Visiting the RV/MH Hall of Fame plus an RV of tomorrow
What’s at the RVMH Hall of Fame - we speak with Director Jose Rodriguez
This week on the StressLess Camping RV Podcast we visit the RV MH hall of fame and speak with the new director, Jose Rodriguez. Jose so appreciates this remarkable place that he’s come back to help guide it and we love the new and the now that’s going on there.
Speaking of new, we also have a look at the first viable EV motorhome. No, for reals! And we visit a place where we get serenaded - by the road! That’s Goofy USA!
Other places to hear the podcast
Mentioned on this episode
National RV Refrigeration https://fixyourfridge.com/
Fords RV refrigeration https://rvrefrigeration.com/
Harvest Hosts https://www.stresslesscamping.com/harvest-hosts
Our interview with author Karen Musser Nortman and her time traveling trailer
Wonderhussy’s video about singing roads
Tire pressure monitor article at air gear also link to their TPMS
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.
Automated transcript of StressLess Camping RV podcast episode 322
Peggy
This week on the Stress Less Camping RV podcast, we visit the RVMH Hall of Fame and speak with the new director, Jose Rodriguez.
Tony
Jose so is enthusiastic about this remarkable place that he came back to help run it, and he's doing a super job. Wait till you see.
Peggy
Speaking of new, we also have a look at the first viable EV motor home. No, for real.
Tony
Yeah, for real. And we travel down a singing road.
Peggy
We have this week's podcast, along with the notes and stories that go with this episode 322, and the discounts, deals, and helpful tips and more at our home on the web at stresslesscamping.com.
Tony
We really appreciate your likes and shares. Thank you for joining us for Stress Less Camping Podcast number 322. Stress less camping.
Peggy
Stress less camping.
Tony
I'm Tony.
Peggy
I'm Peggy.
Tony
And we're two RV industry veterans who travel part-time...
Peggy
In this travel trailer.
Tony
Along with these bears.
Peggy
Along with these bears.(laughs)
Tony
Looking to share big adventures and help you with great tips-
Peggy
Tricks.
Tony
... and discounts. Whoo, boy.
Peggy
Usually, the bears get thrown over on the bed so that they're not in the way, but this week we thought we'd include them.
Tony
Yeah, the bears come from different places that we've stopped, and they each have like a, a little origin story.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
So.
Peggy
But for those of you who know me well, surprisingly, they do not have names.
Tony
Yeah, that is a surprise.
Tony
They're just da bears.
Peggy
They're just the bears.
Peggy
I had a friend one time who had a whole bunch of, like, goldfish in a pond. She just called them sushi.
Tony
Oh.
Tony
Wow, there's something fishy about that.
Peggy
Okay.
Tony
If you have one of those propane RV fridges, the gas, uh, electric, what they call gas absorption fridges, I visited a place this week where they actually rebuild the mechanism. So, if you have one of those fridges and it's failed or, you know, just over time stopped working, you can actually get the entire mechanism that cools the fridge. And it's not a difficult job to replace it, and it's not expensive either.
Peggy
And that's in Indiana, right? That's in Elkhart.
Tony
Yeah, it's in Shipshewana.
Peggy
Shipshewana.
Tony
I believe they'll Shipshewana you the parts, I think.
Tony
But anyway, we have a whole article at our home on the web about this place. Uh, it, it was remarkable. Uh, I went there not because of our fridge, but they, it's, uh, National RV Refrigeration, I believe it's called, and they also do air conditioners.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
And, uh, speaking of air conditioners, we have news. We did swap our air conditioner. We have been testing a new air conditioner. Um, we'll, we'll talk a little more about that as-
Peggy
Not quite ready for prime time just yet.
Tony
No, 'cause I wanna make this truly a nerdy study.
Peggy
We will also put a link to an episode that we spoke to Ford's, Ford's Refrigeration, I think it's called. Um, it's i- in the Southern states, sorry, uh, but it, we will put the link to that. So, if you're in Indiana area, uh, this is a good option. And if you're in the South- Southern states, then Ford's might be a good option.
Tony
Yeah, we still stay in touch with those Ford's people, and they're, they're pretty neat people, so worth che- checking out. As you probably know, we really like Harvest Hosts a lot.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
And our guest today sort of comes to us from a Harvest Host.
Peggy
Yes.
Tony
Before we, our first night here in the Greater Indiana area-
Tony
... we spent at a Harvest Host with our friends, Tony and Tina.
Peggy
And our friends, Pat and Rose.
Tony
Yeah, and we're all off-grid camping. Uh, Pat and Rose are, have a Mastervolt power system from ABC Upfitters. We have a Mastervolt power system from ABC Upfitters.
Peggy
Tony and Tina, wah-wah, had to suffer with a generator.
Tony
Yeah, we had to suffer with a generator.
