RV Traveler Email Newsletter #88

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Essential reading for fulltime RVers or those who aspire to be.

RV Traveler #88
Dec. 7, 2003

TODAY IS PEARL HARBOR DAY.
We salute all the men and women who were there
in 1941 and all the other brave men and women
who followed to defend our country or work for the
the War effort at home. Thank you.

This issue's email circulation: 60,017

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PRIVACY STATEMENT
The email addresses of RV Traveler subscribers are never sold
or made public. They are guarded 24/7 by vicious, foul-smelling
guard dogs with huge razor-sharp fangs. For dinner, we feed these
fearless animals Spam.

FROM CHUCK WOODBURY
editor, http://www.RVtraveler.com

Hello, and welcome to another information-gorged edition of
RV Traveler, read this issue by more than 60,000 subscribers
across the USA and Canada and around the globe, making this
the world's largest RV email newsletter published by an
individual and not a faceless corporation.

I wish to apologize to the hundreds of you who have written to
me in the past few weeks with questions and comments. Alas, I
have failed to answer many of your emails. Visits by relatives,
a bout with the flu and the fact that my wife and daughter insist
that I pry myself from my computer for at least three hours a day
have caused me to have an extremely bad case of "work deficit."
In other words, there ain't enough time for me to answer all of
your emails even though I wish I could.

I don't know what sort of image I project in this newsletter
but apparently I'm coming off as a bloody expert on everything.
Readers write me with questions about what trailer to buy, how
to keep their holding tank from smelling like dead fish, how much
weight their Willy's Jeep can pull, and where to find a cheap
campsite within easy walking distance of an animal hospital in
Ponca City, Oklahoma.

I get countless emails from people who who just bought a
1977 pop up trailer or something similar and now need a
service manual to figure out to light the furnace without
blowing up the campground. "Where can I get one?" they ask,
sometimes adding, "sorry to trouble you," but effectively
doing so anyway were I to spend the three hours necessary
to track down the manual in question.

Here is an actual letter I received last month:

"Dear Chuck,
What are the up-to-date rulings on border crossing in an RV
with beef, chicken, pork on board? We will be traveling at the
end of November and were wondering if the ban on beef has
been lifted or is it only on raw, frozen or cooked not processed
from the store." . . . Yowie! I'm supposed to know this?

These are just questions from the readers of this newsletter.
I get a bazillion others from articles I have written on topics
not specifically about RVing. I once wrote an article about a
visit to a marshmallow factory and so I regularly get inquires
from businessmen, usually in Asia, asking if I want to import
their tasty marshmallows. I once wrote an article about
the U.S. Army's Camel Corps experiment in the Old West. So
I get letters from guys in far away places who want me to
buy their camels, or from college students who want
my expert opinion of whether two humps is better than one.

Years ago I wrote an article about a visit to the National Lighter
Museum, where the curator has collected thousands of
cigarette lighters. So someone writes me at least once a
week asking me a question about lighters. A example would be:
"Chuck, What is the value of a Zippo personally engraved by a
Bulgarian movie actress who once posed in a swimsuit for
a famous Albanian raincoat designer?" Yikes! How much time
does a guy have in a day?! I feel like I should change my name
from Chuck to The Encyclopedia Chuckania.

And there's the article I once wrote about Montana's famous
festival where the private parts of bulls are eaten (sloshed
down with close to a billion gallons of beer). I'd mention
the name of the festival, but then this newsletter would be
dubbed junk and never delivered. But because I wrote that
article about "Rocky Mountain Oysters" I get several dozen
letters a year asking if they really do taste good (yeah,
actually, they do, especially after ten Budweisers).

What I am trying to say is that if you write me, I may not
be able to respond if to do so takes a lot of time.
I wish I could, but I can't. I love corresponding with you
— it's by far the most rewarding part of publishing this
newsletter — but there just isn't enough time to properly
answer all the 100 or so emails I receive every single
day. So please don't write and ask me to be your research
librarian. On the other hand, please continue writing me with
your comments, suggestions, concerns, ideas, and "letters
to the editor" that you believe I should share with other
readers. And I love learning about your own RVing experiences.

If I could clone myself I would put my clone to work
answering email. Actually I'd need about three clones. Then
I could just give them the instructions and let them type away.
Me? I'd hop a flight to Fiji where I would rent a thatch hut
without electricity or Internet hookup. I'd spend my days
sipping exotic drinks, reading Travel and Leisure and getting
backrubs on the beach from Bridgette, my cloned 25-year-old
French maid. Periodically, I'd fly home, hop in my motorhome
and head for the wilds of America (no, not Los Angeles) and
have a meaningful experience with nature.

