For the Smart Money Cookie

Winter backpacking can mean your footprints are the only ones out there. That adds to the beauty of the experience, but also to the danger. Alone and in a cold enviroment, it’s important to know what to do in an emergency. Learning a few basic cold weather survival skills can save your life.

Fire Making

Imagine slipping into a stream and soaking everything with you, when you are more than a day from the nearest road and it’s below freezing out. What would you do? Start a fire, of course, but can you?

Always carry waterproof matches, and practice starting a fire in the cold BEFORE you go winter backpacking. Learn which tinders work even when wet. Birch bark, for example, will burn when wet, and so will sap from pines and spruces. You may have only minutes before your fingers get too cold to function, so speed is of the essence.

Winter Backpacking - Survival Shelters

You’ll probably have a tent with you, but you still may want to learn shelter building using snow blocks. Sometimes you can stomp out blocks without tools, using your feet, and then lift them from beneath. Just play around in your backyard until you get the hang of it. In an emergency, or if the weather turns extremely cold, you may want to put your tent behind a wall of snow blocks, to stop the wind.

If it isn’t raining, a quick survival shelter for warmth is a pile of dry leaves, grass, braken ferns or other plants. I once collected enough dried grass from a frozen swamp in thirty minutes to make a pile several feet thick. I slept warmly in the middle of it (half the insulating grass above, half below) with just a jacket, despite below freezing temperatures.

Staying Dry

You can be wet and warm when it far below freezing, as long as you are active. The moment you stop moving, however, you start to lose your body heat. Once you get chilled through, it is difficult to get warm again. Hypothermia (a lowered body temperature) kills many people every year.

If you get wet, try to get dry before you go to sleep. Put dry clothes on if you have them, and use a fire to dry any wet clothes. Earlier in the day, you may be able to hang damp clothes on your pack to dry in the sun. Often when it is coldest, the air is dryer.

Try not to sweat. Adjust your layers, removing and adding shirts, sweaters and jackets as necessary to keep from getting too hot or too cold. Sweat, and clothes damp with sweat, will cause you to lose body heat fast once you stop moving. Stay dry to stay warm.

There are many other cold weather survival skills that you may want to learn. (You can generate heat by eating fatty foods, for example.) You don’t need to know hundreds of skills and techniques, but why not learn a few basics, like the ones above, before your next winter backpacking trip?

Steve Gillman is a long-time advocate of lightweight backpacking. For more on winter backpacking, plus tips, photos, stories and a new Wilderness Survival Guide, visit The Ultralight Backpacking Site: http://www.The-Ultralight-Site.com

As a Los Angeles resident I have fallen into the traps that many LA residents find themselves in, the comfort zone. I have become accustomed to my cappuccino in the morning and the fear of “outdoors”. I decided to take a vacation from my Los Angeles life and go camping. The thought of getting back to nature seemed like the best way to relieve stress and get back some of my lost creativity. The perfect way for me to pull that off was to find a place that gave me all the wonder of being back in nature and free from civilization but without the creepy living things.

El Capitan Canyon provided the perfect opportunity to get back to nature. In the beautiful El Capitan Canyon there is a campground built just the way I had dreamed. In canvas tents built on wooden platforms with electrical outlets and lights I could stay in a tent and watch a DVD at the same time. There are fire pits out in front of each tent and so I could sit in front of a fire I had built while munching on my Whole Foods sandwich and make s’mores to go with my wine. In the morning a short walk down through the campground along a peaceful stream took me to the general store where freshly made to order breakfast and more importantly cappuccino were being prepared.

The bed I had slept in left me nicely rested for either a hike in the surrounding hills or on the beach or horseback riding at the nearby ranch. I opted for horseback and enjoyed a nice long ride along the ridge overlooking the Pacific Ocean. That night my date and I opted to stay in one of the cabins offered by the campground. In a wooden cabin with a big beautiful bed and a working shower and bathroom, we enjoyed a wonderful night looking out the glass doors onto the river flowing just fifteen feet from our bed.

It was everything I had hoped for in my camping experience and being surrounded by that kind of beauty without losing some comforts was wonderful.

David Stone makes it easy to have a great outdoors experience! Get more tips and information at http://www.go-hiking.info

Every year a small number of tourists die climbing Kilimanjaro. What action should one take to avoid altitude sickness?

