{ "version" : "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1", "title" : " on Geeky Nomads", "description": "Recent content in on Geeky Nomads", "home_page_url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/", "feed_url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/index.json", "icon" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/apple-touch-icon-180.png", "favicon" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/icon-64.png", "author" : { "name" : "Fredrik Jonsson", "url": "https://xdeb.org/fredrik", "avatar": "https://www.geekynomads.com/site/fredrik.jpg" }, "items" : [ { "title" : "So We Got Hacked", "date_published" : "2018-07-03T22:52:28-04:00", "date_modified" : "2018-07-03T22:52:28-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/so-we-got-hacked/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/so-we-got-hacked/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/so-we-got-hacked/images/articleimg_hu0fb810c3553b2515c93b3b7937fefb09_162781_1280x0_resize_box_2.png\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/so-we-got-hacked/images/articleimg_hu0fb810c3553b2515c93b3b7937fefb09_162781_300x0_resize_box_2.png\" alt=\"Was it Anonymous? Probably not but...\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eWas it Anonymous? Probably not but...\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n We\u0026rsquo;re back! The site got hacked as part of a big \u003ca href=\"https://www.drupal.org/sa-core-2018-004\"\u003eDrupal vulnerability\u003c/a\u003e that took out many sites. In fact every single Drupal site I know of and work on has gotten hacked both personally and professionally. For the professional sites I cleaned the sites but for my personal sites I decided to take the unusual step of taking it down. Why? Because I never wanted to fix it again.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor the uninitiated MOST blogs or sites are running on Drupal or more likely Wordpress. There are many many other CMS\u0026rsquo;s (content management systems) but Wordpress is by far the dominant player. These applications act as a kind of publishing platform vastly easing the knowledge and experience necessary to create a compelling site. But due to their success and enormous attack surface they are a super low hanging fruit for attackers.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhy would someone want to attack my blog? In my case it was to send spam. For various reasons I have an AOL Feedback Loop setup on my main mail server. What this does is when an AOL user marks an email as spam that came out of my server, AOL forwards me a copy of the email. Imagine my surprise when a spam got marked for watches or something like that. Right away I knew I had something wrong. At this point the hope is that the attacker has access to create new files and folders on your server and execute some bad code but doesn\u0026rsquo;t completely own the server yet. This was the case for me. All of the drupal/php sites got renamed and a blank placeholder got installed until I could deal with it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe way I chose to deal with it is to convert the site to Hugo. Hugo is a bit of a different approach to web serving (and actually a much older approach from a time when servers weren\u0026rsquo;t very powerful). You see whenever a request is made to a wordpress blog various database requests and code snippets are executed in order to pull together all the various bits and bobs necessary to make up a page on your site. Hugo instead pregenerates all content statically. Static pages versus dynamic are far less hackable\u0026hellip; I dare not say impossible but 99.9999% more difficult. Instead an attacker will have to exploit a vulnerability in the web server platform itself and there aren\u0026rsquo;t very many of those these days.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMore to come about the hows and whys of which CMS, blog publishing, cleaning a wordpress and drupal site as well as migrating from Drupal to Hugo. It\u0026rsquo;s not very travel related but I don\u0026rsquo;t do that much travelling anymore. What I do do is work from remote and that is something that is relevant to any and all Geeky Nomads.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Your fuel pump repair", "date_published" : "2017-12-20T21:17:13-05:00", "date_modified" : "2017-12-21T00:26:15-05:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/faq/your-fuel-pump-repair/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/faq/your-fuel-pump-repair/", "author" : { "name" : "Anonymous" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eQ: Can you give me the Motorcraft part number you installed in the tank?\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThank you\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA: Hi it looks like the part I used was PFS48. Hope that helps.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Foretravel Powertech Generator Voltage Regulator Replacement", "date_published" : "2017-12-18T13:45:00-05:00", "date_modified" : "2017-12-18T13:50:06-05:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/foretravel-powertech-generator-voltage-regulator-replacement/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/foretravel-powertech-generator-voltage-regulator-replacement/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/foretravel-powertech-generator-voltage-regulator-replacement/images/generator_resized_huef5e926e42c1afe75ad0dc12f49c4a5b_1567288_1280x0_resize_box_2.png\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/foretravel-powertech-generator-voltage-regulator-replacement/images/generator_resized_huef5e926e42c1afe75ad0dc12f49c4a5b_1567288_300x0_resize_box_2.png\" alt=\"Power Powertech Generator\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003ePower Powertech Generator\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\nI thought I\u0026rsquo;d detail our voltage regulator replacement on our generator. A lot of people have done this procedure wrong and their generators caught fire and burned up or worse.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis is how it\u0026rsquo;s done on ours.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr/\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\u003cdiv style=\"position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden;\"\u003e\n \u003ciframe src=\"//www.youtube.com/embed/p4tixm-kn00\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; border:0;\" allowfullscreen title=\"YouTube Video\"\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\n" }, { "title" : "FUEL PUMP", "date_published" : "2016-10-11T23:07:32-04:00", "date_modified" : "2018-01-16T15:56:31-05:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/faq/fuel-pump/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/faq/fuel-pump/", "author" : { "name" : "Anonymous" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eQ: COULD A IN LINE PUMP WORK TEMP ? AS LONG AS IT HAD THE 45 PSI OR MORE PRESUURE\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA: Not sure, but I suspect it could help. The old pumps don\u0026rsquo;t appear to hard fail but instead get weak.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Just put deposit down on 2000 U320 40' no slide coach 81,000 miles", "date_published" : "2016-06-11T01:25:03-04:00", "date_modified" : "2016-06-11T10:42:07-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/faq/just-put-deposit-down-2000-u320-40-no-slide-coach-81000-miles/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/faq/just-put-deposit-down-2000-u320-40-no-slide-coach-81000-miles/", "author" : { "name" : "Anonymous" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eQ: Sight unseen with Florida dealer\u0026hellip;got a few outside pics\u0026hellip;looks good so far. Should be in Tampa on the 24th and if it looks good we will fly there to inspect and buy. Dealer is asking $37,950 as is but even he has not really seen it yet. Anyhow, we may soon own it so your blog is super interesting. Going full time initially as sold our sailboat after 14 years\u0026hellip;similar life and gear in may ways. Anyhow thanks\u0026hellip;any pre purchase inspection advice greatly appreciated!\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCarl and Kathleen\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA: Wow, I\u0026rsquo;m ready to jump into a sailboat and out of a Foretravel :-P Good luck. Anyway, that price is way way too low, I would expect to find a wreck of a coach for that price. Be very wary. That coach should be $60K, probably more if in superb condition. You should join foreforums (foreforums.com) as I\u0026rsquo;m on there and a lot of people can give you advice and check out the coach listing.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Fin", "date_published" : "2015-12-30T11:14:09-05:00", "date_modified" : "2015-12-31T12:10:14-05:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/fin/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/fin/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eIt\u0026rsquo;s done. At least for now. We are no longer nomads. We\u0026rsquo;re still full time rvers just stuck in one spot. My kid is enrolled in school so we\u0026rsquo;re going to be here 9 months out of the year which means owning a house/land becomes a sane proposition again. I plan to keep the motorhome and travel still for business, racing, and summer vacations.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhenever something comes to a close it\u0026rsquo;s fun to look back and assess what you\u0026rsquo;ve learned that might not be immediately obvious to a newcomer. There are plenty of sites out there that talk about the rvs themselves. That your first one you will replace very quickly because it won\u0026rsquo;t be enough. That driving a huge rig is intimidating but you get used to it quickly. That pretty much 99% of rvs are junk on wheels. The select few good ones are just better safer junk. But here are some things I\u0026rsquo;ve learned that might not be so obvious.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/fin/images/fin_hub6591652fe77c0e3c401eba72d6276b6_25001_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/fin/images/fin_hub6591652fe77c0e3c401eba72d6276b6_25001_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"All Done!\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eAll Done!\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBlogging is unfulfilling\u003c/strong\u003e: And I dare say that this is true even for the successful ones. Over our time travelling I\u0026rsquo;ve intently followed the other popular full time travel blogs. Some of them seem to be truly blissfully happy while others seem to do everything they possibly can to convince themselves that they\u0026rsquo;re happy while in reality they are miserable angry people. Now that they\u0026rsquo;ve found success they feel somehow indebted to writing new entries. Once they write them and the internet responds in the typical internet way, panties are bunched and drama ensues. The natural response would be to say \u0026ldquo;stop writing\u0026rdquo; but they pretend the blog has no commerical purpose when it really does. Their notoriety gets them contracts, amazon referrals, etc. It\u0026rsquo;s a commercial endeavour in reality so they trudge on. So one would say blogging is unsuccessful for me because it\u0026rsquo;s one sided. I have a very reasonable readership of about 200 unique people but for the most part nobody engages. That one sidedness is rather lonely. I\u0026rsquo;d much rather write facebook posts to family and friends with a few pictures than write blog posts in that instance. Blog posts take a heck of a long time to write. 1 hour+ And for what? Hate from the internet trolls, little to no money, and that time could be out spent drinking with family and new friends. So to blogging I say F that! And indeed you can tell by the frequency of posts I have really run with that notion. This site has been little more than scratching an itch, learning drupal and learning how to keep an interactive site secure from hackers and spammers - knowledge which passes through to my actual commercial endeavors. To recap - some people may be fulfilled by running some loser blog that nobody reads, but I\u0026rsquo;d bet not when people with even successful blogs are still ancy.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSimplification and Decluttering\u003c/strong\u003e: I have seen this same refrain for years and years. People are so overburdened by all the crap they\u0026rsquo;ve accumulated that they try to liberate themselves from it by full time rving. But this is a total farce! For one thing, even if you have less space to fill you will still acquire junk, it will just sit outside your rig. I\u0026rsquo;ve seen it over and over again. RVing is \u003cem\u003enerve wracking\u003c/em\u003e, especially moving. Anyone who isn\u0026rsquo;t a little puckered is NOT paying attention. Think about this, you put all of your worldly possessions - you know the ones that survived the cut. The things that really matter. Into a box with you and drive down the highway. There are drug interdiction cops just itching to snatch it all up from you as a \u0026ldquo;civil forfeiture\u0026rdquo;. There are thieves. There is the fact that the average rv is incredibly unsafe barely stronger than paper. Then there is the fact that it\u0026rsquo;s VERY expensive and your insurance company will be ticked. Then there is the fact that if it breaks down you can\u0026rsquo;t just say F it and get a hotel, you probably want to stay with your rv and get it fixed. The reality is that it\u0026rsquo;s all VERY stressful and the average person will really need to devel a zen like calm to deal with it all. I have but it took YEARS. In the rv life, something bad/interesting is ALWAYS happening. It\u0026rsquo;s not like driving your honda to work on a daily basis where you can achieve some level of stability for years. A LOT of people thrive on that stability and cannot handle what full time rving brings. The idea that full timing will simplify your life is a laughable joke, and that\u0026rsquo;s even if you have money to pay for all the crap that rolls downhill. It will not simplify your life because damn near nothing worth doing is simple. It\u0026rsquo;s complicated, it takes effort and the rewards are immeasurable.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThings\u003c/strong\u003e: Furthering what we discussed above here, if things make you happy and those things are big, you will be less happy in certain ways. For me I collect vintage computers and have a car obsession. The computer hobby has somewhat come along with me but it\u0026rsquo;s very sedate compared to what it used to be. The car hobby is absolutely and completely stopped. Besides never being near the race track when I need to be, all the tools are stored in various garages and attics all over the country. Even if I had my car, I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t have the facilities to properly track prep it and the race car isn\u0026rsquo;t exactly family friendly. Yes, if you have a car hobby you probably won\u0026rsquo;t have it much longer when you start travelling. Even if you get a stacker trailer and all the other goodies it\u0026rsquo;s just not the same. A lot of people just wander aimlessly through life but I have a razor sharp focus on what makes me happy at very least. My cars and racing made me VERY happy. If you have a similar passion such as carpentry, metal working, etc that requires a workshop or space\u0026hellip; You will miss it. Guaranteed.\u003c/li\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFriends and Family\u003c/strong\u003e: This one is interesting to me. I\u0026rsquo;m not sure if the average nomad is just such a crotchedy assface that nobody wants to interact with them but they don\u0026rsquo;t seem to have friends or family. They spend the holidays by themselves in the middle of the desert. Perhaps they find some single serving friends and pretend like they have some kind of meaningful relationship with these people but I\u0026rsquo;d argue otherwise. If you are the type of person that thrives on relationships, friends, and family you will be less happy. Not entirely unhappy as fulltiming allows you to see people you can never see otherwise such as family who has moved far away. But your core base of friends will move on without you and it just won\u0026rsquo;t be the same for you. Our travels were always heavily limited by our common desires to see our families which are located half way across the country. Indeed after getting the whole see the country thing out of our system, full time rving became a vehicle to be closer to friends and family. This was pretty unexpected. My mother has gotten to see her grandson grow up in a way that she never would have otherwise.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eYou want a trailer\u003c/strong\u003e: Trailers are for the most part junk but you still want one over a motorhome. Even a fancy really nice motorhome like a Foretravel or Prevost. A motorhome is a nightmare and that is reality. Here you are with a vehicle that can never be driven except when it comes time to travel. Why? Well parking is generally a slightly complicated affair, hookups take time, and then your family proceeds to unload all their stowed stuff everywhere. Preparing and decompressing from moving all in all takes about an hour each way. All of the parts of motorhomes are VERY big and VERY expensive. Instead of making sure the small box pulling the rig is safe, the entire giant motorhome has to be safe exponentially increasing engine and drivetrain size, etc. Your chances of breaking down while in the middle of nowhere on a lonely highway are 100%. Because you never drive it around town! When you have a trailer you drive your tow pickup everywhere so you can hear issues developing before you\u0026rsquo;re in the middle of nowhere. You can also get them fixed while safely camped. A motorhome makes sense for NON full timers. The person towing a trailer to the racetrack who has weeks in advance to shake things down and make sure all will be well. The full time traveller is MUCH better served by a beefy pickup and fifth wheel or bumper pull trailer. The ONLY downside to this setup is that if you break down in the middle of nowhere, you don\u0026rsquo;t have a backup toad to get you out of trouble. Therefore I\u0026rsquo;d argue you should get a fifth wheel toy hauler and keep a motorcycle of some sort. Literally the perfect rig. I got the motorhome so that I could tow my race car to the track - but if we\u0026rsquo;re honest here, you\u0026rsquo;re not towing jack to the track until you\u0026rsquo;re done fulltiming. So racer joe, get the pickup and fifth wheel. TRUST ME. If you settle down again, sell it and THEN get the diesel pusher.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTo recap our travels - basically we drove across the country twice. We only did this a few years and finances as well as time were a consideration limiting travels a bit. Unfortunately I still have to work full time so we basically had very little free time to see the actual areas. Doing this full time rv thing in retirement would be very fulfilling. Doing it while working is great - but more difficult.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eI\u0026rsquo;ll probably be back to write a few more articles and reviews\u0026hellip; eventually. I have all the content but have been far too lazy. Blogging just isn\u0026rsquo;t very fulfilling at all when it comes down to it, and commercially it has little chance of paying much at all. I\u0026rsquo;d much rather spend my time with real live people, my family and more rewarding hobbies. Some day we might home school and resume full time travel but until then, ta ta! Wish us luck on finding a sweet \u0026gt;5 acre homestead.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Long Range Wifi Gear in an RV", "date_published" : "2015-11-15T11:07:30-05:00", "date_modified" : "2017-09-27T18:36:18-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/long-range-wifi-gear-rv/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/long-range-wifi-gear-rv/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eSo any self respecting geek is going to want internet access. The average LTE plan is ridonculously fast anymore (I\u0026rsquo;ve seen 50Mbit down in rural areas) and feels like a home connection. That\u0026rsquo;s great but they are usually limited unless you are particularly crafty. As a result most people tend to try to use wifi. For many people this involves turning on your laptop, trying to connect and bitching that it doesn\u0026rsquo;t work. In parks that have park wide wifi with many repeaters this isn\u0026rsquo;t usually the case. Usually a tengo type park works but it\u0026rsquo;s generally pretty slow. I\u0026rsquo;ve found that it\u0026rsquo;s often due to wifi congestion but sometimes the backhaul connection to the internet service provider is the problem as well. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/long-range-wifi-gear-rv/images/funny-McDonalds-PC-Wifi-free_hu85531debe88318d77e816e91a8b46011_180787_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/long-range-wifi-gear-rv/images/funny-McDonalds-PC-Wifi-free_hu85531debe88318d77e816e91a8b46011_180787_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Needs Better Antenna\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eNeeds Better Antenna\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut in our travels we figured out quickly that there are MANY parks who have free wifi - in the office. The best sites are generally not near the office. We quickly decided to acquire some wifi gear. The first was this (note ours is the older TL-WA5210G). The Nanostation M2 is essentially the same device rebranded and with better firmware. It\u0026rsquo;s a better choice.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-box\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-image\"\u003e\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00DCNRTAG?tag=geekynomads02-20\" name=\"amazon-shortcode\" target=\"\\_blank\"\u003e\n \u003cimg src=\"\" alt=\"Ubiquiti NanoStation locoM2 2.4GHz Indoor/Outdoor airMax 8dBi CPE\" /\u003e\n \u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-info\"\u003e\n \u003cp class=\"amazon-shortcode-title\"\u003e\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00DCNRTAG?tag=geekynomads02-20\" name=\"amazon-shortcode\" target=\"\\_blank\"\u003e\n Ubiquiti NanoStation locoM2 2.4GHz Indoor/Outdoor airMax 8dBi CPE\n \u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/p\u003e\n \n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-detail\"\u003e\n \n \u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \n \n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cbr style=\"clear: both;\"/\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/long-range-wifi-gear-rv/images/DPP_2615_hufd716a6a71044851136471c3bc319d3b_11296700_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/long-range-wifi-gear-rv/images/DPP_2615_hufd716a6a71044851136471c3bc319d3b_11296700_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"TP-Link CPE On Pole\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eTP-Link CPE On Pole\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n It is basically a weatherproof wifi access point built into an antenna. It can operate in client mode or router mode. The neat thing about this thing is that it avoids the huge signal losses that result from a long antenna cable. It is 12dBi but it works as well as or better than a 15 or 16dBi antenna/router separate combo with even a very high end cable in the middle. When you get this access point you get a long ethernet cable. You plug this antenna into one side and on the other end is a power injector. Then you plug the other end into your rv based wifi router. It\u0026rsquo;s just like plugging into a cable modem. Because of the power injector you only have to run one inexpensive long ethernet cable and you can go HUGE distances with ethernet with no losses in signal or throughput whatsoever. Every additional foot of cabling between a router and an antenna adds losses ordinarily.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe issue with this device is that it\u0026rsquo;s a bit flaky. We\u0026rsquo;ve even gotten a replacement and sometimes it just disconnects for fun. It also can take a very long time to connect for seemingly no reason. If you know the wifi is there, you see it in the scan and the signal is high enough, it will connect, but it might take 5-10 minutes. The good part about this is that it has a signal strength meter on the back with LED\u0026rsquo;s. This isn\u0026rsquo;t like a browser based signal meter. It is \u003cstrong\u003einstant\u003c/strong\u003e and updates many times per second. It \u003cstrong\u003ereally\u003c/strong\u003e helps you aim the antenna precisely. Sometimes moving the antenna one to two feet horizontally can make ALL the difference.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/long-range-wifi-gear-rv/images/IMG_20150724_005909_huc17ff57c641e85aab865b93718abc046_4360708_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/long-range-wifi-gear-rv/images/IMG_20150724_005909_huc17ff57c641e85aab865b93718abc046_4360708_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Yagi Experimentation\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eYagi Experimentation\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n Another thing in my collection is a stack of MI424WR routers. These are the actiontec routers that come with Verizon FiOS service. They are dime a dozen and indeed these were given to me for free. DD-WRT never worked on these routers so they always sat in a corner but I found out at some point I could install openwrt on it. Why does that matter? Well most router firmware can only act as a router. That is your laptops can connect to it and it can serve you internet. With aftermarket firmware you can almost always operate as a wireless CLIENT or bridge. In that case the router becomes more like a cable modem that you can then plug into another router to bridge your short range wifi devices to a long range connection. An MI424WR with OpenWRT is now my go-to for long range connection because it does go a bit further with this kit. I have that router plus this antenna. As a warning, it\u0026rsquo;s fun to play with DD-WRT and OpenWRT on routers but it\u0026rsquo;s incredibly easy to \u0026ldquo;brick\u0026rdquo; these routers. A bad firmware flash is all it takes to kill them and they become unrecoverable without soldering a JTAG connector onto the board. Still, if you don\u0026rsquo;t pay a lot for it, and the revision you buy is supported, I highly recommend learning about it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-box\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-image\"\u003e\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B008Z4DNFC?tag=geekynomads02-20\" name=\"amazon-shortcode\" target=\"\\_blank\"\u003e\n \u003cimg src=\"https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/31lwleuzdEL._SL160_.jpg\" alt=\"Tupavco TP512 Yagi Wi-Fi Antenna 2.4GHz 15dBi H:30° V:25° Outdoor Directional Wireless N-female\" /\u003e\n \u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-info\"\u003e\n \u003cp class=\"amazon-shortcode-title\"\u003e\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B008Z4DNFC?tag=geekynomads02-20\" name=\"amazon-shortcode\" target=\"\\_blank\"\u003e\n Tupavco TP512 Yagi Wi-Fi Antenna 2.4GHz 15dBi H:30° V:25° Outdoor Directional Wireless N-female\n \u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/p\u003e\n \n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-detail\"\u003e\n \n \u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \n \n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cbr style=\"clear: both;\"/\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eplus this cable\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-box\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-image\"\u003e\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000FICJ8S?tag=geekynomads02-20\" name=\"amazon-shortcode\" target=\"\\_blank\"\u003e\n \u003cimg src=\"https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41ayMhzDMHL._SL160_.jpg\" alt=\"TRENDnet Low Loss Reverse SMA Female to N-Type Male Weatherproof Connector Cable (8M, 26.2ft.) TEW-L208\" /\u003e\n \u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-info\"\u003e\n \u003cp class=\"amazon-shortcode-title\"\u003e\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000FICJ8S?tag=geekynomads02-20\" name=\"amazon-shortcode\" target=\"\\_blank\"\u003e\n TRENDnet Low Loss Reverse SMA Female to N-Type Male Weatherproof Connector Cable (8M, 26.2ft.) TEW-L208\n \u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/p\u003e\n \n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-detail\"\u003e\n \n \u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \n \n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cbr style=\"clear: both;\"/\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOnce upon a time we used this antenna\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-box\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-image\"\u003e\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003CFATOW?tag=geekynomads02-20\" name=\"amazon-shortcode\" target=\"\\_blank\"\u003e\n \u003cimg src=\"https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41hVS%2BXN3ML._SL160_.jpg\" alt=\"TP-Link 2.4GHz 24dBi Directional Grid Parabolic Antenna, N Female Connector, Weather Resistant (TL-ANT2424B)\" /\u003e\n \u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-info\"\u003e\n \u003cp class=\"amazon-shortcode-title\"\u003e\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003CFATOW?tag=geekynomads02-20\" name=\"amazon-shortcode\" target=\"\\_blank\"\u003e\n TP-Link 2.4GHz 24dBi Directional Grid Parabolic Antenna, N Female Connector, Weather Resistant (TL-ANT2424B)\n \u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/p\u003e\n \n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-detail\"\u003e\n \n \u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \n \n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cbr style=\"clear: both;\"/\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/long-range-wifi-gear-rv/images/24dbi_hu5fa452de9c1761c302cebb9bc3b64fe0_77787_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/long-range-wifi-gear-rv/images/24dbi_hu5fa452de9c1761c302cebb9bc3b64fe0_77787_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"24dBi Directional\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003e24dBi Directional\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n It looks cute right? Like a mini satellite dish? Hehe, it\u0026rsquo;s \u003cstrong\u003emassive.\u003c/strong\u003e A PVC pole is not even close to strong enough to hold it up and it really doesn\u0026rsquo;t do much if at all better than the yagi I posted above which is much more compact and can stay on the mast while travelling. In a permanent installation I\u0026rsquo;d consider the 24dBi antenna instead but we need to remain mobile so the smaller yagi it is.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/long-range-wifi-gear-rv/images/DPP_2618_hu5b57b77fed2a892c159c49ce449ca8e0_12182824_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/long-range-wifi-gear-rv/images/DPP_2618_hu5b57b77fed2a892c159c49ce449ca8e0_12182824_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Low Interference - Long Range\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eLow Interference - Long Range\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n But why bother, why not just use the flaky TP-Link CPE I first discussed? Well the issue with that is the firmware kind of sucks. With openwrt you can see a lot more information about the access point such as the security type. You can also run wireless tools like packet dumpers, etc on openwrt. In general it just gives you more flexibility. On the other hand the range isn\u0026rsquo;t \u003cem\u003equite\u003c/em\u003e as long as the 12dBi CPE. I often make use of both of them at the same time. One connects to the wifi to download movies while the other provides browsing internet. This works well on limited connections and allows us to use \u0026ldquo;double\u0026rdquo; our quota (okay not really since we are two people).\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut I think before anyone outlays $50-$100 on wifi gear the question on everyone\u0026rsquo;s mind would be how well does it work? The answer to that question is well enough to use but not well enough to depend on. If you try to do IT work on this connection you will start to look like a real asshole to your clients. When Voip calls drop, screen sharing and presentations die randomly. When you can\u0026rsquo;t get into a client machine because the wifi is down right now, it\u0026rsquo;s just unprofessional. Indeed in a situation where you are trying to reach across a park full of other rv\u0026rsquo;s things can get really interesting. Whenever someone operates their microwave it is enough to disrupt the weak signal. Other wifi interference across the park makes things bad too. The final nail in the coffin comes from other users. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/long-range-wifi-gear-rv/images/cwna20bpw0_hu835b89af68908b017f98effad4c09b09_4583_1280x0_resize_box.gif\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/long-range-wifi-gear-rv/images/cwna20bpw0_hu835b89af68908b017f98effad4c09b09_4583_300x0_resize_box.gif\" alt=\"Hidden Node Problem\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eHidden Node Problem\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n The effect is called the hidden node problem. Normally it\u0026rsquo;s not too big of a deal with a bunch of household wifi users but on a long range directional link it becomes a big problem. With wifi users must know of each others existence in order to help avoid interfering with each other. Otherwise it\u0026rsquo;s like two people with ear plugs both trying to talk to a third person at the same time without knowing when the room is quiet.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eYou see the antennas here have a gain. Rubber ducky antennas are 3-9dBi. The panel antenna in the TP-Link CPE is 12dBi. And the satellite dish one is 24dBi. What is gain? It\u0026rsquo;s not that this antenna boosts the signal. In fact the signal is weaker due to cable losses. Radio signals emit out from a normal antenna in a spherical pattern. When you use a rubber ducky antenna it focuses the signal into a 360 degree pattern more like a Tourus. The signal travels vertically far less. This focusing of the power works both ways and allows further horizontal signals to be received and transmitted. Because of the assist to both transmitted and received signals, this is helpful no matter what kind of antenna and router is on the other end. The panel antenna and yagi focuses the signal much further, this time into a single direction. The pattern is horizontal and directional in about a 30 degree cone. Despite the fact that this is such a cone, precise aiming can still help you eek out better transfer rates. The 24dBi satellite antenna must be fairly precisely aimed or else it simply doesn\u0026rsquo;t work at all. This can be useful for isolating interference somewhat (but honestly microwaves still trash the signal).\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhat kind of range? Well take a rural environment like Illinois where there are vast soybean fields and you have line of sight to the building the router is in. 1.2 miles or so. If there are any trees in the way you can\u0026rsquo;t achieve more than a couple hundred feet. If BOTH sides are cooperating (both are long range antennas, set to high power, pointed at each other), you can achieve many MANY miles. In practice we can generally hit 500-1000 feet without too much trouble. If they put the router in front of a window, much further. If they have an outdoor antenna placed high up, MUCH further.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnd what about these 1000mw high power usb devices like Alfa USB dongles?\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-box\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-image\"\u003e\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000WXSO76?tag=geekynomads02-20\" name=\"amazon-shortcode\" target=\"\\_blank\"\u003e\n \u003cimg src=\"https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/11VCJFKlRXL._SL160_.jpg\" alt=\"Alfa Network 1000mW High Power Wireless G 802.11g Wi-Fi USB Adapter with 5dBi Antenna AWUS036H\" /\u003e\n \u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-info\"\u003e\n \u003cp class=\"amazon-shortcode-title\"\u003e\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000WXSO76?tag=geekynomads02-20\" name=\"amazon-shortcode\" target=\"\\_blank\"\u003e\n Alfa Network 1000mW High Power Wireless G 802.11g Wi-Fi USB Adapter with 5dBi Antenna AWUS036H\n \u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/p\u003e\n \n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-detail\"\u003e\n \n \u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \n \n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cbr style=\"clear: both;\"/\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThey are actually nearly useless. Most routers communicate at 18dBm or so. The thing about wifi transmit power is that it must be the same on BOTH sides. Otherwise one side will be able to reach the other but not vice versa. In effect your range is still limited to the transmit power of the weakest device. Think about it carefully and you\u0026rsquo;ll get it. Another effect is that signal reflections and other issues can actually cause higher transmit powers to work less well. Indeed I find that setting my MI424WR to 17dBm (instead of the 30dBm of a 1000mw transmit power) results in better signal. Setting higher than this eventually stops working, I assume due to the transmitter overheating. Perhaps better hardware can handle this. The TP-Link CPE 12dBi panel antenna mentioned above works well at 27dBm - but it doesn\u0026rsquo;t really seem to help range because as I said - it is limited to what the other side is set to.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/long-range-wifi-gear-rv/images/DPP_2619_hu5ee1a79d735ede46abdf5450910e5f15_9646814_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/long-range-wifi-gear-rv/images/DPP_2619_hu5ee1a79d735ede46abdf5450910e5f15_9646814_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Conduit Ladder Mount\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eConduit Ladder Mount\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n So given what wifi is, if you still want to bother with it, these external antennas need to be mounted. Our solution was to use metal electrical conduit and conduit hangars attached back to back to our ladder. It works well enough but it can loosen up over time and cause the pole to drag. That was the source of our one catastrophe. Also in case you\u0026rsquo;re wondering, mounting the antenna or CPE on a long pole very high up almost always improves signal unless there are a lot of trees. Then often you can get a better signal at ground level because there are fewer leaves. