RV Dreams Rally and Ahhhhhhhhh!!

Roger here....  The opening photo is of the "ahhhhhhh!" at Balmorhea State Park in West Texas ---- where we are at this moment ---- but first, the RV Dreams Rally.


Now that we are on the road again, our posts should be more frequent.  The RV Dreams Rally that was organized by Howard and Linda Payne was everything we expected --- so much information and SO MUCH FUN.  Every day was filled with so much information about our lifestyle (some we knew and some we had forgotten).  It was a great rally for both newbies and people like us who have been on the road for a while.  I don't have pictures of the seminars (that would be boring if you were not there), but I do have pictures of some of the off time and some of the fun.

First the off time.  Every day the puppies needed a walk.  Here are some shots of the walking area at Buckhorn Lakes RV Resort.

The picture above shows the large fenced dog area that will soon be available.  Our kind of place.

During the rally, we had a full afternoon of free time.  Five of us, all Retama Village residents who were at the rally, traveled to the Hill Country Wine Area, and enjoyed an afternoon at our favorite Texas Winery, Grape Creek Vineyard.  We shared a couple bottles of wine, a couple different cheeses, and some chocolate.  Ahhh!  Say hello to me, Kathy, Marian, and Mike.  (Dianne took the picture).

After the wine.... Dianne and I traveled a short distance from the campground to have dinner at Mamacitas in Kerrville, TX. 

Great atmosphere...  Delicious Mexican food... a bifsteca (steak) with charro beans, peppers, tomatoes, and rice.  (Two suppers with the take-home box).

Now the fun time....  The catered meals at Buckhorn Lake rate with the best catered meals we have ever eaten.  Take a look at the pork chop dinner on the last night.  With aluminum foil... another supper.  We are set for two days!


The theme for one evening was the Newlywed Game - full-timer style.  A couple of the questions give you a sense of the fun.

The last night of the rally was Hollywood Night.  Many of the attendees dressed up as celebrities.  We did not... this time.    Howard was Bruce Willis, complete with sunglasses (sorry, no picture).  Linda was Elizabeth Trailer:

The rally ended with a delicious breakfast, another tasty meal.  Linda sang farewell with her rendition of a Rascal Flatts song, "My Wish."


Howard and Linda weighed our motor home just before our departure.  This is an important safety issue.  We were relieved to know that our motor home's weight was evenly balanced and that we only needed to slightly adjust the air pressure in our tires.  It was nice to have this task done before hitting the road for six months.

Now for the ahhhh-time....  We have not been traveling for a while.  We definitely miss our adventures in nature.  Today, all that returned. We drove five hours west on Interstate 10 before arriving for a one-night stay at Balmorhea State Park in West Texas.  (Texas is a big state.)

The natural springs at Balmorhea create an oasis in a dry part of the southwest.  The opening picture (taken from our campsite) and the next two photos (also taken from our campsite) explain the drops in our blood pressure.

Bandido and Tequila enjoyed exploring the new campsite.

Dianne and I enjoyed the empty campground and the mountain views.

Our journey tomorrow will take us through El Paso, out of Texas (finally), and into New Mexico.  


The pet pictures of the day show Tequila taking time to smell the wildflowers at Buckhorn Lake.

We're Outta Here! On to the RV Dreams Rally

Roger here....  Sunday morning.  The sun was up.  I was enjoying a few more minutes of sleep while Bandido watched for intruders.  Time to get up.  Big day ahead.

We finished packing and moving the outside furniture into the coach house on Saturday night, so the only tasks before leaving were setting off a bug bomb inside the coach house and locking the doors.  Our lot sure looks empty right now.

Time to connect the Matrix to the motor home for the first time in six months.

On to Kerrville (an hour west of San Antonio), 300+ miles and six hours away.   We worried a bit about how Tequila would handle her first trip in the motor home.  As it turns out, there was really nothing to be concerned about.  When she was not sleeping, she sat next to Dianne watching the scenery go by.

The Border Patrol checkpoint greeted us after about an hour of driving at Falfurrias.  We have passed through this checkpoint enough times now that it is just another part of the trip.  We waited a little longer this time as the agents were very interested in the vehicle at the front of our line.  The patrol dogs must have detected something.  The vehicle was eventually pulled over to the side for a more thorough search.  Uh-oh.  Someone was having a bad day. 

We arrived at our destination, Buckhorn Lake Resort, at about 4:30 p.m.  We have stayed here before, but it has been almost three years.  It is an upscale place (nicer than most of the places we stay) with lots of amenities, a good place to enjoy the RV Dreams Rally, sponsored by Howard and Linda Payne.


On Monday, we drove  17 miles to the idyllic town of Fredericksburg in the heart of the Texas Hill Country.  We have been there many times before.  This time, our sole purpose for the trip was to have lunch at Auslander's, our favorite German restaurant.  I had a reuben sandwich (outstanding) and a mug of Spaten.  Yum.  It brought back memories of a similar lunch last year with our Indiana camping buddies - Chuck and Cindy.    

When we returned, Dianne found some time to enjoy the view from our site.

Later in the day we joined a large group of "RV Dreamers" enjoying happy hour outside Howard and Linda's RV.


Tuesday morning we took the dogs on a three-mile hike to the end of Goat Creek Road, and back.  It was a nice hike (only saw two cars the whole time) in one of the most picturesque areas of Texas.  


