Tony & Peggy Barthel - StressLess Campers

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We’re Tony & Peggy Barthel and we’re working to help you be a StressLess Camper.

A pretty good guy making pretty good campers - Mike Morse

A pretty good guy making pretty good campers - Mike Morse

After a chance encounter with Mike Rowe another Mike, Mike Morse, got a lot of attention for his hand-built teardrop campers and we get to speak with him about a lifetime of camping and adventures on this week's StressLess Camping RV podcast.

Other places to hear the podcast


Mentioned on this episode

Check out Mike’s Pretty Good Campers - this week’s guest

The Facebook Post from Mike Rowe with our introduction to Mike Morse from Mike’s Pretty Good Campers

Tony’s article detailing the new premium line of fifth wheel RVs from Rockwood and Flagstaff

A full review of the 2024 Rockwood Luxury Ranch 393RL fifth wheel


Some photos of Mike’s Pretty Good Campers


If you’re confused about solar, battery power or just want to upgrade your RV we have found the solutions from ABC Upfitters are both reliable and exceptional.

We have a podcast episode and video where you can learn more here.


Our trusted partners - RV Discounts and Deals

Automated transcript of StressLess Camping RV Podcast episode 233 with Mike Morse of Mike’s Pretty Good Campers

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're 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

Oh man. We're leaving tomorrow morning,

Tony Barthel

<laugh>. Yeah. And wow. We'll be back for many a day.

Peggy Barthel

You wouldn't think that a small trailer would take that long to pack, but boy, howdy. It sure does. <laugh> <laugh>.

Tony Barthel

Well, we're not gonna just be gone for a weekend. No, we're months. We're gonna, for two months, we're gonna gone for months. Months. Oh yeah. Two or three.

Peggy Barthel

Well, right now. Two.

Tony Barthel

Okay. We'll just see. But <laugh>, we're gonna be gone. We're gonna be gone until next year.

Peggy Barthel

That's right. We won't be back until next year.

Tony Barthel

So anyway. Yeah. That's the thing, right? It's not only are we packing for the journey, which is pretty normal, right. But we're also packing for the Quartzite Sports Vacation and RV show. Right. And we are the sponsors of the Seminar 10.

Peggy Barthel

We're also packing because at the end of our trip, one of the last things we're gonna do is go to a Renaissance festival. And I can't do that without a costume.

Tony Barthel

Yeah. Jason and Abby had one at their gathering, uh, from RV Miles, and I guess Jason didn't dress up, but I, I don't get away with that, so, Nope. That's the deal. So yeah, that and the class,

Peggy Barthel

Right. We're gonna be teaching a girl Camper college while we're out. That's the fact, Jack. It's also gonna be Christmas, and we can't go on a Christmas camping trip without wearing our stupid onesies.

Tony Barthel

<laugh> <laugh>. And it's gonna be New Year's and Yeah. Boy. Yeah. It's, uh, so anyway, so the, the, the packing has been interesting. Yeah.

Peggy Barthel

But luckily I didn't wait till the last day. I actually have been doing it for three or four days. There's still a fair amount to do, but this

Tony Barthel

Is probably the best we've been at this packing stuff. Yeah, I think so. Yeah.

Peggy Barthel

Hey, you know, I bet today's guest could really use some Wolverine tough bags.

Tony Barthel

Certainly could. He is a gen who has built his own teardrop trailers and restore vintage trailers.

Peggy Barthel

Right? So if he has those trailers that don't have, we'll listen to him, but some of them he build without sinks and stuff. So you've gotta have some kind of water. What better than a Wolverine tough bag or for a few? Yeah.

Tony Barthel

And we got these to try out a while back, and I just really like them. In fact, the first few nights of our adventure are gonna be spent with no water. 'cause our trailer's still winterized till we get to a little bit warmer place. Right.

Peggy Barthel

It's gonna be cold. So there's no point in Deinter Rising.

Tony Barthel

Right? So the water that we're gonna be using is gonna be coming outta the Wolverine Tough bags. And it's also part of our vision for the adventure camper that we have, that that's what Next Week's podcast is about.

