RV Podcast #203: Finding Great Places to Overnight with Harvest Hosts

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 RV wholesale shipments were down 11.4 percent from the previous year, according to a story out of Goshen, Indiana last week. The story was based on information released by the RV Industry Association's survey of manufacturers. It also found shipments were down last May from the previous year. The RV industry reported a record year in 2017, with 504,600 units shipped to dealers. To read the story, click here. MIKE Admission to Colorado state parks free for veterans & active-duty military in August Are you a veteran or currently serving in the military? If yes, you can visit all 41 of Colorado's state parks for free anytime in August. Colorado Parks and Wildlife is offering free state park admission throughout August with proof of service as a way of saying thank you for your service. To learn more, click here. JENNIFER New campground on island overlooking Manhattan, Statue of Liberty making headlines We all keep hearing that camping is "cool" right now, so I can't say I'm completely surprised by a story I came across last week about camping in New York City. That's right, it is now possible to camp in the city that never sleeps. There is a 172-acre plot of land on Governor's Island, which sits overlooking the tip of Manhattan and Statute of Liberty now open for camping. But this type of camping might be hard for many of us to recognize. the campground is only reachable by ferry, luxurious tents are supplied, complete with full beds, plush towels, a personal chef .... The cost? $700 a night. 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 [spp-timestamp time="14:31"] Have you ever been boondocking, trying to conserve water to stay out in the backcountry as long as possible, but your hair just feels - well - disgusting? Taking a Navy shower - that is a quick rinse and soap off - can be done pretty efficiently with minimal water. But when it comes to washing and conditioning your hair, especially for many of us women with full heads of thick hair, there is no way to get that shampoo and then conditioner out without using lots and lots of water. Well, let me share with you a product I recently learned about called dry shampoo. It is designed to refresh your hair and prevent a greasy feeling between washes. Several companies make it, and it really does help Here's how it works. It comes in a spray can. Shake it thoroughly. Then hold it about 8-12 inches from the roots of your hair and spray. You will need to section off your hair, and spray it directly on those oily roots systematically all over your head. Then use the palm of your hand to rub any extra powder directly on to your roots, letting it absorb the oil, and watch that yucky feeling - and look - go away. Many companies now make dry shampoos. You can find it at Walmart, drug stores, and even Amazon. Suave's version sells for about $13 on Amazon. Personally, the hardest thing about boondocking for me is the challenge of washing. I do not like how I feel when I go too long between shampoos and finding something that can make me feel better when out there is totally worth it I will put links to the Suave product I mentioned in the show notes, in case it can also help you. And 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 LISTENER RV QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK [spp-timestamp time="19:18"] Michelle has a very old campervan she just bought but needs a power solution for her various electronic gadgets. One I suggest is the Goal Zero Yeti 400 Portable Power Station. It costs about $400 but it is a battery power supply that can power up to seven devices at once. It lets you charge phones, tablets, laptops, cameras, and most small devices. It is even enough backup power for small appliances, lights and so on. It is billed as an off-grid solution for places without power and has USB, AC, and 12V outputs. It is rechargeable and at home is completely charged after plugged in for 5 hours from a wall outlet with the included AC charger. You can pug it into your towing vehicles cigarette adapter and it will be completely charged in 13 hours with the available car charger. They even have solar panels you can buy that can top it off in about 8 hours. A listener headed to Alaska next year wants to avoid the insects up there, where the mosquitos are so big they are the unofficial state bird. Since Mike was just interviewing an e entomologist for the Centers for Disease Control for something we’ll be reporting on next week, I put the question to here. Dr. Janet McAlister answers Terry had a comment about a recent video story Jennifer did on cooking with the RV’s convection oven And Gene says he now understands how the Alde hydronic heating system works in and RV after reading this story in on our RV Lifestyle blog. Roseann asks about finding an owners manual for an old Roadtrek. Here’s the link for finding owner manuals on all Roadtrek models going back to the 1980s - http://www.roadtrek.com/support-contact/#section-manuals 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 INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK [spp-timestamp time="35:27"] Our guest today is Joel Holland,