RVing Fulltime with Tom and Ella

Independence Day celebrations at Cutty’s Des Moines Camping Resort were hectic. I should explain a little about Cutty’s. It is a member owned club which means that only Cutty’s members and their guests plus Coast to Coast members are allowed in. It has around 500 sites located on over 80 acres at the northwest corner of Des Moines. It is a true resort with a huge number of activates such as swimming (3 pools), fishing (11 acre lake), miniature golf, horseshoes, shuffle board, tennis, basketball, hot tub, sauna, exercise equipment and more, plus themed events every weekend from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

Since you can remain on a site for a maximum of 14 days, people started arriving as early as June 20^th, to begin jockeying for the prime spots. And as it got closer to the holiday, people started having more guests coming to their sites. The traffic in and out of the fee booth/gatehouse was amazing.

We have an annual fireworks display that is a rival of any I have seen outside a major city. This year the display was on the Sunday preceding the 4^th. For that day, guests were required to park in designated areas rather than being allowed to drive to their host’s camping site. There were literally (and I know what literal means) hundreds of cars in the park that day. And, of course, after the fireworks, there was a mass exodus of all the “day guests”. It went amazingly smooth as we had two exit gates open; one for left turn only and one for right turn only. Over the next several days campers began to leave, go to storage (on the club grounds), or move to a different site. This kept us at the fee booth/gatehouse very busy. We were all glad to see it slow down to the normal busy of summer camping.

Our winter home, the Hitchhiker (which fell apart before leaving Texas in the spring) wasn’t worth the cost of repairing. So, we purchased a used 38 foot Sierra travel trailer. The plan is to leave the Sierra on our seasonal site at Cutty’s. Then we will take the Excel (which has been our summer home at Cutty’s) south to Texas. With a little imagination you can understand what we’ve been going through in moving stuff from the Hitchhiker into the Sierra. Now also understand that the Hitchhiker held our winter stuff and the Sierra is going eventually hold our summer stuff. So after the Hitchhiker is empty and gone, we can begin shifting things between the Excel and the Sierra.

The temperatures have been in the upper 90’s with high humidity which means that a 93 degree day feels like a 107 degree day. So, we have been working a moving in short bursts and drinking plenty of water.

One evening, while we were working on moving and finding places for our stuff, there was a knock on the door. A Cutty’s member stopped to ask what we were going to do with the Hitchhiker once it was empty. I told him that it was damaged and not worth our repairing so the plan was to sell it for salvage. He said that he has a hobby/business of rebuilding RVs and would be interested in buying it. Things like this, I call “God Things”. Unexpectedly, we may receive more compensation for the Hitchhiker than we had planned. With the expenses involved in purchasing the Sierra, paying for the storage of both the Hitchhiker and the Sierra it has stressed our bank account. A major part of our coming back to Iowa and Cutty’s is to earn and bank a little money. We have not been able to keep the money in the bank this year.

We have still managed to work in some time to play games with friends. When my work schedule allows, I play dominoes on Wednesday evenings and card jackpot (think Bingo with playing cards) on Friday evenings. Also as work allows I go to the Grimes senior center for games and lunch. Ella, unrestricted by a job, attends all of these.

It was still about 45 minutes to dawn when I got up and started working on various things on the computer.

I’ve check the schedule for today … there is nothing on it … no place we HAVE to be. Nice!

It is now 6:30 a.m. and 72 degrees. The high today is predicted to be 93 again. I’ll have to set the a/c so that it doesn’t run much (as I was typing that, the a/c kicked on. who knew it had a sense of irony?).

Tom was up at 5:30 and spent some time working on sermons and bulletins. After Ella got up and was showered, we went to the cafe for breakfast pizza (scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and several types of cheeses).

We then went to the Grimes senior center for games and lunches.

I think it was nearly 2:00 when we finished our last game of Fast Track.

Tom’s prescription was ready for pickup at Walmart so we also purchase a few non perishable groceries.

From there Ella wanted to go to Home Makers (furniture store) to look for recliner love seats. I was surprised that they are all electrically adjustable and if you prefer they be manually adjustable, they have to be special ordered. This seems like a sad statement on modern life. When it becomes too much work to pull the lever on the side of your Lazy Boy recliner, you really are a lazy boy.

It was hot (93 degrees) in the afternoon and the air conditioning was running constantly.

Around six o’clock I started to grill some steaks when the power went out. Since we live in an RV, the ceiling lights are on a separate power supply (house batterys) and they stayed on. I first checked the RV’s breaker box and toggled all the switches off and on.  But, nope, nothing happened. So then went outside and checked the power pedestal. I toggled those switches off and on. Still nothing. That’s when I put in a call for the campground maintenance to come and help. It was maybe fifteen to twenty minutes when he arrived. He went to the pedestal and toggled the switches and the power came back on. Evidently, the breakers had to cool a while before they would reengage.

