RV Podcast 306: How to find a campsite despite the crowds

A lot of RVers are asking these days: How to find a campsite despite the crowds? The national news media has been filled with stories in recent weeks claiming that campgrounds are bursting at the seams across the country as people are taking up camping and RVing because they are afraid to take traditional vacations or stay in hotels, fly airplanes or deal with crowds in amusement parks and resorts. Believe it! This week in Episode 306 of the RV Podcast, we hear from real campers who tell us whether those gloom and doom stories are true. Yes, it’s summer, and campgrounds are always a bit crowded, especially on weekends and holidays. But this year, it’s way worse. That’s coming up in this week’s episode of the Podcast, as well as your RV questions and comments, RV News of the week, and a great off the beaten path report from the Burketts. Show Notes for Episode #306 August 5, 2020 of The RV Podcast: RV PODCAST NEWS OF THE WEEK Fewer Walmart stores permitting RVers to overnight in parking lot If you have been a RV fellow traveler for long, chances are you spent the night at a Walmart parking lot at least once. But finding a Walmart that allows RVers to sleep in their parking lot is getting harder.. Currently only 58 percent of the nation's Walmart stores allow campers to stay compared to 78 percent in 2010. Spending the night in a parking lot has been super popular with many RVers over the years. They get a free, easy place to overnight when they are on a road trip and do not need a full campground experience. Typically overnighters buy something from the Walmart and are gone first thing in the morning, so the store benefits, too. But the problem is more and more campers are not practicing basic etiquette. They are staying for more than one night, they are leaving their trash even sometimes human waste or dirty water behind. Homeless people are also using lots. The result is more and more Walmarts are banning the practice, often forced to do so by new zoning rules enacted by local governments. It’s another example on how a bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. Rangers at Zion National Park ask for help finding vandals who painted rocks blue Speaking of bad apples. I have a story about a really rotten apple. This is the type of story that makes my blood boil. Vandals at Zion National Park painted a large section of the sandstones in the northeast section of the park blue. Rangers are now asking the public's help in finding who did this. Bold blue squares and miscellaneous shapes - some three feet by three feet in size - are on the rock formations south of Wildcat Trailhead in the Kolob Terrace area. The area is believed to have painted around July 8. Officials say they are not sure they can remove the paint, and doing so will be costly. Family decides to move in an RV and homeschool from the road because of COVID-19 We've been reporting for years about road schooling (click here or here), and for months about the rise in RV newbies and some challenges out there because of COVID-19 (click here). So, when we saw this story of a family that combines both, we had to share. The Tennessee family apparently decided to cope with the in-person schooling challenges COVID-19 caused by buying a large RV bus built on a Greyhound chassis, selling their possessions, and hitting the road. The family of seven plans to homeschool their five children while traveling the country, all while self-containing as best as possible and working remotely from the road. Man shoots himself in the leg at Rocky Mountain National Park after gun in his backpack accidentally fires A man visiting Rocky Mountain National Park accidentally shot himself in the leg with his own gun. The man had put a loaded gun into his backpack. When he took off his backpack and put it on a rock at Emerald Lake, the gun accidentally fired a round with the bullet lodging in his leg. Other visitors helped, providing first aid, and a rescue crew then took the man by ambulance to the Glacier Basin Campground, and a helicopter then flew the man to an area hospital. It is legal to bring a gun into a national park - but it is illegal to shoot it. Rangers recommend bear spray as a much safer and more effective deterrent to wildlife. In this summer of pandemic camping, remember to check ahead Two campgrounds on the Blue Ridge Highway, Linville Falls and the Julian Price campgrounds, opened for the first time this summer last weekend. While most campgrounds across the country are open, some remain closed because of concerns about the spread of COVID-19. Some examples: New Mexico state park campgrounds are closed, as is the Devils Garden campground at Arches National Park, Lost Creek campground at Crater Lake National Park and Mount Rainier National Park campground to name a few. In this unusual year of camping, where things open, then close, and things are fluid, as always, check ahead