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/long-range-wifi-gear-rv/images/DPP_2613_hu236186b99bc04f15c7aee08091bccd32_22448603_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/long-range-wifi-gear-rv/images/DPP_2613_hu236186b99bc04f15c7aee08091bccd32_22448603_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Dragged Pole\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eDragged Pole\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe final elephant in the room here is whether or not all this is worth it. I\u0026rsquo;d say about 40% of the time it works without trouble and about 60% of the time I struggle with it and spend hours tinkering with it. In fact for most people I would say that this stuff is an absolute total waste of time. For the average person I\u0026rsquo;d say an LTE plan and a Wilson Sleek 4G is all you need. I think the Botts of \u003ca href=\"http://www.outsideourbubble.com\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://www.outsideourbubble.com\"\u003ehttp://www.outsideourbubble.com\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/a\u003e (who I hope we can call our friends, we had the distinct pleasure of hanging out with them at the Grand Canyon) have it right in terms of wifi gear. They use a Ubiquiti router (I think a Bullet) connected to a permanently mounted Omni antenna on their roof. No tinkering - either you have signal or you don\u0026rsquo;t. Takes 5 minutes to check. No directional aiming or other business. Kind of like Solar panels for someone that doesn\u0026rsquo;t boondock year round. Economically it is completely nonsensical. When you can acquire a super quiet inverter generator from Costco that can recharge your batteries or run your microwave for $600 that will run for 10 hours on 1 gallon of gas producing 15kwh in the process, solar panels start to look a little insane. The average 600watt setup won\u0026rsquo;t produce that lab rated power in the best of circumstances and the amount of time it even gets close is just a few hours per day. Such a setup generally costs thousands once you have solar controller, cabling and installation costs settled. I\u0026rsquo;d argue solar money is much better spent on additional battery capacity. That can really improve your quality of life only having to recharge every few days. The point is that it\u0026rsquo;s fine if you have fun playing with this stuff, but if you\u0026rsquo;re just trying to get online, get some work done or download some movies it can get very frustrating and time consuming. From a simple time perspective, say you earn $50/hour doing your work. If you spend 4 hours a month that is $200 that you could instead spend on an additional bad-ass verizon LTE plan that will work better than ANY campground wifi nearly anywhere you go. Every now and then this fact rubs me the wrong way but then I realize I didn\u0026rsquo;t want to actually work anyway, and the alternative is just sitting around and doing nothing. Often this wasteful tinkering has made me money in the end anyway. One of my clients had me set up a long range wifi network between a few of his convenience stores cutting out some big FiOS bills for him. Then there is the other thing too that if you spend 9 months out of the year somewhere as we now have to because our son is in school, hitting free wifi can save you a lot of money and the time spent on the initial tinkering becomes worth it.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Cutting the Cord While Full Time RVing", "date_published" : "2015-11-13T12:57:31-05:00", "date_modified" : "2015-11-18T00:59:06-05:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/cutting-cord-while-full-time-rving/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/cutting-cord-while-full-time-rving/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eEvery now and then I have the rare treat of geeking out with some of my most technical readers. This is one of those times. LOL I\u0026rsquo;m kidding, nobody reads this. But anyway, if you don\u0026rsquo;t understand what I\u0026rsquo;m talking about here I would recommend hitting Google and figuring things out. Knowing this stuff can earn you lots of money as full time RVers. Everything IT can be done remotely and if you have a formidable IT skillset you are in demand\u0026hellip;\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/cutting-cord-while-full-time-rving/images/CableGuy_hua2825a2a244ddf67fdbd60d0f4fcefd5_37654_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/cutting-cord-while-full-time-rving/images/CableGuy_hua2825a2a244ddf67fdbd60d0f4fcefd5_37654_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Hey Buddy\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eHey Buddy\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n Cutting the cord - aka a ridiculous phrase coming from the same clowns who brought you the word cloud. If you get past silly C level friendly terminology, the idea is to get your media - music and movies from the internet instead of a paid cable or satellite subscription. The typical way this would be done is to use Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc and stream it. Obviously this is a big big problem for someone on a 10GB LTE data cap. Personally, while we have a grandfathered Verizon LTE plan, I try my very best to not abuse it which means using campground wifi for media. This also means that the streaming services are out. What I do instead is queue up my media on a server with a proper internet connection and then download all that media whenever I have a good connection. If you don\u0026rsquo;t have such resources I would recommend looking for one of the many VPS providers that have accounts for $60/year with more than 100GB disk space available. Ramnode is a good one. You could put things into AWS S3 as well which would be pretty cheap but less convenient for this exercise. After you have enough media the task becomes to transfer it from your server to your own systems where you are at.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/cutting-cord-while-full-time-rving/images/img2_hu5ed034b22858159d9194bbeb6827cae1_1253747_1280x0_resize_box_2.png\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/cutting-cord-while-full-time-rving/images/img2_hu5ed034b22858159d9194bbeb6827cae1_1253747_300x0_resize_box_2.png\" alt=\"Trees Ruin Signal\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eTrees Ruin Signal\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n The problem is that even with copious amounts of long range wifi gear (seriously it\u0026rsquo;s bad in our rv, 3 antennas, 4 cables, 6 routers) sometimes it\u0026rsquo;s simply not possible to reach the wifi. Actually this is a whole other subject I have a lot of experience with that is going to be a whole other article. It\u0026rsquo;s going to be titled something like \u0026ldquo;long range wifi gear is a collossal waste of money\u0026rdquo;. Anyway, in our experience a lot of campgrounds have free wifi but only at the office.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/cutting-cord-while-full-time-rving/images/120302-PWNIEEXPRESS-017edit_hubcd10ba41b759f61d94255f3a81feabf_75427_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/cutting-cord-while-full-time-rving/images/120302-PWNIEEXPRESS-017edit_hubcd10ba41b759f61d94255f3a81feabf_75427_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"A Pwnie in it\u0026#39;s native environment - CC Ariel Zambelich/Wired\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eA Pwnie in it\u0026#39;s native environment - CC Ariel Zambelich/Wired\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n Now for a bit of recent history\u0026hellip; In the hacking world there is a device called a Pwnie. The idea behind it is a small computer that you nefariously dispatch in a hidden location within a corporate office of some unwitting company in the hopes that you can get around their firewall. Most companies have very few restrictions on outbound communications so get a device inside and communicate OUT and you\u0026rsquo;ve got your window. Most places really use the firewall as their only serious line of defense too. Once inside the network you can access pretty much everything in short order whether it\u0026rsquo;s through weak passwords, unpatched systems, etc. The original Pwnie is just a Marvell Sheevaplug SBC with a special Linux distribution and an inflated price. Because certainly hackers can\u0026rsquo;t customize their own Sheevaplug and save some money. Whatever ;) \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/cutting-cord-while-full-time-rving/images/marvell_sheevaplug_computer2_0_hu1e321b331459555410c65728d05d10f7_8712_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/cutting-cord-while-full-time-rving/images/marvell_sheevaplug_computer2_0_hu1e321b331459555410c65728d05d10f7_8712_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Marvell Sheevaplug\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eMarvell Sheevaplug\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnyway, I happen to own one of these devices bought years and years ago as part of my \u0026ldquo;failed due to apathy\u0026rdquo; pool automation business venture. The nice thing here is that we\u0026rsquo;ve come up with an actual legitimate use of a pwnie versus the rare occasions when someone pays me to penetration test their systems. This device though, as small as it is is a brick. That was then and this is now. These days you can buy a similar computer that is the size of a pack of gum.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-box\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-image\"\u003e\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00AVUU0PE?tag=geekynomads02-20\" name=\"amazon-shortcode\" target=\"\\_blank\"\u003e\n \u003cimg src=\"\" alt=\"Rikomagic MK802 IIIS Dual Core Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Mini PC RK3066 1.6Ghz Cortex A9 1G RAM 8G ROM HDMI Wifi with 2GB micro SD Card and Power Adapter\" /\u003e\n \u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-info\"\u003e\n \u003cp class=\"amazon-shortcode-title\"\u003e\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00AVUU0PE?tag=geekynomads02-20\" name=\"amazon-shortcode\" target=\"\\_blank\"\u003e\n Rikomagic MK802 IIIS Dual Core Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Mini PC RK3066 1.6Ghz Cortex A9 1G RAM 8G ROM HDMI Wifi with 2GB micro SD Card and Power Adapter\n \u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/p\u003e\n \n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-detail\"\u003e\n \n \u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \n \n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cbr style=\"clear: both;\"/\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis has built in wifi and can take a 32, 64 or even 128GB micro SD card. You can probably guess where we\u0026rsquo;re going with this.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs it turns out these devices are not exactly huge power hogs. 4 AA batteries rigged up to it can power it for 10-12 hours. I happened to have a Sony PSP battery pack lying around so I used that. I simply chopped up one of my numerous USB cables and soldered it right into the case of the battery to provide power. The inaugural run didn\u0026rsquo;t work well so I cracked open the case and extracted the antenna. The second run was a marvellous success, downloading 2.5GB in just a few hours. The PSP battery isn\u0026rsquo;t great though and was pretty dead after a 4 hour run. I\u0026rsquo;ll probably have to do something bettery for batteries eventually.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThere are MANY ways of making this happen so you are really limited only by your imagination. I installed Lubuntu on my old school (original) MK802 system. This is worth probably $20 now. I put in a $4 16GB micro SD card and used a damn near free battery pack for it. If it walks away I simply have to invalidate an ssh key and I\u0026rsquo;m good to go. So quite simply you boot this thing up with a Linux distro installed on the Micro SD card, and use rsync to sync with your server. I made a script and simply added it to /etc/rc.local and viola, the MK802 boots up and starts trying to download media from my server. My script looks like this\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cpre\u003e\u003ccode\u003e#!/bin/bash\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt;\n# Trap interrupts and exit instead of continuing the loop\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt;\ntrap \u0026quot;echo Exited!; exit;\u0026quot; SIGINT SIGTERM\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt;\n# Set the initial return value to failure\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt;\nfalse\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt;\nwhile [ $? -ne 0 ]\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt;\ndo\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt;\n sleep 1\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt;\n i=$(($i+1))\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt;\n rsync -av --progress --partial --timeout 15 -e myuser@myserver.net:~/sync/* .\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt;\ndone \n\u003c/code\u003e\u003c/pre\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/cutting-cord-while-full-time-rving/images/IMG_20151113_115318_0_hua7265754937292e80fe6906a62416fd3_1992822_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/cutting-cord-while-full-time-rving/images/IMG_20151113_115318_0_hua7265754937292e80fe6906a62416fd3_1992822_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"My little battery powered wifi Pwnie\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eMy little battery powered wifi Pwnie\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\nSo what\u0026rsquo;s going on here? We simply retry rsync indefinitely until it succeeds to download our stuff from our server. Note that you\u0026rsquo;ll have to use key based ssh authentication since you won\u0026rsquo;t exactly be around to enter the password. Walk over and get the wifi details ahead of time and set it up as a hidden network. Save everything to the MK802, walk it over, hook up the battery and dump it. Come back and pick it up later. You can verify that it\u0026rsquo;s working by doing a ps ax | grep rsync on the server side. If you see an rsync process you know it\u0026rsquo;s connected. Now, you can be parked a huge distance from free wifi, and can download huge amounts without waiting around. Awesome! A pwnie with a legitimate purpose!\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo that leaves the final 4 concerns:\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003col\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eWhat if it walks away? Who cares! It costs less than a month worth of LTE. Invalidate the SSH key and move on. Be ready for this possibility and accept it. Hope it doesn't happen.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eWhere can I stash it? Numerous places really. I put mine in our mailbox at the office which about 50 feet from the wifi. You could put it on top of a railing, on top of or behind a soda machine, behind a bush, etc. The key is that as long as nobody sees you toss it and as long as you go pick it up before falling asleep for the evening, most likely nobody will see it and snag it.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eAnd probably the most important thing - remove your wifi credentials from the device. If you forget and you turn it on when you get home, it will download everything over your own connection. Kind of defeats the point.\u003c/li\u003e\n \u003cli\u003eIf the wifi has some sort of gateway that you have to accept you'll have to do that manually. I recommend a lapdock which is basically an HDMI screen and USB keyboard/trackpad you can hook up to whatever device (with some adapters). People use these things for Raspberry Pi's for instance. I found one on ebay a long time ago for $20 and it really does the job with these tiny headless boards.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnother way you could do this is with an old cell phone, but somehow I suspect an old cell phone would walk away a LOT more quickly than a $35 SBC with no screen even if they are actually similar value.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Nearly a Year", "date_published" : "2015-09-19T11:38:59-04:00", "date_modified" : "2015-10-13T01:03:09-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/nearly-year/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/nearly-year/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eSince my last post that is. We\u0026rsquo;re still alive and kicking and all of my intent to update this blog has been met with a combination of apathy and extreme busyness. I suppose I could summarize things pretty well though. In 2014 we travelled all the way to California and back. We broke down in Iowa, I had other issues there besides that and then we also had trouble with a woman in California. If you plan to go to California and camp in the state parks, it\u0026rsquo;s probably worthwhile to just bite the bullet and get a little Honda or Yamaha generator that you can place where you want in your campsite than using the big generator. People can be\u0026hellip; well people. To give context though it was running for 10 minutes at 5pm before she went nuts. 10 minutes. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/nearly-year/images/bubbles_huc0da114eef465ec44ca35773ff9283a1_2323774_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/nearly-year/images/bubbles_huc0da114eef465ec44ca35773ff9283a1_2323774_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Bubbles!\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eBubbles!\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut in retrospect looking back on the trip those few bad moments are overridden by an overwhelming majority of mostly food related good memories. There was Fasta Pasta in Tahoe, Sprouts in Tahoe, Ikes Sandwiches and more. We inadvertently parked at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds right when there was a wine festival so we got drunk on free tastings of amazing wine repeatedly.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOverall though I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t go back to western California. The coast was scenic and I\u0026rsquo;d probably make the Pacific Coast Highway drive again but really I wouldn\u0026rsquo;t try to camp anywhere along there in a serious motorhome, near the Valley anyway. Maybe a lack of familiarity with California and the \u0026ldquo;personality\u0026rdquo; is what got me into trouble. Eastern California, that is the drive down US 395, was amazing. Pretty much the whole drive has amazing views of the Sierra Nevadas awesome free and low cost places to stay and tons of breathing room. 395 itself is actually a very high quality road which is odd compared to some of California\u0026rsquo;s highways.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBesides Tahoe though, which had it\u0026rsquo;s own share of weirdos, my favorite place was Lake Havasu. Imagine my surprise to find out it is pretty much the spring break capital of the US. There are annual cigarette boat races there. The amount of money people spend on these boats is absolutely preposterous, exactly how I like it. People are noisy, boisterous, friendly, and drunk. Havasu has the actual London bridge that was broken down piece by piece and setup to connect an island to the main land. People cruise at idle speed through the channel and under the bridge, some of them over and over again. I did it once or twice with the family on our rented wave runner but for the most part I flew at full throttle all around the lake. It was a really great experience tarnished only by killer attack fire ants that invaded our rig (which is very uncommon for them). We had to sit there killing them one by one with a spoon because their shells are so strong smashing them with a paper towel was ineffective.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIf I had to take another trip now, I would try to see more of Utah, Colorado, New mexico and Texas. I probably would hit Tahoe again but this time I would just go straight down 395. And this would only be after visiting Colorado and Utah. Our trip had to be cut short, around 2 months because of a promise to my mother to be back for Thanksgiving. This time I would make no such promises. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/nearly-year/images/annual_maintenance_hu7d6d39cd56b98a715935128cef80e1cc_2623017_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/nearly-year/images/annual_maintenance_hu7d6d39cd56b98a715935128cef80e1cc_2623017_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Annual Rig Maintenance\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eAnnual Rig Maintenance\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLong time readers know that I started an IT consulting company at the same time we started travelling before. The idea was to see the country and build the business during my forced unemployment while I find clients. This was a bad idea! We saved up enough money that we were okay but nothing could ever get me past the stress. The idea that instead of sightseeing I should really be back at the rig because what if nothing ever develops? Alas it didn\u0026rsquo;t go that way and since then I have developed a diverse yet equally needy client base. This year we didn\u0026rsquo;t get to travel at all and I\u0026rsquo;ve been working 12 hour days 7 days a week most of the summer (except on the random days when family and rig or car maintenance pulls me away). The hope is that these projects will settle down towards winter as I have nothing at all lined up other than maintenance and support agreements which thankfully are enough to tide me through even the longest dryspells now.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThroughout all of this we\u0026rsquo;ve been with our 3 year old son. He\u0026rsquo;s developed a rather strong personality and we are theorizing that a lot of it is due to him thinking he is an adult. We\u0026rsquo;re in a small space and everything here is very accessible to him. He\u0026rsquo;s a restless kid and wants to learn how to do everything whether we want him to or not. He\u0026rsquo;s capable and smart yet would prefer to not learn to talk. He\u0026rsquo;s bilingual which doesn\u0026rsquo;t help. As travellers we really haven\u0026rsquo;t found much of any full time families that are similar to us. There are fulltime families but they often have either 20 kids or seem to be aimless with no real ambition or goals, both of which just are just indicative that we\u0026rsquo;d probably have nothing in common. I know, I know, the point of fulltiming is to calm down and live a simpler life or something. No thanks, not for me. I don\u0026rsquo;t mind the complexity of an old diesel pusher. I like tinkering with race cars and I\u0026rsquo;m willing to take on anything. To be fair there are a several blogging couples and families out there that fit the bill who post on facebook groups, etc but we never seem to cross paths. I certainly never see such groups in our usual places. There are plenty of older fulltimers that are nice and I\u0026rsquo;d love to hang with but they are often at over 55 parks. So we\u0026rsquo;ve decided that he goes to school and the good school we got him into in Florida near her family starts in September and if you\u0026rsquo;re not here in September you don\u0026rsquo;t get in. So now we\u0026rsquo;re stuck 9 months out of the year for the sake of our son - which to be honest is worth it because in a few short weeks his personality is really coming around as he has to deal with the routine and sees all the other kids falling in line and realizes that he\u0026rsquo;s the problem. It doesn\u0026rsquo;t surprise me that he is the way he is, as I have a really serious problem with anyone at all telling me what to do. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/nearly-year/images/born_racer_hu363f14fe3231d18c8568a7e889b6a366_5138201_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/nearly-year/images/born_racer_hu363f14fe3231d18c8568a7e889b6a366_5138201_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Born Racer\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eBorn Racer\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo at this point if we\u0026rsquo;re in Florida 9 months out of the year we might as well look for real estate. We\u0026rsquo;re bouncing back and forth between building a small home on 5-10 acres or buying something used and already there. I\u0026rsquo;m torn as if I have a big expensive house I really won\u0026rsquo;t feel comfortable leaving it for months at a time to travel in the summer when he\u0026rsquo;s off school. There was an opportunity that passed by primarily because someone else decided to pay way too much for it. The real estate market in the rural sarasota area is very strange. Or even in non-rural area. Basically you can buy a run down mobile home or block house that\u0026rsquo;s 40 years old on 3-5 acres for $150,000. You can buy reasonably large to massive house for $300,000-$400,000 but the pickings for this are SLIM. We would like something closer to $200,000 that needs some work but is a nice chunk of land and a house and that is impossible. People think their 10 acres, \u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026frasl;\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e of which is unbuildable unsubdividable protected wetlands are worth insane amounts of money. So we wait.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt\u0026rsquo;s very strange though becuase if you pony up $600,000 or so, the houses are absolute mansions. I mean guest houses, pools with fountains, crazy crazy stuff. It would almost be better to find another family willing to spend $300K and go in and live there together. Heck they\u0026rsquo;d get full run of the house when we leave over the summer too. In the end it\u0026rsquo;s not that we\u0026rsquo;re looking for a 3000 square foot house. After all we\u0026rsquo;ve lived in an 8 foot wide box for years. The only thing we\u0026rsquo;d really need is a 2nd bedroom for my son until he realizes he\u0026rsquo;s a kid and has to follow rules. But the trouble is all the small houses are \u003cem\u003ereally\u003c/em\u003e \u003cem\u003ereally\u003c/em\u003e run down and far from hurricane safe. So we\u0026rsquo;d have to build I think.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/nearly-year/images/stealth_wifi_hubea6ce5b08cf8d4286b64555250d25a6_3820533_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/nearly-year/images/stealth_wifi_hubea6ce5b08cf8d4286b64555250d25a6_3820533_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Stealth Wifi and a Huge Mess\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eStealth Wifi and a Huge Mess\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n So that\u0026rsquo;s where we\u0026rsquo;re at. Stuck in Florida.. But Florida is beautiful and I really like it here. I\u0026rsquo;m working long long days, in fact I worry that if I post here and my clients notice they\u0026rsquo;ll get pissed that I\u0026rsquo;m spending time on this instead of their already missed deadline. But such is life. The one thing is for sure, my business is a success, my family is happy and healthy and everything else will just fall into line.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePS: The pics really don\u0026rsquo;t serve any context to the post, but everyone loves pictures.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Off Road 4x4 on Federal Lands", "date_published" : "2014-10-01T16:58:28-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T01:32:49-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/road-4x4-federal-lands/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/road-4x4-federal-lands/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eWhen we set out to full time, one of the things I wanted to do but wasn\u0026rsquo;t sure I\u0026rsquo;d be able to do was to go off roading in our toad. It was an important part of my decision to select the Lexus GX470. The car we bought had aged out tires so we replaced them with Goodyear Wrangler mud/snow tires as well so we were really ready.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut finding out how to do this is easier said than done. There are trail sites that charge you money to find the trail head. There are iPhone apps as well that are paid. We generally have a policy to avoid purchasing applications or website subscriptions that don\u0026rsquo;t help us more than a few times per year so we really needed to find a free solution to make this happen and this is it.\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/road-4x4-federal-lands/images/DPP_1311_hu32ed66eb9b8108d0a13e55e6a6bc1f97_11568914_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/road-4x4-federal-lands/images/DPP_1311_hu32ed66eb9b8108d0a13e55e6a6bc1f97_11568914_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Our GX470 Toad\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eOur GX470 Toad\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eImagine you have a pretty good idea where a trail is that you can go on. You drive down the road and you find a trailhead. It\u0026rsquo;s completely unmarked. Maybe there is a number there. There are no no tresspassing signs but do you really feel comfortable going down the road? I really didn\u0026rsquo;t until I figured out our current solution. There is an iPhone app called PDF Maps. The app is free and can be readily downloaded. They make money by charging for some maps but as it so happens some federal maps are free on the app.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe unique thing is that the app will overlay your GPS position on the map thereby showing you when a trail is approaching or whether or not you are on the right trail or the immediately adjacent \u0026ldquo;you will be shot on premises\u0026rdquo; private property. There are maps in this application called MVUM. Motor Vehicle Use Maps. They literally show you federally owned trails which you are allowed to take your off road vehicle romping on. Sweet! There are some restrictions which are outlined in the PDFs.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe first thing you would do is start the application and then click the search map button in order to browse the available maps for your area. There are various topographic and almanac maps but you want the MVUM.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/road-4x4-federal-lands/images/IMG_0541_hu96db406b23418e0bf3ef4523413015b3_462345_1280x0_resize_box_2.PNG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/road-4x4-federal-lands/images/IMG_0541_hu96db406b23418e0bf3ef4523413015b3_462345_300x0_resize_box_2.PNG\" alt=\"Click the Map You Want\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eClick the Map You Want\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eOnce you go in further you can see more information about the map and any pricing. Again, MVUM\u0026rsquo;s are free.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/road-4x4-federal-lands/images/IMG_0542_hu690e468f6f6a4719498245a3f4837b7f_163250_1280x0_resize_box_2.PNG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/road-4x4-federal-lands/images/IMG_0542_hu690e468f6f6a4719498245a3f4837b7f_163250_300x0_resize_box_2.PNG\" alt=\"Detailed Information\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eDetailed Information\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eOnce you\u0026rsquo;re happy with your selection you can download the map and then launch it, showing your GPS overlay.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/road-4x4-federal-lands/images/IMG_0539_hubeb3db4e4474f8b6e1994aa85cce3e2b_242814_1280x0_resize_box_2.PNG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/road-4x4-federal-lands/images/IMG_0539_hubeb3db4e4474f8b6e1994aa85cce3e2b_242814_300x0_resize_box_2.PNG\" alt=\"GPS Overlay on Map\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eGPS Overlay on Map\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eThose black and white striped roads? Those are basically traversable dirt roads, someimtes with large rocks, climbs and center height clearance needs. Worked fine for our Lexus and should work fine for a Jeep. I enjoyed going down these roads to learn more about offroad driving while simultaneously showing the family a view from the mountaintops that others don\u0026rsquo;t always get to see. We saw remains of campsites, evidence of bears and more. When you have a toddler this is pretty much your only option to go about this versus an ATV, hiking, etc.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHave fun!\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n" }, { "title" : "Our Leader", "date_published" : "2014-09-29T02:22:39-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-09-29T02:22:39-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/our-leader/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/our-leader/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "" }, { "title" : "Kick That Poo", "date_published" : "2014-09-29T02:16:06-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-09-29T02:16:06-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/kick-poo/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/kick-poo/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "" }, { "title" : "Truck on Fire", "date_published" : "2014-09-29T02:14:28-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-09-29T02:14:28-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/truck-fire/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/truck-fire/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "" }, { "title" : "We've Made it to California", "date_published" : "2014-09-28T02:32:25-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T02:16:46-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/weve-made-it-to-california/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/weve-made-it-to-california/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eWe decided to drive immediately and as quickly as possible across the country. After we got to California we would slowly make our way back towards PA with a mid November deadline. I\u0026rsquo;m trying to be back on the east coast to run my M3 with Track Daze on Virginia International Raceway and then it would be nice to have Thanksgiving with the family. After our previous blown air spring incident I had hoped that it would be smooth sailing. It was except for what I am calling the trifecta of crap. We were travelling through an unnamed mid-western state when SO decided she needed to mail a package and return something to Bed Bath and Beyond. Fair enough, we found a place and pulled in. Junior and I had lunch in an empty hospital parking lot while she went off on her errands in the toad. We left and on the way out to pick up I80 again I felt the steering get heavy. The rear view camera was clouded and we started to overheat. We turned into the nearest parking lot we could find which happened to be one of those megachurches. Looking back was a trail of oil. The rest of the 6 gallons of hydraulic oil laid to rest under our rig in the parking lot. We blew a hydraulic hose. Oil. Was. Everywhere. It sprayed on the entire engine, compartment, tires, brakes, transmission, etc. Everywhere. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/weve-made-it-to-california/images/DPP_1245_hu51b92d2288dd260f9afbcddd93eb7d5f_9845717_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/weve-made-it-to-california/images/DPP_1245_hu51b92d2288dd260f9afbcddd93eb7d5f_9845717_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Bonneville Salt Flats\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eBonneville Salt Flats\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo my first reaction was to utilize the Good Sam membership. We decided to utilize the service to send a mobile mechanic. I rationalized that dealing their random pick of potentially bottom of the barrel mobile mechanics would still be better than paying the call out fee which Good Sam covers. The guy they sent out though. Holy moly. First, understand we informed them during the call that we blew a high pressure hydraulic hose, most likely our power steering hose, and that the driver would need to have some method of repairing said hose. I didn\u0026rsquo;t know at the time but you cannot repair these hoses as a small but certainly not handheld press is required to attach the fittings. There are hand versions of the press and repair couplings. The guy they sent out had a tiny lunch pail sized toolbox, an air compressor and a generator. He said he never worked on a single RV or bus before. He was not in a uniform, covered in tattoos (not that that matters but was interesting enough), He left his truck running the entire 4 hours time he was with us which was spewing raw unburned gas out the exhaust. The truck was covered in dents, scratches and other trauma. It had a single lowly flashing yellow light. It was literally the opposite thing you think of when you think professional. I knew where this was going but I still gave it a chance. I really should have just accepted that I was on my own and started repairs myself but I must be a glutton for punishment.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/weve-made-it-to-california/images/oilleak_hu2e3f754ca45c0e590cb425b0c2dd611f_2048328_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/weve-made-it-to-california/images/oilleak_hu2e3f754ca45c0e590cb425b0c2dd611f_2048328_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Blown Hydraulic Hose\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eBlown Hydraulic Hose\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n First, he had no male to male line for the compressor to raise our coach so that he could safely get under it to take a better look. He didn\u0026rsquo;t understand the blocking required to be safe under the coach, even after I showed him. He didn\u0026rsquo;t undo the bundle of hoses to figure out which one was bad. He told us that we would have to get parts from an rv dealership and that we\u0026rsquo;d probably have to be towed. He said \u0026ldquo;oh I know a dealer nearby that sells these RV\u0026rsquo;s\u0026rdquo;. Interesting since Foretravels are direct from the factory. The guy had no clue and he continually fed me a stream of lies.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eVery early on I decided this was done and told him we were finished and since he was not equipped to help me, could not possibly have helped me and offered no solutions or diagnostic work of any sort. They decided we owed them $140 for doing less than nothing. Discussing these fees took hours and the situation was eventually resolved to our satisfaction. To Good Sam\u0026rsquo;s credit, they called back days later and apologized for how bad our experience was. The guy threatened to impound our rig and this and that. It was a really bad experience when we were already down and out. The repair person really seemed ill equipped to do any repairs whatsoever. It seemed like they just collected the fees and said \u0026ldquo;yeah it\u0026rsquo;s broken, you need towed\u0026rdquo;. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/weve-made-it-to-california/images/DPP_1207_hu38a606380920bb3f84dd8ff552c801e4_9230865_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/weve-made-it-to-california/images/DPP_1207_hu38a606380920bb3f84dd8ff552c801e4_9230865_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Moving Again, Laramie, WY\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eMoving Again, Laramie, WY\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAfter the guy finally left I tore into it myself. I unbundle the hydraulic lines zip tied together and rotate the radiator fan. Oil spews out. I reach my hand up and feel the \u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026frasl;\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e\u0026rdquo; radiator fan hose has a giant hole in it rather than the power steering. This means I need a 3 foot hose, not a 42 foot one! This means I don\u0026rsquo;t need to pull a new hose through the wire tray in the center of the rig! A ray of sunshine! I managed to get the hose out around 11pm that night and the next morning went to Napa first thing to get it. Great, we\u0026rsquo;re going to be back on the road hopefully.