When we first hit the road one of the must-have items we kept hearing about was a decent pair of walkie talkies. We were told these were vital for communicating to avoid mishaps while backing up the trailer. I’m glad we opted for a decent set of radios, but not so I can hear the navigator telling me to turn right when the trailer needs to point left. She shouts plenty loud enough.
Ever since that Wisconsin tornado warning, Rene cannot stand the sound of that voice on the NOAA weather band. But many a time it has saved us getting into a sticky situation. And since we spend our summers in Colorado, with solar panels on the roof of our rig, it has provided ample warning for us to protect them more than once.
That way they’re always ready to pick up the nearest weather broadcast, and keep us informed of impending doom with that ever so soothing voice.
Very rarely have we ever been in a spot where our trusty Motorola Talkabout radios haven’t picked up the local weather report. And with 22 channels to scan, much fun can be had eavesdropping on others trying not to run into each other in a busy RV park.
Keep Motorola TalkAbout Radios in Your RV Toolbox
Do yourself a favor and pick up a pair of radios to make parking easy and keep an eye ear on the weather. Newer models have a range up to 35 miles! Save on these Talkabouts at Best Buy, or check out the selection of Motorola radios at Amazon.
Putting in a good hard day’s work is good for the body. Put one in with good people, beautiful surroundings and fresh mountain air and it’s good for the soul. Do it on a ranch and you’ll likely get a chance to give your mind a good workout too.
I sit in front of a computer most the year, and have done so in fact for the past 25 years or more. There’s a scary thought.
Don’t be fooled by the plaque atop Gold Hill. At 96 years of age, Vickers Ranch patriarch ol’ Perk is alive and kickin’. His secret? It must have something to do with his outlook on life – that and a daily dose of whiskey. Just ask him how he’s doin’ and he’ll tell you, “Every day is a great day.”
Every day is a great day indeed when working with the Vickers. Ranch work at 10,000′ requires one to be fit for sure. And you can’t beat the beauty of mountaintop views or the calls of the coyotes for a good dose of awareness. Counting bales and troubleshooting a broken stacker or determining proper blade rotation on a multi-head mower tends to put the old noggin’ to work too.
This kind of workamping sure beats staring at a computer screen all day. What do you do to exercise your mind, body and soul?
It won’t be long now before we’re headed back to Slab City, so it’s high time we post a video from a night at the Range last year. Enjoy this medley of favorites by Chance. Better late than never, eh?
I recommend leaving your expectations in the rig, and being there for the eclectic mix of live music you can catch at the Range on a Saturday night. During the day you can get a few holes in at Gopher Flats and have a good soak in the hot springs or see how the Slab City Library is holding up. See ya there!
PS: If you have any videos from the Range or Slab City, comment with a link!
I’ve never liked gin. And tonic water is just nasty. But I discovered long ago that something magical happens when you mix the two and add just the right squeeze of lime.
At some point I learned that Beefeater and the like belong only in the well of a cozy dive bar.
Tanqueray became the gin of choice. Then Christopher turned me on to Bombay and I never looked back. Thanks to the liquor guy at Wilbur’s, Hendricks is now the top shelf gin of choice. And with its sturdy compact bottle, it travels well too!
Debating over the cost of Sapphire at Wilbur’s one day, a clerk noticed us spying the unique Hendricks bottle. He explained the new microdistillery craze and described how Hendricks is handcrafted in small batches, goes down smooth with much less botanical complexity and is great with key limes, or cucumber. How could we resist?
I gave the cucumber a try, but as refreshing as it was, I’ll have to pass. The key limes, however – with Hendricks and brand name tonic over ice – redefine freshness, and they take up less room too! Go ahead, call me a mixer snob too. But it’s true, generic tonic water simply does not do good gin justice.
“Small Batch” distillation typically yields 1,000 or fewer liters. Hendricks is distilled with two distinct spirits in 450 litre batches and infused with rose and cucumber.
What’s your favorite RVer cocktail? Republic Texas Tea perhaps? Or maybe a Nü Hawaiian? When we hit the road we usually limit the cabinet to one concoction at a time. This season, Hendricks should fit nicely under the couch. And it’s best we do not leave the tonic at home!
