We really like Forest City, Iowa. It’s a charming little town that draws its lifeblood from the Winnebago factory, and just as folks in southern Texas love the Winter Texans who flock there every year, folks here love the “Bagos” who come to town every year for the Grand National rally. Everybody we have met in the stores and restaurants have been very friendly and gone out of their way to welcome us to their community.

We are also very impressed with the Winnebago Customer Service facility. When I spoke to someone here last week to talk about the work we wanted to get done, she urged us to get to Forest City as soon as possible, to get our name on the list for some work we needed done, since they get swamped when the rally ends.

When we arrived Thursday, we got signed up, hoping to get a service slot by Tuesday. We were amazed to be told we were on the stand-by list for yesterday morning, and sure enough, they took us in at 11:30, and by the time their day ended at 3 p.m., they had already completed several things on our list. The service techs carefully explained everything they had done, and what still needed to be completed. Compared to our experiences years ago with the morons at the Fleetwood factory in Riverside, California, it’s a difference between night and day.

We are parked for the weekend in the Service Center camping area, with 30 amp electric, until Monday morning, when they want to start on the rest of our work… at 6 a.m.! Who in the world gets up at 6 a.m.? I told the techs I hoped they worked quietly, because I never roll out of bed before 9 or 10!

While I am impressed with Forest City and the folks at Winnebago, I’m not very thrilled with the very slow 1X National Access internet service  we’re getting from our Verizon air card. Getting online is very slow, if we can get on at all, and then staying online is a crapshoot at best. During the day I can take my iPad inside the Customer Service lounge and use their WiFi to answer e-mail (except for the weekend, when they are closed), but posting the blog is terribly slow, and I get knocked offline about three out of four times.

So if you don’t see the blog every morning for the next few days, we didn’t get abducted by a UFO, or eaten by a rogue rooster. Please, please, don’t send me forwarded jokes and other stuff while we’re here. It’s just too hard to access e-mail. If you do e-mail me about anything else, I may not be as fast in replying as normal.

My pal Butch Williams noticed a mistake in the schedule I posted for our upcoming Gypsy Gathering rally, in which I have seminars scheduled for  Wednesday, September 1; Thursday, September 1; and Friday, September 1. Butch asked me how many times we are having September 1st this year, and I wrote back to tell him three that I know of so far. That’s the last time I buy a calendar at the dollar store! I’d change those typos, if only I could get online!

I also have added a new seminar to our rally schedule, on Beginning Kayaking, as well as a panel discussion on RVing Alaska. I think both will be well received. And don’t forget that the good folks from RVSEF will be at the rally weighing RVs, and that the RV Driving School will be offering behind the wheel driving lessons in your own RV. These are two things you should plan on scheduling as soon as possible, to be sure of getting a weighing time slot, and a driving lesson before or after the rally. To schedule your weighing time, call Rick Lang at (207) 522-3336. For a driving lesson, call Dennis Hill at the RV Driving School at (530) 878-0111.

Thought For The Day – Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes to the bone.

Click Here To Register For Our Eastern Gypsy Gathering Rally!

A few months ago I didn’t even know what a podcast was, and now we’re the topic of one! How cool is that?

For those of you who don’t know what a podcast is, basically it’s a digital media file that you can view or listen to online, or download from the internet. Kind of like a radio broadcast that you listen to on a computer, an iPod, or an MP3 player. There are millions of podcasts floating around in cyberspace, ranging from short movies (think U Tube), to talks on any subject you can think of, from technology to religion, to politics, as well as musical podcasts. Many producers have their own regular podcasts.

A while back a gentleman named John Huggins contacted me and told me that he and his wife Kathy have a website and produce a weekly podcast called Living The RV Dream, which they produce from their motorhome as they travel around the country fulltime. John asked if they could interview us, and we arranged to get together. Wednesday afternoon they arrived and we had a very nice visit, then John set up his digital recorder and we sat down for the interview.

We talked about our life as fulltime RVers, about the Gypsy Journal, and about our upcoming Gypsy Gathering rally. I’ve conducted a lot of interviews in my newspaper career, and I’ve been interviewed myself before. John and Kathy are real pros, and they kept the process flowing smoothly. Miss Terry isn’t quite as comfortable when she’s put on the spot, but she did a fine job and helped carry the conversation well. The podcast is live now, and you can listen to it here.

