RV Lifestyle RV Podcast

One of the things we RVers invariably ask ourselves at some point is, "How long will I be able to keep on doing this?" Well this week, in our interview of the week, we're going to hear from an RVer who says, "As long as you're moving, you're never too old." Plus, a report on 5G, the blazingly fast new mobile Internet network launching this week and what it means to RVers. Plus lots of your questions, RV News and tips and another wonderful off the beaten path report from the Burketts. Show Notes for Episode #Oct. 3, 2018 The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK MIKE Can you believe it’s October already! JENNIFER One of my favorite times of the year for the RV Lifestyle. I love fall camping! MIKE We’re headed to California this week and the 66th annual California RV Show at the LA Fairplex in Pomona. Although Hershey calls it’s September show the World’s Largest RV Show and Tampa’s RV Supershow in Florida every January says it is bigger yet, there are many who think the California show is really the biggest. Big it is, too. The show covers over one million square feet of displays and includes a large exhibitor tent featuring countless accessories and aftermarket products to personalize RVs, plus 40 informative seminars on a variety of RV-related subjects. JENNIFER There’s lots of convenient parking and easy access to the show is assured with three entrance gates. There will also be three food courts for hungry show goers, and entertainment for everyone from free Ferris wheel rides, meet and greet celebrities, music and an amazing archer. The show runs from Oct. 5 through 14, 2018 at the Fairplex in Pomona, Gate 9. Show hours are 10AM until 6PM daily. There are supposed to be 1,300 new 2019 models on display and a bunch more 2018s and earlier, so just in terms of space and the sheer number of RVs on site, this show promises to be every bit as big as Hershey, if not more. MIKE We will be doing meet and greets both Saturday and Sunday this coming weekend, October 6th and 7th. You can find us at the Roadtrek Display and the Mike Thomson dealership space there. For those of you in different parts of the country, we will be doing our regular Sunday night Ask Us Anything YouTube live broadcast from the California RV Show at 4PM Pacific, 7PM Eastern this Sunday night. JENNIFER We are really looking forward to attending this show and meeting folks. Adult admission to the show is $15; kids 17 and under are free. There’s lots of RV Parking available. You can save $2 by purchasing tickets online at californiarvshow.org This promises to be a lot of fun, we’ve wanted to get out to California for this show for years. MIKE Something else we are really excited about is the publication of our book, “A Beginner’s Guide to Boondocking.”  We thank you for all those early buyers who have been sending us such kind reviews but it really was a labor of love. We’re asked all the time how do I start out boondocking so we sat down and did a guide, covering everything on managing power use while camping off the grid, to meal prep, handling water needs while boondocking and much more. JENNIFER I think what people will like the most is our suggestions on how to find the perfect boondocking spot, whether just as an overnight stop, or a place to really get away from it all deep in the woods for a few days.  We also address the safety issue and candidly talk about what it’s like to be off the grid, both the challenges and the benefits. MIKE We have special introductory pricing on it that will expire in a couple days, but if you want to learn more about it, go to https://rvlifestyle.com/boondocking JENNIFER We should also give our weekly update on Mike’s Healthy Eating plan. If you heard Episode 208, you’ll remember Mike sharing how all that traveling and eating on the road has caused him to gain much more weight than he wanted. He resolved then to go on a healthy lifestyle plan,

America’s National Parks are in crisis. A growing near $12 billion backlog of desperately needed repairs and maintenance is seriously affecting America's National Parks. Inadequate federal campgrounds and deteriorating or closed roads, bridges and facilities negatively impact visitor experiences and RVers in particular. In our interview of the week, we talk to Chris Bornemann, Senior Manager of Government Affairs for the RV Industry Association, who will tell us what we can do to help persuade Congress to restore our parks. Plus, your questions, comments, lots of RV news and Tips and a great off-the-beaten-path report from the Burketts. