Issue 1570
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.
Get ready for summer. Don’t swelter in your RV!
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 one air conditioner using only a small portable generator.
• Run one air conditioner on 20-amp household current.
• Run two air conditioners (with 2 Softstarts) on a 30-amp hookup.
• Run an air conditioner or two using your onboard inverter system. Read more.
Page Contents
Today’s thought
“If a man is to shed the light of the sun upon other men, he must first of all have it within himself.” ―
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is Good Friday! It’s also National Ferret Day!
On this day in history: 1902 – “Electric Theatre,” the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles.
FREE membership in The Dyrt Pro
RVtravel.com has arranged a super special deal for you — a free, 90-day membership in The Dyrt Pro App. Its Campground Directory (no need to be online to use) is superb. Plus: Trip planning, comprehensive guide to dispersed camping (boondocking) locations, and more. Check it out! Hey, you can’t beat free! And, wow, so many great benefits! Learn more here.
Tip of the Day
Downsizing to become full-time RVers
By Neil Seidler, CPA, CMA
Today I’m going to talk a little about becoming a full-time RVer – specifically about packing up and selling your home to become full-time RVers. Although we’ve been what I call part-time full-timers for quite a while, we finally decided to sell our sticks-and-bricks home. It’s been a long few months of having garage sales to sell off the things we don’t want to keep, packing up the things that we do want to keep that will go into storage, and deciding what things are in each category. My insight and advice to anyone beginning the process is as follows. Continue reading.
Do you have a tip? Submit it here.
Today’s RV review…
In today’s column, industry insider Tony Barthel reviews the new Thor Vegas 24.1 Class A Motorhome. As he reports, “I’m surprised more companies don’t offer a configuration like this. I love the size and the layout of this rig, and appreciate the many unique features in the floor plan.” Learn more and peek inside.
Did you read Tony’s review yesterday of the Thor Hurricane 34J Class A Gas Motorhome? If you missed it, you can read it here.
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, April 2, 2021. 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.
Last week two readers claimed their $25 Amazon gift cards: Christopher N. of Seal Rock, Oregon, and Steve B. of Snelling, California.
We’ll have another photo in tomorrow’s 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.
Try these grilling tips for healthy and tasty barbecuing
The barbecue has become just as much a part of the RV lifestyle as camp chairs and hiking boots. If you are the head barbecue cook, there is no reason why you can’t produce both tasty and nutritious food on the grill. Here are a few tips on healthy barbecuing.
Yesterday’s featured article: Can you really be confident of the purity of your RV water supply?
You may have missed these recent popular stories…
- Campground Crowding: Boomers vs. Newbies. The attitude battle is on!
- Starlink – Internet access from outer space coming soon to your RV?
- Protect your generator from sprouting legs and leaving the campground
- Will having an “Immunity Passport” allow us to travel? Here’s what we know
Reader poll
Do you carry a printer with you in your RV?
Quick Tip
From Mark Polk, RV Education 101
Question: We plan to do several days of dry camping at a time. Is there a way to calculate how much propane we will use?
Mark’s answer: There is a way to roughly calculate propane usage. You need to know how much propane is in your RV when it is full. An RV propane tank is full at 80 percent of its capacity to allow for expansion. Multiply your propane container capacity using one of these formulas (gallons or pounds) to determine container BTU capacity. BTUs per gallon equal 91,502. BTUs per pound equal 21,548. Divide your container BTU capacity by the total BTU demand of the appliances you are using. BTU appliance demand can normally be found on the appliance or in the appliance owner’s manual. This will give you an idea of how long you can expect your LP gas to last. For example, if your RV propane container holds 14 gallons of LP gas when it’s full, you multiply 14 X 91,502. The result is 128,1028. You divide this figure by the total BTU demand of appliances, let’s say 43,800 BTUs, which gives you approximately 29 hours of use.
?????? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ??????
For a couple who thinks they’re a great catch… Click here.
Website of the day
Give.org
From the Better Business Bureau comes give.org, a website that analyzes thousands of charities and shows you exactly how and where your money will be used. The BBB makes sure your money will be used effectively, should you donate.
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.
Trivia
When you fill up your fountain drink at a restaurant next time, you might want to pass on the ice. A study found that 70 percent of all ice from fast food restaurants was dirtier than toilet water. You can read more here. (Since this study was from 2006, hopefully things have improved since then.)
*What popular vegetable has more genes than humans?
A.) Tomato
B.) Zucchini
C.) Spinach
You’ll find the answer in yesterday’s trivia.
