"Tales from the Open Road"

Schedule:

February: 2nd Yuma AZ - 11th-14th MPLS RV Show - 18th Carol Stream IL - 19th-21st Charlotte RV Show - 26th-28th Raleigh RV Show - March: 4th-7th Denver RV Show - 8th Voyager RV Resort Tucson (home) - 9th Yuma Gypsy Journal Rally 1:30-4:00 - 12th-14th Hampton VA RV Show - 17th Poughkeepsie NY - 22nd Portland ME (Jodie) - 23rd Woburn MA (Jodie) - 23rd 3:00pm-4:15pm Flower Bldg. FMCA International Rally Albuquerque NM, Lititz PA (Jodie)

It's finally here! Our newest DVD shot in High Definition Wide-Screen. Click here to see a video clip and get more info.

Rocky Mountain RV Adventure cover

Cody High School 40th Reunion (holy smoke!)
We have a company working on organizing the reunion. Email them at rstewart@weplanreunions.com . Have them reference the Cody High School 40 year reunion. The reunion will be held some time during the Summer of 2010.

First of all, I'd like to apologize for accidentally sending out some email addresses with the newsletter last time. I know we all get too much spam and I value your privacy. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again. We had to send the newsletter from Baja Mexico so I guess anything could happen!

December 1st I was home in Tucson frantically trying to get the new video finished. I had airline tickets to fly to Portland, OR on the 12th to do the studio sound work. The project had to be done by then. In the meantime, I was scheduled to fly to Poughkeepsie, NY to do a show on the 9th. That trip would take two days off my dash to the finish line! This was getting close!

On the 8th I had my bags and winter coat packed. I was heading out the door for my flight east for a one night show in Poughkeepsie. As I was walking out the door my phone rang. It was Southwest Airlines letting me know I was flying into an area where there were weather delays (Chicago connection). I called show sponsor Jim Holmgren and told him the situation. He said the weather was coming his way tomorrow and there was no guarantee the show wouldn't be canceled anyway. We decided to reschedule the show for March 17th. Good thing we did because the storm hit Poughkeepsie the next day and all the schools were closed and the show canceled. That would have been a very long plane ride for no reason. Does it snow in Poughkeepsie in March?

The storm gave me two extra days to edit, and on December 10th I finished the project! I could have never done it without the help of my computer genius friend David Marley. Halfway through the project I had to switch to a new PC-based editing system that I knew nothing about. David spent hours of his free time helping me understand how the system worked. I can't thank him enough. Maybe I'll Simonize his big RV for him someday!

I spent the 12th through the 14th up in Portland with Steve Sharp and Lindsay Temple at Steve's post production studio MediaPDX. Steve and I have been working together for about 15 years now. I edit the film and take out all the bad sound. Then we go into the studio, record the narration, and put back in some good sound. It's a lot of work, but it makes a big difference in the finished product. It was great to work with the new high definition images! When the project was finished, we celebrated with a dinner party. Steve's wife Leslie was there, as were fellow film producer Dennis Burkhart and his wife Jan. Dennis joined me on the project last July in Rocky Mountain National Park to shoot (on video) some animals.

The project was finished at last, and I only had three nervous breakdowns this time. Unless you have produced a 90 minute film/video by yourself you can't have any idea of how much work it takes. My friends think I'm on vacation all the time, running around the country making our DVD's. It can be fun at times, but believe me, it's no vacation.

I got home just in time to visit with some more fellow producers from the Travel Film business. Fran and Brooke Reidelberger usually stop and spend some time with us before they head down to Mexico for a couple of months. They say they are making videos down there but I think 'they' are on vacation. We had a great dinner and got to reminisce about the 'good old days' of the Travelogue business, back when you could do 150-200+ shows a year. This year we have about 30 Travelogue shows booked. The business is having a tough time but there are still some great venues around the country. You can find them at Travel Adventure Cinema.

On the 17th we really did go on vacation. Jodie and I flew to Cabo San Lucus in Baja Mexico for four nights (we stayed for the days too). Jodie booked an all inclusive trip with Riu. You can get some great deals out of Tucson. The price includes airfare, a great hotel and all you can eat and drink for free! We had six restaurants to choose from. I call it the eat and drink till you puke tour! Years ago I really could have taken advantage of the freebies, but these days I eat like a bird and don't drink as much as I ought to. Of course I could never drink as much as I used to!

December 20th was my birthday (I know, the checks are in the mail). I'm fifty-seven years old (not young) for the first time. I look a lot older, but I've had a hard life. I grew up in Detroit and had to drop out of elementary school to support my wife and kids with a newspaper route. I've also almost been killed in every state of the union, every Canadian Province, most of Mexico, parts of Europe, Cuba and South Africa. Now you know why my beard is so gray!

For a B-day present we went out marlin fishing. Jodie had never caught one before and I wanted her to experience what a thrill it is. I had caught several during my years in Maui. For a time I worked on the fishing boats there. My job was to bring the tourists' 400lb marlin into the boat. Yes, they tried to kill me too! (the fish, not the tourists) I should have gotten hazard pay! There is nothing that will get your heart pumping like being face to face with a giant fish that has a lethal sword on his nose.

