RV Podcast

This episode comes to you from the road as we head west towards Glacier National Park and our annual Roadtreking photo safari there next week. We’re recording this episode from North Dakota after leisurely traveling through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, northern Wisconsin and northern Minnesota. We’re in the RV on the banks of the Red River of the North, which separates Minnesota from North Dakota. We are following our 330 Rule and in this episode, we’ll give a detailed description of how that traveling rule works and why it is so important. Also, one thing we’ve encountered on this trip common to all those locations and this time of year has been bugs…lots of bugs. Swarming bugs. Mosquitoes, black flies and clouds of insects called midges. In this episode, we’ll also talk about dealing with bugs while exploring the outdoors…what works, what doesn’t work and how to cope with them. Plus we have lots of your questions and comments, RV news, tips and a great off the beaten path destination report, all coming up in this edition of the RV Podcast. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #196 June 13, 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="2:45"] We update our experiences on the road this past week, traveling with no reservations. We have been doing a great job of keeping to our 330 Rule, of traveling no more than 330 miles or stopping by 3:30PM each afternoon. Some of those days, we barely drove 100 miles. We’ve been able to stop, explore, visit with friends along the way and even take a boat ride into Lake Superior to see the Apostle Islands on Wisconsin’s North shore We’ll talk more about the 330 Rule and what we learned by following it this past week coming up a little later when we play part of a presentation we recently did before a group of RVers that explains the rule in detail. We have been videoing each day of our trip from multiple cameras and we had planned to release them sequentially for several days in a row but here’s the problem: To do that, I’d have to do our traveling and exploring and then, work till very late each night to get each story edited. It takes about 8 to 12 hours to edit a single video and there’s no way I can do that. Jennifer: I already had a serious heart to heart talk to Mike about this. He’s working all the time. From the moment he gets up till bedtime and as much as he likes it, that’s a pace no one should keep. So the first of our traveling videos will start on our normal new video day -Thursday – and we’ll release a new one each week…always on Thursday. This is in addition to our weekly live “Ask Us Anything” interactive webcast, which airs every Sunday night at 9PM Eastern Time on our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel. Meanwhile, we have lots of RV news to report this week, starting out with some dangerous encounters with wild animals. Three women injured in three different wildlife encounters at Yellowstone National Park  News last week out of Yellowstone National Park was a good reminder of the importance of keeping a healthy distance from wildlife. Three different women were sent to the hospital on three different days after animals charged them. Two of the women were kicked in the head by an elk believed to be protecting her baby; one woman was gored by a bison after getting too clos...

It’s no secret the RV Industry is on a tear. Record sales continue and every month, thousands of new RVers are hitting the roads. But where will they all stay? The sad fact is there just are not enough campsites to keep pace with the growth in RV sales. And many of the existing campgrounds are poorly kept up. Fortunately, all that is about to change as across North America, developers are building out new, modern, state of the art campgrounds that sometimes more resemble all-inclusive vacation spots than empty fields with electric pedestals. In this week’s podcast, we interview one of those developers who talks about the upcoming boom in RV resorts. Plus, lots of RV news, RV tips, your questions, traveling technology advice and an off the beaten path report. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #195 June 6, 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="2:26"] We’re busy packing. Had to stop to do this podcast but we take off soon for the first long trip of the summer, heading to Glacier National Park in Northern Montana. We have a Roadtreking gathering there staring in less than two weeks and this time, instead of rushing, we are going to take our time. That’s right. We are viewing to follow our 330 Rule – which means quit by 330 PM in the afternoon or stop after driving no more than 330 miles. Now if you are a regular follower, you know Mike and I haven’t been real successful at following our own rule. But this time, we are going to promise. And to be accountable to that, we are going to post a video every day that we’re traveling on our RV Lifestyle Channel on YouTube. I should point out that we won’t be traveling every day. We have a business meeting we have to do and we have a couple of stories we’ll be shooting on the way out so because unexpected things always arise, we don’t plan to be driving every single day. But, every day that we are on the road, we will do our best to keep that 330 Rule. That, of course, depends on us leaving. Even though we travel in a Class B campervan, it takes forever to get it packed and stocked….and Mike doesn’t help with all his camera and video gear and drone taking up all our storage space! If you wonder just what we do to get ready on a long trip like this, check out our RV Lifestyle Channel on YouTube as we will have a video coming out Thursday June 7 first thing in the morning showing the various things we did to prepare for this trip. We are planning on making a gazillion videos on this trip. Oh yeah, that reminds me to announce that those videos include a brand new weekly Live Webcast that we are doing at 9 PM every Sunday night. We call is “Ask Us Anything” and we go live from wherever we are to talk about what’s happening in the RV world and to answer whatever questions you sent in. We did our first one this past Sunday and it was a ball. We had SO MANY questions.  I can’t wait to go live this coming Sunday. We’re not sure where we’ll be. Maybe the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Maybe somewhere in Northern Wisconsin or Minnesota. We should point out that if we are in a really remote location and we do not have a robust Internet connection, we won’t be able to go live. But most times we are just fine and we anticipate being able to do the program most weeks….  By the way… Bo will NOT be accompanying us on this trip. We have a lot of work to do there and on the way out and National Parks are not very dog friendly…so he will be staying with our daughter and her family in Michigan.

