Yesterday I ordered the rally T-shirts. So I can check one more thing off of our To Do list. In the past, we tried having several different colors of rally shirts, but we quickly learned what a can of worms that was. No matter what color we had, somebody wanted the same size in the color that we had just run out of. So we ended up buying way too many shirts, and were stuck with a surplus of them.

Since then, we sell shirts the same way Henry Ford sold his Model T – you can have any color you want, as long as it’s black. Well, actually, as long as it’s red, which is the color for this rally’s shirts. Please send me an e-mail at editor@gypsyjournal.net to reserve your shirts, because they go fast. You can pick your shirts up at the rally and pay for them then. Cost is $15 per shirt for regular sizes, and 2X and larger sizes are $2 more per shirt.

We now have almost 175 RVs registered for the rally, and more coming in every day. Shoppers will be happy to learn that we have 32 vendors so far, and many of them have reserved multiple booth spaces.

While we have had a chilly stay here in Apache Junction, Arizona, I guess I really can’t complain, compared to what folks are putting up with back east. I mean, if you had a choice, which would you rather do, shovel snow, or walk out your RV’s door and pick a fresh grapefruit right off the tree at your site for breakfast? Unfortunately, the cholesterol medication I take isn’t compatible with grapefruit, so all I can do is look at them and drool, but Miss Terry has been enjoying them ever since we got here.

A couple of days ago, I wrote about our commitment to protecting our readers’ privacy and that we never sell or rent our mailing list. We hate junk mail as much as you do. We dropped our Good Sam Club membership after one year, because they insisted on deluging us with junk mail from the day we joined. Solicitations to renew, to buy insurance, to buy campground directories, and on and on. To us, the benefits of the membership did not outweigh the hassles of their junk mail.

A few weeks ago, when we bought our new Winegard automatic rooftop TV dish, I let them talk me into joining Camping World’s Presidents Club for a discount on the dish. When I did, I specifically told them that I did not want to be put on their mailing list or to receive any junk mail. But guess what I got in our last mail forwarding? Yes indeed, a Camping World advertising catalogue! That’s the reason I was not a member of Presidents Club for the past 9 years, and why I won’t be again. What ever happened to respecting the customer’s wishes?

Yesterday we got our annual Thousand Trails renewal, and enclosed was a notice of their privacy policy, which said in part: “We are permitted by law to share all the information we collect…. (1) with companies that perform marketing services on our behalf, and (2) with other financial institutions with whom we have joint marketing arrangements. For example, we may share information with financial service providers with whom we offer products, such as insurance. We may also share all the information we collect, as described above, with other nonaffiliated third parties…. such as insurance companies for whom one or more of our affiliates acts as agents, and non-financial companies, such as firms that offer products and services of interest to our members, such as recreational vehicles and accessories, and products and services related to outdoor camping.”

The privacy policy went on to say that if we did not want them to share our personal information with anyone else, we had to either call or visit the Thousand Trails website to specifically tell them not to, and then “We will implement your request within a reasonable time after we receive it.”

I logged into the website and filled out the form instructing them not to divulge our personal information, but that really ticks me off. Why should I have to tell them to respect my privacy? I guess corporate greed has replaced customer service in every business there is.

Thought For The Day – It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.

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Overall, the RV lifestyle is pretty safe, in spite of our encounter with the burglar in December. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t have to use common sense and exercise caution. Sometimes bad things do happen to good people. Unfortunately, I have another crime story to report, and frankly, this one scares the hell out of me!

I got a message from a couple whom we met a few years ago at the Western Horizons campground in Casa Grande, Arizona. They said that last week they were in Louisiana, and stopped at a campground near Lafayette for the night. About 3 a.m., the husband got up to go to the bathroom and discovered that someone had slid open the window next to their door, unlocked the deadbolt on their door, and entered the RV while they slept!

