Out of Range

Thursday morning Sherri was up and getting ready for work and I thought maybe someone was sitting on me. I could not move my legs. First thing that came to my mine was I had a spinal cord injury from yesterdays workout. Then I noticed I could wiggle my toes…Thank God I am not paralyzed. That would be a poor ending to a fun filled retirement. I managed to get up and make my way passed Sherri to the bathroom and then I found my clothes. I found the strength to bend my legs far enough to get my pants on and raised my arms up far enough to put on a T-shirt. I think I will make it now that I am dressed.

Now this is swamp…Caddo Lake.

Did anyone say Gators….

I walked Sherri down stairs and we had coffee together in the lobby. Soon it was time for her to leave and we said our good-byes. I returned to the room and took me a hot shower…put on clean clothes and prayed that I would make it until Sherri got back from work. Today would be a short day and then we would pack it up and head to Wills Point to the RV.

We passed through Jefferson Texas on the way home and took some pictures of the churches and houses there. It is a neat little town.

This is a neat little filling station from way back when.

She was a little later than check out time getting here to the hotel…but I got everything packed up and was waiting in the lobby when she got there. After checking out we were on the road by 12:00. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive to the lake lot and it sure was nice to be back in the RV.

We got all the luggage unloaded and put away and then it was time to eat a late lunch. We has a ton of laundry to was and our drier being down and out Sherri said she wanted to get a washer and drier for the Barn. We would need one when we stayed there for long periods of time and she would not have to use the washer and drier in the RV. This would be the project for Friday. Until then it was time to relax and enjoy not having to do one thing.

Friday Buying the Washer Dryer.

Morning came and we both were glued to the bed. Had it not been for the our addiction to coffee we might not have even got up. The coffee need got us up and going and soon we had the energy to clean out the barn to make room for the washer and dryer. We had planned on going to Rockwall to Lowes and Home Depot to price them. They usually have marked down units there. We did not want to buy an expensive set just one that would wash more than a handful of clothes at a time. We found the perfect set…Maytag…Heavy duty…on sale plus 10% off and free delivery! This was at Home Depot. Sherri being the shopper she is said that we need to check out Lowes before we purchased so we headed over there next. They had the same unit there and sold it to us for the same 10% off…plus they could deliver on Sunday! Great! We bought it.

By the way between the time we got up and left for Rockwall we had a guest come to stay for the week. Our little man has come to visit while we are at the lake. He had called us almost every day to see if we were back in town. We will keep him until next week end and then he goes back home.

We returned from Rockwall and when we got home Sherri found out that she would be working in Arkansas next week so we had to make plans for a place to stay near Nashville Arkansas. We found a couple of COE parks on Millwood Lake and a State Park as well. We could not find out any information on the COE parks and they did not come up on Recreation.gov so we opted for the State Park. I called and they said we would not need any reservations and yes they were Big Rig Friendly. OK so that is all taken care of now all we need to do is get all our stuff ready to move.

Not much more to report this day. We of course have no Internet connection out here so we are not posting. I will have to post at a later date.

Saturday Sherri Goes Shopping

We got up and made our coffee…trying to be real quiet so we did not wake up our house guest. We wanted to get down a couple cups of coffee before the excitement began. We poured a cup each and then stepped outside to set on our new deck. I thought I would try to get a connection  outside. I brought the cradle point out and set it on top of the truck. I sat with the lap top on the deck. I got a connection but it was very slow and still could not post this entry so I just read my emails and chatted for a while with Dee. Maybe later I will try placing the cradle point some other place to see if we can get a better connection…but I think our guest is up so things are getting ready to change.

Sure enough I was on the floor shortly playing cars and trucks. We played until Sherri got ready to go shopping. Kris and I headed over to Rodney and Becky’s RV to see what they were up to. They too had a house guest. Kevin…Rodney and Becky’s G-Son was staying with them for the weekend. Kris and Kevin played while we grownups visited. Soon Sherri called and said she was on her way home and wanted to know what the dinner plans were. We planned out a place to eat in Terrell. When Sherri go there we loaded up and went to eat. Had a good meal and a good visit.

Here it is Saturday night and we are back at the home base. In the morning we leave for Arkansas. I will report as soon as we get settled there.

