The Northern California Samboree

Hi there everyone,

I know, once again I have been derelict in my duties of keeping the family blog up to date. Well, don’t feel too bad, I haven’t spent much time lately looking at Facebook either. And though that may be all the rage with most of the population today, Facebook and Myspace has never really appealed to me. At any rate, here is an update for you. I’ve been feverishly trying to get my latest edition of my book Campin and computing put to bed. And, regardless of how hard I try, it still seems to have more content being added to it every day. I just need to cut off the changes and send it to ‘press’ as they say.

This last week, we attended the Northern California Good Sam Samboree. We’ve had a great time here this week. We’ve met so many wonderful folks here and had a chance to re-connect with some wonderful people that we met down at the Southern California Good Sam Samboree. We got to reconnect with Smitty and Louise Smith as well as Duane and Patricia who are from Auburn and many others. We haven’t seen many of these folks for a long time, but we were so glad to see them once again. We have had a wonderful time. We met Clarence Tracy from (some town that starts with a ‘C’), a wonderful gentleman who we chatted with numerous times about Computer, sound systems, RV’ing, his service in World War II numerous other topics. We we’re honored to meet Geoff and Gayle Warr who travelled here from Australia and are touring north America.

We had an extra special bonus, Karen and Mike surprised us with a visit. They made the trek down from Ashland to come hang out with us. Lily one third place in the Best Costume for the Dog show competitions. One of the funnest activities at the event was watching the Blind driving competiton. This is where the driver is blind folded and the co-pilot so to speak tells the driver how and when to turn. You have to navigate a course without hitting anything. The team who does it the fastest wins. This has been a WONDERFUL week and we had a great time. Unfortunately, Sunday means we have to head back to reality. There aren’t any Samborees now until next year for the state of California, so we have a long wait until the next one, but it is worth waiting for. We’re thinking about maybe going to the FMCA Rally in Indio of next year.

Though we are home safe and sound, we can’t wait to get out on the road again.

Happy camping!

Eric and Carol!

A great conference

Well, I just concluded my 4 days in Las Vegas for the Microsoft Developers Conference at the Bellagio Hotel. It was a great conference. I attended 15 different seminars on a whole range of topics. My focus though was on development tools for software for Intel based PC's. It has been a while since I had been to a Microsoft conference and these events always are chock full of brand new stuff to learn. At this years event, Microsoft announced the release of their new version of their development environment, so there was a lot to learn.

There wasn't much spare time at this event, and I kind of like it that way. After all, if I'm here on business, we ought to get to business and then get headed home. About the only thing I got to do was get out one night and walk down the strip, check out a couple of the casino's that have been added since the last time I was here, pick up some supplies at CVS Pharmacy and then head back. This trip has had a lot of walking to it. I've logged over 8 miles each of the 4 days I was here, WOW!!! One of the other things that I thought was of interest while I was here was my first 'Hybrid' bus. It looked like it was straight of the mono-rail at Disneyland. As I update the blog, I am sitting at McCarren field waiting for my flight to board. I am so looking forward to getting home to Carol and the pups.

Now that I have this conference out of the way, I can start preparing for the Northern California Samboree which is being held at the Lodi Grape festival grounds. This was the first samboree that we went to 3 years ago and we are looking forward to returning to it. This time, I will be conducting 3 seminars on computers for RV'ers. I'll be doing 'Campin and Computin', my introduction to computers for RVer's as well as a session on Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. I'm doing these based on the input that I got back from folks at the first seminar that I did in Lancaster late last year.

Well, I guess that is about all for now. Take care all and remember... Happy campin! - Eric -

A very busy April

Hi there everyone,

Sorry it has been so long since I have updated the blog. I've been busy recently working on completing the second edition on my book 'Campin and Computin'. This second edition contains some stuff that I learned about since I came out with the first edition, but the big change to it is the inclusion of information on Windows 7 which is Microsofts latest operating system. Windows Vista never really took off the way Microsoft had hoped, and Microsoft got a lot of feed back from those that purchased Vista and made some enhancements and released it as Windows 7.

We have another Samboree we are going to at the end of April where I will get another chance to sell more copies of my books. I'm really looking forward to this because I now have had additional exposure to my product with the article that appeared in the April edition of Motorhome magazine. I've already seen movement in my sales through Amazon.com. I'm not going to say that I've sold 100's of copies, but the fact that I've probably sold 30 is a great thing. I'm definitely seeing that there is a calling for my books so if I can get some more time at various RV shows, that will bode well for Carol's and my efforts.

Though it has been a busy start to April, it's been a beautiful one as well. The poppy's are out in Amador county and all the trees are in bloom. So, Carol and I took the time one day while we were out an about to check out some local poppy's. At least my honey got a chance to check out some poppy's up close this year.

I am now making my way to Sacramento to Las Vegas. The reason for this trip is to attend a Microsoft conference on a new release of their populate development environment for developing user software. I haven't been to one of these conferences for over 5 years. It was very sad leaving my wife to care for her self as I passed through the security check at Sacramento Airport. Very rarely are we separated for more than 10 hours of the day while I go off to work. But, going to these sorts of seminars is a good thing. It helps me to stay up to date with some of the latest in software development technology. I will be in Las Vegas for 4 full days. Each day will consist of 30 different seminars that I can attend with various vendors there as well. Watching the presenters at this conference will help me with my presenting skills at the various RV shows in the future as well.

