2003

Here’s a look at several items that may be of special interest to full-timers.

A new way to rent movies
There are several new DVD rental programs available that are especially attractive to motorhomers who don’t want to be tied to  short rental periods or have to worry about returning a movie rented three states back. Already in place is Netflix www.netflix.com) and a similar program from Wal-Mart www.walmart.com), each touting more than 12,000 movie titles from which to choose.
How do these programs work? For approximately $20 per month (plus tax), you receive three DVDs that you can keep as long as you want, trading them in as often as you like for new titles.

Quite often I hear comments from members and non-members that they perceive FMCA to be an organization for well-to-do type A motorhome owners. I can understand how people might get that impression.

The “Full-Timer’s Primer” column that appeared in the October 2002 issue of Family Motor Coaching emphasized the importance of using wise tax strategies all year, not just on December 31 and April 15. But, as I found out from tax expert Julian Block, full-time motorhomers should be aware of other tax-saving opportunities.

Bounce fabric softener sheets aren’t the only dryer sheets available, but they have become one of the best known brands. Generic brands are offered by numerous large supermarket chains, and they may work equally well, even if they cost less.
It’s amazing how many uses we found for dryer sheets on the Internet and in print — in addition to their use in the dryer, of course.

A simple topping can make all the difference between a plain-Jane meal or dessert or a tasty, eye-appealing dish. Cut circles from sheets of puff pastry, bake them on a cookie sheet to a golden brown, and float them atop steaming bowls of soup or stew.

Here’s something sure to drive you buggy — according to entomologists, there are more species of insects on Earth than any other kind of living creature. As a matter of fact, 95 percent of all known animal species are insects, and although scientists have discovered more than a million species of bugs, 10 times as many may still remain unidentified.
Here’s another fact sure to get under your skin: millions of these creeping critters can exist in a single acre of land.

This past December I attended the annual National RV Trade Show, sponsored by the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA), in Louisville, Kentucky. As FMCA president Jeff Jefcoat and I toured the new motorhome displays and visited with the manufacturers, it was very encouraging and exciting to see what is happening.

“The Big 10” was the name given to the Northeast Motorhome Association’s 10th anniversary rally, held August 8, 9, and 10, 2002, at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction, Vermont. Rally masters Charlie and Helen Caserta, F101979, along with members (and spouses) from the Northeast Motorhome Association’s executive committee — Bill and Ellie Skolfield, F227377; Bill and Pat Conway, F99081; and Gerry and Esther Rogers, F98387 — spearheaded the volunteer effort for this rally.

Q: We own a 32-foot 1992 Pace Arrow with a Chevrolet 454 engine and an automatic transmission. We like the motorhome very much but would like to improve its stability and performance.

Dear Editor:
I have copies of Family Motor Coaching magazines from 1994 through 2001. The set is complete except for the January issues.

FMCA offers its members many different benefits. But a number of these benefits require some action on the members’ part, or they won’t be fully enjoyed.
Chapter membership is a member benefit that is ours for the taking.

Each year during the week after Thanksgiving, the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) stages a trade show for the RV business community. It features a large display of recreation vehicles, from 10-foot pop-up trailers to 45-foot motorhomes.

Southern California’s Mojave Desert is the home of a strange river that tumbles down the wrong side of a mountain, flows in the wrong direction, runs beneath its own riverbed, rises occasionally to the surface, and then disappears under desert sands.
But this is nothing new. The Mojave River has been behaving this way for hundreds of years, puzzling Spanish missionaries, American pathfinders, and desert newcomers.

Miami-Dade County, Florida, may not be as well-known as its biggest city, Miami, but it should be. It encompasses not only Miami, but Miami Beach, Coral Gables, and points south.

Motorhomers love to talk about their coaches, no matter whether the conversations take place at FMCA conventions and rallies or while visiting neighboring campers. And there’s so much to talk about — horsepower, length, high-tech accessories, comfort, color, and on and on.

The Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) is an international trade group that represents the specialty automotive industry. Its members include manufacturers, distributors, retailers, auto restorers, and an assortment of companies that are dedicated to making the automotive world a better place for those who love their vehicles.
SEMA began in 1963 as the Speed Equipment Manufacturers Association.

When people think of San Diego, they often picture a family vacation destination with beautiful beaches; a world-famous zoo; Sea World; and gorgeous golf courses. Historic sites usually don’t come to mind.

It’s not just the sights that attract millions of people to Memphis every year. It’s also the sounds rooted deeply in the city itself that draw the masses.
Memphis is cited in nearly 400 songs, more than any other place in the world.

