eReader for the RV : Ditch the Books but Never Quit Reading

What RV52.com uses for book ereaders and why we made our choices.

Books are a terrible thing to have in your RV.

They are HEAVY and RV's have weight limitations. They take up space and RV's have no space.

My number one priority is to get rid of the books wherever possible. Here is what I've done and what I know so far on my mission to eliminate books in an RV. Warning - links are to Amazon in case you want to check out and maybe get the things I have.

Eliminate and Electronify (my new word) your RV Manuals

I've eliminated all manuals to everything - including every appliance, device, and thingy on the RV. You can find my manuals for the 399BHS Open Range by clicking on this link. I've put them on my master RV storage device and home server - a Macmini. You should not pay over $700 for a Macmini so check the price when you click.

To do this, I found online at the manufacturer the copies of the manuals. For example, I would go to Atwood to get the manuals for the furnace. This was not always possible. Where it was not possible, I scanned the documents and put them into my own PDF. You need a really good scanner for this. I've had many scanners and by far the BEST HOME SCANNER I'VE EVER HAD is this little Epson Workforce 600. I think any scanner in the series would work, so I referred the Epson 630 in the series. I love it. It is important that I use the WiFi copiously for access to this printer.

A good printer/scanner for your RV makes a difference

I'm going to put a reference here to make it easy to get ink cartridges for the Epson. Here is the link for the color cartridges for the 630 (which are different from my 600 cartridges). Here is the link for the black ink cartridges.

I then placed all of these manuals on my Apple MacBook Pro laptop and my Barnes and Noble Color Nook. These manuals are with me all the time and I can look them up whenever I want.

Good networking is important to eliminating books/papers in your RV

Maintain good networking to help in moving documents around. I for one don't like wasting my time. I'm VERY technical, and I'm pretty sure I run a more secure network with less problems and less maintenance than the Windows gearheads. We use the Apple Airport Express for our networking with stellar results. Go ahead and buy the cheap routers if you want. Its your time not mine.

Get yourself an eReader

I thought I would NOT like eReaders.

My advice. Try it. They are GREAT. I LOVE mine. I'd testify in a court of law that I love it and my wife will tell you as much. I'll put some pictures to the eReaders here so you can be your own judge. But I would rather read off the eReader than a book now.

This is the Barnes and Noble color eReader. I've found the device to be very, very good. It hooks into the Barnes and Noble web site. When my wife gave me her Nook (what they are called), we simply "reset" the device and put in my Barnes and Noble ID and it was as-if she never owned it.

What did my wife do when she got an iPad as an upgrade to a color nook

We got her an Apple iPad 2. Then she installed her Barnes and Noble Nook App and every book she bought was automatically transferred to her iPad. The iPad is incredibly fast. It is WAY better than the Nook. But for just reading books, the Nook is pretty good.

Do NOT buy books from Apple

The Apple books LOOK great. But here is the scoop. You can ONLY read them on your Apple products. If you use Amazon Kindle, or B&N Nook, then you can use Kindles and Nooks to read the respective eBook types, but you can also use them on PC's, Android devices, and iPads as well. That seems to me to be more safe for protecting your investment in books than being held hostage to Apple.

What about the kids and family reading your books

We bought the kids black and white Nooks. We didn't want to spend as much money on their eReaders since the still lose things. Often. Easily.

What about the Kindle?

 I like the Kindle eReaders. They are much lighter than the Barnes and Noble ereaders. I chose Nook since Nook would read more formats and had "book borrowing". But the Kindle looks fantastic so I would recommend it as well. I'll list some Kindle links here as well :













 The BIG Daddy Unit. With built in (FREE) cellular so you never have to know anything about WiFi.




 The smaller unit with cellular.
















 The smaller unit, WiFi only. A really stellar price.

921 Replacement Bulb for a 360 degree application

Previously, I wrote about a 180 degree application for an LED light to replace a 921 incandescent bulb. I'm also using that article to collect good LED replacements for 921 incandescents as well so I'll go update that article as well. As we think about RV lighting applications, here is an article that talks about the rich variety of lighting applications within an RV.

