This is our last day in Gillette and I think we’re both ready to get the wheels rolling to someplace new. Not that Gillette is a bad place, it’s actually a nice little town, and all of the people we have met in the stores and restaurants have been very friendly. But hitch itch is setting in and it’s time for some new scenery.
Not that we have been doing much sightseeing since Escapade ended. Most of our time has been spent playing catch up because our business responsibilities don’t stop just because we’re working an RV rally. Terry has been busy filling orders and stuffing envelopes, I’ve been printing out mailing labels and trying to catch up on a huge backlog of e-mail. Even after I deleted all of the junk mail that made it past my spam filters and all of the forwards that I keep asking people not to send me, there were still well over 100 e-mails that I needed to deal with.
Some of them were pretty routine, like people asking if my Big Lake mysteries are available on Barnes & Noble for Nook (yes), and if we are going to the Winnebago Grand National Rally in Iowa (no), or the FMCA rally in Oregon (no). There were also quite a few from new RVers or wannabes asking my opinion about the best mail forwarding services (Escapees in Texas and Alternatives Resources or My Dakota Address in South Dakota), the best type of RV to buy (that depends on your needs, preferences and budget), and what campground memberships to buy (Passport America and possibly a used nationwide Thousand Trails).
There were also several offers to stop and visit folks if we get near their homes, which we always appreciate but seldom find ourselves able to accept because we’re not in their areas.
And then there are the ones that I would think were a joke if it weren’t for the fact that we get them fairly routinely. Two wanted to know if we could look at used RVs that they are considering purchasing, one in Texas and the other in Elkhart, Indiana. Another was from a lady who was hoping we could stop by her home in Spokane for a few days on our way to the coast and help her figure out the best way to liquidate her possessions before she goes on the road fulltime.
And a gentleman who has offered several times to pay us minimum wage and give us a free place to park next to his garage with 20 amp electric and water if we will help him convert his bus wrote again to remind us that we are going to pass right by his place in Montana and it’s a chance to make some money and not pay for camping costs. I think we’ll pass on that one, too. Miss Terry hung up her tool belt when we sold our MCI and bought our Winnebago diesel pusher.
There was also an e-mail from a couple who just wanted to vent. As they have for the last four summers that they have been on the road, they have returned to their old hometown to be near family and friends who miss them. And just as every summer, they find themselves running from one person’s house to another, but nobody ever comes to visit them. One relative complained that it was five miles from her house to the RV park where they stay. We’ve run into this ourselves, and my feeling is that if I drive a couple thousand miles to be there and you won’t drive four or five miles or whatever to see me, you really don’t want to and I don’t feel the need to return.
Okay, it’s time to close today’s blog. It looks like I have new e-mail coming in.
Thought For The Day – There is only one perfect child in the world and every mother has it.
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Nick Russell
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Oh I am so glad to read this! It came at the perfect time for us because we are parked at my brother’s house in New York on minimal electric because every year the family insists we come home for the summer. Brother is off on an extended motorcycle trip, his wife is involved in a dozen things and never home, my mom has bingo and bridge 5 days a week and lives across the street but has never walked over to visit us. Not that she can’t since she walks 2 miles a day! Daughter does stop over almost every day – to drop her kids off for us to watch! We have been feeling guilty for wanting to go but not any more! We’re outta here!
In SD also consider Americas Mailbox in Box Elder (Rapid City). Among the things they offer is their own campground while becoming residents, getting drivers license, etc.
I agree. . .the forwarded emails ARE SO ANNOYING. . .I asked one guy nicely twice. . .and then reported him for spamming. . .haven’t gotten anything since. . .not sure if it worked. . .but I hope so. . .thanks for a great post!
Janice
ReadyToGoFullTimeRVing Blog
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We also have America’s Mailbox for our SD needs. Escapees for our real mail. As for relatives (kids)? That’s why we hit the road. They lived near us and we saw them only 4 times a year at the major holidays. One even drove within 1 block of our house twice a day to take her kids to & from school. FB allows us to see them and be close. Even got to see my greatgrand daughter take her first steps.
We’ve been with Americas Mailbox for 5+ years. We looked at the others and found the combination of the company, South Dakota, and Pennington County works best for us. Check them out before deciding.
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You should have signed this “Bad Nick”.
We also elected to go with Americas Mailbox when we decided to use South Dakota as our legal domicile. It’s been 6 years now and we’ve never had a problem. We have no insight into “My Dakota Address”, and suspect that they are a fine organization, but if we had to do it all over again we’d still go with Americas Mailbox. If for no other reason than that it’s located in the Black Hills. If you’re going to spend any time in South Dakota, the best part of the state is the Black Hills. And it is so convenient to be able to just drop by the Americas Mailbox office and pick up your mail, saving the postage, while in the area. Besides, the people there are so nice.
— jc&bev
We use the Escapees mail service and we have ever since we started 9 yrs ago, this fits us fine, The comment I want to make is since using either SD or Escapees this is your state of residence and like I found out both by our Livingston address and since we do spend the up to 7 months in our little town of Hondo you are subject to jury duty. Livingston is not a problem since they know addresses on Rainbow drive are not in state for the most part, a phone call telling them you are not in the state you are excused. I got called for duty in our little town of Hondo the day before we left, I had to go in and talk to a judge letting them know that we were leaving the next day. They had no problem in excusing me from it. A phone call is all I need to do it we are not in the area. Ir is very important do not ignore the summons if you get one and not in state or as I was told a bench warrant can be issued and that is a whole different story, everyone just stay safe.
Like the couple you mentioned in your blog and Mark and Dona who commented above we too find ourselves returning to hot sticky Iowa every summer to be near family that never seems to have much time for us even though they insist we come back every year. Frankly we are tired of being babysitters and at the beck and call of people who want my husband to fix their cars and appliances but never come to visit us while we’re in town or invite us over for BBQs they are always holding. We have told them all that come August 1 we are back on the road and that next summer we are going to Alaska. One son thinks that’s very selfish of us because he and his wife look forward to getting away for two weeks every summer without the kids.
Tell the lady to either call in an auctioneer to get rid of her stuff or the Goodwill to come and collect it. Geesh some people!
Gosh I am glad we’re not FAMOUS. Look at all the requests for advice, etc we DON’T get. Not that our advice would be worth listening to anyway.
We do go to NJ (where I am from) and Louisiana (where the other half is from) quite often. We find friends in Louisiana have more time for us than family. Daughters here in NJ have lots of time. Maybe because we driveway camp in our of their yards? And the other one has a 4 and 6 year old and LOVE us taking them for weekends.
Mark and Donna mentioned Bingo. Hubbies mother was, you might say, addicted to bingo. Once a day and twice on Wednesday. Pre-retirement and still living in NJ, we would fly down for visits. We would fly from Phila to Houston then drive the 145 miles to Louisiana. We had the costs of two airfares, rental car, meals, gas and motel.
Once when we went down – got to her house at noon on Friday. At one she asked us to drop her off at the VFW for Bingo. No problem – we had to get settled at motel, etc. She said to come back on Saturday. Saturday morning she called. Her sister asked her to go to Bingo so she would not be home all that day. Fine – we went to her house Sunday morning for a short visit before driving back to Houston to fly home. All that expense and we saw her for about 2 hours. GRRRRR!!!!! FAMILY!