Issue 2346
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 past is never where you think you left it.” ―
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Tolkien Reading Day! Sit down with The Hobbit, heat up your coffee, and have a great day!
On this day in history: 1948 – The first successful tornado forecast predicts that a tornado will strike Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.
Tip of the Day
Use your cell phone’s camera these 14 ways to make life easier while RVing
By Gail Marsh
Winter is winding down. Are you planning to go RVing soon? Your cell phone camera can help so much! And not just for sending travel pictures to family and friends back home. Curious? Then by all means, read on!
Note: Always use a secure phone storage app (like Keepsafe) when storing critical, confidential information in your cell phone.
See how your phone’s camera can help store personal information, save you time, and sometimes save you from a big hassle or costly mistakes.
Ask Dave
Can I use something besides butyl tape for sealing an RV window?
Dear Dave,
A fellow RVer has a leaking RV window. I told him to buy butyl tape, remove the window and reinstall with fresh tape. The local Home Depot did not have butyl tape in stock and sold him some other tape (couldn’t remember the name). They said it worked great for RV windows. Hopefully, you can give me a quick turnaround before this guy does something foolish.
Is there a suitable alternative to butyl tape for reinstalling his leaking window? If so, what? I would sure hate to see this guy do the repair only have to do another cleanup and repair the window seal correctly. —Jim
(Generic question regarding any laminate-sided RV with aluminum windows.)
TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO SAVE!
Save on thousands of products during the big Amazon Spring Sale! Hurry, the sale ends TODAY!
RV Reviews
Grand Design Imagine AIM 15RB—Mini and mighty!
By Tony Barthel
Today’s RV review is of the Grand Design Imagine AIM 15RB travel trailer. … This is one of the smallest offerings in the Grand Design Imagine family. Specifically, this is the new AIM series, which is the smaller and less expensive (the word “decontented” fits here) line of trailers from the company.
This is a single-axle trailer, as was the one I dragged all over the place. This features a Murphy bed at the front, a dinette on the camp side, a kitchen on the road side and a bathroom that spans the width of the trailer in the back.
In the RV Shop with Dustin
Identifying faulty RV frame welds
Join me “In The RV Shop” as I take you on a journey to understand how a visual inspection is a crucial step in identifying faulty welds in your towable frames. By closely examining the welds, you can look for various signs of defects or issues that may indicate the weld is faulty.
Video of the day
RV park oddities: The crazy things that happen in RV parks
By Cheri Sicard
RVing is amazing, but sometimes it can be strange! In [this video] Jared Gillis from All About RVs (one of the winners of our 2024 RV Video Awards) talks about the weird side of RVing and the RV park oddities he has come across in his years of RVing. In other words, the obscure, strange, and even unexplainable things he has encountered. And he even talks about some potentially dangerous situations RVers can find themselves in.
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The latest news for RVers
- The hollow promise behind RV “Quality Assurance” badges: Nothing but a “tax stamp”
- If government shuts down, so do most national parks, other areas
- Fight gets bigger in Congress as debate over truck speed limiters intensifies
- New U.S. Navy policy will allow personnel to live in RVs
- Human waste and litter force closure of popular boondocking site on Calif. Route 1
To read more recent news, click here.
RVer musings: It’s why, not how, we go camping
By Gail Marsh
I stumbled across a Facebook post a while back and took a screenshot of it. I wanted to save the post because it struck a nerve with me. See if you agree. The post was from a fellow RVer, Duane F. He must have been in a campground at the time he posted his musings. I envision him walking up and down the rows of RVs as he recorded his thoughts. I don’t know him or his situation, but I do know that I’d like to meet him and other RVers that share his unique thoughts. Here’s what Duane wrote.
Reader poll
How many times a day do you brush your teeth?
Quick Tip
Cover your roof top air conditioner
Is your RV going to “sit tight” in one location for a while and not be used—either if it’s parked up north for the winter, or if you’ve been south for the winter and are heading north but leaving your RV there until next winter? Think about covering your roof top air conditioner. It will protect it against UV damage, especially in the south, and keep debris out of the unit wherever it is.
Website of the day
25 Amazing Hot Springs In the U.S. You Must Soak In
They’re not lying, you must soak in these! Okay, it’s not a requirement, but after seeing the photos you’re sure going to want to! (We do!)
?? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ??
If you have a dog, there’s no way you won’t laugh at this. It made us laugh out loud!
Recipe of the Day
Minted Pea Spring Potato Salad
by Sandra McGrath from Harrisville, RI
While this is called potato salad, it’s not the traditional creamy potato salad you think of from a BBQ. It’s really a side dish filled with fresh mint, parsley, potatoes, peas, and hard-boiled eggs. It’s a fresh salad perfect for spring. Everything is dressed in a light lemony dressing that adds a little zing to the salad. A fresh Easter side dish option.
