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Issue 1445
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
“Any fool can be happy. It takes a man with real heart to make beauty out of the stuff that makes us weep.”―
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Pierogi Day!
On this day in history: 1645 – Jeanne Mance opens the first lay hospital in North America.
If you are a member of an RV club or are affiliated with an RV-related event would you please let us know if its gatherings, meetings, etc., are cancelled or postponed because of the coronavirus? We’ll pass along the info to our readers. We appreciate any news related to RVing that’s being affected by the virus. Please submit it here. Thank you!
Tip of the Day
Lane-savvy driving – the safe way to travel
By Greg Illes
Transitioning from driving a car to herding a big RV down the road can be both a pleasure and a challenge. Dragging the big beast around corners and through dips and bumps is one of the lessons, but perhaps the area most in need of detailed attention is lane alignment.
True in all rigs but more so in class A’s, finding that “sweet spot” in your lane is not necessarily intuitive – especially if you have many years of car experience. Your brain only knows the car-relative lane-sighting target. And in fact, the sweet spot will change depending on your immediate circumstances. Continue reading.
Do you have a tip? Submit it here.
Is your RV overweight? Weigh it and be safe
Deanna Tolliver took the plunge and had her fifth wheel and truck weighed. Although many RV safety experts recommend it, she had been making excuses for not having it done (sound familiar?). Find out what is involved in an RV Safety and Education Foundation (RVSEF) weigh-in, and how easy and vitally important it is. Did Deanna’s rig pass? Find out here.
Yesterday’s featured article: Refrigerator failure: Replace or repair?
Reader poll
Have you ever stayed overnight with your RV in a Cabela’s parking lot?
Try and remember, then tell us here, please.
Quick Tip
Holding down sewer hoses
• John F. suggests barbells for holding down sewer hoses: “I use two eight-pound barbells – they’re rubberized and clean up easy. I stick Velcro straps back to back around the barbell, which gives me the latitude of bringing them closer together or farther apart – depending on the sewer connection.”
• PennyPA says: Fill an old tube sock with gravel and small stones, tie it shut, and drape it over the end. “Works whether the sewer outlet is a foot off the ground, or just inches.”
• Bill adds his two-bits to the “how do you hold down your sewer hose” question: “Water leaks. Baggies rip. Instead, grab two empty half-liter water bottles – the kind you buy by the case in the grocery store. Poke a hole in the cap of each one, pass the end of a short length of cord or heavy string through each hole from the outside, and tie a simple overhand knot in the end of the cord, inside the cap. Leave about six inches of cord between the caps. Fill each bottle halfway with sand or small rocks, put the caps on the bottles, and you are done. In use, put the middle of the cord over the sewer hose, letting the bottles hang down on each side.”
Thank you all for the great suggestions!
Website of the day
Drive the Nation
This is a wonderful website about everything you should be doing in the U.S. If you’re already on the road, or headed out soon, you’ll want to consult this website for a list of things you must see, visit and eat along the way.
Never struggle with opening jars again!
This jar-gripper is a favorite tool for many cooks and kitchen-dwellers. Never struggle to open a jar again! Simply place the gripper around the lid of the jar, lock into place and twist. Your jar will open with ease, and your hands won’t hurt afterward. This handy little gadget works on smooth and grooved lids and will adjust to fit just about every jar out there. It’s great for those of us with weak hands. Learn more or order 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:
• 24 percent do not have a roof ladder for their RV
• 14 percent use bar soap to wash their hands
• 24 percent play a game on their phone, computer or tablet at least once a day
Recent poll: Would you pay an additional $10 a night for an extra wide RV site?
Trivia
American’s would choose dogs over romantic relationships. In 2017 a three-year study by Rover.com found that 54 percent of dog owners would be willing to end a relationship if their dog doesn’t like their partner. One in four people said they bring their furry companions on first dates to see how their dog responds.
*How much does the cast of the popular TV show Friends still earn each year? We told you the high number yesterday.
Readers’ Pet of the Day
Melanie, from Julie Rabe.
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.
Pocket-sized Goo Gone is a must-have
Who doesn’t have a bottle of handy Goo Gone in their home and RV? We have several bottles in both. Now you can get this lifesaving liquid in pocket-sized pen form, so you can keep it in your purse or in the glove compartment for easy reach. Goo Gone works to get rid of anything sticky like adhesive residue, gum, stickers (like price tags) and even stains! You’ll definitely want to buy one here.
Leave here with a laugh
Instead of “the John,” I call my toilet “the Jim.” That way it sounds better when I say, “I go to the Jim first thing every morning.”
