The principal concern addressed in this podcast episode is the paramount issue that detracts from the joy of RVers, which is a lack of preparedness and maintenance. This deficiency often manifests itself in various forms, including neglect of essential repairs and insufficient planning, ultimately leading to frustrating experiences that overshadow the anticipated pleasure of RV travel. We delve into practical solutions, offering insights from the RV community that highlight effective DIY fixes for common issues encountered on the road. Additionally, we explore the significance of being well-equipped and knowledgeable about one’s RV to prevent minor inconveniences from escalating into major disruptions. Lastly, we provide a glimpse into upcoming adventures at Olympic National Park and the historical remnants of Bordeaux, Washington, emphasizing the importance of awareness and organization in enhancing the RV experience.

The episode also ventures into the contemplative realm of historical RV destinations, specifically focusing on Bordeaux, Washington, a town that once thrived but has since succumbed to the passage of time. Through a narrative rich in historical context, I recount the rise and fall of Bordeaux, exploring its origins as a bustling logging community and its subsequent decline as resources dwindled. This poignant exploration serves as a reminder of the transient nature of human endeavors and the inevitability of change. The discussion culminates in a reflection on the importance of preparedness not only in the context of RV maintenance but also in the broader scope of travel and exploration. I encourage listeners to embrace the lessons of history, to remain adaptable in the face of unforeseen circumstances, and to cultivate a spirit of resilience that will enrich their journeys in the RV lifestyle. Together, we aspire to foster a deeper appreciation for both the joys and challenges inherent in RV travel.

Takeaways

• The primary factor diminishing the joy of RVing is a lack of preparedness, which leads to unexpected issues.
• Real DIY fixes shared by the RV community can be invaluable for addressing common RV problems effectively.
• Understanding the unique nature of RV toilets is essential to avoid flooding incidents and ensure proper usage.
• Maintaining your RV and being proactive about repairs minimizes the chances of surprises and enhances your travel experience.
• Planning ahead for fuel stops and campsite availability is crucial for a smooth RV journey, preventing unnecessary frustration.
• Developing DIY skills for basic maintenance and repairs can empower RV owners and enhance their confidence while traveling.

Wholesale Warranties - RV Extended Warranties

YouTube Channel 

The number one thing that's robbing rvers of the joy they were promised and how to fix it and enjoying the RV life. Real DIY fixes from the RV community. And then in the next stop, we're going to visit Olympic National Park.

And then in the shadows of the past, towns that once were, we're going to go to Bordeaux, Washington, and in RV Envy, the question is, do you have it together at the campsite? This is Eric Stark with the Smart RVer podcast, your trusted source for tips and insights to embrace the RV lifestyle without worry.

So let's talk everything RV today, and it's episode 179, so let's just dig right in. So how are you doing today, Alexis?

I am doing really well.

Yes, really well. That's good.

Yeah.

That's so nice to do really well today when everybody has so many problems. And here you are in your ivory tower.

Yes.

All right, so now just messing with you there. So, you know, we're going to talk about this RV toilet valve malfunction and how it flooded an rv.

Oh, boy.

We're not going to get to the gist of it until the end of the show.

Okay, I'm excited.

So now everybody has to hang around for the entire podcast. So no matter how long we go today, you've got to hear the end of this.

Yeah, that's right.

All right, well, you should want to hear the end of it. I can say you got to.

You should.

Got to know.

Gotcha.

All right, so as a reminder, before we start digging into the meat of everything, if you haven't explored the idea of having a RV extended warranty, check out Wholesale Warranties.

There's a link to their website in our description or actually to a contact them page where you can send it in, and they will contact you and talk to you about an RV extended warranty and how they can bring you peace of mind and how well they work and how honest these guys are. Really, Wholesale Warranties is probably the best in the industry. They are up front.

They don't want to sell you a warranty unless you know everything about the warranty. So they're not going to dupe you, walk you into something that you don't need.

So if you're looking at buying a used rv, a new rv, private party, or through a dealership, contact Wholesale warranties.

