(upbeat music)
(seat belt clicking)
(car engine roaring)
(upbeat music)
- So, as you can see, Phil is off.
He is headed to see the surgeon
to find out if he's gonna be released
from physical therapy.
So fingers are crossed.
I've been dying to make some plans
figure out where we're going.
I don't even know which direction we're headed.
I know it will be south.
I know it's time to get out of this heat
today in San Antonio,
the heat index is going to be about 105.
So we are ready to roll.
So I thought today, Oh, forgive the hair.
I thought today would be a great day
to show you which planning tools I use
as I start planning my trips.
Now, before we get into that
please know our planning style is very last minute.
So we like to fly by the seat of our pants.
We might book a week out.
We may book, I don't know, a day out.
It just depends on where we're at and what we're doing.
But that being said, no matter how far out you book
you can use these tools to help you figure
out where you want to stay.
Now, when I give you the tools,
I'm actually going to give them to you
in the order that I use them.
So the first one that I use
the first thing that I go to is, Boondockers Welcome.
So let's sit down and talk
about Boondockers Welcome for a minute.
(chair scraping)
All right.
So Boondockers Welcome is one of our favorites.
If you've been following us for a while
you know how often we like to stay at them.
I mean, really every chance we get.
Now Boondockers Welcome is a membership platform.
But once you sign up, you can stay
at thousands of places all across the US.
It's actually private property
that hosts allow you to stay on.
And although it's called Boondockers Welcome
we've had hookups of some kind almost everywhere we've been.
Anything from water to electric to actually full hookups.
You can go on the website and see the locations
of all the hosts before you even sign up.
Now we've stayed at Boondockers Welcome hosts
on the way to a destination,
or as long as seven days while we were checking out a city.
So it is a very good option for you.
If you join your membership fee is going to be paid
in no time.
So we do have a code for a discount
and I'll put that down below for you.
Boondockers Welcome is always the first place I go.
Whenever I know which direction we're going in.
The hosts we've met have been amazing.
We've had a great time.
Every time we've stayed with a Boondockers Welcome
and really it's a great way to meet other RVers
even when they're not on the road.
All right, that's the first app I use.
Sorry about the glasses guys,
but it is bright out here and I have to protect my peepers.
All right.
So I'm taking you to the office
with me to go see if we have any mail today.
We've been sending our mail from Escapees every other week.
Normally we only get it once a month
but with all those procedures, we...,
sorry, got to say hi, that's our neighbors
a couple of rigs over, super nice folks.
But anyway, I'm gonna take you to the mail.
I obviously cannot walk and talk at the same time.
So let's move to the second app
that I use when I'm planning.
And that would be Harvest Hosts.
All right I'm gonna actually stop and talk
because I can't seem to get this walking and talking
down at the same time.
All right.
So let's start over the second app I go to
when I'm doing my RV trip planning is Harvest Hosts.
We absolutely love Harvest Hosts.
Now, unlike Boondockers Welcome,
this is a one night stay and it's on business property
not private property.
Once we started using Harvest Hosts
it almost all but eliminated our Walmart overnights.
And you know, all those places
you don't really wanna go
like truck stops and all that stuff
where it's all so loud and congested.
Harvest Hosts actually reminds us to slow down
take it easy, enjoy the journey, not just the destination.
So we've even veered off our course a little bit
to hit some really nice wineries and breweries.
And we've also hit some really amazing farms
quite a few organic farms at that.
So, if you have thought about joining Harvest Hosts
but you're not really into alcohol,
oh my gosh,
that is not a problem.
There's museums and golf courses and farms.
And so, so much more.
So this is always number two
and it is a membership program.
You do have to pay,
but again, once you stay a couple of nights,
it more than pays for itself.
So that is the second place I go when I'm planning a route.
So let's get to the office so I can see if I have any email.
We have been at this camp around since mid-May.
You would think by now I would know
that they close for lunch between 12 and one.
