9/26/2026 Some Drives Not to Miss

There are dozens of beautiful drives you can take in the U.S, but here are some of my favorites that you might not be aware of. 

• Natchez Trace:  Hard to know where to start with this one, so I'll start with my first experience.  Way back in the 1990s, I worked for a training and consulting company and took a wrong turn on a business trip to Jackson, Mississippi.  I ended up on something called the Natchez Trace, which turned out to be a 444 mile scenic parkway that goes from Nashville, TN, to Natchez, MS.  I ended up making a U-turn a few miles down it, but promised myself I would someday drive the whole thing, and I have!  The history is that way, way, way back before steam engines and gasoline engines, people made rafts and rough boats and floated them down the Mississippi River, carrying cargo.  They had no way to get back upstream, so they abandoned their rafts and took a wagon, rode a horse, or walked back to Nashville on an old Indian trail.  This trail has been so heavily used over hundreds of years that in some places, the original Trace is as much as 12' deep because of the wear of feet, hooves, and wagon wheels.  Large trees now grow in the middle of some sections, which gives evidence of its age.  The parkway is very scenic and has a lot of historical sites, including the cabin where Meriwether Lewis was shot and died.  It is two-lane the entire length, as I remember it, and because it goes from northeast to southwest, it is a great way to get from the northeastern states to the southwest, and back again.  There are lots of scenic pull-offs and not a single stop light in the entire 444 miles, but there are two, free rustic campgrounds you can stop at if they are not full.  Plan on taking at least three days to drive this parkway, and do stop at Natchez and visit this historic town on the Mississippi.  Check it out at https://npshistory.com/publications/natr/index.htm  
• Oregon Coastal Highway:  While the entire Pacific Coast is a terrific drive, I think the section through Oregon is the most scenic and least crowded, at least compared to the California coastal drive.  Start from the town of Astoria on the Columbia River and drive all the way to Brookings at the California Border.  (Before you head into Washington State at Astoria, don't miss the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria, and grab a salmon fish sandwich at the booth across the highway.)  Note: The reason for driving north to south is so you can more easily pull off as scenic rest areas along the Pacific.  There are quite a few excellent Oregon State Parks along the way, and two of my favorites are near the towns of Bandon and Yachats.  (The latter is pronounced "yah-hots", by the way.)  Most of the state parks in Oregon have full hookup sites, as well as partial hookup sites.  Take at least a week to drive this and stop often along the way.  The area south of Yachats is called Cape Perpetua, and don't hesitate to drive even a big rig up the cliff to the visitor center south of town.  Also don't miss the drive up to the top of the Cape, near the campground.  The road looks steep, but really is not, and the views here and at the visitor center are incredible.  https://traveloregon.com/things-to-do/destinations/parks-forests-wildlife-areas/cape-perpetua-scenic-area/  Also, check out photos from my blog here:  https://grandmajjb.blogspot.com/2024/10/1025-cape-pertetua-yachats-oregon.html   
• Columbia River Drive:  This is also a great drive, but you must start at the mouth of the river where it intersects the Pacific Ocean at Fort Stevens State Park on the south side of the river.  Follow the path and walk out all the way to the mouth of the river.  (This is a good state park to camp in also.) It is also worth visiting is Cape Disappointment State Park on the north side of the mouth of the Columbia, as both are good camping places and have Lewis and Clark historical things to view.  BUT, UNLESS YOU HAVE A SMALL AND NOT TOO TALL RV, YOU SHOULD NOT DRIVE FURTHER EAST ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE RIVER AS THAT SIDE HAS SOME LOW TUNNELS!!!  Some places to stop along the Columbia River are:

• Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria
• Portland, actually not one of my favorites, but other people like this town.  Very hard to drive RV here, and a lot of streets are filled with homeless encampments.  
• Multnomah Falls. Hard to miss the parking lot for this one as it is right in the middle of the I-84 freeway! There are a few large-vehicle parking spots at the east end of the parking lot.  Hopefully, you will be visiting this place off-season.  
• Bonneville Dam. Don't miss this. There are two parts to this facility.  If you drive in and then turn right, you will be at the dam visitor center parking area.  The visitor center has tours of the dam and fish ladders, plus a nice display in the visitor center.  They might search your RV for bombs and such, but that only takes a couple of minutes.  If you turn left near the entrance, you will end up at the fish hatchery.  Nice visitor center here, also, and this place is especially interesting as they raise the enormous sturgeons here.  These are 8 - 10'long prehistoric fish that were once plentiful along fresh water streams and large lakes.  Plan on 3-4 hours here at least. 
• Cascade Locks.  This is a nice little town with a riverfront park and places to walk and enjoy.   
• Hood River. This is a bigger town and a good place to shop for groceries and such.  There is a waterfront park and a history museum here.  
• Memaloose SP.  Good place to camp if you do not mind the sound of trains. 
• The Dalles.  This is the next and last fairly big town for quite a few miles, so stock up on stuff if you did not do so earlier. 
• Maryhill Museum of Art.  This is an interesting place on the north side of the river.  It is OK to cross over here because there are no tunnels near here.  Nice view of the river from the small park next to it, and an interesting museum.  The mansion was built for Queen Marie of Romania by her husband, but she did not like it and never moved in.  Good for a couple of pleasant hours.  But afterwards, you need to cross back to the southern side of the river to visit one of my favorite COE campgrounds just east of here!
• LePage Park.  This is a Corps of Engineering (COE) park and campground along the John Day River that empties into the Columbia River.  Cost if you have a federal senior pass is only $15 per night for sites with electric and water.  My favorite sites are along the river at the south end.  Very pleasant and quiet almost all year.  (Exception is when a bunch of jet boat owners congregate here!)  Interesting area at the north end is where the local Native American tribes store their fishing nets and equipment.  
• Other Campground East of Here to Snake River Confluence.  I mention these because they are inexpensive and very pleasant, especially slightly off-season.  They are Plymouth Park Campground on the north side of the river, Hood Park on the south side of the Snake River, and Charbonneau Campground on the Snake River a few miles farther east.  Warning:  Last time I was at Hood Park, I discovered electric hookups were more reliable in the east end of the park..  

A really nice, but longer drive, is to continue along the Snake River into Idaho, but I'll leave those areas for you to discover yourself!!!  

 

 

9/25/2026 Tips for New RV Owners!

In the last couple of weeks, I have met and chatted with a couple of new motorhome owners.  After so many years on the road, I am always happy to share some of the things I have learned over the years, so I decided to put these suggestions down in case anyone else is interested.  First, you need to know that RVs are not made like cars on an assembly line that makes hundreds of almost identical cars every day according to strict quality processes.  (I spent a lot of years visiting factories and writing training materials in the auto industry, and I made a point to visit RV manufacturing plants before i bought my rig.  The RV industry is at least 20-30 years behind modern manufacturing techniques.  Most important to know is that in most RV factories, each RV is made by a team of assemblers, not one person doing a single task with hundreds of vehicles each day.  The result is that your vehicle will not be exactly like the one next to it while it was made!) 

Ask around to people who have bought multiple RVs and I think you will find that they will support this.  Onward!!!