However, that application was 180 degrees (about 1/2 of the 921 reflects directly onto plastic). This application is for a 360 degree application. For fixtures in which the light bulb hangs down in the fixture and light needs to go everywhere, you need to have a special LED replacement that has LED's sending light into every direction.

360 degree 921 incandescent RV lighting application suitable for LED replacement

The light bulb that is in MOST LED lighting applications is pictured next. It is called a 921 Wedge incandescent light bulb. I've looked around around and it looks like these bulbs put out around 280 lumens - very source dependent on the number so just use it as a weak reference.

921 wedge bulb commonly used in rv lighting

The LED FORM FACTOR (shape of the light or its physical configuration) that makes lots of sense for 360 degree applications.

360 degree led light with 921 wedge base

There are many places to get these, but ONE place you can get lights like this is from ledtrailerlights.com. The particular light in their catalog is the T10 380 or at least that seems to be the part number.

We bought two of these and replaced both 921's in the application I'm showing above. Here are my notes.

• The replacement 'bulb' fit perfectly.
• The WARM WHITE is a GREAT replacement.
• Given the 380 lumens is significantly larger than the 280 nominal lumens it should be brighter than the 921.
• It was significantly brighter - the wife loves it.
• This is a keeper and we'll mark this as a good 921 replacement for campers.
• The base of the light is COLD TO THE TOUCH! That will be great for the summers.

I'll make a short video later!

RV Destinations : Marble Falls Main Street Market Days

While we had our RV (named Puma) out at Millers Creek, we had the opportunity to visit the Marble Falls Main Street Market Days.

First we have to say that Marble Falls is just a neat place even without the Market Days. For example, you can have lunch or dinner right on the Colorado River.  Marble Falls is located nearby Austin, Kerrville, San Antonio, and Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill country. It is located in a region called the Texas Highland Lakes area (Buchanon, LBJ, Inks).

Anyway, this is one of the classier Market Days and as usual, I found some great hot sauce. I never claimed to be great at video, but hopefully after viewing this video you'll have a better idea if you want to go and that you WILL. Sheri and I recommend it.

Video Drive By Review : Tranquil Gardens RV Park Salado Texas

For information on the rv52.com concept for video drive by reviews click on this link.

This park is called Tranquil Gardens RV Park and it is located about 2 miles WEST of downtown Salado. Here is some information on the park.

The park is incredible. It is very rural and looks to be very quiet. It was clean and the RV's were not particularly close together. Sheri and I are very big on quiet.

After our drive through review, we drove through downtown Salado. We were VERY impressed with Salado. Its downtown was much larger than Wimberley's and the town had many bed and breakfasts. We definitely want to spend some time in Salado, telling all of our readers about it. We're thinking that for the month of April we'll spend our weekends with Puma in Salado. So look for more from us later!

RV Video Walkthrough : 2010 Keystone Montana 3750 FK

One thing about Sheri is that when she sees something she likes, she likes it. We both saw this really neat innovative RV from Keystone at the Austin RV Expo.

We'll let the RV walkthrough speak for itself and you can read plenty about the unit on the web (see the link in this article).

The unit is called the 3750 Front Lounge (FL). What is impressive is the IMPACT or WOW factor you get when you enter the unit. It looks great. Sheri and I would have trouble assessing quality factors (like the frame, the roofing, and all that) so we will have to ask people who look at these things, but it really is a great layout.

We found lots of bedroom space (there is a slideout for the bed) for clothes. That is one of our number one things we look at because we want to make sure two people can live in the unit. The front lounge makes a separate living area and would double nicely as a spare room for children if you have them part of the time.

One note is that this is a 4 slide-out unit which makes it have so much more space.

Anyway, check out the two minute walkthrough and let us know what you think. Thanks.

Video Drive By Review : Priddy Meadows RV Park in Wimberley Texas

Click on the following link to get a better understanding of RV52 RV Park Video Review concept.