Yeah.

Or maybe you just already bought an RV and you didn't get a warranty. Now you want to get an extended warranty.

Check them out, use the link in our description, and it'll take you right to a page and someone will be in contact with you soon enough. So today in staying on the road, I mean enjoying the RV life. Jumping right ahead here.

Hey, so we're going to talk about do it yourself RV fixes from the RV community. So these are the real deal from real RVers. And Alexis source these out on the Internet. Took her days and days and days to find these.

Talk to a lot of weirdos.

Wow. So don't try this at home, kids. So she didn't talk to any of the Smart RVers. Okay. She was down in LA at the encampment.

That is what I meant.

The homeless encampments. Okay. And then she left all that stuff there and got real stories.

Yeah, sorry.

Wow. Okay. By the way, this is our last episode. Well, it was a doozy.

It was a doozy.

So there's quite a few here that we've got so far. And we're gonna start kind of sprinkling these through some episodes.

Yes, we are.

Some of these are pretty cool.

They're gonna be more like horror stories, right, is what we're gonna do.

Yeah, exactly. They can be.

Yeah. Today we're not going to talk about horror stories though.

So about something else on our. On our list here, Alexis, is there one that stood out to you that grabbed your attention?

There is. I highlighted it because I thought it was really good.

Especially because I know how much you love duct tape and the title is the Duct Tape Slide Out Rescue. He doesn't love duct tape. Just saying. That was sarcasm. Anyway, I'll go ahead and read it. It says, it says, let's start with a classic duct tape.

One full time RVer Mike from Arizona shared how his slide outs rubber seal ripped during a windy overnight stay in the desert. The tear was letting dust and heat pour in. No dealership in sight.

And two days from his next stop, Mike grabbed his trusty roll of industrial duct tape and covered the tear from the outside. It wasn't pretty, but it held for over 600 miles.

The key, Mike says, was cleaning the rubber thoroughly before applying the tape and using multiple layers in a crisscross pattern. Bonus. The temporary fix kept out both the dust and a nasty scorpion he later spotted on the ground outside. So duty there.

The scorpion sounds a lot worse than dust.

Then after he got done putting duct tape all over the side of his rv, he made a duct tape wallet so he could. He might be really cool and have his money and so he go buy more duct tape. Yes. Yeah, I don't think duct Tape should be used on anything.

Maybe an extreme emergency. And I wouldn't call this an extreme emergency. I mean, I get it. He used it. Some people are very. Well, most people do use duct tape.

Yeah, I like, you know, I saw the same roll of duct tape when I bought when I was a little kid. You know, I don't use it very often. Yeah, that's an exaggeration, but no, I get it. You know why I don't like duct tape?

The real reason is because it leaves that adhesive on everything.

Yeah.

You use it on an awning fabric. This guy use it on slide out seals, which he's going to have to replace anyway, so kind of. All right, he will.

But when you use it on an awning, like it's tearing at the top and you put it on the awning rail and the fabric. Whoever does that awning has to cut all that off.

Yeah.

And they're just gonna. In fact, when I do it, I just get the fabric out. I'm not gonna clean up all that duct tape. That's your problem.

I don't blame you.

You used it, you live with it. All right, so. So I see you have one more highlighted here.

I do. Is that okay? Should we.

Sure, why not?

Let's look at it. Okay. The title is When a Cabinet Door falls off and zip ties save the day, it's not always the big stuff that causes headaches.

A listener named Rachel wrote in to say her upper kitchen cabinet door came completely unhinged, literally, while driving across a bumpy Kansas highway with no screws long enough to reattach it. She grabbed a pack of heavy duty zip ties and looped them through the screw holes to temporarily anchor the door to the frame.

It wasn't elegant, but it kept everything secure and rattle free for the rest of the trip. And pro tip, it says zip ties aren't just for organizing cables.

They're great emergency stand ins for missing bolts, broken latches, or even securing your awning arm if a hinge breaks mid trip. What do you think about that?

