To that end, we asked resort’s “talking head” media guy about what our readers who have a bit more common sense (i.e., are spending their winter in more survivable climes, as in Texas or Arizona) could do if they didn’t care to put on the tire chains and make the run to Indiana. Dave Lovell says that next week you should point your web browser to the official website, www.lakerudolph.com for more information on the jobs and on how to apply. But to give you a sneak preview, here’s a bit information we were able to gleen:

Seasonal positions are available at Lake Rudolph in the following areas: Housekeeping, Maintenance, Grounds, Call Center, Welcome Center, Camp Store, Lifeguards, Security, and Shuttle Drivers. The Santa Claus Christmas Store has seasonal positions available in the following areas: Retail Associates and Shipping/Receiving. Applicants should return completed applications by March 13, 2010.

No sleigh-bells? How about a red nose?

Rigs without slideouts aren’t usually too difficult for the careful do-it-yourselfer. Slide outs can create problems, depending on how they operate. In our rig, where our slideouts drop down even with the main floor, an overlap of carpet from the slideout covers over the seam where the two floors meet. The overlap is a factory hemmed edge–if we replace the carpet, we may need to get someone to install a hem for us. Your rig may have entirely different setup; it’s best to examine everything cautiously before undertaking a carpeting job.

If you decide to make a go of carpet replacement, here are some tips. You’ll likely find that when your rig was built, the carpet was laid on the floor platform, then partitioning walls laid over the carpet (and kitchen vinyl, too). You’ll need to cut out the old carpet, cutting right along the edges of cabinets and walls. A specialized carpet cutting tool can help in most areas; a sharp utility knife will be needed in tight corners. If you carefully cut as close as you can, you can use the old carpet as a template to cut the new one.

In our fifth wheel, when we replaced the living room carpet, carpet tape and tack strips never entered the picture. Rather, the carpet was laid out flat and stapled along the walls. A metal termination strip was placed between the kitchen flooring and the carpet, and it’s never been a problem in several years of living. Some RVers have found that often a carpet really doesn’t need to be tied down at all. If fit properly, then “held down” with furniture, it stays in place, and then occasionally it can be lifted and dirt and sand (which invariably finds its way through the carpet fibers) vacuumed out.

Is carpet really the way to go? It’s up to your taste. We HATE the light colored carpeting in our current big trailer. It shows every spot of dirt. When replacement time comes, we may opt to install laminate flooring. In our fifth wheel, the manufacturer had carpeted throughout the rig. Have you ever dreamed of a shag carpet in your kitchen and bathroom? We installed laminate flooring in both kitchen and bath and have never looked back. It’s wonderful stuff. True, it’s cooler on the feet than carpet, but it’s a whiz to clean up, and no more stains. In our fiver living room we installed low pile commercial carpet in a dark blue that appealed to us. It’s been down for years, and we’ve used an extractor to clean it. We were happy with that choice, oh so much better than the current stuff in our “big” trailer.

Whatever choice you make, be sure when you shop, check out the “remnants” section of the floor covering retailer. Many RVs are small enough that you can often find small lots of laminate flooring, or “end” portions of carpeting that will fit just fine, and save you a bundle.

Photo credit, laminate flooring replaces carpet, courtesy .Larry Page on flickr.com under creative commons license

In exchange for helping new arrivals find their way to their camp site, maybe stocking some paper towels in the rest rooms, or handing out information brochures, camp hosts get a free (often fully utility equipped) site to park their RV, and plenty of pats on the back for their work. While the camp host season is typically spring through fall, winter is the time that many state parks begin to line up their helpers for the camping season.

Michigan is no exception: Right now Michigan State Parks are looking for volunteers to help out during the 2010 camping season. The state is asking for a minimum four week commitment, and hosts will “work” a 30 hour week, doing 5 days weeks. Depending on your needs, the state has two different offers: Their “modern” campgrounds have full hookups, and plenty of visitors–and activity. If you prefer a slower pace, and you can handle “boondocking,” then the state’s “rustic” state forest campgrounds might be just what you’re interested in. To find out more about Michigan’s offer, then check out this link.

