After leaving the Maritimes we spent a few days in New England visiting some of Joe’s many cousins. Then we traveled to Binghamton, NY (another cousin) and Hudson, Ohio. (you’ve got it- another cousin – this time one of Vicki’s) and then on to Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin to visit our good friends, Bob and Cheryl Marx. We also stopped in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and had lunch with our dear friend Margie Maxwell. Next stop will be the Sacramento, CA area to visit another of Vicki’s cousins and our daughter, grand daughter and great grand son.
.
Obviously, we are headed west. We have run out of cousins (well, until we get to Southern California). Our daily travel mileage increases the closer we get to home. While our usual daily average is usually 250 to 300 miles, lately it has been 300 to 350. Our final travel day will cover the 400 miles from Sacramento to Huntington Beach, CA. We liken it to the horse headed for the barn. We have really enjoyed this trip. We hate to see it coming to an end. But we are looking forward to seeing our family, friends and familiar places. Our first evening home will be spent in our favorite local Mexican restaurant, eating our favorite Mexican dishes. It will be good to be home. The experience of 48 years of RVing, however, tells us that wanderlust will strike in about six weeks and we will find ourselves on the road again.
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Monday, August 22, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
Keeping Cool
There is no need to tell you that this has been a very hot summer. I thought this column we wrote for an RV magazine in 2007 might be timely.
Dear Joe and Vicki: We purchased a 33 foot fifth-wheel trailer with three slides last June. It is equipped with 30-amp service and one 15,000 BTU air-conditioner. During a week of 100 degree weather we could not cool the trailer to a comfortable level. The manufacturers of both the trailer and air-conditioning unit said everything was within specifications and there was nothing they could do. Any assistance you can give us would be appreciated.
Joe: I’m sure the RV and air-conditioner manufacturing experts have determined that a 15,000 BTU air-conditioning unit is adequate for your 33-foot trailer with all three of its slides extended. As one who has been there, though, I can understand how your air-conditioning unit might be fighting a losing battle to maintain a comfortable interior temperature when the outside temperature is 100 degrees and your RV is in full sunlight.
Understand that RV air-conditioners are designed to reduce the air temperature by 20 degrees. That means your air conditioner is working okay if the air on the outlet side is 20 degrees cooler than the air on the inlet side. Your air conditioner is doing about as good as can be expected when the outside air temperature is 100 degrees and the interior temperature of your RV is 80 degrees.
I’m sure you have already discovered that the interior of your rig can become an oven when it is parked in full sunlight on a hot day. So shading as much of the RV for as long as possible should be a prime objective when selecting a place to camp.
Obviously, a campground with lots of trees and grass is going to be cooler than an RV park that resembles an asphalt parking lot. If you are really lucky, you will find a tree-shaded campsite. Try to avoid parking on or next to a hot surface. A grassy campsite will radiate less ground heat than a paved site. A concrete patio outside your entry door is nice but it will reflect the heat of the sun against the wall of your RV.
If you can’t find a shady campsite, try to locate one that points the front of your RV towards the south or east (south-east would be perfect). Your large street-side wall will then be on the naturally shady side of your RV during the hotter times of the day, your patio awning can shade the curb-side wall, and one end of the RV will be shaded at least part of the day. By the way, you can increase the shade of your patio awning by adding mesh patio shades that hang from your patio awning.
Vicki: Keep the sun from shining on or through your windows and skylights. Install window awnings and use them. Close the window blinds on the sunny side of the RV. Better yet, place Solar window covers or reflective foil on the interior of windows and motorhome windshields exposed to the sun. Poster board, cut so its dimensions are just a little larger than the skylight, can be stuffed into the skylight opening to block the sun.
Give your air-conditioner a head start. Turn it on early in the day and let it pre-cool the interior of the RV.
Keep the cool air inside and the hot air outside. Close all the windows and doors. Minimize the number of times the entry door is opened.
Use a fan to circulate the cool air. Direct the fan so it blows air from under the air-conditioner towards the area you want cooled the most.
Decrease the air-space the air-conditioner has to cool. Shut the bedroom door and close its air-conditioning vents. If you do close the bedroom door, be sure to open a bedroom window on the shady side of the RV so the bedroom doesn’t get much warmer than the outside temperature.
Avoid cooking with the stove top and oven. Use the microwave (but not the convection) oven. Use the outside grill. Use electric cooking appliances outside. Better yet, and my favorite, eat dinner in an air-conditioned restaurant.
When all else fails… hitch up and move to a cooler climate.
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=================================
Dear Joe and Vicki: We purchased a 33 foot fifth-wheel trailer with three slides last June. It is equipped with 30-amp service and one 15,000 BTU air-conditioner. During a week of 100 degree weather we could not cool the trailer to a comfortable level. The manufacturers of both the trailer and air-conditioning unit said everything was within specifications and there was nothing they could do. Any assistance you can give us would be appreciated.
