We left Quartzsite yesterday and drove to Phoenix where there is an RV chassis repair place where Lynne and John went to have leaf springs added to their back end. It sounded like a good idea, so we figured we'd have ours checked out too.

The issue is how much weight can a motorhome hold. When we first bought our motorhome, we were very impressed with the amount of storage space it had. As we learned more though, we realized that it has a lot more storage space than it has weight carrying capacity - if we filled every storage area we'd be dangerously overweight. Every RV comes with a GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating). Ours is 14,050 pounds. We've heard stories about RVs that come off the assembly line weighing more than their GVWR! Can you imagine that? The minute you step foot in it, before adding any belongings, you're overweight. Something to be aware of when you buy an RV!

Ours isn't that bad. We have everything we own with us and, according to the technician yesterday, we are only a couple hundred pounds over. Not bad, we could probably get rid of some stuff if we worked at it. But, we could also have them install one more leaf spring on each side and then we'd be underweight!! What do you think? We plan to live in this thing for years to come. I say go for it.

We've done more remodeling in our 30 foot motorhome than we ever did in our house. You've seen the pictures of my 'office'. The motorhome came with a couch on the port side of the coach. We took that out to make way for my computer station and filing drawers. All the while, Jim has been using the dinette for his computer. He's complained at how uncomfortable the dinette bench is for sitting and his laptop sits on top of the table, making it way too high for typing. So, while we've been here in Quartzsite with friends who have also done a lot of remodeling to their rigs ...
He tore out the dinette bench so he could buy a regular office chair to sit in.
Then he put the dinette table on a track like a drawer slide, so it could be pushed forward.
Last, he installed a keyboard drawer big enough to put the laptop on.



So, now he's happy because he has a real 'office' and I'm happy because we can still slide the dinette table back to it's original position for dinner.

Our bedroom is getting decorated thanx to our watercolor artist friend Emily ... and some old tShirts. Emily has been watching our weblog regularly and really liked the photos from the Oregon coast - so she created her own version. I feel like we've been immortalized. Each morning I wake up and get reminded about our wonderful lifestyle and all the beautiful places we get to visit. And, that other people are sharing it with us by visiting our weblog. Cool! THANX Emily.



As for the tShirts ... here's that story:
When we sold our house and had to get rid of everything we owned, we were surprised to discover just how many tShirts we had. We threw them out, we took them to goodwill, we sold them at garage sales for 25 cents each and we STILL had lots of tShirts. So many of them had memories attached and, even tho we knew we'd never wear them again, it was just too dificult to toss 'em. I remembered the quilting lady who said she often made old tShirts into quilts. Brilliant! A memory quilt. I told her there was no hurry when I left her the pile of tShirts last April before we hit the road. Well, the quilt arrived just in time for Christmas. I love it. What do you think?



Lynne and John left yesterday - headed to Florida where a job awaits them in Sanford (so, they're in our home and we're in theirs :-). We're staying here for a couple more days before going back to Palm Creek RV Park for the month of January. It's windy, rainy, and just downright stormy here in Quartzsite. It was a long night listening to the wind rock the coach and whip at the little awnings that we didn't bother to roll up. We did bring the big awning in - we learned that lesson the hard way when our first awning blew away in Florida. It is warming up tho - 60 degrees this morning instead of the 40s it has been. I think I'll go back to bed.

So, what do people who live on the road do on a special day like Christmas? We go for a 'road trip'!

About an hour up highway 95, then 7 miles on a dirt road in the desert, there's a place called 'Bar in the Desert'. And, it's every bit as intriguing as it sounds.

No electricity - just solar power, water from what must be a very deep well, and recycling for everything. That's how you run a bar in the desert. And, you're only open during daylight hours on weekends. That included Christmas day. If you look closely at the roof on the left of the photo you'll see it is covered with solar panels.

Seating was all outside so the dogs could even join us. The weather was exquisite. We had a delightful afternoon.



We even had live entertainment.



There's also a cute little chapel on the property. No doors, no glass in the windows. I guess if it never rains you don't need it. Apparently, lots of people get married here.



On the way back we stopped on the banks of the Colorado River. That looks like a pretty cool RV park.



Did you notice the full moon on Christmas night?



Only to be surpassed by sunrise the morning after.

