RV Navigator

After spending a week on the Atlantic coast we head to the Tampa Super show. Listeners, show highlights, and repairs have dominated our time at the show. What's happening and what are the trends in RVing is our main topic.

We begin our usual trip south for the winter as we celebrate episode 60, our 5th year of doing the podcast. This year takes us to Florida and several adventures in the southland this winter. Class A or 5th Wheel? What's with megapixels? Topics for #60.

We have yielded to listener request by adding a mid month version of the RV Navigator. We never thought this podcast would generate such interest, but if you want to hear our rantings, you'll now get them more often. The RVers Xmas list is our topic.

We always find it hard to believe that we have so many loyal listeners, but we hear from them regularly each month so it must be true. Based on the number of downloads the RV Navigator is reaching quite a large number of interested RVers and others hungry for information. With this in mind, we are going to succumb to listener suggestions that we take the podcast to a new level of frequency - bi monthly. Is this vanity or are we really filling a niche? The iTunes comments are great and your email feedback has been very positive so I can only assume that our RV experiences are valuable beyond our lives. We are glad to share and are rewarded by your listenership.

However, a second month episode comes with the caveat that listeners help provide content and feedback for the mid-month edition. Our trial mid-month episode will feature Christmas presents appropriate for RVers (or Techies) so send us your suggestions and comments.

This episode starts with our getting the RV Fridge repaired under the Norcold recall. Norcold has recalled several models of RV fridges, but ours has always been outside the range of models recalled. This month they issued a recall for nearly all of their fridges between 1999-2010. Ours of course fell in this range. We recommend that you get yours updated, it is free and takes only 1/2 hour for a technician to complete.

You’ll find links to several interesting stories that we talk about in the links section of this web page.

Today’s feature is my take on cutting the cable. Is the internet ready to handle all of your programming needs. What does it take to get cable like programming via the internet and is it viable for RVers. Should you buy an Apple TV, Google TV, Roku, por Boxee Box? These are all questions that, if you have not considered the internet option for TV by now, you will in the near future.

This months RVing adventure was a short 4 days in Parke County Indiana home of 32 covered bridges. Covered bridge may conjure up images of New England but Indiana's Parke County has more in a compact space than anywhere else. They have 5 driving routes of about 35 miles each that take visitors to all of the bridges. Some are still in use while others are just along the road side as tourist stops. Many are from the 1800s with other from the early 1900s and all are in fairly good shape. Visitors can at least walk over them all as well as photograph them in the rural settings. Each fall they have a huge outdoor festival that draws thousands of tourists. Our visit was a week after the festival so things were quite. It is worth a visit if you are in the vicinity with your RV. Turkey Run SP offers great camping for all types of RVs.

Other topics this month include numerous topics presented by listeners via email including reports from Australia.

This months feature is about the changing landscape of wireless internet. Data access is important to most RVers these days for at least email and usually much more. With the vast increase in the demand for data (anything beside voice communication) by cell phone users (all of those Apps), cell companies are struggling to keep up. How does this effect you, what types of service is and will be available, which carriers are best, and alternative to cell phone are all discussed in this feature.

Finally, we would like to invite listeners to follow us on Digg.com. Digg is news source with a difference. I regularly find interesting articles about RVing that I would like to share with listeners. The once per month format is not conducive to sharing breaking news so I have been looking at Digg as our option. I am sure that you don't want to get Tweets or Facebook updates from us, but by using Digg, listeners can get the latest RVing info in a very non-intrusive way. I regularly "Digg" stories that I find interesting. You visit the Digg website and become a "rvnavigator" follower. From then on, the stories that I find interesting will be on your opening screen (along with any others that have been dug by people you follow). This is a very nice way to see what someone else is reading without being obtrusive. No emails or other notifications, just links to interesting web based content that you can choose to read/view/listen. There is no personal information shared. You’ll never have to read that I am at a Starbucks for breakfast or how I dressed for Halloween.

Our cruise continued into September as we enjoyed the Crown Princess for almost a month of cruising on our way to New York City. After some difficulty uploading last months changes, we are back with good internet and easily able to make this months deadline. Sorry to those who were looking for the Rv Navigator on September 1, but although finished, it was just not possible to get it uploaded. This month we are back home ready to focus on the RVing lifesyle that we love so much.

As regular listeners know, we purchased an iPad at its introduction on April 3, 2010. At this point, it has been part of our family for a little over 6 months. It has become a useful tool which we use almost daily. It has now traveled the world by RV and ship, so we have some interesting comments to make on its use. We also explore the competition as well as update its use for RVers.

