When RV Life Goes Wrong: The “Best Bad Luck” Story You Need to Hear

Unknown Speaker (0:01): This is episode five ninety eight of the RV podcast.

Unknown Speaker (0:05): And this week on the podcast.

Bert McCormick (0:07): Things are just gonna happen. You know, I saw a great phrase a while back that said, God is testing me, and I didn't study. So we're thinking about having the back of our rig painted best, worst luck.

Mike Wendland (0:21): In this episode's conversation of the week, we're going to hear from a full time RV couple who seemed to attract bad luck on the road and how they have learned to laugh through it all and keep moving forward.

Unknown Speaker (0:34): Plus, we'll share travel tips for an epic road trip that belongs on everyone's bucket list, answer your RV questions, and much more. We're so glad you're putting us into your ear this week.

Mike Wendland (0:46): So hello, everybody, and welcome to the RV podcast. I'm Mike Wendland, and this is my lifelong traveling companion and my bride, Jennifer. Hello, my dear.

Jennifer Wendland (0:55): Hello, my Michael. And this is the RV podcast stories from the road edition. You can find complete show notes for this episode at rvpodcast.com where you will also find every episode of the RV podcast going back for almost a dozen years. And remember, we release two episodes every week. On Wednesday, this edition, stories from the road, focusing on the RV lifestyle, the people, places, and experiences that make life on wheels so special.

Jennifer Wendland (1:26): Then every Monday, we bring you the RV news edition covering the biggest stories of the week that impact your travels.

Mike Wendland (1:33): I'm pretty excited about this episode because this is the week we finally get to talk about what we have been quietly working on for the past few months.

Unknown Speaker (1:42): Oh, I am so glad because I have wanted to tell people about this for a while now.

Mike Wendland (1:48): So here's the deal. We kept hearing the same thing over and over from listeners and community members. Planning an RV trip can be overwhelming. Too many websites, too many decisions, nothing in one place. And, honestly, we felt that way ourselves for many of the past fifteen years.

Unknown Speaker (2:06): We really did. And we finally just said, okay. Let's fix it.

Mike Wendland (2:10): So what we did is we built the RV Lifestyle Planning Center. Now it's live right now at rvlifestyle.com/plan. RV travel routes, state, RV guides, trip planning tools, budgets, checklist, apps, everything that we've developed for fifteen years on the road, all pulled together into one still growing hub.

Unknown Speaker (2:34): It's a resource I wish we had when we started.

Mike Wendland (2:37): That's exactly it. So, anyway, I wanna just tell you it's up and live now and invite you to go take a look. Rvlifestyle.com/plan. Let us know what you think. We put a lot into this one, and we're really excited to finally be able to share it with you.

Mike Wendland (2:53): Now before we jump into the podcast, with summer travel season right around the corner, it means now is the time to think about your RV protection plan. If you spend a lot of time on the road like we do, you know that breakdowns can happen at any time, especially after going long stretches without operating your RV.

Jennifer Wendland (3:12): And with repair costs and fuel prices as high as they are, just one unexpected failure can really put a dent in your travel budget.

Mike Wendland (3:20): So that's why we recommend checking out wholesale warranties. Now their plans cover major repairs, potentially saving you thousands. Plus, you can take your rig to any licensed repair shop in The US and Canada, even mobile mechanics, so you're covered wherever you travel this summer.

Jennifer Wendland (3:36): So before you head out on your next big road trip, take a few minutes to go over your coverage options. With wholesale warranties, you'll work with a knowledgeable specialist who will tailor your plan to meet your RV lifestyle preferences.

Mike Wendland (3:51): You can get a free, no obligation quote today. Go to wholesalewarranties.com/rvlifestyle, and we'll put that link in the description below as well. Now it's time for the conversation of the week, stories from the road. Now you know that if you spend any time on social media and some of those RV influences out there looking at RV life, it all starts to look perfect.

Jennifer Wendland (4:16): Oh, yeah. Sunset shots, perfectly staged campsites, coffee mugs by the fire, sweeping drone footage. Everything always looks so easy.

Unknown Speaker (4:26): Nothing ever goes wrong in those videos. There's never any breakdowns. No bad weather. No wrong turns. No what were we thinking moments like there is in real life.

Jennifer Wendland (4:36): But if you've been out there for any length of time, you know that's not the whole story.

Mike Wendland (4:41): Not even close because real RV life, the kind most of us actually live includes the unexpected. Sometimes you just have one of those days.

Unknown Speaker (4:52): Or one of those week.

Unknown Speaker (4:53): Or one of those trips.

Jennifer Wendland (4:54): And honestly, that's where the real stories are. That's where you learn. That's where the memories come from.

Unknown Speaker (5:01): Our story from the road this week, I have a couple of guests on who are going to tell us all about because they know all about that side of the RV lifestyle.

Unknown Speaker (5:10): They are full time RVers, and they've had more than their share of things not going according to plan.

