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And a Goodtime was had by all

A View From The SummitA View From The Summit

SEE RALLY SCHEDULE ON

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Start planning your Rally fun!

BALLOON FIESTA

Forty-one coaches gathered in Albu-querque for the International Balloon Fiesta in October. We've always em-phasized that this event is weather-dependent, and we validated that—but all's well that ends well. Wednesday found all the coaches in and settled in good time, and we were able to be outside to enjoy our friends and the goodies they provided. Thursday and Friday, however, brought too much rain and wind for the balloons to fly. We consoled ourselves with a brunch at the Balloon Museum on Thursday, followed by our membership meeting. Friday's dinner was preceded by a gearhead session, and although it was still too breezy for the balloon glow, we all enjoyed an excellent fireworks dis-play. Finally! On Saturday, the bal-loons flew, and it was a wonderful show. Walking on the field among the inflating balloons brings home how huge they really are, especially the special shapes. Saturday evening's dinner, also at the Museum, was fol-lowed by the balloon glow and then another fireworks show. On Sunday morning, the balloons flew again, and then we all packed up and departed. Our thanks to everyone who participated, and especially to Duane and Mary Ann Walker, who worked with us to make the event happen. More pictures on page 6

December 2011

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FROM OUR PRESIDENT —Paul (Sully) Sullivan

Where does the time go, it seems like I just wrote an ar-ticle about our summer and here it is almost time for Quartzsite. Dale and I are in San Diego doing our part to keep the medical community here afloat. One more week and we should be ready to head for the desert. As you know we are facing the reality that our Member-ship Rolls will decline as coaches, and people, wear out. Since we will see no new Alpine Motorhomes we have adjusted our rules to allow owners of other brands to join if they have previously owned an Alpine. And at Quartzsite last year we allowed an exception to that rule

and allowed a couple to join who were related to an Alpine Owner. It is time to adjust to the reality that we need an avenue to get new members or go the way of other clubs that have dis-appeared. At the last Board meeting we discussed ways to allow others in without losing our identity. We will have a proposed amendment to the By-Laws that you should have received separately. Quite simply this will allow for new members who are spon-sored by an existing member in good standing to join. We will limit the number of these members allowed to join to an amount equal to 10% of the number of Members as of January 1st of that year. This will prevent any attempt at a takeover of ACA. This proposed amendment will be discussed and voted on at the General Membership Meet-ing in Quartzsite January 21, 2012. As you may remember Dale and I were able to join the Beaver Club on a rolling Rally vis-iting 10 Civil War Battlefields, and another Rally at Gettysburg. We have just submitted our application to join the Beaver Ambassadors Club as the first non-Beaver owners al-lowed. I am hoping that we will be able to establish a SISTER CLUB relationship with the Beavers and open up an avenue where we can join their Rallies and they join ours. This will give the members of both clubs a wider and more varied choice of Rally activities. The Board gave me approval to open discussions with the Beavers and they will be dis-cussing this topic at their next Board Meeting in March. Look for more details in the Spring. Spot Rallies are appearing; I have heard rumors of one in Texas for the Chili Cook offs and in Cooperstown NY at the Baseball Hall Of Fame. Not to be outdone, Dale and I will be hosting a spot Rally in July at the Calgary Stampede for 20 coaches. If you are inter-ested give us a call, cinch up your saddle and come ride with us.

Dale and Paul Sullivan

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ACA SPOT RALLY JULY 9 thru 14th LIMITED TO 20 COACHES

CALGARY STAMPEDE 100th ANNIVERSARY 2012 http://cs.calgarystampede.com

5 NITES CAMPING 2 RODEO PERFORMANCES

(Preferred Seating) EVENING SHOW w/ CHUCK

WAGON RACES (Preferred Seating)

HERITAGE PARK HISTORICAL VILLAGE www.heritagepark.ca/ GROUP DINNER AND BREAKFAST (No host) $800.00 per coach (approx.)

determined by price of tickets purchased Jan. 25th

Paul & Dale Sullivan Wagon Masters 619-392-8775

Reserve by January 20th, waitlist after

The Stampede is

rated as the “Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth” It’s a must see!

