Marc and Julie Bennett from RV Love are, quite simply, two of the smartest and kindest people working in the RV content creation space today. Stephanie and I are huge fans of their first book Living The RV Life. When we heard that they had a brand new book coming out this summer called RV Hacks we just knew we had to have them back on the podcast again for a sneak peak!

Marc and Julie first appeared on the RV Atlas podcast a few summers back on a terrific episode filled with boondocking tips. I can't believe that it has taken two years to get them back on the show. But I am thrilled to have them back on to talk about RV Hacks. This book is absolutely jam-packed with amazing hacks in a wide variety of categories.

The book has over 400 hacks that are separated into six different categories. On today's RV Atlas podcast Marc and Julie share two super fun RV Hacks from each of the following six chapters:

Driving

Repairs and Maintenance

Camping, Campgrounds, and Boondocking

Cooking, Organization, and Storage

Work and Technology on the Road

Families, Kids, and Pets

My conversation with Marc and Julie about RV Hacks was an absolute blast.  So I hope you join in on the fun! To listen click on the media player above or subscribe to the RV Atlas wherever you get your shows! And more importantly make sure you grab a copy RV Hacks on amazon or at a bookstore near you. This book is an absolute blast and every RV owner should keep a copy in their rig at all times! I know we will keep a copy with us wherever our RV travels take us this summer and for years to come!

The journey on Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica is certainly America's most iconic road trip. Route 66 is called the mother road--and for good reason. But this iconic road is a challenging road to tackle in many ways. Thankfully, our friends over at Roadtrippers have just released a quirky new guidebook that is packed with all of the insider intel that you will ever need to conquer the mother road. Roadtrippers Route 66: Chicago to Santa Monica breaks the mother road down into six legs:

Chicago to St. Louis

St. Louis to Tulsa

Tulsa to Amarillo

Amarillo to Albuquerque

Albuquerque to Flagstaff

Flagstaff to Santa Monica

It feels fitting to me that the folks at Roadtrippers broke their guidebook down into legs instead of chapters. Each "leg" contains route highlights, featured campgrounds, featured accommodations, a playlist of songs that is specific to that leg, Then the "on the road" sections offer up all of the best recommendations for each of the major points of interest along that leg of the road. The featured campground recommendations for each leg make this the best Route 66 guidebook on the market for campers and RV owners of all kinds.

Route 66 On The RV Atlas Podcast

Stephanie Puglisi is one of the contributors to the Roadtrippers Route 66 Guidebook and she is back on the RV Atlas podcast today to talk about this brand new book! To listen to my interview with Stephanie about Route 66 click on the medial player above, or subscribe to The RV Atlas wherever you get your podcasts!

Free Trial to Roadtrippers Plus with Purchase

This Roadtrippers guidebook also comes with a free 30 day trial to the "plus" version of the Roadtrippers APP. This popular APP helps you plan cool stops on your next trip and even build trips together with friends using their collaboration tools. This new guidebook is also filled with links to additional Route 66 content on the Roadtrippers website that enriches the overall user experience even more.

I can't wait to get out on the mother road again for an epic adventure of my own. When I do, I'll be sure to have a copy of this terrific book in hand. This book is filled with delightful surprises. Much like the mother road it depicts through words and images.

On today's episode of The RV Atlas we are heading west for a review of four amazing campgrounds in the Pacific Northwest that you are going to want to add to your bucket list!  The Pacific Northwest is my favorite geographical region of our country and the entire RV Atlas crew cannot wait to get back some day soon.

Four years ago our family took an epic camping trip to the Pacific Northwest and spend 26 days doing a huge loop from Seatlle to Olympic National Park, to Mount St Helens to Coastal Oregon to the Redwoods, back into Oregon for Crater Lake and Odell Lake and then back to Seattle---it was such an amazing trip--my favorite trip ever. 

I’ve been dying to get back ever since--my wanderlust for the Pacific NORTHWEST IS VERY VERY STRONG.

