January 2006

Mound Builders is the designation archaeologists have given to the ancient people who built large earthen mounds in the United States. In this column we’ll look at mounds in an area bounded by the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi River, and the Appalachians.

As I pulled into the Cincinnati campground where Bill and Carol Mumma, F230646, were staying, I expected their type A coach to be outwardly different from other motorhomes. I had talked briefly with Bill by phone, so I was prepared for a “wow” factor when I first encountered the coach.

When you’re traveling, the best way to get a good feel for local flavor is to hang out with the locals. In Wisconsin, indoor sports become hotter when the weather turns cool, and many locals enjoy bowling.
But not at one of those modern-day gargantuan 36-laners.

For decades, the name “Blue Bird” has emblazoned the bright yellow buses many children ride to school. It also has been a familiar moniker in the motorhome industry.
The Blue Bird Corporation was established in 1927, when Albert L.

Propane, the most popular of the liquefied petroleum gases, is a very safe product if handled correctly but can be a dangerous commodity if misunderstood. The combustible range of the air-to-fuel ratio actually is quite narrow.

As the oldest continuously settled city in the United States, with one-of-a-kind attractions, Florida sunshine, and plenty to see, St. Augustine is a popular vacation destination.
It’s in a scenic location, too, on Florida’s northeast coast, 38 miles southeast of Jacksonville.

In mid-January, as you approach Quartzsite, Arizona, from any point on the compass, you begin seeing them approximately 20 miles away from town: clumps, groups, and temporary communities of motorhomes and other types of RVs circled around common campfire rings like wagon trains of old. Many solo units also are scattered among the sagebrush.

After a relaxing vacation in Palm Desert, California, George and Helga Dumas, F110246, were on their way home to Goleta, California, in their 38-foot Alfa See Ya! motorhome. George rounded a curve on State Route 126 and noticed a semi truck ahead in what looked like a jackknifed position at the side of the road.

Every year, hundreds of people in the United States die from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, and thousands of others end up in hospital emergency rooms from breathing this noxious gas. The statistics are regrettable, as most of these incidents could be avoided.
Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas that has no color, odor, or taste.

To run a satellite TV cable or extension cord through a window without crimping the cord and also to achieve a weather-tight seal, I cut a piece of black foam-rubber insulating tube to fit the length of the window. The open tubing fits snugly over the edge of the window.

The Buck/Whittaker Lumina LED knife features a light-emitting diode (LED) placed next to the Buck blade, enabling precise cutting day or night.
The LED light has four programmed functions — high beam, medium beam, low beam, and intermittent flash — and has an automatic shutoff after five minutes to conserve the two 3-volt lithium batteries. The light is water-resistant; has no moving parts, so it’s not prone to breakage; and has an average lifetime of 100,000 hours.
The knife has a 3-inch-long partially serrated, drop-point blade made of 420HC stainless steel and a molded nylon handle.

Home Away From Home: The World of Camper Vans and Motorhomes ($29.95, Black Dog Publishing) chronicles the earliest days of automobile travel all the way to present-day RVing. Editor and coauthor Kate Trant and fellow authors Malcom Bobbitt and Lars Eriksen capture the spirit of automotive travel during the past 100 years both in the United States and abroad.
The book features a general overview detailing the evolution of RVing along with in-depth commentary from RVers themselves and those in the industry.

What’s so fine about Greenville, Mississippi? On the surface, the portion of the Mississippi River Delta from Memphis, Tennessee, south to Vicksburg, Mississippi, seems to be just a long stretch of flat farmland. But there is so much more to the Delta in the Greenville area than meets the eye.
This Mississippi River town is a good place to relax.

The road can be one of the toughest places to maintain a sensible diet. You get away from home for a few days and your normally disciplined eating habits have a tendency to go out the window.

Cream cheese has many uses for cooks on the go. Spread it on toast or bagels for breakfast.

Even the most avid motorhomers sometimes feel squeezed for space. Here are ways to make your coach hold more, let in more ambient light, and seem more expansive.

Add a second shower curtain rod parallel to the existing rod. The first holds the shower curtain.

For many years, birds have been getting a bad rap. It’s been a common misperception that birds are not nearly as intelligent as other creatures.

The concept is to use a simple symbol on highway signage that indicates it is safe for an RV to enter, park, and exit at a location. This would make it clear that a tourist attraction, restaurant, fueling station, etc.

In the past few years, an increasing number of women over age 50 have realized that as they age, they don’t have to become less fun or fun-loving. To the contrary, some even say that it’s good to be a bit freer and more unconventional as the years go by.
These ideas are put into practice in many zany ways by members of the Red Hat Society, including FMCA’s version of this fun-filled group.

The Senat’s RV Club chapter held its Fall Rally September 1 through 4, 2005, at the Wild Frontier Campground in Ocala, Florida. Hosts Howard and Carol Schiffhauer, F319887, and Keith and Shirley Nickerson, F290932, welcomed 46 members who arrived in 22 coaches.

Dear RV Doctor:
I have a question about RV toilets. The one in our older motorhome seems to work fine, but I’m wondering whether the valve is closing properly.

I have a 1996 Georgie Boy on a Chevrolet P-30 chassis, and it’s like rolling along on rocks. Everything in the coach sounds like it’s going to vibrate apart.

Dear Editor:
I never thought I’d be writing one of these letters. But it seems that some members still have not gotten the word, and will ruin our welcome at various retailers, especially Wal-Mart.

I hope that you have been enjoying family and friends as you experience another holiday season. Thanksgiving has come and gone, and we look forward to the Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year’s feasts and festivities.

I think it’s very important that the members — the owners of FMCA — know the history of our organization. Some of you might already be familiar with part of it, but here is a review.
On July 20, 1963, under the guidance of Bob and Jean Richter, L1, of Hanson, Massachusetts, 26 families from eight states and Canada met at the Hinckley School — now known as the Good Will-Hinckley Homes for Boys & Girls — in Hinckley, Maine, to socialize and become acquainted with other “house car” owners.

Blue Bird Coachworks builds luxurious motorhomes that compare favorably with the bus conversions offered by today’s custom coach converters. But Blue Bird units typically cost $500,000 to $700,000 less than those conversions.