Staying healthy and keeping mold out of your RV - knowing the hidden dangers that can lurk in your RV’s walls
On this week’s StressLess Camping RV podcast we share an interview we did with the people from Exposing Mold where we talk about what dangers can hide inside your RV’s walls and how that can affect your health. We also talk about the choices of RVs and how maintenance can keep you healthy.
We also talk about great ways to enjoy hamburgers and the different choices for toppings, cooking and even whether bacon should be on a burger or in a burger.
Tony has another world premier in this week’s RV review with the inTech Terra Magnolia travel trailer - a unique model that offers a lot of features in a new, smaller package.
Other places to hear the podcast
Mentioned on this episode
Our guests come to us from ExposingMold.org
Our podcast episode with Gary Cipa who shared tips and techniques for eliminating leaks and maintaining seals on your RV.
One of the tips for keeping mold from under your RV mattress is the Froli Sleep System.
You can also put moisture detectors in places like under sinks and in other places where you might get a leak: https://amzn.to/3NQFAZv
Our article with photos on the different types of RV construction.
The Sealtech RV leak detection system that pressurizes an RV to look for leaks
Learn more about Passport America - a half-price camping program that actually works
We joined friends from the FMCA on a five-day camping adventure. You can learn more about the FMCA here.
Our article on more things to do in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Our article with 9 tips for campground etiquette
Checklists make for StressLess Camping - free downloadable checklists to help your camping experience be more StressLess.
The video from Emmy Made with a hamburger in a can: https://youtu.be/O_k-DvjKnq4
Join our weekly email family for more tips, tricks, articles, hints and hacks.
StressLess Camping podcast group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/StressLessPodcast/
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 Podcast 209 - Exposing Mold
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 stress less camping.
Peggy Barthel
Welcome to the Campfire. I'm Tony. I'm Peggy.
Tony Barthel
And we are two RV industry veterans who travel part-time
Peggy Barthel
In a small trailer
Tony Barthel
Looking to share big adventures and help you with great tips, tricks and discounts.
Peggy Barthel
We traveled last week.
Tony Barthel
Yes we did. But first and foremost, we hope everybody has a great safe weekend this weekend in celebration of our country's birthday. Right. Independence Dayss this weekend. And as Peggy said, we did travel last week. We were gone the whole week,
Peggy Barthel
Right. We got to go to a rally in Santa Fe. Yeah, I almost, that was weird. I almost said Santa Fe Springs <laugh>. I'm like, I still lived in Southern California. Yeah, no,
Tony Barthel
We went all the way to Santa Fe with the F M C A and it was a great day <laugh>. So everybody said Yay.
Peggy Barthel
Yay. <laugh>.
Tony Barthel
So we did some new things that we hadn't done before in Santa Fe. Right. And did some old things that we had done before in Santa Fe.
Peggy Barthel
Right. There's some favorites that we really like to do, but one of the people as they were leaving the rally, apparently forgot their checklists
Tony Barthel
And you know, checklists make for Stressless camping.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah, we talked about that last week. Yes. And this person was actually in a motor home with a towed behind and left the car behind in in gear. Yeah. So they were trying to pull out and the wheels were just not turning, but they were like skidding and jumping around on the ground and yeah.
Tony Barthel
It was not good for that poor little
Peggy Barthel
Car. Tony ran and screamed.
Tony Barthel
Yeah, I'm like hollering at this guy. Chase literally running down the road at the campground and he is oblivious when you leave your site, perhaps turn off the radio and open a window so you can hear what's going on in case you know there's a car behind you going err.
Peggy Barthel
Right. Or someone in front of you saying Stop <laugh>. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
No, I mean the guy was shocked. It took me some doing to stop him and he's just oblivious to it. So anyway, checklist make for Stressless camping and if he had followed his checklist, he probably would not have caused damage to his car. I don't know if he did, but I don't know what this thing was. Skiing pretty hard.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah,
Tony Barthel
So just a little reminder. And we have a place where you can download checklists as we always say, they're free. We have 'em in word Apple pages, Google Docs, pdf so you can modify them for your own circumstances
Peggy Barthel
In deedee,
Tony Barthel
If you remember last week we said that Yeah. We're camping with the F M C A and we are at a full hookup campground and we are going to not full hookup. Yeah. <laugh>. We're gonna leave the rig unplugged to see kind of how long we can just make things run and all of that such,
Peggy Barthel
I mean it's not like we don't already know. We do recommend this for people who think they might want to boondock and they're not really sure how long they can go. We recommend them to go to a campground. Go for as long as you can and if you get into trouble, plug in you'll be fine.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. And that way you can kind of monitor what what happens in what we found, which reinforced what has happened in the past is yes, we can run our air conditioner for about five to six hours and that's, that was perfect for where we were because um, it was not humid or exceptionally miserable. Right. During the day it was actually pretty pleasant and just chilled down the trailer a little bit and then it was time for sleeping and we could turn on one of the Maxair fans.
Tony Barthel
So at no point did we get really, really low on our solar and lithium system. And that speaks to how well designed that system is, how well everything works. And of course as regular listeners know, that system was designed and engineered by ABC Upfitters who can do all sorts of packages for your rv.
Peggy Barthel
And you know, we're getting ready to go to the Frog rally and ABC Upfitters has a little special deal going on for people who are gonna be at the Frog rally. And it's getting close to like when you should be making your appointments. So if you haven't already done so, it would be a good idea to give them a call. If you're coming for the Frog rally anyway and you're gonna be in town, you might as well come a little early or stay a little late and have a system put in.
Tony Barthel
Right. And the other thing is of course we'll be there at the Frog rally. We have some interesting things that we're planning. We're gonna have a little bit of fun at that Frog rally. Frog rally if you don't know as Forest River Owners Group. So if you have a Forest River product, you are invited to be a part of that. And one of the things that a lot of people like is if your RV is newer and I don't remember what the cutoff is, they will actually repair I think two or three items at no cost at the Frog Rally, there's details there.
