More RV gadgets and gizmos for StressLess Camping
We love RV gadgets and gizmos so on this week’s StressLess Camping RV podcast we revisit some of our favorite RV gadgets and gizmos that we use regularly. From frivolous to fancy to fantastic these are some things we’ve found that still make us happy after using them for a while. These time-tested RV gadgets aren’t necessary but they certainly are fun and have become a part of our RV adventure.
We also take a look at a new travel trailer from that has incredible counter space and plenty of seating in a small package.
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Mentioned on this episode
More RV gadgets and gizmos for StressLess Camping
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Automated transcript of StressLess Camping RV and travel podcast episode 232
Mark Ferrell
Welcome to the weekly podcast, all about turning the great American RV adventure into Stressless camping. Each week we explore tips, tricks, ideas, and destinations, and talk to the happiest campers in the RV world. Pull up a seat at the campfire as we enjoy some Stressless camping.
Peggy Barthel
Welcome to the Campfire.
Tony Barthel
I'm Tony.
Peggy Barthel
I'm Peggy.
Tony Barthel
And we are two RV industry veterans who travel part-time
Peggy Barthel
In a small trailer
Tony Barthel
Looking to share big adventures and help you with great tips, tricks, and discounts.
Peggy Barthel
We're getting that small trailer ready.
Tony Barthel
Oh yeah, we are. We're getting
Peggy Barthel
Ready to
Tony Barthel
Go. We're hitting the road, baby. Thankfully.
Peggy Barthel
But also, while we're getting ready to hit the road, we're also doing, you know, those wintry holiday things that people do, like look at Christmas lights and we went to the River of Lights at the Albuquerque Bio Park this week. Yeah,
Tony Barthel
That was was
Peggy Barthel
And that was really nice.
Tony Barthel
Well, funny thing, friends from Northern California were in town and I saw that she posted about the gas prices here in New Mexico, which are really nice. And I'm like, are you in town? She, oh yeah. And then next thing you know, hey, we have tickets to the river of Lights at the Albuquerque Ballpark. Want to go?
Peggy Barthel
Sure. So we did. So we met up with them and that was super fun. I remember when I was a kid and like in December when people started decorating their yards, my mom would drive us through like the kind of ritzier, fancier neighborhoods to look at, check out all the Christmas lights.
Tony Barthel
Yeah, I remember that.
Peggy Barthel
We couldn't afford to put
Tony Barthel
Up <laugh>. I remember those neighborhoods where people just went nuts with lights. Speaking of which, where we used to, used to use to live in El Segundo <laugh>, there is a thing called Candy Cane Lane. And it is legitimately in their
Peggy Barthel
Purchase contracts,
Tony Barthel
Purchase contracts that they have to decorate for the holidays. Right, right. And I mean, that whole street, it's only a block long. They block it off and decorate the living heck out of it. And it's pretty elaborate and really enjoyable. Well, <laugh>, we watched a movie with Eddie Murphy about Candy Cane Lane and there were so many references to El Segundo. Right.
Peggy Barthel
And they even drove through El Segundo, you see several times the Old Town music hall where we actually got married. Yeah. So it was a fun blast from the past. Now Tony called it and I verified Candy Cane Lane wasn't actually on Candy Cane Lane, it was at a studio or something. But most of the El Segundo scenes were El Segundo. Yeah, it
Tony Barthel
Was, it was pretty cool to see all that. And
Peggy Barthel
It's kind of a fun little movie too.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. So if you have a chance, it's on Amazon, I believe. Check it out. It's a fun holiday movie. And it, it had a lot of nostalgia for us because of El Segundo. Yeah. So,
Peggy Barthel
So to go outside and walk around river of lights and stuff, I was really happy that I recently took a tip from my friend Mickey and bought a big, heavy, warm, cozy, lovely coat, <laugh>. So I stayed nice and warm. And then today I saw something posted that said, and I, I wanna steal it. The snuggle is real <laugh>
Tony Barthel
<laugh>. Absolutely. So, yeah, it's fun to do all that holiday stuff. And that river of lights was, was pretty impressive. I also remember back in Northern California at the Mendocino Botanical Gardens, they do something fairly similar as well. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. So kinda cool. Hopefully there's something like that near wherever you are at
Peggy Barthel
The mall. Or maybe you live on your town's version of Candy Cane Lane. Yeah. And you have to Decorat Decorat. You don't have to go anywhere to see the decorations. <laugh>,
Tony Barthel
You are the decoration.
Peggy Barthel
Right. You can see 'em from the comfort of your living room window. <laugh>. Well,
Tony Barthel
I also, I mean Fuey on that. I love when people decorate their RVs for the holidays. Yes. Like Halloween or of course Christmas and such. You know what, we have our fun and friendly Stressless campers Facebook group. Heck share some of the photos of what's
Peggy Barthel
Around you. Yeah, that would be great
Tony Barthel
If you're, yeah, if you're in your RV park or wherever and people are decorating, we'd love to see what people are up to. So share those there if you would please. Yeah, of course. You know, you can actually power your holiday lighting with your A B, C Upfitters power package
Peggy Barthel
Uhhuh <affirmative>.
Tony Barthel
It is quite a capable system. We have our trailer sitting outside. Now granted there is a little bit of snow here in New Mexico, but not much. Not much. So our panels are exposed to the sun and just charging away. Refrigerator is running.