In two recent incidents, RVers have been hit by burglars: One couple, sleeping over in a Cracker Barrel Restaurant parking lot awoke the next morning to find thieves had broken into their tow vehicle and ripped off a few things. In a more dramatic experience, an RVer returned to his rig, parked at a service facility lot, only to encounter a gun-toting thief coming out the door of the RV. Fortunately, the RVer came off physically unharmed, but the crook made an exit with some expensive loot, and damaged the rig to boot.

Once again, the specter of having harm come to you in your RV lifestyle raises its ugly head. Here are a couple of things to bear in mind:  Burglary is often a crime of opportunity. Most desperatos like working close to home, and in a place with an easy escape route. We’ve never heard of an experience where thieves “hit” an RV that was boondocking somewhere out in the brush. It’s a long way to go to sack a flat screen TV. In both the incidents we cite, the RVs were in an urban area, on traveled roads. “Ok,” you say, “I overnight on Walmart lots, and those are in urban areas, on traveled roads!”

From our perspective, hitting a tow vehicle when someone is likely to be snoozing in the attached RV is pretty brazen. In the second case, the rig’s owner feels that the burglars had reasoned the RV was at a service lot, hence it was unlikely anybody was home. Making your RV less attractive to burglars is much like making a sticks and bricks home less attractive.

If you are away from your rig, make it look like you’re home. Put the slide-outs in the “out” position. Don’t leave the lights off 24-hours a day. If you can, put a timer on a light or two in the rig so it switches off and on, simulating the presence of occupants.

Don’t park off in the farthest, most isolated corner of the urban parking lot. Closer to a building is far less attractive situation to a potential thief than back in the shadows.

Consider adding a burglar alarm system–both to your tow vehicle–and your RV. Ones that have a flashing red light to indicate “armed” and a sticker on the windows of the tow rig and next to the door of the RV can go a long way to making the thief look for easier pickings.

NEVER leave anything of value in the tow rig when you’re not in it. Cameras, GPS units, credit cards are big bait. If you use a window mounted GPS unit, remove the mount from the window too. If a bad guy sees that suction cup mount hanging there, he may easily reason the GPS unit is still in the rig, too.

The thief who gained access to the RV had done so by punching a hole in the door glass and apparently reaching inside and unlocking the door. What can you do to prevent a similar entry issue? Equip your door windows and any glass close enough to reach through and unlock the door with window security film. Somewhat like window tinting film, the stuff sticks to the inside of the glass and provides another layer of protection. The glass can be broken, but the film holds it together and in place, preventing an easy reach inside to unlock the door. To make an entry possible, your burglar would have to do more than just one quick smash–it would take repeated blows–making plenty of noise, and taking time–something thieves find indigestible.

Yes, bad guys will take on an RV, if they think the payoff will exceed the risk. By taking a few simple precautions, and by spending a few bucks on enhanced security, you’ll dramatically reduce the chances that a burglar will find your RV worth the risk.

photo courtesy diywindowsecurity.com

Enter General Delivery. He’s no military man, but he can be a Major Hit for those of us who leave our sticks and bricks homes behind. General Delivery is a service of your United States Post Office. Those who don’t have a fixed address or a post office box simply have mail sent to any given town for themselves, care of General Delivery. When the mail hits the post office, postal workers set it aside to be held until you ask for it.

Here are a few tips to make your mail travel on to you a bit more smoothly:

Small towns are better:  While General Delivery is available for any town that has a post office, in the larger cities with more than one post office, General Delivery often goes to the downtown post office. Parking your rig may be a major issue. And if there is more than one post office in town, you’ll have to find out which office receives and holds it. We find the staff in a small town post office is generally more laid back and eager to help a stranger.

Take your ID:  You’ll usually be asked to provide identification when you pick up your mail. On occasion we have NOT been asked for ID, and have had our names mixed up; the post office had our mail, but because they “misheard” our name, they looked under the wrong name. If you have an unusual name like ours, De Maris, if they don’t find your mail on the first try, ask them to look at an alternative: We’ve had our mail filed under “M” for the Maris part of our name.

