Thanks John for all the help

 

Seems like every time we meet up John pulls me out of a dilemma.

It was Sunday morning when I woke and strained to look at the clock on the wall. We had an overnight guest...Grand girl and she and Sherri were sleeping on the pull out sofa bed. I was in the bedroom by my lonesome with the air blowing and had not noticed that Sherri had been up for some while...made coffee and tipped the first cup down before I had come to.

It was warm outside but no sun was shinning that I could tell. I showered off and headed down stairs to the living room to find my bride. She was already up and making breakfast muffins for our guest that we had invited over. John and Bridget were leaving today for Arkansas. We really did not want them to go but then we were leaving and heading West so I guess we must let them go.

We had so much fun visiting and playing cards with them and then yesterday we had all pilled in the Jeep and headed to Dallas to the RV show. We enjoyed walking around looking at all the new models that were out for this year and comparing what they had to what we had. John managed to latch on to a guy from Mobil Suites and got some names of folks to contact when he got to the factory later this year. They are having some warranty work done and John wanted to know who to talk to when he got there for the appointment.

Well as I said earlier John and Bridget were coming over this morning to eat breakfast with us and Sherri was in a dead heat to get everything done before their arrival. I slipped on my clothes and went out to get some laundry going. Sherri lines all the loads up and I wash and dry them. I am still in training for this position and hope to be hired full time later on this year.

What a great looking bed!

John and Bridget arrived on time and we had omelets...and Sherri did a great job fixing them. She is the queen omelet maker in these parts. The muffins...well they were good too. After breakfast we kicked back and did some serious visiting. While talking I asked John if he would help me pull my dryer out of the RV and set it in my shop. The dryer had been out for some time and I wanted to get it fixed. The only thing about getting it fixed is the repair guy wont work on them in your RV. John I have to thank you one more time for helping me. I hope I can return the favor down the road.

While that was going on Sherri's brother Rodney came by to say hello to John and Bridget. Rodney had met John and Bridget at the first RV Dreams Rally three years ago. Becky...Rodney's wife did not come down because she was not feeling well.

As Rodney was leaving my oldest daughter Janet pulled up. She brought her grandkids and some of our grandkids over to say hello. Janet lives in Dallas and was up for the weekend visiting her bunch and decided to come by to see us for a while. Before we knew it we had a house full of folks.

John and Bridget had to leave but we kept visiting right up until time for them to climb in their truck and pull off. We hated to say good bye to them but all good things must come to an end. One thing about it we know that we will meet again...

Somewhere in Time

Ten Penny has been good to me

 

This morning we were up with the chickens and before long we were at work doing what we do. Our intentions were to finish work as soon as possible so we could hook up with John and Bridget at their place. We had a date with Ten Penny and I was determined to regain my dignity...which by the way I had lost at the last encounter with the Hatch's.

Well I will have to say that I did regain some of that dignity by winning not one game of Ten Penny but two games! Yes you heard me correctly TWO games in a row! The proof is in the pictures below.

Two games in a row...Yes I was happy...

We had so much fun...well I did...I got the feeling that the others were a little irritated...but then I can understand...having been on the other end of the score board I was not always giddy when the game was over.

We not only played Ten Penny but discussed the fact that John's sink came loose from his counter top? John said this added to the list of repair items that he was working up for the factory visit later this year. Sherri and I know all about those kind of problems because we have had them with every RV we have ever owned. Just part of full timing with the big boys...things break and you have to have them fixed.

It was well after 10:00 pm when the game ended and we had to get the gate code from John so we could exit the park. We drove to the gate and unlocked it and then drove the mile to our lot. It was late and we both decided to take our showers and turn in. We had a wonderful day with wonderful friends...

Somewhere in Time

Parked the house...Did the laundry...pulled out for Tyler

 

That just about sums up our Sunday and Monday.

Sherri and I did not get up early...being our last day before we headed back to work. We made coffee and sat around the house reading journals and discussing what all we needed to do today to get ready to head out to our next job assignment. Before we knew it the time had shot forward to noon and we had to fix us a bite to eat.

I played phone tag with John Hatch most of the morning...trying to set up a time to meet him and Bridget. We don't have good cell service at the lake nor do we have good internet. Sometimes it is good and sometimes it really sucks. today was one of those days.

