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Forum
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RE: Keurig Coffee Maker opinions?
It's a nice machine. K-Cups are expensive, they come 18 to a box and usually cost $10 a box, that's a little more than $.50 a cup. It is convenient to use and gives you a quick cup of java. There are other single cup options out there. The problem I have with the Kuerig is that it is expensive and even more expensive to repair if you need to. I used mine for just a little over two years and then it started acting up, it wouldn't dispense that correct amount of water and would either make a cup too small or overflow the cup. When I checked repair cost it was almost as much as a new one. I loved it all the way into the dumpster. I now use a Starbucks Barrista single cup drip coffee maker, makes a much better cup of coffee in about 5 minutes. The Kuerig coffee is much less flavorful and not the same as what I get now and what's even better the Starbucks machine was much less expensive, $70 versus $200 plus I can use coffee that I can pick up anywhere. I tried using the "My K-Cup" option and it still doesn't make coffee as well as the Starbucks. If the price was right on the Kuerig, I would probably purchase one again, but at a $200 price for admittance I won't do that again. BTW, the maker of most Kuerig coffee is Green Mountain and they also own Kuerig and they do have a vested interest in you purchasing their machine.
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/30/08 07:55am |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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RE: Sold house, have questions
You can fax your forms in to Escapees Headquarters and you should be able to handle setting up your address that way. If I remember correctly there are two forms that you need, 1 is a post office form and the other is an Escapees form. You will also have to fill out a change of address to turn in at the post office once you have your Rainbow Drive address. Give headquarters a call, they are very helpful over the phone.
You do have to be in Texas, particularly Polk County ( where Rainbows End is) if you are going to use that address for your residence, for all your vehicle registrations and such. The process is state vehicle inspection, first, and then County Tax Accessors office for all the switch over to Texas residence, then you have the pleasure of going to DPS to get your drivers license. If your vehicle has a gross weight rating over 26001 pounds, you will have to take a test. Depending on whether you get "Fang" or "Fang Trainee" they might also make your spouse take the test. The process sounds involved, but you can generally have everything done in 6 hours. Texas has changed requirements for drivers license ID's so you might browse around on the Escapees Forum, because the subject has come up in the last couple of days. Just to give you an idea, it cost us $684 to switch over registration of three vehicles last April. One of the nice things about Polk County is that it is NOT an emission testing county, so your inspection cost you $10 and can be handled in minutes.
We use Progressive for our insurance, and we have been quite pleased with them. They have been very responsive concerning our one claim for damage received during Hurricane Ike. You will pay more for insurance in Polk County, but there is an insurance agency on the property at Rainbows End.
Any more questions, PM me and I'll try to answer them.
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/30/08 07:15am |
Full-time RVing
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RE: Tight turns with a Class A and trailer?
No thinking about it, with some trailers you WILL contact the MH on tight turns, if you aren't paying attention. You can do it in forward or reverse. Backing is especially easy to make it happen. You need a good wing man and you need to take their direction only. That way when you crunch the MH it's their fault.
Ask me how I know this ?
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/30/08 06:37am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Bluetooth mouse or wireless mouse
I use bluetooth for everything that I can, printer, mouse, cell phone, etc. Try an Apple Mighty Mouse, it full size and works well most of the time. It'll work on your windows based machine. It's available in wireless bluetooth. Bluetooth printer is wonderful, use it with two machines and not have to go through the hassles of setting it up as a wireless network printer, one central location, only way to go. Bluetooth phone, download and upload address books, photos painlessly.
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/26/08 05:09am |
Technology Corner
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RE: RV maker Fleetwood to shut 2 South Georgia plants
This is how rumors get started, if you really read the information, you'll see that they are addressing Fleetwood's involvement in "Manufactured and Modular Homes". Unless there is more information, that wasn't posted, all this states is that Fleetwood the RV manufacturer is closing two locations that make house trailers, it says nothing about stopping RV production other than travel trailers and that they are just consolidating. Sound business decision when reflected with current market conditions.
Granted all RV Manufacturers are hurting and we haven't seen the end to this crisis and the loss of manufacturers will continue. The snowball effect of spreading rumors and mis-interpreting information can do as much damage as what Wall Street has done. Hysteria has no place in the current crisis.
