Friday, January 24, 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
“We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be.”―
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Budget RV Travel
Tip of the Day
Always extend both sets of steps
This safety warning is from Mike Sherman, a camp host and long-time reader of and contributor to RVtravel.com: “I see a lot of newer travel trailers 25’+ having two entry doors, but many campers extend only one set to utilize for entry and exit. However, last night an elderly woman decided to use that second door to exit into the dark for some reason. She wound up in the hospital with 3 broken ribs and extensive bruising. Always extend both steps, even if you think YOU won’t use them – your spouse might. It also adds a second safe exit in the event of an emergency.” Thanks, Mike!
Do you have a tip? Submit it here.
Adjusting trailer brake controllers
A regular reader of RV Travel sent in this question: “I have a question about brake controllers and travel trailers. How do you adjust them? How do you know if they are too tight or not adjusted correctly?” These are great questions, and we offer some suggestions and important information. Learn more.
Yesterday’s featured article: Rewrap your assist handle with this mod
USED BY RV TECHNICIANS!
Protect your RV parts from rust and corrosion
T-9 is the RV technician’s choice for attacking corrosion, loosening rusty parts & flushing out old lubricants. It permeates metal crevices & seeps deep inside assembled components to leave a durable protective coating, lubricating without dismantling equipment. It won’t wash off in rain or mud. T-9 will not harm paint, plastic, rubber, fiberglass or vinyl. It can be used on engines, wiring, belts & is safe on electronics. Boeshield T-9 was developed by Boeing for lubrication and protection of aircraft components. Learn more or order.
You may have missed these recent popular stories…
- First-of-its-kind self-service RV park. The wave of the future?
- Truck camper “recipe for disaster” folds down on the street
- You can kiss the Kissmobiles goodbye
Reader poll
• Protect your RV’s slideout! Use this rubber seal lubricant. Learn more or order.
• Attention Big Rig RV owners! This annual road atlas will keep you away from too-narrow roads and low bridges. Learn more or order.
• Camping at Corps of Engineers Campgrounds. Many RVers consider these the very best places to stay. Learn more or order the directory.
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
Turn down brightness on TVs to save power
“When boondocking, I turn down the brightness of my TVs. Most LED and LCD TVs have a power-saving setting which essentially darkens the picture. You can get the same power-saving results by turning down the brightness on any TV, then turn the contrast up slightly to improve the picture. This will work for tube-type TVs as well.” —Thanks to Joe Brignolo
Universal lid fits all your pots and pans!
This incredibly handy universal pot and pan lid will fit [almost] every pot and pan in your RV kitchen! Works with fry pans, pots, saucepans, skillets, stockpots, woks, cast iron pans and more! Eliminate kitchen cabinet clutter with this multipurpose, compact lid. Don’t you wish you had known about this sooner? Learn more or order.
Random RV Thought
A terrific place to pause on your RV travels is at a library. And the price is right – free admission! Search for local or regional magazines: they may provide ideas of things to see and do. And the same goes for the local newspaper, which will not only provide quick clues about local news and events but about the residents and their culture. Most libraries have a section devoted to regional history. Browse through a book or two. You will learn things about the area that you would never learn otherwise. In small libraries, consider donating a book you’ve read. It will be appreciated.
Website of the day
National Park maps
The National Park Service publishes tons of great free maps. Matt Holly, a park ranger with the NPS, has collected them all and posted them on this site, where you can download PDF and image files of any U.S. national park map. This site currently has 1,713 free high-resolution national park maps to view, save and download.
Clubs and useful organizations
PLEASE NOTE: We may receive an affiliate commission if you join any of these.
• Harvest Hosts: Stay free at farms, wineries and other scenic and peaceful locations for free. Save 15% on membership.
• AllStays: The best website for RVers! Your membership will become your RV-bible.
• 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.
• Escapees. Best Club for RVers: All RVers welcome, no matter what type of RV, make or model.
Secrets of RVing on Social Security
Author Jerry Minchey takes you on a journey that lets you discover how you can travel around the country and live the fascinating RV lifestyle for far less than it costs to live in your sticks-and-bricks home. Among other things, he shows you step-by-step how to enjoy the RVing lifestyle while traveling and living on just your Social Security income. Learn more or order.
Trivia
The world’s largest waterfall is underwater. The Denmark Strait, an area that separates Iceland and Greenland, houses a series of waterfalls that begin 2,000 feet under the surface and drop nearly two miles down to a depth of 10,000 feet.
Which famous writer only slept facing north? Yesterday’s issue told you!
Leave here with a laugh
A man and his wife were on a road trip in their RV. They stopped to have lunch at a small cafe. About an hour after leaving the cafe the wife remembered she had left her glasses on the table. She asked her husband to turn around to go back and get them. He was real upset with her – two hours round-trip lost was more than he could handle. He grumbled and complained every mile on the return trip. Finally they pulled into the cafe. When his wife got out of the RV he hollered after her, “Get my hat and my wallet while you’re at it.” —Thanks to Pete Doddato
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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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This newsletter is copyright 2020 by RVtravel.com
Thanks for the tip about visiting libraries. I’m a librarian in Indianapolis who’s about to retire and ease into full-time RVing. Here are some other reasons why RVers should visit libraries:
1. WiFi at public libraries is free to anyone. Often you can pick up the signal in the library parking lot.
Just open your connection settings and accept the public library connection.
