Happy Thanksgiving

We hope you all had a very Happy Thanksgiving.  We have so much to be thankful for I can’t even begin to list it all.

Just take a look at this beach which is only 15 minutes away.

The beach - just 15 minutes away

We had our Thanksgiving celebration at Birch State park, just across from the beach.  Lots of family and friends and good food and a stunningly beautiful day.  Thank you Jo Ellen for putting this together.

Our Thanksgiving picnic spot

Fried turkey for Thanksgiving

I gotta admit though, I find it a bit unsettling to be so settled!  Our wheels haven’t turned in 6 weeks, and we don’t have any plans to move in the foreseeable future.  I’ve been waiting for this time to get work done on our business website, and I have done a lot of good work, but it seems like every one thing that I scratch off my list produces at least 10 more to-do items on the bottom.  I think that the RV traveling lifestyle puts time into perspective.  Or maybe I just like to be on the move – period  

My 40th High School reunion took place this month.  It was great fun to see old friends.  Surprisingly, I found out that I was one of the few who have attended every reunion we’ve had!  That tells me something about myself – connections with people are very important to me.  I never pass up an opportunity to keep those connections alive.  I think that’s why I like Facebook so much.  Now I have a few more High School friends that I know I’ll stay connected with because we are Facebook friends.

The day after Thanksgiving Jim and Dee Walters pulled into the RV site right next to ours.  They are also fulltime RVers that we met a few years ago and we’ve had fun spending a little time and getting to know them better.  Dee agrees with me that an RV is meant to be moved more often than every two months!  Dee keeps a blog too – Tumbleweed-JimDee.blogspot.com but she does a much better job at writing regularly!  She posted about our evening yesterday where we actually dusted off the Wii and had some fun. 

Playing Wii bowling

Thanks Dee for motivating me!

Jim and Dee Walters - fellow fulltime RVers - tumbleweed-jimdee.blogspot.com

Gabbing with the Geeks

I finally got around to editing the video we shot up in Goshen, Indiana of our friends Phil and Tracey May from TechnoRV.  I had a real problem getting any of my video editing software to work with the files taken by our Kodak Zi8 video camera.  I don't know why ... I've done it before.  It seems as if the latest upgrade to Windows Live MovieMaker removed the ability to work with the .mov files that the Kodak camera takes.

I had to use the Kodak software to convert the files to .mp4 first - then I used Camtasia to do the editing.  What a chore!  The results are below - I hope you like meeting Phil and Tracey, we sure did.  This video is part of our series we call 'Gabbing with the Geeks.'  You can see all 9 'Gabbing' videos on our GeeksOnTour.TV website.

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Datastorm rally south

We have visitors here at Paradise Island in Fort Lauderdale. Member #1, and member #16 of the DatastormUsers group.

Here is the map that the DatastormUsers group is so famous for. Who is member #1? That's Don Bradner, the creator of the DatastormUsers.com website.

From Geeks on Tour Blog photos for November 2008

This map is the greatest thing. Every time we move (or any Datastorm User) we enter our position on the map. Then, the website automatically sends an email to whoever we specify with a link to the map. This way, our friends and family are automatically alerted to our whereabouts whenever we move. The map includes a link to our website so, if they want to read further and see pictures, it's easy to do so.

You can also see the map in google earth:

From Geeks on Tour Blog photos for November 2008

Thanks Don for creating such a cool tool! Number 16 on the map is Michael and Georgia Day. Michael is the one who organized most of the last rally. We're thrilled that they're both spending some time seeing Florida, and now, visiting us here in Fort Lauderdale. Here's Georgia and their 44 ft Newell!

From Geeks on Tour Blog photos for November 2008

And, here's #1 - with the BIG dish!

From Geeks on Tour Blog photos for November 2008

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RVing in Asia!

On our way back to Fort Lauderdale from Tampa we decided to make a stop at Sun 'n Shade in Punta Gorda. Sun 'n Shade is owned by the same company that owns Paradise Island, where we stay in Fort Lauderdale. Jim is often telling people about it when he works in the office, and it seemed like a good idea for us to see it.

Ahhhh ... the west side of Florida is so calm and laid back compared to the east. So much space, and peace and quiet! Here's our site:

From Geeks on Tour Blog photos for November 2008

And some very friendly local residents!

From Geeks on Tour Blog photos for November 2008

As we pulled in to our site, we noticed this 5th wheel and they seemed to be fidding with their Datastorm satellite dish. Sure enough, they saw our sign and came to greet us asking if Jim could help get their dish to connect to the satellite.

From Geeks on Tour Blog photos for November 2008

While Jim worked with their computer and dish, I chatted with Helga and learned that they are from Germany. They've spent several winters here in Sun 'n Shade. But what was really fascinating was that they took a 6 month RV trip a few years ago with a tour group from Germany called Perestroika Tours. They started in Austria with 10 RVs in their caravan. They drove through Greece, over to Turkey, then thru Iran and Kazakhstan. She said Kazakhstan was gorgeous! From there they continued east into China, up into Mongolia - she also loved Mongolia - and then Russia. And back - 26,000 miles I think she said. She remembers spending 4 days in Moscow. Can you imagine!? Boy, did this get my adventure juices flowing! I didn't even know there were roads thru the places they went. Let alone that it would be possible to drive your RV. She does remember one of the mountain passes being pretty scary. And the roads were horrible. I believe it was all rental RVs from the tour company. They didn't take their 5th wheel - it was a 24 foot class C. There weren't any RV parks ... they parked in fields and parking lots. They even took their dog with them! The dog was a problem at the China border crossing, but after much perserverence, a little cash, waiting till the guards changed, and even hiding the dog at one point - they kept going. Here's Helga and her dog, Sockie:

From Geeks on Tour Blog photos for November 2008

I sure wish they had a Blog! If we were staying by them for any length of time, you can bet they would :-)

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Computer Heroes

When we did computer training and support for a business in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, we were often known as 'computer heroes.' I remember one client said she was going to give me a cape to wear!

