Though you will receive a notice, if you have a Fleetwood Encounter or Storm or a Coachmen Catalina travel trailer, check with the dealer to see if your unit is affected. You should get this recall fixed immediately. See this release for more information.

Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

reprinted with permission

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced today it will continue to waive day use and camping fees for active service military personnel and DoD civilians who are on mid- or post-deployment leave from duty involving deployments in support of overseas contingency operations.

The Corps began waiving recreation fees for active service personnel on temporary leave from duty in Iraq in 2003. In August 2008, the Corps expanded the waiver to cover DoD civilians and active service military personnel on mid or post leave from deployments.

“Our intent is to recognize the selfless service of these men and women to our nation and the world,” said Steve Stockton, the Corps director of civil works. “The more than 2,200 Corps-operated recreation sites nationwide provide excellent opportunities to find renewal, solace, and to reconnect with families and friends.”

Active service military personnel and DoD civilians on leave will be required to show identification and leave orders/forms upon arrival to the recreation sites to obtain the waiver. The waiver will also apply to all immediate family members accompanying them on their visit. The waiver will be applied to day use and camping fees.

Fees will be waived on a walk-up and space available basis, as well as for reservations made through the National Recreation Reservation Service call center at 1-877-444-6777. However, fees will not be waived for on-line reservations made through Recreation.gov.

In addition, state, local and other managing entities of recreation areas located on Corps lands are encouraged, but not required, to comply with this waiver of fees in the areas they manage.

The Corps is the nation’s largest federal provider of outdoor recreation, managing more than 400 lake and river projects in 43 states and hosting more than 350 million visitors per year. The Corps estimates that nearly 89 percent of its recreation projects are within 50 miles of metropolitan areas and provide a diverse range of outdoor activities to people of all ages.

For more information, visit www.CorpsLakes.us

SOURCE: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers press release

Motorhomes and towable RVs were damaged in a campground at the popular Albert Pike Recreation Area near Caddo Gap., Ark., during a flashflood early Friday. Seventeen people were reported dead Saturday and dozens of others were missing.

The pre-dawn Friday surge along the Caddo and Little Missouri rivers caught sleeping campers in and around the Albert Pike Recreation Area by surprise, leaving them little time to try to scramble in the darkness to higher ground and safety. The last person found alive was rescued late Friday morning.

Arkansas State Police Capt. Mike Fletcher said there were about two dozen people still unaccounted for as of Saturday morning — a number far lower than some had feared. By one estimate, there were some 300 people in and around the campground when the floods swept through, and a call center fielded inquiries about 73 people who hadn’t been accounted for as of Friday night.

Fletcher said authorities had identified 16 of the 17 bodies found, but that they wouldn’t be identified publicly until their families had been notified. There were children among the dead.

The search was expected to take several more days, or even weeks, and anguished family members of the missing who gathered at a church in nearby Lodi on Saturday could only wait helplessly for word of loved ones. Some cried and embraced one another, and some held their head in their hands.

Graig Cowart, the pastor of the Pilgrim Rest Landmark Missionary Baptist Church, said there were 24 people still unaccounted for Saturday morning, and that their families were worried sick.

“They’re just devastated. The time for shock has probably gone and now it’s just anxiety building. They’re beginning to fear the worst,” Cowart said.

Cell phone service and visibility from the air in the heavily wooded area are very poor, hampering search efforts. Portable cell towers were dispatched to the area in the hope that stranded survivors would be able to call for help.

Crews on horseback and ATV returned to the craggy Ouachita mountains to look for possible survivors, as searchers in kayaks and canoes explored the tangled brush along the river banks for bodies.

Debris hung from tree branches 25 feet above the bend in the Little Missouri River that the camping area straddles, and rock climbers searched the valley’s steep and craggy terrain. It would be difficult for someone to signal for help because of the rugged and remote nature of the area being searched, some 75 miles west of Little Rock.

Floodwaters rose as swiftly as 8 feet per hour, pouring through the remote valley with such force that it peeled asphalt from roads and bark off trees. Cabins dotting the river banks were severely damaged. Mobile homes and recretion vehicles lay on their sides. Some described the quick rise of the water as a tsunami in a valley.

Tabitha Clarke, a National Weather Service hydrologist in Little Rock, said Saturday that the wall of water that swept through the campground could have been higher than the 23.4 feet reported Friday because the valley in that area is so narrow. The nearest river gauge, some 4.5 miles downstream, showed a 20 1/2-foot rise in a four-hour period early Friday.

“It would have been even worse where they were,” Clarke said.

Authorities prepared for a long search effort and said bodies may have been washed away. The last body found Friday night — the 16th confirmed dead — was found some 8 miles downstream from the campground.

