City backs off on RV living ban

Williston, North Dakota city fathers have a problem: Too much of a good thing. Williston has become a boom town, complete with thousands of workers who need a place to hang up their boots at night. For many of them, the boot rack is in an RV, and the town council decided too many RVs were too much of a good thing: City commissioners proposed make living in an RV in Williston a crime.

The town fathers didn't plan on the backlash they received. In a recent council meeting, crowds begged the commissioners to send their plan packing and leave the RVers alone. One representative from a convenience store chain says over 70 percent of their employees live in RVs. In 45 minutes of testimony, only two people supported the RV-living ban--a woman who said a "man camp" in her neighborhood made her afraid to let the children outside, and an apartment complex manager who was tired of running RVs off her lot.

Estimates say Williston hosts some three to four hundred full-time RVers. The 2010 census said Williston had some 15,000 residents, but with the boom, figures are hard to come by.

Commissioners asked for a show of hands of those attending the meeting who opposed the proposed ban and a majority flagged the measure down. Taking an official, wait-and-see stance, city fathers then moved to open a 30-day written comment period on the proposal that would force RVers to live in RV parks or get out of Dodge.

photo: lindsey gee on flickr.com

New PR agency lands Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA)

The RV industry has a new public relations agency. Long-time RV industry veteran Jon Tancredi has launched TPR, and its first client is the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA).

Under the contract which starts April 23 the new Philadelphia-based public relations agency is charged with promoting the RV life to millions of prospects and current owners by generating positive stories in the national and local media.

While the agency and account are new, the messenger is well-seasoned to position RVing as the best way to travel. In his nearly 20 years of promoting the RV industry, Tancredi has secured positive coverage in all types of media outlets from business (The Wall Street Journal and FOX Business) to general news (TIME magazine and NBC TODAY) to entertainment (Jeopardy! and Keeping Up with the Kardashians).

“This is a fantastic opportunity to continue the job I’ve enjoyed over that past two decades working with RVIA and the industry. I’ve made my home here in the RV industry and it’s great to have the opportunity to come home,” says Tancredi.

Home is as big as the entire industry for Tancredi and his new agency, as the contract between RVIA and TPR is constructed so that TPR is not the agency of record for RVIA and provides a non-exclusivity relationship. This allows TPR to work with multiple businesses throughout the RV industry. This arrangement can provide an effective one-two synergistic punch for future TPR clients from the RV world.

The new agency's website is beginTPR.com.

Tucson's Voyager RV Resort receives top rating

Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc., owner and operator of Encore and Thousand Trails RV Resorts and Campgrounds, has announced that its Voyager RV Resort in Tucson, Arizona has received Woodall's highest rating of 5W for both facilities and recreation in the 2012 Woodall's North American Campground Directory, distinguishing it as one of the top RV campgrounds in the United States. Voyager RV Resort was one of only 363 RV resorts nationwide to receive the honor. The select group represents less than four percent of privately owned locations included in the 2012 edition.

Woodall's dual rating system assigns each resort a rating, ranging from 1W to 5W, which is indicative of a campground's overall development and facilities as well as recreation, whether onsite or nearby. A location with a 5W/5W rating generally reflects a highly developed facility with superior maintenance and abundant recreation options.

Voyager is home to more than 4,000 visitors during the peak season. It offers guests more than 300 planned activities and includes a nine-hole golf course, tennis and pickleball courts, heated pools, a restaurant, bar, fitness center, hot tubs and a sauna. For more information on Voyager RV Resort visit www.RvontheGo.com.

Bill would jack diesel prices, cut big truck costs

Got a diesel loving RV or tow vehicle? Hold on to your wallets, Congress is in session. A bipartisan proposal floated in Washington would jack the tax on diesel by six cents, while cutting taxes on big commercial trucks.

Representatives Jim Gelach (R-Penn) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore) have sponsored a bill that would tack on an additional 6.3 cents in federal road taxes for each gallon of diesel sold. On the other side of the bill, when trucking firms would see a 12 percent federal excise tax go away. Not surprisingly, American trucking interests are lauding the bill.

Quoted in a story by TruckNews.com, trucking industry representative Bill Graves says, "The proposal by Congressmen Gerlach and Blumenauer would not only reinforce the ailing Highway Trust Fund, but would provide a boost to US manufacturing and speed adoption of environmentally friendly technologies. It is exactly the kind of pro-growth, deficit-trimming legislation that lawmakers should be looking at as they seek to address our nation’s economic woes."

While American trucking firms may think the measure a good trade-off, others aren't so keen. Canadian trucking firms would see the price hike in fuel but no payoff in excise tax. And of course, recreational vehicle users will see no cut in their taxes either.

