Saturday, September 29, 2012, Columbus, MS

Saturday, September 29, 2012, Columbus, MS

This morning I had to walk the ½ mile to the park entrance to get the Jeep.  We were locked out last night.  They lock the gate at 10:00 and we didn’t get back until 10:30.

After having coffee I decided that I needed to find a geocache large enough to hold some travel bugs I have been carrying around.  The second one I found was a Travel Bug hotel, since we aren’t going further east, I dropped them all.  I did six caches in all.

A funny thing happened on the way to one of the caches.  I topped a rise, downhill and ahead on the highway I saw blue lights blinking.  Since there were vehicles on the road, I thought accident.  I made my u-turn and remember thinking that my turning around might appear to be suspicious.  I turned off at the road at a windmill.  Since I didn't see any no trespassing or keep out signs, I drove on toward the cache. (I hadn't read the cache details about parking off the property.) As I came around the back of the high grass I saw a State Police car in front of me and one in the back.  I kept my hands on the steering wheel until one of the policeman approached and told me to turn off the engine and get out.   The lead officer asked what I was doing.  I told him a little about geocaching.  He asked if I had come all the way to Mississippi from Nevada to geocache.  Apparently he had heard of it and said OK, go ahead and find it.  With my long list of DNFs, I thought I may really be in trouble now.  Fortunately we were standing about 8' from the cache and I pointed it out quickly.  My earlier thoughts about having made a suspicious move were confirmed.  They were looking for someone and were running a road block checking all vehicles.  I apologized to them for causing them concern and we chatted for awhile about my police background and law enforcement in general.  When I got back on the road they were back at their road block, I turned the other way.

While caching I had a couple of twinges in my right knee.  When I got out of the Jeep back at the coach it was really stiff and painful.  I used a cane most of the evening.

Medicare Card - lol

Back at the coach I got cleaned up and we headed for Gerri’s Class 65^th Birthday Party about 3:30pm.  It was held at a barn and a camp house in back of an old house just outside Columbus.  It was pot luck and there was plenty of good food to be had.  Besides eating, Gerri visited with various classmates.  The group sang Happy Birthday to themselves and then served cake.  The cake was a facsimile of a Social Security card.  A lot of pictures were taken and they tried a group shot.  There were about 100 people in attendance.  We left the party at 7:30 and were back at the RV Park in plenty of time to avoid being locked out.

Friday, September 28, 2012, Columbus, MS

Friday, September 28, 2012, Columbus, MS

These acorns are shown about life size.

We slept in this morning and after getting up I fixed the coffee. While we drank our coffee we caught up on e-mail.
Our campsite is surrounded by oak trees and there are acorns falling off the trees constantly.  When they hit the roof of the coach it is a loud snap.  I have seen them fall on the picnic table and they bounce about two feet off the wood.  They are only 1/4 to 3/8" but make a large noise when they hit.

Acorns littering the ground

At 1:00 I went caching. I found six and didn't find one. I still have some travel bugs that I need to drop off, but none of the caches I have found have been large enough.
We met some of Gerri's classmates at a restaurant called Tampico in Columbus. It was good Mexican food but the service was very strange. They served salsa in a squeeze bottle, I ask for a small bowl which I never got. Those that wanted something to drink were asked for their credit card to hold until the end of dinner. I don't think anyone went for that and the waitress asked what was wrong with holding the card. I guess she can't spell "credit card fraud." She said something about having to pay cash when we were finished. I ignored that and presented my card when the bill came.

Danny Kinard

There was a band playing near our table area so after dinner we went to the lobby of the Holiday Inn for conversation. That broke up about 10:15 and we headed for the coach. There was some wispy fog along the road and as we turned into the park I remembered that there was a sign that the gates close at 10:00 PM and open at 6:00 AM. Sure enough we got to the gate house and the arms were down blocking the way. Seeing no other recourse we parked the Jeep and walked the ½ mile to the coach. There was a full moon but the light was filtered through the trees so it was a dark walk until we got to the area where the RVs are parked. Twice I thought I heard Banjo Music and walked faster.

Maro and Rick Manning

Parks and Bev Mitchell

Back at the coach we caught up on computer time and went to bed.

Thursday, September 27, 2012, Columbus, MS

Thursday, September 27, 2012, Columbus, MS
After finishing my coffee and allowing for the time difference, I called all of the doctor's offices where we had outstanding bills. None of them had web sites for that purpose. I got them all paid except one that had waived the outstanding balance.

Airplane on a stick

In the afternoon we drove to Columbus AFB. Gerri say the whole area has changed.  There used to be a lot of small businesses and bars along the road. Now there are only trees. The base entrance is now a modern brick structure with a visitor's center outside. Gerri went in to the visitor's center to ask if we could go on base since she used to live there. The answer was no, you have to be active or retired military or take a regularly scheduled tour.

Main Gate, Columbus AFB

Next we drove West Point about 10 miles away. Gerri wanted to look at a restaurant that one of her class mates recommended. Apparently it has closed. 

Waverly Mansion 1852

On the way back to Columbus, we stopped at Waverly Mansion but weren't able to see much because of large trees and they charged an admission price to view the grounds and insides. There was a cache on the grounds of the Mansion, but there was an entrance fee. There was another nearby cache. It was off the road in the woods. When I walked down the path I saw a small cemetery. The cache was a little past the cemetery but so were there bushes and briers. I didn't go there. The cemetery hasn't been maintained. There is a tree that has fallen across a fenced area and broken many of the headstones. The creepy part was that some of the graves looked like small crypts and some were broken open, I didn't look to see if anything was inside or if they were just boxes above the graves.
Back in Columbus we took pictures of where Gerri lived. We also found the Church of Christ.
We had supper at the Cattleman's Steak and Catfish House that had been recommended by one of Gerri's classmates. They served hush puppies and navy beans as appetizers. We had the catfish fillet dinner with three fillets and an order of fried green tomatoes. The catfish was served with onion rings, coleslaw and hush puppies. We had enough left over for one more meal.

