The RV world lost an icon yesterday, when Joe Peterson, co-founder of the Escapees RV Club, passed away. I have been privileged to meet Joe many times over the years at Escapades and other RV events, and he was always a cheerful, friendly, outgoing gentleman.

When Joe and his lovely wife Kay founded the Escapees, way back in 1978, they had no idea what they had started. Over the years they nurtured and guided their little organization until it grew into one of the largest, and in my opinion the very best, RV clubs around. The legacy Joe has left is something the rest of us will enjoy and benefit from for years to come.

This is a loss for all of us, but a double hit for the family; I’m told that Joe’s son-in-law, Bud Carr, also lost his father just a week or so ago. Please keep them in your prayers.  

We had visitors yesterday! Jim and Dee Walter, who are staying at an RV park a couple of miles up the road, stopped in to say hello. We had a good time talking about the RV lifestyle, sharing a joke or two, and comparing our favorite apps on our Droid smart phones.

After Jim and Dee left, Terry and I drove a mile or so south of the campground to Pioneer Park, a county park that includes a small museum, campground, and boat launch on the Peace River. Here are a couple of pictures, one upriver and one downriver. If we get a chance to paddle our kayaks while we’re here, I think we’ll use the launch at Pioneer Park, because the one at our campground is much steeper and looks like it would be harder to use.

We booked two weeks here at Peace River, and while the campground is okay, the town doesn’t have much to offer. Yesterday we had dinner at the Panda Chinese buffet, and it being a small town, we didn’t have high expectations. As it turned out, we were still disappointed! If we could change our stay and get back into the Orlando Thousand Trails, we’d leave and head back up that way. There’s a lot more to do and see in that area. We’d like to get some paddling in while we’re here, but the weather report for next week is looking pretty grim, so I don’t know if we’ll get to do that or not.   

I mentioned smart phone apps above,and if you have an iPhone or iPad, you might be interested in a brand new app that the nice folks at Technomadia just brought out, called Coverage?. This is a simple app that lets you see where you can expect to get 3G and roaming signals in the continental U.S. for AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile. Yes, you can go online to the different carriers’ websites and get the same info, but Coverage? allows you to do so offline, wherever you happen to be.

These are the same folks who put out the excellent State Lines app, which no RVer should be without. Check out Coverages?, I think you’ll find it useful. They also publish an e-book titled Answers to the Common Excuses not to Travel Full-Time that I have heard good things about. I need to order a copy and check it out.

One final thought on technical things before I close. I have been having  e-mail problems for quite a while now. Sometimes e-mails never get to me,  other times they show up, but disappear from the server before I can read them, or ones I have saved for future reference go missing. 

While we were in Fort Lauderdale last week, Chris Guld from Geeks on Tour, switched me over to G-mail, but since our websites are still hosted on Yahoo for the time being, our e-mail first goes through the Yahoo servers, and that is where we seem to have the problem. So if you e-mailed me and I didn’t get back to you, please try again. Also, I lost some e-mails from folks who asked us to stop by while we were in their area, and I had no way to re-contact them. My apologies.

Bad Nick has been busy posting a new Bad Nick Blog titled Armed Citizens Fighting Back. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – Why be difficult, when with a little bit of effort you can be impossible?

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We had a lot to get done yesterday, and accomplished very little of it. Some days are just like that, I guess.

We had quite a bit of stuff that we had been carrying around in the van that we decided had to go away, so I loaded it into the Explorer to drop off at a Goodwill or Salvation Army. It’s amazing what you discover that you had forgotten you own!

A little after noon we drove back to the car dealer in Winter Haven, where we bought the Explorer, to pick up the the SMI auxiliary brake that they had agreed to disconnect from the van, and to drop off the van’s title, which we had forgotten the day before. Along the way, we stopped at a Salvation Army store and unloaded the items we had to donate.

We had noticed a squealing noise coming from the Explorer, that I suspected was a fan belt or something like that. It wasn’t a big deal, just irritating. So I asked their service department to take a look, and they decided that a serpentine belt and a pulley were glazed, which was causing the noise.