In simple math, a typical motorhome owner who gets eight-mile-per-gallon and puts 7,000 miles on his odometer will pay $55 more for his road tripping. On the other hand. the average truck purchase would see a cost saving of $15,000 if the bill passes.

Increase in Lyme disease feared. How to defend yourself

Headache, fever, fatigue and depression. What a set of symptoms to spoil and RV trip. Yet those are just the initial symptoms of Lyme disease, a nasty infection spread to humans through the bite of an infected tick. Health experts warn that a warm winter and a decrease in the rodent population may make this year one of the worst for the risk of getting Lyme disease. You can protect yourself by following simple precautions.

Keeping ticks away is your first line of defense. Ticks aren't hanging out in the middle of the lawn, they prefer shaded areas, particularly in the woods where leaves make for higher levels of humidity. When you walk in the woods, your exposure to ticks increases dramatically. That doesn't mean you have to swear off walks in the woods.

Tick repellent clothing is available, and so are EPA registered repellents you can put on before hiking or walking. But even your choice of non-treated clothes can make a difference. Wear a hat, long-sleeved shirts, and skip the shorts--wearing long pants tucked into your socks will make less skin area available to those hungry ticks. Light colored clothing will make ticks visibly stand out--hopefully before they can get a bite. And watch out for your pets--they can can bring ticks into your RV or your house. Appropriate pest-repelling collars can help.

After a walk in an area where ticks hang out, it's best to look yourself over and maybe have help in doing so. If you find a tick has attached itself, remove it as quickly as you can. Here's how the Centers for Disease Control recommend evicting one of these unwanted insects:

1. Use fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin's surface as possible.

2. Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don't twist or jerk the tick; this can cause the mouth-parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth-parts with tweezers. If you are unable to remove the mouth easily with clean tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal.

3. After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scrub, or soap and water.

If you're concerned the tick may have Lyme disease, here's what to watch for: A rash or fever that develops within several weeks after the tick bite. The rash from Lyme disease often has a peculiar "bullseye" formation. If any of these symptoms occur, check with you doctor, be sure to tell him about the bite, when it happened, and where you were geographically located when the tick got a hold of you. This latter information is important as some areas of the US are more prone to Lyme disease than others--simply being bitten by a tick doesn't mean you'll get Lyme disease, the tick may not have the disease.

Don't let the fear of Lyme disease frighten you away from enjoying the RV lifestyle. Take simple precautions and keep your eyes open and you'll find the great outdoors are still great.

Photo: Deer tick, US Department of Agriculture.

Popular RV book heads into fourth printing

HARRELLS, N.C. -- Book author Mark Polk, owner of RV Education 101, recently announced that his self-published book titled “The RV Book” is headed back to the printer for a fourth printing.

Since its initial release in December of 2005 The RV Book has gone through two revisions and a third printing. To date The RV Book has sold over 46,000 copies in print form and several thousand E-book versions.

Since its initial release in December of 2005 The RV Book has gone through two revisions and a third printing. To date it has sold more than 46,000 copies in print form and several thousand E-book versions.

“The RV Book is our best-selling print book. Book inventory levels dropped below 300 copies in April so we are prepping the book for a fourth printing," said Polk.

Dawn Polk, co-owner and sales and marketing director said, “The RV Book is a great resource for any RV owner’s personal library. It covers the entire scope of RV ownership, from buying an RV to maintaining an RV.”

Mark Polk is the author of two other paperback books and 14 e-books covering everything from how-to buy an RV to RV care and maintenance.

“Our goal is to enhance the RV owner’s experiences through education. After reading my book RV owners and soon to be owners will thoroughly understand what a recreation vehicle is, how to buy it, and once they own it, how to use it,” Mark added.

The RV Book is available at RVbookstore.com.

RV resort "pool-mageddon" gets two month reprieve

In a move that has left many RV park owners breathing a sigh of relief, the US Department of Justice issued a 60-day hold on a rule that would have made RV parks and other facilities with swimming pools install ramps or wheelchair lifts to make access for the disabled much easier.

Dubbed "pool-mageddon" by those who opposed the expanded rules under the Americans With Disabilities Act, publicly accessible pools and spas would have been required to added access ramps or lifts to aid disabled people. Many RV park owners had understood that portable lifts, which could be stored away when not in use, would have been acceptable under the mandate. However, just before the new law would have swung into place, questions popped up that caused some to worry that the lifts would have had to have been permanently placed.

The problem, said many resort owners, was a vision of unsupervised children climbing on the lifts, possibly falling off them and into the water, or perhaps worse, onto unyielding concrete pool decks. Many RV park owners said the specter of liability issues would force them to simply close their pools down rather than to comply with the new law.

Late in March, the Obama administration granted a 60-day reprieve, suggesting it might even float a six month moratorium on the law, allowing time for the government and pool owners to sort out the issues.

photo: opemed on flickr.com