The problem with getting up early in the morning is that, like any bad habit, if you do it too often, you find yourself caught up in the action without even realizing it, or giving it a second thought. When that happens, only strong intervention and a lot of willpower can break the vicious cycle.  After our week at the Winnebago service facility in Iowa, I fear I’ve reached that point.

We were out of bed before 7:30 yesterday morning, and within an hour or so we had the RV packed up and ready to roll, the water and electric connections unhooked, window awnings and slides in, and leveling jacks up.

After saying our goodbyes to cousin Terry Cook and his family, we hit the road, headed south on State route 37. We traveled in a heavy overcast past miles of thick forests, broken by occasional small communities, or scattered houses and businesses.

The route was mostly very good two lane highway, with occasional passing lanes. There were a couple of noticeable hills, but we made very good time.

We passed over a couple of rivers that looked inviting, and noted several canoe and kayak rental businesses. We really need to come back here some day and get our boats wet.

There wasn’t much traffic, a few RVs headed north, and the occasional car or truck. 56 miles south, we got onto U.S. Highway 10, and another 25 miles brought us to U.S. Highway 31 southbound, an excellent divided four lane highway.

Less than an hour later, we pulled into the city-owned Fisherman’s Landing Marina and Campground. This is our regular stop when we visit Muskegon. We dumped our holding tanks, got the motorhome parked and hooked up in our site, and by then we were dripping wet from the heat and humidity. It sure was nice to get that basement air conditioner working to cool things down!

Fisherman’s Landing is a Passport America affiliate, and able to accommodate any size RV. The place is only about half full.

Our site is a back in, with 30 amp electric, water, a concrete pad, and a picnic table. Here is our Winnebago, all set up and ready to be home for the time we’re here.

My cousin Berni Frees and her husband Rocky are working folks, and they wouldn’t be home until about 5 p.m., so once we were settled in, I took a nap while Terry checked her e-mail and just enjoyed being inside where it was nice and cool.

Later on, I added the RVSEF weighing forms to our website for those having their rigs weighed at our upcoming rally. Click this link to complete the paperwork for your truck and trailer, or this link for the motorhome worksheet. Print the sheets out, complete them, and bring them to the rally. To schedule your weighing time, or for more information call Rick Lang at (207) 522-3336.

And don’t forget to call Dennis Hill at the RV Driving School at (530) 878-0111 to arrange for your behind the wheel driving lesson at the rally! Separate fees are charged for the weighing and driving lessons, but the costs are small, and they are two of the best investments you can make in your safety.

In addition to the campground, Fisherman’s Landing has a boat launch that always seems to be busy with fishermen and recreational boaters coming and going. When we left to go to Rocky and Berni’s house later in the afternoon, Terry took this picture of a tug boat docked across the inlet from the boat launch. 

It’s always fun when we get together with Rocky and Berni, and though we had not seen them in a year, it was like it was only yesterday. We picked right up with the silly banter we enjoy so much with them. We all piled into their car and went to a great Chinese buffet for dinner, and then back to their place for an evening of Mexican Train and more good times with good friends.

We’ll be here a few days, visiting, and getting some more prep work done for our Eastern Gypsy Gathering rally.  Then it’s on to Elkhart!

Thought For The Day – I don’t believe in a government that protects us from ourselves – Ronald Reagan

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I always enjoy talking to new RVers or wannabes about the fulltime lifestyle, and hopefully, I can help them avoid some of the mistakes we made as greenhorns by sharing our experiences with them. But sometimes I feel like I’m talking to a brick wall, and I want to ask them “Do you want me to tell you what I know, or do you want me to tell you what you want to hear?”

A couple of weeks ago, at a fuel island, I had a conversation with the fellow next to us, who was driving a fancy new diesel pusher. He told me that he and his wife have been fulltiming for several months now, and that they are about to throw in the towel because it’s just too expensive. “How can anybody afford to pay $1,000 to $1,500 a month on campgrounds and still put fuel in the tank?” he asked me.

I told him that I don’t know anybody who spends even half that much on campgrounds, and he asked me how we do it. I told him about all of the ways we save money on camping fees, from free campgrounds, to discount programs like Passport America, camping at Elks and Moose lodges, fairgrounds camping, and boondocking.

“My wife would never do any of that,” he said. “We joined Passport America, but we pulled into one campground and she said “No way” and we drove right back out. We have never boondocked, she wouldn’t stand for it. We only stay at four star rated RV parks, because she doesn’t like the looks of the people at other places. It’s costing us a fortune, but what else can we do?”

