Fuel Saving Hacks & Sasquatch Tracks: Younger RVers, Money-Saving Fuel Tips, and a Michigan Bigfoot Adventure

This week on the RV Podcast:

• This week we tell you about Fuel Saving Hacks and a new way for RVers to cut their fuel costs
• Confusion remains over the hiring of seasonal employees at our national parks
• The average age of RV owners is getting younger
• In Mike & Jen’s storytime we’ll tell you why an Upper Peninsula town is a hotbed for Bigfoot sightings and share a true story about the time Mike went on a REAL Bigfoot hunt
• All this plus the RV News of the Week and your questions coming up in Episode 534 of the RV Podcast

You can watch the video version from our RV Lifestyle YouTube Channel by clicking the player below.

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RV CONVERSATION OF THE WEEK – New Fuel Saving Hacks

One of the biggest costs RVers routinely face is fuel. Questions about how to save at the pump come up often in our social media platforms, which is why we are excited to tell you about something new.

The RV Fuel Saver card by Techno RV, a fuel savings card that came out roughly a year ago for diesel purchases, is expected to branch into the gasoline market this month (February), opening up new savings for RVers who use gas.

To tell us all about this, our guest is Mike Kilbourne from TechnoRV.

TechnoRV's Mike Kilborne announced significant updates to their RV Fuel Saver card in February 2025.

The biggest change is the expansion to include gasoline savings at approximately 4,000 stations across the United States, including major networks like Maverick, Come and Go, and Casey's. This addition responds to community feedback requesting gasoline coverage, with plans to continue expanding their network of participating stations.

For diesel users, the RV Fuel Saver card currently provides discounts at over 2,000 stations, including major chains like TA, Petro, 7-Eleven, Speedway, Thorntons, Rudders, and Racetrack. While they don't cover Love's stations (which are part of the Open Roads network), TechnoRV ensures all their diesel locations are big rig friendly and capable of accommodating vehicles up to 80 feet in length.

The savings with the RV Fuel Saver card typically range from 20 cents to 90 cents per gallon, with variations depending on state, local, and federal taxes. These discounts can fluctuate significantly between states and regions due to different tax structures and local regulations.

A key feature of the card is its security system, which uses dynamic PIN numbers that change with each fuel purchase. This security measure has resulted in zero fraud cases since the program's inception, making it the only business-to-consumer fuel program with this track record according to their banking partners, EFS and Wex.

The card's app, developed in-house by TechnoRV, allows users to easily locate compatible stations and manage their fuel purchases. Unlike competitors such as Open Roads, the RV Fuel Saver card doesn't require sensitive personal information like social security numbers or bank account details. Instead, users can simply link their preferred credit or debit card, allowing them to earn credit card rewards in addition to fuel savings.

The RV Fuel Saver card is available for free at RV shows and rallies, or can be ordered online at TechnoRV.com for $4.99 to cover shipping costs. Cards typically arrive within 3-4 days via standard mail from their warehouse in Ringgold, Georgia. The new gasoline savings feature will be automatically updated through the app for existing cardholders. 

Western RV Land Sales

The RV Land properties featured this month are:
Windmill Acres in Arizona – https://ArizonaRanchSale.com

Frontier Ranch in Colorado – https://ColoradoRanchSale.com

SOCIAL MEDIA BUZZ – Wendy Bowyer

Wendy Bowyer reports on the hot issues most talked about this past week on social media and our RV Lifestyle Community group.

In our RVLifestyle Community, we had a WONDERFUL Community Campfire last week. That is when we all get online at the same time to discuss different camping-related topics. For those who don't know, our private community is for both supporters and those looking for a friendly, ad-free online place to connect. And the big news in the Community this past week is our March Meetups! 

So, what are March Meetups? We are going to have some mini-meetups throughout the country where members get together to share a meal. Locations are based on where we have a host to organize. It looks like we will have one in Nashville, North Carolina near the Virginia border, Michigan near Grand Rapids, and the Florida panhandle. It is going to be so much fun!

Then over in our RVLifestyle Facebook Group, we had a post from Isabella that caught my eye. One thing we are seeing a lot right now is trip planning, where members will share where they are going and ask for feedback from the half-a-million members of things to see and do. Usually, they get great suggestions, which is what happened to Isabella.

She wrote:  Looking for insight about the Mississippi coast. What is worth stopping for? Isabella is staying north of New Orleans and heading east to Florida, and wanted to know if she should drive straight through or if there was something worth seeing, or a campground worth visiting along the coast of Mississippi.

Lynda wrote that Biloxi, Pascagoula, and Ocean Springs have some amazing food, great history and is an overall very reasonably priced area!

