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.

new class of rv for light use

It seems that Cadillac is getting into the RV scene. My brother saw this converted El Dorado "class R" (redneck) RV near Lincoln Nebraska.

From RV Park and Campground Review videos, RV basics, and travel stories with Sheri and Marlan

Super HOT Wheels for RV Parks...

Check out this article on tricked out golf carts in Florida...

"The cart-friendly design stretches far beyond this hub. Trails lead directly from the Villages to big chains like Target, Staples, and Starbucks, which line the nearby highways. Instead of parking lots crammed with minivans or SUVs, I see fleets of golf carts, often parked two or three to a spot."

Hypothetically speaking... what if our cities become denser and more compact - the roads optimized to smaller commuter cars while trucks have truck-only routes and then intercity, interstate transport becomes something else altogether.

You can't discount the whole tiny house (and I think RV's are part of that) concept and not start thinking about transportation. If everything shrinks down - completely different cars make a bunch of sense. Speeds change. Concepts around safety change.

Maybe these retirees aren't just being odd - maybe they are completely in front of something brand new?

Hey Texas - I bet I paid less in energy last month than you!

It is Feb 1 and I have my electric bill for part of December and all of January. During that month Austin Texas has been pretty cool overall (not compared to the country, but compared to Austin's normal). We had several freezing days when normally we don't have more than one. Here is the austin weather data from Jan 2011.

During this month AND December we switched from RV LP Gas hot water (flick of a button in an RV). We also ONLY used the furnace about 5 nights when the temperature got very cold. All other heating came from the RV electric fireplace (I love the RV fireplaces - they seem cheesy, but now that we have one, I love it) which easily could keep the RV livable when it was approx 40 degrees outside and the inside temperature could be maintained at 70 degrees.

[ I linked the electric fireplace's above to ones listed on Amazon. I think they are very similar. ]

So HOW MUCH DID IT COST US IN ELECTRIC in 1/2 of December and all of January 2011 in Austin Texas in our wonderful Open Range 399 BHS fifth wheel RV?

$62

That is a month and a half everyone. We NEVER suffered or sacrificed. We kept our water hot (we did NOT use our previous techniques for saving on energy costs for an RV hot water heater) on all the time, we kept the inside comfortable, we used the TV, the stereo, the computers. Sometimes we even left the door open to world (I have children). And it only cost us $62.What did YOU pay? Post a comment.

So you see, this is why living small (like the California tiny house revolution) and in RV's are very energy efficient and good for the planet. Here is another article on why RV's are good for the planet and the green revolution.

You Do NOT need a truck for your travel trailer or fifth wheel

Sheri and I don't own a truck but we own a 40 foot Open Range 399BHS fifth wheel.

Are we wrong?

First we full-time, and we have jobs where we must stay geographically close to our work. So it it VERY important to note that we are not 'traveling RVers'. We stay close to central TX due to work.

But when we tell people we don't own a truck, they look at us like we have ten heads. We've thought about a truck several times but keep coming back to some of the following thoughts.

We would need a Ford F350 dually to properly pull our 14,000 pound rig. People say you can do it with a 350 single but I think that does not give you the extra mechanical headroom that keeps your transmission from breaking, or loading your box to the max, or pushing your braking system to the max - yes - would be within spec - but right at the hairy edge.

So that means we're looking at somewhere in the range of $50K brand new for a truck and used - well, what if something goes wrong - these diesels are NOT cheap to fix. So I'll argue that what we save in price, we'll give up in maintenance. So I'm going to argue a wash.

So - monthly truck payment : $600.

We would need to trade a vehicle for it (cannot drive three) so we would give up AT LEAST about $100 per month in LESSER mileage and higher cost fuel. I drive a Honda FIT so there would be a difference.

Monthly total now to : $700

I'm going to add to my insurance, even if I take off a little car. Estimate - $50/month.

