Taking Care of Business

In order to maintain domicile in Texas, we have to continue professional relationships there... doctors, accountants, lawyers, register our vehicles, etc.   We spent Sept/Oct in the D/FW area getting the truck and trailer inspected, seeing our primary doctors for our annual physicals, going back to our specialists, having tests run and making sure our medications are doing their jobs.  Not exactly exciting stuff which is why there hasn't been a blog in a while.  I don't think my Urologist would let me take a selfie with him to include with this narrative, but maybe he will when I go see him at Christmas.  I'll get to that later.

Jim found a pickleball tournament in Rowlett while we were parked in Mansfield and entered.  He entered the men's doubles, over 65, skill level 3.5 (yes, pickleball is complicated) so he needed a partner.  Another entrant (Tom) also needed a partner and so they teamed up to win the gold medal in their division.  A couple of the games were nail biters, but they prevailed in the end.  They said they were just keeping it interesting. Yeah, right.
(I wrote this part... :)  Jane)







A week before we were due to leave Mansfield, Brian was out of town and I filled in for him at shortstop on his softball team.  I was throwing a ball to first base when I felt something pop in my shoulder.  At this point, it's looking like it may be a career-ending injury.  I'm doing PT to strengthen my shoulder, but I may have played my last softball game.  We'll see.  The good news is, I can still play pickleball and golf.

November 1st it got better because we moved the "rolling estate" down to the Houston area to be near Chris, Angie and the grandkids for a month.  We had fun taking Caleb and Hannah to the movies, Chuck E. Cheese, Jumping World, the park and just playing with them at their house or having them visit us.





Here is Hannah at Jumping World.




Hannah had a birthday in Nov and turned 6.
Caleb will be 9 in Jan.

Brian drove down to the Lynches place and we were all together for Thanksgiving.




We left Houston on Nov 29, spent the night in Ft. Stockton, TX and drove to Lordsburg, NM the next day.  I hope I don't offend anyone who may have grown up there, but the best thing I can say about Lordsburg is that I was able to buy diesel for $3.11 a gallon when all the truck stops along the highway were selling it for $3.39 - $3.59.

We gave thanks when we arrived in Casa Grande on time, Dec 1.  No wheels fell off the trailer and the truck hummed along like a sewing machine, even in the 30+ mph cross-winds in AZ.

The first day here we finished getting set up, made a trip to Wal-Mart to re-stock our fridge and pantry and then we decided we'd just jump in and start getting involved.  I started playing pickleball and Jane has been line dancing.  They have dances here every Friday night and we go to a couples dance class on Wed.  She's been dancing 5 days a week when you count the classes and dances.

They have 4 different groups of people who play golf every week at various courses around here and I've gotten involved in that as well. While we still haven't found the very elusive warmth for which we search, the people are great. Again, hope not to offend, but the many Canadians here are much nicer than the French Canadians we met last year in the Rio Grande Valley.

This may very well be the friendliest park we've been to.  At 3 pm you'll see groups of people in various places sitting in large groups just talking and visiting.  Our neighbors told us it was happy hour every day at 3 and we could join them any time.  I've met some really nice people playing pickleball and golf and Jane has met friendly folks at the dance classes.  It's the total immersion RV park experience.  In addition to all the activities, one of Jane's new friends suggested a local church which we attended last week.  It was our first time to visit a cowboy church and the pastor was really good.  Another line dance friend invited us to her church for their Christmas choir program and we went to that too.

We'll be flying to Dallas on Dec 20 to have Christmas at Brian's house.  The Lynches will be driving up from Houston and we'll all be together again.  Then, we'll be back here the 29th for the rest of the winter, that is, "if the Lord wills and we live."

At this point, we have no idea what we're doing in April. Up until this point, we have always had plans made about a year in advance.  But after four years, we have become a bit lax.    We'll just have to figure that out between now and then. Maybe the east coast.  Jim still hasn't been to Fenway and we would like to see the baseball hall of fame to make our baseball travels complete.

