INTRO

Is the lack of customer service today driving you crazy? I'll bet it is. This is Eric Stark with TheSmartRVer Podcast, delivering the smarts you need to enjoy the freedom of the RV lifestyle without the fear of breaking down. So, we're going to jump right into the pond today and talk about RV life and keep my rants to a minimum.

LIVING THE RV LIFE

In other words, so is your RV overweight? Yes, that's right. I'm getting personal here. You know, is your RV getting all bloated and things don't fit anymore? Well, we're here to help you. Alexis and I are going to help you put your RV on a diet. Mm-hmm. But first off, why does your RV need to be on a diet? Well, you know, it's all about mileage wear and tear.

You know, the more stuff you have in your RV, obviously the more it weighs and then it's, uh, more weight going down the road. You're using more fuel to pull it. It's harder on the suspension, the tires. Yep. So, everything kind of wears out quicker, you know? And then why do you want to keep stuff in there if you're not using it?

And the other thing too, is when you keep things in an RV, you know, it vibrates, it bounces. So those things kind of get some wear and tear on them that they wouldn't normally get if they're sitting at home. Yeah. So, removing some of that stuff can help. So, Alexis, on our list here, you have. Removing some shelving.

ALEXIS- That's right.

ERIC- All right, so now your typical RV isn't filled with shelving per se, like a garage wood, right? Right. That's where my mind went first, but if you start thinking about it, if you've built shelves mm-hmm. Or put stuff in the bays of your RV, um mm-hmm. Using like three quarter inch plywood or yeah.

Or particle board. That starts weighing down the rv, it becomes heavy. Yep. And you might not think it matters, and in some cases it might not. Or maybe it's just what you must do because of the weight of the things you're putting on the shelves. Exactly. Sort of. Compensate for that. Maybe using lighter material, lightweight stuff.

Um, sometimes you can find plastic that'll work. Right. Plastic shelving if you want. Yeah, exactly. Although, what's your experience with plastic shelving Alexis?

ALEXIS- Uh, not great. Right. Seems like, you know, you buy a shoe rack made of plastic, one shoe breaks it, you know? Right. Exactly. One, two pair of shoes or yeah, you're done.

Four. So that one's kind of, you know, you got to play that by ear. Mm-hmm. Depending on your RV and what you're hauling around. You know, and if it's in a compartment, there's a lot of weight in there. It can wear out the flooring and possibly cause some damage and right. The doors might not work properly.

So, there's a lot of things to consider when you're loading down your RV and mm-hmm. You know, and I recommend carrying tools and extra stuff and sometimes what I recommend, leaf Springs, you know, uh, hubs or maybe even a drum wheel bearing. Yeah. Some of that gets kind of heavy. Does and clunky. Mm-hmm. Now, if you're carrying tools, tools get heavy.

Yeah. So, some of the stuff you need to carry to be prepared, but it's really sorting through it and getting rid of the things that aren't so important. Yeah. Priorities. Right? Right. Yeah. Like, you know, if there's, you go on a trip and you bring a bunch of stuff specific to that trip and you decide, I'm just going to leave it in there.

Yeah. That might not be the best thing. Right, exactly. Get rid of it. Take it out. Yeah. You know, put it away for the next trip or the next time you might need it. Yeah. Yeah. I do a lot of overlanding, so I carry a lot of tools in my truck and gasoline and water, and it's like adds an extra a thousand pounds.

You know? There are things I feel I need, and I go through it and it's like I just put it all back in, you know? Yeah. I don't want to be caught out in the middle of nowhere or something. But an IRV is different. You're generally on a highway and. So being prepared is good. Just try not to carry too much. Right, right.

Or get rid of those things, you know, clothes in the RV or whatever. Yeah, yeah. Kind of a minimalist, right? If possible. Yeah, exactly. So, another area that quite often is overlooked by an RV is carrying water in the holding tanks. Mm-hmm. That is true. So, if you have a 40-gallon freshwater tank, and water weighs eight pounds per gallon.

That's 320 pounds you're carrying right there. Yeah, exactly. That's, uh, a couple people. Yeah, exactly. And then if you're holding, you know, the black and gray water tanks are, are, uh, filled or partially, there's more weight. Mm-hmm. And not only does it weigh more weight, but it’s also just bad for the tanks too. Uh huh, they're not really made to have all that weight in it bouncing around.