Southwest airlines has put up Internet bars through-out the airport terminals so you can powerup and dial in and surf the web while you are waiting for your flight. They're a pretty cool addition to help you pass the time while waiting at the airport. Southwest really knows how to run an airline, the others could take lessons from them, and should.

Life back at the camp site is going great for us. We have some new neighbors at the RV park. A very nice couple named John and Linda. The two of them are very nice, dog loving people so I'm sure we will get along great. They have been married 40 years, so Carol and I may learn a couple things from them along the way. The park is busier this year than it was the same time last year. Maybe folks are willing to spend a few more bucks to get out now that it looks like the recession is leveling out.

I'm nearing implementation on my project called VVIMS which stands for 'Volcano Vision Integrated Management System'. It will allow Volcano to bill for Cable and Telephone services on one bill. This project has been 3 years in the making, I'm sure my managers will be glad to see it get completed.

Well, that is about all for now. We are starting my decent into Las Vegas airport. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to make another installment later in the week.

Happy camping! - Eric

Dandelion Days and then some

Well, spring has sprung and we are starting to see lots of activity in Amador county. This weekend we had a couple of signature events in our county that brings folks from various diciplines to our small county. And both of these events took place this weekend. First off, closest to our home front, is the California High School Rodeo Association Challenge of Champions event at the county Fair grounds which are right next door to the RV resort. This is one of those great events that challenges our youth of today to be better individuals through sport, skill and good sportsmanship. There were a number of Livestock rigs here at the park and even more at the fair grounds. It's great to see all those who take this activity so seriously working so hard to accomplish their goal. Obviously, these are families that take Rodeo and animal husbandry very seriously. They also start very young. We saw a number of miniature practice rigs where these RV'ing cowpokes can practice their lasoing with at any time. This event started Friday and ran through the majority of Sunday.

The other event in Amador county this weekend was our annual Dandelion Days festival. I find this name interesting 'cause Dafodills are much more predominate in our county than Dandelions, but it may be that Dandelions are more indigiounous to this area than Dafodills. At any rate, Dandelion days is primarily a street fair event that is organized by the Jackson Lions club. There were over 200 vendors that showed off their wares. There is also a large assortment of food booths that are run by various non-profit groups. The best known is the steak sandwiches which are prepared by the Jackson Fire department. The line for their offering was frequently 20 deep. Though the food preparers were keeping up with the demand, it was those that were fumbling for their cash and those making change that were slowing up the works. But it was all worth while.

We got together with Carol's brother Billy and Wife Loretta and son Brandon to take in the Dandelion days festivities. After hanging out there for 4 hours, we reposed to Billy and Loretta's place in Pioneer for desert and chit chat. Our dog Lily also got to work with Billy and Loretta's puppy Emma so she could find out what being a puppy is all about.

Well, that is about all for now. Have a great week.

Happy Camping! - Eric and Carol -

March 14th, 2010

Well we're back home. Wow, what a Whirl Wind trip. We drove home from Lancaster today with a stop in Bakersfield at a Camping world and at Applebee's for lunch. Ever since we got to Lancaster we've seen a Diesel leak coming from the truck. The leak has gotten worse and worse durning the trip, but got really bad on the final leg home. The truck got us home, safe and sound, but she's going to need to make a trip to Lynches Automotive to have them figure out what is going on with the Hulkster. We're sure though that she will be back on the road soon once we get the fuel leak fixed.

I wanted to be share our experience on the 'Musical Highway' with all of you out there. If you are ever in Lancaster, be sure to check it out.

Happy camping! - Eric and Carol -

March 13th, 2010

Well, the visit to the Poppy Reserve in Lancaster didn't work out the way I had hoped. I think maybe I was more disappointed than Carol was, but I'd worked so hard to pull this off without Carol's knowing and hoping we could make the trip before Carol had thought about doing it this year, it was a let down for me that the few poppy's that had come up, were folded up because of the high winds.

None the less we had a great day. We went and found the 'Musical Highway' where you can here the William Tell Overature while driving 55 MPH. It has been featured on a Honda Commercial. We also went and found a couple geocaches along the way. We also managed to get our Laundry for the week done as well as grocery shopping. We also made it to Red Lobster for dinner on Saturday night. All in all it was a great day, I love spending every day that I can with my wife.

Happy camping! - Eric and Carol -

March 12th, 2010

Well, after a little while and a few hints, Carol figured out where I was taking her for the weekend, the California Poppy preserve. THough my initial thought was to stay at the RV resort in Bakersfield, it was a two hour drive from that park to the Poppy reserve, so instead, I opted for the Antellope valley fair grounds RV park in Lancaster. THis was where we stayed for the Southern California Samboree in September. All in all, the trip down from home went off without a hitch, but it looks like the forecasters got it wrong in saying it would not be windy. We awoke Saturday morning to a pretty good cross wind, making the slide toppers flap a lot. We shall be un-daunted though and take in the Poppy reserve today, though we may do most of our looking from the truck to keep our chapped lips to a minimum.

We were quite surprised how much we saw in the way of wild flowers as we made our way down the 99 on Friday however. With this in our minds, we are hopefull that the poppy reserve will be spectacular. For dinner, we're going to see if we can find a Red Lobster resturaunt.

I'll have another posting for the 13th here shortly.

Happy Camping! - Eric and Carol -