Quad Cities, Mississippi, Computer Classes and TV show

We arrived here in the Quad Cities over a week ago - Jim researched and found a nice Corps of Engineers park right on the river - Fisherman's Corner.  We settled in for a 12 day stay.

We're here at the invitation of the Quad Cities Computer Society.  We were thru here last year and did a Picasa seminar.  This time we're doing two hands-on Picasa classes, one Smartphone seminar, and one Facebook seminar.  The club treated us to dinner with several of their members.  Here's a collage that Vicki - their webmaster and our main contact - put together of the evening.

We've had gorgeous weather here and have even taken some time to see a few sights, like Buffalo Bill's birthplace:

And Mississippi Lock and Dam #14

We also had plenty of our normal computer / website work to do.  Here I am doing the voice over for a little video I did of the Copilot Live software that Jim reviewed.

Then we had our first hands on class on Saturday.  Thanks to Vicki for taking so many pictures!

After the workshop we made our way to the place were Floatzilla was happening, put our kayaks in the water and tried to help break a world record of the most kayaks / canoes in a raft up.  They needed nearly 2,000 and the number we heard was only 1,500 - but it sure was a hoot.

We considered it a success because we got our kayaks wet in the Mississippi river!

Then, today was the day we were scheduled for a Television interview on a show called Paula Sands Live ... WKQC, Channel 6 in Davenport, Iowa.  We were promoting the free smartphone seminar that we're doing for the Quad Cities Computer Society tomorrow.

You can see the web version of our 4.5 minute segment on their website at  http://bit.ly/PaaGVB

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Weekend Fun: Kayuba Waterway Cleanup at Bonnet House

Would you believe I turned my computers off and left them off all weekend!?  On Saturday we volunteered with our Kayuba dive club to pick up trash as part of Fort Lauderdale’s Waterway Cleanup day.  Our club does the work at the Bonnet House because the waterway there doesn’t have a seawall – It’s all mangrove roots and catches a lot of garbage floating by – so kayaks are the only way to get to it.  This picture from last year, gives you the best view of what I’m talking about:

Here’s Jim and my Uncle John getting ready.

We were so lucky to have a gorgeous day.  So, even though a morning of work didn’t appeal to me, I had a great time just getting my kayak wet and paddling around.  The fact that we were doing good deeds by cleaning plastic bottles, styrofoam cups, and lost shoes and plastic toys, out of the mangroves was icing on the cake.  See lots more pictures on Kayuba’s facebook page.

When the trash pickup was over, we took advantage of the beautiful day and strolled around the grounds at Bonnet house.  By this time, Dee arrived with Mom, so we all had a nice time together.

Here’s mom and Uncle John as we walked the grounds.

And, here’s Dee with a giant Banyan Tree

Internet Woes at Thousand Trails Natchez Trace

It is beautiful here in this huge park.  800,000 acres! 

But, there’s one mighty big problem for us … Lousy Internet.

We certainly didn’t expect Wi-Fi at the sites here, but I did check the Verizon coverage map before we came and it showed full digital Verizon coverage throughout the park.  Our site is where X marks the spot – and the dark pink color is supposed to mean there is full digital coverage.  There are plenty of places, even nearby, where you can see big white spots representing holes in the digital coverage – so it seems like an honest map.

Well, it does work – slowly – at 3am!  But, I couldn’t keep a connection with either voice or data at any other time of day. 

So, I brought my laptop up the hill to the Rec Center where there is Wi-Fi.  Even with nobody in the center but me – it was too slow to be useable.  Luckily the Verizon signal is better up the hill though – so I tethered my Droid cellphone to the computer and that’s how I’m able to make this post.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way!

And, surprise,surprise, I can find other things to do besides working on the Internet!  We went for a paddle this afternoon.  This is called the Natchez Trace Wilderness Preserve … and it lives up to it’s name!

Paddling the Peace River

One of my very favorite things to do!  We’ve been paddling the Peace River long before we got an RV or learned of Thousand Trails.  In fact, it was one of the first things Jim and I did when we first met.  Back then, we’d take canoes and we’d camp overnight on the river – now we just drive a couple miles up the road from the Thousand Trails campground and then paddle/float a couple hours.  There’s many Peace River visits that we don’t go paddling – either the water level is too low, or the weather is bad, or we’re just lazy.  I think we made an extra effort this time because my Mom is with us.

 

I’m so glad we did!  It was beautiful.

 

 

 

 

When I realized mom had a Thousand Trails hat on – I told her to put it backwards – thinking it might make a good promo photo :-)  Makes her look like a little kid!

 

These are cypress knees.

 

And spanish moss

 

After the paddle, there was still a little light left to walk the nature trail with a glass of wine and watch the almost full moon rise.

 

 

Work or Play?

I really do need to write in here more often.  Once 3 days goes by – then I feel overwhelmed and I don’t know what to write about – so I don’t.  It’s so much easier when we’re on the road and each day is it’s own separate event.  When we’re parked, the days all seem to run into each other – and so much of what we do doesn’t seem ‘bloggable.’ 

 

What I want to tell you about is Monday.  We tried to go kayak diving on Sunday (it’s the closest thing to church that we do) but it was too windy.  Monday morning, we woke up to a perfectly calm day … here’s how the conversation went:

Jim: “We should go diving.”

Me: “No, we have too much work to do.”

Jim: “Which is more important? Work or diving?”

Me: “Work, because it’s what allows us to pay for our lifestyle.” I said, unconvincingly

Jim: “We can work anytime. When conditions are right, we need to go diving.”

