Monday May 30, 2016 Little Rock, AR

It was a brighter gray this morning. We had a couple of serious thunder and lightning storms pass through the night and early morning,  It was muddy out, but I didn't get rained on while unhooking the utilities and hooking up the Jeep.  We were on I-30 headed east by a quarter past 9. Drinking our coffee as we drove.


Before noon we pulled into Lowe's in Mount Pleasant, TX.  We parked at a far corner of the lot.  Shortly after we parked, Gerri's egger friend, Sandy Kridler and her husband, Keith,  arrived.  Gerri had made arrangements to meet them for lunch.  We went to a very nice Italian restaurant that was nearby, Lougi's.  http://www.luigisitaliancafe.us/















After lunch we were given a short tour of the town.  The old downtown, circa 1900, is typical of many small American cities we have seen all over the country.  Mount Pleasant is home to a large chicken distributing company once owned by a local named Bo Pilgrim.  The current company processes about 1 million chickens a day.  There is a huge bust of him along the highway.

We also stopped by the regional airport.  Another prominent local business man has 5 hangers there with 45 vintage aircraft, both civilian and military that he has had restored to flying condition.  We saw most of them in the hangers but there were three that we saw either taxiing or flying.  We also saw others in the restoration process.  This place has more aircraft on display and flying than the Commemorative Air Force unit that we visited in San Marcos, TX and rivals the Palm Springs, CA Air Museum.  http://www.midamericaflightmuseum.org/

After our visit in Mount Pleasant we were back on I-30 headed east into Arkansas.  With about 180 miles to go our arrival time in Little Rock was forecast by the GPS to be 5:20.  We encountered a lot of rain, heavy at times. There was also a 15 mile stretch of road construction where the road was narrowed to one lane.  I guess this is an important project, there were workers present even on a holiday.

We arrived at the Maumelle COE RV Park, http://tinyurl.com/p6eewt2,  at about 5:30 and were set up in site A-1 by 6 PM in-spite of the rain starting while I was unhooking the Jeep.  This is a beautiful park that we stayed at a few years ago.  It is situated on the Arkansas River, has paved road and parking pads.  There is 50 amp electric and water at each site and a dump station in the park.  There are more campers here than I expected, I thought the park would pretty much be cleared out with the holiday ending.  We didn't get a site by the river.  Due to the trees around us we have no DirecTV reception.  I tuned in 15 stations off the air from Little Rock.  The park doesn't supply wifi but the Verizion MiFi works moderately well.

We had a supper of left overs from El Primo in Mansfield.  Consider our large lunch in Mount Pleasant the small portions were just right.

Sunday May 29, 2016 Sunnyvale, TX

We had our coffee while waiting for a call that the other family members were on the way to brunch.  They forgot to call.  At about 11 we went to the Paradowski home in a nearby part of Dallas, they live near where the reception was held.  We mingled and visited.  Of coarse we had brunch, breakfast tacos and fresh fruit.

After brunch we all went to Grady and Karen's home in Mansfield.  At about 5 we all went to a nearby Mexican restaurant, El Primo.  http://elprimos.net/

After dinner Gerri and I headed back to the RV Park.  Hollis and Wendy are flying back to Las Vegas tomorrow and Montyne and Neva are flying back on Tuesday.  We plan to leave for Little Rock in the morning.

On the drive back from Mansfield the clouds were building up. By the time we got to the park it was threatening rain.  I made some preparations to travel before the storm started.

We tuned into the worship service at Oakey Blvd.  We were surprised to hear that our minister of 24 years is retiring in July.  He is being replaced by Tyler Kirkpatrick.  Tyler is one of the young men that the congregation supported while attending the Memphis School of Preaching.



Some reading and TV took us to bedtime.

Saturday May 28, 2016 Sunnyvale, TX

The storm that had been forecast for last night never materialized.  It was still overcast this morning but some blue sky was trying to peek through.  While I was drinking my coffee, I went through the mail that Montyne had bought to us.  A six inch stack of mail was reduced to 3 items that had to be taken care of, two bills by mail and 1 check to deposit in the credit union via the internet.  Hopefully,  we can get mail at Jeff's in Buffalo before we cross into Canada.  I like to get the mail every month or so, that way it doesn't take too long to deal with it.

The wedding was at the Royal Lane Baptist Church in Dallas. http://royallane.org/ The church was about a 17 mile drive, we left the RV park at about 4:30, in case of traffic problems.  The church is a beautiful old brick building an a large campus.  The auditorium is a large hall with a vaulted ceiling supported by large columns.














Grady conducted a beautiful wedding ceremony with personal touches, he is also father of the bride.  After the ceremony and some professional photography we adjourned to the Dallas Athletic Club, http://www.dallasathleticclub.org/, for the wedding reception. These pictures were taken by Montyne or Neva.

