RV Podcast Ep 229: Trying to make the foolproof RV

We’ve been traveling North America for the past month. Checking out small motorhomes and visiting various RV manufacturing facilities and this week, we want to share the visit we just made to Manitoba, Canada and the factory where Leisure Travel Vans makes its excellent line of Class B-Plus motorhomes. In our interview of the week, you’ll meet the two brothers who run the operation,Ryan and Mike Elias, and they’ll tell you about their quest to make beautiful, reliable and functional motorhomes that are also foolproof. Plus, we’ll discuss our just-announced partnership with Leisure Travel Vans, offer up the RV News of the week, share some tips and suggestions and hear a great off the beaten path Valentine’s Day report from the Burketts. Show Notes for Episode #229 Feb. 13, 2019 of The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK MIKE Hello my dear and Happy Birthday and Happy Valentine’s Day. JENNIFER Thank you. This episode is being recorded Feb. 12, my birthday, for release in Feb. 13th, the day before Valentine’s Day. And it looks like we’ll be spending this Valentine’s Day on the road… headed off to Florida in a brand-new Leisure Travel Vans Wonder RTB…. RTB standing for Rear Bed Model. And I suppose now is a great time for us to officially announce that we have become the brand ambassadors for Leisure Travel Van and as part of that sponsorship, they provide us the use of one of their beautiful motorhomes. MIKE Yup. And we’re excited. The unit we drove home from the factory up there in Winkler, Manitoba last week is on the Ford Transit Chassis and that is the chassis more and more RV manufacturers are adding to their model lineup. It’s the HD 350 Transit, a diesel unit, and driving it about 1,200 miles to our Michigan home – in subzero temperatures and a blizzard no less – I find it to be very stable and very easy to drive. After we finish recording this podcast we will finish packing it up and skedaddle down south in search of Spring…to Florida and eventually to Salt Lake City, Utah in mid-March, where we will attend a big RV industry trade show and swap out the Wonder for a new Unity model, built on the 2019 Sprinter chassis. So, we’ll be using the Wonder for about a month or so and will be doing a full review of how it works with a motorhome. JENNIFER Not only are we testing out the Ford Transit as a motorhome chassis, we are also trying out a B+ van, something we have been curious about for years. Mike and I have been big fans of Leisure Travel Vans for years now and as we started looking around for our next RV and the model that would best fit our needs, we found their coaches checked every box. We had some very specific things we were looking for – more storage room, for our photo and video gear and our camping accessories; comfortable, permanent beds with a mattress so we didn’t have to sleep on a pads atop a bunch of sofa cushions; a designated work space for Mike to edit videos and work on the blog and our ebooks; and we also wanted a stand up dry shower, a bigger bathroom and , as we were looking for a new sponsor, a certain type of company we could confidently attach ourselves to. MIKE And that was a big item on our list: We wanted a family owned company with a solid reputation for quality, integrity and customer care. And Leisure Travel Vans is all that and more. You’ll be able to understand why we are so delighted to be their ambassadors and drive their products in a few minutes, when you meet Ryan and Mike Elias. And Tomorrow, Thursday February 14 at 7PM Eastern, we will have a premiere showing of our visit to the Leisure Travel Vans factory on our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel. Those of you listening to the podcast after Feb. 14 can find it available to watch on demand on our RV Lifestyle Channel at youtube.com/rvlifestyle. But a You Tube Premiere is a big deal. We’ll all be able to watch it for the first time together as it rolls at 7PM, interacting in a chat room as the video plays. We may even do a quick live stream right afterwards, though as Jen said, we will be on the road, somewhere between Michigan and Florida, and there’s no guarantee we will have strong enough Internet to do a live stream afterwards. We’ll try. But for sure the video Premiere will work and that is scheduled for 7PM. JENNIFER JENNIFER It sure has been a busy month for us. We’re anxious to hit the road and start doing more RV Lifestyle stories as we tour Florida and the Gulf States and make our way west to Utah. For me, the real RV Travel season starts when we can de-winterize the RV and we’re hoping to do that someplace in Alabama and northern Florida. I love wintertime and snow, but I also like sunshine and warm weather and its now time for us to go get warm! RV News of the Week MIKE Congress moves closer to restore funding to America's National Scenic Byways The National Scenic Byways program, which began in 1991 under the Department of Transportation, could receive new life under a bill passed last week in the U.S. House of Representatives. There are 150 roads designated National Scenic Byways (such as Route 66), because of their unique qualities. The roads are often popular with RVers, but the National Scenic Byways program has been without funding since 2012. The bill now sent to the Senate could change that. (click here for more information.)  