Right? Yes, exactly. So, get rid of the water. Get rid of the waste before you come home, empty the holding tanks, flush them out. Do what you need to. I always recommend leaving some water in the freshwater tank. Mm-hmm. So, in case you have a problem out on the road, the car or the truck overheats. Um Yep. Yep.

An accident, thirst, whatever. You got some water. Yeah. Or you had a major repair on the side of the road and you're filthy. You just want to get showered up. Yeah. Cause you're a long drive ahead of you to get refreshed, you know? Have a little bit. Mm-hmm. It might be cold water, but hey, its water, you know?

That's right. If you don't turn your water heater, obviously be cold. But those are just some basic tips. Mm-hmm. They're common-sense type tips too. Exactly. Over complicated. No. So just keep that in mind. So, some basic things from making your RV a little bit lighter, and the same would go for your vehicle that you're towing it with, or if you have a motor home, the principle poles apply everywhere.

STAYING ON THE ROAD

Mm-hmm. Now here on TheSmartRVer, I'm constantly, or we are, we're constantly giving you guys stuff to look at, things to do. You know, go here, do this. It's like we're barking out these orders, well, not really. Mm-hmm. We're barking out suggestions. Mm-hmm. And sometimes it might seem overwhelming, a lot is going on in your lives because I don't know what your schedule is.

Mm-hmm. And I just kind of assume everybody has a schedule like mine, which is kind of hectic. We have a lot going on just to keep this show going. We have a brick-and-mortar business that we're running, so it consumes everybody who works here. It consumes our time pretty much all the time, you know, and so for me, ever since I got Covid, my focus hasn't been the same.

It's harder to say focus on things every day, even the energy it takes sometimes, especially if I must go later into the day, into the night working on stuff, which happens quite a bit. And so, I started thinking about it and I take a lot of vitamins and supplements and they help to a degree, but it's trying to find something to give me that extra energy, give me a little more focus and, you know, the, the covid I feel is the cause of it.

But there is no solution for that. So, I was trying to find something else. So, I came across this product called Magic Mind. Now I'm generally not a fan of products like this, um, because it sounded to me like it was an energy boost, and I don't go for those. Mm-hmm. That's just not my thing. Mm-hmm. I don't want an energy boost.

I want to feel better. Mm-hmm. But you know, looking at the ingredients, I thought, you know what, why not give it a try? Because the ingredients are all safe. There's not one ingredient that's going to hurt you. Awesome. And that's what I try to avoid. And not that I'm like a fitness guru or anything like that, I just try to avoid certain things.

I know how my body works, what it likes, and what it doesn't. And Magic Mind worked well for me. And you know, when there's ever a product I like, you know, generally it's RV parts that I'm going to recommend to you. And if you've listened to the podcast for any length of time, you know that I always share products that I like.

Mm-hmm. You know, I tell everybody, you know, hey, you got to get one of these in the store. It's the same way. Mm-hmm. You know? Mm-hmm. We got fired up about some stuff and as I said, I did some research on Magic Mind. I looked up, you know, I looked at it completely and it's, it's safe. So, okay. I like that. I talked to some experts that I know who are into the more of the health side of things.

Mm-hmm. Which, they're way into it, which is much further than I want to be. But I talked to them about it, and they looked at it and they said it'd be fine. You know, it should help you with, uh, restoring your energy and clearing up your mind. So, all right, I'm going to try it. What can go wrong, right? I mean, you know, maybe for a few hours something could go wrong, but you'll get past it, right?

What I did was I bought their beginner pack or whatever it was, like 16 bottles in the pack. I've been taking one a day in the morning and that's it. Just one in the morning. And you know, it gets me headed in the right direction and once I get focused on everything, I kind of keep going that way. And so, it gives the ingredients in there that I think that help me are the ashwagandha.

So, say that 10 times fast. Oh yeah. So, it helps with stress and anxiety and really that's what it is. It's stress and anxiety because when you're not getting things done, it creates stress and then it creates anxiety. You know, you're thinking about all these things all the time. So, after using Magic, my experience, how well it works because it did work well, I just decided I must share it with you.

And what's so cool about it is I contacted the company and they set me up with a discount code and a link that I can share with you. So, it's going to save you money. If you decide you want to try something like this, maybe it's for you, maybe it isn't, but at least go to the website. So, here's the deal, go to Magic mind.com/smartrver.

