Planning RV Adventures with Friends - RV podcast 370
Planning RV Adventures with Friends - RV podcast 370
This week on the StressLess Camping RV Podcast, we share our tips on planning trips with friends. Whether a rally, a road trip, or a rowdy night away, we love to camp and travel with others. How do we make it happen? Join us and we’ll share our tips.
Tony updated our security and convenience with our RV gadget of the week, and he brings us another honest RV review.
Oh, and remember when we asked you to call in with a tip you’ve learned from us, or a favorite StressLess Camping memory? We share one of those calls today.
The StressLess Camping podcast is a weekly RV podcast with information, tips and tricks to help every RVer and camper enjoy some StressLess Camping.
Other places to hear the podcast
Mentioned on this episode
Kuru Footwear’s article on hiking injuries https://www.kurufootwear.com/blogs/articles/hiking-injury-statistics
Harvest Host locations can be a fun one- or two-night stay to meet up with friends. Get a discount and join us!
We’ll have a gathering after the 2027 Quartzsite Sports, Vacation, and RV Show. Plan to spend a week boondocking, potlucking, and whatever else we get up to.
We plan all of our trips with RV Life Pro Trip Wizard. Save, then Plan with Trip Wizard.
Our RV review of the week is the Keystone Couger 26LBW.
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 370
Tony
This week on the Stressless Camping RV podcast, we share our tips, Peggy's tips- ... on planning trips with friends.
Peggy
Whether we're going to a rally, on a road trip, or just a rowdy night away, we love to camp and travel with our friends. How do we make it happen?
Tony
Well, we have those tips this week on the Stressless Camping podcast.
Peggy
You also updated our security and our convenience with this week's RV Gadget of the Week.
Tony
And coming back from my trip to Indiana a few weeks ago, I have one of the RVs that I saw there, new for 2027, and it is ooh, la la. We have this week's podcast, along with the stories, notes, and everything to go with this episode, plus discounts, deals, helpful tips, and more at our home on the web at stresslesscamping.com.
Peggy
We really appreciate your likes and your shares. Thank you so much for joining us again for podcast episode 370.
Tony
Stressless Camping.
Peggy
Stressless Camping.
Tony
I'm Tony.
Peggy
And I'm Peggy.
Tony
And we're two RV industry veterans who travel part-time...
Peggy
In a Rockwood Mini Lite
Tony
... looking to share big adventures and help you with great tips...
Peggy
Tricks
Tony
... and discounts, and we're about to set sail for adventure.
Peggy
We are. We're going on a few of the kinds of trips that we'll talk about today.
Tony
Yeah. Well, that's what prompted this episode, the idea, so.
Peggy
What we don't really plan to do, but it's not completely out of the question, is perhaps go hiking.
Tony
Well, not extensively.
Peggy
Not extensively.
Tony
Although people are taking me-
Peggy
Ah
Tony
... although people are telling me to take a hike- ... all the time, babe, I can't even say it.
Peggy
So this week, we, well, we are getting some e- some new emails based on a conference that we didn't get to attend. But, uh, we got, from Kuru Footwear, we got an article about, uh, hiking and hiking injuries, and it was pretty interesting. We'll just tell you the highlights, and we'll put the link to the actual article here. Even though we don't, you know, obviously, we don't really hike, like-
Tony
Not extensively
Peggy
... like extensively or o- on hills or anything, but, uh, there are still some really good tips, even if you're just gonna take a walk around the campground.
Tony
Yeah, it's not just thrill-seekers getting hurt. Uh, surprisingly, slips and falls are very common, and part of that is because of unbalanced, as opposed to imbalanced- ... backpacks.
Peggy
Yeah, not just imbalanced people, but unbalanced backpacks. 42% of injuries that are reported involve the ankles.
Tony
Ooh, man. And apparently, national parks are dangerous. Well, not really. It's probably because that's where people go to hike, right?
Peggy
I'm sure that's because people go there to hike, and that's why so many of the injuries, such a high percentage of the injuries are from there. They did have some really, really great tips, though, and they recommended carrying a map and a compass, taking first aid kit with you, and having water, which is kind of funny, 'cause if you can see the background right now, the people in that picture aren't carrying water, and that was in their article, so. And you should always, and this is true whether you're hiking, walking, biking, driving, camping, boondocking, uh, whatever you're doing, you should always share your plans with somebody.
Tony
And check the weather.
