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Saturday, March 30, 2024
Issue 1150
Free, abbreviated edition
RVing on Public Lands. This RVtravel.com Facebook group just passed 65,000 members. Please join us!
Featured articles
RV industry’s optimism clouded by short-seller interest and lingering post-pandemic woes. So what’s ahead?
By Andy Zipser
RV manufacturers and campground owners keep radiating good cheer about the upcoming season, paying extravagant notice to every uptick in sales and reservations. And indeed there is cause for cautious optimism. Yet it’s also clear that industry participants remain leery of what lies just over the horizon, and there’s good reason for that, too. Continue reading.
Is climate change driving up RV insurance premiums?
By Randall Brink
RVers cherish the freedom and adventure that comes with hitting the open road. In recent years, though, many RV owners have noticed a troubling trend: rising insurance premiums. While several factors in the overall economy contribute to this increase, chatter among financial industry observers raises the question: Is climate change playing a significant role in driving up RV insurance costs? Find out here.
Baltimore bridge collapse sparks propane travel questions across U.S. tunnel and bridge network. Know where your RV can (and can’t) go
By Russ and Tiña De Maris
The loss of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge has created a major traffic issue for RVers. The Key Bridge was the only allowable route for RVs across the Patapsco River, as the alternatives, tunnels, prohibit LP gas. It leads back to a question we’ve been asked before. Just what tunnels restrict RV propane transport and why? Here’s the answer.
BLM sued: Claim says agency neglected to manage Nevada National Monuments
By Randall Brink
In a landmark legal challenge, environmental organizations have taken the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to court over what they allege is a failure to properly manage two of Nevada’s most cherished national monuments, Basin and Range, and Gold Butte. … The crux of the lawsuit centers on the BLM’s purported negligence in developing and implementing comprehensive management plans for these monuments, crucial for ensuring the protection of their unique ecological, cultural, and historical resources. Learn more.
The BLM is moving to improve internet access across its lands
By Russ and Tiña De Maris
As RVers find camping in established RV parks and campgrounds filling up, many are turning to alternatives like boondocking. While RVing on outback sites has its attractions, internet access can be a problem. Now one of the nation’s biggest landholders, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), is moving to improve internet access across its holdings. Continue reading.
IN TOMORROW’S NEWSLETTER:
RV industry to announce:
Revolutionary RV innovation will transform RVing
True? Or is the industry blowing hot air?
Campground Crowding (and more!)
“An Airbnb for a month is cheaper than our campsite!” Plus, a tip for getting around lock-in fees
RV sales have slowed and fewer people are buying RVs than has been the recent trend. Has that changed campground crowding? This week, Nanci Dixon relates several more complaints about difficulty getting RV park/campground reservations and their increased cost, lock-in fees, no-shows at the campsites … You know: same ol’, same ol’. But another reader has an answer for the high costs and hassles of RVing, and some folks in their 80s still love camping. That’s good to hear!
RV Tours
Tour 5 Class B camper vans from most expensive to cheapest
By Cheri Sicard
In [this video] we join Bob and Hillary from Vancaskeys at Glendale, Arizona’s, 10-day RV Super Show for a look at five different Class B camper vans. The couple starts with the most luxurious and expensive Class B on display at the show, all the way to the least expensive one.
Click here to read about them and tour
WE’RE HIRING! We’re looking for a news writer to join our team. Do you have a background in journalism? Love to write and know RVing inside out? Do you read this newsletter every week and know what we’re all about? Send an email to editor (at) rvtravel.com and tell us why we need you. Must have a background in deadline writing, and provide writing samples. This is a freelance position. Work from anywhere. Pay depends on how talented you are and how much you choose to be involved. No beginners, please.
More RVing News
Sedona, Arizona, has a bit of a problem: While visitors and established residents have plenty of money, the “working class” that keeps this tourist destination going can’t afford to live there. A City of Sedona plan for homeless parking is creating an uproar. The plan would create a safe parking lot for RVs and cars on a portion of a five-acre site. In addition to providing safe parking and support amenities, the city says it will provide programs to help users secure permanent housing. After the City of Sedona’s plan for homeless parking was announced, opposition soon popped up.
Wind blew over a fifth wheel, trapping three inside. It must have been quite a sensation for the three folks when a 93-mile-per-hour gust blasted the fifth wheel over at 1:00 in the morning on March 26. The rig had been peacefully parked at the Old Mountain Campground in Greenville when the tempest broke out. Here’s more info.
RV dealers like towables, but not motorhomes. That’s the boil-out from the RV industry’s February 2024 shipment statistics. Overall, the manufacturers are crowing that the number of RV shipments in February was up 17.8%. This year, 31,024 rigs moved out to dealers, compared to 26,326 in February last year. Here are the details.
In a move that is sure to delight RVers headed to the Great Lakes region this year, the U.S. Forest Service Hiawatha National Forest has announced the reopening of six campgrounds that were closed in the middle of the 2023 season. RV travelers holding reservations were abruptly informed that their reservations were canceled with little notice. The closures arose from a dispute with the contract concessionaire managing the campground facilities. The campgrounds now have new contract management. Here’s more info on what campgrounds have reopened.
Quit struggling with hose and cable hookups at the campsite
Are you tired of struggling to hook up your coax cables, water hoses and other connections when you arrive at your campsite? It’s a snap with Cable and Hose Grips from J Wright Concepts. Save time and frustration! Life is too short to hassle with the little stuff! Learn more or order.
Death Valley National Park will increase fees for developed campgrounds starting on May 1, 2024. Extensive public engagement followed by the National Park Service review led to the determination that the park’s proposed updated campground fees were comparable to fees charged by similar nearby campgrounds. Here’s more information.
