Even though every one is arriving full of excitement about being back at Valle del Oro for another winter of fun and activities, we are excited about heading out. We will pull out of our spot here on Saturday, November 13. Watch for us as we head to Texas, then Florida. We will try to send travel reports every other week.

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:

POTPOURRI
SOMETHING YOU SHOULD  KNOW ABOUT AT&T
COFFEE BREAK
LETTERS
THIS 'N THAT
For more information and pictures when I have them click on: What's New

Occasionally Barb tries to influence the editorial content of this column. When she turned the computer over to me for writing, she said that she had already put in the first entry. She had written, "My wife is the most wonderful person in the whole wide world." She's also modest.

So now that the weather is almost perfect in this part of Arizona we are leaving. We were never ones to follow the pack.

In editing the This N' That column, I noted that I am now committed to writing a campground report in future newsletters. All this without an increase in salary.

Here in Mesa there is a Mexican restaurant that serves food so spicy hot, that even the menu's are warm. It's called Los Dos Mollinos and is on Alma School just north of Broadway. You know that something's up when the first thing they put on your table is a big pitcher of ice water.

While observing the construction work (or lack of it) around the park, I have concluded that they must be working (?) by the hour. No wonder the rates went up again.

My Mom will be 86 on November 9th and is now reaping some of the love that she unselfishly gave and still gives. A Blessed Happy Birthday to you Mom.

A month ago we got a bill from AT&T wireless and we were over our 600 minutes. Yet, we didn't think we had gone over----at least not from our minute counter on the cell phone. When I called AT&T, they were very nice and explained that we should always add about 25 percent to our minute timer on the phone because they round up to the next minute. If, for example, you talk for 6 seconds, it is really counted as a full minute. Another thing that to take into consideration is that roaming calls don't always get billed to AT&T the month you make and count the call. Let's say you are running at about 600 minutes and think you won't be over. But in comes 100 minutes from roaming the month before and with the rounding up of each call, you
could be over at the rate of 25 cents per minute. That is what happened to us, but because it was the first time, they removed the extra charge for us.

We also learned that if you think you are going to go over in any month, even if it is the day before your billing cycle ends, you can call AT&T and have your plan raised to the next level. Then when the next month starts lower it again. Since we will be traveling and roaming, I will be sure to give a complete report.

Question            Thu, 07 Oct 1999

First let me say my wife and I love your book. I think it will be a big factor in helping my wife make the step to FTing.

My question is a semi technical one. We presently have a 99' HR 36' Vacationer and looking to move up a 40' diesel pusher, with FTing in mind. We have looked at quite a few and have narrowed our choices down to a new 2000 American Tradition or the new Tiffin made Zephyr 2000 (42'). One big factor in trying to decide is engine horsepower. The Am Tradition has the 300 HP Cummins ISC C8.3L and the Zephyr has a 450 HP Cummins M11.....big difference. I have test driven each but in different states, under different road conditions. When I drove the Am Tradition I was in NC and took it up a fairly steep 4 lane road from a stop and could only get it to 45MHP with the pedal to the floor until the grade leveled some.

I really love everything else about the Am Tradition but am really concerned that it's under powered (especially when I add the tow car, etc.). I know you have (had?) an Am Dream with the 300 HP engine and was wondering if you felt you needed more HP, especially when in the mountains, towing, etc.

We love the power of the Zephyr and many of it's other enhancements but are not as happy with things like it's bath configuration, lack of 2nd bedroom slide (Am Tradition has one), etc... .mostly interior issues.

Do you have any insight? Thanks,
Lew

Hi Lew,

I can offer a non expert opinion based on our experience. First of all, going up a steep grade at 45 mph isn't bad. It's as fast as I want to go and we keep up well with other traffic. I feel that our 300 horsepower Cummins has plenty of power. Others feel the same way and I had a Cummins rep tell me it was a good engine and was all that a motorhome really needed. Barb and I had a chance to look at the new Traditions a month ago and we were impressed. They have really upgraded them to the point that they are comparable to the Dreams of just two years ago. If we were in the market for a new one, we would consider one. They appear to be functional and offer a lot for the money. Hope this helps some.  Good luck.       Ron

This is Barb and I have a question. How many hours will you spend driving up mountain grades as opposed to living in your motorhome? I think your answer will tell you that livability is most important and as long as you are not under powered you will be happy. Pick the home you like because of comfort and livability not power.    Barb
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Later they wrote:

Barb,

Very good point! That view point helps a lot in making our decision.