Gerri's old home on 3rd Street

Many of the empty sites are now occupied and some RVs even came in after dark. We have neighbors on the south, two tents and another coach. There is still one empty site on the north side.

Gerri's old home on 3rd Street

After dinner we went back to the coach and relaxed until bedtime.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012, Columbus, MS

Wednesday, September 26, 2012, Columbus, MS

The old High School Stadium

Part of Lee High School

After having our coffee and checking e-mail, I got really ambitious. Last night I cleaned the windshield and front of the coach, today I cleaned the rest. Well, OK, I didn't clean the roof. I try not to go up there very often. Too high, too narrow and I'm too shaky on my feet. While it was cool I did the passenger side which was in the shade. By the time the driver's side was in the shade it was getting warmer. Some of the streaks coming off the roof were tougher than the "The Solution." A few months ago someone on the American Coach e-mail list recommended a cleaning towel made by Pilkington for removing black streaks, excess paint or caulking. It worked fine and then I cleaned off the residue with the solution.
Late in the afternoon we went into town and looked up some places from Gerri's teen years there. We went to one of her classmates boutique and then to the river walk. I did one cache while Gerri was in the boutique visiting her friend. We drove down to the River Walk, while Gerri checked it out I did another cache and walked across the old bridge to try another one, but the battery went dead on her phone that I was using as a GPS. I gave up and went back to the parking lot to meet Gerri.

Anyone in the market to buy their own high school?

The Tombigbee River

We drove up town and found a Post Office and mailed a birthday card to Brandon. We looked around town for awhile longer and then went back to the RV Park. Like many places, Columbus has changed since Gerri graduated from Lee High in 1965.
Back at Dewayne Hayes we watched TV for awhile and then had supper. Supper was left over from last night which I had forgotten to talk about yesterday. Gerri cooked up an assortment of vegetables and spaghetti in to a pasta primavera that was excellent last night and even better tonight.
I also forgot to write that last night we had no neighbors on either side. When we got here there was no one closer than four sites away. Tonight there isn't a RV in sight. The way this park is set up sites 1-14 and sites 94 - 100 have sewer hookups. Most of the RVs here are in those sites. That leaves a lot of room for us in site 32. I hadn't thought about not having sewer so we didn't arrive with empty holding tanks. We got here on Monday and will be here until next Monday morning. So far we are doing very well in conserving; we have less than half a tank in both holding tanks. If we have to move to go dump the sewers we will move to another site along the river. Right now we are backed up to a slough, scenic but not the river.
After dinner we watched the devotional and invitation from Oakey Blvd. Church of Christ. Jorden Greene did a great job delivering a meaningful message.
Last night Gerri had recorded the debut episode of Vegas on CBS. This is a new series based on our Sheriff Ralph Lamb's early career. Entertaining but very loosely based on fact. Gerri made me be quiet on the points I started to criticize the unrealistic parts or those that were way off the true conditions in the early 60's, uniforms, procedures, etc.
After watching Vegas, Gerri went to the bedroom to get a new position for lounging and playing on her computer.

Bryn Bella 1850

Our closest neighbor 

I hit the bed at about 11:30.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012, Columbus, MS

Tuesday, September 25, 2012, Columbus, MS

Classmates

Ah, back to normal, sleeping late. I fixed the coffee and checked my e-mail. Gerri got up a little before me and hit her computer. Today she is meeting some classmates for lunch at Applebee's. She will post pictures on her Facebook site. I cleaned up the Jeep as well as could on the inside last night. This morning I cleaned up the outside.
Gerri left at about 11am. I checked for nearby caches and found three in the park. I saw that the most recent finds on the three were: May, February and October of last year. In spite of my misgiving of hunting caches that haven't been found for so long, especially in a heavily used area, I walked out to try to find them. I should have stayed at the coach, all I got was sweaty.
Gerri got back before I did. I had forgotten to leave a note that I was going out and my cell phone wasn't with me. A no, no and I know it. I looked for it back at the coach and finally called the number. It was down between my chair arm and the cushion.

View from our site

Gerri got a Facebook message from a couple we met in Wisconsin last year, David and Iva Starke. They were the hosts of the Spartan Chassis Club Rally in Door County, really great folks to be around. They are in Little Rock until Monday, before heading to Panama City, FL. The route there puts them within 50 miles of Columbus. I called David and we talked for quite awhile. We both had made commitments to be in places that took us west and them east. I guess we won't see them this year.
Before it got dark I went out and cleaned the front of the coach. As it got dark, I killed a driller that landed on my arm. I gave it up and went inside.

John and Montyne are planning to go with some other folks on an eight month sailing trip from San Diego, CA to La Paz, BCS, MX. I have been designated as one of the people who get satellite up dates of their progress from a SPOT Communicator. https://www.findmespot.com/en/. I have a SPOT locator that works with my GPS unit, I carry it when I go caching. John and Montyne's plans reminded me I can send notifications to selected people from my GPS. It had been sometime since I had set up my SPOT account and many e-mail addresses are out of date. I tried unsuccessfully to change my groups and the incorrect addresses. My computer wouldn't recognize the GPS. There was a plug in to download, which I did. There was still no communication between the devices. I sent an E-mail to SPOT and they sent me a solution that worked. I have added some of you to a group that will get updates when we change locations. If you want on that list send me an e-mail, same if you don't want to be on the list. BTW, we won't be moving again until the 1^st of October, so notifications will not be sent until then.

