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
Harvest Hosts Upgrades: Stay Extra Nights and Enjoy Hookups—A Game-Changer for RVers!
Today I (Patti Hunt) share some big news about Harvest Hosts...the place to go for the unique camping experiences. My guests Dominic Camillaci and Laura Kernodle talk about important changes such as:
*Harvest Hosts now offers extra nights and hookups at select locations
* 30% off all Harvest Hosts products through January 12th with code HOLIDAYHH
*Merger between Harvest Hosts and Escapees RV Club has been successful
Reach out to Harvest Hosts with Questions
Harvest Hosts CEO Joel Holland Podcast Episode July 25, 2024 Episode #92
Articles referred to in the podcast
My RV Essentials
Colorado to NY in a Pop-Up Camper
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* Thousand Trails Membership Specialist Journey Membership
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* Harvest Hosts: Code: HUNT20 % Off
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* CLEAR2O Save 20% w/ Code: RVLIFEPODCAST
* National Vehicle Buy or Sell Your RV
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* Motorhome Tires: $50 discount ...
Are you ready to break free from the ordinary? I'm Patti Hunt and you're listening to the RV Life Podcast. Harvest Host is the name synonymous with unique camping. Today, I have three guests actually two guests on, there was supposed to be three that will share their expertise and experience to not only help you find unique experiences, they will talk about the huge changes that Harvest Hosts just announced and the biggest discount of the year. The RV Life podcast was created to entertain, educate and explore the RV lifestyle, with the mission to inspire you to live life to the fullest.
Speaker 1:This week, what you Need to Know is brought to you by Open Road Resorts, and they have many locations now in places like Montana, idaho, nebraska, new Mexico, and they have two locations in Texas. The newest one, good Shepherd RV Park in Dallas, texas. They are offering 25% off stays of two nights or more during the 2025 season. You need to use RV Life 25, case sensitive, so all capitals and if you book between now and January 31st 2025, for any of your stays in 2025. There are some blackout dates. You could go check all of this out by going to openroadresortscom. What you need to know there are 63 national parks. The state that has the most national parks is California and the newest national park is River Gorge National Park and Preserve in West Virginia. The first national park was Yellowstone National Park and it was established March 1st 1872, by President Ulysses S Grant.
Speaker 1:Now I tell my story about having traveled full-time for over three years and when I first started out, the idea was we were going to go see every national park in the country. To date, after over three years, to date, the number of national parks I have visited is zero. I have never gotten to one national park while RVing and the reason is because I always find these incredibly unique places. Find these incredibly unique places and that's why I've loved Harvest Hosts, because they have so many incredibly unique places I can stay. Today's episode is going to be different because I have two guests on that are in two different places and they're going to help us with two different places and they're going to help us with information, both the Harvest Host side as well as the Escapees RV Club side, and most people, if you did not know, back in June, harvest Hosts acquired Escapees RV Club. I did an episode July 25th of this year, episode number 92, where Joel Holland, the CEO, talked about that acquisition and today my guest is going to tell us what has happened since July.
Speaker 1:But let me start first with Dominic, who? He is the member experience specialist and as a member experience specialist at Harvest Hosts, he works to ensure an exceptional experience for both the members and the host. His role is multifaceted, involving technical troubleshooting, compliance oversight and host success management. He helps to maintain seamless platform functionality for members and hosts. He also ensures hosts adhere to compliance standards and meets expectations, creating a safe and enjoyable environment. That's a lot. Welcome, dominic, to the RV Life Podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Patti. Happy to be here and to explain a little bit about Harvest Hosts and some of the fun new things that have been happening over in our neck of the woods.
Speaker 1:Can't wait. Now your last name. Please pronounce it for me. I did not want to butcher it.
Speaker 2:It's okay. A lot of vowels in that. It's pronounced Kamalaji.
Speaker 1:Okay, cool name, I'll leave it to you. So what I usually do when I have people on the podcast, I introduce them. I'd love to hear their backstory. So I'm going to hear your backstory and then I will introduce our next guest. So tell us a little bit about your RV journey. How did it start? When did it start? Why did it start when?
Speaker 2:did it start?
Speaker 2:Why did it start?
Speaker 2:So my RV journey began kind of post-pandemic 2021, fueled by a lot of YouTubers, and I guess that was kind of part of the inspiration following some of our favorite YouTubers, to kind of be inspired to get out more. At the time, my wife and I we were both living in Vail, colorado, and Vail is an amazing place. We're both big backcountry enthusiasts, whether that's in the winter on the slopes or, um, you know, hike in to find different alpine lakes in the summertime, and RVing was a way for us to get out of our little bubble and experience even more places. So, whether that's getting out to Moab for the weekend or to up to Jackson hole, um, it was a great way for us to just kind of expand our scope of where we can explore. And then you know it was also twofold be living in the mountain town. It was very, uh, isolating at times, so we're able to get out and see our friends and family and just have that, have that access and that community that we were kind of lacking where we, where we were.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Love to hear the stories. Now Laura is also with us. It was supposed to be Laura Rob, but prior to getting on, laura told us she bounced Rob off of the podcast. There was something she said something about headsets, but I'm not sure about that and the two of you came from Escapees RV Club and you've been to 25 Escapees events and then you started working for Escapees as a volunteer and you did smaller rallies. You said 30 rigs, which to me sounds like a lot, and now you plan and organize and run escapades, which is the biggest escapees rally of the year with the 600 to 1000 rigs. Did I read that?
Speaker 3:right, yep, you absolutely did 1,900 people.
Speaker 1:Oh, my goodness, we're going to hear more about that. I'm already overwhelmed. And a quote that you said it's like throwing a huge RV party every year Huge, it's more like humongous. So welcome Laura, to the RV Life podcast.
