FOOLS FOLLIES WAS A SMASHING SUCCESS
WINTER RETURNED
WE’VE LOST A FRIEND
VALLE DEL ORO HAS BECOME A GHOST TOWN
EIGHT DOLLAR PER NIGHT DEAL IS ON AGAIN
WE HAVE HAD TO CHANGE OUR SUMMER PLANS
OUR TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF FULL-TIMING
THIS N THAT

What a show we had. I had the pleasure of working with a wonderful cast of very talented folks and we put on a show that many said was the best Fool’s Follies ever. It doesn’t matter if that is true or not; we had fun and everyone is ready to participate in the next one (March of 2001).

The first Fool’s Follies was held in this park in 1989, and until last year was held every other year. No one wanted to direct the show last year so we went without a Follies. I saw how many very talented folks are in this park and decided that I would do the directing for this show. It wasn’t hard once the talent was recruited.  Pictures of the Follies can be seen on our What’s New page ( http://www.movinon.net/Whatsnew/whatsnew.htm ).

We ended up with about 55 in the cast and even though the park appeared to have emptied out, there were plenty left to fill up the ballroom for both performances which were held Sunday, March 28.  The afternoon show (1 p.m.) had just a little less than the 500 we had prepared for and the evening performance (7 p.m.) had been sold out ahead of time. For both performances we received a standing ovation and curtain calls.

Our master of ceremonies, Patrick Johnston, did a tremendous job especially when he had to fill in a bit while the sound man searched for the songs on the tape. It turned out that somehow between the afternoon and evening performance, the tape had been erased. It was almost intermission time so I brought up a couple of acts from the end of the show, we took our intermission, then  I sent the four acts (which needed taped music) home to get the original tapes. All went well and the audience didn’t seem to mind.

So if you have a little ham in you, plan to be at Valle del Oro in the winter of 2000-2001 and volunteer to be in our show.

If you have been reading the newspapers or watching the weather reports you must know that suddenly we have winter. It was nearly 90 degrees and typically sunny and bright right up through this past Wednesday (March 31) when everything turned upside down. It rained hard for two days and the temperatures barely got in to the 60's. At higher elevations that meant snow and they got more in one day than they had all winter. Flagstaff got several feet and a golf tournament in Scottsdale was canceled because of snow. There were no spring dresses in church this Easter Sunday. Every one had nice warm winter clothing, raincoats and umbrellas. We feel sorry for those who came for a nice warm spring vacation.

WE’VE LOST A FRIEND

Those of you were at our Camp Out this past February will remember Pat Feight and her husband Bill who came from Happy Trails for the picnic day. She died on Good Friday at 1:15 in the afternoon. This poor gal had suffered for over a year. At the camp out, she was as spunky as ever, but I knew the end was near. What a trouper!!!

She wrote us lots of letters and we remember how excited they were when they first started full-timing. Pat & Bill sold the family farm and her keyboard business in Tecumseh, Michigan, bought a fifth wheel trailer and headed south on a cold January day in 1995. She wrote:

“Well, this is the day we have been waiting for--- to write you and tell you we are bona-fide full-timers! We left Michigan January 8. The wind chill was 30 below. Ask me if I was sorry to go rolling down the driveway with the nose pointed south. No. No. No I wasn't.... 
   We closed on the house in early December and had to have everything out by December 22. I
still had the store open [Keyboard World] and business was going great guns....
   Now picture this, I had to pack everything in the nine room house we had lived in for 22 years, wait on customers everyday, do deliveries every night, try to get the RV ready with the supplies we would need for the rest of our lives, and participate in all the family Christmas doings all within 20 days....   We started living in the RV after the 22nd when all the furniture was moved into the part of the store I was vacating with the sale of instruments. We had it behind the store on a pad. It was so cold though, that we couldn't leave it hooked up to the sewer. Bill always left the hose in the garage so it wouldn't get brittle  and only hooked it up long enough to dump. One day he forgot to close the valve and disconnect the hose. It froze into a big pop sickle. The heat tape we tried blew the fuses and the generator we tried to use was out of gas. The local fix-it shop said they wouldn't have a problem getting us into their garage. But they did. They let the air out of the tires and removed the AC cover but it still wouldn't go in. Finally everything got fixed and we left....
   We made up our mind that we would head straight for Livingston so we could regroup. It took us the better part of a week just to sort through what we had brought and find a home for it. Finally I got my living room back....
   Half way down here, Bill turned to me and said, “You know, if you hadn't read that book, we wouldn't be doing this.”....  I can't tell you how happy he is that we are doing what we're doing. It's been raining for two days, and more predicted; however, our rig is as large as some apartments and it looks like a regular home and we feel at home... We will be going back in April (Bill says May) to decide what to do with the store. We have the auctioneer hired to auction our furniture off on August 5th. That will be that!....
   We did everything you recommended: the voice mail, the mail forwarding service, and the “how to” sell the house, etc. We are even going Monday to get our Texas license on the truck and RV. 
   In our business, we say they won't commit until all the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) is gone. I truly believe that is the way it happened in our case. The day Bill said to me, “Well, if not now, then when?” I knew the time had to be now with him approaching 77 and me 68.... 

