Hi I’m Mark Polk of RV Education 101. Today, we’re gonna discuss one of the most important and possibly the most neglected components on your RV: your RV tires. The tires and the air that’s in the tires are what supports the entire load when you’re traveling. That’s why it’s important you inspect the tires and check the tire pressure before you leave on a trip. Here’s how you do it. Before we dig into all the tire inspection details, I want to offer some useful tips about RV tires and tire pressure.

Tip number one: tires lose air pressure when they sit in storage. Tires can lose up to 2 pounds of air pressure per month. If you don’t check your tires for three or four months, they could be seriously underinflated. Tip number two: you only check tire pressure when the tires are cold before traveling more than one mile. Hot air expands and gives you a false reading. If the tires are already hot from traveling, wait several hours before checking and adjusting the inflation pressure.

Tip number three: tires are designed and built to be used. The rubber used in tires ages faster when they are not used, so more use results in longer tire life. When tires are manufactured, compounds are added to help protect the rubber from weather cracking and sun damage, but the tire needs to be rolling down the road, heating up and flexing for these compounds to work their way to the surface of the tire and protect the rubber from damage. Okay, let’s start by talking about tire inflation pressure. This is a confusing topic, so my goal is to keep it as simple as possible. Let’s talk tire pressure. What air pressure do I run in trailer tires? The first thing you need to understand is all tires have load ratings, but a load rating for a tire is only accurate if the tire is properly inflated. 

It’s easier if you have a travel trailer because Goodyear says, “Unless you are trying to resolve poor ride quality problems with an RV trailer, it is recommended that the trailer tires be inflated to the pressure indicated on the sidewall of the tire. Trailer tires experience significant lateral, side-to-side loads due to vehicle sway from  uneven roads, turning, or passing vehicles. Using the inflation pressure engraved on the sidewall will provide optimum load-carrying capacity and minimize heat buildup.” With that said, you can look right here to locate the inflation pressure on the tire sidewall and simply inflate all the trailer tires to that pressure. 

Tire manufacturers also have what is referred to as load and inflation tables for the tires they manufacture. A more technical method for determining proper inflation pressure is to have the RV weighed, preferably by individual wheel position, and use the load and inflation table to determine the correct inflation pressure for the load. For example, let’s say the front axle weighs 4,000 pounds. If you divide that by two, each tire would need to be capable of supporting 2,000 pounds. Go to the tire manufacturer load and inflation tables, which for these tires is  the Maxxis ST tire load and inflation table. In this example, if I inflate the tires to 45 psi  they can support 2,020 pounds each. 

So there you have it, a couple of different ways to inflate the tires and handle the load that’s on the tires. Remember, always check the inflation pressure when the tires are cold for accurate readings. Something else that’s extremely important is to use a quality tire pressure gauge for accurate air pressure readings. You can invest in a $15 to $20 gauge like this one that works well, or you can purchase a portable air compressor with a quality inflation gauge. 

Now let’s talk about inspecting your tires. Visual inspection of tires. I mentioned earlier, when tires are manufactured, compounds are added to help protect the rubber from weather cracking and sun damage, but the tire needs to be rolling down the road, heating up and flexing for these compounds to work their way to the surface of the tire= and protect the rubber from damage. When tires sit in storage, they start to dry out, causing the tire to age faster. Weather checking or cracking happens when tires are exposed to heat, sunlight, and non-use. This is especially true of the tire sidewall. Inspect your tires or any weather checking or cracks in the sidewalls before each trip. If you notice damage to the tires and you are not sure what to do, have the tires inspected by a tire professional. The next thing you want to do is inspect the tires for signs of uneven wear patterns. On an automobile, wear patterns on both front tires can be an early indication of alignment problems. If only one tire shows signs of wear faster than the other, it might be a signal of something other than normal tire wear. Have these conditions inspected by a tire professional. Do not operate the RV with tires that show any signs of damage. Check the tread depth. Tires have what is referred to as tread wear indicators molded into the tread of the tire. When the tread gets down to the tread wear indicator bar right here, it’s time to start shopping for new tires. To check tread depth, you can use a penny or a tire tread depth gauge. Place a penny into the groove of the tire with Lincoln’s head upside down. If you can see the top of Lincoln’s head, the tread depth is below an acceptable margin, and the tires should be replaced. Inspect the tires for other damage like foreign objects, cuts, or bulging. Have any damaged areas inspected immediately. 

Well, that’s a good start to your RV tire education. Remember, the only thing between the trailer weight and the road is the tires and the air that’s in the tires, so tires are at the top of your list of things to check
prior to an RV trip. For more information on using and maintaining your RV, visit RVonlinetraining.com. Thanks for watching, and happy camping 

Good morning, I’m Mike with Advanced RV, we’ve been 12 years in business now, and it’s kind of a time for reflection and reaffirming our vision. Recently, I read a book called “Subtract,” and it resonated because I think that that’s the way we have approached the Class B motorhome innovation process that we’ve started 12 years ago. And the book starts with the author playing Legos with his son, and they build two towers, and they need to span the towers, but they’re different heights. So, his son takes blocks off the tall tower so that they’re even and he puts a spanner in, the father adds blocks to the shorter tower to span. Same result, but a different approach, and the research cited in the book talks about how our inclination is to add things, when we design, when we come up with a problem, we add, we add. And I realized reading the book that that’s not what we do at ARV.

We tend to subtract, we go back to first principles, we go back to the core objectives that our clients have, and from those core objectives we create a new design, and usually that design involves subtracting. You know, a good example is when we started, every RV Class B and bigger had a generator and it had gel batteries, the better ones, or lead-acid batteries. And we started looking at that and we decided, “You know, it would be really good if we could subtract propane from the design, so you wouldn’t have the hassle of filling propane, the hassle of carrying it.” So we started looking at eliminating the generator, and we came up with our first lithium batteries, and we’ve been installing lithium batteries, larger and larger, lighter and lighter, and better placed and safer, for the last 12 years.

Another simple example of subtraction is that, many clients, when they bought a Class B motorhome, one of their first trips was to Target or somewhere to buy a bed topper, because of the way the beds were designed and configured, so they had to figure out a place to store it, they had to deploy it at night and put it away in the morning. And we just decided, “Well, let’s subtract the need for a bed cover,” so we’ve been building beds in our facility here and offering clients custom upholstery on those beds ever since we started.

Other examples are automatic leveling system, which subtracts the need to carry blocks and mess with blocks. Also, I’ve used the levelers to get unstuck before, and so that eliminates the need to carry a shovel, although shovels look cool when they’re hanging on the outside, and manual jacks, to jack up if you’re off-road and get stuck. So, again, subtraction.

We subtracted the noise in air conditioners. Very early on, measured the effectiveness of the air conditioners, different brands that were available, and the sound levels, and we found an Australian-designed air conditioner that greatly lowered the sound and the noise of the air conditioner when operating.

Same thing with the heating system, the heating system that we designed is more effective and quieter, so we took away noise. We also took away handling issues by installing our huge tanks, fresh, gray, and black, under chassis. We also did the same with our battery systems, with the maximum ground clearance. So we subtracted issues hanging down from the van, and we also improved safety and handling thinking about every aspect of lowering our center of gravity in our builds. Our dump-and-fill, we don’t have a 3-inch hose, we have a inch-and-a-half diameter hose that actually stores in a compartment, it’s continuously hooked up, so it takes about four minutes to empty gray and black tanks. So all these things subtract care, subtract thinking, and subtract the hassles that used to be involved with Class B motor-homing.

Another thing that comes to mind is our process, our process not only is through subtraction for hard designed things, but of conversation, learning the client’s needs has been developed over the last 12 years. We don’t have a menu, because there’s no limit to what clients can do, so that they can visualize a different use pattern where things are easier and where they don’t have to fuss with the van year over year,  ou just add to the things that you want to add to and you never question the things from past years that maybe aren’t appropriate anymore. So part of our process is to do zero-based thinking about how we communicate with clients and how we listen to clients. The other thing we’ve subtracted, and this was a concept from the beginning, but it was pretty radical at the time to have a custom production like we are, a motorhome company and manufacturing service without dealers. We have nothing against dealers, I’ve purchased in the past years from dealers, but we wanted to subtract the insulation, the communication hassles for our clients of going through dealers and then back to us. When they have a service question or a service problem, they get a technical person any day of the week and any time of the day. So we have subtracted a lot of communication, potential hassles for our clients, and potential opportunities for miscommunication, and that’s been a lot of fun.

The other thing we’ve done here together at ARV, we started with a trial about, well, two years ago, we subtracted a day of work, and we did that by mindfully looking at how we work, how we have meetings, how we do everything we do, and everybody has and continues to subtract things that are not productive from their work days. We’ve done this without subtracting satisfaction and without adding stress, and so we’re almost two years now into our four-day week, and enabled everybody to have a three-day weekend.

Thanks for helping us get to where we are, we really are having fun with this process, and we’re continuing to subtract.

Hi, I’m Jeff Johnston. When we first ordered our Palomino camper, we knew we’d need some way to get into the camper from the ground, so we purchased this generic two-step steel unit. It fits into the receiver very nicely, it’s strong, it’ll support my weight, and it does the job exactly as it’s supposed to. Combine it with a little portable, foldable step here, and you can climb right in. The one thing that we failed to think about, or I failed to think about, my mistake, is the steps are mounted in the center of the truck, in the receiver. The door is offset to the side considerably, so the steps come up right about here. That’s why we have this orange safety tape on here, because climbing in and out is a little bit of a chore.

Fortunately, thanks to TorkLift, there is a much better solution for getting in and out of a camper these days. Jeff: Scissor type entry steps for campers and other RVs have been around for quite a few years, but the new GlowStep from TorkLift really steps that up, so to speak. It’s heavier, stronger, and is able to support my weight, which is saying something. This one is rated at approximately 275-pounds capacity, and other models are rated up to about 300 pounds.

They’re easy to install, fairly easy to move, and they provide a safe, solid, secure way to climb up to the level of a camper. We’ll show you how it’s installed.

We know there’s a solid aluminum frame member behind the skin, here under the door, so we start by marking a centerline here, about 13 inches, and with the centerline mark on the bracket, just kind of eyeball it for level, side to side, and mark all six holes. And start drilling. Insert the screws, continue with the other four screws, snug them all down, make sure they’re tight, ‘insert the spring pins here, clips, and the safety clip, and of course, the safety clip. With the retaining pin suitably installed, you can stretch this guy out, looks like a comfortable spot, and we’ll see how it feels.

Much better, much better, feels nice and solid underfoot. For my bulk, that’s pretty good. And another
little interesting feature about the GlowStep is these little glow pads that are on here, these little tabs absorb light, and then, after dark, they glow for several hours, which makes for a somewhat safer access up and down the steps.

Then, when you’re ready to break camp, you come up, take out the safety clips, that’s always a good idea, pull the pins, collapse this guy, and in our case, toss it inside the rig. We’ve got a rubber pad here to keep it from sliding around. Now, people do leave it, you know, collapse it and leave it collapsed with a hook on it, but then it kind of swings back and forth, people come up with different solutions for keeping it from banging into the bumper and whatnot. But we’re just gonna store it inside, gets it out of the way, makes a nice clean job
out of it, it appears.

So, the GlowStep from TorkLift, it’s a terrific solution to climbing in and out of something like a camper, highly recommended.

We are delighted to announce that Van and Scott Russell, better known as “The Adventure Detour”, will be joining RVing Today TV starting later in June.

This amazing couple along with their daughter, Kora, have been full-time RVers for the past 9 years and have worked and homeschooled on the road through 42 states so far. They make a living on the road as freelance writers for the RV industry, RV travel magazines and RV websites. You can find RVing tips, travel destinations, and more about the full-time RV lifestyle on their blog https://theadventuredetour.com. They are also RV content creators @theadventuredetour on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. Be sure to reach out to them and say hi!

We look forward to bringing their interesting, real life stories to our nationwide television audience and streaming media viewers.

On the first episode Van and Scott explain what happens when you decide to add a puppy to your family RV adventures. ‘Hint’ little puppies can grow quickl

The German automaker has just unveiled the latest iteration of the California for sale in Europe, according to Car and Driver. The new version isn’t a huge departure from what came before but comes with some key fixes and new features that combine to make it even better suited for some time at the campground. Thanks in part to the enduring popularity of the Microbus, or Type 2 as it’s known to enthusiasts, few companies are more associated with camper vans than VW. The company currently makes three motorhome models, and the California, which is based on the Transporter commercial van and debuted in 2003, is for those of us who want the ability to get away from the hustle and bustle of modern life for a few days here and there. Read the rest of the story, and access more photos, here.

Chris Dougherty here. One of the things RV-ers and truck owners in general have to contend with if you have a three-quarter or one-ton truck is getting up into the bed. And if you’ve got the fifth wheel hitch back here, you may have to get up there to make some adjustments or install it, take it out, as well as your other gear that’s inside the truck. But it’s pretty high here and you can put some auxiliary steps on that’ll let you fold, the step out and step up onto it, but you’re trying to grab onto the side of the truck, it can be a little bit of a challenge. To fix that, we’ve got a product here called the Stake Hand. 

What the Stake Hand does, we’re gonna install this in the stake pocket of the bed and it will go in most trucks that have a rectangular stake pocket on the side. And this is gonna allow us to put this handle in real quick and use it as a grab hold to go up. And this can also be a cargo tiedown and also has a flagpole that comes with it. So let’s take a look at the install of the Stake Hand real quick. So on our Stake Hand kit, we have a number of different parts that we’re gonna use to install it. So the first is gonna be our actual receiver that’s going to  go into the stake pocket  in the truck. We’ve got our handle. We’ve got the brackets which we’re gonna use for the mount that goes into the truck. They do include a cargo tiedown that you can use here. 

To stow our handle inside the bed when we’re not using it, there’s two brackets to install there. We’ve got some thread locker and then we have our instructions which are very clear and show you how to do everything, including scanning for an install video right here. So the first thing we’re gonna do here in the stake pocket and this is a 2019 F-350. We’re gonna go ahead and pop the plastic cover that’s part of the rail cover off, and you see your stake pocket inside there. They give you two different capture plates to use with the kit, depending on the size of your stake pocket, and it gives you directions on which one to pick. And for this F-350 we’re gonna pick the larger size. We’re gonna put this through the hole and then start the assembly with just one screw. When you’re gonna put this in, you feel inside your stake pocket and you’re gonna see that back in here behind the bed rail is a little bit more space. So what we’re gonna do is with the one screw on here, we’re gonna take this in and we’re going to finagle the bracket in so that it’s gonna sit down behind in that deeper area and then we can push the whole thing through. It takes a little bit of finesse here, but you can kind of get it in there and it’s about like so, so you can see here how the capture plate is going to work. Now that we’ve got the capture plate in, we’re gonna start our other screws, but again, we’re not tightening them down yet because we want to put some thread locker around here. I’m gonna get them lined up and get them started here a little bit. Now, we have all four screws started and the next thing we’re gonna do is gonna get our thread locker and we’re gonna coat the screws with the thread locker. This kit is primarily no drill. We’ll have a couple of brackets to put in to hold the handle. But what we’re gonna do here is put some thread locker blue on these screws in here. And all we’re doing is just getting some on the threads of each one. Okay, there you go. Your mount is in place and the installation of the Stake Hand itself is all done. 

Now, we’re gonna put a bracket in the bed that’s gonna hold our Stake Hand while it’s not in use. We’re gonna install the handle mount in here to hold the handle while it’s out of the way. And so we’ve spoken to the owner of this truck. We’re gonna put the brackets here and here and that will allow us to snap them in place. But you can put this wherever it’s handy for you in the back of your truck. So if there’s a spot here or here, whatever is convenient for you to put them, you have the option of doing that. So what we’re going to do is take our spring brackets and we’re gonna start with the install right about where we want it. Okay, we’ve got our Stake Hand all set. So it doesn’t matter whether you’re five foot six, or six foot five, getting into the back of a one-ton truck like this, just having to hold on to this can be a real problem. So just being able to reach in here, grab our Stake Hand and then all we do is step up onto our step and get right into the back of the truck and it’s nice and easy. So another option that you can have for your Stake Hand is this flagpole kit, so you can show your colors anytime you want to.

Chris Dougherty here. If you have a higher end RV, you might have gas props that hold this up. But did you know that you can get a kit that makes it real easy to put these kind of props on these doors? Let’s take a look. So here is a good DIY kit for putting gas props on your compartment doors. This is a kit from Hatchlift and there’s different sizes for different doors, so get a measurement before you put your kit on. But it’s really a pretty, straightforward installation. The kit comes with everything that you should need to install the gas prop. The key to this is this plate right here. So, not all compartment doors are made the same. Some are thicker or thinner than others. Some have more structure than other ones do. And so the key to this plate right here is this 3M VHB tape that’s on the back. And so when we prep the door and put this on there, this is going to give the door enough support so that it can work well with the gas prop. This also comes with the other brackets that you’ll need. For the 3M VHB tape, we have an adhesive promoter here and a Scotch-Brite pad we’ll use for that and some alcohol wipes, all the hardware you might need, some wood blocks for support if you need that for the inside of the compartment. There’s your other bracket and a strap to pull down the door when you’re all done. We’ve already started our installation here. We’ve prepped it. We did the measurements and outlined where the vacuum plate is going to go on the compartment door. And to my point, you know, you look at some of these doors, some of them just have a little bit more flex in them than others do. And that’s why we’re gonna use this backer plate to make sure that we’re in good shape. Go ahead and scour this. So what we’re doing here is: scouring this with the Scotch-Brite pad. So this backer here is fiberglass reinforced, plastic paneling. So we wanna make sure we have a nice, rough surface here. And then when we’re done with that, we’re gonna take an alcohol prep pad. They include a couple in the kit, and we’re gonna clean the area up here. So we’ll go back over it again and then we’ll let that dry. This is a 3M primer 94 adhesive promoter. So, what we’re going to do with this is it has a little dot on it. So we’ve crushed it there with the dot, and now we’re going to go over this entire area with the adhesive promoter. 

Now, we’re gonna take our plate and we’ve got our 3M VHB tape on the back here. We’re gonna go ahead and peel the backer off of that, and then we’re gonna carefully mount this to the door, lining up with our lines that we’ve already done, and we’ll just press it on there. The 3M VHB tape takes about 48 hours to fully cure. So once we’ve finished our entire installation, we’re gonna take the gas prop back off and leave it off for 48 hours so that this can get its full strength and then we can put the gas prop back on and we’ll be good to go. Okay, so the next thing we’re gonna do is put our screws in the plate into the door, but here’s the key to it: is that it’s pretty easy to strip the holes out on the door. So we’re gonna start them with our screw gun. Then we’ll switch over to a hand screwdriver just to carefully tighten them down. So now, we’re just gonna carefully torque these down by hand and just get them flat. You don’t wanna over-tighten them. Again, the VHB tape is doing the majority of the heavy lifting here. Now that we’ve got the door hardware stuck on it, I’ve installed the bracket on the door, the next thing we’re gonna do is install our gas prop and then we’re gonna measure where we’re gonna have it on the door jam. Okay, here’s our other bracket, like so. So now what we wanna do is we can pre-measure this so that it fits just right, and I’ve done so already. So what I can do now is go ahead and put our screws in. 

This RV here has a really nice structure behind the door jamb, and so this gives us plenty of strength to screw it to that. But if you need to get behind it with a block of wood or use a different bracket, those pieces are included with the kit. Okay, we have our kit installed and we have our handle, strap handle, on here with our Velcro. And so this is good, if you have a particularly tall door, to pull it down. This is also good for people who may be physically challenged and it might be hard for them to go up and reach the door, and you can just put the Velcro back on there and then you can close the door and as you’ll see, closes itself down nicely and you just lock it off. When you go to open the door, twist the lock, pull the door open and it goes right up and out of the way. Okay, and if you have a queen bed in your RV or a king size bed that doesn’t have gas props on it to access the storage underneath, Hatchlift also makes a kit that will take care of that for you. It’s called the bed lift kit. There’s different sizes, depending on the size of the bed that you have and the weight of the bed that you have, so you can install that and then you don’t have to worry about the bed coming down on your head while you’re trying to get stuff out from underneath.

For more information on Hatchlift products, visit their website at ‘Hatchlift.com.
Learn more about Chris Dougherty of Dougherty RV Consulting and the RV PhD here.

Any time we’re traveling, safety is a top priority, there’s a little something that we do to make sure that nothing goes awry later on down the road. While we don’t have a hard-and-fast checklist, per se, all it amounts to is a simple inspection, a walk around the vehicle, we count the parts, more or less. 

Now, you have to get out of the vehicle and stretch your legs anyway, so, as you’re stretching your legs on your way to the restroom, for example, stop in, take a look at all your hardware that you need to, and you can make sure things are going okay with the rest of the vehicle. We’ll show you what we do. 

Stop number one is your tow vehicle’s tires. It’s a little hard to tell with today’s modern radial tires if a tire is low pressure or not because there’s a little bit of a bulge on the bottom of a radial anyway. But you can stop, take a look, give them a thump, make sure that they’re up to pressure, check them with your tire gauge, and just give a quick visual inspection of all the lug nuts and make sure it doesn’t look like anything is wearing loose. 

Next stop, and I don’t suppose there’s any need to tell you why this is important, is your equalizing hitch. Take a look at everything, make sure that it looks like it did when you started out in the morning. Check the spring bars, make sure they still feel tight, maybe your lock for the hitch, chains are all where they ought to be, plug is still in tight. Everything looks good here, but it doesn’t hurt a bit to stop and take a minute to just check the parts, you know? It’s such an easy thing to do and it can save you huge grief down the road. 

Next up are your tires and wheels, look for low inflation pressure, check for any signs of damage. Hold your hands kind of near the hubs to feel how warm they are. If you’re real careful to avoid being burned, touch the wheel or hub gently to find out if they’re all running about the same temperature. If one of the hubs feels really warm compared to the others, it could mean that the bearings are going bad and that would call for a stop at a service center at your nearest convenience. For this part of the walk around, a digital infrared thermometer comes in really handy. These are inexpensive, they can cost about $50 or less, this is a “Fluke Model 62,” it costs about 80 bucks, it includes a digital readout of temperature and it has a laser pointer to show you exactly where you’re measuring the temperature. You aim it at the surface you want to measure and you instantly get precise readout of the temperature. This particular style of wheel has a space in between the spokes that allows direct access to the brake drums, and that allows you to take your digital thermometer and take a reading directly off the brake drum to see how the temperature is running.

