Episode 204: Dealing with Mosquitos while camping

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. Yosemite closed July 25 because of smoke and so firefighters could more easily battle a blaze on the park's edge near a grove of ancient sequoia trees. California's wildfires are blamed for seven deaths and are being fought by some 14,000 people coming from states throughout the country. (click here). Wildfires are also burning in Oregon where the National Guard was called in (click here) and in several other western states including Montana (click here). JENNIFER Parasite linked to Minnesota campground, state's health department seeking help The Minnesota Department of Health is asking anyone who visited the Shades of Sherwood Campground in Zumbrota last month to call them. An outbreak of a waterborne disease called cryptosporidiosis has been connected to people who visited the park in July. Cryptosporidiosis is a disease caused by a microscopic parasite, with symptoms that could include diarrhea, stomach cramps, vomiting, weight loss and low grade fever. Some affected will require hospitalization. Health officials are interested in talking to anyone who stayed at the campground last month - even if no symptoms emerged. To read more click here. MIKE Texas RV dealer says woman who is suing over 'hopelessly flawed product' can't request a jury trial A Texas judge is expected to decide soon whether a woman gave up her right to sue an RV dealer there whom she accuses of selling her a "hopelessly flawed product." A story out of San Angelo details a lawsuit a woman filed against Funtown RV and Forest River Recreational Vehicle Company earlier this year after she said the RV she purchased from the dealer had more than 70 defects the warranty would not cover. But the RV dealer argued she waived her right to a jury trial when she signed her purchase document for the fifth wheel. To read more click here. JENNIFER Storm rolls through, flooding only way in or out of North Carolina campground Imagine being at a remote campground when a heavy rain storm comes in, washing out the only road in - or out. Apparently that is exactly what happened to those staying at the Real McCoy Family Campground in Statesville, North Carolina last week. Torrential rains hit the North Carolina area, washing out the gravel road but never damaging the campground itself. To read more click here or here. This part of the program is brought to you by AllStays Pro, the best tool for RVers looking for places to camp, boondock or stay free overnight. Go to https://rvlifestyle.com/allstays for more info. JENNIFER'S RV TIP OF THE WEEK A couple weeks ago Mike and I shared how Bo has become afraid of our Roadtrek. This is completely our fault. One too many times we failed to securely latch the refrigerator and things fell out as we drove, so now Bo has decided the safest place to be is on the front passenger seat with us. This is not only uncomfortable for whomever is in the passenger seat - usually me - but it is also dangerous since Bo could bump the gear shift lever, causing the vehicle to switch gears on the road. Since we shared Bo's fear on this podcast, several of you have offered suggestions. Recently a friend named Dan asked if we had investigated getting a mesh net to block Bo out of the front seat. He said he had one for his car to keep his goldendoodle in the back when he drove. So I went online to see if I could find something similar and found the Wellbro Dog Car Backseat Barrier, a padded and adjustable nylon pet barrier that serves as a vehicle dog fence with 2 Mesh Windows. It’s only about $14 on Amazon and measures 24” x 24” with adjustable strap clips. which covers the gap between the front two seats. The manufacturer says it fits most vehicles, like cars, SUVs and trucks. Maybe it will work. We’re not sure. Others have suggested we get an individual collapsible crate for him and secure that but with only a 22 inch center corridor down our Roadtrek and a 65 pound dog, we can’t find a crate that will fit. Right now, we think the best solution for us is a safety belt combined with a vehicle safety harness that will keep Bo on the third seat, located right behind the front passenger and adjacent to the center sliding door. That would keep Bo off the floor and allow him to look out the window. So we have ordered them from a company called Mighty Dog. We reached out to them and they agreed to offer any of our listeners a 10% discount if they use the code RV. It’s going to take some training and persuasion to convince Bo that is where he should sit but we’ll document it all with photos and videos and share the experience here. Anyway, we’ll put links to all these possible solutions in the shownotes for this episode. And by the way, we have a free ebook that is all about RV Travel with a Dog. You can download it free at https://rvlifestyle.com/dogguide. Meanwhile, as always, we welcome your suggestions and your tips. You can use the “Leave Voicemail” link at Roadtreking.com. Just click it and then use the built-in microphone on your computer or mobile devise to record a message to me. You can do it over as many times as you want, until you are satisfied. And then you just click a button and it comes right to my email inbox. I love hearing from you! Jennifer's tip of the week 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 RV QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK Listener questions we answer this week: How do you winterize a 2018 RS Adventurous RV? Here’s a link to our video: https://youtu.be/3KclDkjfnak Here’s an even easier way: https://youtu.be/_IbStxTTGEk Here’s a link to Roadtrek’s manual: http://www.roadtrek.com/support-contact/#section-manuals What is the brand of bedding we use on our RV bed? We use a product called the RV Superbag. Here’s a video on how it works: https://youtu.be/xm6gWwcJOt0 How do you learn more about your RV and, specifically,