Life on the Open Road

This week on the RV Podcast we hear from Joe Russo, who with wife Kait creates the popular  We’re the Russos YouTube Channel and blog. Joe has just written his second book, Tales from the Open Road, and in this episode of the RV Podcast, he drops by to share some of their adventures and misadventures. Show Notes for Episode #251 July 17, 2019 of The RV Podcast; WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK   JENNIFER - As this episode is released, we are in the Nashville, TN area on a family vacation. We’re spending a week in a rented house outside of Nashville with our three grown children, their spouses and our eight grandkids. We’re just hanging out together and touring the area. We rented a house in the horse country near Franklin and among our planned activities, taking in the historic Grand Ole Opry. MIKE – We’re really trying to make this a true vacation, too, meaning we’re cutting back on work as much as we can. Bo is with us and we drove the RV down and will take our time heading home, doing some wandering and exploring. I’m sure will chase down a couple of travel stories as we slowly head north. JENNIFER If anyone is looking for an excuse to go camping and get outsides, I can help. Just 20 minutes a day spent in nature can help reduce stress hormone levels, according to a new study by University of Michigan researchers. It concluded that an efficient "nature pill" — 20 to 30 minutes walking, sitting or completing a physical activity outside or interacting with nature — can reduce health issues such as chronic stress, blood pressure, cholesterol, heart disease and weight. I like that. A “nature pill.” A great reason to go RVing! MIKE A very good idea. It’s that time in the podcast where we want to give a shoutout to our reviewer of the week, whose screen name is MLV55… who left us this wonderful five-star review on iTunes: “I have listened to several different podcasts on RV'ing and this by far is the best one. It is very professionally done with great tips and ideas for everyone no matter what size RV you own. We are in the research and planning phases of buying a class A motorhome and have found what we have learned from Mike and Jennifer's podcasts to be very valuable. Plus, the sound like really nice people and are a pleasure to listen to. Mike and Jennifer, keep up the great work! Thank you, MLV55. We so appreciated those kind words and your review. And we invite you dear listener, to do the same. Please leave us a review and a rating on iTunes or Stitcher or whatever app you listen to us on. We so appreciate the feedback and we read every one!  RV NEWS OF THE WEEK   JENNIFER Disabled can now hike Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park with special “Track Chair” Trails through Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore can be steep or sandy -- but people who require hiking mobility assistance can now rent a motorized chair with treaded tracks to get around. The fact that the chair has tracks rather than wheels makes rougher terrain much more accessible. The program is run by volunteer group Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes, which wants everyone to be able to experience the park's natural beauty. The group says the program is the first of its kind at a national park. The group currently has one chair that is available through reservations, but it is hoping to buy another one later this summer for children. The chairs are pretty pricey, with the first one costing more than $13,000. However, it's free for visitors to use and can carry up to 350 pounds. Since the program launched in June, the group has had more than a dozen visitors use it Volunteers try to do one run in the morning and one in the afternoon, allowing for the chair to be recharged between sessions. MIKE Should we close some National Parks so others can survive? We’ve reported extensively here about overcrowding in the National Parks as well as a woefully long backlog in maintenance and basic repairs. Congress and the administration have largely ignored the crisis and now at least one former superintendent at two National Parks says that given continued inaction, the best course of action is to shut down some parks so the others can survive. That was a thrust of an editorial in The Hill, an influential Washington DC publication by Gil Lusk, a well-respected former National Parks superintendent with 35 year’s experience. The parks are now running at a $12 billion deficit and infrastructure is crumbling daily, just as visitors continue pouring into the parks in record numbers. JENNIFER RV Market predicted to grow to $64 billion over next five years If you ever had any doubts that the RV industry is experiencing explosive growth, a new study predicts it will grow from about $40 billion a year now to over $64 billion in five years. While manufacturers and dealers are smiling, consumers are noting that campground development is not keeping pace with RV sales and that service backlogs at RV dealers are expected to increase because of a continuing critical shortage of RV technicians. MIKE Speed Limiters proposed for heavy trucks Had it with being passed by speeding trucks on the Interstate? There’s a bill recently introduced in the U.S. Senate that would require all new heavy trucks to be equipped with speed limiters that would stop them from going faster than 65 mph. The bipartisan bill is not the first attempt to put limiters on big rigs. Different versions of this bill have been introduced for a decade. All the other attempts have been blocked, thanks to opposition from the powerful trucking industry. This new bill has been endorsed by a cross-section of highway-safety advocacy groups. Most trucks on the road already have such devices set between 62 and 68 mph. The new bill would require that any truck – old or new – equipped with a limited must have it is use when it is being driven. Supporting this new bill is the Trucking Alliance, a truck safety group. I like what its executive director says: “There is no reason for an 80,000-pound tractor-trailer to operate at 70 mph or greater on our highways” JENNIFER Wildfires out west may double this year The last two years have been horrible for wildfires in the west. This year, it may be twice as bad. So says a coalition of fire fighters from numerous agencies that recently gathered in Southern California. They urged the various fire departments at the meeting to prepare for a potential doubling of grass fire acreage this season, with the most dangerous time expected between October and December. “These fires are growing exponentially and they’re requiring more resources,” the group noted. Over the past month, several heavily populated California counties were under excessive heat warnings with temperatures up to 107 degrees. and numerous wildfires spread across the state forcing many to evacuate their homes. It’s the same for western Canada. Wildfires in Alberta and Manitoba have burned thousands of acres of land over the past few weeks. The smoke from those fires made for hazy conditions across the Midwest and even into New England. It’s looking like another very bad year.  This part of the podcast is brought to you by RadPower Bikes,an electric bike manufacturer offering direct to consumer pricing on powerful premium electric bikes. Now with free shipping   LISTENER QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK From Lisa, via email: My husband and I will be living in our RV while we are building our house while also spending some time in it traveling. We are wondering what your opinion is of the best options for internet access. We have hotspots on our phones, but found out that we quickly use up our data from those watching netflix. Thanks in advance for your help and we really enjoy your podcast! REPLY: Check out RoadlinkToGo. It’s a a roof-mounted Wi-Fi and cellular device retailing for $399 One year of unlimited data for $360. It uses the AT&T network By unlimited they mean they don’t cut you off BUT if you do exceed 22 GB of data in a single month you are subject to to what they call “network management.” That means if you are accessing a tower that is experiencing congestion, your connection speed can be throttled, or slowed down. The down side to this is it has to be mounted on the roof. You’ll probably need an RV tech to do that for you. Some working needs to be done and you have to buy a $400 device and the $360 data plan. You can get a Mi-Fi, or Jet Pack device from Verizon. It costs $99 with a two-year contract, plus $10 a month for the hotspot fee. Add on to that the standard monthly Verizon bill… But the jetPack is also limited to 20 GB a month and often that allocation is shared and gobbled up by your tablets or smartphones. I have to warn you: Verizon pricing is really complicated. They are always changing their plans and I am convinced they make them intentionally complicated so you need to go to one of their stores, where a sales person can either upsell you or get you into whatever plan works best for them. There are other carriers out there with enticing offers but those are the ones with the best coverage. Now, you mentioned streaming on Netflix. Watching TV shows or movies on Netflix uses about 1 GB of data per hour for each stream of standard definition video, and up to 3 GB per hour for each stream of HD video. Streaming and downloading take up a similar amount of data. 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.