The Best Way to Know Coach Battery Voltage

On our first trip of this season, our first stop was at dealer service. (I will write about this trip in a coming article.) One of the things we wanted done was to have a 12 volt outlet that is connected to the coach or house batteries installed (the batteries for the RV, not the engine).  This was a project long in planning. It started with my idea to install digital voltage meter that would be connected to the coach batteries and the TEST button on the monitor panel. I went searching for how this would be done and it is relatively simple IF you know what wire is which and where it is connected - plus how to get to the wires.  The monitor panel - while it is similar to models made by the company that manufactures it, is made for Roadtrek by that company. Finding a schematic for the wiring and even knowing how to pull it from the wall without damaging it was not becoming a simple task. I knew that we had to be going to service anyway - if for nothing else but to get the generator oil changed for its annual change - so why not let the dealer service department do all this for me. I then started looking for a digital voltage meter that could be installed in the space that was available adjacent to the Test button and monitor panel. There are many to be found on Amazon and Ebay but most are designed to be installed into a dashboard and not the half inch wood of the Roadtrek wall in this location. I could rig something with a frame to have it surface mounted but then found this.

What is this? This is an Equus Innova Model 3721 Battery and Charging System Monitor. It is made for a vehicle battery and plugs into the 12 volt cigarette lighter or appliance outlet in a dashboard. It has an LCD digital display with both numerical voltage and a graph, and also LED lights. On the back is a chart that tells you what voltage levels indicate. The numerical voltage is the exact reading to within the accuracy of the meter. It also folds for different angle viewing. From reading the hundreds of reviews, this is supposedly one of the best of these meters and it was available through the Walmart website's "Site to Store" free delivery for just $13.86. It may be at local retailers but it was not in the several Walmarts in two three states that I looked for it. I ordered it and had it in five days.

 

This gave me a new idea. Instead of having a permanently mounted meter installed I could have a 12 volt coach outlet installed. This would enable me to use this meter and also have the outlet for any other 12 volt charger or appliance. Now, some of you with newer or older Roadtreks will say, "But there already is a 12 volt coach outlet in the Roadtrek!" Well not in the 2011 or the 2010. I am not sure when Roadtrek stopped including a 12 volt coach outlet or started including them again, but I don't have one. Newer Roadtreks have the outlet as part of the antenna booster and I could have done it that way also - probably on my own, but inside the cabinet over the TV on the  cabinet ceiling was not going to be very convenient - particularly since we keep the bed made up when traveling and opening that cabinet means climbing up on the bed. So I started looking for and found quickly a common and standard RV part - a 12 volt outlet - which it just so happened was in stock on our dealer's website's part's page. There were two to choose from. One the size of a light switch plate and the other much smaller - small enough to fit in where the monitor panel is.  A discussion with Meryl and it was decided. I sent an email to our friend at dealer service - good friends after all of the time we have spent with her over the four years of our visiting her at the service center - and told her my plan and included the part number and a photo of the vicinity that I wanted to outlet installed. She said she would show the photo and the part to the tech and see what he said. A couple of days later, we were good to go - she had ordered the part and we just had to wait the month for our appointment (more about that in my article about the actual trip). 

So once at service I showed her the spot that I wanted the outlet, she said it may need to be moved slightly lower which was fine and we left it to her and the tech to have the outlet installed. Five hours later - there were other things to be done - I had an outlet. 

 So here is how it all works - turn on the coach battery switch and just plug the meter in!

This reading is two and a half days after getting home from our trip. When this reading was photographed the "C" charge light was still lit on the monitor panel (this stays lit from a couple of days to a couple of hours after the batteries have been charging), but flickered (usually an indication it is about to drop to the next LED). A few minutes after I pulled the meter from the socket, I pushed the Test button and the panel LED was now on the "G" for "good" third up from the bottom yellow LED. I put the meter back in and the reading now was 12.4 volts. Still very good. Sitting without driving or charging even with the battery switch OFF, there is drain on the battery(ies). 

When I plugged the meter in during the trip while plugged into shore power with the batteries charging the reading was 13.8. During the trip during the day while on batteries only - with the fridge on DC (AC/DC only fridge) readings were 12.6 to 12.8. We were driving during each day and plugged in each night. Finally, I am free from the monitor panel LEDs - constantly guessing what the "G" LED and the second "F" (red) LED mean. No more guessing. 

I had a cap from a 12 volt socket splitter and it fit perfectly so now the outlet is not open when not in use. Not really necessary but a nice touch!

So without the Innova meter you are left with the option to take digital readings in the engine compartment at the Separator or Isolator. This is so much easier. 

After I purchased the Innova I came across a small plug in LED digital 12 volt meter on Amazon for only $3.00 - with Free Shipping. I wondered how this could be sold for only $3.00 and still be shipped free and I decided to take a chance and buy one of these also. The estimated delivery date was a month and a half after the purchase date. I thought that someone could put this in their pocket and walk it to my post office from just about anywhere in the country in less time. It shipped three days after purchase and arrived one week after purchase. The meter was shipped from China -in a brown mailing envelope and inside the meter was in a bubble wrap pouch. The postage on the envelope was from China. This little LED meter works. It lights up with bright red LED readings - the difference is that this meter has only three digits where the Innova meter shows four digits on the display. Used one after the other, the LED meter read the battery voltage as 12.4 while the Innova read the battery voltage as 12.42. If the Innova only had three digits, the  readings would have been the same BUT had the reading on the Innova been 12.49 and the LED meter still read 12.4 that would be somewhat different - though still not dramatic. So if you want a three dollar plug in digital 12 volt meter, search Amazon.

And just in case it needs to be said - I have nothing to do with the companies that makes these meters or this 12 volt outlet.  I get nothing from anyone and I give no "official" endorsement. If there is something good that is worth sharing I share it. 

An Enlightinging Idea about the Continental Spare Tire Kit

When we are in Williamsburg, Virginia, we like to walk around the historic area after dark. It is quiet, peaceful, and history seems to come to life in the shadows. We park in a lot on the edge of the historic area that is very dark. The spaces, while fine for cars, are just a little short for the Roadtrek even if I pull the tires all the way up to the wooden log that serves as a curb for each space. When I looked the back of the Roadtrek was sticking out into the exit lane by the length of the Continental Spare Tire kit on the back. The spare on the back adds about a foot in length to the standard Roadtrek length.

