0:00

- This week on the RV podcast, - The chain of love's travel centers are opening up more

0:06

and more of its truck stops for dedicated RV camping.

0:11

Not just overnighting, but multiple stays, multiple night stays.

0:15

If that's what you want. Now, we'll share the details of

0:17

that in our interview of the week coming up.

0:20

- And what's up with this? Cracker Barrel is closing some of its restaurants

0:24

where RVs like to overnight

0:27

- And just where can you get the oil changed on your

0:31

Class C motor homes? Our RV community weighs in with some practical suggestions

0:37

- And answering One of our questions of the week

0:41

will tell you just how strong the wind has

0:43

to be to flip an rv. - All this bless the RV news of the week

0:48

and much more coming up in episode 4 94 of the RV Podcast.

1:09

Hello everybody. I'm Mike Lan in. This is my lifelong traveling companion

1:13

and my bride Jennifer. And, um, how are you?

1:17

- I am doing fantastic. How could I be doing anything other than fantastic when it

1:22

is such a beautiful day? - It is a beautiful day

1:25

and we have been so enjoying watching springtime come

1:30

to, uh, hero Lake, which is the lake

1:33

and the back of our, uh, 10 acres of Michigan property.

1:37

We have really enjoyed it, but there is a lot of drama there. Oh,

1:41

- There's a lot of violence that goes on out there in nature.

1:45

- Yeah, we watched, uh, with Joy a uh, a couple

1:48

of Sandhill cranes that made a nest there.

1:52

And then, um, they were on it for like better part of a week.

1:55

And then one night we were woken up, I don't know, two

1:59

or three in the morning with this ruckus going on from the Sandhill cranes.

2:04

And we think a coyote got into their nest.

2:06

- Could have been a raccoon, could have been a number

2:08

of things, but there was a lot of noise coming from the pond

2:13

- Then. They're not nesting anymore. We still see them.

2:15

They're still landing. And then, uh,

2:17

we got really excited the other day. I think, uh, two, three days ago we saw the first

2:23

of the geese guzzling, uh, three

2:26

of them swimming around with their parents. But they seemed to have disappeared too.

2:30

We have a lot of Canadian Canada geese on our property,

2:33

but, uh, I don't know what happened to these little chicks,

2:36

these little goslings. I hope there's fuzzballs are still there. <laugh>

2:39

- People are gonna think we're crazy that we like Canadian geese,

2:42

but they're not walking all over our yard. No doing what geese do

2:46

because Bo won't have them walk on our yard. They

2:49

- Are out in the pond or the lake and having fun.

2:52

But, uh, we're we're thinking that maybe a big snapping turtle got 'em.

2:57

'cause there are a number of those out there. - So we get so excited by life

3:01

and birth and <laugh>.

3:04

Then the reality, I guess - Of nature can be really cool. That comes

3:08

- <laugh>. - Yeah. Um, let's see what else is, oh, the other big part

3:12

of it is, and, and actually we owe this to one of our

3:15

followers here on, uh, YouTube and our podcasts

3:19

and, uh, our community. Uh, he's a physician and uh, he sent me a really nice note

3:26

'cause he's heard me talk before. I'm trying to get back into, into good shape

3:30

and it's been a long winter and like bear, I, I didn't, unlike a bear,

3:35

I didn't lose all my weight in hibernation this winter.

3:39

And he recommended a book he actually recommended, um,

3:42

the book, um, undo it by, uh, Dean Ornish

3:46

and, uh, his wife Anne. And it's, uh, it's a pretty good book.

3:50

Talks about changing lifestyles and de-stressing

3:54

and all that sort of stuff. But it also, the biggest lifestyle change is diet.

4:00

And, um, presents a pretty compelling argument

4:03

for a plant-based diet. And we've never tried that before

4:07

and it's going to be a challenge. Now, look, when I'm talking diets,

4:10

everybody's got their own favorite, so don't send me your notes that you how to eat carnivore

4:16

or paleo or Mediterranean because you

4:20

- Know, we - Keto books on all that stuff. I got books on all of 'em. So, uh,

4:24

- I gotta tell you, my favorite was Dr. Jason with 500 calories a day. Yeah, <laugh>.

4:29

I was measuring out <laugh>. - We did that for a while. How long did I last on that?

4:34

- Oh, you lost a whole bunch of weight till - I about collapsed <laugh>.

4:38

- And then as soon as you went off it, it all came back on.

4:40

Yeah, and then we tried it again, but not as wholeheartedly.

4:43

So, um, I serve some kind of metal

4:46

for all the different diets. I - Have tried them awful.

4:49

- I have had to prepare food and shop for and carry

4:52

- Them. This would be challenging. And I'm convinced

4:55

that the evidence, I've read a ton, a ton more of literature.

4:58

I've read literature on all of them 'cause I've tried all of them.

5:01

So, but it's like religion don't or politics don't try

5:04

and convince me that yours is the best. But, um, for us, we're gonna try this.

5:09

And I think we're on day two now. That's gonna be a challenge.

5:12

I think, you know, I think once you got into it

5:15

and learned how to, how to cook more plant-based meals, it would be easier.

5:20

But, uh, in the book they give you a bunch of recipes,

5:23

they give you a bunch of prepared things you can get

5:26

to try it for a couple weeks. So we're gonna try that. But anyway, wish us luck.

5:30

You are doing Wish Me luck. - You are doing much better on it than I am.

5:34

And my incentive is I would like to lose some weight.

5:36

'cause it seems the older you get, the more pounds that you put on.

5:39

And I'm not happy with what I'm weighing.

5:43

But, um, the doctor scared me when he said he wanted me

5:45

to go on a statin and I'm just like, I don't wanna go on a statin.

