June 15, 2012

06/12/2012

We have been at Smith Rock for almost two weeks now and I can tell you, it's great to be back in Central Oregon and to our favorite park.

Mount Bachelor, Broken Top and the Three Sisters, Faith, Hope and Charity

Joyce and I have been a little busier this year than in years past.  Our co-hosts last year, Jerry and Marilyn Howlett, couldn't make it to Smith Rock due to a medical issue.  So, Joyce and I have had to step up to the plate and put in a few extra hours.  Not a big deal, but we don't have as much free time as we like.  The good news is that Matt, our new ranger and host coordinator has found some folks that will be here the last week in June.

On Tuesday last week, we took a long drive over into the Ochoco National Forest, through Mitchell, OR and then into the Painted Hills Unit of the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.  The Fossil Beds in actually headquartered in John Day, OR and has four units, the Painted Hills Unit being one of them.  We hope to see more to the Monument before we leave the area in August, especially the Thomas Condon Paleontology Center at the Sheep Rock Unit.

After leaving Smith Rock, we took Highway 26 out of Prineville.  This park of the  highway winds it's way through the beautiful lodgepole pine forest, which is especially nice this time of the year. Although it was a partly cloudy and windy day, we really enjoyed that part of the drive.

After descending  out of the pines, we made our way down into the high desert, finally arriving at the small town of Mitchell, OR.  Not much more that a wide spot on the road, Mitchell never-the-less has a diner, a hotel and I think I saw a hardware store to boot.  Oh, and I almost forgot to add, the Silver Spur Lounge.  We enjoyed our picnic lunch at the city park which, believe it or not, boasts an RV Park.

After visiting the booming town of Mitchell, we backtracked to the Fossil Beds and a must see if you are in the area.  The hills were alive with color, which was caused by volcanic activity many moons ago.  Absolutely beautiful!

From the Fossil Beds, we took Highway 207 north out of Mitchell and then Highway 19 up through Fossill, OR.  Out of Fossil we took Highway 218 then 293 over to Highway 97 south through Madras.  It was a long, but  beautiful drive.

On Sunday the 10th, Joyce and I along with Scott, Smith Rock Manager attended the 72nd Annual Sisters Rodeo.  Although much smaller than the San Antonio rodeo, this rodeo had a small town feel (much like the Goliad, TX rodeo), with the majority of the cowboys and girls being from Oregon.  However, since this is a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association event, there were several contestants from as far away as Texas.  We have already made plans to attend the 73rd event next June.

The Team Bronc Riding event, which Joyce and I had never seen before was really wild.  In this event, three-man teams must catch a wild horse, halter and saddle it, then a team member mounts to ride the horse past a barrel at the far end of the arena. The team has a mugger, an anchor and a rider. The horses are ranch-raised but unbroke animals who may grow up to be in bucking strings if they like the job. This was one of the first events in Sisters Rodeo history.


On Monday the 11th, we drove up to The Cove Palisades State Park in Culver to have supper with Rick and Patty Stills who were on their way to visit family and friends in Vacaville, CA.  Rick and I served together in the 7th MAS at Travis before he got an assignment to Altus AFB, OK.  It was great to see them again.  We plan to visit there home in Rathdrum, ID in August when we start our trip to the east coast.

Retired and Lovin' It!

06/15/2012

Last night we had supper with Sharon, Smith Rock's Interpretive Host at the Pump House Bar and Grill in Terrebonne.  Sharon is a full-time RV'er who has been traveling for several years and at one time made a trip across the country in a camper-van.  She also has a son who lives in Peru, and has visited there a few times.

More later!

June 2, 2012

05/17/2012

Good Mornin' All!

We have been at Devil's Lake for two weeks now.  It's good to be back in Oregon State Parks, the best state parks in the country.

Devil's Lake is not near as busy as it was when we were here last September.  You can actually drive in and select just about any camping site you want and if you can believe this, yurts are available, except on the weekends.

The weather has been great for the most part while we have been here, even getting up to 75 deg. one day.  It would be usually raining this time of year so we're really lucky.  Hope it lasts until we leave on 1 June.

On Monday the 14th, Jim and Jeanne Glaspey came to the park for a visit.  Jim and I did a lot of relaxing and the ladies played bingo a couple of times.

