Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. That’s life, and I guess if, in the end, your personal scoreboard shows more wins than losses, it was worth the effort, wasn’t it? Yesterday we did some winning and some losing, but I think we still came out ahead.

After stopping to have our propane tank filled, and paying our bill at the Escapees Sumter Oaks Campground in Bushnell, we left and headed back to the Orlando Thousand Trails preserve, which is actually about eleven miles south of Clermont, Florida. We took the route that George Sharrer suggested, through Webster, and shaved ten miles off the trip, compared to the way we came in a week earlier.

The trip went fine except for one airhead woman who was parked on the shoulder of the road at a fruit stand on State Route 50. As I was coming by, she pulled out onto the highway directly in front of me and made a U-turn and headed westbound. I slammed on my brakes, hit the horn, and managed not to run over her. Terry was following me in the Explorer, and said the lady had a totally perplexed look on her face as she went by, like “What did I do?”

There’s a reason we take the time to secure everything inside our motorhome before we hit the road. In a stop like that, a laptop computer, toaster, or even a hardback could become a deadly missile, inside an RV. Okay, nobody got hurt and I kept the Winnebago on the road, so I guess I won that one. 

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We had hoped to get the same site we had before at the Thousand Trails, but it was already taken, so we got one nearby that wasn’t nearly as level. It took two or three tries, and some 12×12 oak squares under the front wheels to get us parked. We’re still a little low in the front, but not so much as to affect anything. So I guess we lost that one.

A couple of times now our door latch has jammed and not wanted to release so we could open the door.  By shaking the door while we worked the latch, we’ve been able to get it open each time. It happened again yesterday while we were trying to get set up in our RV site. I stepped outside and closed the door, and couldn’t get it to open up again. Fortunately, the driver’s window was open, so I got out my Beanstalk ladder and Terry climbed inside, only to find out that she couldn’t open the door from the inside either! She eventually took the screws out of the lock plate and was able to manipulate the lock mechanism to get it to open.

We tried to figure out what the problem was, a neighbor came over and looked at it, I went online to Winnebago’s website and looked at some diagrams for our coach, and I called my Winnebago guru, Ron Speidel for his input. We were still scratching our heads when a mobile RV tech named Henry Bender came by and offered to help. It took Henry about a half hour to fix the problem, which was a flange inside the lock mechanism that had gotten worn, which allowed the handle to slide past it instead of engaging to move the bolt. Henry bent it into the proper position so it would engage properly, put everything back together, and $40 later our door worked again. So I spent $40, but got a working door. Can we call that a draw?    

We have been Dish Network customers for at least nine years, and our Standard Definition receiver was ancient technology, and worn out even before the burglars threw it on the floor and stomped on it last year. Since then it has given us problems every time we’ve moved. It seems like every time I turn on the TV, both Dish and DirecTV are offering as many as four new receivers, and free installation, to entice new customers to sign on. I called Dish and told them I wanted one of those fancy new HD receivers that will allow me to record shows if I’m busy or watching something else. 

The customer service rep hemmed and hawed, and then said that they would give me a receiver, but that I would have to pay a $95 service fee to have it installed. Huh? Installed? I have an automatic HD antenna on the roof, all I need to do is plug it in and go, right? Apparently not, he said. Only a “technician” can do that.

I told him I wasn’t going to pay $95, and he suggested that I go to Best Buy and purchase the same receiver, which I could plug in myself. Apparently the Best Buy receivers don’t require a “technician” to install them.

I learned a long time ago that if you get to the right person and raise enough hell, you can usually get results. So I asked to speak to a supervisor, who blew me off. I told her no problem, I would happily cancel my service and switch to DirecTV, which would give me free receivers and free installation.

That’s when things changed. She transferred me to a “Customer Loyalty Supervisor” named Tanya, who had no problem giving me an HD receiver with which we can watch two different programs on our two TVs at once, and waived the $95 installation fee. The “technician” is supposed to be here Thursday afternoon to install it. So I won another one. If I remember my grade school math, that’s one loss, two wins, and a draw. Not bad for a Sunday, I guess.

Actually, I lost another one, but you’ll have to read Bad Nick’s new Bad Nick Blog post, titled Voting With My Wallet to find out about that one. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – Living well is the best revenge, but you have to let go of the old to embrace the new.

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Thank you to everybody who e-mailed get well wishes to us. We’ve come through the worst of it, and I think we’re going to live after all.

Yesterday afternoon we drove into town and dropped off bundles of sample copies of the Gypsy Journal at several RV parks. We stopped at four or five different RV parks, and it didn’t look like any of them were much more than half full. Is it going to be a slow season in Florida, or did everybody wait until after Turkey Day to hit the road?

After we finished with the RV parks, we stopped at WalMart to get some more meds, and a few things Terry needed to restock our larder. I try very hard to avoid going into any store between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but sometimes things get desperate, and a guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta do. I was out of Pop Tarts and Jello pudding cups.

I was surprised that the store was no more crowded than it normally is. I guess all of the Black Friday shoppers were home sleeping off their ordeal of the day before. Or maybe they’re doing more of their shopping online.

