Thank you to everybody for your comments on yesterday’s blog and the many e-mails that I received in response. We especially appreciate how supportive you all have been. We feel very special to be loved so very much by so many. There have been some very good suggestions made about the future, and you have given us a lot to think about.
Somebody wrote to ask if we were thinking about dropping not just the rallies, but the paper and blog as well. They suggested that maybe the income from my book sales could support us with a lot less work. Don’t worry, that’s not going to happen. We love publishing the Gypsy Journal, we love traveling, and I love doing the blog every day. And while the added income from my novels has been nice, we’re not ready to make any major life changes yet.
Sure, buying a little place somewhere in the Florida Keys and spending half the day writing and the rest of the day fishing is a wonderful fantasy. But that’s all it is. Besides, look what happened to Hemingway! This book thing is brand-new and has a long way to go before I would ever think about trying to live off of it, even if we didn’t love the life we have already. What it will do is allow us to start rebuilding the retirement funds we lost during Terry’s cancer treatment years ago.
Also, I want to thank everybody who has shown so much concern for Terry’s current health issues. She’s not back to herself yet but I think we are seeing some improvement everyday. She still has some pretty miserable moments, but she has not asked me to shoot her and put her out of her misery in a couple of days now. 🙂
It’s starting to warm up here in the desert, and we really appreciate our Winnebago’s basement air conditioner. We haven’t seen triple digit temperatures yet, but they can’t be too far off. People here in Arizona always say, “yeah but it’s a dry heat.” Well, it’s dry inside an oven too, but I sure don’t want to spend too much time there!
If all goes well with Terry, we will probably leave here Sunday and head back up to Apache Junction to spend some time with her parents and sisters before we start our summer travels. Terry and I are not big-city people, but we both agree that we like spending time here in Tucson much more than we do in the Phoenix area. In the East Valley (Mesa and Apache Junction), the pace is a little slower, but it keeps on growing every year and we just like it here better.
Somebody asked me how long they thought the curse was going to last that resulted in mechanical problems for Tom and Barbara Westerfield and Greg and Jan White after they left us. They said the reason they wanted to know was that when they left the rally they got to Needles, California and blew a tire, which resulted in a lot of torn fiberglass and it took out their black water tank. He said he sure was glad they dumped before they left the fairgrounds! I swear, I didn’t have anything to do with that one. As for the antifreeze in Greg’s oil, I plead the Fifth!
Thought For The Day – We live in a world where a lot of people don’t know what they want and are willing to go through hell to get it.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
NIck, Sorry we missed Yuma this year due to health issues. We would be in favor of paying for tickets to the pizza dinner, also an extra fee to cover coffee, donuts and other extras. Hoping to make Yuma next time. Steve n Jeanne
All I want to say is, you and Terry are important to each other. Nothing else really matters. The two of you are the ones to be concerned about as you consider all of the options. You must be able to at least break even on the Rally. Your rally is the least expensive one around and offers more than any others. Even Good Sams depends on volunteers and knowing you and Terry makes the people want to help because you are doing twice as much as everyone that is volunteerring. Terry’s health problems are probably brought on that she was tired from the Rally and her doctors’ appointments are trying on a rested person. Raise your prices. Some people think the more they pay the more they learn. Take care of yourself and Miss Terry.
happy to hear Terry is feeling better, she still needs to rest as much as possible. Do you realize that something mechanical happened to all your advanced staff once they left you. You can add that we had to replace our front windshield just after the rally ended. That makes two windshield and one engine that needs serious repairs from the sound of it. The Nick curse continues. We leave today for Lake Havasue and sure hope nothing happens. We love you Nick.
Glad to hear you are both recovering…and to know that the bottom line is that only you two know what is best for you.
We, too, are in the process of trying to decide where to summer. We’ve considered Angel Fire, NM, but want to also explore other areas where it’s a bit cooler than in the Houston area. Any suggestions?