Monday, September 24, 2012, Columbus, MS

Monday, September 24, 2012, Columbus, MS


 

 
Monday, September 24, 2012, Columbus, MS

Where we are parked

This getting up early is becoming too much of a habit. I was up before 7 and fixed coffee. I checked my e-mail and before I knew it Gerri was up too. We didn't have a lot to do before starting, since we didn't unhook the Jeep and only hooked up shore power. Yesterday when Gerri ran down the front shade it came off track, this morning I had no problem with them this morning. I did have to air up two tires that were giving a low air pressure message. We were underway by 9:10. Our route for today was east on I-20 to Jackson, MS and then north on I-55 to US-82. In Jackson the Gremlin went crazy and took us in a circle on some city streets. Back on I-55 the GPS kept telling me to turn around and go south. I turned off the routing and chose the same destination and then it showed us headed the right way. The GPS has had us take some funny turns before but never like this. After reaching Columbus we turned north on US-45 to state route 373. I had stopped in Columbus to check the turns in the GPS with directions I had received from a camp host last week. They matched so we pressed on. No one was at the check in station so we chose Site 32 because of TV reception and the view of the water. The downside was this site had no sewer connection. If we aren't conservative we may have to visit to the dump station before we leave. I really don't like to have to move once we are set up. Not that it's a lot of work, just an inconvenience.

Sunset along the Tombigbee

Today we drove 309 miles mostly on interstate and four lane divided highway. We got from Monroe, LA to the campsite and set up by 4 PM. The check in station was open between 4 and 5 PM, so I went there and paid our fees. The campsite is usually $18.00 but with my Golden Age Passport that was cut in half. Sometimes being old has it's advantages.

Here we are parked in a beautiful spot along the Tombigbee - Tennessee Waterway. I saw a white Herron across the river and took a picture with Gerri's camera. It was too far for her lens. I got my Nikon out but the battery was dead. Hopefully the bird will be back sometime this week.
I cleaned the inside of the Jeep as well as I could without a vacuum. Gerri has a luncheon in town tomorrow, so I hope to get the Jeep cleaned up before she leaves.

An Arial version of the map

Yesterday we had tacos from a stand that claimed to serve the best tacos in Texas. Well we are no longer in Texas, but for dinner we had what had to be the best tacos in Mississippi. Gerri grilled salmon with a side of cabbage, onions and tomatoes, plus toppings of spicy ranch dressing and salsa.

Sunday, September 23, 2012, West Monroe, LA

Sunday, September 23, 2012, West Monroe, LA

Sunrise over Melissa, TX.

We were up at seven and ready to go by eight. We had coffee with Keith and Alice, saying our goodbyes and tentative plans to see them after the first of the year in Lake Havasu City. We pulled out of the park at nine.


Our route took us back to McKinney to Highway 380. From McKinney we traveled east on US-380 to Greenville, TX where we picked up US-69 after fueling up. We went through Point, TX where we had attended church in 2004 while at the 1000 Trails at Lake Tawakoni. We started seeing small handwritten signs along the highway advertising tacos and snow cones. The price of tacos one dollar each and the claim to be the best tacos in Texas got out attention and our taste buds going. Just past the junction of US-69 and US-80 in Mineola, TX we spotted the restaurant and stopped along the road side. We had to pull off the road onto the shoulder because the parking area wasn't large enough for the motor home and there was no place large enough to turn around. To call this a restaurant is a huge exaggeration, it was more of a roadside stand. They serve tacos, enchiladas and combo meal, plus drinks and snow cones. There is a larger roadside stand we have stopped out off I-15 north of Escondido, CA called Nessie's Burgers. This taco stand makes Nessie's look like a large eatery. But both have excellent items on their limited menus. We opted for the Legendary Tacos, $3.00 each. The place is named Legendary Lone Star Tacos. This place is worth a stop when passing. Not too long after eating our tacos we intersected I-20 and continued east toward Louisiana. We did pass through or come near towns we have visited in east Texas while visiting relatives; Kilgore, Canton, Tyler, Marshall and others.
I had to stop at the first Louisiana Rest Stop. I was getting very droopy. We passed through Shreveport on very rough road; I slowed to less than 50 mph. I had to stop at one more rest stop before getting to our destination for the day. We arrived at the Pavilion RV Park in West Monroe, LA a little before 4 PM. The sign said $40.00 a night; to my satisfaction they accepted Passport America which cut the cost in half. We were assigned a large pull through site and were set up by four. I only hooked up power since the fresh water tank was full and the waste tanks empty. Today we traveled 305 miles and have about the same to go tomorrow to get to our destination, Columbus, MS. Since we had a pretty good size lunch we decided to eat light tonight although there is a nearby Waffle House and a Cracker Barrel. We didn't unhook the Jeep so we should start pretty quickly after we get up in the morning.
After parking I started going through the mail that Montyne had sent us, this is mail that had arrived after we departed on 8/20 until she mailed it to us on 9/19. Montyne had culled through it before sending it, but there was still a lot of mail. Much of the mail consisted of sympathy cards for the passing of my mother. There were some bills that we had already paid and some that we need to pay. About 1/3 of the mail was thrown away after opening. During the coming days I will take care of the ones that need to be paid or responded too.
We attended the evening services from Oakey Boulevard via the Internet.
Some computer time and a little TV and the day was a wrap.

