Kiln, MS - First couple of days

Have been trying to update the blog now for a couple of days. Internet is intermittent here in Mississippi. So - maybe an update and maybe some pictures. We'll see how it goes.

Well, we made it to David & Patricia's in Kiln, MS. However, we arrived between 6 and 6:30pm. About 2pm, we text and said we'd be there shortly after 3pm. What did we do for those 3 hours. We sat along side I-12 with another blowout. We couldn't believe the construction, potholes and rough roads. We just congratulated ourselves a little too early about the great time we were making. And, of course, no spare since we had the blow out last week. The tow service sent someone to pick up both tires and get them replaced from a tire store about 20 miles behind us. The first tire store contacted didn't have the tire in our size but called around for us until one was found. We were back on the road about 5pm. Must say that all the people who helped us were absolutely wonderful.

David, Nick and their friend Butch set up the camper for us in their yard. Leveled it and everything. It was nice not having to park, level and set up.

On Saturday we had a very nice restful day. They now own a bar & grill in town. They had a blues & jazz band Saturday night. Went and listened to the band about an hour and came home. Band was very good.

On Sunday, David & Patricia took us on a quick little trip down to the Gulf. Took a few pictures of brown pelicans, laughing seagulls, ducks and loons. The houses south of I-10 are built on stilts due to tropical storms. They showed us some of the damage still around due to Katrina (2005). Nice couple of hours and stopped at a Mexican restaurant near the Gulf. Just a few pictures.

San Antonio

Have a few minutes now so thought I'd catch up on the last few days. Wow, have they been busy. Currently we're sitting in an RV park in Beaumont, TX. It has been so hot and clammy. I know 76 isn't all that hot but it just feels so sticky out. Showers are done for the evening and lasagna is in the oven. So, thought I'd write about our last few days.

On Friday night, we arrived close to 4pm. Talked a few minutes - set up outside and put together some of the inside for our 6 day stay. Friday night we went and had supper with the "old gang". They were having either pork loin or tilapia. You guessed it: Sharon had tilapia and I had the pork. It came with a small salad, cheesy potates, mixed vegetables and for dessert, million dollar bar - let's just say nice and chocolaty. Sorry no pictures from this night.

Saturday, we woke up early and went on a olive orchard tour near the campground. We're not olive fans but even Sharon thought the little olives weren't bad. Bought some olive oil (pressed at the ranch), jell (made from olive leaves) and one jar of olives. They had 10 different varieties last year and we bought a bottle that used all 10 varieties. Couldn't believe the difference in the taste. A couple of pictures from the orchard.




After the tour, we went to Mi Tierra Mexican restaurant with Yoli & Sue. It was awesome like usual. Here we are waiting for a table. We went on a Saturday - had about a 40 minute wait.


Sunday we rested. It's the only day we didn't set an alarm while in SA.

Monday, we took the truck for an oil change. On the trip down here the DIC told us it was time for an oil change. Then we decided to go down to Floresville for some peanut brittle. We had lunch at Jack's Cafe. Can you tell Sharon is real excited.


On Tuesday we went on an all day San Antonio tour. Yes, we got lots of pictures. We visited at least 2 places we haven't been before. Buckhorn Saloon and the Japanese Tea Garden.




Wednesday found us getting ready to leave: pharmacy, grocery store, fuel and then dinner with Gary & Sue at the Hungry Farmer. We all had excellent steaks - TBones.

Well, battery is running low so I better sign off for tonight.

Interesting Trip to San Antonio

We finished working on Tuesday planning on getting things ready to head south on Thursday. On Wednesday, we had a list of items to get done: empty tanks and pick up sewer hoses, pack up the chairs and put stuff away on the inside. The campground has a portable air compressor so we wanted to make sure tires were o.k. First the truck - duallys are ugly. Our truck tires have the stems that you don't need to remove the cap to check and fill if you don't want to. Well, the part that allows you to do that was no longer on the two inner tires. Since I'm so technical - it is the white thing-a-ma-jig. So into town we went. Great tire place in Republic - about 10 minutes away that could take the caps off and put air in the tire - all for free. Love that free stuff.

