E-bikes for RVers - should you go electric?
If you’re an RVer do you have a bicycle or an e-bike? Today we’re going to look at several electric bicycles to help you make a decision. Are e-bikes safe? What’s the difference between one and the other and what should you be looking for if you’re an RVer? We have those answers and more here.
Other places to hear the podcast
Mentioned on this episode
Peggy’s story about riding the Greyhound bus to Colorado
Tony’s video review of the Lectric XP 3.0 e-bike
Tony’s video review of the Puckipuppy Beagle e-bike
Tony’s video review of the Rad Mini Step-Thru 2.0
Our review of the Curt Aluminum Tray-Style bicycle rack (so nice we bought it twice).
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 284
Peggy Barthel
This week on the Stressless Camping RV podcast, we look into ebikes and whether you should consider getting one.
Tony Barthel
We test 3 different bikes and have some tips on how you can find the best bike for your adventures.
Peggy Barthel
We also have a small trailer that's big on features in our Honest RV review.
Tony Barthel
Yes, indeed. We have this week's podcast along with the notes and all the stories that go with this episode, plus discounts, deals, helpful tips, and more at our home on the web at stressless camping.com.
Peggy Barthel
Don't forget to like and share, and thank you for joining us on our weekly RV podcast adventure.
Tony Barthel
Look who's back. I'm Peggy. And I'm Tony.
Peggy Barthel
And we're 2 RV industry veterans who travel part time.
Tony Barthel
In a travel trailer.
Peggy Barthel
Looking to share big adventures and help you with great tips
Tony Barthel
Tricks.
Peggy Barthel
And discounts.
Tony Barthel
Oh, boy.
Peggy Barthel
So Tony mentioned that I'm back. I was, um, so fortunate to be able to spend a week away from home. Not that I was fortunate to be away from Tony. I was fortunate to get to spend about a week with my mom and my family for Thanksgiving, for a really long Thanksgiving weekend from Tuesday to Tuesday. Yeah.
Peggy Barthel
And I wrote a journey journal about my Greyhound trip
Tony Barthel
that I took. She took the Greyhound to
Peggy Barthel
I took the Greyhound north to Colorado. I, of course, took it home again yesterday. And I may or may not write about that, but I'm not sure how much more I have to say. I just, like, reverse all the words and Wasn't there scope
Tony Barthel
from leave the driving to us
Peggy Barthel
They used to be leave the driving to us. Yep. And so I did write that journey journal though, and there may be a second one about a bus trip. Who knows? You never know with me.
Tony Barthel
It's a
Peggy Barthel
double Dutch bus. A double Dutch bus. And but I am back and jumped right back into all the things. But what you'll notice for a big portion of this podcast is I'm not here. No.
Peggy Barthel
Uh, Tony got Michael to come over and help him with the e bike segment of the podcast and we really thought that I wouldn't be on this episode at all, but here I am.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. Well and, uh, while she was gone, I created 2 e bike videos and an RV review video. So it wasn't like I was just sitting here, you know, goofing off. Though, I was sitting here goofing off. Let's be honest.
Peggy Barthel
I was sitting there goofing off. I did a lot of fun stuff. Jigsaw puzzles and Christmas trees and house lights and
Tony Barthel
Card games.
Peggy Barthel
Card games galore. Yeah. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
Oh, shucks. I missed out.
Peggy Barthel
Mhmm.
Tony Barthel
Well, somebody who's not goofing off are our friends at ABC Outfitters. And as we've said before, in the past, our travel trailers had solar and lithium packages designed by ABC Outfitters, but installed by the RV manufacturer, which is Rockwood. Right. And we bought our 4th Rockwood mini light.
Peggy Barthel
That's right.
Tony Barthel
It's a 2506 f k, which is what we're gonna do in a podcast coming up. So Coming up. Stay tuned.
Peggy Barthel
Probably after the holidays because Yeah. We kind of plan on December being, you know, helpful tips for things to buy on for someone on Santa's Christmas list.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. We wanna spend all your money. Right. But we did have ABC install this system, and it was custom designed for this trailer. And it was put together by ABC.
Tony Barthel
And as I said, I am just so impressed with the caliber of workmanship, and the the way they did things, and just how good this whole thing was put together, and the professionalism and quality. And there are, let's be honest, a lot of people can put in solar and lithium systems nowadays. And a lot of people say, well, I could do that for less myself. Sure. Okay.