Kendra and Tyler from Campspot

So on today’s episode we are heading back to the Pacific Northwest with our terrific first time guests Kendra and Tyler from CAMPSPOT. Kendra and Tyler (and their two cats, Sunny and Luna) travel full time in their AIRSTREAM creating content for Campspot. They do photography, video, writing, camp cooking content and so much more and their visual style and killer photo and video chops can be seen all over Campspot's website.

Kendra and Tyler have travelled all over the country and we had a lot of cool options for podcast episodes--but of course I asked them to do an episode about campgrounds in the Pacific Northwest---during the interview I meant to say that I felt like a kid in a candy shop talking to them about podcast ideas--but instead I said I felt like a kid in a candybox.

What the heck is a candy box? I don’t know--but it doesnt sound like it holds a lot of candy! 

So just so you know--I meant a CANDY SHOP! Because Kendra and Tyler have been everywhere! And I hope to have them back on the show to cover more great campgrounds in other parts of the country.

So let's dive in and get four great recommendations for campgrounds in the Pacific Northwest from Kendra and Tyler. And huge thanks to Tyler for the amazing photos in this blog post!

To listen to today's episode of The RV Atlas about campgrounds in the Pacific Northwest click on the media player above, or subscribe to the The RV Atlas wherever you get your podcasts! Or just check out Tyler's amazing photos and and Tyler and Kendra's highlights in the notes below each campground!

Northern California 

Ramblin’ Redwoods Campground & RV Park in Crescent City, CA

photo by Tyler D. Way

 

photo by Tyler D. Way

Redwood National and State Parks

Favorite trails:

Lady Bird Johnson old grove trail (easy access loop trail)

Tall Trees Grove Loop Trail- Permit required trail— mildly difficult, but old growth and river

Coastal trail — easy and great for sunset views

Scenic drive on the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway (off US-101)

Klamath Beach - sea lions

Crescent City:

SeaQuake Brewing (great fries with an amazing parmesan dipping sauce)

Battery Point Lighthouse — also great for sunset

Oregon

Craine Prairie RV Resort in the Cascade Lakes Region of Oregon 

photo by Tyler D. Way

 

photo by Tyler D. Way

Beautiful, remote campground in a wooded setting with full-hookups

Just around the corner from the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway

Lake access and lake-views of Mt. Bachelor, South Sister, and Broken Top mountains

The campground offers boat, pontoon, SUP, and kayak rentals

Short drives away from Odell and Crescent Lake which was one of the clearest lake I’ve seen

Near some incredible waterfalls including Salt Creek Falls in the Willamette National Forest t...

Today on the RV Atlas podcast we welcome Patrick Botticelli from New Jersey Outdoor Adventures back onto the show for another great episode. Patrick has come on the show before to talk about his Airstream Bambi renovation among other topics. Today he is here to talk about 8 insane DIY Van Builds from his wildly popular New Jersey Outdoor Adventures YouTube channel!  These are 8 of his most popular walk through tours and there is link to each of them below.

So after you listen to our discussion about this vans make sure to watch the complete walk-throughs below! This is a great introductory podcast episode for anyone that is interested in DIY van builds. Patrick is an expert and he walks us through the different chassis options and the types of decisions that each of these van owners had to make!

To listen to today's episode of The RV Atlas click on the media player above! To check out the video tours of these amazing DIY Van Builds just scroll down and click PLAY!

Gilbert and Martha

Shane

Daphne and Izzy

 

 Kevin and Taylor

 

Home Builder from Connecticut

 

George Morrow from Humble Road

Sarah and Jess from Uphill Adventures

Jonnie The Traveling Nurse

Have you wondered what it would be like to dry camp at a major racing event like the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona International Speedway in Florida? I certainly have, even though I am not a hard core race fan. The idea of camping at Daytona International Speedway sounds very exciting to me. But getting there and getting the whole thing wired sounds pretty daunting to me.