I am "working" on convincing my wife that full-timing is something we should do. I have gypsy blood and would do it in a heart beat. She's been reading your book and that has helped her see that real people do it, a lot of them, and that it's possible for us to as well. We have met several full-timers over the past couple of months and all highly recommend the life style.

We rented Class A's for several years and now have our own. Next step is to take it out on longer trips so she can see how that feels. Hopefully we will see you two "on the road" somewhere soon.

Thanks again for writing your book and sharing your experiences. 

Lew Dickson
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Important news from the Virginia Beach ACA Rally          Mon, 11 Oct 1999

Just as an FYI.  Just came back today from the American Coach Association (ACA) Rally in Virginia Beach and before you start heading east in your 1996 American Dream. The factory is replacing all front tires from 1996 to 1999.  They spent the week not only replacing tires but weighing every unit and putting in shims so that they will balance the weight better. They didn't have our tires (we bought new ones before we took ownership -not Goodyears) but that isn't making any difference.  They said they are replacing all front tires from 1996 to 1999. Call Randy at the factory and he will be able to fill you in on the details. Everyone will be getting a letter, as well as a phone call on this but if you are heading east soon, take care of the tires
before you go.  Looking forward to seeing you in January at Lazy Days.

Regards,
Barbara Shea

Thank You!!!!        Thu, 14 Oct 1999

Barb,
....We plan on having our laptop be our main form of communication when on the road, all of our kids have E-mail as do most of our friends. We found your web site and love that as well, can't get enough of fulltiming information, you are now bookmarked! Hey, do you know of anyone who wants to live in beautiful Port Washington,Wi. We have just the house for them!!

Marta & Peter Magnasco
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Storage lockers    Tue, 26 Oct 1999

Here is my two-cents worth on a subject that you cover in the books: We are in Southern California finally tackling the storage unit.... Sure, it is not fun cleaning out this mess now, but I could not have hit the road without the security that my former life was safely stored away.  I could not make the decisions to part with all sorts of stuff.  You know, gifts from the kids, souvenirs, and appliances that were practically new. But, now it is easier to make the decision to give this stuff away.  I have new perspective that I did not have on our original moving day. This job is not easy.  I ache all over from lifting boxes and am covered in dust as I sort through these boxes. Yes, it was expensive.  Yes, I have to do it twice.  But now it is just stuff, not my
life. I'll get off my soapbox now.  Thanks

Ginger & Ed Shilts
mailto:eandgs@ouradventure.net

When we leave here, we will be traveling for a full year before we sit still for long. We do plan to come back to Valle del Oro in the fall of 2000, but in the mean time we are very excited about all we will see and do and are glad that you will be coming with us.

Those of you who remember our old newsletter might be interested to know that Ron will be writing his famous "Campground Report" in the electronic newsletter this next year. I may even do a "Good Places to Eat" paragraph too. I will be sure to list the good email campgrounds too in addition to all of the sightseeing news. This is going to be so much fun.

We got the air conditioners replaced. They did it on one of our 103 degree days and it was a bit hot, but now that we have them it has cooled down here. We don't have to put the air on until noon or later and can turn it off and open the windows as soon as the sun goes down.

We have enjoyed the company of some special friends. Gary and Maryellen Mencimer stopped in for a few days on their way to their winter spot in Cathedral City, California. Right now, Dick and Carol Stewart (you have read some of their articles on our web site and in our books) are here. They are also on their way to Outdoor Resorts at Cathedral City.

I have a brand new computer and it is wonderful. I ordered it from Dell. It has 20 gb hard drive, 128 mg RAM, a DVD drive, a write able CD drive and a bunch of other good stuff. We are taking the old one (not that old) to daughter, Glenda's place in Florida. She needs a newer one.

Last month I mentioned the Gooey program and a couple wrote that you downloaded it. I kept going to our web site hoping to find some of you visiting at the same time and never did. I did not install it on the new computer. It was kind of bothersome after all. 

I am going to try to do a better job of checking the links I put in this newsletter before I send it out, but if you find one that doesn't work, go to the newsletter page in our web site. I will have fixed them there for sure. Once this newsletter goes out, there is no way to re do them except for sending out a correction and neither one of us would like that.

We have linked to a neat new site on our links page. If you drive a big motorhome, you should have one of these.  http://www.accu-thump.com/
 

Happy trails!
Barb & Ron