Podcasts about boondockers welcome

In this episode of the RVE Podcast, Jim sits down with Joel Holland to discuss his entrepreneurial journey, the explosive growth of Harvest Hosts, and the challenges and rewards of scaling a business while maintaining a life of adventure. From Burnout to RV Life – Joel shares how a spontaneous RV purchase led him and his wife to embrace full-time travel, ultimately inspiring his next business venture. Discover the power of smart growth. Learn how Joel took Harvest Hosts from 6,000 members to more than 250,000 in just a couple years by refining the host network, implementing new technology, and strategic marketing. Joel shares isights on acquisitions & scaling challenges based on the merger with Boondockers Welcome and recent acquisition of Escapees RV Club. Purpose Over Profit – Jim and Joel discuss how success isn't just about money but about building something meaningful that benefits partners, members, and the RVing community. Learn how balancing work, adventure, and purpose leads to fulfillment. Finally, hear how Joel breaks down his happiness formula with the simple equation: Happiness = Freedom + Meaningfulness.Connect & Learn MoreHarvest Hosts: harvesthosts.comBoondockers Welcome: boondockerswelcome.comBrit Stops: britstops.comEscapees: escapees.comXscapers: xscapers.com~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE RV ENTREPRENEURhttps://therventrepreneur.com~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Join the RVE community on Facebook!⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/therventrepreneurcommunity⁠Connect with RVE on all your favorite socials⁠https://therventrepreneur.com/connect⁠⁠Got questions or comments for our hosts? Leave us a voice message! ⁠⁠https://therventrepreneur.com/voicemail⁠⁠(NOTE: Audio submitted may be published on the podcast unless specifically requested otherwise.)Got a great story or tips to share with RVE Listeners? Complete our Guest Intake Form:https://therventrepreneur.com/guestform

www.atravelpath.com https://delicioats.com/  https://delicioats.com?sca_ref=2606128.heLxZNHtFuUse Code “PATH” Welcome back Pathfinders! Today we have a great episode in store with Joe and Kalyn from Open Roading. Going Full Time Open Roading originally only planned on traveling for a year, but they soon fell in love with the lifestyle. Learn about how they were able to continue traveling and some of the obstacles they had to overcome that almost sent them back home. Workamping From python catching to gate guarding to a beet harvest, we discuss a ton of information about getting into workamping. We discuss the requirements to get into this industry as well as websites you can use to find jobs. And of course, I couldn't change the subject without asking them their favorite and least favorite workamping jobs! Budgeting If you are familiar with their Instagram or YouTube, you'll know that Open Roading are very detailed and open about their budget. We break down what a typical month looks like for them, and talk about some of the things they are spending most of their money on, like health insurance, fuel, and internet. Open Roading also shares their favorite budgeting app to make budgeting easier for them. The biggest takeaway I found here was that they meet with each other once a week to go over their budget. Most people will sit down on a monthly basis to go over this. You could almost hear the glass shatter as I came to the realization that if you only sit down once a month and are setting a monthly budget, it really doesn't do you any good… Routines We talk about the importance of having routines while traveling. Although it can be difficult because they are never in the same place for long, Open Roading provides us with some insight on some things you can do stay consistent. For example, you can always wake up early, schedule a meeting, and exercise or take the dog for a walk (weather permitting!) YouTube Open Roading has made three attempts with YouTube after getting burned out and pumping the brakes a few times. In their latest effort, they have been met with some pretty big success. We discuss what they have done differently this time around as well as some of the reasons they believe their channel didn't take off at first.   And much more!   Chapters ·        00:00 Introduction ·        04:30 What is Work Camping? ·        08:00 Gate Guarding ·        09:15 Work Camping Requirements ·        13:00 Favorite/Least Favorite Work Camping Jobs ·        16:00 Balancing Work Camping with Exploring ·        17:15 Biggest Challenges to Start Traveling ·        18:45 How Did You Know When You Were Ready to Hit the Road? ·        20:30 What Adjustments Did You Make to Continue Traveling? ·        23:30 Delicioats “PATH” ·        24:30 What Are Your Biggest Travel Frustrations? ·        26:15 What Are Your Most Helpful Travel Routines? ·        27:30 What Do You Love Most About Your Travel Lifestyle? ·        29:45 How Long Do You Plan on Continuing Full Time Travel For? ·        30:45 Budgeting ·        35:00 What Are Your Favorite Money Saving Travel Hacks? ·        39:30 What Is It Like Traveling with a Bunny & Dog? ·        42:00 What Has Been Your Coolest Travel Experience? ·        45:15 What Can You & Can't You Live Without? ·        48:15 What Tools Should Every RV Owner Have? ·        49:15 How Have You Been Successful Your 3rd Time Around with YouTube? ·        53:00 How to Start Planning ·        54:45 Influential YouTube Channels   Open Roading on Social ·        YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@OpenRoading ·        Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/openroading   Videos From Open Roading ·        5 Years of RV Life Cost: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVHSnw-1jI4 ·        Solar Setup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5De9SPEddfc ·        Clouds Rest Hike: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX0dv05Z6yA&t=683s ·        Gypsum Cave: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ajkUK1Iarg&t=135s ·        How Much We Make on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5h49_LH4Ag   Work Camping ·        Kamper News: https://www.workamper.com/ ·        Workamping Jobs with Wages: https://www.facebook.com/groups/workampingjobswithwages/ ·        Workampers: https://www.facebook.com/groups/weloveworkamping/ ·        The UNBEETABLE Experience: https://www.theunbeetableexperience.com/ ·        Mackinac Mill Creek Campground: https://www.campmackinaw.com/   Budgeting ·        You Need a Budget: https://kalynbrooke.com/refer/YNAB   Camping/Boondocking ·        Harvest Host: https://www.harvesthosts.com/ ·        Boondockers Welcome: https://www.boondockerswelcome.com/   Internet ·        Starlink Roam Plan: https://www.starlink.com/roam   Favorite Experiences ·        The Presidential Chain Trail: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/new-hampshire/presidential-traverse-trail ·        Channel Islands National Park: https://www.nps.gov/chis/index.htm   What Can't You Live Without? ·        Portable Waste Tank ·        Solar Panels   What Have You Learned You Don't Need? ·        Extra Clothes   YouTube Channels ·        Less Junk More Journey: https://www.youtube.com/@LessJunkMoreJourney ·        Kara and Nate: https://www.youtube.com/@KaraandNate ·        Flying the Nest: https://www.youtube.com/@flyingthenest   Books ·        Alyssa Padgett RVing Across America: https://amzn.to/43bcV7B ·        (Commissions may be earned through purchases on this page)   Music ·        Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/abbynoise/rocky-mountains   Disclaimer *All content from atravelpath.com, including but not limited to The Travel Path Podcast and social media platforms, is designed to share general information. We are not experts and the information is not designed to serve as legal, financial, or tax advice. Always do your own research and due diligence before making a decision.   Transcript Host: Joe and Kalyn, welcome to a travel path podcast.   Guest: Thanks so much for having us on. Yes, it's so exciting to be here with you.   Host: Yeah, we're looking forward to getting to know you guys. Um, so we know you guys on Instagram as Open Roading. You guys turned a year-long road trip into just about five years full-time in your fifth wheel. You post content on your YouTube channel, everything from RV how-tos to work camping, and very detailed budgeting videos, which I'll tell our audience right now to make sure they pay close attention to once that part comes. Um, but no pressure on you guys. Um, and I know you're very hard to miss driving down the road with your fifth wheel and your setup with your motorcycle attached to the front of your truck, so clearly, anything is possible. Um, but yeah, why don't we start by having you share a little about yourselves and letting your audience know what your current travel lifestyle looks like.   Guest: Sure. So, we both grew up in Upstate New York. That's where we met, and then we ended up transitioning down to Florida, just love the Sunshine State, and that's when we started thinking about a potential travel lifestyle. She says "we," she means her; I was the one that started the conversation, like, "Hey, wouldn't this be cool?" And Joseph was still working at the time, so he was in the news industry as a videographer. And um, eventually, I was, you know, working on my online business. I had a blog that I was writing on different articles and starting to earn some money with that, and it got to the point where it was a full-time income, and Joseph could come home and work on it with me. And that was kind of the catalyst for like, okay, like, can I convince you now that we can get an RV? We don't, you know, have jobs that are tied outside our house. We can work from anywhere with a good cell phone connection. And so in 2019, that's when we started off. Yeah, and it was a whirlwind for that first year. We were traveling like every five days, and because we didn't have much black tank capacity, basically, we always had to dump and fill, so it was like every five days, why not move somewhere else? And we were trying to do the YouTube content all at the same time, and we really got burnt out over that first year. And then we tried again with YouTube a little while later, got burnt out again. So, our travel style now is a lot different than it used to be. Like now, we are trying to settle into a travel style where we only move every about two weeks, maybe 10 days if there's a reason. But two weeks is kind of what we're trying to get into, where we can kind of settle into a place, still do our work, you know, do a 30, 40-hour-a-week job from the RV, and then continue on.   Host: Very cool. I'm not sure if you noticed there was a thumbs-down sign that got sent. I don't know if that was you or me, but that we were not giving you a thumbs down. I don't know where that came from, but that was weird.   Guest: We have somebody watching, so weird.   Host: Yeah, well, great. So, every two weeks or so, that's the path we want to take on this next trip. Is it... it would be a lot more relaxing going at that pace as opposed to getting up and going every... I mean, we were going every like two days when we were traveling. But our next approach will be closer to a week, maybe two weeks if we're lucky. Um, but you guys do a lot of work camping. What is that? Or maybe not so much anymore 'cause you guys are done with that now. We'll get into that later on, but what is work camping?   Guest: We didn't actually start out work camping. We actually... because we were self-funded by my online business, and then Covid hit and the economy tanked, and we realized that our funding was not working and not as much anymore. And so that's where we started to look at how can we stay on the road as much as possible and also earn money with it. So, work camping is basically you work for someone else, like a campground, a state park, or even agricultural work with the beet harvest. And they are providing a place for you to stay for free, sometimes more. Resorts offer a discounted site. They don't exactly provide free housing. And then some jobs, you'll also get an hourly wage on top of the free housing. So, it's a really neat way to be able to still travel around the country, but yet you have these seasonal jobs and commitments throughout the year.   Host: And how are you finding these jobs?   Guest: Oh, this is all you. Yeah, there's a few different websites that I really, really like. So, one is Camper News, which is with a K, camper with a K, and sign up for their newsletter because they send out once-a-week emails organized by state, what kind of jobs are out there. And there is anything from, "We need help in the camp store for a campground in northern Michigan," to "Python control in the Everglades." So, you get a wide variety of opportunities through that. So, that's probably my favorite. And then, I would recommend two work camping Facebook groups, which is Work Camping Jobs with Wages and Work Campers. Both of those, people that are like management and owners of campgrounds or even farms that are wanting ranch hands, they are posting in there, like, "Hey, we'd love a camper to come for the summer or the winter season to work with us." And I think most of those, you can correct me if I'm wrong, are like resorts, campgrounds, ranch hands, stuff like that. Gate guarding isn't so much in that. You'd have to look specifically. We've been doing some gate guarding for the past three months. You kind of have to look for the gate guarding Facebook groups for those. And then the beet harvest is kind of its own animal. They have... it's a... if you just search the unbeetable experience M, um, that's a one-month-long work camping gig in several different locations across the northern US for sugar beet harvest. But look specifically for either of those, and you'll find those as well.   Host: And are you able to negotiate at all, or is there so much demand for it that on the work side, that you kind of... you're stuck with what they're giving you?   Guest: We never negotiated. We did with one, and we didn't get the job. So either we're really bad at negotiating, or... But I do think there is room, specifically in maybe the gate guarding, but it depends on demand at the time. So, in the summertime for gate guarding, we've been told it pays more because nobody wants to be down in Texas in the middle of the summer. But in the wintertime, there's a lot of people down there who are looking for jobs, and so actually, the pay goes down. And you can easily have a job if you're not taking what they offer, but you can still be picky about the jobs that you take. Like, you don't work for a specific company and have to go to each rig. It's they'll call you and say, "Hey, we have this gate available for you. Would you like it?" And you can say yes or no based on your criteria. And if people aren't familiar with what gate guarding is... Basically, it depends on the job that you have, but it's usually for the energy industry, the electric companies, or oil patch drilling sites. And you're basically just like checking people in and out, making sure that only the right people are there to work and keep the people out that are not supposed to be there. And our recent gate guarding job that we just finished was actually just security for an electric company, just watching their equipment, so we didn't have to check anyone in and out for that one.   Host: Very cool to get started with work camping. Are there any general requirements or certifications you need just to get started, or does that all depend on the job category?   Guest: It really depends on the job category, but I think the number one thing is a self-contained RV, one that has its own water tanks and waste tanks. We saw many, many work camping jobs that were just like "no tents," a lot of times no vans, no truck campers, unless maybe you could prove that it was completely self-contained. So, I would say that's the big one. Other than that, you just kind of look at each individual job. Yeah, and for gate guarding specifically, you actually do need a Level II security course for Texas at least.nYeah, for Texas, you need to take that, you need to take a drug test and screening. There's a security application so there's a little bit more involved with that one.   Host: Okay, and then for the python control, you just can't be afraid of snakes, right?   Guest: Yeah, um, crazy.   Host: So, it sounds like... I was going to ask, does the work camping dictate where you travel, or the other way around? But it sounds like you're finding out where these jobs are and then you're heading in that direction.   Guest: Yeah, that's what we try to do, I guess. At least like, what area do we want to explore and be in and would be satisfied to be stationary for six months.   Host: Is that the typical time frame, six months?   Guest: It depends a lot on what the job is, like if it's a seasonal campground, they're going to want you for the entire season. So, like, your Florida campgrounds are going to want you for the entire winter and up in Michigan, they wanted you from April through September or October. So, we specifically wanted to go to Michigan because we wanted to spend the summer near Mackinac Island and then that was close to the Beet Harvest. So, we just kind of did our planning ahead. We're like, well, we know we can get a job at the Beet Harvest because we did that the year before. So, we went from there to North Dakota and then for our goal that you talked about earlier, like, we were like, well, to make the most money to save would be gate guarding so we knew we'd need to head to different locations. Like, the agricultural jobs like with the Beet Harvest, that all depends on the harvest, the length of time, like how good is the weather for you to be able to go harvest. So, it typically takes two to three weeks for the Beet Harvest. There's more volunteer positions with state parks and national park services that usually require like a one to two month commitment at a time. And then the gate guarding, I mean they ask for a 30-day commitment and our first job was done after 12 days and then the next job lasted like 83 days so that's more of a wide range there. So, you just never know.   Host: I feel like we're talking a lot about work camping, but I'm interested in it. It sounds... I hadn't really heard much about it. So, about six months roughly? I mean, it depends a lot on what the job is, but how soon before you start working are you looking and applying for those jobs?   Guest: That's a good question. A lot of it depends on the season, to be honest. If you're applying for a winter job in Florida, Texas, Arizona at one of the resorts, not so much the gate guarding, but those resort-style RV park jobs generally a year in advance, you want to start looking. It doesn't mean you might not be able to get one a couple weeks before, you know, because somebody didn't come or somebody had committed and just backed out. But about a year before for those, for the summer jobs, a month before, there you'll still see places hiring, again, depending on the location. If it's a very in-demand location, they're going to have their stuff down right earlier, but cool, good enough.   Host: What have been your favorite and least favorite jobs?   Guest: That's a really tough one. So, I did the majority of the work camping because I was trying to bring in a second income while Kalyn was working on turning her business around. It's tough because my favorite job was the one at the campground in Michigan, but that one also was just something that it was like meeting our monthly expenses, you know, it was just kind of there to help supplement. It wasn't helping us put money aside for our future goals. So, when we finished the work camping job in Michigan, we kind of felt like we were still at the same place we were when we started that job, as opposed to like making progress financially. So, I really got to work with people, got to have front-facing customer service type stuff which I really enjoy. So, it was my favorite, but if I'm trying to save money for something then I would go with the gate guarding just because it's the easiest way, you're not having any expenditures really, you're just sitting there and making money, almost printing money in our second gate guarding job. But the first gate guarding job, I think, was our least favorite. I actually worked that one because it was a 24/7. So, we're there at the rig, we cannot leave together, we, it's like a constant, no time off. He's either sleeping or working, I'm either sleeping or working, and it just, even though it only lasted 12 days, was so exhausting. And it wasn't a busy gate. There are oil rigs we were checking in between 40 and 60 cars a day. There are rigs called fracking rigs where they have like over 100 cars or 150 cars coming in and out a day that you're checking in and out. So, we had an easy gate and we were exhausted after 12 days.   Host: Yeah, no, it sounds like it's a great opportunity, like you said, you were working full time, Kalyn, and then once your online business slowed down a little bit, you picked up this gig and it sounds like it's great for someone either starting out without that income or in your situation, you had to make that adjustment. And even if you have, it's even better if you have somebody who is working full time and then you have someone else like a spouse or a partner who is doing the work camping and you're getting a free site so your housing is basically free and you have that other source of income.   Guest: I did want to chime in there, are probably the majority of work camping positions look for couples. It doesn't mean the singles aren't out there because we're a prime example of that, like almost all our positions were singles, but Beat Harvest prefers couples over singles. A lot of the campgrounds prefer couples just because it's an RV site that they're providing and they want to have two people working from it. But don't let that deter you if you're a hardworking individual from applying anyway and saying, "Hey, I'm a super hardworking individual. I'm willing to work X number of hours a week and you can find a job."   Host: Were you able to have a good balance of kind of work and play when you're doing that? Like, in other words, would you work at this place for however long you were assigned that location then would you take some time off in between and explore? Or how did you balance your work and your travel lifestyle?   Guest: Yeah, that's what we did with the work camping. I felt like with the Michigan campground, it was a very nice balance of working and then being able to explore the area. When it came to like Beet Harvest and gate guarding, it was more you're just exploring in between driving to and from actual job locations. So, like when Beet Harvest was in North Dakota and the gate guarding, which was the next job was in Texas, so we kind of stopped on a couple places on the way down and then it was heads-down work again until gate guarding was done.   Host: You touched on it a little bit and I do want to dial this back to where this thing started because point of this podcast is we're helping people who want to reach their travel goals. They haven't quite gotten there yet, but they're listening to this because they want to get to traveling and reach their travel goals. So, you were starting out, you had this dream to go traveling, you were working on your blog, and you were, you ultimately had a full-time income that could support your travel lifestyle. So that's how you were funding your travels, yes. But what were some of the biggest challenges you faced in getting on the road?   Guest: This is kind of an interesting one. I feel like it was telling people that we were changing our lifestyle. It's a big hurdle to be able to go to people that you had commitments to and be like, "You know, we're selling our house, we're leaving the area, we're going to be traveling full time." And then it's even a little bit tougher too when you say, "We're doing it for like a year and then we'll see what happens." And now we're almost, you know, five years in and we're still not done. So, it's definitely having that conversation with people because they don't always understand like why can't you just do one to two vacations a year like normal people, you know, and have a house, an actual house. So that was probably the most challenging part. And then I would say on the road, staying on the road, something that I wish we had known before going on is that especially when you work for yourself, your income can really ebb and flow. And have a game plan, have multiple streams of income, you know, if you're getting on the road because you've spent years building a savings for a specific number of months, what are you going to do after that to fund? Just kind of like having a future game plan in mind of how you're going to be able to maintain staying on the road. It's like getting on the road is one thing but then being able to stay traveling is another.   Host: How did you know you were ready? Was it just a matter of how much you were making with your business? Did you have a number in mind and you said, "We're ready"? Or how did you know when it was time to hit the road?   Guest: I think when the right RV popped up. Yeah, we had a list of things that needed to happen, and one by one, they just started happening. We had a property in New York that we didn't think would sell because of the economy in New York, and it had been on the market for a long time, and it sold. Then we had an RV. We wanted to get an RV, but we had a specific list of, like, it needs to be this, it needs to be in our price range, which was not super high, and it popped up. The couple that was selling it was like, we told them we can't buy it until we sell our house, and they're like, "Oh, yeah, no problem." You know, and they actually sent us the deed in Florida before we even paid them a dime, so that we could get it registered. And it was just a super awesome couple, and like, everything just started falling into place. I'm like, "Oh, now's the time." And it solidifies that you're making the right decision, too.   Host: Sure. And once that house sells, you don't have much of a choice.   Guest: Yeah, now that doesn't mean we didn't have like nights of like tears or like, did we do the right thing, or freak out or anything like that. We totally went through all of that the first couple of months of travel, just like as we were getting used to everything.   Host: Well, I'm glad you say that because I've had those exact same thoughts, too, so it makes me feel better. Did you have to make any adjustments? So your original plan was to do a one-year-long road trip. You decided to extend it, obviously. Were there any adjustments you had to make to extend that and to keep going?   Guest: We had to, um, because we wanted to, like, Boondock more, I would say. We invested in... This is going to be like TMI, but, like, a portable black tank so that we could go longer because that was one of the things, like we had mentioned before, we were traveling, we thought this was going to only be one year, so that's where we're traveling every, like, four to five days. Um, and then we realized we wanted to slow down, we wanted this to be a lifestyle, and so we started buying things that would help us stay in places longer. Um, so things like that, yeah, the portable black tank, a macerator pump, a, uh, we have water storage that we have in the back of the RV, those are the only things that we really, we did buy a generator too, yeah, we bought a small generator, we have a, we have, we call it a minimal solar setup. It keeps us going, but it's not anywhere near what like some of these people have where the whole roof is covered in solar panels. Um, but the other transition I would say happened longer than a year, and that actually had to do with the work camping and everything, where we realized over the past year that if we want to keep doing this, we need to bring in another income stream. And so that has come down to, uh, YouTube and treating it as a full-time job to get that second income stream in so that we don't end up off the road because we literally did almost end up off the road uh, this last year.   Host: Yeah, yeah, keeps it exciting.   Guest: Oh, yeah. When, so when your back's against the wall like you try to do everything, yeah, now you got to find a way.   Host: You'd mentioned you like the water jugs. You, you, it seems like when we watch your videos, you have a couple of almost unique and original ideas. Like the one I'm thinking of is you have that it's almost like a 2x4 and a string of like 5-gallon water drums in the back of your truck for extra water. Do you think of that yourselves or where do you come up with these ideas?   Guest: That some people transport water with a like a 60-gallon water bladder. Some people transport water with a like a 60-gallon water bladder, to bring it from point A to point B. My problem with that is I can't, um, I can't functionally keep a 60-gallon water bladder full in the back of the pickup while on a travel day. Like, I want to have the RV full of water, and then I want to have extra storage. And so that's why we went with those, uh, with those, uh, six-gallon jugs in the back. And the 2x4 between it is literally when those jugs are empty and we haul the RV, they blow right out, like without the RV, they stay there fine. But when the RV is there, some wind suction comes in and just sucks them right out, uh, so the 2x4 is literally just to keep them from flying away.   Host: Did you learn that the hard way?   Guest: Yes, yes, on a, on a, like, 10-degree day. And so when The Jug hit the pavement, it shattered basically, yeah.   Host: Oh, man. Oh, it was full.   Guest: No. No, it was, it was empty, but it was, it was just so brittle. Brittle plastic and 60 miles an hour, just broken into a few pieces.   Host: Hey, guys, I wanted to take a quick break to tell you about Delicia oats. We've been enjoying Delicia oats for many years, and they have helped fuel us for those extra long hikes. They are flavored oats that come in a pouch and are very easy to set up. Just add water, give it a shake, and let it sit overnight and enjoy the next morning. Or you can add boiling water if you like them served hot. We've also added them to our morning smoothie, or I'll sprinkle some into my yogurt for some extra flavor and to help fill me up. You can make them in less than a minute, and there is no cleanup, which is huge for us on the road. Now, if you're like me, the first question you'll ask is how much added sugar is there? And here's a big one for me: no added sugar. They come in a variety of flavors. My personal favorite is Cherry Chocolate. Enjoy them for yourself by placing an order at Delicia oats.com and use the coupon code PATH at checkout. That's Delicia oats.com, D-L-I-C-I-O-A-T-S.com, and use the coupon code PATH.   Host: Well, on that note, we'll fast forward a little bit, talking about your past. We'll fast forward to kind of the future and leading up to where you are now. What have been some of the biggest frustrations you faced and currently face while traveling?   Guest: I would say our current struggle is balancing the work and the play side of things because, like, we've got sort of three types of days. We've got work days, we've got travel days, which will take a lot out of you, and then you have adventure days and exploring days. And so trying to make sure that, okay, we need to get in like five to six good work days that doesn't leave... that leaves room for maybe one travel day a week or, you know, one adventure day a week. Kind of have to choose, so it's not... I used to go into a location saying we have a list of like 10 to 12 things that we have to hit, and that's not enjoyable because we're so stressed trying to make time for it all. And now it's like I have a list of 10 to 12 things, but it's like we've prioritized them now, okay, these are the top three, and if we have time, we'll go to the next one on the list. And that's made a little bit easier. And this is somewhat Creator-focused but also being able to have an adventure day that isn't for YouTube. So getting to a location being like, okay, we want to put this in a YouTube video, this particular hike or whatever it is, but then we also want to go on a hike together where we don't have the stress of also trying to create content. That was something we failed on our first attempt to, maybe second attempt at YouTube, is we were just trying to film everything, which was just adding extra stress because we weren't actually having a day to ourselves.   Host: Yeah, I know, Kalyn, you have your business. It's you're helping women with planning, scheduling, and routines throughout their day, so clearly, I would assume like routines are your forte. Have you discovered any routines that have helped you specifically with travel?   Guest: Yeah, and we're also like implementing routines now that we're done gate guarding and work camping in general and we're on the same schedule because we were just on opposite shifts for so long. But the key to staying on the same page has been weekly meetings. As we plan our week, we go through okay, where are we traveling this week? What are our adventure days this week? What are our deadlines for work stuff this week? And making sure that we're on the same page, that everything's getting done. And then like a quick five-minute meeting in the morning. But I would say morning routines too have been really good for us. Just getting up at the same time, taking our dog Trinity for a walk or going running, and having breakfast, and then getting to work and just kind of having that stability because on the road, you don't have a lot of that all the time. You know, things are changing. We don't have a laundry day because it really depends when we can get to town, you know, to do laundry. So there's not those routines, but we try to establish structure, sure, where we can.   Host: So you put the routines in where you can control. You can't control where you are or what's around you, but you can control when you wake up, you can control those meetings wherever they are, um, and just that gives you more structure throughout your day. That's great. Um, what do you guys love most about your travel lifestyle?   Guest: I love the fact that we have a different backyard every couple of weeks. So we are very active people. When we're in our best element, we like going on hikes and exploring places. And when you're in the same place for years at a time, you run out of hiking trails, at least within a short distance. So the fact that we get to a new place, it's like, okay, now everything behind us is new, even just taking the dog for a walk. It's going to be a completely new area that we're exploring, even before going on a hike. And I think the other thing is just like getting to get a broader perspective on the country as a whole. And someday, maybe the world if we ever do any world travel. But just being able to see like, oh, this is where your food comes from, to sound super simple, like I grew up in the country so I was aware of some of that. But like you go to different states and see how different people live, and it just gives a broader perspective on how our country works and how people work and how people can work together.   Host: Same thing, Kalyn?   Guest: Yes. Sorry. Sorry. I was like, he's taking that question. If he wasn't going to mention the broader perspective, I was going to chime in with that one. But yeah, even things that we knew nothing about, like, su... Yeah, we had no idea there were sugar beets that people literally were eating sugar from sugar beets. So that's like a whole thing that you learn, the oil industry, you know, all the workers that come together and the things they do on the oil patch. So it's... It's... you really get to see like the American work ethic.   Host: Yeah, that, and I think going back to work camping, that's... that gives you those experiences at a deeper level. Like, yeah, you're in these areas, you can see things kind of from a distance, but when you're actually working those jobs, doing the gate guarding and doing the beet harvest, gives you even more of an appreciation for those things. That's great. You had mentioned world travels in your future, so how long do you plan on continuing this travel lifestyle for?   Guest: It's unknown. It's unknown. As long as we are capable of, and Kalyn and, you know, things align, eventually, we'll probably transition into more like 80% travel and 20% at some sort of home base that we can come back to, especially if we start adding international trips, um, just to have a place where you have the same doctor's appointments and dentists and, and can come back and kind of recover before you go out again. So that's what we see happening in our future. I think no matter what it looks like, travel will always be a part of our lifestyle.   Host: Yeah, that's great. We'll transition, we'll switch to budgeting tips, and I'll just remind our audience you're going to want to bring your pen and paper for this section here because you guys post on your YouTube and your Instagram, you guys are very thorough. You have not only monthly expenses but you break it down what you're spending money on, you have how much you're making with YouTube with work camping, your whole Alaska budget. We'll dig into. So breaking it down, stripping it down to kind of a monthly or weekly budget, what does that look like?   Guest: Well, obviously, it's going to be different for everyone, but for us personally, for someone who tries to be really budget conscious, doesn't have like a truck payment or an RV payment, and also tries to do as many free activities as possible, we spend about $3,500 to $4,000 a month. And that includes everything. It includes health insurance, vehicle insurance. I think sometimes when people say, like, well, you know, this is what you can find that you'll typically spend in the RV lifestyle, they're not necessarily including everything that maybe $3,500 to $4,000 roughly.   Host: And keep in mind, everyone, that's without the RV, that's without the truck payment either.   Guest: Which we don't... we don't have any payments on those.   Host: Yes, that's outside of that. So if you were going to finance just... you want to factor that into was that budget a little bit tighter when you started out? Have you been able to loosen that up since you've... own your business?   Guest: It's actually a little bit tighter now because... I mean, everyone's feeling the effects of inflation and we recently did a... um... five years of RV life costs and at the beginning of RV life, we were spending probably around $350 for groceries, which was just food. And now we're struggling to come in under 500 a month for the two of us. So it's not like we've changed our practices, I think it's just that inflation coming through.   Host: Yeah, yeah. Do you have any budget apps or tools that have helped you track your expenses?   Guest: We highly, highly recommend You Need A Budget. Um, it is an annual fee, I think it's like last I paid was like $106. So it is a little pricey, but it takes... it connects all your credit cards and bank accounts, import the transactions automatically, very easy to reconcile and categorize things. And I think it's why we've been able to stay on top of all those numbers because we know exactly like where they're being attributed, um, so that would... I absolutely love that app and maybe they'll sponsor us in the future. We'd be totally game for that. I just love that you keep saying we track, we track this, we... I'm the one hiccup in the budgeting process. She does it. It takes her like 15 minutes every Friday to check in, do everything, and probably 10 of those 15 minutes are locating receipts that I've misplaced.   Host: Yeah, I don't miss the days of scanning receipts and to get the copy online, and yeah, that's just painful. So, I was going to ask, my next question was how much time, so you're spending about 15 minutes a week, so about an hour a month, sounds like you've come up with a system where doing it per week is more efficient than just holding everything for the end of the month.   Guest: Yeah, and because you can check, because you check in more often, you can pivot quicker, you know, if you see something like, "Oh, you know, our eating out spending is getting a little out of control," and we're halfway through the month, we know to rain it in and eat more at home. So, the more check-ins you can have, I think, I mean if you want a check-in daily, if you feel like that gives you peace of mind, do it daily, but we found like, I've found that Weekly a good Cadence.   Host: That is a good point yeah checking in once a week because if you set a weekly or a monthly budget of you know 300 bucks for going out to eat but you only touch touch base every month then it's kind of pointless so actually doing that per week and then yeah that's a good tip right there yeah awesome um what has been some of the best travel hacks you've come across that have helped you save money?   Guest: Boondocking one 1,00% boondocking we have so you can Boondock people Boondock with generators I don't recommend it but you can get a solar setup for your RV uh and it doesn't have to be the $50,000 solar setup like we set up our solar system I installed it myself so I did save myself some money there but for $6,000 we didn't have to use a generator our whole first couple years um we if we ever got close to the batteries running low which was rare we would get a campground for a night plug in get everything back up but but um but now we even have just a I think it's like a $800 or even less $300 generator that we can just use to charge us up if we have a couple cloudy days in a row but for that $66,000 we have 700 Watts almost 700 watts of solar and three 100 amp hour batteries um an inverter converter Char inverter charger converter something um does everything clearly he's an expert yes clearly and uh but it has run flawless for the 5 years that that we've been rving and you don't need all the fancy smancy now we also don't have uh some power sucking things like we don't have electronic uh stoves like it's a gas stove and and things like that and we also don't have a giant TV uh if you have a giant TV and that's a necessity then you might need more battery I don't know how much they take and we have the typical RV gas gas electric fridge that we just r on gas for we boondocking nice and I'm sure there's a video on there we'll Link in the show notes that you guys posted and you said $50,000 that's how much those things cost be50 Grand think that's a little I've seen I've seen I've seen at least $25,000 solar setups that people have like when their whole roof is covered in solar panels and they've got 12 batteries underneath like as a general rule when we started rving as a general rule 100 amp hours of battery was $1,000 that has gone down depending on the brand of battery you get um but yeah you can you can get expensive in a hurry with a solar setup.   Host: Sounds like it yeah um and you did it for six grand setting up yourself the um so you talked about boondocking are you boondocking because obviously that replaces your camping expense how often are you boondocking when you're when you reference that $3,500 to $4,000 monthly?   Guest: Um budget most of the time yeah it's we we Boondock unless we absolutely cannot it is obviously harder when you're closer to cities or East Coast or on the East Coast we will like stay probably an hour and a half sometimes two hours outside of where we want to go just so we can Boondock because it's it saves more money to even pay the gas to get there in back than it is in the campground fees that are usually near CI so we do that and there's also um Harvest host and boondockers welcome that you can take advantage of as well um so staying in people's driveways and sometimes it's fun to like just meet new people and and get to know others on the road so that's an option too.   Host: Wow so that's almost 4,000 you're spending a month and that's really not including um housing or or finding a place to stay so your biggest expense is probably fuel groceries and you said your health insurance?   Guest:Yep yep health insurance I was when we have starlink turned on for internet then our internet sell bill is expensive um because starlink itself is is $150 a month but we've opted for the ram plan so you can turn it off um like every month you can decide whether you want to keep it going or turn it off and so if we're on the East Coast where we have Verizon sell signal and T-Mobile sell signal then we'll turn it off and save that money there well when we have all three running that's going to be about 300 a month to 4 just for just for Internet yep.   Host: Wow yeah like I said very thorough thank you guys for sharing so much detail on everything that's that should give everyone a really good idea of how much this lifestyle can cost um so you guys travel with Trinity your dog and Cody your bunny what's it like traveling with two pets like that and do you want to share how you came across Trinity or rather how Trinity found you?   Guest: Yeah, that's, yeah, CU, she was at an oil pad for our first gate guarding job, and as people were showing us the ropes, we're like, "Is this your dog? Whose dog is it?" And they're like, "Nope, it just kind of hangs around here." And we got to know some of the workers, and they're like, "Yeah, she's been hanging around here for a few months," and she just seemed to get really attached to us. So we provided her water, um, she slept in our chair, she slept in our outdoor chair, and started providing her some food. But the problem is, we were like, we have a rabbit, and dogs and rabbits don't necessarily get along, so that's one of the things where really, really, really worried about if we kept her. And we weren't looking for a dog. Um, we've always had rabbits since we've been married. So we actually ended up, like, outside the shelter, and we couldn't go through with it. We just couldn't drop her off because we obviously didn't want her to stay there on the oil pad trying to get scraps from trucks and sleeping by Slo pipe and like we wanted to get her a good home. Um, and yeah, we couldn't go through with the shelter, and so like, well, we'll give it a shot. And we just slowly introduced them. And now it's to the place where we don't completely 100% trust her alone with the rabbit, like we put barriers in place, doors pens just just to make sure. But that's not based on her, that's just based on better part of wisdom, knowing that instinct is a thing. She's never done anything like Cody literally will jump off the couch onto her sleeping, yeah, and she'll jump up, you know, like what happened, but there's not like anger or growl or anything. So, and so it's nice that they are able to to live together and it also makes travel days a lot easier too because like Trinity can lay on the back seat of the truck and Cody's kind of in the in the back of the truck on the bottom on the floor um, and he can hop around and they're totally fine. So, it worked out really well and we love her and she's a great addition of the family.   Host: That's funny, unlikely companions.   Guest: Yes.   Host: I feel like if if if we brought our dog into a camper with a rabbit that place would get flipped upside down faster than we could even imagine.   Guest: I think that would happen if a cat strolled into the camper she's not a cat fan.   Host: What has been your coolest travel experience so far?   Guest: H, we have two, can we have two?   Host: Yep.   Guest: I would, you want to do yours? Sure. So, we did, uh, was this two years ago, yeah, we did did close to your neck of the woods actually we did the presidential chain Trail in New Hampshire in the White Mountains. It's about a 21 22 mile hike and we set off at 5 6 in the morning and we had high hopes that we were going to be done by Sundown uh, we finished at about 4:30 the following morning um, Kalyn injured her knee about halfway through uh, we got up to the summit of Mount Washington and there actually is a tourist area there in roads and and we considered like do we jump off and it was at that we try to hit your ride back ride and Kalyn was at that point she's like no we I'm gonna do this I'm never gonna try this again we're gonna do it so she hoofed another 11 miles um through the dark for most of that and then we we got back and when we got down to the bottom her mom actually texted her and she's like oh I'm so glad you're back it looks like it's about to rain and we had the motorcycle and so we're like well we got to book it to our Campground so we booked it there and just the feeling of accomplishment I actually got back to the RV and just kind of like crashed and it was like at first it was like we will never do anything like that ever again and then after you kind of got over the exhaustion you're just like the feeling of doing something really hard um because we like Seven Summits yeah and we weren't expecting it to take that long we weren't expecting you know so we had a lot of roadblocks along the way but to come off the other side and just be like wow we accomplished something really hard was was huge. Yeah, and I would say mine is um at Channel Islands National Park which is off the coast of California I didn't even know existed it existed until like a couple years ago and you have to take a boat out to it and there is absolutely no cell service at all no like real buildings nothing um and so we tent came camped out there overnight and there's also a really cute little island fox that like run they run around there they're only native to that Island um and we'll get into your tent if you leave the door open so you have to be careful about that but you have on one side of the island these massive Cliffs with the Pacific Ocean beneath on the other side there's you know Rocky beaches you can see seals swimming it was just a really really neat experience in a national park that like I said we had not heard of and then for it to you know become like one of our favorites and a day and a half was not enough time.   Host: It leaves you with more more to do I was going to add that's the worst possible time to get hurt on a hike is when you're halfway done you're halfway it's not like three quarters or a quarter the way you're halfway so you're going the entire length back you guys you guys are Troopers and you finish it up that's awesome good job yeah after spending just about five years traveling has there been something you've learned besides Internet that you can't live without?   Guest: We can live without the portable waste but we can't really... I feel like we can't live without the solar panels. Yes, that would probably be my answer, just because of the sheer amount of boondocking that we do. That would... We don't want to listen to generator noise, so the solar panels allow us to be able to have a peaceful time in the middle of where...   Host: Yeah, very cool. So, you mentioned the portable black tank, so you're still using the same RV you started out with, I take?   Guest: Yes, oh yeah, yeah, it's a 2005 JCO Designer. We remodeled the inside; we're in the process of updating some of the outside decals and whatnot, but yeah, it's... it's a beast, it's sturdy. We don't... I'm not going to say we're never gonna buy a new RV, but a lot of times when I see people with new RVs and their suspensions breaking and stuff like that are break, I'm just like, you know, this 2005 RV is looking better every day, very solid.   Host: Yeah, they don't build them like they used to. Um, contrary to...   Guest: I hate it that you can say that about 2005, like when somebody says that it's supposed to be like 1950 something.   Host: I know, it's crazy. Like my truck's 2013 and it's like, it's... it's over 10 years old.   Guest: Yeah, yeah, yeah, you look at it, it's like you look, it's, you think it's like 5 years old. But yeah, 2005, it's what, 19 years old? Yeah, yeah, in 20 years I think is called vintage. Yeah, our RV is one year from vintage.   Host: Yeah, we had a 2002, we were going to, like, redo it and just make it vintage, where 20... it was, it was rough looking, so we just said it's vintage, yeah, exactly. Has there been something you've learned that you don't need while traveling?   Guest: There's... I would say we brought more clothes than we thought we had needed, especially like fancier clothes, and we just didn't end up wearing them. I like... we're not fancy people, no. So I, like, those, I think we ended up just giving all to Goodwill. I think maybe I kept one dress in case of something. But yeah, I don't know why you packed those. And if you have like sports equipment that it's like, "Oh, this is something I will do once a year." Like, I'm not a golfer, but I had some golf clubs, and I was like, "There's no point in having these if I'm going to use them once. I can rent clubs somewhere, you know?" Um, now we have paddleboards, but we use those more than once a year. Like, we just are very intentional about the sports equipment we have with us.   Host: It's a good rule of thumb: if you're not going to use it more than once a year, you can just rent it when you get to that destination. What tools should every RV owner have?   Guest: Oh, that's a... I hate this question because I'm not a tool person and I need to be. Um, but the one I'm using the most all the time is... is my drill. And like, I have a drill and a cordless drill. Like, those come in handy so often. I've got... I've got some drawers I need to fix and the idea of trying to do those with a like a hand screwdriver... I know it's like the most basic tool you can say, but if you don't have that in your toolbox, I think you should start with that.   Host: Sure. I was going to say WD40. I feel like you're using that in like every other...   Guest: I do use that a lot, on everything. Maybe that's the thing you can't live without.   Host: A few more questions before we wrap this thing up and I can't believe we're already at at 50 minutes. I do want to get into this YouTube thing a little bit because for someone who's looking to get into traveling full-time and getting into documenting and vlogging and creating content, um, you had posted on your YouTube channel that this was your third attempt. You had tried twice, didn't pan out, and this time you've been met with some pretty good success. Um, what's been different this time?   Guest: There's a lot of things. We are now like almost five years in, so our first year when we were trying to document and learn RV life, like, it was too much, too much new at one time and traveling so fast that we burned out quickly. Now we've slowed that down. The other thing was style. We wanted to make content around the locations we were going to and taking people along because we thought they'd just be interested in the hike because it was a hike. And we've learned that we are going to be primarily in the entertainment space and so we need to be more of a vlog style. And so that's what's completely different this third time around is it's much more doing projects around the RV, running errands, taking people with us to go grocery shopping and doing laundry and seeing what real life on the road looks like in addition to the locations. But we're very intentional about keeping those segments short and snappy. I feel like, yeah, we definitely have a lot more in terms of editing of like cutting and and making things shorter so that we can storytelling the shortest amount of time possible. I think a good example of that is if you look at our video about Cloud's rest uh, in yosity, yeah, I got that park right you look at that it's it's one video about one hike and it's about eight minutes long or so and then compare that to our video about uh, what's the thumbnail say it's New Normal I don't remember decision big decision and we explored some jips some capes and that and the whole video is about 20 our dog is snoring I'm sorry it's about 20 minutes it's about 20 minutes long and we have a cave exploring segment that is about two to three minutes long of that whole video and we still want to we still want to take people along for the journey through those things but we have realized that the attention span for those types of things it is much less so just keep things moving.   Host: Yeah, no, those are great points. Thank you for sharing that. And, as you touched on earlier, it sounds like with the editing taking longer, but you're also allocating time where you're not filming, so that kind of keeps you from being burnt out, right? So before it was go, go, go, but now you're actually taking the time to relax. It's not as hectic as it was.   Guest: Yeah, and I think being very selective about what we're filming. Like, a vlog is going to have, I don't know, three to five different segments of different locations and us maybe doing things, whereas we don't have to film the whole beginning to end of a hike anymore. So, you know, we're going on a hike tomorrow and we're just going to take a few B-roll clips, mention it in our next video, you know, show maybe talk about it for like 15, 20 seconds, and that's it. So, it does allow us to enjoy the locations more, because we know now that's not necessarily what people, at least for our audience, want to watch a whole video on. They would rather watch us do dishes. Do dishes and travel in the truck, get propane, and all that RV life real-life stuff.   Host: Nice. And I would ask, how much you're making with YouTube, but instead, I will say, check the video out in the description, we'll link that video you posted on how much you're making so people can go check it out. If someone's listening to this podcast and they want to get started traveling but just aren't quite there yet, what is one thing they could start doing today to get them there?   Guest: It sounds stupid, but planning, and specifically, if finances are a thing, if it's, you're going to retire and you're going to travel, then just start planning what type of RV and things like that you want to get. But otherwise, it's start making your financial plan for it. Is your financial plan YouTube? Well, if it's YouTube, then you need to build up savings so that you have a runway until YouTube starts earning you money, or you need to have a work camping job plan. And if that's the case, you need to find work camping jobs that leave you enough time to also create content. And so just start getting those things down on paper so that it's not just an idea of "Oh, I want to travel sometime," it becomes more concrete of "Okay, this is the plan that I'm going to tackle." Yeah, and I would say something that we had heard from other people that we actually followed was to not go super big. Like, when you're moving from a house into an RV, you think, "I've got to get like the 40-footer because I'm not going to have a lot of space," and we went with a 33-foot, and it felt... It's the perfect length for us. And I think that's another reason why we've stuck with the RV, the same RV for five years. See, it's not uncommon for someone to switch out an RV every couple of years, and they generally go smaller. They're getting a big fifth wheel, and then they're going to maybe a Class C, and then they're maybe doing a truck camper for weekend trips. So really trying to match your style of travel with an RV and making sure that you don't necessarily need all that space.   Host: You mentioned a few channels that influenced you. What were those channels? Any other like books or other influences that helped you?   Guest: Less Junk More Journey was the first one, and it was when I came to Joseph and I was like, "Hey, watch these people. They are a normal family like doing this." And we kept watching their videos, every single new episode that would come out, and it just kept inspiring us and convincing you to jump into full-time RV life. So we're really inspired when we see channels who are doing really creative things just to kind of see how that would inspire us in our own channel. So we really like Kara and Nate with their style that they do, and then also Flying The Nest. I think it's Flying The Nest. They are a family that travels the world, and their editing is really good. I was just going to say, to put a finger on what we mean by inspiring, we are ruined for YouTube now because when we watch YouTube, we're like, "Oh, that's how they're editing," or "Oh, that's how they're doing that." And Flying The Nest is one specifically that we were watching, and I looked at Kalyn and I'm like, "We're three minutes in, and they're on their like sixth background song. Like, they're not playing a background song for more than 30 seconds." And I said to her, "There's no way I'm doing that in our channel. That's just ridiculous." And we kept watching, and now we do that. But this wasn't before we were RV life, but I think Melissa Padet from Heath and Alyssa, she wrote a book. Now I can't remember the title of it, but working in all 50 states on, like, their journey through all 50 states, which was just so inspiring. And also with us work camping, kind of I don't know, felt like in a similar vein, like we're trying all these different jobs in different states. So I recommend them as well.   Host: Nice, perfect. And we'll link all those resources below in the show notes. And one last question for part two, travel tips. You guys are coming back. Where are we talking about for that?   Guest: We are going up to Northern Michigan and back in time to Mackinac Island. Awesome, everyone stay tuned. Joe and Kin, thanks again.   Host: Thank you so much for having us.

