Wednesday, October 31, 2012, Tucson, AZ

Wednesday, October 31, 2012, Tucson, AZ
I got up at eight and fixed the coffee. Yesterday afternoon when we arrived at the RV Park we needed the air conditioner running, this morning we could have used a heater. I soon realized that I hadn't set the bedroom clock since the time zone change. So I had really gotten up at 7 AM. By the real 8 o'clock the sun was peeking over the mountains to the east. Did I say peek? It burst over the mountains, a ball of fire in the clear sky.
Last evening we spoke with our friends, Tim and Beth Burton, in Scottsdale. We plan to visit with them on Thursday and make the last leg of our trip home on Friday.
Before getting to far we stopped at a Camping World store near the park. We had hoped to find a hinge to replace the broken one on a kitchen cabinet, no luck there, will probably have to order it from American Coach. Before getting fully under way we stopped at a Flying J for fuel. This is the last gas station in Texas. When you leave their lot and enter the freeway you are in New Mexico. Before leaving Anthony, I did one cache. I picked up a travel bug and dropped two off.
On the Interstate by 10 AM we traveled non-stop across New Mexico. I remembered the line from an old western song, "Mothers don't let your children go to that God forsaken place called New Mexico." Of course we drove through the southern part of New Mexico, all desert. You all should know how much I love the desert.
We did stop at the first rest stop in Arizona. I did one cache at the rest stop, I hope this is one of the five counties I need to complete Arizona.

Lazy Dys, Tcson, AZ

Our original plan was to go to an RV park in Benson. We stopped in Wilcox at a truck wash. There were three trucks ahead of us so we were there nearly 2 ½ hours. There was an RV park next door, but all the streets and sites were gravel. I didn't want to go in there with a wet coach and Jeep. We headed on toward Benson. Along the way we decided to go on to Tucson and stay at Lazydays. We know this park has all paved streets with gravel sites. Gerri thought she saw a price of $20.00. Wrong! It was $40.00 after the Good Sam discount.

Sunset over Tucson

We traveled a total of 320 miles today, about 40 miles further than we planned. We will have a shorter drive to Scottsdale tomorrow. We plan to visit Tim and Beth Burton there before driving on to Las Vegas on Friday or Saturday.
Gerri made breakfast for dinner. We had some eggs and other things that needed to be used.
On a side note Gerri was born here in Tucson, 65 years ago next week.   That was 23739 days ago.

Our osition in Tucson.

 

Tuesday October 30, 2012, Anthony, TX

Tuesday October 30, 2012, Anthony, TX
We were up and moving by 9AM. Today we traveled more today than any other day this trip, 366 miles, The route was straight forward, Ozona, TX to Anthony, TX which is on the Texas/New Mexico state line just west of El Paso. The country changes in east Texas.  Most of our time in Texas was in areas that were either flat with trees or rolling hills with trees.  By noon I could see the purple mountains in the distance and the desert terrain was becoming dominant.  This is the kind of country I love.  I remembered some of the words to "America the Beautiful"   The part about purple mountains majesty, above the fruited plains, made my heart swell.  Then I remembered some of the other words, God shed his grace on thee and crowned thy good with brotherhood.  Considering the was our government is leading us, I wonder how long God will continue to shed his grace on this country.
Well the trip was almost almost straight forward, the American RV Park in Anthony didn't have a street address. While wandering around I got pulled over by the Texas Highway Patrol. It turns out Gerri didn't have her seat belt fastened properly. She showed him how she had her seat belt fastened, but since it wasn't across her chest I got a warning ticket anyways. I guess that they have to have something to show for every traffic stop. The American RV Park is behind a Camping World, but not connected to Camping World. It is basically a large gravel parking lot with large pull through sites with full hook ups. Ok, but not a destination park unless you want to be in the El Paso area.

Anthony, TX

Anthony, TX

We had left over catfish from the restaurant in Columbus MS combined with tortillas and salsa, very good.