“This is not a one- or two-day thing,” said Gary Fox, a retired emergency medical technician who was helping identify the dead and compile lists of those who were unaccounted for. “This is going to be a week or two- or three-week recovery.”

The rolling floodwaters would have sucked debris — including bodies — under the surface of the Little Missouri River and could have pinned people beneath rocks and trees that line the banks of the normally docile stream, Clarke said.

Brigette Williams, spokeswoman for the American Red Cross in Little Rock, estimated that up to 300 people were in the area when the floods swept through.

Forecasters had warned of the approaching danger in the area during the night, but campers could easily have missed those advisories because the area is isolated.

Denise Gaines said she was startled awake in her riverfront cabin by a noise that sounded like fluttering wings. She saw water rushing under the cabin door.

“I thought it must have been an angel that woke me up,” she said. She woke up the six others in her cabin and started packing her things.

Gaines, who lives in Baton Rouge, La., had been through violent weather before with Hurricane Gustav.

“We could feel the cabin shaking,” said her fiance, Adam Fontenot.

After the cabin filled with chest-deep water, the group clung to a tree and each other outside for more than an hour. Then the water dropped quickly, several feet in just a few minutes.

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If your RVing plans include travel to anywhere in the U.S. southeast, Atlantic coastal states and provinces, or Gulf of Mexico states, you need to know a little bit about hurricanes.

First, hurricanes are big, really really big. The average hurricane is 200-400 miles across. Big ones will be 550-plus miles.

Second, they don’t occur suddenly, like in the movies. It takes days and weeks for hurricanes to build from tropical depression, to tropical storm, and finally to hurricane. There is plenty of warning before a hurricane hits.

Third, hurricanes don’t travel very fast. They average 10-20 miles an hour, though on rare occasions they can move along as fast as 70 mph or creep along at two or three.

Fourth, hurricanes don’t travel in straight lines. They take curving paths, often looping and backtracking and zig-zagging.

Fifth, hurricanes can have tremendous amounts of rain or very little.

Sixth, hurricanes have an eye, the centre of the storm. The eye can be from five to 120 miles across with most being 20-40. In the eye it can be eerily calm with clear skies, fooling people into thinking the storm is over, causing them to come outside to see the damage. However, once the eye passes over, there is the other half of the storm still left to endure, with sudden ferocious winds coming from the opposite direction.

Seventh, the worst winds tend to be in the northeast quadrant of the storm.

Eight, the sustained winds of a hurricane (74 to over 190 mph) are bad and cause a lot of damage. However, hurricanes tend to spawn many tornadoes which cause much of the damage.

Ninth, flying debris can be a bigger hazard than the wind itself.

Tenth, hurricanes are tropical but are not restricted to tropical areas, the coast, or the summer. Some of the worst and most damaging hurricanes have hit in the Carolinas and northward in September. August and September are the months with the most hurricanes.

What should you do if a hurricane is headed your way? Don’t risk it. Evacuate -and do so early. Because hurricanes are so large and their path of travel is so variable, it will take time, maybe days, to drive your way out of danger.

If you wait too long before evacuating it’s likely you will get caught in a major traffic snarl along with all the other late evacuees, and you may not reach safety before the rain and winds of the hurricane or its outer bands reach you.

You may run out of fuel. There will likely be fuel shortages (because everybody is buying and stockpiling fuel) and you may not be able to buy fuel to complete your evacuation. If you must stay put, get prepared.

- Get as much water as you can -fill bottles, tubs, tanks, buckets, anything you can find with water.

- Have plenty of nonperishable food and food that doesn’t have to be cooked, heated, prepared or refrigerated.

- Have a good supply of drinks and juices.

© Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal

Coast to Coast Resorts, the industry leader in bringing RV enthusiasts access to some of the finest “members-only” outdoor resorts in the country, and Winnebago Industries Inc. today (June 1) announced the “3 for Free” promotion for new Winnebago Industries motorhome owners and Winnebago-Itasca Travelers (WIT) Club members.

The promotion entitles new owners and WIT Club members to a free three-day, two-night stay at one of more than 50 of the top Coast to Coast outdoor resorts across the U.S. and Canada, according to a news release.

The offer is available to anyone who purchases a new Winnebago Industries motorhome on or after Jan. 1, 2010, as well as new and existing WIT Club members. To be eligible, participants must attend a 90-minute presentation/tour on Coast to Coast membership at the campground.

In addition to the free three-day, two-night stay, participants qualify for exclusive credits and discounts. Guests who join Coast to Coast will receive a $500 discount on their membership, while those who decline membership will be offered a $500 camping credit at the resort where they stayed.

