If you have a solid bumper on the rear of your travel trailer, 5th wheel or motorhome you may want to consider employing a toolbox like this. It makes a great table and workbench when closed. 
John and Barbra Thompson have been full time RVers for 12 years and live in a Travel Supreme 5th Wheel with this toolbox affixed to the back. John says it's so strong that he even stands on it when washing the coach. 
Though the actual toolbox was custom made, the rack holding it in place is actually two spare tire holders welded with cross member supports. The tire holders bracket the toolbox and are bolted to the bumper for a nice application. 
John bolted a block of wood to one of the tire holder brackets in order to hold and transport his electric trolling motor. 
Any welding shop can do this for you, but you may want to have a custom toolbox built as well. For that you'll need to contact a company like Brunner’s Fabrication in Joplin Missouri
Custom Toolboxes . As far as a diving platform goes just back up to a pristine lake and away you go! Jim
John and Barbra Thompson have been full time RVers for 12 years and live in a Travel Supreme 5th Wheel with this toolbox affixed to the back. John says it's so strong that he even stands on it when washing the coach. Though the actual toolbox was custom made, the rack holding it in place is actually two spare tire holders welded with cross member supports. The tire holders bracket the toolbox and are bolted to the bumper for a nice application. John bolted a block of wood to one of the tire holder brackets in order to hold and transport his electric trolling motor. Any welding shop can do this for you, but you may want to have a custom toolbox built as well. For that you'll need to contact a company like Brunner’s Fabrication in Joplin Missouri Custom Toolboxes . As far as a diving platform goes just back up to a pristine lake and away you go! Jim
He has been a featured speaker/lecturer/expert panel member at the Gila Bend Hughes.net satellite rally for the last 3 years I’ve been attending and probably even before that. When he gives a presentation, people listen because he knows what he’s talking about and he also holds some innovative patents on satellite internet gear. 
He is famous for his “Dish-On-A-Stick.com” website and company. You can reach him through his website here 
Also, plan ahead to apply for your passport because it takes a while to get them processed. With this new law that was passed by Congress in 2004, “The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative,” the passport system could get “jammed up” with a huge influx of people applying at the last minute. So, why not apply now and be done with it. Jim
I solved this annoying problem by putting my key on a neck strap key-keeper with a detachable key ring. 
This way I have my key with me at all times and don’t have to try and remember where I left it. It makes life MUCH easier both when setting up and breaking down camp. 
He almost sheered off the utility pedestal when he pulled in. He spent the next 15 minutes pulling forward and backing up into this pull-through site until he had it where he "thought" he wanted it. After what seemed like a long time, a loud exchange erupted between the husband and wife, “What are you doing, you can’t pull forward!” “What do you mean? What’s it gonna hurt if I pull forward…” and on it went. It took him well over an hour to get it all hooked up. Not bad for a newbie – I hope this didn’t cause a divorce.
I usually stop, get out and survey the spot before I pull in.
Please don’t get in a hurry when positioning your rig into your campsite. Don’t take all day, but also don’t be intimidated by someone waiting while you back in – it’s an RV campground and the RV etiquette book says they must wait patiently until you are safely off the road. 
Before you pull into or back into your campsite look for low tree branches extending over the site. If you have a large rig and back under a tree branch, you could tear your roof, rip off an air conditioner, vent or solar panel. I’ve passed up nice camping sites and driven back to the office to request a different site just because a tree limb was too close for comfort. 
After I’ve done a visual inspection of the site, I like to identify exactly where I will put my street side (port or driver side) front wheel of our 5th wheel (this is the side of your rig where your hook-ups are located). Determine where you want to position your RV relative to the hook-ups. Is there a power pedestal where my slide outs will extend? 
I don’t want to bump into a power pedestal or a post with my slides. Also, I don’t want to have to put an extension on my electric power chord if I can avoid it. Notice in the next picture that the power cord barley makes it to the utility pedestal.
I also want the sewer drain to be relatively close to the sewer hook-up but that’s not always possible. Also, try to position the sewer drain on your rig uphill from the sewer hook-up at the site. 
