Up in Kitchener Ontario at the factory where the Erwin Hymer Group of North America builds Roadtrek Motorhomes, they just celebrated a momentous event – the building of the 30,000th Roadtrek since the company’s founding more than 40 years ago.
We were there, met the buyer and talked to officials who shared some what’s ahead for Roadtrek and the booming Class B RV market.
All that is coming up in our interview section.
Also this week, listener questions, some great TV tips, traveling tech and RV new and an off the beaten path report about an enchanted highway.
Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast.
[spp-player]
Show Notes for Episode #148 July 10, 2017 of Roadtreking – The RV Podcast:
Mike and Jennifer’s activities this week: [spp-timestamp time=”2:12″]
- To Kitchener and Cambridge, Ontario to meet and tour Erwin Hymer facilities in Ontario
- Then to Indianapolis and the Family Motorcoach Association annual summer reunion rally… Mike and Jennifer will be doing seminars Wednesday and Thursday at the FMCA rally
Mike confides he is coping with another case of Shingles. His second in two months. Doctors say he overdid it after his emergency gallbladder surgery, doing too much hiking and traveling on a whirlwind trip to three U.S. National parks and two Canadian National Parks immediately on his release from the hospital. Stress is a suspected cause of shingles outbreaks and Mike tells everyone the key to treatment is starting on a drug regimen within 72 hours after the outbreak. He missed that deadline and is now waiting for it to go away. He was keeping this all quiet but those who see him in Indianapolis will still see the sores, so he decided to come clean. The last time was on his left arm. this time its the left side of his neck.- Building a master list of all the resources, products, gadgets and RV travel apps we use and talk about on the podcast, the Roadtreking blog and out RV Lifestyle Youtube Channel. You can access it all, organized by categories, at http://kit.com/rvlifestyle
This portion of the Podcast is brought to you by Campers Inn, the RVer’s trusted resource for over 50 years, the nation’s largest family-operated RV dealership with 16 locations and growing
JENNIFER'S TIP OF THE WEEK
When we travel, we often wonder what mail we’re getting back home, and if there is something important that we need to attend to. [spp-timestamp time=”11:17″]
Well, listener Tom called in this great tip about a new service from the United States Postal Service – USPS Informed Delivery .
Once there, you first enter in your zip code to see if it’s available in your area. Most of the country is included. Mike and I just signed up thanks to Tom’s tip.
The service allows customers to track incoming mail through an online dashboard and/or a daily email. Enrolled customers are able to see scanned images of the outside of their letters the morning before they are delivered to their physical mailbox.
Again, while the Informed Delivery product is available for most addresses, it is not available for all. A few of you may need to be patient a bit as the program is rolled out.
Meantime, be sure to send me your tips and suggestions for the RV lifestyle. You can use the “Leave Voicemail” link at Roadtreking.com. Just click it and then use the built-in microphone on your computer or mobile devise to record a message to me. You can do it over as many times as you want, until you are satisfied. And then you just click a button and it comes right to my email inbox.
I love hearing from you!
Jennifer's tip of the week is brought to you by RadPower Bikes ,an electric bike manufacturer offering direct to consumer pricing on powerful premium electric bikes. Now with free shipping
LISTENER QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK
- Sue and Bud want some help in cleaning their screens, which are getting clogged up by insects and tree seeds [spp-timestamp time=”16:48″]
- Alan can’t get a foul taste out of his city water hookup. His fresh water tastes fine but the city hookup…not so. He’s looking for help. [spp-timestamp time=”21:02″]
Sponsoring this part of the podcast is Van City RV in St. Louis, and their Partner Dealerships Creston RV in Kalispell, Montana, and Wagon Trail RV in Las Vegas. Bringing You the largest Inventory of class B’s from three locations.
INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK
Up in Kitchener Ontario at the factory where the Erwin Hymer Group of North America builds Roadtrek Motorhomes, they just celebrated a momentous event – the building of the 30,000th Roadtrek since the company’s founding more than 40 years ago.
