Motorhome Tips

We have presented a few tips here. This section will grow as we have time to write.

The Walk around: Every time we move, we walk around the entire motorhome, even if we stop for lunch. We check all storage compartments, make sure all utilities are unhooked,check behind for clearance and check to see that our TV antenna is down!

Weighing your motorhome: After you load all your belongings and fluids, weigh your home. Based on your loaded weight, you can determine your required tire pressures.Where can you weigh it? This can be tough. We just kept making phone calls until we found the right place. We wanted to weigh front, rear, left side, right side and total. Then we cross checked all numbers. The cost can be from zero to quite a lot, make sure to ask.

Checking your tires: After determining your weight, refer to your manual for tire pressures. You probably have a tire pressure sticker in your home. Our pressures with a loaded motorhome differ from the sticker. We check our cold pressures each day we move. We carry a gauge, a hose and air chuck to add air. Note that if you drive only a few miles to an air pump, your tires will heat up and your pressures are to be checked cold.

Tools you need: Sometime we will post a list of the tools we have needed for the last six years.

Walkie Talkies: For $20.00 (12-2007) you can purchase a pair of walkie talkies. They are useful and fun in a lot of places, but mainly we use ours when setting up camp. We each carry one when we park. We can talk about backing into a site; checking the cable TV which several times has not worked; yell "stop" when a slide is going to collide with something, etc. Basically, it saves you time from not having to run back inside to talk to one another.

Digital Photography Tips

We are not experts, but we have taken and modified some very outstanding photos. We have taken 63,624 (09-2012) photos and put over 7,700 on our weekly travelogues.

Cameras: Today's cameras are amazing. We recommendthe following features: 12x-30x Optical Zoom (or greater): You will miss a lot of good shots with a small camera with minimal zoom. The larger zoom cameras will be bigger, but they are worth it. Get a large LCD screen so you can see your photo and re-take it if needed. Ours is the largest we could find at 3 1/4 inches and we can view it without glasses!

Photo Sizes: We take all photos at 7 megapixels. The bigger the photos, the fewer number the camera will hold, the longer it takes to upload to your computer, the more space and the slower the viewing. Note that we reduce our emailed photos to 900 x 675 , about 1/2 of one megapixel. As of 04-2012, 98% of the monitors in the world, can see a 900 x 675photo without scrolling. If you take large photos and send them without shrinking them, your audience will either have to scroll up/down, left/right and never see the whole picture or view each attachment with a number of clicks for each.

Both are unacceptable. So if your only use of photos is to email them, take them close to 900 x 675. Note, as time goes on, with higher resolution monitors, bigger photos can be viewed. If you are going to print 4x6 or larger photos, you will want to use more megapixels.

Snapshot Tips: Take many shots from different angles, different lighting and different zooms. Learn to "frame" your subject and include or exclude "junk". You can also crop photos later so it is better to include too much than cut off something you want. Digital photos are free! Take lots and after you upload to your computer, delete all the crummy photos and duplicates. Clean your windshield before you take off!

Storing Photos: Every camera comes with some photo album software. We don't use them. See Photo Journal.

Modifying Photos: This will be a huge section full of great procedures that have allowed us to produce our weekly emails. For now, know that we use  Paint Shop Pro X4. PhotoShop is better in many areas than Paint Shop Pro but cost about four times as much. To read about some basic editing techniques, seePhoto Editing for the Travelogue.