We finally made contact and the plan was laid out. Sherri and I did not get off as fast as we had planned but then we never do. If you ever make plans with us keep that in mind. If you need us to meet you at 12:00 you need to run the time back to...lets say 10:30. We will shoot for the 10:30 but will fall short of the target to somewhere close to 12:00. OK now you know the secrete.

We did meet up with John and Bridget but it was close to 3:30. We found their site with little problem...you can see John's truck a mile before you get to their site...LOL. Hugs were given all around and we stepped inside to visit for a while. Sherri and I had not checked in to our hotel yet but we wanted to visit before we did.

And a wonderful visit we did have indeed! We laughed and discussed some serious topics and then back to laughing again. It is hard for us to stay serious for too long.

We did get to discuss our eating plans and John and Bridget said they would just ride with us to the hotel and wait while we checked in and then we would go out to eat. We all loaded up in the Jeep and off we went to the hotel. On the way to the hotel we spotted a Casa Ole and decided to eat there on our way back from the hotel. We did get checked in but instead of going straight out to eat we took them by the new store that we will be working at tomorrow. It is quite a fancy place. From there we headed to the restaurant and had a wonderful meal with lots of laughs.

I enjoyed the visiting but I suggested that we get our check and leave. I was ready to get down to some serious 10 penny...and that we did. I am the only guy on record that went from last place to 2nd place and then back to last in 3 hands!! OK so John won...he keeps score you know...Not that I am suggesting anything...but he does keep score.

From last place to 2nd

Sherri and Sock Monkey console me after my loss.

That is OK we have a rematch coming up here next Friday night. I will have my wits fine tuned by then and they better watch out cause I will be ready for them and maybe I will come out the winner...

Somewhere in Time

Back at the Lake

 

This morning we slept in until 7:00 and that is late for us! We had the fan on all night and the cool air in the bedroom felt so good when we got up. It has been a long time since we had the fan on. It was so warm last night. The bedroom especially gets hot so the fan was turned on and it was no time and I was sleeping like a baby.

The next morning I raised my head up off the pillow to see the clock at the foot of the bed. I was surprised to see that it was as late as it was. We normally do not sleep this late but when we do it is because we slept so soundly. When you are real tired you just pass out and then sleep over takes you and it seems like you can sleep forever. This morning was one of those mornings. As I pulled myself up out of bed I heard Sherri mumble something. I did not mumble back but got up and went down to the kitchen and made a pot of coffee. I think that is what she was mumbling about..."Go make coffee".

I follow instructions quite well and did as I was told. I passed Sherri coming down the stairs as I was going up. I was on my way to the shower and she was on her way to the recliner. The coffee was ready by the time I got out of the shower and dressed so I poured my sweet love her first cup. We sat and talked about when we might be getting ready to leave the park here and head to the lake. We decided to wait until about 3:00 to make the journey. That was good with me...I could get some things done this morning and then be ready to leave by then.

Then came right on time and I pulled up stakes and the jacks unplugged and capped off the water. We were ready to roll at 3:00 sharp and we did just that.

We took Hwy 80 all the way to Wills Point. We turned north on Hwy 47 and drove toward the lake. Sherri stopped off at the Post Office to pick up a months worth of mail in our box. I kept trucking to the lot and got the rig positioned to back in. About that time Sherri pulled in and got out to help me maneuver in just right. It did not take long to get set up and back into living mod. Rodney and Becky...our neighbors came over to welcome us home and we decided to go and eat in town. We had a great meal and ended up back over at their trailer for a visit. Sherri and Becky did all the visiting...Rodney and I watched "A Fist Full Of Dollars" And then the " The Good the Bad and the Ugly". Wow those movies are still as great as they were back then.

We left Rodney and Becky's after the movies and came home to hot showers and a little computer time. While we were out eating I got a phone call from John Hatch. He was pretending to be a salesman for AT&T....I knew who it was right off. We discussed our plans for meeting next Monday. I  guess I should say Bridget and Sherri discussed the plans...I never know our schedule so I can't plan anything.

Well I can plan this....when we all meet up we will have a great time just being together...

Somewhere in Time

Heading back home

We slept in this morning. We don't work today so the week was real short for us. We usually work 4 days a week but we were so efficient this week we finished early and were sent back to the hotel. This gave us an opportunity to get caught up on some of our reports that we must do each week.

