Dick Eastman's RV

How to Stuff a Bicycle Inside a Mini-Cooper

How can you transport a bicycle if you own a Mini-Cooper? The answer is simple: purchase the right bicycle.

Mini-Coopers are tiny. I own one and love it. I pull mine behind the Winnebago on a tow dolly and it makes a great runabout vehicle when the RV is parked for weeks or even months in a campground. After 18 months of almost daily use, I have averaged 36 to 38 miles per gallon around town, 38 to 42 m.p.g. on the highway.

Of course, the Mini-Cooper is small, but I don't care. It has lots of headroom and more than sufficient leg room for my 6-foot, 1-inch body. The back seat is tiny with almost no legroom. Since I have no children or pets to transport, I usually leave the back seat folded down all the time. For me, the Mini-Cooper is more than big enough. Most of the time... 

Tricycle House Pedal-Powered RV

I am not sure I would buy one of these but it certainly is interesting!

(Click on the above thumbnail picture to see a larger image.)

Build-It-Yourself Modular Teal Campers and Shelters are now Available

The modular, build-it-yourself Teal camper is officially available for purchase. Teal debuted its first model, the Tail Feather, at the Colorado RV, Sports, Boat and Travel Show last week and has begun production on the camper. You purchase the individual modules to fit your needs and then assemble the pieces yourself.

An RV For Sale on eBay

The former motorhome of NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon is available on eBay. The 2005 Prevost H3-45 Marathon Coach has 187,000 miles on it, two leather recliners, a king size bed, two 42-inch plasma televisions, in-motion satellite dish, heated driver's seat, 4 air horns, GPS Pioneer navigation computer. It also includes a Bose surround sound system, fold down treadmill, granite countertops and a refrigerator. Actually, it includes just about everything! It even includes a radar detector! Just how fast are you going to drive a 45-foot motor home?


The price is a "modest" $427,000.

Watching Television on the Internet with Hulu Plus

Living in a recreational vehicle has its drawbacks. Being able to "disconnect" from the outside world is both an advantage and a disadvantage. I find that life on the road gets more difficult when you want to use "modern conveniences" such as telephones, television, and Internet. "Roughing it" is not always convenient! Luckily, modern technology solves most of these problems. However, one problem has been nagging me but this week I started using a new, partial solution.

Follow-up: How to Build a Long-Range Wi-Fi System: Configuring the Outdoor Access Point

I recently published a series of articles entitled How to Build a Long-Range Wi-Fi System that attracted quite a bit of interest. The series starts at http://rv.dickeastman.com/2012/01/how-to-build-a-long-range-wi-fi-system-part-1.html.

I used a 2.4 GHz High Power Wireless Outdoor CPE Model TH-WA5210G manufactured by TP-Link mounted on a flagpole that attaches to the ladder on my motor home. It connects to any wi-fi "hot spot" within a quarter mile or so and often to hot spots much further away.

I know from comments posted here that several people purchased an identical 2.4 GHz High Power Wireless Outdoor CPE Model TH-WA5210G or TL-WA5210G but had difficulty configuring it and asked me questions about it. To be honest, I did all this about a year ago and encountered little difficulty. I did not experiment with all the available options. It installed within a minute or two and today I couldn't remember enough of the details to answer many questions. I decided to take new screen shots of each significant step in the set-up process and post them here for others to see. Perhaps that will answer most of the questions.

An RV with a Porch

Seen at the GoodSam Ralley held this weekend in Daytona Beach, Florida:

How about an RV with a back proch?

(Click on any image to see a larger picture.)

Is This the Display Screen for Your Next Mobile Computer?

Oakley has just rolled out what might be the goggles to rule all goggles. However, I suggest we think about what this technology holds for the future. I believe it has more applications than just the ski slopes.

The new technology-packed AirWave snow goggles have GPS, jump analytics, caller-id, text messaging, Bluetooth, and music controls, all available from a heads-up display. You can read all the information while riding the slopes.  The goggles also come preloaded with maps of many popular ski resorts to find your location and track other members of your party using the goggles or Oakley's app. The goggles can also sense temperature, altitude, velocity and vertical descent data. A gyroscope and accelerometer are also included and are available to software developers who wish to write third-party apps for the goggles.
 
With the Bluetooth connectivity and an iPhone, you can view incoming calls and text messages without ever taking your phone out of your pocket. You can also view and control music playlists from the goggles. Most of the functions are controlled through the wireless, glove-friendly remote that you wear around your wrist.

Now let's look to the future.

Researching Aliens in Roswell

I have a "brickwall ancestor" who has frustrated me for years. I know a great deal about his adult life but have not been able to prove where Washington Harvey Eastman was born or the names of his parents. I have long joked that "he must have been deposited here by a Martian spaceship."

Today I found myself in Roswell, New Mexico, best known for what is now called the 1947 Roswell UFO Incident. An alien spacecraft reportedly was found near Roswell and its occupants were captured. Many people believe the military then engaged in a cover-up. The incident has turned into a widely known pop culture phenomenon, making the name Roswell synonymous with UFOs. One of the better-known local organizations that popularizes the spacecraft theory is the International UFO Museum & Research Center on Main Street in Roswell. What better place to look for documentation about an ancestor who was "deposited here by a Martian spaceship?"

Today, I visited the International UFO Museum & Research Center and consulted with the staff. No, that is not a picture of the staff above. Instead, that is a mock-up of what some artist believes happened in June or July 1947. Any resemblance to my relatives is purely coincidental.

Click on the images to see larger pictures.

Vintage Airstream Trailers Refurbished

I must admit that I love those old Airstream trailers. I even looked at several that were for sale when I was trying to decide what kind of RV to purchase. Unfortunately, the Airstreams in really good condition typically command a premium price and for good reasons. They are well built and, if properly cared for, can serve as full-time or part-time homes for many years. The only ones I ever found within my price range all were old and most had serious problems.

Architect Matthew Hofmann of Santa Barbara, California obviously has talents that I don't possess. He takes old Airstream trailers and refurbs them, often converting them into something more luxurious than what the factory engineers ever thought of. Click on the image above to see a larger picture.