Issue 1561
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
“You have to believe in happiness, or happiness never comes. Ah, that’s the reason a bird can sing – On his darkest day he believes in spring.” —Douglas Malloch
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Goof Off Day! Have fun!
On this day in history: 1933 – Cullen–Harrison Act: President Franklin Roosevelt signs an amendment to the Volstead Act, legalizing the manufacture and sale of “3.2 beer” (3.2% alcohol by weight, approximately 4% alcohol by volume) and light wines.
Did you see the news? Click here to read the latest issue of the Sunday News for RVers.
Tip of the Day
9 methods to get those stubborn bugs and guts off your RV. Yuck!
By Nanci Dixon
Bugs got your windshield view covered? Have they been ending the last flight of their life on the front of your windshield or RV? Every RVer, especially this time of year when the bugs start to take flight again, knows what’s it’s like for their RV to be smothered in bug guts. Sorry, little flies… Try these 9 easy methods to get them off (and keep them off for good!).
Do you have a tip? Submit it here.
Today’s RV review…
In today’s column, industry insider Tony Barthel reviews the new 2021 Cougar 355FBS Fifth Wheel. This fifth wheel has a unique, almost hidden, space in the front nose that would be great for a home office or a hobby room. Take a look, and then tell Tony if you like, or dislike this interesting space. See it here and take a tour of the trailer.
Tony’s reviews from this weekend you may have missed:
• TAXA Mantis Convertible Travel Trailer
• 2021 Vanleigh Vilano 377FL Fifth Wheel
For previous RV reviews, click here.
Is this your RV?
If it’s yours and you can prove it to us (send a photo for comparison), tell us here by 9 p.m. Pacific Daylight time today, March 22, 2020. If it’s yours you’ll win a $25 Amazon gift certificate.
If this isn’t your RV, send us a photo of your RV here (if you haven’t already) for a chance to win in future issues.
We’ll have another photo in tomorrow’s RV Daily Tips Newsletter (sign up to receive an email alert so you don’t miss the issue or those that follow). Some of these photos are submitted by readers while others were taken by our editors and writers on their travels around the USA.
RV Electricity – This week’s J.A.M. (Just Ask Mike) Session
Is there really an electricity “cleaner”?
Dear Mike,
I keep seeing advertisements for these “clean power” products, even in your articles. Do you promote them? Have you ever used anything like this? And the most important question is: “Do they work?” —Sanford R.
Read Mike’s response (which also explains some of the odd and/or possibly deceptive ads you may see on RVtravel.com).
• Read more of Mike’s articles here.
?????? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ??????
These have us howling with laughter! Oh, c’mon. You HAVE to get one of these to prank someone and make them laugh!
Think your RV door is locked? Think again
Here’s a short story about how six RVers were able to gain entry to other RVs with the keys to their own doors – not intended for the doors they were able to unlock. How can this happen? Easy. Read all about it.
Reader poll
Have you shopped at a Walmart store in the last month?
Meet you on Aisle 9 over 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
• DIRECTORY OF RV PARKS WITH STORM SHELTERS
Did you buy a lemon RV? Here’s more about RV lemons and lawyers who will represent you if you need help.
Temperature gun is “essential equipment” for many RVers
Aim this non-contact IR temperature gun to measure the temperature of your refrigerator, tires, A/C and heater output, or, heck, even your oven (and the list goes on). It turns on and begins reading the temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit with one press of the trigger. A laser light aids in aiming, and can be turned on or off. Many RVers consider this essential equipment. Learn more or order at a discount.
Quick Tip
Clean your range!
Cleanliness is a virtue! If you have a range that opens, lift the top and make sure no food or spills are left in there. Line the space with aluminum foil to help keep it clean. The burners can be removed and soaked in a soapy water solution to clean them. Brush with a soft bristle-type brush around the ports to remove any burned-on food, etc.
Website of the day
7 ways to avoid crowds in National Parks
Here are 7 handy ways from the AARP to avoid those terrible crowds in National Parks. As National Parks become more popular, these are good to know.
Their propane “froze”! Wait … Can propane freeze? Well, sort of. Read more here.
Popular articles you may have missed at RVtravel.com
• RVers evicted from RV park for receiving a FedEx delivery
• RVtravel.com readers see no improvement in RV quality
• Weird, Wacky, Wonderful RVs of the Week
Dirty contacts? DeoxIT!