Tony Barthel
We'll put a link to Frog Rally, we'll put a link to ABC upfitters. I just saw them put a system into a Class B RV and it was just so professional and I, I'll share a couple of pictures of that. It was really neat. So if you're thinking of getting a solar system or wanting to bolster the one you have or just are solar curious, give ABC Upfitters a call. They really are a company that stands behind their work and does a super job.
Peggy Barthel
And I'm having a lot of fun with Bill planning, a little excursion that we are gonna take with him after the frog rally. Yep. And we can boondock as much as we want because Bill also has an ABC upfitter system. So we don't have to worry about campgrounds very much. We're kind of planning some really fun overnight stays. Tony doesn't know any of it. No. Cause he's been busy doing other things. <laugh>, which is not uncommon. Tony usually knows the general area we're gonna end up in, but from day to day he just says, tell me the address.
Peggy Barthel
And <laugh> gets to behind the wheel. <laugh>.
Tony Barthel
Yep. That's the way I do things that just go where I'm told
Peggy Barthel
<laugh> this week we have kind of a funny interview format. Yeah. Not a funny interview but a funny interview format. We were actually invited to be the experts during a Zoom meeting. We asked for a recording of that and they are very, very interested in avoiding mold. They're called exposing mold. And they are a group of people who have been medically very affected by mold problems and want to avoid that. So it was really interesting. You know, they are the mold experts but they aren't the RVing experts.
Peggy Barthel
So it was a fun conversation back and forth and we have a chance to play that for you. So here it is.
Exposing Mold
Hello everybody, I'm Alicia Swami. I'm here with my co-host Eric Johnson, Keely Severson. We are exposing mold. And today we have Tony and Peggy from stressless camping.com and podcast with us for an Ask the Expert session. So I'm super excited to have you guys here. Thank you so much for joining us. We are big fans here at Exposing Molds when it comes to being in nature, being outdoors and camping. We are a group of people that have been made ill by toxic mold in our homes, in our workplaces.
Exposing Mold
A lot of it is in people's homes and they become so sick and so hypersensitive and reactive to environments that being in a place of nature, being outdoors is actually extremely healing for health. And a lot of people have recovered their health through methods of camping or RVing and such. So I saw that you guys had a podcast episode where you talked about the health benefits of being outdoors and all that jazz.
Exposing Mold
And I was really excited to see that because that's what we're all about. We're actually very radical in the way that we approach health. Eric Keeley and I, we almost died from our exposures. And we have gone from doctor to doctor to try to figure out what was going on with our health. We're all very healthy, robust people, all very knowledgeable about health and wellness and eating. So we were doing all the right things. It was just this major toxic exposure that brought us down. And in order to recover our health, we found that we had to go extreme.
Exposing Mold
We had to be outdoors, we had to be around trees, around nature to really allow our bodies to heal. Now I know this is a very radical thing that people don't talk about because when you think about health, it's diet, it's exercise, it's meditation, but it's never leaving your environment. And sometimes the environment is the problem. And so that's sort of where we're coming from. And so a lot of people would love to have your type of information where you guys are talking about camping and destinations and other things that you can find along the way while you're living a full-time RV lifestyle.
Exposing Mold
So we'd really love to get into that. Let's talk about purchasing a trailer.
Speaker 6
Speaking of mold and RVs, before we bought the bed and breakfast, we've had an old pop-up tent trailer that we bought from a friend. This was the mold special. I mean it was just, oh it was so bad.
Speaker 7
Well, you know, those things are, you know, half canvas. Yeah. So anytime they, if you get 'em even the littlest bit damp and then fold 'em down and store 'em for a couple of months, you guys don't have to, we don't have to tell you what happens then <laugh>.
Speaker 6
Yeah, it becomes, it becomes pretty bad. So
Speaker 7
We did a lot of scrubbing and scrubbing and airing out and eh, you know, it was usable. Wasn't ideal.
Speaker 6
Yeah. But we spent, when we had that, we spent more time out of it right in it because it was pretty bad.
Exposing Mold
It was a mold bomb it sounds like. So I guess it's safe to say your recommendation of a trailer not to buy would be something that has a canvas type of hybrid thing going on then. Cause I see one of those in these RV parks and I think
Speaker 6
They're fine. One of the things that people don't realize when they buy any rv, whether it's a pop-up tent trailer or a million dollar class, a diesel pusher, is that all RVs, the manufacturers recommend that you inspect all the seals around the rv usually every 90 days or so. And RVs do leak. The bad thing is, you know, you might think you know anywhere where there's a hole punched in the surface of the RV and you might assume, well that's where a baggage door is.
Speaker 6
But there are so many holes like on the roof or there's a skylight, the air conditioner, the vents, all of those things. That roof sealant is a flexible sealant that dries out. And so as somebody who worked in warranties at an RV dealer, there are a lot of little secret sources of water on an RV that really should be maintained regularly because you can get water in the wall and by the time you realize it, it can become a problem.
Speaker 7
Yeah. And the canvas ones, I mean they, you have to just take extra care, make sure that they're fully dried out and watch for problems to start. And like I said, we bought ours used and it hadn't been well cared for, so No. You know, we had to deal with it and we did. But then since we've had these solid boxes now <laugh> quote unquote solid, we have made sure, as Tony said, to check all the places where there's holes.
Speaker 6
Yeah. And
Speaker 7
That and, and that happens in a house too, obviously, you know, but the difference really between checking all the holes in a house and all the holes in an RV is that every time we move that RV wiggles and jiggles around and things can knock loose. And so even if I checked it before I left on the trip, something might have happened in this 50 mile drive that we took yesterday. So
Exposing Mold
The ABCs of RV living always be checking then, right? Yeah.
Speaker 6
And and there's, you know, you look at where the baggage doors are put onto heat travel trailer, it's like a clamshell and there's screw holes and all of that seal around there. And one of the things that got us that I didn't check and it bit us on the first mini light there was a marker light at the, you know, there was those five marker lights along the front and five on the back and one of the marker lights on the front was not sealed well. And water got in and it started to separate the, it's called delamination cuz the walls on these things are all glued together on, on the laminated trailers are all glued together.
Speaker 6
They can actually come unglued if water gets into them.