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PRELIMINARY SCHEDULE

DESERT RAT XI RALLY January 19-24, 2012

Bring Firewood!!

THURSDAY JANUARY 19 Arrival Registration until 4 P.M. in the tent 4:30 Heavy Hors d’ oeuvres (Potluck from each coach) 5:00 Wine and Cheese - Sponsored by Redlands Truck and RV repair FRIDAY JANUARY 20 7:30-9:00 Treats and coffee Sponsored by Redlands (table display) 9:00-11:00 Gear head session Co-chaired by - Fleming & Bonner 11:00-5:00 Golf (Carl Nicholsen) 1:00-4:00 Book/Magazine exchange-Craft sale- White elephant sale Dinner on your own SATURDAY JANUARY 21 8:00-9:30 Treats and coffee sponsored by Dave Root (Window Repair) 9:30 - 11:00 Membership Meeting 2:00 Safety Training 4:30 Pig roast dinner (Franz Jansohn and rally volunteers) provided by ACA SUNDAY JANUARY 22 8:00-9:30 Treats and Coffee by ACA 10:00 Sunday service -- Thomas Benedum in tent 12:00 No Host lunch at Desert Bar-- (Map in Packet) 2:30 - 4:30 Jam Session in Tent 4:00 Firehouse Chili Dinner (Chili & Cheese by ACA) (Side dish potluck by attendees sign up sheet in tent) MONDAY JANUARY 23 8:00-9:30 Treats and coffee by ACA 10:00-12:00 OPEN HOUSE - Share your upgrades (sign up sheet in tent) 1:30 - 3:30 Jam Session in Tent 4:00 Margarita bar Hosted by SOCAL, sponsored by Guaranty 5:00 Potluck Dinner (awards and recognition) TUESDAY JANUARY 24 8:00-9:00 Donuts and coffee by ACA Depart If you have not registered and want to attend EMAIL THE REGISTRATION FORM TO Rod & Karen Sprague jrodsprague@gmail.com (form is on the ACA website) IMMEDIATELY

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ALPINE RALLY CALENDAR 2012

January 10—15th 2012 Riverside Co. Fairgrounds Indio, CA

WMHA Caravan Only John and Gail Stacy gjstacy@cox.net

January 19 –24th 2012

Quartzsite XI ACA Rod & Karen Sprague jrodsprague@gmail.com

February 16—19th 2012 Valencia Travel Village Castaic (Valencia), Ca

SoCal John and Gail Stacy gjstacy@cox.net Dave & Donna Fernandez alpinedriver@msn.com

May 17th—May 20 2012 Icicle River R.V. Park NoWACA Colleen Mara maracv@aol.com

May 31—June 3rd 2012 SoCal 10th Anniversary Rally Pechanga RV Resort (Tentative) Temecula, CA

SoCal John and Gail Stacy gjstacy@cox.net Dave & Donna Fernandez alpinedriver@msn.com Jim & Polly Klinko jpklinko@aol.com

July 19 –23rd 2012 Sequim Lavender Festival Sequim Wa

NoWaca Larry & Barbara Smith typsmith@olypen.com

August 20—25 2012 Indianapolis, pre-rally Ceraland RV Park 3989 South 525E Columbus, IN 47203

ACA Louis Burch labsr@aol.com

August 27th—30th Indianapolis details to come FMCA

September 11—18th 2012 Blue Spruce RV Park Vallecito, CO

SoCal Jim & Stephanie McCain myruby5@msn.com Bob and Connie Bowers bcbowers@q.com

October 8—11th 2012 Miramar Pre Rally Chula Vista RV Park

ACA Renee Perrault & Gary Arnold reneegary@msn.com Vic & Wilma Egg vwe734@optonline.net

October 11—14th 2012 Miramar Air Show ACA Renee Perrault & Gary Arnold reneegary@msn.com Vic & Wilma Egg vwe734@optonline.net

July 9—14th Calgary Stampede SPOT RALLY

SPOT RALLY

Dale & Paul Sullivan See page 3 for information

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS DON’T HESITATE TO EMAIL THE RALLY HOSTS

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If you are interested in receiving the free weekly recipe,

yourself. Please consider letting your organization know

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me,

BALLOON FIESTA—AMAZING WHAT YOU SEE FLYING IN AL-BUQUERQUE WHEN YOU HAVE

RINGSIDE SEATS!