Peggy Barthel

We'll talk a lot more about that.

Tony Barthel

We'll talk a lot about that. But anyway, if you're looking for a really easy way to tote water, whether it's water bottle size, or five gallon bags, we have been big fans of the Wolverine Tough Bags, just really well made American product by a small, independently owned company. The quality is there, and it's a great water storage. And we'll put a link in our podcast notes, check 'em out if you tote water, these make a neat way of doing so. They fold up flat so when they're empty, they're really small Wolverine tough bags.

Peggy Barthel

So as Promised <laugh>, we have a guest. Now, I'm gonna tell you a little story I follow, not only Mike Rowe of originally of like Dirty Jobs fame, but then he's done a few other shows. But I also follow his mom, Peggy Rowe, because she's a hilarious, wonderful writer. Anyway, Mike Rowe posted on Facebook a story about his Lyft ride and about Mike's pretty good campers.

Tony Barthel

Yeah. And we're like, huh. So we looked for Mike to see if we could find him. Not Mike Rowe <laugh>, but Mike's pretty good campers and we did. Yeah. And so that's

Peggy Barthel

Who we're gonna talk to right now is Mike Morse with Mike's Pretty Good Campers today, we are very pleased to be able to welcome Mike Morse. Mike has a company, pretty good campers, and I first heard about Mike actually from a post on Facebook by Mike Rowe, who I follow. And I said, wait a minute. This guy sounds pretty darn cool, and he makes campers, so it sounds perfect for us. So Mike, thanks for agreeing to spend some time with us today.

Peggy Barthel

You're

Mike Morse

Welcome. Glad I can.

Tony Barthel

So, I love the name of your company. Pretty good campers. Yeah. So if you would, tell us a little bit about how you came up with that name and what you build.

Mike Morse

First of all, I used to watch that program or listen to it, Garrison Taylor. Oh

Tony Barthel

Yeah.

Mike Morse

Very home companion. And, uh, one of his sponsors he talked about was Ralph's pretty good groceries. Ah. So that's where I stole that. So, you know, when I was building houses, I called it Mike's Pretty Good Homes. And so now I just call it Mike's pretty good campers and it stuck. Yeah. You know, I, I like that because people will remember, right? I got interested in building campers, you know, it's just kind of gone from there. I, I love building 'em.

Mike Morse

I love to go travel. I love to camp. You know, it's just a good fit for me.

Tony Barthel

Have you been camping most of your life or did you have something that really spurred your interest in camping

Mike Morse

As a kid? You know, our dad would take us camping. His hometown was Moab u Oh

Tony Barthel

Man.

Mike Morse

It's a pretty neat place, <affirmative>. And so he took us there and he's, my dad bought a little pop-up camper. And so we'd camp and he'd go fishing and, you know, and I camped out as a boy scout and, you know, always liked camping. I mostly liked to go travel and see, you know, the United States, see our state parks or national parks, you know, it just, it's just great.

Mike Morse

I've been to Europe a few times and that's pretty neat. But in Europe, you don't get to pull a camper around with you. It's different. It's a different travel. But I like it all. So far I've been to, uh, 49 of our 50 states. Oh,

Tony Barthel

Wow.

Mike Morse

Still haven't been to North Dakota, but it, it'll have to be on my bucket

Peggy Barthel

In the summer. <laugh>.

Tony Barthel

Yeah.

Mike Morse

Yeah, in the summer.

Tony Barthel

That's funny. We listened to this guy, Clark Howard, and he hasn't been there either. That's the only state he hasn't been to as well. Funny.

Mike Morse

Well, I tell you a story about that, except for this is, uh, a

Tony Barthel

Family show. So I want,

Peggy Barthel

So did you start making these campers because you wanted a camper or did you make it making for someone else? Or how did you get started?

Mike Morse

Well, someone gave me this stack of these old popular mechanics magazines, and I was looking through there and I saw this teardrop camper. It was probably built in the forties or something. And I thought, this is the coolest thing. And I thought, you know, I knew I could build one, I could build about anything. I've been building stuff for 50 years. And so, uh, something I just quite couldn't get outta my head.

