Wichita Falls

We’re on the move weekly, covering sections of Region 2 in Texas. Our region covers from the Oklahoma border down to Alvarado, west to Abilene and east to the Arkansas border. We had been staying at The Vineyards Campground, located in the town of Grapevine. The park used to be owned by the Army Corp of Engineers but is now owned by the city of Grapevine. It’s a very nice park with lots of space between sites and most all of the sites face the water. The water level is currently down 10’ but it is still very pretty around the lake.Then we moved to Grand Prairie, which is only about 30 minutes from Grapevine. We stayed at Traders Village for a week. Traders Village is a giant flea market with a bazillion vendors offering all sorts of things. We’d never been there so we were anxious to see what it’s like. We walked from the campground to the flea market, next door, about 9:00 a.m. and the vendors were just getting set up. We didn’t get to see much cause nothing was set up yet. Our only purchase was a bag of freshly made kettle corn that a woman was making in a big copper kettle. We ate some of that and walked back to the campground. to break camp and leave for our next park. We’re currently in Wichita Falls, in the northern part of Texas. It was really hot today and it’s supposed to be 98 degrees tomorrow and 100 degrees on Monday. Texas is in a heap of hurt in regards to the drought. The other night on the news it said that many areas were now in “exceptional” drought status, which is the worst category. We heard that of the three reservoirs that serve Wichita Falls, they only have 24% of the water they should have in those reservoirs. Wow, that is scary stuff. Texas and California are both in really dire straits with their water situation. I hope that municipalities in these two states mandate water conservation measures on new home construction. The worst is yet to come for drought conditions and whether you believe in climate change or not, the reduction in water in some areas is a reality that these people have to live with.
It’s hard to believe that in about a week we’ll be up in Breckenridge, CO working and that our time doing TACO sales will be over. The time sure has flown by and we’ve met so many great campground owners and managers. Being in the campground business is really hard work….as one owner told me, “It’s the hardest thing you’ll ever do”. You have to be available at all hours of the day and night to take care of your customers. When the wi-fi goes down at 2 in the morning, who ya gonna call ? It’s been awesome to hear from these owners about their businesses and help them with the marketing for their business.
Our car is acting up again. The engine has been making a ticking sound for about a week so we took it to the Nissan dealership, which was on the way after leaving our last park on Friday. Next door was the Ford dealership and Linda took the motorhome there to get the oil changed and tire pressures checked. Her appt went well….mine not so much. At first they told me that the replacement engine that Linda had put in back in November was bad. They said the lifters were clattering and that was the sound we were hearing but they would further assess it and let me know the extent of the problem. I was not a happy camper. I needed an oil change so they went ahead and did that; then said that the ticking stopped. So their conclusion was that the gasket or seal in the oil pan is leaking and the loss of a little oil was causing the lifters to be noisy. Long story short….we sat there for 7.5 hours with no decision on whether the warranty on the engine would pay for a new seal so we said…Forget it…we’ll keep an eye on the oil…and we hit the road. Two hours later we arrived here in Wichita Falls. We know that we need to get a newer vehicle but since anything new would need all the stuff installed to be able to tow it (braking and towing brackets), I don’t want this type of decision to be made in haste so we’re going to try to keep an eye on it till we get home this fall and then maybe we’ll be ready to get something different. Keep your fingers crossed that she holds up over the next few months. I’ve got faith in her that she can do it !
Hoping that everyone is enjoying springtime. Not sure that it has arrived yet back home in Pennsylvania. Seems every time I talk to my mom, it’s really chilly and rainy there. Linda and I did have some sad new in the last ten days. Jay and Kelly lost the baby that she was carrying. It was hard to see babies and cribs at the flea market last Saturday, when I had just heard that my new grandbaby had died but I trust that God had bigger plans for that little Peanut. I know that things happen for a reason, and sometimes for no reason at all, but as they say, the things that don’t kill us….make us stronger. Our hearts go out to Kelly and Jay….may their love grow stronger as they come through this together.