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #209 Sept. 12.2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="2:14"] JENNIFER As this episode comes your way, we’re way up north at Algonquin Provincial Park in Canada, attending one of our Roadtreking boondocking gatherings with a couple dozen fellow RVers. We’re enjoying the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, hiking, taking a lot of pictures and enjoying some early fall weather. Though it’s supposed to warm up later in the week up here, the nighttime temperatures have been in the mid 40’s. MIKE And Bo, our Norwegian Elkhound, loves it. He’s grown weary of the heat and humidity of the past few months as we’ve traveled through the southern US and the Gulf Coast. This Ontario weather is much more to his liking. JENNIFER This is a very busy week for us. We have to leave here and on Thursday start traveling to Hershey, PA and America’s Largest RV show there. We always have a ball at this show. More than 45 RV manufacturers will be displaying over 1,300 RVs here and there are over 100 other companies that make RV accessories and provide RV related services. We will be shooting videos and we have two live broadcasts we plan to do on our Facebook Roadtreking Page. MIKE We will be doing two Facebook Live broadcasts from the Hershey show next weekend. The frst will be on Friday at 3:30 PM from the Rad Power Bikes display.  The second will be Saturday at 3 PM from the Roadtrek. Hymer display.  Both will be on our Roadtreking Facebook Page  Also, we’ll be doing meet at greet appearances at the Roadtrek and Hymer display Saturday and Sunday from 11 am to 1 PM. We love meeting you and invite you to come by if you are attending the show. If not, then tune in to our Live reports on the Facebook Page for a look at what we’re discovering. Again, that first live report is Saturday at 3 PM. The second will be on Sunday at 3PM, when we’ll go live from the show from the Rad Power Bikes display. JENNIFER This has also been an exciting week for us as Mike is now well underway on his new healthy living program. If you heard Episode 208 last week, you learned why the RV Lifestyle and all the sitting while driving and eating at those great RV gathering pot lucks can really put on the pounds. Anyway, Mike entered the program that is run by the weight loss expert he interviewed last week and we’ve been following it faithfully. So far so good, right? MIKE Oh yeah… very right. We update my progress on this plan every Sunday night on our YouTube Live broadcast on our RV Lifestyle Channel there. So if you want the details, make sure you tune in Sunday night. But so far, in the first week, I’ve lost several pounds and because this is a simple plan that basically cuts out sugars and starches – carbohydrates – we’re eating healthy, organic, whole foods as much as possible, something we can easily prepare on the road.  Anyway, go to our YouTube Channel at RVLifestyleChannel.com and you can see the most recent update. But I can report there’s definitely less of me this week than there was last week! JENNIFER So, that’s what we’ve been up to. We’re having a ball meeting others, traveling in our RV and seeing North America. This part of the program is brought to you Overnight RV Parking,

Today’s interview has to do with weight gain and unhealthy eating habits and examines the way the RV Lifestyle can contribute to both. For me it’s true confession time. And from this week forward, I’m going to do something about it. This week, you’ll meet Dr. Jason Olafsson, whose Custom Health Centers have helped more than 10,000 people lose weight and regain control over their eating habits. Specifically, he’ll address the RV Lifestyle and why you, too, need to pay attention to his insights. Plus, we have lots and lots of RV news and tips, your questions and a great off the beaten path report. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #208 Sept. 5 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="2:10"] MIKE First off, we want to celebrate a major milestone! Our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel now has over 50,000 subscribers! We had a contest on our Ask Us Anything Live YouTube show the other night asking viewers to guess the rime and day we would hit that mark. And the winner is Thresa Abramson. Her 3 PM Monday prediction was the closest to the time we hit that mark... which happened at 3:39 PM Monday. Theresa wins two T-shirts from our shop.rvlifestyle.com store. Now...on to 100K!!!! JENNIFER That is so exciting. 50,000 is a lot and it’s happened pretty much over the oast year and a hakf or so… we’re very happy! So… you are doing a true confession this week about losing weight. I’m impressed. Are you going to tell everyone that you are going on Dr. Jason’s program? MIKE I am. And I’m then going to give weekly progress reports on how I’m doing on our Sunday night “Ask Us Anything” Live YouTube show. I’ve done just about every weight loss program out there and am hoping this one is the one that results in a permanent lifestyle change. JENNIFER How will you be able to do this in the road? MIKE It’s a sensible plan, with real food, organic food, lots of fruits and vegetables and healthy fats and, besides, Dr. Jason specializes in long distance clients, using technology and video conferences. Anyway, we’ll talk more about it in the interview if the week, especially the part that relates to the RV Lifestyle. JENNIFER We are coming to you this week from our Michigan sticks and bricks home where we’re catching up on some chores and appointments before we hit the road again thus coming weekend for a very busy fall travel