During the day, the Roadtrek is clearly visible to anyone driving past in such a situation, but I noticed while parked here at night that from the side, if driving down the entrance/exit lane, the Roadtrek was almost completely in the dark - and there was the spare tire sticking out into the lane. That night walking around in Williamsburg I kept thinking that this was really not good. There is no reflector on the side of the Roadtrek at all and the only reflectors on the rear are up in the air on the lights that are on the top halves of the cargo doors. I wondered why Roadtrek had not added reflectors to the Continental Spare Tire Kit - and it was certainly shaped to accommodate their placement. I decided that a trip to Walmart was in order. And, of course, we when got back to the Roadtrek that night I headed over to the 24 hour Walmart in Williamsburg.

I was not certain if I wanted to use plastic reflectors or reflector tape. I looked through what they had in the auto department and decided that the plastic reflectors with an adhesive backing would never stay on during all types of weather and temperature. I found the reflective tape and it just did not look reflective to me. You should have seen us walking around the store to where there were lights focusing down to a spot where I could hold the tape package and see how well the tape reflected the light. Pretty much it looked no more reflective than the red duct tape that they had. Then I saw a package of reflective strips intended to be placed on a truck bumper. This was very reflective and combined both red and white foil reflectors in each strip. Cut down this would work perfectly. It installed with an strong adhesive backing and should hold much better than the stick on foam that was on the plastic reflectors. (I did not want to drill holes to screw anything on.)

When I get an idea, no matter what time it is, I have to see it through. We purchased the reflective strips and went out to the Roadtrek in the parking lot where there was plenty of light. I knew that the campground was too dark - and besides, do it now when there is nothing else to do than wait until the morning and take the time for things we had planned. And it was not raining...

We cleaned the Continental Spare Tire cover with household cleaner that we have in the Roadtrek and paper towels. I washed it well and dried it completely. I cut the long strips into pieces and placed the side strips on - which were for the time being the most important. I decided that I would wait until I got home to do any more - but at night with just the side strips we would be fine in the dark parking lot. The large white strip at the top and the large red strip at the bottom are what we put on that night.The dots you see were added after we got home and I punched those from this same material with a 3/4" leather punch. It punched very cleanly.

At home I was pulling into my driveway behind the Roadtrek and realized that I could not see the back of the Continental Spare  Tire Kit at all in the dark. I had the reflector strips so I added the two red strips that you see here on the bumps that are molded into the tire cover.  The s original strip was cut lengthwise in half to fit here perfectly. Of course, everything was cut to matching size using a ruler and when stuck on I made sure with the ruler that each strip was as close as possible in a matching position. The bottom white strip was the last added, because I saw that my small car's headlights were not lighting up the upper reflectors.

I look at this now, and wonder, "too much?" I really don't think so. We are out of the campground a lot at night and the Roadtrek is very dark in a lot of parking lots. This added just enough to make the part of the Roadtrek that sticks out the most visible. Even if they are able to see the side of the Roadtrek - you could not see the spare tire sticking out the back - and if you cut it close, you clipped the spare tire. This is an easy mod and it cost about $8 for the reflective strips (package of four) to enlighten your Roadtrek's Continental Spare Tire Kit.

Yogi Bear Jellystone Park Camp-Resort, Hagerstown, Maryland

The Yogi Bear Campground is listed as the Hagerstown Yogi Bear Jellystone Park Campground is listed as being in Hagerstown, Maryland but it is actually located in Williamsport, Maryland which is southwest from the city of Hagerstown. We stayed here for three days and two nights on our recent trip to Maryland.

There are two campgrounds in this area to choose from. One is this Yogi Bear campground and the other is a KOA campground. I did some research and made some inquiries about the two campgrounds. I decided upon the Yogi Bear because reviews of the KOA kept mentioning the narrow entrance road that road along the edge of a river with several cautions about going off the side. The reviews of Yogi were mixed, but decided that as we would be coming back from our day activities late at night, I wanted to be sure of the road that I would have to take coming into the campground in the dark.

The purpose of this trip was to attend a colonial market fair held at Fort Frederick historic park in Big Pool, Maryland which is located northwest of Hagerstown. I may not have mentioned this before in my articles but Meryl and I are Revolutionary War living history reenactors. The event at Fort Frederick is one that many reenactors attend in 18th Century clothing and this is how we would be attending. One of the things that I have always heard about Yogi Bear Campgrounds is that they require all who stay to wear wristbands showing that they are registered - and from what I could learn about this particular campground, they are very strict about enforcing this rule. There was no way that we could attend this event with adhesive wristbands on our wrists. When we made the reservation, we explained this and we were told that arrangements would be made so that we would not have to wear the wristbands but we must have them with us at all times when we were on the property. Fine.

Finding this campground is a bit tricky when routing by GPS. The address that is given to route to this campground brings you to the correct location, but the GPS was determined to route you there in such a way that it involved a road that did not exist. It was necessary to find the road with the actual entrance and mark a waypoint on the route to get you to that point on roads that do exist.

I decided that it would be best to arrive at this campground for the first time during daylight and we left Pennsylvania for the two hour and fifteen minute ride so that we would come in to the campground around 4 pm. My tweak of the GPS route got us to the entrance. The entrance is very hard to see as it is tucked back from the road in the woods. There is a sign but the sign is also offset from the road and it comes up very quickly at a point at which there appears to be nothing there. Once into the drive and though the trees on a narrow one way entrance road (there is another exit road parallel), you are greeted by a large Yogi Bear, much like the photo above. (The photo is of the Yogi at entrance of their miniature golf course.) You then proceed down a long poorly paved road that is full of potholes. Avoiding these potholes is not easy - and there are some that you cannot avoid. As you continue weaving around the potholes you come to a building which houses their registration office. There is a sign to park along the side of the road and as we arrived there was a large Class A with a car towed behind it in front of us. If we parked behind it we would block the entrance so we waited awhile until the Class A driver came out and moved their RV. Time went on when we decided to just leave the Roadtrek on the side behind the Class A and go inside.