Speaker 3:Thank you, patty. Thanks for having me here, rob. Sorry that he couldn't be here but, like I said, it just didn't work out with our logistics and everything. But still a huge fan of Harvest, oats and RV Life and so glad to be here. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you, and so tell me how to pronounce your last name. I'm just going to give up Curnod here, thank you, thank you, and so tell me how to pronounce your last name. I'm just going to get a nodal. Okay. Okay, we, I got to get some Smith's on here, or something nice and easy. So tell my listeners how your RV life journey started.
Speaker 3:Well, we had been a weekend warrior, you know, grew up camping me more than Rob but then when we had kids, decided camping was a great family pastime, started camping on weekends and during the summers with lots of friends and actually I was coordinating, you know, a once one week a summer vacation for about 60 people back then. So kind of started my planning fun things to do while RVing. Then we decided we had twins. They left the house at the same time. We looked at each other and said you know what? Life's too short, too many people die waiting to retire. We're just going to go ahead and do it now and then figure out from there.
Speaker 3:So 2018, we retired early, hit the road. Prior to that we had joined Escapees and then joined Harvest Host because I saw a picture of a fifth wheel sitting on a coast somewhere up in Maine at a winery and I'm like I want to go there. And so we joined Harvest Host. Still haven't found that winery, but found a lot of other great locations since then. So it's just been a great ride. We're going on eight years next year doing this fun journey. We've been with Escapees from the beginning and been employees the last three years, basically, but now Harvest Hosts employees since July.
Speaker 1:So you did move over and you are now an employee at Harvest Host.
Speaker 3:Yes, our whole events team, our whole escapees events team, which is really what we like to think is the kind of the heart of what makes escapees RV club different is the events and the community spirit that we provide. Our whole team went under Harvest Host, so that is all still there.
Speaker 1:Let's talk a little bit about that. As I said, and I'll take any comments from both of you. I'll start with you, Laura, but as I said back in June, it was that Harvest Host acquired Escapees RV Club and let's be really clear and talk to see if there's anything that we could add. In the episode that I did with Joe Holland, he did a great job explaining but as things have moved forward, so Harvest Hosts acquired Escapees RV Club and they have the event side of it.
Speaker 3:They have the membership and the event. They have everything but park and the mail service. So all of that has stayed with the organization in Livingston care of membership on the registration side and new member sign up and everything. The RV show team that goes out and talks to folks at great RV shows around the country All of that is now part of Escape Bees RV Club and that's what we always say come over like we were next door or something you know but has come under that umbrella now it definitely was and wanting to keep that very much intact and just grow it and make it better. You know how can we get more people excited about meeting up with people you know down the road and also in unique locations?
Speaker 1:And it's good to hear that after, because that was a concern of people. And the reason that I wanted to get Joel on was whenever something happens, whenever there's a change, you go to social media and there's all kinds of information we'll say it a nice way and there's people making stuff up and there's people that are happy and there's people panic, and there's people happy or panicked about information they're not even clear on. So it was very important that I had Joel on to get that information. And these were two solid companies with family-like environments. And here you are merging and it's great to see some five months later things really have gone well and things are smooth, Okay. So, Dominic, do you have anything to add on that? Let's get you back in.
Speaker 2:I think it's been great to have the infusion of the Escapies team joining up with us. You know, as we're kind of harvesters, we're kind of the young arviers Like, we're fairly new to the game but you know, just having the knowledge and the experience that Laura and the rest of her team has brought over, and it's truly been great to have them come over and share all the knowledge with us. I know I'll probably be asking Rob how to fix a few different things in my RV pretty soon, But-.
Speaker 1:Oh, and there's that, okay, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So it's been great to have them over here and we're happy to see where the partnership continues.
Speaker 1:Okay, so let's talk a little bit. I am going to go back and my listeners consists of full-timers, part-timers, some timers, whatever they want to be called and there's a lot of new people that are thinking about the RV lifestyle. So, wherever people are, let's talk a little bit. Let's start with you, dominic, and talk about Harvest Hosts, for somebody who's never heard of it doesn't know what it is. I started by talking about unique camping experiences, so let's talk about that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I guess I'll just jump into my first experience with Harvest Hosts, and that really happened before, once we first purchased our camper camper. We, I have a, I have a pop up truck camper, so it's a hallmark truck camper. Sits in the back of the truck, low profile, um, but you know it can take care of all of our, our needs that we have just for for my wife and I so, and we're not full-timers either, so we're, we're weekend warriors. We'll usually take I mean, we both work remote so we'll'll usually take extended trip or trips in the summertime. So we're I guess we're kind of in that hybrid role.
Speaker 2:So with our RV, like there's a problem, right. It's like where do you find campsites, especially if you're not booking them six months in advance or you're not on all the state websites once the campsites open? How do you find campsites, especially if you're not booking them six, six months in advance or you're not on all the state websites once the campsites open? How do you find campsites? Cause our RV it wasn't, it's not stealth, like we can't just pull in and camp someplace and you know my wife definitely wouldn't, that wouldn't fly with her either especially with our style RV.
Speaker 2:It's like once it's popped up in the bed of the truck, you know someone's camping in there. So making sure there's a safe place was really the driving force for us to be Harvest Host members. And then from there, that's when you just kind of where all the magic happens. You think you're just going to an overnight stay at a winery and next thing you know you're talking to the owner. He's asking you what you're having for dinner and trying to find the perfect wine to pair with your meal. So it's really the experiences there. They're all amazing. But dissolve your expectation because you never know what you're going to get into. And but, but every time I it's always 10 out of 10.
Speaker 1:I have to agree. I have to just share that. We became Harvest Host members, my husband and I, when we started out. We became Harvest Host members and we have had some of the most incredible experiences. Really. We have had some of the most incredible experiences really. We pulled in, we were in Tennessee and we were going to stay. Actually, we were going to Nashville to do the whole Nashville thing.
