The Sun is out, Rally must be over

OK, so I might be exaggerating a little ... the sun did come out on the last day of the rally. It was actually quite beautiful yesterday. But most of the time it was pretty miserable, they even had to cancel the entertainment on one night due to a tornado warning. They announced that everyone should seek shelter under the grandstand, and definitely *not* stay in their RVs. The shuttle golf carts were driving around making sure everyone got the message and offering rides to the grandstand. A tornado actually did touch down just a few miles from here in Austin, Minnesota. All was just fine here.

We did two seminars here - Picasa, and Every RVer Needs a Blog . They were well attended and well-received. The rest of the time we 'worked' the booth. I put 'work' in quotes because I'm not sure you can call it that when you're not accomplishing anything, and not making any money. It was a relatively small rally - I think the attendance numbers I heard was 280 coaches. We're trying everything this summer as we continue our quest to make a living on the road. A little of this, a little of that, and it all adds up. My bet is that some of the folks who attended the seminars signed up for a Geeks on Tour membership online. Our online sales are going quite well this month since we have the membership on sale for $29.

We did have fun getting to know some of our fellow vendors - the booth next to ours was TechnoRV. Whaddaya know - some more geeks! But these were geeks with toys. A wireless mouse in the shape of a Corvette, or a PT Cruiser was one of their popular items. But, what I want is the scuba diving mask with a camera (and video camera) built in to the frame!

Tracey and Phil, who own TechnoRV, are from England. They moved to the US with their jobs several years ago but have now quit those jobs so they can travel around this beautiful country of ours. And, they do it with 2 kids, a dog, and a retail business - all in their RV! Their son (12 I think) and daughter (14) are home-schooled and appear to enjoy their lifestyle very much.

We also met Ben and Leslie from RVSunpower - their booth was across the aisle from us. They've been living fulltime in their motorhome for over 15 years! They also do many things to make a living on the road. They told us they enjoyed working for the Corps of Engineers parks. And they really like spending winters in Baja!

Is this a great life or what?

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Greetings from Minnesota

The sun woke me up this morning. Two things were very remarkable about that

1. it was 5:30 am! You can tell we're way up north.

2. it's been raining and raining and raining. Does this mean the rain is over?

We're at the Freeborn county fairgrounds in Albert Lea, Minnesota. We're here for the FMCA Midwest Area rally.

Hey, it's Raining!! Time for another RV rally :-)

Ya think we can blame this guy for the rain?

From Geeks on Tour 200906 (June)

We'll be giving our Picasa seminar today at 2:30. See our complete seminar schedule on our Geeks on Tour website.

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Lake Panorama, Iowa

Clark and Helen's neighbor - Frank, is also a member of our Geeks on Tour online classroom, and we looked forward to meeting him. He and his wife, Sandy had us all over for dinner on Friday and took us for a boat ride on the lake on Sunday ... the one sunshiny day we've had here!

Wow .. this place is impressive. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

From Geeks on Tour 200906 (June)

From Geeks on Tour 200906 (June)

From Geeks on Tour 200906 (June)

From Geeks on Tour 200906 (June)

From Geeks on Tour 200906 (June)

Then, last night - we held an impromptu Picasa class and Clark and Helen invited a group of friends to bring their laptops and give it a try. I'd say we have 8 new Picasa converts!

We said our goodbyes over breakfast this morning at 'Just Ethel's' cafe in Yale, Iowa. Thanks for a fabulous time Clark and Helen! or should we say 'Pohl's Lakeside RV Resort'??

From Geeks on Tour 200906 (June)

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A day in Iowa

Clark and Helen graduated from Yale. The high school in Yale, Iowa that is! They took us to breakfast this morning at the Yale community center where their photos were hung on the wall along with all the other graduating classes. In 1951 the total number of senior students was 6!

Then we went to visit Helen's brother who farms the family land. We got there just in time for feeding an orphaned calf.

From Geeks on Tour 200906 (June)

This tractor is all shined up for taking part in a tractor ride with 500 others next week. That would be quite a sight. They're supposed to drive about 180 miles each day for a 3 day event. (see video at the bottom of this post)

From Geeks on Tour 200906 (June)

In addition to hundreds of acres of corn and soybeans, they also raise some cattle. Here is just one of the farm machines necessary to run a place like this: Then, in the afternoon, we took advantage of a nearby 'Rails to Trails' and rode our bikes about 8 miles. This is the Raccoon River Valley Trail. If you click on the links above to the album - you can see some more photos. p.s. I have since learned what a big deal the Tractor Ride is that I mentioned above. If you're going to be anywhere near Waterloo, Iowa on June 21-24 it's worth taking a look at the Great Iowa Tractor Ride. Check out this video about the event:

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Driveway Camping

We are now parked at Clark and Helen's in the community of Panora, Iowa. We call this 'driveway camping.' The best driveways are of people who also RV. Because they know about needing level sites, and 30 amp electric hookup and water! Is this a nice spot or what? That's a lake in the background ... and we hope to do some paddling and boating while we're here.

From Geeks on Tour 200906 (June)

We met Clark and Helen back in 2004 when both of us were doing work for Coach Connect. We were all together at the Great North American RV rally in Hutchinson Kansas. Clark and Helen are the last 2 on the right in this photo:

Through the wonder of group emails (and blogs), we've kept in touch with them over the years and we're thrilled to finally be able to take them up on their offer to visit. Thanks Clark and Helen!

They still go for RV trips, lots of rallies, and travel to Arizona for the winters. For many years, Clark and Helen worked as delivery drivers for RVs. This is how they got to Alaska several times. If you're interested in something like this, check out Bennett Driveaway. Don't expect to make a profit at this, but it can be a great way to get somewhere and have your expenses paid.

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