They said that all of the overhead cabinets were open, the medicine cabinet in the bathroom was open, and probably most terrifying, the burglar had actually come into the bedroom where they were sleeping, and taken the husband’s pants from the hook where they hung on his side of the bed! They said that a couple of satchels were found outside the RV, and one of their cats had gotten out when the door was left afar, but nothing had been stolen. And this happened in a regular RV park!

Any criminal so desperate that they would come into an occupied RV, and even into the bedroom where the owners were sleeping, scares me a lot more than the thug we caught ripping us off!

Crime isn’t the only thing we have to be aware of. Last weekend, a couple camping at an RV park in Texas were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning from their propane heater. Here is a link to a newspaper story about the tragedy. Folks, be sure your equipment is in good working order, and that your carbon monoxide and smoke detectors are working and have fresh batteries.

We have used a catalytic heater for years, and have never had a problem. But we always make sure were have a couple of windows cracked for ventilation, and we check all of our detectors regularly.

I have had several e-mails from folks who want to know if the Verizon USD 760 air card I upgraded to a couple of weeks ago works any better than the older USB 720 I replaced. Unfortunately, we are still experiencing frequent periods of very slow, and sometimes non-existent, service here in the Mesa/Apache Junction area of Arizona. I think there are just too many snowbirds here overloading the available cell towers. I fear that as more and more people are using cell phones and wireless communication devices, the problems will only get worse in some areas.

Now that we have the new issue of the Gypsy Journal in the printer’s hands, I need to put all of my efforts into the rally, which starts in just a little over three weeks. There are always a lot of last minute details that have to be dealt with, and many of them just can’t be taken care of too far in advance, such as the details for the pizza party, buying supplies, and printing name tags for the rally attendees.

Of course, Bad Nick never slows down. Check out his latest Bad Nick Blog post, We Need A Moat, and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – Every sixty seconds you spend angry, upset or mad, is a full minute of happiness you’ll never get back.

Register Now For Our Arizona Gypsy Gathering Rally

We are fast running out of time here in Apache Junction, and we still have a lot to get done before we head to Yuma for our Arizona Gypsy Gathering rally in March. We still need to replace the tires on or motorhome, replace the house batteries, I’m working on the new issue of the Gypsy Journal, and once it is printed, we need to get it mailed out. And, of course, there are still a few dozen rally details and chores that need completed too.

Aside from work related tasks, we still have some folks who want to get together for lunch or dinner, I want to get down to Tucson to visit my cousin Beverly, and I’d like to spend a few hours at the Family History Center of the LDS Church in Mesa. I’m not a Mormon, but their genealogy research facilities are open to anyone, and I’m running into a brick wall on my father’s side of my family tree.

A couple of weeks ago I bought Miss Terry a new Bernina Bernette sewing machine, and while I was working on the new issue of the paper yesterday, she went to a class at Quilter’s Ranch in Tempe to learn about all of the new machine’s bells and whistles. What, you say? A class to learn how to operate a sewing machine? No, Terry has been sewing since she was a youngster, this class was just to learn all about the features of her new machine and its many capabilities.

What the heck, when I got my Blackberry Storm last summer, Verizon had a free class to learn to use it! Of course, I still can’t do much more than make a call or answer e-mails on it.

Yesterday, my friend Sharon Del Rosario sent me an e-mail to tell me about a great country singer and yodeler named David Bradley that she and hubby Don met in Quartzsite, and she suggested that I contact David and talk to him about performing at our Yuma rally. Since I value Sharon’s opinion, I called David and we worked out an arrangement for him to come to the rally and perform a concert on Monday evening.

David is the son of world champion yodeler Gene Bradley, and has been performing since he was five years old. He performed with the famous Sons of the Pioneers for five years, and was a featured solo artist at the popular Country Tonite Theatre in Branson, Missouri, where he won the Featured Entertainer of the Year award. You can hear some sound bites of David’s music on his Born To Yodel website. Check it out, and make plans now to attend his concert at the rally. Between David and the Michael Hargis’ concert, we’ll have plenty of reasons to tap our toes at the rally, won’t we?