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/26/08 04:19am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Dumb DW jeep question
A Wrangler is one of the easiest vehicles to tow 4 down. Most new Wranglers come with 4X4 from the factory so it's not hard to find one. The only ones that don't have 4X4 are the new four doors that are available in 2 WD. A 2WD is hard to find so you shouldn't have a problem getting what you want from any Jeep dealer. Automatic or manual transmission makes no difference whether you can tow it four down, as long as it's 4X4 it can be done.
For your brackets and tow bar set-up you can usually get them installed at Camping World or just about any RV dealer can handle the install. Make sure that you get an auxiliary brake package to complete the set-up and you should be good to go.
In reference to a Wrangler being a rough ride, they used to be but the newer models are quite nice. My lady compares ours to a Caddy because it's really a smooth ride.
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/24/08 06:19am |
Dinghy Towing
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RE: Favorite Smoking Wood...
I recently had this decision made for me, The winner is hickory. When Hurricane Ike blew through Livingston, he was not kind to my hickory trees, we lost 3 huge ones in our yard. I've got enough hickory for the rest of my life, plus some oak and some maple. Too bad there weren't any pecan trees.
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/24/08 06:02am |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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RE: 2008 vs 2009 new MH
You'll find that other than cosmetic and a few real upgrades that there will be few if any differences between model years. Purchase the one you like without regard to model year.
A couple of things will be in your favor with an earlier year model, usually a lower MSRP because, it doesn't have the current years prices increases. If you compared our 2007 Monaco Caymen with a 2008 Caymen, there was almost a $30,000 price increase for an almost identical unit. A dealer is more apt to deal on a 2008 over a 2009 because he needs to move it yesterday.
While they call call them "RV Shows" in reality, they are nothing but huge sale-a-thons designed to create increased pressure for you to purchase in the heat of the moment. They are great for looking and helping make your decision. Go, look, decide, and go home and cuss and discuss over your choices. If it was a great deal most dealers honor that "Sale" price afterword and you'll have much less buyer's remorse.
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/21/08 04:17am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Propane vs Electric
The fridge is much more efficient when it's running on propane. If you've ever tried to get ice cream to freeze in the freezer, you'd know this. It will soft freeze on electric but get quite firm on gas. It uses very little propane in the grand scheme of things. Since you are paying electric also realize that electric heaters use quite a bit of energy and it could be more economical to use propane for your heat. There are several small portable catalytic propane heaters, that are safe for use in a MH. We don't use one, but I've heard great things about them.
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/19/08 03:57am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: I need help on my "blower fan" located near the water pump!
While our MH isn't a Newmar, the heating for the plumbing bay isn't associated with the furnace in any way, it's a completely separate system. It's a totally electric system that has a separately activated switch for a thermostatically controlled heater that comes on at 37 degrees, if you have it turned on. In our Monaco it's called "System Heat" and it has a switch on the main control panel that activates it. Our owners manual pretty much says that unless you are plugged in it's a power hog, and it will draw down the batteries in short order.
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/19/08 03:44am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: Need Help in Houston
If you are at the KOA just south of the big airport ( George Bush) you could try Demondtrond RV. They would be about 4 miles NW of your location off of I-45. Brett Lewis is who we normally deal with. They have a huge shop and should be able to accommodate you. While you are there you can drool on all the coaches they have.
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/17/08 02:51am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Memory cards & off brand batteries
I use Sandisk cards and I've never had a problem with either of my Canons. I've got 2 Canon packs and one no name for 2 cameras. I've haven't had a problem with either but if I would purchase I would go with a Canon, mainly for warranty concerns. I use the no name in my DRebel and the Canon packs in my 40D . The 40D batteries last 4 times as long as the batteries do in the DRebel. I can get almost 800 shots on the 40D and the DRebel maybe gets 200. The newer cameras are much more efficient.
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/16/08 10:02am |
Technology Corner
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RE: I used most of my 5000MB on Verizon Aircard
Bill,
I could be wrong, but I think you can up grade your card or modem and still maintain your agreement. I'd call Alex at the 3GStore, if anyone would know it would be him.
Any type of media (video, streaming or otherwise, radio, online gaming ) that gives you immediate access is a MB gobbler. If you download a movie from ITunes or NetFlix, you are usually looking at between 2 and 3 gigs. If you need to download stuff like that an aircard isn't for you.
