|
Stories From The Current Issue Geocaching, The Perfect RV Hobby Work Your Way Across The USA: Another Great RVing Book From Nick Russell Some Of Our Favorite RV Web Sites Read What Others Have To Say About The Gypsy Journal From Our Archives - Stories From Past Issues You Can Bring Nick Russell To Your Campground, Dealership Or RV Event! Yes, You Can Make Money Writing Visit Our New Motorcycle Travel Website
|
Meandering
Down The Highway
Quartzsite
Boondocking
Our
pals Terry and Connie Simpson, in their beautiful MCI bus conversion, and Gene
and Cherie Holcomb, in their Country Coach, were parked together and we found a
level patch of dirt near them. Our tired old bus sure looked like a red headed
stepchild next to those two beautiful coaches! By
the time we were parked and unpacked, our friends came over to greet us and we
spent a couple of hours visiting and comparing stories of our adventures on the
road. Then somebody decided it was time for dinner, so we all piled into Gene
and Cheri’s car and drove into town to Silly Al’s for pizza. It being Friday
night, the place was packed, so we had to wait a little while for a table, and
while we were waiting our friend Jan Kessler spotted us from her booth and came
over to say hello. We had not seen Jan and her husband Barry since our Gypsy
Gathering the year before, so it was nice to see them again. Dinner was
delicious, the conversation with our friends was fun, and we had a wonderful
time. Back
at La Posa South, we all said our goodnights and retired to our separate
coaches. It was nice to be with our RV family again. We
really enjoyed our two weeks in Quartzsite. Miss Terry usually started her day
with a brisk 3+ mile walk around the area with Connie Simpson and Cheri Holcomb,
enjoying the clear desert morning and some girl time with her friends. Not
wanting to be left out of this personal fitness regime, I sat with Terry Simpson
and Gene Holcomb and we exercised our jaws and vocal cords. I tell you what,
when I get together with those fellows, the first liar doesn’t have a chance!
I like to think of myself as somewhat of a BS artist, but I’m an amateur in
comparison. Sometimes it’s just nice to set back and watch genius at work! One
afternoon we drove into town and braved the crowds at the Big Tent. Our old
Olympian Wave 6 catalytic heater, which we bought used and which has served us
well for seven years, had been on its last legs, so we bought a bigger factory
refurbished Wave 8 model. New ones were listed on Camping World’s website for
just under $400, and this one, with a 90 day warranty, cost us $180. We felt
like it was quite a bargain. We
really enjoy boondocking in the desert around Quartzsite. While Quartzsite does
not have outlet shopping malls or movie theaters, and is not known for its
culinary delights, there is so much to see and do that very few RVers who spend
any time here seem to get bored.
Other
groups are made up of bus converters, owners of various brands of RVs (we had a
large cluster of Bluebird owners parked near us), folks who gather with friends
from their home states, groups of Canadian RVers, ham radio operators, military
veterans, retired postal workers, and even a group of nudists who gather out in
the Magic Circle, away from other RVers. Most of these groups will have some
planned activities, potluck dinners, and usually an evening campfire gathering. Besides
all of these organized or semi-organized groups, you will find many RVers either
parked off by themselves, or together with one or two other RVs, like Terry and
I were with Gene and Cheri Holcomb and Terry and Connie Simpson. Except for the
naturists at the Many
RVers are into riding motorcycles, everything from dirt bikes to highway
cruisers, and we saw a lot of bikes and ATVs scooting all over the place. Our
friends Terry and Connie Simpson have two nice quad-runner ATVs and spend a lot
of time exploring the trails for miles around town. If you don’t have an ATV,
don’t worry, there are dealers in town who rent them by the day or week. For
those really looking for adventure, you can even book a tandem ride on an
ultra-light aircraft with an experienced pilot for a bird’s eye view of the
RVs scattered across the desert. You
