Zephyrs

The group tried out a new location for a rally at Eagle Lake this year. Instead of the campground at the north end of the lake 30 miles north of Susanville, a dispersed camping and fishing access area was chosen about 5 miles farther along Eagle Lake Road. The access road down the point is rather rough but the BLM does at least fill in the major holes.

SNU Rally at Eagle Lake, Rocky Point August 2010 — See the photo gallery! Wednesday started with near record heat. Thursday and Friday were gusty as a front came through. Saturday was drizzle all day. Sunday was cool and quiet.

It’s the typical afternoon gusty winds that are blamed for the lack of water sports on the lake. It’s the alkaline waters that are considered the barrier to invasive fish species. It all makes for a special place.

SNU Folks,

The August 2010 Newsletter has been posted with links to photo galleries and additional information mentioned in articles. See the 2010 Newsletter Page.

August Rally at Eagle Lake

Thursday August 26 to Sunday 29 the SNU will hold a rally at Eagle Lake just north of Susanville. This year we will be at Rocky Point East, a dispersed area right on the shores of the lake. The turnoff to Rock point is just beyond the BLM campground where we have held previous SNU rallies. Check this link for details, including the link to the page for GPS coordinates to the rally site

Time to renew membership for 2011

You can pay your dues online or print out the form and send it along with your check to the SNU 714 Terra Ct, Reno, NV, 89506

Note that dues have been upped to $75.

Topics in the August newsletter

Review of Crocker rally -|- Eagle Lake in August -|- Congratulations to Jerry and Dyann -|- Camping before Airstreams -|- Time to Renew -|- Food Safety

For the latest on the Sierra Nevada Unit, check the organization’s homepage.

Check Zephyrs and find out what else is new on the SierraNevadaAirstreams.org

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SNU HQ

The National Forest Service is now providing free maps that show you where vehicles are allowed in the National Forests. The Humbolt-Toiyabe National Forest page has a link to the ruling as well as PDF versions of the maps and an FAQ.

The reason these maps are free is because it is up to you to make sure you don’t take your vehicle to parts of the forest where it is not allowed. They are not the detailed topographic color maps you can purchase but they do show the roads you can travel. That also means they show where dispersed camping is allowed.

More restrictions and more paper appears to be the trend. Take care you don’t get an unpleasant surprise from a ranger.

Its about camping a hundred years ago. On exhibit at the National Automobile Museum in Reno are early 20th century automobile camping items.

See the photo gallery!

The Harrah Collection at the museum has a lot more than just some camping vehicles. The museum is well worth a visit if your travels take you through Reno.

The SNU had a weekend rally at Unionville County Park.


See the photo gallery!

The wild flowers were blooming, and a lot of sightseers were out and about.

Frugal for Life describes 15 Uses for Petroleum Jelly along with a ‘make your own’ recipe for a non-petroleum substitute. The stuff is good for preventing chapped hands in winter and will also protect hands when you get into painting or greasing your wheel bearings. That makes cleaning your hands a bit easier.

Whether you use petroleum jelly as a trailer ball lube and protectant or a refrigerator door gasket seal assist, it has many uses that can make your RV lifestyle a bit easier to maintain.

In memories, travelogues, a special section has been set up remembering Lloyd and Ruth Brown, charter members of the Monterey Bay California Unit of the WBCCI. This is a personal story of the heyday of the WBCCI in the seventies and eighties with Lloyd’s artwork, photographs, and reminiscences.

Oregon Pipes ’93

You’ll find links to biographical information, Lloyd and Ruth’s story about the 1971 Airstream Company European Caravan, and photo galleries with many of Lloyd’s sketches and water colors.

One of the ways to make things easier on the road in your RV is to reduce what you need to do for dinner. You can pre-pare your dinners and stash them in your RV’s freezer. Melissa recommends (Don’t Panic–Dinner’s in The Freezer.) (Amazon link referencing Melissa) as a resource. “When we are traveling in our camper, I simply stash the homemade meals in the mini freezer before we leave and pull them out as necessary.”

It looks like the book was successful enough to breed a sequel. — Might be worth checking out.

SNU Folks

The June 2010 Newsletter has been posted! Note: Links to photo galleries and additional information mentioned in articles in this newsletter can also be found at there, too

June Rally at Unionville

The SNU will hold a rally at the county park in Unionville. Dates for the rally are Thursday June 24 to Sunday June 27. Unionville is off of I 80 East. About 60 miles East of Lovelock. Take exit 149 (about 44 miles from Lovelock) towards Mill City/Unionville. The road to Unionville is good gravel. The park is near the end so keep going till you see Airstreams. Be sure and bring wood for campfires. (Your routing program might take a shortcut over the mountain to the south. This route at exit 119 is not recommended,)

Topics in the June newsletter

June rally at Unionville -|- Ft Sage Rally Review -|- First draft SNU 2011 rally schedule -|- SNU 35th Anniversary Logo -|- IBT President’s newsletters -|- Region 12 newsletter -|- Airstream restorations -|- Airstream for Sale

For the latest on the Sierra Nevada Unit, check the website homepage:

> Check Zephyrs and find out what else is new on the SierraNevadaAirstreams.org

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SNU HQ

One of the questions trailer owners ask is about what they need in a tow vehicle for their trailer. This has been a very subjective matter with a lot of sales hype and FUD mongering thrown in. The SAE has put together a committee to provide a standard against which towing issues can be compared. Automobile Magazine says

There are five engineering characteristics that strongly influence any tow vehicle’s performance:

* The engine’s power and torque characteristics.
* The powertrain’s cooling capacity.
* The durability of the powertrain and chassis.
* Handling characteristics during cornering and braking
* maneuvers. The structural characteristics of the vehicle’s hitch attachment area.

