Time to Change Oil Again

Saturday morning and I am up with the chickens. Why! Can't say just am and sitting here at the computer posting a new entry.
Not much going on  today but I am planning on washing the Jeep and getting the oil changed. I still have 2 more oil changes left on my pre-paid service card I bought some time back and I aim to collect one of them today.
The other thing on my agenda is to stop at Home Depot and pick up some concrete. I have to build some pads under the corner of my laundry house so I can level it. The door is sticking when I try to open it due to the corner settling. By lifting up the hinged corner of the door I will straighten the door and be able to shut and open it without it dragging at the bottom.
Well that will be my day today. Most of the time will be spent waiting on the Jeep's oil change. I would rather go during the week when everyone is at work but then the Jeep...is at work.
Better head on down the road. Catch you all later...

Somewhere in Time

Chasing Fruit Flies

Another morning has come up in the East and I...as usual really was not ready for it. I guess I will have to get up and participate in it whether I want to or not.
Stumbling into the kitchen is something I have mastered here in my retirement. Once upon a time I use to get up... shower... put on deodorant... after shave...jump into my clothes and head out into the world. Now I bounce down the hall and hope that no one has moved the kitchen while I was sleeping.
I did not remember to make the coffee before I went to bed so I had that daunting task before me. While I was getting everything together I noticed spots passing before me. I at first thought I was having those dark spots I have heard people get latter in life...you know when they get old.. I'm not OLD!...what is this...FRUIT FLIES!
Before I ever got the first cup of coffee I found the fly swat and began to frantically run about the MH swatting everything that moved. I swatted at what I thought was flying objects and then I got to where I was just swatting madly.
Dust particles did not have a chance to land on anything. Black pepper...on the counter...that missed the plate...was shown no mercy by the mad swatter! Nothing was safe anywhere near me.
Finally after long minutes of fierce fighting I believed I had the situation under control. I poured my coffee and sat down at the computer. There on the computer screen were all the fruit flies waiting... unscathed...ready to torment me again.
A thought came to mind on what I could do to enhance the battle plan. My oldest son had given me an electric flies swatter for Fathers day last year. I know what you are thinking...OL SPEEDY has really lost it this time. Not So. I went out to the shop where I had hung it on the wall and loaded some batteries in it....
Now let me warn you this is NOT A TOY! Believe me... this thing is like a cattle prod on steroids.

This is not a Toy

After loading the swatter up I headed back into the MH and started a search and destroy mission. I first started swatting the flies and found out you could not swat the small Fruit Flies you had to pass this Death Ray through the air and when you came into contact with the enemy a spark would let you know that you had hit your target. No guessing with this weapon...No...you know immediately that you have scored.

I spent about 45 minutes pacing up and down the MH in search of flies. Once I got the hang of it...I was slaughtering those little buggers by the hand fulls! 

When I thought I had killed them all I got another cup of coffee and sat down...once more at the computer...AHHH some of the flies had hidden once more on my screen thinking they were safe from the onslaught. 

Now I knew I could not hit the screen of the computer...and for some strange reason I think they knew that too...Oh well that is another story. I waved my hand across the screen and when they flew up..SAP! I got them too. 

I am so glad that Jason gave me this new...NOT A TOY...swatter. I will keep it loaded and when we are attacked again I will pull it out of storage and will Reek Havoc on the insect population...

Somewhere in Time  

Spending time on the computer

Got up this morning and peered at the clock through the slits in my eye lids. It was 5:00 am and here I was up and wondering around the MH. I went to the kitchen and luckily I had programmed the coffee pot to come on at 5:00 so I just had a short wait on the first cup.
Poured my cup and sat down at he computer. I noticed that it had gone to sleep and when it does that I have a heck of a time getting it to wake up again. Seems my operating system is screwed up and the computer can't find it early in the morning. I have to Ctl Alt Delete several time and hit F11 to reboot the whatsynotsy inside and finally it wakes up and starts Cybernating. I am really not very good at all the Techie stuff on the computers I just know how to drive one.
I was forced into the computer age while still working for the publishing co I had worked for for 15 years without computers. When pictures went from film to digital I had to catch up with the times. While attending college I was versed in the Linotype machines for setting type and negative film for halftone pictures. How archaic is that? Believe it or not I fell right in with the computers and digital reproduction faster than I ever thought I would. Before long I was developing systems on the computer to assist my team in making corrections for the press room faster than we had ever done it before! Who would ever thunk it.
Now here I sit all alone in front of my computer writing dribble that might interest my grand kids years from now or maybe give them something to toss in the can. Who knows. I do know this I wish that my ancestors had left a diary for me to read about their lives as I have left. Most of it is meaningless now but someday maybe 50 years or so down the road someone can read about me and what I did.
OK nuff said about that. I have many chores to do today. It is Wednesday and the laundry is stacking up again. How can I use so many clothes and not ever go anywhere? At least it will keep me busy for the first half of the day and then I can find something else to do...

