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RV Podcast 239: Making your RV dreams come true

| Updated Apr 24, 2019

Coming up in the interview of the week is Dan Miller, a New York Times best-selling author whose amazingly successful books and podcast about setting priorities and achieving your dreams has greatly influenced Jennifer and me and helped us find the way to make the RV Lifestyle a reality.

For all those of you out there dreaming about doing the same thing…. “someday”… Dan Miller is going to inspire you and motivate you to also make that “someday”…today. You are going to love Dan Miller.

Also this week, RV News, an update on what Jennifer and I are up to these days, an off the beaten path report from the Burketts and listener questions in which we tell you the three most important things to do before you take possession of a new RV.

But first, my lifelong traveling companion and my bride…Jennifer.

Show Notes for Episode #239 April 24, 2019 of The RV Podcast

WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK

RV Podcast 239: Making your RV dreams come true 1JENNIFER
We’re back home in Michigan after being on the road for most of the past four months. In all we have covered more than 8,000 miles since the first of the year in 16 states. Catching up with work around our sticks and bricks house up here for the next week or so and then we’re off again.

MIKE
It was quite a trip back… with non-stop rain for the better part of 36 hours as we traveled north from Florida. Our route coincided with the track of a storm front. There’s a post on our RV Lifestyle blog about that you can read. We just took our time and stuck to our 330 Rule of traveling no more than 330 Miles or stopping b 3:30 PM.

JENNIFER
By the way, while we say “our” rule we mean it in the sense of it’s a rule we follow as best we can, not something we claim to have originated. It’s been around in various forms… a 2/2 Rule…  3/3 rule… that sort of stuff…for years. So we have no idea who first came up with it but we gladly embrace it as a rule we follow.

RV Podcast 239: Making your RV dreams come true 2
Our 330 Rule sticker pack

MIKE
And that resonates with a lot of you. So much so that we printed up a variety of fun Rule 330 stickers that we’re selling on our online shop. We have a four pack of the 330 Rule stickers that a lot of folks have been getting, as well as coffee mugs and T-shirts. Just fun stuff that reminds us all to slow down, that it’s all about the journey, not the destination.

JENNIFER
Meanwhile, we’re looking forward to our next RV … to take in the fun of the Tulip Time festival in Holland, MI in early May. It runs from May 4-12. It’s a big annual event, with more than 5 million tulips of every possible color and shade in bloom throughout the city, along with parades, Dutch wooden shoe dancers and lots of local entertainment. We’ll be hanging out May 9-12 with a group of Leisure Travel Van Owners there for a rally sponsored by the local dealer, Holland Motor Homes, and we’re looking forward to meeting other LTV owners and getting ideas from them on how we can personalize or new 2019 Unity FX.

RV Podcast 239: Making your RV dreams come true 3
Holland, MI's Tulip Time

MIKE
We haven’t had much of a chance to add a lot of extras or install things like a cell phone booster yet. We’re looking at new cell boosters soon to come of the market that is engineered specifically for Class B and Class C RVs. We’re thinking we want to try this when it becomes available in a couple of weeks. And we’re also considering replacing our coach batteries with lithium batteries and an upgraded inverter. But we’re in no rush and as we have bought this new RV ourselves, we want to do things right and only install extras. To be frank, right now, it’s performed so well that I’m not sure what, if anything, we need to improve.

JENNIFER
I’m still finding a place for everything and putting everything in its place. There’s always an adjustment and discovery period with a new RV in which we figure out where things should go and how things should be organized. As we start our second month of ownership of our coach, I’m adding little things like a silverware holder, a wastebasket, putting shelf paper down, figuring out blankets and linen for the Murphy Bed… those sorts of things. It’s really a lot of fun and I’m looking to get as many suggestions from other Unity owners as I can.

MIKE
All right, that’s the latest on what we’ve been up to. Now to the RV News you need to know about.

