How We RV - Stephen Lemnah

Future RVer in training - Start 'em young!

RV Make/Model/Year: 1997 Holiday Rambler Imperial 40WDS

Number of years you've been RVing: 1

A little about you: Selling my Harley to pay for my motorhome addiction. Purchased my motohome from Paul Everts in AZ and had service done in Fresno. I can't say enough good things about Hank in service and Bob the GM out in AZ.

Favorite camping spot or travel destination and why: Pismo Beach, absolutely love the ocean!!

Funny Story: I have two step-daughters, one that loves to rv and the other that absolutely hates it and does nothing but sit inside and play on her phone. Haven't figured out why she hates it so much, it is the same thing that she does when she is home. Oh well, who can figure out teenagers???

Eating Your Way Across America

Do you just love a great roadside diner? Are you always on the lookout for that little hole-in-the-wall place that just may have the best food ever? Do you consider yourself a "Foodie"?  Well you, my friend, are not alone.  Sharing great food with family and friends is one of the simple pleasures in life!

     

When traveling through a new town, it's always best to find out where the locals eat, and go there.  And now there is a perfect guide to get you to all the right places.  While there are many published guides to eating your way across America, we have found one in particular that we think every traveling "foodie" should carry. Keep in mind that if you are someone who prefers a fancy eatery with lovely ambiance to a down-home BBQ joint, this is not for you...  However, if you are in search of inexpensive cafe's and diners that serve up delicious comfort food, regional specialties, and diner classics, then you have come to the right place.

Gourmet Magazine's popular restaurant critics Jane and Michael Stern have done it again. Their newly updated book, "Roadfood: The Coast-to-Coast Guide to 500 of the Best Barbeque Joints, Lobster Shacks, Ice Cream Parlors, Highway Diners, and Much More" is their best dining guide ever, with over 200 new entries.
The Stern's updated book favors affordable places with great food, and a local atmosphere.  Using their guidebook, you will get the insides scoop on where to go, what to order and what you can expect at each place.  All areas of the continental U.S. are covered, so no matter where you're headed you'll be sure to find some stops along your route.

Do you have a favorite place you always eat at when you're traveling that you want to share with all of your fellow RVers? Submit your story and a picture of you and your family at your favorite eatery to let us know "How You RV". You just may win a gift certificate to our store!  We wish you safe travels and full bellies!

How We RV - Bill & Jeanne Whitted

Bill & Jeanne Whitted with Canto & Pretty Boy

RV Make/Model/Year: 2004 Fleetwood Southwind RS
 
Number of years you've been RVing: 40 years
 
A little about you: We lived in Visalia, CA for forty-one years, before we retired. We bought our first travel trailer in 1978, we took it to Pismo Beach and the Sierra mountains for deer season. In 1982 our daughter moved to Manistique, MI with her husband and our only grandchild. We traded our travel trailer for a used 23 foot Mini Motor Home, we made our first trip to Michigan in 1983. We had another grandchild by then. We spent our summer vacations in Michigan to see our daughter & family. We had one granddaughter and two grandsons there by 1986.

We decided in the 1990's we would become full time RV'ers. We retired in 2005 and went on the road to visit family & friends.

We have our oldest granddaughter and her husband & two children in Enid, OK. Our oldest grandson lives in Boulder, CO with his wife, and our youngest grandson & wife live in Marquette, MI. We have a son that lives in Tehachapi, CA with his wife & daughter.

We have family in Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.

We enjoy Workamping, you make good such friends, and it is fun. We don't work all the time as we like to visit family.

Do you travel with pets? Tell us about them: We travel with a Persian Cat, Pretty Boy, he will be 14 this year, and a Miniature Red Poodle, Canto, she will be 9 this year.

Favorite camping spot or travel destination and why: We have so many favorite places to camp, that it is hard to say. I like to be by the ocean or a lake.

Service Tips, Travel Tricks, or Gadgets you can't RV without: We always fill our gas tank up before it gets below half a tank of gas as many stations have closed. We try to gas up at the stations that are RV friendly, having a dump station, water & propane on the same gas island. We always carry a rolling basket to carry laundry, firewood or ice. TV trays are a must, we use them outside and in the RV for extra space on the dinner table.

We get our RV serviced at Paul Evert's in Fresno, CA. They are very thorough and friendly. They have a nice area to park your RV to stay all night. Their waiting room is very clean. They have a RV store. For your convinces there is a washer & dryer, coffee, water and popcorn. There is information about the area.

Funny Story: We were in Yellowstone NP, and a man comes running up and waving his arms at us! It was friends of ours from Visalia, CA!

Favorite Recipe: I like to make Mandarin Rice and Carrot Cake for pot lucks.

How We RV - Arturo & Rosenda Ibanez

Arturo & Rosenda Ibanez came to the Paul Evert's RV Country service department yesterday, December 27th, 2010. They purchased their current vehicle (a Forest River Sierra Sport Toy Hauler Travel Trailer) from another dealer in town who has since gone out of business.

