RV LIFE Podcast
The RV LIFE Podcast, created by one of the premier companies in the RV industry, is for the RV Community with a mission to Educate, Entertain and Explore the RV Lifestyle. The Podcast will explore all things RV Life: living, working, exploring, learning. With hosts Dan & Patti Hunt, full time RVers, content creators, educators and explorers.
RV LIFE Podcast
Top Recommendations for Renovating Your RV
Looking to renovate your RV? I (Patti Hunt) sit down with a home renovation enthusiast and designer, passionate about transforming spaces… especially campers. My expert guest Lisa Rice of Rice Camp and I discussed a myriad of tips for making your RV feel more like home, from personalized decor to maximizing comfort and functionality and touches on various aspects of RV life—renovation, comfort, storage solutions, and optimizing outdoor living spaces. Sponsored segments introduce useful tools and services like Open Road Resorts, CLEAR2O water filters, and the Open Roads fuel card to enhance your RV experience
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Are you looking to make your RV more homey? Today's guest has lots of great tips and you don't want to miss it. I'm Patty Hunt and you're listening to the RV Life Podcast. I am sitting right now by a lake in Susquehanna County, pennsylvania, and looking out at this view. It is absolutely beautiful. After three years traveling full time on the road, you just don't get tired of these types of places. Today, I'm going to try and stay focused, because we have lots to talk about when it comes to renovating, remodeling your rig, and I'm so excited for today's guest because she has an amazing wealth of information to help us with RV remodels Now.
Speaker 1:The RV Life Podcast was created to educate, entertain and explore the RV lifestyle, with the mission to inspire you to live life to the fullest. Whether you're full-time, part-time, sometime or dreaming of the RV lifestyle, we are here to provide great guests that will help you through the process. This week, on what you Need to Know, it's brought to you by Open Road Resorts, and they have five amazing locations. Two of their locations are in Montana, one in Idaho, one in Texas and their newest location is in Nebraska. You're listening to this podcast at the end of August and there is still time to get to Yellowstone National Park, to visit these amazing Montana and Idaho locations. The weather is still nice and the crowds are not as big. Great time to plan that last minute trip. So today, on, what you Need to Know, it's just a couple weeks out from the Hershey RV Show today. And what you need to know it's just a couple weeks out from the Hershey RV show. And the Hershey RV show is actually called America's Largest RV Show and what you need to know is the RV Life Hershey After Party. This year is the third year, the third annual party, and tickets are selling fast. It was just about a week ago that I got the number for the tickets and they are selling fast. So you want to go to the link below to grab your ticket if you're going to be in and around the Hershey area.
Speaker 1:New this year is the RV Entrepreneur Workshop. This is a full day of information. If you are an entrepreneur, you're looking to become an entrepreneur, you cannot miss this workshop. There's going to be such a wealth of information Lithionics, batteries, open Road Resorts, open Roads, fuel Card, jayco RV TV Work Amp for News, rv Photo, queen Travel, fi, soft Start RV General RV Center Clear, 2-0, and Uplift Desk, to name a few. This, what you Need to Know, is brought to you by Open Road Resorts. Let's get into today's guest, lisa Rice, a home renovation enthusiast and designer passionate about transforming spaces. When she is not working on a renovation project, she is exploring the beautiful state of Oregon with her husband and two kids. Her incredible renovations have been seen in places like the Wall Street Journal, better Homes and Gardens, insider Trailer, life magazine and All Things Camper Renovating Book. Lisa Rice, welcome to the RV Life podcast.
Speaker 2:Thanks, patti, it's so nice to be here. Thank you for having me on. Thanks, patty, it's so nice to be here. Thank you for having me on.
Speaker 1:I'm so happy to have you on, so excited to talk all things renovations. But let's get to know you. Your husband and you have two young kids. Where did the whole idea?
