The misadventures of Commander Merlin and the crew of RV-103
Wednesday January 1st 2014

Posts Tagged ‘RV’

Goodbye and GodSpeed Discovery RV-103.

Goodbye and GodSpeed Discovery RV-103.

What can I say, but that it is an end to a major chapter in our lives.  Today I turned over the keys to our great and intrepid ship RV-103 Discovery to a young family and closed an extraordinary chapter of misadventures our commander and crew had lived with great joy and [Read More]

RV-103 Ten Commandments

Recently, a family member told Rocketman that her husband and she were going to start their own form of “misadventures.”  They were now empty nesters and felt it was time to travel the country full time in an RV and wanted some advice.  After about an hour long talk [Read More]

11-22 to 11-24-2010 Re-entry Back to Florida and the End of Mission #3

Day One Early Monday morning we packed up and started the long trip back home.  With the tank already filled and the car loaded, we started off just before the rain started which I was thankful for.  Our goal was to reach the southern border of WV at a travel plaza in [Read More]

Happy 100th Birthday RV!

Fox News reported yesterday that this year is the 100th birthday of the RV. “You might not even think about it when you see an RV lumbering down the road, but there are about 30 million people in this country who regularly go traveling with a home on wheels.” [Read More]

05-04-10 Lions, Tigers, and Bears…Oh My!

We started our travels again today and drove all the way through SC and NC, finally stopping in Wytheville VA.  As we were searching for a campsite, we decided we would cash in some of the gazillion KOA points we had accumulated and stay at the Wytheville KOA.  Because of [Read More]

05-02-10 Hardeeville RV Park

We got up early this morning and broke camp.  We traveled all day through Florida and Georgia, stopping in South Carolina.  The only problem we ran into during our trip was the generator.  For some reason the generator runs, but doesn’t kick on the AC power.  I was [Read More]

05-01-10 Jetty Park at Port Canaveral

Our first stop was only a short 3 hour drive to Jetty Park in Port Canaveral.  It is the only “public” campground we usually go to right on the Atlantic Ocean.  We usually stop there when we are heading north in order to visit with family and friends due to the [Read More]

05-01-10 Mission #3 The Empire (State) Strikes Back.

05-01-10 Mission #3 The Empire (State) Strikes Back.

RV-103 is finally restocked and ready for Mission #3  We will be returning to the Empire State of NY for research, recreation, and to await the crew’s birth of their first grandchild. Gypsy has been hard at work provisioning RV-103 with all the needed supplies while I [Read More]

In the RV Processing Facility

Yesterday I took RV-103 to Preventive Maintenance Service of Florida for her oil change and to have our damaged door panels looked at.  The owner, Al Cruz, came out and looked at the damaged door panels.  I told him that along with the oil change and safety check, I [Read More]

How Do You Connect to the Internet in a RV? A Review of Verizon’s MiFi.

When we were in New York during our Shakedown Cruise (see Mission #1), we found that wireless internet at the various campsites did not always live up to their hype.  Connections were spotty and many times nonexistent.  Since we spent a good amount of time online [Read More]

Satellite TV: Part Two

If you recall, prior to RV-103 launching on her first mission, I looked into getting satellite TV without success.  You can find that story here. Anyway, while here in CA, we had a neighbor in the campground for a few weeks that suggested a local company that specialized [Read More]

Now A Word From Our Sponsor…

The purpose of our web site is to keep our family and friends informed of our misadventures in full time RVing.  We have been quite surprised at how much it has grown and the number of non-family that now read it each week from all over the world. We never meant for the [Read More]

02-18-10 What Day Is It?

Prior to our shakedown cruise, Gypsy and I were shopping in the local Camping World and saw an odd clock that marked the days of the week, not the time as usual clocks do.  They are called…get this…Day Clocks.  We both laughed at it and talked about how we had seen [Read More]

02-13-10 Gold Panning at Sutter’s Mill

Today we went gold panning at Sutter’s Mill.  Sutter’s Mill is on the south fork of the American River that carries the melt water from the snows of the Sierra Mountains to the Pacific.  Sutter’s Mill is the site of the first gold discovery sparking the 1849 gold [Read More]

02-02-10 Propane! I need more Propane!

Though the temperatures here in CA are actually currently warmer than it is in FL, it still does get a bit chilly at night.  That means we need to run our propane furnace at night.  Propane not only runs our furnace, but our refrigerator and hot water tank.  Even though [Read More]

01-31-10 Sutter Gold Mine

We spent the day today at Sutter Gold Mine.  It is a functioning gold mine, but sections of it are open to public tours.  Gold is found inside the mine in veins of crystal that can be up to 8 feet wide.  The crystal was left over from seawater that flowed in the rock bed [Read More]

01-08-10 to 01-26-10 Where is the California Sunshine?