• Warranty Items:   Unfortunately, dealers have learned that most people buy only one or two RVs in their lifetimes, so they are not concerned with your coming back in a very few years as a repeat customer.  Once you are out the door, your dealer will not be as friendly and helpful he/she was before you handed over that big check.  SO, DOCUMENT EVERY WARRANTY ISSUE WITH DATED PHOTOGRAPHS AND KEEP NOTES IN A NOTEBOOK OF SOME SORT.  Write down what happened and when, and what the response was when you brought the issue to your dealer.  My dealer refused to fix most of the issues I had with my brand new motorhome because they said the problems were my fault as I had caused things to break.  For example, the drawer under my refrigerator flew open as I was driving on the third day I owned it and bashed a hole in the paneling around the stove because I had overloaded it.  I called the factory customer service people to ask what the weight limits were for each of the cupboards and drawers in my rig and was told there was no such thing.  Ditto for other problems like the trim piece that fell off when I hit a bump and the side door which could be opened even when locked.  I ended up getting everything fixed at the factory several months later in Indiana.  
• Electrical Schematic:  Before you go on your first trip outside of your local area, try to get an electrical schematic from the dealer or from the factory that made your vehicle.  I was originally told that none existed, but managed to get one several years later from a friendlier dealer.  This would have helped when a dealer who did not have such a document had to have its service people search for three hours to find the fuse for my slides.  They ended up having to trace wires and remove inside paneling, leaving nail holes.  Where was the fuse???  Not with all the other fuses in the fuse box, of course.  It was hidden inside a wooden box under my bed that enclosed the rear furnace motor and the converter.  Who would have thought??   
• Problems While on the Road:  If you have problems with something while you are traveling and don't know what to do, and you have at least made it to a campground. don't hesitate to find someone in your campground who has a motorhome or trailer similar to yours and ask for help.  Most RV owners LOVE to share horror stories and/or help you find solutions to your problem.  If you pull out a tool box and open your hood around dinner time, you are likely to attract a crowd, which may be just what you need!
• CoachNet Road Service:  Know that most auto insurance companies like AAA and State Farm may not have the skills or contacts to find an appropriate wrecker that can actually lift your rig and change a tire or tow it to a repair facility.  Many people, including me, have had EXCELLENT service from a company called CoachNet that specializes in big motorhomes and trailers.  They will send someone who has a big enough jack and knows where to attach it and how to safely lift your rig without it falling or causing damage!  It may take a couple of hours, but hopefully you will be in a safe place and can  turn on your generator and AC, and fix yourself a meal while you are waiting.  CoachNet can also give you technical advice over the phone so you can possibly fix it yourself, or they can send a mobile technician who might be able to fix it on the spot.  (There are mobile technicians that can assess or hopefully fix things that go wrong on the "truck" part of your RVs, and there are also mobile RV technicians that can assess or even fix the RV part, like manually getting a stuck slide in or removing a torn and flapping awning that is preventing you from driving your rig.)  CoachNet will pay for the technicians to come out, but you will still have to pay for any repairs that they do, but that is still a lot better than being towed to a garage or RV dealers.  They will also tow you to an appropriate repair place, and they do a great job of selecting a place that will work on it immediately, instead of leaving your rig in that park when-we-get-around-to-it area.  Cost of an annual subscription to CoachNet is $250 the first year and $180 every following year.  Worth every penny.
• GPS Systems:  Do you know how tall your rig is??  Or how wide or how heavy?  Most of us are used to using our phones to guide our routes, but a good RV-specific GPS will ask you to enter information about your rig and use that info to keep you from going under bridges or gas station awnings that are too short and damaging things on your roof.  I know that my motorhome is a bit over 12' high, so I set the GPS for 13' high just to be safe, so this does not happen to me:  https://www.youtube.com/yovo68  My RandMcNally 7" GPS is out of date, but it still finds me campgrounds in an emergency and makes sure I do not get into trouble.  
