My mother used to say that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. I was reminded of that last week when we were at the Winnebago Customer Service facility in Forest City, Iowa.

Several of us who were having our coaches worked on were relaxing outside under the shade of a big old tree, solving all of the problems of the world, when  a couple pulled in with an attitude.

The way things work at Winnebago, if you do not have a scheduled service appointment, your name goes on a list and when you get to the top of that list, you’re the next one in the shop. Apparently that wasn’t good enough for these folks, because from halfway across the parking lot we could hear both of them reaming out the service writer because they were not going to be taken care of immediately, and to hell with everybody else who was patiently waiting their turn.

They didn’t have to wait all that long anyway, and when the service tech assigned to them came out to move their coach inside, we listened as they gave him a hard time, let him know just how important they thought they were, and what a hayseed he and anyone else in Iowa was. A couple of us listening in mentioned that we sure wouldn’t want to be talking that way to the fellow who was then going to drive away in our motorhomes and fix whatever we needed done.

That’s about like treating a waitress rudely in a restaurant. Come to think of it, I bet those two jerks have probably drank some coffee laced with spit in their time!

I was reminded of a fellow I ran into at the Verde Valley Thousand Trails Preserve in Camp Verde, Arizona one time, who obviously thought he walked on water, and Jesus walked one step behind him.

I was at the guard shack when he pulled up, blew his horn to get the attention of the young lady on duty, and then walked past several of us who were waiting in line to demand to be led to a 50 amp full hookup site and hooked up. She explained to him that they only had 30 amp sites, and that they don’t escort campers to their sites, to just go find one, and then come back and let her know where he was parked.

He was a rather large gentleman, who towered over the young lady, and he looked down at her and said “I don’t believe you heard me correctly, my dear. I am Mr. So And So, and I need a 50 amp site, and I need to be taken there now!”

Never being one who has ever been accused of shyness, I spoke up and said “Sir, why do you need 50 amps?”

He but his hands on his hips, leaned down toward me and said, “Because, my friend, I have a 50 amp coach!”

I replied “My bus is 50 amps too, but I just use a dog bone adaptor to plug into 30 amps. They have them here in the store if you don’t have one. You’ll get by just fine on 30 amps, it’s very comfortable weather here, so you won’t need any air conditioning or anything like that.”

He scowled at me and stood up in all his glory and said, “Why, thank you, my good man. Obviously I’m not as smart as I thought I was!”

Well, you just know that old Bad Nick had to get in on the fun, so I smiled right back and said “Maybe not, but you’re just as smart as I thought you were!” He stormed out, and all of us had a good chuckle at his expense.

Why do some folks have that need to put other people down? Does it really make them feel that much superior? Do they really think that they are that much superior?

I learned a long time ago that my mother was right, and that most people will bend over backward to accommodate you, if you just treat them with respect.

Fortunately, the RV lifestyle doesn’t have too many clods like that, but there are a few out there. I usually just ignore them, because I prefer to spend my time with all of the real people we meet who are busy enjoying life and accepting others as they are.

Thought For The Day – If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

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After our fast trip from Colorado to Iowa, then our busy week in Forest City getting our motorhome worked on, and then our fast trip to northern Michigan, we needed some time to catch up, both on our sleep, and our paperwork. Not to mention our laundry.

So yesterday morning we slept in, and then started whittling down our long “To Do” list. The first order of the day for Miss Terry was to begin reducing the pile of laundry that had accumulated. Since we hadn’t had full hookups since we left Colorado, it was threatening to spill out of the basket and take over the bedroom.

Terry hates laundromats, and is getting used to the washer/dryer combo in our Winnebago. She says it’s not as good as the separate Whirlpool washer and dryer units that we had in our MCI bus conversion, but it’s much better than the old Splendide we had in our first motorhome. An added plus for her while we’re visiting family here in Traverse City is that she doesn’t use our dryer, she hangs things out on the clothesline. Is there anything as crisp as freshly washed sheets that have dried outside in the sun?

I had a mountain of my own to deal with as I worked my way through an accumulation of e-mail. I have to say that I get pretty frustrated when I tell people that I’m in a poor internet service area, and not to send me any forwards or jokes, and they do so anyway. One fellow sent me 19 in one day, and 13 the next! When I wrote and asked him (again) not to do that, he just replied “If you don’t want them, don’t read them.” Here’s a better idea, fellow, I’ll just block all of your e-mail from now on!

Two weeks’ backlog of snail mail had arrived from our mail forwarding service, and we were also busy sorting that and logging in renewals, book orders, and rally registrations.  We also received back an order we sent out to J. Andrews of Mesa, Arizona, with a notation by the post office that it was undeliverable. If you’re reading this, please contact us with a current address, so we can get your items out to you.