Sunday on the road and Monday at the Park

We had a nice trip here to Millwood Lake State Park. It is located right off Hwy 32 just before you cross the Millwood Lake Dam. We had to circle the park several times to find a place that we could back into. This is an older park and made for much smaller RVs. We finally found site 38 that we could back into. Sherri got me in there with no problem. We got set up and then we had to go to Nashville to see where Sherri was going to work. It was about 18 miles to her job which is a little longer than she likes to drive but it was a nice drive and the park is nice so all is well.

Our site #38 at Millwood Lake State Park Arkansas

View from our porch here at the Lake

Ours site from the road coming in…really wide open and not too many folks around

This is the cove at the park. They said the lake was down…WOW that is an understatement. They drained the lake to clean something ???

Here is the boat ramp. You can see how low it is.

Monday Sherri and I got up before our house guest did so we have time to drink our coffee and visit before she had to  get ready to leave for work. As she was getting ready Kris woke up and my day began.

We spent the day exploring the park and the play ground. I have some pictures of the park I am going to post. We leave tomorrow for Louisiana and Tall Pines RV Park. We will be there for two nights and then who knows. I will update this Tuesday night when we get to Shreveport…

Somewhere in time.

Wednesday Working Out

Hello darkness….my old friend…That is all I could see through the crack in the curtains this morning when I peeked out from under the covers. I heard Sherri in the bathroom getting ready for work and I said to myself I need to swing my legs out of bed and get dressed.

I did just that and could hear the bones in my legs cracking from the sudden movement. I have been diagnosed with Author Righteousness  in my knees lower back and shoulders…let me see that leaves my hands in good shape…thank God. I can still open a candy bar wrapper…not really I am watching my food intake. I just like to joke around about it.

I walk each day and try to keep my muscles and my body from freezing up. If I ever stop it could be curtains for this guy. Fulltiming will help me stay in shape more than sitting in an office all day long. I probably spend too much time on this computer and that is not good.

Today I found the fitness room down stairs and took a try out on the machines. They have a tread mill and a machine that looks like a Bow-Flex. I took a whirl on the machine and was almost hurled through the mirror on the other side of the room. I figured out that you have to set it to your strength level…which in my case is puny. You don’t pull on the machine and expect it to return slowly for your old body…it is like a sling shot…you pull it then it is loaded and then it shoots you back. OK so much for that…I think I will stick to walking.

The tread mill seemed much friendlier. I stepped up on it and read the panel before me. Slow..Fast..Faster.. Ludicrously Fast. Flat 4% 6% Wall climbing %. Now the combination to all this mean certain death if your not careful….and I am not known to be a careful person as many of you well know. Yes your correct I hit the Max Play button and…..the next few minutes…what seemed to be hours….was horrifying! I was actually running for my life…and it was passing before my eyes as I was running. I tried with all my might to let go of the bar in front of me so I could re-adjust the speed…but to no avail. I un-a**ed this nightmare…for no better word…and hit the off button once I could get my eyes to stop blinking. That is when I noticed the young lady behind me. She had a startled look on her face…and she had her thumb on her cell phone as though she was dialing 911. She asked if I was OK and I said why sure hone I do this every day…it is my way of knowing that I am still alive. I don’t think she saw me being shot out of the machine too. I know that I gave her something to tell all her friends at the club.

Well I got my towel…sucked in my gut…and wished her a good workout….strutted out like I had no problem in the world…turned pulled out the camera and took a picture of HELL made it to the elevator and then started crying. OH MY GOD! Every muscle in my body was calling out for morphine! Please let me get back to my room so I can shower and die in bed.

That was my morning. I was in hopes of having a calm afternoon. Maybe sitting down behind a slot machine with no moving floors and a button I could hit without running. I guess until then I will stay here at the computer and enter my post.

Sherri was home early and we heated up our leftovers from last night. We had planned on going exploring but I guess she was tired and my body was still wrenching in pain…I did not mention the workout to her. I was just glad that we sat for a while.