I felt like telling him that his wife needed a lesson in reality, but I knew it wouldn’t matter. It was obvious that she wanted nothing to do with the RV lifestyle, and that she fully intended to have a miserable time of it until she finally made him miserable enough to give in and go do whatever she wanted to do instead.

This can be a very affordable lifestyle, if one takes the time to learn about the many ways you can keep camping costs low. But, one has to be willing to settle for less than upscale RV “resorts” (and there are a lot of excellent campgrounds that don’t get a four star rating), and flexibility is also a major asset to have. But some people, like this lady, just will not be happy living the gypsy lifestyle, and that’s fine too. It leaves more opportunities for the rest of us.

I also had an interesting conversation with a couple while I was doing some genealogy research at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City a while back, but I really had to bite my tongue to keep from bursting their bubble. They noticed my Gypsy Journal t-shirt, struck up a conversation, and told me they had just purchased a new diesel pusher, and would be taking delivery in three days.

I congratulated them, and the husband told me that they looked at a lot of RVs, both new and used, and decided to go with a new motorhome because, while they don’t plan to become fulltime RVers, they will be traveling six to eight months a year. “We just don’t want to mess with repairs and stuff,” he told me. “With a new motorhome, all we’ll have to do is turn the key and go the day we pick it up, and not have to worry about anything being broken.”

I told him that he might want to be prepared to spend some time going back to the dealer once they take delivery, because every new RV that hits the street seems to need a certain amount of time to get the bugs worked out of it. I told him that many experienced RVers seem to feel that once you buy a new rig, it takes at least six months just to get all of the stuff fixed that should have been handled before it left the factory.

“No way,” he told me, “That’s why we bought a new diesel pusher. With the money we’re spending, I guarantee you that it will be ready to roll the day we take delivery.”

What could I do, except nod, wish them well, and also secretly wish I that could be a fly on the wall of that new motorhome about a month or two down the road, to see how their thinking would have changed.

Thought For The Day – A father is a guy who has snapshots in his wallet where his money used to be.

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I closed yesterday’s blog by telling you we had tire troubles. Here’s the story:

From the time we left Gilroy Tuesday morning, until the time we arrived at the the Emigrant Trail Museum in Truckee that afternoon, one of our inside dual tires had lost over 35 pounds of air. This is the same problem we have been having with the inside duals ever since Camping World installed them the end of February. Supposed they fixed it when we went back a few weeks ago, but evidently not.

At that time it was determined that the problem was the valve extensions, and it might still be. Especially since one look at the scratches and tool marks on it told us that the valve extension was not new, and was probably the one that gave us problems before.

Our motorhome has an onboard air compressor, and I have an air hose, but as it turns out, there is a problem in our auxiliary air system somewhere and we couldn’t get it to work. We found a gas station where we could fill the tire, and I left the valve extender and PressurePro sensor off, and checked the tire again before we set off yesterday and it was still holding pressure. So once we get into Salt Lake City, I’ll find a new extender to put on the tire.

Yesterday morning we left Boomtown Casino and followed Interstate 80 east across Nevada, Traffic was busy in Reno, but the rest of the day we didn’t have much to deal with. The first part of our route was pretty curvy as we followed the Truckee River, and then we came into a big valley with salt flats as far as the eye could see. We zipped past this barren landscape in no time at all, but it took the pioneers of the Donner Party six days to cross the salt flats.

Miss Terry was taking pictures out the window as we motored along, and she managed to capture this smiley face somebody made to welcome travelers.

Some of the mountains off in the distance still had snow on top of them, but down on the highway it was over 90 degrees!

Part of our route had some steep climbs and downhill grades, but nothing compared to crossing the Sierras the day before. Both days, the Winnebago had no problems, the big Cummins diesel engine never started to get too warm, and carried us over the top as fast as I wanted to go. After years of being passed by eighteen wheelers in our old bus on even small grades, it’s sure nice to pull over into the left lane and pass them by as they labor up the hills!

We stopped at the Flying J in Winnemucca for fuel, but their RV pumps were out of order, and there was a long line of trucks at the truck islands.  We continued on another 50 miles to Battle Mountain. I don’t think the Flying J there was a company store, but rather an affiliate, but it was easy to get in and out.

We saw some nice rock formations alongside the highway!

We arrived at Crossroads RV Park in Wells, Nevada about 4:30 p.m., with  346 miles under our belt for the day. Crossroads is a small Passport America park, nothing much but a gravel lot with 30 amp full hookup RV sites. But at just $10 a night, it’s a good bargain. We have four bars of high speed EVDO internet service, which is always nice.

