This week on the Rv podcast.
Picking up the pieces after a major Rv
accident. Do you toss in the towel? You
start all over again? In our Rv
conversation of the week. You'll meet a couple
who faced those questions, and they have some
inspiring and advice for all of us. Do
hear Rv shades annoy you by rattling as
you drive down the road?
Our Rv
lifestyle community has some great sounding,
dampening at advice.
Dangerous heat, nasty weather have been sweeping across
the country,
taxing the comfort and the safe day of
lots of rv viewers this past week.
All this, plus the Rv news of the
week and your questions coming up in episode
05:05
of the Rv podcast.
Hello, everybody. I'm Mike Gwen And this is
mine lifelong traveling companion and my bride.
Jennifer. Channel, mister Mike. Hey, we should remind
everybody that you can watch a video version
from our Rv lifestyle Youtube channel. And we
invite you to go over there is youtube
dot com slash
r v
lifestyle. And of course, if you are a
ray listener.
You know that, we're on all of the
podcast apps and we hope you listen to
us through 1 of your favorite. There. And
when you do so, would you do favor
and give us a review of the podcast
it really helps other people to know about
this and Google loves to see those reviews.
So
would love to have you give this 1.
Big thank you right now to all of
you who took the time to respond to
our series of,
reviews on various Rv, we started off a
few weeks ago by looking at
small class a's, and then this past week,
we've done small
cab over class c's under 30 feet. And
next Saturday on our Rv lifestyle Youtube channel
we'll review the all electric
luxury patriot class
b Rv from Midwest automotive design. So that's
that's exciting. And the big news for us
is we have a new truck, a long
bed ford, f 03:54
by 4, 2 bone diesel.
And now we have to get it ready
for next week's trip to the Canadian Maritime.
And, man, that was a
a big hit in pocket book and to
our plans for a relaxing time
before we left for the maritime times.
Relaxing leisure time to pack and think Yeah.
Definitely I don't. It was anything, but
for those of you just don't know what
We're talking about. We had a major
issue with our existing truck that we the
repair to it would have been
astronomical,
and it just didn't make any sense. The
trucks of 20 21.
To spend that money on of 20 21.
So we ended up
biting the bullet and buying a a new
truck to pull, and we picked that up
this week. And
next week we got. And now we gotta
put a a hitch into it.
And then we have to,
hitch up our fifth wheel We wanna run
that to the factory, the Keystone factory in
L car. We need to do a little
twitch switches
find out why our our washer dryer is
leaking,
then we gotta haul it back, then we
gotta pack it up, and then we're off
to the Maritime times next week.
So we are excited. This is gonna be,
oh,
6 weeks trip. 6 weeks, we're gonna be
gone. You nova Scotia, new Brunswick,
Prince Edward Island. We are really excited. This
is a fantasy Rv tour. We've always wanted
to go on 1 of those.
And it's a caravan of 25 different units.
It's kind... The newest... What what I understand
is gonna be like, is kinda like a
like 1 of those,
all inclusive cruises that you take we're in
all inclusive resorts day except we're in Rv.
And we all got drive. We all got
drive.
A little over a hundred and 50 miles
or so average, you know, per each time
you you drive. We start in maine, and
then we end up in Prince edward rhode
Island and.
We'll try and document as much of that
as we can as we do it through
social media and our Rv lifestyle community and
Youtube videos and ask us anything, but
that's gonna depend on the Internet too. Yeah.
We're being in some fairly remote areas.
I'm I'm told that our our Star satellite
system works great there also so... Well, that's
exciting. Yeah. Yeah. But we're just hoping to
be basically chill out. We we have heard
so many good things about Fantasy Rv tours.
And,
everybody says, well, this won't be your first
And well, it is our first, but, don't
know. They all say you're gonna be wanting
to do more of them, and they... The
reputation is is excellent. So
we're looking forward to giving another the price.
Alright. I think it'd be fun to,
like, leave the driving to us, except, leave
the planning and Yeah
reservations and
food, good restaurants, leave all those details. Yeah.
They have experience. All set. They give you
an itinerary. You don't have to travel together.
You know, you just Okay. We're all leaving,
and you wanna end up at this campground
sometime today, and that's when you go up
to that campground all that's taken care of.
We have a couple of wagon masters as
they call them who are at the front
of the back and the back. And then
at the back, we got a couple, they
call them tail gunners who Are there if
there's any issues.
And
you know, the they've made all the arrangements,
all the foods, most of the meals are
provided and.
Most of the attractions. A lot of the
attractions that you'll be seeing. They've got travel
tours organized, and this is gonna be fine.
It's gonna be different than anything we've tried
before. We've never done anything like this before.
So
we're excited. Yep.
Alright. We've got the the social media buzz,
people talk about a lot of stuff in
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rv lifestyle.
Welcome back time now the social media buzz.
And Wendy Boy reports on the hot issues
most talked about this past week on social
media and our Rv lifestyle community group. So
Wendy, let's hear it. Hi, everybody.
Over in our Rv lifestyle community's general discussion
space. We had a recent post from Lynn.
Lynn is on a row trip and she
has those metal
blinds in her wig. And they are making
all this noise as she drives down the
road. The wands hitting in the metal blinds,
the metal blinds are whack against her window
And she asked anyone have any ideas of
what I can do to make the stop
when she's traveling and then ultimately replace them
with when she gets home.
And this led to a really good discussion.
Carrie said for her trip, the short term
solution might be to put some Velcro on
that wand and then attach that velcro from
the wand to the blinds to kinda cut
down on some of the rattling.
And for long term, David cautions when you
replace this blind if it's above your stove.
