It’s a good thing that we don’t spend more time with Terry’s cousin Carolyn and her husband Mel because it’s really hard on my waistline. Yesterday, Carolyn made Mel a chocolate cake, and I just could not in good conscience let him do to his skinny little body what I’ve done to mine, so I helped him eat a goodly portion of it. Hey, with me the damage has already been done, and besides, what are friends for, right? Don’t worry about it Mel, let her keep right on baking. I’ve got your back.

I mentioned in yesterday’s blog that we saw a very nice 38 foot 2001 Winnebago Ultimate Advantage diesel pusher at a local dealer over the weekend, and yesterday we went back and took it for a test drive.

Wow! We were impressed! Heck, let’s be honest, we fell in love! We’ve looked at a lot of very nice RVs over the years, and several that we could be comfortable in, but this one really stood out. It just screamed “Buy me!” My Dad used to say, “When something is right, you just feel it,” and this feels right to us.

It handles like a dream, has a ton of upgrades, rides great, and would work just fine for our needs. I had never driven a rig with the 330 horsepower Cat engine in it before, and I was really amazed at how well it got up to speed coming onto the freeway. Miss Terry also took a turn behind the wheel, and was very pleased with the way it drove.

They made us a very good offer, and we are going to look long and hard at putting a deal together. Several things would all have to click at once, including the sale of our bus to a person who has expressed a strong interest in it. So we’re not there yet, but if the stars all align just right, we just may be able to pull it off. Wish us luck.

Some of you may remember my April 23^rd blog, in which I wrote about an RVer who had a headlight out on his pickup truck while we were in Albuquerque for the Affinity rally. He stopped at an auto parts store to buy a replacement light, and on the way back to the fairgrounds a policeman pulled him over and, after asking him several times if he knew he had a headlight out, which he acknowledged, and showed the officer the replacement light. The officer then gave him a summons, and told him that if he had said he did not know the light was out, he’d have only received a warning instead of a ticket. As I wrote in the blog about the incident, I really didn’t feel that was right.

The other day I got an e-mail from the gentleman who received the ticket, telling me that he was so upset he hung around and went to court to fight it, and won. He said the judge told the officer that he was sure the local police had better things to do that bait honest citizens into admitting guilt to a minor infraction, and then giving them a ticket for it.

I’m usually a very strong supporter of law enforcement. I come from a family full of cops. But this time around I have to agree with the judge. I think justice was served.

Thought For The Day – Middle age is not user friendly.

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We spent Wednesday night dry camping in the designated RV parking area at the Route 66 Casino, and thought we might have a problem with our Onan 5500 generator.

We fired it up to run our rooftop air conditioner and all was going along fine, with the generator putting out 123 volts according to the meter on our Progressive Industries EMS system. Suddenly the voltage dropped to 104 volts and the EMS cut out, as it is designed to do in low voltage situations. We turned off the air conditioner and the reading was still 104 volts. With the EMS not engaged, which allows no power to come through, and thus no load on the genset, we were still reading 104 volts.

I let the generator sit for about an hour and fired it up, and it was putting out 123 volts again. But soon it did the same thing, dropping to 104 volts and staying. The AC was not on this time, and all we were using was 9 amps according to the EMS. We had last used the genset about three weeks ago and it was working fine then.

Yesterday morning we left the casino about 9:30 a.m., after waiting for rush hour traffic in Albuquerque to calm down, and headed east on Interstate 40. I think rush hour is actually 24/7 in Albuquerque, and construction zones with lane closures are just a fact of life there, but we managed to thread our way through it all and began to long uphill climb out of the valley. We were in the right hand lane, radiator misters going and moving slow, but we made it okay.

Terry fired the generator up again and we ran the rooftop air conditioner for about four hours with no problems, so I guess the gremlins who were causing problems the night before were taking the day off.

We traveled 190 miles to Tucumcari, where we left the interstate and took U.S. Highway 54 northeast. Add the depressing little town of Logan, New Mexico to your list of places to avoid. There were signs posted  all along the highway through the rundown downtown (what there is of it) saying “No Overnight Parking” and one sad looking RV park next to the railroad tracks. As we were coming into town a group of about nine young men were in an altercation alongside the road that looked like it was going to get violent very quickly.

We crossed into Texas, and tried to hold our breath as we drove past the huge cattle feeding operations near Dalhart. I like the aroma of beef sizzling on the grill a lot more than I do when it’s on the hoof in the muck.

I was looking forward to passing through Hooker, Oklahoma, home of the Hooker Horny Toads ball team. The last time we visited Hooker, I got a giggle out of the sign in front of a building identified as the Hooker Chamber of Commerce. I had no idea they were that organized!

There was a lot of road construction in Hooker, and one sign I really wanted to stop and get a picture of said “We’re building a better Hooker for you” but there was no place to pull over. I wonder if they take custom orders…..?

Before long we crossed into Kansas at Liberal, home of the fantastic Mid-America Air Museum, which we did a feature on a few years ago. Liberal is also home of the Dorothy’s House Museum and an annual Wizard of Oz celebration.

