Since the 18 new volunteers arrived 2 weeks ago, it’s been a flurry of activity here at Bosque del Apache NWR. Between training sessions, pot lucks, and preparing for the big Festival of the Cranes (that starts this Tuesday), it’s been an exceptionally busy time. Add to that, a new job for me here on the Refuge, lots of new major personal legal/financial changes to plan (as a result of the new 2016 ACA Healthcare plans), and a little episode of nearly burning down my RV last week….and I’ve felt rather scattered in 101 directions this month!
Sorta like these snow geese. One day they’re enjoying a nice relaxing sunny afternoon resting in one of the ponds…
and the next day they’re buzzing over the tourists’ cars fleeing for their lives!
After researching and posting the depressing, infuriating GYN cancer statistics yesterday, I think it’s time for a day off from #GynCAN to get back to happier stuff we’d much rather post and read about…pretty pictures and RV mods!
I’m preparing to shove off today from my summertime roost in Chicago and start my journey West. When fog starts covering the prairie at night, it’s a sure sign that cooler temperatures are on their way.
As much as I enjoyed the comforts of my sister and brother-in-law’s house for nearly the past 2 months (and Holley’s delicious dinners), it felt really good to get behind the wheel of the Winnie and head back out to the local campground yesterday. The prairie sure has grown taller with all the rains we’ve had in Chicago this summer!
Holley and Mike didn’t send me away to the same old Winnebago, though. I’ve been the lucky beneficiary of their considerable carpentry and sewing skills for a few desperately desired upgrades to my rolling home—a new bed and new dinette cushions. First up, the new bed!
It was a mere 715 miles from Bahía de Concepción to the U.S. border. An easy 2-day drive on most U.S. roads, but Baja Highway 1 sets its own rules. Hans, Ursula, and I decided we would make the narrow, winding, shoulder-less drive in 6 days rather than 2. After 7 weeks in Baja, we were now moving at the same laid-back pace as most of the locals (rather than that of over-scheduled, over-stressed, and over-stimulated Americans).
Along the way, there would be gray whales to touch, French baguettes to savor, cactus trails to hike, and plenty of serene beachfront sunrises and sunsets to enjoy.
There’d also be a few moments of terror and mishap too…no journey that includes climbing “the Grade of Hell” past 3 volcanoes would be complete without a bit of terror and mishap!
There’s not a whole lot of things to go buy yourself for Christmas here in Baja, so I decided to buy my Christmas toys a few weeks early while I was still in the U.S. After my extended boondocking experience in Nevada, I wanted to shore up a few deficiencies and make the Winnie an even better boondocking-mobile for hitting the beaches of Baja this winter.
The weakest link in my Winnie systems seemed to be my 3-year-old Sams Club Duracell AGM batteries. I had really expected these to hold up longer than they did, but as this was now my second set of low-cost batteries to die an early death, I finally had to admit “you get what you paid for” and pony up to make a proper battery investment. Just like all the cheap Windows laptops I once had to buy and toss before finally investing big bucks on my Macbook Pro laptop (which is now 3+ years old and still looks and runs like new!).
So my new battery decision was now a no-brainer to buy the “Apple” of the battery world – a pair of Lifeline 6-volt GPL-4CT AGM batteries.
I’ve added a new tab to my blog’s home page called “Skinnie Solar” which shows pictures and product links to the 300-watt MPPT rooftop bendable solar panel installation on my Skinnie Winnie’s roof.
A couple months ago, I decided to finally get my ‘07 Winnie weighed at the nearby truck stop’s CAT scale. Many other owners of the 1st-generation Sprinter have reported on the Yahoo View-Navion forum that their rigs routinely run a few hundred pounds over the GVWR, so I braced myself as the clerk handed me the printed weight report.
You’d think I would have figured this out sooner after taking showers in an RV for over 5 years now! After hundreds and hundreds of gallons of water wasted, and subjecting my toes to either frigid cold or scalding hot waters when “testing” the first water out of the shower head (and then routinely spouting dozens of expletives during such testing!), I think I’ve finally figured out how to get my RV shower just right!
