A word of praise

I don't normally praise any business that I have come to use for service...however in the case of Explore USA in Canton Texas I will take the time to let you know that they are the most professional service center that I have dealt with since Explore USA in Denton Texas. 
Yes both Explore USA and they both were top notch professional people to deal with. 
If you are looking for an RV and want good service after the deal then I suggest Explore USA! 
Thanks guys for taking care of me and my home...

Somewhere in Time 

Back at the lake

Sherri Kris and I headed out to Louisiana for the family reunion. We had a wonderful time at Grande Bayou Resort. We stayed there for four days and came  back Monday. Every year the family gets smaller but this year I noticed there was more children there than usual. Maybe we will have a new generation coming up that will take our places.
We experienced some rain storms on the way back. I always am exhausted after driving in a storm. When we have sunny skies and good weather I can drive forever but when it is windy or rainy I am so tense that I am actually sore when we stop.
We are having to fill out our income tax forms for Ober-care. This affordable insurance they came up with is a pain in the be-hind. Thank God I am a veteran and don't have to put up with all that. 
Not much shaking today but just stick around and we will come up with something...

Somewhere in Time 

Fence is just about done

 

We started this fence Friday and today...Sunday...we just about have it done. Sherri and Kris were hand in hand moving and grooving with the project until they had it well in hand. I could not ask for any better help than this.
Tomorrow we pick up our RV and we are sooo excited we cannot hide it...its about to blow our minds!! Sherri will have a kitchen and I will have an ice maker! I  think I have died and gone to heaven.
Well I am just about to fall out of this chair. I have had my hands wrapped around a post hole digger all day long and I really need to climb into the shower. 
Stay tuned for updates...

Somewhere in Time 

Monday is the day

 

No this is not our RV...This is where the fence will be going in

 

The idea is to keep the dog out and hide this hideous pile of metal. 

The dealership called to let us know that we could pick up our RV Monday. They said they would have all the warranty items completed and the only thing left was waiting on the approval to change out our movie seating. We have had trouble with the unit that came with the RV since we got it year before last. The recliner mechanism would not recline and you had to wiggle the chair for it to work. Sometimes the recline would recline without someone in it! This is all suppose to be repaired and if they approve it we will be getting new recliners. 
Sherri is so excited that she will be getting her kitchen back. She has had to wash dishes in the lavatory in the bathroom and drain the dishes on the top of the washing machine. Yes she will be in heaven when she gets her kitchen sink back.
Later in the year we will be putting in a kitchen with a dishwasher so she will be even more ecstatic when that happens. Not asking for a lot when you just want someplace to wash your dishes.
I am starting the fence in the back yard today. Yes I know I said the projects were over but we have a problem with the neighbors dog using the backyard for a toilet. They must feed that dog well...the bowel movements are tremendously large and they don't belong in our yard.
OK so much for all that information. I need to get my hands wrapped around that post hole digger and get some holes in the ground...

Somewhere in Time   

Storms are over for now

We have had wave after wave of storms pour through here and we are so thankful that we had no tornadoes! We did have a lot of rain which is always a good thing for the lake. 
Our projects are complete now and we have more time to plan our future trips. Colorado is looking real good this year...they say we are going to have a hot summer. I just can't take the heat like I use to. Being in the mountains is so refreshing. Having to wear a jacket or sweater in the summer is really nice too.
Today is a school day for Kris. He is learning multiplication  division addition and subtraction of fractions.We will be starting statistics in the next couple of days. That is what I did for a living before I retired. I looked over the lesson plan and found out that there is much more to my job than I knew...lol. It is all in the way they teach now days. I am not real keen on some of the methods they use but then if it gets the point across I will sure use it.
Well better get cracking this morning. I have to get some things together so when we pick up the RV I can get them loaded up. Having unloaded things when we dropped the RV off they have to be put back...

Somewhere in Time

 

Got some good news

Just setting around and the phone rang. It was the dealership calling to let me know that they got all the parts in to fix the RV! We are elated! Just think we may get our home back here in the next few days.
We are planning on going to Louisiana in two weeks but did not know for sure if we would have our house back by time to leave. Looks like now that we will so the planning goes forward.
We are having the family reunion in April and always enjoy seeing all the folks there. We will only be gone for a few days but getting away from the lake will be good. We have been so busy here that this will feel like a vacation.
Not much else going on. We will be leaving for Colorado in May so that is something to look forward to...