We waited around till 5:00 pm to eat and met up with some friends at Mercado's Mexican Restaurant. We had a real good meal and sat and visited for some time. We finally had to call it a night and say good-bye to our co-workers who we will not see for some time due to a split in our schedules.

Sherri and I will return to Tyler next Monday night. We then work Tuesday and leave for Shreveport Tuesday night. We will be there for two days and then leave for Palestine to work Friday. Then it will be time to return to the lake where we will be taking our trailer this coming Sunday. WOW....you are saying...and while all that is going on we plan on meeting up with John and Bridget to play some 10 penny. We hope to meet them in Tyler Monday night and they are going to follow us to Shreveport on Tuesday.

We do get to see a lot of places in our work weeks. Usually we are in one town all week and then move to a new town the following week. There are some special projects our company is working on from now until the end of March so we are busy moving around much more than usual.

Sherri left about 9:00 am this morning to go and shop for birthday gifts for two of our granddaughters. Both their birthdays were this month and we have not been home long enough to buy them anything. Being that Sherri is off today she decided to head out to some of the shops around here and find them something. We have to check out of this hotel at 12:00 noon so I hope she makes it back in time.

That is about the sum total of this days events. We will be driving home today and it will be nice to settle in to our place and relax for a while. Sunday we will take the house out to our place on the lake and leaving it while we work next week.

Until then I guess I will sign off here and rejoin you later....

Somewhere in Time

Working a brand new store

 

The alarm went off this morning at 6:00 am. We don't have to be at work until 8:00 which meant that we could eat breakfast. I got up first and got ready and then turned the bathroom over to Sherri so she could do her thing.

Usually when I get through getting dressed I lay back down on the bed and sleep while Sherri is getting ready. The faster I get through the more time I have to rest before we head out.

We headed down stairs and had a great free breakfast in the lounge. Sherri and I both had sausage and eggs with toast and orange juice. This will fuel us until the store serves us lunch at noon.

We arrived at the store just a little before 8:00 which gave us some time to look around. Now this is a new concept store by Brookshire called "Fresh". It has 2o specialty cooks on location to prepare meals to go or be eaten in the grocery store. They have salad bars and delis to serve you while you shop. They even serve wine to sip as you shop the store. Oh yes this is a high class way to shop for your groceries.

I set the box dinners today. This was the first time I set product on new shelves. I had to open all the boxes and pull out the items and placed them on the shelves according to the schematic provided by the store. Once I had set the shelves the store stockers came and set all the product. WOW was this an easy day! Then I went and helped Sherri for a while set baking needs. From there I just bounced around helping other so we could finish up and go home.

Go home we did and got cleaned up for dinner. We decided to go to Red Lobster with some of our co-workers. I had the steak and shrimp. Talk about delicious...the steak was just right and the shrimp were out of this world. I sure am getting spoiled at this job. It will be hard to say good-bye and leave all this good eating and free room behind. Until then I will just have to live with it...

Somewhere in Time

Made it

 

Up this morning just as the sun started to peek over the tree line. I made the coffee and then flopped down in my recliner and turned on the TV...I'll catch the weather early and surely I wont fall asleep this morning before it comes on.

I made it through the weather report and poured Sherri and I a cup of coffee. I delivered Sherri's to her and then got mine. We visited while the weather was on and then the TV went off and we went to reading journals and emails.

Sherri ended up playing Scrabble and I sent some more Valentine Cards to g-kids. What in the world would we do without our computers. I told Sherri that I could live without the TV but could not do without my computer. Everything revolves around the computer. I visit all my friends on line and read about every move they make from sunup to sundown. I almost feel like I am with them all the time...but never get tired of them??? LOL

The day slid by and  before we both knew it the time to go had arrived and we had to leave. We only had to drive about 30 minutes but we just kept putting it off. We arrived at the hotel to find out that it was overbooked  but we did have a room. Was I glad that we made our reservations early in the week.

We sat in the hotel room and did some more reading and Sherri did some more Scrabble. Soon it was time to eat so  we had to decide where to go. Some of the other folks we work with called and asked us to go with them. We all met at the Chinese Restaurant and had a great meal.