To be fit and ready to climb is essential. When climbing take your assent slowly, this will be emphasized again and again as you climb - in Swahili pole-pole [slowly slowly]. Anyone is susceptible to altitude sickness and your guide will be on the lookout for any tale tale signs.

Before you climb the mountain, try to avoid an overnight in Moshi town. It is better to stay as close to the Kilimanjaro Park Gate as you can. As you sleep in the mountain village, your body is starting to acclimatize. If you can spend two nights before your climb all the better.

Acclimatization is the key. An extra day spent on your climb is a worthwhile. It is offered as an extra at a cost of usually US$120 per person. I would recommend spending this extra money; it increases your chance of success in reaching the top of the mountain. If you feel tired, if you are vomiting if you are passing blood tell your guide. These are all signs of altitude sickness. If you start to suffer then to get to a lower altitude as quickly as possible is the best advice. Do not hang on thinking you will be fine, get off the mountain as quickly as possible.

Once you have succeeded in climbing to the top and have taken your pictures then a quick decent is also advisable - there will be one night only on the mountain during your decent.

To recap, a pre-night close to the park-gate helps acclimatize. Spend an extra night on the mountain to help your body adjust; and most of all do not race up the mountain walk slowly and enjoy your climb.

All profits from http://www.betheladventre.co.uk go into the Patmos Community Initiative, which is a Non-Governmental Organization in Northern Tanzania - no. 11778. We are currently building a nursery school in Sokon One - Arusha. We offer and encourage voluntary positions vacations to our charitable projects. Swahili Language courses are available twice per year, in March and in November.

Twenty-eight years ago, I towed my first travel trailer. Of course at the time, like most teenagers, I thought I knew everything. I tent camped for years and had experienced camping in travel trailers and motor homes with a friend of mine and his family, but this was my first RV adventure out on my own. I had recently graduated from high school and was working for an RV dealership in Pennsylvania. I started out washing campers and soon was promoted to an apprentice technician. I was always mechanically inclined and had an interest in how things worked. From the time I was thirteen and took our lawn mower apart, that there was nothing wrong with, to age sixteen, when I rebuilt my first VW engine.

Deer hunting season was quickly approaching, which in North Central Pennsylvania is similar to a national holiday. I asked my boss if I could borrow a travel trailer to use for a hunting trip. To my shock and surprise he said yes. I don’t remember all of the details about the travel trailer, but I do know it was a Shasta because it had the classic wings on the back. I would guess that it was a mid to late 1960’s model and it was about 20′ long. The only conditions for borrowing the trailer were to bring it back in one piece and not to use the water system because it was winterized and the temperatures were in the low teens. Hunting season started the Monday following Thanksgiving and I invited my best friend to go with me. We were going to head up into the foothills on Saturday to get set up.

I owned a 1970 Chevy Blazer. It was a full size K5 model and it had a six-cylinder engine. Now, you would think that working for an RV dealership I would have access to and use the proper hitch work and brake control to tow the trailer. I do remember wiring a plug for the trailer lights, but figured since I wouldn’t be towing the trailer on a regular basis I could forgo the brakes and just drop the trailer on the ball and go. Now you have to remember, I knew everything back then. There were no pre-trip checks or inspections. We picked up the bare essentials, a pot and pan, some groceries, our sleeping bags and hunting equipment and off we went.

It was about a sixty-mile trip to our favorite hunting destination. The first forty miles were on two-lane paved roads and the last twenty miles a winding, snow covered dirt road barely wide enough for one vehicle. If you encountered traffic going the opposite direction somebody had to back up until there was a spot where both vehicles could pass. I can remember the Blazer didn’t seem to steer as well as normal and if I would have had to stop quickly I would have hit whatever was making me stop so quickly. I took a deep sigh of relief after the white-knuckle experience of getting to our destination and thanked my lucky stars that the trailer was still in one piece, but little did I know that was just the beginning of my first real RV adventure.

We set the trailer up, which really wasn’t anything more than leveling it from front to rear with the tongue jack and turning the LP gas supply on, and then we settled in for the first night. We figured since it was cold out we didn’t need to use the refrigerator, so we left our groceries in the Blazer. The furnace was the old style that you had to light manually. Soon after I got it to light it warmed the entire trailer up. For dinner we heated up some pork and beans on the range top and ate them out of the pan because we forgot to bring plates. Afterwards we played some cards and then turned in for a good nights sleep. The next morning I went to the Blazer to get some bacon and eggs for breakfast. The eggs were frozen solid. We fried some bacon and later that morning we used the frozen eggs as targets to sight our hunting rifles in. We washed the pans in the stream since we didn’t have any water and the rest of the day was spent in the cozy warm trailer. After another dinner of pork and beans I put all of the cans and other garbage in a plastic bag and set it outside the door. The next morning was opening day. It was difficult to relax and go to bed that night, but knowing we would be getting up early we forced ourselves to go to bed.