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/weve-made-it-to-california/images/DPP_1210_hudffa0c7e1a9ecb873aa89288f3f3b24c_10820283_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/weve-made-it-to-california/images/DPP_1210_hudffa0c7e1a9ecb873aa89288f3f3b24c_10820283_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Rest Stop... Wyoming?\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eRest Stop... Wyoming?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n On my way back from the third NAPA store I visited, I got to the final leg of the trifecta of crap. A run in with police that was a very bad experience. I won\u0026rsquo;t go into details for various reasons but I will say that I am a good, honest, law abiding citizen who has a habit of speeding. I do not have any relations with anyone that partakes in illegal drugs. \u003ca href=\"http://news.slashdot.org/story/14/09/11/1856223/cbc-warns-canadians-of-us-law-enforcement-money-extortion-program\"\u003eThis is a very real thing.\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n" }, { "title" : "Walmart-ing along the way – Lexington, Nebraska", "date_published" : "2014-09-18T00:17:13-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T02:14:43-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/walmart-ing-along-way--lexington-nebraska/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/walmart-ing-along-way--lexington-nebraska/", "author" : { "name" : "angel" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eWe decided to save a bit on lodging along the way, and stay in a few Walmart’s overnight. We use a very helpful RV Parky app on our iPhones to see overnight friendly spots to stay along our route. We drove for a little over 300 miles today, and our day was very peaceful sans any surprises. We started driving around 10 in the morning, and experienced mostly empty roads. We pulled over at a rest area for lunch, and after eating delicious sandwiches and stretching our feet for a little bit, got on our way again. After hours of driving and listening to truckers chat mostly illegibly on CB radio, we arrived at Lexington, Nebraska Walmart. We shared the parking lot with about 3 other RV’s.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eI was happy to park and relax. We had a quick dinner of Tuna salad and gave our little one a bath. He stayed up for about an hour and then it was bedtime.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eI decided to venture out to get some groceries at this Walmart, as we were running low. I find it easier to get groceries at Walmart instead of disconnecting our toad and exploring a new area in the dark while tired.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis Walmart grocery section was catered to the Hispanic population of the town. At first, I did not realize this, but could not find our usual food brands, like Boboli pizza crust, and Barilla sauce. I actually had to buy a few Great Value brand groceries, simply because this was the only selection available. I also found a case of different beans that you could buy by weight, as well as various rices, and spicy peppers. Mark would in paradise shopping here, as he is a huge fan of Mexican food.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/walmart-ing-along-way--lexington-nebraska/images/10574529_10152263395716008_2154258997868662917_n_0_hu61214f36a8c65e6f9ac9a511bca6543f_84232_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/walmart-ing-along-way--lexington-nebraska/images/10574529_10152263395716008_2154258997868662917_n_0_hu61214f36a8c65e6f9ac9a511bca6543f_84232_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\" \"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n Once I got back to the RV and unloaded the groceries, I finally sat down to relax on the couch, when we heard a startling noise outside. It sounded kind of like a gunshot but we were not sure quite what we heard. We opened the blinds and looked outside to see that a tractor trailer across the street had a tire that caught fire and I guess exploded! We grabbed a fire extinguisher and headed outside to help but were unable to get there quickly due to a wire fence in our way. This trucker had the situation under control though, got his own fire extinguisher and put out the burning tire. He continued driving after a few minutes and turned in the Walmart parking lot to deal with his tire situation.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAfter all this excitement, we decided to head to sleep. More driving tomorrow. :)\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Kellogg RV Park and Iowa’s Best Burger Café", "date_published" : "2014-09-17T02:01:40-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-12-31T12:18:26-05:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/kellogg-rv-park-and-iowas-best-burger-caf%C3%A9/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/kellogg-rv-park-and-iowas-best-burger-caf%C3%A9/", "author" : { "name" : "angel" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eA short drive from Des Moines, we stopped at a nice campground in Kellogg, Iowa. It is located right by the highway I-80. The park is very clean and has nice and level pull through sites. We were able to secure a site the furthest from the highway and it provided for a very peaceful stay. The cars driving by offered a faint white noise that we actually enjoy especially during sleep.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis campground is adjacent to a gas station and a little café that has very reasonably priced burgers, sausages and ice cream. We went for a nice lunch, and ordered BBQ Beef Sandwich and Polish Sausage. The meal came with a Drink and a side Salad. Delicious food was had by all and we ate our lunch outside while listening to swooshing of the corn field nearby. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/kellogg-rv-park-and-iowas-best-burger-caf%C3%A9/images/campground-300x225_hu5a636367162b500bcac0f3ba812a4067_29227_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/kellogg-rv-park-and-iowas-best-burger-caf%C3%A9/images/campground-300x225_hu5a636367162b500bcac0f3ba812a4067_29227_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Campground\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eCampground\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAt dinnertime, we went for a nice walk around the park as a family. Our son enjoyed the playground on the premises. He loves swings, and had a great time.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWe would definitely stay here again if passing through the area.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs we were walking back to our RV, we noticed that one of the Diesel pusher owners looked a bit frazzled. Being very familiar with that look ourselves after our recent reliability troubles, we asked him what was wrong? He told us that his home on wheels had a cracked exhaust manifold. He had a mobile mechanic there working on the problem, and his experience with help seemed better than our own. I hope that he was able to get his problem fixed quickly and get underway to his home state of Arkansas after we left.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "And We're Still Stuck", "date_published" : "2014-09-05T23:50:52-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T02:16:35-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/and-were-still-stuck/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/and-were-still-stuck/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eSo as it turns out, not all problems are solvable quickly. The airbag we need for our Ridewell RIA-207 tag axle is the Goodyear 1R11-202. If you look on a popular site like \u003ca href=\"http://www.sdtrucksprings.com\"\u003eSD Truck Springs\u003c/a\u003e it shows as being available and same day shipping. Well no. As it turns out all of these sites drop ship directly from Goodyear who happily informs them that this is a specially made built to order part that has a wonderful 3-4 week lead time. The deal is that this part is just like another part but the bottom is clocked 90 degrees so that the bottom mounting studs are perpendicular to the top. Apparently this bag is only used on Foretravel and Newell tag axles. Perhaps some others too but regardless it\u0026rsquo;s hard to come by. The two spares I have of the other 8 bags this coach has just aren\u0026rsquo;t the right size. The Firestone equivalent also had a huge lead time. The end result is that I ordered it from Foretravel who had 4 of them in stock for a $100 price premium. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/and-were-still-stuck/images/backorder_hu2580c94b99388991ae2797c63e60c86c_62250_1280x0_resize_box_2.png\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/and-were-still-stuck/images/backorder_hu2580c94b99388991ae2797c63e60c86c_62250_300x0_resize_box_2.png\" alt=\"Backordered\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eBackordered\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut when it comes down to it, it\u0026rsquo;s nice to know that there is someone somewhere I can pay $100 more to to get it to me NOW, not a month from now. Can you imagine waiting for a part for a month? What if you had to go back to work from a vacation?! I\u0026rsquo;m curious to see what can be done to the existing bag once I pull it out. Perhaps I can repair it can keep it as a spare for the other tag axle bag. Perhaps I\u0026rsquo;ll order the cheap one with the 4 week lead time.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn other news I have this HP Laptop that looks very similar to the one that \u003ca href=\"http://www.gonewiththewynns.com\"\u003eThe Wynns\u003c/a\u003e use, the HP dv6t-7000 quad edition. I spent good money on this machine to get the top end Core i7-3820QM chip, 8GB ram and a high end Nvidia discrete video chip. As it turns out, this is a \u003cem\u003ereally\u003c/em\u003e bad laptop. The thermal cooler package is woefully inadequate to handle the load, especially in our boondocking RV environment where we often let the interior temps go close to 90 before we give up and run the A/C. The screen is messed up and is not repairable. It has a tendency to just randomly reboot once every couple days for reasons that are unrelated to the motherboard or overheating, or the RAM. The power supply and hard drive both failed and were replaced as well. This is a 2 year old machine.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo it\u0026rsquo;s well out of warranty so I decide after it crashes during a presentation that I really need to get it going. I order a motherboard from an ebay seller called JKComputerParts. They represent the board as a new pull. The first one arrives and it won\u0026rsquo;t charge the battery. Their RMA process strongly advises against going through eBay. I should have sniffed the stank before I purchased but probably the reason is because they RMA SO MANY BOARDS. I RMA\u0026rsquo;d the first board and the second one came when I wasn\u0026rsquo;t around to receive it. I run Linux and didn\u0026rsquo;t touch the discrete nvidia chip for a while. When I finally decided to I discovered\u0026hellip; Tada! It doesn\u0026rsquo;t work at all! The rest of the board works fine but try to access the Nvidia chip and boom. Reboot.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePut my old board back in and everything works\u0026hellip; Except the keyboard backlight which inexplicably stopped working with the old board only. I\u0026rsquo;m well past their 30 day warranty but their site happily gave me an RMA number. We\u0026rsquo;ll see if I get another one or if I got screwed out of $135. Between my latest experience on Amazon using a bad marketplace seller and this, I\u0026rsquo;m not a happy camper.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThere is a bright side though. I got so thoroughly fed up with this HP laptop that I just bought an \u003ca href=\"http://www.msi.com/product/nb/gs70-stealth.html\"\u003eMSI Stealth GS70\u003c/a\u003e instead. Holy moly this is a GREAT laptop. If you had and miss the macbook pro 17\u0026rdquo;, I \u003cem\u003ehighly\u003c/em\u003e recommend this machine. The only ding I have is that they have a warranty void sticker over one of the screws so you can\u0026rsquo;t upgrade it without voiding the warranty. The screen\u0026rsquo;s pixel refresh is a little slow for a gaming laptop, and the battery time for me is 2 hours if you\u0026rsquo;re lucky. But it\u0026rsquo;s a NICE laptop. I love it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSpeaking of all things that consume electricity. We can\u0026rsquo;t help but notice our utility bills in this motorhome are through the roof. During August we used the a/c only a few days and our electric bill was $166. That\u0026rsquo;s at $.15/kwh. I\u0026rsquo;ve decided my 2 AMD based desktop machines are the culprit and turned them off for good. The one served as a NAS and backup machine. The other served as my primary machine since my laptop was so unreliable. Both of them have 125 watt TDP CPU\u0026rsquo;s in them. The NAS has 4 desktop hard drives. The desktop machine had 3. Some quick calculations showed me that they could easily be the consumers. We also have a basement Norcold fridge chilling some beer as well as the aquahot which runs on electricity \u003csup\u003e24\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026frasl;\u003csub\u003e7\u003c/sub\u003e. I guess we\u0026rsquo;ll see what was going on once we get back on metered electricity. I don\u0026rsquo;t doubt the computers are to blame. I don\u0026rsquo;t think our Dish DVR sips power either though and runs \u003csup\u003e24\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026frasl;\u003csub\u003e7\u003c/sub\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "We're Stuck in a Good Place", "date_published" : "2014-09-02T16:16:11-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-12-28T21:59:00-05:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/were-stuck-good-place/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/were-stuck-good-place/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eIt\u0026rsquo;s been cold all summer long.\u0026nbsp; All summer long I would have had an enjoyable time performing repairs on the bus.\u0026nbsp; But nooooo it has to break when it is 90F outside.\u0026nbsp; But I\u0026rsquo;ll get to that in a minute.\u0026nbsp; My festidious planning seems to be helping as of late.\u0026nbsp; First we were to attend my younger brother\u0026rsquo;s wedding on Sunday (just before labor day).\u0026nbsp; We then were supposed to go to my mother\u0026rsquo;s house on Monday.\u0026nbsp; The church where the ceremony was held didn\u0026rsquo;t have enough parking so we secured parking down the street at another church.\u0026nbsp; The hotel also allowed us to park overnight, saving us some lodging costs.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn the way over we stopped at a Walmart to have some lunch.\u0026nbsp; When the rear end was rising to level we heard an explosion and the coach shook as well.\u0026nbsp; I knew immediately an air bag had blown but I was confused after a walk around to find all of them holding air.\u0026nbsp; I restarted the main engine and saw air leaking from what I thought was a height adjusting valve.\u0026nbsp; Leakdown was acceptable so I decided to just roll with it as we had places to be.\u0026nbsp; Watching the gauges the rear air tank was falling much more quickly than the front but shortly on the leak stopped and we were fine.\u0026nbsp; After we left the hotel in the morning I had to fight with it raising and lowering the coach until it stopped leaking.\u0026nbsp; It wasn\u0026rsquo;t until we got to my mother\u0026rsquo;s house that I realized it was actually the tag axle bag leaking. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/were-stuck-good-place/images/photox1_hufe7c65975cfa2daabc0db6d4c40d4134_1473773_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/were-stuck-good-place/images/photox1_hufe7c65975cfa2daabc0db6d4c40d4134_1473773_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"You Can See Something Wrong\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eYou Can See Something Wrong\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt turns out the bead at the top plate unseated and kept reseating itself.\u0026nbsp; This worked for a little while until the bead bent and pinched.\u0026nbsp; Now it\u0026rsquo;s not going to seal.\u0026nbsp; But I got under there, cracked all the nuts and ordered the replacement bag so with any luck we\u0026rsquo;ll be on the road in a few days and we\u0026rsquo;re at a friendly place to sit until that occurs.\u0026nbsp; The only problem of course is that it\u0026rsquo;s crazy hot so we have to run the generator during the day.\u0026nbsp; But with the closest campground $50/night we can run the generator \u003csup\u003e24\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026frasl;\u003csub\u003e7\u003c/sub\u003e and it\u0026rsquo;s still cheaper. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/were-stuck-good-place/images/photox4_hu9d0aad834be0010fe2b014fc31acf472_1930566_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/were-stuck-good-place/images/photox4_hu9d0aad834be0010fe2b014fc31acf472_1930566_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Inside View Bent Bead\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eInside View Bent Bead\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo our trip west is off to a rough start but at $134 it\u0026rsquo;s a cheap problem to fix.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n" }, { "title" : "Aquahot repair", "date_published" : "2014-08-29T20:53:11-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-08-29T20:53:11-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/aquahot-repair/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/aquahot-repair/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "" }, { "title" : "Getting tires", "date_published" : "2014-08-27T10:04:56-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-08-27T10:04:56-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/getting-tires/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/getting-tires/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "" }, { "title" : "Rolling Stone Gathers no Ants", "date_published" : "2014-08-25T22:34:10-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T02:18:02-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/rolling-stone-gathers-no-ants/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/rolling-stone-gathers-no-ants/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eIf you\u0026rsquo;ve been following along, you\u0026rsquo;ve probably noticed the conspicuous absence of posts all summer long (despite the visual overhaul which did take quite some time (I still hate it btw)). The difference between now and before is that my client load has come on pretty heavily and I\u0026rsquo;ve been quite busy all summer with projects. I could probably update the site but I have huge issues with balance of time. When there is work to do, generally I will worry only about that. I mean after all, what would a client think if he\u0026rsquo;s waiting for work from me and can see me updating this site? It\u0026rsquo;s kind of a conflict right? But time management is one of those things you don\u0026rsquo;t really think about when you go to work for yourself. In the beginning you\u0026rsquo;re just happy to hear that phone ring, that word of mouth and that potential income source. Nobody thinks about what happens when you bite off more than you can chew but it\u0026rsquo;s a big problem. If you blow one of your projects or ignore one of your clients, the positive news that got you the clients to begin with will change to negative news, serving to sabotage future prospects. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/rolling-stone-gathers-no-ants/images/photo_hu70fc95f300b5a9ad3e3f6f2ecefe6d68_1826536_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/rolling-stone-gathers-no-ants/images/photo_hu70fc95f300b5a9ad3e3f6f2ecefe6d68_1826536_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Detailed Information\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eDetailed Information\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo what do you do when each one of your clients expects an 8 hour workday on each of their projects? Manage expectations I suppose. I\u0026rsquo;ll let you know when I figure out how to manage my time properly. Until then I tend to work from sunrise to sunset when I do, and then take days off when I need to. That\u0026rsquo;s not to talk about the fact that we are in Pennsylvania which means repeated visits to family, friends, weekends on the race track and more. Not to mention the availability of my beloved supercharged E36 M3 which is not normally available to me. It means lots and lots of very fun activities consuming my time.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSO is pretty content with sitting around but she would prefer to be in Florida near her family, if for nothing else, for babysitting services. Myself, I get pretty ancy. We\u0026rsquo;ve been here for 3 months now and for me it is well past time to go. But not yet. First I noticed last winter that the bedroom zone of my aqua hot system was not producing heat. That problem now compounded itself with an odor of diesel fuel in the central storage bay. The aquahot on our rig is buried dead in the middle of the storage bays. It\u0026rsquo;s not that hard to get to, but you do have to crawl INTO the storage bay.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eI found a pan wet with diesel fuel and somehow one of the brushes for the circulation motor backed itself out. Fixed the brush and decided to test diesel and sure enough it was spraying diesel fuel everywhere! Turns out my generation of aquahot has issues with the high pressure fuel pump. $350 bill later and we\u0026rsquo;ll see how easy replacement is in a couple days. You have to pull the webasto burner out and then you can do much of the work on the bench which is a bit easier on the back.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe other thing we\u0026rsquo;re up against is a highly aged set of 8 tires. Tires which are over $400 each. So tomorrow or one of these days I have to get over to the commercial tire place and drive them insane picking the absolute youngest tires they have in stock. We\u0026rsquo;re going with Continentals versus the stock Michelin XZA3\u0026rsquo;s. I guess we\u0026rsquo;ll see if that decision proves foolish or not. Btw the front tires are about 7 years old while the tags are 8. The drive tires I can see are nearly 9 years old(!). We\u0026rsquo;ve certainly gotten the previous owner\u0026rsquo;s money\u0026rsquo;s worth out of these tires but there is no way I am leaving the east coast on them. There is only signs of exterior dry rot on the youngest front tires ironically.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAfter that we head to my brother\u0026rsquo;s wedding, and then we boondock our way to California(ish). We intend to hit over the next 2 months the Grand Canyon, Arches, Moab, California coast, Vegas and a few other places. Should be fun. We have 2 years left until child can enter Florida\u0026rsquo;s voluntary pre-kindergarten program (and he will) so I intend to make the most of these magical years of location independence we have for now.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs for the strange title? ANTS! Tons of tiny little ants seem to be finding their way in every tiny crevice we have! Clearly it\u0026rsquo;s time to get moving.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Compounding Tasks", "date_published" : "2014-07-07T00:17:14-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T02:19:21-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/compounding-tasks/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/compounding-tasks/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eHave you ever had an unfinished task just sitting there mocking you? Every time you went back to revisit that task you realized it\u0026rsquo;s grown bigger and bigger. So you put it off longer and longer. Posting a blog entry has become that task for me. We\u0026rsquo;re alive, we\u0026rsquo;ve been living, and things are wild and awesome. I\u0026rsquo;m getting work and we\u0026rsquo;re hanging with friends and we\u0026rsquo;ve been seeing and doing great things. There is so much to post here and honestly this blog is my very bottom priority as it should be. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/compounding-tasks/images/DPP_1144_hu497a16ea5038ec7f818e04e272c2ae50_14262849_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/compounding-tasks/images/DPP_1144_hu497a16ea5038ec7f818e04e272c2ae50_14262849_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Chillin in Paradise\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eChillin in Paradise\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo much real life and real people and moments take precedence and then by the time I am done with my day I\u0026rsquo;m pooped. Oh well. So this post is a way to break the ice and maybe start updating this site again. After all it\u0026rsquo;s been more than 2 months!\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n" }, { "title" : "Free parking. ", "date_published" : "2014-05-25T19:09:28-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-05-25T19:09:28-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/free-parking/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/free-parking/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "" }, { "title" : "Cars", "date_published" : "2014-05-25T19:08:07-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-05-25T19:08:07-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/cars/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/cars/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "" }, { "title" : "Baby robins ", "date_published" : "2014-05-25T19:05:12-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-05-25T19:05:12-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/baby-robins/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/baby-robins/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "" }, { "title" : "Fire", "date_published" : "2014-05-10T20:57:16-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-05-10T20:57:16-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/fire/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/fire/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "" }, { "title" : "Crystal coast nc", "date_published" : "2014-05-10T16:58:10-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-05-10T16:58:10-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/crystal-coast-nc/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/crystal-coast-nc/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "" }, { "title" : "Croatan national forest ", "date_published" : "2014-05-10T16:55:59-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-05-10T16:55:59-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/croatan-national-forest/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/croatan-national-forest/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "" }, { "title" : "The Heron", "date_published" : "2014-05-05T09:34:07-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-05-05T09:34:07-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/heron/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/heron/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "" }, { "title" : "Blogging's Back Burner", "date_published" : "2014-05-04T18:43:23-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T02:20:54-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/bloggings-back-burner/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/bloggings-back-burner/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eWe\u0026rsquo;ve been on the move for a few days now. First we visited Howard Park in Tarpon Springs, then we went to Ashburn, GA, then Atlanta to see the Vintage Computer Festival 2.0 (not that SO had any interest in that) and now we\u0026rsquo;re at Walmart again. I had visions of getting the travel cam running and this and that but I never did. See I\u0026rsquo;m driving a brand new to me 42\u0026rsquo; motorhome and it\u0026rsquo;s a beast and I decided at the last minute, you know what. Let\u0026rsquo;s just focus on the task at hand. So far there have been no real problems with the motorhome - which surprises me a little. I have gone over 2 curbs sadly. Hopefully no damage was done as I hit it fairly squarely and slowly. Knock on wood I guess. I haven\u0026rsquo;t smashed into anything yet either but there have been a few close calls as I\u0026rsquo;m starting to get more experience with 10 additional feet in length. The experience of driving this thing is like night and day compared to the Winnebago. I can use just the chassis A/C in temperatures up to about 90F and we\u0026rsquo;re all perfectly comfortable. The alternator is an externally excited alternator meaning it\u0026rsquo;s properly charging the battery banks at the right voltage as we drive. The coach has impressive performance - riding up all but the steepest of hills in 6th gear without even downshifting. The ride is silent. No tire noise, no engine noise, nothing. It\u0026rsquo;s just crazy. I have come to love the Allison joystick transmission retarder. I at first thought it was good mostly for mountain descents and stuff like that but it actually is incredibly useful just starting and stopping in traffic. I\u0026rsquo;ve gotten a lot better at dealing with the air brakes and can drive a lot more smoothly now. So far we\u0026rsquo;ve gone about 650 miles and used less than half a tank so fuel consumption isn\u0026rsquo;t too bad (when you consider we\u0026rsquo;re running the generator and the aquahot on diesel a lot due to the walmart nights. This means the big engine is getting somewhere around 7+mpg on average. Not great but admirable for such a heavy rig. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/bloggings-back-burner/images/bird_huc2fac4717e3773f38e02b64b77d43d8e_542930_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/bloggings-back-burner/images/bird_huc2fac4717e3773f38e02b64b77d43d8e_542930_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Once in a Lifetime Shot\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eOnce in a Lifetime Shot\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRegarding the subject of the post, I\u0026rsquo;m just not sure how other people do it. In my role at least, there is a lot to do in a day. Each day we travel I have to find the next place. Whether I am one or two days ahead is irrelevant I still need to keep up and keep planning ahead. I need to figure out which Walmart\u0026rsquo;s and campgrounds we\u0026rsquo;re staying at, etc. This can take up to an hour a day. It sounds insane to some of the freer people driving around tiny RV\u0026rsquo;s but we have to find a campground that can take a 42\u0026rsquo;, has good entry/exits, figure out ahead of time via google maps what streets routes and turns we can take so that we don\u0026rsquo;t hop curbs (not that I didn\u0026rsquo;t fail at that once) or worse have to disconnect our toad in the middle of traffic to back up\u0026hellip;. yes it\u0026rsquo;s happened in the Winnebago. After that I have work which is infuriating without real internet. We didn\u0026rsquo;t start up the millenicom because we\u0026rsquo;re not going to need it for more than a couple weeks this time out. Instead I am winging it, tethering my phone which does NOT want to be tethered or scrounging wifi when I can find it (thank you Lowes and scruffy436). That\u0026rsquo;s another subject, btw. Scanning, aiming and connecting to wifi can take half an hour with an external directional antenna. Then I drive, hook and unhook the toad. I wash the bugs off the front of the rv. I manage our energy, energy consumption, fuel, rest stops, etc. Perhaps I don\u0026rsquo;t lean on SO enough but frankly she handles the lion\u0026rsquo;s share of child tasks and that is an enormous job all by itself.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo when there is too much to do blogging, and especially live blogging with the camera go on the back burner. But I\u0026rsquo;ll get there ;) I also didn\u0026rsquo;t think about that I like to use my phone for google maps directions which doesn\u0026rsquo;t exactly work simultaneously with the webcam app. Hmm.. Time to solve another issue.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Walmart, Lake City, Fl", "date_published" : "2014-05-03T15:28:20-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-05-03T15:28:20-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/walmart-lake-city-fl/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/walmart-lake-city-fl/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "" }, { "title" : "Howard Park, Tarpon Springs, FL", "date_published" : "2014-05-02T14:35:19-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-05-02T14:35:19-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/howard-park-tarpon-springs-fl/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/howard-park-tarpon-springs-fl/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "" }, { "title" : "RPod at Lazy Days", "date_published" : "2014-04-27T14:30:03-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-04-27T14:30:03-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/rpod-lazy-days/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/rpod-lazy-days/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "" }, { "title" : "Big Boy", "date_published" : "2014-04-27T14:29:20-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-04-27T14:29:20-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/big-boy/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/big-boy/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "" }, { "title" : "Seagull", "date_published" : "2014-04-27T14:27:02-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-04-27T14:27:02-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/seagull/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/seagull/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "" }, { "title" : "Beach Baby", "date_published" : "2014-04-27T14:24:32-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-04-27T14:24:32-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/beach-baby/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/beach-baby/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "" }, { "title" : "Sarasota Sunset Begins", "date_published" : "2014-04-27T14:23:45-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-04-27T14:23:45-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/sarasota-sunset-begins/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/frontpage_photos/sarasota-sunset-begins/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "" }, { "title" : "Do you have any tank dumping tips?", "date_published" : "2014-04-26T17:32:15-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-12-02T00:32:08-05:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/faq/do-you-have-any-tank-dumping-tips/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/faq/do-you-have-any-tank-dumping-tips/", "author" : { "name" : "Anonymous" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eTank dumping kind of sucks any way around it, but here are some things we've found that seriously improve the process.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e1) Get a good sewer hose.\u0026nbsp; A good sewer hose like the \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Camco-39625-Revolution-Swivel-Sewer/dp/B0024E6W02/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8\u0026amp;qid=1398619527\u0026amp;sr=8-9\u0026amp;keywords=camco+sewer\"\u003eCamco Revolution Kit\u003c/a\u003e which we used with our Winnebago or the \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Camco-39761-RhinoFLEX-Swivel-Fitting/dp/B002OUMVWY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8\u0026amp;qid=1398619617\u0026amp;sr=8-1\u0026amp;keywords=camco+rhinoflex\"\u003eCamco Rhinoflex Kit\u003c/a\u003e which we use now with the Foretravel are both pretty effective.\u0026nbsp; A good sewer hose goes a long way to making the dumping process easier and cleaner.\u0026nbsp; Besides extending and retracting nicely they have caps at the end which seal in any residual nasty,\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e2) Most campgrounds have the threaded dump holes that the kits above screw right into.\u0026nbsp; Neat, clean and somewhat odor free (there's always some escapee odor).\u0026nbsp; Some however have what amounts to just a hole and for those situations you would be much happier if you are equipped with \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Camco-39313-Sewer-Hose-Seal/dp/B000BQQWKA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8\u0026amp;qid=1398619781\u0026amp;sr=8-1\u0026amp;keywords=sewer+donut\"\u003ea sewer donut.\u003c/a\u003e\u0026nbsp; You can slide the end into this and it makes a nice seal even on unthreaded connections.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e3) When hooking up at a campground carefully plan and think about your process.\u0026nbsp; When hooking up, make sure to hook your fresh water hose up first before you touch anything nasty.\u0026nbsp; When departing and cleaning up, disconnect the fresh water hose first, covering the end to avoid the open end touching anything nasty.\u0026nbsp; I treat my entire sewer hose as a hazardous material, inside and out.\u0026nbsp; So far, no illnesses.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e4) Have a \"dirty\" garden hose.\u0026nbsp; This hose shouldn't really be dirty but it shouldn't touch your fresh water stuff.\u0026nbsp; This hose is used for washing out your sewer hose after you disconnect it from the RV.\u0026nbsp; You should also only use this hose for your built in tank flush or in the case of RV's that don't come with one, your \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Camco-39062-Flush-Holding-Rinser/dp/B000BUQOAE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8\u0026amp;qid=1398620034\u0026amp;sr=8-1\u0026amp;keywords=tank+flush+valve\"\u003eadd on tank flush valve\u003c/a\u003e.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e5) Disconnect your sewer hose from the RV first.\u0026nbsp; Rinse it out while stilll connected to the sewer hole.\u0026nbsp; Cap the hose and then compress the hose while still connected.\u0026nbsp; Any residual odors in the hose will be forced into the sewer outlet and kept out of your nose.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBesides those items, the big ones you will read nearly everywhere are that you should never leave your black tank open and instead only drain it when it is full.\u0026nbsp; The other one is that you should hold some gray water to rinse the err black effluent out of the line after draining the black.\u0026nbsp; Always drain black first, then gray.\u0026nbsp; Aside from those details, the process is intutitive as it sounds.\u0026nbsp; Hook up a hose, pull a valve, wait for stinky brown water to go somewhere else.