As I reported in yesterday’s blog, firefighters were hoping the wind would hold off and not make battling the Eagle Rock forest fire that is burning northeast of Williams, Arizona any more difficult.

But Friday evening, the wind began blowing and it still hasn’t stopped. Yesterday the winds were steady at 35 mph, with gusts over 45, and today doesn’t look any better. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, a 400 acre fire is now burning just south of the Little America Resort, right off of Interstate 40 in Flagstaff. The news says this fire was man-caused, and police are interviewing a person of interest.

Sitting here on top of an open hill at Canyon Gateway RV Park in Williams, we can really feel the wind. We have a view of Interstate 40 down the hill through our windshield, and in spite of the high winds, we saw quite a few big RVs on the road battling the wind. It makes me wonder where they have to be so badly that they’d drive in those conditions.

I want to thank my son-in-law, Jim Robinson, and my granddaughters Hailey and Destiny for the unforgettable Father’s Day gift they gave me. Just before we left Show Low, they all came down with the stomach flu, and Friday night it nailed me big time. I’d have to feel 200% better just to die.

Poor Miss Terry worked hard all day yesterday stuffing envelopes with the new issue, while I napped off and on, drank ginger ale, and sniveled. I feel guilty because she wouldn’t even let me carry the finished plastic bins of envelopes out to the van. Those things are pretty heavy, and I just didn’t have the strength to even lift one.

I had no appetite all day long, but finally about 8 p.m. Terry talked me into eating some Jello. I’m usually up until at least 2 a.m., but as soon as I post this blog entry, I’m headed for bed. I’m sorry there isn’t much of a blog today, my brain is so foggy I can’t even type.

Before I close, I hope you take some time today to call your dad and wish him happy Father’s Day. It’s the best gift you can give him.  And if your father has passed on, take a moment or two to remember him. I think he’ll know. And to my own dad, I think of you often, and miss you every day of my life. If my own kids look back someday and think of me with even half of the love and respect that I do you, I will consider my life a success.

Thought For The Day – Any man can be a Father but it takes someone special to be a dad.

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As fulltime RVers, we get to see all kinds of wonderful things and all over the country, and we visit places most people can only dream of. But not every day is about playing tourist. Some days we just keep busy with life in general. Yesterday was such a busy day for us, even though we were not traveling or out sightseeing.

Terry’s parents, Pete and Bess Weber, were fulltimers for several years, and now that they have settled into a house in Apache Junction, they keep their motorhome on a leased lot at the Hon Dah RV Park, here in the White Mountains. Yesterday, they drove up to get their Pace Arrow ready for the summer, and we spent most of the day helping them with that chore.

After the water, electric and sewer connections were hooked up, and Pete had purged the water lines of the winter antifreeze, we got their car unloaded. Then Pete and I raked a winter’s worth of dried pine needles and debris from their patio and the rest of the lot. Meanwhile, Terry and her mom were inside putting things away in the cabinets and closets.

A winter storm had knocked over their tripod mounted TV dish, and before Pete hooked up his signal finder meter, we just pointed the dish in the general direction of where the neighbor’s dish was, and went inside to see if by any chance we had gotten lucky. Unbelievably, we were locked onto a good strong signal! Then Bess had to call Dish Network to reactivate their motorhome’s receiver, since it had been on hiatus all winter long. 

I’m sure glad we live in our Winnebago year around and don’t have to move in and back out every few months, because by the time we were finished, we were all tired!

After we caught our breath, the four of us went to Red Devil Pizza in Pinetop for an early dinner and some more visiting. Red Devil has absolutely the best pizza in the region, as well as great sandwiches and pasta. Terry and her mom had lasagna, I had an Italian sub sandwich, and Pete opted for the fish and chips, and it was all delicious.

After we parted ways at the restaurant, Terry and I stopped at my friend Jim Lewis’ book store, so I could have Jim adjust my back again.  It sure is great having a bone cruncher in the family!

Then we were off to my daughter Tiffany’s place in Show Low, where she had a package of mail waiting for us from our forwarding service. We got our mail and our grandkid fix, but didn’t stay long because it was close to their dinner time.

Back at the Elks lodge campground, Miss Terry cut my hair and trimmed my beard, because I was so shaggy that I was getting very close to violating the city’s leash law. I have reached that point in my life where, even though I have lost most of the hair on my head, by the time we get my ears and eyebrows mown, it takes just as long.

