LindaH

This subject seems to come up a lot and may come up even more as the Escapees/Xscapers draw in more and more younger families.  Perhaps it's time to consider a separate forum for home schooling? 

The only inspection station we've ever had fruit confiscated at is the one west of Parker at Vidal Junction.  Had to give up our apples regardless of the fact that they'd been bought at the Albertson's in Blythe!

The inspection station on I-10 between Quartzsite and Blythe has always waived us through as had the one on I-8 between Yuma and Winterhaven.  We spend a lot of time at the Pilot Rock LTVA, going into Yuma to do grocery shopping.  So of course, we come back with loads of fruits and vegetables, but we've never been questioned about what we were carrying.

Probably the two biggest RV dealers in Tucson are La Mesa and Lazy Days, both at approximately Irvington and Country Club. I don't know if either carries the brands you're looking for, however.

We bought the rig in my signature at La Mesa's Tucson center and had a good experience. I've also heard good things about Lazy Days, although no personal experience with them.

Then there's the Titon Missle Museum about 20 miles south of the Casino on I-19. It's the only remaining Titan II missile site open to the public and you can tour the underground complex and silo.

Thanks for that information, Lou! I didn't know about this place!

2gypsies, on 10 Dec 2016 - 10:33 AM, said:

You could also take Valencia west to I-19 and a little south. There will be a sign and you can also see it in the distance against the mountain but not sure of the street name - it could be San Xavier - it a gorgeous white old mission church that is open to the public... no fee; very nice.

Oh, yes...I had completely forgotten about San Xavier del Bac! Not very far from the Casino, either...it's east on Valencia to S. Mission Road (go south) and then east on W. San Xavier Road. There'll be signs directing you, so you shouldn't miss it.

http://www.sanxaviermission.org/

There is some BLM land just North of the casino on the NE corner of Ajo Highway (AZ 86) and San Joaquin Rd. Almost always a few boondockers in there.

This is a good place for boondocking, too...as long as it's not raining. Otherwise, it's a mud pit!

dennisvr, on 10 Dec 2016 - 07:15 AM, said:

 

Now the question, If I have 5 to 6hrs what should I go to see in the area ?????

There's lots to see and do in Tucson, but 5-6 hours isn't much time to do it in.

The closest place to check out would be the western Saguaro National Park. The easiest way to get there from the Casino is to go back out to Valencia Road and head west until it ends at Ajo Highway. Turn left and go a few miles to Sandario Road. Go north on Sandario Road until you get to the park. https://www.nps.gov/sagu/index.htm

There's also Pima Air & Space Museum, also on Valencia, but heading east. It's located just shortly after you cross over I-10. It's a very interesting place to visit, but you could stay all day there. However, the ticket you buy is good for an entire year (as I recall from our last visit), so if you plan on coming through this area within that time, you can make another visit. http://www.pimaair.org/

A third option would be Kitt Peak Observatory west on Ajo Highway. But it's a pretty good schlep from the casino (about 30 miles to the turn off...then you have to wind your way up the mountain to get to the observatory) and I have no idea what hours their tours are. You can find out information here:

https://www.noao.edu/kpvc/

We're here right now and have stayed here many times throughout the years.

If you're heading west (or east) on Valencia, turn left on S. Ignacio M Baumea (there's a Shell station on the SW corner). Turn right at the first or second road into the casino property. You'll see LOTS of RVs parked in this section. Pull up a piece of pavement and enjoy!

 

1) do you leave the grey water tank/s valves closed when hooked up or do you fill and empty similar to the black water tank/s? When we first started fulltiming, we spent 3-4 months in one place and left the gray tank open except a day or two before we needed to drain the black tank. When we went to leave, the bottom of the sewer hose was so filled with gunk that we had to throw it away. From then on, we always leave the gray tank closed except when draining.

 

a) if open, how do you prevent odors from coming up the pipes in hot weather? Leave a loop in the hose, similar to a "P" trap.

 

if closed, do you put chemicals in them? What do you recommend? We don't use chemicals in our tanks, just plenty of water.

 

2) has any one tried RID-X® RV Toilet Treatment (Liquid)? I am thinking about replacing Odorloss with this. I have only found Odorloss at Camping World or online and was thinking that RID-X may be easier to locate as we travel. See above.

