Plan the Trip Before You Leave Most of us have heard about the Barkers, the older couple who became stranded while traveling in their RV in 2022. Tragically, the husband lost his life after leaving the RV to seek help. I’m not going to critique their decisions or the events that followed. There has been…
Campground Cancellation Policies: Finding the Right Balance The RV boom that began during COVID continues to affect campers and campground owners in many ways. One of the biggest changes has been campsite availability. At many popular campgrounds, especially on weekends, reservations need to be made months in advance—sometimes a year or more. The problem is…
Becoming Snowbirds For years, Pat and I have talked about spending the winter somewhere warm. In a way, we’ve already been doing it, just a couple of weeks at a time. Every winter we’d head south, enjoy the sunshine, and then reluctantly return home to snow and cold. This year is different. This year, we’re…
Finding RV Parts Shouldn’t Be This Difficult If you own an RV long enough, you’ll eventually need replacement parts. Things wear out. Things break. And while some parts may look simple, today’s RVs are surprisingly complex machines. As manufacturers add more technology and features, finding replacement parts should become easier—not harder. Recently, I lost one…
Sometimes the Simplest Thing Is the Problem We had an interesting morning while camping in Two Harbors. We had been set up for more than 24 hours, and everything had been working perfectly. Then, out of nowhere, the microwave beeped. I looked over, and the display was blank. It was dead. Being the curious type,…
Camping and Severe Weather: Be Prepared The snow is slowly disappearing, the days are getting longer, and camping season is finally here. Whether you travel in a motorhome, fifth wheel, travel trailer, or pop-up camper, one thing remains the same: Pay attention to the weather. Over the past few weeks, much of the southern United…
Do Them. Every Time. Pre-trip inspections. Do them. Every time. We’re leaving today on what will probably be our longest trip yet with our fifth wheel—a two-week adventure through southern Minnesota and South Dakota. We’ve been looking forward to this trip for months. The first stop is a family gathering. Between Pat’s family and mine,…
Converter vs. Inverter: What’s the Difference? I had a little reminder the other day about slowing down before answering questions online. I was reading through an RV group on Facebook when someone posted a photo and asked a question. I took a quick look, answered, and realized afterward that I hadn’t looked closely enough at…
Just Some Thoughts I usually write about RVing, camping, and the adventures Pat and I have along the way. Today’s post is a little different. A former coworker recently shared a couple of quotes on Facebook that really made me stop and think. I don’t know who the original authors are, but they struck a…