Bob’s new toy, Jan. 27, 2011

Bob’s laptop computer is over 6 years old and slowly dying.  It didn’t take Bob too long to follow up on my suggestion that he look for a new computer.  Since Fry’s Electronics was only a few miles away also helped in the purchasing process.

Our son suggested that a touch screen might be nice, as he uses one where he works.  So here is the reveal of Bob’s new computer, a Sony All In One 21.5 touch screen.

The set up took less than five minutes, but the learning curve (using the touch screen) will be a little longer.  So far Bob is all grins!!  He loves it!

Our new Winegard Trav’ler HD Antenna, Jan. 25, 2011

Bill and Janet Adams arrived this afternoon to install our Winegard Trav’ler antenna for us.  Here they are up on the roof figuring where it is to go.  Bob did have to move one solar panel for the placement of the new antenna.

Soon the antenna was carried up to the roof.  Janet did most of the roof work while Bill worked on the inside wiring.  Before long it was up and running receiving our Directv signals.

Bill is checking out our Motosat system he installed five years ago) and did some fine tuning to our router, which is what has been causing us some grief.

Tomorrow, our job will be to find us a new coach tire.

Willis to Kemah, Tx, Sun., Jan 23, 2011

As far as Bob is concerned, driving through Houston can only be done on a Sunday morning. The traffic in large metropolitan areas is just not nice. Our plans to leave before 10 am were foiled by this.

This is the repaired tire (Jan 2010) that was replaced yesterday…bummer. We now know a new tire is in our future. So Bob gets out our compressor and airs the tire up, but it takes 105 pounds, so that takes awhile.

Even with the tire delay, we were on the road by 10:45 heading south on I-45 through Houston. In some areas there was more congestion than we like, but Bob did great and we arrived in Kemah by about 12:15 pm.

We are here for the week, why Kemah you ask? There is a new HD Winegard Trav’ler antenna in our future and it is being installed by Bill Adams of Internet Anywhere, he installed our Motosat internet dish five years ago. On his way from Quartzsite, AZ to Florida, he is stopping here in Kemah to do our installation plus an internet satellite on our RV neighbors. They were also our neighbors in Livingston, it was through them that we realized Bill was coming through here as their installation was set up first. Bob thinks Bill does superb work and is thrilled that Bill is installing our new antenna.

These Roseate Spoonbills were near our site. Bob used his camera to zoom in on them. Rain is forecast for tomorrow, but the rest of the week is suppose to be sunny, wouldn’t that be a nice change!

Cousin Patty and family, Sat Jan 22, 2011

I just did some figuring and Patty and Bob are second cousins. Their families kept in contact and visited often during the years Bob was growing up. The last time we met them, Patty, her husband Wayne and their son Alan was in 2006, our first year full-timing, so we had a few years to get caught up on. We met at their lake home in Willis (on Lake Conroe).

This is their view of the lake.

Dinner was wonderful and it didn’t even slow down the flow of our conversations.

Here Wayne had just finished showing us one of his pride and joys, his Harley Davidson trike. Did you know getting reverse is an option? It was a beauty.

Thanks Patty, Wayne, and Alan for a great visit!

Livingston to Willis, TX, Friday, Jan 21, 2011

Today was the day, after being at the SKP park for a little over six weeks, we were moving the RV, not far, about 70 miles.  Plans were made to see Bob’s cousin Patty and her family at their lake home on Saturday.

As you will see with this post, it was a day of challenges. First when we put in the drivers side slide, strange noises and pops were heard.  The slide came in a little crooked and managed to loosen up part of the bottom side trim.  So we put the slide back out to see what the problem was – ICE.  Bob is removing the ice in the above photo, not just being tidy.

So with the ice removed, all was well, well except for the slide trim, another item for Bob’s ToDo list.

Our next stop was a few miles away in Onalaska, Wayne’s Tire Shop.  We wanted to get the front tires balanced, they use the ‘balancing beads’ method-a pack of silicone beads is put into the tire, the pack of beads breaks when you drive and the silicone beads move around and balances your tires.

These beads are not expensive $15 per bag plus $15 labor per tire.  The whole process did not take over 30 minutes and were back on our way to Willis.

We kept wondering if we would feel the difference in the coach ride.   Bob’s  kept driving and soon his speed was up to 50 and on a long bridge and then it happened – the coach started to vibrate, shaking almost out of control.  Bob did an excellent job of holding on (for dear life) to the steering wheel, slowed down, and the vibration stopped, back up to 50 and the vibration began all over again.  After crossing the bridge, we pulled over to see if we could see any problem – saw none, but Bob’s emphatic words were “We’re going back.” (to Wayne’s Tire Shop)   Our drive back, about 3 miles went fine as long as you were below 50 MPH. After describing our problem to them, one fellow wanted to check something.  Turned out they had not removed our old rim weights, talk about a possible liability issue.  It was also brought to our attention, the front driver’s tire showed signs of needing an alignment and showed some bad wear, so we had them replace it with the tire we have been carrying in the Explorer since January of 2010, a flat which had been repaired. 

This time we left the Explorer parked and took the coach for a test drive – what an amazing smooth ride.  Those beads actually do work!!

Then we go back to Wayne’s hook up the Explorer and drive on over to Willis.

Still in Livingston, Jan 11-20, 2011

Since I wanted to use my sewing machine, it was time for some maintenance and cleaning.  I used a toothpick as a guide to let the oil slide down on, so it went where I wanted it to go. 

I first made a cover for my burr coffee grinder from a kitchen towel, then made a hand towel for near the sink.  I recycled the red part  (a pot holder) from another kitchen towel where the towel had seen better days.  Then sewed another towel on, Bob suggested I make it long as to wipe off the wet counter top, not sure about that, we will see how handy it is.

Well, here is the material for my next project.  About a year ago my sister found this dress in a bag of used clothes she was sorting through and thought of me…because of the kokopelli’s.  I knew someday I would think of a project to use it for and I did.  It is a “while we are driving” coach arm organizer for my camera, phone, sunglasses and the Droid.  After some planning, measuring, cutting and stitching, here is it all loaded for the road.

Well, this isn’t a good thing, with a tow truck flat bed in front of the Explorer.  But, in our case, it actually was…Explorer (1993) would not start in Walmart parking lot, tried to push it (me pushing-must have been quite a sight and Bob tried to pop the clutch) – still no go.  Finally called Coach Net (they also cover your tow vehicle along with your motorhome) and they sent a tow truck.  They loaded the Explorer on the truck, then the driver asked what was the problem, Bob told him, he then asked Bob if it might be the battery cables – don’t know.  He checked and yes, this battery cable was the culprit (not suppose to see any copper wires).  The driver also does roadside service, so he was able to fix our problem and we were soon on the road back to our coach.

Couldn’t leave Livingston without visiting the local history museum.  Since Polk County, where Livingston is, was part of the Confederacy during the Civil War, Confederate soldiers were required to sign an Amnesty Oath.  This is the first one of these Bob and I have ever seen.  Interesting!

I, your name, do solemnly swear or affirm in the presence of Almighty God that I will hereafter faithfully defend the Constitution of the United States and the Union of the States hereunder and that I will in like manner abide by and faithfully support all laws and proclamations which have been made during the existing rebellion with reference to the emancipation of slaves.  SO HELP ME GOD. Signed.  Signed and sworn to before me this 12th day of Nov 1865.

Our time here in Livingston is coming to an end.  Heading our tomorrow, Friday the 21st, stopping in Tomball (N of Houston) for a couple of nights to visit one of Bob’s cousins, then to Kemah, (S of Houston) for a week, then head south to the Valley.

At home in Livingston, TX Jan 2-10, 2011

This is our home currently parked here at Escapees Rainbow’s End RV park in Livingston. We have been here since early Dec and plan on leaving around the 20th or 21st of Jan. One month ago today we took our drivers test and I am so glad that whole process is behind us. I am just not used to stress in my life and taking tests does add stress, big time!

The weather here is very changeable, one day it is in the 60’s or 70’s then in a few days the high doesn’t reach 40, like today). Last summer in Alaska I killed our electric blanket, I did not know you can’t use it with an inverter. Do now though. So had thought we could do without a new electric blanket, but…I finally cried ‘uncle’, I do enjoy getting into a warm bed. So here I am unloading my new electric blanket and also a folding chair we bought to go along with the one we already have so guests don’t have to bring their own if they eat with us. (Right John and Judy) Let me explain, the extra chairs that came with the coach take up too much space, so they are in storage and we use regular folding chairs and they fit so much better in our space.

