Well here we go again, off to Texas for the winter season.
We have been wintering in the Rio Grande Valley for the past 5 years. It is a very interesting place. Not as tropical as Florida. Not as diverse as Arizona but still a nice warm place to spend the winter. In Texas you are
not allowed you to call yourself a Snowbird, you are a “Winter Texan”. The local people are extremely friendly and constantly go out of their way to make you feel welcome. The area in the RGV is not industrialized and most of the locals fit well into the moderate to low income levels. This allows two very important things to happen in the “Valley”, everything is inexpensive and you receive outstanding service from the folks you deal with because they really appreciate your business.
There is a saying among Rver’s, “Those with money go to Florida, Those that think they have money go to Arizona and the rest of us go to TexasJ”
In the “Valley” they have an average of 15 RV parks every mile and every one of them has lots of activities going on all the time. The Princess enjoys going to classes, swimming under the palm trees (while she reminisces of friends up north), basking in the sun and SHOPPING!!!!
I, on the other hand go from park to park and put on dinner presentations for a traveler rescue group called Medical Air Services Association, better known as MASA. I ran across this group when I was in Florida and after finding out all the great things they did to help stranded travelers I became a member.
Within a short time of being a member and meeting other members, listening to how they had helped so many and saved people hundreds of thousands of dollars I decided to become part of their “Member Services Team”.
By doing these presentations I get to meet hundred of current members and introduce others to the benefits of membership in the association so they can enjoy the benefits’ as well. In 2009 I met with 2600 people and in 2010 another 2900 people. It has been a great experience for me and at times will bring a tear to my eye as I listen to a travelers’ story of how they had been rescued from a disaster by this wonderful organization.
I usually gain about 15 lbs each winter since most of the meetings include a “Free Chicken Dinner” and I am at one of these presentations usually 5 days each week. Oh the price we must pay for the retirement lifestyle. The Princess usually has a full docket of activities to keep me active when I am not at a dinner so I can still fit into my bathing suit by the end of the season.
If you travel at all, whether it is 100 miles or a few thousand you should really take look at how this MASA thing works and it does work. Stop at my website www.masa4u.com and if you have any questions or want more information contact me at ronbuchner@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment