Friday thru Monday April 8 thru12, 2011-Rayford Crossing RV Resort

Friday was another routine day around here. Stella went to work and I stayed home. The only major event that occurred on Friday was that Roy and I went out to pick up the trash. Along the way, we were asked to escort a couple of motorhomes into their sites, which we did with no problem. Krystal came out from the office and asked us to take her on a site inventory, and just as we started out, a lady came out trying to flag a motorhome down that had one of it's jacks down. She asked us to go stop it, and when we made the turn at the pool, Krystal fell off the golf cart. Neither Roy nor I noticed that she had fallen off, and we kept after the motorhome and got it stopped. We discovered that the jack was merely slow in retracting, so we put the golf cart away and I went into the office and learned that Krystal had come in after falling. She was embarrassed but not hurt, thank goodness, so all was well.

Saturday was a routine workday for Stella and I stayed here in the park and helped pick up trash. The weather is getting hot, so it's good to stay inside most of the day. I still get in my walks but do them in the morning or afternoon. We've been trying to eat at home more because the Heartland rally will be here next week and we will be eating more and eating out much of the weekend.

Sunday we stayed around here and took care of things around here. Stella washed clothes and she cut my hair. We had just gotten started when a cold front blew in and dropped the temperatures a bunch. A pretty unexciting weekend!

Monday we began the day with taking Cassie to the groomer first thing in the morning. We went and had breakfast out before beginning our errands. We went to Sam's club where we bought the paper goods that we will need for the rally, and some new shorts for me. Gotta look good for the Heartland crew! We brought everything home and put it away and then went down to Texas City to watch Cameron play baseball. Tyler had forgotten about a homework assignment and had to take it to the ball field to get it done by school tomorrow. Cam's pulled it out and won their game 5-1. He played an 8PM game, which we don't agree with. It's too late for these kids to be up on a school night. It's too late for PePaw to be up too, especially when you remember we have an hour drive to get home. It was worth it to see the boys, Kim and Jeremy.

We were all set to eat at Uncle Chan's, Tyler's favorite place to eat, but they have closed. Tyler was bummed, but we went to China Star, so he got his oriental buffet after all.

It was a good weekend but our time is getting short here. We will be leaving in a month for our summer trip. Can't wait!

So long

Later in the day, our friends Pat and Lori, from New Mexico, arrived and we began the fun of the Heartland rally. We went out to eat with them tonight

Thursday April 7, 2011-Rayford Crossing RV Resort

Not too much has gone on between my last entry and now. I got up early and went down for coffee and then Stella left for work, pretty routine stuff. I did drive her to work so I could do my little bit of work at the park and so I could go for a drive up to the KOA in Montgomery, where we are planning to go to the Texas Boomer rally to meet Ted and Donna for the potluck dinner. The route between the parks is very easy and we shouldn't have any trouble. I saw a dead deer on the side of the road on one of the back country roads that someone had cut the head off of. I guess the deer had a pretty rack and they didn't want to see it wasted, so at least someone got a nice deer head to mount. I wonder, do you need to tag road kill? Can you be prosecuted for possession of a deer carcass out of season? I never got involved with game laws in my career and just don't want to take the time to research this law. I feel certain that no prosecution would be made for a road-killed deer, but I just don't know. My rant for today is for the stupid drivers that take so many chances with not only their own lives and property, but other people that are on the road too. I try really hard to drive defensively and courteously, but some of these people make that very hard! Today, after dropping Stella off, I had encounters with a couple of those drivers that seem to think that when they want to change lanes, someone better make room because they're coming in. The first one was lucky because I had restrained myself the first time she forced her way into my lane with barely enough room for her Mercedes to squeeze in and didn't blow the air horn at her, but when she did it a second time, I had to let her know that I was upset by her driving. I hit the horn button and nothing happened. I had apparently hit the switch for the air horn and it didn't blow. Of course, I turned the air horn back on, but the moment was past, so I didn't light her up. I should have though, I'd have felt much better. The second driver was one that frightened me when he pulled out of a convenience store. I was traveling on a five lane road in the inside lane when I approached him. He saw a small hole in the traffic going the opposite direction and pulled out, heading right toward me. He crossed the road behind me, but when he pulled out, I really thought he was going to hit me. We passed each other so quickly that I didn't have a chance to blow the horn at him, but he deserved it! I'll get off my soap box now. Our plans are coming together nicely for this year's trip. We will have a busy couple of weeks after we leave here, visiting Ian in Terrell, visiting Janie in Nacogdoches and then going to Tyler for more family visits. It should be a little hectic but fun. I'm starting to get "hitch itch" and am ready to go. So long.

