The purpose of our visit here to the Kansas City area is to spend some time with Terry’s cousin Carolyn and her husband Mel, two of our favorite people in the world.

Mel and Carolyn are completing the final steps to becoming fulltimers, and yesterday they took us to see their Heartland fifth wheel trailer, which they have in a storage lot just waiting to hit the road. Even though the slides were in and we could not get the full effect, we were impressed with how nice it is, just as we have been with all of the Heartland products we have ever seen. Mel says just a few more weeks and they’ll be on the road, and we know they are both itching to get out here and join in on all of the fun!

Two RVs that are on our very short list of rigs we’d like to have to replace the bus with are a Winnebago Ultimate Advantage or Ultimate Freedom, and there was an Ultimate Advantage in the same storage lot, which I pointed out to Mel and Carolyn. Just for the heck of it, when we left the storage lot, Carolyn drove past the dealership where they bought their trailer, and there was a used Ultimate Advantage sitting on the lot!

Even though it was Sunday and the place was closed, we decided to see what we could see. The bays were unlocked, and we checked out the impressive amount of storage space, and somebody said “It’s too bad the door is locked, or we could see the inside too.” Just being silly, I pulled out my key ring, and stuck an old key I have carried around with me for years into the lock. This was not a Winnebago key, in fact, it was originally for a small fireproof metal storage box, but it unlocked the door!

Mel thought that was funny and I told him it was my magic key, because in the past I have used it to unlock everything from storage boxes and padlocks to pickup camper shells. Just being a goofball by then, I walked over to another used rig, this one a three year old Allegro Bay diesel pusher, and even I was shocked when my key unlocked it too! I bet that makes you feel real secure when you lock your door and leave your RV for a while, doesn’t it?

I have had car keys that worked in the same model of cars before, and I had my pal Butch Williams install his special tubular locks on our bay doors a while back, because I know there are just a few key codes for them and if you put any ten RVers together, it’s a good bet somebody’s keys will open most of the bays. But I’d like to think that when Miss Terry tucks me into bed at night, the boogey man has to at least work a little bit to get inside!

I wasn’t too worried about the local constabulary coming to carry us away, because Mel and Carolyn have done enough business with this dealership that they have a very good relationship with them.

We really liked this particular Winnebago, and the price is right too. We’re not quite in a position to make a deal yet, but we’re close enough that I may go back to the dealership and talk to them while we’re here. But if we were to get it, or any other coach for that matter, you can bet that the first order of business would be to get custom locks installed!

So how secure is your RV?

Thought For The Day – Be wise enough not to be reckless, but brave enough to take great risks.

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You’ve heard me say many times that our plans are set in Jell-O, and so it was yesterday. We fired up the bus, checked our tire pressures on our PressurePro tire monitor, emptied our holding tank at the dump station at the Meade, Kansas city park, filled up with fresh water, and pulled out about 10 a.m.

I had told Terry we’d have a short driving day, stopping either at the Elks lodge in Pratt, Kansas, a distance of about 95 miles, or maybe we’d turn north at Pratt and go up to Russell, on Interstate 70, which would have made it a 185 mile day.

On May 4, 2007 an EF5 tornado tore through the small town of Greensburg, destroying 95% of the community and killing eleven people. The National Weather Service estimated the winds from the tornado reached 205 mph. Today the hardworking citizens of Greensburg are rebuilding their community, and implementing “green” technology to save energy and help protect the environment.

Here is a link to photos of the town after the tornado hit, but on our drive through on U.S. 54, there was little evidence of the disaster. We wanted to stop and check things out off the main highway, but it was a cold, dreary day and I had a trucker climbing up my bumper, so we kept on moving.

By the time we reached Pratt, my fuel gauge was down below my comfort level, so I passed the turnoff to U.S. Highway 281, which would have taken us to Russell. We stopped at the Paso Junction Sinclair truck stop, where I bought fuel, and we decided to just continue on east on U.S. 54.

We passed through Wichita, where we have some folks who keep inviting us to stop for dinner, but we wanted to get to the Kansas City area to see Terry’s cousin Carolyn, who has been having some vision problems and may eventually need surgery. (I think Carolyn’s eye problems started after we visited last summer, and she saw me in my tighty whitey Fruit of the Looms. I guess if you rub your eyes that hard, it’s bound to do some damage!)

In Wichita we got onto Interstate 35 and drove north through the Flint Hills, arriving in the Kansas City area right at 5 p.m. I was afraid we’d get caught up in rush hour traffic, but on this Saturday afternoon, traffic was light. We pulled into the Grandview, Missouri Elks Lodge just as they were hosting a wedding reception in one side of the building, and holding the monthly mouse races in the other side. We’ve stayed at some friendly Elks lodges over the years, but I think this place tops them all. Everybody in the huge crowd seemed to take a moment to say hello and welcome us. We would have liked to have visited more, but we were pretty worn out, having covered 375 miles, a lot more than originally planned when we left Meade!

Back in the bus, I logged onto the internet to check e-mail and to check my bank account, as I do every day. I’m glad I did, because I discovered that the Sinclair struck stop in Pratt hit my debit card for three separate charges, two for $236.14 and one more for 256.98 (the actual amount of my fuel purchase), for a total of $729.08!

I immediately called my bank’s fraud line and reported the problem, and after checking the transaction record online, they stopped payment on the two bogus charges. Folks, check your records often, you never know what somebody is up to!

We have never had a problem in making online transactions, but several times when we have handed our cards to a clerk someplace, as I did yesterday, this has happened. It may be just dumb human error or it may be fraud, but whatever it is, I don’t want to be a victim.

Thought For The Day – Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fiber and not the toy.

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