Issue 2164
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.
Today’s thought
“Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It’s splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world.” ―
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Beans ‘n’ Franks Day!
On this day in history: 1956 – The Dartmouth workshop is the first conference on artificial intelligence, and where the phrase was coined. (And look how far we’ve come—wow!)
Tip of the Day
Everything you need to know about cleaning your RV awning
By Gail Marsh
Cleaning your RV’s awning is essential if you want it to look good and last a long time. If you clean your awning often, pull it in during bad weather, and fix small rips or tears right away when you notice them, you’ll extend the life of your awning. Awnings are expensive to replace, but if you take care of yours, it might last as long as you own your camper.
Before you begin any cleaning regimen, you’ll want to check your RV owner’s manual. RV awnings are made of either vinyl or acrylic material. Both can be damaged by applying the wrong detergent, using the wrong brush (use a soft brush for vinyl, a stiff brush for acrylic), and scrubbing too vigorously.
Ask Dave
Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and author of the “RV Handbook.”
Why does my converter show 13.8 volts output but battery shows 7.1 volts?
Dear Dave,
I’m using a 12-volt battery instead of two 6-volt batteries. When I check the voltage at the lines going to the battery, I’m getting 7.1 volts. Is this correct or is the converter getting reduced to 7.1 volts because I used to have two 6-volts batteries. My converter reads 13.8 at the leads going out. —Ernest, 2000 Pace Arrow Vision
RV Tours
Best kitchen for foodies! Tour the 2023 Rockwood 2614BS Travel Trailer
The team at Rousseau’s RV Walk Throughs thinks that the 2023 Rockwood 2614BS Travel Trailer is the perfect RV for chefs and foodies. With well-equipped indoor and outdoor kitchens, I can see why.
This is a rear kitchen model, which I like because it provides a better use of kitchen space. It also features a center bath that has always been a favorite floor plan of mine.
Video of the day
Are these 3 super-scary campfire stories actually true?
By Cheri Sicard
Scary campfire stories are a camping tradition for many. The team from the Chilling Scares YouTube channel produced the video below of three scary campfire stories. They claim these are true stories, but who really knows? Either way, they are sure to raise some goosebumps around the campfire.
Click here to watch… and be scared!
Test your motorhome air brakes—Here’s how
When Fred Flintstone brought his Stone Age car to a stop, it frequently resulted in road-rashed feet. If Fred had taken up RVing, one can only imagine the frequent visits to Bedrock’s podiatrist. Fred put his feet to the test. The question is, do you put your air brakes to the test—every travel day? Find out exactly how to do it in this thorough article from Russ and Tiña De Maris.
Reader poll
Has your RV been involved in a recall in the last year?
Quick Tip
Picking a fuel station for a big rig
This requires a bit of prior planning, maybe even checking ahead of time to see what’s available along your route. Avoid stations with tight confines in heavily congested areas, as well as those that don’t have truck lanes. Remember: “If a semi can fit, I can fit.” So your primary clue for a good station is one where you see semis entering and exiting. To be safe, memorize your vehicle’s dimensions or affix them to your dashboard. If you see a sign that says maximum clearance and your rig is too tall for that, don’t ignore the sign! If you’ve been running your refrigerator and/or other gas-powered appliances as you drive, be sure to pull over and turn off that pilot before entering a station. Know ahead of time the location of your fuel hatch. You can give yourself a major headache by pulling up to the pump and then realizing the fuel goes in on the other side! From RV Lifestyle & Repair.
On this day last year…
- Tip: How a typical RV suspension works, plus upgrades and benefits
- RV Review: 2022 Keystone Sprinter Limited 3630BHS
- Ask Dave: Can I tow this with that?
- Featured article: SmartPlug promises better connections
- Recipe: Mango, Avocado, and Cucumber Salsa
Website of the day
The 15 Best Aquariums in the U.S.
We know summer should be spent outside, but sometimes it’s just too hot to be outside. Aquariums are the perfect place to spend a hot day, and all the water will make you feel extra cool!
?? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ??
These are one of those things that you really should replace every couple of years/seasons. Have you looked at yours? We’re, um, guessing they could use replacing… These are on a big sale.
And the Survey Says…
We’ve polled RVtravel.com readers more than 2,500 times in recent years. Here are a few things we’ve learned about them:
• 52 percent say fall is their favorite season, followed by spring, 26 percent, summer, 17 percent, and winter, 4 percent.