5:48

- Yeah, I don't want to go to a statin either. So. Yep.

5:51

Alright. Oh, enough of that. Enough of that.

5:53

The other thing we're doing is, uh, we just had a great time

5:57

with the recent series we did on Class B RVs

6:01

and the response was great. We're over 125,000 views of those, uh, reviews so far.

6:08

So we've heard you, many of you have been writing us and,

6:11

and emailing and messaging us on the community saying, um,

6:15

do some Class Cs do some class?

6:18

A's some of you said we should do some truck campers.

6:21

Um, we, so we're gonna, we're checking with it.

6:25

The problem is, frankly, is our loyalty is to you.

6:29

So when we see these things,

6:32

we're not gonna gloss over the stuff that's wrong with them.

6:35

And there are a lot of dealers and there's a lot of manufacturers who expect it to be all,

6:41

you know, um, all positive.

6:43

And, you know, we're trying to tell it like it really is.

6:46

So there's, um, there's some reluctance to that

6:48

and whether this works out or not, we, we, we will, we'll figure out a way to try

6:53

and incorporate some of those into our, uh,

6:56

I suppose we could rent them, but that'd get pretty costly. That

6:59

- Would get very - Costly. Uh, but we'll see. They, they, you know,

7:02

just like Nick over in, uh, sunshine State RV's down in Florida was happy

7:06

to let us borrow some of his Class Bs. We'll find somebody who will let us

7:09

test out some. The question - Is, would Nick let us borrow him again?

7:13

- <laugh>, don't say it.

7:16

Alright, we're gonna take a quick break and when we come back, we've got the social

7:19

media buzz of the week. So stay with us.

7:23

The one thing that can ruin a perfect RV trip is

7:25

a bad mattress. And believe us, we know over the years we've tried many

7:30

and we have found them all wanting until now.

7:34

- Now we sleep on the RV mattress by Brooklyn Bedding.

7:38

Quite simply, it's the best we've ever slept

7:40

- On. We chose a queen size aurora luxe medium firm mattress

7:45

that arrived tightly rolled in a box.

7:47

All we did was put it on the bed, unroll it,

7:50

and wait for it to recover from the compression.

7:52

Then we put on the sheets and the bed covers

7:55

and found we slept so well

7:57

that we ordered another one for our home.

8:01

- That's how comfortable it is. Our sleep is now so luxurious

8:05

and deep that we can't imagine using a different mattress.

8:09

- Shipping is free. If you're disappointed

8:11

with the current mattress in your rv, you owe it

8:14

to yourselves to try the RV mattress by Brooklyn Bedding.

8:18

- Brooklyn Bedding sends out all of their RV mattresses from their own factory in Arizona.

8:24

This means they're able to use premium materials at a reasonable price for you.

8:30

With no middleman bringing up the cost.

8:33

- Make sure to check out their Black Friday sale

8:35

at the end of this month. It'll be their biggest deal of the year.

8:39

Don't miss out on the best sleep of your life.

8:42

Visit rv mattress.com/rv lifestyle.

8:46

We just heard about a land offering out west

8:50

for RVs in Arizona.

8:52

They're selling five acre RV ranches,

8:55

starting at only $49,900.

8:58

The company offering it is affiliated

9:00

with the people Jennifer and I bought our Tennessee property from.

9:04

They do a great job. It looks amazing.

9:07

It is at high elevation, so you get cooler temperatures,

9:10

big mountain views, juniper trees, and green grasses.

9:15

And it is near everything. The Grand Canyon Lake Havasu, Kingman,

9:20

Flagstaff, and Sedona. It's a perfect place

9:23

to have a home base to explore the west. And it is right off Famous Route 66.

9:29

It's called Greenwood Ranches. And this is the second and final section of the community.

9:34

We met the sales manager, really nice guy.

9:37

He bought a property for his RV and he's building a container home on it.

9:41

Check out their website for a video tour

9:44

and showing availability. It's pretty incredible.

9:47

Visit the website to get details and set up a showing Arizona rv land.net.

9:53

That's Arizona RV land.net.

9:58

Well, welcome back everybody time now for the social media buzz.

10:01

And we always say, if you really wanna know what's happening

10:03

in the RV world, listen to real RVs

10:06

and you find them on our RV lifestyle, uh, community at, uh,

10:11

community dot rv lifestyle.com. Also, our Facebook group,

10:15

which is pushing 400,000 members now.

10:18

Uh, and that is where you find the best tips,

10:21

the best information. And, uh, our Wendy Boyer keeps track of all of that.

10:26

- And Wendy is going to become an expert. <laugh>.

10:31

I mean, it's gonna be pretty soon. Ask Wendy. Ask

10:34

- Wendy. Yeah. Ask, ask Wendy anything. All right, here's Wendy with this week's social media buzz.

10:40

- Hi everybody. Over in our RV lifestyle community general

10:44

discussion space, there was a recent post from Russell.

10:47

He asked, where can I get an oil change for a gas class C?

10:51

He said he was new to having a Class C.

10:54

He had always had a fifth wheel before he was traveling, not at home,

10:58

so he couldn't do it himself. In fact, he was in Houston.

11:01

He said he had, it's on a Ford E four 50 chassis,

11:04

but the Ford dealers wouldn't do the oil change for him.

11:07

And he just wondered if anyone in the group had a suggestion.

11:10

Well, Bob and Roxy, they suggested he look

11:12

for a semi repair shop that does oil changes

11:16

or try a place like a Flying J.

11:19

And then Mark and Brenda, they also suggested a semi repair

11:22

shop and they actually looked one up near Houston,

11:25

went on the webpage to see if it does oil changes,

11:28

got the phone number and gave it through the group to Russell.

