Monthly Archives: October 2023

Driving a Large Motorhome

Posted on by
Reply

The first thing I would like to point out is that driving a motorhome is nothing like driving your car or even a large truck. My wife and I took a one-day driving course when we first purchased our motorhome and even though they try and teach you as much as possible there is still a lot to learn that you won’t fully understand until you get behind the wheel of something this large and drive it for yourself.
 
The first thing you will need to do is determine if the state you are a residence in and hold a valid driver’s license will require you to get a separate driver’s license for operating a large motorhome. As an example the State of Texas requires all large motorhome owners who register their vehicle in the state to have more than just a normal driver’s license used for driving a car.

The following states require a special license for driving and registering a Motorhome.

California > 26000lbs
Connecticut > 10000lbs
Hawaii > 26000lbs
Illinois > 16000lbs
Kansas > 26000lbs
Maryland > 26000lbs
North Carolina > 26000lbs
New Mexico > 26000lbs
Nevada > 10000lbs
New York > 26000lbs
Pennsylvania > 26000lbs
South Carolina > 26000lbs
Texas > 26000lbs
Washington DC > 26000lbs
Wyoming > 26000lbs

Another key to remember is that you are now driving something that weighs on average 25000 pounds. This is a big difference than driving a normal car that weighs on average 5000 pounds. This difference in weight means that you must realize your reaction times must be faster and you must start breaking long before you need to stop and make sure you have a greater distance between you and the vehicle in front of you when going down the road.
 
One of the Key driving techniques you will learn to use is called Turning at your hip. This is where you make sure your hip clears any obstructions in the road such as a curb and then start your turn. If you start you turn any earlier you will most likely run over the curb. This is important for both right hand and left hand turns. Also you must remember that unlike your car. The back end of your motorhome will actually swing in an outward motion so if people are in the lane right next to you must be careful not to collide with them with your back end.

Next you should learn how to drive using your cameras. This include both the mirror cameras that look down the sides of your motorhome and the rear view camera that will allow you to watch and see what is coming up from behind while you are driving. The mirror cameras usually only kick in when you turn you turn signals on. This allows you to see if someone has come up beside you before you turn into them. Remember now that you are driving something much bigger than your car your blind site is much larger also and the cameras help minimize your blind areas but most do not remove them in their entirety.

A key point in helping you drive down the road much easier and safely is to make sure your motorhome is balanced throughout the rig. This means to make sure you pack the motorhome both inside and outside evenly so it rides down the road straight. One way to determine if you have done this properly is to load it as if you are ready to hit the road and then go to a truck stop and have it weighed. Make sure to have weighed each set of tires separately and to make sure to weigh the right and left side separately also. This will show you to determine if you have distributed the weight evenly.

One thing you will read in many articles on driving a motorhome is that you can’t back up when towing a vehicle. This is actually false it’s not that you can’t it’s that you should not or at least be very cautious when doing so. The reason for this is the tow bars you are towing with have a tendency to jackknife very easily and can damage either your tow vehicle or your motorhome itself. My wife and I find that if we do have to back up she will get in the tow vehicle and turn the wheel as I turn to make sure it doesn’t jackknife and damage anything. The rear view camera allows me to do this slowly and monitor the progress as we go.

When driving a motorhome please make sure not to drive once you get tired. My wife and I find that after about 6 hours of driving our reaction times are diminished and we no long feel we are safe to be on the road. There are many places you can pull over in a motorhome to take a nap and relax as to not injure yourself or others. Rest stops and truck stops are convenient places along the roads that you can pull over and get a few hours of sleep. Keep in mind when you are driving a motorhome you actually have your bed with you at all times.

In closing: many RV dealers throughout the United States will offer some kind of Motorhome Driving class. If they do please make it a point to take it will teach you all the proper skills to safely maneuver your motorhome on the road. If you are not able to find a class in your community, then take your new motorhome to the nearest mall parking lot after hours and drive around. Even take some cones with you to help assist you in learning to make turns and to practice backing up and parking. One other key thing that I was told once by an instructor and it has stuck with me ever since. If you find yourself blocking traffic because someone won’t allow you the space to turn just sit there until they move. People may honk there horn at you but always remember you will never see these people again so Who Cares.

RV Resorts becoming Trailer Parks

Posted on by
Reply

I have to wonder when did RV Resorts and Campgrounds become trailer parks. It seems more and more places are allowing people to live permanently in there resort and thus making it harder and harder for the full timer to find a location for staying.

