RVing Fulltime with Tom and Ella

January

• With the holidays over, Santa’s red suit was sadly hung in the closet. Now we return to our normal routine of Sunday Worship and Sunday school, Monday, Tuesday, and Friday playing games and having lunch with friends at the Leander Senior Center. Wednesdays with Grandies (a service organization sponsored by Cross Tracks Church) in the morning and choir practice in the evening. Thursdays we attend the Over The Hill Gang in Liberty Hill for games and a meal. Saturdays there are nearly always activities with the grandkids’ games. We also added a once-a-month Bunko Party.
• The first fell on a Sunday. It seemed very fitting to have the new year start on the Lord’s Day. We worshiped at Cross Tracks Church, Liberty Hill, Texas. Where we sing in the choir.
• The 2nd there was an Emmaus Gathering at our church in Liberty Hill
• The 3rd we celebrated eleven years of cancer free life after Ella’s surgery in 2006.
• The 11th was time for Ella’s wellness checkup with Dr. Wolf.
• We celebrated Emery’s Birthday on the 14th
• We had the first monthly Grandies’ meal. This was very special because we had it at June’s home.
• Tate had a school musical on the 19th
• On the 21st our choir was asked to sing at a funeral. To my knowledge, no one in the choir new the man. However, after hearing his children and grandchildren tell stories about him, I wish I’d known him. One of the stories recounted how his young grandson would sit on grandpa’s knee while grandpa smoked a cigar and drank a beer. When the beer was nearly gone, he’d hand the can to the grandson and say, “Finish this and get me another.”
• My birthday on the 23rd was celebrated by an hour-long
• trip to the VA in Temple Texas for an exam. Several years ago they discovered a spot on my lung. So I have yearly check ups. All is good. We stopped at Golden Corral on the way home.
• The 29th was the fifth Sunday of the month and at Cross Tracks Church, that means it is time for a potluck. I find it strange that a Methodist Church has a potluck only four times a year. Most churches that I’m familiar with have a potluck at least once a month and more if they can find an excuse.
• 
• On the 30th Tom had an appointment with Dr. Borick about the trouble with his left knee. The knee has been bothering me for years. Two years ago I had an xray of the knee at the VA. They basically said, “There’s nothing wrong with it. Suck it up, Buttercup.” The knee hurts to walk on. It also sort of cramps when I sit too long. Sometimes the pain is as much as I can bear.

February

• 1st Ella had an appointment with Dr. Collins about a mole that has been growing. He removed it.
• While he was showing us images of different moles, Tom pointed at ones that he had on both temples. So Dr. Collins removed those also.
• Tom had an MRI on his knee.
• The 6th we attended an Emmaus Gathering in Bertram
• The 13th we were back at Dr. Collins so that he could dig a little deeper into Ella’s moles.
• Valentine’s Day Tom had an appointment with the nurse practitioner at Dr Crimmons’ office for a pre-surgery checkup and renewal of his blood thinner medication.
• Tom had arthroscopic surgery to remove a one and a half centimeter “
• pearl” from behind his left patella on the 15th at 5 a.m. We went to our normal Grandies meeting after grabbing some breakfast. People were surprised that I was there so soon after the surgery.
• The 16th found us back at Cross Track Church for training on being a Greeter.
• Ella started to not feel well with cough and congestion on the 19th (Sunday) but went to the Leander Senior Center on the 20th because our friend Larrain, who lives in Waco, was visiting there.
• However, Ella stayed home on the 21st and missed Grandies on the 22nd.
• She got to Dr. Wolf’s office on the 22nd. He started her on some prednisone.
• Tom went to the Over The Hill Gang alone on the 23rd. However, Ella did attend Emery’s Musical in the evening.
• Tom was back to see Dr. Borick on the 28th for a post op exam. Everything looked super. In the evening, we had a pancake supper/dinner hosted by the youth of the church.

March

• The first was Ash Wednesday with a 7p.m. service.
• On the 3rd I reordered Ella’s DNA test from Ancestry.com. I ordered and received it before Christmas. However, Ella didn’t spit in the tube and return it for quite a while. I received an email that said they were unable to retrieve any viable DNA from the sample. So it was reordered.
• Our Grandies group collects recyclable aluminum cans and every so often, takes them to a recycling center. This is also a time for us, as a group, to gather at the Blue Bonnet Cafe in Marble Falls. The place is famous for its pies. The 6th was our day to gather.
• 

The 7th we were invited to go with Arik and Jenny to the Andice General Store for the World’s Best Hamburger. It’s not all hype, they are really very good burgers.

• The 8th was our last visit with the dermatologist, Dr. Collins.
• Great Grandson Henry Arthur was born on the 9th.
• 10th-19th Everything was pretty routine.
• 20th had Tom doing fasting labs at the Cedar Park VA. Afterwards, we went to IHOP for breakfast.
• On March 26th Tom discovered that the bedroom window was shattered. It is safety glass so it was still in place even though though there was a small hole in the upper right hand side.
• 28th Tom had an appointment with his cardiologist, Dr. Crimmons. Just a checkup before leaving Texas for Iowa.
• 30th Tom went to Dr. Borick to have 10cc of fluid drained from a pre-patellar bursitis.
• 31st Ella went to Dr. Wolf because her ears are still “stuffed up”

April

• No fooling, on the 1st Cross Tracks Church put “Make Church a Verb” into practice and went into the community do perform various tasks. Some did handyman tasks, some did in home visits, some prayed, and the choir (us included) sang at a couple of nursing homes.
• 3rd Tom to VA Cedar Park for exam by Dr. Bassari
• Also on the 3rd Richard, our Progressive Insurance agent, came to look at the broken window.
• 4th After games and lunch with friends at the Leander Senior Center, we went to the nearby laundromat to clean our clothes.

