Monday, January 13, 2020
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
“Whenever I feel the need to exercise, I lie down until it goes away.” ―
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Clean-Off-Your-Desk Day! Good luck!
Did you see the news? Click here to read the latest issue of the Sunday News for RVers.
Tip of the Day
Warning to would-be full-timers about warranties
If you are buying a new RV to go full-timing it’s critical you examine the warranty from the factory before you make the purchase. A lot of those warranties forbid full-timing and actually wipe out or severely reduce the warranty to a couple of months if you do.
So be careful! And if the dealer says not to worry because the warranty will cover you in spite of what it says, then do not buy the RV until the dealer writes that down on the sales contract, so that the dealer is making that guarantee in writing to you. Otherwise, you could find yourself with a bad RV and money out of your own pocket to fix it. Life is too short to put up with a bad RV. —Ron Burge (RV Lemon lawyer)
Do you have a tip? Submit it here.
RV Electricity – This week’s J.A.M. (Just Ask Mike) Session:
Higher ground (for your pedestal). A reader is dismayed that in order to get a surge protector into place at the low-to-the-ground pedestal in an RV campground, he had to dig down about a foot at the base of the pedestal. Mike explains why these pedestals are still found in campgrounds, and an easy, and safe, workaround if you have to hook up to one.
• Sign up for Mike’s monthly RV Electricity Newsletter.
• While you’re at it, be sure to join his popular Facebook group, RV Electricity.
• Read more of Mike’s articles here.
Oh, my! Motorhome towing a trailer and a boat – 122 feet altogether!
(In case you missed this a few weeks ago.) How would you like to drive down the highway in a motorhome, towing both a long trailer and a boat behind you — 122 feet long altogether? Well, that’s exactly what this man is doing. Watch the short video!
Reader poll
What did we learn about you from our reader polls last week? Find out here.
Save money with these reusable silicone bags
Never waste money on plastic bags again! This 4-pack of reusable silicone food bags have an airtight seal and are leak-proof, keeping food fresh for longer. Easily freeze the bags, and even run them through the dishwasher once you’re done using them. This plastic bag alternative won’t harm the environment, and instead provides a solution that you can wash, rinse and reuse to your heart’s content! Learn more or order.
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.
Quick Tip
Clean black marks off your rig
Black marks on your rig? Give it a shot of WD-40, rub it with a rag, and many of those black marks will vanish. Wear gloves when using WD-40.
And, in case you missed this a few months ago, here are some surprising uses for WD-40. Do you have any uses that aren’t listed in the article or in the previous comments from readers? If so, please add your helpful tip(s) below the article.
Best-selling printed directory of free and inexpensive campgrounds. Click.
Space heater uses less than two amps! RVtravel.com has one, loves it! More.
Random RV Thought
Whenever you can, get off the Interstates and drive the back roads. You’ll battle fewer big rig trucks and get up close and personal with scenery and the local population. Pause often along the main streets of small towns, have lunch, or maybe just a milkshake. Drop by the general store and buy the local paper. It’s 10 times more fun taking a back road than speeding along a boring Interstate.
Website of the day
Camping and RV parks in Illinois
“Take the scenic route and visit some of the best spots for camping in Illinois. Lake-side to forest fringe, we break down the RV parks and campgrounds available in Illinois.” From the Illinois Office of Tourism.
Keep road flares in the RV for emergency
You should always have road flares in your RV in case of an emergency. This pack of three bright, waterproof, and shatterproof LED disks are perfect to keep tucked away. These bright lights can be seen from a mile away and can be used for traffic control, as a warning light, as a rescue beacon and they can also be used for recreational activities such as camping and hiking. Learn more or order here.
Popular articles you may have missed at RVtravel.com
• RVers: To arm or not to arm.
• Is your RV 10 years old or older? Any problems being denied a site?
• How has your RV performed based on your expectations when you bought it? (Whew! 75 comments!)
• Can we use bottled water for the RV toilet in winter?
#883F
Trivia
At former President Ronald Regan’s inauguration in 1981, he insisted that a food from each state be served. For Massachusetts, that was Legal Seafoods’ clam chowder. That chowder has been served at every presidential inauguration since.
