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Issue 1403
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
“Own only what you can always carry with you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag.” — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Be safe: Disposable face masks. Many choices at Amazon.
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Son and Daughter Day!
On this day in history: 1929 – Babe Ruth becomes the first baseball player to hit 500 home runs in his career with a home run at League Park in Cleveland, Ohio.
Tip of the Day
RV fueling etiquette at the truck stop
By Jim Twamley
We RVers often use truck stops for refueling because they are designed for large rigs and it seems that RVs are getting larger every year. Did you know that there is a proper way to use a truck stop refueling station?
When you are finished filling up your tanks and washing your windows, you should pull your rig forward enough to allow the truck or RV behind you to pull in and begin refueling.
Once you pull forward, then you can go into the truck stop store pick up a soda and pay the cashier for the hundreds of dollars worth of fuel you just pumped.
This simple courtesy will go a long way in helping with RVer/trucker relations.
Do you have a tip? Submit it here.
The mystery of the melting RV cover
Here’s a situation that you have likely never encountered: a brand-new RV cover, in this case a high-quality one from ADCO to cover a 37-foot travel trailer, that began to melt in an arc-shaped pattern across the cover for no apparent reason. What caused it? Find out here.
Yesterday’s featured article: Nine easy steps to holding down fuel costs
Reader poll
Did you ever take a typing class?
Tell us here.
Quick Tip
Don’t run from bears…
Editor’s note: We recently found this on the National Park Service Facebook page about what to do if you see a bear. We thought we’d share!
Do not run from bears or push your slower friends down in attempts of saving yourself.
If you come upon a stationary bear, move away slowly and sideways; this allows you to keep an eye on the bear and avoid tripping. Moving sideways is also non-threatening to bears. Do NOT run, but if the bear follows, stop and hold your ground. Like dogs, they will chase fleeing animals. Do NOT climb a tree. Both grizzlies and black bears can climb trees. Do NOT push down a slower friend (even if you think the friendship has run its course).
Stay calm and remember that most bears do not want to attack you; they usually just want to be left alone. Identify yourself by making noise so the bear knows you are a human and not prey. The bear may come closer or stand on its hind legs to get a better look or smell. A standing bear is usually curious, not threatening.
Don’t swelter in your RV anymore!
At RVtravel.com we don’t see too many products that we go nuts over, but the SoftStartRV is a game changer. Here’s what it can do:
• Run two air conditioners on a 30-amp hookup.
• Run one air conditioner using only a small portable generator.
• Run one air conditioner on 20-amp household current.
• Run an air conditioner or two using your onboard inverter system. Read more.
Mice in the RV? Try mint oil. Read about it here.
Website of the day
All For Good
One of the largest sources for volunteer positions, simply type in your nearest town or city and see hundreds of opportunities appear.
Welcome to the Motor Oils Store!
Yes, there is such a store, and it’s at (where else?) Amazon! You’re just one click away from a wide range of motor oils for your vehicle at great prices. Whether you need synthetic, conventional, diesel, hybrid, recycled, or bio-based engine oil, Amazon can provide you with sufficient alternatives. Motor oil is your vehicle’s lifeblood, and that makes it an important part of your life too. Learn more or order.
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:
• 15 percent say more than one pet sleeps in bed with them at night.
• 10 percent play either board or card games all the time.
• 33 percent say their favorite way to eat a potato is baked. Their least favorite form of eating potatoes is potato chips.
Recent poll: Do you prefer to move around often with your RV or stay put for months on end? Please tell us here.
Trivia
Every day in the United States about 84.8 million people, 37 percent of the population, consume fast food.
*Yesterday we told you that the U.S. has all five of Earth’s what?
Readers’ Pet of the Day
“Here are Lacey & Zoey, two well-traveled pets we rescued from an animal shelter several years ago. Lacey is part Pomeranian and part Chihuahua, while Zoey is a full Pom. These guys love RVing about as much as we do, so much so that they hop in the motorhome frequently when it’s parked in our driveway at home. Every time I go out to do some work or just take things to the RV they hop in, ready to go. We’ve taken them cross-country and into Canada.” — Tad & Sharyn Fogel, Brevard, NC
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.
