Page Contents
Issue 1015 • December 10, 2018
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QUICK TIPS
Make 911 calls with a disconnected cell phone, but beware
Did you know you can make an emergency 911 phone call even if your phone has no service plan? So it’s a good idea to keep an old phone around in the rare case you might need it. But keep in mind, the 911 operator cannot trace the location of a call from a disconnected phone. So always know where you are.
*Just a note: Some older phones don’t have GPS technology in them to make it possible for 911 operators to know a location. However, any phone with GPS technology, currently associated with an account or not, still transmits GPS locator info to 911 dispatchers. It’s just that phones not associated with a cell provider don’t have a number where they can be called back. So if the connection is lost with dispatch, it’s up to the guy with the phone to call dispatch back – they won’t be able to call you.
Cut down on meal prep time
Cook one-dish meals before your boondocking trips and freeze in heavy-duty, reclosable plastic bags. Preparing these meals in your campsite will cut down on meal preparation time, reduce pots and pans used, and shorten cleanup time. Reheat the meals in your oven, in a pot of boiling water (save the water to wash dishes), or in the microwave. You will also save water used for washing dishes, less water will go into your gray water tank, and you will have more time to go out and play instead of cook. You can find Bob Difley’s RVing e-books on Amazon Kindle.
MORE QUICK TIPS
Cleanup station handy after tank dumping
“I put this cleanup station on the inside of the door to the compartment where my water pump and filter and water hoses go. The blue box contains wet wipes, and the hand cleaner is upside down when opened but is right side up when closed and not in use. It is held on with Velcro and is turned around when in use. This compartment is above my connections where a shower hose is available for use.” From modmyrv.com.
Facts on RV value and depreciation
A new RV drops in value by around 20 percent when new annual models are released, and another 10-15 percent when you drive it off of the lot. No one pays the list price for an RV. It just isn’t done and you expect to pay less. In fact, you should expect the dealer to offer a new RV to you at a discount of at least 5 percent up to as much as 25 percent before you even try to get the best deal. On average, by the end of the sixth year of an RV’s life, you can expect your RV to be worth about half of what it cost new.
Depreciation of an RV stops when the depreciated value equals its estimated scrap value. A 20-year-old Winnebago, Bounder, or one of the popular brands of motorhomes can still be worth as much as $4,000 to $6,000 if it is in “good” to “excellent” condition. The rare Classic RVs will actually stop depreciating eventually and begin appreciating in value at some point in their lifetime if they are rare enough and have been kept in excellent condition. Economic conditions and fuel prices are the two most prominent causes of large changes in the depreciated values of an RV, especially the larger models of motorhomes.
–From The Ultimate RV Owners Reference.
Do you have a tip? Send it to Russ (at) rvtravel.com
Our favorite holiday gifts for the RVer:
- This adorable campfire stove ornamentÂ
- This customizable RV cutting board
- This cactus-shaped lamp, sure to please the desert-lover
- This large and mysterious air freshener
- This hilarious mug for the photographer in your life
- And this sign that makes us laugh every time
Website of the day
National Parks Traveler
This independent site has great (not to mention unique) information about our National Parks. For example, read an article about all the people who have gone missing and never been found in the parks, or how the devil has played a role in naming famous park monuments. Interesting, huh?
Check out the long list of great RVing-related websites from RVtravel.com.
Funny bumper sticker:
I’m still a hot babe, but now it comes in flashes.
Today’s Daily Deals at Amazon.com
Best-selling RV products and Accessories at Amazon.com.Â
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RV Daily Tips Staff
Editor and Publisher: Chuck Woodbury. Managing editor: Diane McGovern. Staff writer: Emily Woodbury. Contributing writers: Russ De Maris, Bob Difley, Gary Bunzer, Roger Marble, Mike Sokol, Greg Illes, J.M. Montigel and Andrew Robinson. Advertising coordinator: Gail Meyring. Marketing director: Jessica Sarvis. IT wrangler: Kim Christiansen.
ADVERTISE on RVtravel.com and/or in this newsletter. Contact Gail Meyring at Gail(at)RVtravel.com .
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.
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My first airplane ride was courtesy of the Civil Air Patrol. I changed from a Boy Scout Uniform to a CAP uniform. About age 15–16; we flew in a C-45 to Winnipeg for a parade with the Canadian wing. At 17.5 I changed the CAP uniform for an Air Force uniform and served in the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve – total service over 42.5 years. I also earned a Commercial Pilot Certif with an Instrument Rating and also a Ground Instructor Ticket. So, that first ride with CAP basically changed the course of my life – along with about a million other events! Now I love Rving and my flying is on my computer games!
I think I was 9 or 10 and we had flown up from PA to NY to attend many brother’s wedding. In fact, I was a Jr Bridesmaid, a fact I was very proud of. I do remember going down the stairs exiting the plane (no enclosed ramps in that day and age!)…and as soon as my feet hit terre firma, and in front of all the people watching people unload, I promptly threw up all over the place!
I was about 4 or 5 when my dad and I took a five-minute excursion flight around Madison, WI. To me, the most interesting thing about it was that it was in a Ford Trimotor.
If I remember what my mother said I was I think 1 or 2. I have two airline pins.
My Dad took my brother and I on a flight in a Cessna 172 when I was around 10 or so and I made up my mind then to become an airline pilot and did………always loved it.
My Dad, an Air National Guard fighter pilot at the time, had us flying before we could ride a bike!
I was 20 years old,in college and was in talks with a Navy recruiter about joining the Navy as a Naval Aviator. He offer me an orientation flight in a Navy T-28 trainer. I went to The Jacksonville Naval Air Station we I flew around the Jacksonville and Jacksonville Beach area foe about an hour. It was the most exciting experience I ever had up till then. After graduation from College, I joined the Navy and attended flight school in Pensacola, Fl.
First airplane flight…age 18 on the way to Vietnam,Republic of for the jungle games.
Thanks for your service.
Welcome home troop!
My first airplane flight was when I think I was about 19. A friend of a friend (also about my age) just got his pilots license. He told my friend and me that if we all chipped in we could rent a plane for a couple hours and go flying. Hey, why not? I was “young and dumb and full of”, well you know the rest. So off we go, flying with a complete stranger about my age. This was in the Chicago area too. Not a lot of emergency landing sites (as far as I knew).
Obviously we made it out alive, but looking back, WHAT WAS I THINKING?