RV LIFESTYLE NEWS OF THE WEEK

 MIKE
Roadtrek brand gets new owner after French company signs deal to buy it out of receivership 
We shared this last week, but in case you missed it, last week a French company named Rapido SAS, that makes the Westfalia brand of RVs, signed a deal to buy the Roadtrek brand out of receivership. Since then, Rapido has said that warranties on previously purchased models will be honored, according to a news article out of Canada, and that manufacturing new Roadtreks will begin again once the final details are settled. Up to 100 employees will be hired initially with a projected workforce by years end of around 200. No word yet on when production is expected to resume.
JENNIFER
Wolf numbers at Yellowstone National Park decline  
Yellowstone National Park's wolf population is now down to just 80, which is less than half the numbers reported a few years ago. The dramatic drop is blamed on a combination of disease, wolves wandering outside the park and wolf on wolf attacks.
MIKE
Looters dig up archeological site at Lewis and Clark National Historic Park
Officials are asking for the public's help in tracking down looters who dug up an archeological site at the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park recently. The thieves used a metal detector and dug up a large area, ruining the archeological dig and taking items.
JENNIFER
Herd of goats brought in to eat invasive species at Minnesota state park
If you camp in or visit Minnesota's Flandrau State Park this spring or summer, you may see a heard of goats hard at work, protected by a guard donkey or Ilama. The goats are in to eat invasive species, providing a chemical-free alternative to removing several invasive plants.

 This part of the podcast 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

Hello Mike and Jennifer!

We have been FB, YouTube and Podcast followers for a loooong time!  Have been studying up on buying an RV and because we learned of the LaMesa Super B show last year, just after it happened ?, we studied all year and decided not to purchase a B+ until we could see them all at that show!  Steve and I met you at the show a few weeks ago!  We flew out from Columbus, Ohio. Well, we bought the LTV Unity TB and will return to La Mesa RV in Phoenix on May 13 for Orientation and Delivery!    ?   Well studied…but newbies!   Our first drive will be from Phoenix back to Columbus….so in preparation for that, we are revisiting your website, re-listening, and downloading resources. THANKS for all you do!

We sat behind you in the stadium last week during your first youtube recording…I didn't get a chance to ask my question, so here it is!!

What are the three (3) most important things or tips you would give us knowing we are picking up a new RV on May 13 and driving across the country to home???

Thanks and look forward to continuing as a member of your community.

All best wishes-

Laura and Steve
Columbus, Ohio

Our three tips:

JENNIFER
1) Video the entire walkthrough. One of you should video, the other should take notes. Don’t let the person giving you the walkthrough rush. Make sure you understand everything they show you.

MIKE
2) If it’s something mechanical…like putting out a slide, setting auto levelers, even simple thinks like turning the propane on or controlling the refrigerator, have them demonstrate and then both of you do it. Make sure you can reach the walkthrough person on the phone the next day.

JENNIFER
3) When you get to your first overnight stop, do as many things that you were shown in the walkthrough as you set up camp for the first time. Consult the notes and the video. As soon as possible, make checklists for setting up camp, turning on things, getting ready to leave camp. Make a page of questions and then call that walkthrough person the next day to go over them.

MIKE
Also, we want to invite people to be a part of our RV Lifestyle Group on Facebook. There are over 20,000 RVers there and they love to help, no matter what kind of RV you have.

INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK

RV Podcast 239: Making your RV dreams come true 4
Dan Miller

MIKE
So many people dream of “someday.” Someday when they retire and buy that RV, someday when they have enough money to hit the road, someday when the kids are grown and they can start traveling. Someday. But there is no guarantee that “someday” will ever come and the hopes and dreams of that “someday” may never be achieved.

What if you could make that “someday” today?

JENNIFER
Our guest today is a man whose teachings and principles contributed a great deal to Mike and I being able to make the RV Lifestyle a reality. His name is Dan Miller. He is a New York Times best selling author whose books have impacted millions. His first one was  48 Days To the Work You Love, followed by No More Dreaded Mondays and Wisdom Meets Passion.  Dan is also the host of aweekly podcast, which consistently ranks in the top three under careers on iTunes. 