Tony
Harvest Host is a great program that takes you to places that are really incredible oftentimes. There are over, there are thousands of hosts all over the country.
Peggy
Yes.
Tony
Um, farms, museums, like we went to breweries, special places, uh-
Peggy
I know you already said farms, but alpaca farms.
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
That's important to realize.
Tony
Absolutely.
Peggy
If you've never been to an alpaca farm, do yourself a favor, f- join Harvest Host just so you can go see some alpacas.(laughs)
Tony
Well, while you're doing yourself that favor, know that we have a discount to Harvest Host at our home on the web at stresslesscamping.com, also linked in the show notes below.
Peggy
As Tony kind of hinted,(laughs) our guest today is from a Harvest Host, and it is the, I'll get it right, the RV, recreational vehicle, MH, not motor home but m- mobile...
Tony
Manufactured housing.
Peggy
... manufactured home, manufactured housing. Okay, so let me do it again. RVMH, Recreational Vehicle Manufactured Housing Hall of Fame, which is, uh, in other, uh, in addition to other things, a museum for vintage and up to current RVs and MHs.
Tony
Yeah.
Tony
So, anyway, without any further ado, let's hear from Jose, uh, at the RVMH Hall of Fame.
Peggy
Today, we actually get to visit with Jose Rodriguez, the museum director at the, let's see if I can do it right, RV and Manufactured Home Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana.
Tony
Welcome.
Jose Rodriguez
Hi. Thank you.
Tony
Okay, so you came back here, so you were gone for a while, and there was such a strong draw to this beautiful place-What brought you back?
Jose Rodriguez
Good question. Well, what can I say? I love the work that I do, right? And so just working here at the Hall of Fame just brought me so much satisfaction, and such a rich history, um, getting to know so many people from the industry. It just kept calling me back. There's always events going on over here, and so I- I, you know, kept in touch with the people here, the staff. And when the opportunity came, it just was a perfect time for me to hang up the boots of- of what I was doing, and it made it so easy for me to come back.
Tony
That's awesome.
Peggy
That's awesome.
Tony
If you're watching this on YouTube, I suggest you do, because there's such an incredible display.
Peggy
We just spent about two hours taking all kinds of photos and videos.
Tony
Yeah.
Tony
What kind of reaction do people have who haven't been here before when they walk through?
Jose Rodriguez
So we get a lot of first-time visitors, and- and it's really nice, 'cause it- it's not, it's not that, you know, people don't enjoy coming back, but we get a lot of fr- uh, first-time visitors that come off the toll road, and they ask, they're like, "We've always seen this big green building, but we- we never-"
Jose Rodriguez
"... knew what was in here, and it's amazing." So we always get great, positive feedback, and, um, it's just so rewarding to see all the hard work that we put in day to day being given back to us, or- or relayed to us. It's- it's really fulfilling, and that's also part of why I miss being here, right?
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
I can imagine-
Jose Rodriguez
It's really nice.
Tony
...'cause it is a wonderful place. There's everything from really old RVs that are, sort of show the origins, to some pretty slick customs, and even manufactured housing. You have tours of new homes here, even.
Jose Rodriguez
Um, so how, what- what that looks like is people get to see what is being built, um, now, right? And so as people are seeing what's being built, they also, we offer tours, not in-house, but we let each one of the manufacturers tell you, "Hey, we have tours this day, then this day." And it's very similar to the RV side as well.
Peggy
Okay.
Jose Rodriguez
People still can come in and say, "Hey, we really love this line of RV." We can give them a handout that- that the Elkhart County, uh, Visitor's Bureau gives us, and it has a wide variety of RV manufacturers, and they can schedule a tour. So e- both- both segments of the industry have something similar, but it's- it's nothing that is in-house.
Peggy
But here in-house, you do. You have kind of, I know more than this, but I'm gonna- I'm gonna make the two kind of big segments. We have the RV section, and we have the manufactured home section, and that was actually kind of a walk down memory lane for me-
Jose Rodriguez
Yeah.
Peggy
... because I can remember as a child living in a single-wide manufactured-
Jose Rodriguez
Very nice.
Peggy
... trailer, right? And, uh, some of those trailers reminded me a lot of that.
Jose Rodriguez
Yeah.
Peggy
And, uh, all the way up to what, you know, kind of some models, some displays of what kind of thing you can get nowadays as a manufactured home, and how they look like a house, they don't look like a trailer.(laughs)
Jose Rodriguez
Exactly.
Tony
But you also have a few celebrity RVs in here.
Peggy
Yes.
Tony
Uh, you have Mae West's trailer-
Jose Rodriguez
Yep.
Peggy
Mae West.
Tony
... or motor home.
Peggy
Yep.
Jose Rodriguez
Yep, yep.
Tony
And you have the Wander Lodge, is that... Wait.
