| Tuesday, September 30,
2008 Wow, the House of Representatives surprised the heck out of me, they actually voted against the "Bailout" proposal. According to the news media on Sunday night it was all but a done deal. Many in Washington, D.C. were counting their chickens before they hatched. The wolves on Wall Street were salivating at the thought of having some freshly served up American tax payer money to chow down on. It was not to be and President Bush was sent whimpering back to the White House where he was told to "go lie down" next to the dawg. But we all know that this is not the end; this legislation will keep coming back until it passes. After all, the sky is falling and "Gummint" thinks it has to do something. No matter the out come, there is going to be pain in all of our wallets but this too will pass. On another note, being that I had to go to w*rk early and didn't have enough time to start a project Miss Judy and I took a look at our budget for the next two years. We like to take a snapshot from time to time to see if we are still healthy. The news is, before the sky began falling yesterday, that we need to generate $7,500 of income over the two years (between January of 2009 to December of 2010) to meet our budget. So we feel quite confident that as long as the sky doesn't fall we will be just fine. Today I'm going to do a really good vacuum job of the entire house and then shampoo the carpets. We borrowed Matt and Jackie's carpet cleaner so we could "Get'R Done". Then it's off to w*rk we go. My goal is to strike at least one item off the "Ta Do List" each day. Monday, September 29, 2008 Not much happened yesterday - we got up, had our coffee, did our computer stuff, went to church, came home, and went to w*rk. One of the other workamping couples quit, pulled up stakes, and hit the road so that leaves the campground really short handed; we were one couple short as it was. Right now it doesn't look like our schedule will change much but Vicki did ask if I could w*rk an eight hour shift today - Yuck, but agreed to help out. It's not hard w*rk but eight hours is just too long. Hopefully they'll find another replacement couple soon. Being that I will be going to w*rk at 11 o'clock today instead of 1 o'clock it will be necessary for me to switch projects. I was going to rehang the closet doors which should only take a couple of hours (slightly easier than changing the light bulb in a microwave) but I want a time buffer in case of some unforeseen circumstance presents itself. The good news is I have a list of twenty "things" to choose from. That's good news? Anybody out there looking for something to do? Stop by, I'm sure I could find you a thing or two. Well, thar ya have it for today. Take Care, Have Fun, and God Bless. Sunday, September 28, 2008 The number one, main, most important reason for being in the Nashville area is grand daughters. Yep, we do have kids here as well but grand daughters steal your heart away and rise to the top of the list. Yesterday was grand daughter fix day (we'll be getting at least one of these each week - maybe more). This was our first time to see Matthew and Jackie's new home as well. The last time we saw the house was when it was only framed in; they have been living in it for two months now. It is really a nice home for them and the girls, not to big but not to small either, with almost an acre of land in a nice neighborhood. Well, the list grows on! As I strike one item off the list it seems like I add two on to it. I might have to invest in a J-O-B jar. I am up to 15 items on the list now, some quick and easy while others will take some time. A couple of items will be costly such as an alignment and two new tires for the truck. One of the items on the list was to replace the appliance light in our microwave / convection oven. When I went to remove the burned out light from the oven one of the prongs broke off the light and stayed in the socket. No problem, I just needed to get a pair of needle nosed pliers to remove it. Well, that's when "dumb guy" took over. I didn't bother to shut off the power since all I was going to do is pull out the prong (actually it never even occurred to me to shut off the power). Yep, you see this one coming from a mile away!!! As I pulled out the "loose tooth" I managed to come in contact with the head of a screw and sure enough - sparks flew. That blew the circuit breaker which allowed me to finish the job with no problem. Well, almost no problem. When I reset the circuit breaker guess what happened? Nothing, absolutely nothing at all. No light, no clock, no microwave, no convection oven, nothing. Hopefully there's a fuse in the oven that can be replaced but most likely I managed to "fry" the circuit board. Scratch the light off the list and add fix the microwave / convection oven to the list. That means removing the oven from the RV and taking it to a repair shop, hopefully, this is covered under our seven year wear and tear extended warranty 'cause this is an $800 unit. Other than that, I washed the truck (scratch that from the list) in the morning while Miss Judy continued playing with her new toy. She is getting quite proficient at digital scrapbooking. Along with the software she got a $40 coupon toward a bound book so she is working on pages for that book. During the afternoon we got our grand daughter fix and on our way home we stopped at Prime Outlets in Lebanon, Tennessee where Judy got herself a new purse at Wilson's Leather (now she has no money left to put in it). Then it was home to have a light dinner and relax a while before hitting the hay. Saturday, September 27, 2008 Where, oh where, did the day go? Before we knew it it was time for bed. Wow, we didn't get anything done!!! Well, I guess we did do something. Miss Judy needed some "stuff" for the dry skin on her foot which is cracking so we went to the drug store. While we were out and about we decided to go to Lowe's and look at some redecorating solutions. We want to replace our day/night shades so we looked at Bali stringless blinds as a possible solution. They are absolutely great but pricey - it will probably cost us an average of $150 per window and we have nine windows to do (that will cost us over $1,200 so we're gonna haveta see what other solutions might be available). That kind of money would get us two kayaks totally outfitted. Life does have it's priorities. Before we get to window treatments we have to fix the wall that was damaged by our little slideout incident in New Hampshire - $50. Also, I want to trim out all the windows in wood - $150. And I want to rebuild the counter under the sink - $200. The new look - priceless. There is, also, a list of repairs that need to be done as well. Like the closet doors that need to be rehung, two of the seals on the top of the slideouts need to be reworked or replaced, the awning over the large slideout has slight a tear starting that I need to tend to before the whole thing has to be replaced, and the LP gas monitor needs to be replaced. Oh my, Darrell is going to be a busy little boy. That's why I'm glad that I have my mornings free to tackle all these things. So, as you can see, I have plenty of projects to keep me busy while we are here in Nashville. We watched the first debate between Senators McCain and Obama last night and I can only say one thing. Piffle, Phooey!!! Waaaaaay back when I was a college boy I felt that the two party system was inadequate