• Trees:  Trees, especially the really big ones, have an amazing capability to move to where you cannot see them.  Nearly all of us who have been on the road for a significant period of time have had an incident with a tree, post, or telephone pole.  My best advice is to try not to have such an incident during the dinner hour when a lot of fellow campers are outside and watching you pull in or out.  To look most impressive, follow the GOAL (get out and look) technique, making care to not just look behind your rig, but to look on both sides and above it as well for low-hanging branches.  If you are alone, don't hesitate to ASK for help!  
• First-Aid Kit: Put together a good first aid kit, and most importantly, STORE IT IN A PLACE YOU CAN EASILY ACCESS!   I know all about this because I cut my hand badly while making a sandwich in a scenic pullover on the north rim of the Grand Canyon. I was alone and there was no one else in this pullover.  I had wrapped my cut hand with a clean dishcloth and had to hold it tightly to keep it from bleeding.  So, where was my first-aid kit?  In a bottom drawer in my bedroom that could not be accessed without putting the slides out, and that was not possible with my bleeding hand.  I finally found a large bandaid and put it on tightly to stop the bleeding.  Also, make sure the kit is clearly labeled as first-aid and let anyone traveling with you know where it is!  
• Pests:  We are not talking about the neighbor kind, but the tiny things that crawl into your RV and help themselves to food and other things.  I have mostly had experiences with ants and mice, though there was one incredibly memorable incident near Denver one year when I was invaded with hundreds of moths.  But first the ants and mice.  Before you go anywhere, make sure you have a collection of mouse traps and ant killers, and have stored them in a place you can easily find at 1 am.  Surprisingly, most of my mouse encounters have been in the southwest deserts.  Some campgrounds are teaming with mice who live there in hoards because there is always food and water around campgrounds.  They seldom live in your RV, but they can easily get in through cracks in slides and from underneath where hoses and wires come in.  Ditto for ants in the desert.  A common ant killer is borax. It can be bought in the detergent aisle in the grocery store and works very well on ant hills you can see.  A handful of borax will wipe out a colony fast.  However, this does not work for all ants, and if you pull into a paved campsite that is covered with white powder, know that someone already tried borax, and you really need more powerful stuff, so come prepared.  
• Pack Rats:  Yes, there really are creatures called pack rats.  They are really fascinating desert animals in the mouse category, but they are bigger and like to eat wiring in and around your engine.  If you see a lot of vehicles with their hoods up and lights underneath them, there is almost certainly a pack rat problem. Putting a string of lights under your rig near the engine will deter them.  And actually, pack rats are really fascinating creatures when they aren't nibbling on your wiring.  You might find one of their nests if you are look carefully as you walk in the desert.  They protect their young by building a semicircle of cactus pods around their nests to keep snakes away.  Very smart animals!  
• Black Vultures in Southern Florida:  Black vultures are a little smaller than turkey vultures, and they hunt in packs.  They are apparently a lot smarter than turkey vultures and turn up at carcasses that a turkey vulture is feeding on and scare them away because they travel in numbers.  However, they are a problem in that black vultures are often bored, so they look for ways to entertain themselves--notably tearing anything rubber off a vehicle.  They love to tear windshield wipers and any rubber trim they can find and remove!  They don't eat it, they just like the challenge of destroying something for fun. In some areas of the everglades, rangers have strung up strings of dog and cat toys for them to play with so they don't damage cars.  Some visitor center areas in the Everglades actually provide you with tarps to put on your car while you are visiting.  Best thing is to carry plastic grocery bags and rubber bands to cover your windshield wipers and side mirrors.  They won't hurt you or your pets, but they do like to have fun at your expense!!  Frankly, I really like these birds because I once was watching one in a large cage at a rescue facility, and after a few minutes, it flew down, picked up a pumpkin squeaky toy, and dropped it in front of me!   Birds really just want to have fun!! 
• Taking Along Extras:  You probably ought to carry extra things like engine oil, antifreeze, windshield washer fluid, and any spare parts for things that break often.  Other essentials are duck tape, nylon rope, large nylon ties, super glue, and anything else that would help you make a temporary repair to something.  If you don't need something, maybe one of your camping neighbors will.   

