July 16, 2019
Welcome to another 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 you.
When you shop at Amazon, would you use one of the links below to do your shopping? We get a tiny commission on what you purchase (which at the end of the month add up to help us pay some bills). Thanks.
When you shop at Amazon, would you use one of the links below to do your shopping? We get a tiny commission on what you purchase (which at the end of the month add up to help us pay some bills). Thanks.
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Today’s Thought
“If you want to conquer fear, don’t sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” — Dale Carnegie
Towing and leveling equipment for your RV? Look here.
You’ll like this new slideout cover from Carefree of Colorado.
Tip of the day
Don’t swat at a wasp nest – or at least be prepared if you do
By veteran RVer Mike Sokol
Don’t swat at a wasp nest in the RV awning with your shoe. But if you do, you might need this topical treatment.
Just a few days ago my wife was helping me move a few things around the yard and I noticed a new wasp nest starting on the edge of the awning. Of course I wanted to be the big, brave husband and swat it with a sandal. Oops … The now angry wasp flew into her hair, then down her shirt and stung her on the belly. She was not happy, and I didn’t earn my wasp warrior badge that day.
But I did find that Benadryl not only comes in liquid and pill forms, there’s also an ointment version as well. And it seemed to work well on slowing down the spread of the big red splotch rapidly growing around the center of the sting mark and stopping the itch.
Now, if you know you’re allergic to bee or hornet stings, you’ll probably be carrying an EpiPen. But if you’re not having a life-threatening allergic reaction to a sting, and you’re also not allergic to Benadryl itself (my mom is), you might want to carry a tube of Benadryl ointment in your camping kit, just in case. Oh, and don’t swat at a wasp nest with your shoe. That’s my big lesson for the day.
Find Benadryl itch stopping cream at any pharmacy, Walmart or, hey, even Amazon.com. 😉
• Sign up for Mike’s monthly RV Electricity Newsletter.
• While you’re at it, be sure to join Mike’s new Facebook group, RV Electricity.
RV club of the day
Winnebago International Travel Club
Anyone who owns a Winnebago RV is eligible to join the WIT Club. And plenty of them do, since the club boasts more than 16,000 members. WIT Club members receive special benefits, gather with other people with similar interests, and travel on a variety of special events called caravans and rallies.
It’s Amazon Prime Day!
Today’s your last chance to shop at Amazon.com during Prime Day — Oh, there are so many great bargains your head will spin! If you can’t find an incredible bargain here on something you want, then, well, you must not need anything. Don’t miss this opportunity to save! Click here for today’s deals!
Reader Poll
Free travel information
Campers Guide to California
This 88-page campground directory is available as a download or as a printed booklet mailed to you. It contains public and private campground information with maps from the beach to the mountains to the desert, from primitive to plush. Hey, it’s free! That’s good!
Oh, if you’re looking for a California campground right now, you might want to check here.
• TRAFFIC AND ROAD CLOSURE INFORMATION.
• ROAD AND TRAFFIC CONDITIONS ACROSS THE NATION.
Quick Tip
Most RVs have areas of wasted space. With a little effort, it’s easy to transform these out-of-the-way places into creative storage spots. And free up space: If something goes unused for a year, get rid of it. Try to make as many areas as possible operate as double duty. Each RV is different; check out each area of yours – you may find even more spaces.
• RVing to Alaska? Let this be your guide.
• “Best Campgrounds,” say some RVers. RV Camping in Corps of Engineers Parks.
Website of the Day
Rainy Mood. Live someplace where it doesn’t rain very much and you yearn for the pitter patter of raindrops on your roof (or head)? Here’s a website to help you enjoy a little rain experience. According to the website, “Millions of people use Rainy Mood while sleeping, studying, and relaxing.”
And the survey says. . .
We’ve polled RVtravel.com readers more than 1,500 times in recent years. Here are a few things we’ve learned about them:
• Forty-nine percent have never stayed overnight in a Walmart parking lot.
• Twelve percent of them have been shocked when touching an RV.
• Fifty-six percent would not stay in a park where marijuana was allowed.
Trivia
In Arizona, it is against the law for donkeys to sleep in bathtubs. And, in case you were thinking about it — don’t try riding your horse up the stairs of the county courthouse in Prescott: It’s against the law.
CLUBS & USEFUL ORGANIZATIONS
PLEASE NOTE: We may receive an affiliate commission if you join any of these.
