Day 22 Saturday July 7, 2007
Highway US-95 north through Idaho is a delightful road; rolling hillsides then steep climbs to mountain passes then miles of beautiful fields planted with wheat, potatoes and many other crops. Because the time zone line zigs across Idaho, we had the novel experience of crossing from Mountain Time to Pacific Time while driving due north! We settled into the parking area at the University of Idaho for the Life on Wheels conference. We will be here for eight nights!
Day 23 Sunday July 8, 2007
We started the day with a jog (more walking than running now-a-days). In the early afternoon we did some shopping and walked around downtown Moscow. It is pretty quiet in a college town on a summer Sunday! The conference started with an hour of musical entertainment by a talented singer-guitarist. Audience members would call out years and he would sing one of the hits from that year. It was very entertaining. We then had a conference introduction where we met the leaders and instructors followed by a presentation highlighting 100 years of RV history. It is amazing how long ago they built sophisticated rigs with what we think of as modern features like jacks and slide outs. We’ve already met many nice folks attending the conference and it promises to be a terrific week.
Day 24 Monday July 9, 2007
Each conference day consists of four 90 minute classes. We learned about electrical systems, traveling in Mexico’s Baja, inverters and chargers, RV gadgets, and Alaska travel. If you assumed Carl went to the technical classes you’d be wrong. He did the destination classes while Sandy attended the electrical sessions! In the evening they had RV visitation. About 30 percent of the attendees have yet to buy their first RV so we and many other attendees opened their RVs and helped people understand why we chose the one we did. It was fun and we had a ton of people including six at once.
Day 25 Tuesday July 10, 2007
Up early again for the eight o’clock start of classes. Today’s sessions included RVing Made Easy, Motorhome Driving, Boondocking, Satellite Internet systems, and Hosting in NW State Parks. After the last class we had a cocktail party at a local hotel then went to the theater. Our conference fee included two free tickets to one of the performances at the on-campus theater and we went to see Summer of ’42 tonight. Very entertaining and well done.
Day 26 Wednesday July 11, 2007
We were up late last night so Sandy cut her morning class and slept in. We attended sessions on National Parks, Arizona State Parks, RVing in Alaska (taught by a man whose great grandfather climbed the Chilkoot Pass during the Klondike Gold Rush). We also learned that as “students” of the Life on Wheels conference, we were entitled to use the college bookstore, including buying software at substantial student discounts. We bought an upgrade to Microsoft Office for 1/3 of the regular street price. This evening, the Moscow Chamber of Commerce put on a barbeque for us as thanks for bringing business to their city during the summer when most of the 12,000 university students are away. A little shopping and a quiet evening in the coach brought an end to another delightful day.
Day 27 Thursday July 12, 2007
Today was the last full day of classes and we took in a lot. RVing the Pacific Northwest, Solar Panel seminar, camping on public lands, RVing the American Heartland and RVing America’s North Country. After supper there was an ice cream social followed by an evening program about an RV expedition through Mexico and Central America to Panama!
Day 28 Friday July 13, 2007
It was a very nice day for a Friday the 13th! The morning sessions included RV travel and camping tricks, GPS mapping program overview and RVing in the Southwest. After lunch there was a Q&A session with the instructors. The questions ran the gamut from finding dump stations and personal safety to health insurance and dealing with the death of a spouse on the road. Many good ideas and food for thought. The closing session was pretty short; certificates were given out to people who had attended four conferences (the graduates), the founder, Gaylord Maxwell, made a few remarks and we were done. Late in the afternoon we went to a local Laundromat to catch up on laundry and we had dinner in a lovely small restaurant in town. Back at the coach we sorted through the piles of handouts and brochures, consolidated our notes and prepared for the next phase of our trip in the Seattle area. Tomorrow we have the coach weighed, Sandy has a three hour motorhome driving lesson and Sunday we head for Mount Rainier National Park.