Issue 2178
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
“Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.” ―
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Ice Cream Sandwich Day!
On this day in history: 1873 – The Clay Street Hill Railroad begins operating the first cable car in San Francisco’s famous cable car system.
Tip of the Day
RVers will benefit from these unusual uses for koozies around their RV
By Gail Marsh
You probably have at least one “stubby holder” in your RV, and perhaps a koozie or “coldy-holdy,” too. Today, we’ll mostly call them koozies. What are they? The neoprene or foam sleeves are designed to insulate a canned or bottled beverage. No matter what you call them, these handy insulators are quite useful when RVing—and not just for keeping your “cold ones” cold! Check out these unusual but helpful uses for koozies while RVing.
Ask Dave
Dave Solberg is a leading expert in the RV industry and author of the “RV Handbook.”
My generator only starts with RV engine running. What should I check?
Dear Dave,
Our Tiffin 32BA FRED carries an onboard diesel 6000w Onan generator in a compartment. It can activate with a switch on the generator itself but we’ve always used the remote switch on the dash. Last week, neither switch started the generator until I started the RV engine. There was just a clicking sound. Is/are there fuse(s) I need to check? Any other suggestions? —Tim, 2007 Tiffin Allegro Open Road front-engine diesel [FRED]
In the RV shop with Dustin
What you need to do to protect the exterior body of your RV
Maintaining the exterior body of your RV is essential to keeping it looking good and protecting it from the elements. Here are some tips for RV exterior body maintenance…
Video of the day
Shower anywhere! How to make a portable shower
By Cheri Sicard
Jeff Wagg from Built to GO!, a van life YouTube channel, produced the video below to show different methods on how to make a portable shower so that you can shower almost anywhere, any time!
Method one is if you have plumbing in your van or RV; method two is for if you don’t. That’s right, shower in your van/truck/trailer, etc., even if you don’t have plumbing!
Around the Campfire: “Help! Our new RV has problems!”
With Gail Marsh
What can you do if you’re not happy with your newly purchased RV? What can you do if you have serious problems with your new RV? If you voice your concerns to your RV dealer and he refuses to (or claims he can’t) help—what then? Is there any recourse for buyers? This was the latest topic around the campfire. Continue reading.
Reader poll
Do you most often buy your RV fuel based on brand or price?
Quick Tip
Important stoplight safety tips
(1) When you’re stopped at a stoplight and the light turns green, by the time you get your foot from the brake pedal to the gas/fuel feed you have plenty of time to look left and right TWICE before accelerating. This also applies to when you’re at a stop sign – look TWICE in each direction before proceeding.
(2) In addition, when you’re approaching a traffic light you should know how much space/time you need to stop when the light turns yellow. So, approaching a green light, say you’re 200 feet back from the intersection, you can then determine if the light turns yellow whether you can safely stop. If you’re 100 feet back, you might be able to stop. The big thing here is that you make the decision to stop or go before the light turns yellow depending how far you are from the traffic light. Of course, the speed zone you’re in will be the determining factor of how far back from the intersection you need to decide where the “go/no” spot is. At 60 miles per hour, you travel 88 feet per second and at 30 mph you travel 44 feet per second. After some two million plus miles, these two practices have served me well. Thanks for the safety tips, George!
On this day last year…
- Tip: 10 ideas for smart, out-of-the-way RV shoe storage
- RV Review: 2022 Winnebago Micro Minnie 1700BH
- Ask Dave: How often should I lubricate my RV’s slide mechanism?
- Video: Join Jay Leno in the Decoliner, an amazing custom double-decker RV
- Recipe: Baked Potato Breakfast Skillet
Website of the day
The 39 Best Road Trips Snacks You Can Pack
Forget buying road trip snacks (even though we know that’s part of the fun!)—make your own! These 39 recipes show you how to do just that. Yummy.
Popular articles you may have missed at RVtravel.com
- Around the Campfire: Pros and cons of returning to the same campground each year
- Ghost Town Trails: Mackay’s Mine Hill, Mackay, Idaho
- How it Happened: Butter helped invent the ice chest
?? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ??
We think these should be a summer requirement, don’t you agree? Oh, come on!!
Recipe of the Day
Chicken Rama in Thai Peanut Sauce
by Vickie Parks from Renton, WA
We see why Vicki is proud of this recipe. This Chicken Rama tastes very authentic. The creamy peanut butter sauce is so easy to prepare. With a very mild spice, its nutty flavor pairs well with the coconut milk. If you like spicier food, add some red pepper flakes. Serving this over spinach adds a nice fresh taste to the dish. It would also be delicious over white rice or Thai noodles.
Trivia
Northern California’s Redwood National Park’s proximity to the Pacific Ocean keeps its weather temperate and consistent. As warm air meets the ocean, fog forms and rises, eventually settling around the ancient giants. Redwoods get 40% of their needed water from the fog that blankets them.
*If you were to run around the world, how long would it take you? Take a wild guess and see how close (or far off) you are by checking the answer in yesterday’s trivia.
Readers’ Pet of the Day
“Bella is a good girl. She’s 14 years old and loves the beach. She goes with us on all camping trips. She stays at the campsite with little supervision. Bella is one of the smartest dogs that I’ve had.” —Scott Pruett
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!
Keep your brain sharp and your knives sharper!
Tired of dull knives in the kitchen? This easy-to-use knife sharpener (used by staff members, Emily, Chuck and Nanci!) sharpens your knives with a few quick strokes. You’ll feel like a professional! The sharpener has two settings, one for polishing the knife and for quick touch-ups and another for dull, damaged knives. Its small size is perfect for an RV, and it’s a great price! Learn more or order here.
Leave here with a laugh
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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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Mystery Product sandals. Would drive our dog totally NUTS and make your toes bleed.
Todays recipe is very similar to Pnang Meatballs. This is Thai peanut butter curry sauce served with cooked meatballs simmered in sauce. Add rice. For a variant chicken can be used. But when making the recipe use a little bit of red curry then work your way up to how hot and spicy you want it to be. I use chicken meatballs or for recipe above cut up chicken and fry it. Then make the sauce. Now for the Chihuahua? All of those breeds are smarter then any average bear. The last 10 years I have adopted them and trust you me they have to be the Mayans who disappeared eons ago. I love being a foodie. Got into the wrong job.
Stop light safety: When approaching an intersection I always look at the pedestrian sign that shows the time left for crossing. This will give you an idea of when the green light is about to turn yellow. Just one more safety feature when driving.
Today’s “Laugh” should say Love/Hate. I love the comfort but hate the bill.
Love it as you can today because in the news it will not be the same in the coming year. STAY COOL IN YOUR RV! Oh, another item that has an impact with the government involvement Generators.
Since I live in Maine I could never those loibstah shoes? beside being grossly looking it just wouldn’t walk here.
I season in Maine and found lobster over rated no matter how or what form it comes in.
How come we don’t see anything from Mike Sokol with electrical advice anymore?
Loved reading his columns. They actually made sense out of electricity. Miss Tony’s
fun filled RV reviews, too.
He has his own platform that you subscribe to. Free subscription but he does ask for contributions to support….lots of great advice coming from Mike.
You can sign up for Mike’s e-mails on his site so you never miss any articles he publishes,
https://rvelectricity.substack.com/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Ditto.
RVelecticity.com