Well, I've seen a lot of awning arms with zip ties holding them together. Yeah.

Okay.

And just the other day, someone had a camper in here and it was one of those pop up campers. And the latches were held closed with zip ties. Okay, Zip ties are all right. They're pretty harmless.

Yeah, they're pretty harmless.

Yeah, you can scratch paint and stuff if you're not careful. But I get what she did, you know, you got a cabinet. Wasn't sure what to do.

Right.

So she found some zip ties.

She made it work. Yeah.

Or some people might call them pan do it.

Oh.

Oh, yeah.

Did not know.

Yeah. And you don't need to know. Don't forget I even said that.

Oh, no.

All right. Yeah. So there's a lot of them here and there's. It's interesting how people get so creative when they're trying to fix something out on the road.

Pinch. Yeah.

And so having some of these things around, like even the duct tape.

Even the duct tape.

All right, I gotta come clean. I do carry a roll of gorilla tape in my truck for off roading.

Now, you know, I've got everything in there, so you know that I, I, it's last resort though. That's like all else fails.

I love it though, so makes me.

Happy to know after walking 80 miles in the sun, you know, then maybe I'll break it out.

Yeah, okay.

But having stuff around, zip ties, they're inexpensive. Having those, you don't have to have a bunch of different sizes. Just get longer ones. They work for everything.

I say have a drawer in your RV with all this stuff in it so you can just know where everything is if you need it. There's the drawer.

Yeah. It's part of being organized and having it together, basically. But yeah, so there's a couple horror stories.

Well, they're not horror stories, but things that have happened to people and how they, they climb their way through it without turning.

That's interesting.

They didn't make the situation worse.

Right.

That's what's important.

That's the point. Yeah.

You know, quite often you, the situation gets worse. Trying to fix something, you create more damage or, or make it just bad.

Exactly.

So now that brings us to our money saving tip. And today we're going to talk about propane.

And this might not really apply 100% to RVers, because in the propane world, when you're getting your tanks refilled, you're typically going to a propane filling station with an rv.

Motorhomes definitely travel trailers, maybe, I would say more often than not, because most exchange places where you can go and get a propane tank and exchange it.

They don't have the larger tanks for most trailers, but a lot of RVers are coming with the smaller tanks that are more of the barbecue size, the 15 or 20 pound ones. It's easier to go to an exchange. You just give me your old tank and get, I'm not going to say a new one. It's new to you.

But Generally they're used tanks. In fact, I had a tank that was expired, it needed a valve or something.

The person at the propane place said, why don't you just go down to this place, sign up for their exchange, go through their tanks and get a new one and then there you go, you never have to use it again. And yeah, that's great, but I'd rather just have my tank. I know the history and all that. So I just had her fix it, you know, not a big deal.

She just kind of proved the whole point that some people will use these just to get rid of their old tanks, then they have to be recertified so they can be used again. And they're very expensive. They're a lot more than just having a tank filled.

So if you're trying to save money, these propane exchanges are convenient, but they do come with a price tag. Like I said, they're expensive and you don't know what you're going to get.

You know, a lot of those tanks are old, they're rusty, they're crummy looking. And if you have a nice barbecue, nice setup, you don't want this old tank sitting there. And you don't know the history of it.

And granted, you're not using it for that long of a time if you're barbecuing regularly or using it regularly. But then again, it could hang around for quite a while, you know.

Yeah.

So you just don't know what you're getting. But also, it's the money you spend. They are a lot more than just having a tank filled.

Gotcha.

You know, they're just convenient. Well, I don't even know if it's convenient, you know, going to some of these stores where they're at, Hey, I need to get a propane tank.

Someone has to go and lock it. You go through oceans.

Yeah.

You're probably there longer than if you went to a propane filling station.

Exactly.

And you know, are you gonna buy an impulse item there, throw a little extra money down on the counter, stand in line, you know, and you get an ice cream or water or whatever, you know. Yeah, yeah. So just go to a propane filling station, save the money, forget about it.

That's exactly right.