Peggy Barthel
Oh, actually I turned it off and cleaned it and I need to go turn it back on. Oh,
Tony Barthel
Blinding. Okay, so
Peggy Barthel
We can start, so we can start load it up. Well, there we go. I, it took me a while to figure out how to turn that off. <laugh>. Yeah,
Tony Barthel
Our Dometic fridge. Anyway, our system is charged and happy and ready to go. It's such an impressive system. It as we prepare for months on the road, which is what we're doing right now, and hopefully we'll see you out there.
Peggy Barthel
Yes.
Tony Barthel
One of the things we just don't worry about is that power package from A B, C Upfitters. I mean, you know, you worry about, oh, are the tires inflated and is everything adjusted and all that. But the power package is just, it's a no worries system. It works, it does add promise, it just
Peggy Barthel
Works.
Tony Barthel
<laugh> and yeah, that's it. It's not something that we check up on that we have to plan for that we have to adjust or fiddle with. It's a solar, lithium power system for RVs that just does the job. That's not something that I hear a lot, right. In different places. But it's something we experience on a regular basis. So if you would like your own solar and lithium system that just work, give the folks at a BC Outfitters a call and I've been giving out the wrong number for them.
Peggy Barthel
No wonder they haven't been getting any calls
Tony Barthel
<laugh>. No, they actually have, I've been giving out the business name number, but A BC Outfitters has a specific number, right. And that number is 5 7 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 5. And I have some really incredible news. They are offering some significant savings on the solar and lithium systems if you book by the end of the year to go and have your RV Upfitted Excellent. So it can be as much as 25% off, which is a huge savings.
Tony Barthel
Wow. And there are some other deals and they can explain that all to you. That's also in our show notes@stressescamping.com and there's a link to A BC Outfitters there, so,
Peggy Barthel
So give yourself the gift of Power
Tony Barthel
Boy in that
Peggy Barthel
<laugh>.
Tony Barthel
Yeah, that's for sure. And save a whole bunch of money across. Save a lot
Peggy Barthel
Of money.
Tony Barthel
A B, C Outfitters have just served us so well. And again, 5, 7, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2 5 Or just look at our show notes for a B, C Upfitters.
Peggy Barthel
You know, last week we talked about what we think are kind of camping and Bo Boondocking essentials. Some of the gadgets that I recommend always when people ask what are the essentials? And those are kind of the things that we talk about. But just to kind of follow up on that theme, <laugh>,
Tony Barthel
What
Peggy Barthel
About some of that really fun stuff that isn't necessarily essential but makes our lives, our camping so much easier and more comfortable and less stress.
Tony Barthel
Oh,
Peggy Barthel
<laugh>. So I thought this week maybe we'll follow up from last week and we'll just add some fun gear that we really like.
Tony Barthel
Well, and some of this is essential. Well,
Peggy Barthel
Yeah, because coffee is essential,
Tony Barthel
Right? It really is. And we, I don't know how we missed this last week
Peggy Barthel
Did, right? Because we really do consider this essential. Now there are lots and lots of ways to make coffee. Obviously this is our very most favoritest way. You know, if you are a Keurig person then maybe you don't find this essential. But if you boondock a lot, well, I guess now that we have the power package, I can't say you can't use a Keurig, but Right. But,
Tony Barthel
But the thing is, we have gotten so used to using the Arrow press, which is like a French press, but one that's really easy to clean,
Peggy Barthel
Super easy to clean. And we love it so much that after we come back from a trip, we usually bring it in the house and use it while we wean ourselves back onto the very good quality electric coffee maker. But we just love that arrow pressed coffee so
Tony Barthel
Much. Well, and and the trick is you boil the water or you heat up the water to 190 degrees if you're a true nerd. So you can do that with whatever stove or campfire Right. Or whatever you have that you can. I mean, heck, put a metal can container and the engine compartment of your vehicle, heat it up that way. I don't, whatever, whatever suits you. So all you need is hot water and coffee grounds. The AeroPress doesn't require electricity or anything like that and it just makes great coffee.
Tony Barthel
I mean, that's the bottom line, right? Camping is experiencing the things that you really love in a different setting so you don't have to have terrible coffee. Right. Even if you like boondocking and don't yet have your A, B, C Outfitters power package <laugh>, but I mean, yeah, whatever, however you're camping,
Peggy Barthel
Right? But now the important thing is, I mean the AeroPress makes really great coffee, but you can't make really great coffee unless you start with really great coffee. So it's important to buy good beans. We buy whole beans and we grind them. Now when we're at home, we do that every single day. We do that on a daily basis. And for a while while we were camping, we would either buy the bag of beans and grind it in the store.
Tony Barthel
Beans tend to degrade after they've been ground. Right. And you know, like a few hours later is no big deal. But if you have a giant bag of coffee by the time you get to the last cup or Yeah,
Peggy Barthel
It's not as fresh anymore, but the beans stay fresh a lot longer. And so what we recently bought is a battery powered coffee grinder and it's, it's from Mole
Tony Barthel
Mulley.
Peggy Barthel
Mulley. Okay. Again, there's a whole bunch of them out there. You know, I kind of looked at Amazon and this one had lots of great reviews. It's rechargeable so we can use it until it dies and then charge it up. And uh, we won't use it outside by the campfire because we're not Billy Crystal and we don't wanna cause a stampede, <laugh> <laugh>.
Tony Barthel
However, you know, before this electric coffee grinder, we did bring a manual coffee grinder, which oh boy, we got tired of very quickly.
