Roadrunner Reflections - Thanks to Our Readers

One thing I don't do often enough is thank YOU --- our faithful and/or curious readers! So THANK YOU!  I had no idea when I started this years ago that it would be something that is so important to us.

As RVer's, one thing that is of great benefit to us is to know that we are not alone.  We know that you are out there and it is encouraging to get a note or some response from friends 'out there'.

It is almost like that 'letter in the mail' -- someone IS out there!  In a way, we feel connected and a part of your interest group.  We have some things in common…

It is also great to meet new people who happen by and stop long enough to say something.  Even those that take a look and become one of the 'stats' are if fact interesting to us.

Google Analytics indicates on this blog there have been:

• 709 posts 
• Over 130,000 page views
• 2865 comments 
• 274 followers

So for whatever reason it is that you stop by and view the Roadrunner Chronicles -- we appreciate it!  And keep adding those comments and notes!

That is all from the Roadrunner Chronicles this time!  Thanks for joining us!  Until next time...

Weak internet...

One of the hardest adjustments to the RV full-time lifestyle is figuring out what to do when we have no (or very limited) internet connectivity.

Do you know what I mean?  How about you?  What do you do?

We deliberately chose not to go to the expense of going with a Mobile Satellite configuration which may have  because we didn't think it would be cost effective.  We still think we made the right choice but we live with the consequences of that choice which is unexpected interruption of service.  I hate to let people down.  I want to post my blog regularly and it produces a little bit of anxiety when I can't.

We are still in Canada at a campground with intermittent connectivity so I don't know if this will actually work long enough to get this posted.  So I will keep it short.

We may miss another day of posting before we return to the US late tomorrow.  We will be in Port Huron for a couple of days and then head to Texas.  More on that later.

For now, please know I appreciate all you followers, readers, lurkers and curious folks... we will be in touch in a few days.  Thanks for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Labels and Launches at Haas Lake RV Park

Pam and I volunteered to help with anything they need here at the campground and they offered to let us send out thousands of flyers/postcards.  They need to put on labels and stamps.  We were thinking more of some outside work but that's what they offered so we gladly got to it.

We showed up about 9:45AM which is a pretty great time to start working :).  They are getting ready start the camping season and are sending out an announcement to about 7,000 addresses.

Pam and I got set up in the main campstore/office area and started at it.  Thank goodness these are peel off labels and stamps!

We get to meet the folks in the office and get to know them a little bit.  They are nice folks and are really working hard to make this the best season yet at the Haas Lake RV park campground.

Ruth is the manager of the campground and Linda is one of the folks working in the office.  She and Judy handle all the reservations and administrative details of the operation.  In fact, it is quite a huge effort.  They have almost 500 campsites and it is like running a little city.  Lots of activity going on.

I am not sure how many labels we did yesterday, but Pam and I were at it about five hours before we called it a day.  (Like I said, pretty good hours...)  We ran out of stamps but have another box of labels and a never ending supply of postcards.   We likely will come back again later in the week.

When we left, there was still time for Pam to do some laundry and hang it out to dry for a while.

Then we had to bring it inside since the wind was blowing so hard.
After that was done, Pam planted some things in her garden boxes and planter pots.

Later, daughter Kelly emailed me and said she has finally done it!  After many years, she finally published her greeting cards She launched her line:  'lovehislove' and she is already making sales online.  

They are creative and humorous.  You won't find these in your neighborhood card store, I guarantee it! Her website 'PunchInTheFACEDesign' describes how she got started.  Here is an excerpt:

                         In the summer between my junior and senior years of college (summer of '04), I enrolled in an independent study graphic design class. I had decided that what the world needed was not another poster, or another record cover, or another logo. What the world needed was some new greeting cards. I've loved letters- getting them, writing them... it was one of the few ways I was able to communicate with my Grandma when I was younger. So, noticing that most of the "christian" greeting cards made me want to vomit, I decided to... remodel them a bit. I created a line of greeting cards that excited me and made me laugh...

She launched her line of cards, 'lovehislove' (in case you missed it).  Be sure to check out the simple, lovely Mother's Day Card and get yours today!  Buy the dozens...