We wish everyone out there a very merry Christmas, and a wonderful 2019!

Time Flies When . . .

We can't believe we've already been in Arkansas over a month and our time is almost over. It's been everything we wanted it to be. I found two locations in Mountain Home that have indoor pickleball courts, so I've been able to play twice a week.  We've been to the Elks Club with Kathy (Jim's sister) and Bob for dancing and karaoke.  And of course, plenty of time on the boat.



We are staying at the RV park where we stayed last year before it was officially open.  This year it is finished - 22 sites are ready.  We didn't choose a shady spot because we wanted the Dish to work and on the really hot days, we have been especially glad for two air conditioners.




The first couple of weeks were so hot we could only stand to go out on the lake in the evenings, but then a cool front came through bringing rain (3 inches in an hour one day) and cooler temperatures.








A beautiful sunset on Lake Norfork.







At the end of July, family members came from Texas and Illinois to meet up with our resident Arkansas family for our big annual summer week-long get together.  Scott and Amy's "garage/barn/equipment shed/party venue" has become THE place to have our once-a-year family food fest.

Left to right; John, Adrienne, Brian, Jake, Angie and Scott, the 6 cousins who spent 1 week each summer together when we all camped in tents years ago.

Jake and Jaime brought steaks and Jake cooked them on the grill and everyone brought side dishes.  We played ping pong and bean bag toss, listened to music, played cards and caught up with everyone as well as sharing a few classic memories.

Jake & Jaime's daughter Milli, playing ping pong.





Brian hadn't seen some of his cousins in 20+ years, so he had a lot of catching up to do.  Then, we spent the next few days meeting up in various places on the lake, tying the boats together and just hanging out.





Caleb and Gram on Grampa's boat.

                           Hannah and Milli on the tube...with an oar....going in circles

Grampa and Caleb snorkeling....yes, you can see their legs under the water.....the water in Lake Norfork is really clear.

Hannah and Uncle Brian on the boat.














Chris just chillin'








There was plenty of tubing and skiing and wakeboarding and the guys played golf one day.

A rainy day was spent having lunch at Sonic, seeing a movie, and getting ice cream at Baskin Robbins.

Hannah seems to enjoy the lake a little more each year.  Caleb has always loved it....tubing, skiing, snorkeling, swimming, cannonball dives....and the two days we went to the "sandy beach" he also loved playing in the sand.

Jim played in a pickleball tournament in Heber Springs, AR. Lost in the bronze medal round.  This was his first time to play singles in a tournament.  There weren't enough entrants to divide them by age group and skill level so they just used skill levels and Jim had to play against a man 30 years younger. A very agile 37 year old.  That did not go very well.  But he gained experience and knowledge.  The knowledge to make sure there are age level divisions in the next singles tournament he enters.
We had a visit from Texas friends Vicki & Dale (43 years is a long time to be friends and we still love 'em) and from Jimmie and Ed from Florida.

Vicki & Dale shared a session of karaoke in our neighbor, Bob's garage.



We played cards, went for boat rides and they enjoyed the respite from the Texas heat.



At the very end of their visit our boat, which has been as good as gold for 11 summers, went belly up.  Nephew Scott came out and towed us in and Kathy and Bob told us about a local repairman.  It should be ready before we leave Arkansas....then it can rest for several months before we hit the lake again.

Leaving here around the 7th of September and going to Texas to a park where we have never stayed before in Mansfield.

The Wild Wild West

Our plans were to leave Denton, TX,  on Memorial Day, but our whole trip was jeopardized when 10 days prior to that, the tailgate was stolen off of our truck while we were in downtown Dallas at the 6th Floor Museum.  And there were only 5 work days until we were scheduled to leave.

The first place I checked said it would be at least two weeks, but the second place did the job in 4 and a half days and on Memorial Day, we left Denton and arrived in Amarillo, where the wind blows constantly and hard, like it did all winter in Harlingen.

