Your New Dinghy (for real)

If you have a coach, in all likelihood you pull a car. Some of you also bring along a small boat, canoe, or sailboat. I've even seen die-hards forgo the car and pull a full sized boat.

Here's the real answer to those of us who love being on water as much as land. The Aquada, from Gibbs Technologies will be coming ashore on the US in another year or so. Personally, I'm tempted to put in my order right now so I can have it for the 2009 camping season. On second thought, I'd be better off spending the estimated $225,000 on a new coach before I get a new boat.

Wheather wherever

The Weather Channel is arguably THE authority for weather information in the US. In addition to getting updates on TV and on your PC, you can now sign up for severe weather alerts to be delivered to your cell phone.

Sign up for both email and cell phone alerts and you can select from a range of conditions including icy weather, severe storms, or just plain rain. When you sign up, you have to provide a zip code for which you want notification, but you you can change the zip code as often as you like by logging into the web site.

This service is free, but of course The Weather Channel would like for you to sign up for some of its paid services as well.

GPS for your other activities

There are plenty of GPS units that will help you stay on track while you're on the road. DeLorme's Earthmate GPS PN-20 is a little different.

The PN-20 is designed as a complete handheld unit to be used while you're out of your vehicle. If you're a hiker, biker, backpacker, or indulge in any other activity that takes you away from your RV and into the back woods, this is for you.

The PN-20 is designed to go with you and let you know where you are, even if there are no roads anywhere in the area. It's design is nothing like the pretty, shiny dash-mount or pocketable units you're used to seeing. In stead this baby is ruggedized with rubber grips, protective housing, waterproof seals, and a lanyard hole so you can hang it from a backpack or belt clip.

It runs on AA batteries since you're not likely to be near an AC adapter while negotiating the rapids, and rather than being optimized for road maps, it uses DeLorme's Topo USA map set.

The Topo maps are (as you might expect) topographical maps showing land and water features along with altitudes and foot trails.

The PN-20 uses flash memory rather than a hard drive. That means that you need to select the area you're interested in from the computer-installed Topo maps and copy them to the device before you start out. This turns out not to be as much a problem as you might think, since unlike cruising in your RV, you're unlikely to cover an area larger than what you can download while on foot or boat.

If you're planning a trek outside your vehicle this Summer, take a look at the PN-20. It sells for less than $400 at DeLorme.com and may be worth your life if you're lost in the woods.

WiFi now free at Horizon Resorts

TengoInternet, the oldest and largest wireless Internet service provider for the outdoor hospitality industry, along with Western Horizon Resorts (WHR) today announced all TengoZones at Western Horizon Resorts will offer Wi-Fi services free to guests. TengoInternet has exclusively supplied the Western Horizon Resorts with wireless internet access since 2004. The switch to free-to-guest Wi-Fi services is a growing trend in the outdoor hospitality industry. TengoInternet supplies Wi-Fi services to all 23 of Western Horizon Resorts’ properties.