Peggy

I live in Cincinnati and work full-time. Am looking for a campground within a couple hundred miles that permits longterm camping -- by that I mean, a couple months at a time. Probably just the months of June and July. I want to just park the motorhome at a nice place with a lake (so I can go fishing) and hiking, and drive out to it when I can on the weekends, or when I can take a couple more days off. I just do not have the time right now to get in the motorhome and drive it all over the place. I think this way I'll actually use the coach more often. All suggestions appreciated! Thanks, Peggy

It must first be said it was my yard, my tree, and my motorhome, so I do not know what the big problem was. I was not going to sue myself or call my insurance company to file a claim... But when I took Minnie out to have her house batteries checked for the second time in two months (they kept going out due to yet another case of operator error, I learned..), lo and behold, a huge tree branch became attached to her rear ladder. Woven between the rungs, it was. I was not completely surprised, because I had backed her near a tree in the front yard to turn around before exiting the driveway. But, still. It was huge. It was leafy. It was standing straight up, as if I had planted it on the second rung, and then purposefully threaded it upward. I kinda liked it. I was as if Minnie decided she needed to make her own shade. I didn't look as if it had scratched anything much on the coach. I thought, She is here for repair, so they can just remove the greenery whilst they are at it. So while I waited for the repair folks to drive her away, the jokes began. One FMCA member couple drove up in a gorgeous, huge Type A and remarked about how much I must like trees. A man who worked at the facility strolled by, giggled, and told me it was "SOME decor!" I laughed with them all. Another even echoed what I had thought: "Decided to make your own shade, did ya??!!" Then I got home and realized that while Minnie and the tree were getting acquainted, a huge piece of plastic covering one of her vents had snapped off. I picked it up, ran to the car, drove back to the repair shop, and left it at the pickup counter. They tell me they reattached it, and all's well. And I don't leave the house batteries on all the time, anymore, while the coach is just sitting in the driveway. And I almost miss that big 'ol branch.

It sits there in the driveway and sings to me, my Minnie motorhome does. When it's at home in the driveway, the song is not all that sweet, however. It has a nagging quality, and words are something like, "When are you leaving this town, and relaxing, and fishing...?" It is very difficult to own a motorhome when you are working full-time, but I am doing the best I can. Difficult because if I am not having to hear the "When are you leaving?" song, I am busy with another tune, like "Make Digital TV Box Work" and "Run the Generator Once A Month." And then there is that perky melody titled "Pick a weekend, any weekend..." That tune is really just like candy. You follow its advice and then you realize that going out camping on weekends is the gateway drug to disappearing in that coach forever. While driving back from my most recent weekend out, which was over a month ago now, I was ready to just keep driving and driving and... Last time I was camping, there was a nest with baby robins right outside my upper deck (cabover bed) window to look at right as I awoke in the morning. There was a lake with smooth, silky mist rising above it with the sun. There were plenty of birds making plenty of noise. And Minnie, for once, was very quiet.

Thanks to you and all the others! I have only camped twice -- the coach just became mine last summer and since I work fulltime, it's hard to get out and use it often. Anyway, the second place I camped, it would have been really nice to have some kind of leveling device, so I will definitely use your suggestion. Sounds like you're a single camper also! As for the fridge, it's a 2001, so it shouldn't be all that susceptible to being off level. The person I got the coach from told me not to let the bubbles scare me. (My coach has a bubble thingy in the center console only.) Then again, he gave me some rally bad advice about the generator....I just had to pay to get it fixed because he said I did not have to run it regularly. As for storage, thanks much for that tip -- I will definitely let it set a day before I plug it in, even though it's a Norcold. IT's great to have FMCA Friends!!!

Yesterday my next-door neighbor, who also has a Winnebago type C, told me I needed to re-park my coach because it was not level. I thought you only needed it to be level to RUN the refrigerator, and mine is not plugged in. But she said the freon in the fridge would move if the coach was not level, and this would possibly stop the fridge from working when I tried to operate it. Has anybody heard of this before? Is it true? As a follow-up, then, I also need to know how I'm supposed to drive the coach off the leveling blocks if I do have to use them. I'm afraid of a very big CLUNK (and possible damage) when I do. Thanks!

Thanks to you and also to the others for your info. Really appreciate it.

Hi, i live in Cincinnati and plan to travel this summer without a towed car (will have a bicycle, though) and was wondernig if anybody knows of a book or website that lists RV parks or destinations you can go to and not really need a car. I am already thinking of Cherry Hill park in MD because it's on transportation loops. Other places could be just parks that have lots to do (fishing, etc.) or near cities where I can just get on a train (Chicago?). Any advice will be very appreciated!

It is not like I have not been around the motorhome crowd for a long time. I have worked at Family Motor Coaching magazine since 1989. But it's one thing to write about it, or meet people who know about it, or learn the difference between a converter and an inverter. When the motorhome is sitting your backyard, it's personal. And since I'm the only person in my household, save for one cat, it's really in my face. There's nobody between me and Minnie's generator issues, or her water tank, or the fact that something sticky somewhere is keeping me from knowing exactly how full that black water tank is. I am Minnie's problem-solver, galley-filler, trip planner, and chooser of tunes to play as we travel. This morning, gorgeous frost covered everything outside, and the sun gleamed on Minnie with promise. It may be too cold now, but summer is on its way and we will be also....