Hold Onto Your Hat…

Wow, was it windy last night ! Had 40-45 m.p.h. winds and it was rocking the rig and blowing the car around as we were driving around this morning. The guys on the ferry were all bundled up and I felt so bad for them. They looked like they were froze to death. I did see a little of the dolphins as we crossed on the ferry, amidst the white capped waves. There are docks for four ferries so we never have to wait to cross. It’s a very quick process to get across so we never have to add in a lot of extra time when we know we’re doing to Aransas Pass or Rockport.
Yesterday was gorgeous…temps of 82 when we went to Corpus Christi and a great breeze.
We’re trying to figure out what to do this weekend. There is a uninhabitable island that we can take a boat to and spend a few hours wandering around. There are no services, no buildings….nothing. Kind of like pretending we’re Gilligan for a few hours. Might be fun…a lot will depend on what the weather is going to be.

Last night, when we went over to the hot tub for our nightly soak, there were two women in the tub already. They are from Juneau, Alaska and have a large bus-type rig that they use during the summer months. They escape the winters in Juneau and travel around the warm states, performing for RV parks. They are called the “Alaskan String Band”. They were double booked last night so they got the night off. They will be back to perform on the 18th. There’s a mother, father, two daughters and a son who perform in the band. We’re hoping to go listen to them when they return to the park to play. We had a nice time talking to them. They said they already had four feet of snow before they left Juneau. They leave their rig in the states, when they return back home. It’s so nice to meet people on the road and learn about their lives and where they are from.
Anxious for the weekend to be here so we can explore the area. We’re hoping the temps will be warm enough that we can get the trike out and get a ride in. We’ll let you know what we come up with.

Lack of Humanity

Been a long day and I don’t mind telling you, I’m a bit weary. We had a great time at Pecan Park, in San Marcos, TX for our overnight stay. They had a hot tub (more like a tepid tub) and an indoor swimming pool with a waterfall spillway at one end. We had such a good time, relaxing in the tepid tub, letting the one good jet work the kinks out of our sore backs. Then we got in the pool and paddled around. Then back to the tepid tub, to realize yes it was a little warmer than the swimming pool. Slept like babies last night !
Got on the road at 8:45 this morning. We were going down the side street, leading out to the main road when we hear sirens and see lots of cop cars in front of us. An ambulance comes up this little road and pulls in front of us and parks right in the middle of the road. On our right is a shirtless man, covered in blood and holding a towel to his head. The paramedics rush to him and we squeeze around the ambulance, while hearing tree limbs screeching down the side of the rig. (I hate that sound !) Down the road, maybe a quarter of a mile, are five cop cars. They too did not practice courteous parking methods, respectful to passers by. Linda sees a guy, in the back seat of a police cruiser and another guy sitting at a picnic table in the front yard. Other police officers are seen inside the open front door of the house, milling around. Linda had heard something on the news about a shooting this morning. Was this where it had happened ? Sure was a lot of blood on the guy we saw. What over ? Humans being indifferent to each others’ needs. Violence taking its toll on someone’s family. How sad….
We’d been driving for a couple hours when I needed to stop so I pulled off at a picnic area. I took Boomer outside and noticed two boxes along the side of the road. I thought it odd that there was a 20# bag of cat food and two gallon jugs of water sitting near these boxes. I put Boomer in the house and went to check out the boxes. Approaching the boxes gave me the same feeling I get when I come up on a wreck and look in the wrecked car to help those who wrecked. I really was hoping there wasn’t an illegal alien in those boxes or a child….oh my. There were air holes cut in the tops of each box so I figured that some living breathing “thing”, was or had been in there. Was there still something in there? I leaned down and peaked in and two sets of eyes looked out of each box. Four black cats in total. Who could be so heartless as to leave these four kitties out here ? Linda and I were sick over it. She took our tablet and started calling SPCA’s and shelters, from  San Antonio to Corpus Christi. Answering machines or overflowing facilities….No one would come get them and no place to take them. I spoke to one woman who only takes in stray dogs or puppies and she didn’t have any answers for me. The kitties didn’t have any more water left. Someone had left them two jugs with slits cut in them, sitting in aluminum pans. Our water level, in the rig, was below the level where the water pump would work since we don’t like to travel with the weight of a lot of extra water. I filled a water pitcher with water, from the low drain valve and filled their pans. One kitty came out and drank and drank. I took some of the cat food and put it inside the boxes, as they acted really skittish and only one would venture out to the edge of the box. A couple of the kitties ate the food. Adopting four cats wasn’t a possibility for us since I’m allergic to them and we already have Boomer. We pulled out of the picnic area, with heavy hearts and tears streaming down our faces. Linda took a black marker and wrote on the boxes for someone to please adopt them. We hope that they find great homes and make out ok. It made for a really sad ride to Port Aransas.
We took the ferry over to Port Aransas. What a slick operation. The deck hands guided us onto the ferry and told us when to depart. It’s a short ride….you can see the far shore from where you sit at the first shore. The smell of the ocean air, blowing through the rig’s windows, was heavenly. It only took a few minutes to cross over and get unloaded.
We arrived here around 2:15. Temps were in the 70’s….still 68 degrees out tonight. Great breezes, blue water….blue skies. Our site is about 100 yards from the hot tub…..I’m headed over there as soon as I post this to find out if it’s truly “hot” or if it too is tepid. I’ll let you know next time around.