Mike Morse

Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And so I like, like to hike, you know, and I've been single a lot. So I thought, well, I'll just build one of those. I talked a friend of mine that worked for him, and he said, you wanna build one? We'll just build, build 'em together. And uh, I bought an old boat trailer and he had an old trailer, the utility trailer or something, and we just went from there.

Mike Morse

We, uh, built some wood floors and, and we cut out our sides and designed all the insides. And we just went to work and, and we got 'em built. I took mine to Moab two or three times. And, uh, it was great, you know, 'cause I could drive for hours and if I get tired, I can pull over to a rest stop and just crawl in there and, uh, take a little nap. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Yep. You know, and it's good.

Mike Morse

I've, I've gone to, uh, Moab, almost to Denver. I was wore out, so I just pulled over and slept and get up and drive to a Love's truck, stop, pay $10, take a shower, and I'm off and running again, <laugh>. And then with mine, I have a little tent that I could set up and I put a little porta-potty in there and an instant hot water tank. And so I didn't need any other facilities.

Mike Morse

You go up there in Colorado and Utah and Idaho, you can go camp out on that. Uh, BLM Land. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And, you know, it's free. All you have to do is take out what you bring in. And that's no problem.

Tony Barthel

That's one of the beautiful things about this country. As you said, there's so much free camping and beautiful places like Moab. It's incredible.

Mike Morse

Sorry, I had a phone call come in, but

Tony Barthel

That happens. Yeah.

Mike Morse

Well, I've been getting a lot of calls lately.

Tony Barthel

Can only imagine. I can You have, well, how long ago did you build the first camper?

Mike Morse

Oh, it's probably been about 10 years, maybe. Okay. Something like that. Maybe eight or 10 years.

Peggy Barthel

Wow. Mike, I, I think you said something about ever since Mike Rowe talked about you, you've been getting a lot of calls. <laugh>. Yeah.

Tony Barthel

Yeah,

Mike Morse

Yeah.

Tony Barthel

Have you, since the first one, have you seen things in your own design where you're like, Ooh, I want to do something a little differently, or Oh, maybe I should change that, or,

Mike Morse

Oh, yeah, of course. You know, when I decided, you know, I want to quit working on houses, doing home repair, remodel. I just want to stay and work in my own shop. And so when I started building these, I'd build part, get it partway built. And I think, you know, I don't really like the way this is working, and so I take it back apart and do it a little bit different, <laugh>. And so the first two took quite a while because I was, you know, redoing them.

Mike Morse

And then the second couple, you know, I, I did a little different because I wanted them a little simpler. I didn't want the builtin stove, builtin sink. 'cause a lot of people just want the very basic they can get. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. So, you know, that's what I'll try to build. And, and then I've got off into, uh, doing some vintage campers.

Mike Morse

A friend of mine gave me a camper that had been sitting on some land in a farmer's field for years and years. And it was rotten to the core. They tried to sell it to me at first. And I said, oh, no, no <laugh>. So a few months later they said, you could have this just, you know, but get it outta here. And so I thought, well, I'll try my compressor out and aired up the tires and hooked it on my truck and pulled it out of the trees and thought, well, it'll go down the road.

Mike Morse

Okay. So I went ahead and drug it home. It had an American flag painted all the way around it and just completely rotten, full of rats and squirrels, <laugh>. I mean, it, it was bad, you know? And I got to taking it apart. You know, the first thing I took all the skin off of it is, you know, it had needed a lot of little repairs and of course strip all that ugly pain off.

Mike Morse

And I thought, you know, I built spiral staircases, a million dollar homes and I'm just enjoying the heck out of this. Cleaning out this nasty, dirty, rotten camper. But, you know, the whole time I'm thinking, you know, this could really, really be nice. So, you know, I've just kept it up and I've had to stop a few times, you know, to do actually, uh, paying jobs <laugh>.

