Ever since the Grover/Lama family (me, Carlos, Lola and Gigi) and our friend Guy returned from our RV vacation along the California coast, we have been unable to think about anything but RVs. This weekend, we drove to Holiday World and Camping World to see if they had any diesel engine, Class C vehicles, but they didn't (we want a diesel so we can convert to biodiesel). They said Dutchman will have one out soon, but while we're fond of the name, we're not too fond of their vehicles. So we are thinking that when the time comes, we will have our brother-in-law, John, customize an RV for us via his ambulance-manufacturing business: Frazerbilt. John seemed intrigued by this when we popped the question at our daughter Gigi's second birthday party today. While Honeydew the Clown entertained our kids, we talked about the future Aurora Mobile Microcinema/home for family of four (plus one roadie, Guy). My friend Bree Edwards is living the motorhome lifestyle right now, on tour with Dream Theater. She and her boyfriend Johnny Dekam are providing live video visuals for the world tour. Bree has been a big inspiration for me this year, constantly feeding my head with green utopian nomadic prefabulous ideas.
My passion for compact family travel probably took root in the 1970s when my family of 7 regularly took trips in our 1968 Clark Cortez motorhome, always with Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass playing in the 8 track player. My father converted the closet into bunk beds for me and my sister, Joanne; the beds measured about 2 x 5 feet, but we loved them as long as no one closed the sliding closet doors. Later, my parents purchased a 41' Morgan ketch, and crammed as many as 13 family members on board for a little coastal cruising. It was at this time that my dad bought his first and only firearm as protection from "pirates". It was a rifle of some sort, and I remember that his friend Marie Bolton carried it on board Chalk Airlines for us when she met us in Bimini. Can you imagine having a rifle as your carry on? When I recently questioned my parents about this, they said "oh, well she packed the bullets in her checked luggage." Reassuring to the other passengers, I'm sure.
Pictured: A 1968 Clark Cortez that some fine person has remodeled.
