Links

Escapees RV Club is dedicated to providing a total support network for RVers, including those in the fulltime RVing lifestyle. The site includes an excellent discussion forum, information about Escapee's Mail Forwarding Service , CARE (the assisted living program for RVers), and many other services.

New Horizons RV Corp is the manufacturer of our fifth wheel trailer. Located in Junction City, Kansas, this company has no dealers; they are a factory-direct manufacturer. Potential customers are invited to tour the factory and then have the opportunity to work with the New Horizons staff to custom design their own unit. New Horizons RV Corp is the only manufacturer of fifth wheels and trailers to receive the RV Consumer Group's (RVCG) highest rating -- five stars. We recommend New Horizons for anyone considering living full time in an RV.

New Horizons Owners Group is an informal association of New Horizons owners. The group has rallies to share ideas and provide an opportunity to tour the rigs. Check the website for the time and place of the next rally. The website also has maintenance tips and a listing of used New Horizons coaches for sale.

Passport America -- The "original" 50% discount camping club. The Passport America discount card is only $44.00 per year. Passport America has over 1303 participating campgrounds throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico!! With new campgrounds joining almost daily!

RV Consumer Group is the only nonprofit RV consumer organization in the world. This group publishes many guides for persons planning to purchase an RV including an annually updated CD, the "RV Price & Rating Guide," a research tool to help RV consumers with the selection and purchase of a safe and reliable RV. This guide also tells whether a certain model is suited to vacation use, snowbirding, or fulltime living.

Habitat for Humanity is known throughout the world for housing families. Since 1976, Habitat has built more than 125,000 simple, decent houses. Habitat for Humanity International’s RV Care-A-Vanner program offers anyone who travels in a recreational vehicle the opportunity to make a difference — and have fun while doing it — by helping build houses with families in need. The RV Care-A-Vanner program welcomes people of all ages and from all walks of life who are ready to pick up a hammer and help change lives.

Full Disclosure -- We have not and do not receive payment or other compensation for publishing information regarding commercial products and entities.

Favorite Places

Padre Island National Seashore includes 70 miles of undeveloped beach -- the longest undeveloped beach in the continental United States. We enjoy camping in Malaquite Beach Campground, but it is also possible to camp right on the sandy beach. More information is also here.

Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge on the Rio Grande River near Progresso, Texas, is another favorite location for birding and wildlife studies. Refuge headquarters is located 7 miles south of Alamo, Texas, on FM 907 about 1/4 mile east on U.S. Highway 281.

WaterFire Providence® <http://www.waterfire.org/> - Providence, Rhode Island. WaterFire Providence®, the award-winning sculpture by Barnaby Evans installed on the three rivers of downtown Providence, has been praised by Rhode Island residents and international visitors alike as a powerful work of art and a moving symbol of Providence’s renaissance. WaterFire’s one hundred sparkling bonfires, the fragrant scent of aromatic wood smoke, the flickering firelight on the arched bridges, the silhouettes of the firetenders passing by the flames, the torch-lit vessels traveling down the river, and the enchanting music from around the world engage all the senses and emotions of those who stroll the paths of Waterplace Park.

World Birding Center -- The Rio Grande Valley has long been recognized as a world-class birding destination. And now with the creation of the World Birding Center, Texas Parks & Wildlife, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services, and nine valley communities, plan to expand awareness about this ecological treasure along the state’s southern border. The World Birding Center is a network of nine sites dotted along 120 miles of river road from South Padre Island west to Roma, with habitats ranging from dry chaparral brush and verdant riverside thickets to freshwater marshes and coastal wetlands.

Wyalusing State Park features a campground 500 feet above the confluence of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers. One of Wisconsin's oldest parks, it features Indian burial mounds, bird watching, numerous spectacular scenic overlooks.

South Texas Symphony Association schedules numerous concerts from September through May in the McAllen and Edinburg area of South Texas.

South Texas Lyric Opera presents operatic productions throughout the Rio Grande River Valley.

The Evening Sky Map -- To help find your way around the night sky, Skymaps.com makes available for free each month "The Evening Sky Map" -- a 2-page monthly guide to the night skies of the northern and southern hemispheres.

Special Interests -- Civilians in Vietnam during the conflict.

Finding Pete: Rediscovering the Brother I Lost in Vietnam, published by Wesleyan University Press. Jill Hunting has written a book about discovering what happened to her brother in Vietnam. The mystery began with news reports—including Walter Cronkite's announcement on the CBS Evening News—that Pete Hunting, a civilian with International Voluntary Services, had been led to his death by two "friends." You may get 30% off the list price if you add the code W301 at checkout AFTER clicking "add to cart": http://store.upne.com/cgi-upne/sb/productsearch.cgi

Harmless As Doves: Witnessing for Peace in Vietnam by Mary Sue Rosenberger. As a Brethren Service volunteer, Mary Sue spent from March 1966 through September 1967 nursing Vietnamese people in a hospital in NhaTrang. Combining quotes from Newsweek with personal letters to home, this uniquely documented perspective on the Vietnam conflict reveals the doubts and questions of one who tried to witness for peace among foreign, and sometimes, hostile, people. Mary Sue provides important insight into the usefulness and purpose of striving to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. A copy of this book is available free upon request to any readers of this web site. We do ask $10.00 to cover postage, packaging, and handling. We accept money by PayPal or personal check. You may request a copy by writing to bruceandmarysue [ at ] yahoo.com (be sure to replace "at" with the @ sign).