After which we stopped at the post office on our way home.

Surprise! The truck wouldn’t start. I called our AARP roadside assistance number (that was a mistake – I’ll explain later) and was told that they’d send a tow truck to take us to a GMC dealer in Austin. When the driver arrived, he asked why we wanted to be taken all the way into Austin (about 30 miles). I told him that it was where AARP had routed us. He got on the phone with them and told them he was taking the truck (and us) to Georgetown which was considerably closer.

We arrived at the repair shop just minutes before they were closing for the day. They didn’t have loaner/rental cars and their shuttle service would not take us back to Liberty Hill.

I called Enterprise in Georgetown and was told they had no cars. Really? They transferred my call to another location where I was told that because I had an out of state (Iowa) drivers license, and a VISA bank card (as opposed to a VISA credit card) they wouldn’t rent to me.

This is why it was a mistake to contact AARP instead of Good Sam. If I had contacted Good Sam, they would have made all the arrangements for the rental car for me.

My son Adam lives in Georgetown and so I called him to ask for a ride. He had kids to take to after school activities but he could make a quick run to get us home. Thank the Lord! What a day.

• 5th, Wednesday. I sent a message to Louine, choir director/Grandies president, to say that we were without a vehicle and would not be able to attend Grandies or choir practice. She said that she would come and get us and see that we got home afterwards. She also picked us up for Choir practice. As it happened this was the monthly catered meal for the choir. While we were eating, I was explaining our current automotive adventures with our friends. Burt and Louise offered us the use of one of their vehicles. Burt and I went to his place and picked up one of his “spare” vans. Now that is really Make Church a Verb.
• 6th. Our new Liberty Hill Police Chief has begun a monthly program called “Donuts with the Chief” which are sort of like miniature town hall meetings. The speaker at this one was from a woman’s shelter.
• 7th. We got the truck back. We gave them $1100 and they gave us the keys. We have new fuel pump, sending united and associated devices. The truck also has had an oil change … which we needed to have before heading back to Iowa.
• Saturday the 8th was adventure packed. We started with Sofia’s volleyball game, and then rushed to Tate’s football game. From there we made it to the monthly Bunko party.
• 10th. While we were sitting at the table eating breakfast, there was a “thump and a shake”. I thought something had run into the side of our RV.

However, it was closely followed by another thump and I realized that I was now leaning to the left. Looking down, I could see that the floor of our slideout had literally fallen away from the wall about 3-4 inches. Once, we processed the fact that the floor had fallen out from under us, we started moving as much weight off of the slideout floor as we could.

I sent out a general distress message to our family. We were planning on heading back to Iowa on the 26th. The RV was to go into storage while we were gone. However, it could not be stored in its present condition. Following on the heels of the truck repair, we were not in a financial condition to have it repaired. I called our Progressive Agent. (by the way, I guess I never followed up on the shattered window. It was covered under our policy. However, the repair cost was $250 and we have a $500 deductible.)

We received a message from Arik and Jenny that we could come and stay with them until we decided what to do with the RV. So we packed some bags with clothes, medications, and anything else that we thought we might need. When we arrived at the kid’s they showed us the guest bedroom and we began unloading our stuff.

We began making a list of our options. We started with the realization that because the floor had disconnected from the wall, the slide out would not slide in and would therefore would be impossible to tow down the highways.

1. Repair the RV (however with our financial and time constraints this did not seem achievable)
2. Don’t repair it. However, if we were not going to repair it, that would mean unloading all of our stuff.

If we removed our belongings that would mean finding a place to store it (rent a storage unit or get an apartment). Getting an apartment also appeared to be on our list of “not possible”. There was the option of loading everything into a U-Haul and taking it back to Iowa.

1. Give up our lifestyle of living part of the year in Texas and part in Iowa.
2. Curl up in a fetal position with our thumb in our mouths and do nothing.

• 11th we went ahead with our plan to have lunch and play games with our friends in Leander. We needed a break from the worry and stress.
• Wednesday the 12th. We attended Grandies and helped stuff 20,000 plastic eggs with candy for the egg hunt coming on Sunday morning.
• Maundy Thursday 13th Our church hosted a Seder meal. It was pretty close to a traditional Seder considering that it wasn’t kosher and we aren’t Jewish.
• 14th Good Friday. The choir sang for the Good Friday Service
• 16th Sunrise service, brunch at church, Regular service followed by an egg hunt.
• 17th. Richard from Progressive came to look at the damaged RV. He wasn’t hopeful that the damage was covered under our policy.
• 20th. Returned to Dr. Borick to have bursitis drained
• 24th. We had a going away party with Adam, Leigha and kids
• John, Dawn, Brandon, and Nathan drove from Iowa to Texas.

They worked at getting the slideout pushed back into the Hitchhiker RV and everything cleared away so that it could be towed back to Iowa. After only an hour or so, they hooked up to the Hitchhiker and headed back to Iowa.

• April 28. We left Arik and Jenny’s in Austin at 8 o’clock in the morning.

We went through Temple Texas a” t 9 o’clock and through Waco Texas at 10. At 10:30 we stopped in Ross Texas at Sonic to grab a sandwich and to get up and stretch our legs. We made few stops along the way, just for gas and bathroom breaks.

• The 28th turned into the 29th as we continued driving. Somewhere along the way, I pulled into a McDonald’s parking lot and slept for about 20-30 minutes. We purchased some breakfast sandwiches at the drive through and continued on.
• 29th. We arrived at Cutty’s at 3:00 in the morning. It was cold and wet.

