Issue 911 • June 4, 2018
This newsletter is brought to you Monday through Thursday by RVtravel.com and is funded primarily through voluntary subscription contributions from our readers. Thank you!
U.S. shoppers: Shop at Amazon.com
Canadian shoppers: Shop at Amazon.ca
QUICK TIPS
Frozen food safety tip in case of a power outageÂ
If you’ve been away for an extended period of time and come home and realize there’s been a power outage, how do you know how long the outage lasted and if the food in your freezer is still good? Sheila Pulanco Russell shared a clever trick on Facebook for anyone who was forced to evacuate their home during Hurricane Matthew. Sheila wrote: “For those of you that are evacuating from the coast, I just heard a great tip. It’s called the one cup tip. You put a cup of water in your freezer, freeze it solid, then put a quarter on top of it and leave it in your freezer. … If the quarter has fallen to the bottom of the cup, that means all the food defrosted and you should throw it out. But if the quarter is either on the top or in the middle of the cup, your food may still be OK. It would be a great idea to leave this in your freezer all the time. Then, if you lose power for any reason, you will have this tip to fall back on. If you don’t feel good about your food, just throw it out. The main thing is for all to be safe.” Simple, effective and definitely a money saver because you don’t have to toss loads of food unnecessarily. Thank you, Mel Goddard, for passing this along for our readers! And another thing, don’t use a glass jar for the trick–one of our editors tried it and found a cracked jar when he came home.
High altitude generator woes
When operating your generator at altitudes above 5,000 feet, it may be necessary to make an adjustment to the automatic choke on the generator engine. Learn how to do this before you need to do it. –From Trailers and Fifth Wheels Made Easy.Â
Keep your RV vents open — even during a hot summer rain
Imagine this: You’re dry camping in the rain in July. Stuck in your RV, you can’t run the air conditioner, and because it’s raining you can’t open the roof vents. So there is almost no ventilation. In the middle of summer, even a rainy day can be hot and steamy inside the RV. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to have that roof vent open, even when you’re away from the coach? Well, you can with a MaxxAir vent. Learn more.
Did you miss the latest RV Travel Newsletter? If so, read it here
IF YOU APPRECIATE THIS NEWSLETTER and others from RVtravel.com, will you please consider pledging your support? Even $5, $10 or $20 is appreciated. Many readers set up an ongoing contribution, typically $5 to $10 a month. Your contributions make it possible for us to produce 25 highly informative newsletters every month. Learn more or contribute.
A DEET-free mosquito and tick repellant that works! 
Well, it’s that time again (unfortunately.) If you’re one of those people that mosquitos love (we all know at least one person like this) this product is for you. 700+ five star reviews? Yup. This awesome DEET-free inspect repellant works for mosquitos, ticks, and other biting insects. Keep this one handy, folks. As RVers, there’s a good chance you’re probably going to need it. Learn more or order here.
MORE QUICK TIPS
Ask Mark Polk: How long will our propane supply last?Â
There is a way to roughly calculate propane usage. You need to know how much propane is in your RV when it is full. An RV propane tank is full at 80 percent of its capacity to allow for expansion. Multiply your propane container capacity using one of these formulas, (gallons or pounds), to determine container BTU capacity. BTUs per gallon equal 91,502. BTUs per pound equal 21,548. Divide your container BTU capacity by the total BTU demand of the appliances you are using. BTU appliance demand can normally be found on the appliance or in the appliance owner’s manual. This will give you an idea of how long you can expect your LP gas to last. For example, if your RV propane container holds 14 gallons of LP gas when it’s full, you multiply 14 X 91,502. The result is 128,1028. You divide this figure by the total BTU demand of appliances, let’s say 43,800 BTUs, which gives you approximately 29 hours of use. Learn more about Mark Polk at RVeducation101.com.
“Address book” back-up plan
Before you leave on a trip, write down all important phone numbers you will need while away and store them in a safe place. Most cell phone users store the numbers in their phones. But if the phone should malfunction or get lost, it’s unlikely they’ll know the phone numbers by memory. Nothin’ like good ol’ handwriting to bail you out.Â
Do you have a tip? Send it to Russ (at) rvtravel.com .
RV trip planning has never been easier!
RV Trip Wizard saves you time by making RV trip planning simple. Plan safe RV routes, avoid unpleasant surprises, and research campgrounds before you arrive. Even find gas stations, propane, and dump stations along the way. All this and more in one easy to use system! Learn more here.
