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Today is the day that we've been waiting on since April 9th. We're finally back on the rally trail since my eyes broke while we were in Mountain View Arkansas. As you will remember, I developed a problem called "Third Nerve Palsy" or Bell's Palsy in my right eye, causing some serious double vision. We came back to Dickinson thanks to Dave and Nancy, who brought our trailer back, with Stella driving our truck all the way from Arkansas.
To finish up this recap, I sped-up my already scheduled cataract surgery and recovered from the Palsy and we left Dickinson about two weeks before hurricane Harvey devastated the area. After leaving Dickinson, we spent time visiting with our friends Bill and Ornell at their home and then going to Breaux Bridge La. to visit with other friend David and Susan & Andy and Joanna.
From Louisiana we came to Center to visit my Aunt Janie and had a great time there. Center is a very small town in east Texas and everyone there is so friendly! My maternal grandmother is from Center and we visited here often when I was young. In fact, my parents moved us to Center when I was about 1.
We went to church at the First Baptist church and after three weeks of being in town, we felt like church members. It is refreshing to have folks that wave to you or greet you on the street when you don't know them. Gotta love it!
Other than being deluged by love bugs when we drove up from Louisiana and having the large (100 gallon) fuel tank start leaking, it was a pretty uneventful visit. I got the front of the trailer washed and the truck was washed by a service man in town that Janie knows and who takes care of her car.
We weren't exactly idle while in Center. We made two trips over to Tyler, once to meet with cousin Linda and her husband Doug and their families for the Labor Day celebration and the second time for a doctor visit for Janie. We went over to Shreveport La. for a shopping trip but the highlight of the trip was a day trip back to Dickinson to pick up my new glasses and to see all the hurricane damage. Wow, what a mess!
Today's trip was long (387 miles!) but uneventful. We only made two stops at state rest areas but upon arrival here in Oklahoma City, I discovered that one of my springs on the trailer had broken. Stay tuned for the repair information on this problem.
So long.
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Thursday, September 7, 2017
Thursday September 7, 2017-Center RV Park
Stella and I made a trip down to the Dickinson area to pick up my new glasses. I got these after my cataract surgery, when my prescription changed after the surgery. They were ready on the Monday after the storm came in, but I didn't want to get in the way of rescue workers and I wanted to see first-hand the damage done to the area.
We began our tour at the Bay Colony RV Park that we had left a couple of weeks before the storm hit. I had talked to one of the employees by phone and learned that there had been a lot of water in the park but we saw little damage to the remaining trailers. We noticed several empty sites that had been occupied when we left but we don't know if they had left before the storm or had been damaged and removed. The above photo is the private storage area next door, which is the main business of this company. AS you can plainly see, folks got lots of water in their storage buildings, and the discarded items were piled up at the rear fence for removal.
The check-in lady at the entrance. I'm not sure whether she is checking people in to prevent looters from entering or registering people for FEMA help or for insurance.
The check-in booths. There is another table behind the man standing beside the pickup truck.
This is an insurance company table at a convenience store that is near the RV park. I am sure that there are more scattered through town.
This is the famous Heartbreakers "gentleman's" club. They had some damage as seen by the pile of discarded items out by the road.
Huge piles if trash are everywhere. This was taken at a strip center on FM 517.
More trash piles along 517. Notice the large trash truck going down the road to pick up another load. While driving around town I noticed many out if town work trucks, including clean-up services, and other disaster-related workers.
I remember after Ike, seeing these huge trucks with an extending claw to pick up these piles. The truck towed a large trailer where the debris was placed before running it to the dump.
Both of the above photos were taken on a street near our neighborhood. We have friends that live on the street but fortunately there was no debris in front of our friend's house.
This was the far end of Winding Brook Dr., the street we lived on. As you can see, the Serve-Pro guys are getting a lot of business here.
The damage is heartbreaking and unbelievable. We lived on this street for over 25 years and never saw anything like this.
That is our old house on the left. I remember one rainstorm that dropped a lot of rain on Dickinson that caused water to get into the garage of our house. We had a tiny amount of Sheetrock damage done but nothing else. We were not in this house during Hurricane Alicia, and it hadn't even been built then. We lived here during Hurricane Ike but I don't know how high the water got because I was working and had taken Stella to safety at a friend's house in Port Arthur.
