Thursday May 19. 2016 San Marcos, TX

I first heard the rain at at 5 AM.  It rained heavily until the mid afternoon.  Of course we started our day with coffee and computer activities.  My computer is still giving me fits.  But, I have pretty much decided to hold off on a new one until we get home this fall and have one built without all the "Bloatware."

We loaded up some laundry to take to the house to wash there.  It is much faster in the larger capacity washer and dryer.  While Gerri did the wash, I went to Walmart and Lowe's to pick up a few items.  I picked up several bug bites somewhere and needed some thing for the itching.

By the time I got back Vanessa and Brandon were home from school and playing with their friends.  Vanessa's softball season closing had been postponed because of the wet field.  When Curtis got home, Dana and Gerri went to get manicures and pedicures.  When they were through the rest of us met them at  Firehouse Subs and we had sandwiches for dinner.  On the way home Dana stopped at a Dairy Queen and got everyone a treat.

Since it was a school night we didn't stay after eating our ice cream.  When we left there was a spectacular sunset, few different looking.  It was fading fast and before we were in a position to take a picture without a stop sign and wires, it faded completely to gray..

Back at the coach we watched some TV.  Earlier today I had tuned in the off the air channels so tonight we had a choice of local TV or satellite.    I haven't tried hooking to park cable since I had the system worked on after last year's trip.  We were up quite late reading.

Wednesday May 18, 2016 San Marcos, TX

No rain this morning. But the forecast is for more rain tonight and the clouds agree with that forecast.

In the afternoon I went out and found  5 geocaches.  I managed 3 DNFs.

Grandpa with Brandon

At 5 we went to Curtis and Dana's and had dinner with them and the kids.  After dinner Curtis, Brandon and I went to the ball fields for the closing ceremony for their baseball season. Brandon's team took second place for the season.

The White Sox and their coaches

We went back to the RV park at about 9:30.  It was cool and windy.

Today s a sigificant day for me.  On May 18, 1964 I was sworn in as a Clark County Deputy Sheriff.

Tuesday May 17, 2016 San Marcos, TX

Our day was a slow start.  We didn't do much in the morning besides have our coffee.  We have already been to Buck-ees and the rain is still coming and going.  The forecast is for thunderstorms beginning at 10 this evening.

The basement fridge has been acting up, freezing everything.  I turned it off and moved the frozen pop and water inside.  I'll see what it does when I start it back up.  Since we have had the larger residential fridge inside, I have considered a smaller one for outside.  I didn't plan on replacing it this trip though.  I probably won't replace it, looks like I need a new computer first.  This one seems to be getting worse.  It crashes frequently and when I turn it off it tries to install update.  When I turn it back on it either won't start or has to revert the update installation, which takes about 30 minutes.

Clean before the game

Yesterday at Camping World we bought a new "Next Exit" book.  Today I went though the cabinet where we keep camping books and travel related books.  I got rid of the outdated ones since most of that information is online anyway.  The stack of books I threw out must have weighed 50 pounds.  I also made some of the minor repairs using some of the items we bought at Camping World.  I also called Camping World about getting the coach into check out the dash air.  They had no appointments available until Friday afternoon.  Since we are leaving this area Monday I didn't make an appointment.  If need be we can run the roof air while traveling.  After a bad experience with Camping World's service department in Las Vegas and hearing other RVer's complaints about them, I'm not sorry I didn't go there.  I did call Spartan Motors and they can check out the problem when we are there for service in June.

We went to the kid's house for dinner.  Dana made tortilla soup with grilled chicken.  After the meal we all loaded into their van and went to the ball field for Brandon's game at 7:15.  The game didn't get started until 7:45.  In the first inning Brandon got the first two hitters out at first base and the third went down to a pop up fly to right field.  The first inning was almost as fast for Brandon's team.  Brandon was put out on a play at first base where I thought he made it safely.  He walked once and made a double base run. The rest of the game see-sawed back and forth with Brandon's team losing 9-7.  With the loss this was their last game of the tournament.

