We spent Wednesday night dry camping in the designated RV parking area at the Route 66 Casino, and thought we might have a problem with our Onan 5500 generator.

We fired it up to run our rooftop air conditioner and all was going along fine, with the generator putting out 123 volts according to the meter on our Progressive Industries EMS system. Suddenly the voltage dropped to 104 volts and the EMS cut out, as it is designed to do in low voltage situations. We turned off the air conditioner and the reading was still 104 volts. With the EMS not engaged, which allows no power to come through, and thus no load on the genset, we were still reading 104 volts.

I let the generator sit for about an hour and fired it up, and it was putting out 123 volts again. But soon it did the same thing, dropping to 104 volts and staying. The AC was not on this time, and all we were using was 9 amps according to the EMS. We had last used the genset about three weeks ago and it was working fine then.

Yesterday morning we left the casino about 9:30 a.m., after waiting for rush hour traffic in Albuquerque to calm down, and headed east on Interstate 40. I think rush hour is actually 24/7 in Albuquerque, and construction zones with lane closures are just a fact of life there, but we managed to thread our way through it all and began to long uphill climb out of the valley. We were in the right hand lane, radiator misters going and moving slow, but we made it okay.

Terry fired the generator up again and we ran the rooftop air conditioner for about four hours with no problems, so I guess the gremlins who were causing problems the night before were taking the day off.

We traveled 190 miles to Tucumcari, where we left the interstate and took U.S. Highway 54 northeast. Add the depressing little town of Logan, New Mexico to your list of places to avoid. There were signs posted  all along the highway through the rundown downtown (what there is of it) saying “No Overnight Parking” and one sad looking RV park next to the railroad tracks. As we were coming into town a group of about nine young men were in an altercation alongside the road that looked like it was going to get violent very quickly.

We crossed into Texas, and tried to hold our breath as we drove past the huge cattle feeding operations near Dalhart. I like the aroma of beef sizzling on the grill a lot more than I do when it’s on the hoof in the muck.

I was looking forward to passing through Hooker, Oklahoma, home of the Hooker Horny Toads ball team. The last time we visited Hooker, I got a giggle out of the sign in front of a building identified as the Hooker Chamber of Commerce. I had no idea they were that organized!

There was a lot of road construction in Hooker, and one sign I really wanted to stop and get a picture of said “We’re building a better Hooker for you” but there was no place to pull over. I wonder if they take custom orders…..?

Before long we crossed into Kansas at Liberal, home of the fantastic Mid-America Air Museum, which we did a feature on a few years ago. Liberal is also home of the Dorothy’s House Museum and an annual Wizard of Oz celebration.

I knew that one of my ex-wives was back in Arizona, but that left one still unaccounted for, so I kept a sharp eye out for witches until we were out of town. One can’t be too careful.

A half hour or so after we left Liberal, we came to Meade, home of the Dalton Gang Hideout, which we will visit tomorrow. We are parked for the night in the Meade city park, which allows free RV parking. There are a few water bibs scattered about, and the park has a dump station. We are sharing the park with a couple from South Dakota in a small fifth wheel, who stopped by to say hello, and a tiny Toyota camper from California.

We covered 456 miles yesterday, which was more than we had planned to drive, but it was a good day, the bus was running smooth, and traffic was light, so we just kept on rolling. It’s good to be back on the road again!

Thought For The Day – No one ever achieved worthwhile success who did not find themselves with at least one foot hanging over the brink of failure.

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Never underestimate the power of the Internet! When it was announced a few days ago that Maine state legislature was sneaking through a bill that would prohibit overnight RV parking in any commercial parking lot, such as a Wal-Mart or truck stop, that was being promoted by campground owners, RVers sent a flood of e-mails protesting the measure and promising to take their vacation dollars elsewhere. The folks in Augusta quickly got the message and backpedaled, canceling the bill.

I bet all of those other businesses in the great state of Maine who stood to lose the revenue they make from RVers appreciate their elected officials realizing that this was a bad business move.

Now if bankers had half as much sense. As most of you know, we are shopping for a different coach to replace our aging bus. The other day I talked to a lady in Texas who has a very nice rig she needs to unload. Her husband passed away, and she has been making the payments on it for almost a year, and her finances are depleted. She just flat out does not have another dime to give the bank.