Brake drums are another indicator of the health of the chassis. If one of the drums is significantly cooler than the others, it could mean that brake is not being applied. At the same time, if one drum is really hotter than the others, that could mean that that brake is dragging. And either situation, calls for a stop at a service center.

♪♪♪ While you’re walking around your RV, check these guys out, make sure that they’re securely tight. How often have you been going down the freeway and you’ve seen these things flapping open in the wind, maybe with a sewer hose or extension cord or something hanging out and banging all over the place. You don’t really need that. Next item, you come around back, let’s take a quick look at both of your tail lights and make sure that nothing has happened to them, breaking out or anything. 

And is this guy tight? More or less. You know, it’s really amazing how many RV manufacturers consider a spare tire an option on an RV, kind of blows our mind sometimes. Wheels on this side are okay. Just take a look around. If there’s anything you can see that’s a moving part, that’s what you ought to consider. Make sure that the awning is in tight, all these little compartment doors need to be shut, entry door, it’s good and tight, steps are folded up where they ought to be, awning on this side looks like it’s tight, and the compartment is tight. It really doesn’t take long to walk around the rig as you stop and just give all the stuff a check, a couple of minutes is what you’ll spend, and you’ll save yourself a lot of hassle later on down the road and give yourself a safer trip. With your inspection out of the way, you can hit the road with confidence.

Jeff Johnston: RV owners are lucky people, they can use their RVs to help pursue their hobbies and special interests in comfort and style. Many of the people building custom vans, known as Vanners, include living facilities in their vehicles. They range from basic car camping styles to more elaborate class B RV motorhome setups with complete comfort and convenience amenities. Bev: And so it’s fully set up for camping or for living in, I’ve been there as long as 3.5 months at a time. But it’s got a refrigerator, it’s got running water, an induction cooktop, it’s got 10 gallons of water storage under the bed, a 200Ah lithium battery, air conditioning, like, it’s really comfortable for me to be in here.

Jeff: Attendees at the recent 50th Annual National Truck-In, the biggest gathering of vanners in the US, arrived in a variety of custom and camper-style vans. The Logan County Colorado Fairgrounds hosted close to 700 custom vans of all types. Regardless of how well a custom van is equipped for camping comfort, times change, people get older and want more amenities, children and grandchildren come along, and the idea of spending days in the confines of a van becomes less appealing for some. Many of those individuals start towing an RV to the events, like the Nationals, so they can have both their on site comfort and their custom rig to enjoy. In addition to the fun parts of the weekend, like the custom van show and the nighttime bright and shine showcase, we toured the event and chatted with several RV-owning vanners to learn how the use of an RV improved their enjoyment of the hobby.

Mike Phillips: We basically bought the smaller version because I pull it with a ’55 Chevy Panel and it gives us a little room to, you know, be sleeping comfortably due to inclement weather and stuff. We do a lot of car shows and if we’re out of town, we can set up camp, don’t have to worry about getting hotel rooms. Yes, I mean, it will sleep four of us, you know? It does have the heating and air conditioning in it, all the comforts of home.

Suzanne Stone: I started vanning in 1983, and that was a while ago, and what we found as we got a little older was we really love the comfort of a camper or an RV, so that we could really relax throughout the week, and it has a lot more room, than a van does, to live in for a week. So, we love ours. This is a “Cougar,” it’s fifth wheel. Usually we pull our own camper with our van, but this year we decided to rent a camper, and it’s just been wonderful staying in this for the whole week.

Rick Kenney: Well, we pretty much started buying it when we started doing a lot of the Nationals, and hosting the Nationals and working the Nationals. Then it became, “We need a more comfortable space to get out of, you know, the weather or, you know, to rest and relax.” So that kind of is where it started, out we started with a pop-up, and we went and brought another pop-up, and then we graduated up to two trailers before we got this one. So we’ve kind of just gradually got larger trailers for the most part, so. Well, it’s very comfortable, so we can cook and shower, and you know, clean and everything, and dress in there, rather than trying to do it in a van, pretty much. So that’s really the benefits, really, the comforts of home.

Jeff: Rockhounding, bird watching, custom cars, hiking, regardless of your hobby, an RV can help you enjoy it all that much more.

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HOW TO ENTER

Fill out the entry form with your name, address, phone number, email address and the type of RV you own. Example: (2006 Jayco Eagle 5th wheel). It’s that simple. If you prefer, you can mail your entry information to: RVing Today TV,  Jose Moniz, PO Box 322, Mattapoisett, MA. 02739.

Names and personal information of participants is strictly for the use of RVing Today TV and participating sponsors. No information will be shared with any third party companies. 

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By entering our contests, each entrant agrees to indemnify and hold harmless sponsors, promotional agencies and sponsors employees from any liability damages, losses, or injuries resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly from entrants participation in the contest and acceptance, use or misuse of any prizes that may be won.By participating in this contest, each entrant agrees to abide by these official rules including all eligibility requirements, and understands that the results of the contest as determined by the sponsors and its agents are final in all respects. The contest is subject to all federal, state and local laws and regulations and is void where prohibited by law

April 1, 2024

MATTAPOISETT, Ma. We are thrilled to announce that Century Chemical Corporation, one of the oldest and most trusted names in sanitation and other chemical supplies has teamed up with RVing Today TV as our newest major sponsor.

Century Chemical Corporation located in Elkhart, In. is a woman owned business celebrating its 97 th 98 th year and its most popular product line, ‘Travel Jon’ has been produced under a registered trademark and sold to RVers since 1967. The ‘Travel Jon’ brand Holding Tank Deodorizers provide absolute control of objectionable odors with a long lasting scent. Other RV related product lines include the ‘Winter Pruf’ brand of antifreeze products, which just celebrated its 50th anniversary, and ‘Supreme Green’ a bacteria and enzyme based line of off-grid solutions.

We look forward to working with Denyse Pontius ‘president’ and her team at Century Chemical Corp. in creating new and exciting ways to promote and bring additional brand awareness to our television and various multimedia audiences.

RVing Today TV is celebrating its 14th year of production and is the #1 weekly RV and camping television show in the country with a household reach of 42-million homes on over 40 major stations and sports networks in over 100 major television market

I’m sure most of you are familiar or have heard of the Quartzsite Arizona RV and Camping Show. Just in case you haven’t, here’s a couple of quick facts. It’s billed as the largest RV consumer show in the world and averages around 1-million visitors during its 8-day span. That’s wild when you consider the average population of Quartzsite is around 2,500 people.

The actual location of this show is nothing but barren land until a couple of weeks before the show and then a wild transformation occurs as you see in the areal photo.

The Quartzsite show is way more than an RV and Camping show. Best way to describe it aside from an enormous RV show, is a combination county fair, large flea market, with a midway full of food and drink locations.

Of course people watching is a great passtime during the show. Join John DiPietro from RV Insights as he spent some time with Kimmy King, the producer of the event and learned a lot about the history of the show, what goes into setting everything up to handle such a large crowd. He joined Kimmy as they opened the gates to the 41st annual show.

This story is coming up on season #2!

SportsNet Pittsburg has increased the RVing Today TV airing schedule to include SportsNet Pittsburg+ which doubles our weekly air times. 

Viewers in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Eastern Maryland and Eastern Ohio have the option to watch RVing Today TV on the regular SportsNet Pittsburg station or on SportsNet Pittsburg +. I’ve included the March airdates and times below. 

If you own an RV, then you already know this. And if you’re just buying an RV, you’ll learn fast enough that one of the items in your RV that constantly needs checking and periodic maintenance is your RV roof. RV manufacturers use two or three types. of roof materials, but they are all susceptible to damage and need. constant inspection and caulking and periodic maintenance. When it comes to RV roof repairs, the old saying goes: “It’s not a matter of ‘if,’ but a matter of ‘when.’” Now, what if I told you there is a RV roof system that’s been around for a while that never needs caulking and is virtually indestructible? Well, there is, and it’s called FlexArmor. Matter of fact, it comes with a lifetime transferable warranty. To learn more about FlexArmor, we found that New England RV Roof in Massachusetts was an authorized FlexArmor facility, so we paid them a visit to learn all about the product and how it’s applied. To put things in perspective,  don’t confuse that FlexArmor roof with a typical roll-on or spray-on-type coating. This is not a coating but a roof in itself that is 3/16-inch thick, flexible, and virtually indestructible. The work  nvolved in applying a FlexArmor roof is quite intensive, as Jim Conboy, co-owner of New England RV Roof, puts it.

Jim Conboy: You know, I’ll have multiple employees working on a camper simultaneously. The biggest part of what we do is preparation. It’s like the old autobody shop: 95% prep for 5% spraying. The whole procedure starts in the prep bay, where conditioners, vents, and just about everything on a roof is removed. At this point, the old rubber or other roof material is removed and if any repairs are needed, they are taken care of at this point. The roof is completely cleaned. All the old caulking is removed prior to completely sanding and grinding certain areas for adhesion and for a nice, smooth roof surface. When all this is done, the entire roof is chemically cleaned prior to starting the actual FlexArmor application. The coating process starts by spraying all around the antennas, vents,  and hard-to-get-at areas,  along with all the edges and seams.  Once that’s complete, the team starts spraying on multiple even coats of FlexArmor until they achieve that desired 3/16-inch build-up. You’ll notice that the FlexArmor is built up around the antennas, vents, and seams, thus eliminating a need for a caulking. How nice is that? Once the FlexArmor is set up, the last application is the latex polymer white UV coating.  Once the polymer coating is dry,  it’s time for the final step of reinstalling all the components and accessories back on the roof. Of course, there were some proprietary procedures and things in this story. we couldn’t show or tell you about,  but I hope we showed you enough to understand how FlexArmor is able to offer a lifetime. transferrable warranty.

By the way, when it comes to maintenance of a FlexArmor roof, Jim Conboy sums it up very easily. Jim: I hate to break the news to people: it’s terrible. There’s no maintenance. The. only maintenance with these roofs is when it gets dirty, you wash it. You don’t have to come to us for annual inspections. You don’t have to go up there and look every 3 months to check. your caulking. There is none. It is a seamless monolithic roof. It takes quite a while for it to get dirty, because, remember, it’s a latex polymer paint we put on. It takes quite a while for it to get dirty. You get a couple of good rains, it cleans itself. But it is a roof. So anything like Dawn, Simple Green,  a soft scrub automotive brush. works just fine. And these are one of the few roofs that you can actually power wash if you want to. There’s no caulking to disturb up there. You can blast away at it as long as you don’t use the tornado bit on these things. But the same thing,  having 32 locations nationwide, there is always someplace to go if you run into that type of issue.

For more information on FlexArmor roofs and to find a location nearest you, visit RVRoof.com.

Officials are happy to announce that “RVing Today TV” – the longtime RV lifestyle program – has expanded its television coverage once again. Starting in January, RV and camping enthusiasts in Illinois can watch “RVing Today TV” on WMEU located in Chicago. Read the rest of the story here.

February 5, 2024

Mattapoisett, MA. We are delighted to announce that TrailManor has signed on as a major sponsor and partner for 2024.
Since we did a story on TrailManor about 10 years ago, we have been fascinated with their uniquely designed and engineered travel trailers that can actually be stored out of sight in your garage. The company is based in South Dakota and has just completed building a new manufacturing facility in Parkstown, SD. We look forward to working with Bob Douglas, National Sales and Marketing Director and CEO Paul Wiph on some exciting new television and on-location marketing ideas that will highlight the various new TrailManor models.

RVing Today TV is celebrating its 14th year as the country’s #1 weekly RV and camping lifestyle television show reaching over 105 television markets both on cable and satellite networks across the country in addition to numerous streaming media platforms.

TrailManor has been in business over 41 years and is the only hard-sided expandable RV in America and Canada. TrailManor specializes in light-weight travel trailers that can be towed with suvs and small trucks with towing capacities between 3500 and 5000 lbs. TrailManor RV’s can be stored in a garage and are very easy to tow. It only takes about about one extra gallon of gas to tow a TrailManor 100 miles. “It’s like towing a marshmallow” is how one loyal TrailManor enthusiast who has owned 3 TrailManors over the last 20 years or so, says.

TrailManor currently builds 12 different floor plans in the classic line and 9 models in the all new sport model designed for hunters, fishermen and outdoor enthusiasts. For more information, visit www.trailmanor.com or contact Bob Douglas at (605) 682-1598. He can also be reached at bobby@trailmanor.com for information related to new dealers, available territories, pricing or sales representative opportunities.

MATTAPOISETT, Mass. – Producers of “RVing Today TV”, the longtime RV lifestyle television show, are delighted to announce the program will be partnering with Normandy Farms Campground. This premier, award-winning campground is located in Foxboro, Mass., and has been consistently voted as one of the top campgrounds in the country, according to a release. Read the rest here.

When we first visited Advanced RV about nine years ago, it was like visiting a NASCAR or Indy racecar shop. The facility was so immaculate and meticulously laid out. You could say that it was almost like being in an operating room, and the Class Bs they were turning out were an engineering marvel. Today, the company continues to raise its own bar in quality engineering and finish of every unit that goes out the door. Just to give you an idea, let’s join ARV President Mike Neundorfer and designer Janice Spicuzza as they check out one of their newest completions. By the way, at ARV they do not number each unit, but give each one a name. Now let’s check out The MT Nest.

Mike Neundorfer: What are we looking at here? Janice: We’re looking at MT Nest. Mike: Now, I haven’t been involved too much with MT Nest the last couple weeks, but I thought maybe you could share some of the objectives our clients had when you designed this with them. And so I see right off that this has a different insignia. Janice: They just kind of wanted to have more of a fun vibe nwhen they get to the campgrounds, so they decided to change it to a peace sign.

Mike: What’s going on up top? They have actually two–awnings. so in using the van that they currently have, they really love the awning that’s on the typical side, on the passenger side, and just wanted to be able to use it on both sides.

Mike: Well, let’s go inside. There are a couple things in there that I think I’d like to ask. Janice can you tell us a little bit about the color choice? Janice: Their decisions came pretty organically. They started with the laminate and they found a laminate sample that they like, and it’s this marbley kind of pattern. So with white and gray, they thought a red accent would look really nice, and I’d say they were right.

Mike: This is a butcher block countertop. Janice: They wanted more gray tones, and a lot of their inspiration photos were sort of like driftwood looking photos. And so our cabinet team picked different species of wood and sent different samples to the client, and the clients chose which one they liked the best, and then stained it to mimic the inspiration photos that they provided us.

Mike: Let’s go to the rear and kind of look, there’s some unique things that I’d like to learn more about back there.So Janice, another peace sign on the rear. That’s carbon fiber. Tell us a little bit about the ladder on the back of the van.
They don’t have a rack on top?Janice: No, so they’re actually gonna use this ladder mainly for attaching a ski rack and other potential storage options, but they may use it to get up there and clean off the roof or maybe tie something down here and there.

Mike: This is way different. Let’s start with this thing on the door. What’s that? Janice: That’s a table that the clients travel with, and they use it all the time in their travels. So we created a little storage nook for them.

When you wanna use the thermal blanket, you take the whole thing down, and when you want the bug screen, you just roll up the thermal blanket and attach it up there, and you’ve got your bug screen.

Mike: This is kind of a cool rear bath, but there’s some things here that are kind of different. I see the toilet there. That’s a flush toilet, macerator toilet.

What are these cages? Are they for cats, dogs, snakes? Janice: So this is for their dog. They specified the size that the dog would like best. We built it, we fabricated it ourselves here, and we added a little storage bin on top at the client’s request. Mike: So that’s an open bin that just kind of matches the design of the dog cage. And then when they take a shower, does the dog get a shower too? Janice: No, it’s actually a pretty cool design. Mike: So the curtain has a track that goes all the way around. Janice: Yes.

The client specifically requested two doors so that the dog has access from the inside and from the outside. Mike: And what’s that bottom? It looks like there’s another handle in the center of the bottom. Janice: That’s for easy cleaning. Mike: You can vacuum all the dog hair out from the bottom of that.

Janice: They customized a rear sink. Their objective for a bigger sink was met by pushing this all the way back and then making the galley a little bit deeper only towards the end, so that you really didn’t sacrifice the feeling of spaciousness when you walked into the van.

Mike:  You know, this kind of van only happens when and because you and Liz and others spend so much time listening to clients, starting with objectives, and then identifying what the objectives are and what the design details are, and then working with the craftspeople to get it done.So thanks for doing this and thanks for explaining this to me.

Janice: It’s a fun process.

Looking back over 13 years, we realized that sometimes you just can’t get it right the first time, or second, or third, as you’ll see, when Jeff Johnston and Evanne Schmarder try to nail a show opening tease at the old Louisville Industry Show.

Bob Zagami here with Bob Douglas from TrailManor. And Bob, there’s a lot of crowds around the units. You know, Trail Manor is an interesting name for those of us who are older because it’s been around for a long time. This isn’t the first rodeo, but the new Trail Manor, shall we say, that you’re putting out these products into the consumer space right now, what are people learning about Trail Manor? Because a lot of these people have never seen one. 

Bob Douglas: Well, what they’re learning about the Trail Manor is the uniqueness. It’s the only hard sided expandable RV in America, right? It’s all aluminum body and it has a unique ability to be able to park it in the garage. It’s lightweight. You can tow this with an existing vehicle that has a towing capacity of 3,500 to 5,000 pounds. It only takes about 1 gallon of gas to go– extra gallon of gas to travel about 100 miles. Bob Z: In the up and down, the mechanism, the way that this goes up, there is nothing like it in the explain the mechanism and how easy it is. Like you said, you can put it in the garage, you can leave it, but when you get to a campground at the fuel efficiency to set it up is– I’d call it amazing, maybe miraculous.

Bob D: It is. It’s an engineering feat. It only takes about five minutes to set one of these up, and that’s from the point that you park it, to the point that you set it, expand it, and you hook up all your utilities, you’re ready to go camping. You can’t do that with any other, like, pop-up tent trailer, and this is by NADA a travel trailer.

Bob Z: Yeah, and it’s a true fully functional travel trailer. Like you said, hard side, but full walls on the inside. You have the cabinets on the inside.

The classic is for your true asphalt warriors that are going from one campground to another and that’s all they’re doing. But then we have the sport model over here that was designed for the hunters that wanna go out where there’s no trail that’s been gone down before. That’s why it’s raised off the ground with the heavier duty tires and over there and the roof racks that can keep your bicycles up there. You can put your kayaks up there, you can put a canoe up there. So we’ve tried to cross the spectrum from everything.

Bob Z: So how many different models are in the product line now? Bob D: We have approximately 16 different models right now. And some of those, like these ones right here, they have a bed on each end of the unit. Then we have the slide versions that will come out all the way up to the front here. The whole front slides out, and it’ll have a fold out couch in there that folds out to a bed or a dinette. So what it does is, it doubles the real estate value inside the RV. Bob Z: All right, so if people wanna get in touch with you, how do they find Trail Manor? Bob D: They can go
to www.trailmanor.com.

Evanne Schmarder: Well, the inevitable finally happened. I came home from the grocery store, of course, and was greeted with a strong ammonia smell coming from my fridge. I went outside to look at the back of it, and found a dripping green liquid. Back inside, I immediately turned the appliance off and called my pal, Jim Hargrove, San Diego’s mobile RV expert. Jim was here in a flash to remove the ‘fridge and advise me on options. 

Since I’d had such a great experience with my Norcold, I set out to find a replacement unit that would have a similar look and feel, as well as fit in the former ‘fridge’s space. It turns out that Norcold has a new generation of my model, an N841, that was ideal. We ordered it and in no time it was ready to be picked up. Out of the truck and unboxed, my husband and my RV expert easily manhandled the ‘fridge up the steps and into place. Heave ho into the hole and a gentle push is all it took to get it where it needed to be. Jim zipped the screws in, secured it in place, added the trim, and headed out to connect the power and the propane. Inside, on it went and it immediately began cooling. 

Now, I mentioned how much I loved my old ‘fridge. Just like my previous unit, the new one has a roomy inside, adjustable shelves and door pockets, a two-drawer crisper, and a sleek simple control panel. But from the outside, I’ve always loved the gorgeous wood panels that made it look so elegant. This model doesn’t come with standard panels. You can get those separately, but fortunately for me, my old ones fit like a glove. I slid them in and added the new magnetized panels great for lists, photos, those cool magnetized words that you can make poems with, and bam, I was in business. This model allows you to have the hinges on either side, though they come standard on the right. Our rig configuration allows enough space for either, but if that’s not your case, your RV expert can swap sides in about 60 minutes. In less than 24 hours, my ‘fridge was cold enough to transfer my things into it, and it’s been performing like a real champ ever since. The coldest place in the unit, perfect for ice cream or ice cubes, continues to be the bottom left of the separate freezer compartment. Hey, life happens. Thank goodness Norcold, a made-in-America product, came to my rescue. I’m looking forward to another dozen-plus years of faithful Norcold service from my favorite RV refrigerator.

RV designers are finding some creative ways to give us more living space in our RVs, and how they’re achieving that is what’s interesting. In some cases, they’re expanding up or expanding out and occasionally adding a room where none existed before, and they’re doing this with a centuries-old material: canvas. 

Now, this is not the canvas our forefathers used under covered wagons and tents but lighter, stronger canvas, and in some cases, the material being used isn’t even canvas but high-tech vinyl and nylon fabrics. While attending this past RV industry open house, we couldn’t help but notice all of these canvas additions, so we decided to take a closer look at what some of these companies are offering now. Currently, most of these canvas extensions and add-ons are being used on smaller camping and travel trailers along with a few Class B motorhomes, but larger trailers and toy haulers are expanding up and out also, especially on the rear tailgate decks with some nice, enclosed screened-in additions. A lot of this modern creativity and engineering goes beyond the actual addition itself. 