Make sure you don't put curtains there because
it could be a fire hazard. And Steve,
he said he replaced his metal blinds with
a roll up shade, and it works great
No omar rattling, no fire hazard. Just again,
a great discussion in that thread.
And also in our community in the general
discussion space, we ask what is the most
unforgettable place you visited in your Rv and
why.
And this is a post everyone should read
lots of bucket lists or travel ideas in
here, but I'll share a couple with you.
Frederick, he said the most unforgettable region he's
been to is Southern Colorado, and he mentioned
the great Cn Dune National block park. Black
Canyon of the Gun Mesa Verde Pad
brings. He said that drive along Us 01:60
to Duran is just
spectacular.
Just a wonderful region that Rv should go
to.
For tim, his suggestion was to go to
Mccoy State park in the mountains of Northern
Georgia, and he shared a picture of his
campsite
so beautiful in the woods very inviting. He
said there's trails all over the place there's
this gorgeous
lake. That's is a wonderful clear color just
waiting to be paddle. There's waterfalls a short
drive away, and the State Park even has
full hook up. So it sounds like a
great place.
In Linda, her favorites were dead horse point
State Park in Moa in Utah.
Both of these she said were just spectacularly
beautiful.
And the night sky with the stars all
come out just cannot be beat. So again,
lots of great travel suggestions in this post.
And then meanwhile over in our Rv lifestyle
Facebook group, we have lots of discussions going
on there. As always and 1 was from
Lisa.
Lisa had just returned from a cross country
Rv adventure, and she had unknowingly picked up
some unwelcome guests. Now these guests
had gotten into her bedroom into her bathroom.
They were even in her bedding, and she
took a picture of 1 of them, and
I gotta tell you. It was the most
disgusting creepy look little
green pale green spider
with almost look like a scorpion because it
had these legs that just pro protruding.
Really got people talking. We'll make sure to
put a picture they had in our show
notes. And
we're talking there were, like, 400 responses to
this. Many said burn the Rv down. No.
I'm pretty they were joking.
They just really didn't like Spiders. Many other
common responses were something like oh.
But this was a great discussion and you
know, it just kinda goes to show and
we're out there in the woods. Sometimes you
pick up things that you unknowingly picked up
and from the 400 more comments, it sounds
like others have picked up things too, and
you just never know. And I hope that
Lisa got rid of all those creepy spiders
from her rig.
And that's it for me this week, I'm
Wendy Boy, and I'll see you over in
Rv lifestyle community or Facebook group.
That dead horse state park,
is of our favorites as well. It's absolutely
a beautiful place, and it really really is
fun. Isn't it? Yeah. I encourage you all
to go look at what other people have
recommended as favorite places because,
maybe you need to put it on your
bucket list. Yeah and And we invite you
guys to be a part of our Rv
lifestyle community.
Just go to community
dot rv lifestyle dot com. We'd love to
have you join. Is absolutely free, and, yeah,
we just
so many interesting things to talk about there
and great friends that you can make through
that community. So come on over. It's not
on Facebook.
And that's 1 of the big pluses of
it because it's none of that nastiness.
Again, it's community dot rv lifestyle dot com.
Coming up, the Rv
conversation of the week, and we're gonna talk
about what happens when
you have a real setback in your Rv
lifestyle.
And you have to pick up the pieces?
Or
do you throw in the towel and quit?
We'll talk about that and meet a inspiring
couple Right after this. Jennifer and I took
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They're selling off 1 and 2 acre parcels
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Next to Lake Mead national recreation area. We
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the Grand Canyon. We took a bold ride
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Boulder city was a fun little town.
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For more information, visit
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Or call 822232
land.
Welcome back. Time now for the conversation of
the week.
On April 20 ninth, Norm,
V suffered a life altering event. While they
were driving diesel push, Class a and Virginia,
the front right tire blue, which is I
think everybody's nightmare,
and the rig and cheap tipped and paramedics
told them they were lucky to be alive.
And miraculously, this Florida couple
were not seriously injured. They had to go
to the hospital, but they got out fairly
soon.
And now,
much to their non rv being friends dismay,
they're back on the road. They're... They're starting
all over again,
in a brand new class a.
Now could quit. Yeah. They could quit, and
most people probably would have quit. And as
you're gonna hear, it was a terrible accident,
but they didn't quit. And we caught up
with them to learn about their accident and
how they're moving forward and get some tips
that are not only inspiring but could help
all of this.
Well, Norman and Na join us right now.
Hi, guys. It's great to see.
So start off if you will, by telling
us a little bit about your yourselves, And
and then we'll get in into, pick it
up the pieces.
When something,
catastrophic happens. But tell us about yourselves and
your R.
Well, this 4 of July was actually 20
years since we met
married 16 years, both of us are second
marriages.
So
we've been arguing.
Ever since I met him.
There was 1 occasion where he said to
me, if my wife had lived,
we were going to get an Rv and
retire, and I said to him, and he
was shocked because I came from a certain
environment that he didn't expect that. I had
been married to a surgeon, etcetera. And I
said, I can do that with you. We
had our feet. So the next week, he
went out got our first founder.
Yeah. Far a,
boundary motor hall, and, I called her back.
She was back home in Florida, I lived
in Illinois. And I told her you better
get another plane ticket because I pick up
my Rv next week. So... Wow, so so
Norm... You are a Widow today. You hear
that right?
Yes. My first wife passed away when I
was 48
passed away from cancer, and,
I
Luckily, we've... I've life moved on, and I've
met Nate and things have been fantastic Sense.
Tell
Yeah. My hershey she believes that. Yeah. Nobody
does believe this. My first wife told me
about 2 months before she passed.