Standard J2807 spells out test procedures and performance requirements that must be meant for a manufacturer to assign a maximum tow rating to a particular vehicle.

Most of the issues, concerns, and questions that have come up over the years in the ‘what can I tow?’ question have been addressed in the standard. For instance, a tow vehicle must be able to go forward and backward 16 feet on a 12% grade five times in five minutes as well as meet acceleration times over a set of defined speed ranges commonly encountered in driving. The Davis Dam run on 68 and 163 in Arizona is used as a criterion where the rig has to keep up a minimum cruising speed when temperatures are over 100F and the AC is on full. Handling is also considered. Turns up to .3g or so must not exhibit oversteer and panic stops need to stay in lane and be accomplished in specified distances at various speeds.

These criteria will not only help choosing a tow vehicle but can also be used to understand what the ‘experts’ think is necessary for proper and safe towing. Starting with 2013 models, you may see the claim that the vehicle meets J2807 SAE standards and that will provide some assurance about the claims for what the vehicle will tow.

Cords, cables, and hoses are either stiff and difficult to stow in a small place or flexible and easy to tangle. This means cord management is a ripe target for innovation. Cords need to be coiled so they can easily be removed from stowage without being tangled. Some sort of container for the cord will help keep it protected as well as help keep it from tangling with other cords. One container convenient for RV’s is the cloth conference bag. You can find these at thrift stores for a minimal expense. Other options are fancier, look prettier, or just more convenient, maybe.

Caveat: If you are running power through a cord, keeping it coiled, especially in a confined space, may not be a good idea. Power cords dissipate heat and need appropriate air flow.

Cool Tools takes note of the Cordpro® as a way to manage cords, cables, and hoses. Following the link to the Cordpro website finds a tip that might be useful with or without the device. “Cords operate more easily when coated with a thin layer of F21 Turtle Wax Super Protectant before storing in your Cordpro®. Additionally, this provides ultraviolet protection, which will increase the life of your cords and hoses.”

The key to this cord management tool is that it uses a divided flexible plastic container to hold rolled up cord. Half is wound around one side and half around the other. The flexible lip holds the cord but allows it to be pulled out or rewound. The two compartments allow pulling cord out from each end.

Cableyoyo is an example of this technique for USB cables. That helps keep your laptop workstation and accessories neat.

If YoYos aren’t your style, try turtles. The container store calls them Cable Turtles.

Ehow has a video on using a bucket for a similar purpose. That doesn’t have the ‘pull from either end’ convenience but may be something to consider.

Lifehacker has Top 10 Ways to Get Cables Under Control with some good ideas.

WikiHow describes How to Coil Any Kind of Cord to inhibit tangling. Flip-coiling describes the technique with pictures.

If you’ve got an RV with 50 amp service, you might consider looking into how the Navy trains sailors to manage hawsers for ideas on dealing with your power cord. Those cords are heavy and seem to have a mind of their own.

If you live on your phone, the unlimited cell phone minutes plan is something you might try to hold on to. They may not be available for long.

If you don’t need your telephone with you 24×7 and reducing costs is a consideration, WiseBread has some ideas in Kick that Cell Phone Contract: Save with a Prepaid Plan.

There are two basic cell phone networks. You may have seen the advertisements about who has the best coverage. One network uses CDMA and its major provider is Verizon. The other uses GSM and its major provider is AT&T. They are not compatible with each other and phones for one will not work on the other.

Some of the pre-paid cell phone providers contract with Verizon, AT&T, and other network providers. Tracfone, for instance, will sell you a GSM or a CDMA phone depending upon where you say you want to use it. If you are in Reno, Tracfone prefers a GSM phone. If in Gerlach or Doyle, the choices are CDMA phones. Verizon has better coverage in the less populated areas, it seems but AT&T better coverage in town.

Another factor to consider is that GSM phones use a SIM card and CDMA phones don’t. The SIM card is a little memory card that you plug into your phone that contains the service information from your cell phone provider. It is a lot easier to plug that into the phone for both you and the phone company than having to type in long strings of numbers on a CDMA phone to do the same thing. That is why the CDMA folks are looking at A RUIM card (also R-UIM) or Re-Usable Identification Module as a means to control service more easily.

Note that pre-paid cell phone service is often very basic. The phones are inexpensive and don’t have a lot of the bells and whistles the contract providers offer. You will usually have to look for other options for I’net access.