Somewhere in Time

Jessica has a Birthday

Our Birthday Girl

It was Saturday morning and Sherri was up early getting ready for the birthday party for Jessica. She will be 18 years old and as the old saying goes..."It just seems like yesterday".
We sat drinking our coffee and discussing what all we had to get done before the gang showed up for the festivities. Sherri was fixing a taco salad with all the trimmings. Cup cakes in the convection oven and Bluebell ice cream from Brookshire's ...on sale by the way...2 for $9.00.

18 years sure did pass fast!

Brothers and Sisters are having fun too 

Ice Cream and Cake for all 

The kids were not suppose to be here until 12:00 noon but about 11:30 they showed up and Sherri hadn't even had time to take her shower. No one would know so we just started early. And so we did. We had so much fun and good eats to go along with it.

Sherri is real proud of her granddaughter

Proud parents look on 

Everyone stayed until around 4:30. We cleaned up the mess and settled in to visit with Rodney and Becky who had come down to help us finish off the leftover taco salad. We all sat around until 10:00 and then said our good-byes.
I have to get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow I have to mow the yard and do some outside chores. One thing about having a lake lot...you have to do a lot of work to keep it up.
Better get off here so I can rest up.

See U

Somewhere in Time

Back at the Lake

Tuesday 17th

We arrived at the Lake about 2:00 and Becky came down and helped me back into the barn. I have done it by myself but I always feel  better if I have a set of eyes outside to watch what I am doing.

Before I knew it I was in place and ready to drop the jacks and put the slides out. 

Having all that done it was time to set up the inside and get the vacuum out. We have a lot of sand inside due to everyone coming in and out all week. I got all I could of that up and then did the dash of the MH which had gathered dust too. 

That was all I could get done this day. I will have to finish up the rest tomorrow. I have to eat me a bite and get ready for bed.

Wednesday 18th

The next morning I got up and made my coffee. Not having Sherri here to talk with me I got right to work on what laundry I had left. While that was going on I pulled the mower out and mowed half the yard...which after almost a month of neglect had grown. Not easy pushing that mower through the high weeds but it had to be done. I got about half that done and it was time for lunch. 

More laundry and more cleaning was all that went on this day. Well I will have to say I took a nap which was well deserved. 

I still have a little laundry left and the yard has to be finished. 

Thursday 19th

Today Sherri comes home. I thought about that as I finished off my second cup of coffee. I was sitting at the computer posting and reading journals. I guess I better get busy and  get the rest of my chores done. I don't want her to think I just sat around all day. WOW I still have a lot to do and not much time to do it in. Better get this closed out and get to work. 

Enjoyed talking to all of you. Hope you all are enjoying your day and will be able to return...

Somewhere in Time 

Family Reunion at Grand Bayou

Left Marksville and headed North on I-49

Not a lot of things to see along the way 

April 12th

I arrived at Grand Bayou on the 13th of April about 12:30. The trip from Marksville to here was smooth and uneventful. I was a little worried about the exit I was suppose to take to get over to here but as soon as I saw it I remembered how to go.
I found the RV park without too much trouble and checked in at the main gate. They had my reservations all ready and waiting on me so it took no time at all to get that process taken care of.

Notice the blocks I had to drive up on to keep the wheels grounded

I pulled on down to our site and pulled in. Our site has always been the worst of all the sites. We are on a incline that puts the front of the motor home going down hill and listing to the right. This in turn requires the jacks to fully extend on the passengers side lifting the right front tire off of the ground. This is unacceptable. In order for me to keep this from happening I have to drive the front end up on pads to reach some resemblance of level before the jacks go down. Not having enough blocks this time I decided not to lower the jacks. Had I done so the front wheels would have still come up off the ground and Sherri would not buy it.

Got the carpet out and the chairs...Ready for some serious relaxing 

OK so that done I hooked up the electric and water and set up my patio for later visitation from soon to arrive family members. And sure nuff soon the family started pouring in one after another.

We had guest that afternoon when Sherri came home

We all went over the past years events and stories were non stop into the night when we all had to retire to our own spaces.
Sherri did arrive around 8:00. She had to come from Dallas where she had been working. It was a long drive and she was really tired. But tired or not she did join in the visitation.

April 13th

Friday morning we got up early. We are so use to getting up around 5:30 or 6:00 every morning and having our coffee. This of course is long before most of the other family members get out of bed. We sat for some time out on the patio just talking to each other. Soon Becky our SIL came over to join us and we visited with her. She and her Husband Rodney…Sherri’s brother…will be traveling with us some. We talked about our trips for next year and where they might take us.

About 10;00 am we all decided to drive into town and get some breakfast. We all met at the local restaurant there in town and enjoyed some real good food.