Saturday, September 22, 2012, Melissa, TX

Saturday, September 22, 2012, Melissa, TX
Our last day here in Melissa, we head for Mississippi in the morning.

German Baked Pancake

We went for breakfast at Keith and Alice's. They fixed bacon and baked pancakes. The baked pancakes were served with lemon juice and powdered sugar. It was a very interesting preparation with delicious results.
We know it's not Monday, but today is wash day. We loaded up all the cloths and I took Gerri to the park Laundromat. Only one washer was in use so we had no wait to get started.
While Gerri did the wash, I headed for Sam's Club in McKinney to buy a new printer. I tried twice more to install the old one. It did something different every time. The old printer also started not turning off when the power button was pushed. With my new printer in the back of the Jeep, I managed to find three caches and gas up before Gerri called that she was finished washing.
The mail came from home this morning and I face the task of going through it. Included were the original copies of my mother's death certificate. That is a whole other set of tasks I have to start; closing her accounts, notifying the necessary people of her death, removing her name as a trusty of her trust and transferring property from her name to the other joint owners. I'm sure time will reveal more tasks to accomplish.
We talked to Brandon and Vanessa on Skype. It will be 20 days before we see them.
The installation of the new printer on my and Gerri's computer took quite a bit of time but it went smoothly. With this printer I can also send and receive faxes using our home phone. That should come in handy dealing with papers that have to be sent back and forth with companies that can't or won't do the same thing with PDF documents.
Sometime in the afternoon I realized I didn't have my pocket knife. The last time I used it was at a cache in McKinney. I looked all around in the Jeep, no luck. I drove back to McKinney but didn't find the knife. I got back to the coach and sat in my chair and the knife fell out of the chair. I was relieved. The knife is a Berretta and was given to me by a Beretta company rep in 1992.
I got most of the outside preparation done for moving. All I have to do outside in the morning is unhook from park power and roll up the awnings. I already hooked up the Jeep for towing. Of course before moving the coach I will walk around checking everything at least three times. Gerri does most of the inside preparations, putting tables away, getting carpets out of the way, bringing in the slides and raising the jacks. After the jacks are up, I do at least one more walk around to see that they are stowed properly and that there are no strange noises coming from the coach after it is running. I check for visible or audible leaks, the fluid levels and visually check the tires and under the coach. In the past I have made some bonehead mistakes that fortunately didn't cause us a lot of problems, so I try to be through in making sure all systems are go.
The Kerslake's got back too late and too tired from their visit with kids and grandkids to say our goodbyes tonight. So that will keep until morning.
Like I said today was wash day and our sheets were part of the wash. I helped Gerri make the bed. While Gerri was changing into her pajamas she had a real scare. She noticed the diamond was missing from her wedding ring. After a little time on the floor with a flashlight I spotted the diamond by the bed. Apparently it fell out while we were making the bed. It sure put my thinking I had lost my knife seem like the a trifle it was. The diamond and the ring are now in the safe to make sure of its location until we can get it reset.
The day ended well with some TV and computer time.

Friday, September 21, 2012, Melissa, TX

 
Friday, September 21, 2012, Melissa, TX
This was another great morning to be retired. Gerri's plans for the day are to spend the afternoon with Alice, have a pedicure and prepare for supper.
I went out geocaching in an area called New Hope, but with my caching ability I should call it No Hope. I found two for the day and DNFed five. It was frustrating and hot so I went shopping at Sam's Club.

Good Food With Good Company

Gerri and I had split the grocery list, I went to Sam's going to pick up my items and she was going get her items at a local grocery store. I also picked up a couple of items at Walgreen. While at Sam's I looked at a new printer. I'm giving one more try at installing the old one.
We got home at about the same time. Gerri put things away and I got cleaned up for supper at Alice and Keith's.
We had a great supper of Grilled steaks, mushrooms and an onion salad.
We were pretty tired after a long day and it a night shortly after coming back to the coach.

 

Thursday, September 20, 2012, Melissa, TX

Thursday, September 20, 2012, Melissa, TX

I got up early, at least for me. I fixed coffee and watched the sun come up. The sky was a pretty color but my view was obstructed by the RVs across the road and the trees.

I spent a good amount of the morning cleaning up some computer files and then backing up my computer on a new external hard drive we bought at Sam's on Monday. Every time I buy one they get cheaper, this one has 1T of storage and was about $80 with tax. This hard drive has more than enough space for both of our computers. I had installed the printer a couple of days ago and it hasn't been working right. I uninstalled it and installed it again. It's still not doing right. It will print once and then I get an error that I can't clear without unplugging the printer and restarting it.

In the afternoon I went out caching. I found four and DNF'd one. Several more that showed up as active caches had DNFs already posted along with reviewer's notes that they need attention. I guess the owner no longer caches or isn't interested in maintaining the caches.

After logging my caches, I talked to some neighbors for awhile. Gerri was getting ready to warm up our dinner when Keith came over. We went to their place and visited for a time and then returned to our coach and had supper.

Some TV and the day was done.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012, Melissa, TX

Wednesday, September 19, 2012, Melissa, TX
The sun was out when we got up this morning. Maybe this signals an end to the rainy weather. Of course for us rainy is as good as sunny, we like them both. The detailers were out working on Keith's fifth wheel this morning. I checked with them and the cost is $10.00 a foot for the RV plus $50 for the roof. I decided to pass.

Bois D'Arc Tree

I went caching before noon until about 3:30. I found five and left six out there unfound for various reasons. Some of the local cache owners aren't very diligent in maintaining their caches.
Our friends the Kerslakes are visiting their grandchildren.
I did some shopping on the way home from caching. Gerri fixed a chicken salad for dinner; we ate it with salsa for dressing and had tortilla chips on the side.

