By Charlie Adcock, F311374
March 2015
Hello, My FMCA Family:
As the saying goes, time marches on. As I write this, national senior vice president Jon Walker, Gloria, and I have just left the Western Area Rally in Indio, California. We are getting ready for the Southeast Area Rally in Sarasota, Florida, in February, and we expect we will have a great time with many of you there.
We also hope to see more of you at Fairplex in Pomona, California, March 26-29, for FMCA’s 91st Family Reunion and Motorhome Showcase. You still have time to register. Check page 55 for details; visit FMCA.com; or call the FMCA national office at (800) 543-3622. Come join us for seminars, exhibits, entertainment, and socializing.
Gloria and I left home the day after Christmas and drove to Kennedale, Texas (in the Fort Worth area), to visit with our FMCA friends Gene Miller and Sheri Brewer. It rained on us all the way, and that wreaked havoc on our clean motorhome and truck. By the time we reached their home, the truck that we tow behind the motorhome had so much road grime that you couldn’t see out of the glass. So, Gene and I went in search of an automatic car wash — the kind with all the brushes and floppy blue strips that hang down.
Many of you know that my truck is a Ford F-150; it has side mirrors that fold in. As we started to enter the car wash, I decided not to fold the mirrors in, because I wanted them washed, too. As we got to the first set of big brushes that move along the side of the vehicle, the brush on the driver’s side pushed the mirror in against the truck. Seeing a break in the action, I decided to let the driver’s-side window down, reach out, and put the mirror back out. Now picture this: with the engine running, if you hit the up or down switch, the window is going to go all the way up or down. Just as the window starts down, I feel a slight mist of water. By the time the window is all the way down, it is raining inside. I immediately hit the up switch, and the glass starts up. When it is about two inches from the top, two of those wet blue strips slip inside my window. The window proceeds to close on them. All I can think of as I move down the line is that they are going to break out my door glass. So, I hit the down switch to let them out, only to allow about six more of them inside.
By the time I got past that station and to the spot-free rinse, the entire front of my body was soaked. To add to that, I had the heated seats turned on, so my back and rear were really warm.
Those of you who have had little boys and recall potty training them may remember getting them up in the middle of the night and pouring a little warm water on them to help things along. With ample dampness, a warm back, and a warm rear end, I really needed a bathroom. I can tell you that at Lowe’s, the bathroom is all the way in the rear of the store. I made it. Of course, everyone looking at me thought that I didn’t make it. So, the memories keep happening.
I wanted to leave Fort Worth in time to visit an Arizona chapter in Tonopah that was having a New Year’s Eve party. Well, the ice hit Texas before we could get out, and we were delayed two days. We were not able to leave until January 3. We had planned to arrive in Indio, California, on Monday, January 5. In order to make that work, we drove to El Paso, Texas, a little more than 600 miles, on Saturday, January 3. On Sunday, January 4, we drove almost 500 miles to Tonopah. Then on Monday, January 5, we arrived at Indio around noon. Everything worked out, but it involved plenty of driving for a couple of days.
This was our third year at the Western Area Rally, and I have never seen the weather so beautiful. The sun shone every day; it wasn’t dusty; and the rally was wonderful. I’m telling you, Western Area national vice president Dick Gibbs and his wife, Charlotte, along with Western Motor Home Association senior vice president Lon Cross (who also was rally master) and all their volunteers, put on a great rally.
The rally theme was “Out Of This World.” I wish everyone could have witnessed the parade. I am always amazed at all the great minds and imagination that go into building the floats.
The rally had 200 show coaches, 175 vendors, and 900 family coaches in attendance. We were invited to and attended a lot of chapter functions. We had pizza with the Frustrated Maestros, breakfast with the Apollo Amigos chapter, hotdogs and chili with the Sierra Ramblers chapter, and a catered dinner with Coaches for Christ members. The Vendor Appreciation dinner was unforgettable; the ladies worked on the meal for three days.
Gloria and I are members of the Overland Trailblazers West chapter, and Dick Gibbs allowed me the privilege of presenting chapter president Russ Hill with a 25th anniversary certificate and a $100 check from FMCA. By the way, Russ happens to cook the best barbecue ribs and chicken I’ve ever eaten. (Hmm, I seem to be talking a lot about food this time!)
You may recall, I mentioned in my January 2015 column that my dream is to add education opportunities for FMCA members. We are still trying to put legs under that idea. We have received a lot of encouraging emails from members in support of the concept. In the meantime, I wanted to mention another source of help and information we can avail ourselves of for free — online resources.
I would be remiss if I did not first mention FMCA.com and the forums on that site. You should visit if you have a technical question, want a campground suggestion, or want to discuss just about any other thing related to motorhoming. Fellow members of your own FMCA family are ready to respond. Our online community continues to grow by the day it seems.
Members also might want to search for online assistance from coach and chassis manufacturers. Many of them have websites that offer technical information as well as chat rooms. And some of the social media outlets (Facebook, Yahoo, etc.) have groups as well. I belong to the American Coach Association Yahoo chat group. If I have a problem with my coach and need help, all I have to do is go on the forum and tell the group about it, and usually within 15 minutes someone who has had the same problem will tell me how to solve it. Try visiting www.groups.yahoo.com and looking for your make of coach to find out whether a group exists. If you need help, let me know and I’ll find someone that knows more about it than me.
Before I close, let me remind you to get out there and recruit new FMCA members. Expand your family! And don’t forget to mention FMCAssist, the emergency medical evacuation and travel assistance program, which is now an association-paid member benefit. This alone is a fantastic reason to join, plus many other benefits are offered as well.
And remember, “It’s all about having fun!”