Speaker 1:We ended up going to a harvest host in this little town in Tennessee and it was a longhorn cattle farm and so cool, great, let me look at that from a distance. No, this young couple, amazing couple. They said come on, let's go meet the cattle long horn cattle, we're talking like eight feet wide, long, pointy horns. So we go walk out into the field. And he said, okay, so when you're going to pet them, you grab the horn so they don't like, when they're happy, they kind of swing their head and you don't want to get hit by the horn.
Speaker 1:Well, I was standing behind him for shelter because I was a little nervous, but these cattle were like puppies. And then the morning we're ready to leave he comes banging on the door early in the morning. He said let's go, let's go. I thought there was a fire or something. And we go out into the field and we sat there for two hours while one of the cows was having its calf, so we witnessed, yeah. So that's not necessarily experience everybody's going to get to have, nor an experience everybody wants to have, but when Harvest Hosts says unique, incredible, unique experiences.
Speaker 2:Exactly Like you can't pay for these experiences. They're just, they just kind of happen. It's like the magic of Harvest Hosts. It really is like the magic of Harvest Hosts.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, laura, you have a story to add. It looks like.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the magic of our post. Yes, yes, laura, you have a story to add? It looks like, yeah, and one of our first days. I'm really I don't want to say famous, but my friends know this about me that I will give Rob a carrot when we're driving. We're some of those crazy people that put in 500 plus days, don't recommend it and only do it on necessary times. But we were doing one trip up through Indiana, illinois, and it was like, okay, we are going to stay here. And I said, but if we go like a little bit farther another hour and a half, we can stay at this harvest hose that has an onsite bistro and winery. It's a goat farm, you know. So who doesn't love cute little goats? But it's like the fact that they were going to have food right there and we didn't have to go anywhere, so we thought that was great, right, you know you told them.
Speaker 2:You told them drive an extra hour and a half for your cooking dinner tonight.
Speaker 3:Yeah, basically Basically same thing, you know, we don't have to unhook the track and go anywhere. So we get there and a cute little place, beautiful flowers, because it's like July or August, I can't remember, it was summertime Sitting there, we're having our dinner, and I look down and there's a little card on the table that says the next morning there was going to be goat yoga. And I'm like I do yoga, I've never done goat yoga. When am I going to get the chance, maybe, to do this? So it's like we have to stay a little bit later.
Speaker 3:Normally we're out pretty early, you know, at a stop like that. So I'm like, okay, so we stay and I'm doing goat yoga. And they say, okay, we're going to do the yoga for about 20 minutes, and then we bring the baby goats out because we know that's why you all came as the baby goat, you know, and so he's got a great picture of me doing warrior two and the goats are coming up through my legs and, you know, climbing on other people's backs and everything it was. It was just such a beautiful experience and a great time and had we, you know, we would have never gotten that experience without Harvest Oats. You know they didn't advertise that there would be goat yoga, but it was a big bonus when we got there, that's incredible, and this is what I love about Harvest Oats.
Speaker 1:And again for my listeners, there is wineries, there's farms. You could say at a church I know there were some churches, there was a drive-in movie theater. Let's talk about alpacas. We all missed all three of us missed an alpaca farm. So we're having this conversation before the podcast started and what does my editor, who's not an RVer, say? But he has visited an alpaca farm, so it is something on all three of our bucket list. My editor, jacob, has already checked that off.
Speaker 2:But alpacas, there's something about that and there are a number of alpaca farms across the country and, for those of you who don't know, our mascot at Harvest Host is an alpaca. His name is Harvey H-A-R-V-E-Y, so that's why it's such a popular topic here at Harvest Host.
Speaker 1:I actually forgot about that. I was interviewed. They started doing interviews with people, with Harvey or something. I don't remember. I forgot about that. Yes, so got to get to the alpaca farm and then buy the. They have sweaters and and gloves and socks. Alpaca fur is very warm, so that'll be on. That's on my bucket list. I know that it's to get to an alpaca farm. Well, that's great. So there are so many different, unique camping experiences across the country. You sign up. Let's talk about who wants to talk about Dominic. Why don't you talk about how the program actually works for people?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So us at Harvest Host, we partner with small businesses across North America, so Canada and the United States. And how it works is your membership has access to all these locations and really you're looking at the map, you're figuring out which ones fit your rig, which ones interest you, which ones you want to patronize. That is a part of the program is to make sure you're supporting the business that you're staying at. So if you're allergic to dairy, don't go to a dairy farm.
Speaker 2:But other than that, you know all the locations pretty much have something for everyone families, you know, couples, people that like adventure there's, there's really a host for you out there. And once you find one that you like, that kind of starts the dialogue with with a host. So you'll put in your your stay request with the host. Once the host sees that it reviews your profile, make sure your rig will fit and make sure they're available for that date, they'll send you a message back saying welcome to come here for this night. Your stay request is approved and then all you have to do is show up and start having a good time.
Speaker 1:Right, and it's like you said there's something for everyone. I stayed at a winery. I don't really drink wine but, like you said, I wanted to make sure I'm supporting and buying something. They had food there. I ended up buying a bottle of wine for my mother, so it's a great exchange and the price that you would pay staying at one of these places. It's still less expensive than staying in a campground somewhere. You know people could stay in Cracker Barrel, but just not quite as fun.
Speaker 2:No waking up in between the rows of a vineyard or having the whole drive and movie theater to yourself when you wake up, it's, it's a pretty unique experience.
