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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1998)
The Browns camping out in Coachmen C atalina. W hat you need to know about motorhomes.... but don’t have the sense to ask By Warren Brown You learn many things on m otorhom e trips, like humility. H ere are two examples culled from our recent 5,300-m ile trip through the South and Central U nited States in a 1998 C oach men Catalina Class A motorhome. The Learning Tree Dateline: Chincoteague Island, Va. (Tom's Cove RV Camp). 1 should’ve backed in. Perhaps, 1 shouldn’t have tried to park there at all. W hat the hell? 1 should've missed that tree limb. It scraped the top-left edge of the m otorhom e, took oft some o f the rubber covering, dented the top-left-side molding, scratched the slide- out room's vinyl root cover, and gave me a big headache. Exactly not the way to start an RV trip. T he dam age was relatively m inor—nothing functionally ru ined. But 1 felt a little dow n—and a lot stupid. 1 wanted to blame somebody. My wife, Mary Anne, seemed the easiest target. RVing is at least a two-person affair—someone to pilot the vehicle, some one to navigate. The navigator is all-im portant, especially when it comes to driving the big, 33-toot-longC oachm an Catalina motorhome. W hen docking—that is, parking at the cam psite—it’s the navigator's job to safely guide the pilot into position, something Mary Anne has done with aplomb on numerous occasions. This wasn't one ot them. After finding another cam ping spot, 1 w ent back to examine the offending tree limb. T he thing was a botanical optical illu sion. From the rear, where M ary Anne was standing and looking up, the lim b appeared to rise high enough to provide clearance lor the 12-ft.-high Catalina. But when I walked around to the ftont ot the tree limb, I saw the problem —a hum ongous bulge, angled downward, still wear ing some of the residue ot RV root rubber. M arv A nne couldn’t 30 AFRICAN AMERICANS O N * HEH S have seen that Bulge from her po sition. I later repaired the roof with RV patching materials. But there was some other patching to do. M ary Anne knew 1 had pointed a m ental finger at her, even though I kept my m outh shut.“I should've never tried park ing in that spot,” I said. “Either that, or that tree limb should have Been higher and turned the other way,” she said. 1 should've listened to her when she advised me, as soon as we entered the camp, to park in a clearing—sans trees, sans overhangs. The Royal Flush There were warning signs. T he sewage outlet hose slipped off twice. Each time it was no big deal. T he stuff that flowed out was water from the soapy water holding tank. M otorhom es are equipped with three holding tanks: A fresh-water holding tank for showers, dish-cleaning and toilet flushes; a soapy water tank to handle runoff from the bathroom shower stall and sink, and from the kitchen sink and a third tank to hold toilet waste. It is vety im portant to dum p the tanks in proper sequence: D um p the toilet tank first. D um p the soapy water tank second. Because waste from both tanks flow’ from the motorhome through the same hose, the soapy water washes away the stench o f the toilet water. T he fresh water is released through a separate outlet. Are you with me? I could have easily fixed the slipping-hose problem . Marv Anne suggested buying a new hose with a tighter clamp. 1 agreed, but did nothing. T hat's how I got the royal flush. Before retu rn in g the motorhome to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association, w hich arranged the vehicle loan, I w anted to make sure all tanks were empty. So, 1 took the thing to a public dum ping station in Fairfax County, Va. I put the sewage outlet hose into the dum p station's recep tacle. I pulled the toilet waste valve. T he sewage hose began to tremble and rumble. It broke loose from the m otorhom es sewage pipe. I was bap tized! And in the process, 1 was born again. 1 swear, the next time. In i going to listen to that woman. Standard 5.4-liter V-8 engine Standard load-leveling suspension systems Standard integrated illuminated running boards Standard leather seating surfaces Standard second-row bucket seats with center console Burl wood interior-trim accents i Duplicate steering wheel controls (audio and climate) Six-way power passenger's seat Memory power driver's seat and side mirrors
