Issue 1732
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.
If you shop at Amazon.com we’d appreciate you using this link. We get an itty bitty commission if you buy something, but they add up and help us pay our bills (including our hard-working writers!).
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Page Contents
Today’s thought
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” ―
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Fast Food Day! Go treat yourself!
On this day in history: 1945 – UNESCO is founded.
Tip of the Day
You will be surprised by these 18 incredibly handy uses for a kitchen sponge
By Gail Marsh
Behold the lowly sponge. It’s taken a real beat-down over the past few years! And I’ll be the first to admit that I, too, abhor the many varied germs that can hide within a dirty sponge. But before you toss those sponges out for good, you should know that you can toss them into the dishwasher. Yes, that’s right! Sponges can be cleaned. Place them on the top rack and use a heat-dry cycle. Once it’s cleaned, try these 18 uses for a kitchen sponge. (Seriously, these are amazing ideas!)
Yesterday’s tip of the day: Quick tip to keep recyclables and compostables organized in the RV
Today’s RV review…
In today’s column, industry insider Tony Barthel reviews the new Ibex 19MBH bunkhouse adventure trailer. As he reports, “This is a solid collection of very usable features. The overall appearance of these also really seems appealing to a younger, more adventure-focused audience, while the units themselves are relatively affordably priced.” Learn more.
Did you read Tony’s review update yesterday of the 2022 Ember RV Overland 191MDB production model? 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 time today, November 16, 2021. If it’s yours you’ll win a $25 Amazon gift certificate.
Last week one reader claimed their $25 Amazon gift card: Kathleen Verdino of Sun City, AZ.
We are discontinuing the contest at the end of November. We’ll have a brand-new contest. This contest will return again after a break.
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.
Ask Dave
Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and author of the “RV Handbook” as well as the Managing Editor of the RV Repair Club.
Can I plug my trailer into my house with no problem?
Dear Dave,
Can I plug electricity from my house into the travel trailer with no problem? And how can I keep the water tanks from freezing? —Miguel
Did you miss Dave’s column yesterday where he answered the question: How do I shut off the RV’s heater fan and leave others running?
No! No! No! This fifth wheel towing setup can’t be real! Or can it?
When you see this photo you’ll say, no way can that work safely, much less can it be legal! But the fact is, it is real and it was photographed at an Alberta gas station. Check it out. If you own a fifth wheel, please leave a comment with your thoughts. Does this really work, and safely?
Yesterday’s featured article: Workamping? There are more ways to make money from it than you think…
A cozy gift for your favorite RVer!
These adorable trailer-themed slippers are just what your favorite RVer needs to get them through the winter months. They’re ultra-soft, warm, and comfortable and have nonslip soles so you won’t slip and slide across your RV’s floors. They come in two sizes, S/M and L/XL, so every foot will be happy! Check ’em out here.
Reader poll
In a nice RV park, do you typically use the park’s shower or the one in your RV?
Scrub-a-dub-dub! Tell us here.
Quick Tip
Can you reach necessities when slides are in?
When the slides are in (drive-ready), this is a good time to check to see if you can reach the necessities that may be obstructed when they’re in. Can you get a jacket or umbrella out of the closet? Can you reach the pet food? Plan where things are stored so you can adjust as needed before it becomes a problem – on that occasion when a slide will not operate or you are simply parked too close to an object and cannot put out the slide. Thanks to Ron Jones, AboutRVing.com.
Website of the day
The 50 Best Luxury RV Parks in the US
This list from Outdoorsy is giving us some serious wanderlust. We’d love to be parked at one of these luxurious RV parks right now! Have you been to any of them?
?????? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ??????
Ummmm… Why didn’t we know about this sooner?! We’re adding this to our holiday wish list RIGHT NOW. You probably will too.
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:
• 44 percent go grocery shopping once a week and 27 percent go multiple times a week.
• 80 percent rely heavily on online rankings/ratings of RV parks when making reservations.
• 17 percent have been to a National Park within the last month.
Recent poll: How would you describe your personality?
Recipe of the Day
Meatloaf and Mashed Potato Cupcakes
by Cara Metzger from Warsaw, IN
Controlled portions AND cute as a button?! Yes, please!
OMG! We weren’t expecting this to be such a great idea but it is! Get the recipe.
See yesterday’s recipe: Lasagna Soup
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Trivia
If you’re in Los Angeles and frequently complain about bad traffic, your complaints are justified. Los Angeles has the busiest freeway interchange, the East Los Angeles Interchange, in the entire world. At this interchange, four separate highways meet, which causes A LOT of vehicles to come together at once. The interchange, usually always bumper-to-bumper, handles more than 550,000 vehicles per day. To put it into perspective: That’s roughly the population of the entire state of Wyoming!