Tony Barthel
Um, but just looking at the the wiring and the junctions and all of the bits and pieces that keep these systems from being explodey.
Peggy Barthel
It That's kind of important.
Tony Barthel
It is. It really makes a difference. Uh, so if you're looking for a system that just works, and truthfully, ours has just been sitting out there running the fridge Yeah. And the trailer since we got home, um, and it's been working fine. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
Um, if you're looking for a system that just works, that is designed for the way you camp and the RV that you have, our friends at ABC Outfitters just do a superb job. And I know quite a few of you have now chosen to work with them and pretty much everyone has said the same thing. They're really happy with the work. So if that's the experience you want, you can give them a call at 574-333-3225.
Peggy Barthel
That's 574-333-3225, or check out their website, abcupfitters.com.
Tony Barthel
Absolutely. So do you have an ebike? Speaking of,
Peggy Barthel
uh, electric stuff.
Tony Barthel
Or are you thinking of having an ebike, getting an ebike? I don't know what else there is
Peggy Barthel
to say. Well, so Tony and Michael are gonna provide some pointers on general. I don't know really what they're gonna say. So, uh, it's hard for me to introduce. They're they're definitely talking about the new ebike that we just received from Puck A Puppy.
Tony Barthel
Right. It's a it's a company not Puck A Puppy. How we pronounce it.
Peggy Barthel
And, uh, and then I know that Tony has some tips on shopping for an ebike.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. And we've had our Lectric brand e bikes now for a year for these. I think we got them last week.
Peggy Barthel
I think we might have had them 2 years ago. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
So we do a review of that and then I pull up a review I did of a Rad Step Thru Mini. So anyway, we have 3 bikes. We have an article about how to choose an ebike and more at our home on the web, which is linked in the show notes below. And, uh, so without any further ado, let's go for a bike ride.
Peggy Barthel
Ding ding.
Tony Barthel
We are back, uh, with my buddy, Michael. And we are talking Michael is an pretty avid bike rider. I am. Uh, and he is also an RVer. I am.
Tony Barthel
Guilty as charged, Jerome. Yep. And so as you know, Peggy is out of town. I am unsupervised. So Michael and his wife have been kind of looking after me, making sure I don't do anything too stupid.
Micahel Z
Yes. Um,
Tony Barthel
although we haven't defined that yet. So what we wanted to talk about is ebikes and RVers. Yes. And so I got this new Puckett Puppy Beagle ebike to try out. It's cute.
Tony Barthel
Cute. And I've had my electric XP 3 point o now for a 100 miles or so. So Wow. Yeah. It's it's clock ticking.
Micahel Z
A long ways.
Tony Barthel
I I well, if it would monitor how many miles actually it has gone because it's been in the back of my truck so much.
Micahel Z
I don't think that counts.
Tony Barthel
No. And it doesn't show up on the odometer. Oh, well. But we thought we'd just kinda share why you might consider an ebike if you're an RVer, and if there's any particular and you also have, uh, Rad.
Micahel Z
Yeah. We have a RadRover. It's it's a Rad Power, but the model is the rover. Okay.
Tony Barthel
And it's similar to this. Right?
Micahel Z
It it's yeah. It's pretty much identical except for the whatever bar this is. We have an external battery, and this one's internal.
Tony Barthel
Um, so have you do you take your bikes a lot, RVing? We do,
Micahel Z
um, depending on the situation, um, you know, what the purpose of that trip is. But 9 times out of 10, we're bringing our bikes with us because it gives us that freedom and that flexibility to to if we don't wanna take the truck somewhere, there's a nearby grocery store, restaurant, or bar.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. Um, Yeah. We have, uh, in fact, when we were in a manna, was it last month?
Micahel Z
It was yeah. It was in October.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. Uh, we all took our ebikes and went to that fantastic brewery.
Micahel Z
We went rolling up to Millstream Brewery 5 or 6 deep. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
There was a bunch of us going. And what was it about a mile or 2, something like that? I would
Micahel Z
say 2 miles. Yeah. And so And that's the perfect scenario.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. You don't have to start the car or truck and and go. Now you built a custom rack for your bike. Right?
