Luncheon & Boat Trip

This Holiday Rambler rally is a pleasant, laid-back one. Ed's enjoyed his seminars and I've enjoyed meeting new people. Friday was a Ladies' Luncheon for all ladies and Red Hatters could wear their ensembles, if desired. I'm not a Red Hatter but did find some purple and red to wear. White linen table clothes always make things taste better, don't you agree? The food was simple and the presentation was outstanding!

Saturday afternoon, we took a boat tour on the Rappahannock River into the harbor in Urbana. Ed was tickled to get a photo of an osprey with her baby peeking out just below her.

Rally with Holiday Ramblers

Ed is trying to get our satellite set up for Dish Network. He needs two wires coming out of the satellite for them to set things up but hadn't found anyone near home who would touch it. He found an RV place in Richmond and set up an appointment before we left home. The place, Cheek and Shockley RVs, turned out to be only 2 miles from our FMCA rally location.

We arrived there on Monday morning and Ed thought it wouldn't take long. The weather was hot so we headed to a Panera's Bread Company to keep cool and use the internet. Turned out that there were already two wires up there!

Ed also had them try to adjust the living room slide-out with was low enough that the door below it was gouged when he opened it. The problem seems to be that the slide-out motor is old and tired so is not bringing the slide-out in tightly. They're ordering us a motor.

We traveled about 50 miles Northeast to the town of Urbana. I thought of my sister, Anita Krull, when we passed through Westpoint, where she and her husband lived for over 10 years.

This place is called Bethpage Camp-Resort and can accommodate over 700 campers! It's right on the Rappahannock River near the Chesapeake Bay. After dry-camping for several days at the FMCA rally, it feels luxurious to have a full hookup!

A knock came on our door about 10:30 this morning, and the folks were surprised to find that Ed was still in his favorite outfit - his bathrobe. He invited them in as it was hot outside. Both the President (Bob Boyer) and Treasurer (Joyce Eagle) of the Virginia Region III Holiday Rambler Club came to personally welcome us and to deliver our rally packet. They visited for a while, answering questions and filling us in on rally and membership details.

The rally officially starts tomorrow and it's nice to have a day to relax before we begin the many activities planned.
BTW - Holiday Rambler is the brand of our RV.

Philip May - Another One

As mentioned before, I attended a workshop called "Computer Safety and Security for the RV". The leader was Philip May - even the same spelling as my brother's name. He's 6'4", very slim, and speaks with an English accent!

Philip was an executive for many years with HP. Now he and his wife, Tracy, have started their own company, TechnoRV, that focuses on improving the security and enjoyment for RVers with unique, computer-related products.

I bought a USB LED light to light up my keyboard, which will be great when we're watching TV in the RV with most of the lights turned off.

They do have some neat and useful tech-toys. Take a look: http://www.technorv.com/

They've been on the road for almost 3 years with their two teenagers and are having a ball. Tracy says they're pleased that their kids are learning to interact with all types and ages of people and yes, they are home schooled.

It was a pleasure to meet another Philip May and his family.

This is me with my brother, Philip May, in 2000.

Prepping for HD TV in the RV

Sunday morning, we actually got up at 7:30 in time for the coffee, donuts, and bagels. We enjoyed talking to people there and saw the benefits of going every morning – not that we’re going to!! Getting up so early made Sunday seem like it went on forever.

We went to lunch with Rita and Joe Komer(?) from Vienna, VA. Rita and I met at the Ladies’ Luncheon on Friday and we had great fun shopping. (I found her some cute earrings and we both bought some lipstick.) They have a brand new Phaeton RV by Tiffin that has four slide-outs – the prettiest one I’ve seen. Now Ed’s drooling and naturally, wants one!

It’s Monday and we’re at Panera Bread Co. for a bit of internet time. The RV’s at a shop getting a wire installed to run from our satellite on the roof to the inside. When we get home, the plan is to get set up with DISH network and turn off our cable. Dish is the only company that can get Ed's beloved High Definition channels. The fancy satellite is already on the roof so we might as well enjoy it.

It looks like about an hour’s drive to our next rally in Urbana at BethPage Resort. This will be all Holiday Ramblers, the brand of our rig. TBC (to be continued)……

MM's Birthday & Ladies' Luncheon

RV rallies are set up with various workshops throughout the day, vendors in an area all day, and usually entertainment during the evening. I took the “Cleaning Your Rig” one presented by Big Rig RV Accessories. Who would think that a workshop explaining about microfibers, their history, and the various types would be interesting? By the time the guy finished, I wanted to go buy microfiber cleaning rags, towels, mops, etc. One of the great things I like is that to clean windows and mirrors, you use only water and these “rags” - they clean and leave no streaks or lint.

I then went to Advanced Digital Photography and learned a lot about working with photos in different ways. A guy across the aisle asked a question and I recognized his voice. It was Dave Friedel, the fellow Ed enjoyed so much last January in Ft. Lauderdale – more about Dave later.

Ed went to RV Electrical Circuits – Part 1 and Part 2, Allison Transmissions, and the Do’s and Don’ts of Holding Tanks. In between, he had fun shopping and trying to figure out some problems on our RV with Dave.

During the course of the two days I went to Traveling with Tupperware, Organizing Your Coach, and Computer Safety and Security for the RV. The computer workshop was led by Philip May – the same spelling as my brother, Philip May. I went to their booth afterwards and we had great fun texting and calling my brother, then sending him a photo of me standing with Philip May. This Philip May is about 150 pounds and is 6’4” with an English accent.

About Dave and Dianne Friedel - from near Baltimore, MD.... The email address he had given us in January didn’t go through and Ed was disappointed to lose touch with him, as he’s a wealth of knowledge about many topics and a fun guy. Thus, began – or continued a friendship. We went to Applebee’s that evening with Dave and Dianne and they helped celebrate my birthday. I indulged in a Blondie (Gayle Davis, WHY did you have to tell me about them? They are sooo good but soo full of calories…..oh, that’s right, I forgot, if it’s your birthday calories are canceled!).

Friday was the Ladies’ Luncheon, involving many who are in the Red Hat Society. They were decked out in their very creative purple and red hats and ensembles. The menu was really tasty – shiskabobs made of chicken with pineapple and onions, spinach dip with crackers, beautiful grapes, pineapple, and strawberries, little teeny cheesecakes and brownies, with iced tea. It was a very hoity-toity affair - not really but I did meet several nice gals!

RV Rally in Richmond

We left home about noon this morning. The weather is cool and rainy, making for unpleasant driving conditions. On the way down, I started reading over the literature about this rally, only to discover that you’re supposed to come in on June 2^nd and 3^rd! The First-Timers meeting was on the 3^rd so we missed that, oh well…… . We arrived at the F.M.C.A. (Family Motor Coach Association) rally site, which is the Richmond Nascar Complex, have an overview of the rally shopping vendors we might patronize tomorrow.

Ed saw a Church’s Fried Chicken place within site of our coach, so we went over there and had us some gooood fried chicken. It was still in the low 60's, so we turned the generator on to get some heat.

There are about 500 rigs here. Some paid more to have sites with electric hook-up but no one had water or sewer. That means everyone was taking little dry-camping style showers to conserve water. It is surprising how little water a person can get by with, for example, you would never leave the water running while you brush your teeth. We had thought there’d be a bath house where we’d shower but there were only toilets – lots of toilets. Again, oh, well….