If you look closely at this full-room extension on the back of this Cyclone toy hauler, you’ll notice there are no metal corner or roof poles. Rather than metal framework, these additions are supported by inflatable tubes which make the whole unit lighter and easier to set up and take down. Where and how they add this extra sleeping space, I guess, is up to the imagination of the designer, the no more is this evident than on these next two examples.

First is the Forest River NoBo with its added “nest” as they call it. It’s a complete, enclosed tent that sits on top of the roof of the NoBo and adds an extra sleeping area beyond the normal interior space, and you can bet the kids will love this. On the same note, we found the same type, stand-alone tent enclosure, even mounted on the roof of a jeep. So, as we were saying, canvas additions are only limited to the creative minds of. designers and engineers. Some ways of adding additional space can be as  simple as a pop-up roof that gives you a few more inches of tent room. Two, a pop-up roof that can not only increase head room but also add additional sleeping space like we see on this Hymer Class B motorhome. So how creative an extreme can canvas additions go? 

Let’s check in with Jeff Johnston, who seems to have found one trailer manufacturer that lets you decide how many additional rooms you want to add.

Jeff Johnston: For a somewhat different camping experience, if you’d wanna go off-road, get into some really rugged places and take it all with you in comfort, there’s an expedition trailer. This is some CRUX Expedition Trailer. This is the Model 1610, and what you see here is the way it goes down the road. Everything is all. packaged together.  All the cabinets and so forth contain all of the goodies for the trailer, and when you get to the site, it unfolds in a number of different ways.  If you’re gonna be spending a whole bunch of time, like several days, you can unfold the entire unit that folds out to 211 square feet  approximately. If you’re just gonna be overnighting, you do stage one, which is more or less the top sleeping tent that opens up on top and a little annex on the back. And then, if you’re gonna be spending a little more time where you wanna expand a little bit more, you can add the side awning on the side and maybe one of the little rooms, and if you’re gonna be spending several days, you do the entire suite of rooms. That gives you the trailer with the sleeping space up on top, a large tent space on the side, a little annex on the end that lets you have a place to put, say, a portable shower or, you know, toilet or something like that, and there’s a space on the back that has room for, say, a couple of cots if you’re gonna have guests. coming, sleeping with you. And this unit is designed strictly for heavy-duty use: dual independent suspension axles, super-heavy-duty hitch assembly; the frame and all, it’s all galvanized or otherwise treated for rust-resistance. This is really a unit that is unlike most of the tent trailers that you’ll see out there. Takes a few more minutes to set up, but like anything else, once you’ve done it a couple of times, a unit like this CRUX Expedition Trailer can provide a type of comfort and convenience and livability out on the most rugged trails you can imagine. It’s a little different, and it’s meant to be. 

Well, as you can see, we weren’t kidding when we said, when it comes to RV canvas extensions, things are popping up all over.

Jason Ciastko: For a number of years, Tammy and I have wanted to have a flagpole in the back of our travel trailer. Looking around the internet, we found FlagPole Buddy. It’s American-made, can do Starlink, and really well built. Stick around.vWe’re about to install it.

The package from FlagPole Buddy comes with everything that you need: all the tools, clear, concise instructions, and even the flag. So easy, you can do it in your driveway or even in a campground. The instructions are really clear. First, we assembled the key components on the ground. This makes things a lot easier once we’re up on the trailer. Now what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna install the top bracket. The instructions call for it to be as close to the top of the roofline as possible. Once you have the top section on, do not tighten the bolts down fully yet. Next, we’re gonna go and put the cup on the lower level. Instructions say about 5 feet from the top unit. 

Once the brackets are mounted on the ladder, it is time to loosely fit the flagpole into it to get your proper spacing. Ideally, the top bracket should be on the lower section of the pole. This is gonna help keep it strong. And now that the brackets are mounted on the ladder, it’s time to go on to the flag pole. The flagpole comes in multiple telescoping sections. The top section is held in place with a spring-loaded button. The remainder use pins. There are four flag clips that allow you to have two flags on the pole. Now that we have the flag on the pole, time to put the pole in the trailer. A pole strap is included, which provides extra hold at high winds and to dampen noise inside your RV. Well, that’s it for the installation. Took about a half hour of my time. Nice and easy. It’s an extremely well-made system made in America. Could be used for your flags, your Starlink, even your HAM radio antennas.

For more information or to order a pole system, visit FlagPoleBuddy.com.

Greetings. Jeff Johnston here for “RVing Today TV.” We’re at beautiful Redmond, Oregon, jewel of the Oregon High Desert, at the Overland Expo Pacific Northwest. The Overland Expo is an event that celebrates all things relating to overlanding and overland travel and adventure, equipment, people, education, accessories, all the things that relate to overlanding, and there’s a lot of components here and material that also relates to RVing.
We’re going to show you some of that. It’s pretty exciting. Eva Rupert: Yes, so overlanding is self-sufficient
vehicle travel. So, overlanders themselves are doing all sorts of amazing adventures in the United States and internationally, as well. People have their vehicles that they live out of for extended periods of time, cross borders, head deep into the back country, and have all sorts of amazing adventures. That’s the spirit of overlanding.

The Expo drew somewhere in excess of 15,000 participants, including vendors, attendees, and staff.  Many attendees camp onsite. Hanging out with old friends and making new ones is part of the fun at the Expo.

The Expo is a good chance to speak directly with the manufacturer representatives of some of your favorite

Educational seminars such as this series hosted by Gary and Monila Wescott of the turtle expedition are always popular and useful activities at the Expo.

The larger Overlander rigs tend to be loaded with electronic devices and the wiring to support them. Extended self-contained travel time is the standard for these big fellas. Because Overlanders are usually self-contained and smaller vehicles, their equipment must, of necessity, be compact, durable, and highly functional if it’s going to win a spot in their limited available storage space. These factors make certain overlanding gear
potentially attractive to RV owners, as well. Let’s take a look at a few items that may also apply to RV use.

We’re here at the Tailgater tire table booth. Tailgater, of course, is one of our favorite accessories we’ve come across in a long time, and Ward is going to show us something new here at the show.

Ward Graham: So, recently, I’ve created a larger table. It’s four inches longer and four inches wider than the original. It doesn’t seem like a lot, but when you put a barbecue or something on it, it’s a lot more room and space. It’ll also fit a larger tire more comfortably.
We have it done in aluminum also.

Jerry Lecuyer: All right, what we’re looking at here is a scuttle grill kit. It’s essentially a horodisk. We’ve attached a propane burner to. It has adjustable legs. It has a 10,000 BTU burner and various accessories. And you can cook anything you can think of, and there’s virtually
no cleanup. You don’t have to clean up pots and pans. You treat it like cast iron. When you’re done, you wipe it out, oil it, put it away.

Marcus Niemela: I’m here today, gonna give a brief preview of the Camino 88 camper, truck camper.  It is a filon-sided, laminated to an asfel substrate. It’s 2 x 2 and 2 x 4 construction with a 2-inch closed cell spray foam insulation. All of our roof system is stainless steel. We have a stainless steel trim, stainless steel roof system, thermal pane windows. This particular camper has 60 gallons of water. And also what you see here is a new feature that we call the fish and ski box, which you can put a set of 195 centimeter downhill skis, poles. The other side, you can put fishing poles in, and it just, it’s on a drawer system. You secure it. by locking each end. Then you’re going to see a stainless steel shower with a dry bath system. The toilet slides in and out of the shower stall. Privacy door, sink, mirror, vanity. To the floor of the camper, we have a residential queen size bed. Above, you have an optional skylight. You have a entertainment package,  communication package, pullout trash cans. There are just a plethora of options and accessories that we manufacture.

Troy Trimmer: Here today. we’re introducing the Aquaglide Deschutes 110 inflatable kayak. This is a great solution for the RVer, when premium quality of paddling products are important to you, but also space and portability and durability is really the factor. So, we use a PVC material on this. It’s proven with river rafting, you know, and other durable materials in the paddle sports market for many years. This is a single version. So, the Deschutes 110 is 11 feet long, designed for the single paddler. It comes with a skag on the back. and an extruded component on the bow here for great tracking. It doesn’t have an inflatable floor in it, which helps the paddler sit lower to the ground for more stability and just a nicer feel on the water. And so one of the nice aspects of the Deschutes 110 also is the size that it packs down into for storage and transport. Right, so, it fits into this bag here with extra room to spare for the pump. And also, it’s good to have a four-piece paddle that we make to also fit in here. You have room for a PFD launch and extra safety equipment, as well.

Jeff: Overlanders are good people who use their hobby to help others enjoy the outdoors. Bobby Raetz: Team Overland is a nonprofit organization. We are based out of southern Oregon. Down in Medford is where we’re all from.  We have been established since 2015. I came on in 2016 as the VP. And what we do is we take veterans, their families and friends, and we just go up in the woods. We use the campfire to facilitate our camping trips. All of our vehicles are off-road vehicles. It doesn’t matter if you have a vehicle, off road vehicle or not. We’ll take you out there with us. We have done well over 160 trips in the past 7 years. It’s pretty amazing we’ve been around that long. We try to bring veterans back into the world by using camping and off-roading. Once we come back from war, from the military, it’s hard to establish ourselves into the civilian world,  so this is our way to give back and to help others get back into the civilian world. And without the help of our fellow civilians, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do.

You can hardly have
a big event
without a happy hour each day,
and the Expo attendees
enjoyed the hospitality
and the chance to socialize
in a fun environment,
courtesy of Tin Burrow
Brewing Company.
♪♪♪
Jeff: For a look
at some interesting
and functional accessories
you may not find
at your local RV supply shop,
check out
an Overland Expo near you.

RVing Today TV, together with our sponsors, often run contests.

CONTEST RULES: To enter the contest you must be at least 18 years of age and a resident of the United States or Canada. Employees, contractors and immediate family of RVing Today TV or participating sponsors are ineligible to enter. 

Winners will be notified by email or phone to confirm the entry information.  Winners have 48 hours to confirm or we will choose another winner. Confirmed winners name (first name, last name initial and state)  will be posted on our website at http://www.rvingtoday.tv/ and on our Facebook page, facebook.com/rvingtoday each week and other possible social media sites.

HOW TO ENTER: Fill out the entry form with your name, address, phone number, email address and the type of RV you own. Example: (2006 Jayco Eagle 5th wheel). It’s that simple. If you prefer, you can mail your entry information to: RVing Today TV,  Jose Moniz, PO Box 322, Mattapoisett, MA. 02739.

Names and personal information of participants is strictly for the use of RVing Today TV and participating sponsors. No information will be shared with any third party companies. 

INDEMNIFICATION AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

By entering our contests, each entrant agrees to indemnify and hold harmless sponsors, promotional agencies and sponsors employees from any liability damages, losses, or injuries resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly from entrants participation in the contest and acceptance, use or misuse of any prizes that may be won.By participating in this contest, each entrant agrees to abide by these official rules including all eligibility requirements, and understands that the results of the contest as determined by the sponsors and its agents are final in all respects. The contest is subject to all federal, state and local laws and regulations and is void where prohibited by law.

Greetings. Jeff Johnston here for “RVing Today TV.” Like a lot of RVers with smaller vehicles, Pam and I are well adapted to camping and travel in our somewhat compact Palomino fold-down camper, and the size of the camper and the limited storage space inside means everything that goes in it and goes with us has to be fairly efficient and functional. We can’t have a lot of junk or clutter. So it’s pretty exciting for us when we find a new product that actually looks like it’s gonna solve a problem, serve a purpose, and do a really great job for us. And this is the new camper, Camper Jack Table, from Camper Cradle Company. It’s designed to mount on one of your camper jacks using a couple of adjustable brackets, and we will show you, in a few minutes here, what it looks like and how it works. The clamp-on brackets that mount on the jack tubes here have to be about 17 inches apart roughly, and the top bracket needs to be roughly where the height where you want it for your work-table comfort. So we’re gonna make it about here, a little bit higher than normal, but I’m a little taller than normal, so it’ll fit. And, yeah, got plenty of room down here toward the spacing. We’ll see how it goes.

The leg clamps are sized to fit your average jack post, but it’s a little bit larger size, and ours has a somewhat smaller-size jack, so the company includes these traction strips which you cut to shape or size and then glue them inside. We glue ’em inside here so we don’t have to wrangle with it while we’re trying to mount this, but by putting these little strips in there, it takes up a little bit more space and makes it fit a somewhat smaller jack. That’s a situation we ran into. But to secure these, we’re using a traditional contact cement. This is Walthers Goo. It’s a hobby-type product. Doesn’t have to be extremely tight. And we take the base side. We take the base side of the traction material, spread the glue around a little bit. It’s a contact cement. You let it dry and then put it back together. We do that on both pieces, and you wind up with just enough extra liner in there that’ll fit tight on our jack posts. Start the first clamp right about here, to begin with, using these really great heavy-duty fine-thread Allen head bolts to secure it. And when you’re lining this up, the table does not pivot once it’s installed, so the tab with the flat traction surface on top should be kind of aimed in the direction where you want the table to come out from. We are lining this up so that it more or less lines up with the back side of the camper so it sticks straight out from the back. The top one can be snugly secured, and the bottom will be left adjustable for the moment. And that 17-inch mark is approximately where the second clamp fits. This gets installed but remains somewhat finger-tight for the moment. So it’s roughly 17 inches down, and you line up the tab on the lower mount with the hole on the upper one. That’s good for the moment. 

Now, the install is pretty much like you would do if you were setting it up in camp. Starts with the handwheel and bolt, and next up is this brace. This is the underside brace. It fastens between the edge of the table and the lower mount. The top clamps up here, and this makes it fairly loose. We’ve gotta adjust this down a little bit. That looks pretty good with the top table secured by the big thumb wheel. Then we’d get the extension, fit it into the guides and the edge of the table here. Tighten up the thumb wheels. We’ve got a nice, sturdy extension of table that we can use in a campsite. And when you’re in a campsite that has no picnic table or any flat surfaces, every flat meal prep surface is valuable. This is about 32 inches by about 23 and a half inches. It’s made out of steel, stainless-steel fasteners, and we might add “Made in the USA,” and we kind of like that.

Now, you’re not gonna want to get up and dance around on something like this, but it’s sturdy enough that it’ll support any kind of meal preparation, including Dutch ovens and their paraphernalia. It’s a interesting addition to our collection of equipment that we take with us in the camper, and we think that this Camper Jack Table is just one of the coolest little accessories we’ve seen in a long time. The Camper Jack Table, from Camper Cradle Company, it’s a really fun, functional new accessory that we’re gonna get a lot of use out of starting next weekend. I highly recommend it.

Dr. Marissa Fitzpatrick: Welcome to “RVing Today’s” “Paws on Board.” I’m Dr. Fitz, and this is Ace. Did you know that dogs can get sunburn? That’s right.As crazy as it sounds, some dogs can be susceptible to sunburn. Many dogs don’t have a problem with sun exposure and are protected by their darker, longer coats. However, if you have a short haired dog. such as a pit bull, a Frenchie, a boxer, among many other breeds, sunburn may be a concern. Dogs that have lighter hair, such as white, light brown, or gray, can be at higher risk as well. Finally, if your dog was recently shaved after a grooming or for a surgical procedure, that area of the skin is now at higher risk for harmful sun exposure. Pretty much, all dogs are at risk of sunburn around their nose, around their eyes, their ear tips, and even their lower belly where they have less fur. There are also some skin conditions, usually immune-mediated issues, which can be aggravated by sun exposure, so make sure you address any concerns you have with your veterinarian.

Now that we know dogs can get sunburn, one of the main questions you may have is “Can dogs wear sunscreen?” The short answer is “Yes.” The long answer is “It depends.” There are canine products available on the market that are generally safe for use. There are sprays you can rub into their coat or balms that you can apply to their nose and face. There are some products available for cats as well, but check with your vet about the specific product as not all dogs-safe products are safe for cats. You should be careful which products you use. Dogs will lick and groom themselves, so the sunscreen needs to be safe to ingest in small quantities. Avoid products that contain zinc oxide as this can be toxic for your dog if they ingest it. A lot of human sunscreens actually contain this ingredient. Try to stick with canine-specific products if you can or if you can find a baby-safe sunscreen without the zinc oxide. Although it can be super-difficult, try to stop your dog from licking off the sunscreen while they’re outside. So what do you do if you think your pet may have been sunburned? Well, you should keep your pet out of the sun as much as possible once you notice the burn. This is where a nice A/C unit in the pet-friendly RVs can come in handy. Your pet can stay comfortable indoors and out of the sun. If you have a cone, put this on as it will prevent your dog from licking the area. If you notice anything more than mild redness to the skin such as blistering, moderate-to-severe redness, or pain when you touch the site, you should seek veterinary care. Ultimately, prevention is the best medicine with sunburn as I’m sure many of you have experienced yourselves. Keeping your pet safe and comfortable while traveling is the goal. For more information about traveling safely with your pets, visit RVingToday.tv.

Tune in next time for more pet-health information. I’m Dr. Fitz, and this is Ace. Thanks for watching “Paws on Board “

Every once in a while, an RV comes along that seems to set a new standard in the industry. Its cosmetic good looks, features, and functionality all add up to a vehicle that becomes very popular. Well, the R-Pod trailer from Forest River has been around for a few years now, but it’s still flyin’ off the dealers’ lots, and there’s several good reasons for that. You know, the R-Pod, its cosmetics is what makes it really easy to identify and part of one of the things that’s made it so popular today. The colors are great, the graphics are minimal. You know, it just looks nice. And part of what makes it really great to tow is its overall shape. That rounded configuration makes it very aerodynamic. The front up here, this helps cut through the wind, regardless of what kind of tow vehicle you have on it, that it just makes it really, really aerodynamic. And on the back, it’s rounded down a little bit, and that, too, helps to ease its passage through the air. Now, in this particular floor plan that has a kitchen on the back, they brought the back end down straight, and that allows a little bit better cabinet space in the back for the kitchen. And the width, one of the things that you also see on the trailer, of course, is the fact that it has the fenders and the tires on the outside of the trailer. So the trailer is a little bit narrower than a standard one. That lets you put the tires and fenders on the outside, and that means you don’t have wheel wells on the inside of the trailer to have to build cabinets and such around, and that’s kind of a convenient thing. for the designers. 

And there’s a few other features on the outside here that are worth talkin’ about as well, so let’s take a closer look. Now, this particular floor plan of this trailer has only one exterior storage compartment. They use this really nice, new, high-tech magnetic latches, which are really handy, and this compartment runs all the way across the trailer on the front; and the back, it’s a little bit shallower. It’s not quite deep enough to be able to put a lawn chair or a camp chair in here. Those will have to go in your tow vehicle or on the floor, for example, inside the trailer, but this is big enough. It can accommodate tools and small general hardware, and if you have longer items like tire pumps or anything that’s under about six and a half feet long can go in crossways across the front. So it’s a small compartment, but it’s fairly functional. Now, one of the easy spotting features on the R-Pod– and it may be something that part of responsible for its popularity–is the fact that the body is fairly narrow. It’s about 6-foot-6 outside, wall to wall. That not only helps to make it a little more compact and, you know, seemingly easier to tow; it also makes it a little less prone to wind resistance. I mean, it makes it slip through the air a bit easier. But that narrow body means it’s possible to put the fenders and the tires on the outside, and that, too, is what gives it a look that is a little bit different than your average RV, and it’s part of the popularity.

This version of the R-Pod is called the Hood River Edition, built in Dallas, Oregon. Has a couple of features that are different than the standard R-Pod. First, it’s got about 3 inches more suspension or chassis lift. That’s provided by the design of the rubber torsion axle, which is a really great way to provide a soft, smooth suspension for a trailer like this. That extra 3 inches of lift means that you have extra clearance. So, if you wanna get off the pavement and go to a campground in a remote spot on a dirt road, you have less likelihood that you’re gonna be scraping or bottoming out on anything. And the Hood River Edition also includes these really cool heavy-duty-looking kind of off-road mud-and-snow tires. Gives it the little bit of that rugged Northwest look along with the custom wheels. It’s a fun package.

One of the factors that makes small trailers like the R-Pod so popular is slide-out rooms. Now, this trailer is approximately 17 feet long in the body, but it’s got a 9-foot slide-out which is darn near a full wall slide-out in something like this. Now, this slide-out contains the dinette over on this end and the refrigerator here which is adjacent to the rear kitchen, and we’ll see more about those when we go inside the trailer. But this slide-out adds so much extra space. It’s not extremely deep, but it’s deep enough that that adds extra floor space, lets you make the dinette a little bit bigger, and generally speaking, it adds a lot of livability to a small rig like this.

Well, the outside of the R-Pod, the cosmetics is what catches people eye the first time, and there’s good reason for that. It’s a great-lookin’ little trailer. But let’s take a look on the inside. There’s a lot of features in there that really make you realize why it’s so popular and what makes it so great for livability. Little R-Pods have been pretty well known for having a tremendous amount of space and functionality on the inside. They’ve done a good job of designing things. Now, this one happens to be the R-Pod 179. It’s got the rear kitchen, side dinette in the slide-out, and a forward bed. Now, this rear kitchen arrangement, this is really great for cooks because, if you happen to have cooking as kind of an emphasis for your RVing, this is a nice setup because it covers wall to wall in the rig. You’ve got a lot of open counter space here for working on foodstuff. Little cover comes off the sink, and then, when you’re not using the sink, of course, you have more space there, and over on the other side, your generic suburban two-burner stove. Over on the side here, this is the back end of the slide-out, and, of course, you have your Dometic two-way refrigerator– actually, this is a three-way because it’ll do both 120-volt AC gas and 12-volt electric– and a nice-sized microwave oven.