2. You usually don’t have to have a library card in order to use the library’s public computers, which are also free to use.
3. You can read a library book or magazine in the library without getting a card.
3. If you’re going to be in one place for more than a couple of weeks, ask the local public library about getting a temporary card. Policies vary from one location to another.
4. If you’re camping in your home state and have a card at your hometown library, you probably can pay a feed for a special card that lets you then get a free card from any public library in that state.
5. If you have a card at your hometown library — and it’s of at least moderate size — you can download e-books on loan from anywhere you have an internet connection. Your library also probably offers cardholders free streaming music and videos, including popular movies and tv shows.
By the way, many public libraries are struggling and even threatened with closure. Please consider donating to your local public library and/or support the selfless people at http://www.everylibrary.org/ who work to build local voter support for libraries around the country.
One last tip, though it isn’t about libraries: If you’re not visiting the nonprofit openculture.com, you’re missing out on mostly free stuff of astonishing quality and quantity: 1,300 free online courses; 1000+ MOOCs (massive open online courses); 1,150 free movies; 700 free audio books; 800 free e-books; 200 free textbooks; 300 free language lessons; 150 free business courses, and free K-12 education.
Your article regarding library visits failed to mention checking out their books for sale. As book lovers this is a favorite thing to do as we explore new cities.
Librairies often have free wifi and more space to move around than your RV if it is raining.
I just Love small town libraries. In addition to the benefits you’ve listed, the librarians are always a rich source of local recommendations – best restaurants for lunch, pros and cons of the laundromats, a good park to take the dogs, etc. Librarians are Salt of the earth!
“READER POLL – How often do you gamble at casinos?”
CONS:
Smokey (MAIN reason we don’t go)
Stinky
Loud Clanging
Camera’s spying on your every move
Crime in the parking lot
Your chances of winning are slim to none
PROS:
Sometimes, a good show is playing
Sometimes, you can get a decent meal cheap
Sometimes, you can get a good hotel room cheap
Sometimes, an RV rate is acceptable enough to entice us to stop (and play for about 5 minutes because of the smoke)
How about a poll for those who have been – “Have you Won Anything Significant at a Casino?”
Good points, TravelingMan. Reminds me of someone I knew about 50 years ago. She and her husband went to Vegas. She was upstairs in their room unpacking the suitcases, while he went downstairs to try his luck. Well, 20 minutes later he went back up to their room and told her to pack up — they were going home. He had won $20,000 and didn’t want to lose it! 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
Yes we win a lot. See my post below.
We have gone to casinos several times over the years. We go to the ones that have great campgrounds, they are well kept, have nice sites and you cannot get better security in another campground. We stay and get free full hook ups sites, eat for free through our comps. They usually have the best wifi reception you can get anywhere short of a broadband service. We have even gotten 2 free 7 day cruises on one of the major cruise lines. How much money have we lost? Very little, if any. We know how to limit ourselves, and have a budget for the casinos.
Around 2004 we went to a conference in Vegas. We each had a roll of nickles – had fun feeding them into the slot machines and pulling that arm. When we were workamping near there in 2008 went in but there were no longer machines you could feed coins into and pull the arm. Using a card and pushing a button is no fun! 🙁
No gambling here. How else can I afford an RV? Last Casino I went to in Iowa for a meal, the cigarette smell was so strong had to leave.
See article on T9 makes me think about other lubrications I have sprayed on my slide our gears and rails like white lithium grease. What should be used?
No Overnight Walmart Parking
I use to feel the same was but after being on a few different sites I found that some people were copying the information and then posting it to their website as though it was their own information.
I wonder how much power I’ll save on my LED television by turning down the brightness? It uses 3 amps now. Hmmm.
Mine runs on 12 volts and has a 2 amp inline fuse. I’d probably save 150 ma.
My dad used to drive without headlights, except in the dark countryside. If he was still alive he would probably be turning his TV brightness down. I say show me the empirical data.
“Website of the day” a great resource, thank you!
Just FYI, your link to “No park Walmarts” should indicate that it no longer has any data about no park Walmarts, it is simply an ad for their book. Very false advertising on your part!
I don’t think it is RV newsletter’s responsibility they are only providing a link to the site.
Chuck, perhaps it is a paid advertisement. The majority of readers on this site, are not paying members, so RVtravel needs to advertise.
Sorry, Chuck. I don’t know when they changed their policy. I’ve emailed Chuck (who is at Quartzsite at the moment) to see whether we should pull this from that list, since it no longer lists the no-park Walmarts. It wasn’t intentional “false advertising” on our part — it was an inadvertent oversight. Thank you for calling this to our attention so we can update the information. 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
I never forget my hat!! My wallet? Where’s my wallet?!
Although I never gamble at casinos, I often stay at their RV parks: nice parks, good security, and generally good, inexpensive meals in their dining facility.
A good source for “on the road books” maybe right at your campground. Many that I have been to have a box of books on a very informal, “take one, leave one” policy. I try to take only one, but you never know what you will find.
We go to libraries and buy at their friends of the library sales room!
We do to Merrily. I collect vintage North and South American Native Study material and last year at the Library in Challis Idaho, found a book written in 1886, on the topic – $1.00.
It now has a special place in my library. That library is one reason this kid could never full time RV.
Good tip to use libraries along the way, there isn’t many we miss, and bonus – there’re rarely busy