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Some Downtime", "date_published" : "2014-04-21T00:44:43-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T02:23:20-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/some-downtime/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/some-downtime/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eAs I wrap up some $ work I\u0026rsquo;ve been working on, I will now have time to tackle some less important (not $ earning) things. Not that this isn\u0026rsquo;t a nailbiting time as it always is when a client beats up your work and decides whether or not to give you that final payment ;) We\u0026rsquo;re FINALLY taking off from Florida in a week so I have to wrap it up here. My hit list for the Foretravel includes changing the transmission fluid and filters as well as repairing the aquahot. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/some-downtime/images/dpp_hue07630a5a49f832ca9149ac0b4f96b38_1050668_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/some-downtime/images/dpp_hue07630a5a49f832ca9149ac0b4f96b38_1050668_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"What it said\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eWhat it said\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOur motorhome has the Allison HD-4060R transmission. This transmission is much like the 3000 series transmission that comes with most diesel pushers but is a little bigger, the filters are larger, and it has a larger fluid capacity. I\u0026rsquo;ve read conflicting reports of anywhere from 7 to 9 gallons of fluid will come out. The transmission pan sits lower than any other part of the engine so I needed to find a different tub that will fit under the transmission to collect the fluid. Walmart rewarded me with a 10 gallon roughneck tub today that is literally perfect for the job. $6. The cheapest 10 gallon proper oil drain pan is over $100. The Transynd transmission fluid set my wallet on fire at around $40/gallon. For 10 gallons, you can do the math. As for the aquahot, the installation in the Foretravel is err.. Well it\u0026rsquo;s space efficient but not easy to access. The boiler liquid (which is just regular engine coolant) has a very long hose that runs from the boiler tank cap to a very accessible overflow tank. In order for this system to work there can be no breaks in the line, no cracks in the hose, etc. Otherwise when the system cools, it will draw in air instead of coolant from the overflow tank. This seems to be the case as the level never moves in the overflow. Recently I discovered that when you run a faucet on full hot, you can feel the temperature gradually change from lukewarm to actually hot. The fresh water heating in an aquahot is a copper coil that runs around the coolant tank. If you think about it, it makes perfect sense that there is an air pocket in the tank and the fresh water in those sections is not being fully heated. As a result the hot water temperature goes up and down up and down as it switches between the water that was sitting against the air pocket and the hot coolant. So I\u0026rsquo;ll have to turn off the unit, let it cool, get in there, fill the tank back up, drain the overflow tank a bit (since it is stuck on the full hot level), and then finally find whatever crack exists in the overflow line and repair it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the 3 circulation pumps (ironically the one that has been replaced before) was not functioning a few weeks ago when we exercised it. I\u0026rsquo;m going to try to beat on it to free it up but it may need replaced. It\u0026rsquo;s one of those things that is close to $1000 from the aquahot people themselves or $80 if you get the March pump part number and go hunting from the HVAC supply houses.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLike most things involving rv\u0026rsquo;s (and stick homes) and especially diesel pushers, the world is ready to fleece you if you allow it - but there seems to always be a way around it. I\u0026rsquo;ve done roughly $7,000 of maintenance so far for a little over $1,000 in materials. Yeah it took some time but it\u0026rsquo;s not a bad pay rate even compared to IT work. I gain a familiarity with my coach that will help ease my fears of tackling the repair of a breakdown in the middle of nowhere and that\u0026rsquo;s worth something too.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe other no $ thing I want to hit is this site. When I originally created this site, I wasn\u0026rsquo;t sure how long we\u0026rsquo;d be living in an rv full time or if we would at all. I threw it up really quick and dirty like. My primary motivation for building the site to begin with was to play with the time lapse video. A friend of mine did a live feed from one of their trips and I was fascinated by it. Since it seems like it\u0026rsquo;s not going anywhere, for the first time in my life I\u0026rsquo;m going to try to not immediately discount my web/graphics design capabilities. I\u0026rsquo;m going to learn the tools I need to learn and spend the time to make the site really nice. There will be plenty of new features and some of the content will be a lot more intuitive to access. I also came up with some gangbuster ideas for a new site that have been brewing in my head. It\u0026rsquo;s a bear of a job so I\u0026rsquo;m still stewing over it and will be for some time before I actually decide to go forth and code. The interesting thing is that counterintuitively the entire idea for the site came from an awesome monetization idea. Usually you come up with a site and then beat your head against the wall figuring out clever ways to make money from it. That seems like a good sign to me.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePS: I\u0026rsquo;m both excited and scared of the truck fuel islands I will be required to use. They don\u0026rsquo;t seem to have a consistent procedure as far as pump authorization and I\u0026rsquo;ve heard the truckers don\u0026rsquo;t really like RVers. We have \u003csup\u003e1\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026frasl;\u003csub\u003e4\u003c/sub\u003e tank left of our 200 gallon tank and that means we will be taking on $600 of fuel the first fillup!\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Moving on From Siesta Key", "date_published" : "2014-04-15T00:55:50-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T02:25:41-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/moving-siesta-key/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/moving-siesta-key/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eIt\u0026rsquo;s been a while so I figured I would post an update. Things have been a bit uninteresting as of late. Highlights include replacing the latching relay that controls our front water pump motor. The one Foretravel included is a solid state job which is supposed to handle like 2 amps. The pump is 7.5 amps so it\u0026rsquo;s no surprise they go. I\u0026rsquo;m surprised to see Foretravel made such an oversight. Perhaps the manufacturer told them it\u0026rsquo;d be fine. I also changed the generator oil, filter, fuel filters and air filter. Couldn\u0026rsquo;t have been easier (or cheaper). The Foretravel has been well behaved. I\u0026rsquo;ve run some more wires and fixed the antenna setup so that the DVR can properly record network TV again. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/moving-siesta-key/images/DPP_0652_hu5794d3a7b92383446b45bf2744213d82_825867_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/moving-siesta-key/images/DPP_0652_hu5794d3a7b92383446b45bf2744213d82_825867_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Siesta Key Sarasota Sunset\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eSiesta Key Sarasota Sunset\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n This is especially important since we\u0026rsquo;ll have limited internet again soon and thus can\u0026rsquo;t be downloading video content willy nilly. We\u0026rsquo;ve been using Brighthouse cable the last few months (no complaints, great service, great customer service). Since the DVR is dual tuner we can watch the tuner/network/dvr content on the old tube tv in the bedroom. That way we don\u0026rsquo;t need any of those DTV converter boxes for the bedroom TV. It works very well. I\u0026rsquo;ve spent a lot of time messing with the King Dome dish we have on the roof and have come to the conclusion that it\u0026rsquo;s a turd. Basically in order to provide full HD service you need to be able to see 3 satellites. But you can get reasonable service sans locals with just 2 and SOME service with 1. So wouldn\u0026rsquo;t it make sense that if the dish can see 2 of 3 satellites it should just go with it? Nope. It just shuts down and errors out and won\u0026rsquo;t even point at any of the satellites it found. Worse, the satellite it can\u0026rsquo;t see, the receiver can see just fine with acceptable signal. It\u0026rsquo;s just not enough for the King Dome for whatever reason. The King Dome also has a very dumb (but future proof) search algorithm. It simply scans the entire sky for all satellites. Even after it found the satellites you want, it\u0026rsquo;ll just keep on searching for like half an hour. That\u0026rsquo;s fine, but it\u0026rsquo;s annoying if you\u0026rsquo;re trying to position your rig in the site to get coverage and you have to wait for it to scan satellites you don\u0026rsquo;t need even after it found the ones you have. And of course you can watch it find the satellites you are looking for on the reciever, think you are safe, and then find out it\u0026rsquo;s unhappy with the signal level. I could be wrong about the way this works or what is wrong with my unit and if I am, I\u0026rsquo;ll update this later on.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA more ideal algorithm would be to perform the scan in stages. First use whatever hints it has as to where you are to find one of the satellites in the trio you are looking for. From there you can easily calculate the elevation/azimuth range you need to move to point to the others. Do so, and if DVB confirms they are the right satellites, done searching. Total search process? Maybe 2 minutes. Now if things change it will fail. Simply increase the search radius slowly and if you still can\u0026rsquo;t find them, just revert to the whole sky search. This isn\u0026rsquo;t a ton of programming, especially since the unit costs over $1K to begin with. And wouldn\u0026rsquo;t it be nice if they sprang for a 30 cent 2 line LCD display to go inside the rig to tell you what is going on, what satellites it has found and what issues it has if a search fails? Kind of optimistic in the performance of their product! They don\u0026rsquo;t even blink out an error code.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/moving-siesta-key/images/DPP_0342_hu3323c41cf292be7d76a6f86219118627_825823_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/moving-siesta-key/images/DPP_0342_hu3323c41cf292be7d76a6f86219118627_825823_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Lazy Days Entrance\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eLazy Days Entrance\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/moving-siesta-key/images/DPP_0343_hud7fbb88c3b45fc9941f6404e026f6d1b_1311752_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/moving-siesta-key/images/DPP_0343_hud7fbb88c3b45fc9941f6404e026f6d1b_1311752_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Lots of Little Touches\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eLots of Little Touches\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWe went to Lazy Days to check out the LivinLite all aluminum camper trailer. Holy cow this place is \u003cem\u003ehuge\u003c/em\u003e. It\u0026rsquo;s like a city all by itself. The number of service bays, campground sites, etc was amazing. The trailer was pretty cool. It wasn\u0026rsquo;t as polished perfect as an Oliver but it had a cool unique industrial look. All of the cabinets and everything were aluminum. It\u0026rsquo;s clearly the kind of trailer that will last a long (LONG) time. It doesn\u0026rsquo;t appear to be designed for all season use. One of the things I noticed was an enormous CCC. Kind of uncommon as far as trailers go. The slide really made it feel a lot larger so and the bunk beds were cool for children (or even storage).\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/moving-siesta-key/images/DPP_0344_hu48430135438c21181c83b5c3a7c1ca6d_1127650_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/moving-siesta-key/images/DPP_0344_hu48430135438c21181c83b5c3a7c1ca6d_1127650_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"LivinLite\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eLivinLite\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/moving-siesta-key/images/DPP_0361_hu2a022cda52703e3130c6a94736c62d1e_663984_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/moving-siesta-key/images/DPP_0361_hu2a022cda52703e3130c6a94736c62d1e_663984_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Enormous CCC\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eEnormous CCC\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMost of my days are spent behind the computer screen. My current workload is very high so I haven\u0026rsquo;t been able to dedicate time to implement the features I plan for this site (as well as an actual proper design that took more than 5 minutes of effort). We still have one more maintenance item left on the Foretravel. We ordered the 9 gallons of Transynd full synthetic transmission fluid as well as filters. This is a post all of its own but the professionalism of heavy truck shops leaves a lot to be desired. Would you believe that basically nobody has ever called me back with an estimate for any work I\u0026rsquo;ve done so far which is largely the reason I\u0026rsquo;ve done the work myself? I just don\u0026rsquo;t accept incompetence at any point in the cycle. As soon as I encounter it, unless I\u0026rsquo;m heavily invested, I\u0026rsquo;ll back out and move on. I tend to avoid things that will cause aggravation as best I can. The worst thing about the truck shops is that they don\u0026rsquo;t have book rates and refuse to give estimates. Even an \u003cstrong\u003eAllison\u003c/strong\u003e dealer can\u0026rsquo;t quote me a price on a fluid and filter change (which is basically the same process on all Allison transmissions). Instead they just tell me the rate is $130/hr. Are you ready to roll the dice? Or I could buy a $9 tub from Walmart, a $4 fluid transfer pump from Harbor Freight and do it myself. In the case of the transmission fluid, a \u0026ldquo;conversion\u0026rdquo; to full synthetic fluid allows you to extend change intervals dramatically. When we converted our F53 transmission to full synthetic the Ford dealer had a machine to pump out all of the old fluid so that a complete change was done. An automatic transmission hangs onto a bunch of fluid in the valve body and torque converter if you just drain it like an oil change. Much to my dismay I found out that even the allison authorized shops do the drain -\u0026gt; fill -\u0026gt; drain -\u0026gt; fill conversion rather than use the machine. Well ok. If there is no machine involved I guess I\u0026rsquo;ll do it myself. It\u0026rsquo;s a wasteful process because the old fluid still present in the system causes you to have to drain and fill at the shorter non-synthetic intervals the next time. As a result, you are throwing a \u003csup\u003e70\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026frasl;\u003csub\u003e30\u003c/sub\u003e or so mix of good transynd down the drain whenever that shorter interval rolls around.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/moving-siesta-key/images/DPP_0448_hufd093534e310d840920913fe1b44a8ff_672496_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/moving-siesta-key/images/DPP_0448_hufd093534e310d840920913fe1b44a8ff_672496_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"The Beach\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eThe Beach\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/moving-siesta-key/images/DPP_0539_hu4aedcda513a4f9a09d182c15e60881f8_1266358_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/moving-siesta-key/images/DPP_0539_hu4aedcda513a4f9a09d182c15e60881f8_1266358_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Angry Birds\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eAngry Birds\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eGoing forward we\u0026rsquo;re going to see my mom in North Carolina, friends in Lewes, DE, then up to Pennsylvania to do some work on the M3 and go racing. Later on in the summer we head out.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n" }, { "title" : "Mo Cars, Mo Problems", "date_published" : "2014-04-06T11:54:09-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T02:56:13-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/mo-cars-mo-problems/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/mo-cars-mo-problems/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eWe\u0026rsquo;ve just recently passed our 1 year anniversary of fulltiming but our past life in a stick house still constantly nips at our heels in the form of insurance bills, storage unit fees and other bits. We have just finally disposed of one of our problems, my 2002 BMW 540i. We are car enthusiasts and this is a \u003cem\u003especial\u003c/em\u003e car. It has a ride that is soft enough to be supple yet firm enough to reliably corner at high speeds. It has a nice high revving V8 and this is as far as I know the only high end luxury car to be available with a 6 speed manual. Other than the M5 that is. We had a lot of trouble selling this car in Pennsylvania but when we listed it in Florida it was gone in days. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/mo-cars-mo-problems/images/540i_last_huab58c800f84728db8e801cc0d35b657e_2085328_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/mo-cars-mo-problems/images/540i_last_huab58c800f84728db8e801cc0d35b657e_2085328_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Saying goodbyte to Beast\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eSaying goodbyte to Beast\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n Apparently these are a unicorn down here. The closest other one is in Texas. The guy came and paid a little extra to get the amp and subs. Oh and for all the greenomaniacs this car gets 26mpg highway. Not bad for a car that came with the gas guzzler tax.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNext step - sport bike on a hitch hauler. Then I can take my aggression out all over the midwest!\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n" }, { "title" : "We Saw the New Oliver Travel Trailer!", "date_published" : "2014-04-04T00:35:24-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T02:58:37-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/we-saw-new-oliver-travel-trailer/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/we-saw-new-oliver-travel-trailer/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eMy significant other is quite the afficionado of molded fiberglass trailers. In fact before we got the Foretravel we looked at the 25\u0026rsquo; Bigfoot trailer. Now we got the opportunity to see a brand spankin new Oliver IIS. Wow, it\u0026rsquo;s the first trailer I have ever liked. To me everything always seemed like a giant compromise the but the Oliver knows what it is and tries to be the best for the purpose.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSome things I noticed: Aluminum frame, very high ground clearance, tons of boondocker options, designed for off road use, easy to clean, very little use of materials that can rot (mainly just kitchen drawers). \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/we-saw-new-oliver-travel-trailer/images/IMG_1152_hu7df736ca16cfe26264eddfda2f89c45e_1956888_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/we-saw-new-oliver-travel-trailer/images/IMG_1152_hu7df736ca16cfe26264eddfda2f89c45e_1956888_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Skinny Butt\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eSkinny Butt\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n It also had a very effective floor plan and made the best out of limited space. It\u0026rsquo;s not ME. I am a luxury bus kind of guy. But I was seriously impressed and I would easily consider one of these in the future for non-fulltime purposes. It occurs to me that my pics are terrible. Sorry about that ;)\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/we-saw-new-oliver-travel-trailer/images/IMG_1153_hue7e0aa45f71b1811e5abd34f20e6dd6a_2063014_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/we-saw-new-oliver-travel-trailer/images/IMG_1153_hue7e0aa45f71b1811e5abd34f20e6dd6a_2063014_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Interior 1\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eInterior 1\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/we-saw-new-oliver-travel-trailer/images/IMG_1155_hu2fc6dd16e53416b52ec37bcb22464bb0_2195753_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/we-saw-new-oliver-travel-trailer/images/IMG_1155_hu2fc6dd16e53416b52ec37bcb22464bb0_2195753_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Interior 2\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eInterior 2\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/we-saw-new-oliver-travel-trailer/images/IMG_1147_hu07413522cda23f3b747dea5974e56044_1796392_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/we-saw-new-oliver-travel-trailer/images/IMG_1147_hu07413522cda23f3b747dea5974e56044_1796392_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Battery Trays\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eBattery Trays\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/we-saw-new-oliver-travel-trailer/images/IMG_1149_huf67a3f9763089cac3af9b413d42a3846_1898508_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/we-saw-new-oliver-travel-trailer/images/IMG_1149_huf67a3f9763089cac3af9b413d42a3846_1898508_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"King Dome\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eKing Dome\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/we-saw-new-oliver-travel-trailer/images/IMG_1156_hudc9e1a0cf66b2976f8b03c823c6a508b_1698903_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/we-saw-new-oliver-travel-trailer/images/IMG_1156_hudc9e1a0cf66b2976f8b03c823c6a508b_1698903_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Poo Room\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003ePoo Room\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n" }, { "title" : "Eternabond is an RV's Best Friend", "date_published" : "2014-04-04T00:11:24-04:00", "date_modified" : "2017-07-26T20:08:40-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/eternabond-rvs-best-friend/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/eternabond-rvs-best-friend/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eBecause an RV just can\u0026rsquo;t do very much with diamonds. There is no single thing that can damage an RV more quickly and completely (except maybe a car accident or fire) than water. When we bought the Winnebago we bought it knowing that it had water damage. We made a calculated risk and it paid out alright but we always worried a bit about the side wall delamination. We never could tell if there was any structural issues. We weren\u0026rsquo;t quite at the stage of our rv maintenance where we were willing to pull the windows out and attempt a repair. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/eternabond-rvs-best-friend/images/IMG_1139_hu26364648ec308d42e842f8977c204bb5_3208310_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/eternabond-rvs-best-friend/images/IMG_1139_hu26364648ec308d42e842f8977c204bb5_3208310_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"The Patient\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eThe Patient\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOn your average house, at least where I lived, water penetration is avoided through the use of layered asphalt shingles. The water runs down the roof. Water that does not run down the roof and gets in through cracked or broken shingles rots the plywood and sometimes the structure underneath. At this point the roof is redone to the tune of $10,000 more or less. This isn\u0026rsquo;t possible in quite the same way in an RV. The laminated construction doesn\u0026rsquo;t lend itself to being repaired easily or in a way that is visually undetectable. When it comes to water leaks in an RV, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt should be no surprise then that most of the major manufacturers void the warranty if the sealant on the roof/sides isn\u0026rsquo;t checked on and repaired once or even twice a year. Most of them use a self levelling lap sealant and believe me, it\u0026rsquo;s seriously low quality stuff. With our new motorhome it seems more attention was placed on ensuring clean lines than there was on ensuring absolute lack of leaks. When we got our current one we detected leaks in 2 windows that we remedied and one of the front clearance lights leaked shortly after we brought it home. It felt odd to pay so much for a motorhome and have it leak in the same month but such is life.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe leaks were a painful reminder that as nice as our current home is, it\u0026rsquo;s still an RV and it\u0026rsquo;s still important to go over the seams. So how do you go over the seams. Well lets see, you climb the ladder, you go up on the roof and you look at each penetration. Ok the sealant looks good. Seriously, every leak I\u0026rsquo;ve ever found in either the Winnebago or the foretravel the sealant looked pretty good. In fact, no amount of effort stopped the leaks in the Winnebago until we got the magical product of awesomeness - Eternabond.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEternabond is a line of products that mainly centers around a tape called Roof Seal. I know what you\u0026rsquo;re thinking\u0026hellip; A TAPE?! No seriously, you can\u0026rsquo;t imagine this stuff until you touch it. It\u0026rsquo;s almost like a non-newtonian fluid. We\u0026rsquo;ve decided to use eternabond as an insurance policy. We know the main sealant underneath a particular flange is what has been sealing out the water, but we would like to ensure that it\u0026rsquo;s not going to leak. Eternabond tape has some ridiculous lifetime like 10 years. With proper surface prep you really do get the life out of it too. And it seals very well. Things will NOT leak. The only downside is that it\u0026rsquo;s a bit ugly. But this is a ROOF. If you uglify your roof you prevent a leak which will seriously uglify the interior.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/eternabond-rvs-best-friend/images/IMG_1137_hu22695a8f86cd79f2f46b996325924b07_2593837_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/eternabond-rvs-best-friend/images/IMG_1137_hu22695a8f86cd79f2f46b996325924b07_2593837_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Acetone - A good Cleaner\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eAcetone - A good Cleaner\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n So I have experience now with hundreds of feet of eternabond and I can say there are just a couple things that are important with regards to application but they are REALLY important. 1) The surface must be as clean as you can get. This means scrubbing down the surface with a compatible cleaner. With plastics and fiberglass this means acetone or MEK. Both are pretty noxious chemicals that handily eat through my nitrile gloves. Have a whole box of gloves ready. 2) The tape must not touch ANYTHING until it is where you want it.\u003cbr /\u003e\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/eternabond-rvs-best-friend/images/IMG_1140_hu0d9900eb2227d2dada41b4eacb1da5c7_3033940_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/eternabond-rvs-best-friend/images/IMG_1140_hu0d9900eb2227d2dada41b4eacb1da5c7_3033940_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Closeup After Cleaning\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eCloseup After Cleaning\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n Once it sticks whatever tape you manage to get off will be stretched and ruined anyway. 3) When you apply the tape spend many many minutes applying vigorous pressure to all areas of the tape. It is pressure activated more so than anything. We didn\u0026rsquo;t buy the roller they recommend but we spent a lot of time pushing it down with our fingers and have never had any come up.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAside from that applying eternabond is as easy as applying tape. The only other noteworthy thing is that I like to apply from the rear of a penetration to the front. This makes for no exposed tape lips that are stuck to other eternabond tape pieces. Without the primer eternabond will stick better to fiberglass than itself. We figure the driving wind/rain on the highway is the most abusive.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/eternabond-rvs-best-friend/images/IMG_1141_huc989a79b6990bf3fedff2d5eceee94cf_2688144_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/eternabond-rvs-best-friend/images/IMG_1141_huc989a79b6990bf3fedff2d5eceee94cf_2688144_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Measure\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eMeasure\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/eternabond-rvs-best-friend/images/IMG_1144_hu596ba925c92a1a6eb4a717f873c9ee3e_3107576_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/eternabond-rvs-best-friend/images/IMG_1144_hu596ba925c92a1a6eb4a717f873c9ee3e_3107576_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Peel the Backing and Stick\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003ePeel the Backing and Stick\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/eternabond-rvs-best-friend/images/IMG_1135_hu3c2d67f3f325330119ab1f82516832a7_2764930_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/eternabond-rvs-best-friend/images/IMG_1135_hu3c2d67f3f325330119ab1f82516832a7_2764930_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Layer from Rear to Front\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eLayer from Rear to Front\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor those wondering where you might buy Eternabond, I\u0026rsquo;ve found the best source is \u003ca href=\"http://rvupgradestore.com?Click=31641\"\u003eRV Upgrade store\u003c/a\u003e. My favorite product is probably the \u003ca href=\"https://www.rvupgradestore.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=RSPW-4-25\u0026amp;Click=31641\"\u003e4\u0026rdquo; Roofseal in White\u003c/a\u003e which is pretty universal but the \u003ca href=\"https://www.rvupgradestore.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=RSW-2-50\u0026amp;Click=31641\"\u003e2\u0026rdquo; Roofseal\u003c/a\u003e works well for vents as I demonstrated above and can save you some cash.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePS: Our roof has the new Foretravel ceramic armor coat multilayer roof coating. It is kind of like rhino liner. I was pleased with how the eternabond stuck to it and it seemed to do a good job getting into the nooks and crannies that this roof surface creates.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n" }, { "title" : "Foretravel U320 Condenser Fan", "date_published" : "2014-03-19T18:50:58-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T01:41:16-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/foretravel-u320-condenser-fan/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/foretravel-u320-condenser-fan/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eBuying a used older motorhome is not for the faint of heart. Things will break and more things will break. Right around the 10 year mark things really start to go wrong and the previous owner of our motorhome felt that for sure. Because I don\u0026rsquo;t have any certainty as far as when things were repaired I decided to do basically all of the routine maintenance at once.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRewind back to when we bought the coach - the a/c compressor clutch was fried. This is the air conditioning system built into the dash that works when the big engine is running. I didn\u0026rsquo;t think much of it at the time but I made the dealer replace the compressor, evacuate and recharge the system. The system was fully charged when they pulled the compressor so I didn\u0026rsquo;t make them replace the drier or other stuff though I probably should have. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/foretravel-u320-condenser-fan/images/condenser_hu33e7988470c328df4827cef6f4e63526_2320060_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/foretravel-u320-condenser-fan/images/condenser_hu33e7988470c328df4827cef6f4e63526_2320060_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"A New Condenser Fan\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eA New Condenser Fan\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n The tests went well and we went on our way. Fast forward back to now, while I was running the big engine to test other maintenance I was doing I had the a/c on to exercise it and make sure it was still working. The coach was in high idle and running for about 20-30 minutes. I noticed on one of my trips from the engine to look at the gauges that the a/c wasn\u0026rsquo;t very cold anymore. Sure enough I looked at the condenser fan and it was stopped. Later on after things cooled down I ran the a/c without the engine running and the compressor fan was working.. Hmm.. odd. I let it go a few minutes and strangely it started to go slower, slower, slower, stop. A few seconds later I heard the circuit breaker pop. Sounds like a toasted motor to me.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs it turns out on these coaches an SCS Frigette system was used. This company went out of business. My first thought was to get a new motor and a helpful ForeForums member suggested I go through the pictures on ebay to try to match the motor up to what was for sale on there. I found a few but without dimensions how can you be sure? So I went to autozone. As the counter clerk and I perused random condenser fan motors he asked \u0026ldquo;Why don\u0026rsquo;t you just replace the whole thing? We have universal units\u0026rdquo;. Hmm.. I didn\u0026rsquo;t think of that. He pulled out a universal that was the same size as mine, same thickness and appeared to have the same mountings. When I got home it turns out the mountings aren\u0026rsquo;t precisely aligned but nothing a few heavy duty zip ties can\u0026rsquo;t solve - after all this isn\u0026rsquo;t a critical part. While getting the old unit out, 2 of the existing screws broke in half as they were seized into their joints so I didn\u0026rsquo;t have new mounting hardware anyway, plus the new fan came with zip ties as the recommended mounting method!\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA couple cut connectors, soldered joints and electrical tape later and wow, their universal fans are serious business. The amount of air moving through there was quite a bit more than before. It was only $64 which was cheaper than the cheapest ebay motor alone and cheaper than the $175 or so new old stock from Foretravel. So I\u0026rsquo;m happy, as long as the cheap chinese part holds up anyway. Time will tell but I saved the receipt and box ;) If you get one of these make sure the blades are installed right for pusher and puller mode (read the manual). If the blades are on backwards it moves next to no air.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eI won\u0026rsquo;t explain how the a/c system works entirely but basically you can understand the failure mode of the previous a/c compressor if you think about it. Nominal high side pressure is probably somewhere between 250 and 300psi. When the condenser fan stops working high side pressure rises very quickly until a high pressure side cutout switch is triggered probably around 400psi. Maybe more. Imagine driving 8 hours down the road with the a/c system sort of working so you continue using it. The system is sitting right at the cutoff pressure cycling the compressor on and off repeatedly. Each time the compressor starts the clutch has to catch against 400psi and a high revving engine speed. Do this long enough and boom, clutch fried. The foretravel system is very dumb. It has a high and low pressure switch and the compressor runs constantly I believe. There is no intelligence whatsoever so the system has no way to decide that something is wrong and give up use of the compressor. That combined with infrequent use causes a lot of failures of RV chassis a/c systems in general. Use the system often if you have it and make sure your outside fan is working.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAlso changed the engine oil, filter and fuel filter in the generator, a PowerTech 12kw diesel. The generator is on a slide and it went pretty much like you\u0026rsquo;d hope - easily.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "%$#\u0026 Fuel Water Separator!", "date_published" : "2014-03-14T19:01:04-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T01:42:41-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/fuel-water-separator/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/fuel-water-separator/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eToday we tried an experiment. We tried to make a video\u0026hellip; And we figured out that we are not \u003ca href=\"http://www.gonewiththewynns.com\" name=\"the Wynns\"\u003ethe Wynns\u003c/a\u003e\u0026hellip; We will never be YouTube stars. I can\u0026rsquo;t stop cursing long enough to make a video that isn\u0026rsquo;t all bleeps. Oh well. Of course I should mention that today probably wasn\u0026rsquo;t a fair shake due to the misery that I subjected myself to. You see I decided to change the fuel water separator and clean out the prefilter. For those that don\u0026rsquo;t know, this is a fuel water separator type filter and is very easily accessible. It has a normal oil filter type filter and then a metal bowl that goes on the bottom. Super easy, how hard is it to change an oil filter right? \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/fuel-water-separator/images/photo%201_hu395de889f5aecaf42367f03b0a7f752d_1565613_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/fuel-water-separator/images/photo%201_hu395de889f5aecaf42367f03b0a7f752d_1565613_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Beaten and Bruised But Finally Loose\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eBeaten and Bruised But Finally Loose\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eHoly crap. I spent hours trying to pry that thing off with all manner of tools. The metal bowl spun off easily enough but the filter itself would not spin off the top. I spent hours cursing the mechanics at Cummins who last touched the system in 2010. I broke 2 rubber strap wrenches, I stabbed the filter with all manner of screwdrivers and prybars. I used vice grips and all manner of tools to try to extricate the demon filter all to no avail. Finally I gave up in disgust with a sore shoulder and went to Harbor Freight where I found the magic tool that won the battle. A long handled oil filter wrench. It looks more like a giant pair of pliers and this thing is really cool. It actually works with pretty much every filter we have to change on any vehicle. So alas the job is now done and after yet another educational scare where I learned about the Cummins automatic fuel vent all is well. (It dumps fuel on the ground - or your swiftly placed drain pan once the air is purged)\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/fuel-water-separator/images/photo%202_hue5782623ce7d47ca1cc0ea942d7438a9_1729437_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/fuel-water-separator/images/photo%202_hue5782623ce7d47ca1cc0ea942d7438a9_1729437_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"The Winning Tool\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eThe Winning Tool\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n We still have to change the main fuel filter but since I\u0026rsquo;m not doing that after the nightmare day it I just wanted to get fuel back in the system. Phew. It\u0026rsquo;s always the easy jobs right? The funny thing is for all the cursing I did about Cummins I had to overtighten the new one exactly the way they did. You see the metal fuel bowl has a pipe that connects to a drain solenoid and basically the bowl on the bottom has to be aligned precisely the right way. The only way to get that alignment is overtightening \u003csup\u003e1\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026frasl;\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e a turn.