Friends With Driveways - Great Trips!!

    I really dislike staying in crowded campgrounds. I much prefer finding a great spot in the middle of nowhere (or close to it!) and camping. Near water is always a bonus! Quiet, beautiful scenery and relaxation friendly activities. That's the ticket. While that's my preference when I am on a "bounce trip," when I have a few more days I like to visit with friends. Especially ones I miss. Spending time with the friends that have moved away. It's really a "win-win" situation. An RV can make you the perfect house-guest. No, really. Read on!

A Friend's Driveway.

If your friends have a driveway, field or other space large enough for your particular RV, then you are good to go for a visit. With their permission of course...well you should have that, they ARE your friends aren't they? Essentially, you are bringing your own hotel with you. I usually bring lots of food to cook for 1 or more meals....you know, being "neighborly." If you get really lucky, they will have a convenient outlet to plug into. Be aware that the circuit you would be plugging into could be (and probably is) limited to 15 Amps at 120V. So don't overload it!  Blowing fuses and/or tripping breakers isn't all that friendly. Especially if you have to wake up your friends in the middle of the night to reset it! (DON'T ASK!)

Driveway Surfing

It's really great to visit folks this way. You get to spend time with people whose company you enjoy, eat good food, drink great beverages, have great conversations and generally have a good time. When the night (or early morning) arrives and everyone wants some sleep, you can retreat back to your own private "apartment" for the night. No disruption to your friend's routines or extra work for them setting up accommodations. Add to that simple fact you don't have to pack and unpack from a plane/train/car ride nor be limited to 22" carry-on luggage. Sure there could be a multi-hour or even multi-day drive, but that's half the fun! Split the road portion up into 2 or more days and you can make the trip much less taxing on the driver. An extra bonus.

The last time I did this, before the Winter shut down my traveling for the season was a trip to Tennessee to visit with some friends I really miss having close by. His only regret after the move from New York? In the small town that he now lives it's impossible to buy good Italian pastries. Specifically, Pignoli cookies. Well....it was VERY easy to bring 6 pounds along with me. Imported all the way from New York. It put a very big smile on his face and made me happy as well. The best thing? I get to see my friends more often, no matter where they are.....

Be Seeing You...Down The Road,
Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com

Worlds Smallest Stick Blender? (Almost!)- Lots Of Uses

    I use a hand-held stick blender. Sometimes called an immersion blender. Instead of a giant glass or plastic pitcher it can be used in any container...even plastic bags! Obviously it takes up far less storage than its' counter living brethren.  Even so, they do take up some space since they are long and usually a bit odd in shape. I roll mine in a small towel to keep it in place in one of the overhead cabinets. It would be awesome to have one of these that I could easily store in the RV and would run on some kind of DC power. Never thought it would happen. But it did! Sort of...

While perusing through a liquidator shop I stumbled upon a tiny one, billed as a "cocktail frother." Looked a bit too good to be true, but at $1.99...Why not? I'd never seen a battery powered one, only the "normal" sized 120V AC versions. Well after getting it home and looking it over, it was fairly obvious it would never completely replace the regular AC powered stick blender. With only 2 AAA batteries powering it, it simply cannot be used for chopping things up or pureeing anything solid. That being said, it WILL allow you to do a whole bunch of cool things.

Here We Go!!

My basic test was making whipped cream from a pint of heavy cream. I put the stainless steel vessel in the freezer for a few minutes, opened the pint container, got the vessel from the freezer, added a little bit of sugar, some vanilla and the heavy cream. Then placed the rather boat propeller shaped end into the cream and let it rip! Well, it bogged down almost immediately. Hmmm....Aha! You really should only put half of the "prop" into the liquid, this way it's introducing lots of little air bubbles into the mix. After learning this important lesson (and getting lots of cream splattered all over my shirt!) I tried again. It took a while, but did make whipped cream. Not as thick as i usually like it, but it was OK. Truth be told, I wouldn't use it for this again. Back to the Drawing board.

Now, the brand name listed on this frother is "HOUDINI" so I should, at the very least, be able to do something magical with it, Right? Well I found something it does REALLY well. What is that, you may ask? Well, it FROTHS! I made a simple cup of coffee with some half and half in it (and a bit of sugar) just the way I like it. Wouldn't you know it, the frother was just laying there on the counter. I figured, "What the heck?" and let it rip in my hot coffee. After about 10 seconds there was a rich and thick froth both on and in my coffee! It was delicious! I'll wager it will work in all kinds of drinks, both cold AND hot, Cocktails too!

Just goes to show you, sometimes the packaging can actually be TRUTHFUL. I look forward to using this little beauty on lots of trips. Everyone who reads my articles KNOWS I am a big fan of coffee...I wonder how well it would work on steamed milk??? Or with iced coffee....I guess we'll have to try it when i get back out in my RV...

Be Seeing You...Down The Road,

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com

RV's Handle Differently! - What About Snow?

    After the massive snow fall today, I got to thinking. I've driven an RV in the snow...twice. It's not something I would like to try again. Yes, I survived and it wasn't all THAT bad, but it did get me thinking about what COULD happen when your heavy vehicle loses traction and begins to slide. Yes, you can do what you would do in any vehicle, namely steer into the slide (look it up!)...but the fix would happen MUCH more slowly. Heavy vehicles have more mass....takes a lot more to get them to change direction. There is nothing quite so horrible as being in a large vehicle headed toward something solid with no way to change its path.

The first time I got stuck driving in snow in an RV was in a rented 40 foot diesel pusher. It was very late at night (well early morning really,) driving down a steep hill in a blizzard coming down into Roswell, New Mexico. Lots of strange lights in the sky, of course it was just my headlights lighting up the driving snow. No UFOs...kind of a bummer really. I remember, at the time, thinking how solid the rig felt on the road. I didn't feel as if it would careen off the side of the road (which was on a mountain!) The snow eventually petered out as we came down into the town proper. It was sunny the next day! Very cool place to visit. Neat museum. One Day, maybe I'll get through that way again.

The next time was in my RV on a flat highway in Pennsylvania someplace in the middle of nowhere with no exits. Couldn't see anything because of the blowing snow, cars eventually stopped on the road and then we were blocked by an accident. I was on my way to a friend's wedding in North Carolina in October. That time it wasn't all that bad either. Though I was delayed for well over an hour, I was warm, dry and had myself a nice hot dinner and some tea. All the while watching the poor motorists around me standing around in the snow or stuck in their cars being  miserable . You know, I really like RV's!

The main point here is to be careful. Be wary and aware that your rig doesn't handle like a normal sized passenger vehicle. Depending on the type of RV (Class A, B, C, etc) each will have its' own distinct handling characteristics. It pays to figure those out before you get into bad weather. It may just save your life and property. A bit of prior knowledge can forestall a costly mistake!

Be Seeing You...Down The Road,

Rich "The Wanderman"
www.thewanderman.com