Doncat http://rvdaydreams.blogspot.com/ called me and we talked for some time. It was good to hear from him. He told me that he and Cheryl were planning on going to the RV show in Dallas in September so we are planning on meeting up there…if Sherri’s schedule works out that way. We love to look at new models of RV’s even though we are not buying at this time…we still like to look. We like to see all the new layouts and gadgets they have on them.

After talking with Don…Sherri and I headed out to the casino to try our luck once more. I have been holding my own and at this time I was about $2.00 ahead. We went to Diamond Jacks  and tried out many slots. I was losing money fast so I slowed down my pace…now that is hard to do when you bet one penny on one line…I just hit the button slower. Sherri on the other hand sat down at a new machine…something Sharks? They had just put these machines on line when Sherri spotted them. She was not there long and hit it for $175.00. Then she hit it again for $75.00…WOW she was on a roll. She ended up well over $250.00 to the good and cashed out. What I had lost was quickly forgotten. We then topped the night off at Texas Roadhouse with steaks.

Not a bad way to end a day that started out iffy to say the least….

Somewhere in Time. 

 

Casinos and Buffets

They have had storm after storm come through here and I just can’t get enough pictures of the clouds over the city skyline.

This morning the alarm went off but I went back to sleep. Just for a little bit…Sherri was showered and sitting at the computer when my eyes fluttered open. I cleared the sleep out of my eyes and noticed it was 6:15. I got up at that point and got dressed. We went down stairs to have some coffee and then I walked Sherri out to the truck. She was off in a flash and I went back to the room for my shower.

This day was not going to have a tour of down town. I was going to walk over to Sam’s Town and have breakfast but then decided not to. Sherri probably would not work a full day today. She only works 32 hours a week and her travel time is included in that time so she does not have many hours left to work. I figured she would get off about 12:00 and sure enough she did. She called me and told me she was on her way back so I am glad I did not eat.

We decided to go to Sam’s Town to eat lunch. Sherri got ready and we headed on over there. We made it to the parking lot and had our usual discussion on where to park the truck. Sherri has her preferences on where to park and I don’t care but somehow I don’t park in the right space? Oh well she finally got me settled into the appropriate parking space and we were off to the buffet line.

They have a pretty good buffet at Sam’s but not the best. The food was hot and I tried everything. I know I should not do that but I do every time and end up with a stomach ache. When will I ever learn to just get one item and stick with that. Mixing Mexican Asian Italian and Southern cooking does not set well with my lower unit. Make a note…stay away from buffets.

We finished up our lunch and then stepped into the casino for some wagering. Penny slots were scarce but I found one that would pay off. One line penny slots are becoming a thing of the past. Everyone that I found wanted you to spend 5 pennies at a time. GEE do I look like Bill Gates? I have a budget that I have to stay in. $5.00 a week is it folks….and so far I am doing real good….I am $2.00 ahead. At this rate I will have some diesel money to go home on.

After playing for a while my mixed cuisine started to talk to me in a very loud voice. I told Sherri that we might need to go back to the hotel for a while. I don’t know if it was the Italian or the Mexican but I was not feeling to well…it could have been the Asian…no matter what I needed to take my leave.

The murals on these buildings here are unbelievable. This one is a few blocks over from the hotel and this is about the best shot you can get….unless I wanted to get on the roof of the building across from it. Better just be satisfied with this picture.

We went back to the room and I laid down for a short nap while Sherri Bejeweled. She said I slept for some time but I really did not sleep I just laid there and prayed that my stomach would not explode and set off any alarms!

About 7:00 believe it or not we were ready to go back and eat dinner….I know….What are you thinking Speedy…Eating again! Well it was 6 hours since I ate last and I did feel much better. Let me see what should we eat. OK Mexican it is. We headed over to Posadas with the intention of getting some take out. When we got there we decided to just stay there and eat. This way we could get some chips and hot sauce and then a to-go box for the rest of the meal….which is exactly what we did. Now we have lunch for tomorrow and we can save our meal ticket for tomorrow night.