Very Happily Rollin' Down the Road
Bill & Pat Feight, New full-timers
From Tecumseh, Michigan.”

She had had a lumpectomy before they went on the road, spent five years on medication and was pronounced healed. Early in 1998 though, she went to a doctor in Casa Grande for some back pain and he told her that she had better “go home and get her affairs in order.” Her body was full of cancer. She waged a valiant fight and in the end had prepared everything so that Bill wouldn’t be bogged down. They had been married over 40 years. Bill had parked his fifth wheel this winter and they had bought a small RV for traveling. But right now, he has traveled to Michigan without any RV for Pat’s funeral. We will miss her.

All of the activities for the season have just about closed up and the mass exodus north began towards the middle of March. It seemed like those who hadn’t left earlier, left the day after Fool’s Follies ended. I like it here at this time of year. It is quiet and I have time to read a book or two. 

If any of you are in the area (Phoenix area) and if you have one of the coupons from the Trailer Life or Highways magazines for our park (Valle del Oro in Mesa), plan on stopping into our park for up to two weeks camping. It is a deal you can’t refuse because the price (with coupon) is only $8 per night. They don’t take reservations, but there are plenty of spots. You won’t have a problem getting in and as soon as this bad weather goes away, you will love the pools, hot tubs and some of the other activities in the park and nearby.

We had intended to leave here the end of April and head to Michigan for Ron’s son’s wedding (May 15), but we have had to change our plans. I desperately need to have some major dental work done. I just can’t put it off any longer so Ron will fly to Michigan the end of April and stay until  May 19.  While he is gone, I will have the surgeries I need (mandibular sub-periosteal implant) and won’t have to worry about him seeing me without teeth. When he returns I will still have to see the dentist another time or two, but we should be able to pull out of here by the end of May. We will then head to Decatur, Indiana, for some minor work on the Dream and then we will take a quick trip through Michigan so I can see my parents and siblings. We will leave Michigan via the upper peninsula and head west so we can spend the biggest part of the summer in Wisconsin, Minnesota and  North and South Dakota. These are places we have never spent much time.

We need to be back to Mesa by September 1 so I can begin the rest of the procedure to finish the implants.  The dentist says that will take 6-8 more weeks. We are thinking that after that we will take off for parts unknown. We may go to Florida, or Texas. Just haven’t planned that far yet. 

So many of you sent cards and email to congratulate us on our 10 year anniversary. We sure feel blessed with friends and appreciate all of you. One note asked if we thought we would still be out here 10 years from now. Our answer today, is “yes, if we still have our health.” In fact, we really still love the flexibility and freedom that this lifestyle gives.

Some may think that we have already settled down just because we have come back to the same park for two winters in a row. I will admit to liking the activities here and our church. Ron loves volunteering at the elementary school and I love teaching classes in the park, but we could do that anywhere. We just happen to like winters here better than any other place. But we don’t own a lot here. We don’t own a park model. We still have a house on wheels and can go wherever and whenever we want. Many of our full-timing friends who have only been on the road for 3-5 years have settled down more than we have. And we still get excited when planning trips. Why, we already are planning what to do next summer (Pacific coast from California to Washington). 

The book sales are going great too. Have you seen Movin’ On in Camping World stores yet? It is
there.

I hope you also use the search engine ( http://www.movinon.net/boardintro.htm ) I added to our site whenever you are researching anything. I am always amazed at how fast computers do anything. The search engine searches the whole site. Try it for fun and see how well it works.

If you are planning on coming this way while Ron is away, I should warn you that I won’t be answering the door. Vanity, vanity. I won’t want anyone except the dentist to see me. You may think I am being silly, but that is the way it is.