New Mexico Excel Club Gathering

The New Mexico Excel Club is having

their “After the Holiday’s” Gathering

Jan 9th at 1:00pm at

Capo’s Italian Restaurant, 722 Lomas N.W. @ 8th St.

Capo’s is opening their restaurant on that day just for us,

so we’ll have the whole place!

Meal will be $12.00 per person with tax & gratuity included.

B.Y.O.B or wine & dessert, if you would like.

Please make your reservation A.S.A.P but no later

than Jan. 5th @ R.V. Sales 505-832-2400 or 1-877-932-2400

(just leave a message, press 9 when our message starts then

give your name & how many) or call a club officer.

Not a current Excel Club Member… Want to renew or rejoin?

Please contact your New Mexico 2011 officers & join the fun!

President Wes Bassett 505-867-2065 wsbassett@msn.com

Vice President Dick Hendrickson 505-890-4499 rahcomm@msn.com

Secretary Kay Stout 505-281-3108 stout.kay@gmail.com

Treasurer Jim Shaw 505-401-3842 artsbywesley@windstream.net

WagonMaster Steve Walker 505-298-8101 swwalker@copper.net

Reminder: Excel Club Spring campouts…

New Mexico--April 29-May 2^nd Colorado--May 20-23^rd

The After The Holiday's Party

The New Mexico Excel Club is having their “After the Holiday’s” Gathering

Jan 9th at 1:00pm at Capo’s Italian Restaurant, 722 Lomas N.W. @ 8th St.

Capo’s is opening their restaurant on that day just for us, so we’ll have the whole place!

Meal will be $12.00 per person with tax & gratuity included.

B.Y.O.B or wine & dessert, if you would like.

Please make your reservation A.S.A.P but no later than Jan. 5th @ R.V. Sales 505-832-2400 or 1-877-932-2400

(just leave a message, press 9 when our message starts then give your name & how many) or call a club officer.

Not a current Excel Club Member… Want to renew or rejoin?

Please contact your New Mexico 2011 officers & join the fun!

wsbassett@msn.com rahcomm@msn.com stout.kay@gmail.com artsbywesley@windstream.net swwalker@copper.net

Reminder: Excel Club Spring campouts… New Mexico--April 29-May 2^nd Colorado--May 20-23^rd

Happy Birthday Vaughn!

Today is Vaughn Peterson's 80th Birthday! We wish him a wonderful day and many happy and healthy years to come.

Below is the email Peterson Industries sent out:

