Keep your raincoats buttoned up, you perverts! That’s not what I’m talking about!

Do you flash your headlights to let truckers and other RVs know it is safe to pull back into the lane ahead of you after they pass? I’m curious. If you do (and we all should), how many of them blink their marker lights or tap their brake lights to say thank you?

That used to be the norm, from the days I first started driving, but it seems to me that fewer and fewer truckers take the time to send this little thank you message these days. Why is that? Have the truckers changed, or has society in general changed that much, that not many people bother to acknowledge simple courtesies any more?

Or, are we part of the problem ourselves? Do we alienate a lot of truckers by our actions?

I’ve noticed lately that a lot of RVers don’t seem to understand basic etiquette. Things like pulling away from the fuel pump at a truck stop when done, so the next fellow in line can fill his tank. Over and over we see RVs blocking the fuel islands while the wife or husband goes inside to pay, and some trucker sits there waiting to get back on the road. I’ve seen more than one RVer fill his tank, then wash his windshield, and then go inside to pay, while the wife sits in her seat and never steps outside. That’s just wrong.

When we pull up to a fuel island, Terry goes inside to pay if they won’t take a credit card at the pump, and then while I am filling the tank, she cleans the windshield. As soon as the tank is full, she goes back inside to settle our bill and get a receipt, while I pull far enough forward to clear the pump with our motorhome and van.

We have spent many nights parked at truck stops, and when we do, we always park in the designated RV area, if they have one. If not, we get as far away and as far over to the side as we can, both to give the truckers room to park, and because it’s usually a little quieter.

Now that we have a motorhome with a much more powerful engine than our old bus conversion had, I will admit that I do gloat when I pass an eighteen wheeler on a long hill. But, I also watch my rear view mirror, and if I see another truck coming in the left lane, I’ll stay over and wait to pass slower traffic until he has gone on by. I can regain my momentum faster than a heavily loaded truck, and I don’t want to slow them down. These are working men and women!

On the road, whenever we see an eighteen wheeler coming up the onramp, we get over to the left or center lane if we can, so they can build up speed before they merge into traffic. I have noticed, however, that even when we do this to make their lives easier, not many truckers signal a thank you.

But that’s okay, I still do my thing. I just enjoy being a flasher.

Thought For The Day – Where do forest rangers go to “get away from it all?”

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In yesterday’s blog, I wrote about a couple of bad experiences I had here in Morgan Hill, California. But those were petty little inconveniences in the overall scheme of things. Just remember that old saying  “I complained I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet.”

Compared to what fellow Escapees Mel and Charlene Schwartz just went through, getting a bad meal or being hassled by an overzealous cop is nothing!

Mel wrote me that about 3 p.m. on June 29, they were driving east on U.S. Highway 50 just outside of Delta, Utah, doing about 55 miles per hour, just enjoying the scenery on the two lane highway, when this limb broke off a tree beside the highway, crashed into the hood of their Ford truck, and then through the windshield, showering them with glass.

Their guardian angel must have been riding with them that afternoon, because unbelievably, Mel and Charlene were not injured. It’s a wonder they weren’t killed! Look how the limb slammed through the driver’s side of the cab and out the window! Mel said that aside from being scared and shook up, they were unharmed.

Mel said their Excel fifth wheel was not damaged, but the truck is going to need extensive repairs. They are currently in an RV park in Delta, and the truck is in a local body shop, waiting for the insurance adjuster to show up. Mel said that once they were set up in the RV park, they spent an hour vacuuming bits of glass out of each other’s hair.

As a side note, Mel told me that the sheriff’s deputy that investigated the accident said that he had been notified of a tree limb that was about to fall, but hadn’t been able to get to it yet. As Mel said, timing is everything.

This is a perfect example of why I believe that while we can take every reasonable precaution in the book, sometimes things just happen, and when they do, all we can do is roll with the punches.

We never know when the car or truck coming toward us down the highway may cross the centerline and hit us head on; or when a tire on the eighteen wheeler passing us may blow and wipe out the side of our RV; or when some tiny speck of plaque in an artery will break loose and block the blood flow; or a million other things that probably will not happen, but can at any instant.

What quirk of fate determines who will dodge the bullet, and who won’t? Why did I have friends who survived Vietnam, only to come home and die in traffic accidents? What keeps that semi tire from blowing when the truck passes me and makes it blow when passing some other poor guy? As I wrote in yesterday’s blog, life is a crapshoot. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose.

We can’t live our lives in fear of everything, so all we can do is cherish every moment we have, and thank whatever higher being we believe in when we have a close call and survive.

Thought For The Day – When life sends storms, remember to dance in the rain!

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Last year I posted a blog about a visit that the Tin Can Tourists paid to the RV Hall of Fame Museum in Elkhart, Indiana, and included several photos of the vintage and homebuilt RVs the club members own.

One of my favorites was this beautiful  cedar sided fifth wheel, named Wayzalot. The unique RV that Hardy and Terry Evans built included more features than I can list here, but you can read about the entire construction process on the Evans’ Wayzalot website. The towed their RV to Tin Can Tourist events all over the country.

I wrote in that blog post that I would have liked to see the inside of Wayzalot, but now that will never happen. A few days ago Hardy and Terry were southbound on State Route 65 in Jeffersonville, Indiana, headed for a Vintage Camper Rally in Tennessee. Just before they crossed the Ohio River, a tanker truck ahead of them braked hard. Hardy managed to stop his rig before he hit the tanker, but then an eighteen wheeler slammed into the rear of Wayzalot.