Registration was easy. The people behind the desk were very nice and welcoming. Next to us was the Class A driver and she was there without reservations and they were finding a site for her. We were told what our space was, given a packet of materials explaining the campground, and also were told about the special event that was taking place on Friday and Saturday - Mardi Gras Weekend. We would be there Friday. We had no intention of going to the Mardi Gras activities as we had our own plans for the day and night. Then we were handed our armbands. We explained what we had explained when we made the reservations and were told that this would be no problem as long as we had them with us. We were also given a sign to put on our windshield while we were in the campground. The reservations were paid for in advance in full - which was the only way they would make the reservation.

You don't just drive to your space here - you are escorted by a "ranger". We were met outside by a "ranger" driving a golf cart and he told us to follow him. When we made the reservation we were told that the standard RV site and the premium RV site would be the same price and we were given the "premium" site. We followed the "ranger" down a narrow dirt/gravel/paved road - again full of potholes. We came out of the woods into an open area with large RV sites - much larger than the Roadtrek. This was where our site was to be. But the "ranger" stopped and we could see him talking into his walkie-talkie. Something was obviously wrong. We waited a few minutes and then got out to find out what was going on. It seems that a large trailer was in the space that we were assigned. Suddenly, the Class A that had been in front of us came up behind on the road we were on with a "ranger" in a golf cart leading her. Our "ranger" told us we had to pull to the side of the road and he did the same. He directed us into a cut in the side of the road. The Class A pulled into the site that was next to the one that we were supposed to be in. Apparently, the trailer was not scheduled to be there that day and was supposed to have left that morning. Obviously, it did not. Our luck. There was a lot of chatter with the main office over the walkie-talkie and the manager was to be coming to decide where to put us. There appeared to be a lot of open spaces right there, but this was Thursday and perhaps there would be a big crowd arriving Friday for "Mardi Gras". OK. We were told to turn around and follow the "ranger".

I wish it was just that easy. The cut that we were directed into posed no problem for a golf cart as he could just swing right out and move in the direction from which we had come. The Roadtrek had no room to go forward and turn around. A u-turn was required. I pulled out, pulled forward, and then started pulling back to back into that same cut so that I could turn in the direction that we now needed to go in. Surrounding this cut were trees and boulder sized rocks along the edges and sides. As I backed up with the limited visibility of the Roadtrek to the rear and the angle of the backup camera, it appeared that I was clear until I heard the thud of what had to be my hitting one of the boulders. My heart sank and I had some unpleasant thoughts about Yogi Bear. There was nothing that I could do at that point - and we had to follow the "ranger" to our new site. We drove back along the road that we had come down on and back into the woods. We followed the "ranger" to sites that were surrounded by trees - and large rocks. This was not at all like the "premier" area that was wide open. This was literally in the woods. We were directed into a short pull through site. There were trailers all around us in the sites that were occupied. It took a sharp turn to avoid a large rock to get into the space. Once in the space I moved the RV around to see how level the space would be and did find a spot that was just about level in both directions - I did not find that spot again no matter how hard I tried for the rest of the stay.

The "ranger" checked that the water faucet was working. It was. The "ranger", who by the way was very nice, waved goodbye and was off. I looked at the back of the Roadtrek to see what damage I had done when I hit the rock. I could not see anything on the bumper and I suspect that I hit the van exhaust pipe. I hope that was it because there are a lot of things that hang down under the Roadtrek and if I had hit the generator I would have ruined it. The first thing that we do when we arrive at a campsite is check the electric service at the power post. This was the most unusual power post that we have come to so far and probably is not uncommon. This was a 30 amp site - no more "premium" site - on the map this was marked "standard". There was a 30 amp outlet and a 20 amp outlet. There were no circuit breakers - so far at each campground that we have been to there have been circuit breakers. It appeared that there were fuses. It did not look like Yogi had updated the power posts in some time. The box was also close to the ground and we could see that our power protector when plugged in first would be on the ground - which should not be a problem though there was a forecast for rain - when we eventually actually hooked up the power we set the Surge Guard on one of the large rocks that was in front of the electric box. The power tested correctly and that is what is important.

We decided that since it was just barely 5 pm we would take in the sites of Jellystone Park. The Yogi Bear campgrounds present themselves as resorts - and charge extra for this in the way of a required $4 per person fee per day in addition to the site fee. As we were really here off season, and we were leaving on Saturday - the start of the weekend - we did not have to pay this fee. During the summer and "in season", the fee is applied every day. We were curious to see what it was we could have been paying for. Of course, the theme is Yogi Bear and everything is geared toward that theme and to families with children. There is a large water slide, pictured here. This slide goes into the swimming pool which, by the way, at the end of April while we were here is closed. The swimming pool was large and looked to be very nice when it is open. Walking down the road to get to the slide and swimming pole we passed Yogi's miniature golf course, a playground, and an outdoor movie theater.






















As we walked through the campground we were passed by "rangers" in golf carts. Each would wave and say hello as they went by. Again, the staff was very nice here. We saw a sign for "Cindy Bear's Go Carts". We followed the sign into another area of the campground and did not find the go cart track - it is on the map. As we were heading back, we passed this little mining town building with a slouse gate and a place to pan for "real" gold. This was not open but there was a sign that there is a charge to pan for gold. Everything else that we saw including a building with laser tag seemed to be included with the stay.

As we were walking back to our site, we decided to see if there was access to the road in front of our site so that we could come around the next time we came in and back in, avoiding the rocks and trees. We followed one road and then another and did find that the roads looped around - be it through trees and more boulders but they did come around and would lead to the front of our site. What we did not notice at the time was the lack of any road lighting along any of the roads.

This photo is just an example of the terrain that makes up this campground.

Actually this is mild compared to what some of the terrain and roads are like here. Yes, it is Jellystone Park, home of Yogi Bear and bears live in the woods. I did not imagine that the theme was taken so literally. During the day, it is not much of a problem. You can see the holes in the road. You can see the mud. You can see the large rocks. You can see the trees. Come back at night and the campground is pitch black. The only lights come from a few cabins scattered through the campground areas and whatever lights are coming from RVs and trailers. You can no longer see the road. You can no longer see the rocks. You can no longer see the trees - until you are too close.