In attempting to make some of the requested repairs, which should have been covered under warranty, our warranty clerk Elizabeth Betancourt discovered that not only was their warranty set to expire in just a few days, but that the previous dealer had never registered their vehicle with Forest River. This technically meant had no warranty! However, thanks to a good working relationship with the manufacturer, Liz was able to register the coach and have the repairs made under warranty before its expiration!

Arturo and Rosenda have been married for 27 years and four children, 3 boys and 1 girl. They have lived in Selma, Ca for 19 years and love to go camping. Some of their favorite spots to visit are Pismo, Sunset Beach, Bass Lake, and the Yosemite mountains. They've even been known to bring along their 2 1/2 year old English Bulldog, Layla.

"We are so grateful to Jason Hunt (Service Writer) and Liz Betancourt (Warranty Clerk) for helping us. They were courteous and Stacy Alvarado (Parts Manager) was prompt in serving us. Thank you!"

How We RV - Bob & Barbara Calderwood

Bob & Barbara with Boo & Precious

 

RV MAKE & MODEL: 1999 Safari Panther

A LITTLE ABOUT US:  We've been married for 43 years. Our children live on opposite coasts. We have two grandsons (We will watch the  oldest graduate from high school next May in Wellington, FLA). Bob retired in 1999. We spend 9 months of the year in the motor home and stay in Port Ludlow, WA during the summer months. We've been motor homing since 1977.

PETS:  We travel with two Miniature Pinchers (brother & sister 13 years old). "Boo" likes to grab a sock and guard it while "Precious" complains in a high pitched squeal or bark "He's doing it again!" They both like to travel on the dash of our motorhome.

FAVORED TRAVEL DESTINATIONS:  We don't really have one place we go. We want to visit the historical. We enjoy the various regional cultures our country has to offer (you know - food, sounds, smells, food and more food), and we are fascinated by the vast variety of architectural styles.

TIPS, TRICKS & GADGETS:   I use the "Pro-Fill" on-board battery watering system. It saves a lot of banged knuckles, your hands stay clean and you know that each battery is properly topped off. I also use an in-line water filter system. But instead of attaching it to the out door water spigot  or having it under the kitchen sink, i've set it up in the basement next to the water intake valve.
Barbara's trick in the kitchen is to have me do the dishes (just joking - actually after me breaking enough cups she realizes that I'm incapable of measuring up to the task). Barbara always wipes the plates clean before putting them in the dish water saving the holding tank from grease and bits of food.

FUNNY STORY:  Our very first RV trip was in a rented RV in 1977. We took off from Southern California for an Easter vacation with our friends in Scottsdale, AZ. Half-way across the desert we noticed a putrid smell. As it turns out it  the gray tank had backed up into the shower where we had stored our suitcases. (That RV was supposed to be ready to go and we didn't know anything about holding tanks.) Since the clothes were soaked with the obnoxious liquid, Barbara hand washed everything in the sink as I drove. Having no way to dry the clothes she lit the oven, placed the  wet clothes on the rack and waited for the clothes to dry. It wasn't too long before we smelled another oder - this one we recognized. Yeah, for the rest of the trip we wore clothes with little brown stripes imprinted on them from the hot oven rack. We still laugh. That first trip may have been the best.  In less than a month after our return to L.A. we had bought our first RV.

COMMENTS ABOUT PAUL EVERT'S RV COUNTRY: Having RV techs with whom you can communicate and trust is very important to us. Our experience with Patrick Clyde, our service writer, simply could not be better. Thank you for your service!

How We RV - Jim & Judy MacLeod

We bought our first MH in 1976 and now we own a 2006 Monaco Dynasty (42' DP) We were fortunate to be able to retire early and travel around the country. Taking care of a house and yard soon proved to be a hindrance, so we sold everything that wouldn't fit into our rig and became full-timers six years ago. Now we have the freedom to move from place to place and use our energies to help others.

We joined SOWERS (Servants On Wheels Ever Ready to Serve), a volunteer ministry that supports 180 Christian service projects in 44 states and Canadian Provinces. Our non-profit hosts provide the requisite RV hookups, equipment and materials while SOWERS contribute free labor. Each project lasts for three weeks with four scheduled work days per week. The rest of the time we're free to see the local sights, visit with friends and relatives or socialize with our working partners. Having worked on 25 projects in six different states, our favorite projects are those foster homes, schools and campgrounds where we can interact with the kids.

While we don't travel with our own pets, we've been fortunate to work on projects where there were a variety of animals to enjoy. Last winter Judy worked with Emus, Llamas and an Alpaca to prepare them for petting encounters with summer campers.

Our favorite places depend on the season. We love  cool summer nights in Michigan, warm winter days in Florida, springtime storms in Texas and Arizona, breathtaking mountain and coastal views in northern California. It's all good. Along the way we look for campgrounds that are well-maintained and honor Passport America discounts. Even spending a few nights in a dealer's parking lot is all part of the lifestyle.

