Snow and the Electricity is out

 

Well here we are in Gladewater Texas and we have a foot of snow on the ground. We had hoped that we would miss the snow by sneaking off to east Texas but Old Man Winter found us here and not only snowed on us but knocked out the electricity too.

We worked yesterday and when we got off it was snowing pretty good. It was not sticking at that time so we thought we might have dodged the bullet on this storm. Much to our dismay we noticed last night before turning in that it was coming down even harder and it was starting to stick on the grass.

 

This morning when we woke up and looked out the windows we were surprised to see that the snow had accumulated to almost a foot! Well that just made our morning. It did look real pretty but then we new it would all melt and we would have a muddy mess here and that was not good. We are leaving tomorrow and I do not like to pack up in the mud. Everything is so wet and messy and you have to pack it all away and then when it dries out you have to clean up this mess…When will it dry out? How much wet mess will I accumulate before I get to clean it up?

I am working off battery now and hope that it stays strong until the electricity comes back on. We have a generator but I don’t want to use up all the propane on that when I will need it for the heat! Boondocking is for the spring or fall months…not during a snow storm. If we run out of propane we cannot have the tanks filled up because they need electric to run the pump. Well now isn’t this a fine predicament. 

We were going to finish up our laundry today so we would have all clean clothes to start out next week on. This wont happen today. They don’t have electric in any part of the park…or the town for that matter. All we can hope for is that the electric comes back on before we run out of propane.

Well all you Dreamers sitting in those warm climate places and sucking up all that sunshine…which we have not seen in weeks…just stop every once in a while and think about us Eskimo RV’ers here in the tundra. This will be our last winter in the north and you can take that to the bank….

Somewhere in Time

Here we are in Gladewater

Well here he is….Chucky Cheese

We got here to the RV Park in Gladewater about 4;30 pm and the sun was just about to hit bottom. I really don’t like to arrive that late anywhere but I had no choice. We had to drop  the G-kids off at their house and then get back on the Interstate east. We enjoyed the kids and the party at Chucky Cheese was just as many of my reader commented…something else. I would compare it to a little peoples New Orleans street party!

Kristi’s first birthday cake at the Chucky Cheese

Plenty of Pizza to go around

Kristi is live on TV

 

So many games to play where do we start???

Things started to calm down about 8:00

We survived the party…and made it to Gladewater in time to watch the Super Bowl. What a game that was. Sherri and I were on a football pot so we had a vested interest in this game. Sherri being from Louisiana was pulling for the Saints and I was pulling for my numbers. Well she got her wish but not one number of mine came up so I still have to go to work.

We turned in after the game due to extreme fatigue. Monday would be here all too soon and with us doing a full store set we had to be rested. The store is located in Hawkins about 17 miles from where we are based. We will have to get up at 5:00 to make it by seven. 

The weather as usual here sucks! It is raining and cold. What’s new you say… Which brings me to my next paragraph…

Weather men…now that is a job you can really BS your way through. I heard this morning one of them say that there was a possibility that it would not rain in some areas. Now tell me is that a prediction? So your saying that it could rain somewhere and then it might not rain somewhere and if it does rain you’re OK and if it doesn’t rain you’re OK… What is it with this 20% chance of rain? Boy can you imagine if you told your boss that there was a 20% chance you might make it to work or you might make your budget! How long would you have your job?

I have to laugh when I hear some of this stuff on TV. Even the news is getting ridiculous. Listening to these commentators talk about what happen and then how it happen…knowing they don’t have a clue. What is really bad about it is we all take it in. No matter what they say we believe it to be true.

The rain let up here and we are suppose to have a dry day tomorrow. Wednesday is also going to be clear but cold. Colder each day until Thursday and then snow. Might be as much as 6 inches and maybe less in some areas. Sleet could occur in some places and there is a possibility of some icing on bridges and overpasses. Roads may be hazardous where ice has accumulated….Duh!

Well I hope your weather is better than here and I hope to be there…

Somewhere in Time. 

This Working Sure Gets in The Way of Posting

 

We made it to Hickory Creek COE and we are now settled in. Sure feels good to be back to our favorite park. We have always enjoyed being here at the lake. The shopping is close by and also my oldest daughter lives in Carrollton and we get to see the grandkids.

 

We parked in one of favorite spots right on the lake

Kris and Maw Maw are driving the remote control truck 

Kris having fun with his remote control truck

This is his Rollie truck…Rollie let Kris set in his truck and now he has one too.

Nice view out our Arizona room windows…wish it was Arizona!

