RV Podcast 213 What does the RV Lifestyle mean to you?

The RV Lifestyle means different things to different people. This week, we’ll hear from a collection of RVers we just met at the ongoing California RV Show about the many different ways they use and enjoy their RVs and what part of the lifestyle they enjoy the most. Plus lots of RV News, RV Tips and a great off the beaten path report. Show Notes for Episode #213 Oct. 19, 2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK MIKE We've been on the west coast the past few days meeting folks and hanging out at the huge California RV Show in Pomona. It’s our first time attending this annual fall show, which in every way rivals the September RV Show in Hershey and the January Tampa, Florida RV Supershow in size and vendors. It’s hard to say which is the biggest but lets just say you can walk a lot of miles at Pomona and still not see everything! JENNIFER. This is the third RV show we’ve attended in as many weeks. First was Hershey, then the RV Open House in Elkhart and now the California Show. If we had to take our impressions on all three of these shows and identify the one or two big trends we saw, we’d have to say all the industry momentum seems to be focused these days on boondocking and smaller RVs like teardrops and Class B campervans. The industry’s clear emphasis is on drawing younger people into the RV Lifestyle and they are trying to do that with smaller more efficient units that are able to do off grid and sometimes off road camping. MIKE I agree with that assessment. I think the question we were asked more than any other one over the weekend had to do with boondocking. And not necessarily by young people. Campers of all sorts, especially babyboomers expressed frustration over trying to book space in commercial campgrounds and state parks. So many RVs have been sold in recent years and there are so many new RVers out there that tit is getting harder and harder to book a spot at a commercial or state park type campground without making reservations long in advance. So RVers are increasingly looking towards boondocking. Which is just why we wrote our new book, the Beginner's Guide to Boondocking . Sales have been amazing, and we so appreciate the kind words we heard from many at the show who have already read it. But in three days of doing meet and greets out there, we heard so many people talk about wanting to give boondocking a try. We were also asked a lot where Bo was and we explained that we left him back home because we had to fly out to California because there just was not enough time for us to drive in our RV between all the shows we had to attend and our next event, which gets underway tomorrow. That event is another one of our Roadtreking gatherings, the eighth of the year. It’s on the prairie in the Flinthills region of Kansas on the Flying W Ranch. The Flying W is a working cattle ranch and we will be camped there in our RVs and participating in all sorts of things, including a longhorn cattle drive, a photography tour and something I am really looking forward to, a night star gazing party with an astronomer. It should be an awesome time. JENNIFER As this podcast is being released the Panhandle region of Florida is being affected by Hurricane Michael. Our thoughts and prayers are with those in the affected areas. This looks like a major storm and it hits home for us…literally. As many of you know we have a condo on Okaloosa Island near Destin which is right in the thick of it all. We have been relying on friends, including Roadtrekers Les and Kathy Shanteau, who we want to give a big shout out to. They live in the area and have helped us move a car that we keep down there to higher ground. Other friends have moved our patio furniture indoors, too. But hurricanes are scary things and we’re hoping and praying this one is not as bad as they say. MIKE Along those lines I have received a news release from the Florida Campground Association. The panhandle and Emerald Coast are very popular with RVers and this is a very busy time down there as it is fall break for many of the southern schools. Many RV parks and campgrounds along northern Florida’s Gulf Coast are closing before Hurricane Michael hit the state. Here’s the release: “RV parks and campgrounds along the Coastal Region, from Destin to Cedar Key or from Santa Rosa County to Levy County, are having to heed emergency evacuation orders and are closing their parks until the hurricane passes,” said Bobby Cornwell, executive director of the Florida Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds. “Some RV Parks farther inland in the panhandle region may still be open. However, RVers and campers are advised to travel west of Pensacola or east of Madison to stay away from the storm’s path.” Inland RV parks and campgrounds may be used to accommodate visitors and hurricane evacuees, however. “Those seeking campground accommodations should have no trouble finding RV sites in Florida as the campgrounds in the northeast region, the center, and the southern parts of the state are far away from the storm path and are open for visitors and evacuees,” Cornwell said. For a list of campgrounds and RV parks in Florida, please visit www.campflorida.com. For more information on RV park availability and updates on the status of Florida RV parks following the storm, please visit www.facebook.com/CampFlorida. Meanwhile, here's the RV news and happenings you need to know about this week: RV NEWS OF THE WEEK JENNIFER Fat Bear Week draws worldwide attention to Alaska's Katmai National Park Have you cast your vote during Fat Bear Week? Alaska's Katmai National Park & Reserve runs a March-madness style competition where the public gets to vote on which bear appears the heaviest each day Oct. 3-9. Packing on the pounds is a matter of life or death for the bears, which can lose one-third of their weight during hibernation. Katmai started their competition a few years ago to bring attention to the bears, famous for their salmon fishing, and it has really caught on. Katmai is the same park we featured in August on the podcast for attracting literally thousands of followers from around the world with their bearcam. (To hear podcast click here.) The park's Fat Bear Week is another fun activity the park holds to interact with the public through social media. To learn more read the park's news release here. To read a story on the BBC click here. And read the rankings, click here. MIKE Conservationists say over-crowding in some Canadian national parks causing problems, damaging ecosystem Conservationists are calling for a limit to daily visitors in some of Canada's most popular national parks. Like the U.S. National Parks system, the Canadian parks are also seeing record numbers of visitors. The result is massive congestion, inadequate parking, and damage to the ecological system, according to a couple stories out last week. The conservationists pointed to the closure of Waterton in 2017 briefly, because of over crowding - a first- and stressed something needs to be done. To learn more click here or here. JENNIFER RV Industry Association says new agreement with Canada and Mexico will benefit RV makers The new trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico to replace NAFTA will benefit the RV Industry, the RV Industry Association said in a press release last week. Motorhomes and travel trailers are not included in the pact's rules of origin for motor vehicles, something the RV industry calls a victory and the agreement includes language exempting Canada and Mexico from future U.S. tariffs on imported automobiles and parts. To read more click here. MIKE Mother dies while hiking at Great Smoky Mountains National Park with daughter Sad news last week on another death while hiking in the Smokies - the 11th death from various causes in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park this year. Apparently a mother and daughter, both experienced hikers, were hiking for several days, agreeing to separate for a time, so the daughter to get more miles, before meeting up at an agreed upon place. When the mother never arrived at the agreed upon destination the daughter alerted authorities and a search was launched. The mother's body was found last week and no foul play is suspected. The whole story reminded me of the importance of hiking safety - something that is good for everyone to review from time to time. I will click hereto an interview we did with a hiking specialist last year. Click here to read the story out last week. JENNIFER Check out this excellent fall color map that changes by dates Fall is one of our favorite times to camp, but knowing where to go for optimal color viewing can be a bit tricky. That is why I am excited to share this map of the entire continental U.S., color coded and adjustable by date, to see when colors are expected to be most brilliant near you. Check it out by clicking here. 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. JENNIFER'S RV TIP OF THE WEEK One of my favorite things about camping, is gazing up at the night sky. Seeing all the stars, the Milky Way, even the moon just thrills me. There is nothing like the display that happens every clear evening when you're camping in the woods. And it is something most of us never fully appreciate at home in our sticks and bricks house either because we are so busy at home we don't take the time to gaze up, or because of the light pollution in our cities mudding the view. From time to time there are national - even international - events aimed at getting people to look up into the sky, and one such event is coming up Oct. 20. It is the international Observe the Moon Day, held sometime typically in September or October every year. The event started in 2010,