RV Miles takes you down on the Red River this week to the Shreveport-Bossier area of Louisiana, where we had cajun and creole food, and got to visit some great museums. We also talk with pitchup.com about their new resource for booking campgrounds and let you know what day of the week is the best to buy gasoline. All that, plus news and a new brain teaser!

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.

FMCA

From Motorhomes, Travel Trailers, Fifth Wheels, bus conversions, and more, FMCA is here to enhance your RV Lifestyle. For as little as $5 a month, you can travel with peace of mind knowing FMCA has your back. Get connected with like-minded RVers on their Facebook page, Forums, at Conventions, and Events. Deals and discounts include RV Insurance, and Tire Savings Programs, and their Medical Emergency and Travel Assistance Program is included FREE. A yearly membership is only $60, but RV Miles listeners can save $10 with code RVMILES19. Just visit FMCA.com/RVMiles19 and enter code RVMILES19 or click the link in the show notes.

PelicanCoolers.com

One of the easiest ways to keep costs down when adventuring is to pack your own food. Wander Bus doesn’t go everywhere with us, and it’s nice to have a cooler for meals on the go. Our 30QT Pelican Cooler is great to keep in the back of our van for when we’re out exploring a city or National Park. They can hold ice for 6, 7, or 9 days depending on the size, perfect for small RVs without a fridge – no more swampy coolers. Head over to PelicanCoolers.com/RVMiles and use promo code RVMILES at checkout to score a free tumbler with purchase.

The Togo App

With the TOGO app, everything you need to own and operate your RV is in one convenient, digital space. You can set maintenance reminders, keep track of registration details, and build checklists. Their brand new, all-in-one internet connectivity kit Togo Roadlink™ is a complete connectivity solution that combines state-of-the-art hardware with new RV-specific data plans. The new Roadlink C2 is a powerful Wi-Fi booster combined with a 4G LTE antenna. Not only is Roadlink™ crafted with best-in-class hardware, but they’ve joined forces with AT&T to offer an unlimited 4G LTE data plan specifically for RVers. The details of the data plans and hardware can be found at runswithtogo.com/roadlink.

Show Notes

We kicked off the news with some info about Jellystone campgrounds’ desire to expand towards the west in their 50th year:

Jellystone Parks Look to Head West

We then covered Garmin’s updated RV GPS unit. You can get all the details here:

Garmin Announces New RV GPS Unit

And the final news item was the cancellation of the RV Industry’s new tradeshow “RVX.” They’re going to look at future timeing and location, which you can read about at RVBusiness.com.

Our gear spotlight talked about a great handmade crochet beanie from Onus Art Projects:

Gear | Handmade Crochet Beanies from Onus Art Projects

And then we talked about the best days of the week to purchase gas, with data from the price-tracking app GasBuddy:

What is the best day of the week to buy gas?

PitchUp.com Interview

The interview segment this week featured Brenda Bayliss of PitchUp.com, a worldwide campground booking website that has just recently entered the U.S. market. It’s a great tool with lots of options to select campground features, while viewing prices and availability in one spot, just like some of the popular hotel booking websites out there. Check it out at pitchup.com.

Food & Fun in Shreveport-Bossier

In our travel segment, we covered our recent visit to the river town of Shreveport, Louisiana. Probably best known for its casino resorts, we found that Shreveport had a lot to offer families. We especially loved the R.W. Norton Art Gallery, which offers 400+ paintings, as well as sculptures and artifacts, mostly focused on western landscapes. It’s a free museum, and the best part is their 40-acre botanic garden grounds. The Shreveport Water Works Museum is another free diversion, a National Historic Landmark featuring the last known waterworks to be steam powered. It wasn’t shut off until 1980! We also enjoyed the Sci-Port Discovery Center on the riverfront, and the Army Corps of Engineers regional visitor center just across the street.

When you’re in Louisiana, food is a number 1 priority, and Shreveport didn’t disappoint. We loved the affordable cajun/creole eats at BeauxJax Crafthouse, the beignets & coffee at Marilynn’s Place (in a reclaimed service station), and innovative dishes at The Cajun Asian restaurant.

We camped at the excellent Cypress Black Bayou facility, ran by a local Recreation and Water Conservation District. It features a small zoo, nature center, boating, beach, and roaming peacocks.