Help me make a list

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Regarding AAA and RV options:

I'm not sure AAA is a single nationwide organization so much as a confederation of independent AAA clubs. Which is why you're dealing with AAA PA and not just calling a central 800 number.

As far as RVs go, not every club covers them. I've seen reports in some of the RV forums like "We bought RV coverage from AAA in Texas, but when we broke down in Massachusetts we were told that AAA MA didn't cover RVs, and they refused to help us!".

If you're going to be pulling a trailer, I'd look into coverage from a company that specializes in serving the RV market. Coachnet has an excellent reputation and is endorsed by the Escapees Club. They also cover your regular car or truck even if you're not on a trip.

AAA is fine for regular vehicles. But I don't think they are a good idea for RV service.

 

[dirtdustand4x4]

Man...I want a fridge sooooooo badly!!...you have no clue (well, you probably do ). Hubby thinks we'll be fine with a cooler and the small (read: teeny, freaking tiny fridge in the pop-up) plus a cooler. We'll have to get through this first trip and then re-evaluate the need for a fridge. The current plan is to pre-make meals and vacuum seal them and then freeze them. We figure with a good cooler, we should be able to keep things frozen by adding ice about every 5 days...which shouldn't be a problem with where we are going for this trip. I really think eventually we will end up with one, but not yet. Basically, it'll come down to his wife complaining about how much of a pain the cooler is during trips (still sound like a lucky man??)

The skottle is a grill, correct? We use a Coleman stove to cook on (sometimes 2), and we like that alot. How would this be different...or better for us? I would really need to justify buying a different cooking instrument.

I could call your wife.....but I don't know she'd appreciate the hints.

I had to convince my wife we needed one. Eventually I bought it with "my money". Now I hear talk about how nice it is to pack days ahead of a trip or bring it in the truck with us while traveling. I'm sure your husband will come around soon. Remind him that ice water in a cooler is only 32 degrees no matter what you do. A fridge will make warm items rock solid frozen and can be set down to zero degrees. Also, when you get home, any left over food is still good, not soggy from floating around in ice water. Feel free to use these points in your future discussions. He'll come around.

The skottle is a grill. In my case it has replaced my Coleman stove and skillets. I find it to be simple to set up, easy to use, and fast to clean. It takes up less space than the stove and pans too. Spring for the optional lid if you get it. The lid fits in the bag.
https://tembotusk.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/tembotusk-skottle-kit-1

 

[Hisgal2]

The only down side of the rope ones is they can start to slip some if wet. The rope just goes 3/4 of the way around the drum then outfeeds back out. I made a hand powdered log winch with one when building cabins so I could lift and move logs by myself. The rope gave me way more reach and working room. My rope and drum may also have been worn. The cable units seem to fray and get small wires sticking out eventually that can cut your hands when handling them. That's when its time to replace the cable. The big difference is the cable ones just don't reach very far, since they roll all the cable onto a drum, and there isn't much room. They function identically otherwise.

If you have farm and ranch supply places around, they probably stock them. I think last time I looked the rope ones were about $45 or so and came with a 20 ft rope, and a spare 50 ft rope was about $20 or so. Some of the prices online are ALL over the place, some being crazy expensive.

Do your dogs like to talk? All mine have, but the one I have now is the most talkative one Ive ever seen. She sometimes does a few body slams into the door wanting in, I let her in, she runs in goes "WOO WOO WOO" and runs back outside. She just couldn't hold it in any longer. She talks ALL the time, over every little thing. Funny as heck.

Mine both talk, but the black one is way more vocal than the gray one. I have a video of her woo-ing somewhere. They (or one?) can be really destructive. Up until recently, we have always kept them confined when we leave the house, but they were actually eating the room.... Door jam, threshold, walls, etc, so we decide to try giving them free reign if we were gone. Turns out they do really well. They usually just go to our room and lay on their pillow.

Our gray one is really slowing down. Some days I have to help her get up the steps.

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

 

[Malamute]

Are you giving the grey one anything for the stiffness? The go to used to be Rymadil (sp?) but its rather pricey. My vet gave Stewart a prescription for Meloxicam when he got stiff, which is people meds. It comes in 3 month pack (people dose), he got 1/2 a pill a day, so it was a 6 month scrip, for $10 from Walmart. Stewart did really well on it for several years.

Its kind of a bummer when they start to get geezerly. I keep them happy as long as they do OK. When Ive lost one, I go get another one right off. Theres lots of great dogs that need good people.

 

[Hisgal2]

Are you giving the grey one anything for the stiffness? The go to used to be Rymadil (sp?) but its rather pricey. My vet gave Stewart a prescription for Meloxicam when he got stiff, which is people meds. It comes in 3 month pack (people dose), he got 1/2 a pill a day, so it was a 6 month scrip, for $10 from Walmart. Stewart did really well on it for several years.

Its kind of a bummer when they start to get geezerly. I keep them happy as long as they do OK. When Ive lost one, I go get another one right off. Theres lots of great dogs that need good people.

