We got a lot done yesterday, ate well, and had fun in the process. That always makes me feel good. 🙂
We started the morning by getting up at 9:30, and by noon I had answered a dozen e-mails, looked up some information on Corps of Engineers campgrounds in Georgia and Florida for one of our readers, and helped an author figure out a problem she was having getting her e-book formatted for the Amazon Kindle bookstore. Gee, maybe I need to get up before noon every day!
In the afternoon, we drove over to the Sam’s Club in Goshen with Greg and Jan, to buy the coffee we’ll be serving at our Ohio Gypsy Journal Rally in Celina, and then went to Staples to buy name tags and other supplies for the rally. Celina is a nice little town, but there is not a Sam’s Club or an office supply store in the immediate area, so we had to stock up beforehand.
Then we drove to the Elkhart County Fairgrounds in Goshen, and checked out the RV accommodations. We’ve been to several Escapees RV rallies there in the past, and I’d like to hold one of or Gypsy Journal rallies there one of these days. They have lots of RV hookups, and enough buildings to accommodate us, if we could work out the timing and money.
While we were at the fairgrounds, I dropped off a bundle of sample copies of the Gypsy Journal for the Montana Owners Rally, which starts Wednesday.
From the fairgrounds, we drove to the WalMart SuperCenter, which has a large covered two-sided horse shed in the parking lot, which held several Amish buggies. The horses seemed to appreciate having a place to wait in while their owners were busy shopping.
Our next stop was the South Side Soda Shop, which has been featured on the Food Network’s show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Terry and I have been coming here for years, but this was only Greg and Jan’s second visit. And, for Jan at least, the first one doesn’t count, because she can’t remember much about it. You see, we were in the middle of our meal last year when the telephone call came in from Texas that their daughter Brandi had gone into labor, and grandson Landon was on his way. For some reason, that seemed to take all of her focus away from the food! 🙂
But not this trip. This time, it was all about the food! I had their delicious Italian Hoagie, Miss Terry had a liverwurst sandwich, Jan had the crab cakes, and Greg opted for the Philly Chili. And we all had their famous spiral fries. Yummy! Dessert for Terry, Greg, and I was cheesecake, and Jan had coconut cream pie. I can guarantee you one thing, none of us left the place hungry!
Back at Elkhart Campground, Terry and I loaded our hard kayaks onto the top of the Explorer. I sure will be glad to find those things a new home, and just do our paddling in our Sea Eagle kayaks from Inflatable Boats 4 Less!
With that out of the way, the next task was to mount our bicycles onto the rack on the ladder on the back of our Winnebago. That was just as hard as the kayaks! We need smaller, lighter toys!
Bad Nick tries to avoid all of that physical labor, so while we were working hard, he stayed at the computer and wrote a new Bad Nick Blog titled Sarah Should Be Grateful. Check it out and leave a comment.
Thought For The Day – There are no mistakes in life, only lessons.
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Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
If you want to get rid of those kayaks, offer them as door prizes at your rally. Of course you wouldn’t get much money for them that way! 🙂
I too need to get rid of my lovely Bell Kevlar canoe that has not been on the water since getting my Sea Eagles (also from InflatableBoats4Less). Maybe Tim & Crystal should have a classifieds section on their website for customers to get rid of their old hard-sided boats!! Ha! But, I think a posting on Craigslist should do the trick. I’ve been able to sell a few things there pretty easily, so next time you’re parked somewhere for a few weeks and, ideally, near a larger metro area, give it a try!
Did you notice the trains roaring past the Goshen County Fairgrounds? We were parked near the railroad tracks at last years Escapade. After three nights we were able to sleep through the trains going by all night becasue we were so sleep deprived. You may want to keep that in mind when choosing your location.
FYI the largest rail switching yard in the United States is just outside Goshen.
Bob Gray
Bob,
I’m a fulltime RVer, and in the last 13 years I’ve spent so many nights parked near train tracks that I can’t sleep without them rumbling past.
Seriously, though, we have been to many rallies at Goshen and even though I am a light sleeper, I found that a set of soft foam ear plugs, or a white noise machine, keeps them from bothering me.
Glad the South Side Cafe was open. We were in Goshen over the 4th of July last year and also during last year’s Escapade and both times it was closed. It even looked “permanently” closed to us. Someday we’ll get there again.