MIKE
Jennifer and I are huge Dan Miller fans and we asked him on the podcast because we think Dan’s mission of helping people find their calling and true path, and to then translate that into a meaningful, purposeful and profitable lifestyle will resonate with all those people dreaming about and looking forward to the RV Lifestyle…. Someday.

JENNIFER
What’s your favorite Dan Miller quote?

MIKE
Mine is: “The best way to predict your future is to create it.”

What’s yours?

JENNIFER
Mine is: “If your ship hasn’t come in, swim out to meet it.”

MIKE
So, with great pleasure, let’s bring Dan Miller in for our interview of the week.

Here’s a transcript of the interview:

Mike Wendland:           Well we are very excited to have Dan Miller joining us right now. And by the way, there will be a transcript of Dan's interview and you can find that in the show notes for this episode. But Dan, as I was telling my listeners just before you came on, you have greatly influenced Jennifer and me. And I think it's time for that influence to be shared with our audience. So let me just jump right into this thing. You can, I think, help a lot of people. I get emails all the time from folks who say, “Oh, it's my dream to do what you guys are doing. It's my dream to go out there and travel. Someday. Someday.” And maybe they're waiting to retire or they're waiting for more income. Does someday always come?

Dan Miller:                   Oh my goodness. Well obviously, that's a rhetorical question-

Mike Wendland:           Right.

RV Podcast 239: Making your RV dreams come true 5Dan Miller:                   Because we both know a lot of times it doesn't. That someday just never happens. Or we see somebody who gets to the point where a lot of those ducks are in a row, so to speak, and then something else comes along like a health crisis, or relationship crisis, or whatever. And they don't get to live out what they thought they were working toward all those years. My encouragement is make your someday right now. Let's just start it. What is it that you… What is that ideal life? Is there really any obstacle that would keep you from living it right now?

Mike Wendland:           So many people will say it's finances, for example. We've got to get all of our ducks in a row and ducks don't go in a row except when they're only about three months old, I guess, or three weeks old. So how do people take that personal inventory and make that leap to follow their passion and their dream?

Dan Miller:                   When we get tied up into thinking it's just a financial issue, we're probably deceiving ourselves because it never really is. I mean, you can live life at different levels financially, no matter if you're living in town somewhere or on the road or in the mountains or on a beach, whatever. There's still a lot of levels there. And some people artificially use that as an excuse, I think, for not having to go through the work of really taking the next step. What would that be?

Dan Miller:                   I mean, my daughter lives on the road full time. She and her family are full time travelers. She's 38 years old. They have three young daughters. They just made the decision they'd rather do that than to have daddy's full time income as a real estate agent where he was doing very well. So was their sacrifice? Yes, but they also were intentional about deciding in advance what they would have to do financially to be able to make that work. So she continues to work for me. She's worked for me for 16 years. They do have real estate investments. They have a house that they Airbnb. So things just work. They're not depleting financial assets. But still people look at them and say, “Oh, I wish we could do that.” Well why don't you?

Mike Wendland:           Well money is of course, one thing. And you're talking about making that financial inventory of what you can do and what you can't. What are other things, and maybe even larger things, that hold people back from following their dreams?

RV Podcast 239: Making your RV dreams come true 6Dan Miller:                   A lot of times it's a traditional job. We have this kind of conception in our culture that you are supposed to work in a job many, many years and then you earn the right to somehow retire. Well that retirement implies in the way that we define it, when I get to the point where I can really do what I want to do, then I can stop doing what I don't want to do. Well what if we took that model and adapted it to whatever work we're doing. Do work that you really want to do. All of a sudden, retirement loses its appeal. It fades in importance and we find that we really can live the life that we want to live. Whatever that means in terms of daily activities, we can do that right now.