We left and went back to the camp ground where we all visited some more. Becky and Rodney had brought their two grandsons with them. They were a lot of company for Kris and had a lot of fun riding scooters and playing with their RC cars. I took the boys down to the lake for some fishing. They only caught one fish that was too small to keep. They had a lot of fun. I could only advise them on what to do…being I did not have a fishing license and did not want to get fined.

That evening we had a small fire and enjoyed telling stories as we all sat in a circle.

April 14th

Saturday morning came and once again we headed out to the patio to drink our coffee. We had a few family members drop by to visit but for the most part it was just us…Rodney and Becky. They had brought their grand kids with them and they teamed up with Kris to have fun playing.
We took our pilgrimage down to the cemetery to put our flowers on the graves of our closest family members. We visited with some of the other family members that had just arrived at the reunion and then we took a trip by Sherri's old home place. Needless to say it has run down somewhat.

The rest of the day was spent getting things ready for the family pot luck. I BBQ’d sausage out on the grill and Sherri made a banana pudding. I will have to say that I outdid myself on the BBQ and Sherri’s pudding was gone early on.
We had a great time visiting with all the family. That night we had a fire in the fire ring and told stories about the good ol days as we remembered them. We are also worried that we might be the last generation that holds these reunions due to the lack of attendance from the younger ones??

I was married into this family but I have always loved coming to this reunion. My family never was very close and never had any reunions. To this day I am not really sure where they are all located. Having this reunion is very important to me and I would really like to see my children get more involved with the family.

April 15th

Sunday morning we got our coffee and gathered out on the patio once again. The weather has been out of this world. We could not have asked for better temps. The wind has blown here just enough to keep the temps down and cool us off in the shade of the giant pines all around us.
We have great sites here with plenty of room to spread out and not be on top of our neighbor. Not too much traffic down our road…seeing as how we rented all the camp sites on this road.
Several family members wandered up as we sat and talked about Rving and where we had all been and where we were all going. It was so nice to hear about new places and things to see. Sure makes you long for the day that you can do this all the time. I can’t understand people that retire and sit in one place the rest of their lives.
We planned on having taco salad for lunch today. Sherri had to excuse herself and go in to start some of the food. By this time it was almost 12:00 noon. After being inside for some time she stuck her head back out and said that she had to go to town to get a few things. Becky hollered back that she too needed to go so they headed out to town.
By the time they got back and finished fixing the salad it was time for Sherri to head to Shreveport. She was starting her week of work there. She packed up some of the salad for herself…packed her things in the Jeep and off she went.
We all sat down after she had left and had our salad without her. I missed her not being there but I understand. Next year at this time we will not have to go anywhere or doing anything but stay here and enjoy the time we all have together.
We built a fire and all sat around it telling stories of all our loved ones that had passed on before us. We are all knowing that we will be the next generation to start passing on…but until that time we make more memories together here.

April 16th

Monday morning came and I was all alone drinking my coffee. Sure miss my partner. I sat on the patio for a while and then came in and sat at the computer. I have no Internet connection here but I did start my journal and went over some of the pictures I had taken while here. I have been trying to keep them all in order by trips that we have taken and so far it has worked real well.
Once again I returned to the patio and soon Becky came out to sit with me. She was followed by Kevin her youngest grandson and then Rodney appeared around the corner of the MH. We all talked about our first trip that we will take at the beginning of next year. Not sure where we will end up but we have good idea which direction we will be headed in. The west coast is our target so west will be the direction. Where we will stop and how long we will be gone…who knows. No exact plans will be made until the day we leave. Not really going to have a time frame we work around so we will just wing it.
We know that even all that might change several times before we actually head out on the highway but then with no certain thing in mind we wont be disappointed if it does not come out that way.
The day got by us before we knew it. Becky took me to town to buy some bread and milk. We returned home and fixed hamburgers and hot dogs. I cooked on the grill and Becky put together all the trimmings. We had a nice meal and then moved down to our place to sit around the campfire some more. We sat and visited until 10:00 pm. Every picked up and returned to their Rvs for the night. Tomorrow we all pack up and leave.

Crossing the Red River 

We had a car flip coming towards us on the East bound side

We safely made it into Texas 

 I was headed to Shreveport but have since changed my mind. I will follow Becky and Rodney and head back to the lake to finish out the week. I guess I will stay there until we come up with another adventure…

Somewhere in Time

Kansas On My Mind

Just wanted to show off some of the grand kids. Our Kansas family is growing so fast and we still have not been able to swing a trip that direction. We are planning one as soon as Sherri sheds the chains of this job she has.
We are hoping that will still remember us. I know they know who we are but really remember us. I guess that will come in time. I know many of you do not live close to all your grand kids so you know what I am saying.
Well boys this is so you will know that we love you and miss you.

