Welcome to the RVtravel.com newsletter. Be sure to check out all our other RV-related newsletters.
Saturday, March 16, 2024
Issue 1148
Members edition
NEW FACEBOOK GROUP: RVing State Parks
Featured articles
Is your car spying on you? Insurance companies sell your driving data, revealing your every move
Russ and Tiña De Maris
In an era where privacy feels like a distant memory, your car may be the latest accomplice in the surveillance game. The days of George Orwell’s telescreens may have passed, but the rise of interconnected technology has ushered in a new era of surveillance—this time from within your vehicle. Reports abound of individuals facing exorbitant insurance premiums despite pristine driving records. The culprit? Data brokers tapping into the treasure trove of information stored within your car’s computer systems. Learn more.
The Dyrt’s 2024 report reveals surprising new trends and wake-up calls for campground owners
By Andy Zipser
Step beyond the surface of camping statistics in The Dyrt’s recently released 2024 Camping Report. Compiled from a diverse array of sources from campers to campground managers across all 50 states, this report offers a comprehensive snapshot of the camping landscape and how it’s changing. Amidst the hype of record-breaking camping numbers, a deeper narrative emerges. Yes, 2023 saw an unprecedented 84.8 million campers hitting the trails, but the story doesn’t end there. Read this compelling report.
GEICO avoids class action in lawsuit over pandemic premiums
By Randall Brink
In a legal showdown, GEICO emerges unscathed from a high-stakes lawsuit alleging pandemic-era overcharging. Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman’s ruling sends shockwaves through the insurance industry, sparking debates on consumer rights and corporate accountability. But why did the court decision leave plaintiffs in the lurch? And what does this mean for policyholders nationwide? Find out here.
The latest Starlink Roam news for the week of March 11, 2024
By Randall Brink
Starlink revolutionizes connectivity with a significant latency reduction, enhancing user experiences globally. Also, Starship achieves major milestones in its third test, showcasing successful engine startups, stage separations, and more. Plus, SpaceX gains FCC approval for high-frequency radio waves, paving the way for expanded broadband capacity. Explore the full story for the latest in space internet innovation.
Campground Crowding (and more!)
RVer claims weekend campers are the problem; plus, the difference in amenities and space at RV resorts and state parks
RV sales have slowed and fewer people are buying RVs than has been the recent trend. Has that changed campground crowding? This week, Nanci Dixon relates your comments on ongoing difficulties obtaining reservations, even when hitting the button at the earliest time possible; complaints of weekend campers trashing campsites; and the observation that you get your choice between privacy or amenities, depending on the type of park. Plus, more complaints of higher campsite prices, and a couple of tips to save money on them.
RV Tours
Tour the 2024 Entegra Arc Class B—small motorhome, big features
By Cheri Sicard
In the video below we join Gabby of RVs with Gabby for a tour of a small motorhome with big features, the 2024 Entegra Arc. I like the large rear wet bath with plenty of room for the cassette toilet, shower, and a large closet and three drawers. There is even a fold-up sink so you don’t have to use the one in the kitchen. Speaking of the kitchen, it features a portable induction cooktop, microwave oven, and a 3-cubic-foot refrigerator/freezer.
More RVing News
While January was a dismal month in terms of new RV sales, there still had to be “winners” in that slow horse race. The top-selling travel trailer for the month may just surprise you. See what January’s #1 best-selling travel trailer was by clicking here.
Thor’s EV RV revolution begins! In a groundbreaking move towards the electrification of RVs, EV truck manufacturer Harbinger Motors has just handed over the inaugural customer chassis to Thor’s Indiana-based research and development facility. This significant milestone marks the beginning of Thor’s endeavor to construct Class A living quarters atop these electric vehicle platforms. Click here to learn more.
