Wednesday Fishing Day

Up again this morning and off to Lafayette to Sherri’s work. We made it in good time and she had time to spare…actually long enough to introduce me to some of her co-workers. I met Gary today and yesterday I met Rick and Becky, Brenda, Sylvia.Laura,Vickie and I am not sure who is left…but I am sure I will meet them soon.

This is Sherri last day until next Tuesday. Not bad…work three and off four. Some of you have asked…doesn’t  this cramp your travel and exploring dream…not really we are just going to do it in the four states that Sherri works in for now and then we will branch out from there when she retires. So until then we are making this fun….and so far we are doing a good job of it.

Tonight it is the Texas Road House. We are meeting some of our friends  there for dinner and drinks.

Did not realize that next door to the RV park here they have horses. I just noticed that while posting this entry. Maybe it is a riding stable?? I will have to check it out later.

 

Now realize these are taken from the dinning room table through the glass…. so we are getting a bit of reflection.

It was getting on in time to pick Sherri up so I took off to the store to see her progress. We were planning on going out to eat and I figured I could go on up there and wonder around the store and see what they had. Upon arriving I spotted Sherri and Brenda outside taking their break…what a site. Looks like they are warehouse workers standing next to the fork lift…LOL

They are doing a complete remodel on this store and the crew has been real busy all week long. They will be back next week to finish up. They have this sign out front letting the customers know what is going on.

Break time was just about over so before Sherri and Sylvia went back to work I caught them joking around. Sherri works with a great bunch of folks and they have fun working together.

Well we did go to the road house but I forgot to take any pictures. The ride over there was something else. I programmed the GPS to take us there but then we decided that was not the correct one so we followed some of the others directions and found out that the GPS was in fact correct.

We did make it and we had a wonderful meal and had fun visiting with everyone. Sherri and I ordered the steak special and it was cooked just right…I knew being “Texas” it had to be good. While we were there we had a thunder storm come through and it was a dilly. Lightning and thunder all around us but not one drop of rain. Well it did rain down the road from there on the way back to the RV park. We get a lot of rain here from the coast.

Well that about wraps up Wednesday. Not much to report. We are headed out tomorrow to explore some things and then put out our new patio cover…see you….

Somewhere in Time

Tuesday At Poche’s

Tuesday morning the alarm went off way too early. Sherri once again had to get up and go the the work place and I….being the loving husband I am would take her there. It seems so strange after all these years that Sherri is the one working and I am taking care of the home front.

We made it to the store in time for her to ease into the job. I always liked to ease into my job instead of having to jump in with both feet and arms flailing. It just made my day so much better.

OK so I headed home to clean. I know you are wondering what in the world I am cleaning. Well our home sat in the same RV park for so long and it has a lot of dirt built up on it. I am just trying to get some of the old off and then I can keep up with the new. Besides I have always vowed that if and when I got to retire I would not set around and grow old. This is my therapy and I walk one mile a day also. I have not got back into my Wii yet but we have an appointment down the road.

Tomorrow I am fishing all day. Sherri will be off and I want to stay out of her way. She will be cleaning on the inside of the house and I want to be on the outside. I get in trouble if I am in the general vicinity of her cleaning….I have a tendency to watch her and that makes her mad too. So I will be outdoors doing the man thing..fishing I hope.

I left early to pick Sherri up at work and went by Wally World to get me some Rain-X glass cleaner. I was going to clean the shower glass with this. I had heard this was great in the showers because it keeps the scum from building up on your glass. We will give it a try and see how she works. All the windows got cleaned and the front cap of the RV was washed down to remove all the bugs. I am so busy these days. You know I love being busy like this…not having to worry about getting my rest so I can go back to work.

OK not a lot shaking today so I will get on out of here and catch back up with you ….

Somewhere in Time

Monday…Am I On Vacation?

The alarm went off this morning at 4:30…Sherri swung out of bed to stifle it and then she was up moaning about having to go to work…I laid there for a minute and then realized that I did not have to go to work this morning…but wait…am I on vacation…no…I have graduated and am now free from the burden of going into work. There is one small problem…I have to take her into work. I got up and went down to the kitchen to make coffee. I slipped on some shorts and a T-shirt then sat down to wait on the coffee to brew.

The drive to Sherri’s store is only about 16 minutes away and on a country road without too much traffic. At 5:30 in the morning I guess there wouldn’t be that much traffic anyway. Soon she was in the living room having coffee with me and we had a chance to visit for a time.