Speaker 1:It's amazing Go ahead, laura.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I was going to say too, you know, the first probably six to eight months on the road we did a lot of Walmart stays and then, once we started doing some more harvest hoses, like no, we're not ever going back to that, because you have semis running constantly and, like you said, or you can wake up in a beautiful location, or we stayed at one uh farm up in maine and they had a full. You could get meat, egg, dairy, you know all kinds of stuff. I mean, you know, I did my weekly grocery shopping while we were there so it was great.
Speaker 2:Harvest hose is really adaptable for all different types of travelers. So say you're someone that likes to book things last minute, there's going to be hosts that can accommodate you on that level. Or if you're someone like me or really my wife who likes to plan things out, there's going to be hosts that like to have people booked for their sites. So both really have a lot of accommodations and flexibility both ways.
Speaker 1:Right, and for people listening to the podcast, the video isn't being shown. The three of us are on camera and it's funny. We're so excited. You know, we're just kind of we've raised our hands so that we're not talking over each other and you know we couldn't possibly mention all the different types of locations. I stayed at a loofah and lavender farm, learned more about loofah and lavender than I ever could have imagined. That was an incredible experience. But let's talk. Harvest Host has a huge announcement as far as some new things they are adding To me. It is life-changing, dominic, I'll let you take that one.
Speaker 2:Yes. So we've been listening to our hosts and our members and we're really excited to have rolled out extra nights and hookups. So these are two highly requested features that are now live in our platform. You'll be able to filter to find hosts that can provide extra nights. Historically, harvest Host has always been a one night overnight stay. Now about 60% of our hosts allow for extra nights, so that's a huge, huge amount. The extra nights they operate slightly different than the kind of the one night stay. Those will be up to each host to set their you know small amount of what they, what they charge for those additional nights. Still it's usually between like 20 and $40 for for those extra nights. Still it's usually between like $20 and $40 for those extra nights. But all the money goes directly to the host.
Speaker 2:Us at Harvest House we don't take any of that. It goes strictly to supporting the small business. So you can rest easy knowing that your contribution is going to a great cause. And then the hookups feature. So if you're not a boondocker, if that's not really your thing, you need the 50 amp, you need the 30 amp. Now our platform can accommodate you. Before it was kind of hidden. If the host has it or if they don't, you kind of have to message them and do a little bit more research and digging to figure out if that is going to be offered at that host location. Now it's right in the filters 30 amp, 50 amp, whatever you need for your rig, you can find a host that provides that.
Speaker 1:That is amazing, amazing changes. Laura, I'm going to get to you, but I do need to get my sponsor in here. We've been talking for a while, so much excitement. I want to talk about Clear 2.0 because those people, it's sad to say, I'm sorry to say, there are people that are storing their RVs for the season, and before you store your RV, there are critical steps you don't want to miss.
Speaker 1:Sanitizing your freshwater tank is one of those critical steps. So, whether you've been full-time or you're part-time, you're a weekender campgrounds really. The water there can really affect your freshwater and we want to make sure they are clean because the water system can accumulate bacteria, sediment and other contaminants over time. So before you take that RV and put it in storage, you want to use Clear 2 O's Tank Fresh water tank and filter flush. It is easy to use. I did it with my RV. It's a gallon bottle, depending on your tank size. You pour it right in, you wait an hour. I think it is. There's no smell. It's just so easy to use and it cleans and sanitizes your RV's freshwater system, ensuring that the next time you pick up your RV you will have a clean tank, fresh Tank Tank Fresh is one of the many products Clear 2.0 offers, and they are offering 15% off when you use coupon code RVLIFEPODCAST. Check out Clear 2.0, clear2ocom. So, laura, I'll go to you.
Speaker 3:I just wanted to add that we're booked a Harvest Host in December that we're going to for three nights. We're in between campgrounds days and needed a few nights, and the extra night feature was awesome. I did my booking and then when I chose, I accidentally chose a total of four nights. So once they approved me, I just was able to turn around and message the host and said, hey, you know, we really only wanted to stay three nights and he's like, no problem, we're, you know, pretty lax about it, but it's great when the hosts are so responsive, you know, to your needs and everything but the extra nights we're actually staying at it's a brewery, a restaurant, they have a putt-putt, they have a petting zoo I forget what else, but we're taking our three-year-old grandson, so I'm pretty sure we're going to spend the $30 a night while we're there.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And what's nice, too, is the fact that all the money goes to the host. So farms, wineries, all of these places. We're talking about that extra income that they get for the year by having the RVers come in. It's really helpful. It's just a great big, it's a help. It's really very helpful. Go ahead, dominic.
Speaker 2:And I just wanted to include that. These extra features they're included in our base level membership. So if you're just thinking about getting your toes wet in Harvest Host, all these new features they're going to be in the base level membership, the Harvest Host Classic. So really great way to you know kind of adapt different types of RVers and different types of campers into the Harvest Host ecosystem here.
Speaker 1:Right, and it is one price, like you said, covers everything. When you go to a location, you want to support them in some way. I know when I've gone to a certain location, the host delivery they say pay me this much or they don't ask for anything at all. Sometimes you go in and you just go by. I stayed on an orchard and bought apples or whatever. I made purchase. Now I got to say I went to their little store and I bought apples, I bought homemade sugar cookies, I bought milk, I bought fruit, I bought a whole bunch of stuff Because, again, it's like you said, laura, I needed to shop anyway. It's nice to support the community and the hosts are always so welcoming. But you mentioned membership, so let's talk about the best sale discount of the year. Dominic, you want to take that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'll take it. So right now, from now through January 12th, we're running our best sale of the year. It's 30% off all of our products. So whatever you're interested in, you'll be able to use that 30% off all of our Harvested Products. That code is HOLIDAYHH and I'm sure you'll link it in the episode description HOLIDAYHH now through January 12th. Oh, this is good for new members and returning members. So if you're a returning member, purchase a gift card and apply that to your account. That's a way for you to take advantage of this great offer. And if you're a new member, purchase a gift card and apply that to your account. That's a way for you to take advantage of this great offer. And if you're a new member, just like I said, type that code into your signup and receive that discount.
