Rallies

Hello from Juneau, Alaska, where we have just completed day 61 of our 2001 Alaskan Adventure. What a good time we are having as we travel in the RV'ers paradise. Bill and Diana Allen had warned us that we would have a great time traveling in our D's, but I'm not sure they fully impressed on us how great the scenery would be. Yes, our big front picture windows are great to see all the scenery and wildlife even though all of us have suffered some stone chips/cracks of varying degrees.

At this point, Skagway seems to be number one on the list of places visited with Valdez, Seward, and Homer all coming in second, but we still have some exciting places yet to visit. Banff and Jasper may cause some of our group to rearrange their list of the places they liked best.

Many of you have been following along on our trip by visiting our website at www.members.kconline.com/jcampbel/ which gives a daily travelogue and some picture highlights. For any of you who are contemplating this trip in the future, you are more than welcome to e-mail me your questions.

Mechanical problems to date have been minimal: one coach picked up a screw in a front tire as he was leaving the campground; another person had a tire blowout on his toad; one D broke the fan belt (having several spares in the group, we quickly repaired this one); step problems and, of course, windshield chips and cracks are normal.

Currently we are traveling on the Alaska Marine Highway and all drivers had enjoyable experiences loading their D into the ferry, something everyone should enjoy during their lifetime. Of course the gals had to get the toads on, backing involved!!!

I hope many of you are planning to attend our pre-rally at Sisters, OR. I know Russ & Roxie Foster have been working hard and with the help they are receiving from the Allens and Livingstons and many others, it will be another great time for all to enjoy.

This is the last issue in which you will see my comments and ramblings since we will be electing new officers at our annual meeting in Redmond (please note the date, 15th and time 3 p.m. is different from the one published in our last issue). Thanks for all your patience and help in building our chapter into a viable organization.

In order to keep the web site interesting, our web masters, Chuck and Donna Tolson would appreciate receiving anecdotes on travel or experiences with your Discovery that can be shared with the membership, and/or pictures (either in jpeg format on the internet or regular "hard copies" that you have had developed). Chuck and Donna can be e-mailed: cdtolson@usa.net for internet communication. If you want to send pictures or stories, their snail mail address is: 1551 Truslow Road, Fredericksburg, Virginia 22406.

Children, children.

Hope you won't make a fuss.

We've sold our house

And bought a diesel bus!

Your mother tossed out her knitting.

She won't be baby sitting.

She likes the feel

Behind the wheel

Of a motor home built for two!

Mother, Father.

Though we admire your pluck!

You're too old to

Drive a diesel truck.

Instead of this bus disaster,

Try bingo or canasta.

It's just a stage,

So act your age!

Dump the motor home built for two!

Children, children.

Why such a big-to-do?

Our plans are not

Subject to your review.

Instead of us just retiring,

You act like we're expiring.

So listen hard,

We'll send a card.

From our motor home built for two!

Discovery International will hold elections at our annual meeting at the FMCA International Convention in Redmond, Oregon. The meeting is currently scheduled to be held August 15 at 3:00 p.m. (Please verify the date, time and location in your program book when you arrive at the convention.) The nominating committee has proposed the following slate of officers:

The Governing Board will meet on August 13th, prior to the convention in Redmond, Oregon. Major items of business will be the review of the draft Strategic Plan for the future of FMCA, which has been the work of a specific committee for the past two years. The plan will be submitted for adoption after some discussion. Also, there will be an election of the National Officers.

Ron Hyslop, National Director and Griff Livingston, Alternate National Director will be attending representing Discovery International. We are allowed one vote per chapter, there are currently 406 active chapters in FMCA.

When you go to buy bread in the grocery store, have you ever wondered which is the freshest, so you "squeeze" for freshness or softness? Did you know that bread is delivered fresh to the stores five days a week? Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. And each day has a different color twist tie. They are:

The colors go alphabetically by color, Blue - Green - Red - White - Yellow. Monday thru Saturday. Very easy to remember. Enjoy fresh bread when you buy bread with the right color o the day you are shopping.