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For answers to questions and advice from other Alpine Coach owners visit

www.IRV2.com and click Alpine Coach Owners Forum.

NEED TO CONTACT A BOARD MEMBER?

Name Board Position Cell Phone Email Paul Sullivan President 619-392-8775 sobersully@hotmail.com Dale Wilson Membership Director 602-618-6106 ddewco@aol.com Frank Halasz Secretary 505-263-1930 fhalasz@swcp.com Tris Swan FMCA Asst. National Dir. 714-357-0505 swansnest2@verizon.net Debbie Bragg Treasurer 817-994-3998 dbragg@swbell.net Louis Burch FMCA National Director 214-534-0399 labsr@aol.com Tom Cook First Vice-President 231-920-2606 rtcook@acegroup.cc Renée Perrault Newsletter Editor 206-919-3805 reneegary@msn.com

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Membership Director—Dale Wilson

Merry Christmas! While Christmas is in the air along with our cool AZ weather, I am wishing for a healthy, safe and a growing year 2012 for our ACA. I am hoping many more of our members will find that the rallies planned by our industrious members are really fun and worth the money and time to attend. The Rally Masters know the area they are working with, so we get into places we alone would not find on our own. Right now we are looking forward to Quartzsite. This is a very

different rally, we are dry camping out in the beautiful Arizona desert with the wild life (might be an ACA member),

the beautiful sunsets, making great friends, enjoying fresh air, star gazing, camp fires, four wheel-ing and of course the good food. January 19th to 24th. You may come earlier and you may stay later. We have a great area to park. Read about this elsewhere in the SUMMIT! This is the time of the year when you "Get" to pay your ACA dues. The dues are $15.00 for the year, IF you want to receive the newsletter and other notices via USPS Snail Mail....Then add $25.00 to cover the costs of the printing and mailing. Mail all dues to the Yakima address please. Linda Cain, our Webmistress, has been so good with our website, However when Linda sends out a notice, please pay attention to who you should reply to. Linda does not answer the questions from you, she only has to do more work by forwarding to the correct person. This would help Linda a LOT! John and Suzanne Tripp wanted you to know they have a winter address, so if you are in Florida look them up. 6o Venetian Dr., Apt 202N, Delray Beach, FL 33483. Phone number is the same as in the roster. I have been trying to track down some of our email wrong addresses. I have found we have a few that when it was time to really check for messages, they found them in their SPAM....But it took a phone call to find this out.....! So if you hear if someone who is not receiving their newsletters and etc.,remind them to check their Spam! A Happy New Year wish is for YOU from Ed and I...Be healthy, be happy and most of all...be safe! See you down the road!

Ed & Dale Wilson

REMINDER: ALL ACA members must be members in good stand-ing of the FMCA. (Note that by being a member of FMCA in good standing, we are in compliance with their insurance liability.)

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Louis & Linda Burch

Louis Burch —FMCA Director

Hello to you my fellow Alpiner. The year of 2011 has quickly flown by and we hope that you have fully enjoyed it as much as we have. While the economic conditions in our great na-tion do not look all that great, the rally outlook could not be better. The plans for Desert Rat Rally number eleven, January 19 -24, 2012, have been finalized and the host Rod and Karen Sprague have done an outstanding job of pulling it together for the members.