3-in-1 NOAA radio, flashlight and phone charger must-have for RVers
This emergency hand-crank radio is a necessity for RVers. Keep it somewhere safe, you never know when it will come in handy. The 3-in-1 radio is also a bright LED flashlight and a smartphone charger. The radio can be charged via solar charging, hand cranking or a USB plug. You’ll want to buy one here.
Readers’ Pet of the Day
“Our dog, Caia, LOVES traveling in our motorhome. She often will not voluntarily get out at the end of a trip and has to be picked up and carried into the house. She is a 14-year old senior girl who we rescued about 5 years ago. In this photo, she is all buckled up and ready to head out on a trip.” —Ellen Powers
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.
Recipe of the Day
Spring Salad With Orange Dressing
by Tammi Preston from Pilot Rock, OR
From the crunch of the nuts to the dried fruits, the textures in this salad are amazing. The orange salad dressing is what really sets this recipe apart. It’s tangy and sweet all in one yummy vinaigrette. We really enjoyed the crunch the sugared almonds added to the salad. We may make those to add to all our salads instead of croutons.
SEE YESTERDAY’S YUMMY RECIPE: Cheesecake in a blender
Leave here with a laugh
What do you call a ghost chicken?
A poultry-geist
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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 2021 by RVtravel.com
Regarding the Trivia, If the ice at a restaurant is contaminated you can be sure that happened after the ice was made and in the bin of the commercial ice maker. That machine uses filtered water from the municipal supply. The contamination is in the handling of the ice by staff. The plastic scoop gets dumped into the ice not put in the holder or they use that 5-gallon bucket to scoop the ice out and who knows how clean the outside of that is. Common sense really, but we know how uncommon that is.
Small but significant spelling error in “today’s thought. “ sun should be Son!
Have a blessed Easter!
Amen, very observent. 👍🙏
About the vaccine passport. I fought for this country so that we could be free. I think a vaccine passport is One step from having a number tattooed on your arm so the government can track you. Just my opinion but America better wake up.
Wow, thank you for your service, but what a selfish attitude on vaccination! Everyone should get vaccinated when possible to stop the dying everywhere. Wake-up!
Fred didn’t say anything about vaccinations. He only gave his opinion of “vaccination passports”. Fred, like myself may have gotten a vaccination to protect himself and others.
He was talking about the passport, not the vaccine. I wouldn’t go for the passport neither. Big Brother would love to track you.
Better throw away your driver’s license, passport, insurance cards, social security card etc. I just know that you are so important that the government wants to know everything you do and everywhere you go. 😄
I just had my stimulus check deposited into my personal checking account and I didn’t tell the government anything, they just did it. You don’t think they already know everything about you?
Hi, John. Do you have your Social Security checks or your Income Tax Refund deposited to your bank account? —Diane at RVtravel.com
The vaccine passport is only a card that shows when and where you had your shots and the serial number of the shots for tracking, if you need boosters, etc.
I agree it is an infringement on our liberties , the virus and vaccine is a money grab plain and simple. I still ,after a year, hasn’t killed as many people as the flu
How is the vaccine passport any different than the vaccine proof kids need to have to attend public schools?
I served also Fred 1972-1975 USAF, some of these comments about not caring about other people shows how far they have drank the kool-aid. GOOD BYE AMERICA
When I got up this morning and didn’t find my email telling me the RV newsletter was ready for consumption, I almost killed myself . . . . 😎
You know you can always contact me, Tommy, if you get that desperate. 😆 Have a great day! —Diane at RVtravel.com
We have the reverse with a dog. When we go camping we have to drag her along. She refuses to have anything to do with camping. And when we get home? She runs to the sofa and curls up in one of the corners. Refusing to budge. I guess she is home body more then a out doors kind of gal.
Sorry that there was a glitch in sending the email alerts this morning, readers. It was fixed and you should have received the email by now. Thank you for your patience in the meantime. Y’all have a terrific day! 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
I thought maybe it was because of Good Friday. Isn’t it nice to know you were missed. Thanks for all the work the RV newsletter staff does to keep us informed and entertained.
Thanks, Impavid. Nope, just those danged gremlins again. Have a Happy Easter! Ha! I was just watching the Easter bunny out in my back yard while fixing my dinner. 😀 —Diane at RVtravel.com
Mine came late too. I would have gone back to bed but the coffee was already brewing. Somehow I survived. It just made me happier when it did arrive.
Did not get my rv travel email this morning either. Went thru website. Prefer email!
nor did I but I found it
Didn’t get a rv travel email this morning?
Same here.
I did not receive my daily dose of RV Travel either.
You didn’t miss much today.
Caia has certainly mastered the droll expression!
Lol…..Agreed. Those eyes~hilarious!!
I’m thinking we all know what she is thinking! Thank you for adopting her.
+1