Almost all full-time RVers tow something. Our decision of what to tow was first followed quickly by how to do it. These decisions interlock. You need to carefully make these decisions. How you tow – what you tow is a question that quickly arises. For us, this issue had to be solved before we even …
The Pima Air & Space Museum is just south of our location in Tucson. It is huge. The museum is full of old relics; some are even older relics than me. We didn’t know or appreciate how amazing it was until our visit. The museum is located right next to the Davis Monthan Air Force …
Campsite Review: Fiddlers Cove is a military-only campground located on the Silver Strand south of Coronado Island east of California Highway 75. It is one of the nicest RV parks we have ever stayed at. Fiddlers Cove is easily the nicest military RV Park we have ever been to. Fiddlers Cove is also probably the …
Food Desert — As we travel we often encounter both outstanding food choices and food deserts. Tucson is not a food desert. In fact, our anniversary dinner uncovered a great downtown restaurant. Great downtown restaurants alone would not create a blog post. We have been to lots of great downtown restaurants. However, having the best …
Campsite Review: KOA Tucson Campground is located in southeast Tucson south of Interstate 10. It is a very nice campground / RV park. The joke is — the ideal location for a KOA is between the largest freeway and nearest train track — ideally, it should be near a major airport and in a light …
The Biosphere 2 experiment tried to replicate a proposed settlement on the moon, or on Mars. It didn’t work according to plan. But failed experiments are still results — just not desired results. Lots of people learned lots of things about life from the Biosphere 2 project and the experiments are still in progress. Now …
Campsite Review: Catalina Campground is located north of Tucson at Catalina State Park, east of Arizona Route 77. It is a very nice campground. At the campground, there are two loops with 120 well-spaced large sites with electricity and water. We like the back-in sites in loop A best because they are more private than …
Destructive Lithium Battery Testing — I guess I run with a pretty rough crowd, a friend of mine deliberately destroyed two lithium batteries while testing. He tested them to the point of failure. Smoke Check In the Navy, we used to call an electronic device that failed — smoke checking. If you hit a device …
Valley of the Sun, Valley of Fire, Death Valley, Yuma, notice a trend in our travels? All these places are hot, way too hot in the summer. Winter never really arrives in the Valley of the Sun and this is ideal for us and our RV travels. While every other state in the nation faces …
Campsite Review: Picacho Peak Campground located just to the south of Interstate 10 about halfway between Phoenix and Tucson. It is a very nice campground. No water is available at the campground… I will be saying this again and again. At the campground, there are three loops with 87 well-spaced large sites with electricity. We …
Campsite Review: Saguaro Skies Campground is a military-only campground located on Luke Air Force Base in Glendale Arizona. It is a very nice campground. This is a brand new RV park style campground on a flat spot right behind the Commissary on Luke Air Force Base. In true Air Force style, this is a very …
Snippet: Chasing 70 degrees – I don’t know who coined the term “Chasing 70 degrees” but it is a very accurate description of where we want to go and when we want to be there. The phrase “chasing 70 degrees” refers to average temperature. The earliest reference to the phrase I could find was in …
We are north of Yuma in a red desert just like Mars except there isn’t water like this on Mars. We have a nice lake behind the RV. Totally unexpected and so very interesting. Actually, there are lots of nice places north of Yuma and Lake Martinez is only one of them. For me, I …
Who can stay at military campgrounds? All personnel on active duty, most military retirees, some other veterans, and some DOD employees. Roughly the groups are outlined as follows: Active duty and families of active duty — including reserves who are currently on active duty. Gold Star family members, where the service member died in armed …
Campsite Review: Gila Bend Campground is a military-only campground located on the Gila Bend Air Force Auxilary Field three miles south of Gila Bend on US Highway 85. After going through the gate (on 4th street) stay on 4th street by making the first right turn. The campground will be on your right. If you …
Humor from Spam: One of the unanticipated perks of having your own website is sometimes, you get some unexpected humor from spam. Sometimes it is a hoot. Why would people (computers) from all over the world go out of their way to provide such funny comments on this website? (Really I don’t know, the question …
Campsite Review: Lake Martinez Campground is a military-only recreation area on the Colorado River, north of Yuma Arizona. It is a nice place to visit provided that occupancy is more than half empty (it was). If every site were filled, the place would be too crowded to fit our RV. It is very rare to …
