Don't Believe Everything You Read In The Books, Websites, & Brochures...

I'm upset!

Bob & I have stayed at this particular RV park for several years on our way to Moab, Utah. The Amarillo Ranch RV Park is conveniently located just off I-40 so it's easy on & easy off. This time we decided to take it more leisurely on our way to Moab. So we're spending two night at this park and two nights in Albuquerque.

The reason we chose to stay here for two nights is (1) it's a Camp Club USA park and we can stay for 1/2 price for the first night. Sweet!

The second reason was to spend a good deal of time in the "indoor heated pool." Since Bob's allergies are giving him fits with the dry Texas summer and considering it's still triple digit heat in Texas, the indoor pool sounded good. I don't like to get too much sun with my fair skin.

After we arrived late yesterday afternoon. We still are not able to run all three air conditioners in the RV because of a wiring issue that our last tech did not get fixed... arghhhhh! So we were hot and soooo looking forward to a long, fun swim and some water aerobics.

So we put our suits on, grabbed our noodles and towels and off to the pool we went. As soon as we opened the door to the building, the stench of stale chlorine assaulted our nostrils. They had the windows and doors open and it was still enough to knock us over.

Trying to be hopeful, we looked at the pool and we could hardly see the bottom it was so murky. Bob decided to test the temperature. Well, they must have figured that an indoor pool in this hot weather did not need to be heated because it was COLD! Not cool, but COLD!!! We were so disappointed. It sounded so nice in the brochure and on their website.

On our way back to the rig our neighbor in the next campsite looked at us and said, "That was a quick swim." So we told him all about it. He was thinking of going over to swim but changed his mind after we described the pool. As we talked to this fellow more, come to find out he was driving the tour bus for Bob Wieland. You can learn all about him here http://www.dreamride3.com/

The man we met drives a tripped out Prevost Coach pulling a 25' trailer with all of Bob's bicycles and parts. And he said Bob actually sleeps in the trailer and not the Prevost... go figure that one out!

Bob is a double amputee and is in the middle of his current trip across the country and was meeting with some Amarillo officials last night. We wish him good luck on his current trip and in this heat, please be careful!

As we got to our rig, another neighbor was experiencing a problem. As I looked out the window I could tell just what the problem was... a cone stopping up his waste tank.I'll explain...

If you are going to go RVing you should do some reading and go to forums to learn about what problems can occur and how to avoid them.

You see, many people think that these "homes on wheels" are just like a land based home. Well, they are and they aren't. One big mistake people make (including this person) is to hook up to the utilities (water, sewer, and electric) and viola, open the valves on the waste tanks and you're ready to kick back and relax.

Not so fast buckaroo!

You see, RV toilets are not the same a household toilets. First of all they drain into what's called a holding tank. This tank should always be left closed until it is near full and then you can pull the lever and dump into the sewer line. Adding a good bacteria/enzyme additive is a great idea as it will help break down the solids and paper that sit in the tank waiting to be dumped. And the biggest thing to remember is to always use plenty of water at all times when flushing.

When Bob worked at an RV dealer we took a used unit on vacation one time. Bob and my Dad spend three days trying to get rid of the "cone" problem in that unit. The bad part was it was not even our cone material... yuck!

So what is this cone?

Sometimes when RVers hook up to the utilities, they pull the waste tank valve, assuming they can leave it open and just let everything drain with every flush of the toilet. Well, that is not exactly how it works.

Since the waste goes into a holding tank, it hits a flat surface on the way out. So when the valve is left open, the liquids drain and solids are left on the flat surface. Now keep doing that and you start getting a build up of solids and sludge. When you go out on the road and drive on these hot roads you bake this material and it turns into a very hard substance, like concrete. As you keep doing this, solids keep building into a sort of cone and before you know it you can no longer flush anything into the tank because it is full. And in our neighbors case, he could not empty his tank.

Well, he was at that point. After going to the office to see who he could call, three men came out and spent hours helping him get some of the crap (pun not intended) out so he could empty his tank. I saw the technician describing how this cone effect builds. I did not have to hear the words I could see by his hand gestures.