I think I've found the 'commune' I always wanted. In my hippie days in California, reading 'Ecotopia' and various other live-off-the-land-in-communes kind of books, I thought that communal living made a lot of sense. But not completely communal, I am not always in favor of togetherness. I envisioned a community where everyone had their own private place AND there was a communal area where whoever wanted to could get together for meals or entertainment or lounging. Eureka! Take a look:

We each have our own private motorhome, and the building (called the cabin) has a kitchen, dining room, living room, bathroom and storage. No bedrooms in the cabin ... no need.



We can eat dinner together, play cards, work on computers, or just 'hang out'.







Yes, they even have a Christmas tree! Here we are, all 6 ... err ... I mean 8 of us. The Odie's Roadies Xmas 2004 Commune.

Once a year, whether they like it or not, a dog has to get some shots. And, it' s up to us pet owners to take them whether we're anywhere near their vet or not. When we were living in Fort Lauderdale, I took Odie to a Veterinarian that was only a couple blocks from the house. Now we're in Quartzsite, Arizona. There's not even a major grocery store here. Luckily, Lynne has been here a lot and she has taken Ariel to a Vet in Havasu City - 80 miles away.



It was a beautiful drive thru desert mountains along the Colorado river and Lake Havasu. Lynne and I had lots of time for conversation - our furry kids got their shots and we picked them up a treat on the way back. All in all a very successful day.

It's less than 100 miles to the border from where we're staying in Quartzsite, so John and Lynne said we had to visit the border town of Algodones and yesterday was the day!



The drive down was pretty spectacular. I'm just fascinated with these desert mountains.



Algodones provides a very easy way to visit Mexico because they have a large parking lot on the US side and you just walk across the border into town. Kind of like an amusement park.



You're greeted by dozens of hawkers telling you which pharmacia to go to for the best prices in town. There's even street entertainers.



But, of course the main attraction is the shopping. I love the brilliant colors.












Luckily, since we live in a motorhome, we're not tempted to buy stuff - nowhere to put it, and most of it would break in the first day. So, I satisfy myself with pictures and leave tips when appropriate. Food, however is another story. I love fish tacos.



Thanx for a great day Lynne and John!

Apparently, they've had a lot more rain this year than normal here in Quartzsite. There is a lush green carpet of little sprigs of grass. It makes for a wonderful walk.

Here is a bird's eye view of the 'Rainbow Acres' community where we are staying.

Jim says he would like to fly an ultralight around here ... I think I'd just as soon keep my feet on the ground.



Forgive me, I just can't resist another photo of these cool Saguaros.

The rest of the troops arrived yesterday. Here's the 2 other RVs and Frankie, Jim and Lynne.



We spent some time washing rigs. Boy did we have a lot of bugs on the cabover windows! Then we took their 'quads' and did a little 4-wheelin' in the desert.



After you get a ways into the desert, you gotta stop the machines and enjoy the quiet.



Y'know why it's called Quartzsite? Cuz there's a lot of quartz around here. John showed us a beautiful clear crystal he found in the desert here once and said we would do some crystal hunting this afternoon. Jim decided to spoof him and grabbed my special crystal off the shelf before we left - then he pretended to find it in the desert. Had 'em goin' for a minute!




Last night we had movie night. We all gathered around the fire in the middle of the front yard. Jim set up the computer and projector and he used the new porch screen wall that Lynne made us as a screen - using rear projection. It worked great. First he showed a couple of our slide shows from the computer, then he put in the DVD for Shrek II. You probably have to take my word for it, cuz it's hard to see in this picture.

Since we left Fort Lauderdale in April, one of the few things we knew was that we planned to spend Christmas in Quartzsite. Lynne and John, the full-timers we met early on, and Lynne's parents (also full-timers) share a lot near Quartzsite with a 'cabin' and full hookups for their motorhomes. They've been coming here for the holidays for several years and we were invited to join them this year.

Hi Honey! We're home!



What a quiet, beautiful desert view.



Both Lynne and John and Dick and Frankie are away right now. We look forward to welcoming them 'home' tomorrow.

We're back in Arizona. This is where we plan to spend most of the winter. We stayed at a campground near Tucson and noticed "Saguaro National Park" on the map. hmmmm, never heard of Saguaro National Park, but I sure think Saguaro cactus are cool, so let's go take a look.










From our little tour at the visitors center, we learned that it takes about 100 years for the Saguaro to grow this tall:


Now we are in Palm Creek Golf and RV Resort. This is a Coach Connect park with thousands of sites. We plan to spend all of January here, and maybe more. It happened to be right on our way to Quartzsite, where we plan to spend Christmas. So we figured we'd stop and introduce ourselves and try to put together a schedule of our seminars for January. If you'd like to winter in Southern Arizona and you like golf - this is definitely your place! I don't know much about golf courses - but this one sure is pretty.