One of our subscribers recommended Crossroads to us, and said the managers, Dennis and Irma Sayers, were wonderful people. When I checked the place out on RV Park Reviews, their friendliness was mentioned in the first three reviews I read. So I was looking forward to meeting this nice couple.

Sure enough, they were just as nice and helpful as could be; Irma checked us in and chatted for a while, then Dennis got us parked and made sure we were hooked up okay. I asked about restaurants, and Irma got right on the phone to call the shuttle van from a local casino to come and pick us up and take us to the restaurant. You don’t get that kind of service very often!

When we got back from dinner, Dennis and Irma stopped by to check on us, and Terry gave them a tour of our motorhome. I think Dennis was thinking about going RV shopping by the time they left!

We have about 180 miles to go today to reach Pony Express RV Resort in Salt Lake City, and then we’ll have a few days to relax, do some genealogy research, and we have a couple of technical issues on the motorhome that we need to look into. Nothing major, but apparently the gremlins have been at work.

Thought For The Day – A true friend is someone who sees the pain in your eyes while everyone else believes the fake smile.

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We pulled out of our RV site at the Show Low Elks campground just before 9:30 a.m. yesterday morning, stopped in the lodge’s large dirt parking lot long enough to hook up our Blue Ox tow bar to our Ford van, did a light check, and put our old hometown in our rear view mirror.

We drove north 50 miles on State Route 77 to Holbrook, and then got onto Interstate 40 headed west. 30 miles later we stopped for fuel at the Flying J in Winslow. We still had just under half a tank of diesel, but I like to run on the top half of my tank whenever I can. It gives me more margin for error for whatever unexpected change in plans may lie ahead.

As it turns out, our fuel stop had an extra benefit; my daughter Tiffany was in Winslow for her job, and met us at Flying J for one last quick visit, a final hug or three, and then she was headed back home to Show Low, while we were back on the highway headed west.

We passed Meteor Crater, then started to see the San Francisco Peaks that tower over Flagstaff off in the distance. There was still snow on the tops of those high mountains.

A few miles past Flagstaff, Miss Terry pointed out a dozen or so cow elk standing in the forest’s edge right alongside the road. A mile or so later we saw a dead elk on the shoulder of the highway, and were glad we weren’t the ones who hit it. Those critters are as big as a horse, and hitting one can really do a lot of damage.

About the time we put the elk behind us, we started to see smoke from the Eagle Rock forest fire, which has burned 3,400 acres of ponderosa pines some eleven miles northeast of Williams. A news report I read later in the evening said that as of nightfall, the fire was 30 percent contained, but that fire crews were concerned that the winds might pick up and expand the wildfire. Sure enough, the wind kicked up, and is expected to be strong for the next two or three days.

Thirty miles west of Flagstaff, we pulled into Canyon Gateway RV Park in Williams, a Passport America affiliate located just off Interstate 40.  This is typical of many Passport America parks, nothing fancy, but clean and friendly, and a good value at $24 a night, tax included, for a level, 50 amp full hookup RV site. Some other RV parks here in Williams charge twice that.

The campground has gravel roads and sites, and small trees at every site. There are a few older rigs that look like they are permanents, but there is nothing wrong with that. Not everybody is made to live in a sticks and bricks house.

Here is our Winnebago, all leveled out and hooked up.

We had covered 175 miles since leaving Show Low, but we weren’t done yet. As soon as we had the RV parked and hooked up, Terry drove us back to Flagstaff in the van, where we stopped at the Arizona Daily Sun newspaper to pick up the new issue of the Gypsy Journal, and then we stopped at Sam’s Club and Office Max for some mailing supplies.

We have been craving a good Chinese buffet for weeks now, and I had always wanted to try the Mandarin Super Buffet in Flagstaff, so we stopped there before heading back to Williams. I had not been feeling well for a couple of hours, so I don’t know if the food wasn’t all that good, or if I just couldn’t appreciate it. But I really did not enjoy the meal, which seldom happens. I drowsed most of the way back to Williams, and once back at the motorhome, I laid down for a while, which seemed to help.

By dark the wind had really picked up, and I’m glad it is blowing from the southwest, which means if it does spread the fire, at least it will be burning in the opposite direction of town. Hopefully the fire crews can knock it down before it gets any larger, or does any more damage.