In this episode of Roads and Stays audio magazine, we dive into the heartwarming world of hosting with Boondockers Welcome with Ken and Anne Davis. Since 2017, they've welcomed 241 guests, transitioning from medical careers to embracing the joys of hosting RV travelers during their retirement years. They share their experiences with traveling, hosting, and the true magic of travel. Show Links Harvest Hosts Blog Vermont Distillers RV Industry Dip Last Summer Trip Tampa RV Show Quartzite RV Show --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jeremy-storton7/message

Long ago a side trip to a pub while traveling was enough. Now, squeezing in a side trip to a museum while Beer Traveling is commonplace. My next guest is one of these people who put Beer Travel on the map, and she wants to share with us just how wonderful it is.  Not everyone can easily travel abroad. For some, it's a bit of a luxury. But, unlike other luxuries, travel is an investment in your experience and your lifelong perspective. No matter how far you can go, my wish for you is just to go and seek out your Beer Travel destination.  We find great experiences at the intersection of craft and culture. These are the stories of us, of great food and the beer that brings it all together. For the Craft and Culture of Beer, this is episode 139 of Good Beer Matters with Beer Traveler, Dr. Ruth Berman. Show Links ⁠Bon Beer Voyage ⁠ ⁠Knighthood of the Mash Paddle⁠ ⁠Tour Directing School - ITMI ⁠ ⁠World Food Travel Association⁠ ⁠⁠Subscribe to the Good Beer Matters Monthly Newsletter for practical beer education.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Good Beer Matters Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ comes to you with support from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BreweryDB.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, your digital destination for brewery experiences! T-shirt from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shirts On Tap⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Become a host for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Harvest Hosts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and/ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Boondockers Welcome⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (use code "BWFRIENDS15" for a discount) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jeremy-storton/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jeremy-storton/support

Canada is known for many cool things, especially beer. But, I've never been there and I don't know much about it other than what I see in the movies. So, I asked my next guest to give us a tour of the craft and the culture of beer in Canada.  I'm always amazed that despite whatever differences we may perceive between us and other people, we are also so much alike. Beer happens to be one of those wonderful things that get us to slow down long enough to remember this. Thanks to Brad Goddard for the reminder.  We find great experiences at the intersection of craft and culture. These are the stories of us, of great food and the beer that brings it all together. For the Craft and Culture of Beer, this is episode 138 of Good Beer Matters with Brad Goddard, of Canada's Big Rock Brewery. Show Links Big Rock Brewery GBM 124 Czechvar GBM - Ted Slingerland Alberta Ale Trail Kokua Project Subscribe to the Good Beer Matters Monthly Newsletter for practical beer education.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Good Beer Matters Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ comes to you with support from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BreweryDB.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, your digital destination for brewery experiences! T-shirt from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shirts On Tap⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Become a host for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Harvest Hosts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and/ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Boondockers Welcome⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (use code "BWFRIENDS15" for a discount) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jeremy-storton/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jeremy-storton/support

In today's episode of the Outdoor Adventure Series Podcast,  we have the pleasure of chatting with the incredible Cami Baker, an accomplished real estate professional, bestselling author, and podcaster. Cami's expertise includes funding nonprofits and strategizing social responsibility campaigns through the power of real estate.We also learn that Cami runs her business from the comfort of a 31ft Class C RV. Stick around to learn all about the RV lifestyle, the platforms that facilitate RV travel, and Cami's personal experiences living on the road. We'll even discuss the challenges of staying connected to the world through the internet while adventuring in the great outdoors.QUESTIONS WE DISCUSSED How has Cami's experience in real estate shaped her understanding of the potential for nonprofits to receive funding through real estate donations? What are some of the challenges and barriers nonprofits often face when considering real estate as a source of donations? What examples of creative approaches can nonprofits take to integrate real estate donations into their fundraising strategies? What are some benefits and considerations of living the RV lifestyle? How does Cami's use of technology, such as smartphones and internet access on the road, contribute to her ability to maintain a flexible and nomadic lifestyle? How can individuals and organizations leverage platforms like Boondockers Welcome, Harvest Host, and Thousand Trails to enhance their RV travel experiences?What are some tips and recommendations for planning and executing the RV lifestyle?PublicationsReal Estate is Hot, Fundraising is Not: 5 Keys to Revolutionize How Charities & Champions Fund Their Causes, Careers, Companies, & Communities.LEARN MORETo learn more about Cami and her work, please visit her website at https://www.theraoc.com/.  You can also find Cami on the following social sites:LinkedInYouTube Facebook TwitterYou can also listen to Cami's podcasts, The REAL Agents of Change Podcast and the Real Estate is HOT; fundraising is NOT Podcast, at https://www.theraoc.com/podcast.Click here to learn about and explore the RV Lifestyle:Harvest Hosts Thousand Trails RV ResortsNEXT STEPSIf you enjoy podcasts devoted to the outdoor adventure space, find us online at https://outdooradventureseries.com. We welcome likes and comments, and if you know someone who is also an outdoor enthusiast, go ahead and share our site with them, too.KEYWORDSCami Baker, Real Agents of Change, Real Estate Professional, Funding Nonprofits, Social Responsibility campaigns, Charitable Giving of Realestate, Fundraising Through Real Estate, RV Lifestyle, RV Living, ThousPodcast produced using DescriptPodcast hosted by BuzzsproutShow Notes powered by CastmagicWebsite powered by PodpageNote: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Today, we're giving you five hidden gems discovered through Harvest Hosts and Boondockers Welcome. Harvest Hosts isn't just another membership for RV travelers—it's a ticket to unique, scenic spots that traditional campgrounds can't match.    Show notes: https://thefaiolas.com/96

As you heard in the last episode we are 9m into our family gap year.  This recording comes days after meeting up with a previous Ordinary Sherpa guest from episode 109| Living your Childhood Dreams.   and continually grateful for the stories and connections that have helped us in taking steps and moving forward on this journey.  We love meeting up with friends and strangers and the best platform to do that is through Boondockers Welcome, a part of the Harvest Host family.  We've had over 20+ stays through this platform this year and are always intrigued by the connections and unique stories and generous people we meet.  If you are interested in RVing I highly encourage considering a membership or becoming a host.  If you use my link in the show notes: http://Ordinarysherpa.com/HarvestHosts to do so you'll not only receive a discount but support Ordinary Sherpa in the process.   Our guest and I met in a natural hot spring in Stanley Idaho.  We were experimenting with the idea of a gap year traveling in an RV with 3 kids on a 34 day sabbatical to test our current gap year potential.  Carissa (and her husband Chuck) were already traveling full-time in their 25' RV with their two kids and dog. They spent the past few years becoming debt free, minimizing their belongings, working hard, playing harder, and homeschooling their kids. In 2020 they sold their  house and hit the road to travel around America so they could focus on spending more time together, living a healthy lifestyle.   Meeting people ahead of you on the journey offers adventure sparks sometimes igniting new ideas or experiences.   From that interaction we began following each other on social media.  Our kids bonded over Harry Potter stories and through their daughter's suggestion my daughter has since begun the Percy Jackson series and her interest in Greek Mythology.  It was even one of their taco recipes that sparked us trying tajun seasoning which is now a must have for so many of our meals.  (If you aren't familiar, Tajun is a chili lime seasoning that is not spicy).  Through their examples of  prioritizing self-care, clean eating, and fitness to maximize this time in their lives, they inspire others to live a healthy lifestyle and embark on their own adventures.  Carissa from Feed Us Adventures, Welcome to Ordinary Sherpa.   We'll have a conversation and share a bit of your backstory, what intrigued you to the RV lifestyle, what's important to you. How do you do this life with kids. I'd like to talk about your focus on health and well-being and stead the conversation towards any action you'd like the audience to take.  Worth noting, I have found that I really enjoy podcasting and having conversation without all the ads and interruptions many podcasters use.  If you enjoy the ideas, find joy or inspiration from my work, you can buy me a coffee to say thanks and support the show.  If you want to go deeper with the content and/or get more engaged you can find additional ways to support the show through the links below.   Website for this episode: https://ordinarysherpa.com/126Subscribe to the email List:  https://ordinarysherpa.com/subscribe/ Join Harvest Hosts using our link to access our favorite type of travel, get a discount and support Ordinary Sherpa: http://Ordinarysherpa.com/HarvestHosts (Boondockers Welcome and CampScanner are our favorites)

In a previous episode we explored craft beer in latin America. However, it focused on places that are hot spots for American expatriates and global vacationers. In this episode, my next guest guides us through a taste of Latin American Craft Beer from the perspective of the locals.   At the end of a long day or a long week I prefer to unwind with people I love, to have an interesting conversation, a great meal, and a good beer. We don't have to travel to El Salvador to put the focus on the people, the place or the moment, but it helps.  We find great experiences at the intersection of craft and culture. These are the stories of us, of great food and the beer that brings it all together. For the Craft and Culture of Beer, this is episode 137 of Good Beer Matters with Brewer, Bernardo Francisco Sequiera Delgado. Show Links Cadejo Brewing Subscribe to the Good Beer Matters Monthly Newsletter for practical beer education.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Good Beer Matters Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ comes to you with support from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BreweryDB.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, your digital destination for brewery experiences! T-shirt from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shirts On Tap⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Become a host for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Harvest Hosts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and/ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Boondockers Welcome⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (use code "BWFRIENDS15" for a discount) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jeremy-storton/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jeremy-storton/support

Why do we humans crave alcohol so much? Is it the flavor, the effect, or both? What purpose could this possibly serve for our evolution and our culture? My next guest is a professor and author who has answered all these questions. So, grab a beer, and let's get to class. I tell people that beer is something no-one needs, but everyone wants. Would you agree? I don't condone abusing alcohol, but it does serve a purpose. So how do we find the sweet spot of benefit over burden and quality over quantity? Moderation is the common answer. What's yours? We find great experiences at the intersection of craft and culture. These are the stories of us, of great food and the beer that brings it all together. For the Craft and Culture of Beer, this is episode 135 of Good Beer Matters with Professor Ted Slingerland. Show Links www.edwardslingerland.com Subscribe to the Good Beer Matters Monthly Newsletter for practical beer education.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Good Beer Matters Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ comes to you with support from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BreweryDB.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, your digital destination for brewery experiences! T-shirt from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shirts On Tap⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Become a host for ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Harvest Hosts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and/ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Boondockers Welcome⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (use code "BWFRIENDS15" for a discount) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jeremy-storton/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jeremy-storton/support

Why does beer flavor matter so much? I mean, as long as it tastes good, what else is important? Can we actually get a sense of place through flavor? My next guest seems to think so and is here to share this, and Australian culture through the flavor of beer.    In his book “Tasting Beer”, Randy Mosher tells us, “Like any aspect of a consciously lived life, enjoying beer to the fullest takes education, experience, and a proper frame of mind.” That's why educators like Briony are so important. Without them, a beer is just a beer, which would be a shame, because it is so much more.  We find great experiences at the intersection of craft and culture. These are the stories of us, of great food and the beer that brings it all together. For the Craft and Culture of Beer, this is episode 134 of Good Beer Matters with Certified Cicerone® and Sensory Analyst, Briony Liebich. Show Links Flavour Logic Free Beer Stuff from Flavour Logic Subscribe to the Good Beer Matters Monthly Newsletter for practical beer education.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Good Beer Matters Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ comes to you with support from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BreweryDB.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, your digital destination for brewery experiences! T-shirt from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shirts On Tap⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Become a host for ⁠⁠⁠⁠Harvest Hosts⁠⁠⁠⁠ and/ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠Boondockers Welcome⁠⁠⁠⁠ (use code "BWFRIENDS15" for a discount) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jeremy-storton/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jeremy-storton/support

Do you ever wonder what beer 100 years ago tasted like? What if you lived in an old Scottish castle and discovered a long-lost brewery on the premise? As far-fetched as this sounds, my next guest is here to share this experience and the blast from the past she produces for the rest of us.  New beer is exciting. And, I'm a big proponent of constant improvement. But some things have already been perfected. I believe that when we revisit some of these beers and classic styles from the past, it will give us a better idea of where we ought to go in the future. We find great experiences at the intersection of craft and culture. These are the stories of us, of great food and the beer that brings it all together. For the Craft and Culture of Beer, this is episode 133 of Good Beer Matters with Catherine Maxwell Stuart, the 21st Lady of Traquair House. Show Links Traquair House Beyond Borders Scotland Merchant du Vin Subscribe to the Good Beer Matters Monthly Newsletter for practical beer education.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Good Beer Matters Podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ comes to you with support from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BreweryDB.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, your digital destination for brewery experiences! T-shirt from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shirts On Tap⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Become a host for ⁠⁠⁠Harvest Hosts⁠⁠⁠ and/ or ⁠⁠⁠Boondockers Welcome⁠⁠⁠ (use code "BWFRIENDS15" for a discount) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jeremy-storton/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jeremy-storton/support

Have you ever camped at a loofah farm or witnessed the birth of a longhorn calf? Join us in this unforgettable episode where we share our most unique and extraordinary camping experiences! Our guest, Carrie Price, Director Brand Marketing, Harvest Hosts, also shares insights on Harvest Hosts and Boondockers Welcome, two popular programs for RVers that offer unique experiences across the US.We discuss our love for e-bikes and the sense of community at campgrounds, while also sharing tips on maximizing your Harvest Hosts and Boondocker's Welcome memberships. Combining both programs can help you get the most out of your RV Life, and we can't wait to share our captivating stories of attending a cowboy church and exploring alpaca farms with you!Carrie also shares 2 brand new programs: CampScanner and CampersCard.   Check out the links below.https://harvesthosts.com/https://www.boondockerswelcome.com/https://www.camperscard.com/https://www.campscanner.com/Get inspired to embark on your own unique camping adventures and share your experiences with us on social media @RVLIFEPodcast on Instagram & Facebook Meet us in person in Hershey at the RV LIFE *Live* Event September 14th https://web.cvent.com/event/f5a1b041-dc6e-4004-934d-700b8be3b806/summarEpisodes Sponsors & Discounts: • RV Trip Wizard Code: RVLIFEPodcast for 25% off • Harvest Hosts Code: HUNT20 for 20% off • Open Road Resorts Mention RV LIFE Podcast for discounts • Boondockers Welcome Code: HUNT20 for 20% off • Kracken Adventure Bikes - Code: Hunt for $400 off • AirSkits Use Discount Code: RVPOD • Liquid Rubber Code: RVLIFEPOD for 15% off • Wholesale Warranties • National Indoor RV Centers • MotorHome Tires Follow, Leave Comments, or Message Us On Social Media: Facebook Instagram Linktree Check Out Dan & Patti's RV Lifestyle Youtube Channel

Website for this Episode:  Resources mentioned in this Episode:  Harvest Hosts is offering a 30% off sale until January 6th if you use my link:https://harvesthosts.com/join-friends/ you must use my link and Code FRIEND30 at checkout.  Harvest Hosts membership offers over 4,000 spots to park your RV or enclosed camper at breweries, wineries, farms, even museums across North America.  They also include Boondockers Welcome which are Hosts who offer a free place to park your RV on private residents while road tripping.  If you are not listening to this in real time when it publishes on January 4th, then you can still use my link for 15% off starting January 7th.  This is an affiliate link as I have been working with Harvest Hosts to offer you better deals, especially since many of you have an interest in a potential first time Family RV trip in your travel plans. Ski Moms Fun Podcast: a podcast I have been enjoying that helps support moms who ski.  Nicole was a guest on my podcast on episode 059 in practicing the Sherpa Philosophy we agreed to cross-promote each others shows since our audiences have similar interests.  https://skimomsfun.com/ I really appreciate what Nicole has been doing and if you like this type of cross-promotion let me know I'll explore more content creation promotion.  1000 Hours Outside 2023 Tracker: https://www.1000hoursoutside.com/trackers Whitewater Rafting Instagram Reel: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CfgxdCIg5CS/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link  My Book: Beyond Normal a Field Guide to Embrace Adventure, Explore the Wilderness and Design an Extraordinary Life with Kids https://amzn.to/3vDTzb6  

In her talk at MicroConf Growth US last year, Anna Maste walks through how she and her mother used community to grow Boondockers Welcome. Anna shares the 3 things that fostered amazing growth, even without a big marketing budget. Links from the pod: Anna Maste I Twitter MicroConf Growth US 2023: Denver, CO | April 16 - 18, 2023 MicroConf Accountability Challenge