Thankfully, when it comes to insider details about camping at Daytona International Speedway, our friend and correspondent Johann Schnell has got us all covered. Johann has been camping at Daytona since 2014 when he started tent camping there with a group of his close friends. Seven years later the group is still going but they ditched the tents and dry camp in style in their own (or rented) RVs.

According to Johann....

My group of close friends are car guys. One of them was getting married and instead of typical bachelor party, he asked for something different. We came up with camping at Rolex.

Started in 2014 and the original crew still remains strong. Each year we might have extra friends joining the core group.

We did it in tents for 3 years and when I got my camper, we changed to RV sites. My friends began renting RVs and one even bought an Ambulance and converted it to a camper for this one year.

To say that they love this annual tradition would be an incredible understatement. On the latest episode of The RV Atlas podcast Johann is sharing all of the ins and outs of camping at Daytona International Speedway.

To listen to Jeremy and Johann talk about how to get a site, the pros and cons of each area, and tips for dry camping at Daytona International Speedway, click on the media player above or subscribe to The RV Atlas podcast wherever you get your shows!

Or just take a quick glance at Johann's notes that he used for the show! Thanks to Johann for joining us for another great episode and sharing all of his best insider intel!

Daytona International Events With Camping

Main events: Rolex 24 hours (January), Daytona 500 (February), Coke Zero 400 (August)

Secondary events: Roar before the Rolex, Daytona 500 Qualifying

Non-racing events: Jeep Beach (National Jeep gathering), Welcome to Rockville (Concert Festival), Challenge Daytona (International Triathlon racing series)

All these events last multiple days, which means camping at the track is part of the fun and super convenient.

Tips for Getting a Site When Camping at Daytona International Speedway

Daytona generally offers a range of options that can be understood as follows:

Inside the track complex - Infield camping

Boardwalk and Park Place to the race

The closer to the track, the more expensive.

They sell them in zones/types, think of neighborhoods. The tent people will be together, the few with electric, the ones near a part of a track  (for example the Horseshoe turn), the ones near Lake Lloyd.

Outside of the track (still within the Daytona Complex) - Geico Park West

A long walk or a tram ride into the infield

Also has zones, for example the ones closer to the tram, or the area for tent camping only.

Daytona provides the right of first refusal to campers that stayed the year prior. This makes it challenging for the first timer, but it allows for groups to know they can book their annual trip. Tickets right now for the Rolex aren’t available, because we are in the renewal period for existing campers

They used to limit popups to actual RV sites and not in the tent area, but over the lat 2 years we see more popups among the tenters. Definitely no RVs allowed on the tent and car areas.

Camping is open to the ticket holder from Monday before the race ...

Our guest on today's episode of The RV Atlas is Terence Young, the author of Heading Out: A History of American Camping, a delightful book about America's real favorite pastime. Terence is also Professor Emeritus of Geography at California State Polytechnic University. I read Heading Out about two years ago and I have wanted to have Terence on the RV Atlas podcast ever since. The book is packed with possible topics for podcast episodes and I could probably have Terence on the show for a hundred different topics. But I decided to talk to him about the history of the Coleman Company first.

As many of you know, I am a classic Coleman fanatic, and own quite a few stoves and lanterns from the 60's and 70's. I wrote about my Coleman obsession here and in the pages of ROVA Magazine.

Terence's book also has a fascinating section about the founder of Coleman, William Coffin Coleman, and the birth of the iconic Coleman Company, the most famous camping company in our country's history.

So having Terence on the show to discuss W.C. Coleman and the origin of his namesake company seemed like an obvious topic for a conversation on the podcast!

On today's show we head back to the 1920's to learn about an ambitious young businessman that started out by bringing light to business owners, and accidentally stumbled into the camping equipment industry. In a sense--he created the modern camping equipment industry.