This version of the R-Pod, the 179, has what amounts to being, like we mentioned on the outside, pretty much, a full-wall slide that includes the refrigerator, the microwave, and this dinette. And this U-shaped dinette is, for a little bitty trailer, it’s pretty darn big. I mean, you can accommodate four people sitting around here very easily for a card game or something like that, and it’s pretty comfortable. The seats are–you know, you can adjust the cushions and such as needed, and this table is portable. So, in addition to positioning it inside where you find the best use for it, you could also take it outside, for example, and use it in your campsite. And it also adjusts for level. And this isn’t quite so smooth operating–at least, I don’t do it right– but you release it, and this folds down far enough that you can turn this into a bed area as well. Lock it back up there. So this turns into an additional sleeping space which would be kind of snug unless it just happens to be a couple of little kids. So, if cooking is important to you, when you’re looking at a floor plan, you know, you kind of look at what you wanna emphasize or what you really need or want out of an RV. If you got a cook in the family who really likes that, then this would be a good choice because of that big kitchen across the back end. And this also would be a good one for entertaining because you have this good-sized dinette. This floor plan includes a wet bath. It’s got a toilet, kind of a built-in shower, and a really small sink in the corner. Another one of the R-Pod floor plans, on the other hand, has a bath that goes across the back of the vehicle with a separate shower, so it kind of depends on what’s important to you. If you like–if you really want a good quality– a good-sized shower, you’d probably pick that other floor plan. This one also has a full-sized bed up front, and we’ll take a quick look at that. Jeff: What you might describe–it’s full-sized bed. Maybe you can call it an RV queen or an RV full size, but it’s plenty wide because of the small overall size of the trailer. It’s like the trailer is about 6-foot-6, wall to wall on the outside. The bed space is about 6-foot 3-inches approximately from wall to wall, so for the average sized person, they’re gonna fit it just fine. I can’t say that I fit, but, then, that’s because that’s my problem because I’m too tall for this sort of thing, but it was a very comfortable mattress, and we slept okay on it, and that’s kind of, when you’re looking at RVs and you have your priorities, one of my personal priorities is having a comfortable place to sleep more so than having a giant bathroom, for example. So this would be kind of a floor plan that I would be interested in, and my wife likes to cook, so the big kitchen would be cool for her. This would be a great floor plan for us. But the bed area, you got good-sized windows on both ends for plenty of cross ventilation. Nice illumination up here. We’d kind of like to see a couple of lights up by the head of the bed, but, you know, that’s one of those small details. Everybody has different opinions about those things. The television is on a mount, so you can swing it around. You can watch it from the dinette area or move it back and be able to keep watching it from the bed area. And this, of course, is also adjacent to the stereo which is really close to everything. Next to the bed, you got a nice hanging wardrobe for shirts and things, and that’s top– tops another set of three storage drawers. There’s a surprising amount of storage in here, and there’s also storage overhead, up above the dinette, which is very handy. The R-Pod was a good matchup for our Nissan Frontier pickup and would likewise tow well with other small vehicles.

RVing Today TV, together with our sponsors, often run contests.

CONTEST RULES: To enter the contest you must be at least 18 years of age and a resident of the United States or Canada. Employees, contractors and immediate family of RVing Today TV or participating sponsors are ineligible to enter. 

Winners will be notified by email or phone to confirm the entry information.  Winners have 48 hours to confirm or we will choose another winner. Confirmed winners name (first name, last name initial and state)  will be posted on our website at http://www.rvingtoday.tv/ and on our Facebook page, facebook.com/rvingtoday each week and other possible social media sites.

HOW TO ENTER: Fill out the entry form with your name, address, phone number, email address and the type of RV you own. Example: (2006 Jayco Eagle 5th wheel). It’s that simple. If you prefer, you can mail your entry information to: RVing Today TV,  Jose Moniz, PO Box 322, Mattapoisett, MA. 02739.

Names and personal information of participants is strictly for the use of RVing Today TV and participating sponsors. No information will be shared with any third party companies. 

INDEMNIFICATION AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

By entering our contests, each entrant agrees to indemnify and hold harmless sponsors, promotional agencies and sponsors employees from any liability damages, losses, or injuries resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly from entrants participation in the contest and acceptance, use or misuse of any prizes that may be won.By participating in this contest, each entrant agrees to abide by these official rules including all eligibility requirements, and understands that the results of the contest as determined by the sponsors and its agents are final in all respects. The contest is subject to all federal, state and local laws and regulations and is void where prohibited by law.

RVing Today TV, together with our sponsors, often run contests.

CONTEST RULES: To enter the contest you must be at least 18 years of age and a resident of the United States or Canada. Employees, contractors and immediate family of RVing Today TV or participating sponsors are ineligible to enter. 

Winners will be notified by email or phone to confirm the entry information.  Winners have 48 hours to confirm or we will choose another winner. Confirmed winners name (first name, last name initial and state)  will be posted on our website at http://www.rvingtoday.tv/ and on our Facebook page, facebook.com/rvingtoday each week and other possible social media sites.

HOW TO ENTER: Fill out the entry form with your name, address, phone number, email address and the type of RV you own. Example: (2006 Jayco Eagle 5th wheel). It’s that simple. If you prefer, you can mail your entry information to: RVing Today TV,  Jose Moniz, PO Box 322, Mattapoisett, MA. 02739.

Names and personal information of participants is strictly for the use of RVing Today TV and participating sponsors. No information will be shared with any third party companies. 

INDEMNIFICATION AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

By entering our contests, each entrant agrees to indemnify and hold harmless sponsors, promotional agencies and sponsors employees from any liability damages, losses, or injuries resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly from entrants participation in the contest and acceptance, use or misuse of any prizes that may be won.By participating in this contest, each entrant agrees to abide by these official rules including all eligibility requirements, and understands that the results of the contest as determined by the sponsors and its agents are final in all respects. The contest is subject to all federal, state and local laws and regulations and is void where prohibited by law.

Welcome “RVing Today’s” “Paws on Board,” I’m Dr. Fitz, and this is Sully. Today, we’re gonna be discussing what you should do if your pet breaks a nail. Dogs and even cats can break their nails in a variety of ways. Some young or high-energy dogs and cats like to run around and often stop and turn quickly. We usually see this when they have the zoomies. Some dogs will get their nails stuck between boards on a deck or even on a dock if near water. Cats can also get their nails stuck on furniture or in carpeting. However they do it, broken nails can be a pain to deal with and usually should be taken care of as soon as possible.

When a pet breaks a nail, they usually do it in such a way that the “quick” is exposed. The “quick” is the collection of nerve fibers and blood vessels that feed the nail. When this is exposed, it can be very painful. As a comparison, think of how sensitive your nail beds are. If you get something stuck under your nail, this can hurt pretty badly. Once a nail is broken, it can bleed profusely depending on the extent of the damage, and some pets won’t let their owners touch the paw. Occasionally, the bleeding will stop on its own but can start up again if the clot is disturbed when the pet runs or walks. So what should you do if you think your pet has broken a nail?

First, try to keep them confined to a small area such as a bathroom. This will keep the mess contained but also reduce the amount of contamination to the nail. Second, grab your handy first-aid kit and the necessary supplies. You’ll need a nonstick dressing, gauze padding and self-adherent wrap, and scissors. Third, if your pet will let you, gently apply the nonstick dressing and then the gauze padding to the nail, and then wrap lightly with the self-adherent dressing. This can help to stop any bleeding and will keep the nail bed protected. But, remember, a broken nail can be very painful, so if your pet is attempting to bite, do not wrap the paw, and take them right to a vet. If you’re able to wrap the paw, your pet should then be taken to a veterinarian for assessment. Sometimes there are remaining pieces of broken nail that should be removed, and your pet will often need pain medication and antibiotics for several days. Also, keep in mind that, if larger pieces of broken nail are still fairly attached, your pet may need some sedation to allow for safe and pain-free removal of the nail. Often, we send pets home with a temporary bandage on the foot and a cone to prevent them from licking and chewing at the nail. If you already have a cone for your pet, this could be helpful to bring along on your trip. If you’re not able to see a vet right away, you can keep the paw covered and keep a cone on your pet. If you have to wait until the next day, try to change the bandage at least once before then to prevent infection from a wet bandage.

As a side note, we do not recommend bandaging your pet’s foot with duct tape or keeping a bandage on for more  han 24 hours at a time. Duct tape can be very difficult and painful to remove and is often applied too tight. Bandages that are kept on for too long often cause more harm than good and can lead to serious pain and infection. Moral of the story, have a first-aid kit and having a first-aid kit and even a cone with you while traveling, and keep a list of local vets on hand so your pet could be cared for quickly. Be safe and be prepared when traveling with your pets. 

Tune in next time for more pet-health information. I’m Dr. Fitz, and this is Sully. Thanks for watching “Paws on Board.”
Good job, buddy.

Hi, I’m Mark Polk with RV Education 101, and I would like to welcome you to “RV 101: Understanding Your RV.” Today’s topic is “Understanding a Vehicle’s Powertrain and How Towing Affects It.” Let’s start right now.

Let’s start by explaining what a vehicle powertrain is. The powertrain on a rear-wheel-drive vehicle like this includes every component required to get the power from the engine to the rear axle. The vehicle’s engine is rated by horsepower and torque. To get that torque to the vehicle’s rear wheels requires several components in the vehicle’s drivetrain. First, the power leaving the engine goes to the transmission.

In this case, it’s an automatic transmission. The transmission provides you with a variety of gear ranges based on the speed and torque for the driving conditions. Most modern-day vehicles used for towing or hauling heavy loads will have a tow/haul mode. If you are towing and the transmission keeps shifting in and out of gears, you can use the tow/haul mode. Read your owner’s manual for more information on tow/haul and gear selection when towing. From the transmission, the power is delivered to the rear axle by way of the driveshaft. The axle uses a pinion and ring gear
to get the power to both rear wheels. Axles come with different gear sets which is typically referred to as the axle ratio. The axle ratio is a comparison of how many times the driveshaft rotates in relationship to how many times the rear wheels rotate. Axle ratios are expressed in numeric value. For example, a 3.73:1 axle ratio means the driveshaft or pinion gear rotates 3.73 times for each rotation of the wheels or the ring gear. The lower the numeric value is, the better the axle is for fuel economy, and the higher the numeric value is, the better the axle is for towing.

Under normal driving conditions, all of these components do their individual jobs with very little stress and with operating temperatures in the normal ranges. When you add additional weight to the vehicle, like a travel trailer or fifth-wheel trailer, the components we just discussed are expected to do the same job as before with the added weight and stress on the components. Let’s see what happens under this scenario.

With additional weight comes more heat and friction as the driveline does its job. When the coolant, oil, and fluids run hotter than normal, it’s more difficult to lubricate the metal-on-metal components, causing increased friction and wear. This is why truck manufacturers offer tow packages. To counter the effects of the added stress and optimize towing, a tow package offers things like a heavy-duty cooling system, engine-oil coolers, and transmission coolers. Many go even further and provide an upgraded suspension system, larger brakes, a built-in trailer brake controller, and tow mirrors. And when you use the proper hitch components, like a weight-distributing hitch, it helps lessen the stress on the powertrain when you’re towing a trailer.

You can see how a tow package is designed to help deal with the added heat and stress placed on the vehicle’s powertrain, but possibly the most important thing we, as owners, can do is make sure the engine coolant, oil, fluids, and all the filters are replaced on a regular schedule. Fresh oil fluids and filters provide the highest degree of lubrication qualities and are the best defense against heat, friction, and stress on the powertrain components.

Happy camping.

Happy camping from Mark Polk of RV Education 101

To learn more about how to use your RV,

Happy RV Learning,

Mark Polk, your trusted source for RV education

RV outfit 27North just figured out a way to get even more of the Ford F-250 SuperCab 4×4.

The Missouri-based company has launched a new model based on the popular full-size truck called the RexRover. The vehicle comes outfitted with a large camper shell that will let you take all the comforts of home on the road—no matter how far off the beaten path you intend to venture.

The F-250 SuperCab 4×4 is about as capable of an expedition truck base as you could ask for. The pickup isn’t Ford’s biggest, but it’s up there, with its two-door cab that features a 2+2 seating configuration with more than enough room for four grown adults. Under the hood, you’ll find a class-leading 7.3-liter V-8 that churns out 430 hp and 485 ft lbs of torque. The mill is mated to a 10-speed SelectShift automatic transmission that sends power to all four wheels and should be powerful enough to conquer even the roughest of terrain. Read the rest of the story, and access more photos, here.

Hi, I’m Mark Polk with “RV Education 101.” I think one thing we can all agree on is when you travel in an RV and stop
at different destinations, it’s a good idea to have some type of water-filtration system on board. The good news is the full line of AquaFRESH water filters by Valterra gives you all the options you need for safe and refreshing water in your RV. Let me show you more about the AquaFRESH water filters right now.

Mark: Safe drinking water has always been on the minds of RV owners. Today we are going to talk about a full line of AquaFRESH water filtration that will ease your mind about drinking water when you are camping. Before we jump into the AquaFRESH filters, there are a few terms you need to understand. One is the filter’s micron rating. This determines the size of debris that is filtered out of the water. To give you some perspective, one micron is equal to one millionth of a meter. Next, we have the filtration media. You will hear me mention GAC’s, which is granular activated carbon. In laymen’s terms, GAC’s reduce the taste and odor of chlorine. Then there is kinetic degradation fluxion, or KDF. KDF is the most advanced water-filtration media there is. It uses copper and zinc to produce a chemical reaction that removes harmful chemicals from the water.

Speaking of media, there are two carbon-block cartridges. This exterior carbon-block cartridge filters to five microns, which is good, but this advanced carbon-block cartridge filters to 0.05 microns. Then we have the cyst  and sediment cartridge, which filters to one micron and removes rust, sediment, and cyst. And, last, but certainly not least, is the sediment pre-filter cartridges. They filter at 10 microns and remove rust and sediment. So you can see water filters offer various degrees of protection, depending on the media and microns. For example, this 20-micron exterior inline water filter eliminates concerns about rust, sediment, chlorine, volatile organic chemicals or VOCs, mercury, lead, and copper, and it is good for up to 3,000 gallons of water or six months. It includes this hose saver to connect the filter between the drinking water hose and the RV. Now, all the water going into the RV is filtered. Now, let’s say you only wanna filter the water at the kitchen sink. This is an interior RV in-line water filter. It has half-inch fittings on both ends to install it in line. It filters to 20 microns, using both GACs and KDF media, which removes rust, sediment, chlorine, VOCs, mercury, lead, and copper. 

This is a single exterior water-filter system. It includes a single housing with a five-micron carbon-block cartridge,
a wall bracket, and a filter wrench. If we look at our chart, carbon block reduces rust, sediment, chlorine taste, and odor,
and volatile organic chemicals or VOCs. It is rated for 500 gallons or 6 months. This dual exterior water filtration system comes with a 10-micron sediment pre-filter, a 0.5-micron advanced carbon-block filter, a wall bracket, and a filter wrench. The sediment pre-filter removes rust and sediment. Then the water goes through an advanced carbon-block filter to reduce fine rust, sediment, cyst, chlorine taste and odors, VOCs, and mercury.

Mark: So there you have it, AquaFRESH water filters by Valterra give you all the options you need for safe and refreshing water in your RV.

Happy camping from Mark Polk of RV Education 101

To learn more about how to use your RV,

Happy RV Learning,

Mark Polk, your trusted source for RV education

Welcome to “RVing Today’s” “Paws on Board.” I’m Dr. Fitz, and this is Ace.

Today we’re gonna be discussing dehydration. We discussed a similar topic, heatstroke, in season one of “Paws on Board,” so make sure you check out that episode as well. When you’re on the road, your pet could easily become dehydrated, and today we’ll look at several different ways that this can happen. One, if you’re out and about, taking a hike, walking around town, or even during a long travel day, your pet could become dehydrated. This can be any situation where they’re very active, it’s very warm, or they have long periods without access to water. Two, if your pet becomes sick, they can become dehydrated. For example, repeated vomiting or diarrhea can quickly deplete body fluid, especially in very young or very old pets or pets with chronic conditions, which leads us to number three. Pets with chronic conditions such as kidney disease can become dehydrated more quickly than a healthy pet. Keep this in mind if you travel with a chronically ill pet. So now you know a bit about how dehydration can happen. What does it look like? A dehydrated pet may be more lethargic, meaning they’re more tired and not as interested in activity. They may not be interested in food, and they might vomit. Their saliva can actually become more thick and stringy versus its normal watery consistency, and their gums will be tacky and not moist to the touch. A common misconception is that a dog’s nose is a good indicator of if they are sick or not. Whether a dog’s nose is wet or dry is not directly related to their health, so try not to use this to monitor your pet’s hydration.

A quick test that you can do is to check your pet’s skin turgor. In a healthy dog, if you pinch the skin and pull up, the skin should bounce back to normal position very quickly. In a severely dehydrated pet, the skin may take longer to bounce back and will hold that pinched position for longer. So what should you do if you suspect that your pet is dehydrated?
If your pet is showing signs of severe dehydration such as poor skin turgor, vomiting, and is very lethargic, they should be seen by a veterinarian right away. Severe dehydration can cause problems to internal organs, and your pet should be rehydrated under the supervision of a veterinarian. Like with heatstroke, you should get your pet out of the sun and into a cool location and allow them to relax. If they’re mildly dehydrated, offer them small amounts of water frequently. Drinking full bowls of water very quickly can cause its own problems, and if you correct dehydration too quickly, this can lead to fluid imbalances in the body. Again, if your pet is not improving, they should be seen by a veterinarian. There, they can receive fluid therapy and any other supportive care that they may need. So how do you avoid this situation in the first place? If you’re traveling in your RV for most of the day, make sure to give your pet breaks frequently so that they can use the bathroom and drink some water.

If you’re hiking or walking around town, make sure to have water and portable bowl with you to keep your pet hydrated. Keep in mind that when they’re active, your pet will need more water to drink than they would when relaxing at home. Also take the heat into account. Heatstroke and dehydration are closely associated. If it’s warm outside, you should give your pet  frequent water breaks in the shade to cool off. Dehydration can become serious very quickly, so having water on board can keep your paws on board happy and hydrated. For more information about traveling safely with your pets, visit RVingToday.tv. 

Dr. Fitz: All right, we have a good friend here today for “Paws on Board.” This is Britney from Jones Natural Chews. Welcome to the show.

Britney McKay: Thanks for having me. Dr. Fitz: We’re here to talk about Jones Natural Chews. Can you tell us a little bit about the company and what you guys are all about? Britney: Yeah, the company was founded in 1991 by the Jones family. They owned a meat locker and butcher shop, and so dog chews were kind of like a natural product extension. 1991 is when they, like, fully committed to the dog chews line, and so they’ve been making natural bones, chews, and treats ever since. Dr. Fitz: Okay, what makes the Jones Natural Chews different from normal, like, dog treats? What are you guys all about there? Britney: So, everything is natural. Like I said, no artificial ingredients included, and that’s great for a dog’s diet.

Dr. Fitz: Exactly. Britney: And everything is sourced out in the United States, and all the manufacturing is done in our own plants, so quality is really important for our furry family members. So we keep a really,
like, tight hold on that.

Dr. Fitz: Perfect. That’s awesome. And you guys have all sorts of products. You have bones to, like, pig ears, and then you also have, like, bags of treats?

Yes, anything fun to treat or reward your dog with, we cover it. So you have those bones, and then you have, like, turkey treats, and then smaller, like, training-treat type thing?

Britney: Yeah, everything is meat-based, and meat’s always the first ingredient because dogs need lots of protein in their diets. So, we have the bagged treats, so, jerky sticks. We have links, a pretty wide variety, and then we have patties as well, and then chews, so, yeah, there’s a lot of great functional ingredients, and one of our first was actually, like, a rolled pigskin. It’s great for dogs too. Yeah, good for, you know, skin and coat health.

So you have a nice variety for dogs that have different preferences and people that wanna maybe break some of ’em up and give small training treats, so you’ve got some good options.

Well, thanks, Britney. 

“Paws on Board” is brought to you by Jones Natural Chews, American sourced and made in America.

Welcome to “RVing Today’s” “Paws On Board,” I’m Dr. Fitz, and this is Sully. Today we’re going to be discussing identification, specifically what types of ID are available for dogs and how they can help to reunite pets with their owners. I’ve said this before on “Paws On Board,” and I’ll say it again. Every dog should have some form of ID on them. This is invaluable in the event that your dog slips their harness or collar or decides to wander away from the campsite. Good identification increases the odds that you will be reunited with your dog.

One of the most common forms of identification is a dog tag. These can be easily printed at pet stores and attached to your dog’s harness or collar. These tags should at minimum include your name and phone number, bonus points if you have your address as well. This form of ID is cheap, easy to attach, and you can get creative with it.

The other option for identifying your pet is a microchip. A microchip is a small device that is about the size of a grain of rice. It is injected into your pet’s scruff area by a veterinarian.  Microchips can be scanned by special scanners available at shelters and veterinary hospitals. Each microchip has a unique number that’s linked to your pet. This number can then be looked up in a database to find which company manufactured the chip. If your pet is lost, by scanning the chip we can figure out which company to call to get the owner’s information. 

This brings us to an extremely important point. Make sure that your personal information is up to date for your pet’s microchip. As a vet, I’ve unfortunately seen many lost pets come into the clinic with microchips that either have out-of-date information or it hasn’t been registered at all. In these cases, we don’t have an easy way to reunite the pet with their owner. The most common time to microchip pets is when they are spayed or neutered. The microchip is injected with a rather large needle, so it can be nice to do while your pet’s already asleep. However, if this wasn’t done, you can still get your pet microchipped as most dogs and cats tolerate the poke fairly well. If that isn’t enough to convince you to get a microchip for your pet, a 2009 study showed that lost dogs without a microchip were reunited with their owners only about 21% of the time while dogs with a microchip were reunited about 52% of the time. This means that a microchip over-doubled the chances that owners were reunited. with their lost dogs. If you travel frequently with your pet, I strongly recommend having both forms of ID. You can have a pet microchipped and also attach a dog tag for easy access. On the road, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Tune in next time for more pet health information. I’m Dr. Fitz. Thanks for watching “Paws On Board.”

Hi, everyone. I’m Kate Dunbar, the Campground Gourmet for “RVing Today TV.” Today I’m showing you how to make a delicious and flavorful southwestern cedar planked salmon meal. We’re prepping it in the kitchen and taking it out on the grill in a few minutes.