Megan Update:  She is in the middle of her latest second round of chemo and is having a rough go of it.  Please continue to pray for her, her family and Adam.  Never give up.  Never.  They'd appreciate your encouragement at "For the Love of Meghan" on Facebook.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles.  Hope your week is going well!  Thanks for the notes, emails, Followers, readers, lurkers, etc etc ~ you get the point!  We appreciate the contact and connections.

Apple iPhone for a Fulltime RVer?

Yesterday Adam surprised us was when he called on his iPhone. I never know when he'll call and it is always good to hear from him. He called me, then paused. Next thing I knew Pam, who was at the commissary, was on the phone. He said, "Wait!" and then Kelly was on the call also.

Our first family conference call! That was pretty cool.

There was no special occasion, just Adam showing another neat feature of the iPhone.He has had his iPhone for a couple of years and really loves it.

I am thinking about replacing my aging Blackberry and getting an iPhone.

Is it worth it?

Do any of you out there have one?

What is the best thing about it?

An Apple Store rep told me a couple of weeks ago the best way to get one is to wait until the new ones come out and then by one for $99 that is the current one and has been refurbished.

It makes sense to me because it has the same warranty as a brand new one and you know it has been tested and retested. The new ones out of the box have probably been 'spot checked' with a percentage of them actually checked out.

Let me know what you think. With some of the cool apps on the iPhone, I think I can forego getting a GPS. We'll see...

That's all I have to share today on the Roadrunner Chronicles. Thanks for viewing.

Free Coffee and Donuts at Desert Trails

Mondays get started right here at at Desert Trails RV park. The owner (Perocles) has free coffee and donuts and conducts a little program for 100+ of the residents at the park. It is quite and interesting event.There is usually Standing Room Only for those that wait until the last minute to get there. It is really a highlight of the week. Perocles is a friendly, social, witty guy that is great about praising other people and giving everyone a share of the limelight.
He begins by introducing a theme. Last week it was '10%'. This week it is 'Real Men'. He interjects Real Men into his presentation throughout that can be quite humorous.

He gives a little rundown on the events of the past week which included details from folks who participated in:
- making comfort pillows for the local fire department to give to kids who are in an accident
- trip to the casino
- bike hike
- line dancing from Saturday night
- road litter volunteer pickup crew
- trip to Gaslight Theater
- blongo (still don't know what this is)
- Hymn singing
- photo club

There are a couple of things we may attend this week. Tonight the one and only Arvel Bird will be playing his fiddle. On Wednesday afternoon a local RV maintenance guy (The RV Doctor) will be here for an RV Repair Session.

I am sure I missed some things he talked about. He also has people stand up and introduce themselves and state where they are from. Seems like we have a LOT of folks from Colorado. And some from Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Canada, Virginia .... and other places.
We really hated for the hour to end. Everyone seemed to have a good time and by 10:00 it was over.

Perocles knows how to create community the guests really feel it. They keep coming back year after year. It is hard to get a site after New Years. We will have to put this place on our list for a longer stay next time.

We spent most of the rest of the day running errands and shopping. We made an appointment to get our tires rotated and balanced at the Honda dealer, then found some lunch. We wanted some tacos and a local place instead of the standard national chain fast food.We found a great place called Lobetos. I have no idea what or who a Lobeto is but the food was good.

Next we found Camping World and saw a table that may have potential. It folds up and could serve as a computer table or a game table. We also went to Home Deport, Costco, Sportsman's Warehouse and then went back to the campground.

It rained a little yesterday but the weather is supposed to be great today.

I did some outdoor things and talked with a neighbor. Pam was putting away groceries when Marty stopped by for a few minutes. We have scheduled a Wednesday Mexican Train night session with her and Bill. Should be fun.

That was about it for the day. Thank you for viewing the Roadrunner Chronicles. See you next time.
,

Walks and Computer

It was a much nicer day today than it has been for the last two days. The sun came out and stayed out. The campground here at Lake Lavon, East Fork Park (COE recreation area) is still pretty soggy but the wind stopped blowing and the rain quit.
Posey and John stopped over and we decided to go for a nice walk around the campground.They have a lot of experience in this area and in South Texas, so Pam and wanted to pick their brain a bit. They offered some good advice for our trip to Progreso, TX -- our next destination.

For a good part of the day I did some reconfiguring on my laptop. I reinstalled some software, downloaded drivers for my printer, and backed up my data again.Last week after my computer crashed, I was able to have a computer store back up the data off my laptop. I have two external hard drives, so I copied the backed up data onto my second one.