San Diego is not a liberty port. In the Navy, liberty is something you can have (get to go on) after you get all your work done. When in a liberty port, you get to leave the ship. The term is used in a sentence such as “Did you enjoy liberty?” Of course, this question …
Southbound Interstate 15 – Bad Roads for RVs – Sunday afternoon between Primm Nevada and Glen Helen California is a bad road for RVs. Since this is an Interstate Highway, there are at least two lanes and a slow lane on all the steep sections there are two steep sections. Typically the temperature is either …
Dealing with stuff is hard. The last two weeks were hard. We were cleaning out our mini-storage. In it was the stuff that we haven’t dealt with until now. The last of the stuff is the hardest to eliminate. Don’t worry or feel sorry for us; we still have plenty of stuff. This has been …
Campsite Review: Sweetwater Summit Campground a San Diego County Regional Park in Bonita California. It is a very nice campground. All campsites are in a small area south of Sweetwater Lake and spread out on a south-facing hillside near the California Highway 125 expressway (Tollroad). There are 112 sites on a sunny hillside in a …
Campsite Review: Guajome Park Campground a San Diego County Regional Park in Oceanside California, on Mexico Land Grant named Rancho Guajome. This grant predates the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and the creation of the state of California. Prior to the land grant, the park was part of the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia founded …
Snippet: RV Parky “Route Planning” is my go-to tool for planning. RV Parky makes route planning very easy for RVers. We use it every time we plan our trips and refer to it daily, both for planning, and for a history of where we were, and when we were there. We even use it to …
Snippet: Campendium “Treasure Box” is a fantastic resource for finding campsites. We use it every time we decide on a new location. We use it both as a resource to find campsites and for us, even more, important than finding campsites we use it to evaluate campsites. It is the number one evaluation tool we …
Snippet: Allstays “Tool Box” is a great reference tool for finding RV campsites. We use it to find campsites every time we decide on a new stop. Allstays shows us campsites of all kinds across the nation. The information is accurate and updated frequently. So far we have not found it to be wrong. I …
Troubleshooting our Air Conditioner – I didn’t want to repair the air conditioner, I didn’t want it to break. If you own an RV (or any house) it will break. Here is how I fixed our RV air conditioner that broke as we left Las Vegas (where it worked just fine). This is not the …
Snippet: Lion Energy – manufactures one of my favorite RV products the Safari UT 1300 Lithium Iron Phosphate battery. They sell lots of products that are not just big batteries. I didn’t know how many different products this company offers to help people in their everyday life. You can see in the photo that I …
Snippet: Passport America RV Discount Camping Club can save RVers lots of money for campsites. The campgrounds offer 50% off normal rates for members. It is easy to use and the annual costs are about the same as one night stay at one campground. So stay at two Passport America member campgrounds and the program …
Campsite Review: Lake Elsinore West Marina Campground is on the northwest end of Lake Elsinore, California. It is not a good fit for us. We are not going back. From Interstate 15 take State Route 74 west for two miles and then make a left turn into the campground. As State Route 74 passes under …
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Campsite Review: Desert Eagle Campground is located on Nellis Air Force Base north-east of Las Vegas south of Interstate 15. It is a very nice place. Coming from Las Vegas go north on Interstate 15 and exit on east Tropical Parkway. Then turn south on North Sloan Lane and turn southwest on Las Vegas Boulevard …
Air Conditioner from Solar and Batteries: Can you run your RV air conditioner from your battery and solar panels? The short answer is yes. We have proved that it is possible. This update includes testing data with some surprises. These surprises are not encouraging and show how hard this is and why this is so …
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Snippet: TSD Logistics Fuel Discount Program can save some RVers lots of money at the fuel pumps. It is free and the program is easy to use. It is not a secret that buying in bulk can save money. TSD Logistics makes buying fuel in bulk easy for the average RVer. The way this works …
Lakes, mountains, and deserts. We made a big move through Utah since our last update. We were worried about the onset of winter. Not anymore. We are now in the desert and it is plenty warm (hot). Winter can come at any time in the higher elevations in Utah. For the last two weeks, winter …
