Issue 1859
Welcome to RV Travel’s Daily Tips Newsletter, where you’ll find helpful RV-related tips from the pros, travel advice, product reviews and more. Thanks for joining us. Please tell your friends about us.
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Today’s thought
“Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.” ―
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Nutty Fudge Day!
On this day in history: 1941 – Konrad Zuse presents the Z3, the world’s first working programmable, fully automatic computer, in Berlin.
Tip of the Day
Will weight on rear of RV trailer off-balance the rig?
By Chris Dougherty
Chris Dougherty is a certified RV technician. Here is a letter he received from a reader while he was serving as RVtravel.com’s technical editor.
Dear Chris,
We own a 25-foot 2006 Hi-Lo Classic. I’d like to mount a class II hitch and a two-bike rack on the rear of the Hi-Lo. The hitch can be mounted with hardware to allow for the bike rack, but the reduced tongue weight is the problem. Do you think that installing 80 pounds of counterweight center of the trailer and forward of the front axle would correct the tongue weight issue? —George B.
Hi, George,
To answer your question, yes, transferring some weight to the front of the trailer will offset the added weight on the back, but do this only if you’re sure you’re not overloading the trailer. Before loading the 80 pounds of rocks in the trailer, though, I’d go through the coach and see if I could move the weight by reorganizing what’s already in there. That said, 80 pounds isn’t too much, and the added weight on the rear bumper may not result in worsened handling at all. It might be worth a test and a trip to the local scales to see how the trailer reacts to the bicycles. Good luck!
Today’s RV review…
Riverstone Reserve 3950FWK Fifth Wheel
Riverstone Reserve 3950FWK Fifth WheelTony writes, “The 2022 Riverstone Reserve 3950FWK is a fifth wheel that I can see being a great choice for a full-timer. This is a floor plan that pays homage to the fact that a lot of people now are able to take their work on the road. They can combine the enjoyment of this wonderful land with some time behind the desk paying for that adventure.”
For previous RV reviews, click here.
CONTEST! Is this your RV?
Win a $25 Amazon gift certificate if today’s RV photo shows your rig
Every day we post a photo of an RV either submitted by its owner or by our editors as they move about the country.
Click here to see if your RV made it into today’s issue.
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.
Where do I reset my RV’s 120-volt outlet?
Dear Dave,
Where can I find the control panel for outlet reset in my RV? —Jonathan, 2021 Winnebago Adventure 36Z
Dump your holding tanks from inside your RV
What modification have you made to your RV that has had the most positive impact on your RV lifestyle? For RVtravel.com publisher Chuck Woodbury it’s a device that allows him to dump his RV’s holding tanks without ever stepping outside his RV. All he needs to do is flip a switch in his bathroom. That’s it. Read about how this works for him and could for you, too! Learn more.
You didn’t miss yesterday’s Full-Time RVer newsletter, did you? If so, read it here.
Reader poll
Do you currently subscribe to Netflix?
Quick Tip
Easier backing in at night
“It is always best to get to an RV park in the daylight. But if you ever need to back into a campsite in the dark, it helps to have rope lights on hand. You can quickly plug them in and lay the rope lights on both sides of the parking pad to help illuminate and guide backing in. It is less stressful than trying to follow someone waving a flashlight around. —Thanks to (our own) Nanci Dixon
?????? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ??????
This goes under our can’t-believe-we-didn’t-know-about-this-sooner list. Well, now we know, and now we’ve ordered some…
Website of the day
Best Native American Culture Destinations to Visit in North America
You’ve probably been to some of these already, but they’re all worth checking out.
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:
• 14 percent say their RV currently needs an important repair.
• 59 percent say they bought their RV new from an RV dealer.
• 63 percent say they often run their RV’s fridge on propane while the RV is moving.
Recent poll: Pickup truck owners: What brand of truck do you use for RVing?
Recipe of the Day
Seared Scallops & Shrimp Over Angel Hair Pasta
by George Levinthal from Goleta, CA
If you’re looking for a delicious, fairly simple seared scallops and shrimp recipe look no further. The sauce that accompanies the seafood is divine. As the butter, wine and shallots cook down, it almost becomes creamy. The scallops and shrimp are cooked perfectly. Overall, this is delicious!
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Trivia
In 1949, Popular Mechanics predicted that computers today would weigh approximately 1.5 tons. Wow! In the March 1949 edition, they wrote: “Where a calculator like ENIAC today is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vacuum tubes and perhaps weigh only 1.5 tons.”
*The oldest recording in the world that can be still be played today is of what? Find out in yesterday’s trivia and have a listen for yourself.
