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.
Category:
Archives
-
-
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, 1863This 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.
-
People feel uncomfortable when they’re being followed, but cows don’t seem to mind. If one of them turns around and sees a chicken-size bird following in its tracks, it gives a bovine shrug and continues eating.
-
As we sat in the garage searching through a box labeled “Shenandoah Valley Memories,†thoughts of that beautiful valley made us long to return. We enjoyed our first visit there, and after rereading those stored materials, we’re pining to return to this part of northwestern Virginia.
-
Every now and then, on warm Nevada mornings, Rosalie Hart, F108669, would read a newsletter out loud over coffee as her husband, Douglas, listened and relaxed after a tiring 24-hour shift at the fire station. If you could peer through a window into their kitchen and look over Rosalie’s shoulder, you’d see “Vegas Vagabonds†printed in large letters across the top of the page.
-
On November 7, 1994, the Midweek Wanderers received their charter to become a chapter of Family Motor Coach Association. Currently the chapter has 37 member families, who live within the chapter’s geographical scope of Ventura County, California.
-
Q: I am puzzled! When not traveling, we keep our Gulf Stream Scenic Cruiser in our garage. I came home the other day and found the LP-gas detector beeping.
-
The telephone number listed for Wiper Buddy in the July 2003 “Technical Inquiries” column (page 28) was incorrect. The correct phone number is (972) 272-8528.
FMC regrets this error.
-
Writing this column is the last of my duties as FMCA president. At the 70th International Convention in Buffalo, New York, on July 17, the Governing Board elected new FMCA officers for the 2003-2004 term: R.G.
-
Your motorhome sits in the driveway, ready to go. Everything’s packed, including Rover’s favorite dog biscuits, or Fluffy’s cat toys.
-
The musical advice to “Climb Every Mountain” is an appropriate suggestion for those visiting the part of south-central Idaho known as the “American Alps.” Travelers who explore this region and the surrounding countryside will have lasting memories of beautiful, varied scenery; interesting sights; and fun activities.
For the sake of simplicity, we’ll begin the journey right off of Interstate 84 in the town of Twin Falls, in south-central Idaho, and then head north from there. Twin Falls is located in the “Magic Valley,” a land of high desert that is irrigated by the Snake River. -
It was 1953. Songs topping “Your Hit Parade” included “Don’t Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes†by Perry Como and “I’ve Got The World On A String†by Frank Sinatra.
-
Hello. First of all I would like to thank all of the youth for allowing me to serve a third year as president of the TATS.
-
In a dell surrounded by the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, Kentucky’s Renfro Valley Entertainment Center offers a touch of Americana that time may have forgotten but old-time country music fans love to remember.
Sixty-four years ago, a radio program called the Renfro Valley Barn Dance first originated from this gentle glen. Men, some wearing overalls and plaid shirts, and women, clad in calico dresses and cotton stockings, performed on a stage inside a barn. -
According to John Anderson, who founded the Recreation Vehicle Safety Education Foundation (RVSEF) and served as its executive director until he retired this past July, tires probably are the most vulnerable component on an RV relative to weight and overload issues. They also tend to be the most overlooked.
-
In 1933 when the Broadway musical Forty-Second Street and the song “Shuffle Off To Buffalo” made their debut, few could have imagined the transportation that FMCA convention attendees recently used to “Shuffle Off To Buffalo.” In mid-July 2003, more than 3,800 families climbed aboard their high-tech homes on wheels and made tracks to the Buffalo Niagara region for FMCA’s 70th International Convention, dubbed “Shuffle Off To Buffalo” in honor of the host area. A total of 4,791 motorhomes gathered for the event in western New York.
-
An easy way to minimize wrinkles in the bottom bed sheet in the motorhome is to use worker-type stretchy suspenders, which are available at most home supply or hardware stores. The suspenders generally are at least 2 inches wide and come with heavy-duty, 1/2-inch metal clips.
