NO KITTENS YET!!!!!! Wed Feb 17TH

Sorry Folks,,,,,,,,,No new kittens to report yet!!!!

I can't believe it hasn't happened yet, but I'll bet little (now BIG) Ms Mega2 is as anxious to get it over with as we are.... Poor girl, she is so big it's hard for her to get around and all she can do is sleep and eat. She can't be at all comfortable. She's trying real hard to get through it and being a real nice girl. It just HAS to be soon!! Stay tuned, you'll be the first to hear, right here!!

We are enjoying getting settled in at our place in North Ranch. It sure is nice and I LOVE IT! It's real quiet out here in the desert and it's so neat to see the vast amount of open land around us with the Mountains in the background... Our first big ride out in the hills is planned for Friday and I can hardly wait. I'm working to get my Polaris 500 4-wheeler ready to go!

We have had a lot of visitors the last few days, but we are getting a lot of things taken care of. I sold another one of my HughesNet fiberglass Satellite dishes and some TV LNB's to a gentleman in a town about 50 miles from here. He picked them up Monday and I also sold my old Prosine 2K inverter that I replaced when I was in Florida. That was picked up yesterday. So I'm getting rid of stuff right and left and lightening up the load a little.

The weather here in Arizona is somewhat cool in Feb. The mornings are in the mid to high 30's, but it warms up during the day. The coldest morning we've had since we left South Texas was the 27 deg's at Deming, NM. Those are the mornings that our NEW BLUE FLAME heater feels real good.

This is a picture of the Blue Flame heater in operation. It sure feels good on these cool mornings. I believe it puts out a little more heat than the Catalytic heater we have been using for the last several years. However, I'm also sure it uses more Propane. Anyhow, I guess I'll sell my portable Olympian 6100a Catalytic heater. So, if you're in the market for one, let me know.

The Happy Hours have been at our place each evening and that's where the gang has been gathering. Tom & Sally (our neighbors at North Ranch and at Retama) and Larry & Geri Gustafson were here yesterday. Larry and Geri, our neighbors and owners of the beautiful Broken Arrow Campground near Custer, SD are here and have their 4-wheeler with them. They will be joining us on our ride Friday. It sure is great to spend some time with them. They are booking reservations at their Campground daily. I'll have some pictures of our ride....I'm sure looking forward to it!!

This is a picture of Larry I took last summer at one of the many cookouts we had at their Campground.

This is Geri and Ms Pat at the same cookout. They have a beautiful Campground and facility. They have only been open for 2 summer's and they are booked up every summer. We encourage you, if you plan to be in the area, to stay with them. Everyone we send there LOVES IT!!!!

I'll try to get pictures of our "ride" and publish them Sunday.

It's a GREAT WEEK!!!!!! (thanks Bob!)

See you Sunday...

God Bless and Travel safe.

Mike

This Blog is published each Wednesday and Sunday.

North Ranch,,,,,2009

Whew,,,,,,,we made it to our place in North Ranch Escapee RV Park near Congress, AZ yesterday about noon. WOW, it sure was good to get here!!!

Second to Custer, SD., this is my favorite place to be. Look at all that OPEN SPACE behind our lot and the "Mountain" in the distance. That's all BLM property where we can ride our 4 wheeler for miles and miles. To the left is another Mountain range. There was snow on the mountains when we arrived yesterday. What a sight!! This is a beautiful valley!

UPDATE..........No KITTENS YET,,,,,,,,,,,,,I know from the emails and phone calls we receive that a lot of you are anxiously awaiting, just as we are. Little Ms Megabyte2 has done as we requested and waited until we arrived at North Ranch before having her kittens. All this has been a little much for her! We must remember that only a few weeks ago she was a "stray", sleeping under an old shed and just visiting us whenever she wanted. She has taken to most of the new life real well, but she has to be confused as heck right now. Especially with her being an expectant new mother and all. Pat is sure this is her first litter, as she is very young. But now we are stationary for a few months and can deal with all this better. Thank you all for your interest and help with this undertaking. It's been an experience. Now,we can get these kittens born, weaned and delivered to all the folks that have requested one. Ms Mega2 is a real cute, sweet kitty and I can only hope that she is enjoying all this and doesn't wish she was back under that shed........

We had a great Gypsy Journal Rally this year. The attendance was down, but the enjoyment was fantastic. Even though we had Wind, Rain, Frost, Mud and early morning temps in the 30's, we had one of our most successful Rallies ever. We sold over a dozen PressurePro Systems, (some very large systems) 7 PowerTanks and LOTs of DriWash waterless RV cleaning products. Pat and I were on the go for 5 days straight..... We were both really WORN OUT!!!! Thankfully, now we can relax and pull ourselves together a bit. Although we still have a ton of "stuff" to get done, we have some time. Old folks need time,,,,right?!!!

A friend recently told me that he was always taught to "respect his elders", but now days he doesn't have any!!! That's about where I am at right now!! Once in a while I run into someone OLDER than I am, but not often!!!!LOL

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you will drop by again soon...either in person if you're close by or to this Blog. Remember we love hearing from you. I have a Blog analysis that keeps track of the people that read the Posts and it always amazes me with the numbers. Dozens of you that stopped by our rig at the Rally told me that you read the Blog every Sunday and Wed and enjoy it. That's what makes it all worth while!!!!