Jose Rodriguez
Yes, that- that's here, uh, still. Mm-hmm.
Tony
And then what other, what kind of things do people, you know, what surprises do people unearth as they're touring?
Jose Rodriguez
So we just recently, um... More news to come on this, but we have, we had a Furrion in our Go RVing hall that is millions of dollars is the estimate worth of that home, uh, or that RV. Um, and so we have partnered up with a local company, and they are gonna be raffling it off for a good cause.
Peggy
Oh, wow.
Jose Rodriguez
And also of, of... We're a good cause, right? We're a nonprofit, so, um, they're also giving us a percentage of the- the- the earnings.
Peggy
Oh, terrific.
Tony
Wow.
Jose Rodriguez
And so, yeah. But- but it- it's- it's just so big that it's not something that we could house here permanently, right?
Tony
Yeah, I can imagine.
Jose Rodriguez
More news on that to come. Um, we also have, um, a model that could be one of one, uh, our Pierce Arrow.
Tony
Yeah.
Jose Rodriguez
Um, that one is, uh, just right- right up here. You might be able to see it in the shot. But, um, we have... Only three were built, um, and the one we have here is the only that we know its whereabouts. The other one-
Peggy
Oh, gosh.
Jose Rodriguez
... the other one, uh, was in a fire.
Tony
Oh.
Jose Rodriguez
And we don't know where the third is, so...
Peggy
Oh, wow.
Tony
There was one at the Nethercutt in California, I think. I think. Now I have to look at my pictures.
Jose Rodriguez
Sounds good.
Tony
If so, I'll let you know.
Jose Rodriguez
Please.
Tony
It's a, it, that is a remarkable car museum.
Peggy
It seems like if it was in a museum, they would have been able to find it by now.
Jose Rodriguez
Yeah, yeah.
Tony
Yeah, but that's a private collection, so-
Peggy
Oh, yeah, yeah.
Tony
But it's still a museum. You have a f- couple of GMC motor homes, which are among my favorites.
Peggy
Yeah.
Jose Rodriguez
Yeah, oh, so one of the ones that we have is the fastest RV, uh, here in town.(laughs)
Tony
Oh, I didn't... Okay.
Jose Rodriguez
Um, that, it's, there's a pretty neat story to that one. That one actually we acquired while I left, so it's been, you know, only two years-
Peggy
Oh, pretty new.
Jose Rodriguez
... that we have that, yeah. But that one, um, I believe it's top speed, I- I have to look at it now, but it's upwards of, like, 120 to 180.
Peggy
Wow.
Jose Rodriguez
So it's fast.
Tony
Okay, you know how a lot of times people go, "So what's your normal cruising speed?" Usually it's not 120 miles an hour.
Jose Rodriguez
Right.(laughs)
Peggy
So I guess if you're in a big hurry to get to Indiana- ... and you don't want to limit yourself to 300 miles a day, that's the one to try.
Tony
Well, that's three hours, right? You get three, th- three, uh, hundred miles in three hours.
Peggy
Yeah, yeah. You could go 800 miles a day super easily.
Jose Rodriguez
We just need to build a tunnel.
Tony
Just, yeah. Yeah, a tunnel and-
Jose Rodriguez
And a straight shot.
Tony
... and some sort of, like, cloaking device so the police don't see you.
Tony
And some of the RVs that are here, people can go in and actually-
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
... look around and things like that.
Jose Rodriguez
Yep. So we have roughly, right now, we have about 58, uh, closer to 60 in our show floor. Um, out of those, I wanna say at least two-thirds, people can go into. Um, the ones that aren't, I mean, they're just so, um-
Peggy
Kind of delicate and-
Jose Rodriguez
Yeah, exactly.
Peggy
Yeah. Yeah.
Jose Rodriguez
I mean, just, you know, we've kept them in such great shape. They're, uh, you know, we're starting in 1920s-
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
Yes.
Jose Rodriguez
... uh, uh, so we, we just wanna make sure that we, we keep those in pristine condition, so.
Tony
Yeah. And, and people, you know, that, t- they're not always as careful as they could be with, with things.
Jose Rodriguez
Exactly. Exactly.
Tony
So, and some of them are just, just immaculate examples of things. I, I hadn't seen... Well, I've been here before but other than here, you don't see Model T Campers and-
Peggy
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Jose Rodriguez
Exactly. Exactly.
Tony
... uh, home-built... You have home-built RVs, you have production RVs, travel trailers, motor homes, um, just, it's pretty incredible. But you also have an enormous library of material.
Jose Rodriguez
Yes. Yes. And we're always working on that said library. We, we, we have a lot of improvements that we wanna do. Um, at some point, we wanna figure out what's the best way, and, and with technology and just the help of AI, hopefully that's something that, in the future, we can do, but we're looking to see what's the most effective way to have some sort of database online-
Tony
Hmm.