And you know, when you're out traveling or using your rv, sometimes, you know, sacrificing a little bit saves you some money. And it's worthwhile because it's not a huge sacrifice. And you start saving some money here, some money there, and it all adds up.

You know, maybe by the end of the day, you've actually paid for a dinner out if you decided to do so. Money's money.

Money's money.

Be smarter with it. And as things get changed in this world we live in, you know, it's harder to make a living. Your dollar doesn't go as far.

So, yeah, save where you can.

Yeah.

So this article about the money saving tips will be on the money saving tips portion of our website, the smartrver.com then enjoying the RV life will be there as well. Some of these horror stories. So you can read those and check them out, and those will become a regular feature. We'll just keep adding to it.

We won't make new pages. Just keep adding, adding, adding.

I love it.

Till we've got them all. And that'll be never ending. Right. As long as we have RVs, we'll be doing things that are interesting and stupid at the same time.

Entertaining.

There you go. That sounds better.

Yeah. Than stupid.

Yeah. There we go again. The three remaining listeners are gone now.

All right, guys.

All right, so this is now going to bring us to staying on the road. And the title of it is the number one thing that's Robbing rvers of the Joy They Were Promised and How to fix it. So that's interesting.

What were you promised or what? What did you promise yourself when you were dreaming about buying your rv? Yeah, I know.

At the dealership they made a lot of promises, you know, and they paint a picture. You're out on the open road, your hair blowing back, all these scenic places. You're going to see beautiful campgrounds, sipping coffee at sunrise.

All this just the mountains behind you. What an awesome place. Right? That's where you want to be. That's the RV life. That's the picture that's painted. But that's not always the reality.

Now, the mountains might be there. You might be drinking some coffee, not sipping it. You're not enjoying it.

You're down it because you got a million things to do because things went wrong. Yeah, a lot of RVers have those expectations, but they're not really finding the RV to be as fun as they thought or told it was going to be.

So what's the deal? What's stealing rvers of this joy? What. What's the problem here?

You know, over the years, I've Talked to probably 4 or 5 million RVers, but maybe not that many.

Probably.

Probably in the thousands.

Oh, yeah.

It's probably not the answer. You're thinking an interesting question, but the answer is not always. In front of it. And I've talked about this before, it's a lack of preparedness.

That's the biggest problem rvers face. And we see it in our store. We hear it all the time. It doesn't end. Very few rvers, I think. Well, it's not just rvers.

People in general, traveling, doing things, they're not prepared. Guys that are into overlanding, off roading are probably more prepared for what they do because they're in such remote areas.

And when things go bad, you got to get out. Lack of preparedness. And that sounds pretty simple, but it's not always that simple. And actually to be prepared takes a few bucks as well.

So let's kind of look at this and break it down. Some part of it is maintenance neglect. So you have an rv, you notice some things and you're not taking care of it.

Maybe your tires a little low, your roof's got a bad spot in it that you're going to take care of. But you didn't last summer. Your battery was great. Oh, it worked all summer long.

So you think I'm good, even though, you know, there's a couple things, but, oh, well, you know, I'm just going to ignore that.

Then all of a sudden you're stranded on the side of the road or you're at the rv park, you're having problems and you're burning cash, you're burning daylight, and now you're waiting for someone to come fix it, maybe a tow or trying to find a tire shop that's open. Maybe it's a weekend. So now all of a sudden, your peaceful getaways a mess, right? It's anything but that.

So maintaining your rv is going to help you reduce the amount of surprises you have. And the fewer the surprises you have, the better the trip. Peace of mind will settle in and you're going to enjoy your trip that much more.

So some of this ties in with poor planning. Your rving. You can't micromanage every mile that you haven't taken yet. And then when you're traveling, you can't micromanage those miles either.

You just have to be prepared for what's coming ahead, right? Can't wing it all the time. Winging it sometimes works, but not all the time.

No.

And it can come down to something as simple as fuel stops. Let's say you're driving across the state, 600 miles, 800 miles.

