On this day, a person was being trained at the front desk. That is something that has to happen with any business but in this case and with the line backing up, I was wishing the manager would have taken over to get things done. A company worker doing landscape work came in and needed some assistance with something so the manager left with him. This left the trainee to flounder by herself and really not accomplish anything. Another ten minutes go by and the manager comes back to help solve the check in problem. I’m still third in line but they start to catch up. The staff was certainly friendly and helpful just not too concerned with the efficiency of time. They also have a Christmas Store in the office. It seems a bit odd in the middle of summer, maybe even creepy with some rather religious items, but we’ve all seen those year around Christmas stores before. And I would guess this gets some other kinds of business when people aren’t there to camp in peak season.

So after the long twenty (20) minute check in time, I get a spot off in the corner and away from others. The sun came out and the day was totally different than the hours that preceded check in. So I had an isolated spot since I didn’t need any hookups. That was nice and the construction crew was about done for the day. If I had been there earlier or stayed later the next day, the construction and constant beeping would have been a bit annoying at full price.

I think I would still recommend this KOA for people who go to KOA campgrounds or need site services. All of the little problems I had were not going to happen to everyone else and no place is perfect. They were smaller systemic issues that hopefully will get corrected for the price that is charged.

The facilities were in decent shape. The mens bathroom had some wear and tear late in the evening. I’ve seen much worse and wouldn’t call it a big negative but I’ve also seen much better. My family used the playground.  We watched some dogs and their owners use the pet area. It seemed like it either every dog was there at once, barking and jumping at each other or there were none at all. They all had the same schedule. There were some neighborhood boys who came and used the playground as well, riding their bikes all over, getting into a shouting match and fighting before leaving around dinner time.

The last issue I had at this stop was that I bought firewood at the campground. The bag was on the porch and looked like it had been out of the rain. It turned out to be rather green and wet. In the evening, I saw some young people grabbing the wood out back after it was recently cut (and in the two day rain period we just had) and putting it in dry bags to carry to that covered porch. No one can control the weather but it’s probably best not to sell a dry bag of wet firewood when most buyers are probably going to want to use it that night. So I wound saving most of the wood for later on down the road.

By Adam Longfellow

Rhyolite, Nevada - Image by AllStays.com

RVs are very complicated with many different working parts and products coming from many different vendors and manufacturers. Things eventually go wrong or not work together as they should.

Is it a poor product to begin with? Is it poor quality control at the factory? Is it poor installation? Is it improper operation or maintenance?

Repetition, denial and the importance of the internet

How many times has the same part failed on you? I have learned that if it fails once, it’ll probably fail again. This is a big issue with RVs. The same part is replaced over and over again and the owner is usually charged for it. Even if it is covered under a warranty, it costs you time and transportation. Thanks to the internet, we can find many cases where owners of a particular model will have that same failed part. We can determine that it’s not the owner’s fault and it should be a recalled part or replaced under warranty. But the manufacturer denies the problem. The chassis maker blames the RV company and vice versa. I’ve seen this happen for years and sometimes it is a very dangerous failure that could cause an accident. Admitting fault can cost a company more than replacing thousands of parts, so they don’t do it. They deny it because in the old days, no one would figure it out. We know better today.

Sometimes you can even find a third party that decided to manufacture the part in a better way. You may wind up buying a replacement part from a small machine shop that does it right because the RV manufacturer won’t admit fault or make a reliable part. I have.

Good dealers who can provide reliable service

This is my biggest problem. Finding dealers that I can trust. I have found the lists of authorized service centers to be inaccurate. You call and they won’t work on your RV even though they are supposed to under a contract. Some dealers won’t work on your RV unless you bought it form them. Duh. People travel in RVs. You are not always at home when a problem occurs. That is one of the dumbest business practices I have ever heard.

Even if you have a good dealer in your home town, chances are good that someday somewhere you’ll need to find one on the road. Where do you go? The closest one. And they may be incompetent, careless or just in the practice of price gouging travelers. Try to make a comment in their presence that subtly lets them know you use the internet and are savvy with recommendations and word of mouth. Mention a name club, bureaus, forums, or something like Angie’s List.

There are good dealers out there for sure. And it’s hard to keep up with all the different models, manufacturers and yearly changes in our rigs. But there are also many bad ones out there that are just ripping people off. It was easy for someone to once think that RVers are a bunch of elderly retired people and easy to take advantage of with their rigs. Well, that’s just not the case.

You can help yourself if you carry a few common parts with you. It could save you days of waiting for a part while traveling. I always carry a spare oil filter, fuel filter, air filter, timing belt and an engine part that I found was prone to failure on my RV.  (Although mine never failed like on thousands of others and I bought the spare part right after buying the RV. Murphy’s Law perhaps?) What else do you carry?

