We may never see a loggerhead sea turtle in the wild. Even so, it’s nice to know they’re still out there cruising the coastal waters after 150 million years.
The name “loggerhead” comes from the turtle’s large head (10 inches wide in an adult) and the powerful jaws it uses to crush crabs, mollusks, and other bottom-dwelling crustaceans attached to reefs and rocks.

We’ve always enjoyed visiting ethnic museums. Each time we see a new one, we’re reminded of the rich heritage our ancestors have brought to these shores.

Regardless of any current thoughts you may hold about bylaws, try reading Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised. I think you will find it hard to put down, just as you would an interesting novel.
The original author of the book was Henry Martyn Robert.

Getting in touch with an RVer can be pretty tough sometimes. In fact, along with bingo, potlucks, and horseshoes, phone tag may be considered a new recreational pastime.

Take acres of the gravelly Arizona desert, add 650-plus motorhomes, and what do you have? The 2003 International Area Rally, that’s what.
The Fourth Annual International Area Rally was held in Quartzsite, Arizona, January 18, 19 and 20. Attendees included many FMCA members who had been at the Western Area Rally in Indio, California, earlier that month and traversed the 110 miles to Quartzsite to join in the fun.
Arizona greeted rally-goers with outstanding weather — cool evenings, warm days, and blue, blue skies.

Q: A flat tire on a motorhome while driving on the highway can be devastating. I have seen reports that tire-temperature and air-pressure monitoring devices can provide advance warning of the impending danger.

Dear Editor:
Shortly after we took delivery of a Fleetwood Revolution motorhome from Earnhardt’s RV in Mesa, Arizona, my wife, Karen, and I headed to the California Dreamin’ convention in Pomona, California — our first FMCA convention. This is our fourth Fleetwood motorhome and our first diesel pusher.

During the past three years, I have presented a seminar about FMCA member benefits at the international conventions and area rallies I’ve attended. I believe it is important for all of the membership to become familiar with the benefits of this great association.

My husband, Russ, and I have spent the past eight years serving as full-time volunteers for FMCA. One would imagine this to be quite an undertaking, but in our case it has been an enjoyable one.

In mid-March, 3,982 motorhomes —  consisting of 2,778 family coaches and 1,204 exhibitor coaches — gathered at Fairplex in Pomona, California, for FMCA’s 69th International Convention, which was dubbed California Dreamin’. Beautiful weather; a fantastic facility; and, of course, the wonderful FMCA family and commercial members who attended provided the ingredients for another successful FMCA event.

Only 5-1/2 hours north of Maine lies a vacation place that no one should miss — Prince Edward Island, Canada’s smallest province, only 139 miles long and between 4 and 40 miles wide. Its population of 140,000 claims mostly Scottish, Irish, and Acadian ancestry.

The metropolitan area New York interstates were bumper-to-bumper. Hoping to avoid the crowds, I opted for the byways instead of the highways.

The 2003 election of FMCA National Officers will be held July 16 and 17, 2003, at FMCA’s 70th International Convention in Buffalo, New York.
This year’s Nominating Committee was elected by the Governing Board in accordance with FMCA Bylaws. Its members are Chairman Nelson K.

When you think of Buffalo, New York, the words “snow,” or “bison,” or “Buffalo wings” may also come to mind.
Yes, Buffalo receives its share of snow in the winter, but frozen precipitation won’t be a factor when FMCA members’ motorhomes roll into the Erie County Fairgrounds in Hamburg, 11 miles south of town, for the association’s “Shuffle Off To Buffalo” convention. By July 18, 19, and 20, when the convention takes place, temperatures are likely to top out near 80 degrees, moderated by pleasant breezes from nearby Lake Erie.

Thousands of motorhomers gathered in the heart of Southern California on March 21, 22, and 23 to take part in FMCA’s 69th International Convention. The venue for this grand event was Fairplex, located in the city of Pomona, 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.

You’re ready to buy a new car and are excited about the many possibilities. After researching on the Internet and visiting dealerships, you come up with a list of vehicles that you like.

The ends of the gasket seals around my exterior storage compartments did not join together tightly, leaving a gap for dirt and water to enter the compartment. To fix the problem, I used pieces of 1/4-inch tubing (3/8-inch outside diameter), one piece for each compartment seal that needed to be fixed.