So if you are going RVing, get some knowledge. Go visit some forums. Get a book explaining the basics. Many problems like this one can be easily avoided. I can imagine that this poor guy had to pay a portion of his gas budget on these three men helping him out.

In the morning we head out to Albuquerque for a couple of days. We're going to get the rig washed at the Blue Beacon truck wash nearby first then we're on the road again.

We'll be staying at a Coast to Coast park in Albuquerque. We've been members of C to C since 1992 and we enjoy staying at member parks for about $15/night. These days that's a real bargain.

Till next time...

Happy Trails,

Vicky & Bob Heron (Capt. Jack & Jesse James)

How to work & live wherever and whenever you choose!

Looking Forward To A Wonderful & Fun Trip Out West

What a year 2011 has been.

First, you can scroll down to see we bought a different rig last fall. The Travel Supreme Select. While we knew it had some issues we'd need to address due to lack of proper care, the repairs were a bit more extensive than we had anticipated.

It's all good however. We now have a "history" with our new casa on wheels. And yes, we would do it all over again. The luxuries this coach affords us has made our full-timing experience so much more enjoyable.

I've been remiss in posting to this blog because of several factors, the biggest is as we were working our parks (producing guest services guides for RV parks) this year, we found ourselves in a Cummins, Spartan, or RV dealer repair facility in almost every city we worked in.

We discovered there are some very good places out there to take these big rigs to and they do like full-timers. We also discovered that not all (like Cummins, Freightliner, etc.) "big-truck" repair facilities like RVers though. And it's not that they don't like RVers, it's just that they find it hard to work on peoples homes and not track in the grease & grime from their shop floors. And of course, RVers don't want that mess on their floors.

So here we are, on October 25th we will celebrate our first anniversary in our beautiful Travel Supreme Select and we are very happy with it. While we do have a list of things we want to eventually upgrade since it is a 2004, the Silver Bullet (as we call her) still shines bright wherever we take her. People think she is much newer.

Now we are heading to Moab, Utah to work in our three parks out there and to PLAY! Last night we went to Cabela's and enjoyed the Texas Tax Free Weekend. We bought hiking boots, nice wool hiking socks, new tennies, and for me a new pair of top-siders. It was fun getting outfitted for some fun for a change.

After spending six weeks in Moab, we will mosey on over to Bryce Canyon, Utah for more breathtaking hiking & sightseeing. I'll be posting pictures & updates often... I promise. I've set up my iPhone so I can post from wherever I am whenever I want. After Bryce, we'll spend some time in Las Vegas, to visit family, friends, and to be tourists.

Next stop will be Palm Springs, California to visit friends who are working several parks in that area. Then on to Phoenix where we'll see my cousin Spencer Wallace & his family. Recently I discovered, thanks to Facebook, where my dear childhood friend Angie Darzes lives... in Phoenix as well. We will arrange to see her if possible while we are there.

We just love this lifestyle! Traveling today is so easy these days (excluding the fuel prices that is). I look back on the last 26 years of my parents and their RV traveling, now we have computers & smart phones. Try to find a pay phone these days!

One big thing I love is we can keep in touch with the grandkids via video chat on Skype. We can email and text and keep in touch with friends & family quickly & easily. How cool is that! I wish we could have enjoyed all of this technology when my parents were traveling.

Speaking of gadgets, I have over 200 of my music CDs on my iPod and several audio books for Bob. I also have a Nook which has tons of my reading materials and books on it. I love to read and Bob loves to drive... a match made in heaven :-)

Friday we arrived at our old hometown of Denton, Texas. Bob visited with his former co-workers and everyone enjoyed catching up. Yesterday Glenn & Cindy Brazzel, friends from the USCG-Aux came over to visit. They are fellow RVers as well.

Tuesday morning we will head out for Moab and points west. With all the work we've done on the coach this year, we are looking forward to a fun and uneventful trip. Plus, we are so ready to get out of this Texas heat. It's truly been a brutal summer. Record setting high temps and sever drought over 98% of the state. As much as I love Texas, I'm ready to get out for a spell.

