No matter what you have ever heard, there is absolutely no energy crisis, there never has been an energy crisis, and there never will be an energy crisis. All we have ever had is a technology crisis, and misdirected focus!

If you doubt me, spend an afternoon with two little granddaughters, ages seven and three. I guarantee that the only energy crisis there will be is you trying to keep up with them!

If we could get the scientists to stop wasting their time on silly things like fossil fuels, wind, solar, and nuclear power, and just convince them to concentrate on harnessing the energy in any child’s body under say, age ten, I think we could change the world. I haven’t done any official studies on it, but I’d say that each of my granddaughters has the equivalent of a dozen nuclear power plants inside of them, just bursting at the seams trying to get out.

We spent yesterday afternoon at my daughter Tiffany’s house, and her two girls wore me out so badly that it was all I could do to drag myself to the keyboard to write this blog when we got back home. I’m an old man! I need a vacation from my permanent vacation!

We had a wonderful time with Jim, Tiffany, and the girls, and Miss Terry knew that with all that commotion happening, I needed red meat to keep myself going. So she grilled up some beautiful rib eye steaks and some roasted red potatoes, which, combined with fresh corn on the cob, really hit the spot!

Back at the motorhome, I spent some time staring at the schedule for our Eastern Gypsy Gathering rally, trying to figure out how to fit all of the seminars the vendors want into the time allotted, and still have a good selection of non-commercial seminars for rally attendees to choose from.

A few people have said we concentrate too hard on making our rallies an educational experience, but the overwhelming majority of the folks who come to the rallies say they are delighted with the opportunities they have to learn about everything from RV safety to technical issues, and the RV lifestyle in general. It’s a juggling act to have something for everyone, to find enough new seminars to keep returnees interested, and to fit in the favorites that people have given rave reviews in the past.

My pal Michele Henry from Phoenix Commercial Paint in Elkhart called the other day to tell me that she has booked several RVs for her beautiful custom paint jobs this summer, but that she still has some time open around our rally dates, in case any of you are thinking about getting your RV a facelift. But I wouldn’t wait too long, because true craftsmanship takes time, and Michelle doesn’t rush through her work. Instead, she takes the time to do it right, at at a price so low that you’ll think she hit the wrong buttons on her calculator.

Here is a Travel Supreme fifth wheel before Michele worked her magic on it.

And here is the finished job. Beautiful, isn’t it? And a lot less money than buying a new RV!

Michele also told me that Bob Patel, owner of Elkhart Campground is working like a madman adding new full hookup RV sites at the campground to accommodate our rally crowd. Bob and his wife Gita are wonderful folks, and we think of them as family. I’m looking forward to introducing a bunch of new people to them, and to Elkhart Campground during the rally.

Thought For The Day – Cherish your dreams, for they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.

Click Here To Register For Our Eastern Gypsy Gathering Rally!

I received three e-mails in as many days from different people who have been dreaming of the day when they could shake their sticks and bricks home and hit the road as fulltime RVers. The theme in all three messages was the same: With the current state of the economy, with the RV industry in such a slump, and with a new president in the White House, would they be foolish to take such a drastic step? Is the dream of fulltiming dead?

Yes, the economy is in the toilet. Yes the robber barons on Wall Street have pillaged and plundered their way through millions of peoples’ retirement funds. Yes, the con artists who run the big banks are wasting the tax dollars the government gave them. Yes, speculators are driving up fuel prices again. Yes, the home you thought would appreciate in value and finance your retirement has become an albatross around your neck that you can’t sell. Yes, many RV companies have dropped out of the game..

Folks, we can’t change the way things are. What we can do is live our lives the way we choose, not the way some jerk in a three piece suit tells us we should live it. There will always be doom and gloom if we look for it. But there is even more to be happy about and to rejoice in, right in front of our noses.

You may have lost a ton of money in the market. But maybe that was a wake up call. Should you really trust what you have left to the same clowns who got you into this mess? Or should you take it and live your dream?

Fuel prices may be on the rise, but they are still lower than they have been in years. I can fill my tank for about half of what it cost me a year ago.

Indeed, many RV companies have closed their doors. But remember, cream always rises to the top. As the weaker RV manufacturers fade away, those who remain should be the companies who build quality into their units and take care of the customer after the sale.

Okay, you can’t get what you hoped to out of your house. But anything is only worth what somebody will give you for it right now. Be realistic. Was its value a year or two ago real, or just numbers in the air? Do you hold on forever, waiting for the market to rebound, or do you do what you have to do to unload it and get on with your life?

The flip side of that coin is that it’s a buyer’s market for RVs and prices have never been lower than they are right now. Get creative and you can probably still make a deal.

When I was in college, a professor illustrated to me the difference between a pessimist and an optimist. A pessimist is a little boy in a room full of shiny new toys who is crying because he just knows if he takes one out of the box, it’s going to break. An optimist is a little boy in a stable piled waist high in manure, shoveling away with a big grin on his face, because he knows there’s a pony in there somewhere!

Only you can decide if the dream is still alive.

Are you in a room full of fragile toys, or are you working your way through all of the crap that life has piled in your way, getting closer and closer to that pony with every scoop?

Thought For The Day - Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.