for selecting a President of the United States. We need to have at least a half dozen "parties" presenting candidates. The two party system is failing to meet the needs of our country with too many critical issues being stalemated because of bi-partisian politics. After watching the debate last night I feel more strongly than ever that we need several different candidates with differing points of view to choose from. Speaking of politics, did you write your senators and congressman/woman regarding the $700 billion bailout? I did, hopefully it will make a difference in the out come. Friday, September 26, 2008 What a difference!! We just finished our first w*rk week here at KOA Nashville and what a difference from Lake George Escape. At the end of the week at Lake George we would drag ourselves home for two days of recuperation but here we still have some energy left. We actually came home after w*rk and just sat outside and talked until around 9:30. After a w*rk week at Lake George we barely had enough energy to crawl home and into beddy bye let alone talk. Fred, the manager here at KOA Nashville, and Vicki, the operations manager, are both great people to w*rk with. Fred has talked to us about our scheduling desires and has given us a schedule that fits our needs to a tee. We have Fridays and Saturdays off and w*rk six hour shifts on the rest of the days beginning at 1:00 in the afternoon until 7:30 with a half hour break. That gives us Saturdays to visit the kids and grand kids, Sunday mornings for worship, and leaves our mornings free to do whatever we want get done which is exactly the way we like it. Today we are not going to go anywhere. I'm going to wash the truck (I've already washed the entire RV from the roof down) and then I'm going to work on September's Travelogue. Miss Judy wants to work on her scrapbooking as well as do a layout for her next braclet (beading). Also, we have a few "chores" to do around the house. Plus, Alex wants to go outside and sit in my lap for a little while so, all in all, it will be a relaxing kinda day. I wonder if I'll even get out of my PJs? Thursday, September 25, 2008 Well, he went and did it! The "President of the United States" went on national television flapping his wings while cackling that the sky is falling and will land with a great big thud within a week if congress doesn't act. On top of that, the chicken coop news organizations are bantering "Crisis, crisis, everyone to get from the street - the sky is falling, crisis, crisis; right after these commercials". Crisis is the chicken coop news organizations' favorite word; we have a housing crisis, an oil crisis, a mortgage crisis - it's giving me a mid life crisis (oops, too late for that). Between the two of them they have gotten the entire Hen House on the Hill in a panic and they are running around like, well, chickens with their heads cut off trying to figure out how to sure up the sky in order to keep it from falling down around their ankles. But, not to worry because the "President of the United States" has a plan; all the Hen House on the Hill needs to do is pony up 700 billion dollars to give to the same idiots that got us into this mess in the first place - that should pretty much fix the problem, wouldn't ya think? Talk about putting the fox in charge of the Hen House on the Hill. I swear by the hairs on my chinny, chin, chin that there are more scrambled egg heads in Washington D. C. then there are in the whole rest of the barn yard (i.e. world). Furthermore, the "President of the United States" is calling for our two presidential contenders, Mr. It's Time For Change For Change Sake and Mr. I Don't Have a Frigging Clue About Economics, to the White House in hopes of getting "bi-partisan" support in strong arming the Hen House on the Hill into submitting to this illustrious plan of his within a week. The timing couldn't be better because the Hen House on the Hill is going on recess at the end of next week. Man alive, hopefully the hens will stop and put their heads back on and cooler heads will prevail because this is just a plain bad idea - actually, it is a stupid idea. I may have been born at night, but not last night and I recognize dumb when I see it. First of all, the sky is not falling and it will not fall anytime soon. As for recess, I say our representatives need to stay in from recess until they complete their homework assignments and get a passing grade. When I was part of senior management and a "crisis" arose it was all hands onboard until the "crisis" was resolved - we didn't get to go on recess or vacation or whatever you want to call it. It's high time that our representatives in the Hen House on the Hill begin earning their keep or we should fire their feathered chicken asses. Secondly, this is de ja vu all over again. This is the same tactic that the the "President of the United States" used to ramrod the Iraq war down the throats of the Hen House on the Hill. Remember, the sky is falling under the weight of all of the weapons of mass destruction which are pointed at Israel and the United States and are about to go off any minute. Even when ambassador Joe Wilson told them otherwise the "President of the United States" insisted that it was so and got the Hen House on the Hill in such a fervor before pressuring them into taking immediate action. That was a costly blunder and hopefully that tactic won't work again, however, it's not looking good. Further, just where on earth does the "President of the United States" think he's going to come up with 700 billion dollars? Does that number bother any of you the way it does me? Just look at it - $700,000,000,000.00
You know, a billion here and billion there and it
starts to add up to some serious money. Wouldn't you like to see that in your
pay check? Anyway, where's this money going to come from? This country is
essentially bankrupt. The National Debt is currently 9.5 Trillion Dollars. We
can't even fathom that kind of money but here it is per the National Debt Clock
-$9,536,317,678,235.00
By the way, your family's share of that debt is
$80,913, so ante up. Sorry, I don't happen to have that kind of money on me at
this time and neither does anybody else I know, so yes, this country is
essentially bankrupt. We're unable to pay back what we owe.If the "President of the United States" happens to have that kind of money laying around somewhere that we don't know of; then give it to "we the people" and let us work with it. Do you realize that based on a 300 million population it would be approximately $2,333.33 per person (man, woman, and child). Do you suppose that would help the economy if we had $2,333.33 for each family member in our bank accounts? Don't you think that that would allow some families to get caught up on their mortgages? Wouldn't that give people some extra cash to purchase "stuff" and help create jobs to build that "stuff"? But, whatever we do, let's not give it back to those morons who made poor business decisions based on their greed. Gummint is not a good manager of money and, we all know, somehow that money would end up lining the pockets of the greedy fat katts who created this "crisis" in the first place. Bottom line is, call, email, or write your congressman/woman and senators and let them know that the "President of the United States'" plan is a bad idea. Urge them to follow Nancy Reagan's lead (on drugs) and "Just Say No!" After all, who's going to clean up the