Speaker 1:And anybody that has any issue with that. I know they could call Harvest Host. They could send a message and they will get help with that. For people who are previous members and they want to get that discount, that's amazing 30% off, well worth it. I've had a Harvest Host membership every year since I've started RVing and it has absolutely been worth it.
Speaker 1:And, laura, you said it's like that holdover sometime in between your camping. But I've also specifically wanted to go and I'm trying to think of all the places I had gone to. So you know it's both of those things where you plan on going Because, well, like the alpaca farm, really, we've got to get to the alpaca farm, so that'll be a goal to get to the alpaca farm. Really, we've got to get to the alpaca farm, so that'll be a goal to get to the alpaca farm. But it is a great opportunity, great option as people travel. I just want to bring in Open Road Fuel Card.
Speaker 1:Open Road Fuel Card. I've got to talk about them as we're talking about traveling across the country. Laura, you've got your thumb up. I'm assuming you have it. This is the diesel fuel card that saves money every time you get diesel fuel. They say you could save an average of between 40 and 60 cents a gallon. I have saved more than that at times. The card is absolutely free to sign up for. You go to myopenroadscom. The link is in the show notes. You have your card, you're traveling, you have your app and you decide which gas station that you want to go to. They are truck stops. What's been your experience with it, laura?
Speaker 3:Oh, it's been great. I mean we've had it pretty much from the beginning when we learned about it probably not right in 18, but I know we had it in 2019, right at the beginning of pandemic and in Arizona we got over a dollar off a gallon on diesel fuel.
Speaker 3:It was like $1.99 back then. It was crazy. But we have a hundred gallon diesel motor home so we're always looking for where can we get the best rate. So we usually save between $30 to $60 on a fill, depending on how much we're putting in at the time. So, yeah, it's been a great experience. We had a couple hiccups. A few times called their customer support and they've been awesome to deal with any problems that we've had.
Speaker 1:And they're, yes, amazing. I know the people who run the company and the customer support people. I know her directly Amazing customer support and that's what I look for. That's why I love Harvest Host and that's why I'd love to escape these RV club. Okay, let's continue. Let's talk a little bit about Escapades. So for people who don't know I don't think we did you know Escapees RV Club. Who is it for? You know what's the benefit of it. Let's just talk for people who aren't familiar. So.
Speaker 3:Escapees is basically for any style of RV or whether you're full-time, part-time, sometime, big rig, little rig, no rig, tent campers, it doesn't really matter. And any type of person we don't have, you know, we aren't one person denomination of any kind, I don't know how exactly to say that. No matter what you believe in, who you love and all of that good stuff, basically it's your community on the road. You know a lot of times people when they go RVing whether it be for full-time, especially for full-time, but even for part-time you pull in somewhere and you're like I don't know anybody, I don't have any friends, I lost all those people I used to go out to dinner with anybody. I don't have any friends, I lost all those people I used to go out to dinner with. But once you get involved with escapees, a lot of people start first on the Facebook groups to get to know people there, but then, once you come to an event like Escapade or any of the many smaller events that we have and start to meet people, then you just find that community on the road and we've made some great lifelong friends. We've also made some friends that we haven't seen in a couple of years, but we'll be in an event together and we'll cross paths and be like, oh my gosh, you know where have you been and what have you done, and so they get to talk about all the fun things that you've done in the last few years.
Speaker 3:Escapade, specifically, is what we like to call our big family reunion, but it doesn't mean that it's just existing members. New members, people that are brand new to RVing, come to Escapade for the education that we provide. We put on over 60 seminars during the five days. We have an RVers boot camp that goes on prior to Escapade. We've added a new RVers boot camp post-Escapade this year. We've also added new this year. Since we do so many seminars. We're going to have a seminar video recording for the popular, most useful seminars so that you can go back and watch them later if you couldn't get to them live or if you just want to go back and re-watch some of the great seminars that we put on.
Speaker 3:So, like I said, escapade is a family reunion, work conference, giant festival. There's live entertainment every night, there's happy hours every afternoon, lots of other events Yoga in the morning, line dancing in the afternoon. I could go on and on about that, but we really think that escapees is what puts the heart into the RVing lifestyle. It's kind of the heart and soul, and now our partnership with Harvest Host has just helped us to extend that, one of the things that we're looking to do, because we're going to escapade in Freiburg, maine, in 2026, which is way up in the northeast. I'm pointing, like everybody can see this Way up in the north Way up.
Speaker 3:Northeast of the country where a lot of people don't go RVing but there's so many great locations there. One of the things that we're going to try to do with our partnership with Harvest Host is find hosts along the route through, like Pennsylvania, vermont, new Hampshire, maine and publicize those and say these would be some great locations on your travels to Escapade to stop and visit this and many others along the way. So that's one of the unique things that we're looking to get out of this whole relationship with Harvest Host.
Speaker 1:That sounds great. Now talk about membership and how that works. It used to be. I had my Harvest Host membership. I had my Escapees RV Club membership. Right now I have my Harvest Host membership and I have my escapees mail membership for my mail service. So how does it work with the events?
Speaker 3:So currently they're all still separate memberships. You can go to any of the other events. Some events are escapee members only so you can join. It's $49.95 for a membership to escapees. During Escapade we run a special for $39.95, $10 off. If you go to RV shows a lot of times they run specials $10 off for $39.95. But Escapade specifically is open to anyone to come as an attendee. So that's a great time to come find out what escapees is all about.