Judy loves her convection microwave and washer and dryer while Jim appreciates the convenience of automatic air-leveling. Storage is primary for full-timers, so "doing without" certain features (like a second furnace and aqua-hot) actually gives us more space in cupboards and in "the basement". We need the extra space for our hobbies and provisions. Judy cans and freezes produce from our summer garden, tucking fresh squash and pumpkins into every nook and cranny in her storage bays. She also needs space for her jigsaw puzzles, canvases and other painting supplies. Jim has a collection of tools for SOWER projects plus a carry-out satellite dish and long coax cables he uses when parked under the trees. We both have our own workspaces and extensive book collections (including three that Jim wrote).

Judy does a great job of cooking bacon and broiling steaks and pork chops in the convection oven, but the fumes invariably set off the smoke alarm whenever she opens the door. The first time it happened Jim responded by frantically waving a dish towel at the alarm to dissipate the fumes and quiet the racket. The next time Jim was already flailing the towel before she opened the door and quickly removed the offending meat. This strategy worked pretty well until it occurred to Jim that the battery-powered smoke alarm is secured to the ceiling with two common screws. A simple quarter-turn is all that's required to remove it and carry it into the bedroom before Judy opens the oven door. An ounce of prevention is better than a ton of towel waving!

We've never been sorry that we sold our house and went on the road. We're only sorry that we didn't do it sooner. Travel does broaden your perspectives. And doing something for someone else keeps us active and more fit than if we'd stayed at home. We also see our far-flung family members more often and make new friends on every project. Camping can be so much more than potluck dinners, bingo and shuffleboard.         

How We RV - Javada & Clarence Rimmer

 

We are retired and spend about 10 months of the year in our 40 foot Holiday Rambler and are having a great time! We spend around 5 months at the Potholes in Eastern Washington and another 5 months in Parker, Az.

We purchased the RV from Paul Evert's RV in December 2009. We like all the room we have and all the comments about it from our friends. We hope to go to Yellow Stone Park this coming year.

How We RV - Mark & Juanita Ward

Feather River, California

Once when we were in South Dakota at Mount Rushmore in our Winnebago wide body that was 12ft tall, we pulled up to a tunnel that was only about 10ft tall and 8ft wide and of course we could not go thru. I unloaded the car off the dolly turned the car around and was preparing to hook the dolly to the back of the car so my wife could drive it back down the hill when a stranger pulled up and asked my wife what I was doing. Well, she said, he's getting the car out of his way so he can back up and get a better run at the tunnel! The man thought about it for a minute or two and then said that he wished me luck because there were two more smaller tunnels on up the hill.

Feather River, California

I had to back down about half a mile to a large switch back where I could back into and then have room to head back down the hill and meet the wife with the car and dolly in a RV park at the bottom.

Our traveling companion from Sacramento stopped at a KOA park 1/2 way up the hill and asked the man there if he had seen us. "OH YES HE SAID, HE WAS HERE AND HE WENT ON UP THE HILL, BUT HE WILL BE BACK!"

Zion National Park, Utah

How We RV - Troy & Lisa Macy

I guess our story is kind of unique in a way.  We live full-time in our RV because my husband is in the pipeline industry.  Because his work takes us all over the US for different jobs, we can be in a place for a few weeks to a year or more.  We were most recently in California for about 9 months and are currently on a job in Utah for the next 6-9 months or so and then we don't know where is next.  We never do.  It's an adventure!  Ha  We sold our home because we were never there, so we live wherever we are parked at the time.

We have 3 "kids", at least they are kids to us. They are fox terriers.  Gabi is the oldest, she is 7, and a fawn color.  The twins are Sassy and Torch and are both 5 years old.  They keep me busy while Troy is working, and I am also studying via distance learning through the Global College of Natural Medicine in Santa Cruz, CA to become a Holistic Health  Practitioner.  I have already completed my certifications as a Nutritional Consultant and Master Herbalist.  I also have started writing a blog to try to give out what I call "healthful" information and healthy recipes that aren't made from "processed refined" foods.   So, that is how I spend most of my time each day.

In the last almost 5 years (Since March 2006) we have been in Colorado, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, California and Utah for work.  We have stayed in a multitude of different campgrounds, usually in rural areas, as natural pipelines don't usually go through the middle of big cities.  We end up in places you wouldn't normally just pick off a map to just go and visit, but we still end up learning about American History through our travels.  We usually meet really nice local people wherever we go.  And you always end up with one or two people to stay in touch with after you're gone from their area.  It's nice to know that everywhere we go, we can always go back to visit and find a friend!

The hardest thing is finding a place that takes three dogs, a 45' coach and two vehicles, but we always seem to manage. When we went full time almost 5 years ago, we put everything in our motorhome that we thought we might need, and at least twice a year since then we have cleaned out and given away or put into storage the things that we really don't need.  If it doesn't get used, it goes away.  I have found that I don't need nearly as many clothes as I thought I did, and you really don't need all the dishes that you think you do.  So, less is definitely more....at least for us.  And if it won't fit in the coach, you can't have it, so that makes for less shopping!  Ha!

We really enjoyed where we stayed in Chowchilla, CA (an RV resort) because not only was it the best place we've ever stayed, it is also a perfect home base for seeing Yosemite, the Sequoias, Wine tasting, and it's within 2-3 hours of so very many things!  Like San Francisco, Monterey, etc....  Great fresh fruit and veggies too!  I so miss having that here!