I do understand that down in the snowbird country of Florida and Arizona allowing things such as park models but it seems in our travels more and more places even up north allow them. I have even seen campgrounds where the people have installed swing sets and carports next to their RV. Many also will have 3 or 4 people living in a small 5th wheel or trailer and thus have everything just laying outside due to lack of space.

Don’t get me wrong. As a business owner I understand that you want a full time income if at all possible but then you shouldn’t advertise that you are a RV Resort or Campground. Last time I checked Campgrounds stood for camping not living year round at.

I believe that RV Travelers and Snowbirds have different wants from a place than someone just living there. Such as activities to keep you busy and a pool during the winter or even an exercise room or club house to have pot lucks to meet new people. Travelers like to get out and meet new people and interact where People living there are not in that mind set.

If a Campground or RV Resort needs to allow people living their full time to stay in business they should at least either separate them from the full timers or at least not allow them to set up home with sheds and swing sets. Usually the dog noises and dirtiness of a campground is related to the rigs that are living there and not the traveler. The traveler usually is washing there rig and making things look nice due to pride and the rigs living in a campground don’t care and will be dirty and have mold on them.

As I have stated in a previous article. I classify RVer’s in 3 categories. Full timers (People that travel mostly) Snowbirds (People that go north in summer and south in winter but always to the same two places) and Trailer Trash (People that live in a campground and never go anywhere). I use the last one due to in most cases it’s how they keep their site looking in the campground.

Is the Current News Too Influential

Posted on by
Reply

People around the world turn to at least one form of the news to update themselves about current social economic and political issues? In the early 20th century news was primarily obtained through newspapers. This was a relatively slow process considering that it might take a day or sometimes even more for local newspapers to update about current events. With the popularity of the radio came a much faster means of transporting information although this form of news was only available during broadcasts. With television came the evening news the morning news and the afternoon news.

Today news is reported 24/7 around the world in millions of different online and print publications. Updated news takes seconds to transmit and only seconds to read hear or watch. There is no end to the number of different news publications or programs that are endlessly reporting the news so it is no wonder that many news programs are now turning to more opinionated anchors. News programs with more opinionated anchors are much more popular because now news programs and publications must fight to keep public viewers tuned in. Dramatic headlines intense subject’s emotional news reports and buzz words are the new status quo among news reports which are constantly vying for viewer attention. But is the popularity of current styles of news reporting too influential on its viewers?

News should strive above all to be two things: informative and objective. Objectivity is one of the toughest goals to strive for when reporting the news especially when it comes to heated situations like political events political debates human rights and violent crime. News programs should also be informative and inform its viewers about—at the very least—the basic facts surrounding any event. It is only natural for any reporter to give their own opinion however subconsciously about the news. However, when a news program decides to present personal opinion again and again as fact often leaving out details which are disharmonious to that opinion it can warp the viewers’ sense of events to a great degree. Viewers may not even be aware of the basic facts surrounding an event which questions the legitimacy of the news program itself.

For an example of a news program which may be considered too influential let’s look at Fox News. Fox News presents current world events through the eyes of opinionated anchors reporters and journalists. But is their opinionated style of reporting having a negative effect on viewers?

In a 2011 poll undertaken by Fairleigh Dickinson University it was found that people who learn about current news events by watching Fox News were significantly less likely to know correct answers to basic questions about world events than those who did not watch news shows or read newspapers at all! Fox News which presents events in a heavily opinionated manner is one example of the current news proving too influential on its viewers. The viewers who primarily watched Fox News were not able to state a basic fact about a current world event at the time of the poll—not a specific opinion about the event but a fact. Fox News’ programming then is not only opinionated but also not informative.

To quote the university’s findings:

[People ]who watch Fox News the most popular of the 24-hour cable news networks are 18-points less likely to know that Egyptians overthrew their government than those who watch no news at all … Fox News watchers are also 6-points less likely to know that Syrians have not yet overthrown their government than those who watch no news…

If opinionated news reporting like Fox News can keep a viewer in the dark about such an important event then there is almost no telling what other kinds of influences that style of news reporting can have on their world view. Instead of striving to capture viewers with flashy logos or buzzword headlines the news should once again turn to providing objective and informative reporting about world events.

I pointed out Fox News in this article but in actuality almost all news broadcasts are guilty in one form or another in trying to influence your options on important issues. It is everyone’s responsibility to learn all they can on issues and not just take one news broadcast to make or form opinions on anything.