Peggy
Yeah, check the weather, because you don't wanna get trapped in a bad, bad weather situation. And of course, considering the source where the article came from, invest in some good footwear, which is kind of where they lost me, because, you know, if it can't be done in flip-flops, I don't usually wanna do it.
Tony
Well, but, but you do have good hiking shoes.
Peggy
I do. I have good hiking shoes, good boots, uh, and I do put them on every once in a great while. And then everybody looks at my feet like they don't recognize me.
Tony
Shoes. Well, we're hitting the road, right as s- we're, what is that song? Ah, who cares.
Peggy
Okay.
Tony
We're hitting the road. We are on our way to Indiana.
Peggy
That's right. We're gonna do a few of the different activities that we're gonna talk about today, but the first, you know, activity, the first rally, is the FROG Rally. Uh, we have mentioned it before that we'll be there. We are kind of firming up some plans for a Tuesday evening gathering, so if you are attending the FROG Rally, we'll also put some information in the newsletter and-
Tony
Oh, yeah
Peggy
... and probably on our Stressless Campers Facebook group. But if you are attending the FROG Rally, come, if, even if you don't hear any other word about this, come find us, probably in or very near the Tiki Lounge-
Tony
Yeah
Peggy
... on Tuesday evening, which is food truck night.
Tony
Yeah, as Peggy said, we'll share the information, but, uh, we are partnering with a few other people, and we're gonna give away some stuff, and just hang out and hopefully have, be able to answer some questions and, and all of that good stuff. So if you're at the FROG Rally, uh, and we'll put notes of what in the wide, wide world of sports is the FROG Rally- ... and when is it. It is the middle of August, i, in Elkhart at the Elkhart County 4H Fairgrounds.
Peggy
Well, officially Goshen.
Tony
Goshen, you're right.
Peggy
Yeah. But it is the Elkhart County Fairgrounds, and it is for owners of Forest River RVs.
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
Forest River Owners Group is what FROG is.
Tony
You still have a month to go buy yourself a new RV-
Peggy
That's right
Tony
... if you don't have one.
Peggy
That's right. And of course, as we pack for our upcoming trip, we're in and out of the Mini Lite 100 times a day.
Tony
With the air conditioner running on battery.
Peggy
With the air conditioner running and the refrigerators on so that we can Tony couldn't believe that I finally did this. He always asks for this, but I actually planned our menus for the whole week so that I would know what food that's in the freezer we're gonna use, and what we're not gonna use that can be moved to the camper now, so I'm not doing it on the morning of the first day.
Tony
Of course, I could plan this too, right? I mean, I just... I, I'm the one who gets such joy out of it, but then I expect, "Now, Peggy, can you do it?" So...
Peggy
Anyway, this refrigerator, freezer, and air conditioner are possible because of our upfit from ABC Upfitters.
Tony
And, you know, I just wrote an article for RV Trader about boondocking tips, and one of those is to have a power system that matches what you wanna do when you are off-grid camping. So that could be anything from a pretty simple power upgrade or an elaborate system like we have. How do you know? The people at ABC Upfitters are happy to work with you to help you figure that out, design a custom system that's upgradeable and just works with your system, is a professionally installed solar and lithium system.
Tony
And you can talk to them at 574-333-3225.
Peggy
That's 574-333-3225. I wrote it in our notes this time because last time after we finished recording, Tony said, "Did I get the number right?" And yes, he did, but for, you know, sometimes you just think, "Ah, I..."
Tony
CRS is hitting us hard.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
Can't remember stuff, you know.
Peggy
All right.
Tony
Well, anyway.
Peggy
So we are planning a trip. We're planning a trip w- we're, well, we're supposed to be caravaning, but things aren't working out exactly right, but I'm gonna pretend like they are- ... because that's how I wrote the notes.
Tony
Well, what, that's what prompted this whole, this whole thing, right?
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
Is we, I watched Peggy and Patrick sitting at the dining table in our house and plan this whole trip to Indiana. Something came up with, with Patrick and Brian, but, uh, they'll, they'll still meet us there and, and-
Peggy
Yeah
Tony
... if you're at the Frog Rally, we'll get to hang out with them.
Peggy
Well, anyway, that's-
Tony
Yeah
Peggy
... that's farther-
Tony
That's neither here nor there
Peggy
... down in my notes.
Tony
Yeah, sorry.
Peggy
But let's try to stick with the script here, uh, 'cause otherwise we'll forget things for sure.
Tony
Me?
