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aztec7fan

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Blog Entries posted by aztec7fan

  1. aztec7fan

    Those Crazy Guenthers

    By aztec7fan,

    Sometime in the early 1970s, my parents returned from Colorado to the East Coast to visit with family and to take care of unfinished business after our nine-month trip. Once we got there, my Aunt Cindy asked us to transport two horses to a show. So, my dad picked up a two-horse trailer.
    At the last minute, Aunt Cindy also asked us if we could pick up a pony they had just purchased in Chintogue at “Pony Penning Day.”
    My dad looked at the trailer and looked at the space in the front where tack and supplies usually go. Dad figured ponies were small and one would probably fit in this small space up front. He carefully cut an access door on the side and added additional hooks for tie-downs.
    Once we got to where we were to pick up the pony, Dad was unpleasantly surprised to find that the pony was much larger than he expected and it would not fit in the new space in the trailer!
    So we improvised.
    We built a ramp out of spare plywood and 2x4s to go up the steps to our motorhome. We threw down rain slickers, old blankets and hay on the floor in the back of the motorhome. With much pushing, shoving and cajoling from my dad and several other strong helpers, we got the pony into the back of the bus.
    From there, we drove to our next destination, which was an FMCA rally. We arrived late and found a spot to park for the night. My parents and I slept up front, but my sister slept in back with the pony. What other 9-year-old girl could brag that she slept with a pony!
    The next morning, we were all wakened with a loud whinny from the pony announcing that it was time to relieve himself. The rally attendees knew the Guenthers were truly crazy, seeing my dad shoveling manure out our back window!
  2. aztec7fan

    The "Chrome Dome"

    By aztec7fan,

    One of my favorite FMCA members was Ed Martel and his wife, Dot. He had a classic Marmon-Herrington coach that he converted himself, and he had chromed out everything he could in this coach until it shined.

    While most guys have hot rods that they chrome out, Ed chromed out his home on wheels, including the engine and much of the interior. Women would frequently joke that they could put their makeup on while looking at the engine. Wherever he couldn't cover it with chrome, he used polished alluminum or stainless steel.
    He was very meticulous about everything on his coach. One time at an FMCA rally some guys poured some oil under Ed's coach. When he came back they told Ed they thought he had a leak. He quickly crawled under the coach, felt and sniffed the offending oil stain and finally came out as serious as could be saying, "That's not my oil, it's too dirty."
  3. aztec7fan
    At one FMCA rally, my dad pulled in late Friday afternoon, after most of the sites with hookups were taken. He asked the rally coordinator (who was standing around with others from the same chapter) where to park and they told him there was a great spot with plenty of power at the end of the row. Of course, they had decided to play a trick on him since they all knew that that site's hookups were dead!
    As they stood around and watched, my dad quickly figured out there was no power, but he made himself look busy by hooking up extension cords and a trouble light. He rerouted the power through his inverter to make the light come on, appearing to have power from the outlet. Then he routed hoses from the water pump around to the non-working spigot and began hosing off our coach.
    He had the last laugh.
  4. aztec7fan

    A little history

    By aztec7fan,

    My parents joined the FMCA around 1969, after purchasing their first motorhome, a converted city bus. This first bus had no power, and my dad was constantly working on the thing, but we loved the motorhoming life anyway. They decided that a larger coach was needed, so in 1970 they purchased a 35-foot 1957 Fitzjohn Roadrunner. Soon after, they sold our home in Connecticut and we travled around the country for eight months.
    We finally settled in Colorado, but since my parents were both teachers, we had the three months of summer vacations to travel the country. We stopped at as many FMCA rallies that we could and quite a few national conventions.
    We had a lot of fun being members of FMCA when I was a kid, and now I have a motorhome and my family is part of FMCA. In this blog, I hope to recount some of the fun we had with FMCA.
    Chris Guenther
    F3508-s
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