The Beach Boys used to sing about the California Sunshine and I am beginning to think it is just a myth.  For the last 18 days it has rained nearly every day.  And the wind!  Storm after storm coming off the Pacific has brought winds that would gust up 50 mph.  I would [Read More]

Endeavour Launches!

This picture was taken by my friend Larry Tanner.  He was on the outside staircase at the Launch Control Center way past his bedtime to get this shot.  The LCC is only 3 1/2 miles from the Pad. [Read More]

Endeavour Launch Rescheduled

According to NASA: “Managers officially have scheduled space shuttle Endeavour’s next launch attempt for Monday, Feb. 8 at 4:14 a.m. EST. [Read More]

The Beginning of the End

Space Shuttle Endeavour, or OV-105, will be launching early Sunday Morning, February 7th 2010, at 04:39 am EST.  This will be the last night launch of the Space Shuttle Program and after this mission, only 4 more shuttle flights will be left before the program is ended in [Read More]

Go Fever! 12-22-09

Go Fever is a an old NASA term that meant you were so focused on meeting a launch deadline that you would overlook or dismiss warning signs of a problem.  “What, the left wing of the Space Shuttle is falling off?  Not a problem!  The shuttle still has its right wing to [Read More]

12-19-09 Launch day for Mission #2

As we were closing out the condo, we discovered Commander Merlin hiding under…errrr…doing a final walk down under the bed.  It took both crew members to coax her out so she could report for duty on the bridge of RV-103.  We loaded her up in her own little special [Read More]

11-29 to 12-19-2009 Back in the RV Processing Facility

RV-103 is back and being readied for her next mission.  This is the time to go over “lessons learned” from the shakedown, take off supplies we realized we didn’t need and take on supplies we found we did need. We also needed to get routine maintenance done.  Up to [Read More]

11-14 to 11-29-09 Completion of Mission #1 Shakedown

We stayed at the Philadelphia West Chester KOA while doing our research work at Drexal University Library Special Collections.  This was our first time staying at a KOA and it appeared well run.  Nothing special about it as we learned about all the KOA’s we ended up [Read More]

11-14-2009 Houston We Have A Problem The Sequel

It was a Saturday and we prepared to leave NY for Philadelphia to continue our research work.  The previous Monday I had gone to Camping World and bought a Master Tow Dolly for $1,400.  Camping World said they would have to have one brought in from another store and [Read More]

11-09-2009 Commander Merlin Orders The Crew To Stand Down

We had a free day today thanks to Commander Merlin.  She had decided we all needed a down day and of course led by example by laying in bed all day watching TV. The crew decided to try out their new gold panning kit in the local creek.  Though New York is not known for [Read More]

10-30-09 New York New York!

Evergreen Trails Campground does not accept any club discounts, but with it being off season, the campground manager Mark did give us a nice discount.  The weather up here was already cold with temps getting down into the 20’s at night and they had already had some snow [Read More]

10-29-09 Houston, We Have A Problem!

Prior to leaving we needed a tow dolly to tow the SUV.  I had searched in the local paper and on Craig’s List.  Most tow dollys I found were $1000 or more that were capable of towing our vehicle.  I eventually found a used dolly on Craig’s List for $700 and went to [Read More]

10-28-09 There Is A Reason For Rules

We had established two rules and have found during our travels if we broke them, life became more difficult. Rule #1  Never drive at night if you can avoid it. Rule #2  Never set up your campsite at night. By the evening of Oct 28th we were in Virginia and it was already [Read More]

10-27-2009 3…2…1…LAUNCH!!!!!

“The clock is running!  We have cleared the tower!”  Sorry, I had to quote Commander Lovell in Apollo 13. Yes folks, after all this time, we are finally on our way.  Mission #1 of Discovery RV-103 is a shakedown cruise for the ship and the crew.  With our fearful [Read More]

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Goodbye and GodSpeed Discovery RV-103.

Goodbye and GodSpeed Discovery RV-103.

What can I say, but that it is an end to a major chapter in our lives.  Today I turned over the keys to our great and [Read More]

CollisionTEC: A Review

CollisionTEC: A Review

Towards the end of Mission #2, RV-103 had a mishap with a pole, as detailed here.  Last month, I finally got an [Read More]

Breaking News: Obama proposes an end to NASA’s Planetary Science Program

Breaking News: Obama proposes an end to NASA’s Planetary Science Program

“Word has leaked out that in its new budget, the Obama administration intends to terminate NASA’s planetary [Read More]

Mismatched Models

Mismatched Models

Most advocates of Human Space Flight programs always model HSF with the airplane model.  Government subsidized at [Read More]

Human Space Flight Trivia Week 7

Human Space Flight Trivia Week 7

First of all my apologies.  I had to take care of some duties at home that prevented me from posting the newest [Read More]

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