Christmas Day - 2015

Christmas Full Moon in Bryan, Texas

We have been enjoying a laid-back Christmas Day this year, our first Christmas in Texas since 2009.  When I checked the outside temperature earlier, it was 76F.  Crazy, especially for us being accustomed these past six years to snow or at least temperatures 30-40 degrees colder. 

Had to find a new spot for our wee display this year, as we no longer have a dining table.

We have A Christmas Story on DVD; that’s what is on now, having been preceded by It’s A Wonderful Life.  Both films have been televised over the past week, but Dave’s work schedule has prevented him from catching them.  Besides, it’s sort of a tradition of ours to play them Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.  We watched White Christmas last week, so I had my “fix” already.

I made sausage balls and olive/cheese puffs on Wednesday – 4 batches of the first and 2 of the latter.  That’s another holiday tradition around here.  Today’s dinner was ham and other dishes.  We exchanged cholocate yummies as part of our gifts this morning and, combined with some other goodies acquired during the week, our fridge is packed.  Needless to say, we won’t be hard put to find something to gnosh on for days.

The park has been pretty darn quiet today.  Just about all the long-term folks are gone, although their rigs are still here.  There is a handful of short-term rigs; two of those look like they’re pulling out tomorrow; they hooked their “toads” to their Class A rigs this afternoon.

Dave got out for a bike ride this morning while I was putzing around in the kitchen.  The weather was oblinging, and he enjoyed his holiday ride. 

Winter will be making a comeback Monday after storms roll through here tomorrow and Sunday. 

Hoping your Christmas Day was a pleasant one! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Open Live Writer

Just a wee test post to make sure everything works.

Caught Dave and Maggie chillin’ yesterday evening

One thing I notice with OLW is there is no option for assigning topics to a post.  Bummer.  Hopefully this will be added in the future.  Ah well, at least it’s a post!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Live Writer isn't working for me, either, and I know from past experience that I detest attempting to create a post within Blogger. I have been publishing on WordPress for quite a while, so feel free to travel over there to see what's been happening. You can visit with me on WordPress at Journeys. Sure hope this issue is resolved soon.

Around the Neighborhood

It’s an absolutely sterling day out, so I had a wee stroll around the neighborhood.

On the end of the row, we have no neighbor to the right in the photo.  The folks on the left are rarely there.  In fact, we have only seen someone there just for an overnight on one occasion.  This gives us a bit of privacy, actually, with their rig acting as a “wall” of sorts.

That’s us in almost the center of the photo with the door side facing this way.

See the pink RV?  That’s a wee Winnie with a breast cancer ribbon on the back.  The lady’s best friend died from breast cancer.  They have no problem seeing which RV is theirs! The building on the right is restrooms, and there is a wee pool in front of it.  We are just to the right and on the other side of that building and the pool. This view is from the front of the park looking back.

In almost the same spot as the above photo, now looking forward.  There’s the office, laundry room, and restroom/shower suites.

Having walked past the office and on the other side of the loop, this is looking back at the spot where the previous two photos were taken.  One of the many things I like about this park is the amount of grassy areas, not just from a dog owner POV, but that it’s nice to see green. 

You are also looking out at Highway 6 in the above photo.  The park is on the frontage road, so it’s easy to get out and about.  There is traffic on Hwy 6, of course, but it’s not noisy traffic and the minimal amount we hear inside is really like “white noise” and not at all annoying.  Being on the northern side of Bryan, it’s more like true highway traffic than “city” traffic.

We are in the front section of the park where there are long-term rigs on the perimeter and short-terms inside the “circle.”  We are the exception to that rule, as our spot is inside that perimeter.  Nice!  The other section of the park is pretty much dedicated to long-term stays.  It is a long, wide, straight road with back-in sites on each side.  Parking spaces are lined and in front of each rig.  There is a laundry and restroom building back there.  Even though long-term stays, it is still very well-kept and nice.  The owner/manager has been known to request to see a rig if it is older than 10 years.  You won’t see any beat-up RVs with tarps on them at this place.  At the very back of the park, there is a one-way gate with coded access.  That’s very handy, as it takes you out so you can cross Hwy 6 if you are wanting to go south.

Okay, that’s the neighborhood tour!  Have a groovy weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

Two Weeks and a Day

Wow.  We have been here at Aggieland RV Park 2 weeks and a day as of today.  It sure seems like a lot longer to both of us.  That’s not a bad thing, really, it’s just that we have been busy.  The days seem to fly by and run together.  Dave has Tuesdays and Wednesdays off, so our days get a bit blurred; our “weekend” starts Monday night. 

Let’s see.  He survived Black Friday, although it sure was crazy, especially Thanksgiving evening and Friday, and he did work some overtime.  Crazy.  He’s getting a firsthand glimpse of the retail world during the holiday season.  Yes, he worked Thanksgiving, and so did I.  This was the first time in decades that I did not prepare a typical Thanksgiving dinner.  Oh well.  I did cook bridies while he was off that week, so we had a nice meal.  He is settling in quite nicely with his job, even enjoying it now, and we hope – but not expect by any means – that he will be kept on after the holiday season. 

Although I’m still in training on my MT job, I am making good strides.  It’s not the medical terminology/knowledge part, it’s becoming familiar with and implementing the specs, the software requirements, etc.  Things have changed re: formatting, punctuation, etc., since I was an MT 8 years ago, and the specs of the company/accounts are quite different from the “old school” way I was taught and used back when I worked before.  I am still not enamored with voice recognition and being a medical editor; I really still prefer straight transcription.  Well, I’m giving it a whirl, and it is getting better.

My virtual assistant job is percolating along nicely, and I am picking up some additional responsibilities.  I really am enjoying it!  Honestly, if I had a couple of long-term VA clients with ample work, I would seriously consider ditching medical transcription/editing.

I believe I mentioned my work laptop crashed and burned.  Yep, turns out it needed a new hard drive.  It had been in the shop but is home now, and this evening I have it set up to be put back into service.  I’m composing this post on it.  There is still some additional tweaking to be done – getting things back on it – but at least it’s usable again.  I sure missed my larger screen!

Our gray tank is being ordered, being delayed by some issues pinpointing with Keystone exactly what type of tank is needed.  Hopefully we will be having the replacement work done in the next couple of weeks.  They might be able to do it on-site . . . that sure would be nice, although they are only about 10 miles down the road.  We are thankful the facilities are nice here, so it’s a short stroll down to the showers near the front of the park each evening.  Each is a suite unto itself, so one has privacy when showering.  Nice.