She said soon after I pass,
you're gonna beat someone that will change your
life forever.
Now I met Na
6 weeks
after my wife passed.
And I... The last thing I wanted was
a
relation chip or anything,
but it
it was just made in the heavens. I
mean, it was the the perfect
perfect thing they happen.
And they tell me your background and how
you guys met too.
Well, we're my radio you said before? Yeah.
Yeah. To ur logic surgeon,
I read for 35 years, I won't get
into why we got divorced, but we did.
And I was kinda down that near was
the end of the year of the doors,
and my son lived in Chicago. And he
played the weekends
in a band.
And I said to him it's fourth of
july weekend. I'm very depressed. Can I come
out visit of He said, yes but the
band is playing in this terrible
bike bar?
And I said, I don't care. I'll come
out and hear the band because they're good.
Their rocker.
So I was there,
and
he was there.
Yes. I have gone down there just... I
had a friend who I had met being
a carpenter
who said he was the bounce at this
bar and he said, norman, if you ever
need talked, your bummed out, wanna do something
come on down. So I went down to
see him.
Paid my coverage charge went in and then
find out he wasn't there.
So I ended up. I got a drink.
I was watching a Nascar race.
We looked at each other a couple times.
Yeah know, how he is when you looked
Sometimes your eyes meet, you think somebody's look
at you you immediately look away,
which we did.
But then with 10 laps to go on
the race, they change all the Tvs. The
channel on all the Tvs but 1.
And that Tv was directly in front of
her. I understand directly behind her to watch
it
And I was watching it, and she turned
around and she goes, hey, there's an empty
chair would you like to sit down.
And that's how we
basically met and and our relationship started.
So, Nate, you picked them up at a
dive bar.
Yes. And it truly wasn't a dive bar.
I mean, if they turned the lights on,
you'd wanna leave. I will be there. My
son wasn't planning. As a matter of fact,
He had this electric guitar that he could
unplug. He jumped off the stage and he
kind comes over with us. He says, mom,
judy need to be rescued.
And I'm going, no. No. Mom's fine. She's
good. We're having a good time. So,
that's that story. And then he asked me
out.
And we went out on our first state
2 days later and we've never been apart.
Wow. So you guys been rv being all
this time, But let's get to this story
that
that we really only wanna share and have
people learn from from what happened with you
guys.
Talk about,
what happened
back in April. The end of April,
and the accident that
that changed a lot of your Rv habits,
but didn't kill them all.
That's exactly that. Yeah. We were... We had
been on a fantasy Rv tour did a
civil war battlefield tour. And then after it,
visited family,
made a couple stops, and we were on
our way to North Carolina,
coming down I 81. We were going down
there I'm a 5 fisher.
And we wanted to...
I was gonna go fishing for a couple
weeks,
and then go pick up our granddaughter and
take them on of vacation.
So we're easing our way down I 81,
and we were staying that night at the
Natural rich k a. Mh. Well, as we're
going along, I mean traffic... Traffic is moving
smoothly. I'm doing about 65, which is about
the fastest I normally care to go in
my Rv.
And
as we're going, I look ahead and I
see the assigned for our exit.
So I'm all excited. I'm like, oh, good.
We're at the exit. This be fantastic.
I know sooner said that in my mind
and all of a sudden there was a
bang.
And the right front tire blue.
As the right front tire blue, I followed
all the
protocols they give you that you're supposed to
do when at 1 of your steering tires
move, you know, blows.
None of them changed anything. It dove
directly for a ditch.
Went into the ditch, went up the bank
a little bit, which was very steep.
The motor home
laid over onto the driver's side
and slid,
started sliding on the driver's
side. As it was going.
Now I screamed as as soon as the
tire blue for nada as she was laying
in the bed back.
To, hang up because Nate has a a
bad bath, and a lot of times when
we're traveling she'll lay at the bat.
And I told her hang on, this isn't
good.
And,
after it laid over on its side,
and it stopped.
I yelled back to her our honey. Are
you okay.
And she goes,
I can't move she goes, I don't know.
I can't move.
I had fallen from the bed.
I had just flipped off, onto the floor.
And something hit my head, you think it
was the fridge or we don't... No. I
think she hit her head on the door,
which was right there for the bedroom. But
I hit my head, and I couldn't move
because everything was down.
I said to him It was kind of
like my worse feet being in a coffin.
A lot because I couldn't move. I couldn't
turn,
and I was worried about him. He was
worried about me of course, and I did
not know what was snowing on outside?
Right. And
I yelled back to her. Are you pinned
or ours is it just that you can't
move is something holding you. And she said,
no, I just can't move and really what
it comes to in that aspect is she
didn't realize we were laying, I don't think
on the driver's side. So the bed now
is vertical.
So it's like she's inside of a room
set.
While she's there.
So,
as I laid there, I'm the ground, I...
As the motor home rolled over,
I un my seat belt
because I could see we were gonna slide
into a guard rail,
and the guard rail was coming right for
the center of the motor home
which is, as you know with a diesel
push where the generator is.
And all I can imagine is the guard
rail going into the generator
and pushing it right back into my lap
as the driver.
So I rolled off the seat onto the
side of the motor home.
After
I had crashed and yelled to her, I
took inventory of myself so to speak.
I noticed I was bleeding from my left
elbow, but they were just superficial cuts. I
could feel that.
And I felt a, a little burning in
my right lane, but nothing was bleeding or
I.
So, luckily, we had some
people who saw the accident, some good samaritan
pulled over,
and they came to the motor home with,
some tools actually,
and they busted the windshield so I could
get out.