Jimmy likes his wine!

On Thursday the 17th, Jim's sister Donna and her husband Dwayne arrived.

Oregon Coast

05/31/2012

Wow, time really fly's when your havin' fun!

The last half of the month at Devil's Lake was fairly quiet for the most part.  We did have a few days of rainy weather but later in the month we finally got some sun making our stay much nicer.

We did have the weekend warriors from Portland hit the park with a bang on Memorial Day, filling almost every camping site and all the yurts.  For the most part they were all good campers just out for a good time.  We did have a some isolated incidents but nothing serious.

Yesterday morning we hooked up and went to Les Schwab's in Lincoln City to have the brakes on the trailer checked.  After some troubleshooting time they discovered that the brakes were in fine shape but all four if the bearing seals had blown out causing grease to get all over everything.  The technician cleaned everything (using a case of cleaning fluid in the process), lubed the bearings and replaced the seals.  He said that the seals were not installed correctly at the factory causing them to blow.  Anyway, the brakes work much better now.

We are now at Champoeg State Park for two nights.  After getting setup in our parking site we drove over to Wilsonville to have a bite to eat.  We found a small pizza joint called Boone's Junction that turned out to be pretty darned good.  Not the best pizza we have ever had but the atmosphere was great and the beer was cold.  Oh, and Joyce got to win on their Lottery machines.

Last night we got an email informing us that Bobby Bragg, a former 7th Military Airlift Squadron Flight Engineer has passed on to his reward.  I flew with Bobby several times, including my first trip to Sydney, Australia back in 1979.  Rest In Peace brother!

06/02/2012

After a nice restful couple of days at Champoeg, we hooked up and made the run over the Cascades to Smith Rock State Park.

As she did from Devil's Lake to Champoeg, Joyce rode her scooter ahead of me.  It was a beautiful day with very mild temperatures and plenty of sunshine, just the kind of day for a motorcycle ride.

I caught up with her just west of Detroit Lake so we pulled in there and had a great sandwich at the local deli.  We met a couple from Houston, TX who were on their annual two month vacation and were very interested in our full-time RVing lifestyle.

More later!

May 5, 2012

04/17/2012

We are now back at the Napa County Fairgrounds RV Park in Calistoga visiting family and friends.

Last night we had supper at Tomatina Pizzera in St. Helena.  Good pizza but a little pricey as most things are there and all over the Napa Valley.

04/23/2012

We left Calistoga on Friday the 20th and drove to the Rolling Hills Casino near Corning, CA.  After getting set up in our site we had dinner at their seafood buffet which we rated about a six on the one-to-ten scale.  The only thing fresh on the menu were the oysters and even those were a little mushy.

On Saturday morning we head up I-5 and met Art and Kandi Jones for lunch in Redding.  I flew with Art in the 7th Military Airlift Squadron and had not seen him in over 25 years.  It is always a treat to see an old friend again.

Our plan after leaving Redding was to drive to Klamath Falls, OR and spend one night at the Air National Guard base on Kingsley Field.  The base doesn't take reservations and no one was answering the phone but we decided to give it a try anyway.  When we pulled up to the gate the guard told us that the RV park was full.  After calling one of the RV parks in the area, which was also full, we just decided to just drive on to Oakridge.  We are now parked at Jim and Jeanne Glaspey's home with full hookups including free WiFi service.  What a deal!

Glaspey's RV Park, Oakridge, OR

Max and Lacy Glaspey

Max wants a cold one too!

Yesterday Jim and I did some work on our coach and started getting the Swivel Wheel ready for the scooter.

Last night Gary and Marcia Stevensen had us over to their home for a wonderful chicken parmesan dinner.  Maria is a great cook and we often wonder why Gary doesn't weigh 300 pounds.

Today we have to go to Eugene for Joyce's eye doctor appointment and pick up a few things to finish the Swivel Wheel.

04/29/2012

We have now moved on to Champoeg State Park near Saint Paul, OR.

Our stay with Jim and Jeanne was fantastic!  On Tuesday we visited with my cousin, Leonard Vance and his wife Susan.  Len had recently had back surgery done and is now recovering nicely.  It is always a pleasure to see Len and Sue.

