Issue 1366
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
“Life’s under no obligation to give us what we expect.” ―
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Flip Flop Day!
Tip of the Day
How to care for an RV after a rainy getaway
The universe is known to have a perverse sense of humor. For weekend RVers, it generally manifests itself in providing five wonderful, sunny days during the week and then puckering up and raining when you finally get to take the rig out for the weekend. If this is your sad situation, how do you care for a “wet” RV when you get home? Find out from Russ and Tiña De Maris here.
Do you have a tip? Submit it here.
How to defeat RV burglars
RVers, and especially boondockers, take safety seriously. We tend to camp out in the hinterlands, often far from any possible response from law enforcement and well beyond the possibility of a thief being caught in the act. BoondockBob Difley offers some ways to deter or prevent the chances of break-ins when you are boondocking and away from your rig. Learn more.
Yesterday’s featured article: RV Mods: Give your galley a stainless-steel makeover
You may have missed these recent popular stories…
- Oops! Big rock loaded on little truck. Watch and weep!
- Hilarious video of a granddad who won’t drink water, only wine!
- Peek inside the top luxury RV resort in the U.S. Would you pay $800,000 to live here?
- Camping World pulls out – Will big Hershey RV show still go on?
Reader poll
Are you planning on attending an RV show in 2020?
Tell us here, please.
Quick Tip
Considering putting in a dishwasher?
If you’re thinking about installing an RV dishwasher, before you go out and lay down money for one check out the specifications. Not only do you need enough physical space, but also consider the electrical and plumbing requirements – your rig must be able to provide for all.
Random RV thought
Some motorhomes sleep five or even six people – that’s what the RV makers say. But, really, unless some of those people are kids, you’ll be packing along a heap of weight if that many people cram into a single RV with all their stuff. Too much weight is a very bad thing and sometimes even very dangerous.
Website of the day
The best towns for antiquing in the U.S.
Feel like shopping? Check out these 14 towns known for their numerous antique stores. We’ll come with you!
Run your RV air conditioner with only a small portable generator. Yes, it’s true!
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.
Come into the light!
Our favorite electricity guy, Mike Sokol, uses this Caterpillar pocket light for just about everything. He writes, “I bought one of these CAT CY1000 Pocket COB Lights a few months ago and liked it so much that I also picked up one for my dad. I’ve dropped it a bunch of times, and it still keeps working, like any of the other tough-as-nails CAT products.” It easily clips on to your belt, shirt pocket, or anything magnetic, so you can work hands-free. Learn more or order.
Trivia
The space between your eyebrows is called the glabella.
*What animal has a tongue twice the length of its body? We told you yesterday.
Readers’ Pet of the Day
We have 2 rescue cats… sisters. They travel in our Airstream… This one likes to watch anyone using the toilet. Just weird having someone watch you!” — Lawrence Northway, Wellington, Ontario, Canada
Send us a photo of your pet with a short description. We publish one each weekday in RV Daily Tips and in our Saturday RV Travel newsletter.
Leave here with a laugh
With hindsight, I wouldn’t have sat on that cactus.
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
Publisher: Chuck Woodbury. Editor: Emily Woodbury. Senior editor: Diane McGovern. Social media 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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My primary jobs right now are “Driving Miss Joan” and her groupies- the dogs. And picking up what they leave behind. I don’t need another job- fixing the dishwasher after it breaks. “The Plumber” is taking his last stand and sticking to it.
“Considering putting in a dishwasher?”
We have a Fisher & Paykel dishwasher. It came with the rig. There are just two of us…We full time.
The DW’s viewpoint:
The wife likes it because she does not have to do the dishes by hand. She doesn’t care how long it takes. BUT, she still keeps a strainer on the cabinet anyway since the bigger dishes won’t fit into it (i.e. pots, pans, skillets, strainers, pitchers, etc.).
From a mechanical/electrical standpoint:
The dishwasher holds about 4 dishes/plates, 8 cups, a little silverware and it’s full.
Cycles take anywhere from 1 hour to 2 hours to run (depending on setting).
It uses about 3-4 gallons of water. How big are your gray tanks? If you rely on a dishwasher daily, it adds up.
You have to be extremely careful about what detergent you use. It clogs easily.