We were up early made some coffee showered and got dressed for work. We were headed to Super Target today to set up new Campbell Soup Racks.

I made my cup of coffee to go and Sherri drove to the store. We got to work about 7:30 and had a easy set up. We got checked out and we were on our way back to the RV.

Today we pick up Kris. We have not seen him in two months. He is at the day care and we will meet Janet there. She has to check him out and then we can take him home. Before we go home we have to stop by the store to by Kris’s sister Kristen a birthday present. She will be a year old this weekend. We are having a party for her at Chucky Cheese. Kris will spend the night with us and then we will take him to the party.

Sun coming up Saturday morning was sure pretty. Soon it was over cast and no more sun.

Kris showing off his RV.

Clouds came in and soon there was no more sun. It was nice while it lasted.

After the party Kristen and Kris will come back home with us and so will Sarah we will keep all three of them. This will be a first for us keeping Kristen. She has never stayed with us before so it may be interesting.

I will have a full report…well if we make it out alive!…

Somewhere in Time  

What’s up With Idol

 

Another world wind morning. Coffee made showers taken clothes…jumped into…Coffee on the go and we are off to Rowlett Texas.

This is a short hop today…only 45 minutes to this store and then a short change out. We were out of there before you know it and on the way to eat.

We returned home…and ready to move. We are headed to Hickory Creek COE Park. We have stayed here often over the last year and we love it. It is located right on the lake with great views. Located close to shopping centers and restaurants. You still have the feeling of being far out and each site is situated where it has some privacy.

We packed up and were on the road by 1:30. Coming into Dallas from the east we found the traffic light and made it across town with out too much problem. We had an reservation so when we pulled into the park it was no time before we were parked and relaxing.

We will be here for the rest of this week and then we move back to the east Texas area around Gladewater.

The rest of our day was spent cleaning the RV and settling in. We watched some TV…Idol to be exact. What is it with these people they have try out on that show??

I know that panel of judges do not view all those applicants that they show waiting to try out. They have to have a panel…maybe several panels that weed out the ones that will be on the show. How do they let some of those nut cases through. That must be part of the show to let some of these no singers try out just for a laugh. I sat there in awe trying to figure out how that person ever thought they could sing. I guess the show would never go over if it did not have these people come on. I know we have a good laugh watching it…how about you?

Better go now and get ready for bed. I will have to get some sleep so I can keep going….

Somewhere in Time

Making Plans to Move

 

This morning was a little hectic. The coffee got made but there was not too much time to drink it. I had to pour mine in a to go cup and take it with me in the truck. We were heading to McKinney Texas to set up some Campbell Soup Racks. We up and dressed in record time…trying to beat the Dallas traffic on LBJ.

We gathered all our S T U F F  and we were off and running. We hit the highway and all was well until we got to Mesquite and that is when the traffic started backing up. Oh my…we don’t like working in this part of the world. We still made good time and before we knew it we were at the Super Target on Highway 75. 

We drove by the front door…Grocery side….and noticed that they don’t open until 8:00. We had to park and walk up to the door and tap on it until someone inside saw us and let us in. I guess we could have gone around back and gone in the vendors entrance but this worked out OK.

We finished up in no time and then headed back home. I had not eaten any breakfast so I was hungry…who me…hungry…can you believe that? We found a Souper Salad and had a late lunch. We did not linger long and soon we were back on the road to the house.

We arrive home about 3:00 and started planning on moving to Hickory Creek COE park at Lake Lewisville. This will put us closer to our stores we are working and we wont have to get up so early to get there.

Well that is about it for this day. I will post when we reach our new location. Stay tuned for the move…

Somewhere in Time

Another Cold Day Inside

 

Good morning…we are still in cold weather and my computer is still suffering from a virus…so to speak. John Hatch sent me a WEB site that may cure it’s illness. We are going to load it today and try it out. I also noticed that many of my readers sent comments with the same site. Thanks to all of you that sent me cures!! I will give them a try and see what happens.

Sherri and I had our coffee this morning and pretty much decided that we were just going to spend time on our computers while the wash was being done. We are washing clothes this morning and then we will take them to the barn to dry. Our dryer is still out in the RV and we have not stopped long enough to have it repaired. I will have to remove it from the RV and take it to a repair facility.

While this is all going on we are contemplating doing our Income Tax on Turbo Tax…the free short form. We don’t have to go the long form anymore…Duh! No more than we make it is a wonder we pay any taxes at all! We want to get it done so we can take that big return and buy us a hamburger and cold drink.

