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How can you turn almost anything into a main course? Stir it into a cream sauce and serve it over noodles, pasta, or some other food. When you’re rushed for time or short on ingredients, go for the gravy with the following recipes.

Many thanks to those who completed the full-timers’ survey that appeared in the April 2004 edition of this column. Since most of the 300 respondents were couples, the survey represents opinions, gripes, desires, and expert advice of almost 600 full-timers.

National Vice President, International Area; Chairman, Governmental and Legislative Affairs Committee
FMCA’s Governmental and Legislative Affairs Committee (formerly known as the Legislative Advisory Committee) was created years ago to help fellow FMCA members who were experiencing problems with laws governing parking their motor coaches on their property, as well as other issues. Because of certain federal laws, as well as our own bylaws, FMCA tries to make changes on a legislative level with the help of volunteers, not paid lobbyists.

From the “cha-ching” of a casino’s slot machine to the chirping of a campground’s sparrow, Casino Cruisers’ rallies provide plenty of variety.
Chapter President Rob Spaulding, F297532, formed the chapter a year ago this month after concluding that motorhoming and casinos seemed like a natural combination. Apparently he was right: more than 40 families already make up this enthusiastic group, which is the only FMCA gaming chapter east of the Mississippi.

Members of the Northeast Motorhome Association gathered at the Champlain Valley Exposition Center in Essex Junction, Vermont, for the Northeast Area Rally, July 14 through 17, 2004. Northeast Area vice president Bill Conway, F99081, and his wife, Pat, served as rally hosts.

Q: I was a little surprised that in your response to the letter from Dennis & Kristie Karsen, F260959 (April 2004, page 24), which asked whether their 270-horsepower V-10 engine could be upgraded to produce 305 horsepower, you spoke only of options available from Ford. You, being in the RV industry and familiar with aftermarket upgrades, did not refer to the Banks Power upgrade system.

In my “President’s Message” in the September 2004 issue of Family Motor Coaching magazine, I wrote an article about the growth of faith-based chapters within FMCA. I received responses both in favor of and in opposition to this column.

Editor’s note: Mr. Eversmann presented the following report to the FMCA Governing Board during its meeting in Redmond, Oregon, this past August.
It is my pleasure to provide an update regarding noteworthy activities within the Family Motor Coach Association since we last met.
As of July 31, 2004, FMCA’s active membership count was 128,812 families, and the last membership number assigned was F350514.

FMCA’s “Cascade Mountain Magic” convention, held August 16, 17, 18, and 19 in Redmond, Oregon, was a very successful convention overall but not without many challenges, difficulties, and heartaches.

Recently I have been involved in helping several widowed FMCA members who faced the difficult task of selling a motorhome. Two of these people lost a longtime partner suddenly.

The sign ahead said “Slow.” There was a curve coming up. We were nearing the top of the pass.

Before Raleigh was designated as the state capital of North Carolina, and before Chapel Hill became home to the nation’s first public university, a little town not far from these two places was already thriving.

What do you get when you take a 100-foot-by-200-foot sheep barn and fill it with 110 kids, ages 2 to 18, with tremendous imagination? You get a very successful youth program for FMCA’s 72nd International Convention in Redmond, Oregon.
The Youth Activities Committee set up separate areas for each age group — TOTS (ages 2 to 5); TWEENS (ages 6 to 9) and PRE-TEENS (ages 10 to 12); and TATS, or Teen-Age Travelers (ages 13 to 18) — for the Redmond youth program. We placed a portable basketball net in the back of the building and used animal barriers to section off an area for each age group.

During a visit to the Deschutes County Fair & Expo Center on Thursday, August 19, Gale Norton, U.S. Secretary of the Interior, urged “Cascade Mountain Magic” convention attendees to be proactive in preserving America’s public lands.
The secretary’s appearance capped off a busy day that began in Coburg, Oregon, where she toured the manufacturing facilities of Monaco Coach Corporation, C2111.

My drive across southeastern Georgia was delightful. Rolling countryside, blanketed in every direction by deep green forests and fields, was punctuated by red clay that peeked out from beneath rows of peanut plants and pecan trees.

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free … “
— From a poem by Emma Lazarus inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty
On January 2, 1892, 15-year-old Annie Moore from County Cork, Ireland — using one hand to hold her suitcase and the other to hold a hat on her head — was the first passenger to come down the gangplank and step onto Ellis Island.