Dan Miller:                   I mean, I've never waited. I'm an entrepreneur Mike, from the top of my head to the tip of my toes. I love the flexibility in terms of time and no income ceilings. The creative things we can do. The things we can do that create ongoing passive, residual income. I mean, there's just no end to the opportunities out here. But I've never waited. I've never been waiting. I have zero plans for retirement. It makes me cringe to think what that would mean in terms of what most people expect. You know, where now I'm going to do nothing, sit on the front porch and drool on myself. I mean, I don't want to do that.

Mike Wendland:           Yeah.

Dan Miller:                   I want to be doing what I'm doing today. I've always joked with people that I'm going to work in the morning then go to my funeral in the afternoon.

Mike Wendland:           Well, I think I'll do the same thing. I've always said the same. Jennifer and I both have said that we're going to go out as long as we can move. We're going to keep doing this. My question is for those who have never really thought about it. They've never really been people who take chances. They've done their homework. They've worked at a job that maybe they didn't like and they're trying to… They see retirement looming, but… Are you ever too old not to live your dream out?

Dan Miller:                   No. No. Golly, I love that question. No, you're really not. And I tell people also, you're never too old to have a new beginning. It's never too late to have a new beginning. So I talk to people. Mike, I talk to people who are 27 years old who say, “Wow. I've got a law degree. I chose the wrong career and now I'm stuck.” Where they kind of imply, “Okay, now I'm just going to have to kind of drift into the grade.” Are kidding me? 27 years old, you're not even old enough to ask the right questions yet. There's all kinds of time left to create new directions. But at the same time, somebody who's 68 years old, who just retired from a long career, it's not too late to start something. We see people in those encore careers.

RV Podcast 239: Making your RV dreams come true 7Dan Miller:                   A lot of times, in the career that we have, that general career, it's just a learning process. They give us enough information about ourselves, about opportunities so then we can sit down and really take a fresh look at how God has uniquely gifted us and we go into the most productive two, three decades of our lives. And when you look at longevity today, normally you look at predicted retirement age, 65. What if you live to be 95. That's 30 years. Do you really just want to piddle that away with no purpose, no design, no focus? Boy, that can be a very, very productive time. And by productive, I mean enjoyable. I don't mean just making money. That may not even be a major focus. Just the enjoyment of life every day.

Mike Wendland:           Let's take that in two parts. Let's talk about the making money thing. I often have people say, “Well I don't know how to write”, and, “I can't take photographs”, and, “I don't have video”, and, “I can't do what you're doing”, when they look at Jennifer and me. But I try to tell them that the internet has made it possible for so many other careers other than being a “creative.” Dan, maybe you can help people understand that there are lots of things out there they can do, from being maybe a camp host, where you get free… you can stay free in a campground, to working as a seasonal employee for Amazon and make ends meet and afford your travel. But what other things? You've counseled so many people over the years about ways they can take that passion they have for maybe travel. How can they find ways to supplement the costs that they're going to have when they're out there on the road?

Dan Miller:                   Yeah. When we break out of the traditional job mold, where work is a place you go to at eight o'clock in the morning, get off at five, have two weeks vacation, 401K contribution. I mean, that model, that's a very, very tiny pinpoint on the spectrum of work models that are available today. So, there is that. You can do consulting. You can have a franchise. You can come up with an idea. I mean, the ideas that you can come up with that will create extraordinary income are just endless.

Dan Miller:                   I mean, I have here in front of my office Mike, a tree. It was a big cedar tree on our property that a few years ago didn't come back to life in the spring. Well being an old farm kid, I hate to just cut down a tree. So I contacted a lady who is known for her wood sculpting and I said I think there's an eagle in this tree that's trying to get out. Well she came out and over the course of three days released this magnificent eagle. Now there's such a metaphor in that, it was there all the time, just hidden in an ugly old tree. And sometimes when we think something has come to the end, it really is just getting ready to birth something even better. But you know, you're not going to go to school and have the guidance counselor tell you to be a tree carver. That's something that has to be an individual passion. But that's where really things get exciting, where we find something. What is it that you enjoy? What is it that only you, perhaps, enjoy or can do really well?

