Cleaning!

Life is dirty.  Camping is dirtier.

How to clean your remote control
The average television remote controls has a lethal cocktail of bacteria within your own dwelling.  Hotel, hospital or other public area remotes are far worse than what is in your own home.  So whether you are home or elsewhere it is a good idea to clean any remote control that you or your family will be handling.  To accomplish this, remove the back and the batteries or the remote.  Now take a cotton wipe or cotton ball with alcohol and wipe down your big areas of the rmote.  Now, take an alcohol soaked q-tip and go around all the little keys and buttons.  If you see dirt down in the crevices take a toothpick or a needle and work it out.  One last swipe and voila!  One clean and sanitized remote control!

Steps --

1.  Remove back and batters (set aside)

2.  Put alcohol on cotton ball and wipe down the large areas

3.  Take a Q-tip dipped in alcohol to work around the smaller keys

4.  Remove any lodged dirt using a needle or toothpick

5.  Give it a final wipe and voila!  Done!

++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++

Great uses for alcohol --

One of the most useful for campers with dogs is tick removal.  Apply alcohol to the tick site and then gently pull the tick out.  Use alcohol once the tick is out to disinfect the site.  :)

Clean with rubbing alcohol

Many more uses for alcohol

++++++++++++++++++++

It's a good idea to keep your cleaning supplies simple, light weight and diverse!  Besides you really don't want to put a bunch of harsh chemicals in the belly of your RV.  While RV tanks are quite durable, you don't want to start pouring a bunch of harsh chemicals down the drain to shorten the life of your tanks!  So keep it simple and effective with alcohol or a similar product.

Think outside the cube! Make ice cubes without ice trays...

You will find yourself in certain situations where you have a need for a particular item that you don't necessarily have in your possession at the moment.  In those instances, you need to improvise.  Now some people are amazing at improvising and others....eh, not so much.  Well, that's one good reason to have the internet handy!  If you have a problem, there's somebody out there somewhere that has a solution!

I needed ice cubes one day but no ice trays!  So I improvised by using a miniature muffin tin ---  worked great!

What's for dinner?

Cooking in a camper is really not so different from cooking in a stick built home.  I find myself using my crock pot for things I never imagined when I was younger.  When I initially purchased my first crock pot years ago, I used it for pot roast and beans.  That was it.  I could have called it a bean and roast pot and that would have described it's every function!  ha

Well, now that I have mastered cooking on the stove, I find myself branching out to other things.  One of those things is the crock pot.  Below are a few of my favorite crock pot recipes.  This list will grow as I discover new and tasteful things to cook in  my crock pot.


(I have a large, oval shaped crock.  All of MY recipes are geared towards cooking in MY crock.  You may have to make some slight adjustments if you are cooking in a smaller round version.)

Crockpot Lasagna -- yes, it is not only possible it is quite tasty!


=============================
Easy summation:
Spray crock pot, bottom layer of plain sauce, layer of uncooked lasagna, layer of meat mixed with sauce, layer of uncooked lasagna, final layer of meat mixed with sauce, cook 3-4 hours, add cheese toppings in final 10-15 minutes of cooking, serve!

=============================

Preparation:  Browned hamburger meat

1)  Spray your crock pot with a non-stick cooking spray (this will make your clean up much easier.

2)  With your spaghetti sauce, add a layer of plain sauce to the bottom of your crock and spread evenly.

3)  Add a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles atop of your sauce layer.

4)  Mix your hamburger meat with the remaining sauce and add a layer of meat sauce to the top of the lasagna noodles.

5)  Add a second layer of lasagna noods atop of the meat sauce.

6)  Add a final layer of meat sauce, cover with lid and cook on low for about 3-4 hours. Do not overcook.

7)  Just before finished cooking, add parmesan cheese and whatever other blends of cheese you like to the top.

Serve hot and with a salad and side of bread!  Yum.

Final note:  Lasagna is rectangle, my crockpot is round.  It is more than okay to break the noodles to fit your round crock pot.  Put your big pieces in and then break off smaller pieces to fill in around the edges.  ;)

===============

Crockpot Stuffed Bell Peppers


You can make stuffed bell peppers in your crockpot, using minute rice and cooking topping with tomato sauce, adding a small amount of water to the bottom of the crock and cooking for about 8 hours.