I knew that one of my ex-wives was back in Arizona, but that left one still unaccounted for, so I kept a sharp eye out for witches until we were out of town. One can’t be too careful.

A half hour or so after we left Liberal, we came to Meade, home of the Dalton Gang Hideout, which we will visit tomorrow. We are parked for the night in the Meade city park, which allows free RV parking. There are a few water bibs scattered about, and the park has a dump station. We are sharing the park with a couple from South Dakota in a small fifth wheel, who stopped by to say hello, and a tiny Toyota camper from California.

We covered 456 miles yesterday, which was more than we had planned to drive, but it was a good day, the bus was running smooth, and traffic was light, so we just kept on rolling. It’s good to be back on the road again!

Thought For The Day – No one ever achieved worthwhile success who did not find themselves with at least one foot hanging over the brink of failure.

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Never underestimate the power of the Internet! When it was announced a few days ago that Maine state legislature was sneaking through a bill that would prohibit overnight RV parking in any commercial parking lot, such as a Wal-Mart or truck stop, that was being promoted by campground owners, RVers sent a flood of e-mails protesting the measure and promising to take their vacation dollars elsewhere. The folks in Augusta quickly got the message and backpedaled, canceling the bill.

I bet all of those other businesses in the great state of Maine who stood to lose the revenue they make from RVers appreciate their elected officials realizing that this was a bad business move.

Now if bankers had half as much sense. As most of you know, we are shopping for a different coach to replace our aging bus. The other day I talked to a lady in Texas who has a very nice rig she needs to unload. Her husband passed away, and she has been making the payments on it for almost a year, and her finances are depleted. She just flat out does not have another dime to give the bank.

She has had the rig for sale, and one dealer offered her about 75% of the balance due. She tried to get the bank to accept that and work with her on the balance, but no dice. Their attitude is “either we get all that you owe, or we’ll repo it, sell it at auction at a loss, and come after you for the balance.” She has tried to explain to them that she is 72 years old, and between her husband’s death and her own serious medical problems, the piggy bank is empty. There is no more!

She would love to have someone take over the payments for the full amount due, which we could easily do, as could some other people she has talked to. But the bank has put one roadblock after another in her way. I guess they have all of that Federal bailout money to work with, so who cares if they actually make a profit?

It’s good to be back on the road. We left the Show Low Elks Lodge Campground at 10:45 a.m. yesterday and pulled into the Route 66 Casino on Interstate 40 just west of Albuquerque, a distance of 262 miles, almost exactly five hours later. It was an easy run, and even though the outside temperature was almost 90 degrees, I only had to use the radiator misters a couple of times. But we did get slowed way down on a couple of hills.

In yesterday’s blog I wrote that the Route 66 Casino has free RV parking, and a good buffet. Well, don’t believe everything you read! I don’t know what went wrong since our last visit, but our dinner was a real disappointment. As Miss Terry said back at the bus, we didn’t really buy that food, we just rented it on a very short term basis!

While we were inside getting ill, Ken and Sue Pace stopped by the bus and left us a note as they were passing through. Sue did her geocaching seminar at our rally in Casa Grande in February, and we were sorry we missed them. Hopefully we’ll catch up with them at Escapade.

Before I close, I want to give a quick plug to the RV Lifestyle, Education, & Safety clinic that RVSEF is putting on in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania September 13-16. For those of you who never got to go to a Life on Wheels session, this is a “must not miss” opportunity to learn all about RVing from some of the best known experts in the field. Here is a link to the classes being offered, and whether you are a wannabe, a newbie, or a seasoned veteran, I guarantee you’ll learn a lot! Check it out!   

Thought For The Day – Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

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I have to admit that I am very pleasantly surprised at the reaction to our new Digital Edition of the Gypsy Journal. In the first 24 hours after I wrote in yesterday’s blog that subscriptions were available, we received 30 orders. I can see my pal Chris Guld over at Geeks on Tour just simpering and saying “I told you so!” I just hate it when she’s right.

Overall, the feedback we’ve received has been great, but we can’t please everybody. If you read yesterday’s blog comments, you will see that a couple of readers don’t see the value, and that’s just fine. As I’ve said before, nobody has to spend a penny with us to be able to read the blog and our regular website.

But I did find it interesting that one person seems to think that not only what we do is worthless, but that we seem to be rolling in money. This same person has asked for a discounted subscription price several times in the past, because he’s on a fixed income. I wish somebody would fix my income, because the darned thing is broken! It never seems to stretch far enough!

Folks, I know that some of you have heard me say this before, but I’m going to say it again. Yes, we make a profit. No, I don’t apologize for that. We are a business. We do not have a retirement income or investments we live off of. Everything we earn is from the products and services we create and from my speaking gigs. We’re not getting rich, but we’re paying the bills and having a lot of fun in the process.

I write and publish nonfiction information. There are only a certain number of free campgrounds, or dump stations, or whatever in the country. There is going to be duplication in the information that we, or the folks who produce Day’s End, or Don Wright from Cottage Publications sell. Yes, you can find a lot of the same info we produce online, if you put in enough time to research it. Or, you could be out RVing instead!

Okay, enough of that nonsense, let’s move on.