mess when this plan falls apart which it's destined to do? It sure won't be the "President of the United States" because he'll be sitting in Crawford, Texas counting all of his oil revenues. Wednesday, September 24, 2008 It's nice to have extended summer this year - we did that by heading south a month earlier this year than we did last year. The weather here in Nashville has been just fantastic with temperatures in the high 60's in the morning rising to mid 80's during the afternoon and being in the 70's during the evening. Just plain pleasant all around. We are happy with our site here at the KOA Nashville. It's a good mix of sun and shade with trees keeping our rig shaded during the afternoon but allowing the sun in during the morning hours. Yesterday morning I "clumb" up on top of the rig and washed the roof - boy, what a mess. When Ike passed us by in Celina it picked up a lot of dirt from the farm land and deposited it all over the truck and RV. As I washed the roof you could just watch it roll off, it looked like coffee running off the roof and down over the sides of the rig. Yuck!!! I will continue washing the truck and rig this week to get them squeaky clean. Our J-O-Bs here at KOA Nashville are certainly more laid back than at Lake George Escape. Both of us really liked the w*rk we did at Lake George but it was a lot harder due to the numbers of people in the park. Judy w*rks the front desk which makes the reservations, does the check-ins, and sells products from the store. I do yard work, escort guests to their sites, and provide customer service. The park is old but it is in pretty good shape so the yard work isn't very difficult and, right now, there are only around twenty check-ins per day so its not all that hectic. At this time "not all that hectic" is just what we both can use for a while. Tuesday, September 23, 2008 Last night I took a look at our investments and 'taint lookin' good. Between the "current administration" and the failure of congress to protect America's interest this country is in a sad, sad state. Basically we, as a nation, are bankrupt - we owe more money than we can possibly pay back. If this country was a business it would be in Chapter 11. And now that nincompoop in the white house wants to bail out the financial institutions with a 700 billion dollar hand out. The problem is that either way "we the people" are going to take the brunt of this "crisis" and the "fat cat" executives are going to walk away with millions in their pocket. To add insult to injury that nincompoop in the white house wants to let the Secretary of Treasury have carte blanche control of the 700 billion dollars with little to no accountability. What? Have "we the people" become that stupid? After sitting down and assessing the current situation I have come to one conclusion. The United States is broke and we can't afford a President and Vice President so we should fire Bush and Channey and cancel the elections. Maybe "we the people" should have gotten George a girl friend - it kept Bill busy so that he didn't have time to screw up a lot of things. In the mean time, we need to recall our congressional representatives and take them to the wood shed for a good thrashing. It's waaaaay past time that they stop pandering to the "special interest groups" in this country while lining their own pockets and start paying attention to the interests of Main Street America. Bottom line is that our investments are taking a beating which means that somehow we have to make up some of the losses to get us through to August. We are in a good position to deal with this problem but my heart goes out to all those families who are not debt free, don't have any savings, and are not making enough money to cover their monthly expenses. No matter how you look at it, the rug has gotten pulled out from under their feet and their buttocks have hit the floor with a resounding thud. However, I'm an optimist and I do believe that we are a resilient nation and will recover but in the meantime all of us are going to feel the pain (some more pain than others). Unfortunately our representatives and the "fat cats" won't feel very much pain at all - that's reserved for "we the people" who live on "Main Street". Monday, September 22, 2008 Miss Judy has been in her corner and contributed yet another outstanding entry. This time she wrote about her experiences at the Gypsy Journal Rally so be sure to stop by Judy's Corner and she what's on her mind. We only w*rked at KOA Nashville for two months back in November and December of two thousand and six but everything is just where I left it two years ago. After w*rking at Lake George Escape this J-O-B is a piece of cake. Actually, it's a little boring but boring is just what I want for a while. Vicki is not sure if the schedule we are currently w*rking will remain the same but I sure hope so. We currently have Friday and Saturday off each week which would allow us to visit our grand daughters on Saturdays - after all, grand daughters is what it's all about. Judy w*rks the front desk and the store and I w*rk mainly clean up (site clean up, putting the picnic tables back in order, picking up trash, escorting rigs to their site, and some landscaping projects, etc.). Last year we visited the Cape in May and then again in September and had planned to visit in September this year but my favorite uncle had been sick so we only did a day trip from New Hampshire. Clyde and Marge have a nice long and wide driveway so we could park the rig right there which made it the best camp site on the Cape. Anyway, while we visited about two weeks ago we helped get uncle Clyde to the emergency room. He was so weak and frail that we all knew the end was near for him. Well, my favorite uncle has departed this earth and now resides with Jesus. We'll certainly miss him and will shed a few tears but will take comfort in the fact that he and Aunt Marge are believers and in knowing that we will see him again some day. I am sure glad that we took that day trip to the Cape and got to spend a little time with them. Uncle Clyde was 83 years old and they had moved to the Cape 25 years ago after he retired. He and Marge have four children; three of whom still live in Connecticut and one in New York. Sunday, September 21, 2008 We are back in the Central Time Zone which means that we gained an hour but, also means that our biological clocks will need some time to reset themselves. At 7:30 at night we find ourselves assuming the prenatal position with our thumbs heading for our mouths and by 8:00 we are heading to beddy bye. Alex's tummy tells him that it is time to eat somewhere around 4:30 AM which causes him to trudge into the bedroom, hop up on the bed, and start walking up and down on my bod while meowing and purring loudly. Like I have said before, there's no snooze button on a katt who wants his breakfast. In about six weeks our bodies should have adapted; just in time to go back to standard time and then it will start all over again. It's a good thing that there is no such thing as time in the fulltiming lifestyle. Yesterday morning Matthew, Jackie, Catia, and Kalina came for a visit. They were camping with their Bible study group at Percy Priest Campground (COE campground) which is not very far from us. So we got to have our grand daughter fix and see Miss Kalina for the first time. Even though we have four grand daughters, and no grand sons (yet), we are truly blessed to have such sweeeeet little girls. They are all just as precious as they can be and we are always "happier than a tornado in a trail park" whenever we get to spend time with them. After they left we hitched up and pulled out. This time the trip was to the other end of the park. We got to choose our site here at KOA Nashville and chose a site near one of the bathrooms. What we hadn't considered was the lights on the bathroom - it made the RV like daytime in the middle of the night and I need it dark to sleep. So we roamed around and found a nice quiet site in the back of the park away from the lights. That made quite a difference; it was nice, dark, and peaceful last night - just right for sleeping. Other than that, we went to Kroger's to pick up a few grocery items then came home to watch Michigan State whoop Notre Dame, then had dinner, and ate some ice cream before our jammies were calling us. Then we went night night. Today we'll go to church this morning and start our workamping this afternoon. This w*rking for a livin' has gotta go! :-) Saturday, September 20. 