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FMCA members who would like to use FMCA's mail forwarding service can now sign up online at FMCA.com. In addition, members who currently use FMCA mail forwarding can update their existing account information -- change address, payment information, etc. -- at FMCA.com. FMCA's mail forwarding service is available to all members who are traveling for two months or longer. Members pay a low monthly fee for the service, and make a deposit for postage. Sign up for mail forwarding or update your account Learn more about FMCA mail forwarding

The AAA Digest of Motor Laws is available for free online at www.drivinglaws.aaa.com. AAA longer will be printing a paper version of the Digest of Motor Laws. The new online format facilitates greater access to AAA's repository of information about traffic laws, licensing requirements and motor vehicle regulations. You can view all of the content for each individual state, or select content on one issue for all states. The current version of the electronic Digest contains complete information for the 50 states and D.C. AAA is working to prepare content for the Canadian provinces, territories and Puerto Rico, and is finalizing a filter and search feature that will allow you to further customize reports on state laws. Later this year, the new Digest will be complemented by expanded and updated state law charts. www.drivinglaws.aaa.com

This is spam and NOT official FMCA correspondence. Delete the message. Do not click on the link. A private message, or PM, is a message sent in private from one of our Forum members to one or more other members. PMs are generally used for personal conversations. FMCA never sends official announcements or promotions via private message. When someone sends a PM to you via our forums, the Subject line will read "[your display name] started a new personal conversation with you." And the From line will read "FMCA Motorhome Forums." In this case, someone created an account with a display name of "Administration" to make the PM look more legit. This account has been removed and our forums software provider notified. If you receive such messages in the future, report the message immediately, and then delete it. Do not click any links. Thanks for reporting this "phishing" attempt.

FMCA needs volunteers to assist with trams in Madison. If you are interested or would like more information, please contact mmullarkey@fmca.com or call the FMCA national office at (800) 543-3622 and ask for Maureen.

Let's stay on-topic here. If you want info about mail forwarding for full-timers, please start a new topic here in the Full-Timing forum. If you want opinions about FMCA's mail forwarding service, start a new topic in the FMCA Membership forum.

Delightful temperatures and diverse activities await those who attend FMCA's 86th Family Reunion and Motorhome Showcase in Madison, Wisc., Aug. 10 to 13, 2011. Weather: The average daytime high temperature in Madison in August is 82 degrees. The average low temperature is 56 degrees. The mean Temperature: 69 degrees. Things to do: Unique, affordable tours, inlcuding optional sightseeing tours on Thursday evening Two fantastic evenings of entertainment with Double Grande and Street Corner Symphony Convention Cash! First-timers reception More than 40 new seminars Picture-perfect overnight accommodations at Lake Farm Park Fuel card giveaways This is just a sample. More surprises will be announced within the next few weeks! Fuel price update As of June 17 in Madison: The average price for regular gasoline was $3.61 per gallon, with the lowest spotted at $3.53 per gallon. Diesel prices were at $3.89 per gallon ... and falling. The national average for regular fuel on June 17 was $3.675 per gallon. Register today Join those who have already registered for this event. Early-Bird Registration Savings: Save $30 if you register by July 6.

The seminar program for Madison 2011 is shaping up to be among the best offered at an FMCA convention. The Madison "Family A'Fair" event will feature more than 40 new seminars in all categories. Two of the new seminars will be presented by authors who have written books of special interest to motorhoming families. Relationships -- A Simple, Powerful Way to Bond with Your Loved Ones Through Personalized Road Trips Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011, 8:15 to 9:30 a.m., Seminar 1 Families are under siege. Parents are bombarded with 24-hour noise, scary economies, and shrinking leisure time. Children are over-scheduled, over-stimulated, and over-stressed. But, there is a way to reconnect, find quality time, and build the most important aspect of life – loving relationships. Through RelationTrips, author Jeff Siegel provides a practical road map for building enduring family connections and offers wisdom for creating trips filled with adventure, imagination, discovery, and fun. Join Jeff for this lively presentation to learn how to begin creating "RelationTrips" of your own. You'll discover why a road trip is the perfect mobile bonding "vehicle;" how to get started on road trip transformation; how to get the show on the road by mapping out the journey; making creativity a destination; starting the odometer by hitting the road; teachable traveling moments; and the "aftermap" -- how to document your lifelong memories. When not planning an adventure with his son, Jeff is a creative director and independent marketing/communications consultant, working with a broad-based list of Fortune 500 giants. Jeff will be available at the Information Center following his presentation to sign copies of his new book, RelationTrips: A Simple, Powerful Way to Bond with Your Loved Ones Through Personalized Road Trips. Governor's Travels Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011, 8 to 9:15 a.m., Seminar 1 After two terms as Governor of the State of Maine, Angus King, F317261, hit the road. Packing his wife and children into their motorhome, he set out on a five-and-a-half-month journey to circumnavigate the United States. Join Angus King for a lively narrative and slide show about his travels after leaving politics. Interspersed with the travelogue, Governor King will reflect on his transition from public office to private life. He's a great storyteller! While Governor of Maine, he was very helpful with the planning of our "Back To Maine" convention at Brunswick in August, 2000, and some of you may have heard him speak at that event. Time will be allowed for questions and answers. Immediately after his presentation you are invited to join him at the Information Center where he will be signing copies of his new book, Governor's Travels - How I Left Politics, Learned To Back Up A Bus, And Found America. View seminar list