See you...

Somewhere in Time

I Need To Get Out More...

I slid out of bed this morning thinking about the rant I posted yesterday. I know there is no one out there that really cares about my problems...why do I write about them. Sorry I took up your time telling you about our water company out at the lake.
I will have to say I did call them back and gave them a piece of...what little mind I have left.
Nuff said about that. Today is a brand new day and I wont let anything stand in my way of enjoying it. I took my coffee and sat outside in the cool morning air. The sun was just about to peak over the tree line at the back of the MH. I just sat in my chair watching folks wander about the park. Most everyone here now are full timers taking advantage of the Passport America rates. This is such a good deal as far as RV parks go...with the $5.00 up charge you get all the amenities of the hotel next door. That is for two people in the RV park...extra people in your party have to pay more. They have indoor pool for year round comfort. The exercise room and many more extras. Well worth the stay here and of course you have the Casino buffet and other restaurants. Don't let me forget the 18 hole golf coarse located across the street from the RV park. I can't help but love this place!
Another Casino that I love is just outside of Durango Colorado. Sky Ute Casino Resort. We stayed there year before last with Dreamer Friends and had a good time. The park is so nice and the casino is great. Good buffet and much more. We will return there for sure.

This is Sky Ute RV park with all the hook-ups.

The cost of staying at casinos is...if you research the right ones is much less that many of the resorts out there. In most cases with your RV site you get much of the amenities that the hotels offer. This makes it worth looking around when you are traveling and finding some of these bargains.
We will still be doing the month stays most of the time so we can reap the cheaper prices. With the rising cost of fuel now days we wont be hopping around as much as we had first planned. Then I think about staying in one place that offers things to do in the surrounding area makes more sense than driving all over and missing so much that there is to see.
I have noticed more and more of our fellow RVers out there staying in one place more and scoping out the sights in one area. I guess we will be seeing more of this as fuel prices keep going up.
I will say this our first trip out...depending on what time of year it is...will be a 4 month long trip up the west coast to see many of the states there. We both know that this will be expensive but we have always wanted to see this side of the country and never have ventured that way. Hang the expense here...we will just come back and stay at our lake lot for...however long it takes to put that money back in the travel budget.
For now I am here in Marksville. Laundry is done and all I have to do is clean the MH real good and pack away some things to get ready for tomorrows trip north. I think it is about a 2 hour drive...which I will have to check out on Google Earth.
Must get busy much to do...

Somewhere in Time

What Is The Deal With Computers?

You could actually speak with a person on this device...Remember 

Well this morning started off a little better than yesterday. I know where I am. I woke up and headed to the kitchen to see if the settings on the coffee maker where made correctly. Yes! I did it right and there is coffee for me. I poured a cup and sat down at the old computer and relaxed while I browsed through all the journals...emails...and Facebook entries. Life is good. 

One thing I have to do this morning is pay the water bill at the lake. I have set it up to pay on line because we are away so much and this way I don't have to mail a check or call I just go on line type in my account number...and then....type in the password they gave me...and...nothing! What tha...OK let us try this one more time...I must have done something wrong...the water company couldn't have messed up?? Right.

Once more I typed in the account number...one number at a time and then went back and checked every number twice to be sure that was correct. Then I put in the password...as I said this is the one they gave me...and then...nothing.

If I could just reach across the Internet maybe I could slap someone one on the other end and wake them up. I give in I will call them. Called the number got the "Recording" If you don't speak the native language of this country dial 1 for Spanish 2 for Muslim 3 for Swahili 4 for Gibberish and so on..If you need customer service dial 5...OK this is my number! Dialed 5....waited...ringing....ringing...ringing...we are sorry no one is answering this line...dial 0 for assistance. Dialing 0...ringing...ringing...ringing...I'm sorry no one is answering this line. I'm waiting for someone to come on and tell me that I am wasting my time we are going to dodge you long enough to make your payment late and get that extra $10.00 out of you HE HE..And what really gets me they have a recording that tells me that no one is answering this call....Like I didn't know that!! Why don't they say "No one is going to answer this call...cause we don't want to". 

Gee OK one more time maybe they don't hear the phone ringing...maybe they were out for an Easter Party and  ate too much chocolate. Dialed one more time once again had to go through all the language numbers and then dialed 5....ring and someone picked up...Great day...Hello. I told the lady what my problem was and she said well we will give you another password but you will have to wait 2 hours before you can use it. OH GEE like I have time to wait around...If I worked of the Water company maybe I would have time to wait. OK what can I do... I wait

Two hours later and I am back on the computer typing in the web site and entering my account number...made sure that was correct and then typed in the new password. OMG it came up....I am in I am in. OK now calm down...I have to put in my card number and all the other information they ask for. That being done all that is left to do is submit this puppy and I am home free. 