When we were visiting our family over Christmas, I saw my old Christmas cactus. My daughter Jenny now has this huge plant, and it was blooming! This plant was handed down to me by my Mom in the early 70’s and who knows how long before that she had it, so you can see it has history. So I picked off some starts, planted them after we flew back to TX and now have them sitting on our steering wheel table along with another plant – don’t know its name, but is a very hardy plant, can literally go for months without being watered.

When we left to full-time in the RV, I had not taken my sewing machine. But recently decided it would be nice to have, so when we were at our stick and brick house over Christmas, we packed it up and sent it by UPS to us in TX. It came through with slight damage, the spool holders broke and the case base had a few cracks in it that super glue fixed. I have new spool holders on order too, so soon I will have my old sewing machine back almost as good as new. (Note to Sis, I have a project in mind for the kokopelli material you sent me).

We had so much fun with the Wii while visiting our daughter that we purchased one for ourselves.

We also bought the Wii Fit with the balance board. We are having lots of fun trying out the different games and activities, so far we love the bowling game and find it interesting how the Wii gets you to exercise without really knowing it, pretty smart to trick us oldsters.

Of course, I had to post this photo, see who won this game, it is my Mii. Usually Bob wins, but not this time.

Recently we met with a fellow Escapee who is a practicing attorney here at Rainbow’s End and finalized our Wills, Durable Power of Attorney and a few other legal documents. Nice to get all that taken care of as our last wills were dated back in the 70’s.

Some of Bob’s blog readers, Hector and Lee, who live on nearby Lake Livingston invited us for dinner on Saturday night. We had a great time, enjoyed good food, and learned about their trip last summer to the Maritimes, our destination this coming summer. Below is their view of Lake Livingston.

Happy Birthday Justin, Jan 2, 2011

Happy 15th Birthday to our first grandson Justin!! We love you very much! Have a great day young man.

Check out this awesome rainbow photo

Click on this link and check out the rainbow photo from Quartzsite.

Christmas 2010

For the first time in five years of being on the road, we decided to fly back to California to be with our kids and grandkids for Christmas.  First off after arriving we took our grandson Zach to pick out a tree, after he and Grandpa  cut it down, it was loaded into the trunk of our rental car, to be decorated the next morning.

We all were very pleased at how pretty it was and how good a fresh cut tree smelled.

 

 

Then it was baking day with Jenny and her kids, Justin, Abby and Lindsey, also Zach helped (he is Megan’s son).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soon it was time to attend the Christmas Eve Eve church service, one of the 13 services held at the church Jenny’s family attends.  The photo below was taken at the end of the service when everyone had their own light sticks to simulate candles and then the snow (bubbles) began to fall.  It was awesome!!  Our son Rich is standing beside Bob.

On Christmas Eve day it was time for more cooking,  Christmas morning breakfast and for Christmas Eve dinner with Ed’s family and us, about 20 folks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas morning breakfast, egg casserole, jam and cream cheese braid and orange juice, our traditional Christmas breakfast.  This year I was able to show Jenny, Lindsey and Abby  how you create the cream cheese braid.

Before the showers started on Christmas Day afternoon, we were able to get our group family photo.

Grandpa is really getting into playing baseball on the Wii.  In fact, we have ordered a Wii ourselves for the coach.

After day after Christmas, Rich and I baked his favorite cookies, Spritz and Russian Tea Cakes.

 

Zach has just finished up a school project for Egypt, he and grandpa created the pyramid forms and he covered them with self drying clay, as you can tell he is very proud of the completed project.

 

 

This is Zach’s cat, named Clover, he is huge!!

Abby and Lindsey with their violas'.

Grandpa really enjoyed helping Lindsey and Abby put together a world puzzle.

For our last night in California, Meg prepared us some seafood salad, good job Meg!

What a wonderful time we had while in California!!  We are now back in Livingston, TX getting caught up on our relaxation.