Thursday, October 24, 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.
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Today’s thought
“If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.” ―
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Bologna Day!
Tip of the Day
How long to get your RV “ready to go”?
How long would it take to get your RV totally ready to go in an emergency? What if you had to leave town RIGHT NOW? Is your fuel tank filled? Water and propane tanks? Cupboards packed with basic food items? Sheets, towels, soap and other essentials on board? How about jackets, underwear, socks, shoes? Is there a copy of your drug prescriptions on board? As recent wildfires and hurricanes have illustrated, sometimes a prompt escape is necessary. But there could be times when a super-fast exodus is needed – a tornado or tsunami on the way, for example.
Our RVs are portable shelters that can save the day, but they’re not much good if we can’t get them moving down the road in time, or if the gas tank is empty. So how fast can you get going?
Do you have a tip? Submit it here.
How to minimize “sound pollution” inside a moving RV
Dear RV Shrink:
We just moved into our new motorhome. One thing I never gave much thought to was noise from all of our belongings banging around as we travel down the road. It drives my wife to distraction more than me. At first, it was annoying — we could hardly talk in normal volumes. After locating and quieting the noisiest problems, we are now down to several more we are working on and some we have not been able to locate. Does everyone have to put up with this, or did we just end up with a rattletrap? Read the RV Shrink’s response.
Did you decorate your RV for Halloween? We want to see! Please submit a photo of your RV here, and tell us what state (and/or city) you’re in. Thanks!
Reader poll
Camp for free at wineries and farms.
Check out Harvest Hosts, and save 15%.
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.
Maintain those slide seals!
If you’ve heard a cracking or popping sound when extending your slides, it means its seals are sticking and/or drying out. Applying a seal conditioner about every 8-12 weeks can extend a seal’s life. We recommend using Thetford Premium RV Slide Out Rubber Seal Conditioner.
Quick Tip
Sitting on your wallet: Not good!
Do you carry your wallet in your back pocket? RVers can spend long hours behind the wheel. Sitting on their wallet can be bad for their spine. It causes one side of the body to sit higher than the other, introducing spinal strain. Try driving with your wallet in a front pocket instead. You’ll likely notice a difference.
Random RV Thought
Periodically, check your RV’s stock of flashlight batteries. Make sure you have a couple of flashlights aboard your RV at all times. They come in handy in campgrounds and can be lifesavers in emergencies. It’s also a good idea to carry a battery-powered radio. Even better is a self-powered radio that operates after it is briefly hand-cranked (we recommend this one, which also has a flashlight and USB phone charger).
Collapsible items are the best way to save space in your RV
Here are a few we recommend:
• Drying Rack • Electric Kettle • Colander • Food Storage Containers • Water Bottle • Cooking Pots • Laundry Basket • Pet Food & Water Bowls • Salad Spinner
Website of the day
The prettiest destinations in Canada
We don’t talk about Canada as much as we should. It’s a beautiful, diverse place (and perfect to visit with your RV). Head on over to this website and click through the ten prettiest destinations across Canada. We guarantee you’ll be impressed, maybe even enough to head there one day soon.
If you plan to RV in Canada (or Alaska), check out this new book. It’s a budget-friendly guide to visiting both places in your RV. Click here.
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:
• 1 percent have not yet bought their first RV.
• 26 percent mostly use their phone to access the Internet.
• 11 percent have four slideouts on their RV.
Trivia
The narrowest distance between mainland Russia and mainland Alaska is approximately 55 miles. However, in the body of water between Alaska and Russia, known as the Bering Strait, there lie two small islands known as Big Diomede and Little Diomede. Interestingly enough, Big Diomede is owned by Russia while Little Diomede is owned by the U.S. The stretch of water between these two islands is only about 2.5 miles wide and actually freezes over during the winter so you could technically walk from the U.S. to Russia on this seasonal sea ice.
If you have an RV, make sure you own our favorite tire pressure gauge. Click.
An honest RV dealer (and one of our sponsors). Click to learn more.
Leave here with a laugh
We don’t know if this is true, but here’s the claim: “My brother, tired of being a taxidermist after 15 years, went to veterinarian school. His new business never got off the ground so he decided to operate both his taxidermy and vet business together to save money. His new slogan was ‘No Matter What Happens – You Get Your Pet Back!’ “
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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.
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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
Sitting on your wallet? 40 plus years ago in the crowded Greyhound terminal in Chicago, the guard announced to all men with your wallet in your hip pocket to remove it and place it into your front pocket. He did not want to hear any stories about losing your wallet to a pick pocket My wallet has been in my front pocket ever since. Now you have two reasons not to sit on it.
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I gave up on batteries and went to the coleman store and bought 2 propane lanterns on sale. I got our old one fixed up and now have three. So if in case of emergency I have propane lanterns up and running because batteries are so darn expensive. We have a TT. So I have no idea how long it would take me to hook up the RV to the tow. I guess if I had a hand under minutes? We could be out in 10 or less. I have been stock piling and refreshing stuff in the RV. So way ahead of you all there.