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I’m curious. How many of you blog readers shop online for Christmas gifts, or for things you need yourself? We don’t do it a lot, but last night Terry ordered a pair of those comfy Tee Pee Creepers slippers for somebody, and I’m about to order a Kodak Vi8 camcorder from Amazon for a new project I’m working on. I’m also going to contact Tim and Crystal Ryerson from Inflatable Boats 4 Less and have them send me out an electric pump for my Sea Eagle PaddleSki 435 inflatable kayak.

For fulltimers who move around a lot, being in one location long enough to receive packages can be a problem. RV parks differ in their policies about accepting mail and packages. Some will allow you to have anything sent to you, in care of the office address, others will only allow FedEx or UPS packages, and some will not allow anything at all. I much prefer a campground where I can have both packages and my regular mail sent to me, instead of having to trudge down to the post office and stand in a long line to get my mail by General Delivery.  And since the post office won’t accept FedEx or UPS general delivery packages, it can be a hassle when ordering online.

Today we are leaving the Escapees Sumter Oaks campground and are headed back to the Orlando Thousand Trails preserve so we’ll be ready to get the base plate installed in our Ford Explorer next week. We’re taking a different route back than the one we came in on a week ago, one that my friend George Sharrer tells me will shave about 15 miles off the trip. Once again, Terry will follow me in the Explorer. I’ll sure be glad when we have it set up for towing, I miss her when we travel this way. I don’t think I could enjoy being a solo RVer.

I booked us into the Thousand Trails for fourteen days, though I’m not sure we’ll actually stay that long. If we get everything wrapped up, I really want to get down to the Keys and play for a while.

Thought For The Day – Those that judge us don’t matter. Those that matter don’t judge us.

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Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! I hope you are having a nice holiday, and are spending it with people you love.

We are at the Escapees Sumter Oaks campground in Bushnell, Florida, and they are having a big dinner at the activity center this afternoon, but we’re going to sit it out. Miss Terry had a nasty cold earlier in the week, and while she says she is feeling somewhat better, yesterday it hit me hard. We don’t want to spread this crud to everybody else. I’m hoping we didn’t pass it on to my nephews and niece when we visited the other day. That would be a heck of a gift to bring them after a 25 year absence, wouldn’t it? They’ll probably want me to stay away another 25 years!

We never even stepped outside yesterday. I slept late, and then took part in a Skype video conference call in the mid-afternoon. I had never used Skype before, but it’s pretty cool. With a webcam and microphone, which most laptop computers come with these days, you can have a face to face visit with any other Skype user, and it’s all free! There was some lag in the video, but still, it was a great way to communicate. I need to get my daughter Tiffany to set up a free Skype account, and then I can see those beautiful little girls of hers more often!

Being a guy, I’m much more of a wimp when I don’t feel good than Terry is. While she was the sickest, she helped load the kayaks on the roof of the Explorer, packed the motorhome for traveling, drove the Explorer from the Orlando Thousand Trails preserve to the Escapees campground, and then got our home on wheels opened up and livable again.

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I, on the other hand, am totally worthless when I don’t feel good. Except for the Skype call yesterday, and a brief visit from George and Starr Sharrer, I spent much of the day napping and feeling sorry for myself. Terry didn’t walk up to the couch and kick me in the butt, but who could have blamed her if she did?

My pal Jaimie Hall Bruzenak sent me an e-mail to tell me that she and writing partner Alice Zyetz are offering a $2 discount off any of their e-books. What a great present for RVers or wannabee RVers! To take advantage of the savings, just click the link on the right hand column of this blog for their book Retire to an RV: The Roadmap to Affordable Retirement Living, or go to their RV Lifestyle Experts website and use coupon code 20RVL.

I also got an e-mail from subscriber Trisha Schmidt, asking me to pass on the word that if anyone lost one of their DIRECTV coastal feeds for the major networks, and had that service prior to May 2010, you need to call the DIRECTV telephone number that deals with RV travelers, 800 769-4635. Trisha said she was on hold over 20 minutes before she spoke to an actual person, but then she had both coastal feeds restored within a few minutes.

Apparently there has been quite a lengthy discussion about this on the Yahoo Boomer group site, and Trisha said that even though she called DIRECTV twice to be sure that she was ‘grandfathered’ in, they still disconnected her West Coast feed the other night.

She told me that DIRECTV’s website has a section for RVers having difficulties at http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/content/travelers/rvs, and that she was told that if you lose one of your coastal feeds, you only have until November 28th to remedy the problem, and after that it may not be possible to get both feeds restored.

As I said, we’re having a quiet day at home, and that’s just fine with us. We have a lot to be thankful for – overall good health, a loving marriage, wonderful family and friends, and we get to enjoy the greatest lifestyle there is, in the greatest country in the world. It just doesn’t get any better than that!

How about you? Where are you, how are you spending the day, and what are you especially thankful for this holiday season?

Thought For The Day – To know when to go away and when to come closer is the key to any lasting relationship.