If you are new here, Welcome to Ordinary Sherpa. A brand designed to support families connecting through adventure based on the pillars of simplicity, authenticity, and connection. If you have been here for the last 100 episodes, thank you! The 101 episode is going to take us back to the basic of this brand and practice different ways we can support family connection through simple and authentic adventure experiences.   My intention is to create content to support leading a lifestyle of family adventure fostering lifelong memories. In doing so we hope you will adopt the sherpa philosophy, to help others reach their summit through generous curiosity.  Simple: Adventure is the act of getting outside your comfort zone.  It's an invitation to try something new.  To support this brand pillar we offer the Everyday Adventure Challenge - a 60 day approach to practicing simple adventures with your family.   When we stop viewing adventure as an epic summit, we begin to look differently at your own neighborhood.  We notice things such as Brown Signs which are local attractions that have been designated as points of interest.  On Episode 041 | The adventure Potential of Brown Signs we dove deep into what is available at Brown Signs that can reveal new opportunities for adventure without large admission fees.  While they are not always free, brown signs are like hidden gems.  Simple also suggests we focus on the little things.  When we make family adventures less stressful they often become more meaningfulStacking simple adventures to building blocks of an adventurous family lifestyle or big adventure experience.   How can I make this easier for other families?   Celebrate Adventure Wins in the Ordinary Sherpa Facebook Group:  Tracey: We saw a performance by the Ho Chunk nation and learned all about their regalia. Then we up to the observation tower of the Wisconsin State Capital for a whole new view of our city! Kimberly: Snuck away for a solo ride — and got lost on the trails in a good way (there's really no way to get truly lost in the network I was in so it just added 2 miles of some gnarly, rocky hills). Kel: We had a busy day with friends at the zoo, then had a campfire and enjoyed some glow light fun on the trampoline. Jenna: Took the toddler on his first ferry ride. A small adventure, but a fun one! Hillary: We did some painting in the pouring rain with food dye! Elizabeth: We let the dinosaurs out � Dinovember is like an elf on the shelf. It makes this month so magical for our kids. The first week the Dino's take away the tv remotes and tablets!!! More outside play, play in general and family storytime/game nights. Becca: When fall turns to true winter, it takes some motivation to get two littles dressed to go outside (especially if we don't have much time), but we've been working hard to make it happen and we all feel better and refreshed afterwards. How many of these required something specific in order to have an adventure experience?  Maybe a bike, glowsticks, some winter gear to be comfortable.  If we focus on the experience there are actually very few THINGS we need to adventure.  I don't know about you, but I am now on a mission to find some dinosaurs.  How cool is dinovember?  The power of this brand is in the collective experiences from the community help make adventure easier and more enticing for families.   Authentic: Do what aligns with you and your interests. By building a foundation of simple adventure experiences, we no longer felt compelled to check the boxes on a bucket list.  Instead we encourage doing what is meaningful and memorable for your family.  The intention is less about external indicators and more internal indicators of what family thriving looks like for you.  We have turned our Love of travel into an intention we call Untourism: A way to travel differently Each child has established a travel intention that fits their personality and interests.  My little monster's travel goal is to taste the best ice cream in all 50 states.  While I am still a sucker for a quick google search for “free things for families in ___.” Knowing what I am looking for in each location is helpful.  Is it a park, or a bike trail?  For us we constantly search for locals recommendations for the best ice cream.  It's a great conversion and in the worst case scenario we come across someone who doesn't like ice cream (I didn't realize that was a thing).  Untourism is a regular practice in empathy: Seeing things from others perspective.   We joined Harvest Hosts and Boondockers Welcome because we knew what it was like to have a conversation while hanging out around a campfire or around the tailgate of a truck.  (By the way if you use my link and Promo Code FRIENDS30, you get $ off before January 2, 2023) Connecting with locals who appreciate travel and RVing was a way to create community while traveling.  Even for our quick weekenders now we try to find a boondocker host just because we know the experience will be unique (and much cheaper).   We receive many different messages in both direct and subtle ways to inform our beliefs.  Being authentic and deciding what makes sense for your family takes intention.  One intentional act for me this year was to completely ignore the Black Friday - Cyber Monday noise.  I am a sucker for a good deal, but our intentions are different this year.  We want less things in our life.  My small win was that I did not make one purchase during the “Biggest Shopping day of the season” which is a shift from my 30 year old self.   Connection:Support family connection: Holidays with extended family - screens and what is stealing our attention.  Vacation was for a long time my way of having uninterrupted family time when my husband and I could break away from the daily distractions and just enjoy life as a family.  LifestyleThe lifestyle we have designed supports traveling often, spending time outdoors, and be intentional with waht we choose to spend our time and money on.  Our approach to Less Stuff, More Experiences experiences:1. Keep it simple - more about what will happen after the gift than during 2. Purpose not price  3. Can we reuse or repurpose if nonconsumable  Less Stuff, More Travel Experiences Road Trip: Harvest Hosts/ Boondockers Welcome Less Stuff, More Outdoor Experiences Less Stuff, More Backyard Adventures But what about the gift opening experience?  There is something magical about the awe and surprise factor when kids open a gift.  I think every parent hopes for the gasp and smile reaction.   It's the magic element that makes giving so much fun.  When we give experiences it can seem like we lose all of that.  But it doesn't have to be that way.   When I was in high school my mom discovered the pickle ornament.  The pickle ornament is literally an ornament that looks like a pickle, a dark green color to match the color of the tree.  The story we were told was that the child who finds the pickle ornament would receive an extra gift.  As a young adult it became THE THING my brothers and I looked forward to.  After the last gift was unwrapped we would charge the tree in search of the pickle ornament.  Sometimes it would take over 30 minutes for someone to reign as the winner.  What was funny, is we rarely cared about or remembered the prize.  We remembered the experience.  Stories are what is often retained in memories, not things.   As I implied, turning the gift giving action into an experience can also be part of the process.  Without overthinking it, here are some of the ways we have given an experience without losing the magic of their reactions.   Turn the gift into an adventure.  Scavenger hunts are one way - clues to have them find their gift.  Most of the time this is my lazy way to present a gift.  With my son's bike there was no way I was going to wrap that gift.  Even if I did wrap it, the magic would all be experienced right away when he saw all of the gifts.  By hiding the bike and prolonging the experience we simply added to the anticipation.   When we gift travel we have wrapped smaller items to craft the story and they have to guess where we are going.  Sometimes a gift includes a piece to a bigger family puzzle, like a literal puzzle that we put together that aligns with our destination.   Reverse Advent Calendar.  Create a paper chain as part of the gift with a count-down to our vacation.  I actually recommend doing this as part of the gifting experience.  We all shared something fun we could do each day leading up to the vacation that would be fun.  We also might buy a small thing that can be used during the experience that they will need.  The year we gifted Hawaii, the kids all got full-face snorkel masks.  They were so excited about the masks we had to go swimming at our local pool to give them a try, and we had one ridiculous family picture to remember that experience gift! I try to think of unconventional items that they need over the novelty to give them a clue.   Not all experiences pan out the way you imagine.   One summer we were visiting my aunt and uncle in Alaska.  They had a treehouse in their yard and the younger two played in it for HOURS.  When we got home they wanted a treehouse and my husband and I connected that idea to our experience in Alaska.  Being that my husband is hand we built a treehouse for their Christmas gift.  We had attached so many memories and emotions to the tree house that when we finally had one here, it just wasn't as fun! It became comfortable and less exciting.  Spending large amounts of money and time to recreate an experience is a caution I would advise you to reconsider.  Not everyone attaches the same emotions to an experience.  While it's fun to remember those experiences, that is different than trying to recreate it.   I hope as you head into this holiday season you use this episode to help you think about using simplicity, authenticity, and connection in your gift giving and consider how might we offer less things, and more experiences to help foster connection through family adventures? Have an idea to share about turning gifts into experiences and mini adventures, come join us in the Ordinary Sherpa Facebook group to share and steal different ideas to make your family holiday into a meaningful family experience.  

The biggest expense for RVers who spend a lot of time in their RV and like to travel a lot is camping costs. Even more than fuel expenses in most cases. So if you can lower your nightly camping costs, you will have a lot more money to spend on things that you really like doing. Like having fun and going on adventures. In this podcast, I share the top 4 campground memberships that we have used and can recommend to you for saving money. Don't miss it!Links to the camping memberships in this podcast:Thousand Trails videos - https://youtu.be/qTT9Ff8C3r4 , https://youtu.be/qTT9Ff8C3r4 , https://youtu.be/YGtYo6g3yUI My web page on Thousand Trails - https://rvinspectionandcare.com/thousand-trails-review/Passport America - https://passportamerica.com/?rfsn=2873451Boondockers Welcome - https://bit.ly/3ixuV5IHarvest Hosts - https://www.harvest-hosts.com/GQ5QW4/2CTPL/?uid=2

Join us for our first-ever episode of the Roads and Stays magazine. Join us for a sit down with Joel Holland, Harvest Hosts CEO & Anna Maste, former co-Founder of Boondockers Welcome. We'll chat about their first-time RV mistakes, the business side of Harvest Hosts, and what they think the future holds for the RV lifestyle (hint: it's only going to get better from here!) We'll also chat with Empire Covers about tips for protecting your RV and share some valuable tools that have changed our RV lives. Mentioned in the Episode: The Roads and Stays Magazine: https://harvesthosts.com/roadsandstays Boondocking 101: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Camping Without Hookups: https://boondocking.heysummit.com/ The RV Renovation Guide: https://harvesthosts.com/resources/rv-renovation-guide/ --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jeremy-storton7/message

If you've ever dreamed of hitting the road to far-flung fishing locales with your bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom in tow, then you're going to love this episode.  Aspiring pro angler, Logan Johnson describes how he and his wife, along with two dachshunds travel the country in a truck camper pursuing Logan's goal of qualifying for the Bassmaster Elite Series.  Whether you've thought about RVing on your free time or if you're considering living on the road year-round, you'll find this episode very informative.  Logan provides pointers to navigate potential RVing pitfalls and shares useful resources like, Boondockers Welcome that help RVers find free overnight parking.  You'll also learn the pros and cons of different RVs and how to best stay connected when traveling on the road.  But there's SO MUCH MORE!Sit back, crack open a cold one, and relax.  You're among friends.  This isn't another fishing podcast.  This is...Another Fishing Podcast!  Check out Logan Johnson here:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ljfishing44TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ljfishing44Check out Angling Uploaded here:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anglinguploadedInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/anglinguploaded YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/anglinguploaded                       

As full-time RVers, finding affordable rates at campgrounds and RV parks is a big priority. Many RV parks charge over $50 per night for a camping site with full hookups. However, there are several RV park memberships and discount clubs that can help lower the cost of RV camping. In this episode, we share the details about all of our favorite RV camping memberships and RV discount clubs. For 15% off a Harvest Hosts membership, simply click on this link and enter HHFRIENDS15 in the coupon code box during check out. For 15% off a Boondockers Welcome membership, click this link and enter code BWFRIENDS15 at check out. If you are interested in purchasing a Thousand Trails membership, email or call (804-366-0798) membership specialists Sharon and Warren Lewis and tell them Christina from Travels with Ted sent you. Visit https://rvlifeunpacked.com/8/ for links, show notes and more RV membership resources.

Season 2 Episode 797/22/22Gas prices vs running up and mountains. Instead of $100 fill ups we doing $150+ fill ups . Instead of 20 gallons we putting in 40 gallons at each fill up. Gas mileage went from 9 mpg to 4.5 mpg, so we were using twice the gas. Left Alexandria VA. Drove for 1.5 hrs. Got set up and started the AC. At 1030pm it was still 82 degrees. Love our AC. We found a winery close by so stopped by we're pleasantly surprised that they had a guy on the guitar playing. However even in the shade the 90° temps got the best of us we headed back to the RV. The next day we drove over to Harpers ferry West virginia. We were here two years ago just at the start of covid and everything was closed so we decided to revisit it. This time the exhibits were open so we walked around for a couple hours. However it was in the 90s so we did not redo the short hikes we did the last time. From here we headed to Gaithersburg MD to a Boondockers Welcome location. We got set up. And paid the $10 for 30 amp electric. We took a ride to Sugarloaf Mountain State Park and did a 2.5 mile beautiful hike. We think this BDW location will be our default place while visiting Brandon or DC. We then stopped at a winery near by and had a glass of wine. The next day we went to Patuxent River State Park and did a 5 mile hike. Then off to Maryland Beer Company in Elkton MD which is a Harvest Host location. We pulled in enjoyed a couple of drinks. Then walked around the town of Elkton Maryland. Really cute town and we would not mind revisiting. The next day we drove up to Barnegat New Jersey. We set up at a doctor's welcome location. Hooked up to our 20 amp. We walked around Barnegat by the beach and we're disappointed by the lack of shops. We then met my sister-in-law Jen for dinner. The next day we took a ride an hour south to Atlantic City. Along the way we stopped at Smithville. Trish visited his place a few times as a young girl with her parents. We walked around for about an hour looking at all the different shops. It was a nice little train for kids and merry go round. We then spent the day walking the boardwalk at AC and even winning a little bit of money at the casinos yay. Did you know that the game Monopoly is based on Atlantic city?The next morning we hooked up and drove to Old cedar Campground. We got set up Took a ride over and picked up a grandson kingston. We had planned on picking him up and taking him out to dinner however he surprised us with the home cooked meal which was delicious. We then headed over to the campground he wrote his bike for a little while we walked for a little while the next day you spent the day fishing and riding his bike and swimming in the pool so we had a nice relaxed day with him. The night played games outside of the RV. The next day packed up dumped dropped them off and drove home. The next day we unpacked the rig and I tinkered with stuff on the rig. We have been planning on going to Jim Thorpe Pennsylvania, so we made a reservation at a boondockers welcome location. But as the days drew near, the temps were going to be in the mid 50s and rain the whole time we were there. So we canceled that trip. Then in early July we went up to Massachusetts and New Hampshire for a few days. In August we have a 3 week trip through Indiana planned. We'll be visiting a bunch of state parks, visiting the Amish town of Shipshewana and doing a tour of the catacombs under Indianapolis. Over the summer I also took time to catch up with my Stress Management clients so I booked a bunch of days to work with them.And it's bittersweet, but I do believe this will be my last episode of this podcast. Been doing this over 4 years with just under 10, 000 downloads of the 78 episodes. I'm sure this episode will push the download total number over 10,000. I will be taking notes of our travels and posting those notes on my blog at: https://relaxrv.org/category/blog/I will continue to post pictures of our travels on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/relaxrvpodcast/And my videos on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TAAnd for now my Facebook Page will remain active at: https://www.facebook.com/relaxrvpodcast/So, be safe, drive slow and relax. So what do you do to help MANAGE your STRESS? Perhaps you or someone you know would benefit from listening to Stress Management Exercises? I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at https://relaxrv.org/help/If that ain't your thing, I have DISCOUNTS on my website to various RV related stuff.https://relaxrv.org/discounts/ I've made some videos about improvements and fixes I've done to the RV. Here's a link to them on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TA Or you can watch them on my website at https://relaxrv.org/videos/Here's a link to my RelaxRVPodcast Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Relax-RV-277623782811787/ I'm on Instagram as @relaxrvpodcast https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=hsxp0gjpugbz&utm_content=5h4872a My podcast can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/show/relax-rv-podcast If you would like to support my efforts to help others, please feel free to do so at:https://relaxrv.org/support/ Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something from one of our affiliates, we receive a small commission at no extra charge to you.

After growing her bootstrapped and self-funded alternative camping SaaS business to $100,000 in Annual Recurring Revenue, Anna Maste received a very respectable offer of 3.9 times ARR. Rather than accepting, Anna decided to focus on exponentially growing Boondockers Welcome, capitalising on a favourable market at the time. Two years, 2,800 hosts and 12,000 annual guest members later, she more than quadrupled their revenue before accepting a mid-seven figure offer. Connect with Anna Maste Website: https://www.subscribesense.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-maste-9aab6315/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/skulegirl Connect with Simon Bedard LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/business-sales-sydney/ Website: https://buygrowsell.com/ Website: https://exitadvisory.com.au/

Everybody would like to save money on RVing costs. And there are lots of ways to do that. But there are a few things you can do to save lots of money while RVing. And that is what this podcast is all about. I share with you the few things that have saved us more money than anything else we have done in our RVing history so far. And using these tips you can get the same results!Here are links to the tips I shared in the podcast:➡️ Contact Jim and Brandy Reneau by email at brandy_reneau@equitylifestyle.com Or call them at (770) 622-4188 or (717) 585-6137 . Be sure to tell them that Duane at RV Inspection And Care referred you to get the best deal and the lowest prices on Thousand Trails memberships.➡️ Contact Kimberly at https://www.campgroundmembershipoutlet.com/ for information on resale Thousand Trails memberships.➡️ Learn about how the TSD Logistics fuel discount program works at this link - https://www.tsdlogistics.com/services/fuel-program/Sign up for the TSD Logistics card here - https://tsdv.loadtracking.com:8443/im/fuelcardapp(Please remember to use RV Inspection And Care as your referrer)➡️ Learn more about how the MudFlap app works here - https://www.mudflapinc.com/Sign up up for MudFlap and get $10 of fuel savings right away here - https://bit.ly/3qefb8J➡️ Find out more about how to use the GasBuddy app here - https://www.gasbuddy.com/➡️ Find out more about Boondockers Welcome here - https://bit.ly/3ixuV5I➡️ Find out more about Harvest Hosts here - https://bit.ly/3mjj4cK➡️ Passport America - https://www.passportamerica.com/➡️ My video on getting a basic tool kit for making repairs around your RV - https://youtu.be/CSuZ8TGc63w

If you've ever wondered what is Boondockers Welcome, in this Episode of the RV Podcast (395), we explain how this awesome new addition to the Harvest Hosts system can literally save your camping trip when you can't find room in a campground.

How far can seven hours a week take your business? For Anna Maste and Marianne Edwards, it led to a seven-figure deal that funded Marianne's retirement. Learn how this mother-daughter duo bootstrapped a membership site for RVers called Boondockers Welcome — and along the way, redefined what entrepreneurship can look like.For more stories like this one, sign up for newsletter: https://TheyGotAcquired.com/newsletterTo get free access to Dr. Sherry Walling's MicroConf talk, go to: https://microconf.com/endwellFor the full transcript to this episode, go to: https://theygotacquired.com/podcast/anna-mast-boondockers-welcome

An interview with Anna Maste. Anna is a software developer turned company co-founder who set up Boondockers Welcome with her mum. Having never owned an RV or had any dealings with the community, Anna engaged with said community via her mum's influencer status and ended up scaling the business and exiting. She's now back with her second company and going for it again in another industry. We talk about a lot, including: Explaining what the heck a "boondocker" is to this Brit, the problems they where having that were worth solving, and how they created a mix of Airbnb and Tinder to solve it Whether starting a company with your mum is the ultimate Mom Test and the pros and cons of working with close family members How she had no experience with the RV community, but used her RV influencer mum's experience to understand the needs that the community had and how they might solve them Some of the challenges of creating a digital platform for people that are by definition "off grid" and how the platform grew over time as mobile technology improved Whether playing the long game and working to build community relationships would have been possible if they'd been forced down the growth at all costs VC route How their successful exit came about, how they had to pick a company that they could trust to carry on their good name, and whether the community felt it was a betrayal or sell out How she's started a new company to solve a problem she had in her first company, and how she's going about engaging with a brand new community for the second time And much more! Contact Anna If you want to catch up with Anna, you can reach out to her on Twitter or check out Subscribe Sense.

Anna Maste is the founder of Subscribe Sense, a business she started after exiting Boondockers Welcome. Subscribe Sense — Anna's new business  Boondockers Welcome Music video fun Follow Anna on Twitter Smart Subscriber — Shai Schechter's email tool RightMessage — Brennan Dunn's & Shai Schechter's email tool Deploy Empathy — a book by Michele Hansen Benedikt and Benedicte host Anna Maste, founder of Subscribe Sense. Subscribe Sense is an email tool created to ensure subscribers to your mailing lists are confirming their subscriptions with a double opt-in. Before exiting her previous business Boondockers Welcome, Anna realized that she had leads who had not confirmed their signup to her lists. Subscribe Sense aims to increase confirmation rates.Benedikt and Anna talk about some of the opportunities and dangers when working with email providers. Userlist has had to ask similar questions about handling emails and user behavior. The three discuss how Anna's previous exit played out, what her expectations are for Subscribe Sense post-exit, how she delineates development and marketing work, and how education and software stacks play a role in getting to an MVP.Not to mention, Anna can make a killer parody music video!

Season 2 Episode 75 4/18/22After dewinterization the day before our trip, I noticed low water pressure in the bathroom sink. And I saw a small leak underneath it. So after some research I saw the aerator was clogged. I tried to clean it to no avail. So we bought a new one and put it in. The next day we finally got on the road for our Kentucky 2022 trip.Our 1st stop was in Lititz, PA. A 3 hour drive from home. Remember we limit our travel days to 4 hours. We stayed 2 nights at a Boondockers Welcome location. We also plan our stays at a 2 night minimum unless that says driving is very short or we are staying at a Harvest Hosts. So we pulled in and plugged into their 50amp electric. Set up our grill. And headed over to intercourse PA. and did some shopping. We then headed back to the RV and cooked shrimp skewers on the grill.The next day we went to Lancaster for a little bit then to Turkey Hill experience where the ice cream is made. It was definitely not our cup of tea LOL however for a young family it looked like it would be a lot of fun! We then drove over to the Utz potato chip factory. We took their free tour which was okay. Then we hit their outlet store and bought a few bags of chips and pretzels. Then back to the rig again for dinner tonight was tilapia and asparagus on the grill. So this was our first experience using the heat strip up on the roof that I installed in the air conditioner last year. I'll tell you what it worked beautifully. It was around 50° at night and the RV was kept around 70 to 72 all night long. We like this much better than space heaters because this system heats our rig in its entirety. Previously we were using two space heaters so those two areas were warm but the rest of the rig was cold. Prior to that we were using the gas furnace and we learned rather quickly after a few weeks on the road that electric space heaters are much more efficient for us then propane. And with the electric heat strip we don't have any condensation on the windows LOL. Here's a link to our heat strip that I installed. https://amzn.to/3uUjhsy And unfortunately we need a new thermostat when we installed that control the heat strip the gas furnace in the AC. Here is a link to that thermostat https://amzn.to/3iANi9M When we were using our space heaters we did buy thermostats for them. That worked beautifully especially at night we would put a space heater in our bedroom set the thermostat to 68° in the space heater would kick on and off appropriately. Here's a link to the space heater thermostat. https://amzn.to/3xBaVHO The next day we hooked up and drove South to Winchester Virginia. But on the way we saw Lindt chocolate factory outlet on 81 South in Pennsylvania. So we had to stop and pick up some delicious chocolates. Then we pulled into our house location. Met our host hooked up to their 50 amp. We then headed out to Old Town Charleston Virginia and walked for a bit. Then we stopped at James Charles winery. After that we headed back down to Old Town and enjoyed some live music at the Wine Room. We reached out to our host to see if they wanted to meet us there. They did and we had a great time conversating with them. And didn't get to bed till near 1am. Typically we are in bed at 1030pm lol.The next day we headed to Sky Meadows State Park. Wow. They had the best trail marking system we have ever seen. At every intersection the color coded trails were listed with the level of difficulty. We hiked 4 miles and loved it. Afterwards we hit a gas station, bought our National Park Pass and then an Aldi's then back to the rig to relax. We have the next 2 nights booked at wineries via Harvest Hosts. However we started talking and we thought about the need to make a purchase at the wineries which we usually do a bottle of wine and we would have to drive out of the park to the winery then drive into the park the next day versus staying in a campground in Shenandoah National Park. The next morning we said goodbye to our hosts and headed south. Our goal for the day was to do hikes in Shenandoah National Park. The campgrounds are first come first serve so we decided that morning we would drive through Skyline Drive and stop in at the campgrounds to see if there was vacancy. And there was. We dumped and got set up. We went to the visitor center and got info on hikes. We then hiked to a view and enjoyed sandwiches and a glass of wine. The next day we did a 4 mile hike to Rapidan Camp. This was developed to be the "Camp David" by President Hoover. Then we did a 3 mile hike up Hawksbill Mtn. Which is the highest peak in the Shenandoah National Park at just over 4,000'. Then back to the rig. Talk with a couple in the next site then took out the grill and had a great meal.The next day we headed south through the Shenandoah National Park I'm about 3 hours to Wirtz VA. For the next two nights will be here at a boondock was welcome location that has 15 amp. The next day was a was a cold rain-filled day so while Trish went over to do laundry I recorded this episode. After today we will be stopping over in North Carolina to have dinner with one of the nurses I used to work with. Then we will be hitting a state park in North Carolina then out through Tennessee.So what do you do to help manage your stress? Do you know someone who would benefit from listening to a stress mange exercise?I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at RelaxRV.org/stressed-2-2/stressed-2If that ain't your thing I made some videos about the improvements I mentioned and I posted them on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TAOr you can watch them on relaxrv.org/videos-the-good-the-bad-and-the-modifications/Boondockers Welcome:Here's a discount to Boondockers Welcome, when you join use the coupon code (RELAXRV) to save 10% off your membership fee.http://www.boondockerswelcome.com Harvest Hosts:Here's a discount link to Harvest Hosts, when you use it, you'll save 15% off of their annual membership fee.http://harvesthosts.refr.cc/relaxrv And Use Code HHFRIENDS15 at Checkout! I took some pictures and posted them on the RelaxRVPodcast Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Relax-RV-277623782811787/ for your enjoyment and edification.I'm on Instagram as @relaxrvpodcast https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=hsxp0gjpugbz&utm_content=5h4872aMy podcast can be found athttps://www.spreaker.com/show/relax-rv-podcastDisclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something from one of our affiliates, we receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thanks for helping to keep our podcast running!

In this episode, we explore what it's like to try to get free overnight RV parking in the current RV craze. We have tips. and resources for finding spots, plus we take a few listener questions.  Apps we use: Campendium Harvest Hosts: https://rvmiles.com/15-off-harvest-hosts-with-promo-code/ Boondockers Welcome: https://rvmiles.com/boondockers-welcome-announces-price-increase/Overnight RV Parking (Part of the Togo/Roadpass Pro membership): https://rvmiles.com/togo-rv-plus-coupon-code-promo-code/ FreeCampsites.Net See all our deals at: https://rvmiles.com/category/deals/

This week, Thor Motor Coach has trademarked the term "Mega C" for their new line-up, there's a new RV sales scam out there, Starlink pricing has gone up, and truck manufacturing sees more delays. Togo RV Plus is now Roadpass Pro. Your $49 per year Roadpass membership includes premium access to Campendium, Roadtrippers, RVillage, OvernightRVParking, and Togo RV. Save $10 on your Roadpass Pro Membership with code RVMiles10X at https://TogoRV.com?fpr=rvmiles. Boondockers Welcome is raising its rates to $79.99 a year. Lock in the current membership rate of $50 now: https://www.harvest-hosts.com/LR9KH/6JHXF/ Get your RV Miles shirt or check out our all-new collection of items: rv-miles-store.creator-spring.com

Anna Maste built Boondockers Welcome, a kind of Airbnb for RVers, to $100,000 in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) when she received an offer of 3.9 times ARR. Maste was about to accept the offer when some soul searching led Maste to believe she could do much better. That kicked off a two-year journey of building the value of her business.

