Had a safe and leisurely trip up here to The Woods Campground in the Poconos.  Because of diesel fuel being nearly $5 a gallon I decided to keep the coach at 58 mph on the way up.  That seems to be the “sweet spot” for the 500 hp Cummins and Allison 6 speed automatic transmission.  At 57 mph I’m runnng 1,500 rpm’s but at 58/59 it drops back to 1,350.  So, just set the cruise at 58 and relaxed. 

It worked.  Instead of the usual 6.2 mpg I get at 70/74 mph, I average 8.1 mpg until I hit the hills.  So keeping it under 60 really paid off.

The Campground has been great.  Hundreds of guys and gals here all just chilling out.  Weather sucked as it rained all night Thursday and all day Friday but cleared up Friday night and today was beautiful.

It’s nice to get away and just relax.  Spent all day Friday just resting, reading and napping.  All in all a good day.  Today did some hiking, laid by the pool a bit and then tonight attended a variety show put on my various campers in costumers and then saw a great fireworks display to cap off the evening.

Below are a few photos and as you can see everything is here from Class A motorhomes to tents.  I’d estimate that at least 500 to 600 campers are here are just having a great time.

I head back tomorrow, clean up and unload the coach and then just chill out and get ready to hit the grind on Monday.

Enjoy the photos….

Bill

I have been remiss in not posting to the blog.  My apologies.  It just seems like days turn in to weeks and then weeks turn in to months and our daily lives just keep us so busy that the time flies before you know it.

I have now sold the house in Palm Springs and am happily living “On the River”, well, next to it in Seaford, DE. 

In some of my previous posts your were introduced to my daughter, Brandy and granddaugher, Samantham who were living in Hastings, Nebraska.  Things change.   Both of them are now living with me in Seaford.   So much for the nice quiet single lifestyle. 

Samantha (Sam) is now 17 months old and man is it an adjustment to go from living alone to having a young child in the house.

This is a photo Sam this Spring on the Deck.  We were planting the garden and she was “helping”.

Today I leave in the Coach for The Woods Campground up in the Poconos for a bit of R and R.  I haven’t driven the coach since bringing it back to Seaford in December.  That was when I ran into all of the snow and ice storms in Nebraska and Iowa, so hopefully, this trip will go a bit smoother.  She’s all ready to go, fluids and tire pressures checked and filled.

Assuming I’m able to get my Verizon Wireless to work “up in the mountains”, I’ll post from there with some photos.  If you don’t hear from me over the weekend then you’ll know I’m in a dead spot……”can you hear me now?” 

One last thing.  A reader recently wrote saying that he was considering going fulltime and wondered what type of jobs there were for fulltimers out there.  There is a site, which is a good place to start that talks about jobs for fulltime RV’ers.  Here tis’: http://www.workersonwheels.com/working.html

That’s it for now…I have to get on the road to the Poconos!  Have a wonderful and SAFE 4th of July holiday.

BillnDE…no longer BillnPS

The following letter I received from a friend of mine today. I don’t know who wrote it other than she is a housewife in New Jersey. After reading I thought that what she had to say basically summed up how I felt. I also thought that even though this is a porn blog, that perhaps some of you might want to read it and pass it on to friends. So, here it is:

‘Are we fighting a war on terror or aren’t we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001?

Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan , across the Potomac from our nation’s capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania ?

Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn’t they? And, I’m supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was ‘desecrated’ when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet?… Well, I don’t. I don’t care at all.

I’ll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

I’ll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia

I’ll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for hacking off Nick Berg’s head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat.

I’ll care when the cowardly so-called ‘insurgents’ in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.

I’ll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs.

I’ll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution’s Bill of Rights.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don’t care!

When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college-hazing incident, rest assured: I don’t care.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank: I don’t care.

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed ’special’ food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being ‘mishandled,’ you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts: I don’t care.

If you agree with this viewpoint, pass this on so that sooner or later, it’ll get to the people responsible for this ridiculous behavior!

If you don’t agree, then by all means hit the delete button. Should you choose the latter, then please don’t complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great country!

One last thought:

In case we find ourselves starting to believe all the Anti-American sentiment and negativity, we should remember England ’s Prime Minister Tony Blair’s words during a recent interview. When asked by one of his Parliament members why he believes so much in America , he said: ‘A simple way to take the measure of a country is to look at how many want in… And how many want out.’

I just wanted to pass this one for those of you who are interested. And, let’s hope that the next milestone we achieve in the Iraqi war will be getting our soldiers out of there and back home safely. It matters not how long we stay in that country. We will NEVER be successful in setting up a democracy. It just isn’t possible where you have two or more fanatical religious groups fighting to run their country. When we leave, it will go back to the way it was or even worse. What will have changed will be the number of American soldiers whose blood we leave behind.

Support our soldiers but hate the war. In this election year please support the candidate who promise to bring our men home and out of harm’s way.

BillnPS

Had to come back to Palm Springs for meeting here and in Las Vegas.  Drove over to LV last Wednesday for an evening meeting and then a morning meeting on Thursday.  I hate that town so drove right back to Palm Springs that afternoon.

One of my employees went with me to LV and showed me a back way to go.  My bad, it was a gorgeous trip and I left my camera back in Delaware. 

The trip took us on a two lane road, up through 29 Palms where the Marine base is located and then out in the desert for about 100 miles.  The scenery was gorgeous, beautiful cragged peaks contrasting agains the blue skies and colorful shadows as the sun moved across the horizon.  We went through a portion of Death Valley.  One thing I know for sure and I told my friend this, that if the truck broke down and it was after dark, I’d still be in it when the sun came up the next day.

Death Valley is absolutely beautiful…but also absolutely desolate!  The portion we went through was right in the middle of the salt flats.  He was telling me that many years ago, for as far as the eye could see, it was all stark white with salt.  Now, only a little of the salt remains as some big corporation, American Chloride, has been stripping the salt off and leaving piles of dirt, rock and mud behind.  Yeah, mud….it had rained in that area about two weeks prior to us coming through and portions were still wet.

Back in Palm Springs now.  Doctor’s appointment tomorrow and then back to Delaware sometime later in the week.

A BIG thanks to Wolfbernz and Trina for watching Oscar and Jake for me.  From what I’m hearing, I’m going to get them back absolutely spoiled rotten!!!!

Thanks guys!!

Bill

PS  Here are a couple of my favorite photos from Palm Springs.  The one with the rainbow centered between the two palm trees was taken from the front yard of my home.  The other one was taken from the back porch.  These were taken on two different days.  It is rare to see clouds on the mountains and rainbows in Palm Springs.

Bill