Issue 2317
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
“The question is not what you look at, but what you see.” ―
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Cheddar Day!
On this day in history: 1914 – Copyright: The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) was founded in New York City. The purpose of this organization was, and remains, to protect the copyright and performance rights of the works of its members: composers, songwriters, lyricists, and music publishers.
Tip of the Day
Ways to be a more attentive RV driver
By Gail Marsh
“Each year in the U.S., inattentive drivers cause 3,000 deaths and more than 400,000 injuries. On average, 9 people die every day in our country because of a distracted driver. With those startling statistics, we should all be interested in learning some RV tips for attentive driving.
Just what does “attentive” mean? Here are some synonyms I found: heedful, thoughtful, captivated, intent, engrossed. As you read the list, maybe you have to admit (like me) that while I try to remain heedful and thoughtful when driving, I’m not always captivated, intent, or engrossed. Those terms surpass my usual driving attitude.
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Ask Dave
A follow-up with more great tips on plastic shower repair
By Dave Solberg
I have over 700 articles posted here on RVtravel.com. Most of the time I do not get a follow-up on what fixed the reader’s RV issue. However, this came from Jim, one of our readers, on a follow-up repair to a plastic shower article posted previously.
Hi, Dave,
Hope the seminar tour is going well. I just wanted to thank you for articles you have posted on RV Travel for repairing plastic shower bases. I am writing with my experience repairing our shower base….
DON’T MISS ANY RV REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE ARTICLES! Every Tuesday we issue a free weekly email digest of all our articles from the past week on the subject. Sign up here for RV Repair and Maintenance Tips (and check out all our other reports and newsletters).
Quit struggling with hose and cable hookups at the campsite
Are you tired of struggling to hook up your coax cables, water hoses and other connections when you arrive at your campsite? It’s a snap with Cable and Hose Grips from J Wright Concepts. Save time and frustration! Life is too short to hassle with the little stuff! Learn more or order.
RV Tours
Tour the 2024 Forest River Aurora Light 16BHX small, lightweight travel trailer
By Cheri Sicard
In the video below we join the team from Blue Compass RV for a tour of a small, lightweight travel trailer that still manages to pack in a lot of great features: the Forest River Aurora Light 16bhx.
This is a low-cost, entry-level RV with the option to upgrade to features not normally seen in this size or price point of a trailer.
Video of the day
5 important lessons to learn from watching RV crashes
By Cheri Sicard
Like a lot of RVers, Joe of RVing with Joe has watched a lot of RVing YouTube videos over the years. He also admits to watching a lot of videos of RV crashes.
No, Joe is not just being voyeuristic. He says that you can learn a whole about RV safety by watching RV crashes and figuring out what went wrong. He demonstrates this in the video below.
Stinky sewer dump? This will do the trick!
If a sewer hose doesn’t fit tightly, sewer gases will escape and make the odor when dumping almost unbearable. It’s embarrassing and disgusting! This sewer adapter hose seal plugs the hole. No more stink! Read more about it here or order one here.
Beware the damaging dips: Our motorhome got stuck. Really stuck.
By Nanci Dixon
Ouch! Our motorhome got stuck. Really stuck. It has taken me a while to recover enough to even write this sad story. And to all those who would never ever find themselves in this predicament… never say never! 30 years of RVing and not one mishap until now. Read more and hopefully avoid the same fate.
Reader poll
Do you use special RV toilet paper or a standard brand from the supermarket?
Quick Tip
Watch your rear!
“Here is a tip I use while driving down the highway. I installed a Fresnel lens on the rear window of my 31-foot Class C motorhome to enable me to see close to the rear of the rig. Doing this gives me the added advantage of being able to know when I’ve passed another vehicle and it’s far enough behind to allow me to change lanes. When I can see the headlights of the overtaken vehicle in the Fresnel lens, it’s safe to go. The normal rearview or side-view mirrors do not give a good estimate of how far ahead of the overtaken vehicle you are.” Thanks to Fred C.!
Need to reseal your EPDM roof? Here’s how to do it yourself (it’s not so hard!).
For Lovers Only…
To: Silver Fox
From: TishtheDish
“Happy Valentine’s Day and 39th anniversary to the foxy man in my life! I love adventuring with you whether it be in our RV or not. What a wonderful life we have together. Love you!”
