May 2003

With spring arriving throughout most of North America, it’s time to think of gardens once again. Discovering a serene and cheerful collection of plants always is pleasant, and the experience can be further enriched when the plantings reflect the tastes of past generations.

When Alfa Leisure Inc. introduced its Alfa See Ya motorhome a couple of years ago, I took an initial look at the new model for Family Motor Coaching (“The Alfa See Ya Diesel Pusher,” October 2001, page 78).

To the average motorhome enthusiast, the name McKenzie may not ring familiar. That’s because, until recently, the company’s focus has been on building quality towable RVs.

National RV Inc., C3451, citing a move back to basics, has resurrected the popular Tropi-Cal brand as an attractively priced triple-slideout diesel model and revamped its Sea Breeze and Sea Breeze LX gasoline-powered motorhomes. These changes were unveiled during the National RV Trade Show this past December in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Tropi-Cal, which was a gas-powered line, returns as a diesel pusher priced at approximately $150,000.

The Motion Control Unit from Super Steer is designed to reduce the roll, sway, and bounce that can be encountered when driving over bumps, dips, and uneven road conditions in an air-bag-equipped motorhome. The Motion Control Unit, which is installed at each air suspension bag, is engineered to control the high-velocity thrust of air released from the air bag.

During a recent rally, our outside entrance handle broke. I went to several camping stores to find a replacement handle, but the $70 to $100 price seemed a bit steep.

Soon after the first S-Series automobile rolled off Saturn’s Spring Hill, Tennessee, assembly line in 1990, the name of General Motors’ newest company became quite familiar to motorhomers. Why? Because Saturn was the first manufacturer to specifically approve its automatic-transmission-equipped vehicles for flat towing.

Its scenery is enhanced by old Southern mansions, tree-lined boulevards, and an oceanside location. No wonder Beaufort (pronounced BEW-fert), a picturesque hamlet in South Carolina, has served as the setting for many motion pictures, including Forrest Gump.

It’s easy to be skeptical when you read that a tourist destination has something for everyone. That’s pretty unlikely, you might think.

Have test you ever watched a camping neighbor open an RV storage compartment door to retrieve the TV cable and literally empty that compartment by yanking out every other piece of gear stowed in there? Leveling blocks, camp shovel, sewer adapter, lawn chairs, toolbox, front doormat, et al, come tumbling out, tied together with an umbilical of kinked TV cable that was coiled haphazardly and stuffed into the compartment.
As comical as that might seem, you’d be surprised at how often such scenes play out every day in the campground. And perhaps it’s even happened to you.

It seems that many of us accumulate packets and albums of photos that we have organized by trip. After awhile, it can become frustrating to have to look through all of these separate collections when all you really want to do is show someone several places from a single state.

Early in July our motorhome crossed the Canadian border north of Bellingham, Washington. We cleared customs with no problem, and the favorable exchange rate when changing U.S.

Quick meals can be a disaster if they are not in good balance nutritionally and aesthetically. Here are recipes that provide fast food without sacrificing nutrition, texture, and looks.
Tomato Tortellini
Use meat-filled tortellini or, for a meatless main dish, the cheese-filled variety.
24-ounce can plain tomato sauce (3 cups)
1/2-teaspoon dried basil
1/2-teaspoon oregano
1/2-teaspoon parsley
1/2-teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Salt to taste
8-ounce (1 cup) container real whipping cream, no substitutes
16-ounce package tortellini
Grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
Whisk together the tomato sauce, seasonings, and whipping cream.

The Erie County Fairgrounds in Hamburg, New York, a suburb of Buffalo, will host FMCA’s 70th International Convention. We have dubbed it the “Shuffle Off To Buffalo” convention.

Much has been said and written over the last several years regarding the importance of proper weight and balance of recreation vehicles, or more specifically in our case, motorhomes. This is a complicated issue, to be sure, but I will attempt to clarify it from a layman’s perspective.

Sometimes I just have to sit back and marvel at what this association has accomplished over the past 40 years. Recently my wife, Sharon, and I were able to attend two area rallies.

Dear Editor:
I’m not sure that Edward Wiseman, who wrote the letter in the February 2003 issue, was on the same State Route 89A that I have driven (“Mountainous Arizona Roads,” page 174).
We live in the San Diego area and drive to Sedona through Prescott and on to Flagstaff and back. We have done this eight or 10 times over the last 25 or so years.
We drive a 28-foot Roll-A-Long, and our first time over we were pulling a Toyota Land Cruiser.

Q: I have a Caterpillar 3208 turbodiesel engine in a 1987 Vogue motorhome. The odometer says the motorhome has 100,000-plus miles on it, but I’m guessing it’s closer to 125,000 miles, since the odometer didn’t function properly when I bought the coach in January 2001 (the clock says 3,300 hours).
I recently made a 2,500-mile trip and the motorhome used six quarts of oil.

Willard “Will” Whipple, F15, who served as FMCA’s first national treasurer, passed away February 3, 2003, at the age of 78.
Mr. Whipple; his wife, Madora; and sons Larry, Dale, and Gary were among the 26 families that met in Hinckley, Maine, when FMCA was founded in July 1963.
Mr.

Entertaining, enlightened, engaging? While this group of FMCA members may be so described, these words don’t offer insight into the chapter’s name. Originally, the “E” stood for “Executive.” When the chapter was formed in 1976 as The Executive Southwest Chapter, FMCA members who joined had to own an Executive brand motorhome.

FMCA’s partnership with RV Alliance America (RVAA) and the Recreation Vehicle Safety Education Foundation (RVSEF) has enabled hundreds of FMCA members to become safer motorhomers. FMCA gives members the chance to take courses offered by these two organizations at FMCA international conventions and many area rallies.
The RV Safe Driving Course, cosponsored by RVAA and FMCA, is an eight-hour classroom seminar that helps participants improve their driving skills.

The javelina, otherwise known as the collared peccary, musk hog, or tayaussa, is the only wild, native, piglike animal living in the United States. The name “javelina” is derived from the Spanish word for javelin or sword.

No, this column isn’t about the 55 mile-per-hour speed limit, but a magic number that for many full-timers means the beginning of a drop in expenses as they grow older. Although past surveys I’ve done for this column revealed that the age range for full-timers starts at 4 and extends into the mid-90s, the median age is in the low 60s.

The splendor of monumental buttes, soaring cliffs, towering spires, and rugged canyons lure visitors to Arizona’s Red Rock country, near Flagstaff. There you can see in form and color how the natural world appeared millions of years ago.