The first major event of the night was waking up at 1 AM because it was five degrees inside the trailer. The trailer only had one 20-pound LP gas bottle and with the furnace running non-stop since we arrived the day before, it was empty. Fortunately, I did have enough insight to bring a spare 20-pound bottle. I told my friend that since I got the trailer for us he would have to get out of his sleeping bag, change the bottle and light the furnace. After some reluctance and a few choice words he stumbled outside and changed the bottle. Soon it was warm again and we were both back to sleep.

Somewhere around 3 AM the trailer began to shake, I mean literally shake back and forth. I turned a small overhead light on and looked over at my friend to see if he was awake. Not having any clue what was happening we both stared, wide-eyed, at each other. I pulled the curtain away from the window and peered outside. It took a minute to focus my eyes in the dark, but I soon realized there were two bears outside. A small black bear cub and its not so small mother pushing against the side of the trailer. Not really sure what to do we both got our hunting rifles, loaded them and stood back, ready for when the bear would come through the door or break a window. We waited for what seemed like forever at the time, but it was probably a minute or two before the shaking stopped. We glanced out the window again and there were no signs of the bears anywhere. Needless to say we didn’t get anymore sleep before it was time to head out to our favorite hunting spots early that morning. When we walked out of the trailer we soon realized why the black bears stopped to visit us that night. There were pork and bean cans and other garbage scattered everywhere.

Another reason this memory remains clear in my mind is because at 8:10 AM on opening day I shot my first 8-point whitetail buck on a ridge about 80 yards from where I was sitting. My friend heard the shot and came over to check it out. After field dressing the deer it took us about two hours to drag it down the long ravine, back to the trailer. Knowing that we had plenty of LP gas for one more night we fired up the furnace and ate some more pork and beans. After making sure there was no garbage outside we settled in to the warm, cozy trailer and played cards while I recounted the events of the great whitetail hunt over and over again.

We did manage to get the trailer back home safely and other than some remnants of a hungry black bears paw prints on the side of the trailer it was still in one piece. That nearly disastrous weekend hunting trip, in freezing cold weather, spent in the small Shasta travel trailer, is when I got bit by the RV bug. Who would have thought that twenty-eight years later I would be working in the Industry that I have such a passion for? We just finished our seventh video and guess what the title is? “RV Towing, Weights, Hitch Work & Backing”, I guess I didn’t want other people to make the same mistakes I made.
Happy Camping,
Mark
Copyright 2006 by Mark J. Polk, owner of RV Education 101

RV Expert Mark Polk, seen on TV, is the producer & host of America’s most highly regarded series of DVD’s, videos, books, and e-books. http://www.rveducation101.com/ Sign up for your free “RV Education 101″ Newsletter http://rveducation101.com/email/

Top 5 Reasons To Request Sunscreen Use At Your Child’s School

Do you remember the last time while watching the late news and the weather man commenting on how another record high temperature had been recorded? Doesn’t seem that long ago does it? There are numerous studies showing we live in an increasingly warmer environment.

Today, the term ‘greenhouse effect’ is common knowledge to the general public. The need for daily sunscreen use is becoming more crucial. In general, parents are doing better applying sunscreen to their kids at the pool, but not as they leave for school.

Let’s face it, most parents don’t even think of putting sunscreen on our children before sending them off to school. Recent studies suggest we need to apply sunscreen daily on our children before heading to school. Kids attend school during the hours when the sun can do the most damage to a child’s skin. As they are out there eating lunch and playing, sunscreen need is at its peak. Recess, outdoor gym class, field trips, and school team sports all involve children being out in the sun and needing sunscreen. It takes only fifteen minutes without sunscreen to get burned.