The next day we arrived in Denver where we did some "touristy" things; like take a tour of the Coors Brewery.  Jane and I both like to watch the show "How It's Made" especially when they show manufacturing businesses with lots of automation.  The Coors Co. did not disappoint.

We also toured the train museum

and the Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

Also toured the Denver mint, but they don't allow pictures.  Two armed guards followed along as we took the guided tour to make sure no one lagged behind to try to nab some "samples".

We had a lovely dinner with our nephew Zach and his wife Katie at their home and then moved on to Cheyenne where we had reservations for 6 nights.







They gave us the "boot", so we moved on after 4 nights because we had done everything there is to do in Cheyenne in one day.

We spent one night in Green River, WY, where I stopped to say hi to a guy who runs a towing company there.  I had met him at a trade show back in the early 90s and had seen him every year since.  He would attend at least two and sometimes 3 trade shows a year.

The next day we arrived in Irwin, ID, about an hour's drive from Jackson, WY.  Even though the name, Buck's Gas and RV didn't sound like it would be a great RV park, it turned out to be very nice.

License plates in Idaho have the inscription "Scenic Idaho" across the top and it is really beautiful.

And we had a very nice couple camped next to us.  Sonny and I had some nice conversations and enjoyed talking to each other.  He and his wife, Kay, had a new motorhome and were having some problems with it (no surprise there) which led to more conversations but Sonny was keeping a good attitude which is crucial when dealing with all the things that go wrong with new RVs.




We spent a day in Jackson

Each corner of the square, had an arch built from antlers

Each year the elk shed their antlers (and grow new ones in the spring) and there are so many, the boys scouts gather them up and sell them as a fund raiser.  Some of them are sold to people who believe the antlers have medicinal value.




We were about 40 miles east of Idaho Falls, so we took a day and went there to see the falls and because they have the closest Walmart.

I think Jane was getting a little too comfortable with the local park bear.










We read that there aren't many bears left at Yellowstone, but they have a place outside Idaho Falls called Bear World where they have many animals living in the "wild" and you can drive through the park.  So we did

And we did see lots of bears.  All of them had either been rescued or had been born there at the preserve.





And moose

And buffalo...it was June but he was still shedding his winter coat.  Kinda scruffy looking.

And dancing baby bears

When we realized how far we were from Yellowstone and how long we would be driving every day just to get there and back, we decided to get a hotel room for two nights in West Yellowstone.  We were glad we did, because we would not have seen half the park had we stayed in Idaho every night.

We saw buffalo grazing, sometimes as many as 20 or 30.

We saw the snake river up close from several different vantage points.

The upper falls make so much spray there is a constant rainbow on sunny days.

There were many hot springs with water ranging from 160 to 180 degrees. The Sulphur smell was not pleasant and many people viewed the springs while holding their noses.









My most frequent comment was, "Oh wow, look at that!"







We saw this grey wolf running along about 50 feet from the road.  For awhile there were no wolfs at Yellowstone and it reeked havoc with the ecosystem ranging from too many elk to not enough beavers in a trickle down effect.  Several years ago ten mating pairs were introduced to the park and things are now getting back to normal.

And of course, no trip to Yellowstone would be complete without seeing Old Faithful.  We spent three days seeing Yellowstone.  This was the third day and our last stop in the park.








We passed by the Teton Range on the way to Yellowstone.

On the way back, we stopped to see Lake Jackson.

That boat in the foreground has wakeboards on it.  I hope they have wetsuits.

We made it to Rapid City, SD where we saw a pretty sunset and . . .











. . . some president heads.

Then, we went to Badlands National Park where rolling grassland suddenly turns into rock formations that seem to spring up for no apparent reason.

This is also in Badlands where a lone buffalo was grazing at sunset.  There was a herd on the other side of the road, but this guy seemed to like the solitude and having all this grass for himself.