As we yelled back and forth, they had
called 911.
They said are you okay. I said I
think I am. My wife is in the
back.
So they busted the windshield so I could
exit at least exit the motor.
So...
Go ahead. Well, then,
apparently,
like he said, he called 911.
I'm the yelling at him. Call 911.
We watch the Tv series, 911.
So I'm kind of in my mind thinking
some cute guys are gonna come and lift
me up. Didn't happen.
Guy was kind of annoyed and he didn't
quite know how to get me up, so
then my husband thank gosh.
Yeah. They came through the front through the
wake windshield that was broken out to try
to get to her,
but the couch had broken away as it
when it fell over
and landed in the middle of the aisle
way that was a very blocked area. The
refrigerator the doors flew off the refrigerator
And in reality, it's a good thing, Dana
wasn't in her seat
because 1 of the doors in the refrigerator
went right into her seat.
Put I think. Yeah. Which I think would
have
in the end? Not been a good thing.
Let's just put it that point. So they
did... How did they get you out then?
You're you're kinda... Husband on the floor. My
husband did it. Yeah. The fire were out
sign trying to figure out how do we
get tour? How do we get tour?
And I directed them. I said, take out
the rear air conditioner she's gonna be right
about there. And lift her from there. So
they cut to got a a couple sauce
cut out of a large hole in the
roof.
And brought her out through the air conditioner
hole that they cut. What did... You guys
were both taken to the hospital, but what
did the paramedics tell you at the time?
Well, the paramedics said after things were, like,
calmed down a little bit,
I was speaking with Juan, and he said,
when we pulled up, we figured there'd be
no survivors of this crash
because it looks so bad.
Wow.
Wow. So we were we were blessed to
be able to,
be here and do this with you today
in the way we see it. So you
you guys... The the... We have some pictures
of it, which we'll share with our Youtube
audience that watch the podcast.
But the the the diesel push it was
pretty much ruined. Oh, it's done. Oh, yeah.
It was it was toast in the car.
It The amazing thing is the car, the
tow bar in a blue wax bar held
the car to the motor home, and it
was sideways also
and had slid across the ground and and
stayed right with the motor on through the
entire... Through the entire incident.
20 years. We've been rv 20. We've in
rv 20 years, we've never had an issue
at all. Never had an
never had an accident. No problems. Nothing and
then damn. It just the... Sure. Is there
anything that could've have been done differently with
the tires did you learn anything about how
old your tires were what brand,
anything in the tires that that you. The
tires the tires were 2 and a half
years old. They weren't old.
They looked fantastic. I actually when I took
it in for service.
I had them... I said, could you check
the tires, you know, and make sure they
looked good and everything, which they did, You
know, that my mechanics did.
They said it looks fantastic. I don't think
you'll have any problems.
There were probably 15000 miles on the tires.
You know, not a ton of miles, but
we used the motor home quite a bit,
so they didn't weren't sitting still a lot.
And
you know, we
we have as... We mentioned we've purchased a
new motor on since then. Yeah. We'll I'll
I'll come to that. I just just wanna
go this tire thing. And the other thing
is your speed, you said you go about
65.
And, you know, I've seen so many other
people going down
the interstate and they're they're 70, 75 miles
an hour.
If you had been in been going that
fast,
I would imagine this accident would have been
much, much worse if that's hard to believe,
but even even worse than it was.
Oh, yeah. Definitely because it would have probably
it it would had a lot more momentum
that would have pushed it farther as it
was sliding across the ground and stuff once
it rolled over.
And So
go ahead. You so you guys were hospitalized
for a little bit. Right? Just for a
couple hours. They checked us out.
They gave us cat scans with die with
contrast. Yep. And nothing in our brain. They
released us. At 11PM.
I had no shoes, no socks.
They released us to their cab,
which took us to a hotel.
And that was it.
So nobody body. We had nothing. They just
released us to this. Everything in the motor
home, none of that stuff has gone. Did...
What did your family and friends say? Did
they say that's it? You guys are done
Rv,
and what did you guys say?
Our family
was extremely
supportive. Yeah. They were extremely supportive. Even my
ex. Yeah. Even her ex. Are you gonna
get another 1 because that's who you are.
And I said norms in his bed
rec,
looking at another 1. So apparently we are.
I had some friends who never
understood Rv.
They're kinda like from my first line.
And they all thought that we should just,
you know, be grateful we were alive
and hang it up.
Did you read listen? You never for a
moment thought about saying okay. That's it. We're
done.
No. Not at all. People... And you were
You started really looking for another Rv norm.
Is that what I heard right?
Well, we were sitting laying in the bed
in the hotel, you know, just trying to
recuperate a little, and I hit my phone,
and I'm just flipping on Facebook looking just
wasting time, basically.
And all of a sudden ed came up
for an Rv Elk guard in The indiana
app,
Brand new Rv up there, and I'm looking
at it, and I leaned over to Nate,
and I said here's our new Rv.
And it was.
It was. We ended up,
purchasing it actually. We just went up to
Indiana to get it. Yeah.
So are you doing anything
differently?
Tires. Yes. We put the Tyrone bands on
retire.
Explain those.
Explain. They're supposed to help keep the tire
on the vehicle if you have a rollout
and allow you to steer it
better.
And and, where do people get those?
We got them from our dealership. They where
the Rv came from. We called them. When
we talked to them, we said, no, we'd
like to have these installed.
Can you do that? And they said we
will have it done for you? I think
on your site on Facebook, People mentioned that.
Yes. They did. And and that's, that's how
we found you because because we have followed...
You you shared all the details with our
Facebook group Rv lifestyle Facebook group and Yes.
