RV Home on the Range

Dear Dr. R.V. Shrink:
My husband wants to sell everything, buy a motorhome and drive all the way across the country to a big gathering he read about in a place called "Quartzsite." I think he has lost his marbles.

He's too old for a mid-life crisis, and too young for me to convince him he is delusional.

What can I do to dampen his wanderlust spirit enough to save our house from going on the block?
--Heading for Homeless in Hyannis

Dear Hyannis:
Selling the house before you actually give the RV lifestyle a try can sometimes work out and sometimes be a disaster.

You seem like you are not on the same page about this great adventure. That being the case, I would put off placing the house on the sales block and putting together this adventure on a trial basis.

 Taking a block of time and testing whether the RV lifestyle is right for you will make things much easier in the long run no matter what your decision is.

I come from a long line of irrational exuberance. That's me with my family in the above picture when my dad decided we should take our 1957 Airstream and go all the way across the country to the Seattle World’s Fair in 1962.

I can tell you from a lifetime of experiences that this move can lead to a travel addiction. Whether you dive in or tiptoe, most people find there is a strong undertow that often will drag you in and you will find it hard to escape the pull of the experience.
--Keep Smilin', Dr. R.V. Shrink

RV food fright

Dear Dr. R.V. Shrink:
We have just started our travel adventure with a new travel trailer. We have a fairly good sized refrigerator. An adequate amount of pantry space, and a few bins we can use for food storage. The problem is we do not like buying in quantity at the big discount shopping stores. We have always bought at our local food co-op where we find good, fresh, quality food.

Can we just kiss goodbye the idea of finding this on the road? Are we going to have to change our eating habits to align ourselves more with the diet constraints of the big box stores?

This may sound like a small problem, but we enjoy preparing good healthy meals and do not want to give up fresh organic fruits and vegetables. —Food Fright in Fredericksburg

Dear Fred:
Part of the adventure is that things will be different. You will have to adjust to the conditions you discover as you move along. It will also depend where you plan to spend your time. It makes sense that the bigger the population density of an area the more choices of everything, including food you will find.

That is not always the case, so using the internet will allow you to explore more rural areas for the type of stores you prefer. There seems to be a trend and demand by consumers for more healthy choices in food. I see much more in the way of organics even in the big box stores.

Health food stores are not as rare, even in rural areas, as you may think. It just takes a bit more effort to seek them out. Another option we use is to buy freeze dried veggies and fruits in #10 cans. At first you get sticker shock when you scan the price, but you have to do some math and compare the volume to fresh. As a long distance backpacker I am very familiar with several brands. Once rehydrated these products taste fresh and delicious.

Another thing to look for, and ask about, are farmers markets. They are popular gathering places all over the country with all kinds of fresh, locally grown food choices.

Soon you will be able to order online from anywhere and expect Amazon to drone it in to your campsite within the hour! Talk about fresh.

With a little homework I don’t think finding good healthy food is as troublesome as it first appears.

The world is full of fruits and nuts. In your travels you will run into a wide variety. —Keep Smilin’. Dr. R.V. Shrink 

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RV big chill

Dear Dr. R.V. Shrink:
My husband is always a half bubble off plumb, or at least he thinks he is. He is a bit of a fanatic about our fifth-wheel being level. He thinks if it is the least bit off level our refrigerator will stop working.

I don’t see other people that concerned with being perfectly level. Will you explain to me how I can persuade him to relax and still chill? —Cold Hearted in Henderson

Dear Cold Hearted:
Manufacturers use a more vertical design for evaporator positioning in today’s cooling units. This makes it easier for evaporator coils, inside the cooling unit, to permit gravity flow of liquid ammonia through the system.

Give the poor guy a break. If nothing else, his efforts will keep your refrigerator efficient and running optimally.

Leveling is not the only important part of efficiency, but it is important. Being a half bubble off should not hurt a newer unit. That said, front to back and side to side leveling still remains a concern.

If you run the fridge tilted for any length of time you can and will damage the cooling unit. Running off-level will cause the unit to stop circulating.

I can tell you from experience that pulling a unit and having it replaced or recharged is expensive and a hassle.

In the good old days you could take the unit out and roll it, cross your fingers and sometimes get it cooling again.

It’s easier to do a job right, than to explain why you didn’t, or pay for the mistake. So what’s the problem. Let him be fussy, let him be precise, let him be perfectly level.

If he is still a half bubble off plumb after all that, well, that would be another question and a different answer.
—Keep Smilin’. Dr. R.V. Shrink 

The coolest RV products and accessories for RVers at Amazon.com. Click here.