Photo: FMCA’s “Peachy in Perry” Convention | courtesy FMCA

RV Miles hosts Jason and Abby take you along with them to the Windy City as they visit the Chicago Boat, RV & Sail Show, as well as the Chicago Travel & Adventure Show where Abby was able to hear celebrity travel experts like Rick Steves and Samantha Brown speak.

Then we have a great interview with Doug Uhlenbrock from the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) about the benefits of membership, the history of the company, and their special upcoming RV conventions — including their 100th! Plus, we have a lot of news, including a major scandal that is rocking the RV industry at the moment. 

Listen above, or subscribe for free on any podcast app, such as Apple Podcasts.


Sponsors

L.L.Bean

This year, L.L.Bean is joining up with the National Park Foundation, the official nonprofit partner of the National Park Service, to help you find your happy place – in an amazing system of more than 400 national parks, including historic and cultural sites, monuments, preserves, lakeshores, and seashores that dot the American landscape, many of which you’ll find just a short trip from home. L.L.Bean is proud to be an official partner of the National Park Foundation. Discover your perfect day in a park at findyourpark.com.

 GoSun Solar Cookers

When you’re out camping in the wild, miles from the nearest propane or electrical hookup, every bit of energy and fuel you can save matters. With GoSun Solar Cookers, you can cook full, hot meals without propane. Without electricity. Without wood. GoSun cookers trap the sun’s rays to steam, bake, roast, and boil – even when it’s cloudy, using special reflectors to grab available heat from the sun and trap it into a borosilicate glass tube where your food cooks at up to 550 degrees. And three different models offer the perfect combination of portability and cooking capacity. Visit gosun.co and use the code RVMILES to get 15% off all of GoSun’s Solar Cookers.

National Indoor RV Centers

National Indoor RV Centers make RV travel simple, fun and hassle-free. Offering convenient indoor storage with round the clock security, and on-site maintenance and repair, that can handle paint and body, oil changes, brakes, tires, glass, upholstery, slide work, and generator work. They even accept factory and extended warranties. Valet services pull your RV in and out of storage, check tire pressure, charge and check battery fluids, fill your fresh water and cool your fridge down before departure. They even have on-site propane and dump stations, and their wash and detail crews can clean your RV inside and out. You can find National Indoor RV Centers in Atlanta, Dallas, and Phoenix, and at their new Las Vegas facility, they are offering RV Miles listeners 3 months free with code RVMILES3. Visit vegasindoorrvstorage.com to get started today.


Kicking off the show with the news, we covered the major scandal that has rocked the industry at Erwin Hymer North America, where the top three executives have been reportedly removed for the embezzelment of upwards of $100 million. Read more about it:

We also reported this week that Winnebago his introduced a new line-up of wheelchair accessible motorhome floorplans, a major step for disabled travel:

Finally, we let you know about our latest America’s National Parks Podcast episode, which is the second edition of our “Rangers Make the Difference” series. Check it out below, or find it on any podcast app.


After the break and the brain teaser, we talked about a quick tip to help you take years off the look of your older RV by just giving yellowed plastic a quick paint job:

https://ruggedthuglife.com/2013/12/27/quick-fix-to-restore-those-ugly-yellow-sun-faded-plastic-pieces-on-your-rv-krylon-fusion-and-some-scotch-painters-tape-thanks-to-quicksilver-for-the-info/

And then Jason discussed his visit to the Chicago Boat, RV, and Sail Show, where he toured mega yachts and a lot of RVs. Here’s the video of a 2019 Leisure Travel Vans Unity MB Jason mentioned:

Abby discussed her visit to the Chicago Travel & Adventure Show, where she heard Samantha Brown speak about the joys of “B-side” travel. Travel & Adventure shows happen in 9 cities across the country, so find one near you at travelshows.com.

Finally, in our interview segment this week, we talked with Dough Uhlenbrock of the Family Motor Coach Association about the great benefits they offer and upcoming FMCA events such as the Peachy in Perry and their 100th International Convention & RV Expo taking place in Minot, North Dakota this August. We’ll be in Minot, doing an episode of the podcast right from the convention. We hope you’ll join us! Learn more about the great benefits of the FMCA at fmca.com.