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They pulled the vehicle into the shop to change them, and said it would take  a couple of hours to get the parts and do the job. Okay, we were there, they were paying for it under warranty, so we’d get it out of the way.

Well, we all know that no job ever gets done in the time allocated, right? The two hours stretched out to almost three before they were done, but they did a good job. This was supposed to be a quick trip, so I had not taken my iPad with me, so I spent the time reading old magazines about topics I had no interest in, while Miss Terry, always better prepared, had a book to read.

We needed to find a Fed Ex drop box to send the loan paperwork back to Alliant Credit Union, and we thought we had seen one in a shopping center we would pass on the way out of town. As it turned out, we were wrong, so we stopped at a hotel to ask if they knew of one nearby. They didn’t.

Again, if I had my iPad, I could have gone online and found one quickly, but we figured we’d pass a Staples or Office Depot, which usually does Fed Ex shipping. No such luck.

Miss Terry was driving, so I got online with my Droid Incredible and looked up Fed Ex, called them, and they gave me the location of the nearest Fed Ex drop box. Isn’t technology a wonderful thing? I entered the address into our Garmin GPS, which directed us a mile north, only to then tell us to make a U-turn and drive two miles back south to the drop box! Isn’t technology a wonderful thing?

Eventually we found the drop box, deposited the envelope, and headed back to the Thousand Trails campground. We stopped along the way for a bite to eat, made a stop at Lowes, and got back to our motorhome just after dark.

We’re due to leave here tomorrow, and we still have to pack the Explorer, get our hard kayaks onto the roof, and get some other chores done. All the stuff we had planned to accomplish yesterday!

Thought For The Day – Friendship isn’t a big thing, it’s a million little things.

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We all like saving a buck when we can, and in today’s blog, I want to share a few good deals, and even a freebie or two, that may make you smile.

With Veterans Day this Thursday, even though the “official” holiday isn’t celebrated until next Monday, several restaurant chains  are honoring veterans with free meals. Military veterans and active-duty service members are invited to eat free at any Hooters, Chili’s, or Applebee’s restaurant on Veteran’s Day, Thursday, November 11.  Outback Steakhouse is offering veterans a free Bloomin Onion and a beverage on Thursday.

Continuing a 10 year tradition, Golden Corral restaurants nationwide will be holding their Military Appreciation dinner on Monday, November 15. All veterans, and those currently on active duty or serving in the National Guard or Reserves, will receive a free dinner and beverage.

Both Lowes and Home Depot also offer veterans a 10% discount every day of the year. I don’t know about you, but I really appreciate a business that honors our nation’s veterans like this!

But you don’t have to be a veteran to get great deals! This Thursday, the National Park Service is admitting everybody free at more than 100 national parks that usually charge entrance fees. You can get free entrance to national parks next year during National Park Week, April 16-24, 2011; on Public Lands Day, September 24, 2011; and on Veteran Day, November 11, 2011.

Speaking of national parks, the annual America the Beautiful Pass costs $80 and admits the pass holder, and anyone in their non-commercial vehicle, into fee areas at national parks and historic sites nationwide. If you are age 62 or older, the America the Beautiful Senior Pass costs $10 and is good for life. The pass admits the pass holder, and anyone in their non-commercial vehicle, into fee areas at national parks and historic sites nationwide. For those with a permanent disability, the America the Beautiful Access pass gives the same discounts and is free. Note that you do not have to be 100% disabled to qualify for this pass, anybody with a documented disability of any kind is eligible.

The other day, my pal (Froggi) Donna McNicol had a link on Facebook to a great website where you can download free Kindle books. These are wonderful old classics by authors like Louisa May Alcott, L Frank Baum, Agatha Christie, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Herman Melville, and many more.

I don’t have a Kindle any more, but I have my iPad linked to my old Amazon Kindle account, and downloaded a couple of classic books that I have always wanted to read, but never got around to. You can even read these free books on your computer or smart phone with the free Kindle app from Amazon. Check it out at http://www.fonerbooks.com/free.htm. 