Jose Rodriguez
... so that people can inquire and say, "Hey, do you have any information or anything related to this topic?" We can give them that information-
Peggy
Yeah.
Jose Rodriguez
... and they can search it and find it.
Peggy
Or at least know it's here.
Jose Rodriguez
Yeah.
Peggy
Or at least-
Jose Rodriguez
The very least, right, exactly.
Peggy
At least know that if they drive here, you can have the information.
Jose Rodriguez
Exactly. Exactly.
Peggy
Yeah.
Jose Rodriguez
So that's something that, that we're working on. We, we, I mean, we're working effortless, I mean, tirelessly on, on finding-
Jose Rodriguez
... interns that can help us with that. We, we, you know, we're just a small group, so we're working-
Peggy
Yeah.
Jose Rodriguez
... we're working on that. We have a lot of antiques that we, we are currently categorizing and sorting out. That's all part of this, this grand idea that we have to spruce it up the museum, build better exhibits, and with that, obviously, also have just, just more antiques and, and things that, that are era-related in, in the museum. So we're excited about that.
Tony
That's really... That's pretty cool.
Peggy
That's very cool. So I saw a Clark, a Cortez.
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
One of my favorites. And also the, uh, the 1935 covered wagon travel trailer-
Jose Rodriguez
Mm-hmm.
Peggy
Um, we have talked before with Karen Musser Norman, and she writes a book series called The Travel Trailer-
Jose Rodriguez
Oh, that's awesome.
Peggy
... uh, The Time Travel Trailer.
Jose Rodriguez
Okay.
Peggy
And, uh, that's the kind of RV, uh, travel trailer that does, the person in the book owns-
Jose Rodriguez
Very nice.
Peggy
... and when she goes to sleep, she wakes up in a different time.
Peggy
So that was really exciting for me to see.
Jose Rodriguez
Yeah.
Peggy
That was fun.
Jose Rodriguez
That's awesome.
Peggy
Do you have... Wha- if they don't listen so they don't get sad, do you have a favorite down there?
Jose Rodriguez
Oh, my gosh, I do.
Tony
Oh.
Jose Rodriguez
I do. So, um, it's our hunt house car. Um, in 19... If you, if you think driving down the road in 1935, 'cause it's, it, you, you can drive it, it's drivable, that thing looks like a spaceship.
Tony
It totally does.
Peggy
Yes, yes.
Jose Rodriguez
So that, that is my favorite. Just thinking of like what, what people's impressions would have been seeing that out in the road.
Peggy
Yeah.
Jose Rodriguez
And so that has a, a special place in my heart. Um, in the 35s, there's, I mean, all, we have that whole section that they're all-
Peggy
Yeah.
Jose Rodriguez
... very similar but in different colors.
Peggy
Yeah.
Jose Rodriguez
So, um, they're... I, I believe it's the York, uh, it's a bright electric blue.
Peggy
Mm-hmm.
Jose Rodriguez
That, that's also one of my favorites. Um, but yeah, I, I would... Those would be my go-to if we had, if I had to, if we were in a fire and I had to save two of them-
Peggy
I could pick one up on my back.
Tony
Let's hope not.
Jose Rodriguez
Right, let's... Yeah.
Peggy
Yeah, just don't even say that.
Tony
And there's some new technology down, uh, as you first come in, too, from manufacturers. I saw a Sylvan Sport G.O. trailer.
Peggy
Yes.
Tony
Um, we saw a little Jayco-
Jose Rodriguez
Mm-hmm.
Tony
... and some components, so.
Peggy
And the display of the manufacturing plant, I really like that.
Tony
Oh, that's right. That's super cool.
Jose Rodriguez
Yeah, it is.
Peggy
So if you haven't been here recently enough to see it, it's a, a model of a manufacturing plant with a, a travel trailer, a fifth wheel, and there's a, a recorded voice that tells you, "This is step one, they do this, and then they do that, and then they do that," and you can watch them go. So if you can't visit a plant for some reason, you can at least visit a virtual plant(laughs) -
Tony
That's excellent, yeah.
Peggy
... a model plant. That's really cool.
Tony
Yeah, that is really neat to see. What are your hours and the price to r- roam through here?
Jose Rodriguez
So right now, we're still in our summer hours. We do have winter hours that start, I believe, in November. I have to double-check 'cause, again, I've been out of it for two years, right?
Jose Rodriguez
But, um, right now, our hours are Monday through Saturday, 9:00 to 5:00, and then Sunday, we're open 10:00 to 3:00.
Tony
And they also have a whole event center here. There's an event tonight. Last time we were here a couple weeks ago, you had a huge event happening. This is where a lot of dealers come to look at the latest RVs-
Peggy
That's right.
Tony
... coming up soon. And you're a Harvest Host.
