RV Navigator

We have been on the road most of the month, although for us that means staying for a week or so at a time in each campground. After the Texas coastal experience, we headed in land to check out the Texas Hill country near Austin. Spring in this area brings the Bluebonnets to life creating a blue tapestry on the side of the road. This is all courtsey of Lady Bird Johnson. She was a wild flower lover and had the seeds spread along the highways of the the area. The LBJ ranch is in the region so she spend alot of time in the area. It does give a splash of color to the landscape and give towns the excuse to have a festival. We attended the Burnet Bluebonnet festival and enjoyed its small town atmosphere. Even better for me was the discovery of real Texas BBQ for which this area is famous. It was a whole new experience in dining.

From Texas we headed to rural Lousiana, 2 hours outside New Orlaens to sample the Cajun specialtiies. Once again we found much to love about the cuisine of the area, but not the hot sauces. Featured were crawfish in season. Tasty to say the least and a special treat for those brought up on beef and mash potatoes. We ended the month at the Biloxi Crawfish festival on the Mississippi coast.

This mont was the month of the iPad introduction and I was at an Apple store on April 3rd to get mine. Check out our impression in the podcast. That is not the only technology improvement in our RVing life as we also purchased the SilverLeaf engine monitor system. They sell a small box which interfaces the computer to the diagnostic port found on most modern engines. Once connect all of the engines operating perameters can be displayed on the computer screen while the engine is operating. Our netbook has been pressed into service as the display for the SilverLeaf and it works well.

We also talk about many other topics as we get off topic to discuss things not in notes. We always hope that you enjoy our musings about the state of RVing and our world. We appreciate your comments and suggestions both by email ([email protected]) and on our listener comment phone line, 815/230-0772. Also send us your rig photos for inclusion on the "rig photos" page. There are many new rigs represented so send yours in now.

I toyed with making some lame Aprils fools joke this month, but we did not want to mislead our listeners. We make enough honest mistakes so that intentional ones would not be appreciated. The RVIA reports that February RV shipments to dealers is up 95% over last year, so maybe we can be optimistic about RVing next year. Plus have lots more company in the campgrounds.

Our travels have taken us to the Gulf beaches of Texas near Houston. As many of your will remember, just 18 months ago they were hit by a major storm, IKE. We found that the area has recovered remarkably well. Yes, there are signs of storm damage, but most tourist sites are fully operational and welcoming tourists. Aside from the Texas state wide spring break, we found most campgrounds and venues uncrowded. Although we did just see a TV report on South Padre (near our January headquarters in McAllen), which looked like a human zoo during spring break time. It is extended here due to its national popularity. We have been spending a week here, a few days there and generally moseying around the Houston area for most of the month.

An interview with MCD products CEO, Dave, gave us a chance to introduce our new cockpit shades. We had a complete set installed at their factory in McKinney TX during the first week of March. Clean water is important to RVers. We are always on the lookout for useful products for clean water. Reverse osmosis is considered to be the best method of purifying water but it is hard to set up in an RV. Not only does it produce lots of waste water, but it needs its own faucet. We found and purchased an interesting product which offer a temporary reverse osmosis system when ever you have campsite water and sewer. Also this month, I polished the headlight lenses on the RV. After years of exposure to the elements, they had become dull. Using my trusty drill and a special kit, I gave them a polish - it was easy.

We also talk about many other topics as we get off topic to discuss things not in notes. We always hope that you enjoy our musings about the state of RVing and our world. We appreciate your comments and suggestions both by email ([email protected]) and on our listener comment phone line, 815/230-0772. Also send us your rig photos for inclusion on the "rig photos" page. There are many new rigs represented so send yours in now.

Waiting, waiting, waiting in the RGV for the weather to finally warm enough to hit the road. We have many plans for travel in Texas, but this winter has been cold even here, so we are waiting until El NIno gets through with winter.

Mid month we headed off to west Texas and Big Bend National Park. We wanted to give this area enough time - no rushing the itinerary so we scheduled 2 weeks for the NP and associated state parks. In retrospect, this was plenty of time for us. If you were a avid hiker, birder or similar sport enthusiast, then more time might be necessary. Our plans were two camping sites in the park and then on to the Davis mountains to the north. We managed to drive most of the improved roads and some 4 wheelin' roads as well as see all of the major sights in a week. The second week was spent a bit north visiting Marfa, Alpine, McDonald Observatory, and Fort Davis.