When we returned to the hotel we jumped on the computers…Sherri read some journals and played Bejeweled…I got on chat and ended up closing out that session with JB and Mac.  Then it was time to hit the sack. Sherri has to work again Wednesday and Thursday but not full days…so we will have time to have some more adventures of eating and gambling…

Somewhere in Time  

Monday in Shreveport

Love this sky

Alarm….is that an alarm? Is it fire… terrorist…what is it. No it is the alarm Sherri set last night to get up to. She had to be at work at 7:00 this morning and she set the alarm for 5:30. I know she is so tired this morning. She worked so hard yesterday nailing down that deck at the lake property. Now she has to get up and go to work. She will be worn out tonight.

No coffee this morning. We have a pot in the room but Sherri does not like using it. She says they are germy. I guess she knows…I used mine when I was out of town. I had one in all my hotel rooms and used them all. Maybe that is what is wrong with me now? I dare not use this one so we just go without coffee until we return home.

Sherri was ready to leave so I walked her down to the truck. We are downtown Shreveport and I feel better if I walk her to the truck. I know she gets in it safely and she calls me when she gets there so I know she got there safely.

After Sherri left I went back up to the room and got my free breakfast coupon for the hotel breakfast buffet. I went down and had me a real nice breakfast. They had scrambled eggs bacon hash browns sausage and coffee! WOW it was good too. Then I left out on my walk downtown. I was a little uneasy walking in this area but then I thought I am not going to let an area intimidate me like that. I am going to walk and enjoy it and so I did.

Leaving the hotel I have to cross this bridge over the city arcade and train rails.

This is the rail lines that run through the city. They cause many traffic jams going down to the river front.

One of the many murals that decorate the city buildings, which otherwise would be eye soars in this section of the city.

This is two of the casinos that line the Red River here in Shreveport. They are Sam’s Town and the Eldorado. I can walk to either one of them or take the shuttle.

 This is the amphitheater located on the banks of the Red River. This is in a city park setting and has beautiful walkways throughout the park.

  This is the Huey P. Long Bridge built as his legacy during his rain as governor of Louisiana. This was taken from the park.

Just down river from the Long bridge is the railroad bridge. This is located next to the park.

Here are the water gardens facing the river and next to the amphitheater.

       

This is the Horseshoe Hotel and Casino Boat. They too are located across from the park and down from the bridge.

This is looking South down the Red…the boat you see is the Boomtown Casino. Around the corner out of site would be the Diamond Jack Casino.

Looking North up the Red is the Long Bridge and miles of waterway. Not as big as the Mississippi but this river was once a major waterway for supplies up and down  Louisiana.

Next to the park is the Police and Firefighters Memorial. The stones surrounding the memorial have the names of all the fallen Policemen and Firefighters of Shreveport. From 1800's to 1995 are represented here. A real nice memorial overlooking the city they worked for.

 

One of the many stone markers at the memorial.

 After my site seeing trip I returned to the room and spent time on the computer. Watched a little TV and then back on the computer some more. I found Sandra and Dee on line and chatted with them for a while. I enjoy talking to my friends so far away. JJ was on there but never acknowledged me so I assume she was busy.

Well it was while I was chatting with Sandra and Dee that I noticed the time. It was almost 6:00 and I had not heard from Sherri. I called her and she was still working. Gee it is almost 12 hours! She said she was about to finish the set and would call me before she got on the road. I said good-bye to Sandra and Dee and waited for her call. It was about 30 minutes later when she called and said that she was almost to the hotel. I went down to meet her but she was already in the building when I got down there and we rode the elevator up together.

We visited a while in the room and then decided to go out to eat. We both chose to go to Diamond Jack’s buffet and then play for a while when we finished our meal.

We did just that and had so much fun winning and then losing and then winning. Sherri was down when we left but I was up $2.00. For me $2.00 up is good…that is almost doubling my money! WEEEE

We left the casino about 9:30 and went back across the river to the hotel . It was not too long after I got on chat that we both decided to turn in for the night. We had a wonderful day…less the working part… and look forward to more fun….

Somewhere in Time

It is Friday and we are on the road

Last night we decided to get up early and be on the road by 7:00. Well it is 7:14 and I am sitting here in my Captain America Sleeping Shorts… posting. Sherri is taking her shower and yes Carolyn we did make coffee and we sat down to make a plan. It is easy at night to say I am not going to make coffee in the morning. When the morning gets there and you are trying to roll out of the sack and you think to yourself…no coffee? Hey the plan changes real quick.