I don't know why I always walk down here
without looking to see what time it is.
Oh, well, I needed to be outside and walk
around a little bit anyway, get me a little exercise.
So back to the rig we go and when we get there
I'll tell you, which is my next app that I go
to after Harvest Hosts.
Am back in the RV where it's nice and cool, thankfully
but it's not going to stay this way for long
because I had to shut off the AC.
So I can actually record this for you guys
because it comes out really loud in the audio.
So let's get through number three.
The third app I go to is RV Trip Wizard
and it is by far my favorite planning tool.
Now I use this to hold all the places
that we're going to every reservation I make
and I'll even put in places that I might wanna go
as I plan my trip.
I have talked about RV Trip Wizard in the past
cause I've actually been using it since we hit the road.
I had trials with two other RV trip planners
and RV Trip Wizard won out hands down.
I really, really love it.
And honestly, I can't imagine not using it.
I would be totally lost at this point.
So if you're new at trip planning
and you want to see exactly how I go through and plan
I have a blog about it and a video about it.
I'll link those down below.
I have this crazy fear.
I don't know if it's irrational
or what, that one day we're going to pull into an RV park
and I'm going to have the dates wrong on our reservations.
Well, RV Trip Wizard keeps that from happening
but they have made a lot of changes.
Since I joined RV Trip Wizard,
they're actually a bundle now
they're calling their bundle RV LIFE
and they have a ton of stuff.
Now you can get for the same price of RV Trip Wizard.
So if you already have RV Trip Wizard
all you have to do is download their app called RV LIFE.
And you have access for free now.
So use your same password and your same username
for the app that you have for RV Trip Wizard.
Now, the things they've added to RV Trip Wizard
in this bundle include turn by turn directions.
And you can do that with all your RVs parameters.
So you put your height, your weight
and it avoids the bridges.
It avoids, U-turns all that stuff.
So you can punch that into RV Trip Wizard.
And then when you go to the app, you download your route
and you have your turn by turn directions, just like that.
It's in there.
Now another benefit is can you can download this.
So that way, when you're out in the middle
of nowhere, a national park or a state park
you still have your route and your directions
even without cellular service.
So you don't have to worry about that part of it.
Also, if you can search for campgrounds
while you're driving down the road.
So all the campgrounds
in RV Trip Wizard are also in the app.
And again, you can filter for what kind of parks
you're looking for, what amenities you want.
Are they big rig friendly?
Are they kid or pet friendly?
Whatever you need those filters are also in that app.
It also has over 10 million data points
for these campgrounds.
Data points include things like reviews
which we all want to check out.
It also has pictures of the campgrounds.
And of course, most importantly it has cellular information.
So what cell plan do you have
and is it gonna to work at that campground?
Now, if you are not already on RV Trip Wizard
you can go in and play with it for seven days for free.
I reached out to RV LIFE or RV Trip Wizard.
However, you're calling it right now.
And I asked them if they would give you guys a discount
and they said, yes.
So through the month of July,
if you sign up you'll save 10% on your purchase.
So make sure you do it in July.
And the code you're gonna use
of course is YMRV Trust me,
if you start using RV Trip Wizard and this bundle
you will never again go back to RV planning without it.
If you're already using RV Trip Wizard or RV LIFE
drop down to let me know in the comments
below what you love most about it
or what you would change about it.
If you have any changes you would like to make
they are making updates.
So I would be happy to pass that on for you.
All right.
That's the third thing I go to when I'm trip planning.
When Phil gets home, we'll talk about number four.
All right.
So I have a confession to make.
I got a few comments.
(air conditioner buzzing)
Oh, hold on.
For the air conditioner.
(air conditioner buzzing)
I got a few comments about my maintenance.
If you recall, a few weeks ago, I went up on the roof
and I fixed the air conditioner.
Well apparently a couple of you guys
with some kind of supersonic eyes realized
that I left my socket attached to one of the screws.
Luckily I have seen these comments.
I'm hoping Phil has not.