Our overwhelming feeling was one of isolation and desolation of this area. Small towns (usually less than 1000 population) and scattered ranches make up most of this area. Whole counties with less than 5000 population are the norm in the west Texas region. For us urbanites, this feels like nowhere. Cell phones are useless, stores as we know them are hundreds of miles away, fuel and life's essentials are very expensive. Our satellite internet and TV kept us connected everywhere - no trees on this landscape, so we did feel connected. However, there was no local TV or even radio. We are now back in the Dallas area, restocked and replenished.

This episode has many interesting topics - many that our listeners have brought up. We try to discuss some interesting articles that we have found in addition to interviewing one of our listeners in the Chicago area via Skype.

We appreciate your comments and suggestions both by email ([email protected]) and on our listener comment phone line, 815/230-0772. Also send us your rig photos for inclusion on the "rig photos" page. There are many new rigs represented so send yours in now.

After arriving in South Texas in late December, we have spent a stationary month in the Rio Grande Valley. This month, we interviewed some long time fulltimers, attended the local RV show, & did some comparisons of the RGV & other warm weather spots.

After arriving in South Texas in late December, we have spent a stationary month in the Rio Grande Valley. This month, we interviewed some long time fulltimers, attended the local RV show, & did some comparisons of the RGV & other warm weather spots.

Leaving home in the winter is always a challenge and this year was no exception. However, 4 days later in Texas, our windshield was loaded with warm weather bugs. This episode made on the last day of the decade, includes some old and some new topics.

Merry Christmas and Happy Thanksgiving from your RV Navigators.

Oh, yes we are on the road again but not in the RV. After a cold couple of weeks in Northern Europe to begin the trip, we have made our way to Rome and points south as we head eventually for Ft Lauderdale and home in mid-December. We landed in Munich just after the last podcast to visit our friend Hartmut and his family. This was a return visit after many years away and a heart-felt reunion. Then via the very fast autobahn, we drove to Vienna (about 5 hrs) for a few day. Then on to Rome where we were to pick up the first leg of our cruise.

Rome in November?? It's on the same latitude as Chicago. However the weather was very cooperative with temps in the mid 60s and sunny everyday. This weather has held for the entire month of November so we have been very pleased with our decision to travel at this time of year.

This months podcast was made while on our cabin balcony during a sea day. It was an ideal day at sea, smooth seas and warm temps.

We have lots of RVing new as this topic is never far from our minds. We actually found another RVing couple from AZ with which to share experiences. They had just downsized from a 38ft Class A to a new B+ motorhome. Would you make this switch?

The saga of the new tires for the motorhome has finally ended with a new set of 6 MIchelins. How are the tires on your RV? How old are they? Ours only had 40,000 miles but needed to be replaced. Too much sun and time had caused deterioration

Christmas is on our minds so we have some suggestions for RV oriented gifts. Can you add to our list? Send us an email for some belated suggestions.

We have the usually funny RV segments as well as other RV industry news so give this episode a listen and then send us some feed back.

We appreciate your comments and suggestions both by email ([email protected]) and on our listener comment phone line, 815/230-0772. Also send us your rig photos for inclusion on the "rig photos" page. There are many new rigs represented so send yours in now.

Despite the very cold and rainy October in the midwest, we did get away for a short weekend of RVing with some new friends who have just purchased a new 2009 motorhome. You'll hear about the purchase and their impressions in an interview we conducted while on the road in Indiana.

I have had requests for the webpages that we used most often when RVing. I have created a new page on this website that will get you started with some of my favorite links. I am focused on quality rather than quantity, so this list is not comprehensive. However, I think you'll each of sites is best in class for their category.

Have you "moded" your RV? We are always looking for step by step mods for customizing our motorhome, so we have revisited the RV Mods website for some ideas.

We have also made some hardware updates this month with the purchase of a Kindle from Amizon. The co-pilot is tired of carrying arm loads of books to keep her busy during our travels, so she invested in a Kindle. This is version 2 so has several improvements over the original. This along with the iPhones will keep our lengthy travels more interesting.

Speaking of the iPhone and satellites (yes, I was), the newest app for me is the satellite finder. This app super imposes satellite positions over a live picture of your campsite. Where to park to get connected will be much easier with this app for the iPhone.