Have it labeled right:  If married, you might want to have your send label the mail for “Joe or Mary Doaks” rather than in just one name. That way either one of you should be able to fetch the mail. Here’s a sample format for our mail:

Russ or Tiña De Maris
General Delivery
Quartzsite, AZ 85346.

While the post office will hold the mail for a specified time, it’s not a bad idea to have the mailing labeled with a conspicuous, “Hold for Delivery.” If you’ll be delayed, a phone call to the post office (especially in smaller towns) may get some cooperation in holding your mail longer than the “rule” suggests.

Not only do dual tires mean you’ll be buying at least half-again as many tires for the rig when you “re-tire,” they also require special attention throughout their life with your family. Let a “single” tire get a little low, you run some risks. Let your dual tires get low, they can actually rub against one another and cause damage to themselves. While we always admonish keeping a sharp eye out for tire pressure on any rig, that goes “double for duallies” if you’ll pardon the pun.

But getting an accurate tire pressure read on a dual tire can be a frustrating experience. That’s because “from the factory” a dual tire equipped vehicle generally comes with standard valve stems. On the “inside duals,” the ones closest to the center of your rig, a short valve stem is “buried” in the midst of a rim, cleverly covered by the rim of the “outside dual.” If you’ve got a skinny hand, you may be able to shove a standard tire gauge foot in and onto the valve stem to get a reading. If you’re a large handed person, forget it!

Then take the valve stem of that outside dual. It’ll be bent at an angle, and so thoroughly protected by the metal tire rim, you can kiss off any hope of making a “standard” straight shafted tire gauge reach into to get a reading. Here come the options:

Get valve stem extensions, especially designed for use on dual wheel vehicles. For the inside dual, a straight extension tube screws directly onto the existing valve stem, extending the “reach” out, maybe four inches. An angled (OK, “twisted”) stem extension brings your access to the outside dual within reason. With these it’s an “easy read” of tire pressure.  They’re not expensive–you can likely fit out a set of duals for less than $15.00.  But hang on, there’s always the “fine print in the contract.”

First, valve stem extenders must be used ONLY on metal valve stems. Stick them on a rubber valve stem, and the motion put up by the extension will soon wipe out the air holding integrity of the rubber stems. Secondly, you may also have to hire the work of putting the new extenders on the rig–in some cases you’ll need to remove the wheels to get them on.  Some “do it yourselfers” will save the money and spend the time required to take the tires off and back on.

The real problem that tire professionals warn us about with valve extenders is that they reduce the integrity of the system. With a standard (non-extended) valve stem, you have two points where air can leak: At the “business end” of the stem itself, and likewise where the stem penetrates the rim. Add extenders and you add more points where leaks can (and often do) develop. And regardless of your stem, there will most always be a point of contact where the extender comes in contact with the rim. Time and vibration will most likely catch up and wear away at that extender.

What about using those flashy looking “stainless steel hose kits” that attach to your wheel hub? Again, the issue is reliability. The inside of that nice braided metal is a rubber tube. They do deteriorate with age, and “road hazards” can take a hose out in a flash.

What’s the answer? Sad to say, one of those old “trucker’s accomplices” is about the most reliable answer. It’s called a dual foot pressure gauge. It looks like a longer version of the tire pressure gauge you might carry in your shirt pocket, only two angled feet allow you to both push straight onto the inside dual stem, and the other allows you to “pull” onto the angled valve of the outside dual. The “stick” indicator on these guys isn’t spring loaded, so when your creaking back allows you stand up straight, you can adjust your glasses for a closer look of the gauge–it won’t have “snapped back” into the gauge stem.

Filling duals is another issue. Not every service station in town will have an air hose fitted out with a dual footed air chuck. Best place to look for a place to “air up” your tires will be at a truck stop. At least there, they most likely won’t charge you for the air!

