This and That…

It’s been a few days since I’ve put up a post. Vacation is over for us. We moved back to Arlington on Sunday. We left Livingston on Saturday and hung out with friends on New Years, part way to Arlington. On the way to their place, we could see how much the lakes have receded. Boats, in their dock cradles (don’t know what the official name is for the things that pull them up out of the water at the dock) were high and dry….a long way from being able to be launched in water. So sad to see how dry everything is. Had a nice time hanging out with them but Linda and I didn’t make it to midnight. Just a couple of old farts….made it to about 11 p.m. but then off to bed for us.
We’re back at it, trying to wrap up this job in Arlington. Still was hard to find people at work today….still  off from the holidays. Frustrating for us but not much we can do. While we were out today, we went to Petsmart and bought a “cone” for Boomer. Apparently he’s got allergies or scratched his eye and nose and he won’t leave it alone. It would just start to heal up and he’d scratch it again overnight and open the wound. Poor guy looks like he was in a bar room brawl ! He must feel so clumsy with it on his neck cause he keeps running into things. I’m sure it might be tough for him to get comfortable tonight and sleep but he needs to let his scrapes heal up. We’re putting antibiotic cream on it so in a couple of days he’ll be as good as new.

I replicated the cover that our friends Wendy and Cindy put around their water softener. Had to look in several stores before we finally found a pop up hamper with cover. Just cut holes in each side for the garden hoses to pass through and it’s good to go. The black material attracts the warmth of sun first thing in morning for those chilly overnights. The girls put a trouble light in the bottom of theirs if they need to generate a little warmth for those iffy nights when it might get chillier than we’re comfortable but not a horrendous freeze. Here’s a couple pics of what it looks like now. The lid zips on so it’s really handy to get in to check things or dismantle to move to a new location.


We got an e-mail from a friend of ours who just left for Hawaii on a business trip. He arrived and was at the Marine base, working out in the gym and President Obama was there working out. That would be kind of cool….to look over, while working out and see the President of our country on a piece of equipment next to you.
Speaking of light” moments…I heard on the news the other day that production of the incandescent bulb has ceased. Once the existing supply, in retail stores or warehouses around the world, runs out we won’t be able to buy a regular ‘ole light bulb anymore. They are energy hogs…better to buy a CFL. Wouldn’t Thomas Edison be sad to hear that his invention has outlived its usefulness?
Hope everyone had a great New Years eve and have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2012.

Johnson’s Rock Shop

Several friends told us that we need to go to Johnson’s Rock Shop before we leave Livingston. It’s located about 30 minutes from the park, way off the beaten path with just a few home-made signs showing the way off of route 190. A cute little old lady, in her 80’s (I’m assuming she’s Mrs. Johnson) runs the “complex”. I call it that because there are a bunch of little buildings, all clustered together in a little village-like atmosphere that each house different types of rocks.
Mrs. Johnson said that they’ve had the shop for only 38 years but have been rock hounds for 67 years. They go to Tuscon, to an annual rock show to buy the rocks they sell in the shop. Her daughter, who has recently retired, has moved back home to help her mom. She makes a lot of the chokers and jewelry. Her mom seemed to be very happy to have her daughter helping her these days since her husband has been sick off and on and unable to help her. There’s so much to see as you walk through the village.
One building was the silversmith shop, another the music shop and another was called Tammy’s Hotel. Prices seemed pretty reasonable compared to prices for similar gems we’ve seen elsewhere but when you live in an RV, rocks are the last thing to come home with. Neat place to check out on your next visit to Livingston.
Speaking of heavy….tomorrow morning we’re scheduled to get our rig weighed here in the park by the Smart Weigh folks. We went into town and filled up with gas today (dang it if gas hasn’t gone up 13 cents in the last couple days). Water tank is filled and tanks are dumped. We’re ready ! Will let you know what the verdict is.
Got word on our next assignment. Our new scheduler called and we’re going to an island below Corpus Christi….Port Aransas. There are two parks there that need to be done so we’ll be there for three weeks once we finish up next week in Arlington. We’re excited ! The parks are right along the water and the temps have been pretty nice there (especially the night temps). As good a place as any to spend January !

Hiking Over the Holidays

Yesterday we went to Lake Livingston State park, with Boomer, to go hiking. We figured we better get out and enjoy the outdoors before the rain got here. We took the one mile interpretive trail that is wheel chair and stroller accessible. It’s like a boardwalk through the woods. A little tough to sneak up on animals .since our boots on the wood planks, clunk as you walk. The temps have been really cool (in the 40’s)so we bundled up for the walk. Seems there have been some serious wind storms lately as there were lots of trees down. Not the small Loblolly pines but large trees were uprooted.
There’s a riding stable in the park with a path through the woods for the trail rides. There are several places where there are descriptive boards that tell about the area wildlife that one might see as they hike along. It was very tranquil to hike through the solitude and listen to the birds.
The next three days we’re supposed to have rain…Grrrr…day started out around 45 degrees…it’s now 43. Not my idea of vacation weather for our time off. We will certainly make some changes in our schedule so we’ll spend December in Florida next year. There is a chance for snow up in Dallas, where we need to return to finish up this assignment. Need to start thinking about where we might want to go if not given another assignment once we finish up in Arlington. Someplace warm !
A while back Linda bought some wax for our spa machine. Today we fired it up and both treated ourselves to wax treatments on our hands and feet. Those full hand potholders sure work nice for keeping your hands warm after dipping in the wax and putting bags on your hands. After Linda’s dip in the wax, I then painted her toes and nails with pretty polish. Trying to make the best of a blah day. Wishing all of our friends and family a happy and healthy holiday season. Hope your day is bright and cheery wherever you are.

