Issue 1067 • March 14, 2019
Welcome to another fabulous edition of RV Travel’s Daily Tips newsletter. Here, you’ll find helpful RV-related, and small-space living, tips from the pros, travel advice, a handy website of the day, our favorite RVing-related products and, of course, a good laugh. Thanks for joining us. We appreciate your readership.
If you shop at Amazon, would you use one of the links below to do your shopping? The link in the blue bar above also works. Thanks.
U.S. shoppers: Shop at Amazon.com
Canadian shoppers: Shop at Amazon.ca
QUICK TIPS
Looking for boondock spots? Two great resources!
The folks at the Wheeling It blog recommend these two resources for folks looking for public lands to boondock on: “Benchmark Maps: My first (and still absolute best IMHO) resource for finding public land areas are the Benchmark Map Series. They are sold by state and each one has a ‘recreation’ section which offers lovely color-coded public land boundary maps. The maps won’t list which specific office manages the area, but they’ll identify which agency (e.g. BLM or National Forest) manages the land, what the exact boundary of the area is, the roads within and what it’s called.
“US Public Lands App: My supporting resource for finding public land is the US Public Lands App (iPhone/iPad/Android). This is kind of like an electronic version of the paper maps, but with the added benefit of a satellite underlay. Using this app I can easily scan an area to see if there’s any public land and identify which agency manages it. Plus I can zoom to road level and scan the satellite image for additional details. Pretty darn cool!
“You could do pretty much all of your boondocking planning just with these two resources alone, but as a newbie, I always recommend getting more details so that you know the conditions, rules and any specific issues or regulations for the area you want to visit. So, once you’ve figured out the type of public land you want to visit, the next battle is getting more details on the area.” More suggestions here.
Camco’s kitchenware for RVers is absolutely adorable.
We want it all! Check out the whole collection here to see for yourself.
MORE QUICK TIPS
Rig too heavy? Now what?
“Okay, so in weighing your RV you found out you have too much stuff. Now what? It’s time to go through everything and see what you haven’t used in a while. Every six months I go through my rig and get rid of unused items. Over the past four years, we have shed lots of pounds doing this. As full-time RVers, it’s easy to get overloaded quickly. Once you determine what you need and what can go, you can reload your RV. Keep your heavy items lower in the rig and lighter ones up higher. Loading this way will reduce sway while on the road. As far as load distribution on either side, you can make a quick determination by measuring road clearances on either side of the RV. If you are one inch lower on one side than the other you have a good idea that you need to move things around. You should go and reweigh your rig to see if you accomplished your goal.” Thanks to Franz and Hilga Williams on everything-about-rving.com
De-winterizing tips
Spring is almost here! Depending on how your unit was winterized it will need to be de-winterized. If you used non-toxic RV antifreeze you need to run fresh water through the entire system until the antifreeze is gone. To remove it from the 12-volt water pump, add water to the fresh water holding tank, turn the pump on and open all water faucets. When antifreeze is out of the system, turn the pump off and take the water heater out of the by-pass mode (if applicable). Re-install any water filter cartridges you removed for storage. Tip from Mark Polk, RV Education 101.
Do you have a tip? Send it to Russ (at) rvtravel.com
You’ve probably had a root beer float before, but have you had a campfire root beer float? Check out this yummy-looking recipe here.Â
WEBSITE OF THE DAY
Transfer cars and RVs across the U.S.Â
From Transfercar, a vehicle relocation service designed to allow you to drive a free car or RV and to save rental companies money. Companies using Transfercar include Budget, Advantage, El Monte RV and Road Bear RV Rentals.
Check out the long list of great RVing-related websites from RVtravel.com.
Stay for free at more than 700 wineries and farms
With a Harvest Hosts membership, you can stay overnight at more than 700 wineries, farms, breweries, etc., for free! Harvest Hosts offers an alternative to traditional campgrounds, where members can meet interesting people, taste great wines, eat fresh produce and stay in peaceful settings. (RVtravel.com recently stayed in a blueberry orchard.) Save 15 percent by using code HHFRIENDS15 at checkout. Learn more.
LEAVE HERE WITH A LAUGH
Today’s Daily Deals at Amazon.com
Best-selling RV products and Accessories at Amazon.com. UPDATED HOURLY.
Did you miss the latest RV Travel Newsletter? If so, read it here.
Become a Member!
This newsletter is brought to you Monday through Thursday by RVtravel.com and is funded primarily through voluntary subscription contributions from our readers. Thank you! IF YOU APPRECIATE THIS NEWSLETTER and others from RVtravel.com, will you please consider pledging your support? Even a single contribution of $10 or $20 is appreciated. Many readers set up an ongoing contribution, typically $5 to $10 a month. Your contributions make it possible for us to produce more than 250 highly informative newsletters every year. Learn more or contribute.
Join us: Facebook • Twitter • YouTube.
RV Daily Tips Staff
Editor and Publisher: Chuck Woodbury. Managing editor: Diane McGovern. Contributing writers: Russ De Maris, Bob Difley, Gary Bunzer, Roger Marble, Mike Sokol, Greg Illes, J.M. Montigel and Andrew Robinson. Advertising director: Emily Woodbury. Marketing director: Jessica Sarvis. IT wrangler: Kim Christiansen.
