Do you remember a couple months ago when the talking heads on television were predicting $5 a gallon gas this summer, and everybody was changing their traveling plans or talking about selling their RVs and getting off the road?
Guess what? It didn’t happen! In fact, in most places both gas and diesel are at some of the lowest prices we’ve seen in a long while. My friend Brenda Speidel sent me this link yesterday to a news story about gas being under $3 a gallon at some places in St. Louis. Every year we see the same nonsense about skyrocketing fuel prices, and every year people buy into it. We’d all be a lot better off if we’d just turn the damn TVs off and stop reading the newspapers.
I had a few orders to mail off yesterday, and as I was getting ready to leave for the post office I met the neighbors who had just pulled in next to us, Paul and Julie Dammers, from upstate New York. They are regular readers and we visited for a few minutes, and I discovered that they are also Parrot Heads. If you’re not familiar with that term, Parrot Heads are fans of singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who is my favorite musician of all time. My kind of people!
On my way back to Elkhart Campground from the post office, I stopped by RV Parts Nation, which is the new name for RV Surplus, which has been an institution in Elkhart for as long as I can remember. They recently moved from their old location on Bristol Street to 3267 Northview Drive, in the old Martin’s supermarket location just off the Indiana Toll Road exit 92 to State Route 19. They’re still in the process of moving everything in, and to add to owner Trina Ambris’ stress, the city chose now to tear up the road leading into the shopping center, which made everything a maze.
But Trina was coping as well as she could, and still smiling, so that’s a good thing. Once they get the road project finished, and once she and her crew get everything moved in and set up, it’s going to be a lot better for their customers. There is lots of parking for any size RV or bus conversion, and easy access off the Toll Road.
About 5 PM, our friends Charles and Chris Yust came by and we went to King Wah, our favorite Chinese restaurant in the whole country, for dinner. As always, the food was excellent, and the company was fun. Charles and Chris have been vendors forever on the RV rally circuit, selling RV insurance and extended warranty programs. They’re wonderful people, a lot of fun to be with, and they really know the insurance business inside out. In fact, last year after our Ohio Gypsy Journal Rally Chris went through our policy from another agent and discovered some glaring problems that could have cost us a fortune if we had a major claim. Needless to say, she is now my insurance agent, and I have better coverage than I had before, at several hundred dollars less per year.
We talked about the fulltime RV lifestyle, the state of the RV industry these days, gossiped a little bit, and decided that between the four of us we could solve most of the problems of the world if people would just listen to us.
Charles and Chris came back to our motorhome after dinner and we spent another couple of hours visiting. It was a fun evening, and we laughed so hard I’m surprised our neighbors didn’t complain to the campground office. We’re looking forward to getting together with Charles and Chris again while they’re in the area.
Thought For The Day – If live, laugh, love doesn’t work, try ready, aim fire!
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
OH NO! RV Surplus has moved and the next thing your going to tell us is that they have become organized. We have virtually remodeled our old motorhome by wandering around the old store and finding gems tucked into corners.
Agree with you about not listening to TV and reading newspapers….something we only do when away from home and at a hotel….tis entertainment right? We find plenty to read online…while not necessarily always truth, at least maybe a bit moreso…
RV surplus saved me last year, after picking up the MH from Michelle, we had quite a mess in the fridge from the the door accidentally being shut for a month, Mike dropped a jar on the glass, shattering, they were the only place that had a replacement for it and at such a good price. thanks for letting everyone know there new address.