President candidate says "give up your gas hogs."

Does Democratic presidential contender John Edwards want RV enthusiasts to give up their motorhomes and tow vehicles? Edwards said Wednesday in a speech to union workers that he would ask Americans to give up their fuel inefficient sport utility vehicles, even as he appears to disregard such advice himself. He told the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in Lake Buena Vista, Florida that he believes Americans are willing to make the sacrifice.

Asked specifically whether he meant Americans should give up their SUVs, he replied: "Yes."

Yet, the Politico.com political Website reported the following day that all major Democratic presidential candidates including Edwards are not taking the advice themselves. Edwards showed up in Iowa after announcing his presidential bid in New Orleans in a Cadillac SRX Crossover, which gets about 15 miles per gallon.

PHOTO: Fuel-efficent RV of the future!

If Edwards meant Americans should also give up their RVs, he'll have a hard convincing RVers that "they" are the problem. The fact is, when RVers are traveling with their vehicles, their real homes are closed up with utilities turned off, and the RVers' rigs are often parked days or even weeks at a campsite, burning little energy beyond a little propane. And all the while, the RVers are not commuting to work each day like millions of other Americans -- most, if not many of them, piling up more miles in a month than the average RVer puts on in a year.

Diesel Owners Rejoice: More Price Drops at Pumps

According to the fed's pump watchdogs, the average price of a gallon of diesel fell off a half cent last week, now at a nationwide average of $2.863. This will hopefully set a trend, since the week before diesel jumped 2.1 cents, offsetting a 5.1 cent decline a week before that.

Do you feel like you're watching a yo-yo championship? In reality, the price of #2 diesel is actually down 16.4 cents a gallon from the same time last year.

Photo Kicks on the Road

We derive plenty of fun being on the road. One of the biggest kicks we find is finding odd signs. Maybe it takes a quirky sense of humor, or in this case, a bit of the macabre. We found this mortuary sign in Pendleton, Oregon. We could only muse that they must offer cremation as well.

How many illegal aliens can you fit in an RV?

How many people can you fit in a motorhome? Five, six? Maybe seven or eight? Would you believe 54? That how many illegal aliens from Mexico that U.S. Border Patrol Agents arrested last Sunday as they were being transported in a motorhome into the United States. The 1990 RV was gussied up like a corporate vehicle -- offering no clue from the outside to its human cargo. Patrol agents pulled the vehicle over near Sonoita, Ariz., because the driver appeared nervous as they approached.

The illegals in the RV were transported to the local Border Patrol station for processing and removal from the country. The motorhome, which had been mostly gutted to make room for hoardes of passengers, was impounded. Photos courtesy of the Border Patrol.

Fleetwood May Say "Adios" to California

Smarting from declines in profits and sales of its towable RV's, industry giant Fleetwood Enterprises has told company planners to "explore" the possibility of relocating its operations out of Riverside county, California.

In an article appearing in the Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly, published in Indiana, locals are grinning broadly at the prospects that the big RV maker may decide Indiana's 'the place you ought to be,' and may reap financial benefits from such a move. The company has indicated they'd like to have their operations closer to their customer base, and adds that California is a far more expensive state to operate in.

Fleetwood has made plenty of news lately, and infuriated vast numbers of readers of this blog when, after closing a number of manufacturing plants in the US, followed up by opening an RV plant in Mexico.

TV news chopper shows RV going up in flames

A large, late model Class A motorhome caught fire last Friday on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. A TV news helicopter recorded the blazing motorhome and the firefighting effort, which was to toss water on the RV until it fizzled into toast. No word about the cause of the fire. To see the news coverage, click on the small video screen on the right side of this Web page. You'll have to sit through a 30-second commercial before the news footage begins.

Flying J Visa Feedback

A couple of weeks ago we mentioned that Flying J truck stops are no longer allowing the use of VISA cards in their truck fueling lanes. We've asked the Flying J media folks for a comment on the matter and while we haven't yet received any official comment from them as to why this is so, a former long-haul driver offers a suggestion:

Since most commercial truckers don't use VISA to fill up their rigs, it may be a move on the big petrol company's part to discourage RVers from fueling on the truck islands. The fact that the J folks are still taking VISA on the RV islands seems to lend credence to this thinking. But as our commentator observes, "If there are several RV's backed up and most of the truck islands are empty, the idea seems kind of silly."

Still, truck stop etiquette applies: If you're fueling in the truck islands, pull ahead in the lane and park far enough ahead that another big rig can roll into the pumps and begin fueling before you go inside to pay. In a similar vein, if you're parking in a truck stop or rest area, using a pull-through spot, park so that the rear of your rig is fairly close to the end of the parking spot. Since most of our rigs are shorter than an 18-wheeler, if we pull too far ahead an in-bound trucker may not know the space is occupied, since you'll likely be hidden from his view by the rig in the next spot. By the time the driver finds you parked their, he's already begun his turn into the same spot.

