Camp Kamp

Michael and I want to thank everyone who participated in this year's Big Bear RRV event!  We hope everyone enjoyed the setting, the activities and most of all each other's company.  Those of us who went on the Action Zipline Adventure had a blast and we wish everyone could have experienced it. 
Hope to see you all next month in Pismo!

Peter and Michael

Hi Guys,

George and I are enjoying retirment.  So far so good!   We've been traveling the southern states visiting relatives before we head south of the border.  We've started a blog on Travelpod.com which is where friends and family can check in and see where we are and how we are doing.  It includes a map showing where you were on your last check in.  Pretty neat!
Will be heading to the Ajijic area of Mexico hopefully in early September. 
If you are interested in checking out our blog here's a link.

http://www.travelpod.com/z/steveandgeorge/1/1280398796

Steve

I decided to post some recaps of recent trips and go backwards threw the months to include several highlights. I am doing this posting by signing into the members area then hold my mouse over Profile then click on MyBlog Dashboard.  Everyone is encouraged to start a blog.

Temecula Wine and Balloon   is an annual event in Southern California .  In  '08 Tom Davies  the then Southern California  Chapter Rep asked my Tim to host this event.  Tom picked up the momentum that Mike Culpepper started in the Southern California chapter and involved members in hosting events while Tom assisted in the organizational  and promotional aspects.  Tom  set members on a path to better organized events.   Club activities and participation grew to involve almost 200 members at the 2010 campout.  The more the merrier is a proven concept .

Tim and I arrived at the campground early and met Rodney and Gorden to help set up the main meeting area. We collected 200 chairs and 35 tables then planned out the best way to facilitate the planned social gatherings.  We declined the  rv's parks offer to use a concrete court yard and opted to keep members on a close to camp grass area.  Closer to the event start day other members chipped in and help us complete the staging area.  Robert and Randy set up the sound, Cindy and Pat made the name badges, Rainbow Cinema's 16 foot screen was erected by Jody and Allen.  Countless other members assisted in the effort and clean up Sunday morning.

Thursday night was fun but we noticed that many of the members scheduled to arrive for the extra day did not.  Member had a chance to set up, enjoy new friends catchup with familiar faces and get the party started. Friday morning we brewed 120 cups of coffee and members toasted Beagles at the first gathering of the event.  The  various scheduled gatherings are the clubs tool to facilitate fellowship and foster new friendships. Everyone is encouraged to hangout and meet their Rainbow family. 

Friday noon many members ventured into Temecula and the Balloon grounds 5 miles from camp. Local vineyards and shops got their share of members business evident from all the goodies members schlepped (Barry is that the correct spelling?) back to camp.  Tim and I hug out with many of the members who gathered close to their camp with new friends met earlier that day.  I strategically positioned the RainbowRV van where  Tim Beth and Elia sold Jackets, shirts and hats with the new RainbowRV Logo.

Tim and I had some time this last weekend to do some more work on the high heel shoe prop we built for last years Palm Springs pride parade.  TonyP the Palm Springs event host secured a place for us in this years parade and we didnt want to show up without adding something to the mix or making some changes. 

The steel frame of the shoe was not our intended final parade entry last year but the look  worked as time ran out to cover the frame with some type of finished surface.  We experimented with foam and fiberglass with poor results then decided to pull out the singer and review  some quick Youtube How To Sew videos.  

Tim found some silver sequence spandex fabric at a craft chain and traveled to three locations to collect enough material to complete the project.  We needed to have the liner material and sequence-spandex sent out for treatment with fire retardant prior to assembly.  I took advantage of our slow work schedule to make a pattern using cotton sheeting and paper for the heel while we waited for the fabric to be treated.  We were surprised that the treatment took only two days and we were able to get right to cutting and sewing without any delay.

For the construction of the covers we used a machine to sew the black cotton blend liner then inserted 1/4 inch rods to stretch the cover into shape.  The three sections of the shoe were then dressed with the wire enforced liner material then we hand stitched the sequence fabric to the liner. 

Tim pinning liner sections for machine  sewing

Took the RV out for a little shake down trip up to the Buffalo National River here in Arkansas this past week.   Fortunately this river was hardly affected by the rain unlike the deadly flash flood in south western Arkansas.  Our River rose about 4 feet over night with swift currents.  This is a major floating river in Arkansas.  We are planning several more trip this year and needed to find out if all systems were working properly.  A little problem with the pressure switch on the Jabsco water pump but fortunately we had an older one with a good switch.  All systems worked well.