So let’s get to the ingredients. I have two salmon fillets here, I have green and yellow bell pepper that I’ve thin-sliced in long strips, I have some onion, and I have some sliced garlic. I’ve made up a southwestern seasoning mix with two teaspoons of kosher salt, two teaspoons of black pepper, one teaspoon of chili powder, and one teaspoon of ground cumin. All you have to do is shake it together and place it in a bowl. I also have some chopped cilantro, and I’ve included using the stems too because they have a tremendous amount of flavor. And we’ve got a little bit of olive oil.

Let’s get this together. First, I want to season my salmon. I’m going to take the olive oil and just drizzle about a teaspoon or two over each fillet here, and you just want to rub it in. You sort of turn it over. It is skin on, and that’s perfect. All right. Now, with your clean hand, your non-oily hand, hold your hand up high, sprinkle the southwestern seasoning liberally over your fish ’cause you want it to get all over; and that ground cumin is going to give it such a rich smoky flavor that’s traditional in any southwestern cooking.

All right, let’s get the sides. Perfect. You don’t want to miss any spots. You don’t need to season the skin unless if you’re someone who does eat salmon skin. There are a couple of you that do, and some of you who don’t. So it’s fine. Now, I’m going to push that up to the front. We’re going to bring over our cedar plank. Now, I’ve soaked this in water for about 30 minutes and it’s ready to go, but we’re going to build a bed on here that the salmon is going to sit on. So as the salmon cooks and releases its beautiful flavors, it’s going to do that right into the vegetables. And then once the cedar wood starts to smoke, it’s going to perfume the onions, the bell pepper, and especially that salmon. So the easiest way to do this is take some of your bell peppers. Just place them on there. Take some of your onions. Place those on there. And then do another little layer in the opposite direction just so everything stays on your cedar plank here. One more layer of onion. Do that around the side and the center, and just kind of mound it together. Build it all there and then press down. Now, take your sliced garlic and add it all around. There we go. Take your olive oil, just do a little drizzle over your vegetables. Just a little, maybe a teaspoon or two. Okay, now you’re going to take your southwestern seasoning and you’re going to dust all the vegetables with it because you want them to have the same flavor that the salmon’s going to have. Maybe a quarter teaspoon, half a teaspoon at the most. All right, let’s push this off to the side. We’re done here. We’re going to take a little bit of that cilantro, sprinkle it over the top of the vegetable bed. Now we’re going to bring back our salmon. Let’s place these right on top here. Make certain to press it down so you know it’s making contact with the vegetables. It’s not going to fall off. Take a little bit of that cilantro, go over the top and, again, all over the vegetables.

All right. We’re ready to go take this outside to the grill. Okay, here we are. My grill is set up where I have some nice hot coals. There aren’t any flames, and that’s the trick when you’re cooking with cedar. You don’t want flames licking the bottom of this and starting it to char. You just want it to smolder for the heat. So if you’re at the campground, you want to make certain that you’re above the heat by about at least 6 inches. That ground is really, really hot, and all those coals are too. You just kind of want to lay them down, press them down so they’re not just peeking right underneath that cedar plank. Let’s take this, careful not to spill anything, and I’m going to place it right on the grill, put the lid on, and I’m going to make certain that the holes are right over that salmon. So as the air draws in from down underneath the grill, it’s going across the salmon and out the vent. This should take about 12 minutes. All right, it’s been about 12 minutes. Let’s take a peek at our salmon and see if it’s ready. Oh, it’s perfect. I can see the white on here. It started to get nice and toasty. Let me grab a bell pepper really quick. It’s got a great crunch; but it’s perfectly cooked, nice and warm all the way through. I think this is finished. So let me put this lid down, let me grab a set of tongs, and let’s see if I can lift this up in one piece without spilling anything. I’m going to have the side of the barbecue help me out here.

All right. Well, here we are at our table. Our salmon is finished. I’ve poured myself a really nice glass of Pinot Grigio, which will go perfect with all those warm spices: the cumin, the pepper, and the chili powder. And then I’ve got the onions, the bell pepper, and the garlic, and especially the fresh cilantro. Well, no better way than just to dig in and give it a try. Oh, that salmon looks perfect. All right, couple of vegetables. All right, let’s give it a taste. Oh, that salmon just flakes right off perfectly. That cedar smoke has just permeated the entire piece of salmon. It’s beautiful and it works so well with the ground cumin. And its smokiness, it’s the perfect compliment. Now, I know I already tried the vegetables over there at the grill, but I just want to try them again because there’s nothing better than a perfectly-smoked bell pepper that still has a little bit of bite to it and isn’t mushy, and that’s exactly what these are. Mmm, perfect. This is the way to eat when you’re at the campground. I’m Kate Dunbar, the Campground Gourmet. I’ll see you at the campfire.

2020 Grand Design Imagine XLS Travel Trailer, Model 22RBE

Asking $33,000

This particular highly popular Grand Design Imagine XLS is a Model 22RBE. It’s been greatly enhanced over the last 2 years to promote our sponsors and has been featured on RVing Today TV many times – RVing Today.TV is the #1 RV weekly television show in the country. This RV is personally owned by Michelle Fontaine who tells the story of most of the installs and upgrades which you can view with the links below.

This 25′ RV is easily a full-time RV for one or two people, yet easy to pull and travel with. It has a separate bedroom with a queen sized bed (with upgraded mattress!) and two closets and drawers on each side. Yes, it’s a walk around! The full bathroom is separated nicely and has an awesome shower, sink, toilet and countertop.  So many features and it’s a Grand Design RV!

This lightweight edition is rated at 6400 GVWR and can be towed with a mid-sized truck.  Michelle pulled this cross country from MA to AZ  6 times, taking various paths, and has crossed every major mountain range pulling it with her 6 cylinder Toyota Tacoma. It pulls like a dream.

Grand Design is high on the list for quality RVs and the 22RBE is one of their most popular travel trailer designs. This 3-D image is the exact interior of the unit for sale. Actual images of unit for sale follow. https://www.granddesignrv.com/travel-trailers/imagine-xls/22rbe

Our unit boasts a Go Power 30 amp Solar System that has two 190W solar panels on the roof, a 250 W Lithium battery safely stored in the cargo bay and a 2500 IC – Inverter/Converter. This sophisticated solar system allows for lots of off-grid recreation! Be sure to watch the video below to understand the power of this system.

Go Power Solar System – value $10,000 – installed July 2022 – See install and the story here .

Stronger back bumper for bike carrier – replaced lightweight bumper now can hold a bike/s, motorcycle – not recommended to pull a vehicle – https://rollinontv.com/ebike-rv-trailer-hitch-mount-on-show-segment-2022-14/

Global lock – one key system for cargo doors and entry door https://rollinontv.com/installing-a-global-link-keyless-lock-and-more-on-show-segment-2022-11/

Two Underneath Sewer Hose Storage Tubes – The 22RBE has one cargo bay that extends the width of the front, so two entry doors. We felt it would be a great idea to get the sewer hoses out of that precious cargo space so we installed two tubes underneath for them.  https://rollinontv.com/jeff-johnston-installs-sewer-hose-storage-tubes-under-the-rv-on-show-segment-2022-03/

Back up Rear Camera – Especially when traveling alone, having the rear camera view when backing into a campsite, or even being able to watch the traffic behind you on the road, this is a really handy addition to our RV! https://rollinontv.com/michelle-installs-an-rv-back-up-camera-for-under-300-on-show-segment-2022-02/

RV Cover – This important addition to our RV Accessories protects it during harsh weather. I put this on myself and that’s what this video is about. If I can do it, so can you! https://rollinontv.com/rv-covers-to-protect-against-summer-heat-on-show-segment-2021-14/

TPMS – Tire Pressure Monitoring system –  When traveling, it’s very comforting to know how your RV tires are performing. Alerts with tire pressure gets low or tires get hot. https://rollinontv.com/michelle-and-laurie-install-a-tire-pressure-monitoring-system-you-can-too/

Roadmaster suspension system – Shock absorbers and Slipper Springs smooth out those bumps that wear out trailers and shake things apart! – https://youtu.be/23t9pSBY73o

Winegard Internet Connect – THIS story was on our first RV, which was a smaller Lance Trailer, but we had the same unit installed on the Grand Design – this usually takes the campground wi-fi and boosts it about 4 times – this tells you how it works – https://youtu.be/Fs4kOS815JE

• New Reese weight distribution hitch system #44913 installed 2-7-23 – rated for 7500 lbs. Easier to hitch up than the original ProMaster system rated for 10,000 lbs.
• Transferrable Service Contract from Viking Protection Plan, through Wholesale Warranties, good thru 8/27/27.
• Frig replaced with higher quality Norcold frig – 2021
• Both axles replaced in 2021 due to Dexter axle recall.
• Spare tire holder system purchased, but not installed, included.

Asking price is $33,000

Contact Michelle at michelle@rvingtoday.tv or 508-769-9137. Serious inquiries only!

Now, most of us who own RVs also own devices, of one kind or another, that are either charged by or powered by a USB port. The RV industry understands that and they put USB ports standard in most RVs these days. Our Palomino comes with one port in the radio. And one is just fine if all you’ve got is one device, but we have two phones and heaven knows however many other video production related devices we need to charge. So we needed to add another device or another port to the Palomino. Thankfully, we were able to reach out to our friends at RecPro and we came up with a really great solution. This is the RecPro Dual USB Charger, part number RP-41680, and there’s two USB ports on the front. It’s only about 2 1/2 inches diameter or a little bit smaller, not very deep, it’ll fit in an awful lot of little corners in a cabinet someplace, and it only has two wires to connect it, 12 volt positive, 12 volt negative. That makes it one of the easier aftermarket accessory installs that you’ll do on your RV. We decided to use one of these guys, and we’ll show you how it works going into our Palomino.

Jeff: We used a 1 3/8 inch Forstner Bit to drill a smooth hole in the cabinet. We located a spot with no backside wire or plumbing interference and drilled the hole for the charge unit. Every wire joint was soldered and protected with heat shrink tubing. The 12 volt supply line is protected by a blade-type fuse holder. Always add a fuse to the new accessory power line. Three small woodscrews made fast work of mounting the charger. With the USB charger powered up, we connected our kindle and it indicated it was receiving current: Success.

Jeff: Well, that was a pretty easy install and it’s a very useful item. Now, we have three USB ports in the Palomino, which ought to be enough to cover most of what we need to do. As my dear wife Pam would say, we have juice. So check out the RecPro catalog and their dual USB charger and you might find it a pretty handy accessory for your RV too.

Hi, I’m Britta from TrailerChix, and today we are traveling up the Columbia River Gorge and we’ve landed at this beautiful vineyard, the Grande Dalles vineyard. The first picnic I’ve put together has a French theme. So I made these delicious sandwiches. They are made from a baguette and then layered in there we have some really nice vinaigrette, some hard- boiled eggs, canned tuna in olive oil, fresh basil, some red onions, red peppers. If tomatoes are in season, those are also good. So then you layer that, wrap it up tightly, and then put heavy weight on it for a couple of hours. And these can be wrapped up for 12 hours. They’re good to go.

When most people think of potato salad, they think of mayonnaise. This is actually a vinaigrette, and it’s really nice fresh tangy flavors. It’s got lots of fresh thyme, a little Dijon mustard, garlic, olive oil; and I packed it in this great Mason jar. And then to finish it off I have some grapes here, which are nice cold refreshing dessert, or you could get some cookies or whatever you like for dessert; a brownie, something delicious. So that’s a great easy picnic, just three things; and it goes perfectly with a nice dry Riesling.

Our second menu is an Italian-themed menu; and it’s going to start out with some olive ciabatta, and I’ve made a white bean and rosemary dip to go with that. And then the entree is going to be a really nice chopped salad. Everything is chopped nicely. It’s something you can prepare ahead, and I’ve layered it in this big jar; some lettuce, red peppers, some cucumbers and celery, marinated fresh mozzarella cheese, some little cherry tomatoes, and at the top there’s a mixture of salami and prosciutto and some black olives. For the salad, all I’m going to do is just pour the vinaigrette on it, kind of shake it around, and then you can toss it a little bit in the jar when you’re serving it. For dessert I’ve brought some nice fresh fruit that’s in season and some mascarpone, which is a nice creamy cheese to dip it into. We just have some strawberries, some apricots, and some fresh bean cherries.

The third and final picnic menu is an Asian-inspired menu. I made some grilled steak last night and I had some leftover, so that goes really nicely on top. It’s a noodle salad with rice noodles, cucumbers, carrots that you peel, radishes, cilantro, some big hit of mint, and some nice salted peanut. And then the dressing is really simple. It’s got the classic components of Vietnamese food that’s salty, sweet, sour, and hot. And you can just pour that on, toss it to eat. It’s perfect.

And then for dessert I just cut up some tangerines and some melon, and this melon has a little extra added deliciousness. I took a little coconut milk and chilled it and mixed in a little lime juice and some brown sugar. So that’s just drizzled on top with a little mint, and that is a beautiful Asian-inspired picnic lunch great with a dry soda. If you don’t want to drink–maybe you’re on the road and you don’t want to drink and drive, it’s always great to have this soda. It’s specifically made to pair with food and not too sweet. So that’s a really nice pairing.

Welcome to “RVing Today’s” “Paws On Board.” I’m Dr. Fitz, and this is Ace. Today we’re going to be discussing fleas. Yes, these are the dreaded little insects that can hitch a ride on our pets and make them scratch like you’ve never seen.

So what exactly are fleas? Fleas are small insects that are found in most outdoor environments. They find their way onto your dog or cat and hitch a ride for the remainder of their adult life. They survive by taking small blood meals, kind of like a mosquito, and then fleas will lay their eggs which fall off your pet and into the environment. This gets us to why fleas are such a problem. The flea eggs that fall into the environment, or in other words your house or RV, develop into a pupa which is similar to a cocoon. They will then do one of two things. They will stay dormant and wait until conditions are just right to emerge or they emerge right away as an adult flea. The entire life cycle can take as little as 2 weeks, and female fleas can lay several thousand eggs in their lifetime. This means that a small flea problem can quickly get out of hand and turn into an infestation within a matter of weeks. 

Fleas also pose a health problem to our pets. One of the most common issues that I see as a veterinarian is FAD or flea allergy dermatitis. This is a condition in which pets are hypersensitive to flea bites, and the bite of only one or two fleas can trigger a severe allergic reaction. These pets are intensely itchy and often develop severe skin infections. In addition to flea treatment, these pets will usually need antibiotics and steroids to feel better. Fleas can also be the source of systemic bacterial infections following a bite, some of which can spread to people. They can also be a source of tapeworms if your pet ingests a flea while they’re grooming. 

Needless to say all of these conditions, allergies, bacterial infections, tapeworms, and household infestations, can be avoided with one major component: prevention. Preventative products are key to preventing flea bites and infestations. There are many different formulations available, including flea collars, chewable products, and topical or spot-on treatments. Most products last for about 1 month, but there are several on the market that last longer. You should talk to your vet about which product would be right for your pet.

So we know that flea prevention can prevent infestations, but flea prevention is also used to treat infestations. Generally, products need to be used for a minimum 3 months in a row, if not longer, to fix a flea problem. Remember the pupa stage I talked about earlier? These can lay dormant for 4 months or more, biding their time until they have a host nearby. This means that if you store your RV for the winter you could have a resurgence of fleas once you take your first spring vacation. If you have your pet on an effective preventative product, you can essentially stop the flea lifecycle. This is exactly why most veterinarians recommend year-round flea prevention.

An important note about flea prevention is that it is specie specific. Do not apply dog flea products to cats as they can have life-threatening reactions to these medications. Finally, if your pet has fleas, cleaning your house or RV is a must. Fleas like to burrow deep into fabrics, meaning blankets, bedding, and rugs need to be washed well and carpets vacuumed frequently to get rid of the fleas.

Here’s a quick check that you can do at home to check if your pet has fleas. You can grab a flea comb, which is a super fine-toothed comb like this, and comb through your pet’s fur. You comb around the base of the neck and the head and then around the tail base. You may catch some adult fleas, but you might also see a collection of black specks. If you see these, try to smear them on a paper towel with a small amount of water. If they leave a rust-colored trail on the paper towel, you’re seeing flea dirt or flea poop; meaning that yes, your pet has fleas. As I said before, preventing fleas is much easier than treating them, especially when on the road. So make sure your pet is up to date on their prevention before leaving for a trip and save yourself the headache of an itchy pet.

Tune in next time for more pet health information. I’m Dr. Fitz, and this is Ace. Thanks for watching “Paws On Board.”

For over a decade, the Romotow T8 from W2 has been one of the world’s most fantastical camper designs, captivating both hardcore RVers and devout non-campers. The design became a retail reality earlier this year, a feat that once seemed rather unlikely. Sadly, at around $270,000, the launch T8 wasn’t a reality for the average observer anxiously awaiting its debut. Romotow is doing what it can to broaden the market for its expandable caravan, splitting the T8 into a three-model lineup that now includes an entry-level shell for the most affordable buy-in and an Ultimate flagship for the most luxurious glamping experience. Read the rest of the story, and access more photos, here.

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Hi. I’m Mark Polk with RV Education 101. Today I want to talk about my top seven RV safety checks you should make before each RV trip, but let’s start by asking ‘is our RV safe in general.’

When an RV is manufactured, it will have an oval shaped RVIA seal displayed on the exterior next to the entrance door. This seal means the RV manufacturer complies with more than 500 safety requirements regarding electrical, plumbing, heating and fire, and life safety. These safety requirements are established under the American National Standards Institute Standard for Recreation Vehicles. This should put to rest any concerns you have about the RV itself being safe when it is manufactured.

Now let’s go over my top seven safety checks to make prior to leaving on an RV trip. For starters it’s important you educate yourself on all the systems, appliances, and safety features on an RV and how to use the RV safely and effectively. There are probably 20 RV safety items we could discuss, but these are in no order the ones I feel should be checked prior to hitting the road.

Number one, always complete a pre-trip checklist before you head out on the road. Simple tasks like checking your tires, lights, fluid levels, pitch setup, all contribute to a safer RV trip. You should make these checks every day before traveling in your RV. I find it easier if you have these checks in the form of a checklist so nothing is overlooked or forgotten.

Number two, take care of your RV’s tires, and they will take care of you. When you are not using your RV, keep the tires covered to protect them from the damaging effects of ozone in the air and UV rays from the sun. Invest in a quality tire inflation pressure gauge and check the tire pressure in all tires every time you use the RV. Check and adjust the pressure when the tires are cold before moving the RV. Maintain the pressure recommended by the manufacturer based on weights. Consult your owner’s manual for proper tire inflation and never exceed the maximum pressure located on the tire sidewalls.

Number three, LP gas leak detector. I recommend you familiarize yourself with the odor and add it to LP gas to assist you in detecting a leak. The next time you go to have the LP gas cylinders or LP tank refilled, ask the attendant to let you smell the gas. Test the LP gas leak detector for proper operation. Check the expiration date on the detector and replace it when it expires. I write the expiration date on the cover as a quick reminder. It is not recommended you travel with the LP gas turned on. If you do have the gas on while traveling, turn off each individual pilot light appliance and the main gas supply before refueling.

Number four, the carbon monoxide detector. Carbon monoxide is called the silent killer because you cannot see it, smell it, or taste it. Test the carbon monoxide detector for proper operation every time you use the RV. Check the expiration date of the CO detector and replace it when it expires. Again, I write the expiration date on the cover as a quick reminder. Know what the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning are: dizziness, vomiting, nausea, muscular twitching, intense headache, throbbing in the temples, weakness and sleepiness, inability to think coherently. If you or anyone else experiences any of these symptoms, get to fresh air immediately. If the symptoms persist, seek medical attention immediately. If you were running the generator, shut it down, and do not operate it again until it is inspected and repaired by a professional.

Number five, smoke alarm. In less than 30 seconds, a small flame can turn into a major fire, and within a minute, the RV can be filled completely with smoke. RVs come equipped with a smoke detector. Test the smoke detector for proper operation. Instruct everybody in the RV on what your emergency escape plan is in the event of a fire.

RV 101 tip; if you hear a chirping noise coming from any detector, the battery is dying and needs to be replaced. If you remove dry cell batteries during storage, replace them with new batteries the following spring.

Number six, fire extinguishers. New RVs are required to have a fire extinguisher near the entry door. If you do not have a fire extinguisher, purchase an ABC rated fire extinguisher for your RV. I keep one inside the RV, one outside in a storage compartment I can easily access, and one in the tow vehicle if it’s not a motorized RV. Inspect the fire extinguisher before each trip. Look to see if the arrow’s pointing in the green area in the sight gauge. If it reads empty or needs charging, replace it or have it recharged immediately. Inspect all components of the extinguisher and make sure it is in proper operating condition. Inspect the safety pin, trigger, sight gauge indicator, hose or nozzle, tank,
and labeling. Every month you should turn dry powder extinguishers upside down, tap on the bottom of the extinguisher, and shake it so the powder settled on the bottom is released. If the powder’s packed in the bottom of the extinguisher, it may not discharge properly or at all when you need it.

Number seven, hitch components for a trailer or a towed vehicle. If you are towing a three or four-ton travel trailer or towing a vehicle behind a motorhome, you need to understand the importance of inspecting the hitch components prior to each trip. Check all the hitch components
on a trailer and on vehicles being towed behind a motorhome. It’s easy to forget a step when you install hitch components. So I recommend using a checklist and double-checking your work prior to leaving. Inspect the hitch components and or tow bar for any loose or missing hardware. Check the nuts and bolts for secure mounting. Inspect the hitch receiver for cracks or breaks in welds and loose nuts and bolts. Do not use any defective hitch components until repairs are made. Verify the hitch ball is the correct size for the coupler. Check the latch for secure mounting and that it is secured with a lock or safety pin. When everything is securely fastened, perform a brake check. Pull the vehicle forward slightly and tap the brakes. You should feel the trailer brakes or dinghy brakes engage and slow the vehicle down.

In addition to these safety checks, I recommend you keep an emergency roadside kit in the RV. A few simple items can get you out of a jam and assist you in staying safe until help arrives in the event you break down. I mentioned earlier there are many other safety concerns involved with owning and operating an RV, but these seven can keep you safe and let you enjoy all your RV trips.