We had a quiet evening, catching up on some e-mail and watching TV before we called it a night and headed for bed.

Thought For The Day – Save the Earth, it’s the only planet with chocolate.

Click Here To Register For Our Eastern Gypsy Gathering Rally!

I spent yesterday just goofing off. I had to send a fax to an insurance company, so I went to our bank, only to learn that this is a service that they no longer offer to customers. In a small town, with  no office supply stores, it took a couple of misses before I found a printing shop with fax service.

From there I drove another ten miles up the mountain to Pinetop-Lakeside, where I stopped at my friend Lyle Worman’s Pinetop Sporting Goods store. Lyle and I go back at least a lifetime, and we’ve gotten into misadventures from the Mexican border to the Painted Desert in that time. We didn’t get to visit much though, because he had a steady steam of customers coming and going.

Lyle said business had been dead until I showed up. I suggested that maybe he put me on the payroll, but the best I could get out of him was a stale piece of Halloween candy that I swiped off his desk.

When  I left Lyle’s shop, I went to Pinetop Book Exchange, a great little used book store that another longtime friend, Jim Lewis, owns. Jim and I go back as far as Lyle and I do, and when I still lived here we were the Three Musketeers. In fact, at one time or another, both of them lived with me for a year or more.

Jimmy was pretty busy too, but we swapped a few lies, and decided that the older we get, the better we used to be. Among his many talents, Jim is also a massage therapist, and he has a massage table right there in his book store. So when I told him that I was having twinges in my back, he threw me down on the table, kneaded here and pushed there, gave me a twist or two, and when I got back upright I was all better again!

A while after I arrived, Jim’s pretty wife Shar came into the store, and we chatted until almost closing time. They have not seen our motorhome yet, and mentioned that they were looking forward to seeing the Winnebago. But Miss Terry was home working on some projects (hey, we can’t both goof off all day!), and I was sure she wouldn’t appreciate me bringing home unannounced guests, so I suggested they drop by another time. The great thing about longtime close friends is that you can say “not now” and they understand and don’t get offended.

When I got back to the Elks Campground in Show Low, Miss Terry had the washing machine going, the place was clean and freshly vacuumed, and she was just finishing putting up the other set of  Levolor blinds in our bedroom. I felt guilty because she had been working all day while I was out playing, but she assured me that things usually go quicker and easier if I’m not underfoot. Yeah guys, I trained that woman well!

But I’m not a total clod. When Terry got finished, I took her out to dinner instead of making her cook. (Can’t you just hear that old male chauvinist pig country song Put Another Log On The Fire playing in the background?)

Whenever people ask Terry why she puts up with me, she always says it’s because I make her laugh and I let her cry. I got a chuckle out of her at dinner, when our waitress asked if I wanted a refill on my Coke. I asked her for half a glass, and when she brought it back, I said “I’m sorry, miss, I guess I forgot to tell you that I wanted the top half of the glass filled, not the bottom.” The young lady started to apologize, but then she realized what I had said, and we all had a giggle.

After dinner we made a quick stop at Safeway for a few things, and on our way out, Terry noticed that the Customer Service counter had a sign saying that they had fax service available. Go figure.

A couple of days ago, I wrote about the State Lines app for the iPhone. As it turns out, State Lines creators Chris Dunphy and Cherie Ve Ard are also fulltime RVers, and they developed this valuable tool with folks just like us in mind. I downloaded the app to my iPad, and I’m very impressed. They put a lot of effort into developing a first class resource that all travelers will appreciate. Cherie and Chris told me that a full size version of the app to better fit the larger iPad screen is in the final stages, and that an eBook version for those without iPhones or iPads is also in the works.

Another great iPhone/iPad app lists all Escapees RV parks nationwide, with information including location, address, number of RV sites and amenities, contact information, and much more. It’s a free app that you can download at this link. 

While I was goofing off all day, Bad Nick was hard at work pounding out a new Bad Nick Blog post titled Bitten By The Boycott. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – My wild oats have turned into prunes and All Bran.

Click Here To Register For Our Eastern Gypsy Gathering Rally!

After the whirlwind activity of getting the new issue of the Gypsy Journal finished, printed, and mailed, it was nice to have a day when we didn’t have to do anything. Yesterday we slept in, and when we got up, Miss Terry made a delicious brunch of crepes. Yummy!