Peggy Barthel
It literally took as long to grind beans for one cup of coffee as it did to boil water for a cup of coffee.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. And the funny thing is, and
Peggy Barthel
It's a lot of work,
Tony Barthel
You know, me being me, I thought, well it's gotta handle at the top <laugh>, why wouldn't I just take the electric drill that I always have with me to raise and lower the stabilizers and run it off that I was surprised it did not work well at all. No, the results were lousy. Yeah. So this is a lot better solution. The Mully battery powered coffee grinder. So
Peggy Barthel
We're very excited that now we can grind our coffee each day the way it's supposed to be.
Tony Barthel
And you know what that reminds me of? It's very similar to our battery powered blender. Well
Peggy Barthel
That's true.
Tony Barthel
The battery powered blender that we have is also, I'm surprised at how good this stuff has gotten. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, I mean you can make margaritas with these battery powered blenders or smoothies or whatnot. This battery powered coffee grinder is very similar in size and format to that battery powered Cuisinart blender.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. So speaking of that, you know we have talked about that before. The Cuisinart battery powered blender. Very, very handy. It comes with its own sort of cup. So if you do make a smoothie or a margarita, I guess <laugh>, you can drink it right out of that cup as long as no one's waiting to use it for their smoothie or their margarita <laugh>.
Tony Barthel
Yeah, there you go. And again, you know, you could charge it up. I mean we have these go power solar panels, portable solar panels that we can use and they have a USB output on 'em. And so you could literally charge this stuff with the sun if that's your thing. And
Peggy Barthel
Here's just a little quick tip. If you have a blender, any blender battery powered or the big giant one on your counter at home, the easiest way to clean that is to put a couple drops of dish soap and some water and blend your soap. That way the blades will spin around in that soapy water and you will have nice clean blades without sticking your hand in there and trying to cut your fingers <laugh>. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
And, and by the way, don't put your hand in there when it's running. Good
Peggy Barthel
Tip <laugh>.
Tony Barthel
Our next item, we use these things so much, it's crazy. In fact, as you may know, we're at our sticks and bricks at the moment and I see three of these right here on my desk. And they're night eyes gear ties and what they are. Okay. If you were a kid and you had one of those bendy gummies <laugh>, they are the,
Peggy Barthel
They're basically tie
Tony Barthel
Wrap equivalent of
Peggy Barthel
That're, they're like a, you know, wire inside tie wrap. But they're covered in a good rubber coating with thicker rubber tips so the metal doesn't end up poking out, which it often does in that sort of a thing. <laugh>.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. Who didn't get sad when you're gumby like the metal thing inside broke <laugh>.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah, so they're so handy and we've got lengths from like an inch and a half to like 12 inch sizes. They're kind of color coded so you can tell, you know about how big it's gonna be before you and I have used them. <laugh>, I've even used them as a hair tie in the bench. <laugh>.
Tony Barthel
I mean, we've tied up cables cords and I've fixed stuff with it. I've put a GoPro on a tripod with them. They're pretty universally useful. I have <laugh>, I have a box of spray cleaners and lubes and stuff in the back of the truck. And I used one to tie that box to one of the tie downs in the pickup bed
Peggy Barthel
So that the box didn't fly around all over the place. Yep. <laugh>,
Tony Barthel
I mean they're the super useful thing that's cheap and well worth having all the time.
Peggy Barthel
And when you, you put your GoPro on a arm so that you could see above, you hooked it to a Mr. Long arm. Right?
Tony Barthel
I did. So as I've often said, if you wanna know the laziest way to accomplish a task, I am your man <laugh>. And one of the things as an RV owner, or if you have an RV that you're going to wanna do fairly regularly is inspect the roof. Because all that flexible sealant, it's not the roof membrane, it's the flexible sealants that are a failure point. Yep. And you wanna look at those regularly to make sure that they're still in good shape.
Tony Barthel
Well the normal person way to do that is to go up on a ladder and walk around on the roof and look at them. Right. Yeah. Know that's not the Tony way. It's not happening <laugh>. So I take this Mr. Long arm and it's a, it's like an extendable pole and I stick the GoPro on it with one of those night eyes gear ties.
Tony Barthel
And I record a video of the roof of our rv and then I have those as a point of reference. So if I see seals deteriorating, I can fix that. But what I really bought this Mr. Long arm extendable pole for was cleaning the solar panels. Because again, the normal person way is to go up on the roof with some window cleaner and clean your solar panels. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. The Tony way is with this Mr. Long arm pole and an RV slide out sweep, which is basically a plastic U Yep.
Tony Barthel
And cleaning cloths from almost heaven microfiber.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. So the slide out sweep is a, as Tony said, a U shape and it's threaded. So you screw one end into the Mr. Long arm, like a broom handle. The other end you can put a mop head or a broom head or an almost heaven cleaning head. Then you can reach from the ground, you know, it's easy to reach. 'cause the pole extends up the Mr. Long arm and then the slide out sweep curves back down. So you've got a great angle to stand on the ground and sweep the roof. And also not just the solar panels, but because it's called slide out sweep, you might guess also the top of your slide out before you put it in.
Peggy Barthel
Because if any gunk has fallen on the roof of your slide out, you don't want that ruining your seal or getting in your rv.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. That's another thing I use it for is I take the GoPro and I use those night ice gear ties and I attach the GoPro to the pole and I look at the roof of the slide out because remember that what is on the roof of your slide when it's out is now inside your RV when it's in Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And so I always look at what's on top of the slide before I bring it in. And that's another thing is with these night ice gear ties, Mr. Long arm pole and then if I there are leaves or branches or whatnot, I use that RV slide out sweep attachment and sweep off the top of the slide and binging bang boom.