Happy Trails!

Vicky & Bob Heron (Capt. Jack & Jesse James)

How to work & live wherever and whenever you choose!

The KISS

One of Bob's favorite sayings is "Keep It Super Simple" (aka: Keep It Simple Stupid--but I'm trying to be nice here). Life stopped being simple when we bought the diesel pusher.

Now I'm not complaining, I love the power, the space and the appliances that this thing has, but when you need work done on it, you must figure out who does what.

Remember, this is a 6-year-old motor coach that was very high end in it's day. It has cleaned up very well and is definitely a keeper. With that said, the previous owners did their level best to kill it by ignoring maintenance.

On our way to Texarkana last weekend, we had a leveling jack malfunction. We think it was a wet sensor since it was raining all the way here. The electrical plug in that you plug the engine heater into does not work. One of the new belts Camping World in Fort Myers put on is whistling at us and has ever since we took possession and drove it back to Texas. We had "idiot" lights and gauges on the dash that would mysteriously light up or ring/buzz and then go silent. Only to do it again sporadically as we went down the road.

Fortunately, Texarkana (Texas & Arkansas) has some very good places to get things worked on. For example, Artex Truck Center is on the Arkansas side of the state line. They are an International Truck Dealer but they are a Cummins certified repair shop as well. So we'll go there next week to have the engine checked out and that belt squeak silenced.

Next, the tires. When the new tires were installed the place that did the work did not install the extensions and supports necessary to check tire pressures on the dualies nor the tag. Friday afternoon we'll be going over to the GCR tire people to get this done, and yes, the dealership where we purchased this rig will pick up that tab since these essential parts were lost on their watch, thank you.

Next, the Hydro-Hot system. This wonderful system gives us hot water on demand... even when we're going down the road.It's also the furnace system since this is an all electric coach, no propane onboard here. Unless it's under 45 degrees, it runs well on just electric. Colder than that and it uses the diesel fuel. Luckily it sips instead of gulps. We're not sure who will be working on this but we do know it needs to be serviced faithfully every year or it will cost big $$$. That may wait till we get to Conroe, Texas in February.

On the way back to Teague we have an appointment in Longview, Texas. What's in Longview? A Spartan Chassis service center, authorized of course. That's who will take care of those pesky dash gremlins.

You may ask, if we had it to do all over again would we get rid of our simple gasoline powered rig for this complex behemoth?

You bet! For the full-time RV lifestyle, you can't beat the amenities and the power to go to the mountains without even breaking a sweat. We may decide to do more mountainous travel now. Personally, when we take our Alaska trip I'd love to take this thing up. But, Bob wants to fly. I've been to Alaska and I want to show him around. So I'll fly if it keeps him happy :-)

Till next time,

Happy Trails!

Vicky & Bob Heron (Capt. Jack & Jesse James)

How to work & live wherever and whenever you choose!

New Year -- New Beginnings

We left our home base in Teague today. We're starting the new year at a new park (to us that is). And it's another first... our first working trip in our new RV/Motor Coach (new to us that is -- again).

We had planned to be on the road by 10:00 a.m., but there were several things working against us. First, the weather. Yuck! It rained all night and as of this writing (at 2:00 pm. CST) it's still pouring. Creeks and rivers are close to spilling over their banks.

There is one good thing in our favor... it's 50 degrees outside and not FREEZING (thank goodness). Last Sunday Dallas/Ft. Worth and points east got 1+ inches of snow plus some icing on overpasses and bridges. Rain is much easier to navigate in a behemoth 42' 10" diesel pusher like ours. Truth is, we would not have attempted icy travel conditions.

Our destination today is Texarkana. Can you believe they received six inches of snow just last Sunday? What a difference a week makes!

I'm looking forward to seeing what the Arklatex area has to offer. I'll keep you posted. Glub... Glub!

Till next time...

Happy Trails,

Vicky & Bob Heron (Capt. Jack & Jesse James)

How to work & live wherever and whenever you choose!