At this point we turned the air conditioning off and just ran it on the fan setting. We finished our supper of steak, baked potato, and beans. By then it was becoming overly warm so I turned the a/c on again. Instead of waiting for the Excel to cool off again, we went to Home Depot to pick up two sixteen-cent spikes. I want them to hold our awning support more securely to the ground.

After this major purchase, we returned to Cutty’s and went to the cafe for ice cream. We stayed at the cafe for about a half hour. By the time we returned home, it had cooled off considerably.

The rest of the evening was spent watching television and working on the blogs.

Sky at sunset was full of clouds. We sure could have used a few of those during the heat of the day.

2017 June 11 Sunday.

We had a communal breakfast at the Clubhouse this morning. All you can eat: scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, toast, juice, milk, and coffee. Plus for an additional dollar a quarter pound breakfast sausage. Tom had two sausage but skipped the hashbrowns and went easy on the eggs.

Following breakfast we held a Worship Service at the Adult Center. Tom’s topic “In Every Ending there is a Beginning.”

After our worship service, we went to our nephew, (actually Tom’s great-great nephew) Demitri’s graduation party. Most of the family sat outside on the deck. Thankfully, it was shaded because the temperatures were in the mid 90s. It was nice to get together with more family.

Coming back to the Excel, the air conditioning, and the recliners was the perfect way to spend the remainder of our Day of Rest.

Between the nieces who just stopped by this week, the wedding, and the graduation party, it has been sort of a fragmented family reunion. Tom is now the “Patriarch” of the Williams Family. That is a sobering thought. We got to see some of his great-great-great nieces and nephews this weekend. It also reminded me of those loved ones who are no longer with us.

We ended the day with a dish of ice cream and an interesting sunset.

I woke in the night with a ‘charlie horse’(http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/muscle-spasms-cramps-charley-horse} in my right leg. I haven’t had those since I was a teenager. I got up and walked around for a little bit and the muscle relaxed. Because of my early morning exercise (grin) I slept later than usual and didn’t get out of bed until almost 6:30.

We are headed to Clear Lake Iowa today. My nephew, Kirk, is getting married today. He had originally ask if I could preform the ceremony. I told him that I’m not a licensed minister just a certified Lay Speaker. I know that there are websites where you can become “ordained” for a couple of dollars. However, I have too much respect for those ordained ministers, who attend years in seminary training.

Here are some photos of the wedding

Ella and I with my niece, Krista and her husband, Russ and also my great-nephew, Tyler.

Here is a photo of Tyler, Kirk & Rita, and Tyler’s wife, Regina

And here are some pictures of the typical Iowa countryside … exciting isn’t it?

 

 

 

 

Two hours up to the wedding and two hours back. 95 degrees and 30 mile an hour winds.

Here is a very short update on the rest of 2016.

March

Tom had his semi annual checkup with his wonderful VA doctor as well as a follow-up with the doctor who performed the more invasive part off his heart surgery.

 

We dog sat with Zeus while his family was on spring break.

We also attended granddaughter’s musical at school.

 

APRIL

Attended several of Beket’s football games as well as Tate’s football games. Ella had her physical before heading up to Iowa. I had my last visit with my cardiologist until we return to Texas in the Fall.

We said our goodbyes to family and friends and left for Iowa on May 1st.

From May through September we had several routines in our schedule; Wednesday’s we gathered at Village Inn for pie, most mornings we met at the campground cafe for coffee, Thursday evenings we were there for family style meals. There were countless cookouts and community breakfasts.  Not everything involved food … but most of them did. I preached most Sundays from MAY day through Labor day.

MAY

Ella had an appointment with her doctor as soon as we we’re in Iowa. I started to work in the fee booth at Cutty’s campground on. the 6th. We celebrated Mother’s day at John’s with nearly all off the kids.  Ella started working at the clubhouse on the 9th. but only worked a few days after that. There was a change in what was expected off her. She would have spent some days working alone in the rental units. She couldn’t have be able to work through the summer in non air conditioned buildings. I didn’t like the idea that, if something were too happen to her, she would have been working alone.

 

 

Around the middle of May Ella began going to a chiropractor several days a week. On the 21st we went to a Williams family reunion with some of my nieces and nephews. On the 23rd I was called for jury duty, but wasn’t chosen. We started attending the Grimes senior Center on my days off. I started preaching again at our Sunday Worship services that go from Memorial day through Labor day.

 

 

JUNE

I had a colonoscopy on the 7th.

 

Our section off the Resort had a block party the day before Father’s day.

At the end of June, we had a head to toe treatment…literally. We saw the dentist in the morning at the foot clinic in the afternoon.

 

Ella had a colonoscopy on the 29th.

JULY

 

Spent part of the 4th with family, however, I had to work.

 

July 23rd was Christmas in July. I dressed as Santa so kids could get their photos taken with me.

AUGUST

6th was the Nye family reunion.

24th was a gathering of the Johnston High School class of 65.

SEPTEMBER

Preached the last sermon for the season on Labor day weekend.

10th we had a block party in the C section of the resort. (the “C” designates seasonal sites. But it is so much fun to call it a C section Party.)