It doesn't matter looking ahead, you know, kind of mileage or the distance you can go on a tank of Fuel while you're towing your trailer, driving your motorhome, thinking about gas stops, where you can get fuel, and planning ahead rather than just getting out on the road. And you look at the map, oh, look at all these cities, these towns. Then you get to that town and it's like, nothing there.

Yeah, it's a name on the map. And I know in Montana, just driving to or Utah recently, you know, there's a town called or on the map it says Monida. There's nothing there.

There's Lima, Walma. There's something there. There's these little places that have nothing there. They used to be something, but they're still on the maps.

Interesting.

Arizona, where we live. There's towns on the map right by our house. There was no town there. It used to be a town for the railroad, so you can't always depend on that.

Going to Alaska one time, we kind of. We were prepared, but we could see that there's all these towns, but it was wintertime. They're all closed.

So plan ahead and give yourself some leeway on the fuel. Don't cut it right down to the last 12 miles or whatever. And think about campsites availability.

If you're going to be stopping at campsites, you know, plan ahead because that removes frustration. And, you know, planning ahead sometimes is a little bit of a chore, but once you do it, it's behind you. And keep notes.

If you stay in a campground or multiple campgrounds, write them down. You know, maybe get a book or start a journal or something for that trip so you can keep it all there. It's all in one spot.

Or keep a journal for all your trips. You have everything. And, you know, another thing we come across is how RVers sometimes can be hesitant to do do it yourself repairs.

They feel like they need a mechanic, that they don't have the skill set, so they want to keep someone on speed dial in case there's a problem and they're not ready for it. And that gets kind of over the top, ridiculous sometimes and expensive because it's not necessary in all cases.

You don't have to be an expert to maintain your rv. And like I've talked about in the past, the example of a fuse.

You know, a blown fuse can ruin a trip for somebody if they don't know how to check and replace a fuse. Something stops working. It's like, oh, no. Oh, we can't go on the trip. Or we better cancel the trip. The water pump quit.

We got to get a technician out here. We got to get somebody, it turns into this three ring circus when it's just a little, you know, 50 cent fuse.

Yeah, so have a voltmeter, learn how to use it to check fuses, learn how to look at a fuse. If you don't have a voltmeter and don't want to buy one.

You should have a voltmeter though in an RV that should just be hands down something you should have. Don't be afraid to do things.

A water valve and a toilet is not that hard to replace, you know, especially if you have to do it, you can't get someone to do it. Learn how to be self sufficient, what your capabilities are. But learning is the thing. Learn how to.

Now another thing out on the road is power and connectivity. So power is pretty straightforward. You got to have batteries, you got to have 110 volts, you got to have something to keep the lights on in the rv.

But today more and more people are working remotely.

They're staying in touch with their family and friends, sometimes just for the fun of it, sometimes because they want someone else to know where they're at. So in case they don't come home in a week or whatever, they can send out the dogs and the search party to find them. Yeah, the FBI.

Have you called all the hospitals? What's that? Moving a check every farmhouse, doghouse, outhouse or house in house, whatever. I don't think that's how it goes.

So if you're out on the road and you're running out of juice, you know the power is getting depleted, that's a problem. You know, you don't want your batteries go dead.

You want to have 110v, but when you lose your signal now you might not be able to stream videos, keep in touch with other people. So now you get a little stressed out because that digital withdrawal is coming upon you and you weren't ready for it.

So make sure your batteries are up to snuff, that they're in good shape and invest in good batteries.

You know these big box stores like Costco, Walmart, auto parts stores, they have inexpensive batteries and they're not good for RV deep cycle batteries. They don't last as long, you're going to be replacing them sooner. And this is what I call self inflicted inflation.

You buy cheap and then you have to replace it sooner or more often. See that inflation is self inflicted. Don't do that yourself. And then with good batteries you're going to keep things going.

And remember, like I said in the beginning of this, just because the batteries worked last summer. Doesn't mean they're going to work this summer.

It's true.