2008 "Slow down, you're movin' to fast," That's what I keep telling myself after driving for periods longer than five hours. Someday we are going to learn how to drive for four hours and stop - right in the middle of the street if we have to. We drove seven and a half hours yesterday to get to Nashville and by the time we got there we felt like a couple of wet noodles. We thought that we would start workamping on Saturday but, Vicki was good to us by allowing us to have today off. Had we known that we would have stayed over night in the Louisville area and visited Norm and Linda. Oh well, we have today to recuperate after yesterday's ordeal. I know, a lot of you out there are thinking seven and a half hours is not a big deal but we have gotten to the stage of live where we don't want to drive like that. I like the 4-4-2 plan - drive no more than four hours, be off the road by four o'clock, and stay for at least two days. Besides that, ask Alex what he thinks of traveling more than four hours. He'll tell you what's on his mind - "meow, meow, meow-meow, meow, meow, meow-meow-meow." That's right, he doesn't like it either. We arrived and got to choose our site so I chose one right next to the restrooms. At this KOA hardly anyone uses the restrooms because they use their own rigs but what I didn't think about were the lights. Last night it was like day time in the rig because of all of the lights. Me thinks we're gonna havta move. We'll try one more night but we didn't sleep real well, however, part of that was because we didn't turn on our dehumidifier. I woke up feel like an army battalion had spent the night marching in my mouth - Yuck! Once we got set up we went out to Cracker Barrel for dinner - didn't feel like cooking. There's a gas shortage here in the Nashville area. No problem getting diesel but cars are lined up for blocks at the few gas stations that still have gas. No one has a good reason for the problem but all of the "talking heads" are proliferating their views over the issue and doing very little to resolve it. We didn't see this problem anywhere else in our travels but it is alive and well here. Strange but it should (emphasis on should) straighten itself out in a couple of days. We don't have any plans for today so we'll just have to see what unwinds. We'll probably walk around the campground, visit Camping World (which is right next door), and just plain veg out. Tomorrow we'll go to church in the morning and then start workamping at one o'clock. We have a great schedule - we have Fridays and Saturdays off (this is great for visiting kids and grand daughters) and work from one to seven thirty with a half hour for lunch on Sunday through Thursday. I like having my mornings free so I can enjoy my coffee and putz around the house for awhile before having to go to w*rk. Friday, September 19, 2008 It was a fine day in March of two thousand and eight when Randy, Terry, Judy, and I sat talking about attending the Gypsy Journal Rally in Celina (pronounced Sel-lie-na), Ohio. How fast time passes with the rally now coming to an abrupt end. Yesterday we started the day lined up for our daily rations of donuts and coffee after which I attended a couple of seminars. Both of them were by Nick himself - one was on the frugal RVer and the other one was on Boondocking. As always I picked up a few good hints. Miss Judy continued to play with her new toy and went to the seminar held by Cheryl Green from Creative Memories. She managed to get a lot of basic information behind her as well as Cheryl's contact information for any future questions and/or issues. Judy is going to really enjoy getting back to her scrapbooking with a whole new avenue to explore. I don't mind her having so many different "basket weaving" hobbies because it keeps her off the streets and out of trouble. An idle mind is the Devil's workshop, ya know? For our farewell, Randy, Terry, Judy, and I went out to eat at Casey Jones Restaurant. It was a home cooked buffet style dinner very much like the Road Kill Cafe that we enjoy so much in Elberta, Alabama. As always we ate, we talked, we laughed and then we did it all over again. Yep, we sure are going to miss Randy and Terry's company. They are good friends that God brought to us back in the winter of ought-seven and we look forward to reuniting with them again in a couple of months at Rainbow Plantation. The rally finished up with some more door prize drawings - there were enough prizes that everyone got one and then all the tickets we put back into the bucket with the drawings continuing until all of the prizes were given out. There were two grand prizes; one being a gift certificate to a future Gypsy Journal Rally and the other a Coleman three way portable refrigerator. We hated to see the rally come to an end; they really should be two weeks long but, all good things must come to an end. We'll have more about the rally with pictures in the September Travelogue. Today it is on the road again for an especially long drive to Nashville, Tennessee. It will be about an eight hour day for us (six and half hours of driving time). We tend to take our time driving between 55 and 60 MPH and stopping a lot along the way - after all, what's the hurry. Normally we would take two days to make a trip like this but we start workamping again tomorrow so we'll have to do it in one day. If we had the time we would stop in the Louisville, Kentucky area and spent a couple of days with Norm and Linda Payne (See Ya Down the Road) who should be there by now, however, not this time guys so we'll wave at you as we pass by. Well, that's it for today so we'll see ya tomorrow from the Nashville KOA. So take care, drive safely, and keep the greasy side down. Thursday, September 18, 2008 We're having just as much fun as one possibly can while we are losing money value. Yep, the rally is a blast and we are enjoying ourselves even though our investments are going into a big hole in the ground. Yesterday I attended three (yes, count them - three) seminars. The day began with coffee and donuts, can't get any better than that, and then Judy and I went to Ron and Brenda Speidel's seminar on Hosting in State Parks. Ron and Brenda did another seminar later on Don't Replace, Refurbish your RV (with this economy that is exactly where a lot of us live). Both seminars were very insightful and informative. The last seminar