Participants in the promotion will experience the type of luxurious facilities offered by Coast to Coast’s resorts at locations that stretch from the wilderness of Washington’s Cascade Mountains to the Orlando, Fla. area. The resorts contain a range of high-quality amenities for vacationers of all ages, such as swimming pools, clubhouses, boating and countless fun planned activities for adults and children alike.

“Coast to Coast has a long history of providing excellent value on outstanding resorts across the country,” said Bruce Hoster, president of Coast to Coast Resorts. “By partnering with Winnebago Industries, we’re able to show the benefits of Coast to Coast membership to a whole new world of new and existing motor home owners. We look forward to welcoming Winnebago Industries motor home owners and WIT Club members at our resorts and anticipate that many of them will choose to become members of Coast to Coast following their stays.”

“Winnebago Industries offers a wide variety of motor home products with high quality expectations and the finest in luxury comfort available to RV owners,” said Chad Reece, director of marketing for Winnebago Industries Inc. “Therefore, it’s natural that we are partnering with Coast to Coast, whose resorts offer an equally high level of amenities and activities. We are sure that the combination of a Winnebago Industries motor home and a five-star outdoor resort will provide the perfect vacation getaway.”

A Coast to Coast membership makes it easy to travel safely and comfortably throughout North America, with hundreds of affiliated RV resorts in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Member benefits include a subscription to Coast to Coast Magazine and a number of travel services, with additional advantages that include cabin and condo rentals, trip routing and dining and leisure discounts. Coast to Coast offers RV Tripsetter, an online and phone reservation system, which provides a simple way to reserve a space.

Coast to Coast was established in 1972 and is owned by and affiliated with Affinity Group Inc. (AGI), the nation’s largest provider of outdoor clubs, services, media and events that service the safety, security, comfort and convenience needs of the North American recreation vehicle and outdoor enthusiast market. AGI is the parent company of RVBUSINESS.com.

Existing members of Coast to Coast are ineligible to participate in the “3 for Free” promotion. Other restrictions may apply. To participate, visit www.experiencectc.com/3forfree.

My first experience with a speed camera was actually in New Zealand while RVing with my granddaughter. Out in the middle of nowhere a sign warned that we were approaching one. Later in our trip, we read in the newspaper that a man was contesting his ticket – he had to speed to get around someone. I doubt he beat the ticket with that excuse.

Arizona has had them set up on highways, more than any other state. In January, on our way to Quartzsite in our RV, and then back to Phoenix, we passed several on each trip. That is now changing. In an article at Yahoo News, Arizona is ending its program to use speed cameras along Phoenix-area highways and in vans deployed across the state. While governor, Janet Napolitano instituted the program, anticipating that it would bring in $90 million in revenues in the first year, it failed to meet its goal. In fact, many people ignore the tickets with apparently no consequences.

Governor Jan Brewer is ending the program when the contract is up on July 16. The program had received many complaints and has been the target of an initiative measure proposed for the November ballot. Local cities can still use speed cameras though not for both speeding and running red lights. (Now that makes no sense to me.)

Supporters say they slow down speeders and reduce accidents. Detractors see them as opening the door for wider “Big Brother” surveillance and are more about making money than safety. Personally, seeing how fast many Arizona drivers go, I’m in favor of them. You don’t get a ticket unless you are going at least 11 miles over the speed limit. Isn’t that enough leeway?

So, what do you think? Thumbs up for getting rid of them? Or thumbs down for caving? Or is it thumbs down for another reason?

Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

reprinted with permission

Beginning May 13, 2010 Flying J will charge $10 to use their RV dump stations according to the Escapees E-news from the Escapees RV Club. Due to rising costs and misuse of the dump stations, they are instituting the charge.

For those with Frequent Fueler cards and RV Real Value cards, a $5 discount coupon can be added to their card, based on fuel purchases. That could help. Some dump stations will have a place to “pay at the dump,” while at others, you’ll need to go inside to pay.

RVers hate to see this. Many dump stations in rest areas along highways have already been closed- probably for the same reason. It makes it harder to find a dump unless you stay in a campground. Those who stay at Camp Wal-Mart will have to bite the bullet or see if they can find another source.

In our case, we don’t go to Flying J’s that often anyway. Usually they are so crowded it is about impossible to get to a diesel pump without waiting in line for a long time- if you can even maneuver in towing a 5th wheel or trailer.

Nick Russell has a book of free public dump stations. While some are Flying J’s will be eliminated from his list, it’s still a good deal and can help you save money. See his Web site.

Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

reprinted with permission

Of course the outcome of any poll depends on several factors like what type of poll it is, how the questions are presented, who is asking the questions and of course who does and does not participate in the poll.

Our weekly RV poll is not a scientific poll, a political poll or a marketing poll. It is basically used to give me some idea of what our newsletter readers are interested in, how they use their RVs and just for the fun of it.

So, here is a look back at some past polls and how the participants responded.

