VIRGINIA  HISTORY  CARAVAN

The Virginia History Caravan in Yorktown, Virginia at the surrender site of England’s Cornwallis to General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War

The Virginia History II Monaco’s in Motion caravan has now made its own history.

The caravan was held April 18-May 3, 2006 in Central Virginia.  Ten coaches participated.  Thirty eight historical sites were visited.  Virginia's colonial, revolutionary, and Civil War histories were explored.  A modern day movie brought the caravan to a close. The group met in Powhatan, Virginia at Cozy Acres Campground--a nice, rural facility owned and operated by fellow Monaco owners Larry and Jean Daniel.

This campground was chosen for its central location for touring Richmond, Appomattox, and Charlottesville.  A dinner featuring Virginia Brunswick stew and welcome activities were held on the first night.  On the second and third days, the group carpooled to Richmond and boarded a bus to tour Monument Avenue, the Virginia Historical Society, the Richmond waterfront via canal

boat, Carytown, Hollywood Cemetery, the Tredeger Iron Works Civil War Visitors Center, Windsor Farms, St. John's Church, Church Hill, the White House of the Confederacy, and the Governor's Mansion.  The importance of the James River in the city's history and current-day projects seemed to be an unexpected theme to our visit to Richmond.

From Cozy Acres, the group carpooled on the fourth day to Appomattox Courthouse National Historical Park where we saw the movies, studied the exhibits, and toured the grounds where Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant.  The next day, we carpooled to Charlottesville to visit Thomas Jefferson's home Monticello, to have lunch at historic Michie Tavern, to study the Jefferson exhibits at the Visitors Center, and to take a guided tour of the University of Virginia Rotunda, Lawn, and Jefferson's Academical Village.  The next day, Sunday, was a day of rest.

On Monday, the seventh day, the caravan traveled to Fredericksburg, Virginia and checked into the Fredericksburg KOA.  After everyone was settled, we carpooled 5 miles to the Stonewall Jackson Shrine for a guided ranger tour.  Here at Guniea Station, Jackson died after being wounded at Chancellorsville.

The next day, we carpooled to downtown Fredericksburg where we watched an orientation film at the Visitors Center and then boarded a trolley for a tour of the town's historic sights including City Dock, the Rappahannock River, Marye's Heights, and Kenmore.  We had lunch at a restaurant overlooking the river and then were entertained at the Rising Sun Tavern and welcomed at the Mary Washington (George's mother) House.  Our visit to Fredericksburg coincided with Historic Garden Day and we were treated to the blooms of the pink and white dogwood, vibrant pink azaleas, and multi-colored tulips.

On day nine, the group traveled to the George Washington Birthplace National Monument.  Here a ranger led us on a tour of the farm where Washington spent his very early years and developed his love of farming.  We had a picnic lunch at the pavilion located along Pope's Creek at the Potomac River.  Later that afternoon, we visited Chatham Manor, a mansion across the Rappahannock River from Fredericksburg that was used as Union Headquarters.

On the tenth day of the caravan, the group explored the area's Civil War history at the Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitors Center with a ranger-led walking tour of the Sunken Road, a stop at the Chancellor House site, and at the Chancellorsville Battlefield Visitors Center with a film, exhibits, and a ranger-led tour discussing the battle of Chancellorsville and the wounding of Stonewall Jackson.

On the eleventh day, the caravan moved to the American Heritage RV Park in Williamsburg, Virginia.  That evening, we attended the Mystery Dinner Theater production of "Frankly Scarlet, You're Dead!"  On Saturday we visited Colonial Williamsburg.  On Sunday, we went to a fabulous champagne jazz brunch at the Williamsburg Inn, and then continued with touring of Colonial Williamsburg, watching the new attraction, "a Revolutionary Experience."  We each also had a special carriage ride of the historic area.

Jamestowne was our destination for the next day.  We traveled the beautiful Colonial Parkway along the James River to the National Park site.  We saw the expansion being readied for the 2007 celebration of the 400th anniversary of the first permanent English settlement in the country.  A ranger guided us to the 300th, 1907, anniversary monument, to the Pocahontas monument, to the John Smith Monument, and into the old church.  That evening, the group used our donation from Monaco Coach Corp. to attend the movie RV together.  We laughed and laughed as we identified our and our friends' RV-ing mishaps that were featured in the movie.

