October 27, 2012 -- A short Update

Wow, the month has slipped away while we were busy!  I have been so preoccupied with all the things going on, that I forgot to take any photos!

We arrived and quickly discovered a water leak in the laundry room.  The plumber went through the outside wall rather than move the hot water heater, so that made it easy for him.  And then we had to hire J & J Construction, who built this house in the early 1990s and built the new RV port last spring, to come fix the back wall of the house.

While they were here, I had them go ahead and fix the back wall and roof of Larry’s golf cart barn…and then some minor repairs to the house roof.  Hey, the savings account is only money—might as well spend it!  Johnny and his crew also removed the front porch railings that were rotting from the humidity—living in the South is so much fun.

The little square box under the faucet bib is an access panel just in case we need more plumbing work done in the future.  J & J replaced the bad sections of siding with Hardy planks.  We are working our way around the house, slowly!

(The yellow boards are awaiting painting.  First I have to paint the rain board—dividing the two areas—white.  Which I got done today.  Next I have to paint the boards the same beige-pink.  Always something needing work!)

Just after the work was done, we were blessed to have Jerry and Mary Frye come with their trailer for a short visit.  They were headed west after spending time in the East, including Washington, D.C.

The Fryes and Jennings managed to get in a dinner at famous Florida’s Restaurant. They serve the BEST ribs in Texas, smile.  Sorry, so busy eating, I forgot to take any photos, but we did order extra so we can have Florida’s ribs on our trip west to Quartzsite.  It gives us something to look forward to on the long drive, smile!

Next, we were further blessed to have John and Linda Acarregui stop by for a few days to attend TexFest, Rainbow’s Ends’ answer to Oktoberfest this year.

Cathie Carr planned and organized a Texas-sized celebration.  A  lot of the local park residents jumped in and volunteered resulting in a great event!  As part of the celebration, we have an annual Bake Sale Auction to raise funds for the Livingston Fire Department.  The sale raised $8,500 this year brining the total donated by Rainbow’s End to over $100.000!

We enjoyed John & Linda’s company and I fell in love with their new family member—Rascal.  Yes, I took a photo of him!  Guess that shows my priorities???

Isn’t he just the cutest little thing?  He is as inquisitive as a cat with 109 lives—and very loveable.  I am sure he keeps John and Linda on their toes—staying one step ahead of him. (He heritage is called Morkie—a winning combination of a Maltese and Yorkie.) 

So, now that TexFest is over and our company has left us, I am back to trying to finish up the house repair work (will paint the new boards beige this week) and fire the kiln later coming week.  I have thrown 12 bowls that are now ready to fire.

And, of course, I have to finish waxing the camper before we head west.  We are going to try to do a few fun things in November and I will take photos!

Larry & I wish you a very Happy Halloween—hope yours is filled with lots of good sweets treats!

October 1, 2012 -- Back in Livingston—Why????

Well, we did it—made the trip between Antioch, CA, and Livingston, TX, in only 9 days.  We got a head start for the first two days, so we were able to travel less than 150 miles a day for several days and then made the rest up on Wednesday—when we came in doing about 260 miles.  It was a long, long day.

We decided on the I-40 route because it was cooler up there—being 102 degrees at the turn off to Lake Havasu City and only 95 degrees in Kingman, AZ.  Once we made the decision to stay high, the weather was delightful.  I wondered several mornings, why are we leaving this cool, comfortable weather??

From Enchanted Trails RV Park outside Albuquerque, NM, (see our visit in July ….) we traveled through the big city without even slowing down (it was 10 am on Sunday morning :)) to Santa Rosa, NM, where we dropped down toward Ft. Summer and then over to Clovis, NM. 

We called in a reservation at the only Good Sam park in town, Traveler’s World Campground for a full hook-up site, but had to settle for just water and electric for $21.  For the first time since we left Tracy, we dropped the car off the tow bar and drove into little Clovis to get a bite to eat and visit Wal-Mart. 

We ended up having a delicious Sunday dinner at Applebee's courtesy of my sister Karen.  We hadn’t had a chance to use the thoughtful gift certificate she gave Larry in March.  Larry said his steak was very tender and tasty.  And the onion ring were to die for!  That was a nice birthday gift.  Thank you, Karen.

 

We stopped at the Sweetwater, TX, Elks’ Club the next night ($10)and then at Cowtown RV Park in Aledo, TX, just outside of Fort Worth, TX.  Normally we would have avoided Cowtown as being past our budget—but they are now a Passport America park!  Yippee!  Only $16.25 for full hook-ups.   As I was sitting there at the picnic table, I realized:  The most expensive rates aren’t always the best parks and the worst parks aren’t the cheapest.  It has been an interesting summer.

Being able to use Cowtown, put us in position to pass through Ft. Worth just after commute hours and get a head start on trying to make Livingston that day, if the wind didn’t blow like Tuesday.

The fun part of the next day was catching up with the Dudleys on their way home from Sasche, TX, the same morning.  Usually Howdy is up and on the road before Larry turns over at 6 am.  Cell phones are fun because it allows RVers to check in with friends—and in this case, discover the Howdy and Leslie were behind us about 10-15 min. by Corsicana, TX.  We stopped at the next Rest Area and they caught up with us.  We exchanged hugs and then they were off to Livingston with us following way behind at our sedate 55 mph.  What fun!

We arrived about 2:30 and started unloading.  At 4 pm., we discovered a leak in the back wall with water on the laundry room floor. Darn and double darn.  This is the third leak in the bathroom area of the house in one year!  The normally faithful plumber stood us up the next day and we had to call another plumber who couldn’t come until Friday.  So, the house was without water Wednesday and Thursday nights—so no laundry or cleaning. Darn and double darn!

My big project this trip is to try to have the roofs replaced. Now we had to address the hole in the back side siding which leads to replacing some siding and getting that wall painted too.  It is like pulling that thread in a sweater and watching the sleeve fall off.  The project list just grows and grows!  Ugh!

As of this afternoon, the camper is unloaded and clean inside, the car is washed, and we are settling into the house with lots of space around us.  The funny part is the house isn’t moving like in the camper does, but the house bed mattress moves too much!  The camper mattress is on a firm surface and the house bed is on a box spring.  When Larry moves in his sleep, the whole bed shakes. Whoa!  Good thing RVers are adaptable.

I still have a bit of yard work to get done and the outside of the camper washed and waxed.  Then, only then—I can play with clay again!