December 31, 2018

December 26, 2018

Joyce and I had a very quiet and peaceful Christmas Day.  Joyce made a turkey breast that we got at Costco and then we just sat around watching TV.  We had decided not to exchange gifts this year buy but I did slip this to Joyce anyway:

The song was played at our wedding.

 It’s been raining here today with some thunder bumpers in the area.  Not really going to cause us any problems here at Hidden Valley.

December 29, 2018

 The days are rolling right along here in Von Ormy. 

 On Thursday we drove up to Fredericksburg, one of our favorite towns in Texas.  First, we had lunch at the Sozial Haus that was once owned by our friends Trey and Sandy who we met a couple of years ago at Tumalo State Park in Bend, Oregon.  Trey and Sandy are full-time RVer’s that are now in Sedona, Arizona where Trey is workamping at a private golf course.  After having a delicious meal we walked around town checking out all the great shops.

 If you follow my Facebook page you know that our car was hit in a parking in the Whole Foods parking lot in north west San Antonio.  Here is that post:
“Just sittin' in a parking lot minding my own business this afternoon waiting for Joyce who was shopping and I hear a "whack'' with a sharp movement. A gal who was pulling into the spot next to me hit the right back quarter panel of our car. I jumped out the car and asked her did she know she hit my car and she said, "Did I hit your car"? Duh. Well, we exchanged information and I told her she might want to call her insurance company ASAP. I did take pictures of the damage to my car, the marks on her car and her license plate. After getting back in my car a gentleman walks up and told me he saw the whole thing and gave me his card. He's a lawyer no less. Brian advised me to call her insurance company now before she did and told me he is available if I need anything. I did that and got the ball rolling to get my car fixed.”

 After getting a call from Progressive Insurance Company I went through the relatively easy process of doing the online appraisal.  All I had to do was download an app for my iPhone and just follow the directions.

 Yesterday morning we got a call from Progressive letting us know that they are accepting full responsibility for the damage to our car.  They then sent an email with their network shops here in San Antonio.  So we drove up to Star Collision Repair and started the process of getting the repairs done.

December 31, 2018

 Joyce and I can’t believe that this year has gone by so fast.  And what a year it has been.  Se saw a lot of beautiful places in this great country, dodged some fires and even saw some serious flooding in Texas.  But, all in-in-all it has been good and we're looking forward to 2019 with enthusiasm.

 Here are a couple of screen shots of our travel’s in 2018:

We made so many stops this year that I had to make two maps.

 Happy New Year to all.

Until 2019.

Barry & Joyce

December 26, 2018

December 13, 2018

 Our Norcold refrigerator’s ice maker has been giving us fits for sometime now.  It leaks water during the filling process which freezes in the ice tray making a mess and sometimes the shutoff arm sticks.  After doing some research and found a couple of suggestions that might fix the problem but neither of them worked.  Finally gave up and ordered a new one which should be here today.

December 15, 2018

 Joyce has been having some problems with her Ninja mixer lately.  It looks like that the large mix attachment is missing a part so the only thing she can use is the smaller smoothie canisters.  Also, the darned thing is large and takes up a lot of storage room.  So yesterday we drove up to the outlet mall in San Marcos to see if we could find a immersion blender.

 She wanted to get one with a silicone end so she could use it with her really nice cooking pots but we couldn’t find one.  All the ones we looked at had a metal tip.  So on the way back to the house we stopped at a couple of stores but didn’t have any luck.  After we got home she found one online and got it ordered.

 This morning I went over to the office for the usual Saturday morning coffee and snacks.  I met  a couple who are part-time RVer’s and a home is Portland, Maine.  They have three son’s who are all in the military, two U.S. Marines and one who is a Navy Seal.

 The other day I was doing some research on some of my relatives who live in and around Spartanburg County, South Carolina.  After a few minutes I came upon some Bryant’s from that area that were married to some of my Crocker relatives.  For sometime now I have suspected that I was related to the Bryant’s but never had any real proof until now.  Well, that discovery has opened up a whole side of my family so I probably have a year or more of research ahead of me on that side of my family.  I’m pretty excited about this discovery.

December 22, 2018

 Father Time is is marching at a very fast pace right now.  Both Joyce and I can’t believe it is almost Christmas.

 We have been staying close to home lately with just a couple of trips up to the Quarry Shopping Center that is north of here.  Joyce likes to go to the Whole Foods store to get their chicken sausage and healthy stuff.

 Since I don’t have a lot to write about so how about another edition of “Where We’ve Been and You Should Go Too”.  This one is about Gettysburg, PA. and the Battlefield.