We got through with our coffee drinking and we then got busy with the break down inside the RV. You know all the stuff you have to put away for safe keeping during the ride down the highway.

When that was done I proceeded outside to get all the blue jobs done and Sherri finished up the pink. Then it was time to back it up and hitch it up…as my grandson says. 

We did get on the road about 10:00. It was only a 1 1/2 drive to the lake property so we would be there in time to get all our stuff set up and ready to live for the next two days.

You can’t really tell but we are headed up a pretty good grade here. East Texas has some rolling hills. It reminds me of North Carolina and Virginia.

  Sherri and I love all the trees along the road ways. Unlike West Texas you can’t see off the side of the road too far here. Sherri was fussing at me for taking pictures while I was driving. She is not into picture taking so I have to do it myself.

When I got there I had to hook up the electric to the barn and run a water hose from Rodney’s property over to our RV so we would have water. It did not take long for me to get the power run and  before long we had AC and a nice hot shower. Life is now good at the lake.

We pulled up to the lot and Sherri got out and directed me right in. We parked parallel to the barn. My electric hook up is at the rear of the barn this side. I had to use my extension cord to plug in. After turning on both AC’s I did not have that much of a voltage drop…so all is well using the extension.

Later that afternoon Sherri and I decided to sit outside. It had cooled off somewhat  and we put the rug out and the lawn chairs. I plugged in the fan and got us a breeze blowing. While sitting on our “Patio” Sherri said, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a deck on the front of the barn”?

The front is kind of plane with no steps or deck. It did not take Sherri long to realize we needed some change.

She came up with this idea and soon she had it on paper… and not long after that we were on the way to the Home Depot to pick up the lumber. Now for those of you that know Sherri…she is quite the designer. She designed and I built two of our homes that we lived in over the past 35 years. This deck was no big deal for us so we got the lumber and brought it back home. We would  get started on it first thing in the morning.

That just about did it for Friday. Traveled from Tyler to the lake property and now we are settled in with a project to do first thing Saturday.

By the way we cannot get a signal on our Air Card at the lake so I am putting the next two days together and then I will upload it on the journal Monday morning when we get to Shreveport. A little TV and then we were off to bed.

 

 Saturday at the lake

WOW….it sure is quiet here! Not a sound from outside could be heard. The sun was not up yet but there was a light pink in the sky that told me that not too long from now the sun would be up in full force. I got out of bed and went down to the kitchen to make some coffee…had to have coffee before the head would clear enough to start sawing boards. Sherri had the plan all drawn out and had approved all the specs…I started measuring and leveling the deck to the barn and before long we had a nice deck framed up and ready for decking to be nailed down.

Sherri sat down to rest after loading all the deck material to the frame. She just laid it up there…it was way too hot to nail down.

It was about 12:00 when we got the last piece of decking set up on the frame. I told Sherri that it was too hot to continue on today so we took a break to admire our handy work. While sitting there Sherri said that we needed some steps to get up on the deck. Originally we did not think that the deck would be this high off the ground so no steps had been planned. Now that we were looking Sherri was right we would strain to step up that high every time  we wanted to get on the deck.

Sherri once again designed what she wanted in the way of steps and once more it was on paper and again we were on out way down to Home Depot for lumber. This time Rodney and Becky went with us and we decided to make a lunch date out of our trip. We needed to go by Explore USA…the RV dealer in Canton Texas…to see the Cari-lites that they had on the lot. Rodney also needed a filter for his Carri-lite and thought we might find one there. So while in Canton we went and ate Chinese food and then ran all our errands in Canton. From there we headed to Terrell Texas to the Home Depot and loaded up the extra lumber we needed for the steps.

Back to the lake we headed with our step material. On the way home Sherri wanted to take a different route so she could see some of the area of the lake we had not seen in some time. It took us a good 2 hours to get home and by the time  that we got there it was getting too dark to finish our deck. We would have to get up early Sunday and finish the job. So we just sat around and visited with Rodney and Becky until bed time. 

Sherri and I were both just worn out from the day of construction so it did not take long for us to fall asleep.