We all rely on our cellphones when we’re traveling by RV but sometimes, we’re in remote areas where a cellphone signal is marginal at best. That’s where cellphone boosters come in. They make it possible to turn a weak signal into a strong one and this week, we’ll learn from an expert just why every RVer can use a cell booster. He’ll explain how they work, the different kinds available and how to choose the one best for you and your RV. The one we use and recommend is the Wilson weBoost 4G-X. Plus, lots of RV news this week that you need to know about, some RV resources that will help you save money, RV tips and answers to your questions about the RV Lifestyle. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #194 May 30, 2018 of The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="3:09"] So much for easing into summer. It was 95 in Michigan on Memorial Day. A friend in Minneapolis said the temperature actually hit 100 there for a couple hours. For a lot of RVers out for the long Memorial Day weekend on their first campouts of the season, you just know those air conditioners got a big workout. Talk about this heat reminds me of something our friend Laura Robinson recently posted on our Roadtreking Facebook Group. It’s a warning about walking your dog across hot parking lots or sidewalks and how fast your pet’s paws can be seriously burned. Listen to this: When the air temperature is 77 degrees, asphalt can heat up to 125 degrees. When the air temperature is 86, it can reach 136 degrees. And when the air temperature is 87 degrees, the asphalt can be 143 degrees. Since the experts say skin destruction can occur with just 60 seconds exposure to 125 degrees, the warning is very clear: Your pet’s paws will be burned if you insist on walking them across hot asphalt. Always check the asphalt prior to walking your pet. If it is painful to your hand, it will hurt your pet. We’ll put a little graphic of that up with the shownotes for this episode. You can find it at Roadtreking.com/194. But that is very good advice. And it applies to hot sand and hot concrete, or hot rocks and granite as well. Our pets will follow us anywhere so its up to us to be responsible. We’re getting ready to begin a very full summer season of travel. Mike had the tires rotated and balanced on our RV last week. This week, we’re doing an oil change, fluid and belt checks and a lot of preparation inside the RV. Mike has some new camera gear he’ll be taking on our travels this year and I’m doing a thorough cleaning. Once we take off next week for Montana, we’ll be on the road pretty much all the way through until we take a little break at Christmas. One thing we and everyone else will notice is how much more expensive fuel is this year. After a few years of decline, prices are way up there again. Well over $3 a gallon for gas, about $3.25 for diesel. And the auto club is predicting that trend to continue for most of the summer. Just as a comparison, last year at this time, the average for gas in the US was about $2.37. Diesel was $2.65. So both are up a little over 60-cents a gallon. We just out a video up on our RV Lifestyle You Tube Channel on three apps we use in our smartphones that help us find stations with the best prices as we travel. See the video at: https://youtu.