We were there, met the buyer and talked to officials who shared some what’s ahead for Roadtrek and the booming Class B RV market. [spp-timestamp time=”27:27″]
The interview of the week is brought to you by SunshinestateRVs.com, where every new or used Roadtrek motorhome is delivered to the customer free, anywhere in the country
RV NEWS OF THE WEEK:
Two stories this week – [spp-timestamp time=”41:49″]
- Verizon deal with FMCA falls through – read more
- Bison injures hiker in Theodore Roosevelt National Park. Read more
This portion of the podcast is brought to you by Alde, the only name in heat that you need to know for your RV
TRAVELING TECH TIP: July is all about Food
By Steve Van Dinter
Verizon Wireless
If there’s any month that’s about food – it’s July. This month there are national celebrations for ice cream, hot dogs, blueberries and grilling. So I thought it would be fitting to talk about apps and accessories that help you make the most of your food this month. [spp-timestamp time=”48:26″]
First, my favorite kitchen helper, Google Home. Mine sits right on the kitchen counter. Then, anytime I wonder how long something needs to be cooked or at what temperature, all I have to do is ask Google. That goes for recipes, timers and even recipe substitutions. All are available on demand via voice. It’s quite handy.
Next…if you find yourself always blanking on what meals to make when you get to the grocery store, you’ll want to check out Food Planner. Food planner lets you create your own recipes or import the ones you find from any website. Add your own notes, create an inventory of the ingredients you have on hand at home and then have a grocery list created for you! And if you really don’t have time, you can purchase a meal plan from the Food Planner store.
Or if you’d prefer food that comes straight from the farm, be sure to check out the Farmstand App. With the app, or the mobile site, you will see the nearest farmer’s markets to you as well as days and hours of operation.
Lastly, once you’ve created your food masterpiece, you want to share it with the world, right? If you’ve got a Samsung S8 or S8+, there’s a camera setting that will help you. Simply launch the camera and swipe right. Then choose food. Now click on the food in your viewfinder you’d like to focus on. And go ahead and capture it. It’ll make all your Instagram followers hungry!
This part of the podcast is brought to you by Verizon, which operates America’s most reliable wireless network, with more than 112 million retail connections nationwide.
Mike and Steve have been talking about cool traveling tech gadgets and gizmos week after week on the RV Podcast. We thought it would be fun to arrange a time and place to show and demonstrate these gadgets. So we will! On Thursday, July 27, we will be in Grand Rapids, Michigan at American RV. You're invited to come for an in-person demo. Grand Rapids is not far Lake Michigan and there are lots of camping opportunities in the area. Come meet us
OFF THE BEATEN PATH REPORT – The Enchanted Highway
The Enchanted Highway is a collection of the world's largest scrap metal sculptures constructed at intervals along a 32-mile stretch of two-lane highway that cuts south across the prairie off I-94 in western North Dakota. [spp-timestamp time=”52:40″]
The road is so rural and remote, it doesn’t even have a real name…. thus, because of the amazing sculptures… locals started calling it the ”Enchanted Highway.”
A local artist named Gary Greff started building the towering sculptures in 1990 to draw people off the interstate and to small towns like Regent, to keep it from drying up. But the stunning beauty of the prairie is just as much a draw as Greff’s amazing sculptures, which he continue to erect each year.
See the sights on North Dakota's Enchanted Highway. Click to see our video – https://youtu.be/oncUoe3bpIQ
This part of the podcast is sponsored by Steinbring Motorcoach, Roadtrek’s newest dealer and a third generation family business in Minnesota’s beautiful Chain of Lakes region built on quality motohomes and excellent pricing and service.
Please Subscribe and Give Us a Rating and Review!
Many listeners are asking how they can subscribe, review and rate the Roadtreking Podcast on iTunes. With a new podcast like this, those reviews and ratings are really important to be able to show well in the iTunes listings. So if you can, I’d sure appreciate it if you’d subscribe and leave me your review.
Here’s how:
First, open up the iTunes app on your computer or mobile device. Click on Podcasts up on the top
> From the iTunes Podcasts page, use the “Search Store” field up at the top right corner of the page. Type in Mike Wendland or Roadtreking RV Podcast.
> Click on the logo image of the Roadtreking RV Podcast on the search return page
> From there (see photo above), you can…
1) Subscribe
2) Choose and Click on a star (1-5) that reflects your rating. Five stars means you really like it, one star not so much.
3) Leave a written review.
Thanks to all for the kind reviews we’ve received so far. That got us noticed by Apple/iTunes as “New and Noteworthy.” I appreciate every review!
And remember, you can appear in future episodes. Ask a question or voice your comments about RV topics by clicking the Leave Voicemail tab on the right side of this page here at Roadtreking.com. You can then use the microphone on your computer to record your words.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (57.4MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Spotify | Email | TuneIn | RSS
Comments are closed.