 

Sunday Morning Day of Rest….Not 

I think this morning is quieter than Saturday morning! I lived out in this part of the country for years and I had forgotten how quiet it was here. Geee if it was not for our internal alarm clocks we might sleep until noon.

The sun was up when we both crawled out of bed… we both went down to the kitchen to make coffee. It is Sunday morning and we have to get going to finish our deck…clean out the shop….mow…and pick up all the scraps from building. We need to get this all done before 2:00 or 3:00 so we can pack for Shreveport.

Sherri got to work on nailing down the decking while I built the steps. She was really busy trying to nail and watch me…to make sure I built the steps the way she wanted them. “It is tuff being the designer and builder”, says Sherri.

I built the steps in short order and Sherri nailed down the decking. Not only is she a good designer she is a good carpenter too. She always said that I should have married a man…because she has always had to work like one. She may have had to work like one but she never has looked like one. No dear I made the right choice in life and you know you like building new things.

Not much more to go now. It is still early morning so the temps are low.

We are planning on putting a roof over the deck at a later date. We will stick with the gambrel roof style.

We still need some steps on the side where the RV sets. Sherri has those plans already for the next visit here to the lake.  

Sherri says her next project is to put a patio out front of the deck. Not bad for two old folks just passing through.

We did get all the chores done by 2:00 and while I was finishing up some things outside Sherri went in to pack all our clothes for the trip. She was ready about 3:00 and we loaded up the truck and pulled out for Shreveport. It was an uneventful  drive through the piney woods and before long we were in Shreveport. We passed the exit to the Holiday Inn where we were booked for the next four nights. Glennie our GPS was mad at me and not talking. She was pointing but I was not looking and I just went right on by the exit. Sherri told me that I missed it so I had to fuss at Glennie but to no avail. She finally started talking to me after she saw that Sherri was getting on to me.

Just about to cross over into Louisiana. Glennie is not talking to me for some reason. She is pointing the way, however.

This is the Holiday Inn we are staying in. It is located on the Red River. We stayed on the Town side away from the train noise.

The River Side is pretty but the train that runs on that side can be annoying at night. Sherri preferred this side…which isn’t all that bad. All the casinos are just down the street here.

We got checked in and then started planning where to eat dinner. Sherri found a Texas Roadhouse not too far from the hotel and we went there to eat. We had a real good chopped steak and salad. We ordered a brownie for dessert and that put us over the edge. Diet went out the window with that but I will walk it off tomorrow.

We got back to the room about 9:00 and I jumped on chat for a short period of time. We were both worn out from building and then packing and driving…it had been a long day for us  both. Sherri Bejeweled for a short time and then we decided to hit the hay.

So that should catch us up for now. I will be back to let you know how our first day in Shreveport goes. Until then have a great day and above all have fun….

Somewhere in Time

Many Questions to Answer.

I had a reader comment yesterday on my journal that she liked my description of our morning ritual of fixing coffee and visiting with each other. It was a relaxing read for her…and for Sherri and I it is also relaxing to sip our coffee and ease into our day with a little caffeine buzz. I know that many of you do this every morning and each morning is a launching pad for the whole day. Without our coffee we would both be very unhappy campers. Thanks Carolyn for the comments and I hope that I add a little bump to your morning.

I also had a reader ask me where they could  get The Solution . This is the waterless cleaner that Mark Hall is selling while traveling the nations highways. His journal http://rvingwithpoppa.blogspot.com/ has it featured on the sidebar ads. You can contact Mark and he will ship it to you.

Another question that I have posed to me is…what does Sherri do. Well I really should let her tell that but she does not do journals so I will try and explain what she does. First of all Sherri was in retail sales for years. She was a manager of a store for many years and then she went into business for herself. Over the years she has learned how to display products to sell…presentation is a large part of the sell. Products displayed correctly on a shelf in a store will catch the eye of a potential buyer faster than a product that is just tossed up on a display. She works for a company that does resets in grocery stores that help display old and new products so they will sell faster. The team she works with travels all over 4 states resetting products in stores. She mainly works the Brookshire Stores in those four states but lately the team has expanded its stores to Kroger and other large chains that carry the brands that they represent.