In this episode… we talk about RV Education 101, how to learn how to maintain, repair and operate your RV and all the intricate parts and accessories through affordable online training. Our special interview guest this week is with our friend Mark Polk, who has made available an amazing library of how-to tips, videos and RV training courses. Mark is the best in the business at this and I’m sure you’ll find the wealth of knowledge he is offers will greatly enhance your RV Lifestyle. Plus lots of questions, comments, RV trip reports, traveling technology ideas and another wonderful off the beaten path segment from Tom and Patti Burkett. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #193 May 23, 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK  [spp-timestamp time="1:31"] Are you ready for the big Memorial Day weekend? It's the unofficial start of summer and if you don't have reservations, finding an open campsite will be very challenging. Boondockers, of course, can pretty much always find a great spot in state or national forests, BLM land and dispersed camping area. Here's hoping you have a wonderful time and are able to get out there this coming weekend! We’re planning our next big trip…out to Glacier National Park for our Roadtreking Photo Safari gathering in a few weeks. We are planning to take our time, taking the Northern Route. US 2 in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula all the way west through Minnesota, North Dakota on into Montana. About 2,000 miles one way and we’re planning to leave early so we can follow out 330 rule of no more than 330 miles in a single day or stopping by 330PM so we can explore and enjoy the areas we’re passing through. We are, though, having a problem with Bo, our Norwegian Elkhound. He no longer will ride in the back and insists on crowding between us up front as we drive. That can be dangerous when he bumps the transmission shifter. We put a short little video up on our Roadtreking Facebook Group about this that we’ll also link in the shownotes for this episode. He used to be fine at the back if the RV but when the refrigerator door wasn’t shut properly and stuff started rolling out on him he got spooked. But when not crowding us he insists on trying to share the passenger seat with whichever one of us happens to be sitting in. That is not a pleasant thing with a 6o pound dog! Here's a short video explaining the issue: As a result, we are not sure we will take him with us to Glacier. Maybe a seat belt and a harness that would keep him on the unused third seat will work. He’s pretty big for a crate, as some have suggested. And no way will we drug him, as others have urged. So we’re looking for a solution. Otherwise, he’s staying with our daughter on our big trip west. Meanwhile, here are the RV stories we came across making news this week. Zion National Park officials use social media to track vandal Last week we told you about Colorado officials using social media to track down a man harassing wildlife. This week in the news a story circled about about social media users themselves going after a man who defaced rocks at Zion National Park. A professional photographer was upset when he saw graffiti on rocks at Zion that included a heart and the vandal's Instagram ID. That photographer put it on his social media page, and that complaint went viral. It was so bad,

When it comes to maintenance and do-it-yourself repairs of your RV, are you a bit intimidated Are you, like me, not exactly the most handy of handymen? If so, and even if you are comfortable doing things mechanically, listen up because in this episode, we’re going to talk to a top service technician about preventive maintenance that everyone can do to keep their RVs in tip top shape. Plus, lots of RV News, this week, your RV questions, traveling tech suggestions and another fascinating off the beaten path report from the Burketts. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="1:09"] We just returned from a great experience at the Owner’s Academy, held last week for three days by Roadtrek and the Erwin Hymer Group of North America’s headquarters in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. We were there to talk about our style of Serendipity Travel but we found the presentations by the factory staff so helpful that not only did we stuck around and listen but we did this week’s podcast interview on the preventative maintenance tips we learned. It really was a lot of fun. People came from all over North America and everyone left so much more confident about handling the preventative maintenance things they were taught. They are doing two more Owner’s Academy this year and we look forward to attending them, too. Both, though, are sold out but based on the great reception to them I’m sure there will be others scheduled. When they are, we’ll let you know as soon as we do. We’ve been working hard on videos these past few weeks. We have a whole bunch in the hopper and you can see new ones on our RV Lifestyle Channel on You Tube. New videos are released every Thursday morning. Best way to know about them is to go to the channel and subscribe. Then you can clock on a a bell icon and every time a new one is ready, you’ll get an immediate notification. But we have travel videos coming, a review of a new cellular booster system we’re trying out, RV model walk-throughs and all sorts of other surprises. Here's the RV News of the week… Colorado Wildlife officers using social media to track people who harass moose Colorado wildlife officers are using social media to help them track down people who take pictures of themselves standing near and otherwise harassing moose. The desire to take a selfie near wildlife has been a growing problem at national parks and federal lands throughout the country, putting the wildlife and people at risk. In Colorado officers are using pictures, posted on social media, to successfully track down wildlife harassers to either issue tickets or issue warnings. RVs on fire filled last week's news; Take steps to stay safe Last week's RV news was full of what felt like an unusual number of RV fire reports. There was the story of a fifth wheel trailer fire in Arizona that reportedly appeared to start near the refrigerator. A woman and her cats were inside an RV in Florida when it caught aflame, apparently because of an electrical problem.

