2017

Read the latest News & Notes for December 2017!

Check out the latest RV Products for December 2017!

It’s common for FMCA chapter members to get out and explore the area where they’re holding a rally. The Oregon Trail Drivers members do that. But their state has so much to see: a beautiful ocean coastline; inspiring mountains; rushing rivers; quiet deserts; and a fertile valley full of farms.

 The Travlin Texans chapter received its FMCA charter on June 6, 1987. To commemorate the chapter’s 30th anniversary, members gathered October 3 through 6, 2017, for a rally at North Texas Airstream Community in Hillsboro, Texas.

The Over the Hills chapter held a rally September 20 to 24, 2017, at Sunset Lakes RV Resort in Hillsdale, Illinois, which is just east of the Quad Cities area. Members arrived in 17 motorhomes for the event.

The Northwestern chapter celebrated its 50th anniversary in the beautiful Yakima Valley of central Washington over the 2017 Labor Day weekend. A ring of forest fires in the mountains above the valley, along with eerie skies and unusual sunsets, did not hinder the festivities. Twenty-eight members and guests, along with 14 motorhomes, convened for the event, held at the Yakima Elks RV park in Selah, Washington. Kathie Balogh, FMCA national vice president, Northwest Area, presented the 50th anniversary award and certificate from FMCA.

This Canadian couple celebrated the motorhome lifestyle in grand style with their first full-length road trip.

Read the latest questions to the RV Doctor.

Where did the year go? It seems like just yesterday I was writing about how the weather was warming up and the FMCA family would be out there enjoying it. Now the chill is in the air here in Cincinnati! And by the time you read this column, winter will be on its way, and some of you will be lucky enough to be making your way down South to continue enjoying the nice weather. And the holidays will be upon us. Whatever you celebrate during the month of December, enjoy the season.

December, to me, is special because I am able to devote time to just sitting back and watching the magic of Christmas take over in our family. When I was younger, I rushed around going to Christmas concerts with the kids, working at church bazaars, buying the “right” presents on my children’s lists, decorating the house for Christmas — all while working 12 hours a day keeping my business operating.

Perhaps another FMCA member has traveled more miles, visited more countries, and explored more back roads than Henryk Szostak, F85634. Perhaps not. It’s impossible to say, for the Laguna Woods, California, resident cannot account for every journey he has made in his 81 years.

So often while traveling in the South, we find our motorhomes parked alongside a sparkling Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) lake. One of the most beautiful is Norris Lake in Tennessee. How it made a drastic impact not only on American history but on the entire world is quite a story.

Get and stay connected with your fellow travelers by attending events and using social media.

If the current schedule is any indication, the “F” in FMCA will stand for “Fun” during the association’s 97th International Convention and RV Expo.

Get set to visit this central Georgia town, which will host FMCA’s 97th International Convention and RV Expo in March 2018.

This luxury motorhome manufacturer has followed a carefully crafted path to success.

Meticulous planning and construction, as well as ongoing innovations, are evident in each motorhome produced by Newell Coach Corporation.

Idaho’s Craters of the Moon and Washington’s Mount St. Helens each reveal the dramatic results of geologic activity.

The service brakes are a motorhome’s primary braking system. Most coach owners know that riding those brakes will overheat them and cause brake fade, resulting in a lack of stopping capability that can lead to serious, even fatal, consequences. But there are times, such as when descending a long grade, when it’s necessary to control the vehicle’s speed for an extended period. An auxiliary braking system is the best way to accomplish that.

Check out the latest RV News and Notes for November 2017!

Check out all of the latest RV Products for November 2017!

As relative newcomers to the RV world and lifestyle, my husband and I still occasionally look at the motorhome in our backyard and say to each other, “I can’t believe that’s ours!”

Many of the original members of the Northern Lights chapter were from northern Michigan, which became part of the inspiration for the chapter name. Today, 25 years later, the chapter has members from all over the state.

The Maine Wheels chapter celebrated its 30th anniversary June 9 to 11, 2017, at Wassamki Springs Campground in Scarborough, Maine.

The Midwest Prairie Schooners chapter (MWPS) celebrated its 40th anniversary August 10 through 13, 2017, at Arrowhead Point RV Park & Campground in Osceola, Missouri. The chapter, which covers the Greater Kansas City, Missouri, area and points beyond, was chartered as the GMC Prairie Schooners on July 28, 1977, but the name was changed to Midwest Prairie Schooners in 1979.

It’s about 900 miles from The Villages, a community in central Florida, to FMCA’s campground in Cincinnati, Ohio. That’s how far David and Sandy Fuller, F331444, traveled in their 2004 Monaco Holiday Rambler to escape Hurricane Irma, the powerful storm that pounded the southeastern United States in September.

FMCA members Stan and Connie Filarski live in Eugene, Oregon, which was just outside the path of totality for the August 21, 2017, solar eclipse. So, the couple traveled about 50 miles north to a prime viewing spot at the Benton County Fairgrounds in Corvallis, Oregon. The Filarskis said the event was “truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!”

John Richard Morris, L4372, who served as FMCA’s national president from 1977 to 1979 and as national treasurer from 1975 to 1977, died February 7, 2017. He was 84.

Read the latest Tech and Travel Tips for November 2017!

Check out the latest House Calls with The RV Doctor for November 2017

Like all of you, I’m sure, I have many things to be thankful for. I have a wonderful, healthy family, with a new addition, a son, on the way in December. My wife and I recently found our forever home here in Cincinnati, and by the time you read this, we should be settled in there.

It’s difficult to be sitting here in September writing an article that will not be published until November, but such is the world of magazine deadlines. Sondra and I have been quite busy visiting chapters and meeting lots of new and interesting FMCA members.

The first time it happened, a couple of years ago, Marc Bennett was taken aback. While loading his car in an RV campground, he was approached by a man he’d never met. “Hey, Marc!” the fellow said in a tone of voice used by best friends.

A guide to get started living off the grid.

Each January, the Blythe Bluegrass Festival attracts RVers in search of a toe-tapping good time.

A step-by-step guide to maintaining this vital motorhome component.

Available in nine floor plans, with many customizable features, this B+ motorhome may be “just right” for RVers searching for a unit larger than a typical Type B but smaller than many Type As.

Winterizing the motorhome probably isn’t your favorite task, but it must be done. Unless, of course, you are lucky enough to head south before winter arrives, in which case you just pull the water hoses in when the nighttime temperature drops below freezing and put them out again when it warms up the next day. But for those of us stuck in northern climates, winterizing is necessary to protect the RV from freeze damage.