The Attack of The Racoons

Back in our tent camping days my brother in-law, Russ, would join us for camping adventures.  After dinner we would sit around the campfire and enjoy a drink, or two, or more.  This particular time we were camping in Wyalusing State Park in Wisconsin, you camp 500 feet above the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers.

So picture campers camped next to a cliff drinking alcohol, normally that would make for some great redneck times.  That night Russ was drinking with an old friend, “Jack Daniels”.  “Jack” and his friend “Bud” Wiser were always a hit around our campfire and made for some great memories and headaches.

Raccoons’ are always looking to raid our cooler and make off with what they can.  Even if you have a latching lid they will just turn it and “jackpot” there goes tomorrow’s lunch.  One of the campers came up to me and asked if we were missing anything out of our cooler.  He said “someone is stealing food out of the coolers and they stole a package of hotdogs from me”.

For one thing if I’m going to steal from someone’s cooler, I’m going straight for the beer, the hell with hotdogs.  Obviously he was an amateur and didn’t know about keeping your cooler in your trunk or secured so the lid couldn’t be opened.  He was a victim of the “masked bandits”.  That night there were a lot of raccoons around and some were so bold as to come into your camp while you were there.

That night there was more talk about raccoons than normal which set the stage for what would happen later.  It was late, the campfire died down and we made our final trip to the toilet.  We turned in and minutes later you could hear the raccoons trying to get into the cooler.  After giving it their best shot and coming up empty they moved on to the next camp.

After some talking Russ fell asleep, Cherrie, David and I were just getting ready to dose off when Russ yells “they’re biting my feet”.  We asked what was biting his feet and he said “the raccoons”!  We tried to tell him that there were no raccoons in the tent, but it was too late, “Jack” and “Bud” had got to him.  There was no hope for Russ, he was drunk.  My son being the smart ass as he is antagonized Russ by pinching his foot, putting Russ into an almost hysteric state.

By this time we were all laughing so hard our stomachs hurt and you probably could hear us throughout the campground.  Eventually things settled down and we managed to keep the raccoons of f of Russ so we all could get some sleep.  The next morning we had fun telling Russ about all the raccoons in his sleeping bag.

Always know your trailer height

Tire Safety

This is one area we all should take seriously and make it part of our trip checks along with checking the wheel nuts (lug nuts). On my trailer they are 100 ft. lbs., my truck is 140 ft. lbs. The picture at the left is the rear drivers side trailer tire that blew out on a Friday night on our way to a state park. All I saw in the mirrors was smoke bellowing out of the RV, I've seen RV's burn to the ground from this or damage the trailer skirt or wheel well. Mine was a Goodyear tire that came with the RV, you can see where the tread had separated.

Most people don't weigh their rigs so they have no idea of the weight on the steers, drives or trailer axles. The next time your filling up with fuel, spend a few bucks and take a few minutes to drive your rig across the scales at the truck stop, you may be surprised. Most folks just keep their tires inflated to the max pressure on all their tires and feel that's all they need to do, that's where knowing your rigs weight comes in. For example your tow vehicle axle weights are a lot less that when your big ole shiny rig's behind you, so that tires inflation pressure should correspond to the manufacturers recommendation for a given weight. A easy way to double check this is to chalk your tire tread and drive forward and see how much chalk was transferred to the ground, you may need to use a piece of plywood to drive on to get a good reading. What you should see is the complete tread pattern, if you only get the center of the tread your tires are over inflated, if you're getting the outer edges only, they're under inflated. Get a good tire pressure gauge and keep it in your truck, make sure it goes high enough for your truck tires max pressure. I've included a few links for manufacturers tire inflation charts, they're easy to understand, find your tires size, find the weight on the tire, go up and that's your inflation pressure.

http://www.goodyear.com/rv/pdf/rv_inflation.pdf
http://www.michelintruck.com/michelintruck/tires-retreads/load-inflation-tables.jsp
http://marktg.toyotires.com/file/loadinflationtable.pdf

There are also aftermarket tire pressure monitors that can help you monitor the state of you tires and you immediately know when you have a low tire or a blowout.
"Happy Trails"

Case of Wonderlust

Cherrie and I have always enjoyed traveling the back-roads and searching for adventure. As long as I can remember I've been infected by "Wanderlust" and in my case it's sweeter because Cherrie has the same bug.

The problem has been, as with most people, we have limited time, maybe a weekend here or there, take an occasional vacation and have an itinerary of things to do at certain times, on specific days and rush back home to go to work and continue the same life sucking routine. Watch the video to the right and tell me if that doesn't look like a typical vacation.

When Cherrie and I were lucky enough to get away, that's what we looked like. We never "really" got to explore the area or find those special places, or just plain relax. So several years back I started researching full timing and found a wealth of information and have talked to many people that are part of this lifestyle.