There will be no Luck for us this year. Luckenbach that is, Texas. But the year is only half over so at the risk of shoulding all over myself, I guess I should clarify.
We didn’t make our annual pilgrimage to Luck earlier this year. We were nearly in Texas when we had to high-tail it back to Humboldt for our friend’s unexpected memorial. Since we missed out on the cold Shiner, good people and great music, I thought I’d reminisce by sharing this playlist of live music videos from past trips.
A stop at Luckenbach General Store is highly recommended for any full-timer who enjoys authentic American singer songwriter music in an authentic Old West bar, or anyone just wants to see what Waylon and Willie were singing about.
Overnight boondocking is available in the field if no big acts are on the bill. Just don’t get stuck. But if you do, grab another Shiner and realize there’s no better place to be stuck. Can you tell I miss Texas? With any luck we’ll get back to Luck by the year’s end when we head back South again for the winter.
With that said, I’m lovin’ our Colorado mountain summer! And while I wouldn’t necessarily call it “luck” we are very fortunate to be here. With the perfect climate, majestic views, fresh mountain air and occasional moose sighting, what more could we ask for? Except for maybe a couple nights at Hondo’s old hangout.
And with that said, what do you feel fortunate for? And where have you seen some of the best Music Americana in your travels? South by Southwest doesn’t count, that’s a given. Our visit to the Floyd Country Store ranks up there for us.
Within 48 hours of returning home to our stick house for the summer, we had used a blender, bread machine, waffle iron, food processor and panini grill – all appliances we left behind when hitting the road six months ago.
With limited space in our 24′ fifth wheel, the only kitchen gadget we take with us when we head south for the winter is a toaster. We survived with a camp stove toaster when we first left, but that novelty wore off long ago, along with a lot of burnt crumbs.
Every RVer has that one gotta-have gizmo they just can’t live without, right? What’s yours?
During the first NüRver Bartender Wars, we discovered Kevin’s is a Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker. Those Technomads had a soda maker, the Happy Jansens had an industrial strength juicer, and Ben had one of the finest commercial grade espresso machines I had seen since my busboy days at Graziano’s.
For those of us without a basement in our rig, storage space comes at a premium. We keep our toaster in the oven when we roll. Kinda gives new meaning to the term toaster oven, eh? Too bad a margarita machine won’t fit inside our Magic Chef oven! Guess we’ll stick to making Republic Texas Tea.
Sixteen years ago, a co-worker kept insisting, “You gotta meet my roommate.” Later that week, on the 18th of May, he set us up at the Gold Cane. It turns out Spoonie just wanted your room.
Exactly two years later (almost) on the 17th, we were married. It was the happiest day of my life. Really.
Every day together is a reminder of just how happy. Thank you. For everything. Really.
Here’s that informative post I promised before i got distracted by those great steaks and cocktails at the AA. I hope at least, that anyone who publishes an RV blog – or any website for that matter – will find this information, well… informative!
A while back, fellow Nü RVers those tech nomads informed us that a certain website was repurposing blog posts, not only from this site, but theirs and those of a number of other RVers.
Sure enough, a simple search revealed that entire posts of ours, including photos, were being republished in their entirely without our permission. Furthermore, we discovered that the site in question was a paid membership site, so it was using our content for profit!
The infringing website’s owner argued that because we make our posts available via rss feed, that the content was free to use as he wished. A bogus claim from someone who hadn’t done his homework, but a slightly grey area nonetheless.
TIP: To search a specific website for something you wrote, use Google and enter a distinct phrase followed by “site:” and the domain, like this…
Replace domain.com and the phrase or keywords to meet your needs.
While we were able to remove all existing and future content of ours from the website in question with one request, it got me thinking. I decided to do my own homework regarding the rights of web publishers, and gladly share what I found out here.
