Lifestyle: Motorhomes and Sports

The lyrics of a well-known song say that love and marriage go together like a horse and
carriage. Using the same kind of reasoning, I say that motorhomes and sports go together
perfectly. I was reminded of that fact yesterday afternoon as I drove southeast from Los
Angeles, California, to Yuma, Arizona. Oncoming traffic included hundreds of motorhomes
pulling trailers loaded with various types of desert-fun vehicles: four wheelers,
motorcycles and dune buggies. Most were returning from a wild weekend at the famous sand
dunes west of Yuma. Huge sand hills border Interstate 8 on both sides for more than a mile,
making a delightful sandpile for those who get their jollies from charging up and down on
their motorized steeds. “Speed-demon” Southern Californians have a good time there. Much of
that good time is due to the fact that everyone enjoying the sport has his own home after a
hard day’s ride. Tired, grimy and gritty from hours of churning up sand, weary riders can
retreat to their mobile havens for hot showers and cold drinks, followed, of course, by
group get-togethers for rehashing the day’s special events. Every weekend, especially the
three-day ones, and holiday periods, designated areas of the dunes become mini-cities with
thousands of RVs parked on the barren sand. Fathers and sons, often joined by mothers and
daughters, enjoy the sport and the relationships they establish with others with the same
interest. The dunes of Yuma are only one of the many desert areas enjoyed by motorhoming
cyclists and dune-buggy devotees who create mini-cities on weekends and holidays. Various
types of racing, especially professional off-road auto and motorcycle races, attract huge
crowds to various desert areas where most of the participants, as well as onlookers, have
motorhomes. Margie and I had the pleasure of attending some of those events a few years ago
when our nephews were involved as racers. I took our motorhome on some roads that were mere
trails in the desert. They were dusty and bumpy, but we had a grand time when we got to our
destinations. Many of these fun times wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for the motorhomes
that provide the comforts of home in areas where there are no other choices. Another type
of activity that is attracting motorhomers by the thousands in an entirely different kind
of environment is NASCAR racing. This fast-growing sport, which has events that often last
several days, is uniquely appealing to those who own motorhomes. Watching a race from high
up in the bleachers is great, but watching it from the infield atop your motorhome is
absolutely mind-boggling. Tailgate parties at football games have turned into a secondary
national sport. In fact, I suspect that many of the most avid motorhome participants enjoy
their pre- and post-game parties as much as they do the football games. They come early and
stay late, often a day on each end. There’s no hassle with frenzied drivers getting in and
getting out of the parking lot at many colleges that provide special parking areas for big
rigs. Of course, the oldest sport related to motorhoming is fishing. Many rivers and lakes
have parking areas or pull-offs where motorhomers can stop and fish within a few feet of
the road. Some of our most memorable trips involved being parked right on the shore of a
lake and casting out lines almost from our doorstep. Most rivers and lakes have campgrounds
within walking distance. A unique motorhome experience we had many years ago was when our
youngest daughter “volunteered” us to take some of her ski-club members on a trip to
Mammoth Mountain in California. Naturally there was snow, lots of snow, where we parked.
The kids piled out with their skis and hit the slopes. Margie and I don’t ski, so we turned
the furnace up, got our books and enjoyed Nature’s wonderland through the window.
Motorhomes provide shelter and equipment for many other sports in which participants and
spectators are not in a fixed place: cross-country bicycling, boating, ballooning,
hang-gliding and runs/walks for special causes. The point is that the motorhome meets the
comfort needs for many lifestyles that can’t be as well met any other way. The sport or the
recreational pastime might be the primary objective, but the motorhome makes it possible.
On the other hand, there are those of us who consider the motorhome the primary means of
putting all kinds of secondary choices within easy reach. Was the chicken or the egg first?
Who cares, as long as we get the omelet.