To begin, place the suspenders on top of the mattress and equally adjust each side of the suspenders to approximately two-thirds of the width of the bed. -
Barker Manufacturing has added two models to its line of Tote-Along portable gray- and black-water holding tanks. The 16-gallon 4-Wheeler Tote-Along measures 11.5 inches high, 17 inches wide, and 37 inches long and weighs 25 pounds empty.
-
With winter approaching, many FMCA members are planning to follow the sun to warmer zones. Quartzsite, Arizona, is high on the list of snowbird roosts, attracting thousands of RVers each year.
-
It’s pleasing to the eye, elegantly appointed, and its cavernous interior reflects the maximum amount of livability that can be coaxed from a triple-slideout motorhome. It’s the 2004 Navigator.
Holiday Rambler, a division of Monaco Coach Corporation, is celebrating 50 years in the RV industry by offering the quintessential luxury motorhome. -
Editor’s note: Mr. Eversmann presented the following report to the FMCA Governing Board during its meeting in Buffalo, New York, this past July.
It is my pleasure to provide an update regarding noteworthy activities within the Family Motor Coach Association.
-
Butterflies are more than tiny works of art — they’re fascinating little creatures. So this month we’ll share answers to butterfly questions that we’ve had in the past, and provide answers to other questions we didn’t even think to ask until we began working on this column.
-
Ponder for a moment just how many items on a modern motorhome are powered or energized by some form of electrical current. Not including the cabinets, sofa cushions, and other soft goods, quite a few of our amenities are electrical in some sense.
-
Since we don’t have a huge motorhome, we try to carry multiple-use products as much as possible. Lemon juice certainly fits our requirements.
-
These easy-to-make and delicious dishes will keep you out of the galley as summer really heats up.
Chinese Crockpot Chicken
This recipe from Wendy Louise’s The Complete Crockpot Cookbook ($16, Champion Press) is a festival of flavor that requires little work. If you don’t have a slow cooker, put it in a roasting bag in the oven (see label directions, which call for the addition of a tablespoon of flour) or follow the directions for a three-pound chicken when using your microwave-convection oven in the combination mode.
One 3-pound chicken
1/4-cup soy sauce
1/4-cup orange marmalade
2 tablespoons ketchup
6 cloves garlic, pressed
1 onion, sliced
Salt, pepper to taste
Place the chicken in the slow cooker. -
You’re a medical transcriptionist, an expert on oil well fires, a highly specialized Wi-Fi installer, or even a top executive at a major corporation. You long to go full-timing, but you must continue to work.
-
Raynell Proksa says that Ed, her husband of 13 years, is the most committed FMCA member she knows.
“The magazine is practically his bible,” she said with a smile. “He reads it cover to cover, then at campgrounds searches out coaches without a goose egg (oval FMCA membership plate).” Considered a “great recruiter” by his wife, Ed has given away many copies of Family Motor Coaching to non-member motorhomers, hoping to entice them to join the organization. -
Thank you for the responses you forwarded to us regarding the shaking problem we experienced in our Holiday Rambler Vacationer (“Vibrating Vacationer,” March 2003, page 32). We took the motorhome to a Ford garage and a mechanic there was able to identify and fix the problem.
-
Dear Editor:
One of your readers showed me a copy of the March 2003 issue of Family Motor Coaching. My grandfather’s RV predates the RV pictured on page 24, in the “Readers’ Forum” column, by about 14 years, and I wanted to share a photo of it.
The bashful young lady to the left of her mother is my mother, Barbara, at the age of 6. -
The new FMCA North American Road Atlas & Travel Guide is now available to members. I hope you will take advantage of FMCA’s offer to send you a free copy of the revised FMCA atlas when you sign up a new FMCA member.
-
I am the son of Portuguese immigrants. When I was growing up, Portuguese was spoken in my home more frequently than English, and the food smelled of cumin, onions, and garlic, as does most Portuguese cooking.
-
I consider FMCA to be the premier organization in promoting a lifestyle of road travel and adventure in North America. The friends my wife, Jean, and I have made; the education we have gained; and the pleasure we’ve experienced traveling the continental United States and Canada will forever be instilled in our memories.
This month I’d like to highlight some of the most interesting locations we have visited in our retirement years.