Life Adventures
Things happen while you’re traveling by RV, and RV owners keep learning in the process.
National President
Rett Porter, F369084
rporter@fmca.com
All RVers have what Claire and I call “life adventures” during their RV travels. It doesn’t matter how much you pay for an RV; it is still a machine that can have problems, either the result of manufacturing failures or our own mistakes. I’ve been very lucky, but . . .
One time I was driving down a street in our neighborhood when I noticed people pointing to our RV’s door side. I had left the door awning out and was lucky a tree hadn’t ripped it off.
Then there was the time before we became full-time RVers in 2010 when our coach was parked in our RV garage. I put the over-the-air antenna up so we could have the TV on while we were cleaning and packing. That was great until I forgot that the sensitive garage door opener was in my pocket. I crawled inside a storage bay, and I suddenly heard the garage door going down, and with it came a terrible sound. The door hit the antenna several times. Yes, later that week, I bought a new antenna and had it installed.
Claire and I put approximately 20,000 to 25,000 miles on our RV each year. I have routine checks on how I hook up our towed vehicle. When I finish hooking up, I check that six connections are in place. On a Friday afternoon during rush hour, we were going around Dallas, Texas, on Interstate 20 in bumper-to-bumper traffic at 65 miles per hour. Suddenly, an 18-wheeler was beside me, and the driver was motioning toward the back of our RV. I looked up in the rearview camera monitor and could see our Tahoe was loose. I made the mistake of hitting my brakes. The braking system on the Tahoe did not activate. Instead, the Tahoe hit the rear of our RV. Then I made mistake number two; I stepped back on the accelerator, which broke the safety cables. The Tahoe sideswiped the back of our RV and took off on its own.
I looked at Claire and asked, “Is that our Tahoe passing us?” Traffic had disappeared from all around us. The Tahoe crossed two oncoming lanes of traffic and entered a construction zone down a hill. The Tahoe came to a stop, buried up to the axles in mud. We were very fortunate that no one was hurt, and no damage was done to anyone else’s property. The cause of the breakaway was that I had a bike rack between the RV and the tow bar, and the bike rack had a weld that I was unaware I should have been checking. I had used that bike rack for more than 150,000 miles but never checked for a weak weld. The weld broke apart and the rest was history. Fortunately for us, we had chapter members in the area who let us come to their place to make the necessary repairs before continuing to our Texas base.
One other “life adventure” occurred when we were traveling back from California after the Western Area Rally. I suddenly saw our towed vehicle in my side mirror. The vehicle should be directly behind the RV. One side of the tow bar was free since the base plate had broken off, and the car was swinging back and forth across the rear of the coach. I stopped very slowly, pulling off to the side of the road to unhook the towed vehicle. This time there was no damage to the coach or the towed vehicle, but these things happen. This close call was the result of a manufacturer defect, and the company did stand behind their product and paid all the expenses to repair the base plate.
I hope you enjoyed reading about our “life adventures.” We learn every day and want to pass on our stories in hopes that you won’t make the same mistakes.
Sharing these “adventures” may be alarming to some RVers, but we find it to be a reassuring activity at a chapter rally when we all share our “lessons learned.” We laugh, we gasp, we wonder how we would have handled someone else’s situation. We recall adventures, and we strengthen our bonds of friendship as we learn more about each other.
Travel safely, and I hope to see you at an FMCA rally or event soon.
Greetings From The National Senior VP
Get to know Gary Milner and his wife, Glenda.
National Senior Vice President
Gary Milner, F409834
gmilner@fmca.com
It has been an amazing year in my life as FMCA’s national senior vice president. My wife, Glenda, and I have visited many chapters, attended area rallies, and participated in FMCA’s 104th International Convention in Tucson, Arizona, and 105th International Convention in Lincoln, Nebraska. It has been an honor and privilege to be your national senior vice president.
Glenda and I look forward to meeting you in the future, if we haven’t already. Meanwhile, I wanted to take a few minutes to tell you about us. Glenda and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary in October 2022. During those years, we raised two amazing daughters who are now public school teachers. We have four grandchildren fi two boys and two girls fi and celebrated the arrival of our first great-grandson in September 2022.
I am from a family of 19 children — 16 girls and three boys from the same parents. I was the 14th child and youngest boy. I was raised around most of the girls and was fortunate to end up with three more women in my life. Glenda was raised with two brothers and learned the art of fast driving. She is known as “lead foot Glenda” in the FMCA family.
I spent 20 years in the United States Army, retiring in 1995 at the rank of Major. Upon my retirement from the Army, I decided to teach in the public school system. I was a Junior ROTC instructor, a high school principal, and served 12 years as a superintendent of schools. Glenda worked as a federal service employee, and after my retirement from the military in 1995, she also became a teacher, principal, and superintendent of schools. Both Glenda and I also served as adjunct university professors for over 10 years.
In 2008 we bought our first motorhome. Before that we had tents, pull-behinds, and a fifth-wheel. During our travels we met several FMCA members and decided to join FMCA in 2009. We attended as many rallies as possible and then volunteered during the international convention in Madison, Wisconsin. We were hooked. We have attended every convention since then and numerous area rallies. I also had the privilege of serving as the Midwest Area president for four years and currently serve as chairman of the FMCA Convention Committee. FMCA has definitely become our “family.”
The learning curves of truly traveling and discovering the challenges of being a new RVer gained me the title of “macerator man,” an event that was similar to the movie RV with Robin Williams (don’t ask). Glenda has become an expert driver (even in the passenger seat), a great navigator (being lost multiple times a day), and a questionable assistant in changing a blowout of a size 22.5 motorhome tire late at night on the side of the highway (not sure I would ask her about that experience). Glenda is always creating an atmosphere of fun and challenges for me regardless of who is around.
Glenda and I hope to continue traveling and enjoying this full-time lifestyle as long as the good Lord will allow us to. We are blessed to have you as family and dear friends. Hope to see you soon at a convention, area rally, chapter gathering, or campground during your travels.