Coming back to the campground that night we missed the entrance to the campground off the road. As I said, it is set back and guess what - no lighting. So we drove about a mile down the road until we came to a cross road and luckily, it was possible to make a u-turn, as there were no cars coming down that road. This is not a deserted area. There are houses scattered along.

We got back to the entrance and drove very slowly until we found it and pulled into the dark entrance road and realized just how much of an obstacle course getting in and out of here on these poorly paved, potholed roads is. And to make it worse - no lights other than your headlights. We had scouted out this other way to get to our site and decided that we would try it. We thought we knew how to go. We headed down the road that we were sure it was and it got even darker and we were surrounded by trees. I had Meryl get out with the walkie-talkie to walk on front and guide me through. We crawled along and came to what appeared to be a road climbing a hill into darkness. No way was I going down that road. I gingerly backed up to another road that we had just passed that appeared just to go into the darkness of the woods. I do not know how large Class A's or trailers come through these roads. I looked at the turn I had to make between two very large trees and several boulders and I was certain that there was no way I could get through without scraping up the side of the Roadtrek against one of these trees. I had a very agitated discussion with Meryl about getting me through this small turn and she guided me in. We pulled down that road and could see that we would connect to the road that led into our campsite. We got there and backed in.

It was easier to get into the space this way, but it put us in a position on the gravel on the site that we were at a different angle than we had been in that afternoon. I backed up and to the side and forward again looking for an almost level spot. I knew there was one here somewhere. I could not find it. I settled for a spot that was close to level but actually off to the front. I would rather have my head up in bed than my feet. Side to side was a compromise as well. With the precarious ride to get to the site and the time it took to get level enough to be comfortable, it was getting late - and we had a big day ahead of us on Friday. We got out and hooked up, went back inside and settled in.

Wifi service was fair but adequate. Cable television was very good. There was a large number of good cable channels and many came in in both HD digital and analog. We have yet to be in a campground other than this one where the cable signal is digital and this is because of the conversion of cable companies and satellite to digital and the campground converts the signal back to analog to avoid needing a special box to tune in the channels, like the set top box you have at home from the cable company. Without the conversion by the campground every RV would need a box specific to that provider company.

While we had been walking around that afternoon we checked out the restrooms and shower facilities. They were all clean but were dated. There did not look like there had been any change in them since they were put up, though the men's room did have waterless urinals which is a recent thing.

The next morning we dressed in our colonial clothes, got outside at the site and unhooked the cable and the electricity. We must have looked like we were ready for the Mardi Gras and we attracted the looks a several campers and children. We headed off for Fort Frederick.

When we returned that night we took the easy way to the back of the space and pulled through just being careful of the trees and the rocks. We got into the space and went through the dance of finding a not level but suitable place to stop. The next morning again, we dressed in our colonial clothes, got out to unhook, got more stares and got back in and left Yogi Bear Campground heading once again to Fort Frederick, from which we would leave that evening to head back to Pennsylvania.

Now, will we come back to Yogi Bear next year when we return to this same annual event at Fort Frederick. At this point, I will say probably. The rate was reasonable. The location for where we needed to go was fine. I did not like the condition of the roads in the campground - for a so-called resort with extra fees, things should be in much, much better repair. The entire campground of roads needs re-paving and the road in and the road out is treacherous and terrible. It would be easy to miss avoiding a large hole - and there were some very large holes and do a lot of damage to your axle or your under-carriage. I suppose people like feeling that they are in the woods. I would rather this be not quite so woodsy and that there were at least a few street lamps on the roads in the campground. Anyone walking at night takes their life into their hands. There was also a problem with campers' dogs not on leashes. We saw several and encountered one pooch that ran off from its owner who was at the side of their trailer and decided to chase us. I have little problem with dogs - as long as they are small - but Meryl is frightened of dogs and always has been. This one was yapping and snapping at our legs. The owner called the dog - lots of luck if this dog cared. He eventually came over and got him - too late though for Meryl who was trying hard to just get away from there. There is supposed to be a rule here to keep pets on a leash but this was not enforced.

I am not sure where else I would stay in this area. We did not have an opportunity to see the KOA campground though we did see a sign on the Interstate for the exit to take to get to it. Aware of what I am now aware of and what to look out for when coming into the campground at night, I would likely come back.

Not far from this campground is Antietam Battlefield of the Civil War (also called Sharpsburg depending upon which side you are from North or South). It is an excellent place to visit and I have been there many times in the past before our Roadtrek days. We will likely go back again. This is also a good location to visit Harper's Ferry National Park in West Virginia which is very close by. So there may be reason for you to be visiting this area - other than Fort Frederick which is a musuem and has a real 18th Century military fort to tour besides the events that take place there. If you decide to visit here, and come to stay with Yogi, you have the whole story now. There is a Walmart in Hagerstown and a Pilot Truck Stop that both allow overnight parking of RVs if you would like to stay without a hookup.

Living in the Roadtrek - Towels

Small things that you would ordinarily not give much thought to, in a Class B RV, because of its size, you really need to give some consideration to selecting. When you are at home you can have lots of towels and when they get wet there are usually a lot of places that are available to hang them to dry. In the Roadtrek with limited cabinet space, you have to limit the number of towels that you carry or do without something else. As to what to do with wet towels, space is even more limited. Most towels sold are not made to dry very quickly. The plusher they are the wetter they stay. Before we got the Roadtrek we started researching what type of towels to buy.

The most common answer to this question is micro-fiber camping towels. These are sold in some camping stores and online. We looked in two local large chain stores, one a camping store and the other an outdoor sports store. Everywhere we looked we saw the same small micro-fiber towels. There was certainly nothing very useful if one took a shower or went swimming. What are considered hand towels in what we saw were more the size of wash cloths.