In previous podcasts, John and Kathy have interviewed folks like Fleetwood executives Dave Coffin and Justin Humphreys about the future of Fleetwood; Mark Nemeth from the Escapees RV Club; and Ron and Opal Erickson, a country and gospel duo who have been working the RV circuit for years. Other podcasts have covered things like the Escapees Bootcamp Program for new RVers, getting their RV’s thermo pane windows repaired at a Florida business specializing in refurbishing RV windows, RV fire safety, and their travels around the country. I’m hooked! All of their podcasts are available free online, and it’s like having an RV radio program on my computer. Check out their website and our interview, they are a great resource for both new and experienced RVers. I was so impressed with John and Kathy that I asked him to do a seminar on podcasting at our rally, and he readily agreed.

John had originally said they needed about an hour of our time, but we had such a fun visit with them that it stretched out a couple of hours, and then we piled into their car and headed to the nearby Texas Roadhouse for dinner. The time flew by, and all told, I think we were together about five hours! Isn’t the RV lifestyle wonderful? We meet new friends wherever we go!

While Terry and I were learning about podcasts, Bad Nick was busy too, writing a new Bad Nick Blog post titled You’re Fired! Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – Live the life you love, and love the life you live.

Register Now For Our Arizona Gypsy Gathering Rally

We are fast running out of time here in Apache Junction, and we still have a lot to get done before we head to Yuma for our Arizona Gypsy Gathering rally in March. We still need to replace the tires on or motorhome, replace the house batteries, I’m working on the new issue of the Gypsy Journal, and once it is printed, we need to get it mailed out. And, of course, there are still a few dozen rally details and chores that need completed too.

Aside from work related tasks, we still have some folks who want to get together for lunch or dinner, I want to get down to Tucson to visit my cousin Beverly, and I’d like to spend a few hours at the Family History Center of the LDS Church in Mesa. I’m not a Mormon, but their genealogy research facilities are open to anyone, and I’m running into a brick wall on my father’s side of my family tree.

A couple of weeks ago I bought Miss Terry a new Bernina Bernette sewing machine, and while I was working on the new issue of the paper yesterday, she went to a class at Quilter’s Ranch in Tempe to learn about all of the new machine’s bells and whistles. What, you say? A class to learn how to operate a sewing machine? No, Terry has been sewing since she was a youngster, this class was just to learn all about the features of her new machine and its many capabilities.

What the heck, when I got my Blackberry Storm last summer, Verizon had a free class to learn to use it! Of course, I still can’t do much more than make a call or answer e-mails on it.

Yesterday, my friend Sharon Del Rosario sent me an e-mail to tell me about a great country singer and yodeler named David Bradley that she and hubby Don met in Quartzsite, and she suggested that I contact David and talk to him about performing at our Yuma rally. Since I value Sharon’s opinion, I called David and we worked out an arrangement for him to come to the rally and perform a concert on Monday evening.

David is the son of world champion yodeler Gene Bradley, and has been performing since he was five years old. He performed with the famous Sons of the Pioneers for five years, and was a featured solo artist at the popular Country Tonite Theatre in Branson, Missouri, where he won the Featured Entertainer of the Year award. You can hear some sound bites of David’s music on his Born To Yodel website. Check it out, and make plans now to attend his concert at the rally. Between David and the Michael Hargis’ concert, we’ll have plenty of reasons to tap our toes at the rally, won’t we?

Besides great entertainment and a full line of seminars at the rally, you will also have the opportunity to take advantage of some extra activities, including getting your RV weighed by Rick and Joyce Lang from RVSEF; taking behind the wheel RV driving classes from the RV School, and taking a class to obtain a non-resident Utah or Florida concealed weapons permit from Traveling CCW.

There is a separate fee for any of these valuable extras, and you should make arrangements before the rally if you can, because they all fill up fast. For RV weighing, contact Rick Lang at ricklang46@hotmail.com; for the RV School, contact Dennis Hill at rvschool@wizwire.com; and for the CCW classes, visit the Traveling CCW website.

News out of Elkhart, Indiana is that Heartland Recreational Vehicles LLC., builders of what I consider some of the finest fifth wheel trailers on the market, has purchased the rights to the brand names Prowler, Mallard, Pioneer, Wilderness, and other Fleetwood towable products, and will begin to build their own line of trailer models under those names. A company press release says they plan to begin manufacturing RVs under the acquired names in the next year. Given my personal opinion of Fleetwood products, I’m not sure this is a move I would have made, but if anyone can build something worthwhile under those brand names, I think it would be Heartland.

As busy as we are, Bad Nick still found time to write a new Bad Nick Blog post titled Dying With Dignity. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have, or sleep all you want.

