Benefits of hiring RVs

February 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We all like to spend vacations in a better way. Many turn to traveling and visiting different places. Where as, some others spend their leisure hours in recreational activities such hiking, fishing, swimming etc. A lot of people make use of RV rentals to travel for recreational purposes. There are many recreational outlets in the country that rent folding camping trailer, motor homes and other vehicles to make their vacation a wonderful experience.

 

Let’s find out why people choose RV rentals. The main reason why people choose RVs lies in the purpose itself. They can reach their destination within limited period of time. RV rentals are affordable. Hiring RVs can be economical for bigger families rather than traveling their own private vehicles. When gas prices goes very high, hiring a RV vehicles can be the best idea to save a lot of money.

 

Traveling in a motor home or other RVs is very convenient and comfortable. It’s even stress free too. RV rentals provide opportunities to buy the best vehicle for you. Let’s find how it happens. You cannot go to every vehicle showroom and ask for a test drive every time you want. It frustrates them. By hiring various types of RVs you can have the opportunity to test the vehicles and decide to buy the best one from the market. Motor homes are very comfortable and cheap. You can hire them if you have children since they enjoy the ride in it. It is even equipment with television, music boxes, and refrigerator to entertain you to the maximum level. Most RVs provides housekeeping packages such as pots, dishes, and other necessary things. Some RVs even provide you pillow, blanket, linen, bath towel which should be given back when you finish your trip. However, hiring RVs with good housekeeping packages can be very expensive.

 

To hire a RV, you only need to produce a valid driver’s license and something which proves your age. Some companies recommend that the person who is hiring the vehicle should be at least 25 years of age. You will have to pay some extra cash to those companies if you didn’t cross 25 years of age.

 

The rental cost of the vehicle that you are hiring depends upon the type, size and age of the vehicle. The cost varies during seasons too. A motor home can cost you around $100 to $250 a single day, where as travel trailers and truck campers will be available at cheaper rates around $50 to $120 per day. Some RV rentals want you to pay additional charges for insurance. While the others agencies include the insurance in the rental price itself. You are required to pay a percentage of the total amount as deposit which usually will be around $500 and that amount will be refunded when you are bringing back the vehicle without any major damages. By hiring a RV, you can solve all sorts of headaches, mistakes and problems that come in your way when you plan out for a trip.

 

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Hire the Best Recreational Vehicle for Making Your Travel More Enjoyable

February 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The Recreational Vehicles or RVs have achieved much popularity within the past few years. They have become the most popular means for vacation and travel option for those individuals who desire to travel and don’t wish to miss out their home. One of the major benefits is that, the Recreational Vehicles helps in eliminating the need for travel bookings, reservation of the hotels and also stopping and eating at cafeterias. They are most often known as homes on the wheels. The Recreational Vehicles will be incorporating bathrooms, bedrooms, living rooms along with fully equipped pantries.

 

RV Rentals are offered by several travel companies and they are broadly categorized into three main categories. The class A is considered as the most luxurious type of RV rental. The rental rates for this model will depend on daily basis. It normally varies from six hundred dollars to nine hundred dollars per day. They are said to be the most expensive ones. However, the companies are offering their service during on-seasons as well as off-seasons. The rates for the off-season are found to be much lesser. Some of the companies are even providing special discount offers. This will help them in saving some amount of their money.

 

The minimum rental period for the special packages are 50 days or for more than that. You can get the complete information on the discount packages by having a direct talk with the local travel agent. You can also make a thorough search over the web based applications for knowing more information. In this current period, most of the RVs are found to be custom built. Even though the other models are providing the required features, these kinds of services are sometimes opted by certain group of people. There are lots of features which you can include in the Recreational Vehicles.

 

You can have internet facilities, king-sized beds, large bathrooms which are having showers along with whirlpool baths as well as stylish furnishings. In addition to all the added features, there are automatic camp setups and certain automated cooling and heating systems. Security systems are also being installed in the RVs for ensuring the safety of those who are traveling in it. Some of the top RVs may also contain touch screens for checking the conditions of the entire house systems like fuel, battery backup, electric etc. Most of the RV rentals will be charging refundable deposit for security purpose and this may vary depending on the company which you are choosing.

 

The RV rental firms are having wide range of vehicles. You can choose either economical models or luxury models based on your financial plan. These kinds of rental services will help in making your vacation more enjoyable with your friends or family. The cost associated with the packages can be reduced considerably by choosing the right company. The vehicles are comprised on all the basic amenities that make it more and more popular and the convenient method for traveling. These kinds of services are made available in all parts of the countries.