Besides great entertainment and a full line of seminars at the rally, you will also have the opportunity to take advantage of some extra activities, including getting your RV weighed by Rick and Joyce Lang from RVSEF; taking behind the wheel RV driving classes from the RV School, and taking a class to obtain a non-resident Utah or Florida concealed weapons permit from Traveling CCW.

There is a separate fee for any of these valuable extras, and you should make arrangements before the rally if you can, because they all fill up fast. For RV weighing, contact Rick Lang at ricklang46@hotmail.com; for the RV School, contact Dennis Hill at rvschool@wizwire.com; and for the CCW classes, visit the Traveling CCW website.

News out of Elkhart, Indiana is that Heartland Recreational Vehicles LLC., builders of what I consider some of the finest fifth wheel trailers on the market, has purchased the rights to the brand names Prowler, Mallard, Pioneer, Wilderness, and other Fleetwood towable products, and will begin to build their own line of trailer models under those names. A company press release says they plan to begin manufacturing RVs under the acquired names in the next year. Given my personal opinion of Fleetwood products, I’m not sure this is a move I would have made, but if anyone can build something worthwhile under those brand names, I think it would be Heartland.

As busy as we are, Bad Nick still found time to write a new Bad Nick Blog post titled Dying With Dignity. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have, or sleep all you want.

Register Now For Our Arizona Gypsy Gathering Rally

We publish several guides to help make the RV lifestyle less expensive and easier, including our Guide To Free Campgrounds & Overnight Parking Places, our Casino Camping guide, and the Guide To Public RV Dump Stations, to name just a few. They can all be found on our online bookstore, along with a lot of other great RV reading.

Another of our top selling publications is our Guide To RV Good Guys, which lists honest and reliable repair shops from coast to coast. I developed this guide because I know how hard it can be to find somebody to work on our RV or van when we’re in some strange town where we don’t know anybody to ask for suggestions.

Businesses cannot buy an advertisement in our Good Guys guide. The only way a business gets listed is if we have dealt with them ourselves and had a good experience, or if they are recommended by somebody we know and whose opinion we trust. I have a new business that I am going to add to this guide.

We want to replace the tires on our Winnebago motorhome. They have a lot of tread left, but they are seven years old, and that means it’s time to get some new rubber on the RV. Most RVers never drive enough to wear out their tires, but over time the sidewalls can weaken and crack, which can lead to a blowout. Having survived a front tire blowout on our bus at 65 miles per hour a few years ago, it’s not an experience we want to repeat.

The other day, I spent some time calling tire dealers in the Mesa and Apache Junction area, getting quotes for six new Michelin tires. One of the places I called was Fletcher Tire on Crismon Road in Mesa. The gentleman I spoke to there said they could not help us, because they don’t carry the big 22.5 tires we need, and our RV is too big for their equipment.

But, the salesman asked for my cell phone number and offered to make some calls for me and try to locate a couple of shops who handle big rigs. True to his word, he called me back a short time later with the phone numbers and contact information for two tire shops that stocked our size tires and can handle a big RV.

Now that’s service! He isn’t going to make a penny from me on my tires, he knows that I’m an RVer, not a local who might come in sometime for something else, but he still took the time to go the extra mile for me! You can bet that Fletcher Tire gets added to our Good Guys guide, and that if I ever do need tires or any service on my van, if we’re in this area, that’s who I’ll go to. 

I’m still tire shopping, and I quickly learned that prices are all over the place. Big O Tires was almost exactly $1,000 higher for the six tires than a place called Copperstate Tire in Phoenix. When I told the guy from Big O that his quote was way out of line, he asked me incredulously if I was really willing to drive 35 miles just to save $1,000. Uh…. yeah, I am!    

I’d like to get the new tires on before we go to Yuma for our Gypsy Gathering rally next month, unless somebody reading this has any leads to a good tire shop in Yuma I should call to get a quote from.