Slash SmartRV, and I said that twice just to emphasize it and use the promo code SMARTRVER 20, and that will help you to save up to 50% on a subscription, or 20% on a one-time purchase. Wow. So, if you feel something for you and you want to subscribe, you'll save, you know, approximately 50%. If it's just a onetime deal, you save 20% great savings or savings.

Right? Mm-hmm. So, the code only lasts for 10 days. So basically, that's going to be good until about April 24th. At this point, I'm sure that code will get extended, everything will be good, but it works for me. I'm just recommending it. Give it a shot, no pun intended, because they come in a little shot bottle. Just shake well and drink up.

And the links will also be on the description of the podcast, um, whether it's on our website or using your podcast player. So, check it out and give it a try. If you feel like it's something for you now that's going to bring us to staying on the road. And this is the part now where, oh, I've been waiting for this for weeks to talk about this.

Mm-hmm. Is the lack of customer service today driving you crazy? I'll bet it is. Alexis, do I complain about that all the time? You do it because it's a problem. Yep. Yeah, I rant. He does. We get off the phone or I get off the phone with someone and its frustrating city. Yep. So, what really spurred it on was a credit card company or a credit card merchant.

Provider or a merchant service provider. Mm-hmm. So that really got me going on. This is just like I'm fed up, I'm tired of it. And so, for all of us, we have expectations when we shop for RV parts, a new car, a new rv, a used car, a, a toaster, a blender, a cell phone, or anything else. And that also includes a service company.

Maybe you're trying to find someone to wash the windows on your home, to maintain your yard, or, you know, do, uh, maintenance on your cars. It doesn't matter. Customer service is customer service. And then there's that occasional time where we're just so overwhelmed with this great customer service that we got.

We're just like, wow, that's just phenomenal. Mm-hmm. But we're totally disappointed with the deplorable service. So, you know, it kind of goes both ways. We get overwhelmed at times and other times we're just like, man, that customer service was horrible. Yeah. I'm never going back. Yeah, exactly. You know, and in a big city it's a lot easier to not go back to a small town like where we're at.

Eh, I go back. Yeah, I always give them an opportunity. Sure. And sometimes people have bad days, and we must keep that in mind. Heck, I have bad days occasionally and look out. No. So we're, if so, if we're overwhelmed with great service, is it really because the customer service was great? Was it really that great?

Or is it because we are so used to such poor customer service? Anything better than bad is good. Ah, so we must analyze that. Mm-hmm. So let me illustrate this, and I'm going to try to make this short here. Um, if you go to your local big box store, you know you want to go there and get a few items. So, you're going to make a list, you're going to go to the store and you're going to, in the store, you're going to have to go down, up, and down several aisles like you would any store.

That's normal. But, you know, some of these stores are over 60,000 square feet. You know, it's like walking around a, a, the coliseum, or something out on the football field looking for. And, you know, it gets tiring depending on how much you're doing. I mean, I've been in some of these stores for hours with a shopping list.

You know, if I'm building something, you're just like, man, we, we should have brought lunch, right? And so, you start with the first item on your list, and you finally find the aisle where it is or where it should be, but you can't find the item there. And there just happens to be a store employee nearby. So, you grab him, and you know, he, he does what he's supposed to do.

He helps you find the item and he also give you some advice on it. Like, hey, you know, you might want to check this out or check that out, ask you what you're using it for. And it's still early in the shopping trip, so you're, you know, a little more, uh, accommodating. Right? So, he basically helps you get that item and maybe stopped you from buying something you shouldn't have bought and bought something better.

Mm-hmm. The sooner to your needs. And you explain, wow, that's just awesome. You thank him, you praise him because you're just blown away because the last time you were there you didn't get that kind of service. Mm-hmm. So, then you ask him if he can help you find another. Number two on your list. So, you got one item down.

You have got several more to go, but you're going to go for number two, and he walks you out to the end of the aisle and he just points in the direction you need to go. And he hands you a bottle of water, an energy bar, and mutters a prayer under his breath and says, you know, he knows you're never going to find it and he's not going to walk down there with you cause he's never going to find it.

We've all been there right now. Maybe not a bottle of water energy bar of the prayer, but you know what I mean. It's like you're on your own. And he might give you some specific directions, you know, like, um, who knows what, you know, look for the oasis if you're thirsty, whatever it might be. So, you're feeling okay, well, you know, he helped us, you know, he was a good guy.

He really helped us. So now you arrive at the aisle where you think it should be, you know, this is the aisle. That's what he said. So, you can't find it anywhere. You can't find the thing you're looking for. And you know, you've looked and looked, and you know, some of these stores you get used to it where you don't look where it should be.