There are a couple of approaches to the subject. One simply puts a more solid platform under your computer, and sets the whole works down in your lap. Many give you a wide enough surface that if you like to use a mouse in conjunction with your laptop, you have room to roll the mouse around; certainly all of them help you to keep you from getting “laptop burn,” particularly when your processor is working hard–say working with digital photos. Here’s an example of one such desk, that retails for less than $30, marketed by LapWorks (www.laptopdesk.net). This particular beast also has a folding hinge trick that allows you to set your laptop on a table, and the device then gives a bit of an angle to the laptop, making for easier typing. The problem some find with this kind of laptop desk is that when you need to move, you’ve got to up and set aside the desk and the laptop. Not always convenient, but it is one approach.

A somewhat similar approach, but one that gets the laptop off your lap entirely is to use a “bed table.” These handy little stands take a flat platform and add legs, usually folding ones. They’re great for breakfast in bed, and by sticking your laptop on one of these, you again have space for a mouse, and get the laptop heat away. Still, the issue of what do do when you need to move and don’t want to disrupt your work in progress comes up. This particular bird is sold by Sam’s Club.  You might want to shop around a bit, as this one with it’s handy drink and silverware holders could create issues with free mouse movement.

We’ve finally hit on what works well for us. Coupling the flat and stable platform with “full to the floor legs,” we find that a product called “Table Mate” solves the problems quite nicely. Made with lightweight plastic, the Table Mate is adjustable in height and in platform angle. There aren’t any side braces, so we can slide our legs in and out from under the rig without fear of banging up knees or legs. The whole rig slides right up over our laps, bringing the computer right into reach and at precisely the right height–and adjustable so we can use it with more than one chair, even the sofa.

We found we could order a two-pack of these from Walmart for $50, drop shipped to a nearby store. We jumped on it, and immediately found it was the answer to our laptop issue. In the end, however, the second Table Mate wound up being a printer stand, and set for the correct height, we could roll our plastic file cabinet right underneath the stand, saving even more floor space. Right now Walmart says they’re out of stock on these; check out an alternative seller at www.table-mate.com

Be a Sport: Make a list and travel to visit all the major league baseball fields, football stadiums, and associated sport Halls of Fame. For golfers, set your course to play all the challenging courses in the country.

Explore History First Hand: Choose an American War and plan visits to battlefields, forts, and monuments. Become a fort buff, and check out all the sites of “used to be here,” “still here,” and “reconstructed” forts from days past. Or become a trail master and pick some of the old pioneer trails and follow them from start to finish. Park your rig near a trailhead for one of the nation’s major hiking trails and walk a bit (or a lot), knowing you have a traveling home to come back to. Or pick a favorite historical personage and trace his life course by visiting every place they’ve been or lived.

Get Into Training: With the plethora of renewed historical and scenic railroads around the country, you could stay on track with this pursuit for a long time. From dining trains to mystery trains (and sometimes the twain meets) there’s a railroad for every heart.

It’s the Water: We’ve found trailing the Columbia from where it meets up with the Pacific clear back to the headwaters took us through amazing locales. There are plenty of big (and small) rivers to explore. Or visit all the Great Lakes–and don’t forget the great salty one in Utah. Or make canal tracing your thing.

Ghost Hunters: We’re not talking spirits, but ghost towns. The west is dotted with old towns that have gone back to the dust, and others that are pretty lively while still maintaining the moniker of “ghost town.”

Go Natural: Visit all of the US National Parks and Monuments. There’s a great “passport” book available at nearly all National Park bookstores. As you check into the visitor centers as you make your rounds, you can stamp your passport with a seal from each of them. How about a trip to visit all the country’s famous trees? The largest, oldest, rarest.

We could go on and on. There are so many “projects” fulltimers can pursue. The Internet is a great resource for getting started with your planning process. Follow your mind and heart, and who knows where your fulltiming can take you.

A team of researchers with the University of Rochester say that exposure to nature not only makes us happier and healthier, it also helps us put greater value on personal relationships and community, and tends to make us more generous. To reach this conclusion, the team took 370 participants and exposed them to either nature, or to man-made environments.

