We Made the Move...

We made the move Monday onto our new lot.  All went well and the weather was beautiful. Now to make the transition into the house.  Well, that shouldn't be hard, should it?  No way!!  Hmmm...stay tuned on that one.

Thanks to everyone for all the "Congratulations and Well Wishes". We received more comments and hits on Sunday's Blog than ever before.   Praise God for all our great friends and a very, special thanks to Rollie and Gina Thurston.  It's been so great having them here and they have helped in so many ways that it's impossible to thank them enough.

It's unbelievable all the dozens of little projects we have going on.  Busy doesn't describe it. The "hurrier I go the behinder I get"....you know how that goes.  Poor little MegaByte doesn't know what to do.  All her favorite hiding and sleeping places are gone.  She likes the big house but she also likes her favorite places.  I'm sure she'll be fine but right now, she's a little confused. 

We are extremely happy to report that my oldest son, Mikel and grandson Mike came up from Tucson to spend a few days with us.  Mike, who's 15, is on Spring break and has a few days off.  We are so happy to spend some time with them.  They plan to run on up to the Grand Canyon towards the end of the week..

We are anxious to see Nick and Joanne Alexakis who will be coming over from western California to spend a few days.   They will be here Thursday.

Right now, I seem to be going in circles and not accomplishing as much as I should.  I apologize for my lack of Blog reading and time to spend on writing my Blog. But slowly, one by one, things will get taken care of and we hope to get back in the normal "swing" of things. Time goes so fast!  I can't believe the first quarter of 2010 is gone.....Unbelievable!

Thanks for stopping by and please "hang" in there with me as we get through this "TRANSITION" in life..

Welcome to Serena, our latest Follower.  We now are up to 75!!

It's a GREAT WEEK!!!

Travel safe!!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

More News,,,,Now What???

We continue to have a ball with Rollie and Gina Thurston. They are enjoying North Ranch and the desert more than they ever thought they would. Rollie is even looking for a Polaris ATV to ride the back country with and he's planning to come back next year. We hope so, because we have really enjoyed getting better acquainted with these fine folks. They plan on coming to Custer this summer, also. Now let me tell you, if they think this is great country, just wait until they get to the Black Hills.   Rollie has even offered to help us get started on finishing off part of our Toy Barn, so we can have some living quarters in it.  I have been looking at pictures of his home that he built in Louisiana and let me tell you, he is one talented guy. The work he has done on his Truck and 5Th wheel is also outstanding.. He has a solar system that is nothing short of OUTSTANDING and the Air Conditioner in his Volvo is the same way. 

Now What????      OK, here's what....

New House

We bought a house right here in North Ranch. We probably looked at a dozen places here in the Park and when we saw this one "For Sale by Owner", Ms Pat's eyes lit up and she said "WOW!!  That's it"!  I was getting a little "punchy" from looking at so many and I said "It is"? She pointed out that it's just what we had been looking for, not too big, large open rooms, not all cut up with little tiny rooms and it was especially clean. It is a stick built stucco home built in 2004...not a double-wide or a park model.  It's on a big lot, plus I have my own little shop, radio room or whatever, and my shop even has its own private bathroom!

We tossed it around for several days, spent some more of those tossing, turning nights trying to decide what to do.  We decided to make them an offer and ended up striking a deal.  We took possession last Friday. Now the fun begins.  We will move our RV Monday. Pat and I are both so excited it's unbelievable.

Yesterday Ms Pat, Gina and Sally went to the big city shopping for furniture.  Pat came home last night really excited about what they had found.  She showed me pictures and it looks like they did a super job.

I put a bunch of pictures of the new House in my Web Albums. You can look at them all, a few or just the one above, whatever you wish.  Just click on the picture above. (or below it)

Rollie and Gina are going to early church with us again today and it's getting late so I gotta run....

Times are exciting, oldest son Mikel and Grandson Mike are coming to visit us for a few days next week and Nick and Joanne Alexakis are coming from California for a visit later in the week. Tom and Sally are here and I'm happy to find out that Rollie and Gina are staying for another week...  We are certainly "Blessed" with a wonderful family, GREAT friends and neighbors!!! Praise God for what he gives us....

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!

We now have 74 followers.  Welcome Barbara and Tom.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday...

Upsizing and Downsizing, part 2.

