Rain, rain go away.....

Staying with the hippies at Mountain View Motel and Campground  in Buffalo, WY was a great choice although our neighbors were quite close and somewhat too neighborly.  The staff bent over backwards to accommodate - letting us use extensions for the electric and cable.  We met a nice guy from Hillsborough TX who was heading to Gillette for the Airstream rally.  Tony was driving a 1985 Airstream 6 cylinder turbo diesel motor home, a rare find that he in the process of renovating. The picture is not of Tony's rig but of another one that has been completely renovated.

We rode our bikes downtown to explore Buffalo on Sunday morning but didn’t expect to find too much open.  We happened upon a three-on-three basketball tournament near city hall and the museum.

We locked our bikes on the street and stepped into the Wild West – enjoying liquid libations in the saloon in the Occidental Hotel at 10:30 in the morning.  We chatted with the barkeep, a fellow Texan from the Bastrop area wearing a Longhorns cap, about what it's like to live in Buffalo.  He didn't recommend it during the winter, of course, and seemed kind of bored with the whole town.

We wondered down to The Sports Lure, a sporting goods, western wear, and outfitter.  It was three or four stores all connected inside the old downtown store fronts.  They sold flying fishing equipment, ski and camping supplies, concealed carry purses, guns, and clothing.  They even had boogie boards next to plastic sleds.  Kathy bought a new field bag and discussed shipping her gun to Alaska.  We moved on to the art pottery store and the rest of downtown, collecting visual mementos since they take up absolutely no room in the RV!

Getting hungry, we headed home, cleaned the RV, ate lunch and drove out to see the Johnson County airport.  The evening was relaxing and we worked on the blog.  Joy drove down to a little ice cream shop we’d passed earlier in the day, Lickity Splits, and purchased ice cream treats.  They have a great selection of flavors and textures and Joy wants to go back to try the artistic spaghetti and meatballs ice cream - vanilla ice cream shaped like spaghetti with strawberry sauce, and chocolate meatballs.

The neighbors’ grand kids sharing the picnic table was a little irritating because they moved our bikes without asking and sat outside our door for several hours.  They weren't too loud, though, and we were in bed as usual around 9:30.  Buffalo, WY must be the quietest town on earth and we slept well all night until Keila wanted to play ball in the morning at 5:30.

Kathy decided to use the gun store in Buffalo to ship her gun to Alaska. After a few calls back and forth, it was apparently shipped to the Alaskan shop’s headquarters near Anchorage instead of their outpost in Tok. After a few e-mails to the HQ office manager, we hope it will be delivered via the Tok grocery store. LOL She’s sure it will find her before we leave Alaska and really isn't too worried about it.

The road to Billings was nice - no wind, no rain and lots of pronghorns.  Driving by rivers that were high and inviting, we stopped to walk the dogs at a beautiful wayside rest.

We saw the signs for the Little Big Horn Battlefield and knew that was our next destination.  There wasn't any trailer parking available so the ranger instructed us to take the 4.5 mile interpretive drive.  It was a beautiful day with steady winds along the ridge where bugles blew and men fell in pools of blood for no good reason. Custer’s troops and the native Americans they were sent to destroy died in these fields during a June long ago.  You could feel death among the wild flowers as the horses echoed ghosts of fallen warriors. At one point, as we read about three natives who died on a ridge overlooking the battlefield, we looked over to the very ridge and saw exactly three horses standing there, overlooking the battlefield.  As we write this it still deeply moves us.

We left the park hungry and searched Billings, MT for the Don Luis restaurant which was supposed to have excellent jalapeno poppers and Indian tacos.  Billings was not impressive and of course it began to storm as we parked.  The restaurant was dark and lacked a single window. We thought, “well, if there’s a tornado we’re in the perfect spot.”  The poppers were great (and HOT) but the Indian fry bread didn't live up to its reputation.  At least we were out of the weather as we ate and the downtown homeless population dispersed before we returned to the RV.