Speaker 2:now you say camping camping and RVing or interchangeable terms. Where did that all start? How did that all start? So we've been camping in my family for generations. My grandparents actually started camping. They would take their buggies and horses. My grandpa would go out to Malala, oregon, and they would camp for a month in these giant tents and I recently saw a picture of it. It's an incredible setup. And then my parents they got a pop-up in the 70s and they camped with us and when I was born we still had it for a while and then they got rid of that and we tent camped for years. And then my husband and I we camped in a tent for years also and then when we had kids, we eventually got a pop-up camper and I started renovating those and selling them also. But we love the outdoors.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we spend a lot of time outside. We're going to get into all the renovations and you are here to share tips with my listeners. If they're looking to renovate, you're going to help them with that. So they were in horse and buggy and you said you have a picture, you've got to send it. So for my listeners I will make sure that picture gets put on RV Life's podcast, instagram and Facebook. That is such a cool story and so cool that you have pictures of it and stories from you're the first guest that's been on that camping goes that far back in your family, so very, very cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's so fun. It's so fun to see that picture. We were actually last weekend. My husband and I went out to Malala, Oregon, where my grandpa was camping, and it's just cool to be able to see where they were so many years ago.
Speaker 1:And Oregon. We're going to talk about that a little in the podcast too, because Oregon is the state that I went to 10 years ago. We flew in for my stepson's wedding and I just fell in love with the area, so we're going to talk about that as well. But let's get into where renovations started. There was something about the ugliest, oldest trailer. Tell us about that.
Speaker 2:So when we started, or we thought we were done renovating our house which we weren't we still are doing renovation projects on it, but I thought we were just about done and I love renovating. So I was looking for more projects. My husband was really not, but he wasn't super on board. But he became on board after I did that first one and so I said I'll just find the cheapest, ugliest thing I can find. So it's not a huge investment. And I found this old $400 pop-up trailer from the 1970s and I was so excited to renovate that I completely renovated the whole thing in one week and had a buyer and had bought another one before the second week came and he quickly got on board with it. So since then I've done about one or two every year and I usually try and renovate in the spring and sell it before summer, but sometimes we camp in them and sometimes we don't. But it's such a fun side project to do.
Speaker 1:Wow Side project. It sounds like a big undertaking. Side project. It sounds like a big undertaking. So wow. So you buy the campers cheap they're usually pretty bad shape and then renovate them and sell them. So people if they're looking for a renovated travel trailer, they can or pop up, they can reach out for when you have one for sale. And you said you do one or two a year. And that's cool, because for somebody like me, I just want it done. Renovation is not my thing. But do you have a background in interior design? What's your background? Because I've been on your social media, stalking your social media and you are amazing with what you create in a pop-up or a travel trailer. It's amazing. Do you have a background in it?
Speaker 2:Oh, thank you so much. Well, so I've loved design my whole life and I've always loved it, and my husband and I have renovated several homes together, so that's mostly where my experience came from renovating homes and selling them. And since then, since being on Instagram and getting a following, interior design projects have come my way, and so I've gained some experience there too. But I just love it. I love doing projects and I love renovating. I love making old things new again.
Speaker 1:It sounds like just a very natural thing, like some people could go to school and learn how to do it. Sounds like just a very natural thing for you and, like I said, people need to check out. Let's just tell people where to check you out on. You are on TikTok and you're on YouTube, but your main platform is Instagram and that's rice underscore camp, correct, yes? Where they could see the videos and all the amazing things you've done. Okay, so let's talk about something we are going to get into tips. We're going to help people. Now let me take a step back.
Speaker 1:When Dan and I first decided we were going to go RVing, I had been camping RVing in an RV for seven total nights. That was my experience and two weekends in a tent. That was my total experience. It was during COVID and he said let's just sell everything and buy an RV. And after I was done laughing, I realized he was serious and I jumped in both feet. We took three months, jumped in with both feet, and when we went looking for RVs, I had no experience, no background. When I was looking for our RV, we knew we wanted a class A diesel pusher, we wanted 40 foot and the one thing I was looking for was enough cabinet space for my espresso machine. That was what was top of mind for me, go figure.