Mike Morse

And so, you know, that's, that's just what I have to do. And it, it's okay. It's just so I'm working. I'm happy. That's pretty cool. You know, and another thing that really got me started on this is, uh, I went up through Elkhart, Indiana. Of course, anyone with campers knows about Elk r Indiana. Sure. Yep. And I went to the RV museum there and I just loved that, looking at all those old, old teardrops and vintage trailers.

Mike Morse

And, and I thought, you know, this is so cool. And it's, it's kind of right up my alley. 'cause I've been building fine woodworking for years. And I thought it's kinda simple, but then again, it's gonna have to combine some other skills like metalwork, you know, aluminum and painting. And I thought, but I just loved them. So I thought, you know, that'd be great to have one of these behind my pickup <laugh> and just stop at the camps and pull over and camp.

Mike Morse

And, and you know, and I get on these websites and I see these people that have their little rallies and they just kinda like car rallies. They just pull up and camp, visit, eat, you know, and it's, uh, it's a good thing. Yeah.

Tony Barthel

Yeah. Those vintage trailer rallies are fun. Speaking of work, I guess you were finding some time on your hands, so you decided to become an Uber driver part-time?

Mike Morse

Yeah. So I just started driving for Uber and, and Lyft, you know, just to have something to do. And, uh, I thought, you know, I really like doing this. 'cause you pick up a lot of interesting people and have some good conversations. I thought, you know, this is okay. You really don't make much money though,

Tony Barthel

But you happen to pick up one particular interesting person,

Mike Morse

<laugh>. Yeah, I did. You know, and at first I didn't talk with him much 'cause uh, the lady he was with, she was in the back seat and she was doing some texting, voice to text. Oh. And so I tried to just, you know, be quiet. And then she got done with that and we started talking and, uh, got around to talking about campers. And I told him about my company and, and I really didn't know who he was. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. I mean, I didn't know who I had because I'm looking at the road, I'm not looking at.

Mike Morse

Right. My passenger, when we got to the airport, I opened up the back of my truck and I unloaded their bags and I see, well that's Mike Row <laugh>. I asked him his name and he said, yeah, Mike Row. And then he took his camera out, took my picture. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. I thought, well, that's kind of cool. So I got, you know, back home Friday night and there was, uh, 23 messages, <laugh>, 23 emails. And the first one had a link to his little story.

Mike Morse

And he wrote a pretty good little story about me. And then it just blew up. When I got up Saturday morning, there was a hundred something <laugh> Sunday morning there was 200 and something. And, and Saturday I spent a lot of time answering the emails.

Tony Barthel

<laugh>. I can imagine.

Mike Morse

Yeah. And actually I made a list. There was, uh, emails from eight different countries. Wow. You know, and 419,000 likes on his website. This is really, really crazy. And, and then a local TV channel came out and interviewed me. You know, see what it was like to have my website blown up. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. And so that was good. You know, so that's all been fun.

Mike Morse

I do have one lady that's looking real serious about wanting to buy one of my campers.

Peggy Barthel

That's what I was wondering. Out of those hundreds of people that are calling you.

Mike Morse

Well, I have one gal that's really, really serious and, uh, you know, she's trying to get a trailer hitch put on her car, which, you know, I didn't really kinda worried about, but she says her mechanic assured her it'd be okay. So we'll see.

Tony Barthel

And your trailers are fairly light.

Mike Morse

Yeah, they're about a thousand pounds, and so they're pretty easy to pull behind my pickup and it's all good. If she buys that, I'll just build some more

Tony Barthel

<laugh>. And do you have interest in also potentially helping people restore vintage as well, since now you're you've gotten into that?

Mike Morse

Well, yeah. Ab absolutely. You know, the sky's the limit. Yeah. You know, if someone wants me to help 'em out, I can.

Tony Barthel

Sounds good.

Mike Morse

I've, you know, I've thought about doing, you know, maybe some YouTube videos on showing 'em how to do some of this stuff, but somehow there's uh, not enough hours in the day <laugh> to do everything I want

Tony Barthel

To do. Well, isn't that the truth? I hear that. Mike, we, we really appreciate your spending some time with us today. It's an interesting story about running across Mike, another Mike. Mike wrote, and now we got to learn about you as did not. 400,000 other people. Right. <laugh>.