On Wednesday Jeanne along with her daughter Heather and son-in-law Brian arrived from Arroyo Grande, CA.  Jeanne had been down to their home dog sitting while Heather and Brian were in Las Vegas where Heather ran in the marathon.  She as competed in several marathon's and is running in the Eugene Marathon today.

On Friday we had dinner with Chuck and Susan Svendsen.  Chuck smoked some killer ribs that just about melted in your mouth.

As always, our visit with Jim and Jeanne came to an end way too soon.  But, they are coming over to Devil's Lake State Park for a visit while we are hosting there in May.

The drive up to Champoeg was uneventful with Joyce's scooter riding on the Swivel Wheel just fine.

05/01/2012

We have been at Champoeg for a couple of days and have really enjoyed our stay.  It's a beautiful park in a very historical part of Oregon and with plenty to see in the area.

Champoeg State Park

On Sunday we drove over to Newberg to do some shopping at Fred Meyers.  This Freddie's had diesel fuel so we filled up at $4.29 a gallon with our members card discount.

After putting the groceries away we then drove over to Aurora, a small town just off of I-5.  This community is big for antiques so we hit a few of them looking for cuff links that Joyce uses in crocheting projects.

Monday we went over to McMinnville for a tour of the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum, the home for The Spruce Goose.  Joyce and I have visited to the museum before but several new exhibits have been added along with an IMax theater, a water park and a new building for the space exhibits.

05/02/2012

After over 4800 miles on the truck and 409 gallons of diesel fuel averaging about 12.5 MPG, we have finally made it to Devil's Lake for our May hosting gig.  Since leaving Texas in March, the average price we paid for fuel was $4.29; expensive but not as bad as it was in 2008.

It's good to be back in Oregon!

April 15, 2012

03/25/2012

On Sunday the 19th we packed up and hit the road to the Triple T RV Park in Kerrville, TX.  Our plans were to just stay there one night then drive on to Fort Stockton and on up north to Roswell, NM.  Well, all those plans changed in a hurry.

The weather forecast for the Fort Stockton area was for high winds with gusts up to 50 mph with the same on I-10 all the way there.  The weather guesser's were calling for rain and thunderstorms for south Texas so we made the decision to stay put in Kerrville.  That turned out to be a mistake in a big way.  Buy the time we discovered that the forecasted winds across west Texas were not as bad as predicted, it was much too late to move.

As the afternoon went on we saw that the weather forecast's ranged from rain and thunderstorms to severe thunderstorms with rain amounts in the 3 to 8 inch range and possibility of a tornado or two.  Not good folks!

At 6 PM we decided to close up the rig and ride out the storms in the parks clubhouse.  After we settled in with several other folks we tuned the TV to the Weather Channel and we all broke out our smart phones, computers and iPads to track the storms.  Let me tell y'all, the picture wasn't lookin' good!

Around 7 PM, the sky unloaded with torrential rains like we haven't seen in a very long time, accompanied but lightening and some small hail.  To make the evening more interesting, we went into tornado warning mode three times, raising the "pucker factor" a few notches.  There were several reports of tornadoes touching down to the south of us  but fortunately we didn't get one in our area.

Around 1 AM things settled down some so we all headed back to our rigs to get some sleep.  When we extended our slides and going up to the bedroom we noticed that our carpet on both sides of the bed was wet and some water was dripping down through the bat-wing antenna crank tube.  We just sopped up what we could and then went to bed at that point and deal with the leak in the morning.

Around 2:30, we heard a tremendous crack from some lightening that shook the rig.  We immediately knew there was a strike somewhere close to us but we didn't how close until in the morning.  When talking to the park owner in the morning, he asked me if I heard that crack.  He told me that the lightening strike hit his neighbor's house and the resulting fire burned their house to the ground.  Those homes are only a mile from the park!

The source of our water leak was the wire tube for our antenna.  The calking was gone completely and since the rains were so hard, water ran down the tube, onto the top of our bedroom slide and then ran down onto the floor.  Got 'er fixed.