Speaker 2:I love that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's not the best choice, but it was a 2002 Monaco diplomat, so love the wood cabinets, but it definitely needed the renovations. So I wish I had met you before we renovated. We did do some renovating projects. I'll be honest. I love to create the ideas of what I want, but I want somebody else to come in and make it happen, so I think we'd work well together. So give some tips. This started a while ago. When people are looking to renovate, where to start?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I have four main categories that I like to use to make your RV a little more home-like. So those four categories are personalization, comfort, functional spaces and outdoor living. So I can talk about each one if you'd like.
Speaker 2:Please, yes, please do, okay. So I feel like the biggest one is personalization. So there's some things in that category that can be really easy to do, and then there's some things that you can make into a bigger project that will make a bigger impact. So one of the simple things you could do is to add decor, so personal touches, like adding family photos, your favorite art pieces, even throw blankets and throw pillows, can make a huge difference in making it feel more like home. Another thing and because I specialize in pop-up trailers and there's windows all the way around, so curtains and those are the first thing that I change when I renovate a pop-up trailer is I love to rip down the curtains. A lot of times they're brown. I don't know why decor in trailer is always brown, but it's fine if brown's your thing, but for a lot of people it isn't.
Speaker 1:And on that note I agree, in a Class A people can relate. And Class Cs they have those thick boxes. They stick out about eight inches. You've got this tight space and while that doesn't seem like a lot, so I've ripped that down and put curtains and you're right, everything in there was browns and tan. Now when you rip that off, I know for me trying to find curtains to put up the way that you have to attach it could be a little bit of a challenge. And I want to talk to people because you developed a curtain clip. Can you talk about that? This would be a good time to talk about these curtain clips.
Speaker 2:Yes, so with the pop-up trailers, there was no easy way to attach new curtains and curtains are such a big deal. I tried all kinds of things. I tried hot gluing command hooks onto the old rails, I tried all kinds of things, that and they would always fall down. And so, uh, about a year and a half ago, we got a 3d printer and I talked to my son, who's loves 3d printing, and my husband and I was like I know exactly what we need. This would change the game for pop-up trailers, campers all over the place, people that want to renovate. So we came up with a simple design and it easily snaps on and you can hook on any material for pop-up trailers and I now sell them in my Etsy shop. But that can make a huge difference, just swapping out the curtains.
Speaker 1:And we're going to put that, we're going to link that in the show notes for people, because it's things like that that make all the difference in you know, and again, when it comes to renovating, I came up with some creative things for the curtains for the class A, but it is things like that that, until you find that answer could be, for me could be frustrating.
Speaker 2:It was frustrating for me for years and then finally figuring out a way to do it just made things so much easier, absolutely.
Speaker 1:And to your point, curtains are such a big deal. We took them out, we put thick light blocking and thermal curtains and you know, because we traveled all over full time. There are times we didn't like the cold weather but there are times it's chillier and that helped with the heat and the and the cold. So curtains are a big deal and I think that's a big. I could imagine in a pop-up with all the windows having curtains, and I'm imagining my head some brighter colors. That's just me, okay. So what's some other suggestions you'd have?
Speaker 2:for people. So some other things to personalize your space would be to change the color scheme. So you mentioned bright colors. So whatever you love at home, bring that into your RV and you know it can be simple, like the pillow and the throw blanket, or you can make it a little more complicated, but I think it's a fun project. But painting cabinets, painting walls, bring in your colors. That can really change a space in a big way, that is a big one, I.
Speaker 1:So I have a hard time committing when it comes to decorating, but with pillows and throw blankets and adding little touches, color wise, you know, just the the hand towels in the kitchen, cause you see that when you walk in, I it was. It was kind of tough, but I sat and I thought what is my favorite parts of being out in? You know, camping, rving and the sunsets. So I use the colors in the sunsets because that always just gives me that warm feeling, and so I brought those colors in and that kind of decor in. So you know, for people who are like me that have a hard time deciding on a decor, I guess a lot of people are looking for themes Is there, you know? Or they could just use a color scheme, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, whatever, whatever makes you feel good. You know if, for me, I love blue, so I'm always, I feel like I'm always putting blue in every room at home and in my trailers. So, yeah, whatever feels like home to you, add that in and you'll feel more comfortable when you're in there and more at home. Another thing is plants, so, whether they're real or fake, adding in something that brings nature inside your RV can make a big difference too.
