Maximizing Your RV’s Kitchen Storage | RV ORGANIZATION TIPS - (Special Report)

Fitting everything you need into your RV’s kitchen space can be like playing “Tetris!” No matter what size RV you have, it sure seems like there’s NEVER enough storage space! In this video, we share a few ideas and products we’ve discovered that help make a little more organizational sense in even the smallest of RV kitchens. Hopefully, you’ll find some of them as helpful as we have!

ONE-YEAR RV REVIEW | 2020 Rockwood Mini Lite 2507s - (Special Report)

Even with 2020 being the Worst Year EVER, the first twelve months of having the Aluminum Falcon 2.0 just flew by! Sure, we love him, but we have always admitted that no RV is perfect, so in this video, we'll tell you about a few of the things we've learned about our 2020 Rockwood Mini Lite 2507s. Of course, there are both good AND bad things, and we'll even confess to a few things that Rockwood is including in the new year's models that make us wonder if we should've waited a little longer to upgrade. Hmmm.... 🤔

Mission 022 - Dreher Island State Park in Prosperity, SC (on Lake Murray)

This is the one in which we are finally convinced that a weekend just ain't long enough for a camping trip... 😞  Dreher Island State Park is another little gem in the roster of South Carolina state parks, and was a welcome opportunity to break out of our kinda-sorta local camping "rut" we'd been in for most of the year.  Situated on three small islands in Lake Murray, just above Columbia, SC, the park is a great choice for both RV campers and tent campers.  Come along and see what little bit of fun we were able to find in just a short weekend! 

Mission 021 (Pt. 1) - Lake Hartwell State Park | RV CAMPING | RVing Upstate SC

Labor Day Weekend 2020!  (Yes, we're still making videos!!!)  Our last trip of the summer takes us to Upstate South Carolina, where we camped in Lake Hartwell State Park.  The campground sits along a couple of inlets, with boating access to Lake Hartwell’s 56,000 acres of water.  Join us as we travel up there late on a Friday afternoon, and then spend the next day wandering about the campground and basking in some cooler upstate weather… for a change! 

UPDATE! Fall/Winter 2020 Travel Plans... or Lack Thereof... 😢

Hey, Happy Campers out there! Smokey here, with an update on our adventuring... or to be more accurate, our likely LACK of adventuring.  The COVID-19 "pandemic" has changed the world more than any of us probably ever imagined it would, and it's certainly affected our travelling plans this entire year.  Beyond that, it has cost me my job, which of course, also puts a very-large crimp on any travelling we might want to do.  I've been out of work for more than four months now, and as several million other job-seekers out there can attest, new opportunities are mighty hard to find these days.  Thankfully, Jessie continues to be gainfully employed and will keep us from having to live in a cardboard box under an overpass... for as long as she can!

Nonetheless, we will try our darndest to continue honoring the philosophy that drives our YouTube channel, that adventure can be found close to home.  We have a weekend at Lake Hartwell State Park booked for next weekend, and while circumstances may prevent us from going, we hope to still make that trip.  With a little luck, we might be able to get in another weekend outing somewhere before Thanksgiving, and we also might whip up a video or two, like a product review or a "How-To," before the year is out.  Who knows?

The two BIG favors we ask of all of you out there in "Noob Nation" are 1) to please keep following us on social media for updates and other tidbits when we have them to share, and 2) support our channel by going through our "Shop" page here on the blog when you shop on Amazon (https://www.livenlearnrv.com/p/store.html).  You can purchase ANYTHING on Amazon from that point, not just camping gear!  As long as you begin your surfing on Amazon from our link, we'll get a tiny commission on anything you may buy, and those pennies really help us keep the channel going.  

Enough gloom-and-doom!  We love hearing from all of you out there and seeing what fun YOU'RE having, so again, please, please keep us a part of your camping/RVing YouTube viewing and social media interaction!  Surely, better days are ahead for all of us, and we can all get back to doing some more-regular Livin' and Learnin'! 

Mission 017 - Baker Creek State Park | RV CAMPING | Lake Strom Thurmond

Thanks to the COVID-19 scare ruining our (and most everybody's) longer-distance travels this spring, it seems our camping "theme" of 2020 is turning into a tour of they myriad parks and campgrounds in a fifty-mile radius of our house!  In this video, we visit Baker Creek State Park, another of the many RV camping spots up and down the Savannah River. Come along and see what we discovered at this quiet little boating and biking haven on the South Carolina side of Lake Thurmond... not that we had the chance to do either of those things this particular weekend...

Seasoning a Griddle Top | Suburban/Blackstone griddles | RV COOKING - (Special Report)

Forest River includes a 17-inch Suburban LP griddle with all of its 2020 Mini Lite campers, which means we now have a griddle! Before we could play with this new cooking-toy, we had to "season" the griddle top. In this video, we'll show you the proper method for preparing your griddle top for its first "cook" (whether it's a Suburban or a Blackstone), and how ours turned out!