that I attended was on Managing Digital Photos With Picasa by Jim and Chris Guld (a.k.a. Geeks on Tour). Jim and Chris are both computer geeks and have taken there business on the road as fulltime RVers. Odie, the wonder dawg, is their handler and allows them to live in the RV with him. We have a lot of digital photos that I have managed to arrange in folders but Picasa will provide me with the tool I need to manage them. It, also, has features that will enable me to enhance them, email them, put them into web storage, resize them for the web site, and (as they say on TV) much, much more. Another very useful and timely seminar. Miss Judy got a new toy to play with. One of her "basket weaving" endeavors is scrapbooking. She has gone back into all of our picture files and scrapbooked most of them (still has a few left) but, with the advent of digital cameras we now have a "ton" of digital pictures for her to play with so she bought some Creative Memory software that will allow her to do digital scrapbooking. Isn't that neat? Her "basket weaving" hobby has now become hi tech! Now all she has to do is learn the software - can an ol' dawg learn new tricks? It's a good thing that she is just a young pup. ;-) We finished the day with a H-U-G-E pizza party with around 230 people and over 100 pizzas topped off with entertainment by One More Time. One More Time is a husband and wife act with lots of old time music, a few comic routines, and lots audience participation. They were very entertaining and everyone had a great time. The only thing missing in the whole day was a nice ice cream sundae to top it all off. Wednesday, September 17, 2008 Did I ever tell you that one of the best parts of this fulltiming gypsy lifestyle of ours is meeting new people along the way? "Only a million times, Pa!!!" Well, I'm here to tell you that one of the best parts of this fulltiming gypsy lifestyle of ours is meeting new people along the way. Here at the Gypsy Journal Eastern Rally we have met oodles of new people. Yesterday morning we met Bob and Molly at breakfast and then last night we met Jon and Kathleen at the "door prize" drawing. "What's so special about those two couples," you may query? These are people that we had previously met in cyber space - translated that means online forums. Well now we have met them flesh and bones, face to face and what a joy it is to have made their acquaintance. It is soooooo nice to have them among our many RVing friends and we look forward to bumping into them again in our travels. The seminars here at the Rally have been very good with instructors who "have lots of whiskers" (that's a Shoe-ism meaning plenty of experience, however, some of them actually have lots of whiskers growing out their face). I am now at the age where I know it all, my problem is that I just can't remember it so it is nice to have seasoned instructors who remind me of what I forgot. :-) Huh? Say what? Did that make any sense at all? Well, it is early in the morning and I am working with only one cup of coffee under my belt. Anyway, yesterday I attended a seminar on electrical systems, weight safety, and fire safety as well as Nick's "Highway History and Back Road Mystery" lecture. All very good with plenty of information and a few RVing tips. This morning there is an in depth lecture on the meaning of life but it is being held at the same time as the donuts are being served, so I won't be making that lecture (I guess you can figure out what the meaning life is - eating). But, seriously, this is our first rally since we began fulltiming two whole years ago and I must say that it is well worth the "price of admission". You have the opportunity to learn a thing or two, meet some new folks, and just generally have a good time. So let the good times roll - see ya tomorrow. Tuesday, September 16, 2008 We started the day with a trip to Wally world to do some grocery shopping and then came home. I washed some of the dirt off the RV from the wind/dust storm that we had on Sunday. Ike picked up dirt from the farm lands that are around Celina and managed to deposit it on our RVs here at the rally - what a mess. I will still need to do a good wash job from the roof down once we get to Nashville. The Rally kicked off right on schedule with Nick and Terry on center stage. Nick went through the "housekeeping" items first and then introduced all of the vendors and instructors for the seminars. There was a panel discussion at 4 o'clock but Randy, Terry, Judy, and I decided that that would be a good time to go out for dinner at a local Mexican Restaurant. It was alright but I've certainly had better, however, we have a good time where ever we go - desert was a stop at the DQ. Door prizes were awarded last night at 7 o'clock and Miss Judy won herself a $10 certificate to a local pizza joint. Being that there will be pizza at the rally on Wednesday evening and we'll be departing at first light on Friday she'll probably not get to use it. We'll just have to find someone who will put it to good use. Well, I had better get going - coffee and donuts are being served this morning before the seminars begin (we don't want to miss that). As Nick would say, "That's what made me the man I am today." Or, "I was one hundred and ten pounds when I arrived here." As you can probably tell, Nick is a character. Monday, September 15, 2008 On Saturday morning we left Gettysburg and got through the "problem" intersection before the traffic got heavy. It's not all that bad but the roads are narrow and it doesn't leave a lot of space to make a left turn if there are cars lined up at the light (with a 38' fifthwheel "wide turns" are required). So an early (7:30 A.M.) start precluded that issue and we were on our way. Naggie Maggie, our GPS, wanted us to go up Route 997 but I wanted to go through on Route 30 (boy, she sure is a stubborn b----; she kept "recalculating" a route back to 997). Anyway, when we got to Chambersburg at the intersection of Route 30 and I-81 there was a road sign stating that there was a low clearence (13'2" - too low for us) one mile ahead so I had to take I-81 back to? You guessed it, Route 997!!! Maggie one, Darrell zero (for this trip anyway). We drove almost seven hours before getting to Spring Valley Campground at Cambridge, Ohio. Spring Valley is a great campground with level sites, a nice pond, lots of seasonal folks with nicely landscaped sites, and nice people running the office (A full hook up site is $28 per night). It would be a great place for a layover of a few days - you could go swimming in either the pool or the pond, you could go fishing (catch and release) in the pond, you could just go for nice leisurely walks, and/or you could just sit in your lawn chair next to the nicely landscaped pond. We met a couple of nice couples while out for a walk about - one couple was from Southern California and the other was from Hershey, Pennsylvania. It's certainly not hard to find nice folks in a campground. We're here!!!! We arrived at the Gypsy Journal Rally (Early Bird Arrival) yesterday about noon time. Once we got set up we went over to register and meet Nick and Terry Russell, our hosts. Then came back home to have lunch before the winds hit us. The "slick plate" that attaches to our hitch pin fell off when I unhitched the coach from the truck so we visited Phil Botnick (Phil and Ann's RV Repair), who is here at the rally, and, sure enough, he had one on board so I