Terry and I always want to help our readers save a buck when we can. We used to run an end of year holiday special, and we got away from it for some reason. So, just in time for your Christmas shopping, here we go. If you subscribe or renew your existing Gypsy Journal subscription for two years, we’ll also send a one year gift subscription ($20 value) to whoever you choose, with a note that it’s a gift from you. This applies to both printed subscriptions to U.S. addresses by Standard Rate mail, and digital subscriptions.  Just click this Holiday Special Offer link and place your order. Sometimes the PayPal website gets stubborn and will only let you enter one address, so if this happens, use yours for the two year subscription, and send me an e-mail at editor@gypsyjournal.net with the name and address for the gift subscription. You can take advantage of this special offer even if your current subscription is not yet due for renewal. We’ll extend your subscription to reflect the two year renewal. This special offer is valid now through December 15, so act today to take advantage of the savings!

One final note before I close for today. Somebody sent me an e-mail about yet another Norcold refrigerator recall. Don’t let this go by, be safe and check it out  at http://www.norcoldrecall.com/ and see if your refrigerator is included in the recall. The repair is free, and it could save you from having an RV fire.

Thought For The Day – It’s always darkest just before the dawn. So if you’re going to steal your neighbor’s newspaper, that’s the time to do it.

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Yesterday I took a break from working on the new issue so we could go to the post office and mail out some orders, and drive into Gloucester Courthouse to touch base with the newspaper that is supposed to print the new issue of the Gypsy Journal later this week. As it turns out, both were wasted trips.

I had forgotten that yesterday was Columbus Day, and the post office was closed. Oops. Then we drove another 8 miles to the newspaper office, only to discover that the fellow we needed to talk to had taken the day off to go fishing. I guess I should have called ahead. 

But the trip wasn’t a total waste. A few days ago, our friend Linda Spindle told us about the Ware Neck Produce Market in Gloucester Courthouse, which also carries excellent fresh seafood. Since we were there, we stopped and Miss Terry picked up some fresh picked crab meat and some scallops. Can you guess what we had for dinner? Delicious! I enjoy dining out, but I have to say that nobody cooks scallops like Miss Terry does. Then again, no matter what’s on the menu, her culinary skills are pretty darned hard to beat. I keep nagging her to do a cookbook and/or a cooking blog, but so far she’s not convinced.

I was talking to Tiffany Ingram at Passport America in Long Beach, Mississippi yesterday, and she told me that they just created a new free app for Droid phones. I downloaded it, and it’s really nifty. It shows all of their affiliate campgrounds, along with contact information, rates, and directions. That’s going to come in really handy. They also have a free app for iPhones.

Speaking of apps, a while back my iPad went on the fritz and had to be replaced. Unfortunately, in the process I lost my apps for Escapees RV parks and a really good one called State Lines, that I used a lot. I can’t seem to find them in my backup files, so if you are the producer of either app and are reading this, help! I really miss your applications.

Even with the time we lost yesterday running around, I’m still on schedule with the paper and things are looking good. I just wish we could have actually talked to the newspaper’s production foreman face to face. Any time we use a new printer, there can be unexpected surprises.

We use different newspapers around the country to do our printing, and I really wish we could find one shop to do it every issue, but then shipping it to us wherever we are becomes an issue, since in addition to the papers for our subscribers, we print several thousand extra each time around to distribute at RV parks, RV rallies, and to give to our readers to pass out in their travels.

That’s one of the things that has held us back in taking a trip to Alaska. When we make that trip, we want to do it right, and spend at least three months. We don’t want to go all the way up there, and then have to rush back to the Lower 48 to get an issue printed, and getting the job done up there is prohibitively expensive. I’m working on a couple of possible solutions to that problem, since going to Alaska has been a dream for both of us since before we bought our first RV.

Thought For The Day – Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.

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We’ve been Geeked! A couple of days before we left Elkhart Campground, Jim and Chris Guld from Geeks on Tour interviewed us for one of their Gabbing With The Geeks podcasts. We talked about the Gypsy Journal and how computer technology makes it possible for us to live and run our business on the road.