Speaker 1:I, and that is a big thing for me, because when I was in a house I had lots and lots of plans. I had a garden. I used to have vegetables. That's a big transition. Now, I'll be honest, I had a couple of plans for the RV, but as much as we moved around, they didn't survive. I'm usually great with plants, so for me I just enjoyed the nature, but I could see where that would make a huge difference. And, like you said, the ones that are, I'm going to say, fake, for lack of a better term they could be beautiful. I mean, there's some beautiful plants that aren't real and you can't tell.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. I do not have a green thumb I wish I did, but so I often use those fake plants to help bring in nature. And because I love being outside and I love nature, I love plants, but I'm just always killing them. So I'm thankful there's options for people like me too, right?
Speaker 1:Give us some other tips you have there.
Speaker 2:Okay, and then the last thing I had for personalization is changing out the hardware. So this is a simple thing you can do. It doesn't cost too much and it's easy to change out. So find some cabinet handles or drawer pulls. There's a lot of different stylish options that can really change the look of your cabinets just by changing out that small little piece.
Speaker 1:That sounds like a great idea. I counted one time I think I had some 42 cabinets. Oh wow, a Monaco Diplomat. They're storage space cabinets and again, real wood cabinets. So I didn't want to paint them, I would have like refinished them. I love the look of natural wood and, to your point, find what you love. If somebody's painting their cabinets white and that doesn't work for you, do what works. And I was thinking about knobs, like wooden knobs, and I wanted to have each of our kids' names and then each grandkid on each of them. Oh, I love that. Five kids, four married, nine grandkids Fills quite a few of those cabinets.
Speaker 2:There you go, and room for more.
Speaker 1:I'm not sure they might be done. But yes, and it's fun, things like that that people can think about. You know what's fun. There's no right or wrong. Okay, absolutely, you had another category. What's next?
Speaker 2:So my next category is comfort. So when you're out and you want a space that feels like home, bring in all the comforts of home, and for me that can mean a comfortable bed. Having a comfortable bed makes a big difference, so you can use a memory foam topper, a new mattress, things like that your RV furniture to something a little more comfortable. If you have a couch, that maybe isn't comfortable, but sometimes they are really comfortable, the ones that come in there, but changing out the pieces so that you can get a good night's sleep and that you have a comfortable place to sit, that can make a big difference and that was one of the things.
Speaker 1:So we had a queen-size bed. It was a RV mattress mattress. We extended it, we got the king size bed and we were able to get the mattress that rolls up. They're actually fantastic. The one we purchased was from costco. I like the it's called novo foam mattress. As a matter of fact, I just the other day bought one for the house that I'm staying in Because, you're right, you need a comfortable mattress, I need a good night's sleep, and that made a big difference. And then we had the old couch that was 20 years old and we changed that out for the theater seating. It really makes a big difference of making it feel like home and I think that homey feeling even if you're going out once in a while on a weekend, it makes such a difference.
Speaker 2:It really does. And something else that you can add in for comfort is lighting. Lighting makes a huge difference on how you feel and how a space feels. So having ambient lighting maybe some lamps, add in a few lamps, some soft LED light bulbs uh string lights can give off a really nice comfortable uh lighting in your space. But adding in some comfortable lighting inside and outside can make it feel a little more homey.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Yes, that's a great idea. Again, some of these RVs, the kind of light we had, like these sconces that were just. Every time I looked at them they were they're just ugly, they were just they're switching those out Absolutely made a big difference and you could do these things relatively inexpensively right. You have some suggestions.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely so you can just go to on Amazon. I get a lot of things on Amazon and there's inexpensive lights there. You can use Facebook Marketplace to find a cute lamp and add that in. But yeah, these things don't have to cost a lot of money. To change your RV to make it more comfortable and home-like at all. You can lot of money to change your RV to make it more comfortable and home-like at all. You can even bring in some lamps from home. If you have a house and you want your RV to feel more comfortable, bring a lamp, plug it in and it's free and it makes it feel a lot more homey.