RV Park in Wimberley Texas called Priddy Meadows RV Park. This park looks very quiet, has wide open spaces for children, the campers are not too close together. Sheri and I want to stop back by Wimberley someday and try out this park. We think it would be a great place to full time.  

In case Wimberley, which is very close to Austin, is not well known to you, I'll mention nearby towns :  San Antonio, Blanco, Boerne, Bandera, San Marcos, Fredericksburg and the basic region is called the Texas Hill Country.

One of the local events for which Wimberley is famous is called Wimberley Market Days.

Video Drive By Review : Koyote Ranch RV Resort Medina Texas

Click on the following link to get a better understanding of RV52 RV Park Video Review concept.

RV Park in Medina Texas called Koyote Ranch. Very close to Kerrville. The road from Kerrville down to Koyote Ranch is absolutely beautiful. It has amazing turns which means it is very exciting for the motorcyclists. Be prepared to go slow and have steep hills. When the signs say sharp turn, then mean it. You've been warned. Koyote Ranch looks very nice, very quiet and Sheri and I would love to spend some time there.

In case Medina, which is very close to Kerrville, is not well known to you, I'll mention nearby towns : Austin, San Antonio, Blanco, Bandera, Wimberley, Fredericksburg and the basic region is called the Texas Hill Country.

One of the local events for which Kerrville is famous is the Kerrville Folk Festival.

Video Drive By Review : By the River RV Park Kerrville Texas

Click on the following link to get a better understanding of RV52 RV Park Video Review concept.

RV Park in Kerrville Texas called By the River RV Park. Very close to downtown Kerrville. Also located on the Guadalupe River which affords some water activities.

In case Kerrville is not well known to you, I'll mention nearby towns : Austin, San Antonio, Blanco, Wimberley, Fredericksburg and the basic region is called the Texas Hill Country.

One of the local events for which Kerrville is famous is the Kerrville Folk Festival.

Destinations : Wimberley Texas : Market Days

Last fall, when Sheri and I had the RV ( recreational vehicle ) in Wimberley, we attended Market Days. In our earlier post, we discussed Market Days a bit, but a picture is worth a 1000 words. Attached are scenes from a typical Texas fall day in a fantastic little artistic town in the Texas Hill country. We set the scenes to a little music and attached some notes to each slide.

Video Drive By Review : La Hacienda RV Park Austin Texas

This is my FIRST attempt at a video drive through review of a RV park. The goal is to help people get a sense of a park from video. We really won't add any color commentary - we expect the footage to be self speaking.

Forgive us for our jerky camera and cheap text overlays. Give us enough time and we'll get better.

But hey, maybe with this video you might be able to get an idea of the park.

Quick notes : Sheri and I definitely want to try this park out. Its close to a fantastic lake, has really big spaces, and excellent facilities.

Click HERE for the link to the park.

RV Park Review : Llano River RV Park (Mason, TX)

Over Thanksgiving 2009, Sheri and I took our recreational vehicle (RV) which we call Puma up to Mason, TX. Of course we pulled the trailer using Mr. Big, which you can read about earlier.

We stayed at the Llano River RV Park, which is about 5 or 6 miles south of Mason and it is located on route 87 directly on the Llano River.

We pulled Puma up on Tuesday and stayed through Saturday, leaving Saturday and pulling Puma into dry storage in Johnson City, TX. We're so busy in December we decided to just park her.

For those 5 days, we paid $114. We got full hook-ups (Puma is 30Amp), septic/sewer, cable TV (about 15 channels) and WiFi. The WiFi was a little slow, but workable. Our cell phones worked OK outside, but not inside the RV. We have GSM service, so expect your T-Mobile/ATT phones to work but you may have to be outside for good reception.

Probably the most important part our our writeups that we could possibly record for you is the answer to the question : Is the park's web site accurate?

The answer to that is a resounding YES! In fact, the web site really cannot capture the peace and quiet of this wonderful remote location.

Since we were located right by highway 87, we did get a little road noise, but really, it was nothing to even think about.

Here are some of our Thanksgiving notes.