Peterson Industries, Inc. SPECIAL EVENT! It Truly Is All About Family! Our Founder Turns 80 If you come to Smith Center, KS for a factory tour, you're more likely to find Vaughn Peterson in the plant building a jig or refining a procedure than in his office! VAUGHN DEAN PETERSON BORN: December 9, 1930 MILITARY SERVICE: U.S. Army, 2nd Lieutenant FOUNDED COMPANY: 1966 MARRIED TO: Duana Jane September 23, 1983 CHILDREN: Drew, Becca, Randy I GET THE MOST SATISFACTION FROM: Building a quality product and earning a good reputation! Quick Links Our Website Peterson Industries, Inc. 616 East Highway 36 Smith Center, KS 66967 800-368-3759 785-282-6825 www.excelrvs.com Dear Buffie, You are invited to come celebrate Vaughn Peterson's 80th birthday celebration Thursday, December 9, 2010 from 1:00pm - 4:30pm. The reception will be held in our office, featuring punch, cake, cookies and lots of special memories. SSHHHHH!!! Believe it or not, we're going to try to pull this off without Vaughn finding out (Since he doesn't have email). It Started With A Dream After serving his country in the Army, Vaughn became a partner in a private company handling waste removal from military bases. He learned quickly the consequences of getting involved with "High Rollers" and decided that life wasn't for him. Tired of big city, Vaughn came back home in 1965 with little except his entrepreneurial spirit. He realized if he wanted to accumulate wealth in a small town, his best bet would be to get into manufacturing of some kind. After sharing his dream with his dad, Leonard, they decided they would like to try building slide-in pickup campers, so off to Colorado they went to visit an established camper manufacturer, Red Dale Campers. Red gave Vaughn and Leonard a great tour, then they sat and shared ideas. Vaughn still smiles when he talks about Red's parting words. "Vaughn and Leonard. I think you have a great idea about getting into the camper manufacturing business. But the only problem I see is that you're getting in about 10 years too late!" Not too many years after that, Red Dale ceased operations. Peterson Industries, Inc. is still in business, manufacturing the highest rated "Dealer Based" towable RV's in the industry. Vaughn has led his company through 3 gas crises, 2 economic recessions, and a fire that completely destroyed his facility in 1983, as well as the recent economic crisis, with strong leadership and integrity, while providing hundreds of employees in North Central Kansas opportunities to succeed in dreams of their own. Our rural community of Smith Center, KS would not be the thriving small town it is if not for Vaughn's passion! Card Shower Of course you're invited to attend our reception for Vaughn from 1:00pm - 4:30pm on December 9. But if you can't make it, and would like to take the opportunity to wish him a happy birthday, we are having a card shower for him. Can you imagine how touched he would be to hear from most of our 7,000 family members? Through Vaughn's integrity, caring of others, and desire to provide a quality product for us all to enjoy through the years, he has touched each of us. Please wish him the happiest 80th birthday one can have by sending him a card to: Vaughn's Big Day c/o Peterson Industries, Inc. 616 East Highway 36 Smith Center, KS 66967 Please mail your card prior to November 30, 2010 to assure it's "On time" arrival. We are going to withhold all of his cards and present them to him at once on his birthday!

Forward email

Halloween @ RV Sales

Sighhh.... another Halloween has come and gone.
So much work and so much fun! We raised a BUNCH of money and gathered a TON of canned goods for Bethel Storehouse in Moriarty. We will have a better idea of the amounts in a few days.... We'll keep you posted.

Winterizing Extravaganza Open House

We had a great time this weekend at our open house.
We not only helped people winterize their trailers, but we also gave some day/night shade restring lessons. Bryan the president of Peterson Industries was here to visit with everyone and answer questions. Tim and Rosie shared their experiences of living "on the road" full time. Dave was the master of the grill, and cooked up some mean burgers and dogs.

Excel's new 36CFE

The new 36CFE is a beauty!
The first thing that will catch your eye is the amazing kitchen with it‘s abundant cabinets and counter space. Next is the center fireplace, which separates the living area from the kitchen.
You can kick your feet up and enjoy the ambiance the fireplace offers,
or watch a good game on the large TV.

If you full-time or just like to rough it in ultimate comfort
you will love the floor plan and all the smart storage space this unit offers.

The bathroom and bedroom are beyond luxurious.
When your in the walk-thru bathroom you’ll forget you’re in a 5th wheel.
The way it opens up into the bedroom makes it live large!

Come by and see this trailer when you’re in our neck of the woods.

Excel Clubs Fall Campouts

We had such a wonderful time at both the Colorado and New Mexico Excel Clubs Fall Campouts.
It's always such a blessing to be able to spend time with our friends enjoying conversations, campfires, and wonderful meals. Creede, Colorado was a beautiful setting for both weekends.
We are already looking forward to the spring campouts!

Colorado Club

You can really see the difference in the leaves changing between CO and NM. What a difference a couple weeks can make.

New Mexico Club

Continuation of Miller’s awning arm….

Jim and Verna had been racking their brains trying to figure out how they were going to fix the awning arm from the Kool Kids Kampout disaster (read previous post to see the whole story). Verna put her foot down at the Colorado Excel Club Campout in Creede and told Jim he had to figure something out because she could NOT take one more day without shade from her awning! Jim decided he would use his wood carving skills and make his own awning arm from the pile of firewood he found.

Little did he know that at the very same time Kathy was working in her workshop (a lot like Santa’s workshop) and crafting an awning arm that would fit perfect!

