Issue 2577
Today’s thought
“Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.” ―
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Make A Friend Day! Hey, want to be our friend?
On this day in history: 1963 — The Beatles recorded their first album, “Please Please Me”.
Tip of the day
Defrost your vehicle’s windshield in half the time with these tricks
By Gail Marsh
You’re ready to roll on down the road. New adventures await! But no. The windshield is iced over or fogged up. Departure time is delayed—again. Have you ever wished you could quickly defrost/defog your motorhome’s or truck’s windshield? Me, too! Check out the quick solutions that I discovered. Then choose the trick that works best for you. You’ll hit the road in no time!
If several inches of snow have fallen onto the windshield, it’s best to remove most of the snow before applying any of these tips.
Ask Dave
Do I need to winterize my RV’s tankless water heater?
By Dave Solberg
Dear Dave,
This is my first winter in Lancaster, PA, and the temp got down to 11 degrees last night. My tankless water heater froze and I currently have a space heater on it from the inside. My heated hose is working and I have water to the toilet. But my question is, does this model have the automatic freeze protection feature? I’ve attached a photo of the model. —Randy Read Dave’s answer.
Video of the day
Amazing cargo trailer RV dream home
By Cheri Sicard
In the video below from Tiny House Giant Journey, we meet Jersey, who lives full-time in her converted cargo trailer RV dream home. After watching, you’ll never look at ordinary-appearing cargo trailers going down the road in the same way again. Check it out.
Featured article
What keeps RV holding tanks clear? Readers offer ideas
By Jan Steele
Did you read my story last Sunday about the “pyramid of poo” in my RV’s black tank? You know this is a hot topic of conversation among RVers. No sh*t! Read it here before continuing on. I received some good responses from readers who don’t agree with everything Kleen Tank literature says. Several swear by Dawn or Happy Camper. No one mentioned the products you find in an RV store aisle. Continue reading and see what other RVers are using.
Reader poll
Does your RV have a spare tire?
Quick tip
RV site “Look out!” advice
Doing a “walk around” inspection before pulling your rig into an RV site is always a good idea. Joe B. adds a pointer as to something else to look out for: “Before backing or pulling in an RV site, I always walk around to check for low branches, obstructions, power, water pedestal, etc. However, I never looked down until after my wife saw a few pieces of metal on the ground.
The picture shows what we found. I plan on buying a long magnet on a stick at a lumber box store and crawling under the rig before pulling out. From now on I will use it to check the area before backing in. It won’t pick up aluminum or glass; however, it’s better than nothing. This was at a private, very expensive, campground in Key Largo.” Thanks, Joe, for the “attractive” idea!
Website of the day
53 Incredible Things To Do With Canned Biscuits
Making biscuits is easy… when they come from a can! Step up those biscuits with these delicious-sounding recipes. Yum!
? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ?
You have these, right? All RVers HAVE to have these. If you don’t have them yet, or don’t know about them (and how truly magic they are), you’ll want to try them out yourself.
And the survey says…
We’ve polled RVtravel.com readers more than 5,000 times in recent years. Here are a few things we’ve learned about them:
• 3 percent own a boat with self-contained living facilities.
• 63 percent have turned away from an RV park upon arrival because its appearance looked junky and/or unappealing.
• 34 percent say they always stop and go out of their way to visit offbeat roadside attractions.
Recent poll: How often do you stay with your RV in a scenic location?
Trivia
Lakes formed by meteor impacts are called annular lakes. One of the world’s largest annular lakes is Lake Manicouagan in Quebec, Canada. The lake is so large that it can be seen from space and is known as the “Eye of Quebec.” It covers 750 square miles and was formed 214 million years ago.
Readers’ pets of the day
“Teddy and Rose like camping. They always greet us when we come back to our RV.” —Stephen Brown
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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Visit Current National Radar Weather Map
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RVtravel.com All-Star Team
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Re: Quick Tip shouldn’t that be the CG’s responsibility to ensure that campsites are clear. Like hotels, CGs have a check in and check out times. Why can’t the CG workers drive around between those times and check? If a site is left with debris such as those mentioned, then the RVer should be fined or cited. This should be mentioned and listed during booking that their card will be charged a cleaning fee. Pics should be taken at time of discovery to avoid any disputes.
I totally agree with you. PA state parks have a 3pm departure time. It has only happened once, that I have had to wait for the campers to leave. I waited 30 minutes for them to pull out. They were surprised to see me sitting in one of their chairs with my uniform on. I told them that due to my complaint, they were be charged for an extra day.
I agree Gil. I pulled into my site at a state park and woke up to two flat tires! Found out the park workers had used the site for a staging area to unpack bundles of lumber and dropped large staples on the ground. One of them punctured the sidewall so that tire was toast. When I showed the park ranger, all I got was “sorry about that”!
Which state park? I’m not going there. One reason many places don’t allow burning of pallets. They leave tons of nails behind.
Riverside State Park, Spokane WA. 9 mile campground
You asked about spare tires. Perhaps you should have asked if you have either a spare wheel or a spare tire or both
Noooooo…..
Yes, I carry an unmounted tire in the basement of my motorhome.
Traveling with Teddy and Rose looks like fun, Stephen. I hope you have many adventures together. Joe’s note that related all the metal in one of their campsites was eye-opening and instructive. DW checks out our intended site by preceding me there in our towed vehicle. We will add reviewing the surface to those things checked before directing me into the site. Actually, we have no space-saving bags in the RV. We do have some when we travel internationaly, a rare thing that does sometime happen. Thank you Emily and Diane! Have a great day and safe travels!
Vacuum bags for clothes. I have so far only used one to transport a ‘puffer’ style winter jacket.
Many years ago I worked for a staging company in LA. The owner had a steadfast rule. When walking around the yard, your eyes should be on the ground. One so you don’t trip, and also so you don’t step on nails or spikes. That has stuck with me ever since. 40 years ago. Great advice
I worked in construction, and I always looked at the ground when walking around and would then stop to look up and around. Then would pick a path and do the same thing over again.
SPARE TIRE – Even IF we had one – we could never change it !!!
Just checking if you know. What are lakes or pools left behind from the receding ice fields? Ya know, 14,000 years ago.
Hi, David. You mean glacial lakes, the largest of which are the Great Lakes?🤔 We have several glacial lakes in Seattle, BTW. Thanks for the question. I learned something tonight.👍 Have a good night, and stay warm. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com