Well, I assume he hasn't
cause he hasn't said anything about it.
So my mission right now is to get up on the roof.
See if that socket is there, take it down and put it away.
So Phil will know nothing about it.
Now. He doesn't watch every video once it's completed.
So we'll see if we can sneak this in.
And when he, or if he actually sees it
so let's go on the roof. Got my handy-dandy screwdriver.
Let's go take the lid off the AC
and see if I can find the socket.
All right.
The ACs are still off
from when I was doing that video down below.
It is a little windy right now.
So I'm not going to do much talking.
Let's open this bad boy up
and see if I can find that socket.
(upbeat music)
Oh my gosh, guys, come here.
You are not going to believe what I just found.
They are so right.
So all you guys up there who are handy
why didn't you notice it?
Only like two or three people noticed the socket
was left behind!
All right.
So here it is.
Here's the culprit.
I was totally busted by you guys.
So hopefully I won't be busted by Phil.
So let's put this lid back on,
get it all buttoned up and hopefully I'll be off the roof
before he comes home.
Wish me luck.
(upbeat music)
All that's left is to put away my tools
before Phil pulls up and he will be none the wiser.
(upbeat music)
- [Stacy] All right, Phil,
we all are dying to know the verdict.
Can we leave?
- Look at this range of motion.
Look at this.
So we're progressing to hopefully get out of here
by the end of the month.
- [Stacy] Oh, you think so?
- Think so.
- [Stacy] So... - So
I talked to him I told him what our plans were
and, you know, they're happy with the progress
on the range of motion.
Barring any setbacks, fingers crossed.
We should be able to get out of here.
Yeah, exactly. I am so ready.
Sitting here at therapy,
watching RVs drive by through the window.
Like that could be us.
- Now that you're here, we have to talk
about our fourth favorite planning tool.
- Must be the EFS card.
- The fourth item I use when I'm doing my planning
is the E F S app.
Now this has to do with finding fuel and finding it
at the cheapest prices.
And when I say fuel, I mean diesel fuel.
- Yes.
- So what I like to do is actually check the prices
along our route.
We can actually plan ahead
where we gonna stop for fuel.
Now to use this app
you actually have to apply
and be a part of...
- The TSD RV fuel program for...
- This is where you take over
in case you didn't know.
- I was looking deep into your eyes...
- We didn't plan this ahead of time.
- No, I've been gone all day.
(laughing)
So I went and got my ears lowered. Look at that.
- That's right fresh haircut.
- Fresh haircut.
Feel like a new man.
Feel like I lost five pounds, but anyway...
- Am just glad I don't have to sweep that hair up.
(laughing)
- Yeah.
So, it falls under the TSD RV fuel program.
And they do have an application
that I'm sure Stacy is going to link
for you to fill out and send in.
It is a phenomenal program.
It's just for those of us that have RV class
i mean, RV diesel Class A's
and those that have diesel pick 'em up trucks,
pulling your trailer, fifth wheel or your airstream
or whatever you tow behind it.
- So what he is trying to say,
you can't use it with regular gas.
- No, sorry. - You can only use it with diesel.
But for all the fine details
I will put it in the blog post for this one.
And it's gonna have links
for how to sign up for the program.
Everything you need to know about the program.
- And you can see instantly your savings at the pump.
Soon as you are done pumping
I go in, I pull up the app
and it'll tell me exactly how much we saved per gallon.
And that's...
- And we've saved up to 70 cents a gallon.
- Yeah. It's...
- So.
- It's really cool. - If you don't have it
you really gotta sign up.
- Yeah. And I mean, I can't emphasize it enough
if you're looking to save some money
while on the road and cut corners
on fuel costs this is the way to do it.
- So that is RV planning
Step number four.
So I guess we should just finish it
out and tell them number five.
- Okay. What is number five?
I'm excited to hear it.
- The fifth thing I will use to plan
where we're going is Allstays.