Of course, I’ve read the RVing forums of guys “MacGyver-ing” a wide variety of contraptions to install onto their RV plumbing systems (like expensive mixing valves), and others who have desperately marked up their faucets with a black Sharpie or nail polish to know how far to turn a handle. Fortunately, this solution requires none of that!
I’m not sure if this works on every RV, or if it’s just specific to mine (or Winnie View-Navions), but give this a try next time and let me know in the comments below if it works for you too!
First, a few assumptions—1. that you have a basic two-handle hot & cold RV shower faucet, 2. that you have some kind of “dribbling” water shut-off switch (either on the showerhead itself or near the faucet handles like mine), and 3. that you’ve turned on your RV’s Hot Water Heater at least 10 minutes beforehand (ask me how many times I’ve forgotten this critical step!!!).
The last couple weeks have been a flurry of activity—mostly good, positive stuff but mixed with one major setback. We’ll start with the good news, though….
The storage garage is steadily being emptied! Millie has quite enjoyed being a “junkyard dog” and watching me sift through boxes of stuff to scan, pitch, or sell. We are on track to finish this job in about a week and be ready to hit the road.
As long-time readers know, a couple of years ago I started a very popular series of posts called “A Girl’s Guide to RVing”. Many of those posts have continued to be the most-visited posts on this blog, (such as the How To Dump Your Tanks, and How To Hitch Up Your Toad). But surprisingly, the most popular post (with almost twice as many hits as the rest) is the one I did on my thought-process of selecting a motorhome called: What I Like About My View (and What I Wish I Had)
Now that I’ve had my 2007 J-model View for 8 months, have spent a Winter snowbird season in it, and am now preparing to go full-time RVing in it, I thought it’d be a good time to update my most-popular post with my thoughts on this current model View.
Lots of folks are out buying or trading RVs this time of year, so I hope my detailed comparisons might provide some food for thought on the myriad of little things to consider when selecting an RV. Like I said in my original post, the common refrain is still quite true—there is no perfect RV! There will always be compromises to consider!
I will be starting to full-time RV later this summer, and for the longest time I assumed I would move up to a larger RV when I did that. But I just can’t seem to pry myself loose from these short Sprinter-based RVs! I love driving them, love the way they can go just about anywhere, and I feel most “at home” and cozy when I’m living in one.
But that said, if I were traveling as a couple rather than solo, I’d be looking at bigger Class A’s or Fifth-Wheels pronto (two people have more stuff and really often do need more space)! One of these bigger rigs still might be in my future someday too when I slow down travels and wish to stay “parked” for longer time periods. For now though (with plans to visit the far corners of the Americas in my first few years of full-timing), nothing beats the fuel economy-to-comfort-ratio of the View! The narrow width, and short wheelbase will be perfect for navigating mountain curves and ferry rides to Alaska, Newfoundland, Baja, and beyond!
When I bought my 2005 Sprinter Cargo Van last year, I was immediately impressed by the first generation Sprinter T1N chassis compared to my 2008 View’s 2nd generation NCV3 chassis. Yes, the older T1N is an odd 5-cylinder rather than a V6, and has less overall cargo capacity, but it’s still a winner for my needs:
I’m loving the much larger external cargo bay of the J model! This winter, I carried my (3) 60-watt solar panels, a few bag chairs, an awning mat, patio lights, LP grill, and a few plastic tubs of miscellaneous gear in this space.
While this model featured a split mattress where the outer half could be slid on top of the inner half to accommodate taller items in the bay (such as a bike or golf clubs), the reality is that those bigger, heavier items are more wisely carried in the toad to conserve the View’s precious cargo capacity for more living essentials.
I love still having a skylight in this View. That was one of my most-favorite features of the last one! It’s great on a colder day to let the sunshine warm up the rig.
I’m also loving the front cabinets (rather than an overhead bed). I’m able to stow large plastic tubs to keep all kinds of miscellaneous gear well-organized and easily accessible. While I could have still done this with a bed, it just seems a bit more secure (and visually pleasing) to have these things behind solid wood doors.