Christin and her father

Nick, Tammy, Brian, Hollis
Wendy, Montyne, Gerri and me

Grady, Neva, me, Montyne, Gerri,
Hollis and Wendy

Neva, Grady and Tammy

When we returned to the RV park the plantation house was lit up like last night.  We went to the coach and I returned to the entrance with Gerri's camera.  The results were't much better than with the phone last night.  Tomorrow night I will try again with my Nikon SLR.




With one more activity to go, a brunch in the morning, we set an alarm to get up.  The brunch is at the parents of the groom, the Paradowski's, and not too far from the  DAC which is less than 6 miles from the RV Park.

Friday May 27, 2016 Sunnyvale, TX

What a ride during the night.  The wind started early in the morning, rattling all the slide toppers.  The rain soon followed.  The rain was off and on till just before light.  The wind stopped but the rain continued steadily until midday.

We had our coffee and attended to computer chores.  Before leaving Las Vegas we started dealing with a realtor to sell a piece of property in Brianhead, Utah. There was one document that couldn't be be handled by DocuSign.  Since my computer crashed I have had no way of printing or sending the document.  I printed the document at Curtis' before we left San Marcos.  After filling it out the receptionist at MCD faxed it to the agent.   Trouble was we signed in the wrong places and it had to be redone.  This morning I decided to try to set up the printer to work with Gerri's laptop.  I was able to download the printer drivers and program, Gerri's laptop doesn't have a optical drive. I got the printer going, printed the forms and filled them out.  I tried faxing the forms and failed.  I'm not sure if the problem was at my end, the home phone is cellular, or the agents.  I finally scanned the forms and e-mailed them.  Later I will work on setting up the printer to work wireless.

Most of the rest of the day was spent being lazy or preparing for this evenings activities related to the wedding this weekend.

Christin and her friend Liz

At 6 we left for the restaurant in Dallas for the rehearsal dinner.  The venue was Eddie Deen's Ranch.  http://www.eddiedeensranch.com/  This was the first time we have met the groom and his side of the family.  The bride is Gerri's cousin, Christin King, daughter of Grady Dean King, her 1st cousin and Neva's nephew. Neva, Gerri's mother, Montyne, Wendy and Hollis, Gerri's sister, Sister-in-law and brother, flew in for the weekend.  The rehearsal dinner was attended by a large number of friends and relatives of both the bride and the groom.

Downtown Dallas

When we turned into the driveway, the plantation house was quite a sight all lit up.  But the pictures didn't come out well.  Although the RV park has a rural feel to it, at night with low clouds you realize from the glow that you are in a large metropolitan area. The picture is of the Bank of America tower.  We could see it from Eddie Deen's.

We got back to the coach by 10 and in bed shortly there after.

Thursday May 26, 2016 Sunnyvale, TX

Surprise, it was cloudy again this morning.  We had our coffee and did the computer chores.

Toward noon the sky cleared up and it was mostly sunny.  In the afternoon I went out with intentions to find a few caches and get the Jeep cleaned up.  I went by two full service car washes.  One was closed for repairs and the other because of the recent and forecast weather.  I found 4 geocaches.

I found a self services drive through car wash.  I tried to use the vacuum, it took credit cards, but the power never came on.  I did go through the car wash and then wiped down the windows and used the wet towel to clean up the mud and loose debris inside.  Before I got through the wash, Gerri called because she got an alert from Barclay about possible fraud on the credit card I had used.  I called and verified the charges and told the agent I didn't get the service paid for at the vacuum.  I have to wait until the charge appears and then protest it.

Back at the RV park I went out and took some pictures of the small lake.  I talked to the park owner, who was out with a crew doing electric work at several of the sites.  He told me the repairs were the result of damage when a force 4 tornado came through just before Christmas last year.  Many RVs were destroyed, some blown into the lake.

Gerri made dinner of a left over chicken dish that Dana had served last week.  She added a cabbage salad and fried tater tots.  A very nice repast.

Another day in Texas without rain.  We were in bed at about.10:30 after reading and watching TV.

Wednesday May 25, 2016 Sunnyvale, TX

At 8:30 we got a call from the RV park where we plan to go today.  Their question was are we coming.  Turns out our reservation was to arrive there yesterday.  It turned out to be no problem but it again brings to mind the line by Robert Burns; "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men. Gang aft agley.  An' lea's nought but grief an' pain."  Fortunately we had no grief or pain.  Only a day late and not even a dollar short.