This is the site of a closed-down furniture store that is being used as a temporary dump site for debris. I know that FEMA will help the cities with the costs of the cleanup, as well as overtime pay for city employees, but the work must go on even though the costs are enormous.
I wish we had time to spend more time in the area to record the damage.
By the way, my glasses fit very well and are great!
So long.
Friday, September 1, 2017
Friday September 1, 2017-Center RV Park
Man what a week! We arrived here in Center on August 24th and hurricane Harvey hit the Rockport/Port Aransas area on Saturday the 26th. Talk about good timing! Of course, the area of Louisiana where we were was pretty much undamaged, certainly not the damage seen in the Beaumont/Port Arthur area of Texas and NOTHING like the damage in the Houston area.
Our old hometown, Dickinson Tx. was the epicenter of some of the news sources. As it turned out, several news people were in Galveston in preparation for the arrival of the storm but ran into some high water, causing them to have to stop in Dickinson. There was plenty of storm coverage from there and I'm sure that the entire country is aware of the small town where we lived. And please keep in mind that we only left Dickinson on August 9th but the storm hadn't even been born then. We saw boats in front of the RV park on the highway but I don't know how the park itself came out. I have tried to call to check on them but the phones are out. I can only hope that our friends there didn't have damage.
Remember that we left Dickinson for our friends Bill and Ornell's house in Port Arthur. We stayed with them for several days before going to Breaux Bridge, and knew that they were in a low area, with a levee with a set of floodgates cross the road that is about a mile from their home. HERE is a video that their daughter-in-law posted on Facebook showing damage and a picture of the floodgates. Folks outside the levee were flooded, and remember, it's only about a mile away!
Wow, so many places that we just left that had substantial damage and flooding! Maybe it's time for us to go back to Vegas or at least buy a lottery ticket!
We have been blessed in Center. We had heavy rains, with my rain gauge measuring about 25", but we had no flooding or high winds. Some minor ponding of water here at the park but there was only an inch or so of water there. We did meet some folks that had evacuated from Dickinson for the storm. Ironic...
Aunt Janie donated some water and supplies through her church. I took her to Wal Mart and we delivered them to the drop-off point. Janie learned that a large group of evacuees was housed at the Hampton Inn in Center. She and Stella prepared some food which we brought up to the hotel for them to have some home cooked food to eat.
I am just in AWE of the volunteers, the Cajun Navy, Red Neck Navy and many others that came to Texas at their own expense to help with evacuations. Then football star J J Watt organized a fund drive which has raised over $11 million for hurricane Harvey relief. Unbelievable!
Seeing people buckling down and going to work to clean up and start the recovery process. I remember the assistance that I got after hurricane Ike when I was still working and how much I appreciated it. This was the first hurricane of my adult life that I didn't have to work during the storm. That's not quite right because we had to evacuate during hurricane Rita in 2005, which was like work to me. I had to drive for 19 hours straight to make it to Spring Tx. where our trailer was and then drive another 8 hours to make it about 25 miles where we rode out the storm. I met Stella and Kim during the evacuation of Dickinson for Tropical Storm Claudette, which dropped over 43" of rain on Alvin Tx. and flooded Dickinson, and my work hasn't stopped since then!
Again, I am so thankful and grateful to God for sparing us from damage or injury.
So long.
Our old hometown, Dickinson Tx. was the epicenter of some of the news sources. As it turned out, several news people were in Galveston in preparation for the arrival of the storm but ran into some high water, causing them to have to stop in Dickinson. There was plenty of storm coverage from there and I'm sure that the entire country is aware of the small town where we lived. And please keep in mind that we only left Dickinson on August 9th but the storm hadn't even been born then. We saw boats in front of the RV park on the highway but I don't know how the park itself came out. I have tried to call to check on them but the phones are out. I can only hope that our friends there didn't have damage.
Remember that we left Dickinson for our friends Bill and Ornell's house in Port Arthur. We stayed with them for several days before going to Breaux Bridge, and knew that they were in a low area, with a levee with a set of floodgates cross the road that is about a mile from their home. HERE is a video that their daughter-in-law posted on Facebook showing damage and a picture of the floodgates. Folks outside the levee were flooded, and remember, it's only about a mile away!
Wow, so many places that we just left that had substantial damage and flooding! Maybe it's time for us to go back to Vegas or at least buy a lottery ticket!
