years, and (for us) not for the better. Enjoy the next step!

Same. I have both the locking hitch pin and the trailer hitch lock. It is very convenient to have them both keyed to the truck key so I don't need separate keys.

Housing flood maps are generally 100-year recurrence intervals. As for climate change, climate is far more than average temperature and I'll leave it at that...

Not true. As a Civil Engineer, I work on projects that utilize 100 year, 500 year, 1000 year, and even 10,000 year statistical recurrence intervals. It all depends on how serious the ramifications of failure are. For instance, foundations for major bridges are designed for at least a "500 year" flood, and some for even higher intervals. It all comes down to risk and cost. It isn't feasible from a cost standpoint to design everything for 100 year return intervals, let alone 1000 year. With all of that being said, the statistical models regarding flooding are not holding up well at all with regard to return period of floods in modern times. With climate change and other factors what were determined to be 500 year or 1000 year floods based on past statistical data may well become the new 100 year flood as more data becomes available and is incorporated into the models.

It looks like the same equipment, but you can get the equipment immediately (no waitlist) and use it in areas that are already "fully allocated". You pay for this with 1. Higher monthly rate, and 2. Downgraded service. From the company's support page: Best Effort Service: Network resources are always de-prioritized for Starlink for RVs users compared to other Starlink services, resulting in degraded service and slower speeds in congested areas and during peak hours. Stated speeds and uninterrupted use of the service are not guaranteed. Service degradation will be most extreme in "Waitlist" areas on the Starlink Availability Map during peak hours. See Starlink Specification for expected performance here.

These might be a help. They are the owner's and "infotainment" manuals for the 2018 line of Chevrolet HD trucks. The 4500 falls into that group. Owner's Manual Infotainment Manual

I don't think that I made any such suggestion that "you are not spending enough". I have zero idea of your financial situation or your interests for that matter. I have no dog in your hunt. But you specifically stated in this thread that you were "...struggling with the decision of when is it time to harvest the returns on past investments and spend them..." You also state that you are almost 80 years old. So my question remains: What are you waiting for? If there are things that you want to do, and can afford to do, when will you do them? Sooner? Later? Never? I offered an opinion in response to your post. Consider it, ignore it. It's your life.

My emphasis added to the above quote. With all due respect, my answer would be "About 20 years ago". If you are comfortable that you have your future expenses covered by pensions/SSI/a portion of your investments, etc. and that you indeed have "extra" money, what have you been you waiting for? My wife and I have travelled to Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Colombia in the past year, and have trips planned to Alaska and Peru this year, and Africa next. COVID was a real wake-up for us when we weren't able to take trips that had been planned. Who knows what the future holds? We are not getting any younger (and we are considerably younger than you), are you?

There was no issue to be resolved. New forum software, new features... The badges have become part of the background, as expected...

I agree. I am mystified as to why someone who has never owned any RV washer/dryer, let alone an unvented combo, would offer up an opinion.

US oil prices turn negative as demand dries up

I have quite an old AT&T Wireless Home Phone and Internet box (ZTE MF271) that acts as a hotspot and also provides an RJ-11 (old fashioned phone jack). This was sold as a way to provide home phone to rural folks who didn't have a hard-wired phone, but it also included an excellent price for 250 GB per month hotspot, and that is how we have used it for many years. I was concerned that it would go down with the 3G shutdown, but the hotspot continues to work fine. On the other hand, I have a similar newer device (Netcomm IFWA-40), purchased only one year ago, that I use(d) to provide phone service in my mother's assisted living apartment. She doesn't handle a cell phone well (forgets to charge it) so this seemed like a good solution. We have an old-fashioned answering machine with two handsets plugged into it. It stopped working on February 22nd, and the reason was the the phone portion was on the 3G network. AT&T is not selling any replacement devices as the demand for this service (cellular home phone) is incredibly low. In speaking with the AT&T technicians, they tell me that the hotspot function on both devices will continue to work, but the the telephone side of both devices will not.

Like most things in life, you'll spend 90% of your time and effort dealing with the 5% of folks who won't/don't follow the rules. That was our least favorite thing about campground hosting, and why the vast majority of our volunteering was for USFWS in either refuges or hatcheries, or in non-campground host assignments in state parks (like maintenance, interpretation, etc.)

Or not. To use Texas State Parks as an example. You can book an entire two-week say, wait until 5 days before the start date and then cancel, paying only one nights camping fee or $10, whichever is less. So for $10, you can lock up a site for months and then change your mind. Within that time, many folks who have been trying to book sites will have been blocked and gone elsewhere, or given up. Some may keep trying hoping for a cancellation, but many can't string it along until the last minute. So perhaps the state only gets $10, instead of the fees that someone else would have paid.

We have stayed in state parks in most states, and cannot recall a single state that required arrival by 6:00 pm or making arrangements for "late arrival". Every one of them held the site through the first reserved night, and then released it the next day if unoccupied. I wonder if you weren't getting sites the night after the first vacant night had passed.

It depends on if you plan to do backcountry hiking in bear populated areas or not. My wife and I spent time in Grand Teton, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks and hiked many of the backcountry trails. Since we are birders and photographers we walked quietly, and on one occasion came around a blind trail corner to find ourselves within about 50 feet from a bear (that had its back turned toward us). We were able to simply reverse our walk and head back the opposite direction, but I felt a little better having a large can of bear spray on a belt holster. We've never even come close to having an accidental puncture of the can, so I wouldn't think it a significant issue. They have safety clips and as long as you keep the can in a reasonably secure location (not rolling around on the floor or on the dash!!) it shouldn't be an problem.

With regard to pickups, this (repair frequently at 100,000 miles) has not been the case for decades. I had a 1999 F-250 gasoline engine truck that ran 150,000 miles with zero repairs, and 2010 F-350 gasoline engine truck that went over 175,000 miles (full time towing a 15,000+ pound fifth wheel) with zero repairs. I know the current owner of the 2010 and it is still going strong at 200k + miles. My current 2019 F-350 diesel has only 25,000 miles (with zero repairs) and I expect to be driving it for many more years.

Glad that it worked out for you. The reason that you didn't have to show proof or insurance is that the online registration system checks an insurance database. You may not have noticed but there is a message displayed during the process that says "insurance verified" or something like that.

Sure, many of us have scaled our rigs and know exactly how much is on each axle and on the pin or tongue. Our last full-time fifth-wheel had a Net Cargo Capacity of around 4000 pounds so there was considerable difference between the GVWR of the trailer and it's scaled empty weight. And I towed it with a properly spec'd SRW F-350 that also had a comfortable cushion on each axle rating as well as the GVWR and GCWR. It can be done pretty easily if you pay attention. Our current "part-time" travel trailer doesn't have 4000 pound NCC, but I don't need that. It does have a couple of thousand pounds, and that is more than enough. I've scaled it fully loaded up and I'm well within the ratings. On the other hand there are certainly trailers (and motorhomes) out there with very low carrying capacity, as well as trucks with little available additional capacity. They exist, but again, if you pay attention you can easily accomplish a safe combination without having to go to a MDT or HDT. As to putting heavier axles on the trailer and increasing the GVWR of the trailer, legally not probably actually not either. Simply changing axles and tires, and maybe brakes will give you a safer trailer with more cushion on the running gear but what about the trailer frame, the pin box, etc. Trailers work as a system, and changing individual components without considering the overall system isn't a good idea.

When you go online to renew, simply check the box stating that the vehicle is out of state. Very common for full-timers.