Unknown Speaker (5:16): In fact, they told us they believe they may have the best bad luck of anybody ever met.

Unknown Speaker (5:22): And when you hear their stories, you'll understand exactly what they meant.

Unknown Speaker (5:27): But here's the thing. Through all of it, the breakdowns, the detours, the unexpected challenges, they're still out there, still traveling, still loving the lifestyle.

Jennifer Wendland (5:37): Because that's the part you don't always see online. It's not about everything going perfectly. It's about how you handle it when it doesn't.

Mike Wendland (5:46): So let's get into it. This is a conversation about the real RV life, the messy parts, the frustrating parts, and, yes, even the funny parts.

Unknown Speaker (5:54): And I think a lot of you are going to hear yourselves in this one.

Mike Wendland (5:58): Bert McCormick and his wife, Jackie, decided to become full time RVers six years ago. Traveling about eight months of the year, retired from the military, Bert and Jackie have had some pretty epic camping adventures, even going to Baja, Mexico with their 2021 Alliance Paradigm three ten RL.

Jennifer Wendland (6:16): But for nearly a year now, the McCormick's have had more than their fair share of bad luck. Glides that wouldn't go in, a truck that spent three months in the shop only to get it out and have it break again, brain flex issues, campground trees that took off the roof, and more.

Mike Wendland (6:33): And despite all of this, they have no plans to give up the RV life. Today, the McCoroughs are gonna share all that's gone wrong in the past year or so and what keeps them going? Well, the McCormick's, join us right now, and we are actually delighted to have you in one piece. It looks like you're in your, your your tow vehicle, I think. Right?

Unknown Speaker (7:00): Absolutely.

Mike Wendland (7:01): And I don't see any dents or cracked windshields or anything behind you. So first of all, thanks for for doing this. And I think this is gonna be a lot of fun to kinda talk through all of your all of your misadventures that that have happened. But let's start through this. Tell us a little bit about how long you've been RVing, how long you've been full timing, and what you travel in, and give us a sense of your life on the road.

Bert McCormick (7:24): Sure. Well, we're we're not quite full timers. We we had ambitions to be, but we keep we keep heading back home every summer for doctor's appointments and things like that. But even then, we just park in our driveway and live in the RV. Our daughter is taking care of our house for us, so we leave her to herself, and it's working out pretty well.

Bert McCormick (7:45): This is our fifth trip in six years, so that's how long we've been on the road.

Unknown Speaker (7:51): Stayed home at COVID.

Bert McCormick (7:52): Yeah. COVID kept us home for a year.

Unknown Speaker (7:54): But when you say six trip, this mean your sixth year, really, because you're on the road year round. Right?

Bert McCormick (8:00): Yes. Yes. So so we our first two trips were down to Florida, then our next two trips were out to the Southwest. The last year, we went down to the Baja Peninsula in Mexico, and this year, we're back in Florida again.

Mike Wendland (8:15): Alright. Let's talk about this notion that everything is gonna go great when you are RVer. And the more you RV, the fewer problems you'll have.

Unknown Speaker (8:26): True. Absolutely true. We haven't had a lick of problems since

Unknown Speaker (8:30): Since two weeks ago.

Unknown Speaker (8:31): Yeah. Since since the last time

Unknown Speaker (8:33): I community, was I know what is going on.

Bert McCormick (8:36): So yeah. So I I thought I had made my quota of mistakes at our first two trips because I made I made them all. All all the dumb things that you see other people talk about on the YouTube channels, we we tried so hard to learn from other people's lessons and found out that sometimes it only takes a second and that one lapse of attention, and you've done something that you can't back away from. But we thought, okay. Now we're smart, and we won't make anymore mistakes.

Mike Wendland (9:08): Hold on for just a second. Back up. Talk about those first year issues. The typical things that you've learned sometimes the hard way that we all go through that all new RVers need to know that they're gonna have to figure this out too.

Bert McCormick (9:19): Yeah. Absolutely. So probably the biggest the biggest thing we learned is that it takes a lot of practice, especially practicing together, to back up. It's not it's not a natural talent. It's something that you when I started out, I knew which way to turn the steering wheel to get the RV going in the direction I wanted to, but I had no feel for how far to turn, how soon start backing away from that turn.

Bert McCormick (9:50): And Jackie's trying to guide me, and she doesn't have a good feel for how long it takes me to get going the other way. So we got a we got a pillow that says, I apologize for anything I said while we were backing up.

Unknown Speaker (10:03): It gets thrown.

Bert McCormick (10:06): The other thing is you can't rely on Waze or Google Maps if you're towing something as big as we are. We had a couple of times where we got into situations where we just couldn't continue on and had to turn around somehow. We actually got stuck on a cul de sac towing once. Our first year. Our our first year of travel.

Bert McCormick (10:29): Our GPS said go this way, and I said, okay. And we ended up on a cul de sac and had to do, like, a 45 turn to get back out. Our first truck was a short bed mega cab. And so I crunched both sides of that silly thing at least twice on tight turns. So it took a while it took a while to get used to all the nuances.

