January 12, 2017

January 3, 2017

 Last month I included our itinerary for the spring trip back to Oregon and said it was written Jello.  Well, we stirred the pot a little and made some changes:
2-6 Apr:  Calistoga, CA.
6-11 Apr:  Travis AFB, CA
11-15 Apr:  Beale AFB, CA.  Joyce and I really like the California Gold Country so we’ll do some exploring there and hopefully visit friends who live in Nevada City.
15-18 Apr:  Redding, CA.
18-27 Apr: Valley of the Rouge State Park, OR.  Gonna do some exploring the area.
27 Apr-1 May:  Jim and Jeanne Glaspey’s RV Park, Oakridge, OR.
1 May-1 Jul:  Tumalo State Park, Bend, OR.  Hosting.
1 Jul-1 Sep: Smith Rock State Park, Terrebonne, OR.  Hosting.

 When we arrived at Hidden Valley we met Dave and Jan Sasse from Minnesota who are on their first extended trip in their 5th wheel trailer.  We plan to go to the San Antonio RV Show together and take them out to Lackland AFB for a Basic Military Training graduation.

January 6, 2017

 Yesterday Joyce, Dave, Jan and I went to the San Antonio RV Show to check out what is new in the RVing world.  Well, a lot has changed in not only in the new motor coaches but a lot more interesting improvements have been made in building 5th wheels.

 We saw some 5er’s with two bedrooms, a lot with a bath and a half others with front living rooms or galley’s.  It is amazing what manufacture’s have designed in just the last six years since we bought our Landmark 5’er.

 I would say that more than half of them had residential refrigerator's and some were even all electric, a trend in the building of higher-end motor coaches and trailers these days.  About 75% had king beds and two that we looked at even had a very large walk-in bathroom.

 The weather here in south Texas has made a drastic change for the worse.  It got down to 31º lasts night and right now at 7:45 AM we’re even getting a little freezing rain.  The high for today is forecasted to only make it up to 39º with a low tonight to 26º.  Both of our heat pumps have been working overtime and we even have a floor heater going in the living room.

 The crazy part of all this weather is by Tuesday the forecast is for the temperatures to get back into the high 70’s and even in the 80’s in some places.  It’s a wonder that folks don’t get pneumonia around here.

January 7, 2017

 Burrrrrr…….!  Man, it’s cold down here.

 Yesterday a cold front moved into south Texas and hit us like a pile driver, sending the temperature down to 21º this morning.  Before we went to bed last night I made sure the fresh water tank was full, disconnected our shore water hose and switched from the heat pumps to using the furnace for our heat.  The forecast for tonight is more of the same.  Grrrrr!

January 9, 2016

 Joyce and I went to see  Passengers yesterday.  Very good movie with a lot of great cinematography.

 The temperatures here are starting to warm back up thank goodness.  Last night it got down to 45º and the high for today is going up to 70º.  Thursday and Friday it’s supposed to be in the 80’s.  Yay!

 Tomorrow we’re taking to rig up to Iron Horse RV to have them give us an estimate on repairing the roof where the clear coat is pealing off.  There is a possibility that our insurance is going to cover some of the work so we are keeping our finger’s crossed for that to happen.

January 11, 2016

 Yesterday we got up very early hoping to beat the traffic on I-35 on the way up to Iron Horse RV and to be on time for our 7:30 appointment.  Well, that didn’t work out so good.

 When Joyce went to lower our satellite dish the darned thing stalled out and we got an error code that indicated the elevation motor was not working.  So, in the dark and fog up the ladder I went.  The roof was very wet so I was not happy about that.  There wasn’t anything that I saw blocking the mechanism so after digging out the operators manual, the troubleshooting section said “yep, it’s broke and to call Winegard".  Well, ain’t that special.

 Joyce started searching the forums on iRV2.com and found an entry by someone that had the same problem.  We followed his directions to recalibrate to dish and that did the trick.

 On the way up the highway we ran into stop and go traffic in the downtown San Antonio area which added to our frustration and our one-hour delay getting to the shop.  I wish you could see the dash camera video of the drive.  It would scare the devil out of you.

 The estimate to fix the roof and to do some other work on it is $8,613.  Holy poop Batman!  The labor alone is $7,260.  We are hoping our insurance will pick up some of this cost but we are betting that they won’t cover it all.

 When we got back to Hidden Valley the satellite dish deployed perfectly but just for grins I called Winegard.  I didn’t want to wait on hold forever so I just left a message fully expecting not to hear from them for a few days.  Well, about an hour later a really nice gal from their tech support called back and explained what had probably happened.  A few days ago we had some pretty high winds here and we are sure that the dish got buffeted around a bit.  She recommended that we lower the dish in winds above 30 MPH and to re-calibrate the system every few months.  Why isn’t that information in their manual?

January 12, 2016

 Yesterday Joyce, Dave, Jan and I had lunch Lin’s International Buffet which we think is one of the best Chinese restaurants we have ever tried.  Tasty food that was all fresh and very reasonable priced.

 After eating way too much we went to tour the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Plant.  The tour started in the visitor center and then we made our way over to the main plant where we boarded a tram for the guided drive though the plant.

 Toyota builds their Tacoma and Tundra trucks in a huge facility here in San Antonio. The plant operates two shifts, six days a week producing about eight hundred trucks a day.  We found it interesting that the employees work on two teams which rotate shifts every two weeks.  Each shift is eight hours with 1.5 hour mandatory overtime each day.  For their first two weeks of employment they are required to spend two hours in the plant’s gym after their shift is over strengthening their muscles.  Also, each shift begins with a six minute stretching routine.