ADVERTISE on RVtravel.com and/or in this newsletter. Contact Emily Woodbury at advertising(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.
Mail us at 9792 Edmonds Way, #265, Edmonds, WA 98020.
This newsletter is copyright 2019 by RVtravel.com
I buried a small dog in our backyard. Covered the site with some flat pond rocks so my next dog wouldn’t dig him up. Don’t laugh, it happened to the neighbor.
Did I miss something? Where’s the contest to win a DRONE?!
Randy, you’re commenting in the RV Daily Tips Newsletter from Thursday. The drone contest is in today’s RV Travel Newsletter. (I’m just guessing that might be why you don’t see it.) 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
We had two beloved beagles. Each was cremated after dying. The two containers are currently stored in our basement with other memorabilia. We don’t have the courage to toss the small containers, so our daughter has offered to add them to her quartet of small containers from her four dogs. She has said she will likely bury all six in a mass grave in her backyard after we are gone.
My Dobies cremains are buried at my flag pole.
We made a box out of treated wood and put her favorite toy and blanket in with her. Tilly was buried under the tree in our backyard. We moved and dug her up and took her to our new home.
A few years later we were adding on to the house and dug her up again. This time we moved her to our wooded property up north and put a headstone up for her. We visit whenever we go up.
After all that work we decided to cremate the others. ?
All of our animals have been cremated and buried in a pet cemetery. A lot of them in 55+ years. Still have 2 cats, hopefully we will outlive them. Then no more pets..
I don’t want to outlive our old cat,no one could love her like we do.
When we traveled throughout England and visited numerous castles, we noticed that they each had pet graveyards going back 100 + years. It was impressive in that they cared for their pets.
This is not about pets! This is about the de-wintering tip. Be sure to sanitize your fresh water system before installing (reinstalling) your water filter! So filters do not like the heavy concentration of NAOH that we use.
What a depressing question to ask.
For rural folks who have not only “pets” but working animals (stock dogs, barn cats) it’s simply a fact of life. Following unfortunate accident or old age, we (and neighboring families) would inter our named friends in a place of respect. While touring with a realtor showing wife & I possible homes when we first came to this island, we found one home with a home-made headstone in a grave circle, carefully tended at the base of a huge fir tree in the corner of the back yard. It was a former owner’s pet, whose name was carved into the cedar slab. Everyone since had respected and tended the site. Wife & I were deeply touched, recalling fond memories of our own.
Teary-eyed after reading this, Graybyrd. Thank you for the touching and uplifting story. 🙂 —Diane at RVtravel.com
Long ago and another life, I owned a very large Monkey. After he passed from a human type Pneumonia, we decided to bury him in the backyard near his favorite tree. I been gone from that area now for over 50 years, but still think about the startled looks if they ever dig up that tree.
Does the app RV trip wizard exist on the Apple platform. I can’t seem to find it in the App Store, I looked at the demo, it looks great
I dont think it is an app, you go to their website and register/join and ust the website to plan your trips. I like using it, works well for me
DO you know how I would send trip plan from computer to my 2013 Rand Mcnally GPS. Have used Good Sam Trip Planner that does this real easy but… They are taking it down 10 April for revamping. Do you also know if RV trip Wizard will allow you to plan a trip by saying you want to travel 250 miles a day ? Thanks
Hi, Ron, Richard is correct. RV Trip Wizard isn’t an app, it’s a website. You can sign up for the demo on the website and go from there. Enjoy! –Emily
Can a ex be concidered a pet ?
Good one Tex….
Don’t shoot the dogs——SHOOT THE OWNERS
Nobody is talking about shooting anything.
I said no in the poll but we do have the cremated remains of two cats buried in our yard. I can’t tell you how many pets my wife has had cremated and are buried in previous yards that we owned.
too many pets have died. Brings tears every time.
I just lost a pet cat she was only 7 but the neighbors dogs jumped fence and chased all the other feral cats that are around they managed to get away but my baby was short legged and had some hip issues was chased down and killed in her own backyard. I called animal control they picked up the dogs they didn’t seem to care that my CAT was killed. I know most people don’t like cats but it still was my baby I bottle fed her because the mother cat abandoned her. The neighbor got her dogs back the next day payed a fee for them getting out of her yard and blamed me for calling animal control. They never got in trouble for the dogs having no collars or id on them either.
I forgot to add she was buried in my animal graveyard. years from now when they dig up around my place they will find everything from dogs cats and turtles
We lost 2 of our beloved Dogs (our kids) last year! One was a 21 year old (yes you read it right, he was 21) and just became worn out and we had to put him down. Our other child was 16 and after we lost the 1st one, was obviously so devastating to her emotionally, we had to say good bye to her too. Both of our Kids were graciously buried at our VETS Office and we had Granite Headstones made for each of them. We have one little 10 year old remaining and I hope she can live out a long life, despite her vision handicap. I didn’t mention, but, all of our Kids are and were Shiz Tzus.
Anyone who loves their pets, know it is incredibly difficult having to say goodbye!