While Ella picked up the dryer sheets (before we leave our trailers for the season, we fill them with dryer sheets. Ella believes it deters mice. I put out mouse bait to kill mice.), I got the shoreline of our Excel fifth-wheel plugged in and reattached and opened the LP tanks. That allowed me to get the furnace going.

We crawled into bed and slept until around 8 a.m. Then we went to Village Inn for breakfast. John brought the Hitchhiker to Cutty’s and set it on a temporary storage site. Rain and Cold continued.

In the evening, John, Dawn, and Brandon invited us to Felix and Oscars for supper. Afterward we stopped at Wal-Mart for water hose and filter.

• 30th we attended church UPUMC. Then came back to the Excel and rested. More Rain and more Cold made me wonder why we are always in such a hurry to get back to Iowa in the Spring.

Usually we hurry back because I start to work at the campground fee booth early in May. This year, however, we had an additional reason … a new great grandson.

May

• 1st The Sun came out but it was still cold. We went to Grimes senior center for lunch.

Then to Wal-Mart to stock up on groceries. There are canned goods in the Hitchhiker. However, we can’t get to the pantry in the Hitchhiker when the slideout is in. And we don’t want to risk further damage to the floor by opening it. Later went to see brand New great grandson, Henry Arthur Roff. On the way home, we stopped at Chicago Speakeasy for prime rib.

• 2nd We began to settle into our Iowa routine.

We had lunch at Grimes Senior center and played lots of games. Joyce was very excited to see us return. She loves to play a board game called Fast Track. However, she has trouble finding anyone to play with when we’re away.

• 3rd ( pie rush Wednesday) After being at the senior center for lunch.

We meet up with Tom and Sue Stone at their RV and then we all went to Village Inn for pie and a

L-O-N-G conversation. Pie Rush Wednesday is another of our summertime routines.

• 4th Started the day at the the dentist for teeth cleaning.

Then to Grimes and the senior center for lunch and games. We went to the Hitchhiker (in storage) and moved a few things around. We brought both recliners from Hitchhiker to the Excel. We did that for two reasons. One to get more stuff out of the way in the Hitchhiker so that when we can get to work on it there’ll be less stuff in the way. And two, the recliners are more comfortable that what are in the Excel.

• 5th signed in at senior center, then Tom went to Unity Point doctors for his sore toe.

After the nurse practitioner examined the toe, she prescribed some antibiotics and said to soak it several times a day in hot water and Epsom salts. Then it was back to center for Lunch and games. In the afternoon we picked up prescription. Once we returned to Cutty’s, we went to the Clubhouse to do our laundry. For supper we got a pizza at Casey’s General Store

• 6th Tom worked at the Fee Booth from 8 to 2.
• 9th there was a Cutty’s Employee meeting in the afternoon. We got to meet the new Club General Manager.
• 10th was another Pie Rush. Lyn Wilkerson joined us for supper, pie, and conversation. She is a cherished friend for over fifty years.
• Tom worked 8-2 both 11th and 12th
• 14 th was Mother’s Day and was spent with the Iowa family of kids, grandkids, CV and great grandkids. Tom worked 2-8.
• 15 th Ella had an eye exam at Wolfe Clinic in preparation for having her plastic lens implant cleaned.

Appointment set for 20th of June. We made it to the Grimes senior center in time for lunch and then played a few games after lunch.

We stopped at Cutty’s office on the way back in and picked up my first paycheck for the season. It was for just a 13 1/2 hours and I got $112 which I deposited electronically. One of the joys of retirement, working seasonal, part-time work for minimum wage.

• 17th Ella had a tooth extraction at 8 o’clock in the morning.

It was around 11 when we got home. Ella went to sleep until sometime after 2.

I worked on more sermons while she slept and then set my alarm for 2 and took a nap also.

Ella woke from her nap and demanded oatmeal right now! After she had eating her oatmeal, we went back to the dentist to get her new dentures. On the way home we stopped at Village Inn for Pie Rush Wednesday. We had just gotten inside the building when it started raining really hard and then about three minutes later it increased in intensity. There were trees down and limbs scattered around the campground. One large limb way across the camper just across the street from us. She was not home at the time Dominoes on Wednesdays and Card Jackpot on Fridays are another part of our summer routine.

• 18th in the morning I drove to Union Park UNC to pick up worship bulletins for the 28th.

From Memorial Day through Labor Day, I preach at the campground nearly every Sunday. I prepare the bulletins in advance and email them to the secretary at UPUMC who prints, collates, and staples them for us.

• 19th Tom worked 2-9 and missed playing Card Jackpot. Ella did play.
• 20th there was a Meet the Manager meeting from 10-10:30 followed by a Club Hall (think town hall) until nearly noon.
• Sunday the 21st we went with most of the family to Be Hope UMC. For Henry Arthur Roff’s baptism.
• Tom worked 8-2:30 on 22nd.
• 23rd Both Ella and I went to the Foot Clinic at the Grimes Senior Center.

There is a Public Health Nurse that comes once a month to care for our feet. It is on a rotating schedule so you can only get in once every three months. Having gotten our feet taken care of, we ate and played games until our 2:30 appointment at Unity Point Clinic. Ella still having trouble with her ears, was given a prescription for Allegra D and Flonase. Tom had 25cc of fluid drained from the bursitis on his left knee.

• 24th Wednesday. You know by now that we will be at Village Inn for Pie Rush Wednesday.