will also hear a lot of music around Quartzsite. There are scheduled and
impromptu jam sessions all over the place. So bring your guitar, fiddle or
mandolin and join in, or just sit and enjoy and tap your toes to the music, and
you often see a lot of fellows helping each other on RV projects. Terry Simpson
helped us get a couple of extra solar panels mounted on our bus while we were
there. The
desert itself offers a lot to see and do. Miss Terry and her gal pals enjoyed
walking several miles every morning, and lots of folks enjoy hiking or riding
their bicycles through the desert. At first glance, the desert may seem a rather
barren place, but it is full of life and holds a beauty all its own. We have
seen some beautiful photographs taken by shutterbug RVers in Quartzsite. But
you don’t have to be busy to have fun in Quartzsite. You can have a wonderful
time just sitting in your lawn chair reading a book under the bright blue desert
sky and watching the world pass by. Moving
On Life
is beautiful for a couple of rootless gypsies in the desert. Except for a brief
cold spell, during most of our time in Quartzsite the weather was nice, with
lots of blue sky and sunshine. We spent our days visiting with friends,
relaxing, and enjoying the desert scenery, and at night the local coyotes
serenaded us as we drifted off to sleep. But all good things must come to an
end. After
two great weeks, we said our goodbyes to our neighbors and pulled out of our
campsite in the La Posa South LTVA about 9:30 a.m. We had the option of using
the LTVA’s dump station, or if the line was too long, of just waiting until we
got to Casa Grande to dump. Just one of the advantages of a bus conversion is
the huge weight carrying capacity we have, so we don’t have to dump to reduce
weight if it is inconvenient. As
it turned out, there were only a couple of RVs waiting to dump, so I slid in
beside a neat looking Kenworth truck conversion, and while we were waiting our
turn to dump, I asked the owner about it. He built the conversion himself, and
invited Terry and I inside for a look. It was not as big as some of the factory
units we have seen, but was decorated very well and we really liked the way they
had done things. You never know with me, one of these days we may just get silly
and build ourselves one of those things! One
we had dumped and hooked the van up to our Blue Ox tow bar, we got onto
Interstate 10 and headed east about 90 miles, then turned south on State Route
85 and followed it 44 miles to Gila Bend. There was some construction on State
Route 85, part of the project to make most of this a four lane divided roadway,
but we didn’t have any delays. This
route added about 20 miles to our trip, but bypasses the We
picked up Interstate 8 in Gila Bend and followed it east about 60 miles to
Interstate 10, and before long we were pulling into the Pinal County
Fairgrounds, seven miles east of Casa Grande, with almost exactly 200 miles
behind us. The bus ran fine and surprised me by climbing the grades with only a
couple of downshifts. At one point, as I pulled out to pass a slower vehicle, I
commented to Miss Terry again about how much more comfortable it is to drive
since we upgraded the steering system. We were there to get ready for our Second Annual Western Gypsy Gathering rally, and the folks in the fairgrounds office were a bit surprised at how many RVs we had coming to the rally. They told us several other RV rallies usually held here are way down in their numbers, while ours is growing. That’s because of folks like you, who have given us so much support. Check Out Nick's
Blog! RVers’ Dashboard Companion
Available in printed format or on CD, cost of the RVers’ Dashboard Companion is $24.95, plus $3.50 shipping and handling. We can also deliver the book directly to your computer in PDF format. There are no shipping and handling fees for electronic delivery. Since the file takes up over 1 megabyte, download time on a cellular telephone connection could be problematic. For a home telephone line with 56K connection, download time takes approximately one to five minutes. To order your copy of the RVers’ Dashboard Companion, send check or money order to Gypsy Journal, 1400 Colorado Street #C-16, Boulder City, Nevada 89005 or log onto www.paypal.com and make payment to bookorders@gypsyjournal.net. Please include a note with your payment that you are ordering the RVers’ Dashboard Companion. *Due to shipping costs, this book is not available for Canadian addresses. Gypsy
