Learn from Others...

...and from others' mistakes. The cheapest lesson we can learn is from someone else's mistake, right? Because usually a mistake has a price. We've witnessed several mistakes RVers (or truckers) have made this year alone. Here are just a few:

Mistake: taking the exit ramps too fast. We've seen two tractor trailers flipped on their side this year when they apparently hit the exit ramps too fast. One had spewed his load of Washington fruit all over the roadside. The driver of the second truck was taken away in an ambulance.
Lesson Learned: It's imperative to listen to the speed limit signs. I even try to go 5 mph slower when in curvy, hilly conditions. Our RV when towing weighs 18,000 pounds - it takes a little longer to slow her down than the car. Clover-leaf exit ramps are that much harder when coming off the highway doing 65 mph.

Mistake: leaving the TV antennae up when departing. Many RVers have seen this one! But all it takes is one tree branch to ruin your day...and your antennae.
Lesson Learned: we bought a tacky orange diamond shape sign that we clip on the cab visor as a reminder when the antennae is up. When the antennae is down, we clip it onto the handle. Those are the only two places it is clipped so each of us can tell at a glance if the antennae is up or down.

Mistake: driving away with the electric cord still plugged in. Outside of the movies, we've only seen this happen once. We know it cracked the park's electrical box, and I'm sure it damaged the RVer's electric cord and plug.
Lesson Learned: the Last Walk-Around. One of us does a final walk-around one last time before getting in the driver's seat. Even after we're sure we unplugged everything and stowed everything.

Mistake: backing into a tree. We heard the crunch when a neighbor backed his Airstream trailer into a tree in his blindspot.
Lesson Learned: always have someone backing you in. They should be your eyes for the things you can't see in your mirror.

Mistake: driving away with your Toad in park or the brakes on. This was one of the most awful sounds we've heard, as the car was dragged on tires not rolling. We weren't able to catch this RVer before they left the park. Later we biked down the road and saw the tread marks lead from our campground and go for 2 1/2 miles before they obviously realized what was happening and pulled over. I would suspect that cost them four new tires.
Lesson Learned: we act as pilot and co-pilot with a verbal checklist to ensure we've followed all of the steps, including the Toad's departure checklist..."car in neutral, emergency brake off". It never hurts to double-check eachother's work.

By remembering these moments, we hope not to repeat them and since we'll be home for awhile, I wanted to make sure we remember them when we get back into our RV.

Christmas Boat Parade

It was the perfect night. We walked the block and a half to the New River and plunked down our backpack chairs on the river's edge. The temperature was perfect for jeans and a t-shirt as we drank our beers and watched the beautifully lit boats pass by.
Some decorated with the Florida-theme of dolphins and palm trees...
Ironically, it was the big, corporate yachts that we were most disappointed with. They just lit up their logos on the sides - Hard Rock, Perrier, Foreclosure.com (yep, got us in the holiday spirit with that one!). But the smaller, privately owned boats were lit up, had music playing or skits to enjoy. One sailboat had people dressed in toy soldier costumes and when the cannon goes off, they all fall down....over and over and over. Gotta hand it to those guys & gals - that must be dizzying!

This was the first year they started the parade in downtown Ft Lauderdale. Usually they just do it on the Intercoastal. Even with some congestion on the river and some delays, I still think it was a hit. So many residents could walk to see it, and since it is more narrow on the river we could enjoy more details on the boats.

Skype Me!

We decided not to reactivate our landline phone service. We decided to try a VOIP service instead. After a little bit of research, we chose to go with Skype. Most people have heard that Skype to Skype is free, which is great, but for only $36/year we can make all of the outbound calls we want to landlines or cell phones. This will allow us to make necessary (or unnecessary) calls during the day without eating up our cellphone minutes. Yeah!

It's really easy to setup. First, you need internet access. Then you download the software. You'll need to get some type of device to talk - this could be a webcam, headset w/ microphone, or a VOIP phone. We went with the Phillips phone, because it is cordless and the base unit connects to our wireless router allowing us to use the phone even when our computers are turned off. So far, everything is working great - people we're calling don't even know we're using Skype.