The "Sham-Wow", as seen on TV, was suggested. We had one of these that we had purchased at a farmer's market for a dollar. I was told that to make this stiff towel feel soft to the skin, soak it in water and let it dry. We tried that and what we got was a wrinkled Sham-wow that was not really soft. I tried at home using it to dry my hair. It felt terrible to use. That idea was put aside. I should say that these are good in the Roadtrek for drying the floor after you have taken a shower in the aisle. While most of the water does goes down the drain in the floor, the floor does remain wet and these will do a good job at drying the floor - and drying the shower curtain.

Micro-fiber towels are basically the same no matter what their purpose. You can find them in the automotive departments to use to wash and dry your car. You can find them in the housewares departments to use as kitchen towels. They are all pretty much the same - and a bit heavier than the special "camping" towels that are sold for a lot more money - plus they come in a variety of sizes.

Our first purchase of towels were micro-fiber towels found in Wal-mart's auto department. There we found large bath size towels and medium sized hand towels. Of course, they were not called bath towels or hand towels. They are all purposed there for your car, but the sizes were close. These towels are soft to the touch, easy on the skin, absorb water and dry relatively quickly. The drying time is the most important part. On our first trips, these were the towels that we used.

In the Roadtrek there are three towel rods. One on the bathroom door, another on the large kitchen cabinet below the sink,and the third is on the clothes closet behind the driver's seat. As you can see none of these towel rods is very long and only the rod on the bathroom door (above) has any room for a thick towel to fit through. Micro-fiber towels tend to be thinner than the towels that you would get for your home bathroom so they don't have a problem fitting onto the rod, but there is not very much room across to put more than one or two towels depending upon their size. These three rods are all you have in the Roadtrek for drying anything on. You can hang a clothes line across the aisle, but no matter where you put this, it is going to be in the way. The best idea for this is behind the driver and passenger seat across the width of the van, but if this is there and you want to sit in the front seats to watch TV, you are not going to see anything but whatever is hanging from the line. It is a good place to dry things after you go to bed.

A short while after we had the micro-fiber towels, I read on an RV forum about quick drying, home bathroom towels that are sold in J.C. Penney. The towels have the label. "Linden Street" and the sign in the store says "Quick-dri". These are just like the towels that one uses at home, but they dry much faster. The come in the standard home towel sizes and there is a wide variety of colors including colors with stripes. The towels sell for $3 to $20 depending upon size. They are all cotton. Here is a link to the towels on J.C. Penney's website, but you can find them in your local Penney's store in the towel department. We tried a few of these first and they are great. They feel as comfortable as any home bath towel and they really do dry quickly. According to the store they dry 33% faster than regular towels. I am not paid by anyone to tell you about these, but they really are good for RV travel. We now use these for all hand and body use and the micro-fiber towels are now used for cleanup and drying dishes. Of course, we carry paper towels and when not needed, they are stored inside the microwave.

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Living in the Roadtrek - Security Part I

I may have misnamed this article, as I am not really sure how to put a title on what we do to keep the Roadtrek secure from break in when we are away from it while it is parked. As far as personal security in the Roadtrek - you are as safe inside as you would be in your car, truck, or van. When inside lock your doors and it will take a bold criminal to come in while anyone is inside. That is not to say that it cannot happen - and I don't want to go off on a tangent here, but I will come back to this before the end of the article.

Anyway - when we got the Roadtrek it seemed to me - as we live in one of those parts of the country where you do not leave your house door open at night or your car unlocked when you are not inside of it - that there was a lot inside the Roadtrek to attract someone with wrong intent to break in. We often hear about GPS units being stolen from cars. In the Roadtrek you have a flat screen TV, positioned where it can be easily seen through the rear and side windows. It is also very obvious when looking through the windows to the inside that this is an RV and that there are people's belongings inside. All very and much too tempting...

Roadtrek's do come with curtains on all of the windows including for the windshield and the windows on the driver's door and the passenger's door. We closed the side windows - on the sides of the bed area and leave them closed. The curtains for the front doors and the windshield are two curtains that pull from the sides and go all around on a track and velcro closed where they meet which is just about under the rear view mirror. This is fine to do at night for privacy, but a pain to do every time you come and go. There are curtains on the rear cargo door windows, but it is necessary to have both doors open to close these windows from the outside. It is possible to close them from the inside easily, but this requires being on the bed, if the bed is made up, and when we are traveling we keep the bed made up all of the time. If you have read my article about making the bed in our Roadtrek, you will understand why. To open the right cargo door is no problem. Open the door and there is the window curtain - pull it across on the tracks that it is on and lock it in place with a button snap. The curtain on the left door works the same way, but to open that door requires dropping the arm that the spare tire sits on, as this blocks this door from opening. The spare tire and holder is very heavy. It is not something that you want to do every time you stop and park - and certainly this will call attention to what you are doing and your Roadtrek. We looked at all types of ways to reach the curtain and pull it over. Nothing that we thought of really would work. We looked at blinds and shades for the windows that might be easier to pull down with just one door open - but these would swing and make noise when driving and that did not seem like a solution. After examining the door frame, we came up with a design for a curtain that would reach across the entire back of the Roadtrek behind the bed that could be pulled up easily from the one open door, secured into place, and be done in just a few seconds. I know that many just keep their rear window curtains closed all of the time. I am not certain of the legalities of that where I live - I am sure it is fine in some places to have the rear windows blocked but with the limited visibility in the back of the Roadtrek while driving, I want the windows open to be able to see what little one is able to see through them. For me, a little can go along way when need be.

