There are already a lot of folks here at Elkhart Campground for our Eastern Gypsy Gathering rally, and with the rally just a few days away, more are rolling in every day.

Wednesday afternoon, our good friends Jim and Chris Guld from Geeks on Tour arrived, having just driven across the country from Redmond, Oregon to get here. I was so happy to see them that I forgot myself for a moment or two, and actually scratched their French poodle, Odie, behind the ears.

Jim and Chris are presenting nine seminars at the rally, including Managing Digital Photos With Picassa, GPS Navigation & Trip Planning, Google Earth, E-Mail Issues On The Road, Every RVer Needs A Blog, Blogging – Beyond The Basics, Picassa – Beyond The Basics, Internet Love Story – Living & Working On The Road, and Internet Connections On The Road. That’s a lot of information to be shared. Jim and Chris have a tremendous following, and their seminars are always packed.

Then, yesterday evening two of our favorite people in the world, Stu and (Froggi) Donna McNichol, pulled in next to our Winnebago. We’ve known Donna for a long time, ever since she was one of our students at Life on Wheels, and we got to meet Stu at our Western rally in Yuma, Arizona in March. We instantly felt a bond with Stu, and we enjoyed our time together there. I have kept up with their blog, 2 Taking A 5th, just to see what new adventures they have had.

Another couple we have known a long time, Joe and Marcia Jones, also arrived a couple of days ago. We haven’t had time to tour their beautiful new to them Kountry Star diesel pusher, though we have seen plenty of pictures in their Chasing the 70s blog.

There are so many other folks here that I can’t remember everybody’s names, but it sure is great to see everybody.

Yesterday, I made what I hope are the final changes to the rally seminar schedule. Since we ran out of rooms, some of the seminars will be in the big tent we rented, and hopefully that will work out okay for everybody. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.

While I was busy with that, Miss Terry went to Office Max to pick up the name tag blanks for the rally, then to Sam’s Club and WalMart to buy the coffee, hot chocolate mix, tea, sweetener, creamer, Styrofoam cups, and everything else we’ll need for the morning coffee and donuts at the rally.

It costs us over $1,000 for the coffee and donuts, cups, etc that we go through at a four day RV rally, so we were delighted when we got a message yesterday that the nice folks at Bradd & Hall furniture here in Elkhart wanted to sponsor them for one of the rally days, to help offset our costs. How cool is that? Bradd & Hall is a major retailer of RV furniture, and last summer when we visited their showroom, we found some great deals on chairs, sofas, and tables.  They also have RV flooring, day/night shades, and other goodies for your motorhome, bus conversion, fifth wheel, or travel trailer.

We’re getting down to the wire now, and there is still a lot to do before the rally starts. But we’ve got a lot done already, and a lot of folks here who are ready, willing, and able to pitch in for whatever needs done.

Thought For The Day – Don’t worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.

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In spite of the fact that it was windy and chilly yesterday, we just couldn’t stay inside when we were this close to a beach. We started out by dropping off bundles of sample issues of the Gypsy Journal at some of the local RV parks between Oceano and Pismo Beach. They sure cram a lot of RVs into small spaces here on the central California coast, where land is at a premium!

Then we spent some time walking out on the Pismo Beach pier, stopping to watch surfers trying to catch just the right wave. Those kids have more energy than common sense! That water sure looked cold!

Further out the pier, there were a few folks fishing. No license is required, and you can rent a rod and tackle from a vendor on the pier.

As much as we enjoyed the pier, the cold wind drove us off after a half hour or so. We did some browsing at the shops along the waterfront, then drove to a used book store in Grover Beach, where the pickings were slim.

Blog reader Levonne Gaddy had suggested we try Mama’s Meatball, a block or two from the Elks lodge campground, for pizza, so we stopped there and it was very good. The crust was super thin, but the blend of cheeses was delicious.

The Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area is within walking distance of the Elks campground, but we chose to take the van and stay out of the wind. We parked near the entrance to the fee area and spent the afternoon watching all of the activity on the beach. We love people watching, and a day at the beach can be more entertaining than an afternoon matinee.