Horse Apples, Friut of the Bois D'Arc, I found more of these than caches

E-mail from Montyne told us that she had sorted our mail and sent it to us via FedEx. It should get here on Saturday. I don't look forward to dealing with everything that will be in the mail. But, I will get it out of the way and the task won't be so large later.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012, Melisa, TX

Tuesday, September 18, 2012, Melisa, TX
This morning was still overcast but cleared up around noon.
I spoke to Glenna's investment counselor, Steve Reed and he is Fed Ex'ing the papers to transfer her accounts to me. The package will come to the RV Park. Hopefully the mail and the papers will all come before we leave here. That way I can get things started that have to be done by mail.
I had to deal with a high dollar alert from Chase, it seems that Gerri's Rehab hospital bill just came through, I thought it was processed already.
We are having the Kerslakes over for supper, so Gerri was busy all day preparing her Swedish Meat Balls. I had to wash dishes half way through the prep.
I went geocaching at about two PM and found four. I looked for two others that hadn't been found by the last cacher and that hadn't been found for several months. I didn't find them either. Some cachers never check on their caches after someone posts a DNF. I looked for several in this area that hadn't been logged since the first of the year and are missing.
Yesterday after the weather cleared up I set up the flag pole and put up the flags. The flags it some tree branches so today I took them down. I put the small flags on the front of the coach,
Gerri called when I was finishing up the last cache and ask me to stop at a store and get butter. I found a Kroger on the way back to the park and bought the butter and a few other items.
Back at the coach all was ready for supper. I took a shower and got myself ready.

Alice and Keith Kerslake

The meal went great and everyone liked Gerri's Swedish Meatballs. We visited until late in the evening. I cleaned up the dishes and was in bed at about 1 AM.

Monday, September 17, 2012, Melissa, TX

Monday, September 17, 2012, Melissa, TX
I wasn't sure if it was cloudy this morning, we had a high fog. Later we could see the clouds, but no rain today.

David and Donna Perley

I made phone calls to take care of business in Las Vegas as soon as the time frame was right. We are having our mail delivered on Tuesday and Montyne will send it to us. One of the things I arranged by phone was to OK Montyne picking up my mother's death certificates. She will send those along with the mail and I can get a few things started on settling her affairs that need to be done by mail.

Cousins

We were invited to David and Donna Perley's for dinner. David is Gerri's cousin and they live in Argyle, TX about 50 miles from Melissa. On the way there we stopped at a Sam's Club to pick up a few things.
We had a great visit and David grilled chicken tenders.. All the fixings were laid out for making tacos or a salad. Of course we visited after dinner and left their house at about 9:45.
On the way back to Melissa we stopped at a Super Wal-Mart and picked up the rest of the things for Gerri to fix a meal tomorrow for us and the Kerslakes.
It was after 11:30 when we got to the coach. After catching up on e-mail it was bedtime.


 

Sunday, September 16, 2012, Melissa, TX.

Sunday, September 16, 2012, Melissa, TX.

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

This was still another day that started with cloudy rainy skies. Although the rain was never much more than a drizzle we spend most of the day inside.
At 12 noon, 10 AM PDT, we tuned into church services from Oakey Blvd. in Las Vegas.
Most of my afternoon was spent planning the rest of our September and October travels. There are so many people to see and so little time. Most of the plans also involve the availability of the people we will visit. Our plans also can change if we see something we want to stop for or someplace we want to spend more time.
Before supper Keith and Alice came over for a visit. The light rain had been with us off and on all day and the humidity was so high that even though the temperature was in the mid 70's we had to run the air conditioners to be comfortable. After visiting with the Kerslakes we had supper. Gerri used the leftover Quinoa salad with some roasted chicken and Romaine lettuce to make a larger chicken salad. It was not only creative but very tasty as well.
Add some TV and computer time and it was soon bedtime.

Saturday, September 15, 2012, Melissa, TX

Saturday, September 15, 2012, Melissa, TX

Today started with another overcast sky. After doing the necessary e-chores, I decided to set up the printer to work off my computer. The hard drive was replaced since I had used the printer so it was like a new installation. Can you spell frustrating? I got the printer to work while attached with a USB cord, but not wirelessly. I dug up the manual for the printer and started over again by uninstalling the printer and software. I started over again following the instructions and of course I succeeded in getting the printer to work over the network. It's amazing how things usually work better if I read the instructions. What I explained here in a few lines consumed the morning and part of the afternoon.

I had renewed our car insurance last week and they sent me proof of insurance cards to print out because we won't be home in time to get them in the mail. After getting the printer working I printed up a card for the Jeep and noticed that it didn't have the new dates on it. So it was back on the phone enduring the audio response thing until a choice came up for speak to an operator. After I got a human it only took a few seconds to get the new cards sent to me by e-mail. The customer service rep even stayed on the line until I got the e-mail and made sure the dates were correct.

A little before three o'clock, I went out to grab a couple of geocaches. I did find a couple of the closest ones, but there were two others I never found. I have agreed with Gerri to stay out of the woods and be careful of mosquitoes. One cache wasn't only in the woods; there was poison ivy along the edge of the woods. A quick retreat was in order. The other was hidden on a tank in front of a VFW hall. There are a lot of places to hide a small cache on a Sherman Tank and I never found the right spot.