If the guy at Big O thinks traveling 35 miles is a big journey, he needs to talk to my pal Al Hesselbart, historian for the RV Hall of Fame Museum in Elkhart, Indiana.

While he was at the National RV Show in Louisville, Kentucky in December, Al was approached by representatives of the Chinese RV industry who invited him to come to a large outdoor lifestyle show in Hangzhou, China next month as their guest. They explained that they were inviting representatives of different parts of the American RV industry to discuss our system at their show.

Al told me Hangzhou is about 100 kilometers southeast of Shanghai, and he is scheduled to leave March 2^nd, and he will arrive in China on March 3^rd. He will give his 20 to 30 minute presentation on the growth of the RV lifestyle and its effect on the American culture to a group of government officials on the 4^th, and to RV industry officials and show goers on the 5^th, then the group will get an officially escorted tour of the Hanzhou area on the 6^th, and will return home on the 7^th.

Al said they are flying them business class, putting them up in first class hotels, and he will have an interpreter to help him present his program. Gee, and I thought my buddy had a swelled head before! Can you imagine what he’s going to demand if I want him to come to our Eastern rally in Elkhart this year to present a seminar? I may need to sell a kidney or something, just to cover his tab!

Thought For The Day – Never take life too seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

Register Now For Our Arizona Gypsy Gathering Rally

Yesterday we had lunch with about 40 of our family members. No, it wasn’t a family reunion in the typical sense of the word, but rather a meeting of Escapees Chapter 45. Members of the Escapees RV Club are our extended family, and whenever and wherever we meet up with Escapees, we always feel like we’re with family.

Our dear friends Ed and Alice Allard hosted the luncheon at Roadhaven RV Resort in Apache Junction, and even though we do not belong to Chapter 45, all Escapees are welcome at any event. So when Ed invited us, we made it a point to be there. Who can pass up good food with good friends? I know I can’t!

If you have ever met my pal Ed Allard, you’d remember him, because he’s almost seven feet tall, and he makes a big impression on you. Ed truly personifies the term “gentle giant,” and I cannot tell you how much this guy and his lovely wife, Alice, mean to us. We have known Ed and Alice for ten years, and in that time I have come to understand that God had to make Ed as big as he did, because he’s got such a huge, loving heart that no normal sized body could hold it!

I have to apologize to anyone who tried to leave a blog comment yesterday morning and could not do so. The gremlins were apparently at work, because for some reason, the blog comments were turned off. Thanks to our friends Jerry and Suzy LeRoy for letting me know about the problem so I could get it resolved. I still don’t really understand how it happened, I’m just glad we got it fixed.

In yesterday’s blog, I mentioned Phoenix Commercial Paint in Elkhart, Indiana and posted a link to their latest excellent full body RV paint job. The folks who own that coach posted a comment later in the evening, highly praising the job Michele Henry and her crew did, as did another couple, Jim and Cathy Palm, who’s RV Michele painted last summer. Good work takes time, and Michele says you can expect your rig to be in the shop about three weeks for full body paint. She told me yesterday that she has worked out a special arrangement with Country Inn and Suites in nearby Mishawaka to give a special deal to her customers who are coming in for paint jobs.

Last week I wrote that after weeks of very slow service, I upgraded my older Verizon USB 720 air card with a newer USB 760 model, and said that I would tell you how it works out. I’d like to say that the newer air card is as different as night and day, but that’s not the case. I do think it is a little bit faster, but we have still had frequent times with very slow service, and we are still getting knocked offline occasionally.

It doesn’t seem to make a difference if the air card is in our Cradlepoint MBR1000 router or plugged directly into the USB port of my computer. I think a big part of the problem right now is that the cell towers here in the Mesa and Apache Junction area are just overloaded. It’s pretty frustrating at times, but that’s life, right? We need the hassles once in a while to help us appreciate the many more great days we have with no problems.

Thought For The Day – I keep some people’s numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

Register Now For Our Arizona Gypsy Gathering Rally