There are some things that no RVer should be without, in my opinion. These include safety items like good fire extinguishers, an electrical management system, and a tire pressure monitoring system. They are more than just gadgets, they are essential equipment that can save your life and your rig.
Something else I feel that you should not leave home without is a good roadside service plan. I know I’ve said this before, but it was driven home to me again in an e-mail I got yesterday from a blog reader who told me that he and his wife planned to sign up for one before they hit the road in their brand new motorhome, but they got busy and forgot. Then they blew a tire somewhere out in the boondocks of West Texas and had to call for a tow. The damage to their motorhome was bad enough, including a broken air line and fiberglass damage, but the towing bill itself came to over $2500. That’s a lot of money that they could have saved by having a roadside service plan. Yes, you may never need it, but when you do, you really need it!
We have used Coach-Net for many, many years and they have always given us excellent service. This includes my infamous accomplishment of getting stuck on a hill so steep in Bremerton, Washington that our MCI bus conversion’s front wheels and back bumper were on the pavement, but our drive wheels were up in the air. And yes, Miss Terry did tell me I couldn’t drive up that hill.
Coach-Net also came to our rescue when we lost our air in Louisville Kentucky and the bus came to a stop, when we were stuck in my cousin’s driveway in Traverse City, Michigan, and when our fuel gelled at a truck stop outside of Atlanta, Georgia one cold Christmas Eve. And there have been a couple of other times when they were there when we needed them over the years.
Another excellent service provider is Good Sam Roadside Assistance, which you can get from my friend Chris Yust at C&C Insurance. I think you’re pretty much comparing apples and apples here in that either one will serve you very well. It doesn’t matter who you sign up with, but get it from somebody. Because trust me, moving a big motorhome or fifth wheel trailer after a breakdown isn’t easy, and it isn’t cheap!
If you enjoy good music and a movie with some laughs and a few tears in it, do yourself a favor and see Ricki and the Flash. Terry has been wanting to see it, so we stopped at the theater on the spur of the moment the other night and caught a showing. Meryl Streep does an excellent job as an aging rock ‘n roll singer with a lot of baggage who goes home to Indianapolis to deal with family drama.
A few of you have asked what I think of the Dragon NaturallySpeaking software now that I’ve used it for a while. I have to say that I’m quite impressed, especially compared to my experiences with DragonDictate on my old iMac computer. I’ve been using Dragon NaturallySpeaking on my current book and getting a lot of work done. I’m a slow two finger typist and still make a lot of mistakes. When working on a book, a good day for me was 3K words, and by the time I was done my fingers were throbbing from my arthritis. Dragon NaturallySpeaking is not perfect, but even after making corrections, I can easily do 6K words in a day and I don’t have any pain. And the more I use it the better it seems to understand me.
So far over 65 people have entered our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of Castle Cay, the first book in my friend Lee Hanson’s excellent Julie O’Hara mystery series. To enter, all you have to do is click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.
My friend Brian Dockins currently has Betrayal of Magic, the first book in his DOMA: Department of Magic series, on sale on Amazon for just 99 cents. If sci-fi/fantasy books about sorcerers and such are your thing, I think you’ll enjoy it. Brian says in his author’s profile on Amazon that his goal as a storyteller is to transport you to another world and make you forget about this one, if even for a brief moment. He does that very well in his books.
Thought For The Day – Growing old is not easy. Your mind says, “Sure, why not?” But your body says, “What the hell were you thinking?”
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
We just used Coach-Net for towing –our second time. In 2013 we were towed 75 miles from Yucca Valley, CA to San Bernadino. They not only arranged for the long tow but found a transmission shop that would open up for us for a night-time delivery and found us a pet-friendly hotel for two nights and not cost out of pocket.
A few weeks ago we stalled 4 times on the PA Turnpike. How scary was that!!! We limped into a Service Center Plaza and found a nice flat parking space among the truckers. Coach-Net had a challenge: There is only one towing service that has an exclusive contract with the Turnpike Authorities to tow within their jurisdiction. Their only “big rig” truck was tied up for multiple big rig truck accidents that afternoon and all day the next day. Coach-Net DID FIND A TOW SERVICE WITH AN APPROPRIATE SIZE AND KNOWLEDGEABLE OPERATOR. They also foun the “closest authorized service center” that would receive the towed motorhome after dark. We did have to argue with them a bit that we wanted a FREIGHTLINER repair service but they sent us to a CUMMINS & ALLISON TRANSMISSION service center. We spent the night in their parking lot and the next day the tech traced the source of our problem to an electrical wiring harness from FREIGHTLINER. OK, Coach Net tried and again there was no charge for the towing. A week later the local Freightliner service tech found the loose wiring bracket that was down to the last two threads on the remaining bolt. The wires were wiggling and shorting out so that was the cause of the loss in power. ALL FIXED and we just drove 2000 miles from PA to NM with peace of mind that we had Coach-Net covering our 40′ motorhome.
BTW, we also carry all of Mac the Fire Guy’s foam extinguishers and have a tire monitoring system that has saved us multiple times with warnings on our toad.
Keep those recommendations coming!