• 37 percent say they are very capable of making minor repairs on their RV – they say they can fix almost everything!
• When reading, 42 percent say they prefer reading fiction more than non-fiction, 22 percent say non-fiction more than fiction, and 24 percent prefer both about equally. The other 12 percent? Well, they never read books.
Recent poll: Did someone ever ask you to marry them and you turned them down?
Recipe of the Day
Rhubarb Cake
by Kim Vore from Ankeny, IA
Simple to make, this rhubarb cake is similar to a coffee cake. It’s sweet and moist with tender bits of tart rhubarb throughout. Sprinkling cinnamon sugar on top creates a sugary crust that is a nice contrast in texture to the cake and adds a hint of cinnamon. A delicious light dessert or snack with afternoon tea.
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Trivia
The most covered Beatles song of all time is “Yesterday.” Other popular favorites such as “Hey Jude” and “With a Little Help From My Friends” have been covered many times, but none as many as “Yesterday,” which has been covered more than 2,200 times. You can listen to some of the covers on YouTube.
*How many spam accounts does Twitter remove daily? Is it: A) 350,000; B) 1 million; or C) 5 million? Guess and see if you’re right by checking yesterday’s trivia.
Readers’ Pet of the Day
“8-year female Brittany Spaniel, Cooper. Spoiled bird dog that lives a life of leisure. She has a free run of the house and 3/4 acre. If she isn’t chasing birds, grasshoppers or lizards, she is either in the pond with the fish or sitting on the first step of the pool. She loves to travel but is somewhat disappointed if she doesn’t get some hunting time in. When traveling she lays claim to the back seat of the F350 or the couch in the motorhome.” —Ed Desrosiers
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
Before my surgery the other day, the anesthesiologist offered to knock me out with either gas or a boat paddle. It was an ether/oar situation…
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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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Another Quick Tip
We found an app call I-Exit. This app when turned on will find what highway you are on. Once it locates you, you can bring up any upcoming highway exit and the app will give you bc all the info about the services available at that exit
It will tell what gas stations are there, what eating places are there, and it also will give you an idea of the price of the gas or diesel at each station
We use this app all the time especially when traveling in new parts of the country
Only downside is it only works on Interstate Highways.
Generally we go to truck stops to get our fuel while traveling. While we have a 45’toy hauler, we found not only the height, but the swing to get into many spots is non existing. When we used our other RV, we managed to use one smaller station, then found we had yellow streaks on top. We fill the truck before we leave any park, unless it’s just an overnight one.
I was a fairly big Beatles fan, but “Hey Jude” was a button pusher for me. A dirge at best.
I almost got stuck in a gas station in El Paso when desperation struck and we had to get fuel – right now. Our TT is 30′ long. I did the wide swing, got up to the pump, and fueled. Without going through the whole scary story about the neighborhood, the mini-market, and the clientele, I finally managed to get out (with the help of a ‘good samaritan’). It was that day that I adopted the new habit of looking for a fuel stop at a half tank (and not stopping in big cities if at all possible).
Thank you, Emily!
Some of the worst gas stations for trailer RVs are national brand truck stops. Often, there’s not enough space between the pumps and the road–so if the pumps are all full it’s hard to impossible to get the trailer completely off the road.
The second problem is there’s not enough room between the pumps and cars parked in front of the building. This is made worse because a wide swing is needed to avoid scraping the trailer against the pump island.
We avoid national brand truck stops and find gas stations with more room. Those where the pumps are parallel to the road are the easiest.
Many Kwik Trips in the Midwest are horrible.
I guess the distinction is the difference between gasoline or diesel. We always had a diesel so we pulled our 36’ 5th wheel in with the 18 wheelers. Occasionally, fuel stops were at Sam’s who also had planty of room.
I’m curious as to why you say “ should replace every couple of years/seasons. ” on the mystery product of the day (stainless steel skewers/roasting sticks. Seems wasteful to replace something if it isn’t broken.
That way, they can sell Moree! It’s the American way.
The lhwal is particularly funny today since I had to be sedated for a procedure this morning.
Hi, Roger. We’ll assume you didn’t choose the boat paddle.😅 And we hope the results of the procedure are good. Take care, and have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com