Ownership Rights of Web Content Publishers
According to the The Berne Copyright Convention, everything on the internet is considered copyrighted the moment it is written. Under the Berne Convention, copyright is automatic upon publication and does not require formal registration. When the United States joined the Convention in 1988, however, statutory damages and attorney’s fees continued to be available available only for registered works.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization Copyright Treaty of 1996, “compilations of data or other material (databases), in any form, which by reason of the selection or arrangement of their contents constitute intellectual creations.” All blog content is stored in a database and is therefore an intellectual creation.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (title 17, U. S. Code) states that “Copyright protection subsists, in accordance with this title, in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.”
Finally, by republishing our copyrighted content on a for-profit website I confirmed that the infringing site was in violation of the federal copyright fair use doctrine, as described in sections 107 through 118 of the copyright law (title 17, U. S. Code)
Please note that I am by no means a lawyer, not even close, in any way. So I consulted one. I visited the free legal advice website LawGuru.com and asked:
What law can be cited when notifying someone who has republished original website content without permission, when they insist syndicated content (rss) is in the public domain?
My research proved me correct. Here is the answer I received:
You can cite 17 USC 106 which defines your exclusive rights, including a right of attribution, and 17 USC 501-506 which define your remedies. 505 authorizes recovery of attorneys fees and expenses and 506 may make it a criminal offense, particularly when done via the web.
However, you need to know that for the Court to have jurisdiction to enforce a copyright in the US, you must first apply to register it. It is a simple process for a copyright attorney to do that online. You should use an attorney, so that the attorney can simultaneously write a CDL (cease and desist letter) to this apparent infringer. A letter from you is not likely to have the same effect and not likely to be worded for optimum impact. In fact, most do-it-yourself non-lawyer CDLs are a disaster and some even create grounds for countersuit.
There are numerous blog aggregators on the interwebs that legally republish copyrighted content. They do this by only publishing an excerpt, assigning attribution, and including a link to the original source. But there may be times when one might wish to republish content from another source in its entirety, when it is appropriate to do so. Like when said person owns the copyright to the original content, or has explicit written permission to do so.
I’ve been considering doing just that with a new Tripawds Blog that will republish posts from our five featured blogs, giving readers one location to find all the best news, gear, gifts and nutrition advice for three legged dogs in one convenient site. Just how would I go about doing this?
To republish our own content and consolidate posts from multiple different blogs in one site, I plan to use the Autoblog plugin from WPMU Dev. Should you choose to do the same, of course, we know you’ll be certain you have the rights to do so.
How fitting, that as we left Moab and headed back to our mountain home where we’ll be remaining stationery for the summer, we heard this hilarious parody of the Hank Snow song, I’ve Been Everywhere …
Who woulda thunk the Keymaster of Gozer could create such a funny take on such a classic travel tune, let alone an entire country comedy album. But then again, ever since his Bob McKenzie days I’ve always thought Rick Moranis is one funny guy.
Check out his new Agoraphobic Cowboy album for some fun loving alt country bluegrass with a twist. We especially like I Ain’t goin’ Nowhere because it is full of silly excuses to not enjoy the ramblin’ lifestyle we love so much:
I ain’t goin’ nowhere, man.
I ain’t goin’ nowhere
It’s dangerous out there, man
Might ‘a been a big bomb scare.
Hard to get off of this easy chair.
I ain’t goin’ nowhere
I go
Online, dsl, amazon, buy and sell,
Ebay, layaway, last bid noon today,
Plasma, Judy Judge, broadband, Matt Drudge, J.Crew, B&N, dotcom, CNN
JPEG, e.mail, pop-up she-male
Shower cam, filter spam, slam bam.
I think it’s ma’am
I ain’t goin’ nowhere, man
Never gonna go nowhere
It’s a bungled jungle out there, man
Some kid got mauled by a bear
Surround sound in my own lair
I ain’t goin’ nowhere….
Allow me to stray from the topic of snowbird RV wanderlust for a moment here once again to share some more of that open source enlightenment.
When shit happens – and it undoubtedly will – we must deal with it, that’s a fact. How we cope with emotionally difficult situations depends on how we choose to feel. Allow yourself to feel frustration, angst, embarrassment or whatever else ails you, and you’ll certainly be dealt a bad hand.
Choose to reframe outcomes in your favor, and you can be free of pain and stress. Easier said than done, right?