Tongue Twister trailers are engineered to eliminate the injuries and damage that can occur when backing equipment on and off a trailer. These double-ended trailers do not need to be unhooked from the motorhome or other towing vehicle when loading or unloading.

Monaco Coach Corporation, C2111, and Playing Mantis, a leading die-cast manufacturer, have teamed up to give anyone with an extra $10 the chance to purchase their very own highline motorhome — albeit quite a bit smaller.
Beginning last September, miniature replicas of Holiday Rambler Navigator, Monaco Executive, Beaver Marquis, and Safari Zanzibar motorhomes have been available under the Johnny Lightning logo, a popular brand of collectibles.
The idea to make miniatures of these motorhome models came from Holiday Rambler engineers Ed Mahin and Ron Nunemaker, both avid die-cast collectors. From there, Monaco Coach Corporation engineers worked with designers at Johnny Lightning, providing technical specifications, photographs, and other information, to make sure the die-casts were as accurate as possible.

Since the “Type A Roundup” appeared in the March 2003 issue, additional models that are available for under $100,000 have come to light. So, we are adding “Chapter Two” this month.
In addition, we have a change to report to the initial roundup.

Some RV enthusiasts are attracted to the idea of driving a smaller type A coach, but they don’t want to sacrifice the comfort that comes with larger units. Recently I had the opportunity to test a Safari Trek 2810 model.

Quick meals can be a disaster if they are not in good balance nutritionally and aesthetically. Here are recipes that provide fast food without sacrificing nutrition, texture, and looks.
Tomato Tortellini
Use meat-filled tortellini or, for a meatless main dish, the cheese-filled variety.
24-ounce can plain tomato sauce (3 cups)
1/2-teaspoon dried basil
1/2-teaspoon oregano
1/2-teaspoon parsley
1/2-teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Salt to taste
8-ounce (1 cup) container real whipping cream, no substitutes
16-ounce package tortellini
Grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
Whisk together the tomato sauce, seasonings, and whipping cream.

The splendor of monumental buttes, soaring cliffs, towering spires, and rugged canyons lure visitors to Arizona’s Red Rock country, near Flagstaff. There you can see in form and color how the natural world appeared millions of years ago.

No, this column isn’t about the 55 mile-per-hour speed limit, but a magic number that for many full-timers means the beginning of a drop in expenses as they grow older. Although past surveys I’ve done for this column revealed that the age range for full-timers starts at 4 and extends into the mid-90s, the median age is in the low 60s.

The javelina, otherwise known as the collared peccary, musk hog, or tayaussa, is the only wild, native, piglike animal living in the United States. The name “javelina” is derived from the Spanish word for javelin or sword.

FMCA’s partnership with RV Alliance America (RVAA) and the Recreation Vehicle Safety Education Foundation (RVSEF) has enabled hundreds of FMCA members to become safer motorhomers. FMCA gives members the chance to take courses offered by these two organizations at FMCA international conventions and many area rallies.
The RV Safe Driving Course, cosponsored by RVAA and FMCA, is an eight-hour classroom seminar that helps participants improve their driving skills.

Entertaining, enlightened, engaging? While this group of FMCA members may be so described, these words don’t offer insight into the chapter’s name. Originally, the “E” stood for “Executive.” When the chapter was formed in 1976 as The Executive Southwest Chapter, FMCA members who joined had to own an Executive brand motorhome.

Willard “Will” Whipple, F15, who served as FMCA’s first national treasurer, passed away February 3, 2003, at the age of 78.
Mr. Whipple; his wife, Madora; and sons Larry, Dale, and Gary were among the 26 families that met in Hinckley, Maine, when FMCA was founded in July 1963.
Mr.

Q: I have a Caterpillar 3208 turbodiesel engine in a 1987 Vogue motorhome. The odometer says the motorhome has 100,000-plus miles on it, but I’m guessing it’s closer to 125,000 miles, since the odometer didn’t function properly when I bought the coach in January 2001 (the clock says 3,300 hours).
I recently made a 2,500-mile trip and the motorhome used six quarts of oil.

Dear Editor:
I’m not sure that Edward Wiseman, who wrote the letter in the February 2003 issue, was on the same State Route 89A that I have driven (“Mountainous Arizona Roads,” page 174).
We live in the San Diego area and drive to Sedona through Prescott and on to Flagstaff and back. We have done this eight or 10 times over the last 25 or so years.
We drive a 28-foot Roll-A-Long, and our first time over we were pulling a Toyota Land Cruiser.