Speaker 7
Aluminum trailers do tend to have a little bit less trouble because they aren't a wall attached to a roof, but they still have all those holes. So you still want to watch, I don't think we really were clear on this, the roof of an rv, a non aluminum RV is usually warrantied for a certain amount of time. But what people don't realize is the roof is a separate, I don't know, entity from the hole in the roof. So the roof material itself might be warrantied, but all those holes are a separate story.
Speaker 7
So even in aluminum that's gonna be the same thing. Wherever there's a hole, there's a chance for water intrusion.
Speaker 6
You still have to inspect any RV for leaks regularly. But inspect is one thing. It might go, like our first mini light was four years without a leak and, and it was finally that dumb marker light that did leak. Cause there
Speaker 7
Unfortunately nothing got deep enough in to really cause any kind of problem for
Speaker 6
Us. Right. We have a podcast episode all about leaks and sealants. There are very specific sealants and compounds for individual RVs. So your RV manufacturer will say, okay, up on the roof we use this and on the windows we use that and and things like that. So there are specific compounds that they will recommend and most of the time, not always but much of the time you will not find those at your local big box store.
Speaker 6
Those are more RV specific things and work well with the way your RV is built.
Exposing Mold
Now let's get down to the nitty gritty of what we're all concerned about here and that's mold growth. What are some common areas that you see in RVs and trailers when they encounter mold? Is it, you know, mainly under the sinks or, I know there's some other less common areas that people don't know about, but it's actually a pretty pervasive problem like under the mattress or something like that. What have you guys seen in your experience in terms of mold growth in RVs and trailers?
Speaker 6
I'd say the most common is whatever the front of the trailer is and the roof, that area there, that seal tends to leak. Cuz when you think, you know you're going down the road, that's a lot of, that's 60 miles an hour of wind pushing on that.
Speaker 7
Yeah. And if it's raining and it's pushing that rain through into any little tiny crack that might be in that seal.
Speaker 6
So that roof seam and the area between the front cap and the roof tends to have a propensity to leak. And you don't find it for a good long while because it's thick. And so the water will get in and it can seep all in the walls. And by the time you see it, it might have been in there for a good long while
Speaker 7
And it could be anywhere. Like it might show itself just in the cabinets up at the top, but it might have leaked all the way down the wall and we'd see it in the outside compartment that goes across the front. It is sneaky in terms of the water coming in from outside. Also though I know that a lot of people, you said mold under the mattress. We happen to live in the desert so we haven't really had too much concern with humidity. We did travel in the south earlier this year.
Speaker 7
A lot of times people will say like, well what can I do to eliminate the humidity in my rv? And I never quite understood the question <laugh> because we've never lived where it was humid at all. We've had to put humidifiers in. It's kind of like the places that you don't look very often, the back of the closets and under the mattress or in a cabinet, like you said under the sink, if your water pump is under one of your sinks, it's a good idea to just occasionally take a look at where that water pump is. We actually did have a little leak coming outta the water pump and we found that fortunately just a little bit of water leaked out from under the sink and we figured out what it was right away.
Speaker 7
Also the drains, so if you are in your sinks or your shower or whatever, your drains, again these are wobbly boxes and everything shakes and rattles and rolls and even something that you checked before might have popped loose. And so that includes all the water lines and the drain lines
Speaker 6
Specifically to your question. And a very valid one under the mattress. It's an area where there is routinely a lot of condensation and that can build up and you're sleeping on it all night. So if you do live where it's humid, there's this Froy sleep system and it's essentially a bunch of plastic springs. It's a German company, you can put it underneath the mattress and it raises it up and gives airflow. Yeah. So those froy sleep systems are and apparently makes it more comfortable too.
Speaker 6
There
Exposing Mold
You go. Check out the Froy sleep system for under your mattresses. I was so scared about mold in our RV because of my mold allergy. And so I'm like going through all the groups and making sure, you know, typing in the mold in everyone's conversations. And someone had mentioned like, it's a sneaky way to get mold under your mattress because of the condensation from your body every night. And so, right. It's, it's something we don't hear about and it's something that when you go through an RV inspection, they don't tell you about either. You know, like, hey this could pretty much damage the underneath of your bed here, so here's some tools for you to look into.
Exposing Mold
They don't mention that
Speaker 6
It's not uncommon at all. You know, after a couple of years you lift up the mattress and it's like uhoh, <laugh>, like I say, it's, it's a really, it's, yeah, yeah, it's a good system. Another thing I've seen people do, but it depends, like our mattress is on a whole structure so there's drawers and all of that and our battery system under there. So we couldn't really do this. But I've seen where people use, you know, at Ikea, those like slats that are like this and then they kind of open, I've seen people use that too to allow airflow.
Exposing Mold
Fantastic. Thank you for that.
Speaker 7
Elaine had a really great question here. What is in the Rockwood walls and the lance walls and that is really, really pertinent because I'm gonna let Tony explain the three constructions, but what's in there has a lot to do with how much mold might take hold.
Speaker 6
There are two major ways that especially towable RVs are built. There's the ones where you see the sides are corrugated. Typically those are wood, wood framed like a house, but it's really thin, little one by one studs. So they're wood framed and then the outer aluminum skin is screwed to that. Inside between the studs are insulation and then inside is a wall material that's typically luon, which is a really cheap wood product.
Speaker 7
Honestly. It's like wood paneling,
Speaker 6
Right? Yeah. It's like wood paneling. So that's how those are made. And the fact that the outside material is corrugated all the places where there's a flat, like a window or door or cabinet door, whatever, you'll see the big differences as it kind of follows the path of that corrugation.
Speaker 7
So that sealant really need to putty or whatever is in between is like thick thin. Thick thin, thin. Yeah. <laugh>, I like to crack him up. Yeah,
Speaker 6
<laugh>. Um, but it's true. But those can be great if you maintain them and stay on top of that. And they tend to be the least expensive trailers cuz they're just, there's almost no tooling needed. You just build them as you go. And if you maintain them, they're fine. I mean we had a 1970 aristocrat that was uh, corrugated and it had no signs of leaks because someone took care of it. The laminated trailers where the sides are smooth, the way those are built is there's an outer layer of fiberglass really, really thin.