The curtain we designed is made from a flat sheet - black - from Walmart (the less expensive sheets that they sell that are not in sets). The cloth is dense enough to not allow any view inside even with light coming in from the windshield to the back and costs less than similar fabric purchased in a fabric store. In the photo to the left you can see the curtain through the open right door. All of the edges are hemmed. The top hem is larger to hold two small, button rare earth magnets at the end in each corner of the top. The magnets have to be stitched into little sections so that they do not lock together (tough to get apart) and so that they sit on the metal door frame at the top corners. The open space at the top is not visible when the door is closed and if there is any space at all there that can be seen nothing is recognizable behind it. The magnets need to be positioned just right inside the corners to make sure that the curtain hangs just as you want it as to hide what it needs to hide. Now, you ask - you still can't get to the curtain on the left - so how is this different. When you release this curtain from the right side, and leave the left side in place on the magnets, the fabric drops down and out of the way of seeing out the left rear window. To make certain of this, I carry a dowel that I can use to push the curtain where it meets the bottom of the window to the side and behind the Roadtrek's open curtain. The magnets are strong and they will not come down unless you really give a tug. To put this curtain up, I open the right door, grab the top corner of the curtain which is usually sitting at the floor right at the side of the left door, and put it in place with the magnets. Close the door and go! With the doors closed, because of the way the windows are tinted (not full tint unfortunately), all you see is black. It is so black that when I tried to take a photo of it all you could see was the reflection of what was behind the Roadtrek outside. This hid the most obvious things that needed to be hidden. And with the curtain in place, from the rear it looks like any other parked van. This was the first thing that we did to secure the Roadtrek, and we thought at first that we did not need to any more. It is not easy to see inside through the windshield and the front side windows. One night getting out of the Roadtrek in a parking lot with bright lights all around, I realized that I could see quite clearly inside and through the windshield I could see all of the cabinets - and the TV. We had more to do.

End of Part I - next week Security Part II.

A Trip Without a Challenge? Part 3: The Historic Storm

When last I ended, we were on our way to the campground in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania after a day of service on the Roadtrek. We arrived at the campground knowing what space we had as I had been told when I made the reservation. This is Halloween weekend and Halloween is a big deal at campgrounds with campers decorating their spaces and RVs. I was not sure what we would find at this campground and was hoping not much of that as Halloween is my wife's birthday - and she hates that it is. When other kids were having pretty parties with pink and yellow balloons, her parties were decorated with black and orange balloons and decorated with witches and ghosts. This was her parents' idea and not hers. Anyway, we have been traveling to Lancaster County for years for her birthday because IN THE PAST in this predominantly religious community, Halloween was downplayed. In recent years, this has not been the case. Anyway - when I made the reservation I asked for "not a T-Space" (see my article about Old Mill Stream Campground to understand what a T-Space is) but I was told that all that were available were T-Spaces. The space assigned was not bad as it had entrances on two roads and if necessary we could come and go even if the main entrance was blocked. We went into the office and paid for the weekend - four nights. We drove over to the space and at that point we were the only RV in the T.

When we arrive at a new campground space we always check the polarity and voltage at the outlet that we will be hooking up to. This is necessary as the wrong polarity or the wrong voltage - too high or too low - will damage your RV electrical system. We carry meters to do both and the tests are very quick. We went through this ritual and were ready for the evening. It was really too late at this point to go anywhere as it was after 5 and it was too early to go yet for dinner. I suggested that we drain the exterior fresh water tank as we had time now that we did not know what to do with.

The proper way of draining the fresh water tanks is to remove a cap from a pipe that is under the Roadtrek under the area of the driver's door. This requires that one get on the ground and go under. It had rained there as much as everywhere else that day and the ground was soaking wet and muddy. This was not going to work. We had found at home that another way to empty the tank is to open the outside shower faucets with the water pump running. This runs all of the water out and with some force - faster than the slow moving drain plug. That is what we did. In about fifteen minutes the tank was empty. We had previously switched the water lines to cut the interior tank from the exterior tank and that tank was still full - and that was just what we wanted. Our fresh water was now safe from freezing.

We headed out then for the restaurant to have a very nice dinner. After dinner it was - as always - a stop at the 24 hour Walmart to buy RV antifreeze. Others must have been rushing the shelves as all of the Walmart brand, less expensive antifreeze was sold out. I purchased the name brand for a dollar more and we headed back to the campground to put it in the tanks. I was really exhausted now from my lack of sleep the night before and I knew that I would have no problem sleeping in the Roadtrek that night.

Before we had left, I went through a number of internet/Roadtrek sites to learn how much antifreeze to add to the waste tanks while they were still in use. The answer that kept coming up was about two quarts each - and one gallon bottle would do that exactly. Half the bottle went down the toilet and the other half of the bottle went down the sink drain. It was getting colder outside, but the temps while we were still up were around 40 degrees F. No problem. I put on the weather reports to check the local forecasts. It was almost 2 am and they were still reporting the same cold nights but warmer days with Saturdays rain showers mixed with snow showers. Still no problem, especailly now that our water tanks were set for the cold.

I turned on the furnace to make sure it would work, but preferred to go to sleep with the heat pump that is part of the air conditioner unit. We also had the hot water heater running for the first "real" usage. The heat pump kept us plenty warm. When we went to bed I left that running. I set the alarm for 10:30 am - this was now to be a relaxing vacation and there was no need to get up any earlier.

At 8:00 am I awoke, cold under the blanket. The vent over my head in the ceiling was pouring cold air on me. The heat pump was working but it was blowing cold. I looked at a thermometer that we brought with us, and the temperature inside was in the thirties. I remembered then reading that the heat pump is only good to 40 degrees and should not be used below that temperature. I turned it off, and turned on the furnace. It came on right away, and heat started to fill the Roadtrek in just a few minutes. I went back to sleep.

When we woke up and went out to unhook the Roadtrek from the electric and the cable connections, it was a bit cloudy but a really nice day. It was not cold. Fridays in Lancaster for me mean a trip to Green Dragon Farmers Market. I have written about the market before so I will not go into details again. We had a wonderful day at Green Dragon and spent the whole day there. While there we went into one of the stores and overheard the owner and his wife talking - about SNOW. He was telling her she was crazy and she was saying that the weather reports had changed and that there would be at least two to three inches of snow on the ground on Saturday. Later, when Meryl and I spoke about hearing this, she and I both felt that two to three inches of snow was manageable - but here we go - our relaxing weekend was about to have a new challenge. Walking around outside after that, we again heard another group discussing the snow that was coming. I, now, was getting concerned. We were ready to leave Green Dragon anyway and when we got into the Roadtrek I put on the local radio station.

The announcer on the radio said this, "IF you are hearing this broadcast you are in a winter storm warning zone. There will be seven to twelve inches of snow falling on this area on Saturday. Stay inside." Oh boy! I changed the station to another to hear the same warning but this time with a prediction of six to ten inches of snow falling locally on Saturday. Now, we had a real challenge.