OK, back to downsizing. Remember I was struggling. I wanted to get a bigger 5Th wheel...but should we? Was it right for us?   Well by morning, I had decided the only way I would do it was if we could work a trade. I didn't want to end up with two RVs. So I offered my co-worker that deal and he said he would think about it. He brought his wife over that evening and showed her our little 32' Airstream.  Ugh, I knew it was gonna be tough for them....moving from that nice, big, new Teton. But they needed out from under the payments and also needed something to live in.  So I made them a "take it or leave it" offer....I made it so low that I assumed they wouldn't except it.  Well, it's bad to assume anything because after a lot of debate on their part, they decided to take my offer.  Uh Oh, now I got myself into it but Pat and I decided that if we were ever going to "upsize" this was the chance of a lifetime. This kind of a deal could never happen on a dealer's lot. 

So we did it.  We pulled the RV's door to door and we took everything out of the Airstream and they took everything out of the Teton.   It took us about an hour.   Four hours later they were still taking stuff out of the Teton.  Finally they got it all out and we put our stuff in the Teton, it didn't even make a dent in it. It was like an empty RV, even after we put ALL our stuff in it.  My friend on the other hand had stuff everywhere.  No way could he get all his things in the Airstream, so off he went to rent a storage unit..

I remember sitting in my recliner the very first night in that big Teton.  WOW!! I looked at Ms Pat and said "what have we done"? Pat was smiling from ear to ear and said "isn't it beautiful"?  I knew it was right for us so I just put my feet up in the recliner and watched that BIG TV. Life was good!!!


It's too long a story to tell you all about how we got that Teton down to Florida that Fall, but after 5 years living in it and 2 trucks later we traded it for a new 1999 40' Grand Teton.  It was a Grand Teton!! It had an extra slide out and was 3' longer (more space).  We lived in it for 5 years and 2 trucks later, we traded it for a new 2005 Reliance 45' Teton that we special ordered with everything we could imagine on it, including a Full Body Paint Job.  We sorta knew it might be our last "Big" rig.   Well, here it is almost 5 years later and we both see the handwriting on the wall.

Both of us have enjoyed the RV'ing lifestyle so much that we dreaded the day we had to even think about not doing it but we knew it had to happen.   We always tried to stay as healthy as we could, eat right and exercise a lot, so we could keep enjoying this lifestyle as long as we could..    We didn't slow down much the first 10 years....a couple months here, then move on.  It was a great lifestyle. We thanked God for such an opportunity and for the good health we both were experiencing..  We saw a lot of our original RVing friends come and go. Several of them are deceased now, others are too sick to continue, some are in nursing homes, apartments, park models, etc. That is when you see the hand writing on the wall. We want to continue on as long as we can but...and that's a BIG "but"...we want to be ready if something should happen to either of us.

Thus, the decision to downsize.  We love Tetons and we love 5Th wheels. There is twice (or more) the room and storage in a Teton than there is any Motorhome we have ever seen and believe me in the last 2-3 years, we have looked at dozens of Motorhomes.  For full timing, we don't feel there is any comparison in the room.  However, that being said, I do believe Motorhomes have an advantage in that they are easier to handle.  Many of my friends that used to have big 5Th wheels and have gone to Motorhomes confirm this. But they still agree that 5Th wheels have more room. Some will disagree with me but I believe I've seen the proof over the years. I will never try to advise what is better of the two, because it is a matter of preference, just as some prefer Fords, Dodges, Chevrolet, etc.

That is where we are at now.  We haven't made any definite plans yet, but we are planning on slowing down and downsizing..  You might just say, we are getting kinda tired and need to plan for the future. We aren't in any great big hurry and we're open to any suggestions and advice anyone wants to give us. We are waiting for the right deal to come along and we will make the switch to a Motorhome and probably get a small house.

There I said it.  It wasn't easy and I know a lot of you are saying, "Well I'll be. I don't believe it".  It won't be an easy task for us, but one that we feel is absolutely necessary.  I'm sure a lot of you will understand, if not you will after you have done it for 15 years and are nearly 3/4 of a century old.  Last I heard, no one has lived forever and no one ever got out of this world alive.  We both want to continue as long as we can and we will. But in a little smaller scale. How long it will take us to downsize?  We have no idea. It might be a few years and it might be tomorrow.

If anyone is looking for a nice 2005 Teton 45' Reliance and a 2001 Volvo to pull it with, get in touch with us.  If you should have anything, preferably a Motorhome, any size 30' to 45', old or new, that you would like to offer a trade, let us know.