Sleepless night at LL Stub Stewart State Park. Left Portland today to travel around the NW for the Memorial Day Weekend. Man I needed to get away. Work has been a bitch lately. Never ending work. Well, I am away from that and exicted about traveling. I will be meeting my good friend Don at Anthony's Home Court this weekend. What a great place! Dan and Wayne I look forward to seeing you.

Hi y'all.. I just took some good pics of my "new" motorhome this morning, before the rain set in. It's been warm and humid here, rain off and on the past week. I've not made the progress I was hoping for regarding the waxing, tune up, oil change, etc. There's been alot going on around me with work, sending my parents on a cruise ( I put them on an airplane this morning at 4:30..), company coming in from Florida, etc. In the midst of it all, I needed a break, so I took off to see my new hunny over in Galax, VA. for a day. Wonderful guy, I don't know where he's been hiding all this time, but ecstatic we have gotten together... wish us luck ! LOL ! I hope this finds everyone well, and I will write something more substantial in a couple days.... till then ! Keep a song in your heart....

Well we finally took the plunge.  Closed on the sale of our business(28 years)April 19th.  We are now in a three month transition period which will mercifully end soon so we can get on with the real business of retirement.  We are planning a trip thru Tennessee over to South Carolina, Georgia, Missisippi to visit family around the end of July.  This should be the start of the next great aventure.  So far so good.  Have the motorhome in tip top shape.    Just puchased a new HP laptop with the verizon MIFI since we both have laptops.  George is in the MAC camp.  There are advantages to both.  We can use all the support/information you guys can give us. 

Wish us luck!

 May need some help on the "BLOG" thing.

Steve and George

I wrote an article on the front of the website about Tim Dennis and his adventures.  His stay here at our home in Romoland was quite curious because the entire time my gaydar kept going off.  My Tim told me that I suspect everyone who has an RV and  an extra $40.  That is not true, I recognized the caring unselfish qualities TimDennis had, and oh yea, the way he checked out the Jockeys who exercise horses at a ranch across the street from our house.  

Not long into the first day TimDennis revealed to me that he was a member of our club. Club? did he imply the Rainbowrv Camping club? or  is "He's a club member " some type of British idiom equal to our saying "she's family".  Well a quick check of the website gave me the answer however not as definitive as you would think.  Tim Dennis is a Rainbowrv member with the screen name  RambelingRat   .  Check out his profile and accept him as a friend.  I wish Tim all the luck with his adventure and work. We hope he will attend some RainbowRV functions while in the states and make many wonderful friends.

Here is a pic I took of Tim just before he left us for his trip to Montana. The Kilt doesn't even give me a clue, He's a Scot??  Interesting person for sure.

Hi y'all. Today was a BEAUTIFUL day here in east Tennesse... sunny, breezy, about 71 degrees. I was at work at 7:30 this morning, I had 3 appointments for new owner orientations.. an 8 a.m., a 10 a.m, and a nooner. This is the one part of my job that I truly love.. being able to connect with other like-minded people, share information, teach them about their new units and share some stores and laughs. So by two o'clock, I wrapped that up, and headed for our service area parking to continue waxing  "My Time". I named the motorhome "My Time", because I'm getting to the age where I say things like " I want to take My Time and go to".... or, " I'm taking My Time and .... so it seemed like a fitting name.( My previous motorhomes were named "Tempo" and "Tempo II", " Blue Baron", and Miss Fitz".) But I digress...... so I opened the windows and awning, put on some music, cracked open a Rolling Rock beer, and went to work. I'd hunted high and low for a good, easy to use product for removing the light, hazy oxidation and grub from a gelcoated surface. Everyone I talked to recommended GelGloss, so I bought a $6.49 can and tried it. All I can say is WOOOOOWWW ! I am EXTREMELY pleased with the results ! It's easy to use, smells good, and requires very little rubbing to produce a very sharp, glossy shine I've done about 28 feet of the door side, and the stainless steel wheel covers in about 3 1/2 hours. From awning rail down to the beltline where the compartment doors begin, and between all the vinyl striping. I will take pictures tomorrow and post here, and perhaps a video so you can see the results (If I can figure out how to do that..  I'm technologically challenged with such things..LOL ) I hope everyone is doing well and I'll write more tomorrow... keep a song in your heart !

The Goodyear GST614RST trailer tires have a max rating of 110psi cold inflation, which I have always kept them inflated.  A friend recently suggested that in hot weather driving I should keep only 105psi to give the tires greater room for expansion due to heat. 