Monthly total now to : $750

I'm going to assume that in general, I'm going to get hit, by hook or by crook with at least $500 / year maintenance. I think that is low, but lets go with it.

Monthly total now to : $800

If I think about this yearly, it is roughly $10,000/year additional cost that I do not have now. I think the 'standard' on maintenance is higher on the big truck than on my FIT. If I'm wrong on the Fit I don't have a 20,000 pound problem.

What if I now need a truck?

It turns out in Austin Texas, there are a number of places I can RENT 1 ton dually's ready to go.

One place in Austin is Longhorn Truck Rental. The daily rate is $100. Yes, expensive. But I can rent it for 8 days and not go over what it costs me to have a truck for a month (without the 6-7 year commitment). Additionally, if it breaks down - not my problem. It is always ready to go (oil, transmission, hitch, etc.). Maintenance is not my problem. How cool is that.

Longhorn also has weekly rentals at around $500/week. They also have monthly rentals at around $1500.

So you see, I can even go vacationing in the summer for 2 months, spend $3000 on rental, and STILL be $7000 ahead of owning.

Now if we were traveling all over the US, and not driving to work everyday, then I think owning a truck makes sense. But if you own an RV, don't get STUCK with thinking you need a truck. Look at all the costs and commitments before you get yourself into a long term relationship.

Conversations with non-full-timers

Everytime I have a conversation with someone who lives in a traditional house and I explain that I'm full-timing in an RV, I invariably have this really odd out-of-body conversation with them where they simply cannot put their arms around the idea of living small. Most cannot explain why they couldn't live small other than to simply say that they can't.

I thought I would take time from my busy day to record this conversation in video form for you. I hope you enjoy...

RV Lifestyle : Tailgating rig with custom flagpole holder

While we were in College Station Texas tailgating for the Nebraska-A&M football game our neighbor had a very nice Fleetwood Revolution dual axle class A RV. It was quite a rig.

I snapped a couple of photographs you might find useful or interesting.

First, if you have Reese hitch, you can see how this fellow welded himself a custom flagpole holder. The flag itself was up in the air at least 20 feet and it was windy and had no problems. I suspect that if you don't make the flag too big, it won't be a 'sail' and stress the connection too much. However, this is a simple and clever holder. I'm guessing you can hook many more things into the Reese hitch. Send me pictures of what you do with a Reese that is interesting.

From RV Park and Campground Review videos, RV basics, and travel stories with Sheri and Marlan

The second picture was the sign they had in the dashboard. It got quite a bit of attention. Yes, they were very conservative Republican's as you can imagine.

From RV Park and Campground Review videos, RV basics, and travel stories with Sheri and Marlan

RV Lifestyle : The Tiny House Revolution

A great many of my friends & family think I'm crazy for living in 270 square feet. But honestly I love it. Its a little cramped so we're upgrading to 399 square feet (an Open Range 399BHS) which I'll write about in upcoming articles.

But I'm pretty sure I'm ahead of the trend and I've written about this before. But today on Yahoo, I read this article on living in tiny houses and it is nice to get some affirmation. Now this article is NOT about RV's but you can't help but think about an RV.

If you read the article, you'll see a bias that trailer homes are low quality, and personally I think they are. The article discusses the higher quality used in "tiny houses", which happen to have wheels. One thing I'm amazed about is that most people don't realize that the RV is much higher quality than a trailer house - why - because it can't shake apart when it gets 50,000 or 100,000 miles on it.

Anyway, let me know what you think of the article!

RV Lifestyle : Gypsies, Caravan's, Europe, US and fairness

As I drive about 45 minutes one way to work, I try to listen to podcasts and other edifying material. Dan Miller says that "music is [ junk food ] for the brain." One of the podcasts I listen to is from a group of folks called Intelligence Squared.

Recently, they had a quick debate about the rights of travellers (this is a podcast link). Travellers though are really gypsies and they're preferred dwelling - or at least one of their common dwelling is the caravan, or as we would say in the United States, the RV.

