To Catch A Thief: An RV Dealer Fights Back Against RV Thefts

This week on the RV Podcast:

• To Catch a Thief: An RV Dealer Fights Back Against RV Thefts
• Two National Parks have been so devastated by wildfires they’ve shut down for the remainder of the yr.
• In Mike and Jen’s Storytime, when the free-spirited serendipity method to RV journey doesn’t work
• All this plus RV Tips, the News of the Week and your questions developing in Episode 556 of the RV Podcast

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We bought the fifth wheel mounted. The skirting that got here unfastened on the dreadful stretch of I-69 in Michigan was changed and reinstalled.

We’re accessorizing our new Embassy RV Cape Cod Class C motorhome and already planning some upgrades – We need to add photo voltaic, seat belts to the lounge chairs and an on/off swap to that pesky always-on  360-degree digital camera monitor that causes parasitic drain to the batteries.

Meanwhile, we wrote a put up on our personal RVCommunity.com the opposite day I assumed I’d share on the podcast.

It has to do with the massive Caravan RV present held each September in Dusseldorf, Germany. I feel it has arguably change into probably the most influential RV present on the earth, eclipsing even Hershey and Tampa. 

I’ve been reading about some of the new models to be launched, and this one – known as  “The RV of the Future” caught my eye. 

It’s from German producer Knaus and it is known as the Boxtime, a really compact little van on the Fiat Ducato chassis that is available in below 20 toes. It options what’s known as a “transformational bathroom” that makes use of a pretend wall that holds the sink and the mirror that switches between bathe and tub. 

You can use it as a restroom with the wall in place, or it turns into a full bathe room by swinging the wall to the aspect in order that it covers the bathroom. This method, in the identical footprint, you get a full bathe and you do not have to fret about splashing water on all the pieces else, as a result of all the pieces else is safely tucked away behind the wall.

Other producers have additionally tinkered with this design, and I’m certain we’ll finally see extra US RV makers utilizing it. But when it comes to innovation and design, this unit – and the Italian-made Wingham, which is now being offered within the U.S. – make most American-made RVs look previous and outdated. European styling and design are years forward of what we’re seeing from our North American producers.

RV CONVERSATION OF THE WEEK

When Bretz RV & Marine had a Brinkley trailer stolen from its Billings, Montana, retailer, the family-owned dealership did not simply file a declare with their insurance coverage and sit again.

No, they determined to combat. Bretz paired up with the truck seller down the road and issued a $20,000 reward, arrange a hotline, named names, confirmed photos of the stolen rig, the stolen truck, and the man accused of taking it and put all of it collectively to the tune “Bad Boys” made fashionable by the present “Cops” in a 58-second reel. The reel is now making the rounds over the internet.

Today on our present, we’re joined by Brandon Bretz, the president of Bretz RV & Marine. The family-owned dealership was began by his grandparents, who created it from the gasoline station enterprise his great-grandparents based. The firm now has 8 dealerships in Montana, Idaho, and Washington, and the corporate is aware of very nicely how thefts have an effect on the underside line. 

Brandon talks about how his household determined to combat again. Watch or take heed to the interview within the gamers above.

THERE’S AN UPDATE TO THIS STORY: 

The stolen truck and Brinkley trailer were both recovered late last week in southern Idaho. Idaho police, appearing on a tip acquired via the video, arrange a sting operation and recovered the truck and trailer.

But the suspect- Jonathan Shane Roberts – is within the wind. Why? Because the Montana police and prosecutor have sat on their arms and never completed the paperwork to subject an arrest warrant. Because of that, Idaho police couldn’t maintain him and he has vanished. Police in Idaho say Roberts is needed in a number of states. 

The Bretz household is grateful for Idaho police however livid on the inefficiency of native Montana legislation enforcement. 

They are circulating needed posters and asking the general public’s assist in finding this Roberts. We’ll let you understand how it really works out.

RV NEWS OF THE WEEK

​Two Iconic National Parks Cancel Entire 2025 Season as fires rage​

If your journey plans for 2025 included a cease on the north rim of the Grand Canyon or a campground at Black Canyon of the Gunnison, time for a change of plans. Fires are persevering with to rage throughout each parks and Grand Canyon’s north rim is closed for the rest of 2025. The hearth there’s at about 12,000 acres and has already destroyed quite a few constructions together with a beloved historic lodge, and as of this writing, the fireplace is 0% contained. At Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, all tenting reservations for 2025 are canceled because the south rim continues to burn. This hearth is no less than 4,200 acres, 85% of the rim is burned, however it’s beginning to be contained.

​Multitudes of Yellowstone Animals Fleeing? Viral Videos Fool the Masses​

Did you hear the rumors about animals quickly exiting Yellowstone National Park? Videos circulating on social media seem to indicate herds of bison, elk, mountain lions, and grizzly bears high-tailing it out. The concern went viral, trending as a high Google search! Yellowstone rangers are actually assuring the general public that animals are NOT leaving. In truth, among the movies could even be AI-generated.