Speaker 1:Great tips and I'm going to. I just have to take a little bit of a break here because I have some sponsors that help the show to keep going, and Clear 2.0 is one of my sponsors. Feeling like you're at home is fantastic and I think that having good tasting, good smelling water is so important and that can be difficult when you're staying at campgrounds. I started using the Clear 2.0 gravity water filter pitcher being in the house, but I could absolutely would have great use in an RV or a camper. With Clear 2.0, you get the purest, great tasting water.
Speaker 1:I chose Clear 2.0 because of the way it blocks the contaminants. I've done the research, I've tried on their brands and they have a solid carbon filter that cleans the water down to one micron or less than one micron in the case of the pitcher, and the pore size is what's most important. So less is more in this case and it really captures the most contaminants. When I use this water pitcher, the water tastes better, it smells better, I know it's safer and that is so important. And people can check them out on clear20.com. There is a link in the show notes to get 15% off now, so that discount will be running out. I highly recommend it. Okay, so let's go back to making your RV homey.
Speaker 2:So the next category I wanted to talk about is functional spaces. So having good functional spaces can really be a game changer for camping, so that things are put away and organized and it doesn't feel so chaotic. So finding furniture that has multiple, like a storage ottoman, a dining table that can be used as a workspace, things like that can really make a difference.
Speaker 1:I know for me that was a huge difference. So Dan and I have explored through our Lens YouTube channel and the podcast and we definitely needed workspace. Exploring through our Lens YouTube channel and the podcast, we definitely needed workspace. And in class A there's opposing couches. The couch on the one side was turned into a desk for him, and then I was at the ugly dinette that has just a piece pulled from out of the wall.
Speaker 1:We had chairs there and we took the table out. We had chairs there and we took the table out. We just ripped it out and I wanted the real wood look. So we went to a lumber yard, picked out the piece of wood. They stained it, did whatever they do to it, it has the live edge and that went up against the window. So two chairs could go against the window and you could look out onto the beautiful whatever you're looking at. And that made such a difference because now it's the dining room, you know, for eating, but it's also my workspace and that is probably my favorite part of what we did in the RV.
Speaker 2:That sounds really beautiful too. I love that live edge. That is a cool touch to did in the RV. That sounds really beautiful too. I love that live edge. That is a cool touch to have in an RV. Something else I would say is storage solutions can help make spaces a lot more functional too, so you can use your under bed storage ways to maximize that by using collapsible bins and then in your closet spaces using vertical shelving. That can make a huge difference.
Speaker 1:Now I'm going to put you on the spot a little bit. Do you do things with organizing, Because that's a whole topic in itself. Do you have video?
Speaker 2:So I don't specialize in organizing, but for pop-up trailers it's all hidden away and no one knows that you're hiding a bunch of toys in there for the kids or things like that. But yeah, I feel like I've I've had to become a story. I have to learn storage with such small spaces and with kids. I feel like a lot of times you got to keep those toys hidden away, Right?
Speaker 1:And that's awesome. Putting it in a basket and kind of putting a nice throw over it, that can work really super well. That sounds awesome and sometimes we have to embrace the chaos and the mess Absolutely. It's taken me a long time to be okay with that. Then sometimes there's just it's a lived in, but that's a great quick solution. Okay, we want to clean up. Everybody throw things in a bin and put the throw blanket over it Sounds like a great quick solution for that.
Speaker 2:Yes, yep, Wet toys they're hidden away Right exactly.
Speaker 1:Sounds like a good idea.
Speaker 2:So something else in the functional spaces category I would add is I'd put internet under functional spaces. So if you are camping or living in an RV, having a RV with internet that's reliable can make it a lot more home-like and a lot more um usable so that you can be on the road and you can be um working on the road too. So, um, we have friends that use Starlink and I've heard good things about that Um, but having reliable internet can be a game changer for people to be able to camp and be away for longer periods of time?