We loaded the truck up and started off to the work place to begin her first day here in Lafayette Louisiana. She will work 8 hours today and then she will call me to come and pick her up. So I dropped her off and headed back here to the RV Park and started my chores. I have chores even though I am retired. I made the bed did the dishes cleaned up the Den area and then started off on my mile walk around the park.

After my walk I started the second half of my chores…getting Sherri’s money in Yoville was one of the most important…getting the satellite set up was the second. Getting the money was no problem but the satellite…well I will need Sherri’s help there. Walking back and forth to check the signal strength is no fun so that I will put off until she can help me.

Sherri called me about 2:45 to let me know that she was ready to come home. I went and picked her up and we made plans to go out to eat with one of the ladies that works with her. They wanted to go to a Cajun restaurant that had live music and I found one named Mulate’s in Breaux Bridge. We picked up Laura and headed to the restaurant for some fine sea food…I know we already had sea food yesterday…well we are in south Louisiana…so sea food it is. We had a lot of fun eating good food and listening to some good music. They had a dance floor and folks were dancing away…I started to get out there and dance…but then I hated to show anyone up…HE HE…

Jumped on chat for a short time after we returned but had to get to bed….4:30 comes mighty early in the morning….

Somewhere in Time

   

Above are some pictures from my walk Monday. All the camp sites back up to the fishing ponds. There are 5 Ponds here and you can fish for free if you are camped here. Sandra I don’t know if this is any of the birds you were talking about…but I got some pictures of them.

Mulate’s 325 Mills Ave in Breaux Bridge…great place to eat and good live music….

Yes that is me out with the ladies….what a lucky guy two women and they are paying for my dinner.

and if you like to dance they have a dance floor with plenty of room to swing your gal around. My gal was not up for the swinging so we sat it out.

Laura and Sherri happy to be off work and out on the town.

Sundays Arrival in Lafayette Louisiana

We left Shreveport at 11:00 am after a great breakfast at the Diamond Jacks Buffet. The traffic was nominal being that it is Sunday. We made it to Interstate 49 without too much problem and then headed south to Lafayette. It would be about a 3 hour trip but we had planned on 4 because of a lunch stop.

On the way down to Lafayette I called our Dreamer friends Doncat and Cheryl  http://rvdaydreams.blogspot.com/ They were leaving out today from Poche and I wanted to find out their location. They were just leaving so I knew that we would be passing soon. Sure enough it was not long and they passed us going north and we all waved and that was about all we had time to do. Sure wish we could have been down there one day earlier but things did not work out that way. Good seeing you two…HE HE

 
Well as things would have it we did not stop for lunch so we arrived in Lafayette about 2:00 and then made our way to Poche’s Fish-N-Camp. This RV park is located about 11 miles off of Interstate 49. You take the Highway 98 exit and follow the signs to the RV park.

It was 2:30 when we pulled up in front of the office and piled out to register. Boy was I tired! We went in and got our site number…46…after requesting a Western exposure on our Arizona room side. We wanted the morning sun on that side and not the afternoon sun. Don had mentioned to me that they had the sun in the afternoon and it was way too hot this time of year. Now in the winter that would be a welcome heat.

It did not take long to get parked…I was a little concerned after reading Jo Wishnie’s account of Fred trying to park on this side of the pond…and was hoping that I could get in OK. Well as things would have it with Sherri’s expertise help we got in. I did not hook up everything at this time because we had to drive into Lafayette to find the store Sherri would be working at and make sure how long it would take to drive there. She would have to schedule her get up time to that drive in. We found it in about 16 minutes so all was well and then it was time to explore some of the sites.

We decided to get some diesel and then take a look at the RV campground at Frog…We passed the KOA  on Interstate 10 and then just down the road found the RV park there. It was not bad and was very convenient to the Interstate. We will have to keep this one in mind.

 

From there we decided to go eat us some sea food. Sherri and I had passed a good place to eat just before our exit to Poche…Prejean’s….was suppose to be a class act for sea food. Sure enough it stood the test of its reputation and we had a great meal. Sherri had the Shrimp dinner  and I had the Chicken..Sausage..Gumbo. Oh let me tell you we ate way too much and really enjoyed it. By the way I have some left over for today. It is getting close to lunch time so I will  be eating a little bit more here shortly.