Reading the story got me thinking to Jennifer and my trip along historic Route 66 - a National Scenic Byway. We shared out adventure on one of our earliest podcasts! To listen to our report, click here. JENNIFER Yellowstone records third highest visitors; see buffalo charging by winter tourists  Yellowstone National Park announced last week that it recorded its third highest number of visitors, with more than 4 million visiting the iconic park in 2018. But what really caught my attention in Yellowstone news last week was an incredible video taken by a winter tourist. The tourists were in the park with a guide when out of nowhere a buffalo appeared, running full speed, passing within a foot of their vehicle. Click here to see the video. MIKE Wolf placed by National Park officials on Isle Royale uses an ice bridge to return to mainland Many of you may remember last year when we reported a program to capture wolves and release them at Isle Royale, a National Park in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Researchers wanted to relocate wolves to the remote national park to keep the ever-growing moose population in check. The wolf relocation program got off to a rocky start when one of the wolves died in captivity before she could be released, and another wolf died shortly after he was released. Well, last week a story was out showing that yet another wolf brought over to the island was gone - this one took advantage of the polar vortex that hit much of the country, crossed an ice bridge off the island, and was back in Minnesota. To read more, click here. JENNIFER Dog saves man from rabid racoon    One story I saw out of Pennsylvania’s Poconos Mountains last week really highlighted the old saying that a dog is man's best friend. Apparently a 60-year-old man was walking with his dog in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area when a rabid raccoon came out of nowhere and started attacking him. The startled man slipped in some mud, the rabid animal biting and attacking, when his dog came to his rescue, grabbed the raccoon and likely broke its neck. The man was taken to a hospital for rabies treatment, and the dog was seen by a veterinarian and was OK. A park ranger killed the racoon. To read more, click here. 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 A caller asks about supplemental Medicare insurance and traveling, and also about joining a fitness club And we had two calls from listeners responding to something we asked them to do last week… call our special Voice Message line at 586-372-6990 and tell us about the favorite things they most like about their RVs. RV INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK Ryan and Mike Elias of Leisure Travel Vans MIKE Time now for our RV Interview of the week and this week, we introduce you to Ryan and Mike Elias, who lead Leisure Travel Vans in Winkler, Manitoba. Ryan, who is the general manager, and Mike, the marketing director, are great-grandsons of one of the company’s founders. JENNIFER Leisure Travel Vans have long had a reputation for unparalleled quality and they build what are known as Class B-Plus RVs. That’s really a made-up term. Technically, they are Class Cs. But instead of the traditional overhanging cab seen on a Class C, B-Plus vans are more streamlined and don’t look nearly as boxy. MIKE They are roomy on the inside, about 10 inches wider than a Class B, but about the same length – 24 feet nine inches – and height – about 10 feet tall -as a Class B Sprinter XL Class B model. JENNIFER Listen in now as we talk with Ryan and Mike about their company and their quest to build the foolproof van. Here’s a transcript of the interview: Mike Wendland:           Well, first, Ryan and Mike, thank you guys for inviting us here. We really enjoyed the tour of Leisure Travel Vans. The weather could have been a little cooler- Mike Elias:                    Well, we warmed it up from last week for you a little bit. Mike Wendland:           Really? When I said it could have been cooler, I meant that facetiously, but I guess it was cooler. Mike Elias:                    Oh, no last week, I think she dropped down to about minus 45 Celsius. Ryan Elias:                    Yeah. Mike Elias:                    She was cold. Mike Wendland:           It's 45 Celsius. That's about the same as it is in Fahrenheit. Mike Elias:                    I don't think it matters, right? Mike Wendland:           No. [crosstalk 00:00:32]