Register Now For Our Arizona Gypsy Gathering Rally

Yesterday Miss Terry had her annual checkup with her oncologist, and we’re pleased to report that everything is fine, and she is still cancer free after almost nine years now. It is always a very frightening and emotional ordeal for Terry when this time of year comes around. I’m sure I’d feel the same way if I were boarding an airplane back to Vietnam. We appreciate everybody’s e-mails and positive thoughts for a good result for Terry yesterday.

After reading my comments on our recent experience with the FMCA, the things I said about Fleetwood a few days ago in the blog, and in view of past criticisms I have made about things in the RV world (namely, the poor quality of too many rigs), a longtime industry insider told me that the problem is that Terry and I are outsiders and can’t see the whole picture.

It’s true. After 10 years on the road and publishing the Gypsy Journal, almost nobody in the RV industry has ever heard of us.  We don’t go to the trade shows like the big Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) event in Louisville, Kentucky every winter to rub shoulders and hobnob with the movers and shakers, so we have little credibility with them.

We are not a part of the RV industry as much as we are a part of the RV community. We live in an RV 365 days a year, and we have for over a decade. We’re not in an office or a boardroom somewhere deciding what RVers want and need. If you want to find us, look in your nearby campground or at an RV club potluck dinner, where the real RVers are! Those are the folks who have to live with the junk that so much of the RV industry produces.

Maybe I can’t see the big picture from the viewpoint of the RV industry, but from where I sit it’s pretty simple: build a decent product, sell it at a fair price, and stand behind it if something goes wrong. That’s not rocket science folks, it’s pure and simple Business 101!

I have been accused of putting down every RV manufacturer out there. Not true at all! There are some very good companies producing excellent rigs, and I have applauded their reputations many times. Companies like Heartland, Winnebago, Tiffin, and Newmar, who have been able to withstand the downturns in the RV industry because of the loyal customer base they have earned.

Notice that I said earned. Customer goodwill is not something that just happens when a salesman hands over the keys to a new RV to its owners. It’s easy for any company to smile and pat you on the back when they have your check in their pocket and the ink isn’t dry yet. The telling point is when you have a problem, and how they deal with it.

Do they solve it without a hassle, like Bob Tiffin is famous for doing at his company? Or do they give you a runaround, and tell you it’s your fault their workmanship was not up to par, like too many outfits in this industry are famous for?

By the way, I’ve never met Bob Tiffin, I don’t own an Allegro or Tiffin coach, and his company has never spent a nickel advertising with us. But I am very impressed with the way the man does business, and someday I’d like to shake his hand.

Thought For The Day – People are more violently opposed to fur than leather because it is easier to harass rich women than motorcycle gangs.

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I love how the spin doctors can make anything sound good, as long as you don’t look any deeper than the surface. The consortium of investors that took over Fleetwood Enterprises Inc. operations and has named their new company Fleetwood RV, Inc., is sending press releases far and wide, boasting that they are hiring 650 workers for their Decatur, Indiana motorhome manufacturing plant. Wow! Great news! Is the RV industry finally turning around?

What they didn’t mention is that the first order of business, according to what I hear from folks in Decatur, was to fire everybody already employed (it wasn’t long ago the plant had over 1,000 workers). Now those same workers can re-apply for their old jobs. Company President John Draheim says former workers who accept positions with the new company will be paid about 10 percent less than they were making before. And obviously any benefits they had built up are history. What a deal!

I guess the good news is that it looks like under the new owners, the Fleetwood name is still associated with that proud old tradition of putting out three tons of bull crap for every ton of RV they produce.

Terry and I love working together in our business, and we make good partners, since our abilities compliment each other. Terry keeps me centered when I want to go off on four different tangents at once, and she takes care of the day to day operations of filling orders and making sure the bills get paid so I can concentrate on whatever the heck it is I do. For us, it works. 

If you are you a couple who would like to be able to work together, WorkingCouples.com, a website I just learned of, might be of interest to you. I’m not sure how many of their jobs would fit the RV lifestyle, though they do have a section on workamping. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Speaking of going off in several different directions at once, I have gotten a lot of positive response to the idea of a Bad Nick Blog. My pal Chris Guld from Geeks on Tour asked me if I really wanted to take on yet another writing commitment, but this would not be a daily thing. I’d probably only post one or two blogs a week, on whatever moves me (or Bad Nick). And they would not be just RV related, because there are so many issues that Bad Nick wants to talk about.

Miss Terry just shakes her head and wonders why she couldn’t have married a regular guy who spends his time drinking beer, watching baseball, and reading internet porn. I keep telling her that beer bloats me, and baseball bores me.

Thought For The Day – No one is perfect until you fall in love with them.

Register Now For Our Ohio Gypsy Gathering Rally