We returned to the hotel and I got back on my computer. I got a text from John Hatch and we typed back and forth for some time. Soon I had to leave so I could get some sleep. Having to get up in the morning to work was weighing heavy on my mine.

I showered and then watched a little TV and then fell asleep...

Somewhere in Time

A Beautiful day in East Texas

The sun is out and it is warm and dry!

 Once again I woke up in my recliner. I always turn the TV on to watch the weather and I am asleep in no time. To this day I don't know what the weather is going to be. I guess I find out the next day by opening the door and looking out.

I fixed the coffee this morning while Sherri was in the bathroom getting ready for the day. Plan was to start a crock pot of chili and then go to the show in town to see the Little Fockers. Sherri started out breakfast first which consisted of omelets...bacon...chips and hot sauce. While creating that wonderful meal she started on the chili and had it in the crock pot by the time the omelets were done. What skill she has. The omelets were to die for and the chili smells so good.

The later it got the prettier the weather got and before 12:00 the sun was so warm and the breeze so nice...the two together put spring fever in the air. We decided not to go to the show but just stay at home and enjoy this beautiful day.

We still had some computer work to be done for our business so we did that real quick and then we turned our attention to the outdoors. You could not ask for better weather than this...if only it stayed like this year round! But I know it is only temporary and soon the temps will  drop once more and the clouds will roll in and the wind will pick up and we will be back into winter.

 

Sherri gets to work on her report

The park is real nice and Sherri and I both like it here. Found out yesterday that they come by and pick up your propane bottles and return them to your site when filled. We are working on our third tank now! I know that is a lot of propane but then it has been between 18 and 22 degrees here for some time. When we are away we have to leave the furnace on 56 degrees so that the plumbing does not freeze. I don't think it runs that much but we still use about 1/2 a bottle between Sunday and Friday every week so far. They charge $25.00 for a 40lb bottle which is cheap compared to some of the other places we have bought gas at.

 

I think a walk around the park is in order for this afternoon. We have been cooped up for so long now that getting out will be good. This will sweep out all the cobwebs that have gathered in our heads while we were...

Somewhere in Time

Cold mornings warm afternoons

 

Sun was high in the sky

This morning we were up about 7:00...well I was...Sherri made it up much earlier. She had the coffee made and was on the computer playing scrabble. I poured me a cup and sat down at my computer to read all my friends exciting day events. Most everyone is in Arizona where it is warm with drop dead beautiful views of the mountains and desert. That is where I want to be next winter if at all possible.

OK so this winter I am here and they are there and I have to contend with it. I will have to say that being here in my home on wheels is better than being stationary in a S/B with all the upkeep that goes with it. I can always pull up stakes and move to a new backyard.

This is my backyard

Yesterday was wash day. We did not head to the laundry until late but we did get all our traveling clothes done and packed away. We have to head out again Sunday for the week but we will return Friday. As I understand it we will only have to work one day the following week so that means we will have 6 days off before we head back out West. Now I can go for that. Maybe I can find time to clean out the house and wax it. You know your a Red Neck if you wax your house.

We bought groceries for the first time in a long time yesterday. It has been weeks since we bought any groceries. Well I will have to say that we bought more non grocery items than grocery. You know how you get down to needing paper towels and dishwashing liquid...laundry detergent etc. While we have been traveling we don't have to use all that stuff as much so it is a while before we have to replace it. It was quite a shock to pay for all that but we will not have to go again for some time.

I guess that will be the hardest thing for us to get use to when we hang up our jobs is having to buy groceries to eat! Sherri told me that she does not do recipes she does menus. That will have to change one day and we will have to use the kitchen for more than just making coffee.

Well the sun is well into the sky and Sherri is getting ready for her hair appointment. I on the other hand will remain in my sleeping shorts until lunch at which time I will shower and head out to cut down a tree. One of our co-workers has a tree in his yard growing next to a fence and he needed help getting it cut down. I have not done anything like that in years...I have no trees in my yard.

That is about the sum total of this day and my plans are set. I will post again and let you know how the tree falling goes...

Somewhere in Time

Back at home and loving it

 

I ventured to open one eye and could see the morning light coming in through the skylight. I tried to see the clock on the wall across the room but my sight was a bit blurry. I was lying in my recliner where I had passed out last night. I must have been really tired...I don't remember falling asleep. We had put a movie in the player and that was the last thing I remembered.