One of the reasons we rushed here so fast is that we have a very dear friend who is fighting a tough battle with cancer, and things have been touch and go for a while now. When Miss Terry was going through that ordeal herself, our friend was a constant source of love and support, and we wanted to get here to spend as much time with her as possible and as her stamina allowed. So during the afternoon we paid a visit on her.

I also went to the Northwestern Michigan Fairgrounds to check out their campground and talk to the folks there about the possibility of  holding one of our Gypsy Gathering rallies there in the future.

They have 120 sites with 20/30/50 amp electric power, water bibs, and two dump stations. They told me that they can also put out portable power lines to provide electric to plenty more RVs, as needed. The buildings are a little small for our crowd, but it might be workable.

If you find yourself in Traverse City, this is the best bargain on camping anywhere in the area. Rates are just $20 a night, or $125/week. In this resort area, that’s a heck of a deal.

As these photos show, they can accommodate any size RV, and there is enough to see and do in this area to keep you busy all summer long. Check out their website for more information.  

In another of those small world syndrome things that happen so often, we discovered that the campground hosts, Henry and Kay Hauffe, just had their fifth wheel painted by our pal Michele Henry at Phoenix Commercial Paint in Elkhart, and that they know many of the same people that we do. The community of fulltime RVers may be spread out all across the land, but we are a close knit group.

It was my cousin Terry Cook’s birthday, so in the evening we took him and his wife Peggy out to dinner to celebrate. By the time we got back to the motorhome, we were tired and looking forward to climbing into bed again.

Thought For The Day – Keep your words both soft and tender, because tomorrow you may have to eat them.

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When they stopped working for the day on Tuesday, Chris, the tech assigned to our motorhome, told us that he had a couple of hours left on it, but he hoped to have us out by about 9 a.m. the next morning. So once again we rolled out of bed yesterday morning before the chickens, and at 7 sharp he came knocking on the door to pull the coach inside.

Well, we all know that nothing goes according to plan, and 9 came and went, as did 10. Finally, at 11:30 he came out to tell us that he had the new springs installed for our HWH leveling jacks, but there was still a very tiny leak in one spot in the bedroom slide that he was trying to resolve. No problem, we went into town and dropped off some things at the post office, then grabbed a quick lunch and headed back to the service facility.

More time came and went, and finally, a little before 1 p.m. Chris came out and took us back into the shop to show us where he was at. There is one spot on the bedroom slide that, when run through the high pressure water test bay that Winnebago uses, allows a drop or two of water to get inside. But if he just touched that spot on the gasket with his finger, it stopped. Since the amount of water pressure they use to test with is much more than any kind of a rainstorm outside of a hurricane, and it comes from several directions at once, I really don’t think it will be a problem, and I told Chris that.

He agreed, but Chris and Mike, the service advisor, wanted to be sure, so they called in their supervisor, who thought that as soon as the stiff new rubber gasket relaxes a bit, it will probably seal completely. They also made a notation on our records, so if it does ever becomes a problem, we’re covered under their parts and service warranty.

Terry and I were dreading the bill, because they worked on our rig for two half days, and two full days, at $100 an hour shop rate, plus parts. In all, we had new slide seals installed on both slide-outs, both slide-outs adjusted, the fiberglass roof inspected and resealed, our air compressor manifold adjusted, the small floor slide over the stepwell in front of the passenger seat fixed, the front door adjusted (it’s amazing how much you can mess up a door when you use it to break a burglar’s wrist!), the springs in all four of our jacks replaced, and several other adjustments to different things. They also tried to determine why our big power awning is so slow, and deduced that the motor is weak, but that part is obsolete, and no replacement motor is available.

To be honest, we expected to have to fork out somewhere between $4,000 and $4,500, based upon our experience with other RV repair shops. So we were delighted to be handed a bill for $3340. And that also included six nights of free camping at Camp Winnebago!

We are very pleased with Winnebago’s factory service. When you consider the fact that we showed up at the tail end of Grand National Rally week with no appointment, and had a long list of things that needed done, while they had all of those rigs in for service during and after rally, we felt that they did an excellent job of getting us in and taken care of.

And yes, it sounds like we have been spending a lot of money on the RV, but as I said before, a lot of that is because the original owner neglected maintenance so badly. If he would have been taking care of things as needed, a lot of this wouldn’t have been necessary. Like the old mechanic used to say, “You can pay me now, or you can pay me later.” Still, we bought the coach for something like $30,000 less than any comparable one on the market that we saw, and we still feel that we got a very good deal.

We pulled out of Forest City about 1:30 and drove north into Minnesota on Interstate 35, then hooked up with Interstate 90 and took it east into Wisconsin. We jumped around on a couple of doglegs and eventually got onto State Route 21 eastbound to Interstate 39. Once on I-39, we took it north to Wausau, where we dry camped for the night at a Gander Mountain store, having covered 320 miles.

Today we’ll head over to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and follow U.S. 2 along the Lake Michigan shoreline to the Mackinac Bridge. That is one structure that has really scared me in the past, so I’m not sure if I’ll be driving across, or hiding in the bedroom sniveling, while Miss Terry does the driving. Time will tell.