schedule. Essentially, we’ll be crisscrossing North America from this weekend through just before Thanksgiving, chasing down RV Lifestyle stories, attending Roadtreking gatherings and making appearances at RV shows across the country. MIKE Speaking of those shows, lets share the location and dates. We'll be attending America's Largest RV Show in Hershey, PA Sept. 15 and 16; RV Open House in Elkhart, IN  (not open to the public, for dealers only) Sept. 21-22; and the RVIA California RV Show in Pomona, CA Oct. 5-6. We'll be doing meet and greets those days from 11am-1pm at the Erwin Hymer/Roadtrek displays as well as some live on our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel and Facebook reports. And of course, we'll be touring the shows working on special videos for you on what's new. JENNIFER I can’t wait to get out there. Meanwhile, it has been a very bust week for RV News. Here’s the RV stories people need to know about: RV NEWS OF THE WEEK [spp-timestamp time="10:18"] MIKE Is Roadtrek's parent company for sale? I wish I had $1 for every time I've been asked that question this week. It all started from a story that broke a few days ago from Bloomberg that Thor Industries (maker of Airstream vans and trailers) was among several firms interested in buying German motor-home maker Hymer GmbH, the parent company that owns Roadtrek Motorhomes and the Erwin Hymer Group of North Ameri...

Next to our house, buying an RV is probably the most expensive purchase you will make in a lifetime. When buying a house, it’s normal to have it checked out by a home inspector. Do you realize you can do the same thing with an RV? In this week’s RV interview of the week, we’ll introduce you to the National RV Inspectors Association of America and tell you what needs to be checked out by a pro before you sign on the dotted line. Plus this week, some great RV tips, lots of RV news and a wonderful off the beaten path report from the Burketts. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #207 august 29, 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK Well here it is…it’s the big Labor Day Weekend. Summer’s last big hurrah and a major travel time for millions. JENNIFER I can’t believe how fast summer has gone by. It seems like we were just talking about Memorial Day and the start of summer and now Summer is coming to a close. I saw on our Roadtreking Facebook Group that our friend Campskunk awoke in the Beartooth Mountains out west to a pretty thick covering if snow the other day! Snow! Can you believe it?  We’ve been sweating in the heat and humidity that has gripped most of North America these past couple of weeks but those snow pictures from Campskunk tell us what is coming. MIKE Seeing those snow pictures got me thinking about snow and winter and our annual campout in the snow that we do every January. So, Jennifer and I want you to know that we are once again taking Bo up camping at Tahquamenon Falls in Michigan's Upper Peninsula January 11-13, 2019. If you want to come, you need to make reservations now. JENNIFER This is an informal gathering open to all. 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. We’ll put a link to the Michigan DNR booking site in the shownotes for this episode at Roadtreking-dot-com-slash-207 There are electric hookups at each site. MIKE If you do reserve a spot, then join our Facebook group for the winter campout. We’ll also put a link to that closed Facebook Group site in the shownotes for this episode at Roadtreking-dot-com-slash-207 Let us know there that you're coming and what spot you reserve. JENNIFER Depending on how many will also be there that weekend, we will make dinner reservations in Paradise. There will be snow shoeing, hiking and exploring. All kinds of RVs are welcome! Here’s the RV News of the week: Bear attacks boy, 10, hiking with family at Yellowstone A 10-year-old boy was attacked by a bear at Yellowstone National Park last week while hiking with his family up Divide Trail. The bear appeared out of the bush and charged the family, causing the boy to flee. The bear chased the boy, knocking him to the ground, while his parents got out their bear spray, sprayed the bear in the face,  enabling them to grab their son and flee. The boy was taken to an area hospital and is expected to be ok. But the report got me thinking back to an interview we did on the podcast two years ago with an expert on Bear Spray. (Click here to listen.) Bear spray is something everyone should have when hiking in bear country. To learn more about the Yellowstone attack, click here. Man caught on video harassing a Yellowstone bison apologizes, sentenced to 130 days behind bars Speaking of Yellowstone, do you remember the report we shared with you recently about the man caught on video taunting a bison at Yellowstone National Park late last month? The man apologized in court last week, and pleaded guilty to four charges tied to drunken misbehavior at both Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone. His sentence included 130 days behind bars, banned from three national parks for five years, and other things.

