Home » Blog » Podcast » An “unbeatable” work camp experience – Harvesting sugar beet
This week’s RV podcast:
An unparalleled RV experience. And it is spelled as BEET. We were talking about RVers doing a sugar beet harvest work camp. We’ll explain it all in this week’s RV Conversation. Brinkley RV continues to lead the way in the RV industry. This time it’s an all-new luxury Ultralite travel trailer that can be towed by a large SUV. A major RV manufacturer has closed two factories in California because the cost of doing business there is too high. And this comes as the state proposes a clean air fee that could add an additional 65 cents a gallon to those high fuel costs. All of this, plus the social media buzz and questions covered in episode #520 of the RV Podcast.
Click on the player below to watch the video version from our RV Lifestyle YouTube channel.
If you prefer the audio-only podcast, listen on your favorite podcast app or listen now in the player below. You can follow a verbatim transcript of the podcast as it plays by clicking the CC logo on the right side of the player.
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This week’s RV Conversation – Sugar beet harvesting operations
Tracy Reineke just finished a month-long job as a sugar beet worker.
As this episode was published, hundreds of RVers helped harvest in South Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, and other scattered locations and went home with thousands of dollars in their pockets thanks to the annual work camp experience. I am. Sugar beet.
For many, it’s an annual trip that comes with free camping and a nice paycheck to help with next year’s RV fun.
This week, our Wendy Bowyer interviews one of our social media moderators, Tracy Reineke, who just finished a month-long job as a sugar beet harvester.
To hear all the details, listen or watch the podcast via the link above.
This week’s RV news
A new bill being considered by the California Air Resources Board is estimated to increase pump prices there by as much as 65 cents a gallon. Californians already pay an average of $1.47 per gallon more than the national average in taxes, and if the low-carbon fuel standard passes in November, the state will be $2 per gallon more than the national average. It is estimated that it will be higher than that.
Speaking of California, Forest River Corp. announced it would close its California-based manufacturing facilities in Hemet and Rialto, impacting 400 employees. why? Rising costs of doing business in California are making California factories less competitive.
We all love fall foliage, but recently a crowd of hikers heading out to see the fall foliage got out of control, leaving a 2.5-mile trail in New Hampshire’s Franconia Notch State Park in treacherous conditions. I did. An experienced hiker recently took a photo of the “Artist Bluff” loop, and it was terrible. About six people, many undressed and unprepared, were rescued.
Brinkley RV is unveiling a new travel trailer, the Model I. The Model I is a lightweight trailer that has been in development for many years due to high demand. Striking-looking Model I prototypes can now be seen online and at several RV shows, with deliveries scheduled to begin in March 2025.
Social Media Buzz – Wendy Bowyer
Wendy Bowyer reports on the hottest issues most talked about last week on social media and RV lifestyle community groups.
In the general discussion space of the RVLifestyle community, Jill asked a question about planning a 3-month trip. She and her husband plan to leave Michigan and head to the Southwest. It will take two days to get to St. Louis, where I have a reservation, but I have no plans beyond that. So Jill asked: “How do you plan a trip that long, or do you go ahead with it methodically? I’d love to hear any ideas you’ve learned over the years.”
Burt said he and his travel partner don’t plan long trips every night. Rather, use the RV Trip Wizard to select key destinations, see what’s out there, and plan accordingly. They don’t like to travel more than 3 hours a day, so they break things down into “bite-sized chunks” with Harvest Hosts, Boondockers Welcome, Campendium, Freecampsites, and Dyrt.
Although they prefer a life of savagery, they can also stay at campsites to dump water, refill fresh water, do laundry, and take hot showers. And they prefer remote locations, avoiding interstates as much as possible, staying in national forests, Corps of Engineers campgrounds, and BLM lands. Bart gave a cordial answer, which turned out to be exactly how Jill liked camping.
Ali also joined the conversation and said that having lots of advance reservations can be stressful, lengthen travel days, and feel pressured to pay to go somewhere rather than sightseeing freely. He said he prefers this method of travel. What they discovered on their journey.
However, the only exception to Ali’s advice is if you are planning to go to a popular national or state park, where it can be difficult to find a place to stay, in which case you can make a reservation. That’s great advice!
I often hear from RVers who have never boondocked but want to try it. So, in our community Boondocking space, we asked, “For those who haven’t tried Boondocking yet, what’s the biggest thing holding you back?”
Julio, from Texas, said he has enough battery to keep the air conditioner on. Mark said he was considering where to go, and Brian said he was getting his wife’s approval. All of these answers make a lot of sense.
Then there was one post in the RVLifestyle Facebook group that got people talking. Irvin asked, “Is it normal for state campgrounds to close and lock the only entrance from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.?” Irvin recently had to go to work at 5 a.m., and because he was at a state campground that uses chains and deadbolts to lock everyone in, he had to wait nearly two hours for someone to come and unlock the gate so he could leave. I had to.
There was a sign on the defensive side of the campground that said the campground was closed from 10pm to 6am, but Irvin never dreamed he would literally be trapped. That whole experience made him think about what would happen if there was an emergency and the police or paramedics needed to arrive at any moment, seconds matter.
The post had over 1,000 comments, and interestingly, the reactions seemed to be evenly divided. Half were completely stunned and said they had never experienced this and it didn’t seem safe.
However, the other half said this was very common in some parts of the country where campsites lock people up at night for safety reasons – to keep the “bad guys” out.
Oklahoma State Parks, Georgia, Texas, Washington State, and South Carolina were all cited as places where this frequently occurs. Many say that in case of an emergency, EMS and police have bolt cutters and can get in there. But those on the other side said it would take time and could change many emergencies.
It was a great conversation. If this is your concern, be sure to ask about literally being locked up at night before booking
RV Questions of the Week
Question: I remember hearing you talk about using Alexa on tow trucks, but I can’t remember your response. I have a Ford F-250 that tows a 5th wheel and I’m wondering if I can use Alexa on it. masha
Answer: Yes, you can. Most trucks built in the past few years have Alexa available on the go. Not all, but most. So, the first step for everyone is to make sure their car has Alexa built-in. There is a special site you should check out – https://www.amazon.com/alexa-automotive. Go there and enter your vehicle details. If you already have Alexa installed, follow the registration steps provided to set it up. If not, you may need to download an app. There are instructions on the site.
For a Ford F-250, follow these steps to use Amazon Alexa with your Ford F-250.
If you have the FordPass app, activate your vehicle’s modem. If you don’t have FordPass, set up an account. On your vehicle’s SYNC 4 screen, tap the Alexa icon. Select (Alexa Built-in) and select (Yes) or (Start). Scan the QR code or go to Amazon.com/code and sign in to your Amazon account. Follow the steps to complete Alexa registration on your vehicle. If desired, select Yes to enable the Alexa wake word on the SYNC 4 screen.
With Alexa, you can control your vehicle with voice commands like streaming music, getting directions, checking the weather, and more.
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Mike Wendland is a multi-Emmy Award-winning journalist, podcaster, YouTuber, and blogger who travels across North America in their RV with his wife Jennifer, sharing adventures and sharing stories about RVs, camping, the outdoors, and I review travel and technology gear. For the past 12 years. They are industry-leading experts in RV living and have written 18 travel books.