We will try to take this system with us on the road when we get back out in the RV. I've read a lot of comments on Datastormusers and I realize that VOIP might be hit or miss because of the latency of the satellite dish. BUT, when you don't have cell service, I think we'd be happy to suffer with some lag time on a call then not to be able to speak to someone at all. But, for that we will just have to wait and see. Skype also has these cool WIFI phones that you can use at any HotSpot - unfortunately the reviews we've read were more negative than positive on these little phones. Perhaps next year they'll be better?

If we're happy with SkypePro (outbound calls), we might eventually upgrade to SkypeIn as well, which would give us an incoming phone number for people to call us like a regular phone line. Until then, everyone can just call our cell phones....or download Skype and call us FREE!

Green Iguanas

I mentioned the other day that one of the things I missed were the wild green iguanas that we have down here in South Florida. Well, on Sunday we took our kayaks out for a little paddle down the New River and saw some. Now, the little ones are a vibrant green and they can almost disappear into the grass. The big ones that you see here are usually more orange with a black banded tail. These two were probably 3 feet long (or more!).They are really quite beautiful reptiles. A little frightening as well since they can run vertically up a concrete seawall.
Unfortunately they are feral (previous pets released into the wild) and have rapidly reproduced without any natural predators. So I can understand why same property owners don't appreciate them chowing down on their landscaping or undermining their seawalls.

If you want to read more about these critters, check out this site. I had to laugh when I recognized some of the body language we saw during our kayaking - head bobbing, hatchet mode,...yeah, I'm just happy they didn't jump on my head while I snapped a few pictures.

Besides big iguanas, we got to see the Jazz Fest from our kayaks. It was our lucky day putting our kayaks into the river on the first Sunday of the month - we didn't even plan it!

A Recap

Here's our route from this past year. We had a wonderful time. We did so much that sometimes we have to stop and try to remember all of the things we did: hiking to the top of Half Dome, crawling through lava tubes, taking a boat tour around Crater Lake, having family and friends visit us along the way, fossil-hunting, and so much else! So much of it seems so so long ago.

To compare this year's route to prior years, you can check out our website Map page.

It was a different year for us on the road, though, since we were trying to work. It added some challenges and frustrations for us, true. But in reality we still got to travel and re-visit 13 states and add 17 new National Park sites to our growing list. I'm sure the next time we go back out on the road it will be easier. The satellite dish was working well for the last two months of our trip (it hurt me to call and suspend our service!). And we'll be more accomplished traders by then with some extra cash in reserves. I joked with Chris the other day that we'll be "millionaires" soon enough. I figure that if you don't set that as your goal, you'll never achieve it, right?!

Well, until we get back out on the road again, I'll continue to post periodically when we get involved in the fun activities here in our home town. Right now? Andy's in our roof-top jacuzzi and I'm using the WIFI now available on our pool deck looking at the ocean and the New River. Coming soon? The Winterfest Boat Parade and then we'll be in Philly for Christmas.

We're Home

We arrived home this past Monday and have spent the week just getting settled. Our first tough job was trying to park our 8 1/2 foot wide RV in a 8' wide storage space! Isn't that 'ducky'? Pun intended, of course, since we're parked next to "The Duck" (thee by land&water tour bus). We were promised The Duck is an excellent driver.
So we're only inches away from both neighbors...making it hard to unpack our belongings.

I know money is the driving reason, but I get frustrated that the boat/RV storage facilities aren't built to accommodate a boat or an RV. Aye, aye, aye....But, this place is so close to home that the convenience of it still makes it worth it.

So now that we're home, let me tell you the little things that we've missed: palm trees, wild green parrots, lots of blue water and sunshine, large green iguanas, running along the Riverwalk, biking to the beach, walking out of our door to attend events like Christmas on Las Olas, watching the sunset from our balcony and the sunrise over the ocean, and friends. Our neighbors in our building have given us such a warm welcome home.