Gathering Rally Our
Gypsy Gathering rally was a huge success! At the first rally, in 2007, we
had 185 RVs attending. This year we had 254! For the second year in a row,
Terry and Connie Simpson did an amazing job of getting door prizes from
the local businesses in Casa Grande for our rally. We had so many friends
who volunteered to pitch in to help make the rally a success that Terry
and I were just overwhelmed with gratitude. But it was not without
challenges. If
you want to hear God laugh, make plans. In this life, we make plans, and
then we make contingency plans to cover what will happen if our plans go
awry. Then everything goes to hell and you just throw the plan out the
window and roll with the flow, or at least paddle really hard and try to
keep ahead of the flood. A
couple of days before the rally was scheduled to begin, we had planned on
about 15 RVs from the Escapees Class of 2007 arriving at the Casa Grande
fairgrounds so they could park together for the rally, as well as a couple
of vendors. But RVs started rolling in and they never stopped coming all
day long. By the time the day ended, we had 53 RVs on the grounds! And
this was the day before the Early Bird arrivals! On Sunday, the official Early Bird arrival day, we had 100 RVs scheduled to arrive, and I was up and out of the bus by, and no, this is not a typo, 6:50 a.m.! That is at least two hours before I greet the day on my rare early mornings! We had a meeting with our volunteer parking crew at 7:30 and by 8 a.m. everybody was in place, ready to park the arriving RVs. Last year on our Early Bird morning, the parking lot was full by 6:30 a.m. This time around we had only parked three or four RVs by 10 a.m., and I just know the folks on the parking crew must have been grumbling about getting up so early for nothing. Then
the dam burst and we had one RV after another pulling in, all day long.
Finally things died down about 4 p.m., and I told the exhausted parking
crew to call it a day. About the time they were all back in their RVs
putting their feet up, we got hit again. By the time Terry Simpson and I
parked the last two coaches, a little after 6 p.m., we had brought in 135
RVs in one day! At close of business, we counted 188 RVs, and the general
parking was not until the next day! To put that in perspective, at last
year’s Gypsy Gathering rally, we had 185 RVs total! Once everyone
arrived and the rally was in full swing, we counted 254 RVs at the
fairgrounds! I
can’t say enough good about all of our volunteers, from the parking crew
to the people helping Miss Terry get everybody registered, and the folks
who just pitched in whenever they saw something that needed doing and got
the job done. You are all wonderful. The
opening ceremonies kicked off the rally, and we had a wonderful crowd. I
asked who had come the furthest just to attend the rally, as opposed to
someone who came to After
the opening and vendor introductions, I led a panel discussion on RVing in
general, with several longtime RVers and industry experts pitching in to
answer questions from the crowd. At the same time, in another building,
Jodie Spiller had a packed house with her Craft and Hobby Show and Tell. I
wasn’t able to check it out, but Miss Terry said the place was really
hopping. After
a short break to catch our breath, we were back at it in the early evening
with door prizes, and then we had line dancing in one building, and a
group of musicians had a jam session in another. If you were not there,
you missed one heck of a good time! We had coffee and donuts every
morning, seminars on all aspects of RVing, evening door prizes and
entertainment. One
evening we had our pizza party, which was a real success. We ordered 200
pizzas, and Dominos needed two full size pickup trucks with their beds
filled, to get them all to the fairgrounds. But they all arrived hot and
delicious, and I was amazed at what a fast job the servers did in getting
everybody fed.