You look where it shouldn't be. People just set things down, you know? Yeah. I mean, I've found stuff like the last one of something I desperately needed on another aisle. Like there it is, you know, you grab it. Yep. The day you saved, so you start to search for help. You just can't. Now the runaround begins, you know, you finally find someone who, um, sends you to another aisle reassuring you that that's where you're going to find it.

This is it. You go to that aisle, you're in the wrong aisle. I don't know why that guy down there told you to come here. You need to go there. And you're thinking, oh boy, you know, here we go. And so you go to that aisle, you can't find it. You turn around the guy you were just talking to, or the person is, it’s like they evaporated, you know, there's like a trap door.

They fall through knowing that you're going to need help again. So, you know, you're, you're looking for that person. Nothing happens there. Um, so, you know, you're just in this mode. You're in this zone right now where it's just falling apart and you're thinking, wow, that first guy was so helpful and now it's not so good.

So, the first employee, when you think about it, didn't really do anything unusual. You caught him in the aisle and asked him to do his job, and he complied. That's all he did and was helpful until it came time to go beyond his aisle. Ah, so he was helpful, but he wasn't going to leave his aisle. No way. Mm-hmm.

Because he is afraid, he won't be able to find his way back or something. Or he might get in trouble, hey, why aren't you in your aisle? You know? So, he seemed to be wonderful, but it was just a fluke. And after that, there was no help to be found. Now when someone does their job, it seems like over-the-top service because we are so used to none or very little service or customer service.

But we continue to go back to these places because we like physical exercise, you know, it's like a gym. We signed up for this. All right, it's cool. So, I'm going to give some exercise today. Walking up and down these aisles, not getting what I. And the aisles are generally cluttered with boxes, carts, inventory, and sometimes an aisle gets closed just as you arrive to find the last item on your list.

That's happened to me more than once. You know, it's like, okay, I need to get, there's the aisle. I'm almost there. You know, you're thinking, all right, we're making it. And then the guys come over, the forklift goes down the aisle, or that thing, you know, it looks like a forklift and a man. And then the guys in charge of the gate closes that gate and puts that sign up, aisle closed, and you're like, oh no, the aisle's closed.

And you know, once they start closing it, oh, there's no way they can stop that. That would be an impossibility, you know? Nope, nope, nope. You can't let anybody in here. The safety issues and the gates closed. Sorry sir. You're going to have to. Mm. So you wait and wait, and the guy finally comes down off that man lift and he is got a pack of screws in his hand.

Yep, we got it. We got the screws. You know, he, it is nothing important here. A pack of screws. Come on right now. Somebody's probably waiting on those screws in another aisle. Lost somewhere, maybe getting first aid or something. Mm-hmm. So, you know, they, they don't let you and, you know, it's, then finally they get what they're doing done and they open the gate up and the guy jumps, you know, on the back of the forklift or the man lift, and they're out of there lights and sirens to the next aisle to close it down, you know, and they're gone.

It just, it's nothing's going to happen there. They can't help you now and you know, that's what you expect anymore. Mm-hmm. You know? You feel the anxiety coming in on you, you are breathing, you know, everything changes in these stores. Yeah. You know, when it goes well, you know, you feel like, okay, it normalizes, but it doesn't go well that often.

You just want to get out of there, you know? Yep. So, some of this might be an exaggeration, but not by much. You know, at least in a physical store, you have a fighting chance to get what you need and get on with your life. You know you're there, you can see the stuff, and if you're driven, you're going to get that your list done and you're going to get out of there, right?

Mm-hmm. So where am I going with all this? So recently we had to make some changes to our merchant account for credit card processing, which is what I mentioned at the beginning of this. So, we used to be able to call this company. Hey, this is Eric with, you know, highway 93 RV parts, blah, blah, blah. They'd ask for some numbers and some identification and stuff.

You know, the typical annoyances, but they must have it for security, and we'd give that to them, and they would walk us through everything and, okay, here's the problem. We see what you're talking about. Or, yeah, okay, this is what you need to do. Not a big deal. So now they've done away with that, and you must send them an email using their contact us page.

It says right on there that they'll probably get back to you in a day or two or 24 to 48 hours. Great. You know, so that whole thing now starts and a lot of these companies, they're people that handle customer support are overseas. So, things are on a 24-hour cycle. Yeah. You know, if you send it at nine in the morning, you'll get it back at nine in the morning.