Mike Morse

Yeah. It's, it's amazing. I didn't, uh, I was kept wondering, you know, I had the website, but I was wondering how do I get people to, uh, look at my website now?

Peggy Barthel

That's how Yep. Give Mike row a

Mike Morse

Ride. You just stick at Mike row.

Tony Barthel

Yeah. And then it's, uh, Mike's pretty good campers.com and you can learn a little more about your teardrops and a little about you. And, and it's just a good, good place to go visit.

Mike Morse

I like it. <laugh>. I'm liking all the attention.

Tony Barthel

And do you have things you feel kind of sets your teardrops apart that, 'cause as you said, you've been in the woodworking and construction business for a long time.

Mike Morse

Well, they're all built by me. You know, it's, I don't have any employees, so it's, it's all just me. So they're individual. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>.

Tony Barthel

So people can, if they want something a little different than than what you might normally do, you're willing to work with them on maybe something custom, something a little different.

Mike Morse

Absolutely. I've talked to one guy, he wants one built light enough that he can pull it behind his motorcycle. Oh. I've had about three or four others that are interested in, uh, teardrops to go behind a motorcycle. So I'm kind of exploring that, see what it costs to do.

Tony Barthel

That'd be interesting. Yeah.

Mike Morse

Just whatever it takes.

Tony Barthel

Well, like I say, we really appreciate your making some time for us, Mike, and we hope more people find you and it's been a real pleasure speaking with you today. Yeah,

Peggy Barthel

For sure.

Mike Morse

Well thank you. I appreciate it. Oh,

Tony Barthel

Our

Mike Morse

Pleasure. And uh, just keep people interested in camping, seeing our neck of the woods, our world. Yep, that's

Tony Barthel

Right. That's our, that's our goal.

Mike Morse

<laugh>. Okay, well thank

Peggy Barthel

You very

Mike Morse

Much. You too. Have a great day. You too.

Tony Barthel

That's the story of Mike Morse a pretty neat guy. Really laid back dude. I got to see pictures of his shop and some of the teardrop trailers in progress and his vintage trailer in progress. Nice. So he's a really neat guy. And if you didn't know, he met Mike Rowe that we just talked about a few minutes ago because he was kind of killing time and he became a Lyft driver and he happened to pick up Mike Rowe.

Tony Barthel

They got to talking and that Facebook post where Mike told the story, which we'll link to also in the show notes. And as always you can find those show notes@stresslesscamping.com slash podcast. And then this is episode 2 33. Anyway, it got something like at last check over 400,000 Yeah. Hits. So pretty neat introduction to Mike's. Pretty good campers by, pretty good story by pretty good guy. Mike Rowe

Peggy Barthel

<laugh>. Anyway, that's the way I heard it. <laugh> <laugh>. You know, something else that Mike's pretty good campers might be able to use is a kind of a small power system.

Tony Barthel

Yeah. I mean if you're looking to get a solar or lithium power system in your rv, whether that's a very small system that's appropriate for a teardrop or we saw them installing one in a giant fifth wheel. Yeah. And also in a giant class a diesel pusher. The neat things about the people at A B, C Upfitters is they listen to you, they help you figure out just the type of system that works within your definition of RVing and camping. And then they build it with master bolt components.

Tony Barthel

And the another nice thing about that is all of those components coming from one supplier, A, they're exceptional components because they came out of the marine industry and B, they just all work together. So there's no controller guy pointing the finger at the battery person <laugh> and the, no, none of that. It's all one company, one system sized and scaled to fit what you would like. So if you would like to learn more, our friends at A BC Upfitters are available at 5 7, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2 5.