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and that's a topic in itself, because if you're just watching a movie or just you know, on the Internet, searching things way different than uploading a podcast or a video, than uploading a podcast or a video. We did have Starlink and that worked well for us. And then we got the T-Mobile home just to give people some ideas and suggestions. I'm making. It's a box, it's a, you know, not that big, I don't even think it's 12 inches high and that worked really well for us in most places as well. I know that is a huge question on social media, people always asking about internet, but those are two good solutions. And to your point, yes, it could feel like home, especially with kids. Today it is a rainy day. It's been raining for two days. I love it, but I can't imagine having two little kids. They get antsy. It might be a good time for popcorn and movie night.
Speaker 2:Yes. Fantastic yes that sounds good. And then the last thing I was going to talk about is outdoor living, and I feel like when I'm camping I spend more time outside than inside. So making your outside an extension of your home can really make it feel more home-like, and having a comfortable outdoor seating area, a nice grill, an outdoor cinema like we were just talking about, get a projector and a screen so you can do movie night can really make a big difference.
Speaker 1:And I agree when people would say, well, how do you? We actually did. I think a video, if not a podcast, on no, it's a podcast on how to live in 400 square feet of space or less without killing each other. Your outdoor space is your greatest gift, and to walk out of the RV and sit down and watch the lake with my cappuccino is just. That makes a difference with not feeling closed in. So outdoor space is fantastic. I'm friends with an owner of a company it's Lido Luxury in the Outdoors, and we purchased some beautiful tablecloths from her. They just the colors again, bright colors. It was yellow with flowers on it. That I just love. When you walk out into that space, it's an extension of your quote unquote home. So that is a great tip and again making it feel like yours.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely. And you can add in some outdoor rugs, the string lights, the same things we talked about for the inside your favorite colors, the lighting you can, the comfort you can. Bring all of that outside. Use those same concepts outside to make a comfortable space out there too.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and that is probably one of those how to save a marriage kind of tips. Yes, so if he was inside editing, I cannot tolerate listening to that same thing over and over again. Sure, wear a headset, I had to get out. So, yes, that's a great tip and I find it made all the difference. Now we're going to talk about outside space. I want to talk about Oregon. It is one of my favorite space states to visit. I know it's a big state, but I've been in many places in Oregon and I want to talk about that. But first I want to talk about I'm in Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1:Traveling to Oregon would take a lot of diesel fuel and I love the Open Roads fuel card. The card is free to sign up for. You save on diesel fuel every time you go to get fuel. It has been fantastic. I've literally saved thousands of dollars over the three years I've been using this card. The app just tells you exactly where to go, what the cost of the fuel is. Open Roads. Go to myopenroadscom and find out all about this fuel card. If you have diesel, it's an absolute no-brainer, so I just want to let people know about that. But you and your family love to explore Oregon and you share these family adventures. Let's talk about Oregon, tell us, paint us the picture.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love Oregon. I grew up here, lived here my whole life. I love how green Oregon is. When people come here, when friends visit from out of state, the first thing they always say is it's so green here. It happens to do because we get so much rain, but it is a beautiful spot. There's so many great places to camp and hike and be outside and there's great variety. Also in Oregon. We have the beautiful coastline, we have the mountains, we have the high desert, we have just such beautiful forests here. So there's a lot of great places to explore and it's a great place to be in an RV.
Speaker 1:The first place I went in Oregon was to Bend. Oh, I love Bend, it's just, it's hard to describe. We went in June and so I was working I was a teacher at the time and I was working and when I thought of vacations in June, I was thinking I need summer, I need sunshine. You know, that's what I usually look for. And we got there and it was rainy and chilly oh no, but it was. There was some.
Speaker 1:We left there saying there was something magical about it. I can't tell you what it is, I can't put my finger on it. It was one of those states. We'd gone there, probably 11 years ago, and I said that's this is definitely a place I have to come back to. It was just magical, even with the rain and it being chilly. Truly a magical place. We went whitewater rafting oh fun, oh, just hikes. We took hikes, we saw waterfalls. There's so much there and, you're right, it's green, so you get a lot of rain, just like here in Pennsylvania, but it is truly a magical place. And then we were on the coast of Oregon. So we went up and down the coast, stayed at a number of different campgrounds on the coast of Oregon and again, you're by the Pacific Ocean, watching the sunset at night on the beach. There's nothing like it. There's just nothing like it.