Season 2 Episode 743/23/22I had gone to the RV show at Rockland county community college in suffern New York back in February. It seems like a lot of the new rigs out there are getting rid of valances and putting up curtains. It also seems like there's a lot more rigs out there with outdoor kitchens. Which got me thinking our first rig did not have one our second one does. And we don't use the outdoor kitchen very often. Also I noticed not one rig or camper had a topper on its slide. We love our toppers. I finished putting up the curtains in the living room which meant removing the valence and moving the light switch. A beautiful decision. Here's a link to the before and after pics https://www.facebook.com/277623782811787/posts/1115125672394923/I went to put out my awning and nothing. I then tried the over-the-cab bed also not working. All else working. Tried it on shore power, 12v batteries and generator. Same issues.I checked 12v fuses, all good. Are these 2 issues related? I'm sure they are. The first thing I did was I went to the fuse box the over the cab bed and the awning are on the same 15 and fuse. I tested the fuse and tested good but I replaced it anyway. Nothing. I called Thor support line. And so the headaches began. There was a recording that they were very overwhelmed and I wouldn't lose my spot and what I like a return call. I figured sure why not. Later that evening somebody was asking a question about Thor service so I told them my experience that I just mentioned. About an hour later I received a private message from a representative that Thor and she is assured me that she would start a ticket for me and have somebody call the next day. She also told me that I need to register the rig at Thor this way I can be notified of recalls etc. Here's the website she gave me to do that: warrantysupport@tmcrv.com The next day I did receive a call from a tech support at Thor. But for over an hour she had me looking for the over the cab bed controller. I couldn't locate it she said she would get back to me that afternoon. A couple hours later she emailed me that there is no controller and I needed to replace a relay I found four of them I took a picture of the one I thought it was. I emailed it to the tech and she said yes that's the one you need to replace. I went online I ordered it it arrived at the house a few days later. I swapped out the relay the problem continued. I emailed her back and let her know this and she had me hook up an amp meter to different connections on the relay and I emailed her the results. She's then conferred with another tech for a couple of hours and got back to me and said the relay I replaced was not the right relay. She sent me the description and a picture of the correct relay. That was inaccurate there was no other relay underneath the bed. I then sent her an email about my frustration because this has been going on for almost a week now. And I told her if she cannot resolve my issue I want to talk to the service manager. Well that never happened. So after 9 days of dealing with Thor tech I finally gave up. Our choices were to either bring it to a shop, Thor in Indiana, or call George Fry. If you listen to my previous episodes especially early on I've mentioned George's name a few times. George is a local mobile tech here in the Hudson Valley of New York. He helped us diagnose a problem with our solenoid operating our BCC battery control center on our last rig. When he found that problem he recommended we take it to four to have them fix it being a built it. And when our generator failed on our last rig he explained to me about finding the fault code and tracking down the problem while we were on the road near Canada. Here's the episode where I talk about the BCC and Generator issue: https://www.spreaker.com/user/relaxrv/relax-rv-episode-5_1Then about a year later I burst my hot water heater here's a video on that.https://youtu.be/Ttkn2dYAh8YHe suggested at that time I order a water heater myself and once it arrived here he installed it without an issue. I've talked to George numerous times regarding my furnace that wouldn't light here's my video on that. George is a phenomenal resource. Here is his website: http://tlc-rv.com/ tell him I say hi. So when I gave up on Thor tech for this issue I called George he came over that afternoon. He explained to me that the relay that Thor tech said I needed to replace was not the correct relay. So he did some testing and come to find out that relay that Thor diagnosed as the culprit ran the macerator pump for our outdoor kitchen. SMH. He then started pulling out the switches for the bed and for the awning he traced wires. How he knew which wire to trace is beyond me I'm not an electrician. He then ran some jump wires to diagnose where the brake was. At that point he crawled underneath the rig found the wire that he needed to trace and traced it all the way from the front wheel on the passenger side to the back wheel on the driver side while it was wrapped in loom along with 20 other wires. Then he said I found it! There was a bare piece of wire that had been rubbing against the frame of the RV because Thor had not secured all of the wires inside the loom. So he cut out that bad piece of bare wire put in a butt connector secured it back inside the loom and secure the outside of the loom to keep the wires securely inside the loom. While under there he also tightened up a few loose grounds.George had been here a total of 2 hours. When we were settling the bill I told George you have been here four times at my rig in my driveway. You've been a resource on phone calls when I'm traveling around. And all of that you've only charged me one call for the water heater. I explained to him that I have given you nice tips in the past but this time I want you to charge a fair amount, do not shortchange yourself. He laughed and gave me a super low ball price basically he charged me for 1 hours worth of work while he was here for two and fixed the problem and did an on-site call which should have been another charge. Thank you George I think you might be listening to this episode.So the next day I crawled underneath the rig and I secured more loom where I could see loose wires. I also tightened up another ground that I had found. And then went into the rig sort of closing everything back up putting away light switches which George was going to do and I told him I got it George thank you. So now I'm sitting in the rig with an awning that's working and over the cab bed that's working and we're leaving in 2 and 1/2 weeks or so for a 2-month trip down south through the Shenandoah Blue ridge mountains North Carolina Tennessee Kentucky West Virginia Virginia New Jersey and back home. In that time we will be picking up Kingston Trish's grandson and we wanted this bed operating for him. So here I am in the rig closing up things and said well now is a good time for a podcast episode. So right now it's 38° outside here in New York. The rig was 41 when I came into it I turned on the electric heat strip that I had mounted last full in our roof air conditioning unit. And here it is an hour later and it is now 55° in the rig. And the furnace didn't kick on at all.Last week when we discovered the awning issue I had looked underneath the rig to see if I can find a loose wire somewhere. When I got a faint smell of propane. Unfortunately when we parked the rig in the beginning of the winter I didn't turn off the propane at the tank. So I knew that I had replaced the propane line in the back of the rig for the grill quick disconnect but this was coming right near the tank. So I started taking apart connections near the regulator. I found two problems. An o-ring had a crack in it on one of the connections so I replaced that and then I took the connections off of the regulator and there should have been gas line sealing tape on two of the connections where there was no rubber seals. So I took them apart sealed them and put them back together. Problem solved unfortunately I lost a half of tank of propane over the winter. The great news is it didn't catch on fire lol. Folks you always need to look on the bright side in rving and in life otherwise you'll go mad. And now it's time to start getting ready for our RV trip yay. We started planning this trip a few weeks ago and over the course of about four evenings we had our route laid out. This is a short video showing how we plan our routes. It looks like we will be on the road for about 7 weeks. Our first stop will be a Jim Thorpe Pennsylvania. We will stay at a hand full of wineries via Harvest Hosts. And about half of our nights will be spent at Boondockers Welcome locations. All of which have at least 15 amp electric and a few have 50 amp. And 1 had a dump. The majority of the campgrounds are Passport America campgrounds which will cost us half of their typical rate.If you go to relaxrv.org/discounts there are links to memberships at all 3 of these companies. Harvest Hosts. Boondockers Welcome. And Passport America.We will be away for 7 weeks for a total cost of $650 in camping fees. Not too shabby. So the next episode will be In about 3 weeks. And we will probably be somewhere in the Shenandoah's at that time. So what do you do to help MANAGE your STRESS? Perhaps you or someone you know would benefit from listening to Stress Management Exercises? I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at https://relaxrv.org/help/If that ain't your thing, I have DISCOUNTS on my website to various RV related stuff.https://relaxrv.org/discounts/ I've made some videos about improvements and fixes I've done to the RV. Here's a link to them on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TA Or you can watch them on my website at https://relaxrv.org/videos/Here's a link to my RelaxRVPodcast Facebook page

Season 2 Episode 72 1/16/22 RVing the peaceful wayHappy New Year everyone.We decided to install a heat strip in our roof AC. I saw that adding the heat strip wouldn't be too much work and not a ton of money. So I confirmed that our AC could be adapted. I had emailed Airxcel at rvpsupport@airxcel.com and gave them my AC model number, they replied the next day saying it could be modified with a heat strip but I would need to swap out out my controller and thermostat to have it work. They gave me the model numbers for the parts. So for $190 and about 2 hours of install work, we now have electric heat throughout our whole rig. Yay, that will save us a lot of money as compared to propane for our furnace heat.I learned this while installing the solar on my 1st rig:Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs- Henry FordI recently came across this gem of a book where I found that quote. 365 Quotes to Live Your Life By https://amzn.to/3t77fv8 It truly follows how I strive to live life. I created a friendly Facebook group for RVers, share and join if you like to share, learn and teach is a calm peaceful group. But without the drama, this group will never take off. https://www.facebook.com/groups/604984417456152/?ref=shareWe heard the upstate NY was getting a lot of snow. We thought about towing our snowmobile behind our rig and doing some camping while sledding. But the temps we going to be around -15 at night so we decided not to push our luck with our rig, so we rented a air bnb towed the sled behind our Subaru. We stayed at an AirBnB. Great host. We rode our sled (snowmobile) over 100 miles and loved it ! We booked another Airbnb in Tupper Lake New York and then another one in Pennsylvania over the next one month. Riding a snowmobile has a lot of learning curves just like rving. After all snowmobile is an RV LOL. We had her mishaps while riding like getting stuck in a pond after we broke through some ice and rolling over while going up the hill. Thank goodness no injuries to us or the sled.There are many times in life and in RVing that things don't go exactly as we hoped and planned. I believe that the key to happiness is flexible and accepting of situations that come up that we do not plan nor desire. I remember years ago passing a church and outside was a sign that said those who are flexible will not be bent out of shape. And that too reflects my philosophy on life. Now trust me I haven't been like this my whole life. There's a reason why I became a Stress Management consultant, I did not like the way stress was affecting me. And so I began the process of changing my reactions to stressors. All of this just happened to coincide with me becoming a nurse. As a nurse I could see the effects of stress on the body. I remember back in 2019 when in the middle of a cold night our furnace died and our batteries died. I took out my phone and I videoed what was going on with the rig and here's the link to that video, https://youtu.be/PzLN9qV0bu8 and a friend of mine watched that video and said he could see the despair on my face and he also said he would not have handled it so calmly. When he said that to me I reflected on how fast are stress response happens. It happened so fast to me in that video he could see the effects. However that night after making that video, I crawled into bed pulled up the down comforter and fell asleep. We cannot stop the instantaneous response to stress. But we can change how long that initial response lasts. This is why I encourage everybody to practice relaxation techniques. Here is a link to my free recordings Relaxrv.org/help One of the ways I've changed, is how I hike. When I first started hiking my Pace was fast to cover as many miles as possible. Through the years I've learned to slow down and enjoy just being present. Now some of my favorite time in the woods is when I cover the least amount of miles. That means my pace has slowed and I find myself more relaxed. I remember about 20 years ago, wow where did the time go? I was telling a co-worker about mountain biking in Harriman State Park in New York. She laughed and said did you go racing through the woods? And I said well I was very familiar with the trail so parts of it especially the downhills I was going really fast, but there are a couple of spots where I like to sit and reflect on that trail. So I was very happy to see when I returned to my car, that ride took me longer than usual because of all the breaks I took. She said, ha now that sounds like you, Pauly Wallie.. (which is what she liked to call me. Hi Lydia if you're listening. Now of course there are times that I do want to cover miles more quickly. I remember in 2018 when Trish and I were hiking and glacier National Park and we realized we were on the trail that was closed because of bear activity. Somebody or some animal had ripped down the signs at the trailhead. After hiking about two and a half miles I realized that this trail was actually supposed to be marked as closed, but we were halfway through with the hike so the next two and a half miles were very noisy, with us making lots of vocalizations and was as quick as possible in a safe manner. LOL, you want to talk about being stressed? Also on that hike we we were on a trail that was open to people when we passed a couple of trail workers that were improving a section of the trail. They said they were out there for 5 days sleeping in the tent and working on the trail during the days. So after the hike we've returned to the end and were enjoying a glass of wine when a young couple who were full timing came and joined us for a bit. They said they were doing that trail to grinnell glacier the next day. I said if I bought a six pack of beer would you be willing to drop it to those trail workers? And he laughed and said absolutely! About a month later I received an email from that full-timer with a picture of the two trail workers holding the six pack with big smiles and a nice wave. To this day that memory brings me so much joy. There are tools that we can use when stressed. But just like any other tool that we use, the more we use it the better we become at using it. So, take a nice deep breath let it out and relax. If you have gone to my website you see that I do not have any ads there. My primary goal with my website is to help people, not to make money. So no ads, no pop-ups, no distractions. And I'm sure you noticed and perhaps you even appreciate the fact that my podcast does not have any ads laced throughout it. Again I do that for you the listener. If however I come across a product that I am totally 100% believe in, I may at some point start doing advertising for it. But again if ads start appearing in the podcast they are there for your edification and benefit. On my website I updated and added a few books about RVing that helped us when we were newbies. And there's a couple there about Stress Management. Here's a link to that page:Relaxrv.org/books Here's a link to the 5 Star Tuner we installed, which helped the rigs shifting and downshifting and it too out gas mileage from 7.5mpg to 10mpg. https://amzn.to/3IdkleW At this point we have been members of Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts for over 3 years. Here's our total stays for each: Nights locationsBDW 207 95HH 18 16Here's a link to various RVing discounts: Relaxrv.org,discountsSo what do you do to help MANAGE your STRESS? Perhaps you or someone you know would benefit from listening to Stress Management Exercises? I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at https://relaxrv.org/help/If that ain't your thing, I have DISCOUNTS on my website to various RV related stuff.https://relaxrv.org/discounts/ I've made some videos about improvements and fixes I've done to the RV. Here's a link to them on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TA Or you can watch them on my website at https://relaxrv.org/videos/Here's a link to my RelaxRVPodcast Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Relax-RV-277623782811787/ I'm on Instagram as @relaxrvpodcast https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=hsxp0gjpugbz&utm_content=5h4872a My podcast can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/show/relax-rv-podcast If you would like to support my efforts to help others, please feel free to do so at:https://relaxrv.org/support/ Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something from one of our affiliates, we receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thanks for helping to keep our podcast running!

We headed to NJ and Pennsylvania to see a reenactment of George Washington crossing the Delaware on Christmas day which he did in 1776. But before I get into that, on October 26th while recording the last episode, a package was delivered to the house. I did not want to interrupt the recording so I didn't check what the delivery was. It was our surge protector from progressive Industries so it took them less than a week to mail us a replacement with no email no notification no nothing except a new progressive Industries 30 amp EMS portable protector for our rig. Yay. This is our third surge protector albeit we only paid for 1. Here's a link to our surge protector https://amzn.to/3EBd1HwJohn and Kathy Huggins in the later episodes of their podcast Living the RV Dream, often mentioned having a 'exit plan'. Plan ahead of time, to know when it's time to leave the road, when to part with your RV and where to live when the times arises. I'm sure I couldn't do that. But we met wonderful folks in Vermont who are facing that bittersweet time and are contemplating their fairwell trip. My hats off to them. I think if I were in that position now, I would make plans for an epic trip but knowing I would never actually take that trip knowing it's my final trip. I would rather sit and plan of the 'someday' trip. So we I have been home for a while with the rig and we have no other trips planned anytime soon. The leveling system is working great ! It was a $1,000 fix but they are working better than ever. When we first this thing a year ago, it would not level itself automatically. No matter è many times I recalibrated it. Now it works better than ever. Yay. So now we're felling trees and splitting wood for the wood stove. Spending time with my grandson Maverik.Tweaking things on the rig and our stone and mortar house. We took delivery of our 2022 Skidoo Grand Touring Limited 2 up snowmobile. So hopefully we will be doing day trips and some overnight trips with the RV towing the sled. We plan on staying in the promised land State Park in Pennsylvania. And we found a private campground in New Hampshire that's open year-round and is convenient to snowmobile trails. Here's a video of our sled (snowmobile) https://youtu.be/TZY_D30GId4 I also returned to yoga classes this time in Goshen NY. It really helps me relax and loosen up my arthritic joints. Also I am updating the website making it a little easier to navigate. Adding links to discounts for you folks at relaxrv.org/discounts Also adding books on my recommended RVing book pageRelaxrv.org/booksAnd I added a new blog to my website. It's titled "Health Problems Related to Stress". Here's a link to it: Relaxrv.org/catagory/blog When you visit the page click on the "follow" link to be notified when I add a blog. Now let's talk about George Washington. We booked a Boondockers Welcome location not far from there. We stayed here when we visited Princeton NJ. They have FULL hook-ups with 50amp. During our last stay here, I was talking to our host about this reenactment. It had been on my list for a couple of years to see. So this conversation really whetted my appetite. And Trish's aunt and cousins invited us to Christmas eve and Christmas dinner at their places which isn't far away. So with all the plans made in the rig winterized we went out turned on our refrigerator and freezer. Turned on the heat tape and tank heating pads. And filled up the fresh water tank. We also started up the hot water heater. Next we flushed out the antifreeze that was in any of the lines. There wasn't much because I only put antifreeze into the outdoor kitchen and the outdoor shower. However to get the antifreeze there it didn't run through the lines. Once that was done I blew out the lines with air except for the the outdoor kitchen and shower. I had put in a automatic stop valve where the lines enter the outdoor kitchen and the outdoor shower so this way those fixtures are protected with antifreeze and we won't be using them in the winter.Then on Christmas Eve morning we fired up the rig hooked up the Jeep and headed south to see family and the reenactment. Here's a link to the reenactment website. https://www.washingtoncrossingpark.org/cross-with-us/ We left Orange County NY and took Rt 206 all the way down. According to the GPS it was 10 minutes longer than the Garden State parkway but has NO tolls. And NO traffic so it was actually faster than the highway. We now love taking local roads. I had been fighting a bug for awhile so we weren't sure if this trip was going to happen. But here we are on the road. We arrived at our boondockers welcome location, got set up and headed over to the D&R canal for a 4 mile walk. Then drove over to aunt and for Christmas Eve dinner. Then back to the rig. Christmas morning we had breakfast at the rig. Then to Pennsylvania for the reenactment. The actors did a great job at reliving Washington's famous crossing across the Delaware River. They do two crossings a year both in December. George Washington did it on Christmas day so that's the one we wanted to see. A great turnout. The reenactment was wonderful but the narration could have been tweaked a little bit better. But it was a really nice thing to do on a Christmas Day especially for American revolution history buffs. We were surprised at how little of the history is still at the location of Washington's launch. And we were equally surprised at how much there was on the New Jersey side at Washington's landing. We did some walking around the 2 sites. George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, which occurred on the night of December 25–26, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, was the first move in a surprise attack organized by George Washington against Hessian forces in Trenton, New Jersey.Here are pictures of the reenactment:https://www.instagram.com/p/CX8zf4cur8i/?utm_medium=copy_link Then had sushi dinner in Princeton as there was a family member who had contact with someone who has Covid. I was just getting over a 5 week long viral illness and we didn't want to risk infection. So after dinner back to the rig for a relaxing evening. Then the next morning we packed up. Dumped our tanks at our boondockers welcome location and headed home. At this point we have been members of Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts for over 3 years. Here's our total stays for each: Nights locationsBDW 207 95HH 18 16Here's a link to my discounts page with links to both memberships: Relaxrv.org/discounts

We headed to NJ and Pennsylvania to see a reenactment of George Washington crossing the Delaware on Christmas day which he did in 1776. But before I get into that, on October 26th while recording the last episode, a package was delivered to the house. I did not want to interrupt the recording so I didn't check what the delivery was. It was our surge protector from progressive Industries so it took them less than a week to mail us a replacement with no email no notification no nothing except a new progressive Industries 30 amp EMS portable protector for our rig. Yay. This is our third surge protector albeit we only paid for 1. Here's a link to our surge protector https://amzn.to/3EBd1HwJohn and Kathy Huggins in the later episodes of their podcast Living the RV Dream, often mentioned having a 'exit plan'. Plan ahead of time, to know when it's time to leave the road, when to part with your RV and where to live when the times arises. I'm sure I couldn't do that. But we met wonderful folks in Vermont who are facing that bittersweet time and are contemplating their fairwell trip. My hats off to them. I think if I were in that position now, I would make plans for an epic trip but knowing I would never actually take that trip knowing it's my final trip. I would rather sit and plan of the 'someday' trip. So we I have been home for a while with the rig and we have no other trips planned anytime soon. The leveling system is working great ! It was a $1,000 fix but they are working better than ever. When we first this thing a year ago, it would not level itself automatically. No matter è many times I recalibrated it. Now it works better than ever. Yay. So now we're felling trees and splitting wood for the wood stove. Spending time with my grandson Maverik.Tweaking things on the rig and our stone and mortar house. We took delivery of our 2022 Skidoo Grand Touring Limited 2 up snowmobile. So hopefully we will be doing day trips and some overnight trips with the RV towing the sled. We plan on staying in the promised land State Park in Pennsylvania. And we found a private campground in New Hampshire that's open year-round and is convenient to snowmobile trails. Here's a video of our sled (snowmobile) https://youtu.be/TZY_D30GId4 I also returned to yoga classes this time in Goshen NY. It really helps me relax and loosen up my arthritic joints. Also I am updating the website making it a little easier to navigate. Adding links to discounts for you folks at relaxrv.org/discounts Also adding books on my recommended RVing book pageRelaxrv.org/booksAnd I added a new blog to my website. It's titled "Health Problems Related to Stress". Here's a link to it: Relaxrv.org/catagory/blog When you visit the page click on the "follow" link to be notified when I add a blog. Now let's talk about George Washington. We booked a Boondockers Welcome location not far from there. We stayed here when we visited Princeton NJ. They have FULL hook-ups with 50amp. During our last stay here, I was talking to our host about this reenactment. It had been on my list for a couple of years to see. So this conversation really whetted my appetite. And Trish's aunt and cousins invited us to Christmas eve and Christmas dinner at their places which isn't far away. So with all the plans made in the rig winterized we went out turned on our refrigerator and freezer. Turned on the heat tape and tank heating pads. And filled up the fresh water tank. We also started up the hot water heater. Next we flushed out the antifreeze that was in any of the lines. There wasn't much because I only put antifreeze into the outdoor kitchen and the outdoor shower. However to get the antifreeze there it didn't run through the lines. Once that was done I blew out the lines with air except for the the outdoor kitchen and shower. I had put in a automatic stop valve where the lines enter the outdoor kitchen and the outdoor shower so this way those fixtures are protected with antifreeze and we won't be using them in the winter.Then on Christmas Eve morning we fired up the rig hooked up the Jeep and headed south to see family and the reenactment. Here's a link to the reenactment website. https://www.washingtoncrossingpark.org/cross-with-us/ We left Orange County NY and took Rt 206 all the way down. According to the GPS it was 10 minutes longer than the Garden State parkway but has NO tolls. And NO traffic so it was actually faster than the highway. We now love taking local roads. I had been fighting a bug for awhile so we weren't sure if this trip was going to happen. But here we are on the road. We arrived at our boondockers welcome location, got set up and headed over to the D&R canal for a 4 mile walk. Then drove over to aunt and for Christmas Eve dinner. Then back to the rig. Christmas morning we had breakfast at the rig. Then to Pennsylvania for the reenactment. The actors did a great job at reliving Washington's famous crossing across the Delaware River. They do two crossings a year both in December. George Washington did it on Christmas day so that's the one we wanted to see. A great turnout. The reenactment was wonderful but the narration could have been tweaked a little bit better. But it was a really nice thing to do on a Christmas Day especially for American revolution history buffs. We were surprised at how little of the history is still at the location of Washington's launch. And we were equally surprised at how much there was on the New Jersey side at Washington's landing. We did some walking around the 2 sites. George Washington's crossing of the Delaware River, which occurred on the night of December 25–26, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, was the first move in a surprise attack organized by George Washington against Hessian forces in Trenton, New Jersey.Here are pictures of the reenactment:https://www.instagram.com/p/CX8zf4cur8i/?utm_medium=copy_link Then had sushi dinner in Princeton as there was a family member who had contact with someone who has Covid. I was just getting over a 5 week long viral illness and we didn't want to risk infection. So after dinner back to the rig for a relaxing evening. Then the next morning we packed up. Dumped our tanks at our boondockers welcome location and headed home. At this point we have been members of Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts for over 3 years. Here's our total stays for each: Nights locationsBDW 207 95HH 18 16Here's a link to my discounts page with links to both memberships: Relaxrv.org/discounts

Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/264 25% off at Karmik: Code: WFS25 Robert Gillingham is on the podcast to share the Karmik story and how you can easily find your lost fishing equipment if that situation arises.  Robert prepares us for your next river trip to help you feel a little more secure when heading on the water. Lost Fishing Equipment Show Notes with Robert Gillingham - Derek at Sawyer connected me with Robert.  Here's the Sawyer Podcast episode. - BoonDockers Welcome is a great resource if your are heading out on the road and doing the extended vacation thing. - Harry Mack a Freestyle rapper is blowin up on youtube.  - The Outdoors Online Marketing Podcast is the other podcast Dave Hosts along with the Wet Fly Swing. - Dave Jackson was on the podcast and covered the steps to getting going on your podcast. - Robert notes his 5 top podcasts here. - The Phil Monohan Podcast Use the Coupon Code:  WFS25 to get 25% off your next order at KarmikOutdoors.com You can find Robert at KarmikOutdoors.com KW Conclusion with my guest Robert Gillingham is on the podcast to share a great resource to get your lost fishing equipment back within 24 hours.  Robert is the founder of Karmik Outdoors and has an amazing solution to help you out for $10. Have you every lost a piece of outdoor gear?  Did you get it back?  Leave a comment below or send a DM on Instagram. Show Notes: https://wetflyswing.com/264

Season 2 Episode 70 10/26/21I met Gina in Albany NY, who runs a non profit that brings yoga and mindfulness to first responders and front line workers . That account is @courageouswarriorcoalition Changed the oil on a motorhome and the two cars. We got the rig loaded up for a 11-day trip through New Jersey. We have reserved a campground for two nights at 2 different wineries through Harvest Hosts. And five nights at 2 different Boondockers Welcome locations. Both have electric and the last one has a dump available, yay. On the way South we hopped on the garden State parkway and was very confusing about where motorhomes were allowed and weren't allowed. So we emailed the New Jersey turnpike authority and asked about any restrictions for a 30-foot motorhome towing a jeep and they responded back "no restrictions".So our first stop is old cedar Campground. We are picking up our grandson and taking him there for a haunted Halloween Walk and trick or treating.Pulled in plugged in progressive Industries EMS and our post had 136 volts. So the surge protector did what it was supposed to do. But that meant we didn't have electricity. And so they moved us to a vacant spot even though they were full. We picked up Trish's grandson went back to the rig and had T bones on the grill. Then we did a spooky walk in the campground, what fun ! This was our 1st Halloween in a campground. Then we lit a campfire and relaxed. The next day we played miniature golf, pool and such. We then walked from the campground to the local winery. Then out for dinner and back to the rig we played cards and read in the rain.The next morning we talked to the campground to see if we can leave the rig there for a while while we drove our grandson home. They said sure no problem. I then disconnected and noticed our water pump was not working. I checked the fuse that wasn't it I took out the wall panel to get at the pump. I can hear the pump pumping but not very loudly so I figured it must be a clogged filter on the pump turned off the pump closed the water valve took out the filter and voila that was the problem. So after we get back to the rig we drove a full half hour to Bellview Winery for a Harvest Host stay. Here's a is a link to a discount for Harvest Hosts, Boondockers Welcome, solar equipment and RV mattresses https://relaxrv.org/discounts-to-help-lower-your-stress/ On the way we drove through Vineland and Trish noted Vineland is the largest city in New Jersey. We bought a bottle of wine and a sangria and sat and enjoyed a glass. Then we drove over to Parvin State Park for about four and a half miles. Then back to the ring set by the vineyard and enjoyed a glass of their wine and sandwiches Trish had made, but it was too cold and we went into the rig to eat and put refectix in the windows. It was 42 degrees Sunday night. Next day we hooked up and drove an hour to Natali Vineyards in Cape May Court House, NJ. for another night at a Harvest Hosts location. But on the way, we hopped off the GSP and drove along the NJ shore and visited Sea Isle City. But to get there we had to go over a drawbridge and while we fit there was only about 2 in on each side of the rig. It was a little out of my comfort zone. We got to Natalie Winery checked in bought bottle of wine and a and a dark chocolate covered biscotti. Unhooked the Jeep and drove over to the Cape May park and zoo. https://www.capemaycountynj.gov/1148/Plan-Your-Visit They have free admission and some nice trails it was a nice way to spend a chilly windy afternoon. On the way back to the rig we stopped atJessie Creek winery, then to the rig for dinner.The next day we drove north to the Pine Barrens, to a Boondockers Welcome host location. Apparently the Pine Barrens is known as the "Blueberry Capital of the World".https://www.jerseysbest.com/community/how-the-pine-barrens-became-one-of-the-blueberry-capitals-of-the-world/ and there are a lot of cranberry Bogs here. Apparently most of the cranberries go to Ocean Spray.We were here for 2 nights and the host offered 15amp. To get here we avoided the GSP and took local roads which was nice. We got set up and drove into the pine barrens. We drove in about 3 miles and then hiked for 4 more miles. Went back to rig and cooked dinner on the grill. Our hosts invited us to join them at their fire pit. Where we had a nice conversation exchanging traveling experiences.The next day we drove 15 miles through the Pine Barrens to Batsto Village https://batstovillage.org/ . A very interesting piece of history. We then drove back into the pine barrens and hiked for 3 miles. We then went to Valenzano Winery, where we had a glass of their wine. We stopped at Russo's fruit and vegetables farm. Wow what a huge place. We bought a few different items. Then to the rig for salmon on the grill. The next day we headed north to Princeton, NJ. To another boondockers welcome host location. We chose this location for two reasons one is close to Trish's aunt and cousins. Any other reason is it's close to where my brother Mike and his wife Jen used to live. We pulled in. Met our host. We plugged in but our EMs gave an error code of reversed polarity. And talked to our host he said he's never had an issue and pulled out of voltmeter everything was wired correctly. So perhaps the high voltage reading at the campground earlier the week was false. We completed an online warranty claim for progressive Industries and we'll see what happens.We then headed over to the D&R canal hopped on or tandem bike and road for about 5 miles, stopped and had sandwiches and a glass of wine and rode back to the car. We then drove to The Tigers Tale restaurant and bar. Why? This was the place that Mike and Jen frequented. Trish and I had visited them years ago before they moved to Florida and they brought us there one evening. So we wanted to visit #tigerstaleprinceton @tigerstalenj#tigerstale and toasted Mike and Jen. It was bittersweet. We met a bunch of the staff who knew them and they shared wonderful memories of them with us. ❤ Love you guys ! https://tigerstalenj.com/ The next day we visited Princeton University. We walked around for over 3 hours looking at the architecture and such. Beautiful. We got fantastic crepes at Jammin Crepes, YUM. We then went to a local Winery but saw their prices of wine we hopped back in the car and headed back to the canal path for a short walk. Then back to the rig we cooked shrimp and asparagus wrapped in prosciutto. Yum again. The next day we visited with Trish's aunt and cousins. A great time catching up with everyone. The next day we packed up and headed home. We took local roads which added 15 mins but saved us $12 in tolls. Gotta love the north east. So what do you do to help manage your stress? Do you know someone who would benefit from listening to a stress mange exercise? I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at https://relaxrv.org/stressed-2-2/stressed-2/ If that ain't your thing I made some videos about the improvements I mentioned and I posted them on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TA Or you can watch them on https://relaxrv.org/videos-the-good-the-bad-and-the-modifications/ There are discounts on my website to Boondockers Welcome , Harvest Hosts., Renogy Solar and Mattress Insider for all of your RV bedding needs https://relaxrv.org/discounts-to-help-lower-your-stress/ Here's a link to my RelaxRVPodcast Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Relax-RV-277623782811787/ I'm on Instagram as @relaxrvpodcast https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=hsxp0gjpugbz&utm_content=5h4872a My podcast can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/show/relax-rv-podcast Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something from one of our affiliates, we receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thanks for helping to keep our podcast running!

Season 2 Episode 70 10/26/21I met Gina in Albany NY, who runs a non profit that brings yoga and mindfulness to first responders and front line workers . That account is @courageouswarriorcoalition Changed the oil on a motorhome and the two cars. We got the rig loaded up for a 11-day trip through New Jersey. We have reserved a campground for two nights at 2 different wineries through Harvest Hosts. And five nights at 2 different Boondockers Welcome locations. Both have electric and the last one has a dump available, yay. On the way South we hopped on the garden State parkway and was very confusing about where motorhomes were allowed and weren't allowed. So we emailed the New Jersey turnpike authority and asked about any restrictions for a 30-foot motorhome towing a jeep and they responded back "no restrictions".So our first stop is old cedar Campground. We are picking up our grandson and taking him there for a haunted Halloween Walk and trick or treating.Pulled in plugged in progressive Industries EMS and our post had 136 volts. So the surge protector did what it was supposed to do. But that meant we didn't have electricity. And so they moved us to a vacant spot even though they were full. We picked up Trish's grandson went back to the rig and had T bones on the grill. Then we did a spooky walk in the campground, what fun ! This was our 1st Halloween in a campground. Then we lit a campfire and relaxed. The next day we played miniature golf, pool and such. We then walked from the campground to the local winery. Then out for dinner and back to the rig we played cards and read in the rain.The next morning we talked to the campground to see if we can leave the rig there for a while while we drove our grandson home. They said sure no problem. I then disconnected and noticed our water pump was not working. I checked the fuse that wasn't it I took out the wall panel to get at the pump. I can hear the pump pumping but not very loudly so I figured it must be a clogged filter on the pump turned off the pump closed the water valve took out the filter and voila that was the problem. So after we get back to the rig we drove a full half hour to Bellview Winery for a Harvest Host stay. Here's a is a link to a discount for Harvest Hosts, Boondockers Welcome, solar equipment and RV mattresses https://relaxrv.org/discounts-to-help-lower-your-stress/ On the way we drove through Vineland and Trish noted Vineland is the largest city in New Jersey. We bought a bottle of wine and a sangria and sat and enjoyed a glass. Then we drove over to Parvin State Park for about four and a half miles. Then back to the ring set by the vineyard and enjoyed a glass of their wine and sandwiches Trish had made, but it was too cold and we went into the rig to eat and put refectix in the windows. It was 42 degrees Sunday night. Next day we hooked up and drove an hour to Natali Vineyards in Cape May Court House, NJ. for another night at a Harvest Hosts location. But on the way, we hopped off the GSP and drove along the NJ shore and visited Sea Isle City. But to get there we had to go over a drawbridge and while we fit there was only about 2 in on each side of the rig. It was a little out of my comfort zone. We got to Natalie Winery checked in bought bottle of wine and a and a dark chocolate covered biscotti. Unhooked the Jeep and drove over to the Cape May park and zoo. https://www.capemaycountynj.gov/1148/Plan-Your-Visit They have free admission and some nice trails it was a nice way to spend a chilly windy afternoon. On the way back to the rig we stopped atJessie Creek winery, then to the rig for dinner.The next day we drove north to the Pine Barrens, to a Boondockers Welcome host location. Apparently the Pine Barrens is known as the "Blueberry Capital of the World".https://www.jerseysbest.com/community/how-the-pine-barrens-became-one-of-the-blueberry-capitals-of-the-world/ and there are a lot of cranberry Bogs here. Apparently most of the cranberries go to Ocean Spray.We were here for 2 nights and the host offered 15amp. To get here we avoided the GSP and took local roads which was nice. We got set up and drove into the pine barrens. We drove in about 3 miles and then hiked for 4 more miles. Went back to rig and cooked dinner on the grill. Our hosts invited us to join them at their fire pit. Where we had a nice conversation exchanging traveling experiences.The next day we drove 15 miles through the Pine Barrens to Batsto Village https://batstovillage.org/ . A very interesting piece of history. We then drove back into the pine barrens and hiked for 3 miles. We then went to Valenzano Winery, where we had a glass of their wine. We stopped at Russo's fruit and vegetables farm. Wow what a huge place. We bought a few different items. Then to the rig for salmon on the grill. The next day we headed north to Princeton, NJ. To another boondockers welcome host location. We chose this location for two reasons one is close to Trish's aunt and cousins. Any other reason is it's close to where my brother Mike and his wife Jen used to live. We pulled in. Met our host. We plugged in but our EMs gave an error code of reversed polarity. And talked to our host he said he's never had an issue and pulled out of voltmeter everything was wired correctly. So perhaps the high voltage reading at the campground earlier the week was false. We completed an online warranty claim for progressive Industries and we'll see what happens.We then headed over to the D&R canal hopped on or tandem bike and road for about 5 miles, stopped and had sandwiches and a glass of wine and rode back to the car. We then drove to The Tigers Tale restaurant and bar. Why? This was the place that Mike and Jen frequented. Trish and I had visited them years ago before they moved to Florida and they brought us there one evening. So we wanted to visit #tigerstaleprinceton @tigerstalenj#tigerstale and toasted Mike and Jen. It was bittersweet. We met a bunch of the staff who knew them and they shared wonderful memories of them with us. ❤ Love you guys ! https://tigerstalenj.com/ The next day we visited Princeton University. We walked around for over 3 hours looking at the architecture and such. Beautiful. We got fantastic crepes at Jammin Crepes, YUM. We then went to a local Winery but saw their prices of wine we hopped back in the car and headed back to the canal path for a short walk. Then back to the rig we cooked shrimp and asparagus wrapped in prosciutto. Yum again. The next day we visited with Trish's aunt and cousins. A great time catching up with everyone. The next day we packed up and headed home. We took local roads which added 15 mins but saved us $12 in tolls. Gotta love the north east. So what do you do to help manage your stress? Do you know someone who would benefit from listening to a stress mange exercise? I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at https://relaxrv.org/stressed-2-2/stressed-2/ If that ain't your thing I made some videos about the improvements I mentioned and I posted them on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TA Or you can watch them on https://relaxrv.org/videos-the-good-the-bad-and-the-modifications/ There are discounts on my website to Boondockers Welcome , Harvest Hosts., Renogy Solar and Mattress Insider for all of your RV bedding needs https://relaxrv.org/discounts-to-help-lower-your-stress/ Here's a link to my RelaxRVPodcast Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Relax-RV-277623782811787/ I'm on Instagram as @relaxrvpodcast https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=hsxp0gjpugbz&utm_content=5h4872a My podcast can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/show/relax-rv-podcast Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something from one of our affiliates, we receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thanks for helping to keep our podcast running!