Every spring and fall, Brooks Falls in Alaska's Katmai National Park is the scene of a massive sockeye salmon run that draws dozens of magnificent brown bears. Thanks to a network of webcams, the bears are watched around the clock by tens of thousands across the world. In our interview of the week, we talk to a ranger at Katmai and learn more about the bears and what it’s like being there. Plus, lots of your questions, RV News, RV Tips and a fun off the beaten path report from the Burketts [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #205 August 15, 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK MIKE Greetings from the hot and humid Emerald Coast of Florida’s panhandle. This episode finds us on Okaloosa Island, overlooking the beautiful turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Last week we were on a family campout at Silver Lake Michigan and had a ball exploring the awesome Lake Michigan sand dunes there. We’ll have a full video on that coming our tomorrow on our RV Lifestyle You Tube Channel.  But now we’re in Florida. We’re down here through the end of the month. Catching some down time, catching up on some video editing and catching as many of our grandson Matthew’s high school football games in southwestern Georgia, which is a couple hour drive from our condo here on the Gulf. JENNIFER That’s right, school has started in the south and even though the temperatures are often pushing nearly 100 degrees at this time of the year in Georgia, the Friday Night Lights are shining again. This Friday is Matthew’s first game and we’ll be driving over to cheer him on. We hope to get to three of his games before we have to head up to Northern Ontario for our Roadtreking gathering next month at the Algonquin Provincial Park. MIKE And then we hit the road for a the very busy fall season for RV shows. We’ll start out in Hershey, PA at what is billed as America’s largest RV show. We’ll be doing meet and greets at the Erwin Hymer/Roadtrek display on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 15 and 16. We’ll also be visiting the Rad Power Bikes ebike display at Hershey on Saturday afternoon. Then we’re off next to RV Capital of the World, which is Elkhart, Indiana, where we’ll be meeting and greeting at Elkhart RV Open House. Elkhart-based RV firms account for more than 80% of industry shipments. The Elkhart Open House draws most major manufacturers, thousands of dealers and by most estimates, for as much as $2 billion in wholesale sales. So you can bet we’ll be there! After that, we’ll be in Los Angeles, attending the huge California RV Show on Saturday and Sunday, October 6 and 7. Look us up there you West Coasties… we’ll be hanging around the Roadtrek/Hymer display area and Mike Thompson RV. JENNIFER I love RV shows. They are places where you can see every make and model RV in one place, allowing you to see different floorplans, walk around and see how they will fit with your RV Lifestyle and, of course, get good deals and trade ins. I like them because of all the other Rvers we meet and get to hang out with, picking up different tips from them and learning about places we should visit. I can’t wait for the shows. They’re great opportunities for learning. MIKE One quick announcement. If you haven’t been to our RV Lifestyle Merch Store yet, be sure to check out the new T-shirt designs we have added. We have a great line of men’s and women’s apparel that celebrate serendipity travel, boondocking and our small house, big yard lifestyle. Head over to http://rvlifestyle.com/shop to see the designs. OK…now on to the news... RV News of the week JENNIFER First it was Yosemite, now it’s Glacier National Park shut because of wildfires California’s Yosemite National Park remained partially closed for the third week because of wildfires. But now in Montana parts of Glacier National Park have been shut down because of out of control fires. Lightning started the fire on the north side of Lake Macdonald over the weekend and n...