Kind of like your car, you know, you pull up your house, you park in the driveway, you shut the door, you go in, eat dinner, go to bed, wake up in the morning, you go back to work, watch your car, and it doesn't start. Well, ran last night.

Yeah.

Well, it doesn't today suck, so you got to get it fixed.

Yeah.

You know, there's always going to be things you can't control, but try to be in control of what you can. And then there's the old someday trap. I'll get to that soon enough. I'm going to do that next weekend.

I'm going to do that, you know, at the end of summer. I'm going to wait and I'm going to get. I got a list going here. So I'm going to wait until all this stuff is, you know, in the summer.

I'll get to this entire list. Well, don't do that. If you're building a list, you're building problems.

And taking care of this stuff before you have to is the way to do it is being prepared.

I agree.

You know, don't delay trips, cancel trips because you're not prepared. And also, you know, it's having some things. We've talked about having tools, you know, with you, and you have to kind of decide what works for you.

Look at your rv, what you're going to need, what your skill set is. Cordless drill. Hey, got one sitting right here as a matter of fact. Look at that. Just in case. Yeah, I'm prepared.

Yeah, you are.

Got this morning I said, you know, we go do this podcast today. I'm gonna have make sure my cordless drill is there. I even got a wrench.

Yeah.

See? What do you got?

Coffee.

Coffee.

Yeah, I'm prepared.

Wow. All right, so it's really simple. Just be prepared, be flexible, and learn a little bit about your RV things. Do you think you.

You wouldn't be able to deal with out on the road? Learn about them?

Yeah.

What can you do to deal with them? And like I said, there will be problems and sometimes you just can't doing about it. It might ruin your trip. And that's it.

Yeah.

You know, and don't feel that buying a new RV is going to solve your problems. New. That's why people buy new cars. They think it's going to solve all their problems. So just be ahead of things.

Check your route, check your tire, check your propane. Just do all things, right?

I don't know.

Yeah, Check your gun at the door. So you're a smart RVer. So you've got this. It's right up your alley. All right, so now that article will be on our website as well, like every article.

So now we're coming to the next stop. And this is Olympic national park in Washington, and it's going to be right next to Bordeaux, Washington.

And, you know, I want to make sure I mention this now because I forgot, I don't mention it on every episode, but we have the next stop. In the shadows of the past the towns once were. There are two places that are close to one another.

Yes.

The next stop is the bigger city, more of the hub. Where you want to go is like, you know, maybe a camping area. Resources.

Right.

Buy everything you forgot. The towns that once were the shadows of the past, those are the call. Small, cooler towns.

Yes.

So, Alexis, what can you tell us about Olympic National Park?

There is a lot to know about this park. It's very huge. There's a lot of ecosystems in it. Nearly a million acres of this from.

So there's rugged coastlines, there's rainforest, and there's glaciated peaks. A lot of diversity there. It's very, very unique. So three activities that you can do. Hiking the hall of Mosses Trail. This is kind of cool.

Following the road signs, of course, is a good idea to get there. And then tide pooling at Rialto Beach.

One thing you're going to want to do, though, this is a word of caution, is check the tide charts before you do that. And wear sturdy shoes. Just don't think that you're a professional tide pooler, if that's what it's called. I don't know.

You can do this, but just be careful. Check those. What are they called? Tide charts. Just to make sure you don't get swept out. Sticky books. There we go. And then Hurricane Ridge Stargazing.

This is a popular one at 5,242ft. You can check out the night skies here. So they do this. It's. It's led by the ranger, so you don't have to go out alone. It's safe.

But you definitely want to check that out.

Another sticky book.

Right, There we go. Three restaurants. Lake Crescent Lodge Restaurant. The Tides Inn next door. Gastropub. Sounds very interesting.

It's actually a very trendy pub with brisket sandwiches and craft beers. They're amazing. There's also RV parks, of course. We always have to talk about these. They've got quite a few.

There's a Olympic peninsula, Port Angeles, KOA. So that's only 15 miles from the park entrance. So that might be something you want to consider. There's more, but you can google those.