Getting On The Road Again

This year we are starting out a bit earlier with our travels. In a few days we'll be heading to the Texarkana KOA in Texarkana, Texas. We sure hope it doesn't get too dicey weather-wise... last week they got 6" of snow!

I'm a big chicken when it comes to driving in the white stuff. And it's not so much I doubt my abilities (although it's been so long since I drove on that stuff I am definitely aftraid of it), it's the other drivers I am concerned with. In Texas we have enough trouble with rain-slick streets. Adding snow to the mix is really problematic!

Bob's brother from Las Vegas and his wife arrived here on Monday, the day after the snowfall in Dallas. North Texas weather is literally a "crap-shoot" this time of year. Fortunately, their plane was not delayed or cancelled. One day earlier hundreds of DFW flights were cancelled and that would have been a disaster for the start of their visit.

I must say, our new-to-us 2004 Travel Supreme Select diesel pusher we picked up in Florida in October is very nice in cold weather. If you're fixing to get an RV, I'd strongly suggest getting a coach with thermal pane windows. We have not had wet windows once this winter, except for the windshield. Jesse, our black & white Chihuahua, loves the Hydro-Hot heating system. We now call him a "hot dog." He puts his little hiney right up against the furnace grate and literally becomes a hot dog.

As I said earlier, we're starting out our working year early this year by going to Texarkana. It's always exciting to see what new places are like. My parents, RVing snowbirds who flock to Yuma, Arizone from Illinois every winter, have stopped by the Oaklawn Opry many times on their way through Texarkana. They loved it. So I'm going to stop by and see if I can help them get more visitors and also enjoy a good show while we are in town.

This job will be both fun and a challenge since I'll be in both Texas and Arkansas seeking advertisers.

I just hope the big guy upstairs does not think it would be a hoot to see me slippin & slidin all over the place. Wish me luck :-)

Happy Trails...

Vicky & Bob Heron (Capt. Jack & Jesse James)

How to work & live wherever and whenever you choose!

Roughing It Is Overrated

Yes, we're at our home base in Teague, Texas. Actually, we reside in an RV Park when we're here, but are near our daughter and three granddaughters. In fact, the youngest is 7 weeks old and a little darling. I think this one may actually look like her Mommy.

We got the new (to us) motorhome to Texas without any further problems. That is, once we got out of Orlando, FL. We bought this rig in Fort Myers, got as far as Tampa and spent about 4 days at Camping World/Lazy Days getting the front step fixed. We knew there was a major problem with it but the techs at Camping World in Fort Myers assured us that the strengthened it and fixed it all up. I guess the mold in the carpet should have told us to look closer. As it turns out, we almost lost the step... which would have meant an nasty fall for whoever was on it at the time.

The previous owners of this rig never fixed anything. The front door had been leaking for a long time. While we were in Fort Myers they caulked it when we saw the water coming in. Had we looked under the bottom step's rubber runner we would have seen a mass of rotted wood. And many ants had set up residence there as well.

So Camping World in Tampa was not happy that the rig was allowed to leave the shop at the other store in this condition. It was a liability for sure. So, Tampa store called Fort Myers store and Fort Myers agreed to do the right thing and pay for the step to be reengineered/rebuilt. This time they used sheet metal. Let me tell you, this is now a SOLID step!

On the way to Tampa Bob noticed that he was constantly overcorrecting with the steering. So we asked Lazy Days if they would do a front end alignment.

They said they would love to but they told us but they were covered up with Workhorse recalls. Then the service advisor told us they don't even do the alignments on their high end coaches ($400k-500k+)themselves. They actually send them to JOSAM in Orlando.

So we got to thinking, our Travel Supreme Select 42DSI was about a $500k unit when it was new so we should probably take it to the same place Lazy Days takes theirs to. Plus, we purchased 8 brand new tires and wanted to make sure they wear well.

So next stop, Orlando. Good thing too... both front tires were toeing out. No wonder Bob was constantly over correcting! The dual axle needed some alignment also and the tag axle was just fine. Now we could start out for home and not have to worry about "should we get it aligned or not."

Everything happens for a reason I always say and in this case, getting the step fixed in Tampa led us to one of the best alignment businesses in the world. Big truck owners come from all over just for the JOSAM alignment services.