Dianne enjoyed the adolescent calves.

Bandido enjoyed a quick dip in Goat Creek.

The Rally started in the afternoon.  I volunteered to help with registration.  Then a bizarre thing happened.  One of the attendees, Greg, came up to me and asked if I was from Pendleton, IN.  After a moment of confusion I realized that I went to school with Greg and his wife Diana.  They graduated one year before me.  Pendleton is a small place.  There were only about 600 students in the entire high school at the time we were there.  Running into people I knew decades ago from my hometown, in a place that was hundreds of miles away,  was amazing.  We will have a lot of catching up to do.


The pet picture of the day shows Tequila enjoying one of her frequent naps.  Smelling all the new smells in this place is exhausting.

Nothing Could Be Finer Than to be in Carolina.... RV Dreams Rally

Hi all - Dianne here.  Roger and I had an uneventful trip to Longs, SC and got settled in at the Willow Tree RV Resort, site of the 2010 RV Dreams Rally.


South Carolina is beautiful in April!  The azaleas and dogwoods are in full bloom, and everything is my favorite shade of spring green.  The weather has been perfect.

Willow Tree RV Resort is a beautiful facility.  The sites are large,  private, and beautifully
 landscaped.   It's very quiet; I love hearing the wind rush through the tall pine trees, the mockingbirds singing, and the woodpeckers drumming.   Last night I listened to Whip-poor-wills singing their evening song.

There is a lovely lake with a paved one-mile path for hiking, biking, and walking our dogs.   Fishing and paddle boats are available, along with a swimming beach and large pool area.

There are even some sites at this resort with individual hot tubs!  We are getting a special rally rate, so we're not in the deluxe sites, but even the site we have is large, private, and very, very nice indeed!  We opted to stay a few days after the rally just to enjoy this beautiful place.


 Howard and Linda Payne, who have the RV Dreams web site, are hosting the rally.  Howard and Linda hit the road back in 2005 after quitting the corporate rat race in their early 40s.  I came upon their web site in 2006, because that is about the time Roger and I started thinking about his retirement and how to hit the road ourselves.  


Howard does a better job of 
describing the events here, so if 
you would like to learn more about
 what we've been up to this week, 
check out his blog by clicking on
 "RV Dreams" on the left sidebar.  There's even a photo of Roger helping out with registration on the first day!


Here are a listing of seminars we've attended:

• Emotional Aspects of the Full-Timing Decision
• Selecting a "Home Base" and Insurance Considerations
• What Does it Cost to Full-Time?
• TV Options for RVers
• High Speed Internet for RVers
• Buying an RV - Pros, Cons & Must Haves
• Boondocking/Solar
• Working on the Road
• Manage Your Digital Photos With Google's Picasa 2
• RV Tire Safety
• RV Weight Safety
• (Roger: I have now been to three of these presentations.  This one, including the tire safety, by Walter Cannon may well have been the best.  Loved his sense of humor and very clear explanations.)
• Choosing a Camp Site
• Every RVer Needs a Blog

Even after a year and a half of full-timing, Roger and I learned some very important things in each and every seminar.  It also helps to refresh our memories on things we had already heard.  I had already taken the "blog," "Picasa," and "internet options" seminars last fall at the Gypsy Journal Rally.  These were presented again by "Geeks on Tour."  Their tutorials are available on line for everyone, not just RVers, so if you need help on computer issues, you can click on the link in the left sidebar and go to their web site.  I highly recommend them!   They are also living this lifestyle and traveling and working from their RV.


In addition to the educational seminars, there were social activities as well:

• Catered Welcome Dinner
• Chili Cook-Off
• Roger here...  Dianne won't tell you this, but the organizers of the rally had her stand up for an ovation for the chocolate eclair dessert that she brought.  Mmmm!  I married a good "cooker"!
• Favorite RV Gadgets "Show and Tell"
• My anal-retentive system of storing and finding "stuff" drew a lot of comments from the other RVers.  People from my former employers (Hamilton Southeastern Schools) will probably not be too surprised by this.  By the way, Dianne referred to me as anal in front of the entire group.  Very embarrassing!  (Dianne:  If the shoe fits....)
• We did a blog on Roger's organizational system when he did it; if you want to see that, click on "organization" in the left sidebar to bring that blog up.
• My "show and tell" included two of my favorite gadgets that save weight and space in the motor home.  I'm including a link if you want to learn more:  
• Potluck
• Dianne's BLT salad was scraped clean before we got in line.
• Family Feud (what a blast that was!)
• Open Rig Walk-Throughs
• Catered Steak & Shrimp Dinner
• Golden Oldies Sock Hop
• Dianne actually danced with me several times.  What fun!  Felt like I was in college again.
• Catered Full Farewell Breakfast

As my friends will testify, I'm not usually all that "social," but I have to say, we really had a lot of fun at each and every activity!   I'm usually one to try to cut out early or skip, but I found myself wanting to attend every activity and staying to the end.  Roger even got me to dance at the sock hop!


We loved meeting and talking to folks who are going through the same process we just finished.  We actually felt like so-called "experts" as we answered some questions!  The people, including Howard and Linda, were great - fun people with common interests who felt like friends. 

All in all, it has been a great experience and we're really glad we came.  We have met some real characters and wonderful people this week and hope to stay in touch and follow their progress as they begin their own adventures.