Exchange

New Horizons Owners Newsletter

Volume 6 Number 6  ---  December 2004

 Editor: Lloyd Treichel lloyd@wandrin.us



Exchange Contents:


Editor's Foreword

To all New Horizons owners or wannabes: Fill in the blanks and send the following message to lloyd@wandrin.us.

Hello from ___(geographic location)__. Wish you were here.
Signed  ____________.

More words are invited. How about a short note to introduce yourself, your NH rig and where you've traveled. Other items might include a maintenance shortcut; travel tips; a six ingredient recipe; rig enhancement; etc.

Note: Your submissions will not include email addresses or phone numbers. There are people and organizations that have nothing better to do than collecting email addresses with the intent to distribute SPAM.


Letter from Fred and Janice Folkers

Well, Janice & I have committed the ultimate heresy for New Horizons owners. We've traded in our 2003 F31RKSSS on a 2005 Winnebago Journey 36G. Believe me, it's not dissatisfaction with the New Horizons. We miss it terribly. It's simply that we're on the road more than we're sitting. We've had engagements for our work this year in St. Paul, Princeton, Boston, Huntsville, AL, Jacksonville, Dallas, Los Angeles, Walla Walla, WA, Pittsburgh, Huntington, WV, Philadelphia, Sacramento and Honolulu. Of these, the only two we didn't drive to were Honolulu and LA.
 
In the NH and Ford F-550 combo, the entire time we were on the road was wasted as far as work was concerned. There was no getting around the fact that you could not work on a laptop computer in the cab of the Ford. In the MH, whoever isn't driving can work. Also, we never took advantage of the Wal-Mart or Flying J parking before because we didn't feel safe having to get out of the trailer to go to the truck to drive away from a potential situation. Now, we leave the keys in the ignition and can be moving in a matter of seconds.
 
We've had a lot of time and 8,000 miles to second guess our decision and we're still satisfied it was the right thing to do. We also feel that if we ever fully retire we may just return to a 5th wheel and if so it will definitely be a NH. We also feel a definite affinity for NH owners and definite friendship for many that we met at the rally. In fact, if business permits, we plan to attend the rally in the fall. And we definitely plan to stop and say hi to Phi, Drew and Ken when we pass by on I-70 in late January.
 
Happy trails.
Fred & Janice Folkers

Editor's note:  Even though Fred went to the dark side, he will continue as the NHOG webmaster.
 


NHOG Rally 2005 -- Park Visit

From: Mel and Linda Collart

This is from an email from Chips and Pat Kessler:

We spent an hour at Sundermeier's on 11/3/04.  It is not a park with a scenic view, but it is centrally located to St. Charles and St. Louis (25 minutes away), both of which have many attractions.  A free trolley runs to St. Charles every 1/2 hours.  If we want to arrange tours, we should do so through Carolyn;  apparently she get a better rate than we would get by going direct.

Phones at the sites are $2 per day with local access to St. Charles and St. Louis.  They think they will have WiFi operating by the time we get there.

Some of the cabins have full kitchens, others do not.  Unless someone plans on cooking, I would suggest the sleeping cabins.

It is a 50 year old park that was renovated in the last 4 years.  The facilities are great.  Very clean and everything is easy to access.

Part of our problem may be having too much to do.  We need to do NH business (seminars, session, dinners). We can schedule group tours, but I would suggest we leave time for people to wander on their own.  The Katy trail, for example is right behind the park for walking and biking.

We would recommend this park for the rally.


Location of Roadside Emergency Equipment

From: Becky Reiger

I had a blowout on the left front trailer tire when I left Junction City. I must have picked up a nail or something because it went flat before it shredded. Pretty frightening, but no damage done. Thank goodness for roadside assistance. I also learned that you need to keep any emergency equipment (like flares or markers) in a compartment on the curbside. You can't stand on the interstate and get stuff out!


Tire Tread Design and Road Noise

From: Ralph Throckmorton
 
Tires with a tread design for highway use are much less noisy than all-weather tread tires.  After the trip to Atlantic Canada this summer and fall and with over 50 k miles on our Ford F-450, Mary and I decided to get new tires for the truck.  (We also replaced the tires on our New Horizons fiver, #546, with the same brand and size that came from the factory.)  The original factory tire installation for the F-450 included all-weather tires that work very well in snow and mud.  We concluded, however, that since most of our driving is on paved or asphalt surfaces we should try tires designed for those surfaces.  The major benefit from this change is that now Mary and I can converse or listen to music while driving at 60 mph.  The noise reduction was immediately noticeable and significant.  If we can avoid snow and mud, we'll be in good shape.


Notes from New Horizons Owners


From: Lloyd Treichel

I have been in Florida since about the first of November and will leave the area about the first of the New Year to head west. While at Sumter Oaks Escapee Park in Bushnell, I enjoyed some time with Larry and Eness Nigro. They are staying there for the winter before heading north. 

The St. Lucie Recreation Area at Stuart, Florida is a Corps of Engineer Lock and Dam. This spot was recommended by Bryan Armbruster. Bryan had purchased my previous NH rig and volunteers at the park for a space to park his home. There was an abundance of natural scenery from birds to alligators to manatees. When I tired of that, I watched boats, barges and cruise ships pass through the locks.