Micahel Z
Yes. Because we don't have a welded on hitch to the frame of our, uh, travel trailer. We have a Grand Design, imagine, and it just has the silly bumper hitch
Tony Barthel
Okay.
Micahel Z
That you don't wanna put heavy stuff on because it'll snap the bumper right off. And I have not installed a real hitch to the frame. So in the bed of the truck, just out of leftover 2 by fours, I built, um, for 2 bikes, a bike stand that, uh, I attached to into the bed of our truck. And I just lift our bikes up in there, and the front tire goes into whichever slot, and that's where they stay.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. And Mickey brings her bike, obviously, too.
Micahel Z
Yep. Yep. Mickey brings her bike. She has the Rad Power Rover as well, but hers is the Step Thru
Tony Barthel
Okay. Which
Micahel Z
is more similar to your bike. Yeah. And this is the Step Over. Um, and, yeah, I just put them in there. I do do do a ratchet strap down and some locks just for security purposes.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. We've what I so there's a lot of different configurations that you can buy, uh, and and it's not kinda nice to see these 2. That bike is great around here in New Mexico because there's a lot of trails, and off road riding, and all kinds of great stuff like that. Uh, the electric has smaller wheels and tires obviously, but it folds. And so we fold 2 of these electric ebikes in totes, and I think they're 55 gallon totes, and stick them in the back of the truck.
Tony Barthel
So that's the advantage. Now we had our previous electric bikes on the back of our trailer and We know what happened. Yeah. A lady rear ended us, and that was the end of the bikes, the trailer, and the bike rack. So I like the idea of putting the bikes inside, and they're less out in the elements.
Tony Barthel
Um, a little hint we actually ebike covers are not inexpensive, but a barbecue cover fits over them just fine, and they're pretty cheap.
Micahel Z
I've I've heard the same thing, and and the great thing about the electric, of course, is the foldable, the portability. They're not as heavy as, uh, the bigger ones. So there is the plus and minuses between between the 2.
Tony Barthel
But I think that that bike is great for trails and such, and and you bring a bike like that. So it you know, you can there's a lot of configurations that, you know, kinda would suit you. But as as you said, it's great for day trips, which we've used it for, um, riding around the campground. We just we really like them. And something I like about, as you can tell, Michael is after and I'm before.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. Um, and if you wanna, you know, people say, oh, an electric bike is kind of a cheater thing. And it maybe that's true. But here's the good thing, you can ride this like a normal everyday bike. So you could just turn off the electric motor and pedal the bike Yep.
Tony Barthel
Like a normal bike. And let's say you want to look more like Michael and less like me, you could start riding your bike and then when you get to the end and are tired, flip on the motor. And all of these have a feature where you can have what they call pedal assist. So you're pedaling and it kinda helps a little bit with the pedaling. Uh, and both of these have 5 stages like from kinda gentle nudge to, uh, a kick in the tail.
Micahel Z
Yep. It it starts from just the basic assist to a little bit more assist, a little bit more assist, a little bit more, and then the 5th one is, like, you wanna go as fast as you possibly can.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. So that's that's and you can also ride these kinda, like, electric motorcycles. I mean, they're they're not, but you could not pedal at all and just push the throttle and just go.
Micahel Z
And and that's how Mickey and I we do ours. If we're going for a bike ride, if if our purpose is just to go for a bike ride, in a lot of cases, she is actually using it more as a bike than as an ebike. Okay. Because she wants to feel like she is getting that effort. And so she even might be still on pedal assist 1, but she's still forcing herself to burn some calories, put in some effort.
Micahel Z
Because I had that opinion too. It's like, oh, that's just the easy way Right. Just to get around, which there's nothing wrong with that. I sometimes full throttle to places if I don't feel like pedaling. But you can still you sir, it still serves its purpose as a bike too.
Micahel Z
They're not as light as a normal bike. Right. So you definitely feel it, especially if you're trying to go up a hill without any pedal assist. That's gonna be very challenging. But you there's there's that happy medium, especially for people with mobility issues, you know, that stuff.
Micahel Z
You you you can have a little bit more freedom.
Tony Barthel
And that's that's something that's the way I use the motor in this a lot in these bikes. I actually from a dead stop, I'll use the motor to get kinda kick me in gear. Yep. And off I go because they are heavier than I think that the Puck A Puppy bike weighs £65? Or so.