Jose Rodriguez
That's right.
Peggy
That's right, yes.
Jose Rodriguez
So people can stay for Harvest Hosts. People can, um-... do same-day reservation even. Um, they're able to stay 19 free on our west side of the building as long as they pay, uh, admission fees.
Peggy
And the admission is definitely worth it.
Tony
Absolutely.
Jose Rodriguez
Yeah.
Peggy
Yeah. Yeah.
Jose Rodriguez
Thank you, thank you. Um, just some- some other news on more to come in-
Peggy
Yeah.
Jose Rodriguez
... uh, our go RVing hall, we're just talking about new technologies so we have the SylvanSport in the, in the Jayco. It's been very difficult to- to- to stay on the manufacturers to bring us the things, right?
Peggy
Oh.
Jose Rodriguez
I- I'm continuously working with, you know, partnering up with- with other companies but we do have an EV Class C coming in.
Peggy
Ooh.
Tony
Oh.
Jose Rodriguez
It's gonna be over here somewhere, excited about that.
Peggy
Oh, well, we'll have to come back then.(laughs)
Tony
So you could see the past and see the future.
Jose Rodriguez
Exactly.
Peggy
That's right.
Tony
So that's pretty darn cool.
Peggy
Yeah, it's very cool. And- and I love the way that this is laid out. You walk in and you're in the 1920s and you can maneuver around and just follow the pathway and you end up in practically the future.(laughs)
Jose Rodriguez
Exactly.
Tony
Yeah. And then you could go see, uh, the manufactured housing side.
Peggy
The same thing, yeah, with the same thing.
Tony
So it's a whole separate side. Cool. Jose, thank you for making time for us.
Jose Rodriguez
Thank you for having us.
Peggy
Yeah, thank you very much.
Tony
And- and great place here, so keep in touch and, uh-
Jose Rodriguez
Sounds great. You guys also.
Peggy
Yeah, absolutely.
Tony
Right.
Jose Rodriguez
Thank you for your time.
Peggy
And we'll be back for the, for the Class C.
Tony
Oh. Oh, that's right.
Jose Rodriguez
Absolutely.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
Yeah.
Jose Rodriguez
It'll be, it'll be great.
Tony
Cool.
Jose Rodriguez
Yes, I am missing you.
Tony
Thank you.
Peggy
Hopefully you get the idea that this is a great place to visit. It's so cool to see vintage, you know, like from the first travel trailer ever up to the future of RVs and motor homes and travel trailers, it's really fascinating. Even the manufactured home side is pretty interesting. It's kind of fun. If you ever lived in a trailer, like I did as a kid, it's kind of nostalgic.(laughs)
Peggy
And if you didn't but you're an RV'er, you kind of can imagine, it's just a little bit bigger version of an RV and I don't know that those- those on that side, they didn't really travel around a lot.
Tony
No.
Peggy
They were intended, they were on wheels so you could drive them to your lot or your destination and then kind of park them pretty permanently and live in them.
Tony
Yeah. Although, there was, uh, on the manufactured housing side, a Spartan Manor, those did get-
Peggy
They did.
Tony
... towed some.
Peggy
That's true.
Tony
So, but a lot of them were placed permanently.
Peggy
And it's really fascinating to see, you know, uh, the stick and tin construction of manufactured homes in the '50s, '60s, '70s, versus the absolute houses that are just sort of pre-built and assembled on site that are available today.
Tony
Yeah. So as we said, uh, when we arrived at the RVMH Hall of Fame-
Peggy
Mm-hmm.
Tony
... uh, we were there with Patrick and Rose and Tony and Tina and we were all off-grid camping.
Peggy
Yep.
Tony
And Patrick and Rose have the super deluxe version-
Peggy
Yeah, they do.
Tony
... of what we have. They have I think 1,800 watts is solar and two 460 amp power Lithium batteries.
Peggy
I believe that's right. Yes.
Tony
It's an enormous system and they off-grid camp with their air conditioner running and all of that. And, uh, we have a smaller system but still very, very capable and we use it all the time. Also, a Master Volt Power System. I think Tony and Tina are getting one too.
Peggy
I don't think we're supposed to tell.
Tony
Oops.
Tony
Well, anyway, this system really enables you to take advantage of some great places and more and more people are overlanding or boondocking. We spent three days, no, two days-
Peggy
We spent two days at ABC Upfitters. They had a sort of an open house and with their, um, kind of companies that they represent. And we just mooch docked in their driveway, off the grid, showing off our Master Volt system that they had installed.
Tony
Yep.
Peggy
So it was kind of a mutual beneficial, you know, we had a place to park and we got to help with the open house. And they got to use our real-life example.
Tony
Yeah. But also, we- we heard them talking to people who are interested in, uh, solar and Lithium upgrade.
Peggy
Mm-hmm.