• Best Club for RVers: Escapees. All RVers welcome, no matter what type of RV, make or model.
• Harvest Hosts: Stay free at farms, wineries and other scenic and peaceful locations for free. Save 15% on membership.
• Overnight RV parking. Directory of more than 14,000 locations where you can stay for free or nearly free with your RV. Modest membership fee.
• Boondockers Welcome. Stay at homes of RVers who welcome you in their driveways, yards, farmland or other space on their private property. Modest membership fee.
• No park Walmarts. Best directory of stores that do not allow overnight stays with RVs
Leave here with a laugh
I went to see the doctor last week. He gave me 6 months to live. So I shot him. Today the judge gave me 20 years. Problem solved.
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.
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RV Daily Tips Staff
Editor and Publisher: Chuck Woodbury. Managing editor: Diane McGovern. Advertising director: Emily Woodbury. Marketing director: Jessica Sarvis. Financial affairs director: Gail Meyring. IT wrangler: Kim Christiansen.
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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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This newsletter is copyright 2019 by RVtravel.com
We live in Huntington Beach CA……
We will take a 20 second earthquake anytime.
Affects small area and it is over quick.
Not weeks and weeks of hurricane/floods.
When preparing to mount a turning block on the deck of a small sailboat, I discovered a small wasp nest under there. My solution to the problem was to stand with a garden hose in one hand and a fly swatter in the other. I would squirt a little water under the deck, and then quickly swat the wasps as they came out. Of course I was a lot younger, faster,, and dumber then.
Did it once when I was a kid. Shoved a stick in a wasp nest and took off running. Hit a guy wire for a tv antenna cross the face and chest, saw my feet straight out front of me. Eight of those little guy got me. I did it once won’t do it again. Just had to try. Many many years ago and still remember it well. Big red welt cross my face and the sting marks on my back. Life was fun.
Another remedy for wasp stings is a piece of cut onion applied to the sting spot. Worked well for me with yellow jacket & red wasp stings. Takes the pain away quickly. But I will try the bleach remedy if needed again.
Wasps – learned from an old country boy, and It works for me. After stung, put a some bleach on a q-tip and dab on the sting. It goes away almost instantly. Old Air Force guy called them B-52s with landing gear down.
Fear of disasters – live in Florida with hurricanes, but lived in Midwest and have seen destruction of tornados. They come out of nowhere with little warning and the destruction is all too often total. The last one with family involved, found personal items 100 miles away.
Enjoy Mother Nature – Don’t argue with her.
California has done everything in their power and imagination to destroy our country and now they want us to visit? Oh my. No thanks.
I have not been able to see the readers pole, all I get is the circle of death . I have tried many times has any one else having any problems?
Oh, and cell towers broken.
We live in Central Oregon. I fear volcano. Also heat wave, blizzard, interruption of irrigation systems.
My son in law sprayed hornet spray on the vinyl siding of his house and it melted the siding. Try it somewhere inconspicuous before using it full bore.
Wife is still laughing about today’s joke?
fear? i don’t fear any of them. fear is a very specific word describing an emotion. i’ve been in a fatal fire..prison hospital fire as a guard not a prisoner – ;o), tornado twice…once as a kid and again outrunning one on I-65 south if birmingham, and in college i experienced an earthquake on the top floor of a 13-story bldg. i don’t want to repeat any of that but i don’t live in fear of of them. all of them are a concern but it’s pointless to live in fear.
I really don’t fear any of those natural disasters. We live too close to the mountains to worry too much about tornadoes, too high on the hill to worry about flooding, don’t live any where near a fault line, nowhere near a coast for hurricane, and too much in the city for a wildfire to be an issue (although it can happen). Now, if blizzard had been on the list, it would have been an easy choice.
The Rocky Mountains start at the end of my road and I can see Long’s Peak at 14.2k’ too. imagine our surprise when a F-3/4 [still debating] passed 2/3 miles south of my house and damaged our home and barn. Also almost got hit one night in another location/state in a narrow mountain valley that wrecked 2 buildings. Just saying….
And why in the world would you fear a blizzard??
I keep couple of cans of wasp spray on hand – stuff is cheap and sprays at least six feet away – works excellent – better than a sandal too!
Yeah, yeah, yeah…. Now you tell me.
And in the news it says druggies are using wasp spray as an alternative to meth. OMG!!! 😯 (I guess it’s been going on for awhile but I just read about it.) —Diane at RVtravel.com