TOPIC: Packing an RV
INSTRUCTOR: Peggi McDonald
Peggi's philosophy is Go -- Do it Now. Keep your RV ready to roll. You will need to use the space you have to the fullest, and you don't want to overload the rig, so a good rule is, if you don't use it for a year, throw it away!
She had dozens of tips for packing, prevention of unwanted "guests" (mice, etc.) and safety tips. Some of these include:
Pack tightly. Your good things can go with you. She keeps her good glasses in socks and puts a layer of bubble wrap between each of her good dishes. If not bubble wrap, paper plates or scoot garde also work.
Make decorative pillow shams for your bed, sofa, etc. These can be stuffed with seldom used blankets, jackets or towels.
Store your bread, rolls or pastas in plastic containers -- in the microwave. This is a seldom thought of storage place. Keep oversized spatulas, knives etc. in jars with scoot gard rubber banded to the bottom and tied into unused corners with bungee cords.
Bayleaves are good roach preventers. Bounce fabric softener works against mice. Stuff it into the areas where mice get into the coach -- for example, in the area where the electric cord is kept. Ajax around the tires and silicone on hoses help repel ants.
Don't keep rice and pastas in their boxes. Put them, along with the cooking instructions cut from the box, in ziploc bags. They store better, don't spill, and are more bug proof.
Keep extra electrical cords in toilet paper cores. They stay separate and neat. Put plastic bags in paper towel cores.
To freshen the air and fight against the dampness associated with southern travel put "de gas" (Canadian product found at Wal Mart, but there must be a US equivalent) into closets. It helps keep things fresh.
Personalize your RV. You won' miss your house so much. Hang pictures, take along snapshots of grandkids, kids, etc. Use acetate instead of glass on pictures as it doesn't break.
Lysoll tub and tile cleaner cleans the black streaks off floors.
Probably everyone who has gone rving has at one time or another, forgotten to put down the TV antenna. Hang your car keys from it, and you won't forget.
Safety tips. Use a ground monitor to check the polarity in campgrounds. Peggi learned the hard way when she received the shock of her life, just by stepping outside one dewy morning. Get a variety of adaptors. Do not use orange "lawn mower" cords; they cannot carry enough current.
A power line monitor "Voltacheck" will protect your computer and appliances for either power surges or gradual drains from power fluctuations.