Peggy Barthel

That's 5, 7, 4, 3, 3, 3, 3, 2, 2 5. Which also of course is written in the notes. So don't get in an accident trying to write it down. No

Tony Barthel

<laugh>. And another thing, they are having a giant sale. Uh, if you book your upfit before the end of the year, there are some huge discounts on the upfits, a variety of discounts based on what you're doing and what you need and all. But I've seen up to 25% off. So again, give them a call or check out their website. A great deal on a great system from some great people. Can you say rubber baby buggy bumpers,

Peggy Barthel

<laugh>? No, but I'm just gonna say stovetop bumpers. They are rubber, rubber bumpers. I was writing an article and I did amuse myself by writing rubber bumpers, rubber bumpers, rubber bumpers, <laugh>. Well

Tony Barthel

There you bunch of times, but not rubber baby buggy bumpers. Not baby,

Peggy Barthel

Not <laugh>. Oh.

Peggy Barthel

Anyway, our gadget report for this week is some stove top bumpers. Now if you have a stove top in your rv, and a lot of people do, but not everyone, I get that. And if it has like those iron grates on top of the bumpers that are, you know, separate, which again pretty much is universal. And if you keep finding these little square pads with holes in them that should be keeping the grate from the surface of the stove top.

Peggy Barthel

But they're not working anymore, this gadget is for you. Tony found a post actually about these bumper replacements and he bought them, and I'm gonna try to describe them. They're kind of like a cone with a flat part on the ba on the base of the cone, the on the big part of the cone. And they're a rubber. So what you do is move those little pieces that are not doing anything out of the way. And you take a bumper and you push it down into each hole where the grates

Tony Barthel

Yeah. On the, on the sheet metal

Peggy Barthel

Stove, top on the sheet metal stove top where the grates are sitting, push 'em in. And then you have a flat surface on the between the stove top and the grate.

Tony Barthel

Well, and, and I think, well these did come with our trailer from the factory, but with all of the jiggling and bumping and all of that <laugh>, they just disintegrated quite

Peggy Barthel

Honestly. And so what I thought I was replacing, I thought we were doing something like extra good because I thought we were replacing just a little flat piece of rubber with this cone thing. And then I realized I had this one cone that I never knew where it came from. And when I discovered that I had stored that in case I ever figured it out, I realized those were the bumpers I was replacing <laugh> <laugh>. They had just all, so, you know, there's a lot of activity going on and it's heavy. And so the cone part and the flat part, like separate from one another.

Peggy Barthel

So now I'm kind of curious what happened to the other seven cones that are floating? Yeah,

Tony Barthel

They're probably floating

Peggy Barthel

Down in this somewhere inside the stove. But anyway, if you are having this problem, we'll put a link to the stove top bumpers that we found and replaced. Really easy job. Hopefully that will keep the grates from bouncing so much, but also from scratching up the surface of the, the stove

Tony Barthel

Top. Yeah, I think the objective of those bumpers is to keep the grates, which on our stove are like a cast metal to keep them from damaging the stove itself. Yeah. So we'll see. But yeah, Peggy fixed the stove this week in anticipation of cooking on the road.

Peggy Barthel

And you have a rv.

Tony Barthel

I have a real new rv. In fact, it's a whole series of RVs. Our friends at Rockwood and Flagstaff have traditionally made everything from little teeny popup trailers to average size fifth wheels. They make a lot of mini lights, which are, let's say average size travel trailers. They make the small trailers, they make the popups and they make mid-size fifth wheels. Well, they have not been in the premium and super premium fifth wheel market.

Tony Barthel

And Forest River is starting to kind of look at how things work and things are organized and all of that. And so what essentially has happened is Rockwood and Flagstaff have absorbed the Palomino Columbus line of fifth wheels. And that makes a lot of sense because these are very high-end fifth wheels. They have some really neat features. There are some patents on some of the features that they have.

Tony Barthel

They are the largest size fifth wheels basically. And it really works well in the line. Now you might think, oh, they're just putting different stickers on existing products and yeah, a little bit. But what happened is the brother of the gent who runs Rockwood and Flagstaff is the plant manager for these fifth wheel production. And so it, it just makes sense. A lot of how these are built is similar.

Tony Barthel

The philosophy is very much the same. These are just really big fifth wheels. And there's a review of1@stresslesscamping.com and it's unusual in that, you know, typically a fifth wheel has like a lower deck and an upper deck. Right? And this is all one deck. And then the part that would be the lower deck is 500 square feet of storage. It is, wow. An insane amount of storage.