I thought I would dearly miss the H-model’s sofa (where I now have a dinette), but it was so uncomfortable to sit or lay on, that I’ve really not missed that sofa at all! When I want to sit, the 2 swivel reclining cab seats are more comfortable. If I want to stretch out and read, either propping up in the rear bed, or sitting width-wise on one of the dinette benches works just great.
Now that I’ve decided to use an arm-mounted monitor for TV watching (rather than the J’s TV over the door), the J will be just as comfortable as the H in that regard.
For a long time, I praised the virtues of having an RV pantry and swore I’d never buy an RV without one…that was, until I bought this RV without one! But, I’ve discovered that the J’s dinette storage has proven to be bigger and more usable than the H’s tall/narrow/deep pantry.
Beneath each dinette bench are doors that flip down. The dinette storage bays are carpeted, so I keep a plastic “under the bed” storage tub in each bin. These easily slide in and out, and are great for storing larger items (like Millie’s dog food, or bulk foods).
In the overhead dinette cabinets, I store everyday cooking items—spices, grains, cans and bags of prepared foods, etc.
While the J’s kitchen cabinets are a bit smaller than the H’s, I’ve found that most of my kitchen stuff continues to fit into it just fine.
I do miss having the nice rear window of the H’s bath and also really miss the “disappearing” pocket door (the J’s curved door can get in the way at times), but otherwise, the slightly smaller shower of the J has worked out just fine and I like the soap tray and shampoo bottle trays being together and above the faucet (rather than on opposite ends of the H’s shower). I also love, love, LOVE my Oxygenics showerhead with it’s separate on/off switch (mounted right below the faucet knobs).
I never really liked the clothes closet of the H being in the bathroom (and half of it being difficult to access in a corner space). The J’s closet is taller and very accessible across from the fridge.
Some folks might initially think to use the J’s closet as a pantry and store their hanging clothes on the removable pole in the shower. But I would caution this approach! My used J came with a sizeable U-shaped crack in the shower wall around one of the pole holders (it’s currently caulked, but it’s a very visual reminder that the shower pole is not meant to be as “load-bearing” as the closet pole!). I currently have a lightweight hanging organizer on my shower pole that carries only my super-lightweight stuff (like spare rolls of TP and paper towels, extra bath towels, etc).
Perhaps my biggest complaint about my H-model View was the lack of a permanent bed (that didn’t require climbing a ladder to get to!). So it’s little wonder that the bed is my favorite feature of my new J-model View!
I always used to think that a permanent bed was such a space-waster in an RV. You only use it at night, so why have it taking up so much space during the day? Well, now that I have one—it gets used day and night!
On one long driving day this past winter, it was cold, sunny, and extremely windy. By mid-afternoon, I was getting tired of wrestling the steering wheel and squinting into the sun ahead of me on the road. When I stopped at a little rest area, I noticed the sun was now bathing the rear bed with comforting warmth, so what the heck, I just jumped up there and took a lovely little nap for 20 minutes! No bed-making, or slide-outs to fool with—everything was just ready and instantly waiting for me! Millie takes full advantage of this feature too and is never without a nice place to rest her lazy bones as we drive.
Another benefit of this bed is the very large hidden internal storage (beneath a flip-up top hatch at the front curve portion of the bed). I stored a Winter’s worth of Millie’s dog food in here, as well as other big bulky stuff for our Mexico travels. The RV was inspected 4 times by Customs agents and not once did any of them check (or know of) this space! In the US, I can use it to hide camera and computer gear if parking somewhere where the potential for theft might be an issue (i.e. at a popular tourist attraction).
In my original post, besides the bed, I had wished for an onboard washer/dryer. That problem is now solved with my handy-dandy portable system!
I also wished for more comfortable dinette seats. That’s not totally solved, but it’s been improved greatly with the J’s wider seats, and also my cool little Backjoy if I’m needing to sit at the dinette and work on the computer for a while.
I still don’t have an internal fireplace in this new J, nor do I have a piano. So I guess those are a few things to still wish for. But those are rather minor in the whole scheme of thing.
