----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Hanson" <dhanson@GORGE.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2007 12:35 PM
Subject: Vanagons and RVs

"Someone asked about the large complex RVs people seem to favor now, "Thats
Camping?"  No, there is a whole new class of recreation called "RVing". It
is different from camping.   I've met lots of them during my travels,
"RVers" and they often be the first to tell you they aren't camping, they
are RVing...."

I've been thinking about our ever so appropriate biases re those behometh
RVs, and wanted to identify that there are really some decent folks who
consider themselves to be campers and their RVs and/or trailers as mobile
"camps.

A few years ago, when I was a full time Red Cross disaster service
instructor for several different courses, our region was "visited" by the
Air Stream group.  I was truly impressed by their pre-arrival request that
we offer their attendees some of our national disaster response courses
during their time in Northwestern Vermont.  More, meeting with their
pre-arrival planning group and, later with the hundred or so who enrolled
and completed the course offerings, I found the group we worked with to be
genuinely nice folks, interested in learning so they could offer their
services anywhere they might be on the road in the neighborhood of a weather
or other type of disaster.

Of course, they smiled, made some jokes and chortled as I entered their
"beer can town" with my 84 Westy.  But, when I showed them that I could use
the van as a disaster response communication center and temporary residence,
they began to think about how else they might be assisting communities
around the country.  I teamed up with their ham radio group to discuss that
aspect of disaster response operations.  I have no idea how many might have
followed up and actually volunteered, but the group of people I met were
fairly down-to-earth and just as proud of their roadway homes as we
Westyites are ....

Sam Conant
M