Proofing the new issue of the paper took longer than I expected yesterday, and then uploading it to the printer’s web server was very frustrating. Even though we have full bars of EVDO service here at Elkhart Campground, the service on our Verizon air card is very slow, and we keep getting knocked offline. We are finding this more and more around the country, as an ever increasing number of smart phones, air cards and other wireless devices all eat up bandwidth.
Finally, a little before 4 p.m. I got the new issue uploaded, and by then I had a bad case of cabin fever and needed a break. I told Terry I wanted to get away from my desk for a while. Our friends Mike and Elaine Loscher are at Phoenix Commercial Paint getting one of Michele’s custom full body paint jobs on their Winnebago Adventurer, so we drove over to say hello.
It’s been almost a year since we saw Mike and Elaine, and we’ve sure missed them! We had a nice visit, talking about our mutual travels, and making up for lost time. Mike and Elaine will be in the area for a while and we’re looking forward to getting together again while we’re all here. And then they will be at our Eastern Gypsy Journal Rally in Celina, Ohio next month, helping us with parking and registering folks when they arrive. Mike and Elaine are always a big help to us at our rallies, and have been to every one except our Western Rally this year, when a medical issue kept them at their lot at the Escapees co-op in Hondo, Texas.
While we were at Phoenix Paint, Bob and Judy Farmer were there picking up their motorhome, after having owner Michele Henry and her crew repair a minor scrape, and we got a chance to say hello. Bob and Judy are longtime Gypsy Journal subscribers, and it was nice to meet them. I invited them to join us at the rally in Celina, and Bob said they’d try to make it.
After we said our goodbyes to Mike and Elaine, we stopped in the office to chat with Michele for a while, but before long my stomach starting sending me messages asking if my throat had been cut, so I decided it was best to feed it and stop its (literal) grumbling. We decided on Ryan’s Buffet, which is usually one of our favorites locally, but this time around it was a real disappointment. Even though the place as busy, everything seemed to have been sitting on the steam tables for a while, and nothing tasted fresh. But at least my stomach shut up.
While we were finishing our dinner, our pal Greg White called to check in. Greg and Jan are at the Horseshoe Lakes Thousand Trails down near Terre Haute, Indiana. Greg said the Verizon signal and service was strong, but that their site had a flakey 30 amp breaker, and he had to reset it several times. They’ll be there a couple of weeks, and then Greg said they would head toward Elkhart Campground. We’re looking forward to seeing them again.
Back at the campground, we took our hard kayaks off the roof of the Explorer. They have been riding around on top of the SUV since last December while we were in Florida, and I’d be just as happy if somebody would come by and buy them, so we don’t have to load them back up again. We hope to get our inflatable Sea Eagles in the water while we’re here. There are a lot of miles of great paddling on the Saint Joseph River, and I’d sure like to cover some of them!
Thought For The Day – Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
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Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
We were in Elkhart Campground just last week. When we arrived, Bob told us the WiFi in the park had been upgraded by connecting with a faster cable Internet connection. It was a good chance to test our new Rogue Wave WiFi setup. Speeds were very good.
My advice is to try the WiFi where it is available. It is often faster than a cellular connection. And even though you have an unlimited data plan, most cellular plans are now limited.
Lots of folks are mis-informed about security, and are afraid of using public WiFi for banking, etc. It is safe to use it for financial transactions.
We are looking forward to seeing you in Celina.
It was great seeing you yesterday, we have missed you guys. We also are ate Ryan”s the other day and we also were disappointing. Very poor selection and the service was not so good either. Mike did like the grilled cheese sandwich, this is because when he went to get one off the line, the waitress told him he did not want one of those and she cooked him a fresh one. We thought it was just because we went in between the lunch venue and their dinner.food. We are so looking forward to seeing you again while we are here.
Sorry Nick, Should have warned you about Wed. at Ryans. There are certain days I won’t go there and Wed. is one of those days. Didn’t realize that was where you were headed. Have you been to King Wha? I seem to remember you like chinese. Of course, it’s not a buffet but the food is really good. I enjoyed seeing you both and we will have to get together again before you leave. Still hoping to make the rally and my vote on yesterdays blog would be for Elkhart because I can come there even if I’m busy. Well I better get to work on Mike and Elaines rig. Take Care.
Hey Nick while you are at Elkheart swing by Bremen, IN and check out the place that does all the painting for the former Travel Supreme brand RV. I can’t remember the new name after Jayco bought them out. The painting place is called Precision Paint and they give a real nice tour of their facility. Ask for Jason.
They do repair and custom work also specializing in Travel Supreme. I understand they purchased all the parts when TS went out of business. I had a modification done to stiffen up the chassis and stop the windshield from coming out. It only took a couple of days and was very reasonable. Also we were allowed to stay in our RV.