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Subject |
Author |
Date Posted |
Forum
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RE: Glacier NP - Going To The Sun Road

We were there in 2009 the week before the road opened. It was gated at either end, open only to official vehicles, hikers, and bicycles. We biked it with NO vehicle traffic, (a few official pickups, maybe 3 or 4 total). The ONLY way to do the GTSR!
I understand Yellowstone does the same thing, in the weeks before the roads are opened in the Spring to vehicles it is open to bicycles. Gotta start planning that trip!
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dave54
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07/28/10 09:27pm |
Roads and Routes
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RE: Your Thoughts, Ever Too Hot To Camp??

Naw, we just go up a few thousand feet.
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dave54
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07/18/10 03:16pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Free internet at rest areas or visitor centers???

Several different free and pay apps available for the droid phones. Detect wifi coverage.
Not sure about the iphone.
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dave54
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07/17/10 07:25pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Premium gas, octane boost, would it matter?

I tried both in my 2005 F150, and kept meticulous records. I got slightly better mileage (<0.3 MPG), but not enough better to offset the difference in price. No noticeable difference in towing power.
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dave54
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07/17/10 07:22pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: Max Time to Fill Black Water Tank

...I know some will disagree but if I am boon docking and my gray gets full I let some go in a container and simply water the trees or vegetation in the area- I have even seen people attach a garden hose to the end of their line and use that to water the vegetation- great idea. Obviously you can't do this near a lake, stream, creek... but if done in proper, inconspicuous, and courteous manner so the next camper never knows I think it is fine. ...
That's perfectly acceptable if it is such a remote site no one else will use it until several weeks after you leave. If it is a popular heavily used site and some else will pull in the day after you leave, and he does the same thing, followed by the next camper, etc, then a cumulative problem will develop. Just because there is no visible gray water residue on the surface does not mean the waste is fully neutralized a few inches down.
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dave54
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07/17/10 07:13pm |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
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RE: Max Time to Fill Black Water Tank

We are usually 'out and about' during the day, away from the rig. As a guy, I have no problem using the woods. So I use our black tank only evening/night/early morning. DW, otoh, will hold it until we return to camp.
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dave54
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07/17/10 07:06pm |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
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RE: Generator usage

Three days for a power outage. Had to stop and refuel every 10 hours or so.
Our Honda 2000 will run 10 hours in economode with a full-to-the-top gas tank.
Normally while camping maybe an hour or so in the morning and a couple hours in the evening.
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dave54
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07/16/10 10:41pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Where to get cash?

When on extra long trips and out of your banks territory, where are good/cheap places to get cash?
The ATM's at Casinos tend to have lower fees. Some of the Indian Casinos have no fees on their ATMs, even absorbing your card fees.
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dave54
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07/16/10 10:34pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Serendipitous boondocking

Would this be near Sequoia National Park?
Fred.
No. Lassen Volcanic.
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dave54
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07/10/10 06:36pm |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
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Serendipitous boondocking

We have a 'secret' spot we frequent. Minutes outside the National Park entrance, on a seldom used side dirt road, along a creek. We have never seen anyone else there in the years we have been using it.
Friday night we rushed home from work, hooked up, and were on the road in minutes. 45 minutes later we drive up to our 'secret' spot and there is a large group already set up -- dogs, ATV's, and a huge bonfire already blazing surrounded by a loud bunch of people in chairs already half-drunk.
Somewhat crestfallen, we decide to find spot just for the night and search for another boondock site on Saturday. A mile up the side road past the original site, DW takes a walk up a smaller secondary spur marked as a dead end road. She returns a few minutes later and tells me to drive up. Just out of sight around the first bend is a forest opening in the middle of a stand of large pines. I back right in. The site is perfectly level. The rig is situated where it gets morning sun and afternoon shade. The best part is not even a sign the site has ever been used before -- No tire tracks, no old campfire rings, no litter. Just lots of songbirds, wildflowers, and wildlife.
Stayed there all weekend. No reason to find another spot. Did not see or hear another person or vehicle even though it was a three day weekend.
It is not on a creek, but I think we have a new 'secret' spot.
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dave54
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07/06/10 10:52pm |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
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RE: Some days I just shake my head.....

Vacations are too short to spend in a foul mood or arguments with jerks.
Besides, refusing to let someone else push your button is the best revenge of all...
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dave54
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07/06/10 10:27pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Do you bring your own fire ring or bowl?