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!! (thanks Bob!)

God Bless

Mike

This Blog Published every Sunday and Wednesday

We had BOMBS!!!!

WOW,,,,,,Yesterday was EXCITING!!!! We really had an eventful second day of the Gypsy Journal Rally, but probably the most exciting was the BOMBS. Shortly after lunchtime, a lot of people were moving around outside in the Vendor area and many were headed to Nick Russell's Seminar on "Being a smart RV & Car buyer". It was about to start when ALL OF A SUDDEN out of nowhere was the LOUDEST BOOM I have heard for a long time!!! I could tell it was CLOSE!!! My immediate thought was someones Propane tank EXPLODED. I was talking to several customers out in front of our rig where we had our display tables set up. We all looked at each other with BIG EYES and asked "What in the HE#* was that"????

About that time Ms Pat, who was inside the Rig writing up an order, yelled " the POWER just went off"!! Ah, ha, I thought, that explains it, it must have been a power transformer. Then in another instant there were TWO more BOOMS of nearly the same magnitude, but not quite as shocking as the first. Several people hollered "Pull the POWER plug on your rig, there may well be POWER SURGES"! Everybody started running towards there Motorhome, Bus, or 5TH wheel. Power surges are the RV'ers WORST nightmare, as they can raise havoc with all or any of your appliances and electronics. That's the main reason that I always go the extra route and spend the bucks for a Power Line Monitor. A good PLM can save you many times over in such instances as this. I wasn't too worried about a surge getting into our Coach, but I thought why chance it, so I pulled our plug also.

When our power goes out, as many of you that have an Inverter standing by know, you can hardly tell it happened. The Inverter switches over from it's standby mode to supplying the power from our batteries and converting it to the needed 110V AC. It happens so FAST that the computers, clocks, etc. don't even flicker and stay on just as if nothing happened. I was getting over 20 amps of charge from my Solar Panels, which was more than enough to offset what the Inverter was taking out of them.. We could care less if the POWER goes off, especially when the sun is shining or if we have our batteries charged up to the full 800 amp capacity.


Those Power line fuses that BLEW and then the LARGE HOLE it blew in the Transformer caused a lot of conversation the rest of the day. I'm happy to report that there was a Power Company Crew right here at the Fairgrounds working on something else. So, they were on scene immediately!!! Within an hour they had it fixed!!! That was NEAT!!!! because the ENTIRE area was without power, it totally shut down all the Seminars and other proceedings that was going on at this BUSY PLACE!!!

I LOVE this Gypsy Journal Rally, it is one of the BEST as far as Pat and I are concerned. Nick and Terry really know how to put on a RALLY!!!! Second to NONE!!!! This is our 3RD Gypsy Journal Rally here at Casa Grande and these gracious hosts make you feel so much like you are family and appreciated that it's mighty enjoyable. Plus, we have so many old friends and customers here that it's like old "homecoming". I'm not much of a Rally person (and we've been to dozens of them), so for me to say that, it must be SUPERB!!! If you ever get a chance to come to one,,don't miss it!!!


Yesterday morning was our Seminar here at the Rally and WHAT A TURN OUT we had!!!!! 55 people attended, standing room only....... Plus afterwards we sold PressurePro System after System and TWO PowerTanks!!! That along with lots of folks buying Dri-Wash Waterless Car Wash & Polish and signing up one Dealer, made the day VERY successful!!!

With such a GREAT and successful and exciting day under our belt, we attended the Door Prize drawing at the Main events center at 7pm. After a few dozen drawings, we WON a free ONE YEAR membership in PassPort America, the very popular discount camping club valued at about $50.00...............Hmmm,,,wouldn't you know it, when Pat went up front to accept the prize, she advised Nick (the MC announcer) that about 10 years ago, we purchased a LIFETIME membership to PassPort America and requested that they redraw so someone else could win.... So that's what they did. That was a pleasant, satisfying gesture and we were happy and ready to head home for some quiet time......

WAIT, the evening was not over for us yet. One more BIG EVENT. The 50/50 drawing......most of you know what that is... a lot of events have the 50/50. Our GOOD friends, Customers and fellow Bloggers, JERRY and SUZY work exceptionally hard selling the 5o/50 tickets everyday at the Rally. They sell tickets for $1.00 each and the money goes into a pot and each night a name is drawn to the LUCKY person that gets 1/2 of the POT. I bet you can see where this is going!!!:-) Jerry and Suzy usually sell about $500.-$600.00 worth of tickets every day, so that means $250.-$300.00 for the LUCKY winner.

We usually buy $5.00 worth of tickets but I had a "feeling" yesterday, so I bought $10.00 worth of tickets. I know you've guessed it by now. You're right!! One of our 10 numbers was pulled!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hallelujah,,,,,we went home with an extra $250.00 in our pocket.... MAN, what a DAY!!!!! Isn't it GREAT to be alive!!! It was then bed time after a long, hard, HAPPY and very SATISFYING day!!!!

