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RVing with Mark
RV Education 101®, the premier provider of educational videos, books and RV information for the RVing public, was founded over a decade ago by Mark Polk, who started in the RV industry as a teenaged apprentice technician. "I really enjoyed working around RVs and performing basic service on customers’ units”, Polk explained. “You could say I was bit by the RV bug early on.”
RV Education 101 quickly established themselves as THE go to resource for RVers. With hundreds of thousands of training and informational DVDs and books sold, along with his many TV appearances as the RV Savvy Guy, Mark Polk is recognized as THE authority for everything RV.
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Camping World- Extreme RV Bedroom Makeover, by Mark Polk |
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Contributed by: RVED101
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 by Mark Polk, Founder of RVeducation101 www.rveducation101.com
This holiday season, I received two of the best Christmas gifts an RVer could get: two Camping World gift cards. The day after Christmas, we left on a winter RV camping trip to Pennsylvania. The whole time we were there, visiting family, I was looking around the RV trying to think about how to use my gift cards. After a couple nights of sleeping on our old RV mattress, I had a great idea - an RV bedroom makeover!
Every time we return from a trip in our motorhome, I can't wait to get back in our bed at home. Most RV manufacturers don't spend a lot of money putting expensive mattresses in the RVs they build. After sleeping on our RV mattress I can't help but think the mattress manufacturer must have paid the RV manufacturer to put their mattress in the RV.
The mini-blinds in the bedroom in our RV were also less than satisfactory. There is one window at the head of the bed, and when we left the blinds down at night it constantly rattled when our arms or pillows bumped into them. We'd end up leaving the window blinds partially open so we didn't have to deal with the noise all night. I made a mental note that part of the bedroom makeover would include replacing those noisy mini-blinds with some day/night shades.
Nursing my sore back all the way back home from our trip, I thought about my extreme RV bedroom makeover. When we got home and settled back into our normal routine I logged on the Camping World web site to see what my options were for my RV bedroom makeover. There were at least two things I wanted to accomplish:
1) To have a bed in the RV we could comfortably sleep on.
2) To eliminate the partially open, rattling mini-blinds.
As you are probably aware, RV bed sizes are not the same as the standard bed sizes in your home. In most cases, a queen size RV bed might be the same width as a standard queen bed but not the same length or vice versa. This is because RV manufacturers often work under limited space constraints. The RV Mattresses at Camping World are sized and constructed especially for RV bed platforms. The mattress I chose is a deluxe quilted innerspring RV mattress with a high-tempered Everflex® spring system. It meets the Motor Vehicle Standards for fire safety in RVs and it's rolled and packed in a box to save on shipping costs.
There would be no more sleepless nights or sore backs because of a cheap RV mattress. Now it was time to move on to replacing the annoying mini-blinds.
When I sold RVs, one feature I always liked was day/night shades. They are not only appealing to the eye but they are practical too. They control light, offer privacy and help to protect the interior fabrics and upholstery from exposure to direct sunlight. I found the perfect Day/Night Pleated Shades on the Camping World web site. All of the fabrics used on these shades are permanently-pleated, wrinkle-free, fire-retardant and stain-resistant. The really neat thing was how easy it was to order them from the web site. You click on the "Configure" button and it walks you through a very simple process of measuring, selecting the lift mechanism you want, and the type and color of shades you want. It only takes a couple of minutes once you have properly measured the windows.
The day/night shades were not difficult to install, but to get to the top of one bedroom window frame, I had to partially remove the overhead cabinets. Look at your RV windows and if there are cabinets or window treatments you would rather not tamper with you can have a Camping World SuperCenter close to you do the installation.
When I totaled the cost for my RV bedroom makeover I discovered that I had enough left on the Camping World gift cards to purchase a Memory Foam Structured Mattress Pad to go on top of the new innerspring RV mattress. You know what I'm talking about: the Memory Foam you see on TV that conforms to the shape of your body. This 100% visco-elastic Memory Foam mattress pad uses comfort cells to provide six zones of specialized support, from head to feet. You enjoy minimum, medium or maximum support from each zone depending on your body weight. What an incredible difference between the old mattress and the new mattress with the Memory Foam topper!
The extreme RV bedroom makeover was a huge success. No more sore back, and no more noisy or partially open mini-blinds! Now, in addition to a quilted innerspring RV mattress that fits perfectly, there is the unbelievably comfortable Memory Foam Mattress Pad and some very attractive and effective new window treatments.
It took a while for my wife to figure it out, but now she knows to look in the motorhome when she can't find me around the house. Chances are the night shades are closed and I'm sleeping like a baby on the new bed. If you're not sure what to get your favorite RVer for any special occasion, remember a Camping World gift card makes a great gift idea. They too might want to do an extreme RV bedroom makeover!
Happy Camping!
Mark J. Polk
Mark Polk is the owner of RV Education 101. He also hosts the RV Savvy segments for RVTV, which airs on the Outdoor Channel. RV Education 101 is a North Carolina-based company that produces professional training videos, DVDs and e-books on how to use and maintain your RV so all of your RV experiences are safe, fun and stress-free.
Mark's videos and DVDs are now available at any Camping World Supercenters and at CampingWorld.com. Click here for VHS videos or here for DVDs.
http://www.campingworld.com/resources/newsletter/jan2006.cfm?#TS&affiliateid=1267 |
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