Highway 61, headed north from Duluth Minnesota to Thunder Bay over the Canadian border,  immortalized in Bob Dylan’s song.   

He chose this stretch of road for good reason, it represents the best of Minnesota in so many ways.  The North Shore drive along Lake Superior is the most scenic stretch of road in Minnesota and possibly the entire Midwest.

 

What's a staycation, you ask?

According to the Urban Dictionary, a staycation is...

A vacation that is spent at one's home enjoying all that home and one's home environs have to offer. A vacation spent close to home.

So, how does this apply to RVers?

Well, if the winter cover is still on your RV -- and your summer plans went down the drain the moment gas headed over the $4 a gallon mark -- then you're probably wondering if there's any point in getting the RV ready for summer use this year. The good news is... with a little imagination, you can still make plenty of use of your favorite summer pastime: RVing!

Yep, there's no time like the present to turn your RV summer vacation into a staycation.

In fact, aside from the high price of gas, there are plenty of reasons to stay close to home and consider alternative travel plans.

Here are some fun ideas for your next RV staycation...

Here in Minnesota, RV season is officially underway. Finally the snow is gone, the trees are leafing out nicely, and the spring air is starting to warm up.  The time has come to unveil the travel trailer for yet another season of RVing. 

If you prepared your RV properly last fall at the end of the RV season, then it’s probably covered with one of those big blue plastic tarps, at the very least. Or, you might have a quality RV cover instead.

I keep our 24-foot Dutchman RV trailer stored in a fenced storage facility.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a garage to keep it in, so mine gets the blue tarp treatment.  Minnesota summers are short, so it spends more of the year protected by the tarp then it does in a state of readiness for the road.

Here's how I prepare our RV each year for a summer of fun on the road...

My wife and I made the decision to hit the road as full time RVers with little more preparation than a few years worth of subscriptions to Trailer Life magazine.

We sold the house, the car, and a lot of junk. Then, we packed the rest into a small motorhome and thought we were ready. 

Well, we made some mistakes along the way. Hopefully the following tips will help you avoid some of the pitfalls that we fell victim to during our first year of fulltime RVing -- some of which can break the bank!