Even with the phone call we didn't hurry to leave.  We lingered over our coffee. From my seat I watched both our neighbors hook up their fivers and leave.  With only power hooked up, I didn't have to do much outside.  Gerri took care of getting the inside ready to travel.  After hooking up the Jeep we headed out.  We were watching for an easy in easy out service station.  We didn't go far before I spotted a Speedway station that fit the bill.  Straight into an end pump with room for a u-turn and back out the way we came in.  There was a moment of disgust and dismay.  There was a grate about 6' away from the pumps, I suppose to drain rain waster from the area.  It was about 8" wide and ran all the way around the pump area.  Some RV er had dumped sewage into the drain and left a lot of ugly residue around the edges.

Back on the road we had only about 40 miles to go to Sunnyvale.  Most of the way was a backtrack toward Dallas, the way we came two days ago.  An accident slowed traffic to a crawl before we got to our turn on I-635  After negotiating the ramps and curves we went a short way on I-30 East.  The GPS took us off the interstate  and onto Barnes Bridge Road, our destination was on this street.  The further we went on this road the more concerned we became.  It was narrow almost a tree tunnel.  There were large estate type houses and we hadn't seen a sign to the RV park.  When we reached the point the GPS said was our destination, there was nothing there.  We continued, the only encouragement we had was that the address numbers were getting closer to the address we had for the park.  Finally I decided to stop and call the park.  There was no place to pull off the narrow road, so I used the flashers.  Before I could call a Sheriff's patrol car came alongside.  The deputy told me the RV park was just ahead on the left.

We arrived, got set up on our site as instructed by a package left at the unmanned office with our name.  I filled out the paperwork and dropped it in a slot at the office.  I went geocaching.  I found six caches, three of them that hadn't been found in the last 6 months.  I also found out that if we had exited the interstate two exits further east it was a shorter drive on better roads to the park entrance.

The RV park where we are staying is named Plantation Place.  There is an old plantation style house between the park and the road.  The house like many in this area are still being repaired after a tornado last year.





While I was out geocaching I also found out there was a large lake at the end of Barnes Bridge Road, Lake Ray Hubbard. I hope to get a better picture, if the sun ever comes out.

For dinner we had more of the tamale dish Gerri made yesterday.


I spent a considerable amount of time on the phone with Verizon.  This time they have arbitrarily cancelled our unlimited data plan and charging us overages.  This is the second time I have spent time dealing with this problem.  I have been assured that once the unlimited plan is reinstated, we will be credited the extra charges.  The problem is that we haven't been assured that the plan will be reinstated, only that it will take a week to resolve the issue.

After some reading and TV we were in bed by 11.  This was our second day in Texas without rain.  Cloudy and no sun, but no rain either.

Tuesday May 24, 2016 McKinney, TX

We had to be up early because we expected Calvin to be here at 8.  I made coffee, Calvin showed up on time.  He was finished with our repairs and adjustments by 10:30 AM.  By noon I had settled up and we were done with repairs at MCD.

Since our reservations in Sunnyvale are to arrive on Wednesday.  I checked with the MCD office and got clearance to stay Tuesday night.

In the afternoon I went out and tried to find some caches.  I found 2 and DNFed 2, one that I missed 4 years ago.

Rain was forecast in the early evening.  I returned to the coach by 5:30.  Gerri made a delicious tamale dish for supper.

We spent the evening with computer activities, reading and watching TV.

We only have about 40 miles to drive tomorrow so we may sleep in.

Monday May, 23, 2016 McKinney, TX

Well, our 9 AM start was put off by not getting up until 8:15.  It had been raining off and on since about 6.  I made coffee but we did't start drinking it it until we were ready to travel.  I had done everything but unhook the power last night so it went pretty quickly.  We decided to get fuel at the Buckees station about 7 mile south in New Braunfels.  I think I said in a previous log that this station had over a hundred pumps.  Today I used pump number 259 to fill up the motor home tank.

By the time we fueled up and drove north on I-35 past the RV park where we started it was 10 AM.  Our drive today was planned to be 270 miles to McKinney, TX.  McKinney is where the window shades in the motor home were made.  We have an appointment tomorrow to have few problems addressed.

After missing a turn in Dallas we arrived at the MCD Day and Night Shade Company at about 3:30.  http://www.mcdinnovations.com/ We had just parked and got the power hooked up when we were greeted by Victor.  He first made sure we were settled in with the power going.  He then took a list of the problems we have and suggested remedies.  Our blinds are a type they no longer sell.  We had the blinds installed the summer after we bought this coach.  They replaced the accordion style cellular blinds that came with the coach. Victor did find a spring to re tension one of the blinds that wouldn't roll up and had it fixed before we went to dinner.

After checking in at the office we asked about nearby Mexican Restaurants.  We were directed to  Jalapeno's Mexican Grill about 3 miles away.  We had an excellent low priced dinner to celebrate our wedding anniversary.  45 years ago we were married at the Little White Chapel in Las Vegas.  At the time Gerri's parents owned the chapel.