Tony Barthel

One of the complaints people have of fifth wheels versus motor homes is, well, motor home just has more storage.

Tony Barthel

Well not here, right? This is the whole underfloor of the, what would've been the main deck is storage on this thing. And there's a slight out tray in the back and it's just pretty incredible. They are a lot of the same construction features that are found in Rockwood and Flagstaff, like Frameless windows and double As Dell walls and just on and on are in these fifth wheels. But then they go a step further, they have antilock brakes and they have better suspensions and just features befitting a higher end product.

Tony Barthel

So check out the article@stressescamping.com. And if you've been in the market for a high-end fifth wheel, there's the Rockwood luxury and the Rockwood Luxury Ranch. And those are identical to the Flagstaff Elite and Flagstaff Elite Estate. Ooh,

Peggy Barthel

Elite estate. I

Tony Barthel

Know, right? Well

Peggy Barthel

Now I want one.

Tony Barthel

Now they're right. Well these things are pretty big. Yeah,

Peggy Barthel

I don't want one. Just kidding.

Tony Barthel

The one challenge at the moment is they are sorting out the dealership because it had been Columbus dealers and now is it gonna be a Rockwood dealer? Is it gonna be, sure. So there will be some time where these might be tough to find, but if you're looking for a large premium fifth wheel, don't miss out. These things are, there are a lot of things I really, really like on these and uh, worth checking out.

Peggy Barthel

Excellent. Last week we asked a question of the week, as we always do, and you guys really came through for us. The question was, what is your must see movie in December?

Tony Barthel

Die Hard?

Peggy Barthel

Shush. That's at the end of the list. Oh, <laugh>. Not because it was listed last, but I have my reasons. Anyway. Okay. So we got a lot of answers and most of these we have seen, but there's actually a few that I haven't seen. So I kind of have a new list of movies to check out. Predominantly the answer is a Christmas Carol and

Tony Barthel

Yeah, that's such a standard, right?

Peggy Barthel

And you know, there's like a million versions of that, right? I mean, even the Muppets did a Christmas Carol <laugh>. So I checked Coolie

Tony Barthel

Christmas Coolie,

Peggy Barthel

So I checked with everyone who said Christmas Carol and exclusively the George C. Scott and Alistair Sim original movie, A Christmas Carol is the Favorite. I love that movie. I also love the version with Bill Murray called Scrooge.

Tony Barthel

And I like the version from, was it Disney and Jim Carrey?

Peggy Barthel

It was a cartoon, but it was,

Tony Barthel

Yeah, it was like

Peggy Barthel

So realistically cartoonish

Tony Barthel

<laugh>. Yeah, I like that one.

Peggy Barthel

Yes. Lampoon's Christmas vacation of course was on the list a lot. Christmas Chronicles was on the list quite a bit and I, I

Tony Barthel

Don't think I've ever seen it know

Peggy Barthel

If I've ever heard of it. So White Christmas, one of my all time favorites. I love that movie Elf. It's a Wonderful Life, which I also love. Love actually. I hear about that a lot and have never seen Don't I've seen that either. A Christmas story of, of course

Tony Barthel

Actually the Leg lamp

Peggy Barthel

With the Leg lamp. Yes.

Tony Barthel

Frale

Peggy Barthel

<laugh>, polar Express Chocolate, the Holiday, which I don't think I've ever seen. I haven't heard, heard that one. I think that it was Steve said, and that's a kind of a romantic movie, so maybe that's a Hallmark <laugh>, I don't know. Oh boy. Deck The Halls, which I think is a funny movie if I'm thinking of the right one. Someone said all three of the Tim Allen Santa Claus movies Love it. Christmas with the Cranks

Tony Barthel

<laugh>. We just saw Candy Cane Lane.

Peggy Barthel

Candy Cane Lane. That's right. It's a new movie.

Tony Barthel

Yeah. With Eddie Murphy. With Eddie Murphy. And well, we talked about it last week, but I, I really enjoyed it. So we'll see if it becomes a classic or not, but yeah, it was not bad.