She has had the rig for sale, and one dealer offered her about 75% of the balance due. She tried to get the bank to accept that and work with her on the balance, but no dice. Their attitude is “either we get all that you owe, or we’ll repo it, sell it at auction at a loss, and come after you for the balance.” She has tried to explain to them that she is 72 years old, and between her husband’s death and her own serious medical problems, the piggy bank is empty. There is no more!

She would love to have someone take over the payments for the full amount due, which we could easily do, as could some other people she has talked to. But the bank has put one roadblock after another in her way. I guess they have all of that Federal bailout money to work with, so who cares if they actually make a profit?

It’s good to be back on the road. We left the Show Low Elks Lodge Campground at 10:45 a.m. yesterday and pulled into the Route 66 Casino on Interstate 40 just west of Albuquerque, a distance of 262 miles, almost exactly five hours later. It was an easy run, and even though the outside temperature was almost 90 degrees, I only had to use the radiator misters a couple of times. But we did get slowed way down on a couple of hills.

In yesterday’s blog I wrote that the Route 66 Casino has free RV parking, and a good buffet. Well, don’t believe everything you read! I don’t know what went wrong since our last visit, but our dinner was a real disappointment. As Miss Terry said back at the bus, we didn’t really buy that food, we just rented it on a very short term basis!

While we were inside getting ill, Ken and Sue Pace stopped by the bus and left us a note as they were passing through. Sue did her geocaching seminar at our rally in Casa Grande in February, and we were sorry we missed them. Hopefully we’ll catch up with them at Escapade.

Before I close, I want to give a quick plug to the RV Lifestyle, Education, & Safety clinic that RVSEF is putting on in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania September 13-16. For those of you who never got to go to a Life on Wheels session, this is a “must not miss” opportunity to learn all about RVing from some of the best known experts in the field. Here is a link to the classes being offered, and whether you are a wannabe, a newbie, or a seasoned veteran, I guarantee you’ll learn a lot! Check it out!   

Thought For The Day – Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

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I have to admit that I am very pleasantly surprised at the reaction to our new Digital Edition of the Gypsy Journal. In the first 24 hours after I wrote in yesterday’s blog that subscriptions were available, we received 30 orders. I can see my pal Chris Guld over at Geeks on Tour just simpering and saying “I told you so!” I just hate it when she’s right.

Overall, the feedback we’ve received has been great, but we can’t please everybody. If you read yesterday’s blog comments, you will see that a couple of readers don’t see the value, and that’s just fine. As I’ve said before, nobody has to spend a penny with us to be able to read the blog and our regular website.

But I did find it interesting that one person seems to think that not only what we do is worthless, but that we seem to be rolling in money. This same person has asked for a discounted subscription price several times in the past, because he’s on a fixed income. I wish somebody would fix my income, because the darned thing is broken! It never seems to stretch far enough!

Folks, I know that some of you have heard me say this before, but I’m going to say it again. Yes, we make a profit. No, I don’t apologize for that. We are a business. We do not have a retirement income or investments we live off of. Everything we earn is from the products and services we create and from my speaking gigs. We’re not getting rich, but we’re paying the bills and having a lot of fun in the process.

I write and publish nonfiction information. There are only a certain number of free campgrounds, or dump stations, or whatever in the country. There is going to be duplication in the information that we, or the folks who produce Day’s End, or Don Wright from Cottage Publications sell. Yes, you can find a lot of the same info we produce online, if you put in enough time to research it. Or, you could be out RVing instead!

Okay, enough of that nonsense, let’s move on.

We’re leaving Show Low, Arizona today headed east. We’ll take Interstate 40 across northern Arizona and New Mexico, and we’ll probably stop for the night at one of the casinos near Albuquerque. The Route 66 Casino at mile marker 140 has a pretty good buffet, and is usually our first choice when we’re traveling in that part of New Mexico.  

Goodbyes are always hard, and it’s going to be very hard to say goodbye to my daughter Tiffany, as it always is. I have to admit that I feel guilty when I see the pain in my little girl’s eyes when we leave, and I always have a lump in my throat for the first few hundred miles, and I want to turn this big old bus around and go back for one more long hug.

But Tiffany knows her old man is an unconventional guy with a bad case of hitch itch that needs to be scratched. (She actually suggested that maybe if I put cream or ointment on it, it might get better!) And I thank her for allowing me to fulfill this wanderlust that I was born with, and not putting me on a guilt trip every time we depart.

The good news is that the road runs both ways, and we can (and will) always come back again.  

Thought For The Day – In a lunatic world, the mad are better equipped than the sane.

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