OK I have some picture here to share with you…so enjoy and I will return….

Somewhere in Time  

Could not get enough pictures out the back windows. It is so pretty here!

The view just goes on forever…this is a must stay for anyone that likes fishing and birds and walking…and living…

This is the view I have from my desk…Better than the view I had at the office…DUH!

Sherri resting up for work…She really is not up for it but she will have fun when she gets back with her worker friend. By the way I get to meet them all Monday!!!

Saturday Morning Move

We were not to swift at getting up this morning. My alarm went off at 6:00 am and I just laid there for sometime thinking of reasons not to get up. I then realized what day this was and that I had to pack out of here by 9:00 so we could get to the family reunion in East Texas by 11:00 am. We started this reunion last year and plan to have it the last Saturday in May from then on. So far we have had good attendance and a lot of fun visiting with all the family. This would be Sherri's side of the family...mine does not have reunions.

Getting back to leaving...we have been in Sandy Lake RV Park for over 3 years now and it was kind of bitter sweet leaving. We had a prime spot...that we had networked our way into over time and really hated to lose it. I am sure we will swing back through here over the years when we come back to this area for doctors and what not. It has been a good place to spend the last 3 years with the location and all.

So we packed it in and had everything ready to go by 10:00...we wanted to leave by 9:00 but that did not happen. We did not move as fast as we had planned but then I have to get in the habit of not rushing around to move. When I do that I forget things and that is not good when you are hooking up a trailer.

We made it to the reunion without any problems...I am always thankful for that...and pulled the rig into my nephews drive about 11:30. Most everyone was there and we sat our chairs up with the group and started our visit. Before we fixed our food for lunch I had to unhook the truck from the 5th wheel and carry some extra S T U F F out to the barn at the lake. I just wanted to lighten our load as much as possible so we could squeeze all the MPG out of the truck that I could get.

My youngest daughter showed up with all her children...absent was Frank her husband who was at work at the fire house. She graduated from the police academy last month and was sworn in this last week. She received her badge and was showing it to everyone. We were all on our best behavior while she was there LOL.

Our plan was to leave about 5:00 and head on over to Shreveport and stay the night. So at 5:00 we said our good-byes and backed out of the drive pointed the truck East and left on our journey...our first journey of my retirement...it is actually here!! WOW I'll leave you with some pictures of our reunion and will update you on the arrival in Shreveport ....

Somewhere in Time

Gathering under the trees and visiting with family

There was plenty of food to eat and we sure did eat it.

Jennifer got her badge last week after taking the oath and she was on hand to make sure there was no law breaking going on.

Last Day

50 years later he came to the end….

It was May 29th 2009…he was taken from a sound sleep by the phone alarm that was going off on the table across from the bed. He laid there for just a second and then swung his legs out from under the covers and hurried to the alarm to shut it off.

This was the last time that he was going to be pulled from bed by such an annoyance. Well the last time in this career.

Yes that was how it was this morning when the alarm went off and I got up. This would be my last wake up for the job at Taylor Publishing Co. I fixed the coffee as I had done for so many years took my shower got my clothes out of the closet put them on poured my coffee and sat down here at the computer to post my last days thoughts on my journal.

Last days thoughts…what would they be…I don’t really have any earth shattering thoughts coming out of my pea brain this morning so I guess the truth is I am really num to what is happening. After 50 years of working you would think that I would have something to say but I don’t. I just can’t believe that 50 years has passed and I am about to set out on the last leg of my tour here on earth without a thought to pass on?

I am just going in today mainly to say my good-byes to those I have know for so long. Many of them for over 30 years of my life and some for just a short time. But whether it be for 30 years or 30 days this good-bye will be hard. I know that I will be back to visit in time but never will it be the same. Once you leave you no longer have those ties of day to day events…just those of the past and memories that are stored away.

So as I get ready this morning for the last time I have bitter-sweet thoughts…It is great to be free of the responsibilities of my job and the stress that came with it…but then there is the void that is left. I hope to fill this with the adventures that Sherri and I will have together. I pray that I will be afforded time to enjoy my last days with her and our dreams that we have had for so long.

Well I must part from you now so I can head in for the last time.When I return it will be as a retired person without a job. I will try and post again this evening and bring you up to date on this days events. Until that time fare well to the old and bring on the new…

Somewhere in Time

While I was away they decorated my office for my retirement

They had me a cake made for all to enjoy.

