Tuesday, December 3, 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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Page Contents
Today’s thought
“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.” – Saint Francis de Sales
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is the National Day of Giving!
Tip of the Day
Google your way to RV repairs
In the early days when many of us were just starting our RV lifestyle, keeping our RVs repaired usually required a trip to the RV tech or mechanic, knowing it was going to take a chunk out of our wallets. Or we’d seek help from a friend or go to the library and pour over repair manuals. But that all changed with the internet age. Continue reading…
Do you have a tip? Submit it here.
Sewer hoses: Lacking honor but we all gotta have one
Sometimes things that have “a purpose lacking honor,” such as sewer hoses, are still necessary. Read about Russ De Maris’ unfortunate (and disgusting) “learning experience” before you make your next sewer hose purchase. Read more.
Reader poll
Refrigerator bars ensure nothing moves while driving
It’s happened to most RVers – you open the fridge (even slowly) after a day of driving and a heavy jar falls on your toe – “Ouch!” Never have that happen again with these easy-to-install spring-loaded refrigerator bars. They’re also useful in cupboards and closets. Order for a good price.
Quick Tip
Thinking about work camping?
Some basic principles to remember when you decide that work camping will be part of your RV lifestyle. The main thing is: You are not starting a new career. These are part-time seasonal jobs. The pay, if any, will be at or near minimum wage. Secondly, unless you have been hired as a manager, do not try to be one. This can quickly lead to problems between you and management, and can just as quickly lead to dismissal. If you can keep these basics in mind, and keep a good work ethic and attitude, you will be successful.
From So, you want to be an RVer? And Enjoy the RV Lifestyle? [Revised]. Available on Amazon.com.
Random RV Thought
It’s always a good idea to check inside your RV’s microwave oven before hitting the road for the day. A cup of coffee that got heated but then forgotten will certainly spill, making a mess.
Protect yourself and others from sharp edges of RV slideouts!
Cut your head just once on the corner of a sharp RV slideout and you’ll race out to buy a set of these so it never happens again! Camco’s Slide-Out Corner Guards offer a simple solution to the danger posed by sharp corners on RV slideouts. Simply place on each corner of the slide to provide a cushion zone. Easy to install, no tools required. Learn more or order.
Website of the day
Instructables
More than 100,000* projects from around the world to try, in the categories of technology, workshop, living, food, play, outside and every subject you can imagine. Even contests to enter with your own creations. More than 2 million users worldwide. This is so fun to browse through, and you’ll probably find things you’ll want to try. *That number was from a couple of years ago — we’re quite sure it’s much higher now.
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:
• 52 percent of motorized RVs are powered by diesel engines.
• 9 percent have four or more TVs.
• 50 percent believe noon is the fairest checkout time at an RV park.
Camco’s insulated skylight cover keeps the heat in your RV from escaping this winter. More.
Trivia
For $45, the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing will sell you a 5-lb. bag with $10,000 worth of shredded U.S. currency.
Leave here with a laugh
I named my two dogs Rolex and Timex. They’re my watch dogs.
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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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If you put a piece of pool noodle in the microwave before moving to keep the plate from wobbling you will find anything you left in there.
About the QuickTip: Thanks for posting this message. We have done RV park hosting and that’s the hardest thing to remember: It’s not a career path for you.
Most hosts come from careers, sometimes professional lifelong occupations of managing big events and subordinates, even hiring and firing our own employees as company owner.
But park hosting is just that: You’re HOSTING. You don’t own the park. You’re not in charge…it’s not your rules (much as you’d like to implement “improvements”).
A lot of the work is dirty and not what you would special-order up for yourself. But it’s what the park staff needs help with, and if you’re getting paid (even minimally) or you receive free park space for your rig, you’re coming out ahead of what you’d have if you were just sitting in your RV watching TV.
Your managers may be difficult and you can’t wait to leave, or may be charming and become lifelong friends! But you’re doing a service they need, and you should all appreciate each other for what you offer….. and receive.
Very thoughtful and informative comment. Thank you, Connie. 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
I don’t have four TV’s, but I do have three, two inside and one outside. Perhaps there are folks out there, who have no interest in sports. I follow sports religiously, and there are many who join me to watch the NFL in fall and winter and late season NBA games in the spring. We gather around the TV outside share food and a few brews or glasses of wine. We try to keep it down to a mild roar. But we can’t be disturbing anyone because al of our neighbors are with us enjoying the games. When not watching games we hike, go 4wheeling and partake of other outdoor adventures. But this is the 21st century and times and things do change.What ever happened to live and let live. In plain english that means live your life and enjoy it and let others live their life and enjoy it, without complaining about how they live their life….
That is all well & good if it doesn’t infringe on other’s good times!