I would love to provide a service that listed good dealers and bad ones but it is nearly impossible to do it right. First, you need people to submit accurate stories and not just ones that are slanted to their own side of an arguement. Then it can always be gamed either way by the dealer or a competitor. If you have any ideas or tips on doing this, please send them along. We can do it together.

I love my current motor home, which is a Winnebago, but it had it’s faults too. I have noticed a mismatch of screws all over. Like it was built with whatever spare ones were laying on the floor nearby. I found a tool behind a cabinet. I found a razor blade under a piece of carpeting. I found that some things were not perfectly aligned to operate in an ideal fashion. I made the changes myself and now they work as they should. It wasn’t worth the time, cost and hassle to go have warranty work done on something I could do in a few minutes.

The following isn’t for everyone but I have reached a point where I prefer to do whatever work I can do myself. I added solar power and upgraded many things like batteries, lighting and insulation. I just made a new table for my RV that fit my needs better than the stock one. I don’t really think I’m that handy. I just do a lot of research, find other people that have done the same thing and follow their instructions. I take my time and do what I know I can do and make sure it is done right. I know that method isn’t for everyone but I bet you can do more than you realize.

Take oil changes. If too much oil goes in my RV, (or most cars for that matter) it’ll create a mess of other problems that could crop up for years down the line. Mine takes 9.5 quarts of a particular synthetic oil. Not 10 or even 9.7 quarts. Peoples in shops love to round up or come “close” but that’s not good enough. And because it’s unlikely you’ll get every drop of the old oil out when you are draining it, you can’t just keep blindly adding 9.5 time after time either. It’s better to go slightly under and see where you are than to overfill.

Tip: Install a ScanguageII. When you consider the price of a vehicle and repairs these days, it’s a small investment. It plugs into your vehicles computer (1996 and newer) and monitors all kinds of things. It can help you in so many ways, from fuel savings to knowing what the error code is on your motor home. It can alert you to problems before they would otherwise show themselves, which may save you from a larger repair bill or being stranded on the side of the road.

Extra tip: Did you know you can get what is called a Fumoto valve for most vehicles? This takes the mess out of oil changes. No more taking the drain bolt on and off. You can just attach hose, put the other end in a container and open and close your draining as needed. This allows you to use multiple containers if desired. Not a drop is spilled.

What do you think about quality these days? Have you found both good and bad dealers and manufacturers? Do you carry some spare parts?

I have been thinking about visiting Maine for some time. I have been close but have never made it all the way up there while in the northeast. There is a law (HP 98, LD 114) under consideration there that could make it much more difficult for RVers to visit and spend money in the state. The proposed legislation would make it illegal for RVs to park overnight in “any public parking structure”  anyplace in the state of Maine. This means you can’t park anywhere but a RV park, campground or mobile home park. No more parking in store lots, any public lot or any business lot even if they give you permission to do so. Violation of the law would be a $100 fine for the RVer and not the business allowing it.

So you may ask what’s the big deal as you stay in campgrounds any way? Well a short black and white law like this doesn’t take some things into consideration:

• Do they really want to deter people from coming to their state and spending money in times like this?
• Some businesses like to have guests be able to stay and spend money. Casinos, truck stops, a garage where you are having work done first thing in the morning. Maybe you can’t even safely drive anywhere else.
• Many of us are self-contained and don’t always need amenities. Sometimes it’s just sleep and move on.
• Tourist season doesn’t always go with our plans. This law basically says that the state is only open during tourist season and wants no visitors at any other time of the year. I personally like to travel just outside of peak seasons. So what does an RVer do in the fall or spring when most places to stay are closed? I often encounter closed campgrounds in other states. The weather is beautiful and they are closed because it’s not Memorial Day yet. If I sit there near the entrance for a short break, someone else inevitably comes along and is turned away as well. Lost business.

This law is not active at the moment and has not passed. Now would be a good time to contact some officials in Maine to let them know what you think. Remind them of how much business some small towns will lose. Remind them that Maine is not exactly a state that you pass through on the way to someplace else. It’s location means you probably want to go there and visit. With the way the world works, much of time you can dig deep enough to find that someone has a relative who owns an RV park and is upset about lost business somewhere. Or they live near a place that allows the overnight parking and it interferes with their view. Something like that is what starts these kinds of things. What they don’t realize is that news like this spreads, RVers pass on by to spend money somewhere else and the whole area suffers. Look up past stories about Billings, Montana or Laughlin, Nevada. Reno recently had to reverse course on a stupid legal move.