Tony Barthel
Ready for
Peggy Barthel
Travel. Ready to move. So Tony, is <laugh> a mosquito magnet?
Tony Barthel
Yeah. If there's one in the county, it's gonna call its friends and come find
Peggy Barthel
Me. <laugh>. We have tried lots and lots of sprays and methods and gadgets. Tony has found that thermo cell, they don't bother me that much. So I don't get it out unless he's there. But when he, when we're outside and the mosquitoes are outside, Tony gets that thermo cell and can sit outside in comfort.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. It's the only thing I've found that actually keeps the mosquitoes away now. Right now, you know, being winter, right. <laugh> we're not really that concerned about mosquitoes. Although yesterday <laugh> at the river of Lights. Oh
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. <laugh>
Tony Barthel
Bill and Eileen saw Hummingbird lights that were flapping their wings and they asked Bill
Peggy Barthel
Was mosquitoes, do you
Tony Barthel
Have mosquitoes here? No, no, no. Those are <laugh>. Hummingbird. <laugh>.
Peggy Barthel
That's right. I call 'em dragonflies. And then I had to go around the corner to actually see dragonflies. So there we go. Well they did have long, you know, like promiscuous or whatever and flapping wings. Yeah. So I mean, you know. Yeah
Tony Barthel
It could be. But anyway, this thermo cell keeps 'em away. And another way to keep them away is we bought a Lippert screen tent, which is an oc. Is it octagonal or Hexagonal? I don't know. Uh, they could six. Is it? Okay, so it's hexagonal. <laugh>. I put a hexa on you.
Peggy Barthel
Oh boy. Yeah. Yeah. So we bought that last summer when we were in Michigan or when we were going to Michigan. Yeah. At the the Frog rally. And we warned about the bugs. We would put that up at our camp almost every time we did that. It doesn't have a floor, so it's very easy to put up. It's just like a popup. It's
Tony Barthel
Liket a Yeah. What are those? Clam Tant. But it's the Lippert version. Yeah. And honestly it is really easy to pop up. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. I mean it's
Peggy Barthel
Surprising I did do it myself once. Yeah. Just to prove to myself that I could do it. It's a little easier with two, but I could do it.
Tony Barthel
The other neat thing is when it is popped down ready for travel, it does actually fit back in its own bag. Yes. And it comes with its own bag.
Peggy Barthel
Yes.
Tony Barthel
It has screens, but you can put up teny walls on it. I mean you could use this as a tent. Sure. And we may,
Peggy Barthel
We might.
Tony Barthel
But it's a pretty neat gadget and we like it. So
Peggy Barthel
Something that did work for me but didn't seem to work for Tony was insect repellent that was made by Grandpa Guss, but also made by Grandpa Guss is something that we can't live without. Oh
Tony Barthel
Yeah. We totally swear by this.
Peggy Barthel
And that is the mouse repellents. And they, there's a spray and then there's also these pouches. Yeah. Like sachets and they are filled with essentially peppermint
Tony Barthel
Satchels,
Peggy Barthel
Satchels
Tony Barthel
Sachet.
Peggy Barthel
No, the sachet is like a little bag you put in your
Tony Barthel
Drawer to, I thought sachet was when you walked funny.
Peggy Barthel
Well there's that too <laugh>. Anyway, little pouches since they're like burlaps, so maybe they're not Yeah. Fufu enough to be a session,
Tony Barthel
Whatever they're, yeah.
Peggy Barthel
They have things like peppermint oil and cinnamon oil. There's so much talk about stuff to keep mice out. And really the best way to keep mice out is to close off all the holes that let the mice in.
Tony Barthel
Okay. So in Northern California, our house was among the wineries and there were so many mice because they eat the grapes. Right? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Now here we're in the desert where there's so many rodents because there are <laugh> and we have never knock on wood, come in. Who is it? <laugh>. Oh right. We're knocking on wood. We have not had a mouse problem. Now we clean the trailer bef, you know, when we are finished with it. Yeah. But still we put these grandpa gus mouse repellent pouches and have never seen evidence of rodents in the trailer at all.
Tony Barthel
No.
Peggy Barthel
In any of them. And so what I do is take not only put the pouches inside, but I use the spray and I kind of spritz the tires. So they don't even wanna, they don't even like the smell of the tires. So they won't climb up the tires and find that hole in the bottom of the trailer.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. So far so good. We've been very pleased with this and it actually works. And you might say, well why don't I just use peppermint oil or whatever myself, somehow they've managed to make this stuff last a long time. I don't know what they've done. Yeah. But like I say it, it's one of those things that just seems to work.
Peggy Barthel
And by the way, peppermint and cinnamon, I happen to love both of those scents. And so I like using those, even if I'm not worried about mice. Just 'cause they make the camper smell good. <laugh>. Yeah, they,
Tony Barthel
I really, it almost smells like Christmas to me. Yeah. So yeah, it's, it's a very pleasant smell for us. Two-legged critters, but not for those little rodents.
Peggy Barthel
Okay. So let's step inside and look at a couple of things inside. A couple of things that we find super, super useful in the kitchen. And there's three, we have silicone collapsible storage bowls with lids that are microwave safe. So there's a little, what do you call it? Little vent thing in the lid. Oh yeah. To make it microwaveable.
Tony Barthel
Oh yeah. Those square ones we bought at Quartzite.