 

On the 19th we started on drive back to Texas.

On the 21st we were back at choir practice on Liberty Hill, Texas.

 

OCTOBER

We got back in our Texas groove.

 

NOVEMBER & DECEMBER I had the delightful opportunity to wear the red suit and listen to children tell me what they wanted for Christmas. Being a mall Santa was very rewarding in many ways, including financially.

Christmas morning I got to preach at Cross Tracks Church,  our home church in Texas, so that Pastor Steve could have the day off.

We celebrated our Anniversary on the 26th.

 

27th I had an eye exam and was fitted for 2 new pair of glasses.

28th I received my final pay for being Santa.

And thus 2016 came to a close.

Since it is Saturday, I read the RV Travel Newsletter on my Razr Maxx before I even got up to start the coffee.  The newsletter is something that I look forward to each Saturday.  I also subscribe to the Daily Tips newsletter that they publish Monday through Friday.  I nearly always find something that I can use … and nearly always find something else that I say to myself, “Tom, (I’m very polite to myself) that is just common sense … everybody knows how to do that!” To which I reply, “Tom, just because you are a genius, doesn’t mean that everyone else is also.”  (Yeah, sometimes I flatter myself also.)

To which newsletters to you subscribe?

At the Men’s Coffee this morning, Cal informed the group that Carol, his wife, went to the doctor’s yesterday and found out that she has cancer.  The doctor is a G.P. so he’s setting her up with a specialist to determine exactly what it is.  They think it is ovarian or colon.  We are of an age that nearly everyone in the group has experienced cancer in their own bodies or the spouses.  Ella, my wife, has had a lumpectomy to remove a cancer the size of a grain of salt.  We thank God that she had the mammogram and that the tech could see it while it was that small.  Even with the advances in medicines and treatments it is still scary when the “C” word is mentioned.

When we bought groceries last, we picked up a cantaloupe and some strawberries.  The cantaloupe smelled ripe.  However, when I cut into it we found out that it was far from ripe.  The strawberries we not very sweet and were beginning to spoil.  What to do?  What to do?  I cut them into chunks and added some honey.  hey turned out pretty good.  And I’m betting that the left over’s will be even better because they will marinate in that honey.

Before we left Shady Oaks, Ella activated an app on her Droid Razr Maxx.  The app is called Jogger Tracker and it does just what it sounds like.  You turn it on at the beginning of your run/jog/hike/drive and it tracks you on a map as well as keeping track of the time and distance traveled.  Today we drove 115.95 miles in four hours and twenty one minutes.

Ella fixed some tuna sandwiches to go with the mixed fruit.  It was a very good and colorful lunch. After lunch we went for another drive.  We wanted to go explore the Liberty Hill area.  This is the nearest town to the Rio Bonito Cabin Resort RV Park that we hope to be in next year when we come back down to Texas from Iowa.

The last time we were through Liberty Hill is when the fog was so thick that I nearly had an accident.

Predawn at Inks Lake, Texas

        Today’s discussion at the Men’s Coffee was basically on three areas: Oil (recovery and transportation), Weather (here in Texas and in the various states from which we came) and Fishing (Inks Lake Dam in ‘generating’ which means water released which means fishing improves).

Isn’t that a lovely shade of pink in the sky?

The day has begun with some wind.  There is a chance of rain also.  Which in this area of Texas would be a good thing … er .. thang.  There are fire alert warnings out because the dry conditions and gusty winds could spread a wildfire very quickly.

 

I’ve been to morning coffee and am now getting ready to go to the VA Clinic in Cedar Park for my annual physical.  I’m hoping to get referrals for glasses and hearing aids also.  The last prescription glasses I had broke a couple years ago and I’ve been wearing older glasses from a prescription that may be fifteen years old.  I really need to be able to read the fine print on my prescription bottles.  And the ‘hearing aid’ that I’m using is actually a sound amplifier that I purchased at Cabela’s sporting goods.  It is designed for hunters to be able to hear the deer etc.

It is now three p.m. and we back from Cedar Park.  My lab work all looked very good.  Heart and lungs are okay immunizations are up to date.  However there is a new tetanus shot that also guards against whooping cough.  They are recommending that I get that shot.  I said that I was concerned about my right knee giving out on me at times.  So, I had an xray taken.  They are also sending a blood pressure monitor so that I can give them a report the next time that I’m in.  They wanted to set a six month check up and I said that I will be in Iowa in six months but if they want to set a twelve month check up that would be okay.

I have referrals for an eye exam.  However, I was told that I did not qualify for glasses.  I also do not qualify for hearing aids.  Bummer.  Between the exam and the xray we had time to go to KFC for lunch.

Then when we were finally done at the clinic we took a back road from Cedar Park to Liberty Hill.

We stopped at a couple of thrift shops on the way home.  Awhile back, Ella saw a powerlift recliner at a shop in Burnet that closely matches our furniture.  Because one of our current recliners is a piece of junk, she wanted to see if it was still available.  It wasn’t.