Buy your RV from Blue Compass RV? You could see big gas savings. RVers who buy a rig from a Blue Compass dealership could see big savings when they fill up at Love’s. Examples include 20 cents off a gallon of diesel, or 13 cents off gasoline. The incentive-to-buy program put out by Blue Compass features exclusive discounts touting “the largest discount offered from Love’s for any RV dealership group.” Here’s the breakdown of discounts.
If the idea of self-driving cars sharing your roadway gives you the willies, you’re not alone. Self-driving car anxiety, says auto group AAA, isn’t getting any better. AAA recently surveyed U.S. drivers about their feelings on autonomous autos. A huge number expressed fear about the rigs. The fear of self-driving cars spiked in 2023, and it hasn’t come down.
Until 2015, Family Dollar was the second-largest chain of stores of its type. With 8,000 locations across the Lower 48, it’s hard to RV anywhere without running into one of them. But Family Dollar’s parent company, Dollar Tree, says almost 1,000 of the merchandise-crowded stores will close in the next three years. Your Family Dollar shrinks!
Police in Britain’s North Yorkshire got a bit of a shock when they got their man. Last week reports came in regarding a stolen travel trailer towed by a BMW. It wasn’t too difficult to locate. But when pulled over, surprise! They got themselves an 11-year-old RV thief. Did the pre-teen have help with the heist? You put the evidence together. Not only did the towing rig have “cloned” plates, there were several other stolen plates found inside. And the youthful crook was also found to have other car theft tools. Read more about this here.
Horror movie or real life? Real life! It makes you want to snowbird in Florida. 500 pounds of pythons were recently found near Naples, Florida. The “mating ball”—either the stuff of a horror movie or some weird erotica—contained 11 pythons, with one longer than 16 feet. Yikes is an understatement!
The latest report on RV sales shows a continuing nosedive. RV industry watcher Statistical Surveys Inc. has released its January 2024 report on the subject. As in December, so it was in January: RV retail sales sagged. Here’s the complete sales breakdown for the U.S. market.
Zion National Park officials want your input. The highly favored Utah park has seen many more visitors and plenty of changes on how they use the park recently. Add in aging infrastructure, and Park Service staff are getting a bit worried. It’s time to make some improvements—with your advice in mind.
Looking for a campground while exploring the bayou country? Louisiana has a new state campground at Cypremort Point State Park in St. Mary Parish. The park is parked on Vermillion Bay, at the end of State Route 319. Visitors launch boats here, fish, spot lots of wildlife and stroll a half-mile beach. It is one of the few spots along the Gulf coastline accessible by road. So, what more could you ask for, but a new 22-site campground?
If you’ve any plans to see South Dakota’s Wind Cave National Park, readjust your hard hat and listen up. Wind Cave tours will shut down May 1 and not reopen until the park’s elevator system is replaced. The original CCC-built elevator system has never been rebuilt, but was cobbled together over the years. It’s not such a bad idea that they fix it… Read more about the project here.
Don’t miss out on the latest, breaking news for RVers!
Stay up to date with the news! Get the latest news about RVing every weekday afternoon straight to your inbox. Sign up to receive these timely emails here. (You can easily unsubscribe if you wish.)
Don’t want to sign up? Don’t worry. This newsletter isn’t going anywhere. Continue reading this newsletter every Saturday for a recap of the latest news for RVers.
Saturday Giveaway!
How would you like to win these lantern-style outdoor string lights?
How to win
We’ll select a winner at random out of all entries we receive today (March 16, 2024) by 7 p.m. Pacific Time. Remember, you can only enter once and after we notify you by email via RVcontests@gmail.com that you won, you have 24 hours to respond or we’ll give the prize to someone else.
Click here to enter or see last week’s winner!
Reader poll
Do you always wear your seatbelt while driving your RV or tow vehicle?
Latest fuel prices
Here are the latest U.S. average prices per gallon of gasoline and diesel fuel as of March 11, 2024:
Regular unleaded gasoline: $3.38
Change from week before: Up 3 cents; Change from year before: Down 8 cents.