11:32

And I just love that 'cause that just above

11:34

and beyond kindness is something I'm seeing over

11:36

and over again in our new community. Um, and I hope that helped Russell.

11:41

That was just so kind to do all that legwork.

11:44

Um, also in our RV lifestyle community, I'd like

11:47

to tell you about a post from Julie. This one appeared in our plumbing space.

11:51

She said she has a 2023 Imagine

11:54

with a Dometic 300 series toilet. And when they depressed, the foot pedal a little bit

12:00

to flush this tiny amount of water appears on their floor.

12:03

So she took it to the RV service department at the dealer.

12:06

And apparently the tech worked on it, couldn't get it

12:09

to duplicate at all, but of course the second they got out there and home

12:13

and tried it, the water was there.

12:16

So the problem was not gone. So she just asked if anyone had

12:19

any thoughts, what it might be. Well, Rita and Jeff, they said that their valve used

12:24

to drip like this and they couldn't figure it out.

12:26

So they kept a small cloth under it to catch water.

12:29

And that worked pretty well. Um, but then it turned out they had

12:34

to replace the base for another reason. And when that replacement happened

12:37

and a new valve came into place, it didn't drip anymore.

12:41

And same with Brendan Mark. They said they had to get another foot pedal part,

12:44

and when they replace that, the drip went away.

12:47

So hopefully those, uh, tips can help Julie.

12:50

And then meanwhile over in our RV lifestyle Facebook group,

12:53

I have to tell you about this post, it just went wild.

12:56

Um, it was a post from Matthew

12:59

and it said the usual progression of camping

13:03

year five is our actual current setup.

13:05

And so this progression showed different pictures

13:09

for each year you camp. So year one was a tent in the woods,

13:13

real rustic with a picnic table. Year two was a pop-up. Year three was a travel trailer.

13:19

Year four was a fifth wheel with a pickup truck.

13:22

And year five was a semi with a cabin trailer

13:27

and a toy hauler. Um, people just love this progression

13:31

picture and description. And uh, lots of people had to say, I'm in year two.

13:35

I'm in year four. You know, skipped year three

13:37

or, you know, it just went on and on. It was really fun to read. And then several people were

13:42

inspired and started cheering their own posts

13:44

of their progression. Um, what many were like Heidi's.

13:48

And she showed a picture of her and her husband in a tent that was year one,

13:52

and then in a popup, and then in a travel trailer,

13:56

and then in a looked like newer and nicer travel trailer.

13:59

Um, and so it was again, just, um, inspiring all types

14:03

of people to reminisce and, uh, made me wonder what is your progression?

14:08

Um, but that's it for me this week.

14:10

I am Wendy Boyer and I'll see you either in our RV lifestyle

14:14

community or Facebook group. - Well, after listening to all that, that fun question of,

14:19

uh, documenting, going from a one to a five, going larger

14:23

with your rigs all the time, it made me think of us.

14:27

'cause we started out with a small travel trailer. You started out with tents, <laugh>. Oh, well, yeah.

14:31

But a small travel trailer that was with one child.

14:34

And then we had a lapse where we had two more kids.

14:37

So we had three kids and a dog. And then we went to the popup, went to a popup,

14:42

and then the kids to a tent. 'cause the kids left. Kids didn't wanna camp.

14:45

So we went to a tent and then we went to, uh, class B's

14:48

and then B Pluses, and then Class

14:50

- C's and now Fifth Wheels. And who knows what's next.

14:53

- So I think it's common. Yeah. You know, we're not the only people that bounce

14:56

around from one size to another size.

14:59

And it's, uh, was just fun to hear the different people say

15:03

how they this one, that one and this one. Yeah.

15:06

- I think most our, - Yeah, we change.

15:09

- All right. When we come back, we're gonna talk about

15:11

a great place to stay. And there's more and more places like this all

15:15

around The country loves travel centers. Yeah, it's a truck stop.

15:19

But, uh, they are increasingly adding campgrounds, uh,

15:23

full hookup camp sites and places where you can do more than overnight.

15:27

You can actually camp there for as long as I think two weeks or longer.

15:31

Uh, you'll hear all the details coming up in the interview of the week.

15:35

Jennifer and I bought some land near Nashville, Tennessee a while back.

15:38

We got tired, crowded, expensive campgrounds

15:41

and worrying about reservations. Tennessee is a gorgeous state with friendly people

15:47

and it has been such a pleasure. The same developer has some new property near us, close

15:53

to the Natchez Trace and Buffalo River called the Reserve At High Forest.

15:59

Big properties, five to 41 acres.

16:01

You can build a house, a cabin or rv.

16:04

Year round prices start at only $89,900.

16:08

Your property, your way 100% ownership.

16:12

The scenery in this part of Tennessee is breathtaking

16:16

and the property is gorgeous. Garden landscape. Bring your pets, build what you want.

16:22

There's high speed fiber optic internet

16:25

and it is so private. A great place to make your home base

16:29

ready whenever you want it. Five to 41 acre properties from $89,900.

16:36

There's even great financing. Check out the site and a video [email protected].

16:43

That's RV lands.net.

16:46

Welcome back time now for the RV interview of the week.

16:51

- And I just can't wait to share this information

16:53

with everybody 'cause this is exciting. - Many RVs need a place to stop on a long road trip,

16:59

and you don't wanna pay stiff campground fees.

17:02

You know, they're approaching 70 bucks a night at many

17:05

of them now or more when all you're seeking

17:07

is a place to lay your heads. Uh, sometimes, you know,

17:10

you can boondock in places like a Walmart

17:13

or a Cracker Barrel, but sometimes there are safety issues

17:16

or you want some amenities like electricity. So what do you do?

17:21

- Well, increasingly, uh, loves travel trailers.