 We had a good time with June and Jim

Last night we had company come to see us. Jim and June  came by to visit and we had a real nice dinner…Thanks Sherri for a great meal! June and Jim live in Hitchcock Texas just north of Galveston. Sherri and I love spending time with them. They are up here for First Monday Trade Days. They took off early to come and spend some time with us…thanks we really had a wonderful time.

Well in the time that I have been posting I guess my download has taken care of the Virus??? Well let me put it this way…no pop ups so far. I may have to tweak it somewhat to make it better. Thanks again to all my readers out there that contributed to this fix. Maybe I can chat once more and not be knocked off by that virus.

Our new driveway….will it ever dry out?

Better get the clothes together and get ready to head to the barn. We will dry clothes out there and I may piddle around in my shop for a while. Sure will be glad when my driveway dries out…

Somewhere in Time

Trip Out East

 

I woke up this morning with just my nose sticking out from under the covers. I pulled my hand up to touch it and found that it was cold…does that mean I am healthy? I think it just means I need to turn the heat up in the RV so we can defrost before we get up to drink coffee.

Thank heaven for remote control thermostat. I put it up to 70 degrees and it came on with out getting up. How lazy is that? Oh well I have worked all my life so now I can be lazy.

It did warm up and we got up and made coffee. Sherri and I both slid into our recliners and covered up. Coffee was ready and we poured a cup and then started planning the day. We decided to head east to see about a few RV parks we have been looking at on the Internet. They are located close to some of the jobs we will be working later on in the month so we just wanted to see what they looked like and decide on witch one we would feel more comfortable in.The first one was http://antiquecapitalrvpark.com/

Antique Capital RV Park outside of Gladewater was our first park to examine. It is right off the loop around Gladewater. It is about 2 or 3 minutes from downtown which Sherri liked. The rates there are fare and they have WIFI and cable.

The town of Gladewater is referred to as the Antique Capital of Texas and it lives up to that too. There are so many antique shops there your head will swim. I can’t wait to go there and spend a day walking around town and looking at the old furniture there.

Being a cabinet maker of sorts I have had an interest in duplicating old antique furniture in my shop. Over the years I have done many pieces that I am proud of and having a place like this to go and get many more ideas….well is pretty special. Somewhere in the future there is a trip to Gladewater being planned.

OK we next went to Shallow Creek RV and Golf Resort. http://www.shallowcreek.com/ We liked it OK but the road getting to it was under construction and it would really be a hassle getting in there. The sites are all paved and they had patios and plenty of room for slide outs. All the RVs there were nice and the park over all was nice and clean. I would recommend it to anyone but it was just not what we wanted as far as location to the town and our work.

It was getting on towards 3:00 when we started our journey back to our RV park outside of Canton. It was about a 45 minute drive and we both were hungry. We drove a short distance and hit the Interstate headed west.

We are having my sister and brother-in-law over tonight for drinks and dinner. Jim and June have a shop at First Monday Trade Days in Canton. They sell personalized street signs. Yes street signs with your name on it. I have one that says Pitman Parkway…cool. If you are ever in Canton for First Monday stop off and buy a street sign with your name on it.

Better go now and get my chores done before they get here. Come join me later on ….

Somewhere in Time

Still Having Problems With Computer

 

I woke up this morning thinking maybe the computer fairy had come in the night and fixed my computer. Well after making the coffee and setting down I turned on the HP and low and below that fairy had not come to see me. I still have that Anti Virus program blocking my web pages. What is the deal with this. I can’t even find out what program it is. When it comes up and wants me to purchase the plan for another year I find no name. All it says is that I have a virus and the only way to get rid of it is to pay them $59.95.

 Well I will just have to put up with this pop up mess until I can get time to take it to the doctor to see what they can do. I feel like reaching into the computer and ripping out the heart of this Virus Protection. It wants to tell me how bad this virus is…when it should be worried about how bad I am. I can’t chat on Facebook…it has me blocked! I think chat is out all the way around.

One thing that makes me happy is the fact that my kids are law officers. They are doing real well. I pray for them all the time for the Lord to keep them safe. Be careful going through Van Zandt County Texas, however….they are watching you.

My daughter and SIL are about to leave for work

Many of my readers have noticed that I have not been posting lately. Well I am back in action now and hope to work around the problems I am having.

Sherri and I have been having fun working together and exploring new places while on the road. We are trying to make this next few months as fun as possible until we can hit the road for real. We have set a $ goal and when we reach that we will be seeing you down the road. Yes we will be traveling to different places and seeing new sites and having new adventures.

