Wednesday, October 16, 2019
Welcome to another edition of RV Travel’s Daily Tips newsletter. Here you’ll find helpful RV-related and living tips from the pros, travel advice, a handy website of the day, tips on our favorite RVing-related products and, of course, a good laugh. Thanks for joining us. We appreciate you. Please tell your friends about us.
If you are not already receiving an email reminder about each new issue of this newsletter, sign up here.
Today’s thought
Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day. —Alice Morse Earle
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is Global Cat Day!
DID YOU MISS THE BRAND-NEW SUNDAY “NEWS EDITION” OF RVTRAVEL.COM? If so, it’s right here.
Tip of the Day
Easy way to keep cupboard contents in place
If you are new to RVing, you likely haven’t yet filled up all your overhead cupboards. If you are full-timing, it’s hard to limit yourself to what comes aboard in the early stages.
But until that time when you have to start eliminating stuff, your cupboards and other lockers — especially the overhead ones — can be the source of flying objects when you open the door after a long day of driving. You may forget to consider this, since it doesn’t happen at home — unless you live in earthquake country.
To protect your noggin, stuff your extra pillows, blankets, throws or cushions into your partially-full storage areas to keep everything in place while driving. Once they are quite full, screw in a hook on each side of the storage area and stretch a tight bungee cord between the hooks. This will keep contents in place, no matter how rough the road.
Do you have a tip? Submit it here.
An unusual “on the road” hobby for an RVer
When you pass by this RVer’s campsite, you’ll do a double-take. Watch the video.
Reader poll
Get rid of your RV’s P-trap. Look here.
An honest RV dealer (and one of our sponsors). Click to learn more.
Helpful resources
• NATIONAL TRAFFIC AND ROAD CLOSURE INFORMATION.
• ROAD AND TRAFFIC CONDITIONS ACROSS THE NATION.
• WEATHER ALERTS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
• CURRENT WILDFIRE REPORT.
• LATEST RV RECALLS.
Did you buy a lemon RV? Here’s more about RV lemons and lawyers who will represent you if you need help.
Don’t take a break on your brakes!
Every RVer needs one of these!
Wonder what it would be like to have your brakes go out while you’re going down a long, steep grade? You might find out if your brake fluid is moisture-contaminated. Water in brake fluid boils and can wipe out your braking ability! Buy yourself a brake-fluid tester for less than $10 that warns you if there’s too much water in your fluid. Simply dip the tester into your rig’s brake fluid and you’ll be able to see where you stand. Learn more or order.
Quick Tip
“Leak season is upon us”
The rainy season is on the way for most of us. And we can’t say it enough, so we’ll say it again: Get up on your RV’s roof today and check for any potential cracks or small holes where water could seep into your rig. Water intrusion is one of the worst things that can happen to an RV, especially if the leak is not caught before it begins to rot the wooden frame or in extreme cases grow mold. Visit YouTube and type in “RV leak maintenance” and you will find many videos that show you how to identify and then repair leaks.
Random RV Thought
Don’t feed wild animals. When you feed a wild animal, it could become dependent on human food instead of looking for food as nature intended. When winter comes and the tourists are gone, the animal could starve to death.
If you need a gift for an RVer, you’ll find hundreds of cute ideas here.
Website of the day
Photographic proof that fall is the best time to visit our National Parks
Why are so many National Parks busy in the summer? These photographs are proof that fall is the best time to visit our beautiful National Parks, not summer! Get your gawking glasses on and take a look through these stunning photos.
Popular articles you may have missed at RVtravel.com
• Onboard pump forcing fresh water out the water inlet – Help!
• Does RVer need a course in RV mechanics?
#861F
- Camco Water Bandit connects standard water hose to various water sources. Click.
- Camco 90-Degree Hose Elbow eliminates stress/strain on RV water intake hose fittings. Click.
- Camco Plastic Water Pressure Regulator prevents damage to RV water hoses and pumps. Click.
Trivia
The 3 Musketeers candy bar was originally split into three pieces with three different flavors: vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. When the other flavors became harder to come by during World War II, Mars decided to stick with all chocolate.
Leave here with a laugh
This video titled “Me giving directions to strangers” has us laughing pretty hard. It’s pretty darn accurate. Click here to play on Facebook.
Join us: Facebook • Twitter • YouTube • RVillage
Check out our Facebook Groups: RV Horror Stories • RV Advice • RV Electricity • RV Parks with Storm Shelters • RV Buying Advice • Northwest RV Camping • Southwest RV Camping and NEW RV Crashes and Disasters.
Did you miss the latest RV Travel Newsletter? If so, read it here.
Become a Member!
This newsletter is brought to you Monday through Friday 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? Learn more or contribute.
RV Daily Tips Staff
Editor and Publisher: Chuck Woodbury. Managing editor: Emily Woodbury. Senior editor: Diane McGovern. Marketing director: Jessica Sarvis. Financial affairs director: Gail Meyring. IT wrangler: Kim Christiansen.
REGIONAL AND LOCAL ADVERTISING: We can now run banners on RVtravel.com in your town or in a designated area near you, for example to readers within 100, 200, etc., miles of your business. Learn more here.
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 find that lightweight plastic basket and bins from the $ store work beautifully to organize cabinets and keep things from falling out They also eliminate bungee cords
2 things: 1. why would one want to keep making pennies when it cost the government (Which is you And I ) more money to make just one penny.
2. Doesn’t it get a little absurd to stuff blankets pillows or whatever into a cabinet. Don’t over fill them, quit taking more than you actually need. I don’t know but bungee cording, blankets pillows just isn’t worth it. Living like the people during the depression era and carry as much as you can using ropes and whatever to haul things in your cars and trucks just has no appeal to me. But that’s just my opinion to each his own. But some of these suggestions are getting ridiculously stupid and downright nutty.