17:25

Sp uh, spots are, uh, making campsites

17:29

- Now. A lot of people associate loves as a place to stop

17:31

for fuel and food. And increasingly it is.

17:35

But it's also a place now to camp with all

17:38

of the amenities and more. Uh, I think you're gonna be amazed at, uh,

17:42

how love has become so, uh, in love <laugh>

17:46

with the RV community. And here to tell us about is our guest, Jim Wheeler.

17:50

He's the director of hospitality and RV operations for Loves Travel Centers.

17:55

Well, Jim, it is great to have you on the program.

17:58

I, uh, have, uh, watched with, uh, great interest as, uh,

18:02

loves, which is our favorite fuel stop anyway,

18:04

for our Big fifth Wheel has, uh, embraced the RV lifestyle.

18:09

Tell me how many love centers now, do you have that cater,

18:14

uh, to RVs? - Yes, uh, uh, you know, right now the,

18:18

our Love's locations, we have, we have 640 locations nationwide in about 43, 44 states

18:26

now, as far as the RVs go, uh,

18:28

we actually opened today our number 58,

18:32

our 58th location in Gulfport, Mississippi.

18:36

Um, and then we, we have, uh, we're in about 23 states

18:40

with our, uh, RV stops.

18:43

And by the end of the, this year, we'll,

18:45

we'll go over, uh, 30 states. So yeah,

18:48

- 30, 36 states. Uh, how, how many total sites do you see in your plans

18:54

that you'll have in a, within the end of the year?

18:57

- Yeah, it's, so going from 58 today, we,

19:00

we should have at least 90 open,

19:04

um, by the end of this year. So wrap.

19:06

- So will that continue? Will that continue next year? Do you see?

19:09

- You know, I, I think so. I think it will, you know, so really this year we,

19:14

we started the year with about 50 locations

19:17

and, uh, we'll open around 40 and I think we have another 40 potentially to open next year

19:24

as well as we, you know, look at those, those, uh, uh,

19:27

how many travel stops we have out there. So,

19:29

- Well, when you're driving down the, uh, freeway,

19:32

is there a way for people to know, besides going to your website,

19:35

and we'll put a link to that in the description, but is there a way for them they see those loves billboards

19:41

up on the road all the time? That's how I plan my fuel stops.

19:45

And is there a way to know from, from those,

19:47

how do you know whether they're it has RV facilities?

19:50

- Yeah. Great. Great question. And, uh, so now really what I wanna encourage everyone

19:54

to do is to go to the app store

19:58

and download the Loves Connect app.

20:01

And that's gonna do a few things for you. One, it's gonna provide you a 10 cent discount on fuel,

20:07

whether that's gas or deal diesel fuel.

20:11

Um, and then what you'll also find on there, right on

20:14

that first page, it'll have an RV icon at the bottom of it.

20:19

And if you push that IRV icon, it will

20:23

show you all the locations. It'll show you a map so you can get a sense of

20:28

where you're at and maybe where the closest one might be.

20:32

Uh, but here's really, I think one

20:34

of the unique things about our locations in

20:37

that app is you can go ahead and reserve the location right online.

20:42

So you can go on there, you can make the reservation when you arrive

20:47

to the location, then what, it'll send you an email

20:51

and a text message after you reserve it.

20:53

And once you arrive, you reply to that.

20:56

And then what it will do is it will turn on all the

20:59

utilities for you at your particular site so you don't have

21:03

to go inside the store. Of course, we always love you to go inside and,

21:07

and, uh, uh, take advantage of what we have

21:09

to offer in there, but you can go right on in. And if it's one of our larger locations with the gate,

21:14

it'll text and email you the gate code.

21:17

It'll text and email you the restroom code

21:20

so you can use the shower, um, or the laundry facility as well.

21:24

We have at our larger locations. Um, and, uh, it also will always send you a wifi password.

21:31

So that can all happen right there from that, uh,

21:35

loves Connect app. - Would you describe, um, what's included in these spots?

21:40

Uh, what kind of amenities will people have as they pull in?

21:44

- Yeah. Um, and so we look at it, uh,

21:47

we have two different types of, of locations, uh,

21:51

what we call our hookups, which are smaller locations

21:54

that are really right off the travel stops there.

21:58

Um, and you know, today we have, um,

22:01

30 44 of those open.

22:04

So we have 44 of the hookups open.

22:06

Um, and then we have, uh, uh, 14

22:10

of the larger locations open.

22:13

Um, we call those stops. So if you kind of look at 'em and, and

22:16

whenever you go on the app, it'll tell you everything that's included.

22:20

But, you know, we're always gonna have 30 50 amp power.

22:24

Um, you know, typically almost all of them will have, uh,

22:27

potable water at each, uh, uh, uh, space.

22:31

Um, and then, you know, most of 'em will still have like individual RV dumps at,

22:37

at each space. Um, of course we'll have the wifi now.

22:41

Um, if we don't have an a dump right there at

22:46

that space, then we have a communal dump.

22:49

And the price you pay, uh, it's for overnight,

22:53

it will give you the combination code on

22:56

how you can u utilize the, the communal dump at that location.

23:00

- Well, you thought that out. That is about as convenient as possible.

23:04

I wish campgrounds were that, uh, that easy to navigate.

23:08

Yeah. Um, how much of these spots typically cost, uh, per night?

23:12

Does it vary, uh, between locations?

23:15

- You know, it can vary. I would say most of them are right around the mid $40 range.

23:21

Um, is what it costs, uh, to, to stay with us now.

23:25

Um, you know, a lot of our smaller hookup locations are mostly back ends,

23:29

but we do have some of those with pull throughs in our larger

23:32

locations will always have pull through, um, spaces.

23:36

So pull throughs will cost a little bit more money, uh,

23:39

than the backend, uh, spaces out there.