We did our normal trip to the senior center in the morning and then in the late afternoon/early evening, we met up with Frances and Sandy and Stoney and Sue for pie. Then in the evening we played Train Dominoes. We play Mexican Train throughout the year in different locations. And every location has their own house rules. I do fairly well until someone yells, “Hey! You can’t do that.”

Friday and Saturday (26th & 27th) Tom worked at the Fee Booth from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

• Sunday the 28th was our first campground worship service of the season.

Ella and I were the only ones there. This was partially due to the fact that our yard signs (we had 5 originally) were missing. Tom then worked from 3 to 10 at the Fee Booth.

• Monday the 29th was Memorial Day. Tom conducted a brief Memorial Service.

It was held at the entrance to the campground where there is an eagle statue and where we fly the US flag, The POW/MIA flag and flags of all the armed forces. There were fifteen to 20 people present.

• 30th we were back at the senior center as usual.
• 31st Ella had a mammogram and ultrasound. She had detected a change in the way it felt.

Since we just past the eleven year mark from her breast cancer surgery, any change gives us concern. After the exam, they set an appointment to do a needle biopsy on June 7th.

June

• 2nd Tom worked 8-3;30
• 3rd Ella did laundry at Cutty’s main street. She also attended a graduation party for one of the kids she befriended while working at the Clubhouse for many years.
• Sunday the 4th was our second Worship Service at the campground. There were five of us this time.
• 6th Normal day until 2 when Tom went to work until 9:00. It was a slow night at the fee booth. When I got home, Ella had bad a banana cream pie for us.
• 7th Ella had a mammogram, ultra sound and needle biopsy this morning. We missed coffee at Cutty’s Cafe but arrived at the Grimes Senior Center early enough to help set the tables. After lunch, Ella took a nap and Tom did some outside work around the Excel. And, of course, it was pie rush Wednesday.And ended the with Train Dominos.

• 
  6/8/17 Thursday. Ella received a call from the doctor about the biopsy. No Cancer! Praise the Lord. Tom had a department meeting this morning from 8:30-10 at the Clubhouse while Ella had coffee and conversation at Cutty’s Café. After Tom’s meeting was over, we went to the Grimes Senior Center for games and lunch. We didn’t stay for more games after lunch because Tom had to be at work from 2-9. Before he went to work he took care of a few things around the Excel. He moved the awning support to a vertical position so that he’d stop cracking his head on it. He added a row of pathway “lights” along the patio. And added support stakes to the two signs he had painted for the Sunday Worship. Since it is Thursday, they were serving family style meals at the Café tonight. Tonight’s menu is meatloaf, baked potato and some veggie. Ella brought some to Tom for his supper at the Fee Booth. ‘Aint she sweet?

6/9/2017 sunrise at Cutty’s

2013 January 28 Monday   Do You Hear What I Hear?

Pre-dawn over the campers and hills this morning

I woke about a quarter to five this morning, got up and started the coffee and fixed an egg and bacon to roll up in a tortilla for breakfast.  I check on my Facebook and emails and read some of the blogs that I follow.  I then went back and edited the post that I posted last night … added some more pics from our day.

Now it is nearly seven and a Great Horned Owl has decided to start hoot hoot hooting in the tree across the gulch from our RV.  He usually hoots us to bed at night also.  Since I’m sitting here with the windows and doors open, I can hear some morning doves doing their version of a morning song too.  I also hear the crunch of someone’s golf cart tires on the gravel of the drive.  Most likely someone bringing their dog to the dog park/run area of the campgrounds.  What I don’t hear is traffic and machinery clanging and banging.  As I’m typing this a cardinal starts shouting from a nearby tree, “This is MY tree.  All others beware!”   Yep! I’m really enjoying our time at Shady Oaks.

 

I’ve talked about our men’s morning coffee group for several months now.  I guess it’s time to put some faces with the group.  Only about half of the regulars were there today.  A couple of them have left the park for a while and one is just out of town for a day or two.  Not everybody shows up every day and we don’t take attendance. (Grin)

Ron and Gary

Ron and Jack

John, Cal and Glen

 Most of Ella and my day was spent right here being couch potatoes.  The day remained grey all day.  It wasn’t a bad day.  The temperatures were in the mid to upper seventies all day and there was a wonderful breeze blowing through the windows (and slamming the door shut once).  But it was just grey and we had no place or activities to call  us away from our comfortable seats.

           Following the theme of doing nothing, lunch consisted of the pasta salad left over from our “Supper With Friends” on Friday night.  We  also had fresh strawberries that we ate right out of the box.  It was nutritious and colorful but didn’t require any effort on our part other than to chew and swallow.

The sun did poke its face out from behind the clouds for just long enough for me to get a photo of our bird/deer feeder.  We came to Texas with great expectations of feeding the birds and adding new ones to the list of those we’d seen.  Well, the birds had enough to eat that they didn’t need to come begging at our door.  For months the feeder hung there with out being touched.

Then one day I realized that it was actually empty.  We were so excited as we refilled it and made plans to be more watchful for what species of bird was visiting us.  A few sparrows came, but not many.   No noticeable activity.

Then one morning not long ago, I opened the door to go to coffee and found the four or five deer that were eating from the bird feeder.  I stopped putting feed in it.  I really don’t want the deer to come knocking on my door demanding to be fed.

A couple of days ago, I was sitting outside and realized that there were about a dozen cardinals in the tree next to us.  I put more feed in the feeder and moved away from the feeder.  The cardinals did come and visit but were more interested in the seed on the ground than what was in the feeder.  That afternoon the deer came back and emptied the feeder.  The next day, I noticed that the cardinals were back on the ground.  The deer being sloppy eaters were spilling into the course gravel beneath the feeder.  The deer would manage to eat some of the fallen seed but left most of it for the birds.

