RV Podcast 199: How to Write a Book in Your RV

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 own drive in movie theater! The Cool Breeze RV Cinema and Resort opened the camping area of the park in May, and will open its drive-in movie theater in mid-July. Apparently the owner thought it would be fun to combine camping and movies. The drive-in will have a place for vehicles and a place for people to sit on blankets our chairs outside. To read more about the Oklahoma campground, click here. MIKE Wyoming State Parks relase plan to increase camping fees The Wyoming Division of State Parks, Historic Sites and Trails is accepting public comment on its plan to increase the costs of visiting and camping in its parks during peak season starting Jan. 1. The proposed change would, among other things, increase the cost of camping by $3 a day for residents, $5 a day for non-residents. The change is necessary, officials said in a recent story, to cover the costs of running the parks. Wyoming State Parks are currently a bargain - with sites typically costing $10 per night for residents, $17 for non-residents. To read more click here. JENNIFER Popular California campground closed indefinitely as shooting investigation grows Police are asking for the public's help to find the person who shot and killed a 35-year-old father who was camping with his 2 and 4 year old daughters in California. The Malibu Creek State Park is now closed for camping indefinitely as police say there were other shootings at the park recently that are now part of the investigation. To learn more click 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. So now you know the secret to why we keep finding such great camping sites. Now you can too. Go to roadtreking.com/allstays10 and check it out yourself. JENNIFER'S RV TIP OF THE WEEK [spp-timestamp time="19:29"] One of the reasons I so enjoy attending our various gatherings and meet-ups around the country is being able to meet other RVers and learn about all the things they do to make their RV uniquely their own. So many have their own cleaver little ways of doing things that I am always getting new tips for you. So it was at our recent gathering in Montana when I looked at the RV just across the campground street from us. It belonged to Cindy and Jim Blair and the Blairs had come up with a great way to keep wet clothes like raincoats and jackets from dripping inside the RV. They attached some suction cup hooks on the outside of their RV. Here’ let let’s let Cindy explain. Cindy explains… Thanks Cindy. That’s a great idea. Amazon sells a whole bunch of different kinds of suction cups. The ones closest to what you were using cost $8.99 for a set of two, They are billed as heavy duty and can hold about six and a half pounds each. Here’s the ink on Amazon - https://amzn.to/2NjZo69 Meanwhile, be sure to send me your tips and suggestions for the RV lifestyle. 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 To see our Rad Power Bikes in action, just click here. RV PODCAST LISTENER QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK [spp-timestamp time="24:19"] A woman is looking for the U.S. Senior Pass for National parks for her dad. They are available for $80 and are good for his lifetime. They are officially called the America the Beautiful National Parks & Federal Recreational Lands Lifetime Senior Pass and are only for U.S. citizens or permanent residents age 62 or over and may be obtained in person at a federal recreation site or through the mail using the application form. Here’s a link to just how to get one https://store.usgs.gov/senior-pass There is a $10 handling fee for doing this by mail but in person at a National park, just show his ID and there is no handling fee. So it’s $90 by mail, $80 if bought in person. By the way, Passes are NON-REFUNDABLE, NON-TRANSFERABLE, and cannot be replaced if lost or stolen. Besides free admission to National Parks and monuments, you get a 50 percent discount on fees charged for facilities and services such as camping, swimming, boat launch, and specialized interpretive services. A caller wants to know the brand of solar panels and the solar controller we use in our RV. The panels were installed at the factory by Roadtrek. The controller is made the EPever Tracer. The controller and panels came from Roadtrek but I did add the MT-50 remote meter that I picked up on Amazon. That little $28 meter gives a real-time display the operational data, voltage and working status of the connection devices in digital, graphic and textual forms. It lets me see how efficient my panels are and confirms at a glance that they my solar power is charging the batteries. This part of the podcast is sponsored by Steinbring Motorcoach, Roadtrek’s newest dealer and a third generation family business in Minnesota’s beautiful Chain of Lakes region built on quality motorhomes and excellent pricing and service. RV PODCAST INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK [spp-timestamp time="35:45"] Our guest in this episode is Kevin Tumlinson, an award-winning and bestselling author, host of the popular Wordslinger Podcast, and the Director of Marketing and Brand Evangelist for Draft2Digital. He and his wife travel the country in their 38' motorcoach, attending book signings and author conferences around the country, when they aren't too busy simply enjoying themselves. Links we discussed: Draft2Digital - https://draft2digital.com