Speaker 6
And then the traditional way was a layer of luon, which is a wood product and then either an aluminum stud or styrofoam which they use for insulation. And then inside a layer of luon, which is wood. And if water got in there it would soak into that luon and it would come apart. It's relatively inexpensive to use that luon, but if water gets into it, it's almost impossible to fix.
Speaker 7
You have to just go back and have a whole new wall.
Speaker 6
Yeah. Now for example, Rockwood lance and a few others are using a product called as de and what del is is it's shredded soda bottles essentially. So it's a layer of fiberglass than Adel then an aluminum stud or styrofoam and then an inner layer of Adel. And that's good because it's essentially does not plastic. Yeah it's plastic and it doest get del laminated and it tends to be more, it doesn't absorb water.
Speaker 6
So I would suspect, and I have no data to prove this other than you know what's going on up here, but I suspect it's probably less susceptible to mold as well because it's plastic. It's all plastic. So
Speaker 7
Related question than the under the flooring.
Speaker 6
Oh yeah, that's, so with the Keystone for example, they've developed their own laminated flooring, which is all manmade material. Airstream uses this composite plastic flooring that is impervious to water absorption or water damage. So that's kind of cool.
Speaker 7
Well the holes in it aren't still though, so if you've got,
Speaker 6
But I mean at least it's
Speaker 7
Pull through the floor. You've got the same thing as with the roof. But the whole entire floor itself is a little less susceptible to this
Speaker 6
Water. Right. So if there's water leak at least it's not gonna absorb out and w out and potentially be a source source of mold if the flooring is all plastic. Right. And the plastics now that they're using have been pretty good. They don't tend to deaminate or fall apart like they did a few years ago when they first started using them.
Exposing Mold
What I've noticed with the Luon versus the Asda is a ency of a smell. I don't know if like is is Luon board soaked in chemicals of some sort? Because every time I go into a Luon base trailer it's like whoa, it smells like chemicals in here. I could barely tolerate it. Eric, do you know anything about that? Because Eric is actually dismantled the full aluminum trailer with the luon and everything and rebuilt it. I think he knows.
Speaker 8
Yeah, it's uh, made of resource and all glue and uh, old shredded wood and uh, formaldehyde.
Speaker 6
Oh there you go. Well I think we've discovered what stinks.
Speaker 7
Yeah,
Exposing Mold
There's that smell. I wanted to ask you guys too, another interesting thing is a lot of people in our community, they like buying the vans. What are your thoughts around uh, travel vans?
Speaker 6
Well first of all, the nice thing about vans, they start with something built by car companies. So they tend to start with steel bodies that don't leak and that's a good thing. But then they'll go to RV companies and they put in windows and air, they cut holes for air conditioners and all that stuff. So you still want to stay on top of 'em and
Speaker 7
Depending on how fancy your inside of your van is, yeah, some people I've seen that have done conversions, they just, they can see the metal van wall even from the inside. Now some of them, you know, put in insulation and an inter interior wall that's gonna hide that. But the ones that are a little bit bare bones conversions that you're gonna see a leak cause it's going to be right there on the inner wall. We've actually talked about buying a cargo trailer and that's kind of got similar advantages to a van of being, you know, a metal box.
Speaker 7
And we actually found a van conversion company that we really liked that makes basically a bunch of aluminum boxes that you can stack and and use together. Again, we're just not those kind of project people. So if we go that route, it's gonna be when we buy it and then take it <laugh>. Yeah,
Speaker 6
Maybe make a list of what you want to do and also what's your style of camping. I would prioritize what is important to you and then look around at who might make that. Cuz there's so many different types of vans out there and so many different conversions. My personal favorite, the embassy RV traveler, the backstory of this company is their chief engineer bought an old camper van and then he had to fix something and he tore the wall apart and it was full of mold and he's like, this is not gonna fly.
Speaker 6
And so he makes an a van that they're not cheap but they're all waterproof materials inside. They're designed not to leak that embassy RV traveler is a well thought through product cuz he camps,
Speaker 8
One of the most educational things I did is go to an RV wrecking yard and look at old RVs that had been torn apart in automobile accidents. So they're all in shreds and some of 'em they're brand new, they look great, but the walls are full of mold.
Speaker 6
That doesn't surprise me at all. So the way it typically works is somebody manufactures the camper obviously and then it goes typically on the back of a pickup truck and gets hauled to a dealership. And where I worked was in ca California, which is far from Indiana and they'd get hauled across the country winter, summer didn't matter and delivered to the dealership. And you know, they're going down the road the whole time. And we would have some RVs that were brand new that leaked some of the RV companies, including Rockwood.
Speaker 6
And again I'm biased and I'll admit it. They actually pressure test these RVs before they leave the factory. So they have like this fake door that goes in and they blow air into the camper and they walk around and spritz it with soapy water and look for if there's any leaks. So, and that's, that's a test that can be done and there's a company that does it and I forgot who, but you can actually go pressurize your RV with, you know, big, you need a big fan and a way to seal it off.
Speaker 6
And I've seen it done where people will take off a baggage store and then put this big fan there and kind of seal it off.
Speaker 7
And I forget too, there's a like a kit, it's thousands of dollars but it's a kit you can buy that's that big fan that you can pressurize your own. Maybe you wouldn't buy that just for yourself, but maybe you go into the business of doing that. And then there's a company that makes the kits that you can pressurize RVs with.
Speaker 6
I blow up RVs for a living
Speaker 7
<laugh>.
Exposing Mold
But
Speaker 6
Yeah, you're right. I mean that pressurized test with the soapy water is not a bad thing to think of having done. Mm-hmm You know what, I'd love to go to an RV junkyard and see that that would fascinate me cuz I'm a nerd.
Exposing Mold
<laugh>. Well Eric gave you an idea. Maybe you guys can check it out and that would be a really cool podcast episode for you guys. I will. I So yeah. And by the way, the RV junkyard, thank you so much Peggy. Tony, we totally appreciate your participation.