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Last week's reader survey
We asked: What's the most you will pay for a campsite for one
night?? See the responses from more than 1,400 readers.
(Hey, the readers of this newsletter are not cheap).

This week's reader survey
"Have you ever spent the night in your RV in a highway rest area?
Please tell us, and/or learn how other readers responded.

SHOPPING FOR AN RV EXTENDED WARRANTY?
The Good Sam Club's Continued Service Plan covers your coach,
engine, appliances and accessories in your new or used
motorhome, trailer and even tow vehicle! Get an online quote.

EDITOR'S FAVORITE PHOTOS
No new photos this week. Editor sidelined with flu much of the
week, not capable of scanning photos while in bed or while
making multiple visits to home toilet facility.

LEARN ABOUT THE FLU, SYMPTOMS, ETC.

SUBSCRIBE TO THESE RV MAGAZINES. Best prices:
Motorhome, Trailer Life, RV Journal, RV Companion, Gypsy Journal
and Pop Up Times: http://www.NewRVer.com/rvmags.html

SURFING GURU SURFS WITH MONACO THESE DAYS
At age 66, Ron DiMenna, founder of the hugely successful
Ron Jon Surf Shops, no longer spends his off-time riding waves.
These days he rides the highways in a half-million dollar,
2003 Monaco Coach, the latest in a series of rolling pleasure
palaces he has called home. At first sight, it looks like a cross
between a 1956 Mercury Woodie and a Greyhound bus. The rear
half's trim looks so much like wooden siding that people swear
it's real until they run their fingers across it. But it's just paint.
Read more.

DUMP STATIONS AT TRUCKSTOPS OF AMERICA
Here's a good list to print out — of dump stations at TA
truck stops across America.

RV PARKS WITH WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS
New parks added weekly
DEEP CELL BATTERY INFORMATION
The subject of batteries is always of big interest to RVers.
Here's a good discussion of deep cell batteries, which are
the ones that run the RV part of our rigs.

ESSENTIAL READING ABOUT RVing IN ALASKA AND CANADA
Alaska By RV, Western Canada By RV, Eastern Canada By RV:
http://www.RVbookstore.com/howens.html. And don't forget the
2003 ALASKA MILEPOST DIRECTORY. If you are headed to Alaska,
Yukon Territory, BC, Alberta or NW Territories, this 55th edition
guidebook is essential. Get info or order.

ENCORE RV PARKS TO OFFER WIRELESS INTERNET SERVICE
TengoInternet, a leading wireless Internet service provider for
the camping and hospitality industries, announced last week that
it will install and operate WiFi services at Encore RV Communities.
Encore manages 31 communities under the brands of Encore
SuperParks and RV Resorts and Sunburst RV Parks in Florida,
California, Texas and Arizona. Read more.

HOME VIDEOS HELP NEW RV OWNERS LEARN TO USE THEIR RIGS
RV Education 101 presents home videos on how to operate everything
on an RV. The VHS videos are very useful to anyone new to RVing.
Read more, view a Quicktime video clip, or order at:
Winterizing Your RV
Class A motorhome video
Class C motorhome video
Trailer/5th wheel video
Pop Up Trailer Video

FLEETWOOD RVs to RIDE ON GOODYEAR TIRES
Fleetwood RV and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company have
announced that Fleetwood will equip its 2004-model RVs with
Goodyear's line of RV tires. More.

Best-selling books and videos about RVing

VIDEO: ROCKY MOUNTAINS BY RV
Visit Yellowstone, Tetons, Glacier and Rocky Mountain Nat. Parks

BUREAU OF RECLAMATION LAKES GUIDE
Learn what to see and do at 250 lakes in the West and Midwest.
Most of these areas have low-cost campgrounds. Only $7.95

ALL ABOUT CLASS A MOTORHOMES
Advice for Class A buyers about rig selection, getting a good deal, and
how to inspect a rig before taking delivery.

The RV Traveler newsletter contains links to sites on the Internet
that are owned and operated by third parties. It is not responsible
for the availability of, or the content located on or through any
such third-party site.

ABOUT THE EDITOR
Chuck Woodbury has been roaming America by RV off and on
for nearly two decades. During that time he published a quirky
travel newspaper about his adventures and for six years was
a member of the stable of writers for the New York Times
Syndicate. Nowadays, he lives near Seattle where he drinks
massive amounts of coffee (required by law) and travels when
he can in his motorhome and sometimes by plane when vast
expanses of saltwater would doom his RV to Titantic-status.

PRIVACY STATEMENT:
We never sell or share any information about our readers or customers with any outside party.

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