One of the discussions in that podcast centered around the idea of zoning (named differently in the UK). But it discussed how the Gypsies were routinely rezoned on their own land so that they could not park their caravan's (RV) where they wanted - again - on their own land. I couldn't help but think, aren't the Gypsies the same as American's who are full-timing in RV's? 

I had a smile when I thought of a group of Prevost owners as a bunch of Gypsies.

I thought that was very interesting article since I too live in an RV. For those of us who live in an RV, who isn't witnessing or hearing 2nd hand the stories of how Walmart is starting to not want RV's to park in their parking lots, or how some cities are asking RV's to keep passing on by. I wonder, are RV's so bad? Aren't we just folks who like living small? Who have the wanderlust? Or who just like the hyperorganization of an RV?

I know that as I look at different places to move the RV in and around Austin, I find it difficult to find a lot where we can keep our RV, particularly close to where we want to be. The parks simply are not in close to town, and if they are, the town works hard to legislate them out.

Are we modern day US Gypsies? We all have a little European blood in us, don't we?

Should we start pushing back on a society hell-bent on zoning RV's clear into the country? I sure think so... in fact, I think RV's are going to be the wave of the future - with the idea of "living small" or "living within your means" being the watchword of the day. In fact, RV's are built better than the single/double wides. They are far more earthquake proof than a wooden frame building. The biggest weakness of an RV is wind and extreme temperatures. But maybe the idea of a migratory population moving to more temperate regions is a smart idea anyway - better for macro energy conservation.

Well for what it is worth, lets all start reminding everyone that zoning against RV's is discriminatory. Maybe we can make some new law? Ooooh that sounds fun. 

RV Basics : The Bedbug Advantage with an RV : Bring your own House

As I was reading this article about the bedbug infestation in New York, I couldn't help but think, wow, I sure want to tow the RV most anyplace close that I might normally have simply rented a hotel room. I love the idea that I can sleep in my own bed and not potentially bring pests home to my bed because I stayed somewhere else.

I wonder if this will help boost the RV industry a little - or maybe no effect. I don't have a big opinion. But I could honestly see how this would actually completely kill the idea of even going to bed and breakfasts, or staying in cabins at state parks.

If so that means vacationing in an RV or staying in your own tent is the best viable solution for keeping from getting contaminated.

Here is a humorous thought : Are all of us RV'ers actually germophobes?

RV Lifestyle : The RV Birdhouse

If you own an RV, much of your decor seems to be arranged around the idea that you truly have an "RV lifestyle". Typically this is symbolized by mobility or retirement, or freedom of some sorts.

So, if you are an RV'er and you like birds, then why not get a truly lifestyle targeted birdhouse!

I also think that this speaks to things you can do while in your RV. This is not workamping, but it is certaily something you could make and sell 4 or 5 a month on your travels. You could vary the artwork and the design.

From RV Park and Campground Review videos, RV basics, and travel stories with Sheri and Marlan

Ok, I have to do it... this does give new meaning to the idea of migrating!

RV Basics : Beware the Electrically Controlled Awnings

This story is a true story that occurred in August 2010. I did not personally witness it, but I heard if from my friend first hand and it is about his Dad and his Dad's new motorhome. So if you want to validate how close to the truth this is, it is very, very close.

My friends Dad bought a new motorhome this year (from Louisiana) and he lives in north Austin. This summer he took it out to Arizona. One of the really cool features of the motorhome is that it has electric awnings that can retract and extend with the push of a button. Even better, it has wind speed sensors as well as rain detectors. When the awning gets any weight on it from rain water, it automatically tips the rain out. If the wind gets too gusty, then the awning retracts.

He has met many, many people and is having a great time. One night he has friends over and they are enjoying the night and it is raining but they are outside under the awning. The drinks are cold and the food is hot and the talk is windy. A freak gust hits and within seconds the awning completely retracts, not before using the automatic dumping feature to dump the rainwater on his guests and then retracts so that now they are all getting rained on!