That tyrone tire blow up protection that they
have is is is really neat to think.
So
for those who have
accidents
or there are setbacks,
how do you pick up the pieces? And
just keep on going. You said something nada
that I... You said
that's what we are where our viewers. That's
what we are.
Talk about that.
Like I said, when we first met, we
discuss that we both wanted to Rv and
we have been ever since.
We traveled all over the United States and
back to some of the great national parks
we've taken our granddaughter
who couldn't wait to come, and then wanted
to stay longer,
and we are our viewers. This is our
second part of our life.
We bought a house together for the first
time, what 2 years ago. Mh.
So we now have a house that we
own together, but our our being has always
been a couple things.
It's amazing that he wanted to Rv and
I had Rv, but just little bits
in my first life. If you know to
Florida,
and,
back and forth to couple of states. Never
to the extent that we do now,
Il Rv
was set up like a second home,
like a summer house you'd have with everything.
We never had to bring in
from the house to the rv,
just food. Everything else was there.
So it was devastating. It was like losing
a house. Yeah. It was, like, having... Wife
was losing a car. Yeah. It was like,
having your summer home blown up in a
tornado in a sense with with the accident.
And we
We've traveled. We've done all 48 states, you
know,
and we just... We we just love doing
it. Yeah. National Parks,
I work camp for a while as a
single work camper in Colorado, and we'd live
in at 6, 7 months at a time.
Yeah. Weeks. Were you able to salvage anything
from the old 1?
0, yeah. We got a a bunch of
stuff. They...
As as her as he was, the next
day,
he
went to the Rv, and I don't know
how. Got inside and he got so many
of my favorite things. Stupid things. It's like
my favorite towel
from my daughter from my hair. He pulled
that out. And other things.
They're all in boxes.
We went up just recently to the storage.
And pulled the boxes out. I don't know
what's in there. It's in the Rv outside.
Yeah. Weeks
you immediately got yourself... You you started looking
for another Rv.
What did advice you?
Good for you, Nor. What what advice do
you guys have? For other rv years. When
when
the unexpected happens like that.
Don't...
It's like to say about you know, riding
a horse. You fall off, get back on.
If it's if it's your accident is caused
by
something other than something you've done. You know
what I'm saying where you've made a mistake
driving.
Don't hesitate to go again. Accidents do happen.
That's why it's called an accident.
Things do occur. I mean, we're thankful that
we were able to survive it and survive
it as as good as we did.
I know myself. I was nervous
going to that mona the first day after
the accident I had a rent a car
to do it.
And driving down I 81. I had to
go right past for the accident was,
and I didn't go over 55 miles an
hour that whole trip. Because I just
I felt... I just felt nervous behind the
wheel a little bit because this is, joke,
not even 24 hours later.
And
you know, I got to the motor home.
I got to see the aftermath so to
speak of the accident and and what it
occurred.
And the mess, the disaster
that it it turned into.
Because our trip was gonna be A3A3
month trip.
And here we are, just a little over
a month into it, and it's over.
I will admit because we now have a
new 1.
Coming home was a long ride, and I
was a little anxious.
But I just
It took a deep breath, like, I used
to tell my patience, and I relaxed, and
I said it's not in our hands. I
I think that's important.
I really felt that everything we could do,
he could do to keep us safe was
done.
That was... It's...
You... Your spirit and your sense of perspective
that it was an accident.
Accidents happened.
And, you know, they don't happen all the
time, but they do happen.
So you, got your new rake, and,
we'll put a picture of it. A beautiful
new Georgetown.
When's your next trip then?
In approximately 3 weeks I
we're going up to the Chicago area to
get our granddaughter that we were supposed to
pick up on the original trip where that
when the accident occurred.
And we're taking them to
we're taking them to pigeon forge and taking
up the Great Smoky national park, and,
It'll be next. It should be fine. It's
only gonna be a 10 day trip instead
3 weeks, but they're excited.
And this Rv has bunk beds, so they
can't wait.
Yeah. We're a diesel push head down to
sleep out an air mattress on the floor.
Because when we purchased that coach, we purchased
it basically for the 2 of us. Yeah.
Where this 1, it's more family oriented. Well,
no. It had a sleeper Yeah. Elsa.
And he pulled it out and put these
great recliner seats in it. So it had
no place for kids to sleep, but
I think our
perspective is different now.
Well,
you guys have picked up the pieces marvelous.
And I really enjoy
meeting you. I look forward to, Jennifer and
I do to seeing you on the road
sometime and sitting around a campfire player.
Oh, and thank you for sharing your story
and encouraging others to pick up the pieces
when things don't go the way you hoped.
Thank you guys. So much. Thank you. Thank
you very much. Aren't. They a delightful couple.
That they are. Yeah. I love Nate... She
says, where our viewers. This is who we
are. She said,
and
norm battered and bruised,
after got discharged in the hospital,
incorporating in a motel room,
First thing he's doing is going through his
phone looking at new Harvey buy.
I don't know. That's a tough 1. Would
you guys have quit? Which you have kept
on?
Maybe others have gone through this whole... The
same type of experience. We would love to
hear what you all decided, you can just
send us an email, Mike and jen. At
rv lifestyle dot com. Is this kinda like
fallen off a horse and getting back on
it? That's what they say. You accept much
more serious. Yep?
Alright. The Rv news of the week is
right after this.
Jennifer and I bought some land near Nashville,
Tennessee a while back. We got tired crowded
expensive campground and worrying about reservations.
Tennessee is a gorgeous state with friendly people.
And it has been such a pleasure. The
same developer has some new property near us
close to the Natchez trace and Buffalo River
called the reserve at high forest.