Monday April 4, 2011-Rayford Crossing RV Resort

We are down to 6 guys at coffee now, and it's almost to the point that its too much trouble to do. I'll probably keep it going until we leave in May, but after that, who knows? I did make just enough this morning for everyone to have as much as they wanted, so that was a good thing. The bad thing is that I never know who is going to show up, so how much I make is only a guess. Hope my luck holds out. A cold front came in this morning and there was heavy rain and possible hail forecast. Stella was in the process of cutting my hair outside when the front blew in and again, it was fun to be outside when the weather changed. We ran some errands and went to the Louetta Upholstery store to check on having our recliners recovered and any defects repaired. The man in the store said they would only give an estimate if I brought the chairs in, and then told me that the labor alone to recover would be at least $450 not including the material which could run as high as $50per yard. We thanked him for his time and left. That's crazy... We returned home and while I was surfing the net, I noticed that the temperature here is still 71 degrees but it's a sizzling 102 in Mission! (where we just left in February) Not only that, but it's 45 degrees in Elkhart Indiana where we are going next month. Talk about a difference! We said goodbye to Bob and Peggy who will be leaving very early in the morning for So. Dakota. They had planned to leave on Sunday but the weather to the north kept them here. I also spoke with Dick, who is also leaving in the morning, but he's only going to Nacogdoches and plans to stay in the same park that we are looking at. I'm still working on our route and will let you know when we finalize it. So long.

Sunday April 3, 2011-Rayford Crossing RV Resort

The winter Texans have almost all gone now. Al and Joyce left this morning, leaving on Jerry and Diane (from Canada) left in the park. Last Wednesday, there were 7 rigs that pulled out, and we are feeling rather lonely. I helped Bill move into Warren and Judy's site after they pulled out. Bill is scheduled to stay there until November when they will return unless he and his wife find a house to buy in the meantime. I am feeling better now, but still have a nagging cough that I can't seem to get rid of. I am into my third week of this illness and have been told that it lasts from 3-4 weeks, so maybe I'll be able to kick it. I know it has been getting me down since I had it. We met Ted and Donna last night for supper. They have had a house full of relatives and have been entertaining them for the past week or so. It was good to sit and talk to them and we will be looking forward to seeing them again soon. I think we're going to just stay home today and relax. Stella's job, while an easy place to work, is starting to get to both of us. I have been letting Stella take the truck to work for the past couple of weeks to save on fuel costs and to keep from putting so many miles on the truck. It has worked, but I am tiring of being stuck here and dependent on someone else if I need to go somewhere. One thing that is going to help is our rally that is coming up. Our friends Pat and Lori are arriving next week, and it won't be long until the others arrive, and we will be busy getting ready to leave for our summer trip. I have scheduled having the wheel bearings cleaned and packed and to have the suspension inspected prior to leaving. We will decide if we need to replace the tires on the trailer then also. If we don't do it this year, we will have to replace them next year for sure. Stella and I are trying to figure out when we're leaving here and where we'll go. We're scheduled to go to the factory on June 1st for a repair and then to Trail Air for the hydraulic leveling system to be installed on the 6th. After that installation, we go to Pennsylvania for a local Heartland rally, then back to Goshen for the Heartland National rally. We're excited about the upcoming trip and will keep you advised about it. I plan to keep this blog up much better when we get back out on the road. We'll see how that works out. So long.