before heading out by clicking here. This part of the podcast is brought to you by RadPower Bikes, America's #1 e-bike brand, offering direct to consumer pricing on powerful premium electric bikes. Now with free shipping RV PODCAST QUESTION OF THE WEEK This question comes to us from a Fellow Traveler named William who saw our YouTube video tour of our new Leisure Travel Vans Wonder RV in which we mentioned the importance of having a surge protector on your RV: QUESTION: I heard you mention a surge protector but I am unfamiliar with such a device on an RV. What does it do, why do I need one and how do you know if something is wrong? ANSWER If you have been following us for a while you know we are huge believers in surge protectors. We have heard so many tales from RVers over the years about having their appliances like the refrigerator, the microwave, and even the TV fried because of bad campground power. A surge protector safeguards your RV from shore power problems at the pedestal and shuts down if the incoming campground power supply is dangerously low or high or the plug is wired wrong or shorted out. In our book, every RVer needs to have one. Think of them as insurance against bad power. And bad power at campgrounds is much more common than you might think. The sad truth of the matter is a lot of RV parks are old and the infrastructure has deteriorated over time. Defective pedestals cause the voltage to be too high or too low and when that happens, the appliance in the RV and whatever is plugged into a receptacle like a computer or a cellphone charger can be damaged. But even if the park is new and the pedestal is in excellent condition, we still recommend a surge protector. Lightning strikes nearby can travel right through the pedestal wiring. And power brownouts can limit the voltage getting into the coach to the extent that appliances are damaged. There are a lot of different surge protectors on the market. Good ones aren’t cheap. But the money they can save you from being spared the effects of one bad power incident makes them a necessary expense. We like the Southwire Surge Protectors. If you have a 30 amp system your RV, this is the one we suggest. If you have a 50-amp system, this is the one to get. We own the Southwire 30 amp but no longer need it on our new Leisure Travel Vans Wonder RV because a surge protector is built in to the unit Several of you have also asked us where it is located on our Wonder and how it works. It’s found under the seat cushion on the driver’s side seat in the front lounge area. If I remove the cushion, there is a small cut out with an LCD display underneath the webbing that supports the cushion. This is where you’ll see any error codes from the surge protector as to why it would have cut the power (for example E4 would denote low voltage). The surge protector will cut power for many reasons, most commonly: high voltage, low voltage, reverse polarity, or open ground. Most of the time, there’s no need to see it. It just does its job, making sure I have clean power. But it sure is nice to know it’s there. So if your RV doesn’t come with one built-in, invest the money. Protect your appliances and get one. Do you have a question you’d like us to answer or a comment on the things we’re discussing? If so, we invite you to leave us that question or comment on the special voicemail number we have for the podcast – it’s 586-372-6990. If you are driving and can’t write it down right now, just go to the RV Lifestyle travel blog at rvlifestyle.com and scroll down the page. You’ll see that number prominently posted on the blog. This part of the RV Podcast is brought to you by Battle Born Batteries, maker of quality, safe and reliable lithium batteries that can be installed in just about every RV. Get in touch with Battle Born to find out what lithium batteries and an upgraded energy management system can add to your RV Lifestyle. Check them out at https://rvlifestyle.com/lithium RV PODCAST INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK: How to find a campsite despite the crowds The national news media has been filled with stories in recent weeks claiming that campgrounds are bursting at the seams across the country as people are taking up camping and RVing because they are afraid to take traditional vacations or stay in hotels, fly airplanes or deal with crowds in amusement parks and resorts. Here are some of the headlines I’ve seen: Seeking COVID-19 escape, Oregon's outdoors crowded at unprecedented level, brings problems Having a hard time finding a campsite in Colorado this summer? You’re not alone. Trouble on the Trails: Forest Service Grapples with Crowds, Trash and Human Waste 'People everywhere': Physical distancing takes a holiday at camping and recreation spots It’s enough to scare off even the most intrepid camper or RVer. But is it true? Well, sadly, in some places… yes. But as always, those headlines are far from typical of what is really going on.