Speaker 6
Don't be shy. I'm happy to answer questions. Um, when it comes to information, I'm full of it.
Speaker 7
He is full of it. <laugh>.
Exposing Mold
All right you guys, thank you so much and thank you everyone for joining. All right,
Speaker 6
Thank you.
Peggy Barthel
Well Bill and I are doing our planning another way if we don't wanna boondock or we don't find a place that looks good. We also of course use our Passport America app. Oh yeah. And we look for campgrounds where we can pay half price.
Tony Barthel
Uh, yeah. Passport America is a discount program where you buy into the program and it's very inexpensive. So you get your Passport America membership and then there's literally no catch. You find campgrounds within their system and it's half price and some of 'em are half price for a day, some a little bit longer, but it's a program we really like.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. And it's very inexpensive. I think we probably paid for the whole membership on the first stop that we made.
Tony Barthel
<laugh> you join for $44 for the first year, 79 for two years, or 1 0 9 for three. They basically have a whole group of campgrounds that they've worked with that charge half price. It's 50% off. And we did an interview with Passport America a while back. We'll put a link to that. But it's an unbeatable program and we've, I mean, the first night you could potentially save the membership fee or at least after two nights.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. So it's a, it's a great deal.
Peggy Barthel
So Tony mentioned earlier that we had done some new things in Santa Fe in addition to things that we do every time we go to Santa Fe. It seems like.
Tony Barthel
Well you get used to the stuff that you like
Peggy Barthel
And so Yeah. The stuff that you know and like, so it was great to go as this rally and Valerie really put together great program and one of the things that we did was a tour of the Rancho de Los Laina and that means the Ranch of the Swallows.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. They're not just for Capistrano
Peggy Barthel
<laugh>. That's right. It was a great, it was a working ranch. It's been like a working ranch since the 18 hundreds I think I remember. And it is really, really informative. They have docents and tour guides and they take you and show you around in all the different buildings and just kind of give you the history of the place and you know why it works the way it does. And it is still a working ranch. They have goats and sheep, they have wool products. They do, they do weaving demonstrations and teach people, especially kids when they take tours with kids, show them how to weave and then you can get, you know, woven goods in the store.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. They have these churro sheep, they're churro sheep. Like you know what you get
Peggy Barthel
When you're like the cin? Yeah. Right. Donut.
Tony Barthel
Cinnamon donut from amusement park. And the neat thing about them is apparently they're a fairly obscure type of sheep that were valued by the Native Americans who kind of kept them and because they sort of hit them from the settlers, they actually helped to keep this type of sheep alive. And so they actually make blankets and all kinds of stuff, as Peggy said, outta the wool from those choto sheep.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. Another thing we did, which we've been threatening to do all the way from home, is to take the rail rail runner, not the roadrunner. Yeah. It's the rail runner, the rail runner, which is a train that actually goes from Los Lunas farther south of Albuquerque up to Santa Fe. And so we took it, we were camped, you know, just south of Santa Fe. So we took the rail runner in on Saturday and that's the day that they have the farmer's market and the artist's market. And that was terrific man. They've got some great farmer's market things there.
Peggy Barthel
Indoor section, outdoor section was really great to walk around there and some wow artists.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. There are some incredible art and such. It's absolutely something worth doing at the old Santa Fe Depot. And another thing we did was we took a tour of New Mexico's largest brewery. Santa Fe Brewing Company.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. Tony waited all week for that <laugh>. Oh
Tony Barthel
Boy did I ever, it was interesting to see how they are so production focused. They're very efficient in how they do things. They make New Mexico's favorite beer, which
Peggy Barthel
They have grown like crazy over the past couple of years too. They, I think they went from 5,000 to 15,000 barrels or something like that. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
And I don't remember what the number is now, but it's, it's gigantic. Yeah. And the beer that they make the most of is the seven K ipa, which is one of my favorites from here in New Mexico. And apparently a lot of other people, it's the biggest selling beer in, it's the biggest selling craft beer in New Mexico. There you, there you go. That was cool. It was a lot of fun. We have, we'll have pictures of that with the show notes from this episode number209@stresslesscamping.com
Peggy Barthel
Com. And also, you know, I like beer. Okay. But I'm kind of limited in my desires of kinds of beer. But they also made a really great cider and they have a food truck there that makes amazing food. Yeah. Taco, we had tacos. Tacos and quesadillas and just such really delicious stuff. We ate for, we ate there twice actually for lunch. Yes
Tony Barthel
We did. Yeah, we did by the way, go to the brewery more than once because you know
Peggy Barthel
Yeah, of course. <laugh>.
Tony Barthel
I mean how can you not? But
Peggy Barthel
When we weren't there and we got hungry, we started talking about hamburgers.
Tony Barthel
Somehow the subject came up of everybody has what they think is the best burger. Yeah. You know, in terms of how you make a burger or what goes on the burger. I'm gonna say something that is a bit surprising to people, but I don't prefer bacon on a hamburger. And here's why I love bacon.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah, he does.
Tony Barthel
I love hamburgers. Yep. But each of those is its own special thing. And so when you mix them, I don't see how the bacon makes the burger better. So what I do is when I get a bacon burger or a burger with bacon, I take the bacon off,
Peggy Barthel
He eats his burger and he eats his bacon on the side. Yeah. Like a side dish <laugh>. Yeah. Then I get
Tony Barthel
The best of both worlds. Now of course I realize a lot of people do like bacon on burgers
Peggy Barthel
And you have to admit that you didn't hate when we bought that 50 50.
Tony Barthel
Well yeah, that's
Peggy Barthel
Burger mixed with bacon.