Back at the house we didn't stay long, tomorrow is another school day and it was nearly 9:30.

When we left the ballpark a little after 9 the lightening had started in the south.  By the time we got to the coach there was a lot of lightening and the wind had started,  The rain started at about 10:30.  I ran in the door awning to avoid wind damage.  We went to sleep to the sounds of rain and the wind flapping the over room awning.  By 2:30 the rain and wind had stopped, but the wind started up again by 6.

Monday May 17, 2016 San Marcos, TX

It had stopped raining by the time we got up.  I made the coffee and tried to start my computer chores.  My desk computer is still acting up.  It tries to apply updates and then when it starts again it reverts without applying them.  It has been a chore getting it started since we started this trip, there are several different messages and I usually have to try 3-4 times before it starts.  I am about to give up on it.  This computer has been a pain for the entire time I have had it and it is only used in the motor home.

Looking south

We didn't venture out until the afternoon.  Our first stop was at Camping World in New Braunfels, about 6 miles south.  We then decided to fuel up the Jeep at a Buck-ees station at the next interstate exit.  This gas station is part of a chain in Texas.  www.buc-ees.com This is the largest gas station we have ever been to, there have to be over 100 pumps the store is huge and goes way beyond mini-mart.  There are 5 geocaches in the parking lot.  Keep in mind each geocache has to be .1 miles from the next closest one.  Gerri bought several items in the store.

Looking north

Did I say a hundred pumps

From the street

We took those back to the coach before heading to Brandon's ball game.  On the way to Kyle we got a call that the game was postponed because the field was too wet for play.  The game was rescheduled for Tuesday at 6 PM.

Dana has been wanting to treat us to dinner, so we all loaded up and went to the Outback in San Marcos.  We had a variety of dishes, Gerri and I both had leftovers for later,

After eating we parted ways.  The kids have school tomorrow and our RV park was just one exit south from the restaurant on I-35

Sunday May 15, 2016 San Marcos, TX

We were up about 8 and I made our coffee.  It was such a pleasure to have Vanessa with us all night.

Most of the water from last night was gone.  At least there were no puddles where I had to work unhooking the utilities.  I had to clean the hoses and power cord as I put them away since they had been under water.  I noticed a high water mark on the tires, at one time we were sitting in 4" of water.  After unhooking I drove the coach to Curtis' and parked it along side the house.

We then went to the ball park where Brandon was finishing the game that had been rained out yesterday.  They started the game where it had been called and it didn't take long to finish.  Brandon's team won the game.

The next game was scheduled at 4:15. We all went to the house and Gerri and I took the coach to the new park on I-35 at the south end of San Marcos.  We checked in but no one was at the office.  I called and they gave me a choice of two sites and told me to come in on Monday to pay..  We got parked and set up.  Because of the trees we had no DirecTV reception.  The Verizon connection was very slow and we didn't have the information for the park wifi.  It sprinkled some while we were setting up and rained more a little later.


We went back to Curtis' at about 3 and then on to the ball park for the 4:15 game.  If you are wondering why so many games, it's a playoff tournament.  Brandon's team won the game 10 to 8.  We were all glad for the win, for two reasons.  One they won.  Two, if they had lost they would have had to play another game tonight.  By winning it put off their game until 6 tomorrow evening.

We stopped at Mod Pizza and picked up pizza and salad to go.  Since school is tomorrow we left shortly after eating.  It had rained more since we got to the house and then rained most of the evening.  We were glad to be out of Pecan Park.  It is a beautiful place but it has had flooding problems the last several years.  And, at the new place we had no puddle around our coach.

Tomorrow we just plan to relax and later go to the game at 6 PM.

Saturday May 14, 2016 San Marcos, TX

Cloudy again this morning.  We are still unable to get on the park Internet.  I made coffee and we caught up on computer chores using our Verizon MiFi.

Vanessa's game was at fields in Wimberley at 12:15.  We were a little late but they were behind schedule.  Vanessa scored twice and was out at play at first on her third time at bat.  Unfortunately her team lost the game.