One last thing,,,,,,,,Little Miss Megabyte2 has become some what of a celebrity. Since Nick mentioned her in his National coverage Blog last week, she is one WELL known kitty!!! He even made a joke announcement at one of the large group gatherings that he would NOT allow us to give away a "kitten" as a door prize! Everyone wants to know about her and maybe even get a glimpse of her. So she is getting a lot of attention. Plus, we now have almost a waiting line for one or two of the kittens.

First and FOREMOST on that list is Sally Lockwood, our fellow HDT'ers and Neighbors at North Ranch and Retama Village. Tom and Sally surprised us by attending the Rally. We hadn't seen them for about a year. How GREAT to see them and get to spend some time with them. Many of you know Tom and Sally well. Sally lost her long time friend and companion cat "Arsenio" over a year ago. She is still in mourning and once she found out we had Mega2 and that she was in a family way, she said "Boy, I am ready!!!,,,,I will take TWO!!!" The Lord works in mysterious but GREAT ways!! Sally, you can have the "pick of the litter" X 2. (-:

But, STILL no babies!!!!! We just know it will be soon, but maybe she is going to honor my request and wait until we get to North Ranch. That's only 3 days away!!!!! Come on Girl,,hold on !!!!



Thanks for stopping by and I'm sorry this is so long, but it's been EXCITING around here and I wanted to share it with you!!!

It's a GREAT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God Bless

Mike



This Blog Published every Wednesday and Sunday.....

Rallies and RAIN, go together.

Yesterday, the first day we were in Arizona in 2009, it was 43* when we got up and it was a beautiful day. Quite a change from the morning before of 27* in Deming, NM.

The Gypsy Journal Rally is taking form. Many of the Volunteers and the Vendors like to arrive early and get prepared. We have a "staging area" in sort of a group near Nick and Terry's Bus.
Here is a picture of part of the group. That's Nick and Terry's Bus in the background and the friends and workers are gathering. Poor Nick and Terry, they have so much going on all at once and so many people coming at them that they are going nuts. But these folks are Pro's at this and as I always say "this isn't their FIRST RODEO"!!!
They do EXCEPTIONALLY well!!! Here is a link to Nick's Blog that he publishes every morning. I will be helping with the Parking and Pat will help with Registration today but starting tomorrow, we will be working our PressurePro, PowerTank and Dri-Wash businesses all day, everyday.
This Fairgrounds is a BIG place and right now it is BUSY! This is a picture looking back towards the activities center where the Rally will take place. It is presently cram, jam, filled up with folks having a GOURD show. I never had any idea so many people were interested in Gourd's! There is a slight conflict, as their show is not over until today and the Gypsy Journal Rally early registration is also today. Lots of folks love to get to Rallies at least a day early, so I suspect there will be many arrivals that would like to get parked. So we will see what happens. I have volunteered to help with the parking this morning...and it could prove to be a challenge. Things like this are what keep life interesting!

OK, I've got dozens of emails about the kitty. "How's Megabyte2 doing?", everyone is asking. Since this kitty made National News yesterday in Nick Russell's Daily Blog, I guess me keeping it a secret was not very realistic. LOL

I will say it's been an experience! I don't know who's life has changed the most, Mega's or ours. There has been a lot of adjusting and learning for all of us. I'm happy to report that all is well and let me tell you, this Kitty is QUEEN FOR A DAY,,,everyday!! We've made about 10 trips to Walmart and Pet Stores, she is on her 3RD litter box (she's kind of "picky")and we've been hauling food, litter, etc. home. The fact that she is pregnant adds to the anxiety on everyone's part. I have asked her, if she can, would she please wait until we get to North Ranch before she has them! :=) Pat has made at least 4 calls to a Veterinarian in Wickenburg for advice. We're learning! She loves riding in the truck while we're traveling and just sleeps and sleeps...probably resting for the "big day".

I am surprised, as I know most of you are, that we are doing this. I never ever thought it would happen. But maybe it is a blessing in disguise, maybe it's a change we needed. Like my friend Kathy Detweiler said, this is an Angel Kitty!!! I can see Scott smiling now!
Pat surprised Mega2 and I both on the early morning of our 3RD day on the road by snapping this picture. I was doing the Wednesday Blog. I guess you can see that neither of us are too stressed!!!

Even though it started raining during the night last night and the place around here is a muddy mess, this is going to be a GREAT RALLY. Wish you were all here.

See you Wednesday and thanks for stopping by.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

Mike

This Blog is published every Sunday and Wednesday.

On the Road again!!!

We hit the road Monday morning about 8:30 out of Mission, TX., headed Northwest. The wind was blowing like crazy, which is fairly normal in the Rio Grande Valley...except it usually blows from the south. Wouldn't you know it...when we get ready to leave...it blows from the North and gives us a big headwind. It only lasted a couple hundred miles and then it calmed down.