So, we had a very interesting and eventful time in Kerrville but something we hope to never see again.  We really dodged a bullet there!  Learn more about the storms here:  http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CFYQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.srh.noaa.gov%2Fimages%2Fewx%2Fwxevent%2F2012_0319_event_writeup.pdf&ei=uoJwT7zbA-SOiALpt4n7Dg&usg=AFQjCNHwf1QYN5ymvIAwVUlGofkdHTW1Yg

On the 21st we finally got on the road, spending one night in Fort Stockton, TX and then one night in Roswell, NM before arriving here at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, one of our regular stops when traveling on I-40.  The Famcamp here is huge with very large pull-through sites that is always welcome when your pulling a 43 foot rig.  Kirtland has all the amenities including diesel fuel at the gas station...at $4.09 a gallon.

Yesterday we made a visit to the Unser Racing Museum and has turned into the highlight of our stay here in Albuquerque.  The museum's displays tell the story of one of the most celebrated racing families in America, from Louis, Joe and Jerry, down through Bobby and Al Sr., to Bobby Jr. and Al. Jr.

Then there are the race cars.  The collection includes cars that were raced on Pikes Peak, AROC, dirt tracks and of course, Indy.

The Unser Museum is actually two in one.  In another building there are displays of art and the Unser collection of vintage automobiles.  Also housed here is the extensive trophy collection.

03/26/2012

Yesterday we went out to the Petroglyph National Monument.

After checking in at the visitor center, we took a hike in Boca Negra Canyon and climbed to the top of the mesa.  Some of the petroglyphs date back at least 700 years and it's believed some may be up to 3000 years old.

This is our last day at Kirtland.  Next stop, Winslow, AZ.

03/29/2012

We are now in Needles, CA.

We stopped for one night at the Homolovi State Park, just east of Winslow, AZ.  This was our second time at this park, which is a great place to stop when traveling on I-40.

We had a very easy run to here in Needles and spent the night at the Needles KOA.  We normally don't like to stay at KOA's but it was actually the cheapest place in Needles.  We did consider just driving on to Barstow but that would have extended our day to over 400 miles, which is about 150 miles further than we like to drive.

Heading to Edwards AFB today.

04/01/2012

We're now at NAS Lemoore in Central California.

We got into Edwards around 2 PM and found that there were only a couple of parking sites available.  This was the first time that we have seen this park completely full so we're glad we arrived early.  We have found over time to try to arrive early in the day when going to military RV parks that don't take reservations.

On Friday we made a day trip down to visit our good friends John and Sheryl Cain in Hemet, CA.  John has had some serious health issues of late but is now on the mend.  With all the problems they have been through in the past seven weeks, they both remain optimistic that the future will be good.  They are even planning a trip to Hawaii and then back to Nehalem Bay State Park in Oregon to do their hosting gig in 2013.  Way to go John and Cheryl!  Your the best.

We had planned to stay at Edwards until today and then drive up to Fresno.  However, the weather forecast was showing winds at 30-35 mph with possible gusts to 55.  So, we decided to head up here to Lemoore for one night.

After arriving here we made the Exchange and Commissary run and then went over to Spuds Pub and Grill.  Spuds has completely renovated since our last visit here with a new dining room and lounge.  They even brew their own beers which I found to be really good, especially the Porter.  It was very crisp and refreshing with just a hint of spices.  Outstanding!

04/04/2012

We are now in Fresno, CA visiting family.

RIP David.  I Love you.

Had a very easy run up Hwy 41 from Lemoore, arriving just after noon.

Yesterday I had the #8 cylinder glow plug replaced in our truck.  This is the second one to go bad in 125,000 miles so we're definitely not complaining.

04/07/2012

We had a nice visit with my family in Clovis.  My brother Mark and his wife Ronna drove out from their home in Ozark, MO, making the visit extra special.

On Friday morning we packed up and then drove up to Calistoga to visit Joyce's family.  Joyce, her mother, brother and sister-in-law left yesterday to spend a couple of days in Reno.  Since I don't gamble anymore, I decided to just hang out here at the Fairgrounds RV Park.
04/14/2012

We're now staying at the Travis AFB Famcamp.

Joyce, along with her mother, brother Frank, sister-in-law Joanne and their son went to Reno on Friday the 7th.  On Friday afternoon I made the walk into town and had supper at the the Calistoga Inn Restaurant and Brewery.  I can attest that their Red Ale and Pilsner are outstanding.

