Issue 1400
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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Today’s thought
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” — Mother Teresa
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Root Beer Float Day!
On this day in history: 1991 – Tim Berners-Lee releases files describing his idea for the World Wide Web. WWW debuts as a publicly available service on the Internet.
Tip of the Day
Tow a fifth wheel with a half-ton pickup?
Steve Savage submitted this article to RVtravel.com when he was a Master Certified RV Technician with Mobility RV Service.
It seems there’s always some new danger lurking in the RV woods ready to trap the unwary, especially if they are new to RVing. In my opinion, the concept of half-ton pickups towing fifth wheel trailers is one of those traps. For the uninitiated, it will not take you long to discover many dealers are ballyhooing ultra-lite fifth wheels that weigh so little they can even be towed by half-ton pickup trucks. Continue reading.
Do you have a tip? Submit it here.
How you can feast on fresh fruits and veggies year-round
As RVers, we travel to many new and different locations, and the preparation and enjoyment of local foods can become a highlight of our travels. The best local foods in season will be found at farmer’s markets, farm stands and U-pick farms. Here are tips from Boondock Bob Difley on where to find the freshest produce no matter where you are or what time of year it is. Read more.
Yesterday’s featured article: Book paints dark picture of “work campers”
Reader poll
How well do you like your first name?
Tell us here.
Quick Tip
Cleaning black tank and its sprayer heads
Here’s a tip from Tim Slack: “Awhile ago I read a tip in your newsletter about dumping a black tank as normal then filling it with clean water, maybe with Dawn detergent, letting it sit for 24 or more hours, and then dumping. It worked well, so I do it periodically. The tank sprayer heads were blocked when we bought our used Tiffin Open Road. The last time I did the clean water trick, I discovered that the water had softened the dried blockage in my tank sprayer heads and they work again! So, thanks for that earlier tip, and please pass along my addendum for others to try.” Thanks, Tim!
Website of the day
40 easy campfire recipes
Nope, not s’mores but just, well, so much more! Here’s a great list from Taste of Home of tons of easy meals to make while camping, and most can be done over the campfire.
Lightweight, waterproof, foldable backpack perfect for RVers
Ultra-light, ultra-durable, and ultra-handy for RV trips, this backpack is perfect for small-space living. Pack folds into a tiny sandwich-sized pouch, perfect for storage or for use on airplane trips. Many pockets, including two water bottle slots, make this waterproof pack great for hiking, camping, or day-trips. Learn more and view all of the colors here.
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:
• 7 percent wear cologne or perfume every day
• 76 percent have taken typing lessons
• 22 percent say they go out on a date with their partner at least once a week
Recent poll: How long ago did you buy your first RV?
Trivia
In Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming, there are more cows than there are people. In all these states combined there are about 32,489,391 cows. Holy… cow!
*In Japan, there is a food that chefs have to train for two years to serve. What is it? We told you yesterday.
Readers’ Pet of the Day
“Zach always travels with us in our Lance TT! He is quite happy as long as he is with us. Great little guard dog too!” — candleinthesand
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.
Lap desk puts your back to rest!
If you find yourself using your computer on your lap, reading your Kindle on the couch, or having a hard time holding that heavy hardback, you need this lap desk! Staff writer Emily uses this when she works and highly recommends it. The desk has eight adjustable levels and even has a stopper to hold objects upright. Great for those who have lower back pain or terrible posture. Learn more or order.
Leave here with a laugh
Do dogs see police dogs and think, “Oh, no! It’s the cops!”?
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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This newsletter is copyright 2020 by RVtravel.com
who won the drawings?
Hi, Rocky. The winner of the SoftStartRV is listed in tomorrow’s RV Travel newsletter. The other prizes are still in the process of being claimed and we’ll list them later. —Diane at RVtravel.com
We have 4 generations of RCS for our initials. First and Last names are the same but our 4 Middle names are different. My dad started this and we all like it [and much better than 1st / 2nd / …. <OR> Senior / Junior….] etc
When someone asks for my name, I tell them they can call me most anything they want, as long as it isn’t late for supper.
The compare roadside assistance , find the best leads to a 404 site
Sorry, Jim. Was that in Thursday’s newsletter itself? I can’t find it in there to try to fix the link. Was it perhaps an auto-inserted AdSense ad, that shows different things for different people? Either that or I need new glasses worse than I thought! Thanks, Jim. 🙂 —Diane at RVtravel.com
I guess I’m ok with it, it did come from the Bible and it is an old name and few around. Zach is a cutie pie. We have a new one, a malinois puppy that gets car sick every time in the car so trying to get her use to the motions before we move in the RV. All our furr babies are hooked in for safety.
I’m a Deborah also. Love the name!
For a number of years I have put a dishwasher pod in my black tank along with a Porta Pack pod after each dump. Add a couple gals of water also. Keeps things clean. If you find yourself parked a lot at a campsite a cup of Pinesol inside your tank with adequate water really helps.
I asked the Aliner manufacturer about the weight of the popup a while back. About 1800 lbs !
Does that include the built in Cool Cat ? “no”, does that include the built in Dormers ? “No”, Does that include the battery and Propane tanks as shown in the brochure ? “No”. It’s more like 2500 lbs. Your dealer is supposed to provide that information to you. Have a nice day.
Good warning. Heads up to newbies, by law there is a little tag somewhere on the camper, often it is yellow with black print, which has the actual as-built dry weight. You have to look for it, and never buy the unit before seeing it and thinking through all the info on it. Often the small units have CCCs (cargo carrying capacity) which are so miniscule you can’t add a tank of fresh water and your luggage in it before being overweight. You could roll off the lot towing it with your small suv, but find yourself in big trouble at the first mountain grades. p.s. fresh water weighs 8.33 pounds per gallon.
A big Thank You for all your helpful articles. I am relatively new to travel with a camper. Constantly learning new ideas and travel tips.
Thank You Again
I am a very early morning person while my husband is a late sleeper. As I wait for the sun to come up so I can go for a walk I drink my coffee and read RV Travel and other emails…VERY QUIETLY. Today however I started reading the 198 worst names. I chuckled, then laughed out loud, then laughed even louder until I laughed hysterically. Woke sleeping beauty up. (Sound really does travel in a quiet RV). Somehow he was not as amused. Thanks for a great laugh! Keep up the good work!
Dianne, it’s because of your comment that I went back to read that list. Holy Cow! I too laughed my {bleeped} off at some of the names. What are parents thinking – for first names anyway. You’re stuck with your last name.
I guess I missed it too- I’ll go back and look- thanks. Man, those recipies look great- I’m going to try them next week with the G-kids when we go camping. They will be easy and fun with my one burner butane stove.
Laughing is good for the soul. Don’t take life too seriously, nobody gets out alive.