Modern campgrounds are replete with delightful irony: an increasingly sophisticated range of utilities and conveniences services them, yet they are marketed to perpetuate the cherished American ideal of the backwoods camp.   This week, we meet Martin Hogue, a landscape architect and professor who has studied the emergence of the American campground.

Hogue has produced a coffee table book, called Thirty-Four Campgrounds, that traces the history of modern campground and looks at thousands of campsites from an academician’s viewpoint.

Also in this weeks podcast, major RV News for those who love National Parks, your questions and answers, RV tips and much more.

Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast.

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Show Notes for Episode #119 Dec. 21 2016 of Roadtreking - The RV Lifestyle Podcast:

JENNIFER'S TIP OF THE WEEK

Well, as we said, we’re about to hit the road for several weeks and that means, we’ll be camping out in some cold conditions until we get far down south for Florida’s sunshime. [spp-timestamp time="8:50"]

And in a little less than a month’s time, we’ll have made out way back to the cold and to Tahquamenon Falls, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, for our annual Roadtreking January Freezeout winter camping trip.

People ask how we stay warm and we love to tell them about Reflectix.

Reflectix looks like bubble wrap between two layers of aluminum foil. It is available in rolls at Lowes or Home Depot.

Reflectix is very helpful in the winter to prevent heat loss around the windows.

You can easily use scissors to cut it in any shape you want.

The first thing you should do is to cut pieces that fit the windows tightly. Most of the time you can press them into the window and they will stay in place. Put it on every window. For us, we use one of those aluminum-sided sun shields for the massive front window. Instead of putting the aluminum facing out, as we do in the summer to keep the heat out, we place it so the aluminum side faces inward, to keep the heart in.

We also stuff a big piece of Reflectix around the tops and bottoms of the center and rear doors, temporarily holding in in place with duct tape.

If you like cold weather camping, try it. Reflectix will be one of your best tools to keep warm and comfy.

For more about Reflectix check out these stories from Roadtreking Reporters Roger and Lynn Brucker:

https://rvlifestyle.com/winter-roadtreking/

https://rvlifestyle.com/keeping-cool-in-rv-reflectix/

Be sure to send me your tips and suggestions for the RV lifestyle. You can use the “Leave Voicemail” link at Roadtreking.com. Just click it and then use the built-in microphone on your computer or mobile devise to record a message to me. You can do it over as many times as you want, until you are satisfied. And then you just click a button and it comes right to my email inbox.

I love hearing from you!

Jennifer's tip of the week is brought to you by RadPower Bikes (www.RadPowerBikes.com_… an electric bike manufacturer offering direct to consumer pricing on powerful premium electric bikes.

LISTENER QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK:

A listener named Mavis lives in Virginia and wonders I she needs to winterize when the weather only occasionally gets below 30. The catch is, she sometimes travels to New Jersey in the winter. [spp-timestamp time="14:00"]

And a reader named Jim called in to offer a resource for those whose RVs are made by Omnistor. RV dealers tell him parts are no longer available but he found a website in the UK that shipped him what he needs. [spp-timestamp time="17:44"]  The address is: http://www.omnistorawnings.co.uk/

Sponsoring this part of the podcast is Van City RV in St. Louis, and their Partner Dealerships Creston RV in Kalispell, Montana, and Wagon Trail RV in Las Vegas. Bringing You the largest Inventory of class B’s from three locations.