Loading up the RV and heading off to your favorite vacation destination is enjoyable and exciting, especially for the children. Unfortunately, it’s also very stressful for the adults. There are hundreds of things to remember and pack, so finding space for everything can be challenging. Hitting traffic on the road can start to stress you and the sheer boredom of a long drive can leave you feeling extremely edgy. Fortunately, there are ways to counteract stress on the road. Here are some tips to help you arrive at the campground safely and stress-free.

Sing-Along

Put in some music, turn it up and sing along with your favorite artist. Singing can be relaxing in and of itself, plus you children can join you for the performance. The best part of traveling in an RV is that you can enjoy the tunes in the driver’s area while the kids go enjoy their own music in the bedroom.

Accept the Timing

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Yesterday was a real eye opener.  A single lady in the park has her home up for sale.  Two men came to look at it and one asked to use the bathroom while the other wanted to go outside and discuss the roof.  Yup, you guessed it.  She later discovered that her jewelry was gone.  The outcome certainly could have been far worse then that.  In later comments, she said she now realizes she should have had a neighbor or friend with her while they were there. 

This kind and gentle lady, as most of us do, wanted to believe that people in general are good and honest.  Unfortunately, we don’t know which ones are and which ones aren’t.  Living so close to the major city of Phoenix, we have heard far too many stories of what happens to those who show their houses, and a lot of it isn’t good.  Now the thieves have invaded our RV/home complex, forcing us to be much more vigilant.

On the lighter side, February seems to be a visiting month for RVers.  I love it when friends come into the campground with all their own facilities and bop over to sit on my back deck or enjoy the sun room.  JJ and Peggy Williams from Idaho filled me in on their activities and destinations for the rest of the winter but we had only one day to do it.  That’s not nearly enough, guys.

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This customer like many toter owners tows a race car behind this coach. It is mostly used to hang out at the tracks during slack time at the races. Big TV's, new flooring and furniture were the items they came in looking for.
The front cab over was just open to the living room area, so this space was more than big enough to accept a fairly large TV. We installed a 55" 3D LCD TV and a sliding pocket door to close off the bunk area. The old TV space was moved out towards the wall with a new bank of cabinets to fill the hole.

On the floor we installed a congoleum wood plank pattern vinyl.  On the passenger side we installed a Flexsteel Easy Bed, and the slide out recieved a Flexsteel Easy Bed with the wrap around style dinette set all in Ultra Leather.

The opening to the front cab area came from the factory with a pleated fabric curtain to pull across to close off the cab area from the living rooom. We installed custom built solid oak sliding doors to do a better job of seperating the two and a much richer look.

In the stairwell we did a combination of heavy duty rubber step treads and the vinyl planks, and in the bedroom we installed a 37" LCD tv.



For those of you wintering down south, come see us at the Rally in Phoenix March 22-25.

Thanks again for visiting our blog!

David Ast

Dave & LJ's RV Interior Design       360-225-7700       www.daveandljs.com

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While my boondocking travels have been limited to the western United States, I keep my eyes open for boondocking opportunities all across the United States. On the chance I am able to make an epic sea to sea cross country RV journey, it is good to have advanced knowledge on where boondocking is allowed in the states with limited public land.

Following is a reference I came across online for boondocking opportunities in Kansas:

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One of Utah’s best-preserved panels of Indian rock writing is usually bypassed by hurried travelers, which is unfortunate given the peaceful setting and ease of access. Located about 12 miles west of U.S. Highway 191 between Monticello and Moab, on Highway 211 leading to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, Newspaper Rock National Historical Site is one of the few petroglyph panels that you can literally drive right up to— no hiking required. Since this mixture of human, animal, and abstract forms can be seen and photographed up close, plan to stop and take a look at these amazing and perplexing 2,000+ year-old rock carvings.

Surrounded by towering cottonwood trees, Newspaper Rock features a 200 square foot area of extremely dense Native American petroglyphs inscribed into desert varnish, a blackish manganese-iron deposit that gradually forms on exposed sandstone cliff faces. Vandals have added a few of their own scribblings, but those are easy to spot and disregard. Concentrate on the real carvings, which are thought to have been made by the Anasazi (AD 1 to 1300), Fremont Indians (AD 700 to 1300) and Navajo (AD 1500 onwards). Newspaper Rock is about 250 feet tall, but the glyphs are located at its base, with only a chain-link fence to remind visitors not to touch.

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There’s another golf trail that’s been paved; this one in the Jayhawker or Sunflower State. Kansas has joined the growing list of golf course cooperatives that have mushroomed around the country in order to increase the collective number of rounds. Of the 273 golf courses in Kansas, 11 have banded together to form the Sunflower Golf Trail (SGT), which officially began operating on New Year’s Day.

Participating golf courses include the following: Emporia Municipal, Stagg Hill in Manhattan, Rolling Meadows in Junction City, Salina Municipal, Hays Municipal, Turkey Creek in McPherson, Carey Park in Hutchinson, Hesston Golf Park, Prairie Trails in El Dorado, Quail Ridge in Winfield, and Mariah Hills in Dodge City.