Diesel: $4.00
Change from week before: Down 2 cents; Change from year before: Down 24 cents.
For fuel prices for specific regions, states, and cities, go to U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Brain Teaser
I am flat as a leaf, and as round as a ring. I have eyes, but cannot see a thing. What am I?
(Answer in tomorrow’s Sunday RV Travel newsletter. And please don’t spoil it for other readers by posting the answer in the comments.)
Upcoming RV shows
Click here for a directory of upcoming shows.
Recipe of the Day
Best Reuben Sandwich
by Susan Bartley from Beaverton, OR
This Reuben sandwich recipe is very hearty. When you take one bite of the buttery grilled rye bread, the hot sliced corned beef with melted cheese, tangy sauerkraut, and Thousand Island dressing, you’re in sandwich heaven. Pick up sliced corned beef from the deli or use homemade St. Patrick’s Day corned beef. Either way, this recipe for the best Reuben sandwich is a winner.
Trivia
The “corn” in corned beef refers to the large grains of salt, called “corns,” that were historically used to cure the beef. This method of preservation gave the meat its distinctive flavor and texture. So, despite its name, corned beef has nothing to do with corn but rather with the salt used in its preparation.
Laugh of the Week
Today in History
RVtravel.com All Star Team
Publisher: Chuck Woodbury. Editor: Emily Woodbury. Associate editor: Diane McGovern. Senior editors: Russ and Tiña De Maris. Senior writers: Nanci Dixon, Gail Marsh, Dave Solberg and Cheri Sicard. Contributors: Roger Marble, Dave Helgeson, J.R. Montigel, Randall Brink, Dustin Simpson, Dale Wade, and Tony Barthel. Financial affairs director: Gail Meyring. IT wrangler: Kim Christiansen. Director of Video: Keith Ward. Social Media staff: Gary Pratt. Mascots: Archie and Astor “the Disaster”
Everything in this newsletter is true to the best of our knowledge. But we occasionally get something wrong. We’re just human! So don’t go spending $10,000 on something we said was good simply because we said so, or fixing something according to what we suggested (check with your own technician first). Maybe we made a mistake. Tips and/or comments in this newsletter are those of the authors and may not reflect the views of RVtravel.com or this newsletter.
RVtravel.com is a participant in many affiliate programs, including the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Regardless of the potential revenue, unless stated otherwise, we only recommend products or services we believe provide value to our readers.
CONTACT US
Editorial (all but news): editor@rvtravel.com
Editorial (news): chuck@rvtravel.com
Help desk: Contact us.
Mail us at 9792 Edmonds Way, #265, Edmonds, WA 98020
This newsletter is copyright 2024 by RV Travel LLC.
I contribute periodically to the RVTravel newsletter but adamantly refuse to click on the utterly annoying pop up ads. Static ads are not so annoying. If more of us contribute will the pop ups and video ads go away? Sometimes I get fed up and quit reading.
I echo your concern and have quit reading the daily newsletter. If this continues I will not renew my subscription
What Linda and Bob M said. Since switching to the web browser application DuckDuckGo, I have not seen a single advertisement.
I switched to DuckDuckGo and it made a HUGE difference.
I use DuckDuckgo and have no popup ads
I am a subscriber and can hardly read the newsletter because of the ads, mainly video ads. Find that when I am trying to read on my iPhone it is almost impossible and I just quit.
Try using Firefox with DuckDuckGo.
Maybe it’s me but every time I select a subtopic from the daily newsletter, the browser returns to the top of the newsletter rather than where I was prior to the subtopic. Very annoying.
Hi. I have the same issue on my apple phone. Use the back < and every time now it takes me back to the beginning of the newsletter. I know you are working out new software but this one fix would really help make reading easier and more enjoyable.
Laugh of the week is a great one!
Laugh of the Week is in poor taste!
