Continue enjoying Random Thoughts here...
Welcome to Random Thoughts
I will use this as an "announcement" page for items such as those below. I will also notify users when I have uploaded new items. I upload in batches so about every two weeks or so I will post several things. We will just keep adding to the site. Check back frequently. Look here first. Thanks and share this site with your friends. Ron
A Pucker Factor of Nine
It happened during lunchtime traffic in downtown St. Louis on that stretch of I-70 that runs parallel to the river just after you cross the bridge going west. I was going about 55 mph, with lots of traffic, in the second lane, and in the rear-view monitor saw my tow car swerving violently from side-to-side. I mean extreme swerving from its bumper up against the coach on the extreme left and then would swing back around and bring its bumper up against the coach on the extreme right. I'm slowing, braking, getting warning lights on, trying not to get run over, trying not to let the car crash into the rear of the coach (it seemed like that would happen), and I noticed that one of my tow bar arms was hanging down. The first thought was that I'd lost one of the lynch pins. The other tow bar arm was still attached and the car was swinging on it.
I forced my way over to an exit, got off, gently slowed to a stop, had to put the coach on the sidewalk (partially hanging out into the street), waited for my heart rate to slow a bit, and got out to look. One arm of my Blue Ox Aladdin had somehow come apart and apparently some connection had disintegrated somewhere under that expanding rubber seal. The other arm was wedged tightly into the car connection and forced forward due to the stop. All the pins held, my SMI Air Force One air line held, the break-away pin was never pulled, the safety cables held. It took a while to get the other arm loose as it was really under pressure due to the twist and angle and position of the car at rest. I had one small area where some part of the tow bar assembly had scratched the paint on the coach likely from one of those wild swings.
Ultimately, we made it to Blue Ox in Pender, NE (600+ miles from St. Louis). The joke was that my wife and I were separated—she was driving the car and I was driving the coach. We got here and they determined the tow bar was under warranty. We spent a restful night, they traded the tow bar the next morning, and we were ready to go.
On a side note... Pender, NE is in the middle of a few hundred thousand acres of corn fields plus massive soybean fields. The Blue Ox plant is about the biggest thing in this little town. They told me on the phone that they had a full hookup campground where we could stay but you never know what to expect. So, when we showed up, we found this beautiful, pristine, well-landscaped campground with really wide sites, concrete pads, and cleaner than any campground I have seen. This place was truly manicured. You pulled into the site so your tow bar or whatever is pointing out to the lane going through the campground. They can drive their cart up to your coach with tools and actually work on it right there. Very efficient.
We are parked across from an 1,100-acre brush/forest fire!
It's Tuesday, August 24th and we are headed to Seal Beach, CA. We pulled into a Flying J truck stop to fuel up this afternoon and had been noticing we were going toward smoke from a big fire. The 1,100 acre fire is across the highway, up the hill. We have decided to stay here tonight and watch without being in the way. Tankers and helicopters are dropping fire retardant constantly. The biggest plane is dropping 12,000 gallons per load! Incredible! Part of the parking lot is a gathering place for fire trucks as they are deployed. About 200 homes have been evacuated and the fire is currently out of control.
We saw flames on the ridge that had to be reaching 50 feet in the air. Pretty amazing.
We are in a safe place, the fire coverage is all over the local news, we are monitoring it, and can drive out of here in 5 minutes if the wind shifts.
Report from the FMCA RALLY Redmond
We just finished the FMCA Redmond Rally where we were a vendor (selling our books) and presenting seminars (under strange conditions). I was told that there were 1,900+ coaches registered and do not know if that included vendors or not. What was important is that people were spending money in the exhibit area. We had our second best show of the year here.
The seminars were a mixed blessing. Many seminars were scheduled in rooms that were too small, My first one, "About RVing," was the first day and the room was packed. There was about 110 chairs (all filled), about 35 standing around the walls, and I was told there were 8 people outside the door that were listening (but couldn't see in). My sincere thanks to them. The volunteer told me they turned away at least 50 more people.
"RVing to Alaska" was in a large venue and about 250 attended it.