Right. You'll notice on the email that is stamped at like 1:00 AM or something because it's a different time zone in another land. Mm-hmm. And all that's fine in some cases, but not in this when you need to get things done. So, it becomes frustrating. So, it took us two weeks to get something very basic done, and there were a couple things.

And the second thing we couldn't even get. So now it's like, okay, should we just switch merchant services because it'll be easier to do that than try to fix this. That's how ridiculous it gets. But then you look at the new merchant services, you know, for processing credit cards. A lot of them have the same thing.

No customer service, just send us a message. Yeah. And you know, if you have more than one question, they're not going to. The questions, they answer one, if you have 20 questions on there and your number them, they're going to answer maybe two. Mm-hmm. Because they just don't read. They don't care. They're just processing this stuff and sometimes it's robots that process it.

Boom, you get garbage back even though you have something you need to hear, or you need to know about. Mm-hmm. So now you know that's customer service in a lot of companies anymore. It's just going that way. It's disappearing and it's frustrating and it's time consuming. You know when you must email things to companies.

You sit there and you just sigh like, oh man, how am I going to explain this? Yeah, exactly. And I see stuff. We get people with questions, email or text us. I know. It's just them, they don't want to do it. Right. But you know, they can call us, but they opt for that because sometimes it's easier for them. Or maybe it's when we're closed and yeah.

Yeah. You know, they just want to get it off their desk and onto ours and first thing in the morning they're going to get cud up, you know? Right. So just typing out the right thing can be a chore. Or you can create a little video and send that, but most people don't do that cause they don't have the technology or that's just more work, you know?

So, there's variables there. So, another type of phone service that, or I mean a phone service, customer service that we experienced that sucks, is when you call a company gently, credit card companies, the phone company, and you get these prompts, press one. Mm-hmm. If you want to go in a circle, press two. If you want to go in a.

Press three if you want us to hang up on you after waiting on hold for 10 minutes. Yep. So, you kind of get where I'm going. So, customer service has gone by the wayside and some of these things we cannot avoid. You know, if you have a, a, a phone company or an account with a phone company and they're the only ones that provides service to you, or the only one that works well, then you're stuck with them.

Or a credit card company, you're stuck with some of that stuff. Insurance companies we're stuck with that and we, we learn to live with it because we don't have to call them that. But now let's talk about the real things. I mean, the big box store is a real thing, but you have a fighting chance there. Now what about the internet?

And this is really where I'm going with this because this is the one that just makes, brings it all home. When you go to a website, you know it's bad enough trying to find things and find the right thing. Images are wrong, sometimes descriptions are wrong; part numbers are wrong. You're trying to sort it through because you want to order the right.

But sometimes it makes it hard. But you work through all of that, and you have a question you want to call the company before you order it, maybe to check stock. Because now with the pandemic, you know, even though it's over, it's still hard to get stuff. That's true. I mean, it's changed our whole business model dramatically.

Oh yeah. And it's a nightmare. But you want to call this company and there's no phone number on the website, and then you click on Contact Us. Oh, contact. What does that imply to contact us like today? Call us because that's what most people are used to calling people. Mm-hmm. So, you click on the contact us, and you get a form, there's no phone number and think, oh boy, you know, and I'm surprised how many people send us, contact us stuff from our websites, because I don't think most companies even respond.

I know when I use a contact form, it's uh, you know, maybe a 50 50 chance that someone will call me back or respond. Then when they do, it's never what you, in response to your question, right? It just falls apart. So, I'm going to say this. If you go to a website and there's no phone number and you can get that product or service someplace else, get it someplace else.

Don't support these companies that do not have customer service or if you must call and they're not an expert on anything they sell because they sell 50 million different parts, and you call, and they couldn't answer a question to save their life. Mm-hmm. Avoid those websites. Yep. Customer service.

You have questions, you want answers, and you want them today, not a week from now. There's my rant. And just to put us to the test, you can call us. Text us or email us. Every website we have has at least one phone number on it. It has our text number on it. It has a way to contact us through our contact us page, and that comes to our email.

But after that initial contact, we use a regular email to respond back to us, not a do not reply type of email. It becomes normal email. Mm-hmm. And we do that in the beginning because we do not put our email addresses on any of our websites because spam bots pick those up and then we get flooded with more spam.