And I have to say the city of Ocean Springs came up a lot.

Taylor said Ocean Springs is a cute little beach town with cute cafes and bars and live music! It’s her favorite place to visit.

Another member shared there is a gorgeous and affordable  Army Corps of Engineer campground nearby.

Others recommended the Mississippi Aquarium in Gulfport, and there were so many restaurant suggestions, I got hungry just reading about it. Apparently there is some amazing food in this area – one person even recommended the fried chicken sold at a gas station.

I love all the suggestions Isabella got, and it sounds like there are certainly reasons to stop.

A different post that caught my eye was from Kitty, who had a tip for everyone trying to figure out where to put their shampoos or soaps in their rig's shower. Her issue is – the walls of her shower stall are textured so suction cups or command hook caddies wouldn't stick. She bought a basket to store her shampoos that would hang off the shower's knobs, but that didn't work either because the nobs were too close together. So how did she solve this? She purchased a tension shower curtain rod! She mounted the rod on the back wall of her shower, hung the shower caddy filled with her shower items in it, took a picture to share and people loved it.

So many RV showers do not have adequate space for shampoos and soaps.

Laura said her rig has a tiny shelf for shampoos and soap, but it is super small, and there's no lip, so everything slides right off, and it is useless. Laura loved Kitty's idea and planned to look into this solution herself.

In fact, over and over, people thanked Kitty for this tip. 

Betsy summed it up well, saying RV living requires creativity, and this is creative!  

Thanks for sharing, Kitty!

RV NEWS OF THE WEEK

The median age of RV owners is now 49, with 46% of all owners now falling within the 35-54 age range. Ownership is also more diverse and owners are spending more time on the road. The new numbers are from the Go RVing 2025 RV Owner Demographic Profile.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order to create a national park dedicated to American heroes ranging from scientists to civil rights leaders, authors, teachers, and others. Trump made this order originally during his first administration with the park to be in place for the country's 250th birthday next year, but the Biden administration revoked the order, and the national park was never created.

Calling all bird lovers! The Great Backyard Bird Count begins this Friday, Feb. 14, thru Feb. 17 when folks are encouraged to go to their favorite place and count birds. Participants need to register, and the requirement is to go somewhere for at least 15 minutes and record all the birds seen and heard and enter it on line – something we've heard RVers do and enjoy through the years.

Confusion continues over how national parks will be impacted this summer by the federal governmental employee hiring freeze ordered by the Trump administration. A group of Democratic senators wrote a letter to the new Interior Secretary stressing the need to hire seasonal workers now, as the process does take time, to avoid the chaos that would happen in the summer if the parks are not properly staffed to handle millions of visitors.

Timed entry reservations for Glacier National Park become available at 8 am Mountain Time this Thursday, Feb. 13. Visitors need a reservation to access the West Side of Going-to-the-Sun Road and the North Forks from June 13 to Sept. 28.

RV QUESTION OF THE WEEK

QUESTION: My 2022 Wonder RL has a Macerator toilet and also a macerator for dumping. I accidentally dropped a cylinder shaped cap about half the size of my little finger and it’s made of a hard plastic in the toilet and I can’t get it. 

Is there a way to turn off the macerating function on the toilet and still flush it? I see in my fuse box there is a fuse designated just for the toilet. I’m guessing that is the Macerator function.

 If I pull that fuse will the toilet still flush and thus avoid having the Macerator not try to grind up the plastic piece until I can get it out? – Brad

ANSWER: Most of the Leisure Travel Vans also have a gravity dump. But not on the one you have with the macerating toilet.  

That Wonder has the big garage and needs a macerator toilet because the room needed for the black tank was limited and to get waste into the tank they need the macerator’s power push to pump it uphill into the tank.

Pulling the fuse won't work. Since water doesn't run uphill, you can’t empty the tank without the macerator running.

But, yes, a hunk of hard plastic can probably indeed mess up the macerator blades. I'd call customer service at Leisure and explain the situation to them. You are not the first to experience this issue. You can hold upen the toilet valve in the bathroom of your Wonder and  use a flashlight and peek into the tank and see if you can spot the pastic and somehow figure out a way to snag it and remove it. But if not, you will want to have an RV technician get involved.

There is an update to this since Brad sent in his question! He got it out himself. Here’s his update:
“With surgeon like precision and a long pair of chopsticks I located the item and carefully secured it, rotated it through the tiny opening and removed the obstruction! While I was on my knees I also sent up a prayer.”

MIKE & JEN’S STORYTIME

This week, we’re going to tell you why an Upper Penisula town on the shores of Lake Superior has become a hotbed for Bigfoot sightings and the TRUE story of the time Mike went on a REAL hunt for Bigfoot.