Happy camping from Mark Polk of RV Education 101

To learn more about how to use your RV,

Happy RV Learning,

Mark Polk, your trusted source for RV education

Tucson, Arizona, warm winters, stately Saguaro cactus, and a flavor all its own. No wonder RVers love to snowbird here. I’m at the Tucson Visitor’s Bureau with Dan Gibson. He’s the director of communications for Visit Tucson. Dan Gibson: Yeah, absolutely, thank you for having me on your show. Evanne: Well, we’re so glad to have you here, and tell me about the RVer impact and RVers here in Tucson, Arizona. Dan: You know, RVing is obviously a big thing for us. I mean, it’s not just the weather, but I think that we have a lifestyle and a relaxing, laid-back sort of atmosphere that people really enjoy. That being said, there’s plenty to do and plenty to see, so it’s a nice combination for people here.

Evanne: Do you know how many RVers are here? Dan: You know, we haven’t done a specific number for it, but we know that, you know, it’s obviously a big influx. of people here, and when you’re driving down the street you’ll see RVers, but also filling up, you know, we have a wide variety of places, of campgrounds, and services for RVers, so those places are often pretty close to full during our busy season which is January through April. Evanne: Yeah, absolutely, the best weather. Dan: Yeah, exactly, it’s the perfect time to be here, and it helps especially this year that the weather is sort of miserable other places, so it’s been great for us.  

Now, what about attractions and museums? What’s hot to see here? Dan: I think one of the things you absolutely have to see if you come to Tucson is the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum. It’s generally considered one of the best museums in America. Sort of the basic idea is that it’s a zoo for animals from the southern Arizona, Sonoran Desert, but it’s so much more than that. It’s an experience where you really understand the desert itself. Surprising to a lot of people, there’s an aquarium there that showcases some of the sea life in northern Mexico. So, there’s big-horn sheep, there’s prairie dogs, there’s sea otters. It’s just a wide variety of, you know, flora and fauna from this area. 

Evanne: What about a hidden gem? What is something that people don’t really know a lot about, but you think they should not miss when they’re here? Dan: I think you have to see the Sona Viera, the mission. It’s a little bit south and west of Tucson, but it’s super close. It focuses on—it’s a mission that was built in the 1500’s, and it’s a collision of sort of the Native American culture, the Spanish culture that was here, and it’s still an operating church, so you can see mass there. But it’s got a wide variety of artwork, native artwork from the time period that was restored by actually the same people that did the Sistine Chapel, so it went through a lot of renovations recently, so it’s a beautiful place. It’s unlike anything else in America. Evanne: We were there quite a long time ago, and we had some frybread. Dan: Yeah, you have to have the frybread. So, you know, it’s dough, it’s a Tohono O’odham and Navaho treat thrown into a fryer. It can be sweetened up with, you know, honey and sugar, or served as a taco with red chili beef, or beans, or lettuce. It’s an incredible meal. 

Evanne: So, whether people are here for a week or a whole snowbird season, they’re gonna be busy. Dan: Oh, certainly, there’s so much to do here, especially in that time of year. bYou know, in January, you know, the gem show starts in January, which is one of the largest gem shows in the world. We have soccer preseason, We have a golf tournament, we have the Festival of Books, there’s really something happening pretty much every weekend. So, you know, if you wanna just lay back and relax, or you wanna get out and see people and the sights of the city, there’s something going on all of the time. Evanne: Wow, well, I know I love it, and I’ve been busy every day here, and there’s still so much more to see. Dan: Well, we try to keep people in touch with that stuff, so if you come to VisitTucson.org, our website, or you just stop by the Visitor’s Center here, we’re happy to help you however we can.

Evanne: There are a number of terrific parks in town, something for everyone. Let me tell you about three of your plentiful choices. We’re here at Voyager RV Resort, paradise for an active RVer. From pickleball, the fastest growing senior sport in the U.S. and a cross between tennis and ping-pong, to golf, to art, such as stained glass and lapidary, pools, spas, saunas, and a workout room, to concerts, discussions, and events, you’ll find plenty to do at Voyager. The Lazydays KOA has a lot going for it. It’s a beautiful park including their fabulous lemon, orange, and grapefruit trees. They’ve got a lovely pool, a terrific restaurant, and a convenient central location. If low key is more your style, you might look at the Pima County Fairgrounds. With easy I-10 access, it’s perfect for just soaking up the Tucson sun, and it’s an inexpensive, basic choice. So, what is there to do after you’ve found your perfect Tucson RV spot? 

Plenty, farm markets, fabulous sunsets, festivals galore, miles of bike trails, and five mountain ranges will definitely catch your attention. Tucson is home to the globally recognizable Saguaro cactus. Well preserved in two national parks, Saguaro National Park east and west, as well as the spectacular Catalina State Park. These gems offer hiking trails and picnic shelters, loop drives, and up-close views of this desert cactus that grows nowhere else in the world except right here in the Sonoran Desert. If art is more your thing, don’t miss the DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun on the northside of town. DeGrazia was famous for his impressionistic paintings of Native Americans and children. He’s also famous for burning a number of his originals, it’s said to have been $1.5 million worth, in protest of the inheritance tax. Enjoy a stroll through the museum, his home and studio, and don’t miss the simple but spectacular Mission in the Sun, showcasing DeGrazia’s hand-painted frescos, fabulous. There’s the Titan Missile Museum just south of town where you can go deep down into a missile silo and see what it would have been like down there if the red button had of been pushed during the Cold War. Does science capture your imagination? Then you’re gonna really love Biosphere 2, now run by the University of Arizona. Of course, Biosphere 1 is the planet Earth. You might recall that in the early ’90s, scientists known as biospherians were sealed inside the glass dome for two years conducting earth science research and growing most of their food in this manmade environment. Today, you can tour the biosphere, see the biomes, walk the grounds, and learn more about how these folks lived, cooked, and recreated. Like my pal Dan at the Tucson Visitor’s Center mentioned, Tucson is reinventing itself as a foodie destination, and your dining options are many, from fine and fancy to simple and delicious. For example, on my way out to a hike, I often stop at a local sandwich joint, Beyond Bread, and pick up one of their fabulous flagship sandwiches to share with my husband, Ray. It’s so good.

Sunday mornings are reserved for my favorite Tucson food truck, Planet of the Crepes, at St. Phillip’s Farmer’s Market. They’re experts at using farm-fresh products from the market vendors to produce mouthwatering meal-sized crepes, yum. One of my favorite local gem spots to sit down and enjoy a relaxing meal is Poco & Mom’s Cantina, perfectly located for delicious
dining after a drive to the top of Mount Lemmon, or a hike through Sabino Canyon. Score a table on their patio, enjoy the fabulous weather, ambiance, and the terrific New Mexican style food. Oh, Taylor, thank you. Oh, my gosh, this looks great. Goodness knows there’s so much more I could tell you about Tucson, but I suggest you come on down yourself and design your own Southern Arizona snowbird adventure. I’m Evanne from sunny Tucson, Arizona, cheers.

A Fun, Peaceful RV Destination in California’s High Sierras

Today’s “RVing Today” quick stop is Indian Grinding Rock State Historic Park and Campground located on State Highway 88 near Pinegrove, California, in the Highway 49 Gold Rush Country. The small campground features 23 paved dry campsites, some. with pull throughs, water stand pipes, and a modern shower and flusher bathroom facility. Picnic tables and fire rings, used in season, of course, are part of each campsite. Its curving accessed road and modest site sizes mean the park is limited to RVs 27 feet long or less. The campground is open all year around. We were there during the off season, it had few neighbors nearby, so things were quiet and calm throughout. A Ram and Palomino camper combination was a fine fit in our campsite that overlooked the grinding rock meadow and displays. Chaw-Se Regional Indian Museum and historic Miwok Indian site is a short walk or drive from the campground.

The Broad Meadow area incorporates reproduction Miwok structures, including the ceremonial roundhouse and a village with traditional bark houses. Its namesake grinding rock, a bed of marbleized limestone, features 1,185 grinding holes, plus 365 petroglyphs. The Miwok Indians used the grinding holes to pound acorns and other seeds into flour to make useful food products or medicines. Acorns were an important part of the Miwok diet, and this place with its ancient and abundant oak trees was an important tribal gathering area. Hiking trails give visitors a chance to stretch their legs while learning about the local fauna and flora. The Chaw Se Museum is. a professional operation managed by California State Parks. Its displays illustrate the local Miwok Indian culture and history of the grinding rock area. Descriptive displays and historic or reproduction artifacts help tell the Miwok Indian story. It’s not all good news, but it’s part of the historic record. A hands-on demo area includes typical Miwok uses of animal and plant products, including a ceremonial rattle made from deer hooves. And, of course, there’s a gift shop with toys, souvenirs, and books available. 

Peaceful camping in a quiet scenic location and a chance to learn more about the local native culture add up to a fun place to spend some time in the Sierra Foothills. For more information about Indian Grinding Rock State Park, log on to our website at RVingToday.tv. Jeff: Beautiful place. And if you happen to be heading for this campground on a Sunday morning and you have a hankering for a really great breakfast, stop in the town of Mokelumne Hill, little bit south of here on Highway 49 at the Renegade Winery. They only serve breakfast on Sunday mornings, but boy is it great stuff. We happened to eat there the other day, and it was fantastic. So, if you got a hankering, again, you’re hungry on a Sunday morning, stop in Renegade Winery, Mokelumne Hill. You won’t go wrong.

Oh, hello there. You’re just in time to learn how to make two fantastic dips, guacamole, and its easy companion pico de gallo. For a few fellas wanting some manly recipes, pico de gallo, I call these companion recipes because the majority of ingredients are shared. That makes it easy to chop once and enjoy two different flavor sensations. 

We’re gonna start with the pico de galo because it needs to sit a little while for the flavors to meld, then we’ll conquer the guacamole. Easy peasy, and it is so good. I came across this pico de gallo recipe when I was visiting South Padre Island, Texas a number of years ago. In fact, I was in the grocery store, and they had a lot of jalapeño peppers, and they had tomatoes and cilantro all gathered together. And there was a fellow in the produce section, and I asked him, what would one do with all of these ingredients together? And he said, “Of course, you would make pico de gallo. Pico de gallo was really like a fresh salsa. And he gave me his wife’s recipe which is really super easy. So I’m gonna show you how to do it. The base of it is tomato. Yum. So what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna just put some fresh tomato in a bowl. Now, I’ll tell you that a lot of people tell you to take out the seeds, the middle part of the tomato, but I like it nice and juicy, so I leave those in. That looks pretty good. Yeah, it’s just about three small tomatoes. Great. We’re gonna put in some cilantro. And a little bit of onion. Yep, just like that. And some peppers. Just a touch of salt. Mix it together, and that’s it. That is so simple, pico de gallo, yo. We’re gonna set it aside so the flavors can meld, then we’re gonna make our guacamole. 

Now, guacamole is really easy. I’ll tell you, I used to go to the produce section, buy my avocados, and pick up one of those little packages of dehydrated spices. Come home, smush up my avocado, pour the spice packet in, mix it up, and let it hydrate. It was pretty good. But once a long time ago I went to a restaurant called the Flying V in Tucson, and they had a guacamole at your table cart. It was there and then I saw how absolutely simple it was, and the flavor, oh, head and shoulders above the package. So let me show you, it’s super, super delicious. Here’s what we’re gonna do. We’ve got our tomatoes just like we had in our pico de gallo, right in like so. Some of our pepper. Again, not too much. We’re gonna add some onion just like that, and some cilantro. Up to now it’s identical to pico de gallo. Next we’re gonna add fresh chopped garlic. I put that in just like so, and I’m gonna mix it about. Pico de gallo with garlic, right? And our avocado. So, we’re gonna cut our avocado. Like so, twist it, ooh, that’s a beauty. I’m gonna take my pit out.  All right, I’m gonna take this part of the avocado out. Use my fork. I’m gonna smoosh it up. The second half of my avocado I’m gonna take out, but I’m not gonna smoosh it too much, I’m gonna leave it a little bit chunky. Sometimes that works, and sometimes it doesn’t. We’ll see how it goes. The last thing we’re gonna do before our guacamole is actually ready to serve is we’re gonna add some salt. Now, you might not want to add salt but you really need to add salt. It enhances the flavor. Just a little bit right in like that. 

Okay, I just wanna give you a little tip on the serranos or the jalapeño peppers. They’re, of course, pretty spicy, but when you cut them open and you slice them in half, they have seeds and white. Now, that’s where most of the heat resides. So you can moderate the heat by moderating how many seeds and how much white you leave in. I remove it all because what I want is a spicy flavor, but I don’t want it to really burn my mouth. So, this is what it looks like. 

All right, so the last thing we’re gonna do before we eat is we’re gonna put these in some pretty little bowls. Excellent. And our pico de gallo. These are terrific appetizers to enjoy at happy hour around the campfire. Add to tacos or burritos or as a quick side to morning eggs or a topper on your fresh catch. I’m RV Cooking Show Evanne, wishing you delicious dips, two of ’em right here, and many friends to share with.

Jeff Johnston here for “RVing Today TV.” Adding stability to a travel trailer is always a good thing. The less of that sway that you have while you’re towing, the more comfortable and the safer you are in the tow. Well, you can do that by making the correct adjustment between your hitch, your tire pressures, the loading in a trailer, and so on. But even when it’s dialed in just like you think it should be, sometimes it’s not quite right. In a case like that, you can enhance the stability with a device like this, the Tuson Sway Control. This is an electronic device, fastens to your trailer, doesn’t have any modifications on the tow vehicle, and this device is designed to automatically help bring the trailer back in line behind your vehicle in the event that you begin to have a sway situation, and it does that by rewiring the trailer brakes in a way that we’ll show you in a little bit here. Now, we’re going to go ahead and do the installation ourselves to show you that, yes, an owner can do this at home. If you feel at all uncomfortable with the idea of tapping into your brake lines or your wiring for the brakes, then don’t do it. Take it down to a shop, a certified dealer that can install it for you, ’cause it’s really not. that big of a deal. But if you’re comfortable with wiring and this is the sort of thing that really excites you and you kind of enjoy doing yourself, well, give it a shot. We’re going to go through the process and show you what it takes.

The instructions call for the Tuson to be mounted with between 1 and 10 feet back from the hitch ball. Well, this trailer has an underbelly. So, rather than dig into the underbelly and have to mess with that, we’re going to go ahead and mount it right here in the front– on the front, the first crossmember behind the hitch, and this puts it about 3 1/2 or 4 feet back from the ball, which is going to be plenty of room because what it needs to be able to do to sense the sway is when the trailer pivots on the hitch ball, the Tucson has to be able to move back and forth in order for the inertial sensors to be able to activate and apply the brakes and do what they’re doing to deter the sway. This ought to work fine. This also gives us ready access to the junction box for the trailer brake wires and so on. It ought to be a pretty straightforward installation.

First, we remove the batteries and battery trays, plus the propane cylinder cover to open up as much access as possible to the wiring areas. The Tucson installs in the center of the frame side to side. So, we’ll measure here. That’s 43. We got 21 1/2 right there. Okay, we have our location marked. So, we’ll be drilling a couple of holes per the instruction to mount that right about here. All right.

The sway control label includes a detailed wiring diagram that helps when you’re deep into the project. The owner’s manual, likewise, covers all of the details in easy-to-understand diagrams throughout. We’re fairly lucky we have pretty easy access to the brake control wiring and so on. It’s right here inside the frame, and the junction box is just up ahead here. So, we find everything pretty easy to trace. So, it’s a matter of following the wiring diagram on the case for the Tuson and, of course, the wiring diagram for your standard trailer wiring. It looks complicated, but work methodically, one wire at a time, and it all falls into place.

We have the sway control mounted here in the middle of the frame. The wires are tapped into the brake wiring and trailer wiring bundle over here. So, we’re going to secure all these with zip ties and so on, bundle them up, make sure they don’t rattle around while we’re driving down the road. And from here we move back to the wheels and take care of the brake separation back there.

This is the indicator light that you mount on the far side of the trailer someplace so the driver can look in the rearview mirror. And if the trailer begins its anti-sway activity, the LED lights up so the driver can kind of get an idea something’s happening back here. The actual brake wires have junctions back here behind the left-side wheels. So, in order to get a better access to that, we’re going to jack the axles up, prop everything up according to industry specs, take the wheels off, and be able to reach. the wiring we need to work on.

Well, we have the brake control mounted up on the front of the trailer. That’s ready to go and wired. Now what we’ve divide– done is divided the left-side brakes and the right-side brakes into two circuits, and we re– the left-side brakes is still connected to the original cabling. The new wire here is to connect to the right-side brakes so the brake controller– the Tucson Sway Control can control. them independently, which is what helps to bring the trailer back in line during a sway condition.

Don’t be shy about testing and tracing any wires that aren’t clearly labeled or color-coded. We finished the installation. It only took us around 7, 7 1/2 hours, including pauses to shoot video, of course. So, all that’s left now, go out, hit the road, and see how it works. Based on our last experience with a Tucson Sway Control, we are positively optimistic.

A final test is heading down the road and checking out the trailer’s handling in traffic conditions. We had no strong winds. to deal with, but lane changes and passing traffic produced no unwanted sway effects. A later freeway test produced the same results, with easily-controlled towing and minimal sway reactions. The Tuson Sway Control does what it’s advertised to do. For more information about the Tuson Sway Control, log on to our website at RVingtoday.tv

I’m Britta, the TrailerChix cooker, and today we’re gonna make brunch. I’ve some great helpers with me today, and they’re gonna help me make a really delicious frittata with farm fresh eggs from my neighbor’s yard.  And we’re gonna also make a beautiful salad with baby spinach and delicious strawberries. Then we’re going to show you a couple different ways you can make toast while you’re on the road. So, this is my friend Abby, and this is Ally, and they’re going to help make this frittata. You guys eat colored eggs? Do you know about these kind of eggs?

Well, these eggs are from the little tiny chickens. These are the smallest chicken eggs I’ve ever seen. These green ones are from a kind of chicken called the Araucana, and they lay these beautiful green and blue eggs. And then these are from another variety. I actually got these from a friend who has a couple. of backyard chickens, and I like to eat farm fresh eggs because for one, you’ll see. when we crack them,  the yolks are really orange and they’re high in nutrients and vitamins and they’re super delicious.

So, we’re going to. add. fresh thyme. I chose thyme because it goes well with mushrooms and ham. and asparagus.  About a teaspoon of salt. We’re doing about one dozen eggs. And then you guys are just going to whip that up. Whip them like you’re really mad at them.  Okay, while you guys are doing that, I’m going to sauté the vegetables. And then when I’m cooking vegetables, I like to give them a little salt ’cause that brings the water out. Releases the water. And then we’re going to add the mushrooms, and those will have to cook down a little. So, once your vegetables have sautéed for about five or six minutes. and the moisture has come out and they’re getting nice and tender, then we’re going to add– we have ham, which is already cooked. So, it just needs to be heated up a little bit. So, we’re going to add that in. So, next we are going to put our eggs in. So, these have been whipped up really nice.  They have fresh herbs,  little salt. And frittatas take about a half hour to prepare, and then what you want to do is just go around the edge  and bring the eggs to the middle. It’s been about ten minutes. We’ve stirred the eggs, brought them in from the outside into the middle. So, it’s almost set, but you can– as you can see here, it’s still a little bit liquid on top. So, we’re going to throw that in the oven that’s been heating up while we’ve been making this. But before we put it in, we’re going to put a little fresh parmesan cheese on top.

To go with our frittata, we’re going to make a baby spinach salad. We’re using baby spinach because it’s in season right now. You could also use– arugula would be really delicious with this, or just mixed greens. Whatever you have on hand would be great. So, we’re just going to put our greens in the bowl, and then we’re going to make a quick vinaigrette. I already have some fresh-squeezed lemon juice in here. And then we have some really nice fresh mint here that I’ve beautifully chiffonaded. There’s a little bit of salt in there already. And I like to put the acid in first, add the salt, and that dissolves it. And then we’re just going to add some olive oil, about a quarter cup. Then we’ll just put the strawberries on the salad. These are just sliced strawberries. You could quarter them as well, pour on a little vinaigrette on. So, when you’re tossing, you just want to make sure that all the leaves are evenly coated and– better to start with a little dressing and add more than to put too much on it. And then we have some toasted almonds here. These are great. Hazelnuts and delicious pecans. And then I’m just going to put a little bit of mint on top, and it’s ready to serve. It’s been about ten minutes and the frittata has been cooking, and I think it’s done. I’m going to check it out. Oh wow, it’s beautiful. It’s puffed up from the eggs, and it’s a little bit golden around the edges. And the cheese is melted and looks fabulous. So, to complete our brunch today, we’re going to make toast. You have a couple of different options for making toast while you’re on the road. You can get a beautiful Bodum toaster that will go perfectly with your décor, or you can use the Luddite method of this little grill here that you just place your toast on. Something that people often forget about is ricotta cheese. You think of butter on toast, you think of Swiss cheese on toast, you think of cream cheese on toast, but do you ever put ricotta on toast? You probably just use it for lasagna, but it’s also great in sweet treatments. I love to support local growers by using their jams. It’s great when you’re on the road to see who’s making jam. If you see a little stand by the road, stop. Buy some, see what they’re making. It’s probably the best of the season, and you’ll be so glad that you stopped by.

Fabulous meals are made to be shared with others. Let’s go meet our neighbors.

Jeff: The Marble Quarry RV Park is a delightful place to stay when visiting. California’s Highway 49, gold rush country.  It’s a place that RV travelers of all kinds can land for a few days of fun and relaxation.

Ralph Squire: Our namesake is a historic marble quarry up on the hill overlooking the park. and the town of Columbia, the state park. It was operated between 1918 and until the. Great Depression when it go broke.  Another thing that’s unique is we’re very family-oriented, and we encourage people to bring the family dog, the whole family.

Esther Osborne: We’re very dog-friendly here at Marble Quarry RV Park. When you check in, we have a bag of treats for your dogs, and we’re happy to have your dogs.

Ralph: We have 85 total licensed sites. Most of them are full hookup RV sites. We have tent– ten just exclusively for tents.  Plus we have six cabins.  Most of our RV sites can also accommodate tents in addition to the RV.