Leaving Billings was a crazy trek up a ridge to the airport round about. The storms returned but we found our next scheduled stop of Harlowton City Park easily. The park was nice and was located near a rodeo arena.  The bathrooms were open and clean with a fresh coat of paint.  The site had electric only but we were prepared as we had filled our fresh water tank before leaving Buffalo.

We waited for the rain to stop after parking but it never really did.  We walked the dogs and set up in the rain, looking for the pay box but couldn't locate it.  As we were preparing to eat leftovers for dinner a guy with the city pulled up and we paid him our $15.  He said we could have paid at the sheriff’s office if he hadn't stopped by.

The park, like the campground in Buffalo, was very quiet.  We couldn’t find any TV stations so we watched “Desert Hearts” (probably the 25th time for Kathy.)  Joy wondered what Cinema Sips would suggest as a drink with this movie (hint hint, Elizabeth.)

The next morning we left - in the rain.  Before getting dressed Joy walked the dogs and discovered her swim shoes match her pajamas.  Of all the discoveries we’ve had over the past 10 or so days this one tickled her the most!

We turned north to avoid steeper grades but the drive was mostly wet.  Joy saw  two elk and a few pronghorn. Kathy saw several Humvees and wondered where the missiles were.  Mostly we saw farm country, including wind farms.  Every state has had at least one large wind farm thus far.

Frances decided that two pillows were perfect

Great Falls is kind of sleepy with casinos that aren't rally casinos but rather some kind of video bingo.  We stayed at a pet friendly Motel 6 while the RV got an oil change and inspection.  The hotel was minimal but very clean.  We walked to the nearby Best Western, a sister hotel, to print the dogs’ rabies certificates in case we needed them to cross the border.  We ordered pizza (a treat!) and Kathy was asleep before 9:00 as Joy got her TV fix and fought Frances for space in bed.

We were all early to rise, as usual, thanks to Keila wanting a potty trip.  Of course, it was raining and cold.  Joy headed to CVS and then Albertson’s for a tetanus shot and bought a few groceries while Kathy and the pups gassed up the RV.  A quick re-wrap of the bikes, hitching up the Jeep and we were back on the road again.  We stopped at a Conoco Phillips for fresh water, drove by Froze Out Lake, saw Canadian geese with goslings and another Humvee.

Found a lovely section of highway 89 that was six miles of gravel, Kathy's favorite, as the rain continued and the creeks rose, the water in the ditches rose, the rivers rose, the water in the tire tracks rose…..

We cut across the northeast corner of Glacier National Park and the rain turned to ice.  We crossed into Canada in the park and it was easy.  Declared our pepper spray and were allowed to keep it.  Didn’t have to show vaccination records for the pups, weren’t asked about alcohol, and we weren’t inspected.  We were asked about what we do for work and told that our bike cover was flapping (oh, did the duct tape fail??)

Kathy braved the weather and checked the bikes.  Sure enough, the cover ripped at another seam - more duct tape is in order.  The Rockies were no longer teasing us but had made their presence very known, even in the rainy fog.  Their snow-capped presence brought tears to our eyes.  Yeah, it’s real.

Driving into Pincher Creek on our way to Beauvais Lake Provincial Park we listened about all the flooding on the radio.  We saw a campground sign and decided we should stop instead of driving to the park. Canadian officials were everywhere watching the rivers and checking bridges.  By the way what’s the bridge clearance in meters - quick do the math.  LOL

Despite a cold, rainy drive we are good – in fact, we’re great.  We are at Pincher Creek Veterans Campground and besides the host there is only one other camper here.  The swollen river is roaring behind us and it’s raining - but we got WiFi, folks, so enjoy!

Leaving Texas (with a disclaimer)

DISCLAIMER:  For those of you living vicariously through our adventures (and apparently there are quite a few of you) we wanted to explain how often we post.  Since we opted not to buy a JetPak or other fancy internet access device we are at the mercy of our cell phone service and landing point wi-fi.  We are Verizon customers and, overall, have only NOT had service a couple of times the past week.  Since we are trying to keep our costs to a minimum, we don't always stay at parks/resorts with free wi-fi and remain cognizant of our data plan, as we have 2 iPhones, 2 iPads and a laptop.  We do update pretty regularly on Facebook but if you are hooked on the blog (and we hope you are!) then know we typically try to post when we have wi-fi, which should be 1-2 times per week.  Now, on with the show.......

