North to Livingston :)

We left Hondo as expected on May 27th, and went as far as Mumees where we got the rig lubed and checked out for our trip North. 

 

Our next stop was Canyon Lake Potters Creek campground.  It is a COE campground and we get full hookups for $13 a night, what a deal.  However, no wifi, no TV, and NO phone service…BUT there were herds of deer, that have very little fear of people and came right up to the RV.  We also saw a family with two little fawns that were so cute!  The deer here in TX are very small in comparison to the deer in PA…it would take about 3 of them to make one! 

 

We got a late start on the 28th because David had told me we were stopping in Bastrop, so I made reservations and then realized it was only 75 miles up the road…silly mistake that I’m hoping I won’t make again!  It was a nice enough park, but again, no wifi, however we had over 300 tv stations!!!  Who can watch all that!  Sheesh!

 

The 29th found us going about 185 miles north to Livingston, TX, where we will be staying for 3 nights at Rainbow’s End, the headquarters for Escapees.  We received our 10 year pins today…woohoo!  Can’t believe we’ve been members for 10 years – one of the best moves we ever made!  We shopped at Wally World this afternoon, had dinner at an Italian grill, and are now home relaxing.  Once again, no internet, no TV, but we do have phone coverage! 

 

We really enjoyed out time at Livingston as usual.  While there I got a message from Judy Mott, one of my facebook friends that I met through gate guarding – and she said they weren’t very far away – actually about 75 miles at Martin Dies Jr State Park, so when we left Livingston we went there for a night, and we got to meet each other in person.  We spent a couple hours chatting, and then we went to the Cedar Tree for dinner where we overindulged but it was fabulous! 

 

Today we got up and drove 193 miles to Vidalia, LA, where we got a site overlooking the Mississippi River, and entertained ourselves watching the barges go by.  I made David a frozen pizza and I had a salad for dinner.  I’m hoping there will be an adventure tomorrow! 

Gate Guarding and catch up

 

This is a very short catch up post.  We got our gate about 10 miles outside of Cotulla, TX.  We spent 3 1/2 months there, and it was a great experience.  We had a slow gate, but neither of us were bored, and we made some nice money. 

 

On the second week, I fell out the door of the motorhome – dislocated my shoulder and broke my arm.  They could not set it because of where it broke.  Had a horrible 6 weeks and am still having issues. 

 

We plan on leaving tomorrow, May 27th to start our journey North to PA.  I’m excited to be back on the road again.

 

As usual, I tend to post more often when we are on the road, because there is more to write about than just ‘did laundry today’ type of thing!

January 1, 2014 through Feb 9, 2014

Our trip from Yuma back to Hondo, TX went very well – we did have a couple issues, one being that we couldn’t find the inverter to reset some fuses so we didn’t have electric in half the coach – so a trip to Camping World in El Paso and $500 later we were good to go.  The highlight of our trip back was probably the meal we ate at Chuy’s in Van Horn.  OMG, best Mexican food in a long time!

 

When we arrived back at LSC there was the usual ‘out to eats’ at Buckhorn Saloon (Tuesday evenings), Bill & Rosa’s for country fried steak, Jade Buffet for Chinese, Hu Hot for Mongolian grill, and lots of good times with the folks at Lone Star Corral.  A special shout out to our friends Bob and Jan Wheaton and Gene and Linda Moreau, Edmund & Margie Strickler, Gene & Patti Hunter…we’ll miss y’all!

 

We went to Boerne, TX mid January and took our test for our Texas State Security Officer (gate guard).  Then we were sent to a place in San Antonio where we peed in a cup, then got our fingerprints done in Hondo.  Then we started waiting for a gate.  We did all the above with Timekeepers Inc – but after having heard nothing from them for a couple weeks, called Guard 1 Services out of Houston – they were extremely nice and easy to work with. 

Feb 10, 2014 Gate Guarding

We were up this morning at 6 am, having packed everything and ready to hit the road to our first gate guarding experience.  We knew we were about 14 miles outside of Cotulla, TX, and had about 90 miles to drive.  Of course, the weather was yucky – misty rain and cold…ggggrrrr!

 

We discovered on the way down that there is a big HEB in Pearsall, so that is where we will be doing our ‘big’ grocery shopping.  That’s about 20 –25 miles away.  When we came through Cotulla, we spied a LOWES market, as well as a Dollar General store.  I ‘think’ I have packed pretty good with food, I kind of expect our major issue is going to be water…I can see purchasing some more jugs will be in our future!  We use at least 1.5 gallons a day, just in drinking water and coffee – and I brought 2 cases of bottled water and 6 gallons for cooking with. 