Unknown Speaker (10:54): And

Mike Wendland (10:54): These these are such valid points that you're making. And I'm thinking back about our stuff too. We've done the same thing. Got stuck on cul de sacs and had a bridge out that Waze didn't tell us about. Had a back end to a parking lot, that was not easily back endable.

Mike Wendland (11:11): I smashed out my rear window on one of those shortbread trucks.

Unknown Speaker (11:14): Sure.

Mike Wendland (11:15): But as you say, you figure you get past that. You work out your system on how to talk to each other and do directions. But now let's talk about the stuff that I've seen. Let's go back for the last couple of years. The things that have happened and what you've learned from them.

Bert McCormick (11:31): Well, there's there's just some things that no matter how you plan or how you prepare, things are just gonna happen. You know? I saw a great phrase a while back that said, God is testing me, and I didn't study. A lot of mechanical issues, a lot of things break, and we've got some ongoing issues now. We're actually later on this summer in August, we're gonna be in Indiana taking our rig right back to the manufacturer because they're the only ones that have the facilities that can fix what we've got wrong, hoping that they will be able to fix it and not just say, you're out of luck.

Bert McCormick (12:18): You're gonna have to get rid of this and start spending money all over again.

Unknown Speaker (12:23): Talk about the things that have gone by. Let's let's just just start last year and this year.

Bert McCormick (12:28): Yeah. Well The bigger the end of our trip last year, we were actually two days from home after driving all the way down into Mexico and back to New York State. We stopped at my brother's house, spent a lovely week, maybe two weeks there. Two day drive back to our house, and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, the truck won't go any faster than 40 miles an hour. And not to make it too long a story, but I thought I noticed that I had a I was losing a little bit of antifreeze.

Bert McCormick (13:01): And so I thought, I'll just keep filling it, and we'll get home fine. And we did. That was the that was the interim solution. And I thought, okay. Maybe I've got a crack in the reservoir or a dry rotted hose or a loose connection somewhere.

Bert McCormick (13:16): Well, it turned out I had had to replace a head gasket. With these modern diesel trucks, you can't just work on the engine. You gotta take the cab right off the truck to get to the things that you gotta fix. And I took it I got in touch with my diesel mechanic to make an appointment and found out that their diesel tech had moved to Florida, and they no longer worked on diesels. So I had to find a brand new mechanic, and we got one that was really highly recommended.

Bert McCormick (13:44): And he did a fantastic job, but it took him four months to get it done. Because what I came what I came to find out later is he he and his wife compete in diesel truck pulls. They're out every weekend. They leave on a Thursday and come back on a Monday. So he was basically working on my truck Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to to get it up to speed.

Bert McCormick (14:11): So our whole plans for all last summer just went out the window. But, you know

Mike Wendland (14:15): So you got the truck back, then what?

Bert McCormick (14:17): Got the truck back. By the time I got the truck back, Jackie had a family reunion that she had to be in North Carolina for. And I had to I had to get her a plane ticket to fly her down and then drive the RV to catch up with her down there and continue our journey.

Jackie McCormick (14:35): But at the starting of last year, we had we were traveling along, and all of a sudden, we started having slide issues on our kitchen slide. So we he called Alliance, and they told us who to go to, you know, that was An authorized service provider. Service provider. So we took it in there, and and it happened to be near my niece in Charlotte, North Carolina. And so they had their rig.

Jackie McCormick (15:03): We stayed with her. That's worst luck. And they had it two weeks. We got it back, got two stops away, and it happened again. So we called them, and we took it back.

Unknown Speaker (15:15): They had it another two weeks.

Jackie McCormick (15:16): So we had a month that we stayed with my niece. Thank goodness we were somewhere where we could.

Bert McCormick (15:22): So we're thinking about having the back of our rig painted best worst luck because we've had these things go wrong, but we've been in situations where it could have been a lot worse. We happened to be near our niece, so we had a place to stay for a month instead of renting a Vrbo or an Airbnb or staying in a hotel for four weeks.

Jackie McCormick (15:46): We continued on to Mexico. We were with a couple that we were caravanning with, and it happened again. Happened again. Had them to have at least their kitchen to cook in.

Bert McCormick (16:01): We we had to leave our slide pulled in the whole time we were traveling because it was was just tearing itself apart.

Unknown Speaker (16:09): Oh, and by the way

Unknown Speaker (16:10): Going in.

Unknown Speaker (16:10): Now all the time too.

Bert McCormick (16:12): We're we got it we we got it fixed for a third time. This time, we went to a mobile tech, and he was amazing. Got it day. He got it fixed in a day. We stayed an extra day to let cell epoxy cure that he used to seal everything up.