Sandy's "Wrinkle-Free RV Laundry" was in a small room (110 chairs) and the place packed with about 30-35 standing. FMCA Security came in and made everyone not sitting down leave as per fire marshal's orders, closed the door, and instructed the volunteer to turn everyone else away. The volunteer told me she estimated that about 80 were turned away. People were totally ticked off and many were vocal about it—not to us but to the FMCA people. We also heard that several other seminars were full and closed. Simply, people were not happy.
The true definition of irony showed up Saturday morning for my "So, You Want to Fulltime" seminar. Last March at the FMCA Rally in Albuquerque (during the snow and with the 12-mile commute for the attendees), my "Fulltiming" seminar had nearly 450 in the audience. At Redmond, I was scheduled in those small rooms and only had about 85 there. The reason... I was told later by several attendees that they thought they would be turned away so they didn't even try to come!!!
All in all, a good rally, good weather, and good times.
Avoid this Flying J
If you are driving on I-90, avoid this fuel stop. I truly believe I got ripped off at the Flying J on I-90, Exit 286 (Spokane), in western Washington.
Just 20 miles before we got there, we passed a Flying J in Post Falls, Idaho (I-90, Exit 2) and their sign said FJ Diesel was $3.05. Although I had plenty of fuel, I was wanting to top it off before we turned south for Redmond and decided to wait to get to the next Flying J at Exit 286.
I should have noticed something strange was going on when I pulled in—there wasn't a single truck at an 8-island truck pump. But, we pulled in. Sandy put the credit card in the reader and I got the pump ready. The numbers (gallons/price) were difficult to see and I simply started pumping. When finished, we then took a close look and the price per gallon was $3.35! Now I understand why no other trucks were there.
Hope this helps someone save a buck or two.
Work Camping for Amazon
at two facilities, Campbellsville, KY and Coffeyville, KS. It is warehouse work for the holiday season and takes place between October and December. Their literature said "starting at $9.00/hour and benefits such as complimentary campsites, hookups, and discounts." I don't do this but just passing along the news. Contact amazon by e-mail at seasonal-camper@amazon.com
Continue enjoying Random Thoughts here...
Welcome to Random Thoughts
I will use this as an "announcement" page for items such as those below. I will also notify users when I have uploaded new items. I upload in batches so about every two weeks or so I will post several things. We will just keep adding to the site. Check back frequently. Look here first. Thanks and share this site with your friends. Ron
A Pucker Factor of Nine
It happened during lunchtime traffic in downtown St. Louis on that stretch of I-70 that runs parallel to the river just after you cross the bridge going west. I was going about 55 mph, with lots of traffic, in the second lane, and in the rear-view monitor saw my tow car swerving violently from side-to-side. I mean extreme swerving from its bumper up against the coach on the extreme left and then would swing back around and bring its bumper up against the coach on the extreme right. I'm slowing, braking, getting warning lights on, trying not to get run over, trying not to let the car crash into the rear of the coach (it seemed like that would happen), and I noticed that one of my tow bar arms was hanging down. The first thought was that I'd lost one of the lynch pins. The other tow bar arm was still attached and the car was swinging on it.
I forced my way over to an exit, got off, gently slowed to a stop, had to put the coach on the sidewalk (partially hanging out into the street), waited for my heart rate to slow a bit, and got out to look. One arm of my Blue Ox Aladdin had somehow come apart and apparently some connection had disintegrated somewhere under that expanding rubber seal. The other arm was wedged tightly into the car connection and forced forward due to the stop. All the pins held, my SMI Air Force One air line held, the break-away pin was never pulled, the safety cables held. It took a while to get the other arm loose as it was really under pressure due to the twist and angle and position of the car at rest. I had one small area where some part of the tow bar assembly had scratched the paint on the coach likely from one of those wild swings.
Ultimately, we made it to Blue Ox in Pender, NE (600+ miles from St. Louis). The joke was that my wife and I were separated—she was driving the car and I was driving the coach. We got here and they determined the tow bar was under warranty. We spent a restful night, they traded the tow bar the next morning, and we were ready to go.