The Baja is billed by Subaru as “a new type of crossover vehicle that blends the feeling of freedom and ruggedness of a compact four-door pickup truck with the driving dynamics, safety, and comfort of a passenger car.” Motorhomers may find it to be an excellent choice for a towed vehicle. The Baja is reminiscent of Subaru’s Brat, which was introduced in 1977 and was produced for 10 years.

During FMCA’s 27th annual winter international convention in Perry, Georgia, in March 2002, I had the opportunity to sit down with Chuck Goode of Cummins Engine, C4251, and Mike Meloche of Detroit Diesel, C4620, and talk about some of the common questions and misconceptions related to diesel engines.
The following information applies to most turbocharged diesel motorhome engines, regardless of the manufacturer, and addresses some of the more common questions and myths associated with these power plants. If you’re a diesel owner, see how well you do answering these questions.
Warm-up
Q: Should a turbocharged diesel engine be fully warmed up to its operating temperature before being driven?
A: We’ve all heard –; literally –; this early-morning drill.

While attempting to find a convenient storage space for the rubber gloves that I use while refueling or emptying holding tanks, I noticed that the box the gloves are packaged in is nearly identical in size to a standard tissue box. I purchased a tissue dispenser (with a snap-off bottom) at a local store and attached the base to a vertical surface inside a storage compartment along with two hook-and-loop straps.

Alcoa’s new forged-aluminum Dura-Bright wheels are said to wash clean and stay bright without polishing. Unlike conventional wheels, Alcoa Dura-Bright wheels are protected by a patented treatment that penetrates the wheel so that brake dust, grime, and oil residue wash off quickly and easily.

Chassis manufacturer Spartan Motors Inc., C3322, and motorhome builder Travel Supreme, C8691, have teamed to produce the first motorhome built on Spartan’s new mid-engine chassis, the Me2. The new motorhome made its commercial debut at RVIA’s National RV Trade Show in Louisville, Kentucky, December 3 through 5, 2002.

For some motorhome enthusiasts, a bigger coach is not necessarily better. Yet they still want the style, comfort, and livability that have become the standard in today’s type As.

This month I am dedicating my column to the questions most frequently answered by the staff in our Membership Services Department. I have found that although the facts are quite familiar to those of us who work with the issues daily, they may not be to members who deal with us infrequently, or those who are new members of FMCA.
The Membership Services Department has compiled the following list of the most frequently asked questions and the answers.

The vast majority of the liquefied petroleum gas (LP-gas) sold to the motorhome industry is propane (C3H8); however, I am told that butane (C4H10) is still available in certain parts of the extreme South and in Mexico. Huge differences exist between these fuels, and motorhome owners should make certain that they are indeed getting propane when filling their tank in those areas.

Below is a chart that illustrates some of the differences between propane and butane.

This is pretty neat info! Now we can tell how much fuel each appliance consumes.

This month’s “Window On Nature” column delves into the natural history of gray whales. So it seemed appropriate in this column to suggest some places where these magnificent mammals can be seen during their 12,500-mile migration.

It’s wintertime, and time to go whale watching along the West Coast. Although many whale species call the Pacific Ocean home, the gray whale (Eschrichtius robutus) is the obvious choice to write about, even though it isn’t the largest, smallest, fastest, or strangest whale in the ocean.

Atlantis Bacon-Wrapped Shrimp
This makes an elegant appetizer but it’s also a satisfying supper meal when you serve several shrimp with salad, bread, and a side dish such as corn souffle. The recipe is from Atlantis, the gourmet restaurant in the Renaissance Orlando Resort at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida.

The FMCA Strategic Plan is alive and well. Many of you will recall that the Strategic Plan was approved by the Governing Board at the 2001 summer international convention in Redmond, Oregon.
The plan was developed over a three-year period by an 11-member select committee.

The 29th annual FMCA South Central Area Six-State Rally, dubbed the Roundup At The “OK” Corral, was held October 8 through 11, 2002, at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Oklahoma. The event took place just a few days after FMCA’s 68th Premier International Motorhome Extravaganza in Hutchinson, Kansas, and many of the 450 motorhomes in attendance were driven straight from the wet, muddy convention.

Q: My wife and I are planning a trip from the San Francisco Bay area to the East Coast and back. I would like to buy a laptop computer so that we can keep in contact with our friends and relatives via e-mail.