Big properties, 5 to 41 acres, you can
build a house, a cabin or Rv year
out.
Prices started at only 89900
dollars, Your property, your way 100 percent ownership.
The scenery in this part of Tennessee is
breathtaking,
and the property is gorgeous,
garden,
landscape, bring your pants build what you want.
There's high speed fiber optic internet, and it
is so private.
A great place to make your home base.
Ready whenever you want,
5 to 41 acre properties from 89900
dollars.
There's even great financing.
Check out the site and a video tour
at rv lands dot net. That's rv lands
dot net.
Welcome back everybody time now for the Rv
news of the week. And have you heard
about the July forth shootout out at, Yellowstone
National Park.
We've been following this story closely over the
weekend.
And as of this writing, The National Park
Service and Fbi are not providing many details.
What we do know is there was an
arm band
making threats at Canyon village.
The national Park service responded, there was a
shootout,
and the shooter died, and a ranger was
shot and is in the is hospitalized but
in stable condition.
We found several news articles describing the scary
moments of the shootout.
Power employees were scrambling
hiding behind barriers and closet doors,
making it sound like the shooter was not
a tourist, but rather a worker.
Also, a Facebook page kept by a former
national Park service of officers said the shooter
worked as a concession
employee,
and this match images of armed officers
entering the
concession employee housing.
And Canyon Village just located in the center
of the park and includes a lodge and
cabins, campground grounds, ranger center, visitors center's, store
and employee housing. You know, 1 of the
things that... And I made because I'm a
journalist, but
when you hear something like that? What are
the first things that go through your mind?
And
I find it really
ind ind indispensable the
the the government, because that's what we're talking
about the N ups
withhold everything
All we wanna know was if if you
had told us racing this site, we believe
this is an employee, a disgruntled employee. Great.
We understand that.
But was it random? Was it some guy?
Was it terror?
They just don't say anything.
And
I'm sorry.
It would solve a lot of issues with
people, if you would just be as open
and transparent
as you possibly could be.
It just really helps you know,
tell us the truth and tell us as
soon as you can when something like that
happens. Because that's a that's a scary story.
Alright.
That's my little soap box rant for today.
Here's the story that is a sad 1
as well.
A grandpa, a son and his grandson who
were preparing
for a trip out West were hospitalized after
their Rv
exploded. They were loading up their a, class
a for an epic
trip out west,
and it bursts into flames
the neighborhood, you know, rocked to the neighborhood,
sent everybody to the hospital,
the heat from this fire was so intense
siding a nearby homes melted.
And the moment the explosion occurred was caught
on a neighbor's ring camera.
Families in peabody, Massachusetts, they were preparing to
leave for the Grand Canyon in the next
day. The father and the grandfather have third
degree burns
hospitalized and stable condition as we,
record this episode
in the intensive carrying at the hospital
long road for them before
before they're they're out of there. The grandson
was treated for burns and he was released,
but we'll continue he starts to burn treatment
as an outpatient.
They don't know the cause of this fire.
And, again,
you know, and it... It's probably part because
we don't have a really strong news media
in this country anymore, but,
you know, share the cause
because the cause of something like that, you
know, was it leaky propane?
We don't know.
When we know that, it it helps us
all learn
our hearts out to this family and getting
ready for a great vacation and,
obviously, it could have been worse and for
that we're grateful,
But
tell us what it was, so we can
learn from it.
So dangerous record breaking temperatures are expected to
continue this week and it's affecting, like a
third of the Us population or or even
more people.
So if you're camping right now, how are
you keeping cool? Your Rv cool?
There is a record breaking heat wave underway
that's expected to shatter records from the west
to the East Coast,
affecting about hundred and 30000000 people.
And this warning went out over the weekend
and is can continuing through Wednesday this week.
With the Pacific
Northwest, mid Atlantic,
and Northwest all expecting temperatures over a hundred
degrees fahrenheit.
Some cities like Portland, Oregon
have declared a state of emergency.
Couple fires that broken out in California,
and in New Jersey, a wildfire there forced
evacuation of the baton, campground
desert, spots in the southwest are bracing for
a hundred and 20 degree fahrenheit temperatures,
and death valley, 1 of the hottest places
on earth set a record Friday for reaching
a hundred and 27 degrees fahrenheit,
but temperatures are expected to reach a hundred
and 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
Early this week. Can you imagine? You know,
somebody on our our Facebook community wrote me
a note and they said, hey, why don't
you and Jen come out to Death Valley.
We'd love to show you around, 1 of
our favorite places. And I I thought of
that when I read this story no thanks.
Not in the summertime. We're not going to
death. Death is gorgeous, but
a hundred and 30 degrees.
We experienced something
close to that once when we were in
the Middle East. We're in Petra. And Petra.
Yeah. Yeah. That was in Jordan. Jordan. And
then we were also in
a rain when it was really, really hot
like, yeah too. Mh.
So, I... It's just unreal. How oh, hot
can be. Yeah. Weather is crazy. I mean,
we had hurricane barrel that
came shore in Texas
over the weekend,
and is now kind of... As you... As
this is being released on Wednesday. It's supposed
to sort of the the effects are kinda
gonna just peter out by the time of
Reach the great Lakes region.
And they say that we're gonna get really
bad hurricane season this year.
But in the past,
past week or so strong winds,
have killed 1 person injured 3,
many Rv in Kansas.
Yeah, we're wrecked
the storm went through,
last week out there knocking over Rv and
can imagine
the fear lot campers had. They were celebrating
the fourth of July by camping.