Peggy
Okay, so what, what kind of trips would you plan with friends? So one of the kinds of things that we do is go to rallies and FRVA conventions. So we're not necessarily traveling with friends, but we're going to meet up with friends to go to these events.
Tony
Yeah, and the fun part of that is it's mostly planned. We just gotta get there.
Peggy
Right.
Tony
And of course, one of the big get-togethers that we go to every year is the Quartzsite Sports, Vacation and RV Show.
Peggy
And then we follow it up with our own gathering-
Tony
We have our own-
Peggy
... gathering
Tony
... little get-together
Peggy
... afterwards, right.
Tony
Yep, which is always fun, and it seems to be growing, so.
Peggy
Yeah. And, uh, if you've attended one, you know that the extent of my planning an actual event is, "Hey, we're gonna have an event." Don't ask me what time. Don't ask me what to bring. Don't ask me what to wear. Just, you know, I don't know. I'll figure it out as we go.
Tony
Yeah, that's a pretty casual rally. But if you have people that you hang out with and you have common interests like, let's say, oh, our friend Alan, who does those historical reenactments-
Peggy
Mm-hmm
Tony
... or people who have similar brands of RVs or similar configurations or worked at the same company or veterans or what- whatever.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
You could always get with them and just go to a campground or to a place and, and celebrate that hobby or special interest.
Peggy
Yeah. So a lot of RV companies actually have rallies where they organize things and invite everyone who owns that kind of an RV. But also, like in our world, in the world of Rockwood Mini Lites, we have a few different people who organize annual things. We've got, there's a Great Lakes rally. There's a Texas rally. Um-
Tony
We've been to both of those
Peggy
... and there's one in Kentucky, I think it is, 'cause it's around the horse race thingy.
Tony
And when I was in Indiana, there was a, a GeoPro ePro rally, and there were like 75 people there. It was big.
Peggy
So you can attend these rallies. You can organize these rallies. And if you're the kind of person who loves to, like, host events and plan all the events and everything, that's super fun. I love to just attend them and not have to-
Tony
I spent-
Peggy
... to plan them
Tony
... so long in the event planning business in my, my first life, as it were.
Peggy
So another kind of reason for planning a trip together is to do like a road trip. For example, we did our western part of Route 66 from California to Albuquerque in February, and we're planning, quote unquote, our eastern part from Chicago to Albuquerque in October, and that's as much as we know so far.
Tony
Yeah. Although we will keep you updated 'cause-
Peggy
Yeah, absolutely
Tony
... if you'd like to join us for all of that or a segment of it, you're more than welcome to, to come join us. There's not gonna be... It'll, it'll be very typical of us. It will be semi-planned.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
But it will be planned, so-
Peggy
Yeah
Tony
... we'll know, oh, we're gonna be in, you know, Springfield at this time.
Peggy
We should know one or two stops ahead of time.
Tony
Yeah, yeah. And you know, we have our online calendar of where we're going to be.
Peggy
Yes.
Tony
So if you're in, in the, getting our free newsletter once a week, uh, we put links to that when we're going places.
Peggy
We don't get to, I think it's really fun, we don't get to go on kind of road trips very often with other people. The Route 66 thing we have done, and we had Bill and Kate join us in-
Tony
Mm-hmm
Peggy
... in February, and we'll have Kate and some other people join us in October.
Tony
That we know of so far.
Peggy
Yeah. But we- Again, I'm pretending this is still happening. We are going on a road trip with Brian and Patrick, uh, to get to Albuquerque. No, not to get-
Tony
No
Peggy
... not to get to Albuquerque.
Tony
To get from Albuquerque.
Peggy
From Albuquerque to Elkhart for the Frog Rally. They aren't going to the Frog Rally, but they needed to go to Indiana, and so we, uh, are gonna plan... You know, we have a few time, a few stops where we're stopping for a few days so that we can do some sightseeing and stuff. Unfortunately, when Tony and I go somewhere, we tend to have to wait till the last second to leave, and then we have to drive, drive, drive, drive, drive to get where we're going. Now, the end result is always in a great place. We're going to a rally. We're going to RV Basic Training Camp.
Peggy
We're going to whatever. But for us, the, the road trip itself isn't usually that much fun.
Tony
It depends.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
It, there are some times, but you're right.
Peggy
It, yeah, it's better when we can take our time, and we were able to plan this with Brian and Patrick so that we had 10 days to get there instead of the normal four and a half. So we, you know, we were gonna be able to take some extra stops, and we're still doing that. A couple... I don't, I think I'm out of order here, but last spring or the spring before, we had an opportunity to, we needed to get from the Dallas area to Elkhart, and we had, like, two weeks to do it.