Yesterday was a nice driving day. I found myself thinking about Jack Kerouac "On the Road", William Least Heat Moon "Blue Highways" and my latest favorite road book by Larry McMurtry simply entitled "Roads". I wonder if any other country is as fascinated with road trips as America. It was instilled in me early on. My parents traveled from Florida to Alaska several times with a 'little side trip' to Guatemala once. Here's one of our rigs on the Alaska Highway. I think this is 1966. The Alaska highway (AlCan) was 1500 miles of dirt road back then.



Yesterday's drive was a lot easier! Nice smooth paved road. The hum of the tires is hypnotic and the grand scenery scrolling by tends to take your mind to other worlds. Don't these mountains in the distance look like a painted scenery scroll? Since I wasn't driving I could actually use the time as a type of meditation.



We also had to stop at a winery! St. Clair Winery. You may have noticed that we like to stop at wineries! This one had something we've never seen before. Bulk wine. You could bring your own bottle or buy one of their half-gallon jugs and they will fill it up from a tap! Cool. To fill up our 750ml bottle cost $2.50. To buy their jug cost $2 and filling it up cost $6.30. And you could choose dry white, sweet white, dry red or sweet red. You could even ask that they blend 2 parts dry red with 1 part sweet red. Wine by numbers. How civilized. I also bought my first tShirt of this journey. I just couldn't resist.



After 250 miles and a little over 4 hours on the road, we pulled into a campground that we found in our Passport America book. They're usually 1/2 price, but apparently this is high season here in Southern Arizona so we had to pay the full price of $20. And, there's no Wi-Fi so we raised our trusty Datastorm dish so we could do all our Internet stuff like posting to this blog.



Sometime I'll get out the tripod to take a photo at night. There's a cool blue light on the dish that serves perfectly to guide us home when we take Odie for a walk at night!

You can tell that the owners of Hacienda RV Park came from the hotel/hospitality industry. It sure seems logical, but I can't think of another RV park that worked this way. Free breakfast, every morning. Yeah, a bed and breakfast ... just bring your own bed! Here's their breakfast room.


And, meeting rooms - so groups are encouraged to come here.



Then, lounge in the comfortable living areas in between meetings.



And, here's my favorite part - the jacuzzi.



We could stay here a while ... but, it's time to go. We did our seminar for the staff yesterday. And, today Jim helped a couple other folks. Here's Doc, who couldn't get his laptop to connect out in his RV because he left his external adapters in storage. So, Jim had him come into the lounge area and it worked fine with the built-in adapter. Hey Doc, I'm glad you forgot your adapter so we could get to meet you!



Doc and his wife, Sue met on the Internet 3 years ago. They just put everything in storage and started living full-time on the road a few weeks ago. Doc says he pays all his bills online so it's important to find RV parks with Wi-Fi. They signed up with Coach Connect at Dakota Ridge RV park in Colorado so, when they came to New Mexico, they looked for another Coach Connect park. Hey! Maybe we'll see you again at another CC park. Happy Holidays Doc and Sue.

We woke up to the sight of hot air balloons as we walked to the clubhouse to partake in the free breakfast offered here at Hacienda!


In the middle of the day we gave a Wi-Fi seminar. Several people brought their laptops with them. A couple of them didn't know that they had Wi-Fi built in to their computers. When we showed them how to connect to the Internet, they were Happy Campers! What a treat.






Then in the evening we took the suggestion of friends and visited the historic district of town called "Old Mesilla" and had dinner at La Posta restaurant.





I just love hand-painted tiles. These were on the adobe wall around the parking lot.

In order to connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot, your computer must have a Wi-Fi Adapter (technically referred to as 802.11b or g Wireless LAN Adapter). They come in all shapes and sizes. If you bought a new computer with a Wi-Fi capability built-in, you're all set. If not, you need to purchase one. Even with built-in capability, you may need to purchase an external adapter to increase your range. Expect to pay around $50 - 60.

There is a dizzying array of choices. A quick search on BestBuy.com for Wi-Fi adapters turns up 29 results. Some people call these "Wireless Cards", but that is a misnomer because *cards* are just one type of adapter, and usually not the type we recommend for RV park usage. A PC *card* looks like this:
These *cards* plug into the PC Card slot of your computer and therefore are very stationary. You can't move them around to get the best signal. They will work fine if you are in an indoor, small hotspot. But, when you're in an RV park, you need more power and more positioning flexibility.