If you stay away from intensive media, you will be hard pressed to go over the 5 gig limit. Our card is plugged into a router and we run 2 laptops off of that signal. We are hooked up 24/7/365 with immediate access and we've never come close to the limit. You are charged for MB when you are actually using the net and transmitting or receiving. You can pull up a page and look at it for hours and you are only charged for what it took to download that page once. If you are prudent with what you download, the limit is a non issue.
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/16/08 07:23am |
Technology Corner
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RE: I know, apples and oranges but?
As Caymen owners, we've found the ISB's performance to be quite acceptable.
Pulling grades: It will do an acceptable job, with what sounds like one of the shorter Caymens ( at 27,500 gross, ours is 33,000) it should pull quite well. On numerous occasions ours has gone up and down the grade on I-40 at Old Fort just east of Ashville never slower than 45 mph fully loaded. Never had any problems keeping up in the Rockies of Colorado.
Maintenance: The ISB has been around for quite a while, and it will be, probablly the least of you maintenance worries. Change the oil and fluids and it will treat you well.
Transmission: I've never driven a 5 speed so I can't make the comparison but the 6-speed does it's job. I really can't see that the difference would make it a big deal. It's reliable but...problems I've noticed ( not really problems) the ISB and Allison combo likes to run between 1700 and 2000 RPM and that puts you just about 65 mph, on the flats it will shift to 6th and just motor along happy as a clam, but you throw even the slightest grade into the equation and it will stay in 5th and you have to bump the speed up to about 70 to get it to drop into 6th with the tranny in either mode. The Allison is slow to react to changes in grade and I've learned to kick it down into 5th just when you bottom out a hill if you are starting up any type of grade because the Allison is about 150 yards slower making the change and you'll lose more speed if you leave the tranny to it's own devices, like about 10 mph.
Fuel Economy: The first trip out we got 11.94 MPG and it is a teller off the future. Over the life of the coach we have averaged 10.49 mpg over a variety of roads, interstates to 2 lane. I don't drive slow, and the average includes pulling a 6000 lb trailer. We usually run at close to 32,000 lbs give or take 500. I've quit posting MPG figures because most folks think I'm lying but in conversations with other Caymen owners, they all pretty much say the same thing.
Exhaust Brake: Yes there was one available and yes it does work quite well.
If you are looking at used units, look for a Caymen "XL", XL was a factory package that added quite a few bells and whistles. I can't remember everything, but it is stuff like the Sleep Number bed, upgraded hardware inside, the package was quite intensive but I've got CRS disease.
Problems: Ask any Caymen owner and the first thing out of their mouths will be "Levelers". The Triple Gear system is problematic and it will give you trouble, Monaco is well aware of the problem and have engineered a couple of fixes that are band aid type things. We are on our second pump and having a third put in. Second thing out of their mouth will be the factory DVD player. To save yourself from very high levels of frustration, forget about it, most owners have we've had 4 control heads replaced in our coach and the one that it came with worked better than all of them. It might work or it might not, but the Cubs have a better chance of winning the World Series.
Our experience with the Caymen has been positive and we have yet to look at another coach that we like better. Sure there are things that could be improved, like the 8 bag suspension would be nice. The Caymen fills our needs well.
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/16/08 05:46am |
Class A Motorhomes
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RE: How much is 5G on wireless internet?
Video is very intensive, size wise and not something that you want to do everyday, plus with streaming video you really don't get good through put and it's more frustrating than enjoyable to watch.
We've used nothing but a Verizon aircard for the past 30 months for all our internet access. In those thirty months we've never come close to the limit and our card is plugged into a router and is active 24/7/365. We operate 2 computers on our own closed network, we can and do access the internet whenever and where ever we want. Speed is a bit faster than DSL and not quite as fast as cable, in our experience.
I always laugh when I see a question about the 5GB limit, because unless you are doing some really intensive video stuff, it's a non issue. I download music from ITunes whenever I want, I e-mail pictures to family, we use the internet like we always have. Our usage hasn't changed since we went with Verizon, if you add the pluses like being able to use it driving down the road, or camped in the mountains of Wyoming, or camped on the OBX, our internet experience has improved, I don't think that we could ever go back, to a hardwire set-up, there's just to much freedom with what we have now.
