Issue 2044
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
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” ―
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Spouses Day!
On this day in history: 1838 – Tennessee enacts the first prohibition law in the United States.
Tip of the Day
Getting your rig safely to the bottom of that long grade
By Russ and Tiña De Maris
Old trucker’s maxim: “You can go down the hill too slow many times. You can go down the hill too fast only once.”
Getting the RV down a steep grade safely is an art, one that all of us need to perfect. If you’ve hit the bottom of a long, steep grade and seen an RV beside the road, smoke pouring out from the wheels, you may have muttered something about the “Grace of God.” So just how do you make the grade on the downhill side?
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 and writers 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.”
RV’s underbelly filling up with water. How do I find the source?
Dear Dave,
We may have a leak in the kitchen’s gray tank as the underbelly fills with water and it stinks up the whole place. We empty the tank every two days (used to be four), as I wash a lot of fruit and veggies, and lately just leave it open. We drilled a couple of holes in the underbelly, about where the middle jacks are (under the office/bunk house slide area), to let it drain faster. We don’t want to pull down the underbelly. As you know, there are too many things connected to it that would be a huge pain to remove….
Continue reading the question and Dave’s answer
Video of the day
8 essential camp knots and hitches ALL RVers need to know
By Cheri Sicard
Corporal Shawn Kelly, USMC, from Corporals Corner, has produced an invaluable video with some of the most important survival skills everyone should add to their knowledge base: essential camp knots and hitches.
It’s astounding how many folks lack this knowledge, but after watching this video and with a little practice, you’ll be up to speed. Seeing the knots created just makes the process click in a way written directions lack.
What to do if you smell marijuana at the campground. Can you complain? Can you partake?
*Please note: This article is a couple of years old so laws may have changed in certain states. However, the lists linked in the article have been updated as of January 2023.
By Nanci Dixon
If you smell a skunk in the campground, it may not be a skunk. Oftentimes the pungent smell of marijuana resembles that stinky animal. But is marijuana usage allowed in a campground? What are the rules? One reader, we’ll keep her name to ourselves, was not happy when she smelled the odor of marijuana while camping. She sent us an email and we decided to do a little investigating. Continue reading to learn all about pot in campgrounds.
Reader poll
Do you use email more, less, or about the same as, say, two years ago?
Quick Tip
Headed to Canada? An easy way to convert kilometers to miles
Driving to Alaska means you have to first drive through a large part of Canada, a real treat. However, Canada is a separate country with differing customs, and, for about 40 years now, uses the kilometers of the metric system instead of the miles that Americans are so familiar with. Here’s a simple tip to help you. (Plus, there are lots of tips from our readers in the comments.)
Bonus quick tip:
In Tuesday’s newsletter, Paul S. gave you some great advice regarding fire extinguishers. Reader Seann Fox responded and added, “After a day of driving, take your extinguisher [depending on the type], hold it upside down and bang it against the counter. The reason for this is the powder in the extinguisher will compact into the bottom. If you need to use the extinguisher, nothing will come out except the compressed air. Turning the extinguisher upside down and banging on it will loosen the powder so that if you need to use it, you will have it.” Thanks, Seann!
?? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ??
If you like our “On this day in history…” feature, you’ll love this! We should get this to use!
On this day last year…
- Tip: You must have a set of microfiber cloths in your RV. You can do SO much with them!
- RV Review: Coachmen Apex Ultra-Lite 300BHS
- Ask Dave: More about dually tire pressure
- Recipe: Seafood Pasta in Lemon Butter Sauce
Website of the day
America’s Most Loved City Parks
You can tell why some of these are on the most-loved list—they’re beautiful! Go for a walk, hop on a bike, pack a picnic and get out there and explore!
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:
• 25 percent married the first person they ever dated.
• 18 percent have done a serious remodel in their RV and another 33 percent have done a minor remodel.
• 25 percent have ridden in a hot air balloon.
