I spent most of yesterday setting up my new computer, loading all of the programs I use into it, and transferring projects I had been working on from my laptop to the new desktop unit.

Even though the laptop and the desktop are both Dell computers using Windows XP, there were still enough things that were different that it took me a while to get things set up optimally for my use. It’s nice to have a full size computer to work on again.

While I was doing all of that, Miss Terry was sorting through cabinets and cubbyholes, doing some Spring cleaning and deciding what to keep and what to pitch. Even after ten years on the road fulltime, we still find things we’ve been carrying for years and have not used.

Sometime in the evening I started sniveling about being famished (and trust me, when it comes to food, I can out-snivel the best of them!). So Terry made a delicious dinner of fried chicken with a crispy coating that just melted my the mouth. It was so good that I ate until it hurt, and I still wanted more.

A couple of days ago I wrote in a blog post that Terry and I were recognized with the honor of bringing in more new members to the Escapees RV Club than anyone else. In our mail this week, we had a note from Escapees Executive Director Angie Carr telling us that two more members have joined on our referral. We’re pretty proud of that.

As I’ve written before, our travel plans are always set in jello. This summer we had planned to explore the Pacific Northwest, but now we’re looking at another plan. We want to try to put some money away to either upgrade our bus or buy a newer rig, and by aggressively working some rallies, hopefully we can do that.

We think we’ll go to Escapade in Sedalia, Missouri in May instead, and then work several RV rallies in the Midwest and East this summer.

Of course, as you well know, anything can change at a moment’s notice. But right now we’re looking at the FMCA Midwest Area Rally in Albert Lea, Minnesota in June, the FMCA International Convention in Bowling Green, Ohio in July, and the FMCA Northeast Area Rally in Essex Junction, Vermont in August. I’m also scheduled to teach at the new RVSEF RV Lifestyle, Education, & Safety Clinic in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in mid-September. Then we’ll be in Celina, Ohio for our Eastern Gypsy Gathering rally September 28 to October 2. And who knows, we may find a rally or two along the way to pop into.

What was that I said about slowing down? I think that was just a campaign promise.

We have been talking about getting a vendor spot at The Rally, Affinity’s big event, which will be in Albuquerque in April. But between the cost of the booth and the fee for RV parking, we’re looking at an investment of over $1,000 for the rally. We’d have to sell an awful lot of subscriptions and books to make any money at that rate.

Thought For The Day - The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is to decide what you want.

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I have decided not to attempt to sell our bus and find a used rig as a replacement. Instead, today we are placing our order for a new 2009 custom built 45 foot Prevost coach with triple slides and every option.

We have gone with a beautiful black and gold custom paint job, and the stainless steel bays shine so brightly you could charge your solar panels off them. I wanted to carry the color scheme into the interior of the new bus, but finally gave into Miss Terry’s better eye for design, and we have settled on an off-white leather for the seats and sofa.

No we didn’t hit the lottery, and my elusive rich uncle didn’t pass on and leave me his fortune. I’ve just decided to apply for my bailout money.

After all, I run a business that could use a big cash infusion, and I’m at least as incompetent as those jerks who run outfits like AIG. I figure I’ll give myself a couple of million bucks as a bonus, take a leave of absence, point that nose of that new Prevost down the highway, and ride off into the sunset.

I’ll miss all of you folks, but you have to understand that with my new elevated financial status, I really have a lot on my plate. So if we never cross paths again, please understand that it’s not that I don’t care for you. But let’s face it, the rich really are different.

Ouch! Okay, never mind, Miss Terry just jabbed me in the ribs with her elbow and told me to stop snoring. I’m awake and back to reality now.

It’s been hot here in Apache Junction, about 90 degrees the last few days. But it cools off nicely at night, which makes sleeping very comfortable.

Yesterday Miss Terry and her mom had a girls’ day out, doing some shopping and having lunch, while I stayed home and did some work on my new Honor A Veteran website, and updated our Gypsy Journal website. In the early evening, we had dinner with Terry’s parents, and Bess had cooked up a delicious meal of roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, and all the trimmings. Yummy!

My new Dell desktop computer also arrived, and I’ll be busy today getting it set up and getting all of my programs installed into it. It will be nice to pack my laptop away and get back to a Nick-sized computer. Yeah, I know, I can plug a regular keyboard into the laptop and hook it up to my big LCD screen. But just as my comfortable old recliner fits me, I need (or more likely want) a computer that fits me too.

I don’t watch the Fox News channel, because I don’t enjoy listening to endless political rhetoric from either side of the great debate. But I received a press release that former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee will be broadcasting live from the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart, Indiana this Saturday at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Fox, in a segment called Save This Town.

Elkhart is one of our favorite haunts, and the folks who live there have taken one hit after another from the economy and the failing RV industry. It’s not just the laid off RV workers who are hurting. Everyone from restaurant workers to small business owners are suffering, and we feel sorry for our friends in Elkhart. Hopefully things will turn around for them soon.

Thought For The Day - In some attempts, it is glorious even to fail.

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As an Army veteran, I have tremendous respect for the men and women who serve our country, and those who have served. They put their lives on hold, and on the line, to do a job few of us can imagine, for very little pay, and all too often, no thanks from their fellow citizens. 

I saw a quote a while back, that sums it up better than I can: “A veteran – whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve – is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to The ‘United States of America’ for an amount of ‘up to and including my life.’” (Author unknown).

During my time in uniform, I heard a lot of stories about military people being harassed by protestors when they returned stateside, but I never experienced that, except on one occasion.

