Our Arizona Gypsy Gathering rally doesn’t even start until Sunday, when we start parking our Early Birds, but I’m already worn out. Miss Terry, Tom and Barb Westerfield, and Greg and Jan White have been doing most of the work, so I don’t know why I’m the one who is so tired. Yes, it does take a lot of effort to sneak away to find a place to take a nap out of their sight several times a day, but I’ve always been good at that. I think I must be getting old.
The first order of business yesterday was to dump our holding tanks. I love just about everything about our Winnebago Ultimate Advantage motorhome, but one thing I’m not very happy with is that our black tank always seem to fill up way too fast.
At first I suspected that we might have one of those “cones of death” caused by the former owner, who was not very good at maintenance, but I have flushed and flushed it so many times that I’d think whatever was in there must have broken down. My buddy Dennis Hill says I’m just too full of… well, you get the idea.
At any rate, we dumped in the morning, then I spent much of the day dealing with vendors who are staying over after the Good Sam rally, and taking phone calls from rally attendees who had questions about arriving. As I said in the letter and e-mail we sent out, please arrive with empty waste tanks and a full freshwater tank.
Yes, there is a dump station at the fairgrounds for our use, but by the time the Good Sam rally clears out, it may need to be pumped to accommodate our needs. Also, it really slows us down in parking everybody if we have to stop and escort RVs to the dump station.
One lady who called really reamed me out because, A) She didn’t want to travel with a full fresh water tank because of the weight, and B) She didn’t want to have to stop at Flying J and pay to dump her tanks on the way in. I’m no chemist, but I’m pretty sure sewage weighs more than fresh water, so if she’s willing to travel with full gray and black tanks, why not dump them before she heads to the rally, and fill her fresh water at the same time? Folks, this isn’t a rule I just dreamed up because I was bored. It’s standard operating procedure at every rally we’ve been to in our 12+ years on the road.
In the afternoon, I had a meeting with the fairgrounds manager and the Good Sam staff. Last year there was some confusion as to when the transfer of responsibility for the fairgrounds took took place between their rally and ours, and we wanted to be sure everybody was on the same page.
Later on, Terry and I went to Staples to drop off the rally schedules and seminar descriptions to get printed, then we made a quick stop at WalMart. Hey, how can I do all of this work if I don’t have my Frosted Flakes every morning? 🙂
We got back to the fairgrounds just in time to pile into Greg’s truck and follow Tom and Barbara to a restaurant called the Ranch House. The food was good, the service was fine, but when we tried to pay our bill and leave, things really slowed down. The lady at the cash register moved just a little bit slower than sludge in February, and there was a long line of people backed up, just wanting to pay their bill and get on with their lives. I suspect they must do a great breakfast business, because by the time you pay your dinner bill, it’s morning already, and you’re hungry again!
The good news is that, by the time we did get out of the place, our meals had settled enough to make room for dessert at Dairy Queen! The Midnight at the Oasis car show is going on in Yuma this weekend, and there are some really cool hot rods and classic cars running around town. Several were at the Dairy Queen, so we enjoyed looking at them as we sat outside and ate our treats.
Before we hit the road, I was into the old car scene, and had two 1966 Mustangs, a trophy wining 1958 Chevy pickup, and a 1969 Corvette. I still appreciate those neat old rides, but I’ve moved on, and my interests have changed. Give me a big old slow moving diesel pusher and a long stretch of highway any day of the week, and I’m happy!
Thought For The Day – The meek shall inherit the Earth, after we’re done with it.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
We were becoming concerned when we could not find you to read with our cereal, glad you are fine, just busy. Spoiled aren’t I.
FYI: Everyone in Yuma can pick up the Yuma book which has a coupon for a free cone at DQ when you buy one. This is the DQ close to the fairgrounds. Also there is a coupon for the Foothills DQ — buy one blizzard and get one free. We plan to use both these coupons in the next week. Plus our free dessert at Famous Dave’s.
Nick – re your black tank filling up faster than expected. Our bathroom sink drains into the black tank which makes for a better flush when it is time to dump. However, we do have to be aware of that when trying to ‘stretch’ the time between dumps. Maybe this is the situation with yours too? (We have a Triple E Embassy Class A)
I had a ’66 Mustang convertible. Yellow with red interior. Oh, yeah.
Take a deep breath. It will all be over soon. Have a great rally! See you in Ohio.
Well it was just your lucky day for lunch at the Ranch House as Sunday was to be its last day, owners were closing down after many years of running eating places, we tried it earlier and had the same slow service as well as so-so food. So maybe something else will open there and be better