 

a) if you leave your RV for a week, can you fill the black water tanks with fresh water and use RID-X (or something similar) to clean them while gone? It's not going to hurt anything to do so.

 

do you recommend have your tanks professionally cleaned? How often would you recommend? We've never had our tanks professionally cleaned in all the years we've been RVing. Waste of money, IMO, but YMMV.

gdafoe, on 08 Dec 2015 - 5:02 PM, said:

I understand that 2006 and earlier are the better Tetons. What a was changed after 2006 that resulted in lower quality? Can someone explain the different Teton model names and which ones are the higher end ones. I looks like the Limited is the top of the line, is that true?

Teton was sold to Webster Capital in 2005. I believe that's when the quality started going down. Teton's demise was in 2008. You can read a history of Teton plus other now-defunct RV manufacturers (through 2008) at http://rvresolve.blogspot.com/2008/11/history-of-recent-rv-coach-closings.html.

I don't know anything about Teton's different models; however, the Teton Club International, has a section with 20 years of Teton brochures (1988 through 2008) that may be of some help in answering this question for you: http://www.tetoners.org/Brochure_Main.html

I've never heard of them, either. I did have to laugh at their reasons listed for "Why Choose Quartzsite AZ?"

Low license plate/tag fees? I don't think so! Arizona license fees are quite expensive, particularly for newer vehicles. Low auto insurance rates? Guess that depends on where you're coming from, but when we moved from Illinois to Arizona after retiring, our auto insurance rates nearly tripled!

 

Okay, the TV I have already considered. I am thinking a 19" flat-panel in the forward section that folds down out of the ceiling just behind the driver's compartment.

 

If you have the room, put in a larger TV...19" is pretty small, IMO. When the TV comes down from the ceiling, can the person(s) watching it see it head on, or will they have to crane their necks up to watch it? If the latter, then consider locating the TV elsewhere where it can be watched head on.

 

What about making the bathroom all waterproof floor, so I can use the toilet to sit down on when I shower?

Called a "wet bath," they are common in slide-in truck campers and small trailers. We've had wet baths in a couple of slide-in truck campers we've owned and I prefer a bathroom with a separate shower. However, since you say you won't be selling this rig, then do whatever will make life easier for you.

 

 

Can you bake cookies and cakes in that type of oven? I have no idea myself....

 

Yes, you can. Consider, though, whether or not a microwave/convection oven will be able to be run from your proposed solar system since you say you're not going to have a generator. We have only a microwave/convection oven in our motorhome and almost exclusively boondock. Although I don't use an oven frequently, I really miss having a "regular" oven for those times that I do have to use it. As it is now, we have to run the generator in order to use the microwave/convection oven.

 

The kitchen cabinets I have a question about. Do you prefer the type that uses a gravity lid that comes down, or would you rather have a sideways latch like a normal cabinet?

 

We've had both kinds of cabinet doors. Personally, I prefer the latter rather than the former.

 

 

If you had your druthers, would you use a dual source, or just a regular compressor type refrigerator?

 

I'd prefer a regular house refrigerator...it's safer since you don't have to worry about it catching fire. It sounds as though your proposed solar system would run a compressor refrigerator just fine even if you do a lot of boondocking.

These 3 get top ratings at PCMag.com, although they are not free:

Bitdefender Plus 2015, http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2460688,00.asp

Kaspersky 2015, http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2460689,00.asp

Webroot Secure Anywhere 2015, http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2470312,00.asp

Also, AV-Comparatives' April 2015 Real World Protection Test showed that Bitdefender and Kaspersky did well (each had 1 false positive; Bitdefender blocked 100%, Kaspersky blocked 99.8%). Webroot was not tested.

I've ordered a new computer which should be here today (Surface 3, 128GB, 4GB ram). I wasn't planning on getting one so soon, but after spilling water on my keyboard (http://www.rvnetwork.com/index.php?showtopic=116985&hl=keyboard) I've started having more and more problems with it...I could live with the backspace key not working, but now the caps lock key keeps turning itself on and off!

Anyway, when I started this thread, the consensus was that Microsoft Security Essentials was the best free antivirus out there. Is that still true? Should I just stick with Windows Defender (which I assume comes installed on Windows 8.1?) and download Malwarebytes? Anything better? I would prefer free, but would be willing to pay for something better.