*What day of the week do people usually weigh the least? Take a guess, then look for the answer in yesterday’s trivia.
Readers’ Pets of the Day
“BB and Dolly are Alaskan Klee Kai’s (miniature Huskies). They are siblings. They always want to hit the road.” —Bert Blanchette [Editor: “Klee Kai” is Inuit for “small dog.”]
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. No blurry photos, please! Please do not submit your photo more than once. Thanks!
Here’s everything to do if you lose your pet. This is an excellent resource!
Leave here with a laugh
My uncle was very rude to me at my birthday party last month. I told him in order to come to the family Thanksgiving at my house he would need to apologize. A few days later I received a letter in the mail. It was from my uncle but was written in all dots and dashes. I guess it was re-morse code.
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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Contact information
Editor: Emily Woodbury.
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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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Meatloaf and mashed potato cupcakes? Bleeaaahh!
I started watching ‘Matts RV Reviews’ on YouTube during the pandemic, and kept commenting that they needed to test open the fridge and bathroom doors with the slides in, for when people are driving, (or at a rest area, Walmart, etc…) where they can’t put them out. Thanks heavens they have now started doing this on their videos! If you have a YouTuber reviewer you regularly watch, make sure to ask them to do this as well!
I can access every area of our 34′ Winnebago Class A at all times, and I don’t have to worry about a slide not coming in or going out – cause we don’t have any slides and have found no real need for any.
Agree
I got a laugh out of the Nevada “luxury” RV park listing. It pops up with a picture of Roy’s Motel. Not a particularly flattering picture. It reminds me of “Dwane’s Beef Jerky and RV Park” in AZ. We stay there every time we do the Reno/Houston’Reno trip.
When someone on the social media site that should not be named, asks what to look for in a floorplan I always say a bed you can walk around and a bathroom accessible with slides in.
The pots and pans under the stove and the cleaning supplies under the sink are semi-unaccessible. The lower clothing drawers in the bedroom are unaccessable. That’s about it.
I worked at the LAFD fire station that handled that particular freeway interchange. We were busy. 🚒
Most importantly, can you get to the BATHROOM?
Yes! In our small Class A everything is accessible with the slides in! You just can’t walk around the bed or put up the table.
This is one of the reasons we bought our Montana 3120 RL. Easy access to the bathroom and fridge. Both super handy when on travel days!
Totally agree. We have a 3121rL.
However not very useful if your driving down the highway!
Minor issues getting to things w/ the slides in w/ our 2008 Nuwa 35′ 5Ver: 1 cabinet under sink and the dresser drawers. The real issue is the slides cover most of the heater vents in the floor.
Need to work on here “Leave here with a laugh” another Boo
yup
Agreed!
No one here is a ham radio operator?
Just saying they don’t do that any more … —!
At least I am a HAM…WA9TTV
What’s wrong with it?
The only thing wrong is some reader’s sense of humor is very, very particular
Not only that Julie. A HUGE part of the population do not even know what Morse Code is. Should I say it? . . . a good many of the new generations do not care to learn history. Too boring compared to social media. Sad
Wasn’t the code invented by Morris the cat? Oh no, that must be Morse, Morris’s cousin. Try -.. . .-.. . – . If you’re too lazy to look that up it spells “delete” which you should do if you don’t like the jokes. I send them on to my granddaughter who sends me a happy face or crying eyes face. And life goes on.
Wow! I liked the joke! Just thought I would explain why some don’t get it! Sorry for the opinion. Have a nice day!
Hi, Lil John. I have a feeling Impavid just inserted his reply under the wrong comment. I’ll bet he meant it for Skip, who didn’t like the joke. BTW, I remember my grandpa quickly tapping out Morse Code on his HAM radio. He was really fast! That was about 70 years ago, and he had been a HAM radio operator for quite awhile before that. His call sign was K7SD. Have a good night. 🙂 –Diane
I thought it was clever.
Don’t like it we don’t want to hear it!
We have a 2008 Georgetown and to get to the bathroom I have to walk sideways. I am quite fluffy, Dw can get to ok. Great advantage of a class A.
A good friend of mine bought a travel trailer with three slides. When all the slides were in, you could not access the back half of the trailer.
Same with ours. We can access the bathroom and bedroom and that’s it. Can’t even get to the fridge.
My 5ver is the same way, but I’m not sure why this is a concern. It’s never been an issue for us. We are only going inside when we are parked and living in it.