Posts byBob Difley

A couple looking down at camping with RV in background..

7 Scary Campground Neighbors — and How to Handle Them

During Halloween, campfire ghost stories aren't the only terrifying part of travel

You can count on two possibilities as an RVer. You will either have pleasant campground neighbors or you will not. Fortunately, annoying camping neighbors are the exception rather than the rule. Here are seven types of campground neighbors you could encounter sooner or later and a strategy for maintaining your sanity if you do. But
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farolitos

Have a Creative Southwestern Desert Christmas

Southwest Desert Holidays — enjoy the season from a regional perspective. The trappings of a traditional American Christmas include wrapped presents under a decorated fir or spruce tree, pumpkin pie, and the singing of Christmas carols and stockings “hung by the chimney with care.” But, if you live in — or visit as a snowbird
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4 Dazzling Off-the-Beaten-Path Attractions in Utah

These offbeat Utah RV destinations will thrill you. Utah is known for its iconic Zion, Canyonlands and Arches national parks, to name a few. But no trip to the Beehive State is complete without paying a visit to some of its smaller, quirkier attractions. Here are four memorable sites that rival some of the state’s
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Dazzling Arizona Day Trips for Snowbirds

Arizona snowbird day trips — discover winter wilderness a short distance from your home base. If you’re one of those fortunate RVers who spends winters in Arizona, you know that it’s not just the mild winter climate that makes Arizona so attractive. The popular destinations of Sedona, Phoenix and Tucson sit amid amazing desert landscapes,
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good sam parks welcome holidays

4 Festive Good Sam Parks for the Holidays

Good Sam Parks welcome holidays from coast to coast. Good Sam RV Parks across the nation celebrate the Holidays with decorations, fireworks and visits from Santa Claus. If you’re staying in the snowy north, expect sleigh rides, snowman-building and hot spiced cider. Wherever you are, a Good Sam RV Park will welcome you with good
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bird watching rv

RV Bird-watching for Crows and Ravens

Bird watching RV tours are a great way to see North America’s flying creatures. This Halloween, keep an eye out for crows and ravens. These birds have been given a bad rap from scary stories, but the truth is more interesting than the myths. Ravens Can Make Revving Sounds The raven has long been associated
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RV Halloween

RV Halloween Haunts: 3 Spooky Arizona Ghost Towns

RV Halloween haunts — 3 spooky Arizona ghost towns. There are two kinds of ghost towns: those populated by (some) humans and those populated only by ghosts. But we humans like company, and when there are no other living inhabitants around, that leaves only the non-living population — which can be a little creepy if
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good sam rv blogger

Meet Good Sam’s Outdoors Travel Blogger

Blogging for Good Sam has given me a chance to share some great travel experiences with fellow RVers. I retired as regional general manager of a national RV rental and sales company after 10 years to join the on-the-road community of fulltime RVers. Before I became a Good Sam RV blogger, I taught classes to
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wildlife watching and rv

7 Places in North America to See Big Wildlife

Combine wildlife watching and RV travel. What could be better for wildlife watchers/photographers than to see free-roaming animals in their natural habitats? Here are some of the best places where you can watch unrestrained wildlife, from moose to bears to wolves. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming Yellowstone has the largest concentration of animals in the Lower
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wildlife sanctuaries

Have a Wild Time at These 7 North American Animal Sanctuaries

Add these 7 wildlife sanctuaries to your RV itinerary. Viewing wildlife is a popular activity for RVers, but some animal advocates question how best to observe animals without doing them harm. At these seven sanctuaries, some dedicated to rescuing animals from abusive captivity, the animals roam free in their natural habitat. The Wild Animal Sanctuary
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Idaho Pow wow

Julyamsh Pow Wow — Celebrating Native America Heritage in Idaho

Add an Idaho pow wow to your RV itinerary. Ah, His´Laqht! (Hello my friends!). This greeting comes with an invitation to the 2017 Coeur d´Alene Tribal Encampment and Julyamsh Pow Wow at Kootenai County Fairgrounds in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, July 21–22. It’s an event that shouldn’t be missed. What is a Pow wow? If you’ve
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3 Fantastic Rail-to-Trail Bike Rides for RVers

Combine RV travel and rail-to-trail bike rides. We’ve heard it often enough. We need to exercise more and lose weight. Unfortunately I can’t offer you a magic pill that will remedy those two, but the Rails to Trails Conservancy thinks that you can have your cake and eat it too, so to speak, on their national
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rv chili trail

5 Flavorful Chili Cook-offs Across America

Follow the RV chili trail to festivals. “Feel the Bern” was a cheer you heard a lot during the presidential campaign. On the RV chili cook-off trail, “Feel the burn” relates to the amount of red hot chili peppers in the contestants’ mouth-watering chili. Some chili cook-offs are only open to licensed restaurants, but most
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RV travelers play pickleball

Pickleball, Anyone? Playing the Ultimate Sport for RVers

RV travelers play pickleball across North America. As we get older, we find it difficult to play sports with the same effort that we exerted in our youth. But if friendly competition is still part of your DNA, you don’t have to give up the thrill of victory. Pickleball is one of the fastest growing pastimes in America, satisfying the need
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RV to underappreciated national parks.