Speaker 3:We also do day passes. If you're in the Tucson area in March, if you're already a snowbird or down there, you can come for the day we do a free day on Wednesday of the week, which is March 19th, I think is the day we're 16th through the 21st. So I think 19th is the Wednesday but free day during that week that you can come in and check it out. At this point right now they're all separate memberships. And then your mail service is. It's always been kind of separate. You have to pay for your mail service and you still have to be an escapees member to utilize that mail service. But you have your Harvest Host membership, your escape utilize that mail service, but you have your Harvest Host membership, your Escapees membership and then you can add on mail service at this time.
Speaker 1:Okay, and so for anybody who's listening you know people listen to the podcast while they're doing other things. They could call Escapees, they could call Harvest Host, and your customer service will help people to navigate what might be the best program for each person. I was at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta and part of the Escapers event. I actually did an interview with the people there. We did a live podcast interview. What a fun bunch of people. What an incredible event. I'm thinking that fun bunch of people, what an incredible event. I'm thinking that, um, so for albuquerque balloon fiesta, if somebody wanted to be part of it, you put that out there. What? In january I think somebody said it it was sold out in such a record time, like 45 minutes or something crazy.
Speaker 3:So, and one thing about escapees that we do have so many different types of event groups. So escapers is kind of our working age RVers, so they gear things to be happening in the evening and not during the workday. Of course, at Albuquerque all the excitement happens in the morning when the balloons are flying, or in the evening when they do the glow. But escapees actually has three different groups that go to Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. You can go with the Escapers, you can go with one of our Birds of Feathers, the Boomers, which I think is transitioning to just be called Balloon RVers or something along that line. Or you can do what we call a Hop. A head out program is kind of the white glove experience. You'll have tatered meals, you'll have a tent gathering space to get tickets to the event, to Balloon Fiesta. So a lot of different ways to go and, yes, most of those the hop is on sale currently. Everything else goes on sale, I believe, in January, february timeframe for that when Fiesta has their opening.
Speaker 1:I just want people to know because I know it sold out rather quickly. That was an amazing experience.
Speaker 3:It is a very. I've done it with all three of the different groups and hosted the hop as well there and just love going to Albuquerque.
Speaker 1:Now for my listeners who want to RV in the cold. I'm sure there are hosts that they want to be in the cold weather. It's not necessarily my thing, but I'm sure there are hosts that Dominic. So for those who are cold, I want to talk about how they could stay warm, but I'm sure there are hosts now up in the northern part of the country as we record this, it's the end of november um, that are available for people that like the cold weather.
Speaker 2:Right, I'm putting you on the spot oh yeah, no, this a lot of our hosts. They appreciate their um members staying at all times of the year. Um, I know my family is from upstate New York and you know we've stayed for Christmas the past two years and have traveled back, you know, in January. So there's, there's definitely hosts that are, you know, there to welcome you and and treat you with the same level of hospitality or even better, because you're the only one they've seen in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 2:So, so, yeah, they're definitely out there, and sometimes you're even getting an elevated level of experience just because, like I said, they're excited to see you.
Speaker 1:Right, it's a private experience. Again, I'm not necessarily a cold weather fan, although here I am in Pennsylvania, where I'll stay. For people who are looking for places, it is up to the individual host. So if there's a place they want to stay for Christmas in New York, in upstate New York, they could just go on and look for those hosts that are welcoming. Some hosts just don't have the ability. If it snows it gets muddy. So there's different situations.
Speaker 1:My friends at Airskirts, these are inflatable RV skirting. So people who are going to RV in the cold, this is a great way to keep warm, keep your pipes from freezing, and it is actually inflatable skirting that goes all around the RV. What I love about these because us RVers, whether with their full-time or part-time, space is at a premium, so to be able to inflate these with a pump that comes with the set and then deflate them. So these deflate and they go into a nice storage bag to be easily stored they're nice and compact Air skirts is a great way to go, and they're offering $200 off with code RVPOD, r-v-p-o-d, and that's airskirtscom, so I'm happy to be able to share that with people. Dominic, you sound like you like to go in the cold weather sometimes.
Speaker 2:It's definitely a little bit sportier in the cold weather, and you know you need to make sure you're checking those weather forecasts a little more diligently.
Speaker 2:But yeah, the cold doesn't scare me. Like I said, we use our RV to get to different backcountry locations and even some different ski resorts in the winter, so being able to brave the cold is kind of part of our experience. And actually there's one great host up in Jackson Hole. It's called Jackson Hole Stillworks. They're open year round. Their rig size is a little bit smaller, so I don't know if you could be able to get in there with your class A but-.
Speaker 3:We don't do that.
Speaker 2:I know you guys are in the South, you're right, you're right, but, um, yeah, jackson hole still works. It's, it's an amazing, amazing spot like, right, kind of kitty quarters of town. That's kind of. The other fun thing with harvest house is you can actually find locations that are close to town. So being able to, uh, you know, just hop on your bike if you travel with a bike or some type of scooter or something, and being able to have that quick access is something that you don't always get from an RV park or traditional campground. So, yeah, jackson Hole still works.
Speaker 2:It was a great time. The owner, they took us in the back, they showed us how the spirits were made and then, you know, just at at night, we were in town, jackson hole, and we've ran into all of them and they, just they. It was like it was like running to your friends or family that you haven't seen in a long time. After we spent a few nights with them. So it was cool to just have that connection come full circle and they, uh, they took us to the next, to the next to, to, uh, where there was some music playing, and we had a great time with them and that's the nice thing about the well, the rv community really truly is a community like I have never experienced people who have not experienced it.
