Traveling Tidbits

There are some short topics that I wanted to share with others – like us -  in the "early learning phase" of RV'ing.

Planning a route for the trip:  

I have loved reading maps since I was able to read and help my dad (or so he led me to believe).  And, over time, I considered this a fairly easy job.  Get my paper map and develop a plan on getting from "here to there". [for grandchildren and other young folks - yes, there was a time when the internet and google maps did not exist !]

So, with added internet resources, like Google maps and my favorite App, Allstays, planning the upcoming RV odyssey seemed a snap. Right.  

Driving an RV is absolutely NOT the same as a sedan, SUV or other family vehicle!!  
Lines on a map do not define or show major changes in elevation (i.e., steep hills, sharp curves ).  I will be searching for better planning tools before our next trip.

It’s wonderful to be able to see and experience new things:

Spending time in a locale, or finding new wildlife (preferably) outside the RV are great experiences.  

Six Inch Banana Slug Welcomed Us to Our Site

In Bandon, we went to farmers’ market and had a great dinner using the fresh greens, peas and strawberries, plus a fresh strawberry-rhubarb cobbler for dessert!

And, at a farm stand in the Redwoods country, the organic, fresh-picked strawberries were the best ever! Can you tell its strawberry season along the NW coast?  And, I could not resist trying a couple of eggs.  The farmer had 3 varieties – hen, duck and goose.  Hmmm.  A goose egg?  Never tried one before, so I bought a couple – one is about equal to 4 hen eggs and makes a wonderful scrambled egg breakfast for the two of us (of course, with Hatch green chiles and cheese in the egg).  Well worth the experience!

Hen vs Goose Eggs

The Carbon Monoxide Monitor (COM):

This one was new to me.  The RV has a monitor for carbon monoxide.  When it goes off, it's a bit like the screeching of the home smoke alarm.  However, it's located on the side of the bed about 3 feet from my pillow.  And in the RV, it's loud everywhere!  

First night on the trip, middle of the night, it went off.  Gary reset button and it quit.  The purpose of the COM is a warning of CO at potentially dangerous levels. The RV owners books says this most likely is caused by faulty propane burning byproduct and poor ventilation. A week later the same thing happened - middle on the night, alarm, but that time we had trouble getting it to stop.  (Luckily, no one was parked on either side of us since it kept up the noise from about 1:00 - 2:00 am.)

Now, as scientists, Gary and I started reviewing the data.  On both occasions, Willie (our older dog) was sleeping on the floor close to my bedside.  

{Oh, and by the way, he gets hysterical with loud noise, especially high-pitched alarms.  I spent over an hour with him outside, walking the RV park in my PJs, during the second occurrence.  And had to carry the poor boy in after the alarm stopped.}

So, dog was near the monitor both times.  No propane was being used either time.  We had an idea that, perhaps, another type of "emission" may have triggered the monitor reaction.  The next morning, Gary called a service rep, and sure enough, his first comment was "DOG GAS – it happens a lot"!!

We now block that area so dogs sleep elsewhere...

Here’s a little (dog) blogger humor: