Interior secretary has roots with RVers
Secretary of Interior Gale Norton arrived in style last week at the Family Motor Coach Association convention in Redmond, Ore.
She pulled in aboard a 2005 Monaco Dynasty motor coach provided for the occasion by the Monaco folks in Coburg, Ore. Earlier that day she had made a tour of the manufacturing plant and spoke with employees working the assembly line.
Secretary Norton came to the FMCA gathering to talk about Take Pride In America, a national program of the Department of Interior that encourages volunteer service on America’s public lands.
While Norton doesn’t own a recreational vehicle herself, she does have some early RV experience.
“Actually, when I was born my parents were living in a trailer — which was a whole lot smaller than this,” she said pointing over her shoulder at the Dynasty. “My first home was an Airstream.”
As the story goes, Norton’s parents lived in the Airstream for several years before she was born in Wichita, Kan. “We moved out when I was too young to remember anything.”
An avid outdoorswoman, Norton and her husband, John Hughes, enjoy hiking, backpacking, horseback riding, skiing and tent camping.
The former Colorado Attorney General wrote in a follow-up e-mail: “I would have loved an RV when I first ran for elected office. In 1990, my husband and I borrowed my parents’ station wagon so we could sleep in the back while campaigning around Colorado. My husband would drive all night from place to place while I snoozed. Then he would catch a nap while I did campaign events.”
Norton also recalled one vacation trip she and her husband made years ago to the Pacific Northwest.
“We stopped at Mount Rainier at dusk and decided to hike up the trail a ways to camp,” she said.
“It got dark quickly, but we had a flashlight. On the way, we met a poor guy who had fallen and lost his glasses, delayed too long searching for them and ended up stumbling his way down the trail in the dark. My husband helped him back down the trail while I waited with our gear — in the dark forest.
“It was not scary,” she said. “I enjoyed being in the woods alone; but I was also happy to see John’s flashlight bobbing back up the trail. The next day, we enjoyed a beautiful day exploring Mount Rainier.”
For more information
• Take Pride in America can be reached by going to www.takepride.gov; or by mail at 1849 C St., N.W., Room 3459, Washington, D.C. 20240; or by telephone at (202) 208-5848.
• For details on the programs of the U.S. Department of the Interior go to www.doi.gov; or write to 1849 C St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240; or call (202) 208-3100.
• The headquarters of Monaco Coach Corporation is 91320 Coburg Industrial Way, Coburg, OR. 97408. Call toll-free (800) 235-4654 with questions or go online to www.monacocoach.com.
• The Family Motor Coach Association’s Web site is www.fmca.com. A mailing address is 8291 Clough Pike, Cincinnati, OH 45244 and a toll-free number is (800) 543-3622.
Pets hitting the road for Labor Day
The American Humane Association and Bayer Animal Health have teamed up to remind pet owners of a few “pet-perations” before heading out for the long Labor Day weekend.
• Take along copies of health records and a current photograph of your pet in case it is lost.
• Never leave your pet unattended in your RV. Even 10 minutes can be too long on a hot day.
• To avoid digestive problems, gradually adjust pets to a new water supply. Leave home with a gallon of water and at various stops along the way gradually mix equal parts of the new water to the old.
• Stick to the same “potty schedule” as home.
For further information
• The American Humane Association can be reached at: AHA, 63 Inverness Dr. E., Englewood, CO 80112; or by calling (303) 792-9900 or going online to www.americanhumane.org.
• Bayer Animal Health’s online resource for tips and information about pets is www.petparents.com.
Wheel question
Driving back last week from the FMCA convention and touring the Monaco and Country Coach factories, I took U.S. Highway 12 that skirts MountRainer to the south.
About 40 miles west of Yakima I spotted Rimrock Lake and the Tieton River that spills out of it. If I hadn’t been in a rush to get home, I would have pulled off for a closer look because it seems to attract a lot of RVers.
If you have camped in that area would you please let me know how you like it? Contact me at Wheel Life, 999 W. Riverside Ave., Spokane, WA 99201 or by calling (509) 459-5435, or by e-mail ( juliannec@spokesman.com).