We took a new route and went straight North out of Mission, up to McCook on 681, then on North through Hebbronville and on to Freer where we got on Hwy 44 West and picked up Hwy 83 again North of Laredo. Fairly good Farm roads most of the way........We arrived at Del Rio about 4:00 and after a brief stop at Wally World, we proceeded on west for about 50 miles to our Hill Top rest area. A neat outlook just off the road near Langtry, TX. It has a beautiful view of the Seminole Canyon area where Judge Roy Bean was the law of the land years ago. His Saloon and Museum are close by. This is a popular boondock area for anyone on this route. It is, however, far from civilization and has no Cell signal or Verizon Internet. I was able to get DirectTV on our King Dome and we watched Jack Bauer save the world on our favorite TV program "24". :-)

Just as the sun was setting, we settled into our private hilltop outlook. We had it all to ourselves, then about dark a Pickup camper came in behind us and spent the night. It was an enjoyable quite evening with NO communications with the outer world.........'cept good ole TV!!!

You can click on this picture and enlarge it so you can read more about the area if you wish. It is also an important Railroad area.

We were up and on the road early the next morning at sunup. I sure enjoyed the new battery bank of 8 ACM batteries and the 800 amps storage, along with the new Magnum 2880 watt inverter. They worked like a CHARM!!!!

A few hours later we pulled into the Flying "J" at Anthony, TX just North of El Paso, where we took on 140 gal of diesel fuel at $2.139 a gal. Then we sailed on West 80 miles to the Dream Catcher SKP park at Deming, NM. We have stayed here "umpteen" times before and it's a quick and easy "in and out place" in the outskirts of a small little town that's easy to get around in. My kind of PLACE. So we may stay a couple days and get caught up and relax a bit (ha) before we head on to the Gypsy Journal Rally in Casa Grande, AZ and go to WORK. We have lots of catching up to do, orders to process, etc. It's amazing how much can pile up when you're out of touch for just a couple days!

So far the trip has been great and it's a GREAT WEEK!!!

Take care and stop back Sunday....

Mike

This Blog published every Wednesday and Sunday.

Remembering 1 year ago!!

On Jan 30th, one year ago, my oldest son Mikel and I flew from Tucson, AZ to Omaha, Nebraska for Mikel to donate the stem cells to his younger brother Scott for a Bone Marrow Transplant. I remember it so well. We left Tucson early in the AM,,,,the weather was beautiful and warm. We landed in Denver and had a short layover before we continued on to Omaha. We landed in Omaha around 4pm and the temperature was ZERO!!!!!! What a SUDDEN change.. We both almost froze to death. Mikel's Uncle Larry and Aunt Judi Johnson met us in the baggage area. Fortunately, they had their car right out front and it was running with the heater "Blasting away"!!!
This is how it looked the next day...................Burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!! It was COLD!!!

We drove from Omaha to Lincoln to visit Scott and Ann. Mikel hadn't seen him for a year or more and I hadn't seen him for 4 months. As most of you know, Scott was diagnosed with Leukemia on Oct 4TH, 2007 and needed a Bone Marrow transplant. It was discovered that his older brother Mikel was a "perfect" Match. Scott is on the left and Mikel is on the right. Scott has his cat "Megabyte" on his lap....... He was quite sick and had lost 0ver 70 lbs. Of course, as you can see, he had lost all his HAIR from all the Chemo treatments.

So I brought him a HAIR HAT from Arizona. Now he had HAIR!!! We had a ball with it. I felt so sorry for Scott, he felt so lousy, but he did his best to have a good time. He was cheerful and his attitude was good. It sure was GREAT having 2 of my 3 boys together. We had a fun afternoon, but had to get back to Omaha for the Stem Cell Draw from Mikel.

Above is Mikel all hooked up to the special machine that took blood out of one arm, removed the Stem Cells and returned the blood into the other arm. It can take up to 4 hours, but Mikel completed the process in 2.5 hours. We later found out that they had all the Stem Cells they needed and they were a 10 for 10 perfect match for Scott. WONDERFUL,,,great Job Mikel!!!! Oh, we were all so HAPPY to get those results but as most of you know, even with all the good news and the perfect match, Scott lost his battle with cancer in June of last year. That was one of the saddest times of our lives.

This is our LAST DAY in Retama Village in Mission, TX. We are departing tomorrow morning about 8-9am. Should make it about 400 miles to somewhere West of Del Rio on Hwy 90. Plan on boondocking, so Internet connections may be sparse. By Tuesday evening we hope to be at the Dreamcatcher SKP park in Deming, NM.

We will miss all our great friends here at Retama and thanks to everyone for the great "going away" party on Friday afternoon. It's been enjoyable, but I'm looking forward to getting to the Desert and the Mountains. I like it out in the country. North Ranch SKP Park at Congress, AZ is just that. We have thousands of acres of BLM land to roam. We have a Polaris 400 ATV there and our neighbors, Paul and Nancy Wilson, have 4 ATV's. We explore the back country right out our back door all the time....take off riding in the morning and don't get home until late afternoon. Plus, I like to shoot pistols and keep my accuracy current. Ms Pat also enjoys shooting and we can go just a short distance and shoot anytime we wish.

From Mike & Pats Travels

Here we are out on one of our adventures enjoying the superb weather and the WIDE OPEN spaces!!! Paul and Nancy know this area extremely well and I love to just RIDE and RIDE... Gee, I can hardly wait...........