No.
We are in the minority and our feelings on the subject border on sacrilegious heresy.
We haven't needed nor wanted a campfire for years. They hold no allure for us.
Cook on the gas grill, in bed at dark. Too busy out and about during the day.
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dave54
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06/26/10 09:41pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: I'm Done with Campgound Camping, New Boondocker Here

In the west use snowmobile parking areas. They aren't used during the summer. Usually just a short drive off a main highway -- out of sight of the highway, but not far enough away to be out of the road noise.
The parking areas are large flat areas large enough for several snowmobile trailers to turn around, so a RV is easy. Usually paved. Often a restroom. Sometimes a 2 or 3 sided warming hut with a fire pit.
This could a place to park for a night or two while you explore the side roads in the area for a more suitably remote boondocking site.
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dave54
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06/19/10 09:59pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Cruise control - on or off?

I verified that with the CHP. You're right.
hmmm... it seems to vary with which CHP officer you ask. I have been told the opposite.
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dave54
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06/17/10 10:08pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Refilling water tank from extra jugs

My water fill is next to the entry steps. I just just place the jug on the top step and use a siphon hose from the jug to the tank. That gets about 3/4 of the jug empty before I have to lift it up again, but now it only has about 2 gal.
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dave54
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06/17/10 10:04pm |
Beginning RVing
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RE: dry camping when it's hot, how to stay cool?

Once you get to the west staying cool at night is easy -- just go up in elevation.
On the road we just bite the bullet and pay for a place with full hookups. Thats about the only time we do pay for a campsite.
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dave54
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06/12/10 08:01pm |
Public Lands, Boondocking and Dry Camping
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RE: Need cool camping recommendations

Lake Almanor area, south of Lassen Volcanic NP.
Several private RV campgrounds and couple of gov and PG&E. Minutes from the full service community of Chester. Major cities are 1.5 to 2 hours (Chico, Reno, Redding, Red Bluff). Lots of things to do in the area. Lassen Volcanic National Park is close by, and the lake is in the middle of Lassen National Forest. Hiking, mtn biking, fishing, boating, exploring back roads, interesting geology. Every small town has a museum highlighting local history, here is no exception.
High temps for July and August average in the upper 80's, with a few days in the 90's. 100 or more is possible, but rare. Overnight lows will generally be in the upper 40's to low 50's, but freezing is possible. I watched it snow on the 4th of July parade once. A few afternoon thunderstorms can be expected scattered through and July and August, but the days tend to be clear and sunny.
If you get tired of developed campgrounds, boondocking for a few days in solitude is easy. Lots of spots nearby as the area is mostly flat to rolling. We have several creekside and lakefront boondocking spots we frequent in the area and almost never see another person. But Chester/Lake Almanor itself is a popular resort area.
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dave54
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06/09/10 09:33pm |
RV Parks, National Parks, State Campgrounds & More
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RE: Jerrycans, now have to be CARB compliant?

This is why I buy fuel cans in Reno, NV.
Along with my paint, solvents, etc.
California will soon outlaw store provided grocery bags, either paper or plastic. Combine that with the onerous and restrictive regulations on an increasingly long list of every day consumer items, and the perpetually rising sales taxes, and people will understand why nearly every California resident that lives within 100 miles of a state line leaves the state to shop.
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dave54
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06/09/10 06:31pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Jerrycans, now have to be CARB compliant?

Doesn't CARB stand for California Air Resources Board? How are their ordinances enforceable outside California?
I think the manufacturers want to sell their product in California and they don't want to handle two different products so they cave in to California's requirements.
Other states have their own version of air resources boards. Rather than re-invent the wheel by researching and writing their own regulations, they simply adopt someone else's rules verbatim.
This is why California regulations on powerline safety became the de facto national standards, Oregon laws on industrial site fire safety, New York high rise fire codes, Forest Service spark arrestor standards, etc. Virtually every state has a state agency that for one reason or the other has become the 'go-to' guys on some technology. Other states just look at what they have done and adopt their regulations.
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dave54
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06/09/10 06:26pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: TT Battery Poll

We run 2 12v now. I have been thinking of going to 4 6v if I could get them all on the tongue behind the propane tanks and without altering tongue weight too much.
During the winter when the furnace is running all night the 2 12v are pretty flat in the morning, forcing an early run outside in the cold to fire up a gen.
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dave54
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06/08/10 11:13pm |
Travel Trailers
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