It always amazes me how our RVs enhance our lifestyle. We collect stories from the road on how people use their RV and the stories are endless. The hobbies, personal interests and the discoveries people make when they start traveling in an RV inspires us and gives us ideas on activities we can participate in and places we need to visit. In this week’s episode during our interview segment, you’ll meet a bunch of different RVers we met on the road a couple of weeks ago when we were in Arizona. You’ll enjoy learning the many ways we can use our RV. Plus much more, RV News, RV Tips Traveling Tech ideas and much more. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK  [spp-timestamp time="2:03"] As this episode goes live we find ourselves in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. We’re doing a seminar this week at the headquarters of Roadtrek and the Erwin Hymer Group of North America at “Owners School,” a special three-day event at the assembly factory for new owners of Hymer and Roadtrek motorhomes. This is the first of three sessions they will be having this year and all are filled right now, with no openings. But fear not, future sessions are being planned and we’ll do a best to give you a feel for it on our RV Lifestyle Channel on YouTube. Mike is recovering fine from his elbow surgery. Jennifer almost lost her key to the RV. We used our RV as a palace to hang out during a weekend event with our grandaughters Meanwhile, here’s the RV News you need to know about this week: National parks visitors bring billions into U.S. economy in 2017 The new report shows national parks visitors bring in $35.8 billion in benefits last year to the U.S. economy. The report by economist in the U.S Geological Survey and the National Park Service showed 330 million national park visitors brought in $18.6 million of direct spending to communities within 60 miles of a national park. That spending contributed toward 306,000 jobs, with an overall economic benefit of nearly $36 billion. Plan calls for removal of mountain goats from Olympic National Park A plan is underway to remove the mountain goats from Washington's Olympic National Park. The mountain goat was reportedly brought into the park by hunters in the 1920s, before Olympic was designated as a national park. In recent years, however, the goats have become a problem. As a non-native species there is no natural salt, essential to their diet. Some blame this for the rare goring of a hiker several years back, and the animals' occasional aggressive behavior towards people. And they hurt native plants. The plan is to move to as many as possible to North Cascades and kill any that remain over two years. Hiker bit by copperhead good reminder to know your snake safety before hitting the trails  A woman hiking at Kentucky's Red River Gorge last week was bit by a copperhead snake, and carried away in an ambulance. The incident led to many reminders about the importance of snake safety when out on the trails.

How would you like to make a difference in this world with your RV travels? To really help individuals and local communities, while still enjoying the RV Lifestyle and traveling to the destinations of your choice? In this episode, we’re going to learn about an off shoot of Habitat for Humanity, in which RVers build homes with Habitat homeowners in the U.S. and Canada. Plus, we have lots of RV news, RV tips, tech ideas, an off the beaten path report and much more. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #190 May 2, 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="1:50"] We’re back home in our Michigan sticks and bricks house for a few days. We emphasize few as we hit the road again next week. Will be heading to Canada next week, where we will be teaching a session at “Owners School” for owners of Roadtrek and Hymer RVs next week at the Cambridge, Ontario headquarters of the Erwin Hymer Group of North America. Yes, and we’re staying at a local campground there and look forward to lots of visiting around a campfire with the students, who will be attending this gathering from all across North America. We’ll take our video gear and see if we can find some interesting people to interview. It should be a lot of fun! This week, though, Mike will be doing a bit of recuperating. I have surgery scheduled this week to repair some damage done to my right elbow. I broke it back in January when I slipped on the ice up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It was during our Roadtreking gathering there and I was getting out of the RV to photograph a bunch of Roadtrekers crossing the Mackinac Bridge that separates Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas. It should be minor surgery but It’s time I get it tended to before we are tied up with our summer camping travels. Meantime, here’s the RV news of the week… Highest fuel prices in three years greet RVers as they hit the road again Fuel prices are causing sticker shock across North America. Blame it on demand, caused by pent up desires to get outside and travel again. And more demand means you pay more at the pump. The federal Energy Information Administration’s latest data indicates consumer gasoline demand is at 9.857 million barrels per day, which is at the highest level ever on record for the month of April and exceeds typical summer demand measurements, driving up prices at the pump all across the U.S, according to analysts at AAA. Five states reported double-digit increases and the national average went up a nickel to $2.76, AAA reported. Overall prices are at the highest level in three years. Gas is selling at $2.26 or more at every gas station in America. More so, 13% of stations have pump prices set at $3 or more Unlucky man survives bear, rattlesnake and shark bites in four years Did you remember hearing about the young man who woke last summer the crunching sound of a black bear biting him in the head? The young man was at a camp in Colorado, and while he was sleeping a bear bit him in the head and tried to drag him out of his tent. Other staff members scared the bear away and likely saved his life. The young man, now 20, was in the news again this week for surviving a shark bite. This time the Colorado man was on vacation in Hawaii when he was ...