With more that 100 coaches full of great folks coming together in the desert to share knowledge and experiences, this is always a fun event. Rod has arranged for new and exciting activities this year to in-clude an on-site pig roast by fellow Alpiner, Chef Franz Jansohn. I hope that your early 2012 plans in-clude this great rally. There will be no Spring FMCA rally in 2012 and therefore no ACA Pre-rally. This is a great opportunity for small groups of ACA’rs to gather for a SPOT (Special Place or Theme) rally. Let you plans for an out-ing be known and I would suggest that other interested campers will join you. Several SPOT rallies were well attended in Wisconsin this past summer before and after the FMCA rally. All reports say that the attendees had a great time together and will be doing more SPOT’s. The effort is minimal and the returns are maximum. How good is that !! The next scheduled ACA rally is the pre-rally near Indianapolis, IN, August 20-25, with the FMCA rally, Aug 27-30, following. Your co-hosts for this rally are John and Anita Strauss with Chuck and Marca Snook. They have been working diligently on plans for a great rally. The highlights of which are; camp-ing in the Cummins employee RV park, a tour of the Cummins engine assembly plant, a cook-out on the banks of Sweetwater Lake, and several other off-site activities. Come join the host and enjoy the fruits of their labor. The final ACA rally for 2012 will be held, October 12-14, on the Marine Air Station at Miramar, near San Diego, CA. Our host for this rally will be Renee Perrault and Gary Arnold. Complete plans are not yet finalized but the highlights of this rally are; camping on the Marine Air Station, having fantastic seating location for the air show, and of course the air show itself. The static display of Marine air and ground equipment ain’t all the shabby either. Plan now to add this rally as a close-out for the year 2012 or to begin your winter travels in Southern California. I can almost guarantee that you will be happy you did. It has been our pleasure to work with ACA these past several years as rally coordinator. Linda and I be-lieve in ‘term limits’ are announcing that we will not be continuing in that position after 2012. We would like to provide the opportunity to someone else, are you interested? We will continue to be active in ACA and hope to travel a bit on longer trips like to Alaska and the Maritime Islands in the northeast while we remain in good health. That may mean missing a rally or two along the way. It’s a tough life, but some-one has to do it. It is our hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR. May God bless you and those you love.

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Debbie Bragg—Treasurer Hi to all from Fort Worth, Texas where the weather is ever changing. Gone are the hot humid days of summer and nice fall weather. It feels like winter even though Dec 21 has not yet arrived. Jim and I had a wonderful time at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in Oc-tober. We were joined by about 44 other Alpiners. The weather started out a little iffy, but progressed into a wonderful last weekend of the bal-loon fiesta with hundreds of balloons in all shapes and sizes flying high. It was again an amazing experience and we want to thank the Halasz and Walkers for all of their efforts in again making this rally such a huge success. The fireworks and glodeos every night were awesome!! We are sorry to say we will miss Quartzsite this year, but hope to see a

lot of you this summer in Indiana. Have fun and safe travels

Jim & Debbie Bragg

Tom Cook —1st Vice President It has now turned cold in Northern Michigan but we have been spared any snow. We have been home since return-ing from the Albuquerque Balloon Rally and had time to complete several projects on the coach. We are ready to leave in a couple weeks for the FMCA Indio Rally and join-ing a few other Alpines on the way to caravan into In-dio. Following Indio we will attend the Desert Rat Rally in Quartzsite and look forward to gathering with about 100 Alpine Coaches. Janice and I wish you safe trav-els, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Tom & Janice Cook

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ENGINEER MIKE FLEMING A FEW WORDS ON TIRES Alpines run on 22.5" Load Range H tires, commonly found on over the road trucks. Before any trip, and a few times while traveling long distances, I recommend checking tire pressure to make sure you are not running underinflated. Nobody can tell if there is tire damage due to underinflation without taking the tire off the rim (and some-times not even then), because all the damage occurs inside the tire. Of course a good tire monitoring system tells you pressure at a glance, for those so equipped. Otherwise carry a truck-type pressure gauge, and use it.

