Although sleeping conditions were not as comfortable as they should have been with the air-conditioners running we apparently slept OK.  Linda was up at 7 AM and I got up around 7:30 to dense fog.  Yes, the RH outside was 100%.

The rally officially started today with breakfast from 7 to 9 AM so we got dressed and walked over to have coffee and a bagel.  We ended up talking to Scott Crosby, Jim Seagraves (another GLCC guy), Paul and Claudine Elbisser (also from GLCC), and a couple of other guys, one of whom was from British Columbia.  Bus conversions are a tiny fraction of all RVs, but folks who own them have a strong affinity for the company of other folks who have them, and will travel considerable distances to get together with them.  We lingered quite a while before returning to our rig.

There was a nice breeze that made for comfortable conditions under our patio awning so I sat out there and wrote the draft of my blog post for yesterday and then started on today’s post.  Linda went for a walk with her iPod and then returned to sit outside and read.  We went inside around noon and Linda made vegan grilled cheese sandwiches with sliced tomatoes, greens, and onions.  Vegan comfort food.

Linda went back outside after lunch but I stayed inside and reviewed Part 1 of my 2-part article on Habitat For Humanity for RVers in the draft copy of the February 2016 issue.  I annotated the PDF using the Acrobat Reader Sticky Notes feature and e-mailed it back to Gary and Jorge.  I then joined Linda outside and studied the manual for our Sony flash unit.  I needed to use it tonight but had not put batteries in it, mounted it on the camera, or otherwise had a chance to use it since I bought it from B&H Photo back in October.

Tom Mason came by on his bicycle around 1:45 PM reminding folks that the ice cream social was at 2 PM.  Although we were certainly not going to have ice cream we walked over just to be sociable.  When we got back from the social I got the first boxed set of Bus Conversion Magazines out from under the bed.  I then gathered my camera, flash unit, and external battery pack and sat on the sofa with them, and the manuals, and figured how to connect and set everything.  Linda was working in the kitchen making her chickpea salad for our dinner and it was darker than usual in the coach as we have the skylights blocked, the awnings out, and the shades down to block the sun.  I took a few test shots with the flash and it seemed to work well so I called it good for now.

Linda makes Chickpea (Garbanzo bean) salad while I test the new Sony flash unit with the a99v camera body.

We eventually had chickpea salad on greens for dinner with a slice of bread on the side (with vegan buttery spread).  We left at 6:30 PM and walked to the event building.  I carried the camera/flash combo and Linda carried the box of magazines.  I found Bill and Brenda at the back of the room going over the opening ceremonies with master of ceremonies John Vickery.  Part of the discussion was about the door prizes and we gave them the box of magazines (1 of 3).  I started to explain what was in the box and John asked if I would just stand up and explain that when the time came, which I agreed to do.

Announcements and door prizes started at 7 PM.  There were a lot of door prizes and David Evans won the first boxed set of Bus Conversion Magazines.  I got a few photos of him accepting the box and got his name later.  He was a subscriber in the past but has not subscribed since Gary Hatt acquired the magazine in 2012.  David is here in a 1948 GM PD3703 which, along with Scott Crosby’s 1948 Silversides and Don and Sandra Moyer’s 1948 Spartan, has to be one of the oldest converted buses on the road in North America.

The entertainment for the evening was a 4-piece bluegrass band.  They were very good, and played until 11 PM with only two short breaks.  There was only a small audience left by the time they finished but it was an appreciative group.  After the evening entertainment was concluded we wandered back to our rig and tuned in the WINK weather sub-channel (11.2) which covers southwest Florida.  Linda was up until midnight, very late for her, and I finally went to bed at 12:30 AM and turned the lights out just before 1 AM.