Got back and checked the camper tires. All four needed air. One tire was extremely low. Would you like to know how many hours it takes to fill tires with a small portable air compressor - don't ask. Just know that Sharon got all of the outside work done while I continued to fill the tires with air.

Now, that's done. Finished working on the inside. Then, we cleaned up and went to the grocery store and gas station. Needed a few items and wanted to fuel up before heading out on Thursday.

Thursday morning. Actually going well. Forgot how long it actually takes to get everything done before heading out when we haven't been on the road for awhile. We pulled out of the campground at 9:17am. Hoping for 9 so thought we did well.

Couldn't believe it. Strong head winds. The truck drinks fuel real well when heading into the wind. We were pleased that we got at least 8mpg. At times the winds were 25 - 30 mph and not sure about the gusts. We were planning on making Thackerville, OK for our first overnight stay. We were 31 miles from the exit when it happened. Yep, got a blowout. Not sure why, yet. Wasn't tire pressure (we monitor) but did go through a lot of construction and had to ride on the shoulders for awhile. Have RV roadside assistance. First phone call to them at 3:45pm. See, we were making great time. First operator - told us we weren't in coverage area - couldn't figure out where we were in OK. Told her we were southbound on I35 just north of Ardmore, OK. At one time, she forgot to mute - heard her mention I75 near Louisville. Good thing she didn't mention this when she got back on the phone. During this conversation told her we needed the tire changed; the service would need to bring a jack that would lift over 14,000 pounds and could inflate the tire, if needed. We had a spare but hasn't been used in 3 years so assumed that would need to add air. Guess what - she told us that we weren't covered for tire inflation. Imagine, putting on a tire with no air????? O.K. I want you to know that I kept my voice very calm most of the time. I did say - you mean - you can have them change the tire and I'm supposed to drive on it if it's flat? Of course, she had to check again. I think her shift was done at 4pm. She asked if it would be o.k. for her supervisor to call me back in about 15 minutes. O.K. I do want to say - don't expect a supervisor to be any smarter. For him, I had to walk through the issue all over again and where I was. They kept wanting a street address. Guess what - you don't have a street address on the interstate in the middle of nowhere. Decided that they couldn't find someone to come change a tire so looking for a tow (flat bed) for the camper.

Now, it's 6pm. Mike (the supervisor) came on and asked if I would like to make some phone calls - the company would reimburse us. He would give me the numbers to call. I asked if he was going to continue to work on this, also. Well.....um....."let me try again". Called back about 15 minutes later. Found someone from Gainsville, TX to come and "change the tire". Amazing - couldn't be done before but now it can be. Would take about an hour to get here. Conference call with the tow/truck service. At 7:25pm (by the way do you know how dark it gets on the interstate) the service shows up. By 7:45 tire changed - needed to add some air but not much. Checked the other tires, also and they were fine. Now, the mileage was more than initially authorized. So the driver had to call RA again for additional authorization. That took about 15-20 minutes. While that was going on - checked surrounding campgrounds. Found one that stayed open until 10:30pm. At a casino but at this stage didn't care.

We're on the road. Stopped about 3 miles down the road at the next exit and fueled up. Just to be on the safe side. Headed to the campground. Arrived safely - bet it would be a beautiful drive in the daytime.

Next morning - really looked at the damage to the camper. No damage underneath but lost part of the fender and dented the bottom of the entertainment slideout.

Now, a different route down to Texas. Did not want to drive through Dallas or take I35E so determined the route and we're on our way by 9am. Did I mention that we just didn't feel like getting up around 6pm.

Arrived in San Antonio without any other mishaps. The traffic from Georgetown to San Antonio was awful. Took an extra hour. Wish I could say it was due to accidents or construction but just very very busy. A lot of stopping and starting.

Next post I'll talk about our time here in San Antonio.

Better weekend

Having a much better weekend than last week. Last weekend the windchill was below zero with strong winds coming from the north. The camper stayed warm - greatful for that but we woke up Saturday morning to no water. You don't know how much you actually use water until you don't have any coming from the pipes. Not to worry - we had plenty of drinking water.

Went outside and the campground faucet was froze. Waited until the office opened up and went up and asked another work camper for assistance. Had a hand held blower and thawed the faucet. Didn't help - still no water. This means that a pipe in the camper is froze. Yuck! Hopefully it won't burst. Found out we could also thaw out using our blow dryer.

