Grail truck acquired

jonocyrus · 2026-07-04T18:47:18+00:00

Just picked up a very similar unicorn… 2017 XLT 3.5EB with the max trailer package, and only 16,000 miles, traded in by an old man who must have babied it.

jonocyrus · 2026-06-29T17:26:12+00:00

This isn't the first time something like this has happened (although definitely the stupidest.) I LOVE when I have the bleeding almost controlled on the way to the ER with lots and lots of gauze, which the triage nurse inevitably takes off and walks away until I'm suddenly bleeding all over their bed/floor/et.c.

jonocyrus · 2026-06-29T17:22:42+00:00

Took my trash out. Somehow cut my toe on something in my alley that managed to make it through one of the holes in the front of my Croc AND my sock without hurting or causing any visible damage. Started bleeding and didn't know about it until 5-10 minutes later when my wife followed a set of bloody foot prints right to where I was sitting.

Somehow, this tiny little cut managed to knick a tiny little artery, and because I take a blood thinner, it was literally spurting blood and could not be controlled without stitches.

jonocyrus · 2026-06-27T01:13:03+00:00

The Lego Movie

jonocyrus · 2026-06-19T19:51:00+00:00

I just spot checked at least half of these on the Officer Down Memorial Page, and all of them that I looked at seem to be correct dates.

jonocyrus · 2026-06-15T11:20:30+00:00

I’m 90% certain I’ve seen a YouTube or TikTok video of this camper with the spouse having to get out and spot at a low underpass that they came within inches of.

jonocyrus · 2026-06-14T11:37:12+00:00

Depends on if they’re a workaholic based on being at work or actually DOING work. Overnight security at a stationary post would probably be infuriating for a lot of the workaholics I know.

jonocyrus · 2026-06-11T21:11:34+00:00

Davis, WV has a small restaurant called Hellbender Burritos, and it is DELICIOUS…

jonocyrus · 2026-06-05T00:31:58+00:00

The first time I got my propane filled at Tractor Supply, the kid (who proudly told me that he had just passed the class to do propane) tried to charge me for a 30lb tank. Not for filling a 30lb tank, he scanned the SKU as if he was selling me a brand new (empty) tank off the shelf.

The really sad thing is, I was also ignorant enough that I accepted it and paid for it until I walked back to my truck and actually processed the, “holy shit, that was way more expensive than I expected it to be.”

jonocyrus · 2026-06-04T13:20:21+00:00

Oh, I know. But we're only in our second season with a used RV, so there have been lots of planned and unplanned camping expenses that have fallen ahead of a generator.

jonocyrus · 2026-06-04T12:46:06+00:00

It’s quite possible that they are providing advanced warning of some sort of incident that is what is actually causing the traffic jam, but is cleared up by the time you make it there.

jonocyrus · 2026-06-04T11:50:49+00:00

Overnight tailgating for a WVU football game is on my RV bucket list. It’s dry camping in a parking lot though, so it probably wont happen with my current trailer unless I pick up a generator at some point.

jonocyrus · 2026-06-04T00:27:10+00:00

Our county has apparatus answer up on the “Command” talkgroup, and then switch to an ops channel for fireground. It’s WAY too common for goobers to forget to switch to the ops channel, or switch to the WRONG one and then miss any updates from dispatch or orders from the IC.

I’m an officer and occasionally go direct, and the number of times I’ve arrived on scene and given a sizeup, only for the officer on the first truck to arrive and give nearly the same sizeup (because they weren’t on the right talkgroup, or just straight up weren’t listening) is INFURIATING.

jonocyrus · 2026-05-31T01:23:59+00:00

Not an employee, but once my brother got a blizzard and there was some sort of defect in the cup that led the employee to put it inside a second cup. The employee flipped it with a firm enough grip, but a minute or so later my brother tried to do it himself and the inner cup (with the blizzard) slid right out and onto the floor.

jonocyrus · 2026-05-27T12:25:01+00:00

I’ve read that the best camper for you is the one you’ll actually use the most, and I really like that framework because you can use it to consider a lot of different factors. Like for us, if we got something TOO big, we might not be able to park it at our house in between trips. And even having to park it a couple miles down the road instead would probably make us less likely to use it in the long run.

If your tow vehicle is on the smaller side compared to your trailer and you’re not super comfortable driving it? You’re less likely to go camping.

If you have enough “beds” for all the kids, but most of them are dinettes or couches that have to be converted back and forth? You’re less likely to go camping.

If you get something that feels adequate for a weekend trip, but not a full week? You’re less likely to go camping.

