Motorhome Christmas

 

 

Today being Dec 22nd, Christmas is like...........right there, ready or not. The holidays keep even us gypsies very occupied in cheerful celebrations and Walmart shopping (closest Walmart 31 miles in Many, Louisiana).

 

High Life......

 

Feel very fortunate in being able to share the season with our newly discovered Texas family. Not only enjoying the park residents light displays, but also partaking in Christmas parties by the sleigh full. I am sooooooooo full of great food and the season spirit (spirits??).

We will also be enjoying the Nebraska family spirit as we take to the road for a trip to Houston and then Cornhusker country. Sue's mom, brother and sister in law will be visiting her nieces in Houston for Christmas day. So our plan is to leave the mother ship stationed at it's current location as we maneuver the satellite transporter (otherwise known as the "Vue") for a week long trip first to Houston and then venturing to the northern frozen tundra of Nebraska, returning after New Years day.  Hope the travel weather holds.

 

Have been planning on the next leg of the Endeavor flight plan. Planning on spending the months of Feb, Mar and Apr in what we are hoping to be the warmer and sunnier environment of Arizona. More specifically Pioneer rv park a few miles north of Phoenix.  This will all be wrapped around the Rockies cactus league spring training period. They typically report in mid Feb and have games through Mar.

A sad goodbye to Lowes Creek on Jan 12th expecting to report in at Pioneer Park sometime during the first week of Feb. Not sure of the exact date as we want to meander our way through Texas and take in a few of the states attractions. Planned.......Galveston ocean/beach time, NASA Space Center in Houston, Alamo and San Antonio river walk.

Unplanned, well........... I hope that will keep you coming back for more.

 

Road Rash.....

 

My only complaint would be the lack of fish on hook.  



What a week end. Our good friends Sue and Larry stopped in with their 5th wheel for a couple of nights stay on their way back to Vancouver Wash. We did some antiquing on Friday (no treasures found this excursion....still looking). Then on Saturday we headed towards Natchitoches, Louisiana to partake in their Christmas Festival weekend. It was also the 300th anniversary (tri-centennial) of the city. What we experienced was a Christmas / Madri Gras / 4th of July combo celebration.

 

What a blast............

 

Held my first (and probably last) gator.......then ate him.

Do not believe the "tastes like chicken" line, much better.

Kind of a combo chicken pork flavor, very scrumptious.

 

All waiting for the parade to start. Sue and Larry standing.....

Lisa (closest) and Sheila setting.

Even Riley was full of  anticipation (Sue and Larry's favorite dog)

 

 

Parade started at 1pm was not over until 3:30. That is right, a 2 and 1/2 hour Christmas parade. But wait......beads, candy, stuffed animals, other misc toys thrown into the crowd....a Xmas parade with a heavy Mardi Gras flavor.

 



The local police lead the way with a choreographed motorcycle

riding exhibit. Nice!!!!!!

 

The crowds lined the parade route from the air and on the ground.

Looks like the French Quarter for sure.

Even the Grinch was there!!!!!

 

Santa seemed to be everywhere...and appeared to be not to happy about it!!!!!

 

But finally he declared the parade over and wished everyone a Merry Christmas.

 

The day concluded with fireworks and a light display over the river.

 

Bridge on fire !!!!!!

Sue enjoying the festivities and showing off her Mardi Gras bead collection.



I am back.............
Had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Brian, Jamie, Grant, Wyatt and the Hebert family (thankyou Val and Kelly for feeding the homeless).
Also need to thank Sue's nieces Shawna, Taresa and Taresa's husband Mark. Stayed in their beautiful Pearland Texas home the night before we flew from Houston to Denver and then as we came back into Houston so that we would not be driving in the dark. Was treated to a wonderful meal of steak, maui maui, crab legs along with all the sides......mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!! Thanks again, see you at Christmas.
Successful Drs/Dentist visits along with get togethers with some old friends/neighbors (Bob, Marilyn and Tracey).

This wild and crazy adventure has already paid off in giving us the opportunity to visit with family members that for some reason was never pursued prior to. Grateful for the visit that we had in Kansas City with my Aunt and Uncle (Pat and Wayne) and their son's (Phillip) wonderful family. They have lived at their current location for years but we never seemed to get that way. Then the bonus of the visit with Shawna, Taresa and Mark in Houston. All such gracious hosts.

I am calling this part of our new lives the "Family Reunion Tour". 

High Life............

