Good Sam Tours
Baja Beckons
Go south with Good Sam to Mexico’s recreation mecca
Flanked by the vast Pacific on the west and the impossibly blue Sea of Cortez on the east, Mexico’s Baja Peninsula is a playground for lovers of succulent seafood and roughhewn coastal landscapes. You can visit this south-of-the-border destination with fellow Good Sam Club members during one of two Baja Down and Back Caraventures, January 22 through February 20 and February 5 through March 6.
Setting off from the San Diego suburb of Chula Vista, this club-sponsored tour takes RVers the length of the peninsula on a vista-filled journey to the resort town of Cabo San Lucas. Along the way, you’ll go whale watching off the Pacific-coast town of Guerrero Negro, shake your maracas during a fiesta at Playa Santispac, savor a pig roast in the charming village of Mulegé and witness the rich ocean life from a glass-bottomed boat off Cabo San Lucas.
Experienced tour guides help members navigate the rugged but stunning landscape on this unforgettable 2,100-mile journey.
www.goodsamclub.com/community/eventsandtours.aspx
Tour Copper Canyon
Good Sam’s newest Caraventure goes deep into the heart of Mexico
Can’t get enough of Mexico? Take the plunge into Copper Canyon, which rivals America’s Grand Canyon in size and spectacle. The Good Sam Club’s Copper Canyon Caraventure, March 28 through April 9, takes guests on a compelling trip through Mexico’s geological and historic past. You’ll also see the dazzling pottery of Mata Ortiz.
www.goodsamclub.com/community/eventsandtours.aspx
Member Profile
United in the States
Family togetherness fuels one Good Sam clan’s journey through the lower 48 states
Dan and Becky Hirn’s friends thought the couple was crazy when they quit their jobs to spend most of 2009 RVing across the United States.
But the Good Sam Club members had a simple explanation for why they took off from their Delphos, Ohio, home with their two kids, Abby, 10, and Carter, 4, in their Callista Cruiser class C motorhome with a Keystone travel trailer in tow.
“We have just a short time with our kids before they grow up,” says Becky Hirn. “Why not make the most of it?”
After saving up for the journey, Dan was able to say goodbye to his job as a buyer for a food distributor, and Becky resigned from her position as a property manager. Their goal: Visit all 48 states in a year’s time and enjoy a little family bonding along the way. At this writing, the Hirns have covered most of the Midwest, the Northeast and the South.
To keep the cash flowing during their travels, the Hirns have sold space on the side of their trailer to charities and businesses. They also use a home-schooling curriculum with the help of the Ohio Department of Education.
“We use our travels for educational purposes,” says Debbie. “When we visited New England, our kids learned a lot about our country.”
You can follow the Hirn family’s cross-country RV adventures on their website,
www.ourtriptakesus.com.
The Rally
Almost Famous
Shine onstage at the 2010 Rally
Who needs a high-powered Hollywood agent when you can strut your stuff onstage at the 2010 Rally, July 22 through 25 in Louisville, Kentucky?
Get your act together for the Rally’s Got Talent contest, July 25 at the Kentucky Exposition Center. Qualifying acts will get a chance to perform for prizes before a panel of judges. Rising stars should submit a video of their act to Rally organizers in advance (get more information about the contest on the Rally website, listed below).
Between rehearsals, take in the new RVs, travel gear, star-studded entertainment and optional tours and learn more about the RV lifestyle at the many Rally seminars.
www.therally.com
Get Rally Info Right Now
Receive updates about the 2010 Rally’s entertainment, activities and tours through popular online social networks.
Join the Rally Facebook group by logging onto
ww.facebook.com/TheRally. Track our Rally Twitter feed at
www.twitter.com/therally. You can also get Louisville Rally updates at Eons, the online network for Baby Boomers, by clicking on
www.eons.com/groups/group/the-rally.
RV Bookshelf
Going by the Book
GPS coordinates and green RV parks enhance the latest Trailer Life Directory
Planning a cross-country RV excursion? Before hitting the highways, RVers are well advised to consult the 2010 Trailer Life RV Parks, Campgrounds and Services Directory.
Listing more than 11,000 RV parks across North America, the 2010 directory includes GPS navigational coordinates for each park’s listing along with a green logo identifying Good Sam Parks that meet the directory’s new eco-friendly standards. The directory’s editors have also listed 1,187 low clearances, so you can avoid underpasses that could wreck your roof.
Of course, the 2010 directory also includes favorites RVers have come to depend on. At-A-Glance sections show which parks participate in the online-reservations program, and the Virtual Tours At-A-Glance tells which RV parks and businesses have created video tours that let you scope out their facilities on
www.goodsamclub.com. The At-A-Glance feature is also available for Internet Access and RV Service Centers and Dealers.