Speaker 1:It's like trying to explain what chocolate tastes like to somebody who's never tasted it. You can't know what it's like until you experience it. So community aspect is huge and I know for escapees and for Harvest Hosts that is such a big part of it because it's not like you just pull in and you know. There have been times I've pulled into a host location. It's later at night, we are exhausted, we, you know, pull the RV and we fall asleep and the next day maybe just say hello to the host. But for the most part there is a connection, there's. You feel like you're being welcomed by family and I find that in so many of the locations that I've been to, Community is just what it's all about. I'll let you guys add your two cents into that?
Speaker 3:Oh no, absolutely. I mean, and that's one thing that, like I mentioned, with escapees and then seeing it in the Harvest Host and within the Harvest Host employees, it's really like a family and it's interesting. We stated at a host last week and they were like, oh, there's like real people that work at Harvest Host. And I'm like, yeah, there's real people and they're you know, they're awesome, they're doing a lot of work behind the scenes and make it be fun. Dominic and I are on a committee, fun committee together.
Speaker 1:So you know, we make it and have a lot of fun as well, and you could hear that and feel that and see that, and I think that's how you know you see it when you pull into a location. We still have some more things to cover. I'm going to put both of you on the spot in just a minute. Both of you on the spot in just a minute. But before I do, you know, rv is an incredible experience.
Speaker 1:There are times where we have issues with the RV and while we don't like to talk about those things, especially on the podcast, sometimes it's necessary. I talked to somebody recently who had a tire blowout in a motorhome. Thankfully it went well, nobody got hurt. But we know that tire blowouts can be catastrophic. I have learned from National Indoor RV Centers about a product called RetroBand and this is to prevent tire blowouts and this is to prevent tire blowout. So when you have, if you should have a blowout in your tire, there is a donut-like ring that goes around the inner part of the tire. You have to watch a video on it to really understand. But if the tire goes flat, this retro brand product will inflate and I don't know that it actually inflates, but it'll make it so that you can still drive your RV and stop it safely. It has literally saved lives.
Speaker 1:So I wanted to talk about that Again. Don't like to talk about the harsher side of things, but this is important and I want my RV listeners to know. Retroban is incredible. You can look it up by going to nirvccom to find out about that product. Okay, so tell me for both of you, where can people reach out so we know that they could go to harvesthostcom to find out all about the Harvest Host products? They could still go to escapeesrvclubcom correct, it's escapeescom, just escapeescom, okay.
Speaker 2:Then, on the Harvest Host side of things, there's a few different ways to reach us, and this is for anything from if you're having trouble, if you have a, if you have a suggestion for a host, or if you just want to figure out how to optimize your harvest host membership. There's a. There's a outside of just finding great locations. There's a lot of other deals, discounts and, um, kind of the hidden things that that they don't advertise, that you do have access to as a harvestvest Host member. So if you have any questions, you can reach us via email, team at harvesthostcom or on all the apps. On our app and on our website. There's a green bubble in the bottom right-hand corner. You could chat with one of my teammates If you click that bubble in the bottom right-hand corner and you know we're all great and can pretty much answer all your questions, and then you can also give us a call as well.
Speaker 1:Okay and I've had to call both of these companies very receptive, very helpful, real people, so I really appreciate that. Now you shared some article suggestions that you talked about Dominic, can you share a little bit about that?
Speaker 2:Yes, so with the excuse, we've always had a publication at Harvest Host called RV Life, and now with the acquisition, now we're kind of infusing a lot of our talent and articles into the escapees magazine. So if you're an escapees member I'm sure you get that at. You get that, um, I mean what?
Speaker 3:four times a year, I think six times a year six times a year I'm a new escapees member, so I just got my first one a few a month ago.
Speaker 2:Um, but yes, you'll find our articles over there and, um, you know, also keep keep a lookout for our blogs. Like, we're also always posting different things, especially seasonal. Like, if you're into a nice fall foliage tour, we we have. We have a blog for that, highlighting some, some great host locations. So we're always churning out some new content for you and trying to highlight some different fun places, some new gear or just some different ways you can. You, like I said, you could use your harvest as membership.
Speaker 1:So keep a lookout for that okay, great information, great content, great connection, great community so many things here. It's awesome. It's now time actually to put the two of you on the spot and I'm going to take. I know you should see the looks right now. So this is the question of the week. It's brought to you by Open Roads, innovative Toll Solutions. Both of you travel. Did you know? There is a toll covers all 48 states All 48 states. I need it, yes, we all do. Costs $24 a year yes, so I need the looks on me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no more easy pass.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no more Texas tag. Okay. So in Texas I got a fine because I had my easy pass and I thought it'd be a toll by plate type situation, whatever it's called. I got it in the mail but it went to my escapees email. My fault, I didn't check and they only give you 25 days. Well, this was beyond the 25 days F fines and all kinds of charges. I paid them over $150 in fines. Let me just say that.
Speaker 1:So then I got the innovative toll solutions the toll pass, $24 for the year. It's worked seamlessly and, had that happened where I had that issue with the toll, they've conceded service, so I could have called them and said I've got a problem and they would have fixed it. It is a no brainer. Everybody's got to get this toll pass. It's just been great, saved me so much money, headache, it's awesome, you could go to my open roads and there's a pull down menu. There's also a link in the show notes, okay.
Speaker 1:So here's the question, and it's difficult for us that have traveled and done so much, and before we got on the call we were talking about places but what would be something on your bucket list that you would recommend to my listeners? That could be something you've already done or that you want to do. And this is where we play music, jacob, because the looks on both. I've got two people and they're both, and, yes, they're trying to hum the Jeopardy song and you know they're both baffled. So I'll just keep talking until one of them raises their hand. Okay, laura, it's you.