Season 2 Episode 6910/11/21We tweaked a few things in the rig. We had a water leak whilst hooked up to city water. I thought there was a loose connection somewhere. Actually the line coming into the rig was kinked and the back pressure caused it. I took off the line straightened it out and viola fixed. Also, we installed curtains in the bedroom. Wow what a great upgrade. Heres a video showing the curtains https://youtu.be/D5Y5zNK4CzI We have stayed at almost 100 Boondockers Welcome locations for over 200 nights and 16 Harvest Hosts. Heres a link to discounts on those memberships https://relaxrv.org/discounts-to-help-lower-your-stress/ So on October 1st 2021 we pulled out of our driveway and headed north west to another boondockers welcome location about a half hour outside of Syracuse New York. We pulled in our host met us helped us get set up and we engaged in nice conversations. While I was talking to her I heard a crash inside the RV I looked at our house and I said I think Trish just dropped the coffee pot. She did. So we had plans on heading to a local park to do some hiking but instead we decided to go buy a coffee pot at Walmart near Syracuse. Then we went to Green lakes State Park and did a phenomenal hike around their green lakes. And the reason we were up here was to do the Big East powersports show at the State fairgrounds in Syracuse. The show was focused on snowmobiles. Back in February we ordered a 2022 skidoo 2 up sled. And we have concerns of when it's going to be delivered because of Chip shortage. So we headed over we actually got to sit on the sled that we ordered. And this really wetted our appetite. While walking around the show we saw a guy selling Garmin GPS's with preloaded snowmobile maps of the Northeast. We talked to him about price and then we went and looked at the GPS we had selected on Amazon and also the maps of the Northeast that I've been waiting to purchase. Buying the GPS and maps through his company https://netrailgps.com/ was phenomenally priced.We were told by a Skidoo rep that the dealers have received a list of delivery dates on some sleds. So we contacted our dealer and he said we are on the list for a November delivery. We are hoping that the sled comes in complete with all chips gadgets lights everything.The next day we decided to walk around the city of Syracuse and in less than an hour we are ready to do something else. So we went over to Onondaga State Park in road or bike for about 10 MI on the shore of the lake. Very pretty. Everything came back to the rig I looked for my phone and I couldn't find it. Trish grabbed her phone and she saw a text from my daughter that a guy found my phone. So I reached out to the wonderful gentleman got his address and took a ride to his house. Apparently when we were loading the bike onto the car I laid the phone down and left it down and left it there. And also apparently cuz I backed out of the parking lot I ran over the phone and cracked it, thank goodness it's still functioning. Paul take a nice deep breath let It go just relax. That night we had dinner and rig the next morning we said goodbye to our host. Or driving over towards Troy New York when Trish found a winery along the way so we stopped in for a glass of wine.Afterwards we pulled into our campsite in Troy New York. I ran the hydraulic levelers but it would not level. I looked and only one Jack was down. I reset the keypad try to retract that one Jack would not go up the others would not go down. I knew I could manually override the system but wasn't exactly sure how so I googled it and found the video I then retracted the one Jack that was down. So at least we were not stuck in place. I then started checking wires and fuses but couldn't find anything wrong. I had Trish run the Jack's well I sat by the motor and I could hear a metallic click I reached out to lippert they emailed me things to check but by this time we were already on our way home. We pulled in to our driveway we unpacked and remember I am no electrician I did what I thought they wanted me to do to me it sounded like possibly the motor or the solenoid. I emailed them what I found and they said nope we don't think that's your problem they suggested other things that I check I quickly got out of my comfort zone. I reached out to George fry our local RV repair guy in Hudson Valley. We have another trip down through New Jersey in a week and a half from now at the jacks aren't working and we can't get it level we can't get the slides out safely. So hopefully George will be able to guide me into a simple and inexpensive fix. The motor runs around $1,200 ugh. While waiting on George who is swamped and crazy busy. I decided to call Lippert again. They patiently walked me through testing the solenoid and motor. Our issue was a bad motor. They suggested I replace the Solenoid when I replace the motor. They switched over to their parts dept and she suggested that I replace the sealed coupler when I replace motor. So we ran down the price of motor was just under $1100, is solenoid was $98 and the sealed coupler was $31. So all the parts are $1200 then in one of their emails they gave me a code for 10% off. Which was LCIcares. My next question to them was how bad is the shipping going to be for all this and she said well in order to use that discount you have to order the parts online but she reassured me that the shipping was not going to be much at all. I went online ordered all the parts took the 10% off the shipping came out to just over $5. They had all the items in stock and they would arrive at my door in 3 days. I'll tell you what I cannot believe the customer service I received at lippert. In fact the next day after I ordered the parts I called their tech support for the third time and I said I just ordered all these parts I just want to make sure it's the motor can you guide me through how to test the solenoid and the motor again and the gentleman said absolutely it took his time because I don't know one thing from another lol. We confirmed that it was a bad motor. While I was waiting for the parts to come in the mail I started taking apart the old leveling system.The only issue with the pump motor was the mounting bolts were different than what they described in their PDF and when I called they didn't know about these two additional mounting bolts I made a video about the issue and here's a link to the video https://youtu.be/yxLx0ZQKFzQ But the leveling system now works great. And off to our next adventure. So what do you do to help manage your stress? Do you know someone who would benefit from listening to a stress mange exercise? I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at https://relaxrv.org/stressed-2-2/stressed-2/ If that ain't your thing I made some videos about the improvements I mentioned and I posted them on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TA Or you can watch them on https://relaxrv.org/videos-the-good-the-bad-and-the-modifications/ There are discounts on my website to Boondockers Welcome , Harvest Hosts., Renogy Solar and Mattress Insider for all of your RV bedding needs https://relaxrv.org/discounts-to-help-lower-your-stress/ Here's a link to my RelaxRVPodcast Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Relax-RV-277623782811787/ I'm on Instagram as @relaxrvpodcast https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=hsxp0gjpugbz&utm_content=5h4872a My podcast can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/show/relax-rv-podcast Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something from one of our affiliates, we receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thanks for helping to keep our podcast running!

Season 2 Episode 6910/11/21We tweaked a few things in the rig. We had a water leak whilst hooked up to city water. I thought there was a loose connection somewhere. Actually the line coming into the rig was kinked and the back pressure caused it. I took off the line straightened it out and viola fixed. Also, we installed curtains in the bedroom. Wow what a great upgrade. Heres a video showing the curtains https://youtu.be/D5Y5zNK4CzI We have stayed at almost 100 Boondockers Welcome locations for over 200 nights and 16 Harvest Hosts. Heres a link to discounts on those memberships https://relaxrv.org/discounts-to-help-lower-your-stress/ So on October 1st 2021 we pulled out of our driveway and headed north west to another boondockers welcome location about a half hour outside of Syracuse New York. We pulled in our host met us helped us get set up and we engaged in nice conversations. While I was talking to her I heard a crash inside the RV I looked at our house and I said I think Trish just dropped the coffee pot. She did. So we had plans on heading to a local park to do some hiking but instead we decided to go buy a coffee pot at Walmart near Syracuse. Then we went to Green lakes State Park and did a phenomenal hike around their green lakes. And the reason we were up here was to do the Big East powersports show at the State fairgrounds in Syracuse. The show was focused on snowmobiles. Back in February we ordered a 2022 skidoo 2 up sled. And we have concerns of when it's going to be delivered because of Chip shortage. So we headed over we actually got to sit on the sled that we ordered. And this really wetted our appetite. While walking around the show we saw a guy selling Garmin GPS's with preloaded snowmobile maps of the Northeast. We talked to him about price and then we went and looked at the GPS we had selected on Amazon and also the maps of the Northeast that I've been waiting to purchase. Buying the GPS and maps through his company https://netrailgps.com/ was phenomenally priced.We were told by a Skidoo rep that the dealers have received a list of delivery dates on some sleds. So we contacted our dealer and he said we are on the list for a November delivery. We are hoping that the sled comes in complete with all chips gadgets lights everything.The next day we decided to walk around the city of Syracuse and in less than an hour we are ready to do something else. So we went over to Onondaga State Park in road or bike for about 10 MI on the shore of the lake. Very pretty. Everything came back to the rig I looked for my phone and I couldn't find it. Trish grabbed her phone and she saw a text from my daughter that a guy found my phone. So I reached out to the wonderful gentleman got his address and took a ride to his house. Apparently when we were loading the bike onto the car I laid the phone down and left it down and left it there. And also apparently cuz I backed out of the parking lot I ran over the phone and cracked it, thank goodness it's still functioning. Paul take a nice deep breath let It go just relax. That night we had dinner and rig the next morning we said goodbye to our host. Or driving over towards Troy New York when Trish found a winery along the way so we stopped in for a glass of wine.Afterwards we pulled into our campsite in Troy New York. I ran the hydraulic levelers but it would not level. I looked and only one Jack was down. I reset the keypad try to retract that one Jack would not go up the others would not go down. I knew I could manually override the system but wasn't exactly sure how so I googled it and found the video I then retracted the one Jack that was down. So at least we were not stuck in place. I then started checking wires and fuses but couldn't find anything wrong. I had Trish run the Jack's well I sat by the motor and I could hear a metallic click I reached out to lippert they emailed me things to check but by this time we were already on our way home. We pulled in to our driveway we unpacked and remember I am no electrician I did what I thought they wanted me to do to me it sounded like possibly the motor or the solenoid. I emailed them what I found and they said nope we don't think that's your problem they suggested other things that I check I quickly got out of my comfort zone. I reached out to George fry our local RV repair guy in Hudson Valley. We have another trip down through New Jersey in a week and a half from now at the jacks aren't working and we can't get it level we can't get the slides out safely. So hopefully George will be able to guide me into a simple and inexpensive fix. The motor runs around $1,200 ugh. While waiting on George who is swamped and crazy busy. I decided to call Lippert again. They patiently walked me through testing the solenoid and motor. Our issue was a bad motor. They suggested I replace the Solenoid when I replace the motor. They switched over to their parts dept and she suggested that I replace the sealed coupler when I replace motor. So we ran down the price of motor was just under $1100, is solenoid was $98 and the sealed coupler was $31. So all the parts are $1200 then in one of their emails they gave me a code for 10% off. Which was LCIcares. My next question to them was how bad is the shipping going to be for all this and she said well in order to use that discount you have to order the parts online but she reassured me that the shipping was not going to be much at all. I went online ordered all the parts took the 10% off the shipping came out to just over $5. They had all the items in stock and they would arrive at my door in 3 days. I'll tell you what I cannot believe the customer service I received at lippert. In fact the next day after I ordered the parts I called their tech support for the third time and I said I just ordered all these parts I just want to make sure it's the motor can you guide me through how to test the solenoid and the motor again and the gentleman said absolutely it took his time because I don't know one thing from another lol. We confirmed that it was a bad motor. While I was waiting for the parts to come in the mail I started taking apart the old leveling system.The only issue with the pump motor was the mounting bolts were different than what they described in their PDF and when I called they didn't know about these two additional mounting bolts I made a video about the issue and here's a link to the video https://youtu.be/yxLx0ZQKFzQ But the leveling system now works great. And off to our next adventure. So what do you do to help manage your stress? Do you know someone who would benefit from listening to a stress mange exercise? I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at https://relaxrv.org/stressed-2-2/stressed-2/ If that ain't your thing I made some videos about the improvements I mentioned and I posted them on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TA Or you can watch them on https://relaxrv.org/videos-the-good-the-bad-and-the-modifications/ There are discounts on my website to Boondockers Welcome , Harvest Hosts., Renogy Solar and Mattress Insider for all of your RV bedding needs https://relaxrv.org/discounts-to-help-lower-your-stress/ Here's a link to my RelaxRVPodcast Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Relax-RV-277623782811787/ I'm on Instagram as @relaxrvpodcast https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=hsxp0gjpugbz&utm_content=5h4872a My podcast can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/show/relax-rv-podcast Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something from one of our affiliates, we receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thanks for helping to keep our podcast running!

Season 2 Episode 689/23/21New England 2021 2.0Over 7,000 downloads ! Awesome, I hope you are enjoying it.We left you after we visited Mt Washington, NHWe drove 2.5 hrs to Newport Center, VT. Which is in the North East Kingdom. Yep. We are at a Boondockers Welcome location for 4 nights. The next day we went to Derby Line, VT. What an interesting place ! This town borders canada. There's yellow ribbon crossing over the street at the border border patrol was sitting in their car just watching and protecting. There's also a library and Opera House which is half in Canada and half in the us. The books on the American side were in English while most of the books on the canadian side were in French. We were talking to a volunteer and the librarian assistant and had a wonderful lengthy conversation about the borderline and etc. Heres a link to the Haskell Free Library and Opera House https://maps.app.goo.gl/GrJkJfrUR3sezMuf6 Here's a link to our pictures of this town and library on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/p/CTaoTCdsJ1z/?utm_medium=copy_link We wanted to get a little active so we hiked up Avril mountain it was only about a mile to the top but apparently Vermont does not believe in switchbacks. So it was straight up about 600 ft in elevation. But the view up there was definitely worth it. We met a woman at the top we shared some of our wine with her. We had a nice conversation about rving and it sounded like we waited her appetite for wanderlust. Hi Terry if you're listening. She is suggested us hiking up Brousseau Mtn. Which we did.http://canaanvt.com/item/brousseau-mountain/ We then headed over to Jed's Maple store. http://www.jedsmaple.com/ That evening we ate at at the East Side Restaurant, https://www.eastsiderestaurant.net/ The next day we took a ride down to Willoughby State Forest and Lake willoughby. For many many years I've been wanting to hike up Mount Pisgah. And today we did., Here are pics from our hike up Mt Pisgahhttps://www.instagram.com/p/CTe2noZMS7w/?utm_medium=copy_link We wanted to visit the Cabot cheese factory and Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Cabot was closed and Ben and Jerry's were not doing tours. Then the rain came in and we had 3 hours to kill before meeting our friends from our home town for dinner, so unfortunately we canceled our dinner plans and headed back up north.The next day we went to Philo Mt. and hiked to the top. The trail was new and in my opinion it was a tab over developed. Lots of stone steps and very wide. Great views of Lake Champlain. Then we hiked down on the Devil's Seat Trail which was more like a hiking trail. Pics of Mt Philo https://www.instagram.com/p/CTkeFfuFvZs/?utm_medium=copy_link From there we visited Shelburne Farm. An interesting place. They gave no history of the farm, which was owned by the Vanderbilt's and was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who helped design NY Citys central park. A beautiful barn ! And free to visit. Here are a few pics https://www.instagram.com/p/CTmipC8MZb4/?utm_medium=copy_link The next day we went to Mud Pond Country park. We expected to do 2.5 miles of walking but the map wasn't clear so we ended up doing almost 5 miles But it was nice.https://maps.app.goo.gl/5dChCjcMhX6kMaEo8. We drove to a park and grab the bike and rode on lakefront bike trail up to the causeway it was a total of 14 mi round trip. Here's pics from the causeway https://www.instagram.com/p/CTpKn-bFCEq/?utm_medium=copy_link We had found this causeway Trail a couple years ago and we marked it on our Google maps and we are so glad we did. Here's a video of how we plan our trips:https://youtu.be/m17giRxNVs0 The next day we said goodbye to our wonderful hosts and drove to the Lake Bomoseen KOA in VT. If you watched the video of our route planning you know KOAs are our last choice, but they were doing a promotion of BOGO this weekend. So we figured sure we'll take a free night lol. So we got to site and set up. We did laundry and such. The next day we went to Mt Moosalamoo and did a 5.5 mile beautiful hike. The next morning, we paddled on Lake Bomoseen for an hour or so. The campground had a launch so we took advantage of it. We then went to Randolf, VT. to our next Boondockers Welcome location. We met our really welcoming hosts. They explained that Vermont has the 2nd lowest population of all the states, We then took a ride to the only floating bridge east of the Mississippi. It's located in Brookfield VT. Here are pics of it. https://www.instagram.com/p/CTvX445sao2/?utm_medium=copy_link As we left VT we looked back and saw that we were in Vermont for a week and a half. And out of that time we spent two nights at a campground. And of that we only paid for 1 night. So the cost to us was $54 to stay a week and a half in Vermont. We love boondockers welcome. So we went through our list of stays at boondockers welcome locations over the past 3 years. We have stayed at over 90 locations for a total of almost 200 nights. Unbelievable. We then drove 2 hours south to White Birch campground in Waverly MA.This was a passport from America's day so we got the site for half price. We met our campost and her boyfriend who were wonderful people. We arrived back at our rig and the camphost dropped off a load of firewood. The next day we drove to Greenfield and hiked to The Poet's Seat Tower and Sachems Head. This is a scenic hike that follows a ridge line. We hiked about 5 easy miles, except for a 0.25 mile section that was very steep. Pics: https://www.instagram.com/p/CT0V522gv95/ We then stopped at Pekarski's Sausage in Deerfield, MA. Delicious German meats. https://pekarskis.com/ That evening we went to Northampton walked around this great little city. We stopped in at a place called tunnel bar for a drink. https://www.thetunnelbar.com/ Pics: https://www.instagram.com/p/CT6DQwJs8YH/?utm_medium=copy_link The next day we took a very short ride to a trailhead for the Appalachian Trail. We started and saw a sign saying there was a lean to about 4 MI from the car. So we made that our destination. Here's a video of it and on my Instagram page are more pics of the hike. https://www.instagram.com/p/CT78XXQJsOb/?utm_medium=copy_link The next day, Saturday 9/18/21, we headed west to Cobbleskill, NY. Our last night of this trip was at Grapevine Vineyard, who's is a Harvest Host location. https://www.grapevinefarms.com/ We got back to the RV turned on the furnace because we were at a harvest hose location without shore power. The furnace tried to kick on then shut off. It turns out Honeywell thermostats are typically 24 volts took out the Honeywell thermostat I wired in the original mechanical piece of junk thermostat everything works fine. I then ordered a digital thermometer from Amazon made by Coleman Mach installed it and have no issues. Here's a link to the digital thermostat that I ended up going with. https://amzn.to/3o3M5f0 So what do you do to help manage your stress? Do you know someone who would benefit from listening to a stress mange exercise? I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at https://relaxrv.org/stressed-2-2/stressed-2/ If that ain't your thing I made some videos about the improvements I mentioned and I posted them on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TA Or you can watch them on https://relaxrv.org/videos-the-good-the-bad-and-the-modifications/ There are discounts on my website to Boondockers Welcome , Harvest Hosts., Renogy Solar and Mattress Insider for all of your RV bedding needs https://relaxrv.org/discounts-to-help-lower-your-stress/ Here's a link to my RelaxRVPodcast Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Relax-RV-277623782811787/ I'm on Instagram as @relaxrvpodcast https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=hsxp0gjpugbz&utm_content=5h4872a My podcast can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/show/relax-rv-podcast Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something from one of our affiliates, we receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thanks for helping to keep our podcast running!

Season 2 Episode 689/23/21New England 2021 2.0Over 7,000 downloads ! Awesome, I hope you are enjoying it.We left you after we visited Mt Washington, NHWe drove 2.5 hrs to Newport Center, VT. Which is in the North East Kingdom. Yep. We are at a Boondockers Welcome location for 4 nights. The next day we went to Derby Line, VT. What an interesting place ! This town borders canada. There's yellow ribbon crossing over the street at the border border patrol was sitting in their car just watching and protecting. There's also a library and Opera House which is half in Canada and half in the us. The books on the American side were in English while most of the books on the canadian side were in French. We were talking to a volunteer and the librarian assistant and had a wonderful lengthy conversation about the borderline and etc. Heres a link to the Haskell Free Library and Opera House https://maps.app.goo.gl/GrJkJfrUR3sezMuf6 Here's a link to our pictures of this town and library on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/p/CTaoTCdsJ1z/?utm_medium=copy_link We wanted to get a little active so we hiked up Avril mountain it was only about a mile to the top but apparently Vermont does not believe in switchbacks. So it was straight up about 600 ft in elevation. But the view up there was definitely worth it. We met a woman at the top we shared some of our wine with her. We had a nice conversation about rving and it sounded like we waited her appetite for wanderlust. Hi Terry if you're listening. She is suggested us hiking up Brousseau Mtn. Which we did.http://canaanvt.com/item/brousseau-mountain/ We then headed over to Jed's Maple store. http://www.jedsmaple.com/ That evening we ate at at the East Side Restaurant, https://www.eastsiderestaurant.net/ The next day we took a ride down to Willoughby State Forest and Lake willoughby. For many many years I've been wanting to hike up Mount Pisgah. And today we did., Here are pics from our hike up Mt Pisgahhttps://www.instagram.com/p/CTe2noZMS7w/?utm_medium=copy_link We wanted to visit the Cabot cheese factory and Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Cabot was closed and Ben and Jerry's were not doing tours. Then the rain came in and we had 3 hours to kill before meeting our friends from our home town for dinner, so unfortunately we canceled our dinner plans and headed back up north.The next day we went to Philo Mt. and hiked to the top. The trail was new and in my opinion it was a tab over developed. Lots of stone steps and very wide. Great views of Lake Champlain. Then we hiked down on the Devil's Seat Trail which was more like a hiking trail. Pics of Mt Philo https://www.instagram.com/p/CTkeFfuFvZs/?utm_medium=copy_link From there we visited Shelburne Farm. An interesting place. They gave no history of the farm, which was owned by the Vanderbilt's and was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who helped design NY Citys central park. A beautiful barn ! And free to visit. Here are a few pics https://www.instagram.com/p/CTmipC8MZb4/?utm_medium=copy_link The next day we went to Mud Pond Country park. We expected to do 2.5 miles of walking but the map wasn't clear so we ended up doing almost 5 miles But it was nice.https://maps.app.goo.gl/5dChCjcMhX6kMaEo8. We drove to a park and grab the bike and rode on lakefront bike trail up to the causeway it was a total of 14 mi round trip. Here's pics from the causeway https://www.instagram.com/p/CTpKn-bFCEq/?utm_medium=copy_link We had found this causeway Trail a couple years ago and we marked it on our Google maps and we are so glad we did. Here's a video of how we plan our trips:https://youtu.be/m17giRxNVs0 The next day we said goodbye to our wonderful hosts and drove to the Lake Bomoseen KOA in VT. If you watched the video of our route planning you know KOAs are our last choice, but they were doing a promotion of BOGO this weekend. So we figured sure we'll take a free night lol. So we got to site and set up. We did laundry and such. The next day we went to Mt Moosalamoo and did a 5.5 mile beautiful hike. The next morning, we paddled on Lake Bomoseen for an hour or so. The campground had a launch so we took advantage of it. We then went to Randolf, VT. to our next Boondockers Welcome location. We met our really welcoming hosts. They explained that Vermont has the 2nd lowest population of all the states, We then took a ride to the only floating bridge east of the Mississippi. It's located in Brookfield VT. Here are pics of it. https://www.instagram.com/p/CTvX445sao2/?utm_medium=copy_link As we left VT we looked back and saw that we were in Vermont for a week and a half. And out of that time we spent two nights at a campground. And of that we only paid for 1 night. So the cost to us was $54 to stay a week and a half in Vermont. We love boondockers welcome. So we went through our list of stays at boondockers welcome locations over the past 3 years. We have stayed at over 90 locations for a total of almost 200 nights. Unbelievable. We then drove 2 hours south to White Birch campground in Waverly MA.This was a passport from America's day so we got the site for half price. We met our campost and her boyfriend who were wonderful people. We arrived back at our rig and the camphost dropped off a load of firewood. The next day we drove to Greenfield and hiked to The Poet's Seat Tower and Sachems Head. This is a scenic hike that follows a ridge line. We hiked about 5 easy miles, except for a 0.25 mile section that was very steep. Pics: https://www.instagram.com/p/CT0V522gv95/ We then stopped at Pekarski's Sausage in Deerfield, MA. Delicious German meats. https://pekarskis.com/ That evening we went to Northampton walked around this great little city. We stopped in at a place called tunnel bar for a drink. https://www.thetunnelbar.com/ Pics: https://www.instagram.com/p/CT6DQwJs8YH/?utm_medium=copy_link The next day we took a very short ride to a trailhead for the Appalachian Trail. We started and saw a sign saying there was a lean to about 4 MI from the car. So we made that our destination. Here's a video of it and on my Instagram page are more pics of the hike. https://www.instagram.com/p/CT78XXQJsOb/?utm_medium=copy_link The next day, Saturday 9/18/21, we headed west to Cobbleskill, NY. Our last night of this trip was at Grapevine Vineyard, who's is a Harvest Host location. https://www.grapevinefarms.com/ We got back to the RV turned on the furnace because we were at a harvest hose location without shore power. The furnace tried to kick on then shut off. It turns out Honeywell thermostats are typically 24 volts took out the Honeywell thermostat I wired in the original mechanical piece of junk thermostat everything works fine. I then ordered a digital thermometer from Amazon made by Coleman Mach installed it and have no issues. Here's a link to the digital thermostat that I ended up going with. https://amzn.to/3o3M5f0 So what do you do to help manage your stress? Do you know someone who would benefit from listening to a stress mange exercise? I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at https://relaxrv.org/stressed-2-2/stressed-2/ If that ain't your thing I made some videos about the improvements I mentioned and I posted them on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TA Or you can watch them on https://relaxrv.org/videos-the-good-the-bad-and-the-modifications/ There are discounts on my website to Boondockers Welcome , Harvest Hosts., Renogy Solar and Mattress Insider for all of your RV bedding needs https://relaxrv.org/discounts-to-help-lower-your-stress/ Here's a link to my RelaxRVPodcast Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Relax-RV-277623782811787/ I'm on Instagram as @relaxrvpodcast https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=hsxp0gjpugbz&utm_content=5h4872a My podcast can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/show/relax-rv-podcast Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something from one of our affiliates, we receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thanks for helping to keep our podcast running!