We alson take the RV Trivia Challenge -live - during the podcast. Ten easy questions about RVing for those who have been RVing for 30 years. Well, they turn out to be not so easy - we missed 3. How will you do?

This episode is nearly an hour long - sorry but the interview and our usual comments just could not be editied further. You'll be glad to know that I did edit over 10 minutes out of the originals.

Next months episode may be either early or late due to travel schedules. We are headed overseas where we cannot always depend on good connections for uploading our content. Rest assured we will make every effort to be timely with the next episode.

We appreciate your comments and suggestions both by email ([email protected]) and on our listener comment phone line, 815/230-0772. Also send us your rig photos for inclusion on the "rig photos" page. There are many new rigs represented so send yours in now.

A few technical issues are still outstanding from our comments last month. iTunes downloading seems to be going smoothly since I updated some software. I explain how to actually download our podcast (for listening later) instead of listening live. We also will be posting our podcast on Podomatic.com as a back up to iTunes.

We always like to travel in September. If you travel in this month, you know that the weather is usually good, crowds have eased, and the roads are open. We took the month to improve our golf skills at an Elder Hostel in Wisconsin and then see a bit of the midwest. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois were on our itinerary which focused on the Mississippi River towns. We always bring our bikes so finding some nice riding trails was high on the agenda. Sparta, Wisconsin is the hub for several bike trails that were former RR beds. Winding through the picturesque countryside with rolling hills, green farms and few old tunnels makes these bike trails very appealing. Along with the biking we played more golf at some of the local municipal courses which at this time of year didn't require tee times. Barge transportation is a major means of getting bulk goods through the central part of the US. The COE has made "improvements" in the rivers to make barging a major activity. Locks, dams, levees, and dredging are all part of the plan to keep the rivers open to commercial traffic. It is interesting to see the infrastructure and manpower necessary to keep barge traffic running smoothly along the Mississippi and its tributaries. Of course they have built some nice public campgrounds along the way to make trips like ours scenic and thrifty.

On RV tech front, we were forced to buy a new set of house batteries this month. Online research lead me buy the least expensive 6 volt golf cart batteries at Sams Club. At $72 each, this was still a big unexpected expense. It was necessitated by my lack of care for the old ones (3 years old) and was an expense that we should not have had to make at this time. How are your batteries? Do you have a 3 state charger? Do you watch the water level?

Lots of other interesting tech topics are on our agenda - digital TV reception with the newly installed Wingman, changes in campground cable TV, RV uses for the iPhone beyond listening to our podcast, Garmin GPS updates and much more are topics of our banter. We share our websites of the month and a few humorous RV stories.

We end with some article which give a hopeful picture to the economic prospects of the RV industry. We may have passed the low point and sales are looking up for some manufacturers.

Join us on our adventure and thanks for listening. Our numbers are over 2000 downloads per month and growing rapidly. We appreciate your comments and suggestions both by email ([email protected]) and on our listener comment phone line, 815/230-0772.

Several readers have emailed with problems with downloading via iTunes. I have tried to fine a solution to the perplexing problem and I must apologize for the inconvenience for those who are experiencing download issues. The problem seems to be the connection from the RV Navigator website and the iTunes software on SOME computers. I really have no connection to iTunes other than the notification of new episodes when they are posted. This happens automatically via their servers talking to the RV Navigator website servers. Some how this process is breaking down with our listeners computers. I don't know how to fix the problem but I have stumbled on a workaround which seems to work for most listeners. If the latest episodes of the RV Navigator DO NOT appear in iTunes, quit iTunes. Open the RV Navigator website (http://rvnavigator.com) and then relaunch iTunes, refresh your podcast list and the new episode will appear and download. How about that - I don't know why, but it works.

Listener Debbie poses a question for the group, "What are the top ten most favorite services/amenities/surprises you found at the RV parks in your travels?". We share some of ours - but what are yours?

In our 6500 miles of travel this summer, we pickup a stone to the windshield leaving a small crack. How to get it fixed was our dilemma. Listen in for what turned out to be a great and inexpensive solution.

On the tech side we share an easy way to improve HD reception and the RV Pillow.

We have posted new photos in the listener rigs section of the website so send yours in and take a look at those of your fellow listeners.

Ideas and suggestions are always appreciated via email or our listener comment line, 815/230-0772.