I did spend some time watching the Masters Golf Tournament, routing for Phil Mickelson .  Unfortunately, Phil had a meltdown on the par 3, 4th, shooting a triple bogey six from which he never recovered.

The big story was Bubba Watson's win on the second playoff hole against the South African Louis Oosthuizen.  Bubba made an amazing shot out of the woods that no one thought he could make for the win.  One of my bucket list items is to attend one day of the Masters in Augusta.  I think I had better save my pennies.

Joyce was a winner on this trip to Reno which made her very happy.

On Monday the 9th we made the long 52 mile drive to Travis.  We have been staying at the base RV park for a number of years so you have read me write about the manager Tony.  Well, he and his wife have moved on and the new manager is in place.  The customer service here has become a high priority with her and it shows.

The other night while Joyce was out with her girlfriends, I heard multiple sirens in the area of the main gate.  Come to find out there was a shooting at one of the bars near the gate where one guy was killed and another was wounded.

Mar 26, 2012

03/25/2012

On Sunday the 19th we packed up and hit the road to the Triple T RV Park in Kerrville, TX.  Our plans were to just stay there one night then drive on to Fort Stockton and on up north to Roswell, NM.  Well, all those plans changed in a hurry.

The weather forecast for the Fort Stockton area was for high winds with gusts up to 50 mph with the same on I-10 all the way there.  The weather guesser's were calling for rain and thunderstorms for south Texas so we made the decision to stay put in Kerrville.  That turned out to be a mistake in a big way.  Buy the time we discovered that the forecasted winds were not as bad as predicted, it was much too late to move.

As the afternoon went on we saw that the forecast's went from rain and thunderstorms to severe thunderstorms with rain amounts in the 3 to 8 inch range and possibility of tornados.  Not good folks!

At 6 PM we decided to close up the rig and ride out the storms in the parks clubhouse.  After we settled in and got the TV tuned to the Weather Channel, several other folks came up as well.  So we all sat around watching the TV and keeping up with the weather on our smart phones and my iPad.

Around 7 PM, the sky unloaded with torrential rains like we haven't seen in a very long time, accompanied but lightening and some small hail.  To make the evening more interesting, we went into tornado warning mode three times, raising the "pucker factor" a few notches.  There were several reports of tornados touching down to the south of us  but fortunately we didn't get one in our area.

Around 1 AM things settled down some so we all headed back to our rigs to get some sleep.  When we extended our slides and going up to the bedroom we noticed that our carpet on both sides of the bed was wet and some water was dripping down through the bat-wing antenna crank tube.  We just sopped up what we could and then went to bed at that point and deal with the leak in the morning.

Around 2:30, we heard a tremendous crack from some lightening that shook the rig.  We immediately knew there was a strike somewhere close to us but we didn't how close until in the morning.  When talking to the park owner in the morning, he asked me if I heard that crack.  He told me that the lightening strike hit his neighbor's house and the resulting fire burned their house to the ground.  Those homes are only a mile from the park!

The source of our leak was the wire tube for our antenna.  The calking was gone completely and since the rains were so hard, water ran down the tube, onto the top of our bedroom slide and then ran down onto the floor.  Got 'er fixed.

So, we had a very interesting and eventful time in Kerrville but something we hope to never see again.  We really dodged a bullet there!  Learn more about the storms here:  http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CFYQFjAF&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.srh.noaa.gov%2Fimages%2Fewx%2Fwxevent%2F2012_0319_event_writeup.pdf&ei=uoJwT7zbA-SOiALpt4n7Dg&usg=AFQjCNHwf1QYN5ymvIAwVUlGofkdHTW1Yg

On the 21st we finally got on the road, spending one night in Fort Stockton, TX and then one night in Roswell, NM before arriving here at Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque, one of our regular stops when traveling on I-40.  The Famcamp here is huge with very large pull-through sites that is always welcome when your pulling a 43 foot rig.  Kirtland has all the amenities including diesel fuel at the gas station...at $4.09 a gallon.

Yesterday we made a visit to the Unser Racing Museum and has turned into the highlight of our stay here in Albuquerque.  The museum's displays tell the story of one of the most celebrated racing families in America, from Louis, Joe and Jerry, down through Bobby and Al Sr., to Bobby Jr. and Al. Jr.

