America’s Original RV Newsletter. Since 2001
Issue 2932 • New issue every weekday
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Today’s thought
”We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about.” —Charles Kingsley
Need an excuse to celebrate? Today is National Hydration Day, which is the perfect time to remind you to go drink a glass of water!
On this day in history: 1868 – Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for an invention he called the “Type-Writer”.
Tip of the day
How to wash and wax an RV, plus pro detailing tips
By Cheri Sicard
Andrew Steele from RVing with Andrew Steele shows how to wash and wax an RV, plus he shares professional RV detailing tips. Besides showing you all the products he uses to keep his clients’ multi-million dollar bus RVs looking new, he reviews his entire process. If your RV is looking a little dirty, read and watch this.
Article and video
How to descale an RV tankless water heater
A tankless RV water heater can lose water pressure and heat less long before it quits. In many cases, the cause is scale, the mineral buildup left behind when water heats fast inside the heat exchanger. Any RV owner with a tankless unit will deal with this sooner or later. Here, Ross from RV Tips and Travels shows the simple process on a common Suburban setup.
Featured article
40% of readers married their high school sweetheart. Does RVing keep couples together?
By Gail Marsh
Love is in the air. At least that’s how I felt after reading the results of a recent RVtravel.com poll along with the wonderful comments. Ah, the joy of love! Our poll asked, “Did you marry your high school sweetheart?” The results were both surprising and heartwarming. Read them here.
The high-tech water bottle that reminds you to drink… and rewards you for it!
The water bottle of the future is here! If you’ve been told you need to drink more water, this is for you. This water bottle connects to your phone, sending you reminders to drink. Plus, it tracks how much you drink and sends you rewards for hitting your goals. Learn more about it here.
Ask Dave.
There’s water on the RV floor, but I can’t find a leak. Can you help?
Trusted by Full-Time RVers
Americas Mailbox offers secure mail forwarding, scanning, and residency services tailored to life on the road, plus tax savings. Learn more.
Reader poll
Have you ever experienced food poisoning when RVing?
Quick tip
Check your roof
If you have not inspected your RV’s roof lately for possible leaks, do so now. Allowing water into your RV can result in large repair bills if not attended to quickly. Do not take a chance. Inspect soon or have a professional check.
YOU KNOW IT’S TRUE: Many people say sandwiches taste better when eaten outdoors. Scientists haven’t confirmed this, but campers have.
Website of the day
Bon Appétit
We had initially linked to a page about the best summer cocktails, but as we started exploring all of Bon Appétit, we realized it was better if we just sent you to the website to explore. Recipes, cooking tips, and more galore! If you like to cook or eat, you’ll have fun here.
? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ?
If you don’t use one of these, you might be surprised to find out they exist. And once you use one, you’ll wonder how you survived without it. It’s very handy!
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:
• More readers, 56 percent, communicate via text messages every day than they do by phone (22 percent). The other 22 percent communicate both ways about evenly.
• 60 percent use an electric toothbrush.
• 34 percent read in bed every night.
Recent poll: Have you survived a life-threatening disease or accident?
Trivia
Ravens are one of the smartest animals, known for their capacity to plan ahead, using tools to access food, and cooperating with other ravens to achieve a common goal. Ravens can remember the locations of food caches for extended periods and remember human faces, even holding a grudge for up to a month after a negative interaction.
Readers’ pet of the day
“Oreo (Cavapoo, age 4) loves camping. We just upgraded to a motorhome after 55+ years of tent and trailer camping. He immediately found ‘his spot’ in the motorhome!” —Charlene Reagan
Send us a photo of your pet with a short description. No blurry photos, please! Please do not submit your photo more than once. Thanks!
• RVing with Dogs group on Facebook. You’ll love it.
FREE IS GOOD! Want to do Pennsylvania your way? You can with the free Pennsylvania Travel Guide (online or by mail) to learn where to explore, places to stay, things to do, where to eat, and so much more.
Leave here with a laugh
Turn your RV toaster into a mini grill
These reusable toaster bags make quick RV meals, with less mess. Grill sandwiches, reheat pizza, warm leftovers or toast snacks without dirtying the toaster—perfect for fast meals without mess. Gail Marsh recommends them here.
Today’s weather forecast across the nation
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Visit Current National Radar Weather Map
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Ravens can actually remember faces for decades and pass grudges down to their young. Generations of ravens can learn people to avoid from their parents. We have a pair of nesting ravens in our pine trees and thankfully they know me and don’t swoop down to attack. Although they did swoop repeatedly at a mountain lion too close to the house and their nest a few weeks ago.
We have crows rather than ravens but crows are equally smart and have the same human recognition and memory abilities. When my spouse goes out to fill the bird feeder s (they recognize her), any nearby crow will let all the other crows know that “food is on the table.” She has a helical feeder in which she puts a handful of unshelled peanuts each time she fills the feeders. The crows figured out how to get the peanuts out before the squirrels did.
When I kept chickens, I was always glad to see the crows return from their migration – they kept the raptors away.
Growing up, I had a young neighbor with a tame crow that could talk like a parrot. On occasion it would fly to school and visit her on the playground.
A pair of black beaked crows live in a pine half-block from our house. I can confirm that they have learned to be good urban neighbors. At one point several years ago they would check out plastic trash bags at the curb waiting to be picked up. A couple scraps set out occasionally and they left our bags alone. They occasionally raid our raspberries, but on random occasion they leave behind something shiny in exchange.
Last fall, we camped in New Mexico next to a couple from Germany. They were traveling in a Mercedes NG1428, similar to the one in your AI photo. They had it shipped to the US and had visited all 50 states over the past year, and were now headed to Mexico. They expected to return home in another year or so. I had never seen such a heavy-duty looking RV before.
As a service to those of us, like me, who cannot drink regular alcoholic beverages for medical reasons, could you please post an article on the current non-alcoholic beverages. I am a dark beer 🍺 fan and first tried Guinness with less than 0.5% alcohol and it tasted like the original. I have since found Deschutes Black Butte Porter, which is also as good as their regular one. I have also had an Athletic IPA that was as good as any I have had. These are not like the NA beers of years past.
Great idea…there’s a wide variation in taste & quality of NA beers. Thanks for the recommendations, Curtis. I’d love to hear others.
We have witnessed new campers learning the hard way to not leave any food unattended on their picnic table many times. Once we observed a large family having breakfast outside when camping at a state park on the coast. They left food on the table unattended to take a short walk to the beach with the children. Campground crows are smart and observant. Soon about twenty crows descended into the site and had a feast. Later that day, I saw one of the children playing nearby, so I asked the boy if they realized that it was crows which had made that big mess. The little guy said yes, and then he added that his mama got really mad because the crows ate their whole pound of butter.
I call my nap before bed a “nap a tizer”