Thought For The Day – Blessed are the flexible for they will not be bent out of shape.

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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!

As I wrote in yesterday’s blog, Wednesday was a long, hard day on the road. We covered over 440 miles, and some of those roads were narrow, rough, and uncomfortable.

Then we had a hard day’s night at the city owned Leach Park Campground in Spencer, Iowa. It was humid and sticky hot, and the electric power was terrible, cutting out every few minutes. We finally decided to heck with it, turned off just about everything electrical in the motorhome, opened up our windows, and put our three roof vent fans on high sped, just to move some air.

About midnight it began to rain, and a few minutes later a strong thunderstorm hit us. We have been in some really nasty storms in our lives, and I even survived a tornado once, but this one was probably the worst storm either of us could remember. All night long the thunder boomed, lighting was hitting close all around us, and the rain just poured down. We had to close all of the windows and the roof vents, because rain was blowing in from every direction, which turned the motorhome into a sauna.

We also discovered that the leak around our living room slide, which Duncan RV in Elkhart had said was fixed, is still leaking, along with several new leaks that came from the driving rain. To be honest, it was coming down so hard, I think it would have even gotten wet inside a bank vault. We brought in the living room slide, both to try to minimize the leaking, and to present a smoother profile to the wind.

We were up most of the night, because it was impossible to sleep. Since we were parked on grass, near a river, we debated whether we should just unhook and drive to the nearby WalMart, where we’d at least be parked on pavement. But with so much lighting all around us, we were worried about going out to unhook the water and electrical connections.

We debated firing up the generator so we’d at least be able to run our air conditioner, but since we were plugged into shore power, I wasn’t sure if the automatic transfer switch would allow us to get power from the generator. At one point, I told Miss Terry that I had had worse nights in my life, but back then people were shooting at me!

Finally, dawn broke, and the rain stopped for a few minutes. I looked outside and we were surrounded by pools of water. I knew that every minute we stayed on the grass brought us closer to sinking, as more rain was on the way.

I started the Winnebago to let it air up, then went outside to unhook the water and electric connections, slogging through water over the tops of my shoes. While I was waiting for the leveling jacks to come up, I tried to move the van out of the way, and the rear wheels promptly sunk. Hmm… that’s not a good sign. If the van got stuck, I knew that there was no way our heavy diesel coach was going to get through the soft ground in front of us, to make it to the road.

The ground seemed a bit firmer behind the rig, so I had  Terry guide me as I very carefully backed across the grass to a gravel roadway. Once I got the RV moving, there was no way I was going to stop until I was on something solid. I left some deep ruts in the grass, but I made it, and I sure felt better once I had that hard packed road under me!

Then it was time to get the van free. With me pushing, and Terry gingerly using the throttle and transmission to rock it, we managed to get it moving and back onto firm ground.

We were lucky. These folks were parked in an RV site right in front of us, and this huge tree limb came down, narrowly missing their trailer, but taking the side view mirror off their truck! I guess they were lucky too, it could have been much worse!

We hooked the van up to our Blue Ox tow bar as it started to rain again, and set out eastward on U.S. Highway 18. We ran in scattered rain showers all the way to Forest City, 91 miles away, but at least the wind had died down.

We arrived at the Winnebago Visitors Center and were assigned a back-in site with good, reliable 30 amp electric, and then walked down the hill to the Customer Service building to put our name on the list for a time slot. It looks like our fast trip across the country will pay off, because we were given an 11:30 a.m. standby time for today. That means that as soon as another job gets finished, we’ll get called in. If we don’t get in today, I’m sure we will on Monday. Since we were originally told it might be Tuesday or Wednesday of next week before we got on the list, we’re glad we rushed to get here.

Once we were we parked and hooked up, our pals Ron and Brenda Speidel came by to give us much needed hugs, and to show us around the grounds. The annual Winnebago-Itasca Grand National Rally ends today, and they have 1,750 Winnebagos and Itascas of every model here for all of the fun. We have never seen so many Winnies, all in one place!

We even saw a rare vintage Winnebago fifth wheel!

Mike and Elaine Loscher, wonderful friends who have helped us so much with our Gypsy Gathering rallies over the years, are also here, and later in the afternoon we went to dinner with them. It was a treat to have some quiet time with this sweet couple, away from all the hustle and bustle of a rally.

Terry and I were worn out from the fast trip across the country, 950 miles in 2 1/2 days, combined with our long, scary night. Back at the motorhome, we felt like zombies. I wrote my blog post, downloaded some photos from our digital cameras, and Terry caught up on e-mail. We sure were looking forward to getting into that bed and getting some sleep!

Thought For The Day – Daughters hold your hand for a little while, but they hold your heart for a lifetime.

Click Here To Register For Our Eastern Gypsy Gathering Rally!