RV Podcast #209: America’s National Parks are in crisis

RV podcast : America’s National Parks are in crisis Show Notes for Episode Sept. 12.2018 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast: America’s National Parks are in crisis. A growing near $12 billion backlog of desperately needed repairs and maintenance is seriously affecting America's National Parks. Inadequate federal campgrounds and deteriorating or closed roads, bridges and facilities negatively impact visitor experiences and RVers in particular. In our interview of the week, we talk to Chris Bornemann, Senior Manager of Government Affairs for the RV Industry Association, who will tell us what we can do to help persuade Congress to restore our parks. Plus, your questions, comments, lots of RV news and Tips and a great off-the-beaten-path report from the Burketts. But first, my lifelong traveling companion and my bride… Jennifer. WHAT MIKE AND JENNIFER ARE UP TO THIS WEEK JENNIFER As this episode comes your way, we’re way up north at Algonquin Provincial Park in Canada, attending one of our Roadtreking boondocking gatherings with a couple dozen fellow RVers. We’re enjoying the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, hiking, taking a lot of pictures and enjoying some early fall weather. Though it’s supposed to warm up later in the week up here, the nighttime temperatures have been in the mid 40’s. MIKE And Bo, our Norwegian Elkhound, loves it. He’s grown weary of the heat and humidity of the past few months as we’ve traveled through the southern US and the Gulf Coast. This Ontario weather is much more to his liking. JENNIFER This is a very busy week for us. We have to leave here and on Thursday start traveling to Hershey, PA and America’s Largest RV show there. We always have a ball at this show. More than 45 RV manufacturers will be displaying over 1,300 RVs here and there are over 100 other companies that make RV accessories and provide RV related services. We will be shooting videos and we have two l ive broadcasts we plan to do on our Facebook Roadtreking Page . MIKE We will be doing two Facebook Live broadcasts from the Hershey show next weekend. The first will be on Fri\iday at 3:30 PM. The second will be Saturday at 3 PM. Also, we’ll be doing meet at greet appearances at the Roadtrek and Hymer display on Saturday and also Sunday from 11 am to 1 PM. We love meeting you and invite you to come by if you are attending the show. If not, then tune in to our Live reports on the Facebook Page for a look at what we’re discovering. Again, that first live report is Saturday at 3 PM. The second will be on Sunday at 3PM, when we’ll go live from the show from the Rad Power Bikes display. JENNIFER This has also been an exciting week for us as Mike is now well underway on his new healthy living program. If you heard Episode 208 last week, you learned why the RV Lifestyle and all the sitting while driving and eating at those great RV gathering pot lucks can really put on the pounds. Anyway, Mike entered the program that is run by the weight loss expert he interviewed last week and we’ve been following it faithfully. So far so good, right? MIKE Oh yeah… very right. We update my progress on this plan every Sunday night on our YouTube Live broadcast on our RV Lifestyle Channel there. So if you want the details, make sure you tune in Sunday night. But so far, in the first week, I’ve lost several pounds and because this is a simple plan that basically cuts out sugars and starches – carbohydrates – we’re eating healthy, organic, whole foods as much as possible, something we can easily prepare on the road. Anyway, go to our YouTube Channel at RVLifestyleChannel.com and you can see the most recent update. But I can report there’s definitely less of me this week than there was last week! JENNIFER So, that’s what we’ve been up to. We’re having a ball meeting others, traveling in our RV and seeing North America. This part of the program is brought to you Overnight RV Parking , a subscription service that provides details for over 12,000 free or nearly free RV overnight parking locations. And by AllStays Pro , the best tool for RVers who prefer computers or tablets and their bigger screens. AllStays Pro is is updated daily. If you join through the links here, both programs will offer you significant discounts. RV NEWS OF THE WEEK MIKE Mercedes Opens New Factory in U.S. to Build Sprinter Vans Mercedes-Benz opened a new factory in North Charleston, S.C., where it will build the latest generation Sprinter van. Sprinter vans have become the most popular chassis for Class B RVs built by the RV manufacturers and, over the past year or so, the demand has been so great that Mercedes was not able to keep up. This new plant will help with that. And it will help Mercedes,too. Building cargo vans in the U.S. allows Mercedes to avoid a 25 percent tariff on imported commercial vehicles and trucks. At the plant opening, the German automaker said that one of its first big orders was a deal to make 20,000 Amazon-branded Sprinter vans for the online retailer’s new Delivery Service Partner program. The agreement calls for Mercedes to deliver the vans by the end of next year. The new plant is an expansion of a previous facility that assembled van kits imported from Germany. It includes two new buildings, a 450,000-square-foot paint shop and a body shop of more than 500,000 square feet. A 1.2-mile conveyor connects the two facilities. Mercedes-Benz spent $500 million on the factory expansion.The plant will have the capacity to employ 1,300 workers to build an estimated 40,000 vans annually. The human workers are supported by 182 robots. About half the vans sold in the U.S. have commercial uses. Another 30 percent are built for the recreational vehicle trade and about 20 percent are sold as passenger shuttles and for other use. A key change for the North American market is the introduction of a gasoline engine option that will be available next year. JENNIFER RV becomes wedged under drive in restaurant roof Here’s a story that is a warning to all of us in RVs to check for overhead obstructions when making turns. A recreational