RV Podcast #279: Meet the RV Geeks

This week on the RV Podcast our special guests are the RV Geeks…Peter and John, hosts of the popular Discovery Channel TV series called the RVers and their own RV Geeks You Tube Channel, which teaches how to maintain and modify your RV. We’ll meet them, learn their fascinating back story and get some great advice about the RV Lifestyle! WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK We’re recording this 279th episode of the RV Podcast  on Jan. 28, 2020 and did you know, today is National Plan for Vacation Day? Did you know that more than half of Americans fail to use all of their vacation days from work each year? Today is National Plan for Vacation Day - a day dedicated to taking the time to plan a vacation and commit to utilizing that vacation time. Annually, U.S. workers left an average of 6.5 days off, unused - imagine what you could have done with that week!   I bet RVers don’t leave unused vacation days! But having a National Plan for Vacation Day is a god idea. Now is the time to start making plans to enjoy every minute of your well deserved vacation days in 2020. Lets get bout there! We are starting to really get excited! We're now only about a little more than 1,000 subscribers short of the 100K mark  on our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel! Having 100,000 subscribers is a really big deal in the YouTube world and it has been a goal we have been working for hard over the past few years. You can help us reach that goal by subscribing to the channel. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR RV LIFESTYLE CHANNEL ON YOUTUBE. We are almost there! Please, if you haven't yet subscribed, please help us reach our goal. If you are already a subscriber... THANK YOU! And please tell a friend. How should we celebrate when we cross that 100,000 mark? Should we display the award YouTube will send us in the RV? Should we try and go live when we turn the dial to 100K?  The time is approaching and I admit, we're starting to obsess a bit as we watch those subscriptions slowly trend upwards. This week, we're trying to finalize our travels. We have some exciting trips coming up… even this week! We will have the itinerary completed day or so and will tell you on our Sunday night Ask Us Anything live show on YouTube about a quick trip that we’ll be leaving for right after we finish this podcast. That will be at 7PM Eastern Time Sunday and we hope to be live from a fun location that we will do our best to show you. After the trip this week, we will pack up the RV and take off for what looks like a several month cross country trip. But the 2020 travel season for us is off and running! 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 Environmentalists call on Florida governor to stop oil company near Big Cypress National Preserve  Environmental groups are urging Florida's governor to block a Texas oil company interested in drilling near Big Cypress National Preserve in the Florida Everglades. The area is home to Florida's black panther, and the swampy land is an  aquifer, operating as a major source of drinking water to nearby residents and clean water for the Everglades. The whole matter of oil drilling near national parks is a growing one in the news, and this story drawing lots of interest from those concerned about protecting the nation's natural parks. Manatees are back at Florida state park and campground, with new webcams for those who can't visit Ok manatee lovers, you knew this was coming. The live webcams at two Florida state parks with hot springs are full of manatees trying to stay warm this winter. Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park has two new webcams. (click here) Webcams are also at Florida's Blue Springs State Park, also home to many wintering manatees. Jennifer and I have camped at this state park several times through the years (click here to see our report), and recommend it for all who enjoy watching manatees in their natural habitat. Have you visited the top 15 most photographed national parks on Instagram? Ever wonder what the most Instagram photographed national park hikes are in the country? Well, apparently the folks at goalloutdoors.com did, too. So the group published a hashtag analysis, and came out with a list of the top 15. The views and pictures were of course, stunning, and might give some ideas of where to visit this year. By the way… do you follow us on Instagram. Look for our photos and posts us with the hashtag rvlifestylemike. State run campground in Illinois to get $1 million in upgrades Illinois' very popular Pere Marquette state campground will close down for six months as $1 million in improvements are made. The 80 site campground will add 50 amp service to all of its sites (currently set up for 30 or 20 amp). Also additional watering and grey and black water dump sites will be added, among other things. The improved campground, which is usually open year-round, is expected to open back up in July or early August. Florida expects 3,000 new RV sites in next two years Anyone who failed to plan ahead can agree that finding a spot to camp in Florida during the prime winter months is challenging at best. A story out over the weekend says in response, many new RV parks are in the works in the sunshine state, and many existing RV parks are expanding. The article estimates 3,000 new RV spots will be created in the next two years to meet a growing demand. That is very good news. 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 From e-mail comes this question: QUESTION: We’ve shopped several dealers and we are wondering if they are playing bait and switch with us. The consensus is that if we want an RV on the 2020 Sprinter chassis, we will have to wait 12 to 14 months. If we order one on the 2019 Sprinter chassis, it’s more like an 8 month wait. Is this true? Are they just trying to get a quick sale? Are we better off waiting for a 2020? What are the differences in the 2019? – Terry, Fort Myers, FL ANSWER: They are telling you the truth. And there are no major differences between the 2019 and 2020 Mercedes Benz Sprinter chassis. 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 This week on the RV Podcast our special guests are the RV Geeks…Peter and John, hosts of the popular Discovery Channel TV series called the RVers and their own RV Geeks You Tube Channel on how to maintain and modify your RV. We’ll meet them, learn their back story and get some great advice about the RV Lifestyle! Here's a video version of the interview: Here are links you can use for them and the show: RVgeeks: Website: https://www.thervgeeks.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/rvgeeks Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rvgeeks The RVers: Website: https://www.thervers.tv Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/therverstv YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/therverstv The interview of the week is brought to you by SunshinestateRVs.com, where every new  motorhome is delivered to the customer free, anywhere in the country