We buy curtain spring loaded extension rods from Walmart for $3 each and use them in our pantry, refrigerator and medicine cabinet. We also try using only plastic dish no heavy glass stuff except 4 coffee cups and those will be replaced soon. I also use the long shower curtain rods ($10 Walmart) for some heavy items in my storage basement. You don’t want something heavy to slide over and hit the cargo door forcing it open along the hwy.
Check out the You Tube video “Death to Pennies” by CGP Grey.
Australia does not have pennies either. If you pay with plastic you pay the price (ie: $7.99), if you pay with cash you pay the rounded amount (ie: $8.00).
I personally have always thought it was bad karma to walk past a penny on the ground. As a kid growing up I always remember the saying “ a penny saved is a penny earned”
With today’s Air powered Brake Bleeders that work so easy as a 1 man operation I’d rather not rely on a Brake Fluid moisture tester and put in fresh new Brake Fluid.
I have no problem getting a penny back on a $.99 cent purchase.
I watch my pennies and let my dollars take care of them selves.
so your “penny wise and pound foolish?” 🙂
I would rather pay 1 dollar for anything than pay 99 cents and get stuck with a penny.
Amen
I don’t except pennies back for change. As matter of fact if there is a donation jar there I dump all my change in it.
If you need to ..”screw in a hook on each side of the storage area and stretch a tight bungee cord between the hooks..” you either need an RV with better suspension or need to take better roads and avoid damaging the face of your cabinets. Maybe try the 3M or Command brand of sticky hooks. You can remove these without any damage to the cabinets.
I believe they screwed the eyelet into the backside of the face frame on each side. The bungee would be inside beind the shut door.
It actually costs 2.41¢ US ($0.0241 US Dollars (USD) to be exact) to make each penny. The face value of this coin was exceeded by it’s cost for the first time in 2006.
Kill the penny. Waste of taxpayers money.
When we visited Mesa Verde last summer we were reminded of either last year or the year before not to feed the bears. What ruined the vacation for me was the fact they had to kill the mother bear and her 3 cubs because they would not leave the humans alone. I was like why not just take them to a zoo? Mesa Verde is now a place I will view of sadness and no longer want to revisit. IMO
Taking a bear or other animals to the zoo would turn the zoo into a pound like the dog shelters with way too many animals to feed and take care of. Yogi says don’t feed the bears.
Signs all around at Grand Canyon. DO NOT FEED SQUIRRELS.
THEY DO ANYWAY. No one of authority near to stop stupid people.
Rabid? Who knows.
Animals and varmints also carry diseases hazardous to humans! Stop feeding them and keep them away! Enjoy from a distance.
Cute video of the “hobby guy” wud have been nice if it was longer.
My iPhone X does not display your reader polls, just blank space. I have to use my iPad if I want to participate.
Sorry you’re having problems, Gary. Here’s what Jess, one of our experts, says: “We’re not having any other issues with the polls. Maybe you have an adblocker on your phone that is preventing them from displaying correctly. I would try adjusting your settings to see if that helps.” She also asked Emily, who has the X. Emily said they work fine on her phone, so she thinks it’s probably just a setting on your phone. Good luck! 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
Pennies can be a pain in the change purse but I answered NO to the question of the day “Should the USA, like Canada, discontinue minting pennies”
Here’s why my dear American friends.
Prepare yourself for one thing, and that’s that every single item you buy will be cleverly priced to round to the nearest nickel. You lose! Read than as in almost every consumable you buy , is going to cost you a nickel more. Doesn’t sound like much eh? Just add a nickel to every purchase over a buck in one day in a country of 36 million consumers and add it up -, the bean counters did. You have a population 10 times ours. Watch out, avoid the huge money machine killing field benefitting only retailers and government -with government being a big part of the retail scene here.
In Canada we saw the identical slight of hand trick played on us when metrification kicked in – lo and behold overnight we Canickelheads paid as much for a liter of milk as we paid the day before for a quart (by the way a four liter jug of milk in Alberta costs over 5 bucks plus Goods and Services tax plus a 25 cent disposal fee) Don’t let this creeping rip off take hold in America.
At this point all I can warn is – BEWARE the curse of Socialism – in its many disguises.
Do you really really care. I DONT! But to each his own. I hate pennies, but yes I still stoop over to pick one off the street. Probably will get hit by a vehicle while I am stooped over.
Thank you for the post, it was the first thought I had while reading the question. Besides I have a 3 gal jug that I throw all my pennies in, when full I scan through them for rare ones, (some I have found have been worth $5.00. The one I have saved go into a coinstar and I get generally anywhere from $75 to $100.00 for my troubles… People find so many things to hate…Why? Most of them are inconsequential…..as my grandson says Haters are gonna hate……almost anything…
I think buying a 6 cent piece of gum would be expensive if it was raise to 10 cents.
The reality is you probably loose that much change in your car or couch so a few penny’s more at the store is not much since things seem to climb in price constantly.
As they say “Don’t Sweat the Small stuff”.
If you buy an item for 99 cents you pay a dollar so it costs you an extra penny. If you buy three 99 cent items your total is $2.97 so you pay $2.95 so you end up saving 2 pennies. I would be just as happy if we (in Canada) did away with the nickel too.
The extra pennies on a 98 cent purchase could go into a fund .. money toward fixing the roads.
Wild animals also end up being put down because they lose their fear of humans. When they come into neighborhoods looking for food they may injure or kill pets and humans. Feeding them can be a death sentence.