Then there are the race cars.  The collection includes cars that were raced on Pikes Peak, AROC, dirt tracks and of course, Indy.

The Unser Museum is actually two in one.  In another building there are displays of art and the Unser collection of vintage automobiles.  Also housed here is the extensive trophy collection.

03/26/2012

Yesterday we went out to the Petroglyph National Monument.

After checking in at the visitor center, we took a hike in Boca Negra Canyon and climbed to the top of the mesa.  Some of the petroglyphs date back at least 700 years and it's believed some may be up to 3000 years old.

This is our last day at Kirtland.  Next stop, Winslow, AZ.

March 19, 2012

03/04/2012

Good Mornin' San Antonio!

Well, our time here at Hidden Valley RV Park is over.  I can't believe that four months have gone by so fast!

We have enjoyed our stay here but both Joyce and I are getting "hitch itch" and are ready for more adventures.  After leaving San Antonio we'll head east to Goliad for a couple of days.  You may remember that we hosted at the State Historical Park there last year for two months last year.  The Goliad County Fair and Rodeo is going on and The Scott Taylor Band, our favorite Texas band, is going to be playing.  That will be a great way to kick off a forty-five days of traveling!  We hope to see some of the friends we made there last year again as well.

This past week we got to know Denny and Sheri Sejkora from Marion, Iowa.  They came to Hidden Valley from the Rio Grande Valley where the spent a month and now are working their way home.  Denny and Sheri are farmer's who grow corn, soy beans, hay and lambs and we found it fascinating to learn about their business.

We had supper with Denny and Sheri at their beautiful 38-foot Montana the a few nights ago and then we had them to our house on Friday evening.  Fantastic food and a bottle of good wine with new friends makes for a great time.

03/06/2012

Yesterday was a kick-back day for me.  I worked on our itinerary for the trip to the right coast, watched a little TV and greeted three couples from Medford, OR area.

The trip to Massachusetts and then down to Florida this summer is under revision.  The price of fuel is heading north with no end in sight so we may have to cut out some of the stops we wanted to make.  If fuel comes down to below $3.25 a gallon we could do everything but I don't see that anytime soon.

It has been quite awhile since Joyce has made a donation to the local economy so Joyce drove over to the Kickapoo Lucy Eagle Casino in Eagle Pass.  Ok, that's done.

03/09/2012

Yesterday was a very productive day for us.

First we drove up to the MAC TLC store and had an additional 4 gigs of RAM installed in my computer.  I have always believed in "mo Ram, mo betta" and even though MAC's are much more efficient in using RAM that a Windows PC, I was getting a lot of disk swaps.  I typically have eight to ten programs running at one time, some of them being very graphic's intensive so the additional 4 gigs will prevent a lot of disk searching.  Right now I have eight applications running and everything is running smoothly.

While we were there Joyce inquired about putting more memory in her MAC Book Pro and found out that the costs would be the same as mine.  However, the gal at the desk said that the old memory sticks in my 'puter will work in her's so we had the tech install them.

After that we found a Toys 'R Us store and got Abigail's birthday presents which we will need to mail off today.

After a very quick stop at Wally-Mart, we went out to the BX at Lackland so that I could get a haircut.  While I was doing that, Joyce did some browsing in the BX and discovered iHome had come out with a Blue Tooth keyboard for the iPad.

If you have an iPad you know that the virtual keyboard is somewhat of a pain to use, especially when you want to do a lot of typing.  This new keyboard, although small, will help.

All-in-all, a very good day.  We are off work again today and have are going up to San Marcos to visit friends.

03/16/2012

We are now at Goliad State Historical Park in Goliad, TX.  Came over here for the Goliad Rodeo and the dance after the show featuring The Scott Taylor Band.  We need a fix of our favorite Texas band one more time before leaving for the left coast.

The last week at Hidden Valley was pretty much tied up with getting everything ready to travel.  Rv'ers end to put stuff away for connivence rather than for traveling, especially when sitting for a long as we did this winter.  So, it usually takes a couple of days to put everything away properly before hitting the road.  Also, I waxed the front cap on our rig, lubed the slide-outs, the leveling jacks and generally cleaned up in the basement.