Chipper, why not get a Passport Card? They only cost $65 and they’re good for 10 years. Renewals are only $30-something.
I haven’t been to Canada since they mandated a passport. I use to love visiting the country but I don’t bother now.
I don’t mind going to Canada; have done so many times, mostly by personal cruising sailboat, and check in with CA at the dockside port of entry. Since the cost of renewing a Passport has become so unreasonably expensive, Spouse & I now carry the wallet-size Passport Cards.
As for crossing the border, I’ve found the Canadian border folks to be polite, courteous, and welcoming. Not so when returning to the US; my own country’s border officials’ attitudes make me feel like one of two things: a smuggler or an alien.
If a passpaort is the only reason you stopped coming our way Chipper, that’s to bad. We need a passport to cross coming your way too, my friend, worth every penny, nickel dime and all the time in a big long line we spend getting it.
I feel the same way about traveling to the USA. and needing a passport. We used to winter in the south but no more.
Riding on a wallet? Don’t! I found out years ago that my back pain was caused by my wallet! Now it has left me with continuing back pain and a bad right hip. If you are young or old – remove it! It might be psychosemantic (sp), but just putting a wallet or checkbook in a back pocket starts a pain! Try it you’ll like it! Happy and pain free trails……….
psy·cho·so·mat·ic but you did well
…It’s a grey hair thing (gray?)
The blurb above (#4) says “Most RVers keep to themselves”. This might…or might not…be true but it sure is nice to be able to walk across your “yard” to seek help or assistance from your neighbor if necessary. If I wasn’t the friendly kind, we wouldn’t have met some of the really neat people we’ve met…and shared card games, dinners, trips to nearby attractions, given assistance to pump up a MH tire, found out a smoking brake does not mean it will catch fire, etc. While I can understand a wish to “get away from it all”, I think that just might be what’s wrong with society as a whole… a wish to keep to themselves.
Regarding touring Canada. We live in Alaska, therefore we MUST at least drive through Canada to get to the lower 48. ( Unless we fly!) When we drive down to see our children, it typically takes us a minimum of 5-6 days to reach Washington. We spent the nights in campgrounds we can find open and usually don’t drive more than 300 miles or so per day. You have to remember you can’t buy fuel as readily in the Yukon and B.C. as you can in the US, so make sure you know where you can get your fill-up! And fuel is expensive. We have paid as low as $1.39 per liter and as much as $1.99 per liter which equates to about $5.27 per gallon to $7.54 per gallon (diesel). which can be an eye opener if you use up your entire tank of fuel and, in our case, filling a 125 gallon tank can send your pacemaker into overtime!
The highways from our home in Palmer, AK to Sumas, WA. are paved all the way but there is always construction along the way somewhere!
Things are expensive in Canada! Not only fuel, everything! I enjoy my evening cocktail when we stop, but when we arrived in Whitehorse, YT, I was pretty low and told the wife I was going to stop in at one of the local provincial owned liquor stores and purchase a bottle of my favorite Capt. Morgan spiced rum. A 1.75 liter bottle in Whitehorse was $56; the same sized bottle at Costco in Anchorage, AK I purchased for $26.99! Other food items in the Whitehorse grocery stores were also much higher than in the US! (The current exchange rate now is $1 US = $1.308 CN, so we do make out if you use a credit card that does the conversion for you. If you are paying cash, very few places will calculate and allow you to pay the better rate, unless you buy Canadian money at a bank! US dollars are accepted but most don’t allow you to take the exchange rate!)
That’s said, Canada is very beautiful and my wife and I love traveling there! Most Canadians are very friendly, wonderful people and are enjoyable to be around! We would recommend that if the opportunity exists, take the drive and see Canada and if you are up this way, come on up to Alaska and make it a trip to remember!
Rule of thumb is try to get to Prince George in the middle of the province. It has cheer prices
Take the ferry next time and save yourself the agony of coming through Canada, we could do with less of America up here. And by the way Capt. Morgan rum is worse than boat gas.
That is the first place I plan to visit once I retire. The family has no interest so I plan to do it solo. I love Canada and yes I know gas is expensive and my tow vehicle is scary but we fill once below half tank. Thanks for the tips.
Years ago we traveled the Alcan highway both from Dawson Creek and the Cassiar before the advent of asphalt on those roads and believe me they were rough. Today’s RV folks wanting to travel those roads have it much better,yet I don’t doubt there are still ripoff stops along the way where you can get a flat tire so convenient to their gas station.If Canada is so hunky dory,why don’t Canadians stay home instead of flocking into the snowbird areas in winter.I got tired of hearing them **** and moan about the exchange rate and high prices,to them, and stopped snow birding long ago. Y’all can have it.
Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed today. As a snowbird, from Canada, I know we are greatly welcomed by businesses “down south”. We pump millions of dollars in the local economy and seldom hear a discouraging word. If you’re going to “…**** and moan…” stay home. It is what it is. Nobody’s forced to head south so suck it up princess and get on with living. In our RV resort you can’t tell a Canadian from an American unless they have a drawl. We’re all in this world together so let’s play nice.