Bert McCormick (16:32): And we tested it, and it worked great for, I wanna say, eight months. And then when I went to hitch up to catch up to Jackie down in North Carolina, I go to pull the slide in, and I hear pop. And it comes in, but the next time I go to pull it push it out, it's grinding and creaking and moaning, and we're back to square one. And so we got down to we got down to Florida and called another mobile tech. And by the way, it's binding up so badly now that where the mechanism bolts to the slide, that whole bracket broke the weld.

Bert McCormick (17:23): I had to call a mobile welder to get that fixed, and then we got a

Unknown Speaker (17:28): mobile cheap.

Unknown Speaker (17:29): No. They are

Unknown Speaker (17:30): not cheap. Not. And They earned us. Every delivery is $500.

Bert McCormick (17:35): $500 for five minutes of work. We got the we got the weld fixed. We got the mobile tech out. He adjusted the slide, pulled it in, worked great, pushed it out, worked great, but it wasn't quite lined up. So he's trying to adjust that, and all of a sudden, it starts binding again, and the weld breaks again.

Bert McCormick (17:59): And he said, there is nothing more I can do. You guys have something bigger going on because it should not be binding. It there's plenty of room on all four sides of the slide. We've got it adjusted so it's inside the hole and flush when it pulls all the way in, but there's something that causing it that's causing it to bind. And we talked to him about some other issues we had, and he took a look around.

Bert McCormick (18:27): He said, I think you've got a frame that's broken or flexing to the point that it's causing all these other problems. So everything that we thought was an issue is just a symptom of a big deal, and that's why we gotta go back to the manufacturer.

Unknown Speaker (18:44): And they're a good company. Alliance is a good company.

Unknown Speaker (18:47): I'm sure they'll Yeah. We're counting

Unknown Speaker (18:49): on that.

Bert McCormick (18:49): We're counting on that. That was one of the big selling points is is the the quality, the effort they put into doing a quality control check on every single thing before it goes out the door, unlike most manufacturers that check like one in 10 and say, okay. We didn't find anything wrong, so they must all be good. One of the things

Unknown Speaker (19:15): I've been trying

Unknown Speaker (19:16): to get us in.

Mike Wendland (19:17): One of the things that so many times people just they have problems like this and this, oh, the manufacturer, the manufacturer. Things happen.

Unknown Speaker (19:25): These

Unknown Speaker (19:25): these vehicles are under a great deal of stress. So you keep going. You you got that frame flex issue. But that's not the end of your good, bad luck, is it? Your excellent bad luck.

Bert McCormick (19:37): We got to we got we came to the conclusion that we had to leave the slide pulled in now. So, you know, we I compare it to trying to do ballroom dancing with one foot nailed to the floor. We we're we're making do, you know, and we're still we're still getting out there. We're still doing things we never would have done, seeing things we never would have seen, getting these memories that are absolutely priceless aside from the frustration. You know, you can you can let it get to you, or you can ask yourself, okay.

Bert McCormick (20:13): Now what? And so that's what we've tried to do.

Unknown Speaker (20:16): Now that isn't the end of your problem, so I wanna just make sure

Unknown Speaker (20:19): you

Unknown Speaker (20:20): talk about it. A just tick off about two or three other things that you've had, including this year.

Bert McCormick (20:26): Just this year, I I was pulling into a campsite, and I couldn't quite get into the position I wanted to get into. And so I decided I'm gonna go right around the circle and come back in and start over again. Well, when I went around the circle, I had to make a wide turn, and I hit a tree branch. And it bent my awning at about a 45 degree angle. It pulled a solar panel right off the roof.

Bert McCormick (20:55): It put a hole in the antenna cover that was mounted on the roof. And, you know, and I said, oh, shocks.

Unknown Speaker (21:08): And then there was the time when when your fifth wheel became unhitched. Talk about that one.

Bert McCormick (21:15): That was yeah. That was that was right after I joined Jackie in North Carolina. We were at my brother in law's house, and I always do a tug test. But for some reason, you know, saying our goodbye Explain. My brother

Unknown Speaker (21:29): You know, there are there are some people who don't know what a tug test is

Unknown Speaker (21:33): Yeah. So

Unknown Speaker (21:33): and why it's important.

Bert McCormick (21:34): So when you got a fifth wheel, there is a slight possibility that even though it looks like it's attached and you're able to close the mechanism and lock it in place that it's actually not in there. And so what you do is you just raise your landing gear about a inch and then try to drive forward with the chocks still in place and the trailer brake on just to see if it's really connected. So we always do that. It's on our checklist. We follow our checklist.

Bert McCormick (22:08): We did that. And what I didn't realize at the time was I I had backed into the hitch and I had hooked up the power cord and the breakaway cord, but I never closed the mechanism. But we did the we did the tug test, and it didn't come unhitched. It didn't drop that half inch and land on the feet while they were down. So I raised the landing gear all the way.

Bert McCormick (22:39): I took the chop chucks out chock blocks out, and we went down his 200 yard winding driveway, made the left turn on the road, and we hear, kabang. So it fell right on the back of the bed, smashed smashed my tailgate up.

