Issue 2117
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.
WE GLITCHED! If you didn’t receive yesterday’s (Monday) RV Daily Tips newsletter (sorry), make sure you catch up and read it here.
Today’s thought
“May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view.” ―
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Alphabet Magnet Day!
On this day in history: 2020 – The COVID-19 recession causes the U.S. unemployment rate to hit 14.9 percent, its worst rate since the Great Depression.
Tip of the Day
Favorite wind apps and tips from our readers
*This article was originally published in early 2022.
By Nanci Dixon
Last weekend, I published an article on the best wind apps that are particularly helpful to RVers. Our readers had some of their favorites, too, and shared them with us.
Several readers wrote us about the Drive Weather app. If so many RVers recommend this app, we thought you should know about it.
Ask Dave
Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and author of the “RV Handbook.”
What’s the best RV roof material?
Dear Dave,
My wife and I want to trade up to a small (25 feet or under) Class C motorhome. We looked at two, one made by Thor and the other by Coachmen, that had Crossflex roofs. Can you tell me what a Crossflex roof is made of and whether it is equal to or better than a TPO or EPDM rubber roof, or just a product that is less expensive? What maintenance is required with that type of roof? The salespeople were no help at all and didn’t seem to know much about them. We initially looked at a Winnebago Class C with a fiberglass roof, but that seems to reduce the cargo-carrying capacity substantially, due to the weight of the roof. Thank you. —Steve, Flagstaff Microlite 21FBRS
RV Video Tour
Cortes Campers 17 fiberglass trailer, one of the most structurally sound trailers out there!
By Cheri Sicard
Prior to entering the RV market, Cortes made boats, and that shows in the similarities these trailers have to boats. Its distinctive looks start on the outside, which can be white, two-toned, or sea foam green, bright blue, or silver or champagne metallic. Those colors use marine-grade technology to impregnate the colors directly into the fiberglass. You can even order custom colors. Matching trailer and tow vehicle, anyone?
This tiny fiberglass trailer sleeps two and can be towed by most V-6 vehicles.
Video of the day
9+ tips to make driving a motorhome easy for anyone!
By Cheri Sicard
Our hosts, MJ and Izzy, say they get a lot of questions about driving a motorhome on their YouTube channel and they wanted to help put some of those fears and anxieties to rest. Most of the tips will also apply if you are towing an RV.
Before they get to the tips, they do cover the reasons motorhomes can be potentially difficult to drive, along with the easiest types of motorhomes to drive. They also cover how driving a motorhome is different than driving a car. In this section, I counted at least seven tips. This is before they get to the nine tips touted in the video’s title…
Finding community in campgrounds, like going back to the 1950s
By Rod Andrew
About 12 years ago my wife and I made our first trek south, towing a trailer from British Columbia to Southern California. Early in the trip, we learned something that you readers probably already know, but which came as a surprise to us. We found community. I had thought that traveling would be all about where we went and what we saw and did, but found that this would really only be a small part of what lay ahead. Read the rest of this heartwarming story.
Reader poll
Does your RV serve as your office for your full- or part-time income?
Quick Tip
Be gentle when cleaning plumbing fixtures
Got a sink, shower, or toilet to clean? Whatever you use will end up in the holding tank. Some stuff will create problems if it gets down there, so be choosy with your cleansers. Non-abrasive, non-bleach cleansers are best. Many RVers swear by Bar Keepers Friend. Others simply use a microfiber cloth with plain water or, at the strongest, vinegar water. Wet-wipes can do a quick job of shining up chrome fixtures (then throw the wet-wipes in the trash). What do you use? Please tell us in the comments.
On this day last year…
- Tip: A reminder if you have hydraulic leveling jacks or slide-out system
- RV Review: Venture RV SportTrek Touring Edition STT302VRB
- Ask Dave: Why does my RV’s furnace shut down before reaching the set temperature?
- Featured article: Be careful where you put your satellite dish or this can happen
- Recipe: Chili Cheese Dog Nachos
?? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ??
Wow, baby! This is diva-tastic! It might blind you when the sun hits it, but hey, you’d be glamorous, that’s for sure!
Website of the day
Report Fraud
If you’ve been scammed, or know someone who has, use this website from the Federal Trade Commission as a resource and report it! Tell them what happened and help stop it from happening to someone else.
Speaking of being scammed… this reader warned of an RV scam he encountered on Craigslist. Beware!
And the Survey Says…
We’ve polled RVtravel.com readers more than 2,000 times in recent years. Here are a few things we’ve learned about them:
• When given a variety of landscapes to choose from, the majority of voters, 55 percent, say that camping in the forest is their favorite. Their second favorite is beach camping, followed by desert.
• 25 percent always carry a portable generator with them on their RV travels.
• When asked, “What did you have for breakfast today?” the most popular answer, 16 percent, was eggs, then toast, followed by cereal or granola, then bacon, ham or sausage, then oatmeal, fruit and lastly yogurt.
Recent poll: Is someone famous in your family tree, past or present?
Recipe of the Day
Easy Lemon Chicken
Easy Lemon Chickenby Cathy Miller from Davison, MI
For how easy this lemon chicken is to prepare, it’s super delicious. Tangy, savory, and sweet all at the same time, the chicken is juicy and tender. Serve with rice for an easy and flavorful weeknight meal. If you love lemon, give this a try.
