Baseball Great and Yankees Broadcaster Jim Kaat Loves to Travel in his RV

RESTON, Va. (September 22, 2006) — Jim Kaat has devoted the past 50 years to major league baseball, first as an All-Star pitcher, and now as a broadcaster for the New York Yankees. He also has another passion: traveling in his state-of-the-art recreation vehicle.

The former king of the hill is now the king of the road. “I’ve gone from being a major league pitcher to a major league RV owner,” says Kaat. “I’ll travel roughly 5,000 miles in my RV this year. It’s a great way to see America, and as relaxed a way to see the country as there can possibly be.”

When the Yankee season ends, Kaat, his wife, Mary Ann, and their two cats, hit the road in their 36-foot motorhome, and by the end of the year will have visited at least 20 states.

“You can’t beat the convenience and comforts of an RV,” says Kaat. “It really takes the stress and hassle out of traveling.”

The RV makes it possible for Kaat to combine his love of travel with golf. “I’ll play many of the top courses during our trips,” he says. “The nice thing about the RV is that we have our home with us. We don’t have worry about reservations and losing our golf clubs or our luggage. We keep everything we need onboard and we’re ready to go at a moment’s notice. And we don’t have to leave our cats behind.”

The Kaat’s motorhome has a living room and bedroom that both slide out with the push of a button to create extra space. “I love that feature,”says Kaat. “When we pull into a campground and put the slides out, we have all the room we need. I also have plenty of storage space for my clubs.”

Kaat appreciates the freedom and flexibility RVs offer. “RVing allows for impromptu detours,” says Kaat. “If something looks interesting, we can go exploring because we’re not on a set schedule. And if Mary Ann and I get tired while we’re on the road, we’ll take a break and have a snack in our climate-controlled motorhome.”

The Kaats also enjoy spending time at RV campgrounds as they travel around the country. “We’re real campers,” says Kaat. “When we pull into a campground, we love to roll out our awning, set up our lounge chairs and cook on our grill.”

From 1959-1982, Kaat won 283 games in the big leagues pitching for five teams. His best season came in 1966 when he won 25 games for the Minnesota Twins. He was an All-Star three times, won 16 Gold Glove awards and earned a World Series ring with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1982.

Kaat discovered RVing through baseball friends Bob Gibson and Bill White, who are avid RV owners. “They got us interested, so we rented an RV for a couple trips and found out about all the benefits and decided to buy our own,” says Kaat.

As a professional athlete and Yankees broadcaster, Kaat is a frequent traveler. But he’ll tell you his most memorable trips have been in his RV.

Order a free RV “getting-started” DVD or CD-ROM at 1-888-Go RVing or GoRVing.com. Surf the website for lists of Go RVing dealers and campgrounds in your area, as well as RV shows, publications, rental sources and clubs. Or write to: RVIA, P.O. Box 2999, Dept. P, Reston, VA 20195.

RVIA (rvia.org) is the national association representing more than 550 manufacturers and component suppliers producing approximately 98 percent of all RVs made in the United States.

Family Takes RV to All AFC Stadiums

RESTON, Va. — Recreation Vehicle Industry Association’s (RVIA’s) newest media spokespersons, the DiEugenio family, will promote RV tailgating and family RV travel as they embark on a tour of NFL football games for the 2006-07 season. The tour will continue through the Super Bowl with stops in major media markets like Houston, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, New York, Miami, Cleveland, San Diego and other cities with AFC football teams.

Jay and Karen DiEugenio, along with their three young sons, Nick (14), Luke (12) and Frankie (5), pursued a lifelong dream of tailgating at NFL games around the country last year. They visited all the cities with NFC teams in their RV and published a tailgating cookbook called I Got Your Tailgate Party Right Here.

Along the way, the DiEugenios discovered the many rewards of RV travel. “We got to experience our favorite hobbies—football and tailgating—together as a family,” said Jay DiEugenio. “Our family really bonded as we discovered America, met interesting people and wrote our cookbook.”

The DiEugenios enjoyed their RV travels so much that they decided to visit all the AFC stadiums for the 2006-07 football season. This year’s tour will be substantially upgraded with laptops, digital video and still cameras. The RVing family will have an active blog and vlog on their YourTailgateParty.com website, with links to the GoRVing.com website. The kids will be “road schooled” during the trip with schoolwork and encouragement from their local school district.

RVIA’s marketing communications agency, Barton Gilanelli, will arrange media interviews with the DiEugenios during their NFL tailgating tour. They will promote GoRVing.com in every interview as the best resource for families interested in RV travel. They will also discuss the advantages of tailgating in an RV and the many discoveries they have made while touring America by RV.

Fleetwood RV is providing the DiEugenios with a 2007 Bounder Diesel Type A motorhome for this NFL season. Amenities includes slideouts and a satellite dish-ready 26” LCD TV with home theater sound system.

“RVIA has had great success promoting RV tailgating with Commissioner of Tailgating Joe Cahn in years past emphasizing the tasty food and community spirit tailgaters enjoy,” said Gary LaBella, RVIA’s vice president of public relations and advertising. “The DiEugenios are adding family togetherness to the RV tailgating recipe as they’re interviewed in stadium parking lots before games and on the road.”

RVIA (rvia.org) is the national association representing more than 550 manufacturers and component suppliers producing approximately 98 percent of all RVs made in the United States.