Rising COVID fears and RV Travel uncertainty are causing RVers to stay closer to home and be much more cautious in their plans for the rest of the summer and into fall.
As the nation once again finds COVID rates dramatically rising, RVers are wondering what to do with summer travel plans. "Should we stay or should we go?"  is a question we've been asked a lot this past week.

So in this 304th episode of the RV Podcast, we're going to talk about that. We’ll share our feelings and hear from a bunch of you who responded to our request to call and share your opinion.

Plus, we have lots of RV questions this week, plenty of RV News, and a great off the beaten path RV report from the Burketts.


RV LIFESTYLE NEWS OF THE WEEK
Officials say no reported COVID-19 cases at Yosemite, but then they discover it in human sewage
In this time of pandemic camping, there was an intriguing story this week out of California that caught our attention. Yosemite National Park is open to visitors, regular testing of employees and residents shows no one has tested positive for COVID-19, and no visitors have reported back as positive. Seems a safe place to go, right? Well, apparently a company that is checking human raw sewage for the virus found COVID-19 in the waste. The company estimated between June 30 and July 6, about 170 infected people were at the El Portal stop, while just a few were at Wawona. The science is still developing, and being outside and away from crowds is still considered a relatively safe activity, but this adds to our belief that using the facilities in your RV is still the safest thing to do.

Black bear bites woman, child, in Yellowstone backcountry then eats their food
A black bear bit a woman and a child at Yellowstone National Park last week after entering a campsite shared by five backpackers in search of food. The woman and child were outside their tents and the bear walked right up to them, bit them, then went to their food which was under a storage pole but not yet hung up. When rangers arrived, the bear was still eating the campers' food, so the bear was killed. The bear bit the woman in her arm and head and bit the child's hand. Both received bruises and minor cuts. Rangers, again, urged visitors to carry bear spray. Here is an article we did on how to camp safely in bear country - we've shared it before, but believe it is worth sharing again.

Woman chased by a bison at Yellowstone trips, falls, plays dead and survives encounter without injury
Speaking of Yellowstone, did you see the video of the woman who was being charged by a bison, tripped and fell, played dead, and survived the encounter without a scratch? Apparently, the woman and another person got too close to the wild creature so it charged. The woman tripped and fell when running and once down, she played dead. The charging bison came to an abrupt stop spent a few seconds sniffing the woman – who lay there motionless -  and then ambled away. The woman then got up, apparently unharmed. It was all caught on cellphone video and as is clear, too many people were too close to the bison.  Click here to see.

Man transforms jet engine into camping trailer
We've all seen pictures, and may even have, a do-it-yourself van transformed into a camper. But have you ever heard of anyone transforming a jet engine into a camping traile? A British man did just that. He bought a decommissioned VC10 jet engine from a scrap yard and started tinkering. The engine is 13 feet long. He flattened the bottom so it could attach to a chassis, then meticulously went about taking things apart and building them back up while installing a sink, twin burners, cabinets, and a lounge-dining area that coverts to beds. The story and pictures can be seen here. Because of corona virus, the man and his family have not gone camping in it yet but hope to soon.
 

In this summer of pandemic camping, remember to check ahead
New Mexico state parks campgrounds are the only ones ...