Goes to show you, we can all learn something new every day.

When I met Bob on the Internet in 1997 (before eHarmony, Match.com, or anything like that) in my first email to him I told him I like to Rough It Smoothly. Since he worked for an RV dealer at that time I figured he'd know what I meant. That's also the hook that got me to answer his personal ad... he worked for an RV dealer at that time.

Little did I know that we'd eventually be living in a luxurious coach like this one. I love the washer/dryer combo unit. I did 3 small loads of laundry today. Plus, my drawer dishwasher. We purchased a Fisher/Paykel at Lowes and had Camping World install it.

It is so nice to have squeeky clean dishes again... and Bob can now recover from dishpan-hands. Yes, I do the cooking and so he does the dishes. Only now the dishwasher does them.

I know many people, my sister included, say we don't camp, we "RV." And perhaps they are right. However you want to look at it, I just love Roughing It Smoothly and I always will!

Happy & Safe Travels,

Vicky & Bob Heron (Capt. Jack & Jesse James)

How to work & live wherever and whenever you choose!

Excitement Can Be Exhausting!

It's so hard to realize that just a month ago we were in Moab, Utah. Also a month ago today our 10th grandchild was born, Lily Marie Courtney. We've only seen her for five days before we had to head down to Florida to pick up our new home.

We are full time RVers and love the lifestyle. We start to feel antsy when we've been sitting still for too long. Now as we're headed into year #3 we decided we needed bigger accommodations and more amenities. Sooooooo Bob got online and started his quest for an diesel pusher in our price range that could meet our needs for a dual living area, washer & dryer on board and a dishwasher. It did not take him long to find it!

So we set up the deal while we were in Moab. Next we came home to Texas to see our new granddaughter Lily, Corynn, and Katelyn for about five days and off we went to pick up our new home in Fort Myers, Florida.

The new rig (to us) is a beautiful 2004 Travel Supreme Select 42 foot diesel with a 500 Cummins and 6 speed 4000 series Allison transmission. Now I'm no expert on engines & things mechanical, but I do know this will handle any mountain travel we want to do with ease.

We added eight brand new tires to replace the original tires, and a drawer dishwasher. We both love this touch and will really enjoy it when we're working on park guides throughout the year. I cooked a full meal tonight and it was so nice to just wipe things off and load them into the drawer, turn it on and voila... clean dishes.

We did have to make some repairs, but that was to be expected with a six year old model. But this was a very high end coach in it's day. Unfortunately, Travel Supreme is one of the economic casualties in the RV industry.

Last Tuesday we left Camping World in Fort Myers and thought we were on the way home. Unfortunately, we made it as far as Tampa and pulled into the Camping World at the Lazy Days RV center. If you ever get the chance to be near Tampa, stop by and see the Lazy Days complex. Since we were having some repairs done, we were treated to all the ammenities offered by Lazy Days. Free breakfast & lunch, morning paper, shuttle service and very friendly & smiling faces. It was a treat.

I must say that Camping World in Fort Myers did a lot to give us a good coach. They put in two brand new inverters and 10 new batteries. Yes, this is an all electric coach so it takes a big battery bank. I especially love the large GE Profile stainless steel residential refrigerator. Finally, room to put food and I can even put it in warm without taking the fridge hours to recover. Again, what a treat. I won't miss the LP gas nor the RV refrigerators with all their problems.

Tonight we're at the Sherwood Forest Encore Resort in Kissimmee, FL. Early tomorrow morning we're going to get the wheels all aligned and the whole suspension inspected. Bob has to do a lot of correcting in the steering. Lazy Days suggested we take our rig to Josam Frame & Alignment in Orlando. Since we've spent a fortune on eight new tires we decided this would be a good idea to protect our investment. Plus, when I start driving it I want it to steer easily as does Bob.

Hopefully, we'll be headed home to Texas tomorrow afternoon. We'll keep you posted.

Vicky & Bob Heron (Capt. Jack & Jesse James)

How to work & live wherever and whenever you choose!