We have been blessed in Center. We had heavy rains, with my rain gauge measuring about 25", but we had no flooding or high winds. Some minor ponding of water here at the park but there was only an inch or so of water there. We did meet some folks that had evacuated from Dickinson for the storm. Ironic...
Aunt Janie donated some water and supplies through her church. I took her to Wal Mart and we delivered them to the drop-off point. Janie learned that a large group of evacuees was housed at the Hampton Inn in Center. She and Stella prepared some food which we brought up to the hotel for them to have some home cooked food to eat.
I am just in AWE of the volunteers, the Cajun Navy, Red Neck Navy and many others that came to Texas at their own expense to help with evacuations. Then football star J J Watt organized a fund drive which has raised over $11 million for hurricane Harvey relief. Unbelievable!
Seeing people buckling down and going to work to clean up and start the recovery process. I remember the assistance that I got after hurricane Ike when I was still working and how much I appreciated it. This was the first hurricane of my adult life that I didn't have to work during the storm. That's not quite right because we had to evacuate during hurricane Rita in 2005, which was like work to me. I had to drive for 19 hours straight to make it to Spring Tx. where our trailer was and then drive another 8 hours to make it about 25 miles where we rode out the storm. I met Stella and Kim during the evacuation of Dickinson for Tropical Storm Claudette, which dropped over 43" of rain on Alvin Tx. and flooded Dickinson, and my work hasn't stopped since then!
Again, I am so thankful and grateful to God for sparing us from damage or injury.
So long.
Thursday, August 24, 2017
Wednesday August 23, 2017-Moving Day-Poche's Fish N Camp to Center RV Park, Center Tx.
The day finally arrived that we had to pack up and leave our friends in Louisiana. We have had such a nice time with them, although oppressively hot. But what do you expect in Texas and Louisiana in August?
We went out to eat a couple of times, once to Pat's of Henderson, a very good Cajun restaurant with a nice view of the river and gators swimming by, and the second at Poche's Restaurant and Market in Breaux Bridge. Poche's is also owned by Ornell's uncle who formerly owned the RV park where we are staying. The food here in Louisiana is fabulous! If you've never been, you owe it to yourself to make this trip. I like this area much better than New Orleans. It is much less crowded here and Way less touristy!
We were up and going around 7 this morning, but since we have about 225 miles to go, with most of it on freeway, we were able to take it easy. Bill and David, however, had mowing and chores to do when they got home and with a tropical storm brewing in the Gulf, they wanted to get things finished before the rains came. Just another reason to love our full-time lifestyle!
As soon as we hit the road, we ran into those darn love bugs. You can see the results below. I took a picture of the windshield, which was also covered, but they had been washed off several times so that I could see to drive and most of the bugs were gone.
I thought about counting them but you might find the number of the pesky little bugs astounding. I will take on the clean up as soon as I can.
Now that we're here in Center, it's time to spend time with family.
So long.
Saturday, August 19, 2017
Friday August 18, 2017-Moving Day-Sim's Home to Poche's Fish N Camp, Breaux Bridge LA
Well, we are officially back on the road. We spent 9 days at Bill and Ornell's house and had a great time with them. One of the best things was the fact that we didn't run out of room in our waste water tanks in this time, which is a good thing!
We were up pretty early to get started on the moving day chores and actually hit the leaving-time exactly, 9:30. It is only about 124 miles to Poche's and we made very good time on the road. We only made one stop, at a place called Peto's Travel Center in Roanoke La. for their famous food. We tried the boudin balls, stuffed with cheese and a jalapeno, the pistolettes, which are fried rolls stuffed with etouffee and of course, cracklins' which are fried bacon rind or pig skin and all were very tasty.
We got to Poche's about 1 PM and soon got set up, and man, is it hot here! I got a good sweat soaking at Bill's house while packing up and it was much hotter here. It went pretty well and I was through and cooling off about 2.
We sat around and visited with Bill & Ornell and David and Susan, who arrived just after we did and then a bit later in the afternoon, Andy and Joanna arrived and the group was complete. I forgot to mention that Bill and Ornell's daughter and her husband and three grandsons had also come and were here when we arrived.
This RV park belonged to Ornell's uncle until he sold it a couple of years ago. Her aunt still works here, so it was a family reunion for them. The place is very picturesque, with ponds behind all of the RV sites. The ponds began as craw fish ponds and now are stocked with fish. Fishing is free and the rates are reasonable, so it's a nice place to stay. It should be a nice and quiet few days. Oh, and plenty of good ol' Cajun food!
