We are into our annual slowdown in our printing schedule.

We try to have each issue of the Gypsy Journal printed and mailed by the middle of the month preceding the issue date, and five issues a year, we are usually able to meet that deadline. But every year, when it’s time to print the January-February issue, that schedule goes out the window. No matter where we are in the country or which newspaper we are using to do the printing, and no matter how far we plan ahead, we run into scheduling problems.

This is caused by several factors, including heavier than usual printing schedules, as stores are printing and mailing out special holiday advertising inserts, at the same time that press rooms are shorthanded as employees take vacation days. Because we are not a weekly or even monthly job on their schedule, we get shoved to the bottom of the pile while they take care of their regular customers’ needs. We understand it, we expect it, but it’s still frustrating.

So, like every year, the newest issue of the paper is going out later than we want it to. It’s at the printer now, and hopefully they’ll have it back to us early next week so we can get it mailed out. In the meantime, we appreciate everybody’s patience.

We have made a change to the way we do our printing, starting with this issue. Until now, we have used different printers in different locations around the country, wherever we happened to be when it was time to go to press. This has been problematic at times, and with the changes in the industry, it has only gotten worse. We never know what kind of quality we’re going to get with a new printer.

Another major problem is that the size of most newspaper pages is getting smaller and smaller, and we have resisted going to the newest size reduction. But, it has been increasingly hard to find newspapers that continue to print on our size paper at times. Last year we had to leave Alabama earlier than we had planned and drive all the way to south Texas to get printed, after last minute changes at the printer we had used in this region in the past. This year we thought that we’d have to go all the way back to Indiana from Washington, DC to get printed, when the newspaper we had planned to use switched paper sizes on us. Fortunately, we found a printer in Virginia at the last minute, but it was stressful.

So we have contracted with one of the newspapers who prints us in Michigan when we are in the Midwest to do all of our printing in the future. They have recently upgraded their systems and added the ability to allow us to upload our files to them via the internet, and once each issue is printed, they will ship it to us by truck.  They could actually handle our mailing too, but in addition to the papers we mail out, we also have several thousand extra printed of each issue, which we distribute as samples at RV rallies and RV parks we visit in our travels.

This will add quite a bit to our cost for each issue, but it will give us consistent quality from a printer we are comfortable with, and who understands our unique needs.  I’m sure we’ll have a glitch or two along the way, but we’re confident that in the long run, it will all work out.

I’m still adding new seminars to the schedule for our Arizona Gypsy Gathering rally, March 7-11 in Yuma. I still have quite a few time slots to fill in, but it’s coming together. I have posted a very preliminary seminar schedule on our rally registration page to give you an idea some of the offerings we will have. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and check it out. We’ll have over 60 different seminars by the time we’re done, so there’s sure to be plenty to meet everybody’s interest. As I said, this is just a preliminary schedule, and there will be lots of changes and additions by the time the rally starts. Be sure to register early, we’re looking forward to seeing you there!

Thought For The Day – We can’t go back in time and have a different beginning, but we can start today to make a new ending for ourselves.

Register Now For Our Arizona Gypsy Gathering Rally

When we checked into the Peace River NACO campground on Sunday the office was closed, so the ranger said to go up to the office anytime Monday morning and pay for our stay. Apparently “anytime” is first thing in the morning, because at 10 a.m. somebody was knocking on our door.

Since we seldom get to bed before 2 a.m., we don’t get up early, so by the time I threw on some clothes and got to the door, the person was driving away in a golf cart. After I brushed my teeth and combed my five or six hairs, I went to the office and paid for our stay. Geez, we’re here for fourteen days, it’s not like we were going to stiff them out of $70.

Over the years, we have gotten a lot of flack from other RVers who seem to be offended by our sleeping schedule. More than once some older RVer has said something about “lazy” people sleeping the day away. I usually tell them I’m not lazy, I was up late working hard so I could pay into Social Security so they can get their check next month. I mean, really, is it anybody’s business when we go to bed or get up, as long as we don’t make any noise or disturb them when we’re up and they’re in bed?

Since the rain had stopped and we had a nice blue sky overhead, even if it was still rather cool, we went down to check out the boat ramp to the Peace River, here at the campground. The river was nice and calm, and if it warms up some more, we want to get our kayaks wet.

Okay, maybe we want to get our kayaks wet! I saw a sign about alligators at Lake Hancock at the Orlando Thousand Trails, and that didn’t bother me. But snakes? That’s taking things a little bit too far! I’ve heard of people wrestling alligators, but this fat boy don’t do snakes!

The Spanish moss that hangs from the live oaks trees all over Florida is even on the palm trees here at the campground! 