vehicle attempted to go through the opposite end of a Boston Market’s drive-through in Santa Clarita Valley, CA and damaged not only the RV but the building when it became wedged under the roof overhang. Sheriff’s deputies said the driver was apparently trying to turn around and went through the drive-in lane without noticing that overhang. Ouch! The story doesn’t say what sized RV it was. MIKE Teen falls to death at Yosemite when trying to take a selfie Here’s another warning story, very sad. An 18-year-old hiker died last Wednesday after losing his balance and slipping off a cliff at Yosemite National Park while trying to take a selfie. It happened at the edge of Nevada Fall at the park. It was over 800 feet to the bottom. We’ve seen hikers try to take selfies like that in dangerous places many times. No photo is worth taking such a chance. JENNIFER HBO to air new comedy show called Camping OK, rounding out our news of the week… something a little lighter. HBO has a new original series that will start next month called Camping . It stars Jennifer Garner as an uptight, Instagram-obsessed mom who plans a camping trip for her husband to celebrate his 45th birthday with a group of friends. Things start to go sideways almost immediately and from looking at the trailer, it appears there are many funny things that any camper can relate to. The show premieres Sunday October 14 This part of the podcast is brought to you by RadPower Bikes ,an electric bike manufacturer offering direct to consumer pricing on powerful premium electric bikes. Now with free shipping To see our Rad Power Bikes in action, just click here . Visit LISTENER QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK Questions this week are about: The advantages of nitrogen vs air in RV tires Proponents of nitrogen-filled tires say that inconsistent and under-inflation is minimized by filling tires with nitrogen because air leaks from tires three to four times faster than nitrogen does. Regular RV tires can be filled with nitrogen, so there are no 'special' tires to purchase. The best place to find nitrogen is at large retailers with tire departments or at tire stores. You can locate places in the United States and Canada that fill tires with nitrogen with a locater tool at GetNitrogen.org ( ). If your tire pressure is low and you can't find a place to get nitrogen near you, it's safe and non-problematic to top off the tire pressure with air. When you get to the next available nitrogen or get home, you can have the tires purged of air and refilled with nitrogen. Crosswinds in September across South Dakota for someone towing a long travel trailer We have made this trip lots of times in our Class B Roadtrek campervan, traveling I 90 east to west and west to east. And South Dakota is a long stretch of that Interstate, measuring 410 miles from Minnesota to Montana and almost all of it across wide open prairie. Crosswinds are certainly a factor there because there no trees or structures to break the wind. The interstate is closed several times a year because of serious crosswinds. Semitrucks get blown over from time to time. The winds are strongest in the winter and spring but can be present anytime. You should also know that the speed limit on I90 there is 80 miles an hour. So if you’re pulling a trailer you will surely be traveling less than that so be siue and stay in the right lane and know that, besides battling those crosswinds, there may be some buffeting going on as you are passed by cars. By the way, I should note that 80 miles an hour as the limit means 80 miles an hour. The State Troopers there give no wiggle room. They will stop and ticket you for exceeding that by even a couple of miles an hour. That said, we love South Dakota and I-90. We have a video on our Top 5 Places to Stop for sightseeing while traveling I 90 in South Dakota . Here’s a link to it - This part of the podcast is sponsored by Steinbring Motorcoach , Roadtrek’s newest dealer and a third generation family business in Minnesota’s beautiful Chain of Lakes region built on quality motorhomes and excellent pricing and service. INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK America’s National Parks are in crisis. In our interview of the week, we talk to Chris Bornemann, Senior Manager of Government Affairs for the RV Industry Association, about the growing backlog of desperately needed repairs and maintenance affecting America's National Parks. Inadequate federal campgrounds and deteriorating or closed roads, bridges and facilities negatively impact visitor experiences and RVers in particular. At a time when the RV industry is growing at record levels, RV overnight stays at National Parks have been declining from over 4.5 million overnights in the early 1980s to only 2.5 million overnight stays in 2016 due to outdated Eisenhower-era infrastructure, deferred maintenance needs and limited RV camping availability. As outdoor recreation and RV camping on our public lands continues to grow in popularity, unfortunately maintenance and infrastructure funding has not kept up. In this interview, you'll learn what you can do about it and how you can help let Congress know you want to restore our parks. The website Chris speaks of is Here’s a video version of our interview: Here’s a full transcript: The interview of the week is brought to you by SunshinestateRVs.com , where every new or used Roadtrek motorhome is delivered to the customer free, anywhere in the country At Sunshine State RV’s you’ll find the largest selection of some of the rarest Class B RVs in the United States of America. If you are looking for a Class B RV, you need to make a trip to Sunny Florida. Our RVs range from 1990 to our current year and everything in between. They also carry the most popular brands like Roadtrek, Pleasure Way, Winnebago, Leisure Travel, and more. You will not find a wider selection anywhere else. Every RV they sell has been through a very thorough 172-point inspection in which the ensure that all the mechanical and manual systems are in top condition. Every RV is road tested to make sure it runs and drives the way that it should. They