Somewhere in Time 

Birthday coming soon

Saturday there will be a party here at the lake for Kris. It will be his 11th Birthday. We had told him that we would take him anywhere he wanted to go but he chose to have party here. 
OK so we went into the planning mode. We had to come up with some grub for all and party favors prizes for all the games we are planning and on and on...
You know the program for parties. And with Kris right here it is hard to surprise him with anything! So we have to let him plan the party and the only surprise he will have will be the presents. 
This will be a family party. We normally invite some of the friends but this time with as many grand-kids as we have there are plenty of people to fill up the party list. With as may kids that there are in this family we are having parties real often...too often sometimes. They are starting to run into one another!
Well that is about it for today. Sherri and I are getting ready to head out and get some of the prep work done. We need to stop by our RV and retrieve some chairs and tables for the party. I think I will get my fishing rods...the weather is calling for some good fishing soon and I need to be there for it...

Somewhere in Time  

On line sale

This is the front of the cabin

Sherri did some landscaping out front. Looks really good now.

Our home is gone and the RV port looks lonely 

Here is the new shop and art studil

Made a walk out to the new addition. New septic tank is still settling and needs some landscape

RV Port is empty so we have a very large patio

This is the new studio...I need to Paint! 

My shop has been useful while building our new digs.

Sherri and I are back to parting with S T U F F again. We still have stuff that we have not used in years...nor will we use in the future. So it has been put on line in our area for sale. I have already had a good response to the ads and I hope to unload some of this stuff before we leave for Louisiana next month.
Our project here is coming to a close this month and it will be good to have some time to do nothing at all. We have done just about all the projects we set out to do and for the most part they have turned out real good.
The RV is still out at the dealership waiting on approval from Forest River to fix the warranted items? Go figure...I never have to wait on Dodge to approve warranted items on my truck? I guess it is a new age of Warranties that has come into being.
I have to have my house back by the 10 of next month so I can go to Louisiana. We have reservations there for a few days to visit family. I am going to ask our Service Adviser if that is going to be possible. It has been gone for 8 weeks altogether trying to get a light installed and a vent fan in the bathroom repaired. I have built a cabin and a shop at the lake in that time...and they can't fix my RV? OK I know I have been on the subject for some time...I miss my home. Maybe they will get tired of keeping it and let me have it back...

Somewhere in Time  

Got to paint today

Yes today I had a few things to help Sherri with and then I was on my own for a time. It took a while to find all my brushes paints and so forth before I could get started. By the time I found all that I knew it was useless to start a new canvas so I just started to finish one of my oils I had been working on for some time. 
I have several pictures that I took in Colorado last year and some pictures that others have taken and put on Facebook. There are plenty of material out there for me to work on. 
Last year I did not have a chance to do any plein painting but maybe this year I will have that chance. We plan on leaving a little earlier this year so we can catch some of the snow on the mountains and maybe catch some of the wildlife that have not gone back up in the higher elevations.
Until that time I will be in the studio working on the material that I have saved up...

Somewhere in Time 

Weather Change and so did the time

Yesterday...the rain started about 3:00 pm and continued off and on all night long. The temps fell into the low 40's and boy was it a change from the 70's that we had been having. 
I got some projects done in the shop. 
Becky and Rick came by and visited for a while. We are planning a trip to Louisiana in April so we laid out some plans for that. It was nice having them come by. Not too often do we get visitors and when we do we talk their heads off...LOL.
After they left Sherri made some hamburger helper and we watched TV until time to go to bed. It was a nice day but the temps were falling all day and I know we will wake up to a real cold morning...

Somewhere in Time 

Dropped off the RV

Sherri and I packed up and sent the RV to the Hospital for warranty work. They said it could be as much as 6 weeks before they get all the work done. 
We are having some furniture changed out due to bad quality so that in itself will take a long time. I wish they (Forest River) would speed up the process and get us an approval so we could get our house back.
We are OK in the cabin here for now but not having a full kitchen is going to wear on Sherri real quick. You know not having everything at your fingertips is hard when fixing a meal.
Well that is one of the things you have to put up with when you are having repairs done. They said it takes so long because they have returned the RV's to their owners and when the parts come in the owners are no where to be found. They are stuck with the parts and have to eventually pay for them out of their pocket. I need to take a look at their warehouse and see what they are holding...might be something we cannot live without.
Oh well as long as I get it back before we head out for Colorado. I don't want to spend one day in the heat here...

Somewhere in Time