But an often ignored problem is tire age. Tire rubber, not unlike Alpine owners, degrades with time. Wish it were not so, but we ignore reality at our own peril. Fortunately, a quick reminder about our tire's age is right on the tire sidewall! Cast into the rubber sidewall, visible on the outside for the 4 exterior tires, and on the interior of the rear duals, is a 4-digit "brand" giving the week and year of manufacture. For example, my tires have one of two branded manufacture dates: 1207, and 1407. So my tires were made in week 12 of 2007, and week 14 . They were "born on" the end of March & beginning of April, 2007. How long should I count on them? Opinions vary on this aging point, perhaps depending on whether you've ever had a blowout. I had a rear blowout, which was no big deal other than the pain of getting tire service and locating a spare on a Sunday (at least worthy of some consideration). Those who have experienced a front blowout usually have much WAY more interest in not having another. One Alpiner who owned a trucking firm with ~40 trucks for many years, recommends 5 years max- then get new tires. Some say 6 years, some gamblers say 7. My tires will be 5 years old next year. For my money (tires are spendy), I will replace the fronts next summer at 5 years, and the rears the year after. I won't go into tire brands as there is ample discussion of that available around the campfire and on www.iRV2.com/forums/f104 (the Alpine Coach Forum). But I heartily recommend checking your tire ages, and planning for new shoes to keep your spouse and spou-slings safe, and avoid unnecessary time in the body shop for your coach. Ask anybody who has had a front blowout, and I think you'll agree. Hope to see y'all in Quartzite in January!! EngineerMike

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN ATTENDING A RALLY, LOOK ON THE ALPINE COACH ASSOCIATION WEBSITE FOR A REGISTRATION

FOmRM OR EMAIL THE HOSTS DIRECTLY.

See RALLY SCHEDULE ON PAGE 4

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THIS IS A TEST by Renée Perrault Hello ACA Members, Just a reminder that the rally schedule is published in every edition of the Alpine Coach Newsletter. The www.alpinecoachassociation.com website also has a complete lists of the rally schedule as well as registration forms. If by chance, there is not a registration form, the newsletter rally schedule as well as the online schedule ALWAYS has the contact information of the rally masters, unless it is a FMCA event. The email of the rally masters is there for you to contact with questions. The goal of a quarterly newsletter is to keep you informed about upcoming events and to keep track of the fun events ACA puts on. It is disconcerting to me, as the editor of the newsletter, to hear that people feel uninformed about rallies. So, I am questioning two things….one, is there another way to inform you of upcoming rallies, i.e. email to the membership of each rally and info? But my second, more important question…...IS ANYONE ACTUALLY READING THE NEWSLETTER?? I’m having difficulty with the fact that many members registered complaints that they had not received information regarding Quartzsite. It just doesn’t compute. So, here’s the test. If you actually read the newsletter, send me an email at reneeperrault@hotmail.com with your opinion of how to get rally information out to members or just a “yes, I read the newsletter.” Thanks for your input.

SAVE THE DATES MIRAMAR AIR SHOW OCTOBER 12 –14th

If you want to come celebrate the site and sound of freedom then the Miramar Air Show is where it all happens. The Alpine Coach Associa-tion will have a private viewing tent right on the tarmac. We will be front and center, our attention fo-cused on the amazing displays of aerial acrobatics with an unob-structed view. Rally hosts Renee

Perrault, Gary Arnold and Vic and Willy Egg are working on the rally and can promise you a memorable experience. There will be food, entertainment, a pre-rally to kick off the action and much more. Save the dates and more information to come as details finalize. Questions? Email Renee Perrault and Gary Arnold at reneegary@msn.com

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OUR HOLIDAY WISH -

MAY THE JOYS OF THE SEASON FIND YOU,

MAY YOU FIND JOY IN HELPING OTHERS,

MAY THE UPCOMING YEAR BRING YOU SAFE

TRAVELS AND NEW ADVENTURES

WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

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REGIONS

5808A Summitview #337

Yakima, Wa. 98908

ACE East Coast Peggy Bacome 731-935-2303 pjbacome@aol.com

NoWACA Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana

Terry McGuire 509-952-7880 Terry_4444@hotmail.com http://www.NoWACA.com

NorCal Northern California Northern Nevada

Dave Seidl 925-454-3019 daveseidl@comcast.net

SoCal Southern California, Southern Nevada

Gail Stacy 702-858-0400 gjstacy@cox.net

Fulltimers

Maureen Dahl 425-466-1445 wandern.two@verizon.net

Central States

Ray Schemanske 734-474-0762 cschmaske@yahoo.com