Micahel Z
It's gotta be at least 65 to, like, £72.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. And I think the electric is is a little bit lighter, but not a lot. It's 55 or something. Yeah.
Micahel Z
It's I think it still has the, like, same amount of frame material, just the smaller wheel Yeah. Which yeah. So it's probably 5 to £10 lighter, I would imagine.
Tony Barthel
And if you do choose to put a electric bike on an electric bike on your bike rack, we take the battery out of this. And the battery is 15, £20 or something? It's gotta be at least in
Micahel Z
the 10 pound range. Yeah. Yeah. And and we've also we've traveled with our ebikes without our travel trailer. We've been to Florida a couple times and back and had our ebikes on a quad bike rack.
Tony Barthel
Uh-huh.
Micahel Z
And they've done phenomenal. And we were and it and it gave us the ability to go to the grocery store and buy groceries to where we didn't have to take our truck or anything like that. And, um, just the flexibility of having these is just it's it's one of our favorite things to have.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. So I I think for RVers, uh, like, an electric bike can really be a great thing. And if you do have some balance or mobility issues, they also sell trikes now
Micahel Z
Yes.
Tony Barthel
That are pretty they fold up kinda I haven't folded one up. I've just seen them in the showroom. Uh, they fold up apparently reasonably small, and of course, you don't have the balance issue then. Correct.
Micahel Z
Yep. So, yep. Yeah. No. We we we've really we really enjoy them.
Micahel Z
Even if we're at home and I wanna run to the grocery store that's a mile and a half away, even if it's a little cold out or if it's, you know, summer morning out, it's a nice easy ride and back. And if I'm not wanting to feel that, the burn of the hills, you know, it's still a quick trip to the grocery store and back without having to put in that effort.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. You don't have to put any gas or anything. I've actually charged the electric off a portable power station Mhmm. Where I had the solar panels out. So it was completely free power.
Tony Barthel
We did our our Bluetti. Okay. There you go. Yeah. Other than buy, you know, $1200 portable power station, but There
Micahel Z
you go.
Tony Barthel
Right? Any parting thoughts on on these things?
Micahel Z
I I think most RV or really anybody should have something, some version of transportation other than just their vehicle. Um, I think it just adds to the experience because we've been in Sedona with our ebikes. We've been in Florida with our ebikes. We've been in just some beautiful areas with our ebikes, especially down along the Mississippi River.
Tony Barthel
Oh, man.
Micahel Z
And it got us out on some trails. You know? And my wife, Mickey, she is not a big regular biker, and the ebikes have encouraged her to get out more as opposed to having to ride a regular bike. Because not everybody wants to ride a regular bike, and this is that alternative. I think everybody should entertain.
Tony Barthel
That's Peggy too. She's not I wouldn't call her a bicycling enthusiast. She's a bicycling, like, participant. Whereas I grew up riding bikes back when I looked more like you than I look like me. So, um, and, yeah, we've ridden all over in, uh, when we're in Louisiana.
Tony Barthel
There's some great bike trails and in South Dakota, some there are some places that have these rails to trails Mhmm. Where it's incredible what you can see on these pads in there. Because the trains can't go more than about 4%, uh, grades. Those rails to trails are usually pretty flat Yeah. And pretty nice.
Micahel Z
So Well, it's something else I was gonna say especially about your electric is I think the electric is easier for somebody that does have that concern about riding a bike that maybe is not comfortable on a bike because I think that's easier to to get on and off of. Yes. And then the bigger bike, uh, like the Puckett Puppy is, I think, probably for somebody with a little bit more experience because they are heavier. And it's
Tony Barthel
Yeah. And it's easier to step through Correct. This step through frame than Yeah. Put your leg up over that over the frame in the Pukka Pukka. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
But that's that configuring. It's not that brand. It's that configuration. Correct.
Micahel Z
Um, but overall, ebikes, I think, really just are a must any day, not just for RVers, but just the general person, especially if you live in a city Yeah. That you can just bike somewhere real quick as opposed
Tony Barthel
to always having to take your car. Parking's easier too.
Micahel Z
Parking's so much easier. Just get yourself a good lock.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. Yeah. That's yeah. I think ebikes are one of the more stolen consumer items.
Micahel Z
And to take the key and to turn it off. You know?