Tony Barthel
Right. That was what I was gonna get at. There is a butcher shop in Northern California and I'm sure plenty others. And they grind a burger of 50% beef and 50% bacon. And those are good. Yeah. Now that is a great bacon burger. Right. And it just really elevates it. And so that's kind of, you know, what we're thinking is how do you make a burger better? Well bacon, bacon burger is like that to me is better.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. There was also a restaurant that I loved in Ville that made a Oh yeah. Quesadilla burger. And so they had the, you know, it was a hamburger patty of course, and then plenty of Cheese and then they wrapped the tortilla around it and then kind of fried it to hold it together. And I love having my burger in a tortilla. It
Tony Barthel
Was really, really good. One of the things that kind of makes a burger better is just good hamburger. Yeah. And again,
Peggy Barthel
For
Tony Barthel
Sure we like to go to the butcher shop to get the hamburger. It makes a huge difference. I mean every ingredient that goes into something, you know, the better the ingredient, the better the end product typically. Yeah. So I love finding local butcher shops and if I see one that's got that 50 50 hamburger bacon, believe me, I'm getting that
Peggy Barthel
<laugh>
Tony Barthel
If you like a guacamole burger. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. I love avocados. And years ago we almost bought an avocado ranch. Yeah. But avocados on travels are a little bit inconvenient.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. You know, an avocado, it's like I'm too hard, I'm too hard, I'm too hard, I'm too soft. <laugh>.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. Like bananas. And so we found this squeezy avocado and it's in like a giant toothpaste tube for lack of a better description. The same size as you would get. So sour cream in Yeah. Like those squeezy sour creams. Yeah. Right. And it's in the refrigerated section where the veggies are and it's super convenient and it's, you know, I recognize all the ingredients. It's not a bunch of weird stuff with long names.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. Some of it just has like avocado and maybe some lemon juice or something to keep it. Yeah. But the great thing about those tubes is no air gets in. It keeps that avocado fresh for a good long while.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. We've never had one of those tubes go bad on us.
Peggy Barthel
No. Well of course we eat it a lot too, but
Tony Barthel
<laugh> Well that's true. But I mean it's pretty convenient and being in a soft thing, it travels well.
Peggy Barthel
Yes.
Tony Barthel
So that's another little tip. If you want a guacamole burger that's chee or guacamole. That's really good.
Peggy Barthel
You did something with a hamburger not that long ago. You soaked it in. Yeah. Something we dish. Dish to dish. Oh that's what it was. Sauce
Tony Barthel
Dish to disher. Sauce. Sauce.
Peggy Barthel
You almost couldn't stop <laugh>.
Tony Barthel
Eventually I had have passed out, but yeah, I soaked it in wor assure sauce. And it was, that was good too.
Peggy Barthel
It was good.
Tony Barthel
It, it was a different taste and yeah. Here's another thing that we found, and this is just a recent find toasted onion jack from Boarshead. You know they make like deli meats. Yeah. And we happen to be at the deli section of our local grocery store. And I saw that and I must have been like Gumby with my eyes popping out
Peggy Barthel
<laugh>. So it's a jack cheese with toasted onion mixed in and it is so good. Any burger, it really is. Any burger really needs to have a good piece of cheese on it. This cheese, we're gonna go through a lot of this. It's good on eggs, it's good on burgers, it's good <laugh>, it's good on odd dogs. I don't care. It's good on everything.
Tony Barthel
Yeah, it's super good. I mean if you like onions, I love onions by the way. I even like onion cake. I like french onion soup, onions are my thing. Right. The lady behind the counter gave us a slice to split and I was so like in love with this cheese when I tasted it, she gave me three more.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah, she did. She let us, she was like, here toast some more eating cheese the whole time she was cutting cheese. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. <laugh> was the lady back there cutting the cheese.
Peggy Barthel
And then I really love when a restaurant or you know, us toast the bun, if you put some butter on that and put it on a flat top and really toast that bread, it really stops it from soaking the juices in from the hamburger. Well
Tony Barthel
And also like the ketchup and mayo and all that.
Peggy Barthel
Well right. And everything in, I am not a fan of soggy bread at all. No.
Tony Barthel
Peggy
Peggy Barthel
Hates it. I don't like soggy bread. So if you are gonna put a burger on a bread that's just gonna get soggy, I'm gonna take it off and just eat it with a fork.
Tony Barthel
Yep, that's true. Although we haven't been eating that much bread, but still we haven't. If you're gonna eat it, you might as well have the good stuff.
Peggy Barthel
Right. So if you toast it, you know, put a little butter, maybe put a little garlic butter on there and toast up that bun and that keeps the bun from soaking up all those liquids. Yeah. And that is much nicer.
Tony Barthel
Lastly, Peggy follows this lady on YouTube called Emmy Maid. Oh yeah. And she tries, well she makes stuff but she also sometimes tries really wacky stuff.
Peggy Barthel
<laugh>. Yeah. Like burgers in a can. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
There were two burgers, we'll put a link to the video, but she tried two canned hamburgers. And it's not just the
Peggy Barthel
Hamburger
Tony Barthel
Meat, not just meat's meat. It's the whole thing.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah. It's the bread and pickle <laugh> and all kinds stuff. It's
Tony Barthel
Sort of like an M rre
Peggy Barthel
In some ways. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. So I won't divulge what she thought of them but But we
Peggy Barthel
Will link a link link so you can watch it. It's pretty interesting. She's really adorable. She always is so excited when her recipes come out and she tries some of the craziest things.
Tony Barthel
Yep. Including burgers in a can. So we had talked about putting burgers in a tor or a tortilla <laugh> and one of the ways you can do that is with the gadget of the week, which is pie irons.
Peggy Barthel
Now that's a way to get that tortilla to really hold that cheese and burger together and make it. That's what I do like about the one at Lin Dolls was that it, it wasn't loose, you know, it didn't all fall apart. It was all kind of a nice stuck together thing. Thing. Yeah, it was. It was complete.
Tony Barthel
Yeah it was. Yeah. It wasn't falling apart. And the pie iron is cast iron clamshell for lack of a better description. Right. Yeah. And the idea is you can put stuff in there and make those hand pies. But Mana are friend from Redwood Empire RVs is the queen of the pie iron. Mm-hmm <affirmative>. And she makes all kinds of sandwiches She's made, pulled pork sandwiches,
Peggy Barthel
Cherry pies,
Tony Barthel
Cherry pies. You could make those tortilla wrapped hamburgers.
Peggy Barthel
You could make your own hot bucket.