Maryland’s transportation authority has clarified its alternate routing after the wipeout of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. RVs carrying propane should follow this Key Bridge alternate route, since they are prohibited from tunnel crossings.
If you’ve taken your RV through America’s West, you may have seen them. Wild horses or wild burros. These majestic equines have thrilled many. However, their large numbers pose problems for their ecosystem and frustrate some ranchers. Where these wild creatures hang out on lands managed by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management), they’re the frequent target of helicopter roundups. Now Congress is reining in the BLM in wild horse management.
Your help wanted! Get rid of this stinky invasive plant! Saguaro National Park is asking park visitors and the greater Tucson community to be vigilant about a new and ever-increasing threat to the Sonoran desert landscape: invasive stinknet. Plants are currently flowering in southern Arizona, and finding and removing them before they set seed is critical to stopping their spread. Here’s how you can help.
And lastly, this week’s funny National Park Service post, but this time it’s from their Instagram account.
Don’t miss out on the latest, breaking news for RVers!
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Don’t want to sign up? Don’t worry. This newsletter isn’t going anywhere. Continue reading this newsletter every Saturday for a recap of the latest news for RVers.
Saturday Giveaway!
How would you like to win this neat RV State Sticker Map?
Show off all the places you’ve been! Stick this map on your RV or tow vehicle and place a sticker over each state that you’ve visited (and keep adding to it!).
How to win
We’ll select a winner at random out of all entries we receive today (March 30, 2024) by 7 p.m. Pacific time. Remember, you can only enter once and after we notify you by email via RVcontests@gmail.com that you won, you have 24 hours to respond or we’ll give the prize to someone else.
Click here to enter or see last week’s winner!
Reader poll
Will you do something special for Easter tomorrow?
RV and RV-Related Recalls
Four Jayco Class B models recalled
Four Jayco Class B models are on recall for a propane leak issue. Jayco is recalling certain 2023-2024 Entegra Ethos, Expanse, Jayco Solstice, and Swift vehicles. The liquid level remote fill gauge on the propane tank may leak when in the “Open” position. A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source increases the risk of a fire. Learn more.
Cruiser travel trailers recalled for missing tire data
Cruiser RV is recalling certain 2023-2024 Avenir trailers. The Federal Certification labels are missing the tire size and correct PSI. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 120, “Wheels and Rims–Other Than Passenger Cars.” Incorrect tire size information could result in the wrong tires being installed. Incorrect PSI information could lead to over- or under-inflating the tires. Both instances increase the risk of a crash. Read more.
?? MYSTERY PRODUCT OF THE DAY ??
Turn those “mental notes” into real notes! And don’t even use paper! How is that possible, you might ask? Well, just look at this and you’ll see. Woowee this is great!
HAVE YOU SEEN THIS STOLEN RV?
None reported this week.
Did someone rip off your ride? Let us post information on your stolen RV. Email Russ (at) rvtravel.com.
Latest fuel prices
Here are the latest U.S. average prices per gallon of gasoline and diesel fuel as of March 25, 2024:
Regular unleaded gasoline: $3.52
Change from week before: Up 7 cents; Change from year before: Up 10 cents.
Diesel: $4.03
Change from week before: Up <1 cent; Change from year before: Down 9 cents.
For fuel prices for specific regions, states, and cities, go to U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Upcoming RV shows
Click here for a directory of upcoming shows.
Recipe of the Day
Need something to make for Easter tomorrow?
Try one of these…
Trivia
More than 700 million Peeps are sold each year at Easter, making them the #1 candy of the holiday (well, behind chocolate). Read RVtravel.com publisher Chuck Woodbury’s essay about Peeps and a survey of RVtravel.com readers’ Peeps habits. Click here.
The small but mighty Reese trailer hitch coupler lock
The Reese trailer hitch coupler lock keeps your travel trailer safe! The way it’s set up it is impossible to get bolt cutters around it and it’s incredibly sturdy and well-made. It’s inexpensive, small and ensures that the coupler stays closed while driving. It can even be used when unhitched! Learn more about it here.
Laugh of the Week
Thanks to reader David J. for sending!
Today in History
RVtravel.com All Star Team
Publisher: Chuck Woodbury. Editor: Emily Woodbury. Associate editor: Diane McGovern. Senior editors: Russ and Tiña De Maris. Senior writers: Nanci Dixon, Gail Marsh, Dave Solberg and Cheri Sicard. Contributors: Roger Marble, Dave Helgeson, J.R. Montigel, Randall Brink, Dustin Simpson, Dale Wade, and Tony Barthel. Financial affairs director: Gail Meyring. IT wrangler: Kim Christiansen. Social Media staff: Gary Pratt. Mascots: Archie and Astor “the Disaster”
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.
RVtravel.com is a participant in many affiliate programs, including the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Regardless of the potential revenue, unless stated otherwise, we only recommend products or services we believe provide value to our readers.
CONTACT US
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Editorial (news): chuck@rvtravel.com
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This newsletter is copyright 2024 by RV Travel LLC.
Easter Sunday? Probably sleep in. As for the RV tip over? Depends on how the RV is positioned. Been thru 4 and no problems yet. RV insurance? I have Progressive hasn’t gone up yet and I have full coverage. Happy Easter and Passover .
This weeks Saturday (4-13-2024) news letter is from two weeks ago at Easter. Did someone hit the wrong button?
Huh?🤔 When I checked the newsletters and email alerts last night, they were fine. I just double-checked the email alerts I received this morning, and they both linked to today’s newsletters. Not sure what you clicked on, Jerry, that you ended up in the newsletter from two weeks ago. But sorry for the inconvenience, whatever happened. Have a great day. 😀 –Diane at RVtravel.com