Tony
And some were just basically I wanna be able to run my fridge while I'm driving down the road.
Peggy
Right.
Tony
Some of them were like us who wanna camp off the grid a lot. And then there's people like Patrick and Rose who just wanna basically not even think about hookups.
Peggy
They never... I don't think they hooked up even when we were at a campground that had hookups.
Tony
Right. Well, they were showing off how well the system worked.
Peggy
Yeah, they were.(laughs)
Tony
Anyway, the point is ABC Upfitters will really vary a system and build it to your specifications. And if you decide down the road, "Gosh, I wish I could do a little more or something different," they can also upgrade your system. So they're not, you're not just stuck with a system, you're not stuck with any just one system.
Peggy
Right.
Tony
They're very accommodating to how you camp today and how you may camp tomorrow. So if you want a reliable, perfectly designed system that will help you accomplish your camping goal, you can give our friends at ABC Upfitters a ring.
Peggy
At 574-333-3225.
Tony
That's 574-333-3225 or right below here.
Peggy
Or right up here.
Tony
Or somewhere, there are links to visit ABC Upfitters virtually and find out more. But speaking of rings, which is a sound-
Tony
... what if you're driving-
Peggy
Wow. That's a little bit of a stretch.
Tony
Yeah, it's a stretch, isn't it? But not a bad, uh, segue.
Peggy
You're gonna wanna check out our, the f- what's it called? The playlist on our YouTube channel of Goofy USA and you're going to learn about singing roads.
Tony
Oh, not like that.
Peggy
I'm sure that's it.
Tony
There are several places across this beautiful country where you can drive down the road and the road will sing you a lullaby.
Peggy
That is-
Tony
Well, not quite a lullaby.
Peggy
... not quite a lullaby. But, uh, different song in each location.
Tony
Yep.
Peggy
One is going to be a video that we will play for you that we drove recently in New Mexico.
Tony
Yeah, we were, uh, drivin' down the road and our friend Patrick's like, "Hey, there's a singing road over there." There's really no sign that points to it.
Peggy
There's no sign or anything. You just have to know.
Tony
Yeah, but anyway, this is what it sounded like when we drove down the road. All right, we are on our way to the singing road, so let's see what we see or hear.
Peggy
I heard it.
Tony
Okay, that was it.
Peggy
Does it make-
Tony
Underneath the star.
Tony
Well, that was interesting. Could you hear that?
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
It's- it's a little, you know, noisy and all that.
Peggy
Right.
Tony
But it's kinda cool, but yeah, drive down the road and it plays you a song by running over basically grooves in the road that are spaced so that it makes kind of notes of sorts.
Peggy
So it's like a record.
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
Wait, do you guys know what a record is?
Tony
It's a rumble s- it's called... Those are called rumble strips, and typically, you know, there's the whole drive-by braille if you're really sleepy at night.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
You're not supposed to do this, but on a lot of roads if you get too close to the edge, it goes(imitates rumble strip) . Right? Well, that's-
Peggy
So it's that, but in tune.
Tony
Yeah, that, but specifically spaced so it plays a song.
Peggy
We actually did drive the one in Lancaster, California years and years ago before, like, you know, we had smartphones and video cameras at our-
Peggy
... fingertips, so we don't have video of it, but let's put a link to Wonderhussy.
Tony
Yeah, Wonderhussy drove that road, which plays the William Tell Overture, a little bit out of tune.
Tony
And there's also one in Palmdale-
Peggy
In Palmdale.
Tony
... that plays the Marine Hymn from the Marine Corps. Um-
Peggy
And I suspect that wasn't there as long ago as we were there. Like-
Tony
No, I think it's relatively recent.
Peggy
... rel- fairly new.
Tony
But the one in Lancaster is there because Honda made a commercial, a car commercial, where they drove down the road and it played a song, and it's kinda been there ever since. And apparently the road moved at some point and they redid it and it's kinda out of tune. There's ab- also supposedly another one in Alabama, so we'll put a link to that.
Peggy
So that's a new destination for us, so that we have-
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
... so that we will have heard all of the singing roads.
Tony
All the singing roads.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
And if we missed one, of course, let us know. You can let us know in our fun and friendly-
Peggy
Please, yeah.
Tony
... Facebook group, Stressless Campers. Great place to interact about all kinds of stuff, uh, including singing roads and all of that, because singing roads, why that's just Goofy USA.
Peggy
Goofy USA.
Tony
About a year ago, we had the privilege of going to the Thor display at the RVMH Hall of Fame, and something they had on display was a prototype EV Class A motorhome. Now, this thing was pretty neat and we actually got to drive it around, and we have a full article at our home on the web at stresslesscamping.com, and a video.
Peggy
EV motorhomes have been kind of, like, talked about for a few years, right?
Tony
Right.