6 Underappreciated National Parks in the U.S.

RV to 6 underappreciated national parks. The United States has 59 protected National Parks, giving travelers a long list of spectacular destinations to visit. While everybody knows the most popular parks — Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Glacier — you probably haven’t heard much about these less-publicized gems. These parks might not be household names, but they’re just
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rv to colorado ghost towns

RVing to Colorado Ghost Towns

RV to Colorado ghost towns. Colorado claims to have over 1,500 ghost towns, though you will actually find only about 640. The rest have been reclaimed by nature, covered by mining tailings or flooded over from nearby reservoirs. Many are accessible with four-wheel-drive vehicles by long, rough dirt roads. However, many ghost towns are within reach
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snowbird trips

Take a Stellar Snowbird Trip in Arizona

Take stellar snowbird trips in the heart of the Grand Canyon State. Snowbirds descending from the Pacific Northwest, the Plains states or the Midwest into central Arizona for the winter have several routes to choose from, though most often they take the most direct. RV Park Reviews Check out these Highly Reviewed Good Sam Parks in central Arizona. • Arizonian RV
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holidays in the desert

Holidays in the Desert

Holidays in the desert will make you forget snowmen and reindeer. In the Southwestern United States, RVers visiting during the Holidays will experience special customs, many with cultural links to our south-of-the-border neighbors. These festivities are quite different than the snow and jingle bells experience in the more northern states. For instance, visitors shouldn’t miss the lighting of luminarias — sacks
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California Ghost Towns

California Ghost Towns Are Rich in Spirit

California ghost towns beckon to spirit seekers. In the 1880s, towns sprang up in the Wild West like weeds in a Spring vegetable garden, most of them rising in the wake of the discovery of gold and silver in the beds of seasonal Western streams. The towns lasted as long as miners could extract the minerals,
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Ghost Town

3 Unearthly Idaho Ghost Town Trips

Go on a Ghost Town tour of the Gem State. Those shiny minerals, silver and gold, lured thousands of hopeful wannabes to Idaho to strike it rich during the gold rush of the late 1800s. After the dust of reality settled, Idaho’s mining towns plummeted from boom towns to ghost towns. Today, you can learn the fascinating
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Scary Ghost Towns in Western Montana

Hunt for spirits in these abandoned Big Sky settlements

I stood in the middle of the street in the deserted town; the eerie silence was broken only by the soft whistle of the wind ruffling the willow tree’s leaves next to the hotel. I could see no other humans—though I’m told that the spirits of some of the departed still reside here. The decrepit,
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Galley Storage

6 Great RV Galley Storage Solutions

Store more with some simple kitchen tips

I’ve said it before, there is never enough galley storage in an RV. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be creative to maximize your available space. These tips will help you make the best use of room. 1.Use Bulk Bins for Dry Food Dry food stores from bulk bins eliminate wasteful space-filling retail packaging, providing more
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On the Hunt for Spring Desert Wildflowers

Southwest desert wildflowers have been scarce during the recent drought years, but this Spring may be a winner. The best wildflower blooming spots can be found in areas protected from cattle grazing and off-road vehicles. Look in state and national parks and national monuments, where the flora is protected, along with specially protected areas like reserves. The following places have
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Discover Southwest Native American Petroglyphs

Little remains from the earliest Native Americans that migrated into the Southwest. Still, archaeologists have been able to piece together a picture of this culture from some pueblos, stone and bone tools, a few buried skeletons, and carvings on cave walls, rocks and cliff faces. This ancient art, called petroglyphs (some call it Stone Age
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Southeast Georgia: A Superb Snowbird Destination

Most snowbirds head to a warm and sunny Southern state, like Arizona, Southern California, the Texas Gulf coast or Florida. But there are other not as popular or well known options for snowbirds, like Southwest Georgia. The weather is not quite as warm as those destinations further south, but coastal Georgia’s average winter weather ranges between
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Little-Known Southern California Destinations

At 163,694.74 square miles, California is the third largest US state. And I’ll bet you haven’t seen it all. So here’s a handful of locations in populous Southern California that you may have missed—most of them only a day trip away from a Good Sam campground. Add your great/unusual/hidden California locations to the comments.   Red
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Little-Known Arizona Camping Gems

Arizona’s distinct climates are separated by altitude changes varying from the low Sonora Desert in the Southwest (lowest point: 70 feet along the Colorado River near Yuma) to the vast Ponderosa pine forests topping out at Humphrey’s Peak near Flagstaff at 12,633 feet. Wherever you are in Arizona, travel distances from low deserts to cool forests
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Demystifying Some Common Misconceptions About RV Travel

All groups and occupations have jargon that confuses outsiders and newbies alike. The camping community is no different. If you sometimes are a jargon-challenged RVer, think what new or wannabe RVers must think when they hear the confusing utterances of RV industry insiders and bloggers. So let’s clear things up—or maybe not. Mobilehome, motorhome or
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Diplomatically Telling Neighbors to Calm Their Kids

          Sitting outside your RV on a balmy summer evening, watching the flickering campfire as the day loses it’s glow, and anticipating a quiet night’s sleep are among the joys of the RV lifestyle. But what do you do when something—like rowdy kids belonging to your campground neighbors—shatters this reverie? The
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10 Tips for Staying Alert Behind the Wheel

We would all like to think that we are safe drivers, able to quickly make the right decisions, react to hazards and dangers instinctively, and avoid impaired thinking due to drowsiness. But “sleep is a powerful biological drive—one that can overtake even the best driver,” according to the National Sleep Foundation. ” Rolling down the
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Being Careful Around Bison

Every year, countless RV travelers flock to Yellowstone National Park to see geysers, bubbling mudpots, and  varied and abundant wildlife. Many visitors go out of their way to catch up-close views of American bison. Often mistakenly called “buffalo,” the bison is one of the most majestic animals you’ll see in the wild. Yellowstone’s bison population numbers around 4,000.
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