Tony Barthel
That's right.
Peggy Barthel
<laugh>, you could put pizza things inside and use either. Ooh yeah. Either that pre-made pizza dough in a can or just a slice of white bread on each side. It's the pie pioneers are really forgiving and they let you do a lot of experimenting and have a good time. <laugh>.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. One of the nice things about them is they're great for the campfire because they're cast iron on a stick <laugh> and so you can put 'em over the fire and uh, each person can do their own thing and, and all. So we'll put a link, but we really dig the pie irons.
Peggy Barthel
Do you have a RV for us this week?
Tony Barthel
I do and
Peggy Barthel
We, I mean you always do. So <laugh>. Well
Tony Barthel
I always do. You're right. I do. And it's something again that is brand new to the market in tech, which is part of the aluminum trailer company family brought out a shorter version of their terra called the Magnolia. And it's a smaller version of that. One of the neat things about this, and we have a friend, Dr. Mike, who has, uh, Terra o Oasis, which is the larger version, but the Magnolia is a little bit shorter, but they have this huge front windshield and windows on either side and a U-shaped dinette up front, which is, it's a real nice space to be.
Tony Barthel
The Magnolia has that, the big areas where they've done work to shorten this trailer is in the back mostly, which is in the bedroom. And what they've done is they've made a corner bed, it's a queen-sized bed, but it's in a corner as opposed to the oasis that has the bed that you can walk around.
Tony Barthel
One of the neat things about the way they build these trailers is they start with their own aluminum frame and then aluminum cage structure and then on that they hang fiberglass including the roof, which is a single piece of fiberglass all the way from the back bumper to the edge of the front windshield. So that's pretty cool. Uh, I like a lot of what they did. I was a little concerned that they would feel stark when I first saw them, but no, they actually do.
Tony Barthel
Okay. And you can use like that spoonflower wallpaper if you feel they are a little stark. The one thing I didn't like, and this was a comment on the reviews, you know, readers write in and comment on them and they agreed that the wet bath was just kind of claustrophobic. There's no window. And in this case it also has no sink, which I know for Peggy is a deal breaker. Yeah.
Peggy Barthel
I don't like to brush my teeth where I wash my dishes or at the same time <laugh>
Tony Barthel
Wait, you get it all done at once. So intact Terra Magnolia, you know, I had mentioned that it's one piece fiberglass roof from the back bumper to the front nose cap. And we wanna remind people because of mold and you know what we talked about this week, make sure that all your seals on your RV are in good shape. Yes. And I wanna, I'm not going to go too long about this because a few weeks ago we had Gary Sippa and he really did a great job describing sealants and working on the holes that are in all RVs.
Peggy Barthel
So Right. Not only how to do it, but then also to make sure that you're using the right product. Yep.
Tony Barthel
So we'll link back to that episode and as always, you know, our show notes go to stressless camping.com, there's a podcast tile there, tap on that and it'll take you to our list of podcasts. And they're all in there by number. This is episode number 2 0 9. We're pretty close to another year completed of the Stressless Camping podcast. Yeah. So thank you to all of you out there who are in our little family. Well, it's not that little of family actually.
Peggy Barthel
That's right. <laugh>. Last week, our question of the week could have been a little controversial. Everybody was very, very nice as we asked you to be. Right. The, there weren't really any arguments.
Tony Barthel
The people in the Stresses camping podcast Facebook group are terrific.
Peggy Barthel
They are terrific. You all are terrific. And last week I asked, what is your campground pet peeve?
Tony Barthel
And yeah, this could have gone way off the rails. Yeah. But it didn't. And it was very popular and people were pretty consistent in their responses. And so the best way to sum this up, be a great neighbor. Yeah. A campground is a space that's shared by people trying to get away from their day-to-day stuff. But here's some of the things that people highlighted in particular
Peggy Barthel
Dogs that bark constantly. Now every dog is gonna bark. Like every baby is gonna cry and nobody Right. Nobody can, I would not allow people to say a dog that barks once. Right. That would've been the not okay answer. But dogs that bark incessantly and the owners don't do anything about it, that's really high on the list.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. It might be something you're used to phyto barking a lot, but it's not something that others seem to want to hear when they're camping. And
Peggy Barthel
You know what also very, very, very related is dogs that are not restrained, not kept on the leash. Because most campgrounds that I've been to have leash law and you should have your dog on a six foot leash. And we have been in more than one situation where someone tells us in not these words, but the rules don't apply to me. Yeah. That's, and it's not. Okay. That's
Tony Barthel
Bull feathers. You know, there's some, not controversy, but there's back and forth. How's that about those cages that go kind of around your campsite? I think they're fine.
Peggy Barthel
Well it, I think it depends on the dog.
Tony Barthel
Right. You should always know your dog. But that is something that people, they're
Peggy Barthel
Very, they're very popular and some campgrounds don't even allow that. I've seen rules where they say No, a six foot leash is what you're gonna use, even if it's inside one of those gates.
Tony Barthel
Yep. Okay, here's another one. Outdoor lighting left on all night long. No, it doesn't prevent rodents and nobody needs to know that you have a toy hauler that has the ultimate lighting package in the middle of the
Peggy Barthel
Night. Yeah. Especially ones that flash. Oh those are my gosh are especially annoying. At least the ones that are solid. I can eventually kind of tune it out like white noise for your eyes. <laugh>. Yeah. Even then I really like it dark. I have too much good night vision and I don't want a lot of light. You know, like I had to buy three magnets before I found the one that completely blocked off the microwave light <laugh>. Oh
Tony Barthel
Yeah.
Peggy Barthel
In the camper. Because I just, I can't go to sleep. I just lay there and obsess over that blue light shining. Well it's,
Tony Barthel
It's pretty darn bright. I mean that microwave light and of course we're not talking about the lights in your RVs. That's its own
Peggy Barthel
Podcast. Well that's your problem. But <laugh>, right. But when you leave things on out outside that you know are probably shining into other people's windows and you know, people have argued and not in our group, but I've seen it. Well, why don't you just close your blinds. Well, are your blinds solid? Completely stuck against the window? Nobody's are, Nope. You can't completely block out light.
