Where Boondockers are Welcome to overnight Free!

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 Hello Mike and Jennifer! Enjoy the videos and different points of view . Currently have a Winnebago Trend '17 23D (twin bed ) . Wife retired 3 years ago and decided she didn't want to put up with northern Illinois winters anymore ! Interested in the Wonder RTB , which you did a video on, and have a couple questions . 1- are the coach seats in front comfortable and 2- did you have any problems with leveling at campsites ? Leveling is our biggest pain . No major issues with unit , do most all maintenance myself too.  Happy and safe motoring to you both ! Thank you, Wally T Hi Mike and Jennifer, I own a Roadtrek Adventurous RS.  Do you have any updates as to when the Roadtrek factory will be up and running again? Thanks. Gary UPDATE - Although I had not heard back from Roadtrek when we recorded this episode, after the podcast was already edited I received a reply from Roadtrek Marketing Director Karyn Torcoletti who said: "You can tell Roadtrek owners that Roadtrek Inc is up and running. We are manufacturing motor homes, however we are rolling things out very slowly and taking our time to make sure all quality checks are in place so we can offer Roadtrek customers the top quality campervan they remember. For any retail service support for parts or warranty they can contact the office at 519-745-1160 or email retailsupport@roadtrekinc.com" Dear Mike and Jen We happened upon one of your YouTube videos and got hooked.   Great information and a terrific resource for us. Our biggest problem is deciding on a manufacturer that produces a quality product.  We have decided on a “C” class but who builds a good one?  We have heard of the poorly engineered and manufactured ones and really want a well built and engineered motor home. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you, Lloyd Do you have a question you’d like us to answer, or a comment on the things we’re discussing. If so, we invite you to leave us that question or comment on the special voicemail number we have for the podcast – it’s 586-372-6990.  If you are driving and can’t write it down right now, just go to the RV Lifestyle travel blog at rvlifestyle.com and scroll down the page. You’ll see that number prominently posted on the blog. This part of the RV Podcast is brought to you by Battle Born Batteries, maker of quality, safe and reliable lithium batteries that can be installed in just about every RV. Get in touch with Battle Born to find out what lithium batteries and an upgraded energy management system can add to your RV Lifestyle. Check them out at https://rvlifestyle.com/lithium RV INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK Our guest this week is Marianne Edwards of Boondockers Welcome, which is one of the best resources available for RVers to find free places to overnight. There are more than 2,000 spots listed throughout North America and staying just once or twice a year with one of their hosts can save you much more than the cost of membership. We thought this would be a great time to introduce this awesome service to our listeners because as of NOV 15, 2019, the price of membership will increase to $50 per year, from the current $30 per year. But current subscribers will be grandfathered into the new rate and new subscribers who join before the 15th will also get that same $30 rate per year, and they to will be grandfathered in. The best way to join is through our special affiliate link…just go to https://RVLifestyle.com/boondockerswelcome and you can lock in that special rate. We love Boondockers Welcome and we think you’ll find our interview with Marianne very interesting. Here’s a transcript of the interview: Mike Wendland: Marianne Edwards. Thank you so much for joining us and welcome back to the podcast, it's been a while. Marianne Edwards: Great. Thanks for having me, Mike. Mike Wendland: Let's talk about Boondockers Welcome. It's been a couple, three years at least, since we've had you on and there are a lot of new listeners to the podcast. And a lot of RVers who started off in campgrounds and are growing increasingly disenchanted with that, and are attracted to the idea of getting out of those, I call them “tinaminium” complexes, that surrounded by all these monster RVs, 10 feet away from them. And why boondocking appeals and let's talk about Boondockers Welcome. First of all, exactly what is Boondockers Welcome? Marianne Edwards: Okay. It's a free overnight parking online service that matches up RVers with private property owners. Essentially we've been dubbed driveway surfing for RVers. So we have almost 2000 hosts across North America now who are able to open up a spot on their private property to allow traveling RVers to spend a night or two. It's not meant to be a destination place, but a night or two or three, up to five nights. Many of them, aside from boondocking, which is of course how we got the name, which just means dry camping and a free place to park. It's always free, they don't charge. But many of them also are able to extend electricity if they have it or water, about 75% of them are able to offer that as well. We do ask guests to offer to compensate a host for the cost to stay if they use those type of hookups. But otherwise, aside from joining the website and using it to find hosts, guests really are not paying anything for camping when they stay with those hosts. Mike Wendland: Tell us Marianne Edwards: But other than the free aspect ... Sorry, may I say, the best part is meeting the local people. Mike Wendland: Sure. Being friends, making new friends. Yeah. Marianne Edwards: Yeah, that's right. That's right. And they know the area. They can tell you where to go, what restaurant, lend you a tool maybe. Mike Wendland: Sure. What things to see. I've never heard of anybody that has stayed at a Boondockers Welcome place that hasn't come away with a new set of friends. But talk about what kind of places these are. This is private property, and where are they located and what do they range between?