We’ll be here for the next four days, while we get the new issue of the Gypsy Journal ready to mail out on Monday. We have excellent Verizon service, a  clear aim at the sky for our satellite TV dish, and Williams has a couple of good restaurants if Miss Terry wants to take a break and not cook. It’s good to be on the road again!

Before I close, one last thing. Several blog readers wanted to know if our new Levolor window blinds rattle or make any noise going down the highway. Now that we have actually driven the RV with them, I can report that they don’t make a sound, which is exactly what we expected.

Thought For The Day – I love to give homemade gifts, which one of my kids do you want?

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I got an e-mail from a couple who have been bitten by the fulltiming bug and would love to sell their home and hit the road. However, they are afraid that they cannot afford the lifestyle. Their concerns are expressed in the following paragraph, cut and pasted from their e-mail:

“We have been looking at RV park websites here in our area of Ohio, and near our son’s home in Pennsylvania. With daily rates of anywhere from $35 to $40 for a full hookup site at  Surf Campground in Marblehead, Ohio; to $31 for a water and electric site at Huron River Valley Resort in Huron, Ohio; to $40 a night at the Kinzua Pennsylvania KOA near our son’s home, we just don’t see how we can afford it. That comes out to about $36 a night, or $1100 a month, or over $13,000 a year. That is about half of our retirement income.  Are most fulltime RVers really paying that much every night? If not, what is the secret to making it affordable?”

My first reaction to their e-mail was that they are looking for camping in all the wrong places. I looked at the websites of the three campgrounds they mentioned, and all three seemed more like weekend or vacation spots than the kind of places most fulltimers frequent.

Most fulltime RVers we know are paying a lot less than $36 a night. In fact, for most of our years on the road, we have averaged less than $5 a night, and we know many fulltimers who average $5 to $10 a night. Sometimes we do pay more per night, on rare occasions much more. But, the savings we get most of the time offset these costs and keep our nightly average low.

How do we do it? Through a combination of free campgrounds, weekly or monthly rates at commercial RV parks, discount campground programs, a Thousand Trails campground membership, camping at Elks and Moose lodges, camping at fairgrounds which have RV hookups, occasional nights dry camping at places like WalMart and truck stops, and occasional nights parked in the driveways of friends and relatives’ homes when we are visiting them. I think most experienced fulltimers would tell you they do things about the same way, with some combination of some or all of these options.

There are many, many free or very low cost campgrounds nationwide, usually located in small town city parks and county parks. We publish a guide to over 1,000 such places, and the Escapees Days End listing is also a good way to find many of them. You can find info on our guide in our RV Bookstore.

Most fairgrounds nationwide have RV hookups, and many of them make these sites available to the general public, usually at rates much lower than area RV parks. We also publish a guide to fairgrounds camping, which is available in our RV Bookstore.

We have belonged to Passport America ever since we hit the road, and it has saved us a lot of money. Members get a 50% discount at more than 1,600 campgrounds nationwide. Most are Mom and Pop type RV parks, and many of them have restrictions during their peak times, but if you read the campground guide and work within the system, it can be a real money saver.

Membership campgrounds can also save you money, if you use them enough to get your annual dues worth. The secret here is to know you’ll spend all of the days in the system that you can, under your membership, and not to buy a new membership, but rather to do your homework and buy a low cost resale membership directly from the previous owner.

I belong to the Elk and Moose, and many lodges nationwide either have an actual campground, or at least allow traveling members to dry camp in their parking lots overnight, usually for free or for a small donation. I’m also a VFW member, and we have found many VFW posts that allow us to park overnight, usually for free.

When we are on the road from Point A to Point B, we seldom pay for a campground, since all we plan to do is get some sleep and go on down the road. Our motorhome is fully self-contained, and all we need is a safe, level place to park overnight. We have spent many nights at RV friendly businesses like WalMart, at truck stops, in highway rest areas, all for free, and all of which helps us keep our nightly camping costs down.

We also save money by parking in the driveways of friends and relatives. Sometimes we don’t have hookups, but usually we can at least plug into a 20 amp outlet in a garage to keep our batteries charged up, and we can find a water outlet to fill our fresh water tank. It’s nice to visit people and enjoy their company, then be able to retire to our own home on wheels, giving them and us both our own privacy.

How about some of you other experienced RVers? What do your nightly camping costs average, and how do you keep your costs low?

While I was taking a nap yesterday afternoon, Bad Nick took over the computer and posted a new Bad Nick Blog titled BP = BS. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – The five most essential words for a healthy, vital relationship are “I apologize” and “You are right.”

Click Here To Register For Our Eastern Gypsy Gathering Rally!