NOTHING then it come up that there has been an error number $%&#@ who gives a big ______ what am I going to do with an error number? I submitted my card number and my life history and I made an error so they are not going to process my payment which by this time is almost late!! OK I'll just call them and give them my card number over the phone...OH NO IT IS AFTER 3:3O and all those rocket scientist go home at 3:30...If I could just...no I wont say it because I would  be picked up as a terrorist when those words came across the Internet. 

Looks like tomorrow I call them back and give them my card number...I pray that they answer the phone...

Somewhere in Time    

  

.  

Got Some Things Done....But...

What day is this? I wake up some mornings and I am just not sure where I am. Do you ever do that? You know when you move a lot and you wake up and you have lost track of your last move and you have to look outside to find out where you are.
OK your saying that Speedy has lost his mind...well you could have something there. I have been getting forgetful here lately. I have been organizing my bays and for some reason I forget where I put everything. I am glad that they are organized but I need a map to find everything. Maybe I should not be telling you this. The kids may come and get the keys.
Well I made it to the kitchen and poured me a cup of coffee. I do remember where the coffee pot is located. Now the other day I had the coffee set to go off at 6:00 am and when I got up...no coffee. What tha...
OK after investigating what had happened I noticed that the time for it to go off was correct but the time on the clock was incorrect.  Man I need a keeper.
This morning, however, the timer was correct and I had coffee and was I glad. I poured me a cup and sat down at the computer to catch up on some journals. I added a couple of new ones to the list. I took some off that don't post but once every month...what is with that. I need input here folks. I know not everyone has the time to post. So many of you stay real busy and that does not leave time for typing. Now what does that say for me. I guess you have figured out that I have too much time on my hands. Oh well maybe someday one of the kids...grand kids...or maybe a great great grand kid will appreciate all of this.
I forgot one thing time will end this December. I guess they all better get to reading if they want to know anything about me. Now wouldn't that be my luck. Sherri is going to retire in December and the world ends before she gets that first retirement check! What kind of deal is that...The kind we have been dealt most of our lives.
Well I am not going to worry about it. If the world meets it's end I don't think that we will be thinking about a retirement check. I would like to see some more of it before it blows into a million pieces. This is another good reason for you out there to post those pictures and journals so I can see as much as possible before December.

I'm sorry but this RC Truck is too much fun!

Fridge filled and stored 

Organized drawers I picked up at Wally World

Well just a note to tell you that I did get a little done to the bays...even if I did take time out to play with Kris's RC truck.
I better get busy at this rate I wont have all of them done before the end of the world...

Somewhere in Time

Monday Morning

This morning I got up not just once but twice. Yes the first time was for practice and the second time was the real thing. The first time was at 4:00 am which there was no way I was getting up that early and the second time was at 6:00...which by the way is my regular time. At 6:00 I feel like I have time to ease into the day and not have it slammed up against my head. Kind of like easing down into cold water...you get the idea.
Today I have a plan to do some rearranging in the bays. After being out on the road for some time I see some things that are too hard to get to and some things that are in the way. As you get into this life style you see more of what you use all the time and what you don't use as often. The things you use most often need to come to the front and the others need to be worked to the back or worked out of the RV completely.
The is not a written in stone list of things that fall into these categories. This is a list you have to come up with on your everyday use. For instance...I use the grill often. Now with the gas grill I use the small bottles of gas. I have certain BBQ utensils that I use all the time. The bottle gas goes in the compartment with the on board propane gas tank. All the cooking utensils go with the outdoor picnic supplies. This is how I find out if what I have out front is what I use and I make sure that I have a place for that.
Like I said you have to make this decision on your lifestyle. No one can tell you what you use the most or in what order you use it. This is an ongoing thing for me. I am constantly fine tuning my bay areas for the  best possible layout that suits my needs.
Sherri does the same thing inside. In her case the kitchen is laid out to her specs. Now some of the pretty things get changed out when she becomes tired of them but for the most part her staple items stay the same. I think women are more proficient at arranging things...or so Sherri has led me to believe. She has made suggestions on how to better organize my bay areas which have turned out to work well. Men sometimes it pays to listen to the little lady.
OK that being said I will do a little more fine tuning today outside while the temps are bearable. Where I am located in the park allows me to get some shade in the morning on the drivers side. I don't have much concrete on that side so I am a little cramped on getting into the bays. The grass areas are wet from the dew and by the time I have crawled around I am a little wet to say the least. On the passengers side, however, I have plenty of patio and the afternoon sun is blocked by the coach and the awning. I guess I will have to fight some of the heat today on the other side...seeing as how that is the side I have not conquered yet.
That will be the extent of my day today. I hope to spend the latter part of the day just sitting on the porch watching the other RVers load up and leave. I think there will be another exodus today...