Peggy
And- and, uh, the kind of general opinion in the beginning was, "Psh. Too impossible."
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
"Never happen."
Tony
Right, vaporware.
Peggy
Even last year people were like, "Never gonna happen." Well-
Tony
So Jayco introduced-
Tony
... their EV motorhome, and we got a sneak peek at that, and it's on what's called the Harbinger chassis. And Harbinger is a company that makes commercial chassis for, like, delivery trucks and- and that sort of stuff. And they're a company that exists that is actually building this stuff. So, your FedEx van or UPS van might actually be an electric van, and that makes so much sense. But in a motorhome, you know, those vans only go 50 to 100 miles a day, right?
Tony
And that makes sense. The Harbinger battery can easily go that long. A motorhome, you might wanna travel 2, 3, 400 miles.
Peggy
Right.
Tony
So how do you do that? Well, Harbinger and Thor decided to put a four-cylinder generator, like a little gasoline engine, but it's a generator under the floor of the motorhome, so when you get to the end of the EV range... Well, actually, it's bef- before you get to the end.
Tony
But-
Peggy
Hopefully not at the end.
Tony
Right? But when you get close to the end, the gasoline generator kicks on and recharges the battery as you're driving down the road.
Peggy
Mm.
Tony
It makes a lot of sense, and it's a realistic concept that now Jayco is going to build. So, looking at this new Jayco Evolve is what they call it, uh, it's a Class A. It's really, really well appointed. It's- it's quite a nice looking rig. It's a no slide.Um-
Tony
... it's very European design in that if you've ever seen the Winnebago Echo, the Echo has a huge compartment in the back, sort of under the bed. Well, that's how this is done too because there's not a big diesel engine back there to, to have to accommodate. Um, when we drove the Thor EV, there was a lot of kind of groundbreaking technology, and looking at how Jayco implemented it, some of the decisions I would've done very differently.
Peggy
Hmm.
Tony
Like there's propane aboard, why?
Tony
You have this monster battery, just go electric.
Peggy
Go fully electric.
Tony
There's gasoline aboard for the engine, but then you need propane for the heater, but Truma makes a gasoline-fired furnace. So why not just... I don't know. There's some decisions where it's like, "Huh?"
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
But overall, it, uh, it is a really beautiful, nice-looking rig. However, it's $460,000 MSRP.
Peggy
Oh, is that all?(laughs)
Tony
So it ain't cheap. It's nice, but it ain't cheap. So-
Peggy
Well, motor homes, drivables usually aren't cheap because you're buying an RV, you know, a p- a place to sleep and a thing to drive.
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
Right? So-
Tony
But you can get a lot of the similarly sized like the Thor Ace or things like that for a lot less than half a million bucks. However, I will say as a proof of concept, there are gonna be people who want this just 'cause it really does look cool.
Peggy
Right.
Tony
It's really nicely appointed and it's definitely a standout RV. So check it out. We have a full story and a lot of pictures at our home on the web at stresslesscamping.com.
Peggy
Does that new drivable RV come with tire pressure monitoring?
Tony
I would hope so.
Peggy
I would hope so. If your RV didn't come with tire pressure monitoring, we highly, highly, highly recommend that you do something about that. Either get some that will screw onto your... I forgot the word. All of a sudden-
Tony
Valve stem caps?
Peggy
... the valve stems, yep. Replace your valve stem caps with tire pressure monitors which have, uh, you know, like Bluetooth readout on a monitor that you carry in the truck, so your passenger can watch it. Rockwood actually, our brand of our, our travel trailer, actually puts tire pressure monitors inside the tire, so we still have a monitor in the truck, but they, you know, we're not in fear of one, like s- slipping off, I guess, the valve stem or someone taking it for some stupid reason.
Peggy
Uh, but whatever method you can find, it's really, really, really, really, really advisable to have tire pressure monitoring on your tires, on your... Uh, most, I think, new vehicles have.
Tony
They all do by law.
Peggy
They all do, but not all towable RVs have, and it's just really a bad idea to be driving down the road and not know what your tires are up to.
Tony
That's true, and our friends at AirGear now have the TST systems back in stock.
Peggy
Oh, good.
Tony
And so we'll put a link to their article about why you need a tire pressure monitoring system in a towable, because yes, you may check the tire as you're... you know, before you leave, and that's best practice, but things can happen on the road.
Peggy
Right.
Tony
And so you don't want a tire blowout to ruin your trip or ruin your vacation or injure people.
Peggy
Right.
Tony
AirGear is, is a good place to go. They test everything they sell and we have a link in our show notes to the AirGear article and tire pressure monitoring system.
Peggy
Well, last week's question of the week, we asked if you had ever owned a vintage RV.
Tony
Some of you have and-
Peggy
Some of you have and thank you.
Tony
... and they've got some great pictures.