This week we dig into the 2018 North American Camping Report, an exhaustive study done each year by researchers into every aspect of camping and RV use. Our guest is Toby O’Rourke, president of Kampgrounds of America, which underwrites the study, and she will help unpack this report which is followed by the RV industry as the Bible of where camping is headed and what needs to be done. Plus we have lots more for you this week, including a bunch of RV news, listener questions and comments, traveling technology tips and a wonderful off-the-beaten-path report. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="2:00"] We’ve been on the road to western Michigan these past several days, taking advantage of the first really nice spring weather and the reopening of state and RV parks. This early in the season, we’ve had our pick of really great sites along the awe-inspiring shoreline of Lake Michigan. Some of these parks we stayed at are so in demand that to get in during peak season, you need to make reservations months and months in advance. We started out at a Yogi Bear Camp Jellystone RV resort on Grand Rapids, MI. Yup. You heard that right. Now usually, it’s just me and Mike and Bo so those family parks with all those kid activities are something usually bypass. But this time, we were there because our son, Jeff, and his wife, Aimee, just bought a new travel trailer and this was their very first outing in it. So we invited ourselves to come along and had an absolute ball watching our grandchildren, Jovie, 3, and Jax, 8 months. We had a ball We’ll have a video in a few days about the experience and Jeff will give us a tour of their new bunk house trailer. After Jeff, Aimee and the kids headed back for to their home Sunday and a new work week, we decided that RVing was our work so we started exploring the coastline towns of South Haven, Holland, Saugatuck, Grand Haven, Muskegon and Silver lake. You can follow our adventures on our blog at Roadtreking.com, where we shared lots of photos. Lake Michigan is part of what is called the Third Coast. Now sometimes, those along the Gulf Coast argue for that title but considering its Great Lakes coasts, Michigan has more miles of shoreline than does any other of the lower 48 states and more fresh water shoreline than any other state. In fact, a couple years ago, we decided to drive and camo our way across the US shoreline of all five Great Lakes. The mileage totaled 3,000-plus miles! In case you are interested, just click the link to the Great Lakes shoreline videos we did on that trip. Meanwhile, here’s what’s making RV news this week: Too many tourists using drones to illegally take video at Oregon's Crater Lake National Park As prices drop, and technology continually improves, drone use is becoming an increasing problem at some national parks, such as Oregon's Crater Lake National Park. While drone use at all national parks has been outlawed since 2014, some may find getting an aerial view at some of America's most breath-taking scenarios too hard to resist. According to a story published last week, flying the unmanned aircraft has been an increasing problem at Crater Lake National Park, with some of the illegal camera activity showing up in places like You Tube.

In this week’s episode, two topics that always have a lot of interest. First, we’ll offer up a list of resources to help you find places to boondock or stay overnight for free or very low fees. Then, we’ll talk about a big trend driving record sales for smaller Class B RVs: Downsizing. You’ll meet an RVing couple who have done just that. In a matter of a few years, they went from a Class B to a Class C to a Class A motorhome but then, gave up all those big rigs and downsized back to a Class B. They’ll explain why they have gone full circle and how that’s working out for them. Plus we have much more for you, including RV tips, RV news and a great place to visit if you’re traveling anywhere near Atlanta. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Shownotes for Episode 188, April 18, 2018 WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="2:17"] We’ve been out in Phoenix, Arizona at the Super B RV Show. Had a great time meeting lots of people and learning all about what’s new in small motorhomes. We’ll have several videos over the next few weeks on our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel showing the latest RVs we saw. We left 90 degree sunny weather in Phoenix to return to an ice storm in Michigan. Spring sure is taking its time coming to the Midwest, where temperatures are 20 degrees below normal. Meanwhile, here’s the RV news of the week: National park day fee to rise $5 starting in June Heading to a national park this summer? Starting in June, getting in will cost a little more. The daily per vehicle or in some cases per person entrance fee at the 117 fee charging parks will rise by about $5. The price hikes were announced last week to help with the maintenance backlog. This does not apply to seniors who have the lifetime annual entrance pass. The increased fee is predicted to raise $60 million annually. To read more click here or here. To see the list of fee increases per park click here. Visit the national parks for free this Saturday Speaking of national parks, this Saturday April 21, there is no cost to enter any of the nation's national parks in honor of National Parks Week. Many parks throughout the country will be holding special events from April 21-29,  though only on the first day, April 21, is entering free. Park entry is free only four days this year, with the next free day September 22. Tree falls on sleeping family in trailer, kills girl Severe weather swept through northern Louisiana early Saturday morning, causing a tree to fall on a travel trailer, splitting it in two, killing a 20-month-old girl inside. The family was apparently sleeping when the storm blew through bringing with it strong winds and heavy rain. This portion of the Podcast is brought to you by Campers Inn, the RVer’s trusted resource for over 50 years, the nation’s largest family-operated RV dealership with 19 locations and growing

