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The season is coming to an end. We had our last seminar here at Peace River on Friday. It was fun to have a small group we could 'chat' with after our seminars with 600+ folks at the FMCA!  And, Jim had his last 'help-desk' session in the clubhouse. Here is Benita, who was just thrilled to have the one-on-one help. She also took our 'Blog' seminar and learned how to make a blog.  This will probably be our last weekend here and we're hosting our last group of friends. Glenn, who has been threatening to visit all winter long finally made it.  Perfect timing! Because Diane and Andy are also visiting this weekend to get their Datastorm installed. And Glenn, Diane, and Andy are all our friends from the Kayuba dive club.  Diane and Glenn and I have the same kind of camera, just slightly different models and attachments. So we spent some time on our beautiful nature trail here, taking photos and comparing notes.     When they get around to posting their photos, you'll see Diane's on their blog, and you'll see Glenn's on his Picasa Web Album.  When we leave here, we'll visit family in Fort Lauderdale for a couple weeks, then start heading west. There is nothing on our schedule right now until the next FMCA convention in Redmond, Oregon in August. We're searching out rallies and RV parks along our route to give more seminars. If you're planning a rally or staying at a park who might like to host us - send an email to jimandchris@geeksontour.com.
We are back 'home' again now. In the Peace River Thousand Trails park for a couple weeks. It is much more peaceful now. Instead of being full with about 400 rigs like it was 2 weeks ago, my guess is that there are about 200 rigs here now. Yet, the weather is perfect. I think this is the best time to be here. It's in the high 50s at night and 80 during the day. We parked in a different site, closer to the clubhouse, pool and pickleball courts. We even tried our hand at pickleball yesterday. It's fun.  Diane and Andy are going to be visiting this weekend and Jim will install a Datastorm Internet Satellite dish on their motorhome. I think we're going to make them into our poster children for Internet access on the road. They've used just about every method over the last 3 years and finally realized they needed a dish. We've been telling them that since the beginning!
We worked hard for 4 whole days! It's time for a vacation don't you think? Thursday was the last day of the FMCA convention. Friday was a travel day. We drove 365 miles to the Tampa/St. Pete area to visit with Lynne and Johne. Then we played all weekend. There's lots of waterplay available in the Tampa Bay area. We decided to paddle to a small island called Caladesi. You can't get there by car. Here it is on Google Earth: 
What a great day. Notice the motorhome on the beach. Pretty nice day camp eh? Hey George, are you watching?  
For those of you who wonder how I dare take my precious camera out on the water. Here's a photo of the case I keep it in when I paddle. Jimmy gave me this Pelican case as a gift. They are really THE best way to keep equipment safe and dry. Thanx Jimmy! 
Finding a Geocache. The girls play in the Gulf of Mexico. The boys find a shady spot. We find a canoe trail thru the mangroves.
I did it! I made it to the exercise class at 7am. I know - I need to post photos to prove it. So, here they are:   These folks from PFIT have been at every FMCA convention I can remember and they're great. I feel so good after following their exercises. You can tell they're professionals and they really like what they do. Besides, they're a husband/wife team too ... we relate! I also wrote about them at the last convention. We had two more seminars. In the past, attendance has been low (40-100) on the last day. People are starting to leave, or they're deciding what coach to buy, etc. But this year, we had at least 400 attendees in both the Picasa seminar and the Google Earth. I asked how many of them had attended one of our other seminars and most of them raised their hands. Can I call that a following? It sure was cool! I wonder if they would sit in the front row if they knew I would take their picture in the Picasa class?!  We stole a few minutes on the last day to see the exhibit hall.  Jim really liked this little grill attached to a slide out drawer. How handy!  Then, that night, we attended the Oak Ridge Boys concert - Jim already posted about that. I just want to add a thank you to our sponsor, Beaudry RV. Because of them we had really good seats! So - the party's over. Here's a screenshot of the Google Earth map with the Datastorm Users listed. This shows 31 satellite dishes, but, we saw lots more.  The fields are returning to their empty state.  Check out the line of RVs below. No, they're not parked. They're waiting in line for the dump station.  See all the photos of the convention on Jim's picasa web album. Next FMCA convention ... Redmond, Oregon. Rally Day 3 (part 2) <-- --> Rally Finale, Oak Ridge Boys
 The entertainment tonight was a group from the late 70's and 80's. They were in Branson, Mo. last night and will be somewhere in Tennessee tomorrow night. These guys were playing to the right audience. The Reaves Theater was filled with an enthusiastic crowd of RVers attending the FMCA Convention.  The harmonies were wonderful to hear.  The Mighty Oaks Band was excellent.  The Oak Ridge Boys have been together 30 years. It would not surprise me to see them go another 30. 