Peggy Barthel
Yes. They come in round, square and rectangle. So we don't have round, but we have squares and we have rectangles, again, color coded by size. Super useful. We keep our leftovers in, we can reheat things in 'em. One of them is specifically the butter dish <laugh>.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. It is
Peggy Barthel
The yellow. That's
Tony Barthel
Yellow one for
Peggy Barthel
Surprise. Yep. The yellow rectangle is the butter dish when we're RVing. And then another thing also a silicone product is storage bags. And they are again made of silicone super light collapsible actually they're really nice because when you aren't using them, you kind of roll them up, snap the top closed. And then there's like a little loop that keeps it from unrolling. So it stores itself in like a little tube.
Tony Barthel
They're neat and you can microwave 'em and all that stuff being silicone.
Peggy Barthel
Right. And they're, so they're pretty liquid proof. So you can even put, you know, like leftover soup or something in one. So those are really nice. And again, lightweight, easy to store. And then the third thing, and these all, like if you go to one of quote unquote those booths, you probably find all three of these things in one booth. <laugh>. Yeah. But potentially,
Tony Barthel
I've noticed that we've looked at some and some are like cheap copies of the real stuff.
Peggy Barthel
Right, right.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. And again, if you're heading the quartzite, you'll find all these things there.
Peggy Barthel
Sure. The third thing then is called a grip stick. And it's like a, it's like a bag clip essentially. And it's long like a straw. It's hard to describe. It's a straw with a stick in the inside and it slides onto a folded over like plastic bag like your, all the freezer vegetables and stuff. So you can, or cereal bags, you can fold those over and slide the grip stick on it and then it seals your bag better than a clip that only, you know, just seal.
Peggy Barthel
There's clips in the middle or whatever.
Tony Barthel
We have articles about all these things. So we'll put links in the show notes. This is podcast episode 2, 3 2. And if you go to stressless camping.com/podcast/oh 2 3 2, you'll find links to all of the articles and pictures and all of that about those goodies and even places to buy them if you want 'em. Which I think you should. 'cause they're awesome.
Peggy Barthel
Right. Or if you're going to court site or going pretty much to any of the RV shows where they have booths. I mean we've even found things at state fairs. I think the grip sticks. We've first founded our county fair. So they're also good for the house, but they're nice for the camper because they're small and they're lightweight and they're easy to store and super useful. Again, color coded by size. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
Uh, that's pretty slick. We see a lot of people requesting tire pressure monitoring systems and the optimal ones are the ones that are inside the tire just because they don't affect the balance and all that stuff and they don't tend to fly off. But we did get to test a tire pressure monitoring system that just screws onto the valve stems of the tires. It was not expensive and it worked reasonably well. If you're looking for a tire pressure monitoring system.
Tony Barthel
We have a link in our articles about one that we tested that we thought was reasonably decent and pretty affordable.
Peggy Barthel
Another item that we have found sort of indispensable <laugh> and believe me, we've tried various different ones.
Tony Barthel
So we like this. So we think it's so nice. We bought it twice, right.
Peggy Barthel
The Curt aluminum tray style bike rack we had one and last summer, well now a year, almost a year and a half ago, if you don't know, we got rear-ended the bike rack and our two electric bikes were on the back of the trailer naturally. And so they all got smashed. Now we got a new trailer and we tried getting a different bike rack and we were not pleased at all. We ended up using it for chairs because we didn't trust our bikes back there. And so we decided that the only way for us is the Curt aluminum tray style bike rack.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. It's just solid. It's easy to get the bikes on and off if flips up for storage, if there's not bikes on it. It's very well made. I can't say enough about how much I like this bike rack and it goes on the back of our travel trailer. I ask Kurt because that's not always legit. Some bike rack say don't put it on the back of a travel trailer. Right. And Kurt was okay with it. I specifically asked about that and the first bike rack went thousands of miles without an issue until it got rear-ended.
Tony Barthel
None of these bike racks seem to be good for being rear-ended.
Peggy Barthel
<laugh>, imagine that. Yeah. <laugh>. And there aren't very many things at all out there on the road that are happy with being rear-ended. Imagine that oddly enough.
Tony Barthel
Yeah, that's the Curt tre style aluminum bike rack.
Peggy Barthel
A couple of years ago we interviewed Tom from RV Sauna. He actually uses his sauna because he had Lyme disease and sauna is, I guess very, I don't know, it doesn't heal anything, but it helps with symptoms of, of Lyme disease. Now we don't have that problem, but we do have that sauna. And I gotta tell you that in the wintertime, <laugh>, when it's cold, cold, cold and I can't get warm, I go turn that sauna on for 10 minutes. It's like sitting in an insulated bag and only your head sits out.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah.
Tony Barthel
Which is funny looking by the way.
Peggy Barthel
So it's not like one of those saunas where you're completely inside it, your head is actually outside of this. So you could still watch TV <laugh> or read or what. You know, there's like, there's actually listen
Tony Barthel
To podcasts.
Peggy Barthel
You can listen to podcasts. There's actually two zippers that you can stick your hand out if you need to get out for some reason. But anyway, you know, I spend 10 minutes in that infrared sauna and it warms up my core and just, it is a winter necessity. I don't care if you're in the camper or in the house, it is a winter necessity. It's made to be portable. So it rolls up into a bag and it comes with its own chair and super, super great for,
Tony Barthel
We've getting warm. We've seen someone at a campground, the Keya in Palm Springs with one of these sitting outside using it. So it is legitimately a portable rv. You know, RV friendly sun. And now it does of course require household power. Sure. But aside from that, it's kind of a cool thing and yeah, it's funny.