We won't be listing the Teton anywhere for a while. I have several avenues that I want to pursue. Word of mouth will get out and the opportunity will appear. For anyone who's interested, we will be at the SKP North Ranch RV Park until the end of May. Then we will be heading for the Black Hills.

This is one beautiful RV and it has been a pleasure to own. We have received more compliments on it than we can believe.  When we pull into a place it definitely is a head turner.  People go out of their way to tell us that it is the most beautiful RV they have ever seen.  Plus the comfort is outstanding. It is one comfortable Full Timing rig!...

This Blog has gotten way too long and I'm sorry. I planned on breaking it up in several parts because I don't like long Blogs but I heard from several of you that are like me and don't like to "wait".

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!

Thanks for stopping by and let us hear from you.  We are ready for that deal.

Travel Safe,

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Upsizing and Downsizing

Although we have been full timing right at 15 years, none of that time did we even think of ever "downsizing". The first 10 years we traveled a lot and went a lot of places, but never once did we think of the time we might have to downsize. In fact, we kept getting larger and larger. We started out with a 32' Airstream, pulled by a 3/4 ton pickup. The Airstream seemed to get smaller and smaller as time went on. Everyone else's rigs were getting larger and larger.  We used to go into other friends 5Th wheels and I remember thinking "WOW... this must be nice". Our Airstream didn't even have a chair in it that was comfortable for more than an hour. Some of these bigger rigs had Recliners!!  Ah!!!  That's what I need.... a Recliner!!

We both found out that we enjoyed the full timing lifestyle so much,  we decided to look for a bigger rig. So,we started looking. That was in the fall of 1995. Well, the Lord was watching over us and something strange happened. We were workamping at the famous Hart Ranch RV Resort near Rapid City. We only signed on for a month, as it was September and by Oct 1ST we wanted to return to Florida.  The fellow I was working with and I were chatting one day and I made the statement that we were looking for a bigger RV. He mentioned that 6 months ago he purchased a 37' Teton 5TH wheel.  I told him "Gee we have been looking at Tetons, they are NEAT!  Some folks we workamped with at our last job had a Teton and we loved it."

To make a long story a little shorter, he invited us over for supper that evening so we could see his Teton.  It was beautiful!  He still hadn't even taken the plastic off the carpet. It smelled so fresh and new.. Both Pat and I were in Awe as we sat in it and looked around.  I said to Pat "LOOK at all this room"! It was huge!! It had 2 Recliners plus 2 slide outs.  WOW!!

About that time, they told us that due to some unforeseen financial problems, they had decided they couldn't make the payments and were going to have to get rid of it.   Now if that isn't fate, what is?  We went home with our heads spinning. Could this really happen?  Can we swing such a deal?  NO WAY. All night I tossed and turned.  Could we somehow do it? Maybe we should just forget it and set our heights a little lower.  But then again, maybe we could.  Oh, I was struggling.  I wanted to...but should we?  Was it right for us?   More about our "upsizing" next week.............

(To be Continued)

We went out 4 wheeling with Rollie and Gina Thurston yesterday for about 5 hours and did we have a BLAST.  Rollie and Gina took my ATV and Ms Pat and I got on hers and away we went.  We traveled nearly 40 miles!!! 

 

Rollie retired 8 years ago after 21 years in the US Navy and he and Gina are just starting their life as full-timers. They have done a lot of RVing, but are just experiencing full-timing . It is neat seeing all the enthusiasm they have and it sure brings back memories of when Ms Pat and I began this lifestyle.  It is so wonderful.....and so exciting.  Kinda fits into todays theme of "Upsizing and Downsizing".

These young Christian folks are the greatest.  We are so proud to know them. Gina gets so excited about things we take for granted.  Although they are younger than most of our kids, they are a wonderful inspiration to us. It does my heart good to see such super folks with such a loving family and love for life. They really had to have it together to work, plan and save as they did in order to do what they are doing, all the while raising a fine family.   More about them in the future...as they have fallen in love with this Desert....especially the "rocks"....right Gina??  They are going to Church with us this morning and we go to early church at 8:00 am, so we gotta run.

Thanks for stopping by and a Special Welcome to Follower #70,,,Cyndi !!

See ya Wednesday.  Travel safe!!

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

X-Bosses

(click on all pictures to enlarge)

I don't know about you, but a lot of my "X-Bosses" I'd just as soon forget. However, our friend Ron Tietsort, Head Law Enforcement Officer in Custer State Park, was our Boss for a good many years and certainly one we will never forget.