Season 2 Episode 67New England 2021 trip, part 1.0So I installed the Maxx Air Fan 7500k in our bedroom. This RV had a fan but it didn't have a remote and it would only exhaust. We had installed and loved the 7500k in our previous rig. It's nice to have a remote fan in the bedroom. And it has a thermostat setting. https://amzn.to/3fplK5SThe install wasn't bad to do. So, the next project was ... solar ! I had installed solar in our last rig. Now this system is up and running. We have 800 watts on the roof, a 60 amp mppt charge controller and a 4000 watt pure sine wave inverter. We love solar and having an inverter. With the solar and the inverter it freezes us up to camp and more remote locations like national forests. Some places don't offer any amenities and they limit generator use so this system works great for us. I'll post a video on it soon.After that was done we cleaned and restocked the rig and finally hit the road on 8/20/21 for our Northeast 2.0 trip. Our 1st stop was at Boondockers Welcome location near Lyme CT. This had a reminded me of a book I had read a while back about the theory of the origin of Lyme Disease by Michael C. Carroll. Here's a link to that book.https://amzn.to/3m5YVIHThis drive was just under 3 hours from home which was perfect for us. On the way we stopped for gas. I was surprised when the pump shut earlier than expected so I restarted it and shut off. We had been getting 8 mpg when we bought the rig. I just rechecked it, we are getting 10mpg ! A 25% increase and again all because of the 5 Star tuner. This is a phenomenal product. It has helped the rigs transmission, which is why we had bought it. I had heard it will help with gas mileage but .... wow !! We love it even more now. Here is a link to the tuner.https://amzn.to/3jEGytbWe set up and our boondock are welcome host site. And via a recommendation from a host we drove over to Salmon River Park. We hike for about 5 miles. Then headed back to the rig cook dinner on the grill and headed over to Arrigoni Winery.The next day we visited Gillette Castle in East Haddan, CT. Wow ! Our friends told us about this place many years ago and we had to saved on our Google maps to visit. We did the self-guided tour of the castle which took about a half hour. Then we worked the grounds for another hour and a half or so. What a great State Park. Here's a link to pics of the Castlehttps://www.instagram.com/p/CS4_-f3p-cd/?utm_medium=copy_linkWe then met our friends Maureen and Jim who originally told us about Gillette Castle, for dinner. We ate at La Vita in Haddan CT. and had an excellent meal and visit. We then headed back to the rig. Hurricane Henri is expected in this area starting tomorrow morning so we hooked up the Jeep and got everything set to leave first thing in the morning. Our goal is to make it to Wordens Pond Campground in Wakefield, RI the next morning. Well we woke up early got on the road started calling the campground to make sure they were open and a half hour after being on the road they finally answered the phone and said they were open but they were encouraging everybody to leave and the roads to get to the campground we're closed by the state Rhode Island. So returned around I started heading west on 84 and we pulled up our Harvest host app and we found a harvest hose location near Waterbury Connecticut. To gravel parking lot and while they had no amenities they also had no trees to crush the RV with. So we contacted the host pulled in and set up. Rained on and off all day. The sore that the weather for tomorrow in Rhode Island wasn't going to be too bad so in the morning we hooked up and started driving east.Once we hit Rhode Island we sure the damage from hurricane henry. A lot of trees down some road closures. We got to the campground which is Worden pond Campground and we were told we may not have electric I didn't know when they were going to get it reinstated from The Storm. We pulled into the site a half hour later the electric kicked on and stayed on the whole time. This is a really nice campground. Fabulous wifi and Lots of big old trees unfortunately some of them came down during the storm and Campground staff were very busy coming up trees getting limbs off of campers. We're really glad we didn't come here the day before. In the morning packed up started heading east towards Massachusetts and we wanted to stop along the way at The Cliff Walk. We got into Newport RI and called the visitor center to find out where we could park the rig. They explained that there's a beach parking area that can accommodate bigger rigs so we drove there and found out the lot was closed because the hurricane had washed a lot of sand into the lot. So we called them back and they gave us another location to park. On the way to that location we found Newport casino and we said well that's perfect Park. We pulled in and the casinos was out of business. But there were a couple of trucks parked in the lot so we pulled the rig in we unhooked and took the Jeep over to The Cliff Walk. Here's a link to photos of the walk. https://www.instagram.com/p/CS-WMMKsAM0/?utm_medium=copy_link This is a 3 and a half mile trail (one way) that follows the cliffs. We then hopped in the cheap and back to the rig hooked up and drove over by Plymouth Massachusetts to pinewood campground. We chose a campground for this stay over because we wanted 30 amp for the air conditioning. Again a great campground. Spacious sites. And again fantastic wifi. A neighbor just told me her son was listening to this podcast. That was really nice to hear. So hi to ...... and thanks for listening. Here pics of Plymouth https://www.instagram.com/p/CTAy1yjpcdn/?utm_medium=copy_link We saw Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower 2. In 2019 we stopped at Mystic Seaport ( here's the episode https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/relax-rv-podcast-episode-22-we-start-our-2019-northeast-trip/id1499279142?i=1000465761573) and we them restoring this ship. Here's an article about the move to Massachusettshttps://www.mysticseaport.org/events/mayflower-ii-departs/ From there we walked around for a couple hours. And then went back to the campground and hung out and relaxed. The next day we headed out to Coastal Acres campground in Ptown MA also known as Provence Town. This campground only offers full hookups. Walking distance to downtown Ptown. So the next day we have done our tandem bike route over into p-town spent the day hitting shops and reminiscing. We rode back to the campground less than a 10-minute bike ride. Cook dinner on a grill quick showers cuz it's been disgustingly hot. Then heading back downtown to hopefully see a piano player at a bar called Tin Pan Alley. We were here two years ago in May it was rainy and freezing out and we found this place enjoyed conversation with a couple so we went back and again enjoyed fun music and conversation.The next day we walked over the causeway/jetty. It's 1.5 miles each way. We tried to do it on our last visit but Trish had her broken toe and her foot was in a boot so we didn't quite make it all the way across the jetty. https://www.vacationcapecod.com/blog/walking-across-the-provincetown-causeway. After we did that we rode the tandem bike 3 miles to the visitor center via the dunes trail. Then another 4 miles back to the RV. We then walked to P-town for dinner and a show..... a drag queen show at The Crown and Anchor.https://onlyatthecrown.com/ The next day we ride the tandem bike for 2 hours in the CCRT (cape cope rail trail). We then walked P-town for a couple hours. The next morning we packed up and drove to our friends Bev and Axel in NH. It was great spending time catching up on life. They were allowing us to camp on their property so we took them out to dinner. We then sat in their rig and continued the conversations over the next 2 days. Thanks Bev and Axel. We drove 3 hours to Riverside Campground in Lancaster, NH. This is a pretty campground and is a Good Sam location. The next day we drove over to Mount Washington we drove our Jeep up to the top. I'm sure you may have seen cars with bumper stickers saying this car climbed Mount Washington years ago I had hiked up to the top but I was 20 years younger than so this time driving Jeep to the top he also have a cog train that will take you up but the price is more than what we were willing to spend. For the 2 of us it was $53. Which was 1/3 the cost of the cog train. We spent 3 hours on My Washington. It was beautiful ! And cold. The temp was 20 degrees colder at the top and the wind chill dropped that temp another 10 degrees. A great way to spend some time. Here are pics on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/p/CTVteJpsTeK/?utm_medium=copy_linkSo what do you do to help manage your stress? Do you know someone who would benefit from listening to a stress mange exercise? I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at https://relaxrv.org/stressed-2-2/stressed-2/ If that ain't your thing I made some videos about the improvements I mentioned and I posted them on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TA Or you can watch them on https://relaxrv.org/videos-the-good-the-bad-and-the-modifications/ There are discounts on my website to Boondockers Welcome , Harvest Hosts., Renogy Solar and Mattress Insider for all of your RV bedding needs https://relaxrv.org/discounts-to-help-lower-your-stress/ Here's a link to my RelaxRVPodcast Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Relax-RV-277623782811787/ I'm on Instagram as @relaxrvpodcast https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=hsxp0gjpugbz&utm_content=5h4872a My podcast can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/show/relax-rv-podcast Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something from one of our affiliates, we receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thanks for helping to keep our podcast running!

Season 2 Episode 67New England 2021 trip, part 1.0So I installed the Maxx Air Fan 7500k in our bedroom. This RV had a fan but it didn't have a remote and it would only exhaust. We had installed and loved the 7500k in our previous rig. It's nice to have a remote fan in the bedroom. And it has a thermostat setting. https://amzn.to/3fplK5SThe install wasn't bad to do. So, the next project was ... solar ! I had installed solar in our last rig. Now this system is up and running. We have 800 watts on the roof, a 60 amp mppt charge controller and a 4000 watt pure sine wave inverter. We love solar and having an inverter. With the solar and the inverter it freezes us up to camp and more remote locations like national forests. Some places don't offer any amenities and they limit generator use so this system works great for us. I'll post a video on it soon.After that was done we cleaned and restocked the rig and finally hit the road on 8/20/21 for our Northeast 2.0 trip. Our 1st stop was at Boondockers Welcome location near Lyme CT. This had a reminded me of a book I had read a while back about the theory of the origin of Lyme Disease by Michael C. Carroll. Here's a link to that book.https://amzn.to/3m5YVIHThis drive was just under 3 hours from home which was perfect for us. On the way we stopped for gas. I was surprised when the pump shut earlier than expected so I restarted it and shut off. We had been getting 8 mpg when we bought the rig. I just rechecked it, we are getting 10mpg ! A 25% increase and again all because of the 5 Star tuner. This is a phenomenal product. It has helped the rigs transmission, which is why we had bought it. I had heard it will help with gas mileage but .... wow !! We love it even more now. Here is a link to the tuner.https://amzn.to/3jEGytbWe set up and our boondock are welcome host site. And via a recommendation from a host we drove over to Salmon River Park. We hike for about 5 miles. Then headed back to the rig cook dinner on the grill and headed over to Arrigoni Winery.The next day we visited Gillette Castle in East Haddan, CT. Wow ! Our friends told us about this place many years ago and we had to saved on our Google maps to visit. We did the self-guided tour of the castle which took about a half hour. Then we worked the grounds for another hour and a half or so. What a great State Park. Here's a link to pics of the Castlehttps://www.instagram.com/p/CS4_-f3p-cd/?utm_medium=copy_linkWe then met our friends Maureen and Jim who originally told us about Gillette Castle, for dinner. We ate at La Vita in Haddan CT. and had an excellent meal and visit. We then headed back to the rig. Hurricane Henri is expected in this area starting tomorrow morning so we hooked up the Jeep and got everything set to leave first thing in the morning. Our goal is to make it to Wordens Pond Campground in Wakefield, RI the next morning. Well we woke up early got on the road started calling the campground to make sure they were open and a half hour after being on the road they finally answered the phone and said they were open but they were encouraging everybody to leave and the roads to get to the campground we're closed by the state Rhode Island. So returned around I started heading west on 84 and we pulled up our Harvest host app and we found a harvest hose location near Waterbury Connecticut. To gravel parking lot and while they had no amenities they also had no trees to crush the RV with. So we contacted the host pulled in and set up. Rained on and off all day. The sore that the weather for tomorrow in Rhode Island wasn't going to be too bad so in the morning we hooked up and started driving east.Once we hit Rhode Island we sure the damage from hurricane henry. A lot of trees down some road closures. We got to the campground which is Worden pond Campground and we were told we may not have electric I didn't know when they were going to get it reinstated from The Storm. We pulled into the site a half hour later the electric kicked on and stayed on the whole time. This is a really nice campground. Fabulous wifi and Lots of big old trees unfortunately some of them came down during the storm and Campground staff were very busy coming up trees getting limbs off of campers. We're really glad we didn't come here the day before. In the morning packed up started heading east towards Massachusetts and we wanted to stop along the way at The Cliff Walk. We got into Newport RI and called the visitor center to find out where we could park the rig. They explained that there's a beach parking area that can accommodate bigger rigs so we drove there and found out the lot was closed because the hurricane had washed a lot of sand into the lot. So we called them back and they gave us another location to park. On the way to that location we found Newport casino and we said well that's perfect Park. We pulled in and the casinos was out of business. But there were a couple of trucks parked in the lot so we pulled the rig in we unhooked and took the Jeep over to The Cliff Walk. Here's a link to photos of the walk. https://www.instagram.com/p/CS-WMMKsAM0/?utm_medium=copy_link This is a 3 and a half mile trail (one way) that follows the cliffs. We then hopped in the cheap and back to the rig hooked up and drove over by Plymouth Massachusetts to pinewood campground. We chose a campground for this stay over because we wanted 30 amp for the air conditioning. Again a great campground. Spacious sites. And again fantastic wifi. A neighbor just told me her son was listening to this podcast. That was really nice to hear. So hi to ...... and thanks for listening. Here pics of Plymouth https://www.instagram.com/p/CTAy1yjpcdn/?utm_medium=copy_link We saw Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower 2. In 2019 we stopped at Mystic Seaport ( here's the episode https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/relax-rv-podcast-episode-22-we-start-our-2019-northeast-trip/id1499279142?i=1000465761573) and we them restoring this ship. Here's an article about the move to Massachusettshttps://www.mysticseaport.org/events/mayflower-ii-departs/ From there we walked around for a couple hours. And then went back to the campground and hung out and relaxed. The next day we headed out to Coastal Acres campground in Ptown MA also known as Provence Town. This campground only offers full hookups. Walking distance to downtown Ptown. So the next day we have done our tandem bike route over into p-town spent the day hitting shops and reminiscing. We rode back to the campground less than a 10-minute bike ride. Cook dinner on a grill quick showers cuz it's been disgustingly hot. Then heading back downtown to hopefully see a piano player at a bar called Tin Pan Alley. We were here two years ago in May it was rainy and freezing out and we found this place enjoyed conversation with a couple so we went back and again enjoyed fun music and conversation.The next day we walked over the causeway/jetty. It's 1.5 miles each way. We tried to do it on our last visit but Trish had her broken toe and her foot was in a boot so we didn't quite make it all the way across the jetty. https://www.vacationcapecod.com/blog/walking-across-the-provincetown-causeway. After we did that we rode the tandem bike 3 miles to the visitor center via the dunes trail. Then another 4 miles back to the RV. We then walked to P-town for dinner and a show..... a drag queen show at The Crown and Anchor.https://onlyatthecrown.com/ The next day we ride the tandem bike for 2 hours in the CCRT (cape cope rail trail). We then walked P-town for a couple hours. The next morning we packed up and drove to our friends Bev and Axel in NH. It was great spending time catching up on life. They were allowing us to camp on their property so we took them out to dinner. We then sat in their rig and continued the conversations over the next 2 days. Thanks Bev and Axel. We drove 3 hours to Riverside Campground in Lancaster, NH. This is a pretty campground and is a Good Sam location. The next day we drove over to Mount Washington we drove our Jeep up to the top. I'm sure you may have seen cars with bumper stickers saying this car climbed Mount Washington years ago I had hiked up to the top but I was 20 years younger than so this time driving Jeep to the top he also have a cog train that will take you up but the price is more than what we were willing to spend. For the 2 of us it was $53. Which was 1/3 the cost of the cog train. We spent 3 hours on My Washington. It was beautiful ! And cold. The temp was 20 degrees colder at the top and the wind chill dropped that temp another 10 degrees. A great way to spend some time. Here are pics on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/p/CTVteJpsTeK/?utm_medium=copy_linkSo what do you do to help manage your stress? Do you know someone who would benefit from listening to a stress mange exercise? I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at https://relaxrv.org/stressed-2-2/stressed-2/ If that ain't your thing I made some videos about the improvements I mentioned and I posted them on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TA Or you can watch them on https://relaxrv.org/videos-the-good-the-bad-and-the-modifications/ There are discounts on my website to Boondockers Welcome , Harvest Hosts., Renogy Solar and Mattress Insider for all of your RV bedding needs https://relaxrv.org/discounts-to-help-lower-your-stress/ Here's a link to my RelaxRVPodcast Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Relax-RV-277623782811787/ I'm on Instagram as @relaxrvpodcast https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=hsxp0gjpugbz&utm_content=5h4872a My podcast can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/show/relax-rv-podcast Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something from one of our affiliates, we receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thanks for helping to keep our podcast running!

The Acquisition In today's episode, we welcome back Joel Holland, CEO of Harvest Host, and now Boondockers Welcome. He was previously on episode 31. Joel tells us how and why he purchased BoonDockers Welcome as well as what it means for existing customers from both platforms. Joel also talks about the growth of both companies … Continue reading "Ep. 77 Harvest Host Acquires Boondockers Welcome" The post Ep. 77 Harvest Host Acquires Boondockers Welcome appeared first on Beyond The Wheel.

Season 2 Episode 66 8/1/21 Toilet started to smell. Previous rig I put in a roof vent which worked great https://amzn.to/2WA1ZC4 This rig didn't have any smell then all of a sudden it did. And then toilet wouldn't hold water in bowl. We cleaned the toilet seal and then applied petroleum jelly to seal and that did it, yay. -A.C. had problems. Thought it was the thermostat but it turned out to be the AC control box. I 1st accessed from roof then a friend said it's much easier to do it from in the rig. I replaced the control unit and all is cool again. https://amzn.to/3xGbrla How I deal with stressors as they pile up. Here's an example: We had gotten home from our last trip and the lever that switches from tub to shower in our stone and mortor house wasn't working and I didn't know how to fix it. So I started googling it. Then Trish said the house refrigerator felt warm and the freezer had ice in it. So I again started googling. And I also had a list of things to do on the rig, like the toilet the AC and other stuff. I started to feel overwhelmed. So I took a few deep breaths to help me relax and focus. I then prioritized problems and tackled them one at a time in priority order. And by the time we were ready to hit the road, the shower, the refrigerator, the rigs toilet and AC all worked and the list of fixes and installs in the rig were done. So we headed out Sunday 7/18/21 to the finger lakes. We stayed near Watkins Glen the 1st night. We spent the day exploring water falls. And walking town. The next day we headed into Watkins Glen State Park for 3 nights. We tried to get a site here a few times over the past few years and we finally scored them. The 1st day we hiked the gorge, beautiful ! And with all the rain we had over the past few weeks, it didn't disappoint. We think this was the best gorge trail we've ever hiked. We did over 1600 stairs over 4 miles of hiking. Our previous favorite was Robert Treman State Park and this rivalled it, so we will go back there in a couple days to compare the 2 parks. But the next day we went to Ithaca. We had visited it last year but because of Covid only half of the Cascadilla Gorge Trail was open. This year the half We had previously done was closed for repairs and the portion we didn't get to do was open. It was pretty but considering Robert Tremaine State Park and Watkins Glen State Park while it was what it was. Afterwards we went to buttermilk Falls which we had visited last year with covet and 90° weather also. This time with all the rain that's been pouring in this area the gorge was raging. We hiked up the gorge trail so we got the view of the waterfall on the way up with the aid of about 400 stairs. Then walk down the Ridge Trail through the wood s. That was a perfect way to do it on a hot day it was 85 when we did it this year. After that we went to Castel Grisch Winery. Enjoy the nice glass of wine in the air conditioning and bought a couple of bottles to go. We had stated this winery previously with our motorhome through Harvest Hosts. Then went back to the campground through some shrimp on the grill. And then walked a couple loops in the campground. The next day we wanted to revisit Robert Tremaine State Park and the temps were going to be in the upper 70s as opposed to 95 3 years ago when we last visited that park. So it's funny how we remember things one way but when we've revisited that place it's not like we remembered it. Perhaps it's because of all the other wonderful new places we've seen in the past 3 years and the fact that Robert Tremaine three years ago was the first Gorge hike we had ever done. But either way it didn't hold up to Watkins Glen. Now don't get me wrong Robert Treman is a fantastic State Park and we will hopefully return at some point in the future.So the next day we packed up and we headed off to a campground in the finger lakes region. We weren't ready to leave this area yet.We found Sned Acres campground on line. This was a Thursday morning and where we were looking for a place for Thursday Friday and Saturday nights so we reached out to this Campground. http://www.snedacresny.com/They said they just had a cancellation and I had one side available for the weekend so we grabbed it. It's in the middle of the finger lakes and we had planned to stay at some Harvest host wineries in the area but we couldn't find any. Now it's not like us to be looking for a place to stay that evening but our plans changed and here we were looking. So we decided for the weekend we'll stay at the campground. And then Sunday night will start staying at some wineries. This gives us a few days to reserve a spot via Harvest hosts and it gets us away from the busy weekends at the wineries. Now as usual if you go to my website and click on the discounts page https://relaxrv.org/discounts-to-help-lower-your-stress/ you will find information about Harvest Hosts there and there's also a discount code you can use there. The day we visited a section of finger lakes national Forest and then we stopped at a winery. Now this is July of 2021 and the wineries in the finger lakes are still feeling the effects of covid. Some of them require reservations for tastings. They'd still have empty tables between guests. And the one that we stopped at didn't have any place to sit down and have a glass of wine so we ended up buying a bottle going back to the campground and having a glass of wine there. The next day we wanted to do a hike so we went down to the finger lakes national Forest. We did a 7 mile hike which was beautiful. This trip is so different from all our other camping trips. We left home a week ago and every night has been spent within a 30 mi radius. It feels like we have been gone for 2 weeks, not just one. It feels good to slow down. That afternoon we found a winery 5 minutes from the campground, which had Jazz duo guitarists. Very peaceful listening to Jazz, with a glass of wine over looking Cayuga lake. Saturday we drove to Seneca Lake for a paddle. Unfortunately Cayuga lake has a blue green algae bloom. :( And Seneca Lake was too choppy so we up to Oak Island in Waterloo NY to paddle on the canal. The funny thing is we pulled into town and realized we had been here before. It turns out 3 years ago we stopped for a farmers market we've seen in Waterloo and then went for a short walk but it was too brutally hot to continue so we moved on. This year it was 82 and muggy but a really nice day for a short paddle. We then passed Miranda's Cheese Market and did a tasting . There was some really good cheese but not good enough for us to buy. We then headed down to She'll drink Point Winery on kyoga Lake. This is a harvest host location. We did not stay here however we found it intriguing cuz they have a dock on the lake that boaters can land and enjoy the wine. So we stopped in and bought a bottle what's that by the lake enjoyed it and headed back to the campground to cook dinner on the grill. After dinner Trish did her workout and I jumped in the pool for a little while. The next day we packed up and headed to Barrelhouse 6 Distillery which was a Harvest Host location. But to get there, we needed to go go up a narrow gravel and dirt road and so we pulled into a vacant lot and disconnected the jeep and took it up the road. We decided to not chance it. A wonderful guy named Paul came over and talked to us how steep and narrow that road was. He explained that if we drove on the left side of the road we should be able to make it. I asked, so what happens if someone comes down the hill and we are on the wrong side of the road. Paul agreed that it wasn't prudent. I asked if he knew the owner's if the vacant lot, he said he was the manager if it and invited us to park there for the night. Wow. This was to be our 1st night camping without hookups with this rig. And I started to get anxious. Flash back to Catskills 1st nite of Montana trip ...genny died.So now we were doing our 1st moochdocking and without hookups. Out to dinner at Switzerland Restaurant, fantastic food and a live band but we were sweating. 85 degrees during day with 75% humidity. Sweating in the shade. So we went back to rig, started genny and turned in AC.. ..the AC that had died rite b4 this trip. Talked with Paul some. Then drove to the north end of Keuka Lake. We threw the kayak into a canal and paddled out to the lake. We noticed the temp was cooling off. B4 bed shut off genny and AC. The nite was cool and we slept well. In AM we said out thank you to Paul. And decided to cancel our next 2 HH stays because of the temps. And headed home. So what do you do to help manage your stress? Do you know someone who would benefit from listening to a stress mange exercise? I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at https://relaxrv.org/stressed-2-2/stressed-2/ If that ain't your thing I made some videos about the improvements I mentioned and I posted them on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TA Or you can watch them on https://relaxrv.org/videos-the-good-the-bad-and-the-modifications/ There are discounts on my website to Boondockers Welcome , Harvest Hosts., Renogy Solar and Mattress Insider for all of your RV bedding needs https://relaxrv.org/discounts-to-help-lower-your-stress/ Here's a link to my RelaxRVPodcast Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Relax-RV-277623782811787/ I'm on Instagram as @relaxrvpodcast https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=hsxp0gjpugbz&utm_content=5h4872a My podcast can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/show/relax-rv-podcast Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something from one of our affiliates, we receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thanks for helping to keep our podcast running!

Season 2 Episode 66 8/1/21 Toilet started to smell. Previous rig I put in a roof vent which worked great https://amzn.to/2WA1ZC4 This rig didn't have any smell then all of a sudden it did. And then toilet wouldn't hold water in bowl. We cleaned the toilet seal and then applied petroleum jelly to seal and that did it, yay. -A.C. had problems. Thought it was the thermostat but it turned out to be the AC control box. I 1st accessed from roof then a friend said it's much easier to do it from in the rig. I replaced the control unit and all is cool again. https://amzn.to/3xGbrla How I deal with stressors as they pile up. Here's an example: We had gotten home from our last trip and the lever that switches from tub to shower in our stone and mortor house wasn't working and I didn't know how to fix it. So I started googling it. Then Trish said the house refrigerator felt warm and the freezer had ice in it. So I again started googling. And I also had a list of things to do on the rig, like the toilet the AC and other stuff. I started to feel overwhelmed. So I took a few deep breaths to help me relax and focus. I then prioritized problems and tackled them one at a time in priority order. And by the time we were ready to hit the road, the shower, the refrigerator, the rigs toilet and AC all worked and the list of fixes and installs in the rig were done. So we headed out Sunday 7/18/21 to the finger lakes. We stayed near Watkins Glen the 1st night. We spent the day exploring water falls. And walking town. The next day we headed into Watkins Glen State Park for 3 nights. We tried to get a site here a few times over the past few years and we finally scored them. The 1st day we hiked the gorge, beautiful ! And with all the rain we had over the past few weeks, it didn't disappoint. We think this was the best gorge trail we've ever hiked. We did over 1600 stairs over 4 miles of hiking. Our previous favorite was Robert Treman State Park and this rivalled it, so we will go back there in a couple days to compare the 2 parks. But the next day we went to Ithaca. We had visited it last year but because of Covid only half of the Cascadilla Gorge Trail was open. This year the half We had previously done was closed for repairs and the portion we didn't get to do was open. It was pretty but considering Robert Tremaine State Park and Watkins Glen State Park while it was what it was. Afterwards we went to buttermilk Falls which we had visited last year with covet and 90° weather also. This time with all the rain that's been pouring in this area the gorge was raging. We hiked up the gorge trail so we got the view of the waterfall on the way up with the aid of about 400 stairs. Then walk down the Ridge Trail through the wood s. That was a perfect way to do it on a hot day it was 85 when we did it this year. After that we went to Castel Grisch Winery. Enjoy the nice glass of wine in the air conditioning and bought a couple of bottles to go. We had stated this winery previously with our motorhome through Harvest Hosts. Then went back to the campground through some shrimp on the grill. And then walked a couple loops in the campground. The next day we wanted to revisit Robert Tremaine State Park and the temps were going to be in the upper 70s as opposed to 95 3 years ago when we last visited that park. So it's funny how we remember things one way but when we've revisited that place it's not like we remembered it. Perhaps it's because of all the other wonderful new places we've seen in the past 3 years and the fact that Robert Tremaine three years ago was the first Gorge hike we had ever done. But either way it didn't hold up to Watkins Glen. Now don't get me wrong Robert Treman is a fantastic State Park and we will hopefully return at some point in the future.So the next day we packed up and we headed off to a campground in the finger lakes region. We weren't ready to leave this area yet.We found Sned Acres campground on line. This was a Thursday morning and where we were looking for a place for Thursday Friday and Saturday nights so we reached out to this Campground. http://www.snedacresny.com/They said they just had a cancellation and I had one side available for the weekend so we grabbed it. It's in the middle of the finger lakes and we had planned to stay at some Harvest host wineries in the area but we couldn't find any. Now it's not like us to be looking for a place to stay that evening but our plans changed and here we were looking. So we decided for the weekend we'll stay at the campground. And then Sunday night will start staying at some wineries. This gives us a few days to reserve a spot via Harvest hosts and it gets us away from the busy weekends at the wineries. Now as usual if you go to my website and click on the discounts page https://relaxrv.org/discounts-to-help-lower-your-stress/ you will find information about Harvest Hosts there and there's also a discount code you can use there. The day we visited a section of finger lakes national Forest and then we stopped at a winery. Now this is July of 2021 and the wineries in the finger lakes are still feeling the effects of covid. Some of them require reservations for tastings. They'd still have empty tables between guests. And the one that we stopped at didn't have any place to sit down and have a glass of wine so we ended up buying a bottle going back to the campground and having a glass of wine there. The next day we wanted to do a hike so we went down to the finger lakes national Forest. We did a 7 mile hike which was beautiful. This trip is so different from all our other camping trips. We left home a week ago and every night has been spent within a 30 mi radius. It feels like we have been gone for 2 weeks, not just one. It feels good to slow down. That afternoon we found a winery 5 minutes from the campground, which had Jazz duo guitarists. Very peaceful listening to Jazz, with a glass of wine over looking Cayuga lake. Saturday we drove to Seneca Lake for a paddle. Unfortunately Cayuga lake has a blue green algae bloom. :( And Seneca Lake was too choppy so we up to Oak Island in Waterloo NY to paddle on the canal. The funny thing is we pulled into town and realized we had been here before. It turns out 3 years ago we stopped for a farmers market we've seen in Waterloo and then went for a short walk but it was too brutally hot to continue so we moved on. This year it was 82 and muggy but a really nice day for a short paddle. We then passed Miranda's Cheese Market and did a tasting . There was some really good cheese but not good enough for us to buy. We then headed down to She'll drink Point Winery on kyoga Lake. This is a harvest host location. We did not stay here however we found it intriguing cuz they have a dock on the lake that boaters can land and enjoy the wine. So we stopped in and bought a bottle what's that by the lake enjoyed it and headed back to the campground to cook dinner on the grill. After dinner Trish did her workout and I jumped in the pool for a little while. The next day we packed up and headed to Barrelhouse 6 Distillery which was a Harvest Host location. But to get there, we needed to go go up a narrow gravel and dirt road and so we pulled into a vacant lot and disconnected the jeep and took it up the road. We decided to not chance it. A wonderful guy named Paul came over and talked to us how steep and narrow that road was. He explained that if we drove on the left side of the road we should be able to make it. I asked, so what happens if someone comes down the hill and we are on the wrong side of the road. Paul agreed that it wasn't prudent. I asked if he knew the owner's if the vacant lot, he said he was the manager if it and invited us to park there for the night. Wow. This was to be our 1st night camping without hookups with this rig. And I started to get anxious. Flash back to Catskills 1st nite of Montana trip ...genny died.So now we were doing our 1st moochdocking and without hookups. Out to dinner at Switzerland Restaurant, fantastic food and a live band but we were sweating. 85 degrees during day with 75% humidity. Sweating in the shade. So we went back to rig, started genny and turned in AC.. ..the AC that had died rite b4 this trip. Talked with Paul some. Then drove to the north end of Keuka Lake. We threw the kayak into a canal and paddled out to the lake. We noticed the temp was cooling off. B4 bed shut off genny and AC. The nite was cool and we slept well. In AM we said out thank you to Paul. And decided to cancel our next 2 HH stays because of the temps. And headed home. So what do you do to help manage your stress? Do you know someone who would benefit from listening to a stress mange exercise? I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at https://relaxrv.org/stressed-2-2/stressed-2/ If that ain't your thing I made some videos about the improvements I mentioned and I posted them on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TA Or you can watch them on https://relaxrv.org/videos-the-good-the-bad-and-the-modifications/ There are discounts on my website to Boondockers Welcome , Harvest Hosts., Renogy Solar and Mattress Insider for all of your RV bedding needs https://relaxrv.org/discounts-to-help-lower-your-stress/ Here's a link to my RelaxRVPodcast Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Relax-RV-277623782811787/ I'm on Instagram as @relaxrvpodcast https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=hsxp0gjpugbz&utm_content=5h4872a My podcast can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/show/relax-rv-podcast Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something from one of our affiliates, we receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thanks for helping to keep our podcast running!