Trivia
Louisa May Alcott, the author of “Little Women,” was ambidextrous. When she tired of writing with one hand, she would switch to the other.
*What is a group of flamingos called and why? Yesterday’s trivia tells you this silly fun fact.
Readers’ Pets of the Day
“Obi and Lando taking it all in!” —Rob Boyer
HELP keep this feature going! We’re running out of photos! Please do not submit the same photo or pet more than once. Send us a photo of your pet with a short description. We publish one each weekday in RV Daily Tips and in the Sunday RV Travel newsletter. No blurry photos, please! Thanks!
The most patriotic shirt of all time
If you’re going to be patriotic, why not do so with an American flag made out of motorhomes? How cool is this shirt? It comes in men’s, women’s and children’s sizes, so you can match with the whole family. And it’s 100% cotton so you know it will be soft! This is so neat! Get one for yourself here.
Leave here with a laugh
Perhaps some advice to be avoided. Click on the image to enlarge if you don’t see why.
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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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Vinegar and water is the best cleaner. If you add a couple of dried cayenne peppers to it and let it sit for a bit, the longer the better, makes for a great bug killer too. Won’t harm kids or pets.
For those who like to scrub I do not. I use Mr Clean sponges and tilex. Both do the job with less scrubbing.
Regarding today’s quick tip…. bar keepers friend is good, but Bon Ami is about the mildest and most scratch free cleaner out there. Been around almost forever and still works great. They did recently change the packaging – old packaging was better. So mild it was the only approved cleaner for serology glass test plates by California public health dept.. ..
To the RVTravel staff. I have an interesting topic suggestion for your poll:
While boondocking what are your most essential/beneficial equipment needs? Please narrow it down to your 2 most essential.
Maybe this has been already covered. I think this would be a VERY interesting poll!
A good portable solar set up of 200watt panels and at least 1 12v 100ah quality LifePo4 (lithium) battery. (Renogy or battle born)
Good foldable chairs.
Fear mongering!
The plumbing in a rv is the same stuff used in a stick and brick home. ABS PVC PEX.
The only thing different would be I haven’t got any slide valves to worry about.
In an rv you have valves with stainless steel shafts and some kind of rubber O rings to prevent leakage. The plumbing in my (used to be mine) 1985 class C is still going strong.
The only issue I can see with household cleaners is the potential of mixing a couple of chemicals together and making a harmful gas. Mustard or chlorine gas concoction? That’s about it for negative potential outcomes and I agree with you. The true negetive potential has nothing to do with corrosive affects on the plumbing system components.
A group of Flamingoes ? that is an Airstream rally !
🤣😅🤣😅
most cleaners are safe for home or rv,they come in containers made from the same materials as rv s
Wasn’t one of my favorites today. I’ve always wondered what makes people experts on certain things? Has he taken apart the septic system in an RV and poured cleaners down and watched it damage the system, or anything going down. We have been RVing full time for over 10 years, we use cleaners and yet our system still works. Maybe we are doing something wrong😉🤣
Remember the daffynition of an expert; 1 a stranger in town carrying a briefcase, 2 an ex is a has been, spurt is a drip under pressure. Lol
I don’t think the issue is so much damage to the RV’s tanks, but rather what the chemicals do to the septic system you dump in at the RV park. Certain chemicals can, and will, kill the good bacteria in a septic system.
THAT is accurate, and Mustard gas/chlorine gas/formaldehydes come to mind when mixing household cleaners randomly. I’m not a chemist but certain cleaners should probably not be mixed.
For cleaning, I like cleaning vinegar. A bottle in both the black water and Grey water tank is a nice touch.
I don’t understand how or why using a cleaning product on the fixtures would cause any problem in the holding tanks. The small amount of these products are diluted by large amounts of water in the tanks. The tanks are drained at short intervals, flushing out the products.
I would be more concerned about what they are doing to the fixtures themselves. Most sinks and toilets and fixtures are made of some sort of plastic.
Is that ‘mystery product of the day’ even legal? Looks dangerous to me. Scary.
Imagine having that on your mirror and a car comes behind you with their hi-beams on, no day-night lever on the bottom of the mirror is going to dim the sparkles in your eyes. Once again a suggested product from Amazon that should be overlooked by the proof reader.
The proofreader doesn’t have much say in the matter. Have a good day, Bob. 🙂 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Please bring back the “Is this your RV”
It’s over, Joe. Move on. 😞
I never saw mine so it was useless to me anyway.
It was still fun to see everyone’s rigs.
That’s part of the fun of campgrounds .. Time to get on the road …
I would be interested to know the number of winners over the duration of the contest or the frequency of winners. It’s simply an interesting question, I dont really care that they canceled it and i checked for my rig weekly, I’m just curious. Was it because no one ever won, or people won too often or was it just getting tiresome to run?
I won it and was paid $25. I enjoyed seeing other people’s rv’s
Right on. That’s great. I always enjoyed checking to see if my own rig was picked and where others were parked. Even if the payout was once a month, that’s great.
I mentioned to Diane that they would have been better if only shown while camping and a brief message of where they were and how they liked it. That’s what sharing is all about. Seeing someone’s rig backed up to their garage was boring.
Yes… camping and at least what State if they’re privacy buffs.