Jackie McCormick (22:57): Lesson learned, don't let anybody interrupt you while you're setting up or tearing down. Just tell them, hey. Hang on a minute.

Unknown Speaker (23:04): Yeah. Yeah.

Mike Wendland (23:07): Same thing. I've had the exact same experience. Only I had it happen once I had I brought up all of my landing gear as and and it was it was actually the verse. I had set up, and people came up and were talking to me. And I was I got the rig off and, bam.

Mike Wendland (23:26): It went straight down in the tailgate. Was just just just without without the thing. But one more thing. Tell me one more that happened. You've had a couple of others.

Bert McCormick (23:38): Well, a couple of years ago, we were about ten minutes from our stop for the night, And all of a sudden, the front end started shaking like crazy. And so I pulled over. I look underneath. I'm looking for loose connections in the steering mechanism, and I'm not seeing anything. We start out again and it starts shaking even worse.

Bert McCormick (24:04): So I I stopped like three times within five minutes. And finally, as I'm walking around the third time, I looked down at my passenger side tire, and I've got six of the eight lug nuts are gone. And I said, what the heck is going on? And I look closer. It's not just the lug nuts.

Bert McCormick (24:25): The studs have sheared right off. I've got two loose lug nuts on two studs left, and that was it. The tire was that close from falling off. And I was trying to get five more minutes down the road to deal with it. Again, best worst luck.

Bert McCormick (24:43): We could've could've we could've been doing 60 and had that wheel fall off.

Mike Wendland (24:49): The best worst luck again. Alright. Now let's talk about the lessons learned, and that is really the point. All of these, there are many of them distractions. Jackie mentioned that.

Mike Wendland (25:01): People come up and distract you. They interrupt the flow of what you're doing. What other lessons have we learned about this?

Bert McCormick (25:08): Well, I look back and I wonder how many more things could have gone wrong had we not been so focused on preventive maintenance, regular routine maintenance, doing walk around checks every time we leave. I check my tire pressure cold before we leave any site. Almost a 100% of the time, I check the torque on my lug nuts before we leave. We always do a brake check and light check before we pull out of a site. And, you know, we we've gotten good at anticipating unsafe conditions before they develop with other drivers on the road.

Bert McCormick (25:54): It's like, oh, I can see this guy is trying to get over. He's gonna try to cut me off. And and sure enough, I'm ready for it. And instead of running into the back of somebody with 14,000 pounds in tow, I've been slowing down for thirty seconds.

Unknown Speaker (26:08): And letting them in.

Bert McCormick (26:09): And letting them in. Or things similar to that. We had we'd we'd been cut off and brake checked at yellow lights more times than I care to count. So I'm standing on my brakes hoping not to drive somebody out into the intersection. So it's Alright.

Unknown Speaker (26:31): Talk last thing, attitude. A lot of people would say

Unknown Speaker (26:37): Yeah.

Mike Wendland (26:37): Yeah. You know, I'm done. This is done. I've never seen a bit of negativity from you guys since you shared these adventures in our RV community doc.

Bert McCormick (26:48): Well, Jackie and I are basically saints.

Unknown Speaker (26:50): No. I'm the saint.

Bert McCormick (26:52): Got good old wings. Jack Jackie will tell you, I have have probably the shortest fuse for getting angry. And and I vent. I'll I'll be honest. I vent, but I get it out of my system in, like, fifteen seconds, give or take.

Bert McCormick (27:11): And I'm fine. And it's like,

Unknown Speaker (27:14): But then he doesn't realize that that's ruined my day.

Unknown Speaker (27:17): Yeah. It's

Jackie McCormick (27:17): Because I'm just like but we try

Bert McCormick (27:21): We try not to

Unknown Speaker (27:23): let us slide off our bat.

Bert McCormick (27:24): We not we try not to rant and rave and focus on the negative. We try to point fingers. We try to shift into pragmatic mode. Okay. It happened.

Bert McCormick (27:37): How do we deal with it?

Unknown Speaker (27:38): It is what it is.

Jackie McCormick (27:40): Yeah. That's And there's nothing I mean, because of all the preventative stuff we do, there's nothing you can do about it. So deal with it. And You know? And, okay, we can deal deal with it, or we can get angry and say, we're all done, and we can miss some of the most beautiful places we've been.

Unknown Speaker (27:59): Yeah. We've You know?

Unknown Speaker (28:01): And we enjoy it too much. So We

Bert McCormick (28:05): we just stayed at a at a Harvest Host that was probably the most most beautiful, serene, out in the middle of nature experience that we've ever had. We were yards away from this huge pond. Canada geese floating around. We saw deer grazing on the other side of the pond. Just incredibly beautiful and a tremendous host.

Bert McCormick (28:34): And, you know, that's something that's something we wouldn't have had.

Jackie McCormick (28:38): We've met people that we would never have met.