It was such a joy helping him with all his duties throughout the park for the 9 years we spent there.  Those years are something Ms Pat and I will cherish the rest of our lives. His pictures are awesome. Here he is tagging baby lions and the last picture is Momma Lion, who is watching Ron's every move. I'm sure someone is watching her very closely and preventing her from attacking. What beautiful pictures, Ron!  Sure makes me want to be there helping! What a Job! But somebody has to do it, right Ron? See ya soon Buddy.  Got any jobs we can help you with?

Meanwhile, back at the Ranch, we are settled back in doing what comes naturally. Yesterday we spent ALL DAY cleaning up the 5TH wheel and the Volvo......and only got about half done.  Whew!! What a job. Have I told you that it's a LONG way around this thing??  Maybe we should think about DOWNSIZING!!!

"Downsizing".  Now that's an interesting subject...especially right now in our lives. Stay tuned and we will discuss that subject in future Blogs.

Today, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Rollie and Gina Thurston.  Take a look at their Blog:  All Because Two People Fell in Love.  They are renting Tom and Sally's lot just down the street from us for a few days. It will be great seeing these good friends again.

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!

Welcome to The Whippets, Jack Nimon and Jessica, our latest followers.   We are so glad to have you!!  That brings out total to 69.   For months, I tried to get the number up to 50. Suddenly it has jumped to nearly 70. Won't YOU be the next?  Sign up and make us feel like this gibberish is a little more worth while. We appreciate it.

God Bless you all.  Remember to tell your kids and loved ones you love them...they won't be around forever.

Mike

This Blog is published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Back home at the Ranch...

The Gypsy Journal Rally is over and we are once again back home on our lot at North Ranch Escapee Park. Our rig is filthy dirty and we are completely worn out. Four days of standing in a booth talking to friends and customers is not hard work. That is, under normal circumstances it's not, but the circumstances were far from normal and this Rally wore on us like no other Rally has. The Marine Air Base is right across the street from the Fairgrounds in Yuma.  There are extremely low flying jets taking off and landing all the time. What a disaster...it is deafening. You have to scream at the top of your lungs and then you just give up because it drowns you out. It is a metal building and the acoustics are not the greatest anyhow, but with jets rattling the metal, it's even worse. Our seminar was a total disaster because no one could hear us. We just as well have skipped it.  I was hoarse and had a sore throat the whole time we were there.

The entertainment was very good. Two Country Western singers, David Bradley and Michael Hargis entertained us for about an hour and a half Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Below Michael Hargis is performing on the stage in front of a large crowd. Look closely at the background of the picture and notice who got Top Center billing!   PressurePro , the No 1 tire pressure monitoring system on the market! We became acquainted with Michael and his wife and even sold their CDs at our booth. They are RV'ers and parked their big bus right near us.


















Before the entertainment was the big Pizza party. There was really a big crowd, I think they said 300+, and the Pizza was served in about 10 minutes to the entire crowd. It's amazing how quick they got everyone served and seated.  Terry, Nick's better half, does an excellent job of organizing events at the Rally.


The last night, as Nick was giving his closing ceremony, these 3 "Taller" gentlemen from the crowd came forward and gave Nick some guff about not having enough events for tall people.  Well,,what could he say but "ya, right"!!  LOL

















Everyone did their part and helped put the chairs away and get the area cleared for a big Gun Show the next day. We all had to be out by Noon.  So, we had time to get some bookwork done, run to the bank, then get ready to head for home.

Little Ms Megabyte2 was always so happy for us to come home everyday after leaving her alone all day. The low flying, LOUD aircraft that shook the ground and all the buildings had her as flabbergasted as it did us. It scared her to death!!!  She ran and hid in places I've never seen her go before.  She was more than ready to get out of that place.  We travel just enough to confuse her....she doesn't really get used to it and doesn't like the noise of the slide outs, nor the diesel truck.

We left Yuma and headed out to the Flying J where we filled up with about 100 gal of fuel, at a mere $2.779 a gal.......not a bad price, but it sure shot our profits.  We pulled into North Ranch about 2:30 pm and were all settled in just in time for....yep, you guessed it...."Happy Hour"!!

Whew!! it's good to be HOME.  I do believe that took care of our "hitch itch" for a spell.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!! 

Thanks for stopping by and it sure was great talking to all our friends that follow the Blog. Thank you again. A big welcome to our 65Th and 66Th followers; Chuck and Rhoda and Tim Whittle.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

We can't have a Rally without RAIN!!!