Rather than retelling my travels here, see my web site: www.wandrin.us


From: Joe Thompson/Mary K. O'Neill

BAFFIN BAY CAFE, RIVIERA, TX...  We  spent a few days exploring around Corpus Christi this past spring.  We drove down to Riviera (pronounced Rivera) to take a look at Seawind RV resort which a friend spoke highly of.  It is nice but really in a more remote area than we like.  We picked up a flyer there from Baffin Bay Cafe at Riviera Beach.   It claimed the best seafood in the valley.  We said, Oh sure, they wrote the ad.  But we were hungry and a good ways from anything else, so we decided to try it.  The seafood was incredible!  I grew up on the coast of South Carolina and I don't eat seafood that I am not sure was swimming the morning I am eating.  It turns out that people regularly drive down from Corpus to eat there, about an hour's drive.  Riviera Beach only has two establishments, the cafe and a bait store.  It has a rich history and is well worth the side trip off  SH77 for anyone in or heading to the valley.
 
TOM SAWYER RV PARK, WEST MEMPHIS, AR...  During our summer travels, we decided to stop one night at Tom Sawyer's RV Park on the banks of the Mississippi in West Memphis, Arkansas.  If you are ever in the Memphis area, I highly recommend a stop or stay at this park. It is beautifully laid out with several fresh water lakes on a bend in Old Man River.  There are park benches on the bank and one can sit, enjoy the scenery and watch numerous tugs and barges passing north and south.  We saw one tug with thirty barges, six rows, five across.  There is fresh water fishing, nature trails and, of course, all the attractions of Memphis.  I don't impress easily but this is one park we look forward to returning to.


From: Cathy and Jan Emrick #533

As 2004 comes to a close, so do our travels for a couple of months.  We are now in the Dickinson (Houston) area for some much needed rest to recover from being in the discovery/travel mode week after week.  We plan to visit with friends, attend our home church, and see doctors for annual medical/dental checkups.  Since our last travels update on October 8th (about Vancouver Island), we have marveled at many natural wonders,  discovered many new areas, and had great visits with relatives down along the Pacific Coast to San Diego and then across the southern US border back to Texas.   We encountered a few rough roads, lots of rain in places, and one flat tire - but were very fortunate in not having any major problems.

Lighthouses became one of the main themes of our travels after getting the 'bug' in Canada and really getting hooked in Washington, Oregon, and California.  We picked up a lighthouse passport book - with this we will get a patch saying "I've seen the light" after getting the book 'stamped' at 48 of the many lighthouses in the US (including the Pacific, Atlantic, and Great Lakes).  So far we have seen 24 'lights' and have 13 official stamps.

Besides lighthouses, here are some of our experiences:
  •  Drove up to hurricane ridge and hiked up hurricane hill in Olympic National Park
  •  Visited Paradise and Sunrise centers in Mt. Rainier National Park
  •  Got as close as permitted to Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument and saw some steam being emitted.
  •  Learned about the Lewis & Clark expedition at 3 of the stops on their travels
  •  Walked up inside to the top of the Astoria Column in Astoria, Oregon
  •  Visited the great Columbia River maritime museum (also in Astoria)
  •  Toured the famous cheese factory in Tillamook, OR
  •  Saw 10 covered bridges (and drove thru a couple of them) in Oregon
  •  Toured Oregon Caves National Monument
  •  Took drives thru Redwoods National Park
  •  Built a snowman in the mountains (after an early snowfall)
  •  In the San Francisco area:
  •  Visited Rosie The Riveter Memorial National Historic Park in Richmond, CA (where over 700 large ships were built in the nearly Kaiser shipyard [mostly by women] during WW II)
  •  Drove to Point Reyes National Seashore (this peninsula is attached to the California coast and was more 300 miles to the south long ago.  It has been moving north VERY slowly [.5 inch per year], but it 'jumped' 20 feet north during the big San Francisco earthquake in 1906)
  •  Weaved along the coastline on the narrow and VERY winding Hwy 1.
  •  Walked thru the very peaceful Muir Woods National Monument
  •  Walked around Alcatraz Island (part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area)
  •  Drove to Ft. Mason, Ft. Point (under the Golden Gate Bridge), and The Presidio
  •  Went thru the San Francisco National Maritime Museum
  •  Visited the Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego
  •  Saw the Casa Grande Ruins National Monument in Arizona
  •  Enjoyed the tall cactus in Saguaro National Park
  •  Walked around on top of the dunes at White Sands National Monument
  •  Made a quick stop at the Guadalupe National Park (it was too cold with snow/ice on the ground to take a hike)
  •  Toured the 'Big Room' in Carlsbad Caverns National Park
White Sands ThumbnailPicture was taken when crossing White Sands.

Due to early winter road closures due to snow, we postponed seeing Crater Lake and Lassen National Parks until another trip out west in a few years.

In the spring (when 'hitch itch' strikes again), we probably will head back up north to Canada to see some of the more northern parts of Saskatchewan, then Manitoba (and maybe Ontario), and finally back down to Texas thru Minnesota or Michigan arriving around Thanksgiving.