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n" }, { "title" : "Replacing Coolant and Hoses", "date_published" : "2014-03-13T00:46:23-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T01:45:15-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/replacing-coolant-and-hoses/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/replacing-coolant-and-hoses/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eFor us buying a new motorhome inevitably means doing a large amount of neglected maintenance. Couple that with the fact that this is our first diesel and that means that this is quite the learning experience. Our new engine is the Cummins M11 Celect+, also known as the ISM. Ours is a pretty early (for cummins) electronic injected common rail diesel engine. This type of engine offers (typically) a bit better gas mileage and there is no lift pump to fail - BUT - it has expensive injectors and high pressure fuel pump to fail. As with most things, it\u0026rsquo;s give and take but our priority was power and we have it. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/replacing-coolant-and-hoses/images/coolant1_hu186e4ad0de57ab91faec23e3435219c5_2212661_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/replacing-coolant-and-hoses/images/coolant1_hu186e4ad0de57ab91faec23e3435219c5_2212661_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Radiator Drain Plug\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eRadiator Drain Plug\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the most important differences between a gasoline and wet sleeve diesel engine is that coolant doesn\u0026rsquo;t just matter - it\u0026rsquo;s critically important. Diesels operate at a far higher compression ratio than their gasoline counterparts and one of the side effects is that the sleeve the piston rides in bounces back and forth at such a velocity that a cavitation bubble is formed and instantly contracts. This effect degrades and eats at the cylinder liner resulting in potentially massive engine damage.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/replacing-coolant-and-hoses/images/coolant2_hu9b14800c2398904bf5bfa1ac8d14f63a_2188392_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/replacing-coolant-and-hoses/images/coolant2_hu9b14800c2398904bf5bfa1ac8d14f63a_2188392_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Coolant in a Walmart Tub\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eCoolant in a Walmart Tub\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n The good news is that modern H-OAT coolant is a bit of a different chemical makeup than coolants of the past and allows you more or less trouble free running for up to 4-6 years and 300,000 miles depending on who you ask. The use of test strips can have you go longer.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs if these fancy coolant requirements weren\u0026rsquo;t enough drama, stickers on our rig indicate that it was drained and filled with Texaco ELC coolant. This coolant happens to be the subject of a large fight between cummins and Texaco because some property of the coolant caused it to attack silicone - a product used in gaskets and hoses on cummins engines of the era. This causes leaky rocker arm cover gaskets as well as other issues. We don\u0026rsquo;t have any leaks that I can tell but we shouldn\u0026rsquo;t reuse this.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo after all this drama and tons of internet research, I come to find that Fleetguard ES Compleat OAT coolant is the same reddish/pink color, compatible with even large amounts of existing coolant (and thus a drain and fill versus a flush) and is absolutely the one coolant recommended by cummins. Score\u0026hellip;. Except this stuff is EXPENSIVE. $13/gallon - and this thirsty beast requires a whopping 18 gallons! To hold the coolant we used a 19 gallon rubbermaid tub from walmart, one of the better stronger looking ones. I filled it with water first to make sure it would hold and help us prevent creating an EPA violation. It held the coolant just fine until we filled with new coolant. Then we used a $7 harbor Freight transfer pump to move the coolant from the tub into the now empty new coolant bottles.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/replacing-coolant-and-hoses/images/coolant4_huc8a661367f33843e8d8e08ef282c0d90_1986032_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/replacing-coolant-and-hoses/images/coolant4_huc8a661367f33843e8d8e08ef282c0d90_1986032_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Brass Ball Valve To Interrupt Heater Hose Flow\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eBrass Ball Valve To Interrupt Heater Hose Flow\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n As part of this process I replaced the cracked couplers between the steel coolant pipes and the fancy custom aluminum radiator. Also replaced heater hoses and installed a valve on the one heater hose. Why? One day I was checking around the engine and realized it was hot! Convection currents were causing our aquahot to heat the engine (using the preheat feature) but in reverse and not intentionally. Finally I replaced the horrible awful insane rubber boots that connect the coolant pipes to the transmission cooler. Wow, they did NOT want to come off.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/replacing-coolant-and-hoses/images/coolant3_hu78c33ab275a681403943090083489326_2256497_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/replacing-coolant-and-hoses/images/coolant3_hu78c33ab275a681403943090083489326_2256497_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Coolant Box Hoses - Replaced\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eCoolant Box Hoses - Replaced\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n When we finally refilled I was able to get in all but 1.5 gallons. After starting I felt the heater hoses at the front of the coach heating up so we knew coolant was flowing through that system - no trapped air pockets. All in all the job is pretty much what you\u0026rsquo;d expect if you\u0026rsquo;re experienced doing it on a car. Thankfully we didn\u0026rsquo;t spill a drop of coolant.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen you do a job like this, make sure to replace all of the rubber bits that go near hot parts of the engine. They are the parts that tend to degrade and burst, losing all of your new expensive coolant. These engines have coolant filters. If you go to a dealer they may tell you to use a WF2071. This filter is designed for long haul trucks and cannot handle the length service interval that motorhomes may have. As such for motorhomes make sure to use the WF2321 (if you have an ISM). Basically - there are different ones, make sure you get a good one. It will cost you dearly but the engine costs a lot more! If you want to change just the filter, there is a bypass knob just above where it mounts. This lets you take off the filter without losing a bunch of coolant.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Carmel, Indiana", "date_published" : "2014-03-06T23:11:04-05:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T02:11:53-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eOn our trip out west we meandered from Sandusky Ohio over to Carmel, Indiana. Rather than being a tourist type place, Carmel is on our list of potential places to relocate. It is a smaller city that is 20 minutes north of Indianapolis. We stayed at a very affordable campground called White River campgrond which is a private campground that was taken over by Hamilton County. It\u0026rsquo;s actually located in Cicero, IN rather than Carmel but it\u0026rsquo;s pretty close. We liked Cicero and Carmel is even nicer. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_3378_hue0d81f66f30577a4e1463d10aa9537f9_2068607_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_3378_hue0d81f66f30577a4e1463d10aa9537f9_2068607_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Arts and Design District\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eArts and Design District\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n Carmel was CNN Money\u0026rsquo;s winner for best place to live in the United States in 2012. In 2013 another close by town won. Really the entire northern Indianapolis area is nice.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_1684_huae0809f6c2ff36b87b09ba37817e5c07_916909_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_1684_huae0809f6c2ff36b87b09ba37817e5c07_916909_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Our First Windmill Sighting\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eOur First Windmill Sighting\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n When we look at what makes a place \u0026ldquo;great to live\u0026rdquo; for us, we look at things that have an effect on our core daily life. Those things are space, proximity to civilization, places to work and a lack of traffic. Obviously business don\u0026rsquo;t like to locate strip malls in the middle of nowhere. Traffic is a problem in prosperous areas with many places to work. These demands are counter to each other and thus this list is a very tall order. Amazingly though, the general northern Indiana suburbs delivers. For starters Carmel itself has a huge business district so you wouldn\u0026rsquo;t necessarily have to commute into Indianapolis proper. In terms of space and proximity to civilization this place seemed very special. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0394_hu31746d038dc22185c4e57c5ea6a9dd28_2683209_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0394_hu31746d038dc22185c4e57c5ea6a9dd28_2683209_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Beautiful Meadows\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eBeautiful Meadows\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n It truly seemed like rural cornfields and huge spread out properties were speckled by shopping centers with Meijer, Chick Fil-A, sushi joints and other deliciously bad ways to spend money. We did our best to hit traffic and we could find none - the roads are wide. Almost all 2 lane roads are a giant passing zone. The properties people had seemed to be quite large - 1-2 acres minimum and generally had RV\u0026rsquo;s outbuildings and other features. When it comes to the things that make us happy in our daily life - this seems to be it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_3376_hu61d3e48a6d35e5ddb2b9011bb9996a22_2745058_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_3376_hu61d3e48a6d35e5ddb2b9011bb9996a22_2745058_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"It\u0026#39;s a Building\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eIt\u0026#39;s a Building\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n Where we were at in Cicero was on the absolute fringe of the more populous area. Down the street was a ridiculous golf course called Purgatory golf club. The entire golf course looked like a trap designed to bewilder the average golfer. The very idea of it made me laugh but alas I\u0026rsquo;m not a golfer so I didn\u0026rsquo;t try out the course. Across the street was a network of hard packed gravel horseback riding trails. We rode our bikes over them and enjoyed every minute. Beautiful fields of wildflowers separate the trails.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0390_hue1a2414756f5168db9fd663c7f6eb122_2305244_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0390_hue1a2414756f5168db9fd663c7f6eb122_2305244_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Zest Meatloaf Sandwich - OMG\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eZest Meatloaf Sandwich - OMG\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n While we were here we decided to start trolling the Flavortown USA website where the list of Diner\u0026rsquo;s Drive-Ins and Dives restaurants are posted. Indianapolis featured a couple. The first place we ate was an absolute hit called \u0026ldquo;Zest-Exciting Food Creations\u0026rdquo;. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_3359_hu6965c3bb761f5933b891f7caddba6ec3_1905691_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_3359_hu6965c3bb761f5933b891f7caddba6ec3_1905691_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Zest Sandwich Board\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eZest Sandwich Board\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n I had a very typical for me terrible selection - a meatloaf sandwich with home made mac and cheese. Doesn\u0026rsquo;t sound like much right? Holy bejeebus check out the picture. It was as good as it looks. Wow. Marina had some kind of rib sandwich with a bleu cheese mousse! It also was amazing. The other place we ate at was called Jersey Cafe. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0454_hu4e57e856d433bc345fcd00617aeea655_2663276_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0454_hu4e57e856d433bc345fcd00617aeea655_2663276_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Jersey Cafe Signature Board\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eJersey Cafe Signature Board\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n It was good, but not mind blowing like Zest was. While there we also visited Indianapolis briefly and partook in the LINKIndianapolis Motor Speedway MuseumLINK. It was meticulously clean and well curated but surprisingly small. The street to get there piqued our spidey sense as being not the safest place. We didn\u0026rsquo;t explore the surrounding area much in light of that.\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0455_huf983454a6cf2a0fb8e8a603a3b970d6d_1904937_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0455_huf983454a6cf2a0fb8e8a603a3b970d6d_1904937_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Jersey Meatball Parm\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eJersey Meatball Parm\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0391_hua9d0967a36b2c18e58e8060bdb0ded38_4004194_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0391_hua9d0967a36b2c18e58e8060bdb0ded38_4004194_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Wooded Trail\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eWooded Trail\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0395_hu286cbc0a79641e585df42ab21e39bb96_2753498_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0395_hu286cbc0a79641e585df42ab21e39bb96_2753498_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\" \"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0423_hu3435bdf4d65f3a4868a8fa586ad27a86_3289646_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0423_hu3435bdf4d65f3a4868a8fa586ad27a86_3289646_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\" \"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0425_hu4cb286b00225088d76b61b581ca5b9a4_2664707_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0425_hu4cb286b00225088d76b61b581ca5b9a4_2664707_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\" \"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0437_huf3f67edd3397bfea80003bcb7042da86_2741080_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0437_huf3f67edd3397bfea80003bcb7042da86_2741080_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\" \"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0451_huf84bfb231bf30d055bed2a6646f0f24d_2042706_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_0451_huf84bfb231bf30d055bed2a6646f0f24d_2042706_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\" \"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_1671_huc4713742d2d41a7c6a4e0df686e1d3c5_453957_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_1671_huc4713742d2d41a7c6a4e0df686e1d3c5_453957_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\" \"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_1679_hu380add663ad72ea16dccb21bf30ab344_359851_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_1679_hu380add663ad72ea16dccb21bf30ab344_359851_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\" \"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_1954_hud4dcc67d65ef408de631f9ef016e0f08_1399048_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_1954_hud4dcc67d65ef408de631f9ef016e0f08_1399048_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\" \"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_2203_hu40bc0ff9d4dbe155b3e552cd11492689_2674176_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_2203_hu40bc0ff9d4dbe155b3e552cd11492689_2674176_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\" \"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_2207_hu52c682d7130e0d39e95024ae140e0a65_849805_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_2207_hu52c682d7130e0d39e95024ae140e0a65_849805_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\" \"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_2215_huffd195cd2f9843f4e4a57fc2a7767fc3_1308077_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_2215_huffd195cd2f9843f4e4a57fc2a7767fc3_1308077_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\" \"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_2223_hu301d7859481b161590fda7bde1ab67c4_1450739_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_2223_hu301d7859481b161590fda7bde1ab67c4_1450739_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\" \"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_3391_hu876de3dbc944142c86e9af5ba8468875_2198884_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_3391_hu876de3dbc944142c86e9af5ba8468875_2198884_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\" \"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_3380_huad198ad5f1165d4056c66bdb078f02af_2183543_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_3380_huad198ad5f1165d4056c66bdb078f02af_2183543_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\" \"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_3361_hu95f5a5c62d9bd7dc9017528b54e65567_2247779_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/carmel-indiana/images/IMG_3361_hu95f5a5c62d9bd7dc9017528b54e65567_2247779_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\" \"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n" }, { "title" : "Our new old RV. The interior", "date_published" : "2014-03-04T11:54:34-05:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T03:01:23-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003ePreviously I posted about the exterior of the new old RV. In case you didn\u0026rsquo;t see it, we recently purchased a 1999 Foretravel U320 42\u0026rsquo; motorhome. Now that we\u0026rsquo;re settled in and getting used to life in it, I feel more comfortable taking and sharing some pictures. When we originally started looking for a new motorhome I gravitated towards the American Dream/Eagle line of motorhomes. These are very decent but my better half found this Foretravel motorhome. Once I saw a picture of the built in desk I knew I had to see it. And here it is, we own it :) \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4005_0_hu7cb8dc995659ecd8b6b62569433ed3a9_5513052_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4005_0_hu7cb8dc995659ecd8b6b62569433ed3a9_5513052_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Built in Desk\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eBuilt in Desk\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n The U320 42\u0026rsquo; is a special model and has a couple features that no other model has. One being the extra large desk. No other model has the desk with 2 sides of drawers. Other noteworthy things are porcelain tile throughout which is too weighty without the extra capacity of the tandem axle. The desk has room for the 7 computers, 2 tablets and IP phone (the Geeky Nomads name doesn\u0026rsquo;t come out of nowhere!). It has the same nice halogen indirect lighting that the rest of the coach has but the desk lighting is independently controlled.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3976_huaf672101aace9dab048475c7ee9c66ef_3721488_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3976_huaf672101aace9dab048475c7ee9c66ef_3721488_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Intellitec Controls\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eIntellitec Controls\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n The Foretravel U320 is the highest end Foretravel motorhome. It\u0026rsquo;s basically the same as the U295 but is equipped with a Cummins ISM 450HP vs an ISC 350HP engine. The 42\u0026rsquo; version has some additional special features on top of that. One of those is Intellitec Multiplex light switches. This system runs power for 12v devices in the RV back to a central relay panel. Various switch panels (8) in total can control both items relevant to the panel location as well as other things you might care about. For instance you can turn on all of the bright outdoor docking lights while laying in bed. This system didn\u0026rsquo;t work when we put down our deposit (and it wasn\u0026rsquo;t the only thing) but the dealer got everything fixed up and we enjoy the system immensely.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4013_0_hu72fec299808226f923a548dc26fc223c_6437008_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4013_0_hu72fec299808226f923a548dc26fc223c_6437008_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Household Toilet\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eHousehold Toilet\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n This is a very unique motorhome - even for a Foretravel U320. It\u0026rsquo;s the only one I know of where the previous owner opted to install a normal wet trap household flushing toilet. This like most things has pros and cons. The toilet uses 1.6 gallons per flush and fills our black tank within 3-4 days with 2 users. We simply always hold both the gray and black tank since the black fills first. We\u0026rsquo;ve gotten used to this part of the routine and it\u0026rsquo;s not a very big deal. When boondocking, this would be a big deal! We are fighting over whether to get a traditional RV toilet or a dual flush household toilet to replace this one with. We\u0026rsquo;ll work on that when the time comes. A lot of people indicate that a flush toilet would have water splash out of the tank and bowl when under way, or the entire toilet will break or have other problems. Nope. It\u0026rsquo;s just a household toilet and it works surprisingly well in an RV. No face full of poo smell for us!\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3968_hu6ff689d0c99f51be9a24be38a1a55963_3925931_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3968_hu6ff689d0c99f51be9a24be38a1a55963_3925931_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Dash Lighting\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eDash Lighting\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n I still smile every time I turn on the headlights. This is the electroluminescent backlight of the dash. It looks even better in person. I didn\u0026rsquo;t know it did this before we took it home. What a pleasant surprise.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4015_0_hu2f09697381fb3554c7f45c3c39e093d6_6196102_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4015_0_hu2f09697381fb3554c7f45c3c39e093d6_6196102_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Shower\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eShower\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n I don\u0026rsquo;t weigh an insignificant amount and banging my elbows in the bathroom and shower of our previous motorhome was starting to get old. Enter our new shower - bigger than the master shower of our sticks and bricks home before we sold it!\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4033_0_hu49b71081afccf5da91bc6fb7009dff29_5491076_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4033_0_hu49b71081afccf5da91bc6fb7009dff29_5491076_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Bedroom Accent Lighting\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eBedroom Accent Lighting\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n Every window and countertop has accent rope lighting wired up. There are also beautiful halogen indirect lighting in the cupboards along the sides. This thing lights up like a christmas tree and I love light! That\u0026rsquo;s pretty much it for the notable stuff. Below you\u0026rsquo;ll see images of the pots and pans drawers and our dishwasher and laser printer in lieu of a washer/dryer. Our apologies for not making the bed - it\u0026rsquo;s just not something we do.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4012_0_hu68f316f0f38b37d6646b8646df44e734_6269171_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4012_0_hu68f316f0f38b37d6646b8646df44e734_6269171_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Vanity\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eVanity\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4024_0_hu7f2140269e6973591810ce2717893df2_6118981_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4024_0_hu7f2140269e6973591810ce2717893df2_6118981_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Controls\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eControls\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4027_0_hu74f06077d019dba448c65711cd00235b_5320776_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4027_0_hu74f06077d019dba448c65711cd00235b_5320776_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Counter Accent Lighting\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eCounter Accent Lighting\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4030_0_hue5adefb98834610551e9b8a9839ec44b_6871714_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4030_0_hue5adefb98834610551e9b8a9839ec44b_6871714_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Kitty Approved\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eKitty Approved\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4038_0_hu742eb4cdb82cfaaf14746ced204b00ac_6034067_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4038_0_hu742eb4cdb82cfaaf14746ced204b00ac_6034067_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Bedroom Indirect Lighting\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eBedroom Indirect Lighting\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4039_0_hu0480b44326e41ac4ad68cbc656b9c384_6951652_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4039_0_hu0480b44326e41ac4ad68cbc656b9c384_6951652_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Bedroom Drawers\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eBedroom Drawers\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4042_0_hue3c42b22b859603a0ba4ea1bf5f1f335_7016104_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_4042_0_hue3c42b22b859603a0ba4ea1bf5f1f335_7016104_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"We don\u0026#39;t make the bed\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eWe don\u0026#39;t make the bed\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3977_hu0cc075143f54fc8370332d2b1e2f0286_6593076_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3977_hu0cc075143f54fc8370332d2b1e2f0286_6593076_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Living Room\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eLiving Room\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3981_hudc024651e92d0a8f1fe326b0629902b3_6465325_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3981_hudc024651e92d0a8f1fe326b0629902b3_6465325_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Dining Area\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eDining Area\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3982_hu37f2cfde936d9e6c56a70d58e9418d76_7326089_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3982_hu37f2cfde936d9e6c56a70d58e9418d76_7326089_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Kitchen\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eKitchen\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3986_hue611cadf7f748210a8b1d92ae974cc9b_5890691_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3986_hue611cadf7f748210a8b1d92ae974cc9b_5890691_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Inverter Controls\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eInverter Controls\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3987_hu90c6ac93125126ac171ea2a194d29683_6494645_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3987_hu90c6ac93125126ac171ea2a194d29683_6494645_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Pots and Pans Drawer\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003ePots and Pans Drawer\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3988_hu81dd3bf535f69e48f4f8a2b3886c600c_6700392_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3988_hu81dd3bf535f69e48f4f8a2b3886c600c_6700392_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Gaggenae Cooktop\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eGaggenae Cooktop\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3992_hu871ce1e2a2fc8a2c3e715e730fb12d6a_7349552_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3992_hu871ce1e2a2fc8a2c3e715e730fb12d6a_7349552_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Dishwasher and Printer\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eDishwasher and Printer\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3994_hu3c5b099a638d14675753c256ffdf1cdc_6186946_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3994_hu3c5b099a638d14675753c256ffdf1cdc_6186946_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Pantry Drawers\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003ePantry Drawers\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3995_hu1b2d0169ac78b4bb8fdf3f6b5f3214e7_7140320_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3995_hu1b2d0169ac78b4bb8fdf3f6b5f3214e7_7140320_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Huge Fridge\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eHuge Fridge\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3996_hu0b0280fa436306219d6b43c850324c4f_7319300_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-interior/images/IMG_3996_hu0b0280fa436306219d6b43c850324c4f_7319300_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Fridge\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eFridge\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n" }, { "title" : "Our new old RV. The exterior", "date_published" : "2014-02-28T12:48:59-05:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T02:22:03-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eWe got a new RV! It\u0026rsquo;s a 1999 Foretravel U320 42\u0026rsquo;. It has a tandem axle, pantograph bay doors and a monocoque chassis so it is very \u0026ldquo;bus\u0026rdquo; like. I would say it has more bus features than non bus features. The thing that makes this decidedly not a bus is that it has a fiberglass shell and the skin is not part of the structure in a meaningful way. It took us around 6 months between thinking about making this purchase and finally making this purchase. It couldn\u0026rsquo;t be taken lightly as a Foretravel costs somewhere between the same and double your average diesel pusher which costs double or more your average gas motorhome. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3830_hu4ae8b6ea72c8c68c0d6926be75695a2f_2460646_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3830_hu4ae8b6ea72c8c68c0d6926be75695a2f_2460646_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Our 1999 Foretravel U320\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eOur 1999 Foretravel U320\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n This was certainly quite a step up from our 1998 Winnebago 32\u0026rsquo; but the circumstances are quite different now that we have committed to fulltiming. I\u0026rsquo;m planning to do a series of posts on how we got to this point but for this post I\u0026rsquo;ll discuss the finer points of the exterior features.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3890_hu4d4b8f8355e3517ad859bdc0b0b1158c_1584801_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3890_hu4d4b8f8355e3517ad859bdc0b0b1158c_1584801_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Cummins 450HP Engine\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eCummins 450HP Engine\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n A heavy duty Cummins 450HP turbo diesel engine. A Foretravel U320 generally has a far more powerful engine than other motorhomes in the class. This is similar to the Wanderlodge and prevost buses which tend to have 500HP detroit series 60 engines (similar vintage anyway) but those machines are quite a bit heavier. Thus the Foretravel U320 is known as the hotrod of motorhomes. Indeed they make a 36\u0026rsquo; single rear axle variant that still carries the 450HP engine. I\u0026rsquo;m told it accelerates faster than many cars. Our trip out west really freaked us out. You can see that enormous Lexus toad. We like it, so we\u0026rsquo;re not getting rid of it, so we decided we want a motorhome that had capable power. With our loaded Winnebago the poor Ford 460 really started to die in the high altitudes. We crawled at down to 15mph on some mountains. It was really stressful on us and really stressful on the engine. Probably hte only reason it worked at all is because we massively upgraded the radiator before we left to a 3 row copper radiator. Temperatures were never a problem even in the hottest of weather.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3889_hud1e7f9faa3385313ee798c6721b913e4_1974871_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3889_hud1e7f9faa3385313ee798c6721b913e4_1974871_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Engine Access\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eEngine Access\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n Take note of that engine access. Foretravel is unique among fiberglass motorhomes for being amazingly accessible. That door is HUGE and it lifts right up with one hand. The fuel and holding tanks can all be slid out. About the most complicated service on this machine is the aquahot which is buried but accessible. The generator is also on a slide out tray.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMoving to the passenger side you can see the first of two large bays. The doors are pantograph doors. They come out a minor amount and swing vertically. This helps more than you\u0026rsquo;d think as when you\u0026rsquo;re setup you don\u0026rsquo;t need to move everything out of the way just to open the door. Also you don\u0026rsquo;t tend to hit yourself on the head with the doors, nor do you need to bend over under the door to access the bay contents as much. Each side of the large bay has what is called a Joey bed. It is an enormous heavy steel tray that slides the entire contents of the bay out for accessibility. Overkill? Perhaps, but it\u0026rsquo;s really cool. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3870_hu092fd4a7440c3660dea032436fe3809b_1655376_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3870_hu092fd4a7440c3660dea032436fe3809b_1655376_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Passenger Side Storage\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003ePassenger Side Storage\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n See that box on the storage bed? That is a factory installed Dometic 12v/120v dual powered compressor freezer/fridge. The unit itself costs over $600 new plus the installation cost but when you buy used things like this tend to just be thrown in and not thought much about. It can be run in fridge or freezer mode. We currently use it in freezer mode as the inside fridge is proportionally much larger than the inside freezer. It\u0026rsquo;s interesting that this coach actually has a good bit less bay storage space than other 32\u0026rsquo; Winnebago, How is this possible? Winnebago was VERY clever with the bay storage considering the limitations, and the Foretravel loses space due to larger tanks, tandem axle, more batteries, etc. Ours is particularly interesting as it has a factory installed second water tank. This means it has over 200 gallons of freshwater capacity while having the same sized black/gray tanks. This seems useless to us but we weren\u0026rsquo;t going to argue.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLet\u0026rsquo;s move to the front and driver side. Similar bay and storage situation but you can see the full body paint job. This was done at Foretravel in 2010 to the tune of over $30,000 by the (insane) previous owner. It looks \u003cem\u003ereally\u003c/em\u003e good. It\u0026rsquo;s a big part of the reason we pulled the trigger on this coach versus waiting as the dealer we bought it from was pretty slimy. Here you can see the second storage bay joey bed and our storage management issues thanks to having smaller bay storage. The new motorhome came with a full compliment of accessories the prior owner no longer wanted from tow bars to add a rooms, hoses, pipes, tools tables, chairs, and more. We\u0026rsquo;ve been gradually selling things off to help defray the huge acquisition cost (and repair costs we are now encountering). \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3878_hu223a4007d19bef313eb412fea7dc3a0c_1710357_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3878_hu223a4007d19bef313eb412fea7dc3a0c_1710357_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Driver Side View\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eDriver Side View\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThere are a few other things that are nice but not nice about this coach. It has an aquahot radiant domestic hot water/heat system that runs on diesel fuel and electric. As nice as these are, we hear a lot of reports of repairs and they are super expensive to replace, $7,000 minimum. We use the hot water portion but since our electric is included in the rent, we use the roof mounted a/c\u0026rsquo;s for heat since they include heat pump functionality as well. We\u0026rsquo;re in Florida right now so our heat needs aren\u0026rsquo;t exactly great. It has a Xantrex Prosine 2.5 inverter/charger. This is a really nice unit that has a remote control panel and tells you amp draw. It is a pure sine inverter so appliances with induction motors like fans don\u0026rsquo;t buzz and run right. Unfortunately, it also is quite expensive and has a history peppered with failures.