Here is a link to the bill. It is a pdf file and it opens in a new window:

The sponsor of the bill is Rep. Anne C. Perry from Calais, ME.
Click here for her contact information on the Maine Legislature Website.
Mail: 474 South Street, Calais, ME 04619. Call her at (207) 454-7338.
State House E-Mail is RepAnne.Perry@legislature.maine.gov

The House Majority Leader in the Maine Legislature is John F.
Piotti from Unity, ME.
Click here for contact information on the Maine Legislature Website.
Mail: 1075 Albion Road, Unity, ME 04988. Call at (207) 437-2493.
State House E-Mail is RepJohn.Piotti@legislature.maine.gov

The Main Chamber of Commerce is here and at 125 Community Drive, Suite 101, Augusta, Maine 04330-8010. The president is Mr. Dana Connors and can be emailed at  dana.f.connors@mainechamber.org. If he represents all businesses, he may be interested in hearing how you spend money as you travel and put it into the local economy, even when you are not staying in RV parks every night. Or maybe you don’t travel strictly in tourist season and you boost the slow off season economy. Let him know.

Contact the Maine Governor here or mail him at this address

Office of the Governor
#1 State House Station
Augusta, ME 04333-0001
Ph 207-287-3531
TTY 207-287-6548
Fax 207-287-1034

What is your view on laws like this? Share them here and with the people in Maine.

Some people call me cheap or frugal. Frugal sounds a little better than cheap but I guess I’ll take either. Every penny you save and every little thing you do to save on trash or energy use really does add up in the long run. Going green when you can means you’ll have more green in your pocket too.

Return maps and handouts in good condition for another use whenever possible. Try to avoid taking them if you don’t need them in the first place. Many times, you can look at them at the counter and then leave them if you don’t need any of the information. Or carry your own notebook to make notes. Instead of wasting a whole calendar, schedule or brochure when you only need to note one particular time or event. If I do take something like this, I put it to use later on to help start a fire.

Take advantage of book exchanges and library give aways. Donate yours and take another. Many libraries have a section in the back where magazines are free. You usually don’t even have to be a member.

Change to rechargeable batteries whenever possible. Buy a solar recharger and charge batteries in the sun on your dashboard as you drive. I have just about eliminated regular batteries now. They cost more upfront but you’ll quickly be ahead as you won’t have to buy those 4-packs, 8-packs or even 32-packs any longer.

Change to LED lighting. There are cheap ones, poor ones and great ones out there now.

Buy your own tote bags or cloth bags and use them while shopping. This reduces the number of plastic bags you consume and trash. I have a set of bags that I’ve now been using for years and will for many more.

Plan your meals with the consideration of re-using cups, plates and reducing the overall amount of cleaning needed. Rinse dishes right away as this uses less water and effort than when the food has dried and hardened. Or use the largest dirty pan or bowl, let water sit in it with all the other dirty dishes and silverware. Most things come clean by themselves sitting in the water so you don’t have to scrape as much or waste running water.

Switch to online banking. You can receive many bills by email and pay online. You save the money for stamps. Your bank should allow this for free. If they charge for it, find a better bank. This reduces the paper you receive and send out as well as the security impact of not having as many bills in your mailbox or waiting for you when you are gone.

Stop buying bottled water. Use refillable water jugs. Get your own water filter and drinking jug. Many bottled water companies just use local tap water and it’s no better than what you can do yourself. It’s a rip off. You can get collapsible ones as well to save space.

Turn off the water heater at night or on days when you don’t need it. In my case, I leave it off all the time except for when I plan on using it. If possible, try to time washing dishes and showering around each other and only turn it on when you need it. Most hot water heaters will heat the smaller RV water tanks in less than a half hour.

Consider where you park. Try shade in warm weather and park in the sun in cold weather to use natural solar gain. Note how your windows are on your RV. Wherever the most glass is, like your front cab, will take in the most heat in the sun. If it is windy, point the most enclosed end of you RV into the wind. This reduces draft and the rocking and  a rolling in the wind. This is a reason why we like to be able to pick our own spots, which many RV parks do not allow you to do. They assign you one without you seeing it. I really don’t like when they do that.

Use your blinds, window covers and buy some reflective insulation material at the big hardware stores and make your own to fit any window that doesn’t have good covers already. Covers are good for both heat and cold and they do make a big difference.

Use another blanket and lower your furnace temperature. Most RVs warm up real quick when the sun comes up. Or maybe you are taking off and driving for the day so you can use the engine heater at that point.

Do you have any more ideas on going green and saving money at the same time?