So that is what keep Sherri on the road and me running with her. Now I play a real important part in all this. I am the guy that keeps the home fires burning…drives the truck…loads the trailer on the truck…hauls the bags to the room and take the blame for everything that goes wrong…It is the least I can do in exchange for her keeping me around.

So through all this we are having fun…seeing some things that we did not know were around. Going places that we did not know were there before. I have really enjoyed these past months traveling and living in the RV…and even some nice motel rooms too. We have kicked around the idea of workamping but we will not give this up until the right job comes along that will allow us to see the sites and have a free place to stay. I am sure after the first of the year Sherri will hang up her schematics and layouts and exchange them for a map.

What ever we decide to do…we will be enjoying our lives on the road. We will find all kinds of things to see and do and we will let you come along with us…

Somewhere in Time

Everything Changed

The alarm sounded this morning at 5:00 am and we both shot up out of bed. I had made the coffee the night before so all we had to do was flip the switch. We both sat down in our recliners in the dark and waited for the coffee maker to sound the alarm…telling us that the brew was ready. What seemed like an eternity passed before the chime went off and we were up mixing all the ingredients into our cups to mask the taste of the freshly brewed coffee.

Sherri only had a short time to drink her cup due to the earlier than usual start time at work. She took the last sip and she was up and running. I sat there and finished my cup and then began to run some dish water for the dishes. I folded up the throws and hung them on the back of the chairs and then moved over to the computer to work on my journal. I try to do my entry while Sherri is getting ready so she and I can visit for a bit before she heads out the door.

Sherri left and then I finished my chores so I could have one more cup of coffee and then go out to start my walk. I am really trying to get in the habit of walking and exercising each and every day so as to reduce my weight and my cholesterol. So far I have done real good while we have been here at this park.

Sherri called me about the time I walked in the door from my stroll around the park. She informed me that they would be heading to Shreveport next week and we would be staying in a motel. Well this changed all my plans. We would have to postpone the reservations to Tres Rios RV Ranch and reschedule the dryer repair for a later date. Now you say “Speedy your being too calm about all this”…well if we go to Shreveport I can stay at the casinos all day while Sherri works. I can catch the shuttle to any casino there. The one that will be the best is Diamond Jacks for breakfast there. I love their omelets and all the trimmings.

I can get the dryer fixed at a latter date and Tres Rios will be there the next time I am headed that way. We will have to go to Tawakoni State Park for two days while I get the electric hooked up to the barn. We will be leaving our RV there for the week and driving to Shreveport. I think I will try to get the guy to put in my driveway Friday or Saturday so that will be done. Then if I have the time I will take the truck by and have them check it out before we leave.

I know you are thinking….Speedy sure changes the plans a lot. That is why Speedy has stopped making plans. With Sherri’s job keeping us moving around all the time we just have to go with the flow. So far the flow has been OK and we have been able to have enough time to see some sites and still have fun.

Well, appears that next week will be exciting and I will get my breakfast everyday! Please bear with me while I hop around the country from place to place. Soon we will be more organized in our week to week schedules…NOT…why would I want to be organized….I am retired…

Somewhere in Time

Dryer Repairman Coming

Not one inkling of light was visible when I woke up this morning. Sherri was in the kitchen talking…I could not tell if she was talking to me or herself. I got up and went down to the kitchen…she was on the phone. I later found out that it was my granddaughter, Sarah. She had called Sherri last night at 2:00 am to tell her that she had a bad dream. Now she had called this morning to tell her good morning. Sherri was really tired to say the least…but then it is our granddaughter. It is so good to be loved so dearly…Our kids never loved us this way…Could it be because we never spoiled this way.

Sherri was out the door at 5:30 and I poured me one more cup of coffee. I had to get the printer out and copy some papers for her health insurance and send it to HR. I wanted to get that done early so that it would be in the office when they arrived.

Yesterday I had called Sears to see about getting our dryer repaired. It is running but not heating and Sherri says it smells like burning rubber. They have set me an appointment for Thursday between 8:00 am and 5:00. WOW what a range…not like I am going anywhere but that sure leaves them a lot of leeway. I have to remove the laundry room doors and pull the dryer out so they can get to it. That alone should take me a good hour out of this day. I will also have to remove the bedroom door so it does not get broken. It is a French Door and I could see me putting one of the laundry room doors through the glass. Now that would be another subject for the journal for sure.