Continuing in the relax mode. Other than catching up on some minor maintenance items (noisy air conditioner, weak awning spring, seeping grey tank valve, etc) and cleaning of the exterior (bugs from previous travels and continual removal of pine needles) enjoying the day to day activities of walks, dominoes, 5 o'clock happy hours, music and movie nights with our Texas family, antiquing at the close local towns and some fishing (need to work on this more).  Plus catching up on some reading and plotting out our course once we complete this phase of our travels. Thinking of heading South with an eventual western swing from here to experience the various Texas locations (Galveston beaches, Alamo at San Antonio...so far).
Recent temps have been more what we had expected for this area, 60s and 70s thru the day, 40s and 50s at night, very comfortable. Not quite as much sun as I had hoped for, days tend to be early morning fog and cloudy, but still not a snow flake to be seen.............nice!!!!!

 

A few pics of local area. Fall colors (yep....still) and the morning fog.

 

 

Road Rash........

 



Geeeeeeez....can't think of a thing.

Not a lot new to blog, in fact will be very sparse for a few days as we are flying to Colorado for Thanksgiving. The grandkids (oh....and their parents) will be visiting so we want to take the opportunity to spend some time with them, plus catch up on things like dental, doctor appointments, visit some friends and make a trip up to the cabin for a check out. Flying out of Houston Hobby airport on Monday, then back here on Friday.

Do want to share some info about the Toledo Bend Lake that is outside of our front door. It is a rather unique lake in the way it is put together (so to speak).  The lake is a monster in regards to size, it is 69 miles long, 10 miles wide crating a total surface area of 185,000 acres. Shore line of 1264 miles with average depth of 60 ft (max depth 110). It was built complete in 1969 with total state funding (between Texas and Louisina)....not a federal dollar involved. 3 objectives satisfied....electrical generation, water and recreation. The thing that I find very unique is that the entire lake (as far as what I am told, so far have not personally explored past this little corner) is populated with trees sticking out of the water. That is the first thing that you notice as you cross any of the bridges spanning the enormous land gap, the trees that are sticking out of the water in any direction that you look. Something else noticed rather quickly is the many buoys and water markers that snake as a line through the water. These have been identified to me as water lane markers. There are so many submerged tress (above and below the water line) that the lake actually contains what I refer to as a boat highway. You can safely travel the marked route, other wise you are on your own in avoiding hidden debri. This strange in what you would typically expect to see on a body of water this size.......speed boats, water skiing, jet skis.........not so much. But this is what makes the lake famous for bass fishing. Perfect bass environment. Boats do go off the path of least obstruction obviously, but what I learned forn the boat ride with Dale the other day is that once out side of the markers, slow is the key and if you feel a bump....do not distress, the bost slides off as you continue fishing. Oh.....and no one runs aluminum props......steel baby.
The explination for this is simply that at the time of construction, there was not the time taken to remove the brush prior to filling the lake. It just occurred to me that maybe this is a direct result of state funding vs federal funding????? It does seem rather strange to me that afetr all these years that the water had not cleared of wood through the natural process of decaying. Could it be that submerged items do not rot as quickly due to the lack of oxygen.......that is my theory.

Time to catch up on a few things.

Still enjoying the day to day laid back atmosphere that allows us to remain in the relax mode. Has been chilly for this area (friggen artic blast has it at or near freezing here over the past few nights. 40s through the day) so we at times wonder if we did not go far enough south, but there is not much more "south" to navigate. Thinking Florida or Arizona might ensure warmth. Need to think about that. Still.....as I write while watching weather report, those poor folks north are digging out from 6 feet of snow. They show that 50% of the US is snow covered. Hmmmmm.....we have not had to dodge a single snow flake. Maybe near freezing is not so bad after all.

High Life.....

Continuing the process of getting to know our new friends while broadening our knowledge base. Simple things being part of relaxing. Things such as setting with the guys for afternoon coffee allowing me the opportunity to listen to local stories and news while popping in with occasional questions. Along with dominoes playing, Tuesday movie night and just setting around the campfire.