Trying to make sewage move uphill is a challenging task – don’t try it unless you have a macerator. 
After all these determinations (which only take a few seconds once you’ve done it a few times) I usually mark the ground with a visual marker for where I want to line up the wheels of my coach. 
You can use anything as a marker, a rock or stick just as long as you can see it with your mirrors or you can have someone stand two feet off to the side and two feet behind (for a pull-through) or in front (if a back-in) where the wheels will eventually rest. You do this because you may need to level your RV and you need the two feet in order to pull up on the leveling boards.
Self leveling motor coaches skip this step unless you're on a slope: Once I have the 5er at this point I check to see if it is level and if I need to level one side or the other, I put the leveling boards in place prior to pulling forward (or backing) into the final stopping position. We also use handheld radios when backing into a site, and Marilyn can tell me when the wheels are on top of the leveling boards. 
Before we extend the slide I double check that we’re not going to hit any obstacles. If you are not 100% sure you will clear the obstacle, measure and reposition the rig if necessary. 
Following this procedure or something like it will give you confidence in you parking ability and actually make setting up faster. It will also set the tone for a happy camping experience! Jim
For around $60 bucks you’ll be able to see a Nurse Practitioner on a walk-in basis and have your medical needs taken care of. A Nurse Practitioner is qualified to do medical diagnosis, write prescriptions and refer you to specialist medical care when necessary. So now you can camp out, have a medical exam and get your prescriptions filled all in the same day. Sweet!
Will I slow down my RVing? No!
OK, so there you have it. What do you plan to do? Please leave us your thoughts by clicking on the “comments” section (written in pale blue letters) below this article. Drive safe out there! Jim
Therefore, in the spirit of fairness I would like you to nominate the state you think has the best roads and the one with the worst roads. My personal nomination for best roads (including, smoothness, rest areas, signage, passing lanes and beauty) is the state of Oregon. My nomination of the state with the worst roads is Missouri. Click on “Comments” below and tell us your choices.
Now, with the invention of SeeLevel sensor technology by Garnet Instruments we can actually get accurate tank readings – no lie! 
Don Shapansky was using this technology in commercial and industrial applications for fuel tanks, tank trucks, oil refineries and other tanks. After he purchased his first RV and the tank sensors “lied” to him, he decided to apply this commercial technology to his RV tanks. 
SeeLevel sensors use a radio signal to determine the height of a liquid in a holding tank. It is an AM signal to be exact and using capacitance it measures the radio waves to determine the fluid level. When the AM signal is sent through the side wall of the tank and enters fluid it “curls” back and tells the sensor where the fluid level is precisely located. 
You can install this system yourself. The sender unit is mounted on a flexible ribbon which has a special adhesive developed by 3M for this particular application. 
All you do is clean off the area on the tank where you are going to affix the sender strips, peel of the backing and stick them on. You can hook these senders together for whatever height your tank is and you can cut them to length. The other great thing about the ease of installation is the fact that you can hook three separate tanks onto two wires because of a common bus. You can use the existing wire from your previous readout gauge. This system is digital, not analog, and is self calibrating so it just doesn’t get any better than this! Call them at (817) 578-8601 or visit them on the web: 
How many times has a little car zipped around you and then pulled back in front of you only to put on the brakes? They have no idea that they are putting their lives in jeopardy. We all know that a small car is going to come out on the “short side of the stick” in a tangle with a big rig. What we need is better manners on the road! What can RVers do? How about lending a helping hand to those we share the road with?
Flash your headlights once when they are well clear of you and it’s safe to reenter the right hand lane. Most of the time they will “flash” you back with their tail lights signaling their appreciation. 
I usually watch the truck driver’s right hand mirror and when he looks in the mirror to see if she is clear, that’s when I flash my headlights. These folks drive hard and they bring us our food, our medicine and everything else, so please be kind to them. 