go over the interior components just as entirely as the outside, and every component is turned on and tested to make sure it works. All of their used RVs are thoroughly cleaned and detailed inside and out, and they even check the roof for cracks and replace any silicone caulking. OFF THE BEATEN PATH REPORT - By Tom & Patti Burkett Recently we spent a weekend at a music festival in New York’s Catskill Mountains. The couple camped next to us were from Vermont, and we visited about the places we’d been, the places they’d been, and what we like to do when traveling. Next morning they provided us with a handwritten list of things to do in Vermont, based on our conversation of the previous day. “But,” said Vicki, “don’t leave New York without going to see the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.” Come Monday, we rolled out of the festival grounds and set the GPS as she directed. It was an hour’s drive to the rural location, and as we approached we could see a big peace sign mowed into grassy hillside. The hill and the mowing job made it unmistakable. This was Woodstock, site of the 1969 music festival that defined a generation. The Arts Center stood high on the hill, where once a makeshift kitchen had fed a half million hungry mouths. Just over the hill was a modern outdoor performance venue, with ample parking, toilets, and food kiosks to service concertgoers. The Arts Center building is spacious, cool, and restrained. It seems to strike a balance with the frenzied energy of the event itself. The displays are thoughtfully laid out, but don’t hold back when it comes to presenting the outrageous nature of what happened that August weekend. Hundreds of cars were abandoned in the median of the highway when traffic came to a standstill and folks got out and walked, some more than ten miles, to Yasgur’s farm. The first attendees arrived before the ticket booths were built and, within hours, the organizers threw open the gates and made it a free festival. A New York City commune, the Hog Farm, had been engaged to provide food stands. Their supplies and capacity were rapidly outstripped. Area residents pitched in, buying out the entire production of local farms and preparing food in garbage can sized batches to feed the crowd. Because of the jammed roads, helicopters were required to bring in the performers. As the rain continued and the need became dire, the Army flew in teams to staff makeshift medical facilities. Despite the nearly unimaginable challenge of coping with a half million people crowded into the space, the event was remarkably free of violence and mishap. Two people died and maybe as many as four babies were born. The museum presents a comprehensive look at the event. The carefully laid plans of the experienced group of promoters are documented, as is the extensive publicity campaign that brought in a national audience. All in the era before the internet and in the early years of television. There is much information about the notable personalities of the movement—civil rights, ecology, women’s empowerment, and social experimentation. There’s also lots about the music. A 30 foot high surround screen puts you right in front of the stage for some of the iconic performances. Best, though, are the first hand accounts of those who were there. Teenage attendees report the challenge of dealing with the mud and standing in line for half a day to use an overflowing port-a-potty. Local residents describe efforts to deal with the obvious need for food and medical help. Politicians detail the effect of the event on national policy, and musicians recall the way in which it was a watershed moment in their craft. Literally in the middle of nowhere, this fascinating and comprehensive museum is worth a the drive down a patchwork of backroads for anyone who wants to know what it was like on that weekend, or who wants to understand the social and political currents that made it happen. On top of that, much like a visit to Gettysburg or the Edmund Pettis Bridge, standing on the site of the stage and looking out at the grassy hillside felt a bit like standing on hallowed ground. Off the Beaten Path is brought to you by Harvest Hosts a membership site that provides truly unique overnight stops at wineries, farms and attractions. If you've had it with having to spend $30 to $50 to overnight at a crowded campground, or if you're tired of being awakened by all the noise and lights at a Walmart, Harvest Hosts offers overnight stops in all sorts of oil of the way places…wineries across all across the country, farms of all types, from lavender farms to maple sugar farms to furry orchards and vegetable fare. You need to be self contained and must call ahead and arrive during business hours but your stay is absolutely free… though to be polite it is expected that you buy a bottle of wine to some fruit. It costs $49 a year to being to Harvest Hosts… but because as a listener of the RV Podcast, we have an awesome deal for you… You can take 10% of that cost by using the discount code HHFRIENDS. Just go to Again, to get that 10% discount you must use the special address roadtreking.com/harvesthosts. Discount code HHFRIENDS. RV CALENDAR OF EVENTS September 12-16, Hershey - America's Largest RV Show , Giant Center Hershey, PA September 13-15, Great American RV Show Colorado Springs , Norris Penrose Event Center Colorado Springs, CO September 13-16, Fall Maryland RV Super Sale , Maryland State Fairgrounds Timonium, MD September 13-16, Portland Fall RV & Van Show , Portland Expo Center Portland, OR September 13-16, Southwest RV Super Show , Dallas Market Hall Dallas, TX September 14-16, Georgia RV & Camper Show , Cobb Galleria Centre, Atlanta, GA

You can listen to RV Podcast #209: America’s National Parks are in crisis online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

RV Podcast #209: America’s National Parks are in crisis is an episode from The RV Podcast by Mike Wendland.

This episode is 54:09 long.

This episode was published on Sep 8, 2018.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from The RV Podcast when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.