From Dalhart, we drove to Pueblo Colorado via the Capulin Volcano field in New Mexico.  We pulled in to the national monument site, unhitched and drove the Jeep up and around the volcano's narrow winding road. Joy opted to drive up since she didn't want to be so close to the unguarded edge of the mountain.  Kathy took pictures until we both admitted we were not enjoying the drive because of fear.

At the top, Kathy took a few pictures with her phone because the camera battery was dead (which is becoming the norm.)  We listened to the interpretive ranger with the help of a volunteer give a presentation about the types of volcanic rocks formed by this cinder dome volcano long ago.

Kathy drove back down which was a little less hairy because it was the inside lane against terra firma.  At the bottom we discussed if this was a place we would want to volunteer and decided there was no way as we could not make that drive up and down every day!

Back on the road, the Rockies began to tease Kathy off in the distance through the haze of the June sky. Highway driving isn't so bad when the views are this spectacular. Singing with John Denver through Pueblo on the way to Haggards RV park, Kathy realized the truck AC/heat fan wasn't working. After setting up and dinner, Kathy began checking the fuses she had removed the day before while trying to fix the steps thinking that maybe she hadn't put one of them back in all the way.  No luck.  She asked one of the permanent residents who directed her to the owners, Nancy and Matt Fetter.  Sure enough, after a long day working at his own auto shop, Matt, who reminded us of a younger Jim, our friend and master RV tech, was gracious enough to check out the fuses and find the one Kathy had stuck in the wrong slot.  Ta da - fan and AC worked again.

Haggards RV park has amazingly level gravel spaces with refurbished picnic tables and super wi-fi.  We'll be back to check on the other updates this park will be getting as well as using our Escapees discount again.

The next morning, after hooking up, we were doing the light check on the Jeep and discovered that the RV's turn signals were not working.  %@)&!  Once again, we cussed our fuses!  Kathy crawled back into the cab, under the parking brake pedal, to check the fuse box for the 3rd time in two days.  Sure enough, Matt had moved the wrong fuse and the slot where our turn signal fuse was supposed to be was empty.  Luckily, we have a box of fuses so Kathy replaced it, checked the signals, and we were back on the road.

We took the back-roads from Pueblo to Colorado Springs and it was a beautiful drive. Little communities were mostly hospitable to tourists with shops and art stores and we figured they were probably just hippies trying to make a living.  We actually passed an older version of ourselves - a 1970's era Itasca Sundancer. It was in great shape and driven by an elderly gentleman.  We stopped next to it at a stoplight and waved.

Denver was all freeway with traffic jams, construction and heat.  We were once again grateful to Matt for helping with our AC and quickly forgot about the turn signal issue when we weren't baking in traffic.

Beyond Denver we stayed on the freeway until we needed a break.  We stopped at the Johnson conglomerate of RV store, campground and truck stop for a lunch break and dog walk.  It's amazing how good a simple sandwich can be when you're sitting in your RV with your family, watching the world rush by as you munch casually on turkey and cheese and corn chips talking about Alaska, cooler temperatures and our new life in general.

Northbound to Wyoming we listened to John Denver's "Windsong" album.  Unbeknownst to us, the last song on the album is the "Song of Wyoming" which began to play just before we crossed the state line.  Joy kept saying we were meant to be "here" meaning "wherever" we are, together, when she says it.

With the mountains visible in the distance, Joy called the Wyoming parks to see which recreation areas were open and which ones still had spots available.. We rolled in to Laramie without any reservations and had decided to try the national forrest campgrounds which were only $10 since they had no hookups.  If we couldn't find an open spot then we decided we'd simply parking lot camp at the local Wal-Mart.

