Day One -- Western Gypsy Gathering

The attendees gather for the opening session of the rally --

That's Nick Russell with the microphone (hiding behind the guy in the cap) who is the editor/publisher of the Gypsy Journal which sponsors this rally --

David Bradley, Singer/Yodeler --

Of course, today turned out to be a beautiful day -- the sun was out, the puddles were drying up and the Harriers were flying! (Did I mention that the fairgrounds is right across the road from the big Yuma Marine Air Base where they are training in Harriers, F-16s and the big transport planes -- and the flight path is right across the fair grounds?)

There were a few rigs that came in today, but the majority had arrived in the midst of the thunderstorm yesterday. I haven't heard a head count yet, but one of the parking guys said they had parked over 200 rigs.

The rally officially started this afternoon at 3 PM with introductions of all the vendors and people who would be giving seminars -- and a Marine corporal from their Public Relations department who came to tell a little bit about all of the flying going on. He got a standing ovation from the crowd. People just paused in what they were saying when a plane would go over. There were lots of comments about "It's the sound of freedom."

Tonight's gathering was very special. First of all we won a nice door prize; one free night's stay at the Westwind RV & Golf Resort here in Yuma plus a free appetizer from Texas Roadhouse Restaurant. Then we were treated to a concert by David Bradley, a singer/yodeler who had sung with the Sons of the Pioneers. He did a great program of music that ranged through the thirties on up to the late fifties. All the music we grew up on!

At The Fairgrounds For the Western Gypsy Journal Gathering

Waiting in line with the other 50-60 rigs waiting to park at the Yuma Fair Grounds --

There were puddles and then it rained some more --

After we finally were parked, we headed for the fair's theatre building to get registered --

We got a good start this morning driving from Casa Grande to Yuma. It's about a 170 mile drive and took us about about three hours. One thing we noticed was how green the desert was -- even more so than the last time we had taken a long drive. We had rain showers all along the way. It says on the "Desert Wildflower Reports" on the internet, that the rains of last month did a great deal to start things growing, but another shower would still be needed "if there is to be a spectacular bloom this spring." Well, today they got those showers -- and then some!

This is part of the usual "preparing to leave" routine --

Emptying the black and then the gray tanks, flushing them out, then waiting to make sure everything is drained before you can pack all the hoses away...

And the puddles grow--

And the tempers flare
And you have to laugh ..
What's an hour or so to wait your turn?
It's pouring rain, what else are you gonna do after you get parked anyway?

Almost as much fun as people-watching at an airport!

And The Thunder Rolls

And the lightening flashes and the rain pours down!
Must be time for a Western Gypsy Journal Rally!

So What Did We Do Today?

Do you ever have one of those days? When you look back, know you were busy, but can't figure out what it was you did all day?

I can see part of the evidence -- the portable clothes dryer has jeans, sweat-shirts and dish towels on it -- must have done the last of the laundry.

There's a smell of mushrooms and sour cream in the air -- the beef stroganoff I finally made for Forry for supper tonight (he's only been asking for it for a LITTLE while!).

There's red marks on my cheek -- must have taken a nap somewhere along the line...

I've crops ready to harvest in Farmville -- must have gotten some planting done...

There are fresh blueberries in the fridge -- evidence of a quick trip to the grocery when I discovered I'd forgotten the tomato juice for the stroganoff.

The lawn chairs on the patio are moved -- must have had some time out there enjoying the sun and my Kindle.

Must have been just a nice quiet day. Tomorrow we head for the Gypsy Journal RV Rally at the Fairgrounds in Yuma. At least I'll be able to report that!

Once Again, Laundry!

Now that we were ensconced in a site with running water and electricity, it was time to catch up on all of the on-going chores that need to be done whether you are in a stix and brix house or an RV one. So today I did laundry, changed the sheets and washed the bathroom rugs. Forry vacuumed Auntie Violet and even cleaned the air filter on the Toad.