Our allergies are finally getting under control.  Yay!  I was able to actually sleep prone in bed last night for the first time in a couple of weeks.  My recliner is comfy, I slept well in it, and I can watch TV from there if I want, but Maggie sure appreciated me being back in bed.  Me, too, I tell ya.  Dave was suffering equally, with the added frustration of plugged ears.  We both are much better with regards to our noses, and his hearing is much improved.

We are even having evening meals together twice a week, the 2 days Dave is off.  I had taken some Mexican lasagna out of the freezer the other day, so that was last night’s dinner accompanied by a green salad.  Tonight was baked fish, wild rice, and sweet corn. The rest of the week, we’re on our own, obviously because of work schedules.

Mr. Sun finally made an appearance today after being AWOL for 4-5 days.  We have had definitely chilly weather – highs in the 40s and 50s – with miserable, drizzly, nonstop rain.  Ugh.  Sure was nice to see sunshine today.  I made a run to a self-serve car wash and washed off a lot of mud from the truck.  It could stand detailing, but at least it looks presentable again now.

Last week I went over to Suddenlink (the park’s ISP) and purchased a modem and then to Walmart for a wireless router.  We now have a direct “pipeline” into the Internet service here at the park, and it is a secure connection via our own router.  Pretty darn speedy, too.  Yay!  We’re wireless and secure in the rig!  Woot!  This is wonderful, as my iPhone is getting a well-deserved rest after serving as a hot spot for a couple of months.   (Note:  The park WiFi is actually quite good, but not secure.  Getting one’s own modem and router is suggested by the park owner/manager if one wants a direct connection and secure network within one’s rig.  If I wasn’t working online from home or we were just here short-term, we would not have done this.  It is groovy, though, eh?)

We have had issues . . . gray tank, computer crashing, Internet and cable going out for 24 hours, miserable rain, allergies, yada, yada, yada, (yes, all in 2 weeks and 1 day) but we truly are liking it here and thankful that we are both working and have landed in a nice environment for our home.

Have I mentioned I really, really appreciate stepping out onto concrete and not mud?

Thanks for stopping by!

24-Hour Rollercoaster

Yesterday until early evening we were pretty darn blissful.  We have been feeling so relieved and grateful to be in this park. 

Our site at Aggieland RV Park in Bryan, TX

Dave was off, so we spent the day pretty much settling in here; he even managed a bit of a bike ride in the afternoon.  He cleaned off the mud and organized our storage bin, spare propane tanks and his fixed-gear bike.  They “reside” at the front of our rig in a tidy fashion, and they are clean once again!  With our work week commencing again today, we went to H.E.B. for a few items and I did laundry, vacuumed and tidied up the inside.

We had a nice stroll around the park in the early evening, feeling relaxed, grateful and settled.  We like our site and the park in general.

Then . . . my work laptop crashed.  Long story short, I was up until 5 AM this morning being extremely disappointed in the remote diagnosis/repair service by Geek Squad.  I have had very good service with resolution of issues in the past via telephone assistance (actually speaking with a tech who walked me through things) and dropping off machines at the location in Best Buy.  The first tech disappeared/disconnected after about 1.5 hours.  I hooked up with another tech, whose last action was performed a little over an hour into the session.  Five hours later, I terminated the session.

Both service notes I received today indicated there was something wrong with the Internet at my end.  I am simply not buying that, as I periodically checked my connection, and it was up and running just fine with no blips or hiccups on my end.  If there had been a connectivity issue, they should have contacted me; my phone number was in the records and I indicated I would be available.

So.  First chance I get I’ll drop it off.  In the meantime, much of today has been spent in a sleep-deprived and stressed state getting my personal laptop set up for work both as a virtual assistant and as a medical transcriptionist.  This laptop has a smaller screen with corresponding smaller fonts, and I am finding it much more of an effort to see what’s on the screen.  sigh

And . . . along about mid morning, I noticed a puddle of water under our rig.  Our bathroom gray tank had split and was leaking.  It will have to be replaced and, in the meantime, we will be showering in the facilities here.  Thank goodness they are nice.  I contacted a dealership/repair facility less than 5 miles down the road.  A mobile tech is supposed to come out tomorrow to check it out, do measurements, etc.  They will order the necessary tank and parts.  Once they have everything, we will roll the rig over to have the replacement performed.

The good news is, things could be worse.  No one died today.  That’s always a bonus.  These issues are worrisome and stressful but, in the big scheme of our life, they are bumps in the road.  Having them occur back-to-back like that just freaked me out a bit.  I’m really not complaining, but 2015 has been a tough one for us.  We carry on, though . . .

Today marks 1 month of being here in Bryan.  I think we have done very well to have both landed jobs and moved to a nicer park which is looking good as a long-term spot.

Thanks for stopping by!

Moving Day!

We both awoke around 3:30 this morning due to the crazy wind, rain, thunder, and lightning.  Around 4 AM, we gave in and got up.  Wow.  Seems like that storm just went on and on and on . . .  I had a nice Canadian bacon sandwich for breakfast at an extremely early hour for me, probably around 6 AM.  The rain would slack off for a while and then boom!  Away we would go again with very heavy downpours and really gusty winds. 

Needless to say, our site at Primrose Lane RV Park was an absolute mess, a total mud pit.  We watched some TV, I made a bit of a start on the inside prep for travel, and we dozed a bit in our recliners.  Finally . . . finally a bit after noon, the rain slacked off and then stopped, so we could finally begin getting ready to boogie out of that dump. 

Hitched up and ready go roll, I put the truck in 4-wheel drive.  Moved a couple of feet and the back tires started spinning.  Nudged her back a bit and then forward and we were free!  Free at last!  Tires on pavement, switched the truck back into 2-wheel drive, and . . . nothing.  It stayed in 4x4.  The tow/haul light wouldn’t come on, either.

Ruh roh.

Okay.  No panic here.  Truck into neutral, got it into 2-wheel drive, and the tow/haul light was shining nicely. 

Whew.  That was exciting!

The short 10-minute (if that) trip to Aggieland RV Park was uneventful.  I managed to run the rig through a few puddles to try and get some of the mud off the tires.  Got a bit off, but we (the rig and us) were a bit of a mess when we arrived at Aggieland.

Mud spatters on our rig from the truck tires

Dave did a great job of cleaning off that mess above, as well as washing away the mud we tracked onto our lovely concrete site. 

Okay.  All set up and lookin’ good.  Lookin’ good, that is, until we realized we would not be able to park the truck beside the rig with the bedroom slide deployed.  We have our own parking spot beside our RV, but it’s just too small for our big 1-ton, long-bed diesel F350.