Right. I have always asked myself just that. How? Exactly how does one correct their own reaction when in the moment of distress? Mindfulness teacher and meditation guru Jon Kabat-Zinn suggests by befriending your breath and dancing with the acuality of the event. Other ennlightened individuals will suggest by being – with all your heart and soul – in that very present moment, for that is when you have the choice to better your environment. Believe it, and this is easier done than said.
Immersing yourself in the present moment feels fantastic, and comes naturally when remaining calm in a peaceful environment. Simply being becomes much more difficult when spontaneity brings misfortune and distress. So again, how does one follow through after making the choice to feel good while the fan is praying shit everywhere? Just flip a switch in the brain? Yes. Turn off the fan.
My good friend NLP Dave explained an understanding of his that may help. I’ve been mulling over his allowance theory since our walk along the Eureka waterfront a few weeks back. From what I gathered – or if I recall correctly – negativity is a basically the resistance of positive thinking. The opposite of that resistance would be allowance. So, one must accept outcomes at face value and allow the silver lining of even the darkest clouds to shine through.
“Above every dark cloud, the sun is always shining bright. Except at night.”
— me
Recent events and resulting anguish provided the opportunity for putting this precept to the test. After putting a major gouge in the side of our truck while attempting to fit in a tight spot where I had easily parked just days before, with fellow campers waiting to pull by, I wasn’t exactly feeling quite chipper or acting very calm.
Quick coincidental digression: I recently read an article about EFT which Dave showed me can be a powerful self therapeutic tool. Practicing a quick touch sequence while focussing to let go of the pain, anger, embarrassment and distress I was feeling allowed me to clear my mind enough to accept what happened, and realize that how I was acting was making me feel so shitty. Being in the present at that time meant understanding the damage was done, and how I fealt about it was up to me.
I allowed myself to welcome a positive vibe about our new spot – in the campground that is, not on our fender.
As much as we shouldn’t compare – nor should on ourselves – the whole scene could have been much worse. The scrape is purely cosmetic, any damage to the trailer would have likely been functional. We finally had a nice wide open good level spot, with a more beautiful view of the river and cliffs. Satellite connectivity was quick and cell phone reception was better. We now had plenty of water, produce and provisions. We ran all our necessary errands and had a spot available at the small riverside campground before the busy Easter weekend.
There is a moral or two to this story. There is a great free campground about 9 miles outside Green River on Hastings road. If headed before a busy weekend fill the fridge at the market in town and top off with water at the truck stop. That way you won’t have to park again after rushing to town. Pay attention and never feel rushed when parking your rig. Just because you fit easily in a tight spot before, don’t assume fitting again will be just as easy. Always have your navigator keep on eye on the trailer and the truck.
And if you happen add another battle scar to your trailer or tow vehicle, understand that freaking out won’t fix it. In fact, it only makes matters worse.
Life Is Give And Take
You see, I have always looked at life like this. It’s all about give and take. Life, that is. It’s about giving what you’re willing to lose to get whatever it is you want to take. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes being put to the test to find that perfect spot.And you must be willing to pay the price for living life to the fullest and loving every minute of it.
In other words – if you’ll pardon my French one more time – sometimes ya just gotta say shit without letting it hit the fan. Because if you let it build up, life gets pretty stinky.
Epilogue: In nealry four years on the road we are fortunate and grateful to have experienced no major catastrophe. Perhaps positively dealing with the number of smaller mishaps that do occur will ensure we never do. After all, it is these dark moments that remind us to slow down and allow those silver linings to shine through.
When we first hit the road one of the must-have items we kept hearing about was a decent pair of walkie talkies. We were told these were vital for communicating to avoid mishaps while backing up the trailer. I’m glad we opted for a decent set of radios, but not so I can hear the navigator telling me to turn right when the trailer needs to point left. She shouts plenty loud enough.
When boondocking, we’ll often keep the radios charged with our Xantrex solar battery pack accessory charger we won from the fine folks at RVParking.com.
Finally, by republishing our copyrighted content on a for-profit website I confirmed that the infringing site was in violation of the federal copyright 
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