The park office/meeting area is pretty much your typical fishing/ice supply store which would not be complete with out the many mounted fish exhibits and catch pictures. As I was viewing fishing history, I noted a theme in what is displayed......a fisherman named "Ralph" seemed to be mentioned in/on many of the exhibits. In asking about this individual I found him to be a bit of a local legend. It seems that Ralph took on fishing like it was a job. His daily routine was to be in the park office/store at 4:30 every morning, make the coffee and at first light be on the lake until late afternoon......like I said, this was everyday. He was the local expert on where to fish, when to fish, how to fish, what to fish........Nothing but stories of not only being an expert fisherman, but how well liked he was and how he is missed. He lived in the far corner of the park in a very nicely laid out modular home that (with Ralph's passing) is now occupied by his son Dale and his wife Kristina.
I have now found that Dale seems to be every bit his dads son. He may not take fishing as more than a hobby (not a job), but I found that my time on the lake with him and his boat, he knows the lake and fishing as you would expect for someone that has grown up in the area with a legendary dad. Gave us (myself and Uncle Jerry) a guided tour of this part of the lake (lake is 69 miles long so "this part" is enough for now) pointing out various landmarks, fish stories and stories of the drought of 2012. Once we found a good spot and started fishing, Dale was quick to point out my poor choice of bass bait. He corrected my error from his assortment of tackle (every bit of tackle in its proper place, such a well organized floating vessel) and soon I was throwing the rubber watermelon worm rig that is favored by the local bass. This just prior to the cold front coming in so conditions were not the best, clouds with eventual wind and rain. Dale was successful in a non-keeper and a hog that broke his line. Uncle Jerry pulled in a turtle and yes....even I had a bit of action. Wrestled with one on, wound up losing half of my watermelon worm to the whopper (that is my story and I am sticking to it). Was exciting for about 45 seconds.
As mentioned Sue and I have become domino experts, well not so much me, but Sue won her first game yesterday. As in everything that I do poorly in...........it all amounts to luck.....and mine of course is bad. That is all it amounts to.....luck.
So.........even though my blogging has suffered from lack of frequency, things are happening just not quickly. please be patient and hope that you enjoy my "occasional" updates.

Road Rash......

Has to be the colder than expected cold temps. But could be worse.

One full week at our new home location....Lowes Creek Texas. This past week found us busy with visiting a local museum, helping Uncle Jerry build a deck around his trailer, getting in the routine of morning walks (trying to get some excercise) and working in some occasional fishing.

High Life.......

This past Thursday found us in Hemphill visiting the "Patricia Huffman Smith NASA Museum". In February 2003, Hemphill and its vicinity were one of the key search areas for wreckage from the Space Shuttle Columbia after it broke up over Texas. Search teams recovered some of the remains of the shuttle and crew members and the Orbiter Experiment Support System recorder (OEX) was found nearby.
A memorial has been erected in Hemphill commemorating the deceased Columbia astronauts. The memorial is located at the intersection of Hwy 87 North and Hwy 83 East.

The Museum opened February 1, 2011 commemorating the 8 year anniverssary of the disaster. The museum features the permanent "NASA Remembering Columbia" exhibit.
Patricia Huffman Smith was key in the location and construction of the facility. The museum shows a video that is post incident interviews with various community members. It captures the emotional effects of the tragedy to each individual. Even after these several years the video makes one realize how the community came together and supported each other and more importantly the strangers that were also now a part of their day to day activities and for a short time, members of the community.
The evening after the museum visit, we were setting around a camp fire with Larry and Sheila. These 2 folks are to be thanked for their many efforts in keeping the park neat and tidy. They have been in the area for 30+ years. We were talking about our visit and asking about their experiences. The morning of the incident (shortly after 8am) there was a loud sound that went on forever. It is hard to describe but Larry was very clear with the verbal reproduction of what he heard and the only thing that he could figure had happened was that the local natural gas high pressure pipe line had ruptured and had a continuous leak. He got very emotional and had to take a couple of minutes as he recalled his feelings about the fact that those astronauts lost their lives at that moment of break up. Sheila shared the bread making story which is a good example of how the locals came together to house and feed the thousands that were in the area carrying on the wreckage search that went on for several days. She was consistently mixing bread dough in her fifth wheel, after raising, the hundersds of loafs were spread through out the park to various campers ovens to be baked. The flour from the process had spread through out their home and took forever to cleanup. Very moving.

Aunt Sandi

Posted in Front of Museum

Crew

Previous blog entry mentioned the Saturday night jamboree. Would like to share some pictures of this past Saturdays get together.

The Ladies Table

Left to right......Brandon, Ron and Sheila

 

Joe

 

Cham (You Might also Recognize the Lady in Purple.....photo bomb)

Uncle Gerry

Will leave with one last photo for this posting.........

Morning Fog Near the Boat Dock....Still Working on the Fish

Road Rash..........

Might freeze one night this next week at 31 Deg. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Endeavor has landed......

Well, here it is Tuesday Nov 4 (election day) and we are setting comfortably in our coach which is located in Lowes Creek RV Park, 7 miles from Hemphill Texas. We actually arrived here on Nov 1, but due to setup, getting to know the area and the challenge of internet connection (not to mention cell phone service) have not been able to post in a very timely manner. Am now using a neighbors wifi connection, seems to work OK with only occasional outages. Strange in the fact that the system tells me that our AT&T signal is "excellent" while the borrowed connection is "poor" but our connection does not stay up long enough to get anything done. Oh well.......we are up for the moment, but if my updates are few and far between you will know why.