Ruh roh. 

We experimented with backing the truck into the spot and parking it at a slant in front of the RV.

Nuts.

The only thing to do was to hitch up again and move the rig back a bit on the concrete pad.  Once accomplished, we unhitched (again), and found that we can park the truck at a slant in front of the rig, get the truck out of the street, and have the bedroom slide open.  We just have to be careful on opening the truck driver’s door; there’s room to open it enough to get out, but not enough to open it all the way. 

We’re good.  Finally.

We resumed setup in our new space and, when finished, realized it had taken us about 3 hours from landing to setup completion.  That’s a new record for us. 

We have no TV reception tonight because I didn’t make it to the office for a cable box prior to the closing of the office today.  Oh well.  There’s tomorrow.

We are on an end site, so we only have a neighbor on our door side.  The small pool is close by, as are restrooms.  A dumpster isn’t far away, and there’s a street light across the street.  The distance to the laundry room isn’t bad, either.  We have a small patio, and our door lines up nicely with it. 

Although our neighbor is fairly close and I’d rather have a bit more room between us, I am just grateful to have concrete from here to the truck versus mud.  Oh!  The grass here is real.  By “real,” I mean it is well manicured and grass, not scraggly bits of grass here and there in the mud.  There is room nearby to walk Maggie without having to venture off into skeery parts unknown.

Oh happy day!

The forecast is sunshine tomorrow, so I’ll try to get some photos.  Dave has tomorrow off, too, so that gives us a chance to get some groceries, do a bit of laundry, and settle in at our new spot.  Yay!

Thursday will be back to work for both of us.  Dave is on a 2-11 PM shift.  I work my virtual assistant job in the mornings (and whenever) and then tackle medical transcription in the afternoons/evenings. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Ya’ll stay safe out there, okay?

November Mid Point

It has been a busy 2 weeks since my last post.  Here’s what has been happening:

• Dave is working his evening shifts after completing training last week.  He aced the 12 training modules (all training done via computer) and finished before the “youngsters” there for training.  Maturity rocks!  He has learned there is an entire universe of hair care products for us gals.  Ha!  He will have Tuesday and Wednesday off each week; that’s the schedule for now.
• My MT training has been going well, and I feel better about it, like I am getting the hang of how this company wants things done, account specs, etc.  Seems I have developed a cold ? allergies ? and have been somewhat under the weather, so my mentor decided it best to postpone my training until next week in order for me to get over this.  Plugged ears are not conducive to hearing at one’s peak performance.  I agree with that, as it gives me time to rest (and I have been taking cat naps off and on, and even conked out totally for one entire day) and turn my attention to some other things I simply had not the time to tackle since our arrival here.  I am looking forward to getting back to the training, though.
• On the virtual assistant (VA) front, I am having a grand time with this and have been given additional tasks.  Yay!  I am hopeful this will be a long-term relationship.
• Although yesterday was Friday the 13th, we had a bit of good luck.  We decided to cruise over to the other RV park (where we are on the waiting list) to see if there was going to be an opening any time soon, as our rent here is due next Thursday. Lo and behold . . . yes!  I will check back Monday morning, but right now it looks like we will be moving next week, hopefully Tuesday when Dave is off.  I simply cannot express what a relief that will be.  I really think the amount of dust and dampness here is a major contributor to my allergy issues.  Aside from that, there is no good/safe place to walk Maggie here and . . . well, you’ve heard me talk about this place.  It has served the purpose as a landing spot here, but it sure will look good in the rearview mirror.
• We have had only a day here and there with (perhaps) sunshine; the rest of the time it has been raining.  The ground has not had a chance to totally dry out; we are still stepping in mud to get to our kitchen dump valve towards the rear of our rig.  Ugh.  When it does dry out a bit, there is dust everywhere outside; this site is more dirt/mud than gravel.  We did have to hitch up and place another Lynx Leveler pad under one of our front landing legs; the bottom one had sunk into the ground.  Lovely.  It was lightly raining when Maggie and I were out just a bit ago, and there is more rain on the way beginning tonight through Tuesday.  Lovely, I say, lovely!  El Nino is supposed to bring us a wet winter, so being in a concrete site is really going to be a good thing.
• Yesterday afternoon was devoted to getting us signed up for health insurance in 2016.  Not a difficult task, but tedious and time-consuming.  I certainly can see how folks might struggle to do so with little knowledge of how insurance works, all the terms, etc.

Heart, thoughts and prayers go to the people of Paris and all of France. 

Ya’ll be safe out there, please?  Be alert.  Be aware of your surroundings. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Whirlwind Days with Good Things Happening!

Yesterday I had a 3-hour training session via phone and Go To Meeting on the transcription platform I will be using in my medical transcription (MT) job. It was good training, but – wow – was my head reeling afterwards! Meant to provide a walk-through of the process, it was certainly not expected for me to remember everything. Everything that was covered in the session is provided in the 29 attachments I received the night before. Manuals on company guidelines, specs for each hospital account, platform and computer setup manuals, etc. Again I say wow!

Taking today off (to gather what wits remain in my head, run a couple errands, get my workstation and “stuff” organized, do some cooking and chill a bit), I’ll enter the mentoring process tomorrow and get to work! Yoinks!

Good things happening? Yes, indeed!

Dave had submitted applications to Lowe’s, Home Depot, Walmart and some other places. This was all done online, which seems to be the trend these days. Monday he received a call from Walmart to schedule an interview the following morning (yesterday). We drove out to that store Monday evening in order to locate it, as it was a different one from where we had shopped last week.

The next morning, in dense fog, he left for his appointment. When he arrived home, he announced that he was offered a full-time position! We talked about it a bit (no real discussion needed), then he called back and accepted the job.

Go, Dave! You rock, sweetheart!

Woot! I am sooo proud of him!

• This is his first application/employment process he has done on his own in the 10 years he has been in the States. Yes, he did work as a pipefitter in MN back in 2006-2007, but that was through the union local and pretty much a done deal from the get. (That’s not to dim the fact that Dave was an accomplished pipefitter, having entered that profession as an apprentice in his youth back in Scotland. He worked for the Royal Navy aboard nuclear submarines, carriers, and the like. The safety of naval personnel aboard those vessels was literally in his hands. Shoddy work could result in the loss of lives. Yep, he was good.)  The union was a brotherhood. Other than that, we have secured employment and worked together on a team basis. His landing a full-time job would be an accomplishment at any age but, especially at age 63, it is awesome!
• He laughed, saying he used to work aboard nuclear submarines and now he will be working at Walmart. You know what, though? At our age and with our life priorities, we’re not building careers; the nature of our work is not pivotal in our lives. Our focus is on our life together and enjoying that life. Having a sustainable income that keeps us from dipping into our savings on a monthly basis until pensions become a reality in a few years is all we need.
• Our work hours will mesh nicely, as he will be working 2 until 11 PM and I will be working 3 until 10 PM once I’m out of the mentoring phase.

