I got an e-mail from a blog reader who is shopping for a new motorhome, asking me how important we felt our built-in vacuum cleaner is, because the salesman is telling them that RVers consider this an essential item. I guess they’re still too green to know that if an RV salesman’s lips are moving, he’s lying.

The only reason our coach has the onboard vacuum is because Winnebago built it in when the rig was new. We have carpeting in our living room and bedroom, and 9 times out of 10, when Miss Terry needs to clean something up, she reaches for her handheld Dyson DC31 Vacuum instead. It’s lightweight, sturdy, powerful, and versatile, and is much easier to get out and use than dragging out the hose for the onboard vacuum.

Our MCI bus conversion didn’t have any slide-out rooms, but ever since we got our Winnebago Ultimate Advantage, I have been collecting an assortment of scars and dents in my head from running into the bedroom slide. A couple of times I have hit it so hard that I knocked myself on the ground. Miss Terry got tired of patching me up and listening to my sniveling, so yesterday she bought one of those plastic pool noodles that kids use to keep themselves afloat, and cut it into short sections, then split them open lengthwise. They slip right over the corners of the slide, and will hopefully stop me from bashing my original equipment noodle. 

I got an e-mail yesterday from a blog reader in Nashville with this link to a couple of moving You Tube videos about the terrible flooding there. Ken reports that the Nashville KOA, which took the brunt of the storm, is closed. Everything at the KOA was underwater, including their office and store. The Yogi Bear Jellystone Campground also suffered some damage, but is up and running. Two Rivers Campground is high and dry, with no damage. Ken said the Nashville Camping World is also undamaged and open for business. If you are an RVer who feels the need to give something back to society, I’m sure there are plenty of folks in Nashville who need a hand right now, whether in the form of a donation check, or another pair of strong hands to help clean up the mess.

I’m an old car guy (that’s old car guy, not old car guy), and the fellow in the site next to us here at Happy Days Campground has this beautiful old 1951 Buick Roadmaster police car. How cool is that?

I was admiring the car yesterday, and he told me that he is a volunteer with the Apache Junction Police Department, and he spotted the old car sitting in the back of the department parking lot soon after he started. The sergeant said it hadn’t been started in years, so our neighbor took it upon himself to get it running again. He spent a month getting the old police cruiser roadworthy again, and now the police department uses it as a DARE car, in parades and at car shows, to spread the word that crime doesn’t pay.

It’s getting hot here in the desert, with temperatures predicted in the upper 90s the next few days, and higher after that. We are enjoying our stay at Happy Days, and we have a great RV site, but we don’t like excessive heat almost as much as we don’t like cold. We will stay here through the weekend, and then head back up to Show Low on Monday, where daughter Tiffany tells me it has stopped snowing, and is very pleasant.

Bad Nick has been too quiet the last few days, but never fear, the little imp is back again, with a new Bad Nick Blog titled Potpourri. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – A man’s reach should exceed his grasp.

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With Christmas less than a month away, I thought I’d make a few gift suggestions for the RVers on your shopping list, or even as a treat for yourself. I use, or have used, all of the products myself.

1. Dyson DC31 Vacuum – When Dyson contacted us asking if we would be willing to give their new rechargeable handheld vacuum a test, Miss Terry jumped at the chance. She loves this new vacuum, which is powered by a digital motor spinning up to104,000 RPM, which is five times faster than a Formula 1 race car engine. For little cleanup jobs around our motorhome, she no longer uses our built-in vacuum, because the Dyson immediately became her tool of choice. It’s lightweight, sturdy, powerful, and versatile. When she’s finished, it’s easy to empty, all she has to do is open the clear cup on the bottom of the vacuum.

2. LED Flashlight – These little powerhouses are small and incredibly bright, and you can never have too many of them. I keep one in my desk, another on the nightstand, one in the van, and a couple in various bays of our motorhome.

3. Hose Buddy – We’ve all had it happen to us, we’ve stuck our sewer hose into the dump station, pulled the black water handle, and had the sudden rush through the hose pop it out and make a mess. Enter the Hose Buddy, a nifty plastic device that fits over your sewer hose’s 90 degree fitting to hold it securely in place. In the past, I had to look for a rock or something to hold my sewer hose in place, but when the folks who make the Hose Buddy sent me a demo, I knew it was a winner the minute I took it out of the box. Made of high grade plastic, the Hose Buddy is so simple it’s ingenious. I filled the reservoir with water (though sand or pebbles would work fine too), put it over the end of my sewer hose, and it works great, even on those irritating campground sewer fittings that extend several inches above the ground!

4. Acer Aspire Netbook Computer – Packing a lot of power into a small, lightweight, and inexpensive computer, the Acer Aspire is great for checking e-mail, cruising the internet, and makes a great companion to computer mapping software. I use mine with my Silverleaf engine monitor. It sits on the dash without moving and doesn’t take up much space.

5. Silverleaf VMSpc – Silverleaf loaned me a data cable to use with my netbook computer so I could review their free VMSpc engine monitoring software, but I am sending them a check because I like it so much I don’t want to give it up! The program monitors every function of my RV’s diesel engine, is more accurate than the factory gauges on my motorhome, and provides a wealth of information.

6. PressurePro Tire Monitoring System - No more crawling around in the mud and wet grass getting dirty as I check my RV’s tire pressures before a trip. With the PressurePro, all I have to do is look at the digital readout on its monitor, right from the driver’s seat! I wouldn’t leave my campsite without it!

7. Restaurant Gift Cards – Most fulltime or snowbird RVers are very conscious of adding any weight to their load, so a lot of times typical gifts are a hassle. We don’t need doodads and geegaws, but we all love to eat. A gift card from any chain restaurant (Texas Roadhouse, Applebees, TGI Fridays, etc) is always welcomed.

8. Mountain Directory Guides – Every RV should have a copy of both the Eastern and Western editions of these books on board. They provide locations and descriptions of over 550 mountain passes and steep grades nationwide, with mile by mile descriptions of what to expect climbing or descending, runaway truck ramps, and other information that prevents surprises that can get you into trouble.      

9. E-book Reader – A year ago the Amazon Kindle was about the only game in town, but now Sony’s two e-book readers are becoming big sellers. Now the Borders bookstore chain is supposed to introduce its own e-book reader, called the Elonex. Whichever model you choose, any RVing bookworm will love it. They’re lightweight and can carry hundreds of digital books.

10. Electrical Management System - We installed a Progressive Industries Electrical Management System (EMS)  in our MCI bus conversion, and over the years it saved our rig several times from high and low voltage conditions. So another EMS was one of the first things we had installed when we bought our Winnebago Ultimate Advantage. It’s worth its  weight in gold!

11. Rand McNally Motor Carriers’ Road Atlas – While it is made for truckers, this is a handy atlas for RVers too. Along with  detailed, full-color maps of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, the atlas includes valuable information for anyone driving a big rig, including restricted route information, low clearances, 40,000+ updated city-to-city mileages, a telephone area code map, and more.

12. Gypsy Journal RV Travel Newspaper – Hey, it’s great reading for all your RVing friends, and I need to make a buck now and then too, so I can do my Christmas shopping!

So what do you want Santa to bring you for Christmas?

 Thought For The Day – I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to take a nap when I was younger.

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