The impact pushed the Evans’ truck and trailer into the concrete median, totally destroying both units. It was a huge accident that tied up the highway for hours. Fortunately, even though they lost their truck and beloved home on wheels, the only injury the Evans’ suffered was Hardy’s ankle, which was broken in two places.

These photos show the horrendous damage to both the Evans’ truck and trailer. It’s a wonder they escaped alive! Having built our own bus conversion, I know how many hours, and how much blood, sweat, and tears went into the project.

Terry said they had traveled several months a year in their RV for the last ten years, covering over 50,000 miles in over 25 states. Now all they have left are photographs and memories. You can see more pictures of the accident on their website. Folks, it can happen to any of us, at any time, no matter how careful we are. Cherish every day and every mile you travel.

Speaking of travel, my pal “Froggi” Donna McNicol clued me in to a new iPhone app called State Lines that every RVer can use. It includes information on things like state gun laws, rules on sleeping overnight in rest areas, state sales taxes, rules of the road, and lots more. The app updates as you travel, so you always have information for wherever you happen to be. In the coming weeks, the app will be updated for the iPad as well. I plan to get it real soon, because I can see a lot of times when it would be invaluable in our travels. 

I mentioned in yesterday’s blog that there is a noticeable slowdown in service on my iPad here in Show Low, away from AT&T’s 3G system. While we have high speed EVDO 3G service on our Verizon cell phones and air card, the iPad is on AT&T’s slower Edge system.

I did some speed tests last night, and here are the results: My desktop computer, operating off the Verizon air card and Cradlepoint router, showed download speeds of 1.73 MB and upload speeds of .43 MB. The iPad, on the AT&T Edge signal, showed .06 MB download speeds, and a dismal .007 MB upload.  As slow as that sounds, I have been able to get online and do whatever I have wanted to, including opening websites with lots of photos. I don’t know if that is due to the iPad’s own speed over my computer running Windows XP Pro, which seems to be pretty fast under most circumstances. When I switched to our WiFi signal, the iPad showed 1.30 MB download and .16 MB upload. Still not as fast as my desktop computer, but more than enough for my needs. Even on the Edge service, the iPad is still faster than I was getting a lot of times on my computer and air card in Apache Junction back in January and February. I’m very pleased with the iPad and its performance.

Yesterday I showed it to a friend who has never used a computer and who has always said he has no interest in them. Five minutes with the iPad had him asking me where he can get one! Contrary to what the naysayers claim, I’m convinced that this gizmo is going to make a major impact on the way people get online and access media. Now if it would just let me win at Scrabble once in a while!

Thought For The Day -The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.

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Christmas morning we were up early again, and it was chilly enough that we really had to force ourselves out from under those warm covers. We really need to break this new habit of getting up so early! Mark and Sue Didelot were getting ready to go to a family Christmas celebration, and we wanted to see them off, and then get on the road to take advantage of the light holiday traffic through Houston.

In spite of the cold, I walked down to the boat launch at White Oak Park to take a couple of photos of the Calcasieu River. I’d love to come back someday and kayak here, but only when it’s a lot warmer! I quickly took my photos and headed back to the motorhome.

We were on the road by 9:15 and enjoyed an easy drive west on Interstate 10, crossing into Texas and sharing the road with only a few cars along the way. I always dread driving through Houston, but this time around it was a piece of cake. There were a handful of cars and a couple of other motorhomes, but not enough to even mention. I don’t think we encountered one eighteen wheeler all day long.

On the west side of Houston we pulled into the Flying J truck stop for fuel, and wondered again who designs their RV islands. Whoever it is, he or she obviously has never driven anything bigger than an SUV! I wanted to get propane, but the only way to do so would have been to pull so far past the fuel island that we would have had to back up to get to it, which is not recommended when towing a dinghy. I decided (again) that we’d wait until we get someplace more convenient to get propane.

Back on the road, it was only another forty miles or so to Columbus and our turnoff. We took State Route 71 north about four miles, turned left on a local road, and arrived at the Colorado River Thousand Trails Preserve about 1:30 p.m. We chose a full hookup RV site with 30 amp electric and got settled in. They have a few 50 amp sites, but none are full hookups, and we wanted to be able to take long showers, and Terry needed to catch up on laundry.

This is our third visit to this particular Thousand Trails campground in three years, and as much as we don’t like falling into ruts, it’s beginning to feel that way. But if you’re going to be in a rut, this is a pretty nice one! The campground is located on the bank of the Colorado River, and pecan trees at many of the campsites give visitors the opportunity to collect enough nuts to make some delicious treats.

A large herd of deer live at the campground, and they have little fear of humans. They graze around the RV sites and pretty much ignore people, unless they get within a few feet of them. I couldn’t resist grabbing my Canon Digital Rebel and getting a few photos of our four legged neighbors.

We really, really need some downtime, and we don’t plan to do much the next couple of days except sleep late, watch TV, cruise the internet, and relax. Lucky me, Miss Terry considers baking peanut butter cookies, pecan pie, and her world famous cinnamon rolls very relaxing!

Thought For The Day – A man has reached middle age when he is cautioned to slow down by his doctor instead of by the police.

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