Season 2 Episode 657/13/21We installed a 5 Star tuner. These tuners plug into your computer port on the engine under the dashboard and they set the engine settings to ones that are more economical and powerful. I looked into them and was surprised at the price. So I did some homework. I found this video of a company testing them and was very impressed. https://youtu.be/z9N5M2WhIiI So we took a Gamble we ordered our tuner. This is a phenomenal product. We love it. Here is a link to the tuner.https://amzn.to/3jEGytb I believe there is a disproportionate amount of high school bullies on RVing social media groups. It's such a shame.On June 21st we left for a trip to Indiana. We have fallen in love with Goshen and Shipshewana. In spite of being near Thor, smh.We've been there a few times, but always for Thor issues, but never for fun. And we haven't been to southern Indiana before so that's the reason for this trip.We drove 3 hours to Fantasy Island Campground in Sunbury PAhttps://maps.app.goo.gl/pG75MDBbyqDRXqJYA . which is a Passport America location so we got it for $22.50/night, now that's stress management.Sunbury, eh. But we found a BYOB pool hall, so that's where we spent the evening.the next day we drove three and a half hours to cook Forest State Park in Pennsylvania. Which is another passport America location. This one was $20 per night with electric and water. If you send me an email I can email you back a discount code the next time Passport America offers one, which they periodically. So where we are is in between Cooks Forest State Park in siskawana state forest. The North end of Susquehanna State Forest we knew there was snowmobiling up there and we didn't realize how close we are to “up there”. We then drove to Fremont Ohio. We stayed at a boondock Welcome location that we had stayed previously. Today is my birthday and my 3 yr anniversary of being retired, yay ! After dinner we went to Chateau Tebeau a winery we had visited 2.5yrs ago. We saw 2 fantastic musicians playing. The next day we packed up and drove to Goshen Indiana. When we got into Indiana we went to Shipshewana and stocked up on meats and other foods. This was the purpose of this trip. We love the prices and quality of meats found at Yoder's https://yodersmeatandcheese.com/ Our next stop was at our BoonDockersWelcome host located in Goshen Indiana. We met Rick and Amy and got setup. They offered 30 amp electric which we gladly accepted being it was in the 90s. On the way there, we went past a bunch of RV manufacturers and saw thousands of new RVs in their parking lots. We mentioned this to our host Rick and he explained those are rigs that have been built but are waiting for certain items to be installed like air conditioners or Windows. A lot of the items are on backorder so the rigs are just sitting there and this is what's creating the backlog of deliveries at RV dealers. The next day we took a ride to Bontragers. This is a great RV surplus parts store that is super inexpensive. https://bontragers.com/ That evening we went to dinner at Goshen Brewery in Goshen Indiana https://goshenbrewing.com/ with our hosts. The next day we did some walking in Middlebury IN. We found a small park with a walking path following a stream which gave us us a nice break from the 90 degree temp. We then passed a furniture store which had a coffee sign, so we went in and had a fantastic lunch. https://m.facebook.com/TheLegendaryGrind/ We then visited Linton's Enchanted Garden https://www.lintons.com/ The next day we said goodbye to our hosts. We then drove South to Speedway Campground. OMG !! This was the worst Campground we have ever seen. We pulled in and the mud to get in prohibited the RV from driving into the campground. TRhere was no electric but he offered a generator, we then left and went to the KOA of Indianapolis. I took advantage of the splash pool and we did laundry. The next day we went into Indianapolis and parked near the city market. Trish found a canal path so we walked from the city market to the canal path. We stopped for a snack at an Italian cafe right on the canal. Here are some of our pics on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CQwGzuzMheE/?utm_medium=copy_link We then walked to The Garage which has various restaurants for dinner. https://www.garageindy.com/chapatibeta We packed up and we left the next morning for West Milton Ohio. We plugged our surge protector in and it would not turn on. so I contacted the company and they are sending me a free replacement, as it does have a lifetime warrenty. Heres a link to the Progressive Industries EMS PT30 amp EMS. https://amzn.to/3klhEzf We found a place that can shuttle our kayak. So we paddled for an hour or so on the Miami River in Ohio. After that we visited Charleston falls preserve and we're pleasantly surprised. Couple of waterfalls cave sheer Rock cliffs beautiful hiking paths.The next day we went to Aliquippa, Pa. another BDW location. We were here for 2 nights and visited Pittsburgh, Pa. the next day. 1st we went to Canton Ave which is the steepest street in the continental United States. It has a 37% grade. We drove up is with the jeep. We then went to Schenley Park. Who walked from one end of the park to the other which took almost a half hour. He then had lunch at a place in the park called The Porch https://www.dineattheporch.com/schenley/menu The next day we drove about 3 hours East and arrived at our passport of America Campground which is ye olde grist Mill Campground in burnt cabins Pennsylvania. Because of Passport America we got the campground for half price water and electric for $22 a night. We had installed a curtain separating the cab area and the coach area and this curtain helped keep the rig cooler so much. Here's a link to the video on the curtain https://youtu.be/m17giRxNVs0 The next day we took a ride over to Gowans Gap State park. Very nice. The next day onto the road again for a 3-hour ride to pick up Trish's grandson in New Jersey and headed over to Old cedar Campground in Monroeville New Jersey. We had stayed here about a month ago with Trish's grandson, this will be his 1st 2 night stay with us. The weather was hot ! So we got a lot of use out if their pool. It was a nice few days if fishing, swimming, playing chess and pool. A perfect way to end our 2 and half week trip. So what do you do to help manage your stress? Do you know someone who would benefit from listening to a stress mange exercise? I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at https://relaxrv.org/stressed-2-2/stressed-2/ If that ain't your thing I made some videos about the improvements I mentioned and I posted them on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TA Or you can watch them on https://relaxrv.org/videos-the-good-the-bad-and-the-modifications/ Boondockers Welcome: Here's a discount to Boondockers Welcome, when you join use the coupon code (RELAXRV) to save 10% off your membership fee.http://www.boondockerswelcome.com Harvest Hosts:Here's a discount link to Harvest Hosts, when you use it, you'll save 15% off of their annual membership fee. http://harvesthosts.refr.cc/relaxrv AND Use Code HHFRIENDS15 at Checkout!Here's a link to my RelaxRVPodcast Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Relax-RV-277623782811787/ I'm on Instagram as @relaxrvpodcast https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=hsxp0gjpugbz&utm_content=5h4872a My podcast can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/show/relax-rv-podcast Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something from one of our affiliates, we receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thanks for helping to keep our podcast running!

Season 2 Episode 657/13/21We installed a 5 Star tuner. These tuners plug into your computer port on the engine under the dashboard and they set the engine settings to ones that are more economical and powerful. I looked into them and was surprised at the price. So I did some homework. I found this video of a company testing them and was very impressed. https://youtu.be/z9N5M2WhIiI So we took a Gamble we ordered our tuner. This is a phenomenal product. We love it. Here is a link to the tuner.https://amzn.to/3jEGytb I believe there is a disproportionate amount of high school bullies on RVing social media groups. It's such a shame.On June 21st we left for a trip to Indiana. We have fallen in love with Goshen and Shipshewana. In spite of being near Thor, smh.We've been there a few times, but always for Thor issues, but never for fun. And we haven't been to southern Indiana before so that's the reason for this trip.We drove 3 hours to Fantasy Island Campground in Sunbury PAhttps://maps.app.goo.gl/pG75MDBbyqDRXqJYA . which is a Passport America location so we got it for $22.50/night, now that's stress management.Sunbury, eh. But we found a BYOB pool hall, so that's where we spent the evening.the next day we drove three and a half hours to cook Forest State Park in Pennsylvania. Which is another passport America location. This one was $20 per night with electric and water. If you send me an email I can email you back a discount code the next time Passport America offers one, which they periodically. So where we are is in between Cooks Forest State Park in siskawana state forest. The North end of Susquehanna State Forest we knew there was snowmobiling up there and we didn't realize how close we are to “up there”. We then drove to Fremont Ohio. We stayed at a boondock Welcome location that we had stayed previously. Today is my birthday and my 3 yr anniversary of being retired, yay ! After dinner we went to Chateau Tebeau a winery we had visited 2.5yrs ago. We saw 2 fantastic musicians playing. The next day we packed up and drove to Goshen Indiana. When we got into Indiana we went to Shipshewana and stocked up on meats and other foods. This was the purpose of this trip. We love the prices and quality of meats found at Yoder's https://yodersmeatandcheese.com/ Our next stop was at our BoonDockersWelcome host located in Goshen Indiana. We met Rick and Amy and got setup. They offered 30 amp electric which we gladly accepted being it was in the 90s. On the way there, we went past a bunch of RV manufacturers and saw thousands of new RVs in their parking lots. We mentioned this to our host Rick and he explained those are rigs that have been built but are waiting for certain items to be installed like air conditioners or Windows. A lot of the items are on backorder so the rigs are just sitting there and this is what's creating the backlog of deliveries at RV dealers. The next day we took a ride to Bontragers. This is a great RV surplus parts store that is super inexpensive. https://bontragers.com/ That evening we went to dinner at Goshen Brewery in Goshen Indiana https://goshenbrewing.com/ with our hosts. The next day we did some walking in Middlebury IN. We found a small park with a walking path following a stream which gave us us a nice break from the 90 degree temp. We then passed a furniture store which had a coffee sign, so we went in and had a fantastic lunch. https://m.facebook.com/TheLegendaryGrind/ We then visited Linton's Enchanted Garden https://www.lintons.com/ The next day we said goodbye to our hosts. We then drove South to Speedway Campground. OMG !! This was the worst Campground we have ever seen. We pulled in and the mud to get in prohibited the RV from driving into the campground. TRhere was no electric but he offered a generator, we then left and went to the KOA of Indianapolis. I took advantage of the splash pool and we did laundry. The next day we went into Indianapolis and parked near the city market. Trish found a canal path so we walked from the city market to the canal path. We stopped for a snack at an Italian cafe right on the canal. Here are some of our pics on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CQwGzuzMheE/?utm_medium=copy_link We then walked to The Garage which has various restaurants for dinner. https://www.garageindy.com/chapatibeta We packed up and we left the next morning for West Milton Ohio. We plugged our surge protector in and it would not turn on. so I contacted the company and they are sending me a free replacement, as it does have a lifetime warrenty. Heres a link to the Progressive Industries EMS PT30 amp EMS. https://amzn.to/3klhEzf We found a place that can shuttle our kayak. So we paddled for an hour or so on the Miami River in Ohio. After that we visited Charleston falls preserve and we're pleasantly surprised. Couple of waterfalls cave sheer Rock cliffs beautiful hiking paths.The next day we went to Aliquippa, Pa. another BDW location. We were here for 2 nights and visited Pittsburgh, Pa. the next day. 1st we went to Canton Ave which is the steepest street in the continental United States. It has a 37% grade. We drove up is with the jeep. We then went to Schenley Park. Who walked from one end of the park to the other which took almost a half hour. He then had lunch at a place in the park called The Porch https://www.dineattheporch.com/schenley/menu The next day we drove about 3 hours East and arrived at our passport of America Campground which is ye olde grist Mill Campground in burnt cabins Pennsylvania. Because of Passport America we got the campground for half price water and electric for $22 a night. We had installed a curtain separating the cab area and the coach area and this curtain helped keep the rig cooler so much. Here's a link to the video on the curtain https://youtu.be/m17giRxNVs0 The next day we took a ride over to Gowans Gap State park. Very nice. The next day onto the road again for a 3-hour ride to pick up Trish's grandson in New Jersey and headed over to Old cedar Campground in Monroeville New Jersey. We had stayed here about a month ago with Trish's grandson, this will be his 1st 2 night stay with us. The weather was hot ! So we got a lot of use out if their pool. It was a nice few days if fishing, swimming, playing chess and pool. A perfect way to end our 2 and half week trip. So what do you do to help manage your stress? Do you know someone who would benefit from listening to a stress mange exercise? I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at https://relaxrv.org/stressed-2-2/stressed-2/ If that ain't your thing I made some videos about the improvements I mentioned and I posted them on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TA Or you can watch them on https://relaxrv.org/videos-the-good-the-bad-and-the-modifications/ Boondockers Welcome: Here's a discount to Boondockers Welcome, when you join use the coupon code (RELAXRV) to save 10% off your membership fee.http://www.boondockerswelcome.com Harvest Hosts:Here's a discount link to Harvest Hosts, when you use it, you'll save 15% off of their annual membership fee. http://harvesthosts.refr.cc/relaxrv AND Use Code HHFRIENDS15 at Checkout!Here's a link to my RelaxRVPodcast Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Relax-RV-277623782811787/ I'm on Instagram as @relaxrvpodcast https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=hsxp0gjpugbz&utm_content=5h4872a My podcast can be found at https://www.spreaker.com/show/relax-rv-podcast Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something from one of our affiliates, we receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thanks for helping to keep our podcast running!

Season 2 Episode 64 6/8/21We did our 1st ever campground stay with friends. We stayed at J&D campground near Knoebels amusement park. Next to us was Scott and Amy, next to them Mike and Shelley. And on the other side of the campground was Scott's parent Jack and Jan in their seasonal site. It was a cold and rainy weekend. While setting up we were fighting with the rig (2017 Thor 29.4) trying to get it level. Out came the level and viola the rigs LCI leveling system was way off with the Zero Point Level calibration. I went into the Thor owners portal, pulled up our rigs VIN number and saw 7 manuals for the leveling system in it. None of the were for our leveling system. I googled our key pad, then how to zero point level it and 3 minutes later, the rig was level and the leveling system agreed with us. We wonder how long it was inaccurately calibrated. Yay. That evening with sat with our friends in their Prevost and caught up with one another. The next day me and Trish revisited Centralia pa. This is an abandoned town that was evacuated years ago due to an underground fire. Pretty wild. Then we visited Shamokin, Pa. We went back to the campground and played bingo for the 1st time in 40 yrs. Then we did a fire with our friends. The next day we found live music and fantastic food at Lost Mine(d) in Shamokin. Monday of Memorial Day we packed up and headed to Prince William Forest in VA. according to Google maps was 3 hours and 45 minutes away. With Washington DC traffic on Memorial Day it was closer to 5 hours. As always try to limit our driving to 4 hours a day and if we run into days like that it's no big deal. We stayed at Prince Edward Forest campground in Dumfries Virginia. We have stayed here before. It's convenient to visit Trish's son. We checked in had a low-key evening. The next day we headed over to the forest, and hiked 12 miles. Felt really good to do an actual hike which was way overdue. It's a beautiful Park lots of easy hiking trails following streams and waterfalls.The next day Trish had lunch with her son and then the 2 of us headed into Old Town Virginia to do shopping.Thursday we headed north to Dove Valley Winery in Rising Sun, MD.We arrived at Dove Valley Winery. We did a wine tasting and then we bought a bottle of wine. They are part of harvest hosts. So it was nice to sleep on their property in the rig. The heavy thunderstorm rolled through in the evening so it was nice to just sit and enjoy a glass of wine. Next morning we were planning on going to stay at a boondockers welcome near Trish's daughter and grandson. But that particular host did not offer electric for the rig and the temps were going to be in the 90s old day and in the upper 70s at night. So we had contacted the boondock are welcome host and explained our situation and they were very understanding. You then went online and found a campground called Old Cedar Campground in Monroeville NJ. We reserved Friday night and Saturday night with full hookups for about $55 a night with tax. They had a pond for fishing and beautiful new very clean swimming pool nine holes of miniature golf and a walking path that took you to a nearby winery. So, brought his fishing pole and we had a great time with him. Sunday we drove home and on the way stopped and visited and had lunch with Trish's dad. We got home Sunday evening a bunch of stuff I had ordered from Amazon was waiting for us. We emptied the perishables dirty clothes and such. Plug the RV in to trickle charge the house batteries. And locked it up. We have a couple of short trips plan this summer. Our next trip will be out to Indiana. Then we're going up to finger lakes to stay at a campground with our friends Mike and Scott for a night. And then we have three nights booked in Watkins Glen State Park.So I don't know when the next podcast episode of be released probably after we get back from Indiana.So what do you do to help manage your stress? Do you know anyone who would benefit from listening to a stress mange exercise?I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at RelaxRV.org/stressed-2-2/stressed-2If that ain't your thing I made some videos about the improvements I mentioned and I posted them on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TAOr you can watch them on relaxrv.org/videos-the-good-the-bad-and-the-modifications/Boondockers Welcome:Here's a discount to Boondockers Welcome, when you join use the coupon code (RELAXRV) to save 10% off your membership fee.http://www.boondockerswelcome.com Harvest Hosts:Here's a discount link to Harvest Hosts, when you use it, you'll save 15% off of their annual membership fee.http://harvesthosts.refr.cc/relaxrv And Use Code HHFRIENDS15 at Checkout! I took some pictures and posted them on the RelaxRVPodcast Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Relax-RV-277623782811787/ for your enjoyment and edification.I'm on Instagram as @relaxrvpodcast https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=hsxp0gjpugbz&utm_content=5h4872aMy podcast can be found athttps://www.spreaker.com/show/relax-rv-podcastDisclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something from one of our affiliates, we receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thanks for helping to keep our podcast running!

Season 2 Episode 64 6/8/21We did our 1st ever campground stay with friends. We stayed at J&D campground near Knoebels amusement park. Next to us was Scott and Amy, next to them Mike and Shelley. And on the other side of the campground was Scott's parent Jack and Jan in their seasonal site. It was a cold and rainy weekend. While setting up we were fighting with the rig (2017 Thor 29.4) trying to get it level. Out came the level and viola the rigs LCI leveling system was way off with the Zero Point Level calibration. I went into the Thor owners portal, pulled up our rigs VIN number and saw 7 manuals for the leveling system in it. None of the were for our leveling system. I googled our key pad, then how to zero point level it and 3 minutes later, the rig was level and the leveling system agreed with us. We wonder how long it was inaccurately calibrated. Yay. That evening with sat with our friends in their Prevost and caught up with one another. The next day me and Trish revisited Centralia pa. This is an abandoned town that was evacuated years ago due to an underground fire. Pretty wild. Then we visited Shamokin, Pa. We went back to the campground and played bingo for the 1st time in 40 yrs. Then we did a fire with our friends. The next day we found live music and fantastic food at Lost Mine(d) in Shamokin. Monday of Memorial Day we packed up and headed to Prince William Forest in VA. according to Google maps was 3 hours and 45 minutes away. With Washington DC traffic on Memorial Day it was closer to 5 hours. As always try to limit our driving to 4 hours a day and if we run into days like that it's no big deal. We stayed at Prince Edward Forest campground in Dumfries Virginia. We have stayed here before. It's convenient to visit Trish's son. We checked in had a low-key evening. The next day we headed over to the forest, and hiked 12 miles. Felt really good to do an actual hike which was way overdue. It's a beautiful Park lots of easy hiking trails following streams and waterfalls.The next day Trish had lunch with her son and then the 2 of us headed into Old Town Virginia to do shopping.Thursday we headed north to Dove Valley Winery in Rising Sun, MD.We arrived at Dove Valley Winery. We did a wine tasting and then we bought a bottle of wine. They are part of harvest hosts. So it was nice to sleep on their property in the rig. The heavy thunderstorm rolled through in the evening so it was nice to just sit and enjoy a glass of wine. Next morning we were planning on going to stay at a boondockers welcome near Trish's daughter and grandson. But that particular host did not offer electric for the rig and the temps were going to be in the 90s old day and in the upper 70s at night. So we had contacted the boondock are welcome host and explained our situation and they were very understanding. You then went online and found a campground called Old Cedar Campground in Monroeville NJ. We reserved Friday night and Saturday night with full hookups for about $55 a night with tax. They had a pond for fishing and beautiful new very clean swimming pool nine holes of miniature golf and a walking path that took you to a nearby winery. So, brought his fishing pole and we had a great time with him. Sunday we drove home and on the way stopped and visited and had lunch with Trish's dad. We got home Sunday evening a bunch of stuff I had ordered from Amazon was waiting for us. We emptied the perishables dirty clothes and such. Plug the RV in to trickle charge the house batteries. And locked it up. We have a couple of short trips plan this summer. Our next trip will be out to Indiana. Then we're going up to finger lakes to stay at a campground with our friends Mike and Scott for a night. And then we have three nights booked in Watkins Glen State Park.So I don't know when the next podcast episode of be released probably after we get back from Indiana.So what do you do to help manage your stress? Do you know anyone who would benefit from listening to a stress mange exercise?I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at RelaxRV.org/stressed-2-2/stressed-2If that ain't your thing I made some videos about the improvements I mentioned and I posted them on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TAOr you can watch them on relaxrv.org/videos-the-good-the-bad-and-the-modifications/Boondockers Welcome:Here's a discount to Boondockers Welcome, when you join use the coupon code (RELAXRV) to save 10% off your membership fee.http://www.boondockerswelcome.com Harvest Hosts:Here's a discount link to Harvest Hosts, when you use it, you'll save 15% off of their annual membership fee.http://harvesthosts.refr.cc/relaxrv And Use Code HHFRIENDS15 at Checkout! I took some pictures and posted them on the RelaxRVPodcast Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Relax-RV-277623782811787/ for your enjoyment and edification.I'm on Instagram as @relaxrvpodcast https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=hsxp0gjpugbz&utm_content=5h4872aMy podcast can be found athttps://www.spreaker.com/show/relax-rv-podcastDisclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something from one of our affiliates, we receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Thanks for helping to keep our podcast running!

In this episode, we journey to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for lots of fun and a stay at Myrtle Beach State Park. We share a tip on using propane grills with an RV, talk about Harvest Hosts acquiring Boondockers Welcome, and more. 

Harvest Host and Boondockers Welcome join forces, RV fires are on the rise, a 4-hour line to begin a hike at a national park, state parks try to solve the no-show problem, a dramatic RV chase, and more. It's time for the latest in RV and camping news.   RV Share's "Turn in your Tent": https://rvshare.com/turn-in-your-tent

This week we talk about how we planned our trip across Route 66 from California to Chicago. Peggy has been refining plans, distances and destinations to make the most of every day on the road. Tony introduces our newest gadget, the RV Soft Start. The StressLess Camping podcast is a weekly show with information, tips and tricks to help every RVer and camper enjoy some StressLess Camping. Mentioned on this episode We used Route66RoadTrip.com to find tips on portions of Route 66 that are open and to find must-see attractions.  Planning was done on RV Trip Wizard with our RV and tow vehicle details as well as driving style and distance preferences.  We will be overnighting at campgrounds and using Harvest Hosts and Boondockers Welcome locations.  Tony talks about installing and using the Soft Start RV to enable us to run the RV's air conditioner on a single small generator. 

Season 2 Episode 635/25/21So we got the rig home and I never thought to open up the awning but I did two days after we got home and it would bang on the way out.And Does not close all the way.Grabbed a ladder and saw 2 loose screws on the roller.I then climbed into roof and saw they did not calk above the front door.And when then installed the gutters they didn't screw the screws all the way down nor did they caulk the screws.So I called Connecticut Motor Cars and spoke to Brian the Service Manager.I told him about the three problems. He said they always test the awning and it had worked fine. And the screws for the gutters had probably loosened while driving the rig.We drove up to the shop. Left rig for 4 hours. When we came back the awning was fine and all of the screws were tight. He told me I was not allowed of the roof of my rig while on their property. He said would you have wanted be in the shop and checked every screw on the gutter as they put them in? I said yes if I had known it wasn't going to be done right. he said we're all human and nobody's perfect.I explained to him that I have to spending tens of thousands of dollars that I'm very disappointed about the level of service at his company.I highly suggest you do not use Connecticut Motor Cars and coaches for service unless you don't care about the quality of the work being done.As the old adage goes, if you want something done right do it yourself.Then 2 weeks later, just before heading out on a 2 week trip to West Virginia, Covid hit. Both me and Trish tested positive after having symptoms. Now I know there's a lot of people who don't believe in the masks nor covid and we are on the fence about all of it but we have almost a dozen people that we know personally that have died from covid. You need to do what makes you feel most comfortable and less stressed.So our trip was postponed. We followed the self quarantine order. We re-planned our route and left in early May. We drove 3 hours to Armstrong Valley winery in Halifax Pa. They are a Harvest Host. We did tastings of their wines and talked with the host for over an hour. We bought a bottle of their Pinot Grigio and some Lavender Mustard. They offered free 30 and 50 amp service. The next day we drove just under 4 hours (which is the max I like to drive in the rig) to Blackwater State park in WV. We set up and went for a 5 mile hike to a fabulous view. We had no signal in the campground so we drove to the lodge and downloaded movies on Hulu and Netflix. The next day we did a 4 mile hike in the rain to an underwhelming Balanced Rock. We then went back to the Lodge to stream Trish's sons graduation at the Metro PD.We were wet and cold (it was 40 degrees out). So we went back to the rig. Changed, warmed up and made dinner. That night there was live music at a great place called the Purple Fiddle in Thomas WV.Saturday it was snowy, sleeting, then bright sun all day long. Chilly 44 degrees. Did a 8 mile hike. Then dinner at the rig. We weren't every impressed with Blackwater State Park. Short hiking trails, bad hiking map. But a pretty water fall. Not overly impressed with Blackwater SP.Sunday, off to a boondocks welcome location in Albright WV. But the location was too sketchy for us to drive to so we went to Coopers Rock State Forest and camped there instead. On the way there we saw a sign for the smallest church in the 48 states. So we parked and walked over. Considering it's the smallest church I was surprised that it was as big as it was.We arrived at Coopers Rock State Forest WV. We did a couple small trails in the rain. On Monday we did a total of 8 miles hiking. This was a beautiful park. It reminded us of Nelson Ledges Park in Ohio. We walked along cliffs with fantastic views and then hiked at the base of the cliffs. We did some scrambling around the rocks. And met a group of women from Michigan and had a nice conversation with them. We are still experiencing lingering symptoms of Covid and we get winded easily and I get periods of chills and fatigue. This virus is no fun. Tuesday we drove a bit over an hour to Pennsylvania and stayed at a Boondockers Welcome location. We visited the Greendance winery. They had beautiful grounds and good wine. But no covered outdoor seating. It was a cold day so walked the grounds for a bit. The next day we went to Ohiopyle State Park in Pa. If you are any sort of an outdoor activity lover this place is for you. Rafting, hiking, biking, skiing, snowshoeing. We hiked almost 5 hours and covered 8 miles past various waterfalls. Then had a ice cream in town. There are also some snowmobile trails so I'm sure we will be back in the winter. I installed and love the Jensen Car8000 radio. The HUGE screen is wonderful especially when used the rigs cameras.https://amzn.to/3fix83N Link to avensa mapshttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Avenza So what do you do to help manage your stress? Do you know anyone who would benefit from listening to a stress mange exercise?I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at www.RelaxRV.org/stressed-2-2/stressed-2 If that ain't your thing I made some videos about the improvements I mentioned and I posted them on YouTube atwww.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TA Or you can watch them on www.relaxrv.org/videos-the-good-the-bad-and-the-modifications/ I took some pictures and posted them on the RelaxRV Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Relax-RV-277623782811787/ for your enjoyment and edification.www.spreaker.com/show/relax-rv-podcast I'm on Instagram as @relaxrvpodcast https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=hsxp0gjpugbz&utm_content=5h4872a

Season 2 Episode 635/25/21So we got the rig home and I never thought to open up the awning but I did two days after we got home and it would bang on the way out.And Does not close all the way.Grabbed a ladder and saw 2 loose screws on the roller.I then climbed into roof and saw they did not calk above the front door.And when then installed the gutters they didn't screw the screws all the way down nor did they caulk the screws.So I called Connecticut Motor Cars and spoke to Brian the Service Manager.I told him about the three problems. He said they always test the awning and it had worked fine. And the screws for the gutters had probably loosened while driving the rig.We drove up to the shop. Left rig for 4 hours. When we came back the awning was fine and all of the screws were tight. He told me I was not allowed of the roof of my rig while on their property. He said would you have wanted be in the shop and checked every screw on the gutter as they put them in? I said yes if I had known it wasn't going to be done right. he said we're all human and nobody's perfect.I explained to him that I have to spending tens of thousands of dollars that I'm very disappointed about the level of service at his company.I highly suggest you do not use Connecticut Motor Cars and coaches for service unless you don't care about the quality of the work being done.As the old adage goes, if you want something done right do it yourself.Then 2 weeks later, just before heading out on a 2 week trip to West Virginia, Covid hit. Both me and Trish tested positive after having symptoms. Now I know there's a lot of people who don't believe in the masks nor covid and we are on the fence about all of it but we have almost a dozen people that we know personally that have died from covid. You need to do what makes you feel most comfortable and less stressed.So our trip was postponed. We followed the self quarantine order. We re-planned our route and left in early May. We drove 3 hours to Armstrong Valley winery in Halifax Pa. They are a Harvest Host. We did tastings of their wines and talked with the host for over an hour. We bought a bottle of their Pinot Grigio and some Lavender Mustard. They offered free 30 and 50 amp service. The next day we drove just under 4 hours (which is the max I like to drive in the rig) to Blackwater State park in WV. We set up and went for a 5 mile hike to a fabulous view. We had no signal in the campground so we drove to the lodge and downloaded movies on Hulu and Netflix. The next day we did a 4 mile hike in the rain to an underwhelming Balanced Rock. We then went back to the Lodge to stream Trish's sons graduation at the Metro PD.We were wet and cold (it was 40 degrees out). So we went back to the rig. Changed, warmed up and made dinner. That night there was live music at a great place called the Purple Fiddle in Thomas WV.Saturday it was snowy, sleeting, then bright sun all day long. Chilly 44 degrees. Did a 8 mile hike. Then dinner at the rig. We weren't every impressed with Blackwater State Park. Short hiking trails, bad hiking map. But a pretty water fall. Not overly impressed with Blackwater SP.Sunday, off to a boondocks welcome location in Albright WV. But the location was too sketchy for us to drive to so we went to Coopers Rock State Forest and camped there instead. On the way there we saw a sign for the smallest church in the 48 states. So we parked and walked over. Considering it's the smallest church I was surprised that it was as big as it was.We arrived at Coopers Rock State Forest WV. We did a couple small trails in the rain. On Monday we did a total of 8 miles hiking. This was a beautiful park. It reminded us of Nelson Ledges Park in Ohio. We walked along cliffs with fantastic views and then hiked at the base of the cliffs. We did some scrambling around the rocks. And met a group of women from Michigan and had a nice conversation with them. We are still experiencing lingering symptoms of Covid and we get winded easily and I get periods of chills and fatigue. This virus is no fun. Tuesday we drove a bit over an hour to Pennsylvania and stayed at a Boondockers Welcome location. We visited the Greendance winery. They had beautiful grounds and good wine. But no covered outdoor seating. It was a cold day so walked the grounds for a bit. The next day we went to Ohiopyle State Park in Pa. If you are any sort of an outdoor activity lover this place is for you. Rafting, hiking, biking, skiing, snowshoeing. We hiked almost 5 hours and covered 8 miles past various waterfalls. Then had a ice cream in town. There are also some snowmobile trails so I'm sure we will be back in the winter. I installed and love the Jensen Car8000 radio. The HUGE screen is wonderful especially when used the rigs cameras.https://amzn.to/3fix83N Link to avensa mapshttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Avenza So what do you do to help manage your stress? Do you know anyone who would benefit from listening to a stress mange exercise?I have 3 FREE Stress Management recordings at www.RelaxRV.org/stressed-2-2/stressed-2 If that ain't your thing I made some videos about the improvements I mentioned and I posted them on YouTube atwww.youtube.com/channel/UCzwH6GhSMBDJ7qKxsLng-TA Or you can watch them on www.relaxrv.org/videos-the-good-the-bad-and-the-modifications/ I took some pictures and posted them on the RelaxRV Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Relax-RV-277623782811787/ for your enjoyment and edification.www.spreaker.com/show/relax-rv-podcast I'm on Instagram as @relaxrvpodcast https://www.instagram.com/invites/contact/?i=hsxp0gjpugbz&utm_content=5h4872a

On today's show, I welcome Marianne Edwards, fellow Canadian and Founder of Boondocker's Welcome to share some of her best tips on finding free camping no matter where you travel.Marianne is also the author of The Frugal Shunpiker's Guides, the popular e-book series that guides you to the best free camping sites throughout the Southwestern United States. We have the ebook on Southern Utah, and I can attest, they are informative, witty and in-depth. You can check those guides out on Marianne's other website: Frugal RV TravelA Few Things we Talk About on This Week's Episode:Boondocking definedHow Marianne's expansive 20-year travel history spurred the advent of Boondocker's WelcomeHow Boondocker's Welcome works and how to participate as a guest or a hostOther options Boondocking etiquette tips for camping off the gridDispelling myths around boondocking with a large rigBoondocking SafetyHow Boondocking saves moneyWe'll even discover two of Marianne's favourite places to experience as a camper, so stay tuned!Links Mentioned In this Episode:Boondockers WelcomeBoondockers Welcome (Facebook)Boondockers Welcome (Instagram)Frugal RV TravelOvernight RV ParkingHarvest HostsCampendiumiOverlanderFreeRoamMarianne has become an industry expert in how to enjoy big travel on a small budget. She has been profiled in the New York Times and has contributed to many RV industry magazines and newsletters where she has shared her vast knowledge about finding free scenic RV camping on public lands. We're always excited to sit down and have a chat with RV experts and we thank Marianne for joining us today! 

This week we had the pleasure to interview Marianne Edwards.  She is the author of The Frugal Shunpiker’s Guides, a popular e-book series that guides you to the best free camping sites throughout the Southwestern United States.  You can find them on her site, here. She has been RVing for over 20 years and has become an industry expert in how to enjoy big travel on a small budget. Marianne has been profiled in the New York Times and has contributed to many RV industry magazines and newsletters where she has shared her vast knowledge about finding free scenic RV camping on public lands.  We spoke with Marianne about her experiences, but also about the program and website she started, Boondockers Welcome.  She explains the program, how it works and the many benefits and success stories that have come from the service.  If you are looking for an affordable way to RV, Boondockers Welcome is the way to go.

The north woods of Wisconsin is our destination this month as we travel the back roads in search of fall colors and cranberry harvesting. We spent time boondocking for several nights using various tools. Boondocking is camping without services, something our motorhome is well adapted to do. We can live comfortably for several days without outside connections. This has become very popular in this time of the pandemic. Social distancing is easy when boondocking. Many RVers think boondocking and Walmart camping are synonomous, but there are a wide variety of resources for those interested in boondocking. For the first time we used Boondockers Welcome website to fine and contact a private party who was willing to let us stay on their property as boondocks. We talk about this and other similar services. Photography was also on our minds as we drove the back roads looking for fall foliage. Software tips and trick are on the agenda this month. Listen for the details as well as photo tips. Alaska in 2021? Listen for our ideas on travel to Alaska. We've been twice in the RV and serval times on cruises. How should you tour our 49th state? These plus several technology related topics are on this month agenda, so take 54 minutes for a listen and let us know what you think. We appreciate iTunes reviews if you get a chance.