Joe: I’m sure the RV and air-conditioner manufacturing experts have determined that a 15,000 BTU air-conditioning unit is adequate for your 33-foot trailer with all three of its slides extended. As one who has been there, though, I can understand how your air-conditioning unit might be fighting a losing battle to maintain a comfortable interior temperature when the outside temperature is 100 degrees and your RV is in full sunlight.
Understand that RV air-conditioners are designed to reduce the air temperature by 20 degrees. That means your air conditioner is working okay if the air on the outlet side is 20 degrees cooler than the air on the inlet side. Your air conditioner is doing about as good as can be expected when the outside air temperature is 100 degrees and the interior temperature of your RV is 80 degrees.
I’m sure you have already discovered that the interior of your rig can become an oven when it is parked in full sunlight on a hot day. So shading as much of the RV for as long as possible should be a prime objective when selecting a place to camp.
Obviously, a campground with lots of trees and grass is going to be cooler than an RV park that resembles an asphalt parking lot. If you are really lucky, you will find a tree-shaded campsite. Try to avoid parking on or next to a hot surface. A grassy campsite will radiate less ground heat than a paved site. A concrete patio outside your entry door is nice but it will reflect the heat of the sun against the wall of your RV.
If you can’t find a shady campsite, try to locate one that points the front of your RV towards the south or east (south-east would be perfect). Your large street-side wall will then be on the naturally shady side of your RV during the hotter times of the day, your patio awning can shade the curb-side wall, and one end of the RV will be shaded at least part of the day. By the way, you can increase the shade of your patio awning by adding mesh patio shades that hang from your patio awning.
Vicki: Keep the sun from shining on or through your windows and skylights. Install window awnings and use them. Close the window blinds on the sunny side of the RV. Better yet, place Solar window covers or reflective foil on the interior of windows and motorhome windshields exposed to the sun. Poster board, cut so its dimensions are just a little larger than the skylight, can be stuffed into the skylight opening to block the sun.
Give your air-conditioner a head start. Turn it on early in the day and let it pre-cool the interior of the RV.
Keep the cool air inside and the hot air outside. Close all the windows and doors. Minimize the number of times the entry door is opened.
Use a fan to circulate the cool air. Direct the fan so it blows air from under the air-conditioner towards the area you want cooled the most.
Decrease the air-space the air-conditioner has to cool. Shut the bedroom door and close its air-conditioning vents. If you do close the bedroom door, be sure to open a bedroom window on the shady side of the RV so the bedroom doesn’t get much warmer than the outside temperature.
Avoid cooking with the stove top and oven. Use the microwave (but not the convection) oven. Use the outside grill. Use electric cooking appliances outside. Better yet, and my favorite, eat dinner in an air-conditioned restaurant.
When all else fails… hitch up and move to a cooler climate.
Return to RV Know How
=================================
Monday, August 1, 2011
Maritime Report
Greetings from Massachusetts. We are on the going-home side of our RV trip. After Myrtle Beach we spent Memorial day weekend with our friends, Loren and Nancy Benedict and Tom and Margie Hildebrandt in North Carolina. Loren and Nancy have a lakeside home with a long driveway that easily accommodated our motorhome. While we were there they entertained us with their water toys.
Next on the agenda was Washington, DC. Our three teenage grandkids flew in from California and we spent five days touring our nation’s capitol. We visited the monuments and memorials, explored the Smithsonian museums and observed the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknowns.
After the grandkids flew home we headed for New England. The most direct route from Washington, DC to New England is straight up Interstate 95. It also takes the traveler through the traffic laden coastal cities of Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. Years ago we discovered the benefits of taking the parallel route I-81 instead. It may add a few miles to the journey but it has less traffic, better scenery and more campgrounds than I-95. A number of east-west interstates between I-64 in the south and I-84 in the north connect I-95 to I-81.
We enjoyed a quiet 4th of July parked next to a pasture on my cousin’s horse property in New Hampshire. Then a leisurely drive along the coasts of New Hampshire and Maine took us to the town of Calais where we crossed the border into New Brunswick, Canada. This is where the Bay of Fundy’s extraordinary high and low tides take place. Our travels through Canada’s Maritime Provinces took us across the 8-mile long bridge to Prince Edward Island. The bridge is free going into PEI but cost us close to $60.00 when we left. A ferry is also available and it too is free to the island but costs to leave. Vicki says the PEI mussels are the best she has ever tasted.
Nova Scotia was next on the agenda. We crossed the brief causeway to Cape Breton Island, drove the Cabot Trail in our toad (wouldn’t recommend driving an RV), and we visited Louisbourg on the east coast.
Then we followed the coast highways around the south half of Nova Scotia. Along the way we lingered in the charming towns of Annapolis Royal and Peggy’s Cove. Vicki did her best to eat seafood just about every day we were in the Maritimes. She even found seafood markets that would sell a live lobster for $7.99 or would cook it to order for $8.99. She chose the more expensive cooked lobster.
It only took two leisurely days to drive from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Banger, Maine where we visited with another of my many cousins. After visiting even more cousins in Massachusetts we will head west through upper New York State and into Ohio.
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