Many schools are now taking a more proactive role in protecting children from the sun by making sunscreen available to their students. This is becoming more popular among private schools and summer camps everyday. Here are the top reasons:

Top 5 Reasons To Request Sunscreen At My Child’s School? 1. It takes just one serious sunburn before the age of 18 to double a child’s risk of eventually getting skin cancer. 2. Kids attend school during the hours when the sun can do the most damage. 3. It can take as little as fifteen minutes without sunscreen to get burned. 4. More than 1,000,000 new cases of skin cancer are reported each year. 5. Almost 10,000 people die from skin cancer annually.

Companies like Rocky Mountain Sunscreen sell sunscreen in bulk packaging. Whether by the quart or the gallon, their sunscreen containers come with a convenient pump top for easy distribution. They also offer examples of permission forms for school administrators to apply sunscreen.

Recently, the state of California gave students the legal right to protect themselves from the sun by allowing hats worn on campus. Kids are also being educated on the benefits of sunscreen and sun protection. Many schools are taking an active role in educating their students about the risks of sunburns, the benefit of sunscreen, and overexposure to the sun. Students learn about skin safety, sunscreen SPF, the ultraviolet index, and daily measurement of sunlight intensity. There has also been recent legislation to build large shade structures to protect children on the playground.

More than 1,000,000 new cases of skin cancer are reported each year, and close to 10,000 people die from it annually, according to the American Cancer Society. Daily sunscreen use dramatically reduces skin cancer risk. Parents need to take a proactive approach to their child’s skin protection on the school playground by asking school administrators to offer sunscreen protection for students. The bottom line is daily sunscreen application saves lives.

This article is sponsored by Rocky Mountain Sunscreen . Rocky Mountain Sunscreen is the official sunscreen for Vail, Aspen, Breckenridge, Keystone, Snowmass and Telluride Ski Resorts. It is the top supplier of greaseless, waterproof and fragrance free sunscreens in the world today. For questions regarding any of the information about sunscreen or Rocky Mountain Sunscreen Products contact them at Rocky Mountain Sunscreen .

Please share the content of these articles with your friends, family, daycares and school authorities to reinforce use of sunscreen to protect your child . Reprint rights granted. All reprints must include a link to Rocky Mountain Sunscreen. Content may not be altered and articles must be as distributed by Rocky Mountain Sunscreen .

Copyright Rocky Mountain Sunscreen 2005

Many people today are taking it easy, as well we should. It seems that the hustle and bustle of modern life is becoming less and less worth it. After all, life is relatively short. We don’t need to rush through it. For this reason many Americans and people of other countries are doing all that they can to improve the quality of their lives by pursuing pastimes that nurture patience and knowledge.

One of the many ways of accomplishing this is by making or purchasing bluebird houses. While the bluebird was once a staple to the American skies, due to pollution and the encroachment of developers and humans in general, this lovely bird is quickly disappearing. Yet many people got the bright idea a few years ago to intensely build and buy bluebird houses to give the little critters a refuge away from the pressing realities of the new century.

Bluebird houses are usually small, like their targeted occupants. Yet often a series of these bird houses are placed along a trail to attract these beauties. This is an easy task not only due to the dwindling habitat, but also as this species is not very picky about where it lives, though it does tend to favor bluebird houses over other niches.

For those looking for that added touch, especially for bird watchers, many houses , but not all, are approved by the North American Bluebird Society. There are certain specifications that a bird house must have to be approved by this society. As well, some of the manufacturers will donate a portion of the proceeds from the sale of their bird houses to this group that it may continue to raise awareness about ecological conservation. We do not want to loose the bluebird to extinction.

A few other aspects should be considered when purchasing a bird house for bluebirds or any other species. The first of these is the size in relation to one’s yard. A person owning several acres could easily have hundreds of bird homes, whereas the more realistic, common model of a bird lover would be happy with just one or a few houses. Also, for those less adroit with their hands (and conversely, those who like to work with their hands), the consideration of whether the house is pre-built or if it requires construction should be taken into account. The bluebird is a lovely sight to see and providing them a nice habitat is a sure way to entice our feathered freinds into visiting.

Keith Londrie II has been a fan of birds for nearly 25 years. I have put up a web site so that you can get more information. Please visit Bird houses.

BC camping is like camping Yellowstone or camping California. The diversity of all the areas is very similar with mountains, stream, and lakes. You can get in to trouble very easy in the mountains if you are BC camping.

When BC camping most people just go for a short walk and find themselves lost fore every thing looks the same if you do not now or have any experience in the woods. If you find your self lost stay put do not wander around because every tree will look familiar and every stream is the one you pasted on the little walk you took.

