Let's get ready to do some traveling! The two largest travel groups in the the United States are: "Good Sam" (which is the largest with over 400,000 members), and the "Family Motor Coach Association", with over 200,000 members. The Good Sam group takes in all people who camp, whether they go in tents, campers, trailers, 5th wheels or motor homes. The FMCA takes in only those people who do their traveling in motor homes. Some of those motor homes range from 18 feet to 45 feet. My wife, Joan, and I belong to both of these major groups. We also belong to KOA (Kamp Grounds Of America), Coast to Coast, RPI and the President's Club. There are more groups out there that you can join if they offer you something some other group doesn't offer. All these groups offer many things, so much so that I wouldn't have time to list them all individually in the space I have here, but in my newsletter, I can go into detail for each group.
One of the things that Good Sam offers is a huge book called, "Trailer LIfe," which lists most of the campgrounds in the USA as well as many in Canada and Mexico. This book costs about $10 and is worth every penny. Get it! The book tells you where the campgrounds are, how to get to them, how clean they are, what facilities are available and much more. Good Sam campgrounds will give you a 10% discount if you are a Good Sam member. KOA will also give you a 10% discount at their parks if you are a member. KOA is pricing themselves out of the market for many campers. Their fees, in many cases, are $20 to $30 dollars for one night! The cost is lower if you stay a week or more. Most of the public campgrounds we stay in range from $10 to $17 per night. However, as I said before, we also belong to Coast to Coast and RPI and at those campgrounds we pay $4 per night. If you do a lot of traveling a membership in Coast to Coast or RPI will soon pay for itself. The original cost of Coast to Coast can be quite expensive but if you call San Jo Cove in Texas, you can become a member for $49 and then you have a yearly fee of $199 but if you do a lot of camping like my wife and I do, it is worth it. RPI runs about the same, I really can't remember. If you are a member of the President's club you can stay at one of their campgrounds for a week or two at no cost! However, the President's club is very expensive. We joined all of these when we decided that we were going to travel full-time for awhile. Enough of that, if you have questions you can e-nmail me at either jimn8eys@juno.com or n8eys@ibm.net I check my e-mail at least once a day, usually more often.
It's time to get ready to do some traveling. However, if you are new to this kind of living maybe a few suggestions might make your trip a little easier. Don't start out with a week-long trip. Start with a week-end to make sure that you have a handle on how all of your gear works. First of all make sure that you have a heavy duty electric cord, if possible it should be a 10 gauge wire and it should be a minimum of 25 feet long. I bought one that was 100 feet long, cut off 25 feet and then put on the proper adapter on the two bare ends. That way I had one cord 25 feet long which is pleanty adequate for 90% of all your camping but I always carry the other 75 feet with me just in case we're stuck out in a field someplace and need a 100 feet of line to reach the plug.
Speaking of plugs, you should have, no, you must have, a device that you can use to measure what the amps are in the box you're getting ready to plug into with your new line. If the power is too low and sometimes it is, you can burn up a piece of electronic gear, a microwave, a TV or even your air conditioner. Make sure you have enough power before you start turning on things in your tent, camper, trailer, 5th Wheel or motor home.
Next, we want to talk about your water hose. Buy at least two 25' lengths of WHITE hose. White hose is supposed to not impart any taste to your water. Oh, yes, white hose usually costs more than your garden variety of hose. Joan and I have had to use the old green hose on occasion in an emergency and whether is was psychogical or not, the water did taste different. Besides the white hose, you should buy a pressure guage that goes between the faucet and your hose. Some parks have very high water pressure and can cause problems in your internal water lines. Most guages are set at about 40 pounds. You will need one.
Now that we have covered two very basic items, we have to talk about one other item that you can take care of rather inexpensively. It shouldn't surprise you to find out that the parking area that you are assigned to in a campground, is not perfectly flat. It is always a pleasant surprise when we find that we don't have to put pieces of wood under one or two of the wheels to make sure we are as level as possible. We know that you can get hydraulic levelers on your rigs but the cost is almost always between $2,000 and $3,000 which we find a little expensive. There are ready-made ramps that you can buy from Camping World or other RV equipment outlets.
More to come.
Upon returning from a 4 months stay in Alaska as volunteers in the Forest Service. What an exciting summer! We are going back again in 1999 but as tourists, not as workers. Another couple is going to go with us and we are looking forward to a fun summer again. This past April 20th I had to have a new right knee put in and that has slowed us down somewhat. I couldn't get an OK to drive untill June so we stayed down in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas until then. Whew! was it HOT!! The day before we left, McAllen had one of its hotest days ever, 115 degrees. It almost took your breath away when you stepped outside.
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