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RV rental – California

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Thanks to all those who responded and gave travel time tips. Much appreciated. Next on the list is car rental. Two of us want to rent a RV from LA to Vegas RETURN. We then want a car to drive LA to San Francisco ONE WAY. Lonely Planet has good advice but any tips and info from others experiences please. Recommended company? Insurance? Package deals? How about Driveaways for LA to San Francisco? Any benefits esp. price if car rental organized through travel agent along with flights? We’ll be flying in to LA from New Zealand.

Be sure to tell the rental agency in advance that you want written endorsement on your rental contract that you can take the car into Nevada. It’s never been a problem when I’ve told them in advance. The advice about auto insurance is also good.  Assuming NZ handles insurance similar to Australia and the UK, I can say the categories here are different from what you have back home.  See what if anything can be covered by your company.

Two examples about insurance differences (I), I’ll be heading to Scotland next month.  The insurance that comes with the car covers all damage, and all medical except for the driver.  The remaining insurance comes from an “umbrella” policy that have here in the US, based on my commitment to get the maximum insurance available on the rental contract.  (II) In the US the insurance is divided into personal liability (as in being responsible for repaying costs for personal injury – medical, lawsuits), collision (damage to vehicles), being the major ones, with another category for uninsured motorist.  The latter covers you if the UM is considered at fault, but is driving without insurance.  Some states make it illegal not to  have insurance, but that doesn’t prevent uninsured drivers from other states from driving in California.  I’ve never had to invoke UM, but its good to have.

 

 

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Rialta

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We purchased a new 1998 Rialta last May.  After an initial flood of problems we were finally able to get everything fixed, and we couldn’t be happier with it. The RV rental is billed as a vacation vehicle, and it suits our purposes perfectly.  We seldom stay on the road for more than a couple of weeks, so our family of three is not quite stressed out by the lack of space by the time the vacation is over.

Last summer we did a 7,000 mile tour of the US, just to see where we wanted to go back to, and the Rialta performed wonderfully on some of the “don’t you DARE take a truck on THIS road” roads in the Tetons, climbed the Rockies easily, and cruised RT 1 with class and plumb. The only problem we have had the involved the chassis (VW) was a bit of a pickle, however.  The Rialta wouldn’t fit in the VW dealership’s shop.  We do find the VR6 engine smooth and reliable, and we got a little over 17 mpg on that long trip.  My wife who at times thinks if anyone is in front of her, they shouldn’t be, was able to navigate Wyoming at +100 MPH, until I woke up and fainted. We bought the Rialta over the Internet from Mobility RV in upstate Iowa, saving $13,000 off list.  However, they did an abismal job of prep on it.  I guess you get what you pay for.

 

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3000 mile oil change: a superstition?

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

One of our cars is “regular duty”.  It’s used for commuting. The commute is (approx.) a 2 mile run through neighborhoods( a couple of stop signs, one light that is normally rolled through, then a 15 mile interstate  highway run, then about 2 more miles of stop and go “city” driving.  It’s very rare that it’s started for a trip less than 15 miles, and I’d rather take side streets at 20 mph then sit in a traffic jam.

        The other vehicle falls under severe.  It gets started, run 6 miles through neighborhood streets, never over 25 mph speed limit, shut off to drop the kid at daycare, then started and run 1/4 mile to work.  This is 3-4 days a week; the other days are often short trips (2 miles to store, 6 miles to grandma’s house).  This is also the Rental RV, so it gets loaded up and driven on the highway occasionally.  70-75 MPH, loaded down, AC blasting (small 2.5 liter engine).

My theory is that you need to run the engine long enough to get up to full oil temp – at least half an hour – every week or so to be sure that you’re getting the water out of it.  If you do that than your driving is normal, bar towing or racing.  In that case I change my oil about every 10,000 to 15,000 Km.  I use Mobil 1 10w 30 in just about everything except the MGB, which gets an oil change every spring and uses dino 20w 50.  I guess that I’ve never had a car long enough to wear out the engine (if you don’t count the aluminium block Vega that I had in high school), and I’ve never had a failure that could in any way be caused by long oil change intervals.

The race car gets a damn engine rebuild about every 20 hours – 1,500 miles – to magnaflux the crank and look for stupid things that happen to race engines.  I get to look at bearings and journals that are perfect – they don’t even need to be polished, I usually put the same timing chain back in because the cam timing hasn’t budged.  I don’t take the pistons out if the leakdown is ok.  That’s on an engine that has 100 hp per litre, 12:1 compression and lives between 6k and 7k rpm’s which should be considered extreme duty.

My vote is that with today’s oil and filters, and even more importantly ring technology and combustion management, oil changes at 10k to 15k kilometers is normal and fine.  Listening to oil manufacturers tell you to change three times more often is like asking the bartender if you should have another beer or asking the used car salesman if you should buy the undercoating and the extended warranty!

