Issue 2076
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
“My favorite weather is bird-chirping weather.” —Terri Guillemets
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Napping Day! Enjoy that nap!
On this day in history: 1969 – Apollo 9 returns safely to Earth after testing the Lunar Module.
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Tip of the Day
Four important things to know about RV windows
By Gail Marsh
I love our RV windows! They function like living masterpieces gracing the walls of our RV. At any given time, I might see mountains, a forest’s trees, or limestone cliffs as I look through our windows. It’s fun to watch the snowflakes twirl to the ground, too. Especially when I’m snuggled under a blanket inside our warm RV. RV windows are great, but how much do you actually know about them? I’ll bet there are things you may not have discovered about your rig’s windows. Especially if you’re new to RVing.
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.”
My RV’s furnace ductwork is exposed to the elements. How do I insulate it?
Dear Dave,
My furnace heat is distributed through cut-out channels in the RV’s flooring. It’s all surrounded by the floor Styrofoam and is quite efficient. However, the duct over to the floor inlet is just plain painted steel, under the coach, and exposed to frigid air. What would you suggest to insulate the “naked” duct under the floor? It’s about 20″ wide, 8″ deep, and 40″ long. Insulating even the belly of it (20″ x 40″) would, I think, have benefits. —Gregory, 2003 Winnebago/Itasca Sunova
Wednesday: RV repair and maintenance advice
Our experts answer your RV repair and maintenance questions on live webcast
Our tech experts, Dave, Dustin and Zach, will answer your questions about RV Repair and Maintenance LIVE Wednesday from 4-5 p.m. Pacific time (7-8 p.m. in the East). So pick their brains via chat. Ask questions about RV repair and maintenance or just lurk and soak up all the valuable information. Learn where to watch in Wednesday’s newsletter.
Video of the day
Top 20 Google Maps hacks, tips, and tricks
By Cheri Sicard
You have probably already used Google Maps to help you navigate a route. But today’s video from tech expert Kevin Stratvert (with almost 2 million subscribers!) will give you 20 useful and actionable tips on how to use this invaluable resource more productively.
You may even discover some new things that you never knew that Google Maps could do. I know I did.
The cowboy spirit lives on in RVers
By Andy Zipser
For some inexplicable reason, I have for years retained an image of Kirk Douglas as a horse-riding cowboy with a pair of wire cutters, snipping his way through one barbed-wire fence after another as he flees the law, following a misplaced noble impulse gone awry. The vignette is from the 1962 movie “Lonely Are the Brave,” set in modern times and based on a book by the misanthropic Edward Abbey. It is, in essence, a parable about the clash between stiff-necked individualism and the growing strictures of modern society, as succinctly captured in this exchange… Continue reading.
Reader poll
When was the last time you finished reading a book?
Quick Tip
Safer parking in parking lots
If you park your tow rig and trailer in a “normal” parking lot, you’re likely hanging out into the driving lane. When making a short stop in a lot, put “safety cones” out in the drive lane to make sure oncoming drivers really see the rig. (That’s good for you and them.)
?? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ??
We think it’s VERY important that every single RVer who does this has one of these! In fact, it’s so important that everyone who does this, whether they’re an RVer or not, should have one! Trust us.
Website of the day
BBC Travel: Places that don’t belong
This section on the BBC Travel website is fun to explore. See places that just seem a little… well, oddly placed, around the world.
Popular articles you may have missed at RVtravel.com
• Crowds, noise, trash force these work campers to “retire”
• This spare trailer tire got ripped to shreds, but why?
• Around the Campfire: Will rising RVing costs force RVers off the road?
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Recipe of the Day
Pimento Cheese Stuffed Chicken
by Renee’ Klevenhagen from Midland, NC
Pimento cheese is a Southern staple. Stuff it inside a chicken breast and you have a delicious and easy stuffed chicken recipe. Cut into the juicy and tender chicken, and the cheesy center oozes out. We love the crunchy Panko outer layer. So much yumminess!
Trivia
Snail teeth, specifically the tiny teeth of the limpet, a type of marine snail, is the strongest biological substance found in nature. These small snails attach themselves to rocks and scrape nutrients and algae off with a tongue covered in teeth. To put it into perspective: If you scaled the teeth up to, say, the diameter of a strand of spaghetti, that piece of spaghetti would be capable of holding up a compact car like a Honda Civic without breaking. Wow!