In this episode, a spring break RV trip that turned into a nightmare. A solo female RVer, on her way from California to Washington, made a wrong turn in a National forest, got turned around lost in the wilderness. She and her Golden Retriever, Walter, were stuck on a steep and rocky mountain road and ended up spending four night and five days far from civilization just as local bears were hungrily waking up from hibernation. You’ll hear this harrowing tale from the lost RVer herself, 63-year-old Penelope Bax, whose strong spirit and calm actions kept her safe until a California Highway Patrol helicopter spotted her RV and airlifted her and Walter to safety. You’ll love meeting Penelope and hearing the lessons she learned from being lost in the wilderness. Plus, RV tips, questions and answers and a fascinating off the beaten path report… all coming up for you in episode 187 of the RV Podcast. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #187 April 11, 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="2:26"] As this episode is being released, we are scheduled to arrive in Phoenix, Arizona, where we’ll be attending the big Super B RV Show put on each year at this time by the folks at LaMesa RV. We will be at the University of Phoenix Stadium, on the playing field as a matter of fact, meeting and greeting folks from all over the southwest. I think we’re even going to present a seminar or two about our experience traveling and exploring in a Class B motorhome We’ll also have a Facebook Live report on our Roadtreking Facebook Page that we’ll do sometime Friday or Saturday and, of course, we’ll be shooting a video for our RV Lifestyle You Tube Channel on everything that is new in the Class B world. Well, we’re back in Michigan for a few days, recording this episode from our sticks and bricks house just before we head to Arizona. We’re flying out there because we ran out of time to drive there. We did drive our RV up from Florida and watched springtime disappear. We have a video on that trip that will be published Thursday April 12 on our RV Lifestyle You Tube Channel but needless to say, we had to re-winterize again as we came back from the cold. We watched spring come down south but it sure disappeared as we headed north. Jennifer likes to say that coming back to the cold will let us experience spring again. That’s the good news But the bad news, as Mike likes to say, we also get to experience winter twice. Besides the rescue of that stranded RVer in California that we’ll soon hear about in our interview of the week, there’s a lot of RV news you need to now about this weekend. The first story is: that the government issued a report last week linking faulty Goodyear motor home tires to as many as 95 deaths or injuries over the past two decades. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started investigating last year.  The investigation centers on tires made between 1996 and 2003, alleging they were made for delivery trucks not motor homes which travel at high speeds on freeways. To read more click here or here. We RVers love to travel with our pets.

In this week’s episode, a cautionary tale about what can happen when you buy a used RV that’s been sitting in one place for a long time from a dealer who seems to be less than thorough in quality control. But more than that, it’s a nightmare true story about the hidden damage that can be done to an RV by mice and what questions you should ask when buying a used RV to make sure it doesn’t happen to you. Plus, an off the beaten path report, your RV questions, RV news and tips you can use. All this coming up in this episode of the RV Podcast. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #186 April 4, 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="2:00"] It’s April already and springtime is slowly making its way north to those still in the unseasonable cold Midwest and northern states. We’re finishing up a nearly three month trip that has us coming to you this week from Florida. We just had a long aster weekend visit fom two of our three adult children, their spouses and five of our eight grandkids. It was great family time here on the Emerald Coast hanging out at the beach and enjoying the sunshine. We will hit the Road Thursday of this week and make our way back to check up on our sticks and bricks home in Michigan. But it will be a very brief visit of about three days because next week, we will head to Phoenix, Arizona, here we will be putting on a couple of seminars and hanging out at the Super B RV Show being held April 12-15 at the University of Phoenix Stadium. We’ve been reporting a lot on past podcasts about a proposal by the government to dramatically increase entry fees to National Parks. Well this week we can report that Interior Department officials are backing away from that after receiving more than 100,000 public comments from Americans nearly unanimously opposed to the idea. In October, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke proposed to increase peak-season entrance fees at 17 parks from $25 to $70 — the largest hike since World War II. Joshua Tree National Park in California, where the peak season starts in January, would have been the first to charge the higher rate, followed by a dozen other parks where visitation peaks in May and June. The cost of riding a motorcycle into the parks would have risen to $50, and walking or biking in would have cost $30. But as temperatures climb and parks prepare for another season of potentially record-breaking visitation, Interior and National Park Service officials are rethinking the plan based on public comments that inundated the NPS website over an abbreviated 30-day period. An Interior official familiar with the changes now being discussed told the Washington Post that some type of increase remains almost certain but that the dramatic hike is being reconsidered for fear that it would cause visitation to plunge, reducing sorely needed revenue at top destinations such as Yosemite in California, the Grand Canyon in Arizona, Zion and Bryce Canyon in Utah, and Yellowstone in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming Here's something else that has been making the news and RV related social media. It has to do with a 63 year old San Diego woman who was missing over the Easter weekend. Elizabeth Bax was on her way to the Seattke area to visit relatives for the holiday but never showed up.