We recommend USB Adapters because they plug into the USB port of your computer and have a long wire. So you can move the adapter around to get the best position. They also have more antenna power. On the cards above, the antenna is just the gray or black part that sticks out the side of the computer. On the USB Adapters below, it's the entire white or silver part that is the antenna.


There are some special cards where you can snap off their built in antenna and plug in an external antenna on a wire, but these tend to be a bit pricey.



We recommend:
1. The USB type of Wireless Adapters

2. Make sure to match your USB specification - older computers have USB 1.1 ports, newer computers have USB 2.0. If you buy a USB 2.0 adapter it is supposed to be downward compatible with 1.1 ports but we have seen LOTS of problems. It's better to be matched.

3. The 802.11*B* specification. The newer, faster 802.11*G* type do not give you an advantage in a Wi-Fi hotspot. G's are meant for small networks where you're looking for high-speed among the different computers on that network. In an office for example, where workers are sharing files. For connecting to the Internet, you are limited by the speed of the Internet (1Mbps), which is slower than either the G(54Mbps) OR the B(11Mbps). Wi-Fi hotspots are B networks, so it makes sense to get B adapters. However, if all you can find is a G (some places are out of stock of the older Bs), they are downward compatible and usually work fine. It's just that you don't need the G. Don't be taken in by the hype of the faster speed.

4. Read the system requirements on the box and be sure it matches your computer e.g. Supports: Microsoft Windows 98SE/2000/ME/XP
(if you have Windows 98, or Macintosh, don't buy this one!)
Requires USB 2.0 port

What brand is the best?
This one is impossible to answer. After over a year of supporting Wi-Fi users, we've seen a lot; D-Link, ZyXel, Buffalo, Netgear, Microsoft, Senao, Linksys, SMC, Belkin, US Robotics and probably more I can't remember. They've all worked great in some situations and they've all had problems in other situations. We've been baffled when we've had 2 similar computers (but different brands) and 2 similar adapters (different brands) side by side and adapter #1 works fine with computer #1 but doesn't work at all with computer #2. Our conclusion: if you can't get Wi-Fi to work on your computer, don't give up, just try a different adapter.

Last, but not least, if your computer is more than 3 years old ... you may need a new computer. Realize that Wi-Fi has only been out about 2 years. If your computer is 5 years old, you may be able to get it to work, but don't count on it.

Here we are at Hacienda RV and Rally Park in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Look at these spectacular mountains:



We're here because this is another Coach Connect park and we're scheduled to do a couple of our Wi-Fi seminars. We made sure to get here in time for their Margarita party on Friday night. Yep! That's right. They serve free margaritas every Friday night. Pretty cool. It gave us a chance to mingle with the guests and talk about Wi-Fi too as we warmed ourselves by the adobe outdoor fireplaces. It was a delightful 70 degrees when we arrived yesterday afternoon, then it started to get cool in the evening. This morning we woke up to 34 degrees. Ay Carumba! You should know that it is a testament to my dedication to this weblog that I'm up writing this. It's also a testament to the power of our little electric heater!

We had 3 days to get from Mission, Texas to Las Cruces, New Mexico. We could have stayed on the main roads, but I'm glad we took the scenic route. Instead of staying on highway 90, we took 118 thru the Davis mountains and got to see the McDonald Observatory.



Yes, there IS scenery in West Texas. Actually I understand it is VERY spectacular in Big Bend National Park, but that was well to the south of our route. Our friends Diane and Andy went there at the beginning of their RV trip and list it as a 'must see'. Here's what we saw:




Notice all that clear, blue sky? That's why it is such a good place for an observatory. And, if you take a look at the nighttime satellite photos of the US - you'll see that there are NO city lights in this part of West Texas. Even the little town of Fort Davis helps by having special street lights that only shine *down*.



On the tour we got to see the 300 ton dome move into position.



There are actually 3 telescopes at this site. The "Hobby-Eberly" telescope has the largest mirror in the world at at 11.1 x 9.8 meters. And, it's housed in such a pretty, shiny dome!



They gave an extremely informative tour - we learned about solar flares and how they can fry entire satellites - hmmm, wonder what that does to Wi-Fi?!? To learn more, go to www.spaceweather.com and www.stardate.org

Back on the road.