Tony
That was the best.
Peggy
And we didn't plan any days.
Tony
W-
Peggy
We just got in the truck and headed east or north or northeast and said, at, around lunchtime, "Well, how much longer do we wanna drive? Where do we... W- you know, where should we look for somewhere to stop?" And that was fantastic. "Oh, I really like it here. Let's stay another day." That kind of travel is really wonderful, and-
Tony
Yeah, that's my f- that's my favorite.
Peggy
That's our favorite, but we don't always have the kind of time to do it. So, you know, when you can travel without planning is a lot of fun. When you can travel with friends, it's also a lot of fun.
Tony
Yeah. I mean, we also like just one night away, right?
Peggy
Mm-hmm.
Tony
Like, we went to the Sierra Blanca Brewery with, uh, Robin and Gary in Moriarty, New Mexico, or the Junkyard Brewery for my birthday and our wedding anniversary in Grants, New Mexico, and then we had Robin and Gary and Brian and Patrick with us.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
That was fun, and then we did the Friendsgiving-
Peggy
Yeah
Tony
... at the Wines of the San Juan here in New Mexico.
Peggy
So here is, uh, not an intentional ad, but here's kind of a plug for Harvest Host.
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
All three of these locations are Harvest Host locations where you can easily stay for one night. These are all things that we can travel to in a day. We actually stayed at Wines of the San Juan for a couple nights, but it's so terrific to just make a reservation, drive for a couple of hours, s- you know, hang out with our friends, have some beers, have some pizza, have some whatever, have some Thanksgiving dinner, and then-
Tony
Well, at the Wines of the San Juan, we drank wine
Peggy
... yeah, we drank wine.
Tony
But-
Peggy
And-
Tony
... something about those... You, I know where you were going. Uh, Harvest Hosts, those were all Harvest Hosts, and the thing I really like about Harvest Host locations is it's not just a, a place to stay overnight. They're usually experiential, like the Junkyard Brewery. It's a junkyard and a brewery.
Peggy
Right.
Tony
What more could you ask for?
Peggy
Right. So some people say, "Oh, I'm not gonna just drive to get to a Harvest Host, because then what am I gonna do?" Well, you're gonna do what you do at the Harvest Host.
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
That's gonna be the point of going there, and we stay at a lot of Harvest Hosts on our way, you know, between destinations. But it's kinda fun to just have a Harvest Host as a destination. Go hang out for one or two nights, hang out with your friends, and then-
Tony
Yeah
Peggy
... have an easy drive home, and you had a little vacation.
Tony
Yeah, whatever the experience is that you enjoy. I mean, there's museums, and there's a lot of different stuff that they do that Harvest Hosts... I mean, there's those drive-in movie theaters. I'm dying to try that.
Peggy
Oh, yes. That has gotta be on our Route 66 trip.
Tony
Yeah, so wouldn't that be fun with a few other friends and such and their RVs? It would be, that'd be cool.
Peggy
Yeah. All right, so do we have to plan? That's what we kind of already talked about. Like, it's super fun if you can say, "We have a week to get 600 miles. Let's just go 100 miles and see what we see."
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
That is super cool kind of travel, and I hope that we can plan better in the future, you know, schedule our dentist appointments for the right day so, so we're not, like, leaving immediately afterward.
Tony
Oh, my gosh, yeah, that was-
Peggy
And then, you know, doing a good kind of mixture of, of getting to a destination but not having, like, these marathon days to get there.
Tony
I liked the, the, the way we did Route 66 with Bill and Kate-
Peggy
Mm-hmm
Tony
... and how we'll probably do it coming back. It was a mixture of, "Okay, these days we need to do actual sit and stare at the computer work-"
Peggy
Yeah
Tony
... "nonsense. We're gonna be in this area, but what's around?" And then there's like, "Oh my gosh, we have to see the biggest ball of twine in Minnesota," or whatever- ... it happens to be. That's good, too. Like, when we went to Pink's Hot Dogs, that was s- totally serendipitous.
Peggy
Yeah. We were just driving to look at some other Route 66 thing down the list.
Tony
It was, we were looking for the, the Chicken Man.
Peggy
Yeah, that's right, and we're like, "Hey, there's Pink's. Let's have a hotdog."