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/14/08 02:42am |
Technology Corner
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RE: New iMac computer
I love my MacBookPro and I'll never go back to a PC. BUT THE MIGHTY MOUSE STINKS. You can plan on going through at least one a year and at $70.00 each, it's not a good value. Don't get me wrong, it's a very good mouse but it's not all that and a bag of chips too. It has nice features but you can do better with someone, other than Apple's mouse. I'm on my second one and it messes up a couple of times a day. It eats batteries like they are candy, 2 or 3 weeks for a pair and then it dies.
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/11/08 02:47am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Personal Effects Insurance
There are way too many "gray" areas in insurance coverage and the only truth is what's written on your policy.
Reminds me of the lawyer that bought 25 very expensive cigars and insured them against fire damage. Insurance Company wrote the policy and the lawyer paid the premium and promptly smoked the cigars and filed a claim for a total loss from fire. Insurance company fought him in court and lost the case. They wrote him a check for $25,000 and he cashed it and the insurance company had him arrested for 25 counts of arson, which stuck.
Wording on the policy is everything. A MH is a structure and it and everything installed on it or in it when you purchased the policy is covered in the structure part of the policy. My fridge is covered because it was there and permanently installed in the MH. The wine cooler that we put in, instead of the washer dryer isn't. Personal stuff that we carried in isn't covered, it's covered under our homeowners policy. Which is OK but... make sure your homeowners policy covers multiple dwellings. Ours covers two dwellings, we own three at the moment, we had to make a decision on which two to cover for personal stuff. We chose the MH and the house that we live in, we had to place a rider on the third house for structural and fire coverage with no coverage for personal stuff. Your policy could be different, you owe it to yourself to check exactly what your coverage is.
When you need your insurance coverage, you need to know what is covered and you need to deal with a good and responsive company or companies. We've dealt with Progressive quite a bit lately and they are top notch. We had a 75' tall hickory tree fall on our MH during Hurricane Ike causing about $23,000 in damage. On their adjusters advice, what appeared on the surface to be about $5,000 damage, to the windshield and paint, increased to the current figure because He wanted to make sure that there wasn't any unseen damage to the structure of the MH. After disassembly much more damage was found, so we really feel like Progressive had our interests in mind. We really can't say enough about how they have reacted to our claim and the professional way that they have handled it. Having winced at the premiums, they are now insignificant and we truly got what we paid for, peace of mind.
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/09/08 08:38am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Charging for pets
We also travel with two furkids (Cats). They are strictly inside cats, the only time they go outside is in the carrier. We always tell the CG about them if they ask. I can't remember ever being charged for them, but we would pay it because the cats are our owners and they would be really ticked if their slaves weren't around. They allow us to stay in their MH, it's the least we can do for them.
Seriously, the kids love to sit in the front window, when we are parked, and everyone comments on them and the park would know that we weren't entirely truthful about pets.
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/09/08 07:35am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Buying online
You have to be very careful buying electronics online. There are quite a few "Bait and Switchers" out there. When buying a camera online make sure that it is a complete camera, if it has detachable lenses, some retailers will sell you just the camera body and charge you extra for the items that would normally come with it. Quite a few will take your order and send you a conformation stating that they must talk to you to confirm the order, when you call them the hard sell starts and they try to sell you a kit of very over priced accessories, when you say no, all of a sudden the camera isn't in stock. For camera stuff, I deal with B & H Photo or Adorama, with B & H being the preferred. If the prices you are finding look too good to be true, they probably are. Also make sure that whatever you purchase has a "USA" warranty, if it's a gray market product ( not legally for sale in the US ) most manufacturers won't honor the warranty even if it's their product.
You can check online retailer ratings here Clicky thingie
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/09/08 07:17am |
Technology Corner
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RE: Pork Chops on the Grill
I use Italian dressing quite a bit on just about everything, but.... You really have to watch out especially if you are on a reduced sodium diet, most of the pre-made bottled dressing are loaded with salt, especially the bottled marinades. If you try mixing olive oil and vinegar in a 2:1 ratio you can cut out the salt and have almost the same effect and flavor profile. Penzey's makes several no salt dressing mixes that work quite well. I've found their "Country French Vinaigrette" mixed to their recipe is a great marinade with low salt content.
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DarkRubiTJ
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11/07/08 02:46am |
Camp Cooks and Connoisseurs
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