 

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Vacation Vehicle

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

My Taurus SW was driving fine across country, 87 AXOD with 3.0. It started smoking and I pulled it in a parking lot. Found it the tranny started dumping tranny fluid all over the ground. It was coming from a dust shield between covering the underside of the tranny in about the middle where I assume it meets up with the engine? I have to get it fixed. I’m no mech but does anyone have an idea on what it could be?  

I had a similar problem in my Ford Ranger with a 3.0 V-6 and automatic transmission. I was driving to the deer lease up and down hills while engaged in overdrive. After 120 miles, I pulled of the road to turn. When I did, fluid and smoke were billowing out from under my truck. I thought the transmission was a goner. I drove it a few more miles to the deer lease and let it set until morning. In the morning I started it up and the fluid was still burning off of the pipes but it wasn’t leaking any more. I replenished the lost fluid and drove back home, and have had no further problems. My conclusion to all this is that the transmission overheated when climbing the long hills and using overdrive. If your car was loaded, as most RV rental is, you probably overheated the transmission if you were using overdrive and climbing. If it is no longer leaking, I would change the fluid and keep on driving. My truck has given me no more problems since the incident, but I don’t use overdrive on the hills or if I have a load in the back.

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Making Long Trip in Explorer, Leather Seats, etc. etc

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We have been looking at a new Ford Explorer and wondering how it rides on long trips. Would you call this a “Rental RV”? It has the lumbar support and all of that. We have a small dog (20lbs) and have seen the interior of the cars leather and cloth. Does leather have a tendency to show small toenail marks?

In the cargo section of the Explorer there is a spring loaded pull cover to cover your luggage and cargo. I noticed that there is a gap between the back seat and where this cover starts. I am concerned with this gap showing anyone there is “stuff” under it. Any after-market devices or clips that can be put on it?

The seats sit very well for me at six feet tall but my wife has problems with the seatback not providing a lot of support at her 5’4″ height. The view of the road is nice and handling is good, overall rates a 7 on a scale of 10 for vacation vehicles. The leather WILL show marks but a feed/cleaner will take care of most of them.  It might be worthwhile to purchase a dog-blanket seat-cover to eliminate those marks. The cargo cover has the gap to allow the rear seats to recline, and if you have the tinted windows then it is very hard to see anything through the crack.  The cover is not very strong and won’t prevent a heavy item from flying through the air in a panic-stop or rollover situation, get a cago net that attatches to the floor clips.  Any paramedic will tell you that a stuffed doll flying out of the back seat in a wreck can break your neck, just imagine what a suitcase would do.  I bolted a cargo box to the floor for stuff I carry all the time, and use a cargo net for the rest.

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Cost of Motels vs. Recreational Vehicle Travel

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I would like to start a discussion on the costs of travelling in Rental RV vs. the cost of using Motels/hotels for trips in Canada and the U.S.

You need to be more specific.  How much do you expect to travel?  There are many costs of an RV (taxes, insurance, registration, maintenance) that care more or less amortized over time.  If you travel a lot and polan to keep an RV for a long time, your costs will be significantly different from buying an RV for one trip of ay 6 months around the US. Where you travel and the kind of accomodations you like (RV resort vs public campground or budget motel vs up-scale motel) also make a difference in costs.  In general, I would not recommend buying an RV simply with an eye to saving money.  Then tend to be money pis unless you are skilled at maintenance and enjoy working on them yourself.  This doesn’t mean you should not get one, just that they are not automatic money savers over motels.

There is more to this Rving than just an economic analysis. These are two very different ways of seeing the world. You can save money in an RV by cooking your own meals, overnight lodging etc. On the other hand, your gas mileage sucks (10mpg max with a gasoline engine) and you have some pretty big capital costs.

The big difference is in the experience you have traveling. With an RV you will never pull into a town and find all of the motels are no vacancy. You can just find a Walmart Parking lot and you are set for the night. It is very common for me to head out friday evenings and drive until I am tired, then I find a roadside rest or just pull off the interstate and park. I get a nice nights rest in my own bed, in the morning I have a cup of fresh java and hit the road whenever the mood strikes, sometimes its 5 am othertimes not untill 7 or 8. Then when the coffee has been processed there is nothing like having your own facilities on board.

 

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Whitewater Park in Downtown Reno Nevada

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Maybe there’s no exploding river population on the Deerfield (I’ve always felt that the conditions in the NE would limit boaters). It’s simply not true out here.  The river running population in Idaho is literally exploding.

Lots of it is newfound boaters using kayaking as an extended Rental RV– something that has been relatively a foreign concept.  But there are also tons of new, young local boaters. We used to have uncrowned rivers here in the Gem State.  Now, if you want solitude, you have to paddle serious Class V.  And some of us don’t have the time to maintain the edge to do that stuff– like myself.