Here’s a comment from electrical specialist Mike Sokol: “I’ve used DeoxIT for decades on my pro-sound gear. We use it on speaker connectors, power connectors such as cam-lok and twist-lock plugs (just like RV power), volume controls, gold-plated circuit boards (like in RV refrigerator control boards), etc. There are several different versions of DeoxIT depending on if you want built-in lubricant for potentiometers, or gold contact refurbishing or simply oxidation removal.” Learn more or order.
Trivia
Can you think of a Martin Luther King Jr. way street in the U.S.? We’re guessing you can (we can!) because there are more than 900 of them across the states.
While 900 sounds like a lot, it’s nothing compared to the list of the most popular street names in the U.S. Can you guess what the most popular street name is? It’s Second Street (there are 10,866 of them in the U.S.) followed by Third St., First St., Fourth St., and finally, Park.
Readers’ Pet of the Day
“Our dog, Willie, does love a good sunset on the road. He is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, and the best travel dog ever!” —Robin Kinnard
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
OMG, Odin is just too cute!
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.
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 2021 by RVtravel.com
I keep seeing an ad embedded in this newsletter about Muama/Ryoku WIFI devices. This is a useless device and hundreds have been scammed by this seller, based on the numerous on line reviews and complaints. I don’t understand why RV Travel cant control the ads that’s embedded in their newsletter…..
I just wrote about that problem in my J.A.M. Session today (see the link below). The best thing you can do is report these scam-ads to Diane, and she’ll pass it on to the RVtravel Data Wranglers to block that address. However, as I noted in my article, these scam promotion companies have hundreds or even thousands of spoofed addresses they can change to, so sometimes it’s like trying to weed a large field. https://www.rvtravel.com/rv-electricity-jam-clean-energy-scam/
What are you talking about weeding a large field? How about just keeping the weeds out of a 6,000sqft yard? Lol
Use an ad blocker. I don’t see any ads.
Adblock Plus. It’s free and the best I’ve come across.
Hi, Engineer. I’ll copy here what I’ve just explained to a couple of our readers this morning, and adding to what Mike has said. We’re trying to control those deceptive and/or obnoxious ads as soon as we hear about them. However, since the ads change constantly, and also depend on the location of the reader and even what the reader has clicked on before, we have no way of knowing what someone is seeing in our newsletters that Google drops in automatically. If you see something deceptive/scammy/obnoxious, please try to get a screenshot of it, as well as the URL for their website, and send it to diane(at)rvtravel.com. I’ll make sure it gets blocked. Of course, that will only work until they change their address, unfortunately. But we can at least try to keep things under control. We’re just as annoyed by those types of ads as you all are. Thank you for letting us know. Have a great day, and stay healthy. 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
The next time you use Google Maps in your community take notice of the street names. The name on the corner sign may not be the same as the map displayed on your phone. When traveling pay attention to this. The locals will usually refer to a street by the name they were taught, not the name given it by the local municipal planning board. Most times, the planning name only exists in the planning files.
You got that right, when we first bought our land we lived on Vaughn Hollow Rd for 19 months, I worked afternoon shift and left for work at 2 pm. When I came home at 11:45pm the road had a new name complete with a new sign. No prior notice or nothing, luckily it was a small town and the post office was aware of the change. That was before email so snail mail still had to work.
Could someone explain today’s Laugh? I see 5 likes but I don’t get it.
The cat decided to lay down in the dog’s bed so the dog decided to lay down in the cat’s bed. Pets don’t normally share their bed wiith others.
You have to watch the video clip below it!!!
Speaking of wondering!! Where did you see 5 likes?
Snoopy
Hi, Betty. Not really a funny joke, but just amusing. Big dog in little cat bed, so he doesn’t have to disturb the cat in his bed? Too cute! 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
Baffling how there can be more 2nd and 3rd streets than 1st streets unless maybe some “1st” streets are called Main Street? 🤔
Our First Street in our city is Washington. And from there, it’s 2nd through 7th.
I like the layout of the fiver Tony previewed today. I am a bit surprised that it is so tall. 12 ‘ 11” . Also love the walk-in. Most fivers seem to have 2 sofas that fold out across from each other. My Bighorn had that. I took 1 out and put in a desk and small filing cabinet.
Where is the “hallway” to the second bathroom?
In the kitchen!
Looks like a pantry door!
Steve, I know where the second bathroom is but I don’t see a “hallway”. Could be because my eyes are tired and old. LOL!