The final full day of the caravan was spent visiting Yorktown.  We saw exhibits and a film, walked the siege line with a docent, and took a ranger-led tour of old town Yorktown.  For lunch, we visited the brand new Riverwalk area on the York River.  That night, the men cooked steaks for our farewell dinner.

After bagels at the picnic table the next morning, the group bid our fond farewells.

Besides the meals mentioned in the above text, the group was well fed with lunch at Acapella Restaurant in a historic inn on Church Hill in Richmond, a catered BBQ dinner by Turner's BBQ while at Cozy Acres, a hot dog and s'mores dinner cookout, a make-your-own-sub-and-sundae dinner, a biscuit and sausage gravy breakfast, a dessert buffet and lunch buffets at Cici's and Golden

Corral. Participants each prepared one heavy hors d'oeuvre and a breakfast-covered dish.  We had an assortment of light snacks and "must-gos" with our daily briefings.

We were kept busy for 7 evenings with working on a 1000 piece historic Virginia jigsaw puzzle.

We were so busy exploring Virginia's history that some days we couldn't even find a USA today!  Even though some of us had to get up earlier than we wanted or others had to keep going when tired, everyone was always cheerful, most cooperative, and seemed to have a great time together in Virginia

On a personal note--Our caravan did have one shadow--the untimely death of Katie Beckley as she and her

husband Bill were traveling from California to meet us in Virginia.  Bill is blessed to have Larry and Ellen Johnson as dear friends.

We're so pleased Bill came on to Virginia and joined the caravan later.  The group could certainly show him that many of us had been in the same situation before. Life goes on and those motorhome friends and travels sure do help. 

Ed and Connie Tilman

LAND  OF  ENCHANTMENT  CARAVAN

Caravan Leaders:  Kim & Shelly Pollock and Wayne & Barbara McCray

September 26, 2006 thru October 15, 2006

 Come join us in the Land of Enchantment for a Scenic, Cultural, Historic and Adventure tour of our 47th state, New Mexico. 

We will be starting our adventure in Santa Fe.  Santa Fe, along with Taos, has evolved to become the second largest art market in the US - only New York City sells more artwork than these two cities.  We have several tours and events planned for Santa Fe before we leave to explore Bandolier. We will have a trolley tour of the city, will be visiting several museums and will have optional tours of the Shidoni Bronze Foundry and Sculpture Gardens and Tent Rocks National Park.

We will be driving over beautiful mountain back roads to the site of the Bandolier Cliff Dwellings. These historic and well preserved cliff dwellings are unique in the southwest for their setting and beauty.  On to Taos, an ancient pueblo over 1000 years old.   While there, we will tour the pueblo and see and experience some of the sights in this beautiful art community.

We will then motor on to Chama for a full day ride on the historic Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad - the longest and highest narrow gauge railroad in the country.   Traversing over more beautiful mountain roads will take us to the Chaco Canyon ruins - the ancient center of the ancestral Puebloan culture. 

On to Gallup for several days of adventure and quality shopping.  It has been said that 80% of all native jewelry passes through Gallup on its way to the other markets.  It is a town of over one hundred trading posts and pawn shops where most of the Native American cottage craftsmen sell and trade their wares.  And for those adventurous sorts, we have made special arrangements for an optional hot air balloon ride over the spectacular Red Rock Canyon area during our stay in Gallup.   The next few days will find us in the El Moro National Monument.  We will tour the monument; spend an afternoon at the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary and then head to the town of Zuni, home of the Zuni Pueblo. While there, we will have a private tour of their famous church, which has been recently renovated.  We will also be privileged to visit the homes of a local award-winning potter and a talented silversmith.  They will demonstrate for us their crafts and will answer any questions we might have.  On the way to Albuquerque, we will have a individualized guided tour of the oldest, continually inhabited city in North America – Acoma Pueblo (Sky City).     

We will land in Albuquerque just in time for the Tricentennial celebration of this fascinating city.  We will spend four days in Balloon Park witnessing the most photographed event in the world - the Albuquerque Balloon Festival. If you have not seen this spectacular event, you are in for a real treat. Where else in the world can you find 60,000 people out on a grassy field at 6 am in the morning long before sun rise eating breakfast burritos and drinking steaming hot coffee?  Only at the Balloon Fiesta! 