For peace of mind, use a backflow preventer
Backflow happens when a fresh water system gets “cross-connected” with a source of bad water or other contaminants. You don’t want that! Prevent this from happening by using a backflow preventer. Here’s an affordable one. Use it and rest easier. (You can read more about backflow prevention here.)
Leave here with a laugh
Spilling a beer is the adult equivalent of losing a balloon.
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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Pom Chi are the most loyal and most devoted and most velcro dog I ever had the pleasure of adopting. She does not leave my site nor side for a minute. I love these dogs and want ten more. If possible. Will be adopting again if the time arises.
The only problem with moving and then going in to look around and pay, is that the next guy in line can not start fueling until you have paid and they reset the pump.
You are supposed to pay as soon as you finish fueling, then take care of your personal business. If you are going to be there more than a few minutes return to your RV and park away from the fuel island, then return to the store. You will not be holding up the next drivers that way, it’s just a matter of courtesy.
Don’t most people pay with a credit card at the pump?
Most truck lanes at truck stops don’t take credit cards (we have yet to find one). They do take fuel cards, like EFS (trucking card but used by TSD, a trucking firm that lets RV’ers use their program for fuel discounts) or the Good Sam Flying J/Pilot Rewards card. Both take cost of fuel out of checking acct. Don’t work like a credit card.
Well not me as I like receipts from inside. I get to walk inside grab a quick cup of coffee a tray for my wife. I do all this AFTER pulling forward. I am quick about doing that and I have never ever had a trucker waiting for me. Usually they are fueling one heck of a lot more fuel and doing things.
A trucker is busy checking the oil, washing the windows, emptying his garbage and sometimes checking tires etc.
Two things I do. Make sure I note the number on the pump before you see the cashier and when I’m done fueling I use my cell phone and take a photo of the amount and gallons just in case there’s a dispute.
Concerning fueling…why is it some people go into “terrtorial” mode when parked at a busy fueling station? They’re like “This is MY SPOT now and I’ll take as long as I {bleeped} well please!” So inconsiderate. Please people, pump your fuel then move for the others behind you, THEN go in and do your shopping, restrooms and such…there are other parking spaces.
Typically it’s not the rv’er that blocks up the gas pump. Watched some clown park his car in front of one of two diesel pumps (I was at the other). Never pumped gas. His entire family went inside the station to probably use the restroom as none of them had anything in hand when they returned. He then washed his windows and left. All while several other diesel work trucks waited.
My type writer was manual and the rest of the class was electric. They ran out, so when I did get one I was faster. That would be 1980. Cute doggies. One of our goes to sleep and the other likes to pace. Both are attached to the seatbelts. Our new dog, a malinois puppy of 40lbs so far loves to look out the front window. She hasn’t made a trip so far.
Adding to Jim’s article about truck stop etiquette, I would like to say something about FlyingJ’s “RV Lanes”. The key word here is “RV” not pick-up truck, or work van, or car. We have seen all these and more using the RV lanes at FlyingJ’s and sometimes going in the store to have lunch!
To those of us who need gas not diesel, FlyingJ is a godsend. To those of you who need diesel in your pick-up, go to the regular lanes. They all have diesel. And to those of you who just “have” to use the RV lane please move your vehicle when you are done. There are always plenty of parking spaces.
Agree! We have a 38′ gasser and tow a Ford Edge so we have some serious length. Flying J’s and their RV lanes are a godsend. I wish Pilot would get on board and add them since they’re the same company and Flying J’s get pretty thin in some states. We’ve discussed moving to a diesel solely for the ease of fueling at other truck stops but haven’t been able to justify the extra cost just for that yet.
I agree, but are we preaching to the choir? Many times these are locals and think they own the territory. I doubt they will ever see this post, or care less. My lip is bloody and scared from biting it.
How do I find and purchase a “lot” at an RV park or resort ? Colorado would be nice.
https://www.rvparkstore.com/rv-lots-for-sale
Thank you Christine!