It took a while, but I am more comfortable knowing I have the data in three places: my laptop and each of my two external hard drives.

Later we ran some errands and then went over to Kelly's place. I had some time to take my buddy Ed (her dog) for a long walk.
We have enjoyed the last five months with Ed on our travels but it is time for him to settle down in Kelly's stix and bricks. We'll see him again when we return during the week of Thanksgiving.

We played some ping pong at Kelly's before we returned to the campground.

That's it for this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles. We'll be posting our next one from Fort Sam Houston outside of San Antonio. Thanks for checking in.

More moving & our new toad & saying so long

Sunday afternoon Adam got the word his room in the house down in Wash DC was open. We rented a U-Haul and went to work. We moved all of his things into it and found a way to get them all into his place.Monday Kelly packed up and joined some friends for their trip to Ireland for 10 days. After we dropped them off at Dulles we drove to Rockville MD and purchased our towable vehicle (toad) a 2009 Honda CRV.
Then Tuesday we heard the condo in Chesapeake had closed so that was a relief.
On Wednesday Pam cleaned up the Tacoma and we sold it to Pete and Roxanne. It was a great truck and was in great shape. Although Pam noticed the crack in the windshield....WHAT?... yep...first time we saw it. ----But we will get that fixed and it will be good as new. Interesting timing though. I am glad it showed up this week and not next week.
Meanwhile we are making the rounds and saying good bye-
At the Wednesday morning men's group I attend:
With Rudy at our bi-weekly IHOP breakfast
At a luncheon with our MITRE Project Management Team
As you can see it has been busy. But it is an exciting time! Next blog --the long anticipated purchase of our 40' Tiffin Allegro Bus!

Stay tuned.

Closings & Satellites

Friday I drove to Virginia Beach to close on the condo on Monday. I met Christine at her law office to complete the paperwork. It was about a 3 1/2 hour drive so I left early in order to make the 10 o'clock signing.
While I was in the area, I wanted to go by and talk with Ryan Gaboriault at Mobile Satellite Technologies. He is a sales engineer and knows a lot about how to get a Motosat Datastorm set up for the RV.
At a price tag of $5000+ we are not convinced we need something (a G-74 or G-75)that can allow us to get both internet and satellite TV on the same system. I am thinking Direct TV with my DomeGuard will work fine along with my broadband EDVO card on my laptop for internet connectivity.
But I am not sure. The more robust system is allow connectivity when dry camping / boondocking

While Ryan was explaining all this to me we spoke with Kirk Williams, the Director of Sales. He filled me in on the government clients who come to them --- FBI, Homeland Security, Fairfax County Fire Department etc. More to follow on this choice. I am leaning toward something more than an EDVO card but less costly than the whole satellite set up.Meanwhile, while I was on my way back from VA Beach, the new buyers did a walk-through of the house.
Late this morning, Pam and Kelly returned from Fort Worth but both paid a price. They pretty well spent and feeling under the weather. I put them to bed and headed off with Jeff (our realtor) to close on the house. Here is a group shot of the team that put it all together.
Big smiles all around for that one!

Now we are renters. The new owners were gracious enough to let us rent back a few days so we can purchase the RV and get set up. We will vacate in two weeks on the 29th.

100 and counting - A Big THANK YOU

This posts marks 100!
It is hard to believe that since we started this 'experiment' it has grown to over 1600 readers. Of that over 300 are regulars.

Thanks for being a part of our adventure and sending the notes and comments along the way. The screen shot shows that we have readers in every state except Wyoming. How long will it take for us to fill in that state? June? July? Aug?

We will see... stay tuned.

The Power of Webcams

You should try out web cams! They make a conversation a lot more interesting than the phone. When we hit the road in our RV, we anticipate getting in touch with family and friends often via the webcam. There may be some exotic 'for pay' applications out there, but I only use the 'freebies'. (Got to be thinking about being on a budget. A small budget...)

Last summer my desktop was getting old and slow, so I decided to get a new computer. I ended up with a Dell Studio laptop with lots of RAM and storage and a big screen. It also came with a web camera embedded in the top of the screen. Similar to a Mac.