23:42

And, and yeah, it can, you know, depending on demand and,

23:45

and, uh, at, at individual locations

23:48

and, uh, you know, uh, timing

23:50

that then prices can, can go up.

23:53

It'll, it'll slightly increase a little bit

23:56

as the occupancy gets fuller.

23:59

- Um, how hard is it to get these spots?

24:02

Uh, do they typically sell out every night or is it word

24:06

- Spread enough? You know, I'll tell you, there are, our hookup locations are, are very popular.

24:12

Uh, all, all in all, you know, we're still, we're still growing with it.

24:15

I think this last week we ran up over 50%,

24:18

but a number of locations filled up.

24:20

You know, we had some boost a little bit

24:22

too from the eclipse. We had some locations that, uh, were, were in line with that

24:27

and we did see a little extra occupancy at some,

24:30

some locations there. But yeah, they can, a lot of 'em will fill up, you know,

24:35

and, and Florida was really popular here over the winter

24:37

time and we had two locations. We're adding more, but those ones stay pretty full.

24:43

- How do you, uh, choose a location?

24:45

Do you kinda look at where our veers are going in particular?

24:50

- Yeah, we, we do, we try to look at a, a, a,

24:53

a number of different things. Um, you know, one, and,

24:56

and look, we're, we're on the highway, right?

24:58

All of our travel stops, so we're always gonna put these in the next

25:02

to a travel stop, um, uh, where we have an existing one.

25:06

So, you know, it is, um, what we find at the smaller locations, those hookups,

25:12

you know, they get, which we haven't really found a bad spot

25:16

yet, if, you know, if you've got 10

25:18

or less spaces, um, uh, right off there.

25:21

Because what we find those really work well for is

25:26

that traveler that is heading to a destination

25:29

and they wanna stop. A lot of 'em are coming in later in the evening.

25:32

They leave early in the morning. Um, and, uh, you know, they, they find, you know, that,

25:38

that's where I think that is just, we hear a lot of

25:41

that convenience factor right off the highway.

25:44

Usually we built these, uh, trout where it's easier

25:47

for an RV to maneuver within our locations.

25:50

And, uh, you know, the safety aspect of it too, we hear,

25:54

- Yeah. Is is it true that love's travel centers are, uh,

25:58

developing, uh, or have plans to like do a full campground?

26:02

Uh, we heard, for example, something on the way to Yellowstone. Is that all?

26:06

- Yeah, so those would be one of our larger, we actually

26:09

that, that hard in Montana is the location

26:13

that's opening at, at the end of April here in a couple

26:16

of weeks we open Harden and, uh, it has 82 spaces, you know, it'll be gated,

26:22

so it will have a, uh, a building with an office, uh,

26:27

restroom, uh, uh, showers, laundry.

26:30

And then what it also has is it has, um,

26:33

a recreational area. We'll have a combination pickleball, basketball court, um,

26:39

you know, all these, we have mostly pull through spaces,

26:42

every picnic tables at every space.

26:45

Um, uh, there, uh, we also have a communal, uh, fire pit,

26:50

uh, there of course we have a dog park.

26:53

Uh, you know, and that's one thing we have it all, you know,

26:55

with the travel stops at all the locations, but have a dedicated dog park there.

26:59

Um, you know, we'll set up corn bowl, uh, uh, uh,

27:02

cornhole boards and, uh, we, we'll do communal, uh, pavilions.

27:07

And so, you know, with those communal pavilions,

27:09

we'll put in some gas grills too. That lets, um,

27:12

- Can you, can you make a reservation

27:15

for more than one night at any of these? Yeah,

27:17

- No, absolutely. Really all of them. You can.

27:20

And we do have discounts for weekly rates.

27:24

Um, and we'll do, at our larger facilities,

27:26

we'll do some 28 day stay discounts.

27:29

We don't really, at any one time, you can't book more than 28 days at a time at a location.

27:35

Uh, but yeah, we, we'll, we'll offer, um, uh, some weekly

27:40

and, and, uh, yeah. And, and the larger ones, we'll even have some 28 day stay.

27:44

- Now of course these are going to get more and more popular as words spread.

27:48

So I kind of almost hate to run this interview Jim <laugh>,

27:52

because it's really, but um, right now it sounds

27:57

that you can almost get same day residency

28:00

or same day occupancy as you're driving down the road.

28:04

But, uh, how far in advance can you book these things,

28:08

- If you We'll, to the planner? We'll, yeah, we'll let you book up to a year in advance.

28:12

Oh, really? Uh, so yeah, you can go out there and, and yeah,

28:16

and we do encourage, you know, when you can, but that, you're right, most people, we get, uh, a lot

28:20

of this is day of people are traveling again, they,

28:23

you know, and that's what's convenient how however far I can get on my destination, you know,

28:27

where's the closest loves here and, you know, plant planted out that way. So how

28:32

- Did, how did you guys get the ideas for this?

28:35

When did it all, when did all this start? You know, uh, you've always been friendly to RVs.

28:39

I mean, it really is a must up I think.

28:41

- Yeah, it is. You know, really it started just, it was about,

28:44

we're hitting three years now and that first year, by the end of 21,

28:48

we had five locations open. But is really why this came about for us is, you know,

28:54

the really, the RV customer is a hu has always been a

28:58

big customer for love's. When you really look at what we have, you know, the fuel,

29:03

the propane, you know, we put in all the dog park loca there,

29:07

but you've got the restaurants, you've got the store,

29:11

we have laundry facilities in most of our loves.

29:14

We have showers if somebody doesn't, you know,

29:16

so even our smaller hookup location

29:19

that don't have everything I talked about in Harden,

29:22

they have that if you wanted to shower, there's that ability to do that.