We had a great day yesterday. Lots of compliments from people attending the seminars, and people literally bowing down to us at the computer help desk after we fixed problems that had eluded many others. We just floated home on a high, ready to relax with our wine. But wait, just take a look at that sunset! We gotta go back and take some pictures. The weather had been just glorious this week in Perry. A convention planner's dream. Take a look:      A Prevost sunset.  Rally Day 3-part 1 <-- --> Rally Day 4
Yesterday's schedule had no seminars, so we worked at the computer help desk all day. Keeping our skills sharp - seeing so many different computers and issues.  Today we had our 'Every RVer Needs a Blog' seminar. We had another good crowd. And, by the time we got home, two new Blogs had been created and added to our list on GeeksOnTour! Wow - it is so gratifying to teach people how to do something and then see successful results. Check them out: The Traveling FarrarsSpilsbury Travels Jim and I love doing this. In each seminar one of us 'drives' the computer and the other stands up and presents. It works really well. We're a good team.  And, I wanted to mention one woman's comment at the end of class. I particularly enjoyed it when she said, "I was about to ask my daughter to help me make a web page, now I'm going to make one and show her how!" Rally Day 2 <-- --> more of Rally Day 3
Just a few hours earlier, this was an empty field. Dozens of volunteers are trained as 'parking assistants'. They do an amazing job to take a steady stream of RVs and get them parked systematically in these empty fields. 
They label every location with Lots and streets. We're in Lot VE. Jim tells me to white out the t and we'll be in LoVE. awwwww  Plenty of grassy area to walk Odie.  Lots of Datastorm dishes around. Jim counted 31 who were located on the Datastorm Users map.  This is how they provide power.  And, here we are.
 We had much fun at the reception last night. We met old friends from Palm Creek RV, and we made new friends with Duane from Passport America . We've used the Passport America discount camping with great success in all our RV travels. Now they're embarking on a new venture called www.MyRVSpace.com. I've just joined it and I'm real curious to see how it goes. It's a a FREE social networking, information and entertainment site created for campers and RVers.
This morning we were hoping to go to the exercise class, like we have at rallies in the past. I could have sworn it's usually held at 8am - but it was 7 :-( No way we were going to make that. Unfortunately, the free donuts and coffee was open at 8 and on our walk. Oh well, so much for good intentions. 
Off to work at the Computer Help Desk.
Rally Day 1 <-- -->Rally Day 3
It's been a busy day here in Perry, Georgia. Two of Jim's seminars today, High-Speed Internet and Safe Computing. Check out this crowd!  And, here's Mr. Geek himself (yes, that's defrag on the screen behind him. This is the Safe Computing seminar):  Now we're off to an appreciation party. --> Rally Day 2
Check it out - I just recorded a new 'screencast' type video tutorial for our Geeks On Tour homepage. It's about how to connect to a Wi-Fi hotspot, AND, how to disconnect when it connects automatically to one you don't want! Just go to GeeksOnTour.com and look at the sidebar at the right. You'll see a few links to video tutorials listed. This is the latest one, dated March 2007. brrrr - it's cold in Georgia this morning. 41 degrees when we got up. We're moving over to the Georgia Fairgrounds today. That's where the FMCA convention will be starting Monday morning.
The more you live on the road, the more you develop certain paths to and fro. And, it's wonderful to have friends and family to see along the way. After leaving Peace River, we stopped in St. Pete and visited with Lynne and John. They made a yummy 'Mexican Combo' dinner!  Then it was on to my Dad's place in northern Florida. Such a peaceful place to sit and watch the lake, and the birds, and the alligators, and the otters. We really did see all of those things here!  And, Candy's Azaleas are just beautiful. Even though a freeze last month killed off a lot of the foliage, the blossoms are doing well.  And, their driveway is the perfect place for our pre-rally cleanup!  Now we're at an RV park just outside of Perry. We'll move over to the Fairgrounds on Saturday. They don't turn the electricity on until Sunday morning. We're spending time here doing some last-minute seminar preparations.
Next week we will be presenting our seminars at the FMCA convention in Perry, Georgia. We're really looking forward to it. The last time we did this we had several hundred people in the audience at each seminar. The 'High-Speed Internet on the Road' seminar had 500! Here's our schedule: Monday, March 19 at 9:00am: High-Speed Internet on the Road (in Seminar 5) Monday, March 19 at 12:30: Practice Safe Computing (in Seminar 4) Wednesday, March 21 at 11:30: Every RVer Needs a Blog (in Seminar 3) Wednesday, March 21 at 1:30: High-Speed Internet on the Road (in Seminar 3) Thursday, March 22 at 11:30: Managing Digital Photos with Picasa (in Seminar 6) Thursday, March 22 at 1:15: Google Earth (in Seminar 6) We have a new sponsor - Beaudry RV - we look forward to meeting them, and hope they may be interested in sponsoring our seminars at other rallies! We needed to look official - so we made some new t-shirts.  We've also become a corporate member of FMCA so we can advertise and sell stuff. See us listed as member #C11107. Click to read post on ---> Rally Day 1
I have been a member of Women's Executive Club, aka 'WEC' since 1983. Even now, when I don't live in Fort Lauderdale anymore, I stay active as their Webmaster, and I keep in touch with several of the members. Most of these women are much more comfortable in a board room than in a campground, but a few adventurous souls decided to take a mini-vacation and come visit me in Peace River for the weekend. I didn't make them rough it too hard tho - they stayed in cabins - but I did get them all out in the river for a paddle. We had a gorgeous day.  In the picture above, from left to right: Emily, Jan M.R., Jan B., Nancy, me. The photo was taken by Richard from the park who was obliging enough not only to load up kayaks and canoe and drive us to the launch, but also to make sure everyone was situated properly and pushed into the water, AND to take our photo. Thanx Richard! Did I mention that it was beautiful day? Warm sunshine, 75-80 degrees, but still with a cool breeze.      I *told* 'em they might need to get their feet wet! Notice the guy in the background ... not only did he not try to help the ladies in distress - he just walked by shaking his head.  The cold water must have tickled because there was lots of laughter after that!  The kayaks were easier to maneuver - and they went right over the shallow parts. Emily and I reminisced about our first time paddling the Peace River ... in 1983! Our dive club organized a group outing thru Canoe Outpost, or Canoe Safari and we paddled for 2 or 3 days - camping out on the banks of the river.  After a couple hours on the river, we were back at the campground and took a dip in the pool and a soak in the hot tub. Then it was off to a winery about a half-hour away called 'Henscratch Farms.'  There is also a hydroponic 'u-pick-em' strawberry farm there.  We asked for a recommendation for dinner, and discovered The Watering Hole in Sebring. Wow. The food was superb - I had steamed mussels on fettuccine. The huge, live alligator in a cage gave it a uniquely Florida ambiance! This morning, I found Emily sitting at my favorite sitting spot and she had her watercolors out. See more of her paintings at www.EmilyRushin.com.   Nice weekend! Thanx for the visit guys ... er I mean gals.
