Hi Folks, 
As promised, today I'll tell you some more about the
seminars we enjoyed at the rallies we recently attended.
At the Good Sam Rally we went to a talk about tire
pressure monitoring.  That may not sound interesting,
but it IS very important, which we learned the hard
way!  In 2012, on our way to New Mexico, we had a
blow-out on I-10 east of Tucson, AZ.  We lost hours of
time getting a tow truck and getting the tire replaced
and the rest of our tires checked before getting back
on the road.  This also made us very late to our next
destination for the night, since we left Tucson in rush
hour traffic!  After the seminar we did our own
research, ane we chose to purchase the Tire Minder
with six sensors for our RV and four more sensors
 for our tow car.  Their website is:
 www.Minderresearch.com.  They have received gold
ratings in 20012, 2013, and 2014 from Reader's Choice.
We like that they use lithium batteries, and they will
supply us with replacement batteries for the next seven
years if we send back the old ones.  We like that it will
give us both a visual and audible warning alarm
if there is a sudden loss of tire pressure.  They also
monitor the tire temperature.  I am sorry to say that we
have not yet installed them, but we will be doing the
installation tomorrow, so in my next posting, I will
tell you how it went and how it seems to be working as
we begin our travels east.

When we got to the Escapade, we also bought their
Temp Minder.  It can monitor the inside temperature,
and more than one extra location (up to three I think). 
We chose just the basic model with one outside sensor,
which we have in one of our outside storage bays.  It
seems to be very accurate and we are happy with it.
We also attended a talk by Don Greene on free nights
of RV camping at wineries, farms and some museums. 
Their website is www.harvesthosts.com where one can
join.  The cost is $44.00 per year.  For this, you get to
choose from many area wineries, farms, or museums to
stay at, usually for a single night.  Many people tell of
forming friendships with the host families, and
returning again and again to these locations.  They do
 have some rules, which are very reasonable, about
being a considerate guest on these private properties, 
and they do ask you to buy something from the people
as a "thank you" for your night's stay.  The wines are
usually very reasonable priced, and are always nicer
than what you'll find when you stay at the local
Wal-Mart!  Imagine the fun of traveling to a new area
and buying fresh, locally grown produce for your
dinner, or being able to have a new local wine with
your dinner!  We look forward to many such stays
during the next several months as we travel east to
New York state this summer.
More seminar news next time.  As always "Keep the
shiny side up and the rubber side down" as you travel
these wonderful and exciting roadways of America!