 

The first thing we noticed is that should we get some steady rain, we will be stuck out here – there will be no way to get out our road, it will be flooded – and we also noticed the caliche that piled up on our shoes INSTANTLY!  We will definitely be getting some pallets (I hope) and some cheap throw rugs to put outside!  The weather is supposed to be nasty until Thursday – when I will probably head into town to investigate, send some mail out, and a few necessities. 

 

The outgoing GG said that they had been here since June, and since it is a gate that the wells are producing already, not a lot of traffic.  She said watch out for wildlife, that they have seen some cheetah’s that apparently got out from one of the exotic ranches in the area – as well as a lot of coyotes…so we’ll be keeping a close eye on Cinder! 

 

Our Company Man, Roger came at the appointed time, hooked us all up to everything, (generator, water, sewer), and they showed us how to work the I-pad – basically it is take a picture, get a name, verify where they are going, submit to the office – very nice set up.  My handwriting is pretty bad, but I can type like a crazy person!  He also gave us a Wilson Antenna Booster, and so we have good phone service even with our Verizon.  However, we have had zero luck setting up our ‘dongle’ for internet  

 

We checked in a truck – and all worked just like it was supposed to  

I fixed us ham and cheese sandwiches, veggies with dip and chips for lunch – and I’m making swiss steak over noodles and carrots for dinner, with home made bread.  The motorhome smells SO good!  

Dec 17 through Dec 31st–Yuma Arizona

Once again, I’m playing catch up!  This time I ‘might’ have a good reason :)

We had been looking at motorhomes since Dec 2nd – when we pulled into Yuma, David put the dolphin in park and the gear shift fell off.  We had over 112,000 miles on it.  Because we couldn’t find one, we had to get one made in TN and shipped to us.  Cost – over $1,000 which gave us even more incentive to find something that we could live with and not break the bank.

 

Just to clarify, the Dolphin was 37 foot with a big slide, pantry and underbed storage. 

We bought a 34 foot Beaver Monterey with NO slide, and it is a diesel pusher so NO under bed storage.  For a couple days we looked like carpet baggers, but after some donations to a local church (tablecloths, towels, some kitchen equipment) we did get a few more bins, but got everything packed in the bays that wouldn’t go inside.  Surprisingly enough, most everything fits!  Now that we’ve been in it about 10 days, we really love it!  Here are some pictures ;) 

Can’t find the ‘outside’ pictures but here it is!

 

Christmas Eve David got up with sore throat, and I knew he was coming down with the crud.  We attended a party where 4 people made big Nesco Roasters with soups – chicken noodle (homemade noodles, yum), clam chowder, chili and potato…and we all took a side dish or dessert to share.  I took a loaf of date and nut cake.  We were home by 6 pm, where we had a nice warming toddy and were in bed early.

 

Christmas morning found David pretty ill, so instead of going out to Golden Corral with friends, I put a big ham steak on the grill, made some candied sweet potatoes and peas – that was dinner…and it was delicious.  I had saved our ‘Christmas Box’ that came in the mail from daughter Dawn, Daryl, Devon, Branden and Ariel.  I opened it and there was the Dyson Animal vacumn – YIPPEE, I was so excited.  I really wanted that!  We also received a White house Christmas ornament, and 4 gift cards for Olive Garden.  This was the BEST gift, thank you all so very much! 

 

Dec 26 through 31st, we put stuff in cupboards, rearranged, and did it again.  Between doing that, we visited with Walker and Evelyn Lane, and just enjoyed the warmth.  We did get to Algodones and got some drugs…yippee, good for another year! 

 

Dec 28th thanks to Walker and Evelyn, we had a ‘traditional’ Christmas dinner, with ham, deep fried turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, baked beans, cloud 9, rolls, pumpkin and apple pie.  Also attending was Gertrude & Lynn, Cindy and her hubby, and Gary.  

New Years Eve we went to Texas Roadhouse for a nice dinner and were home and in bed by 10.  January 1 we pulled out of Yuma and drove 178 miles to Casa Grande.  We visited with Cheyenne friends, Bob & Joyce Parker and Shirley Marsh.  We missed Georgia and Roger Shepherd, they were in Pasadena at the Rose Parade. 