I think we’re doing pretty darn well. In two-and-a-half weeks, we have both landed jobs with income that should meet our needs. Next up is moving to the better RV park, which could happen at any time; however, not likely until at least later this month or possibly into December. Still lots to do . . . settle in with our jobs, review health insurance options for 2016 and get us enrolled, schedule doctor visits, get my scan, wash/wax the rig once we have moved (impossible here, as we’re basically in a mud pit), etc.

We’re off to a good start, though, and are very grateful for the good things being manifested in our life.

Thanks for stopping by! Ya’ll be safe out there, okay?

Yesssss!

I am thrilled to be able to share with you that I have accepted a part-time (for now) position as a remote Medical Editor/Medical Transcriptionist! The company I will be working with has a good reputation among MTs. I am awaiting scheduling for training on the transcription platform and then will be under mentoring for a while as I learn the platform, the specifications of my assigned accounts and the dictators on those accounts. Even with prior MT experience, this is the process that takes place.

It was weird/scary thinking about doing MT work again. After refreshing my transcription skills through an online acute care (hospital dictation, which I did before), I felt fairly confident; however, applying for employment and going through that process was a bit nerve-wracking. After all, I haven’t interviewed for a “real” job in 8 years. Narrow that down to a technical/professional position and it has been 9 years. Yoinks!

I always enjoyed MT work. It is fascinating, one learns something almost every day and there is a dark/silly sense of humor that one entertains working in the medical field. I’ve missed that.

You should have seen how excited and hyper I was the other evening after receiving the offer earlier in the day! Dave rode the wave with me in such a supportive and joyous fashion. He’s a good guy.

The profession of medical transcription has changed since I was last working in the field.  Back then, one listened to the dictation voice file and typed the document (known now as “straight typing”), sculpting it into a medico-legal document – correct not only in medical terminology, but in grammar, punctuation, etc. Typing, typing, typing.

Voice recognition – where the voice dictation is interpreted by a software program into a document – was pretty much in its infancy regarding widespread use when I worked in the field 8 years ago. Now, however, VR (or SR for “speech recognition”) has infiltrated to the point where the “medical transcriptionist” has become the “medical editor.” This is exactly that – editing the VR-produced document to match the voice dictation file.

This “old dog” will be learning some new tricks!

So, this week so far has been brimming with activity. A second interview, pre-employment testing, today the tech support guy tweaking my computer (installing the platform, etc.), paperwork, emails, phone calls . . . whew.

The result is one goal realized – land an MT job. Yay!

I continue to work my virtual assistant job, which is also part-time. I am learning new programs and very much enjoy working with my boss.  My vision has been to have 2 revenue streams with 2 part-time gigs, and that is what is coming to pass. We’ll see how that goes. It will be a while before things settle down and I get in a groove; both schedules are flexible to a point, so I see that it may be a really nice thing.

There have been moments of, “My brain hurts.” Bwahahaha!

This is a different type of thinking. With security work, the thinking was more physical (?) or action-oriented. “A strange car just entered the gates and headed towards the back. Better check it out.”  I could expect a phone call from the alarm company when an alarm would activate; we would then need to enter the building and check it out. Those are just some examples of the thought processes involved. Action-oriented. My thought processes are now of a more technical nature, i.e., learning software, reading/understanding written procedures . . . more of an intellectual process, if you will.

Yep, my brain hurts.

I am actually enjoying all this. Yes, in a perverse way, eh?

The focus so far – because it is happening so rapidly – has been on my securing MT work. We have yet to put the same time and energy into finding something for Dave. We are hopeful just the right part-time or full-time gig will come along for him. We know it will. In the meantime, he is enjoying the heck out of cycling here. He deserves that, as he took the brunt of the work load in South Carolina and did not sleep well at all there. In fact, he got very little sleep and was exhausted pretty much from October 2014 until now.  Yes, he is sleeping well now, thank goodness. All 3 of us are!

Hey, it’s early days yet. We haven’t even been here 2 weeks! I think we’re doing pretty darn good to be accomplishing so much in so little time.

We are managing to have some “together time” during the days/evenings, and that is important. I whipped up one of our favorite meals of chicken noodle casserole this afternoon, so we had a nice dinner with leftovers for tomorrow. Yay again!

Maggie is doing well and enjoys looking out the windows

I was working up until almost 10 PM and needed some decompression/fun time, so here I am blogging. It’s a hair past 11 PM now. I’m winding down and so is this post.

Thanks for stopping by! Ya’ll stay safe out there, okay?

It’s Been a Full Week

Good heavens! We have been here a week and it has been chock full of doing “stuff.”

I’ve been working my virtual assistant job a bit and hope to increase my hours this week. Seems there has been quite a bit to do settling in here, etc.

Keep your fingers crossed, as I had an interview with a medical transcription company this week. I sent out resumes to others and have heard back from some, so if the first one doesn’t work out, there are other possibilities. That process takes a lot of time, actually. Whew!

That’s at least 6 inches deep

As you may have heard, Texas was visited by what was left of Hurricane Patricia over the weekend. Our site essentially turned into a mud pit.

This doesn’t really do it justice, and it got worse after . . .

See the red marker towards the right top of the image? That was us. All that yellow and green passed through over the weekend.

We had prepared by making sure we had provisions and did not need to venture out. Walking Maggie was an adventure, and she received the Royal Princess Treatment, being carried down to the area where we walk her. She wears her pink jacket, which helps keep her dry, especially her belly. She was such a trouper during all this.

The rain finally stopped for good this morning. We located the Walmart and were able to get Dave a new waterproof jacket. Yay! After that, I ventured forth to a wee laundromat nearby.

Dave spotted this place and checked it out on a bike ride last week.

It beats the heck outta the on-site facilities at the park. I had the place to myself most of the time. First time in donkey’s years I have experienced a peaceful laundry setting other than my own.

Late this afternoon, Dave discovered a damp area by the head of the bed, which is in the bedroom slide. Rut roh. Quick check of the Montana Owners Forum and I found where this has happened to others. Examination of the outside caulking on that slide showed that the caulking needs to be redone. The next three days are to be sunny and dry, so Dave has a wee project! The storms this weekend were hitting us broadside, and there was quite a bit of wind. We have typically been inline with storms before, so we’re thinking we experienced a bit of a leak with the weather this past weekend.