Peggy Barthel
A warm thing. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
Well that's true I guess.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah, because you know the snuggle is real <laugh>. The
Tony Barthel
Snuggle is real. And we have a full interview with Tom. We'll share a link to that in the show notes.
Peggy Barthel
Now if it's opposite problem and you're too warm,
Tony Barthel
Well first of all, the next two items are things that right now have to be pre-installed on your rv. But that's changing quickly.
Peggy Barthel
So these are not things we have or use, they're things correct. We really, really want <laugh>. Right.
Tony Barthel
They're things I saw at the RV open house. I've talked about 'em before. So, okay. So something that frustrates the daylights outta me are arev air conditioners and RV air conditioners are typically very inefficient. They're loud, it's an old fashioned technology and it has been because there's no incentive to change. Right? You typically go to an RV park and plug in and use all the power that you paid for Sure.
Tony Barthel
However, there are more and more of us who want to be off the grid but still wanna have the option of using an air conditioner. So what I'm going on about is the Furion chill cube, which was an air conditioner I saw that is remarkably efficient. I saw it at open house. And it's funny because I, I described this before. I was in an RV where it was a prototype and this thing was running 'cause RV open house, it was warm and I'm talking to the rep and all of a sudden I'm like, is the air conditioner running?
Tony Barthel
Yeah. And it's so quiet and so efficient. So I wrote an article about it and I even gave it an award. Yes. So the Furion Chill cube is one of those gadgets that I hope I see more of. And I'm sure other companies will be copying. I know that Truman of Venta is also a remarkably efficient air conditioner. So it looks like a promising future for staying cool dudes.
Peggy Barthel
And what's the other, well
Tony Barthel
The other one is something that both Lippert and Bosch have. And Bosch is selling theirs through Dexter, which makes axles and chassis and, and that sort of stuff. And Lippert just came up with this on their own. And it's antilock braking for trailers. Now I would be shocked if whatever vehicle you're driving does not have antilock braking and sway control and that sort of stuff built in. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> especially since it's a law. But trailers are, again, trailers are still in the seventies.
Tony Barthel
And fortunately both Lippert and Bosch have come up with an antilock braking system. And I have an article, I think, you know, if you're interested in this kind of stuff, check out the article 'cause there's videos. Those videos show how remarkably better the trailer handles with the brakes supplied with these systems versus not with these systems. Great. They have some other functions too, like they'll track mileage and, and that sort of stuff. But it is something that is going to be available in the aftermarket.
Tony Barthel
Well it is now. It's just really expensive. But I perceive it will become more common and less expensive. And I think it's game changing in terms of RV handling.
Peggy Barthel
Excellent. So that's our secondary list of things that aren't essential except, you know, some of them are <laugh> to us <laugh>, but just really handy, helpful, wonderful gadgets to help make your experience more stress less. Ooh,
Tony Barthel
Where would I find this stuff?
Peggy Barthel
You can find pretty much all that stuff on our deals and discounts page. Now some of it you'll find direct links and some of it you'll find on our Amazon link. Now on our Amazon link, we do have a RV essentials shopping list for you. And I just wanna remind you that if you use the Amazon link, it'll give you some tips of things that we find useful, but also you won't change what you're gonna pay or how your experience is going to be.
Peggy Barthel
But if you use the link on our website, we get a little bit of a bonus for sending you to Amazon. And so if you would please, if you're going to buy from Amazon and you don't even have to buy RV gear. If you're buying gifts for the season and you want to get something from Amazon, just go in and click out of our page into Amazon and then you won't notice a difference. But we will and we appreciate
Tony Barthel
That Amazon basically wanna see that we're referring people and that we get a teeny tiny piece of the pie and it helps support this podcast and all of that. So thank
Peggy Barthel
You. Thank you. Yes. And most of the other items that we have talked about, if they're not Amazon link, they are links right. In our deals and discounts page. And for the most part there's a discount on them. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
<laugh> Now something to know, we only put things on our deals and discounts page that we believe are quality that we use regularly or would use, we don't just take deals and discounts on just anything. Right. And believe me, we do get a lot of requests for Right. Hey, you know, put a link for our whatever,
Peggy Barthel
Whatever, whatever.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. And we're like, yeah, no, it's not something we think we would like or use regularly or that we wanna put our name behind. We're, we're pretty picky 'cause really we're here to serve you.
Peggy Barthel
So how about if you tell us your favorite RV this week?
Tony Barthel
Well, I wrote a review on RV travel of the Forest River surveyor, legend 2 0 3 RKLE. What a name. As you probably know, if there's a floor plan that a company comes up with and it's a great floor plan. Everybody does it. <laugh>. Yeah. Everyone's gonna copy it. The first time you and I saw this, it was a grand design. 17 RK Kelly, I think, I don't remember the one
Peggy Barthel
With the countertop that went from the door to the back wall. Right.
Tony Barthel
And do you remember why we didn't buy that trailer?
Peggy Barthel
There was a few reasons.
Tony Barthel
Couldn't. Yeah, there were a few reasons. But one of those was with the slide in, you could not use the Murphy bed.
Peggy Barthel
Ah, that's okay.
Tony Barthel
So in this Forest River surveyor, legend 2 0 3 RKLE, you can, so it does have a Murphy bed, but you can leave the bed down all the time. So the trailer is fully usable with the bed down, slide in or out, doesn't matter. I like a lot of the stuff that they have done. It's got a giant countertop, basically the length from the door all the way to the back of the trailer, like all of the ones that have this floor plan. But just the way they've configured things makes this a very usable version.