Tony
Yeah. Chicken Man. It's a muffler man-
Peggy
Yeah
Tony
... up on the roof but with a chicken head.
Peggy
So here are some tips, then, for planning road trips with friends, and one of them -- my biggest-
Tony
That's the whole point of this
Peggy
... my biggest tip is have friends who like to do research. I love to go on trips. I love to say, "Let's have a party," but I'm not so great at actually planning said party. So for example, the Route 66 trip Bill spent I don't know how much time, and he made this beautiful spreadsheet that should be scrolling behind us right now Uh, of all of the attractions, by state-
Tony
Bill is a master planner
Peggy
... by state. He loves to do that research. He has the time to do that research, and he, like, if you can see it on the spreadsheet, he has the name of the location and the address and the contact information and why we wanna go there, and it's in order from, you know, as we were traveling west. Now, we'll have to read it upside down, I guess, this time, but- ... but it's super great, and then, you know, as we're planning tomorrow's road trip, we can say, "Okay, let's stop at this place for lunch, and let's camp here, and let's spend three days there so we can go see that and see that and see that during the day and not have to drag the travel trailers through-
Tony
Mm-hmm
Peggy
... busy cities and stuff like that." So a big tip is to kinda, if you're doing something epic like that, like Route 66, you know, plan ahead, get the books and the guides and the, you know, and spend some time just getting an idea of-
Tony
Yeah
Peggy
... of how long you wanna spend and what you wanna see.
Tony
And a great way, a great way to share all of that is the way Bill did it with the spreadsheet-
Peggy
Mm-hmm
Tony
... where he had it segmented out by location and day and such, and now with things like Google Docs and, and all of that, all of those spreadsheets are very easily shareable, so you could, like, I could say, "Oh, we're gonna be in Floobity Bloh town." "Well, did you see the Floobity Bloh Muffler Man," or whatever, and add to that, and it allows you to be collaborative with other people and make, make a great plan, and then everyone knows, "Oh, today we're gonna go 132 miles to see the Flibity Bloh Man," or whatever.
Tony
So that really, the spreadsheet idea, especially, again, as shareable as they are nowadays with things like Google Docs, and, uh, and if your, all your friends are on Apple, then iCloud, or I'm sure there must be something for Windows like that, too. But anyway, the spreadsheet idea is really good.
Peggy
Yeah. Another thing that you can do is, um, share, if you are a user of RV Trip Wizard like I am, you can share your trip with other... Well, you can share it with anybody, really. If you share it with another user, they can actually see a lot more detail, because they can log in and see your trip. If you share it with someone who doesn't use it, they see, I don't know, more of a, kind of a screenshot, I guess.
Tony
Mm.
Peggy
But at least they can see what you have in mind. What unfortunately we haven't been able to figure out is how to actually do some kind of a collaboration through Trip Wizard. Are you listening?
Tony
Yeah. Hey.
Peggy
We would love to have a collaboration option so that when, 'cause Kait and I are working together a lot on the upcoming part of Route 66, and one of us has to have kind of the master map, you know, and then y- the other person can't just make changes to that map.
Tony
Hmm. That would be, I don't know how popular a feature that would be, but boy, we would like that.
Peggy
Yeah, we would like it. But we're doing, kind of using Bill's spreadsheets to do that, and then we kind of each have our own Trip Wizard that we're working on.
Tony
Yeah. But still, that would be kinda cool to have a collaborative component to Trip Wizard.
Peggy
Yeah. It's good if you are, you know, we're, Kait's in Maine and we're in Albuquerque, and we're planning a trip together, so having these shareable spreadsheets and these, you know, collaborative kinda maps and stuff is really helpful for when you're not together. But also, this trip that we planned with Brian and Patrick, we kept trying to text and, or maybe call, and we're like, "This isn't working." So we said, "Come over for lunch." And Tony and Brian made lunch, and Patrick and Peggy sat at the kitchen table and said, "Okay, where are we going on night one?"
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
"How long are we gonna stay there? How far are we gonna drive? Oh, this is where we're gonna stay? Let's just make a reservation." And we don't always like to make reservations ahead of time, but this time-
Tony
Yeah, we were
Peggy
... because we were traveling together and it's summertime and, and we're going to some popular places.
Tony
Popular.
Peggy
Popular. So we went ahead and made all of our reservations for the whole trip, so we know how long we're staying everywhere and, you know, what we're gonna, where we're gonna be.
Tony
Yeah, ideas of what we're gonna see-
Peggy
Yeah
Tony
... and all.