Boondocking can be a great way to enjoy free or inexpensive camping but where do you find the best spots and where is the best place to find free and inexpensive camping? How do some people manage to find those magical hidden destinations? This week we talk about finding great boondocking spots. Plus our gadget report has a useful inexpensive item that can help you with your RV scissor jacks.  Featured on this episode: The dyrt PRO casinocamping.com technomadia.com app bundle on the Apple App Store. -  Harvest Hosts: https://www.stresslesscamping.com/harvest-hosts Boondockers Welcome: https://www.stresslesscamping.com/boondockers-welcome Hipcamp: hipcamp.com Campendium: campendium.com FreeCampSites.net ioverlander.com Bob Wells - Cheap RV Living Sizzer nut lock article.

RVs for MDs RVers are helping front line doctors and medical personnel fighting the COVID-19 pandemic by donating their RVs to those health care workers to give them a safe place to hang out without infecting their family. In our interview of the week you’ll learn about RV4MDs, an awesome Facebook group that is helping provide RVs for those health care workers. Show Notes for Episode #289 April 8, 2020 of The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK It's another week of being hunkered down for all of us. We have so much bad news it there that we want to remind everyone that this national crisis that so overshadows our lives right now will come to an end. We may not yet know when but we will be able to travel again and we choose to think of our many plans being delayed, not denied... postponed not canceled. We announced over the weekend that Bo, our Norwegian Elkhound, now has his own Instagram Page. You can follow his adventures @bothervelkhound on Instagram. Or go to his page directly at https://instagram.com/bothervelkhound. And don't forget to follow us on Instagram, too. We're sharing several times during the day and can be followed at https://instagram.com/rvlifestylemike. RV LIFESTYLE NEWS OF THE WEEK Many current and 100 new hosts at Boondockers Welcome providing a place for full-timers, snowbirds, to stay One hundred new hosts joined Boondockers Welcome in March to help full-timers and snow birds find a safe place to stay. Many of the new and current hosts in the U.S. and Canada are also extending the amount of time campers can stay on their private property to help people hunker down during the pandemic. Boondockers Welcome is a web platform that lets members arrange overnight stays with hosts for typically one to five nights.  For more information check out our special link at rvlifestyle.com/boondockerswelcome. click here.  Tucson area sheriff deputies seeing a large increase in distress calls as more people hit the trails unprepared Everyone’s anxious to get outdoors for exercise during these days of social isolation but in Pima County near Tucson, emergency officials are seeing a huge spike in distress calls from hikers hitting the trails without taking basic safety measures. Search and Rescue deputies have answered 17 such calls in the last two weeks, a time frame in which they’d normally see half a dozen or so cases. That’s roughly a 100% increase in call volume, a strain on emergency responders. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department says the increase may be due to more novice hikers venturing out at a time many are off work with limited recreation options during the COVID 19 pandemic. The best way to avoid trouble out there is to carry enough water, about one liter for each hour of hiking, bring along a fully charged cell phone. And be sure to let someone know where you’re going and when you expect to return. Bears are starting to wake from hibernation in Georgia, Maryland, elsewhere Across North America, bears are waking up, coming out of hibernation, and looking for food. BearWise is an education program developed by bear biologists from each of the 15 state wildlife agencies that make up the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. The program, anchored by the website www.bearwise.org, offers lots of tips. And we urge you if you plan to get some outdoor exercise in bear country, that you check out their advice. Most states close campgrounds, numbers constantly changing Most states have now closed their campgrounds, as COVID-19 continues to spread across the continent. Most recently this week… Texas. The Governor has closed all Texas State Parks effective April 7th. Most ocean beaches across the country are closed. Fewer and fewer national parks are open. Instead of listing every state here that may be out of date when you see it, We want to again direct you to the folks at Campendium. They have compiled a list of what RV parks and services a...

Episode 48 - Released 3/26/20We visited Centralia Pa on our way to Bloomsburg Pennsylvania.  Centralia is a town had an iron field under it and had caught in fire many years ago.  We then arrived at our Boondockers Welcome host site, and met our hosts Scott and Amy.. They invited us to join them for dinner the next night we said absolutely and we would bring wine and dessert. We looked online and found Dalos bakery in Berwick, Pennsylvania.The next morning Scott reached out and asked if our generator was working. Scott came out and after some finagling he noticed a wire dangling behind the carburetor. We spliced them together and voila it started and runs without a hitch.  The next day we got all packed up then our goodbyes lasted another hour. It's nice when we leave a place knowing you have new friends.  We already have plans to get together with them.We drove 2 hours home along the way we dumped and filled up with gas. We tend to fill up on every leg of our trip. Which means we have about 20 gallons to fill when we are at 3/4 of a tank.After taking out stuff that could freeze I winterized it, following my own directions and hopefully this time nothing will freeze and break.On this trip, we were gone 3.5 months. The number of nights we spent at each were: Boondockers Welcome 64. Campgrounds 32, Harvest Hosts 5, and no casinos, Walmarts, Cracker Barrels etc.    And because of that we only spent a total of $1,050 on Campground fees, and some of the boondockers welcome hosts charged either 5 or $10 a night for electric. Not too bad for a 3.5 months. We had some Problems.  BUT Our Fun out weighed the stressors!Places we visited and things we've done: Christmas vacation house, Assateague  wild ponies, ocean city, Charleston, OBX, Myrtle Beach, Savannah, St Augustine, Disney, Miami, Clearwater, Tampa, the Keys, the Everglades, Destin, saw Manatees, the highest point in Fla, Mobile Alabama, New Orleans, The Tabasco factory, Eunice Louisiana, Helen Ga, Smoky Mountain National Park, Harpers Ferry and Centralia.And that doesn't include all the things we've learned and the wonderful people we've met.So now that we're home the podcast will go back to a less frequent release and I will talk more about Stress Management and with North America being turned upside down, I see my clients and friends are showing a heightened level of stress or anxiety.    Everyone is being affected, full timers, part timers, vacationers, workers, parents, children, adults, loved ones and yes me.I won't be talking about the corona virus - if you want to learn about that  read any of your emails from your bank, grocery store or if you must ..... the news.  Try to limit the amount of time you watch or listen to the news your mind needs a break from itThere is a short guided imagery at the end of this episode, DO NOT listen to it while driving or operating heavy machinery. However to help you deal with your stress, in the very near future I will release  3 episodes. They will be an introduction to stress, a progressive relaxation exercise and a guided imagery. Please listen to them while in a safe place to relax and share them with anyone who needs to relax.Be safe everyone and .... laugh as often as you can.  Peace.

Episode 48 - Released 3/26/20We visited Centralia Pa on our way to Bloomsburg Pennsylvania.  Centralia is a town had an iron field under it and had caught in fire many years ago.  We then arrived at our Boondockers Welcome host site, and met our hosts Scott and Amy.. They invited us to join them for dinner the next night we said absolutely and we would bring wine and dessert. We looked online and found Dalos bakery in Berwick, Pennsylvania.The next morning Scott reached out and asked if our generator was working. Scott came out and after some finagling he noticed a wire dangling behind the carburetor. We spliced them together and voila it started and runs without a hitch.  The next day we got all packed up then our goodbyes lasted another hour. It's nice when we leave a place knowing you have new friends.  We already have plans to get together with them.We drove 2 hours home along the way we dumped and filled up with gas. We tend to fill up on every leg of our trip. Which means we have about 20 gallons to fill when we are at 3/4 of a tank.After taking out stuff that could freeze I winterized it, following my own directions and hopefully this time nothing will freeze and break.On this trip, we were gone 3.5 months. The number of nights we spent at each were: Boondockers Welcome 64. Campgrounds 32, Harvest Hosts 5, and no casinos, Walmarts, Cracker Barrels etc.    And because of that we only spent a total of $1,050 on Campground fees, and some of the boondockers welcome hosts charged either 5 or $10 a night for electric. Not too bad for a 3.5 months. We had some Problems.  BUT Our Fun out weighed the stressors!Places we visited and things we've done: Christmas vacation house, Assateague  wild ponies, ocean city, Charleston, OBX, Myrtle Beach, Savannah, St Augustine, Disney, Miami, Clearwater, Tampa, the Keys, the Everglades, Destin, saw Manatees, the highest point in Fla, Mobile Alabama, New Orleans, The Tabasco factory, Eunice Louisiana, Helen Ga, Smoky Mountain National Park, Harpers Ferry and Centralia.And that doesn't include all the things we've learned and the wonderful people we've met.So now that we're home the podcast will go back to a less frequent release and I will talk more about Stress Management and with North America being turned upside down, I see my clients and friends are showing a heightened level of stress or anxiety.    Everyone is being affected, full timers, part timers, vacationers, workers, parents, children, adults, loved ones and yes me.I won't be talking about the corona virus - if you want to learn about that  read any of your emails from your bank, grocery store or if you must ..... the news.  Try to limit the amount of time you watch or listen to the news your mind needs a break from itThere is a short guided imagery at the end of this episode, DO NOT listen to it while driving or operating heavy machinery. However to help you deal with your stress, in the very near future I will release  3 episodes. They will be an introduction to stress, a progressive relaxation exercise and a guided imagery. Please listen to them while in a safe place to relax and share them with anyone who needs to relax.Be safe everyone and .... laugh as often as you can.  Peace.

Things to do and ways to still enjoy this wonderful journey amid the challenges facing us as a nation. Plus we debut our new feature, “The List,” this time with a dozen museums you can visit without ever moving your RV. Mentioned in this Episode: The StressLess Camping Facebook Group The Lakeside Show - Cars, Boats, Bikes & RVs California State Parks site - closure information Covid-19 and RVers - StressLess Camping article Social Distancing in your RV - StressLess Camping article Boondockers Welcome - our sponsor and your discount code Lion Energy - our sponsor and your discount code 12 world-class museums you can visit virtually A website, podcast and RV event calendar dedicated to turning the great American RV adventure into a StressLess Camping experience™

We left New Orleans and I wanted to drive across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. Why? Well according to the Guinness Book of World Records it is the longest continuous bridge passing over water in the USA (it was the longest in the world but now the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge in China is the longest). Arrived in Lafayette Parish Louisiana and stayed at a Boondockers Welcome host, Lonnie and Antoinette. Wow what a fantastic time we had with these folks and their wonderful friends.  We learned what a Parish is in Louisiana.  They invited us to a cookout with cracklins and gumbo and a crawfish boil the next day.  All of it was fun and delicious!  The next day we joined our host at Little Big Cup for brunch. We had more crackling, a great jambalaya and gumbo and fantastic Creme Brulee French toast.Then we went to the Tabasco Company Factory and Museum tour which was worth the visit. We bought a bottle of their bloody Mary mix for our host. The next day we went to Prairieville in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. Met our wonderful host. Set up the rig right next to the bayou. By the way a Bayou is a slow-moving Creek. Or swampy section of a river or a lake.The next day we went to Eunice to see a traditional Cajun Mardi Gras. We had heard of this on the LINK Anthony Bourdain TV show.This was 2 hours from our location and our host graciously offered to drive us there. We ate the best Alligator we have ever eaten, ala po'boy at Nick's on 2nd. There was a stage with a band playing cajun and zydeco music, stands selling crafts and Mardi Gras clothing and decorations. Then the parade started with police on motorcycles having fun leading it.  Then the real fun started.  The horseback riders in full cajun garb rode down the street then the floats with bead throwers. And there were people walking in the parade holding chickens.This was the most fun Mardi Gras Parade we have seen on this wonderful trip!  The costumes, the friendliness,  the food, music and energy were fantastic!  Thank you Louisiana!!!!We stopped at the LARC Acadian Village. We were so under whelmed by it I didn't even mention it in the podcast. 

We left New Orleans and I wanted to drive across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. Why? Well according to the Guinness Book of World Records it is the longest continuous bridge passing over water in the USA (it was the longest in the world but now the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge in China is the longest). Arrived in Lafayette Parish Louisiana and stayed at a Boondockers Welcome host, Lonnie and Antoinette. Wow what a fantastic time we had with these folks and their wonderful friends.  We learned what a Parish is in Louisiana.  They invited us to a cookout with cracklins and gumbo and a crawfish boil the next day.  All of it was fun and delicious!  The next day we joined our host at Little Big Cup for brunch. We had more crackling, a great jambalaya and gumbo and fantastic Creme Brulee French toast.Then we went to the Tabasco Company Factory and Museum tour which was worth the visit. We bought a bottle of their bloody Mary mix for our host. The next day we went to Prairieville in Ascension Parish, Louisiana. Met our wonderful host. Set up the rig right next to the bayou. By the way a Bayou is a slow-moving Creek. Or swampy section of a river or a lake.The next day we went to Eunice to see a traditional Cajun Mardi Gras. We had heard of this on the LINK Anthony Bourdain TV show.This was 2 hours from our location and our host graciously offered to drive us there. We ate the best Alligator we have ever eaten, ala po'boy at Nick's on 2nd. There was a stage with a band playing cajun and zydeco music, stands selling crafts and Mardi Gras clothing and decorations. Then the parade started with police on motorcycles having fun leading it.  Then the real fun started.  The horseback riders in full cajun garb rode down the street then the floats with bead throwers. And there were people walking in the parade holding chickens.This was the most fun Mardi Gras Parade we have seen on this wonderful trip!  The costumes, the friendliness,  the food, music and energy were fantastic!  Thank you Louisiana!!!!We stopped at the LARC Acadian Village. We were so under whelmed by it I didn't even mention it in the podcast. 

This week’s podcast features Curtiss Hemmeler from the RV Technical Institute. The RVTI aims to certify 2,000 RV techs to help alleviate the backlog of repairs in the RV industry while also offering a better experience for customers. Plus there is a chance for tremendous opportunity for people interested in getting into becoming an RV tech, a field with a lot of opportunity. StressLess Camping is a website, podcast and RV event calendar dedicated to turning the great American RV adventure into a StressLess Camping experience™ On this week's episode:  The StressLess Camping Facebook Group Toyota RV-2 concept car Boondockers Welcome discount The RV Technical Institute Our Family Motor Coach Association discount The Certified Tourism Ambassador (CTA) program

We speak with Marianne Edwards from Boondockers Welcome, a service that matches RVers with people willing to host them overnight on their properties. Plus we talk about Newfoundland and what a treasure it is and even discuss shunpiking. We meet the most interesting people who share inside tips and techniques plus we also have tips, ideas, hacks and discounts to make each RV journey a StressLess Camping experience. You can follow our stories and tips and subscribe to this podcast at www.StressLessCamping.com We also have a FaceBook Group Get the latest RV deals and RV discounts from our partners at https://www.stresslesscamping.com/partners Help support this podcast by using our Amazon affiliate link - no extra cost to you, but a big help for us. Thank you.

We arrived home from our 2019 Northeast trip. We were gone for 4 months and traveled 6,000 miles. In this episode I talk about how many nights we stayed at various types of places (Harvest Hosts, Campgrounds and Boondockers Welcome). Made some improvements to the rig. 

We arrived home from our 2019 Northeast trip. We were gone for 4 months and traveled 6,000 miles. In this episode I talk about how many nights we stayed at various types of places (Harvest Hosts, Campgrounds and Boondockers Welcome). Made some improvements to the rig. 

This week on the RV Podcast we learn one of the best kept secrets for finding free places to overnight, Boondockers Welcome, which offers some 2,000 locations across North America where RVers can stay for free! Show Notes for Episode #267 Nov. 6, 2019 of The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK We share our travels, share a disturbing story about Bo after we picked him up at some pet sitters this past weekend, and update you on what’s happening in the RV world. This part of the podcast is brought to you by Dish Outdoors, which lets RVers pay as they go and watch HD satellite television from wherever they are camped with easy to set up gear made with the RVer in mind. Just go to https://rvlifestyle.com/dish for details on the service and special deal just for listeners of this podcast. RV LIFESTYLE NEWS OF THE WEEK JENNIFER Road construction coming to Yellowstone National Park beginning next summer Yellowstone National Park is planning to do $75 million worth of road repairs and maintenance beginning next year. Next summer the park will replace the Pelican Creek bridge, and visitors can expect delays along the East Entrance Road between Fishing Bridge and Indian Pond. Another lane is going to be added to the North entrance and buildings there will be replaced. The whole project is expected to take two years. MIKE Minnesota professor and students collect adult ticks in mobile lab at state park, analyzing within hours which carry diseases  All of us who love the outdoors, know the importance of using bug spray to protect yourself from ticks. So, it was with a keen interest that I read a story out last week from Minnesota about a professor and his students who spent some time collecting ticks from Ithaca State Park last August.. The professor and students bought a  mobile lab with them, and after collecting the ticks were able to analyze them in just a few hours and discover if the ticks carried diseases. They learned 25-30 percent of the adult ticks they collected carried Lyme. That is a sobering reminder to all of us about how important it is to protect yourself when in the woods. Click here to see a story we did with an expert on what to do. JENNIFER Woman lost in California national park found after spelling SOS with rocks A Mississippi woman reported missing after telling family member she was visiting a national park in California, was found last week after she spelled SOS with rocks.  The woman's car was discovered in Sequoia National Park, and her SOS message was spotted by air three miles away. The woman had apparently gone on a hike and gotten lost. When she was found she was thirsty and hungry, but otherwise stable. MIKE Parks Canada officials are seeking "poop fairies" In one of the more ... let's say unusual ... stories out last week, Parks Canada is asking the public to help them scoop wolf poop on Vancouver Island's Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. Officials are calling the volunteers "poop fairies" and will provide training and safety items like gloves and eyeglasses and GPS trackers. Officials hope the wolf scat will help them understand more about what the wolves eat and where they go to help officials reduce their contact with humans. JENNIFER RV catches fire in California, spreads to brush   An RV caught on fire in Oceanside, California, last weekend spreading to brush, and apparently one other vehicle before firefighters had it under control. The cause of the fire is under investigation. The RV fire was one of several I've seen in the news this past week, which got me thinking of the importance of fire safety. A while back we interviewed an expert on what you can do to reduce the likelihood of your RV accidentally catching ablaze. To learn more click here. This part of the podcast is brought to you by RadPower Bikes, America's #1 e-bike brand, offering direct to consumer pricing on powerful premium electric bikes. Now with free shipping LISTENER QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK

We visit the Austin area and take advantage of all of the vegan food choices, from food trucks to bakeries. We also get to try our first Boondockers Welcome site and we share our findings with you!

Would you like to camp more and pay less? Would you like to meet fellow RVers and get their tips on the best places to eat, tour and get services in their towns? Would you like to set up camp in quiet spots without other RV’s five feet away? Marianne Edwards and her daughter Anna […] The post Episode 161: Boondockers Welcome founder Marianne Edwards appeared first on Girl Camper.

Yep, RV = Relaxed Vehicle. In this episode I talk about finding your passion in life. I also talk about various places we stayed during our 4 month trip in 2018, BoonDockers Welcome, Harvest Hosts, Walmart, Cabelas and Cracker Barrel. And of course other stuff too.

Yep, RV = Relaxed Vehicle. In this episode I talk about finding your passion in life. I also talk about various places we stayed during our 4 month trip in 2018, BoonDockers Welcome, Harvest Hosts, Walmart, Cabelas and Cracker Barrel. And of course other stuff too.

On this RV Miles, we've got a selection of common RV travel questions that many folks are looking for answers to, as well as an interview with Marianne Edwards from one of our favorite RV services - Boondockers Welcome. All that, plus the latest RV travel news, a new brain teaser, and more!

On this episode of RV Miles, we chat with Rick Schutt from Thor Industries about their program to get kids interested in careers in the RV industry. Then, we talk about our favorite fall camping tips. In the news, a popular National Park Service campground in Florida may become unavailable to RVs, a conservation conflict in Minnesota, and another stolen trailer full of Boy Scout camping gear.  Sponsor: L.L.Bean This year, L.L.Bean is joining up with the National Park Foundation, the official nonprofit partner of the National Park Service, to help you find your happy place – in an amazing system of more than 400 national parks, including historic and cultural sites, monuments, preserves, lakeshores, and seashores that dot the American landscape, many of which you’ll find just a short trip from home. L.L.Bean is proud to be an official partner of the National Park Foundation. Discover your perfect day in a park at findyourpark.com. Sponsor: Boondockers Welcome Get 10% off a Boondockers Welcome membership with code RVMILES at boondockerswelcome.com, and visit thousands of free overnight parking spots provided by RVers just like you. Resources Gulf Islands National Seashore may remove vehicle access and RV camping at Fort Pickens: https://weartv.com/news/local/removing-vehicle-access-to-gulf-islands-national-sea-shore-fort-pickens Beginning this spring, Texas State Parks will allow you to choose a site when reserving and pay entrance fees online in advance, effectively reserving a spot for parks that have a maximum capacity. https://www.mysanantonio.com/lifestyle/travel-outdoors/article/New-Texas-State-Parks-reservation-system-will-13204349.php A ban on mining has been lifted around the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in the Superior National Forest. about 365 square miles within the watershed of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. The area of the Superior National Forest that hangs along the southern edge of the Boundary Waters is home to the Duluth Complex, believed to be one of the richest untapped deposits of copper, nickel and precious metals in the world. Mining companies have been exploring the region for decades, although no copper-nickel mine has yet opened. On Thursday the Department of Agriculture canceled a study on the potential environmental impact of mining in the region. Secretary of Agriculture said that the USDA can both "protect the integrity of the watershed and contribute to economic growth and stronger communities.” Environmental groups are aggravated that the Department of Agriculture did not finish the environmental study it had promised to complete. And still others are saying that mines are bad for business, as they may interfere with a growing recreational economy that supports the region. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/09/06/boundary-waters-mining Another Boy Scout troupe has trailer full of camping gear. The third this year. https://www.fox16.com/crime/lr-boy-scout-troop-loses-camping-equipment-to-thief/1421169529

On this week's RV Miles, we're talking tips and tricks for new RV drivers. How to get out there and drive that new rig safely! It's not as intimidation as it can seem. Plus, we have news about how you can win a new RV, and a great GPS app you should check out.  Sponsor: Boondockers Welcome Get 10% of a Boondockers Welcome membership with code RVMILES at boondockerswelcome.com, and visit thousands of free overnight parking spots provided by RVers just like you. Sponsor: RV Health Get one month of RV Health for one dollar at RVHealth.com/RVMiles. Resources:  Participate in the Great American Campout for a chance to win a Keystone RV and a stay at Jellystone park: https://www.nwf.org/Great-American-Campout inRoute GPS and route planning app: http://carobapps.com/products/inroute/ Trailer Sway Demonstration: https://youtu.be/i2fkOVHAC8Q    

On this week's RV Miles, we're taking some time to check in on some of our best and worst experiences in our nearly two years on the road. We also have some news about summer RV travel stats, and a story about a small trailer manufacturer's battle against the giant Airstream brand. Sponsor: Boondockers Welcome Get 10% of a Boondockers Welcome membership with code RVMILES at boondockerswelcome.com, and visit thousands of free overnight parking spots provided by RVers just like you. Resources: Airstream Seeks to Block New Silver Streak Manufacturer

Pictured: Texas homestead during a 1935 dust storm On today's RV Miles, we talk weather facts and weather safety. Severe weather can pop up anywhere at any time and it is important to stay alert and stay safe. Plus, we'll catch you up on all the amazing deals to be found this Memorial Day weekend, and as gas prices rise, GasBuddy predicts summer travel will drop.  Sponsor: Boondockers Welcome Get 10% of a Boondockers Welcome membership with code RVMILES at boondockerswelcome.com, and visit thousands of free overnight parking spots provided by RVers just like you.  

On today's RV Miles, we talk the ins and outs of state parks. If you avoid them, you shouldn't! But there's a lot to know about the pros and cons of state park campgrounds. Plus, we'll catch you up on the E.coli outbreak at Canyonlands National Park, and a new Winnebago model that boasts an electric system that can run an air conditioner all night on batteries.  Sponsor: Boondockers Welcome Get 10% of a Boondockers Welcome membership with code RVMILES at boondockerswelcome.com, and visit thousands of free overnight parking spots provided by RVers just like you. Resources: Winnebago Partners with Volta for Electric Vehicle-Grade Power System in 2019 Travato DontMoveFirewood.org St. Bernard State Park Bottomless Lakes State Park Buccaneer State Park Pere Marquette State Park City of Rocks State Park

Today on the podcast I’m interviewing Marianne Edwards and her daughter Anna Maste, who are the two co-founders of Boondockers Welcome. Boondockers Welcome is a website where RVers can find free camping (aka boondocking spots) all over the country. Marianne has been RVing and boondocking around the country for over a decade. She has been featured in the New York Times, built a large following on her blog at Frugal RV Travel, and written several guides on how to find epic boondocking spots. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/rve/message

When people started camping in their vehicles in the early 1900s, they really had one goal: to open up the world. They just wanted to see what they could see and even the most primitive RVing allowed that to happen. At some point, however, things changed. It became as important to take as much of your home with you when trying to, in fact, get away from home. Things like full hookups became a necessity. As such, the number of possible RV destinations seemed limited, the original intent of RVing somewhat lost. But no more. New technology such as lithium-ion batteries that recharge themselves and solar panels that convert the sun's energy to power for RVs are returning the RV lifestyle to its original intent, giving RVers a whole new world to once again explore - AND allowing for comforts like air-conditioning in the middle of the desert. It's the best of both worlds - new and old. Jennifer and I experienced this during our recent 15-state journey to the western United States. We plugged in exactly twice during almost two months of travel. We talk about what it was like on this week's Roadtreking podcast. We also have a special announcement about the availability of such features on Roadtrek motorhomes. Also on this episode, we talk to Paul Ulreich, Verizon's "Uber User," about headsets and portable speakers; we answer a bunch of listener questions' and we get an Off the Beaten Path report about Maryland's coast and a lot more! [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #41, June 24, 2015, of Roadtreking - The RV Lifestyle Podcast: First Things First: Roadtrek Announces Availability of Alt-Energy Packages The show begins with Jennifer joining Mike from their Michigan home after a 15-state journey across the country in their RV. Jennifer raves about how energy independent they are thanks to the electrical system in their Roadtrek CS Adventurous XL. You can read Mike's blog post about it here: https://rvlifestyle.com/rv-trip-report-im-energy-independent-and-can-go-where-i-want/  [spp-timestamp time="1:53"] Mike also announces that Roadtrek is rolling out lithium-ion batteries and new solar packages that will allow extended off-the-grid camping capabilities https://www.facebook.com/groups/roadtreking/permalink/477258052433179/ [spp-timestamp time="9:46"] Listener Question: Can You Help Me Solve an RV Refrigerator Problem? Listener Larry asks about running an RV refrigerator on DC versus AC power. He has an efficiency problem on DC and Mike suggests a simple fix that can is demonstrated in the linked video and the stream of our Roadtreking Facebook Group – https://www.facebook.com/groups/roadtreking/permalink/457873987704919/ [spp-timestamp time="13:03"] Listener Question: Any Suggestions for Continuing Piano Lessons While RVing? Listener Randy is learning to play the piano and wants to take along a keyboard and stay in touch with his instructor. Mike and Jennifer offer up some suggestions. [spp-timestamp time="17:14"] Listener Question: Can You Help Me Boondock Along the Pacific Coast? A listener wants to boondock on the Pacific coast for up to a month at a time. We suggest where to check - Boondockers Welcome https://www.boondockerswelcome.com/affiliate/3774 [spp-timestamp time="20:27"] Listener Comment: Another Place Bans Overnight RV Parking Listener Paul notes another place that has banned overnight parking for RVs. [spp-timestamp time="21:59"] Sponsoring this part of the podcast is Van City RV in St. Louis, Mo. Van City RV only sells Class B. RVs. Owner Ray Dwyer has been in the RV business for 44 years and is considered the dean of Class B RVs. Nobody knows more about small motorhomes that Ray and his crew. They have new and used Class B motorhomes in stock from the major manufacturers. When you fly in to buy your RV from Van City, they'll arrange to have you picked up from the airport and will reimburse you $500 toward your airfare. Then, your RV will be fully prepared for travel,

In this episode of the Roadtreking RV Podcast, we learn from an expert how RV travel does not have to break the bank. They don't call Marianne Edwards the Frugal RVer for nothing - after all, she's been out on her latest trip since January and has only spent about $150 on camping fees over the past five months. Most nights, she camps free. That doesn't include other things like gas, supplies, food, etc., but still, it's pretty impressive and besides... Marianne, of the Frugal RV Travel and Boondockers Welcome blog and websites, has some great ideas about cutting costs on all of those things, too! And so will you after listening to this episode, as Marianne guides us toward finding affordable adventure and fun and the wide open spaces that most RVers miss. Among other things, Mike and Marianne talk about: What's more economical - long trips or short trips? What is boondocking? What do you really need to boondock? What is the boondocking RV lifestyle and why is it so appealing to so many?" Who would NOT be suited to boondocking? How do you find boondocking spots?" What is the best way to save money while traveling in an RV? How to boondock safely What is a "Shunpiker" and why you should be one? Also in this episode we have news and info about Walmart parking lot safety, composting toilets, Alaskan travel and advice for traveling with pets. [spp-player] Complete shownotes for episode 34 of the Roadtreking RV Lifestyle podcast: First Things First: It's a Dog's (RV) Life - How We Travel With Our Dog, Tai Roadtreking reader Lee asks how we manage our dog Tai when traveling. Jennifer shares how we help Tai deal with some of his doggie anxieties and other accommodations made to keep the 11-year-old Norweigian Elkhound happy while RVing. We also talk about dog-unfriendly parks and how we keep tabs on Tai when he's in the RV and we are out to dinner or touring a museum. Listener Question: What Do I Need to Know About RVing to Alaska? Click on this pic for Roadtreking's Alaska travel tips! Roadtreking reader Cristian from Seattle is headed to Alaska and wants information about proper preparation for the trip, especially when it comes to tires. Also, he wants info on a center screen door for his RV. Mike notes that the Alaskan Highway is in excellent shape and no special tires are needed for summer travel. He and Jennifer share their Alaska travel experience and this link - Alaska Highway info http://blog.alaskatravel.com/tips-for-driving-the-alaska-highway. For anyone planning on driving to or through Alaska we recommend that your first step is to purchase The Milepost. Also, check out Roadtreking's Alaska RV tips (Read more) Questions: Roadtreking Fan from South Africa Asks About Propane, Composting Toilets A Roadtreking Travel Blog fan named Peter from South Africa asks about two things: our choice of propane and composting toilets. Regarding the composting toilets, Mike has one main thought: forget about it because they are not not nearly as convenient as makers claim. He cites lots of reasons why composting toilets are not for the average RVer. After only two weeks, for example, the contents of the vault will still smell a fair amount like human waste. And sometimes there are "glitches" in the system. The toilet may smell, or you won't get a full two weeks out of the vault. That's on top of even more issues, such as the impact of humidity on the system, ease (or lack thereof) of installation, high costs, and more. Questions: Should My Tires Be Wearing Out This Way? A Roadtreking reader wonders why the tires on his ERA RV are wearing down on their edges, and if it's a common problem. Mike offers up some tips on how to handle the situation, starting with finding another repair shop to work with. [spp-player] Sponsoring this part of the podcast is Van City RV in St. Louis, Mo. Van City RV only sells Class B. RVs. Owner Ray Dwyer has been in the RV business for 44 years and is considered the dean of ...