This is one of the few places where you can drive on the beach, and people come here from hundreds of miles away to drive 4x4s, ATVs, motorcycles, and even family cars on the sand.

If you drive on the hard packed sand, you are usually okay, but if you get stuck (and a lot of people do), the local tow trucks are equipped to pull you out, for a price.

Some folks get carried away having fun and get stupid instead. This is the end result when that happens. Whoever was in the cab of this truck must have had a terrible headache, if not worse.

You can even camp on the beach, and though we would not have considered bringing our Winnebago out there, we saw a lot of RVs coming and going.

If you get your fifth wheel or motorhome stuck here, you’re really stuck!

Some people choose to get back to the basics when it comes to horsepower. These may not be the most comfortable ride on the beach,  don’t at least they get stuck very often.

We also watched windsurfers zipping up and down just offshore. It must take a lot of arm strength to hold onto those things!

Some of the acrobatics they were doing were fascinating!

We returned to the Oceano Elks campground about 7:30 p.m., and the place had really filled up while we were gone! I don’t know how they squeeze so many RVs into such a small campground, but like I said, space is at a premium on the coast.

We spent the rest of the evening inside, not doing much of anything. It was a wonderful, relaxing day, in spite of the wind and cold, and we are feeling more relaxed than we have in months. We really needed this time. We love our family and friends, and we cherish being with them. But sometimes we just have to have some “us” time, away from everybody. It’s our special reward to ourselves.

Bad Nick has been lazy lately, and we haven’t heard much from him. But yesterday while we were out playing beach bums, he was at the computer posting a new Bad Nick Blog titled What About Them? Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – The things that come to those who wait may be the things left by those who got there first.

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We slept soundly Tuesday night, and when we woke up, our three neighbors had already left the Wasco Elks Lodge. We pulled out a little after 9 a.m., and took State Route 46, a narrow two lane road, west toward the coast.

At first the land was pretty flat, and we passed a large field of oil wells standing on both sides of the highway.

Then we started to climb up a series of steep golden hills, where the trees actually grew sideways!  

State Route 46 carries a lot of commercial truck traffic, and is supposed to be one of the most dangerous roads in California. It is well known for the number of serious head-on accidents that happen on it as impatient drivers try to pass long lines of traffic.

One accident on this highway that made history took place on September 30, 1955,  when teen idol James Dean smashed his Porsche 550 Spyder head-on into another car near Cholame. Today a small memorial near the accident site commemorates the tragedy.

In Paso Robles, we got onto U.S. Highway 101 southbound, a busy divided four lane highway. In San Luis Obispo we passed the Madonna Inn, which has over 100 rooms, all decorated in a different theme, ranging from the Caveman to the Golfer’s Room, to an African Safari, as well as the frilly Dot and Daisy Room. I love my Winnebago, but there are a couple of rooms there I’d sure like to see!

We followed this tanker truck for several miles, and Miss Terry took a picture of our motorhome’s reflection in it.

A few minutes before noon, we arrived at the Oceano Elks lodge, where we we will be for the next five or six days. This was an easy driving day, only 128 miles. The Elks campground is pretty tight, though at this time we don’t have anybody on either side of us.

The cost is $20 a night for 30 amp electric and water, and there is a dump station. Considering that the cost of many area RV parks is over $45 a night, it’s a good deal. And here is a Google Earth view of where we are. Our RV is parked where the yellow push pin is, and we can walk to the beach! Location, location, location!

The central coast is experiencing what the locals call June Gloom, a period where daytime temperatures are only in the low to mid-60s, and heavy cloud cover hangs low over the hills. But when we drove to Pismo Beach, after getting the RV parked and hooked up, there were a lot of folks enjoying the water. The sun came out soon after we arrived, and the clouds you see in this picture began to burn off.

I love the pier at Pismo Beach, and we walked out on it to watch the people fishing. We met this pair of pigeons, who were busy with their mating ritual. The male would puff himself up and strut in front of his girlfriend, then run around behind her. I don’t know if you can see it in this photo, but he sure had a determined look on his face! But she was having none of his nonsense, and easily escaped his nefarious clutches. Being a typical male, after he struck out a time or two, he quickly ran off and found another lady bird to try to impress.