After a month of traveling and sight-seeing we settled down at our camp site in Arkansas to spend two months of quality lake time.

We'll be here until after Labor Day and then back to Texas in Sept.

DETOUR!!

One thing about RV living is you have to make reservations for your site months in advance or you risk spending the night on the parking lot at Walmart.

I had made our plans and reservations to leave Dickinson, (South of Houston) spend 2 nights in Louisiana (take a 2 hour swamp tour in a flat-bottom boat) and move on to Alabama.

Then, Stone Mountain park outside Atlanta.  We had tickets to a Braves game at the new ballpark in Atlanta and that would have completed Jane's quest to attend a game in every major league ballpark.

Eventually, we were going to stop in Cooperstown, NY to visit the baseball hall of fame and then attend a game at Fenway Park in Boston, which would have completed my list of parks.

But, I guess my heart wasn't in it or at least that's what my cardiologist said.  I have mentioned in previous entries that we have to live by James 4:15 which says, "What you ought to say is, "if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that."

A couple months ago I experienced chest pains while playing softball and again playing pickleball.
So when I mentioned it to my PCP, he immediately scheduled me for a stress test.  The cardiologist got me on the treadmill, did the EKG and sent me for a calcium score.  Bottom line, the calcium score showed elevated levels indicating some hardening of the arteries and possible blockage.

She wanted to schedule an angiogram and possibly surgery to insert a stent, so we cancelled our trip east and all the reservations I had spent hours making.

We also decided to get a second opinion from a cardiologist I had seen 3 years ago.

He advised against getting the angiogram and suggested I stop taking a beta blocker the other Dr. had put me on.  And said my calcium score was nothing to be alarmed about.  He said we'll monitor things and if I have no problems I'll see him when we are back in Texas in Sept.

So instead of going to New England, we planned a last minute trip to Denver/Cheyenne/Yellowstone and the Badlands of South Dakota. Making our site reservations on such short notice resulted in us staying at RV parks off the beaten path, but so far, so good.   We should arrive at the lake in Arkansas the last week of June, that is, "if the Lord wills and we live."  Stay tuned for news of our trip west....maybe we will make the trip east next year. 

Winter and Winter Texans in the RGV

Down in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV), they don't call us Snowbirds, they call us Winter Texans.  We were surprised at the number of Canadians, especially French Canadians who come there for the winter. I made sure to tell those who asked that I am not a Winter Texan, I am a Native Texan. (Jane)  Lots of Northerners were spending all of the sunny days at the pool.  Apparently, one MUST return to the cold frozen north with a tan.  Proof that the winter was spent in the south.

We seem to have some kind of magic touch when it comes to bringing abnormal weather to the area where we are staying.  It hadn't snowed in 13 years, but it snowed twice and we had freezing rain as well.  And it was windy almost every day.  And I don't mean 15-20 mph, it blew 30 mph consistently and gusted to 45.  We do not care for the wind and so we did not care for the Rio Grande Valley.

We had to get out our winter clothes and put the electric mattress pad on our bed.  Highs in the 40s & 50s for most of January was not what we signed up for, but that's Mother Nature.

Jane still went to line dancing a couple times a week and I was able to go back to Fun & Sun, where we spent December, and play pickleball inside.  On the days it was warm enough to play outside, it was too windy.

We went to dances and saw a couple tribute bands.  Our friends Dan & Lori from Washington state, were going to pick us up and go to dinner before seeing "Fleetwood Mac".  About 3 that afternoon it started raining and by 5:30, it had rained a little over 7 inches.  The rain was pouring straight down because it was not windy at that time, but it was so loud on the roof of the RV, we had to yell at each other to communicate.  The water on the street at our site was ankle deep.  In other places around the park, the water was over 2 feet deep, but it all drained off within a couple hours.

Jimmie and Ed came for a few days at the end of February.  We went on a dolphin cruise.