purchased it. While out and about we, also, met Jim and Chris Guld and their furry kid Odie (Geeks On Tour) who are teaching some computer courses here at the rally. Randy and Terry should arrive sometime before noon as they stayed at Spring Valley Campground as well. The rally kicks off at 2:00 P.M. this afternoon and, from the looks of things, we should be having a great time - more on the Rally to come. Yesterday afternoon we got the remnants of hurricane Ike. Although we didn't get much of any rain we did get a lot of wind with gusts over 50 miles an hour (maybe even a couple of blasts up to 60 mph). In order to protect the slide awnings we put the slides in. Even with the slides in it shook the house in good shape. Needless to say, Katie and Alex didn't like the wind storm in the least - to be honest, neither did we. At one point some sheets of metal roofing, that had been laying beside one of the buildings at the fairgrounds, decided to take flight. I put on my work gloves and went out to drag them to the back side of the building. My neighbor showed up with his gloves on and we got them secured - they sure would have done some damage to our rigs if they hit them. We had to be careful in how we handled them because the wind was stronger than we were, but we were smarter than the wind and were able to drag them safely out of harms way. Wow, that was three hours of excitement that we really didn't need to experience. Saturday, September 13, 2008 Today we depart Gettysburg on the next leg of our journey. It rained yesterday afternoon but we had gone out to breakfast and had done a quick drive around the Gettysburg National Battlefield, to garner a few more facts for our September Travelogue, before it began to pour. Other than that we "stood" inside. I finished August's Travelogue while Judy made some excellent bran muffins (with lotsa fibah). We cooked a great evening meal with pork loin, 'taters with mushroom and onions, and spinach. Then we watched the news, to see what Ike was up to, and "Who's Smarter Than a Fifth Grader" before hitting the hay. This morning we're getting on the road early (before 8 o'clock). There is an intersection in downtown Gettysburg at Washington Street and Route 30 that I do not want to negotiate in heavy traffic. We will be taking Route 30 to get out of town and there doesn't seem to be any better way than to just go through town. Being that it is a Saturday morning it should be relatively clear at that time - at least, that's what we are hoping. See ya tomorrow from Ohio. Friday, September 12, 2008 We got up yesterday morning and leisurely partook in our morning cup of coffee. I fixed us some omelets for breakfast, we did our routine chores, and headed out to the Gettysburg National Battlefield visitor's center for one of the Ranger Program's talks. It was a 90 minute walk/talk on Cemetery Hill discussing General Meade and the Union Army's battlefield strategy (there will be more about the talk with pictures in our September Travelogue). Then it was back home where we had lunch and joined the katts in a little nap. After catching a few z's we went down to the campground store where they have a diorama depicting the events of July 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, 1863. This model of the Gettysburg Battlefield is very well done and the narration captured the events of the battle with historical accuracy. All in all, this is a very good overview of the battle and well worth the visit. For those of us staying at Artillery Ridge Campground the presentation is free - it is $4.50 for others. Around 5 o'clock my jammies were calling me so we just spent the rest of the evening lounging around, surfing the Internet, and watching a little television - why, oh why, isn't there anything worth watching on television? I sure am glad that we didn't spend the money to have a satellite dome installed and subscribe to a satellite plan. We had cable TV while we were workamping in New York and still could find very little that interested us. I guess we're just not TV people. For one thing I find it very annoying to try watching a show with so many commercial breaks - and the breaks are so loooong. By the time they get back to the show I forget what I am even watching let alone remember what the storyline was all about. Yep, I can see a Kindle in our future, maybe even two, we both like to read. Thursday, September 11, 2008 We got underway by 8:00 heading for the RV Show - surprisingly the traffic was not bad going through Harrisburg. It was a little after 9:00 when we got to the show and met up with Randy and Terry. As always, the first thing that gets done after a trip is a "head call" and what booth do I walk by getting to the rest room? Lake George Escape RV Resort with Matt manning the booth. We stopped, spun the wheel, and won a one week vacation at an Encore Resort in Florida for $199 - not a bad price for a stay in one of their resorts in Florida during the winter months. It's good until April of 2009. Maybe we'll combine it with a two week Habitat for Humanity build and a one week stay at the Escapees Park in Bushnell which would give us a month in Florida this winter. Then Randy, Terry, Judy, and I went and kicked the tires of some new fifthwheels, class Cs, and park models before going inside to do a walk through of the vendors. Although some of the high end fifthwheels are nice both Randy and I were very impressed with Heartland's Landmark. Even though it is a mid priced fifthwheel it has been exceptionally well thought out with a lot of the amenities that you find in the higher end units. If I were to buy a new fifthwheel today, that would most likely be my choice. After spending four hours at the show we developed some hunger pangs so it was off to Applebee's for a bite to eat. As always, when we get together with Randy and Terry there is more than enough to talk about with plenty of laughs as well. After dinner we bid them farewell until Monday - we'll be getting together again at the Eastern Gypsy Journal Rally in Celina, Ohio. We got home around 4:30 so I did a little research on the 1st Maine Calvary in which my great, great, great grandfather served during the Civil War. Then we went over to the visitor's center and found the location of where they fought in the Battle of Gettysburg. It was on a battlefield east of Gettysburg called East Calvary Field. We found the monument erected for the 1st Maine Calvary with no problems and snapped a few pictures of it and the battlefield. I'll need to do a little more research on this particular battle that was fought on July 3rd, 1863 which was the third and final day of the Battle of Gettysburg. It makes it a little bit more personal when you realize that one of your ancestors stood on that very field during the actual battle. Well that does it for today - we are going to take in a couple of interpretive talks and maybe do a walk about of downtown Gettysburg later. More to come tomorrow, so until then, keep on keeping on. Wednesday, September 10, 2008 Yesterday we did something that we hardly ever do - traveled in a down pour. We wanted to get to Gettysburg so we could meet up with Randy and Terry at the RV Show in Hershey today so we "pressed on". I did slow down so a normal three hour trip ending up taking us four hours but better safe than sorry. We got set up at Artillery Ridge Camping Resort (Not, it's a decent campground but is far from a resort) and took a