Monday, October 29, 2012, Ozona, TX

Monday, October 29, 2012, Ozona, TX
Before leaving Pecan Park, I did a nearby cache and visited with the American Coach Association member that made me aware of the park.
We pulled out at about 11:00 AM. I should have checked the map and chosen a route other than the Interstate. It would have been shorter and more pleasant than traveling all the way to San Antonio to pick up I-10. Our route was I-35 south to Anderson Loop, FM 1604, to I-10 west. Gerri looked up a couple of RV Parks in Ozona, TX. Both were low rated on RV Park Reviews. Both were full. We called the office at the Economy Inn and RV Park and they agreed to let us park without hook ups for $10.00. This is the first night on this trip that we stopped without at least power. We will find out how long the batteries will carry us tonight. Today we traveled 269 miles.
Before we left San Marcos one of the cabinet hinges under the sink came loose. Gerri seemed to think she had picked up a screw some time earlier. Closer examination of the hinge showed that there was a broken part. I removed the door to avoid strain on the remaining hinge until I can find a replacement.
When we played Sorry while visiting Sean we only had the rules in Spanish. Curtis sent us a copy of the rules and it turns out there were several points we were playing wrong.

We watched a little TV and checked up on internet stuff and went to bed earlier.

Sunday, October 28 2012, San Marcos, TX

Sunday, October 28 2012, San Marcos, TX

Brandon on the Guadeloupe River

Looking downstream from Pecan Park

Surfing?

Brandon awakened me at 7:20 to tell me about a dream he had. He was up for the day, so was I. Gerri managed to sleep through it all until 8:30.

Right away Brandon wanted to go outside. I held him off until after breakfast and till about 10. We walked down to the Guadalupe River where it flows behind the RV Park. The park has put in and takeout points for residents of the park. On our walk we also found out they have a Frisbee golf course.

Brandon at the jump house

Vanessa at the jump house

We went over to Curtis' and had lunch of leftovers for lunch. The original plan was for Gerri, Dana and the kids to go to a nearby jump house and for Curtis and I to go visit Sean. My leg was tired and hurting from the walk with Brandon. Curtis and I stayed at the house until the others returned. Then Gerri, Curtis and I went to see Sean. Curtis drove and took us a different way which he thought was quicker. It turns out Curtis works less than two miles from where Sean is living. We played a game of Sorry. Curtis won. Sean wanted to keep playing to see who placed second and third. Sean finished second and Gerri third. No need to guess, I was the biggest loser.

Curtis and Sean

When we arrived the nurse asked us if we could influence Sean to take his medications as directed. Sean convinced himself that they are giving him the wrong medications and they aren't good for him. We brought the subject up enough to realize that it would be futile to try to change his mind, so we didn't really press the issue real hard.

Curtis plans to call Sean's councilor and see what the rules are and what the best time to visit Sean. He hopes he can work some visits into lunch time. Lunch would be better for Curtis since he works until 5 and it is an hour commute at best.

We decided on Mexican food at Casa Maria's which is close to their house. Curtis called Dana and had her meet us there. We had an excellent meal, our last with the family for this visit. We said our goodbyes after leaving the restaurant. We didn't get far before realizing we had forgotten some things at their house. We made a quick stop and I got another kiss goodbye from Vanessa.

We tuned in the worship services at Oakey Boulevard via the internet. There were some times that the net cast stalled. Our regular preacher is in Kansas City. Brother Gamile Williams delivered a great message on doing the right and needed thing.



Our plan for in the morning is to get started for home after I do a nearby geocache.

 

 

Saturday, October 27, 2012, San Marcos, TX

Saturday, October 27, 2012, San Marcos, TX
I set the alarm for 7 AM to get up in time to go to Brandon's Tee Ball game. Of course being a retiree I am clock impaired. I woke up at 7:30 and the alarm went off at 8 AM. I still had time to fix coffee and drink some before driving to the game in Buda. It was cold and windy, I mean COLD. There was no dilly dallying and the game was over in a little less than an hour.