Gerri fixed a salad and we went to the Kerslake's place for supper. Alice fixed a French stew with pork, sausage and beans with garlic bread on top. Their grandson is visiting, and he lives in Allen, a nearby town. His name is Dakota, a well spoken polite young man.

We returned to our coach at 9pm and watched TV and did computer stuff until bedtime.

Friday, September 14, 2012, Melissa, TX

Friday, September 14, 2012, Melissa, TX

We woke up to another gray day. Well I woke up. Gerri got out of bed at 4:30 and went to the couch because she couldn't sleep. I don't know if she was asleep when I got up or not. I fixed coffee and checked my e-mail.

I made another phone call to my doctor and left a message to send a lab request to Quest Diagnostics in McKinney for my INR. I didn't get a call back so later in the afternoon I called Quest and they had received the fax. I made a quick 16 mile round trip to McKinney. I don't think I had ever been in a Quest office with no one else waiting, I was in and out.

I got back to the coach with time to spare before joining Alice and Keith for dinner at 5. It was much cooler tonight so I had to go back to our coach, put on a long sleeve shirt and get a light jacket for Gerri. Most of the evening the rain fell in a light mist but nothing amounting to rain drops. From the looks of the cracks in the ground, they can use a lot more rain around here. We had a good time talking while dinner was being prepared. We had grilled steaks, squash au gratin and a Quinoa (say KEEN-WA) salad. We also had an onion salad. Alice sliced the onions thick and grilled them with a lemon sauce, very tasty.

Back at the coach we did some computer time and I watched a couple of old Gunsmoke episodes before bed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Thursday, September 13, 2012, Melissa, TX

Thursday, September 13, 2012, Melissa, TX

Today was sleep-in day with nothing planned. I was up at 8:30 and fixed coffee. I was doing e-chores before Gerri was stirring at about 9:30. I needed to make an appointment with a Quest Diagnostics facility for an INR. The last couple of time I had a test my numbers were high. I called a Quest facility in McKinney to see if I was in their system. I wasn't and I forgot to bring a copy of my standing order. I got a fax number and called Dr. Wirtz's office to fax an order, but he wasn't in today. I know that he only works half a day on Friday, so I hope the fax will be sent tomorrow morning. If it is, I can get the blood drawn tomorrow and the results back to Las Vegas on Tuesday.

My other frustration was with XM Radio. I tried to subscribe to traffic and weather reports. Now I am told that since I have a lifetime subscription I can't add weather and traffic. I now have a "trouble ticket" in. I'm not holding my breath until a call back.

Gerri went to the grocery story with Alice. When they got back I went geocaching. I found five before returning to the park.

We visited with Keith and Alice until supper time. Gerri fixed a chicken salad for supper.

I got my geocaching finds logged and spent some time on the computer and watched TV before bed time.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012, Melissa, TX

Wednesday, September 12, 2012, Melissa, TX.

 

I set the alarm for 8 AM so that we would be up and ready to leave Roanoke to go to McKinney. My appointment at MCD Innovations was in the afternoon when the workers got back from lunch. We got to the shop at before noon and checked in. An employee, Jim, helped us park and hook to electric. His wife came around a little later and filled out a work order. We had one blind in the bedroom that needed re-tensioning and three others in the living area that we couldn't adjust the height on, they would either go up too far or work their way up out of reach while traveling. The repair employees didn't come around until about three. They took the blinds out and into the shop. It turns out our blinds are an older generation of the MCD products and needed several parts replaced. The repaired blinds were reinstalled by 4:30.

We decided to go on to the Lighthouse RV Park. By the time we got ready to travel and drove the 6 miles it was after five and the office was closed. Gerri called Alice and she met us by the office and guided us to a pull though site near theirs. We will go to the office tomorrow.

We visited with Alice and Keith until almost dark. We met Alice and Keith Kerslake at Lake Texoma last year and visited them at Lake Havasu City in January.

I finished hooking up the water and sewer while Gerri warmed up the last of our leftovers. The weather was warmer today than it had been up to now on this trip and the air conditioners were still running at 10:00 and I had them set at 80 degrees.

We hooked up with Brandon and Vanessa for awhile on Skype before their bedtime.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012, Roanoke, TX

Tuesday, September 11, 2012, Roanoke, TX

Cousins Kenneth and Peggy Barnhart

We had breakfast with Pamm and Mike before leaving for Roanoke. The drive away from Mike's Ranch was as dusty as the drive in. Our route for the day was through Fort Worth and we found a Blue Beacon Truck wash in Weatherford and stopped for about an hour to get the coach and Jeep washed. Blue Beacon does a pretty good job, but they don't dry things off. We went back on the Interstate and the water blew off or dried. The trouble is the water that blew off the coach landed on the Jeep. It still looked better than when we left Mike's.
We arrived at the Northlake Village RV Park in Roanoke at 4:45, the office was closed but we were directed by an employee to a site across the street, and that I could pay in the morning.

My oversight from Yesterday didn't seem to cause any problem.  I got lucky.

Barnhart's plus a Barker

Our purpose in visiting the area was to see Gerri's cousin, Kenneth who lives in Ft Worth which is about 10 miles from the RV Park.
Peggy fixed manicotti, salad, garlic bread and squash for supper followed by a banana bread muffin with ice cream which was excellent. Donielle, their daughter, also joined us for dinner. They have a beautiful view of a large pond behind their house.

The Fort Worth Barnhart's

We visited for awhile after dinner and returned to the RV Park. It was a very nice evening with family members.

