RV COFFEE

Text copyright © 2016 by Carol Stone.  Photos © 2016 by Thane Puissegur and Carol Stone.



Drinking coffee in magnificent surroundings

Once a coffee addict, always a coffee addict. What was good enough for Voltaire and Balzac is certainly good enough for a hack writer like me. I need three cups of coffee a day wherever I am, including wherever the RV is. This is a common problem, as evidenced by the many comments online about making coffee while traveling.

Some RV manufacturers have tried to respond by installing electric coffeepots under the galley cupboard, but apparently that has been a failure. The appliances use too much precious counter space, and are no better than any electric coffeepots, and so some RV owners have had the pots removed at their own expense. In my opinion most shore-power electricity is a silly luxury for big rigs, anyway. For most of us at least part of the time, propane or campfire pots are needed.

What other solutions are there? Of course, there are always old-fashioned metal percolators that have the advantage of using propane rather than electricity. These are also inexpensive and easy to use, but they can add a metallic taste to the brew. I haven’t used one in decades.

At home, I prefer using a Melitta eight-cup cone with a glass carafe, having some in the morning and reheating the rest as needed in the microwave; on the road I use a space-saving small cone and matching ceramic mug. This is only good for a cup or two at a time, though. The Melitta cone and travel mug combo shown online looks appealing: https://shoponline.melitta.com/product/pour-over-travel-mug-set-red/pour-over-coffee-makers. Again, however, this probably makes only a small amount at a time. What I really want is to make at least three or four cups in the morning, and to save some for later. A Thermos bottle will keep it hot without the need for a microwave.

French presses  make excellent coffee and are popular with many people. I had one for a while but quickly broke two of the very fragile carafes and realized they were impractical for RV use. I like the lack of paper filters, though, and may buy a shatterproof type some time. One online model has a stainless steel carafe. Another one has a plastic one that has received bad reviews.

The brand of coffee can make all the difference in quality. Much as I like the ambiance of Starbucks coffee shops, I don’t think much of their coffee, and Peet’s coffee is too powerful even for me. Years ago I visited New Orleans and learned to use French Market coffee, which is part chicory. Though the delicious black brew is strong, it has less caffeine than pure coffee; I mix it with milk for a smooth but robust drink. At home I often first heat the milk, as they do in New Orleans; on the road I make do with cold milk. Incidentally, it is hard to find the brand in many places. Raley’s supermarket sells it in my home area, so I stock up on it before traveling.

Coffee grounds are  a messy part of RV life, just as they are at home.  They should never be put down the drain! That’s a good way to clog the delicate plumbing in an RV or to overload a campground septic tank. Even in an urban situation, they can build up in a drain and lead to plumber’s bills. At home, I put the grounds and filters in a compost bin, or put the grounds near plants in the garden. Sadly, I’ve never seen a compost bin in a campground (regular or Wal-Mart), and must put the grounds and filters in the trash. If I’m far out in a forest where the plants can benefit, I put the grounds out of sight somewhere far from where anyone will camp or walk.




RV GENDER ROLES

Text copyright © 2016 by Carol Stone.  Photos © 2016 by Thane Puissegur and Carol Stone.

Any gathering of RVers will include at least a couple of instructive sessions. When we attended a rally last year, the activity for one morning was advertised as both instruction and sharing about common RV mechanical problems. It sounded really useful for any RVer. But then I noticed this was supposed to be for the men, and the “ladies” were expected to go shopping or do something else that might be considered feminine!

I was furious, and thought, Who came up with a stupid idea like that?  Many women travel solo or with other women; because boys tend to be better trained than girls in mechanical matters, this session would likely be even more useful for women than for men. Why not let the men go shopping instead?

Then I thought about how my partner and I divide the work when we travel. I have to confess that he does the typical “male” things, like dealing sternly with mechanics who want to overcharge us, and I do the more “female” things, like doing most of the cooking and cleaning. Have we fallen into our parents’ old gender-role patterns? What a disgusting idea! I am a feminist, and he is a modern man in most ways. Yet, we seem to be conforming to traditional roles.

Some of the tasks in RV travel require more physical strength than some people have. I have arthritis that prevents me from doing some things. Other chores may require special skills; my partner is less comfortable with computers than I am. This has little to do with our genders.

When the dualies meet the road, what it comes down to is not gender roles, but teamwork. The person who is more skilled at one job, or more willing to do it—my partner, thank heavens, is more able and willing to empty the blackwater tank than I am—should do it. The other person(s) should do other tasks as appropriate. No job should be defined as one for “men” or “ladies,” though. And please spare me from being excluded from a helpful session about RV maintenance.