One adventure today is going to Gladewater Texas to see an RV park there where we might call home for a while. We will be working in that area this next month. I will have some pictures of it for my next post. Until then I guess I will have to say so long until we meet again…

Somewhere in Time

 

Problem With My Computer

 

Well it has been a while since I have posted on my journal  but I have has some problem with my computer. Seems as though the security software that I had purchased with my computer has locked my programs up until I by another year of service? Yeah…go figure that one out. Well they will lose conscience before I ever update with that system.

OK Sherri and I finished out a week in Clifton Texas at the Brookshire’s store there and headed home. We finished about 4:00 and then packed up our tool boxes and got out on the highway. We decided to stop on the way to eat us some dinner. We had Mexican food and the finished the last leg of the trip. It sure was nice to pull into our spot here just outside of Canton Texas. I really don’t like staying in hotel rooms and being home is much more restful.

It began to rain as soon as we got home. The weather report says that we will be having rain for the next day or two. It is becoming a bog here. We would love to have a week of dry weather so we could clean outside the RV. We now have a ton of road dirt that has built up. The longer we have to wait to clean it off the harder it will be to do so.

I am looking forward to this long weekend off. We plan on getting some things done and maybe seeing some sites in the area. I hope that this computer holds up for a while so I can keep in touch with all of you…

Somewhere in Time 

Staying in Hillsboro

 

Here we are in Hillsboro at the Best Western. We got here about 3:00 and settled in to our room. The rooms here are clean and are furnished nicely. We have a large desk which we moved out into the middle of the room so we can both set our computers up and play.

We set around and played on the computers and then when the game came on we started watching it. We both wanted the Saints to win and were really getting into the game. When the Vikings came up with the ball in the last minutes or so we really were down! Our hopes were really shattered and the hopes of going to a Super Bowl were fading away.

Alas!…the game went into overtime and the field goal was about to happen…when the digital signal started that crackling and pixilating….The ba…is….dwn….its…u…its…crackle screen goes away…no way to know if it was good or not…until the picture cleared for a short time and I could see the people on Bourbon St jumping up and down and toasting and…wait….that goes on all the time there…did they win or are they just having a party? I ran to the computer and dialed up sports and found out that they made the field goal and won the game!!! Yeah!!! Go Saints.

OK now I have to watch the Super Bowl and start this agonizing feeling all over again. I hate sports…why do I spend time watching while my blood pressure goes up and I get so involved in the game I want to shake the TV off its stand. Sherri just sets there and watches me come completely apart and just laughs.

After the game we went and ate a bite at the Black Eyed Pea. It was a little late to be eating but we were hungry and had to eat something. Travel days always throws our schedule off for eating.

We got our showers and then turned in for the night. Tomorrow is a work day for us so we have to get to bed so we can get up. We have to drive 35 miles from the motel to the store we work in so that means we have to leave about 7:00. This will be my first store set so it should be interesting to say the least. Stay tuned for the continuing saga of Speedy and the Store Set…

Somewhere in Time    

   

Waiting on Family

 

We sat down to drink our coffee and read some journals this morning and while doing so we contacted Rodney and Becky. Rodney and Becky for those that don’t know are Sherri’s brother and SIL. We asked them what their plans were for the day to see if they might be on the way out here. We found out that they had failed to turn the water off in their barn and the pipes had frozen, flooding the entire barn!

Well they were coming out to see if it had all dried out yet. They had been up the week before to vacuum up some of the water and turn some fans on. Anyway they would be up today to see to that and we told them that we would meet them there. Our place is next door and Sherri wanted to dry some clothes at our barn so the plan was made.

It was after noon before they called to let us know that they were there so we drove over to see them. While Sherri and Becky visited at our place I went over to see what damage they had received at their place. It did not look all that bad but then they had cleaned up a big part of it. Rodney told me that he had just forgot to turn off the valve at the barn and it froze solid and then busted. Well when the temps got up… well you know the rest.

We visited for an hour or so while Sherri dried clothes and then we invited them over to our house to have dinner. We left and stopped by town to pick up our mail and get Sherri a Lottery Ticket. We then stopped by Brookshire’s to get a few items for dinner and then on to the Park.

Sherri have marinated some pork chops to grill out and we added some sausage to the grill. I cooked it outside while it rained…of course…it has been doing that a lot here lately. We had a real good meal and ice cream for dessert.

Then it was time for them to leave and head back to Dallas. We said our good-byes and wished them safe travels. We too will be traveling tomorrow to Clifton Texas. We will be staying there in a motel. I will bring you up to date on that journey tomorrow…

Somewhere in Time.