 During the manufacturing day there are over 7,000 employees working which includes the several parts supplier companies on site.  The plant also uses the “just in time manufacturing” principle which allows them to build both the Tacoma and Tundra on the same assembly line.

Tomorrow we are going to fly to Orlando, And then drive up to St. Augustine to visit Michelle and her family.  I am in the serious need for some “grand baby spoiling” time.

Have a great day!

December 31, 2016

Here’s another edition of “Where We’ve Been and Where You Should Go Too”.

 Greune, TX

Greune (pronounced Green) is really not a town at all, just a bump in the road off of Highway 306 outside of New Braunfels.  Once a significant cotton-producing community along the Guadalupe River, the town has now shifted its economy to one supported primarily by tourism.

 The major attraction in Gruene is Gruune Hall, the oldest dance hall in Texas.  Just about anybody who is anybody in country music have graced the stage at Gruene Hall over the years including Willie Nelson, Randy Travis, George Strait and many more.  It was also the set for the movie Michael staring John Travolta.  The great B. B. King and Gregg Allman have also played the Hall over the years.  Our good friends The Peterson Brothers Band opened for B. B. at one of his shows and regularly play Gruene.  Check out the calendar here:  http://gruenehall.com/calendar/

 Joyce and I saw Randy Travis at Gruene several years ago before he had his stroke and we have stopped in several times to catch who is doing a free show that is going on most every Saturday and Sunday.

 There are also many shops and boutiques in Gruene as well as some really good restaurants. We have eaten at the Gristmill River Restaurant and Bar a couple of times but there are several more places in town to get a meal.

 So, put on your pressed Wranglers, a pair of boots and make your way to Gruene.  You’ll be glad you did.

December 21, 2016

  A couple of days ago we stirred the pot and changed our travel plans when we leave Texas and head west in the spring.  We have always wanted to see Big Bend National Park and we have heard that is the best time to visit there.

 So, we’ll leave San Antonio on 1 March and make our way to through Del Rio to Marathon where we plan to spend a couple of days.  It’s only about 85 miles down to Big Bend from there so we’ll just drive the car down rather than spend a lot of money driving the motor home.

 From there we’ll stop at Fort Davis to see the sites there and then continue on west making stops in Las Cruces, NM and Tucson, AZ to arrive in Tempe on the 8th or 9th.  Hopefully we’ll be able to get a spot at the Elks Lodge there.

December 23, 2016

 Last night we went to the Christmas party at the Commercial Street Bar in town.  There was some really good food and a lot of holiday cheer going around.  Joyce made a pot of her killer pinto beans that was a big hit with everyone.  Tumble Dry Low provided some really good music.

 The highlight of the night was seeing Jay and Stephanie Harvey again.  Back in 2010 when we were here Jay owned Ervie Jay’s Beer Garden, the "in-place" in town.  Jay sold that place a number of years ago and most folks were sorry to see it go.

December 25, 2016

 Merry Christmas everyone.

 Yesterday Joyce and I made a road trip to San Antonio.  The main purpose was to visit an Apple Store to upgrade our computers to the new operating system but we also did an exchange and commissary stop at Lackland AFB.

 Why go all the way up over to San Antonio to do updates?  Well, Joyce has been have some trouble with her MAC and she has not upgraded the operating system in a long time.  Also, since we use a Verizon Jetpack as our main internet access we are limited on the amount of data we can use.

 After spending about an hour and a half at Apple we stopped for supper at Cheddar’s, one of our favorite restaurants in Texas.  We both had their crispy chicken salad and as always it was delicious.

December 26, 2016

 We had a relatively quiet Christmas Day.  We did drive into Victoria to have our Christmas meal at the Golden Coral that was very good.  Everything was prepared well and tasted very fresh.  We then spent the rest of the day relaxing.

 We’re starting our last week of hosting here at Goliad State Park and we’re looking forward to moving on to something new.

 We had planned to go up to Shiner for the dance at TKO’s but that has fallen through.  The other day I noticed on The Scott Taylor Band’s Facebook page that we needed to make a reservation.  You might recall in an earlier post here that we had talked to the bartender up there and she said we didn’t need reservations.

 Well, I called them and they said yes, they are selling tables for $150 for four seats.  We wouldn’t mind paying that if we had someone to help share the cost but that’s a lot of money for just Joyce and I.  We might be able to sell the other two seats to someone up there but there is no guarantee on that.

 So, as disappointed as we are we will just hang out at home on New Years Eve.  We may spend it here at the park or just head on over to San Antonio on the 31st.  We’ll figure that out in the next day or so.

January 1, 2017

 Happy New Year everyone.  Joyce and I hope that 2017 will be a great year for all of our family and friends.

 Yesterday we packed everything up and headed over to the Hidden Valley RV Park near San Antonio in Von Ormy, TX.  The drive over was relatively easy.

 Mark and Terri Blaschke met us as we pulled in and I have to say it was like coming home.  We have been to Hidden Valley several times in the past and it’s one of our favorite places.  We’re going to spend the next two months here.

 Last night Mark and Teri had a big bonfire to welcome in the new year.  There was fireworks going off all around the area, some being really huge.

Michelle, Abigail and Skyler

 Gotta go for now.

Barry & Joyce