America’s Original RV Newsletter. Since 2001
Issue 2819 • New issue every weekday
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Today’s thought
“Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.” —Martin Luther King Jr.
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Bagel Day!
On this day in history: 1889 – The Coca-Cola Company, then known as the Pemberton Medicine Company, is incorporated in Atlanta.
Tip of the day
Pinterest may be your gateway to building, redesigning, or fixing your own RV
By Mike Gast
When you need to figure out how to do something with your RV, buy something you think you can’t live without, or just want to research something online… where do you go?
If you’re like most (especially you fellows out there), you head straight for a Google search or go to YouTube to search for answers. But there’s another option… Pinterest. Continue reading.
Article and video
10 delicious ways to use canned biscuit dough in your RV
By Cheri Sicard
Canned biscuit dough can be an RV kitchen essential. There is so much you can do with it. While this video by Nicole McLaughlin of My Recipes was not specifically created for RVers, the recipes in it are perfect for RVers because they use one of our favorite convenience foods. Give the short video a watch and you’ll discover some delicious and creative uses for canned biscuit dough.
Featured article
Monahans Sandhills State Park is a must-stop camping gem
By Nanci Dixon
We were traveling along I-20 through Texas and needed a campsite for the next night. Among the sometimes run-down highway-side RV parks appeared Monahans Sandhills State Park with 26 sites. Best of all, there was a site right in the sand dunes available with electric and water. And it wasn’t right on the highway! It was clear as we drove in that Monahans State Park was an unexpected gem. Read about it here.
An easy bathroom improvement
Make the RV bathroom safer with these no-drill suction grab bars that stick where you need extra support—like in the shower or by the toilet—without tools or damage. They’re easy to install, removable, and reusable, and give you something sturdy to hold onto when stepping in and out, helping prevent slips and falls on wet surfaces. A simple, low-effort safety upgrade for RVers and seniors.
Ask Dave
RV generator shuts down; only starts with starting fluid. Fuel pump?
Read Dave’s troubleshooting advice.
**Be sure to catch Dave’s educational and entertaining seminars at the Ford Towing Bootcamp at the Florida RV SuperShow through January 18.
SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOUR RV?
Good news! We have more than 3,500 articles in our “RV Maintenance and Repair” category, so we’re confident we can help you solve the problem. In addition, did you know you can search our website using the search bar at the top of every page for keywords or topics that interest you or that you need help with? Yep, we’ve got you covered!
Reader poll
When was the last time you saw a movie at a movie theater?
Quick tip
Surefire jackknife recipe
“Applying tow vehicle brakes hard while the trailer is in the middle of a swerve will almost guarantee a jackknife and a rollover.” —From Trailers and Fifth Wheels Made Easy
Take an extra 10% off a GhostBed luxury RV mattress!
The GhostBed RV mattress is 10” deep, crafted with gel memory foam for coolness, has 3 layers of luxurious comfort and is perfectly sized for your RV! Ahhhh… Wake up relaxed and rejuvenated. RVtravel.com readers now get an EXTRA 10% OFF a GhostBed Luxury RV Mattress! CLICK HERE and use code RVTRAVEL10. Watch RVtravel.com’s Tony Barthel’s RV mattress review here.
On this day last year…
- RV review: 2025 Wildwood FSX 165VIEW—It’s polarizing…
- Ask Dave: How to keep RV battery watering system from freezing
- Article & video: Wow! Check out this inflatable patio for toy haulers
- Featured article: The history of the cheeseburger: Almost as satisfying as a burger itself!
“Escapees is the best club for RVers.” —RVtravel.com
Website of the day
World Nature Photographer of the Year 2025
These photos are truly something—they’re beautiful and incredible and wow-inducing! You won’t believe some of them are real (but they are!).
And the survey says…
We’ve polled RVtravel.com readers close to 5,000 times in recent years. Here are a few things we’ve learned about them:
• 48 percent have gotten food poisoning from a restaurant at least once, and 20 percent have gotten it more than once. Yikes!
• 44 percent say they love their RV and they’re very happy with their purchase of it.
• 6 percent say their RV is not in good enough condition that if they had to leave tomorrow on a trip with it, they couldn’t.