They've got propane station, dump stations. Obviously we like you to do your own research, but we do have some listed here so that you can reference them. So there you go. Check it out.

Smart RVers nutshell.

So yeah, there's a lot there.

There is.

It's the national park. National parks always have tours and cool things.

They do.

You only have to pay to get in, which kind of sucks, but that's life.

Yeah.

So it's worth going. I think most national parks you can go to without any reservations about going many reservation to get there, like Glacier or something.

But you're not going to be bummed out.

Yeah, no.

What I'm getting at, check that out. That's in Washington. So now that's going to bring us to another. Shadows of the past. The towns that once were find my place here.

Talk about Bordeaux, Washington. Bordeaux, such a cool name. So this is another page out of Grandpappy Popeye's book. Bordeaux is like we mentioned, near Olympic National Park.

Now Bordeaux is a very interesting place, as you'll see as we read through here that it's not what you probably think it is.

Right.

And then you're not gonna be able to go there.

I know. How weird is that? We're still gonna talk about it.

I guess we don't even talk about it now. All right, so here we go. So now remember, we're in Washington, so we got a nice mossy forest, it's green over gr and it's just south of Olympia.

So when you're in Olympia you can get some beer there as well. But it's, it's a tree or a town that's there but kind of not there anymore. Get into it. At the turn of the 20th century, Bordeaux wasn't on most maps.

This was no sleepy village.

At its peak, Bordeaux had a schoolhouse, a company store worker housing, a post office, and of course the ever present sawmill where the air rang with the wine of blades and the scent of fresh cut cedar log. Trains steamed through the town daily, hauling massive loads toward the booming markets of the west coast.

Life in Bordeaux was Tough but tight knit children walked to school through muddy paths. Families gathered for church services and makeshift halls. And every whistle from the mill meant another shift had begun or ended.

The town even had its own baseball team, giving residents something to cheer for on weekends. But like the trees that once surrounded it, Bordeaux's days were numbered.

No more steam whistles, no more baseball games. Just moss growing over the ruins and the wind whispering through second growth pines.

Today, Bordeaux is on private land, closed to the public, but the ghost of it lingers in crumbling foundation, rusted rail tracks, and the stories passed down by those whose grandparents worked the mill or went to school there. It's a reminder of a time when towns didn't just grow, they were carved out, hauled up, and eventually, when the work was done, left behind.

So that's Bordeaux in a nutshell.

I love it.

So it's kind of a cool place, like so many of these places that come and go. But this one's interesting. It's on private land and so the owners haven't said, hey, you can come, you check it out.

You know, some national parks actually cross over private land or state parks and they get permission to let people go through.

Yeah.

Or to see something. You know, private land could have a waterfall on it.

Right.

And so then, you know, they want to make it accessible, so they do that. So this hasn't happened yet, but it's.

Still, you never know.

You know, you could probably go check it out from a distance.

You can, I think you can hike around it, right? Yeah.

And we'll have information on the website as well.

Yeah.

So you'll be able to check it out more thoroughly. So now that was our next stop in our shadows of pass. So again, those will be on the website@smartrver.com. now let's jump into RV Envy.

Having it together at the campsite. Now, when I think of this, I'm thinking of, you know, at a campsite where you're not running around in a panic trying to figure out what to do.

You're doing all these crazy things. Everybody's looking at you like the entertainment for the day.

Yeah.

You know, you pull in and just havoc starts. Everybody's looking at this guy, man, you don't know what he's doing. They're beyond being a New RV or this is. This is insane, what they're doing.

Right? So you don't want to be that guy. You don't want to be that family. They're screaming and yelling at one another, yelling at your kids.

You know, the whole package.

When you go camping, whether it's a campground, you're out in the woods, the lake, the river, the beach, wherever, you want to be prepared and know what you're doing. And you might even have to practice this at home a little bit, depending on your skill set, how long you've been RVing. But have it together, man.