One thing we have discovered is that most people base their success on the amount of crap they accumulate, the more crap, the more successful you are, right. For us, we had the big house, new cars, new this, new that, but were we happier because of this "success", NO, because we were too busy working to pay for all that crap, maintaining the big yard and big house.

I am not putting down success and nice things, everybody likes nice things, but I think few want to be owned by those same things. I look back and some of the best times Cherrie and I had were when we first got married and didn't have a pot to pee in. If we wanted to go some place for the weekend, we went, no problem. So what I'm trying to say is, if what possessions you have don't serve "you" than you serve them or if you don't need it pitch it.

Right now I'm in the process of eliminating things I've had for years that have no purpose to me except to take up space, maybe someone else would need it. This is a necessary step in my plan and not easy because things will become more difficult to get rid of as time goes on There's always the money concern, which is a whole other story and I'll write something later about that.

A lot of people use a variety of vehicles for full time RVing; motor home; 5th wheel; and travel trailers, they all have their advantages and disadvantages. Our goal is to be on the road in three to four years. We've had our 5th wheel for ten years and have had no problems and we've really enjoyed it. But next year she will be gone to make way for a bus. NO, not like the Partridge family; a motor coach like Greyhound uses. I'll take the next couple of years converting

We prefer to boondock so we'll be thinking of that when we build it and will probably be adding a nice motorcycle to hang on the back. Did I mention we love to ride? If I can figure all this out we may have a chance at success, if not we're still going to give it a good shot. If the bus doesn't happen, you'll see us pulling our 5th wheel down the road, but we will be searching for adventure.

Here are some nice bus conversion examples. These were built by the owners.










I also want to give Brian Gore credit for inspiring me to write this blog.  Check out Brian's blog Brian's blog

 
"Happy Trails"

Charlie Moves In

On a Sunday morning about six years ago "Charlie" decided he'd had enough of living life out of the neighborhood trash cans and begging for hand outs.  Charlie chose us to adopt and he wasn't leaving and that's all there was to it.  My wife had gone up to the store to get the Sunday paper and coffee.  When she returned there was this big dog laying by her car door waiting to greet her, she wasn't getting out and Charlie wasn't leaving.  Did I mention my wife is afraid of big dogs?  My cell phone rings and it's Cherrie, I answer the phone and she said "I'm in the driveway" and I said "Soooo come on in."  Then she told me about the dog, I went out to see this so called "Big" dog, expecting to see a thirty pound dog.  Well she was right, it was a "Big" dog, about 125 pounds.


He was the one that had been hanging around the neighborhood for the past week.  We live in a rural area and people dump their pets out here when they want to get rid of them and let them fend for themselves. I got Cherrie out of the car and we spent some time with the dog and talked about what we should do.  Cherrie took to him right away and in my mind I already knew how this was going to play out.  Cherrie got him some food and water and we went in to drink our coffee and read the paper.


We decided at that time to just leave him be and hopefully the owner would come looking or someone would take him in.  He hung around for about a week in the neighborhood, later learning there were a few people feeding him and considering taking him in.  The following Saturday I was at work and Cherrie and my son David saw the dog in the front yard, so they went out to feed him and spend some time with him and plotting how they were going to convince me it would be a great idea to take him in.  I got home from work and they both began telling me about the dog.  Then they put their plan into motion, "the good guy bad guy plan", David being the good guy wanting the dog and promising to take care of it blah, blah, blah.  Cherri being the bad guy challenging David's argument, uh huh.


Cherrie and I left to do some grocery shopping, all the while talking about the dog.  Almost finished shopping I decided to throw a bag a dog food in the cart.  Cherrie asked what was that for, uh huh.  I said it was for the dog because we can't keep feeding him leftovers when he shows up. When we got home, there was the dog a few houses up sniffing everything as usual.  Cherrie looked at me and before she could say anything, I said go up and get him.  David and Cherrie went to bring the dog home and after he was home, Cherrie said, "I'm going to call him Charlie."  I asked her why "Charlie", and she said "He's just a Charlie."   "I don't know why but it just seems he's a Charlie."

Charlie moved in and fit right in, you could tell he was happy to be home.  The three cat's didn't know what to make of him but Charlie immediately made them park of his flock.  Charlie is a beautiful dog.  He's a Great Pyrenees and Golden Retriever mix.  Obviously he gets his size from the Great Pyrenees and his color from the Golden Retriever.  His characteristics are more of  the Great Pyrenees, he's a guardian dog and also very headstrong, if Charlie doesn't want to do something and there's no benefit to him, he won't do it.  For his size he is extremely gentle and the Grand kids love visiting Charlie, even when he's bigger than they are and a hello kiss involves a complete face wash with one lick.  Charlie is very protective of Cherrie and since the first night claimed his spot next to our bed.