Debate Fumbles

Summary

Truth took a punch or two at the first of two GOP debates before New Hampshire’s critical presidential primary.

• Romney, talking about taxes, said federal, state and local government consume 37 percent of the economy today compared with only 27 percent when John F. Kennedy was president. In fact, taxes now consume only 27.4 percent of GDP.
• Paul blasted Gingrich for avoiding the draft during Vietnam, and Gingrich said Paul had a “long history” of inaccuracies. The truth is Gingrich was both a student and a father at the time, and probably would have failed the physical anyway, according to his stepfather, an Army man.
• Santorum said the term “middle class” implies class warfare and is one “I don’t think we should be using as Republicans.” The fact is his own campaign used it in an Iowa flyer, and he has used it in the past himself.
• Paul attacked Santorum as a “high-powered lobbyist.” Santorum was never registered as a lobbyist, though he earned more than $200,000 working as a consultant for a lobbying firm and an energy company.

Candidates also recycled some false or doubtful claims we’ve gone over before. Romney repeated his misleading claim that his firm Bain Capital invested in businesses that “have now added over 100,000 jobs.” Huntsman again claimed Utah was “No. 1” in job creation while he was governor, which isn’t true according to the standard statistical measure for employment. And Santorum again put words in President Obama’s mouth by claiming that the president “supported” the results of a disputed election in Iran.
And finally, Gingrich, Santorum and Romney were all a bit confused about which sports teams were playing an important game on another network. Perhaps they had more important matters on their minds.
To see the full article, go to http://factcheck.org
Hitting the road this morning to continue our trek to Port Aransas, Texas. Will be there this afternoon.

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 !

Monday

First thing this morning we drove down to the local RV repair place to see if they can order the part for our coach steps. Over the weekend, I had Linda open the door from the inside (while I stood outside) so I could put the awning out. I wanted to let it air out since we’ve had so much rain over the last few days. When Linda opened the door the steps acted really weird and didn’t open up correctly. I got under the rig and discovered a big bolt laying under the steps….sheared off. We need to talk to the local repair place and see if they can get them fixed before we leave Sunday to go back to Dallas. If not, gonna look kind of weird to have them bungied to the underside of the rig so they’re not swinging to and fro in the breeze. It’s always something….
Spent the day with our friends Cindy and Wendy, down in Houston. We drove from Livingston, down to Houston, to hang out with them for the day. Taught them how to play Mexican Train and being the quick learners that they are, Cindy whupped us. It’s been so long since we’ve played that we’d forgotten the rules and called the ladies who taught us to get a refresher on the rules.
On the way home, from Wendy and Cindy’s place, we stopped at Church’s chicken to get some chicken strips for supper. At the drive through, I asked over the little speaker if they had plain chicken strips, without a combo deal. We had a distinct communication problem when I couldn’t understand anything she was asking me. We mudded our way through the ordering process….enlisting Linda’s help periodically to translate what I thought this woman on the other end of the intercom (which I think was located in Mexico somewhere) was asking me. We get up to the window, she opens her window and says the total and I hand her our Discover card, since it’s 5% cash back this month on restaurant purchases. She takes it and turns around to process it, turns back around and hands it to me, saying “pizza and mustard”. Now I know that I have two strikes against me since my bad ear is on the left, closest to this woman but I’m thinking that “pizza and mustard” might be the dipping sauces to choose from. I’m thinking perhaps I had heard her incorrectly until I turn to look at Linda and Linda says “pizza and mustard” ? We’re thinking that the mustard part makes sense but pizza as a new flavor of dipping sauce seems a little bizarre. We both lean towards the window and look at the woman who says it again…pizza and mustard. We must have looked like deer in headlights because when we looked at her again she annunciated very slowly…Visa and MasterCard. We both started laughing and Linda says, “We’re so sorry but you have a bit of an accent”. DUH ! Ya think ! I hand her my other credit card…the mustard one, I believe and she runs it while Linda is busting a gut. Oh my, it was funny. When she truly did ask what dipping sauce I wanted, I asked her for honey mustard and got it. Apparently she understands English better than I understand Spanish. Hmmmm…..