When the game was over we went to Brandon's game in Kyle.  It sprinkled some rain on the way.  We got there a little late.  In the 5th inning it started to rain and then thunder and lightning.  The game was stopped.  Brandon was at bat, 1 strike, 1 ball and the score was tied 7-7.  The rain fall increased and eventually the game was called off with plans to finish it, where they left off, on Sunday.

We went back to the house.  We visited and watched TV until supper time.  Dana made lasagna.  Not long after a good meal we left for the RV park.  Vanessa came with us to spend the night.  When we got to the coach we had to wade through pools of water to the door.  Hopefully, it will dry out some by morning when I have to unhook.  Brandon's game is at 11, with a second game to follow later in the day.  We plan to park the coach at their house and go to the new park after the first game.

Thursday May 12, 2016 San Marcos, TX

I wanted to get an early start today.  But, I didn't get up until 7:15 and didn't feel rested.  Too much activity for what was meant to be just an overnight stop and rest.  I made the coffee but we didn't really start drinking it until we were ready to pull out at 8.

It was overcast and looked like rain to the east.  The prospect of it being cool was a welcome one since the dash air isn't working.  The drive started badly with me missing the entrance to I-10 and going a few miles east on a frontage road that ended, dead end no place to turn.  Fortunately for us the locals had fixed that with an unauthorized on ramp.

About 40 miles after getting underway, we started getting sprinkles.  Gerri looked up the weather for the next town, Ozona, the forecast was for 9% chance of rain.  A few miles later it started to rain in earnest.  That continued for about 60 miles.  We went through Ozona in the rain, Gerri checked and now the forecast was 80% chance of rain.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, we stopped at a couple of rest areas and had sandwiches at a picnic area.  Texas has 3 types of "areas"; rest areas with restrooms and wifi, picnic areas with only table and maybe a shelter and parking areas with only pavement.

We arrived in Kyle at about 3:30.  We waited until Dana came home, just a few minutes.  The kids seemed to be excited to see us, it had been 5 months since our last visit.  Michelle Barnhart was also visiting.  She had a show in Austin that Dana had been helping her with.  We seldom see her in Las Vegas but there she is in Texas.

We had reservations at a RV park in San Marcos to arrive on Sunday.  Since we got to Kyle earlier than planned, I called another park in San Marcos and arranged a site until then.  I drove to Pecan Park and set up the coach in the site.  We have stayed at this park before and it is the closest to Curtis' house.  We hadn't made reservations to stay here this year.  When I was planning the trip the park was under an evacuation order because of flooding.  In the last 4 years they have has serious flood damage twice.  None of the damage was apparent when I arrived.  In fact they have added about 20 RV sites.  This is a popular put in and take out spot on the San Marcos river.  I have given some thought to cancelling our reservations at Canyon Trails RV and staying here.  I am leaning toward sticking with the plan to go to the other park so we know what it's like.  That will give us options in the future.  Also, it depends on how the internet situation goes.  The park wifi has not worked and our Verizon is somewhat slow at times.

Dana, Gerri, Michelle and Brandon came by and picked me up to go to Vanessa's softball game.  Vanessa and Curtis had already gone to the ballpark.  It was an exciting game.  This was the first win for Vanessa's team.  Vanessa got 3 hits, she was up to bat 3 times.  On defense she played shortstop and then catcher.  She scored once and batted another runner in on another hit.

After the game we went to Casa de Garcia for dinner.  It is an OK Mexican restaurant.  It would be better if they didn't use the canned nacho cheese on several items including tacos and enchiladas.

Vanessa the Mime and Brandon in a tree

It was a late evening for the kids so they went to bed after showering and saying good night.  Since it was a work night for everyone but us, we said our good nights and went to the RV park.

We had trouble getting on the Internet and my trouble with my computer continue, I now get a deadly blue screen occasionally.  This has never been a reliable computer over the 6 or 7 years I have had it.  We were in bed by 10:30 with plans to sleep in tomorrow or at least take it easy until Brandon's ball game at 6 PM.