Speaker 2:Yes, we love the coast. We're actually leaving tomorrow to camp along the coast. The coast we're actually leaving tomorrow to camp along the coast and I can't wait. There's the place we're going to. It's in Florence. There's dunes, these big sand dunes that go into lakes, so you can run down the sand dune right into a lake and the ocean is right past that and the forest is there. It just kind of has everything you want in a campground for fun. But yeah, we love Oregon and even though it rains a lot, the summers are just like perfect here.
Speaker 1:Yes, I actually stayed in Florence. That's where there's the little town with all the little shops, right, am I thinking?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, there's so much history. The bridge there we did video there. It's on our YouTube channel Exploring Through Our Lens. That town was amazing and if you're there, if you don't know about the, there is off the dock. So when you walk down the strip like there's stores and it's just again it's there's a lot of shops that you could buy things, but it doesn't feel touristy. I like the, the homeier feeling places. But when you walk down to the end of it, where the pier is, down below I guess off of the ocean, is a crab place and they had the best crab soup ever. We the guy who owns the place told a story. It was just again. These places are truly magical. So much history there. Highly recommend it. So I'm going to put that. So everybody should go check that out. Highly recommend it.
Speaker 2:So any more tips? We're not done yet, but do you have other things that you suggest places to go? In Oregon? It is often they get some like 200 and some days of sunshine there, so it's typically not too rainy. In Bend it's the high desert. That's a great spot for outdoor activities. The coastline, like we were talking about, is absolutely stunning. So many great beaches. But then Mount Hood. Mount Hood is just gorgeous and it is very green. If you want green, mount Hood area is perfect for that. And then national park-wise, crater Lake is a must-see. We have that beautiful Blue Lake in the south of Oregon, so if you're wanting to see that, I highly recommend it. I live near Portland, the city. There's so many great restaurants and things to do there too. So, yeah, it's a great place and I encourage you to come visit, and if you do, send me a message on Instagram, maybe I'll take you out to dinner. That sounds fantastic.
Speaker 1:I've not had that offer too often. That sounds great. I love that. I just want to take a brief break and talk about NIRVC, which is National Indoor RV Centers.
Speaker 1:Unfortunately, for some people, they're looking toward putting their RV in storage. It's coming to the end of the summer. For a lot of us. There's still a lot of great weeks left to go out. But if you are looking to store your RV, national Indoor RV Centers is the place to do it. They have six locations across the country and they just do it right. They started out as a storage facility. They were committed to doing it right. They will take care of everything for you. So you put your RV in storage, they'll take care of everything that needs to be taken care of and they will get it ready for you when you come to pick it up. So I highly recommend National Indoor RV Centers for your storage needs.
Speaker 1:And again, it's hard to talk about coming to the end of the summer. That's a tough one, but for those of us that are still looking to travel, it's time for the question of the week. This question is going to be for you, lisa, and it is brought to you by OpenRoads, innovative Toll Solutions. This is a toll pass that covers all 48 states. I've gotten the fines going through waiting for the, you know they mail you out. This is what you owe. By the time I got to it, fees were tacked on spent a lot of money. Openroads Innovative Toll Solutions covers all 48 states, costs $24 a year one toll pass and they have concierge service that'll help you if you ever do get a fine. They've been fantastic. Highly recommend it. So we've talked a lot about Oregon and places for people to go, but I like to ask my guest about a bucket list item. You still you have something on a bucket list you could. You're shaking your head Good Cause, I usually put people in this spot where I do.
Speaker 2:I have. I have a lot of bucket list items that I still want to do, but speaking of RVing, my I feel like my top destination I would like to go is Yosemite. I have not yet been to Yosemite and I would love to go there and camp, and so it's not that far, it's drivable. I'm adding that to my list. Have you been there? I?