A pre-paid cell service can be a very inexpensive option as a part of a more complete plan. If you wait until you find a wifi hotspot, you can use Skype or MagicJack to the long calls and keep the pre-paid calls short.

The market is in a turmoil and things are changing quite rapidly. There are many different ways to do things. That provides opportunities for meeting your needs at low cost but it also means it is easy to miss something. Keep your options and your eyes open. It can be fun.

The weather’s going to break – sometime (the forecasters think this Memorial Day weekend). With all the moisture this spring the weed invasion is massive and persistent. Some these weeds are just a tall grass, some become shrubs and bushes, and some can be dangerous or a significant nuisance. Goatheads (Tribulus terrestris) even has its own website.

Diligence and determination are needed to battle this foe. It is a real fight. It’s a fight that can’t be won in a season. It takes many years to deplete the seed bank in the soil. If you take a season off, you’ll be back where you started before you know it. Try not to get discouraged. Talk to your neighbors and try to rally support for the cause. Lots of folks are still unaware of the level of nastiness this plant can achieve. If we work together, and not try to do it alone, we really can make a difference.

While some consider the thumbtacks produced by T. terrestris a nutritional supplement, possibly as a sex drive enhancement or a Chinese medicine, most do not want to be anywhere near a crop of such noxious weeds that create organic thumbtacks that attack your shoes, tires, and other vulnerable surfaces.

The war is of such desperation that some staunch believers in only natural methods will resort to chemical warfare, herbicides, to quench the assault. Otherwise, you have to crowd out T. terrestris with other vegetation or go after it the old fashioned way, one plant at a time.

Then again, T. terrestris might be a part of your home base defensive system. It might not keep mice and squirrels out of your RV but a good cover of thumbtacks in the yard surrounding your home base might deter burglars and vandals, somewhat, maybe; At least it’d keep them on the driveway and sidewalks. Your neighbors might not appreciate such an effort, though, as they’d get the benefits of your crop.

Ken and Keanette Sellars Show and Tell – Australian Dream RV’s. Then dig down the links! See the Sellar’s travelogue links to the International Scout Owner’s Club and May 2010 Ken and Jeanette’s trip across central Australia with photo galleries from their trip acriss central Australia in May 2010.

If you thought the Great Basin had some wide open spaces and scenic vistas, check these pictures!

Google says Alice Springs is 12,550 miles from Nevada with about 53 travel days to get there. That might be a challenge.

When you are trying to tie something down whether boating, climbing, fishing, or just securing the load, getting the right knot can help improve the odds of keeping it where you want it. Animated Knots by Grog shows you how to tie knots with animations for various needs and describes the issues with each choice. Do also check out the page on rope care. A lot of times, rope just gets tossed in with a pile of other stuff and gets tangled, dirty, or worse. If you want a rope you can depend upon, you need to use the right rope and one that has been properly cared for.

When you go for I’net on the road, you may find that it is often accompanied with use restrictions. Wireless ‘n wifi (ht escapees forum) took a look at what the common five billion characters of information per month limit will do for you. The analysis indicates that that volume is good for more than a million e-mail messages, thirty thousand web page views, ten thousand low resolution images, all the way down to just a handful of movies.

If you have I’net access with a gadget that plugs into your computer and wonder how you could use more than one computer with that gadget, Wireless ‘n wifi sells routers that allow you to set up your own local network with an I’net gateway using your gadget. It has some good information that can help you understand how it all works.

SNU Folks,

The May 2010 Newsletter has been posted. Links to photo galleries and additional information mentioned in articles in this newsletter can also be found there, too.

May Rally at Ft Sage

Thursday May 20 to Sunday May 23, 2010 3 day Rally at the Ft Sage BLM campground near Doyle, CA Off US 395 North. Be sure and bring wood for campfires.

Note that mapping programs may route you via the south end of Hackstaff Road off the Doyle loop. This route is not recommended because of a severely deficient bridge crossing Long Valley Creek on that route.

Topics in the May newsletter

• April at Pyramid Lake
• SNU business
• May rally at Ft Sage
• Ideas and input
• Williams Werkes Rises in Southern California
• New Friends in Australia
• Wally’s books

For the latest on the Sierra Nevada Unit, check the website homepage:

Check Zephyrs and find out what else is new on the SierraNevadaAirstreams.org

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SNU HQ

Squeezed between spring storms, the Pyramid Lake weekend made for a great Rally outing.

See the photo gallery!

If you don’t have your campfire permit for western national forests, see the campfire permit page at the Sequoia National Forest website. It’s a download, fill out, and sign thing good to the end of the year.

The Friends of Washoe County Library will have their Spring 2010 Booksale Bonanza at 5205 Mill from April 24 to May 2.

The booksale prices are mostly 50 cents to a dollar in the main section of the sale. There is a very large selection of Fiction, Non-Fiction, CDs, DVDs, old records, cassettes and videos, children’s books, and books for people of all interests.

This might be an opportunity to collect some reading material for those quiet hours in the woods on your next campout.