To: My First Wife
From: 143
“When l first laid eyes on you our sophomore year l knew you were the one. 62 years later and I’m positive you are the one. As we snuggle in our motorhome, l believe I’m the luckiest man alive. You are not only my first wife but my only wife.”
On this day last year…
- Ask Dave: My inverter only powers one outlet. How can I rewire it to add more?
- Video: Ditching the dinette for an RV lithium battery upgrade
- Featured article: Hubby is a night owl, wife is an early riser. Different sleep schedules hard to manage in RV
Website of the day
U.S. National Parks by size
This list of largest to smallest National Parks by size (measured by acres) might surprise you. We would’ve guessed some of these would’ve been higher on the list!
?? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ??
Not only is this a conversation starter, “Is that a ___ in your ___?!”, but it’s also just SO entirely cool we know you’re going to want it! Heck, we want it! Heck, we might buy it!
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:
• 18 percent cut their own hair.
• 90 percent only speak one language, their native language.
• 37 percent have an RV that is longer than 35 feet.
Recipe of the Day
Chocolate & Raspberry Bars
by Kathryn Brown from Woodbridge, NJ
These homemade brownie bars have a raspberry layer in the middle. Sounds like a simple dessert, but they are a brownie bar like no other. Very chewy and soft, they have a wonderful sweet chocolate flavor that’s mixed with the layer of tart raspberry fruit spread. Melted dark chocolate is drizzled over them and topped with a fresh raspberry. Bite into these chocolate and raspberry bars and your taste buds will swoon.
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Trivia
National Cheddar Day (today) was created by the Tillamook County (OR) Creamery Cooperation in 2019 to celebrate its 110th birthday. Cheddar cheese hails from the city of Cheddar in Somerset, South England. It accounts for more than a third of all the cheese sold in the United States.
Did you know you can visit the Tillamook Creamery? Get your fix of cheese, ice cream and more. (We love this place!). Here’s the website to learn more.
Readers’ Pet of the Day
“Dobby (Poodle/Terrier mix) is now a 13-year-old traveling and camping veteran! He also rides along in our UTV and enjoys the lunch stops most.” —Judy Zumwalt
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!
Doctor’s order: Coffee!
This coffee mug is hilarious! It’s perfect for yourself or the coffee-lover in your life who just cannot live without coffee. This high-quality mug is made from ceramic and painted to look like a prescription pill bottle – it’s just what the doctor ordered! You can’t order this from a barista, but you can order one here.
Leave here with a laugh
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Contact information
Editor: Emily Woodbury
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Add a rear camera, you will be glad you did. The bottom edge of the display screen equals 3 feet of distance from the actual rear of the coach. You should actually measure just to help.
Now to find a right side view camera to cover the dreaded blind side.
If your mirrors are adjusted properly you don’t need a camera. Millions of truck drivers run thousands of miles each day without cameras and do just fine. The problem most people have is poor memory, they forget what the side of their vehicle looks like so they use their mirrors to remind themselves. The mirror should be adjusted so in your normal seating position you don’t see anything but road beside your vehicle. Then with a slight tilt of your head either way you will see the side of your vehicle for reference as to what’s close to you.
Bob P, My thoughts exactly. I can see the entire right side of the motorhome front to rear with a slight tilt of my head.
In your humble opinion
I have found that you can find 1 ply toilet paper in the paper goods area of most stores for a lot less than the RV section. Usually the same brand.
Any product that has “RV” on its label will have a price increase over the exact same product that doesn’t have “RV” on its label.
Dobby – you keep on rolling down the highway and enjoying the trip with your folks…don
Gail says 9 people in the U.S. die every day because of a distracted driver. Throw in all the other factors and this climbs to 117 (2022 stats) deaths every day in traffic fatalities. Drive carefully.
Thank you, Emily and Diane! Tillamook ice cream is rivaled only by Blue Bell ice cream as the most expensive ice cream in our local (Chattanooga, Tennessee) grocery stores. I find the store-brand ice creams to be as good at sometimes half (or less) the price. “Try it, you’ll like it.” 😉 🙂
On the TP use what u get at the store for septic tank use. Been using this for 40+ years
I have an RV similar to the one shown. Want to remodel it and get rid of the bunk beds. Sigh. Still looking.