• 30% of the participants have experienced problems with rodent control in their RV’s and 70% have not.
• 48% have spent a night in a Wal-Mart parking lot and 52% have not. Of those, 58% asked permission to stay in the Wal-Mart parking lot and 42% did not.
• 68% connect to the internet every day when traveling by RV and 32% do not. 82% experience trouble getting an internet connection on the road and 16% do not. 58% of the respondents depend on free Wi-Fi to connect, 27% used a wireless card to connect and 15% relied on other methods like paid Wi-Fi, cell phones and satellite service.
• When asked who drove the most 92% responded male, 5% female, 1% female traveling alone and 2% male traveling alone.
• 74% said their RV came with a spare tire and 26 % did not get a spare when they purchased their RV.
• 84% make campground reservations in advance and 16% do not.
• 9% of respondents see closing state parks as a way to decrease state budgets and 91% do not.
• 55% are currently financing their RV and 45% are not. 51% of those financed think they owe more than the RV is worth and 49% do not think they owe more than the RV is worth.
• 85% of participants have an Emergency Roadside Service (ERS) plan and 15% do not.
• 18% travel 200 miles or less per day during RV trips, 47% average 300 miles per day, 26% average 400 miles per day and 9% travel 500 or more miles per day.
• 54% own motorized RV’s and 46% own towable RV’s.
• 94% use rest stops along the way when traveling by RV and 6% do not.
• At one time or another 35% of respondents have had a damaged RV holding tank waste valve and 65% never have. Of those with damaged waste valves 58% repaired it themselves and 42% did not attempt repairs.
• 36% use some type of digital line monitor to monitor campground electricity and 65% do not. 40% always test the campground wiring prior to plugging the RV in and 60% do not.
• 82% check the tire pressure before each trip and 18% don’t.
• 58% use checklists to perform maintenance and routine tasks on their RV and 42% do not.
• 12% of the respondents have work camped before and 88% have not.
• 90% said they use environmentally friendly holding tank chemicals and 10% don’t.
• 63% use their RV in the winter and 37% don’t.
• 70% have stayed in a friends or relatives driveway before and 30% have not.
• 19% frequently stay at state or federal campgrounds, 34% stay at private campgrounds, 5% stay at public campgrounds and 42% stay at a combination of all three.
• 67% use a pre-departure checklist when they RV and 33% don’t.
• 98% have one or more slide outs on their RV and 2% don’t have any slide outs.

Well that brings us up to date on the poll results. When we gather more results I will keep you posted.

Happy Camping,
Mark

Mark Polk is founder of RV Education 101 and RV University

Washington, DC — We earlier alerted readers to the National Park Service decision to drop entrance fees at the nation’s parks from April 17 to 25. Now the Interior Department has announced more free admission days to round out the balance of the year.

Here’s the schedule:

June 5 and 6

August 14 and 15

September 25 (Public Lands Day)

November 11 (Veterans Day)

The admission applies not only to all national parks, but also all national wildlife refuges, and many areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

For more information about these free admission days, visit these web sites: National Parks , National Wildlife Refuges or Bureau of Land Management.

photo: Olympic National Park by Alaskan Dude on flickr.com by creative commons license.

But brand new RVs costs a lot. That’s why buyers are looking for cheaper places to buy their own RV. They look at dealers of second hand RVs as well as repo rv auction. Repossessed RVs might be the better deal between the two.

When you look for an RV, whether in a repo rv auction or in a dealership, it should contain the basics. A minimal RV normally has beds, food preparation and storage areas and at least one table. The bigger the RV the more equipped it becomes. There are RVs that have full bathrooms, living areas, refrigerators, and even master bedrooms.

You might also chance upon more elaborate RVs in a repo rv auction. These RVs features satellite TV and internet access. Some even have slide-out sections, and awnings. But the more the amenities the more expensive the RVs become. A typical RV can reach between $10,000 to $500,000 when brand new. While some still costs more than that.

Just imagine how much you’ll save if you buy an RV from a repo rv auction. The basic thing to remember when you go to a repo rv auction is that to be focused and determined. Give yourself a ceiling on how much you would bid for a RV unit. Never join a bidding war since this is a sure way to lose money rather than to save some. Decide on the matter before you go to the auction and stick to it.

Make sure that you inspect that conditions of the RV as well as the amenities or equipment inside. If you have time, which in a repo rv auction you usually don’t, give each equipment a thorough check. Each not working or damaged equipment brings down the overall value of the RV.

You should also need to have a basic guide book on how much a used RV should cost, how much if damage to it or the equipment inside are substantial. This will ensure that any bidding you do in a repo rv auction is based on facts and not mere speculations.

To search for repo rv auctions, please visit http://www.auto-car-auctions.info

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anthony_Lee