When I wrote last Sunday's blog, it was early and before daylight.   I think I mentioned that it was sprinkling lightly. We departed out quite little spot in the desert about 7:30am. By that time it was more than sprinkling, it was raining! Normally on such days, I would just STAY PUT. However, this was the day before the big Gypsy Journal Rally in Yuma and we had to get our booth set up and be ready for business Monday morning. So we continued on and it wasn't long until the bottom fell out and it was pouring!  Just as we arrived at the Fairgrounds in Yuma, it cleared up somewhat. However, the place was a LAKE. Dozens of other RVs were parked everywhere waiting in line to get parked.

Pat had called Nick Russell, the Owner/Editor of the Gypsy Journal,who is putting on this Rally, and advised him we were arriving.  One of the parking crew showed us where to standby.  He called Nick on his Radio and in just a few minutes, Nick showed up in his golf cart and told me to climb in. Nick took me in and showed me 2-3 places he had in mind for me to park our big rig and told me "the choice is yours". WOW, what service!!  It pays to know the Head Man!!! 

After I picked which spot would best suit our needs, Nick brought me back to our rig and told me to drive on in. This is the condition of the roads and area where everyone was parked waiting to get in, it was a mess. I plowed  through all this water and muck, around everyone and on into the Fairgrounds and we got settled in. We have a great spot.

In a couple hours, the bottom fell out again. There was rain, hail, lightning and the wind blew. We were in the process of setting up our Vendor Booth when Ms Terry, Nicks better half, came and told us that the parking crew was badly in need of help. Ms Pat and I immediately dropped everything and jumped in the Honda and headed for the entrance. There we ran into Nick and told him we were there to assist in any way we could. He gave us some quick instructions and we took the little CRV and led several big rigs into the area and found them a spot.  I managed to get totally soaked to the BONE!!!  But things soon settled down and everyone got taken care of.  I got home and got some dry clothes on.  I was freezing to death.

Here is Ms Pat setting up our booth. We have done this so many times we could do it in our sleep. No getting around it, it is hard work. Soon the crowd will be here.

This is the other Vendors getting set up. There is a lot of Comradery between the vendors and we have a ball.  Some we have met many times before and others for the first time.  That's half the fun and one of the reasons we keep coming back again and again.

This is Nick and Ms Terry welcoming everyone to their 4TH annual Western Rally during the opening ceremonies. We have attended all 4 Rallies.

There is a big crowd and we look forward to a Super Rally, as these two and all their helpers really know how to do it and make it one of the best rallies we have ever had the privilege to attend.

This morning we are on day 3.....halfway through the Rally.

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!

Thanks for stopping by......A big welcome to new followers; Judy and Emma, Mac and Netters, Allan and Jeanne Webster and Kenny and Angela. That brings our total up to 63 now.  Wow!  For the longest time I was trying to get up to 50. Keep 'em coming!!! We had 230 hits on last Sundays Blog.  We appreciate you all very much..

See ya Sunday.

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

Here we are in Quartzsite, AZ.

Yesterday we arrived here in the desert near the famous RV Town of Quartzsite. We are headed for the Gypsy Journal Rally in Yuma that starts Monday. We will go on in today and get things set up in the vending area.

When we arrived last night, the wind began to blow but it didn't get dusty like it sometimes does around here. We are parked just about 1/4 mile off the highway at mile marker 99. There are only a few RV's strung out here and there.....  but this is quite a popular area for get-togethers during January when the place is in full swing. It's crowded then.....too crowded for me. We came here for several years; however, I really do my best to avoid crowds anymore if I can. It's getting harder and harder to do.. Where do all these people come from???

We have been here at this exact spot many times before.  I remember one time several years ago, we met our good friends Nick and Joanne Alexakis here. It was on our anniversary. We set out by the fire that night and drank Champagne. It was a gorgeous night and back in those days I could even stay awake past 9pm. Ahhhh.... those were the days!!! Remember that Nick and Joanne? I love the mountains in the background all around on the horizon. Give me the "wide open spaces" !


Last week I had a Dr's appointment in Scottsdale (North suburb of Phoenix) and I also wanted to take the truck into the Volvo dealership and leave it for a couple days for maintenance. So we did ,as we often do, and hooked the Honda to the truck and towed it. Here we are parked at the Dr's office. When the Doctor was  finished with us, we went on to the dealership and left the truck.

Here is the truck at the Volvo Dealership way down in south Phoenix, sitting in line, waiting its turn to get into a repair bay. These Big Truck shops are open from 8am until midnight.  We checked it in and took the Honda back home.   It's about 60 miles back to North Ranch and the traffic is horrendous.....jeez, I hate it.