High Life......

Park is nothing fancy but very comfortable (and affordable). The couple that own the park (Roger and Terri) have made us feel very welcome and they are very laid back. The trust amongst the natives is very refreshing after city life. Everything has a lock but we have been entrusted with knowing where the keys are if we should need anything and they are not around. From the store to even borrowing the Corvette if we want to go for a ride (yes seriously).
The first night we were here, we were invited to the Saturday Jamboree which was a sandwich meal including entertainment......locals strumming the guitars and vocalizing to the best of their abilities. The only down side was that it seems most everyone smokes, getting a dose of second hand smoke was not a problem.  
The next day we continued setting up, then later in the day we were invited to a football party that was also very homie....inclusive of Broncos decorations and Broncos fans. Seems there are many relocated Coloradans and if they are not Coloradans......everyone is a Broncos fan now days, or at least a Payton fan.
Made our first trip into Hemphill for supplies. Small town of appr 1200 but they seem to have all that we require. Have a hardware store, grocery, ALCO, lumber yard and not just 1 but 2 Dollar stores.
Got my fishing license so that I can get after those fish.
Temps for the first couple of nights were cooler than we expected, got to 39 one night, but 70s during the day. Low of 58 last night so hope that is more typical.

Couple of camp setup shots. Notice the nice deck and picnic table.

Newly built and I think readied for us.

View from or location, lake in the back ground

Checking out a possible (probable) fishing spot

Road Rash....

A bit of sadness in that Roger is a cancer victim and in poor health. His life has been determined to be short termed (maybe a year) but that does not keep him from smoking like a chimney. I guess a person can always second guess life style choices, if I was looking at a short term existence, I might simply say "the hell with it" and do what makes me the happiest also.

High Life.....

Cozied up in front of the world series game 7 after a day of KC touring. My uncle Wayne took the day off to take us to lunch and show us a few local sights. One stop was the renovated Union Station which is referred to as the "gem" attraction in the city. In addition to the principal purpose of train depot, there is now exclusive restaurants, children's science museum, cinema and shopping inside. A special bug exhibit currently underway.....explaining the below giant bees. Notice the crown.....everything is Royals, even giant bugs.

Union Station

 

                                                             This is a real killer bee



                                                       Wayne and Sue with bee looking on



Me with bee and.........Sue B

 

 

After a couple of KC days, will be back on the road tomorrow. Appr 650 miles from Hemphill Texas which will be our hangout locations for a few months.

Coach has been resupplied....ready to roll.

 

Thank you to Wayne and Pat for being such gracious hosts. From smoked ribs and game 6 on Tuesday night, to the city tour today which included exclusive banjo playing courtesy of my uncle.

 

Road Rash......

 

Yesterday was spent doing some further maintenance. This time not to the motorhome, but to our tow vehicle. Sue and I had been noticing a loud rumble from the rear during our Little Big Horn visit. My suspicion of a rear bearing was confirmed. Replaced and all is quiet again. Sure did not want a bad bearing seizing up while in tow. Probably would not have known there was a problem until we saw the smoke rolling from burning tire rubber.  

Current (Sunday Oct 26) Endeavor docking location..........Tea, South Dakota (Red Barn RV park)

High Life......

Things just keep rolling. I might be getting my confidence back in this whole scheme of ours. Did our first night at a "Flying "J"" last night in Rapid City, South Dakota, this is important because if this plan is to be affordable meaning more long term than short, the free nights of sleep overs will be most important. Will not be able to afford every night costing $30 to $40. There will need to be some Walmart, Flying J or I understand Cracker Barrel allows over nighters in their parking lot. This be the course as we relocate adventures. Once we get located we will be surviving off the grid ("boon" or "dry" docking as it is referred to). Our chosen locations will be the various national/state parks or historical monuments. We have become email friends with a couple that are of similar age with the same type of setup (34 ft motorhome with tow). They have been touring the US for the past five years and only spend a few days a month in a paid RV park. Sherry maintains a log and it is kept with stories and pictures of their many adventures (hiking, biking and kayaking).
The important part of the Flying J stay was not that it was cost free, but we found that we could spend a night utilizing minimal battery power. The most important part of boondocking (in my opinion) is keeping the fridge going so that perishables can be kept with out continually buying expensive (and sometimes hard to get) ice. When we are not plugged into a paid power source that runs the fridge, it runs on propane but the electronics of the system obviously needs some voltage source. Either AC or DC (battery) when on the road (unplugged). If your battery power is depleted your fridge will shut down. What I am hoping to do is use minimal power at night and then rig up a solar panel that will recharge the system through the day. If that can become a reoccurring cycle we will have AC Independence, but most of all maintain our food source for minimal cost. The Endeavor has a huge 7500 watt generator built in and it works great but it is obnoxiously noisy and eats up 1 gal of diesel fuel every hour. Great if needed but would rather not.So the experiment last night has proven that we can get through an evening and wake up with 3/4 of power still in the batteries. Very nice.
But enough of that....as I noted in the early stages of this wind storm, we are located for tonight and all is going great. As noticed in the below pix, we are enjoying the farm setting this evening, but the leaves are mostly off the trees. 70's today and 40's tonight....but we need to get out of here. We have adjusted our course to a direct southern route....Texas here we come.