In addition to our normal seminars and Jim's 'Help-Desk' hours, I did a few private lessons this week as well. You'd be surprised how many RVers use computers and need help! When we first started RVing in 2003, our estimate was that about 50% of all the RVs we saw had a computer inside. Now we think that it's 90%! And - 50% of those have 2 computers! This is simply a reflection of how important computers have become to everyday life. And, the Internet has become a necessary 'utility' akin to electricity, water, or telephone. I just have to brag about one particular teaching session this week. He's a retired doctor. This is his first computer. He and his wife were in this park just for a short time. He took one of our seminars, then scheduled a private lesson for himself and his wife. He told me that his wife liked to write, but she was reluctant to even touch the computer. After the lesson, she seemed excited to start. Just a little bit of training helped break the ice. And, he scheduled another session for himself. When we were finished he gave me a check, but the real payment was the spontaneous hug he gave me. He said that he's accomplished some very difficult feats in his life - becoming a medical doctor and becoming a boat captain among them - but this computer was a challenge that had been defeating him until now. My training put him on the right path and gave him confidence. It may not be solving world hunger, or curing cancer, but Jim and I feel really good about what we do! Check out this computer-in-the-dashboard.  This is an option in a Tiffin Allegro Bus. It isn't just a navigational computer - it's a full-fledged Windows XP computer. Someone in the park had one of these and they showed it to us. They had never used it except to play DVDs. Jim set them up with a WiFi adapter so they could get it online and downloaded all the XP updates they needed. Now both of them can be browsing the web. She on her laptop, and he from one of the front seats. It's about time we started seeing some real computer options in motorhomes. What we're still waiting for is to see outdoor mounted WiFi antennas as an option. Right now, people still have to rig their own. Here's one that we helped set up for a neighbor in the park.  It's a WaveRV marine-type antenna/USB adapter, strapped to a Walmart-special telescoping pole, strapped to the awning support. Works great. He is parked about 6 sites away from us and, with this antenna he gets a good connection to our network. He even uses it to make Skype phone calls to Europe and said it worked fine - once you get used to the delay caused by satellite connection. He promised to only use it for phone calls between 5 and 6 am because that is a bit of a bandwidth-hog and could noticeably slow us down. And, one last picture ... would you believe that Santa comes to our computer classes?! Always wondered what he did the rest of the year. He leaves the sleigh behind and goes RVing!  Read more about him, and see a photo in full dress at Ron's Blog.
Nothing is better than sharing your favorite things with your favorite people! Lynne and John are visiting us for a couple days, staying in the park. Yesterday, we went paddling on the river. We figured, if we could get all 4 boats on one car, then we could drive up to the launch site, paddle down river, then take the other car back up the road to pick up the one we left. It worked out great.   
It always surprises me to learn how wild animals take up residence in one place. To me 'wild' means nomadic. I like being 'wild'! But, it's simply not true. In scuba diving, you can find the same critter in the same branch of coral day after day, month after month. Here, at Thousand Trails, Peace River Reserve, there is a large alligator named 'Stumpy' that you'll find on the same little beach on the same bend of the river - right across from a strategically placed bench. We haven't seen her in a while because it's been cold. I'm not sure where she goes, but she's not on the bank when it's cold. It's warmed up lately, and today she was on her bank, right where she belongs. Jim got some photos today that make it clear why she's called 'stumpy'! We call her 'she' because she was seen with a lot of babies following her around last season.   No one knows how she lost her leg. I sure needed some nature time today. I've been struggling with the computer all day, getting absolutely nothing accomplished. grrrrrrr What a nice bench. All's right with the world as the water flows by like it does every day.   
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