29:25

Or, uh, you know, laundry facilities if you wanna get some laundry done.

29:30

So I think what we just said is, Hey,

29:32

this is an important customer of ours.

29:34

How do we, um, you know, better embrace the,

29:38

the RV community. - Let's double back for a second

29:41

and talk about that travel app, which is available, uh,

29:45

from the, uh, app stores. Did I hear you right that there's a 10 cent fuel discount?

29:51

- That's correct. 10 cents off of gas or diesel.

29:54

- Now does that apply to like, I have a fifth wheel

29:57

and the only place I can really fill up at most, most

30:01

of the loves is, um, you know, with the big trucks, uh,

30:05

does it apply there as well? - Yeah, thanks for asking that

30:07

because no, unfortunately that is on right now.

30:12

It's only on the gas side of the business there.

30:15

So we do need to work on that. Um, and I think those are things we're trying to look and,

30:20

and in general, maybe there's other, you know, offerings

30:23

that, uh, we, we could reach out. Uh, you know, I'll, I'll tell you.

30:27

Um, so we just did a deal with Blue Compass.

30:32

Um, and so what that's

30:34

- An RV uh, business.

30:36

It's a big, it's a national chain that sells RVs. Yeah,

30:39

- Yeah. Right. And so we've teamed up with them

30:42

and, uh, so they have their Blue Compass app that, you know,

30:47

connects with our travel stops.

30:49

And so when somebody buys a new RV for the first year,

30:52

they get their app free and with their app, what you can get, uh, is you,

30:59

there's a little more, you get a 13 instead of a 10 cent gas

31:02

and you get a 20 cents off of diesel,

31:05

but you also get 50 cents off of propane.

31:09

And if you're not staying at one of our RV parks,

31:12

but you're just wanna come and use our, uh, our dump station, uh, then it will give you

31:18

that for half price. And so, you know, we're kind

31:21

of looking at some other things we could potentially do down

31:24

the road, but, you know, that's it is we got the technology

31:27

and that's all just automated from an your phone,

31:29

just like our fuel discount today. Well,

31:32

- What a great, uh, addition to, uh,

31:35

the travel agendas for RVs.

31:37

Uh, I'm so excited to hear this

31:39

and we're looking forward to trying one out, Jim.

31:42

We will send everybody to the app store

31:44

and look for the Loves Travel Centers app.

31:47

And, uh, Jim, I'll, I'll be camping in one in the next, uh,

31:50

month or so as we, uh, set off for our spring

31:53

and summer travel. So thanks for being a guest on the podcast.

31:57

- Great. Thank thanks for having me today. I really appreciate it.

32:00

- That is pretty exciting. And, uh, I mean, some of those sites, the one

32:05

by Yellowstone is amazing. Whoa.

32:07

- Maybe we can go there sometime, - I think.

32:10

Yeah. Uh, and uh, uh, they, as you heard, uh,

32:13

as you heard 'em say, they're gonna be doing more of 'em.

32:15

So, um, it's a great alternative. - I think that's just awesome that they're doing this

32:19

'cause there's money to be made in, uh, campsites.

32:23

So there it is. Why not? - Alright, when we come back the RV News of the week

32:29

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32:32

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33:31

Welcome back everybody. Time now for the RV News of the week.

33:37

- Now Cracker Barrel has closed four location

33:40

and they report revenue decline. And, uh, this is leading some RVs to urge the community

33:46

to eat more often at the chain.

33:49

- I think that's a great piece of advice. We are big fans of Cracker Barrels.

33:52

Um, but yeah, the, the reason why is, um,

33:56

they've heard reports that the, uh, southern home cooking chain is closing four stores now

34:03

and they're experiencing some declines in guests.

34:06

Uh, they're closing two stores in California and Sacramento

34:10

and Santa Maria and one in Oregon.

34:14

And that means now in Oregon there the chain will have

34:17

no stores in Oregon. 'cause they closed three there last year.

34:20

They're also closing one store in Columbia, South Carolina.

34:23

- No, South Carolina kind of surprises me. Yeah, I would think they would eat Southern cooking there.

34:29

Yeah. So, uh, that one surprises me.

34:32

- Cracker Barrel has closed 10 locations in the fiscal

34:34

years, 2023 and 24, but they still have 658 stores remaining.

34:40

Uh, and they lost I think not quite 2% of revenue, um,

34:45

you know, last, uh, year compared to the prior year.

34:47

But, you know, it sounds that the company's has a plan

34:50

and, uh, you know, like everybody else,

34:52

inflation is, is killing them. But our views are paying attention

34:56

'cause they are really nice places to stay. I like Cracker Roast because I wake up in the

35:01

morning and I know I have bacon. I can smell it waiting for me. Right, sun. Yeah,

35:05

- That's true. So they're launching a loyalty program.

35:09

I wonder what that's gonna be like. And they're improving its marketing

35:12

and focusing on guest experience.

35:15

So they're they're aware they're working on it.

35:18

- Yep. And, and most Cracker Barrel restaurants allow RVs

35:20

to overnight in their parking lot. And the only places you can't is, you know, in communities

35:26

that prohibit such things. And uh, so when you can't,

35:29

it's not a Cracker Barrel decision. It's usually because of local ordinances.

35:34

And I don't wanna get going on that. But a reason there is a lot

35:37

of those local ordinances is same ones that places

35:40

where you can't stay in Walmart. 'cause Walmart welcomes our viewers,

35:44

but the community, uh, the local legislatures

35:47

or the councils or the county commissions were pressured

35:51

by campground owners. And there's all this model legislation

35:55

that the Campground Association pushed through on a lot

35:58

of these smaller communities to make it

36:00

so you can't overnight they want you to go spend that, uh,

36:03

70 bucks in a campground or something.