During the days when the balloons are not rising, we will take a couple of side trips to further explore the surrounding areas.  One day, we will take the world's longest tramway to the top of 10,300 foot Sandia Peak for lunch and a spectacular view of the 11,000 square mile panorama stretching before us.  If you are not yet convinced that this is a trip of a lifetime, check out our planned route and more information on the Chapter’s web site www.monacosinmotion.org

This caravan will be a wonderful opportunity to learn about the history, culture, geology and crafts of this true Land of Enchantment!  While we will have plenty of free time for shopping, hiking, trekking, relaxing and socializing, this will be an active tour.  We have many tours planned and the days are filled with activities. Much of our time will be spent at altitudes between 5000 and 8000 feet.  All of the roads have been pre-run by the leaders and are suitable for large coaches but many of the routes are scenic mountain two lane roads.   There will be some days when we will be driving our toads on dirt roads to reach some of the remote locations. 

Club Website

We have a fabulous chapter web site located at www.MonacosInMotion.org. Stop by and check it out.

This issue of Wheels is on the web site and you can view it, or even print it out, in full color. There is even a less formatted web version for those folks with dial up modems. Sign up now for electronic delivery of your newsletter, you will get it much earlier and save the chapter the cost of printing and mailing.

Kim Pollock is our web master and doing a great job. Kim has an abundance of talent and is putting it to our advantage. Please thank him when you have a chance. 

__________________________

Treasurer’s Thoughts

Have you ever thought or dreamed about leading a caravan yourself?  It's not hard - it just takes a little foresight and planning.  It's important also to realize that your Treasurer is here to help you with things financial if you need him.  A good example occurred when JeanAnn and I decided to lead a caravan through Tennessee and Georgia called Sherman's March to the Sea.  Our final campground outside of Savannah was a Georgia State Park which required us to pay one-half of our total campground charges for 18 coaches - a figure in excess of $500.00 - at the time of our booking many months in advance of our use and before we had collected our caravan deposits!  Not to worry.  I put the charges on my credit card and then asked the then-Treasurer - Jack Sangalli - to reimburse me.  He did so very rapidly, so that I was not out-of-pocket.  There is also an allowance for leading a caravan to encourage people to lead them.  So give it some thought and let your officers know you are ready to serve your fellow members and lead a caravan!

                        Bill Miller

__________________________

National Director

Hi Everyone

After three years helping Tina and three years of her helping me as treasurer for Monaco’s in Motion, I was looking forward to doing something different. When Wade Myers ran for, and won, Vice President of Monaco International I accepted the nomination for and am now your newly elected MIM National Director. I was able to attend the training session conducted by Leta Morgan and the FMCA Governing Board informational meeting at Lancaster, CA. What surprised me most was the amount of reading and listening this job requires. So far I have only cast one vote, that being for the position of International Area Vice president.

Newsletter

We are putting each issue of Wheels on the chapter’s web site in two versions. One is in full color and an exact copy of the mailed Wheels. The other is less formatted, lacks some graphics, and is much, much smaller for those folks with dial-up modems but it still has the photos in color. In either case, the mailed version is black & white.

Those with the ability to view the newsletter on-line get a much improved version.

A survey proved that both formats were needed and we will continue to put both formats on the web site.

Now the question. Who would like to download their own copy of Wheels? Who would like to read their copy of Wheels on-line in full color rather than waiting for the black and white mailed copy?

This would save the club the cost of printing and mailing and give you a full color copy instead of the mailed black and white. Just drop me a note at: John@Johnham.us and I’ll add you to the list. If you are not on the e-mail notification list I will add you to that also so you will receive an e-mail when new issues of the Wheels are posted.

Chapter Officers

President

John Ham

199 Rainbow Dr, #9999

Livingston, TX 77399

Tel & Cell: 970-927-3273

E-mail: John@JohnHam.us

Vice-President

Ed Tilman

3566 Old River Trail

Powhatan, VA 23139

Tel: 804-598-3068

Email: connietilman@pocketmail.com

Secretary

Barbara McCray

PMB 215903

3590 Round Bottom Road

Cincinnati, OH 45244

Cell: (409) 200-1748

E-mail: campin@hughes.net

Treasurer

Bill Miller

11085 Big Canoe

Big Canoe, GA 30143

Tel: 706-579-1213

Cell: 678-361-6378

E-mail: billcanoe@alltel.net

National Director

Jack Sangalli

1461 Valle Vista #26

Pekin, IL 61554

Cell: 309-453-1205

Cell: 863-465-5261

E-mail: jssangalli@yahoo.com

Alt National Director