HINTS & HAUNTS

HINTS:

These are just a few of the things which I have discovered to make life a lot easier for you as you go along the road in your RV.

When you are shopping for an RV, always buy whatever you can in plastic containers. They weigh less and aren't nearly as likely to break as glass. Along with mustard, you can now buy ketchup, mayonnaise, salad dressing, margarine and even jelly in squeeze containers. Most of these packages are just about the right size to fit in the racks in the average RV refrigerator door.

Always buy pop in aluminum cans. First off, most bottles are too large to fit in the door shelves and they weigh a lot more than cans. Secondly, even if there is no deposit on the bottles, they take up a lot more room in the trash than does a crushed can. And the final reason, aluminum cans cool much faster than bottles.

If you are going to turn the refrigerator off for a period of time, wipe out all of the water possible, then leave the door open for a day or so to completely dry. Wad up a few sheets of newspaper and stuff them between the shelves before you close the door. They will keep it fresh smelling for several weeks.

One of those little battery-operate fans will make the fridge a lot more efficient and prevent spoiled food.

A hair dryer turns defrosting the freezing compartment of the fridge into a quick and easy job. You don't even have to shut it off before defrosting.

Need extra storage space for things like potatoes and onions? The oven makes a great place to get them out of the way.

Mash the roll of toilet paper flat before you put it onto the roller. This keeps the paper from unrolling into the floor as you drive.

Did some stogie-smoking visitor come in and stink up the place with his El Ropo? Slice an apple or two and lay the slices here and there to remove the odor of tobacco.

HAUNTS:

I've never heard of an RV which was actually haunted by a ghost₁ even though it seems that at times, some of them take on a personality and mind of their own. while RVs may not be the favorite hiding places for ethereal residents, they do seem to attract their share of other unwanted varmints, both large and small.

The pests which are the easiest to get and hardest to get rid of are ants. Little brown ants, commonly known as sugar or p155 ants are especially fond of taking up residence in RVs. They can be found galloping around on counter tops, running along walls and in just about everything that you open to use.

Since most RVs are moved now and then and have no direct contact with the ground, termites are seldom a problem, however I heard of one man who kept hearing strange chewing noises coming from the walls of his motorhome at night. He finally discovered that a colony of carpenter ants had moved in and were busily eating away at the wood structure of his rig. He had to have it tented and fumigated to get rid of them.

These pesky little critters usually get into your rig by climbing up the electrical cord or the water hose. Each time that you park and hook up to shore connections, spray a rag with OFF, RAID or even diesel fuel and tie it around the hose and power cord about half way between the ground and where they go into the rig. This seems to stop most of the unwanted visitors with eight legs.

Roaches, while not as likely to infest an RV in the same manner that they do houses, do take up residence there once in a while. Each time that the bug man comes to spray your house, have him give the rig a shot. He probably won't even charge extra for doing it.

RVs are supposed to be pretty tightly constructed, but it seems that every once in a while a mouse will find a way to get in. Once inside, one of these little fur balls can play havoc with all sorts of things. Not only do they eat holes in boxes of food and make nests in stored clothing, they have been known to chew right through electrical wiring. It is either Murphy's or mouse law that they do this in the most inaccessible places. I always carry a mouse trap in the rig, especially in Mexico where they are almost impossible to buy.

If a dog decided that right in front of your step is a great spot for him to do his business, sprinkle a little ammonia around on the ground and he will head for other places in a hurry.

As unpleasant as little critters can be on the inside of a rig, big critters can really become a problem if food or garbage is left on the outside. These varmints range from the RV park dog to wilder varieties of animals. This is especially true when camped in more primitive areas. Raccoons, coyotes, bears, wild pigs and even cows have been known to literally wreck camps where food was left outside. The best bet is to keep everything which even smells edible inside of the rig at all times.

THE COW THAT ATE BAJA

My favorite story about camp robbing animals is the one about the old yellow cow which lives around Bahia los Frailes. Los Frailes, as it is known, is a beautiful cove located on the eastern tip of Baja. This cow seems to know exactly how far the average Gringo can throw a rock and will stand about four feet past that line as long as you are looking at here. Turn your back and she will come creeping up as quietly as a kitten on carpet. Once Inside your camp, she will eat anything and everything.

Over the years that we have been camping there, she has been known to consume: dozens of oranges, apples and bananas, ten pounds of raw peanuts, ten pounds of flour and a skillet of grease which was used to cook fish. She has slurped up loaves of bread, sweet rolls and cakes in a split-second gulp. She has learned how to remove plastic lids from cans to get at such things as two pounds of Crisco, three pounds of coffee and even dry beans.

She has somehow learned how to open ice chests and has been credited with eating bacon, eggs and even raw fish. About the only thing which is still safe from her is canned goods and I suspect that before long, she will become as smart as the bears in Yellowstone and go after them.

So, if you happen to stop at Los Frailes and a lonesome looking old yellow cow comes along, guard your food well because in the realm of camp robbers, she is a pro.

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