First, it is in the Texas Hill Country and even though that is not South Dakota it still gets chilly. Several nights were wonderfully crisp - getting to about 40 degrees.

Since the nearest Texas city (Austin) is about 2 hours away, it is DARK, DARK, DARK at night. In the summer, star gazing would be wonderful. For us, it was a bit chilly, although we're seriously thinking about a chiminea now! Make sure you brush up on your constellations since you'll get a chance to see the stars - including the milky way from this park.

Next, since it is about 3 hours from San Antonio, but a simple and straight shot, there were several families that come to this park on weekends as a get-a-way, just like Sheri and I are using good old Puma right now. One very kind couple were like honorary park owners (but they rent a spot) and knew everyone and it was very personable. They even invited us to Thanksgiving dinner at the park rec center which is a GREAT place to have a reunion or family dinner. It could easily host about 30-50 people so that is big enough for most reunions. If you ever get there ask Trey and Lela if they ever met a couple from Nebraska that had trouble loving UT! They might remember us.

In Mason, there is a little grocery store, several gas stations and a place to get propane, right on route 87. We'll do a separate little writeup on Mason.

So this park is a KEEPER. Unless of course you don't like peace and quiet. I'm guessing the river has pretty good fishing, but do not know.

I hope these pictures do it justice. Cheers.

Drive By Quick Review : MIller Creek RV Resort

This will be a VERY short review. I would call this a no-picture, quick drive through, is it the same as RV park's web site description.

The RV park web site for Miller Creek RV Resort looks too good to be true. It is located by Johnson City Texas, about 30 minutes west of Austin.

Well, we did a quick drive by examination, and we will DEFINITELY want to stop here and setup camp for a while. It is every bit as good as the web site and more. We were very impressed.

It is very close to highway 281 (actually on the highway - within a couple hundred yards) which is a very busy road. You will get a little road noise. But other than that, we DEFINITELY want to try it out.

Our First RV Park : Green Acres RV Park

For our first RV park experience, we picked a place in Wimberley Texas called Green Acres RV Park.

[ I tried to get a little video to get an idea of the pleasant LITTLE park. It is at the bottom of this post. ]

The name seems a little bit hokey, but you learn that it is on a street named

Green Acres so really they just adopted the name of the street.

We picked Wimberley because anywhere WEST of Austin is very nice - you will hear it referred to as the Texas Hill Country. There are so many wonderful little towns in the Texas Hill Country that you might want to spend time in each one - that is our plan. Wimberley is located South West of Austin and its only about 45 minutes away.

Also, we liked Wimberley because it is small, friendly and has lots of shops, artsy things, and a very eclectic set of people. You can't really afford real estate in Wimberley, but you can actually find an RV spot near the downtown, and near the river. Surprisingly, even though you could consider a wonderful destination, there were only really three RV parks that Google would point out to us.

Green Acres is one of them. If you are an RV park and you can't be found in Google, I just somehow have to suspect it is hurting your business. Maybe not, but...

We liked this little park because it looked very quiet, was about 75 yards from the Blanco river, has a little hotel within 30 yards of it, it was very, very clean, and was very small.

When we called we did not have to pay to make a reservation. The proprietor was a very nice lady named Lou Vaughn. She doesn't accept credit cards but does accept that funny green stuff and those wierd things called checks! She was so personable that we think that we made a wonderful choice.

We got there in the evening and Lou Vaughn was not around, but she told us just pull on up and hook up and she would catch us in the morning. Within 45 minutes we had water, electric, sewer, cable tv and WiFi. Lou Vaughn wasn't sure the WiFi was working well, but we had wonderful luck with it.

We paid for a month and told her we would be there on weekends whenever we could. So now we have our weekend getaway.

On our first night, when it got very dark, you would be amazed at all the stars you could see. I personally enjoy Austin - my wife - not so much. But in Austin, I have a downtown lights view and overlook a beautiful pool. All that aside, seeing the stars and breathing the fresh country air with almost no traffic noise. That was very peaceful. And needed. Amen.



Green Acres RV Park Wimberley Texas