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo that\u0026rsquo;s our new motorhome. The ultra special 42\u0026rsquo; model of a Foretravel U320 graced with excess from all angles. From the 12kw generator to 3 roof a/c\u0026rsquo;s, this motorhome is equipped like many brand new motorhomes but has one magical feature that we sought out but nobody offers. No slides. We didn\u0026rsquo;t want the headache and problems of slides for the \u0026ldquo;fake space\u0026rdquo; that they offer (aka empty space where you can\u0026rsquo;t actually carry anything to put in said space).\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3871_hu47700ba351a52d6581267e9ae4e49b30_1293786_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3871_hu47700ba351a52d6581267e9ae4e49b30_1293786_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Xantrex Prosine 2.5\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eXantrex Prosine 2.5\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3872_hub073ce43dd2479fafd3df86688f0ef30_1274373_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3872_hub073ce43dd2479fafd3df86688f0ef30_1274373_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Fuel and Propane\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eFuel and Propane\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3875_hucea3c6e3ae1d76a8274c60102dd72bad_1407311_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3875_hucea3c6e3ae1d76a8274c60102dd72bad_1407311_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Bose Sound System\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eBose Sound System\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3883_huebe26ebc3decdb1f5457b98b5988a125_1632995_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3883_huebe26ebc3decdb1f5457b98b5988a125_1632995_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Driver Side Joey Bed\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eDriver Side Joey Bed\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3886_hu46f1192ab63d25c883be61cb15343aa1_1430937_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3886_hu46f1192ab63d25c883be61cb15343aa1_1430937_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Water and Sewer Hookups\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eWater and Sewer Hookups\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3894_hud0c62cc671918fb0ec98bfc99a7a5769_2113468_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3894_hud0c62cc671918fb0ec98bfc99a7a5769_2113468_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Fabric Awnings\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eFabric Awnings\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3891_hu614b659bd67f43c2503dc282f006b045_1820755_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/our-new-old-rv-exterior/images/IMG_3891_hu614b659bd67f43c2503dc282f006b045_1820755_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Passenger Side Rear\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003ePassenger Side Rear\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n" }, { "title" : "We are alive actually", "date_published" : "2013-12-08T13:39:32-05:00", "date_modified" : "2014-02-28T18:22:51-05:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/we-are-alive-actually/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/we-are-alive-actually/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eRewind back to our last post. What happened? We were travelling and the dog and the kid got sick. Waking up every morning to a literal storm of poo combined with the child being hideously deformed enough that we felt that we shouldn\u0026rsquo;t take him out in public (he had something called hand foot and mouth disease) made us decide to call the trip. My mother thought someone beat him up after looking at a picture. Things were really taking their toll on us. When I originally set out to do this, I was planning to travel for 6 months to a year. I had a general route planned. We saved up mostly enough funds to keep the trip going and we had a basically working plan. We made it all the way from PA to yellowstone and while we were having fun and unique moments, the entire thing as a whole had become well.. not fun. We had not preplanned where we were staying in terms of what to see, where we wanted to go, what to do, where to stay, crime rates in areas. The midwest was wholly unfamiliar to us so we felt like we needed to be exceedingly careful about how we went about our trip which in hindsight probably was a bit overblown. The biggest stressor was that we considered this a once in a lifetime opportunity so we didn\u0026rsquo;t want to \u0026ldquo;miss anything\u0026rdquo;. This lead to us literally stressing out over recreational things. Insanity.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnother unexpected thing happened. I figured out that driving our motorhome is something that can be described as sitting somewhere between excruciating and hell on earth. When we were out and about it was hot. Super hot. Our air conditioning could not keep up, even running both roof airs as well as the chassis A/C. I was hot and miserable. The highways in the midwest are not great and our motorhome has a horrendous ride. I would be super tired from driving after only 300 miles while in a proper car I can do 1000 before I really can\u0026rsquo;t drive anymore. Driving through the mountains and hitting steep climbs accidentally and getting slowed up to 20mph or worse was incredibly stressful. All of these stressors caused us to fight on top of things. This was all combined with the hidden fact that my significant other really didn\u0026rsquo;t want to do the trip to begin with.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut wait there\u0026rsquo;s more. Preceeding this trip was the requirement that I quit my excellent job. I figured I\u0026rsquo;d kill several lifelong dreams at once by attempting to start my own business doing remote IT work. Listen\u0026hellip; Trying to see the country and start a business are 100% incompatible. Starting a business (versus keeping an established one going) requires 12 hour days, 7 days a week minimum. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a liar. Anyone who thinks otherwise is lying to themselves. If you are developing a product, you need to work FAST so you are first to market which requires long long hours. If you are trying to be a contractor, you need to be available. You have to be able to fly out at a moment\u0026rsquo;s notice. You have to cold call for hours, network, maintain connections and in general communicate in ways you may not be used to. Most importantly, you have to be focused because the mind can only stretch so far. Seeing new things constantly clouds the mind and really prevents focusing on something like starting a business. On top of this there is a literal buttload of administrative work. Corporate taxes, various filings that need to occur, tracking mileage and expenses, logging hours worked (it\u0026rsquo;s important even for stuff you aren\u0026rsquo;t getting paid for), research of potential issues and more. The idea that I could move once a week and effectively start a company was laughable. It was a mistake. I bit off more than I could chew.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo we made a beeline straight for Florida. Florida is where her family lives and I figured we could regroup, figure out our future, and revisit travelling at a later date. One of the reasons we were so hard up to do everyhting now is because we have one child who is not school aged yet. Unless we home school, we will not be able to go anywhere for 6 months at a time again. Another reason is that entrenching yourself in a company really makes you have to be stationary and that is incompatible with picking up and travelling so the fact that I was starting a company and quitting my job made it seem right. As for our motorhome, we made extensive trips with it and it seemed fine before. Short 1-2 hour trips to the race track were no big deal. Towing an SUV up a mountain in the middle of nowhere where you have no idea what service you\u0026rsquo;d get or even if you have cell phone signal to call someone is an entirely different league.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo what did we learn?\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you are going to take such a trip, do so in a well sorted out diesel pusher with air suspension OR a fifth wheel with a properly equipped powerful tow vehicle. Don\u0026rsquo;t skimp. Don\u0026rsquo;t use the 20 year old ford chassis motorhome, drop a toad behind it and overload it with stuff and think you\u0026rsquo;ll be happy. Even though we didn\u0026rsquo;t overload enough to cause damage we certainly weren\u0026rsquo;t comfortable. And it matters. As of right now we are shopping for and have found a Foretravel motorhome. We have a deposit on it and are completing inspections and hopefully it will be ours soon.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eBoth people need to be honest with themselves about who they are and what they want out of life. If one person wants to take the trip and the other just wants to be around the person, that\u0026rsquo;s a problem. Both people need to want to live the lifestyle and take the trip. In my case my significant other had no trouble living in the RV, but being away from civilization for extended periods was a different story.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eHave your finances straight. Even if you have enough money for the trip, if you are going to be worried about money or your future the whole time you won\u0026rsquo;t have as much fun as you could. If you plan to start a business, move into the RV after selling your house and focus on that FIRST. If you need to be sure your clients will accept that you are remote, just move to an rv park a couple hours away. You\u0026rsquo;ll have time to focus and you can still drive back if there is anything you didn\u0026rsquo;t think about. Some clients just can\u0026rsquo;t deal with or don\u0026rsquo;t get the remote thing.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou will run into problems as a phrase our friends at Technomadia say \u0026ldquo;serendipity\u0026rdquo;. You\u0026rsquo;re going to need to know that word. Things will happen and you\u0026rsquo;ll have to look at the bright side of thing. A positive outlook is required to do a trip like this. If your partner is a negative person, don\u0026rsquo;t bother, it can\u0026rsquo;t work.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreplan the entire trip - as much as possible. Plan what you\u0026rsquo;ll see, where you\u0026rsquo;ll stay, crime rates, which walmarts to stay at and more. Do the best you can to be realistic so you don\u0026rsquo;t have to change the plan. If you can\u0026rsquo;t manage to plan the trip before it becomes time to take the trip while you\u0026rsquo;re not travelling, what makes you think you\u0026rsquo;ll be able to do it when you are FAR BUSIER because you are seeing sights? It\u0026rsquo;s actually much harder to sit down and spend hours on this stuff AFTER you think you\u0026rsquo;ll have more time available.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhat did we do right?\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eMany many people end the dream because they run out of money. We saved enough that although money was a worry of mine, we were never in danger of actually running out. More my concern was striking the market I\u0026rsquo;m in while the iron is hot. If my business ideas are going to fail, I\u0026rsquo;d rather know sooner than later so I can begin attempting to get remote contracting jobs and keep my skills fresh. Once I have regular work and income, that is an easier thing to maintain on the road. But we had enough money.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eOur RV was well prepared. We broke down, but I wasn\u0026rsquo;t going to replace the known issue fuel pump in our motorhome before we left just for fun. Perhaps I could have bought a spare and kept it on hand. That might have been smart. But before we left we replaced the cooling system, tires and other consumables. We resealed the roof and in general tried to help improve our chances of not breaking down. It paid off we think,\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe had a tow vehicle. As much as I love 5th wheels I can\u0026rsquo;t imagine the situation if my tow vehicle broke down 100 miles from the nearest cell phone signal in the mountains of Indian country. A motorhome and toad are the way to go. The only way I would do 5th wheel is if I had a motorcycle hanging off the back.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe had a dish network dish on a tripod with a DVR. We used to download our TV over hte internet. This can\u0026rsquo;t work. Dish DvR worked flawlessly. Trying to use an antenna mounted to the roof wouldn\u0026rsquo;t work well. The tripod and a long cable allowed us to get signal in all cases even when there were obstacles to aim around. It eventually got easy. Our $150 tripod setup afforded us the same channels a $1300 automatic unit did. We\u0026rsquo;re still proud of our TV choice.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eInternet. Your BEST internet bet is served by a TP-Link TL-WA5210G to connect to a long distance signal as well as a millenicom hotspot plan with 20GB. We are heavy users and though we had to tone it down a bit, we got by. We were never longing for internet. When we did get wifi we were able to make big downloads. When we didn\u0026rsquo;t the verizon 4G of the hotspot plan was brutally fast. Faster than most wifi hotsposts.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe brought the right things. Very little of the various tools and accessories we brought were not used. Very few times did we find that we needed something we packed into storage. There were instances but it wasn\u0026rsquo;t bad.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe left at the right time. We hit yellowstone during the summer which is important unless you want to play in the snow.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eEach of the above items warrants it\u0026rsquo;s own post which I will work towards in the future. But it should suffice to say that attempting an endeavor like this is full of trials, tribulations and amazing memories. Looking back we can identify our favorite moments and places and after months of being settled we\u0026rsquo;re eager to take off again after making the fixes we need.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Moving Fast - For an RV", "date_published" : "2013-09-14T10:18:59-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-02-28T18:21:27-05:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/moving-fast-rv/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/moving-fast-rv/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eIn case you haven\u0026rsquo;t noticed I haven\u0026rsquo;t had a lot of time to update the site lately.\u0026nbsp; The reason is because we decided in Yellowstone to head straight to Florida (we have family in Florida).\u0026nbsp; There were various reasons that I won\u0026rsquo;t get into much but we have been driving 300 miles or so every other day including today.\u0026nbsp; So if you\u0026rsquo;re sitting at work and bored, check out the roll with us page.\u0026nbsp; There\u0026rsquo;s a good chance we\u0026rsquo;ll be driving though we only have 2 driving days left before we sit for a while.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; I got the problems with the front camera worked out and it all works out to cheap chinese components.\u0026nbsp; I use CCTV to siamese CAT5 baluns so that there is only a single cable entering through the roof and those baluns are pretty crappy.\u0026nbsp; I had to resolder the factory solder job on 2 of them and they had various other build issues.\u0026nbsp; The other issue I had was with the $15 ebay DVR card.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; We\u0026rsquo;re now using my much older 16 channel card and the quality and reliability is a whole lot better.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Once we get settled I\u0026rsquo;ll start posting back updates for reviews and other stuff.\u0026nbsp; There\u0026rsquo;s a lot to say about our experiences.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Campground Wifi is Not Created Equal", "date_published" : "2013-09-05T15:06:29-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-02-28T18:23:24-05:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/campground-wifi-not-created-equal/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/campground-wifi-not-created-equal/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eOne of the more interesting things I\u0026rsquo;ve learned as an IT worker is that a lot more of my bandwidth is consumed by the basics than I thought. The basics are things like a OSX Mavericks developer preview updates weighing in a 1GB each. There\u0026rsquo;s been 7 so far. I have some weird neurosis that requires me to keep my systems up to date. I have 4 physical machines in our rv, 2 android tablets, iphones, etc and all of those devices have their own hefty updates to install. So I will allow a couple of weeks to go by but eventually I have to find a campground with good wifi. We\u0026rsquo;ve found that most larger campgrounds have a heavily managed infrastructure. They are typically tengo internet or some variant. Usually bandwidth is limited to 1Mbps which after playing the game with a Verizon LTE mifi is painful. The worst part is that the arbitrary 1Mbit limitation is usually done poorly so when one application is saturating the connection downloading updates, trying to do anything else simply doesn\u0026rsquo;t work. On a Tengo internet connection individual packets are processed but delayed. If you run a ping session you\u0026rsquo;ll start seeing 10 second latency on packets. Total nightmare.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSomewhat unexpectedly what we found is that smaller campgrounds with basic unmanaged wifi are amazing. When we stayed at White River campground in Cicero, IN we found that they had a 30mbit business cable connection in their office on a standard wifi access point. Sure nobody can use it normally but point a high powered WISP antenna at it and the precious nectar of bandwidth is at your beck and call. Another campground we recently were at is Shady Grove Wifi Campground (yes they put wifi in the name). This place does not get very good reviews. It\u0026rsquo;s in some dude\u0026rsquo;s back yard but there is a place to walk, it\u0026rsquo;s completely empty, the owner is super friendly, the utilities work and the internet? A relatively unmanaged 6mbps.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThen there was Red Barn Rendevous in Edwardsville, IL. Their wifi signal was very strong but was backed by a Ku band Hugesnet system. We were warned against doing basically anything and our mifi was substantially faster even after considering the satellite latency. It also ceased to function very often. Before we started travelling I was heavily considering a satellite internet connection but IMHO this is a waste of time. Simply choose to stay in Verizon coverage area and all will be fine.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe other campgrounds we review will mention wifi and bandwidth. You can use our experience as a guide if you need to have fast internet always available. We don\u0026rsquo;t because of the mifi but every 2-3 weeks we do need to connect to make big downloads. Additionally we will talk about all of the wifi tech we\u0026rsquo;ve acquired and knowledge. For someone like me, establishing a long range wifi link is interesting and fun. My record so far is 2.5 miles (according to google maps).\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "A Tale of Dead Batteries", "date_published" : "2013-08-28T10:00:00-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T01:47:46-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/tale-dead-batteries/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/tale-dead-batteries/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eBuying a used coach comes with the unique experience of constant discovery of new things hidden away. These things are someitmes good, sometimes bad. Our 1998 Winnebago Adventurer 32 came with a very factory supplied looking 200 watt-ish inverter that powers the tv, vcr, etc. One of our first modifications was to install one of our two sets of Bose Companion 2 speaker and subwoofer setups. Last year on a lengthy trip to Florida, we wre suprised when halfway through the trip the inverter shut off. We didn\u0026rsquo;t think much of it and started the generator to charge the batteries (because we did see that the converter did work). \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/tale-dead-batteries/images/solenoid_5_hu89eec6bedcabd012603b7841a4338606_3277935_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/tale-dead-batteries/images/solenoid_5_hu89eec6bedcabd012603b7841a4338606_3277935_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Motorhome Batteries\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eMotorhome Batteries\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFast forward to today and several tests later we came to the conclusion that our house batteries were pretty well done for. They could power our tube TV drawing 200 watts for mere minutes before shutting down so we knew it was time for replacement. After doing a lot of research we came to the conclusion that the stock Magnetek converter supplied with our motorhome was doing it\u0026rsquo;s very best to fry these batteries so we nabbed a fantastic deal on an Intellipower 45amp converter/charger on ebay. This converter has 3 stage charging and has very good maintenance cycles to ensure the batteries don\u0026rsquo;t get overcharged and boil away. Since then we\u0026rsquo;ve used the generator on every trip and have not had an issue but I noticed once again that after a night of running fan the battery wasn\u0026rsquo;t charging with the engine running. When the \u0026ldquo;aux start\u0026rdquo; button was pressed, a thump occurred behind the dash but the voltage of the bank wasn\u0026rsquo;t changing as you\u0026rsquo;d expect when you connect the chassis battery to the coach battery. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/tale-dead-batteries/images/solenoid_6_huf01538fe1b122d264855fcdf5a501e4a_1703534_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/tale-dead-batteries/images/solenoid_6_huf01538fe1b122d264855fcdf5a501e4a_1703534_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Battery Charger/Converter Underneath our Oven\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eBattery Charger/Converter Underneath our Oven\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eI suppose a small backstory would be nice for the non-technically inclined. Basically a motorhome has 3 distinct electrical systems. One 120 volt system with standard household outlets, one 12volt \u0026ldquo;coach\u0026rdquo; system which in our case has 2 deep cycle batteries connected in parallel and is also connected to our inverter/charger. The final system is a 12volt system that powers chassis electronics like fuel injection and the engine starter. This has it\u0026rsquo;s own battery but that battery is designed more to give off a lot of power for a short amount of time (to satisfy the demands of an engine starter).\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen it comes to how these systems are interconnected, the answer is extremely fuzzy, even amongst similar model numbers. Copious amounts of reading schematics, studying forum posts and other powers of deduction lead me to realize that there is a solenoid that connects my chassis and house battery banks together under certain conditions and that that solenoid isn\u0026rsquo;t working. A forum post explained it that on Winnebago\u0026rsquo;s like mine (indeed since way back in the 70\u0026rsquo;s), the run position of the ignition key (as well as the dash \u0026ldquo;aux start\u0026rdquo; switch) sends power to this bank connecting the batteries. The purpose of this is so that when you are camped you will not drain your engine start battery but while your engine is running the alternator is able to charge your house batteries. This alternator charging of our house batteries I now confirmed is supposed to happen but isn\u0026rsquo;t.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/tale-dead-batteries/images/solenoid_1_hu1c26f03d075720bb977ad8e7b3675bde_1331068_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/tale-dead-batteries/images/solenoid_1_hu1c26f03d075720bb977ad8e7b3675bde_1331068_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Battery Mode Solenoid\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eBattery Mode Solenoid\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n Here is the culrpit. It is quite a common part known by many names and brands, namely a Camdec 97226. I purchased a replacement part made by Tekonsha from Amazon which had a very ominous review attached. Apparently this particular reviewer\u0026rsquo;s solenoid was not manufactured very well and the crimped cap popped off. The internal solenoid bridged to ground and started a fire for him. I decided to hedge against this by wrapping the assembly in electrical tape hoping that it is strong enough to hold back the spring forces of the solenoid. Time will tell I suppose.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-box\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-image\"\u003e\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00OA7XX9E?tag=geekynomads02-20\" name=\"amazon-shortcode\" target=\"\\_blank\"\u003e\n \u003cimg src=\"https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41FbPrh-bYL._SL160_.jpg\" alt=\"Camdec 97226-WR Solenoid - 3 Post\" /\u003e\n \u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-info\"\u003e\n \u003cp class=\"amazon-shortcode-title\"\u003e\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00OA7XX9E?tag=geekynomads02-20\" name=\"amazon-shortcode\" target=\"\\_blank\"\u003e\n Camdec 97226-WR Solenoid - 3 Post\n \u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/p\u003e\n \n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-detail\"\u003e\n \n \u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \n \n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cbr style=\"clear: both;\"/\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith some spousal assistance I located the chamber which housed this solenoid and the solenoid itself by asking her to repeatedly turn the ignition from run to off and listening and feeling for the clunk. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/tale-dead-batteries/images/solenoid_2_hu7c0e2557ef0a8e445b7514dab4400afe_1286782_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/tale-dead-batteries/images/solenoid_2_hu7c0e2557ef0a8e445b7514dab4400afe_1286782_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Battery Mode Solenoid Location Under Hood\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eBattery Mode Solenoid Location Under Hood\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n In my coach it is behind a box labelled \u0026ldquo;Battery mode solenoid and relays\u0026rdquo;. Fitting enough. This box housed the solenoid to completely disconnect the coach batteries from the house 12v system (for storage or maybe something else), and this unit works fine. The other solenoid we were looking for was well buried and took a lot of effort to remove. It\u0026rsquo;s important to note that you are working in a box that has very large power lines in close proximity with very large grounds. If you were to play inside this box without disconnecting ALL batteries, AND household AC so that your converter isn\u0026rsquo;t powered, fantastic fire, explosion and personal injury could result. Take proper safety precautions!\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/tale-dead-batteries/images/solenoid_4_hufbc45f26372e50316c140538077b4b7e_1994189_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/tale-dead-batteries/images/solenoid_4_hufbc45f26372e50316c140538077b4b7e_1994189_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Wiring Exposed\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eWiring Exposed\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n After wrestling the old unit out and installing the new one it\u0026rsquo;s fairly easy to see the source of the failure. Now bearing in mind, a direct connect solenoid is probably the WORST way to accomplish charging your coach batteries from the alternator, the implementation in my particular motorhome is an abysmal failure. Leaving a voltmeter on my coach batteries and cranking the engine you can see the coach batteries dip down to 10v. Yes folks, the geniuses connected the solenoid to a line that is hot in both the run AND start positions. Attempting to crank the motorhome while this solenoid is engaged each and every time you start the motorhome will kill it in short order. There is also some question as to what happens when your generator is running, converter is charging and directly connected to your chassis battery as well as your alternator. Can you back feed an alternator? Is that bad for it? Who knows!\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Cedar Point Amusement Park", "date_published" : "2013-08-26T10:00:00-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T02:06:18-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eIt seems almost universally agreed upon that Cedar Point is the best amusement park in the US. Possibly even the world. I recall going to Cedar Point as a kid but it\u0026rsquo;s been many many years and I mostly forget the experience. The place had a very \u0026ldquo;Hershey Park\u0026rdquo; feel to me. That is to say it was super clean and very nice. We went on an August weekday and were surprised to not stand in very many lines. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1528_hu2174212f78e404cb83698dab43a5c4ce_329921_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1528_hu2174212f78e404cb83698dab43a5c4ce_329921_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Coaster at the Entrance\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eCoaster at the Entrance\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n They had a pretty sweet deal (by amusement park standards) to buy a huge drink and get unlimited refills all day for $10.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBy far the craziest ride I rode was Top Thrill Dragster. The ride is run by slightly insane teenagers. Before departing each time you are serenaded off by Republica\u0026rsquo;s \u0026ldquo;Baby I\u0026rsquo;m Ready to Go\u0026rdquo;, which, while it is a fine song, I\u0026rsquo;m not so sure I\u0026rsquo;d want to hear it a hundred times a day. Therefore I\u0026rsquo;ll give the insane operators some credit. The ride is a magnetically accelerated coaster that goes straight up and straight down. It was very intense, much more so than any other ride I\u0026rsquo;ve ridden. I was extremely lucky to have ridden it as well. At 250 pounds I barely fit on most of the rides and in this case I needed help from one of the attendants to latch the buckle. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1348_hu2960e72716bb560100931d87f9f6c3e7_475378_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1348_hu2960e72716bb560100931d87f9f6c3e7_475378_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"View from the Sky Cars\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eView from the Sky Cars\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n The teenager in front of me didn\u0026rsquo;t fare so well so I guess it\u0026rsquo;s true that America is getting bigger with each generation. The ride is well worth standing in line for, but I have been told hit the big attractions in the morning because the lines will be shorter because most people prefer to warm up with smaller rides first.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWe were delighted to find Chick Fil A in the park and based on the crowds most of the rest of the patrons were as well. The prices were surprisingly pretty normal.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eI didn\u0026rsquo;t get a chance to try the huge Millenium Force because our son started to get a little pink and we had to run. It was interesting it seemed that the focus was all on these one or two coasters so there was little to no lines for tons and tons of moderately good wooden and steel coasters. This had the net effect of me riding these rides so many times I got nauseus, a feat you can generally only achieve in October when parks like this open for Halloween in the cold. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1428_hu84eca792b507c7121271541daa41d987_210101_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1428_hu84eca792b507c7121271541daa41d987_210101_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Top Thrill Dragster Wasn\u0026#39;t Intimidating at all\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eTop Thrill Dragster Wasn\u0026#39;t Intimidating at all\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n I\u0026rsquo;m sure Cedar Point probably wished more people were there but I\u0026rsquo;ll take it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSadly the park had almost no rides for my son. Besides the merry go round which he found rather boring, the only other ride he could ride on was the sky car which he liked a lot. These places really work well when your child is maybe 2-3 years old and is talking and can understand instructions and will stay put. We\u0026rsquo;re not even close.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAll in all we had a really good day and I would certainly say that it\u0026rsquo;s the best amusement park I\u0026rsquo;ve ever been to but at the same time Hershey Park still sits very very high on my list. Oh and one more thing - they had the most amazing outdoor signs I\u0026rsquo;ve ever seen. The resolution and brightness were high enough that it looked like a glossy print. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1525_hu0b53bf94b87cfab4b46ed70bc3f3abfa_334693_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1525_hu0b53bf94b87cfab4b46ed70bc3f3abfa_334693_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Amazing Outdoor Signage\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eAmazing Outdoor Signage\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1316_hu2263aa0f2f1a3144819e0417dc55c5d1_401416_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1316_hu2263aa0f2f1a3144819e0417dc55c5d1_401416_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Wider View of the Entrance\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eWider View of the Entrance\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1370_hu7e5b615aab3b44419e3fdce034c9d766_475162_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1370_hu7e5b615aab3b44419e3fdce034c9d766_475162_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Another Coaster\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eAnother Coaster\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1453_hu1f93e063bc5e060de10d6a31bf6441c8_536876_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1453_hu1f93e063bc5e060de10d6a31bf6441c8_536876_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Witch\u0026#39;s Wheel - Personal Favorite\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eWitch\u0026#39;s Wheel - Personal Favorite\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1363_hu50d9d81c0140b3374758ca4649fa2af3_467658_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1363_hu50d9d81c0140b3374758ca4649fa2af3_467658_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Wide View\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eWide View\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1426_hu2b8bdb3dae48033384f54e99ae91546f_539466_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1426_hu2b8bdb3dae48033384f54e99ae91546f_539466_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"No lines - at all\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eNo lines - at all\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1501_hueb8cb542769e970afcdbaadf251f041b_584458_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/things-to-do-reviews/cedar-point-amusement-park/images/IMG_1501_hueb8cb542769e970afcdbaadf251f041b_584458_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Vomit Machine\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eVomit Machine\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n" }, { "title" : "Cameras Better - Maybe", "date_published" : "2013-08-26T02:46:31-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-02-28T18:24:14-05:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/cameras-better-maybe/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/cameras-better-maybe/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eI try to never proclaim anything anymore, but I think the problems with the cameras are solved. Today we are underway to head to Yellowstone. Some thorough troubleshooting during this hot week in Hardin, MT has lead me to the conclusion that the problems we have been having are not in fact the cameras themselves but the $16 ebay DVR card I was using. Luckily our NAS box also had a DVR card in it that we used to use in our sticks and bricks home. I moved it over and found that the driver hasn\u0026rsquo;t been updated since the Linux kernel 2.6 days (kernel version is at 3.10 now). The DVR box has Fedora 19 on it and I took a kernel from Fedora 17 and I am freaking shocked that it works ;) Booted right up, no issues and now the TW68 driver compiles and runs without panicking. A nice side benefit is that the images are higher resolution and clearer because this is a better card. It seems like the simplest of things to provide a real time live feed from a moving vehicle but what a headache!\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Ford F53 Motorhome Fuel Pump Replacement", "date_published" : "2013-08-23T22:12:19-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T01:49:24-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/ford-f53-motorhome-fuel-pump-replacement/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/ford-f53-motorhome-fuel-pump-replacement/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eWe had problems with our fuel pump. At least that\u0026rsquo;s the operating theory. We didn\u0026rsquo;t do a whole lot of diagnosis for reasons I will explain. It all started when we crested a hill after a long climb on a 98 degree F day. The motorhome died completely. We coasted down the mountain with a dead engine and came to a stop in the chain removal lane. The motorhome would start but it would sputter and die in a few seconds and the symptoms just screamed fuel to me. We waited an hour and still no dice so we went about getting help. Before we left I had my darling crank it and I could hear the pump making angry noises so that made me all the more sure I pinpointed the issue. We broke down in an area with no cell phone service so we had to disconnect and a couple hours later when we got back the motorhome started and ran so we drove it to the nearest campground to lick our wounds and figure out what to do.