Sometimes I just have to sit back and marvel at what this association has accomplished over the past 40 years. Recently my wife, Sharon, and I were able to attend two area rallies.

Much has been said and written over the last several years regarding the importance of proper weight and balance of recreation vehicles, or more specifically in our case, motorhomes. This is a complicated issue, to be sure, but I will attempt to clarify it from a layman’s perspective.

The Erie County Fairgrounds in Hamburg, New York, a suburb of Buffalo, will host FMCA’s 70th International Convention. We have dubbed it the “Shuffle Off To Buffalo” convention.

With spring arriving throughout most of North America, it’s time to think of gardens once again. Discovering a serene and cheerful collection of plants always is pleasant, and the experience can be further enriched when the plantings reflect the tastes of past generations.

Early in July our motorhome crossed the Canadian border north of Bellingham, Washington. We cleared customs with no problem, and the favorable exchange rate when changing U.S.

It seems that many of us accumulate packets and albums of photos that we have organized by trip. After awhile, it can become frustrating to have to look through all of these separate collections when all you really want to do is show someone several places from a single state.

Have test you ever watched a camping neighbor open an RV storage compartment door to retrieve the TV cable and literally empty that compartment by yanking out every other piece of gear stowed in there? Leveling blocks, camp shovel, sewer adapter, lawn chairs, toolbox, front doormat, et al, come tumbling out, tied together with an umbilical of kinked TV cable that was coiled haphazardly and stuffed into the compartment.
As comical as that might seem, you’d be surprised at how often such scenes play out every day in the campground. And perhaps it’s even happened to you.

It’s easy to be skeptical when you read that a tourist destination has something for everyone. That’s pretty unlikely, you might think.

Its scenery is enhanced by old Southern mansions, tree-lined boulevards, and an oceanside location. No wonder Beaufort (pronounced BEW-fert), a picturesque hamlet in South Carolina, has served as the setting for many motion pictures, including Forrest Gump.

Soon after the first S-Series automobile rolled off Saturn’s Spring Hill, Tennessee, assembly line in 1990, the name of General Motors’ newest company became quite familiar to motorhomers. Why? Because Saturn was the first manufacturer to specifically approve its automatic-transmission-equipped vehicles for flat towing.

During a recent rally, our outside entrance handle broke. I went to several camping stores to find a replacement handle, but the $70 to $100 price seemed a bit steep.

The Motion Control Unit from Super Steer is designed to reduce the roll, sway, and bounce that can be encountered when driving over bumps, dips, and uneven road conditions in an air-bag-equipped motorhome. The Motion Control Unit, which is installed at each air suspension bag, is engineered to control the high-velocity thrust of air released from the air bag.

National RV Inc., C3451, citing a move back to basics, has resurrected the popular Tropi-Cal brand as an attractively priced triple-slideout diesel model and revamped its Sea Breeze and Sea Breeze LX gasoline-powered motorhomes. These changes were unveiled during the National RV Trade Show this past December in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Tropi-Cal, which was a gas-powered line, returns as a diesel pusher priced at approximately $150,000.

To the average motorhome enthusiast, the name McKenzie may not ring familiar. That’s because, until recently, the company’s focus has been on building quality towable RVs.

When Alfa Leisure Inc. introduced its Alfa See Ya motorhome a couple of years ago, I took an initial look at the new model for Family Motor Coaching (“The Alfa See Ya Diesel Pusher,” October 2001, page 78).

Ready-mix convenience foods are always a plus for cooks who don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. But making your own mixes might be more economical, and you can prepare them in quantities that are right for your needs, and know that they are fresh.

At least three companies have marketed a stand-alone, built-in ice maker for the RV industry. The first serious effort was a product that carried the Instamatic label and was equipped with a 120-volt-AC Freon compressor unit made by U-Line.

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.

We’ve had a fascinating couple of months finding out about some of the weird insects that live in North America. Last month we wrote about cicadas, surely the loudest insect singers.

You’ll know you’ve reached the little town of Leavenworth, Washington, even before you see the signs. First you’ll spot the rows of gingerbread-style buildings standing shoulder to shoulder, and hear the distant sounds of oompah bands.