Tony Barthel
Yeah. Make sure it's not
Micahel Z
And then this bike having the alarm on it, I mean, that's fantastic.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. The Pukka puppy came with a bike alarm. So but you can buy those on Amazon, but I I'm thinking, you know, now with with the holiday gift giving season that's kinda why I wanted to talk about ebikes is if you don't have one maybe that's a good gift. It's not a cheap gift. These things are 800 to well, you could go nuts like anything.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. But but it's something that we've like I say, I've put a 100 miles on this electric 2.0 since I totaled the electric or electric 3.0 since we totaled the electric 2.0. Yeah. So I've ridden it quite a bit and now I suspect here at home, I'll probably ride the bigger bike, the Pukka puppy, more just because of the bigger tires.
Micahel Z
Yeah. Yeah. No. For your desert environment, I think you could go down some of these dirt roads and or down to Walmart or down to the brewery and Yeah. The brewery.
Micahel Z
And have a good old time because I have about a 1000 miles on my raft.
Tony Barthel
Oh, wow. Okay. So Oh, man. Here, I thought I was hot potatoes, and now Yeah.
Micahel Z
I should've figured. There are some people that have 10,000 miles on theirs. Damn. Um, because it's just such an easier instead of saying, okay. I'm gonna jump into the truck to go to the gas station or the grocery store that's a mile or 2 away, I jump in this.
Micahel Z
And we've been on well, shoot. Our house is 15 miles from your house. Yeah. You've ridden. And I've ridden my bike here.
Tony Barthel
Yep. And I remember I was all impressed when we were at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta Mhmm. And you rode from your house to there.
Micahel Z
And that was about 15 miles as well. Yeah. So it's it's they're nimble, and you can get in places a lot better than you can with an automobile.
Tony Barthel
And there's a lot more bike paths nowadays, it seems. A lot of cities and such are embracing bicycling in general, and so it it's a good thing. So if you're if you've been thinking about, uh, getting an ebike, we're also going to have individual review of the electric and of the Pukkituppi. So that should come out. I'm committing myself for the weekend.
Tony Barthel
Uh-oh. But that should be out at the same time as the podcast on Thursday. So as usual, that will be at our home on the web at stresslesscamping.com. And as always, Michael, it's it's great to hang out with you and 100%. And appreciate you being on the podcast.
Tony Barthel
And now I think, uh, I think we need beer.
Micahel Z
I'll have a beer. Alright. Off to it. Go.
Speaker 4
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Speaker 5
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Tony Barthel
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Speaker 5
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Peggy Barthel
So one of the things that I did when I was visiting my mom is I helped her in the kitchen at the church. She and some of the other church ladies, volunteer and make meals like lunches when there are funerals at the church. And so this week there was one on Monday and on Tuesday and Monday one was quite large. So instead of me sitting home and them working extra hard, I came with, I went with my mom and I kind of watched her make the potato dish that she, that they serve as the main dish for the lunch. They also, all the ladies, not every lady because that would be way too much, but ladies voluntarily bring salads and desserts and then they make the main dish there and serve that after the mass, the funeral mass.
Peggy Barthel
So I kind of watched my mom make this. This is not gonna make a very good written recipe. This is really gonna be, you're gonna have to figure some stuff out for yourself. But here's what I watched as I ran back and forth doing other things. I'm pretty sure I got all the ingredients though.
Peggy Barthel
So and I'm gonna make it up because she made a huge chafing dish that served like 50 people and I don't think that would even fit in our RV oven. No. Or our Dutch oven. So I'm gonna sort of make up amounts and you like I said, you adjust to make what fits in your baking dish or your lifestyle. I'd say probably 3 to 4 cups of hash browns, a cup or 2 of chopped ham and some diced onion.
Peggy Barthel
She mixed that all up. Let's call that the dry ingredients. And then in a separate bowl, she mixed, again, a whole tub of sour cream, but I'm gonna say let's call it a cup of sour cream, a can of cream soup and I don't think it matters which cream soup whichever one you have in your pantry.
Tony Barthel
By the way, while you were gone, I bought it was 10 for $10 at the store of, uh, mushroom, cream of mushroom. Oh. We have a lot of cream and mushroom soup.
