On our Way to FMCA

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

WEC - Peace River Outing

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.

RVs and Computers, a busy week

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.

Beautiful Day, Wonderful Friends

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.

Stumpy, the mascot alligator

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.