Somewhere in Time






 

Having fun at the Casino

Plenty of room on the patio here

We don't have too many vises...being that we will  be on a fixed income here shortly we can't afford vises. One thing we like to do is play the games at the casinos. Sherri nor I are players...we just like the games. I like many of the graphics and the bonus rounds are fun to play. Sometimes we make money and sometimes we lose money but it all boils down to paying $$ to have fun.
Some people spend more eating out than the two of us spend in the casinos. We had a great time and Sherri actually broke even after playing. I on the other hand lost $10.00 after 4 hours of playing. Not bad for 4 hours of entertainment. I think a movie cost more than that.
The morning was spent on the computers reading and looking up hotels for Sherri to stay at. She leaves Sunday afternoon and wont return until Thursday evening. We will be in Grand Bayou Thursday for the Thomas family reunion. Once a year in April Sherri's family has a reunion in Louisiana. We always have fun visiting with all the family and catching up on all that has happened over the year.
We have been meeting at Grand Bayou for the last 3 years. Before that we met at the old home place outside of Coushatta Louisiana. With so many folks attending we had a hard time with bathroom facilities. At the resort we have plenty of room for everyone and they have a bath house real close. There is a lake there and plenty of hiking trails so everyone should have plenty to do.
Today we have to go grocery shopping and pick up some items we need for the stay at Grand Bayou. Until then I need to get ready for this day...

Somewhere in Time 

Marksville Louisiana

The RV Park is packed for Easter 

Sherri arrived Thursday afternoon and was very pleased with my selection of sites and was proud that I was able to navigate without her and without the GPS. I was a little giddy myself about my accomplishment. Guys you know after so many years of married life and being directed on every move you make...when you make moves on your own you are a little gun shy on what you might do wrong.
This time I came out real good so maybe I will be allowed to do more on my own?
We spent the afternoon sitting outside and enjoying the beautiful weather. We had a cool breeze blowing out of the south. Plenty of sunshine with very few clouds.
Sherri sat with her phone playing scrabble with a friend of hers somewhere in Texas. I just sat there watching all the RVers running up and down the street in their golf carts. What is it with the golf cart craze? What happen to bicycles and just plain walking around visiting with folks. People were stacked on the these golf carts like cord wood and everyone of them had music playing loud. I am not sure what kind of fun that is but then I am from the old school.
The sun slowly went down and we retired to the MH where we took showers and settled in for a little TV. Before I knew it I woke up and looked over to see Sherri fast asleep. Well this was a sign that it was time to call it a night.
I turned out the lights and left Sherri to sleep on the sofa. I am sure she will get up and come to bed...

Somewhere in Time

Heading North

Today is a move day...which most of you out there know what that is. Sherri had to go to work this morning but not until we had our morning coffee together. We discussed the days plan and made sure we had everything  together before she left out.
Sherri was going on to work and I would ready the RV...by myself...and take it to Marksville... by myself. There I was to get a site...by myself. Get parked...by myself...set up...by myself. Do you see a pattern here?
Yes...BY MYSELF. I had no instructions from the guru of RVing. I had to find my way to Marksville...No GPS...pick out a spot...back in...and set up everything...SOLO. This has never been done and much like the student pilot I was a little nervous.
Well as things would have it all went well and the SOLO driver did OK. I got everything stowed and left out about 10:00 am. There was not much traffic and when I got to the exit there were signs to the Casino so I never did  need the GPS.
I traveled north up I-49 to the Bunkie exit. Going through Bunkie I noticed the streets were covered with leaves that appeared to be shredded. Come to find out that they had a tornado come through there and a hail storm to top all hail storms. The leaves were just beat off the trees and the many houses that had vinyl siding on them had giant gashes. I had never seen such a site in all my years. I can imagine what it must have been like to be inside watching the hail come down.
I did make it into Marksville and being a day early I did not know it I would be able to get a spot. They were very busy when I arrived. The front parking lot was full. Lucky for me as I was pulling in a 5th wheel was pulling out so I had a place to park.
No problem on getting a spot and now I am fixed for the week here. I made it around to the site and soon I was where I though Sherri would want me to be...you see the importance in that.
Jacks down and slides out I am ready for her arrival...