We also came across this pelican, who was busy mooching a fish one of the anglers had caught. He didn’t seem to like me or my camera, and every time he saw me, he spread his wings and let me know he didn’t like having his picture taken.

They sure stack the houses up close together here on the California coast!

Now here’s a great car for going to the beach. The fellow who owns this 1947 Ford Woody wagon told me he restored it himself over 25 years ago! How cool!

These two ladies had their own method of transportation! 

We poked around Pismo Beach for a while, had linner (that’s either a late lunch or an early dinner), then stopped at a Von’s grocery store to pick up some items before we went back to the  motorhome.

We were both still pretty tired from the long drive from Arizona the day before, so we had a quiet evening at home, answering e-mail, watching TV, and catching up on paperwork.

We love it here on the central coast, and we’re looking forward to spending a few days just goofing off. We need the break.

Thought For The Day – By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right about some things, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong about everything.

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We can tell it’s a holiday weekend, because the traffic is terrible in this little mountain community as people escape the heat of the desert and come up here to cool off. Up until now, besides the campground host, we have usually been sharing the Elks campground with only  one or two other RVs.

But beginning yesterday, we have seen one RV after another pulling into the campground. We have a Class C Grayhawk parked two sites over from us, a beautiful new Newmar diesel pusher is behind us, another motorhome and a big fifth wheel are a few sites down on the other side, and there are a few others scattered around.

Compared to commercial RV parks, we still have lots of room and privacy, but it has been interesting to see so many new arrivals. I don’t know how many are here for extended stays, and how many are just here for the holiday weekend, but since they all seem to be retired, I don’t think they have to be anywhere in a hurry.

I seem to find a way to get into mischief everywhere I go. Case in point, Friday I went up to the Elks lodge to extend our stay. As with every other lodge we have been to, registration is done at the bar, and there was an older lady there registering for a campsite at the same time. I have never met a stranger, so while they were completing our paperwork, I said hello and asked where she was coming in from. She said Tucson, and I mentioned that it must be getting pretty hot down there by now. She must have thought I was trying to pick her up, despite the 15 or 20 year age difference between us, because she said “Look, I’m married, okay?”

Ouch! And here I thought I had my very own cougar! When I got back to our Winnebago and told Terry and my daughter about the incident, they both had a good laugh at my expense.

Hoping to avoid all of the holiday traffic, yesterday we hung around the motorhome all day. I dumped our black tank, and spent most of the day doing genealogical research online. I was surprised to learn about a daredevil in my family tree. On the Genealogy Bank website, I discovered an 1889 newspaper article reporting that my grandfather, Joseph Russell, then a 16 year old boy, had jumped 110 feet into the Ohio River from a railroad bridge in Cincinnati, on a bet. The story said he was uninjured, and I had to laugh as I remembered my mom saying things like “If so and so jumped off a bridge, would you do it too?” If I had known this back then, I could have shot back “Why not, Grandpa did!” On second thought, maybe not. My mom was little, but she was feisty. She may have thrown me off a bridge for smarting off to her!

While I was goofing off, Miss Terry was hard at work, hanging this Levolor blind in the window over her workstation. The three windows in the front of the motorhome are much larger than the ones she already did in the bedroom and bathroom, and the first one was a learning experience. Hanging the blinds is not as easy as the folks at Lowes would have you believe.

But Terry loves a challenge, and she’s so darned stubborn that she never gives up. So even though she had to do some physical contortions to get to everything, and she had to back up and attack the problem from a different angle a time or two, the result came out great, don’t you think?

We are really pleased with the new look they give our Winnebago. Terry has two more windows to go, and she said the lessons she learned on this one will make those a little easier. 

I may not have accomplished much yesterday, but Bad Nick was working just as hard as Terry, pounding out a new Bad Nick Blog titled It Wasn’t About Slavery. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – Rehab is for quitters!

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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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