WEBSITES OF THE DAY
Pandora
If you haven’t heard of this music website yet, time to get on it! Pandora lets you create music stations, based on a song, artist or genre, and listen to music for free. Create an account (otherwise it’ll cut you off after a certain amount of songs) and you’ll be good to go. Great for going down the road!Â
DIY Air Conditioner
Well, this is pretty cool….literally! Up for a fun project? Build yourself an air conditioner!Â
67 summer salad recipes
Your body will thank you later. Here’s Bon Appetite’s list of great salad recipes to keep you cool and refreshed this summer.Â
Check out the long list of great RVing-related websites from RVtravel.com.
Keurig Mini coffee maker perfect for RV
Once you use a Keurig coffee maker it’s hard to go back to making coffee any other way. This compact single service K-Cup Pod Coffee Maker will brew your perfect amount with a cup size between six and 10 ounces. Not only is it small to fit a limited counter space, but its platinum look is super attractive. Learn more or order
Available: 100% compostable pods. No plastic!
Join us: Facebook • Twitter • YouTube.
LEAVE HERE WITH A LAUGH
A man walks into his doctor’s office and says, “Doctor, I think I’m addicted to Twitter.” The doctor looks at him and says “Sorry, I don’t follow you.”
Today’s Daily Deals at Amazon.com
Best-selling RV products and Accessories at Amazon.com. UPDATED HOURLY.
Editor’s Picks at Amazon.com
Here are some of the most unique, coolest products you’ll see these days, chosen by the editors of Amazon.com. You’ll love browsing through here, marveling at the variety of fascinating and often innovative products. Ya gotta love this! Have fun. But remember, you can’t spend all day in here (or can you?). Click here.
RV Daily Tips Staff
Editor and Publisher: Chuck Woodbury. Associate editor: Deanna Tolliver. Staff writer: Emily Woodbury. Contributing writers: Russ De Maris, Bob Difley, Gary Bunzer, Roger Marble, Mike Sokol, J.M. Montigel and Andrew Robinson. Advertising coordinator: Gail Meyring.
ADVERTISE on RVtravel.com and/or in this newsletter. Contact Gail Meyring at Gail(at)RVtravel.com .
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.
Mail us at 9792 Edmonds Way, #265, Edmonds, WA 98020.
This website utilizes some advertising services. Sometimes we are paid if you click one of those links and purchase a product or service. Regardless of this potential revenue, unless stated otherwise, we only recommend products or services we believe provide value to our readers. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc . RVtravel.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
RVtravel.com includes links to other websites. We cannot control the content and/or privacy policies of those sites. Please be aware when you leave this newsletter or any other section of RVtravel.com to read the privacy statements of any of those websites that collect personally identifiable information. Our own privacy policy applies only to RVtravel.com and its affiliated blogs.
This newsletter is copyright 2018 by RVtravel.com
I thought the very light font was my phone’s fault. It would be great if I could read my comments before posting. Thanks Sherry.
Chuck and/or Deanna::
Is possible to give us the ability to edit our own comments? Most of us know how to spell, punctuate, and finish a sentence, but we all make typos when post on this forum, Facebook, Twitter, etc. Then, as soon as we hit the send button!, we see the error(s).
Also, this site shows our comments while we type in a pale grey font that is hard to read (at least for those of us who wear glasses). Could you give us any help?
As always, I enjoyed reading this newsletter today (the parts in black ink).
Sherry, I will see what we can do about this. There must be a way. I agree that you should be able to edit your comments.
Bob
It’s not good form to correct someone’s grammar when they are trying to help you.
Re: the frozen food safety tip…. inflation has gone up everywhere. I remember using a penny in my freezer. Now I have to use a quarter? ;D
Very good Scott I got a laugh out of that!
Mark Polk needs to learn where to put his commas in his answer to how long can our propane last
Yes, plus the propane article is missing an important calculation. Most of us cook with a propane stovetop. How would we calculate how much propane we use when cooking on it? There is nothing on my appliance or in the owner’s manual to help.
I don’t have a propane oven (wish I did). Have those of you who have propane ovens found the propane usage information on the appliance? I plan to add one to my unit as an electric
Oops! Hit the button too soon. . .
I was trying to say, an electric combination microwave and convection oven aren’t much use when boondocking, so I want a propane oven.
I have seen this comment several times about a microwave/convection oven being useless when boondocking. I boondock about 25% of the time I spend on the road and I use my convection oven all the time. I don’t understand the comment, would someone please clear that up for me?