Somewhere in Time

What a night

Rain rain rain…We had plenty last night.
WOW is all I can say about last night. It was about 1:00 am when I woke up with rain coming down and wind blowing. Lightning was non stop and the thunder was real close behind the flashes…which you know means that it was hitting the ground close by. Then it started to hail! What next??…I asked myself when I rolled over and opened the shades in the bedroom. Every time there was a flash of lightning I could see the hail as it hit the ground …and the lightning being as close together as it was I had no trouble seeing every thing happening.
I got up and went to the living room to turn on the TV and found that it had lost the satellite feed so that was no help. I went to the weather alert on the dash and turned it on and got the update on the weather. There was not alerts but there was a report of a thunderstorm with possible high winds and hail…which I already knew about. It was good not hearing about any tornado warnings.
Sherri woke up shortly after I got up and we both decided to head back to bed. I finally made it back to sleep around 3:00 am. The rain did not let up at all but the hail did play out. The wind was sporadic but our awnings did flap one time which I was happy about. That is one thing that will keep you awake even if you don’t have a thunderstorm to contend with. The wind can play havoc on those awnings and sleeping is not possible.
We both woke up around 6:00 am and had our coffee. Not much sleep for either of us and Sherri has to go to work today. This will make for a long day at work for her not having got much rest. As the morning sun came up over the tree line in front of us I could see that we had a significant amount of rain. The road was puddled and the ponds behind the MH were up quiet a bit. We are looking for more rain today so it appears I will be spending a lot of time inside looking out. I had wanted to walk around the ponds today but that wont be possible with it still lightning and the rain is still coming down. 
 I noticed across the street from me was a gentleman trying to put his awning back together. He must have left it out last night and the wind did it in. I guess I better get dressed and see if I can give him a hand.
 I went over and helped him get it back together. Lucky for him it only slid out of the rails.

Other than that there is not much to report here now. All I can do is hope that I get a signal from the local Free WIFI so I can visit the Internet. If not I still have my Satellite TV. So I am ready for what ever this day has in store for me…



Somewhere in Time   

Watching the tornadoes in Dallas area

It was just a little after 5:00 am when I rolled out of bed. Sherri was already up and getting reading to go to work. I went to the kitchen and flipped the switch on the coffee maker and then sat down to wait. Sherri joined me and we poured us a cup of coffee and enjoyed each others company while sipping our morning nectar.

We usually have about 45 minutes together before she has to head out. We always try to stay as close to the store she is working at as we can. This allows her to leave later and still make it to work in time. Just being able to carry your house with you and getting to go home everyday after work is worth the extra she has to pay. Dragging me along with her does cost more than if she went and stayed at a hotel.

Time for her to leave did roll around and off she went. I turned to the computer and sat down to type out my post for the day. What a day it was. The sky was clear and the temps were suppose to reach the upper 70’s. The park is about half full and from what the lady told me at the office it will be full this weekend. Not sure where all the folks come from that fill the park up on the weekends but my guess would be Lafayette. I did notice some MH here from NY and some from Missouri. I guess a lot of folks returning from a winter on the coast come through here on their way home.

I stayed on the computer most of the day. I found out that I could get a signal from the free wifi at the office and I read some of my emails. The signal would come and  go with the wind but it was nice having a link to the outside world. One thing about traveling if you don’t have your WIFI you sure lose contact with everyone. There is so much information on the Internet that you can tap into. Sometimes I come up with a questions that I need an answer to and I can go to the computer and get it without too much time. What a wonderful invention Al Gore came up with….RIGHT?…

Around noon I turned on the TV and went to the Weather Channel to see what was in store for this part of the country. The first thing I saw was a tornado in Dallas area. Arlington…Lancaster…Mesquite and some other cities were all in the path of this tornado. There were trailers flying through the air like they were made of paper. Not RV trailers these were empty freight trailers and they were flying everywhere! Now all these flying trailers had to come  down sometime and when they did more damage was made. Tornadoes in the open country are  bad enough but in the city as this one was…well you are going to have a lot of damage and possibly injuries.

I am not sure if we had any damaging winds out at the lake. They never report on that part of the country unless there is a tornado and then it is just mentioned not really reported. I pray that I have no damage there. You know a guy can’t get insurance on property unless he has a home on it. Now that never has made since to me. Seems like if you pay a premium you could get anything insured.

OK today is going to be mostly spent here inside on the computer as long as I have a signal. Maybe I can catch up on my emails and find out what is going on…

 

Somewhere in Time   

Made it to Poche’s

Sunday
Sherri and I packed up the motorhome and pulled out of the barn about 12:00 noon. When you are at your home base for more than one week you accumulate a lot of S T U F F. You know you find something in the house that you forgot you had and you bring it into the motorhome and all of a sudden you have a ton of things that you really don’t need when you are traveling.
Well it took us some time to pull out all those extras and put them away in the house. Then we had to vacuum up all the grit and grime we had deposited on the floor. I did the vacuuming…with Sherri’s instructions…and she did the mopping. We had the MH looking real good inside before we pulled out.
From the lake we headed to the State Park down the street. It is real nice having a State Park 2 miles from us. We camp there some when we are returning from a road trip and then we stay there some before we are leaving. We use the dump there which cost so usually we incorporate a stay to make it worth our while. Today we just used the dump and gave the old black tank a real good cleansing. We had gone 3 weeks on the black tank this time and I was surprised that we could go that long! I think about things like that when we are planning on staying at a park that has no sewer. I have the gray boy for the gray water but the black is something you have to handle at the dump site. So 3 weeks is not bad…and too we had Kris’ birthday party and all those folks over for one weekend.
OK nuff said about our black tank…HE HE. I know you don’t want to hear about that. We got er done and moved out of the State Park about 1:00. Now we have a 5 hour drive ahead of us so we were looking to arrive at the RV park around 6:00. As  things would have it we stopped and refueled at the Flying J in Greenwood  and then ate a bite of lunch…which cost us about an hour so our arrival time was 7:00. Sherri called the park to see what time the office closed and luckily they did not close until 8:00.
We pulled in at 7:00 and the lady met us at the office. She was in a hurry to get us a site and parked so she could close the office and go home. I really don’t blame her…so we found us a site we liked and got settled in.