Finally, this episode is capped with a interesting interview with RV author, Ron Jones from the AboutRving.com website and several RVing books that he has published. He has presented at many RV rallies and shares his take on full time RVing with us.

We come to your this month from the oceans around the British Isles several thousand miles from home. Once again we are doing "RVing on Steroids" on a cruise ship - no navigating, no cooking, no cleaning. Join us for some RV news at sea.

We headed south in July knowing that the temperatures would be on the rise as we hit Louisville, KY. This was the site of the largest RV show in the country this year so we felt compelled to see the show regardless of the summer heat. We did spend a couple of extra days on each end checking out Indiana State parks, but the main event was in Louisville, just across the Ohio River in Kentucky. Almost 2900 RVs parked in the lots of the Kentucky Expo Center made the place seemed jammed. Some paid extra for electric hookup, but this was very expensive due to the portable generators that were used to supply the power. We just fired up the genset and boondocked. It was Louisville's hottest days of the year, in the high 90s, so we had to use the generator all of the time we were in the motorhome including over night. Fortunately, the entire event was held under one air-conditioned roof within a couple of minutes walk of our parking spot. Seminars, vendors, dealers and RVs all housed inside for the show. This made the entire event pleasurable and kept us going for the 4 days. It featured 175 seminars, 300 vendors, and 42 dealers as well as evening entertainment. If you want to know what's going on in the world of RVing, come to "The Rally" some year. The next one will be held in Redmond, WA.

Among the trends that we spotted were lots of green products, smaller motorized RVs, more talk of used RVs, and close to home destinations. We also found that the RV industry is on the rebound and coming back strong. We consider RVing to be a very economical means of travel and can be cost effective for both families and full-timers.

All of this is fodder for our Rally round-up podcast. As always we appreciate your listening.

Send comments, suggestions and ideas to [email protected].

RV manufactures generally do not build the entire RV because they buy the chassis with engine from chassis builder. Once the chassis leaves their factory, the RV manufacturer adds the body and interior. Responsibility for warranty and repair of the chassis and engine is Spartans (in our case). At a chassis rally we learned about how to maintain and use our motorhome under pinnings. Obviously it is important to keep all of these systems in good working order and maintained so that you will arrive at your destination. We had the 44 point check-up and most of the fluids and filters replaced. Many had not been touched since the vehicle was new so it was time. The Spartan factory has a complete repair facility near by the Rally headquarters. With over 50 coaches from many brands in attendance, we had lots of company and stories to hear.

New in 2010 is the latest round of emission controls for diesel engines in the US. Cummins as well as many engine manufacturers has started using a DEF fluid sprayed into the exhust. This in addition to the earlier exhaust particulate filter add substantially to the cost of new diesel engines regardless of end use - RV, over the road, auto, or truck. This will make new diesel pushers, sprinters, and class C diesels much more expensive for the end user.

This is a major focus of this episode, but we do have a review of news and interesting tidbits from the RVing world.

We will be attending the "The Rally" on July 22,2010 so if plan to attend let us know.

We always hope that you enjoy our musings about the state of RVing and our world. We appreciate your comments and suggestions by email ([email protected]).

After 4+ months of travel on the road, we headed back North to the Chicago area to visit our stick home. Having traveled about 7 months out of the last year, we wonder if having a home is really worth it. It is, however, nice to be "home" again. The Chicago summers are pleasant and the list of activities is extensive. So we'll be on the home front until mid-August when the wanderlust will catch up with us again. After detouring around Nashville and other flooded point of Tennessee, we made our way north in a leisurely fashion arriving early in May.

Topic in this months podcast include an interview with friends who spend extended RVing time in Mexico. Mexico camping is of interest to many full timers and part timers alike so this topic is very relevant. They share first hand experience (having just returned from several months in Mexico) about the dos and don'ts of Mexico camping. Their experienced mirrored our experiences (more limited travel in Mexico) - once you get away from the boarder towns it is a rewarding experience and not that different than camping in the US. It does take some preparation and planning so give this interview a listen if Mexico is on your itinerary anytime soon.

We discuss some unusual family issues with retiring parents and the always present list of tech topics that face every RVer. Join us for 45 minute tour of the RV landscape for the month of June. We always hope that you enjoy our musings about the state of RVing and our world. We appreciate your comments and suggestions by email ([email protected]).