Our RV life from 1990-2007 (Blog #2)

I know that nobody else does this, but I accidentally clicked  "PUBLISH" instead of the "PREVIEW" !!
Thats what you get when you are in a hurry to finish what you are doing at 2:00 am so you can get to bed.
OK,Thats the only excuse I am only give for that screw-up! There will probably be more before I give up Blogging!!!

        Our RV life from 1990-2007 (Blog #2)    
I am wanting to reach out to people who are either
retired or about to retire in a few years. I want those
of you who would enjoy  taking their Travel Trailer
for a month long trip to Alaska with all its beauty,
 or to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore and
the Bad Lands or to Eccles Dinosaur Park in
Ogden,UT or to Edison & Ford Winter Estates in
Ft. Myers,Fl....This whole wonderful country is ours'
 is full of RV camping sites located close to whatever
 you want to see. Do not miss out ! What I am trying
 to do with this blog is to get your attention to the
wonders of the RV lifestyle and to see if I can strike
 some interest for you by reviewing some of our
travels.
The only long RV trips that we took,that we used
our 3/4 ton Van with the 29 1/2 ft. ProwlerTravel
Trailer, was to Key West and a 7 month trip up
through Civil War Battle fields, Washington DC
to visit our Nations Capitol, Niagara Falls and
most of the time in and around Bucksport and
Penobscot Maine.( I had agreed to wire my brothr's
new house that he was building in Penobscot).
I learned during that seven months of traveling,
had I used a 5th wheel RV trailer,it  would have
been less stressful. Every time that a Semi-Truck
passed me, going either way, the air flow that
was created would have a side pull effect then
a release that would have a "fish-tail" effect on
the Prowler  RV. ( 5th wheel RV's are not affected
nearly so much due to the way they are attched
to the truck bed).

You see, when a big semi-truck passes you, going
either way, the front end of the truck pushes air out
 around it, which combinds with the air being pushed
out by the front of your RV. The combined air
pressure tend to push the truck and RV apart
somewhat. Then when the semi does pass ,there is
 a small vacuum following the semi and one
following the RV, which tries to suck your RV  and
 the truck together somewhat.
 This will cause your unit to "fishtail". It all depends
on the speeds (your plus theirs) and how close
together you are. If you both are traveling 65 mph
on a single lane road...Hang on !!!
   
 Be sure to have 10% of the total trailer weight
on the bed of the truck. This is a "vital must"!
.
For those of you who have a Towable Travel Trailer,
 you may find the following site helpful to you.
.[ How to Properly Load And Tow An RV Travel Trailer
(Hint: Get An Equalizer Hitch!)] I came across this site
 and it should clear up any questions that you may
have. The guy knows his RV's
After getting all of the good information that you need
 to make a half-way intelligent decision on what you
think  you will need, I strongly recommend that you
 locate one of Camping World's 75 service shop to
do the work for you. I have used Camping World for
 all of my service work and I have great respect for
their service people.


If you have not had very much experience towing an
 RV ( either a towable or a 5th wheel ) , I strongly
suggest that you find a private place ( like the back
area of a Wam-Marts Parking lot) to practice backing
into a  marked off space of about 10 ft  by  40ft. This
will approximate the average camp site size.
 (Disconecting the truck or car to be parked seperately
is pretty much standard at most camp sites.) When
maneuvering a trailer, one trick to remember is to
place your hand on the bottom of your steering. If
you want the back of the trailer to turn left, then
swing the steering wheel "up" to the left. And another
rule to follow is to make all of your moves slowly.
 Do not let people watching you , fustrate you.Tune
 them out and take your time.( You are going to have
people watching you park most of the time, because
thats what  campers do. Watch the new guy set up
his camp site....)

While I am on the subject of setting up in a camp site,
 I do have a pet peeve that I have worked hard to
control, and that the guy that insists on helping me
park, even tho I have my perfectly good wife out
there giving me instructions.We have two small
hand-held radios that we use. I don't listen to the
unwanted help,which usually tee's them off and
after awhile they will get the idea. Sometimes I have
 to tell them that my wife is the co-pilot and she is
the only one I listen to. I have only had one Sexual
 Intellectual, that took offense to me turning down
 his help. I take directions only from my sweet wife,
who at the same time she is giving me directions,
is also telling me every thing that she sees back
there from the little frog she sees down  in the wet
 area to  the bird nest that doesn't have any birds
in it. I have tried to discourage her from passing me
 all this vital information to no avail.She is a keeper
 so I guess that I will just keep on listening.