Monday, September 10, 2012, Nolan, TX

Monday, September 10. 2012, Nolan, TX

Mike's cows and nearby windmills

Since we were only planning to drive about 150 miles today we didn't hurry getting out of the Loop 289 RV Park.
Yesterday while caching I was near a Sam's and the diesel was $3.809, so I had decided to fill up there on the way out of Lubbock. I thought the Sam's was on the 289 loop. Nope I ended up driving five miles before finding the Sam's Club. The GPS showed the old location which was on Loop 289.
Once we found the Sam's Club I dropped Gerri off to do some shopping. At the fuel pump, I couldn't keep the flow going without holding the handle. Between the fueling and delay in returning an item to Sam's it too over two hours before we started out of town.
Our drive from Lubbock to Sweetwater was on US-84 to I-20. From exit 249 we drove about 20 miles on two different Texas routes to county road 258. Mike met us at the turn. The last 2.2 miles on the county road was dirt. The Jeep and motor home got very dirty. With a rear engine diesel there is no dust free speed. The gate to Mike's property wasn't open wide enough to get through so I had to unhook the Jeep and back out onto the road to get centered on the gate. Mike did open it a little wider and I passed through with room to spare. Since we weren't planning to go anywhere I hooked up the Jeep. It was warm so I turned on the generator to run the air conditioners. Mike pointed out that he had a power outlet on the post at the end of the cover where his fifth wheel was parked. All I had to do was circle around and pull along side. 

The picture doesn't do the dirt on the Jeep Justice.

 I ran in the room slides and took the jacks up and made the turn. All in all I traveled about 50 yards to the new parking spot. After setting up again I noticed skid marks behind the Jeep wheels. I had forgotten to put the transfer case into neutral. It was a stupid mistake but an easy one to do if you are talking to someone while getting the car ready at the same time. Moral of the story either visit or pay attention to what you are doing, you can't do both. After I set the Jeep up properly, Mike took me on a tour of the property. They have 160 acres. Gerri and Pamm had already gone to the house. There are large windmills all around their property, but not on it. Standing and turning around you can probably see a couple of hundred. Mike told me that they were built after he bought the property.

Of course a house tour was in order when we were all at the house. The house is an older one, built in three stages plus some remodeling that Mike and Pamm have done. Very nice.
We visited and then had dinner. Mike grilled sirloin steaks, with baked potatoes and corn on the cob. The beef was from a cow that Mike had raised and was fed only grass with no corn or additives.

Frank, Mike Ault and Gerri

After dinner we visited some more and had cherry pie and ice cream. When it was time for bed Mike showed me how to run their Trail Wagon and we returned to the coach. Each of the windmills has a red light on it and it made for an interesting view at night. The night was cool and made for good sleeping with the the windows open.

Sunday, September 9, 2012, Lubbock, RX

Sunday, September 9, 2012, Lubbock, TX.

We left Dalhart at 10:30 Am and headed to Lubbock, 212 miles away. We traveled through a lot more flat county. We arrived in Lubbock and set up in the Loop289 RV Park by 3 PM.

About 5 I went out to get bug spray and a few caches. There is a Gander Mountain store next door so I went there first for the mosquito repellant. There was a cache in the parking lot, but I didn't find it. I did find three close by.

There is a Sam's club south of us on the frontage road, so we will stop there tomorrow on the way out. Diesel is $3.809. This will be the first time since leaving Las Vegas that it's been under $4 a gallon.

I met the people in the space next door. They are from Vail, CO and have driven their new Allegro 8 miles and spent two nights in it. I called Gerri over and we visited for awhile. We took them for a tour of our coach. They are leaving for the Fort Worth area in the morning after a stop at the dealership where they bought the coach. They plan on getting up early, so we probably won't see them before they leave.

We had last night's leftovers for supper, if anything it was better than last night. Gerri also fixed a salad to go with the Tamale Pie. We ate and then listen to Sunday night church services on the internet.

Saturday, September 8, 2012, Dalhart, TX

Saturday, September 8, 2012, Dalhart, TX

I set the alarm for 7 AM; Gerri thought I had said it was going to be set for 8. It was cool this morning so I turned on the furnace and set it on 70° for the front and rear zones. The sky was clear with only a few fluffy clouds.

I had hooked up the Jeep last night. This morning all I had to do was put in the awnings, roll up the patio rug and unhook the utilities. Alan came by and we visited while I put things away. Since I didn't have critical things to do we had a good visit while I did my chores. As usual Gerri got the inside of the coach ready to travel. This morning, it seemed like Gerri had more to do than I did. Every time we have gotten ready to travel on this trip I have had an alert that the far left rear tire was low on air pressure. It had always come up to normal when we had driven a few miles. I didn't bother with it this morning. We had settled up our bill with Fun Valley last night after dinner. They let us charge everything bought on site to our site number, real convenient but it makes the campsite bill seem higher. It is real nice not to have to leave the park for meals or entertainment.

We said our goodbyes and pulled out of Fun Valley at 8:45 AM. The air pressure on the tires hadn't come up by the time we got to Del Norte, about 21 miles. I stopped and aired up the two tires that had low readings.

By the time we got to Monte Vista it had clouded up and we ran into rain until we got past Alamosa. At Walsenburg we picked up I-25 which runs concurrent with US-160. A few miles on I-25 and we turned south east on US-87. The parts of Colorado New Mexico and Texas we drove through were as lonely as the Nevada section of US-50.

We arrived in Dalhart at about 4:30. The GPS showed the address of the park about ½ mile west of its real location. We were parked by a little after 5 PM MDT. The park isn't anything fancy but has large level gravel spaces with some shade trees that didn't interfere with DirecTV reception.

