Bike riding in great weather

I actually slept in this morning. I was up late last night so I guess it would stand to reason that I would not have gotten up early this morning.
We had our coffee this morning and then stepped outside to enjoy the warm weather. Sherri took her games with her and I took my book. We sat out for some time and then decided to get on our bikes and ride around the park. This is a good park to ride a bike. We have lots of concrete. There are well over 100 camp spots here and miles of roads to ride on.
As we ride our bikes around we check out all the different brands and models of RV's. It never fails that we don't find some that we have never heard of. Sherri likes to get back and go on line to see the layouts of the new ones we have seen to see what they look like.
We did some pork chops on the grill and then settled back to enjoy the shows on TV...NOT. The March Madness is still on so we have to resort to HGTV.
In March 1836 they gave 100+ Texans the choice of watching March Madness on TV or going to the Alamo and standing off 5000 Mexican soldiers. The Texans chose to go to the Alamo...

Somewhere in Time

Weekend Change

Sunday morning came and I drug up later than usual. I got up to go to the bathroom and took a look at the clock and saw that it was after 6:00. I decided not to go back to bed and just start the coffee and get some computer time in. Sherri was still sleeping and I was real quite moving about getting my coffee. There was dishes in the sink but I dared not do them for the noise that it causes.
I poured my first cup and sat down at my new computer...which by the way I really do like and for the money it was worth the purchase.
I had not been up long when I heard Sherri moving about in the bedroom. Soon she was in the living room and I was pouring her a cup of coffee. We grunted at one another and then found our scriptural seating and sat there for some time until we were both awake. We had looked up and discussed everything yesterday so today we went right into reading journals and Sherri caught up on her games with friends.
I, on the other hand did some traveling on the Internet and stayed at some wonderful places that I have read about over the years. I have decided to follow the Passport American parks and the Escape Parks to route my journey to where ever we go
Like I said this is Sunday and it is time for all the weekenders to head to the house. We use to have the same exodus at the lake every weekend. For 36 years we lived at the lake and every Friday the boats and campers would crowd the roads around our neck of the woods and then on Sunday all would start heading back to home.
It is not much different than where we are now on weekends. Friday morning all the RVers pour into the park we are living at and then come Sunday they all pack up and head out. I love watching the coming and going. Watch the folks set up their little camp area and pull out all their toys. The ladies always, after guiding the driver into the parking spot, would disappear into the RV and only reappear when the slides were out and the driver had completed his or her outside duties.
It would bring back memories of our little family going through the same ritual when we were young. Now we settle in for the long haul and live where we are for some time.
The weather here has been great! I can't complain at all and love to sit out on the patio and read my book and watch the comings and goings of all the people here.
One thing I don't understand is these folks that have these golf carts? What is the deal with driving around...or maybe I should say cruising around all day long...up and down the rows of RVs. I for the life of me see know since in it. I think we all need to be walking around getting some exercise rather than sitting in a cart driving around.
I, for one have enough money tied up in S T U F F. I don't want anything else to have to maintain. It is all I can do to keep up with the insurance and maintenance of the things I have now.
 Anyway I watch them come by...and get this they are drinking beer! Yes, DWI's running around all over the park. Not only that some are texting and they have small children strapped in the back as this is going on.
I guess I am out of step with today's cool things to do...but I could not bring myself to spend the money on such a thing and haul it around with me just to ride around the park and drink beer???
I'll stick to my bike for transportation here...

Somewhere in Time    

Another day doing nothing

Kris stayed busy at the playground with friends....We on the other hand did nothing

We both pulled out of bed this morning about 5:30. We had plans on doing so much but have found out since we have retired we don't follow through with our plans as we use to. I guess we keep putting things off until the next day.


So this day has been spent sitting at the computers thinking of things to look up. We bought two new MH refinanced the one we have 3 times...bought two houses...found us a RV lot and moved there...in mind only and finally made a grocery list that we have not filled yet.
WOW I am worn out and need some rest. Life is good and we are happy here...

Somewhere in Time

We made it

Yes we made it to Marksville. We came in with our sail out the side of the MH. We are now set up in our new home site. Sherri and I had to spend some time rolling the awning back up on the roll and securing it to the MH.
Sherri took the ground side of the operation and I took the ladder side. We had the awning about half way up when the wind decided it was going to start blowing! Just a little bit harder and we would have been air born. We finally got it all the way up and secured. I got on the phone and called around to see if I could fina dealership that was authorized Dometic dealer. Found one just up the road in Alexandria. What luck...I hope to make the appointment to fit in with our move north in two weeks. We will see how that goes.
This morning Sherri headed up to the casino to do a little money making...or losing. She did OK but not enough to pay for the awning repair.

We got a back-in spot because they have so much more room on the side 

This is my favorite spot. I have plenty of concrete to park the bikes...set the chairs...and cook the dinner

Today I am going to clean all the beach sand out of the bays. It was raining when we left the coast and you know how that is when you are packing up to leave. Everything just gets thrown in the bays and if it is dirty nothing can be done about it until you have dry weather to clean it...