In this episode, we talk about the RV accessory that we probably complain about the most but also depend upon to get where we are going - the GPS navigation system. We talk to a top government GPS expert this week who explains how GPS works; how accurate and reliable it is, or isn’t; what system – the one in the dashboard or the one on your smartphone or tablet - is most accurate and what to do when it is not accurate. Also some spring cleaning ideas for your traveling tech, a great off the beaten path report from New Mexico, RV tips and your questions. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #185 March 28, 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="2:05"] Happy Easter everyone!  It's Spring Break and Easter Vacation time for much of North America this week and campgrounds are experiencing their first major rush of the 2018 camping season. We’re in Florida at our Emerald Coast Location on the Gulf of Mexico again after a great visit last week to Texas. And the first of two videos we did on that trip will go live tomorrow – Thursday April 29 – on our RV Lifestyle Channel on YouTube. It’s about our trip to Waco and all the fun we had there. Two of our three kids and five of our eight grandkids will be joining us over the weekend here at the beach to celebrate Easter so we’re looking forward to some fun family time. Then we hit the road again for what promises to be perhaps our busiest travel season ever. Though we’ve been busy all year so far. In fact we travel somewhere in our RV every month. Now…here are the top RV related stories that have interested us this week…. Rangers at Arizona's Saguaro National Park using microchips to thwart thieves  So many people are taking home a piece of Arizona's Saguaro National Park's famous saguaro cactus that rangers have started the unusual practice of micro chipping them. Yes, you read that right. Microchips are being inserted into the iconic plant that can grow up to 40 feet tall and live 200 years because selling them has become a lucrative market that is hurting the national park. Ohio buys 60,000 acres to develop new park, complete with camping We always like seeing stories about new state parks. Ohio announced its plans to buy 60,000 acres of privately owned land in the southeastern part of the state and turn it into the Jesse Owens State Park and Wildlife Area, complete with camping. The rolling hills and lake-specked land is owned by American Electric Power and was once mined for coal. In recent years the electric company allowed public use of the land, and a recent story we will link to in the shownotes presents an interesting picture of how one state is trying to preserve undeveloped land for future generations. Night sky educational programs to get even better at national parks Enjoy viewing the night sky in the nation's national parks? Your experience may be even a bit better this summer. The University of Texas-Austin's McDonald Observatory is creating a training program for park rangers to help them develop better night sky experiences for visitors.

There are a lot of RVs out there. And there are a lot of reasons people buy them. So the RV Lifestyle takes many different forms. In this episode, we will introduce you to a wonderful group of people we spent time with this past weekend at an informal meet-up in Waco Texas. I think you’ll find it very interesting how the RV lifestyle can fulfill so many dreams and be used in so many different ways. Plus, coming up, your RV questions, RV tips, traveling tech suggestions and a great off the beaten path report. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #184 March 21, 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="2:04"] We are doing this podcast from the beautiful Texas Hill Country, specifically at the Canyon of the Eagles Nature Park on the shores of Lake Buchanan. It’s called the Canyon of the Eagles because lots of bald eagles winter here each year, fishing the warm waters of the lake. We are in a beautiful campground overlooking the lake. It’s just us and one other RV in the entire campground and but is so quiet and peaceful we keep extending our stay. What was to be a quick visit to the area is now on its fourth day! We posted lots of photos on the blog already and we’ll talk more about this place in an off the beaten path report a little later in the podcast. But we’ve had a great week of traveling and have so enjoyed Texas. We spent the past weekend in Waco, Texas, a place well known to fans of the HGTV television show Fixer Upper as the home of Chip and Joanna Gaines, the stars of the show. It is unbelievable how the popularity of the show and Chip and Joanna’s Magnolia branded businesses have transformed Waco.  They have a bakery, they renovated two old grain Silos and turned it into a design boutique and they just opened a restaurant… that has a 2 ½ hour wait to get in. 20,000 tourists a week come to Waco… Waco is the 2nd most searched zip code on realtor.com… David Ridley, who owned ne of the homes Chip and Joanna fixed up, runs a tour bus company. This was a really, really busy weekend in Waco. Chip and Joann had their Spring celebration and they say as many as 150,000 people came from all over the country. Every hotel and RV park was supposedly booked up for 80 miles around. We also had our expert tour guide… and we want to give a big shout to David Hunt, one of our Roadtreking followers. David lives in Waco and generously gave us a our past many of the homes featured over six seasons if the TV show. Besides that, we toured the Dr. Pepper Museum and the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame. And we had an informal meet-up on Saturday with a bunch of folks who fo0llow us who live in Texas. You’ll hear from some of them in a few minutes in our interview if the week segment on the podcast. We love hearing from our listeners. In fact, if you heard last week’s episode, Dan Izzard, who lives in Georgetown, Texas, called in with a suggested route we travel to see bluebonnets. And That led us to the beautiful spot we are now in and will soon be talking about in our off the beaten path report. Here are some stories in the news this week of interest to RVers…