RV UPGRADES! Oxygenics Fury RV shower head installation! - (Special Report)

Looking for something to do during the "Lockdown?" Try changing out the stock shower head in your RV!  Adding an Oxygenics Fury RV shower head is one of quickest and easiest modifications you can make to your camper! (...and let's face it - if it wasn't easy, we'd never attempt it!)  Take a look us as we do the installation and try it out! 

10-Question RV Quarantine Challenge | 😷 COVID "Clamp-Down" - (Special Report)

The “COVID Clamp-Down” drags on, and it seems another topic of conversation has been making its way around the YouTube RVer community. We were nominated to take part in the Ten-Question RV Quarantine Challenge, so we jumped right in! Join us as we run through the list of questions passed along to us by the Traveling Buckeyes (https://www.youtube.com/TravelingBuckeyes) and hear how we've been managing during this period of... oh, how should be describe it... "enforced solitude...?"

UPDATE! How We're Being Hit by the "COVID Clamp-Down"

Howdy, Happy Campers out there! Jessie here again with an update about what's happening with our travel plans these days.  Let's face it - just about none of us anywhere are camping during these trying times lately, and I imagine that very few of us are happy about it.  One week from today (as I'm writing this), Smokey and I were supposed to be pulling into Fort DeSoto Campground down in St. Petersburg, Florida for our only long trip of the year.  We were oh-so looking forward to taking the new Aluminum Falcon on a lengthy adventure and finding lots of new and exciting things to see and do, and to make lots of video content to show all of you.

Well, so much for that!  You all know that I'm an educator (an elementary school librarian, to be precise), and with schools everywhere shut down for the duration of this health crisis, I've been working extra hard preparing materials and arranging things for our students to engage in some Socially-Distant learning.  Smokey being an administrator in healthcare means he's been working just as hard, if not harder, than usual, with no end in sight.  Even if Florida's governor hadn't closed things down, chances are that neither of us would've been able to justify leaving our jobs in early April to take the trip as planned. 

Certainly, we want everyone everywhere to be healthy and safe, and to not take unnecessary chances.  We're human, though, so we can't help but be disappointed that current circumstances are preventing all of us from living our lives.  Not only do we enjoy the few chances we get to go RV camping, we also enjoy making videos of our experiences to share with you, and we are thrilled beyond description that you seem to enjoy them.  Sadly, there won't be as many of them over the coming weeks, however, and that just kills us!  

We'll try to do a few things on our YouTube channel in April and May to let you know that we're still out here and still wanting to keep you engaged.  Please don't forget about us while, like you probably are, we're all cooped up at home waiting for this crisis to end, and please keep following us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, 'cause we'll still be posting there!  We're hoping that our next scheduled trip, to Baker Creek State Park in mid-May, will still happen, and we can get back to doing some Livin' and Learnin'!  Stay healthy, everybody!

Thinking of Buying an RV? 🤔 | ASK YOURSELF THESE QUESTIONS!!! - (Special Report)

It’s definitely a major life-decision - should YOU make the investment in a recreational vehicle? Why wouldn't you??? Well, to be fair, there are some decisions in life that definitely should NOT be “impulse” decisions, and deciding whether to purchase an RV certainly fits into that category. In this video, we share the thought process we followed when we first starting kicking around the idea of getting into the RV lifestyle. Take heed of our experience, fellow “noobs!”

FINALLY! See the "Aluminum Falcon," version 2.0!!

At long last, we present the Aluminum Falcon 2.0! (Well, to be fair, we've only owned the thing for eight weeks, so give us a break! 🙄) This much earlier-than-expected upgrade is almost surely all the RV we'll ever need... unless we hit the lottery or something! Take a look out our newest home-away-from-home, and see how Forest River is outfitting this "couples coach" model, which sits at the higher end in their Rockwood Mini Lite lineup. Now THIS is Glamping!!!

Mission 013 - Thanksgiving 2019 around Elberton, Georgia

Our Thanksgiving-Break trip this year took us over to Richard B. Russell State Park on the Georgia side of Lake Russell, primarily so we could be close to Jessie's folks' place for Turkey-Day. Jessie also happened to be sick with a cold at the time, so between family obligations and her feeling a little run-down, we didn't get to explore the park much during this "mission." However, we did have our own little Thanksgiving feast inside the camper, and even made time to ride over to Elberton, GA and check out the mysterious Georgia Guidestones on Black Friday. Come along and see!