WiFi is advertised as one of the amenities here, but it is nonexistent. We are using my hot spot.

Two of the three restrooms (the kind with toilet and shower in one individual room) now have no toilet paper. One of those has been out for a week. Dave is checking them now as a source of amusement and amazed, wondering how long it will be before they are restocked.

We have met a nice couple in our age range that are at the end of our row. They are here temporarily (as we intend to be) and are here because of lack of availability in other parks (as we are). We have enjoyed visiting with them a bit. She is originally from . . . wait for it . . Scotland, although she came over at a very young age. At any rate, it is nice to visit with others with whom we seem to have more in common in the way of lifestyle and expectations.

Guess I don’t know much else worth repeating, so I’ll toddle off for now. Hope you have a great week with amazing adventures and that you stay safe out there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Busy First Day Here

Gosh, I’ve been blowin’ and goin’ all day! Sorry . . . no photos today.

Spent quite a bit of time throughout the day sending out cover letters/resumes to various medical transcription companies as a start to my job search. That has continued into the evening, actually.

Dave plotted a bike ride and took off for a while this morning. After he returned, we went over to another RV park to check it out. No, we’re not enamored with our current situation. Looks like for an additional $20 a month, we could be in much, much nicer and better surroundings.  There are no monthly openings at this time (it’s Aggie football season, after all), but we put ourselves on the waiting list. We’re third on the list and are looking at mid December for a possible opening. We have pretty much decided we will move if we are still in this area.

Got back into my virtual assistant job this afternoon/evening. More duties coming along with it, so I’ve spent some time this evening doing preliminary reviewing of that prior to hearing more about that and training tomorrow.

Dinner, a couple of walks – just the two of us and then with Maggie – in the areas where we are comfortable strolling and wowsers it’s almost time to think about shower and blankies.

Let’s see . . . there was a phone call with a friend in there somewhere and a few odds and ends around here.

The day just flew by, and I feel like I could use about six more hours to do stuff. Oh well. There’s always tomorrow!

Speaking of tomorrow, looks like the rains are going to be moving in starting then. It has become cloudy and breezy this evening, and a bit cooler.

Okay. That’s it. I’m going to have a bit of Words with Friends with Dave and then toddle off to The Dreamtime before long. My brain is tired, but I got a whale of a lot accomplished today!

Hope you’ve had a productive day . . . or enjoyed a day of chillin’ out. Whatever you’re doing, do it safely, okay?

Thanks for stopping by! Seriously. I appreciate you taking the time to visit!

Home for a Month

We departed Traders Village on the northwest side of Houston around 11 AM and headed on down Highway 290 West. Parts of it were under construction years ago when I lived in Houston and then later in Brenham and guess what? It’s still under construction an even longer way in what appears to be the addition of more lanes.

After getting really out of Houston’s reach, the highway became the 290 I remember, with no concrete barrier walls on the right side. Yay! We stopped at the Love’s I remember for a pit stop and a cup of coffee for Dave. I had a delightful conversation with a long-haul trucker while Dave was inside the store.

Scooting our way out of there, we were back on 290 until reaching Hempstead, where we branched off onto Highway 6 North. Now that was a pleasant drive! This took us all the way through College Station into Bryan, where we took the exit to get to Primrose Lane RV Park.

On our way here, we noticed how dry everything looked; the grass was brown, trees wilted and so forth. Entering the RV park, we noticed the same thing . . . even more so. The photos on the park’s web site are from days when there has been regular rain. That’s not the case now.

This park is divided into two sections. Up front there are some nice, long, concrete pull-thru pads for overnighters and short-term folks. There are back-ins for longer-term stays. There is another section behind a fence toward the back of the park that is a mobile home area. We took a walk this afternoon back there and decided we’ll stay up front in our section, as it really is . . . well, not our kind of area.

I actually backed us in, with some great spotting from Dave!

You can see how terribly dry it is here. Had to put our solar lights into cracks in the ground, as it was too hard to just put them anywhere. Yoinks!

We have a decent site, with tons of room between neighbors on either side. We do get some shade in the afternoons from the trees behind us. There is a street light across the street. Utilities seem fine so far; we were given converter boxes for the cable TV system. No TCM, but a better variety of channels than we have had other places. The manager was nice and helpful on our arrival, and we met a retired neighbor two sites down who came over to visit a bit.

This place really isn’t anything to look at and certainly isn’t nearly as nice as other places we have stayed; folks don’t seem to personalize or “cute up” their sites. There seem to be quite a few workers, but it is quiet out. That’s a good thing. The surrounding neighborhood appears okay; not fancy, but okay with some decent-looking houses across the road from the park. There is a nice H.E.B. about 2 miles away. The monthly rate is good and includes electricity (which is important in Texas) and I can get independent cable Internet if I need it for work. We have paid for a month and see how it goes.  We didn’t expect ritzy or upscale for the price we are paying.

We are expecting rain starting Wednesday with even heavy rain over the weekend. It won’t turn the grass green, but it should help the trees look and feel better. So incredibly dry . . . so sad. Guess you’ve heard there are wildfires in Texas again, even another one around the Bastrop area that was devastated not long ago by fires.

We did get settled enough today to go to H.E.B. for a few basic provisions and then I made quesadillas with guacamole for dinner. This evening I set up our converter boxes for the TVs and we’ve been enjoying having that on; right now we’re watching the series Fargo. Haha! It’s sooo Minnesota!

Well, we have landed safely and will use this as at least a starting point. I am grateful that the 90-something miles we traveled today were done in a safe and uneventful fashion.

Hope you’re settled and comfy somewhere and that you stay safe out there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Power Issue on Landing at Traders Village in Houston

We left Beaumont this morning about an hour earlier than usual at about 10:40. We boogied west on I-10 about 30 miles to make a pit stop at the rest area near Hamshire, TX.

Nice!

Grooviest ladies restroom I have ever seen at a rest area!

Our passage through Houston was uneventful and even easy up until we got onto Hwy 290 West. It wasn’t difficult, but a bit tedious; the right-hand lane had those construction barrier concrete walls all along the whole way with no shoulder. You know what I mean . . . makes the lane pretty narrow. We made it through just fine with no incident, although we heard a squeak/scrape sound at one point; Dave said he thought it was the truck behind us scraping the wall. Yoinks! I didn’t feel anything and checked our rig after landing here; it wasn’t us, as there was no sign of us caressing the wall.