Today’s Daily Deals at Amazon.com
Best-selling RV products and Accessories at Amazon.com. UPDATED HOURLY!
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.
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RV Daily Tips Staff
Publisher: Chuck Woodbury. Editor: Emily Woodbury. Senior editor: Diane McGovern. Social media and special projects 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
RE: trivia, As usual apparently I don’t know anyone who participated in the poll. I love dogs, but I prefer an SO for sooooo many reasons…
If a person gave up their spouse for a dog, it wasn’t much of a relationship, would probably do the same for the goldfish.
You asked if anyone has stayed in a Cabela’s Parking lot. Well I answered YES, however the Cabela’s I stayed at (Sydney Nebraska) has an attached campground with full hookups. So it’s more then just a parking lot.
I told a friend of a certain age to rename his “john” the “jim” and he said he would be telling people he goes to the “jim” several times a night. 😉 🙂
That doggy unconditional love can be hard to find in a typical relationship. I prefer hanging on to both my two-legged and four-legged relationships as long as possible. We humans can play catch-up with regard to that love (any time now).
The Trivia was hard to stomach…
I would rather have a girlfriend than a dog.
If you are looking for passion get a girlfriend, if you are looking for loyalty get a dog 😂
Not all dogs are loyal. We adopted a year old husky that had been with two other homes and had been in a prison training program. (Not her fault she had been given up twice.)
She spends almost as many nights at the neighbors as she does with us–they have a St. Bernard who’s her buddy. She has less loyalty than most cats!
Hi, Donald. I’ve divorced two husbands but have never had to divorce a dog. Just sayin’. (Maybe I just pick better dogs than I did husbands.) 😆 —Diane at RVtravel.com
If the above mentioned “jar gripper” could be made to accommodate sewer caps, it would be the perfect gift for age challenged RVers/
Channel locks work great!
You have channel locks that expand over 4″????? I have a tough time getting the caps off, and have had to resort to hammer and chisel to ‘bump’ them enough to be loose.
Simple oil filter wrench that is made like pliers work great on hoses and connectors.
They make one…bright orange with two sizes on it. https://www.amazon.com/Camco-RhinoFLEX-Cleanout-Universal-39755/dp/B00BDEP9S0/ref=asc_df_B00BDEP9S0/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312098740701&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3729308154702907733&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9021220&hvtargid=pla-627386764472&psc=1
I think he’s referring to the cap on the RV’s dump pipe
Poor kitty, looks like he had a run in with the windshield during a panic stop
That wasn’t a very nice thing to say. That kitty was beautiful!!
😆 But you have to admit she’s adorable. 🙂 —Diane at RVtravel.com
For holding the sewer hose, I use my wife’s left foot. It gets her involved in the total camping experience, and half of it is hers anyway.
Me too. I only have the hose connected when I am ready to dump. I don’t like hooking it up and just leaving it. I can’t stand staring at or smelling the neighbors sewer hose from my campsite especially if the sites are tightly packed together.
Most rv parks we’ve stayed specifically ask that users NOT dump their tanks in one load as you seem to imply. Sewage system repair fees drive up costs for all of us.
How else are you going to dump your tanks at a site with a sewer hookup? If there are sewer issues at the campground, it won’t make a difference if tanks are dumped half full or full. It’s better for tank drainage to wait to empty a tank when it is 3/4 full, especially the black tank. My concern, mentioned originally, was that hoses left out and hooked up can leave a smell lingering around the campsite, unnecessarily.
On your Quick Tip for today, “Holding Down Sewer Hoses” I have tried almost everything. The best device I have found is “Rhino™ Flexible Sewer Hose Drain Adapter”. It has a flexible rubber/vinyl tip that fits snuggly into every sewer drain that I have encountered. You do not need a weight to hold the adapter. When done use the handle to “pull the plug (the adapter)” out of the drain opening.
I agree! I purchased just the rubber Hose Drain Adapter supplied by Camco that my original Rhino sewer end drops into versus the combo unit. Works the same way. https://tinyurl.com/y4vckzjw
Question why anyone would vote this down. It’s merely a suggestion on what one does or uses. If you use a different method and it works, gr8t, lol. BTW, I haven’t experience any issue in this topic or have seen many of the methods listed in the Quick Tip in campsites we’ve stayed at. Must be the use of the “Rhino or Camco” adapter. Stay safe!
Maybe they bought one of these, and no it doesn’t hold tight on every pipe. I’ve had two in the last 2 weeks that it slid around on and was no help.
Someone “thinks outside of the box” of hurt feelings.