Internet reception at Corral RV Park is way better than at Fun Valley. I was able to catch up on my Where's George bills entered. I checked for geocaches and the closest was two miles away, I decided not to unhook the Jeep to go to a couple of caches.

For supper Gerri fixed a tamale casserole. It was very tasty and filling.

Friday, September 7, 2012, South Fork, CO

Friday, September 8, 2012, South Fork, CO
I spent much of the morning on the phone and computer giving our new Master Card number to the companies that charge monthly bills to the card. I gave up on a few of them. I'll wait until they send me notification that the old card wouldn't process the bill.

We already had some trees change

Our main activity planned for today was to go into South Fork and wash all our dirty clothes at the Laundromat. When Gerri was getting the laundry supplies out of the cabinet she found a bottle leaking. Luckily it was in a plastic tray. That prompted taking everything out of the cabinet and cleaning it up. On the way we stopped at the Snack Shack and got root beer floats. The laundry took about 2 hours.

Back at the park Gerri stopped at the gift shop and bought some postcards and souvenirs. Before putting the laundry supplies back I removed the electronics for the satellite internet system we no longer use. I took out the controller, modem and router but left the wires in place.

We had invited Alan to go to dinner with us, tonight the menu was BBQ, Brisket, sausage and turkey breast. The dinners also included all the trimmings. Alan came over before dinner and we visited for awhile. There was a country western singer for entertainment. The singer was good and the meal was excellent.

After supper Alan went to the dance at the Big Barn. We returned to the coach and I got a few things ready to travel, the Jeep hooked up and some things put away. Gerri got the compartment above the washer straightened up and things put away.

We were in Aspen Park, it's behind the trees.  On the right is Hummingbird Park.  Two weeks ago  there were 200 RVs in Humming Bird Park and 120 in Aspen Park.  Fun Valley has over 520 RV sites plus a motel, rental cabins and trailers.

Thursday, September 6, 2012, South Fork, CO

One of the fishing ponds

Thursday, September 6, 2012, South Fork, CO
I worked on our travel plans through Oct. 1 for quite awhile this morning. I think I finally have it.

Fun Valley Derby

Later I walked over to the office to mail a birthday card and a credit union deposit. I stopped by Alan's coach and we visited for awhile. 
 Alan walked over to the office and then with me back to our coach and visited until it was time to go to the Big Barn for the chili cook off judging. The Wild Rose Band played during the judging. After the judging the line was opened to let spectators taste the entrants. There were twelve entrants. I tasted them all so I had a pretty good snack. I liked them all but the one that had chocolate in it. Gerri agreed that it was baaaad!

The next activity was the Fun Valley Derby. In the second race I bought a horse. Gerri sat in the owner's seat and I was the Jockey. Each race had six horses which moved across a grid according to the numbers thrown on three dice. If the horse's number comes up on one of the dice, the horse moves one space. Two spaces if the horse's number came up on two dice, etc. My horse won the second race. As owner I got $18 and the odds on my horse were 10 to 1, so I won there too.

The restaurant and creek that joins the ponds 

After returning to the coach I cleaned up the Jeep. It was pretty dusty from the dirt road I drove on while geocaching. I wiped off the coach with the duster. If I get real ambitious tomorrow I may wash it. It hasn't been washed since we went to Oceanside in July. I have the excuse that it has looked like or been raining. The white streaks are getting bigger. I may have to break down and clean the whole thing soon.
For supper we had the last of the Sole Almond plus a salad with whole grain Quinoa.
After supper Gerri watched Obama's speech to the DNC. I'll have to shovel out the inside of the motorhome before I can get to the bedroom.

 

 


 

Wednesday, September 5, 2012, South Fork, CO

Wednesday, September 5, 2012, South Fork, CO

The Wild Rose Band

This morning I made a few phone calls to take care of business regarding my mother. I also made some alternate itineraries for when we leave Fun Valley. The plans include visits with cousins in the Dallas/Fort Worth area before heading for Mississippi.

Fun Valley Derby

I started to walk down to the office to see if our new credit cards had arrived from Chase. On the way I spoke to some neighbors and ran into Alan. We visited until time for lunch. Alan went to his coach for lunch and I headed for the office to check on the UPS delivery. It hadn't come yet. I called Gerri to see if she wanted me to pickup hamburgers and fries for lunch and bring them home. She thought that was good idea. The burgers from the snack bar of Fun Valley were delicious and filling.

After lunch I went out to try to find a few caches. The first one was on the top of a hill overlooking South Fork. What a view, of course I didn't take a camera with me. The next one I found was near the gravesite and homestead of an early Colorado pioneer. The next one stumped me. I really don't like driving 10 miles of dirt roads and ending up empty handed. My next find was of a cache that I didn't find last year when we were here. The last cache I went to was very interesting. There was about 9 miles of dirt road but the cache was near a spectacular geological feature.
After the cache at the Natural Arch I headed back to Del Monte for gas and then back to Fun Valley.
While I was gone Gerri went to the 2^nd day of the annual food contests. Today's entries were pecan pies. While the judging was taking place the Wild Rose Band played and followed again with the horse races. She walked to the big barn and back and that was her exercise on her foot for the day.

Fun Valley Birds

After watching a Judge Judy show Gerri revealed her revisions of my earlier itineraries. We settled on leaving Fun Valley this Saturday and visiting relatives in Fort Worth. Then moving on to have repairs done in McKinney, and then visiting our friends from Lake Havasu in Melissa and after that on to Mississippi.

Since we had a large lunch we had cheese and crackers for supper. Ok, in addition to the cheese and crackers I ate Gerri's left over Huevos Rancheros from our at Tequila's lunch in Pagosa Springs.