After eating we found two nearby caches; both were under lamp post skirts.  Back at the coach we got a phone call from Todd while he was driving home from work wishing us a happy anniversary.  When he got home he called back and Emma and Wyatt wished us happy anniversary in unison.

If today was any example we will be finished with repairs here tomorrow.  Our reservation at our next RV park is for arrival on Wednesday.  If they finish with the shades early tomorrow we will be faced with a decision, stay here another night or call and move up our arrival in Sunnyvale by a day.

Victor plans to start work at 8 in the morning.  We went to bed early with an alarm set so we would be up and dressed before then.

Sunday May 22, 2016 San Marcos, TX

While I had my coffee I made one last effort with my computer.  I won't have anymore problems with it.  It is all unhooked and stored under the master bedroom bed.  Gerri has reluctantly agreed to let me share hers  The first problem I came upon was installing the mapping program I have been using for planning routes  Gerri's laptop has no disk drive and my external one is at home.  Oh, well I can use the Good Sam trip planner on line.  I already have  a spread sheet with our travel plans that I can transfer.  Any body need an anchor?

We had planned to tune in the worship service net cast from Oakey Boulevard Church of Christ.  We couldn't get connected. Gerri sent a text to our minister, Randy Mabe, and found out the equipment was off line.  It was too late to go to a congregation we know in Buda.

We went to the kid's house at 2.  The kids wanted to go to see a movie, The Avengers, at 3:30.  We decided to eat at Taco Bell before the movie.  The movie theater was pretty full so we sat on the third row, we were part of the action.  The kids seemed to enjoy the movie, it was based on comic book heroes, but it didn't have much that I could recommend.

Back at the house we said our goodbyes and took some pictures with the kids.

 Back at the coach I drained the tanks, our next stop is in McKinney at the MCD Shade company and the only hookup they provide is electric so I unhooked every thing but the power.  I hooked up the Jeep and cleaned the windshield and mirrors.  The cleaning may have been in vain, the forecast is for rain tonight.
We have about 270 miles to drive tomorrow and have to stop for fuel, so we plan to pull out at about 9 AM.

Friday and Saturday May 20 and 21, 2016 San Marcos, TX

Friday

We had our coffee to start the day.  Our plan was to meet Curtis at the Texas Pie Company for lunch.  http://texaspiecompany.com/

We caught up on a few things around the coach and then drove to Kyle.  Dana and Vanessa got there before Curtis which was a surprise as we thought we were only meeting Curt.  Friday's special was chicken pot pie.  The pies were 4" individual pies served with ice tea (unsweetened) salad and a roll.  Curtis, Gerri and I had the special.  Dana had a turkey sandwich and Vanessa ordered BBQ brisket from a restaurant two doors down.

We went back to the coach for a couple of hours.  For dinner we went back to Curtis'.  Dana picked up pizza from Papa Johns.  After dinner we visited for a while and then headed back to the RV park.  We finished off the evening with computer stuff and reading.

Today was the first day in Texas with no rain at some point.  The sky was mostly clear.

Saturday

After our coffee we headed to Curtis and Dana's.  Gerri, Dana and Vanessa planned to go shopping.  Curtis, Brandon and I planned to go to a car museum in San Marcos and then to the Commemorative Air Force hanger at the San Marcos airport.

Dick' Garage Auto Museum had cars on display built form 1902 to the late 50's.  http://www.yelp.com/biz/dicks-classic-garage-san-marcos-2.  They had a lot of cars and a lot of information displayed for each one.

I might be able to afford this one

After the auto museum we drove to the San Marcos airport and visited CAF hanger.  The Commemorative Air Force restores and and flies several WWII period aircraft here in San Marcos and other locations.  Even the hanger is historic.  It is an old wooden hanger used for training during WWII. CAF was formerly known as the Confederate Air Force, but that fell to political correctness.

 They had a couple of T-10s in the hanger and a B-29 that offered flights over the area.


Brandon enjoyed this museum more than the car museum because he could touch and get into  some the exhibits.

The owner of this T-6 trainer let Brandon sit in the cockpit.

From the pictures that Gerri took I believe Vanessa enjoyed the shopping.

After everyone got back to the house we visited for awhile and then went back to the coach.  I had decided to restore my computer to the factory state and then reinstall the programs I use the most.  I worked on that both before and after dinner.  It didn't work.  The recovery process fails.

At 6 we met everyone at the Kobe Japanese restaurant in San Marcos.  It is Vanessa's favorite, she is a beef eater.  Besides a great meal the Tappan style of cooking is very entertaining.

 After dinner we returned to the coach.  The restaurant is only about 3 miles north of the RV Park.

I visited with some neighbors while Gerri was on her computer.  I finished the evening by reading until 1:45.  I finished the latest novel I was reading.