Once again we are back in Yuma, Arizona. Why? Well, the first reason is that it’s about the warmest place in the USA right now (an obvious reason why Yuma is a prime destination for RVers and Snowbirds this time of year) and it’s also where the Fourth Annual Western Gypsy Gathering Rally is being held this year.

Back when we first started Full-timing in 2008, we met the Full-timing Streeet family (who call themselves the RV Gypsies) in Custer, SD. They told us about this guy named Nick, and his wife Miss Terry, who had this blog and newspaper called the Gypsy Journal that was all about Full-time RVing and  urged us to check it out, especially since we were new to all this stuff. We did, and found the paper and site to be great, but with all the newness of Full-timing and all the places and things to do we had on our list, we ended up just checking the site on a very irregular basis. In 2009 we heard about a Western Gypsy Gathering Rally, but we were workamping at the time and couldn’t attend. This year, we had no pressing obligations and were only six driving hours away when we read about the 2010 Western Gypsy Gathering Rally. We made plans to attend, and here we are!

So far, we’re really happy to be here (despite all the rain and mud from yesterday’s incredible storms). The rally is at the Yuma County Fairgrounds and so far we’re pleased with the camping situation. We really expected a lot of dirt and mud at the fairgrounds, but there is actually grass here! Shadow will be pleased, and it’s nice not to have to step out into mud soup everytime we get out of the RV. Though the detailing we had done to our RV just a few days ago is now history, at least the RV (inside and out) won’t be getting as filthy as we expected. We also anticipated a complete dry camping situation, and arrived with a full fresh water tank, empty holding tanks, and our generator. Turns out, we actually have electricity and though we could live without it for a few days, it’s a nice plus. This is also our first time camping at a fairground, and as a result of this experience, we’ll probably do it again depending on the location / situation.

It looks like the folks with Gypsy Journal have everything running like a finely-tuned machine. Everyone is so friendly and helpful and we’re really looking forward to the “welcome” this evening and to visiting the vendors and attending the seminars to be presented this week. After being sorely disappointed with Quartzite (lots of venders, not many of them RV-related, and NO seminars at all), this sounds like it will be SO much more of what we had expected. And it’s really our very first RV rally since we started RVing! Looks to be a fun and informative time ahead…