Bert McCormick (28:42): I think that's probably the biggest thing is is we've made so many, honestly, close connections with people just because we put ourselves out there.

Unknown Speaker (28:54): Like, we're on our way to meet

Bert McCormick (28:55): some more. In a couple of days, we're gonna be in Helen, Georgia, and I'll put a plug in. We're gonna try to get a mini meetup going for anybody that's in the area.

Mike Wendland (29:04): This is something we do on rvcommunity.com oftentimes, because we're spread out around the country, and we have all these rallies. But for those who don't know what a mini meetup is, just what Bert and Jackie are talking about where you say, hey. We're here, and let's who else is in the area? And there's always you're always surprised how many show up. Good.

Mike Wendland (29:23): Yep.

Unknown Speaker (29:23): Yeah. Yeah. Fingers crossed.

Mike Wendland (29:25): Well, thank you for sharing your, your best worst luck ever. And the lessons learned and just the the advice you'd give to somebody who's listening to all this and saying, oh, I don't wanna go through all that. Jackie, why don't you start and tell us what would you say to all those folks about about, being afraid of things that could go wrong?

Jackie McCormick (29:46): Or you could set in your own hometown and have things go wrong and miss out on, you know, adventures. You you can't be afraid. You can't let fear guide you, and you can't, you know, sit in your chair, you know, recliner and rock your life away.

Unknown Speaker (30:04): That's right.

Unknown Speaker (30:05): And that's no fun.

Unknown Speaker (30:06): No. No. Bert. I

Bert McCormick (30:09): would say nothing ventured, nothing gained. You've got nothing to lose by giving it a try. You may be the luckiest person in the world and never have a lick of trouble. But if you're not that guy, you know, just don't have huge expectations that everything's gonna be great, and don't let the dips in the road drag you down. Just try to maintain a level keel and and roll with the roll with the things that come your way.

Jackie McCormick (30:37): And there's always someone that has with something that's gone wrong, there's always someone that knows how to fix it or is willing to help you fix it or whatever.

Mike Wendland (30:48): Yeah. Well, you guys have you've been you've been a great interview, and we'll put some pictures up of of along with this on our YouTube channel that they can all watch and see. And, Bert and, Jackie are another reason people need to join the r r v community. You guys have been in it for a long time, and it's not me just saying this. Right?

Mike Wendland (31:08): It's it's a great spot.

Unknown Speaker (31:10): It is a great spot. We're we're very happy that we discovered you.

Unknown Speaker (31:14): It's a family. You know, you build a you it's like a family that you can carry with you.

Mike Wendland (31:21): Yeah. That's it. We we've never met in person, but I we we follow each other. We know what we're doing, and and it's it's great. Well, listen, guys.

Mike Wendland (31:30): Travels.

Unknown Speaker (31:31): Thank you.

Unknown Speaker (31:32): You're gonna get that slide fixed. Maybe when you're up in Indiana, we'll be around, not too far from there. We'll meet you in Shipshewana and, have some funds.

Unknown Speaker (31:40): Alright. Sounds great. Alright.

Unknown Speaker (31:43): Bert and Jackie McCormick, thank you, guys.

Unknown Speaker (31:46): Take care. Safe travels to you.

Mike Wendland (31:57): I don't feel so bad. I think I can say been there, done that to just about everything or a variation of everything that they outlined.

Unknown Speaker (32:04): I think this should be mandatory that they listen to this conversation because it makes you not feel so badly because you've had these experience, and you're just like, why me?

Mike Wendland (32:13): Yeah. I felt so good hearing about the bad luck that the McCormick's had because, frankly, I haven't had the same experiences. And I thought, is it me? But it's part of life, and it's part of the RV lifestyle. And their attitude and all of the things that they've experienced that they never would have if they weren't RVers is what keep us all going when we're out there on the road.

Mike Wendland (32:33): So thanks to the McCormick's for sharing that. And if you got a story you think we should know, you can reach us through rvpodcast.com. Just send us a note. We read every email we get.

Unknown Speaker (32:43): Hey. Quick question. Are you getting a little worn out paying top dollar for crowded RV parks? We were too. And last year, we came across something that really changed the way we travel.

Jennifer Wendland (32:54): Rvovernights.com.

Mike Wendland (32:56): One of our favorite stays was at a bison ranch in Indiana. Real bison right outside our RV. Huge animals. Absolutely incredible to watch. And that's just one example.

Mike Wendland (33:06): They have wineries and farms and museums, even a lavender field, the kind of places you'd never find in a typical campground directory.

Jennifer Wendland (33:15): And what makes it so easy is their website. Just pull up the interactive map, see what is available on your route, and book your overnight. That is it. No guessing. No digging around.

Jennifer Wendland (33:27): And these are not just random parking lots. These are unique, memorable experience hosted by real people all across The US and Canada. And the best part? The whole thing is just $49 for an entire year.

Mike Wendland (33:40): And right now, they're also offering our audience a special deal. You can get 40% off that price when you use the promo code RVL deal. After more than fifteen years on the road, we don't recommend something unless we really use it, and this is one we keep coming back to. So head over to rvlifestyle.com/rvovernights. Use the promo code RVL deal.

Mike Wendland (34:04): You'll save 40%. Rvlifestyle.com/rvovernight.

Unknown Speaker (34:10): Alright. It's time for the RV trip of the week.

Mike Wendland (34:13): And this week's trip of the week is one of the most legendary RV drives in America, the Pacific Coast Highway. And we'll tell you right up front, this is not just a road trip. This is a bucket list experience.

Jennifer Wendland (34:28): It really is. This is a drive people dream about. Ocean on one side, cliffs on the other, waves crashing below you, and mile after mile of just incredible scenery.

Mike Wendland (34:39): Now when we talk about the Pacific Coast Highway, we're really talking about a combination of Highway 101 and California 1, and that distinction really matters, for RVers.

Jennifer Wendland (34:52): Highway 101 is your backbone. It's wider, easier to drive, very RV friendly. Highway 1 is where the magic is, but it's also where you need to be paying attention.

Mike Wendland (35:04): Yeah. Most RVers usually start from the North, and they'll usually come in from Oregon. Astoria, Oregon's a great place, and then they'll pick up Highway 101 heading south. And right away, you're getting those big ocean views, wide beaches, sea stacks rising out of the water, and those classic Oregon coastal towns.

Jennifer Wendland (35:23): And it's a comfortable drive. You can relax a little, enjoy the scenery, and ease into the trip. Then as you drop into Northern California, everything changes again, and you hit the redwoods.

Mike Wendland (35:35): Driving an RV through these towering redwood forests is something you don't forget. It feels like you've shrunk. The trees are just massive, and pictures don't do them justice. You really need to be out there and see them, and the road winds right through them.

Jennifer Wendland (35:52): And then eventually, you make your way towards the California Coast and connect with Highway 1, and that's where the trip really becomes iconic.

Mike Wendland (36:02): The most famous stretch, of course, is Big Sur between Carmel and San Simeon. It's only about 90 miles, and it's slow going, but you'll want it to be slow.

Jennifer Wendland (36:13): This is where the road is carved into the cliffs. You've got steep drop offs, tight curves, and views that will absolutely stop you in your tracks.

Mike Wendland (36:22): You'll cross Bixby Bridge, one of the most photographed spots on the entire route, and then pass places like McWay Falls where a waterfall drops right onto the beach.

Jennifer Wendland (36:32): Now let's talk reality for our viewers because this is where planning really matters.

Mike Wendland (36:37): Highway 1 is not a just drive it kind of road. It's narrow. It's winding. And in places, there's little shoulder. So if you're in a larger rig, this can get stressful pretty quickly.

Jennifer Wendland (36:51): And if your rig technically fits the limits, that doesn't mean it's going to be comfortable. Those tight turns and steep grade demand your full attention.

Mike Wendland (37:01): So here is the smart strategy we recommend. Use Highway 101 as your main route, and then pick your spots to explore on Highway 1.

Jennifer Wendland (37:12): Exactly. Set up camp somewhere like Morro Bay or Pismo Beach, and then take your tow vehicle down into Big Sur so you can really enjoy it without worrying about your rig.

Mike Wendland (37:22): And speaking of campgrounds, there are some great options along the way, but you do need to plan ahead.

Jennifer Wendland (37:29): Up north, you've got beautiful Redwood campgrounds, but many of them have length restrictions, so check carefully before you book.

Mike Wendland (37:37): On the coast, there are those incredible oceanfront sites. Some of them right above the water, but, again, many are limited to smaller rigs and may not have hookups.

Jennifer Wendland (37:48): And that's part of the trade off. The closer you are to the ocean, the more rustic it tends to be.

Mike Wendland (37:54): Another tip, fuel up before you hit remote stretches like Big Sur. There are long sections there without any services at all, and what is available is expensive.

Jennifer Wendland (38:04): And always check road conditions before you go. This coastline is beautiful, but it's also active. Landslides and closures do happen, especially in winter and early spring.

Mike Wendland (38:16): What makes this trip so special is the variety. One day, you're in a dense forest of redwoods. The next year, hugging the edge of a cliff with the Pacific stretching out forever.

Jennifer Wendland (38:26): Then you transition into those laid back beach towns, Santa Barbara, Ventura, and eventually Southern California where the whole vibe changes again.

Mike Wendland (38:36): It's a trip that keeps evolving every single day.

Unknown Speaker (38:40): And it's one of those epic drives that really reminds you why you chose the RV lifestyle in the first place.

Mike Wendland (38:47): Now if you're thinking about doing the Pacific Coast Highway, this is not a trip that you just wanna wing.

Jennifer Wendland (38:52): There are too many route decisions, too many Campground options, and too many places where a wrong turn and a big rig could turn into a stressful situation.