Now that I’m preparing to full-time in the J, I really do wish that my clothes closet were bigger than a postage stamp, and that I had some giant big basement storage areas on this rig (rather than having to carry so many of the big items in the toad such as kayak and bike). But for now, I’m happy to make those sacrifices in order to get the improved mobility and fuel economy for my long-distance travels.
Will I ever yearn again for real furniture, a real bathtub, and a living space larger than 200 square feet? I’m sure I will at some point. But for now, I’m extremely happy with my little J home and am looking forward to the next few years of travel and adventure!
Wow, it’s May already. For most working “weekend warriors” in the northern states, May signals the start of a new camping season! Time to pull the RV out of storage, or maybe even head on over to the nearby RV dealer to trade-in or buy a first RV for the new camping season!
Around this time of year, I start getting more frequent requests from readers who are looking to get started into RVing and wanting suggestions on how to outfit their new rigs.
But, lets face it, they’re not the only ones! Around this time of year, us old-timers are usually looking for something fun and new to add to our camping enjoyment too!
With that in mind, I decided to organize a collection of 300 of my most-favorite things for RV travel. Some of these “finds” are things I’ve blogged about in the past and/or have featured on my RV Gadget Favs or Mobile Tech Favs pages. But lots more items have never been featured before—even though I love and use them often!
So, today, that changes!
I’d like to introduce you to the WinnieViews Gear We Love website!
Here, I’ve gathered 300 of our favorite RVing, Travel, Reading, Tech, Entertainment, Photo, Hiking, Biking, Paddling, 4-wheel drive, and Camping items into (hopefully) a single, easy-to-navigate website.
Not to be left out, Millie has also contributed a collection of her favorite doggie stuff as well!
We’re using Amazon storefront technology to showcase these items, so you’ll not only see our own comments about each item, but Amazon’s customer reviews and pricing as well.
The site also features an Amazon Shopping Cart to facilitate any purchases you might want to make from them (WinnieViews is not at all involved— it’s all “normal Amazon” once you begin the check-out process and you’ll see Amazon’s familiar full website and shopping cart to complete your transaction).
The only thing I’ve not found very intuitive with this new site is how to add items to your Amazon Wishlist (if you want to save something for the future). The best work-around I can suggest is when you’re on one of Gear We Love item pages (like the screenshot above), click the “customer reviews” link. That will take you to the full Amazon site, and you can add it to your Wishlist from there.
In the coming days, I’ll be reorganizing my previous RV Gadget Favs page to just show the remaining favorites we could not include on this new website (i.e. the non-Amazon things like my recent discovery of Elgato Software’s EyeTV 3, and others).
You can get to the Gear We Love website via the link below, or from it’s tab along the header of our blog page.
Hope you find these “favorite things” helpful, and I really hope you might find a little gem in there that delights you as much as it’s delighted me (and Millie)!!! If you have questions or want further feedback about anything, just contact me via comments below or email me at winnieviews@gmail.com.
Happy camping!
When I left for Mexico last November, I suspended my DISH Network subscription since American DISH channels were not available in Mexico. So, when I got back to Chicago earlier this month, since I had not been watching much of any TV over the past 4 months, I thought it’d be a good time to finally “cut the cable” and try going with just over-the-air (OTA) television for awhile and supplementing that with a $7.99/mo Netflix DVD subscription (and renting occasional Redbox movies too if desired).
So far, with Chicago’s 50+ OTA channels, this approach has been working just great and I’m enjoying the $60/mo savings! Now, I think I’ll be cancelling DISH permanently and selling the Winegard Carryout, ladder mount, and DISH receiver.
I’ve loved my new J floorplan tremendously so far, except for one issue-- the default TV position above the door. You’re forced to only sit in the dinette benches and crane your neck up to the ceiling to watch TV!
Another full-timing challenge is how to best do my photo editing. I’ve got a 26” NEC pro photo monitor at the house that I would REALLY like to bring full-timing in the View, but I just can’t justify the added weight and space unless it could do double-duty and replace the View’s TV as well.
Fortunately, I’ve now figured out a way to do just that and solve both problems. As an added bonus, this solution will also even give me some cool DVR capabilities as well so I can record shows when I’m in larger metro areas and watch them later when I’m in the boonies!
