I woke up yesterday morning to the sound of far off rain, and then I realized that it wasn’t rain after all, but rather the sound of the wind in the tall pine trees here at the Show Low Elks lodge campground.

Yes, it was windy again in northern Arizona, as it is all too often this time of year. The weather report included a high wind advisory for the entire region until 8 p.m., and  they were monitoring more dust storms along Interstate 40, which has been closed numerous times in the last few weeks. I don’t like driving a motorhome in the wind, so I was glad we drove up from the Phoenix area the previous day!

As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, we have a nice site here at the Elks campground, but it isn’t very level, and even with our jacks extended all the way, we were still decidedly low in the rear. We weren’t in danger of anything falling off the walls, but we were out of balance enough that our shower wouldn’t drain correctly. We’ve encountered this before and I wanted to do something about it.

So we went to Lowes and bought an eight foot long piece of exterior grade treated 2×12 board, and I had the store cut it into one foot lengths, giving me a total of eight squares.

Back at the motorhome, I pulled in our slide rooms and retracted our HWH leveling jacks, and then we put four of the wooden squares under each rear jack. Then I hit the automatic jack button, and we leveled right up. 

I was wondering how speeds would be on my my iPad here in Show low, as compared to in Apache Junction. While our Verizon phones and air card are on high speed EVDO here, the iPad is on AT&T’s extended network. There is a noticeable reduction in speed, no doubt about it. But it is not as slow as our air card is when we’re away from an EVDO signal and are on Verizon’s slower National Access service. The GPS and all other functions on the iPad work fine here, even on the slower extended network service.

Later on, Tiffany came by with her girls, and we had a nice visit. Here are Hailey and Destiny relaxing on the couch after a hard day at school and preschool. Destiny always looks to her big sister for direction on how to act like a big kid. Hopefully she won’t copy Hailey and break her arm too!

Tiffany’s husband Jim works the night shift, and he was up all day helping Tiffany with her job, so he was home sleeping before his shift started. We took the girls out to dinner, and by the time we left the restaurant, it was getting really chilly. Note to self – keep a jacket or sweater in the van.

Bad Nick was busy yesterday too, posting a new Bad Nick Blog edition of the Dumb A$$ Report. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?

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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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Yesterday we left Show Low Lake Campground and moved to the campground at the Elks lodge. Since we were only going about three miles, we didn’t bother hooking up the van to tow, Terry just drove it and followed me.

The Elks lodge has fifteen full hookup 30/50 amp gravel sites in the pine trees, which at $15 a night is a heck of a deal in this resort area. The sites are not very level, and we are once again wishing we had leveling jacks.

When we arrived, we were the only RV here, and there was a sailboat on a trailer in one other site. A couple of hours after we got settled in, a pickup with a large overhead camper arrived and parked with the boat. Shortly after that, a very nice Mountain Aire diesel pusher arrived, so now we have some neighbors.

For RVers who travel as much as we do, membership in the Elks and Moose can be a real money saver. Many lodges have dedicated RV parks like this, and even more will allow traveling members to spend the night in their parking lots. The fee, if they charge any at all, is usually very low compared to local RV parks, and the money we pay goes to help support the lodges’ community work, so everybody wins!

After being on a site with just electric for two weeks, it was time to dump our holding tanks, and then Terry started a load of laundry. With those chores out of the way, we drove a few blocks to my daughter Tiffany’s house, where son-in-law Jim threw some steaks on the grill.

Tiffany had seen a Holiday Rambler diesel pusher in a yard nearby for sale, and she took me over to check it out. It was a 1996 model, and just in looking at its outside condition, I knew it was not something we would be interested in.

The owner told me that she and her husband had purchased it five years ago, had driven it less than 2,000 miles, and it has been sitting for over two years. She said nobody had even been inside it in over a year, and I could sure tell that the minute she opened the door! It reeked with a musty, mildew smell, the furniture was faded from the sun, and the roof had obviously suffered some water damage. She said they owed “about” $36,000 to $38,000 and just wanted to get enough out of it to pay the bank off. I wanted to tell her lots of luck, but I just told her it didn’t fit our needs and we left.

It is unfortunate that there are so many people who are buried in RVs that they will never be able to sell for what they owe on them. And then there are hopeful sellers who are just unrealistic in their expectations. We have been actively shopping for a used diesel pusher, and have seen some very good deals out there. But we have also seen people asking 20 to 30 percent more for their coaches than other similar rigs are going for.

I exchanged e-mails with a gentleman who read in the blog that we were shopping, who has a five year old upscale diesel coach for sale. He and his wife fulltimed in it until she passed away last year, and he no longer travels. He paid $225,000 for it, and he wants $185,000 firm. The coach is way out of our price range, but I sent him several online ads for the same year and model coaches with asking prices of $100,000 to $125,000 so he would know why he wasn’t getting any offers. He replied that losing $8,000 a year was bad enough, and he would just keep advertising it until the right buyer comes along. It’s a nice rig, but I think he’ll own it a long, long time.

Thought For The Day – You know you’re into middle age when you realize that caution is the only thing you care to exercise.

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