The Roadtrek has a ground clearance of only about six inches. At the top of that there are pipes, plumping, tanks, a generator, and a lot of things that should not be scraped along the ground or through deep snow. There was no way that I wanted to be anywhere only with the Roadtrek in snow higher than its clearance. The snow would stop by Sunday - but it would remain on the ground. I looked at Meryl and said, "We have to leave and go home - tonight." We had paid for the campground for the whole weekend but it was worth losing the money than damaging the Roadtrek or being inside of it in a heavy snow storm. We could have just gotten on the road and headed home, but we decided to go back to the campground first - just to make sure the reports would remain the same.

Of course, the reports remained the same. It was hard to believe that less than 14 hours before there was no indication of this storm in any of the weather reports, but it was coming. Meryl suggested that we go into the office and let them know that we were leaving and maybe ask for a two day credit toward another stay. This is by no way expected and more than likely at most campgrounds would be laughed at. Meryl asked. I added that we would, of course, pay for that night even though we were leaving. The ladies at the counter completely understood. They offered to refund us not only the two remaining days but also that night. I could not believe it. Wonderful - despite my wish that the weather would magically just go away. They handed us a credit slip for a refund on our charge card for three nights. Now let me say this -

THE EMPLOYEES AT OLD MILL STREAM CAMPGROUND ARE THE BEST OF ANY CAMPGROUND!

We left the office still not believing that we had the money back, but very disappointed that our wonderful and relaxing weekend would end before it even had a real chance to get started. We left and stopped for dinner at a favorite restaurant - though even that did not make up for the disappointment that I felt.

By 1:00 am we were home. No snow fell where we live but in Pennsylvania where we were - and in New Jersey and north of us in Connecticut the storm hit hard, dropped a lot of wet and heavy snow, and did a lot of damage.

They are calling this an "Historic Storm". There has not been a storm even close to this since the Civil War - that is 150 years. How lucky we are that we got our Roadtrek just in time to experience this phenomenon.

This has been quite a season - an earthquake, a freak rain storm, a hurricane, and a historic snow storm. Luckily, there are no volcanoes anywhere around where we travel.

Shopping - Getting Ready Part II

We will be picking up the Roadtrek in two weeks and we realized that there are things that we will need for that first night. An RV is like a home and like every new house or apartment moved into there is a need to set up housekeeping. We were in Pennsylvania for the day (for my birthday) and we took a shopping list that we have been putting together for months with us to purchase some of the things we need - or don't need - to get hooked up at a campground and comfortable for the night.

Why Pennsylvania? There are few places near us in NY to buy RV specific things and we do not like to shop on the Internet. I like to look at the item and hold it in my hand before I decide to purchase it - even if it is something that I am going to need to purchase anyway. Even stores that are in NY that are also in PA seem to carry a lot more variety of things than they do in NY including Walmart. One of the things that you see a lot more of are things for RV's. And besides, I like Pennsylvania. So we were going anyway - and would be in those stores anyway, so we have been holding off looking for things until we got there.

Since we made the decision to purchase the Roadtrek I have been doing research as to what is necessary. Along the way I have learned many things about how to hook up and what is involved in maintaining and staying in an RV. Some of this involves hooking up the water that comes into the RV. Some of this involves getting the electrical connections made so that you have 110 volt power. And some of this involves getting what you have put down the sink and the toilet back out again and away to where it needs to go. So we needed electrical connections and various plumbing connections, all specific to an RV or travel trailer. We also knew that we would need to make up the beds in some manner to sleep on that first night, and we figured that we might as well get what we will need for that rather than piece it together from linens in the house.

To hook up the electricity, what I have learned it that you need to do more than just take the plug from the long electrical cord connected to the RV and plug it into the electrical box at the pad at the campsite. The power for the Roadtrek is 30 amps maximum. Your home outlets are generally 15 amps with a maximum of 20 amps. The plug for a 30 amp outlet is a large round plug with three, large, oddly directed prongs. If you want to connect this RV to the power outlet at your home you need a converter plug to size the 30 amps plug to a 15 amp socket (your standard three prong house plug/socket). According to a book I have read and many questions that have been asked by RV neophytes like me and others and answered by much more experienced RVers, there is no problem connecting a 30 amp RV to a 15 or 20 amp circuit - you will only draw as much current as there is available. AND - get this - there is no problem connecting a 30 amp RV to a 50 amp circuit (used for much larger RVs). The 30 amp RV has circuitry and devices that will only draw 30 amps without damage to the RV. I have also learned that when you get to a campground you need to test the outlet BEFORE you plug into it to make sure it has correct polarity and the correct voltage flowing through it - 110 to 120 volts. Apparently, not intentionally, but not all campsite outlets are in the best of condition and it is not uncommon to find a problem outlet. So in the event that the 30 amp outlet is bad, you could use the 50 amp outlet - provided you have the correct adapter plug. Following me here - it does get involved. So, of course, what do I need to buy - a variety of adapters and electrical test equipment. Sure, after spending all that on the RV, you don't want to mess up the electrical circuits, right - so you just have to spend a little more. Some Walmarts in NY have the adapter plugs but not one has all of those needed at the same time - so that was on the list for Pennsylvania. A voltmeter is needed to check that the 110-120 volts is flowing through the outlet. That is not easy to find. Mostly it has to come from an RV store. There is a device that does the same thing and more called a Kill-A-Watt. These are used by many homeowners to see how much electricity different appliances use. I was told that it will also tell me the line voltage so I had been looking for that near home. The only model I could find in the local home stores was the more advanced model and I really wanted the basic one, so that was on the list for PA also. The polarity tester I could get anywhere - but what the heck - it was on the list for PA as well.