In an earlier post, I mentioned how Texas seems bigger than Alaska because Texas is populated thrughout it's area. I need to revise that. There may be roads, but it is NOT populated. You can easily go 100 miles between gas stations. Take a look at some of the roadside scenery we passed thru yesterday:



We crossed the Pecos River. The railroad bridge here is the highest bridge in North America and a very historic spot.




Then we stopped and visited the museum of Judge Roy Bean, The Law West of the Pecos.




Our destination was Fort Davis. At 5,000 feet in the Davis mountains of West Texas, it is the highest town in Texas. The sky was so clear, and there is such a total lack of city lights here that we could see stars and the milky way brilliantly. No wonder there is an observatory up here. Here's our campsite at the Historic Prude Ranch. We're the only ones here.

We did it. We bit the bullet and bought 6 brand new Toyo tires, even though 3 of the 'old' tires were just purchased a few months ago. If you've been reading this blog a while you know that, when Jim took the tires class at Life on Wheels this summer, we learned that 'load Range E' was the proper type of tire for our motorhome and what we had were 'load Range D'. The letters stand for ply, 2 ply for each letter. So, E's are 10 ply and D's are 8 ply. Toyo is also a very respected name amongst RVers. I thought they were going to cost more than they did. They were $112 per tire with mounting and balancing included. So, $733 for all 6. I wish we had done this long ago! We live and learn ... and learn ... and learn ... and learn ... and learn ...

Here's our pile-o-tires:



And, here's exactly what they are:



We felt so good to be back on the road ... and with good tires .. that we racked up record mileage. We left Mission and drove northwest 316 miles to Del Rio, Texas. Very uneventful, lots of sagebrush and cactus. The only thing interesting was that we knew that we were looking at Mexico out our left windows. But, I can't say that it looked any different.



We stopped at a campground, but when Jim tested the electricity with his handy-dandy circuit tester, it indicated that the outlet was not right. It showed 'reverse polarity'. This was one of the lessons we learned early on ... the hard way of course ... never plug into a bad outlet - you can fry all sorts of stuff. So, we decided this was the night to try Walmart. It was after dark alread and we really didn't care where we slept. Besides, our generator needs some exercise. We had a great night. Of course, we spent more money at Walmart than we would have at the campground! They're no dummies, encouraging RVs to overnight in their parking lots!

Chris is whining this morning, so I am making the post.
The weather has been perfect for sleeping with the windows open. Some people near by keep chickens. Get the picture?
Not being a farmboy, I was under the impression that the rooster crowed at the break of dawn. Well, let me tell you. Some roosters suffer from insomnia. He also kept other roosters and assorted creatures awake, some of whom seemed to be screaming at said rooster to shut up! This does not make for sweet dreams.
We are preparing to leave the Rio Grande Valley this morning. Our first stop is Pharr, not far from here, to get new tires. Bill Gates was kind enough to arrange for a full set of brand new tires for the rig.
Westward Ho!

Actually this is a tip for every computer, whether you use Wi-Fi or not, but we see the issue a lot. People will be experiencing very slow web-browsing. Sometimes this has nothing to do with the Internet or the Wi-Fi system, it has to do with their computer being full of viruses or spyware and adware. It's especially problematic in a Wi-Fi network because one person's computer, if infected with the right virus, can be flooding the network with activity and slow EVERYONE down.
Just because you have a virus protection program installed doesn't mean you are protected. New viruses are being created on a daily basis, you must update your virus definitions at least weekly in order to be protected. You must also update your windows operating system. Microsoft finds security holes all the time and they issue 'patches'. It is your responsibility to download and apply those patches before the Internet's evil-doers exploit the holes and send viruses to your computer. The latest problem is Spyware and Adware. We recommend you run both Spybot Search and Destroy AND Lavasoft's Adaware weekly to control this problem. Jim teaches a system he calls BUCS: Backup, Update, Cleanup and Scan.

1/31/05 Update: Here's a 'Frequently Asked Questions' document you can download and print about keeping your computer safe and secure. Also, here's more information on Spyware combatting programs - especially Microsoft's new 'Anti-Spyware' (now called 'Defender' - 9/2006).

For more detailed 'how-to' information I have a couple suggestions. My favorite Internet Newsletter "The Internet Tourbus" covers similar territory with lots of links in this Tourbus article . The Tourbus is wonderful because it is written for non-technical types. If you want to get a little more technical read LangaList. You might also want to sign up for this free online course Combatting Spam and Spyware. I take a lot of the CNET courses. They're great.