Peggy Barthel
Super. So that's what we'll use. Uh, let's see. So some sour cream, some cream soup and big old handful of shredded cheese. Mix all that up then mix all that into the potato mixture and then bake it or put it in your dutch oven and you know, your charcoal briquettes and everything.
Peggy Barthel
Um, really the only thing that you have to make sure cooks is the potato, right? So I can't tell you how long to bake it until the potatoes are tender and everything's melted and gooey together. So that's as close as I'm gonna get to giving you an actual recipe this week. But good luck with it. If you, uh, actually write things down and come up with a printable recipe, share it with me.
Peggy Barthel
I'll put it on the website. But for right now it's just throw this handful of stuff together and make I don't wanna call it funeral potatoes, but make this People
Tony Barthel
are dying to have them.
Peggy Barthel
Make this hash brown casserole.
Tony Barthel
It's quite an undertaking.
Peggy Barthel
Oh, boy.
Tony Barthel
This is a grave situation.
Peggy Barthel
I'm sorry. Alright.
Tony Barthel
Alright. Enough of that. Oh my god.
Peggy Barthel
Why don't you tell us about the, uh, your favorite RV this week?
Tony Barthel
Well, before since you've put me in the food mood real quick.
Peggy Barthel
Oh, okay.
Tony Barthel
Um, on I love TikTok. It's perfect for my short attention span, and I saw some dude oh, I might not have even been to, but anyway, I saw somebody take cornbread mix and put it in a waffle maker.
Peggy Barthel
Oh, right.
Tony Barthel
And I'm like, I gotta try that. So while Peggy was gone, um, I like to cook a lot.
Peggy Barthel
He ate a lot of carbs, you guys. Do not feel sorry for him that we were separated during Thanksgiving because not only did he make all his own carbs, but someone actually brought him a big plate.
Tony Barthel
Well, Michael and Nicky brought me an entire Thanksgiving dinner and it was really good. So thank you. Uh, but anyway, uh, they basically just took cornbread mix, you know, like that jiffy cornbread mix and stuck it it while they they made
Peggy Barthel
the mix. Right?
Tony Barthel
Of course.
Peggy Barthel
And the batter.
Tony Barthel
And they stuck in a waffle. It's not gonna do much, but they stuck it in a waffle maker. And we have this little, I don't know, 4 inch round waffle maker that, uh, somebody gave us. And I'm like, I gotta try that. Oh, boy.
Tony Barthel
It works really well. And so I made chili, and we do have a chili recipe on our
Peggy Barthel
website for the
Tony Barthel
peanut butter and jelly chili.
Peggy Barthel
Right. So if you want to make the chili and you're not sure how to eat it, why don't you make some corn muffin waffles?
Tony Barthel
Yeah. You always have cornbread with chili. So I made a waffle. I put, uh, chili on top and cheese on top. It was really good.
Tony Barthel
Mhmm. Um, another thing I thought, you know, you could put this cornbread mix in pie irons.
Peggy Barthel
Sure. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
So it it's actually Make some corn muffins. Get one of those boxes of Jiffy and the egg and milk and bing bang boom, you're ready.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah.
Tony Barthel
So yeah.
Peggy Barthel
Or if you happen to like your, uh, cornbread a little bit sweeter, I well, I assume this
Tony Barthel
is like
Peggy Barthel
high even. This is still available, but I used to love the Marie Callender brand.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. They had it was a big box and the Jiffy was I think it was like 69 cents.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. Yeah. That's the good thing about Jiffy.
Tony Barthel
I bought a few
Peggy Barthel
of those too, and
Tony Barthel
it was good. And they had, I think I saw honey, like you can get different varieties of Jiffy, but I got the cheap stuff, and it was fine. Well, this week, uh, well actually, when we picked up our trailer, one of the things I had the privilege of doing is spending some time with some of our friends at Forest River. Uh, and one of the things that they did is rolled out a bunch of trailers for me to go and do reviews of, uh, and we went to the Rockwood and Flagstaff plant, and there's a bunch of trailers there for us. And we it was, uh, it was a little bit rainy day.
Peggy Barthel
Sprinkly day.
Tony Barthel
I went to see, uh, another division of Forest River, a lot of Cherokees and stuff. It was dumping buckets.
Peggy Barthel
Pouring rain.
Tony Barthel
Oh my gosh.