Recent poll: Have you ever visited America’s #1 tourist attraction?
? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ?
This is a link to a whole page, and once you click, you’ll see why we couldn’t just pick one product to feature. Trip to Flavortown, anyone?
Trivia
In 1961, Martha Stewart was selected as one of Glamour magazine’s “ten best-dressed college girls.”
Readers’ pet of the day
“Davis (Pug, age 7) is my grand puppy. He is such a sweet little guy. He loves to go camping!” —Terri Lewis
Send us a photo of your pet with a short description. No blurry photos and please do not submit your photo more than once. Thanks!
• Pet Food and all pet products at Amazon and Walmart
• RVing with Dogs group on Facebook. You’ll love it.
FREE IS GOOD! Heading to Indiana this year? Get lots of free brochures here, or click here to use the Trip Builder so you don’t miss anything.
Leave here with a laugh
What happens if you eat aluminum foil?
You sheet metal!
Today’s weather forecast across the nation
THIS MAP UPDATES TWICE A DAY
Visit Current National Radar Weather Map
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RVtravel.com All-Star Team
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I feel, it would be nice, if every destination article had a map of the location. Nothing fancy. Maybe, just the state, with a dot on it.
(easier with a PC) I have a bookmark for Google Maps (https://www.google.com/maps). I often see a location name and don’t know where it is. I copy the name, open another tab with Google Maps, paste in the copied location name and there I am. Took longer to type this than do it. This newsletter isn’t the only site that has me scratching my head as to where something is at.
I have a browser extension called “Google Maps select and search” that I use a great deal. Even reading the local news I use it to find out where a certain street is. Use the mouse to highlight any town or street address on any website, then right click and select “Search this address on Google Maps”. The map pops up in a new window with a location “pin”. It’s fantastic and it is smart, too – it will overlook extraneous words and go where you need it to. It’s a Chrome extension and I use it in Brave browser. I think Edge might have something similar. It’s very helpful and interesting.
I have two of those grab handles in my stick and bricks shower. They work well but I always give them a slight tug before using them because the suction gives out every now and then. Get the suction cups wet again and reapply and they are good for many more weeks.
I tried to use them in my RV shower, but they won’t stick because the shower walls are textured and not smooth. I’m going to see if they will work near by the entrance. I need to make sure it won’t tear the wallpaper off the wall.
90% chance it will pull the paper off the wall, if it sticks for any period at all. Most wall paper is porous which will allow air to slowly leak.
I would not take a chance of it failing when you really need it.
love the fun pic of Davis. Pugs are great dogs. Tnx for sharing.
The suction cup handles work really well when you need to work on your rv or vehicle. They attach easily to the surface of the vehicle and make it a lot easier to stand up!
The suction cup grab bars would adhere to our porcelain, shower tiles for, maybe, a week. Over time, their adhesion-time would shorten. They would fail without any warning, making relying on them dangerous. The solution was installing genuine, permanent grab bars, which was easy into drywall, but very difficult through tiles where diamond drill bits were required and the location of the wall studs couldn’t be easily determined before drilling.
Jay. I was fortunate enough to be able to get to the opposite side of the tiled shower wall. I used a stud finder to locate the studs. I measured the distance and transferred that to the inside of the shower allowing for the thickness of the tile. I used a diamond tipped drill bit into the studs. That worked for me
Every day I try to find out what happens when you cut a sandwich bag in half, so far it just lets the contents fall out.
Make sure you read the one star reviews on Amazon for those suction shower grab bars. There are over 10,000 reviews and 10% of those are one star reviews. Many buyers said the grab bars fell off and were not trustworthy. I would never trust any shower bar which does not attach securely with screws.
Barb S, I have had those in my home bathroom shower for several years and they have worked flawlessly. So I question those one star reviews. Chuck/publisher
I agree. We have them on both showers and bath tubs plus one on the sliding door to the deck for DW who has limited use of her hands. They have worked well for years with occasional cleaning.
The trick is the surface must be perfectly smooth. Even a slight pattern or wave will result in a falling grab bar.
Davis is so cute, I’m so glad that he loves to go camping. He really looks like a joy to be around. Keep on camping.