Brandon had white bread and brisket

Vanessa had crackers and brisket

bread, ribs, brisket and links, we had it all

Lone Star Campus

Vanessa and Gerri didn't go to the game. I came back to the coach and at noon we met Curt, Dana, and Brandon at Smitty's Market a BBQ restaurant in Lockhart, TX, about 12 miles from either the RV Park or Curtis' house in Kyle. Smitty's sell the BBQ by the pound in the cooking area and then you have to enter a restaurant area to purchase sides and drinks and then eat at long tables on folding chairs. The meat is served on butcher paper with only a plastic knife. Of course plenty of napkins are available. Both Brandon and Vanessa ate brisket, bread and crackers. We bought a lot more ribs and brisket than we could eat so leftovers went home.

Sean and his candy with Grandpa

We parted company and Gerri and I went to South Austin to visit with Sean. We took him some of his favorite candies. We visited for an hour. During our visit we played a game of Sorry. If you read my previous blogs about games with grand kids, you don't need three guesses to know who won. It was Sean! The facility where Sean is located is 15 miles from Curt's house and not far from where he works.
After we returned to Curtis' house I played some more games with Brandon. I should just say I lost some games to Brandon.
Dana fixed breaded pork chops for supper. We ate some even though we had a big lunch.

Sean wins at Sorry

Brandon came back to the RV Park with us to spend the night. We played a couple of games of Memory Match, I did better but Brandon still won. We switched to War and I finally won a game.

Brandon went to bed at about 9:30 and I was about an hour behind him.

Friday, October 26, 2012, San Marcos, TX

Friday, October 26, 2012, San Marcos, TX

Map of the Pecan Park area

I was overcast when we got up at 7, then it got darker, windy and cold. By the time we were ready to travel it was raining lightly. The drive to the Pecan Park RV Park in San Marcos was only about 40 miles. We got to the park a little after noon and started to set up. It rained off and on en-route and by the time we parked and set up I was pretty wet. The address here is 50 Squirrel Run, on the way to our site I saw the squirrel run across the road. It didn't rain very long but from the looks of the sky we may get more rain.
Gerri called the treatment center where Sean is and left a message for his councilor. At 2:30 we went to Curtis and Dana's house. Vanessa greeted us yelling and with hugs. Gerri went out at 3pm to see Brandon get off the school bus.
Brandon and I played, Old Maid, Candy Land and a Memory card game. He beat me every time at every game.
Gerri recalled the facility where Sean is and found out about visiting him. We plan to visit him tomorrow after Brandon's Tee Ball game and lunch.
Curtis got home about 5:30 and we had a dinner of lasagna that Dana had prepared. After dinner Brandon wanted me to watch a dinosaur movie with him, both he and Vanessa lost interest about halfway through the movie. They drew on a chalk board and a white board and we played a few games of tic-tac-toe.
Gerri and Dana had gone shopping after dinner and got home about 8:30. Vanessa decided she would sleep over with us at the motorhome. We got the things together what she needed and went back to the RV Park via some back roads. It turns out the Interstate route is closer by a mile or so.

Thursday, October 25, 2012, Spring Branch, TX

Thursday, October 25, 2012, Spring Branch, TX

I was up at 8:30 and went to the blog of the Seasilk. It had been updated with the information that everyone was safe. Later in the day Neva got an e-mail from Montyne that she and John had arrived in La Paz and were on schedule to fly to Tijuana on the 29^th and be picked up by friends and return to San Diego. We will get a firsthand account of the trip up to and after the grounding of the Seasilk.
Mid morning I went to the orthopedic doctor in San Antonio to have my knee checked one more time before we leave the area. He drained another large vial of fluid. It had less blood in it than the last time.
On the way back to Spring Branch I check out a rustic furniture store for interesting wall hangers. They had some, but nothing that really caught my eye. I also checked out an RV park along the Guadalupe River about three miles of US-218. It was ok but didn't have WiFi. Back on 218 I called the number on a sign advertising 20 plus acre parcels. The lots are being offered at $10,500 to $20,000 per acre.

Brad and Bernadette Dass

I elevated and iced my knee for awhile before going to dinner at our friends Brad and Bernadette Dass in Bulverde. 

 We visited before and after the delicious meal. During conversation it came up that Gerri and Bernadette had known each other for over 43 years.
Back at the coach, TV and computer time topped off the evening.
Tomorrow is moving day. We aren't going far, just to San Marcos about 10 miles from Curtis' house.

Gerri and Bernie, BFF