After six days in Muskegon, Michigan, we said a sad farewell to Rocky and Berni Frees and hit the road, driving three hours south to Elkhart, Indiana. We pulled into Elkhart Campground, stopped to pick up a big box of mail that was waiting for us in the office, and then pulled into our regular site. It’s good to be back home.

After we had our water and electric connection hooked up, blog readers Patty and Russ Frady stopped by to introduce themselves. Terry was busy wrapping a new water hose into a Cord Pro hose reel, which is great for keeping hoses and electric cords from tangling and kinking, and Russ helped her with that chore while I watched and chatted with Patty.

Later on, our pals Terry and Dale Pace stopped in to say hello. They are parked here at the campground for a month, so I’m sure we’ll have more chances to get together and visit. I always say that if you spend enough time here at Elkhart Campground and at the Escapees RV Club’s Rainbows End RV park in Livingston, Texas, sooner or later you’ll meet every RVer in the country.

One RVing couple we haven’t met yet is Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginni. For that, we need to park overnight at Wal-Mart, according to this story from Fox News. How cool is that? I wonder if I could talk Justice Thomas into coming to our Ohio Gypsy Gathering rally and doing a seminar on RVing and the Law? Probably not.

A while back I told you about my friend Michele Henry and her company, Phoenix Commercial Paint, and how she can transform a dated looking RV with a top quality full body paint job at prices too low to believe.

After reading about her, readers Jim and Cathy Palm recently took their 2001 Four Winds Class C motorhome to Michele, and last night they sent me pictures of the finished project. To say that Jim and Cathy are delighted would be an understatement. Jim and Cathy have several good blogs you might enjoy, including Palms-Americana, Detour Through History, and In Deeds.

Speaking of blogs, my pal Sharon Del Rosario has started a blog about her fulltime RV lifestyle with hubby Don, called Gypsy and the Mariner’s RV Adventures. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – Fulltime RVers are like Macs in a PC world.

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There is news on the RV industry scene. In a press release issued Thursday, Monaco Coach Corporation announced that it has signed a non-binding letter of intent with Navistar, Inc. in which Navistar will acquire certain assets and assume certain liabilities primarily associated with Monaco’s recreational vehicle manufacturing business. Navistar is a leading global manufacturer of commercial vehicles, military vehicles, diesel engines and related parts and services.

There are a lot of hoops to jump through before this is a done deal. But if it works out, hopefully it will keep at least one RV company from disappearing completely, and put some workers back on the job. With one RV manufacturer after another going belly up, we certainly need some good news for a change.

We spent most of yesterday hanging around the bus. I spent several hours promoting our new Honor A Veteran website by sending a publicity release out to VFW posts around the country, while Miss Terry did some paperwork, caught up on some laundry, and filled a couple of orders that had come in.

I’m trying very hard to get the word out about both Honor A Veteran and Todays Hero Blog, and I really appreciate all of you who have sent links to these new projects to the folks on their e-mail lists. It really does help a lot.   

Late in the afternoon we ran to the post office and made a stop at Safeway, arriving back at the bus just before Terry’s sister Lisa and her husband Jim arrived to take us to dinner at Red Lobster. Jim and Lisa are a hard working, busy couple and we never have enough time with them. But we always appreciate it when we can get together with them during our visits to Arizona.

I wrote last week that former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was going to be airing a segment on the Fox News channel from the RV Hall of Fame Museum in Elkhart, Indiana.

My friend Al Hesselbart, the museum’s historian and the author of the book, The Dumb Things Sold… Just Like That!, which tells the story of some of the milestones in the RV industry, said that he had the opportunity to meet Mr. Huckabee during the event, and that he is a genuinely nice guy who went out of his way to be friendly, and not in that smarmy glad-handing way most politicians have. Too bad we can’t get more real people to run for public office.

Thought For The Day - Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

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I have decided not to attempt to sell our bus and find a used rig as a replacement. Instead, today we are placing our order for a new 2009 custom built 45 foot Prevost coach with triple slides and every option.

We have gone with a beautiful black and gold custom paint job, and the stainless steel bays shine so brightly you could charge your solar panels off them. I wanted to carry the color scheme into the interior of the new bus, but finally gave into Miss Terry’s better eye for design, and we have settled on an off-white leather for the seats and sofa.

No we didn’t hit the lottery, and my elusive rich uncle didn’t pass on and leave me his fortune. I’ve just decided to apply for my bailout money.

After all, I run a business that could use a big cash infusion, and I’m at least as incompetent as those jerks who run outfits like AIG. I figure I’ll give myself a couple of million bucks as a bonus, take a leave of absence, point that nose of that new Prevost down the highway, and ride off into the sunset.

I’ll miss all of you folks, but you have to understand that with my new elevated financial status, I really have a lot on my plate. So if we never cross paths again, please understand that it’s not that I don’t care for you. But let’s face it, the rich really are different.

Ouch! Okay, never mind, Miss Terry just jabbed me in the ribs with her elbow and told me to stop snoring. I’m awake and back to reality now.

It’s been hot here in Apache Junction, about 90 degrees the last few days. But it cools off nicely at night, which makes sleeping very comfortable.

Yesterday Miss Terry and her mom had a girls’ day out, doing some shopping and having lunch, while I stayed home and did some work on my new Honor A Veteran website, and updated our Gypsy Journal website. In the early evening, we had dinner with Terry’s parents, and Bess had cooked up a delicious meal of roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, and all the trimmings. Yummy!

My new Dell desktop computer also arrived, and I’ll be busy today getting it set up and getting all of my programs installed into it. It will be nice to pack my laptop away and get back to a Nick-sized computer. Yeah, I know, I can plug a regular keyboard into the laptop and hook it up to my big LCD screen. But just as my comfortable old recliner fits me, I need (or more likely want) a computer that fits me too.

I don’t watch the Fox News channel, because I don’t enjoy listening to endless political rhetoric from either side of the great debate. But I received a press release that former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee will be broadcasting live from the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana this Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Fox, in a segment called Save This Town.

Elkhart is one of our favorite haunts, and the folks who live there have taken one hit after another from the economy and the failing RV industry. It’s not just the laid off RV workers who are hurting. Everyone from restaurant workers to small business owners are suffering, and we feel sorry for our friends in Elkhart. Hopefully things will turn around for them soon.

Thought For The Day - In some attempts, it is glorious even to fail.

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