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/ford-f53-motorhome-fuel-pump-replacement/images/pumpjob_huc9c3bb8edbcfc67957788c5aeb1a1b96_2867853_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/ford-f53-motorhome-fuel-pump-replacement/images/pumpjob_huc9c3bb8edbcfc67957788c5aeb1a1b96_2867853_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"The Process of Dropping the Tank\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eThe Process of Dropping the Tank\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe normal google research really pointed to the fuel pump being the culprit. I had already replaced the fuel filter before this trip. The motorhome has been displaying evidence of fuel starvation. It\u0026rsquo;s been pinging under load and it has been stalling right on a cold start suggesting the fuel pump wasn\u0026rsquo;t supplying nearly enough pressure. Recently the check engine light came on for oxygen sensor lean condition. This was a huge warning flag that I somehow ignored thinking the O2 sensor itself was bad. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/ford-f53-motorhome-fuel-pump-replacement/images/old_pump_hua2bbddbe94c36fa583a0142cd32028eb_2955908_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/ford-f53-motorhome-fuel-pump-replacement/images/old_pump_hua2bbddbe94c36fa583a0142cd32028eb_2955908_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"The old pump\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eThe old pump\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n When the park we were staying at welcomed us to change our fuel pump in our site we decided we\u0026rsquo;d be idiots not to so we decided to forgo additional troubleshooting and blame the pump.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePart of the reason we were quick to blame the pump without much fanfare and diagnostic work was because the pump is a known problem. Our motorhome has a build date of \u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026frasl;\u003csub\u003e96\u003c/sub\u003e and before \u003csup\u003e6\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026frasl;\u003csub\u003e96\u003c/sub\u003e Ford used a gear driven pump. After \u003csup\u003e6\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026frasl;\u003csub\u003e96\u003c/sub\u003e they replaced this pump with a \u003cem\u003ecompletely\u003c/em\u003e different turbine pump. Now you can order the updated pump from RockAuto.com (currently $380) and you\u0026rsquo;ll be tempted to order the $82 airtex pump or some other brand but this is a bad bad idea. First of all, the job kind of sucks and if you pay someone else to do you\u0026rsquo;ll be paying a lot of money because the job sucks. Secondly all of the other pumps have a bad reputation just like the pump you\u0026rsquo;re replacing. So using anything but the updated ford pump is a waste of money.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSome people blame the fuel sock. There is a filter sock that the pump draws up fuel through and if you have some rust in the tank break away it can clog the sock. This wasnt the case for us. The sock was discolored but not even close to clogged.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe way we did the job was to pick a site that was built up a bit as you can see in the picture. You put a small floor jack under the rear of the tank, loosen the front center tank bolt, remove the front and rear straps and then remove the rear tank bolt. Then you have to remove the filler and vent tube. Removing the filter and vent tube completely sucks as there is no easy way to access the clamps. Just do your best and be patient and eventually you\u0026rsquo;ll get a ratchet on it. Once you get off the filler tubes you can drop the tank from the rear and then there is enough room to access the fuel pump. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/ford-f53-motorhome-fuel-pump-replacement/images/motorcraft_pump_hu2cdb36112691fbbf0039fffc2d851268_370583_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/ford-f53-motorhome-fuel-pump-replacement/images/motorcraft_pump_hu2cdb36112691fbbf0039fffc2d851268_370583_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"The new motorcraft pump\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eThe new motorcraft pump\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n You CANNOT do this on flat ground! Not unless you jack up the rear of the motorhome. Basically even in my case the old pump came out really easily but the new pump is longer and has a fatter diameter of the bottom part so it wouldn\u0026rsquo;t go in. I had to jack up the rear of the motorhome, remove the floor jack and dig out where the tank hit the ground in order to gain enough clearance. The new pump also has a spring loaded mechanism to make it stick to the bottom of the tank. Zip tie this in order to shorten the assembly as much as possible and then cut the zip tie after it\u0026rsquo;s installed.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe fuel lines are quick disconnect and you need the proper tool. They are the same as A/C quick disconnect tools and I had some on hand to do the fuel filter. You need different sizes so get the kit. The fuel pump has 3 lines connected, pump, return and generator.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eNow the old style pump is supposed to have 3 wires and the new style pump is supposed to have 4 wires. In our case we had an old style pump with 4 wires! Imagine my surprise. This is lucky because RockAuto didn\u0026rsquo;t include the jumper harness they are supposed to. You are supposed to cut the end off of your 3 wire connector, splice in the 4 wire connector and solder and heat shrink tube the connection. The mind doesn\u0026rsquo;t have to work too hard to imagine what fun soldering that close to the open fill tube could be. You could get the job done by leaving the connections hang down beside the tank and then put it back in place. Then you can solder with no fumes escaping and hopefully avoid any explosions (technically soldering with an iron shouldn\u0026rsquo;t cause an explosion but it seems risky to me). So even though Rockauto didn\u0026rsquo;t include this jumper harness for us (make sure to call and ask or order it separately as it is SUPPOSED to be thrown in) it all worked out and the new pump plugged right in.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWe started the motorhome and it ran without spewing fuel everywhere so I buttoned everything up but we have yet to take a long test drive. Fingers are crossed. I\u0026rsquo;m just glad I found an old style pump in there. I\u0026rsquo;d hate to do all this work and find out it was a wild goose chase.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnd by the way, here is a link to what I believe is the right pump on Amazon. We bought it from Rockauto.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-box\"\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-image\"\u003e\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0011DZSKM?tag=geekynomads02-20\" name=\"amazon-shortcode\" target=\"\\_blank\"\u003e\n \u003cimg src=\"https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41rNxm9tUkL._SL160_.jpg\" alt=\"Motorcraft PFS48 Sender and Pump Assembly\" /\u003e\n \u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-info\"\u003e\n \u003cp class=\"amazon-shortcode-title\"\u003e\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0011DZSKM?tag=geekynomads02-20\" name=\"amazon-shortcode\" target=\"\\_blank\"\u003e\n Motorcraft PFS48 Sender and Pump Assembly\n \u003c/a\u003e\n \u003c/p\u003e\n \n \u003cdiv class=\"amazon-shortcode-detail\"\u003e\n \n \u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n \n \n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003c/div\u003e\n \u003cbr style=\"clear: both;\"/\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Sandusky, Ohio", "date_published" : "2013-08-23T10:00:00-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T02:03:35-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/tourist-town-reviews/sandusky-ohio/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/tourist-town-reviews/sandusky-ohio/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eIt would be hard to call this review objective. We were pretty lazy while in Sandusky and didn\u0026rsquo;t do much at all. Therefore we didn\u0026rsquo;t truly evaluate the whole town thoroughly. That said, we had a good time in our own way here.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSandusky most certainly has to be considered a tourist town. Simply walking though the Wal-mart parking lot shows you that more people in the walmart were from out of state than from Ohio even. Thus any reported dynamic certainly could change from week to week or even day to day. One group of tourists might be horrible while another one might be great. So we can\u0026rsquo;t really comment on the people (though all of the tourists seemed pretty normal and nice overall as people on vacation typically are).\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/tourist-town-reviews/sandusky-ohio/images/IMG_1489_hu37e32e6cdaffa3dc2471f59b5dc4b401_363268_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/tourist-town-reviews/sandusky-ohio/images/IMG_1489_hu37e32e6cdaffa3dc2471f59b5dc4b401_363268_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Cedar Point Water Tower\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eCedar Point Water Tower\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n There were numerous dining options that we never seemed to make it to. Several very nice French restaurants that would have snubbed their nose at our toddler, so our week\u0026rsquo;s dining consisted of Chipotle and other chains on the strip of what appears to be brand new or mostly new shops. This wasn\u0026rsquo;t a bad thing after Tionesta we were happy to see some kind of civilization.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe entire town seems to be shaped like a cone, all emanating from Cedar Point itself. This particular design is pretty cool actually and because of the way it was setup we encountered no traffic our entire time there. This may not be strictly fair because we haven\u0026rsquo;t enountered traffic that even resembles the east coast since we left and we couldn\u0026rsquo;t be happier about that.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Missouri Routes are Letters", "date_published" : "2013-08-21T10:00:00-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T02:22:22-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/missouri-routes-are-letters/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/missouri-routes-are-letters/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eThis is something that I've never seen before.\u0026nbsp; Apparently in Missouri most (all?) of their state routes are actually letters instead of numbers.\u0026nbsp; Either a single letter or a double letter but I didn't decode the meaning.\u0026nbsp; I'm not sure what the rationale is, I would think numbers would be easier especially since there might be illiterate people out there driving around.\u0026nbsp; I just thought it was strange.\u0026nbsp; [caption align=left caption=\"Missouri Letter Routes\"]\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"http://www.geekynomads.com/sites/default/files/styles/cblarge/public/IMG_2668.jpg?itok=IsRss0gp\" rel=\"gallery-all\" title=\"Missouri Letter Routes\"\u003e\u003cimg alt=\"Missouri Letter Routes\" class=\"image-medium\" src=\"http://www.geekynomads.com/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/IMG_2668.jpg?itok=MM7x4aVx\" title=\"Missouri Letter Routes\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e[/caption]\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Fix Or Repair Daily", "date_published" : "2013-08-20T16:25:37-04:00", "date_modified" : "2013-08-29T01:32:02-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/fix-or-repair-daily/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/fix-or-repair-daily/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eIf you had to break down where would you choose to break down?\u0026nbsp; Perhaps near an inexpensive well stocked city with cheap pull through sites.\u0026nbsp; Our rig broke down just after climbing a mountain in Lame Deer, MT.\u0026nbsp; Deep in the heart of what appeared to be Native American sovereign lands.\u0026nbsp; You had to drive 60-100 miles in any direction in order to get cell phone service.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis all started many hours before the actual breakdown.\u0026nbsp; About 1 hour into our trip I felt like the rig was slow.\u0026nbsp; I had to depress the throttle much more than I thought I normally had to and it was to the point where that I actually even pulled over and checked that our tow vehicle was properly setup and not dragging us.\u0026nbsp; For the rest of the way the power would come and go.\u0026nbsp; Sometimes it felt like we were dog slow and other times it felt normal and fully powered.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; It may have actually started well before this because we've had a check engine light for about 400 miles for \"HEGO lean Bank 1 Sensor 1\".\u0026nbsp; This is actually rather telling but I ignored it because in our rig the single o2 sensor is only used in coasting (ours is an OBDI system) so I didn't put two and two together.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe engine basically died after cresting a mountain.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; It was stumbling around and you could get some power.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Me being the smart guy that I am stuck it in neutral and it promptly died completely.\u0026nbsp; Since it's an automatic trans, putting it back into gear did nothing and we were completely dead.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Power steering and braking was gone and we were flying down a mountain going faster and faster.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; In all my past vehicles as a teenager I would do experiments under controlled conditions to see how the vehicle was without power steering or brakes but I never thought to try this with the motorhome.\u0026nbsp; I'm happy to say that it was controllable but BARELY.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Steering effort is huge and I had to stand on the brakes to get normal stopping power.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; We eventually came to a stop in the area where you are supposed to take off your tire chains at the bottom of the mountain.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eI instinctively thought the problem was fuel pump so I had my darling crank the engine while I got out and under the rv and listened to the fuel pump.\u0026nbsp; Indeed it was making unhealthy noises.\u0026nbsp; The ignition module on the distributor can go on these but there is no stumbling involved when that happens, it either is running or is toast.\u0026nbsp; We waited like half hour to 45 minutes and tried to run it.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; It would run for 5 seconds or so and die.\u0026nbsp; I figured the situation was hopeless so we went through the ritual of unhooking the tow vehicle and went into Lame Deer to a gas station and used their phone to call Good Sam roadside assistance.\u0026nbsp; When I asked to use a pay phone, the nearly toothless 20ish year old female attendant simply pointed at a pay phone behind me.\u0026nbsp; For the next agonizing hour random Native Americans came into the store giving me varied looks that made me seriously ponder what was going through their heads.\u0026nbsp; While on hold I stared impatiently at the papers hung on the wall detailing individuals banned from the store marvelling at the names on there like \"Maria Littlefoot\" and \"Greg Strongbuffalo\".\u0026nbsp; Even after this agonizing hour was up Good Sam still hadn't located even one person to tow me and couldn't guarantee anyone was coming, leaving me considering switching ERS providers.\u0026nbsp; We left and drove back to our motorhome.\u0026nbsp; Of course the motorhome generator died while we were gone but our pets were still alive and it barely heated up much at all inside.\u0026nbsp; I spent the next half hour fixing the generator which involved cleaning the carbon off the plugs and then adjusting the altitude setting properly and then went inside and tried to start the rv.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTo my surprise it actually ran.\u0026nbsp; I spent the next 15 minutes backing up and pulling forward in the pullover lane like weirdos trying to kill it again and it wouldn't die so we made the decision to push on towards Billings.\u0026nbsp; At the first sign of civilization (and cell phone service) we called Good Sam to cancel and were surprised to find an rv park that actually answered their phone.\u0026nbsp; So here we are to stay.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWe've had an unblemished record of colossal screwups by \"professional service facilities\" repairing our rv (including body damage from backing into random objects) so after pondering the situation, reading forum posts, and hanging out under the rv in my \"garage clothes\" I decided I can do the job.\u0026nbsp; Our RV park host graciously agreed to let us do the work on site and even offered a site that accomodated the drop to the rear that makes dropping the tank easier.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; So we have a fuel pump on order and will be going to Billings to pick up a Harbor Freight racing jack which will help us lower the tank.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe tank is huge, nearly as long as I am tall, holding 75 gallons of gas.\u0026nbsp; The replacement process involves actually crawling up onto the tank to do the repair.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eCrossing my fingers I succeed.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Tionesta, PA", "date_published" : "2013-08-19T10:00:00-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T02:03:52-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/tourist-town-reviews/tionesta-pa/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/tourist-town-reviews/tionesta-pa/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eTionesta, PA is an extremely rural town located in northwestern, PA. It achieved tourism destination status when the Army Corps of Engineers installed a dam for the purposes of flood control. The resulting lake became a place people from the surrounding areas came to boat, fish and canoe. The Corps of Engineers campground, while rather nice, is a stark disconnect from the rest of the town. While basically very friendly, the town had a bit of a \u0026ldquo;dying\u0026rdquo; feel to it. There was only a couple restaurants and they were not exactly super high caliber. The town laundromat looked like something out of the (early) 80\u0026rsquo;s. The one grocery store had extremely limited food options. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/tourist-town-reviews/tionesta-pa/images/IMG_1169_huce7b4997ab7a0526b346d55b6933d530_136577_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/tourist-town-reviews/tionesta-pa/images/IMG_1169_huce7b4997ab7a0526b346d55b6933d530_136577_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Tionesta Lake\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eTionesta Lake\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n For us the place just wasn\u0026rsquo;t very friendly. AT\u0026amp;T cell phone service worked fine but the data was slow to the point of being unusable. A call to order pizza from the Seldom Inn on a thursday evening resulted in us being told there was a 1.5 hour wait. It took days to reach the people renting boats to go out on the lake (who for some reason had 3 different phone numbers listed) and there were probably other issues I don\u0026rsquo;t remember.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe bottom line is come to Tionesta for a decent lake experience, but there is better out there. Much better.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "When Air Conditioners Work Too Well", "date_published" : "2013-08-16T13:59:54-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T01:50:41-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/when-air-conditioners-work-too-well/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/when-air-conditioners-work-too-well/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eOne morning we were surprised to wake up to a brisk 59 degree bedroom. Given that the thermostat was set on 73, obviously something was wrong. Our motorhome has dual ducted central thermostat controlled air conditioners. Although people are quick to call a repair man, issues with these units are typically easy to diagnose. Before we get into it, one thing you should know is that these units are factory filled and sealed with no way to check or fill the \u0026ldquo;freon\u0026rdquo; (also properly known as refrigerant) level. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/when-air-conditioners-work-too-well/images/IMG_0349_huecb9f913d598751c4b24b1c564fc10c6_304296_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/when-air-conditioners-work-too-well/images/IMG_0349_huecb9f913d598751c4b24b1c564fc10c6_304296_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"The board in place with wiring attached\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eThe board in place with wiring attached\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n If you are having cooling problems you have basically 3 options - clean the filter, clean the coils (inside and out) and use a fin straightener on the outside coils.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe way our particular air conditioner works is that the thermostat on the wall receives +12V from the coach battery system and sends it out via various wires. I know this because I changed our coleman mach thermostat to household digital thermostats some time ago in order to better regulate the temperature. The rest of the operation can be derived through basic troubleshooting. When the thermostat on the wall engages a click will be heard at the wall, the relay in the thermostat. A few milliseconds later a relay in the roof unit can be heard clicking. If AC power is being delivered to the unit it will turn on.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/when-air-conditioners-work-too-well/images/IMG_0350_hu4e068f7ae76b0b9bbf4d743e74741cc9_246132_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/when-air-conditioners-work-too-well/images/IMG_0350_hu4e068f7ae76b0b9bbf4d743e74741cc9_246132_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"New Relays - Ready to go\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eNew Relays - Ready to go\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n In our case the second click at the unit was not working for the compressor. Only for the fan. Deduction tells us that the compressor relay seized shut. I opened the unit and found a board with 3 relays. I ordered all 3 (actually 2 sets, for the front in case that ever went) and when they arrived I went about replacing it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eReplacing it is a matter of removing the board, keeping track of everything connected, desoldering the offending relay and then soldering in the replacement. This is easier said than done! In our case, the legs of the relay fit into the holes very snugly and as a result when desoldering and pulling the entire via came out. The via is a metal tube that connects the top to the bottom of the circuit board. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/when-air-conditioners-work-too-well/images/IMG_0352_hu44a7ea2bd5e77978124996014802c30d_328504_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/when-air-conditioners-work-too-well/images/IMG_0352_hu44a7ea2bd5e77978124996014802c30d_328504_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Board with one of the non-offending relays removed\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eBoard with one of the non-offending relays removed\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n The result is that a circuit connection that was made before is no longer made. You have to trace these connections manually and add wires to the board to make the connections again. Once I figured everything out, soldered on new wires to repair the damage we were back in business. This board is sold for a lot of money by itself but I replaced all of the relays for around $10.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n" }, { "title" : "Tionesta, PA Army Corps of Engineering Campground", "date_published" : "2013-08-16T13:21:23-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T02:09:41-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/tionesta-pa-army-corps-engineering-campground/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/tionesta-pa-army-corps-engineering-campground/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eRated as the #1 campground in Pennsylvania on \u003ca href=\"http://www.tripleblaze.com/best/?c=93\"\u003eTripblaze\u003c/a\u003e, we figured we had to visit this Corps of Engineering Campground. I don\u0026rsquo;t want to say we were disappointed but I think we really expected to be wowed by the #1 campground rated on any site. What we found wasn\u0026rsquo;t mediocre but other issues made for a mediocre total experience. The campground is located along the Allegheny River which sits in between two mountain ranges. Getting to the campground involves navigating several VERY steep but short hills that brought our motorhome to its knees in first gear.\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/tionesta-pa-army-corps-engineering-campground/images/IMG_0371_hu323c57348c98573f88dcbda73dafc643_375039_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/tionesta-pa-army-corps-engineering-campground/images/IMG_0371_hu323c57348c98573f88dcbda73dafc643_375039_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Tionesta Dam\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eTionesta Dam\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n If you\u0026rsquo;re a gasser, disconnect your toad at I80. Be aware that if you\u0026rsquo;re coming in on PA Route 36 the campground is RIGHT at the bottom of a steep mountain with a truck speed limit of 25mph. It sneaks up on your so be prepared. Once in the recreation area you will again get lost and find the OUTFLOW campground which is a primitive campsite on the OTHER side of the river. You want to be on the SOUTH side (don\u0026rsquo;t cross the one lane bridge), instead the campground is straight ahead but it doesn\u0026rsquo;t look that way. Suffice to say we had a frustrating time getting everything sorted.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/tionesta-pa-army-corps-engineering-campground/images/IMG_0361_hu9ebe0b737472eb0a168f807e5fa8f6d4_282973_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/tionesta-pa-army-corps-engineering-campground/images/IMG_0361_hu9ebe0b737472eb0a168f807e5fa8f6d4_282973_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"River side after the spillway\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eRiver side after the spillway\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n The campground itsel was very clean. It was not very full during the week yet low voltage caused our 30 amp breaker to trip several times, probably due to thunderstorms in the area. Although Verizon LTE service was amazingly good and fast, AT\u0026amp;T was edge and it was NOT getting Edge speeds. It was horrendous and completely unusable. Satellite is difficult to obtain but our site, right near the bathrooms in the northern loop offered best prospects and we were able to hit western arc satellites for Dish Network. The best sites by far though are the far most southern 3 sites on the southern loop by the dam. The view of the dam is pretty cool and there aren\u0026rsquo;t as many trees and bugs on these sites. The sites vary in quality and you\u0026rsquo;ll want to scrutinze google maps carefully to get what you want. Our site was mostly dirt while other sites are manicured gravel. None were paved. Our picnic table was made of steel and was falling apart. Like many wooded sites near water, mosquitoes were baaaaad.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/tionesta-pa-army-corps-engineering-campground/images/IMG_0363_hud7265e7e472f144dfcc512ca3a1f67b5_404597_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/tionesta-pa-army-corps-engineering-campground/images/IMG_0363_hud7265e7e472f144dfcc512ca3a1f67b5_404597_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Dam Spillway\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eDam Spillway\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n There was a nice family atmosphere. The place cleared out during the week but was almost fully booked on the weekend. Many families bringing boats both small and large to take out on the lake. Other families go up the Allegheny River to take canoe trips (sometimes even multiple day trips). There were tons of kids riding around on bikes and they were fairly safe.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/tionesta-pa-army-corps-engineering-campground/images/IMG_0376_hue61340d5f68c0f3bf963a7961b1d54e5_293008_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/tionesta-pa-army-corps-engineering-campground/images/IMG_0376_hue61340d5f68c0f3bf963a7961b1d54e5_293008_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"T\u0026amp;K Meaty Breakfast Pierogie\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eT\u0026amp;K Meaty Breakfast Pierogie\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n From the perspective of the full time RVer this is not a great place! Dining options were far and few between, google maps sent you everywhere but where you needed to go and the only good thing we had the whole time there was the Pizza from the Seldom Inn. The highly rated pierogies from T\u0026amp;K Dinor we felt were average. The grocery store was small and had nearly nothing. The town is \u003cem\u003eextremely\u003c/em\u003e rural so if that\u0026rsquo;s your thing, you\u0026rsquo;ll like it. We like civilization and infrastructure somewhat nearby. We eat familiar chain restaurant food once or twice a week.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo the final determination for us is that we know there is better. Raystown lake for starters. We haven\u0026rsquo;t been to all of the campgrounds in PA to maek the determination but Tionesta should not be on anyone\u0026rsquo;s \u0026ldquo;must see\u0026rdquo; list but if you\u0026rsquo;re in there area and want a nice outdoorsy experience, it certainly delivers.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/tionesta-pa-army-corps-engineering-campground/images/IMG_0370_hu59f4b0368faa4ab362b20db10fb3c119_491620_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/tionesta-pa-army-corps-engineering-campground/images/IMG_0370_hu59f4b0368faa4ab362b20db10fb3c119_491620_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Our Site\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eOur Site\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/tionesta-pa-army-corps-engineering-campground/images/IMG_0371_hu323c57348c98573f88dcbda73dafc643_375039_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/tionesta-pa-army-corps-engineering-campground/images/IMG_0371_hu323c57348c98573f88dcbda73dafc643_375039_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Best sites in the campground\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eBest sites in the campground\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/tionesta-pa-army-corps-engineering-campground/images/IMG_3224_hua715c2aee3f1cf9a16722307d46750d9_316303_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/tionesta-pa-army-corps-engineering-campground/images/IMG_3224_hua715c2aee3f1cf9a16722307d46750d9_316303_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"View from the Best Sites\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eView from the Best Sites\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/tionesta-pa-army-corps-engineering-campground/images/IMG_0356_hubbb39fc75261b1776ba581c853e6b80d_321439_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/tionesta-pa-army-corps-engineering-campground/images/IMG_0356_hubbb39fc75261b1776ba581c853e6b80d_321439_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"T\u0026amp;K Dinor\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eT\u0026amp;K Dinor\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n" }, { "title" : "We Slept at a Rest Stop", "date_published" : "2013-08-13T10:02:44-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T03:02:10-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/we-slept-rest-stop/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/blog/we-slept-rest-stop/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eWe slept at a rest stop and apparently lived to tell the tale.\u0026nbsp; No axe murderers and no sex criminals were detected (Big Bang Theory anyone?).\u0026nbsp; After a day of biting off a bit more than we could chew, we never made it to our destination.\u0026nbsp; Perhaps it was the epic argument that a careful observer might have witnessed on the live feed or problem with our toad but we burned off many hours on nothing and didn't get our driving done.\u0026nbsp; Last night after we crossed another time zone line and the clocks turned yet again to 9:30pm I couldn't help but to think that I was tired enough to say forget it. \u0026nbsp;[caption align=right caption=\"South Dakota I90 Rest Area 1\"]\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"http://www.geekynomads.com/sites/default/files/styles/cblarge/public/sd_rest_1.jpg?itok=PuITDeBT\" rel=\"gallery-all\" title=\"South Dakota I90 Rest Area 1\"\u003e\u003cimg alt=\"South Dakota I90 Rest Area 1\" class=\"image-medium\" src=\"http://www.geekynomads.com/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/sd_rest_1.jpg?itok=ssILh3wm\" title=\"South Dakota I90 Rest Area 1\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e[/caption]\u003cbr /\u003e\nThe rest stop is actually not too bad once you get used to the noise.\u0026nbsp; All the trucks shut down their APU's after a certain amount of time and it gets genuinely quiet for 6+ hours.\u0026nbsp; We've been getting into the habit of not running the generator and air conditioners all night because it's pretty wasteful.\u0026nbsp; We had become very dependent on the white noise to sleep.\u0026nbsp; Instead we use a small inverter and fan, a fantastic fan and our coach batteries handle this without issue (now that the chassis alternator charges them)The problem with the toad was that we found the battery dead.\u0026nbsp; In a lot of vehicles you can just plug in the brake buddy and turn the key to ACC to unlock the steering wheel and you're good to go.\u0026nbsp; In our car, ACC lights up the dash like a christmas tree.\u0026nbsp; Navigation is on, as is the enter climate control system.\u0026nbsp; After 1.5 days of driving this completely drained the battery.\u0026nbsp; To resolve this issue we unhooked the car and pushed it beside the rv to jumpstart it and then left it idling as we pulled it for a couple of hours.\u0026nbsp; I also did an emergency conversion of our electric trailer brake system to toad battery charging system. We used to pull a trailer and so we have installed a nice proportional electric brake controller, complete with 12 gauge wire running back to power the trailer brakes.\u0026nbsp; Our 7 way connector however did NOT have the 12v battery line connected much to my dismay.\u0026nbsp; This line would be used to charge/maintain a battery in a trailer and in our case with a small adapter it would be used to keep the toad battery charged.\u0026nbsp; Since it's not hooked up I abandoned plans to run the battery maintainer and just hope for the best.\u0026nbsp; This obviously didn't work, so I jumped the electric brake line directly to the battery and moved the charge controller to draw on the electric brake terminal vs the 12v power terminal.\u0026nbsp; It works but the voltage is still pretty low.\u0026nbsp; It will also thoroughly destroy a trailer with electric brakes if it is hooked up so it's a situation that must be resolved. \u0026nbsp;[caption align=left caption=\"South Dakota I90 Rest Area 1\"]\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"http://www.geekynomads.com/sites/default/files/styles/cblarge/public/sd_rest_2.jpg?itok=00wpO6H_\" rel=\"gallery-all\" title=\"South Dakota I90 Rest Area 1\"\u003e\u003cimg alt=\"South Dakota I90 Rest Area 1\" class=\"image-medium\" src=\"http://www.geekynomads.com/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/sd_rest_2.jpg?itok=vleCHBb5\" title=\"South Dakota I90 Rest Area 1\" /\u003e\u003c/a\u003e[/caption]\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe reasons for the epic argument are personal but it is sufficient to say that even when you are supposed to be having fun and travelling stress can still get the best of you.\u0026nbsp; Expose two insanely stubborn individuals to that and that's what happens.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAnd so we move on...\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Horsham, Pennsylvania", "date_published" : "2013-05-10T23:02:45-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-04-22T21:28:19-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/horsham-pennsylvania/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/place-to-live-reviews/horsham-pennsylvania/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eHorsham, Pennsylvania happens to be on a lot of \u0026ldquo;best places to live\u0026rdquo; lists while simultaneously being the place we have lived for many years before starting out this trip. We didn\u0026rsquo;t live in Horsham proper but in the surrounding Montgomery County area. Really there is nothing we see that is particularly awesome about Horsham that isn\u0026rsquo;t available in Willow Grove, Hatfield, Lansdale, etc. Though we would generally recommend locating yourself North of the turnpike and west/north of Bensalem, the entire region is pretty nice but in our opinion slowly degrading.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe basic problem that we see is one of population growth and runoff. As ex-residents of University City, Philadelphia we saw over 10 years or so this area turn bad and now we are starting to see some of the same kind of runoff in these areas. Some areas, like Hatfield, still really don\u0026rsquo;t have any true crime problems. A true crime issue in our perspective is random crime where the victim doesn\u0026rsquo;t know the perpetrator. The rest of the crime where the perp and victim know each other we consider something that can and will happen pretty much anywhere. Additionally over the last 10 years traffic has grown a lot and projects to handle this growth are far and few between. Since I\u0026rsquo;ve spent nearly 2 hours of my day each way commuting and because I enjoy driving a bit faster than the flow of traffic - this matters to me.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMontgomery County seems to have an epidemic of bad and slow drivers in general. It is literally filled with people who will happily travel 30mph in a 45mph zone. These same people will advocate that their major thoroughfare is actually a quaint residential neighborhood and succeed in getting a 25mph speed limits and walking in the middle of the road while the sun is setting during commuting hours - literally begging to get run over. If you travel just 30-45 minutes north or west, people suddenly have a place to be and understand how to operate a motor vehicle. It\u0026rsquo;s the weirdest thing, you\u0026rsquo;d never believe it until you saw it.