 

 

Road Rash.......

 

None 

The Endeavor crew is currently docked in Hardin, Montana (appr 40 miles se of Billings). We pulled in here yesterday coming in from Missoula, Montana. A very pleasurable drive, actually put in almost 400 miles (the most that I will want to do) but as we were leaving Missoula there was a rain storm coming for the day so got ourselves rousted and on the road by 8 am (yawn) to avoid the bad weather. Was some talk of snow in the passes, did not want to encounter these conditions and were successful in staying ahead of the storm. Some drizzle but pretty much clear roads.

High Life......

Decided to stay over a day to take in the Little Bighorn Battlefield experience (what the hey, we can do that if we wish.....but am watching the weather).
I really enjoy American history and to be able to look over the same grounds that this famous battle of June 25, 1876 actually happened on was incredible. Let your imagination take you back and you can almost hear the gun blasts, Calvary bugles and primal Indian screams coming from the hills. Kind of spooky.
I debate in my mind the right and wrong of this historical event and which side to feel sad or happy for. I tend to side with the native Indians because I have always felt that the white man and US government bullied these people out of their homes and ways of life. No matter what considerations they were granted through treaty signings, the soldiers eventually made an appearance in which they were to run the Indian off what they thought was theirs simply because of the government reacting to American greed. It was always that the Indian reservation was continually containing what was wanted so they had to go. This was the one victory that the Indians had in all of the years of fighting the white aggressors and it would seem that Custer came in a little cocky in thinking it would be an easy battle. I always tend to root for the underdog in sporting events, so this is right up  my alley in cheering........go braves!!!! 

Oil Painting Depicting the Battle

 

 

Memorial with a Listing of the Casualties

 

 

Road Rash.......

NONE

We are on the road as of yesterday morning. Was tough leaving Jamie, Brian and the boys behind. Even after almost 6 weeks you would expect that it would be time to leave but many tears fell to the ground as we said good bye for now.

High Life......

Had a last outing  with the Hebert family. One of the local farms had a very nice pumpkin patch for the kids. But not just pumpkins of course.....petting farm, pony rides, corn maze, tractors and wagon rides to where you could each pick your favorite pumpkin to take home and turn into your favorite jack-o-lantern.

Tractor Buddies

 Those boys.....it is so hard to get a picture that one of them is not clowning around. Some times you are lucky and get dual clowns.

What a Nice Family

 Gma in the pumpkin patch

The Beautiful Corn Maiden

 

 

 

Our efforts of pumpkins turned jack-o-lanterns

Presently setting with my MotorHomie (Sue of course) at "Jim and Mary's RV Park" in Missoula Montana. Not missing the drama of the World Series though....kind of cozy. Yea rough camping but it is actually pretty chilly outside low 40's. Low tonight is to be just above freezing. I do not...repeat do not want to attempt scraping frost, snow or whatever from the huge glass shield that adorns the front of our coach. Gotta get out of here...almost waited to long.
Made it to Spokane Washington after the sad good bye last night. So tough to leave that we did not get on the road as early as hoping for. Was waaaaaay dark as we cruised into town (getting dark at 6 pm so sucks). If not for the GPS we would have never found the RV park. Not only did the darkness make getting around in an unknown suburban terrain a real challenge, the park was buried deep in the bowels of a neighborhood. Finally got to sleep.....woke up in a dump. Another lesson learned (not to say I have not had this lesson previously, but a great memory stimulator) never drive past sundown to arrive in an unknown city and an unknown over nighter.

Lots of rain and.....yes did see some snow flakes in the mountain passes. More passes tomorrow, hope it warms a little. Have not determined our destination for tomorrow as of yet. Thinking Billings Montana but still have to pull the maps (computer and paper....still like the feel of an atlas). Can't beat determining times and mileage with the electronics though.

Montana Mountain Pass. Some breathtaking scenery.