Mike Wendland (39:03): So that is why we created our own Pacific Coast Highway RV travel guide.

Jennifer Wendland (39:09): It walks you through the entire route step by step, shows you where to stay, where to drive, where to slow down, and where to avoid trouble.

Unknown Speaker (39:17): So instead of guessing

Unknown Speaker (39:20): You can travel it with confidence.

Mike Wendland (39:21): You'll find it at rvlifestyle.com/pacificcoasthighway. That's rvlifestyle.com/pacificcoasthighway, all one word, Pacific Coast Highway. And we'll put that link in the description below.

Unknown Speaker (39:34): Because this is one trip you want to get right. And when you do It's absolutely unforgettable.

Unknown Speaker (39:41): That's this week's trip of the week. We'll be back with another one next week.

Unknown Speaker (39:45): If you take it, let us know. We love hearing how your adventures unfold.

Unknown Speaker (39:50): Alright. Time now for the RV question of the week. Is it too late

Unknown Speaker (39:55): to book some

Unknown Speaker (39:56): One sec. And why don't you when I say that, why don't you say, here is this week's question, and you can tell where it's from.

Jennifer Wendland (40:04): Time now for the RV question of the week. Okay. Here's this week's question. Is it too late to book summer campgrounds, and what can you still do? This comes from Maggie and Don from Reston, Virginia.

Mike Wendland (40:18): One of the most common questions we're getting these days, and a lot of you are asking this, and the short answer is no. But you do need to adjust your expectations a little bit.

Jennifer Wendland (40:29): If you're hoping to snag a great site in Yellowstone or a beachfront spot in California for the July 4, yeah, those have probably been booked for months.

Mike Wendland (40:39): But here's the thing most people don't realize. Campground availability is constantly changing. People cancel, plans shift, weather changes, and when that happens, sites will open up sometime just days before. Here's how you can still make a great summer trip happen.

Jennifer Wendland (40:56): First, be flexible with your dates. Midweek stays, Sunday through Thursday, are much easier to find than weekends. Even shifting your trip by a day or two can make a huge difference.

Mike Wendland (41:08): And then something else you should always do is be ready to widen your search area instead of trying to stay in the national park or right on the beach. Look twenty, thirty, even 50 miles out, and you might also find great campgrounds there with much better availability and, honestly, a lot less stress.

Jennifer Wendland (41:26): Third, check often. Don't just look once and give up. Check back in the mornings. Check midweeks. Those cancellation reservations pop up and disappear so fast.

Mike Wendland (41:37): And then if you want to mix it up, use a combination of campgrounds, state parks, corps of engineer parks, and even overnight spots like farms, wineries, those small attractions. Some of our favorite stays, in fact, have come from those kind of places. And finally, this is the big one. Have a plan.

Unknown Speaker (41:55): Have a plan.

Unknown Speaker (41:56): Yeah.

Jennifer Wendland (41:57): The RVers who struggle the most are the ones trying to figure it out as they go. The ones who have a simple plan, even a flexible one, are the ones that actually relax and enjoy the trip.

Mike Wendland (42:08): Boy, what a great segue that is because, that's what we built into the RV trip planning system we told you about at the start. It will walk you through there's a place that says start here, where to go, where to stay, how far to drive, how to avoid those last minute headaches, some great free resources there in planning as well as all of our guides. Just go again. Go to armylifestyle.com/plan. And if this whole campground booking thing feels stressful or overwhelming, we've got something coming up next week that will probably help you a whole lot too.

Jennifer Wendland (42:39): On April 16, we're doing a live interactive workshop called how to book campgrounds without the stress. We'll walk you step by step through how to find sites, when to book, and how to spot cancellations, and how to build a reservation strategy that actually works even during busy seasons.

Mike Wendland (42:58): You can join us live, ask questions, I'll answer them, and then you'll walk away with the real plan. Now it's just $10, but if you're a member of RV Lifestyle Community, then it's free for you. You get one of your perks for being a member of the rvcommunity.com. But to join this workshop, just go to rvlifestyle.com/workshop. Listen.

Mike Wendland (43:18): They sell out every time we do one of these workshops, and we always are turning people away. This is happening next week, April 16, 7PM eastern time. Rvlifestyle.com/workshop. You can learn more about it and snag your spot right there. Links to it and our planning center in the description below.

Mike Wendland (43:35): But the bottom line is it's not too late for summer reservations, but the sooner you start planning, the more flexible you are, the better your summer adventure is gonna be. And that's what this lifestyle is. I think they got a good chance if they follow

Unknown Speaker (43:47): this steps.

Unknown Speaker (43:48): Yeah. So don't give up. Yeah. There's always openings. Do you have a question or a comment about anything you heard today?

Mike Wendland (43:54): We wanna get them. Send them to us. You can leave us a voice mail or use the contact form at rv@rvpodcast.com, and we personally read everyone. We really do.

Unknown Speaker (44:05): That's it for this week. Happy trails.