In this week’s podcast we catch up with our friend Campskunk, who shipped his RV to Europe and has been touring as many different countries as possible. He tells us what RVing is like over there, the differences he’s encountering and the surprises – both good and bad. If you’ve ever thought about RVing in Europe, his is a must listen. Also, if you want to see a video version of the interview, we’ll post that on our YouTube RV Lifestyle Channel.
Plus we have lots of listener questions to answer this week, RV news, RV tips and a great RV off the beaten path report… all coming up in Episode 156 of the RV Podcast
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Show Notes for Episode #156 Sept. 6, 2017 of Roadtreking – The RV Podcast:
WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK
First off, a new way to hear this podcast, especially for those of you who have the Amazon Echo or Alexa sysetm in your house. Besides, iTunes, the Google Play Store, Sticher and other streaming services, the RV Podcast is now available through Tune In, the service used by Amazon Echo and Alexa and a bunch of other devices. You can just tell your device to play the RV Podcast and it will start doing so with the most recent episode.
Our direct link on Tune In is https://tunein.com/radio/The-RV-Podcast-p1026701/ Tune in also has an app you can download to your smartphone, like the Apple Podcast app, so you can listen anywhere.
We’re back in Michigan for a few days. Keeping an anxious eye like many others on Hurricane Irma, which, as we speak, seems to be taking a direct bead on Florida sometime over the coming weekend. We just left the Emerald Isle area on the panhandle where we have a beachfront condo. So we’re a little apprehensive. To all of you in Florida and along the eastern seaboard, pay attention to the warnings. This is not a storm to take lightly.
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
One of the things RVers need to conserve is the water they use. About the only time you don’t have to be concerned about water usage is when hooked up to city water and sewer in a big campground.
But when boondocking or traveling, especially in a Class B or C motorhome, you can only carry so much in your fresh water tanks. And those grey tanks are also limited in how much dish or shower water.
So how do you conserve?
There are lots of ideas. We’ve talked about many of them here in the podcast over the years.
But this week, a listener named Bill called in with a way to really cut back on water usage when washing dishes.
Bill’s suggestion is to use cleaning vinegar, put in a spray bottle, mixed 50-50 with water. They spray it on the dishes and use a paper towel. Bill gives the details in an audio report.
Thanks, Bill.
And 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.
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
- Listener John shares how he has started a entire new life through RVing!
- Lee Ann from Sacramento asks for an RV Inspector in the Las Vegas area. We refer her to the National RV Inspectors Association, which certifies professional recreational vehicle inspectors across North America. There is a search box on the site at https://nrvia.org/locate/ that lets you find the nearest inspectors. We didn’t find any in Las Vegas. If you can’t find an NRVIA inspector, our suggestion is to use the services of a mobile RV repair company. Just do a Google search on RV inspection and the name of the city. We found several listed in Las Vegas. You might also try a major RV dealer. In Las Vegas, we recommend our friends at Wagon Wheel RV.
- Lou is looking for an RV cover for her Class B motorhome. There is only one RV cover we recommend. It is Hugger Covers. You can find them at http://huggercovers.com Make sure you tell them you heard about them through us and they’ll throw in a special gift.
- John in Hawaii is interested in an update about our experience with the Bike Friday folding bicycles we bought at an RV rally a couple of years ago. We talk about the bikes and
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
In this week’s podcast we catch up with out friend Campskunk, who shipped his RV to Europe and has been touring as many different countries as possible.
He tells us what RVing is like over there, the differences he’s encountering and the surprises – both good and bad.
If you’ve ever thought about RVing in Europe, his is a must listen.
Also, if you want to see a video version of the interview, we’ll post that on our YouTube RV Lifestyle Channel.
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:
- Legislators May Seek to Override Michigan Governor’s Plan to keep unfair RV Tax – Read more
- RV Hall of Fame Eyes $10 million expansion Read More
- Fires Continue to Rage in West and Northwest 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:
By Steve Van Dinter
Verizon Wireless
September means the end of summer and a look ahead to the fall and winter months. It’s also Preparedness month, which is a great time to make sure your family is ready for what’s ahead.