William Coffin Coleman was a fascinating character and Terence brings him to life in this great interview on today's episode of The RV Atlas! You can listen to the show by clicking on the media player above, or by subscribing to The RV Atlas wherever you get your favorite podcasts!

Hope you take a listen and hope to see you at the campground!

-Jeremy

Jellystone Luray is, quite simply, one of the best family campgrounds in the country. The RV Atlas crew visited about 6 years ago and we absolutely loved it! You check out our original review here. We love that this campground offers an off-the-hook resort experience with views of Shenandoah National Park in the distance. Shenandoah is one of the most underrated national parks in the country, and the gates are just minutes away from Jellystone Luray.

To read a great list of things to do in Shenandoah National Park, please click here!

On today's episode of the RV Atlas we are talking to our great friend Bill Sferrazza about his recent trip to Jellystone Luray. Bill is the brilliant photographer behind @acamperandacamera on Instagram. He is also part of the dynamic duo behind @disneyimagemakers. This is an amazing Instagram account about all things Disney.

To listen to Bill's review of Jellystone Luray and here about the cool hikes he did in Shenadoah National Park, click on the media player above or subscribe to The RV Atlas wherever you get your podcasts!

Happy Father's Day everyone!

The spring of 2020 was a crazy difficult time for all of us, right?  We had to cancel several of our early and mid-spring RV trips because of Covid restrictions--and because we really did not have a grip on what was happening in the world. Cancelling those trips was sad and difficult to do. But we were also profoundly aware that, in the grand scheme of things, so many people were suffering at that time. Having to cancel an RV trip or two was a very small thing.  Something not worth complaining about.

But by Memorial Day of 2020 we were ready to go camping again--and restrictions in New Jersey and the surrounding states were in the process of being lifted. So we decided to keep our reservations at Moose Hillock NY and hitch up and head out for our first RV trip of the pandemic. I am thankful to the owners of Moose Hillock NY for how they handled the situation at that time. Before we decided to go we vacillated quite a bit about going.

During that window of hesitation I called Moose Hillock and spoke to Ed (one of the owners) about what their cancellation policy was at that time. He basically told me to do whatever I felt was best for my family and we could cancel and get a refund at any time. I am really grateful that he did that because it gave us some time to think through things before we decided that we HAD TO GET OUT OF THE HOUSE AND GO CAMPING!

To listen to last year's RV Atlas podcast about our trip to Moose Hillock NY and the Lower ADK's please click here.

Pandemic Camping in the Lower ADK's

It was a very different kind of camping trip to say the least. The rest stops on the way up to Moose Hillock NY were like ghost towns and there was no traffic going from NJ to NY. When we arrived at the campground the pool and playground were closed and there was yellow caution tape wrapped around the slides and swings. That tape was eventually pulled off by an ambitious youngster who wasn't having it--and I have to say--I didn't report him because I understood his primal urge to PLAY.

Even though we did not allow our kids in our friend's RV and vice versa we managed to have a great time in the great outdoors. We swam in Lake George, hiked, and enjoyed the natural beauty of the lower ADK's. Side note--looking back at my pandemic beard in the picture above I am not sure whether it was a source of pride or shame!

Returning to Moose Hillock NY for Memorial Day 2021

We Reserved The Same Site Both Years!

Fast forward a year later and we were back at Moose Hillock again for another Memorial Day campout! Thank the good lord the pandemic appeared to be ending, and the world seemed to be healing and returning to normal. AND THE AMAZING POOL AT MOOSE HILLOCK WAS OPEN!

Day time temperatures may have been in the 50's, but that did not stop us (the boys) from swimming every single day. Thank God our good friend Andee brought a little space heater for the cabana we rented so we could warm up (carefully!) after every swim. I also made sure that my Brutrek French Press was full of coffee for a post swim Cup of Joe. I love cold weather swimming and warming up with hot coffee afterwards.

Just to be clear, I'm no Wim Hoff--the pool was heated to 81 degrees after all!