Singing, Cowboys and Rangers

Arlington is like the sports capital in the country. The Texas raceway is nearby, as well as the Texas Rangers park and Cowboy Stadium. We drove to the Cowboys Stadium so we could say that we saw it. It’s’ not in the kind of location I would expect to see a huge sports complex. It sits directly across the street from a Wal-Mart and on the fringe of a business district, where the residential area begins. It’s a very pretty structure; the side panels are reflective glass. The parking lot markers have the pictures of Cowboy legends screen printed on the marker. I saw Landry and Roger Staubach’s pics on the ones I saw. There was a high school football game going on at the stadium. Can you imagine how those kids must feel playing on the same turf that their idols play on ? The Cowboys stadium will be home to this year’s Super Bowl and Cotton Bowl. The parking attendant that Linda chatted with while I was taking pictures said that there are all kinds of events booked at the stadium all the time. From the sky, the stadium looks like a giant football. Glad we got to see it.
Within site of the Cowboys Stadium, is the park where the Texas Rangers play. Another huge structure but in a very pretty setting. As you probably recall the Texas Rangers won the 2011 World Series.





Last night we went out to dinner with our boss and his wife and some other folks from AGS. Had dinner at Romano’s Macaroni Grill(?) which was very good. First time I’ve been to a Romano’s. After dinner we went to the Will Roger’s Center to see Ernie Haase and Signature Sound Christmas tour. They are a gospel group that our boss really likes and I must say, they were really good. They played some real toe-tapping, hand clapping songs. I think a lot of the songs were original songs that they have written because I didn’t recognize any of them. Beautiful voices and a great show that lasted over two hours ! A super nice evening…tonight is our bosses Christmas party. Today we’re headed to the Fort Worth stockyards to check that out.

Our trip to the Grassy Knoll….

Today we went to the sixth floor museum…the place where Lee Harvey Oswald fired the fatal shot that killed President John F. Kennedy. Upon arriving in Arlington, Texas, to do this job, I had seen mention of this museum as something to see and do in the area and thought what an odd name for an attraction. If it wasn’t for Cindy and Wendy telling us that it’s the book depository where the assassination took place, I never would have made the connection. So glad they told us about it. I would have hated to miss something like this; something that had such a prominent place in American history.
The museum is an audio tour, narrated by Pierce Allman, the first reporter to report from the Texas School Book Depository on November 22, 1963 and that fateful day. Through photographs, news reports and eye witness accounts, it takes you through that day. The picture on the right shows the depository (brick building behind that teal van). Lee Harvey Oswald was in the far right window on sixth floor (building is seven stories tall). This picture shows where the motorcade took the sharp turn onto Dealey Plaza and started down the road. In the middle lane, to the right of that teal van, there’s an “X” that marks where the first shot hit President Kennedy. A second later the second shot rang out and this was the shot (where the “X” is in the empty street) that killed President Kennedy. In that split second, our country’s history was changed forever.
The museum shows footage of the funeral, swearing in of Lyndon Johnson and the outpouring of emotion felt worldwide. There’s an interesting video by Walter Cronkite, making us ponder if what happened almost 50 years ago, was the beginning of the unraveling of civility among US citizens. After Kennedy’s assassination came his brother’s assassination, Martin Luther King’s, tormoil and unrest. The hope and optimism that Americans had been feeling during those thousand days of Kennedy’s term in office, went up in smoke when he was killed. The museum also has pictures showing Lee Harvey Oswald’s killing, by Jack Ruby, as Oswald was being transported to county jail.
There were some school groups there today. A number of the children were African American in heritage which made me wonder if they grasped the enormity of what they saw today in what Kennedy did in bringing equality to the table for them. I was only three when he was shot so I don’t remember any of this but from watching footage of the man and reading quotes from his speeches, he was a charismatic and insightful man with a wonderful way of speaking that touched everyone…young and old, rich or poor. I’m so glad that Linda and I got to see Dealey Plaza and the book depository while we were here.

Daniel Boone

After driving past this sign every day on our way into town, we finally got a chance to go in search of the Boone burial plot. Daniel Boone’s father immigrated from England, to Pennsylvania in 1713 due to the persecution that Quakers were receiving in England. Squire met and married Sarah and they built a log cabin near Reading, PA.This is where Daniel was born. I did not realize any of this until I did some research on their residing here in Mocksville.In the mid 1700’s the Boone family was expelled from the Quaker group due to two of the children marrying “worldlings” (non-Quaker folks). In 1750, Squire sold his land and moved to North Carolina. In 1759 the Boones fled Yadkin Valley to Culpepper, VA due to the uprising of the Indians in the area.
The cemetery, where Squire and Sarah are buried is small and the area is overgrown with weeds and is behind an iron gate and fence. Their tombstones have been preserved by encasing them in brick and putting a plaque on it that says exactly what was on the markers (due to erosion its really hard to read the original markers).
We walked around in the cemetery to look at the old markers. There were some really interesting ones. One marker told how the woman in the grave had donated $600 so that a church could continue to exist, due to financial difficulties.



Got word today that, when we leave here next Wednesday, we are headed to Arlington, Texas to work a corporate KOA there. That job will take us up to Christmas and since it puts us close to our home office, we’ll also get to go to our boss’s Christmas party. Yippee !! No word on where to after that but at least we know where we’ll be till the end of the year. The RV Resort is close to lots of attractions, like the Dallas Cowboys stadium, 6 Flags, Texas Rangers stadium and much more. Linda said there are about 40 restaurants within a mile of the park. Wow ! Gonna be a busy time selling in Arlington !
I’ll close this post with this picture…this guy has been hitchhiking at the on-ramp to I-40 for the last two days. No takers as he was still hanging out today. Give him a ride…he won’t take up much room. He wants to get home for the holidays.