Here is the information about this product that appeared in the May 2010 "RV Products" column in Family Motor Coaching magazine. You'll note a Web site link at the end. Vehicle Finish According to product literature, PERMANON Hard & Fast Finishes CAR Supershine from the Decorum Finishes Division is an easy-to-apply, long-lasting finish for any hard surface on vehicles. The product, which comes in a concentrate and is mixed at only 5 percent with water, contains an electrostatic charge that reportedly bonds into the nano pores of exterior paint or polished areas, glass, aluminum, stainless steel, marble, granite, or any other hard surface areas. To apply, the product is misted on a clean surface and the water carrier is wiped away, with no buffing or polishing necessary. PERMANON is said to be completely biodegradable and solvent-free and to provide more than 90 percent UV protection. A 500-milliliter bottle of PERMANON CAR Supershine has a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $100.98. Decorum Finishes Division 231 Commercial St. Portland, ME 04101 (800) 288-3346 (207) 775-3346 www.permanonfinishes.com

The National Park Service is waiving all entrance fees on June 21 – the first day of summer. “The longest day of the year is the perfect time to take a short trip," Jonathan B. Jarvis, National Park Service director, said in a news release. "Celebrate an extended Father’s Day with Dad, the start of summer break with the kids, or a job well done with your favorite graduate. With 394 national parks across the country, you could opt to visit an old favorite or explore a new place. Find a reason to get outside and enjoy the extra sunshine at a national park near you.”

Mark Polk uses the Tire Minder, Model TMG 400C, by Minder Research. Top 7 Reasons for Using a Tire Pressure Monitoring System

Dometic is notifying consumers that its Brisk Air RV air conditioner and heat pump models appear to have been counterfeited by a Chinese company. According to a news release issued by Dometic Group, the models are being sold into the RV industry under the brand name Advent. Brad Sargent, vice president of marketing of Elkhart, Ind.-based Dometic, said the Advent air conditioner “seems to be purposely made to look like our Brisk Air models at a glance in order to trick people into thinking it’s the same product.” Dometic is evaluating its legal options against the Chinese company and the Advent product, the news release states. In the meantime, Dometic encourages consumers to use caution before purchasing these products. “Dometic has made a long-term commitment to the industry through its people and operations,” said Doug Whyte, president of Dometic Americas. He urges consumers to be wary of products and organizations with no track record behind them.

Some FMCA members have been in Joplin, Mo., working with Relief Spark, a community-based national disaster relief organization, in wake of the May 22 tornado. They are set up with their motorhome and are feeding approximately 1,000 people a day. They have enough food donations but are exhausted from the work and are asking for assistance from other motorhomers. If you would like to spend some time there assisting in the relief effort, contact Angie Bair at bairangie@cox.net or (479)-629-7658.

We have the member's name in our records. That membership account has been inactive since 1972.

FMCA.com has a new Live Help function that allows site visitors to quickly contact an FMCA staff member who will assist them with questions or any matter related to FMCA or FMCA.com. FMCA.com Live Help is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern time. It's a viable alternative to waiting for telephone assistance or an e-mail response. To initiate a live "chat" with FMCA staff, click the Live Help image located on the right rail of FMCA.com Web pages. In a popup window, you will be prompted to enter your name and then click "Start." Here are examples of what we can assist with, via Live Help: General questions about FMCA membership, national conventions and area rallies Questions about your membership account Renewing your membership Updating your membership information Finding articles on FMCA.com or www.fmcmagazine.com Creating a sign-in account on FMCA.com Registering for rallies and conventions on FMCA.com Using FMCA.com's community forums, blogs and photo galleries We also welcome your feedback on anything we can improve or anything we are doing well that you would like to point out. With FMCA.com Live Help, you've got the friendly, knowledgeable help of an FMCA expert when you need it. Please note: Live Help is not designed to provide motorhome technical support. We can, however, assist you with finding information among FMCA's resources.

