An assortment of phone apps and other electronic guides make RVing easier than ever before.
By Mike Wendland, F426141
February 2013
Hot doesn’t begin to describe what August in the Badlands was like. The dashboard thermometer read 101 degrees, and as we drove out of Badlands National Park toward Interior, South Dakota, the two-lane blacktop shimmered with heat waves that kept even the area’s healthy rattlesnake population hunkered down in their burrows.
We approached a campground that the big thick campground guide we had been thumbing through told us was a great spot to overnight. What it failed to mention was that the facility was devoid of shade.
“Ahh, Mike, are you sure this is where we should stop?” asked Jennifer, trying to keep her secret “He’s gotta be nuts if he thinks we should be camping here out in the middle of the desert in the middle of August” thoughts from showing in the tone of the words she actually spoke.
I didn’t answer. Instead I pulled over and hit my iPad and an app called RV Parks, which showed a listing for Badlands/White River KOA, just a couple miles out of town on Highway 44. I called up details and saw, under Camp Basics, “Yes” for Shaded Sites.
Ten minutes later we were in a spot, under a couple of shady trees, connected to power and so comfortable we didn’t even need to run the AC. That is also where I tossed out the printed campground directory and decided that from now on I’d use apps to guide my RVing.
We liked that KOA so much, we spent two nights there instead of one. Pages from the printed directory helped me to start my evening fire.
There are so many apps and Web sites out there geared for RVers these days that as we continued our motorhome travels last season, I began to accumulate a couple of screens full of RV-related apps, mapping navigation links, and on-the-road guides. I have 27 of them, in fact, for which I paid, cumulatively, less than what I paid for the big printed guide.
Later this past summer in West Yellowstone, Montana, I met veteran motorhome owner Frank Russell, who, with his wife, Ginny , travels pretty much full-time in a 2007 Monaco. Frank is 73 years old, hardly the stereotype of a tech-savvy geek. But mounted on the dash of the Russells’ motorhome is a holder for what Frank calls “the official iPad.” Why is it official? I wondered.
“This is the one we use for navigation and direction,” he explained, booting it up to show many of the same apps I use. He also has a checklist he calls up and goes over before leaving camp. It details all the things that need stowing before moving the Monaco.
Ginny has her own iPad. They use that for e-mail, Facebook, and finding recipes. Ginny also consults it when looking for local museums and antiques stores in the communities they pass through.
“We are seldom out of range of cell coverage,” Frank said. “Even in campgrounds, we don’t like to rely on campground Wi-Fi, because we’ve found it can be very slow, if it works at all.”
So he makes his own network.
“We set up our own Wi-Fi hot spot when we are in camp, using the iPad,” he noted. “Usually we get a much speedier connection to the Net by just going through Verizon.”
Ginny showed me an app called HBO Go that works in conjunction with the Comcast Cable account they have back at their suburban Philadelphia home. They use it to watch their favorite movies.
She clicked out of that app and then opened the Netflix app. “We have this on the iPad, too, for movies,” but, she said, since the iPad screen size is limited, they often use their Apple MacBook Pro to watch Netflix movies. They connect the laptop computer via a cable to their 42-inch flat screen.
The Russells don’t consider themselves very “techy.” I found myself impressed with their knowledge. Who says tech is only for the young?
At the FMCA Family Reunion in Indianapolis this past summer, I learned that the Russells are pretty typical these days. While in Indy, I was able to spend some time with Jim and Chris Guld, known to many motorhome owners as the Geeks on Tour couple. The Gulds have been traveling the United States since 2004, offering all sorts of computer and technology training at RV rallies, conventions, and trade shows.
“You know the stereotypical RVer is someone who is old, slow, and not very tech-savvy,” Jim said. “We can tell you that is hardly the case. The people we meet are very heavy tech users, and they are eager to learn and use tech.”
As the Gulds’ poodle, Odie, went from one to the other seeking a little loving, the couple prepared their sessions for the next day.
“Most of the RV people we meet have a smartphone; a laptop; a GPS receiver; and, lately, a tablet,” Chris commented. “Many are bloggers. A lot of them are pretty proficient with digital cameras. They know their way around the Internet. I’d say personal technology is a major part of the RV lifestyle. They sure keep us hopping.”
You can learn more about Jim and Chris by visiting their Web site — http://geeksontour.tv.
Here are the six apps I use the most while I’m traveling in my motorhome. To check them out yourself, just do a search on the name of the app.
1) For interstate travel, you sure can’t beat the handy iExit app for the iPhone and iPad and for Android phones. It uses your device’s built-in GPS capabilities to tell you what’s coming up in real time when driving on the interstate. Select your favorite chains and it will tell you which upcoming exits have them. Besides food, it shows available RV services, fueling stations, ice cream stores, auto service facilities, and rest areas. Cost is just 99 cents.
2) My favorite campground app right now is the one I wrote about at the beginning of this column, the RV Parks app for the iPhone. I also use it on my iPad. It’s free.
3) Another excellent campground app for Droid and iPhone users is the We Camp Here app, which costs $3.99. It displays a map of nearby campgrounds. Click and it brings up detailed campground information. You can read and write reviews, call for reservations, view the campground Web site, or even get turn-by-turn driving directions to the campground.
4) Looking for a free place to spend the night in your RV? Try the $2.99 Walmart Overnight Parking Locator. This free app for the iPhone and Droid shows you which Walmarts in your area let you spend the night. It also lists nearby amenities.
5) What would a camping trip be without some great food? The Coleman Camping Cookbook is a great free app for the iPhone that features a meal planner, detailed menus, pictures, and recipes for cooking everything you can possibly imagine.
6) FMCA offers a free app for mobile devices that run on the iOS (iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad) and Android operating systems. Watch motorhoming videos; locate FMCA commercial member campgrounds, including those that offer discounts to members; obtain FMCA news; check the FMCA RV rally calendar; and read my Open Mike blog — all on your mobile device.
’Til next month, I’ll see you out there on the open road.
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