Peggy Barthel

Paul said that he kicks off the season by watching Planes, trains, and Automobiles, which technically is about Thanksgiving but isn't, yeah, Thanksgiving, the beginning of Christmas <laugh>.

Tony Barthel

Yeah. It seems to be if you go shopping

Peggy Barthel

And yes, a lot of people answered Die Hard and there's all kinds of arguments why it is or is not a Christmas movie, but yes, it made the list several, several times.

Tony Barthel

<laugh>. Yeah, it's, uh, well, I, I won't say just go. You can find the answers and weigh in yourself and even ask questions and whatnot at our fun and friendly Stressless campers Facebook group. And it's a fun place to spend some time get your questions answered.

Peggy Barthel

So this week I was, you know, thinking Santa's coming soon. So my question for this week is, have you been naughty or nice?

Tony Barthel

I can't say <laugh>. Let's just say we'll be Burning Cold

Peggy Barthel

<laugh>, you know that Santa's watching and so you better be good for goodness sake and let us know if you expect Cole or a super awesome gift for Christmas. There

Tony Barthel

You

Peggy Barthel

Go. And I think maybe next year is actually our Christmas episode 'cause we're that close.

Tony Barthel

Oh man, we better start working on that. Yeah,

Peggy Barthel

Well answer that question at our fun and friendly Stressless campers Facebook group.

Tony Barthel

Absolutely. Did you also know that we do a once a week newsletter and it's free, we have links to the Stories, videos, podcast and more to help you get the most out of your RV experience,

Peggy Barthel

Just check out stressless camping.com and you can sign up for the newsletter and please know that we do not share your information. All we use that for is to send you one email per week. And that's it.

Tony Barthel

Yep, that's it. And that's also where you'll find the show notes for this episode, episode 2 33 on the podcastPage@stresslesscamping.com.

Peggy Barthel

Also@stresslesscamping.com. Don't forget the deals and discounts page. There's still time to do your Christmas shopping. And if you're gonna buy something for your RV anyway, you might as well get a discount, right <laugh>, that's

Tony Barthel

The fact check.

Peggy Barthel

So look for deals on all the things you're gonna need for your Stressless camping adventure. And of course if you've got a great deal that we don't already have, let us know. Please. There

Tony Barthel

You go. Of course. In addition to the Stressless Campers Facebook group, we are in all the social places and you can find us by starting@stresslesscamping.com. Then from there, jump off and help us waste some time on social media. <laugh>,

Peggy Barthel

If you don't wanna miss a future episode of the Stressless Camping podcast, it's free to subscribe on any podcast catcher and we are saving you a seat around our virtual campfire.

Tony Barthel

Oh, and don't forget, a review will help others find this podcast. It'll help you get on Santa's nice list. Yes. And of course, more people listening is always a good thing 'cause we get better deals and discounts. We'll

Peggy Barthel

Put in a word with the big guy for you, <laugh>.

Tony Barthel

There'll be some overweight bearded gentleman who is appreciative. I guarantee that. Or I should say IT Okay.

Peggy Barthel

<laugh> also, it is very, very helpful for us. If you share anything that you find on our social posts or on our website that you think other people can use, please share away.

Tony Barthel

Yeah, it's, it's very, very much appreciated.

Peggy Barthel

And if you need help knowing how to do that, we have tips we post on the weekly newsletter, but we also have a whole page on our website telling you the steps that you need to share in case you're not that good at doing

Tony Barthel

It. Well, that makes us go on the nice list.

Peggy Barthel

We'll see how nice we are. <laugh>

Tony Barthel

Man, well we sure appreciate you. Thank you again for spending some time with us and most of all,

Peggy Barthel; Tony Barthel

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

Rubber baby buggy pops,

Peggy Barthel

Not baby, not.

Eight years of Christmas Camping (mostly StressLess)

Eight years of Christmas Camping (mostly StressLess)

More RV gadgets and gizmos for StressLess Camping

More RV gadgets and gizmos for StressLess Camping

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