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.

Leroy

We picked Leroy up and went to Jerry’s for dinner. We worked with Leroy and his wife, Bonnie when we came to the Care Center in fall of 2007 to volunteer. They worked with us for a good bit of that time. He’s had some serious health issues in the last year and his son thought that the Care Center was the best place for him so that the staff could keep an eye on him. He’s also close to relatives in the area and he’s always on the go doing things and helping out as best he can. Had a great time catching up with him. Leroy’s the “south mouth” and has lots of great stories to tell. Catfish, jumbo shrimp, home-made rolls, onion rings, coconut cream pie and a good friend…it doesn’t get any better than that.

Whole Lot of French Frying Going On…

Short night of sleep last night. Storms started right after I went to bed and it really POURED ! In the “treehouse” bedroom, it sounds like when frosty french fries hit hot oil in the fryer. It was crackling so loud, we couldn’t hear the sound on the TV so gave up and shut it off. Boomer was petrified and wound up in bed with us all night long. The storms would die down a little and then swoop in again. I remember asking Linda at one point what time it was and it was 3:05 and raining really bad out. Today it was cloudy all day and in the 50’s.
We went out and about for a while and then returned to Livingston to eat at Bodacious BBQ. It was really good. Tonight we went down to the Care Center, where a friend of ours who we met when we all were volunteers here in fall of 2007, is now a resident. Everyone was sitting down to supper and I walked up and put my hands on his shoulders, where he sat at the table. He turned around and saw Linda, was so surprised and jumped up and gave us both a big hug. We’re going to take him out to Jerry’s Restaurant tomorrow night so we can catch up with him.
Not much else going on. One of the other ICR’s, from our company, is staying here in the park. Her mom has a house here. We went down Tuesday night and had happy hour with Trudy, her mom and a friend of her mom’s. Had a great time and sampled a wonderful cheese that they had recently discovered. It’s called Santiagio Balsamic and it melts in your mouth. Wow…good stuff !
So happy that I finally figured out how to print, from the laptop, without having to get up and walk to the printer…hook it up, etc. When we had the broadband card, for our internet, we had purchased a modem and was hoping that would do the trick. Nope, doesn’t work with broadband card. But now that we have the tablet that serves as a MiFi, it can work. I just had to download some additional drivers, from Epson’s website. Most all of the new printers are able to print wirelessly…just need the correct drivers on your laptop. Voila…it’s done and now I can shoot stuff to the printer and not worry about running out of power (from unhooking from the power supply) while I truck out to the printer. I also set the printer up here in the living room so the “commute” would be shorter. Gadgets ! Cant live with ‘em…can’t exist without ‘em.

Holiday Christmas Party and Grapevine

Saturday night was our boss’ Christmas party at his house. We were able to meet several of the other  couples that sell for AGS or Texas Advertising. It’s great to put faces with the voices/names of people we’ve talked to but hadn’t met yet. Brian and Debra have a great house and it’s decorated beautifully for Christmas. We got to meet Rick, who will be the person taking care of scheduling and other duties for Brian. He’s from Maine and is excited to start his new duties after some training with one of the trainers that we started out with. There were a lot of people there…probably around 35 or so. There was a Chinese gift exchange, where people can steal a present that someone else has already gotten and then that person gets another present. It was fun…Linda got a new back massager that I’m currently sitting on. It’s great !
Today we drove to Grapevine, Texas which is only about 30 minutes away. One of the other RV parks that our  company does is Vineyards RV Resort and we have heard that it’s a gorgeous park and that the town of Grapevine is really cute so off we went to check it all out. The resort is situated around a lake and the layout of the park is awesome. They took advantage of every view for RV site placement and it’s gorgeous. There is a view of the marina and I can only imagine how spectacular the view is on a sunny, warm day when the lake has more water in it (remember there’s a bad drought going on here. Look at where the water level should be in the pictures.) There was a storm coming in so it was really overcast and windy but still a perfect setting to put an RV. Many of the sites had little decks, large fire rings with a grilling grate and nice picnic table. Some even had little pergolas over the deck area.


A short distance from the RV park is the historic downtown area, which is really cute. Lots of great shops and decorations for Christmas too. We had heard that Grapevine is the Christmas capital of Texas with all of the events and decorating and I can see why. We walked up and down the streets, checking out all of the shops and restaurants. We really enjoyed the town and would definitely go back again.
Tomorrow we leave for the Escapees park in Livingston, until after the first of the year. Anxious to get on the road and see some different sights out our picture window. Will post again once we get there and get settled in.