Pretty cool eh?

RV Lifestyle : Eat your own dog food

I thought I'd write a quick update article that outlined some things that have happened and 'hint' at articles that I'll write in the near future. PLEASE feel free to comment, ask questions, make requests or just say hi!

* After our summer vacation, I have over 24 videos of drive through reviews to upload. One side-note of this is even if I don't stay in the parks, I sure am getting a good idea of the parks, the types and their locations.  You'll see them show up over the course of the next few weeks.
* Even after I wrote articles on the proper way to tie down an RV awning... we (through a series of silly reasons) had an unsecured awning. When a neighbor moved their RV leaving us w/o a windbreak, the wind tossed the awning on our roof like a toy. Now we are fixing the awning and these are very expensive repairs.
* We have some little 'fruit flies' in our RV. For you experienced RV'ers, you know those things are. For the rest of you, I'll write an article on it.
* We've met a few workcampers. I might write a little on that topic - although there are huge web sites dedicated to the subject.
* I met a nice fellow who runs a web site 'fun things texas' who I'm planning on writing a guest article. It would be my first article on a site.
* I would love to make a thermodynamic model for an RV. I can't get that idea out of my head. Stupid? Crazy? Cool? I can't help it - I am an engineer at heart.
* We've been installing space saving devices in our RV lately. It really makes the RV much more livable. I took some pictures and I think that would be a nice article or two.
* Sheri stomped on a scorpion a couple of nights ago. I'd never seen one running around like an ant. They are FAST FAST FAST. I'm wondering if sandals at night in Texas is a good idea anymore. I wonder if I should worry.
* We depend upon our T-mobile for internet access. T-mobile has been down for 3 days now. Very handicapping.

RV Lifestyle : Frontier Harley Davidson Lincoln Nebraska

One neat thing about vacation (a common theme with RV) is that you get a chance to step back from the ordinary, the day-to-day, and take a look around at things that you might not ordinarily have time to explore.

During our 2010 summer vacation to Nebraska I had the chance to visit the Lincoln Nebraska Harley Davidson and look around. I'm not a motorcycle person, so if you are like me you'll be amazed at these big dealers.

Here are my notes, then I'll post a little video so you get get an idea of what the place is like...

* A new Harley can be had for less than $7K!!!! Isn't that amazing?
* This dealer had a small 'Harley museum'. I saw Harley's from the 30's!
* I don't understand all of the different models of Harley's and I doubt I ever will. They are very subtle to a non-motorcyle person.

Why is this in an RV blog? Well, I think RV'ers are always looking for interesting things to go do and see. Sometimes it can be natural wonders. Sometimes it can be in fancy cities. But sometimes, maybe you are passing through an area and you wonder if there is anything you could swing by and just see. I think the Harley dealer in Lincoln is worth a couple of hours if you are close by.

RV Odd News : Lucy the Chicken Herding Dog

Recently, Sheri and I took a trip with the kids. We went to Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, and visited several sites. We opted NOT to utilize Puma our RV since for almost 1/2 of the trip, we would be able to stay with family.

On the trip, we visited a tiny little town in Nebraska called Miller. In that town we met a fellow who has a dog that had no purpose in life and was a bit of a trouble-causer. Then he bought some chickens and it turns out the dog then found a purpose. It (actually she) loves to her chickens and will do it all day.

I got a short video of it. I put music on the video, but this fellow will actually say to the dog "Lucy, get the birds." and the Lucy will go chase chickens. She does it all day every day and simply nudges them with her nose and has never hurt a chicken.

