Real Colleges
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The smartest RVers are those who know they don’t know it all—but
they try to do something about it. You’ll find them attending
the seminars at rallies, reading books by RV authors, reading RV publications,
perusing the RV related web-sites, and asking other RVers about their
experiences. Every opportunity they get to increase their knowledge
of RVing and thereby increase their enjoyment of the lifestyle, they
take. Now a new educational opportunity is available to those folks.
The traditional school curriculum focused on the three R’s—readin’, ‘ritin’, and ‘rithmetic, but that has changed in this very non-traditional age. Nowadays an incredible variety of subjects are offered to an education-hungry public. There’s even a fourth R--RVin’. Addressing the needs of the present ten million RV owners in the United States and the millions of wannabes who expect to join the “life on wheels” lifestyle in the near future, a unique program called Life on Wheels is now offered at five institutions of higher learning. The Life on Wheels program was founded and developed eleven years ago at the University of Idaho by RV writer and seminar presenter, Gaylord Maxwell. Maxwell’s 40-plus years experience as an RVer and multi-faceted career as an RV dealer-teacher-writer provided him with the background for developing a unique program with “cream-of-the-crop” instructors. Classes at Life on Wheels conferences are offered for all levels of RV experience--including complete novices--in three categories: (1) lifestyle, e.g., choosing an RV, fulltiming, boondocking, RV insurance, clubs, memberships, etc.; (2) technical, e.g., maintaining and repairing RV systems, solar power, batteries, electronic communications, DSS, GPS, etc.; and (3) lifestyle enhancement, e.g., photography, computers, healthy travel, RV cooking, psychological aspects of living in small spaces, etc. Considerable emphasis is placed on safety classes, e.g., fire safety, tire and weight safety, towing safety, personal safety, etc. Students park their rigs together on campus where they learn from each other when not in classes. Included among the instructors are well-known book and magazine writers and speakers Joe and Vicki Kieva, Sharlene “Charlie” Minshall, Dave and Sandy Baleria, and other experts who pass on knowledge gained from many years of RVing experience. They are joined by industry technical experts like Greg Holder, a leading expert on solar power, Eric Davis, owner of Eric’s RV in Sequim, Washington, and and Steve Savage, Master Certified RV Technician and owner/operator of the website There are websites, such as www.motorhomereviewonline.com and others who teach classes on everything from water pumps to diesel engines.. The 2006 Life on Wheels conferences are scheduled as follows: Western Kentucky University at Bowling Green, May 12-15; University of Idaho at Moscow, July 9-14; Northampton Community College, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, August 4-7; Des Moines (Iowa) Area Community College, August.24-27; and Pima Community College, Tucson, Arizona, March 14-17. The longest and largest conference is at the University of Idaho. It is a full week long and offers over 100 different seminars taught by over 50 different instructors. All three of the other programs are three days long and offer approximately 70 seminars. At Idaho, students have the option of hook-ups at a temporary campground constructed in the athletic dome parking lot. At other conferences, dry-camping on campus is optional. For additional information, phone 1-866-569-4646, go to www.rvlifeonwheels.com, or e-mail [email protected]. BLUE
OX Life on Wheels Trainers: About
Gaylord Maxwell (Writer & Seminar Presenter): Gaylord started his professional career as a history teacher in high school and college. He left teaching to open a camping business that became an RV dealership which eventually had five locations. Succumbing to his own sales pitch, he became such an ardent RVer that he sold the dealership in 1978 so he could spend more time on the road. He and Margie, his wife of 56 years) have traveled in all 48 lower states, several Canadian provinces, and three trips into Mexico. They spend summers in their home in Idaho and winters in Yuma, Arizona. Gaylord has received many awards over his 45 year involvement in the RV industry including RVDA’s James.B. Summers Award for service to that association; RVIA’s National Service Award in recognition of his development of the Life on Wheels program; and induction into the RV Heritage Foundation’s Hall of Fame for his contributions to the RV industry and lifestyle. Contact:
Peggy Waterman |