That's not our boat, but it looked fun.
We did see some dolphins jumping out of the water just in front of the bow of other boats.







We also went to a sea turtle rescue facility, saw an Eagles tribute band that was great, took them to one of my softball games and celebrated Jimmie's birthday.

Harlingen has a Marine Corps prep school along with the original Iwo Jima monument which was used to cast the one that now stands in Arlington National Cemetery.





Jane and I had planned to go to Arlington and spend the night with Brian as I had a Dr. appointment in Dallas, so Jimmie & Ed rode with us, spent the night at Brian's and they caught a flight to California the next morning to see Ed's daughter.

The next week was spring break for Caleb.  We met Chris and Angie half way between Houston and Harlingen and took Caleb and Hannah with us back to the RV park.  We went to the zoo in Brownsville where Caleb fed the giraffe

Hannah and Gram with the flamingos

went to a children's museum,

Hannah put on a puppet show, while Caleb showed great aptitude for . . .

                                                       . . . a future as a Dr.










went to a movie, then one day went to a place called Bob'z World where Caleb played laser tag and we played mini golf and other games.
The weather warmed up enough for a us to go to the pool.  Chris and Angie drove down on Wed. of that week and stayed until Saturday.

We all went to a fair and rodeo in McAllen.  It was the first time the kids had been to a rodeo.  It's always good to get that first one out of the way, so at the next one they can say, in their best Texas drawl, "This ain't my first rodeo."  Caleb had been very anxious to see the  bull riding but it turned out his favorite event was steer wrestling.  Hannah was pretty tired by rodeo time and she took a nap.  Caleb rode some pretty scary rides but Hannah was not into the rides.  She liked the animals better.....pigs, chickens, goats and lots of cattle.

Me and Caleb riding the swinging pirate ship.
Gram was on the ground yelling "Hold on to him!"






We had met many people in Tucson as well as the RGV who go to Mexico for their prescription drugs and dentistry and I wanted to try it.  We didn't buy dental insurance when we signed up for Medicare and both needed to have our teeth cleaned.  We drove to Nuevo Progresso, at the border, parked on the U.S. side, walked across the bridge

Jane crossing the Rio Grande going to Mexico







and found the dentist who was recommended by our friends,  Bob and Peggy from Kansas and got our teeth cleaned for $25 each.  The facilities were clean and although Jane said her hygienist wasn't the most gentle, we accomplished our goal.  While we were walking around, Jane went into one of the hundreds of pharmacies that line the street and picked up a prescription for about a third of what she pays for it in the U.S.

Before we left the RGV, we drove to Kingsville to tour the famous King Ranch.

It's run by a corporation now, but the main house is still used for annual meetings where some 200 heirs come and stay.

The ranch still boasts 825,000 acres with 26,000 head of cattle along with oil producing wells, but they now derive more income from hunting leases than oil.





We finished out our time in Harlingen and moved to Dickinson on April 8. Then we left a day later to drive to Arlington, spend the night with Brian (really glad he bought a three bedroom house) and fly out of DFW to Ohio for the wedding of our niece, Becca.

Jane loves the wildflowers along the highway in the spring.








Back a week later and had the grands for three days.   






                                         
                            Hannah helped Gram make brownies . . . .

. . . But somehow, Caleb got in on licking the bowl.









We'll be here until the first week of May; then we start our spring travels.  Caleb is 8 and playing coach-pitch baseball this year (since he lived in London previously, there was no chance to play baseball before) and we've enjoyed watching his games.  He likes playing catcher because it keeps him involved in every play.  When he wants the ball thrown to him, he jumps up and down and waves his arms in the air...so he is REALLY involved.  It is lots of fun to watch.

                     

                 Caleb all geared up to play catcher


He tagged a runner out at the plate for the last out in one inning and then hit his first home run which tied the game in the last inning.  Time expired and the game ended in a tie.  His two big plays made an impact.






From here, we go east and north then back south to Arkansas for summer on the lake.