Tony Barthel
Okay, the next one, trash left behind. Especially in the campfire rings.
Peggy Barthel
Oh guys, come on. And by the way, this is one of my hugest pet peeves. The fire pit is not an ashtray.
Tony Barthel
No it's not. And we have friends who have campgrounds and their team has to go and clean out these fire pits between campers and among the things that they have found are syringes in the campfire. So yeah. You know, please bring pack,
Peggy Barthel
Bring your trash out. Bring own trash can Put your trash out. Yeah. A lot of campgrounds, there's gonna be a trash can or a dumpster nearby. Some campgrounds even say put your bag out by 10 in the morning and we drive around and pick 'em up. Yeah. You can't get more convenient than that <laugh>.
Tony Barthel
Those are pretty nice. Another thing that is absolutely universal is people annoyed by others walking through their campsite on the way to somewhere. And you've gotta remember people take ownership of that space when they're there and this is almost kind of the equivalent of jumping over the fence into someone's backyard. Yeah.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah.
Tony Barthel
All right. And now we have some fun ones that people have shared.
Peggy Barthel
<laugh>. Yeah. Our friend Jerry said that what really bothers her is people that start their rigs at O Dark 30 and then start packing everything up while their rigs are running. Now I remember back when I was a child, diesel motors did have to be running for half an hour and warm up before you started taking 'em out on the road. I believe that's not so true anymore.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. But still, this past weekend on both sides of us, the campers started their engines at least 45 minutes before they had to go. Cuz their cars weren't hooked up yet. Slides were still on, although I believe on some of them, the slides are hydraulics, so you need the diesel engine. But yeah, they just had 'em on and on and on for a good,
Peggy Barthel
I mean, good wasting, wasting fuel for that by that. Right. Well
Tony Barthel
It's not that much, but seven 15 is a little early to fire up a diesel.
Peggy Barthel
Yeah.
Tony Barthel
Marilyn really had an, an nice look at all of this with all things mentioned can be annoying and practices I personally do not do. But the good news is this situation is short term. I get a move away. Not saying it's right that folks do things at campground, but folks do things at campground. People do this in the their own neighborhood sometimes too. And that's more long term. So good thing is you can move,
Peggy Barthel
Mike also had a funny one. If he is in the campground bathroom and someone uses 37 feet of toilet paper and 16 paper towels, I guess he counts <laugh> to finish their business. You know, there's no point in wasting and everyone that's, well, I guess anyone who's been in, who's used the bathroom in an RV should know three sheets, not 37 feet. Right. Maybe that's why they go use the outhouse or the bathhouse so that they can use as much paper as they want, but you're gonna clog a toilet if you use too much paper no matter what.
Peggy Barthel
So be a little bit respectful and don't waste resources just because they're there.
Tony Barthel
Yeah, that's, that's a good one. So be kind. We do have a new article about campground etiquette, which we will share again in the show notes. Also, if you are a newsletter subscriber of ours, we do send our once a week fun and friendly newsletter and there'll be a link to the campground etiquette article there and a link to the Stresses Camping podcast Facebook group where you can weigh in if you didn't get one of your favorite pet peeves, <laugh>
Peggy Barthel
Heard.
Tony Barthel
But the question for this week is
Peggy Barthel
Our friend Tom Taylor who comes up with some good ones and he wants to know what is the best restaurant and will allow a couple that you have found on the road. So please remember to tell us the name of the restaurant and the location and if you have a photo oh bonus of those best foods, you know. Yeah. That is a bonus.
Tony Barthel
Absolutely. Well, that's what we have for you this week. We really, again, appreciate you being here. Know of course that you can answer the question of the week on our fun and friendly Stressless Camping podcast Facebook group.
Peggy Barthel
And also don't forget that we do a once a week newsletter and everyone who you have just a couple days left, if you haven't already signed up for our newsletter, we are doing a drawing for new members of the newsletter and somebody's going to win a water hose from Air Gear, the best water hose that we've ever used.
Tony Barthel
Yeah. All you have to do is sign up in the month of June and we are gonna pick one of those people who signed up and sends you an email and that's it. No charge. Make sure you're member of our newsletter community and
Peggy Barthel
Then you'll be the only person that receives more than one newsletter a week, because that is our promise to you. One newsletter a week, not a bunch of junk. We just give you the links to the podcasts and websites and videos and stories that we think will help you get the best of your RV experience.
Tony Barthel
You can sign up on our website where you'll find the show notes for this episode
Peggy Barthel
Number 2 0 9
Tony Barthel
On the podcastPage@stresslesscamping.com. That's also where we've got our discounts and deals for the best deals on the things you'll need on your Stressless Camping adventure.
Peggy Barthel
And if you know of a deal that we don't already have on our website and you want to help us increase that page, please let us know.
Tony Barthel
And of course we are in all the social places where you can start@stressescamping.com. And from there jump off and Facebook and Instagram and TikTok and just all of that. And of course, if you don't wanna miss a future episode of The Stresses Camping podcast,
Peggy Barthel
It's free to subscribe on any podcast catcher. And we are saving you a seat around our virtual campfire.
Tony Barthel
Oh. And uh, we've said it before. Say it again. A review will help others find this podcast and you know, it just helps us a lot, those reviews. So if you haven't done one yet, please do. We really appreciate
Peggy Barthel
It. And if you've already written a review and find something that you would like to share, that helps too. And we really appreciate that as well. Especially those people who share pretty much everything we ever post <laugh>. That's pretty cool. <laugh>. Yeah.
Tony Barthel
Well that's what we have for you this week. We hope this isn't a moldy old topic for
Peggy Barthel
You. Aw <laugh>.
Tony Barthel
I always have to get in a pun. With that, thank you so much for being here and
Mark Ferrell
Happy camping, happy. 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.
Peggy Barthel
Something. We're Dish. Dish. Oh, that's what it was. Worst sister sauce,
Tony Barthel
Sauce,
Peggy Barthel
<laugh>. You almost couldn't stop <laugh>.
Tony Barthel
Eventually I had have passed out.