Five Ideas for Organization & Storage in a Small(er) Camper - (Special Report)

Two people can definitely survive in a 19-foot travel trailer, but two people AND their mounds of stuff surviving in that space is still an open question! In this video, we share a few of the tricks, hacks and accessories that help keep all of our loot and supplies from piling up and overtaking our limited living space. Maybe one or two of these things can help YOU in your "home on wheels!"

Mission 011 (Part 2) - Kings Mountain National Military Park

Our newest video is up on the YouTube channel! Our long weekend at the Kings Mountain parks continued with our Saturday visit to the National Military Park, the site of the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780. We lucked into visiting on the weekend before the October 7th anniversary of the battle, so there were lots of goings-on with re-enactors and other demonstrations to see, in addition to the lovely forest hike. Take a look at our jaunt through this historical place and see yet another fine example of the great work the National Park Service does in preserving America's special places!

Ten RV Lifestyle Questions Challenge! (Special Report)

Have you seen the current YouTube Camping craze??? Well, these videos probably aren't as "viral" as those Ice-Bucket-over-Your-Head Challenges from a few years ago, but at least the Ten RV Lifestyle Questions Challenge doesn't require a towel and a change of clothes! In our latest YouTube video, we jump into the fad and provide the answers to the questions that all of you our there have been dying to ask! (Just play along, folks - we have fragile egos...)

Mission 011 (Part 1) - Kings Mountain State Park

More video fun for you!! Fall camping season begins, although you'd never know it as we departed for Kings Mountain State Park. Early October was still brutally hot down here in the South, but that didn't stop us from going camping! Join us as we discover one of South Carolina's original state parks, up where North and South Carolina meet. This historic location is known for its extensive hiking and equestrian trails, the "Living History Farm" (which we explore), and fishing and paddling on Lakes Crawford and York. We camped, we hiked, we grilled... see how it happened over on our YouTube channel!!

Campground Review - Lake Greenwood State Park, Ninety-Six, SC

One year of RV ownership!! To mark the occasion, we returned to the site of our “shakedown cruise,” our very first RV camping trip last September (2018), Lake Greenwood State Park! Since we’re a little more comfortable with the camping process this time around, we devoted a little more time to our surroundings so we could share our opinions with you. Take a look at our latest video over on the YouTube channel, as we take you around the park and show you its high points… and low points… so you can decide if you’d like to see this lovely camping destination for yourself!

End of "Camping Season?" BAH!! Bring On the Fall!

Hey, fellow Campers!  Jessie here again!  Fall approaches, and parts of the country may see the end of "camping season" on the horizon, but we here in the warm, wet South don't look at it that way!  Cooler weather just means changing your camping expectations, and to keep you apprised of our itinerary, today we share what we have mapped out through the end of the year.  Here goes: 

• For the Labor Day weekend (and our wedding anniversary!), we'll return to the site of our very first RV'ing trip - Lake Greenwood State Park.  With a year's worth of experience under our collective belts, we may actually have a stress-free trip this time around - although the first trip there was wonderful in its own way! 
  
  
• In the first week of October, we'll head up to the unique Kings Mountain State Park, which is kinda-sorta two parks in one. Not only does SC Parks & Recreation operate the State Park, but the National Park Service also participates in the property, managing Kings Mountain National Military Park. The park is also a big destination for horse-lovers, with lots of equestrian activities there. 
  
  

• We'll spend the Halloween weekend in a very UN-spooky place - Watson Mill Bridge State Park over in Georgia! Famed for the old covered bridge at the park's entrance, this park caught our attention while we were researching our trip to Tallulah Gorge. We expect lots of opportunities for great fall-colors photo-taking there (weather permitting, of course)!
  
  
• Thanksgiving Break presents a challenge, as we want to use the time off from work to go camping, but families "demand" we remain close to home, so as a compromise, we'll camp at Richard B. Russell State Park. On the opposite side of Lake Russell from Calhoun Falls State Park (where we had a wet. wonderful weekend this summer), this Georgia park is close enough to my folks' place that we can still do Thanksgiving Day with family during our stay.
  
  
• The year ends with our week-between-Christmas-and-New-Year's vacation, a tradition we hope we've started after our Asheville adventure last winter. This year, we've decided to see Myrtle Beach State Park... in the dead of winter! The way we figure it, all of the summer beach-crowd won't be there making lots of racket, right...?  

We'll provide more details as these dates approach, and more stories and pictures after the dates pass!  Stay tuned! 

Surprise! We've Got a New Tow Vehicle!!!

Words of Wisdom - be careful when you “window shop” on the internet!  A little harmless browsing one evening leads us to make a sooner-than-expected return trip to Florida, where our new tow vehicle was waiting for us!  Take a look as we drive a long way and back home in a single day, while signing up for a very-large financial commitment in the process!  Whoa, Nellie, but this is a big truck!!! (Well, it is to us, anyway…)

See how it happened over on the YouTube channel!