Show Notes for Episode #204 Aug. 6, 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast: It’s summertime, a great time to be outdoors. Except for one thing: Mosquitos. They can really ruin a day outside. In this week’s episode, we talk to the Centers for Disease Control’s top expert on mosquitos, Dr. Janet McAllister, on just what we can do to keep them from ruining a camping trip. We also ask her about ticks and an alarming new trend the CDC is noticing about these disease-carrying bugs. So stay tuned for our interview of the week. Also, this week, lots of your questions, our answers, RV news, RV tips and much, much more. [spp-player] WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK MIKE Well, here we go. We are back on the road after a week’s respite at our sticks and bricks home in Michigan. JENNIFER And I can’t wait! This is going to be a camping trip with two of our kids son, Jeff, and daughter Wendy, their spouses and four of our eight grandkids. We’re headed up to the sand dunes along the Lake Michigan shoreline for several days of family camping. MIKE Then, we leave Lake Michigan and start heading south, through Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and eventually Florida. We hope to take in a couple of football games played by grandsons Matthew and Jacob and then grad some downtime along the Emerald Coast down around Destin Florida. JENNIFER Speaking of downtime, just when are you planning to do that? Between the blog, the podcast, the newsletter, YouTube and social media, you’ve been working seven days a week now for years. You have never missed a podcast in 204 weeks! I know you love it and don’t consider it a job but that’s a lot of stress! MIKE Good stress, but stress nonetheless. As all if our platforms have grown so has the workload. But, yes, I have a plan. I plan to take two whole weeks off… the last two weeks of December. That’s the plan. JENNIFER But can you keep it? I think you can. I will help. MIKE Hey, have you see our new T-Shirt designs on our RV Lifestyle Merch Store? We have a bunch of new designs for the T-shirts. I especially like the new Small House, Big Yard shirt. We have new ones coming for Serendipity Travel and lots of other concepts we talk about here. I love the new designs and we have lots of ideas of fun things we can add to the collection. JENNIFER I can’t believe that summer is almost over. School has already started in some of the southern states, with more resuming classes each week. And Labor Day is just around the corner, signaling the unofficial end of summer. High School football – which we’ll be watching – starts the 17th. Those Friday Night Lights are about to shine again. Time just passes so fast, doesn’t it? On the positive side, with the kids back in school, that means it will be easier to find open campsites again. MIKE Meanwhile, here’s the RV News of the week: JENNIFER Man caught on video harassing Yellowstone bison alleged involved in slew of issues at several national parks  Did you see the video of the guy caught harassing a bison at Yellowstone National Park last week? The video has gone viral, and as more information is known about this guy, it appears he was causing disturbances at a number of national parks.  At Grand Teton he was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct. At Yellowstone he was involved in a traffic incident before he harassed the bison. Then at Glacier's Many Glacier Hotel he was apparently creating a disturbance when rangers caught and arrested him over the incident with the Yellowstone bison. He spent the weekend in jail. To read more click here or to watch click here. MIKE Yosemite National Park may reopen today but fires continue to burn throughout California, elsewhere Yosemite National Park is expected to reopen this week - if the smoke from nearby wildfires clears a bit so it is not dangerous to breathe. Some 17 large wildfires were burning throughout California last weekend causing President Trump to declare a state of emergency.