Native vegetation and scenic natural rock work creates some interesting campsites.  It doesn’t matter. what you drive in the gate,  be it towable or motorized, just about any size or type of RV. can be accommodated at Marble Quarry.

If it’s legal on a road, we can handle it. We have a nice swimming pool that the kids really enjoy on a hot summer day. We have a play yard for kids, especially designed for tiny tots on up to teenagers. We have shuffleboard, horseshoes,  volleyball, tether ball, and just a big nice lawn they can lounge around on. We’re open year-round.  We never close. The off–  the only day. that the office closes is on Christmas Day. And we put a sign up on the door that says, “Go ahead and pick a site and stay here. It’s our Christmas present to you.” So, people can stay here 365 days a year, but our office is open 364.

Jeff: The fully-stocked store with food, drinks, RV supplies, and local souvenirs is part of the Marble Quarry. facilities. And of course, in case you had too much fun and ran out last night, firewood is available. A laundry facility with a lounge is a good place to cool your heels. while the. clothes are tumbling.

Ralph: When people stay here at Marble Quarry RV Park, there’s a myriad of things they can do in the area. There’s Columbia
Historic State Park. They can walk right into that. Seven miles from here in Jamestown is the Railtown 1897. Historic State Park, one of only two operating steam roundhouses in the United States, the other is in Pennsylvania, and there’s just– there’s commercial caves in the area. There’s just our– they can go onto our website at marblequarry.com and click. on things to see and do.

Jeff: Columbia State Historic Park is just a short walk down the trail. from Marble Quarry. It’s a restored gold-mining town dating back to 1850. Columbia is managed. as part of the California State Parks system. As many as 6,000 people once called Columbia home. Numerous devastating fires throughout Colombia’s early history encouraged the miners to rebuild with brick and stone and in some cases steel-framed windows. This was a typical progression for early day frontier towns. Some of its structures are reproductions, but some of its buildings are original and have been restored to their gold rush glory. Shopping, dining, and historic attractions like a blacksmith shop and horse-drawn wagon tours keep visitors of all ages busy and interested.

Visitors. can try their hand at gold panning in the Hidden Treasure Goldmine.  Watch that trespassing. Ghost tours, art shows,  music events, a harvest festival, and other activities help make Columbia a fun place to visit. 

Jeff takes us to the Adventure Van Expo

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Are you a lover of the outdoors and looking for the perfect vehicle to go camping in? Well, camping has officially been taken to the next level with the latest product from the Tokyo-based company Direct Cars Co., and you won’t believe how cool it is.

Direct Cars Co. has taken the already extremely durable Toyota Hilux and created a micro RV on top of the pickup truck. It’s named the SUV Adventure Camper BR75, and it’s being called a hotel room on wheels and a secret base for adults.

The base of the Micro RV is the Toyota Hilux, which is no longer sold in the US for tax reasons. The Hilux was replaced in North America back in the 90s with the Toyota Tacoma. Read the rest of the story here.

Evanne Schmarder: There isn’t anything better for breakfast than a fresh healthy bran muffin and a delicious cup of coffee. Not being much of a baker, I’d gotten into the habit of picking up a few muffins when I went grocery shopping. It got a little bit spendy, but I was comfortable knowing that I was eating “healthy.” Then, one day, my grocery store began posting nutritional information including the calorie counts on the flavor labels. I’ve got to tell you I was absolutely shocked to learn that my morning muffin had nearly one-third of my entire day’s calorie allowance. Wow, that is just not good.

So with a little research, recipe testing and tweaking, I came up with my own simple and delicious version. of my beloved morning bran muffins. These are filled with raisins, nuts, a natural sweetener, wholesome oat bran, and more deliciousness. But even better, they’re fast to bake, so my muffins are now warm in the morning. Let me show you how easy these are to make. You’ll be making them in no time. While it might seem like there are quite a few ingredients, you’ll see how easy it is.

Now, the way that we start these muffins is we’ve got two bowls: one for the dry ingredients and one for the wet ingredients. So first, we’ll mix up the dry ingredients. In this bowl, I have 1/2 a cup of whole wheat flour. To that, I’m gonna add 1/2 a cup of oat bran right in like so. I’m gonna add 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Now I’m gonna add just a little bit of spice mix. This is cinnamon, flaxseed, lemon, ginger, really delicious.  I’m gonna add a couple of heaping 1/2 a teaspoon, so that’s almost a teaspoon. We’re gonna add some baking powder and that’s gonna give it just a little bit of lift. We’re gonna put 1 1/2 teaspoons, 2, 3.  Perfect, just like that, and we’re gonna mix everything around. That’s it. Our dry ingredients are done and ready to go.

Now for our wet ingredients. I’ve got 1/2 a cup of nonfat milk in my bowl. I’ve got 1/4 cup of Grade B maple syrup. You can also use honey or agave, whatever your sweetener of choice is. Just a nice natural sweetener like so. I’m gonna put in some avocado oil and. I’m gonna put in 1 1/2 tablespoons. Avocado oil is healthy for you, it’s delicious, and if you’re actually cooking with it, it has a really high smoke point so I always have a bottle of avocado oil in my pantry. And one egg. The last wet ingredient we’re gonna put in is some vanilla. I’ll put about a tablespoon in. Just adds some extra flavor. Mix that into our liquid.

Now what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna combine the liquid into the dry ingredients.  Really easy, gonna just pour it right in like so, and I’m gonna stir it around. You really just wanna stir it until all the dry ingredients are wet.  If you stir it a lot, it gets a little bit tough, so just mix everything up just barely. The last thing we’re gonna do is we’re gonna put in our walnuts and our raisins. I’m gonna use a spatula and I’m gonna just fold them in. And that’s about it.

Now we’re gonna put our muffin batter into our muffin pans. Now, if you have a loaf pan, you can certainly use that. I’ve done that in the past, but I picked up this little muffin pan. It’s nonstick. I’ve put a little bit of oil in it just because I wanna grease it. I want my muffins to come out nice when they’re done cooking. And it fits in my toaster oven. By the way, I’ve got my toaster oven right here, preheating to about 375 degrees on convection. So what we wanna do is we’re gonna put our muffin batter into our muffin pan. We’re gonna fill it about 2/3 of the way. Here we go. Pretty simple.

Before we put them in the oven, the last thing we’re gonna do is just sprinkle a little bit of coconut sugar on the top of the muffins. It gives them just a nice sticky, sort of sweet, topping. Really easy and not a lot. Just a little bit. All right, and that’s all there is to it. Now we’re ready to put our muffins into our toaster oven. We have it on 375 degrees convection. These are gonna cook somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes, so let’s get ’em going. Evanne: Well, that’s all there is to it. Measure, mix, bake, and enjoy.

I’m pleased to tell you that these have around 200-ish calories each, less than half of the store-bought muffins.  Try this recipe at home, put your own spin on it by adding your favorite fruit, nuts, or even switch up the sweetener.That’ll do it from this humble road abode. Thanks for visiting, and we’ll see you next time. Cheers.

Today, we’re gonna discuss how you can add years of life to an older EPDM roof membrane and restore it to that new look to your RV roof’s surface at an affordable price. The way we’re gonna do this is with Dicor’s EPDM roof cleaner activator and Dicor’s acrylic roof coating. Let’s get started right now.

Dicor’s EPDM roof acrylic coating is designed specifically for EPDM roofing material. Dicor’s EPDM roof coating system can also be applied to TPO roofing. Caution: be extremely careful when working on a roof of an RV. Dicor’s EPDM roof acrylic coating is a two part commercial-grade system. The EPDM roof cleaner activator prepares the roof while the acrylic coating provides an excellent long-lasting protective barrier. Note: the entire project must be completed in one day, including cleaner activator application, rinsing, and two coats of acrylic coating, each dry to the touch.

The first step is to secure plastic sheeting over the entire side walls and front and rear caps using tape to secure the plastic in place. This will protect these areas from the dirt and other material that will be removed from the roof while rinsing off the EPDM cleaner activator. Make sure the surface is dry before applying the tape. If the EPDM cleaner activator contacts any surface other than the roof or the items installed on the roof, it needs to be rinsed off immediately. Next, remove any heavy deposits of dirt, leaves, pine needles, and other debris,  using a broom or air blower. The EPDM cleaner activator can be applied directly over EPDM surfaces containing residual amounts of dirt, dust, and other contamination. Do not wash the roof prior to applying the EPDM cleaner activator. It can be applied using an agricultural-type sprayer. Safety glasses with side shields and latex gloves are recommended when transferring the EPDM cleaner activator from the shipping container to the sprayer. Spray a coarse mist that leaves the roof damp. Adjust the spray for weather conditions as necessary. If the EPDM cleaner activator is running off the roof, you are using too much. Adjust the spray nozzle to achieve a uniform spray pattern. 

Allow the EPDM cleaner activator to stand a minimum of 15 minutes to wet out and react with the EPDM surface. Next, rinse the entire roof surface. For best results, use a minimum 2,000 psi pressure washer. Using a 15-inch spray pattern, begin the power rinse at the lowest point on the roof and work upwards, keeping the pressure washer tip within 12 inches of the EPDM surface. Once the highest point on the roof is reached, work down again with a final rinse to remove any excess dirt or debris from the roof. If a power washer is unavailable, you can use a medium-bristle brush, working small or 3 by 3 foot areas at a time, and rinsing thoroughly to make sure the cleaner activator has been removed. The roof should be white in color which is an indication that the surface has been chemically altered. It’s important that all cleaner activator is completely removed from the roof, prior to applying the acrylic coating. All surfaces must be clean and free of residue or loose particles, degraded substrate, grease, oil, dirt, or other contaminants. Surfaces must be completely dry and frost-free before coating. Any sealant touch-ups should be done at least two weeks prior to the coating job. 

Dicor acrylic coating must be applied in a minimum of 2 coats at a rate of 1 gallon per 125 square foot per coat. Actual gallons required will depend on the type of surface and texture, method of application, and weather conditions at the time of application. Thoroughly mix the contents for a minimum of five minutes prior to application. Dicor acrylic coating can be applied by medium-nap
roller or brush. What works best for me is to go around all fixtures on the roof, using a brush, followed by a medium-nap roller with a long handle.

Mark: Allow the first coat to dry to the touch prior to applying the second coat. After applying the second coat, you should allow for a minimum of three hours of direct sunlight prior to nightfall. It takes 24 to 48 hours for the coating to completely dry and cure. Make sure no rain or heavy dew is allowed to come in contact with your newly coated roof during this time period. When the job is finished, you can clean the equipment with water and a biodegradable detergent. That’s all there is to it. When you combine the cleaner activator with the acrylic coating, your rubber roof membrane not only looks new again, but you are extending the life of your RV roof. When you protect and maintain the RV roof, you protect the entire RV. If your RV has a different type of roofing material, take a minute to visit www.dicor.com to find a roof coating system designed specifically for your type of RV roof. Happy camping.

For more information on anything pertaining to RVs, RV maintenance, safety, and other subjects, be sure to visit www.rveducation101.com.

Alpine is shifting its attention from premium audio components to changing the way we work and camp.

The German company showed up at last week’s CMT camping showcase in its home country with a stunning concept called the Cross Cabin. The futuristic van features a versatile interior packed with everything you need to work and play.

The Cross Cabin’s main draw is its interior. With remote work having changed the way some of us live our lives, Alpine wanted to create a camper van that would help foster productivity no matter where an adventure takes you. The van, which was designed for two, has a pair of distinct workstations, so you and your travel buddy can work at the same time. It is, in the company’s own words, a new kind of “Workation” vehicle. Read the rest of the story and access video and photos here.

Evanne Schmarder: While I can do just about anything in my RV kitchen that can be done in a stick kitchen, I’m always on the lookout for space savers. That’s why when my Aussie pal Graham Dalton, inventor of SmartSpace Cookware, called me to tell me about his new product, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on them. Big down under in Australia. and New Zealand, they’re ultra-compact, super high quality, and perfect. for my RV stovetop, cupboards, and sink or really any small kitchen or galley.

The flagship product is a set of three pots. It also includes one handle, lids, and silicone stacking mats. The set’s a little bit
like those nesting dolls where one fits into the other. So let me show you.  They’re really thick and beefy, the lids fit just so,
and the handles are silicone so it keeps them cool to the touch. The small pot, ta-da, is 1 1/2 quarts, the medium pot is 2 quarts, and the large pot is 3 quarts. By the way, this is what the silicone stacking mats look like. The pots are coated with an almost catering grade thick Teflon. They have an induction base so you can use them on induction cookers. And now I want to show you the handles. Here’s how they work. The pots have little grooves, one on each side of the pot, where your handle’s going to go right into. So I’m going to stick the handle right into that groove and I’m going to clip it shut just like that. It’s really easy to release the handle, you can do so one of two ways. There’s a button on the top so you can press the button or there’s a lever on the bottom. You can pull the levernjust like that. Really easy. Now, when you’re holding the handle, say lifting the pot, it can’t release. So that’s nice and safe.

I also have a fry pan. It comes with its own handle, and it’s pretty terrific. Same quality, same concept, super cool. We’re going to put this cookware. to good use today making. a warm and delicious comfort food meal.  So when somebody mentions Indian food, it conjures up the idea of complicated recipes, exotic ingredients, and a certain know-how. While that’s true for some Indian dishes, it’s not for the one I’m going to show you today. We’re going to be making yellow split peas with onions and garlic, we’ll toast up some flatbread in our SmartSpace fry pan, and we’ll serve it all with a nice mound of beautiful brown rice. We’ll be using
ingredients you can get in any grocery store: yellow split peas, cumin seed, onion, garlic, cayenne pepper, and a little bit of oil. That’s it. So let’s get cooking. 

First thing we’re going to do is we’re going to add 3 tablespoons of avocado oil to our SmartSpace Cookware pan. This is the 3 quart pan. We want it to get nice and hot. Once the oil starts to shimmer, we’re going to add some cumin seed,
not cumin powder. This is cumin seed. It’s about 1/2 a teaspoon. We’re going to drop it in. It’s going to start to cook in the oil, and in just a moment or two, it’ll start to pop, become very fragrant.  In goes the onion. Well, these onions are coming along so nicely. They’re almost done. And by the way, I hope you notice with the SmartSpace Cookware, the corners are radius-edged, so there aren’t any hard corners for any food or particles to get stuck. Garlic is up next. Now, a lot of recipes will tell you to add the garlic first and brown it and then put the onion in. In my experience, when you add the garlic first,  it gets very cooked and brown and a little bit bitter by the time you get the onions in and the onions cooked. So I do the onions first and then the garlic. By the way, this is just kind of a rough-chopped garlic. 

Typically in an Indian recipe they use lentils, but I like to use split peas. I use the yellow, I use the green because they cook really fast. If you were using lentils, this would cook over an hour,  about an hour. Using the split peas, I think we’ll get it cooked in about half that time. So I’m going to put one cup of yellow split peas, and now we’re going to add the liquid. In this case we’re going to add water. I’ve got some spring water. I’m going to add 3 cups. Well, these little beauties have come to a boil. We’re going to leave the lid on,  we’re going to turn it all the way down, and we’re going to let them simmer. We’re going to cook them until the yellow split peas are nice and soft, and everything’s going to be kind of a delicious stew.

Well, it’s been about 35 minutes, maybe a little bit more,  and I think that we’re. almost ready. And you can see. that our yellow split peas are nice and soft. I’m going to mix in a little bit of salt and a little bit of cayenne pepper. It’s the final touch. And we’ll just let that slightly bubble while we make our flatbread.

Okay, we’re heating up our fry pan. And what I’ve got here, some Trader Joe’s flatbread, really simple and delicious. This is frozen. So I’ve got my olive oil mister, and I’m going to put. just a little bit of olive oil on my flatbread, not a whole lot, just a little bit like that, some salt, some pepper. Perfect.

Here you have it, our fabulous yellow split pea, onion, and garlic Indian dish. It’s warm, comforting, really easy, right, and it’s good for you. Well, thanks so much for joining me today.  We’ll see you again right here next time. Cheers 

Today, third party certification is more important than ever. Just having a manufacturer or dealer show you a self-certified label just doesn’t cut it anymore.  More and more people are depending on third party certifications on many of the items they purchase, especially when it comes to big-ticket items like a house, car,  and yes, even RVs, which leads us to, how do we know when an RV is eco-friendly? Well, one sure-fire way is to look for the Certified Green label. To learn more about the certification process, we caught up. with Mandy Leazenby, president of Certified Green RVs, and asked her to explain a little about their certification process. 

Mandy Leazenby: We’ve got four categories. It’s resource efficiency,  energy efficiency, water efficiency, and indoor air quality. Just like right now, there’s nothing other than my green hang tag over there that really shouts, “Hey, this is a green RV.” That’s why we’ve got a program that looks in-depth at these materials. But we look at what the floor is made out of. We look at the wall vinyls. We look at the LED lighting. I stick my head under the faucets and read the gallon per minute flow rate. I look at the showerhead. You know, and the outside. is going to be able to give you some clues as well as far as what’s going on.  I’m looking for the green cap on the tires, nitrogen filled tires, that sort of thing.  There’s a lot of research that goes into a certification of an RV, whether I’m doing it or someone in purchasing is doing it. And hopefully,  they’ve got a binder with everything all nicely put together, and I just take a copy and go through it, and add the points on the checklist. But yeah, it’s really a holistic approach. 

Mandy: I’m gonna take a look around this RV. I’m going to start at the outside. But some of the things I look at when I go into an RV,
whether it’s for the initial certification. or a green follow-up audit, I’m going to look for the kinds of stickers it has on the outside of the unit.  Is it an RVIA compliant unit?  Does it have Zamp solar ready? Is it already solar?  I look for my little green sticker. But some of the other things. I look for, how many standard awnings. does it have?  Those are very important as far as keeping the unit. from gaining solar heat in the summer. Shading is very important, that’s considered green. I also look at the tires to see if they are nitrogen filled. Not everybody is buying into that technology. We do for our program, but it’s kind of up in the air for a lot of manufacturers.  

Come on inside, I’ll show you some of the things I look at in here. Shaw for one, Shaw flooring, that’s a great company. They use great materials, low off-gassing materials. The fact that this unit doesn’t have any carpet at all except. for–actually, there’s. not even any carpet up there. The lack of carpeting in an RV is very important because we don’t want to trap a bunch of outside contaminants in the fibers of the carpet.  So, this unit. is all hard flooring, definitely good for indoor air quality.  Another thing I look for is obviously on the wall board, you’re not going to have anything that says, “Hey, this is green.” But I know from working with this company that this is a Roysons wall film,  which is water-based ink. Very, very low off-gassing. In fact, the Berkeley analytical test that was done on this Roysons vinyl was that formaldehyde. did not even register enough on their test. Another thing I look at is water efficient components. This is a fancier faucet, so they really don’t want to stamp anything on it. This stamp doesn’t say anything about the flow rate, so I get that information from the purchasing department. I look at cabinets. Normally, they’re not. going to say anything cause they’re paper wrapped,  but some of the wood, some of the actual,  real wood cabinets will have a. KCMA certification, Kitchen Manufacturers. Association certification that says it is indoor air friendly. Another thing I look at is,  where are the vents? Where are the vents in the unit? If they are off the floor,  that earns points on our certification. You don’t want to be tracking in, again, contaminants from the outside,  and then those are falling into the floor registers, and then just blowing up into the indoor air. So, the fact that they’re coming from the roof or off the floor. So, these are off the floor. It’s going to be really– you really have to try hard to get dust and dirt in there,  so that’s very important. 

I also look at the appliances for energy efficiency ratings. Is the microwave a convection microwave? I know Furrion is a really good company, they’re building a lot of products that have a focus on energy efficiency. Some of the smaller appliances. are harder to find that information. You just got to do a little bit of digging. Fabrics are a little tough. They go through so many people’s hands, so many countries’ hands in fact. 

So there’s not–there are furniture certifications, but they really haven’t made it to the RV industry just yet. I also look at these vents. These are natural vents. They also are considered skylights for me. I want to make sure that those, at least one or two of those are standard in a unit. They’re great for bringing in natural light, and they’re great for ventilating the RV. Another thing I look at is, as far as water goes, how many gallons per minute does this shower– does this showerhead spew? So, this is–usually it’s stamped right along here, 2.5 gallons per minute. That qualifies as being low flow, especially for a shower. For a kitchen sink, we’re looking at 2.0 gallons per minute.  For a bathroom faucet,  we’re looking at 2.0– No, excuse me, we’re looking at 1.5 gallons per minute. I know that one’s 2.0, so that one doesn’t qualify, but that’s okay. We’ve got another vent in there,  so there’s a lot of natural ventilation happening in this unit, which is very important.

Got another energy efficient TV in here. The lighting’s all LED, we look at that. But again, none of this stuff, other than, like, some of the energy efficiency tags, are screaming,”Hey, this is green.” Otherwise you’d just have an RV full of a bunch of stickers. But this through my green eyes and my green certification eyes has qualified, and they do a really, really good job. So, I’m trying to think of what I’ve missed out on, but I mean, we look at the flooring, the wall vinyl,  the LED lighting, the efficiencies of appliances. I would have to go out to the outside.

New Orleans, the Big Easy, a town known for its music, food, and history. It’s a great place for RVers to stop and explore. You can’t talk about New Orleans without including Bourbon Street in the heart of the historic French Quarter. This iconic location is where locals and visitors mingle and enjoy the entertainment and dining options. Bourbon Street can be great fun by day with its musicians, dancers, and well others, but it’s after dark that the place really comes alive.

Popular Bourbon Street area restaurants can be busy so make reservations or plan on waiting in line, but even while you wait, you can enjoy the show passing by. We ate at the Oceana Grill on the corner of Bourbon and Conti Streets and enjoyed some fantastic seafood done New Orleans’s style. Alligator tail, crab cakes and clam appetizers set the stage for the main courses. I’m doing the crawfish étouffée with the additional crawfish tails, delicious, highly recommended.

After dinner, it was back to the street to enjoy the shows. As we explored downtown the next day, we happened upon a music festival at Louis Armstrong Park, just north of the French Quarter. Look around a bit and then on any given day, you can find some kind of entertainment going on live in New Orleans.