Those in the study  were encouraged to attend to their environments by noticing colors and textures and imagining sounds and smells. In three of the studies, participants were shown a selection of four images on a 19 inch computer screen for two minutes each. Half of the subject viewed buildings, roads, and other cityscapes; the other half observed landscapes, lakes, and deserts. The urban and nature images were matched for color, complexity, layout, and lighting. In a fourth study, participants were simply assigned at random to work in a lab with or without plants. Participants then answered a questionnaire assessing the importance of four life aspirations: wealth and fame (“to be financially successful” and “to be admired by many people”) and connectedness and community (“to have deep enduring relationships” and “to work toward the betterment of society”).

Across all four studies, people exposed to natural elements rated close relationships and community higher than they had previously. The questionnaire also measured how immersed viewers were in their environments and found that the more deeply engaged subjects were with natural settings, the more they valued community and closeness. By contrast, the more intensely participants focused on artificial elements, the higher they rated wealth and fame.

To test generosity, two of the studies gave participants a $5 prize with the instructions that the money could be kept or given to a second anonymous participant, who would then be given an additional $5. The second participant could choose to return the prize money or keep it. Thus, subjects had nothing to gain if they chose to trust the other participant, and risked losing their money.

The result? People who were in contact with nature were more willing to open their wallets and share. As with aspirations, the higher the immersion in nature, the more likely subjects were to be generous with their winnings.

As RVers, we don’t need to look at a computer screen to see nature. Many of us can simply look out the windows of our rigs, step outside the door, and we’re surrounded by real nature. The findings shouldn’t be surprising–after all, RVers are well-known for their concern for others and an appreciation of a simple lifestyle.

photo: R&T DeMaris

Granted, some have health issues that really do “ground” them. But on the other hand, some who’ve taken the plunge and worked around the obstacles have found that RVing, far from being out of reach because of health problems, has actually helped them have a more positive outlook on their problems, and in some cases, actually decreased their health problems.

We’re moved to comment on this, as yet another RVer with a chronic and serious health issue has been profiled in the media. Years ago, Harvey Wells found out he had kidney trouble. He managed to work his way through it, but things got worse, and in 1988 Harvey had a kidney transplant. Life was pretty good, until 2006, when the transplant failed, and Harvey found himself making three times-a-week visits to a dialysis center. Dialysis appointments definitely put a hang-up on any RVing for Wells and his wife. Harvey reports that while the dialysis kept him alive, it also left him tired and worn out.

Two years ago the picture changed. Harvey got a portable dialysis machine for his own use. Rather than head off to a regional center for his sessions, Wells plugs into his home machine six times a week. More sessions per week, true, but each of those sessions was shorter than when he had to go into a center. And now for Harvey, his “home” sessions are where he parks it. That is, Harvey, his wife, and two grandchildren are now engaged in a cross-country motorhome trek, seeing sights, hitting football games, and spreading the news about his new freedom. He adds, doubling up the number of dialysis sessions per week has actually helped him feel more energetic.

Yes, it took some planning, and no doubt a lot of cooperation with doctors, but Harvey is having a ball. Other friends of ours too, are looking to getting out on the road. An older couple, he who struggles with internal issues that mandate twice monthly injections at the doctor’s office, and she who doesn’t ever know when her energy level will leave her needing the comfort of home, are now preparing to make a snowbird journey to the southwest. By working with his doctor, the gentleman has secured the necessary medications and the training to self-administer. For her, having the motorhome with them is unlike traveling in a car and “moteling it.” If her strength departs her, their own motorhome being readily available simply means staying put “at home on the road,” taking it easy until her body feels ready to go again. And with the clear days of the southwest, we’ll wager easily that her “up days” will probably far outnumber the “down days” she’s struggled with before.

Don’t let the pains and problems of health cause you to think that RVing is out of the question. Question your doctor, tell them what you’d like to do, find out if there’s a way. You’d be suprised how many doctors recommend travel to a healthier climate when the possibility exists.

photo: R&T DeMaris