Get the 2005 Trailer Life Directory for 50% off the cover!

Most kids that get lost will wander away from the campsite playing with the family pet or playing hide in seek with other kids and got scared and tried to find the campsite. But wandered farther and farther away.

I put a whistle on a sting and place it around the kids neck and the rule is they can not take it off till we are ready to leave for home. The kids are not allowed to blow the whistle unless they are in trouble. They will try just to see if it works but if you explain it is only for an emergency they will understand. Tell them it is like calling 911 on the phone all kids understand what 911 is for.

If you find yourself lost or confused as to the direction back to camp a whistle around your neck would help. I even have one for myself and my wife. This way if you should lose your way for what ever the reason a whistle of three short blasts will get the attention of most campers of people looking for you.

If you are in the woods and lost stay put providing you are not in danger if the weather changes look for a safe place to protect yourself from the elements. But not to far don’t wander around for hours looking for a safe place if needed stand on the down wind side of a large tree. It will offer you some protection and blow you whistle every 10 or 15 minutes with three short blasts and listen for the people looking for you.

Do not wander off looking for the people that are looking for you just use your whistle above all help will arrive .Do not panic if you find your self lost stay calm and reason out where you are sit tight folks are looking for you.

I have found many people only because I have the training. Do not interfere with the professional searches they have the gear and the training to find people. They are a very dedicated group of people and will not give up, no matter how harsh the weather gets. You do not want them to have to find you because you got lost looking for some one be it a family member or a friend.

If some one from your group gets lost and you cant find them in the near area call or find the ranger or park attendant they have the knowledge on who should be called to help, and to call the need for a search.

So be safe and enjoy the camping think before you act. BC camping is great!

Here at Camping-For-Fun I’m going to make sure your camping trip is plenty of fun!

Ranger Bob has been having fun camping for years and wants to share all his knowledge with you so be sure to visit him at Camping-For-Fun/© Copyright Bob Matsen, All Rights Reserved - You may republish this article with an active link to our site.

There is not much in the world that is more exciting than adventure travel. When you are taking part in adventure travel you are taking risk, you are getting out there and finally living life to the fullest. When was the last time that you actually did that? Probably a long time ago right? Well there is no time like the present to change things for the better and to experience all that life has to offer.

There are all kinds of great vacations that you can take when it comes to adventure travel and not all of them are filled with death defying stunts and danger. Sure, some of them are but if that is not your think then you don’t have to choose them. Everyone has a different comfort level and adventure travel just means taking a trip that is exciting, one that is a little out of your normal travel behavior. You don’t have to go and climb Mount Everest or anything like that to have a good time with adventure travel.

Some of the best adventure travel has barely any danger to it whatsoever. Have you ever climbed through the runs of Greece, or hiked in the Amazon, or even gone surfing in Costa Rica? If not these are great ways to get your feet wet with adventure travel. With this kind of adventure travel you will be able to have a great time and not do anything too, too dangerous. Just things that excite you and thrill you to the bone.

Can you imagine taking a trip to some exotic locale and then experiencing some of their ways of life. Have you ever heard of Zorbing? It is something that they do in New Zealand, and it is so much fun. All you do is climb into a giant ball, it is like a great big beach ball, just climb in it and they roll you down the hill. There is usually some water in it to cushion any bumps that you might hit along the way down. The water is not dangerous to you and your breathing because it is kept totally separate from you in a different compartment of the ball. This is one of the most fun things that you could ever do when you are gong to adventure travel and it is not even a little bit dangerous.

You see adventure travel is something that everyone can enjoy, no matter what they danger tolerance happens to be. If you are sick and tired of the same old same old then you need to find out some more about adventure travel today. Start planning your next trip abroad now, with a little more adventure in mind. It is always fun to try something new and exciting so go for it and have a blast!

Adventure Vacations: put some excitement into your next travel journey!