Recipe of the Day
Pulled Pork Nachos
by Tonya Conca from Warwick, RI
The pulled pork alone in these nachos is full-flavored and delicious. Once it cooks in the slow cooker, it falls apart beautifully. Mix that with BBQ sauce, cheese, and toppings and you have amazing pulled pork nachos. These are restaurant-quality nachos you can make at home. If you have extra pulled pork, it will make a yummy sandwich.
Trivia
Who was the very first author to become a billionaire? If you’re familiar with the Harry Potter books, you’re familiar with J.K. Rowling, who, between the years 1997 and 2007, sold 400 million copies of the books in 67 languages. Wow! Between the books, films and merchandise, the value of the Harry Potter brand and J.K. Rowling’s bank account was 15 billion dollars. Again… Wow!
*Where did the term loophole originate? Take a guess then check yesterday’s trivia to see if you’re right.
Readers’ Pets of the Day
“Our two rescues: Joey, the Golden mix, and River, the Husky mix. They love to travel and explore new places. When we start to load the motorhome for a trip, they stand by the door ready to go.” —Roger Berndt
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!
Your hands won’t be tired or in pain with this caulking gun
Completing repairs and maintenance is a whole lot easier when you have the right tools on hand. Reseal your RV with the BEST caulking gun! This one is favored by RV technicians. If you’ve ever had to reseal any part of your RV, you know how tired your hand gets. This relieves that hand pain and makes the job easy. Learn more in this article, or buy one here.
Leave here with a laugh
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.
Replay of yesterday’s live webcast
Talkin’ RV Tech
Dave, Dustin and Zach answer questions from viewers about RV repair and maintenance in this one hour program from RVtravel.com. In this episode, RV tire expert Roger Marble stops by to answer questions about RV tires plus the guys answer several questions about batteries, including whether it is a good idea to switch to Lithium. Click the video to play:
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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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For temperature, double Celsius and add 30. For example, 20C x 2 +30 = 70F. Close enough
Laugh of the day, interstate 19 between Tucson and Nogales you will see loads like this. They hit the yard sales in Phoenix and Tucson, take it to Mexico for resale
Did Ernest show his increased nobility when he blew his head off in the family home? Measuring character using oneself as the measuring rod sets a very low bar. Since Ted Bundy wasn’t killing women when in prison I suppose he had become more noble too. EH may have been a successful author, but I would never base my values on his.
Re: Down Long Hills
My husband died and i got ready for my first trip, and RV drive, by myself. My Bounder Group online had been a wonderful, generous help so far. I was heading over mountains out of the Los Angeles basin and asked the Group about it. Amid various pieces of advice was “…and be sure to use the grade brake when you get to the long down parts…” my reply “What’s a grade brake?” I got several answers then I asked “WHERE is the grade brake?” Several photos came immediately, some with arrows and some color-coded.
The smell of cigarettes, cigars & pipes is just as annoying in a Campground.
👍
Love the PET of the day !, Todays two dogs don’t have there names?
Joey and River. Great names!
Joey and River
For metric conversion, I learned years ago that if you take the kilometers, divide kilometers by 3 and multiply by 2, you’ll get approximate miles. Likewise, if you want to convert miles to kilometers, divide miles by 2 and multiply by 3. This was the poor attempt to get kids ready for the US conversion to the metric system in the 1970’s, which never happened.
Laugh of the day: Saw loads like that when I was stationed in the Philippines many moons ago.
The laugh of the day question is how many people held it all in place while it was tied down? Lol
Bonus quick tip – Once again, for the record, modern dry chemical fire extinguishers DO NOT compact. That advice is several decades old. No fire extinguisher manufacturer recommends you, “hold it upside down and bang it against the counter.” You will likely damage it for no reason what so ever.
That is an excellent way to accidentally break the nozzle and have the extinguisher discharge. If you are concerned, turn it upside down and and smack the side with your hand, then shake it.
No where in the instructions does it say to beat the extinguisher upside down on any surface.
This is why half the stuff they report here isn’t very good advise.
There are probably a lot of facts mixed with a lot of opinions. It is up to us to be discerning and separate the two.
Advice*