RV Podcast 239: Making your RV dreams come true 8Dan Miller:                   I talked to a guy last week who works at a company. He's been there for 24 years. Has a great job with a really reputable company, but he wanted to do something so it would give them more freedom as a family. So he got a $19.00 course that he bought about creating an online business. He selected a high end product. He sells towel warmers.

Mike Wendland:           Towel warmers?

Dan Miller:                   Towel warmers. Yes.

Mike Wendland:           Yeah.

Dan Miller:                   That's all he does is that. He focused on one product. He outsources the entire process to people who find the products. They post. They communicate with customers, the whole thing. And last year it netted him double the income that he makes on his real job. Now obviously that's giving him some new choices and he's now identified the day where he's going to leave his real job, that coming up in about a month. So, but that one little idea, he didn't have to get a different degree. I mean, he's got a high school degree. He didn't have to go back to college. He didn't have to pay for some big opportunity. He just found something that people wanted and put a system in place to provide that to him. And those kind of opportunities, there are thousands all around us.

Mike Wendland:           So we're done with the income issues that people have. And, of course, you mentioned there are sacrifices when you identify what you want. Talk about, I think the more important thing, which is personal fulfillment, finding a true purpose in what you're doing, why you want to travel, how you want to travel, the people you want to meet, the community you'll be a part of. Talk about that personal fulfillment and identifying that, how those that are looking at this RV lifestyle as a dream. How do they identify all that?

Dan Miller:                   Yeah. I love the way you frame that because it can be seen almost… and it can feel almost as a greedy, selfish kind of goal to just be able… Well sure, everybody would like to do that. But it has to fit with a personal mission, a calling, a reason for getting up every morning. There has to be more there than just a personal enjoyment of that. So my personal mission statement, Mike, is I help high potential individuals understand and apply their unique and most powerful talents and passions so they can make a larger impact, leave a legacy and thrive financially. Now that's very, very clear to me, obviously. I can do that if I'm sitting around a campfire somewhere. I can do that if I'm playing with my grandkids. I can do that in a corporate setting. I can do that if I'm individually coaching somebody, or online in an online community.

Dan Miller:                   So it's very transferable. No matter what the environment is, or my circumstances, I can continue to live that out. So that is, that's a real foundational principal is somebody ought to know what their personal mission statement is, and the lifestyle that they're living, then ought to be an application of that every day.

RV Podcast 239: Making your RV dreams come true 9Mike Wendland:           Now you have many tools, many resources and of course we're going to link to all of those. Your many books. Your best selling books like 48 Days to finding the work that you'll love. How did you come up with that number 48 and what kind of help can they find through your many presences on the web?

Dan Miller:                   All right. Well the 48 came up like this. My wife and I were teaching a Sunday school class on just career life transitions and we were blown away at the people who came. It was like a vacuum and people came from other churches, other states. And we found that this was not just something where an 18 year old was deciding to go to work at Burger King or Taco Bell or what major do you choose in college. We were having dentists and physicians and engineers and accountants and pastors show up who were saying, “Gee, everybody thinks I'm doing pretty well, and I am, but I'm not sure this is all there is.”

Dan Miller:                   We discovered this was a much deeper question. So I began to work with people in a longer scope of time, where we really figure out what does this mean for you individually. This is not just a cookie cutter plan. You go to college. You get the degree. No, this is a very individual path. And as I did that, I would work with people who, “Boy, my life really stinks. I hate my job. Man, I've compromised things in my life. My relationships aren't what they ought to be.” And we map out a whole new plan of action. And then I run into them two years later and they hadn't done anything on it. What's up with that? Well I was waiting til my last kid graduated from college and I was waiting til we paid off the mortgage… And there's all these things. Wait til all the lights are green. I thought, this is ridiculous. Life is too short. There has to be a timeline for this where we can evaluate where I am, get the advice and opinion of other people, look at the alternatives, choose the best one and act.