We spent some time checking e-mail and visiting some of our favorite websites, and handling a few little chores around the motorhome. Miss Terry did a couple of loads of laundry, and I dumped our black tank. Then we prepared a few orders we needed to mail out.

Eventually we got ourselves in gear and drove 26 miles into Pinetop-Lakeside, where we stopped at the post office to mail out the orders. Then we stopped at a yarn shop, where Miss Terry looked for some yarn she needs for a crochet project, but they didn’t have anything she wanted.

From there, we drove to my friend Jim Lewis’ Pinetop Book Exchange. Jim and I go back about 25 years, and he is one of the treasures in my life. Soon after we arrived, Jim’s lovely wife Shar showed up, and we swapped lies and told stories for a couple of hours, until it was time for Jim to close up shop for the day.

Then we all walked a few doors down to El Rancho, one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, and one we never miss when we’re back in our old hometown area. The food was delicious, and the easy conversation among old friends was comfortable and fun.

When we left Jim and Shar, we stopped at the Lowes in Show Low, to pick up the new wooden Levolor window blinds we had ordered to replace the day/night shades in our Winnebago.

With them loaded into the van, our next stop was at my daughter Tiffany’s house. Seven year old Hailey wanted to show us her brand new cast, and Grandpa and Grandma Terry got to sign it. Thanks to everybody who wrote and expressed concern over Hailey’s injury. At first there was some concern that she might need surgery to repair the damage, but her doctor said he expects a full recovery, with no complications.

It was getting close to the kids’ bedtime, so we didn’t stay too long. Our final stop for the day was at Wal-Mart, where Miss Terry looked again for the yarn for her project. They didn’t have what she needed, so we headed back to the motorhome at Juniper Ridge RV Resort.

Starting tomorrow, we have more bad weather headed our way, with wind tomorrow, then low temperatures and thunderstorms for the next few days after that.  We’ll probably stay close to home and piddle around, except for an occasional trip into town to see Tiffany and her family. I have quite a bit of computer work to catch up on, and Terry needs some time to wade through a backlog of paperwork, so we have plenty to keep us busy.

Bad Nick has already been busy, posting a new Bad Nick Blog titled An Uproar In Arizona. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day -  A clear conscience is a soft pillow.

Click Here To Register For Our Eastern Gypsy Gathering Rally! 

Yesterday was the calm before the storm in a couple of ways. After a harried week of putting the new issue of the paper together and getting it over to the printer in Flagstaff, we had a day to do absolutely nothing. And that’s just about all we did!

Miss Terry is still dealing with a combination of a cold and allergies, and her energy level is below normal. So we slept in, and then puttered around the rest of the morning, checking e-mail, cruising the internet, and watching the boob tube.

In the afternoon, we drove the twelve miles into Show Low from Juniper Ridge RV Resort to do some banking, and then stopped by my daughter’s house for a visit. Three year old Destiny and I played with the Wii, while she showed me all of her birthday presents, and brought out her pet guinea pig for me to admire. When seven year old Hailey got home from school, Grandma Terry helped her with her homework. And, of course, there was a lot of hugging and cuddling with little girls to be done.

When we left Tiffany’s, we stopped at Pizza Hut for dinner. The local franchise has a special going on, and we had their Pepperoni Lovers, which was delicious. Then it was back to the motorhome, where we had a new reservation waiting for our Eastern Gypsy Gathering rally.

I sent out the rally confirmation, as well as confirmation for our vendor booth space at the Pennsylvania RV & Camping Show in Hershey, in September.  This will be our first time to be vendors at this mega show, and we’re looking forward to it.

The rest of the evening was just as quiet. I wrote my RV blog post, and Bad Nick posted a new Bad Nick Blog titled I’m Gonna Be Rich, we watched some TV and caught up on some reading.

That was the calm, and today the storm begins. We have to drive back to Flagstaff, pick up the new issue of the paper and return to Show Low. The next few days will be a whirlwind of stuffing envelopes and getting the papers ready to mail out to our subscribers. 

I said in the first paragraph of this blog that it was the calm before the storm in a couple of ways. While the weather has been pretty nice the last few days, starting today we have a cold front coming through northern Arizona, with wind, rain, and even snow at higher elevations. It should be fun driving to Flagstaff and back.

Thought For The Day -  Abandon the search for Truth; settle for a good fantasy.

Click Here To Register For Our Eastern Gypsy Gathering Rally!