When Kathy arrived at the campout she found Jim covered in wood splinters, and Verna sunburned. She quickly and effortlessly installed the new awning arm, gave Jim some tweezers and Verna a bottle of Aloe ointment.
The crowds cheered, and everyone lived happily ever after.

It’s time to tell the story of --- The Kool Kids Kampout---

What a wonderful time! Rye, Colorado is gorgeous, Lake San Isabel just down the road, Bishops Castle close by, and four wheeling trails in all directions.
The weather was lovely and we got to enjoy a few mountain showers which are the perfect backdrop for nap time.
The campground has a “bear problem” (see picture with the bucket of the tractor on the trash dumpster….. It’s how they bear proofed it) and we were all told to keep our truck doors locked because apparently the bears can open doors. I wonder if you leave the keys in if they could drive too?

We shared some impromptu pot luck meals, and enjoyed music entertainment AKA Jam Session, put on by some of the campers that stay at the campground all summer. One was even an Elvis look alike.
The weekend was relaxing, laid back and full of fun memories with dear friends!

Read Below if your dare…. It’s a scary story of what can happen to anyone at anytime in any campground.
It was the evening after most of the Kool Kids had left the campout. Only the Koolest of the Kool were left behind.
There was a serious rainstorm that started around dinner time. All the Kool Kids were in their trailers eating dinner and keeping dry…. Or so we thought.

Savanna and her fearless K-9 Gabby were out fly fishing in the stream that the storm had created. When all of a sudden Larry jumped on the picnic table and tried to surf down the stream.

Patty who knows that Larry isn’t a strong surfer came tearing out of her trailer,
leaving tire marks in the grass

just in time to see Gary get struck by lighting (because he was flying a kite with a key on it). Verna who saw Larry coming straight for their trailer on his surfing picnic table yelled to Jim (who was in the bathroom) but it was too late…. Larry took out the awning and was wrapped up in it like a burrito. The jolt of it cause Jim (still in the bathroom) to suffer with whiplash.

Scott came flying over on his golf cart to see if he could help, but the chaos was too great. So he had to climb onto the trailer and work on crowd control….

The crowd consisting of Pat, Buffie, Tommy, Cherry, Connie, Lyle and Lauren.

The truer story is: A LARGE trailer (toy hauler) had just checked in at the office, and they were heading to their spot…. Going the wrong way. They cut the turn too short and took out the awning arm of Jim and Verna’s trailer. But I like my story much better!

Excel's New Travel Trailer

Peterson Industries has re-entered the travel trailer market! You can expect cutting-edge design and spectacular features just like what you have come to know in the 5th wheels.

Peterson's invented the groundbreaking "Drop Z" fifthweel frame, and has put the same design in the new Winslow Travel Trailer. This gives the travel trailer 100 cubic feet of storage in the basement. The 17-inch high storage compartment is beneath the entire front third of the trailer.

This trailer can also offer an on-board generator, and a dedicated compartment is large enough to accommodate dual batteries.

The travel trailer we had, has now left us for CA for a photo shoot (look for it in up coming RVing publications). But don't worry.... we have more on the way.

4th of July weekend with friends

RV Sales is all SASSed up!

We're having a great time at the End Of Trails.

Our New 33GKE

This new Excel has all the beautiful upgrades that Peterson Industries has to offer.

Name the Fish

We have a new pet fish at RV Sales!
Please help us name him. You can suggest names here or on our facebook page.

Ken's new potty

Ken came in for service and left with a new potty!
For whatever reason (or reasons we don’t care to hear about) Ken has been having issues with the seals in his potty. So he opted to try out a new style of potty we had just gotten in. Best thing about this new potty is that the seal is a snap to change. So we figured, (again, for reasons we don’t care to hear about)… Ken was the perfect one to try it out and give us feed back on it.
Thanks Ken for being our research guinea pig.

One last post and slideshow from the Spring Campouts.

This was our last day in CO City. It was a cool day, yet to nice to stay held up in your trailer. So we gathered around two fire dancers and had a wonderful time with friends.
Can’t wait for the fall campouts!

BINGO and the winner of the generator!

As always raffle night was far to much fun.