Our South Dakota license plates and registration for the Explorer came yesterday. The nice folks at our mail service in Sioux Falls, Alternative Resources, handled all of the paperwork, got the plates and registration, and sent them to us by Priority Mail. Since the 30 day temporary plate from the dealer where we bought the SUV expired Saturday, I was glad the plates arrived.

After picking up the license plates in the office, we drove into town to make a stop at the post office to mail off an order, then on to WalMart for a few things, and back to the campground. As we were driving back to our RV site, we stopped to take a picture of this motorhome with steer horns mounted on the front end. I wonder if this guy is from Texas?

We spent the rest of the day at home. I answered e-mails, had a long exchange with a lady in Oklahoma who is looking at a used RV and was asking my advice because she had some concerns. After hearing them (105,000 miles on a 1999 gas powered Class A, many stains on the ceiling from obvious roof leaks, a musty smell inside the coach, a generator that would not start, and a broken windshield), I told her to run, not walk, away. She still wasn’t convinced, because at only $25,000 the seller tells her it’s a heck of a deal. Yes, it is. I’m just not sure if it’s a heck of a deal for him, or for her!

Thought For The Day – Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

Register Now For Our Arizona Gypsy Gathering Rally

Okay, just what the heck is going on here? I came to warm, sunny Florida so I could sit on a beach and leer at all of the pretty girls in their skimpy bikinis, just like they show on all of the travel posters. And what happens? I get here and it’s so darned cold that the only creatures on the beach are penguins, and the girls are at home wearing sweat suits, bundled up in down comforters, huddled around space heaters! Where are those bikinis I came here to see? I was promised bikinis! Heads will roll!

As I wrote in yesterday’s blog, we scrubbed our plans to go to the Keys, and instead drove from Fort Lauderdale to the Peace River NACO preserve at Wauchula. We left Paradise Island about 8:30 a.m., stopped for fuel and to hook up the Explorer to our tow bar, and were on the highway before 9.

We retraced our route back up US Highway 27 through the Everglades to South Bay, around Lake Okeechobee, and through Clewiston, Moore Haven, and Lake Placid. Just before Sebring, we turned west on State Route 66 and followed it 25 miles to Zolfo Springs. From there it was only a mile or two north on US Highway 17 to the campground.

Most of the way we ran in a light mist that occasionally became rain, and under a heavy overcast. It’s harvest season in Florida, and we passed trailers being loaded with oranges all along the way.

In  Moore Haven, the police were escorting a long convoy of trucks and tractors pulling sugar cane trailers in the right lane.

US 27 is a well maintained divided four lane highway most of the way. When we left it, State Route 66 was a two lane road, but in good condition. You can see in these pictures what a gray, ugly day it was.

We got lucky and the rain stopped a few minutes before we arrived at the campground, so I didn’t have to park and get hooked up in the rain. The campground has 200 full hookup 30/50 amp electric RV sites, and another 200 30 amp water and sewer only sites. We had been told that this time of year, the full hookup sites go fast, and to expect to have to settle for one of the water and electric sites. But we got lucky again, when we arrived they still had several full hookup sites available to choose from.

The campground has both open sites, and sites in the beautiful live oak trees that we see all over the south. All sites are back-ins, on grass. We chose an open site to be sure we could get a good signal on our rooftop TV dish.   

Under our Thousand Trails membership, we are entitled to 50 nights camping a year for our dues, and any nights over that are $5/night. This is the first year that we have gone over 50 nights, but we’re more than happy to pay $5 a night for a full hookup campsite in Florida, even if it is cold and dreary!

The trip was 175 miles, and we arrived at the campground at 1 p.m. Once we were settled in and hooked up, we ran into town for an early dinner, then stopped at Sweetbay grocery store so Miss Terry  could pick up some things.

While Terry was in the store, I talked to Greg White on the phone. Before he ran away from home to become an RV gypsy, Greg ran an IT computer company, and when he’s back home in Houston, Texas, where he and Jan are now, he keeps busy solving problems for his former customers. Greg and I were talking about all of the ways people can get into trouble online, and we decided that he should do a seminar on the Do’s & Don’ts of Computer Security at our Arizona Gypsy Gathering rally in Yuma, in March. I’m going to arrange the schedule so I can sit in on that one!

Looking at the 10 day weather forecast, it looks like we may have a couple of decent days this week, with temperatures in the 70s, and then another cold front will drop it back into the 60s. I think the only way I’m going to see bikinis this winter is if I buy a calendar!

Thought For The Day – A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.

Register Now For Our Arizona Gypsy Gathering Rally

Thanks to all of you who e-mailed or posted comments wishing Miss Terry good luck with her doctor’s appointment yesterday. I’m happy to tell you that she got a good report, and continues to be cancer free after over ten years. And she feels much better now that her yearly ordeal is over.