Made me a poster that was placed over the door to my department...the Coke machine has some meaning and someday I will tell you all about it.

Whoops

Hey what happened to Wednesday? I guess I must have slept through it. I did not post yesterday and I owe it to....I don't know who to blame it on. I will just have to tell you that yesterday was not all that great of a day. I went to work and came home. Sherri worked around the house and made some appointments on line and over the phone. We did get the barn move scheduled so that is set for Thursday. They should be there about 9:00 am. Jennifer will meet them out there and then they will follow her to the new property and set it down.
I will be glad to get this much done before we leave out Saturday. I still have to get the power pole pulled up and moved to the lake and have them come out and hook it up. Well that will be a chore for when we return. It will be hard working out in the barn without electric and no fan to move air around. I guess we will just stack some of our S T U F F in there and arrange it all later. My shop tools I will just leave in the cargo trailer until we return.
That is about it for this day. I have to go to work today...I think they are taking me out for lunch. I will post the events tomorrow when I get a chance....
Somewhere in Time

Tuesday Rained Out

Monday was a work day and a planning day for Tuesday. When Tuesday morning got here I had big plans on getting way over the hump of chores that laid before us in this the last week of my career.

The plan was to finish clearing out the barn and get the barn moved to our new property site.  Sherri had finally came to a decision where to place it and we were on our way to getting that done when Mother Nature stepped in and provided us with rain. Well having the barn moved is a great expense in itself and if it rains and they get stuck then the cost goes up from there. With my track record in these types of crap shoots I decided to back off and wait for the day that was good and dry without any chance of rain.

We did get the rest of the stuff out of the barn that had to be taken to Rodney’s for storage until the barn arrived. Rodney and Becky have been so gracious as to allow us to store all this stuff in their barn until we could get ours moved. This move seems like it has taken so much of our time. We were adding up the trips back and forth to Wills Point and the cost in diesel alone is weighing heavy on our budget. We will both be so relieved when we get this all behind us and we can just worry about where to move to next.

After taking the last load of stuff out to the lake we headed back to Carrollton. It was getting along about 5:00 PM and then the thought hit me….Traffic…We were going to be in the worst part of the Dallas traffic going home. Sure enough we were and it was bad every turn we made and every detour we tried was jammed with cars stacked up. It took us almost 2 hours to get to the IHOP in Lewisville…were we planned on getting the old folks special…buy one get one free. Yes we did make it and cashed in on the after 3:00 PM special. It was so good and I know the take home box that we packed will be good too.

After leaving IHOP we went to Best Buy to look around and found nothing to our liking and then headed home. By this time it was time for Yoville and Chat. Sherri went to Yoville to work and I got into chat. She soon joined me in the chat room and before long the ice cream craving hit us both and we signed off and went to Braums for ice cream….OHHH was it good. That just about capped off this day. Today is a work day…by the way I should get ready to head that direction. I will catch you all on the bounce back….

Somewhere in Time

Sunday Projects Now Done

We woke up Sunday morning dreading the days events. We drug our feet as long as possible but then we knew it was time to get in the truck and motor out of here. We got on the road about 8:00 am and about half way there decided to stop and get us some breakfast. We found a McDonalds in Mesquite Texas and had us a McBreakfast...or whatever you call them. Sherri had a coupon for a free Mocha Coffee and she got that.

After breakfast we got back on the road and got to the Barn just in time for high humidity. It was so hot and we had so much heavy stuff to get loaded in the cargo trailer. Jason and Susan showed up around 2:30 and Jennifer and Frank came out and they helped us get the real heavy stuff loaded....Thanks kids...you don't know how much I appreciate your help.

You know there was a time in my life when there was no project too large or object too heavy for me to tackle on my own. I did not have much help and did not plan on having it nor did I really need it. I was never one to seek out help for anything. Now that I am getting older and my stamina is not that of the 30 year old I use to be I still find myself trying to do everything on my own. Sherri is always there to offer her assistance..but as always I beg her not to lift and do those things so she does not hurt herself. Yesterday I felt so vulnerable to my aging body. I could see when the kids finally got there and pushed me aside that they were so much more proficient at getting all the stuff loaded and I realized I was not that young guy anymore. It was like I slipped down a rung of the ladder of life for the first time and it kind of scared me. To think that maybe my days of doing these chores without help were coming to a close. I remember when that happen to my Dad and how I pushed him aside and took over...not thinking how he felt at that time. I guess it happens to us all but this is me....the guy that took on everything and did it myself...for once experienced what it feels like to be reliant on others.

