January 2005

Eighty years ago, Eugene Prevost, a manufacturer of church furniture in Sainte Claire, Québec, Canada, built his first wooden-bodied coach and placed it on a new REO truck chassis. Seventy-nine years ago he built his second bus, and 78 years ago his third bus.

Tiffin Motorhomes, C1717, based in Red Bay, Alabama, announced that its top-of-the-line motorhome, the Zephyr, returns to the company’s motorhome lineup for 2005 after a two-year hiatus.
The upscale Zephyr includes new side-vision cameras and accommodations for king-size beds and full-size sofas. The 45-foot coach includes a 500-horsepower engine, quad slideouts, a 32-inch LCD TV, solid-surface countertops in the galley, and three air-conditioning units.

Splendide Premium Laundry Powder is described as America’s first laundry detergent designed primarily for combination washer-dryers and the traveling lifestyle. The powder is said to dissolve better in less water than regular detergents and to be safe for septic and gray water systems.

To personalize our coach and add some color and character, we like having family photographs around, as well as photos that show sites we’ve visited, etc. Because the refrigerator does not have a magnetic front, we needed to use some creativity in attaching photos to it.

It’s an amazing sight, one that can be seen only at an American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) Supercross Series race. Imagine 20 daredevils racing full-throttle around a winding dirt course laid out inside a football or baseball stadium.

In 1783 it was called “The City of Peace,” and even now its location in the Berkshire region of western Massachusetts complements that description. But today it’s known as Hancock Shaker Village.

In 2003 True West magazine named Amarillo to its list of the Fifty Most Western Towns in the United States. Encompassing everything from Western heritage, horses, and cattle to big sky and lots of land, Amarillo is a worthy recipient of this designation.
Start your visit to this city at the American Quarter Horse Heritage Center and Museum.

Interstate 10 crosses the southern section of Louisiana from east to west. Its popularity with motorhomers is obvious when one considers the number of units that travel that route.

What do the Pygmy Forest in California, the Clifton Gorge in Ohio, and the Bigelow Preserve in Maine share in common? They are three of approximately 600 sites scattered across the United States that have been designated by the Secretary of the Interior as significant natural areas and are now looked to as National Natural Landmarks.
The designation is not new, but many travelers may not have heard of it. To warrant this status, each of the sites was deemed one of the best examples of a type of biotic community or geologic feature in its physiographic province.
Not all sites so designated are open to the public.

As I write this article, I am also helping the FMCA committee chairs to plan their agendas for our November meetings. The Executive Board and most of FMCA’s committees meet at our Cincinnati headquarters in May and November of each year.

This month I have asked Lana Makin, FMCA’s director of Administrative Services, to share information about a recent partnership FMCA has entered into with Friend Communications that will benefit not only family members but also some of our commercial members.
Looking back on the development of the Internet and Web sites, I am sure that many visionaries could see the opportunity for interaction and business transactions to occur without a single word being spoken. I, for one, waited as it developed and am still amazed at the information and data that are available at the click of a key.

Dear Editor:
We recently completed a 41-day caravan tour of Alaska with Creative World Rallies and Caravans. We won the trip in a drawing during the 40th anniversary festivities at the July 2003 FMCA convention in Buffalo, New York.
It was truly the trip of a lifetime, with each day throughout the tour better than the day before.

Q: I have read in FMC about how to wire the lights on the Malibu for towing. Could you send me that info or tell me how to get reprints?
Walter Palmer, F93779
Andalusia, Alabama
A: Family Motor Coaching has not published an article recently that addresses wiring towed vehicle lights.

When my wife, Linda, and I arrived at Three Lakes RV Resort in Hudson, Florida, in November 2003, the new corner lot we had purchased was filled with sand and weeds. Being a bricklayer by trade and having owned my own custom construction business, I decided to get busy and make our site homey.

Almost 25 years ago, an FMCA chapter was formed for owners of motor coaches built on Prevost bus shells. Today more than 900 families belong to the Prevost Prouds chapter, and it keeps growing.
The chapter members’ motorhomes all look a bit different, but that’s no matter.

One of the nicest things about touring caves is that you can do it in almost any season. If the weather is hot, windy, or cold outside, descend into the realm below where the temperature stays in a more moderate range.

Having traveled through 49 of the 50 states, we rank the Florida Everglades among the top places for plant and animal diversity. Oddly enough, Everglades National Park has only two seasons: wet and dry.

This is the final of three columns reporting the results of the full-timers survey published in the April 2004 “Full-Timer’s Primer” column. Nearly 300 replies were received, representing the opinions of approximately 600 full-timing singles, couples, and family members.

Prepare these delicious, one-dish meals in a nonstick skillet and cleanup is a cinch. Have you seen the new Spazio line of Teflon-lined, nonstick cookware? The name means “space” in Italian, referring to the line’s unique, space-saving, folding handles.