Allstays is an app that you can get for Apple or Android
and you can find all kinds of things
in there from overnights, like casinos
and Cracker barrels and rest stops.
And you name it.
If you can overnight REI, it has them on there.
You can also find propane.
You can find dump stations.
They do have campgrounds.
I don't look at their campgrounds very often.
- I don't use the app at all because normally I'm driving.
And I know that she uses it fairly often
but when I say I need a rest stop, she pulls up Allstays.
And she goes, "There's one 12 miles ahead."
And I'm like, okay.
I'm good.
- Usually when I'm using Allstays
is when we're actually driving down the road
just trying to figure out where we're stopping overnight.
If there wasn't a Boondockers Welcome
or Harvest Hosts... - Harvest Hosts yeah.
- for us to stop at.
So those are the five main things that I use.
And there is one bonus thing
that if you head to the website
I'll give you a bonus app that I use to keep track
of all of our driving finances.
- Oooh, bonus app!.
All the links for everything we've talked
about is gonna be at the blog.
So if you're curious about anything, head over to the blog
we're gonna have all those links written out for you.
- Yeah. And that is, todayissomeday.net.
- That's right.
(laughing)
- Shameless plug.
- That wasn't shameless.
They have to know where to go.
- That's true.
Get on over there.
Why aren't you there now?
I'm looking.
You're not there.
(laughing)
- All right.
So that's pretty much it for this video.
- I'm glad I could be of assistance.
- I know you came in right at the nick of time.
- Yeah.
- If you haven't joined us RVillage
I will put that link down below.
That is where we're hanging
out for the most part for social media.
But you can also find us on Instagram and Facebook,
just not as often.
- And those of you that did join us on RVillage.
Wow!
Those numbers were going through the roof over the weekend.
I mean, I like to see numbers multiply
but I couldn't keep up that day.
That was phenomenal
that you guys took the time out of your day
to join us over in RVillage.
And we've got a ton of great comments
and I love the discussions
that are... - Yes. - already ongoing.
- Within the group. - The community that's building.
- Yeah. - Now.. - So, thank you.
- Now remember that community is your community
not our community.
So if you have questions about your rig, about campgrounds,
or if you're in somewhere really cool
please post your pictures and share it
because we might be writing
that all down on our bucket list. So...
(beeping)
- Oh that scared me half to death.
- Oh my goodness.
Oh, it's his golf cart.
(laughing)
I had no idea what it was.
- Oh my goodness. I thought maybe my...
camera's gonna explode.
- I know I was looking at the numbers and they were still going.
(laughing)
- Anyway, so please don't wait for us to post. Post away.
We are gonna try and read as many as we can
but if you guys are super busy
on there we may not see all the comments
but we are definitely going
to be heavily involved over there.
- Yeah. And I really, really loved
how a lot of you were asking
about 'our' village.
O-U-R
village.
- not R the letter, R V
- As in R V. Village.
- So, and, and I got to thinking about it.
It is kind of our village,
- Yeah.
- You know we're one big village in that group there
so it kind of fits.
so welcome to RVillage.
- Yes, we're so, so excited that you guys have joined us
and we are working on getting our wifi up to snuff.
So hopefully soon we can do another zoom meeting
with you guys on, in our RVillage group
- I love the live interaction
where we get to see smiling faces and actually
- talk back and forth - talk back and forth
- Yeah
- Instead of seeing, you know comments scroll by real fast,
I really like the zoom call.
So I can't wait to do that again.
- Yeah, me too.
All right.
Thanks again for watching.
If you haven't hit our subscribe button
which is right below,
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go down hit that red button
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- More importantly.
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But if you haven't subscribed while watching a video.
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I'm sure.
With the almost 70,000 people, we haven't disappointed,
well, maybe a handful we have,
(laughing)
- That's another story.
- Yeah.
- So thanks for spending your day with us.
And hopefully as soon as COVID lifts
and Phil sets me free, we will see you
- On the road.
(upbeat music)