To Be Continued As I Think of Things!

9/25/2026 Getting Ready for a Three-Day Trial Run

 I spent a lot of time when I was returning from Florida last winter to get ready to move into my new home in Ohio emptying everything personal from my motorhome and cleaning it out.  I did leave things like the ladders for the bunks and hoses, and spare parts, but everything in the kitchen, bedroom, and living area got boxes up.  Ditto for almost everything in the "basement" or underneath storage areas.  It was an amazing amount of stuff -- at least 20+ boxes that went into my new house garage and eventually got unpacked.  

So now, since I am planning on keeping my motorhome and taking it to Florida for several weeks, I have had to pull together a lot of stuff and put it back.  As a full-timer for over 13 years, I have been spoiled and have only a very few times put my rig into storage and empty the refrigerator while I went to England or Scotland for a few weeks.  I have heard all the complaints about the work of packing and then unpacking for a weekend or short trip, and I sympathize with all of you who do that now!!  It was SO much easier to just leave almost everything I owned and only have to add food when I was ready to go again. 

So, tomorrow I am off for a three-day local trip.  This will enable me to find out if I have put back the essentials and am ready to head south in a few weeks.  It will also be a trial for the Half-grown, six-month-old kitten I have acquired.  I took one two-day trip with her a few weeks ago, but I did not even try to cook and managed on fast food sandwiches I took along.  This time, I will cook, and it will let me know what I still need to add.  

 So, check back in a few days to see how my trip with the kitten went.  My biggest fear is that she will escape and get loose because in the past month she has perfected her skills of slipping out the door.  On that last trip, she had to ride in her carrier and did non-stop meowing and scratching for the hour to and from the campground!  She does NOT like to be confined, especially in a small place.  

This time, I purchased a soft-sided dog crate that fits underneath my two-person rear dinette.  The carrier has a mesh top and sides and a zipper entrance.  It is 21" wide by 21" high, and 30" long, so this should give her a lot more space and hopefully encourage her to nap.  I have had it set up in the house for the past two days, and it has been her favorite space for napping and just relaxing.   

 Well, except for my half-packed suitcase:

Luckily, she is not shedding much yet.  The other thing I bought for her is a collar with a space for an Airtag.  I have been trying to change the battery in it and have not yet gotten it back together yet, but I am going to work at it a bit more.  This way, if she does escape, at least I will be able to find her.   

 

Keeping my fingers crossed!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

8/26 Update on My Plans

I've been slowly adding things to my motorhome as it is back in storage.  I may end up selling it in Florida, so I don't want to leave too much stuff in it, so I am focusing on only leaving stuff that is old or that I do not care about leaving.  For example, I had a large toolbox stored at my son's house that I used in my old condo.  When I started full-timing, I put a few things in a canvas tool bag and then moved them to kitchen drawers when I moved into this condo.  I ended up with a lot of duplicates, so I sorted through screwdrivers, wrenches, etc. and put only the older ones in my RV tool bag.  Ditto for kitchen stuff and bedding.  

I've also been looking at some larger fabric dog crates and found a couple that will fold up but fit under my rear dinette in my RV.  They have a lot of ventilation windows so I'll cover those to give the kitty a little cave.  I can get one that is about 24" wide, 30" long, and 24" tall, which will fit nicely under my dinette and give kitty a lot more room than her carrier.  

 Big mistake I made after my last two-day trial run was not cleaning the refrigerator well enough  afterwards.  I went to check on things a couple of days ago and found a couple hundred dead and dying bugs of some sort in the refrigerator.  When I pulled out the fruit and vegetable drawers I discovered that there was old food stuck on and underneath them, plus the shelves were dirty, no doubt attracting all the bugs.  I cleaned it up as best I could, and brought out some cleaner with bleach in it, so I'll do a better job when I have time to open the slide to give me more access next time.  

I also have to ramp up my training the kitten to wear the harness I bought her.  As is typical of cats, the first couple of tries resulted in her thinking I was tying her up and doing horrible things to her.  I have learned, however, that real tuna is her weak spot.  I cannot give her more than a few shreds because of lead and mercury, but she loves even a tiny bit and it keeps her distracted.  She also knows what the word "tuna" means and will come running for it!

 Anyway, got my reservations for Florida arranged for mid-November to just before Christmas, so that is done.  Looking forward to my travels again!  

 

8/8/2026 I'm Back!!!!!!