Peggy Barthel
He came back, soaked to the bone, drenched.
Tony Barthel
And and I don't like the rain.
Peggy Barthel
I unfortunately missed that day.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. She did. I was, uh, but anyway, I made a video, I made a few videos and they'll be, you know, rolling out of the Cherokee Wolf Pup 17 SC, and this is a small single axle trailer. And typically these smaller trailers, the thing that's kind of lousy about them is the sleeping situation. Right?
Tony Barthel
Usually, there's like a corner bed and they just, you know, they're they're kind of a compromise and they really feel like a compromise. This thing, it had a proper walk around queen. It had a bathroom in the middle that split the rig in half and the back had a slide with a, uh, a couch and it had like a breakfast bar. And then the kitchen along the back, it's 23 feet ish long. And I was really impressed with the packaging of this.
Tony Barthel
And it, you know, it's a stick and tin. It's a wood frame aluminum skin trailer. Um, so it's pretty affordable and just a really usable floor plan. And I could see we, we deal a lot with the folks over at Girl Camper and this would be, as soon as I saw this trailer, I'm like, oh my gosh, this is, would be the poster child trailer for for the girl campus. Because a lot of them are solo travelers with smaller tow vehicles.
Tony Barthel
And, boy, this thing would fit perfectly, but it has so much usable interior design. So, uh, we'll put a link to the video of that review. But I was, you know, it's a, since it's a small single axle stick and tin trailer, pretty affordable. So Okay. Something to look at.
Peggy Barthel
There you go. So we we, you know, last week was Thanksgiving and we talked about food, but we kind of didn't do all those other things that we do. And so 2 weeks ago our question of the week, and I thought it was still appropriate to keep it up last week, we asked what is your favorite Thanksgiving food? What I forgot to write in the Facebook group is, and do you wait all year to have it or do you just go ahead and have it all year long? So I didn't really get that question answered very well.
Peggy Barthel
But, um, you know, as you would expect turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes were and pie were the overall, you know, most answered answers. Um, some unusual answers were sauerkraut and
Tony Barthel
With things I mean sauerkraut is always
Peggy Barthel
Well, yeah. Tony loves sauerkraut but, uh, whoever it was, I forget now. Sorry. Said that it takes really good with turkey. Uh, Grace said that they kind of stopped doing the traditional thing and they make chili.
Peggy Barthel
And because there are people with different dietary needs, they kind of make a bunch of chilies for their family and they have chili for Thanksgiving. And I have to look because
Tony Barthel
By the way, um, while Peggy looks at the answers, um, she I wanna say as your friendly neighborhood German nerd, Sauerkraut that you get out of a jar is not a food. It is an ingredient. And sauerkraut is a whole thing to make with that stuff that comes out of the jar. And you put wine and onions, and I think caraway seeds but Peggy hates those.
Peggy Barthel
I do not like caraway seeds. But I'm not a super huge fan of those really vinegary dishes in the first place.
Tony Barthel
Well, that's why you use a lot of white wine.
Peggy Barthel
Right.
Tony Barthel
So white wine and onions kind of de vinegary izes the boy, that's not easy to say.
Peggy Barthel
There is a conversation about cranberries. We won't get into it now.
Tony Barthel
No. Because the ones that are right are the ones that slam out of the can like Archie Bunker said.
Peggy Barthel
Right. Uh, homemade bread. I feel like there was one other that was kind of no. I guess that's it. I thought there was one other that was kind of like surprising, you know, not the traditional turkey dinner type thing.
Peggy Barthel
But I guess those were the 2, the sauerkraut and the chili. My family, of course, had a ham. Uh, my nephew smoked a turkey which was really good. We did the you know normal side dishes. And then they decided that for Christmas, Joe and my nephew Joe is smoking a brisket and my brother Tim is smoking ribs.
Peggy Barthel
So that's what's for Christmas. We might have to find a way to get back up there.
Tony Barthel
Oh, we have a car or we have a truck.
Peggy Barthel
It always, they always know that it's weather dependent. If there's a lot of snow on the ground, we're not driving up there.
Tony Barthel
That's true.
Peggy Barthel
But anyway, this week, we're kinda back to the outdoors again.
Tony Barthel
I by the way, really quickly
Peggy Barthel
Oh, sorry.