Speaker 3:Okay, I'll go with. So last summer my husband, rob and I took the whole summer to RV to Alaska and you know we've been to Alaska on some of the Alaskan cruises before, so we've seen, you know, from the coast, from the ship, a little bit of interior and everything. But we decided we're just going to go spend the whole summer. We basically crossed over Canada early May and didn't come back out until after Labor Day, and for us we chose to buy a small rig to be a little bit more nimble and take advantage of how Alaska is like 95%, you know, you can stay overnight. As long as it doesn't stay overnight, we also use some harvest host locations while we were there. So there was that opportunity. But it was just an amazing experience to be there all summer and just really enjoy being in Alaska.
Speaker 3:You know we met so many people that are like oh yeah, I'm coming to Alaska, I'm leaving next week and I'm going to be there for two weeks and then I'm heading back to Florida. I'm like you can't experience Alaska in an RV in two weeks. You've got to spend the time. So we highly recommend that is one thing that. Put it on your bucket list. Give yourself at least two months. It's very easy to do on your own. There's a lot of great tour companies out there. If you're not comfortable with that, there's harvest host locations. We did them in Canada, we did them in Alaska. You can just do so many different ways to really experience Alaska. That would probably be one of my top ones at this point.
Speaker 1:Okay, and I want to go to Alaska because I want to see the Northern Lights.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we didn't see them. But then when we got back, everybody started seeing them in the lower 48. I was like what the heck yeah?
Speaker 1:And then I was told to go to Iceland, but Alaska is definitely on my bucket list. I haven't been yet. Okay, dominic, you've had all the time in the world now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're, you're putting me on the spot. But I think for me, like the beauty in RVing is like going to the places that you don't expect to be amazing, and then you find the beauty in those places Like we've and don't get me wrong, like the national parks and being out West, like amazing, right, truly, things've and don't get me wrong, like the national parks and being out West, like amazing, right, truly, things that you know, you, if you haven't seen, you can't really put into words. But so I guess there's a little bit to the story here. On our drives we live in Colorado, my family is in New York, so we're kind of doing I-80, i-70 quite a bit Just in. It's convenient for us and it gets us to where we need to be. But so we would always go to this little town on Lake Michigan called like St Joseph's Benton Harbor, and it's like really close to I-80, really convenient, and it's just kind of become our little special spot.
Speaker 2:So beautiful beaches, like when I show people pictures of this place they think it's the Caribbean, but I'm like no, it's not, it's Lake Michigan. The dunes are beautiful and the water you don't have to worry about anything Like there's no sharks, there's nothing that's going to bite you or stab you in the foot, it's just you can put your mind at ease and, um, just really relax. So that's, that's kind of been our, our little hidden gem, um. But this past year we actually everyone kept saying like, if you like Michigan, just keep going up. It only gets better. So we did a bigger trip to um door County, wisconsin, and then we went up through Upper Peninsula, marquette, and it's just stunning up there. So if that hasn't been on your summer RV list, definitely make sure you get it on there.
Speaker 1:Right, and definitely it was on my list to go. I have not been up in the upper northern states, so definitely on my list. And you made it sound amazing, so definitely on the bucket list. And for those people who want to go in the cold weather, they could use air skirts to keep themselves warm. I mean, it really makes a difference. So there's that, okay. Is there anything? I'm just going to ask. I'm going to go a little off, not that there's a script, but is there anything we haven't covered that you want to add in here? It's okay if not, I just want to make sure we covered it all. So, harvest Host they are now doing 44 extra nights. At some locations they have hookups such as electric and water. Dump your tanks before you get there. Most places don't offer that and the big deal is 30% off. That sale is not going to last forever, so buy it, get the 30% off. It is the biggest discount of the year.
Speaker 3:Was there something you wanted to add, laura Well, I just want to say, too, registration is the biggest discount of the year. Was there something you wanted to add, laura? Well, I just want to say, too, registration is open. It opened a little over a week ago for Escapade in Tucson in March 16th through the 21st. You can either go to escapeescom and look for the national rally or you can go to escapadeescapeyscom and find it there, and you'll see a link to do registration there as well. We did a new online registration system this year, going to have a QR code that you scan when you get there, so it should be easy for you to pull in, get parked and start having fun and, dominic, you should come.
Speaker 2:Listen, I've got my first escapees event on the calendar what about okay?
Speaker 3:oh, patty, absolutely you should come, we could do a podcast, we could do a live podcast from there absolutely.
Speaker 1:we've done it from the balloon fiesta. We could do it from there. That sounds amazing. Okay, it is now time for the feature campground of the week, and it is brought to you by RV Life. Now, usually, this is where I talk about one of the feature campgrounds. I'm going to talk about RV Life. We talked a little bit. Rv Trip Wizard is the way to plan your trips. Laura's shaking her head. This is an incredible planning tool for those trips that you're taking.
Speaker 1:Rv Life is in a partnership with Harvest Toast. Don't know exactly what that looks like right now. I should know that, but I'm just being honest here. There is a partnership here, and so, going to campgrounds at rvlifecom, you could also find out everything you need to know about campgrounds across the country there are. When you go to rvlifecampgroundscom, you can look at city, state and national parks. You can look at campgrounds, rv parks, resorts. It is a comprehensive source of all things camping. I have been using RV Life, the RV Life suite of products, since before I started RVing, and it has been incredibly helpful. It's rvlifecom, there is a 25% discount in the show notes and you have to have it. That's all I'm going to say. So, wow, what an interview. Thank you guys, both so much. I know this was a quick trying to pull this together and getting all of us at the same time in the same place, so I want to thank both of you so much for all of the information and it was just so much fun.
Speaker 3:Thank you, patty, it has been great fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Patty, thanks so much. We really appreciated being on here and being able to share a little bit of our story and what we do.
Speaker 1:Great. Thank you again, and you have been listening to the RV Life Podcast. I'm Patty Hunt saying have a great rest of today and an even better day tomorrow.