Lots more to do to get ready to go, better get busy! See you somewhere down the road. Thanks for stopping by and I'd sure be glad to hear from you.

It's a GREAT WEEK!!!!!!

Remember, tell your kids you love them, they may not be around forever.

God Bless!

Mike

This Blog published every Sunday and Wednesday.

Loading up!!

Yesterday we took the truck out for a little spin and when we came back, we loaded up the Motorcycle. We have a RAMPAGE loader with a winch that makes the task pretty simple. Here are a few pictures of the process. If you click on any of the pictures, it should take you to the Web Album where you can see even more pictures.

From Loading the Motorcycle

From Loading the Motorcycle

From Loading the Motorcycle

From Loading the Motorcycle

There it is all loaded up and ready to go...........

I've been working with GOOGLE MAPS a little and it's something else!! If you haven't fooled with it, you should try it out. Here is a map of the route we will take.


View Larger Map
You can click on "view larger map" and use the "+" and "-" to zoom in and out, or the arrows to move around. Best way to move around is to use your mouse and click and drag. Then if you really want to see something neat, go to the "view in Google Earth". That is SOMETHING ELSE,,,,,,,,,you can fly around the country at any altitude you want.........ZOOM in on some of your favorite spots.............NEAT!!!!!

My best source for learning how to do this and MUCH MORE is with Chris Guld at Two Geeks on Tour. Chris is an EXPERT and goes all over the country putting on seminars and training sessions on Picasa, Google Maps and many other things. Here is a LINK to her Google Map Video web site: Google Map

Several of her short videos are free............Try them out, you will enjoy them and you may want to go further and subscribe to her service or order one of the CD's. Read all about it on her Website. Chris is an excellent instructor..

That's it for today,,,glad to have you stop by.

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike

This Blog published every Wednesday and Sunday.

Our last week in Mission, TX.

This is our last week in Retama Village. A week from tomorrow (Monday) we will be headed WEST!!! All week will be spent closing down our place here and preparing for the road. We have been here just a few days over 2 months. Sure seems longer than that to me,,,but calendars don't lie and it says we arrived here on Nov.21st.

You all know that we will be at the Gypsy Journal Rally in Casa Grande, AZ from Feb.9th - Feb.13th. We plan on getting there a couple days early, like around the 6th or 7th. That gives us plenty of time and we shouldn't have to drive or push too hard. However, it's always a good idea to plan in a couple of "extra" days just in case something out of the ordinary comes up. Most of you know what I mean I'm sure.

We will be giving a PressurePro Seminar at the Rally again this year. It is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb 10 at 11:00 am. If you're at the Rally, please stop in. Even if you already have a PressurePro system, we will be explaining how the PressurePro works, giving a few operating tips and answering questions so hopefully everyone can learn something.

Along with PressurePro, we will be handling another product at the Rally this year.

DRI-WASH n GUARD waterless car polish and CLEANING PRODUCTS.

We have been using these fabulous products for over 10 years and love them. I tried using other products several times, but always came back to Dri-Wash. It is absolutely the best and easiest to use that we have found.

About 3 years ago, we decided to become Dealers. Everyone always asked us "what is that you use on your Truck and 5th wheel"? After we told them it was DRI-WASH and showed them that you didn't have to wash your vehicle before applying., the next question was usually "where can I get some?" So we decided to stock some so we could help them, plus we could get OURS at a discount!

Our good friends Phil and Connie Hargin, long time and VERY, large dealers of DRI-WASH products, signed us up. So NOW, we always have some for anyone that sees us using it and asks those questions. This Product sells itself,,,,,,,,,,,just show them how easy and simple it is to use and they're hooked. Plus they keep coming back for more.....Pat has signed up over 20 people to become dealers...now they can get it wholesale and also get it for their friends.....

We don't normally show this product at the Gypsy Journal Rally, because as many of you know, our good friends Smokey and Pam Ridgley are the "official" Dri-Wash dealers for this Rally. We don't infringe on their territory. However, this year Smokey and Pam can't be at the Rally. They are spending time with their son back East this winter. So with their's and Nick's approval, we will be the DRI-WASH representatives this time!!!

The POWERTANK is our only other product. We started handling PowerTank a Little over 2 years ago. It has turned out to be a GREAT product and just keeps getting more popular. We sold 20 of them last year.

I heard about it from an RV friend that told me he had found the "ultimate" solution for topping off his large RV tires to the 110-120 lbs required.

A question a lot of our PressurePro customers ask is "how do we get our tires up to the high pressures required today?". It's hard to find an air compressor that will easily get a tire to that pressure and even if you do find one, or have an onboard compressor on your diesel engine, it can be difficult and time consuming. Getting from 95 to 110+ takes some recycling of the compressor. This tank of CO2 can do that difficult task in about 30-60 seconds. Everyone that has purchased one from us has been very happy with it. They tell us how much easier it is to carry around and quickly "top off" the tires early in the morning while it's cool. Plus, it's so QUIET it doesn't wake up all the neighbors.

It has worked out great for us and if you're interested you can check it out at the Rally, on our Website or read what one of our customers says about it. MARK BRUSS.. Give us a call if you have more questions.