36:05

But, so anyway, but most Cracker Barrels

36:07

and I could get going on that all day. <laugh>, most cracker barrels

36:10

and most Walmarts, uh, will let you stay for free.

36:13

Always check with the manager. - And I think something else

36:17

that's entered into the picture is, um,

36:20

homeless population. Yeah, - Yeah.

36:22

- You know, that kind of people - Go camping in ratty cars and that's, that's a problem all over the country.

36:27

Yeah. Anyway, if you're in Rve and if you do, uh, overnight at the chain, uh,

36:32

the expect expectation is that you'll grab breakfast, uh,

36:35

in the morning or dinner the night before.

36:37

And that sounds like a, a great deal. Uh, we love staying at Cracker Barrel.

36:41

- We do. It's a fun place to stay. - Yep. Uh, so keep it up. Cracker Barrel.

36:46

We, we love you guys, <laugh>. We really do.

36:49

Uh, alright, the next story. Uh, and this is interesting, for those of you

36:53

who might be visiting the, uh, black Canyon of the Gunnison

36:56

or Black Canyon of the Gunnison, uh, out in Colorado, the,

37:00

um, bridge over the Blue Mesa reservoir has closed

37:04

because a steel beam is cracked.

37:07

And if you plan a camping trip this summer to Colorado,

37:10

make sure your route is, uh, not affected by this,

37:13

this bridge over the Blue Mesa reservoirs on, uh, S 50.

37:18

And what they found it - Big cracked.

37:20

I would, yeah, it was a three to a four inch crack along a steel beam

37:23

that was discovered on the bridge, uh, that connects the gunna sun to Mount

37:28

- Rose. Yeah. And, um, there's an alternative route, but <laugh>

37:34

- A 300 mile detour, - A 300 mile detour, and that is likely to take you six

37:39

or seven hours to drive. Um, so people planning to visit Black Canyon

37:43

and the Gunnison National Park, which is a really spectacular national

37:47

park, we loved camping there. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, uh, and, um, uh, you're gonna have

37:51

to, um, that's the road you take to get in there.

37:55

Colorado Department of Translation said they found that crack, um, on the Steel Bridge inspection is that the,

38:01

um, federal Highway Administration requires.

38:03

And they don't know how long it's gonna take to fix it.

38:06

So, um, we do have a Colorado Adventure Guide

38:09

that we should tell you, uh, full of suggestions on what

38:11

to see in Colorado and, uh, what to do, where to camp.

38:15

And we'll put a link in the show notes, um,

38:18

where you can read, you can find that in all of our other travel books.

38:22

- And, uh, this is a fun story. Jellystone Campgrounds Plan,

38:26

special Mother's Day's activities. Yeah.

38:29

- I love Jellystone Horse. We went to one, uh, at the end of the, at the end

38:33

of last camping season in the fall and had a ball.

38:36

It's a great family place. Well, now they're talking about Mother's Day. Yeah.

38:40

- So they, uh, checkout, they've got all different things planned at

38:43

different campgrounds. So, uh, it's gonna be fun. I

38:47

- I I like it. It's kind of like what the camping industry did

38:50

with Halloween, uh, a few years ago.

38:53

Somebody says, you know, let's really stress camp Halloween.

38:55

And it's now turned into like all of October.

38:58

Every weekend is booked with all these campgrounds

39:00

that have Halloween events. Well, they're looking for other holidays they can do.

39:04

And so they're picking Mother's Day and you know, they're gonna pick

39:06

Father's Day. Well, I would - Hope so. Yeah. - So Mother's Day is Sunday, May 12th,

39:11

and, uh, activities I'm sure vary by

39:14

- Location. Oh yeah. The different campgrounds, you know, like some

39:17

locations they receive, uh, free mo, uh, color changing,

39:21

Jellystone Park, mom cup, <laugh>,

39:24

and they've got everything from dress like a mom contest,

39:28

<laugh>, special crafts, tea and cookies, scavenger

39:32

- Hunts. How do you dress just like a - Mom guess.

39:34

I guess you'd both mother and

39:37

- Daughter look alike or - These days, who knows?

39:40

<laugh>. Oh yeah, alike. Who knows? But, um, dressed like a mom.

39:45

- Tea and cookies. - Tea and cookies. - Scavenger hunts, - Massages.

39:49

That sounds like hay rides, parades.

39:51

And you know, they'll be creative. There'll be all kinds of things happening at

39:54

the Jellystone campgrounds. - Well, good for you, Jellystone for having some fun.

39:58

Uh, and one last story. We talked about this earlier on, um, the La Chargers

40:02

of course have a new coach and, uh, Jim Harborough, uh, when,

40:08

when he first got the job, he said that he wanted

40:10

to take his RV out to California and actually live in his rv.

40:14

And along with his offensive coordinator, Greg Roman, uh,

40:17

who's another big RV or so, they have spent the last couple

40:21

of months living full-time RV life in the Huntington Beach

40:25

at a great little campground there. And, uh, we had hoped

40:29

to actually go out and visit them out there. But, uh, the team realized that there's a lot

40:33

of RVs who would be interested. So they did a video, uh, where Harbo

40:38

and Roman talk up, you know, the RV life.

40:40

They give a tour of their rigs and, uh, even settle their campgrounds at the end

40:45

of the day in a lawn chair enjoying a beer like most campers.

40:49

Uh, Harbaugh by the way, makes - 16 million a year, <laugh> - 16 million

40:55

- Million a year. - And uh, that's pretty amazing.

40:59

Uh, he was, he says he was inspired to, uh,

41:03

spend more time in his RV by the old TV show Rockford Files.