So long.
We were up pretty early to get started on the moving day chores and actually hit the leaving-time exactly, 9:30. It is only about 124 miles to Poche's and we made very good time on the road. We only made one stop, at a place called Peto's Travel Center in Roanoke La. for their famous food. We tried the boudin balls, stuffed with cheese and a jalapeno, the pistolettes, which are fried rolls stuffed with etouffee and of course, cracklins' which are fried bacon rind or pig skin and all were very tasty.
We got to Poche's about 1 PM and soon got set up, and man, is it hot here! I got a good sweat soaking at Bill's house while packing up and it was much hotter here. It went pretty well and I was through and cooling off about 2.
We sat around and visited with Bill & Ornell and David and Susan, who arrived just after we did and then a bit later in the afternoon, Andy and Joanna arrived and the group was complete. I forgot to mention that Bill and Ornell's daughter and her husband and three grandsons had also come and were here when we arrived.
This RV park belonged to Ornell's uncle until he sold it a couple of years ago. Her aunt still works here, so it was a family reunion for them. The place is very picturesque, with ponds behind all of the RV sites. The ponds began as craw fish ponds and now are stocked with fish. Fishing is free and the rates are reasonable, so it's a nice place to stay. It should be a nice and quiet few days. Oh, and plenty of good ol' Cajun food!
So long.
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Wednesday August 9, 2017-Moving Day-Bay Colony RV Park to Sim's Home, Port Arthur Texas
This was the day that we have been waiting for! We have been here since April, having a variety of doctor visits and of course, cataract surgery in both of my eyes. Everything came out fine and we have FINALLY been released to travel again.
We decided to come over to our good friends Bill and Ornell's house to visit with them for a few days before going to Breaux Bridge Louisiana to see some other friends there.
Today's trip was very short, about 90 miles, so we didn't get in too big of a hurry to get moving. Actually, it has been so long since we've done this, we found that we were a bit rusty, but we soon shook the cobwebs off and we pulled out about 10:30.
Actually we had expected to be rained on today but we were pleasantly surprised when no rain fell. We have had plenty of it in the past couple of weeks. Of course, with no clouds and rain, it was hot and humid. There was standing water all around our site, and it didn't take long to break a sweat.
Stella had decided to try driving the truck and pulling the trailer for the very first time. She had done a good job of driving me around when my eyes were broken and I was seeing double, so we thought today might be a good day. There was lots of traffic in Houston, so we waited until we got out on I-10 to switch drivers. There is a rest area about halfway to Port Arthur, so we made out stop there. Stella took a potty break (of course) before assuming the driving duties, but she made it through a pretty hard rainstorm before arriving at the house.
It didn't take long to get set up here, so we were able to get in a little visit with our friends before we took off to get something to eat. Bill took us to one of his favorite Mexican restaurants, the Taco Rey. It was a good choice and we all enjoyed our food.
We are looking forward to some relaxing good times here, just hanging out with our friends.
So long.
We decided to come over to our good friends Bill and Ornell's house to visit with them for a few days before going to Breaux Bridge Louisiana to see some other friends there.
Today's trip was very short, about 90 miles, so we didn't get in too big of a hurry to get moving. Actually, it has been so long since we've done this, we found that we were a bit rusty, but we soon shook the cobwebs off and we pulled out about 10:30.
Actually we had expected to be rained on today but we were pleasantly surprised when no rain fell. We have had plenty of it in the past couple of weeks. Of course, with no clouds and rain, it was hot and humid. There was standing water all around our site, and it didn't take long to break a sweat.
Stella had decided to try driving the truck and pulling the trailer for the very first time. She had done a good job of driving me around when my eyes were broken and I was seeing double, so we thought today might be a good day. There was lots of traffic in Houston, so we waited until we got out on I-10 to switch drivers. There is a rest area about halfway to Port Arthur, so we made out stop there. Stella took a potty break (of course) before assuming the driving duties, but she made it through a pretty hard rainstorm before arriving at the house.
It didn't take long to get set up here, so we were able to get in a little visit with our friends before we took off to get something to eat. Bill took us to one of his favorite Mexican restaurants, the Taco Rey. It was a good choice and we all enjoyed our food.
We are looking forward to some relaxing good times here, just hanging out with our friends.
So long.
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Wednesday July 19, 2017-Bay Colony RV Park
I'm still around but now am done with my cataract surgeries. I had the second operation yesterday and the operation itself went very well but the delay was not as well taken.