Dan Miller:                   Well this was back when 48 Hours was becoming popular as a TV show. And I thought, I'll bet I could get some branding recognition. And here's the thing, it's unique. It's not 30, it's not 60, 90, 120. It's something where it stops you in your track… 48? So I made it 48 Days. It was just kind of… It was just a marketing ploy. It was just something I tried, but I'll tell you what when I did it, it was like somebody threw gasoline on my business. People were immediately saying, “Can I really change my life in 48 days?” And my response has always been, then and now, yes you can. If you create a plan and act on it. So it's a reasonable timeline and I have worked with that with many, many people over the years.

Dan Miller:                   Now, if somebody comes to me and they're unhappy with where they are and on day 49 they're still doing exactly the same things, I'll be your friend. I'll love you forever, but hey, I'm moving on. I work with people who take action. And the people who take action could transform their lives and the results they're getting. That's where 48 comes from.

RV Podcast 239: Making your RV dreams come true 10Dan Miller:                   We've got a lot of resources out there. One of the things I'm most excited about right now is our 40 days Eagles community. It's a membership community, but it's a whole lot of people who are sharing ideas and resources. They help each other. They celebrate successes together. So, that's growing. I've got a personal mastermind. We've got our coaching mastery program where we train other people to be coaches. Certainly, we've got a lot of blogs and just resources. My podcast. But just ways I am having a lot of fun, Mike, encouraging people on this path to discover their best selves and live out the life of their dreams.

Mike Wendland:           Well, I'm going to send them all to all of your many different resources. And last question I've got to ask Dan Miller is, do you consider what you're doing a job, Dan?

Dan Miller:                   Well Mike, I'm an entrepreneur from the top of my head to the tip of my toes.

Mike Wendland:           I share that with you.

Dan Miller:                   I've never had a job where I got a paycheck on Friday, never. I'm just not wired that way. I love the unexpected. I love the sense of adventure. Now what that means is there's total unpredictability unless you do something that makes sense and create a system behind that. So when I say that every day is an adventure and I don't have any guaranteed paycheck, but I also have some pretty significant systems in place at this point, where Joanne and I can… we can go travel for a month somewhere. It really doesn't change anything that goes on here at all. I'm very, very grateful for that. So I don't feel like I have a job, because the word job almost implies that it's something that I don't like, but I have to do. I do not have any of that in my life at all. I don't do anything that I don't enjoy doing, because I've designed the life that I get to live every day.

RV Podcast 239: Making your RV dreams come true 11Mike Wendland:           And for those who are listening to this in our RV Lifestyle community, this advice and this sense of joy and fulfillment that Dan shares, that he has every day, you can have that too. And I'm going to send everybody to you Dan, and you and your resources can do so much better than we can. I know that there's a lot of people who are nodding and you're going to hear from them as they follow your advice to find that life that they've always wanted and go live that dream.

Mike Wendland:           Dan Miller, you're an awesome guy. Thank you so much and God bless you.

Dan Miller:                   Well thank you so much. You can tell I enjoy talking about this topic. I never get tired of it. But I love meeting people like you who are living the life of your dreams, because it's possible. We can do it.

Mike Wendland:           It is. Now I didn't even know this was my dream 15 years ago, but once I found it, it's just amazing. Every day is an awesome day. Can't wait to get up and get started. And I think that's the secret, isn't it, to anything. That's joy, if you're excited when you get up in the morning. Dan Miller, bless you. Thank you again.