Peggy
And so that was fun, just kinda sitting there and, and scrolling down. "Okay, what's next? What's next?" And then I, I'd be looking for something, and he'd be looking for a campground, and he'd say, "Okay, let's book this campground. Okay, let's book sites 31 and 32 together."
Tony
Brian and I sat in the living room and made snide comments.
Peggy
And had a beer and-
Tony
Oh, yeah, we did
Peggy
... and made lunch.
Tony
Yeah, that's true.
Peggy
Having the opportunity to not plan is fantastic, but planning, espec- you know, and I like doing the planning if we're doing a trip just by ourselves. I enjoy-
Tony
Peggy's really good at it
Peggy
... I enjoy, like, you know, how many routes can there be from Albuquerque to Elkhart?
Tony
A lot.
Peggy
A lot.
Tony
A lot.
Peggy
I try to do something a little different every time.
Tony
We've done several.
Peggy
Even if we start out on the same route, then I kinda spin us over this way or spin us up that way, just to do something a little bit different. So it was fun to just sit with Patrick and say, "Well, what should we do? Well, should we go this way? Should we go that way?"
Tony
And if you have any great ways that you like to collaborate with other folks on adventures or getaways or whatnot, that's one of the beauties of our Fun and Friendly Stressless Campers Facebook group.
Peggy
That's the question of the week.
Tony
Oh, well- ... you'll just have to wait till I stop giving away the future here.
Peggy
All right, so do you wanna work with us or me and plan a trip together? We would love to do that. We would love to either have a road trip or if you are interested in having an RV basic training camp-
Tony
Yeah
Peggy
... gathering, that would be super cool, and if you could help me with getting that together, that would be awesome. We would love it. So-
Tony
That's awesome
Peggy
... my email is, should be showing up on the screen right now. It's peggy@stresslesscamping.com. If you are interested in putting together a basic training camp.
Tony
You basically get together, uh, with your RV and learn all of the systems. You know, we, we go over all the systems, so it's a good way to refamiliarize or familiarize if you have a new RV.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
We, we've had people even take that RV basic training who don't have an RV yet-
Peggy
Mm-hmm
Tony
... so that they're more informed. We had a lady who took it twice.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
Once before she bought her RV, once after.
Peggy
That's right, yeah. Why don't you and I work together? You can gather your friends, and we'll give you all some RV tips for stressless camping.
Tony
Ooh, I like it. We are about to hook our trailer to our truck to go to Indiana, and we're doing that with our Waysafe Hitch, which we have really enjoyed just the way that thing works. It is very well made. I always say know what your tongue weight is, and this has a built-in scale. So you can actually adjust the hitch very easily to accommodate, like, oh, now we're traveling with water. Now we're traveling with no water. Now we have bikes on the back or no bikes on, or whatever it is, so that your tow vehicle and your trailer, the idea is that the front wheels, which are the steer wheels, obviously, remain as much in contact with the road as they are without the trailer.
Tony
So that's kinda the point of a weight distribution hitch, along with accommodating the weight so you don't have this, this V. You have 'em running equally, and that just helps with wear and tear, safety, all of that. And so the Waysafe Hitch really makes it easy for us to know what's going on with the hitch and the trailer and the truck, and it's just a, a, it's a quality product.
Peggy
So we have a link to Waysafe, where you can shop for your own Waysafe-
Tony
Yeah
Peggy
... Hitch and travel safely.
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
Remember a couple weeks ago, we said, "Hey, we have a phone number that you can call and leave us a voicemail." It's just fun to hear people tell stories about what they learned from Stressless Camping, what they learned from the podcast, you know, that time that you met us or a favorite memory or, you know, whatever, something.
Tony
Mm-hmm.
Peggy
Something that you wanna hear your voice instead of listening to ours for up to a minute or whatever. We have been getting in some calls. So here's one now.
Speaker 3
We joined the fan group, uh, Facebook, six years ago when we bought our Mini-Lite, and guess who runs the page? Yep, you guessed it. Stressless Camping. Peggy and Tony were going to be at a rally that we were attending, and this is where we met our new lifelong friends. Since that rally, we have met up at breweries, but our biggest get-together was at the Albuquerque Balloon Festival last year. We actually stayed on their property since they are Boondocker Welcome hosts. They seriously talked us into delaying our departure for home, and they won't admit it, but they are awesome hosts and tour guides.