Thanks.

 

 

 

thanks for the reply. sorry for the misunderstanding ( THE DEALER SAYS WE DONT NEED A SLIDER HITCH FOR OUR TRUCK. OUR TRUCK IS NOT A SHORTBED. TURNING RADIUS WILL BE FINE.) thats what the dealer told us!

But if the bed of your pickup is 6.7' as you stated, then your truck DOES HAVE a short bed, regardless of what the salesman says.

While there are fifth wheels made that supposedly can be used with a short-bed pickup without a sliding hitch, if it were ME, I'd spend the money for an automatic sliding hitch.

The Escapees does not have a BOF group for Road Trek owners. However, if you Google "Road Trek Owners Group," you'll come up with several possibilities:

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=road%20trek%20owners%20group

 

 

What I meant about the outside fridge is some models have an outside kitchen with an apartment size fridge. To me, this would be extremely helpful with defrosting the inside fridge, but another member commented that one can accomplish defrosting with a hair dryer quickly.

I agree that an outside fridge isn't necessary for defrosting the inside fridge.

While I've never used a hair dryer for defrosting (I don't even own a hairdryer!), I've accomplished defrosting in 15-20 minutes by filling a dish pan with hot water and setting it inside the freezer. After that time, the ice on the inside is soft enough that any remaining ice is easily scraped off using a PLASTIC spatula. Then all it takes is a towel to dry the inside off.

We've had two 32' fifth wheels, both with rear kitchens. We didn't have a problem with either one. I liked the rear kitchen because I could be cooking, out of the way of the main flow of traffic in the rest of the rig. And, we had more counter space than is usually found in side kitchens (for the same length fifth wheel).

But you cannot get a drivers license until you've been in the state for at least 30 days (proven by certain acceptable documents which show you've been there at least 30 days).

If this is true, then it must be a change in the law since we were domiciled in Texas. And I doubt very much the law has been changed or we would have read about it here or on other RV forums.

When we first became domiciled in Texas, we drove to Livingston and had everything done (vehicle inspection, driver's licenses, vehicle registration, voter's registration) within 4 hours of arriving in town. This was our first time in the State of Texas...we certainly had not been there for 30 days!

We just bought our new motorhome in Arizona. They are a title holding state and, according to the information we received at purchase, the title is mailed to the lienholder, but we will receive a validated title and registration application which is what we will use to register the RV in Washington State. Will Texas not accept the validated title from Arizona?

While that is true, I highly doubt that there was any sort of conspiracy but that it was simply an oversight.

Oh, I'm sure you're right, Kirk. It's just the first thing that popped into my mind when I read the OP's report on the new law!

If Escapees advertised this widely last year, their growth,i.e. new members, would be adversely affected.

I guess if the only reason people join the Escapees is to use their mail service as a domicile address, then, yes, this could certainly affect membership numbers. However, we're Escapees even though we were domiciled in South Dakota.

Michael said " It could potentially remove Texas from my list of fulltime RV-friendly states." I'm wondering if this isn't part of the reason behind this new law (remember the flap a few years ago about Escapees Mail Service members voting...that went to the Texas Supreme Court before it was resolved). It would be interesting to know who was behind this new law.

"Yeou might want to check into having a titre don. next time rabies vacs are done. It's cheaper than a vaccinaction and proves that past vaccinations are still effective."

---

I don't disagree with having blood titers done, but this test for multiple vaccination currency/immunity is not necessarily cheap, and it usually takes two-three days to receive the results. People interested in having this test done might want to find out what their vet charges for the test and for specific vaccinations, and the amount of time needed to wait for the results.

We follow the American Animal Hospital Association's (AAHA) recommendation of vaccines no more often than every 3 years. When the 3 years are up, we will have titers done rather than blindly getting them vaccinated (the titers will be done for only the core vaccines: Distemper, Parvovirus, and Adenovirus). Unfortunately, rabies vaccines are required by law, so a titer showing that the vaccine is still effective, won't do...maybe someday the law on that will be changed.

We've run into many RV parks that do not allow dogs. There are even more that don't allow certain breeds. We, of course, don't stay at the parks that don't allow dogs, but they are out there.

Nevermind. Several minutes after I posted the above question, a box popped up for the uninstall which took less than a minute. Getting to that point, however, took forever!