Some of you may know that after almost 14 years of full-timing, I emptied my motorhome, bought a detached condo in northeast Ohio not too far from one of my sons, unpacked and got settled, adopted a tiny kitten, then had a reverse shoulder replacement. My motorhome was in storage, and my son advertised it for me and showed it to seven potential buyers. All were scared off by the extremely high mileage I had on the engine, and though I got a couple of offers, they were very low. So, about a month ago, I decided that rather than sell it for almost nothing and renting a condo in Florida for a month or so every year and doing some other traveling, I would keep it and use it as a sort of hotel. The outside is losing some of the gel coat, but the original full body paint still looks good, and all of the appliances work well, many of which were replaced in the past two years. I also had it checked by a truck repair place I trust here in Ohio a while back.

So, right now, my plans are to drive it and my new kitten, Maggie, down to Florida in mid-November, spend about a month down there, put it in storage in Florida, and either drive a rental car or fly back here with my kitten. I have four sets of cousins in Florida I am fairly close to, and already have an invitation for Thanksgiving.

I went out a week ago and relined all the shelves and drawers and did some cleaning. I have been sorting out a lot of the old stuff I had had and replaced for my condo, so that stuff also got moved in a few days ago. On Wednesday, I spent two nights in a full-hookup site in a nearby state park where I could flush my water tank to get rid of the old winter antifreeze. 

One son thinks my plans are good ones, the other son thinks I am too old at 83, but is not really fighting me. My shoulder is much better after my reverse shoulder replacement 8 weeks ago, and I feel a lot more enthusiastic about life having something to do and places to go.

The big issue is going to be the kitten!! When I adopted her, they told me to kitten-proof my house! Ha!! If any of you have had an 8-week old kitten, you know that is ridiculous advice. She is now almost 5 months old and weighs a whopping 5.6 pounds, but she can still get into the tiniest of places, so besides her carrier, I am going to look for something bigger to confine her as we drive long days, with a few stops to give her a break. QUESTION: I am thinking of putting a larger dog crate or a wire dog cage under my two-person dinette to give her a bit more room. Any suggestions? She will be 8 months old by mid-November. I am also going to start on leash training.

My two-day test camping trip went well, and kitten managed to investigate every inch of the inside of my motorhome.  She loves to sit and watch out windows or the windshield to watch squirrels.  She makes herself really tall when watching sometimes:

She got really scared one night when it rained and thundered because she is not used to hearing those noises in my house.  She came into my bed and stood on me, so I grabbed her and cuddled her next to me.  I partly covered her up with the comforter and kept a hand on her, so she finally settled down and after the rain stopped, she went back to sleeping elsewhere.  The only problem was all the meowing she did in the carrier on the way and back home, so we are going to have to work on that, as well as leash training.  I did put the harness on her for about an hour, but she got into the "I'm paralyzed and can't move" act for the first few minutes.  At least later as she moved about, she was not able to remove it.  

At least she has learned the favorite napping place for camping cats:

2/1 How to Stay Warm in an RV?

I am currently in a state park about two-thirds of the way from south to north Florida, and it has been horribly cold here.   Normally, freeze warnings are seen only in the north of Florida, but lately, Florida has been seeing freeze warning as far south as Miami and Naples!  

The newspapers printed out information yesterday that iguanas were likely to fall out of trees or become cold-stunned on the ground and appear to be dead.  Since these are an invasive species, The Florida fish and Wildlife Commission passed an order that allowed each resident to collect and turn in up to five stunned iguanas without a permit during this cold weather.  This is seen as an opportunity to easily get rid of this invasive species 

Where I am, north of Daytona, it dropped down to 26 degrees last night and is expected to drop to about 30 degrees tonight. Rangers said they had never had such cold weather and were really not sure what to do, but the told us who were checking in to unhook water hoses and turn their outdoor faucets to drip when the temps got down to close to freezing.   I have noticed a lot of empty spots in this normally full campground and several people leaving earlier than expected.  

