We were up early yesterday (or at least early for us) to get ready for our move to the Sedalia, Missouri fairgrounds for the Escapees RV Club’s Escapade rally. By the time we had everything packed away, I had checked the oil in the bus, unhooked the water and electric, taken down our tripod TV dish, and hit the dump station, we were on the road a little before 9:30 a.m.

For the first part of our trip, five miles back to Interstate 70 and then ten miles east to the Concordia exit, Miss Terry followed me in the van. We got off the freeway and went to a company simply called The Truck Wash, where for $60 they cleaned off several thousand miles of road grime, diesel smoke, and oil, and when they were done our old bus was as a shiny as a new penny! That stainless steel on the bottom half is really pretty when it’s all cleaned up and you can see yourself in it.

We left The Truck Wash and drove across the street to the TA Travel Center, where we pulled into the truck lot long enough to hook the van up, and then we were back on the road. It was another 20 miles or so to U.S. Highway 65, and then nineteen miles south to Sedalia. We had to cross a bridge where traffic was down to one lane, with ten feet between the Jersey barriers on both sides, but we got through just fine and I didn’t even snivel!

Have I ever told you how much I love my PressurePro tire monitoring system? Years ago we had a flat on the Toyota pickup we used to tow behind us, and never knew it until a passing trucker honked to get our attention. By then the tire was shredded, and we had beat the heck out of the paint on the left rear quarter panel of the truck.

Between that and the front tire blowout we had on the bus last year, I am very paranoid about tire problems. It used to be that whenever we got onto a rough stretch of road, I was always worrying that we had a tire going flat. But not any more! I know my PressurePro will alert me to any potential problems before they become disasters. Many times, just for my peace of mind when we feel a rough road, I’ll manually scan my tires on the PressurePro monitor to make sure everything is okay. I’ll be honest, before we had a PressurePro system, I thought it was a neat gadget, but not really necessary. Now I consider it an essential part of our safety equipment. If and when we replace our bus with a different coach, the PressurePro goes with me!

Coming into an Escapade is always exciting for us, because to us, the Escapees are one huge extended family, and we know we’ll see a lot of our friends there. Sure enough, several people we know, including our buddies Mike and Elaine Loscher were on hand to get us pointed in the right direction, Bryan Rose got us parked, and we had a bunch of people come by to say hello. Joe and Marcia Jones spent some time visiting, as did Gene and Sandy Taggatz, Paul and Connie Anderson, and Bob and Molly Pinner, and so many others that I can’t remember everybody.

We did not realize that vendors were expected to be open from 3 to 5 p.m. until we arrived, so we hurriedly got the canopy erected that we use when vending outside at rallies, and people started coming by to see what we had to offer.

We are one of only three outside vendors at this rally, the other vendors are in a building just a few steps away. But we prefer vending from our bus, so we can run inside to check the status on somebody’s subscription, run off some more copies of the booklets and CDs we sell if we run low, or grab something cold to drink out of the refrigerator.

It’s going to be a busy and fun week, and we’re looking forward to it!

Thought For The Day – He who laughs last thinks slowest.

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We have enjoyed our time here at the Higginsville, Missouri fairgrounds. Higginsville is a friendly little town, and everybody we have met in the stores, restaurants and post office has been friendly and made it a point to welcome us to their town.

Yesterday evening we had dinner at the local Pizza Hut with Jim and Chris Guld from Geeks on Tour, and when we arrived there was a big old black dog lounging in the shade by the doorway. Of course I had to stop and get my puppy fix, and I made it a point to tell Jim and Chris (who live with a poodle, of all things!) “Now, this is a dog!”

Inside, as the waitress was taking our orders, I asked her whose dog it was. We learned that it lived at a nearby farm, but spent most of its days hanging out at the town’s fast food restaurants, where everybody was always feeding it. Now that’s my kind of dog! Any mutt that hangs out at restaurants mooching free food can’t be all bad.

I mentioned that Jim and Chris have a poodle, a lovable enough mutt if you like poodles, and I do have to give Odie credit. Every time I have ever gone to their rig he comes to the door to bark a greeting at me, and every time I tell him “Hey, Odie, shut up, it’s not like you’re a real dog!”

I think Odie has decided to shun me in return. When Jim and Chris pulled into the fairgrounds the other day, I walked up to the driver’s window, and Odie was in the passenger seat looking to see who it was. Once he realized it was me, he did an about face and looked in the other direction!

The other day I went over to talk to Jim and Chris, and Odie just stayed in his chair and ignored me. But as soon as Miss Terry walked over, he came right to the door to see her. Hey, Odie, I’ve gotten the cold shoulder a lot of times in my life, it’s not gonna work!

Today we’ll leave Higginsville and go over to Sedalia to get parked and set up for Escapade. Along the way, I hope to find a truck wash to get the bus cleaned up. It is covered in oil and road grime and really needs a bath. Usually I can con my pal Smokey Ridgely from Dri Wash N Guard into cleaning my stuff at rallies to demonstrate how good his product is, but the lazy dog is workamping over near Hannibal, Missouri and won’t make it to Escapade. That’s pretty darned selfish if you ask me! What kind of friend is that? I’m seriously thinking about sending him the bill for getting the bus washed!

Thought For The Day – Would a fly without wings be called a walk?

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