 

hmmmm … I think he’s right.  We went diving.  The ocean was perfect – see video below.  I still felt guilty though – we so often choose play over work.  So, if our newsletter is a little late, or you can’t get all our Picasa videos yet because we haven’t uploaded them to the right webpage, or you’re a website client still waiting for the finished product, or we haven’t answered your email, or …  well – you’ll know why.

 

I don’t think Jim feels guilty at all … do men not have the ‘guilt gene?’

 

Paddling Salem Harbor and Marblehead

I almost titled this, “A Three Hour Tour” (thnk theme song from Gilligan's Island) because that’s exactly what we did. We had to stop for a domestic day yesterday. When we run out of toilet paper, dog food, and clean underwear – we gotta do laundry and go to the grocery store. Add to that the normal 3-4 hours of answering emails, and the day is pretty shot.

So we decided to stay an extra day here in Salem because we really wanted to get the kayaks wet. We had to dump our holding tanks this morning … even at $37/night there’s no full hookups here. And, the nearest dump is at the power plant around the corner. So … we did our website/email thing, and went to the dump .. it was about 2:00 before we were ready to paddle. Luckily the weather cooperated. We paddled all around the Salem harbor, and out around Marblehead. We got back about 5. According to my measurements on Google Earth, we paddled about 6 miles (the white line):

Our first destination was this 3-masted ship we saw on display – the Peacemaker. I think the tourists on board were more impressed with the dog on the kayak going by! Cool view.

Then we paddled thru all the anchored boats in the harbor. We saw one seal poke his head up and take a look around.

Beautiful homes on Marblehead! Almost makes me think it would be worth winter.

Kayaks get Wet!

And so do we.  And so does Odie!

 

We traveled into upstate New York .. started seeing hills!

 

We had reservations at Schroon River park.  It’s a good thing.  This place is full.  It’s crowded, but it’s pretty with lots of trees.  Here’s our site:

 

 

We woke up to a gorgeous day today .. so we asked about arrangements for paddling on the river.  What service!  Someone in the park drove us in our car to the put-in spot, then drove our car back to the campground.  So we got to float/paddle for about 3 hours and end up back home with our car waiting for us.

 

 

Lots of water in this river.  And, there was even some whitewater.  Odie had a few adventures…

 

 

But we always got him back!  That yellow life vest has a handy handle on the back.

 

Scuba Diving!

What a gorgeous day! Jim had all our gear ready because he tried to go out diving last week but the weather didn't cooperate.

Today was different!

From Geeks on Tour blog 200810

And the water ... oooh the heavenly water. It was a *perfect* 82 degrees. Visibility was about 50 feet. AND ... Jim caught 6 lobsters! We'll have a good dinner tonight. And, my Uncle John joined us for today's dive too. See a past video of kayak diving.

From Geeks on Tour blog 200810

When I'm scuba diving, I imagine that my skin is just soaking up all those natural minerals from the ocean water. I also am in a meditation mode while diving. It's so beautiful, so relaxing. Just floating in that warm water - no talking is possible - my mind has free reign! So, what am I thinking about? All the things I want to do with our Geeks on Tour website! I'm working on putting every article I've ever written into a blog post (the wifisavvy.com WordPress blog.) That way, you can search for anything and a list of articles will appear. Or you can view all articles by category or keyword. Jim says he wants to do podcasts. And, I'm determined to finish a complete new series of Picasa tutorial videos on the new Picasa 3. And we need to learn more about how to market our membership site with all the video tutorials. I came home and started reading my email - opened Kim Komando's newsletter. It mentioned that her radio show today was going to talk about making money online. I generally stay away from any come-ons for making money online because there are so many scams, but, I trust her and wanted to hear what she had to say. I needed an AM radio. I couldn't find one. I sat in the car and listened for a little while, until I felt too stupid. Then I thought I'd check the web. Within 5 minutes, I was listening to a live radio broadcast of the Kim Komando show on my computer. Check out www.web-radio.fm/ if you want to try it. You can look up any radio station in the country by call letters. Geeez I love the web. Oh ... and here's what Kim has to say about using the web to both save and make money. Aha ... it's dinnertime! Now, that's fresh lobster

From Geeks on Tour blog 200810

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Lost Valley Lake

Have I told you how much I like this place? Lost Valley Lake is a big place. We've gone for our 2 mile walk every morning except one when it was raining. A nice walk, with a couple of hills to challenge our muscles even! And a place where Odie can cool off about halfway.

After a particularly satisfying accomplishment in my programming work, I could give myself a treat by going to the Spa that is just down the hill from our site. The programming wasn't without its frustrations. But, I have a way of dealing with that too! Jim accomplished some long-neglected tasks too, like tuning up our bicycles. We didn't ride them around here - too hilly - but we usually make good use of them at the bigger rallies and we have 3 coming up. The best thing about this place is the peace and quiet and open space. Jim mentioned the lack of wind as another calming factor. And, the lack of cell phone signal may also be considered peaceful :-) Sorry, if anyone tried to call us these last two weeks - but anyone who really knows us would use email anyway. Jim also checked out the kayaks and we went for a little paddle in the lake yesterday. This is where sweet, mild-mannered Odie puts on his magic cape and becomes ... Kayodie! Here's a panorama that should give you the idea of the pastoral life we've been leading these last couple weeks. We'll be leaving on Sunday. We'll stop at Mark Twain Caves - a park we visited during our first year on the road. It's right across a street from the Mississippi river, but we've checked and they say they are not flooded. Last time we were there, we toured the caves, this time, we hope to take advantage of a Mark Twain stage show. Then, on Monday we are due to be in Amana Colonies, Iowa for the start of the Safari Rally.

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