May 2007

In our daily lives it seems as though we — figuratively speaking — either are entering a storm, in a storm, or exiting a storm. Life deals us many storms.

Arguably, some of the very first motorized recreation vehicles were built using a type C motorhome design. The history of the type C literally goes all the way back to the original self-powered “camping” vehicle.

KOA Expanding Popular Free Camping Event
Kampgrounds of America’s popular Come Camp With Us Day event will be expanded for 2007. Since 2004, KOA has offered campers throughout North America a free day of camping at participating KOA campgrounds the second Friday in May.
In 2007 the event will be called “Come Camp & Care With Us Weekend,” and will be expanded to offer a free Saturday of camping on May 12 for those who stay as paid guests at participating campgrounds on Friday, May 11.
The event is intended to expose more people to the joys of camping by offering them a free night, as well as to encourage campers to both begin camping earlier in the spring and to consider KOA campgrounds close to home.

Solar-Powered Battery Charger

SolarPulse Industrial Solar Charging SystemThe SolarPulse Industrial Solar Charging System from PulseTech Products Corporation is said to provide clean, quiet energy to all types of lead-acid batteries (flooded cell, AGM, gel cell). It also reportedly removes lead sulfate deposits on the battery plates by emitting a constant electronic DC pulse and returning them to battery acid as active electrolyte.
The SolarPulse features a low-profile solar panel that mounts flat to the vehicle, a control box, and wiring.

Head Protectors
Super Wacky Noodles to protect your head from awningI was forever bumping my head on our motorhome’s awning arms. Bumps and bruises are not a good look.

One of the main reasons for buying a motorhome is the ever-changing view you get by looking outside your windows. Ironically, with just about everything on the inside screwed and glued into place, the interior look almost never changes.

You’ve dreamed of traveling to Alaska for years. The stacks of brochures covering your desk show fabulous mountain vistas delicately frosted with snow, a huge moose meandering across a highway, and smiling people alongside their motorhomes.

On a road map, Interstate 75 makes an impressive dogleg turn once it nears the Kentucky-Tennessee border. If you let the land guide you to the west of that blacktop formation, you’ll wind up in a wild and scenic spot: the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area and the Obed Wild and Scenic River.
Encompassing more than 100,000 acres, Big South Fork is the largest wilderness area east of the Mississippi River.

During our many years of extensive motorhome traveling, potential tire problems were always a nagging concern. We try to stop about every two hours to perform a visual exam of the towing equipment and the tires, but this really doesn’t help much if a tire is deflating in between stops.

On January 11, 2007, the RVing world lost a hero. John C.

By April 1862, the American Civil War had been under way for a year and any thought that the conflict would be short or easy had faded. The North and the South learned the true horror of war when the two sides met in a terrible melee near Shiloh Methodist Church in southern Tennessee.

Years ago in a gift shop, when I first saw Precious Moments figurines — those little waiflike porcelain children with oversized heads and teardrop-shaped eyes — I found them so adorable, I bought two. They could have been portraits of my son as a toddler, with their big soulful eyes and wistful expressions.
Many people who acquire the figurines are downright passionate about them.

With six or fewer ingredients, it’s possible to whip up amazing dishes quickly and with minimal cleanup. If you’re watching your diet, however, be aware that many convenience foods contain far too much salt, sugar, and heaven knows what else.

By the time you read this commentary, FMCA will have finished up what I refer to as the “snowbird” portion of the rally year.
Each winter, sizable FMCA area rallies take place in Indio, California, in January and in Brooksville, Florida, in February. And then FMCA typically holds its first International Convention of the year in either February or March; this year, we gathered in Perry, Georgia, March 19 through 22.
The Western Area hosts the Indio rally, and this year the theme was “Get Your Kicks on Route 66.” The Brooksville rally, hosted by the Southeast Area, had a theme this year of “A Sweetheart of a Rally.” These two rallies have parades and decorations relating to their themes and, like other area rallies during the year, really make attendees feel as though they are part of the celebration.
I hope you were among the 4,000 or so families who attended the “Georgia Jubilee” at the Georgia National Fairgrounds & Agricenter in Perry last month.

An incorrect price was listed for the i-Antenna 300 from ANW Devices in the March 2007 “RV Products” column (page 48). The price of $374.95 was for the antenna itself, not for both the antenna and the LinkGauge kit.

Noisy Brakes
Q: I have a 1998 36-foot Fleetwood Pace Arrow. I am having a problem with my front brakes.

Dear RV Doctor:
I just purchased your book, The RV Owner’s Handbook; thanks for the wealth of information. I own a 27-foot motorhome and am about to embark on the “spring shakedown” and want to recaulk any external caulking that might have cracks or leaks, etc.

For more than a decade, members of FMCA’s Gold Diggers chapter have traveled to Indio, California, in early January for the Western Area Rally. Chapter members volunteer to help welcome rally attendees by stuffing goodie bags with everything folks would need to enjoy the event, as well as their stay in the city of Indio.
In addition to the good times we have as volunteers, our chapter also loves to participate in the annual rally parade that is traditionally held on the second day of each Western Area Rally.
Typically the theme for the following year’s rally is announced shortly after the conclusion of the current year’s rally, which gives participating chapters plenty of time to plan their parade presentation, with the objective of landing the top trophy for their entry.

The largest chapter in FMCA is based on Freightliner chassis ownership, and currently has more than 5,500 member families. The Freightliner Chassis Owners Club began in 1994 as the Oshkosh Owners Club. The late Irv Steele, F36538, purchased a diesel motorhome on an Oshkosh chassis and helped form the group, which became an FMCA chapter.

When evaluating potential convention sites, FMCA considers many factors. One is whether the locale has laws restricting the sale and display of motorhomes by out-of-state dealers and manufacturers.
Some U.S.

This month’s column examines what a Health Savings Account is and how it’s used, along with revelations from several members of our full-timer’s forum on how they save money on camping expenses.
Medical savings accounts
For full-timers under age 65, medical insurance can be a big stumbling block. Although little publicized and even less understood, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) now cover more than 5 million people.
Basically, an HSA is a tax-free savings account that one would use in combination with a high-deductible health insurance policy.

We live in a world where the word “diet” is associated with eating less to lose weight. But the word diet is never used in this sense when discussing the smallest birds in North America.
A hummingbird must eat half of its weight in food every day.

It was tough to decide which of the several hundred great state parks to include in this month’s column. The only restriction we placed on ourselves was that we could choose only one park from each state.