Holidays And Heroes

I have to be honest, even though we have belonged to Thousand Trails for several years, I was in no hurry to come to the preserve here in Clermont, Florida. But we’ve been here a week now, and I think it’s fast becoming one of my favorite Thousand Trails/NACO campgrounds. Our site is great, they have all kinds of nice amenities, and we have run into several people we know since we’ve been here.

John and Sharon Mostollers, Gypsy Journal subscribers from Trout Run, Pennsylvania are parked near us, and yesterday John came by to tell me about a neat little restaurant that he thought we would enjoy, and we had a nice visit. 

A little later on, we had a late lunch at Santa Fe steakhouse with Dave and Jean Damon, fulltiming friends we know from the RV rally vendor circuit. We had a good time visiting, solving most of the problems of the world, and the food was pretty good too!

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My new Sea Eagle tall back kayak seat arrived on Friday from Inflatable Boats 4 Less, and back at the campground, Terry and I decided to end the day with a late afternoon paddle. The campground has a dock and boat launch on Lake Hancock, which is known for excellent largemouth bass fishing. And yes, the 4550 acre lake is also home to alligators, but if you are going to be on any freshwater lake or river in Florida, they are a fact of life. (As opposed to the sharks and barracuda in the salt water.) Here is a Google Earth view of the lake and the Thousand Trails campground.

The new seat is much better! We spent over an hour on the lake, until the sun started to drop behind the trees,  and my back didn’t hurt at all. I need to install a couple of D rings to position it properly for me, but Tim from Inflatable Boats 4 Less sent a kit with some extras with the boat, and they are easy to install.

The PaddleSki gets a lot of attention. A few people were fishing on the dock when we set it up, and they all watched the process, and commented on what a neat idea an inflatable boat is for RVers.

Back at the motorhome, I worked for a while on the seminar schedule for our Arizona Gypsy Gathering rally. I still have a lot of open time slots to fill, but as of now, seminar titles include Why Use Water Filters?, Gypsy Journal FAQs, Craft & Hobby Show and Tell, Fire Safety, What Insurance Do I Really Need As An RVer?, Insiders Guide To Get The Most From Your RV Service Center, Tips & Tidbits – Why Didn’t I Think Of That?, Accessories For Better Air Card Internet Access, RV Insurance – What Affects Your Rates, Starting A Business On The Road, For Women Only Roundtable, Illness Or Injury While Traveling – What Would You Do?, Transporting Firearms In Your RV, Laugh Your Way Across The USA, Geocaching, Yes You Can Drive That RV (For Ladies Only), The RVing Genealogist, Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems, Getting The Most Out Of Your Digital Camera, Testing Air Brakes, RV Safety Improvements For Him And Her, RVing Alaska, Swedish Weaving, Finding Your Satellite Signal, RV Weight Safety, Pros & Cons Of RV Extended Warranties, RV Quick Shades, RV Driving Tips & Techniques, Windshields – Repair or Replace?, Why Use Water Filters?, RV Tire Safety, Internet Genealogy, Preparing To Drive To Alaska, Boondocking Tips Roundtable, Kayaks & RVs, Care & Operation Of RV Awnings, and Computer Safety And Security For RVers. That’s 35 seminars so far, and we’ll have about 60 by the time we’re through!

My friend Brenda Speidel sent me some information about the Holiday Mail for Heroes campaign yesterday. The American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes have teamed up for the fourth year in a row to help brighten the holidays for our brave men and women in uniform. From now until December 10th, you can send holiday cards to service members, their families, and veterans all over the world. Anyone can send a card, or as many as you would like, to: Holiday Mail for Heroes, PO Box 5456, Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456 and they will be delivered to military members. I still remember my first Christmas away from home, a young soldier in a very bad place, and the Christmas cards I got from an elderly lady in a nursing home, and a little girl from Oklahoma, sent out under a similar program. When you’re a kid far from home, it means a lot.

Speaking of the holidays, quite a few readers have taken advantage of our Holiday Subscription Special Offer. If you subscribe or renew your existing Gypsy Journal subscription for two years, we’ll also send a one year gift subscription ($20 value) to whoever you choose, with a note that it’s a gift from you. This applies to both printed subscriptions to U.S. addresses by Standard Rate mail, and digital subscriptions. Click the link above, and save money today!

Thought For The Day – An argument is like a country road, you never know where it is going to lead.

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