Getting into Traders Village wasn’t as bad as I though it might be, although there was a ton of traffic. In case you don’t know, Traders Village is a humongous flea market with an RV park. We made it to our site with no problem and began our process for staying one night . . . lowering landing gear, putting out slides, etc. All was fine until . . .

No power inside the rig. Rut roh.

Power at the pedestal and into our power cord, but zilch inside. What to do? Called a couple of mobile services; it’s Sunday, so no joy there. Called Good Sam and talked with Technical Assistance, who was some help as to what it might be, but all they could do was give me phone numbers of RV service people. No joy there.

Opened all the windows and figured we’d just deal with it overnight and hit an RV service center in Bryan tomorrow (Monday).

Walking around outside, I saw two guys on the roof of a Class A two sites down. Walked that way thinking I might see a mobile tech van. Guy walks up and asks if I’d seen the owner of the coach; they were here doing work on roof and guy left his truck window down.

Nope, hadn’t seen the guy as we had just arrived. Asked him if he happened to be a tech.

Yesssssss!

So he came over and checked stuff with his voltage meter. After doing this, he right away determined it was our ATS (Automatic Transfer Switch), which is in a rig that has an onboard generator or is wired for one, which ours is. He found the box, opened it and voila!

The switch had melted. Yoinks.

He said this was probably due to low voltage. Well . . . our surge protector black box had shut us down a few times at the work site in South Carolina due to very low voltage like 105 (norm is 120). The facility manger had checked and said that everything was fine; however, by the time he would get to the spot to check it, incoming power would be back to normal ranges and our box would power us up again.

This happened several times during September. We weren’t totally convinced that our box was on the fritz, but there was nothing really to be done.

We did notice during our time there that our interior lights weren’t as bright as they had been . . .

So! Rhoan (the tech guy) commenced to fixing us. Since we do not have an onboard genny and have no plans to get one, he bypassed that portion of the ATS. Now power comes straight in and to the rig without going through that extra portion.

That boils down to power coming straight from the pedestal to the load (the rig). No middleman, so to speak.

Dave watching Rhoan (inside basement) rewiring the ATS. You can tell we have no A/C at this point, because our door is open and so are all our windows!

Rhoan works at Demontrond RV but also works freelance on weekends. I tell ya, after checking voltage in a few places, he knew right away what it was. Said he has seen this happen quite a few times before. He said we would probably notice our lights were brighter since we were using straight power now and bypassing the ATS.

Turning on our living room overhead lights after dark . . . wow whee! Yep. It’s brighter in here again! We had replaced the regular bulbs with LEDs a few months ago and had commented on how nice and bright it was in here. We had noticed – while in SC – that it was dang dark in here and Dave was struggling to read or use the computer in his recliner.

Well, it was money we really didn’t need to spend on repairs, but taking it to an RV dealer might have cost us more, taken longer and might not have even been fixed.

Just Providence, good luck or whatever that I happen to look around and hook up with Rhoan.

So we’ve gone from looking at a relatively miserable evening and hassle tomorrow in getting to a dealer before landing at our spot in Bryan to being comfortable. A/C is working fine. I can charge my phone. The TV has picked up some sort of movie station (showing Gregory Peck movies).

Whew. What a day. I am looking forward to getting to our landing spot tomorrow, settling in, working my virtual assistant job and finding a medical transcription job. Hoping our life will settle down and we can get in a comfortable groove.

I am very grateful for today’s safe passage of a bit over 90 miles under beautiful skies and gorgeous weather.

Hope your Sunday was pleasant and that you stay safe out there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Relaxing in Beaumont, TX

We were sitting outside a wee while ago and realized we are finally get the relaxation layover we intended first in Lexington, SC (where we extended our stay due to the rain event) and then in Hope Hull, AL (where loose dogs were an annoyance in the park).

Finally! Yes, indeed!

Yes, Phyllis, there is still construction on I-10. Isn’t there always? Traffic was not backed up westbound, so it wasn’t bad at all. (Check out Phyllis’ full-timing blog here.)

We did get up and out the door in time to mosey over and check out the free breakfast here. It really wasn’t anything to write home about, but Dave got a cup of coffee. I brought a biscuit back, warmed it up and ate it with a bit of butter. Not bad, but not outstanding. It is a nice gesture on their part.

We were out and about before 11 AM, stopping first at Hidden Lake RV Resort not far from here. I certainly would not call it a “resort,” but it was a nice enough park on drive-through and one to perhaps consider in the future.

Our next stop was the Walmart, which was a bit of a drive from our park. We picked up a few items there and then dropped into the H.E.B. for some groceries on our way home.  For those who don’t know, H.E.B. is a Texas grocery store chain. This was apparently a “super” H.E.B., as it was the biggest one I have ever been in, and I’ve been in quite a few. OMG. Was it delightful! We supplemented to our current stock of provisions, so we’re good for meals for quite a while again.

We even have lettuce in the fridge again and we each had a salad with our stuffed salmon for dinner tonight.

Lettuce! The quality of lettuce was so deplorable in South Carolina that we stopped buying it. We haven’t had lettuce in almost three months.  I was in lettuce heaven this evening!

When I attended Lamar University here back in the late 1970s, I had no real reason to come to this west side of town. I tell ya what, though, it sure has grown! “Stuff” everywhere and the traffic to go along with that. We had initially talked (well, I did most of the talking – haha!) about having a meal at Patillo’s (BBQ) today, but after our errands . . . well, all I really wanted to do was chill out here at home. Dave was definitely okay with that, so that’s what we have been doing.

I recognized so many of the street names – Major, Phelan, Fannett, Gladys, Washington – even though I frequented those on their opposite end closer to the university. I sort of wish now that I had scheduled us for a longer time here so I could go exploring a bit. If we were here for, say, a week, I’d be checking out old familiar places, seeing what’s been done/renovated/added. There is a lot to do and see in the area. Oh well. Next time!

I’m just really enjoying relaxing and hanging out at home and the park.

We’ve had some strolls around the park, some with Maggie and some just the two of us. This is a wonderful place to walk, as the streets are paved and the park is well lit and fenced. One feels safe walking here even at night.

We have one more day here, and our friend Rachelle will be coming up to spend some time with us. Yay! Even though she and I talk on the phone frequently, we have not been together since right before we hit the road in 2010. She and I go waaaay back, having worked at Exxon together back in the 1980s/1990s.

So tomorrow should be a fun day, with perhaps a visit to Tyrell Park and the Botanical Gardens (or not), hanging with a dear friend, fueling up the truck and then hitching up later in the day with a view to hitting the road to and through Houston on Sunday. The emphasis will be chilling out. Just be-ing.