After
the beauty pageant, the “girls” lined up at the front of the building
and collected cash donations for the Our
vendors all seemed to be doing a booming business. In fact, Smokey and Pam
Ridgely, who sell Dri Wash N’ Guard, ran out of product and had to
purchase more just to finish out the rally! Mike and Pat McFall, vendors
for PressurePro tire monitoring systems, also ran out, and had to have
more systems flown in to meet the demand! It may have been a relatively
small rally, but the folks sure spent money with our vendors! The
last night of the rally the weather turned bad and it rained all night,
turning the fairgrounds into a muddy mess. Some RVs actually got stuck
before they could get from the dirt parking area to pavement, and had to
be pulled out with tractors the fairgrounds had on hand. We were hoping
the rain would hold off one more day, but unfortunately, we cannot control
Mother Nature. All
in all the rally was a huge success, and we had a wonderful group of
people. We look forward to next year’s ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Over 1,000 places you can park for free, or almost free - Taking advantages of boondocking can really stretch your RVing budget. We’ve assembled a list of over 1,000 city and county parks, public locations, rest areas, scenic viewpoints, RV-friendly businesses and other places across the country and in Canada where you can park over-night free or for a very minimal cost. Some allow more than one nights stay, some include full or partial hookups. Many RVers who have purchased this booklet report saving hundreds of dollars with these money saving camping opportunities. Available in printed or on 3.5" floppy formatted for Windows WordPerfect. Please specify preference. To receive your copy of this money saving list of budget camping opportunities, send check or money order for $8.95 to Gypsy Journal, 1400 Colorado Street, #C-16, Boulder City, Nevada 89005-2448, or simply click on shopping cart icon below. *Due to shipping costs, this book is not available for Canadian addresses. A
few days after our rally ended, we left the fairgrounds and had an easy
run south sixty miles to We
spent a month in I
still cannot understand why the pinheads running things in Tucson
decided to close every exit off of Interstate10 for several miles for
the duration of an extended highway improvement project that is expected
to last two or three years. If there is a major accident in the
construction area, someone could die before help could get to them. To
make matters even worse, they have narrowed the highway lanes with
concrete barriers. One day we were westbound and spotted a car in one of
the eastbound lanes with a flat tire on the driver’s side front. Since
there is no exit or shoulder to pull off onto for several miles, you
could destroy a car trying to drive to an exit. A police car was parked
behind the stranded vehicle with its overhead lights on, and traffic was
at a standstill while the tire was being changed, since there was
absolutely no place to work on it without being in the next traffic
lane. Someone is going to get killed out there, and the city and state
will be in for a major lawsuit, and rightfully so. Life
Is Short, Live For Today While
we were in It
was very hard for me to try and be strong for Dave’s
loss reinforces something that I try to impress on people all the time,
and that is to live your dreams today, because tomorrow is no more than
a promise written on the wind. I can’t tell you how many new
fulltimers we have met over the years who worked hard all of their
lives, and finally started their new life on the road, only to have a
death or serious illness shatter the dream. Many
of you know that eighteen months after we began our fulltime adventure,
Miss Terry was diagnosed with stage four cervical cancer. The doctors
advised us to expect the worst, but Terry’s first words were “We
just found each other, and we’ve just begun to travel. I don’t have
time to die!” Thanks to Terry’s strong will to survive, a wonderful
medical team, and the love and prayers of so many people, she made a
complete recovery and is now cancer free. But even today she says that
if she had not made it, at least we had those eighteen months of
fulltime RVing. We walked away from good careers at the age of 46 to become fulltimers and start the Gypsy Journal. It was a long, hard struggle, but we have finally reached the point where it is all beginning to pay off for us. Looking back on our years on the road, the good times and the bad, the happy and the sad, we both agree that we would not change a minute of it if we could. Our only regret is that we didn’t find each other and start our RVing life sooner. A Year Of The Gypsy Journal On CD We are flattered by the great response we get from our loyal readers. While some folks pass their Gypsy Journal along to others after they finish reading them, others keep them for reference on places they plan to visit in the future. A great number of Gypsy Journal readers purchase