RV Lifestyle : The Bombing Mission

As Sheri and I visit Nebraska we run across many different people. Nebraska is very sparsely populated - approximately the same amount of people live in Nebraska that live in greater Austin Texas! I'm building up to a point so bear with me... We've noticed that there are RV'ers who consider themselves part of the RV community, some who are part of an actual RV club, and then finally, we've now discovered a new group - those that simply own an RV and really don't know anything about RV community 'norms', rules, or even laws for that matter. I think that comes from old age, norms from 50 years ago, and a sparse population.

So we ran across some old timer Nebraskan's who aren't so well acquainted with what I would call the norms and rules of good RV'ing and are probably violating the law. I'm simply a 'reporter' of sorts, relaying what I saw/heard, what it made me think about, and passing it on.

This fellow, and I'll leave him nameless, is an old timer from Nebraska and he has an RV. When I spoke with him about his RV, he said he had to take it out on the road. I asked him what he was going to do and he said he was going to empty his tanks. When I asked him where he did that at, he said, and I quote, " I get going about 60 mph down an old gravel road and then I open the tank. ". I mentioned that I really wanted him to do it on a road where I wouldn't be driving and mentioned that I thought that might be illegal.

He said he even had a local Sheriff camp with him and the Sheriff utilized that method! I asked him more about it and he said that after he did it you couldn't even tell because he used digesters and that it was really liquid.

Of course I can't verify any of his claims, but it does seem that you shouldn't be doing this at all, no matter how remote you are! But he is very, very old and I think I'll just let him get a ticket from the state patrol if they catch him. He is a WWII vet and I can't help this lets him relive his WWII bombing missions.

For the rest of you who aren't that old, will you just use an approved dump station? There is right and there is wrong and you need to keep right on your side.

RV Lifestyle : A Vacation from our Vacation

We're leaving today to visit Nebraska (family lives there). As we do this, I'm left with a few thoughts relative to the RV that I suppose many of you have as well. Some are questions. Maybe if I write them down it will help some readers, or perhaps help us on our search for solutions and answers to life questions, big and small.

• We decided NOT to take the RV on our 3 week trip and instead went in a car. Probably because we live in the RV full time, but at least 1/2 of our trip we'll be staying with family so when we calculated the costs, it was more expensive and troublesome to use the RV.
• We've been living in the RV for some time now... With the slide out. Just because we WON'T be there for 3 weeks, should we pull the slide in? Or leave it out? Should we look like we are still there? Or look like it is uninhabited? I don't expect there is a right answer - just opinions - which is all most people have to offer. Never crisp data. Usually it goes like this : "I do it this way and that is the right way. I have no empirical evidence other than I'm personally happy with my technique so YOU should accept it on gospel that my way is the best way." Welcome to the internet. One guy actually had a story of the cost and difficulty of replacing an axle which was thrown by not greasing the wheels. That was pretty convincing and I would say that counts as empirical enough for me. One guy actually put a small camera on a stick and put it in his black tack. That is pretty convincing as he looked and provided evidence. 
• Now that we live with less, other than the value of the RV itself, we have NO contents of any real value. Some clothes and pots and pans. Computers are now portable so we take them with us. So what we leave behind in the RV doesn't really require anyone checking. We just don't have much. That is really comforting.
• Everywhere we stay, we'll have more square footage than the RV. Usually when you vacation it is the other way around.
• How low/hot should you leave the thermostat? That is related to the fridge. We probably have about $30 worth of food in it. Should we just throw it out and turn all electric off and save another $50 (net $20)? We probably won't. We'll keep power on, keep the fridge cold, and set the thermostat to 90 F. That is probably illogical, but that is what we'll do.
• We'll turn off the water and the propane.
• We've been on one 20 gallon tank for propane for over TWO MONTHS. That is really cool. 

All for now.

RV Lifestyle : Untruths about RV People

  As I was speaking with a neighbor last night, I thought about what a wonderful person this is and what a wonderful family he has. I couldn't help but think that there are so many misconceptions about who lives in RV parks.