It was a quiet weekend here in the Rio Grande Valley. For me anyway. I luxuriated in having time to just sit at my computer. I worked on some website projects, cleaned up some of my inbox (it's under 100 messages now!) and did some laundry and some grocery shopping in preparation for hitting the road again. Jim handled Wi-Fi support calls. I checked our cell phone minutes this morning and saw that he logged over 500 minutes this weekend alone! That's great to handle the bulk of calls on the weekend when we have free minutes.

Saturday morning we went to the Pancake Breakfast here in Eldorado Acres. What a trip! They've been doing this for quite some time so people come from all over, not just the residents of this park. They charge you per item, 25¢ per egg and 50¢ per pancake with coffee and orange juice included. It's a great breakfast and a time for all the residents to socialize. But the most interesting part is that only men are allowed in the kitchen. Don't ya think that should be a rule in all kitchens?

We did another presentation at a computer club. This one was at Enchanted Valley Ranch. After giving at least a dozen Wi-Fi seminars over the last couple weeks, it was nice to be asked to present on another topic. We did our 'Sharing Digital Photos'. What do I recommend? Weblogs of course! The biggest hurdle that people need to get over is understanding how to properly size their digital photos. Some systems handle this automatically, but many do not, so it's important to understand. I recommend a freely downloadable program called IrfanView. There was a pretty good turnout from this group. I think computer clubs are wonderful. They even had a projector and screen all set up! Thanx Bob - it was fun.



Earl (on the left) was our star student!

Yeah! We got our motorhome back yesterday. So I could download and sort thru photos from the last week. Then I'll back them up. I used to be able to put one year's worth of photos on a CD, now I back them up every month and it almost fills a CD!

Here's a couple more from Austin:

Odie and Juneau got along famously! I love watching them play.



And, I figure that Frank Sr. and Carol deserve one classy picture to make up for the 'fish-face' earlier.



And, here's me and Frank 'working' at the computer. Geeez, when did I get so old?!?!



After leaving Austin, we traveled south to the coast at Rockport.


Pretty empty highway all the way. Just a few small towns not much more than wide spots in the road, but look at this gorgeous City Hall:



And, here's what we saw of Rockport






Odie and I walked around at Rockport 35 RV Park, while Jim helped some folks with the Wi-Fi.



Staying in a motel was a new experience. Odie did just fine. Lots of motels allow pets now - some of them charge an extra fee. I think we paid $10 extra for Odie this night - plus $60 for the room - geez, we sure are spoiled with our motorhome and typical Passport America RV park fees of $10 total! We brought Odie's old bed with us and he just curled right up.



Next stop was Seabreeze RV Park. I felt like I was in the Florida keys.



Except, that city in the distance is not Miami or Key West, it' s Corpus Christi.



Then our last stop was at Gulf Waters out on Padre Island. Nice place, just walk over a boardwalk and you're at the beach. Kinda reminded me of North Carolina's outer banks.

We got to visit our motorhome yesterday - but they're still working on it. Hopefully they'll be done today. They're doing something on all four sides ... replacing front bumper from the accident in the Tetons, replacing the wheel wells on both rear sides from the tire blowouts, and patching the fiberglass in the back where we bumped into a concrete wall. These have taken place throughout the 7 months we've been on the road - just decided to take care of them all as long as we're in the shop.

I'm getting tired of motels and I want my computer back. As Lynne says, being 'Out-of-shell' is uncomfortable. No Wi-Fi at the motel last night. I'm writing this in the car while we're parked in a Coach Connect area and Jim is inside helping a customer. I'm ready to go home ... the motorhome that is. And Jim says he's ready to hit the road again. So, we're ready to "go home and leave."

If you have more than one computer in your house (or your motorhome), you may want to set up your own Wi-Fi hotspot, or 'wireless network' so both computers can share your broadband Internet connection. You can also share files and printers thru your network if you have 'File and Printer Sharing' turned on. It can be very handy to be able to work on your laptop out on the deck and still print to the printer in your home office, or grab a file from your desktop computer. However, when you use a public Wi-Fi Hotspot like at a Starbucks, or at an RV park, you definitely DON'T want to share files with other people on the network. Be sure to turn File and Printer Sharing off. If you have Windows XP you can go to the Control Panel / Network Connections / Select the Wireless Network and choose "Change Settings of this Connection". Find the setting for File and Printer Sharing and make sure it is unchecked.