some or all of our back issues. However, we recognize that many people, especially fulltimers, just do not have the space to tote along a big stack of newspapers. Also, as supplies of certain issues become depleted, we have no way to reprint them. But I think we have found a solution that will work for many of you. We have created a CD of all five annual issues of the Gypsy Journal for the years 2003 - 2007, in PDF format that can be opened on any computer with Adobe Reader. Many computers come with the program already installed, but if you don’t have Adobe Reader, you can get it as a free download on the Internet by logging on to www.adobe.com. The CD is an exact reproduction of the Gypsy Journal, just as it looks in the printed version, but in an easy to store and use electronic format. To order, send check or money order for $50 for all five years (2003-2007) to Gypsy Journal, 1400 Colorado #C-16, Boulder City, Nevada 89005, or log onto our web site at www.gypsyjournal.net and order from our online bookstore with your credit card. Free Camping For Veterans! If you are a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) you have many free and low cost overnight parking opportunities awaiting you all across the United States. Many VFW Posts welcome traveling veterans who belong to other Posts to pull off the road and spend the night in their parking lots. Some even offer RV hookups! Most Posts do not charge their fellow veterans for this courtesy, and those who do ask only a token fee. We have compiled a list of VFW Posts around the nation that welcome you for a visit. Order your copy today for just $5.50 and reap one of the benefits of your service to your country and your VFW membership. To order your copy of our guide Overnight Parking With The VFW, send a check or money order to Gypsy Journal, 1400 Colorado #C-16, Boulder City, Nevada 89005, or click on the shopping cart icon and order online with your credit card. *Due to shipping costs, this book is not available for Canadian addresses. Playing
Tourist Even
though I had lived in Located
in the small community of Vail, about 20 miles east of downtown This
was my third cave tour, and compared to On
a day trip from
This
was the land of the Chiricahua Apache, who preyed upon the stagecoach,
miners, and anyone else who ventured into the canyon. The great Apache
war chief Cochise and as many as 1,000 of his followers ruled this land
from their stronghold in the nearby The
Amerind Foundation (Amerind stands for American Indian) began as the
private collection of William Fulton, an amateur archeologist and
collector of Indian artifacts, and today has grown into a world class
museum. The museum displays an amazing collection of Indian artifacts
ranging from pottery and utensils, to blankets and kachina dolls. While
the emphasis is on the Native peoples of the American Southwest and
northern After
we toured the museum, Terry and I drove to the Amerind Foundation’s
nearby picnic area, where we explored the rock formations. Mother Nature
has carved the rocks into amazing shapes, and several had natural
windows, like this one Miss Terry posed in. We also found a large rock
with several metates where Indian women ground corn and other grain over
the centuries. Life
On Wheels We
taught ten 90 minutes classes during the 2½ day Tucson Life on Wheels
conference, and though it was hard work, we enjoyed visiting with the
rest of the instructors, and meeting the students. There were some
familiar faces from past conferences, and a lot of newbies as well. We
also had several students who were at our Gypsy Gathering rally in Casa
Grande. Our
days in the classroom are long, but things don’t end there. We always
spend time getting to know the students, and socializing with our fellow
instructors. One evening we went to dinner at Red Lobster with Tom
Owens, Diane Rojewski, and Alice Kyle from Final Exit Plan. If
you ever thought that people who work in the funeral industry are somber
individuals, you haven’t socialized with these three! When they are in
their working mode, they are totally professional and very dedicated to
what they do, but off the clock, they are a lot of fun to be with. Tom
just bought a Kingsley Coach truck conversion, and had not even picked
it up yet, but I’m jealous and can’t wait to see it! Tom says if
I’m a very, very good boy, he might even let me sit behind the wheel
and pretend I’m driving the big rig. Life on Wheels was a lot of work but also very rewarding, as always. We enjoyed teaching our classes, and having the opportunity to visit informally after classes with our fellow instructors and the students. While I was sorry to see the conference end, my feet, back, and voice pay a penalty for being on stage and talking for over six hours a day. Special Seven In One Deal! Now you can order all seven of our best selling booklets: RVers Guide To Fairgrounds Camping, Gypsy Journal=s Guide To Free Campgrounds and Overnight Parking Spots, Gypsy Journal=s Guide To Public RV Dump Stations, RVers Guide to Casino Parking, Gypsy Journal's Guide To RV Good Guys, and RVers Guide To Modem Friendly Truck Stops on one Windows compatible CD! Over a $45 value, for just $24.95, postpaid. You save $12! Order from Gypsy Journal, 1400 Colorado #C-16, Boulder City, Nevada 89005 or simply click on shopping cart icon below.*Due to shipping costs, this book is not available for Canadian addresses. Bus
