March 2007

A printer’s error resulted in the insertion of an incorrect page in the January 2007 issue of Family Motor Coaching. Page 1000 of the issue, a portion of the “Directory of Sanitary Disposals,” was omitted, and page 1100 was put in its place.
As a convenience to readers, we have included the missing page in the February 2007 print edition (pages 192A and B).

Few companies have built type C motorhomes longer than Born Free Motorcoach, a subsidiary of Dodgen Industries. The business was founded more than 37 years ago by John Dodgen and still is based in Humboldt, Iowa, where it began.

Newell Coach Corporation, C47, of Miami, Oklahoma, recently collaborated with the Huntington Beach, California, design studios of Porsche Engineering to update the exterior design of Newell’s luxury motor coaches. Porsche Engineering is a division of the renowned German sports car company.
Newell engineers worked closely with Porsche designers to refine and finalize the design, which is distinctly European.

iWay 600c Navigation systemAccording to product literature, the iWAY 600c from Lowrance Electronics Inc. is the first portable GPS navigation device to offer dual routing capability, allowing users to navigate both highways and waterways.
The iWay 600c, which includes a 30-gigabyte internal hard drive, comes preloaded with NAVTEQ digital map data of the United States and Canada, plus electronic charts with depth contours for U.S.

Splatter Protection

I thought I would let folks know about a simple solution I’ve installed on my last two coaches to help keep the cooking area clean. Carefully measure the area behind the stove — from the top of the trim around the stove to the bottom of the cabinets, and from side to side — and have a glasscutter cut a piece of 1/8-inch Plexiglas to fit the area to be covered.

Their names may be acronyms, true names, or nicknames, but whatever the title, some of the newer motorhome chassis are giving FMCA members more choices in motorhome configurations than ever before.

“South of the North, yet north of the South, lies the City of a Hundred Hills, peering out from the shadows of the past into the promise of the future.” W.E.B. DuBois wrote these words almost a century ago about Atlanta, and they still ring true today.
Atlanta is perhaps confused about its identity.

Not even the Georgia Department of Transportation knows exactly how many vehicles travel up and down Interstate 75 each year between the Georgia-Florida border and metropolitan Atlanta. But it’s an endless stream that includes snowbirds migrating south and north, and families throughout the year making their way to and from the famous amusement parks in the Sunshine State.

My dog doesn’t earn a living. She doesn’t have an agent, never appeared in a movie, doesn’t do rescue work, and, as a guide dog, you’d spend a lot of time standing around fire hydrants.

Each November the Executive Board and committee members get together at the FMCA national office to plan the next year’s activities, take care of financial business, and discuss the issues at hand. We completed two full weeks of meetings last November 17.
FMCA, a member-owned organization, has the benefit of a solid foundation consisting of approximately 120,000 member families.

You’ve told us regularly in member surveys that the most important FMCA member benefit to you is Family Motor Coaching magazine. Many members consider MEDEX PLUS to be the second most important and valuable benefit, and I’m often asked about it.
MEDEX PLUS is FMCA’s Emergency Medical Assistance Program, and it helps traveling members to effectively manage the complexities and expenses of out-of-area medical and travel emergencies.

The Overland Park City Council, on November 20, 2006, rejected an ordinance that would have banned RVs 8 feet or taller from residential areas.
Existing RV owners would have had to register vehicles with the city and surrender them if they moved to a different house.
The ordinance also would have mandated that RVs be parked only beside or behind a home but inside required setbacks for the yard. Screening the vehicles with vegetation or solid fencing also would have been required.
Supporters claimed the ordinance was essential for protecting against unsightly, unsafe vehicles parked inappropriately.

Q: I have a question about a 1986 Fleetwood 22-foot motorhome that was given to our family two years ago. After using it on a couple of short trips and one longer trip out east, I would like to know if it is possible to change out the four-barrel carb to a two-barrel.

Dear RV Doctor:
The head of the nylon drain plug on my water heater broke off while removing it to drain my Atwood water heater. Is there a trick to removing the remainder of the plug without damaging the threads? Hopefully, I’m not the first person to ever experience this.

The “Desert Coyote Fiesta,” the Rocky Mountain Area’s 23rd Annual Ramble, was held in Casa Grande, Arizona, October 11 through 14, 2006. Nearly 500 family coaches, 82 display and demo coaches, and 60 vendor booths filled the Pinal County Fairgrounds for four days of fun, food, and great fellowship.

The Converted Coach chapter was born when a small group of FMCA members who owned converted buses held their first organizational meeting in Harlingen, Texas, on March 4, 1976. They elected temporary officers who developed the chapter’s first bylaws.

Today when you hear the word “train,” your first thought may be Amtrak. This modern railroad serves an average of 69,000 travelers each day on 300 trains.

If you’ve traveled across the United States, you’ve probably seen the “Sagebrush Sea.” Sagebrush grows in eastern Washington and Oregon, most of Nevada, across southern Idaho and Wyoming, and in isolated areas in Utah and Colorado. With it covering so much territory, it was interesting to discover that nearly all varieties of sagebrush are endemic, meaning they grow nowhere else in the world.
Sagebrush thrives where the winters are long, the summers are hot and dry, and the wind blows no matter the season.
Of course, a broad range of altitudes and varied amounts of rainfall are found in an area as large as the Sagebrush Sea.

For years, the U.S. Government Printing Office has been a good source of helpful publications on every topic from saving money on groceries to maps of major Civil War battles.

With last month’s column we began a series on hometown recipes. Here is another batch of regional specialties to try as you travel.

For the life of me, I can’t understand why anyone buying a new motorhome would not also order a patio awning for it. An awning nearly doubles the usable living area with a minimal cost in money, space, and weight.

During a warm spring rain, you can sit beneath it and sip coffee while communing with nature and staying dry at the same time.