Rating: 
Summary: Welcome to the world of motorhoming!
Review: Hello. Thank you for coming to this place and for your time in reading these comments, my first on amazon.com. I felt a gargantuan sense of strangeness and uncertainty 12 years ago when my husband Paul began to visualize a new hobby-some type of recreational vehicle (or RV). Neither of us knew much about the RV world. If we were going to spend thousands of dollars, I wanted to know what we were getting ourselves into. Too unlettered in the RV field, I wasn't ready for the technical reference manuals that were available. What I wanted and needed was a book that took me into the life of the RV and showed me what it was like to use the thing. It would save me from asking embarrassing questions or looking stupid to salespeople, not to mention their time and forbearance. That's why this easy-to-read, non-fiction book combines the living experience with the "how-to" of a 5-week journey from Maryland to Arizona. When writing it, I kept in mind those uncertainties that I had had initially as well as the discerning questions from a friend who did not own a motorhome. As you will see, I have put into the book the daily living and operational aspects of these apartments on wheels. Through flashbacks, I write about activities such as shopping for, renting, buying, and driving a motorhome. On the road, I show how we located campgrounds, "dumped," adjusted to living in close quarters, kept in touch with family and friends, towed a car, took local tours, and more. Not a journal, the book is written in a dramatic, narrative style, with short chapters. Some readers, bless them, told me that they devoured the book in one sitting, some said that they couldn't put it down, and others that parts of it made them laugh out loud. I included an appendix with more than 100 questions to help readers decide how to travel their own way in their motorhome, questions such as: Are you willing to occupy a smaller space than you have at home? What kind of bed are you comfortable in-twin, double, or queen size? Have you ever been inside of a motorhome or seen one lately? My aim is for readers of this book to enjoy the experience while they gain understanding and a picture in their minds of what it's like to own and travel in a motorhome. I want them to catch the contagious sense of fun, freedom, and adventure that can go along with RVing. See you out there on the highway! Thanks again for your time. My best to you. Bernice Beard May 25, 1999 CONTENTS 1 Getting Ready 2 Leave-Taking in Question 3 The Lure of Motorhoming 4 Motorhome Shopping 5 Our New Motorhome 6 Heading Out 7 Second Day Out 8 Driving Lessons 9 Flood Worries 10 Sightseeing and Moving On 11 Brownsville 12 A Difference of Opinion 13 A Fulfilling Moment 14 The Joke's On Me 15 San Antonio 16 On the Road Heading West 17 El Paso 18 Arizona Reached 19 Getting Settled 20 A Grand Balloon Ascension 21 Record-Setting Snows 22 Relocating to Mesa 23 Replacing a Flat Tire 24 Milestones 25 Monday's News 26 Using Truck Stops 27 Tuesday's Travel 28 Making Lists 29 Reflecting Epilogue Appendix Index Biography Hailed by many as the Queen of the RVs, author Bernice Beard is a veteran motorhomer whose trips with her husband include a 44-day caravan through Alaska and a 5-week excursion from Maryland to Arizona. She chronicled these trips in Colorado at Your Own Pace: Traveling by Motorhome with Friends, Alaska at Your Own Pace: Traveling by RV Caravan, and At Your Own Pace: Traveling Your Way in Your Motorhome. Motorhome travel as a lifestyle remains a constant source of joy and adventure for Bernice and her husband. New dreams and destinations always seem to call them back on the road. Putting aside her life-long passion to write when family finances prevented her from attending college even though she was her high school valedictorian, Beard went to work as a stenographer at a utility company. After marriage and motherhood, Beard reignited her love for writing by contributing feature articles to her local county newspaper. When her son entered first grade, Beard continued her education by enrolling part time at Western Maryland College. Over the following 18 years, Beard earned both her bachelor of arts and master of liberal arts degrees at the college, where she was also employed full time. Since then, Beard has fulfilled her desire to write, both at home and on the road. Her stories, articles, and poems have appeared in newspapers and magazines. On their trips, Beard collects information, takes photographs, and records observations in her journals. These materials and insights provide the basis for her manuscripts, such as her first book, At Your Own Pace, which Beard decided to write when a friend kept asking discerning questions about motorhoming. Beard is a member of the Westminster Church of the Brethren Camping Group, the Family Motor Coach Association, the Good Sam Club, and the Holiday Rambler Recreational Vehicle Club. She also belongs to the American Association of University Women and is a charter member of The National Museum of Women in the Arts. She is listed in Who's Who of American Women. She and her husband continue to enjoy their motorhome, camping on weekends and taking a major trip of several weeks or months each year.