We did manage to get off our ‘duffs’ to go to Bible Study at the rec hall this evening.  We have some good music to get us started and then read some scriptures and Ron leads us in a discussion.  I always come away with new insights and thoughts to contemplate.  A good way to end the day.

2013 January 27 Sunday

It is 6:30 p.m. and we are just coming home.  We left for church at 7:45 a.m.  The early service was from 8:15 to 9:15.  As soon as we were out of the service we headed toward Austin to visit Heather.  We called to let her know that we were on the way.  When we were about 45 minutes out from her place she called to ask if we would be hungry as soon as we arrived.  We said that we should be arriving about 11:30 to 11:45 and that yes we’d be ready for lunch but could wait.

We had dueling GPS navigators again on this trip.  Mine said to take Texas 29 to 183 and go south.  Ella’s said to go past 183 and take Ronald Reagan Blvd.  As in the past, I bowed to Ella’s instructions.

After we had passed 183 my navigator said to take the Ronald Reagan also.  However when we reached Cedar Park mine said to turn right onto 1431.  Ella’s said to keep going.  Every couple of miles my navigator would say to make a right turn of to make a U-turn.  We kept following Ella’s instructions until we reached Duvall when mine again started to agree with hers.  It seemed to me that we went a long way East and then back to the West to reach our destination.  Next time, I think I’ll try following my system and see where it leads us.

Heather’s dog, Lily was V-E-R-Y excited to see us.  So much so that Heather suggested that we take her to the small dog park near her home.  Lily is a large white dog about a year or two old.  I forget the bread but similar to the pitbull but not as muscular.  Anyway, when we arrived at the park there was a girl/young woman with a small black Boston Bulldog that was a little hyper to see another dog to play with.  Heather would throw a dog ball and both dogs would chase it.  The little bulldog acted like it didn’t know what to do with the ball.  Lily, however, remained very focused on the ball.  The little dog kept getting between Lily and the ball and I was concerned that there might be a problem.  Lily would just wait for the smaller dog to move out of the way and then pick up the ball and return it to be thrown again.

After several minutes the bulldog and owner left and Lily was free to run and chase the ball on her own.  After awhile she got the ball but kept it at the other end of the park rather than bring it back.  Heather said that is how she takes a break in the game.  It’s like Lily knows that if she brings the ball back to Heather, it will get thrown again and that she will HAVE to go get it.  So she just stops bring it back.  She lay down for a while and then picked up a rock and brought it to Heather.  When Heather refused to take the rock, Lily took it away and buried it.  Eventually Heather went and retrieved the ball.

What is the funniest thing that you’ve seen a pet do?

Here are the 3 of us reflected in Cafe Java’s window

A funny thing happened as I was taking this picture.  I had reversed the camera on the Droid so that I could see us and get us all in the photo.  I’m holding it at arms length to get the shot.  I then realize that I’m pointing the camera toward and very close to the man at the table next to us.  I imagine that he must have thought I was trying to get a close up of the inside of his ear!  I explained and apologized to him.

  We returned Lily to the apartment and then piled into Heather’s jeep (not an easy thing for Ella to get into the back seat and not real easy for me to get my feet up and over the door jam in the front seat.  We then went to Café Java for lunch/breakfast.  Heather had her breakfast of biscuits and gravy, Ella had an Ironman omelet, and I had the soft beef taco.  The taco was good but nothing special.  Heather said that although the gravy is not a sausage gravy it reminders her of Iowa.  Ella said that her omelet was okay.  Not a lot of praise for the meal.

In your opinion, where is the best place to eat breakfast and what would you order?

After eating, we return to Heather’s to visit a play a game, Headbanz, where each player wears a headband with a card facing out.  Then they have to guess what the card says.  They can ask the other players questions about the card.  The questions have to be answered with a Yes, No, Maybe or I Don’t Know.  You only have a limited time in which to guess it.  It was fun enough that I’d play it again.

What type of games do you play with friends and family?

As it approached four o’clock, I said that we needed to be leaving.  The idea of driving straight into the setting sun isn’t appealing but driving after dark isn’t either so I wanted to get moving.  We said our good byes and left.  It was a nice visit and I’m glad that we were able to spend some time with her.

After leaving Heather’s we drove to WalMart so that Ella could buy her 2 pound bag of Werther’s.  Some of the meds that she takes gives her a dry mouth.  So she considers the Werthers to be an over the counter medication. (Grin)

We had to , of course, check out the discount items while were at WalMart.  We escaped with no further damage to our checkbook.

It just so happens that the WalMart we stop at is just across the street from Bartlett’s Resturant where Heather and my older son, Arik, are chefs.

We stopped in Burnet at Whataburger for a couple of malts.

Do you become impatient when waiting in lines at the drive through?

How would you handle these type of delays if you

were the owner/manager of a fast food place?

2012 January 26

We began the day with pancakes and sausage at an event at Highland Lakes UMC.  The Cub Scout pack that they sponsor was selling pancakes and breakfast tacos as a fundraiser.  When we got there, there was a tangle of boys under one of the tables.  They were huddled under there watching cartoons on a laptop.  The parents and troop leaders were busy in the kitchen cooking pancakes and sausage.   It appeared that the breakfast tacos had been pre-made and kept in a warmer.  They were good pancakes (I ate mine without syrup … as usual … to help keep the blood sugar in line) and sausage.  The sausage was almost as good as what we get back at Cutty’s in one of the community breakfasts.

To get to the breakfast we had to drive in some misty fog that seems to have settled in over us for the morning … and maybe the rest of the day … we’ll see.