What to do about the foul mouthed truckers? Turn off the CB or change the channel, what else can I say? That’s an area where truckers need to police themselves. Every profession has its share of bad apples, but overall commercial truck drivers are a good lot! Be safe out there! Jim
It really isn’t new, because mankind has been using cobblestone pavement for centuries. What this new pavement does is allow rain water to seep back into the ground instead of running off the road, into a ditch and then contaminating a stream. The new pavement traps oils and metals from runoff and prevents them from entering the water system. 
These new streets (the way they are currently constructed) will not be used for high speed freeways because they fill the holes between the bricks with gravel. 
This new pavement is being used for residential streets and parking areas. It is good for snow areas because it allows the snow to melt and drain into the ground. 
Maryland and the District of Columbia will begin using permeable pavement on road upgrade projects next year. What does this mean for us RVers? Well, you might notice a slightly different ride and if you open the windows you may notice a little more noise. Charles Taylor, general manager of Advanced Pavement Technology tells me this pavement can stand up to the weight of commercial trucking and RVs without buckling. For you RV park owners out there, I’m thinking this pavement system would make really good RV parking pads. You can read more about this new pavement here: 
Go to your local film processing place and ask them for a couple empty plastic film canisters.
Quarters fit neatly in these handy canisters and you can throw them in the glove compartment or the bottom of your laundry hamper and you’ll be ready next time you need to feed the washer and dryer. 
Westville is not a historic town, but a collection of over 30 authentic historic buildings relocated on 83 acres of land and brought to life every day by craftsmen, artisans and “interpreters” in full period costume. 
Ten year old Alundra Thornton demonstrates an 1850’s ring toss game called "Graces". Potter Stephen Hawks demonstrates his craft using the ancient potter’s wheel and hand fired kiln. 
What did they do before central heat and air conditioning? The Moye House demonstrates how they “rigged” their homes for the changing seasons. In winter they used heavy curtains and laid down heavy carpets to keep drafts from coming up through the cracks in the wooden floors and to help hold in the heat from the fireplace. 
During the summer they removed the carpets and heavy curtains. They used grass mats on the floors and light colored slip covers on the furniture and light weight and airy curtains. Air circulated under, around and through the house to help keep it cool. Nice big shade trees also helped them keep cool. 
The Chattahoochee County Courthouse was rescued from destruction, carefully dismantled board by board, brick by brick and reconstructed on this site. Former President Jimmy Carter’s grandfather was a tax collector in this building. 
The 1840 Harris Farmhouse is one of the last remaining two story “dog-trot” open breezeway log homes in the world. “Southern hospitality” has its roots in the traveler’s guest room located at the right hand side of this structure.
In homes like this it was the custom to have a separate room set aside specifically for travelers to spend the night.
If the door was open it was a signal that the room was unoccupied and available for use.
It’s a working replica of an 1851 cotton baling press with a real cotton gin in the bakground. Cotton was placed in the bailing box and animal power turned the huge wooden vertical “screw” pressing the cotton into a tidy 500 pound bail. These bails were then shipped to New England, Brittan and Holland.
One of the interpreters cooked up some gingerbread muffins and boy were they good, washed down with some of the best tasting lemonade on the planet. 
Ever get frustrated untangling power cords? Just look what weaver Janette Greene has to contend with. She takes this tangle of threads and turns it into beautiful fabric. Not many people know how to do it like this anymore. 
Leviticus Williams demonstrates candle making - they didn't have electric lights back then.
Don’t forget the gift shop where you can purchase Stephen’s pottery, period reproduction toys and all from inside an authentic 1850’s store. 
While there ask shopkeeper Debbie Pope why the door and window shutters have hundreds of extra nails in them.
Westville is located in Lumpkin, Georgia and is open 10-5 daily. RV parking is available in the top parking lot on the grass. Make an immediate left turn after entering the gate for RV parking. There is also an RV park next door. This magical place has so many wonderful buildings, craftsmen and interpreters I can't begin to describe it all. You'll just have to hop in the RV and check it out for yourself. 
Admission is $10.00 adults, $8.00 for military, college and seniors and K-12 $4.00. Call them at (888) 733-1850 or visit them on the web here: 