Let me begin at the beginning. On Monday I got a call from someone at the Clear Lake Regional Medical Center to report at 8:30 AM for a 10 or so operation. This is the normal procedure and I paid it no mind. My first operation had been at about 8 with a report time of 6:30. We arrive a bit before time and checked in and took a seat. The waiting room was full, so business was good. About 9:30, Stella went to check on the procedure because they have a sign that says to inquire after a fifteen minute wait. She was told "no problem" and Stella noticed that my name was at the top of the list and so we to continued to wait. At ten, I went to check and one of the clerks told me that I was next. About ten thirty I was still not called and went back to check again. The same clerk said that she would check for me but I noticed that she never left the area, nor did she pick up the phone to call anyone. Finally a bit after eleven I was called to the prep area. At last, something happening! Nurses came in and put drops in my eyes (4 times!) and Anesthetist Doc came in and had me sign some releases and other papers and I thought the show would be on the road soon. Nooooo... I waited in the prep area for over an hour before they came out and took me into the operating room.
If only Someone had come by and said "We're running behind because bla bla bla" with some kind of explanation of why we were delayed it would have made a Yuge difference! I spoke with a representative of the hospital today and expressed my frustrations and was told that this will be looked into so it doesn't happen again. I am a big believer in constructive criticism.
At any rate, the surgery went off without a hitch and with the exception of some haze on the eye, my vision has been returned. I bet the dang doctor put his big 'ol fat finger on my new lens, smudging it! HaHa, just kidding. He told me today that it is normal and will go away.
On to more fun stuff to report. Aunt Janie came down with her daughter Linda and husband Doug, her granddaughter Amy and husband KJ and their daughter Nancy Kate for stay in Galveston at a very nice vacation rental. We went down to visit them on Sunday and had a delightful day with them.
We returned to Galveston to meet them and grandson Jason and his kids Sam, Alyssa and Ally for lunch at Mario's Seawall Italian & Pizzeria where we had a good buffet lunch. It was great to catch up with them and have a great meal too!
We are making our plans to finally be able to leave here and get back out on the road. We've got a few more doctor visits to get in and we can hit the road. Can't wait!
So long.
Let me begin at the beginning. On Monday I got a call from someone at the Clear Lake Regional Medical Center to report at 8:30 AM for a 10 or so operation. This is the normal procedure and I paid it no mind. My first operation had been at about 8 with a report time of 6:30. We arrive a bit before time and checked in and took a seat. The waiting room was full, so business was good. About 9:30, Stella went to check on the procedure because they have a sign that says to inquire after a fifteen minute wait. She was told "no problem" and Stella noticed that my name was at the top of the list and so we to continued to wait. At ten, I went to check and one of the clerks told me that I was next. About ten thirty I was still not called and went back to check again. The same clerk said that she would check for me but I noticed that she never left the area, nor did she pick up the phone to call anyone. Finally a bit after eleven I was called to the prep area. At last, something happening! Nurses came in and put drops in my eyes (4 times!) and Anesthetist Doc came in and had me sign some releases and other papers and I thought the show would be on the road soon. Nooooo... I waited in the prep area for over an hour before they came out and took me into the operating room.
If only Someone had come by and said "We're running behind because bla bla bla" with some kind of explanation of why we were delayed it would have made a Yuge difference! I spoke with a representative of the hospital today and expressed my frustrations and was told that this will be looked into so it doesn't happen again. I am a big believer in constructive criticism.
At any rate, the surgery went off without a hitch and with the exception of some haze on the eye, my vision has been returned. I bet the dang doctor put his big 'ol fat finger on my new lens, smudging it! HaHa, just kidding. He told me today that it is normal and will go away.
On to more fun stuff to report. Aunt Janie came down with her daughter Linda and husband Doug, her granddaughter Amy and husband KJ and their daughter Nancy Kate for stay in Galveston at a very nice vacation rental. We went down to visit them on Sunday and had a delightful day with them.
We returned to Galveston to meet them and grandson Jason and his kids Sam, Alyssa and Ally for lunch at Mario's Seawall Italian & Pizzeria where we had a good buffet lunch. It was great to catch up with them and have a great meal too!
We are making our plans to finally be able to leave here and get back out on the road. We've got a few more doctor visits to get in and we can hit the road. Can't wait!
So long.
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