OK....the commercial is over.....we hope you didn't get too bored but we wanted you to know what we do with all of our spare time. :-) We really enjoy selling and servicing these products because we believe they are the best on the market. We won't sell products we don't use ourselves.

Now....last but NOT LEAST, we want to say "HAPPY BIRTHDAY and MANY, MANY MORE" to our dear friend and Retama neighbor, Dale Bruss. Maybe we can have a toast at Happy Hour.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!!

GOD BLESS.....

Mike

This Blog published every Sunday and Wednesday morning.

These WHEELS are made for Rollin' !!!

We are anxious to "hit the road". Nick and Terry Russell are in Casa Grande, AZ getting things set up for their Western Rally. He tells all about it in his daily Blog: Gypsy Journal Blog

Hearing all this makes me anxious to get out there and get set up. Nick publishes the Gypsy Journal and has 2 rallies a year, one in the West and the other in the East. It's my kind of a Rally! It doesn't cost an "arm & leg", is laid back and we have lots of friends that attend. One thing I like is that all the Vendors are set up just outside of the meeting places and work out of their rigs. That's real comfortable... you can spend all day working and never leave the front of your rig. That makes it a lot more FUN! Believe me we've been to lots of Rallies where we have a booth and need to stand in that booth all day for 3-4 days. It gets OLD fast!!! Here is a picture of our last years set up at The Gypsy Journal Rally in Casa Grande:

We really like this spot and Nick has assured us we will have it again this year. All of the other vendors are directly in front of us, as the picture below shows.

I took these pictures early one morning before the crowd was out. Everyone passes right in front of our spot on the way to all the functions. We stayed quite busy and did real well.. In fact, we SOLD OUT of PressurePro Systems and had to call our Distributor. He agreed to FLY us in an Emergency shipment.

Here is Pat meeting Duane at the Casa Grande Airport picking up the "rush" shipment of 10 more PressurePro Systems. Duane lives a few hundred miles away and loves to fly his neat little 2 place single engine airplane. In fact, when I get out to North Ranch Escapee RV Park at our other lot, he and I go flying all over the country. I have a Private Pilot's license and don't get a chance to use it much, so it's a real JOY for me!! Duane lives in a rural "airport" community and has his own private airport.

From Duane & Carol Sprague's Private Airport

This is Duane and Carol's "private airport". Click on the picture and if I did it correctly, it should take you to the entire Web Album. They have a real nice place. See you guys soon!! Anxious to get brushed up on my "touch and go's"! :-)

Meanwhile, we are starting to prepare things for our departure on February 1st or 2nd.

More on that later. Thanks for stopping by. Be safe and GOD BLESS!!!

Its a GREAT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike

This Blog published every Wednesday and Sunday.

Our FIRST overnight guest!!!!

Wednesday after daughter Terri got off work she drove down here to Mission, TX to spend her days off with us. She was our VERY FIRST overnight guest in our just completed Coach House. Terri is a traveling Health Care Tech and is working in San Antonio just 250 miles North of us. What a JOY it was to have her with us. She was up and ready to walk the 4 miles with us every morning. She took pictures of the Javelinas and Birds in the park. She was only able to spend a day and a half with us, which was way too short, but we're sure glad she took time from her busy schedule to drive the 500 mile round trip down to see us. What a TREAT!!

(click on all pictures to enlarge)

Here is Terri as she is leaving for a 4 hour drive back to San Antonio. That's her brand new Chevy Impala "Company" car she just got. She has Onstar and Sirius radio. Real nice!!! Makes me remember the days when I had a Company car.

Ms Pat has her in a "bear hug" and says,,,,"NO don't go, you just got here"!!Those two are like "two pea's in a pod" and seeing them together and the way they enjoy each other is PRICELESS!!!


It's always SO SAD when your kids leave. So quiet and your heart and thoughts go with them, wondering about them and what their future will hold and where it will take them. Maybe I just worry too much, or maybe I'm getting old and senile. Whatever....but let me say it again, tell your kids that you LOVE them, cause they (or you) may not be around forever....


Terri does a wonderful job of keeping in touch and letting us know how she is doing. She is in contact every few days and that is a blessing we appreciate. Hurry back Terri, we love you a lot!!


Just a couple more weeks here in Ratama Village in Mission, TX and we will be packing up and heading West to Arizona. It's going to be a busy 2 weeks. Today our friends Ron and Barb Bergquist are coming down from Dallas to visit for a week........We are looking forward to seeing them.


So that's it for today,,,see ya all Wednesday, thanks for stopping.



It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!!



God Bless!



Mike



This Blog is posted every Sunday and Wednesday.

Meet my new Friend,,,,,,

Well, another COOL one the last couple of days here in Mission, TX! 43 deg when we got up yesterday and it's 40 this morning. In Northern Texas, it is 28 deg and in Rapid City, SD, it is 12. So I doubt I will get much sympathy from anyone up North. But this is down South and that's COLD for us. The humidity is high here and the cold seems to really penetrate. We nearly froze when we started our walk yesterday and it will be worse today. Monday it warmed up to 70 and was nice... yesterday it barely made it to 67 and it wasn't up there for long....