I had an issue with my iPad 2 the other day.  Without going into detail with what caused the problem which I think was my fault, I took it to the Apple Store in San Antonio.  After explaining what the problem was and what I had done to correct it, the Genius replaced it immediately.  He didn't even bat an eye about it.  Now that is service!

After getting the rig hooked up, we headed up I-35 to a truck repair shop to get our tires on the trailer balanced.  Most, if not all, trailer manufacturers don't balance your new rigs tires before delivery and that should be one of your first stops after taking delivery.  Yep, we had net done that and we have some wear issues on our tires which we think will be corrected with balancing.  After getting that done, we headed down I-37 to US 181 through Floresville and Kenedy then on TX 239 into Goliad, arriving at the State Park about 2:30 PM.
After checking in at the office and pulling into the camping loop, we noticed a familiar rig parked in one of the sites.  It belongs to Gerry and Linda Moss who we hosted with here last year!  We visited for a while and made plans to go to supper out in Weesatche on Saturday night.

Today Joyce and I are going to check out the rodeo and then do a little dancing.  Gonna be a good one!

03/17/2012

Yesterday Joyce and I walked to downtown Goliad for the County Fair and Rodeo Parade.  As you would expect in a small Texas town, the parade consisted of a lot of fire engines, sheriff cars, local town floats and horses.

The Cactus Tree

Trail To Goliad From The Park

Outside The Trailer

I have said this before, but at the risk of sounding repetitious, this small town has more going for it that most large cities anywhere in the country.  The folks that live here are friendly, God fearing, hard working people that sure know how to have a good time.  The gentlemen still tip their hat to the ladies and the younger folks say "yes sir and no mam".    And, what really stands out is that they love Goliad!

Rodeo Parade:

Last years high school auto shop project

The girl driving along with the the three girls on the railing restored this tractor this year.

There are places in the US that would not allow this float in a parade.

Everybody havin' fun!

This was built by a 12 year old student as his first Ag Mechanic project.

 

 

Spring has sprung in TX!

Last night we went to supper at the Corner Cafe And Saloon in Weesatche with Gerry and Linda Moss.  Now this is our kind of joint!  Old, rickety, an old hardwood floor that isn't quite level and galvanized buckets for light fixtures.  Oh, but what great food!

Check out the light fixtures.

I'm not going to say what Joyce and I had to eat since you can be sure that it wasn't very healthy but, man was it good!  Washed down with a cold Lone Star beer mad it even better.

Today we are leaving Goliad and heading to Kerrville.  Our plan was to just stay there one night and then drive on to Fort Stockton but that may change.  The weather guesser's are calling for very high winds in that area and then even high winds up in the Roswell, NM area.  We might just hunker down in Kerrville for a couple of days.  We have no desire or need to go to a place that might have winds up to 60 mph.

March 4, 2012

02/19/12

On Friday night we had a lot of rain in the south central Texas area.  During the day, the weather services we're reporting heavy rain with some predictions up to five inches.  Later in the afternoon NOAA issued a flood watch for the San Antonio area which included Von Ormy.

In the past, the Medio Creek, which runs through Hidden Valley RV Park has flooded.  A few years ago the flood was severe causing a lot of damage, washing away a couple of buildings.

With the predictions of that much rain in the forecast coupled with the ground being saturated in this area, there was a high potential of the creek overflowing it's banks and flooding the RV park. So, with all of that knowledge, Joyce and I got our rig ready to move up to the top of the hill, just short of hooking up to out truck.

Around midnight it started raining sometimes very heavy when a thunderstorm passed through.  We were up watching the weather reports and the local radar channel and the forecast was for much more of the same.  So, around 2 AM while there was a lull in the storms, we pulled the slides in and hooked up the rig.  I took a look at the creek and at that time all looked good so we finally got a little sleep.

When I got up around 6 AM the creek was starting to rise but at that time, it was no where near flood stage.  At about noon it had crested at just below spilling over it's banks and then slowly started receding and by 3 PM, we felt comfortable unhooking the rig.

I think we dodged a bullet on this one.  We do have some more rain in the forecast for this week, hopefully nothing like the stuff on Friday night.