Speaker 3
Peggy and Tony have a, have a wealth of information to share on their website and podcast each week to help make your next camping adventure stressless.
Tony
A while back, somebody, uh, this company Onais, O-N-N-A-I-S, sent us a keyless lock for our travel trailer, and if you don't know, it's very, very easy to replace... Is this upside down? No. To replace the door lock on an RV. It's just a few screws, and bing, bang, boom, you're done, son. Uh, so this company is Onais, O-N-N-A-I-S, and they, uh, looking at their website, they make a lot of stuff for guns, but-
Peggy
Huh
Tony
... yeah, like trigger locks and that sort of stuff. But they also make these keyless entry systems, and-
Peggy
And they are beefy.
Tony
This thing is beefy. I also like that it's got a 10-key numeric keypad. Uh, this thing also will work, well, you can just do it manually. There's a, a lock inside, too. You know, there's a knob inside. But it'll do with your phone. It'll do with the numbered keypad. It'll do-
Peggy
It'll do with a little remote control.
Tony
Yeah. Came with two remote controls.
Peggy
And these remote controls are like car key fobs. They actually have a physical key.
Tony
A mechanical key.
Peggy
I don't know where to put this so you can see it. It, uh, I- I mean, it's a key.
Tony
Yeah
Peggy
You don't need to see it, but it just slips right into this but- two buttons, lock and unlock on the remote.
Tony
Yeah, how simple is that?
Peggy
And this is also beefy.
Tony
Yeah, it, it's, it's a hefty piece. One of the things that was neat to me is this lock, well, it runs on four AA batteries, which, you know, you have to provide yourself. Oh, whoop-de-do. Um, but there is a port on the outside where you can stick a USB cable, and so if the bat, if your battery just dies, you can operate it on that, which is kind of a cool thing.
Peggy
Oh, so that you're not charging anything. You're just using it off of your USB-
Tony
Correct
Peggy
... attached to your battery pack of some sort.
Tony
So at least you have that. Yeah, like maybe even your phone.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
Another thing is it does have an app. I did not install it. I have enough apps on my phone now. But I, you know, it has an app. I'm happy just with typing in the number to get in. Nothing about this that I saw was second rate at all. It's a decent product. The, we do have another brand of lock on our trailer, and the number keypad has faded again.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
So, you know, I have high hopes for this. We shall see. But, uh, Onice? Onice. And so, so far, very pleased with this new keyless RV door lock. Oh, and if you have a motorized coach, you really should look into replacing your door latch, because we know of someone who got locked in-
Peggy
Yeah
Tony
... their RV because the mechanism broke.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
Locked in.
Peggy
Locked in. Well, and there was also someone who was locked out, and she thought she had left the keys inside, and we finally-
Tony
Yeah
Peggy
... we finally helped her get in through under the bed-
Tony
Yeah
Peggy
... through one door that happened to be unlocked. But then she also was locked in.
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
Well-
Tony
So, sure
Peggy
... but it was the-
Tony
It was a Class C
Peggy
... Class C
Tony
So she could go in through the cab
Peggy
So she could've gotten through the cab doors. But she went to open the door for us so we could help her look for the keys, and she couldn't get out either.
Tony
Crazy stuff, yeah. So these, you know, I, it's, with as easy as it, as it is to replace the door lock mechanism on an RV, it's six screws. It, I literally could do it, like, we'll have a video and story linked in the show notes, and you'll see me install this thing. It's so easy. And you'll also see what an RV door is made out of, and you'll be like, "Oh, uh..." Oh, that reminds me. Typically, an RV door lock has, like, a little deadbolt.
Tony
It's a little square piece of metal.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
And then there's the latch, you know, the, the thing that sticks out. This, the latch is much bigger, and it's all deadbolt when it's dead bolted. So I would suspect this lock i- is more secure than most RV locks. But again, it's still a one-inch thick styrofoam door, so.
Peggy
So the part that, instead of having a separate deadbolt, the part that goes in and out when you turn the knob-
Tony
Yeah, locks
Peggy
... is the deadbolt.
Tony
Yeah.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
Seems pretty good.
Peggy
Yeah. I believe you also have an RV to share with us this week?
Tony
I do, I do. I saw the new Keystone Cougar 26LBW, which is really a couples camper. It's a pretty traditional floor plan. Uh, what I liked about this is it, when you walk in, it's got a dinette and it's got, uh, theater seats. And this floor plan used to not be that great b- from in the past. It's one that I haven't seen in a few years, and now it's back. But if you do wanna watch TV, there's, like, a wall that pops out.