Oh well, I said I wouldn't complain as long as I didn't have to SCOOP anything!!!! No worry about that,,,,,,,I hope!!!! :-) I see it's -40 to -50 way up North,,,,,,,that's BELOW,,,,,,and SNOW!!!! They do have to SCOOP!

Meanwhile, I'll take what we have and SMILE!!!!

Now I want to introduce you to my new friend. Most of you know I get up around 4am each morning. Many ask, WHY?? My answer is quite simple... because I like to! When the weather is good, I take my coffee outside and check things out. Mainly just enjoy the peace and quiet, I love the early hours.

Shortly after we arrived here at Retama Village in the Rio Grande Valley, I was outside early one morning and suddenly had a visitor. A little gray and white kitty showed up. She wasn't very friendly and I couldn't get close to her. I talked to her and tried to get her to come closer, but she wouldn't. She stayed her distance, then disappeared into the darkness to the house behind us.

This happened each morning and every time she would come a little closer, but still wouldn't let me pet her. I hadn't said anything to Ms Pat about my new acquaintance until one morning I went inside and ask if we had any milk. What in the WORLD for??????, Ms Pat asked. At first she said NO!! "We aren't feeding any strange CAT". Ahhh, come on I pleaded,,,,, "pretty pleeease",,, she's not a strange Cat...she has been visiting me every morning for over a week and I think she is hungry!!! A little more pleading and she gave me a small bowl of Milk...........(-:

The little Kitty wouldn't drink it at first, so I just set it down and watched her from inside. She would go and drink it and BE GONE.

Thus, began our Friendship, which has turned into quite a Friendship.

Soon she became friendlier and friendlier and it wasn't long until she would rub my ankles with her body and let me pet her and Finally, even HOLD her !! She started appearing during the day at times, but always disappears quickly back behind us somewhere under a storage shed. She never had any type of a collar or identification. Now her visits are a daily thing and sometimes several times a day. In fact, she is beginning to make herself right at home on the back of my truck.....

Ms Pat was very reluctant at first,,,but she was soon "won over" by the Cat's friendliness.... She still says "NO, we can't have a cat"! "They shed too much"... Here are of few pictures of my new Friend....

She enjoys laying on the back of the truck and snoozing in the warm Sunshine... Is she comfortable or not?????

Thus is my New Friend, an interesting Friendship. The only Cats I have been around since I was a small boy were at late son Scott's house. He and Ann LOVE cats. They each had their own when they met. Scott's cat was named Megabyte,,,,,we called her Mega. Scott had Mega for 19 years, through "thick and thin", the friendship they had was priceless. Interestingly enough was the fact that his Mega was on his lap constantly, especially during his 9 month battle with Cancer. I especially noted the relationship they had during that time. She would not leave his side(lap). It was as if she KNEW the battle and pain he was going through.......

Just as interesting is the fact that Mega died just a few weeks after Scott passed away. I think about that a lot.. I bet they are together..

So I named this young loving little kitty, Megabyte2. I shouldn't get so attached to her, because I realize that I can't take her with us,,,,no way. Pat and I agreed a long time ago that there wouldn't be any pets while we were traveling. Someday, if we ever have to be stationary again, we can have a pet,,,,,,But, let me tell you,,,,it's gonna be hard to leave little Ms Megabyte2.

However, every time we leave an area there are many things and people that are HARD to leave. But it's part of this lifestyle that we love so much, and yes, I know that lots of folks travel in an RV with pets. But we have about all the responsibilities we can handle. We'll have a pet someday, just not now. Just so you know, we aren't leaving her without someone to take care of her. The shed she stays under is in our neighbor's back yard. They also feed her and another Tom cat that hangs around. So she'll be fine. I'll miss her but maybe she'll be here to greet me when we come back next Fall.

Time to go for the Walk!!!

See ya all SUNDAY...........

Its a GREAT WEEK!!!!!

Mike

This Blog is published every Wednesday and Sunday....

World Birding Center, Mission, TX

We start off each day bright and early with a 4 mile walk. I'm talking a "brisk" walk, not a "mosey". It takes us an hour. Been doing it for years. It's not necessarily because I enjoy it, but we figure it is a life necessity. We want to live a long, healthy life and to do that, we feel we have to keep moving and push ourselves. For the first few years, it was tough and I could think of a dozen reasons not to go walking, but Ms Pat kept pushing me. Believe me, I needed that push!! Now, although I still don't really enjoy the walk, I look forward to it. Shortly after sun up, presently about 7:15 am, we head out.

The second most enjoyable place we walk is here in South Texas in the Bentsen State Park, just a couple blocks from our place. It is a World Birding Center, 760 acres and a nice quiet place to walk. It used to have a big RV Park in it. In fact, back in 2000, the first year we came to the Rio Grande Valley, we camped in the State Park. They closed the campground shortly after that and dedicated the entire Park to the World Birding Center (WBC). Retama Village, where our lot is, and the Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort right next to us, were just an open farm field......... Strange how things work out. Who would have ever thought?
Here are a few pictures taken in the Park.
(click on all picture to enlarge)

This is Danielle Mayer and Ms Pat at the far South end of the Park looking out across the Rio Grande River. That house across the River is Mexico. Told you we were close!!