Upgrades With
Life on Wheels over, it was time to hit the road again. We stopped long
enough to get two new front tires put on the bus, and moved our previous
front tires to our tag axle, giving us good rubber all the way around. With
new tires installed and a large chunk of money left behind, we got on
Interstate 10 and had an easy run to the Flying J in Eloy, where we
topped off our tank, and verified that Flying J no longer honors the 1¢
per gallon discount for their RV Club card unless you first make a
purchase of $10 or more in their store or restaurant. As I’ve said
before, some of the Flying J locations around the country are so much
hassle that the dollar or so I save with the discount really isn’t
worth the trouble. But I still went there because at least they did
something to support their RVing customers. Now, with no discount,
I’ll just pull into whatever place has the best prices and/or the
easiest access. Once
we left the Flying J, we splurged and did something we have talked about
for years now. Our 1976 MCI bus conversion had decades of road film and
oxidation on the stainless steel of the bay doors and front and rear
panels. I’ve tried cutting through it with a buffer a time or two with
limited success, but I really wanted that stainless to shine like the
mirror finishes I’ve seen on some other bus conversions. Right
across Interstate 10 from the Flying J, there are a couple of places
that polish the stainless steel on semi trucks, and we stopped at
M&M Truck Polishing to ask how much they would charge us to polish
our 40 foot bus. The fellow started at $500, but it was a slow day and I
guess my haggling skills are at least halfway decent, because he agreed
to $350.
We
also added a new toy that is also an important safety tool, a
PressurePro tire monitoring system from Mike and Pat McFall. The system
consists of a monitor measuring about 7 inches wide by 3 inches high and
half an inch thick, and tire monitoring sensors that screw onto our tire
valve stems in place of the standard valve caps. Now,
instead of having to check my tire pressures manually with a gauge, I
can scroll through every tire on our bus and van and get an accurate
reading right from the driver’s seat! While on the road, the system
will alert us to low pressure and identify which tire is low, or do the
same with high pressure, helping us identify and deal with problems
before they become catastrophes. That peace of mind is priceless.
One
additional item that Mike brought for our system is a repeater antenna
which mounts in our bedroom. This is because a steel bus like ours can
sometimes present problems in transmitting the signals from the tire
sensors through the body of the bus. Mike says that this is not an issue
and that the repeater will not be needed by most folks with traditional
RVs. I appreciate him foreseeing any problems ahead of time for us to
insure a quick and successful installation. And
the installation was quick indeed. Basically all it took was mounting
the repeater and plugging it in, mounting the monitor and plugging it
into a cigarette lighter, and then screwing the sensors on the bus and
van tires. The entire process took less than an hour. Trust me folks, if
I can do it, anyone can! Once everything was installed, Mike and Pat spent a lot of time with us explaining the system and its operation, and answering any questions we had. I’ve looked forward to adding the PressurePro system to our bus for a long time, and we really appreciate Mike and Pat going to all of the trouble of bringing it to us and overseeing the installation. For more information on the PressurePro system, visit Mike’s website at www.pressureprosystem.com or give Mike a call at (850) 294-0281. The
After
getting the bus shined, we spent the night at the Pinal County
Fairgrounds, and early the next morning we were back on the road, headed
north. Making the climb up Interstate 17, we had a couple of steep
places where we were down to about 15 miles per hour for short
distances, but I kept the bus geared down, and the temperature gauge
stayed in the upper range of my comfort level. We pulled into the Verde
Valley Thousand Trails preserve about mid-day. The
campground was pretty busy, but we found a pull through site with full
hookups and settled in. After we got the bus parked and utilities hooked
up, I couldn’t get the satellite TV dish tuned in. After one
frustrating attempt after another, I gave up and decided to mess with it
later, and went back inside the bus. Soon after, subscribers John and
Jean Watson showed up at our door. John is one of those high tech kind