We haven't taken her to the vet for it yet. She only seems stiff doing the steps, which she only does about twice a day. I'm familiar with Meloxicam. I work as a pharm tech at a local pharmacy. They have that drug on their 90 day $9.99 list. I'll look into it. Do you know which milligram dosage the pills you were halfing were? How much did your Stewart weigh? Our grey girl, Sivu, weighs in at just under 100 pounds. Our black one is about 112 pounds. ...both "giant Malamute" girls.

We are not planning on replacing the girls as soon as we lose them. While we absolutely love having them, we will be ready to take a bit of a break from dogs and switch back to cats, which we had before we got the girls and they decided the cats looked like a good snack.

 

[Malamute]

I don't recall what dosage Stewart was on. They were in a blue plastic sleeve, the pills were small round white-ish tabs in the push-through foil/plastic card. I don't know if they make them different for various dosages. I found mine and they are 7.5 mg, and look identical to Stewarts as best I can recall. I didn't find any of his leftovers, I think I used them up before my doc gave me a prescription.

Stewart was 75 lbs. A bit smaller than yours. Your vet should be able to come up with something usable I guess. In any event, I think Meloxicam did every bit as well as Rymadil in keeping them loosened up.

I ended up making a step for Stewart to get in and out of the truck. I carried it on a rear hitch cargo carrier. It looked like a box (top and 3 sides of plywood), and made it much easier for Stew to get in and out of the Suburban. He got by with the step for going for walks and whatever for a couple years. I had one I left full time at home and parked next to so I didn't have to mess with the portable one as much.

Some of my older dogs were larger, 138 lbs, 104 lbs, 75-80 lbs. I lucked out and found a bit smaller Mal cross this last time, shes only 65 lbs, and not as hard to pick up if I have to. Shes extremely good natured around other dogs (not Super Alpha Female! I'm Queen of the World!) and doesn't eat cats. I understand about taking a break though. In my situation, dogs are my near constant companions, and go walking and out in the hills with me regularly. Its hard to imagine not having a dog.

 

[Malamute]

Hisgal2, was curious if you had gotten with your Vet about some meloxicam for your creaky pup?

 

[Hisgal2]

Hisgal2, was curious if you had gotten with your Vet about some meloxicam for your creaky pup?

The vet wasn't convinced the stiffness was from arthritis. Testing was done for kidney stones (negative) and some other things (all negative). Sivu (the gray dog) has not been as stiff as she had been, so I haven't pushed the Meloxicam. However, both girls are due for shots and I'm going to talk to the vet again about it. The lady who we board our girls with during the Thanksgiving holiday is also interested in how the Meloxicam will work. Turns out she has some older doggies and some clients with old timers who may benefit from the information. Thanks for checking in on our girls.

 

[Hisgal2]

Report on the Christmas list/gifts....

What he got:
~ARB tire repair kit.....when he opened it, the case was damaged, so he contacted ARB and they are sending him an entirely new kit!....no need to send the damaged one back! --Awesome!
~ARB tire inflater...which he's already used and LOVED! He came in from the garage and just raved and raved about it.
~ARB EZ deflator....again, he REALLY likes it
~ARB inflation accessory kit.
~A collapsible silicone coffee dripper....and the #2 filters that go in it (he has a hard plastic dripper that he uses here at home and at work)
~Seatbelt cutter/window smasher tool
~Evaporative cooling towel
~Other non-trip related things

I decided to not actually get anything mechanical because he tends to be particular about those things. He's picked out a compressor for on the truck and amazingly I've talked him into getting a Freezer/Fridge (yay!).

As a Christmas gift to ourselves, we purchased a new-to-us pop up camper that we had been eyeing up since October. It had originally been priced too high (which is why is sat on the place's lot for soo long). It's a 2011 and in fairly good shape. Anyways, we talked them down to a great price. Once March comes and stuff starts thawing out, we'll be making some modifications to it...like lifting it and putting rims/tires on it that matches our truck. I can't wait to start that process!

Also, I received a FoodSaver for my birthday (something I've really wanted) so that I will be able to make meals for our trip ahead of time, seal them, and freeze them.

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas. Thanks again for all the help you all gave me. I really, really appreciate it.

 

[Malamute]

The vet wasn't convinced the stiffness was from arthritis. Testing was done for kidney stones (negative) and some other things (all negative). Sivu (the gray dog) has not been as stiff as she had been, so I haven't pushed the Meloxicam. However, both girls are due for shots and I'm going to talk to the vet again about it. The lady who we board our girls with during the Thanksgiving holiday is also interested in how the Meloxicam will work. Turns out she has some older doggies and some clients with old timers who may benefit from the information. Thanks for checking in on our girls.

Interesting. I don't know if Meloxicam is only for arthritis stiffness, I think its a general anti-inflammatory med. When my current dog does a crash and burn when going too fast for conditions playing in the yard, or whatever she manages to do to get sore, I give her a half pill dose until shes not acting sore. Usually only one or two doses and shes back in good shape.

 

[Hisgal2]

Interesting. I don't know if Meloxicam is only for arthritis stiffness, I think its a general anti-inflammatory med. When my current dog does a crash and burn when going too fast for conditions playing in the yard, or whatever she manages to do to get sore, I give her a half pill dose until shes not acting sore. Usually only one or two doses and shes back in good shape.

I think our issue is that this is a new vet for us. Our other vet retired and this had been the first time she'd seen our girls.