The biggest misconception is that RV full timers (the term for people who live in the RV just like a person would a house or condo) are economically poor. It is TRUE that there are many, many retirees that travel in RV's and go south in the winter and that is one image, but if you don't fit that class of people, then you are automatically assumed to be economically distressed.

As I've taken many videos of RV parks, I have ran across RV parks that look very poor. I can make assumptions about them, but honestly I don't know.

What I can say is a few notes about the parks I've been associated with, and  the one I stay at now is the most interesting.

Here is a sampling of the people that are my fulltime neighbors:

• One is the manager of a software team. He is a part time minister and he lives with his family in an RV. The kids say they LOVE the adventure and they are outside a great deal. That is more than I can say about most kids!!!
• One is a nurse that is claimed to be one of the best nurses in town for a particular specialty. If I said more people could guess because Austin is still a 'little' big town.
• One is a jeweler and his wife. They aren't too friendly because my wife told him that he drove too fast and now he isn't speaking to us. He is driving slower now.
• One is one of country musics top song writers. He has several #1 hits. I should listen to them sometime but I am not too good at knowing the names of songs. I'm sure I've heard them.
• One is a retired postman. He takes really good care of his dog and his dog is a very nice dog. It is funny that a post man owns a dog.
• One fellow was recently divorced and really is trying to figure out his next step in life.
• One RV is the RV of the park owner. I think it is his home away from home.
• Another couple is building a house nearby and are living in the park while it is being built. I think they like living in an RV and are not really in a big hurry to move. There are quite a few of the living in an RV while the house is being [ fill in blanks here ].
• There is the couple who seem fairly wealthy who just park their RV in the park, pay the fees but live nearby. The RV stays cooled and maintained so I'm not sure how you count them! 
• One couple is a set of retired missionaries. I don't think they are what most people think of as retired, but they were missionaries and they are back in the US now.

All in all, at the park I'm at now, most people seem surprisingly middle class. The park is a little bit picky in terms of the age of your rig so that keeps out people who might not take care of things. I'm sure that has a filtering/sorting effect, but honestly, if you have a preconceived notion, you might be wrong!

RV Lifestyle : Something so simple as a breeze

Woke up and it was very cool out with a breeze. When your bedroom is only 8 feet wide and had windows on all three sides, you get to experience the peace, quiet, cool breeze, very directly... without mosquitoes!

Maybe not a big deal and it probably isn't, but it seems like one of those little experiences that comes along and you collect it like a pearl on a string. It was a nice moment and I just took a little time and spent some time IN THE MOMENT.

I have the RV lifestyle to thank for that. It seems that when you live with very little in the way of things (because you have to stay light in an RV), you get to collect and enjoy more of life's little pearls.

RV Lifestyle : La Hacienda RV Resort Memorial Day 2010

If you have an RV and you live in central Texas and you are reading this then you have MISSED La Hacienda's 2010 Memorial Day Party.

The idea of a Memorial Day party celebrated at an RV park could sound very lame, but here is the honest truth. This RV Park is located on Lake Travis which is a famous central Texas party lake. La Hacienda is located 5 minutes from about 20 boat ramps on a peninsula on the lake. It is in the heart of the party scene. But this is a first class park, not a scary red neck park.

Ken (the owner and his employees) cooked up burgers that were WRAPPED in bacon. People from all over Texas of all ages sizes and races brought pot luck. People played in the parks pools. There was great food, great conversation, and I met new friends which is always cool.

All this occurred in a big courtyard and the park has a HUGE pavilion. After everyone thought the day was starting to wind down, the musicians started. These were not your normal open mike (buy my CD) musicians, these were pro's. No I don't know their names, but their songs were original and they played the music so easy - they stopped during the songs and interacted with the people and then went right back to playing without missing a note or it seeming difficult. Honestly, it was amazing.

To a degree, this is only possible in a few places : Austin, Nashville, maybe San Fran/LA (not so sure).

Honestly, I'd recommend this for memorial day in 2011. It was truly fun and cool.