We did find our “Welcome to Our Clan” sign and hung it outside, and Dave graciously hung our pictures inside, since we’re having company! Tomorrow is slated to be about 12 degrees cooler than today, with a forecast high of 80F. I imagine there will be a bit of sitting outside time.

We can tell we’re definitely in Texas, as we can hear marching bands and the announcer from a nearby stadium and what sounds like a high school football game. It’s a lovely, almost cool and cloudless night, and the sound carries. I like it.

Speaking of sounds, we did not hear the trains after about 8 PM (I’m guessing) last evening and not at all today. Yay!

Hope your Friday has been as relaxing as ours and that your weekend will continue to be so!

Ya’ll take care and be safe out there, alrighty?

Thanks for stopping by!

Back in Texas

We had a nice overnight stay in Duson, LA at Frog City RV Park. We really did enjoy this park and would certainly return for an even longer stay. Part of that enjoyment was the visits we had with our next door neighbors, a part-timing couple from PA and their 14-year-old dog.

Rolling out of the park just shy of 11:30 AM, we hopped on I-10 to continue our journey westward. We planned to make a pit stop at about 50 miles at a Love’s Travel Center; however, there was no convenient truck parking and we had a bit of a tight squeeze getting through the travel plaza pump area after deciding this was not a practical stop. Whew. We did it, though, with no harm/no foul. That’s the last time I try that, I tell ya. RV parking my ptooie.

I do dig my Pilot truck stops and hanging with the big dawgs. It’s easy. We’re courteous – pull forward to the line after fueling, don’t leave our rig unattended – and we’ve never had an issue; in fact, all drivers we have interacted with have been courteous and friendly, if not downright helpful.

Good thing I wasn’t desperate for a pit stop, as the Calcasieu River Bridge in Lake Charles was definitely kinda skeery. Well, not really. Well, maybe just a wee bit. Gee, that was steep. Dave did the sightseeing. I didn’t want to look down and I was focused on getting us up, over and down again safely. That sucker is steep! Did you know that the Department of Transportation has declared it structurally deficient? The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development says it’s fine and dandy. That’s according to Wikipedia.

A tad over 91 miles from our start, we rolled into the Texas Welcome Center. I think that’s a record for yours truly without a pit stop. The traffic on I-10 just whizzed (no pun intended), by while we took our stretch break.

Texas Welcome Center I-10 West

This wasn’t too far from Beaumont and Gulf Coast RV Resort, our home until Sunday.  This is a big place with paved roads and sites, Wi-Fi that is nonexistent (and we’re even in the first row by the office) and minimal TV stations, about 13 with really nothing to watch. Oh well. The park is well-lit and a combination of long-term workers, short-terms and overnighters. It is well maintained. The restrooms are clean, individual units with toilet and shower. There’s a free breakfast consisting of Texas waffles, biscuits and gravy, muffins, cereal, coffee, juice. Don’t know if we’ll make it for that, as it is served from 7 AM to 9 AM. There’s a pool, exercise room, playground and dog park.  Our site is concrete and plenty long with ample room between us and the site. We are on an end, so we do not have a neighbor site on our driver side.

We are in Site #77, convenient to restrooms and laundry. We also have a lovely power station in our site and a useless patio. Other than that, it’s cool. Well, only if the trains don’t blow their horns all night.

Guess the only thing I’d say on the down side is that the utilities are at the rear of the site. The pavement is only wide enough for the rig, so you step down into grass. There is a concrete patio with picnic table; however, it is at the front end of the site and essentially useless. Makes you wonder if whoever designed the place had ever set foot in an RV. All the sites are set up this way.

Maggie is feeling much, much better and is chillaxin’ here. She totally rearranged the daybed to suit her comfort.

We were walking Maggie in the doggie walk area earlier and about jumped out of our skins when the train blew its horn. Yes, the tracks are pretty dang close. I’ll let you know if this goes on all night.

Traffic was heavy coming through Beaumont, so I didn’t get to look around too much, but I did recognize some landmarks such as the Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum and I certainly recognized names of the streets on freeway exits. We are on the western outskirts of town, and it’s nice not to be smack dab in the middle of things. We plan to go out tomorrow for a few provisions; not sure how much wandering around we’ll do. We’ll see. The washers and dryers in the laundry room are only a buck each, so I may do a load of laundry during our stay. Or not. Ha!

We’ve had a few strolls around the park, both before and after our dinner of burgers and steak fries here at home.

Again I am grateful for the 123.6 miles traveled safely and without incident today. It was in the low 90s here in Beaumont when we arrived but has cooled down nicely. Not a cloud in the sky all day.

We’re here for the weekend. Where are you spending your weekend?

Hope your Thursday was a good one. Stay safe out there, would ya?

Thanks for stopping by!

Spending the Night in Duson, LA

We both woke up before 8 AM this morning and got away from Indian Point RV Resort just before 11 AM.

Remember the dog I mentioned in yesterday’s post? Well, sure enough, poor doggie spent the night in the cage crate under the overhang of their 5th wheel.  Keep in mind that we had curtains open around 7:30 this morning. This is what we saw . . .

Animal abuse takes all forms. This is one of them.

Okay, so they had a fan heater of some sort sitting there; however, this poor soul was obviously miserable, shivering with every breath. It was chilly and damp out overnight. Doggie is not sleeping, but is hunched down shivering, being uncomfortable and plain miserable.

Time passes. We do our morning stuff, walk Maggie, have breakfast and start our leisurely prep for departure.

These jokers finally emerged (well, at least the guy did) at about 10:30 AM to get the dog. This soul was in the crate for a bit over 12 hours. Yeah. Doggie got out of the crate and was chained to a tree to have his breakfast outside.

This sweet soul made nary a sound overnight. Even when seeing me out with Maggie, no bark, growl or whimper was heard from the cage.

Here’s the rig of these idiots. Truck front plate is an LSU tag (not a regular license plate). The truck is a white dually. That’s a new-looking Blue Ridge 5th wheel. They had 2 bikes on a rack in the back.

We stopped at the check-in station (which is a bit of a ways away from the RV sites and is not visible from the main campground) on our way out. I showed the photo of the dog in the crate to the gal on duty and explained what had taken place, beginning with their arrival and the dog in the open bed of the truck. She thought that was pretty awful, and assured me she would advise the owner of the park.

A few stops today to break up the trip . . .

