2003

There are houses, and then there are houses. Some are the cookie-cutter variety, while others incorporate customized features.

As the holiday season approaches, many cities, towns, and hamlets in America are decked out in lights or finery. But some are garlanded every day of the year by a name that is associated with the yuletide season, such as Bethlehem, Noel, and North Pole.
A number of tourist attractions have special appeal during the holiday season, although they can be enjoyed any time of the year.

If you are an active RVer and have ever pushed your coach westbound late in the evening as the sun was about to set, I’m sure you have experienced what I call the “brutal sun zone.” Actually measured in inches, it’s that space between your lowered sun visor and the top of your dashboard. Ring a bell? The pervasive glare of the sun penetrates unabated through this gap, literally blinding you at times.

First impressions do matter when it comes to motorhomes. The Coach House Platinum type C, for example, exudes elegance and luxury, and has great eye appeal.

The Olympic Peninsula forms the northwest corner of Washington, with Puget Sound and Seattle to its east, the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. That may be its geographical description, but after you experience it, you’ll want to describe it with another word: diversity.
An amazingly different array of trees, wildflowers, weather, and land elevations all exist together here.

During our first year as full-time RVers, we paid an average of $17 per night in camping fees. That was seven years ago.

People go to Laughlin, Nevada, because it offers fun and games, right? Well … partly right.

At one time, all of the “Big Three” American automakers — Chrysler (Dodge), General Motors (both GMC and Chevrolet), and Ford — competed in the type A gasoline-powered motorhome chassis marketplace. Of the three, only Ford remains in the fray.

Finding a place to store paper plates; plastic knives, forks, and spoons; wax paper; plastic wrap; aluminum foil; resealable plastic bags, etc., has always been a problem. They never stay where they’re put.

No Stink Inc. offers a variety of odor-eliminating products under the brand name of ODORZOUT.

The Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton, Oklahoma, now offers visitors a peek inside a historic diner, similar to those that lined Route 66 many years ago.

The restored Route 66 Diner, which opened this past May, is not being used as a working restaurant, but it contains original equipment from an eatery that operated from 1956 to 1964 in Shamrock, Texas, called the Porter House Cafe.

I’ve been told that a number of Coach House Inc. customers are folks who are downsizing from high-end diesel pushers, and it’s no wonder.

The September 1980 issue of Family Motor Coaching magazine contained an article written by FMCA’s national president at the time, Harry Palmer, L481. His “FMCA Update” was titled “Help Choose A Convention Site.”
I thought you would be interested to see the convention site specifications he shared with the membership in that article, because they make for an interesting comparison with those of today.

One Thursday in October, we pointed the motorhome toward Laughlin, Nevada. I had convinced my ever-accommodating wife, Julie, to spend a day (two nights) there to satisfy my curiosity about the place I had heard so much about.

When you decided to become a full-timer, you probably realized that you’d be giving up some of the time-honored traditions that your family cherished for years. In many ways, that’s good.

This month you’ll be reading the words of just one of us: Kaye. I have been interested in my family’s genealogy for more than a decade; Lowell’s involvement is limited to helping me with my research.

Opossums (Didelphis marsupialis) are the only marsupials (pouched mammals) native to North America, and they’ve been around a long, long time. Unfortunately, we’ve seen far more opossums dead than alive.

You can have this crusty casserole on the table about half an hour after you get up.

If you think about it, inviting the owners of a thousand big motorhomes to a rally; finding them nice places to park; providing electricity and ample space to deploy their slideouts and awnings; and keeping them happy for four days is a major undertaking. Then figure that there are typically two people in each coach to feed, entertain, and provide relevant RV information.

Q: I have a 2000 Monaco La Palma on a Ford chassis with a V-10 engine. If I drive in town and make a lot of stops and starts, my speedometer stops and the overdrive light on the gearshift comes on.

Dear Editor:
I recently purchased a 1991 Barth motorhome containing a Sharp convection-microwave oven, model R-9H81B, manufactured in November 1990. There was no operating manual for the oven in the coach when I took delivery.

In this month’s column I have chosen to write about an important decision that no one wanted to have to make — a recommended dues increase. This month the Governing Board will be voting on whether to authorize a dues increase for the family membership of FMCA.

This was one of those unusual years for FMCA in terms of the national officer election that was held during the Governing Board meeting in Buffalo, New York, in that only one incumbent was running for the four available offices. National president Jeff Jefcoat, L118344, decided not to seek re-election because of health reasons.