When we got back to Shady Oaks it was only about 8:00 so I stopped at the rec hall for coffee with the guys while Ella went on home.

I said that we began the day with pancakes.  Actually I began the day at 4:30 by making coffee, doing dishes and emptying the holding tanks and working on the blog post about yesterday’s activities.  Ella began the day at 10 to 7 when I asked if she was going to go for pancakes.  She said, “Well I thought they were serving until eleven.”  I said that “Yes they are serving until eleven.  However, I was wanting pancakes for breakfast … not lunch.”  This isn’t that odd of an occurrence.  Because I rise early and Ella would rather not, there are times that I’m ready for lunch when she is ready for breakfast.

My daughter, Heather, called today and said that she has today and tomorrow off from work if we’d like to come visit.  Since it was already after one p.m. it was a little late for us to drive the nearly an hour and a half, visit for a short time and get back here before dark.  (I really don’t like driving these narrow twisty, hilly, deer infested roads at night.)  However, as it happens, tomorrow (Sunday) is the one Sunday out of the month that there is an early church service at 8:15.  We can go to that and then leave for Heather’s.  I said that I’d give her a call when we get underway tomorrow.  She said that she take us to lunch.

For the last couple of days I’ve been working on a business card for Ella and I to exchange with other RVers and friends we meet along the way.  After I’d printed some for us, Ella said, “You know what you forgot?  Phone numbers.”  A assured her that I didn’t forget.  I left them off on purpose.  I don’t want our phone numbers ‘out there’.  I’ll gladly write my phone number on the back of the card for people that I want to call me.  Otherwise, people can email me with THEIR phone number and I’ll call them.  Then I can add them to my phone’s phone-book.

If I receive a call from an unknown number, I don’t answer it.  And I don’t have voice mail for phone spammers, politicians and salespeople can leave messages.  When I see that I have a missed call from an unknown number, I MAY try a reverse look up. >>>note from 2017, The address on our cards has changed<<<

Do you screen your calls?  What method do you use?

2012 January 25 Friday

The day started with this beautiful skyscape taken just before sunrise.

As usual, coffee with the guys from 7:30 to 9:00 and then the women had coffee from 9:30 to 11:00.  While Ella was at coffee I started working on the pasta salad for our “Suppers With Friends” group in the evening.  I cooked the spiral macaroni, drained, added some Italian dressing and let it cool.  Once it was cool, I added chopped fresh mushrooms, carrots, celery, and tomato.  I was going to add bell peppers until I realized that the pepper I had was ‘out of date’.  Once Ella arrived home we went to H.E.B. in Burnet for some peppers (red, yellow, and green).

By then it was lunch time.  We’ve eaten at the Whataburger, the McDonalds and The Highlander so we wanted to try something different.  We’ve been in and through Burnet a lot since we’ve been in Texas.  However, we’ve not strayed far from the two intersecting highways (29 and 281).  So we drove around town a little looking for a local restaurant.

When you go to a new area do you like to eat at national chains or local restaurants?

There are at least four Mexican restaurants in town.  However, I was really hoping to find chicken or fish for lunch.  If they are there, we didn’t find them.  We ended up at Storm’s of Burnet which I guess is a local burger chain.  I just asked for the day’s special (which is what I like to do when trying a new place).  What I got was a gawd awful big burger.  Seriously!  There were four beef patties in that thing.  It was topped with lettuce, tomato, mustard, mayo, ketchup and about a half a jar of pickles!  Ella had a regular burger which also came with all the fixin’s (the only differences were that I’d ordered mine with no onion and she’d ordered with no mustard).  She had a generous order of onion rings and I had the French fries.  With a couple of fountain drinks (and tax) it came to a little over $16.  I’d rate it as far better than McDonalds and Burger King but not as good as the Mushroom Swiss burger I had at the Central Market in Austin.

What is your favorite restaurant chain and why?

          Our forwarded mail package from the UPS Store came today so we spent quite a bit of time sorting through for bills and ‘important’ mail and tossing junk mail.  The few bills that we received had already been paid.  That is something that happens a lot when we only get our mail once a month.  Almost everything is auto-pay or we can go online and pay so we don’t get much in the way of bills in the mail.  These happened to be some doctor bills for appointments Ella had before we left Iowa.

That brings up a question.  Why do doctor’s take so long to send out bills?  We pay the co-pay at the time of service and then they bill the insurance.  But it seems that they always have some other thing that the bill for a month or so after the service rendered.

Have you had that same experience with health care providers?

              As I mentioned earlier, we had supper with some friends.  This is actually a program of the church we are attending here.  You sign up   and they dived you up into groups of three or four families.  You then take turns hosting a monthly evening meal.  It is a great way to build community within the congregation.  As it happened, we were grouped with the pastor and his wife and one other couple.  We had our first meal at the pastor’s home and we have scheduled the next one to be at our RV.

Do you belong to a club, church or other organization that does something along the lines of the “Supper With Friends”?  

Adapting a small TV stand to bedding storage.

I had this small TV stand/cart and have been using behind my recliner in the living room area of our Hitch Hiker 5^th wheel.  I realized that nearly everything stored on it was extra bedding, the thought s-l-o-w-l-y sunk in that maybe it should be in the bedroom! Duh! Huh?

I measured the space next to the bed and the stand would fit nicely with about 3 inches to spare which would not get in the way of making the bed.  Cool!

Well … not quite cool.  The floor is uneven.  There is a ledge about 5 ½ inches high that protrudes from the wall about 3 inches.  No problem!  Buy 5 ½ inch legs and attach to the front of the cabinet.

