RVing with an infant

We have a fun episode in store for you this week as we welcome Heath Padgett to the podcast. Many of you know Heath and his wife Alyssa, the hosts of the RV Entrepreneur Website, YouTube Channel and Podcast. Heath and Alyssa are a young couple who have traveled all over North America as a couple but, about six months ago, were blessed with the birth of a baby girl… Ellie. And now, they are RVing with an infant. Heath shares what that changes, compared to their previous traveling routines. And we talk about being an RV Entrepreneur and working remotely from the road. Also, we have lots of RV News, Tips, comments questions and another fun off-the-beaten-path report from the Burketts. But first my lifelong traveling companion and my bride…Jennifer. Show Notes for Episode #272 Dec. 11, 2019 of The RV Podcast; WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK We are in Christmas mode here… hanging with family and friends, attending our grandkids Christmas recitals and concerts, getting the shopping done, the tree up and looking forward to the Big Day. Speaking of which, since Christmas and New Years’s Day both occur this year on Wednesday – our normal podcast release day – we will be taking off the 25th and January 1st from producing the podcast. So our last episode of the year will be next Wednesday, Dec. 18. And our next episode after that will be January 8. Also this week, we’re doing the finishing edits of our next 7 Day Adventure Guide ebook, which will cover Florida’s fabulous Gulf Coast. Barring unforeseen circumstances, it should be released next week. In fact I hope we can announce its availability on our Sunday night “Ask Us Anything” live broadcast on YouTube. If you’ve never caught us in that live Q&A show, just go to YouTube.com/RVLifestyle and subscribe. When you click the little bell icon, you will then be notified when we go live or have a new video to see. So the plan is to make it available after 7PM Sunday, to be officially announced on our YouTube RV Lifestyle Channel. That way it will be able to help those snowbirds planning to head to Florida after the holidays. And just a heads up, our Seven Day Adventure Guide to the Gulf Coast will be followed in a few weeks with a Seven Day Adventure Guide to the Atlantic Coast… so we will soon have two guides out covering Florida. The Gulf Cast guide will be ready next week. So stay tuned! TO SEE ALL OUR CURRENT TRAVEL GUIDES AND E-BOOKS, CLICK HERE We hope you are enjoying this podcast. If so, will you help us get the word out? The best way to do that is to share a link to the RV Podcast by email or social media to friends who would benefit from all the RV travel information and advice we put out every week? Thanks for helping us get the word out about the RV Podcast! 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 Invasive species pose real problems to the national parks A report out last week said many of America's national parks are under a "deep and immediate threat," posed by non-native species, like rats, domesticated  cats and feral pigs. Since non-native species have no natural predator, they can breed and reproduce quickly, causing problems to the ecosystem of national parks. Whenever I read reports like this, I always think of the problem with Burmese boa constrictors in the Everglades and Big Cypress National Preserve (see story here of our visit a while back) but apparently there are all sorts of various critters causing all sorts of problems. Plans for New Year's Day? Why not take a hike? State parks throughout the country are planning First Day Hikes on New Year's Day - which believe it or not is less than a month away. The free, guided hikes will be offered in parks in all 50 states, and are part of a program seeking to connect exercise and nature. First Day Hikes started 25 years ago in Massachusetts and has grown. The idea sounds like a wonderful way to kick off a new year. Woman driving under the influence gets RV stuck in Taco Bell drive through  We've all most likely heard stories of someone having a craving for a particular type of fast food late at night. Well, a 56-year-woman in Washington REALLY must have wanted some Taco Bell when she drove her RV the wrong way into the fast food restaurant's drive through, and then got stuck very late one night. Police arrived and charged her with driving under the influence. Group files lawsuit to block e-bikes from national parks Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility along with three other conservation groups filed a lawsuit last week to block an August order allowing e-bikes in national parks, among other things. E-bikes, such as what Jennifer and I use (click here) are regular bicycles that provide motorized pedal assist when the biker is tired, going up hill, or just wants a little help. The lawsuit is concerned about the speed e-bike users could have while on bike trails and the impact that will have on others using those trails. Canada's British Columbia gets new computer program to manage camping reservations Canada's British Columbia is putting into place a new, online reservation system that sounds very interesting. If you call for a camping reservation and all of the spots are full, the system will allow you to get notified if something opens up and will show you nearby campgrounds that have openings. The system will also have options like buying firewood, or even ice, on line before you arrive. British Columbia has about 10,700 campsites, about 55 percent accept reservations. This part of the podcast is brought to you by RadPower Bikes, a electric bike manufacturer offering direct to consumer pricing on powerful premium electric bikes. Now with free shipping LISTENER QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK Before we get to the email questions, here’s a voice message left us by our friend Tom Burkett in regards to a story we reported in last week’s episode about an RV Toll Pass that is supposedly good on most of the nation’s toll roads. Tom has what he says is a much less expensive solution to the problem of all those toll roads requiring different passes fr their systems. (Play Tom’s message..suggesting the North Carolina Quick Pass) Email from Deborah: Hello Mike, Jennifer and Bo. First want to say Bless you for putting out such great content on youtube. My husband found you during a rough patch of chemo about 2 years ago. He has done OK since completion. We first started watching because he could still "get out and about" by watching your videos. He loves Bo and looks for him every video. We are now in the past dreaming- now planning stage to get a rig.  There will be 3 adult size folks (son is 17 and will remain living with us as adult.) The class B choices are few for sleeping 3 adults 5-7, 5-10, and 6-1. Hope to see you out on the road Email from Rosemarie: We can't figure out a good solution to Sat TV and Internet. Is there a unit that does both? We have a new 2019 Holiday Rambler Admiral and are scared to death about choosing a not so great product only to have to reinstall another one.Do we really need one unit for internet and one for Sat TV? 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 Time now to welcome Heath Padgett to the interview of the week segment. Many of you know Heath and his wife Alyssa, the hosts of the RV Entrepreneur Website, YouTube Channel and Podcast. Heath and Alyssa are a young couple who have traveled all over North America as a couple but, about six months ago, were blessed with the birth of a baby girl… Ellie. And now, they are RVing with an infant. Heath shares what that changes compared to their previous traveling routines and we talk about being an RV Entrepreneur and working remotely from the road. We also have a video version of this Interview, showing lots of photos and images from Heath and Alyssa’s travels. You can see that on our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel or in the shownotes for this episode at RVLifestyle.com/272 Here's a video of the interview, with photos: Here’s a transcript of the interview, with links: Mike Wendland:           Well, joining us right now is Heath Padgett. Good day, Heath. How are you doing? Heath Padgett:              Good morning, Mike. Yeah, I'm doing great. Thanks for having me again. Mike Wendland:           We're recording this bright and early for both of us. It turns out we're both early risers, so this is good. Right? Heath Padgett:              I'm early riser as a default, even if I wasn't before because now I have a six-month-old daughter, and so you have to just be up when she's up. Mike Wendland:           Yeah. I'm going to jump in today. Do you have a morning routine? Do you get up regularly every morning? I've always found that's the best way to get the day done. Heath Padgett:              I would say that, anybody probably who has went through the newborn process,