Don't get there, and you're. You're like, oh, gosh, I got to go get some wheel chocks. I got to do this. I got to do that. Banging on your neighbor's door. How do I do this?

Have an understanding of what's happening at the park. When you're getting ready or getting reservations for the park, you can talk to them. Hey, what kind of service do you have for power?

What about water? What site? Where's it at? You know, where most people that pull in is the water. Like, in the middle of the rv. The power is at the end of the rv.

You know, if you're yanking on your power cord because it's 25ft too short, because they put their pedestal at the beginning of the spot, not the middle, you look like a fool. You know, then you got to get an extension cord, have an extension cord, be ready for that.

Yep.

And these are basic things. It's kind of like we were talking about in staying on the road, you know, that being prepared, it's similar to that.

It's keeping control of the situation or having it in control and not letting it rule you.

Right.

So having some extra water hose, some long, you know, extension cord for your power cord adapters for the different types of outlets at the parks, you know, 30amp, 50amp, 150, 115 volt, you know, being ready for those things. Wheel chocks, having your family understand what's happening here so they can help and you're not doing it all, and so they know what's going on.

So maybe something happens to you and they can pack up the RV and leave Right. You behind. But, you know, what if you fall, break your leg? And now your wife has to pack up the rv. Can she do it? Would she have a clue? Right, right.

It sounds kind of crazy, but things happen.

Yeah.

You know, things happen all the time. So just have it together at the campsite. Be prepared for it. You Know, don't. Don't look like the afternoon entertainment when you get there.

It's very simple. And part of that is just being prepared for everything. And that preparedness helps you enjoy the trip more. You're not going to.

If you're not prepared for setting up, you're going to hate going RVing. Yeah, I hate this. Always such a hassle. I never have the right stuff. That's because you haven't bought the right stuff.

Yeah, exactly.

You know, you haven't talked to others. Some experienced RVers. To me, the expert.

Exactly.

So be prepared. You know, have it together when you get to the campsite, you will enjoy that tip that much more.

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Today we've had a great conversation about many different things. Staying on the road. Next stops RV envy. Enjoying the RV life. And I did bring up that sticky water valve at the beginning of the show today.

So let's get here. Let's see what happened here. The water valve in this couple's RV stuck open. They had somebody staying with them.

It sounds like maybe that person didn't do something. Right. So the pedal didn't close, or the valve or the ball valve didn't close all the way. So the water. But it did. It closed enough to.

How do I describe this? It didn't close all the way, but it closed like, let's say 98% of the way.

So some water was going the holding tank, but the bowl was filling up faster than it was draining into the holding tank. So the bowl's filling up. Water starts overflowing the bowl. Now you got toilet stuff everywhere. Right. In the bathroom, things like that.

So because they were in the rv, it only got so bad, so the damage was minimal. You know, it was on linoleum, so they had to replace linoleum. It did buckle from it, which that isn't a huge thing.

But, you know, you think about the inconvenience of it.

Yeah.

You know, why did that happen? Why did the person not understand how to really use the toilet? RV toilets are a little bit different than a house toilet.

Yeah, they are.

And you can't expect people to just know. You might actually have to go in there and show them how to use it. Especially if your toilet doesn't really work. Right.

Yeah.

And when I say them show them how to use it, I mean how to how it functions. You know, don't sit down on the toilet and show them how to use it. Yeah. You're not in jail.

Okay, so just some other pedal works if you have an older one that has a fan flush, you know, just.

Yeah.

You know, be reasonable.

Yeah.

So they adverted a major disaster because they were there. If they would have been on the way out, you know, we can imagine how much water would have been that RV when they got back.

Yeah.

So make sure your RV is up to snuff and how. And show people how to use it. If you have a guests, even if they're other art, Even if they're RVers, their toilet might work different.

Right.

So it doesn't make them an expert on your toilet. Share with them. Make them smart. All right, so this brings us to the end of another episode.

This is Eric Stark with the smart rver podcast, your go to guide for smarter RVing and unforgettable adventures on the open road.