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 had a long day yesterday. We left Apache Junction about 9 a.m. and drove to the fairgrounds in Yuma to check out the buildings we’ll be using for our RV rally in March.

Instead of taking Interstate 10 south all the way to Interstate 8, and than taking I-8 west to Yuma, we usually take State Route 347 through the small but growing community of Maricopa, hook up with State Route 84 for a couple of miles, and then hit Interstate 8 at Exit 151. This saves about 30 miles of driving, and except for a few miles of divided four lane roadway, the rest is a nice two lane road without much traffic.

We have noticed another possible route, State Route 238, which goes west from Maricopa to connect with Interstate 8 at Gila Bend, but we had never taken it before. Since we were in the van yesterday, we decided to give it a try. The first half of the two lane road was pretty bumpy, and the second half was a series of dips and sharp curves. We shaved ten miles off our trip, but because the road isn’t nearly as nice, it took us almost exactly as long as going our regular way. If you like drives in the country and have a smaller RV, it would probably be okay, but I don’t think I’d take my 40 foot motorhome through some of those dips.

We stopped at Augies Quail Trail RV Park in Gila Bend to drop off a sample bundle of papers. The Escapees had their Boot Camp for newbie RVers there earlier in the week, and we were hoping to run into anybody we knew, but in driving through the campground, we didn’t see any rigs that looked familiar. We know a lot of folks that stay at Augie’s when passing through this area, and it looked like a nice, clean little park.

When we pulled into the fairgrounds in Yuma, Gypsy Journal subscribers Ed and Stevi Hackenbruch greeted us. We met this nice couple several years ago, and have seen them a few times since then. They winter in Yuma, and were at the fairgrounds getting their table set up for a craft show this weekend. Running into them was a nice surprise.

We spent a couple of hours at the fairgrounds, making notes on the buildings, looking over the areas where we’ll be parking RVs, and going over some final rally details with the fairgrounds staff.

Then we stopped at the local Domino’s Pizza to talk to them about ordering over 100 pizzas for our traditional Wednesday evening pizza party. The price they quoted us was about 60% more than the Domino’s in Casa Grande or Celina, Ohio have charged us at previous rallies, and they’ll have to sharpen their pencil if they want to earn our business.

With all of that done, we drove around dropping off bundles of sample newspapers at some of the RV parks in Yuma. As we were pulling into one RV park, I told Terry that our friends Smokey and Pam Ridgely are workamping in Yuma this winter, and the name of this park sounded familiar. Just then Terry spotted Smokey’s beautiful Peterbilt truck coming out of the park. I stopped, jumped out, and waved Smokey down. He turned around and led us back to their fifth wheel, where we spent an hour or so visiting with Smokey and Pam. We have not seen them since they made a brief stop at our rally in Ohio in October, and we were glad we had the chance to visit for a while.

By then it was getting late and the sun was sinking low. We drove back eastward on Interstate 8, stopping to take a couple of pictures of the mountains near Wellton glowing in the last of the sun’s rays. That is not a natural lake you see in the foreground, just evidence of the how much water came down in last week’s storms.

On our way home, we passed by the Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino near Maricopa, spotting 15 or 20 RVs dry camping in the parking lot, and made a mental note for future use if we’re nearby and need a safe, level place to park overnight.

It was chilly and sprinkling when we left our motorhome in the morning, but the weather was beautiful while we were in Yuma. Coming back, we ran in a downpour about five miles from home, and from the amount of standing water on the roads, I suspect it rained most of the day.

We got home about 10:30 p.m., having covered about 450 miles, and I sure was ready to get out of that van and back in our motorhome!

Thought For The Day – Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.

Register Now For Our Arizona Gypsy Gathering Rally

We spent much of yesterday running around Celina getting things set up for our Ohio Gypsy Gathering rally. There are always a few dozen last minute things to be handled that we can’t do until we get to town.

I checked in at the fairgrounds office and touched base with the manager to see if there were any changes from last year that we didn’t know about. Except for adding over 30 new electric hookups with 30 and 50 amp service, and finishing the inside of the Junior Fair Building, where our vendors will be housed, there were no surprises.

It is so much nicer to work with these folks in Ohio, compared to the jerks at the fairgrounds in Casa Grande, Arizona, where we held our Western Gypsy Gathering rallies the last three years. There we had to fight for everything, even if it was in our contract and set up months ahead of time, and everybody had a bad attitude. Here, they bend over backwards to accommodate us, and could not be friendlier. 

With that chore done, we stopped at the post office to tell them we were back in town, and to expect an influx of General Delivery mail in the next week or so. Most fulltime RVers use a mail forwarding service to handle their mail, and when they land someplace, they usually have it sent to the local post office General Delivery address.

Then we called on the local Domino’s Pizza to give them a heads up that we’ll be ordering about 75 pizzas next week for our pizza party. Small franchises need time to get the dough and other supplies ordered well ahead of time so they don’t run short when a special event creates a huge order like ours. It always amazes me that Domino’s, both here and in Casa Grande, are able to get everything delivered on time and piping hot.

Our next stop was the Wal-Mart bakery, where we pre-ordered dozens of boxes of donuts for morning coffee and donuts at the rally. Folks always line up for their morning dose of caffeine and sugar!

Back at the fairgrounds, Ron Speidel and I gave the parking situation a look, and with the addition of the new electric sites, we can handle everybody coming in for the rally easily.  

Last year after folks heard so many good reports on the Geeks on Tour Computer Boot Camp, they had so many people asking for a repeat that Jim and Chris Guld stayed around after the rally and held a second one. They are not able to do that this year, so if you want to learn more about your computer and how to get the most out of it, sign up now. They still have room left to accommodate you.

There is one final thing I have to cover about the rally. While Terry and I are animal lovers, we also have to place some restrictions on animals at our rallies. While you are welcome to bring your pets, they must be on a leash at all times, and must be accompanied by an owner when outside of your RV. Except for service dogs, no animals can be in the vendor area, or in any fairgrounds building.

Yesterday I made a lady mad because she insisted that her dog was a beloved family member, and she took it with her everywhere. She said if her dog was not welcome at the seminars and evening entertainment, she was not coming. I told her that I was sorry, but it’s non-negotiable.

I wish we did not have to take this hard line, but our insurance company is adamant on the dog policy, and I can understand why, based on some of the things we have seen at rallies in the past.

Thought For The Day – If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?

Register Now For Our Ohio Gypsy Gathering Rally