Mitt Romney cruised into cyberspace for presidential campaign's RV

If you’ve been paying attention to the media coverage of the Iowa Caucuses, then you have no doubt noticed the "Mitt Mobile," the motorhome being used by Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney. What you may not know is the method he used to acquire the Winnebago Sunstar. Instead of heading over to an RV dealer or checking out the local classifieds, the former Massachusetts governor and his son Josh headed online to eBay, where they bid $61,435 on the RV -- and won. Josh Romney has already driven the class A motorhome through all of 99 Iowa's counties, a 3,500-mile trek in pursuit of helping "Dad" win the Republican straw vote (which he did with little problem) and the Caucus itself.

Gnats That!

The other evening we boondocked next to a Nevada lake, and it was the first night we'd been able to sit outside in the evening coolness. Suddenly, the distaff side cocked her head, looked in the direction of the rig, and asked those fateful words that every RV repair husband hates to hear: "What's that noise?"

Husbandly ears pricked and listened fearfully. It was almost a "white noise" hiss, and it did seem to be coming from the rig. But wait, the noise grew louder, and there it was: A huge swarm of gnats! Like a vast cloud they came at us, and we both took to flight. No amount of "deet" containing bug repellent was putting these guys off, and we took retreat in the RV.

With our windows secured with screens, we felt secure. But never mind, the little devils must have been to the flying magicians' school--in they came, finding the most attractive thing in the rig was the overhead florescent light. The cursed things were so thick on the light they actually began to reduce the illumination level. What to do?

Some quick thinking turned up a pump spray bottle of window cleaner. A few pumps of the blue solution rained down a mess of gnats, but any of the remaining flyers that flitted up onto the light fixture quickly stuck to the spray and carried out a macabre dance of death.

BEFORE YOU TRY THIS AT HOME: Be sure to warn anyone "downwind" of your shootin' match. I am living proof that a mouth full of windex and bugs tastes pretty bad. After you get the mass of the critters drowned, a quick wipe up with a paper towel really helps. Gnaturally.

Ford recalling 3.6 million vehicles

Ford Motor Co. said yesterday (Aug. 3, 2007) that it is recalling 3.6 million passenger cars, trucks, sport utility vehicles and vans because of concerns about a cruise control switch that has led to previous recalls based on reports of fires. The recall covers more than a dozen vehicle models built from 1992-2004. The company said it was responding to concerns from owners about the safety of their cars and questions about the speed control deactivation switch in the vehicles that is powered at all times.

The only RVs covered in the recall are 1995-2002 Ford F53 motorhomes.

The recall involves the following vehicles: 1998-2002 Ford Ranger, 1992-1997 Lincoln Town Car, 1992-1997 Ford Crown Victoria, 1992-1997 Mercury Grand Marquis, 1993-1998 Lincoln Mark VIII, 1993-1995 Taurus SHO, 1999-2001 Ford Explorer and Mercury Mountaineer, 2001-2002 Ford Explorer Sport, 2001-2002 Ford Explorer Sport Trac, 1992-1993 E150-350 vans, 1997-2002 E150-350 vans, 1993 Ford F-Series pickups, 1993 Ford Bronco, 1994 Mercury Capri, and 2003-2004 Ford F-150 Lightning.

An additional 177,000 vehicles in Canada, Mexico and Europe are covered by the recall.

Owners will begin receiving recall notices on Aug. 13 but a Ford spokespeson said parts for passenger cars would not be available until early October. In the meantime, owners can take their vehicle to a dealer to have their cruise control deactivated. Parts are available for trucks.

Owners with questions can contact Ford at (888) 222-2751.

Flying J Visa Fueling Fouled

We just received a post from the Escapees Club, that national organization of fulltime RVers. Seems some of the membership has suddenly raised a squawk concerning fueling problems at Flying J truck stops.

For those with the BIG rigs who go run with the big dogs out in the truck islands, VISA cards have suddenly become anathema to the Flying J folks. The sad part for one couple, was they didn't learn this until after they'd completed a really BIG fillup. Happily they didn't have to wash dishes in the restaurant to pay for their fuel: The company allowed them to purchase a Flying J "gift card" and then run the gift card to pay for their fuel.

According to the e-mail from Escapees, this VISA prohibition doesn't apply to fueling up at the auto or RV fueling islands, only in the big truck lanes. Still the hassle of having to swipe your card more than once if making a big purchase can be a headache.

Photo: Image Public Domain 2007 courtesy of Bear69designS