It's a good thing we called because we found out that two of our possible landing points were closed due to snow!  A few miles later and after driving the RV down a curvy dirt road, we set up camp in the Medicine Bow National Forrest at Yellow Pine Campground.

No electric, no sewer, and no water.  It was absolutely beautiful!  We took a pre-dinner hike with the dogs and, while Joy napped to rid herself of a sinus headache, Kathy built a great fire. As the temperatures dropped, Kathy got the guitar out and serenaded Joy and the pups with tunes by John Denver and the Indigo Girls.  As the fire burned out it was off to bed with the heater set to come on if the RV got down to 66.  Sure enough, we awoke to temps in the 40's and a strong northerly wind. Simply perfect! Kathy traded her shorts, t-shirt and flip flops for pants, a long sleeved shirt and tennis shoes.

After breaking down camp, we were off to the Laramie Wal-Mart to pick up a few items before heading north to Buffalo.  We stopped in Casper, a wonderful historic city, so Kathy could print the dogs' vaccination records at the public library.  We would need them in order to cross into Canada in a few days. Joy took pictures of the fabulous sundial, "Confluence of Time and Place” by artist Matthew Dehaemers and we ended our layover with lunch at the Village Inn, complete with a shared slice of apple caramel pie with ice cream.

Back on the road, we headed north to Buffalo.  Hwy 287 between Casper and Buffalo was beautiful but brutal with 50+ mph winds for miles.  We stopped at one point to make sure nothing had been ripped off the RV and found that the only victim had been the motorcycle cover we were using to cover our bikes on the back of the Jeep.  The winds proved to be too much for one of the seams and there was a good 12-inch tear. We removed the cover, drove on though one hell of a storm (of course) that actually caused it to snow and finally arrived at the Mountain View Motel and Campground.

We drove through a cute little historic downtown on our way to the RV site.  The ground was dry but the air was chilly as we set up - assisted by stoned hippies left in charge.  Althought initialy disappointed that the campground did not have the views shown on their website, it's very quiet and we both got a well deserved sound night of sleep.  We'll be spending two nights in Buffalo and plan on exploring downtown on our second day.

Escape! is happening now

On Sunday morning, Kathy looked at her phone and saw this message, "Escape! is happening now." It was generated from the countdown reminder app she had set up a year ago so we would know, to the second how long we had until this great adventure began.  Well this morning it was beginning.

We woke up anxious but rested at Union Grove Park and slowed ourselves down to enjoy a glorious cup of coffee while bird watching over looking the lake.  It was the first night in a month that we didn't fall asleep to traffic noise.  The site was across from our Thanksgiving site at Dana Peak Park.  It was a cloudy morning and a hard and steady rain began as we departed.

A few months ago we had purchased two dog harnesses in order to be able to seat belt the pups in while driving, especially in the Jeep.  We put Keila in her kennel and Frances in her harness connected to the seat belt loop under the couch.  Frances, whose nickname is "Houdini," was out of her harness in less than a minute.  We tried her walking harness and she escaped from it, too, so Frances ended up in the kennel and Keila was allowed to enjoy her freedom.

Once settled in we continued northwest towards Lampasas, where we encountered major gravel that was supposed to have lasted 15 miles.  NOT!!  We drove a ways at 35 mph as cars/trucks blew past us, showering us and the Jeep with rocks.  We thought for sure we were going to have to replace two windshields and a pair of Jeep headlights.  Joy quickly looked at the map and found a less rocky alternate route.  Somehow, no chips or cracks presented themselves.  We had literally dodged several bullets.  We've been told that these are the types of roads we may encounter along the Alaska highway and that I makes us a bit anxious.

Continuing on toward the San Saba cutoff we were flagged down by a passing pick up truck.  We pulled over and found our clothesline rope that we had wrapped around the bicycles and their cover had come loose and was dragging behind us.  A quick re-wrap and we were back on the road.  We stopped for lunch and to pick up a couple of groceries and continued heading to Abilene State Park.

Kathy checked us in and was excited about the fish listed on the park map so we made plans to fish. The campsite was well wooded and a cardinal family nested right outside our door.  We took our usual "check-out-the-park" walk and found a small group of yurts, a first for us.