As we left the harbor the boat captain suggested we get extra live bait, at $4.00 per fish, because there were a lot of seals where we would be fishing and they would steal the bait. It sounded like a good idea, even though I'm sure he got a cut from the bait guy. When we got to the fishing grounds and I couldn't believe my eyes, there were marlin everywhere! A group of five were right next to the boat. I knew we were going to have a great day! I let Jodie bring in the first fish, a 150-pounder, because I was sure there would be many more to come. There were no more fish caught that day. I spent the rest of the day counting up the cost of the live bait fish that the seals were stealing off the hook, $4,$8,$12, etc.... Jodie got a marlin and I didn't even get a crummy T-shirt. I know it should always be ladies first, just not while fishing.

We got home just in time for Jodie to throw her annual Shrimp and Champagne Christmas Eve Party! A great time was had by all! It's amazing how many people you can fit in a small park model when shrimp and champagne are involved. It was so cold outside that night we had to put propane heaters on the patio. This winter has been colder and wetter than usual. Of course we start to whine and complain if it gets below 55 degrees during the day! Could be worse, could be in Fargo! It seemed like were parties almost every night over the holidays. We live in a very social resort!

The old year ended with a prime rib dinner party at our friends Ron and Linda's. We got to enjoy some great things this past year and are hoping for a happy and healthy new year for all.

January 2010

The first day of the new year started with a crab and lobster dinner party. How many extra holiday pounds are we up now? Jodie's been a caregiver for her friend Donna's husband Jerry for over a year now. She drives back and forth with them each spring and fall from Tucson to Chicago. Their family tradition is crab and lobster on New Year's Day. It was easy to accept an invitation to join them. Their daughter Kayla was visiting from out of town which made it even more special.

On the 5th we had a special visitor to the park. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was a guest speaker. You might have heard of Sheriff Joe, he's the guy that makes his prisoners wear pink underwear (so they don't sell it on the black-market). He also has them put up their own tents in the desert to live in to make room in the over-crowded prison. He mentioned he had some bad news. His price of feeding the prisoners had gone up 3-cents and was now 30-cents per meal. He feeds them 2 meals per day, brunch and dinner. Both are a bologna sandwich and an orange. Do you think criminals want to go back to prison in Maricopa County? The feds are all over him for actually arresting 'illegal aliens' for breaking the law. I think we would all sleep better at night if he was the Secretary of Homeland Security instead of Aunt Bee of Mayberry.

A few days later I drove 375 miles out to Indio, CA to do a couple of seminars for the Western Area Rally of the Family Motor Coach Association. I had good crowds for the shows and made some new friends. FMCA is a great club to join if you are an RV'er. They have chapters all over the country. I'll also be doing a show March 23rd at the FMCA's 83rd International Convention in Albuquerque, N.M., from March 22 to 25, 2010.

It took me until the 9th to surprise Jodie with one of her Christmas presents. I had given her a card that said we had a date on the 9th between 3:30pm and 5:30pm. It was killing her having to wait, not knowing. I took her up to the Starr Pass Resort for a wine tasting class. Great wine and food. She was surprised!

I have been getting B-12 shots for a couple of months now and it was time for my second blood test. My first test was 191. It was supposed to be between 500-900. The doctor was sure that low B-12 was the cause of my problems over the past two years. This test had me at 1340! Now I was way over where I was supposed to be. We'll stop the shots for a while and take another test later. Hopefully it will get down between the 500-900 range and we can go from there. The best part is that the symptoms for high B-12 are the same as for low B-12. Lucky me. I hope the doc figures this out. Soon.

On the 12th Jodie flew to Tampa for the big RV show there. Two days later I flew to Chantilly VA near DC for their RV show. Both shows had higher attendance than last year so everyone was happy. We've been going to Tampa for years, but this was the first time for the Chantilly RV Show. It is part of the AGI Events Shows. We'll be doing seven shows for them this season. Dave Body was the shows producer. He and his crew did a great job. I had lots of visitors at the show. My cousins Bob and Gerald came to see me as did Kevin Broom and his kids from the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association. I also got a visit from the Fishers who are RV'ers friends we had met in Hershey a few years ago.

By the 18th Jodie and I were both home in Tucson. It was cold in Virginia, but the weather in AZ was terrible with wind and rain. One day they recorded wind gusts up to 75 mph! Could be worse, we could still be in Fargo.

A funny thing happened on the way to a steak dinner. When I was in Indio I sold a case of our DVD's to Tom Costello. When he got home he showed the case to his wife Maxine. When she looked at the photo of Jodie and I on the back she said 'she is my personal trainer.' Tom didn't believe her. Turns out they live in our resort and Jodie works out with Maxine in the gym. Small world. They took us out to a nice steak dinner at the Texas Roadhouse and we went home and helped them plan their trip to the Northeast coast this summer.

January 2010 is the start of my 20th year in the travel film business (holy smoke!). Seems like only yesterday I was holding up liquor stores and pistol whipping gas station attendants in Detroit! It's been a great ride. I've gotten to do and see things most people only dream about. Working with a camera I got to experience things I could have never done if I was on a regular vacation. I've met wonderful people all over the world and traveled more than 600,000 miles across North America in RV's in the past twelve years alone. It has been a thrill seeing this wonderful country we live in. I know how lucky I am as most folks never will have the chance to do it. I'll never be rich, but I have memories that are worth more than any amount of gold imaginable! A special thank you to all the people who have attended my shows and purchased my videos over the years. I only hope you had half as much fun watching them as I did making them. I hope you got a few laughs along the way, too. It's been a wonderful life.

See ya on the road,
John & Jodie

©2010 John Holod Productions

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