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Hello
everyone. Wow, does time fly! The new Monaco
International Board of Directors is off to a busy
start. There are administrative duties that must be
addressed on a weekly, and sometimes daily, basis.
A number of committees are working to improve some
of the club’s procedures. Our Secretary, Tressa
Williams, is overseeing the printing and
distribution of our annual directory. By the time
you read this, many of you may have already received
your 2006 directory. Please check out the new
format on page three. All of the Monaco
International charter members are honored.
Currently, we have three charter members who are
active in our club. If you want to know who they
are, you will have to read the book.
I am
truly excited about the location of the next rally.
The Monaco 600, is at the Greensboro Coliseum
Complex, 1921 West Lee Street, in Greensboro, NC
27435, from August 8th through August 11th,
2006. Display coaches are in a 60,000 sq. ft. air
conditioned, convention center. The meals, cocktail
hours and entertainment are in another 30,000 sq.
ft. area. Vendors and seminar rooms are
conveniently adjacent to the display coaches in the
same large building. There are three great nights
of entertainment. The first night is 50s and 60s
music. The entertainers perform for one hour, and
then provide another hour of dance music. The
second night starts with a comedy-magician that is
truly incredible. His act is followed by an hour of
dance music. On the third night, a professional
group from New York City performs a musical variety
act emulating Broadway shows of the 40s and 50s. As
an added treat, we have afternoon musical
performances by Dave and Daphne every day of the
rally. The Rally Masters for this rally are Marty
and Cathy Kimball. For more information, visit
their web site at
www.Monaco600Rally.com.
After
Greensboro, the next rally is in Macon, GA at the
Coliseum Centreplex. The dates are March 14th
through March 17th, 2007. The rally fee
has been set at $250.00. As usual, there are
breakfasts, happy hours; and dinners. The Monaco
technicians are available to repair Monaco coaches.
We have three nights of entertainment, and the
display coaches are inside the convention center.
This summer and fall, we are working on the details,
so look for more information in future articles.
I had
a 2500 mile opportunity to test my new Balance
Masters. The tires remained on the road through-out
the entire trip, which is the safest way to ride in
a motorhome. The handling was great. When I
installed the Balance Masters, the instructions said
to remove the existing weights. The weights on one
tire had already become unglued, which was the cause
of my steering shimmy. I have already worn out the
tread on one set of tires, and there is only 30,000
miles left on this set. A balanced tire prolongs
the life of the tread. Yes, I think continuous
balancing is better that installed weights.
We
left Florida after visiting for several weeks. From
personal experience, I know that a clean coach
drives better, and may even give an extra ½
mile-per-gallon in fuel economy; or so it seems.
But true to the laws of nature, every time I start
on a trip - it rains. Not long, and not hard, but
it rains. For just about twenty minutes, which is
long enough to make sure all the road dirt turns to
mud. So where does all that highway grime go?
Naturally, the road mud sticks to every part of the
clean coach.
Being
aware of this hard and fast fact of motorhoming, I
decided not to wash my coach before leaving
for Virginia. I started the trip on a sunny day,
but I just knew what was going to happen at any
minute. Well, it didn’t. This unusual event leads
to this new caveat to my hard and fast rule. Leave
with a clean coach, and it is guaranteed to rain;
which means you arrive with a dirty coach. Or,
leave with a dirty coach, and it is guaranteed
not to rain, which means you arrive with a dirty
coach. The moral to the story is this: We truly
love traveling in our motorhome.
Ellen
has been very busy, which is typical of many wives
who are continuously busy. They all face the same
problem, “he is called spouse.” Ellen told me to
say hello to everyone. Actually, Ellen tells me a
lot of things. The good news is, this time, I
remembered what she told me to do. Ellen says “Hi!”
Summer has creped up on us, and the next Monaco
International Rally is around the corner. See you
soon at our great Greensboro Rally.
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