Dear Editor:
After attending FMCA’s convention in Hutchinson, Kansas, we were on our way to a Tucson Drifters chapter rally in Branson, Missouri, where we were to co-host the event.
We entered the small town of Parsons, Kansas, approximately 80 miles from Hutchinson, and came to a stop at a light on Main Street. We then experienced an RVer’s worst nightmare.

As the New Year rolls around, it seems an appropriate time to communicate with you about your member benefits. FMCA provides its members many benefits that are specifically tailored to the traveler and, in some cases, the motorhome owner.

The proposed FMCA Bylaws state, “The President is FMCA’s chief elected officer. The president shall promote FMCA’s welfare and programs and preside at all meetings of the membership, Governing Board, and Executive Board, and shall exercise supervision and control of the affairs and business of FMCA.”
This description of the president’s duties is simple and straightforward, and except for being more concise, is basically the same as the one in the current Bylaws.

Your motorhome came with an instruction manual, but your life didn’t. It’s a big world out there, with no shortage of off-ramps and activities to pursue.
Now, I’m not one to interfere (okay, maybe I am), but I’ve given your traveling lifestyle some thought, and I have a few recommendations.

I remember watching Lisa Whelchel, F264975, on television years ago as Blair Warner, the self-centered rich kid she portrayed in the 1980s sitcom, “The Facts of Life.” So, sitting in her motorhome discussing her life, then and now, was quite an experience. Lisa is nothing like the character that catapulted her to teenage stardom.

When it comes to insurance, I am usually as much in the dark as the next person. However, when I found out about the Deductible Reimbursement Insurance Plan — group travel accident and medical deductible and co-insurance reimbursement coverage that is being extended to FMCA members — I immediately became interested.

As a base camp from which to inaugurate a late-winter sojourn along California’s central coast, the bucolic and provincial town of San Luis Obispo is as near perfect as a place can be. The town’s name means “Bishop Saint Louis” in Spanish, and it is often referred to by its initials — S.L.O.

When I complained to my husband, FMCA Insurance and Risk Management Committee chairman Dick Sherman, about how difficult it is to understand the association’s Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) policy, he pointed out two things: 1) It is not a policy that I see in the magazine but simply a description of the policy; and 2) It seems perfectly clear and straightforward to him.

The Recreation Vehicle Safety Education Foundation (RVSEF) has completed work on its comprehensive RV Safety Education Program, and it is now available to FMCA members. RVSEF, a nonprofit safety education organization, provides safety education materials and services to the RV community.

Approximately 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, California, is a region called the “Inland Empire,” filled with prospering businesses and suburban communities. It’s close enough to L.A.

When getting our motorhome ready to roll, on occasion I have neglected to lower the antenna or stow the jack pads before taking off. Since I needed a nudge to remember these items, I came up with a simple reminder by using spring-type clothespins borrowed from my wife’s clothespin bag.
I disassembled the clothespins, painted them red (any color will do), and reassembled them.

Meguiar’s Deep Crystal System is a multistep process that cleans and protects the painted surfaces of RVs and other vehicles. According to company literature, the 1-2-3 format eliminates confusion about what products to use together and provides an integrated system that cleans, polishes, and protects a vehicle’s finish.

The “Go Fast” Blue Bird, a specially outfitted 2003 43-foot Blue Bird Wanderlodge LXi, was at the center of opening festivities for West Virginia’s largest outdoor festival, Bridge Day, held October 19, 2002, in Fayetteville.
Governor Bob Wise got the event started from a special platform placed on the roof of the motor coach, which was parked on the 876-foot-high New River Gorge Bridge. Later, an estimated 400 BASE (Building, Antenna, Span, and Earth) jumpers parachuted into the gorge.

What to do about the mail is always a concern for the traveling family. Motorhomers who enjoy extended summer trips or winters in warmer climes and full-timers who travel wherever the winds may take them are especially aware that keeping up with the mail can be a source of frustration and worry.

As any traveler will tell you, the need for good telephone communication is heightened when the road beckons. To help enhance enjoyment of life on the road and provide peace of mind to members, FMCA began offering an emergency telephone message service in 1982.

Full-timers can find numerous ways to save money, time, and aggravation. The key to doing so is by staying informed about the best products and information sources available.

Membership in the Family Motor Coach Association brings with it a wealth of benefits that are of value to the motorhome traveler. Some of these benefits are obvious — the subscription to Family Motor Coaching magazine, for example — and some are not so obvious.

Editor’s note: Mr. Eversmann presented the following report to the FMCA Governing Board during its meeting in Hutchinson, Kansas, this past October.
I would like to provide you a summary of the significant things that have been happening within the Family Motor Coach Association.