The “fins” that hold up the dishes break off easy.
The dishwasher takes up valuable storage space just like the oven does.
When the dishes come out, they are generally soaking wet so you still have to dry them.
If you are boondocking, you won’t have power to run it without a generator. You’ll only run it while you are parked in an RV Park with sufficient water pressure. That 40 psi won’t cut it for clean dishes.
When it breaks (and it will) do you have the skills to fix it? Guess what? They love to change the design so that you can no longer get parts. And most of the time, you’ll have to find an on-line dealer to order them and wait til they arrive.
If you do choose to install one, check to make sure you can run a dedicated 20A GFI circuit and get plumbing there. Most RV’s will be more work than they are worth.
Wife doesn’t care. She thinks it gets the stuff off the counter and out of the sink until they are done.
I can hand wash all of the dishes generated (and do a better job), dry them and put them away in about 15-20 minutes. I use about 2 gallons by hand versus the 3-4 by the dishwasher. (I could use less if I was on a budget).
Use your own judgment whether its worth it or not.
Score:
Wife: Yes
Husband: No (if this one quits, a cabinet door will be made for the storage space. Same for the ice maker line. I’ve replaced that 3 times in 3 years.)
I travel by myself and don’t dirty many dishes. I boondock and stay away from campgrounds. If I needed a dishwasher I’d just live at home and not own an RV. Keep it simple stupid!!
You first sentence says it all when you said “The wife likes it because…..doesn’t actually matter why”. You could have stopped there and most husbands would have understood.
Happy wife, happy life!
At home, the wife washes the dishes before she puts them in the dishwasher. Huh??
I said something ONCE……….. enough said.
We have a ottoman chair. Those circular ones with the cushion. All of our dogs seem to fight over it. Who ever gets it first stays. The rest are on the sofa.
For shame Chuck. You should of added one more town to your comment. Snohomish Washington.
The Daily Tips Newsletter is no longer shown on the Home Page? Have there been changes?
It should be there, Larry. That hasn’t been changed as far as I know. —Diane at RVtravel.com
The pocket light is nice but if you have a pacemaker then you need to worry about the magnet. It can cause you problems. They use a magnet to turn off your pacemaker during surgery and some other things .
Good point, John! Thank you for the reminder. 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
RE: Dishwasher in an RV. My wife always takes along her dishwasher whenever we travel. I also get to drive the RV.
Sounds familiar
I divorced my dishwasher years ago. Just sayin’. 😆 —Diane at RVtravel.com
To me the biggest waste of space and money is having a dishwasher in your RV. Unless of course you can afford a 45 foot luxury motorcoach. I even questioned having the Splendide in our Monaco but my wife does use it occasionally for her delicates. I have used the dryer portion on occasion. It is far quicker to use a local laundromat to wash 2 weeks worth of laundry in less than two hours.
Most of the laundromats I’ve come across in my travels are filthy and I worry my clothes will come out dirtier than they went in. Splendid works great but not at two week intervals.
We love our washer/dryer units but wouldn’t consider trying to wait 2 weeks to wash clothes. I would be concerned about the odor of dirty laundry sitting in my closet hamper for 2 weeks. My sense of smell wouldn’t allow dirty laundry to sit that long.
I use my dishwasher daily (and the washer and dryer often). I can do dishes using less water than if we washed them by hand by using the “Eco” setting on the dishwasher. We rarely boondock for over 5 days at a time and have no problem running off our tanks for that amount of time. (But I don’t do laundry when boondocking!)
It was not meant for 2 weeks worth of laundry at one time. Over the years have found that one load a day will keep the laundry basket empty.
And my wife told me that we had to over-nite in outlet mall parking lots so she could buy new clothes for the next week. Wait when I tell her that she can wash her old ones.
As for the Splendide, we have it as well. It helps by adding weight to the opposing side. Nothing more.
It takes about 20-30 minutes to wash using 7-14 gallons of water (depending on cycle).
The dryer takes an eternity. If it wasn’t for the park electrical connection, we’d have to run the generator for hours to do a load of laundry.
It’s MUCH faster to use the camp or public laundromat on re-charge day. One can do several loads at the same time and get it over with in about 45 minutes or so. Why babysit the Splendide all day to do three loads?