Speaker 1:have. We were there. Actually it was more of a tease because I think we were only there for the day. So definitely some place that I have on my bucket list to go back spend time there whether it's in an RV or they have cabins and stuff you could rent there, but that is an incredible place. It's funny because I went there before I started RVing. So when we okay, I did we were going RVing and I said to Dan well, what's this going to look like? I couldn't imagine doing business. What's this going to look like? And he said, oh, we could go to every national park in the country. And I was like all that sounds interesting, but I'm not sure that'd be my goal. And in the over three years that we were RVing full-time, we've been to zero national parks. Oh, wow, not one single national park. Because we love the small towns, we love the off-the-road places and just really enjoyed that and just never got to them. So they are on my bucket list to do for sure.
Speaker 2:Nice, you got a little taste though.
Speaker 1:I did, I got a taste of it. So again, remind people how they can reach out to you. We're not finished, but remind people how they can reach out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the best place to find me is on Instagram, so rice underscore camp and you can reach me there. I'm also on YouTube, tiktok not so much, but I am there and I like to post to Pinterest as well, but Instagram is my go to place.
Speaker 1:Instagram's your big place. Okay, and if people want to reach out, they can go to RV Life Podcast on Instagram or Facebook. We will be posting about the episode. People could ask questions there. Would love to hear from people if they've ever been to Oregon, if it's a place they'd like to go or anything we've talked about. Would love to hear about renovations they've done and we can share those with each other.
Speaker 1:It's now time talking about campgrounds and places to go. It's now time for the feature campground of the week and it's brought to you by RV Life. This week's feature campground is Thousand Trails, palm Springs in Palm Desert. California trails, palm Springs in Palm Desert, california. It has 401 sites and this campground has full hookups. It has pull through sites, the dog park cabin and onsite rentals.
Speaker 1:I've stayed at this campground and the one thing again I'd love the feel of the area. That seems to be a theme here in our conversation. But this campground you pull in. I'll be honest, the sites are tight. They are. We have a 40 foot. We were able to park. Took a little doing but we were able to park. But the feel of the campground, the people there, the campground itself, the area just has a warm and welcoming feel.
Speaker 1:The campground does have a solid 7.1 rating on the RV Life campgrounds, with 162 reviews, and you can get to all this by visiting campgroundsrvlifecom. The nice thing is when you go to campgroundsrvlifecom, this campground has a book now button so you can book right from that site. You could also go to campgroundsrvlifecom to see more photos and tips. The area has so much to offer. You could see all the amenities of this property as well.
Speaker 1:As you know, campgrounds and the RV parks, the campgrounds, the resorts, city, state, national parks. There's so much you could see on campcronstrvlifecom and if you're not part of RV Life, you could still access it. But if you want full access, go to RV Life and there is a link for 25% off. So happy to be able to offer that. Okay, lisa. So much great information and when people go to Instagram, they can find so many great tips. I mean the stuff that you have done. I sat there after we spoke I think we spoke weeks ago and I went on to Instagram and I just saw all the things you've done and I'm like, wow, I love that and I love that. It just it, it just was. So the big thing is these RVs no longer look like RVs. They really truly look like a home.
Speaker 2:That is my goal. I want people to feel at home when they're camping and I want to encourage people to want to get out. Um, I have friends that say, oh, I would never camp, I don't want to. You know it doesn't, it's not as comfortable, but it can be so comfortable, it can be just, it can be what you make it and if you bring in some home-like touches, it can. You can make being outside and sleeping outside so much more comfortable.
Speaker 1:And and you have truly done that Again I'm going to encourage people to go to Instagram rice underscore camp, check it out, ask questions. Just I can't say enough about it because what you've done is truly amazing. Thank you so much for being on the podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me. This has been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:It truly has, and I can't wait for us to continue talking and to come out to Oregon and visit with you.
Speaker 2:Yes, I'll take you to dinner.
Speaker 1:Sounds great. You have been listening to the RV Life Podcast. I'm Patty Heim, wishing you a great rest of today and an even better day tomorrow.