Somewhere in Time

Trouble leaving and arriving

We got up earlier than ever! I don't know why but we were both up at 4:30 in the morning. I guess being the day we were to depart we were anxious to get going. We made our coffee and sat with each other and talked about our route we were going to take. I had planned to go on the fairy which would eliminate going through town and all the morning traffic.
I was pretty confident that our awning was secure enough for the trip. I double checked it when I went outside to start getting things ready to go. I watched the slides as Sherri brought them in and then I checked the jacks as she raised them.
That is when I noticed that the drivers side front jack had a broken spring. OH me one more thing for me to worry about. We finished getting everything ready and then pulled up to the office to hook up the Jeep.
I got everything hooked up and then went to putt the 12 volt cable in and could not get it to go in! I worked and worked and finally Sherri got out of the Jeep and came around to see what was taking so long. I told her  I could not get the cable plugged in. She took the plug from me turned it over and plugged it in. OH! OK so that was my FIRST mistake.

Got on the fairy with no problem

The Bay was rather choppy. You can see the ships waiting to be piloted in to the port.

We checked everything out with the Jeep hook up and then pulled out and headed for the fairy. We were driving down Seawall Blvd and that is when we noticed that the wind was blowing out of the Northeast. That is the way we are headed. OK so we are going to be headed straight into the wind all day. There goes my gas mileage. I was surprised when I got to the Flying J in Orange that the price of fuel was $3.27 with my discount card. Well one thing is working in my favor.

Crossing into Louisiana 

Hello Louisiana 

We fueled up and then pulled out for the last leg of the trip. All went well through Lake Charles and then we caught I 49 in Lafayette and took off north. I hate when you get behind those eighteen wheeler s and the back wash starts shaking you back and forth...
That is when I made the SECOND mistake. I decided to speed up and pass the truck. Well that is when the wash off the truck sucked the awning out of the roll and well you know what happened next.
Lucky for us it happened at the exit to Marksville. We pulled off and into a big parking lot. I got out to see what I could do to fix things. When I opened the door and walked outside I noticed that it was freezing cold! I got the ladder out and tucked the awning back in and tied off the ends. That is as good as I could do for now.
We crippled in all the way to Marksville at 30 miles an hour with a line of cars behind us as far as the eye could see. I was so happy that none of those folks got road rage and started shooting at us.
We finally made it to the RV Park and got checked in. It was cold here! We left 70 degree temps and arrived in 40 degree temps! What ever happened...could it be we headed north and that is why it is cold?
Now it is raining and I have to set up. I'll get it all done...

Somewhere in Time  

Visiting with family

My niece and her husband drove in from California to visit with her Mom...my Sister. We had decided to hang over two days in order to see them before we head off to Louisiana.
June had invited us over for dinner so we could all hang out together. Scott cooked hamburger on Jim's new BBQ grill and June and Debbie put all the sides together. Sherri whipped up her famous banana pudding for desert  and the feast was on.
Some friends of my sister that Sherri and I have known forever came by to see us and have dinner with us. John Ramsey and his wife Glenda go way back with our family and we were so glad they dropped by to visit.
We all had a great time and planned on everyone coming by our place tomorrow to swim and visit some more.

Sherri Debbie and June 

Scott and Debbie 

Here we all are after a great meal

Had fun hope to see you all again

Oh and one thing about my awning. It was not a fuse it was the motor. It had burned up for what ever the reason and it will have to be replaced. I am going to see if there is a Tech in Marksville that can replace to motor and get us back working. I am calling Tiffin to see if they can ship the part to us at our next destination.
I went ahead and put away all of our outside things. In the morning I just have to unhook and dump our tanks and then we will be ready to pull out. We have about a 5 hour drive give or take 30 minutes. I'll say "Later" until I land in Louisiana...

Somewhere in Time

Easter With a Broken Awning

What a bright and beautiful day. It is Easter and the Bunny came and went and we are up and Easter Egg hunting time and time again.
After the hunt and breakfast we decided to sit outside and enjoy the warm sunshine. Sherri playing her game and me reading my book. Gee the sun sure is hot let's put out the awning and sit in the shade. The electric awning went out just fine but when we decided to move down to the beach to get some sun we tried to put it in and nothing happen.
OK it is Easter and that is when you want to have a mechanical problem. Absolutely no one is open and the likely hood of high winds and rain is on the horizon. That leaves only one thing left to do and that is to drag out the owners manual and see what Sherri and I can do to fix the problem.
The fix is noted in giant letters only to be done by a qualified service technician. I looked at Sherri and she looked at me and we both knew that neither of us was a technician of any sorts so we had to go to the page that says if one is not available and you have to get your awning in.
Of course it is written in technician language but we brought all our knowledge of the English language in and figured out what the heck they were talking about.
I finally got the awning where we could manually roll it up ourselves and it stayed for the time. Now I have to find a service person to come out and fix it.
This will be what I have to do come Monday morning. Hopefully they have a repair person's card up in the office that can come out and see about this...

