New RV gear, modifications, fixes, etc.
The parts wear out and sometimes break or fail. The reason I bring this up is that we’d noticed odors emanating from the space below our refrigerator on a few occasions. These odors smelled like something getting hot and they seemed to correlate with operation of the microwave or the electric heating element in the water heater. Hmm…
Continue reading “The thing about old motorhomes”
The Cape Breton Highlands comprise a tall, slightly rounded, mountainous plateau on the northeastern end of Nova Scotia. It was formed by the same collision of continents that created the unique mountains in Gros Morne National Park as well as the Appalachian Mountains, back in the really old days. Although not insanely tall at the highest point on White Hill (533 metres/1750 feet), the plateau drops dramatically from the edges – about 350 metres/1150 feet – to the ocean below.
Continue reading “Cape Breton Highlands National Park”
You might be thinking by now that we have a perverse infatuation with dead-end roads to out-of-the-way places. Ok, maybe we do a little – and we’ve been to some outrageously cool end-of-the-road spots – and sometimes there’s more to it than that. While at the Folk on the Rocks Festival last year in Yellowknife, we chatted with some folks living there who came originally from Inuvik. They loved the town, and they also told us that the Mackenzie Delta was the most beautiful place on earth. That was certainly enough for us to put it on our list.
So, who’s ready to hear about another 1600-km (1000-mile) road trip on a mostly great dirt road that totally rocked? It’s actually quite different from the last one. True, Alaska’s Dalton Highway – which we drove in June – and the Yukon/Northwest Territories’ Dempster Highway both provide overland access north of the Arctic Circle. They both involve about 1600 km (1000 mi) of unpaved roads through the wilderness with spectacular wildlife, and they are both the northernmost roads in their respective countries as well as the first (Dalton) and second (Dempster) northernmost roads in North America. They’re both legendary for broken windshields, flat tires and, oh, yes, you could die. Other than that, everything was different.
Continue reading “The Dempster and Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highways”The purpose of this post is mostly to document an off-the-wall problem (and the solution!) as well as a few other things we’ve figured out that might be useful to someone else following a similar path through RV-land, or troubleshooting a Dodge-Mercedes-Freightliner Sprinter. A couple of our regular readers may actually find parts of it fascinating, and I am certain that others absolutely will not, but that’s not why it’s here. It’s kind of tech-y and arcane, and that should be enough for you to sort yourself into the appropriate group and either continue reading or move on.
Continue reading “Electricity, gremlins and this year’s upgrades”
Our departures for past trips have been relatively straightforward. Wait for snow to melt (or not). Pack. Leave.
This year was a little different.
We’re trying out our newest technology upgrade – that black rectangle on the lower right in the photo above. Works great! Read on for a few details on how and why we wound up with this system.
In the short time that we’ve owned our motorhome – a 2008 Winnebago View 24J – we’ve made a few modifications that we’re really pleased with. These include replacing the “house” radio/CD/DVD player in the galley with a framed photo of our backyard and installing a unit into the dash that can handle all of our media needs; adding swivel adapters to the seats up front; installing USB power outlets here and there; and a handful of power-related upgrades.
This is kind of a geeky post, so if that sort of thing interests you, do keep reading – if not, you’ve already got the gist of it.