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Miss Terry was still feeling pretty yucky yesterday, so we stayed home and didn’t do a whole lot of anything. I wrote a couple of articles for the next issue of the Gypsy Journal, answered a few e-mails, and called a subscriber who also wants to tow a Ford Explorer behind his motorhome, and was having the same problem locating a neutral tow switch. Since his part number is the same as the one for our Explorer, I think he can do the same bypass with an LED light, and make it work.

Sunday, after we got to Bushnell, I noticed that one of the kayak rack mounts we had attached to the roof rack of the Explorer had shifted. So yesterday I tightened all four of them up as much as possible. These racks are not going to be a permanent solution, and we’d like to replace them with Thule Hullavator kayak racks. The Thule racks are pretty spendy, but they will make the job of loading the kayaks much easier.

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The folks who live next to the Escapees campground have several donkeys, and the RVers who stay here like to feed them carrots and apples. Anytime someone walks up to the fence, the critters come running up looking for goodies.

They are friendly animals that seem to love attention. We spent quite a bit of time petting them.

This little guy was a bit shy, and mama kept him from getting up close to the fence.

We also saw this turtle crawling along, and took its picture. The donkeys were curious about this strange animal, but they all seemed to coexist pretty well.

A while back this feral hog wandered onto the property and has settled in with the donkeys. Feral hogs are a growing problem throughout the south, and all the way to south Texas.

The donkeys don’t seem to mind the squatter amid their  presence, and they pretty much ignore him. The hog, on the other hand, must be lonely, because he was looking for love in all the wrong places. Several times while we were standing at the fence, he tried to mount one or another of the donkeys, without much success. I don’t know, maybe he should have found a barnyard with Shetland ponies in it instead. Who knew we could find live piggy porn right here at the Escapees RV park!

At 4 p.m. I went over to Social Hour at the activity center, and said hello to some folks. Terry still wasn’t feeling well, so she stayed home and worked on proofing a new book I want to get in print soon. As I was walking to the activity center, I spotted a converted Prevost bus that looked familiar, so I knocked on the door. Sure enough, it was Ron Walker, a fellow we knew from our bus nut days that we have not seen in several years. That’s one of the neat things about the fulltime RV lifestyle – we never know when or where we are going to run into somebody we met someplace else at another time in our travels!

If Terry is feeling any better today, we may go shopping for different kayak racks. Or, we may just stay put so she can rest up some more.  I’ll know what we decided by this time tomorrow.

Bad Nick took advantage of the day to post a new Bad Nick Blog titled How About Some Common Sense? Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – You cannot be lonely if you like the person you are alone with.

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Yesterday was a long short drive for us.

We pulled out of the Orlando Thousand Trails preserve about 11 a.m., me driving the motorhome and Miss Terry, the Explorer. We drove north 11 miles on U.S. Highway 27 to State Route 50, then took it west through Clermont, Groveland, and Masconte.

Traffic was light, and we moved right along. When I planned our route on Microsoft Streets & Trips, I thought that it said it was going to be a short drive of about 40 miles, but it sure seemed to take a long time!

We very seldom travel in separate vehicles, and I don’t like it very much. But since we don’t have the base plate on the Explorer yet, we didn’t have any choice. I like Miss Terry’s company a lot better than my own!

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I kept wondering when we’d get to Interstate 75, and since the GPS was in the Explorer, I didn’t have any point of reference. But eventually we reached to the interstate, and took it north eight miles, then took County Road 673 east a couple of miles to the Escapees Sumter Oaks campground. I don’t know how I figured the mileage wrong, but it was actually 55 miles from our campsite at the Thousand Trails to our site at Sumter Oaks. That sure was a long short drive!

We got the typical warm Escapees welcome, with hugs. Well, at least I got a hug. Miss Terry is fighting a nasty cold, and kept her distance so she wouldn’t make anybody else sick.  We were assigned site #11, a full hookup 50 amp campsite we’ve been in on previous visits here.

The campground is not full, but there are quite a few RVs here. Most of the sites have full hookups, but they also have a small boondocking area across from our site, where this nice Airstream trailer is dry camping.

Sumter Oaks is a nice campground, with lots of beautiful old live oak trees, draped with Spanish moss. There are usually some sand hill cranes wandering around, but we haven’t seen them so far. Once Terry gets to feeling better, we’ll have a better look around.

We’ll be here a week, then head back to the Orlando Thousand Trails. Under our membership, we can stay at any Thousand Trails preserve for up to fourteen days, and then we have to go to another campground, even another Thousand Trails/NACO preserve, for at least a week before we can return to the same campground.

Usually we don’t go back to the same campground that soon, but the nice folks at Camper Connection, just a couple of miles away, have ordered a Blue Ox base plate for us, and we have an appointment to have it installed December 1st.

Once that’s done, we want to head down to Fort Lauderdale for a visit with Jim and Chris Guld, from Geeks on Tour, and then get down to Key West for a week or so.

I have some nephews and a niece in the Saint Petersburg area that I have not seen in about 25 years that I want to visit with, and that’s only about 70 miles from here. So, depending on how Miss Terry is feeling, we may pop in on them while we’re here, or else we’ll wait until after we come back from Key West. I’m looking forward to reconnecting after such a long time.

Thought For The Day – A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out.

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