We were talking a bit with the oncology nurse before the doctor came in, and I mentioned that I strongly believe that Terry’s willpower and attitude had a lot to do with her recovery. When she was first diagnosed and they told us she had Stage 4 cancer, I asked her first doctor what that meant, and his casual reply is “Stage 5 is when they bury you. You folks probably need to be talking about funeral plans.”

Talk about a lack of bedside manner! He could just as easily have been a mechanic telling us that we probably should think about trading in our old clunker, because it was past saving. Terry promptly fired that SOB, and we found a wonderful doctor who was just as committed to saving her life as she was to surviving, and her being here today is living proof of the power of positive thinking, in every aspect of our lives.

One thing that Terry always says is that, if the worst would have happened, she was glad that at least we had that first eighteen months on the road to live our dream. Over the years, we have met too many people who waited too long, waiting on the perfect “someday” that never arrived.

Today we’re headed south to Muskegon, Michigan for a few days with Rocky and Berni Frees. While it has been pretty comfortable here in Traverse City during our stay, and we have gotten along just fine on 20 amp electric, yesterday it really warmed up and we would have liked to run our basement air conditioner.

I’m also looking forward to a clear shot at the sky for my automatic rooftop TV dish. The thick trees in my cousin’s driveway prevented us from getting a satellite signal, and I don’t have a portable dish any more. I jokingly told Miss Terry last night that we have turned into “those people” – the ones who really enjoy their full hookup RV sites that we used to sneer about when we spent weeks, even months boondocking. We still boondock for an occasional night or two, and are quite comfortable doing so. But, there is something to be said for creature comforts on a long term basis.

We have enjoyed our stay here in Traverse City, and very much appreciate my cousin Terry Cook and his family’s hospitality. They always treat us like, well, family. We appreciate you guys, and look forward to getting back up here again next year.

Today will be an easy run, about 140 miles. After our 440 and 480 mile mad dashes to get here from Iowa last week, we’re looking forward to much shorter trips in the foreseeable future. Yes, we have turned into “those people.”

Thought For The Day – Failure seldom stops you. What stops you is the fear of failure.

Click Here To Register For Our Eastern Gypsy Gathering Rally!

Today is our last day in Traverse City. Time sure goes fast when you’re having fun! It seems like we just rolled in yesterday.

This afternoon, Terry has her annual checkup with her oncologist, and we’re looking forward to getting that behind us for another year. Terry has been cancer free for ten years now, and every day is a blessing. But she still gets very nervous and uptight before her annual appointment. I’m sure I’d feel the same way if you tried to put me on an airplane headed back for the jungle. I wish I could make it easier for her, but all I can do is hold her, encourage her, and let her know that she is not alone.

There is so much to see and do around here that I wish we had more time. But we have to get down to Elkhart to start getting things set up for our Eastern Gypsy Gathering rally. If you haven’t visited this part of northern Michigan yet, you really owe it to yourself to check it out.

Speaking of the rally, sometimes I feel like no matter what I do, I get into trouble. I had a couple of comments on yesterday’s blog from people who were upset because we have run out of full hookup RV sites, and two or three more e-mails from others who are mad at me because they waited to register, or expected to arrive at the rally without a registration, and still get a full hookup site.

I opened registration for the Eastern Rally April 10, and we immediately had several people register. And since then, almost four months ago, I have had a registration link in the blog and on our website, an ad in the printed edition of the Gypsy Journal, and constant updates on the rally, with warnings that the 50 amp full hookup sites were limited. So why am I the bad guy? Whatever happened to that old saying, “Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part”?

As I wrote in yesterday’s blog, the folks at Elkhart Campground are scurrying to finish upgrading sites to make more 50 amp full hookups available. If they are able to get the job completed, folks can upgrade to them if they wish.

But trust me, you really can live for four days on a 30 amp site. We are currently living quite comfortable on a 20 amp circuit while parked in my cousin’s driveway. Terry makes her coffee every morning, my computer and wireless router are on all day long, and she has even done several loads of laundry! It’s all about energy management.

We’re in a hurry to get to Elkhart to get started on things there, but on our way south we plan to stop in Muskegon, Michigan to spend a couple of days with Berni and Rocky Frees. It’s been way too long since we had time with them, and we need a fix of the brand of pure insanity that only they can provide.

Bad Nick has been way too quiet for way too long, and when he gets that way, I get nervous. God only knows what goes on in his twisted mind. But he’s back with a brand new Bad Nick Blog post titled Screw You, WalMart. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – Love your children enough to teach them self discipline, good manners, respect, and consideration for others.

Click Here To Register For Our Eastern Gypsy Gathering Rally!