A Dream Come True

Let me introduce you to Otto & Elaine Anuth.  

They write, "We finally did it.  We picked up the Coach otherwise known as Otto's Dream Machine, on May 14th.  He has lots of things to install like an alarm system and back-up system as well as radios," [I recommend, both a good CB Radio and a good Cell Phone], "before we can go anywhere.  We think we may go to Lake George, NY on the maiden voyage.  So it should be a fun summer."  

Otto & Elaine are friends of Werner Feldhaeusser, our publisher.  They sent Werner a number of pictures of, "Otto's Dream Machine," and Werner asked this writer to put them onto a page for the Trumpet.  What Werner and the Anuths don't know is that I have considerable experience with Motor Homes.  So, because the Anuths didn't say much more than what I've already reported, I'm going to do my own explaining and elaboration about the joys of Motor Homing, as I show you the pictures that they took of their wonderful new Home Away From Home.  While I remain a "Boat Person," (I grew up on an island, surrounded by water, remember)?  My wife isn't.  She would much rather travel to places unknown, in a vehicle just like this.  (I also have to admit, it's hard to travel to some place like the Grand Canyon in Arizona from Grand Haven in Michigan, in a boat).

So I would like you to remember that the Anuths mentioned that they thought their first Voyage would be from where they live, on Staten Island, to Lake George, NY.  

Our first Voyage was similar, only we traveled from my home in Western Michigan, to Chestertown, NY, on the shores of Friends Lake.  Chestertown is just North of Lake George, in the Adirondack Mountains.  Besides my wife Carol and myself, we took our three small kids, my brother and his wife and their  two kids. 

"Are we there yet?"

We all know by now that the question (above) is no joke.  How do you keep a bunch of kids (and young adults) entertained on a long trip?  One way you do that is by making sure that they and you are comfortably separated from each other, by space or distance.  Take a look at these pictures.  

We are about half-way back in the Motor Home, looking forward toward the windshield.

There is a couch and seats around a table on the left.  There is a comfy chair and a kitchen sink and a stove on the right.  But, that's not all!

Here is the same view, looking toward the rear.

Does that look like a lot of room?  Well, it is!  In the ceiling you not only see a sky-light, but there are also speaker grills and a roof-top A/C.  You can see the stove and sink on the left of the pictures and there is even a real-life refrigerator (not an ice box or ice chest).  Incidentally, that gas stove also has an oven, just like the range in your home.  This "Home Away From Home" also comes equipped with Hot & Cold running water, thanks to a Gas Fired Water Heater.  Besides washing dishes in the sink,

                        Hot Water is useful for this...                                             and this.

By now, we've all encountered folks who have to make a potty-stop about every 100 or 200 miles.         Even THAT can be avoided with one of these:                                      

Ok, you've been piloting this Motor Home for the past six to eight hours, and now you're about tuckered out, but you really don't want to stop just yet.  What do you do?  Well, you pull over, and brow-beat your partner into taking the wheel.  Then, when your Home-Away-From-Home is safely on it's way again, you retire to your comfortable stateroom and it's inviting....

                     Bed.           

Have you ever noticed that when you look at a map of the US, everything is in color, but that part of the map that represents Canada, is in some pale yellowish color?  Trust me on this: when you drive over the bridge or through the tunnel from Michigan into Canada, you discover that the map is wrong.  Canada is just as lovely as the USA is, and it's not yellow, at all. 

Of course, the Anuths won't experience this for themselves, by driving from Staten Island to Lake George, unless they are thoughtful enough to detour on their way home by way of Buffalo, NY or even better, Niagara Falls, Canada. 

And, Otto & Elaine, as long as you will be in that area around Lake George, I recommend a side trip to Fort Ticonderoga, on the shores of Lake Champlain.  It's beautiful country.  But even more importantly, I am related to Ethan Allen, the man who captured Ft. Ticonderoga from the British, and brought the fort's captured cannons back to Boston, in the middle of the winter, where they were used in the Battle of Bunker Hill.  Actually it was Breeds Hill, but so what?

So, you have all seen the inside of the Anuth's new Motor home.  Anybody interested in what the outside looks like?  Here we go..........

                                  Right                                                                              Front

                and         

                                       Left                                                                               Rear

This truly is, A Home Away From Home, and I'm sure that all my readers pray with me, hosts of Guardian Angels upon the Anuth Family and their wandering home, Otto's Dream Machine, Come True.

-Lee Shake