BillAdams

Tunnels do not need to be avoided UNLESS there are signs that specifically prohibit propane. That means you, even with the propane tank shut down. However, there are some tunnels that prohibit propane but will allow you to stop at an inspection station, shut off the tank, have it tagged and then proceed. On the other side you can turn it all back on. You are NOT a hazardous materials carrier so you can ignore those signs. You just need to keep an eye out for specific Propane restrictions and they are few and far between.

Have you ever been to a Bluebird/Wanderlodge rally? I am pretty sure the average age of that group is even higher than this. The same holds true with many of the very expensive class A coach rallies I have attended.

I don't know, but I hope so! If they want to be successful they will offer benefits to users of all ages and not just "Assist" which has value to only a limited number of RVers and none to full timers or younger RVers.

$39 bucks a year to sign up?

End FMCA Assist sounds like the most logical solution. Unless, the plan is to continue to court the 71 year old average member as we (you) have today.

Keep in mind that there is FMC (the money folks and the corporation running this "club") and there if FMCA the non-profit that generates all the profits for FMC. OK, I am not sure how that all works but if no one was concerned about making money we would not be here.

Yep, I could be a member again in 2 minutes if this whole thing about 20 people was true. The real question is who is classified as a voting member when it comes to rule of law and not a poll of the membership to be used by those who can vote to cast their ballots.

I do believe the Alpine coaches were fully winter capable. You will burn a lot of propane keeping the entire coach warm only to warm the bays but that should work pretty well. I put a remote thermometer in the wet bays so I could keep track of the temps down there and would adjust the heat as necessary to keep it in the high 30's to 40. In the very cold weather I also put a couple of work lights (real light bulbs that put out real heat) to cover the entire wet bay. You may be able to do that alone if the temps are only in the 30's at night. There are also very small 250W (ish) electric heater that could be installed in the bay if necessary. If you don't open the bay doors, it takes very little heat down there to keep it warm enough to keep the plumbing safe.

I clear mis-stated my expectations and I apologize . I don't believe the accounting firm will make up the results but rather so many folks associated with this deal will vote, and influence those voting, to ensure the measure passes. It was reported earlier that much discussion took place with regionals and the local club members who overwhelmingly reported that the membership wanted this change. I meant to indicate that the way this has been setup, so few will vote, the ones that do will be heavily weighted toward the yes vote. I guess I should have been getting magazines so hopefully I would have at least seen the ballot but, as has been mentioned previously, with the average age of the membership being 71 years old, that leaves a lot of substantially older folks paying no attention to whatever the insert or "cut this out an mail it in" page might have been published. I guess I am going to have to block Manholt as he clearly doesn't like a former member like me who has been a member since 1994 and is REALLY upset about the upcoming change including the link on the home page that FMCA is getting ready to remodel. I must also say that I think the fix is in with the World Series as well and that Houston will win for the first time ever right after a major disaster strikes the city.

New or used?

If you are traveling by car you would be looking for hotels, right?

Even if you could, you can't. This is a done deal put together by the powers that be and since we will never see the actual ballots sent in for the vote, the vote will magically be positive.

It was posted previously that the average age of an FMCA member was 71. That was stated a an actual number and not posts as "estimated at 71" so it would be interesting to know where that comes from. I believe it is likely true considering there really are no benefits for younger folks to join FMCA other than the ever shrinking magazine. By the way, is a paper magazine still published? I did not receive one for the entire last year that I was a member.

This rally is likely one of the best FMCA rallies of the year. It's well run, it's in a great location and it's done at a great time of year. If you are anywhere nearby and chose to pass due to traffic I can't imagine what would make you attend a great FMCA rally. Many folks head from this rally to the "happening" in Quartzsite a week or 2 later. While I don't get the whole QZ thing, it's a very well attended event as well. Don't knock the Indio rally if you have never attended. We loved going year after year after year.

I assume you mean all the new towables that will be joining this "club" since you are referring to a 2 1/2 year old post.

So Smitty, are you suggesting that when you join FMCA you will have to declare how old you are or are you and the insurance company just jumping to the non-verifiable conclusion that EVERY towable owner will be younger than EVERY motorhome owner. I have never heard of an actuary that would make a financial decision based upon this kind of speculation.

Good Sam Road Service has been excellent for us. We have owned our 1988 Prevost since 1999 and we have had 2 breakdowns, one of which was on a weekend. In both cases we were picked up quickly and taken directly to the service center were the repairs were to be done. Over the weekend they parked us beside a 15amp plug so we had a bit of power as well as we dry camped in their parking lot. The tow truck driver had to jockey the coach in to get us as close as possible and did so on his own. He was great. I also had my tow car throw a belt and the tow truck driver took me to a Firestone service recommended by GS. This location has been closed for years so we turned back and went to a different one. Again, no problem, no issue, no complaint, no charge. Can't say enough good about the way we have been treated.

Wal-Mart has cheap TV's of all kind. By this I mean that all of Wal-Mart TV's are cheap and they are cheap for a reason. They have the oldest technology and the price savings are not worth the crap you are buying. Big old fat flat screens with poor resolution and poor contrast numbers. Many are still LCD only and not LED/LCD which you absolutely want. I just can't wait for a reasonably priced OLED in a size that will fit. 1/4" thick and the best picture of anything currently available. Sorry, my mind wandered.......Best Buy, Sam's Club, Costco all have good deals on good TV's.

I grabbed a GS Life Membership a number of years back for $199. Some of the best money ever spent. I actually get real, usable benefits nearly everyday. I also use their road service and they have come through with excellent service twice in the RV and once when my car needed a tow.

Any thoughts? Every where you go and everything you want to do and see is going to require that you disconnect from shore water, electric and sewer? Why don't you/won't you take along a towed? Even scooters is better than nothing but, dang, scooters as your only option? You leave home for 2 months and the DW has to follow you around the Country in the car while you drive the RV? Sorry, I just don't see any reasonable answer to your question about length when I cannot fathom having to drive the house to the grocery store to pick up some olive oil.

I am a Surge Guard advocate, especially since Progtessive got sold and no longer seems interested in supporting their product for life as they used to. The price was reasonable for a good product with a great warranty but it now appears to be just another run of the mill warranty for an over priced product. It's good, but I am not sure that it's better than most of the other options available out there.

Who "advised" you that these were entry level batteries? The brands I have seen at Sam's and Costco are well known National brand batteries. I I do believe that batteries are one of the few areas where paying more does mean getting more. I am a BIG AGM fan but they are so expensive I went with a cheap Chinese brand to save 1/2 the cost. It did work out OK for me as they also lasted1/2 as long so I really didn't lose anything. Most all batteries are good but there are better versions of good as long as you are willing to pay the price.

I would have to disagree. The Good Sam (RV.net) forum is pretty awesome and covers much more extensive areas of RVing. There are not the small groups of repeat poster as seen here but rather a much broader knowledge based from hundreds of posters. I have not visited Escapees in a long time so I can't say one way or the other but I do see that it is quite active.

Great post from Mike and Cindy. There are just no real benefits to draw younger members.

No, I bought tires at the FMCA discount price. It was not that much better than if I had tried to buy without the discount. Since I only need tires every 7 years I will just re-join 6 years from now. Since 1994 I have only recently discovered that benefit and only used it this one time in 23 years.