It all started as we prepared to depart from a one-night stay at a campground on Matagorda Bay in Texas. We couldn't resist a morning walk along the seawall in Palacios. When we returned I completed most of the outside work while Louise cooked breakfast. French toast was delicious and welcome on this cool coastal morning.
We were just beginning to clean up the kitchen when Louise reached for the refrigerator door to put something away. She pulled the right-hand door on the two-door Norcold 1200
It has been a while since my last entry but I have an excuse ...
Louise and I have just returned from a visit to our 50th state. It was the 50th state we have visited together and also the 50th state for the U.S. Of course, I'm speaking of the only state that is impractical to visit in a motorhome! Hawaii is one long wet drive and the puddle is so deep. We elected to make our trip on a cruise, which, in a way, is a little like living in a motorhome.
Our ship, the Celebrity Constellation, was t
This is a shout out to Brett Wolfe. We went in for maintenance at Cummins West in Avondale (Phoenix), AZ today. In a post several months ago, Brett had suggested replacing the belts on the engine and saving the usable used belts as back up in case a belt breaks. I asked the service representative to replace the used belts and save them for me.
We were having the generator serviced at the same time. In the discussion the service rep asked if I wanted the belt on the generator (7.5 KW Onan) repla
We are currently in the gold hills of California near the town of San Andreas. The abundance of turkeys in this area is amazing! Today we were sitting outside beside the motorhome and I saw a turkey fly by behind Louise, along the main entrance to the park. It landed within view and then circled around the motorhome next to us and back up the road behind me.
We went to look and there was a whole flock, more than 20 turkeys. They were just across the road from us. This flock wanders through the
I've been up on the roof washing and cleaning for the last few days. The experience brings to the fore one of the conflicts that plagues me. At heart, I'm a big advocate of trees. They are essential to our existence. Trees are beautiful and useful. Trees are also a nuisance.
On the good side, trees provide shade and keep our motor home cool. We're in San Andreas, California, and the forecast for the next two days are temperatures in the 100s, so I'll really appreciate the trees around us. I hav
I've enjoyed reading a number of recent BLOGs from fellow travelers. It is good to see so many continuing stories. We each have different stories that illustrate the joy of traveling in a motor home. For our part, we have been "stuck" in one spot for two months now with just a short trip for a break. Stuck really isn't the proper word. We are at my daughter's home in Foristell, in eastern Missouri. We have attended my son's wedding, tended my mother after a fall in her home, returned to Texas fo
We've enjoyed the History Channel the last few days as they do their annual replay of US history. As we watch the programs it occurs to me that our experience traveling in the motor home for the last 9 years has given us a much closer connection to so many of the places that are mentioned on these programs.
Our understanding of any idea or concept is easier and more complete if we've had some personal experience with some part of the background or context of the idea. When it comes to history,
There must be a message here. Perhaps we should not be setting up household but should continue to stay full time on the road! We have had no end of weather delays this spring while trying to get our manufactured home on site and ready for occupancy.
Each of three stages of concrete pour had to be delayed, some several times, due to heavy rain. Once we had concrete we had to wait several weeks for the ground to dry enough to bring in the manufactured home. Construction of an addition also h
I am at our new home in Edinburg, Texas. Louise is in Foristell, Mo., with the motor home. We've been meeting in the evenings via phone to catch up on the day's happenings. I was hoping to be able to tell her I would be leaving in the morning to join her, but construction continues on our home. At the end of the day when all has quieted down, I have been enjoying the evening on the porch of our manufactured home.
We have been staying at Sandpipers Resort in Edinburg for nine winters now. They
Do you have stuff? We have stuff! George Carlin used to do a routine on stuff. He had stuff, but he had another s word for other people's stuff. George was probably right, we have too much stuff. Andy Rooney, are you reading this?
Louise and I are coming in off the road. In July of 2001 we moved into a 1994 Monaco Dynasty (no slides) and we've been living on the road ever since. This fall Louise decided we needed a home, so like a good husband I set about working on the project.
We knew where
Our house arrived on schedule and we are in the process of turning it into a home. Even when the house arrives fully constructed there is so much to be done to make it a home. I watched in fascination as the house was leveled and tied down to its foundation. Being a do-it-yourself kind of guy, I then set about hooking up the water, sewer and electric. To a specialist, these things go quickly. For me, they take somewhat longer. Not content to simply hook up water to the house, I planned a remote
There are just four days to go until our manufactured (used to be called mobile) home is moved onto our lot at Sandpipers Resort. I guess they renamed them because they tend to be parked pretty permanently once they arrive on their home location so they really aren't that mobile. Now a motor home, that's mobile! What a funny language we have. Here in the Rio Grande Valley the mobile homes do usually move one more time. Local residents, many of them recent immigrants will buy them for pennies on
For almost a month we have been trying to get concrete poured for a manufactured home at our winter home in Edinburg, Texas. Today we finally achieved our goal. We have concrete. It is curing and we will have our home moved onto our lot next Tuesday... if the weather holds. Heavy rains could still make the move impossible but we are looking at good forecasts with temperatures in the 90's, sunshine and low humidity.
