Issue 2161
Welcome to RV Travel’s Daily Tips Newsletter, where you’ll find helpful RV-related tips from the pros, travel advice, RV videos, product reviews and more. Please tell your friends about us.
Page Contents
Today’s thought
“The best teachers are those who show you where to look, but don’t tell you what to see.” —Alexandra K. Trenfor
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Kitten Day!
On this day in history: 1890 – Wyoming is admitted as the 44th U.S. state.
Did you see the news? Click here for the latest news for RVers
Tip of the Day
11 ways to use dishwasher pods for cleaning while RVing
By Gail Marsh
No, we don’t have a dishwasher in our RV, but we still use the pods. Wondering how? Check out these unusual uses for dishwasher pods while RVing.
Safety precautions: Always wear rubber gloves when handling the dishwashing pods. Also, remember to use the pods in an area where you have adequate ventilation and keep the pods safely away from small children and pets. Always test any tip in a small, unobtrusive area before applying it all over, and avoid combining dishwasher pods with other cleansers. Properly dispose of all water-containing dishwasher pod cleanser.
- Clean the trash container. RVers understand the importance of keeping both the outside and indoor trash receptacles clean. You don’t want last night’s fish feast to attract flies or even bigger critters like raccoons. Use a dishwasher pod to clean that container. Fill the trash container with warm water and drop in a dishwater pod. Once it’s dissolved, let it soak for about an hour. Then rinse out the clean container with hot water.
Ask Dave
Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and author of the “RV Handbook.”
My RV’s driver side floor is wet but not under the dash. Where should I look?
Dear Dave,
We are on a trip in our RV and I found that the floorboard where my feet go on the driver’s side was wet. It wasn’t wet under the dashboard, just under my feet. We did drive through some rain. Your thoughts? —Diane, 2007 Winnebago Vista
In the RV shop with Dustin
Solar controllers vs. solar inverters
Solar charge controllers (solar regulators) were once the only option for off-grid power systems and are used to create what is known as a DC-coupled system. DC-coupled systems use solar controllers to charge a battery directly from the panels, which is extremely efficient, while a battery inverter supplies AC power to home appliances.
Tomorrow is Amazon Prime Day and thousands of items are already on sale!
Learn more or check out today’s deals right on Amazon. Don’t miss it!
Video of the day
RV repair tech shares 3 dirty secrets the RV industry doesn’t want you to know
By Cheri Sicard
In the video below, Jacob, a certified RV repair tech from Rigor RV Repair, is about to spill the beans on three dirty secrets the RV industry does not want you to know. Especially if you are in the market for a new RV!
Readers speak out about scary expensive RV repair bills
Here at RVtravel.com we recently conducted a poll asking readers to tell about their highest RV repair bills. We expected to hear some whoppers, and the folks who commented didn’t disappoint. Read the poll results and what some readers had to say here.
Reader poll
Do you like pickles?
Quick Tip
Hanging out your dirty laundry
Sometimes finding a place to put those worn clothes waiting for wash day is the pits. Many hide a basket in the shower stall, but here’s another approach: Hang that dirty laundry out—not for everyone to see, but on the back of a closet door. Zippers on this one make it easy to open when it’s time to disgorge the dirties. The company includes a couple of different hooks to help you hang it. If what they offer doesn’t work, think about Command Strip hooks. About $12 on Amazon.
Website of the day
AirNow
Easily access the air quality information for where you live or for your current location. With wildfire smoke blanketing much of Canada and the U.S., this is a handy resource to know about.
?? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ??
If you’ve never seen this in action, trust us, it’s brilliant! Not only does it work, but it’s hilarious when it does! Click here.
Popular articles you may have missed at RVtravel.com
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Recipe of the Day
Creamy Stovetop Rice Pudding
by Connie Kiers from Wellandport, ON
This warm and creamy rice pudding is thick and has just the right touch of sweetness. Like most old-fashioned recipes, this has very few ingredients and takes just a little time to prepare. It’s cooked with love just like Grandma used to make. It sounds like a lot of milk but trust the process. Let the milk simmer and stir every so often until thick. Sprinkle with cinnamon for a comforting dessert.
Trivia
If you happen to be camping somewhere where there are wild cats you might not want to wear the cologne Obsession for Men by Calvin Klein. Wildlife Conservation Society researchers experimenting with different scents attracting wild cats found the scent proved irresistible to a wide range of wild cats, more than any other scent. Whatever you do, stay away from Obsession for Men!
Readers’ Pet of the Day
“Zoe loves our traveling. A new ‘outside’ every stop but always a consistent ’inside’.” —Tim Slack
Send us a photo of your pet with a short description. We publish one each weekday in RV Daily Tips and in our Sunday RV Travel newsletter. No blurry photos, please! Please do not submit your photo more than once. Thanks!
