Episode 102: The Roadtreking RV Guide to Fun Fall Events

In this episode we talk about fall fun and RV travel… plus we discuss seat belt laws and sleeping in the back of a motorhome while driving, choosing the right vehicle to tow a travel trailer. There’s lots of tips, interesting RV news and a fun off the beaten path report. Click the player below to listen now or scroll down through the shownotes details and resources. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] In this episode, we talk about our fall schedule and some fall activities that our readers can participate in. [spp-timestamp time="5:56"] They include: National Apple Harvest Festivalin Arendtsville, Penn - Oct. 1,2, 8-9 International Balloon Festival in Albuquerque, NM - Oct. 1-9 World Championship Punkin’ Chunkin’ in Nassau, Del. - Nov. 4-6 German Village Oktoberfest in Columbus, Ohio - Sept. 23-25 Or check out this full list of the Best Fall Festivals And here is a list of three of the big events Mike and Jennifer will be attending this fall. Our Roadtreking Tobermore Roadtreking Gathering - Sept 5-9 America’s Biggest RV Show in Hershey, Pa – Sept. 14-18 (Look for us hanging around the Roadtrek and Erwin Hymer Group of North America booths) Our Porcupine Mountains Fall Foilage Gathering - Oct. 10-13, 2016 This part of the podcast brought to you by RadPower Bikes (www.RadPowerBikes.com_… an electric bike manufacturer offering direct to consumer pricing on powerful premium electric bikes. JENNIFER'S TIP OF THE WEEK Shari has a tip about Getting rid of sand and dust… and a question, too, about sleeping in the back of a motorhome while moving. [spp-timestamp time="20:20"] There’s lots of controversy about the issue of walking around in a moving motothome. As to legality, as far as we could find out, in most states, you can. Kids have to be buckled in the regular seats. Always. So do the front seat driver and passenger. In a motorhome, though, even the seat-belt law becomes very questionable. Most states only require those in the front seats, the driving area, to wear seatbelts. Those in the living area are free to roam or sit without belts. Therefore, it would be legal to sleep in the back bed while driving. Trailers are different. Most states only allow passengers in a trailer when it is a 5th wheel and there is a communication system to the driver. It basically comes down to a risk management decision We do. We also have belts back there. Think of a tour bus or an airplane. Each of these vehicles permit you to move about when safe. There is always that risk that something could happen. Many of the long haul trucks with sleepers you see on the highway have the other driver sleeping in the bunk. The tip of the week is brought to you by Good Sam, the world's most popular RV organization, now celebrating its 50th year. LISTENER QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK: Chuck asks about choosing the proper tow vehicle for his new travel trailer that has a unit base weight of 5,600 pounds, a gross vehicle weight rating of 7,600 pounds and a tongue weight of 775 pounds. [spp-timestamp time="29:19"] We towed a 21 foot trailer with our Roadtrek, which was on a diesel Sprinter 3500 chassis. It was rated to tow at 7,500 and the Ultra lite we towed near 5,000 pounds with passengers and weight… it handled it fine The number of actual vehicles you may need to sort through is limited by the weight of the trailer you wish to tow. If all you plan to pull is a 3,000 to 4,000 pound popup camper, you have dozens of possibilities. If the trailer weighs 4,000 to 9,000 pounds, choices become fewer – usually full size trucks, vans or SUVs. And when contemplating 9,000 to 20,000 pounds or more, you are far more likely to become a customer of the American Big Three – Ford, Chevy/GMC or Dodge, although Toyota or Nissan have full-size trucks suitable for the lower end of this scale. You also want to use a weight distributing hitch with sway control.