It’s sad when St. Patrick’s Day is acknowledged with a tired stereotype of drunk Irish people. The original parades for the day were started in eastern cities when the Irish were being discriminated against, to show dignity and pride. And to celebrate one of the greatest Christian evangelists who ever lived. For over a hundred years they have continued, and we wear the green, partly to celebrate living in a country where we could wear the green without retribution. But yeah, let’s make fun of the Irish, that’ll be ‘funny’.
You and Mr Stansbury have opposing opinions. Serious question, where do you suppose this stereotype of the Irish came from?
It was a common thing in the English press centuries ago to portray ‘Paddy’ as a grotesque caricature to be mocked. Perhaps they liked feeling superior to people in the ‘colonies’ they captured.
Thanks for the explanation!! So it appears that poking people because you can…isn’t a new pastime.
Thanks for the mini history lesson. I didn’t find the laugh of the day humorous either & didn’t know this. I don’t find making fun of any race funny tho.
I love wearing orange on March 17th
Now you’re just poking the Leprechaun…😂
I do not get popup ads. I use Firefox, DuckDuckGo browser and AdBlocker. I also contribute regularly.
They just broke ground on a second Dollar General in Quartzsite, almost right across the street from the Family Dollar.
Good to know!
Hey Chuck, as a paid subscriber for the weekend newsletters I don’t get the ads unless I click to read an article. Then there are ads jumping in and popping up that make reading the article difficult because the size of the page changes with different ads. In addition, the banner ad across the bottom takes up a lot of reading space on my IPad. On top of all that there are some ads that cause the page to crash. I realize ads are necessary for this publication to continue to exist but could the company you are using at least screen their content to be sure it doesn’t cause glitches? I’m a big fan of RVT and hope you continue to provide your excellent content.
Screening the ads is up to you .. use Google to find out how to set your device to block ads. Some of the comments in this article mention how if you use Chrome as your OS.
Bill, I use Firefox and I don’t have an ad problem.
For some reason I thought if you contributed to the newsletter there were no ads, but that’s definitely not the case. Considering other options for my RV information.
Hi, Dave. Thank you for your contribution. The records show that you’re receiving the members edition of the two weekend newsletters. However, the posts that are linked in there, as well as any other newsletters, still contain ads, since we don’t have the staff or time to produce two versions of everything we publish. Anyplace we mention contributing, it specifically states the two weekend newsletters are ad-free for members. Have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Thank you, Emily and Diane! Have a great weekend! 🙂
I use a Chrome browser extension that blocks pop-ups not originating from the same web domain. Likewise, it blocks most connections that attempt to track my browsing habits across the web. That leaves the display of advertisers that work like billboards and help support the web site’s operational costs without blocking that web site’s contents or violating my privacy.
When I click on the newsletter, it opens in a very small size. I have to expand it to read it. The same thing happens with every article I click on to read. Annoying.
Me too.
With 18 years of RVing (8 years fulltime) it is indeed sad to see the way “weekenders” act. I know folks want to “unwind” and relax, but staying outside by their campfire drinking & getting loud till 1am (the park may have quiet hours, buy they could care less) is just disrespectful. Can’t count the times a football bounced off the side of my RV early in the morning. At 7:30 am, while cooking breakfast outside, a woman yelled to her kids “Do you want bacon or sausage?” The worst is when 4-6 RVs caravan in and they blast music, out door TVs playing cartoons and the late night sounds that just never stop. Geeeeeezzzz. The best days in a RV park are Sunday afternoon till Friday afternoon.
I’ve been using Adblocker for 3+ years. I had it disabled for RVtravel but once I Activated it for RVTravel site all the crazy ads stopped. I understand why RVT is doing this but too many ads ruined the newsletter.
Do you receive the “Members Edition”? (Look at the masthead, just under the “Issue Number” line.
I do, and I don’t have any significant number of distracting ads. Possibly, if you don’t, you might consider a small donation to avoid the ads.