of guys who finds challenges like aiming a satellite dish mere child’s
play. He went back to their motorhome and returned with a high tech
gadget that looked like it should be monitoring brain waves or
something. He hooked it up, made an adjustment here and there, tested
and tweaked, and lo and behold, we had a signal! Thanks John, I’ll
think of you every time I pick up the remote control. We
love the entire RVers Guide To Fairgrounds Camping- Looking for a safe, inexpensive place to spend a few days, but the area where you are visiting does not allow dry camping in the local Wally World parking lot? Are the local RV parks full, or out of your price range? Check out the local county fairgrounds In many areas of the country, fairgrounds offer RV sites with full hookups, or water and electric, with a dump station, and the rates are often much less than at area RV resorts. Fair-grounds offer a good solution to the budget-conscious RVer. Learn how you can save money by camping at fair-grounds nationwide! Our new booklet RVers Guide To Fairgrounds Camping lists over 250 fairgrounds that offer RV camping nationwide, with telephone numbers and e-mail addresses for most. To order, send $7.50 to Gypsy Journal, 1400 Colorado Street, C-14, Boulder City, Nevada 89005, or simply click on shopping cart icon below*Due to shipping costs, this book is not available for Canadian addresses.. |
We
pulled into Quartzsite, Arizona on an early afternoon in mid-January, and noted
that the town didn’t seem as busy as it has in past years. But there were
still a lot of RVs dry camping on BLM land all over the desert near town. In the
past we have stayed in the free fourteen day areas, but this year we wanted to
try something different, so we paid the $40 fee for a fourteen day pass in the
Long Term Visitor Area (LTVA) and went a couple of miles south of town to the La
Posa LTVA area. Unlike the free areas, this area has a dump station, fresh water
available to fill holding tanks, and trash dumpsters. It would cost us almost
that much to go into town and pay to dump and take on fresh water a couple of
times.
There
are small groups of RVers with special interests scattered all over the desert
for miles in every direction. The Loners on Wheels (single RVers) have a
gathering in one area, the Escapees SOLOs (also single RVers) camp together
somewhere else, as do the Escapees Boondockers group, some Life on Wheels
alumni, friends and graduates of the RV Driving School, and the Escapees Boomer
group.
Our
newest publication is ready to make your RVing life easier. The RVers’
Dashboard Companion lists all WalMarts, WalMart Super Centers,
Flying J Truck Stops, and Camping World stores in the United States
(excluding Hawaii), and includes telephone numbers, turn-by-turn driving
directions from the nearest interstate, US, or state highway, and GPS
coordinates to help you arrive safely by the quickest route available.
Also included are notations of stores where overnight parking is
prohibited, or stores where access would be difficult in a big rig.
Information on Flying J truck stops includes what services they offer
RVers, including separate RV fuel islands, propane, dump stations, and
notations on locations with difficult access. While the excellent Rand
McNally Road Atlas sold by WalMart lists addresses for their stores,
driving directions, telephone numbers, and GPS information is not
included. If you take advantage of the many free overnight parking
opportunities these businesses offer, the RVers’ Dashboard
Companion will make your life easier and save you money!
After
we passed out some door prizes, it was time for the big event of the
rally, our Second Annual Cactus Queen Beauty Contest. This is a hoot! We
got a bunch of guys to dress up in women’s clothes, and the audience
selected the winner. Last year’s Cactus Queen, Thelma Thermopolis, was
on hand to present her crown to the new queen, and I don’t think there
was anyone in the audience who didn’t laugh until their sides hurt.
Texas
Soon
a crew was hard at work with buffers, polish, and rags, and we were
amazed how well they were able to cut through
the grime. The entire job took almost four hours, and we are pleased
with the results. I know there are purists out there who will insist
that polishing stainless steel should only be done by hand, because
buffers leave swirl marks in the surface, and yes they do. But it still
looks much, much better than before, and now that we have it cleaned up,
we can more easily keep it shined. We always tell people this is our
30-30 bus. From 30 feet away, moving at 30 miles per hour, it looks
pretty good! To us, it was money well spent.
A
few years ago we were cruising down Interstate 10 between Phoenix and
Tucson when a trucker went past blowing his horn and pointing. We pulled
over to discover the left rear tire on our Toyota pickup shredded. I
don’t know if the tire suffered a blowout, or if it went flat and we
destroyed it going down the road, because we never felt a thing. Now we
won’t have to worry about problems like that.