Trivia
What do you call kernels of popcorn that have been popped? Just popcorn, right? Wrong! Popcorn industry folk take these popped kernels very seriously, and refer to them as “flakes.” Yup, it’s not popcorn, it’s a flake! Why flake? They’re all unique, just like a snowflake. There are two kinds of flakes: mushroom and butterfly. At a movie theater, you’re most likely eating butterfly flake, but if you buy caramel corn somewhere, it’s probably mushroom flake. Flake shape is serious business in the popcorn industry!
Readers’ Pet of the Day
“In Sept. 2023, we were in our last week of camping in Utah when my husband sat bolt upright in bed and exclaimed, ‘I hear a kitten!!’ He is and always has been a cat guy. He opened the van door and this tiny, emaciated kitten came right in, hopped on the bed and snuggled up to me. Long story short, she traveled the remaining week with us and came home to Seattle. Chinle got a clean bill of health at the vet and is now a very happy girl who travels with us every time we go.” —Jennifer Bahneman
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
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Contact information
Editor: Emily Woodbury
CONTACT US
Editorial (all but news): editor@rvtravel.com
Editorial (news): chuck@rvtravel.com
Help desk: Contact us
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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Learning to navigate the Dewey Decimal System was a breeze compared to finding where I left my phone!
Or learning how to use it…
Or wanting to use it; because now all the unwanted calls start.
Actually miss those old switchboards and party lines with all the cackling gossip.
Best kind of kitty. Found you. We have four rescue cats. Two were very little kittens Found on walks.
Great Pet of the Day story!
l love the Chinle story. Over our 5 decades of marriage, all of our cats have found us.
Thank you, Emily and Diane! 🙂 What a cute cat and such a sweet story of rescue! My dentist thanks you for reminding me of the importance of frequent and complete teeth brushing. 😉 Or maybe not, if it reduces the stream of revenue I provide him. 😉 Yes, I do recall that search engine. I used it numerous times in high school and throughout my long, nomadic wandering through higher education. 🙂 (I went to a lot of schools and even graduated from some of them. 🤔😯 🙂 ) Thanks again, have a great week, and safe travels! 🙂
Chuck and Emily,
Three times now I have responded with helpful comments but after about 50 words the comment box disappears and my comments are lost before they can be posted. Perhaps it could be my internet? Has anyone else experienced this?
Now this time it didn’t happen. Go figure.
Thank you for all your efforts in publishing your newsletter!
Hi, JCB. I think there’s a limit to the number of words in a message. If you want to continue a (too-long) message, just post as far as you get with (continued) at the end and post that. Then start another message with (continued) and finish what you want to say, then post that. It’ll be in two parts that way, but if you post the second part shortly after the first part it should show up directly under the first part. Thanks! Have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com
It happened to me a few times this last weekend too Diane. Strange anomaly. About half way thru the allotted maximum characters the comment box just disappeared. JCB2 is correct that something is not right.
Thanks, Cancel. I’ll pass along your and JCB2’s observation. I hadn’t heard of that before, except regarding the length of the comment. Have a great day. 😀 –Diane
Maybe “Big Brother” is just looking over your shoulder Cancel ¿?
Or “Big Sister,” i.e., me?😅 Haven’t had to bleep any of Cancel’s comments for a long time. (Thanks, Cancel!) Y’all have a great day. 😀 –Diane aka Big Sister
😂
Your welcome big Sis. I had to come in hard in order to figure out where the actual line location was. Now, I get to outside edge of the line I think, without going beyond it. When making a point about bizarro world, edgy is the best way. Independent thought lives on the edge, not in the middle.
Warmly,
CP
👍🤗 –Diane (I would sign it B.S., but would probably have to bleep myself.😉😅)
Maybe so Bill, Canceling my comment before I’m even done writing the comment….. AI? LOL.
😱👍
You realize that AI is taking over the world, don’t you? Just this old grandma’s theory, anyway.😱😉 Have a good night, Bill and Cancel. 😀 –Diane
Ha! I did that on X before I got suspended after commenting on hilary 🙂 & that works! At least I’m still alive 🤪
Watch your six John.
Yes.
Maybe the AI didn’t think they were ‘helpful’ comments. 🫣
Loved Chinle’s story! So very happy she found her new home!
Such a beautiful and lucky kitten!
Using index cards and overhead projectors seem like only yesterday…along with rotary dial phones. Too bad kids don’t get to use them now instead of “not so smart” text and gossip toys.
When the University library’s old Search Engine went out of style it became our maintenance shop’s small parts bins. It lives on.
Trivia: And we call the un-popped kernels “old maids”. (I have no reason why other than that’s what Mother called them.)
“First Search Engine” is still used in some research libraries as not all information on all topics has been digitized. Many libraries with Genealogical info still have the “card file” available for researchers.
Meow……I pick you!….That’s the way I got my best pal…..
Chinle- you are certainly one Smart Kitten! Smart move..Don