Mm-hmm. So, we avoid that. But you call us, text us or email us and we will always get back to you. And there is the occasion where we're bombarded with stuff and it might be a little longer than you, like sometimes things get buried at the bottom, but we always do it. We try very hard because I firmly believe in customer service.

Yes. And you know, I was talking to Sam LX Solar last week and this blew me away in their office, they have two. Policy. So, if their phone rings twice, it must get BA answered by anybody. Wow. So, if a guy is in there vacuuming the floor and the phone rings and he hears it and no one's answering it, he's got to answer it.

Wow. The president of the company will answer it. Anybody will answer it. And that's an awesome policy. That is. Companies like that, Sam lx, solar Cool. You know, and those are the companies that we're switching to now. If you don't have customer service, we're. Period. Mm-hmm. We want customer service, and we believe in it.

And now we don't have a two-ring policy here, but we always answer the phone. Mm-hmm. And sometimes people hang up before we do, but we always try. You know, we can. But you will get a human here. Yes. You will be able to talk. To us. Yes. All right. Now that officially ends that. I already said we were done with it, but now I went on some more.

So put us to the test. Heck, if you want to call us just to say, I just wanted to see if your phone was working today and hang up. Are we good with that? Yeah, just don't overwhelm us. Okay. All right. So,

NEXT STOP

Alexis, now we're going to go to the next stop. Woohoo. Let's go. Vacation destination. All right, so today we're going to talk. Kennebunkport Maine. Yeah. Don't you love that? Kennebunkport Maine. What a cool name. I love it now. I've happened to have been there in the past. That is so cool. It is a cool place. Yeah, it's beautiful. I. So now I know what I went there for. Alexis, what would you recommend going there for?

ALEXIS- Well, I think um, if you're up there on the coast, you got to do whale watching because that's amazing. I mean, there's not very many opportunities, at least not here in Montana where you get to go whale watching. So, Personally, that's the one thing I would go do.

ERIC-I'm button my tongue here. Okay. I love it. Well, you can do that.

ALEXIS- Um, there's a couple companies like Eco Adventures that'll help you out. There are also awesome lighthouses up there if you're, uh, lighthouse lover or you just like, um, things that, you know, were made in the 18. Buildings and architecture, then that's one thing you might want to check out. Um, one cool thing about the Goat Island Lighthouse is that it was a secret service hideout for president. Um, George W. Bush.

ERIC- Yeah, that's, that's kind of cool. Bush went there. Which one boat? Yeah. Yeah. George. Yep. So that's cool. Secret service hideout. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. So that, I think that's what put Kennebunkport on the map for a lot of people is that Bush used to go there all the time.

It did. That's his getaway. Exactly. That was his camp David, I guess. Yep. Yep. All right. Yeah, so it's cool along the coast. Mm-hmm. Um, anything along the coast is good. Yeah. Yeah. You know, pier, it doesn't matter what it is. Well, it's true. Well maybe LA Harbor isn't good, but you know. Yeah. Keep that LA Sand businesses, places to eat, piers restaurants, that's always good.

Yeah. So, um, so there's more to do there than that. There's always, it's on the coast, there's plenty to do there. It's a cool area in, in general, you know. Exactly. You can go out and explore from there. Yeah. So now what about eating? Let's get to the food.

ALEXIS- Oh man. Well, up in that area, you know, there's going to be good seafood.

Um, there's Allison's restaurant, they have lobster bisque and clam chowder. I got to get some of that. There's also bats in River Brewing and tasting room. They have good stuff. They have steak, they have shrimp, all that kind of good meat. Um, and then there's a place called Morning in Paris that has just, I guess, the most delicious French food. So, there's a ton of options there.

ERIC- Yes. Snails in the morning sound yummy, right? Escargot? Yeah. So, there's plenty of places to eat. I like this idea of steak. Yeah. Is that good? Yeah. I love it. So anyway, that'll broaden your horizons too. Yeah, it's got a nice variety there, different stuff. And of course, there's, you know, some of the.

More basic places to eat too. Right? Exactly. Yeah. Um, most of these places always have a ton of places to eat. Stuff you can get quick, sit down, do whatever. Mm-hmm. All right. So now if you're going there in your RV, are you going to be able to camp out?

ALEXIS- Yes, you are. There are a few places to stay. Uh, I'll just name three, but Yankee Land RV Resort, got to love that name. They are full. Sandy Pines campground. You can, there’s, um, glamping tents for rent there. So, the fancy, you know, you go in, it's not really camping, but it's very glamorous. Oh, be careful. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. That's why they call it glamping. You know, glamping. And then there's Hemlock Grove Campground, which has a ton of sightseeing.