Thank God the sun also decided to BURST OUT Monday night--and we were staying until Tuesday afternoon. So we had a glorious 3 hour window where we (the boys:) swam while the pool was almost empty. One of the water slides was not attended for a period of time so the boys went up and down five thousand times each at a very rapid clip!

Downtown Lake George

This year we were also pretty excited to visit downtown Lake George. Just about everything was closed when we visited last year! We spent a really fun day shopping and we had a great lunch at "The Lagoon" right dow...

Summer is in the air here at RV Atlas headquarters and we are looking forward to lots of beach days, camping trips, and baseball games.  And to be quite honest--we have been talking quite a lot about planning a big Southern California Beach Camping road trip with our boys for spring or summer 2022. So in other words--we are California Dreamin' in a pretty major way!

So the timing seemed perfect to have our friend Lauren Eber back on the show to talk about California beach camping and five great campgrounds from San Diego to Santa Barbara! Lauren is a lifelong California native and she loves to travel with her family in their van named "Yayho." You can follow their adventures @afamwithavan on Instagram.  She has been on the RV Atlas podcast several times and has helped us create some amazing content. Check out two of our favorite episodes with Lauren right here:

https://thervatlas.com/podcast/vanlife-with-kids/

https://thervatlas.com/podcast/planning-a-camping-trip-to-zion-national-park/

To listen to Lauren and Jeremy talk about Southern California beach camping and hear Lauren's detailed reviews of 5 great campgrounds from San Diego to Santa Barbara, click on the media player above, or subscribe to The RV Atlas wherever you get your shows!

For a brief overview of our discussion on the Southern California Beach Camping please check out Lauren's notes right below! All pictures compliments of Lauren Eber.

Lauren's Opening Thoughts on Southern California Beach Camping

Most of the beach campgrounds are part of the California State Park system, reservable on reservecalifornia.com, but there are also some local, federal, and private options.

They are very popular and the best bet is reserving well in advance, but it is possible to snag last-minute cancellations and walk-ups.

Weather tends to be mild, but be prepared for wind, bring plenty of sunscreen and water, and dress in layers. It’s often foggy and cool in the morning, sunny midday, and chilly again when the sun goes down.

Anytime you are camping within striking distance of the beach, it’s hard to go wrong, but these are some of our favorites between San Diego and Santa Barbara.

South Carlsbad State Beach Campground, Carlsbad (San Diego)

On a bluff with gorgeous views overlooking the ocean. Only a little bit of shrubbery or a tree separating the small sites, but the views are worth it. Walk down long staircase to the beach, or there is a wheelchair ramp available. Over 200 sites, a few with full hookups. RVs up to 34’.

Carlsbad Camp Store is being completely revamped to include a café, beach rentals, outdoor seating. Beach rentals and general store are open I believe, and check back to see about the café, but it looks like it will be great. https://www.windmillfoodhall.com/

In the meantime, grab takeout from Pelly’s Fish Market & Café, within walking distance, or drive 5 minutes to the Windmill Food Hall, with about 14 vendors in the landmark Carlsbad windmill building. https://www.windmillfoodhall.com/

Near one of our favorite So Cal family attractions, Legoland

Moro Campground in Crystal Cove State Park, Newport Coast 

On a bluff with incredible views across PCH from the coast.

58 sites; 28 for RVs up to 38’ with water and electric hookups; really nice bathhouses with new, clean showers and toilets

Short walk and tunnel across PCH to beach.

Great network of hiking trails departing from campground. “Short loop” is just about 3 miles with some elevation gain; great ocean views, better if you do the loop counter clockwise. Pick up a map from the park rangers.

Eat on the beach at the Crystal Cove Shake Shack (date shake is a favorite), or for a more formal sit-down, walk over to the Beachcomber.

Books give us an opportunity to journey across space and time in other's real-life or fictionalized adventures. We are excited to bring you this list of great books with travel themes.