Tony Barthel
The Thanksgiving food that Mickey and Michael brought over, those yams were so I mean, everything was on point. They're they're really great cooks, but the yams were just so good. And they put mushrooms in the the green bean casserole, and that was really good. It was just, oh.
Peggy Barthel
Now see, my sister will eat mushrooms. She wouldn't as a kid, but she still doesn't like mushroom soup. So she makes her green bean casserole with cream of celery soup. But her husband likes it with cream of mushroom soup and Carrie had Carrie went to his parents, his dad's house, So she made the mushroom version for Carrie to take to his dad's and the celery version at my mom's. Man.
Peggy Barthel
A lot of cooking going on this year. I gotcha. So anyway, we are kind of back outside deciding, you know, what's what's what on the outside of the rig is useful stuff. So we're wondering and remember when I said last time about the speakers, let's not have any fights. But do you use the outside TV on your RV?
Tony Barthel
This may or may not have been inspired by an RV company that asked us to ask you.
Peggy Barthel
So Oh, okay.
Tony Barthel
Weigh in on that if you would.
Peggy Barthel
If you do, you know, what kinda things do you like to watch? Do you do family movie nights or watch football games or, uh, the news which
Tony Barthel
Oh gosh.
Peggy Barthel
Why do you do that when you're camping at all? But whatever. Anyway, I'm not gonna judge because that'll start a fight and that's what I just asked us not to do.
Tony Barthel
Well, you can answer that question at our fun and friendly stressless campers Facebook group.
Peggy Barthel
Keep it fun and friendly. Yep. Oh, also we do a once a week newsletter that is free and has links to stories and videos and podcasts and things that we find out there in the interwebs that we think will help you get the most out of your RV experience.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. And we only send one email a week. So there you go. We're not gonna clog up your email box. I think Jason Epperson showed his inbox with, like,
Peggy Barthel
over 27,000 emails.
Tony Barthel
Oh, every once in
Micahel Z
a while I
Peggy Barthel
got extreme anxiety looking
Tony Barthel
at that number. I see
Micahel Z
a lot
Tony Barthel
of unread emails and truthfully, folks, I just do command a and delete.
Peggy Barthel
That's why I keep up with the important ones.
Tony Barthel
If it's, uh, important, they're gonna write back.
Peggy Barthel
So anyway, our newsletter just comes out once a week, and we don't share your address or anything with anybody, so no one else is gonna be spamming you. Not on our watch.
Tony Barthel
It's just dust. And it's maple spam. So it's good
Peggy Barthel
spam. But you'll also find the show notes for this episode, 284 on the podcast page at stresslesscamping.com.
Tony Barthel
Oh la la. And don't forget the discounts and deals for the best deals on the things you'll need for your stressless camping adventure.
Peggy Barthel
And we're in all the social places. So after you're done getting all the deals and discounts and reading the show notes, jump off to Facebook and all the others.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. All the places that we all enjoy wasting time.
Peggy Barthel
Did you say that we're in a new place now?
Tony Barthel
Uh, Yeah. We're on Blue Sky, like, you know, a lot of people. So
Peggy Barthel
I never even heard of Blue Sky.
Tony Barthel
Well, I just the social media. And we're in all the other ones.
Peggy Barthel
He's the obviously the social guy.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. And of course, if you don't wanna miss a future episode of the Stressless Camping podcast, it is free to subscribe on any podcast app.
Peggy Barthel
And we are saving you a seat around our virtual campfire.
Tony Barthel
It's also free. Now the podcast, uh, is on YouTube. And so if you like those and subscribe, that just helps tell YouTube that people are actually watching that. So, you know, like and share it. It does actually make a big difference.
Tony Barthel
Tells all those companies that host this stuff that, hey, people are actually watching or listening to that.
Peggy Barthel
Listening or reading.
Tony Barthel
Or reading.
Peggy Barthel
So as as Tony said, if you find something that you read or watch or hear, please feel free to share it. Share on, you know, those social places, you know, write an email, put it down on the back of a 3 by 5 card and hand them out at the grocery store, whatever it takes. If you think something is shareable, please share it.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. We really appreciate you. We appreciate that you tolerate us sitting here every week, uh, doing our best to try to help you, you know, with your adventure because we want that to be
Peggy Barthel
Stressless camping.