Who are these folks who say Ca has only one season and what part of Ca do they live in I live in the high desert of So Calif and it snowed all day on Thanksgiving. We still had snow in the yard and on the roofs 2 days later. We enjoy 4 seasons every year. Maybe we don’t get snow down to 2600′ every year, but we do get temps in the teens every year. We also get triple digit temps every summer. Please stop saying all of Ca only has one season. That is not true. That is one reason why I have an RV, so I can go somewhere the temps are cooler during the summer, like a reverse “snowbird”. LOL If I was smart this year I would be visiting relatives in La. and Fla. right now. Too late the snow is gone but the rains have come…
Winterize by draining the waterlines if temperature is going to drop below freezing here in N CA. Otherwise nothing to do.
Since California has basically only One Season, we don’t need to “Winterize” the RV. It will be used each month of the year from coastal trips, to Desert Visits, to the various parts of this 800 mile long state has to offer. It is one good thing it has to offer, among the other rather “crazy” things that go on here.
“For $45, the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing will sell you a 5-lb. bag with $10,000 worth of shredded U.S. currency.”
If there is ONE thing the government is good at it is shredding currency. 🙂
We live in southwest Florida. We winterize by running the AC and using Damp Rid products. We try to use our Phoenix Cruiser every month or so, even if we just stay in it over night parked at our daughters house (30 amp hookup).
Please explain the need for 4 (or more) TVs? It would appear individual gratification and distraction for all rig members is paramount. Keeping each other at an ‘arms’ length appears to be the necessity/goal. Gone are the days of people, old and young, sharing time together playing card games, etc. Today it appears to be about separation – emotionally and physically.
Apparently the original purpose of ‘camping’ is a thing of the past. Both public and private campgrounds were not designed with the rig ‘mass’ and ‘sound tech’ associated with them today. What was once an opportunity to get away from the stress and distraction of everyday life is now nearly impossible to find in the serviced campgrounds. Today’s campers and RVers appear to have no intention of giving up their ‘connections’ and unfortunately they do not care that it affects everyone, especially those close by. The worst nightmare – the RV outdoor TV and kitchen – party time (sporting events) all the time, even if no one is interested on what’s on the TV it never gets turned off. Forget any awareness of others or general campsite courtesies.
Bottom line – between the industry’s push to add costly electronics, etc. and a public that cannot live without them- RVing as it was designed and the campgrounds that accommodated it are a thing of the past.
Not sure where the industry is going but this RVer is winding down their participation in what was once a wonderful way to explore this country. The stress associated with ‘what are we going to deal with this time’ has severely impacted the joy one wants to experience each day.
The true camper isn’t totally extinct, but they are hard to find.
Our motorhome is 42 years old so we don’t have all the fancy bells and whistles that some people can’t seem to live without. If it’s not hot and humid, we enjoy being at a campground with no hookups, even stayed at a few places that didn’t have cell service. Fellow campers that we invited over to roast marshmallows said they didn’t think that anybody did that anymore,
It’s just so relaxing to be off the grid and not hear about all the craziness for a while.
Here in Bend Oregon, I winterize by living in my motorhome. I keep the heat on with some Aquahot and some electric heaters. I have had trouble with a water supply hose freezing where the insulation was not quite closed (lesson learned).
We “Winterize” by going south.
Saint Frances de sales…is he the patron saint of black friday?
😆 —Diane at RVtravel.com
I open an inside faucet then open all the low point drains, when I arrive home. then I pull up one drive way down the other, back up to the house unload trailer, pull down trailer port drive way and back up hill into trailer port. After this I close low point drains attach air compressor and blow out all water valves hot and cold including toilet one at a time. I then open low point drains and take anode rod out of water heater. I then pour RV antifreeze in all drains including toilet and leave some antifreeze visible in toilet. Note most of the water comes out of the low point drains just by moving trailer around with low point drains open. I have hot and cold drains on both side of trailer. I also fresh water tank drain while moving around. I then close all outside drains and replace anode rod to prevent insects from clogging them up. Mud daubers are a problem here in North Carolina.
That process will leave water in your water pump, which could freeze and crack the pump. Better to pump RV antifreeze throughout the rig, and leave it in there till spring.
Yup. Agree. I put 5 gallons of the pink stuff in the water tank and pump it through the system which fills the pump, all the lines and the drains with antifreeze. Then I flush it in the spring until clear. We never drink out of the tank. Actually, we’ve never camped where there wasn’t water, sewer and electric.
Winterize in NEPa: blow out water, put antifreeze in the lines. Drain the water heater. Check all seals and caulk as needed. lower the tongue to help water drain off roof. Cover the tires after they get inflated to proper PSI. That covers it for the major exterior stuff. No cover this year. The cover I put on last year due to the extremely high winds last winter rubbed through the roof on the edges in two places. This year is a test to see how it weathers the winter uncovered.
To put things into perspective, the Trivia piece is not worth the paper it’s written on! LOL