RVing According To Hank

Posted by hankster |1 comments

Bits of wisdom, points to ponder and little known facts about RVing.... mostly just things you never figure will happen until they happen to you.

• No matter how well you plan or how many lists you make, you will forget something important.
• Never ever buy gasohol.... your MPG will thank you for it.
• Most important accessory I bought so far..... heating blanket.
• The snooze alarm will fail to work when you need it the most.
• It won't start raining until you go to plug in the RV power cord.
• No matter where you are going it will always be uphill and into the wind.
• The curb you see in your mirror is closer then it appears.
• Your sewer hose will always need to be 1 foot longer then what you have.
• Always check your rig a few days before you are leaving. If you wait until the day before you leave and find something wrong, it may delay your departure.

More to come....

Day 2: Memphis TN KOA

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Despite the best efforts of my alarm clock, I made it to Memphis today. OK, it's not REALLY Memphis but Marion AR which is just across the river from Memphis. I set my Blackberry alarm for 7am. It went off and I hit the snooze for 10 more minutes of sleep. I found out at 8:30am that the snooze didn't work. That means no time for biscuits and gravy, just a cup of coffee and a muffin then hit the road.

This reminds me, I have to start a new page that I'm going to title "RVing According To Hank". It'll be bits of wisdom, points to ponder and little known facts about RVing.... mostly just things you never figure will happen until they happen to you. Look for the link on side menu once I get it started... and it'll be updated as I have more.

I drove about 400 miles today. More then I really want to drive but I felt this need to get to someplace where there wasn't going to be any snow. This also means I had to fill up twice today. Just a bit of advice: Do everything you can to never purchase any of gasohol in that corn lovin' state of Indiana. Your gas mileage will be in the crapper! Speaking of MPG, I found out I can get 1.5 better MPG if I follow another RV. The last 10 miles before I stopped for the night I followed another 5th wheel that passed me. I had to speed up from 61 to 64 to keep up and my MPG when up from 8.5 to 10. Something to file away for the future.

I have gotten this love/hate relationship with KOA campgrounds. I'm not sure they are a place I would go to to stay for a weekend or more. The sites are packed pretty close together and aren't "campy" enough for my tastes. They also tend to have a bit of highway noise since most are located for easy access. But then this easy access does make them ideal for over night stops when traveling someplace else. Most camp sites are pull through sites for easy setup, most have WiFi, offer some type of breakfast in the morning, nice clean showers and are generally well kept up. Kind of like the Holiday Inn... no big surprises no matter what one you go to but not someplace you really get excited about.

OK, so I'm now about 650 miles into the 1500 or so total miles to get to RGV and nothing eventful has happened. Let's keep it that way!

Day 1: Terre Haute, IN KOA

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And it begins: Believe it or not, I was able to leave home at 7am. Even surprised myself as I didn't get to bed until 1am and didn't get to sleep until about 3am. The roads were nice a dry and not very much traffic. I made it to Terre Haute about 1pm and decided to stop at the KOA for the night. I could have driven a couple more hours but figured that it would be best to try and get a decent nights rest before the next leg.

The Terre Haute KOA is a bit expensive ($40) but it is one of the few campgrounds open this far north. Since it's 30 deg. outside not much is usable at the campground but it does look like it would be a nice place to stay in the summer. They have free WiFi and cable TV, Spud got a treat and they came around later to deliver a few home made cookies. In the morning they offer a free continental breakfast but looking at the menu I seen biscuits and gravy for $2.50... thinking I'll have to spring for that!

Check back tomorrow for an update.

2009/2010 Winter Trip Expense Report

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Below I will detail my expenses for the 2009/2010 Winter Trip to the SW. This will include all expenses directly attributed to this trip. It will not include long term fixed expenses such as vehicle payments, insurance, phone, etc. I want to keep track of what the actual cost of the trip is compared to if I didn't take the trip.

12/29 - Fuel: Odo: 31290 - Starting tank fill up
12/29 - Food: $29.18 - Starting cache of food
12/30 - Food: $6.00 - Snacks
12/30 - Fuel: Odo: 31474 Cost: $70.12 MPG: 8.11
12/30 - Campground Fees: $40.64
12/31 - Fuel: Odo: 31665 Cost: $66.69 MPG: 7.87
12/31 - Food: $8.00 - Snacks and lunch
12/31 - Fuel: Odo: 31870 Cost: $65.65 MPG: 8.45
12/31 - Campground Fees: $52.00 including KOA yearly membership
01/01 - Fuel: Odo: 32072 Cost $62.59 MPG: 8.48
01/01 - Food: $11.00 - Breakfast and snacks
01/01 - Fuel: Odo: 32276 Cost: $62.57 MPG: 8.40
01/01 - Campground Fees: $29.00
01/02 - Fuel: Odo: 32685 Cost: $126.04 MPG: 8.77 (total 2 tanks)
01/02 - Food: $14.00 - Snakes and dinner
01/02 - Campground Fees: $28.12
01/03 - Fuel: Odo: 33053 Cost: 109.70 MPG: 8.82 (total 2 tanks)
01/03 - Food: $12.00 - Lunch and Dinner
01/03 - Campground Fees: $33.20

Total cost for 5 days travel to Rio Grande Valley = $806.50
Fuel: $563.36
Food: $80.18
Campground Fees: $162.96

Below are costs incurred once arrived. I will only show costs that are above and beyond my normal living expenses. Mainly the below expeneses will not include such things as food, clothes or fuel as I would be spending that no matter where I was.

01/04 - RV Park Fees: $33.20
01/04 - Accessories: $27.99 (20' sewer extension hose)
01/15 - Maintenance: $12 Cleaning Supplies
01/20 - Entertainment: $15 State Park Entrance Fees (3 days)
01/20 - Entertainment: $21 Souvenirs
01/22 - Maintenance: $15 Tire Repair
01/25 - RV Park Fees: $389.97 (3 weeks)

Tomorrow's the Day

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I have 12/30/09 marked on my calendar. That is the day I am leaving on my first extended trip to warmer weather! Not sure I can now call myself a "snowbird", just that I want to get away from these damned cold Michigan winters. If all goes as planned I'll be gone about 2 months.

The 5er is packed, truck is full of gas and a rough outline of my trip is in hand. Looking to leave around 7am and make Terre Haute for my first night stay. I plan on taking lots of photos along the way and keeping track of expenses. Keep an eye out on this blog for full details of my trip.