We hopped in the Jeep and drove to the entrance for Abilene Lake to check out our fishing spot for later that evening.  We were disappointed to find that the drought had diminished the lake to a muddy pond - no fishing for us unless we wanted to take up noodling.

We drove around the rest of the park and discovered a dry pool.  We assumed that there was no water to fill it due to the drought but later learned it was simply being repaired.  A historic water tower and observation deck constructed by the Civilian Conversation Corps with rust-colored sandstone overlooked the pool.  The tower was locked but created a great climbing opportunity for Joy, who also enjoyed the playground monkey bars.

It stormed overnight but nothing too scary. The next morning we enjoyed coffee outside while watching Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal keeping their nest safe and feeding their babies.

We departed for our next stop, Caprock Canyons State Park, in separate vehicles where we would be spending two nights.  We had things to do in Abilene and decided to divide and conquer.  The drive through eclectic Buffalo Gap, TX was fun and we wished we had more time to stop and hang out for a bit. It has a historic area as well as tourist shops and artist boutiques that looked like fun.  We drove through farmland - corn, winter wheat, and sorghum. The soil became a bright orange red, the color of clay that reminded Kathy of living in Georgia.  Water lay atop it from the previous days of rain, showing how dry the land has become.

In Abilene, Kathy stopped at the U-Haul to fill the LP tank and Joy headed to the credit union to deposit a check.  When she arrived at the credit union, she needed to use the restroom but was told it was being painted. She was told to use the restroom in the Grandy's restaurant next door.  When she walked into the door she was greeted with a, "I know you" from a woman sitting at a table with four men.  "You're Joy, Joy Nyberg!"  Joy looked at the woman and recognized her as a co-worker from Del Valle High School, where Joy taught 12 years ago.  What a small world!  A quick exchange of contact information and Joy met Kathy to hook up and continue on.

When we arrived at the park we were greeted at the gate by the Texas Buffalo herd, three dozen or so of these great beasts roam freely throughout the park.  We had no idea about the buffalo and were ecstatic to find them.  We checked in and set up quickly. The views in the park were beyond awesome and Kathy announced that it was her new favorite Texas state park.  Joy's cousin, who lives in nearby Childress, arrived with her daughter for dinner.  It was a teary reunion after not seeing each other for 30 years.  Dinner and sharing stories closed a fabulous day in new territory.

Overnight, the winds shifted and we watched and waited for storms that didn't come.  Cooler temps meant sleeping with a window open and no air conditioner.  We awoke to another perfect day for an early morning drive around the park, a short hike, and a bike ride to the visitor center - all before lunch!  Our excursions allowed us to see more buffalo, mule deer, prairie dogs and a tarantula.  A quick drive to Quitaque, TX for lunch and snooping in the tourist store completed our outing.   We had an evening campfire after learning that the recent burn ban had been lifted.  Coyotes howling in the distance didn't phase the dogs, but we do think they prompted Keila to dig a hole in the ground to lay in, very "wild" activity for her!

The drive to Dalhart was flat and presented an opportunity to see court houses of counties most Texans can't name.  We got to the Xit Rodeo fairgrounds and camped for $15.00 for a full hookup.  After parking and leveling we discovered that our steps were not working.  We tried everything - including checking fuses. A call to our favorite master RV tech had Kathy crawling under the RV and making plans to buy a 12-volt tester the next morning.  Luckily, our little step stool provided the perfect step down so we didn't miss the steps too much.

After our failures to calm Keila with non-prescription remedies, we called our vet who prescribed something for her.  We went into Dalhart and picked them up at Bowers Pharmacy. We also found a hole-in-the-wall laundry mat, washed all of our clothes, and had dinner at a little hole-in-the-wall grill (everything in Dalhart was a hole-in-the-wall.)  We went to bed during a wind storm of 38-mph winds gusting to 50 mph.  Luckily we were parked facing the right direction so they weren't cross winds.  Kathy got up to walk around the RV several times to ensure everything was intact.  Although the stove vent cover was lifting almost completely off the roof, it held on and we didn't lose anything.