 The Battle of Gettysburg was fought July 1-3, 1863 and pitted Major General George Meade’s Army of the Potomac against General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.  It turned out to be the bloodiest battle of the War Between the States with Union Army casualties over 23,000 and the Confederate’s at somewhere between 23,000 and 28,000.

 If you plan to make a trip to Gettysburg we highly recommend taking a guided tour through The Association of Licensed Battlefield Guides.  Our tour was an hour with the guide riding in our truck which he would have driven if we had wanted.  During the tour we went to several area of the park and where we didn’t stop, our guide pointed out areas that we should go back and see later.  By-the-way, we recommend you take at least two or three days in the battlefield area.  See this page for making a tour reservation:  https://gettysburgtourguides.org/reservations/

 In addition to touring the battlefield make sure you visit Gettysburg National Cemetery.  The cemetery was dedicated November 18, 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln during a “few remarks”, now known as the Gettysburg Address.

 Also in the area is the we also visited the President Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower’s home that is also worth a visit.  https://www.nps.gov/eise/index.htm

 You can read about our September 2012 visit there here:  http://barryandjoyce.blogspot.com/2012/09/

 Here are more link’s that you might be interested in checking out:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg
    https://www.nps.gov/gett/index.htm
    https://www.destinationgettysburg.com/index.asp

 Joyce and I stayed at the Artillery Ridge Campground which is affiliated with Passport America giving us a half-price discount for all four days we were there.  This park is closest to the battlefield but the roads and parking sites are on dirt/stone and might be muddy when it rains.  Read the reviews here:  http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/pennsylvania/gettysburg/artillery-ridge-campground-2429
December 25, 2018

 Merry Christmas!  We are spending a quiet day here at the house today.  Joyce plans to make us a turkey dinner but that is going to be about the whole she-bang.  We do plan to call the kids sometime today as well.

Barry & Joyce

December 13, 2018

November 23, 2018

 When we got back to Hidden Valley after our Florida trip our Directv receiver was indicating that we had no signal from the Winegard Trav’ler satellite dish.  After resetting the receiver we were still getting the same error.  After resetting the dish system we got an error message on the controller that there was “No LNB Voltage”.  Well, that ain’t a good thing.

 I suspected a loose or corroded wire in the system somewhere could be the issue so I checked the wiring in the coach but all was well there.  While I was doing that Joyce got on the internet and found a web site that explained the problem and what was done to fix it.  One of the suggested fixes (and the fastest) was to replace the wire from the LBN to the dish connection.  I got a new temporary cable at the Lackland AFB Exchange and that fixed the problem so we ordered a new cable from Winegard.

 On Wednesday we got up early to have the rental car at Hertz by 9 AM.  After that task was completed we then drove up to Joyce’s allergy doctor’s office to pick up some more inhalers for her and to get the office to call in the prescription to Express Scripts.  Next, we then went to Costco to get a pumpkin pie for the Gobble Day dinner here at Hidden Valley on Saturday.

 Joyce has been wanting to get headphones for sometime now so we stopped by the Lackland Exchange and picked her up a pair of Sony WH-1000XM2’s.  After she setup her new headphones they were great for music but when talking on the phone there was a lot of echo that was annoying.  So we took those back and picked her up a pair of Bose QuietComfort35’s that are working great.  By-the-way, with all the discount’s and a loyal customer refund card we had the price was way below the sticker price.

 Yesterday we went out to the Gateway Club at Lackland AFB to have Thanksgiving Dinner.  They put on a great buffet with just about anything you would want including turkey, prime rib and all the fixings.

November 26, 2018

 On Saturday we went over to Mark and Teri’s house for their Harvest Potluck celebration.  There was a lot of food and we got to meet some really nice folks who are staying here.

November 29, 2018

 Yesterday we were up very early to drive up to Randolph AFB to get Joyce a new retired ID card.  Seems that is the only base in the San Antonio area that takes walk-ins and they old do that from 7:30 to 9:00 AM.  It turned into a painless process.

December 2, 2018

 For the last couple of days Joyce hasn’t been feeling all that well so yesterday I took Joyce to a urgent care clinic where she was diagnosed with strep throat.  So she is going to hanging around indoors for the next few days.

December 12, 2018

 I can’t believe how time is flying by here at Hidden Valley.  We haven’t done anything special so I think I’ll wrap this edition up and publish it.

Justin, Adrian, Travis and the new addition Victoria Athena.

When I went to Basic Training we stayed in two-story, open bay barracks.  The new "barracks" are a lot different.

The old Lackland AFB Chapel.  I think I actually went to services there once.  Today it is used for special occasions, especially for weddings.

 

Until next time.

Barry & Joyce