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

OFF THE BEATEN PATH 

RV Podcast 239: Making your RV dreams come true 12
Patti and Tom Burkett

There’s a lot of nothing between Dallas, Texas and the Big Bend National Park.  Driving at Texas speeds it’s a full ten hours of prairies, mesas, distant mountains, and tumbling tumbleweeds.  Still, just like everywhere, there are things to see if you slow down a bit and look for the signs.  One of the signs we saw, as we made our way through Bluff Dale and Stephenville on US 377, was about as big as a political yard sign.  “Did you see that,” I asked Patti.  “I did,” she replied. “I think it said creamery.  In this part of Texas, where there are more cacti than cars, we could have just turned around in the middle of the road, but we waited for a turnout and then headed back.  Sure enough, the sign said Veldhuizen Creamery, with an arrow pointing down a dirt side road.

If you’ve heard many of our reports, you know we don’t often pass by a cheese house.  And a cheese house out here in the middle of the Texas plains?  How can you even raise dairy cattle on this little grass and water?  As we drove up the farm lane, past happily grazing Holsteins on one side and frolicking goats on the other, we spied the creamery.  Inside, a chilled display case held a large variety of cheeses, most of which had unfamiliar names.  the young woman behind the counter smiled at us.  I suspect there were not a lot of visitors out this way.  “Is this cheese all made here?” I asked.  “Yes it is,” she replied, “I’m the cheesemaker.” 

RV Podcast 239: Making your RV dreams come true 13As she proudly passed us sample of cheese after cheese, we heard about how  she’d come to work on the farm, been sent away to cheesemaking school in Vermont, and returned to take charge of the operation.  Veldhuizen (literally house in the field) was owned by an older Dutch gentleman who’d essentially turned it over to this young woman and a fellow worker to run.  Besides delicious cheese, the shop offered house-made sausage and a variety of farm-raised meats.  We left with our fridge restocked and something to talk about over the next few hundred miles.

As it turned out, the conversation didn’t last long.  Just a few miles along we saw another sign.  This one was a big Dr. Pepper sign in top of a long low building.  The front boasted a curved glass window, and inside we could see machinery.  It was an old bottling plant, and maybe still in operation.  The other car parked on Main Street had thoughtfully left us a spot, and we pulled over.  We peered in the plant window, but saw no activity.  Across the street, another Dr. Pepper sign hung over a door maker Open, and we went in to find an old-time soda fountain with an old-time soda jerk. 

“It’s a long story,” she told us, “but we don’t sell Dr. Pepper anymore.  We were the last plant to bottle the original recipe.”  “So I can’t get a Dr. Pepper?” I wanted to know.  “No sir,” she said, “but you might like this.”  She ladled some brown syrup out of a well on the fountain and spritzed it with soda water.  It was delicious, and I started to ask, but she shook her head.  “It’s NOT Dr. Pepper.  We’re not allowed to sell that anymore.”  I smiled and passed my glass back when she offered to add a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

RV Podcast 239: Making your RV dreams come true 14

Across the street, in the bottling plant, was a fascinating museum.  Artifacts from two generations of owners were collected there, as was the story of the original owner’s daughter, Grace Prim, who ran the plant in the days when women just didn’t do such things.  We’ll leave the rest of the story for you discover.  It’s worth a long drive to get here.

Night arrived as we headed south, and dozens of giant desert hares streaked across the road in our headlight beams.  We pulled into a rest area to sleep, and I slipped outside for a look at the stars.  “You know those hares,” I called to her, knowing she’d been a bit unnerved by them, there’s a ring of them circling the camper, just staring.”  Middle of nowhere Texas, bright stars, dozens of scary rabbits.  “Just quit,” she told me, “just get in here and quit.”  

We’ll be looking for you, out here off the beaten path, if the bunnies don’t get us first.

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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:

How to subscribe, rate and review a podcast

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 RV Podcast.
> Click on the logo image of the RV Lifestyle 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 calling 586-372-6990 

Mike Wendland

Published on 2019-04-24

Mike Wendland is a multiple Emmy-award-winning Journalist, Podcaster, YouTuber, and Blogger, who has traveled with his wife, Jennifer, all over North America in an RV, sharing adventures and reviewing RV, Camping, Outdoor, Travel and Tech Gear for the past 12 years. They are leading industry experts in RV living and have written 18 travel books.

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