Welcome to my RVs and OHVs blog. Over the years it has expanded to include more camping, boating, and survival topics which, at least in my mind, are all closely related to RVing and OHVing. In this blog I will be sharing some thoughts I wish people had shared with me long ago. Hope they are helpful to my readers.
I have been an avid RVer, camper, and dirt iker for more than 30 years. My name is Lemont Southworth. I was one of the founders of the Desert Rats (www.desertrat.org), an unofficial group of family-oriented recreational riders in Southern California and served for 4 years as President of the Utah Trail Machine Association (www.utma.net). I have worked as an ATV mechanic, general resort maintenance guy, and assistant manager at a mountain ATV resort. I've ridden dirt bikes, ATVs, dune buggies, UTVs, and Jeeps and other 4WDs. I have owned and/or used just about every kind of RV. I also own a 25' sailboat. I've done my share of tent camping and try to maintain a reasonable level of survival skills. I am a member of my local Community Emergency Response Team, I am a volunteer fire fighter and EMR, and have been trained as a Red Cross Professional Rescuer and have been certified in Advanced Wilderness Life Support techniques (you never know what you'll run into out on the trails!).
RVs (recreational vehicles) and OHVs (off-highway vehicles) go together like peanut butter and jelly. RVs provide a functional and comfortable base-camp for OHV activity and OHV riding is a wonderful family activity that appeals to a wide variety of people. In my own family, I had kids spanning a 14 year age difference, with 2 girls and 4 boys. Everyone, including my wife and I, very much enjoy dirt biking. Our older daughter, who began riding at age 5, raced Women's Desert for several years as a young woman, quickly moving up from Novice to Expert in her first season and bringing home many trophies and receiving sponsorships from dealers and manufacturers. She won the Number 1 plate in Women's Motocross in AMA District 37 (Los Angeles, California) in 2001. I even joined her in a few desert races, signing up in one of the "senior" categories. I had no dreams of winning trophies or even scoring points. My main goal was to not DNF (Did Not Finish). I'm happy to say I usually met my goal. Few activities maintain interest over such a wide age range or maintain it over years of growing up -- or at least getting older (not sure dirt bikers EVER grow up!). When our oldest was 18 the youngest was just 4. Now they all have families of their and all ride every chance they get. Not sure ANY RVer or dirt biker ever really grows up, but that is part of the fun of it! Nothing better than hanging on to some part of being a kid to keep you young! You don't stop riding because you get old, you get old because you stop riding.
RVing and OHVing provide much needed opportunities for healthy outdoor activities and family bonding. There are few things you can do as a family that match the contact and closeness of camping and riding together. These activities also provide a lot of "life lessons" and teaching moments. Camping and RVing also provide many opportunities to learn and practice survival skills that may come in handy if you get lost or stranded on an outing or during a disaster scenario at home. Dirt biking helped teach responsibility, build individual confidence, and team cooperation.
This blog and other Internet resources should be considered as possible guidelines and recommendations and a source of ideas to consider, not absolute rules. The suggestions given here may help you get more out of your RV, OHV or camping lifestyle but are not intended as hard and fast rules for everyone in every situation. No matter what advice you may receive here or elsewhere, ultimately, your most important and most valuable resource is your own brain. THINK! Think about what you read, what you are told, and what you learn. Think about whether it applies to your personal situation. Having some ideas about what to do is better than bouncing around aimlessly or helplessly wringing your hands, but don't feel 100% bound by these or any other recommendations you receive. That said, I encourage you to pay very close attention to safety issues. Disregarding them could be hazardous. Many safety lessons given here were learned the hard way, if not by me or my family, by some of our associates. If you choose to disregard the advice you get here or elsewhere, be sure you are making an informed decision. Don't be one of those people whose mantra is "Don't confuse me with facts, my mind is made up!"
If you are interested in camping, RVs, OHVs boating, or emergency preparedness or wilderness survival, please follow this blog. I'll be posting relevant information and answering questions. I have found that emergency preparedness and wilderness survival are closely related to camping and RVing and so you'll find some survival information here as well. Camping is a great way to exercise your survival skills so you'll be prepared if/when you need to use them.
Joe and Vicki Kieva have an excellent web site with many articles and tips for RVers. Check it out at RVKnowhow.com.
You can find additional RV, OHV, and camping related links posted here.
Recently we have expanded our outdoor recreation options via the acquisition of a 24' sailboat. Having an aquatic option for hot summer days seems like a good idea, not to mention that the boat we acquired (for free!) is quite literally a dream come true for me. It's design and features are exactly what I've fantasized about owning since my first sail more years ago than I like to admit. So far I have found a lot of cross over from my RV activities and working with and "living" on a sailboat" and I'll be sharing some of the aquatic lessons learned along with camping, RV, and OHV articles.
Be sure to check out Griz's excellent site at Rving My Way also.
And here is a whole list of other RV web sites you can check out.
Welcome!
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