Be safe this Memorial Day weekend, and thereafter. Don't get distracted while driving .... Campaign aims to reduce distracted driving

Hi, there. This is a Test Forum. Post here if you want to try things out or need a little practice. You can try to: Add Reply Fast Reply Start New Topic Attach File Add hyperlinks See what your signature and avitar looks like.

We now have a reputation system that allows you to recognize helpful posts or good content. Here are some screen shots. Click the plus (+) sign to "like" a post or give someone a reputation point. Here, you can see that I've "liked" this post, along with one other member. Clicking the reputation number brings up an inline pop-up showing exactly who has "liked" this post. If you go to someone's profile page, a green bar will show the person's cumulative reputation "points," if any. Repuation will change from "Neutral" - 0 points -- to "Good" and "Excellent" upon reaching certain point increments. So, when you see posts of value to you, use the reputation mode to say thanks and to help others single-out valued replies.

Motorhome owners making new friends and reminiscing with old ones are standard pastimes at FMCA area rallies, family reunions and chapter rallies. So, how do these events differ? Area Rally In most years, each of FMCA's 10 areas holds an area rally, where members gather to socialize, view exhibits, attend seminars and enjoy quality entertainment. Area rallies are organized by FMCA areas and area associations. Family Reunion and Motorhome Showcase Formerly called internatiional conventions, FMCA's Family Reunion and Motorhome Showcases are organized by the FMCA national office. They are much larger in size and scope than area rallies and chapter rallies. Attendees enjoy a motorhome exhibition -- major motorhome manufacturers and dealers display approximately 1,000 motor coaches -- and hundreds of booths offer RV components and accessories. Informative seminars, social activities and professional entertainment also are part of the conventions. Chapter Rally FMCA chapters -- more than 500 of them -- hold chapter rallies throughout the year. They can be casual campground get-togethers or fully planned events with games, catered meals, entertainment and visits to local attractions. Many are held on weekends and at locations not far from the chapter members' home bases, thus giving them the chance to use their motorhomes more often and without traveling great distances. Chapter rally activities vary, and often center on a theme. But all activities promote fun and fellowship among attendees.

Watching Forums and Watching Topics area great ways to keep an eye on only the discussions that interest you. If you don't visit the forums every day or if you don't want to continually use the "View New Content" feature, Watch Forum and Watch Topic can be real time-savers. Watch Forum By choosing Watch Forum, you are asking to be notified when a new topic is posted in that forum. For example, if you would like to be notified when a new topic has been posted in the Towing forum, go to that forum and click "Watch Forum." Notification Method For your notification method, I suggest selecting Immediate Notification. Then, click the "Proceed" button. Now you will receive an e-mail whenever someone creates a new topic in, in this example, the Towing forum. Stop Watching Forum If you no longer want to watch a forum, unsubscribing from it is easy. Go to the forum and click the "Stop Watching Forum" button. Watch Topic Let's say you want to be notified each time a new reply is made in a topic called Pilot Flying J Transactions. But you do not want to be notified of all new topics in the General Discussion forum, where this thread resides. Watch Topic allows you to receive a notification when a new reply has been made to individual Topics within a forum. Here's how to Watch Topic: Click General Discussion to open the forum. Click the Pilot Flying J Transactions topic link. Click "Watch Topic." Choose your notification method. To Stop watching topic, go to the topic discussion and click "Stop watching topic." Topic Preview without opening another page One final tip, not related to Watch Forum/Watch Topic: On topic listing pages and search results views, you can click the "View topic preview" icon to see a popup of the first and latest posts without leaving the page.

How do you tell if your solar panels are charging the batteries on your motorhome? Gary Bunzer responds, explaining the roles of charge controllers, voltage meters and other electrical testing devices.

Managing your Profile and other settings have changed since the recent software upgrade. To make changes to your Profile or Signature: First, make sure you are signed in to the site. 1. Click on your profile photo at the top right corner. If you're not using a photo, click your display name and you will see a drop-down menu. From this menu, select "My Profile." 2. On your Profile page, click the "Edit my Profile" button, which is a darkened button on the right-hand side. 3. Now, in the column on the left you will see various options, including: Change Signature -- add your Signature info inside the text block, scroll down and click "Save Changes." Change Photo -- upload a image from your computer, as your profile photo. Change Avatar -- this is the small image that appears next to each of your posts on the forums.

A PM has been sent to this user, addressing his settings.

Jellystone parks plan Easter activities Sounds like fun!

The sign-in issues appear to have been resolved. If not, please send me a PM.