Anyway, I live full time in a 32' long Class C motorhome, and while I try to avoid the kind of weather I left in Michigan when I bought my rig and headed out for adventure, occasionally it catches up with me.  Mostly, I have been frustrated at not being able to get to Ohio and start moving into the condo I recently bought and closed on!  I started to pack just before the weather turned really miserable, so am having to constantly move boxes and look for stuff that I already packed that I need now. 

So, here is some advice for staying warm in an RV and at least partly avoiding frozen pipes and shivering under a lot of blankets at night. Note that these tips can help keep you warm but are not guaranteed to prevent bad things happening in really cold weather.  

I know it is probably too late, but one thing you might consider in the future is to buy a motorhome instead of a trailer if you plan to do a lot of traveling.  Most motorhomes have several storage compartments under their main floor.  This double layer means that your floor is likely to be warmer than without these "basements."  Also, a lot of motorhomes, like mine, have one of those compartments as a utility compartment that might be heated to help prevent frozen pipes.  

In the photo below, you will notice that I store my sewer dump hose here because it hooks up to the dump valves inside this compartment, and then it passes though the bottom of the compartment through a hole.  I am not using it to dump my tanks right now, so I have put the electric cord through this hole and covered much of the opening with a board and some bubble wrap to prevent cold air from coming in.  

 

 

In this photo, you can see the dump pipes and valves.  (I opened it to show you the inside. I do not leave it open, because for one thing it attracts raccoons looking for new homes!)  On the top of the inside of this compartment, you will see a weird-looking contraption, which is covering the vent that comes from my rear furnace and pumps hot air into this compartment.  Unless it is really cold outside, I usually keep this hot air vent blocked with duct tape.  A few days ago, I undid about half of the tape so it could get hot air down there, but then discovered in the middle of the night that it was 70 degrees inside my motorhome living area and a whopping 79 degrees down here---a huge waste of propane.  The next day, I decided to cut up a paper plate and punch a few holes in it so it would get some heat, but not too much heat.  It is 32 degrees outside as I write this, and with the rear furnace running occasionally, it is staying around 52 degrees down there.  (I have a remote thermometer that tells me that so I did not have to run out every hour in the middle of the night.  $23 at Walmart.)    

Most people buy their first RVs on the basis of appearance and comfort, but those of us who have lived in one for a few years consider things like surviving freezing weather and the ease of doing all the little things you need to do to keep your RV operating and comfortable.  

OK, now for one of the negatives of a Class C motorhome.  The dealer and some mechanics have tried to convince me that absolutely NO cold air comes through the engine area into the living area of my motorhome.  Ha!  Then why do i get such drafts from up there?  I do have a short privacy curtain that snaps to the area between the upper bunk and the cab area, but it is too short and does nothing to prevent drafts.  The following solution looks awful, but it really and truly does work!  

The grey thing is that short privacy curtain, and on top of it, and tucked under the top bunk mattress is a heavy bedspread I have.  I don't need it right now because i have another heavy bedspread and a down throw on my bed right now, so I arranged this one so it covers the top all the way to the floor and tucks behind the seats where major drafts come in.  When I put it on each night, I feel around with my hand to see where drafts are still coming in and rearrange it until the area is draft free!  

I suppose I could get energetic and just make a thicker and longer privacy curtain that would reach all the way to the floor, but I am too lazy to do that.  

Also, the boxes are the result of my starting to pack for my move into my condo as soon as the weather gets less cold in Ohio and i can drive there safely.  

Finally, it was really windy last night.  As you probably know, these RVs are built poorly and are not made for cold weather, regardless of what the salesman will tell you.  Windows leak air, as do slides and unidentified cracks.  Last night i had trouble getting to sleep because I could feel cold air blowing on my face and head.  Basically, I have two big windows in my bedroom, as shown here:

At around 2 am, I got out of bed because I was convinced that somehow my AC was on and blowing cold air while the furnaces were running.  Nope. Just windows that were not very wind or water-proof. 

I have the very nice MCD shades that consist of a mesh layer you can partly see through and heavier vinyl shades that keep the sun out completely.  Running my hands around each one, I could feel substantial drafts, so I dug around and found some masking tape and packing tape.  (I know I have some duct tape around somewhere, but I think it is outside and was not in a mood to go searching for it.)  