Here’s the new setup:
The monitor is mounted onto a heavy-duty HP articulating arm (actually a rebranded Ergotron LX) that clamps onto the dinette table and allows the monitor to be positioned high, low, near, far, or even swung around to be viewed from the rear bed!
Windows users have a lot of options when it comes to TV Tuners. But for us Mac folks, we currently only have one solution—a SiliconDust HDHomeRun Dual Tuner (HDHR-4). Fortunately, it’s a high-quality, small, lightweight box that works really well!
While the HDHomeRun can be used with the free VLC media player software, that solution was a bit clunky to change channels and seemed to pixelate more channels than a normal TV set. But once I bought the recommended Elgato EyeTV 3 software ($79), those problems were eliminated and TV-watching via the Mac is now a fantastic experience!
EyeTV 3 has a terrific interface that is more readable and functional than my old DISH DVR receivers (which I had been happy with for years)!
All features are accessible using a simple Apple Remote and my old eyes appreciate the large, easy-to-read text! EyeTV lets you pause live TV, record it to your Mac, and offers a variety of program guide and scheduling features.
Channel changing can be done from the Apple Remote itself, or via the quick-scroll selector above.
The Program Guide is delivered via TVGuide and is free for the first year (and $20/yr after that).
To set up the system, I just unscrewed the existing Jensen TV’s cable from the Antenna booster (in the cabinet above the sink on a J model), and plugged in a new TV cable to run to my HDHomeRun box.
When an HDHomeRun is installed in a typical home setting, it is usually attached via an Ethernet cable to a Wifi Router. Computers, tablets, etc can then access the TV signal via a wired LAN or wireless Wifi connection. But since I’ll just be using the HDHomeRun with one computer/monitor in the RV, I just connect it directly to my Mac with an Ethernet cable.
The HDHomeRun is not much bigger than the tee tiny Apple Remote!
For sound, I could just have it play right through my Mac laptop speakers. But, since I updated my cab stereo to a Sony Bluetooth model, I can stream the sound from my Mac to play through my stereo speakers!
Even better, I can flip the toggle switch in the RV to “Radio” and allow the cab stereo to also use the 2 speakers and subwoofer in the center of the coach so that I now have a full “surround sound” experience just like home!
The final bit of coolness to complete the system is an iPhone app called TV Towers USA that lets you see the coverage area of every free OTA TV station in the US, and also includes a compass to help you know exactly which way to point your RV antenna to get the strongest possible signal (additionally, both HDHomeRun and EyeTV provide signal meters per station to aid in getting the antenna into the best position).
I’ll likely be removing the over-the-door Jensen TV to reclaim the 20 lbs of cargo weight capacity, and will tidy up the HDHomeRun installation so that Millie and I aren’t tripping over cables. I’ll also probably make a slipcover for the monitor to keep it as free from dust as possible when not in use and/or being transported.
Awesome sauce! I am one happy “gadget girl” today with this new setup!
Thursday morning was “moving day” for Millie and me. We were moving to our second reserved site for the week at Big Bend National Park’s Rio Grande Village—this one right next to Suzanne’s site. It was also perfect timing to go refill our fresh water tank at the dump station (since none of the sites here have hookups).
With that task completed and now all moved in, it was now time to play! Yesterday’s winds were now gone and we could go do the hike we had planned to the Grapevine Hills Trail. It was rated as an easy 2 1/4 mile desert hike in the park brochures, so right up my alley (but likely a bit of a bore for Suzanne’s more adventurous hiking legs).
After a 30-mile drive along the park highway, and an additional 6-mile drive down a gravel road, we arrived to the trailhead to pull into the last parking space left in the lot…whew! Most of the trail was a flat, straight walk along a sandy wash surrounded by mountains of laccolith boulder rocks that reminded me a bit of the giant Jumbo Rocks I’d seen at Joshua Tree National Park a few years ago.
It was an easy, pleasant walk punctuated with a few photo stops to photograph the blooming yucca.