There's these sheer winds that came to 70
miles an hour,
and
many rv viewers had planned on camping at
Kansas Lake there through the weekend, but instead,
they spent it, picking up the pieces of
their mangled Rv
We saw some pictures in the area that
showed all kinds of Rv knocked over,
must have been very terrifying for everybody.
So 1 of the things that we recommend
is that you have a weather
radio
and
we will put a link in this story
to the 1 that we used from Midland.
We we'll just put on an Amazon affiliate
link to it.
But these things are really must have for
an Rv for anybody, really, but particularly in
Rv. So,
this year has been crazy weather wise. So,
that's the money if you don't have on
get 1 of these Midland weather radios. There's
others you can get. This is that must
be the 1 that we have, and and
I can we can recommend it. Stay informed,
crazy weather out there.
Alright. When we come back the Rv questioned
of the week and,
Mike jen story time.
Stay with us.
When we're asked what's the most important
modification we made to our Rv, it's an
easy answer. Battle borne batteries. Battle borne batteries
are quality safe reliable lithium batteries that allow
us to stay out there off the grid
longer.
Lithium batteries charge faster They charge fuller they're
longer lasting their maintenance free, and battle borne
batteries are protected by a 10 year guarantee.
Now in our case, they just dropped into
the existing Ag g batteries that we have,
and they'll probably be the same on your
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Valve battery experts can get those in your
rig just like they dead with ours. They
can also match you up with the right
cabling, the inverter, the charger, the solar controller
everything.
Jennifer
Swear by our battle born batteries, they allow
us to boo dock off the grid Check
them out. Go to rv lifestyle dot com
slash lithium rv lifestyle dot com slash lithium.
Welcome back to the Rv question of the
week. And the question is, we just bought
a fifth wheel and wonder, what do you
take oh after a trip. And what do
you leave in the fifth wheel between trips
and that's Alexis.
Well,
I don't know. What what do we? Let's
see. What do we take out for first?
Well, obviously, we take out all the food
that's gonna perish because we turn off the
refrigerator unless we're going away in, like, a
day or 2.
And I clean out that refrigerator really good.
Make sure
nothing's left in there because, boy wouldn't a
mess if you leave something in that refrigerator.
And it kinda melts.
Yeah. If you have it, you can develop
mildew in their humidity. So... Yep. So the
refrigerators totally open the to the doors on
the refrigerator after it cools off,
after it warms up.
And then make sure if you got your
fifth wheel,
Remember to shut those doors if you need
to, if you have to bring in a
slide. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. That that's when
we learned the hard.
To make sure. We weren't a lot of
things. So I was worried.
3 quarters of things. The hard way it
seems. And I look over my pantry and
think what can I leave out and what
do I need to bring in? Obviously,
no fruit or vegetables are left,
and I consider the cans jars. How long.
Will it be before we take off again.
And,
clothing, that we just leave some jackets some
raincoat coats umbrellas and things in the fifth
wheel all the time. It's nice you could
leave towels in there.
So you take all your dirty laundry out,
take the
sheets off the bed and get everything in
that you need to clean. And something that
you need to be aware of is,
medicine.
Read the labels on, even
used for pain killers or vitamins. Vitamins too.
Yeah. Things like that because excessive heat
well, ruin their effectiveness,
know,
spices, all different things.
So you have to think about to cold
or too hot.
And maybe bring in some things
that you'd really didn't wanna bring in. Yeah.
We leave a vacuum cleaner in there.
We we have
duplicates of some things. Yes.
We have a coffee,
you know, I'm really jen doesn't drink coffee.
I have a keurig, and we leave that
in there. Mh.
We do not leave water in it because
it'll go sku on you, and you don't
want milk... Not mold. So you you're mold.
Yeah. So you just kinda,
clean that out
about
close, we do like to leave a lot
of our clothes out there. Sometimes I'll go
out and the now. I need that sure.
We're all, it's out Rv.
But
it's...
1 of the things about having a fifth
wheel or something larger like that is you
can leave a lot of nothing there. You
Can't leave a lot of stuff. And when
I'm going through all those cupboards looking, I'm
looking around and saying no.
Do I need to resupply paper towels,
napkins or couple of paper plates or am
I good? Yep. And we're doing that right
now as a matter of fact because we're
off gonna be gone for 6 weeks.
And
I think the biggest challenge is food. Right?
Because you have to bring your food in.
Yeah. Yeah. And,
think twice about, like I say, meta sense.
Yep.
When we... The day before we're to leave,
I always go the day before and and
turn on the refrigerator. So it's nice and
cold
and then we put... Once it's cold, we
can start bringing stuff in, you know, the
day before the night before, and and it's,
you know, you have to carry everything in
all at once. But
we don't leave the refrigerator on all the
time. Right. And I like to make up
sandwiches for when we travel so that
We're good to go, just pull in a
rest area and we can have our lunch
with without me having to do a bunch
of work. It's all set to go. Even
what we're going to have that night for
dinner. I like to have that ready in
the fridge so that, again, try to make
it simple. Makes it work before you go,
but simple when you're on the road. Yep.
Of, I like to avoid eating out.
Why?
Mean, people can hear that. Why? I love
me. I don't know. I know. That's Go
cabinets I don't have to cook. It's like
Often, there's long lines.
Usually,
food isn't that good, even a chain,
you know, 1 chain that you're familiar with.
The food great. You go to the same
chain someplace else and the food is awesome.
There's is normally too much salt. Oh, my
god. I'm food, and I am supposed to
avoid salt. All of us should avoid salt.
Yeah. I think everybody should. And the older
you get the more salt is really. Not
your friend. It's not your friend.
So
it's pricey.
Time consuming and pricey. And usually the foods
not that good.