It had been a long work week and we were both exhausted from the drive home. Sherri was up and when she walked into the living room she said the electric was off. I looked outside and sure nuff the lights on the standards were not burning. I went to the control panel and started our generator up. Viola let there be power and there was. I had to restart it a few times until it warmed up and then she started purring like a kitten.

Once the electric was back on Sherri went in the kitchen and put the coffee on. Sure am glad we have the generator for times like these. When we start traveling we will have it for boondocking when we can.

We plan on doing some wash today and getting our house cleaned up. I am hoping that the weather warms up outside so I can clean some things up. Our water is frozen again at the faucet so I wont be able to fill my tank until it defrost. We should have enough water to make it most of the day. We both will be so glad when this weather warms up and we can go back to doing some things outside.

We have what we need for this day. We have two movies to watch this afternoon and will stay snug inside till the sun warms things up ...

Somewhere in Time

Back on the road again

 

We were up at 6:30...getting ready for our work schedule Monday morning. We have to get use to getting up early and moving so when Monday rolls around we will be able to cope with the new time.

Sherri was up first and made the coffee. she said she made a special mixture this time with half decaf and half high octane. It was really good...woke you up slowly without the sudden kick.

We sat around most of the morning playing scrabble and reading journals. I call them journals when some refer to them as Blogs. Blogs to me are meaningless expressions of how one feels toward a certain subject...where a journal is a chronological record of ones every day life. In my case maybe a little bloggish but for the most part a diary of what happened this day in my life. This might be of some interest to my grandchildren one day when they...if they ever do...wonder what we were like and what we did.

I want all readers to enjoy reading about us on our way to traveling for fun and excitement. It wont be too long when Sherri is able to retire and we both can travel to places we want to go to and see things we have never seen before.

Until that time comes we will be traveling where we have to...to make money. We had given the workcamping some thought but then that ties you down to one place and does not allow you to travel and see places other than your own campground. We get to travel and see things and the company pays our way...yes we do have to work but it is not the kind of work that is stressful and we enjoy doing it just 4 days a week.

Well here I go again...Blah...Blah...Blah...LOL. The snow is all gone with maybe some to come again on Wednesday. I hope it stays dry. I would like to go home this weekend and get some things done to the RV. Maybe the sun will show up and we can sit outside...

Somewhere in Time  

 

What a laid back lazy day

 

This morning I woke to the sound of the furnace running. It was way too hot for it to be on but yet it was running. I got up and went to the living room to see what the thermostat was set on and found it at 72 degrees. I tuned it back down to 68 and went to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee.

Outside the snow still covered the ground. I cracked the door to see how cold it was outside and found it to be real cool. I guess that is why the furnace was going ninety to nothing. The temps should climb to the forties today and this mess will be melted away by 5 or six.

Sherri and I sat in the living room in front of the fireplace and drank our coffee. We are so proud of our home and the comfort it affords us even in times of below freezing weather. 

 

We spent the whole day in our cave and enjoyed doing nothing at all. Sherri never left her PJs and played scrabble until she won several games. I on the other hand got dressed and went out to see about defrosting the water faucet. We had been using the fresh water in our tank for the last two days but it was running real low and we were getting desperate. We really needed to bathe and without water we would have to go to the campground showers. Did I tell you it was cold outside?

I worked with for some time and then got to thinking maybe they had turned the water off? I called the office only to find out they had not so I asked them if someone could come and help me defrost my faucet.

It was only about 10 minutes and a kind gentleman came with a hair dryer and soon we had water. He told me if I turned the water off at the faucet and disconnected while we were on the road then I should turn the main off next to it which is located under ground in a box. Made sense to me and I shall do that from now on.

We have water so we can wash off some of this cabin dust we have collected sitting here for the last two days. I really wanted to clean out the Jeep and the truck but that will not happen this weekend. There would be no way to clean any thing with all the mud we have around here.

I would like to thank all my readers that have so graciously stuck with me through these not so exciting times. I read all your comments and love to hear what you are thinking. So many of you have journals that I read when I am able to and enjoy hearing about all you do. Many of you that get to travel to the places you want to go to take me along with you and I enjoy the ride as though I was there. I hope you all have good time followed by better ones...

Somewhere in Time  

 

At home in the snow

 

The last time we stayed here it snowed.