Readers’ Pet of the Day
“Wally loves hitting the road. He surfs on the center console of the truck.” —James Harrigan
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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Contact information
Editor: Emily Woodbury
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Editorial (all but news): editor@rvtravel.com
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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 find no link to the google map hacks in the article? Why do you recommend that all RVr’s need a BAC monitor? Some people never drink!!!
Agreed. I think “…it’s VERY important every single RVer has one of these!” is a little presumptuous. Maybe insert “that drinks” in there.
When I looked at that recommendation for the BACtrack monitor I guess I just ‘inserted’ the thought that ANYONE that drinks should consider such a purchase; it would help keep them safe as well and others (like us) who abstain from alcohol.
If you scroll down his page a bit, it’s there!
Why do you feel that EVERYONE should have a breathalyzer???? 🤦🏼♀️DON’T DRINK & DRIVE.
A breathalyzer is very important for every RVer? That was my first reaction, then I realized it’s just a boiler plate article with a link to Amazon. Please affirm that you’re not accepting drinking and driving in any way, shape, or form. Anyone that needs one of those should have their driver’s license permanently revoked.
Agree with the other comments. I haven’t had a drop of alcohol since 1982, Started riding a motorcycle and stopped cold turkey.
I’ve been riding since I was 16, almost 60 years ago. I very seldom drank when i was on the bike. One night a bunch of us stopped at a bar for a meal. I had one too many but didn’t notice it until we left. I was going over 100mph on the highway on the way home and didn’t realize it..
Scared the heck out of me. Last time I ever had a drink while on the bike. In fact, I doubt if I have 10 drinks a year now.
We’ve heard these stories as long as I can remember. We also have been warned about the dangers of the interaction of alcohol and driving. Irresponsibility has consequences. If you drink and drive, you pay the piper for your irresponsibility, Enough excuse making.
I’m surprised you don’t include a iink to buy road hazard cones…
Really enjoy RV Repair and Maintenance LIVE every Wed. Thanks Dave, Dustin and Zach!!
I love how you assume every RV’er drinks! Although I’ve been a little surprised at how much drinking does go on in campgrounds, we don’t drink! Thank you very much! Makes me a little 😠
I agree!
Hi, Sheryl, and others who commented on this. The ad has been slightly edited to be more accurate. Have a great day! 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
New reader poll possiblity: do you consume alcohol, yes or no (only two answers necessary)
Everyday is National nap day for me.
AMEN !!
Yahoo!
Wally you are a Cutie and we smile with you! Enjoy your Safe Travels with your Furever Furfamily!
Wally is cute. I hope he’s not “surfing” on the center console when James has to slam on the brakes sometime! Wally will surf right into a glass wall at high speed! 🙁
Absolutely. DO NOT NEED product of the day. Haven’t touched a drop of alcohol in 36 years
I so agree with Thomas and the others. Punch line of the advertisement is so misleading. EVERYONE does not need this…not myself, family or those we travel with as a group.
When I used to drink, no one needed a breathalyzer to know if I had alcohol. My wife, however, uses one to see if I snuck a nice big raw onion on my burger at lunch. Kiss or no kiss, or maybe on the couch for the night.
😆 That’s funny, Kelly. But I doubt that your wife would need to use a breathalyzer to determine if you had a big raw onion on your burger. She could probably detect it from across the room. Just sayin’. Have a good afternoon/evening. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
I guess maybe, but onions don’t make me walk funny like when I had my Cutty Sark with Bud chaser.
😆 That would be a pretty potent onion if it made you walk funny, Kelly. Take care. 😀 –Diane
Haven’t had a drink of alcohol in 35 years. I kind of think the insinuation was not appropriate to state. I know and met some RVers that like a snort while sitting around the camp fire and it’s their choice but haven’t notice them being irresponsible in their partaking. But there again I don’t hang around such people.
This is a bit tricky. The RVT newsletter is intended for a more mature audience but this product and information is clearly intended for the younger generation of campers that already annoy most of us with loud music, OHV noise and campsite parties. We see them regularly and I’m pretty sure we have shakin our heads at them as they jump into the truck with beer in hand.
This recommendation is great for a different demo, just not ours as RVers are not a monolith of hard charging hard drinking young adults. Don’t try and sell life jackets in the Sahara desert.
Wally is a real cutie!!