Tony
Um, not pops out, there's a wall, and the theater seats are right across from that, which is where the TV is, and then they use that space on one side to make, like, an entry closet. On the other side, there's a closet in the bedroom with washer/dryer hookups.
Peggy
Ooh
Tony
Which is kinda cool. It's got an enormous kitchen counter. I really liked everything about the kitchen except the 17-inch oven.
Peggy
Wow.
Tony
RV companies, quit putting these stupid things in. My word, they're terrible. Speaking of terrible, there's two sewer dumps on this thing, and they're both under the trailer with the valves up, heading up and down.
Peggy
Huh?
Tony
Who is gonna crawl under the trailer at a dump station and pull that valve? It was literally the worst placement of a sewer valve I have ever seen.
Peggy
Ooh.
Tony
Now, this was a prototype, so maybe they may fix that.
Peggy
Hopefully.
Tony
I hope. Keystone is pretty good about details like that.
Peggy
This isn't really something you necessarily think to look for when you're shopping for an RV.
Tony
Well, that's why-
Peggy
Right?
Tony
... you go with our Honest RV Reviews.
Peggy
Right
Tony
'Cause I'll point this stuff out.
Peggy
Yeah.
Tony
Now, also worth pointing out, Keystone now has a plug that's provided by Hughes, the Power Watchdog, folks. It's not a surge suppressor. It is just a indicator, but when you plug your RV power in, it shows that all of the connections are good. And that's good, because there's a lot of failures that happen over the long term because you have lousy park power. Well, this will warn you.
Peggy
So it's something you put in line with your connection?
Tony
It's actually, the plug itself has lights on it.
Peggy
Oh, I see.
Tony
It's pretty neat.
Peggy
Okay.
Tony
Another thing I saw that's new for 2027, uh, Keystone has a manifold water system, so you can turn off individual fixtures from, w- where they put this one is in the front pass-through, which was huge on this trailer. Uh, another thing I liked was their way of implementing St- uh, Starlink functionality. Basically, there's just a hole in the floor of the, uh, cargo compartment with a screw-on cap, and you could just run your wires down, but you could also run, like, a power out, a power wire down.
Peggy
Oh.
Tony
So, and then there's a shelf inside. So it was really well made, and there's USB and household power, and so a lot to like, but the things I didn't like, I, I'm wondering if Keystone's gonna fix those on the production models.
Peggy
Yeah, I hope.
Tony
'Cause they tend to be pretty good at that. So you can watch the full video review in a link that we'll put somewhere in here. That must've been the link now-
Peggy
Ding
Tony
... showing up.
Peggy
Well, here we are, questions of the week.
Tony
Indeed.
Peggy
Last week, because we talked about small travel trailers, we asked if you would be comfortable in a small travel trailer, and a lot of you said yes. A lot of you, you know, said, "I'm comfortable in my van." I guess I asked RV, not trailer, maybe. I don't know what I asked, but thank you for answering anyway. Uh, some people just wanted to know what I meant by small trailer, because, you know, I still... Well, when we had the 2205, we called it a small trailer.
Peggy
Now he won't let me say small trailer anymore, but now we have a 2506.
Tony
It's, it's three tons. It's not a small trailer, our trailer now.
Peggy
But you were-
Tony
It's like 5,800 pounds dry
Peggy
... I was kind of referring to those little, tiny-
Tony
Yeah, like the tabs and-
Peggy
... the tear droppy things and stuff like we talked about in the podcast, but I don't know. Anyway, thank you for answering that question, those of you who did. This week, based on our topic, I have this question. Do you have a tip for planning a group trip?
Tony
You can answer that at our fun and friendly Stressless Campers Facebook group, or ask your own questions. We're, the folks there are pretty nice.
Peggy
Yeah, absolutely. Well, don't forget to like, share, and subscribe.
Tony
All that YouTube-ness.
Peggy
All that stuff. We thank you so much for being here for episode 370 of the Stressless Camping RV Podcast.
Tony
Remember our free once-a-week newsletter delivers deals, discounts, helpful tips, and more. Plus, you'll be able to follow our adventures if you wanna. And you can get that for free at stresslesscamping.com, where we never spam you or share your information with anybody or any of that, 'cause you know what that would not be? Stressless camping.
Peggy
Stressless 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.
Tony
All right, we did another podcast, Smoochy.
Peggy
We did a did.