Well, I have my computer heroes too ... for different reasons ... and one is Elliott Masie. Back in the late 80's, early 90s, he organized a conference for computer training professionals called the 'Computer Training and Support Conference.' It was a great conference. I don't remember the numbers exactly, but I think there were usually 1 - 2,000 attendees from all over the country. I would attend as a participant and, in later years, as a presenter ... he called us 'faculty.' He knew how to make us (computer trainers) feel special. We were always very motivated after one of his conferences.

My memory quilt even has a couple patches from one of those conferences. It is a special memory. (note: Van Valkenburg was my last name then)

So, when I saw that we were planning to pass close to Saratoga Springs, the home of his 'Masie Center' I thought I'd drop in! We were lucky, both he and his wife Cathy were in and we got to spend a little bit of time chatting before we had to hit the road again. He's still in the business of furthering the role of training, but instead of concentrating on how to teach people to use computers, it's more about how to use computers to help people learn anything. It's always an interesting conversation whenever Elliott's involved. His current conference is simply called Learning. And, he produces an email newsletter called Learning Trends.

One thing that I love about our nomad lifestyle is the opportunities to connect, and re-connect, with people all over.

Thanks Elliott and Cathy! Hope to spend some more time in Saratoga someday. It looks like a nice place. Good luck with your horses!

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The Ultimate Field Trip

I introduced you to Mary Ann in my previous post. Now, let me tell you a little more. I think it is just so cool that she is home-schooling her 2 teenagers by traveling around the country in a motorhome. Imagine learning about Custer's Last Stand not by reading a textbook, but by visting the Little Big Horn Battlefield. Nothing brings history to life more than standing on the soil where it happened. Or learning about end of WWII and the start of the cold war by visiting the Truman Presidential Library. History is easy, what about math? or geology? Well, for math, they take a self-study course online. And, geology, well ... how about spending time in places like Glacier National park, or watching the Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone.

In order to make their 'Grand Adventure' (that's their blog, of course) work, Mary Ann and her husband made a deal ... he stays home in Orange County, CA and works. She and the kids live on the road. He meets up with them once in a while. Ooooohh, I don't think Jim would ever agree to such an arrangement do you?! Here's the gang, complete with a friend who flew in from California and is staying with them for 3 weeks.

We really enjoyed talking with them and shared a lot of RVing tales. Jim spent some time trying to get them an Internet connection. They use a Verizon aircard and, as I mentioned in a previous post, our Verizon phones can't find any signal here. They have all the 'booster' equpment though (antenna and amplifier), and Jim was hopeful he could get them going. After much experimentation, he and Mary Ann were able to get a signal that would get them online ... for about 2 minutes. :-(

Have I told you lately how much I love my Satellite Internet? The link is to my RV.net blog post that Mary Ann saw (while she used the Wi-Fi in the clubhouse) which prompted her to email us and introduce herself. Who says technology keeps us from real, personal, interaction?! I say it makes it happen!

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Jane Seymour at Palm Creek

This park, Palm Creek, has lots of events and entertainment scheduled throughout the season. We've never really taken advantage of it before, but we're more interested this year since we're here all season. So, when they asked if we would attend the Jane Seymour event and take pictures - we gladly accepted. Jim decided to be the photographer, but I had to grab the camera at least to get a picture of him with Jane ... "Beauty and the Geek!" It was an interesting event, not at all what I was expecting. It was about a new website by the founder of Monster.com - Jeff Taylor. The website is a social networking site for those of us, "Lovin Life on the flip side of 50." The name of the site is eons.com and it does look pretty interesting. Here's Jeff Taylor lovin' this 55 - 80 year old crowd. So, the event was a little bit about Jeff Taylor, a little bit about the joys of middle age :-) and, then the headliner was Jane Seymour - their celebrity spokesperson. I really liked her! Lots more photos on our web album.

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Meet Bob and Polly and new baby, Datastorm

One thing I notice, and like, about couples you meet while RVing ... they really get along well. Think about it, if you're gonna live 24/7 in a 35X12 (approx) box, you *BETTER* get along! Bob and Polly exemplify this philosophy, and they're a joy to be around. They are also fellow geeks. They used to live in Tampa and they had a software business which developed data systems for Juvenile Assessment Centers in several counties in Florida. They got out of that business a few years ago to follow Bob's dream of living on the road. Now they spend summers in Southwest Wyoming, some of the winter here in Florida, and their legal residence is in South Dakota. True full-time RVers, we have a lot in common with Bob and Polly. And, they decided to add to our common factors by getting a Datastorm Internet Satellite dish from us! This will help them in their new business ventures and stock-trading. Here's Jim and Bob getting their new dish onto the roof of their Dutch Star motorhome. Although the dish has to be secured to the roof with screws, Jim was happy that he didn't have to drill a big hole for the cabling because it worked to pass them inside the coach next to the exhaust vent. Here's the proud new owners admiring their magic dish. I snapped a photo of 'the boys' as they were playing with the new toy. They looked up at the sound of the flash popping up, and immediately went back to their toy. Aren't they cute? And, here's Polly, calling friends to tell about their new purchase. As the sun set, we have a new Satellite Internet connection here at Peace River. You'll be seeing them on the DatastormUsers.com map very soon now.