First Snow

   We received our first dusting of snow last night. The temperature got down to 30 degrees however we remained toasty warm. We only had to run one of our two furnaces. This tell us our RV was very well constructed. More snow is in our forecast for this morning and evening. There is nothing that we know of that would cause us to be out in this weather. Isn’t retirement wonderful? 

DVD Storage, Is It Needed?

Living in an RV no matter what the size there is always a limited amount of room to store items. One must also take in to consideration the added weight of the items chosen to store. Simple items like DVDs can add up in weight, not only the actual DVD but the case although light add up in volume.

We chose to convert all 681 of our DVDs movies to AVI format and place them on a 1TB hard drive. The benefits this offers us is there are no DVD disk/cases to store and locating a certain movie is super fast. We use either Windows Media Player or VLC Media Player to view our movies in full screen mode on our 22 inch flat screen no glare monitor.

How we did this:

First we copied a DVD to our hard drive using a program named DVDFab. This program rips the files from the DVD so they can be copied to your hard drive. DVDFab can be found on the internet for downloading and installing.

Next we converted the DVD movie file to AVI movie format using Prism Video Converter. AVI movie format take up a lot less disk space than DVD format. Example: 3:10 to Yuma in DVD format uses 4.3 GB, in AVI format it uses 0.7 GB and plays at the same quality as the DVD format. Prism Video Converter can also be downloaded off the internet.

Some DVD movies are over 4.7 GB so when converting to AVI format the program will split the AVI movie in to 2 separate files. These two files will need to be reconnected in order to view the full movie without interruption. (starting the second half of the movie).

To connect the two halves of a split AVI movie we use VirtualDub. This program can also be downloaded off the internet. Example: Waterworld in AVI format was split into two 0.7 GB AVI movie files. Using VirtualDub we were able to connect both parts into one AVI movie file that is 1.4 GB

Getting Ready for Winter

The weather has started to turn cold now so we started getting ready for winter. We shortened the water hose that feeds the RV and wrapped it with a low voltage heat tape. We also covered the hose and tape with insulation and duct taped over it as well.

Our water inlet, black water and gray water tank drains are located in a basement bay. To ward off freezing in this area we placed a shop light with a 40 watt bulb in the bay. We may need to change the bulb to a 75 or 100 watt bulb when the temperature gets below 20 degrees.

We leave the gray water drain open and only close it during the time we drain the black water. The drain hose is set at a good elevation so no water is standing in it. This will help stop any freezing in the drain hose.

Our fresh water tank is located under our bed and is empty. It will remain empty until we start traveling.

Update

We spent the morning washing the drivers side of our RV. It didn’t seen to do much good other than remove the top layer of dirt and grit.

There is so much crazing that we think we may have to use a fine grit sand paper to get the dark lines out. We will do some research before we attempt any sanding. The decals will have to remain crazed unless we decide to replace them.   

Later today if the wind doesn’t pick up we may wash the other side. We will wait a while before we apply wax. If it turns out that we can sand off the crazing then after sanding would be the time to put on the wax.

The front and back of the RV doesn’t have any crazing.

Up On The Roof

Today we took time to inspect the RV roof and make any repairs necessary. Repairs were made easy using Thetford premium rubber roof cleaner & conditioner and applying Eternabond Microsealant tape where needed. We feel better knowing the roof is ready for snowfall.

Interesting RV Chat

Last night while searching Google for similar full time RV blogs we ran across an interesting web site that contains an RV chat. The site is RV-Dreams.com , which not only has a live chat, it has over 130 pages packed full of information.

We decided to check out this new found RV chat room and met several wonderful people that are either RV-ers or want to be RV-ers. Some were full time and some were weekenders. Either way all had an interest in RV-ing. We enjoyed the chat room very much and plan to be regular visitors

Thank you RV-Dreams.com for hosting such a wonderful means for RV lovers to gather and communicate in a live chat environment.

We have received several inquiries from people that are interested in our new life style. Many are concerned about the cost of an RV in today's economy. Although the appeal of living in a small environment with fewer monthly costs is the main attraction the fear of the start up cost is a deterrent.

We are very proud of our modest 35 foot RV. It was advertised as a 1989 model, however it is indeed a 1990 model and it is soon to be 20 years old.

The exterior does look weathered and could use another cleaning. The interior was not in the best of condition when we purchased it, however with a bit of soap and elbow grease it was easy to get back in to a comfortable living condition.

Our purchase price was less than $7,000 and at that price we did expect that we would be required to spend some money to get our RV in to a reliable traveling condition as well as make it livable within our own standards.

Although our RV is not be best looking RV in the park, our comfort is no less than those that have better looking or newer RVs. So do not let the age of an RV stop you from pursuing your dream. Your home is what you make it and best of all, it is not a keep up with the Jones' life style when it comes to living full time in an RV.

Regardless of the age of your RV, it is a better life style then you could imagine, if you have only dreamed the dream.

We are also asked, "How much does it cost to live in an RV?". The answer to that is "How much do you want living in an RV to cost?" After the cost of your camp site, how much do you want to spend?

Larger through illusion

Today we decided to make a change to the appearance of our overhead cabinets in the living room. There are nine overhead cabinet doors. Three of the doors had mirrors covered with stencils. Frosted background with gold trim and flowers. These stenciled doors were not in the best of conditions. All had some sort of flaking and deterioration.
Course of action: Take the doors off the cabinets, remove the stencils, clean the mirrors, reinstall the doors.

Tools needed:
Square tip screwdriver
Single edge razor blades
Windex
70% alcohol

We removed the screw on the door support then removed the top screws on the hinges. Placed the door face up to the table and removed the stencil using a single edge razor blade. Next we cleaned the mirror with Windex and used the razor blade again to remove any traces of the stencil we missed. Next we cleaned the mirror again with 70% alcohol which removes any streaks left by the Windex. Lastly we reinstalled the cabinet door.

Maybe it was plain luck or the fact that the stencils were on the mirrors for over 20 years, either way it took less than 30 minutes to complete each door.

Before:

After:

After completing the cabinet doors project the living room had the illusion of being much larger than before. We like the outcome very much and plan to remove the stencils from the overhead cabinet doors that are in our bedroom in the near future.

Water Leak Found

Yesterday we found water on the bathroom floor. Not much water but enough to get our full attention. Being a Sunday and no where to purchase actual RV parts we were a bit worried.


The water leak was coming from the feed valve on the toilet. Each time we stepped on the valve lever a few drops of water would spritz out. The water valve has an end cap on the bottom that contains a spring. We removed the end cap and reseated it which stopped the leak.


This morning we went to our local RV parts shop and purchased a spare water valve to have on hand. Next time we have a water leak from this valve we will not panic, simply replace it with the spare.


The $45.00 we spent on the spare water valve is worth having peace of mind knowing we don't have to panic.