Friday, April 17, 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.
If you shop on Amazon, please visit through our affiliate site (we get a little commission that way – and you don’t pay any extra). Thank you!
Shopping online at Walmart? Click here (just like with Amazon we get a tiny commission, which add up and help us fund our business). We appreciate it!
[activecampaign form=34]
Page Contents
Today’s thought
“If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” ―
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet Day!
New Facebook Group: How the coronavirus is impacting RVers. Learn about park closings, cancelled rallies and RV shows — and more. Your input requested.
RV Life in a Coronavirus World: “My RV taught me how to self-isolate”
We have asked RVtravel.com readers to tell us how they are adapting to life these days.
“Everything I learned about life in self-isolation was learned in my RV! 1) BE PREPARED – and we were! It’s funny to clean out the RV storage after a 4-6 month trip and find the MANY things you had packed because ‘we might need it.’ We tend to pack as though there will not be a single Walmart along our path…” Continue reading Dianne’s story.
Tip of the Day
What size is your RV awning?
By Steve Savage
Let’s talk a little about how RV awnings are sized. One day I had a new awning in stock and a potential buyer called me early in the morning and said he was very interested in buying it. I had posted an ad on Craigslist stating I had the canopy for a 15-foot awning. When the interested party called, I advised him to be sure he measured from center-to-center of the awning arms so he could be assured I had what he wanted. He told me he had measured everything and had a 16-footer, but was okay with one for a 15 footer. Read more.
Do you have a tip? Submit it here.
RV Electricity
Last day of contest: Mike Sokol asked his friends at Southwire to come up with a prize for a contest this week, and they supplied him with half a dozen of their really nice 3-meter kits. Read how you can win one of these great prizes.
Screen door mod provides better view
Greg Illes’ standard screen door on his RV was built in three sections — the same as most other screen doors. Top and bottom were screened, and the center had a blank panel and a sliding door for access to the main door handle. So? Well, he noticed after a while that the center blank panel had two issues. Find out what they were and how he cheaply and quickly upgraded the door. Learn more.
Yesterday’s featured article: RV comes with a big soaking bathtub!
You may have missed these recent popular stories…
- How a caring RV park owner acts in hard times
- Hilarious video: Trust no one!
- Add another room to your RV with this brilliant mod
- Edmunds.com’s 2020 best trucks for RV towing
Reader poll
Readers tell us
How old are the tires on your RV? Find out what fellow RV owners said here.
Easily repair a tear in your RV’s awning
Left on their own, small vinyl RV awning tears can get bigger. Fixing a small tear in an area, barring a person’s physical limitations, is easy. You may already have what you need for a fix. It’s called “RV GOOP” and is made by the same outfit that developed “GOOP” for shoe repairs. Read more about it here.
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
Be prepared in case of fire
One of my biggest fears as a full-timer is fire — not just something that could start in my rig, but also to a neighbor’s unit parked nearby. As a preventive measure, I use a water “splitter” or manifold at my site’s water spigot. One side supplies water to our rig, but the other has my extra 30-foot hose that I could use to fight a fire in my rig or a neighbor’s. This precaution, in combination with smoke detectors in our living area and one in basement storage, helps me sleep better at night. Thanks to Jim Schrankel
Keep your immune system healthy! Here’s everything you need.
Random RV Thought
A good place to hide valuables in your RV is in a fake can of food. Amazon sells a ton of different kinds. No thief would think to look in your pantry, and if they did, their eyes would skip over the regular-looking “can of corn.”
Website of the day
Secret spaces hidden at famous landmarks
This list is making us want to go revisit some of these famous landmarks just to find these secret hidden spaces! How neat! We’d give up the RV for a few nights to stay in some of these amazing secret apartments…
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.
Don’t be stuck in the dark!
This 6-pack of tiny, battery-powered LED “Button Lamps” is just what you need for your RV’s closets and storage spaces. The tiny lamp is ultra-bright and has all the power of a normal-sized lamp. Backed with a strong adhesive, these little lamps will stick to any surface. They’re waterproof and good to have in case of an emergency. Learn more or order.
Trivia
It only takes six minutes for your brain to feel the effects of alcohol. So when they say the drink goes to your head, they mean it!
