RV Podcast 216: Our Absolute Top RV buying Tip

Thinking about buying at RV? Hold up. Don’t do it until you follow our advice. What advice is that? Simple: Try before you buy. Unless you are an experienced RVer and know – from experience – just what you want, RV newbies should try out an RV for a couple of days to make sure it fits their needs and lifestyle. In our interview f the week coming up in a few minutes, we introduce you to Outdoorsy, a company that specializes in helping people find RVs to rent. Also this week, RV news, especially about the dangers of taking selfies in daredevil locations; RV tips, your RV questions and a great off the beaten path report from the Burketts that all who love Mexican chips and salsa will appreciate. Show Notes for Episode #216 Oct. 31, 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK Mike and Jennifer We talk about: Our plans to head to Florida this week and Pogo’s Happy Campers Gathering at Walt Disney World The dilemma of whether we bring Bo or leave him back in Michigan with our daughter Using our RV all year around Our winter camping trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan - We are taking Bo up camping at Tahquamenon Falls in Michigan's Upper Peninsula January 11-13th. This is not an "official" gathering but an informal one. We have a tradition of five years of doing this and Bo insists on a snow vacation before we head south. Anyway, we have reserved site 177. If you also want to head up there, you need to reserve your own spot with the Michigan DNR at Tahquamenon Falls State Park, at the Lower Falls Hemlock campground. Here's the website: https://www.midnrreservations.com/TAHQUAMENONFALLSSTATEPARK If you do reserve a spot, then join our winter campout group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1697339513886451/and let us know there that you're coming and what spot you reserve. This part of the program is brought to you by AllStays Pro, the best tool for RVers looking for places to camp.  RV LIFESTYLE NEWS OF THE WEEK JENNIFER Park rangers investigate deaths of couple who plunged off Taft Point at Yosemite National Park  Another sad story about people slipping and falling to their deaths at a national park - this time it happened in Yosemite National Park. They were a couple who had a travel blog, citizens of India who were living in the US. Their blog has been taken down but previous posts had a lot of photos of them in precarious places and the woman wrote that they were fans of  “daredevilry attempts of standing at the edge of cliffs and skyscrapers, but did you know that wind gusts can be FATAL???” Ironically, she then added: “Is our life just worth one photo?” The National Park Service is investigating how the pair fell.  Their bodies were discovered Thursday about 800 feet below Taft Point. Taft Point is the same place we told you about in last week's newsletter where a photographer took a stunning picture  of a proposal. Again, just how this couple died has not been determined. But the tragedy is a good reminder that many of the most breath-taking locations in our parks do not have safety rails. There is an inherent risk in getting too close to the edge. While we do not know yet if this couple had a camera, let's use this sad story as a reminder to be careful because no  photograph is worth dying over. MIKE RV dealer shipments drop 29 percent for month of September   RV shipments from manufacturers to dealers for the month of September were down about 29 percent between 2017 and 2018 according to a story out of Indiana last week. The story quoted an industry spokesman who attributed the decline to a number of things including RV manufacturers increasing their capacity so dealers do not have to order far ahead, and tariffs. While the drop is being carefully watched, many are not worried. Attendance at fall RV shows, like the recent one we attended in California, is setting records. Also retail sales are up, suggesting maybe the wholesale drop was a manufacturing issue.