Off we go to Lowes.  Legs?  Yes they had them. A very friendly store employee took me right to them.  Attaching hardware?  Nope!  On back-order.  Come back next week.

See, there’s here is the situation with that; I have to drive nearly 50 miles to ‘come back next week’.  The only reason I was near a Lowe’s in the first place is because I had other shopping to do in the area and THAT made the drive worth while.  The idea of driving 50 miles for a $10 purchase was not in my plans.

Stop at Ace Hardware.  A very friendly employee asks what he can help with.  5 ½ furniture legs and attachment hardware, if you have it.  He took me to them.  Asked how many legs I wanted and which type of hardware, straight or angled?  Straight.  Here you are, thank you for stopping in.

Today, armed with the hardware I began the conversion.  First, remove the castors from the cabinet.  Secondly attach the mounting hardware.  (you will notice that the hardware assumes a large flat surface to which it will be attached.)  I don’t have a large flat area.  I could go back and purchase some lumber with which to create a large flat surface …. Or …. I could just turn the hardware 45 degrees and use two screws instead of four. 

I know it’s not neat.  I’m not a cabinet maker.  I’m an RVer making use of what I already have.  I’m a conservationist!  A recycler!  A cobbler of junk parts into something useful.  And it works.

 

2013 January 24 Thursday

My day started with coffee with the guys as usual.  I returned home about 8:45 and went in an updated yesterday’s blog entry.  I also moved a few more of the 2012 files to the archive page.

Yesterday while we were in Cedar Park, the animal shelter called to say that Kramer the cat’s ashes were ready to be picked up.  They had called on Ella’s phone and she thought that they had said we could pick Kramer’s remains up after ten o’clock in the morning.  So about ten we drove to the shelter.  The gate was locked.  So we decided go into Kingsland for some shopping and try again later at the shelter.

On the way into Kingsland we decided to locate the address that we will be going to tomorrow.  The local church here (Highland Lakes UMC) has a program called “Supper With Friends”.  What it does is match up three to four families which get together for an evening meal.  One family hosts one month and another the next.  Being unfamiliar with this area, we wanted to be sure that we could find it before dark.  It is a good thing that we did the trial run.  I had received emailed instructions on my Droid Razor Max.  However, Ella was using MapQuest or Navigator and I was following her instructions.  So we went too far.

Llano River  We did not take this picture.  I found it on a website, http://www.castellcabin.com/ and it may be copyrighted.  So I’ve included the link to their site.

As it turns out it was worth going that extra mile in the wrong direction because we found a lovely river crossing on the Llano River.  We did not stop to take pictures this time … but we will certainly be back for some photo shoots.

After turning around and retracing out travels, we did locate the house and are sure we can find it again even in the dark.

Once we found our way into Kingsland by way of some back roads, we stopped at the H.E.B. and picked up some fresh fruit, sliced luncheon meats and some cake mixes.

The cake mixes are for a recipe Ella saw posted on Facebook.  It calls for mixing an angel food cake mix and any other cake mix (we chose yellow cake) and storing the mix.  When you have a hankerin’ for cake but don’t want to heat the oven and get out the mixer, you add a few tablespoons of the mix and a little water to a cup and microwave it.  It sounds simple enough and would make fixing a couple of single servings easy.  So, we’re going to try it.  You can too.  Here are the instructions:

Recipe 1-2-3 Cake*

Start with two packaged cake mixes.  One of them HAS to be Angel Food but the other can be any flavor you like.  Mix the packages of dry ingredients together.  We placed ours in a gallon size zipper locked bag.  Store the mix until you are ready to use it.

When you have the craving for cake, add 3 Tablespoons of mix and 2 Tablespoons of water in a coffee cup.  Microwave on high for 1 minute.  You may have to adjust time according to YOUR microwave.

Top with frosting, fruit, or nothing at all.  Be creative.  We used Pillsbury Easy Frost.  It seemed like the perfect compliment to a one minute cupcake.

*I’d like to credit the person who came up with the recipe.  However, it is something that I’ve seen being passed around on Facebook so I don’t know where it originated.

 

After H.E.B. we went to Ace Hardware for some furniture legs that I’m going to add to the bottom of a small TV stand that I want to use for storing bedding.  The floor in the 5^th wheel is uneven.  There is a ledge about five and a half inches high against the wall.  My solution is to add five and a half inch legs to one side of the cabinet.

By now it was lunch time and we had a coupon for Sonic and there was one very close.  We chose to eat at the drive-in rather than drive through.  The coupon was for the lunch sack special which included two cheese burgers, two tater tot orders and two drinks.  Made a perfect lunch for us and saved us $4.75.

Now we drove back to the animal shelter and found that the gate was still locked.  I was about to turn around when I noticed a second drive and three people sitting under a shelter beside the animal shelter.  I pulled into the drive and asked if they were open.  I was told that they were only open to the public from Saturday through Wednesday.  I said that we had received a call that our cat was ready to be picked up but that we’d come back on Saturday.  The gal said, “No that’s alright, we can do that.  It just isn’t open for viewing and adoptions on Thursday and Friday.”  So we now have a plastic bag full of cat ashes in a cardboard box under the head of our bed.  It’ll stay there until we go back to Cutty’s in the spring.

It is a lovely day with a predicted high near 80 degrees.  I intend to work on the cabinet outside where I can enjoy the weather.  I’ll try to remember to take pictures as I go so that I can post them later.