Heading to an RV show soon? You should be! Even if you’re not buying, the new RVs are fun to look at. See all the upcoming shows on this page and find one in your area.
Leave here with a laugh
Three good ol’ boys are on Death Row. They discuss how to distract the firing squad so they can escape, and come up with a plan. When the first one’s in front of the firing squad he yells “Tornado!” and the firing squad drop their rifles, run for cover and he escapes. The second man comes in front of the firing squad and at the last moment he yells “Earthquake!” and the firing squad drop their rifles, run for cover and he escapes. The third man, who’s not the brightest candle on the cake, then comes in front of the firing squad and at the last moment yells “Fire!” —Thank you, George Bliss!
Today’s Daily Deals at Amazon.com
Best-selling RV products and Accessories at Amazon.com. UPDATED HOURLY!
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RV Daily Tips Staff
Editor and Publisher: Chuck Woodbury. Managing editor: Emily Woodbury. Senior editor: Diane McGovern. Advertising 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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Babysat for $.50/hr (meant doing chores, too!), picked up the apples and prunes in our yard @$.01 each before we could go swimming in our 3′ doughboy pool, worked for my father’s hardwood floor laying business during school breaks setting nails and puttying the holes!, scorekeeper for adult recreation leagues @ $1.16/hr, collecting bottles for deposit money, lemonade stands, mostly volunteered during the summers of high school as a jr. recreation leader & later hired before their usual age ‘cuz I had the experience!
Another job I had at age 15 was washing military aircraft for a Defense Dept. contractor.
Used to wash C141’s. Really dirty job but the pay was good, $1.75 hr. I was “technically ” illegal since I wasn’t 16, but my sister was dating the guy who hired everybody. lol
My “other” job was picking blueberries when I was 11 yo. Got 10 cents a pint and typically could make $5 a day. Year 1969
I worked on a farm made 2 dollars a day when i was 14 rode my bicycle to work
I helped my dad in his apiary and ran a honey stand on the side of the road.
I grew up on a farm. Started driving tractor at about age 8. Lots of other work until I graduated high school and went off to university. From then on it was easy.
Regarding the electrical article…is this theatrical cord the same as 550 parachute cord?
Not exactly. Parachute cord (Paracord) is nylon and stretchy, while theatrical cord (tie line) is cotton and stable dimensionally. So if you don’t want something to sag – use cotton tie line, but if you need shock resistance – use nylon paracord. I’m sure either type would work well to lash a surge protector to a pedestal to keep it off the ground.
Re: today’s poll I had several different jobs, I had the obligatory paper route, I worked in a neighborhood grocery store, and I had a job doing housekeeping for a small medical group (3 doctors). I dusted, mopped and buffed floors, and emptied trash cans…..
Painted homes (interior), Chopped wood, Dug ditches
Trimmed trees…had a blast and got to climb hundreds of trees and ride around town in the back of a truck.
I baby sat and mowed lawns, the latter for an apartment complex and was paid weekly. Also paid taxes.
I bailed hay for local farmers.
Wrote a news column about my little community for the local small-town newspaper. Everybody loved reading about themselves and their activities. It paid 10 cents per inch.
Farm and ranch. Always something!
Grew up on a farm so there was always work to do and I loved it. When I grew up and left home I really missed working with my dad. He taught me so much. Would not have changed a thing. Growing up on a farm was the best.
Worked for Sears and Roebuck in Philadelphia in the catalog department in the 1960’s. Those were the days when Sears was king.
Working 12 and under? All of the above, plus snowblowing/shoveling, small engine repair (mostly carbs), selling candy and novelties at school out of my wide briefcase, bike repair, installing extension phones and speaker wiring, rewiring lamps, dog care, and a few others I must be forgetting now.
I funded my lawnmower and snowblower purchases (cheap, because defunct and I fixed).
Mowed lawns, picked cherries, picked apples, picked pears, changed water lines in orchards, and at age 16 employee building pickup canopies after school and full time on summer breaks.
I taught skiing!
Worked delivering newspapers, at concession stand at swim pool and a vendor walking the stands at high school football games, went on to be a short order cook till I graduated.