There’s a bunch of other stuff in your piece that is way off-base, but predicated on your argument that the sport isn’t growing.  I just don’t have the time to rebut it all, but I can tell you taking the long view (I’ve been a kayaker for 23 years), in the last five years we’ve seen a spurt in growth geometrically equivalent to what I witnessed in the mid-’80s, where popular Eastern runs went from being uncrowded to endless zoos.  My first year on the Gauley (1980) there was one other party putting in on the Upper.  In 1984, the sport exploded, and something like 1400 put in.  We’re seeing numbers on the Lochsa now (an incredible Class III-IV roadside run) that reach into the high hundreds– unheard of even five years ago.  Campgrounds up and down the river are filled with boaters, always.  And there are a lot of campgrounds.

I think urban whitewater parks are a good idea.  I’m not as harsh on the young kids as Oci-One, but concentrated park-and-play is not a bad idea, considering the huge population entering the sport.  At least, there will be accessible toilets.

 

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Short Vacation Tales of Las Vegas

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Everyone is recovering from vacation and getting ready for school. Tracy starts again on Monday.  We’re busy and not ready for school. Winnings?  None that I would ever confess to in public.  We did get to see Englebert Humper (dinck, or what ever it is that he humpers).  Very pleasant.  Getting to the place with proper tickets was a clusterfsck, though.  See below. Speaking of clusterfscks, one of the FM hard rock stations in Vegas was FSCK FM.  So close, so close, you had to read the advertising sign very carefully. They did it on purpose, of course.

A couple of dear relatives that work for the airlines gave us “Buddy passes”.  This means you fly free and they meant so well, but flying is at a priority lower than the lowest paying standby passenger.  Also, lower than whale shit on the bottom of the ocean, to tell the truth.   This means you get on the plane last, if there is room for you, and you won’t know if you are going at all until they are almost closing the door to the plane for the last time.

We didn’t make the flight to Las Vegas out of Austin, so we bought direct flight tickets.  Buying walk-up tickets is painful, but not as painful psychologically as paying for room and entertainments that cannot be used.  Shucks.

Ofelia bought the Humperdumpel tickets on line and they were supposed to be picked up in Las Vegas.  We went to the show room (by taxi, way off the strip) several hours in advance of the show to get the tickets and were told we had to go to a specific ticket outlet in the Forum at Caesar’s Palace.  Taxi ride to the Forum.  We asked around and no one knew what we were talking about, until finally a concierge said that she thought it was somewhere near Planet Hollywood.  Walked all around the Planet — nothing.  We finally asked at Planet Hollywood, and deep within the restaurant was a tiny ATM-looking ticket gadget that recognized our confirmation number and the card we used to buy the tickets in the first place.  Taxi back.  Show was good; taxi back to our hotel/casino.  That was four taxi rides and each one took a different route, but each came within about 20 cents of the same price.

Ofelia wanted to see a traditional Las Vegas review, so we went to “Jubilee”.  Not bad.  Lots of dancing with a certain amount of T&A.  In truth, because they were dancers, there was considerably more A than T — big butts, but little on top but a smile.  The top stars and singers didn’t have to strip, however.

There were some impressive circus flyers.  This art form has evolved greatly away from traditional trapeze exercises.  My favorites were a couple of Chinese acrobats.  They were very agile, very flexible, very powerful gymnasts.  They could crawl through anything, butt first.  Not feet first, but butt first.

Then, there was going home. We got up at 4:00 AM to take the earliest possible flight out of Las Vegas.  The route was through Denver, but then the troubles hit.  The 10:00 AM flight out of Denver was overbooked and they were paying $400 vouchers with standby on the 3:00 PM flight and guaranteed transport on the 7:00 PM flight.  Early in the morning, the people in the know said the evening flight, itself, was overbooked and next day looked the same.   Was there any other airline with a flight to Austin?  All were sold out, or overbooked.

So, we decided to rent a RV.  I had a class and Ofelia had to be at the hospital two days down the line.  We rented a car and were going through the last security check before leaving the lot, and the inspector noticed my driver’s license was expired.  The wretched piece of dreck had expired on my birthday and I had not a clue.  We had to go back in and re-rent the car in Ofe’s name and on her card and I had to promise not to drive.  My conscience didn’t bother me at all. Under the circumstances, I did use the the speed control as my fuzz-buster.  Ofelia didn’t and got busted in Decatur, just out of Wichita Falls.

We spent seventeen driving hours on the road with one sleep stop — without toiletries or changes of clothes.  The motel did give us toothbrushes.  The male vs. female argument went on as to which is conceptually worse, to take a shower and get back into the terribles, or to be more faithful to oneself and just stay honorably grungy all the way.  Tracy cannot conceive of a day without a shower, and she was not particularly impressed with the argument, “You’re going to get back into THOSE?”

 

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