​Food-Obsessed Bear Meets Deadly Fate After Raiding Yellowstone Campsites​

Speaking of Yellowstone, the park needed to put down a black bear that developed a style for human meals. It was the primary time in 5 years that rangers put down a bear. The feminine bear crushed an unoccupied tent at a backcountry campsite and, one other time, returned to climb the campground’s meals storage pole, tear down correctly saved meals luggage, and devour them. Rangers feared it was only a matter of time earlier than the food-conditioned black bear would damage somebody.

​WANTED: Shoe Bandit Fox Strikes Again in Grand Teton – 32 Pairs and Counting!​

If you are heading to Grand Teton National Park anytime quickly, do not depart any sneakers exterior your RV. A fox is “wanted” for stealing campers’ sneakers – no less than 32 of them and counting. So what does the fox do with the sneakers? Who is aware of! However, it has change into so extreme that rangers are actually warning campers to not depart any sneakers mendacity round their campsite. (Anyone else preserve listening to the phrase of their head, “Swiper, no swiping! Ha!)

​Higher Michigan campground fees take effect Aug. 1​

Starting Aug. 1, the worth to camp at a Michigan campground is rising $4-10 an evening, relying on location and facilities. Also, 19 out of the 103 state parks in Michigan have full or partial 2025 season closures as renovations proceed.

​More Canadian RVers stay home and upstate New York campground owners feel it​

Some campground homeowners in New York close to the border with Canada informed CBC News that enterprise is method down this summer time as many Canadian RVers and vacationers decide to not journey to the united statesA. Border crossings from Canada to New York have been down 17% in June from the earlier yr. A weaker Canadian greenback, politics and what one campground proprietor described as a “culture of fear” about crossing are blamed.

SOCIAL MEDIA BUZZ – Wendy Bowyer

Wendy Bowyer experiences on the new points most talked about this previous week on social media and our RV Lifestyle Community group.

In our personal RVLifestyle Community we’re engaged on the small print for our fall rally in Texas! We’ll have our regular opening potluck and provides away some superb prizes together with a Lectric bike. We’ll tour each other’s rigs, take pleasure in some Texas BBQ, and even go to a well-known dance corridor for some Texas Two-steppin’. We might be staying in Fredericksburg, a German city within the Texas Hill nation, with wineries, climbing trails, superb eating places, tons of fascinating historical past, and so many issues to do.

Registration is now open, however to return it’s essential be a member of our personal Community. You can study extra about our Community at: group.rvlifestyle.com

We’d like to have you ever be part of us!

Then in our Facebook Group, Carole wrote: “I am so frustrated with our new 5th wheel I want to light a match to it! What are we doing wrong? We secure everything but something BREAKS every time!”

And when she says one thing breaks, it seems like she means one thing breaks! As they drive down the highway issues fly all over the place, the fridge door commonly pops open spilling objects throughout the ground, the trash can pulls out of its cupboard and falls off the rails and as soon as she even had a chair leg break on their kitchen chair, regardless that all the pieces was strapped down!

Carole stated her husband drives the velocity restrict, however she nonetheless thinks he’s going too quick. This is their first Fifth Wheel, however not their first camper, and he or she wanted some suggestions for securing objects.

Many identified that driving your Fifth Wheel down the highway is like experiencing a minor earthquake. When the roads are in poor form, the “earthquake” is that a lot worse. But there are issues you are able to do. There have been too many options for me to record all of them however some issues got here up repeatedly.

First, test the suspension. Mark stated they added a set of SumoSprings to the leaf springs which actually helped the bounce and their Fifth Wheel rides so significantly better.

Second, safe the cupboard and fridge doorways. Many use bungee cords, painters tape, rigidity rods, pool noodles and youngster locks. Jeff places baskets within the fridge and fills the hampers with unfastened objects so issues cannot bang round. And for the skin of the fridge, many put in a suction deal with lock to maintain it closed. While others put in industrial-grade Velcro to assist preserve that fridge door shut.

Third, pack correctly. Put the heavy objects closest to the ground and middle of the rig. 

Fourth, test your weight. Tony requested: Are you over the allowable weight for the axles? That will trigger the springs to backside out on bumps and that may jar all the pieces within the trailer.

And then lastly, Don’t drive too quick. Many agreed you should not go over 60 or at most 65 miles an hour when pulling.

SO many nice suggestions – you actually need to check this post out should you even have this subject of things flying about on journey days.

RV QUESTION OF THE WEEK – RVing with Dogs

QUESTION: This query got here in through our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel from a viewer who has seen our Norwegian Elkhound, Bo, accompanying us on our RV Trips. They requested:

Can you chat about taking your pet with you and the way you handle this ? We have a canine and are questioning RV greatest along with her?

ANSWER: We share our expertise with touring with a canine, particularly Bo, who has actually grown up in an RV. He’s now virtually 10 years previous and began touring as a pup

They want a spot of their very own. A well-known mattress or rug, in order that they know the place to sleep. Get them used to the RV. Make it a nice time for them. Maybe with some treats. Have their meals and water bowls all the time accessible to them. 