Naturally enough, great food is part of the event. Know the food: Jerked chicken, all in a homemade bourbon sauce made by Chell Scott, New Orleans’s, Louisiana, baby, go Harlem!

Many New Orleans’s visitors consider a stop at Cafe du Monde, a must. What’s the attraction at this classic eatery? The famous Cafe du Monde. beignets. These powdered, sugar covered, pastry treats, make a terrific afternoon snack while exploring the French Quarter. They’re light and fluffy, messy and delicious.  Strangers to New Orleans might find the streets hard to maneuver in an RV,
but there are other interesting transportation options available. The oldest is the streetcar line, in service for more than 100 years, with several branches leading from downtown. We rode the St. Charles line clear to its end and enjoyed every mile. Riders sway with the car body movements as the sounds of the clattering wheels and the motorman’s controls transport them back to a time when life was slower. The line passes magnificent Antebellum Mansions, two colleges and historic sites along the way.

During the ride, we stopped at O’Henry’s Food and Spirits on Carrollton Avenue for a tasty casual lunch and cold beer. O’Henry’s shady second floor patio, catches the breeze and provides a sweeping view of the classic neighborhood and the streetcar line. After lunch, we reboarded the streetcar for a ride back downtown. It’s a relaxing and inexpensive way to get around.

There’s a whole new way for RVers to enjoy touring the Big Easy. Leave your RV in the campground, make your way downtown, and jump on board the City Sightseeing New Orleans double deck bus tours.

Elizabeth Reed: Okay, our buses are new to New Orleans and we’re excited about having this open air double decker bus. People can sit upstairs, see a wonderful view of New Orleans. It’s just a whole new vista and if we have a little rain problem or they don’t wanna sit upstairs, we have nice seats downstairs, too, with air conditioning so it can be comfortable for everybody. Well, first of all, we’ll be going through the French market and French Quarter area, we will go to the World War II Museum, we go to the Mardi Grad Museum, so you get a good view of downtown what it’s all about, what it encompasses out by the riverfront, we take them on a special little trip out to the riverfront at Mardi Grad world plus at Mardi Grad world, they’re seeing all the floats being built and designed for next year’s Mardi Grad. So the tour runs the entire loop about two hours. In a constant loop, every 30 minutes a bus will appear at each site so people can hop on. and hop off every 30 minutes if they want to.

Next time you’re in New Orleans, come on down and try the City Sightseeing New Orleans’s tours, it’s a great way to see the city. Tourist attractions abound here and Mardi Grad World is one of those surprising and fun places to visit. It’s a bit eerie walking in past those oversized famous heads.

Barry Kern: Mardi Grad World is a local attraction here in New Orleans, it’s where we build, it’s the home of Kern Studios.  Kern Studios is a company that builds all the floats for the New Orleans Mardi Grad. We build parades as well as for New Orleans,
we build parades for parade– build floats for parades all over the world.  Well, it’s a studio tour and on the studio tour you get to see the actual process of building a float from, you get to see the sketches that are built and each year we build anywhere from 250 to 300 plus floats annually,  and for all the New Orleans’s Mardi Grad as well as parades all over the United States and all over the world. The other thing that we do is, that we actually you can see. the process of how the floats are built, you can see the people sculpting on the heads and the props that are on the floats, you can also get an idea of the paint process, how the floats are painted and decorated. It depends on what time of the year that you come here, but you can always see part of that process is happening and you can kind of get a guided tour.

There’s a great place to have lunch, a nice cafe it’s on the riverfront here in New Orleans, so get a chance to hang out on the riverfront, which is not something you can do a lot of places in town. Now you see the skull with the top hat, there it is right there. The skull was made out of fiberglass but of course this path will be made out styrofoam. But over in the back there, over passed it
you can see baby Kong. Baby Kong goes with King Kong and Queen Kong over here. Now the all three of the Kongs are always in the back of these parade, but nobody rides them they’re just in the parade to go decorate. I you’ve got a prop with all this extra glitter on it, it usually mains is being used in Universal Studios. Somebody down in the Universal really likes their glitter down there.

Jeff: If you’re in New Orleans for Mardi Grad or at any other time, Mardi Grad World is a great place to get into the spirit of the event. Come on down to the Big Easy for some classic southern style fun. 

This is Michelle from “RVing Today.” This destination story is Mystic, Connecticut, which is a village in Groton and Stonington Connecticut. Historically, Mystic was a significant seaport with more than 600 ships built over 135 years starting in 1784.

Mystic is a busy village. So I chose to stay at the Mystic KOA Holiday which is very close to everything and has all the great amenities.

Ten minutes away is our first stop, the Mystic Seaport Museum. Parking is free, and they have large parking lots. You might find a spot for your RV. You can spend an hour or a day in this beautiful area. It consists of more than 60 historic buildings, most of them rare commercial structures moved to the 19-acre site and meticulously restored. This is a 19th century seafaring village. What a great way to spend a day. And it offers wonderful educational opportunities as well. You can actually get on board some of these ancient ships.

Does your RV have a name? Mine does. Many of us name our RVs. It’s kind of fun. But boat naming started over 1,000 years ago when sailors named their vessels after gods, goddesses, or saints, hoping to bring good fortune to their travels. The wrong name could be the difference between good luck and being lost at sea. It also usually involved an elaborate ceremony, a christening with wine or champagne poured on the boat.

Mystic Seaport also has a working shipyard where traditional techniques are taught to new generations.

If you’re hungry or thirsty, there are lots of opportunities at Mystic Seaport, from cafes to restaurants.  But we have special lunch plans elsewhere. Be sure to check out the seaport stores on your way out, many interesting items, many of them with a nautical theme as you would expect.

Our next stop today is the Mystic Aquarium. This is one of my grandson’s favorite spots. This marine aquarium has one of only two United States facilities holding stellar sea lions and it has the only beluga whales in New England. One of the special exhibits is a real treat to my grandson, the Jurassic giants’ dinosaur exhibit. So if you have children, do consider visiting the Mystic Aquarium.

And now for lunch, one of my favorite places to eat in this area is Mystic Pizza, and it just so happens that it was the launch of one of our favorite actresses, Julia Roberts. The story goes: “Our pizza captivated screenwriter Amy Jones while she was summering in the area. Miss Jones chose Mystic Pizza as the focus and setting of her latest work. Her story follows the lives and loves of three young waitresses. The movie was filmed all over Mystic and in neighboring towns. The classic film, ‘Mystic Pizza,’ was released in the fall of 1988.”

I can attest to the fact that their food, is very delicious. I got the veggie delight pizza, a salad, and a glass of vino, and it made a wonderful lunch.

While enjoying the village shops after lunch, I was delighted to hear the sound of the drawbridge going up. The Mystic River Bascule Bridge actually connects the Groton side of Mystic with the Stonington side of Mystic and its a famous drawbridge built in 1922. What a great ending to our visit to Mystic Connecticut.

Jeff Johnston here for RVing Today TV. Our Palomino camper was comfortably wrapped away and protected for the winter, but like a lot of camper owners, in a couple of weeks we’re going to be unwrapping it and loading it back on the truck for the spring. Some camper owners do this multiple times every year and they’re really pretty good at it. Our first camper-loading project took place at the Palomino Factory with the aid of two Palomino tech experts. As you may imagine, that went pretty smoothly. Well, last spring, we loaded the camper ourselves at home for the first time, and it turned out the project was nowhere near as difficult or as scary as we thought it might have been.

It’s springtime. We’ve de-winterized the camper, and now the trick is getting this camper onto that truck.  It seems fairly easy at the outset. I mean, all you’re doing is backing the truck under the camper, set it down, and clamp it down, but you have to get it lined up right, you need to get it centered, you need to get it square. You want to make it a tidy load, and that’s what becomes a little bit of a challenge or it can be. We haven’t done this for a little while. We’re going to see how it goes. Maybe it’ll be quick and easy, maybe it won’t. We’ll find out soon. Not everyone is really, really good at backing a truck under a camper the first time or getting it lined up.  And there’s a lot of different ways people have come up with to do that. Different devices like a laser pointer on the back of the cab pointing at a target on the camper. Something like that. We’re just going to wing it, hope for the best. However, I did have– I put a couple of pieces of white tape here on the front of the camper, and those will line up more or less with the tape stripes here in the middle of the bed, and that’s just to help us kind of get a feel for when the camper is coming in. 

Now, these metal reinforcing bars, like I said, are smooth,  but they’re slippery. So I’ve added some traction material, the self-adhesive rolls of traction material you can get to put on a step, for example, to keep from slipping on it. I’ve added that all the way across each of these braces. And that grit will help keep the camper from sliding around and moving too much once. it’s on the bed of the truck,  or that’s the theory anyway. We’re going to see how it works. This is RICO tightening remote control that operates the jacks for the camper. as well as the lift for the roof; really handy.

Clear communication with your helper is important. A pair of inexpensive, handheld radios work well for us. I’m going to be backing in and I’m going to stop when the bed clears the side of the camper a little bit. Just heads back there. And I’m–like I said, hopefully we’ll see how close these white lines are to lining up ’cause all I’m doing is lining up with the mirrors and matching the mirrors in the side of the bed to the jacks on the sides. So, I also may need to raise it up a little bit. So if the bed gets really close to this and it looks like it’s not high enough, shout howdy ho or something like that.

It looks pretty good side to side here. I’m going to finish backing up. And to get those front bump stops up against the front, I got about 2 inches to go. So it’ll bump again.  We had marked the fast gun clamp positions, this one is passenger side rear, for easier installation because each is adjusted to a somewhat different length. It felt good before we took the camper off the first time and no reason it shouldn’t feel good now.

Practice makes camper unloading and loading a fairly easy job. It’s part of truck camper ownership. Now we’re plugged in, locked down, and ready for the road.

Towing a travel trailer is great fun. There’s all kinds of adventures out there awaiting you. But travel trailer sway, the lateral movement that’s unexpected, is something that can plague people a little bit now and then. Even a trailer and tow vehicle combination where they’re perfectly matched for weight, the trailer’s not too big, the tow vehicle isn’t too small, you have a weight distributing hitch that’s properly adjusted, trailer has the right front-to-back balance, all these characteristics; if they’re all correct and in line, you can still have a little bit of trailer sway, lateral movement, at unexpected times. For example, when you catch a strong gust of side wind, for example, or when a commercial truck passes you and you get caught in the bow wave and it’ll blow you around a little bit. Most of the time, of course, the driver can handle this and you correct for it and you’re just fine. So sway is not really a significant problem as far as most towing is concerned. But there are times when something happens and you get a little more sway, and sometimes it can be a pretty serious situation.

Tuson Company has a new device called the Tuson Sway Control. This is a fairly new product. It’s a solid state electronic device, mounts on the trailer, and once it’s installed, there’s no driver input. You don’t have to do anything to it.It just is automatically there ’cause it’s powered by your– or it’s controlled by your brake control and by the internal components of the device, which we’ll talk about a little bit more.

Well, we’ve installed one of the Tuson Sway Controls on this little trailer and got the little Mercedes tow vehicle. We’re about to head over toward the Oregon coast. We’ve got a couple of drivers who’ve had a lot of experience
with this vehicle in stock trim. Now that it has a Tuson, we’ll head down the road, we’ll cover everything from two-lane roads up to four lanes, and we’ll see what happens and we’ll find out their experiences and get their opinions on it. The sooner we’re rolling down the road, the sooner we can tell you how it works.

The Tuson Sway Control mounts to the trailer chassis between 5 and 10 feet back from the hitch ball. The way the sway control functions requires the. installer to divide the trailer brakes into separate right-side and left-side systems. Due to the wiring complexity and modifying the trailer brake wiring, the Tuson manufacturer recommends the unit be installed. by a qualified service center. A solid state gyroscope is at the heart of the sway control. It senses lateral movement by the trailer. When the trailer starts to move side to side in a sway situation, the sway control selectively applies the brakes on one side or the other to pull the trailer back into line. There’s no driver input required. The driver only senses it’s working when the trailer quickly returns to a stable, straight-ahead towing position. A prewired LED indicator light provides function and troubleshooting codes.

Leslie Pranger: I just love to drive. I have to start out. saying that. I’ve always loved to drive. Put me in a car on a road and I’m a happy girl. I am feeling a difference. Again, I’m not sure– quite sure how to quantify that. I am not an engineer; my husband is, but I’m not, and I feel some kind of a difference, some kind of a tighter–it just feels tighter. It’s a long ride to the coast and you wanna feel– you wanna feel safe and comfortable as you’re going up and down and around corners, as I am right now, and it feels pretty darn good. And when I have to make steering changes quickly or even just around the tighter curve, again, it feels as if we are one unit with my vehicle and towing the trailer. I’m pretty pleased at this point.

Mike Pranger: Well, we’ve been driving this car and rig for about four years now, four summers’ worth. This Mercedes diesel does a fine job of towing it. It’s got a 6600 capacity and since the trailer is fully loaded, probably only about 5,000 pounds, tows it really nice. All right, so I’m an engineering manager with Daimler, and we make heavy duty trucks, and we happen to actually install these type of yaw sensors on our vehicles to help us with roll stability situations, to help make sure that tractors and trailers don’t tip over as easily going around corners. So I really understand the principle
of how the yaw sensor’s doing its job and the criticality to make sure it’s positioned on that trailer in the right location. And as I’m sitting here going down the highway at 60 miles an hour and I’m just doing some side-to side motions here, just checking to see what kind of fishtailing I’m getting, I’m noticing not very much. When I make a slight drive toward the center lane and over to the right edge, the trailer’s doing a very good job of tracking right behind me.I make a little bit sharper motion, looking for some fishtailing, and I see the trailer move, but really, not as much as I would have seen before we installed the unit.I feel it’s probably doing its job pretty well.

I’ve been making some of these moves from one side of the lane to the other fairly quickly and the trailer seems to be tracking pretty well. Kind of like this Tuson system. I think it’s really gonna help make sure that when I have to make some of those maneuvers, the trailer’s not gonna come around on me, and fall back in line the way it’s supposed to.

Jeff: This combination with this little Mercedes tow vehicle, which seems kind of small, but the fact is it’s perfectly in control of that trailer. So it starts out as a good tow rig, but when you’ve got the addition of the Tuson Sway Control device, that gives you that extra little edge. It’s pretty incredible how you’ll be driving, you’re towing, you feel a little bit of push-pull back there, but otherwise, the trailer stays right behind the truck like it’s supposed to. I think it’s a– seems like a terrific device for anyone that wants to add that extra edge of safety and comfort and pleasure in towing.

Evanne Schmarder: Do you have a sweet tooth that just won’t quit but a waistline that needs to whittle? Today, I’m gonna show you how. to make a rich, creamy, satisfying dessert that will wow you while still being healthy. Chocolate pudding. What? Yeah, there’s a trick to this, as you might expect. The base of our pudding is, wait for it, avocados. Ripe and ready, these nutritional powerhouses contain numerous vitamins and minerals, including potassium, folate, vitamins B, C, and E. They’re also known to lower bad cholesterol and more. We’ll sweeten it with a little bit of honey and add a few more healthy ingredients. In just a jiffy, you’ll be enjoying a no-cook decadent dessert that will leave a smile on your face, and only you and I need to know it’s not only good, it’s good for you. It’s super simple, so let’s get started.

What you’re gonna need is a blender. Now, you can use a Vitamix. You can use a food processor, a stick blender, a hand beater, or with a little bit of elbow grease, you can use a fork. to smash the avocado and a whip to mix everything up. Okay, so, to our blending container I’m gonna add two avocados.  You wanna make sure that your avocados are not overripe.  So when you pick them out at the store, just give ’em a little squeeze, just a little gentle pressure, and they should give. just a little bit. That’s how you’ll know. they’re ripe and ready to go, just like that. I’m gonna add a half a cup of cocoa powder right to the mix like so. I’ve got a quarter cup of skim milk, perfect, like that. We’re gonna about 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract. Mmm, delicious. And by the way, if you’d prefer to use something like a mint extract, a rum extract, or even bourbon, that works just fine too. But keep it about 1 teaspoon.  And I’m gonna add a little bit of honey. We’re gonna add 6 tablespoons, which is a scant, or an almost 1/3 cup. And a lot of my viewers will know this trick. In order to get the honey to slip out of the measuring cup easily, we’re gonna use just a little bit of non stick spray right on the cup, and then. we’re gonna put the honey in it. Okay, and are you ready for this? You’re gonna love it. Right in like that. As you can see, it pretty much slips out, simple and easy, so you get every drop. The last thing we’re gonna add is 1 teaspoon of espresso powder. This is just gonna give it a little depth of flavor. And if you don’t have espresso powder, you can use just a little bit of instant coffee. That works just as well. Once blended, you’re gonna put this into four individual serving-size bowls or dishes, ’cause you’re gonna get four servings out of this. Just like so, nice and beautiful. We’re gonna garnish this with some fresh mint. Now, you can use toasted coconut. You can use an orange zest, whatever you like. I love the fresh mint.  I’m also gonna eat these mint leaves as I eat my chocolate pudding. So, right in like that. And then we’re gonna sprinkle a little bit of fleur de sel. This is just some flaky sea salt. I happened to pick this up in Paris. It gives it a nice crunch and goes oh so well with the sweet chocolate flavor. On top like this, perfect. We’re gonna put this in the refrigerator. It’s gonna chill for about 30 minutes,  and then we’ll be ready to eat it.

Evanne: All right, it has been 30 minutes. Our chocolate pudding has chilled,
and it’s ready to eat. As you can see, by the way, it is just beautiful, looks just like chocolate pudding. Believe it or not, it tastes just like it. So I’m gonna have a bite. Let’s see what we think. Get a little bit of that fleur de sel in it. Mmm, the salt gives it
just a little bit of crunch. It’s creamy, mmm, chocolatey, and delicious. Try this at home. It’s simple to make in your RV kitchen. Let me know how it goes. I’m Evanne. We’ll see you next time. Cheers.

Recently, we visited southern Arizona, specifically the Bisbee and Tombstone, Arizona area. We discovered Desert Oasis RV Campground, a Good Sam campground. Let’s listen to owner Paul tell us about this unique, laid-back campground.

Paul Harrington: So, I came here for one week, actually four years ago last week, and I haven’t left. It’s been four years. And I fell in love with this place. I came here and I parked in that first site right there. And the people that were in charge of the park had broken-down lawnmowers and everything else was broken. And I said, “If I’m going to stay here, I want to clean this up. Can I borrow a lawnmower or something like that?” And they said,  “Why would you do that?” I said, “Because I want it presentable if I’m going to stay here.” So, I started cleaning it up. And after awhile, they told the owner, “Why don’t you hire this guy as a work camper? And he’s probably going to be good.” So, I stayed on, and when the owner passed away, he left the park to myself and his sister-in-law. And I bought the sister-in-law out.

Michelle: What have you done since you’ve owned it? – Paul: Just painting. some of the buildings, and scraping them down, and cleaning up the debris, clearing out some of the mesquite so people can actually see the place now. It doesn’t look as run-down. This park basically opened in 2007. And they didn’t have any equipment here other than manpower and a little riding lawnmower. So, I’ve gone out, I’ve got a tractor now. I’ve got necessary equipment to make it a little bit easier so I can make improvements.  And you know, the fences were there, but they were so dull and drab, they looked terrible. So, we started painting everything. We painted the sheds, we painted the cabins, the shed up here, the office,  the entrance. Changed the sign, put a new sign up. So, people didn’t even know there was sites down at the front gate.  I started trimming those trees and found out they were really in good shape, so now there’s shade trees there at the front gate.  So, we’re trying to improve it. And if you look at my Ranger in the back, I actually have a little snip about this long of a mesquite that has needles on it that long. That’s what was at the front gate. So, if you went off the road at the front gate, you were guaranteed to have a flat tire.

Michelle: You’re a Good Sam member. When did that happen?

Paul: Two and a half years ago, we decided that– actually, January of 2015– this used to be a members only. And I said we got to change the direction of the park. The direction of the park then became it’s going to be a family park. So, how do you become a family park? You go to Good Sam. Good Sam does the review and the rating system all throughout the country. So, they came in here and they checked us out, and they gave us a very, very high rating. The one thing they nailed us on was we didn’t have a lot of trees. I’m thinking, well, we’re in the desert, you know? But you know, they gave us a good rating overall. And every year, we pass, and we’re very proud of that. Now, I understand that Woodall’s,  Passport America, AAA, everybody uses. their rating system because everybody’s cutting down on cost, so they don’t want to send out another whole inspection to come up with the same conclusion. So, Good Sam, we’re very proud of it, and that’s why we’ve got this flag here. And they gave us new ones because that won’t even last three months with the winds. But yeah, that’s been. very, very helpful. So, online, people look for us on Good Sam.

Michelle: We found you online. The boys, especially, they actually have a camp. Shane and Landry and their mother have a camp back in Massachusetts on the lake, so they spend their summers in a campground on the lake. So they’re comparing you. to what they have there, and they love it at Kings Campground. So how do you feel about what you’re seeing here?

Shane: Much friendlier and more dog friendly. And just–the people are very welcoming.

And the reviews I’ve read about you were all very favorable.

Paul: Well, I took– I made a decision that dogs are gonna be allowed in the club house, except when we’re serving meals. And we have one service dog that comes in all the time. That’s Puru. But I decided that was it because they’re part of our families. Most people that travel, especially full-timers, have some kind of pets. And so I decided that was gonna be it, so my partner said, “Thank you very much,” because she had a Shar Pei and it was never allowed in here even though it was her brother-in-law. So that was actually the– that was, I think, what turned the tide and made us get better reviews and more people.

Then became, again, on the web, they understood that this is really a nice environment because 3 miles of trails, you can take dogs in that direction, up here,
you can go around. There’s 3 miles of trails. The perimeter trail that I made is 2 miles. And then you have the criss-crosses that go across and you can exit, like, over here, where you can come out or you can exit over there. You can enter, you can do a third of the park today, you can do a third tomorrow; you can keep going.

Michelle: We loved it. We’ve done it twice already. It was great.

So we are talking to Paul Harrington, who owns the Desert Oasis RV Campground in McNeal, Arizona. Just outside of Bisbee, Arizona. We highly recommend this campground.