Issue 19 HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

We hope you are extra kind to your Mother, especially tomorrow, but every other day as well. Our mothers are the most important entity in our lives. The majority of us are who we are because of the care, patience and concern of our Mothers. Smile

According to ‘THE MOTHERS DAY STORY’ that I found on the web; the earliest Mother's Day celebrations can be traced back to the spring celebrations of ancient Greece in honor of Rhea, the Mother of the Gods. During the 1600's, England celebrated a day called "Mothering Sunday". Celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Lent (the 40 day period leading up to Easter) "Mothering Sunday" honored the mothers of England. Smile

During this time many of the England's poor worked as servants for the wealthy. As most jobs were located far from their homes, the servants would live at the houses of their employers. On Mothering Sunday the servants would have the day off and were encouraged to return home and spend the day with their mothers. A special cake, called the mothering cake, was often brought along to provide a festive touch. Read about the Mother Church and how a suggestion about Mothers Day that began in 1872 – By 1911 most states plus Canada, Mexico and many others was celebrating this day on the second Monday in May – much of the world joined in. By 1914 it became a national holiday. For more on this story - www.holidays.net/mother/story.htm Smile


THIS WEEK HAS BEEN BUSY


Bright and early Monday we were at BOB’S AUTO DETAIL SHOP in London 519-451-4660. Norm and Bob worked on the LUXOR for two days (15 hours) at their shop and now it shimmers. Price was very reasonable. (See pictures on this week’s on-line diary See forum post above). These two tried 4 different products and several buffers to get to the base of our problem the way they wanted it. Because it has to be done outside we had to have perfect days – Monday and Tuesday were that type of days. Bob Cooks Auto and Detailing do guarantee their work so if we have any problems we are encouraged to return. RVers in the London Area who want detailing should give them a call. Although they do not make house calls, we did park overnight in the shop parking lot. Bob also sold us a bottle of wax that contains 40% Teflon by 3M for a twice a year follow-up wax. This professional product makes our coach glisten – but it is not sold in stores. The LUXOR looks beautiful once again but we’ve put the painting of the bottom off till fall.


When we returned to the park after the DETAILING we had a bit of a power problem that seemed to be our problem and not the park. So we booked at FOREST CITY RV DEALER on Thursday to check it out plus pick up a few parts we had ordered. Good news – our electrical was working well, and our parts were also in. When we came back to the park the power was also working well. Who knows what happened. Smile

This week we have lost the signal to our EXPRESS VU SATELLITE TV because of the trees. We really like the campsite we are in but when we moved this site, the trees were bare. Now they are in full bloom and we have no Sat TV. BUT since next weekend is Canada’s first long weekend of the summer, the official launch of the season, all RV sites in this park and others are full. So is the campsite we hope to move into. Thankfully we are near a big city because our only TV right now is from our Batwing antenna. We are enjoying good programming to say the least but we do not have the choices Sat TV offers. Smile

On Friday John had his medical (mine was last Fri) and we both had a discussion ref our bloodwork. Guess we are going to live for a while longer. Both were positive results. Each week for much of the summer one of us have a medical or eye appointment etc. One of the main reasons we prefer to be in Ontario for much of the summer. The older we get it seems the more med tests we need.

Hopefully we will soon have time to ‘play’ a bit. FYI, I am well into an update of my RV Travel to Canada 2007 e-book. Watch for it


RV NEWS


As many of you know for the past several weeks I have been writing an RVING CANADA BLOG for RV Travel.com I am having so much fun finding neat interesting things to see in this great country of Canada. Chuck has close to two-dozen Bloggers who are each ‘experts’ in their own right. His weekly newsletter is jam packed with great info because he features entries from a variety of these Blogs. Read my Blog and others at www.rvtravel.com Check out and maybe subscribe his weekly newsletter while you are there Smile

This week the feature story of his newsletter is APRIL 2007 RECALLS including motorhomes, travel trailers and fifth wheels from Keystone, Tiffin, Winnebago, Jayco and others. See if your unit is involved. Smile

Another feature is a way to access a stronger WIFI INTERNET SIGNAL in any campground with an inexpensive antenna from Flying J ($109.00). For much more High Tech concerns take a look at the DIGITAL RVer Blog Smile

Is TIRE SAFETY a mystery? This week that topic is explained on the LOWTECH RVER BLOG. When to change your tires, warning signs of trouble tires and how to read date, are also explained. Smile


IN CLOSING

I received an email this week from friend Bonnie filled with hypnotic pictures and impressive intuitive sayings. It is too large a file for those on dial-up so I may not pass it on but this phase moved me and it applies to RVers in a big way. “The lucky ones inevitably do not have the ‘Best of the Best’ – they seek simply the Best of what they see on their journey”. Now that summer is here ‘Travel safe’ – As my sister Nancy says, “Do not drive faster than your Guardian angel can fly.” P&J Smile


TIPS THIS WEEK


Dealing with ANTS for those of us in the north is a sign that spring has sprung and the camping season is upon us. In this region the majority of RVers do not usually need deal with the fire-ant variety but all types of these creepy crawlers can still be big pests. Below are several tips to control these annoyances from my popular publication ‘RV Living In The 21st Century’.