Peggy
Yeah, thank you for sharing those pictures. Uh, I, I was gonna mention this in the beginning, you know, we've been starting a lot of the episodes with history of different camping aspects, and last week, we did talk about travel trailers, and this week, we were gonna talk about motor homes, but then we talked to Jose, and that seemed a little bit repetitive. So I think let- next week might be our last history lesson-
Peggy
... in talking about motor homes, but in the meantime, thanks. Keep sharing those pictures of vintage RVs. I have a special place in my heart for vintage RVs.
Tony
Well, they're so stylish.
Peggy
They're so wonderful.
Tony
Last week, you may remember that we also found out about a really great new monitoring system for your RV, and then just now, we talked about tire pressure monitoring.
Peggy
Right.
Tony
So the question of the week is, do you use any monitor systems on your RV, and if so, what are they?
Peggy
Yeah, what do you use? What do you use them for? Are, is it... are they temperature? Are they water? Are they tire? Do you use them all like we do?(laughs) Let us know what you use, and if you have a particular recommendation, please share that so that other people will be fully informed and can make their own decisions as well.
Tony
Yeah, and that is on our Fun and Friendly Stressless Campers Facebook group where you're welcome to share your own stories, ask your own questions, and of course, respond to the question of the week, see what others have to say too.
Peggy
Absolutely. We also, you might know, have a weekly newsletter. We welcomed a whole bunch of people from the Frog Rally-
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
... and if you have not yet signed up for our weekly newsletter, why not?
Tony
It is free and we only send one a week, and we do have a link to the stories, videos, and podcasts that we think-... will provide you value as well as a reminder that, hey, our podcast is available to download and listen to.
Peggy
Right. And sometimes the newsletter tells you things that either we recorded too soon and they're really late-breaking things, or they're things that we don't necessarily talk about on the podcast like-
Tony
Or-
Peggy
... hey, we're giving something away.(laughs)
Tony
Yeah, we do give away stuff. In fact, we do have another contest coming right up.
Peggy
We do indeed.
Tony
You can sign up for the newsletter just about anywhere on our website, or if you scroll to the bottom there's a newsletter sign-up form.
Peggy
And w- you will find on the website also, on the page that's labeled Podcast, oddly enough, uh, the show notes for all episodes-
Peggy
... and, um, in this episode, 322.
Tony
You can also find our favorite products and services, including...
Peggy
Our new favorite product.
Tony
Yeah, our shirts.
Tony
We have all kinds of stuff, water bottles, shirts, hats.
Peggy
Socks.
Tony
Socks.
Peggy
T-shirts.
Tony
Cups.
Peggy
Yeah, T-shirts, polo shirts, all kinds of things with our logo on it. Uh, you know, if there is a certain something that you collect with logos on it and it's not on our store, let us know because we do have the ability to add some things. And some things are so wild-
Peggy
... we're like, "Who would want this?" But, you know, if you want this, we'll make it so.(laughs)
Tony
Yeah, if we can. So yeah, let us know and hopefully you'll find something you like there. Or, of course, that's part of our whole products, favorite products and services, and a lot of things have discounts and all of that.
Peggy
Right.
Tony
So check it out. Of course, we are in all the social places.
Peggy
Yes, indeed.
Tony
But the way to find us is to start at stresslesscamping.com, and at the top of just about any page are links to all the places that... Let's be honest, we're all wasting-
Peggy
We're all there.
Tony
... a bunch of time and it's kinda fun to do so.
Peggy
If you are listening by audio and you don't wanna miss any episodes of the Stress Less Camping podcast-
Tony
It's free.
Peggy
... it's free to subscribe on any podcast catcher, and we are saving you a seat around our virtual dinette-(laughs)
Tony
Yeah, absolutely.
Peggy
... or our virtual campfire.
Tony
And if you are watching on YouTube don't forget to like and leave a comment. We always appreciate what you have to say.
Peggy
Yeah, comments are great fun to read and reply to. And h- honestly, they help.
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
They help us because if no one ever indicates that they're watching, then YouTube is not gonna sh- not gonna think that we're important, and you know we are.(laughs)
Tony
I don't know.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
We're legends in our own mind.
Peggy
In our own mind. But that interaction really does help kind of boost our ratings, so to speak-
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
... and that way more people... We will show up on more people's search results. And that's what it's all about-
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
... getting more people-
Tony
Not the hokey-pokey.
Peggy
... in our group.
Tony
And if you found something you liked on our website, of course it's a great thing to share and help others discover that they too can be stress less campers. Well, with that, that's what we have for you this week. We hope you enjoyed our tour of the RVMH Hall of Fame, uh, a look at the future at that new Jayco, and with all of that... Stress less camping.
Peggy
Stress less camping.
Mark Ferrell
We hope you learned a lot, and had some fun, and got some tips for your next stress less 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.