Thank you, Impavid. I think Booneyrat often gets up on the wrong side of the bed because he is often cranky and negative in his comments. But he has a right to his opinion, bad mood, freedom of speech, and all of that. However, we don’t need, or want, all of that bad-mouthing and putting people down on our page (or anywhere, for that matter). You’re 100% correct: “We’re all in this world together so let’s play nice.” 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
We have more than our share of Americans coming through our country complaining (Steve-Alaska) above. There are tight wads on both side of the line. I wish we had a higher bar when letting people cross our border.
Canada is indeed beautiful some places, especially those listed BUT as born Canadians we RV almost exclusively in America and have for decades, due to several factors, not the least, we do what we can to avoid having the government plan our vacation for us, and the high cost of pretty much everything from camp fees to milk. Let me explain.
Mentioned in the list of beautiful places is Lake Louise, AB and nearby Takakkaw Falls BC. Let me tell you from experience – don’t show up in that part of beautiful Canada without a booked campsite, (some do so a year in advance, and there’s no cancellation feature either – rain or shine you are camping on that date) you’ll be camping in a gravel pit nearby. There just isn’t near enough camp spots to accommodate the lineups -the hordes coming here during prime time. And the cost, if $30 bucks for a dozen beer (plus bottle disposal fee, plus Goods and services tax) don’t turn you off, maybe the cost of a campsite, and also fees/taxes etc will.
Not suggesting you don’t go, But please do your homework and by all means travel north , doing so frees up places we Canadians look forward to with much anticipation every year when we cross that border into the land of freedom, liberty , plenty of BLM camping opportunities, paved secondary highways, beer cheaper than water, accommodating people everywhere, and affordability. all attributes of America the Beautiful.
Thank you Alvin and Welcome to the USA !
British Columbia’s Glacier National Park is one of the beautiful sites, but it doesn’t touch Montana.
I believe that park is called Waterton… not Glacier.
Whenever we take a trip I wear pants that have “cargo pockets” along my legs. I put my wallet there. Same type of pants I wore when still driving trucks.
Wifey and I took turns riding in our travel trailer years ago on a small dirt road so we could see what it was like ‘back there’. Holy moly! What an eye (and ear) opener! Noise, creaks, squeals, moans, rattles, you name it. So, it’s a good thing we don’t do that regularly. And yes, we know it’s illegal to ride in a travel trailer.
Propane tanks are generally full when parked at home, At Least 1/3 tank of fuel in the truck, and unless it’s winter, we keep water in the fresh tank and empty the grey and black tanks. Winter is rolling in now so we won’t be keeping a tankful of fresh.
I have a “Go-Kit” which is basically a tub of important items in a closet I can grab if I have to leave in a hurry. You can keep this in warm place inside of your house, and grab it on the way out to your RV if you have to “go” in a hurry. It should include things like spare medication along with lists of your medications with Rx numbers and doctor’s phone numbers, a case of bottled water, enough freeze dried food for maybe a week, coin of the realm (some cash in an envelope), physical maps of the area (if the cell phone towers go down, WAZE is useless), maybe a few FRS Walkie Talkies for family members, etc… And you’ll also want to pack a basic medical kit, flashlights, batteries and anything else you might need for a few weeks of “boondocking”. How about pet food, kitty litter, a weather radio, etc… I also keep a pretty complete tool kit next to the door which I grab anyway when I’m heading out to a service call, and it has all sorts of electrical tape, gaff tape, meters, screwdrivers, and other tools I use to fix things. If you do have to make a run for it, getting an RV technician to make a service call will be next to impossible.
Canada is a large, diverse and beautiful country. Among its greatest treasures are the eastern provinces which are not mentioned in your list of top 10 places to visit. Check newfoundlandlabrador.com to see what awaits you.
RE: the “wallet in your back pocket?” article — I’ve been advised by professional drivers that it’s far more comfortable, in both the short and long run, to drive with nothing in one’s trouser pockets. They recommend taking everything out of your pockets & putting it all in a small box a large Zip-Lock bag & keeping it close to you when you drive. They say that not only will you sit more “centered” in your seat without a wallet or billfold in your hip pocket, but your circulation will be better and you’ll arrive feeling less tired and stiff. I’ve been doing it this way for years and I’m a believer.
Consider some form of external communications in your emergency kit. Cell towers go down, and when they return to initial service, they are electrically restricted to first responders. Highly recommend Ham Radio. Someone is always there.
If you are not ready, you may be part of the problem.
Gas tank is full, 1/2 tank of propane, no water, time winterize here.
A tip for your vehicles for emergencies. Always have at least 1/2 tank of fuel. Many people in the Camp fire in Paradise, CA ran out of gas trying to get out. There were a lot of burnt out abandoned cars on the sides of the road. Some, were not abandoned. There wasn’t enough time. RIP.
My heart bleeds for those in Paradise 🙁 ..