This is the little guy that is under the weather. He just can’t get hot enough to dry the little bit of clothes that we need him to dry. Notice the knob missing on the front upper left. That little puppy is $45.00 shipping and handling! I know! I need to be in that business.

The doors and the hinges have to come off here so that I can pull the dryer out into the bath area. Sears does not do this part of the operation in RV’s. I don’t really blame them…can you see them scratching the floor or a wall!

The Bedroom door has to come off also. I don’t even want to take the chance of putting anything through that glass and then having to tell Sherri what I did. That could be my last entry here!

Yesterday I mapped out our route to Tres Rios RV Resort. They have a pool and many other things for us to do. There are three rivers that surround the park…so some boating and fishing may be in order. I found the fastest way is through Dallas which on Friday may not be the fastest but I think that is the route we will take. More on this trip later. 

Appears they have some shade at this park! Man could I use some shade! I sure have found a lot of winter sites this summer.

Yesterday I got all my chores done and had time for a short nap. I mean really short. I kicked back in the recliner and about 5 minutes later Sherri came in the door. She got off early and surprised me. I know she must think I sleep all day because every day she comes home I am kicked back in the recliner for my nap. What can I say…I do get all my chores done first and then I rest. Funny thing is…even though you retire there are things that have to be done. I find myself doing something all day long and never get bored. Many people at work told me, “Your going to get bored setting around all day”. Well I have not found this to be true. I have plenty to do and really never run out of things. I just wish it was cooler outside so I could get more down out there.

By the way yesterday afternoon when the sun was going down I did get the chance to clean the street side of the RV. Also sprayed for spiders…which by the way you need to do real often so you don’t carry them with you all over the country.

That’s it for now…I must get to work this fine day so I can hit that recliner later. Come back tomorrow and see what kind of stories I have to tell…

Somewhere in Time

Chores Getting Done

Plenty to do in the bay to keep it neat. Love this bay for all the room that it has. I also have a bay in the rear of the trailer for more stuff!

This was one of those alarm days. Sherri’s alarm went off about 5:00 and I was up with it. Sherri beat me down to the coffee pot but I was not too far behind. She has to be at the job by 7:00 so she wanted to get a jump on the traffic incase it was heavy that time of day. Being the first day reporting to this store you never know how long it takes you to get there.

Every morning we go over her schedule and see what lies ahead. This is the time of day we lay out a plan of travel to various places so that we know what we need to plan for. I like to see what that area has to offer in the way of things to see and places to visit. I am so surprised to see how many things there are to see and do in towns that have been so close to us for all  these years. We always trucked off to the furthest points of the country to see things and we missed all the things right here in our own backyard! Well Sherri and I will not leave a stone unturned now. She and I will search out and find all the historical sites there are here and there and enjoy learning about the area.

I on the other hand today I have some chores that I have to see to. One was to pay the rent here for the next few days. When we arrived I only paid for one night so we could check out the surrounding parks to see if we could find the one with the “IT” factor. Well as I stated in an earlier post this park was about the best. So anyway I paid us up until Friday morning at which time we will leave for someplace. We have not nailed down that destination as of yet…but we are working on it.

Desk got the once over. Sherri is always complaining about all my stuff on the desk….so now it is gone and she has room for her stuff…Isn’t that the way it works.

OK I have to clean the RV up inside…make the bed… wash dishes… vacuum… roll out the rugs… clean off the desk… make the  bed…sort the laundry…clean the AC filters and then clean the bugs off the front cap of the rig and clean with Mark Hall’s “The Solution”.

WOW… “The Solution” does the trick! See the reflection of the clouds and the ladder on the front cap!

One other thing that I have been doing here is walking around the park. I make four trips around the park every morning and four every evening. This is to help me lose some cholesterol. I don’t want to end up taking meds for this. I don’t take meds for anything now and don’t want to start.

That about wraps it up for this exciting day. Believe me I will stay busy today. So for those of you out on the highways stay safe. For those of you just hanging around have fun and join me later…

Somewhere in Time