On a side note... Pender, NE is in the middle of a few hundred thousand acres of corn fields plus massive soybean fields. The Blue Ox plant is about the biggest thing in this little town. They told me on the phone that they had a full hookup campground where we could stay but you never know what to expect. So, when we showed up, we found this beautiful, pristine, well-landscaped campground with really wide sites, concrete pads, and cleaner than any campground I have seen. This place was truly manicured. You pulled into the site so your tow bar or whatever is pointing out to the lane going through the campground. They can drive their cart up to your coach with tools and actually work on it right there. Very efficient.
We are parked across from an 1,100-acre brush/forest fire!
It's Tuesday, August 24th and we are headed to Seal Beach, CA. We pulled into a Flying J truck stop to fuel up this afternoon and had been noticing we were going toward smoke from a big fire. The 1,100 acre fire is across the highway, up the hill. We have decided to stay here tonight and watch without being in the way. Tankers and helicopters are dropping fire retardant constantly. The biggest plane is dropping 12,000 gallons per load! Incredible! Part of the parking lot is a gathering place for fire trucks as they are deployed. About 200 homes have been evacuated and the fire is currently out of control.
We saw flames on the ridge that had to be reaching 50 feet in the air. Pretty amazing.
We are in a safe place, the fire coverage is all over the local news, we are monitoring it, and can drive out of here in 5 minutes if the wind shifts.
Report from the FMCA RALLY Redmond
We just finished the FMCA Redmond Rally where we were a vendor (selling our books) and presenting seminars (under strange conditions). I was told that there were 1,900+ coaches registered and do not know if that included vendors or not. What was important is that people were spending money in the exhibit area. We had our second best show of the year here.
The seminars were a mixed blessing. Many seminars were scheduled in rooms that were too small, My first one, "About RVing," was the first day and the room was packed. There was about 110 chairs (all filled), about 35 standing around the walls, and I was told there were 8 people outside the door that were listening (but couldn't see in). My sincere thanks to them. The volunteer told me they turned away at least 50 more people.
"RVing to Alaska" was in a large venue and about 250 attended it.
Sandy's "Wrinkle-Free RV Laundry" was in a small room (110 chairs) and the place packed with about 30-35 standing. FMCA Security came in and made everyone not sitting down leave as per fire marshal's orders, closed the door, and instructed the volunteer to turn everyone else away. The volunteer told me she estimated that about 80 were turned away. People were totally ticked off and many were vocal about it—not to us but to the FMCA people. We also heard that several other seminars were full and closed. Simply, people were not happy.
The true definition of irony showed up Saturday morning for my "So, You Want to Fulltime" seminar. Last March at the FMCA Rally in Albuquerque (during the snow and with the 12-mile commute for the attendees), my "Fulltiming" seminar had nearly 450 in the audience. At Redmond, I was scheduled in those small rooms and only had about 85 there. The reason... I was told later by several attendees that they thought they would be turned away so they didn't even try to come!!!
All in all, a good rally, good weather, and good times.
Avoid this Flying J
If you are driving on I-90, avoid this fuel stop. I truly believe I got ripped off at the Flying J on I-90, Exit 286 (Spokane), in western Washington.
Just 20 miles before we got there, we passed a Flying J in Post Falls, Idaho (I-90, Exit 2) and their sign said FJ Diesel was $3.05. Although I had plenty of fuel, I was wanting to top it off before we turned south for Redmond and decided to wait to get to the next Flying J at Exit 286.
I should have noticed something strange was going on when I pulled in—there wasn't a single truck at an 8-island truck pump. But, we pulled in. Sandy put the credit card in the reader and I got the pump ready. The numbers (gallons/price) were difficult to see and I simply started pumping. When finished, we then took a close look and the price per gallon was $3.35! Now I understand why no other trucks were there.
Hope this helps someone save a buck or two.
Work Camping for Amazon
at two facilities, Campbellsville, KY and Coffeyville, KS. It is warehouse work for the holiday season and takes place between October and December. Their literature said "starting at $9.00/hour and benefits such as complimentary campsites, hookups, and discounts." I don't do this but just passing along the news. Contact amazon by e-mail at seasonal-camper@amazon.com