Readers’ Pet of the Day
“SookieFaye. She is the best RV dog in the world.” —Randal Weber
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!
Leave here with a laugh
Why couldn’t the pony sing a lullaby?
She was a little horse.
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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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I am lifting my computer and it is does not feel like a ton to me. But the information it stores I feel like it has a ton of information on it. As for Net Flix? Been with them for years and will not go without. As for comcast? I found if I go with Sling TV? I save over 90 bucks a month. Getting rid of it this week. I can get a lot more bang for the buck on this one.
I was sick of my king size sheets turning into a giant wadded up ball in the dryer and, therefore, not getting dry. Once you master putting these on, they work really well. Not constantly unrolling sheets in the dryer and having to use more dry time to get sheets dry.
The distress from wadded sheets has sent me over the brink so many times. I just don’t see how these hook over the clothes line?
LOL! Really hope you are joking!
Tony, life is way too short to be so serious. Never, never never in my life have I even thot about wadded” sheets. If someone wasn’t trying to sell this silly thing, I would have thot IT to be a joke.
😆 Reminds me of when I was a kid and we had to hang everything on a clothes line to dry (when the weather cooperated). Have a great day, Kelly. 😀 –Diane
Even hung them out in the winter and they would freeze and then bring into the basement to thaw out. Yep – life was fun then.
We had an old oil stove which heated the one-story house (but not very well!). There was about a 4’x4′ space behind it with some clothes lines running across the top where we’d hang the clothes when necessary. Aren’t washers and dryers wonderful?! Take care. 😀 –Diane
My mother hung wash on the line until I was 13 before she got a clothes dryer, we lived in northern IL and WI. That means frozen sheets in the winter…invigorating to say the least!
Dad got mom an automatic washer and dryer in 1975 when they got their first credit card and first house. (they were 53 yrs old) I had to explain to them that the credit card would charge them interest on the new wash/dry, so I paid it off for them. They were behind the technology times then like I am now. Oh, my 1973 Maytags are still running. If it ain’t broke – don’t fix it. From N. IL and WI too.
Hi, Bob. I can’t remember when my folks got their first washer and dryer, but I’m sure it was a hand-me-down from my grandparents (just like our first TV when I was in junior high). Before that, we went to the laundromat to wash the clothes and then, to save money, took them home and my sisters and I took turns hanging them out on the clothes line to dry. I remember the clothes were stiff, but they sure smelled fresh! Have a good night. 😀 –Diane
Mystery Product of the Day.
Pure greed! 20 bux!
These literally cost pennies to make, package, and import.
$5 per pair is probably too much.
Don’t reward corporate greed! Move on down the road!
Speaking of old computers, in the mid 80s my company shared a warehouse with the University of Texas in Austin. They stored their first major computer there. It was an enormous thing. Along with a control console, maybe 8? panels, each 7 by 10 foot long, on rollers. On one side there were thousands of exposed wires, so dense and tightly woven to the huge boards it reminded one of the surface of a baseball without the cover on it. A marvel of construction, it must have cost a fortune.
I ran/programmed an IBM-1620 Md #1computer around 1965-66: 80 punch programming cards, serial loaded, no FOTRAN It was huge and had to have electrical into the building for it as well as climate control. The pictures on wikipedia does not do it justice. We had a card puncher = keyboard and blank card magizine punch. We then fanned the card stack to get static out of it and we had to be sure they where all lined up so that no jams or shredding occurred. Then we walked to the processer feeder and let things rip [again praying for no jams]. Then the magic occured. It would run for minutes…..IF all went well. If not it would overheat and shut down….you then had to try from the beginning again. If it erred out two ugly things occurred: a] no error code, you got to look over your flow chart, keying etc for error, and 2] if you had to retype a card & you exceeded the 80 character limit of the card, the error card and ALL of the cards following [they where now out of alignment].
I ran out of space earlier: By the way, most Universities leased these monsters since the costs where exorbitant in price.
Here is the web site of this system:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_1620
A long read but a trip down memory lane.
I love the idea of not going outside to dump the tanks, since I do it most of the time. We own a 2019 Winnebago Class C Outlook. The sewer connection is INCONVENIENTLY located under the bedroom slide out. WHY???? It is very difficult to reach the handles to open the drains. My solution, a garden rake. That said, I will check into the indoor system. Thank you for showing it.
I appreciated the opening quote today
The fifth wheel is beautiful but where are the windows. I am a full-timer and prefer to see the outside wherever I am staying.
Looked like they had all the shades pulled down in the pictures.
A lot of them had their blackout curtains pulled down. That’s easier and cheaper than pasting a pastoral scene in each. I just wish the rest of the interior wasn’t so dominantly hospital white.