41:07

And he has a quantum Thor, class C,

41:12

and he is, uh, in that RV park, uh,

41:14

across the street from the Pacific Ocean. I

41:16

- Mean, does it get any better than that across the street from the Pacific Ocean?

41:20

And boy, your RV is so much better.

41:23

All of us out there with our RVs know it's

41:25

so much better than a hotel room. - And that's what Harborough says.

41:28

And uh, he even talks about emptying the black tank.

41:32

So we will put a link to that video.

41:34

Uh, and it also has a tour. Uh, Roman, his offensive coordinator has a 2019 Numar

41:40

Ventana Class A and, uh, he's got the American flag flying on the back

41:45

with the Chargers flag just below it. And he also says the RV life beats any hotel.

41:51

So it was a great video and uh, football fans will like it,

41:54

but our viewers will get a kick out it too. $16 million a year

41:58

and he's chosen to live in a Class C

42:00

RV for the past two months. - Well, when the family comes, he,

42:04

he'll probably be moving on. - Yep. They're there, I think right now.

42:06

And so he's uh, he's probably gonna have to put

42:09

that RV in storage. So, alright, when we come back, we've got a couple

42:13

of great RV questions of the week that you'll wanna catch.

42:16

So stay with us. Are you ready to embark on an unforgettable adventure in your rv?

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44:11

Welcome back time now for the RV Questions of the week.

44:15

And we love to get your questions. We love to get your comments. You can always reach us at

44:19

Mike and [email protected]. You got your first question?

44:23

- First question. I just got a weather alert about a red

44:27

flag warning for the area we're traveling to.

44:30

We're in Texas, far from the coast,

44:32

aren't red flag warnings about riptides

44:35

and dangerous water conditions? - And that's from Marsha.

44:40

And yes, Marsha, you're thinking about the red flags

44:43

that lifeguards fly at the beach.

44:45

And I I I think we can see the confusion there, um,

44:49

because the red flag in the beach means don't go in the

44:52

water, but there is a red flag warning

44:54

that comes from the weather service and it's completely different.

44:58

What it means when you hear that is that

45:01

critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now

45:05

or they will shortly, uh, the combination of strong winds,

45:10

um, low relative humidity, warm temperatures contribute

45:14

to extreme fire behavior. So when you hear that red flag warning you're in

45:19

means you should be careful. - Yeah. Extremely careful with any activity

45:23

that could potentially lead to a wildfire camping outdoors.

45:29

You know, you got your grills, you've got the

45:31

smoky materials, chainsaws and all terrain vehicles all have the potential

45:36

to throw a spark and ignite a dangerous

45:38

and destructive fire. So you've gotta be extra careful. Yeah.

45:42

- So that, speaking of high winds, uh, something

45:45

that happens a lot in the early spring, uh, that leads us

45:48

to our second question. This week

45:51

- We've been told to expect a lot of heavy winds near Armillo, Texas where we are headed

45:57

for a few days to tour the Palo Duro Canyon.

46:00

A fellow RV said we should probably pull in the slides from

46:05

our grand design fifth wheel when we're going hiking

46:08

for the day and away from the campsite. What's your advice? And that's from Keith.

46:12

- Boy, we, we remember Amarillo, the, the locals say

46:15

that it's blowing dirt <laugh>, which it does.

46:18

It's known for almost always being windy.

46:23

And I I remember one night we were in, um,

46:26

a class B at the time and we were really tossed around.

46:31

- Yeah. We kept thinking, should we get up and go to the cement restrooms?

46:35

I mean, do we stay in this RV or do we get up and go someplace?

46:38

I mean, we were rocking like, and, - And and I, yeah, I I was really convinced that, you know,

46:43

we missed a, a tornado warning or something.

46:46

But no, it was just normal weather. And uh, when we, uh, when we got up, uh,

46:51

the locals just kinda laughed this and said, you should see it

46:53

when it was really windy. But yeah, - They weren't concerned at all that, yeah.

46:57

Considered us outsiders, which we were.

47:00

- But there is some wisdom in pulling in the slides when

47:03

there are really high winds and you, you're not around.

47:07

And by high winds, I mean 40 miles above

47:10

or more for, you know, extended periods of time.

47:14

Not just a gust, but extended periods of time.

47:17

Now that wouldn't flip your rv, but it can add a lot of stress

47:21

to the slide mechanisms if they're being

47:23

buffeted around a lot. Um, particularly the cables, they could fray a little bit.

47:28

Uh, and by the way, I googled what it would take

47:32

to flip an RV and I came up with an answer that refers to a study called,

47:37

um, wind Speeds Required to Upset Vehicles.

47:40

And it's by, uh, a couple of

47:43

researchers from Kent State University and they had a study

47:47

and it said that you would need hurricane force winds in excess of 91 miles per hour

47:54

to flip even the least stable rv.

47:58

So I don't think you have to worry about it flipping.

48:01

Uh, I'm sure there's always exceptions to that, you know,

48:04

wind funnels and all sorts of stuff. But, uh, but a good idea to bring in your slides

48:09

- And it goes without saying awnings <laugh>.

48:11

- Oh yeah. Don't ever leave your awnings up.

48:14

I would not e even if you're in the rv, it's a nice day

48:17

with nice night when you go to bed, pull in your awnings, uh, you don't know.

48:21

'cause wind can come up like that and we hear all these stories of shredded RVs

48:25

- And when you go for a hike, - You know, even for a little while.

48:28

- Yeah. 'cause you don't know the local terrain,

48:31

you know the winds and everything. It is just take care of your awning

48:35

'cause it's such a hassle to fix 'em. - Alright, that's the podcast for this week.

48:39

Um, thank you guys so much Rash. We love getting your questions, your comments.

48:43

Again, our personal email address is Mike

48:46

and [email protected].

48:50

- Happy trails.