Definition of potpourri – 1: a mixture of flowers, herbs, and spices that is usually kept in a jar and used for scent. 2: a miscellaneous collection. The second definition above pretty much describes today’s blog. Another collection of miscellaneous thoughts and info that I’ll share, because I really don’t have anything else to talk about.
One of the best things any RVer can do, whether you are a fulltimer, a snowbird, or a weekend warrior, is to join the Escapees RV Club. We joined the Escapees before we hit the road and are proud lifetime members. Between their RV park system, rallies, boot camp for new RVers, monthly magazine, excellent mail service, and just being part of a huge extended family of like-minded people, an Escapees membership is one of the best investment you can make in your RVing experience. And now they have created something new, Escapees Webinars! The webinars are interactive learning experiences covering a wide variety of topics related to the RV lifestyle. Some seminar topics include Work/Life Balance: Managing travel and work; Domicile: What full-time RVers should know; and Stay Connected: Mobile internet tips for working remotely. You can learn more about the Escapees Webinar program at https://escapees.com/knowledge/webinars
The Plains states are some of the best kept secrets in the world when it comes to RV travel. We have had some wonderful experiences and found many amazing places to visit in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, and surrounding states. Here you will find small towns full of friendly people, many of which have campgrounds in their city parks, interesting museums, historic sites, and a laid-back way of looking at life that people in the big cities just don’t get. If you haven’t spent much time exploring this region, you really should. Two excellent websites to help you plan your travels in this region are Kansas Travel and Visit Nebraska. Both have lots of suggestions on attractions to visit that you may have never known existed.
How is your insurance? Did you know that the policy you bought last year, or two years ago, or three years ago and just keep renewing may not be the best for you now? Changes in age, domicile, or other situations, along with changes in the insurance industry itself, make it a good idea to talk to your insurance agent every year or two to make sure you’re getting the best coverage for your current needs. A good agent doesn’t just care about selling a policy and getting you to renew, he or she looks out for your best interests, too. We rely on Charles and Chris Yust from C&C Marketing and Insurance to take care of our insurance needs at the Gypsy Journal. A good example of the kind of service they give is that when we purchased our house and bought our Ford pickup, Chris rewrote our policy so that our Winnebago has storage insurance when we’re not using it, and the truck has full coverage, and when we go on the road we switch them around so that the motorhome is covered and the truck has storage coverage. The end result was that, even adding the extra vehicle, we are paying less for the Explorer, the pickup, and the motorhome then we were for just the RV and the SUV.
While you’re getting your annual insurance check up, don’t forget your RV’s smoke alarms and fire extinguishers. You can’t just buy those things and forget they are there. Make sure you change the batteries in your alarms twice a year, and check your fire extinguishers to be sure they are fully charged and not out of date. It’s a good idea to invert them and give them up couple of raps on the bottom and shake them up a little bit every so often so that the fire retardant doesn’t sink to the bottom, as it can in some types of extinguishers. And remember, you don’t want just any old fire extinguisher in your RV. If you ever to have a chance to attend one of my friend Mac McCoy’s fire safety seminars at an RV rally, it will both open your eyes and scare the hell out of you. That’s a good thing. Mac sells an excellent line of RV fire extinguishers and smoke alarms. We have had them in every RV we have owned, and because we sat through his seminars early in our RVing lives and again a couple of times to refresh our memories, Terry knew exactly what to do on two occasions when we had small fires in our motorhomes. Yes, it can happen to you.
Be sure to enter our latest Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an audiobook of the paranormal romance Midnight Moonrising by my friend Kristie Haigwood. To enter, all you have to do is click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.
Thought For The Day – It was a whole lot easier to get older than it was to get wiser.
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Nick Russell
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Funny thing you should mention smoke alarms. Why is it that the batteries only wear out in the wee hours and you have to get out of bed to change them?
You posted everything we have done since hitting the road in 2004. I attended Chris Yust’s latest seminars at the Escapees Escapade in Tucson and I am now preparing to update our multiple policies into, hopefully, a single comprehensive coverage. We also are firm users of Mac the Fire Guy’s foat extinguishers. I actually helped extinguish an engine compartment fire in a classic RV at an Elks Lodge in Indio, CA a few years ago. Thanks everyone for keeping us safe on the road.
— CoolJudy
fat fingers…. no editing in comments — FOAM fire extinguishers. See above….