 

Today, Jan 2, we drove up to Maricopa and spent about 5 hours visiting with Ray and Sandy Abe at their house, and we went to the AK-Chin Casino for a wonderful buffet.  We had such a great time and look forward to visiting them again this summer in Pennsylvania.  That brings us up to date…tomorrow we’ll head out and stop in Benson for 1 night. 

Dec 17 catching up

Once again I am SO far behind!  We continued our trip, stopping off at Deming, NM at the Dream Catcher and stayed a couple nights, meeting and enjoying some quality time with Fran and Rich Tilgner, including going out to eat at a great pizza place! 

Then we headed out once again and stopped in Benson, AZ at the Saguaro Escapees park where we stayed 6 nights.  Very nicely landscaped park, nice people too!  We didn’t do a lot of sightseeing, but did get into Tucson twice – once to visit with Jim Alley and his wife…the name is simply gone, sorry.  That is what happens when it takes me too long to update!  We also went to Tanque Verde Guest Ranch for a delightful brunch!

Our next stop was 3 miles away at Butterfield RV resort, where we enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner.  We also met Bill Roach and Loretta Perno, facebook friends that we met a little over a year ago.  We shared a table at Thanksgiving and went to a place called WildDogz on black Friday and had a wonderful lunch!  David is a big fan of ‘chicago dogs’ :)

We left Benson and drove to Casa Grande where we stayed at KOFA co-op, yet another Escapee park.  I believe it is the smallest one, but it was nice enough.  Since we were only there 1 night we really didn’t get a good overview, and it was a weekend so no Social hours…maybe next time!

We arrived at ‘our’ lot here in Yuma on Sunday, Dec 1st.  We’ve been having a great time!  On 55th Street in the foothills, they decorate big time – so big that there is a ‘LIGHT UP PARTY’ on Dec 10th.  Then every night thereafter someone ‘hosts’ the street.  They hand out candy to all (Santa is there too most nights) and dog biscuits to anyone with a pooch!  At the ‘host’ site, behind their gate they put out goodies for the people on the street.  Some folks do hot chocolate, hot apple cider, and munchies.  Walkers and Koehlers will be hosting 2 nights, the 18th and the 23rd.  We are going all out, they are making brats w/kraut, Gertrude is doing veggies and dips with other munchies, we are making macaroni salad, fudge, date & nut cake, cheese balls and pretzels…

Here are some pictures of the places lit up!  As always click on the picture to make them larger.  It is wonderful!

 

The people just keep walking and driving down the street, even buses!  The candy givers get on the buses and hand out candy, and if there are kids, Santa gets on the bus too!  Last year they had 23 buses in one night!  It is gonna be busy I’m sure, but also a lot of fun!

 

We had a great visit here with our friends from Riverton, WY, Lynn and Joyce Marlatt, they were here for the light up party…here they are

David and Lynn have been friends since 7th grade in school – now that is an enduring friendship!  They have gone several years with little to no contact, but they’ve kept in touch frequently the past couple years.  Joyce and I are getting to know each other pretty well too!  It was a nice visit but TOO SHORT!  You’ll notice we were all bundled up, ‘cause it was COLD after the sun went down!  In the low 50’s and with a desert wind…brrrr.  I guess we were lucky, it was –7 in WY, and sleeting and freezing in Hondo, TX. 

 

We’ve heard from friends Mel and Thelma May, from the Columbine Caravan in Colorado, and we will be getting together with them as well as Ray and Rita Rogers one evening :) 

Nov 18 Oh NO

We left Marfa about 9:30 heading to Las Cruces, NM, about 239 miles.  Well, we got about 5 miles west of Van Horn, TX, so about 80 miles from start and suddenly there was a squeal, and a BANG and we lost power steering and brakes…David got us off the side of the road very quickly…

 

We called Good Sam ERS – they sent out a mobile mechanic who was very good – turns out we lost an idler pulley and another pulley and the serpentine belt!!!  After 3 hours on the side of the road, getting rocked by every truck that went by, and $362 later, we were on our way.

 

We stopped about 30 miles up the road at the town of Sierra Blanco, at a little RV park right on business 10.  The RV park is the usual Texas dirt patch – but the restaurant with it was excellent.  Very friendly, exceptionally clean and good food at a very reasonable price.  We both had country fried steak, mashed potatoes & gravy, carrots, roll and 1 piece of sweet potato pie, and our bill was $17 – nice!