Some of the software that came with it was Dell Video Chat. I downloaded it, installed it and got with my buddy Rudy. We hook up every so often to check in. It was pretty easy to set up and I thought it was great.Then I more or less stumbled on Google Video Chat. I thought that was better than Dell. I still use it at times. In fact, last night Pam and I did a session with Adam and Meghan. (He took some time off and went to be with her during her 4th of 6 chemo sessions.)
My friend Ed lives in Orlando. We have stayed with him and Candice many times since they moved there three years ago. He likes SKYPE so, we use that often too. With 11 million+ users, it is really something. Not sure how a system can support that kind of use, but it does.
My brother Marty showed me the best one yet! ooVoo.com This application lets up to three people do a video chat at the same time. You can use this one two ways:

1. Download and install the software like the others, or
2. Just user your broswer; no download required. Click on the link on the right side panel of the blog

If you'd like to give it a try I think you'll love it. If you have already been using them, let me know and we can hook up sometime.

The more I use these kinds of things to keep in contact with folks, the more get over the idea that we will be 'out there in RV land on our own with no one to talk too'. There probably will be times when it gets lonely out there. But hey - sometimes it gets lonely here in the Washington DC suburbs!

It's not a business but these things still make a lot of sense...

One of the most useful things we have done is make up a contact card.After talking about this for months and months, we found ourselves trying to explain to people what we are doing with this 'living in an RV thing'. Often we ended up getting their name and phone numbers and giving them ours.

In September, when we were getting ready to go to the Life on Wheels RV conference with 150 other RVers, I knew we would be meeting a lot of people and thought it would be good to have a card. So I designed a card and passed it around. It came in quite handy.

Let's just say my daughter was nice enough to say, 'Let me give it a shot dad...' . I think she did a pretty good job so we went with what you see here. We especially liked that part where she took a few liberties with PhotoShop and 'slimmed me and mom down a bit'.

After a quick trip to Kinkos and a few days later, we were all set.

So how about you? Do you have a card?

Christmas Cheer!

We had a holiday gathering at church, work and in our neighborhood.
At church, we had a wonderful evening of friendly conversation and good food. Pam and I are helping with the military ministry social activities committee. We helped with the set up and had a few minutes to admire our work before everyone arrived. We had plenty of food and an excellent program that included some first class singing provided by the BASICs.
The highlight of the evening for me was meeting other military families and getting to know them a little bit.
Tom and his family are still in the Air Force, have two children--one of which goes to Baylor. And they spent significant time in Albuquerque. So we had a lot to talk about.
Scott is in the Army and has a brother in law who is involved with relief work and owns an RV. I am going to follow up on that one to see if his organization is a possibility for us some time down the road.

We also had a potluck at work. This year they decided to cater the potluck and have different foods on each floor of the building. Last year it was a traffic jam in our little cafeteria but this year it worked pretty well. The food was so good, that I spent the whole time in lines and eating and forgot to take more pictures.
Then to top off the last few days of get-togethers, our good friends and neighbors for some 'Christmas Pasta'. It was great! John and Gill have been the focal point of our neighborhood and they have had a number of social events which are always fun.
Some of us were downstairs watching golf and football, while others were around the dining room table engaging in animated conversation.
So that is another reason why I like the holiday season--events around food and friends spark a lot of Christmas Cheer!

Add a comment - they are a big deal to us

For a blog writer - it is very exciting to see someone write a comment. But I think many readers would be surprise to know that. But it is true.
I would if more would but just don't know how. It is very simple and I will try to explain in steps.
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
That's it! Hopefully you will now know how to do it.
If not, or if you have suggestions, please email me at: rwarner22@gmail.com

Adding Pictures

So I want to learn how to make my blog better. The next step is to learn how to add pictures, links and other items.

So here goes.... Pam and I are at a Great Falls on the Potomac.

What do you think?

blog vs web page

In my short amount of time learning about RV full timers on the web, I can see that blogging is the way to go for keeping a log

As we find more and more information on the web from experienced RV ers ---they seem to have web pages with info and photos.

Here are a couple of my favorites:

http://www.seeya-downtheroad.com/
http://www.happy-wanderers.com/index.htm

These are traditional websites which are a little more complicated than I want to figure out.

Since I am not a techie by nature, it makes more sense to learn about blogging that is does learning about how to create web pages and links.
This is encouraging and not quite so overwhelming. Look for more content on my blog as I learn how to add and link things.