drive over to the new Gettysburg National Park Visitors Center. It is very nicely done and the museum has been expanded with a series of video presentations documenting the events of July 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, 1863 as well as the history of the Civil War. If you come here I would recommend that you plan to spend a full day (preferably two) to "do" the park. You'll need at least two hours in the museum alone and no less than three hours for the 24 mile tour. Well, it's off to the show and out the door to fight rush hour traffic in Harrisburg in order to get the RV Show. Today is "Old Folks" day (half price) and we have made arrangements to meet Randy and Terry at 9:30 - what were we thinking? Tuesday, September 9, 2008 Yesterday was a non eventful day - NOT. It all started when we didn't push one of the Lazy Boy recliners far enough back and the slide caught it shoving it into the coffee table which then pressed up against the back wall. The chair crushed the table which proceeded to put a crack in the wall (inside only). Something for Pa to fix. Once we got set up at How Kola Campground (which is north west of Scranton, PA) Judy couldn't get her closet door opened. The problem? Cedar Creek, in their infinite wisdom, didn't use any glue when they stapled the header that holds the upper track for the closet doors and it has broken loose leaving the closet doors "flapping in the breeze" so to speak. There is no real damage just some reassembly required. Just one more thing that Pa needs to fix - in the mean time I have some "C" clamps that will hold it together until we get to Nashville. Well, other than that, we had a fairly decent trip. It took us almost seven hours to get here from Hancock, NH but Tom and Paula prepared dinner for us. Thank God for the travel day tradition. We met Tom and Paula through the RV-Dreams Forum and chat room. They became fulltimers in June of 2007 and maintain a seasonal site here at How Kola Campground in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. The campground is built around five small ponds which were part of a fish hatchery. It's a nice campground but does have its fair share of old run down campers that haven't moved in years and years. After dinner we took a walk around the campground ponds, all of which have plenty of fish for fishing, and then sat on their porch and chit chatted for a while. They have done a lot of traveling in their first year of fulltiming along with a couple of workamping stints and shared their stories with us. Real fine folks and we hope to see them again in our travels - hopefully they will stop by Rainbow Plantation so we can cook them the traditional travel day meal. Thanks guys for hosting us and for a great evening. Monday, September 8, 2008 Saturday and Sunday was spent resting and visiting. It is interesting to be among communities that were settled prior to the American Revolution. Hancock, which is where Seven Maples Campground is located, was settled in 1764. That's twelve years before the Declaration of Independence was signed - oh, if only the walls of some of these buildings could talk. It's always sad to say farewell but move on we must. We enjoyed our visits with Marc, Amie, Briana, and Lola and look forward to returning next spring/summer. Sometimes I wish things were like they were when I grew up as a child with all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grand parents living in close proximity. But I am from Maine and Judy is from Michigan so somehow we managed to scatter our offspring in three different states. At least this lifestyle gives us the freedom to see them more often than a "traditional" lifestyle would. Today we are beginning our trek south. We will stay over night in the Scranton, Pennsylvania area and meet some new friends whom we have communicated with electronically. Then it will be onto Gettysburg and the Hershey RV Show for a few days before heading for the Gypsy Journal Rally in Ohio. You can be sure that we will include more information and pictures in our September Travelogue. Saturday, September 6, 2008 We made the trip to the Cape and back without incident, however, uncle Clyde was not doing very well. We ended up taking him to the hospital for some more tests as he was coughing up blood. Not a good sign at all. He was very weak and pale. We had hoped to spend several hours with them and have lunch together but that was not to be. My cousin Rob was there and had tended to his dad through the night so his mom could get some much needed sleep. Rob stayed with Clyde at the hospital so we could take Marge out to relax and get something nutritious to eat. Cheryl, my other cousin, arrived last night to tend to her mom. The past few weeks have been extremely tough on Marge and she just needs some down time. We were not able to go with them into the hospital area where Clyde was getting the tests so we said our good bye to Marge and headed home. It wasn't the happiest trip that we have ever made but we are sure glad we made it and was able to express our love to my favorite uncle. So, take some time to spend with a loved one, you just never know what the future holds. It's raining here this morning and later today we are supposed to get the remnants of Hanna with down pours and gusty winds - nothing serious but still a tropical storm. It was hot yesterday for these northerners, just right for us thin bloods but it was very humid. When we got back to the campground it was in the 70's and quite pleasant. This morning we'll do some of our house chores and this afternoon we'll go for another grand daughter fix. Well, that's about it for today so take care, have some fun, and God bless. Friday, September 5, 2008 I've said it before and I'll say it again. You have to be flexible to live this lifestyle. We were going to leave Seven Maples Campground this morning and go to the Cape but with the remnants of Hannah heading up the Atlantic Seaboard we are going to stay put. Today, however, we will drive down to the Cape to see my aunt Marge and uncle Clyde. It will be almost a three hour drive and we will most likely stay for at least four hours making it a ten hour day. Probably we'll get caught up in the traffic exiting Boston at quiting time on a Friday afternoon - oh the joy of that!!!! But it is very important that we visit with them this year as Clyde is my mother's brother and my favorite uncle and he has been very sick; we just can't be this close to the Cape and not visit. Yesterday we went shopping in one of our favorite grocery stores - the Market Basket. Among our regular groceries we got some fresh sea scallops which is absolutely my favorite seafood. I sauteed them in a little butter and garlic and we just chowed down on them - Yum, Yum. They were "oh soooo good" that I just might have to go back and buy some more. Other than that excursion we just relaxed for the rest of the afternoon with a nap sneaking in (I am just amazed at how tired we are after a summer of workamping). Then it was off to Marc and Amie's for another grand daughter fix last evening and that was it for our day. I had hoped to get in a bike ride on the bike trail between Hancock and Peterborough but that was trumped by the nap - maybe Saturday or Sunday. Well, that's the way it is until next time. Thursday, September 4, 2008 Wow, what a difference twenty four hours makes. We went from the hustle bustle of a H-U-G-E RV Resort with over 2000 