Issue 1954
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.
Today’s thought
“I used to dream about escaping my ordinary life, but my life was never ordinary. I had simply failed to notice how extraordinary it was.” ―
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is the first day of fall! If you’re in denial and still holding onto summer, perhaps you can celebrate Elephant Appreciation Day instead.
On this day in history: 1789 – The office of United States Postmaster General is established.
Tip of the Day
RV hydraulic system maintenance
By Dustin Simpson, California RV Specialists
If your RV has hydraulic leveling jacks or slideout system, you want to have RV hydraulic maintenance performed periodically. This will check the hydraulic fluid level in your reservoir for low fluid, leaks and damage.
To ensure that everything is functioning properly, the fluid levels should stay consistent. If the fluid level looks low in the reservoir, this could indicate a potential unseen issue or leak somewhere in the system.
Today’s RV review…
2022 Rockwood Tent 1940F pop-up tent trailer
Tony writes, “Today’s RV review is of the 2022 Rockwood Tent 1940F, one of the smallest pop-up tent trailers on the market. In fact, while most of the industry abandoned pop-up trailers completely, Rockwood and Flagstaff (same product, different name) continue to build them. Now they are the leader in the industry by a long margin. While a lot of people who might have a big, fully outfitted RV might not really think of this when shopping, there is a whole swath of the population for whom these make tremendous sense.” Oh, and Tony has a funny story to tell!
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.”
Can I retract RV’s rear slideout manually?
Dear Dave,
My trailer has a rear slideout. It is operated by an electric motor and cables. My question is what do I do to get the slideout back in if I was to lose electrical power? Is there a manual system to operate to get the slideout assembly back into the trailer? I have looked but can’t find any such mechanism. —Jim, 2016 Keystone Outback 24URL toy hauler
Video of the day
How to winterize an RV: Tutorial for two methods
By Cheri Sicard
Jared Gillis from All About RVs has prepared a comprehensive tutorial about winterizing your RV.
For many people, their RVs go into hibernation over the winter, much as a bear does. If that’s you and you live in a cold climate with temperatures below freezing, you will definitely want to winterize your rig.
Finding the “perfect” RV requires a shift in perspective
“There is no perfect RV.” That’s the advice a salesman-friend gave to our writer Gail Marsh and her husband. Over the years they have realized he was right. At the time, they were looking for the impossible: an RV that offered plenty of sleeping space for their extended family, comfortable seating for all, a large basement, towable with their truck and priced within their budget. That RV didn’t exist. Read how they resolved the issue so their present RV is nearly perfect for them.
Reader poll
On average, how much time do you spend outdoors every day?
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Quick Tip
Not a fan of grease? Tell me more, tell me more…
With electricity expert and veteran RVer Mike Sokol
My son Kevin, the pastry chef and teacher, came home the other day (don’t they always) looking for the bar of “yellow lye soap” to get a big grease stain out of his pants. I remember my grandmother using a yellow bar of Fels-Naptha lye soap on my grandfather’s work clothes (he was a coal miner), and on our skin if we got into the poison ivy. (The formula has since been changed.) According to Chef Kevin, many kitchens and bakeries still keep a bar of Fels-Naptha lye (sodium hydroxide) soap handy for serious grease stain removal. I looked it up and it’s still available at a lot of grocery stores as well as online on Amazon (of course). Here’s a link if you can’t find it locally.
?? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ??
There’s a mouse in the house! No, there’s a mouse in the RV! But a really, really cute mouse that you’ll love!
On this day last year…
- Tip: Make a safe U-turn when the road goes the wrong way
- RV review: 2022 Jayco North Point 310RLTS, a luxury fifth wheel
- Ask Dave: Why is the GVWR higher than the combined GAWR?
- Featured article: Need a new place to walk? Try this trail-finding trick with Google Maps
- Recipe: White Chicken Chili With Salsa Verde
Website of the day
20 Trips, 10 Cities, 1 Tank of Gas
You read that right! Travel Channel has planned out perfect day trips using just one tank of gas from 10 major cities around the country. Happy exploring!
This is one cool puzzle!
If you’re like a majority of people, you’ve done a puzzle or two (or 10) during the pandemic. If you’re in need of a new one, check this one out. A vintage car with an Airstream on the beach. Puzzles don’t get much cooler – plus the sunset is beautiful! Get one for yourself here. It’s the perfect fall activity!
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:
• 54 percent of our readers would say Camping World’s service and repair department “flunks.”
• 17 percent have experienced an early check-in fee at a campground or RV park.
• 94 percent have a primary care doctor.
Recent poll: Which one of these would you use to dry your hands?
Recipe of the Day
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
by Peggy Sue Ross from Springfield, VA
Peggy Sue’s butternut squash soup is hearty enough to be a meal. It’s a fantastic fall soup. When the cream cheese is added, the texture is like chowder. Velvety smooth, this soup is filled with flavor thanks to the fresh onions, chicken bouillon, and seasoning combination. There’s a little bit of a kick from the cayenne but it’s not overpowering. This is a delicious butternut squash soup.
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Trivia
The sun’s core is so hot that a piece the size of a pinhead would give off enough heat to kill a person 99 miles away.
*Where is the oldest known living tree and how old is it? You’ll just have to read yesterday’s trivia to find out!
Readers’ Pet of the Day
“Anya the Dalmatian has been with us for 11 years, and traveled across the country with us several times. She loves to ride on the couch in the motorhome. Sadly, she is no longer with us as of August 1st, 2022. She will be sadly missed.” —Joe Eafrati
(Editor: Sorry for your loss, Joe. Anya was beautiful.)
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
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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 have no idea what the beef is with Camping World. I loved the one in Belleville MI, I loved the one in Golden Co and then when we needed a part the one in Ridgeville SC was fantastic. I guess I am the only without issues here.
Dear Joe, I am so sorry for your loss! Thanks for sharing Anya’s story and picture. Although she was with you for far too few years, she looks like those years were certainly good! Bless you for loving God’s creatures.
Instead of the expense naptha-lye soap use Dawn dish soap on food stains/grease and Purple Power on automotive type grease and oil stains. Way cheaper and both work great in removing grease and stains.
I go no where with out Dawn. Its also great getting grease stains out of clothes. A bottle next to the washer and one on the kitchen sink.
Laugh: Truck Lays on the side of the road.
Joe, condolences on the loss of your special family member. Anya was a beautiful companion for too few years. My “Dally” was my shadow everyday everywhere! I know how much I miss her since she passed at 16 in 2007 – so I truly sympathize with your loss.
So sad about Anya. What a nice tribute to share her beautiful photo with us.
“54 percent of our readers would say Camping World’s service and repair department “flunks.” I see you’ve cleaned up the language most use to describe Camping World anything – ha.
I’ve read quite a bit of ‘bad press’ concerning the new Soft Start offering. I think I’ll wait for the reviews to get more positive.
Regarding today’s trivia: from what I can see based on science Phd comments on the web, this appears to be true IF one is in the vacuum of space…and if not in a suit would be dead anyway. If that pinhead drop was transported to earth then the heat would be dissipated by our atmospheric conditions and not lethal at that distance.
About that Fels-Naptha soap, thanks for the tip. For squeaky clean, you might try Kirk’s Coca Castille Soap. It’s not nearly as costly and you get excellent results. They have original and gentle versions. Not always easy to find in the stores however.
Mike Sokol … Lye soap … Electrifying! 😳
That’s why when you were caught lying mom washed your mouth out with lye soap🤪