When eleven year-old Abbie McGinnis set out for a six-week RV trip with her parents and two brothers, little did she know just how much fun it was going to be. Abbie had camped before, but never for this long, or this extensively.

Packing up a forty-foot Discovery 39L Class A Diesel Motorhome, the McGinnis recreation vehicle offered the comforts of home and logical choice for taking on such an aggressive itinerary. The family was able to travel at their own pace, have “meals on wheels”, pick and choose where and when they bunked down for the night, and enjoy the flexibility to deviate from travel plan A to B (or even C!) with ease.

The trip started from Abbie’s hometown in Essex Junction, VT and traversed more than eight thousand miles of the United States, passing through or stopping in nearly twenty states. Along the way, the family visited with friends and took in incredible sites and national landmarks. Few people get to see in a lifetime what Abbie experienced in one trip!

During the six-week tour, Abbie and her family visited the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Yosemite National Park, the Great Salt Lake, Mount Rushmore and Niagara Falls. They also enjoyed Major League Baseball games in AZ and CA, Sea World San Diego, Downtown Disney Anaheim, Las Vegas, Cedar Point Amusement Park in OH, and the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, ON. Impressive list of destinations to say the least!

Todd, the sales manager at Pete’s RV Center in South Burlington, VT and his wife Lisa decided to hit the road with Abbie and her brothers, Zach and Jake before it became too challenging to get the family together. “With Jake graduating from high school next year, and Abbie and Zach not far behind, we figured this summer was the perfect time to go on a cross country trip.” Todd added, “Taking the trip together was essential because it bonded the entire family to the experience.”

Thanks to Abbie’s grandfather and social networking websites, the McGinnis road trip is shared with friends and family everywhere. Dave McGinnis, treasurer of Pete’s RV Center, encouraged Abbie to keep a video journal of her trip and post updates on Facebook and YouTube. With the help of her mom, pictures and video clips were relayed back to the dealership, edited and posted for all to enjoy.

In her final video journal entry, Abbie described her RV trip as being “the best time ever” and recommended other families to give a go. As she so wittingly put it, “Family road trip!”

You can view the McGinnis Summer RV Trip on the Pete’s RV Facebook Page, YouTube Channel, and trace their travel route on Google Maps.

Pete’s RV enjoyed an easy commute to neighboring Essex Junction, VT for the 2010 Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) Northeast Region Rally at the Champlain Valley Exposition.

From July 2nd through the 5th, hundreds of beautiful motorhomes lined the fairgrounds, creating a village on wheels. What is truly amazing is that electric and water hook-ups were available to the majority of these motorhomes. A good thing, because the weekend was stifling, reaching 90 degrees nearly every day!

Rally attendees participated in a schedule filled with seminars, meetings, mixers and were treated to the sounds of live music and fireworks display on the Fourth.

A corporate member of FMCA, Pete’s RV brought over a well-represented display of our Class A motorhome inventory: A Sun Cruiser, Cross Country, Windsor, Trailite, Simba, Phaeton, and Independence.

We snapped some photos bringing our motorhomes over to the event on setup day. Feel free to take a gander on the Pete’s RV Facebook page!

If you are a motorhome owner and not currently a member of the FMCA, you can find out more about the organization, events and membership details at the Family Motor Coach Association website.

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Pete’s RV Center Sales Manager, Todd McGinnis packed up the family in a 2006 Discovery 39L Class A Diesel Motorhome and hit the open road in June 2010.

Starting from Burlington, VT, he and wife, Lisa and kids, Zach, Jake and Abbie travel cross-country together for six weeks with stops including the Grand Canyon, Red Rocks, Phoenix, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Sequoia Nat’l Forest, Yosemite, Cedar Point Amusement Park, and Niagara Falls (plus several Wal-Mart parking lots along the way!).

In addition to sharing photos of their grand tour on the Pete’s RV Facebook Page, Abbie keeps a quirky video journal of their travels and tribulations. You can view the video clips at the Pete’s RV Channel on YouTube. The entertainment factor is “Class A”!

We also track the McGinnis family’s travels with the help of Google Maps where you can check out their travel routes, stopovers, points of interest and mileage log. They definitely rack up the latter with this cross-country expedition!

Enjoy their RVing adventure!

President Obama recently signed off on a new stimulus package that will give RVers a tax break.

The provision allows buyers of new motorhomes to be able to deduct a portion of their sales tax on their federal income tax returns.  The tax paid on the first $49,500 will be eligible for deduction.  To qualify, persons filing individual tax returns must have an adjusted gross income under $125,001 while joint filers must be under $250,001.

The tax break is estimated to save RVers an estimated $1.7 billion over 10 years.