We’re leaving Show Low, Arizona today headed east. We’ll take Interstate 40 across northern Arizona and New Mexico, and we’ll probably stop for the night at one of the casinos near Albuquerque. The Route 66 Casino at mile marker 140 has a pretty good buffet, and is usually our first choice when we’re traveling in that part of New Mexico.  

Goodbyes are always hard, and it’s going to be very hard to say goodbye to my daughter Tiffany, as it always is. I have to admit that I feel guilty when I see the pain in my little girl’s eyes when we leave, and I always have a lump in my throat for the first few hundred miles, and I want to turn this big old bus around and go back for one more long hug.

But Tiffany knows her old man is an unconventional guy with a bad case of hitch itch that needs to be scratched. (She actually suggested that maybe if I put cream or ointment on it, it might get better!) And I thank her for allowing me to fulfill this wanderlust that I was born with, and not putting me on a guilt trip every time we depart.

The good news is that the road runs both ways, and we can (and will) always come back again.  

Thought For The Day – In a lunatic world, the mad are better equipped than the sane.

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I’ve always been a dinosaur. I like being a dinosaur. It’s comfortable. It’s easy. It makes life much less complicated. I don’t have an iPhone, I don’t do text messages, and I don’t speak geek.

But lately I’ve noticed a certain amount of geekness slipping into my life. I blame a lot of it on Chris Guld from Geeks on Tour. She’s a carrier, sort of the Typhoid Mary of Geekdom.

It’s an insidious thing, this geekness. You start out just dipping a toe into the waters of technology to see what it feels like, and the next thing you know, you’re in over your head.

I was perfectly happy running my little travel rag, and then someone convinced me that I needed a website to help promote the Gypsy Journal. That took a while to get a handle on, but it worked out okay and over time our website has become very popular. But just like rabbits, one website begets two, and two begets three, and before I knew it, I had four websites.

When the blogging thing came along, I thought it was nonsense. Who in the world would waste their time reading something like that? Well, you know what happened there. I’ve been blogging for a couple of years now.

Enter Chris Guld, who hounded me into converting my blog to the WordPress format by giving me a hundred reasons why it would be easier to produce and format, would reach a higher readership, and allow the readers to post responses, creating a dialogue.

The next thing I knew, Chris was telling me that a lot of our readers would like an online edition of the Gypsy Journal. We’ll never stop publishing a printed version, but I finally caved in and uploaded an electronic edition of the current issue to a company who handles digital publications. It looks pretty good, and yesterday I sent out a link to it to several of our readers to get their feedback. I’d like to let you all take a look, but since this is just a test run, the company hosting it will only allow a limited number of views.

Here’s where I am with this so far: The cost is extremely expensive, and we’d need at least 500 subscribers to the electronic edition to make it financially viable. The feedback I have received so far is mixed. Some people liked it, some said they would not be bothered, and some said they would read it, but it would take some getting used to.

Do we have 500 readers out there who want to spend $20 a year for an electronic edition of the Gypsy Journal? A lot of you keep asking for it, even demanding. I guess it’s time to put up or shut up. If you’d step up to the plate and subscribe, send me an e-mail at editor@gypsyjournal.net and let me know, and we’ll see what the response is.

As for you readers who don’t want to give up your printed paper, no worries. If we do go with an electronic edition, it will only be an alternative way to subscribe, and the printed version will still remain just as it is.

Okay, you’d think that now that Chris has me blogging and looking at online publishing, she’d be happy. Guess again! At the Affinity rally in Albuquerque last week, she told me that if I didn’t Twitter, I was one step above Cro-Magnon man. I’d heard of Twitter, and like blogging, I wasn’t impressed at first (or second) glance. Twitter is a bunch of geeks sending each other short messages telling each other what they are doing now. Huh? Who cares if I’m going into McDonald’s for lunch? And it’s nobody’s business if I have a magazine in hand and am headed for the bathroom. Who cares?

Apparently, a lot of people do! Some people have thousands of followers on Twitter. Chris and her hubby Jim explained to me that while, yes, there is a lot of nonsense on Twitter, it can also be a good marketing tool and a way to stay in touch with our friends and readers, and to update them on what we’re up to. If I post a new blog, or start a new project, or whatever, I can post with a “Tweet” on Twitter and get immediate responses. So now you can follow us on Twitter under the user name GypsyJournal (no spaces). But don’t expect me to tell you where I’m having lunch (unless you’re buying, of course). And when I head back to the library, just leave me alone, okay? That’s my time!

So there it is. I went to bed a dinosaur one night, and woke up the next day and had websites, blogs, an iPod, a GPS that talks to me, a Kindle e-book reader, and now I’m Tweeting on Twitter.

But if I were honest, I’d admit that it’s really not Chris Guld’s fault. I have nobody to blame but myself, when it comes right down to it. I’ve seen all of those Just Say No commercials, and I knew better. But those darned geeks have such neat toys! Who can resist? I need to find a meeting where I can stand up and get it off my chest.

“Hello, my name is Nick, and I’m a geek.”

Thought For The Day – Some folks wear their halos much too tight.

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