Campsite Review: Quail Creek Campground is on the west end of Quail Creek Reservoir, near Saint George Utah. It is a nice place. The best way to get here from Interstate 15 is to exit on Utah Highway 9 eastbound then turn north on State Road 318 also known as 5300 West. The nearest city …
Campsite Review: Mountain Valley Campground is located on U.S. Highway 40, just south of Heber City, Utah. It is a very nice place. Starting in Heber City go south of the main intersection on U.S. Highway 40 for less than one mile and make a right turn into the resort. The reception has room to …
Parley’s Canyon – Bad Roads for RVs is on Interstate 80, east of Salt Lake City, Utah. It is steep and should be avoided in the winter. Of course, you could say that RVs should avoid traveling in the winter in the Rocky Mountains and I would agree. It goes double for steep roads in …
Provo Canyon – Bad Roads for RVs is on U.S. Highway 189, four miles west of Heber City, Utah. It is steep and should be avoided in the winter. Of course, you could say that RVs should avoid traveling in the winter in the Rocky Mountains and I would agree. It goes double for steep …
Wellsville Canyon – Bad Roads for RVs is on U.S. Highway 89/ U.S. Highway 91, two miles north Dry Lake. It is steep and should be avoided in the winter. This is part of the descent from Sardine Summit. Of course, you could say that RVs should avoid traveling in the winter in the Rocky …
Box Elder Canyon – Bad Roads for RVs is on U.S. Highway 89/ U.S. Highway 91, east of Brigham City, Utah. It is steep and should be avoided in the winter. This is part of the descent from Sardine Summit. Of course, you could say that RVs should avoid traveling in the winter in the …
Jordanelle / Heber Valley Descent – Bad Roads for RVs is on U.S. Highway 40/ U.S. Highway 189, twelve miles north of Heber City, Utah. It is steep and should be avoided in the winter. Of course, you could say that RVs should avoid traveling in the winter in the Rocky Mountains and I would …
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Campsite Review: Hyrum Lake State Park Campground is at the south end of Hyrum 20 six miles south of Logan, Utah. It is a very nice place. The campground is located south of Utah Highway 101 at the end of South 400 West. The nearest city with multiple grocery stores is Logan. The campsite has …
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Bear Lake Summit – Bad Roads for RVs is on U.S. Highway 89, seven miles west of Garden City, Utah. It is steep and should be avoided in the winter. Of course, you could say that RVs should avoid traveling in the winter in the Rocky Mountains and I would agree. It goes double for …
It has been quiet at the lake, well at least it was quiet, and it will be quiet at the lake again — soon. Our travels have taken us south at a rapid pace with the change of seasons. Winter arrived in the west on Labor Day. Labor Day, the last day of summer isn’t …
Campsite Review: Jefferson County Lake Campground is west of U.S. Highway 20 two miles north of Rigby, Idaho. It is a very nice place. After departing the U.S. Highway 20 turn west on Farnsworth Way then turn right at North 4000 East and the next right on Rigby Lake Drive. Rigby Lake Drive will end …
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Jerome AZ-89A – Bad Roads for RVs is located on Arizona Highway 89A and goes through Jerome Arizona. This road is crazy steep, two lanes with hairpin turns. This is probably the worst paved road in Arizona for an RV and might be the worst paved through-road in the western United States. You should visit …
Elk Park Pass is on Interstate 15, five miles north of Butte, Montana. It is steep and should be avoided in the winter. The descent starts just south of Exit 133 in the middle of a huge grassy valley (Elk Park). Of course, you could say that RVs should avoid traveling in the winter in …
My goal is to be (electric) energy independent, this includes air conditioning on batteries and solar. I have not yet installed solar. I can now run air conditioning from my batteries. The process was easy enough, and I started with a huge advantage over less equipped RVs. I already had a very capable Magnum Inverter/ …
Campsite Review: Beavertail Hill Campground is south of Interstate 90 twenty-five miles east of Missoula Montana. After departing the Interstate turn south on Bonita Station Road for less than one mile. The campground is along a bend in the Clark Fork River which flows westward to the Columbia River. The Lewis and Clark Expedition followed …
MacDonald Pass is on U.S. Highway 12, thirteen miles east of Helena, Montana. It is steep and should be avoided in the winter. Of course, you could say that RVs should avoid traveling in the winter in the northern Rocky Mountains and I would agree. It goes double for steep roads in the winter. In …
Montana’s Big Sky motto is obvious everywhere we look. Big Sky is stunning. The longer we stay in Montana, the more we love it. All that may change during tomorrow’s cold snap. We love the size and everything about Montana. This is our second year (in a row) visiting Montana. Last year we crossed Montana, …
