The Coffee House

JonA_CT · Jan 14, 2018

smoke665 said:
Bummer day. After an early start we were at our next stop and set up by lunch. That's when the trouble started. First the satellite dish wouldn't acquire a signal, then it started making a loud knocking sound. An hour later it was down off the roof and disassembled, looks like the control board is out. That's a couple hundred and we are without satellite tv till we get back. Switched over to antenna. One tv auto programmed 20 channels, one tv could only get 3. So another 2 hours of running coax connections, hidden behind trim. So much for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

My parents always made jokes about how boats are just a big old hole to dump money in. But they are constantly doing similar maintenance to their motorhome. Most recently, they just replaced all of the flooring in the motorhome with faux-wood tile. I'm not sure why, though, haha.

smoke665 · Jan 14, 2018

JonA_CT said:
I'm not sure why, though, haha.

Because we can :acne:

Seriously though the cost of RV campsites has risen to the point that unless we spent as much time out as we do, it wouldn't be economically feasible. We figure maybe another 5 years at most, and it will be time to re-evaluate our travels.

tirediron · Jan 14, 2018

JonA_CT said:
My parents always made jokes about how boats are just a big old hole to dump money in. But they are constantly doing similar maintenance to their motorhome. Most recently, they just replaced all of the flooring in the motorhome with faux-wood tile. I'm not sure why, though, haha.

"BOAT" = "Bust Out Another Thousand" You're on your own for "Motorhome" though! :lol:

JonA_CT · Jan 14, 2018

smoke665 said:
JonA_CT said:

I'm not sure why, though, haha.

Click to expand...

Because we can Seriously though the cost of RV campsites has risen to the point that unless we spent as much time out as we do, it wouldn't be economically feasible. We figure maybe another 5 years at most, and it will be time to re-evaluate our travels.

Yeah, we tent camped with our daughter the last couple of summers, but we realize with two under 3 that it's not really all that fun, haha. My parents are telling us to just buy a pop-up or something. But even tent sites are $40 a night at the places worth staying. We're looking at AirBNB for our summer trip. Just have to finalize where. PEI is up there on the list right now though.

JonA_CT · Jan 14, 2018

tirediron said:
JonA_CT said:

My parents always made jokes about how boats are just a big old hole to dump money in. But they are constantly doing similar maintenance to their motorhome. Most recently, they just replaced all of the flooring in the motorhome with faux-wood tile. I'm not sure why, though, haha.

Click to expand...

"BOAT" = "Bust Out Another Thousand" You're on your own for "Motorhome" though!

I don't I can afford the oil change for their rig. I'm not sure what it costs exactly, but it's diesel and they have to take it to a Freightliner dealer .

smoke665 · Jan 14, 2018

@JonA_CT fuel filters and oil changes can get expensive, its all part of it. We belong to a couple of membership parks, that get us substantial discounts.

snowbear · Jan 14, 2018

I suspect the fuel consumption on the larger motor homes is also measured as it is in a lot of boats - gallons per hour.

davidharmier60 · Jan 15, 2018

A boat is a hole in the water into which you shovel money. I suspect motor home is the same thing on land. I don't wanna go to work. I want to get back in my warm bed.
Alas, I must.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

JonA_CT · Jan 15, 2018

snowbear said:
I suspect the fuel consumption on the larger motor homes is also measured as it is in a lot of boats - gallons per hour.

You could definitely do that math, haha. At highway speeds, it’s probably in the 8-9 gallons per hour. They have a new tow vehicle now though, and if it’s really hot, they have to run a generator for the coach AC too. I think their fuel tank is 125 gallons. That takes a long time to fill if you can’t find a truck stop diesel pump, haha.

smoke665 · Jan 15, 2018

Our previous MH got better mileage with a tow vehicle, 7-9. Guess the tow broke up the vacuum at the back. We went to the 5th wheel for more "useable" space, and less depreciation on the rig. With the current setup we average 11 towing.

JonA_CT · Jan 15, 2018

smoke665 said:
Our previous MH got better mileage with a tow vehicle, 7-9. Guess the tow broke up the vacuum at the back. We went to the 5th wheel for more "useable" space, and less depreciation on the rig. With the current setup we average 11 towing.

Yeah, my parents went the opposite direction about 10 years ago. They had bought some sort of customized Chevy 4500 that they essentially were able to turn back in as a lemon (it left them stranded all over the East Coast in the year that they owned it), and they said the hell with it and traded their 5th wheel in too. I don’t think they’ve regretted it, but I agree with you that they had much more usable space in the 5th wheel versus the coach. My Dad travelled with it for work for awhile, and I helped him drive to Florida and back a few times. It’s definitely a more comfortable ride as a passenger, and I prefer driving the MH compared to the 5th wheel rig too.

smoke665 · Jan 15, 2018

JonA_CT said:
’s definitely a more comfortable ride as a passenger, and I prefer driving the MH compared to the 5th wheel rig too.

Well duh he had the wrong brand! LOL the MH seats were ok but nowhere near as comfortable as the new Ford. As to driving it may have been the way our MH was set up with all the overhang over the back axle, but it wasn't pleasant. Passing and being passed by big trucks required some fancy steering, as did driving in cross winds. The current dually/5th wheel, is like a rock, engage the sway control and it's one finger on the wheel driving. Big trucks don't faze it. We've been buffeted by cross winds approaching 50 mph and found it only slightly more difficult.

SquarePeg · Jan 15, 2018

Day off today for MLK. This used to be a workday for us until this year. Not thrilled to lose a personal day that I could take whenever I wanted (a summer Friday) in exchange for a cold and boring Monday in January! But in the end, a paid day off is a good thing no matter when it happens! Going to finish the Creative Live class I bought and do some volunteer hours on the website for the softball league.

JonA_CT · Jan 15, 2018

SquarePeg said:
Day off today for MLK. This used to be a workday for us until this year. Not thrilled to lose a personal day that I could take whenever I wanted (a summer Friday) in exchange for a cold and boring Monday in January! But in the end, a paid day off is a good thing no matter when it happens! Going to finish the Creative Live class I bought and do some volunteer hours on the website for the softball league.

I kind of wish we had school today. There are a couple holidays that I think would be more meaningful if we spent the day educating and doing service work. This is definitely one of them.