On August 16, 17, 18, and 19, Redmond, Oregon, played an accommodating host to thousands of FMCA members who gathered in their motorhomes to participate in the “Cascade Mountain Magic” convention, the association’s 72nd International Convention. The city of approximately 17,450 nearly doubled in size as FMCAers enjoyed four days of seminars, exhibits, entertainment, and that special brand of RV fellowship on the grounds of the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center.
For some FMCA members, it was a return trip.

We had owned our 1995 coach for several years, and its age began to show in the engine compartment. I had always polished the exterior, including the wheels, on a fairly regular basis but tended to neglect the parts not readily visible.

While hooking up my tow bar on a rainy night, I caught myself putting the hitch pin through the receiver even though the tow bar was not inserted far enough for the pin to engage it. To prevent a recurrence, after things dried out I locked the bar into the receiver and then put a band of masking tape around the tow bar to mark the point where it met the receiver.

Xtreme Malletball is a croquet-like game that can be played on almost any surface — from golf-course-type lawns to tall grass and woods — and in a large or small area, even around a house. Soccer balls, heavy mallets, and giant PVC wickets are used to play the game, which requires some skill but can be adapted so all members of the family have fun together.
The preferred rules are adapted from golf croquet and are said to be easily learned and adaptable to parties and large groups.

Coachmen RV, based in Middlebury, Indiana, recently introduced its newest diesel-powered luxury motorhome, the 2005 Sportscoach Encore. The Encore is built to meet the growing demand by RVers for upscale amenities and the power that a diesel engine can deliver.
Travelers can relax on leather seating found throughout the motorhome, snooze in the bedroom suite, and enjoy the open space created by the model’s double-slideout floor plan.

Winnebago’s 2005 Itasca CambriaWith its streamlined profile and a fairly narrow beam, Winnebago Industries’ new 2005 Itasca Cambria can slip along the two-lane byways as you search for little-known antiques shops or bookstores dealing in rare and used books, and it can handle freeways and toll roads with equal aplomb.

It’s the time of year when most of us hit the highways just for the sheer joy of leaf peeping. Here are ways to make your table sing with color, too.
Stained-Glass Quiche
If you prefer, fry a 12-ounce package of bacon and crumble it for this dish.

Once in a great while, an innovation comes along that has a dramatic effect on consumers and the related industry. In the RV world, slideout rooms and high-tech convertor-chargers are examples of the more dramatic changes in recent years.

Since 1985 the Virginia Main Street program has helped many of the state’s communities revitalize their downtown districts. It has a two-pronged goal — stimulate the long-term economic growth, and increase local pride in the past.

Seeing the world as a full-timer can be very rewarding, but don’t be misled into believing that it’s all one big vacation. This still is life, and those on the road have the same challenges and opportunities — perhaps more — as those living in stationary homes.

This column is not about red robins, but bobcats — the smallest and most abundant wild cat still roaming North America. We spotted our first bobcat during our first year of full-timing.

The concept of using a symbol on highway signs to help RV travelers find easily accessible businesses and tourist attractions that cater to their needs works, and is gaining momentum in Oregon and, more recently, in Louisiana.
Many of us have experienced the frustration of not knowing whether a tourist stop, restaurant, or gas station advertised along the interstate offers enough room for RV access and parking. It was out of this frustration that a suggestion was made to the Oregon Travel Information Council about signage identifying “RV Friendly” locations in late 2002.

Shortly after FMCA’s first convention, which was held in Ticonderoga, New York, in 1964, several motor coachers gathered to start a regional chapter for the New England area. Of the many conversations held over campfires that weekend, one in particular is still rippling through the waters of history.

It’s reasonable to expect that after 26 years of Great Lakes Area Spring Sprees, the excitement for the event may have dulled for some longtime attendees. But that was not the case during the 27th annual G.L.A.S.S.

Q: I recently made several calls to Lexus inquiring as to whether a Lexus SUV (LX, GX, RX) could be flat towed behind my motorhome. I was informed that Lexus did not recommend flat towing the vehicle and that it could possibly cause transmission damage.

Dear Editor:
We received the July 2004 issue of FMC magazine today and I began reading your article about my favorite place on earth — Crater Lake National Park (“The Bluest Blue At Crater Lake,” page 80). Being born and raised in southern Oregon, I have been to Crater Lake many times and have seen it in all of its moods, from sunshine and chipmunks to snow piled to unbelievable heights.
The article names William Gladstone Steel as the second superintendent of the park.