Tony Barthel
And another thing that's pretty neat about this, and I'm starting to see this more and more, it does have a small outside kitchen. And that outside kitchen has a little fridge and what they call a dog bowl sink, which is just a bowl that you can use with the outdoor shower and then a flat top griddle.
Tony Barthel
And some of these, you pull the griddle out. Well now you have to reach over the griddle to get to the fridge. And that's just not good. Whereas this, the griddle kind of, you pull out the tray, put that dog bowl sink in, and then another tray slides out to the side. So what you're reaching over to get to the fridge is the sink. And then you're not burning your guts. So it's just a nicely designed but small outdoor kitchen.
Tony Barthel
There's a lot of thought that went into this version of their floor plan. And I think of all of these, I might like this one the best. Now what I didn't like, it has a Murphy bed and a windshield and it's like, come on, RV industry. What in a wide, wide world of sports are you thinking? You know, you have the windshield when you don't want it. And no windshield when you do so.
Peggy Barthel
Right. Because when the bed is up during the day, you can't see out the window. Yeah. When the bed is down, you wanna sleep light shining through the window.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. It's just, it's double dumb. So let's all create a magical earth where there's no windshields in travel trailers unless they have a front kitchen and no more 17 inch ovens either. 'cause they're, oh come
Peggy Barthel
On now <laugh>, they're
Tony Barthel
Horrible. And four inch fart fans.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah, yeah. Okay, okay, okay.
Tony Barthel
Okay. Those three things. And only Goodyear
Peggy Barthel
Endurance times and yeah. Okay. Yeah, you can keep going forever.
Tony Barthel
And this does have Goodyear endurance times.
Peggy Barthel
That's right. Okay. So if you, if you rely on me to plan your weekly meals, I'm sorry. Yeah, <laugh> that I <laugh> I am not good at making that weekly recipe posts like I try to be. But I did do it this week. I made something that I'm calling Swiss chicken because it has Swiss cheese on it and I didn't, and it's chicken. And it's chicken and it's, oh gosh, it was so delicious. I wanna make
Tony Barthel
It again. It was, it was. Now here's the caveat. Peggy made it in the air fryer. I did. And I am surprised by how many of you have told us you bring the air fryer in your rv, but you could make it but
Peggy Barthel
You can bake it. Yeah. I mean it literally, the recipe that I stole, <laugh> that I modified is an oven recipe. You can bake it. I don't know if we've talked about this, but I think we have, in our house, we took out our gas stove slash oven because
Tony Barthel
I'm nuts.
Peggy Barthel
And we use induction cooktop and we use our convection microwave for a lot of our baking. But we also use the air fryer because it's way easier
Tony Barthel
And well, and I mean we also use our pellet smoker. Well
Peggy Barthel
Sure. But it was snowing last week. So <laugh>.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. Yeah. We weren't going outside to, to run the barbecue. So
Peggy Barthel
I could have done this in a regular oven. And I think, you know, the recipe says this, you know, put it in a, in cast iron, put it over the fire pit. If you're good at maintaining heat levels, <laugh>, I'm not so good at that. And I wouldn't trust baking chicken. But that's me. I'm not that good at it doesn't matter how you cook it. What matters is those delicious creamy layers on top. Yum.
Tony Barthel
Yum. Well what are they?
Peggy Barthel
Well it's the Swiss cheese. Yeah. And then there is a, what we call the plop <laugh>. The goop. The plop, I don't remember exactly. It's a combination of mayonnaise and sour cream and some herbs and seasonings. And you actually put that on the chicken with the Swiss cheese and then like let it all bake. And so Tony and I <laugh>, when we have fondue, we fight over that last bite that's right over the heat that we call the burn. Yeah. And it's that like scorched cheese. And if you cook your Swiss chicken right, you'll get that burn on top of the cheese.
Peggy Barthel
Oh, so
Tony Barthel
Good <laugh>. Yeah. Well and something that we have almost all the time in the freezer are bone in chicken thighs because they're cheap, they're delicious. They smoke. Well yeah, they're super easy. And that's what Peggy used. But you could use I think chicken breasts or
Peggy Barthel
Whatever. I think it would be even easier. Easier to eat because bone in thighs, I tend to pick up and eat with my hands. This is not a hand food. You have to use a knife and fork to get the Swiss chicken. And then I felt like I was missing out on some chicken 'cause I can't cut close to the bone <laugh>.
Tony Barthel
Oh well it was still good.
Peggy Barthel
It was still good, but I would just, I might use boneless for this recipe.
Tony Barthel
So what would you drink with your Swiss chicken?
Peggy Barthel
Well, as I asked last week on the question of the week, what is your favorite hot beverage to warm your insides when it's cold outside Now a lot of people said coffee <laugh>. And I have to say coffee is our number one hot beverage of course. Oh yeah. But there's also a limit to how much caffeine we can handle. And sometimes the days are too cold for that amount of caffeine <laugh>. And so I have to come up with an alternative for me. It's a hot herbal tea. Now we had some great answers and like I said, a lot of people answered coffee.
Peggy Barthel
But I'm gonna kind of go through the ones that were not coffee <laugh>, well flavored coffee.
Tony Barthel
Some of y'all are having a good time out there.
Peggy Barthel
Hot chocolate. Great option I, we just kind of don't keep that around because of the calories. But I love good hot chocolate. And someone even mentioned that they might put a couple spoonfuls of peppermint vodka or peppermint something in there. Hot chocolate. Yum.