I also needed a water hose. The RV has a water inlet connection that has a garden hose connector on it and at the campground there is a hose spigot to attach to. Well, that should be simple. There are garden hoses anywhere. BUT- you will be drinking this water and regular garden hoses contain lead in the connections and in the hose material to keep it from being damaged by the UV rays of the sun. So you cannot use a household garden hose - unless you want to find out what lead poisoning is like. You must get a special "white" hose - and yes, the color of the hose is white with, sometimes, blue lines on it. This RV hose is safe to drink from. (Something to remember the next time you send your kids to take a drink from the backyard hose.) The hose(s) were on the list too. And in case you are not so sure about the quality of the water coming into that hose, you can get a water filter that connects to the hose connection. Might as well. And oh yes, the water pressure coming from the campground spigot might be too forceful so you need a special pressure regulator connection too. On the list...

This brings us to the waste disposal part of what is necessary - and, thankfully, very little is required to add to what is included with the RV. What I did see on a few campground listings is that they require a "donut". This is a rubber ring that creates a tight seal between your dump hose and the dump hole in the ground (actually, a wide pipe sticking up). Not sure if we will need that or not, but it is on the list.

Add to the list some normal things - four flat sheets (fitted sheets will not fit), pillows, pillow cases, and bedbug cases for the pillows because we don't take any chances. Then my wife decided that she would like to have some containers to hold food items in the closets like cereal, etc. After a long discussion about mice and the like and what is necessary to keep them out as best as possible. Airtight containers are a must and ones that can take some bouncing around. So with a bit of convincing, my good wife set out to look for containers that she likes that will fit in the limited cabinet space that there is. All of this and a bit more was on her list...

We did not spend the day shopping. We have learned in the last two plus years of not traveling overnight how to cram as much as we can into one short day - and it takes four hours to get to PA. We arrived around 2:30 and spent some time in some of our favorite places to visit. We drove through the farm roads. I purposely drove past the RV park that we will be staying at for the night that we pick up the Roadtrek. It is open now for the season again. All looked well - as it had when I drove past last Fall. We also went to take a look at another RV park that I knew as a local attraction many years ago and is now an RV campground. This one caused some concern because as we looked at the few RVs and trailers staying there, none looked to be level. All seemed to slant either up or down. Not a preferred thing to have where you spend the night in your RV.

Before dinner in probably my most favorite restaurant - an object of the trip to celebrate my birthday - we stopped in a local store nearby - a small country version of a department store. I knew that there was a good possibility that I would find some of the things on my list. Sure enough they had the Kill-A-Watt model that I wanted and the price was reasonable. Looking in the camping department, there was a small section of RV related items. There were 12 volt light bulbs - don't need any of those now, but will at some point I am sure. There was also a small bubble level that clearly showed all four directions that the RV could be off. What the heck, for four bucks, event though it was not on the list - I grabbed it. There were a few things that my wife looked for but did not find them. We were both surprised as this store has things that we usually cannot find anywhere else. You know those things that you say, I really could use X and then find out that you are behind ten or twenty years and X does not exist anymore - until you get to his store and surprise! there is X - new and still manufactured. We left the store to have my birthday dinner.

Dinner was great and could not be beat! After a look through the gift shop - most of the restaurants here have gift shops - we headed for one of the two Walmarts that we know are well-stocked in this area. It was 8:30 pm when we left for the store, list in pocket.

We arrived at the store and I said, let's do this in an organized way. We took a shopping cart and headed for the automotive section where the RV things are. There was a large full counter of shelves full of things for RV - unlike the small section of shelves (shelf?) at the local Walmart. There were all three adapter plug cords. There were the water hoses - we placed a ten foot one and a twenty five foot long one in the shopping cart. There was the water pressure regulator and the water filter. All went into the cart. I looked at all of these cords and suggested that we add a plastic box to the list to store them in. The rubber donut seal was out of stock. There was the box they should be in but it was empty. Ok. Off to look for more.

Next we went to the electrical department for the polarity tester. They were out of it. It must have been a busy day. Then off to the linen department with a stop off along the way to pick up a plastic box for the power supplies.

The linen department was a big disappointment. No flat white sheets at all. A selection of pillows but there were only three of the four we needed. They had others but each had something we did not like about it. My wife was concerned as the local NY Walmarts also had no stock on flat white sheets. Not to worry I said, there is another Walmart here. We will just go there next. It was after 10:30 pm at the time. We picked up a few more items including a set of seal airtight plastic storage containers.

While late night at 24 hour Walmarts should be relatively empty late at night, that is generally not the case. There are people in the store shopping. But there generally are only one or two cash registers open. There was a long line at the register. We waited until it was our turn and started to check out. The man at the cash register made a comment at the RV things we were buying. He "fulltimes" in a Fifth-wheel RV. That means he lives in the RV with his family full time. A fifth-wheel is like a trailer that is attached to the flatbed of a pick up truck. They are generally not that large. He liked it. He asked about our RV and he commented with a smile that we will find that we don't need some of what we are buying. But then he said, but maybe you will...

We left the store and it was almost 11 pm. Oh by the way when we got outside, it was pouring rain. The rain did stop as we were driving. We got to the other Walmart and went for what we were missing that was on the list. We were only able to get the polarity tester. Everything else here was out of stock. My wife was concerned and I said that since we had to go back to where the other Walmart is to buy gas and it is next to the road that we need to get to the turnpike we would go back. She could at least pick one of the better of the rejected pillows. Ok - we headed back.

She went into the store and I don't know why but I waited in the car. It seemed like forever. She called me on my cell phone and told me that she came upon a woman who was stocking shelves and asked about the sheets and pillows. Now, unlike at home, this employee said that she would actually go to the stock room to find out if there were any more. Off she went and came back with a carton of more pillows and a carton of sheets. My wife had her pick and got everything she wanted. This would not happen in the Walmart or any store near us in NY.

By then I went in to meet her and we went to the cash register. Now, at Walmart at midnight - every cash register shuts down and then must be reopened for the new day. This happens at all 24 hour Walmarts without fail. And it was five minutes to Midnight as we got on the single line. Too late. At the stroke of Midnight the closing crews came out and the registers shut down for about ten minutes or so. It was well after 12:30 am before we got back into the car.

We started home. This was a night when we really needed the Roadtrek. It was 4 am when we got home. All in all, a fun day! Really!

Oh, and reservations for our first campground have been made. We are all set for the day of delivery...