To order a copy of the Trailer Life Directory, visit the website below, click on Bookstore and select Directories.
www.goodsamclub.com/travelstore
Smile, Save and Camp
Good Sam Club members get a 10 percent discount at all of the RV parks that bear the Good Sam logo in the Trailer Life Directory.
But saving money isn’t the only perk of staying at Good Sam Parks.
Each Good Sam Park must receive a rating of at least 5/7.5H/5 and meet specific minimum requirements within each rating category to qualify for Good Sam Park status. In addition to annually inspecting each Good Sam Park, representatives make unannounced visits to confirm qualification and verify listing information.
To get your Good Sam Park discount, simply show your membership card at check-in.
Giveaway Winners
RVers in the Outback
Keystone gives a Florida family a bigger, better trailer
Talk about an upgrade. RVers Nancy and Clay Heckert of Panama City, Florida, won a new Keystone Outback travel trailer valued at more than $26,000 through Keystone RV’s Live your Dream promotion. The Heckerts, who RV with their 11-year-old son, PJ, previously camped in a folding trailer. They’re eager to enjoy more elbowroom and amenities.
“Winning this new Outback could not have come at a better time,” says Nancy.
The Indiana manufacturer is holding the sweepstakes through February 2010 in partnership with the newsletters, websites and magazines published by Affinity, Good Sam’s parent company.
www.keystonervgiveaway.com
RV Milestone
Happy 100th
The recreational vehicle celebrates its centennial
In 1910, hot on the heels of the automobile, the first RVs hit the road. These crude motorized campers, made by companies like Los Angeles Trailer Works and Auto-Kamp Trailers, sported none of the amenities on today’s homes on wheels. But they sparked the spirit of adventure and fun that has endured war, depression and vast social changes. One hundred years later, RVs still drive the highways.
In recognition of the centennial, the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association and other industry organizations have planned an array of special events aimed at celebrating the RV’s journey through history.
“The reasons to RV remain the same,” says RVIA President Richard Coon. “People still enjoy the freedom that it provides.”
In addition to a 100th anniversary logo and special industry events, RVIA will announce an RV caravan led by historian David Woodworth in one of his early RVs.
www.rvia.org
RVs for the Ages
Good Sam Club members can celebrate RVing’s 100th birthday by joining Elkhart, Indiana’s RV/MH Hall of Fame, one of the Good Sam Club’s Smile and Save partners. Members may purchase discounted RV/MH Hall of Fame lifetime memberships, entitling them to free admission at the Elkhart, Indiana, venue.
www.goodsamclub.com/save
Smile and Save
Reach Out and Click
Get in the scene with the XShot camera extender
Can’t find a helping hand to snap that romantic picture of you and your RV copilot? Use the XShot, a lightweight telescopic camera extender that holds your compact digital camera or hand-held video camera at a distance to capture photos and video of you and your buddies when no one’s around. The XShot extends 37 inches, enough for background and group shots of up to five. The XShot telescopes to just 9 inches and weighs only 5 ounces.
To receive the Good Sam Club 33 percent online discount, enter the following coupon code: GSC2009.
www.goodsamclub.com/save
Giving Back
Building a Better Future
A Good Sam couple builds homes full time for Habitat for Humanity
When Bill and France Moriarty retired in 2002, they wasted no time shedding their old life. The south Florida Good Sam Club members liquidated their prosperous construction company, got rid of their condominium on the beach and hit the road full-time with their Teton fifth-wheel trailer.
Their new calling? Building homes across the United States for Habitat for Humanity, the nonprofit organization that renovates and builds houses for people in need. Since their first Habitat project in Battle Creek, Michigan, the Moriartys have traveled to 23 states, including Alaska, New Mexico and South Dakota. Along the way, they’ve become project managers and participate in the organization’s RV Care-A-Vanners program, which organizes RVers who volunteer for Habitat.
Helping the needy isn’t new for the Moriartys, who’d participated in international Christian missionary work in the 1990s. But then they had an epiphany. “Before you go fix the world, why don’t you fix your world,” says France.
Despite the long hours, the Moriartys aren’t close to putting down their tool belts. “Traveling without a purpose can be no fun,” says France.
To find out more about the RV Care-A-Vanners program, visit the website below.
www.habitat.org
Volunteering
Cash for the Memories
An RVing friendship yields a $29 million gift
Good Sam member Bob Glim used to hit the road in his classic GMC motorhome with his wife, Dorothy, when he wasn’t busy teaching agricultural economics at California State University, Fresno, in California. Glim had no idea that one of the friendships he struck up during his gatherings with fellow GMC owners would result in a $29 million windfall for his school.
Last spring, Glim was notified that one of his old RV buddies, Hanabul Jordan, nicknamed Bud, had left the huge bequest to the university. It’s the largest single cash gift ever received by a CSU school. Glim, who has since retired from teaching, was on hand when the funds were presented to the university by the Jordan estate.