Yep.
So
there you go.
We're going through that right now. And we
hope that helps you Alexis, but you'll figure
your own system out, and that's kind of
what we do when we we get in.
The first thing we do is we bring
in all the dirty clothes and then over
the next hour or 2 or sometimes even
the next day, we'll bring in the, you
know, the the food. And then turn off
the refrigerator. And I think everybody's familiar with,
you know that you can't put something wet.
In a closed basket. Yet. It has to
be dry, or you're asking for mold and
trouble. Yeah. A little more work to clean
everything up And when we get home from
a trip, like the next day. If I
have time the same day, we do it
the same day. I start wiping things. Down.
Get things clean, because then it's not so
overwhelming for the next time you wanna go
You know, like, oh, I gotta clean that
thing. Yep. It is.
Alright. Do you have a question for us?
If we'd love to answer. Just send us
to us at our private email, which is
mike and jen
at rv lifestyle dot com.
Time now for Rv
story time with Micah, and we have a
only but good for you this week.
So when we first shared these tips in
a video like 11 years ago... We looked
a lot younger. Wait do you see this?
It really makes a difference thing
wow. I looked at this video, and I
said, that was me.
Yeah.
But
we had just been just... I think we'd
had been rv for maybe 2 years before
we made this video,
and we were in a Class b at
the time. Mh. A road truck, a road
track class b. Not a lot of room
in there. Not a lot of room,
but we have found that this story has
resonated with so many people. People often sometimes
oftentimes I0I read your 10 tips for getting
the along with your...
For how couples can get along in an
Rv, and
I I always have to go what. And
now I know exactly the talking about. They
still are digging enough that video.
And the trip the tips have all held
true. They still hold very too. Right? Yeah.
Some things just don't change human nature. So
we're going to play the audio of that
and those of you watch on our Youtube
channel. You'll see the the whole video as
well.
But I think you'll pick it all up,
the 10 tips
on how couples can live together
peacefully.
In a small space.
Out a recent trip in our road trek.
Jennifer and I were doing some stuff, and
well, I
forgot. We were in a 22 foot long
motor home
until she said. I need a little bit
of space with you not in it. I
withdrew.
Immediately.
But the incident
got me thinking.
See has really not all whole lot of
room in there.
So to survive and enjoy the adventure, we've
come off with our top 10 rules for
getting along
in a motor home.
Rule number 1, if you have problems getting
the long at home, don't expect it to
be easier in a motor home.
2 people can share the same space. But
the most important rule is to respect and
don't try to do 2 different things in
the same state. Rule, number number 2.
Don't over overpass.
You really don't need to have any more
than say a 3 day supply of food
or closed. You can do laundry on the
road, and you can buy food locally where
it's the freshest.
Rule number 3, everything has a place and
our place for everything.
Agree beforehand, where you're gonna store things. When
done using,
return them to that place and nowhere else.
Rule number 4. If you travel with pets,
assign them a space too.
Dogs and cats love to know where they're
supposed to be.
Assigned them their spot in the motor home
and train them to sleep there. Cut in
front of the bathroom door where he'll trip
on them in the middle the night.
Rule number 5 as much as possible, plan
ahead those meals. Grill outside, and if you
dirty dish or glass, clean it. Put it
away right away after eating.
Don't over overdrive.
Going any more than 354
hundred miles in a day. It's going to
tire you out.
Remember your motor homing because it's fun, driving
too far and too long makes everybody cranky.
Rule number 7. Stay fit. Extra size. Don't
pack on those extra pounds. Take long walks,
bring a bike,
find and does it health clubs a long
way? Too much sitting, like too much driving
isn't good for anyone. Rule number 8.
Explore. Use Google or the Internet or your
Gps to find
interesting spots in the towns and the places
that you're passing.
Visit a museum, learn the the locations history,
try to eat at a locally owned restaurant.
To the fast food places.
Don't be in such a hurry all the
time. Rule number 9. Be careful buying souvenirs.
Your motor home only has so much space.
Chip, the must have things home instead of
jamming every available storage spot with things that
aren't essential for being on the road. Rule
number 10,
this is the big 1.
When you're wrong,
admit it. Conflict is inevitable.
Jen?
I'm sorry. I invaded your space back.
Don't hesitate to forgive. That's okay. You're forgiven.
Well, we hope this helps.
I still think on that video, the line,
and it's a line that you will be
forever famous with was... I need a little
bit of space with you not in it.
Do you remember that? How can I forget?
I think everybody can say that. I need
a little bit of space with you not
in it.
I don't know how I thought rather said
that. I think I was first laughed.
Well, I think I thought you were joking,
and then I thought about it, and then
I was like.
I need a little bit of space but
you're not in it.
That's harsh. And then I'm place. That is
really creative.
So
I think I put it on Facebook at
the time. Jennifer just said she to some
space with me not in it. Yeah. And
then he got all the sympathy from people
for having to live with me. There you
go. Yeah. Couple new guys said, yeah. I
know that for man. Yeah. I'm I'm so
abuse so you think?
Anyway,
I'll give you credit as a line.
They're getting out there. Male or female. There
are times you need space.
Without somebody else, even somebody who you love
dearly in that space. Yeah.
Okay.
You're gonna get all the sympathy votes this
time, so that's gonna.
Alright. That's podcast for this week. We just
luck getting this the, hitch off of our
old truck and installed on our new and
as we start packing up, following our own
advice about packing to head to the Canadian
Maritime in our Fantasy Rv tour we are
really starting to get excited about that for
the next 6 weeks. We're Mike and Jen.
Thank you guys so much for watching.
Happy trails.