Bernice Beard, F93208, and her husband, Paul, have been RVing for more than 14 years. During that time she’s accumulated a wealth of useful information through conversations with other RVers, reading motorhome- and RV-related magazines and books, and trial and error, resulting in a treasure trove of ideas that help to make the RV lifestyle more enjoyable.

Grandchildren are truly a gift. Just being with these little people, so large with love, vitalizes our lives.

Many travelers delight in attractions that aren’t well-trod by the general populace. And when you’re on the road, finding objects you may once have collected and doted on, or are continuing to collect and prize, is like meeting old friends.

When Terry and Michelle Guinn first saw the 1999 Ultimate Freedom diesel pusher that eventually would be theirs, they immediately fell in love with it.

The Guinns and their family, which includes two teenagers and a pre-teen, spend much of their free time on weekends and vacations participating in outdoor activities such as boating, off-roading, and biking, depending on the weather and the time of year. They found that the Ultimate Freedom was the perfect vehicle for transporting their collection of “toys” and that it had terrific dry camping capabilities.

What it lacked, however, was adequate sleeping accommodations for the family and the friends their kids would bring along on most trips.

Many of us have encouraged our kids in school, sometimes helping them with assignments that are intended to provide them insight into what the real world is all about. School projects typically do not grow into multimillion-dollar corporations, of course.

Ever since Flipper swam across our black-and-white TV screens in the 1960s, the American public has been enamored with Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. What’s not to love? They are highly intelligent and friendly to man.

… Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”
— Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863

This year the United States observes the 140th anniversary of the one event that turned the tide of the Civil War. To many, the Battle of Gettysburg is the most compelling and fascinating milestone of that war.

The medicine cabinet in our motorhome was quite wide, stretching from wall to wall, but its shallow depth and lack of a second shelf limited its usefulness. To increase its depth, I removed the cabinet from the walls — the motorhome’s walls actually serve as the sides and back of cabinet.

It is now possible to wash your vehicle’s windshield and refresh its interior at the same time. Wiper Breeze is a wiper fluid additive that combats in-vehicle auto odors, such as those from pets, smoke, food, mold, and mildew, each time the windshield washer is operated.

As product literature states, Wiper Breeze “allows you to turn your wiper fluid into an auto air freshener.” Simply pour a 1-ounce package of Wiper Breeze into the wiper fluid reservoir with the regular washer fluid.

Desert Shores Motor Coach Resort, C9627 — an exclusive 64-acre gated community of 141 waterfront sites in the Palm Springs Desert Resorts area of Southern California — reported a successful 2003 summer construction period.

Desert Shores developer Bob Lee, founder of Country Coach Inc., said, “We have been in the construction season for the past several months and will complete 24 custom casitas by mid-October, which will be in addition to 42 completed and sold lots. Our goal is to have half of the total sites completed this year.”

A “casita,” or “little house,” includes 750 square feet.

No doubt many RVers would agree that the slideout is a compelling attribute. Once single slideouts became accepted in motorhome design, RV manufacturers took the next logical step: crafting double-slideout coaches.

On a warm and humid mid-June day, I paid a visit to Foretravel’s manufacturing plant in Nacogdoches, Texas. A 2004-model, 40-foot tag-axle Unicoach with two slideouts had just rolled off the line, and soon I was taking it on the road for a review.

In 1989 when the PALS chapter was formed, members named the group by using the first letters from the words “Pace Arrow Lakers.” You had to own a Fleetwood Pace Arrow motorhome to join, and the “Lakers” part referred to FMCA’s Great Lakes Area, which is the chapter’s geographical scope.

Times change, of course, and as members replaced their coaches with other brands, they didn’t want to have to give up their friendships. So ever since July 2000, the PALS chapter has welcomed FMCA members who own any brand or type of motorhome, be it a type A, B, or C, or a bus conversion.

FMCA’s Executive Board is made up of the national president, senior vice president, secretary, and treasurer, along with the 10 area vice presidents. FMCA members were able to learn more about the four nationally elected officers when their resumes were published in the May 2003 issue prior to the election at FMCA’s 70th International Convention in Buffalo, New York.

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.

Here are some tips and tidbits to help full-timers earn, save, or spend money more wisely.

Enabling the disabled
If you are receiving Social Security disability benefits but want to earn supplemental income that still allows you to keep receiving full disability, call Maximus Inc. (866-968-7842).

You feel it, don’t you? That little nip in the evening air. The trees look a little less leafy than last week.

These recipes cut corners in clever ways. Try them on your next motorhome trip and you’ll save time, cooking fuel, and dish washing.