Tony Barthel
Oh baby. You know that with some marshmallow cream on top? Hey,
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. Lala Irish coffee if they're not driving <laugh> mocha cappuccino. Maybe a little Bailey's Irish cream in your hot chocolate.
Tony Barthel
That's what I had last night at Rivers of Light.
Peggy Barthel
Yes. Mike likes to drink a little Tom and Jerry's in the evening. Oh, Chuck's the one that puts a spoonful of peppermint vodka in his hot chocolate. 'cause he doesn't like coffee. Weirdo
Tony Barthel
<laugh>. Actually, I know a few people who don't
Peggy Barthel
Drink. I'm coffee. I'm kidding. Of course, I'm kidding. Uh, let's see, hot chocolate with marshmallow, mauled wine, loose leaf tea. Kimberly likes Glog. And I had to ask her what that was. And it's a warm, spiced red wine. And in Denmark they serve it with almonds and raisins. Hmm. Yeah. Oh, unfortunately, Charlene apparently is not feeling well. 'cause currently her hot beverage of choice is Mucinex.
Tony Barthel
Oh man.
Peggy Barthel
Uh, let's see. Chocolate tea, espresso, ghost pepper. Vodka warms up your inside. Wait, what? So I can imagine that's Paul, by the way. He'll probably have of some to share with you.
Tony Barthel
Of course it is.
Peggy Barthel
<laugh> Mexican coffee is like Irish coffee, but it's tequila instead of whiskey. Well,
Tony Barthel
We've had those Mexican mochas, you know, one of those mocha drinks, but they put like hot chocolate powder or whatever and chili. Yeah.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. So those are, that's, you know, yeah. That's not an alcohol drink, but that is one of my favorite Mochas is a Aztec or Mexican, you know, D that's it.
Tony Barthel
It's
Peggy Barthel
Aztec mo d. It's named different depending on what store you go to, but the ones with a little bite of spice in them. Mm. Yeah, I
Tony Barthel
Like that. You be what?
Peggy Barthel
So thank you for answering and I hope you, I hope you're all staying warm and keeping your insides warm to keep your outside warm this week. I was just kind of curious, what movie must you watch in December? Like what is
Tony Barthel
Diehard, excuse me. Oh, that cough.
Peggy Barthel
What is your ultimate holiday? I realize there's a lot of other holidays in December other than Christmas. But you know, the kind of the Go-to movie is what is your favorite Christmas movie, but what is your favorite holiday? December must see movie.
Tony Barthel
Hey, maybe Candy Cane Lane,
Peggy Barthel
Maybe Candy Cane Lane <laugh>.
Tony Barthel
And you would answer those questions that are fun and friendly. Stressless campers, Facebook group. And that's also a safe place where you can go and just ask your questions. No one's gonna make fun of you for being a newbie or an oldie or whatever. Kind of be right. A fun place to be on Facebook.
Peggy Barthel
It can be questions that you kind of need some assistance with. Or it can be fun questions like, Hey, I wanna watch a movie, what should I see? Yeah,
Tony Barthel
There you go. Well, hopefully we'll get a bunch of answers about favorite.
Peggy Barthel
Absolutely.
Tony Barthel
Holiday movies. Holiday
Peggy Barthel
Movies. And do you know that once a week we send out a newsletter that is absolutely free?
Tony Barthel
That's true.
Peggy Barthel
Crazy, right? We have links to stories and videos and podcasts and things that we think will help you get the most of your RV experience.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. And to sign up for it, all you have to do is visit stresses camping.com and either under the hamburger menu or if it's your first time there, welcome, you'll get a popup that'll invite you to join our virtual family. And know that of course we never share your information, we never spam you. We just send one email a week period. End of story. That's all we got.
Peggy Barthel
If you need to look up all the links for all the fun gadgets that we talked about this week, check out the notes for this episode 2, 3 2 on the podcastPage@stresslesscamping.com. And that's
Tony Barthel
Also where you'll find our discounts and deals for the best deals on the things you'll need for your Stressless camping adventure.
Peggy Barthel
So some of those episode notes are gonna go right to the deals that discounts page.
Tony Barthel
Yes, they will.
Peggy Barthel
By the way, if there aren't enough deals and discounts on there for you and you know that there's one that we're missing, please let us know and we will do our best to get it on our page.
Tony Barthel
You bet we will. And of course we are in all the social places, and you can start@stresscamping.com. From there, jump off and find us out in the social world.
Peggy Barthel
Don't forget that. If you don't wanna miss a future episode of the Stressless Camping Podcast, it's free. It's free to subscribe on any podcast catcher. And we are saving you a seat around our virtual campfire.
Tony Barthel
And of course, a review will help others find this podcast. And the more people who find us, the more great guests and deals we are able to get for you. So if you haven't left a review, boy, we sure appreciate those. And if you have, another way you can help us is by sharing the things that you might find@stressescamping.com and in the newsletter we show you how to do that. It's just easy.
Peggy Barthel
Well, that's what we have for you this week. Thank you so much for joining us once again and Stressless Camping.
Mark Ferrell
We hope you learned a lot and had some fun and got some tips for your next Stressless Camping Adventure. We're honored by your reviews on Apple Podcasts, which helps others find us too. Don't forget to subscribe so you won't miss out on the adventure. And we look forward to your joining us next week. Until then, happy camping.
Tony Barthel
Blender. Blender, blender.
