JdFinley.com

Fulltime RV Living Adventures

Mystic Lake Montana

This past weekend, I was at Mystic Lake which is south of Columbus and near Fishtail, Montana. I camped at Emerald Lake campground, a forest service site on the edge of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness area, with several friends from high school and their families. Getting into this location is a task and a half!  The pavement ends some… [Read More]

Still more 5 volt USB charging sockets

I am firmly in the “can’t have enough USB charging sockets” camp.  As previously noted (here), I’ve added several throughout my Newmar Dutch Star. The other day, I was sitting staring at the “solar charging light” on my dash.  This light is originally connected to the tiny little solar panel on the roof that barely… [Read More]

Passenger Window Sun Cover

A sun cover for my passenger side window/door was the final item on the ‘windshield sun cover’ list (for the time being). Note from JD: The windshield cover portion of this project is here. All of my front windows have quarter turn fasteners installed but I elected to only use the ones on the passenger window/door…. [Read More]

Never Enough 12V or 5V USB sockets

The bedroom of my Newmar Dutch Star (JBAM) is completely devoid of 12 volt sockets and/or 5 volt USB charging sockets.  Perhaps that was acceptable back in 2005.  These days, it is a royal nuisance. So, I started looking for a place to install some sockets.  The trick is finding a spot with 12V positive… [Read More]

Windshield Wipers

Windshield wipers are one of those odd things on a motorhome that don’t seem all that special but sure cost a lot of money! I guess it’s the size. JBAM had 31″ wipers originally.  Pricing these at all the common online locations (cause they are not available locally) net’s a price somewhere between forty and… [Read More]

Heat Wave

A heat wave was scheduled to arrive in Helena, where I was sitting, so it was time for me to get out of Dodge.. err.. Helena. I decided to take the very scenic route to Lincoln, Montana.  This is state route 279 to Highway 200 and into Lincoln.  This takes you over Flesher Pass at… [Read More]

Return to Helena

I’ve returned to Helena, MT and it appears that I am just in time. The weather guessers have 100 degree temperatures planned for the next week! I don’t think I can handle those temps but I don’t have any secret hideouts at 8000′ MSL here in Montana like I do in New Mexico. So, I’ll… [Read More]

Clark Canyon Reservoir – Part 2

Note from JD: Part 1 is here. I stayed a total of twelve days at the Clark Canyon Reservoir so have a reasonable take on the conditions. As previously noted, I stayed in the Beaverhead campground which is right beside the east end of the dam (northeast corner of the reservoir). I used relatively poor… [Read More]

Windshield Sun Cover

I previously mentioned (here) purchasing material to construct my own windshield sun cover.  In review, I purchased black Phifertex material, described as: “It is a Similar to PhiferTex® but has a tighter weave, which gives it a 95% shade factor.  These fabrics are specially designed and engineered for a wide variety of applications that demand… [Read More]

Clark Canyon Reservoir

I had the opportunity to meet some dear friends from New Mexico in Boise, ID this coming weekend.  I jumped at the chance and my plan was to split the drive into two or three segments.  This past Tuesday evening I drove from Helena to just past Dillon, MT to the Clark Canyon Reservoir. When I… [Read More]