Secure them. Harnesses, doggy seat belts, cloth cages, or devoted areas the place they’re protected and safe as they drive. For us, Bo lives within the again seat of our Ford F-350, the tow car for our Montana Fifth Wheel. He doesn’t like our Class C motorhome, which we lately added as a second RV. We are engaged on acclimating him to that.. We have a GREAT useful resource for you proper right here: RVing with Dogs ULTIMATE Resource Guide

MIKE & JEN’S STORYTIME: A Canadian Rockies Reality Check

JEN: We have one other journey story – this one concerning the time our free-spirited serendipity method to RV journey met the immovable pressure of Canadian vacation visitors!

MIKE: Several years in the past, through the first week of July, we’re driving our trusty little Class C motorhome towards what we thought can be an superior wilderness journey within the Canadian Rockies.

JEN: We have been so excited! We’d been trying ahead to this journey for months. Back then, our journey fashion was 100% pure serendipity – no reservations, no inflexible plans, simply roll with no matter got here our method.

MIKE: That method had all the time labored for us! We’d pull into an space, discover a good campground with a gap, or uncover some excellent little boondocking spot. Adventure round each nook, ?

JEN: After overnighting in Calgary, we headed west with hearts filled with anticipation. First cease: the legendary Lake Louise. And let me inform you, it completely lived as much as the hype!

MIKE: Gorgeous would not even start to explain it! Those towering mountains mirrored in that shimmering turquoise lake, the path that winds across the complete shoreline with breathtaking views at each single flip…

JEN: You might hire canoes and paddle proper as much as the shoreline, exploring hidden coves. It was like being inside a postcard! We’re pondering, “This is it – this is why we came!”

MIKE: And then actuality hit. Hard.

JEN: We spent two stable hours – two hours! – going from campground to campground, virtually begging and pleading for any spot they could have accessible.

MIKE: Nothing. Not a single opening anyplace. We tried boondocking spots, overflow areas, even requested if we might park in a nook someplace. Every reply was the identical: “Sorry, we’re completely full.”

JEN: So we thought, “Okay, let’s head to Banff National Park.” I imply, it was proper subsequent door. Surely one of the vital lovely parks on the earth would have one thing for us, proper?

MIKE: Wrong! We have been completely shocked to search out each highway clogged with bumper-to-bumper visitors. Every trailhead seemed like a shopping center parking zone on Black Friday! One stream of parked vehicles alongside the highway resulting in a well-liked climbing path was one-half mile lengthy.

JEN: Every campground we known as was booked stable. That’s when a pleasant park ranger delivered the information that modified all the pieces…

MIKE: “You couldn’t have picked a worse time to visit,” she stated with a sympathetic smile. “Canada Day – that’s July 1st, Canada’s Independence Day – and everyone in the country goes camping.”

JEN: And then she dropped the opposite shoe: “Plus, with July 4th being American Independence Day, it seems like half the United States decides to visit the Canadian Rockies that week! It’s like this every year at this time.”

MIKE: We by no means even thought of it. Or checked a calendar. We’d walked straight into the proper storm of North American out of doors enthusiasm! Two international locations celebrating their independence by… nicely, making our lives extremely depending on discovering someplace to sleep!

JEN: By this level, we’re exhausted, a bit of defeated, and going through the very actual risk of spending the night time in a freeway relaxation cease. Which, by the best way, we did – simply east and south of Calgary.

MIKE: Nothing fairly humbles your journey confidence like making an attempt to catch just a few hours of sleep in a relaxation space with vehicles rumbling by all night time!

JEN: But here is the place our story takes a flip for the higher. We ended up driving virtually all the best way again to the U.S. border, and eventually – lastly! – discovered a emptiness at one among Waterton Lakes National Park’s campgrounds.

MIKE: And what? It turned out to be completely unbelievable! Waterton butts proper up in opposition to Glacier National Park within the U.S., so we had the perfect of each international locations at our fingertips.

JEN: The climbing was phenomenal, the surroundings was breathtaking, and truthfully, it may need been much more lovely than the place we might initially deliberate to remain.

MIKE: Sometimes life has a humorous method of redirecting us precisely the place we must be, even once we assume we all know higher!

JEN: But we positively realized our lesson about Banff and Lake Louise. Those locations stay on our “definitely going back” record – simply with reservations made months upfront!

MIKE: The ethical of our story? There’s a time and place for serendipitous journey, and there is a time for acknowledging that some locations require a bit of extra planning.

JEN: Overconfidence in all the time discovering a spot can positively finish with you sleeping to the soundtrack of freeway visitors! Sometimes the preferred locations are fashionable for a cause – and meaning everybody else needs to be there too.

MIKE: But here is the gorgeous half: when your unique plans fall via, you may simply uncover one thing much more superb. Waterton Lakes gave us recollections we treasure to today.

JEN: So whether or not you are a spontaneous traveler or a meticulous planner, bear in mind to remain versatile. The greatest adventures typically occur once we let go of our expectations and embrace what the highway really presents us.

MIKE: And perhaps, simply perhaps, keep away from Canada’s busiest nationwide parks through the week when two complete international locations are celebrating their independence!

JEN: Though should you do end up sleeping in a relaxation cease, simply bear in mind – it will make for an amazing story later!

MIKE: May your adventures all the time lead you precisely the place you are meant to be!

JEN: Happy Trails!