*In Switzerland, it is illegal to own just one…
A.) Watch
B.) Guinea pig
C.) Pair of slippers
The answer is in yesterday’s issue of this newsletter.
Leave here with a laugh
If they shut schools for much longer, parents are going to find a solution for the virus before the scientists.
Today’s Daily Deals at Amazon.com
Best-selling RV products and Accessories at Amazon.com. UPDATED HOURLY!
RV PARKS OPEN FOR BUSINESS:
These parks are open for business for self-isolating and have asked that we spread the word.
Big Chief RV Resort, Burnet, Texas
Walnut Hills Campground and RV Park, Staunton, Virginia
Oakwood RV Resort, Fredericksburg, TX
Larsson’s Crooked Creek RV Resort, Hill City, SD
Own a park you’d like listed here? Send the park name, web address and city and we’ll include it here. Send to editor@rvtravel.com. No charge.
Join us: Facebook • Twitter • YouTube • RVillage
Our Facebook and RVillage Groups: RV Horror Stories • RV Advice • RV Electricity • RV Parks with Storm Shelters • RV Buying Advice • Northwest RV Camping • Southwest RV Camping • Free Campgrounds • Budget RV Travel • RV Videos • RV Coronavirus News • plus Texas RV Camping and Florida RV camping. And please join our group on RVillage (like Facebook except just for RVers).
Did you miss the latest RV Travel Newsletter? If so, read it here.
Oh, and if you missed the latest Sunday News for RVers, make sure to catch up 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. Advertising director: Jessica Sarvis. Financial affairs director: Gail Meyring. IT wrangler: Kim Christiansen.
This website utilizes some advertising services. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Regardless of this potential revenue, unless stated otherwise, we only recommend products or services we believe provide value to our readers.
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 2020 by RVtravel.com
We love theme parks. We are even Annual Passholders at Disney. We love the rides. the shows and many of the restaurants. There is a lot more to see, do and learn at the Disney parks, hotels and restaurants than people realize. We hope to eventually see all the Disney parks around the world. A lot of our family vacations included at least one trip to a theme park. Just because our kids are grown, does not mean we cannot still enjoy the parks.
If they keep schools closed longer they may learn that the kids learn more at home than in the classroom!
That super boost as in a rip off , you can get it from Amazon much cheaper
I don’t see what you’re referring to, Jim. It may have been an auto-inserted Google ad, which will pop up on readers’ computers based on whatever they may have viewed previously, and which we don’t have any control over. Obviously, if we can’t see what’s randomly popping up on readers’ computers, we’re not endorsing any particular products (although we might, if we knew what they were). But thanks for the heads up, in case others see what you saw. If I’m incorrect on this, please let me know and I’ll check into it further. Thanks! 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
If I was standing in FRONT of the roller coaster I would run to avoid it. Sitting IN the roller coaster, I would enjoy the ride!
Since I was a kid I loved riding roller coasters, but as I aged, I can no longer ride them without my body throwing a major revolt!
The laugh of the day is a beaut.
I suspect a very large number of those who thought their purpose as parents was to pop a kid or two and at 6 weeks begin the long journey running them to day homes everyday, are in for rude awakening.
In the new realm those ,surviving the challenges , are going to find that being becoming real parents instead of “reality” parents is a full time job.
I truly hope the saying holds “you’re never too old to learn new tricks”
or in this case old tricks
About fake cans. Whilst entering the US at International Falls, the lady inspector went through our pantry and fondled every can. I think she was wise to them as hiding places. I can only think that thieves are too.
I hope RVT continues to post how corona Virus affects RV’rs on Sunday’s edition, rather than pushing it all to a Facebook, social media site, which some of us refuse to belong to. (My opinion only). Thanks!
Agree…not all of us are in love with facebook.
From Tuesday:
ATTENTION READERS
The news about the coronavirus/COVID-19 has slowed. Few RVers are moving about now, and most national parks, state parks and public campgrounds are temporarily closed. So there’s little need for us to spend a lot of time producing this daily news update when there are other important matters to attend to. We’ll continue our weekly coronavirus report on Sundays, and when important breaking news occurs we’ll report it right in that day’s newsletter, whether it’s RV Travel or RV Daily Tips.
Thanks for all your tips