Almost every morning, we see one or more groups of Javelinas feeding under the many bird feeders. They are interesting creatures and have become somewhat tame as they don't pay a lot of attention to us as we walk by....each time I see one I can't help but think how good they would taste on a BBQ spit........:-)

That's about it for this week, Gotta go walk!!!!

Just 3 more weeks and we'll be headed WEST to attend the Gypsy Journal Rally at Casa Grande, AZ and on to our lot at North Ranch near Wickenburg, AZ.

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!

God Bless you all...

Mike

This Blog is published every Sunday and Wednesday morning.

Cabinets finished!!!

Another "mission accomplished" in Mission!! We were able to get the cabinets finished in the Coach House. Ms Pat is happy with them. Stuff like that doesn't concern me, so if she's happy, I'm happy!

Here is the finished product:

(click on all pictures to enlarge)

Always a few more "little" things to do, but it's presentable. We are ready for our first overnight guest! Daughter Terri will be here in about 10 days! She is working in San Antonio and will drive down for a couple of days. We can hardly wait!!!

Our good friends Roger and Susan Haddix are selling their 2007 Harley. If you looking for a SUPER motorcycle, this is just that. Here is a picture I took of it while we were visiting a few weeks ago.

It is a Heritage Softail Classic,,,,,,,,,,,,and a Peace Officers Special Edition. Roger special ordered the bike in 2006. It only has 7000 miles on it and has been garaged since. BOY-O-BOY, would I love to have this baby!!! It is a BEAUTY!!!!! Here is Roger's ad in the SKP Forum: Harley For Sale Be sure to get in touch with him(or me) if you're interested.

Nick and Terry Russell stopped by yesterday to join us for Happy Hour at the Clubhouse. They will be leaving the Valley tomorrow heading west to prepare for their Gypsy Gathering in Casa Grande, AZ. It's a fun time so come if you can. We'll be there with our PressurePro and

Dri-Wash products. Safe Travels Nick and Terry.

Well, that's it for today, time to go for our 7am walk........Kinda cool this morning, but I LOVE IT and it's going to get up to 78 today!!!! :-)

Thanks for stopping by.......See ya SUNDAY!

It's a GREAT WEEK!!!

Mike

This Blog published every Sunday and Wednesday.....

Nice Weather!!!

It sure has been nice here in Mission, TX. the past few days.....78 was the high on New Year's day, then 84 on Friday, with 87 yesterday. This morning as I write this at 5am it is 68. It has been very comfortable with a light to moderate breeze a lot of the time. The Rapid City Journal tells me that it is 3 deg up there this morning. Burrrrr!!!

We were able to get some things done the last couple days after a great New Year's Day. Congratulations to the Cornhuskers and the Seminoles for winning their Bowl games!!! Well done!

The Painter has stained the cabinets in the Coach House and will be back today to put on the final coat of varnish. Estaban (the cabinet maker) was here late yesterday afternoon and finished up the last shelf on our cabinets. So after today, we should be done. Oh ya, forgot, I have to finish up plumbing the wet bar, but that shouldn't take long...

Almost every evening around 5:30 or 6pm, Pat goes up to the Clubhouse and enjoys the Hot Tub!!! She loves it! Quite often I go with her. Last night I took a couple pictures.

By the time I arrived, Pat had it all cranked up and it was HOT!!! This entire Pool and Hot Tub are SALT water. It feels great, especially after a long hard day. (click on all pictures to enlarge)

It's just starting to get dark and the lights are starting to come on. Ahhhh, 20 minutes of this and you'll be ready for bed..... Makes me sleep like a LOG!!

Pat gets over in the BIG pool and does a few laps. Tonight our Neighbor and early morning walking buddy, Dale Bruss, came over and visited us.

This is the entire pool and patio area. It consists of 3 pools. A wading pool, the hot tub and the big lap pool. It's like our Private Spa tonight, as usual!

Here is the exercise room. There is also a nice shower area where you can take a nice LONG hot shower........

We have a great pool room.

Pat also loves to shoot pool, plus she can hold her own with the best. Even beats me!! (most of the time) :-)

Now you can all see what a hard life we lead. It's tough!!! But you know, somebody HAS to do it. So it may just as well be us.

Now we're ready for our first guest for the Guest House. Terri, our daughter, will be here on the 14th to spend a couple days. We can't wait Terri!!!

We were happy to have our good friends Nick and Terry Russell of the Gypsy Journal stop by and visit us. It was great seeing them. They will soon head West to Casa Grande, AZ to prepare for their Western Rally...we'll be there...so if you can make it to the Rally, stop by our PressurePro booth. Come back to see us before you leave, Nick & Terry.....

So, now its your turn. Come on down out of that COLD country and spend a few days with us. We have a place for you!!! Soak up some of this sunshine and warmth to take back with you!!! Sit in our Hot Tub with us!!

Thanks for stopping by and special thanks to those that leave comments. You know how much that helps. It kinda lets you know somebody is reading this nonsense!!!LOL

It was a GREAT WEEK!!!!!!

God Bless You All!!!

Mike

This Blog is published every Sunday and Wednesday.