We fixed some BBQ for our dinner and then settled back to watch some TV. We wanted to watch the Country Music Awards but we don’t get the East or West coast feeds so we tried the local stations…which we found out we don’t get those either. We are in the boonies I guess. We watched what we get on satellite and were happy to get that.
Soon it was bed time and we turned in to get a good night sleep. Tomorrow will come soon enough…
Somewhere in Time

Thunderstorms sweep across the park

Monday
The prison break alarm went off this morning and sent me grabbing the sheet and blanket to pull them over my head. I am not too crazy about that choice of alarms but it does get you up and going when it goes off. Sherri and I both made it down to the living room and poured us a cup of coffee. We sat and looked out the windows toward the pond at the back of the MH but it was still dark outside. Not much to see but we knew that we had a great view. We had stayed here last year after reading Fred and Jo Wishnie’s post about this park. They were on their way somewhere and pulled in here for a while.

The park is built around ponds that at one time might have been used for raising catfish? Not sure what but there are 4 ponds of good size with the camp ground backing up to 2 of the ponds. We chose site number 8 which is located on the main road into the campground. They have WIFI here but it is off of a DSL line located at the office so you have to be close to the office to get a signal. We were not close enough so I will have to walk down to the screened in pavilion to upload this post to the Internet.
After Sherri left for work I got the ladder out of the bay and set it up at the front of the MH. I took the table out and set the grill up on it. One thing about these sites they don’t have tables here.
I had bought some new glass cleaner some time back and wanted to give it a try on the front windshield. It is made by Rain-X. I got a cloth first and while the glass was wet from the morning dew I cleaned off all the bugs. Then I applied the cleaner on all the glass surface…being careful not to get it on the painted areas. When all was finished it looked real good.
I put up my ladder and returned inside for a while to rest. Then I decided to take me a stroll around the ponds to see what there was to see. I first walked down to the office end and checked out the pavilion to see how it was set up. Then I turned and headed out the other direction. Just past the MH not too far I noticed that the wind was picking up. I looked back over my shoulder and I could see a black cloud looming on the horizon. That did not look too good. I thought I had better go inside and check out the weather channel. Sure nuff we were under a thunderstorm warning. The storm was coming up from the Gulf and it looked like it was going to be a bad one. Well that is my luck…sitting out here with no where to hide and a storm is on the way.
The storm did come and with it was a lot of rain and wind. No hail…thank heavens. It lasted for about 2 hours with good wind gust that blew my grill off the table and sent me outside to chase it down. I stowed it back in the bay and got the table folded up and safely put away. Back inside I had to dry off and then spent the rest of the time watching the weather channel.
About 3:00 it started to calm but the sun never did show up. I was glad to have the things cleaned up outside before it started raining and blowing. I left the grill in the bay and when Sherri called about dinner I told her that it would be OK to go to Prajean’s to eat. I really did not want to pull all that out again.

Sherri came and picked me up and we drove back toward the Interstate to Prajean’s. We ordered the chicken and sausage gumbo…which by the way was exhalant as usual. Our bill came to much more than we wanted but then this will be the only time we eat out. We like to save our money for fun things rather than eating out. I have noticed that so many of the people I follow on their journals eat out so much! My budget is not set up for that. We spend more time eating at home and spending our extra money on seeing the sites.
Well back to the MH we headed. It had been a good day and it was time to get comfortable. We watched a little TV and then I noticed Sherri had fallen asleep on the sofa. She had a hard day so I sent her to bed and I followed not too far behind…
Somewhere in Time

On the road again

Today is a move day and we are headed to Louisiana. It has been some time since our last visit to the southern half of that state and we both look forward to seeing some of the places we have visited in the past.
Our destination is Poche's RV park. This is a Passport America park and we enjoyed our last stay there. They have fishing ponds that you back your RV down to and you can fish without a license there. I just enjoy sitting outside and looking at the water while reading a good book and relaxing in my recliner.
Better get cracking this am...I have a lot to get ready before we head out on the highway...

Somewhere in Time