Soon, the trail began to steeply climb into the boulder hills providing a magnificent view of the valley below!
Higher and higher we climbed!
Now stopping for a few photo ops of each other so we could catch our breath!
Incredibly, the boulders got larger the higher we climbed!
After scrambling the summit and carefully making our way around the cliff edge of one final set of big boulders, we saw the trail’s final highlight—Balanced Rock! Wow, what a thrill!
Suzanne scrambled down the other side and found a large flat rock where we could sit and admire the view…and what a spectacular view it was!
We hiked a bit further along the ridgeline to get a few more shots of Balanced Rock (being ever so careful to watch for any snakes sunning themselves on the rocks as the park brochure had warned!)
This had been my most challenging hike of the week so far, and I (err…Ethel) was feeling absolutely elated and invincible! Where was all this newfound strength and confidence coming from?
I could just about lift and throw this large boulder with my own two hands! But alas, I decided to leave it for the next middle-aged woman to claim her victory pose 
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And now for a few miscellaneous blog updates--
If you read these posts from an RSS reader (like the excellent, free Feedly reader I use!), you might want to click on over to the main WinnieViews blog page to take a look at our new header photo! As much as I loved the old one, it needed updating to show our newer J-model View, so a quick snap of our new rig at Big Bend did the trick!
While you’re at the blog’s homepage, scroll down and take a look at the “We Recommend” sidebar (as well as my RV Gadget Favs page) for some new items I’ve found and am totally in love with, including these:
BackJoy Relief Seat: Sitting in my straight 90-degree RV dinette bench seat used to be very uncomfortable on my tailbone (especially when starting to stand up again!), but this lightweight, easy-to-store Backjoy seat has now eliminated that pain and, amazingly, makes sitting in the bench seat now a pleasure!
Unsure if it was just a fluke, I had Suzanne also try it out on her tailbone, and she’s now a believer too in this space-aged, featherweight little seat!
Travasak Lives Again!: Speaking of RV comforts, I recently discovered that CampingWorld has brought my beloved Travasak bedding system back to life! The original company went bankrupt in 2009, and I was recently lamenting that my old Travasak sheets were starting to look pretty raggedy. But it now appears CW might be riding to the rescue! If anyone buys some of the new stuff, let me know what you think! I’ll probably be in the market real soon to update mine!
Amazon Link: Finally, while we’re on the subject of shopping, you may have noticed the Amazon link that’s been appearing at the bottom of my posts lately. Many bloggers have now become Amazon affiliates. It lets you help out your favorite blog while doing your regular Amazon shopping. No additional cost to you, and a few extra pennies to us bloggers trying to keep up with the high cost of cellular bandwidth and diesel fuel to share these posts with our dear readers! 
Well, recently one very thoughtful reader emailed to tell me she’d be making a major $1000+ purchase from Amazon and wanted to be sure I got the affiliate credit for it. After our email exchange, she clicked my Amazon link to finish up her purchases and buy all the stuff she had been holding in her Amazon Wishlist. The next day, she excitedly wrote me back “did you get it? did you get it?” (referring to the affiliate credit).
Unfortunately, I did not
It turns out that even if you click the link below and see the “winni0b-20” tag at the end of the URL in your web browser’s address bar, Amazon will only credit us for the new items you might add to your shopping cart or wishlist during that session. Any existing wishlist items that you might be purchasing won’t count (Amazon won’t consider these as being referred by WinnieViews since you had already had them on your Wishlist before using our link).
So, a slight refinement request for the link text below-- please start your Amazon dreaming and Wishlist-ing from the link! Amazon will then send a few pennies back to WinnieViews for any of those items you might ultimately purchase from them. Sincere thanks from Lynne and Millie!
![WV GearWeLove[17]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLE-ISxopIjOVddOwX14vVuUP8MnIWNYxpJhaBRgwKVnFarButMu1h_QWtOwsghIuyhsGB-2JTetBakFIlD8syYhn3SNfms2gxYAHI9sQ2y8FGGQuG0WAbu0Fndu0U_p8MSX82XglQnjs/?imgmax=800 "WV GearWeLove[17]")