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Lake Havasu City, Arizona, founded in 1963, is a youngster as far as towns go. Its Southwest-styled homes and businesses in sun-baked desert colors rise on sandy slopes along Arizona’s Highway 95 and hunker among sand dunes close to the lake. The deep blue waters of Lake Havasu, formed by Parker Dam about 25 miles to the south skirt the reddish-brown Mojave Mountains. For two weeks, we made our home at Colorado River Adventures’ Lake Havasu Resort located near the upper end of the lake on London Bridge Road.

One sunny day stretched into another as we hung out at our motorhome with a view of the lake and mountains over the top of swaying palm trees. We read books, played music, wrote stories, and set no clock for bedtime or breakfast. Spot and I took long walks into the neighboring desert dotted here and there with clumps of yellow brittlebush. Conveniently located about a mile from the Shops at Lake Havasu and Ultra Star Cinema, we went to movies and shopped at Wal-Mart. We browsed a used book store in town and visited the Mohave County Library for speedy Internet connections.

On Sundays, we attended morning worship with local Lake Havasu Baptists. Twice we met friends, Norm and Chris Denton, once for dinner and again for a Sunday lunch. On February 9, we celebrated our 10^th wedding anniversary with dinner at Chili’s. This was not our first anniversary to mark in Lake Havasu City; or our first to dine at Chili’s on our special day.

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 Weekend trips are a regular event for the RV’ing community. It’s common for people to round up the supplies they need and hop behind the wheel for a two or three day escape into the wild outdoors. You want to still eat healthy on these trips, but you also want to simplify the packing so you can enjoy more of your time camping rather than cooking. Here are some space-saving and time-saving tips that will help you eat healthy even on a short trip.

Make Salads Ahead of Time

Potato salad and macaroni salad are fantastic side choices for any meal when you’re camping. However, the boxes of pasta and vegetables take up a ton of space in your RV. Make the salad at home and just take a single covered bowl with you on the trip. You will save space in the RV and you won’t have to spend time making the salad at the campground. If you’re worried about the pasta getting soggy, then just add the dressing at the campground. You will also avoid warming up the RV by boiling water inside.

Chop, Cut, Grind and Puree at Home

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Recently, Affinity RV from Prescott and Dewey, brought two Class A Winnebagos, a small one and a large one, a new one and a used one, to North Ranch for most of a Saturday.  They do this every year and it is a nice way for us to go through the models and see all the new changes or additions. I drooled!  If the prospect of perusing RVs didn’t bring people out from their homes and the campground, the food did.  As they always do, they fed us hotdogs. 

Neighbors chatted with neighbors, RV details were cussed and discussed and wild adventure stories abounded.  The two pleasant gentleman who brought the RVs answered questions, made sales…or not, and hopefully the trip was worth their time.

            Anything can happen as you walk the aisles of Wal-Mart superstores.  I parked my cart in position to go around a poorly positioned bin sticking out at the end of an otherwise empty aisle, to grab something and suddenly everybody in the store was trying to go through where there was room for only one cart.  I quickly hurried over to rectify my error and move the cart.  A woman walked up and said, “You are a bad shopper!”  She was right.  I shouldn’t have parked it where I did but I resented her making a big deal about it.  I had already shopped for an hour and made allowances for people who were blocking the aisle, nearly running over me on corners, or any of a dozen other instances where a smile and a little patience was more in order than a confrontation.  It was really annoying that she took it upon herself to be the “goddess of carts.”  Oh well, I got over it.  No wonder countries fight with each other when we can’t even get through a box store without arching our backs.

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I recently presented my Boondocking 101 seminar at the Seattle RV Show.
One topic that came up a couple of times was staying connected in the boondocks which is something I never thought to include in the seminar. It seems that many of us in the over fifty crowd are interested in the current and emerging communication technologies, but reluctant to take the next step. 

Obviously cell phones are an invaluable asset to an active RVer and carried by all, but as we become more dependent on the internet the question arises on the best way to get online while living the nomadic lifestyle called boondocking. My wife and I recently added email capability to our cell phones for a modest fee, but choose not to include full internet access due to the monthly cost. Currently, prior to departing on an extended boondocking trip, my wife records the locations of all the known public hot spots along our route. McDonalds, libraries, and community colleges are just a few of the places where a free wireless internet signal can be secured. Since we move frequently from one boondocking spot to another, we typically can secure an internet signal every 4 to 7 days allowing us to pay bills, send files, etc. When we are boondocking and need information that we would normally access via the internet, say like the weather prior to exploring a slot canyon, I email my daughter who looks up the information online and sends it to me as an email. However, as our dependency on the internet grows even more, I can foresee the need for ready internet access while boondocking. My thought here is to find a cell phone provider that offers internet service that can be turned on when we are on the road and turned off when we are home. In addition, I think I would like a cell phone that provides a mobile hot spot allowing my wife and I to access the internet via our laptops saving us from squinting at the tiny cell phone screen. When we make the upgrade, I will share the information. All in all, I can’t think of a better time in the history of RVing to be boondocking. Staying in the sticks and staying connected one the best adventures in RVing!

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