Issue 2077
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 really is a kind of insane beauty around us all the time. It’s just a question of learning to slow down, take a deep breath and meet the moment.” —Graham Nash
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Potato Chip Day! Hey, did you ever wonder how potato chips came about? We told you in this article.
On this day in history: 1903 – Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge (Florida), the first national wildlife refuge in the U.S., is established by President Theodore Roosevelt.
Tip of the Day
RV spring shakedown primer
By Gary Bunzer
(This originally appeared on RV Travel in February 2020. It was one of Gary’s final contributions before dying from COVID-19 in April 2020. Gary always told us that if something happened to him that we should continue publicizing his articles. He loved teaching and wanted to keep doing it even after he was gone. We sure do miss you, Gary.)
Now that spring is almost here and, hopefully, memories of a long, cold winter begin to wane, many of us get antsy for that first RV excursion of the season. Holed up all winter, we’ve been making travel plans, waiting for the trees to blossom, the birds to chirp and the campgrounds to open.
The majority of us readied our coaches last fall for storage; some fully winterized for colder temperatures. After each period of non-use, regardless if the RV was winterized for sub-freezing temperatures or simply stored in the driveway, every coach must be properly prepped for use prior to simply taking off down the highway.
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Ask Dave
Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and author of the “RV Handbook.”
Who offers the best RV warranty?
Dear Dave,
Which company offers the best warranty for a bumper-pull travel trailer? —Tony, 2021 Jayco White Hawk 27RB
Tomorrow: 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 tomorrow 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
Unbelievable house truck converts to fantasy castle
By Cheri Sicard
Get ready for one of the most unusual RVs EVER. A house truck that transforms, when set up, into a castle! The team from Living Big in a Tiny House is here to give you a tour of this one-of-a-kind tiny house on wheels.
When all folded up and on the road, the house truck looks a little unusual but not so much so as to call a lot of attention. It almost resembles a folded-up carnival ride going down the road.
But when stopped and set up, WOW, it is a showstopper.
(Yes, we double-checked. The link to the video is included today. 😉)
The Best RV Trip Planner Apps and Tools
RV trip planners can save money, save time and take the stress out of RV trip planning. Campgrounds are crowded, more people are traveling by RV and looking for places to stay and go. Trip planning apps and websites not only help find that elusive campsite, but they can also provide a safe, obstacle-free route, calculate miles and costs, and suggest travel adventures. Learn all about the best RV trip-planning apps and tools in this comprehensive guide.
Reader poll
Have you ever gotten locked out of your RV?
Quick Tip
Don’t allow antenna “wings” to contact RV roof
Add this to your inspection list: Are your roof-top antenna “wings” coming in contact with the roof when in travel position? If so, they may rub against the roof with road vibration and can actually chew a hole in your rubber roof. If it looks as if they are, GENTLY bend and flex them upward enough that they lose contact with the roof.
On this day last year…
- Tip: Make the most of your travels: Do these things to research an area before you go
- RV Review: Tiny Suzuki Every van conversion by Oka Motors
- Ask Dave: Why does diesel fuel cost more than gasoline?
- Featured article: Amazing Instant Pot French Onion Soup
- Recipe: Minted Pea Spring Potato Salad
?? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ??
This is a whole page, not just one product, but once you see it you’ll understand why we couldn’t pick just one! Scroll down.
Website of the day
Bureau of Land Management
Sure, we all know what the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) does and we know we can camp on BLM land, but have you ever really explored their website? If you haven’t, check it out for tons of great information.
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:
• Most voters, 57 percent, mostly drink water throughout the day. 25 percent drink the most amount of coffee or tea during the day, and 7 percent drink mostly soft drinks.
• 33 percent have flown in a small, private jet.
• 71 percent would pick 90 degrees F over 40 degrees F.
Recent poll: Did you pay to have your current RV professionally inspected before buying it? Are you in the majority? Find out here.
Recipe of the Day
Irish Soda Bread
by Christine Reardon from Setauket, NY
Many families have their recipe for Irish soda bread and Christine’s soda bread is fantastic. It’s more tender than most loaves of soda bread with a subtle sweetness accented by caraway seeds and raisins. Besides being baked in a loaf pan (and not shaped round), this Irish soda bread is more cake-like than bread-like. Serve warm with a smear of butter alongside beef stew or corned beef. Or, enjoy with a cup of tea for an afternoon St. Patrick’s Day snack.
Trivia
The letter X appears once a year on the moon’s surface. For just four hours at the beginning of the first quarter moon, the horizon is illuminated by the sun just enough that the walls of the lunar craters, La Caille, Banchinus and Purbach (jeez, who named those?) create the illusion of a giant X on the surface. This X is known as both the Purbach Cross or the Werner X.
*What is the strongest biological substance found in nature? Guess, but you’ll never figure it out. The answer is truly amazing though. Find it in yesterday’s trivia.
Readers’ Pet of the Day
“Shelby the Vizsla mix is so soft, kind, and a good listener lol! Loves to fetch balls and will do it for hours if you are willing to keep throwing them.” —Terra Boroff
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
At a couple’s counseling session, the therapist said that couples these days are so disconnected that 85 percent of all husbands don’t know what their wife’s favorite flower is. The husband in the session turned to his wife and whispered, “It’s self-rising, isn’t it?”
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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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Laugh: I just checked with my wife. She said I was right — Self-rising. She is such a good baker that Self-rising is my favorite flower too.
Good one, Kelly! 👍👍 Have a great day. 😀 –Diane
Also the reason my gut is self rising too.
😆 Have a good night, Kelly and good-baker wife. 😀 –Diane
On the tip of the day. DONT DO THIS!! Why modify the wing and possibly incur damage that could result in bad reception? Simply buy a few rubber washers or spacers and glue them down to the roof where the antena parks, at both ends of the wing, using a suitable urethane adhesive/sealant to act as vibration isolator. If it is a fixed wing that doesn’t raise or lower, obviously do the same thing where the damage may occur.
Bending the wings will change the air flow while driving and possibly make it worse. Unless you can get your wife onto the roof while your going 65 mph to inspect it’s characteristics under load, you may make it worse.
I used self-adhesive rubber button bumpers from the hardware store and stuck them to the ends of the antenna wings, not the roof.
Rubber on rubber will probably still vibrate and wear holes in the roof, just slower. Better than bending the wings tho.
National potato chip day? How ’bout National Pie Day (3.14)!
I’m sure I missed something. If you post a comment here, how do you see if anyone responds? I can see if you look the same day but how do you check if you want to look tomorrow. Of course I won’t know the answer to this question because I won’t check until tomorrow!
Dave, when you leave a comment, check the box next to the Post Comment box with the ‘bell’ and a line through it. You will get an email letting you know someone has responded to YOUR comment.
Learned something today, Tommy, thanks!
In all the times I’ve checked the response request, I’ve never been notified of a response and I know I’ve had responses, so my experience is it doesn’t work.
I should have also mentioned something else. Once you click the ‘bell’, you then check your email. You’ll get an email asking you to confirm that you’re subscribing to that comment and subject. Once all that is done you just sit back and wait for comments to start rolling in – or not. 😊
Hey Tommy, I too learned something new. I’m trying it now. Reply to me as a test. Thanks.
Here you go nyrngrz. Did it work?
Hi Dave. Just uncheck the bell at the bottom next to Post comment. That will send you an email to subscribe to the comments you’ve posted. Happy reading!
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