people to the solitude of a small campground with just a hand full of people. Our site at Lake George Escape was on the main through fare for the campground. Even though the speed limit was posted at 5 MPH those city drivers thought nothing of flying pass our site at 25, 30, or even 40 MPH. Well, we are on the main through fare here at Seven Maples as well (actually it's the only through fare) and we hardly see any cars go by at all - Ahhh, the peace, the tranquility, and the solitude. I could even hear the stars as they came out last night. Now, this is how life should be!!!! Yesterday was Christmas in September. If you remember last year we did our Christmas shopping for the New Hampshire kids; well we did it again this year. With no sales tax and saving of shipping costs it just makes sense. We will still need to get more presents for Briana when we get to Tennessee because we couldn't find what we wanted for her here. I saw my Christmas gift when we passed by Dick's Sporting Goods but unfortunately it wouldn't fit into the budget bag. They have Perception Sit-on-Kayaks on sale for $200 under the regular price and with no sales tax would add another $50 savings - Man!!!! I gotta get a bigger bag!!! After shopping we when to the Keene Buffet for lunch. This is a Chinese Buffet and was decent - we got out of there for just under twenty bucks. We needed new pillows so we found a couple at Penney's. What a difference a good pillow makes. We paid more for the pillows than we had anticipated but it was worth it. They are Iso-Cool pillows by Isotonic with Outlast Adaptive Comfort materials that help to balance changing body temperatures. The pillows are very comfortable and hold our heads in alignment with our bodies (we sleep on our sides) reducing back pain. Between them, the memory foam topper, and fleece sheets that we use in the cooler temperature we should sleep like a baby - wait a minute, don't babies get up every couple of hours? Wednesday, September 3, 2008 We got underway at 10:30 and drove all the state roads from Lake George Village, NY to Hancock, NH arriving at our destination at 2:15. The speed limit was generally between 40 to 50 MPH which was entirely to my liking. I just wasn't in a 60 to 70 MPH mood. It was a beautiful day with clear skies, temperatures in the high 70's and light traffic. The scenery in New England is just beautiful especially with the bright blue skies as a back drop to the dark green topped mountains. We stopped once a long the way at a turn out after about two hours for a potty break and walk about. Katie slept while Alex chatted away - at least he wasn't howling which he sometimes does. Yep, it was just a slow relaxing drive in the woods. Just knowing that we have at least three weeks before we have to go to w*rk again has been very therapeutic. I can just feel my body beginning to relax again and, boy, was I tired. After we set up "camp" I just sat down with my whole body just feeling like a . . . ???, well sort of like a . . . ???, I guess like a rung out dish rag - totally drained with little to no energy left. It was nap time, but not for too long - we also needed a grand daughter fix. Now, just what did I mean about three weeks before we have to go to w*rk again? Vicki, who is the assistant manager at KOA Nashville, called and offered us a short term J-O-B. They need someone to fill in from now until the end of November. We told them that the earliest we could be there would be the 19th of September. Well, she called back yesterday afternoon and said that would be fine. We'll only w*rk 30 hours a week and be in the area where our daughter, our son and his wife, and our two other grand daughters live. We did our first workamping assignment at KOA Nashville back in November and December of 2006, so we know what the J-O-B is plus it will help fill in the budget gap for all our investment losses this year - every little bit helps. We did get our grand daughter fix with a short visit to Marc and Amie's. On the way back home we witnessed the most beautiful sun set - a perfect ending to a perfect day. Ahhh, life is good!!!! Thanks Terry and Randy for your prayers - as you can see, they were answered. We certainly had traveling mercies. Thanks be to God for all our blessings. Tuesday, September 2, 2008 Our summer at Lake George Escape is now history and I can tell you that we are more than ready to move on. The ol' hitch has been itching for well over six weeks now. We are most definitely ready to "Hit the Road Again". The weather has been just perfect this past week and today is no exception. We will have a most fantastic beautiful good day to travel. It will only take us around four hours to get to Seven Maples Campground in Hancock, New Hampstir so we will be visiting with grand daughters this evening (and their parents). As I said before, Katie and Alex know that we are getting ready to roll. As the time approaches and more things get put away they know that the time is at hand and they begin to get "clingy". Every time we move they are right there, "Don't forget us, mom!". "Don't leave us behind, dad." They are just like two kids. Once they get in the truck Alex will start, "Are we almost there?" "How much longer?" "Are we there yet?" Our friend Thurman has a tee shirt that says, "NO, we are not there yet!" Maybe I should get one of those for travel days. We are not going to be in a hurry to get there as we will be traveling the back roads of New York, Vermont, and New Hampstir. With a nice summer day it should be a beautiful drive in the country. There isn't anything significant along the route but I supposed if one was to stop in each of the little New England towns along the way they could uncover a lot of history. But we are not going to go that slow either so it will just have to be a nice Sunday afternoon ride in the country. After all, now that we are footloose and fancy free once more - everyday is Sunday! Monday, September 1, 2008 Ta-Da, this is it!!!! Today is our final w*rk day here at Lake George Escape. It's finally here - boy it has been a long haul since May 11th. This year was certainly different from last year. With higher fuel prices and an unstable economy we have had a much different clientele this year than the year before and, to be honest with you, we don't like this type of people. They are a rowdy bunch with fights breaking out and their kids just plain raising hell and destroying property - we had to have the police in several times each week. They are selfish being very argumentative while caring less about others, the staff, or the campground rules. Keep in mind that this was only a small percentage of the people but when you have 2 to 3 thousand people that's more than enough to have to deal with. Oh well, enough of that, it's over now and we're looking forward to traveling again - doing the things that fulltimers were created to do. Today Miss Judy will be in Honey Bear's Store and I will be at Boats from 9:00 until 12:00 at which time Fun and Games Department closes for the year. After lunch we will assist in shutting things down and putting things away and we should be done by 3:00. After w*rk we will visit with some of our fellow workampers for hugs and to say our farewells. Then it will be home to start going through our checklist for "hitting the road", watch some TV, and "hit the hay". Exciting day, isn't it? I know, not really but things will start to get interesting tomorrow. |