• RVing with Dogs group on Facebook. You’ll love it.
Leave here with a laugh
Reader Marty D-B sent this to us and wrote, “Took this picture in Glen Arbor, Michigan, yesterday. Thought readers might enjoy 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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That sign must be new because before my mother passed we did Glen Arbor almost every summer. What a great place to be during the summer. But then again any where up and down Lake Michigan is great during the summer.
re: water issue on driver’s side
There are often rubber plugs in the floor or underneath the peddles or on the firewall, black in color. They cover holes that are needed to assemble/remove items. I have had them fall out or be pushed out for various reasons. If they are missing, water spray will get inside the cab.
Sweet pickles are a hard pass for me! All others, absolutely!
I’ve used Obsession for Men for over 50 years and the only wild cat I ever attracted was my wife. 😊
Beautiful photography for the Reader’s Pet of the Day. Love that reflection in the window.
Today’s thought is spot on. I wonder if there are any teachers out there who still subscribe to this?
Probably a lot more than Fbook news and threads would indicate. The fast growing number of activist local school boards that are telling teachers how and what to teach is negating lots of freedom in teaching. I am in a family that has a few current teachers on each of our family trees and this is my takeaway.
I would have to say that private and charter schools still teach how to think versus what to think. Public schools staffed by union employees on the other hand, are purely indoctrination camps at this point and subscribe to exactly what the quote of the day is saying.
School choice is the largest issue of these times and the protectionist racket of the School Teacher Unions has to end.
Leave here with a laugh reminds me of a local sign near our home, Hill Obstructs View, duh! I would’ve never imagined that. Lol
We’ve been some places where the sign told of the hazard on the other side (“driveway” or whatever) but that sign is actually more common and totally worthless in our opinion.
In reply to Diane with the wet floor issue; changing your depends more frequently may alleviate the problem (don’t ask me how I know). =:O
You laugh at the laugh of the day. Living in that area though I can tell you it was posted after several cars drove into the lake (and several deaths as well). There was no sign, no guardrails, no warning, nothing. It was bad for the locals as well as tourists.
Can’t you just enjoy something for what it is?!? Jeez. Gotta be so {bleeped} serious over nothing.
👌
Lighten up David. Kat knows the area and was sharing info.
Darwin wins again.
And again and again and again.
Hi Kat: Wow, this is a serious state of neglect on the part of the County. As a Township officer (47th yr), I can tell you it is critical to stay on top of hazards such as this – especially in this age of litigation. Sad someone had to die to get attention to it. Even the sign they posted does not meet road standards for warnings – but it is funny to read for those of us who can enjoy a joke – even when it’s serious and we aren’t the brunt of it! Thanks for id-ing and explaining.
Having the page lock up is too much irritation for me. I’ll check back in a month or so.
I read this every morning and have no problems, You may want to clean your cache and it could be your browser has a block on it.
I have had that problem on other websites. I was told to clear out all cookies. Seems to have worked.
Yes, as indicated below, the issue is not with the newsletter. It is with your device.
So sorry, Larry. Did you try the things our IT dude, Kim, suggested? Here’s the list again:
There are several primary reasons for a site locking up while scrolling:
Your browser is set to stop scripts from running and a script we need to run our site is hanging up as a result.
Your browser’s cache is corrupted (happens all the time) so you need to clear your browser cache and reload the web page
Your browser is out of date and is crashing when we try to load a script on it (probably advertising as we don’t control those scripts and they can be wonky from time to time)
You have too many tabs and/or apps open and you’re running out of memory on your device. So when we go to load one more thing the website hangs. Check for open browser tabs and/or apps and close the one’s you’re not using. Might help with battery life as well.
I hope you can get it cleared up. How frustrating for you in the meantime. Take care. 🙂 – Diane at RVtravel.com
Or like mine, rual America with less than good internet service
Thanks, Jerry. Yes, that sounds like a possibility to consider. Have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Seems like an informative potential article with extensive visuals that can be downloaded and saved…✨🎉🥳🌟
Thanks for the great idea, UPRIG.👍 I’ll mention it to the powers that be and see if we can do that, and save it as a reference guide for folks who are having similar issues. Have a great day! 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
Get and use CCleaner. It’s free.
I’ve had the same issue for a long time as well using my cell phone, (only happens on this website). None of the suggested fixes do anything.
I have discovered that if I go to my browser settings, select “Desktop site” the issue goes away. I have to zoom in on the page to size it, but it no longer locks up.