The morning breakdown was easy and we had a feeling that once we pulled out of the site our steps would magically start working.  We were right.  A quick drive to the post office to mail legal documents to Mom and we were back on the road, Pueblo bound.  After five days of traveling we were finally going to get out of Texas - maybe for guuuud!

Saying Goodbye

On Thursday June, 5, 2014 we celebrated our departure from the Houston area.  We invited friends, work colleagues and neighbors.  What a fabulous mix of diversity, one of our favorite things about Houston. Seeking a happy hour location on a Thursday can be a difficult endeavor but the Amazon Grill was a great central locale with fast food service that allowed us to run a tab, eat plantain chips and salsa gratis, and had plenty of room the 20+ of us who gathered together.  The menu offered yucca fries, hamburgers on yummy buns, empanadas, fajitas, and even chicken tinga.

Kathy had friends from UH as well previous positions. Our precious neighbors chatted with Kathy's flight instructor and our bowling  teammates regaled us with tales about their lives while they listened to me tell them how to make a moose leave you alone by holding a stick up like an antler.  We had a great time although a few tears fell.

Joy's last day at school was very emotional!  Frustration lead the way as it seemed all the work would never get completed.  Students were excited to see her new haircut as she cut off 10 inches to donate to Locks of Love, which was her tenth donation. Students received a copy of the book they had written, published and named Bring Peace Everywhere, named to represent BPE, the school's initials and to recognize our upcoming adventure. It was hard saying goodbye to such great kids.  They will be successful in whatever they do because Joy instilled the knowledge that if you can read you can achieve.  The day dragged on until 7:00 pm, spoiling our plans for a final rematch of tabletop shuffleboard at Lakeview RV park.

Getting the RV inspected was the final hurdle before leaving Houston.  With that completed, Kathy hooked up the toad while Joy bought tacos for breakfast.  First stop was Union Grove Park near Stillhouse Lake to say our goodbyes to Kathy's mom.

So, all is great and we are off on our adventure.  We hope we can share this in a way that is entertaining enough for you to continue to follow.

Dragging The Jeep

We were so excited to have a mobile mechanic like Chris from Car Won't Start Mobile Service.  We first met Chris when he provided us a prepurchase inspection of our 2006 Itasca  Sundancer.  Four hours plus with comprehensive notes cost us just under $500.00.  It was a great investment!

After a few road trips, we noticed how the cab got very warm even when running the AC and especially when we were accelerating uphill.  We contacted Chris to check our the AC on the Ford chassis.  He came to the house, worked in our driveway and determined the problem was the accelerator cut off check valve.  Took it to Tommie Vaughn Ford and they fixed us up right.

Getting the Jeep ready to tow was a long process.  We decided to do it ourselves and ordered the base plate (Blue Ox,) tow bar (Blue Ox) and wiring harness (Demco) from Amazon.  Ordering online and installing ourselves would save us a lot of money. As it turns out, we ended up paying a shop to install the base plate ($100), and paid Chris to fix some electrical issues with the Jeep and install the wiring harness. Installing the tow bar was easy - just slide into the receiver hitch! LOL

We found Chris somewhat by accident while searching the internet for best auto electrician in the Houston. Surprisingly, Chris' name came up and we jumped at the opportunity to have him work for us again.  Since we were both working, Chris actually came out to Joy's school and installed the wiring harness in the parking lot.  He also cleaned all the terminals, replaced some bulbs and ultimately fixed the light issues.  His price was a little high but it was convenient and he agreed to teach how us hook everything up once we were ready  We aimed for a Saturday afternoon rendezvous at Fiesta for the maiden hook up.  We texted him but he didn't respond until late that evening and by then we'd decided to tackle the task ourselves.

Saturday morning came and we broke down our camp sight and drove to the Fiesta parking lot, Kathy and the dogs in the RV and Joy in the Jeep.  We read the Jeep manual about how to disengage the transfer case and ensure everything was in neutral.  Joy discovered her "butch" side and crawled under the Jeep and attached the safety cables as Kathy read directions. Then Kathy figured out how to align the blue ox tow bar to the base plate as Joy read directions.  

Several men offered assistance and we thanked them, politely declined and kept working. The pins lined up properly and almost everything fit together quickly and accurately. Turns out the the wiring harness cable was a foot too short so we decided to make our maiden towing voyage to Lowe's to get a longer cable.  Kathy dragged the Jeep around the parking lot for a test run as Joy filmed it.  

We arrived at Lowe's with the Jeep still attached. Success!  Kathy remembered to buy a cable lock for the quick release pins which seem to have a tendency to disappear.  Joy unhooked the Jeep and put the cables, etc.. back into storage.  We sent a bunch of photos of our handiwork to our favorite master RV tech (Jim) who immediately called us.  He tried not to sound too surprised when we told him we did it all ourselves and proceeded to give us more tips about towing, etc.  He's an expert and an even better friend and there's no way we could have done all of this without him and Ruth.  

Feeling very proud of ourselves, we parted ways with Kathy looking for a gas station and Joy looking for breakfast.  As Kathy drove she looked over to the passenger seat and saw a partially chewed rawhide bone. She remembered that the last time she'd seen that particular bone was in a Petco shopping bag.  Apparently, Frances had gone shopping and dug into the Petco bag.  She apparently ate HER bone and had started on Keila's prior to us returning to the RV.  We guess she was calling "shotgun" by leaving her bone in the seat as a marker.

Three Down - One To Go!

After closing on the house we moved into the RV and to the Lakeview RV Resort in Houston.  Living in the RV while still working has been easier than expected.  Our schedules are nearly the same as they were in the sticks and bricks.  I take the dogs out near bedtime while Kathy sets up the coffee pot for morning.  We all make our way into the bedroom to sleep.  Frances on one side of the bed and Keila at the foot.  You must remember this during bathroom trips in the middle of night (the bedroom's about 8 x 8 and mostly filled by a queen sized bed!)

In the morning, Kathy takes the girls for a quick potty break after plugging in the coffee pot.  I lay in bed awaiting my first cup....yes I am a spoiled princess by my lovely woman and I know it.  After the first cup, Kathy heads to the resort shower for two reasons.  First, they are nice and clean and second, our work clothes are currently hanging in the RV shower stall.  I dress, feed pooches, and take them for their poopy walk and a game of ball for Keila.  Besides being tethered to our pets and poop duty, not much has changed.

Kathy and Joy

The most important thing to any small space is organization and cleanliness.  We wash dishes almost every meal and put the away when they are dry.  If you take something out you put it away when you done using it - seems like something my mom would have said.  Be courteous about your personal hygiene and personal space.  It's easier than expected and I am way more diligent then I thought I'd be.  Even the dogs have fallen into their new patterns.  One thing Frances needs to work on is her being outspoken toward other dogs while on leash.  We don't know exactly what it but think she's trying to be protective.  Keila just wants walks and ball games, same old same old.


The resort offers us a chance to swim, use the hot tub, play tabletop shuffleboard and ping pong.  Usually we just sit in the big swing by the lake and watch the birds dive and swim.  We've seen some pretty big fish that we swear are actually lochness monsters (or alligators.)  Often joggers dart by but we haven't met many folks here yet.

I think the pups missed Kathy!

The laundry room has been a pretty good conversation place and I met a couple from Minnesota who are heading north again soon.  They are staying longer than expected because the weld on the toad (vehicle they tow behind their RV) broke on their way here and nearly took out another car on a Houston frontage road. Sounded completely frightening!

We also discussed RV storage issues and I offered space planning suggestions but since they live halftime in and RV and halftime on a boat, they probably have more experience than I have ideas!  But if given the opportunity, I would like to help someone with my storage ideas and research.  

I have one more week of school and then we hit the road.  Kathy's last day was today and she couldn't be more relieved.  She said that today was the first day in over 3 years that she hadn't awakened with a knot in her stomach and jokes that maybe her hair will start turning back to brown! She celebrated her 47th birthday last week and her gift was new Jeep front fenders and fender extenders.  Jeri the Jeep is going to be pretty!