==============

Things that bug me and things that don't!

....and what about those ants!  Oh my!  If you have never camped before you probably have spent less than 5 minutes thinking about these little creatures, but let me tell you once you park your unit, there's a 95% chance you are going to have an ant problem.  Whether it be inside or out, they are gonna bug you!  Terro is a good solution for your stay.  Also, keep sugary snacks and such in zip locks or plastic air tight containers.  I have had them sneak into a securely closed up jar of peanut butter or sugar that I had closed with a twist tie!  They can get in when you are just sure they can't!

Also, while in certain parts of GA, you should know they have cockroaches that will come inside like they were invited for dinner!  Unreal!  I have never seen so many cockroaches.  It's not you, it's not your neighbor, it's just Georgia!

Also, let's not forget the little racoons hiding in the woods in the daytime who come into the camps at night.  We caught one of the little rascals hauling away a container of dog food on our first camping trip!  Night one, lesson one:  Do not attempt to leave any food (even dog food) outside or it will be gone by morning!

Speaking of hiding in the woods, near Washington, DC there is a park called Cherry Hill.  We loved that place; however it is on the spendy side as far as camping goes.  But what a thrill to walk along their walking trails and see the deer gathering in the clearing.  There were rabbits hopping around and squirrels having a grand ole time!  This is one of the best campgrounds in the USA.  They have a bus that will take you into DC daily, restaurant, swimming pools...all kind of things and everything is pristine.  You won't find any rundown tables or anything else for that matter.  Don't you just love God' beauty of nature?  The quiet of trees gently and the greenery once you are outside of a big city!  Ah, yes, these are things I truly love about camping.  People at the campground are usually pretty friendly, after all, a fair amount of them are on vacation!

Campgrounds

We have been to all kind of campgrounds, but one thing worth noting for anyone who has not camped in an RV before is that you should always check out the campground before registering and paying.  Getting your money back if you are unhappy with the facilities is sometimes like pulling eye teeth!

Funny how it usually works isn't it?  You pay and don't like your first five minutes there and it's almost impossible to get a refund.  On the flip side, if you do something that the owners are displeased with, they can send you packing in 5 minutes....again, with no refund.  I find that campgrounds are in the business of making money and an unrented spot is just a waste of real estate in their eyes, but they aren't real big on refunds or customer satisfaction really.  A few of them run really tight ships, but we have been places where they are setting off fire crackers way up into the wee early morning hours and nobody seems to care!

I just thought it was worth a mention.

Here is a nice place to check for campgrounds in the area you are traveling.

---------------------->RV Park Reviews<----------------------

Of course, like all reviews, you have to read between the lines.  I usually follow majority rule or most recent as campgrounds are always making changes and upgrades!

We use Trip Adviser to check reviews of and to find new and exciting places to go or restaurants to try.

Getting ready to hit the road again!

My husband has been job training and we have been in TN for an extended period of time.  We as in me and my three fur babies but by the end of next month we will be full time road warriors once again!  Woohoo!

Madeline!

This is Madeline Marie.  She is a full time daddy's girl!  She eats, drinks, sleeps and breathes all things daddy.  She even sleeps with his shoe when he is off working....daddy, daddy, daddy!  Pictures aren't the best, but Madeline is a girl on the move!  :D

Kitt!

Don't let that face fool ya!  She's a spoiled rotten princess!  Please excuse the little boo boo on her head.  Kitt ended up in my house after she was hit by a car for the second time.  Her owners took her to the vet to have her euthanized, but my daughter was working that day.  So, after the recent loss of my dog named Dolly, Kitt was welcomed to our little house!

Marla!

Marla is pure sugar.  She is scared of pretty much all other dogs that want to attack her.  She runs from Kitt (pictured above).  Yes, I know....she's a wimp, but we love her just the same!

She's still a killer though!  Just ask Sponge Bob!  ha

Marla is quite vocal.  She barks when someone takes a toy that she just knows is hers, she barks if the other girls are chewing on a hoof or if she wants their spot...too funny!

All of our pups are rescues, "fixed" and vetted!  :)