I first opened the vinyl shades and carefully taped the sides of each shade to the vinyl wallpaper with the masking tape. I also taped the bottom of each shade down to air could not come through that way.  Then I pulled the heavier vinyl shades down past the mesh ones and repeated the process with the packing tape.  It really helped, but it took me a long time with my painful shoulder that needs to be replaced, so I did not get back to sleep until after 4 am. 

In past years in cold places, I covered the rear windows with that insulated clear shrink stuff that you taped on and then used a hair dryer to make it fit tightly.  However, I tried to get some a week ago, but apparently Florida carries snow boots and mittens, but hardware stores have never heard of this window insulating stuff!!   

One thing you can do is close your slides until the wind abates, but I really did not feel like starting up my engine at 2 am last night to put my slides in.  Here is some of the detail showing one set of blinds taped shut.

One thing the rangers asked us to do, other than filling our water tanks and unhooking our water hoses, was to go outside before we went to bed and set the campsite water faucet to drip.  I could not get mine to drip, but I did get a tiny spray of water that I figured was OK.  I forgot to go out this morning but at 2 pm, this is what is looked like:

One last comment: Other than a week in Ohio one November, the two coldest places I have ever camped at were Death Valley and Las Vegas, both in January.  I have photos of Furnace Creek in Death Valley with ice on it to prove how cold it can get there.  Also, one day in Las Vegas I got tired of the cold weather and decided to leave.  When I put my slides in, ice fell off the slide toppers, but unfortunately I never took a photo of it!  

I also once camped in Eugene, Oregon, in January when they had a freak storm that deposited 18" of snow, but the temperature was not as low as the Death Valley or Las Vegas stays.  The big oak trees around the campground near Eugene had never had more than a couple of inches of snow on them, so lots of huge branches were breaking off and causing serious damage to some of the RVs parked under them.  Luckily, I like satellite TV so always ask for an open space.  It melted fairly quickly, but here is a photo of my rig with 18" of snow on it.  

 

If you look very closely at the next photo, you will see a man in a red jacket on top of his small trailer trying to figure out how to get the large limb off his roof and the smaller branches that had gone through it.  (The Class A rig next to him was not damaged.)

 

And his rig was not even directly under any trees!  

Anyway, hope you are all staying warm, even in Florida!   

 

2/1 Kissimmee Prairie Preserve SP

Actually, I visited this place before Christmas, but forgot to post it.  Oops!  It was an interesting place, and even though I only spent one night there,  I want to post about it. 

I did not know until recently that there were several large dry prairie areas in Florida.   Basically, a dry prairie as it exists in Florida is a subtropical community of low shrubs and grasses.  This type of grassland was once very common in Florida but most of it was replaced by grazing land or farming, and now a lot of it has become developed land for housing.  It usually consists of land that is poorly drained and is kept as prairie though burning.  

In any case, the few dry prairies in Florida are large tracts of land and enjoyed by stargazers because they are dark sky areas.  

This is the simple entrance to Kissimmee Prairie Preserve.  No fancy visitor center or even a gatehouse to welcome you, though there is a gate that closes at dusk.  

 

 

An information sign and a pay deposit box for day use visitors.  Campers do not have to pay here as their fees are prepaid online.   

This road was a surprise.  It is probably good that I did not know I had to drive for five miles on a gravel road to get to the campground or I might not have chosen to stay here!!

 

 

Funny to find an osprey nest in a dry prairie, but there was a lake not too far away. 

 

 

A lot of nothing but grass in this area, with a very few trees in the distance.   

 

 

This clump of trees seemed to have had a ranch house in the middle at one time.   

 

A sign warning you that this is a dark sky area.  

 

 

 

It was getting dusk as I got to the campground.  

 

 

And a lot more of nothing as I left the next morning.  I wish I had had more time to explore on this brief visit, but I had to get to the next place this day.