Then, on Thursday when we went back to get our Truck, I picked up this neat cargo trailer I bought. I needed a good solid enclosed cargo trailer to haul and store our 4 wheelers in and was lucky enough to find this one at a great price. So we hooked on to it and pulled it back to North Ranch. It's really a neat trailer, pulls like a dream...only 2 years old and has very few miles on it.  But now I need to get all that signage removed...any idea's anybody?  Any painters around? The poor guy that owned this trailer went out of business and closed both of his businesses because of the economy.  I felt so sorry for him.  He was a real nice, young fellow.

This morning we will the drive 85 miles into Yuma and find the fairgrounds. It sprinkled last night and looks like it may do some more today.  Hope the fairgrounds is not muddy when we arrive.  Anyhow, it will be a GREAT RALLY!! Looking forward to seeing everyone..

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!

Thanks for stopping by and if you haven't signed up as a follower, please take a minute and do it.....it's easy and quick.  Just click on  "FOLLOW" on the right side. Great hearing from Barry who is at FSU in Tallahassee, Fl.....our home town.   Ms Pat worked at FSU for over 20 years and they send her a check every month :-). 

Mike

This Blog is Published every Sunday and Wednesday..

We are ready to RALLY!!!

WOW!!  I mean, where does time go? Gee, here it is MARCH already!!  Can you believe it?  We can't seem to catch up. Here it is time for the Gypsy Journal Rally.  This is a great Rally and by far our favorite. This year it's being held at the Yuma County Fairgrounds in Yuma, AZ. This is Nick and Terry Russell's 4TH Western Gypsy Journal Rally. We have attended them all. Previously they were held at the Fairgrounds in Casa Grande, AZ. However, this year it is at the Fairgrounds in Yuma and it will be a new experience for us all. Nick says it a much better facility than the one in Casa Grande, so we are excited about this NEW experience.

Saturday morning we are leaving North Ranch and heading for Quartzsite, AZ where we will Boondock (dry camp out in the desert with no hook ups) and go on into Yuma Sunday morning. We will be arriving the day before the Rally actually starts. We want to have time to get situated and set up our PressurePro/PowerTank booth.   We have so many friends and customers who come to this Rally and we are looking forward to seeing them. Ms Megabyte was the "star" of the Rally last year, as it was her first and our first with a Kitty. She was brand new with us and scared to death......now she runs the place!!   She is looking forward to seeing all her old friends again and this year she is not pregnant!!
All good things seem to come to an end.  Our friends Larry and Geri Gustafson, owners of the Broken Arrow Campground in Custer, have to go back to the "cold" country" and are departing this morning.They are getting more reservations than they can handle and have to get back to build some more new sites and a new Horse Barn and get the Campground ready to open by May 1ST.  If you want to get a site, you better call them ASAP because they are filling up FAST!! This is the MOST popular Campground in the area.  They aren't looking forward to getting back up in the cold country quite yet and I don't envy them....but duty calls.  They have been having a "Ball" riding their 4-wheelers out here in the desert. It has been so good having them around and we will miss them very much. Travel safe Larry and Geri and we'll see you in about 3 months in Custer.

Ms Pat has really gotten into the Line Dancing here at North Ranch. She loves it and others tell me she is quite good at it.  All of this is thanks to Danielle Mayer, who got her started down in the RGV at Retama Village. Danielle started a Line Dancing class there and according to Pat, she is a wonderful teacher. Danielle began her Line Dancing career here at North Ranch and has really taken to it.  She also gives lessons at the Diamond Campground and RV Park in Woodland Park, Colorado, where she and Jack workcamp in the summers high in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. 

We still have a lot to do getting ready to hitch up and move out of here Saturday but since we have been here for a month already, it gives us a chance to satisfy our "hitch Itch" and get outta "Dodge" for a few days.
Next Blog should be coming to you from the desert area of Quartzsite and hopefully we'll have a couple pictures of our location and campsite. Please check back with us.

Now we have 52 registered Followers! A big hardy welcome to: Thelma and Skip and Barry Fitzpatrick. Glad to have you join our group and thanks for following us. Please feel free to leave some comments in the comment section at the bottom of the Blog. We would love to hear from you.

It's a GREAT WEEK!!!

Hope to see you in Yuma, if not somewhere down the road.  God Bless you all and Safe Travels.
Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..