More FMCA Fun

The fun continues here in central Florida.  The weather has been just perfect for the rally.  That was a big concern for us, but we needn’t have worried.  An RV is somewhat like your car; sitting in full sun, it can heat up in a hurry.  Although cats love to be warm, locked up in a sweat box isn’t healthy.  Parked on a runway in full sun, 80 degree temperatures each day, and no electricity to run the AC was a concern.

The temperatures have been in the low 80s each day and we are definitely in full sun, but there has been a wonderful breeze flowing through our open windows to keep the air inside moving and more comfortable than it would have been otherwise.  Plus, we were parked with our awning side to the afternoon sun.  The breeze wasn’t so strong that we couldn’t deploy the awning to keep the sun off the side of the coach.  Things have worked out great.

There are a few renovations we’d like to make in our small motorhome so we’ve been attending the renovations and upgrade seminars.  There have been three; all pretty much the same but presented by different vendors.  If your can dream it (and pay for it), you can do it.  There is no job to small or too large--the sky is the limit.

We have a couple things in mind.  One, which happens to be the most popular renovation of all is removing the carpet and installing new flooring of some type.  The new vinyl tiles are attractive, easy to care for, light weight, and don’t cost an arm and a leg. The other thing on our list of changes is to get rid of the sofa and have some type of computer desk installed along with a Euro chair.  We’re still rolling that idea around in our minds because the sofa is our second bed which we use from time to time, especially when one of us is sick.  Plus, it has a huge amount of storage underneath.  It’s gonna take a lot of hard thinking to give up storage.  Anyway, we learned what we are thinking about is possible, got a few other ideas, and all three seminars were well presented.

Gene also went to a seminar on fixing stuff with glue.  In the hiking world, duct tape is the fix it medium of choice.  There is a saying out there that 80% of all problems can be solved with duct tape.  It’s hard to convert a duct taper to glue and Gene was just not impressed.

The big rally event for Thursday was the parade.  All parade elements were present--color guard, fire truck (in this case an ATV), candy throwing (along with a few Mardi Gras beads), old cars, and horses.  That was fun.

After the parade, Tony and Diana came by and we drove into Brooksville for dinner.  From dinner, the day went downhill rapidly.  The low tire pressure monitor light came on in the car.  Gene pulled into the nearest parking lot to check the air pressure.  Down to 12 pounds in the front driver’s side tire.  He opted to change the tire instead of calling for roadside assistance.  The changing went well, of course, because he had many helpers.  Tony, Diana, and I had loads of fun; Gene not so much.

This morning he took the flat tire in to be repaired.  It was the same tire that was damaged on the Dempster Highway in Yukon last summer.  Now there are two patches in that tire.  At least the changing of the tire was in a clean, well lit parking lot, not on the side of a gravel road 300 miles from civilization with grizzly bears roaming around in the woods.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for tagging along.

FMCA Fun

The rally got into full swing yesterday.  There has been plenty of activity on our runway.  So much so that this morning when we went out we were surprised to see motorhomes stretching along both sides almost to the end of the pavement.  There are three runways being used for parking.  If they’re all as full as ours, there’s a crowd here.  However, most people who mention the crowd in conversation seem to think attendance is down.

We start our days off with free coffee and donuts.  As you might imagine, that’s a popular place in the early morning.  While coffee and donuts are being served, the Frustrated Maestros perform.  We sip our coffee while we listen to the performance.  The problem with that is that you have your coffee in one hand and your donut in the other.  If you have a powdered donut, powder gets everywhere.  This morning, I had powder from the tip of my nose all the way down the front of my navy blue shirt and on down to my shoes.  At least they were white.  Then I had no hand to brush it off with.  We noticed there were little puddles of powder on the chairs and all around the floor.  By Saturday, it’s gonna be a real mess around here.

Coffee and donut tent

Gene is onto electricity.  He had that multimeter class with Mike last week and he attended the Basic RV Electricity seminar yesterday.  He’s spent more time talking with the RV medic about electricity than anyone else.  He bought the book and read all about it last night.  We may not learn anything else at this rally, but we’re gonna have electricity down pat.  He did report that the seminar was very good.

The Frustrated Maestros is composed of the band

And the singers.

We spent much of the morning today walking through new and used RVs for sale.  We’re not interested in another RV, but I like to look at what’s out there.  Gene does it because I want to.  There were a couple of well used coaches that were fun to go into.  One was a 1976 GMC.  Restoration had begun, but there was still plenty to do.  The $20K price tag was attractive, though.  My favorite was a 1994 Prevost.  It has been very well cared for, only about 50,000 miles and a price tag of a mere $119K.  Sweet.

1976 GMC

Inside the 1994 Prevost

Just pretending.

We’re parked about as far away as we can be from the seminar and vendor tents.  It’s not a problem and we’re enjoying the walk.  There are golf carts and shuttle busses running constantly, so getting a ride is easy.  Yesterday afternoon Gene was walking back from the seminar and must have looked pathetic because the “handicapped” cart stopped to give him a lift.  I thought that was pretty funny until this morning when the same cart stopped to give us both a lift.

Strolling the vendor tent

That’s it for now.  Thanks for tagging along.

Set Up at the SEA Rally

We got a slow start this morning.  Having only a 30 mile drive to the rally location, there was no need to get in a big hurry.  We finally left the campground about 11 AM.

The Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) Southeast Area (SEA) Rally is being held at the Hernando County Airport in Brooksville.  We are now parked on one of the runways.  I thought this was an old airport not in use any longer, but I can see the tower out my window and there are planes landing and taking off on other runways nearby.  It’s a little intimidating.  Surely, they know were here.  I take comfort in the fact that there are a couple hundred RVs on this runway with us.

We are in full boondocking mode and are enjoying that so far.  We can, if we want, run our generator 16 hours during the day.  It’s always nice to have that option.

I was impressed by the guys who volunteered to assist with parking.  They all have on plenty of orange--orange vests, orange hats, some even with orange shirts.  Reminded me of our orange hats we wear hiking during hunting season.  I’m sure there are no hunters around here, so I’m thinking all that orange is a commentary on RV drivers.

We hitched a ride on the shuttle over to the information tent to pick up our “welcome packet”.  It was full of paper and an unsharpened pencil.  I don’t know of a single RVer who carries a pencil sharpener.  The paper was advertisements and coupons.  The most exciting coupon was for $$ off on ice cream at Dairy Queen.  You better believe we’ll be using that.

Also included in the “welcome packet” was a list of seminars.  We’re a little disappointed.  Well, maybe a lot disappointed.  There was very little we are interested in.  Most are what we call infomercials.  They are there to sell you something and, for your convenience, they also have a booth in the vendor tent.

From the few people we’ve spoken with, the crowd is down.  That’s not surprising, I guess.  The RV industry has taken a hit during the economic downturn.

No matter; we’re here and we’re gonna have a good time.

So, I think that’s all for today.  Thanks for tagging along.