Lots of us have had it with crowded campgrounds. And we resent having to pay $30 bucks and up for a simple overnight stay. But then, we’d like something a little better than a Walmart parking lot. Sure, there are alternatives. But just for overnight, finding a dispersed camping spot in a state or national forest is often too much of a hassle. Well, we have a much better alternative: Harvest Hosts, a unique membership service that lets you stay for free at hundreds of wineries, farms, breweries, museums, and other attractions across the country. Coming up in our interview of the week, you’ll meet the new owner of Harvest Hosts and learn just why you should consider joining the service and what it offers you. You can get 15% off the Harvest Host annual membership ($79) using the discount code: HHFriends15 Plus your RV questions, RV tips and a wonderful off the beaten path report from the Burketts. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #203 August 1, 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="2:15"] MIKE This episode is coming to you from our sticks and bricks home in Michigan where we just returned after about two months of travel that had us crisscrossing North America, traveling over 10,000 miles and visiting 14 different states and a Canadian province. Whew! No wonder we’re tired! JENNIFER But we won’t be here very long. We take off in a few days for a family vacation along the Lake Michigan shore. Naturally, it’s a camping vacation and we’ll be in our RV. Joining us will be two of our three children and four of our eight grandchildren. Son Jeff and his family will be in their 27-foot travel trailer and Wendy and her family will be tenting. We’ll be in our Class B Roadtrek campervan with Bo, our Norwegian Elkhound. This is the cover of our "Ultimate Guide to RVing with a Dog" ebook. It's free to download at https://rvlifestyle.com/dogguide MIKE Bo’s a great camper. He loves the adventure of it and the togetherness. We love traveling with him. Speaking of which, we have put together a new ebook called The Ultimate Guide to RV Travel with a Dog. It’s filled with lots of tips, suggestions and information about RVing with your dog and its absolutely free. You can get an instant download of it by going to https://rvlifestyle.com/dogguide. JENNIFER Meanwhile, here’s the RV News you need to know about this week… Extreme dry conditions trigger wildfires throughout western states The devastating fIres out west really is THE story this week. Extremely dry conditions are contributing to fires throughout the western states… some on federal land and in or near national parks.   Wildfires were reported on the north rim of the Grand Canyon, but there are also wildfires burning at Yellowstone, Crater Lake and Sequoia national parks. A fire in northern California has claimed several lives, and fires are also burning in Oregon. For a summary of what is happening at the national parks click here. For more on the northern California wildfires click here or Oregon wildfires click here. MIKE Yosemite expected to open this Friday as firefighters work to protect ancient sequoia grove Yosemite National Park is expected to remain closed until Friday, August 3 as officials work to contain the fire ravaging the forest just outside the park. The fire is on the edge of an ancient sequoia grove, with trees believed to be more than 1,000 years old, towering more than 200 feet in the air. The park has been closed since July 25 because of massive smoke infiltrating the park. When it opens this Friday all services - including campground and food related ones- are expected to be very limited. To learn more click here. JENNIFER RV wholesale shipments down for second month

Are you an RV newbie? Maybe you travel with young kids. Or grandkids. How far do you drive each day? Do you like state parks? Commercial campgrounds? Or are you interested in boondocking and camping off the grid? Then, perhaps you’re a seasoned RVer entering those golden years and not able to be quite as physically active as you once were. In this episode of the podcast, we talk about the different stages of the RV Lifestyle and the opportunities and challenges each stage presents along the way. I think you’ll really enjoy – and perhaps learn a few things – in this picnic table campsite conversation we had with a fellow RVer coming up in our interview of the week segment a little later in the program. Also in this Episode. Lots of RV news, RV tips , technology ideas and a wonderful off the beaten path report from the Burketts. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #201 July 18, 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast  WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="2:25"] Mike, Jen and Bo at Bingeman's Camping Resort in Kitchener, Ontario Canada MIKE As this 201st episode of the RV Podcast is released, it finds us in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, staying in Bingeman’s Campground Resort along the Grand River, just a couple miles from the Roadtrek Motorhomes factory. We’re up here this week to present a seminar at the Owner’s Academy organized by the Erwin Hymer Group of North America. We brought Bo with us and he has been a really good boy and has greatly enjoyed meeting his many "fans." The folks at the Hymer factory are very dog friendly and Bo is very happy with all the attention. JENNIFER We have been very busy. We came here fresh from a wonderful week in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, at another one of our Roadtreking Gatherings. This was the fifth gathering of the year and one of the most active ones we have ever had. We did white water rafting, tubing down a river, took a train excursion in the Nantahala River gorge and Mike is still pumped about an exhilarating zip line mountaintop to mountaintop adventure he took part in. MIKE Exhilarating is right. That zip line had us traveling 1.5 miles across the mountains at speeds of up to 55 miles an hour and 350 feet above the ground. It was a blast. JENNIFER  We’ll have a video coming out about the week there but if you are looking for lots of outdoor adventure, the area around Bryson City, NC is a perfect place to go. But now we’re off on another trip, this one to Canada. We’ll finish our seminar and immediately hit the road again, making a beeline south to the Memphis, TN area, where we’ll be for another week. I’ll tell you, no grass is ground under our tires this summer. We have been criss-crossing North America pretty much on stop since May! MIKE Besides the traveling and exploring, we’ve been shooting videos every day and have a whole bunch of them to edit. Besides that, we’ve been working on a special book, a guide to RV Traveling with a dog. It has lots of tips and helpful advice, learned first hand by us with our dog Bo and shared by many of you who have been gracious enough to share your K9 wisdom. How much will it cost? Nothing. We will be giving it away. It should be done over the next couple of weeks. JENNIFER What about our Merch store? How is that coming along? People are asking all the time about our RV hats and T-shirts and the like. MIKE That, too, will soon be ready. We’ll start with a few items and then expand it. The best way for people to know about these things is through our RV Lifestyle newsletter. We’ll notify subscribers there first. The newsletter is free. They can sign up from our RV Lifestyle travel Blog at Roadtreking.com JENNIFER Here’s something I want to make people aware of…. This has been a really,

On this 200th episode of the podcast we talk about a very serious issue – lightning and the particular dangers it poses to campers and RVers this time of the year. Lightning is nothing to take for granted as is all too evident by simply following the news. Campers are injured or killed by lighting much more frequently that the general population and this week in our interview of the week, we talk with a top expert Plus your RV questions, comments, Tips and an off the beaten path report. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #200 July 11, 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast: WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="2:03"] MIKE This episode of the podcast comes to you from the heart of the Smoky Mountains in Bryson City, NC. We are recording this very special episode - number 200 – from the picnic table outside our RV at our Roadtreking Whitewater River Gathering near the banks of the beautiful Nantahala River. JENNIFER And what a special gathering it is. We were surprised by a beautiful 200th episode cake, complete with our logo, by our fellow Roadtrekers at our social hour get together last night. What a great way to celebrate. Thanks to everyone for making us feel so special. Tom McAllister, who says he has listened to every episode, orchestrated it all and it was as delicious as it looked. The gathering surprised us with this awesome cake   MIKE We have people here from across the country and again, as always, our gatherings are for people in every sort of RV. Roadtreking is built around a lifestyle, a state of mind, not a particular brand. We have people in Airstreams and other travel trailer brands, an Itasca Navion  Class C, a Coachmen on the Ford Transit chassis and of course lots of Roadtreks. JENNIFER That's Rick, the videographer from the Erwin Hymer Grouo of North America, shooting us cutting the cake. Rick is here making a documentary on the gathering. Our people will be spending the week whitewater rafting down the Nantahala and a couple of other rivers nearby, doing a mountaintop to mountaintop mega zip line ride and sightseeing on a train that takes us into the Natahala National Forest gorge. The weather has been great and the scenery is terrific, unbeatable. MIKE We have had a great time and we had a great time getting here. Our GPS directed us on US Highway 129 after we left I75 near Knoxville, TN. And the two lane road took us into North Carolina. It started out like any other two lane road but after a couple miles as it climbed from the foothills into the Smoky