Charlie has been good for Cherrie and I since David has since married and has his own family.  Charlie goes almost everywhere with us, he loves to go camping and hiking and there's plenty of room for him in the 5th wheel.  If you camp in Texas you probably will see Charlie.   
"Happy Trails"

"Why we RV"

 


People who don't understand often ask: "How can you justify such an expensive . . . uh, mobile home?"  They understand neither the terminology nor the motivation! Not pretending to speak for all who own or use RV’s here are a few of the reasons RV travel is popular for my wife and I.

We enjoy travel as much as the destination. We are really thankful to live in a free country where one can explore virtually any road we like without being hassled by checkpoints or attacked by bandits. We can stop at a country vegetable stand and talk about the harvest. Try that on an airline flight! Unlike untold thousands of other rv travelers, we do NOT want anything to do with long-term squatting in "campgrounds" that are really rural slums loaded with moss-covered "RV's" and their semi-permanent porches, complete with weeds growing through and surrounded by debris such as junk cars, broken lawn furniture, and tarp-covered snowmobiles, boats and motorcycles.  If THAT environment is what people escape to, I wonder where they LIVE that's worse!

We love to see how other people live, especially away from huge metropolitan areas and where there are few if any motels, convention centers, and restaurants. This country has vast reaches of beautiful farmland, spectacular mountains, forests, grasslands, lakes and rivers. We can easily refuse to stay in places that have rules we think are idiotic, and if we are assigned to a site with an obnoxious neighbor, it is not the end of the happy hour, we can move.  Our “house” has wheels. We enjoy sleeping in our own bed, not wondering to whom it was last rented, and without having to haul suitcases in and out. Our “motel room” is as warm, cool, or well ventilated as we like.

We enjoy solitude, away from honking horns and roaring jets, places where the most raucous noise is the cawing of a crow and where the most pungent odor is that of wild flowers.  We stay OFF the interstate system except to get through a crowded metropolis, and as a result we arrive slower but without the stress of being caught up in the herds of almost out of control vehicles hammering along well over their drivers' personal skill level, to say nothing of the (hahahaha) speed limits. We enjoy visiting the relatives whether or not they have spare rooms or a convenient motel and having our own bathroom and privacy while we're there.


We love having choices: breakfast, lunch and dinner in the RV, or that really nice-looking restaurant.  Ponder THAT as you hammer down the interstate in your car, wondering if they used motor oil instead of salad dressing at the last take-it-or-leave-it diner with its cardboard cuisine! We like having the grand-kids with us (sometimes!), seeing a moose in person rather than watching Bullwinkle on TV, and learning to get along with each other instead of playing electronic doom games. When the trip is over we have spent less money than if we went by car, and we will have seen more, enjoyed more, and not been restricted to a route that passes available food & lodging, to say nothing of convenient clean rest rooms.






A Little Humor

You don't have to own a cat for this one...

A couple was dressed and ready to go out for the evening. They turned on a
night light, turned the answering machine on the phone line, covered their pet
parakeet and put the cat in the backyard.

They phoned the local cab company and requested a taxi. The taxi arrived and
the couple opened the front door to leave their house. The cat they had put out
into the yard scoots back into the house. They don't want the cat shut in the
house because "she" always tries to eat the bird.

The wife goes out to the taxi while the husband goes inside to get the cat. The
cat runs upstairs, the man in hot pursuit. The wife doesn't want the driver to
know the house will be empty. She explains to the taxi driver that her husband
will be out soon."He's just going upstairs to say good-bye to my mother." A few
minutes later, the husband gets into the cab. "Sorry I took so long," he says,
as they drive away.

"Stupid bitch was hiding under the bed. Had to poke her with a coat hanger to
get her to come out! Then I had to wrap her in a blanket to keep her from
scratching me. But it worked. I hauled her fat ass downstairs and threw her out
into the back yard!"

The cabdriver hit a parked car...

"Happy Trails"

"Howdy" from Texas

This is my first post on my new blog. I will be covering different RV projects, "How-To" and maintenance projects, destinations and meanderings. I've been RVing since the late sixties with my parents, many things have changed relative to RV's and the world, but one thing that remains is the pioneer spirit and the excitement of the adventure, making memories and enjoying life. Our family is grown, the tents are gone, we're a little older, we now have a 5th wheel and camp with our Grand-kids. Especially in these times of uncertainty, job loses and hard times I think it's important to be frugal and enjoy our families as much as possible. We sure don't need the biggest and newest RV, some of our best memories were with a borrowed tent, some blankets and a pot or two from home. Those shiny new rigs will age and disappear but the memories live on with you and your family.
As time goes on this blog will take on a personality of it's own (I hope). The picture above is my gang, my wife and I, my son and daughter in-law, our Granddaughter, our two Grandsons and our 135 pound dog Charlie. This was taken at Cedar Breaks Park by Georgetown Texas overlooking Lake Georgetown. It's a very nice park and it's operated by the Army Corps of Engineers.

"Happy Trails"