December 2005

Gardens all over North America pour out their bounty during the fall. These recipes were freshly picked to be tasty, easy on the cook, and filled with garden goodness.

Confetti Apple Salad
Splashing the cut apples with lemon juice will keep them from turning brown.

Two for the price of one is a great deal, right? If you visit Fairfax County, Virginia, you’ll have access to the U.S. capital and plenty of other sight-seeing treasures within the county itself.

If you love gardening and RVing, now you don’t have to give up one hobby for the other. You can take your appreciation for gardening on the road with you by creating your very own miniature fairy garden.

While motorhoming full-time as a single female, I’ve run into my share of people who can’t believe that I’m comfortable traveling alone. Yes, it can be a challenge, but I’ve discovered it’s not too difficult as long as I remain alert, cautious, and follow a set of traveling rules that I’ve established for myself.

Hot water is a valuable commodity while traveling in an RV. You can ensure it is always readily available by understanding how your motorhome’s water heater operates and performing the necessary upkeep.
The best place to begin is with the water heater system itself.

When singer Dolly Parton performs, she radiates energy. Her voice is angel-pure and strong, her smile is infectious, and you get the notion that she could stand alone on a Smoky Mountain ridge, far from sound studio trickery, and still captivate everybody within hearing distance.
Like another American country-music icon, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Rebecca Parton came from humble beginnings.

It’s been almost 10 years, but I remember it well. I arrived at Vantare (then owned by Mike Guth) to do a coach review for Family Motor Coaching magazine.

In southeastern Utah, a desert area called the San Rafael Swell offers a dramatic, yet uncrowded, look at the powers of nature and ancient humanity.
The “Swell” is an elevated desert land, created over the last hundred million years as tectonic plates moved beneath the earth’s surface. In the latest episode, this area of Utah that was once the bottom of a huge ocean was pushed up 8,000 feet above sea level, creating what are some of the most dramatic landscapes found anywhere today.

As the great television DIY philosopher Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor has said many times, “Tools provide everything in life!” That may seem a little overstated and oversimplified, but think about it. What in life isn’t touched or affected by a tool of some kind?
So what kind of tools should you have to survive on the road? The following suggestions and lists could help you with that decision, whether you opt for a minimum kit (#1), an essential kit (#2), a recommended kit (#3), an advanced kit (#4), or an in-between tool kit, depending on your comfort level.

It’s impossible to get away from it — even in the RV there is still cleaning to do. The problem is finding a place to put products such as window cleaner, furniture polish, etc.

The WeatherBuster from Brilliant Bob is an all-season, custom-fit windshield cover that can be used to keep snow and ice off your vehicle’s windshield in the winter and the sun’s destructive rays off its dashboard during clear days.
The cover, which is available for type B and type C motorhomes as well as towed vehicles, installs over the outside of the windshield. The cover’s patented design features handles that are inserted through both front door jambs before the doors are closed and locked.

Winnebago Industries Inc., C93, celebrated 35 years of trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, September 9, 2005. The company (NYSE: WGO), based in Forest City, Iowa, joined the exchange on September 9, 1970.
To commemorate the event, Winnebago Industries company representatives took part in the closing bell ceremony to officially end trading on the exchange floor that day.

Bird-watching is certainly much less expensive than golf. And binoculars and field guides take up much less space in your motorhome than golf clubs.

One needs to read no further than the third paragraph of RVers — “How Do They Live Like That?” ($19.95, OceanView Publishers) to discover that, as the authors write, “This book is not a ‘how-to,’ but a ‘what to’ — what to expect on the roads you’ll be traveling in the months and years ahead.” But this publication, which was written by Lou Stoetzer, Ph.D., and Judy Farrow, F284778, a husband-and-wife team who share a background in the mental health field, is not a collection of road maps.
What began as a survey of couples who are members of the Escapees RV Club grew into more than 18 months of surveys and studies that included singles, RVers with health challenges, and others. Taped focus groups and private interviews added more information.

If you use dial-arounds (10-10 services) for long-distance calls, you can learn a lot by regularly checking out www.10-10PhoneRates.com. Rates for these services vary by company and can change at any time.

Rep. Walton J.

Many people think of New Jersey as being filled with cities, factories, and highways. After all, it is the most densely populated state in America.

It’s been some time since we’ve done a traveling tips column, so out came our inch-thick packet of ideas. Here we go.
1.