Somewhere in Time

Relaxing day

Arlene...a chat room friend and fellow RV Dreamer...called me and Sherri this morning and told us she was just down the road from us at Jamaica Beach RV Resort. She said that she would be there today and would like for us to come over...so we did.
We had to eat some lunch first and then take a call from our grandchildren on Tango. Franki had just learned to ride her bicycle and they wanted us to see her. She was really doing well and we are so proud of her. Thanks for letting us be a part of that.
We made it over to Arlene's and found out that she had her grandchildren with her which was great for Kris. He made friends fast and before long they were having fun together. Kris had a ball with all those boys and Logan and Joey taught him how to play chess. They had a good game with the yard chess set. Joey and Kris won the game with a Check Mate
They had a Easter Egg hunt and that afternoon were going to have a wiener roast, which we were unable to attend. The boys swam hunted Easter Eggs played chess and generally had a great time.
We soon had to say our goodbyes and head back down toward Galveston to pick up some groceries. What a wonderful day with good friends here...

Somewhere in Time

NASA trip

The 27th was Kris's Birthday and time for us to head out to NASA to see all the space junk we could in one day. Kris has been talking about this since last Christmas and this is what the trip to Galveston was all about.
We had a quick breakfast got dressed loaded up the Jeep and pulled onto the highway in record time. We are normally slower than this in the morning but being the special occasion that it was we hurried our steps a little.

NASA 1 was our exit off of I 45 then down the road for about 3 miles to the entrance. Kris saw the signs and made sure that I turned in time to get there.

This was the first thing that we saw when we got inside the parking lot. WOW...Kris could not believe what he was seeing and wanted to go on board and fly off into space. Mom said no...we have to be back home  before the traffic gets bad on the Interstate...so the flight was cancelled.

The Apollo Moon Rocket was more than we could get in the lens. It was hard  to believe that it took this much rocket to...

 get this capsule to the Moon. 

Kris stands next to the Apollo 7 crew on his 7th Birthday

They told Kris he was about the right age to go on the next maned flight to the Moon and then on to Mars

This is Kris and I in the simulator...Kris wanted out after the first flip we took chasing an enemy plane. I think I would have made a good pilot, however, with Kris's help we brought down three planes before I had to abort the flight.

Kris said he had the best adventure yet...

Somewhere in Time 

Kris's party

Kris's Birthday is not until the 27th of March but we decided to have his party yesterday. He wanted his Aunt June and Uncle Jim there so we went ahead and planned the party one day early.
 June and Jim have to leave Thursday for Canton First Monday. Jim sales street signs there and has been doing it for about 18 years now. He has a business in Galveston and sales street signs to Texas Counties for new roads and replacement. He came up with the idea to do novelty signs for individuals and sell them at Canton. It has gone over real big...well he has been doing it for 18 years and still does well.
Kris had wanted them to come to his Birthday so we decided to meet them at the Healthy Chinese Restaurant for lunch and then we would have the party at our place.
Kris has a Birthday month as he calls it. We had set a limit on how much money he had for his Birthday and he buy what ever he wanted up to that amount and then that was it. Doing this for the whole month has been exciting for him and easier on us...not having to find or pick out things for presents.
We did hold back a few presents for him to unwrap at the party and his Aunt and Uncle had a surprise for him too.
We had cake, sang Happy Birthday and opened presents. It was a real nice party and Kris really enjoyed all the attention! Next year we are planning on having his party where he can invite some friends over. He will be 8 years old and will need a party with kids his age...not that we are not fun...LOL

First Post on my new computer

After coffee this morning and shortly after school was out I got on the Ipad and started to write my journal entry. I was having so much trouble trying to get the pictures done and move around on the post that I finally just gave it up and decided it was time for me to get a new computer.
My old HP had served me well for about 5 years and finally just stopped performing at all. I had seen an add on TV about the new Chromebook by Samsung which sparked my interest. After researching it I decided to go down to Best Buy and try one out.
Sherri Kris and I loaded up the Jeep and headed north up the Interstate to Best Buy. When I got to the store they had one and I sat down and went over the "cans and cannots" about the lap top and decided that this was the one for me.
Now understand it is not much more than an advanced IPad...but it does have a keyboard and thumb drives and I can do all the things I need to do on it and all for under $300.00 dollars! I still have my desk top for my Window based software. I still do all my pictures and document work off it. So now I am a happy camper once more. If you are in need of a second computer this might be what you are looking for. Having a fixed income the price of this unit really worked well with my budget
After purchasing the computer we all went further north up I45 to the Jeep dealership to get my oil change. I had purchased a contract for oil changes from Chrysler for some ridiculously low price back last year. I was hoping that I still had some changes left so we stopped and found out that we did have 4 changes left. Finding that out I had them do one of them and not having to pay for it was right up my budget.
From there we went by Mardell's to get Kris some homeschooling material and then it was time for a stop at the gas station for fuel. By this time we were in the going home traffic on I 45 which was not too bad the closer we got to Galveston.
When we got to Galveston we made one more stop at the Dollar Tree...which by the way has become my favorite place to shop in all the world. Sherri and Kris picked out all his Birthday plates cups and napkins for the big party! Kris wanted to pick out a Birthday card but we had to explain to him that you don't pick out your own card...He is blond you know.
We got home and grilled some pork chops and Sherri made a great salad. What a great ending to another great day...

Somewhere in Time