At the Atchafalaya Welcome Center

There sure were some long bridges heading west on I-10 in Louisiana! Whew! We stopped at a couple of Pilot truck stops; they weren’t busy, so it was a breeze in and out, and relaxing pit/fueling stops. I-10 wasn’t too bad, but a bit whump-a-whump over the segmented part in Louisiana.

We have landed here in Duson, LA at Frog City RV Park, cozied up in site #15 for tonight.

It was too dark when I got around to taking a photo of our rig in our site, but here’s a shot of the entrance sign.

This is not a bad little park at all.  The sites are neat, the park is well lit, the roads are paved and sites are gravel with a picnic table and of nice size. There are quite a few cable TV channels and free Tengo WiFi, but we are using my hotspot.  It’s a mix of long-term workers, short-term rigs and overnighters like us. There’s a hotel next door and a gas station/truck stop/convenience store on another side, but the park is fenced and these are not annoyances. You can hear some highway sounds from I-10 when outside, but not really when indoors. Restrooms are the individual kind with toilet, sink and shower; they are cute and clean. Dave is using these facilities tonight for his shower. The laundry room is clean and functional. There is a small swimming pool and a book exchange. Seems to be quite a few cats – young and older – around the office area. There was a raccoon washing its hands in a basin near the office; it scooted away under the office building when we went strolling by! Access is easy from I-10. Yep, we’d stay here again.

We have strolled the park and then had a nice dinner here at home of fettuccini alfredo and a chopped veggie salad.

We traveled 232.3 miles today – another long one for us. I am once again very grateful that our trip was uneventful and safe.

Tomorrow we head on to Beaumont, TX, where we will be for 3 glorious nights! It will be good to stop for a while!

Have a great evening and be safe out there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Landed in Gautier, MS for One Night

We departed Hope Hull, AL at about 11:15 this morning, in that time range that we seem to get going naturally.

We cruised south on I-65, stopping at a rest area and then a Pilot just north of Mobile to fuel up the truck. At Exit 0 in Mobile, we hooked up with I-10 West and headed towards Mississippi.

Mississippi Welcome Center on I-10 West

A little bit later, we rolled into Indian Point RV Resort in Gautier, MS. This is a huge place with hundreds of RVs in here and quite a few cabins and cottages for rent. There are long-term workers, folks with apparently seasonal sites (and boats) and then some overnight spots such as ours towards the front of the sites. We have a concrete pad and patio, although the pad at this particular site really is not quite long enough for our rig still hitched up.

We are in Site PA2. That empty site next to us is no longer empty.

We were originally assigned to site PA1, the empty one in the above photo. Not sure why they gave us PA2 on arrival and I wish they had not. On this row of overnight sites, we have the most cramped and the trickiest to exit. Oh well. It’s only one night. There’s a small tree towards the front that is not in the photo; I’ll have to swing reaaaaally wide in the morning to get out. This site really is too close to the next one on the door side. Ugh. Oh well. One night.

One of two lakes here

Impressions so far suggest this is fine for an overnight stop, but it’s just not my kind of place. There are just too many people here and too many trees . . . We are bypassing the free WiFi, as it is not secured with a password; we’re using my hotspot instead. The restrooms/showers are okay, but Dave opted to shower at home tonight; he will often use the facility showers if they are nice, enjoying a larger shower stall. There is cable TV; it is very basic cable, but we are able to tune into CNN and have the Democratic debate on right now. There is a clubhouse, pavilion for gatherings, café (apparently only open in the mornings), swimming pool, pier and boat launch. Quite a few of the roads are sand/dirt. The sites that are not concrete are more grass than gravel; perhaps they were nice gravel at one time, but the grass has pretty much taken over. Even though it has the word “resort” in its name, it has more of the feel of a campground and/or fishing camp.

Again, fine for one night.

Moving along . . .

Since the above photo was taken, a dually with a pretty and big 5th wheel pulled in. Why am I mentioning this? Because . . . their rather large dog (not a pit bull but some breed that sort of looks a bit like that) was riding in the open bed of the truck when they arrived. I really cannot even imagine my dog riding in an open truck bed, much less with a 5th wheel hooked up to the truck. Sheesh. Any bump or turn of the RV and . . . it could result in a not-so-happy ending for the dog.

Then . . .

They chained the dog to a tree and put its food and water bowl outside. They have a cage for it placed under the front overhang of their RV. Yes, they have been inside with the dog chained to the tree outside. Yes, I’m guessing the dog will be sleeping in the cage outside tonight.

What the hell is wrong with dog owners in the South?

Now back to our regular programming . . .

Interstate 65 South is actually a nice highway and an enjoyable drive. I-10 hasn’t been bad so far. We’ll see how tomorrow shapes up as we head on into Louisiana for tomorrow night’s stop in Duson.

I am grateful that the 203.3 miles we traveled today were done safely and without incident.

Maggie is pretty much back to her usual self and made today’s journey very well.  The weather was gorgeous with a high in the low 80s.

Have a great evening and be safe out there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Last Night in Alabama

This is our last evening in Hope Hull, AL. We’ll be on the road tomorrow headed to Gautier, MS for one night. We’ve got around 200 miles to go tomorrow. That’s not much for some folks, but it’s a full day for us.

Dave pedaled 51 miles today on his bike this morning, once again thoroughly enjoying the cycling here. He has racked up 208 miles in 5 days here. He has also been taking some photos with his new phone.

 

From the charity ride, alerting riders of the upcoming rest stop named Road Kill Café. Cute, eh? Each rest stop is named with a theme.

Also for the Road Kill Café, this says, “You kill it, we cook it.” Haha!

Route markers

The park is full tonight, with 4 rigs parked in the new sites. Those sites do not have gravel yet, but the utilities are functional. We hitched up the truck a bit ago; that’s one less thing to do in the morning.

Maggie was definitely feeling better today and has had a bit of food at reduced amounts. She is certainly more her usual perky and alert self. I am so grateful and am keeping my fingers crossed that she (and I) has another restful night.

Roaming dogs have been less of an issue today, at least so far. Perhaps someone dropped a word or two to their owner down the road?

I am also happy, no, thrilled and relieved, to report that we have had no ants in our rig from day #1 since leaving the work site in South Carolina. Obviously they were coming in from outside. We are both grateful for that and happy to be away from that location.

One other cool thing I have forgotten to mention. When we were getting ready to leave Lexington, SC after the rain event had passed, Dave noticed a wee frog that came out from under our Lynx pad under one of the tires.

Little wee Frog. Good omen. Sent by Cousin Karen, I betcha. Watching over us. Yep. Indeed.

Hope you have had a great Columbus Day. Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in Canada!

Thanks for stopping by!