Traveling across the country with the comforts of home
Sat Nov 7, 2009
Author: Deborah Fox
Source: news-bulletin.com
Willie Nelson's song "On the Road Again" comes to mind as they load up and break for that first stretch of highway into the wild blue yonder.
The Blooms started RV-ing (recreational vehicle traveling) three years ago. These wanderlust souls have long been drawn to explore land and sea. It's in their blood like DNA.
Kim said he's had an obsession to travel as early as 10 years old.
"That's why. as a young man, I usually bought station wagons, so I could load up and go," Kim Bloom said.
Motor homes like the Bloom's 32-foot Georgie Boy give a panoramic view of the highway and landscapes with large, wide windows. The living room side of the motor home can be extended out when it's parked, providing a wider space.
In the luxury models, both sides can be extended, creating a very large living and dining area. These models usually have three to four "slide outs," one of which is often an outdoor patio with a pop-out plasma television screen.
"Great for barbecuing while watching the game," proclaimed Kim.
Park along the seaside cliffs on highway 101 in California for morning coffee, or, like the Blooms, park along the Arkansas River in Howard, Colo., on Route 50 for quiet camping, listening to the meandering river. This is one of their favorite haunts.
There are three classes of motor homes: A, B, and C. Class A homes are the largest, and have the most storage, designed with retirees in mind.
Class C is a smaller unit — great for family weekend camping trips, and class Bs are small van-style motor homes.
The Blooms moved to Belen from Reno, Nev., and lived in their motor home while they had their home built. They had a port built onto the house for their motor home, much like a boat at a dock, Kim explained.
"A lot of people refer to motor homes as land yachts," he said.
The Blooms met fellow RV-ers Nancy and Larry Breyer through the Good Sam's RV Club.
"We were all new to the area, so we decided to form a local RV club," he said.
The Good Sam Club, based in Englewood, Colo., is an international organization of recreational vehicle owners formed to help make travel safer and cheaper.
Art Rouse, one of the first members of the club, was the founder of a publishing company that published travel and motor home magazines. The name was derived from the Biblical story of the Good Samaritan, with the purpose of helping fellow travelers.
This inspired the Sunrise Sam's RV club to organize and participate in an annual community service day. Last month, they helped clean up the grounds of the Harvey House Museum in Belen.
The Good Sam RV Club had a national "Samboree" in Albuquerque this year, when about 4,000 rigs attended.
"New Mexico has about 11,000 Good Sam card holders," said Bloom.
The Blooms and Breyers formed their RV club chapter over a year and a half ago. They named it the Sunrise Sam's RV Club.
Every chapter has a logo, so they created a committee to design one for their chapter. One of Kim's hobbies is pen and ink drawing, so he was eager to help. His design was the one selected, and the group fine-tuned it with their ideas included.
They have sent it in to Sam's Club headquarters where it will be officially logged. Each chapter has its own color and vest, and plans to display the vests and the logo are in the works.
There are 27 rigs in the Sunrise Sam's RV Club chapter. Recently, 11 rigs in the club took a 950 mile trip to Branson, Mo.
"We get substantial discounts going in a group like that, but we don't go caravan style. Everybody's different in how they travel, how often they stop for breaks," Kim said. "But we met each night, first in Amarillo, then in Oklahoma City, and had a potluck dinner, then shared breakfast and lunch," added Jackie. "We communicate with each other using walkie-talkies."
"Trail bosses" and "wagon masters" are selected for each trip. The trail boss, usually two of the club's couples, plan the trip and set the course, and the wagon master helps the trail boss.
The trail boss is also responsible for the main meat dish for their potluck.
They use GPS (Global Positioning Systems) to chart their course.
"Sometimes we arrive a half mile down the road from the campsite, or it's on the opposite side of the road," quips Kim, "GPS is only as reliable as the person who puts the information in it, but it gets us close enough."
Last week, more than a half a dozen rigs left for Pancho Villa State Park in Columbus, N. M., but the Blooms didn't join that trip. Soon, they'll be headed to Quartzite, Ariz., where they'll join other "snowbirds" for the winter.
"Snowbirds are Canadians and northern Americans who descend on the southern states for the winter," Kim explained. "Fifty percent of the campers will be from Canada.
"The town has a yearly festival, and there will be rigs from all over the states and Canada — 10,000 to 20,000 parked all over the desert. There will be a big tent meeting, and 50 to 150 vendors selling all sorts of RV stuff."
Last summer, the Blooms took a 7,000 mile trip through the southeastern states.
"It took us two and a half months," said Kim. "We went from New Mexico through Texas, Oklahoma...through Alabama, Jackson, Florida, up through Georgia, stopped in Savannah, went to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. We visited George (Washington) and Martha's house, and went to the boardwalk in New Jersey.
"When we entered New York, we had $84 in cash on us, and a half hour later, when we were leaving we had $8 left after four tolls, and $32 to cross the bridge!"
The end-point was Maine, where they turned around and took a different route home, visiting Niagara Falls, the Amish in Pennsylvania, the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville and Graceland in Memphis. Next summer, the Blooms plan a similar trip for the northwestern states.