ERIC- So, if you're going on your RV, you're going to have places to stay, so that's not a worry. Yeah. It's cool. Somebody's glamp. Places are kind of unique and they are. They offer a kind of an experience all the long, yeah, yeah. Even if an RVer was there and they wanted to just go do that glamping thing to experience.

ALEXIS- Yeah. Why not?

ERIC- You weren't doing it, you know. Yeah. It'd be fun. It's caught on. It hasn't gone away. No. So it's cool. Wi-Fi, it's like the internet, Wi-Fi it, you know, the internet. All right. So, Yankee land too. So, I don't know if your carpet baggers would be allowed or not. How does that work man? I don’t know. It's another thing.

Mm-hmm. All right. So that's just another next stop. Another place to go is always where it's trying to whet your appetite, get you looking on a map to see what there is in your area, or you know, throw a dart at it, and see where it'll take you. Mm-hmm. But now along the same line. We discovered a magazine that absolutely rocks.

RV ENVY

Mm-hmm. It's called RV Destinations Magazine, and the website is rv destinations magazine.com. We signed up for a trial subscription. Beautiful magazine. Yes. Beautiful. So, you got to check that out. Um. Mm-hmm. Yeah, something worth talking, uh, with them to see if we can incorporate it in the show a little bit more because it just, we like it so much.

I mean, it’s a nice magazine, so you got to check that out. Yes. And maybe you've heard of it. Maybe you've seen it, but you haven't done anything. Well, I'd say look at it, get that free subscription and try it out for 30 days and see what you think about it. All right. Now this is going to take us to RV Envy.

So today we're going to talk about USB Outlet. Wow, how cool is that? Exciting. So, USB outlets might be kind of boring. Really? You know, there isn’t a lot of stuff we buy anymore. It seems like you bought a new toaster, and you look at it closely, Hey, there's a U USB outlet on there. Right. You know, your refrigerator.

I mean, my friend just bought a generator. There's USB outlets on it. Oh, wow. So, it's, you know, charging phones and other things, but mainly phones are the real push with them. So, the only reason why I bring this up is some RVs are coming with them, some aren't. Or maybe you have an older RV and um, you'd like to be able to charge your phone or your devices wherever you'd want to.

Cameras, heck, everything anymore. So, you can buy these from a company called Magine, which we talked about their rear observation systems recently. Um, they make them. Mm-hmm. And they have them on their website@magnadine.com. You know, they have them, different color face plates, different configurations where it's just USB, maybe three, three USB ports.

And then it also has u USB built in with 110-volt outlets. So, if you have 110-volt outlets, it'd be an ideal place for a USB charger or a. You can replace that. So, the ones that are strictly USB, they're I think just 12 volts. And the ones that have the 110 volts, they work off the 110 volts. So, if you're thinking about that, they're cool to have.

You don't have to have them in every outlet, but wherever you park your phone at night or during the day or device. Great place to put one. Yeah. So, check out magdy.com to look at their USB ports. Well, and everything else they sell, they have a cool internet system, their backup camera system, so check that out.

All right. That brings us to the end of the show. Wow. Now that went quickly. That did. That's because it's so much fun. It is. All right. So. Next episode, this is going to be a little bit different. We're going to have a; we're going to have an interview format for the staying on the road section. And I haven't done an interview in a long time because I really like just going solo here, blathering on at my own pace about what I want.

So, this is about RV, the RV Dreaming Summit. So, if you haven't heard of that, go to RVDreaming.com, their website, and there's this summit. It's a weeklong and it's virtual, so you don't have to go anywhere. You can do this from home. Or wherever you're at. It's cool if you have an internet connection because it's all on the internet.

Huh. And so, Stewart, who's the organizer of this, we're going to interview him and get some more insight into it, and hopefully I'll be able to be at this summit at least for a day online doing something. That's the plan. We haven't got it all ironed out. It's just my schedule's so rocky right now.

OUTRO

But that's the plan. So that's next week, or excuse me, in two weeks on the next episode, 123. So that makes this episode 122. All right, everybody. Thanks for stopping by today. This is Eric Stark with TheSmartRver Podcast. It's been great hanging out with you, and if I don't see you on the road, let's connect at TheSmartRVer.com.