I always thought that even at maximum inflation the tires are designed to handle the additional psi driving on hot roads.....trying to avoid blowouts and appreciate any advice on best psi.  Thanks, Peter

Hello everyone ( well, anyone bored enough to read this.... you know who you are ! ) This is my first attempt at "blogging", so bear with me until I get the hang of it.  Summer apparently is upon us here in Tennessee. Everything's come to life and starting to bloom, it's been HOT....and prime camping season is underway. As many of you may or may not know, I work for Tennessee RV here in Knoxville, and our season started about mid-March... as if someone opened a floodgate. It's shaping up to be a busy, BUSY summer.

 When I've been out "motorhoming" this past year, I've always used one of our stock units ( the Foretravel Grand Villa with the LOVELY lavender awnings.. hehehehe ) It really is a pretty coach, great floorplan, handled like a sports car.... and I just LOVE the smell of a Detroit diesel in the morning....LOL.  I've been motor-homeless for quite awhile now, as I never needed to own one while being in the RV business. It's always been in the back of my mind to buy again, but wasn't a priority. Until last week..... I bought another coach of my own. Nothing grand, just a 33 foot Seabreeze 133 Limited, by the now defunct National RV. I wanted to hold out for another Foretravel, as I've had several through the years, but this was too good a deal to pass. It has new carpet, upholstery, tires, belts, hoses and brakes. All the work was professionally done and the owners were very meticulous and spared no expense to make it a useable coach. Their needs changed, and they went into a triple slide Georgetown 374, because they're going to be full-timing.

So I made an exploratory trip to Timberfell Lodge, a gay resort about 50 miles east of Knoxville, so I could test everything out, see how it handled towing a car, check how it handled, listen for squeaks and rattles, etc. It performed almost... ALMOST flawlessly. I'm experiencing the "454 spark plug fade", as Eray was with his Airstream. I was expecting it, as I've had the 454 in other coaches, and quite frankly would have been surprised if it DIDN'T do it. So first on the "to do" list is a new set of plugs and Jacobs ceramic-booted plug wires.

I also need to add some vent covers, a sewer tank flush, an Ultra Guard, a light above the electric step, and later in the summer, new A/C shrouds... ( they're intact, but old and prone to blowing off going down the road ). Camping World has a high-volume vent fan, much like the MaxxAir fan, except this fan, called a Vortex, replaces those little dinky bathroom fans. All you need to do is remove the interior bezel and screen, remove the little tiny fan from the vent opening, make your 12v electric connections, and screw the fan into place. There's no need to remove the roof portion of the vent and break it's seal to the roof. I'll let you know how the install goes when I get it done. I'll try and get pictures of things on here too. I alone am not that fascinating, so I have to rely on pictures..LOL

I'm hoping to use this blog for such things, and to tell about our group outings as well as my own misadventures. I once went out to have the LP tank filled on the motorhome and didn't return home for 6 weeks, but thats a story for another time ! Until then, keep a song in your hearts..Mike

I had a wonderful time in Julian with the group.  Glenn W always puts on a great event.  The road up to Julian is two lane for the last 60 miles and changes elevation about 4,000 feet. At the top, Camp was a brisk 48degrees when it was warm!  Temps got down to 31 but the warmth of the group kept out the hypothermia. 

Tim and I  pulled the new RainbowRV Van Behind our motor-home.    On our freeway part of the trip it was fun to get thumbsup from passing community members who understood the color scheme and term " PRIDE " to imply 'Gay and Lesbian family member driving'.

Larry of Northern Cal who made the 10 hour trip to be with us  in Julian took a bunch of photos . here is one of our group taken during the warmest hour of the entire trip

  I am looking for a way to post them in the chapter group page or some other manageable tool for site enjoyment and critique.    This new member author tool will help share the fun we all have every time a chapter gets together. Hopefully other members will update their adventures by blogging On RainbowRV 

Well.... Our  Club Website is built using a new sum of 18 programs to help organize and protect the data.  One of the issues we have with adding user features is I build the site first on a test platform at TimGreg.com then test it on this server at rainbowrv.com/dev1.  after every thing works out,  I then copy it over to this live side.   When I update and add features I often work on several tools at a time . This week I installed our simple classified program and our members blog program. thanks for your patience and look for video's on how to  host a Blog.  Blogs are fun and a cool way for you to share travel experiences and helpful hints with friends across the country.

The image below  was taken in our backyard, how gay can you get, check back and I'll show just how gay it does get.  I first need to prune the roses

Greg