RV rallies and gatherings are wonderful ways to connect with other RVers, to become a part of the RV community and to sharpen your RV skills, develop more practical, on-the-road and camping knowledge and to truly enhance your RV Lifestyle. Every RVer is really missing out if they don’t take advantage of these special gatherings and in this episode, Jennifer and I are going to offer a guide to finding an RV rally or gathering this year that is just right for you. Plus lots of listener questions, RV tips and much more. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #183 3/14/18 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="2:08"] We’re on the road in Texas this week, enjoying all this great state has to offer. Headed to Waco this weekend and will be planning an impromptu meet-up Saturday afternoon, March 17 in Waco. We’ll be at the I-35 RV Park and Resort in Elm Mott, Texas, which is just off I-35 at Exit 346, a few miles north of Waco. We’ll share more details on the Roadtreking Facebook Group but let’s plan from 3-6PM Saturday. Bring a chair, some food or refreshments and we’ll all hang out. And yes, for his fans…. Bo will be with us. Not Getting Enough Sleep? Go Camping As much of the country deals with the after effects of daylight savings time this week, I got to thinking of a study on sleep I saw last year. Do you know that camping outdoors has actually been found to be good for you sleep-wise? Turning off the artificial lights, getting outdoors and rising and sleeping with the sun actually improves your  health, the study showed. So if you're groggy this week from springing forward, get outside! And to learn more of the study click here or here. Congress proposes ways to solve $12 billion national parks deferred maintenance costs Congress is beginning to discuss the nation's rapidly growing need for maintenance in the national parks system, but like much in Congress, disagreement on how to proceed dominates. Currently there are at least three different bills  proposing ways to fund the $12 billion and growing backlog, including one that proposes gas and oil drilling on federal land. To read an overview, click here. This portion of the Podcast is brought to you by Campers Inn, the RVer’s trusted resource for over 50 years, the nation’s largest family-operated RV dealership with 19 locations and growing  JENNIFER'S TIP OF THE WEEK [spp-timestamp time="11:35"] Jennifer shares a great tip from Tom Burkett about making a photo memory book on your next RV trip. Here are the services Tom uses to make his photobooks: Shutterfly - https://www.shutterfly.com Photo Book America - http://www.

There’s a good news/bad news story about our U.S National Parks that you need to know about. The good news is the parks have never been more popular and attendance continues at all-time high. Unfortunately, though, the bad news is so bad that it is jeopardizing our much-loved National Parks. Devastating budget cutbacks, staff reductions, inadequate roads, backlogged maintenance and indifferent Congressional inaction have created a crisis that could result in partial shutdowns at many parks. We’ll talk to an expert and explain the problem as well as what you can do to help. Also this week, lots of travel advice, RV and tech tips and another great off the beaten path report about a place you will want to visit. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #182 March 7, 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="2:24"] We’re planning a trip to Texas, hugging the Gulf Shore through Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, before entering Texas and eventually up towards Waco and the wide open spaces south of San Antonio. We’re calling it our “Barbecue and Bluebonnets Tour” as we’ll be scouring the area for good Texas barbecue, maybe a little Tex Mex and then to take in the magnificent display of the blooming bluebonnet wild flowers that turn the hill country into carpets of blue each spring. We are considering an impromptu meet-up for Sunday March 18, somewhere near Waco. If we hear from enough people interested, we’ll let you know in next week’s podcast and on our Facebook Group. We’re still on the Emerald Coast, our winter travel base. We’ve spent the week catching up on video editing for our RV Lifestyle Channel on YouTube and planning out our spring and summer travel schedule. So many places to go, so little time! Here’s what is in the news this week  National Parks Release Attendance Numbers The National Parks System visitation numbers are in and the number of visitors in 2017 was almost identical to the record setting visitor count in 2016 (330,882,751 verses 330,971,689). Some of the parks broke attendance records because of the solar eclipse. Overall national records show, visitors are staying in the parks longer. And the most Visited National Parks in 2017 are ... Speaking of national parks, ever wondered what the top ten most visited national parks are? Here's your official list, with recreational visitors recorded for 2017. * Great Smoky Mountains National Park - 11.39 million * Grand Canyon National Park - 6.25 million * Zion National Park - 4.5 million * Rocky Mountain National Park - 4.44 million * Yosemite National Park - 4.34 million * Yellowstone National Park - 4.12 million * Acadia National Park - 3.51 million * Olympic National Park - 3.4 million * Grand Teton National Park - 3.32 million * Glacier National Park - 3.31 million RV Industry reports record setting January The latest survey of manufacturers tracked by the Recreation Vehicle  Industry Association show January 2018 was the best on record. The survey of manufacturers found RV wholesale shi...