With reliability at the top of its priorities, Verizon considers every month preparedness month. For instance, did you know that most of Verizon’s cell sites have battery backup and generators to ensure your phone continues to work even when local commercial power is lost? That’s one of the reasons it continues to be the primary network for first responders.
You, too, can take steps to be prepared for any disaster.
- Store phones, tablets, batteries, chargers and other equipment in a dry, accessible location. Ziploc storage bags will do the trick or look into waterproof phones, cases or other protective accessories.
- Keep your phone and tablets fully charged – in case local power is lost.
- Have additional batteries and car-chargers available for backup power. A nice variety, including solar-powered devices, make it easy to stay powered up. Maintain a list of emergency numbers – police and fire agencies; power and insurance companies; family, friends and co-workers; etc. – and program them into your phone in advance so you have them ready when needed.
- Use your phone or tablet to photograph and catalog your valuables and other household belongings for possible insurance claims.
- And for a wealth of additional tools and apps you can use to prepare your family, check out gov
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.
OFF THE BEATEN PATH REPORT –
By Tom and Patti Burkett
Recently we saw a copy of a letter posted on the wall of a museum. It was dated November third. The letter said. “The federal government is taking your land for a project of vital national importance. We’re going to pay you fair value for it, and you have to be gone by December 15.” Six weeks to pack up and leave. Hundreds of people got these letters. A fair number of them had been forcibly displaced to make room for the great Smoky Mountains National Park. Of those, some had been displaced a second time for construction of dams by the Tennessee Valley Authority. As you might imagine, they were not too happy. But what could they do? War was coming, and Uncle Sam needed a safe place to develop a secret weapon.
The place he chose was a remote valley in the Tennessee mountains with a scattered rural population, far from transportation corridors, air lanes, and casual visitors. The town that grew up here is called Oak Ridge, and it’s the home of the atomic bomb. To be fair, work was done elsewhere, too—in Los Alamos, New Mexico and Hanford, Washington—but this was the beating heart of the infant nuclear age. Contractors, sworn to secrecy, poured in and built a city. Three years later, seventy-five thousand residents lived and worked here behind a ten-foot-high fence and under the eyes of elevated guard towers. The city offered schools, movie theaters, churches, restaurants, a library, sports facilities, and a symphony orchestra. It even had its own Fuller brush salesman. The National Museum of Science and Energy, where you can learn about all this, is part of the national park system.
Because of the war, a majority of the workers here were women. We enjoyed reading a fascinating book, The Girls of Atomic City, that details the efforts and the daily lives of these patriotic scientists and technicians. Women gathered here from around the country, knowing only that they were volunteering to help in the war effort. From the sprouting of the city almost overnight to the challenges of keeping house and living a life of total secrecy, you’ll be impressed with the lives they made for themselves and their families.
Outside of the museum you can see a fully restored flat-top house. These unique modular homes were developed to meet the need for fast, comfortable accommodations when thousands of families suddenly arrived. Featuring two bedrooms, living room, bath and kitchen, each house could be erected by a crew of four in an afternoon. Several of these have made their way around the country and can be seen in other locations.
For a variety of reasons, Oak Ridge was also at the heart of the movement to desegregate public schools, and the now-vanished town of Scarboro had one of the first segregated high schools to be closed as integration swept the south. The struggle for civil rights played out here in microcosm several years before it gripped the nation as a whole.
When you visit Oak Ridge, don’t miss the International Peace Bell, the University of Tennessee Arboretum, and the Southern Appalachia Railroad Museum. Drive the Coal Creek Motor Nature Trail, and enjoy one of several excellent campgrounds along the shoes of the reservoirs in the area. Look out across the water and you might just see us, Patti and Tom Burkett, somewhere off the beaten path.
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM5EK9_The_Scarboro_Community_1D29_Oak_Ridge_TN
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 motorhomes 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.
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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!
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