Why We Like the Green Giant Arborvita(e) So Much

Our farm, Highland Hill Farm, is located in the solid clay soils so common to Pennsylvania. We therefore like plants that grow well in dense, heavy, rather impermeable, NOT well-drained soils. One of the arborvitae, the Green Giant, the Western Redcedar Tree, or botanically, the Thuja Plicata, is our favorite. Here is why:

The hardiness zone the Green Giant Arborvita tolerates is from zone 5 to zone 8. That’s where extreme cold temperatures get down to a temperate level of about 15 or 20 degrees in the winter (Zone 8), but also as low as a frigid level of 15 or 20 degrees BELOW zero (zone 5). Green giants are evergreens, being cedars. Their rapid growth rates can in ideal conditions reach 3 feet per year. Site requirements for the Green Giant Arborvita are sun to partial shade, moist well drained soil preferred (but still does well in clay), and protection from wind, at lest when young.

The Green Giant is a beautiful tree. It has an aesthetically fine form. It’s conical, being narrow to broadly pyramidal, reaching from 50 feet to 80 feet in height in southeastyern Pennsylvania. The width at the base of the cone is usually about 15 feet to 20 feet. The leaves are rich green making graceful foliage.

Green Giants make a superb privacy screen. They keep their foliage color year ’round, great for brightening bleak gray winter days with snow on the ground. The cinnamon bright red bark when young turn rich russet brown with time crating a strong contrast with the needle leaves.

Green Giants’ flowers, their fruit are pretty little light brown half-inch female cones. (Just so you know, Green giants are females, so its okay to call the cones pretty.) The Green Giant is also a wonderful shade tree, casting a dark, dense shade. The wood is strong too, once the tree is beyond its youth.

This is an arborvita that should outlive even your grandchildren. There are Green Giants out west documented to be over 300 years old. Just don’t plant these too close to the ocean, or roads in areas where there’s a lot of salt used for snow removal. If you get over 100 inches of snowfall and more per year, no roadside Arborvita planting where salt is used, PLEASE. The greatest soldier of ancient Greece in the Trojan war had his one little weak spot, what proved to be a fatal flaw, and the “Achilles Heel” for Green Giant Arborvitae is hypersensitivity to salt.

http://www.zone5trees.com , http://www.highlandhillfarm and http://www.seedlingsrus.com

There are several types of awnings and awning manufacturers. This checklist may not cover every item as it pertains to your awning. The purpose of this checklist is to give you a basic guide to follow when opening and storing your retractable patio awning. Use only the checks that apply to your particular awning.

* Most awnings have some type of travel locks about mid way up, on both main support awning arms. These locks assist in storing the awning to the side of the RV while traveling. Release these locking mechanisms.

* Behind both main awning arms, on the support arms there will be a knob that should be hand tight. Loosen both of these knobs.

* Look up at the end of the awning roller tube on the right hand side towards the front of the RV. You will see a small lever. This lever is what locks the roller tube to the side of the RV. Take your awning rod and with the hooked end reach up and pull the lever down to release the locking lever.

* Look up, around the middle of the roller tube, and you should see a loop for the awning strap. With the hook end of your awning rod reach up and hook the loop. Pull the awning strap down until you can reach it with your hand. The awning should release and pull freely from both ends. Continue pulling down on the strap until the awning fabric and tube are fully extended.

* Now, the inner support arms, where you loosened the knobs, should slide freely to the top of the main arms and lock into place. Do this on both ends. When they are locked in place, starting on either end, take one hand and pull down on the main awning arm until the awning fabric is taught. With your other hand reach up and hand tighten the knob. Repeat this on the other end.

* On the side of each main arm you will notice a lever. Starting on either end, take one hand and put it on the front of the main arm and take the lever with your other hand. Raise the main arm up to the height you want the awning at, using the lever to help lift it. When you lower the lever it will lock into the closest adjusting hole on the arm where you release it. Repeat this on the other end.

Caution: Do not get your fingers or hands close to any moving or sliding parts.

Happy Camping,
Mark
Copyright 2006 by Mark J. Polk, owner of RV Education 101

RV Expert Mark Polk, seen on TV, is the producer & host of America’s most highly regarded series of DVD’s, videos, books, and e-books. http://www.rveducation101.com/

Mark Polk is a retired U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Three, specializing in wheeled and track vehicle fleet maintenance operations. Polk owns and operates RV Education 101, (based in North Carolina) since 1999, and also has an extensive RV background working in RV service, sales and management. Polk has a degree in Industrial Management Technology with 30 plus years of experience in maintenance includes working as an RV technician, a wheeled vehicle and power generation mechanic, an automotive maintenance technician, Battalion and Brigade level Maintenance Officer, an RV sales manager and also in the RV financing department as the Finance & Insurance manager. http://www.rveducation101.com/