2013 January 23 my 66th Birthday 

            How is this for the way to start my birthday?  Getting blood drawn at the VA Clinic in Cedar Park this morning.  The trip into Cedar Park was ‘fun’.  We drove most of the way in a very dense fog.  I shot some video so that you can see what we saw … or more accurately what we couldn’t see. >>>note from 2017, the video didn’t import from the old blog<<<

After the blood draw, we stopped at Office Depot for some business card stock and software. As we were leaving there, we called Arik and told him that we were only minutes away.

He took us to Central Market in Austin for lunch.  Ella had the hamburger with mushrooms and sweet-potato fries and I had the Mushroom Swiss burger with brown rice.  After we ate we went for a walk around the lake at the park.  There was this amazing tree at the park.  If I was younger, nothing could have kept me from climbing that tree.

     After the walk, Arik said,”I’d like some coffee, how about you.”  Ella and I both said yes.  And he asked what kind of coffee.  I said just coffee with lots of beans in it.  He took us to a small Mexican coffee shop and I had the dark roast drip coffee and Ella had the medium roast while Arik had some foo foo drink with flavored soymilk.  (I tried to raise a hippy and ended up with a yuppy)

     We sat and talked for a good while before returning to his house.  He had worked the night  before and then been back to work for a managers meeting in the morning.  And then was going to need to pick his kids up from school in a couple hours.  So, we thanked him for the lunch and coffee and left him to take his nap.

 

 

     The zipper on Ella’s skirt had broken while we were walking around the lake.  (she hadn’t mentioned it until we left Arik’s)  She said she wanted to stop at Goodwill.  Cedar Park/Austin is a great place to shop if you like Goodwill … there are lots of them.  We stopped at several and she never found a skirt but did find a blouse that she liked.  I also found a juicer.  I’d been wanting one to have in our winter home because I’d really liked juicing on the one I left in Iowa.  We also stopped at several Dollar Generals on the way back to Shady Oaks.  I think we’ve managed to buy as many close out Christmas items as we really need!

 

2013 January 22

This is Tuesday.  However, it has felt like Saturday to me all day.  I had coffee with the guys here at Shady Oaks Riverside RV Retreat this morning.  And then came home to find that Ella was eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast.  This is a break from routine.  Generally I fix breakfast (for both of us) eat mine and then go to coffee while she catches the last hour or so of sleep.  This morning I didn’t get up until a little after 7.  Well, the gang gets together for coffee at 7:30 so I didn’t eat before I went this morning.  I had in mind to come back and fry some sausage and eggs for our breakfast.  However, since she was eating cereal, I also had a bowl.  Strangely, I seldom eat cereal for breakfast.  I might have it for supper if we’ve had a large lunch or I might have it for a bedtime snack, but seldom for breakfast.

I spent most of the morning importing old blog entries from two of my preexisting blogs: Home Is Wherethe 5th Wheel is and North Pole News.  The original intent of the first one was to give advice to fellow RVers and encouragement and insight for newbie RVers.  While the reason for the second blog was to chronicle our daily lives (mostly for our family and friends).

These two blogs were both inspired by blogs that I formerly had through AOL.  However, AOL discontinued that service and most of the information I had posted there was not recovered.  (Lesson learned … back up everything)  At any rate, what has become evident over the last several years is, I can’t compartmentalize our lives that easily.

We are fulltimers.  We live in our RV(s) all the time, all year.  Therefore much of what happens in our daily lives is directly linked to RVing.  So, here I am creating this new blog, RVing Fulltime With Tom And Ella, which will be a more complete story of our lives.  I will keep the Home Is Where The 5^th Wheel Is blog going and copy some of the articles from this blog back to there.  I plan to also add a “Page” on this blog that deals with some of the do it yourself, repair, maintenance, joys and problems of RV living.

This afternoon Ella and I drove to Marble Falls for some shopping.  I needed some items from Lowes and groceries from WalMart.

At Lowe’s I purchase Elmer’s wood glue and clamps to repair a broken cutting board/sink cover.  I also bought some Reflectix insulationwith which I will make sun-blocking window covers for the Hitch Hiker we will leave in Texas.  I’m told it gets hot in Texas in the summer!  I’ll post photos and more info on that project as I go.

 

 

We returned home from our shopping just about supper time.  We had pancakes.  And, as I was eating them, I remembered that I am to ‘fast’ after midnight for some blood work tomorrow.  I hope that the syrup is out of my system before they check my blood sugar (I’m pre-diabetic) and have been able to keep it in check with diet and meds.  And no, it wasn’t sugar free syrup, and I usually don’t put syrup on my pancakes.  I like them with just butter/margarine.

After (the unfortunate choice of) supper, I worked on moving more files.  I now have archives for 2010 and 2011 available for viewing by going to the ‘Pages’ tabs at the top of the blog.  It is now a little after nine p.m. and I’m going to post this and then get off of the computer for the night.

 

This is a panorama shot of the special missionary presentation during Sunday school time at Highland Lakes UMC (I wasn’t as steady as I needed to be and ended up with the gal in the purple top, twice in the same shot. This giant pink rabbit was my pew buddy for today in church. I say he was mine however the truth is that he sat on Ella’s lap most of the service.  These stuffed animals are scattered all over the sanctuary at this church.  How friendly is that! Later we had lunch at  Highlander Restaurant Llc in Burnet.  Good eats and fair price make it a nice place to visit for a Sunday buffet. The rest of the day has been spent transferring posts for the old blog to the archive section of this blog.  So far I have only gotten 2010 January through August transferred.  Still a lot to go. >>>Note from 2017 I have been transferring posts from 2013 to this new new blog. Now I wonder where those posts from 2010 are?<<< The rest of the day has been spent transfering posts for the old blog to the archive section of this blog.  So far I have only gotten 2010 January through August transfered.  Still a lot to go.