I know that as time goes on I will become more reliant on help from others.

OK that is all about that now. I am not ready for that time just yet...but it is a thought that really became pronounced in my thinking yesterday. I feel like a million dollars today and will until tomorrow when I have to see the doctor again for the last of my physical exam. I will probably walk away from there feeling more of my mortality coming into view. What happen to the fun and excitement of retiring. Months ago you could not slap the smile off my face but now....well lets just say I have mixed emotions about everything.

We got everything loaded and took the cargo trailer over to Rodney's and then met the kids back at Jennifer and Frank's house. We decided to go out to eat at the Lone Star Cafe in Wills Point. We all had a good dinner and visited. We learned at this time that Jason had asked Susan to marry him!! Wow was this a surprise!! We had no idea they were going to do this and we are so excited for them both. What a wonderful finish to a great day.

Tomorrow is Monday and I have to go to work. Tuesday back to the doctor and then out to Wills Point to see about getting the barn moved...Hope it does not rain and we get this done! I will up date you on all the results....

Somewhere in Time

Last Middle Shift Good-byes

Arrived at work last night and felt a little sad in a way…this was going to be my last day with the Middle Shift folks. This was my forth season here at Taylor running the middle shift press room. I am excited about retiring but I will miss all the people that I have been acquainted with over the last 30 some odd years. I know I will stay in touch with them but it will still be sad to leave them.

They surprised me last night with a retirement party! I really had no idea that they had cooked this up. I always buy dinner for them the last night we are together each season. This night was no different…they all wanted pizza so that is what I ordered. When it arrived the ladies set up the serving tables and came and got me out of my office…when I arrived in the break room they had a cake and a pineapple fruit dish. I did not have my camera so I took pictures with my cell phone…which aren’t that clear but you get the idea. They also gave me a gift certificate….man I was really surprised by all this…all I could say was thanks to all these fine people for thinking of me.

Being the boss is not always an easy task…and over time I know I have made most all my folks mad by my decisions and policies…but to have them look past all that and want to give me a good send off made me proud of them.  

This is my cake….I almost missed out on getting a picture…it was a good cake too. 

This was my Pineapple fruit dish one of the ladies made for me. Sherri and I will give this a try today. Sure smells good…I love pineapple.

Good-byes were said and hugs were given before we all parted ways. For some of my crew this was the last time I will see them for a long time. Some of the folks are moving days and I will see them next week before my last day on Friday.

I will have to post my thoughts for Friday next week while I am in Southern Louisiana…relaxing under my awning at Poche’s Fish-N-Camp. Sherri and I will be there for two weeks and I will be updating my journal with our first adventure tour. Not the one we had planned on but certainly one that we will always remember….

Somewhere in Time

Today Was A Busy Day

This morning Sherri did not have to go to work but she was up bright and early. She can't sleep late even on her days off. She will get a headache if she stays in bed too long.

We had to get up and go to Lewisville Texas to get my oil changed in the truck and then we were going out to the lake to see if we could find Hickory Creek COE on Lake Lewisville. We had to make a phone call to Mark Hall to see if he remembered how to get there and sure enough he did. We decided to go back to the RV for some things we forgot and then head out again...following Mark's directions to see if we could find the park. We found it with no problem and after seeing it we decided to make this our home park when we had to come back to North Texas for doctor appointments and when visiting the kids. Campsites are $18.00...$9.00 with my pass and that would be a cheap price to pay for a 14 day maximum stay.

When we had accomplished that chore we came to the conclusion that we were both hungry and we chose to go to Christina's for Burritos and Beans...their hot sauce is to die for. OH we packed it away and had plenty for the to-go-box. We paid our ticket and left for the truck...I heard someone saying SIR! SIR! and realized it was my waiter...with my to-go-box...HE HE. We must be getting old.

Next we went across the street to get diesel for $2.07 at the Race Track Station and then to the bank located across the street. Everything is so convienent here....We will miss this. While at the bank I got some quarters and changed the physical address on our account. We are still getting projects completed.

That about sums up this day and now I have to get ready for work. I guess I will see you all on chat and for those of you that do not chat I will cross your path again....

Somewhere in Time