Win some, lose some….

Tuesday-Wednesday, September 27-28, 2016
I saw this sign today hanging outside a motorhome.  “You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy an RV.  That’s pretty close!”  I thought it was pretty cute and very appropriate to display at an event like this.
We did a few more seminars on Tuesday and played a fun game called “Card Bingo” Tuesday night.  There were 300 people at $3 apiece, resulting in a payout pot of $900!   We played several hands, and the final hand was worth about $300.  It was a fun game, played with 4 people at a table and a deck of cards at each table.  The cards are dealt, 13 to each person, and the central “caller” draws a card from a deck. The person that has the called card discards it in the middle, and the first one out of cards yells Bingo.  Even though there is a deck of cards dealt at every table, there is a variable in how the cards are shuffled and dealt out.  They added extra drama, by telling the men to discard their spades, and the women to discard their hearts before the caller began. Jim and I were both losers at the card game, but we were winners in meeting even more new people, and having a good time!
Jim continued to go to seminars on Wednesday to win some new knowledge, while I went to the craft fair, the ice cream social and the session on Barbershop quartet!  (I guess we’re both getting educated…just in different ways.)  At the craft fair I lost some money…but for a good reason.  I bought a book written by one of the participants…”The WWII Diary of a German Soldier”—her father’s diary of his time in the War.  It’s a fascinating story, and even more fascinating to meet the author (Helga Herzog) and hear her tell about how the book came about, and her journey transcribing the diary.   Another interesting twist is that she is a friend of our friends that live in The Villages in Florida!  Another small world experience! 
Jim washed the coach to keep it looking spiffy.    But it’s not quite as spiffy as the high-dollar coach across from us (a King-Aire) with the special “in motion” paint job. It’s the craziest thing…when you look at it one way, it’s green, but if you look at it from the opposite direction, it’s either purple or blue, depending how the sun reflects.  I wish I could capture it with the camera.
And, speaking of “spiffy”, we bought some new step covers for the Lundcruiser. They are stainless steel covers that replaced the carpet that was previously on the steps.  I think they look really nice, but Spot hates them…he won’t go up and down to get in and out of the RV!  He must see his reflection or something.  We are trying to convince him its okay!
One of the motorhomes on display has been SOLD!  I wonder how often that happens??  And, it was kind of neat that today was “Community Day” where they invited people from the local community to come out to the fairgrounds to see the motorhomes. 
The rally extends through Friday morning, but people are beginning to leave early—many are headed to Albuquerque for the balloon fest. Two spots have opened up by us, so we’re happy to spread out and enjoy the extra room. We also will be leaving early to get to the balloon fest.  It is about a 5 hour drive, and we have an orientation meeting at 3pm, so we will depart early in the morning.
Tonight there is another group event with a storyteller…a national Award Winner of the Storytelling Circle of Excellence, Bill Lepp.  I just hope he doesn’t keep us out too late, or we’ll lose again… sleep!