Rating: 
Summary: At Your Own Pace
Review: I began RV-ing in a used 30' 1994 Airstream Trailer just 3 1/2 years ago and recently read "At Your Own Pace". The unexperienced or experienced RV'er will find it a most helpful and insightful book. Mrs. Beard takes you on a trip and you feel your are sitting along side her. The helpful hints are an asset to folks thinking about getting an RV or just beginning. The check off list before your leave home and the (his list) and (her list) is so well written. My wife and I use the check list each time before we leave home or our campsite. You will find lots of useful information about traveling At Your Own Pace. Read it, enjoy it and use the information for better safety and making your traveling experience less stressful and more enjoyable. See you down the road. W. T. Bucher WBCCI 1467
Rating:
Summary: At Your Own Pace
Review: I began RV-ing in a used 30' 1994 Airstream Trailer just 3 1/2 years ago and recently read "At Your Own Pace". The unexperienced or experienced RV'er will find it a most helpful and insightful book. Mrs. Beard takes you on a trip and you feel your are sitting along side her. The helpful hints are an asset to folks thinking about getting an RV or just beginning. The check off list before your leave home and the (his list) and (her list) is so well written. My wife and I use the check list each time before we leave home or our campsite. You will find lots of useful information about traveling At Your Own Pace. Read it, enjoy it and use the information for better safety and making your traveling experience less stressful and more enjoyable. See you down the road. W. T. Bucher WBCCI 1467
Rating:
Summary: At Your Own Pace
Review: I began RV-ing in a used 30' 1994 Airstream Trailer just 3 1/2 years ago and recently read "At Your Own Pace". The unexperienced or experienced RV'er will find it a most helpful and insightful book. Mrs. Beard takes you on a trip and you feel your are sitting along side her. The helpful hints are an asset to folks thinking about getting an RV or just beginning. The check off list before your leave home and the (his list) and (her list) is so well written. My wife and I use the check list each time before we leave home or our campsite. You will find lots of useful information about traveling At Your Own Pace. Read it, enjoy it and use the information for better safety and making your traveling experience less stressful and more enjoyable. See you down the road. W. T. Bucher WBCCI 1467
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Summary: More Bernice and far less RVing, far better other way around
Review: I bought this book hoping to find information and tips about RVing. Unfortunately what I got was Bernice and her foibles and very little practical information. Her naivety grates throughout( going to Laredo to see cowboys only to find that all cowboys are in San Antonio for the Rodeo) but prehaps travel will be broading. In this case, one certainly hopes so.
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Summary: How Not to Write
Review: I got this book with the expectation of learning something about traveling in a motor home. I learned practically nothing other than it was the worst book I had ever read on any subject. Talk about dullsville! If there were a zero-star rating available, I would have chosen that one. Please don't waste your money on this book unless you like something so poorly done that it verges on camp.
Rating:
Summary: How Not to Write
Review: I got this book with the expectation of learning something about traveling in a motor home. I learned practically nothing other than it was the worst book I had ever read on any subject. Talk about dullsville! If there were a zero-star rating available, I would have chosen that one. Please don't waste your money on this book unless you like something so poorly done that it verges on camp.
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Summary: She's Probably A Lovely Woman and a Great Wife But...
Review: I purchased this book with the hope of gaining more insight into the innerworkings of functional living on the open road. Mrs. Beard really does attempt to do this in her own eyes - but it simply does not work. I have a feeling that she never really "planned" a focal point (informative, humorus, pro or con, etc.) but instead took a "stream of consciousness" of what happened during her encounters outside her suburbia life. When a book quips with such a remark as "should I give money to the homeless or buy an RV?" you have to think "does the author really have a handle on who would be buying this book?" Ok, Ok - I thought I was having trouble with the author as maybe this book was really written as a "woman's perspective." I read bits and pieces to my wife and she was ready to toss me out of the room (I thank my lucky stars for her as she has clear patterns of thought I can understand - but of course I'll never tell her). In short I feel a just a bit bad for Mrs. Beard. Being in the arts, I know the letdowns of good intentions. She had her heart in the right place as in her mind she really is trying to tell people what RV'ing is all about. The book just never seems to decide as to what it wants to be. I hope she tries again and succeeds with a winner.
Rating:
Summary: Fog-Smoke & Mirrors
Review: I'll not be windy. Save your money or buy some other USEFUL product. This book is a longggggggggggggg way from being useful for a possible RV owner. Her daily "Feelings" and her husbands health problems really are of no concern to the reader. I'm sure she is a pleasant person and a great wife. However, my money says I want MORE bang for the buck.
Rating:
Summary: Fog-Smoke & Mirrors
Review: I'll not be windy. Save your money or buy some other USEFUL product. This book is a longggggggggggggg way from being useful for a possible RV owner. Her daily "Feelings" and her husbands health problems really are of no concern to the reader. I'm sure she is a pleasant person and a great wife. However, my money says I want MORE bang for the buck.
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