Meanwhile, we have picked out the furniture for three rooms and just went sh
We have been home from the sea for just over three weeks now. I had grand plans for our return. I had outlined on my calendar the progress of work that should take place upon our return. We are in the process of putting a manufactured home on a lot at Sandpipers Resort in Edinburg, Texas. The home was ordered in December 2009 and delivered to the sales lot in late January. The lot which would be our home was occupied by another couple who had decided not to follow through on their commitme
In China this is the year of the Tiger. Here in South Texas it is the year of the puddle.
We are in temporary digs at our winter resort. We sold the improvements on our home lot for the last several years and moved to a different lot until we can get a mobile home on what will become our home address in coming years. So, we are right across the street from the office and community room near the entrance of the park. It is the "oldest" part of the park and the roads are beginning to show it. Now
Winter is just about over here in the southern tip of Texas. We've recently had a flurry of activity which keeps our minds off the cool weather, wind and rain we've had for the last two months. Last week Louise and I led three excursions for our park. Each of these was a delightfully different treat.
On Wednesday we escorted a group from the park to the Cowley Sugar House in Santa Rosa, Texas. The distance is a moderate 40 miles and the trip was relatively easy with local roads most of the way.
BLOG is a contraction of the words weB LOG. Wikipedia says a BLOG is "regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video." According to Wikipedia, "As of December 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 112,000,000 blogs."
So the idea here is to weave a continuous account of the events or activities of an individual, group or organization. Continuous is the tough part. We all have routine days when nothing seems extraordinary t
Louise and I were invited to dinner Friday night. The campground owners here at Sandpipers Resort where we have stayed each winter for nine years now invited 14 of us to dinner. It was seven couples who have assisted them in improving the resort in one way or another. Most of them were involved in the construction of a new shower house for the resort this past summer. Louise and I contributed other skills. Louise is writes the publicity materials for the resort and occasionally has articles publ
The giant sequoias and redwoods of California are trees without parallel. To walk in a forest of such magnificent size is a privilege that few people in the world have. There is no way to read about the sequoias and redwoods and truly appreciate them. Our base camp was at Visalia, CA. We hiked numerous trails in Sequoia National Park. To see trees partially burned out and still standing tall and strong was amazing. Realizing that the branches of these trees are the size of the trunks of wh
The previous two adventures occurred in our first year of full-timing in the motor home. By 2005 we had been in our new motor home for several years and were in our fifth winter in south Texas. We were getting a little stir crazy sitting in one place for four months, so in early March we decided to take a couple of weeks and head out west to Big Bend National Park. We would arrive during the peak season at Big Bend, spring break for colleges. Big Bend lies at a road to the end of the world! It i
Immediately after leaving Joshua Tree National Park we turned north to Death Valley. Our base of operations was just inside the Nevada state line at the Longstreet Casino in the Amargosa Valley. We arrived and parked at our very nice campsite, which was flooded in just an hour or so as the sprinklers came on at the golf course. We moved to a different site.
It turned out that the Casino was celebrating their seventh anniversary and we would enjoy their celebration. They had scheduled David John
In our first year of full-time living in our motor home we enjoyed a number of deserts in California. Since then we have visited deserts in other areas and always enjoyed the experience. Having taught school all my life, I had never had the privilege of traveling extensively in the cooler months of the year. This, it occurred to me, was the reason I had never spent time in any desert.
Our first real desert experience was Joshua Tree National Park near Palm Springs. We stayed in Indio, CA, for a
After a short stay in Denver, we headed west to California. In Denver we had a couple of days of nice weather followed by snow, rain and cold. We were busy visiting, but the cold and wet weather was something we don't find pleasant. It even managed to snow enough one morning to turn the foothills white.
I took care of a few tasks around the motor home while Louise assisted her mother with trips to the beauty shop, grocery and other shops. Our friends Bill and Laura stopped by for a morning visi
We have been in Missouri visiting our children, grandchildren, my mother and other friends. Our visit has been punctuated with numerous trips for repair of our motorhome. We've been in the shop three times now to get the Carefree awning properly installed, painted and adjusted. Our KVH dish has taken two repair trips. An oil change and wheel bearing service took two trips. Each trip requires picking up and moving to the repair shop and then returning to base to set up house again.
Normally we m
We have moved in with my mother! A failure at 63!
No, not really, just a temporary setback. We're having some painting done on the motor home and it has been in the shop for three days now. I just talked to Mark at First Class Fiberglass in St. Peters, Mo., and he has promised to be done about noon tomorrow. We'll be glad to get our little home back again.
We have one more repair to accomplish and that is to get the KVH dish fixed. It quit working several weeks ago. I think we are lined up to