Jim and Chris are a success story when it comes to operating a business as they travel fulltime in their RV. They give seminars on all kinds of technical topics at RV rallies and RV parks, they have several websites and blogs, and they teach RVers how to get the most out of their computers and digital cameras, both in their seminars and online. Their website is sort of like an online college for anybody who wants to know just about anything about computers and how they fit into the RV lifestyle.

Speaking of all things geek, my Ipad had started to malfunction recently. When I hit the Home button to exit a program or application, it wouldn’t work, and I would have to reboot the Ipad to get back to the home page. So yesterday I took it to the Apple Store at the Park City Center mall in Lancaster, about 20 miles from the Hershey Thousand Trails campground.

Driving to Lancaster, we just drank in all of the beautiful scenery. We passed fields of corn, and farm fields that had recently been harvested, with just the stubble of cornstalks sticking up like a rural five o’clock shadow. 

Around there, the old houses, barns, and commercial buildings crowd close to the roads.

In Manheim, one of the most picturesque old towns we have ever visited, the streets are pretty narrow, and I sure wouldn’t have wanted to drive a big motorhome through town!

Terry and I are history nuts, and we love the architecture of this area. Manheim was laid out  in 1762, and formally incorporated in 1838. There are so many buildings dating back to Colonial days that we were like two kids in a candy store, rubbernecking in every direction. If these old buildings could only talk, the stories they could tell!

When we got to the Apple Store, the nice tech who waited on us (they call them Geniuses at Apple) checked the Ipad out, verified that the button had malfunctioned, and handed me a brand new 64 gig 3G Ipad, just like I had! No questions, no hassles, and he even switched my AT&T sim card from the old unit to the new one for me so I could get online with no problems. I appreciate customer service like that!

While we were in the mall, we stopped by the Verizon kiosk, because I want to upgrade from my Blackberry Storm to a Droid Incredible. The Blackberry has not lived up to my expectations, and it seems like every time they do a software upgrade (or sometimes just because it feels like it), it wipes out all of my apps and I have to fight to get them back on it again.

I was all set to go with the Droid, but then the clerk started hammering me to also buy an “accessory bundle” that included a car charger, case, and a Bluetooth headset. I told him I didn’t need or want any of that, and he insisted that I just “had’ to have them to get the most out of the Droid and that “everybody” needs a Bluetooth. Guess what, mister? I’m not “everybody” and I don’t “have” to have anything! I’m sure I’ll still upgrade pretty soon, but I’ll deal with somebody who is more concerned with what I need, not what he wants to sell me.

We can never pass up a bookstore, so when we left the mall, we browsed through a nearby Border’s, where Miss Terry found a couple of cookbooks that she has been looking for.

Then we had dinner at a Five Guys restaurant. Five Guys makes excellent cheeseburgers, and their fries are delicious. Unfortunately, there was no ice, so my soda and Terry’s tea were room temperature. I told the manager there was no ice, and he said the machine was broken. I had to wonder why nobody was fixing it, or at least buying ice somewhere to put in the drinks. I like Five Guys, but I don’t think I’ll be going back to that particular restaurant again.

After dinner we stopped at Home Depot, where Miss Terry got a new toy, a Dremel Trio multi-tool, as a late birthday present. Some guys buy their wives flowers or jewelry for special occasions, but my lady likes books and power tools!

We’ve just finished our Eastern Rally, and we’re already working on Arizona for next year!  I have added a Rally Registration Page to the blog, since I have had people asking when they could register for our Arizona Gypsy Gathering Rally, which will be held in Yuma, March 7-11, 2011. To register online, click the link below, or the Arizona Gypsy Gathering tab on the top right of this page, above the blog header.

Whatever else you do today, please take a moment to remember all of those who perished nine years ago today during the terrorist attacks. We can move on with our lives, but as a nation, we must never forget.

Thought For The Day - Consciousness - that annoying time between naps.

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