THE EXODUS HAS BEGUN!!!

Newsy Portion Issue 9

Diary published weekly since 2001
Read this Diary on line HERE Or different version Here

Hi Everyone: One thing about south Texas – 1 March it almost resembles a large caravan because there are so many RV’s of all shapes and sizes heading north. Not sure why it happens here because the rush to leave does not seem to be as intense in other sun-states. Looks like there are many storms taking place throughout the country so just maybe that means March has come in like a LION and it will go out like a LAMB. Let’s hope so – since it has been a vicious winter in most of the country. Thankfully from our perspective this past season has been a pretty good in the Rio Grande Valley.

Where has the winter gone – I cannot believe that our 4-months in the Rio Grande Valley are almost over. As of Friday we are again doing what makes this lifestyle so fantastic – we are hitting the road. Although we have been Fulltiming for 23 years, knowing we will be on the move one more time adds a layer of excitement to our life. I laugh when I tell non-RVers that we have lived in a motorhome for 23 years and they ask me “If we like it?” My frequent answer is “John handcuffs me to the steering wheel and periodically gives me the key!” The best explanation is the motto I stole from the Cdn military recruiting program – as far as John and I are concerned “There is NO Life like it!” In a word it feels great to be planning our next getaway one more time,

Jim Twambly, Interim editor or the RV Travel.com newsletter reiterated our thoughts exactly – his quote… “I intend to RV till I die (Peggi added -at least till I get old), I do not want to drive my RV across the finish line in showroom mint condition; rather, I want people to see a well-loved RV with the battle scars of adventure.” We agree with you Jim – our classy LUXOR is one of a kind but it has everything we could ever have wanted in an RV. We’ve no plans to ever replace it.

NOTE: I am feeling very depressed right now. This Diary was ready to post by mid afternoon – but I had two files open with similar names – one was reference and one my current diary. I accidentally saved the wrong one with this weeks file name. This error cost me an excess of 4 hours of lost story writing, thoughts, creativity, facts and ideas. I hope this version is as informative as my first blurb was. At times I simply hate these @#$%^&* machines. They are so unforgiving when we make a mistake. Forgive me if I miss something in the rewrite.

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HIGLIGHTS OF THIS WEEK

Last WEDNESDAY, David Velasquez (956 223 3629) and partner from Alamo washed our LUXOR from the roof down. His fees were a low $45.00 - we contributed another $10.00 because he removed the hard water spots on the newly painted dark gray bottom area with a chamois. He also washed our neighbours RV. His final touch was to clean all windows with Windex – again to remove the marks left from the hard water. Now that the coach is clean, it’s much easier to wax and polish for the next phase of our journey.

Next on our agenda was a trip to Don-Wes Flea Market to pick up a selection of assorted decals we had ordered. Now we have the website emblazoned on our mural and a special plaque with contact info on the Dish. Because it was payday we then ventured to Wal*Mart to re-supply the larder.

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On THURSDAY, John and I hosted the final winter 2007/08 gathering for the Explorer RV CLUB at Harold’s Kountry Kitchen. It was a rousing success but because we are leaving the Valley next Friday, there will be NO Club luncheon in March. A total of 75 joined John and I (included 10 guests). Having a separate room simplified sharing and interacting between all of us. We plan to continue hosting these events next winter – place for each event is still undetermined, but the last Thursday of each month seems to work well. If anyone has a favourite Buffet style eatery in the Rio Grande Valley, feel free to share the info. FYI, the pictures have been posted to the Picassa Explorer RV Club Album.

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John played in two POOL (BILLIARDS) TOURNAMENTS this week. On TUESDAY, he was part of the Park ‘A’ team - those members competed at Texas Trails RV Park and on Friday players from Alamo Rose visited our park. At both events, Alamo Palm players held their own, but they did not rule the scoreboard of either day. John is looking forward to competing with many of these talented guys next winter.

While he was playing pool, I was trying to tie up the finishing touches on my RV TRAVEL TO CANADA Seminar for the GOOD SAM RALLY in Perry, GA. Thankfully it is almost finished. The updating of a mega number of minor details is what takes so long, My seminar schedule is posted on my main website page. If any of you are at The Rally, please stop by to say “Hi”!

The balance of the week we ran mega errands within the Rio Grande Valley. There seems to be so much to do in this location. This morning (SATURDAY) we had stuff to pick up at Flying J and what we found interesting was propane was $2.79 per gallon (usually the least costly place to buy) but then I phoned Pony Express (956-381 0123), the company that delivers in the park and they are still charging $2.50 per gallon. Guess where we will fill up? Last stop was to visit RON HOOVER RV DEALER and THE RV STORE to pick up copies of my books - I was pleased to see that many had been sold.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Much of the next month and a half we are busy and on the move over weekends. Soooo if the Diary does not go out on Saturday, rest assured even though it may be a bit late I will get a copy out as soon as I’m able.

We are definitely on wind down for this winter but both of us are always excited to find new backyards and visit a variety of ‘firsts’ en route to Georgia. Hope I did not miss anything in my rewrite. At a time when many of us are on the move, we pray that the Good Lord and our Guardian Angels keep each of us safe and away from storms and accidents. Take care All. P&J