One of the characteristics of a SKP (Escapee) park is afternoon get-togethers. Every weekday afternoon at a park, most park residents meet in the clubhouse. One member acts as the MC and they follow a regular routine. First new arrivals are greeted, handed a microphone and asked to introduce themselves, give their SKP number, telling where they're from, how long they are staying and where they are going next. Second on the agenda is recognition of birthdays and anniversaries. Next there are announcements, then any jokes of the day, RV tips and a thought for the day before the group is dismissed. Sometimes there is quite a line-up for announcements, jokes and tips, other days there may be only one or two and the MC sort of fills in. It is sort of hokey, but it's part of what ties SKP communities together. You know that whatever SKP park you go to, there is this familiar routine.

Site 52!

We are no longer boon-docking! The couple at Site 52 left mid-morning and we were escorted around the park and down the middle aisle to their spot. I was sort of hoping that the first available site would be in the outside row where we were when we were for a few days in January. There are trees outside the wall and there was lots of bird activity.


BUT, the opportunity to have electricity, Internet and being able to do laundry for a few days makes Site 52 just fine!


I finished up getting all of our tax records together this morning for our accountant. So this afternoon we went in to Casa Grande to the post office to send the stuff off by Priority Mail. We had also finally gotten a call from the dispenser at the Costco Hearing Aid Center in Spokane giving us the "procedure code" for the new hearing aids Forry had gotten last fall. I had sent the paperwork in to our health insurance asking for reimbursement (we have an $800 benefit for hearing aids) and they had sent it all back saying they needed this code (I don't understand why they couldn't have looked it up in their code books...?) first. So anyhow, we mailed that off today as well.


We had planned to eat out while we were in Casa Grande and wanted to have Mexican, but had no idea what there might be in the area. I did a search with the "yellow pages" app on my iPhone for Mexican restaurants and got a couple dozen names of restaurants. One of the neat features of the iPhone is it gives you the distance from your current location. We decided to just go to the closest one -- and it turned out to be a winner! We had some of the best sopapillas we've ever eaten!

Still Boondocking!

We were supposed to move into a regular site with hook-ups today when the lady across the way left...


BUT, it turned out the woman in the office had lost track of how many RVs she had waiting for a space in the Boondock area and it turns out that there was another RV that had come in before us. No one else left today, but at Happy Hour this afternoon another fellow announced that he would be leaving tomorrow for ten days. We don't know if he has a site that he allows to be rented out when he is gone or not. We'll have to wait and see tomorrow.


We are allowed to run the generator in the evening for three hours, so I am getting some work done on the computer while it is on. I have been working on getting our tax stuff ready for Cleon our accountant. I think I have it pretty well finished, so I have a few minutes to catch up on my blog and Facebook!

We are at the Escapees RV Park in Casa Grande, but are parked in the "boondock" area as all of their sites are full. Which means we have no hookups, which means we have no power to run the router, which means I have no Internet! (I'm sending this to Blogger as a text message.)

Hopefully, someone will leave in the morning and we can get moved in!

The Man and His Tools...

As any male can tell you, you need to have the right tools to do the job! Most of the time a new job also requires at least one new tool! This time Forry had to buy a new valve to replace the one that wasn't closing, but he did seem to have all of the tools he needed. ;-) Thanks to this massive set he bought a year or so ago at Costco...









Forry's been complaining about the valve that opens and closes the black water tank so that it can be drained. It has an electric switch, but he has had to tap the actual valve handle with a hammer to make it work while I hold the switch down on the opposite side of the coach (of course, it's on the opposite side, isn't that the way it always works?!)

Last night the valve stuck half open and we couldn't get it closed. Knowing it was getting worse, Forry had purchased a new valve when we were at Camper World last week. So after extensive flushing of the tank this morning, we got the valve to open all the way, then flushed it well so that he could replace the valve.

It really pays to have a man who knows how to fix things! It took a couple of hours to get the job done -- I wonder what it would have cost to have hired someone to do it down here in Arizona? The last time we were at Uhlmann's, one of the guys said they were making $90/hour.






The old valve was fairly corroded -- I would presume it's from all of the hard and salty water we've experienced as we traveled....