Mountains, we noticed it seemed to have a lot of curves. Then we noticed how many motorcycles there were on the road with us. JENNIFER Turned out the road is one of the most famous in the world for motocyclists. It’s called the Dragon and one particular stretch if it – 11 miles in length - is known as the Tail of the Dragon. It has 318 curves in those 11 miles. And we did it in our RV! We were so impressed by it we shot a video on it that you’ll be able to see in a couple of weeks. MIKE Speaking of videos, we have posted a special video about our 200th episode. We’ll embed it with the shownotes for this episode at Roadtreking-dot-com-slash-200. JENNIFER And tomorrow on our RV Lifestyle Channel on YouTube, we will post our video of the week, which takes you on a boat ride in Lake Superior to visit the spectacularly beautiful Apostle Islands. Please check it out and be sure to subscribe to our videos there on YouTube. A new video is released every Thursday morning. Of course, Sunday night at 7PM eastern is our Ask Us Anything Live You Tube broadcast and on Wednesdays with the podcast, we try to do a video version of our interview of the week. MIKE Here’s the RV news for this week… JENNIFER

In this episode, an interview with a best-selling author on something that a lot of RVers are interested in: Writing from the road. We’ll help you scratch that creativity itch that traveling unleashes in all of us. Who know, you may have a best seller just waiting to come out in you RV, just like Kevin Tumlinson, an avid RVer himself, keeps turning out. Plus lots of news, RV tips, off the beaten path destination suggestions and much more. But first my lifelong traveling companion and my bride, Jennifer Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Shownotes for Episode 199 of the RV Podcast WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK [spp-timestamp time="2:49"] JENNIFER Happy 4th of July to all our American listeners. And we hope or Canadian listeners enjoyed their Canada Day on July 1. We are in the heart of the summer travel season! MIKE The Auto Club says fuel prices are the highest they have been in at least four years for this holiday. Gas nationwide averages $2.86 for regular, diesel is $3.16. Highest prices are in the west  and New England where regular is over $3 a gallon. Cheapest is Texas, the Dakotas and the deep south, where it’s under $2.70 JENNIFER We’re home but packing… heading out for North Carolina and the eastern edge of the Great Smoky Mountains. We’ll be there starting this weekend and most of next week, attending another one of our Roadtreking RV Gatherings. This one is themed around river rafting and white water adventure along the Natahala River. We’ll be doing next week’s podcast from there and we will also be broadcasting our weekly Live You Tube “Ask Us Anything” video show on Sunday night. MIKE Speaking of which we are moving the Sunday night Live Broadcast up a couple of hours. We will be going on our RV Lifestyle Channel live at 7PM Eastern Time on Sunday nights, instead of 9M as we had been doing. JENNIFER Here’s a quick programming note: Tomorrow, Thursday July 5, on our RV Lifestyle Channel on You Tube, we'll release our newest video,  a recap of our just finished  fabulous gathering at Glacier National Park. We even got most of our encounter with a hungry bear and a very frightened Mama Moose and her calf on video. It was an exciting time with a happy ending. Here’s the RV News of the week: JENNIFER Summer is lightning season, make sure you stay safe Did you know there are places in the country that have a lightning season? A report released last week by the National Lightning Safety Council analyzed U.S. lightning deaths between 2008-2017 and ranked states. What caught my eye from the numerous stories around the country it triggered was some national parks have a lightning season. For instance at Zion National Park, 20,000 incidences of lightning traveling from a cloud to the ground were reported during a nine year period with 82 percent of the lightning happening between July to September, usually between noon and 8 pm. Here is a link to the Utah story, or click here for the report, and here for safety tips. MIKE Story gives helpful tips to avoid crowds at national parks Last year roughly 331 million people visited the nation's national parks - that is roughly the exact population of the United States. No wonder it is so crowded out there! A story out of the Los Angeles Times over the weekend provides helpful tips on where to go and where to stay if a crowded national park is in your plans this summer. The story focuses on Yellowstone, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, and other iconic parks out west. To read more click here. JENNIFER Oklahoma RV campground adds drive-in movie theater Increasingly we are hearing about campgrounds offering new experiences to campers who want to have wifi, screened in picnic tables and more. Well,a story out of Oklahoma that continues this theme showcased a new RV vacation park with its very...