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt isn\u0026rsquo;t all bad though - the simple fact is the area is full of large high paying companies to work for. All of these companies are aware that jobs are easy to come by and for the most part take good care of their employees.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs for activities, you really have to drive pretty far to do things, especially geeky things. There is a race track 2 hours away. Old city Philadelphia 1 hour away, an indoor electric gokart track that is excellent, many excellent movie theaters and plenty of diverse weekend activity. There is also Lehigh Valley hackerspace which is 1 hour north.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe area is high on the list when it comes to tech. Several Apple stores in the area, FIOS is rampant, LTE came here very shortly after being introduced by all of the carriers. People who love chain stores should locate near Montgomeryville, Willow Grove or Bensalem/Fairless HIlls areas.\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "What is the Travel Cam?", "date_published" : "2013-04-26T22:48:16-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-04-26T23:07:44-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/what-travel-cam/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/what-travel-cam/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eThis page is a little outdated but we are leaving it here for info about the past videos. We now have a different motorhome and different camera setup.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIf you\u0026rsquo;ve arrived here, you\u0026rsquo;re probably wondering what the \u0026ldquo;Travel Cam\u0026rdquo; page is. Being that we are \u003cem\u003eGeeky\u003c/em\u003e Nomads, we thought it would be pretty cool to use our mobile internet connection, cameras and some custom made hardware to provide a live feed of our travels. The only issue of course is that we travel only on Sundays so that is when the page is active. The watch us roll page is updated every 5 seconds for up to 10 minutes (you have to refresh the page after that) and will constantly show an updated list of stuff. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/what-travel-cam/images/cameras_4_hu35f9e8b622a2e8393ac8eafff16e74e3_726177_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/what-travel-cam/images/cameras_4_hu35f9e8b622a2e8393ac8eafff16e74e3_726177_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Front Camera\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eFront Camera\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA pair of analog CCTV cameras are installed on our roof that connect via CAT5 baluns through a roof mounted cable gland manifold into the front A/V area of our RV. From there a CCTV card is in a linux box and some custom made software captures images from these cameras and uploads them to the site. The linux box also captures our current location via a bluetooth QStarz GPS receiver. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/what-travel-cam/images/qstarz_hua44b40305e9f1b34cfad21ff68dfd8e5_102055_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/what-travel-cam/images/qstarz_hua44b40305e9f1b34cfad21ff68dfd8e5_102055_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"QStarz Bluetooth GPS\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eQStarz Bluetooth GPS\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFinally a kind man named Steve Bennett whose website is \u003ca href=\"http://www.psych.lse.ac.uk/~steve/eeciv/\"\u003ehere\u003c/a\u003e has detailed his long travels into the Ford EEC-IV diagnostic connector and using his free detailed information and software I duplicated his interface in order to access real-time data parameters from my RV engine. My interface looks a lot like this\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eUsing this data link I am able to show coolant temperature, air intake temperature, speed and engine RPM at any given time. This may be a bit over the top, but I thought well we have the data, lets log it. And if we\u0026rsquo;re logging the data, why not show it. It should be entertaining to watch the engine temps rise as we climb the Rocky\u0026rsquo;s.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/what-travel-cam/images/eec_iv_interface_hu1b87ec5981b15216bf6d8fc7660d0758_149676_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/what-travel-cam/images/eec_iv_interface_hu1b87ec5981b15216bf6d8fc7660d0758_149676_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Steve\u0026#39;s EECIV Interface - Mine is Similar\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eSteve\u0026#39;s EECIV Interface - Mine is Similar\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n" }, { "title" : "Oak Grove Park \u0026 Sales", "date_published" : "2013-04-25T23:10:04-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T02:10:15-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eOak Grove Park \u0026amp; Sales is a small park in the northwestern suburbs of Philadelphia, in Hatfield, PA. Since we lived in Hatfield, we used Oak Grove as a jumping off point while we were selling our house so our multi-month stay has given us great insights into the workings of this park. Oak grove consists of what appears to be a \u003csup\u003e50\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026frasl;\u003csub\u003e50\u003c/sub\u003e split of park models and transient sites. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0690_hu0f1c79307464e89cedf2159e9841d36c_589257_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0690_hu0f1c79307464e89cedf2159e9841d36c_589257_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Oak Grove Welcome Sign\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eOak Grove Welcome Sign\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n Many of the transient sites are filled with long term seasonal residents. You will see people going to work in the morning and coming home in the evening. While this isn\u0026rsquo;t what you\u0026rsquo;d call a resort campground, it is one of the few places that has the infrastructure right. The wireless gives a solid 2Mbit performance both up and down and rarely goes down. The electrical power feed is ample and we didn\u0026rsquo;t lose power during our entire stay. The showers are hot, water pressure is good, etc. Satellite connection is possible on certain sites but tough to get through the trees. You\u0026rsquo;ll definitely be better off using an eastern arc setup with dish network. Oak Grove is open year round and water is left on. Heat tape is provided to the faucets and you are expected to winterize your rig in whatever way is necessary. On-site propane delivery of the tall (100lb?) tanks is available for long term stays. Many units were skirted and look like \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0704_huba693c56ef47b566f70f59c3a14160ec_274193_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0704_huba693c56ef47b566f70f59c3a14160ec_274193_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"More Flora\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eMore Flora\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n they\u0026rsquo;ve been there for a while. During our stay however several of these units did pack up and go. The park has a modest on-site outdoor in-ground pool. There are various streets through the park to walk on and behind the park is wide open fields whose owner is unknown to me but we never had a problem walking there. A horse farm is near as well as RV storage. The park overall is pretty serene with the exception of the constant truck traffic from the nearby RL carriers facility. This really didn\u0026rsquo;t bother us but we were back a bit. There is a park with swings, a baby swing, slides and seat, a picnic area and in general a good attempt was made at providing a place to relax. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0714_hue60e7606a324b4dbca9bc924c9865769_937541_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0714_hue60e7606a324b4dbca9bc924c9865769_937541_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Laundry, Bath and Club House\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eLaundry, Bath and Club House\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n Oak grove\u0026rsquo;s staff was friendly to us in all of our encounters. During our stay we had a cracked windshield replaced and did various washing of vehicles and maintenance and repairs and were given permission each time without trouble. The only trouble I heard is that one guy was scolded for tracking mud in on his vehicle tires. I can\u0026rsquo;t really fault them, the place is clean and they work hard to keep it that way (especially when you consider how many trees there are and how hard it is to keep after the debris they produce). When it comes to offsite amentities, there isn\u0026rsquo;t a lot - unless you start to consider that Oak Grove is the only campground near Philadelphia, it provides a nice jumping off point for people visiting Philadelphia as well as working in the area.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0687_hufce706424e0441dfdc7c4ecfaa4ad07e_938428_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0687_hufce706424e0441dfdc7c4ecfaa4ad07e_938428_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Park Playground\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003ePark Playground\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0688_hu3206ceea279df0d159a186eaf3b69d35_1231971_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0688_hu3206ceea279df0d159a186eaf3b69d35_1231971_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Front Entrance Area\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eFront Entrance Area\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0692_hu69a1ec5b645be00787467a1ca7a6baed_319127_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0692_hu69a1ec5b645be00787467a1ca7a6baed_319127_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Not Weeds\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eNot Weeds\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0696_hufacdf8653e628b45133bee52093fcb52_1206652_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0696_hufacdf8653e628b45133bee52093fcb52_1206652_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Office and Maintenance Buildings\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eOffice and Maintenance Buildings\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0699_huf6f2ecfe0a65aca10869292e687ef48b_994082_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0699_huf6f2ecfe0a65aca10869292e687ef48b_994082_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Various Flora\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eVarious Flora\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0725_hu890639cdc9c88026fa78a379f15ebaea_908464_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0725_hu890639cdc9c88026fa78a379f15ebaea_908464_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Front Drive Nearest Street\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eFront Drive Nearest Street\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0730_hu4c29ae0d63a1f7faa2b72b7785e778d5_895801_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/campground-reviews/oak-grove-park-sales/images/IMG_0730_hu4c29ae0d63a1f7faa2b72b7785e778d5_895801_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Our Street - Behind Maintenance Building\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eOur Street - Behind Maintenance Building\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n" }, { "title" : "The Missing Story of Satellite TV", "date_published" : "2013-04-23T22:45:31-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T01:54:32-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/missing-story-satellite-tv/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/missing-story-satellite-tv/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eFor many people TV is a big part of life, and that is no different for us. We loves our TV and though I was originally a bit embarassed about that I\u0026rsquo;ve come to embrace it. When it comes to this subject, I thought I knew a lot but nothing gives you an education quite like an RV. When we bought our motorhome, a nice feature it had was a roof mounted automatic satellite. We quickly learned that the \u0026ldquo;automatic\u0026rdquo; feature didn\u0026rsquo;t work. We learned that through manual pointing and slow movements we were able to finally locate a satellite with it despite the fact that it was broken. That\u0026rsquo;s when the education started. I will note that when it comes to articles like this, it really makes me happy that our site is called \u0026ldquo;Geeky Nomads\u0026rdquo; and thus an expectation of tech talk is implied ;)\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/missing-story-satellite-tv/images/satellite_7_hu16628827d9b845709efe9b2057004fa3_1226145_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/missing-story-satellite-tv/images/satellite_7_hu16628827d9b845709efe9b2057004fa3_1226145_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Superdish Satellite\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eSuperdish Satellite\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n There is a lot more to satellite TV then we originally knew and understanding the nuances can really help you out in the long run. Your options range from basic all the way to magnificent and you need to be educated in order to make sound decisions and understand what you want a why. When it comes to the normal satellite TV technology you see today there are two providers, Dish and DirecTV. Some satellites are shared between them but there are differences and hardware for each is not compatible with each other except the old stuff. I have Dish, and I know Dish so this article is about Dish.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Dish Network\u0026trade; is installed at a house, a superdish or \u0026ldquo;turbo hd\u0026rdquo; dish or 1000.2 or if you\u0026rsquo;re ultra lucky a 1000.4 dish is installed. This dish is kind of a wide fat dish and one of the things I didn\u0026rsquo;t realize when we got our rv is that this roof top dish actually points to 3 satellites simultaneously. There are 3 little LNB eyes on the arm, and the satellite is bowed so that it reflects from different points in the sky to the different LNB\u0026rsquo;s. Pretty clever. The one on the roof of our RV can point to one satellite. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/missing-story-satellite-tv/images/satellite_8_hu35459197b7a13637ee3b980042ba89e0_1464234_1280x0_resize_box_2.png\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/missing-story-satellite-tv/images/satellite_8_hu35459197b7a13637ee3b980042ba89e0_1464234_300x0_resize_box_2.png\" alt=\"Winegard Single LNB Satellite\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eWinegard Single LNB Satellite\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n Less clever. As the channel lineups have grown over time and HD content has been added the requirement has been added to point to multiple satellites to see all of your content, and often a third is required to see your locals but in my area on the \u0026ldquo;eastern arc\u0026rdquo; (more on that later) I can get by with just 2 satellites (a dish 500 setup). But since I had the 3 satellite setup on the roof of my sticks and bricks home, that is what I am using.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo to go back to basics here, Dish first came out with a satellite with a single LNB. The LNB is the little eye on the end of the arm that receives the signal. The most fundamental thing to understand is that unlike cable there is a lot more than you think happening on that coaxial cable coming out of the LNB. You cannot simply \u0026ldquo;split\u0026rdquo; the signal to attach more receivers and you most certainly can\u0026rsquo;t just hook the coax cable up to a tv. A radio signal is a wave and it has a concept of polarity. A nice benefit is that you can send two signals down the same frequency by make the polarities opposite of each other, allowing double the amount of data to be sent from a particular satellite. The original LNB could only use one polarity at a time which was commanded by your receiver. changing the voltage going to the LNB If two receivers were connected, they would fight over the polarity whenever both receivers wanted channels on different polarity. The solution to this was called a \u0026ldquo;dual LNB\u0026rdquo;. On a dual LNB there are two coaxial outputs. Two cables were run inside, one to one receiver and one to the other. Then each receiver could use whatever polarity they wanted and all was happy in the world. A dual LNB is not to be confused with a \u0026ldquo;twin LNB\u0026rdquo;. The twin LNB is actually TWO dual lnb\u0026rsquo;s side by side. a dual LNB only actually has one \u0026ldquo;eye\u0026rdquo; it\u0026rsquo;s just that it can operate in both polarities simultaneously. A twin LNB is used for seeing 2 satellites simultaneously.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/missing-story-satellite-tv/images/satellite_1_hud8db0cac67b1a4bcd49689b6e78aec92_354551_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/missing-story-satellite-tv/images/satellite_1_hud8db0cac67b1a4bcd49689b6e78aec92_354551_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Dish DVR Installed\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eDish DVR Installed\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n But alas things get more complicated and the world moves on. People wanted 4 and 6 room setups and so a \u0026ldquo;switch\u0026rdquo; was created. This device allowed many receivers to talk to a dual LNB setup and patched the receivers through to the LNB that had the polarity they wanted. Even this wasn\u0026rsquo;t great, you still had to do a double run of cable from the dish (per receiver I think) and the setup still had limitations with crazy amounts of switches and connections. It was because of this that Dish came out with their current technology called DPP. (Dish plus plus). DPP had a number of benefits, but one particular one is that you could do a single coax run from a satellite dish to a receiver. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/missing-story-satellite-tv/images/satellite_9_hu2a3e9b2573f5a841efae84f4a0e1a6e2_75766_1280x0_resize_box_2.png\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/missing-story-satellite-tv/images/satellite_9_hu2a3e9b2573f5a841efae84f4a0e1a6e2_75766_300x0_resize_box_2.png\" alt=\"DPP Separator\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eDPP Separator\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n Yet another trick came about, Dish created special DPP receivers that had dual tuner setups. This allowed one room to watch in HD and a satellite room to watch in SD. The single coax went to the receiver and the signal for the second tv was backfed as an analog tv channel using various adapters. DPP also meant that the single coax feed could feed the two tuners but this only works in a DPP dual tuner receiver through the use of a DPP splitter (which incidentally looks identical to a normal cable splitter but isn\u0026rsquo;t).\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo what does this mean to the geeky RVer? Well if you\u0026rsquo;re a normal geek you download your TV/movies from the internet from various services like Hulu or even RatBay if you\u0026rsquo;re so inclined. The problem is that on the road, bandwidth is \u003cem\u003ereally hard\u003c/em\u003e to come by. Park wifi is more or less shit while cell plans are limited to 20GB a month at best. At 300MB per hour of TV, you can suck up that limit very very quickly. Some research proves that coffee shop bandwidth is often limited to 1Mbit which is not great for downloading huge amounts of media from a server somewhere on the internet. The solution to this problem is to move from a downloaded setup to a DVR setup. In our case we got a Dish 722k DVR. In order to use a DVR you really need at least a dual LNB setup, and if you want to see all your channels you need a twin dual LNB (points at 2 satellites and polarity can be switched internally). This type of dish requires a skew setting and our roof top dish didn\u0026rsquo;t cut the mustard. Other roof top dishes say they support HD and it\u0026rsquo;s true but the trick to them is that they often don\u0026rsquo;t support multiple satellites simultaneously. When you tune the channel, the dish repoints. The issue with this is that if you are watching tv from one satellite and content to DVR is on another satellite - game over.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo we know our rooftop dish is inadequate and we\u0026rsquo;re shopping. We know most of the motorized dome type dish can only look at one or two satellites (often just one), have rain fade due to small dish size. Our automatic dish was also no longer automatic because it was locking onto satellites that it didn\u0026rsquo;t expect to be there. It didn\u0026rsquo;t realize that new satellites were put up because the new satellites never got programmed into the firmware confusing the hell out of it. The control panel was not able to sniff the signal to understand precisely what satellite it was seeing when it found a satellite and the guess was wrong. Only in the rare occasion that the offending satellites were obstructed did the automatic satellite finding system work. And speaking of obstructions 9 times out of 10 they were an issue with the roof top dish. Often the motorhome is positioned in the perfect place to block access to the satellites. Now there IS an automated rooftop dish that does meet our needs and that is the Wineagard Trav\u0026rsquo;ler Dish 1000. You can see the difference between this unit and the dome type, it\u0026rsquo;s huge and is not camouflaged in any way. It also cannot work \u0026ldquo;in-motion\u0026rdquo; and keep your tv going as you drive down the road. The price is over $1000. In light of the roof top obstructions we decided cons of a rooftop system could not outweight the positives and opted to remove our Dish satellite from the roof of our sticks and bricks home and get a tripod.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/missing-story-satellite-tv/images/satellite_5_hu76759dbfbd8f6c03865f8fad69859d1c_231260_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/missing-story-satellite-tv/images/satellite_5_hu76759dbfbd8f6c03865f8fad69859d1c_231260_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Tripod Azimuth Setting\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eTripod Azimuth Setting\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n A tripod setup is literally what it sounds like. You mount the dish to a mast sticking up out of a tripod and aim it manually. This isn\u0026rsquo;t as complicated as it sounds but isn\u0026rsquo;t paricularly simple either. Our tripod setup is from TV4RV and we make no bones about it, it\u0026rsquo;s insanely expensive for what it is. But through my now keenly trained, eye it is worth every penny. It has fine adjustments to make leveling the tripod easy, the dish satellite is WAY WAY bigger than you think it is (unless you\u0026rsquo;ve pulled it off your roof and actually handled it, you\u0026rsquo;ll be surprised). The tiny flimsy tripods from ebay are all designed for the older Dish 500 setup. We paid a lot for the TV4RV tripod but now that we have everything and actually used it we couldn\u0026rsquo;t be happier. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/missing-story-satellite-tv/images/satellite_4_hu8025cb7be49f404e997f0a13114b242e_163746_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/missing-story-satellite-tv/images/satellite_4_hu8025cb7be49f404e997f0a13114b242e_163746_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"SuperDish Adjustments\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eSuperDish Adjustments\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n The condensed aiming process on the tripod is to open the tripod, put the compass on the tripod and loosely aim the tripod toward the satellite you need (as displayed by your dish pointing guide on the receiver which gives you elevation, azimuth and skew numbers). You rotate the tripod until the compass points at your azimuth (left to right) heading. Once you have that right you set the tripod down and push the legs into the ground. Remove the compass and use a bullseye level to make the top of the tripod perfectly plumb and level. Once this is done you loosely bolt the satellite mast onto the tripod. Now you set your satellite skew (rotation kind of like a steering wheel), elevation (how high it is pointing in the sky) and then you slowly move the dish left or right (azimuth) until you find a signal. The first time it took me quite a few hours. I\u0026rsquo;m getting better ;)\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo to condense your research here is what I\u0026rsquo;ve learned. A modern DPP LNB has the switch BUILT IN to the LNB itself. This means that a DPP receiver over a single coax can see each LNB eye and control polarity independently, further with a DPP splitter, a single cable can handle TWO tuners (as in a DVR unit). When AIMING however, your satellite finder is NOT A DPP DEVICE. This means that if you hook it up to the first port you are seeing the signal of the first eye only. Thus your single cable should be on the middle of the 3 ports. THIS is the LNB you have to aim for in order to get all 3 satellites. The 3 satellites are for the eastern arc, 61.5, 72.7 and 77 and for western arc 110, 119, and 129. These numbers are the literal positions of the satellites in orbit. When you get coordinates for a 3 satellite system, the coordinate is for the middle satellite so aim using 72.7 or 119. Peak on that satellite and then fine tune your skew in order to peak the other two satellites (I don\u0026rsquo;t usually bother with this). There is a perfect dish for RVers and that is the Dish 1000.4. It is a slightly larger version of the fat boy 1000.2 dish. The LNB\u0026rsquo;s from different dishes are NOT interchangeable. Notice the proximity of 61.5, 72.7 and 77, The eastern arc. 77 and 72.7 are much closer in number than 61.5. This means that an eastern arc LNB is special. Two of the eyes are closer together and one is off to the side. The western arc LNB is evenly spaced because the satellites are spaced. It\u0026rsquo;s hard to hit eatern arc satellites when you are out west, and it is hard to hit western arc satellites when you are out east. Dish was going to migrate to 1000.4 only and so they produced an eastern arc AND western arc LNB for this dish, meaning you can buy both LNBs and you are SET. The 1000.2 only has a western arc LNB for it. Dish decided the 1000.4 was too expensive so they stopped producing western arc LNB\u0026rsquo;s for it and are going back to the 1000.2 setup for people out west. This means a 1000.4 western arc LNB is going toget rare, which is why I bought one on ebay now rather than have to pay more later. Another little known fact is that dish local channels are \u0026ldquo;spotbeamed\u0026rdquo;. This means that rather than a signal that can be received all across the country, the locals are generally sent in a tiny beam only to their intended local location. The result is that as soon as you start travelling out of your \u0026ldquo;home area\u0026rdquo; you lose your locals basically immediately. Dish is the only one I know of who has cracked this nut perfectly. The 722 receiver has a built in OTA module and the 722K has an optional $50 MTR2-OTA module that will allow you to pull in HD over the air local channels. The guide data for these channels is magically pulled down from the satellite and your DVR can record from these without using up satellite recording channels. And the DVR automagically updates ot hte new channels when you move. This means you can tell your DVR \u0026ldquo;I want to recover \u0026ldquo;The big bang theory\u0026rdquo;. That show may be broadcast on Fox 29 in one area, but once you move that channel is gone. The DVR schedule will find the new schedule on the other channel. This is a \u003cem\u003eperfect\u003c/em\u003e solution, especially when you consider most RV\u0026rsquo;s come with an \u003cem\u003eexcellent\u003c/em\u003e amplified Winegard TV antenna. \n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/missing-story-satellite-tv/images/satellite_2_huaaf9505cd9129531db3eae9903f4c657_292197_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/maintenance-and-mods/missing-story-satellite-tv/images/satellite_2_huaaf9505cd9129531db3eae9903f4c657_292197_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Dish DVR TV\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eDish DVR TV\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThus my final setup is a tripod, with a 1000.4 superdish connected to a DVR via the middle port on the LNB using a heavy duty TV4RV tripod. The DVR has the 2 satellite inputs split using a DPP splitter and thus can record one channel while watching another. The winegard tv antenna goes to the OTA input allowing a 3rd recording option for OTA channels so up to 3 watched/recorded channels simultaneously. Our recordings are about a \u003csup\u003e50\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026frasl;\u003csub\u003e50\u003c/sub\u003e split between network and cable channels so it works perfectly. And that\u0026rsquo;s that. Simple and easy to understand. Not!\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Who Are These People", "date_published" : "2013-04-22T16:05:33-04:00", "date_modified" : "2014-10-21T03:03:06-04:00", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/who-are-these-people/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/who-are-these-people/", "author" : { "name" : "mark" }, "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-left\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/who-are-these-people/images/markandso_hu615eff7a86c04ceb32d4c41b78e3f9df_116456_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/who-are-these-people/images/markandso_hu615eff7a86c04ceb32d4c41b78e3f9df_116456_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Me and SO\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eMe and SO\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\nWe are a travelling family of three\u0026hellip; and a cat. We\u0026rsquo;re in our 30\u0026rsquo;s which is a bit uncommon as far as full time RVers go. There isn\u0026rsquo;t too much more of interest than that. We aren\u0026rsquo;t hippies or artists. We take internet, tv watching and the quality of things and people we surround ourselves with seriously. We aren\u0026rsquo;t always politically correct. We are generally thick skinned and we don\u0026rsquo;t dance around self-centered whiners. We are almost always joking around and above all we are very pragmatic. My name is Mark and this is my introverted girlfriend - SO. As in significant other. If you ever meet us she has no problem sharing her and child\u0026rsquo;s name but on the website they can be anonymous (since it will always be me writing anyway).\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/who-are-these-people/images/markjr_hu0a8e72b75d65b29c8d8f86766338d229_761229_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/who-are-these-people/images/markjr_hu0a8e72b75d65b29c8d8f86766338d229_761229_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"Child\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eChild\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n When it comes to our motorhome, cars, and other stuff, we have Lamborghini tastes on 1985 Toyota Corolla budget so we try to make fiscally responsible yet high end purchases and try to save money later on. We have never and will never buy a vehicle new (though SO\u0026rsquo;s tastes differ on this subject). We tend to do everything we can from a maintenance and repair perspective ourselves. I\u0026rsquo;ve rebuilt engines in cars and I swapped the transmission in the Winnebago in a weekend without a lift or transmission jack (as it turns out the issue wasn\u0026rsquo;t the transmission\u0026hellip; poo). We post any gotchas we find going about these tasks on our website.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/who-are-these-people/images/IMG_1164_hu2515d0618ae2682062f4acd750042b3f_1916532_1280x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/who-are-these-people/images/IMG_1164_hu2515d0618ae2682062f4acd750042b3f_1916532_300x0_resize_q75_box.JPG\" alt=\"Kitty\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eKitty\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n I run a tech company. I basically offer \u003csup\u003e24\u003c/sup\u003e\u0026frasl;\u003csub\u003e7\u003c/sub\u003e management of small to medium business IT infrastructure. AKA you can call me to do some forensic analysis when your registers get hacked (or contract me to prevent it to begin with), keep servers and desktops up to date and secure, setup new servers, etc. I develop custom software solutions for clients in the casino gaming and retail industries. I\u0026rsquo;ve found the best success from being highly competent in all areas of the product lifecycle. I deliver completed products with excellent cost saving hardware, OS, and software selections completed and confgured properly. My racing and gaming clients love me because they can give me a (sometimes huge) task and they don\u0026rsquo;t have to hold my hand all the way through. I do web work, desktop apps, kiosk, and mobile on iOS, Android and Windows Mobile. I am particularly awesome at integration of modern systems with archaic platforms like that old AS/400 sitting in the corner of your office. If you need anything, no matter how big or small, by all means \u003ca href=\"mailto:nomad@geekynomads.com\"\u003eget in touch!\u003c/a\u003e Being mobile means I can be on site for months if necessary at project launch no matter where you are in the country!\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eI collect and play with vintage Atari computers. I\u0026rsquo;ve never met anyone in person who understands this hobby ;) I dabble with embedded hardware development and have a fascination for home automation. I\u0026rsquo;m almost always tinkering with a new idea or system that might make my life easier.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWe love BMW\u0026rsquo;s, our Foretravel motorhome, our Lexus toad. I love and she tolerates my motorcycle obsession. I hit the track whenever I can in my supercharged 1996 BMW M3. We both love trance music and I love some more esoteric metal and alternative bands (and a lot of mainstream ones as well). We\u0026rsquo;re both major foodies but I have a difficult time getting her to stray from chains - generally because meals from smaller places tend to be really amazing or really crappy and she can\u0026rsquo;t stand the really crappy ones.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWe originally had a 1998 Winnebago Adventurer 32\u0026rsquo; motorhome which was very inexpensive and served as our \u0026ldquo;do we really want to do this?\u0026rdquo; vehicle. Recently we upgraded to our 1999 Foretravel U320 4200 tandem axle diesel pusher. This is our \u0026ldquo;yes, we really do want to do this\u0026rdquo; vehicle.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\n\n\u003cfigure class=\"right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption caption-right\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"caption-inner\"\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"colorbox colorbox-insert-image\" href=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/who-are-these-people/images/foretravel_side_hu9c828a54915a0f62652d6e2936b8d3a3_130071_1280x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\"\u003e\n\u003cimg class=\"image-medium\" src=\"https://www.geekynomads.com/who-are-these-people/images/foretravel_side_hu9c828a54915a0f62652d6e2936b8d3a3_130071_300x0_resize_q75_box.jpg\" alt=\"The Beast\"\u003e\n\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"caption-text\"\u003eThe Beast\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/figure\u003e\n\n\n\u003cp\u003eGetting from the boring 9 to 5 with a giant 2400 square foot house to living in an RV is also a story in and amongst itself which I will try to detail on the site as well. When I do, I\u0026rsquo;ll link to them from this page.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cdiv class=\"clearfix\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n" }, { "title" : "", "date_published" : "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "date_modified" : "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/travelcam/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/travelcam/", "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eI am for real\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "", "date_published" : "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "date_modified" : "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/travelmap/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/travelmap/", "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eI am a map\u003c/p\u003e\n" }, { "title" : "Archives", "date_published" : "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "date_modified" : "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "id" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/archives/", "url" : "https://www.geekynomads.com/archives/", "content_html" : "\u003cp\u003eWe like to keep a camera in the front of the RV as we travel and record timelapse videos. These are the results. For some videos we had camera issues and one or both cameras cut out. This was due to our use of analog cameras and terrible CAT-5 baluns. Future videos will be recorded with an HD camera so they should be a lot better. Even the older ones, you definitely want to watch in HD mode since the quality is terrible to begin with.\u003c/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden;\"\u003e\n \u003ciframe src=\"//www.youtube.com/embed/8Vl5rVys7sQ\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; border:0;\" allowfullscreen title=\"YouTube Video\"\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cdiv style=\"position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden;\"\u003e\n \u003ciframe src=\"//www.youtube.com/embed/F7V_ssATuYE\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; border:0;\" allowfullscreen title=\"YouTube Video\"\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cdiv style=\"position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden;\"\u003e\n \u003ciframe src=\"//www.youtube.com/embed/n1PTL7BXIwU\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; border:0;\" allowfullscreen title=\"YouTube Video\"\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cdiv style=\"position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden;\"\u003e\n \u003ciframe src=\"//www.youtube.com/embed/rVVaGZ3xxRU\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; border:0;\" allowfullscreen title=\"YouTube Video\"\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cdiv style=\"position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden;\"\u003e\n \u003ciframe src=\"//www.youtube.com/embed/KA5xQSCEID8\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; border:0;\" allowfullscreen title=\"YouTube Video\"\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003cdiv style=\"position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden;\"\u003e\n \u003ciframe src=\"//www.youtube.com/embed/AMqJMilpsis\" style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; border:0;\" allowfullscreen title=\"YouTube Video\"\u003e\u003c/iframe\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/p\u003e\n" } ] }