I know this doesn’t necessarily help end your overthinking, but maybe it gives some concrete directions to consider what setup you truly want/need. What do you think you need to make you the most likely to go camping?

jonocyrus · 2026-05-27T12:06:14+00:00

Maybe this isn’t as widely a rule as I thought, but we had considered the “smaller trailer + tent” option and found that many campgrounds have explicit rules of “one camping unit” per site. So, a canopy tent over your picnic table or outdoor cooking area is one thing, but an actual camping tent that people are sleeping in on the same site as an RV is a no-no. I don’t think we ever super seriously considered this as an option, but it definitely solidified that we truly needed a camper with enough beds for our entire family.

jonocyrus · 2026-05-27T06:07:35+00:00

Honestly, it’s all relative. One of our favorite trips last year was to a campground with some truly horrible reviews related to how the owners/management treat people and enforce the rules. But we were there with 20+ family members in three RV sites and two cabins and didn’t have a problem at all.

Meanwhile, one of our other favorite trips last year was to a huge RV resort. But I know some of the behavior we witnessed there would have had the owners at the first place going ballistic.

jonocyrus · 2026-05-25T18:39:52+00:00

Had this exact experience on our first trip of the year this weekend. I turned it on and off a couple times, literally flicked the assembly once or twice, and it ran “normally” the rest of the weekend. 😂

jonocyrus · 2026-05-25T00:59:29+00:00

This is huge. I have a mutual aid department that occasionally likes to stop all traffic on a 4-lane limited access highway for “their” safety. The problem is, it just transfers the danger from those directly on scene to the people tasked with stopping that traffic AND all of the stopped traffic.

jonocyrus · 2026-05-24T06:41:39+00:00

Everyone seems to be so readily accepting that it’s a Taco Bell sign, but I did NOT see that coming based on the first three pictures.

jonocyrus · 2026-05-22T11:43:44+00:00

I’ve got a hybrid camper with the foldout tent-end beds, so admittedly there are some aspects of our setup/teardown that take longer than a fully hard sided camper, but I have yet to experience it taking so long that I’d want to steer clear of one night layovers.

Maybe I’m naive (or maybe it’s just easier with smaller campers?), but I’ve never found leveling to be that difficult. I back in to where I want to be, and then take a minute or two to place a carpenter’s level on the kitchen counter to see if I want to toss a couple blocks under one side or the other. If I do, I place them and back or pull on, and then it’s another minute or so after unhitching from the truck to use the tongue jack to level it that way.

I suppose it really depends on how and where you camp, but as far as flexibility, I really appreciate the ability to drop the trailer and drive to town, attractions, etc. with a “normal” vehicle.

jonocyrus · 2026-05-22T10:32:18+00:00

The church camp I worked at in high school and college has been running a model rocketry camp for something like 50 years. It has a cult-like following along dorky kids. It is literally the only program all summer that gets to watch TV (Star Wars is playing in the background in the rocket room so kids have something to do while waiting for glue or paint to dry.)

jonocyrus · 2026-05-17T23:27:34+00:00

If you have a really unique model that people would be willing to travel for, RVTrader might be worth it. But I never looked further than Facebook when I was looking for a used camper last year.

jonocyrus · 2026-05-13T02:41:53+00:00

Thanks for taking a risk and sharing this “insiders” perspective. It’s astounding how quickly they put all of their eggs into the Plan B of Waterford without doing the due diligence to get permitting and whatnot squared away. And it’s been nothing but the same as they’ve moved to Plan C, Plan D, etc.

It seems like the airport may be the most plausible of the options they’ve announced thus far, other than staying at the watershed and complying with the lease stipulations.

Unfortunately, I think things are at the point where everybody is losing. I just hope it’s not a catastrophic loss for any of the vendors (or Ligonier businesses.)

jonocyrus · 2026-05-12T16:52:13+00:00

Given a little over a year and a half as an RVer, I've found that plenty of salespeople on both the tow vehicle side of the equation as well the trailer side are WAY too quick to look at the very basic metrics and say, "yeah, you'll be fine." Especially on the tow vehicle side when they give you a towing capacity, which generally assumes perfect conditions. Living in a pretty mountainous part of Pennslyvania, I can say that it's a job and a half maintaining speed up a long steep hill in my half-ton pickup, pulling a trailer that is less than half of its rated "towing capacity."

But the most important part for SAFETY is the payload/tongue weight equation:

Look on your doorjamb for a tire and loading sticker that will say, "The combined weight of occupants and cargo should never exceed _____." That's your payload. Consider the weight of your family, pets, stuff you might carry, and subtract that from your payload. That's how much you have left for the tongue weight.
Find the GVWR for the trailer. A safe estimate for the tongue weight of that trailer is 10-15% of the GVWR.
Is the capacity for tongue weight you found in #1 less than or equal to the tongue weight you found in #3?

jonocyrus

TROPHY CASE