I was home on leave and waiting to be assigned to my next duty station, when my dad and uncle took me to their VFW post to show me off. All of the fellows there were friendly and welcoming, except for one jerk, a drunk sitting at the bar. He started running me down and said my little excuse for a war was nothing compared to World War II, and then he threw his beer on me. I was shocked and didn’t know how to react, and several men had to get between him and my dad before blood was shed. It was an ugly scene, and I didn’t set foot inside a VFW post for the next 20 years, though today I am a proud member of that fine organization.

What I did experience on my return home was total indifference. My high school friends, and even many of my family members, didn’t even seem to know that I had been gone, or that young men were fighting and dying on the other side of the world. And except for a couple of guys who wanted to hear blood and guts stories, nobody wanted to hear about it.

Today we seem to have a greater appreciation for our present and past military members, and I think that is a wonderful thing. Whenever I see someone in uniform, I always take the time to thank them for their service, and when I meet a veteran, I always thank them and tell them “Welcome home.” It may be a little thing to some, but I know how much it can mean.

To that end I have launched a new website to honor our present and past military men and women, at www.honoraveteran.com. It is a place where you can recognize and honor the veterans you know. There is no charge to submit the stories of your veteran friends and family members, or your own information. We fund the website totaly from the ad limks on it. Though we have just a few profiles on the website now, I hope we see it grow quickly.

Please check it out, share the stories of the veterans you know and love, and tell your friends about it, if you will. It may be a little thing right now, but it means a lot to me to let my brothers and sisters who served know that they are appreciated.

And if you are a veteran, thank you for your service, and welcome home.

Thought For The Day - Failure is success if we learn from it.

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Several blog readers have asked me if I’ve seen the new Kindle 2 from Amazon.com, and if so, what I think of it. I haven’t seen the second generation e-book reader, but I’ve exchanged e-mails with four people who have or had them. Two (one a former Kindle owner) were not happy with it and returned it, and one says she likes it as much, but no better, than her original Kindle, which she gave to her daughter when the Kindle 2 arrived. The fourth person thinks it’s the best thing since sliced bread. Based upon that feedback, I’ll just keep my original Kindle. It works fine and does everything I want it to do, so why change a good thing?

Today Terry and I are going to attend a luncheon of the Escapees Valley of the Sun Chapter 45 today that is being hosted by our good friends Ed and Alice Allard.

We don’t belong to Chapter 45, or any of the other Escapees chapters and Birds of a Feather (BOF) groups, but we joined the Escapees even before we hit the road. And any Escapee is always welcome at any chapter or BOF event. The Escapees RV Club is a huge extended family of RVers, from fulltimers to snowbirds, to weekend campers, and even RVers who no longer travel but want to maintain contact with the RV lifestyle. We always tell people that we belong to FMCA, and we belong to Bus Nuts, but we are Escapees.

Like in all families, we have our little spats from time to time. I sometimes disagree with the way things are done and the decisions made at Escapees headquarters in Livingston, Texas and I’ve stepped on the occasional toe by voicing my displeasure.

But the flip side of that coin is that I believe in the club so much that Terry and I were recognized for bringing more new members into Escapees than anyone else. Overall, I still think the Escapees are one of the very best resources available to any RVer, and we consider our membership in Escapees as one of the best investments we have made in the RV lifestyle.

Another great investment in RVing is the new RV Lifestyle, Education & Safety Clinic that Walter Canon from the Recreational Vehicle Safety Foundation is holding September 13 to 16 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Walter has put together an impressive schedule of classes, and I think anyone who was disappointed to see Life on Wheels closed will be pleased with the lineup. We’re looking forward to being there, and I hope we see you there too!

Thought For The Day - I know of nothing more inspiring than that of making discoveries for oneself.

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Terry said we surprised the folks at Tra-Tel RV Park when we pulled out yesterday. Our site was pretty tight, and we had to back out and swing around to get out, and then swing back around a large rock to get out. Apparently most people need to jockey their RVs around a bit to get out of the park, but with Miss Terry’s expert guidance, we were out quickly and smoothly.

Once we left the park, we pulled off the side of the road to hook up the van. I have to tell you, after hassling with our old Brake Buddy auxiliary brake, I sure love the SMI Stay-In-Play unit we replaced it with. No more lugging the heavy brake in and out of the cab of the van, no more fiddling around with fitting an arm over our brake pedal and adjusting it to work. We just turn on the SMI, do a quick brake light check, and off we go.

Well, we do when the brake lights work. This time around, we had turn signals on the van, but no brake lights. I discovered that one of the brake lights on the bus was out also. So I removed the lens cover and jiggled the light bulb, and it was just a loose connection. I put everything back together, and voila, it all worked!

Then I scanned through our tire pressures on our PressurePro tire monitoring system, thanking our pals Mike and Pat McFall once again for convincing me how handy it is, and off we went.

We had a quick and easy 90 mile run on Interstate 10, got onto the 202 Loop just outside of the Phoenix metropolitan area, and scooted around the south side of town, arriving at Pacific Manor on Apache Trail just over two hours after we hit the road. Traffic was light, the bus ran fine, and it was a good day for traveling, even if it was a relatively short distance.

We had one little mishap just after we got on the surface streets, when I turned a corner and one of our cabinet doors sprang open and dumped a pile of canned goods and other food items onto the floor. Fortunately nothing broke open or spilled, so clean up wasn’t much of a problem. It’s just one of those irritating little things that happen sometimes when you live and travel in an RV.

Compared to the time I pulled out of an RV site in Wyoming and swung too early, banging the back end of our first motorhome against the concrete utility pedestal; or the incident early in our fulltiming days, when I pulled out of an RV park with all of our window awnings still out, this was no big deal.

As Miss Terry says when I pull dumb stunts like that, “Nick happens.”

Thought For The Day - Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.

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