We are getting better about tackling RV maintenance issues.  We installed the new mudflaps on the RV, aired up the tires, and bought a battery charger to tackle our dead truck battery. We are still seeking a rock guard for the Jeep and need to install an inside the cabinet door waste basket for the kitchen.  Minor stuff that will make life better.  Life is good right now and we're ready for greatness.

Nap time!

Popcorn, Shuffleboard and Cancer

Day 5 of our stay at the Lakeview RV Resort  in Houston.  We closed on the house last Thursday without too much of an incident.  There was some discussion about who was supposed to pay for the survey but the realtors got it worked out and it’s not costing us anything.

Packing was a pain! If we were moving into another house, we would’ve purged and then hired movers to pack/move us.  But downsizing from a 2,000 sq ft house to a 300 sq ft RV proved to be quite the task.  Towards the end we had become eBay and Craigslist junkies and everything not packed and shipped in any box we could find was placed in the driveway for pickup by Purple Heart donations.  Of course, they didn’t pick it up when scheduled so the new owners arrived at their newly purchased house to find a pile of donations in their driveway.  Several phone calls later the pile was finally picked up.

I don’t feel too attached to the house.  It was completely remodeled when we purchased it so we didn’t do much to make it our own other than furnish it and add a doggie door.  I always blame my detachment on being a military brat - moving every 3-4 years means learning not to get too attached to people, places or things.  In my career I’ve made a change every 3-4 years – changed jobs, changed units, changed rank.  Same with moving – changed cities, changed neighborhoods, changed houses.  This might just be my racket but it makes sense to me.

Anyway, May 10 marked my 4^th year at UH and I can’t wait to get the hell out!  Was actually ready over 2 years ago but kept hoping I’d feel better about the place.  Nope – didn’t happen.  I’m ready for the next adventure which is why I think this lifestyle will be perfect for me. 

The resort is much nicer than I expected.  Very tropical feeling even though our site backs up to the access road to 90/Main Street.  Took us about a week to figure out things were a lot quieter over night when we used ear plugs so that’s what we do and it’s much better. 

View from pool area

The resort has a nice club house which includes a ping pong table, a pool table, shuffleboard, a big screen TV, a popcorn maker, puzzles, games, books and a computer room.  There’s also a state of the art laundry room (separate post) and beautiful pond with a walking trail around it.  The managers are super nice and we’re really enjoying our stay.  Now we’d much rather have trees and pine needles over concrete and traffic but for the next couple of weeks this will work perfectly.

The resort is about 7 miles south of the largest medical center in the world, the Texas Medical Center, home to MD Anderson Cancer Center, Texas Children’s Hospital and St. Luke’s.  There’s actually a shuttle that runs between the resort and TMC so it’s a very popular home to patients undergoing treatment.  We’ve seen several and have met a few.  You can tell who they are – visible chemo stints, heads balding from chemo/radiation and the tell-tell masks that protect them from the rest of us.  I met a woman last night who had just set up after driving from Kerrville.  Her 63 year old husband is fighting leukemia and, after several months of chemo, he will spend the next 4 months undergoing a bone marrow transplant.  One of those months will be spent entirely in the hospital. 

We also met Debbi and Don, two FB RV page acquaintances, who ended up here after Don’s heart attack in February while RV-ing at South Padre.  Don received a new heart in March and they will be here quite a while as the wonderful cardiologists at St. Luke’s ensure his body doesn’t reject the new heart.

Our Site

We visited with Debbi and Don last night in their 42’ ft Monaco and really enjoyed ourselves.  He is 70 – she is 64 and they’ve been full-timing for years.  What a wonderful couple and two hellacious survivors!  They were so happy for us!

As we complete week two of our new lifestyle, we both agree that the four of us have adapted well and that our routines are working. We haven’t missed the house much and feel that our little RV is just perfect for us.  Let the adventure continue…….