As I travel and hear from FMCA members, I find that many of them are concerned that RVers parking in retail establishment parking lots are abusing the concept of “parking,” and that their behavior is jeopardizing the opportunity for the rest of us to park at these facilities when we want to rest and relax before continuing on our motorhome journeys.
“Camping” is a totally different concept and should never be done in retail establishment parking lots. In December 2001 I wrote the following “Executive Director’s Commentary,” and it is still a good message today.
Quite frequently we’re asked what FMCA’s policy is regarding members spending the night in the parking lots of retail establishments.

Nearly four years ago, President George W. Bush began emphasizing a need for the citizens of the United States to become more compassionate and helpful to their fellowman.

There is nothing more American than the automobile, and no better place to relive automotive history than the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan. Here, more than 200 classic automobiles are displayed in renovated historic barns.
The museum features the private collection of Donald Gilmore, as well as the Classic Car Club of America (CCCA) Museum, the Pierce-Arrow Foundation Museum, and the Tucker Historical Collection and Library.

Wilson Castle, a 19th-century architectural gem near Rutland, Vermont, in the Green Mountains, is as unexpected as it is grand. Descriptions fail to adequately describe it.

Last fall, while driving through Mississippi, my wife and I saw smoke a few miles away. After we had driven a few more minutes, traffic came to a halt.

You know how it is: You’ve been behind the wheel since the early morning with the sun in your eyes, the wind rocking the RV, and asphalt that you swear continually goes uphill. You’ll reach your destination eventually, but right now you need a change of scenery.

One of the loveliest and most serene routes in the southeastern United States is the Natchez Trace Parkway. Whether or not you travel it all the way from Natchez, Mississippi, to Nashville, Tennessee, this road will quickly become one of your favorites.

It’s safe to say that the slideouts-in-motorhomes combination is here to stay. Newmar Corporation introduced slideouts to the motorhome industry in the fall of 1989, revolutionizing motor coach design and, ultimately, the accompanying lifestyle.

To spruce up the inside of our coach, I came up with this decorative idea that can be used in two ways. First, I purchased a fold-up drink holder designed to be installed in a convenient place to hold drinks in a passenger vehicle.

McNaughton Inc. has added three new Sole Mates products to its foot care line.

Marathon Coach Inc., C2654, a bus conversion company based in Coburg, Oregon, recently reached a milestone by completing its 900th coach. The company, touted as the world’s largest Prevost bus converter, began converting new bus shells into recreation vehicles and corporate coaches in 1983.
Coach number 900, built on a Prevost Le Mirage XLII 45-foot shell with double slideouts, includes a host of luxuries and conveniences that appeal to the high-end consumer.

An amphibious motorhome? You bet. Debuted on “Good Morning, America” in July 2003, the Terra Wind serves a dual purpose for those enthused about motorhoming and boating.

John Dodgen, the venerable head of Dodgen Industries in Humboldt, Iowa, maker of Born Free type C motorhomes, was preparing to celebrate his 78th birthday soon after we picked up a new model for a recent test drive. Although he has been designing and building motorhomes for more than 30 years, Mr.

In some parts of North America, clam steams and clambakes are a ritual as common as spaghetti suppers or pancake breakfasts. On a recent trip to Cedar Key, Florida, from which 100 million succulent, farm-raised clams are shipped each year, I rediscovered clams, a food that was served on special occasions while I was growing up.

Remember when you could throw a party for 20 in your dorm room? Hosting a crowd in a motorhome is a snap by comparison. Most of us gather at group cookouts and potlucks held in a campground clubhouse or pavilion.

The first, and most important, thing to note about this journey along the Ohio River is that the cruising is done on land, in a motorhome. Otherwise, the female half of this partnership would be nauseated just writing about it.
The Ohio River stretches nearly 1,000 miles from its beginning in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, following the borders of West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, until it empties into the Mississippi River.

It’s hot outside our home here in the Sierra foothills, but certainly not as hot as it is in the Southwestern deserts. So, let’s see how the wildlife of that arid environment manage to stay alive.
It’s obvious that searing summer temperatures are hazardous to animals, and that only species adapted to extreme heat and lack of water can survive.

The Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) hosts a weeklong series of committee meetings each June in order to review the business of the industry and to plan for the future. I am fortunate to be a member of the Public Relations Committee.