02/27/12

It's been several days since I last wrote anything so I'll bring everyone up-to-date on our activities.

On the 23rd we made our second trip to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.  Since parking is at a premium at the AT&T Center and very expensive, we carpooled with Dennis and Carol from Alberta, Canada.  After the rodeo we saw Alan Jackson perform.  Alan does more "traditional" country these days which we enjoyed very much.

When we pulled into the parking lot, one of the parking attendants saw our license plate and asked what part of Oregon we were from.  When I told him Oakridge, his face lit up and he told us that he used to drive truck in that area in the early 60's.  He said he used to have breakfast at the Sportsman's Cafe there and he was sad to learn that it has been closed for a couple of years now.

On the 25th, we again went back to the AT&T Center to see the Extreme Bulls competition and were again joined by Dennis and Carol.

On the way into the grounds, we asked the fellow at the information booth where we might get some breakfast.  He pointed us to the Ag Barn where they were serving free burritos. 

Since Dennis is a fan of anything machinery, we decided to walk around and check out the equipment.  After a few minutes we realized that all of the implements in the barn were made by high school Future Farmers of America students.

This tractor was completely restored by one of the Ag mechanic's.  He did all the work himself including rebuilding the motor, transmission and paint.

The girls built this trailer from scratch.  Beautiful!

 

Joyce and I have been to a lot of rodeo's but this was the first time we have been to a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Extreme Bulls show and what a show it was.

Kanin Asay out of Powell, Wyoming dominated the event buy not only willing all the money but he took bot go-rounds as well.  By the way, the score of the competition was:
Bulls - 55, Cowboys - 7.  The stock that is used for Extreme Bulls is the biggest and meanest around!

After the bull riding Trace Adkins put on a great show.

Yesterday Joyce and I went to the Alamo Dome from the San Antonio Home and Garden Show.  Even though we don't have a "real" home anymore, it is fun to look at all of the new stuff out on the market and do a little dreaming as well.

During the show, Bob Guiney who was a contestant on the first season of The Bachelorette and then the bachelor on season four of The Bachelor talked about the housing market.  Of course he gave us some tidbits about being on the television show as well.  Bob is busy these days with his own show on HGTV and performing as a singer in The Band From TV.  In addition to Bob, one of the other band members is Hugh Laurie, star of the TV show, "House".  The band's web site is at:  http://www.bandfromtv.org/

03/03/12

On Tuesday, Joyce and I along with Terri, the manager of Hidden Valley and two other couples went on a walking tour of the King William District of San Antonio.

This neighborhood of large, beautiful houses is located just south of downtown along the San Antonio River. Many Germans immigrants began to settle in this area by the 1870s and it became known as "Sauerkraut Bend" to the rest of San Antonio. In 1967 the King William District was designated the first Historic Neighborhood District in Texas.

The District developed into an idyllic neighborhood of large, impressive houses shaded by enormous pecan and cypress trees. The main entry street into the area was given the name King Wilhelm in honor of King Wilhelm I, King of Prussia in the 1870s. During World War I, when America was at war with Germany, the name was changed to Pershing Avenue. A few years after the war was over the original name was restored, but this time it was given the English version of the name, King William, and it has remained so since.

After meeting Gary, of San Antonio Walks across from The Guenther House, and began the tour.  Gary is highly versed in the different styles of architectural styles in the area, which includes Greek Revival, Victorian and Italianate.  He also has a wealth of knowledge about the history of San Antonio and during the tour, he told us several stories that enhanced out tour experience.

The homes in the King William District were built by some of San Antonio's most prominent citizens.  Karl Harnisch, who was in the confectionery business, brought the first soda fountain to San Antonio.  The Edward Steves homestead is an elegant three-story mansion that was built in 1876, was the founder of the Steves Lumber Company.  The family still owns the oldest cabinet making company in the country.  John J. Stevens, who brought the first Hereford cattle to Texas also built his home here.

This one is Joyce's favorite.  Simple but very elegant.

After our tour we all went to The Guenther House for lunch.  This is the the former home of Carl Hilmer Guenther, founder of Guenther Mill, which was renamed Pioneer Flour Mills in 1898 and is still in operation today.  The Guenther is now a museum, store and an outstanding restaurant.  The food was great!