This morning there was no alarms going off. I woke up on my own and with a headache deluxe! The bedroom was hot and I knew right then why I had a headache. Sherri was already up so I climbed out to go down and fix some coffee. Got to the kitchen and saw that it was 6:30 am. Fixed a pot of coffee and then headed to take my shower.

Sherri was curled up in her recliner when I came back down to the living room. She was bundled up in her blanket and trying to get warm. The bedroom was hot this morning but the living room was quite cool. I turned the furnace up so that we could knock the chill off. I was surprised that the propane had not run out while we were on the road. I had filled the bottles before we left thinking that if I left the heat on 50 that it would suck them dry by the time we returned. Well as things would have it one bottle was half empty and the other remained full.This was a good sign because we will be leaving again and I wont have to worry about the house getting cold.

I ventured to the window to peer out and found that it had snowed overnight and we had about 3 inches on the ground. It was still snowing and did not appear that it was going to let up anytime soon.

With the snow and the temps below freezing our water faucet outside is frozen. We have no water and our fresh water tank is about empty. We will have to be very conservative until tomorrow when the temps will rise to 5o degrees.

Not much to eat in the fridge either. This means we have to get out and brave the frigid temps so we can resupply our pantry. I think lots of chili would be nice. Besides that I have to have some snacks for Supper Sunday. Trying to come up with a list of other items to buy but I can't get past the chili. Everything else seems blah when I think of a hot steaming bowl of chili with cheese on top and onions bell peppers....OOOO.

Well as things would have it we never made the trip to the store. We decided we had enough to eat today and that when it got warmer tomorrow we would venture out and get some groceries.

We did have a good day and it was nice not having to get out in the cold. We just stayed in our jams all day and played scrabble. Not a bad way to spend the day...

Somewhere in Time    

Through the Snow we go

 

These roads were solid ice and we never got over 35 mph

And then the ice got thicker and more of it.

It appears I am on the wrong side...but the other side was ice too

Sherri and I got to sleep in today...no work...we had to travel north to our next assignment and we did not want to chance the roads early in the morning. We slept in and went down around 8:30 to have coffee. The roads still looked bad but we were not planning on leaving until 12:00.

We met some of the other workers down in the breakfast room and visited for a while. Had our coffee and then returned to our rooms to watch TV and surf the net.

A little bit before noon we all gathered in the lobby to check out and line up out front in our convoy headed north. Of all ways to be going...North of all places. The weather north of here is worse. Oh well what must be must be.

The road sure enough got worse as we headed on and when all was said and done our 1 hour drive turned into a 2 hour drive. I use my 4 wheel drive and never had one problem the whole way. The roads were slick to say the least but we made it up there without any problems.

At least we had Denny's across the parking lot...can you tell it is cold

Tonight we are staying in for sure. We did walk across the parking lot to eat dinner at Denny's. The wind was unbelievable and with the temps at 18 it cut through you like a knife.

I am sure most of you out there had a much more memorable day but for us it was exciting. We have one more day and then we get to go home for a long weekend...

Somewhere in Time

Snow and Ice

 

 

This is before the snow

After the snow

Sherri woke me up several times last night. I have this cold and I can't breath real good so I do make a lot of noise sleeping. Not snoring...more along the lines of moaning. The muscle in my chest is still hurting and every time I roll over I wake up moaning. She is also not feeling real well. We have had this cold for two days now and I do believe that it is breaking up. Hopefully it will be all gone about the same time as the snow melts.

I got up this morning about 4:45 got my shower and dressed. I went down to the lobby got me some coffee and went outside to inspect the roadways. The store we have to work at today is just down the road from the hotel here. I could see the road out front and the traffic is moving real well. I am sure we will be able to make it to work but not as early as scheduled.

The sleet has been falling here for about two hours and now as I walk the parking lot the snow is starting to come down. They say we should have 4 to 6 inches before it stops this morning. We had planed on leaving for a store north of here when we finished but with the roads the way they are we may just stay put here until tomorrow.

This is the second snow fall this year and already I am tired of it. I can't wait to be in a warmer climate in the winter and a cooler place in the summer. I will say this we have traveled a lot just not where we want to.

Better get me some more coffee and check the roads again. We need to start getting ready to head out...

Somewhere in Time