You can either buy commercial traps or try some of these home remedies. So far many of these have worked for us.

1. Try lifting your cords off the ground - it helps.
2. Wrap cloths saturated with bug spray around hoses and cords.
3. Coat all outside hoses and electrical cords with a silicone based lubricant – bugs hate the oily feeling. Do not use WD-40 because the petroleum damages rubber.
4. Put an Ex Lax square in a lid with a few drops of water near the entrance points.
5. Sprinkle ant powder or household cleanser around tires, jacks, hoses and cords. This may only work if you do not contend with early morning dew.
6. Use a solution of approximately 1-teaspoon Borax acid powder with 1/4-cup sugar (any kind) and 2 cups hot water. Place in foil ‘cups’ to sit on the counter.


While searching for a solution to control fruit flies our friend Tom found another idea to control ants. Originally he stuffed downy sheets in crevices around his slide and although these are normally recommended to control mice it seemed to stop his ant influx. During a recent search to control fruit flies (I’ll share those tips in another post) in his parrot’s cage he found the following hint that works on fruit flies as well as on ants.
The writer added 10 drops of Lemongrass Essential Oil to 2 ounces of hot water into a clean spray bottle. Shake it well and spray all creepy crawlies. Not only does it work on fruit flies, but it also eliminated spiders, ants, houseflies and more. The writer also sprayed the sidewalk, the doors, windows, and anywhere I see creepy crawlers gathering.


PROMOS


GOOGLE SEARCH ON CELL PHONES - CALL 1-800-GOOG-411 (1-800-466-4411)

This creative item also appeared on the DIGITAL RVER BLOG from 11 April. It is still in the testing stages but this FREE service is very interesting. GOOGLE VOICE LIMITED SEARCH helps you find USA businesses over the phone. Simply CALL ‘1-800-GOOG-411’, give the city and state, then asked for business requested such as ‘Campgrounds’. A recorded voice will list the first 8 campgrounds in the area and offer to connect to them. The park address and phone number was offered, plus the info could be sent as a text message to your cell phone. We tested from a Canadian phone number and the call went through, but as yet it does not connect to Canadian businesses. ____________________________________

COAST TO COAST (C2C) AND RESORTS PARK INTERNATIONAL (RPI) are two of the most popular membership park systems offering deep overnight discounts – there are others. With these systems, RVers buy into a park for a purchase price from a few hundred to many thousands of dollars – plus annual dues. Some park packages sell a ‘3-lifetime’ usage so you can pass it on to your kids. Others are a one lifetime for your use only. To use the C2C and RPI you also pay a small annual fee to each club. BUT members only pay approximately $8.00 per night for a week at up to twice per year.

John and I bought into Shiloh RV Park a year ago but we chose to delay start date of our membership until April 2007. Our first year dues were $69.00 – they will rise to $99.00 in future years. However we can walk away from this plan at any time for a small fee. Initially the costs for park membership and purchase plus annual dues cost us approx $550.00 Cdn but during future years, the annual dues for Shiloh, C2C and RPI will total approximately $250.00.

This week we received an added plus to our acquisition. Since our membership is ‘RPI Plus’ it includes a complimentary membership in RPI’s 50% Discount Camping Club called ‘Enjoy America’. For more details about our C2C/RPI purchase, feel free to send me an email and I will forward more details.
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PASSPORT AMERICA

This is another very popular 50% discount club. There are several others that we use but for more info on Passport America’s complex system, go to www.passportamerica.com or call 1-228-452-9972 or 800-283-7183. Be sure to provide our name Peggi and John McDonald and our member number of #0123667 as referrals so we get credit. They too pay a good referral to members who refer others.
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CONNECTING TO THE 'NET

With all our running around this week, I had to connect using my cell phone for several days. It did worked and although I use ExpressLink (by Ositech) to speed up surfing, the cell is so slow. I simply love the simplicity of my Internet Satellite Dish (now Hughes.net) and being on line 24/7 is nothing short of a dream. I no longer must search for a WiFi connection or make sure I receive a site within range for a good signal. Wondering if it will operate at peak performance and more.

Although our roof mount TV Dish is not working because the trees have leaves on them, my Tri-pod Sat DISH wonder can be moved everywhere – so trees are rarely a problem. The best part is my supplier, 3i Communications, provide tech service 2nd to none with no time limit for assistance. If you have a problem, Todd (chief tech) and Armand (owner) bend over backwards to accommodate. Service for all of this begins at $69.00 per month and DISH is only $1495.00. Of course an automatic high-end roof mount Internet Dish is also available – for a bit higher cost. Several months ago, 3i Communications switched my satellite to G16 – since then set up has been a absolute dream within a very few minutes. For more details send me an email or contact 3i Comm from my story at
www.rvliving.net/EarlyObserationsDirecWay.htm