Later that afternoon, with the sun out, still not above freezing, went out with the blow dryer. You guessed correctly - no pictures. Just imagine the cute sight - all bundled up with a blow dryer in hand blowing warm air on the pipes. :) The faucet wasn't froze. The water hose wasn't froze so still in the camper. Wondered if just froze at the connection to the camper. Since the campground faucet froze kept water from coming into the camper at night - just maybe. Plugged in the dryer and blew the warm air on the connection. Heard yelling coming from inside the camper. YEAH!! We have water. Just to be on the safe side - let the kitchen faucet drip through the night but the north winds had died down. Had water all night long. Sunday afternoon we just emptied the kitchen gray tank.

On Monday had a little over an inch of snow. By Tuesday, starting to get back to normal. You know you just can't do much of anything when you have the kind of trauma we had over the weekend. Ha Ha.

Went to the grocery store on Tuesday afternoon. Took us awhile to get started. Sort of got hooked on Andy Griffith reruns. That Barney. Around noon, decided we should take showers and get ready to go into town. Grabbed a quick lunch and then went to Hy-Vee. Wednesday - rained all day.

Thursday & Friday we worked. So Saturday was a chore day: laundry and empty tanks.
Ate leftovers earlier in the week so on Friday made a quiche, Saturday we had waffles and bacon. Needed to use up part of the bacon used in the quiche and today we're having roast turkey, stuffing and carrots. Been eating good the last couple of days. This next week we need to eat up some more leftovers. Freezer is getting full again. Just need to keep a couple of items for when we're on the road.

This week we'll work Thursday& Friday and again on Monday & Tuesday before leaving Thursday, March 1st for San Antonio. Today, planning menus for the week and preparing the grocery list.

About time to go and cut up carrots-the turkey is smelling wonderful. We're supposed to have another rainy day either tomorrow or Tuesday so trying another new recipe: creamy chicken tortilla soup in a crock pot.

Still have about 560 slides to scan and then the slide project will be done. Then I can start on the pictures.

Well, as you can see we're enjoying being very lazy at the moment. Have been watching movies, playing games and doing some reading. Need to get back to working on our winter projects again.

Well, guess it's time to start some "lupper". We coined this word for when we eat mid-afternoon: combination of lunch and supper.

Strange Week

Have you ever had one of those days that you just don't feel like doing anything. Well, that's been this week. Most for the good, some just plain simple, but at least nothing bad.

On Saturday we received a phone call from our friend, Jean. I worked with Jean at Principal in HR. Her and Dick were coming back from Texas and heading home to Iowa. Thought they might stop in on Sunday if we didn't have any plans for the Super Bowl. They hadn't seen the RV, yet. All of the plans over the past couple of years kept getting changed. They arrived about 4pm. Ordered a couple of pizzas and had a great visit. At least the right team one. Nice, exciting finish.

Monday was just one of those kind of days. We were going to run errands: pharmacy, grocery store, etc but decided to wait until Tuesday. Played games all afternoon. Kind of refreshing.

Tuesday, we did run our errands. Grabbed a couple of salads from the store for lunch and continued the game playing in the afternoon.

Now, Wednesday, you'd think we'd be ready to do something right. Well, NO. :) Sharon got up around 9:30 am. We had a webinar at 10 that lasted about 1/2 hour. Watched a little TV, made some soup and read all afternoon. It's been so cloudy and cold.

Today, we work. Sharon's got the morning shift and we both work this afternoon. Tomorrow, I'll work in the am and we'll both work in the pm.

We were hoping to get our taxes done but still haven't received our W-2's from the summer. Apparently the owner didn't tell the payroll company where to mail them. They were sent back to the company. So, hopefully we'll get them by the end of next week. Glad we asked him about them. Sharon had a few quips to say.

Going to try a new recipe for lunch. Found a recipe in the new healthy cooking magazine. French toast with apple topping. Still cloudy today so sounds good with a nice cup of coffee for lunch. Have a chance of snow tonight after 8pm. Guess we'll see.

As I said it's been a strange week. Hopefully, we'll get back on track this weekend.

Last Monday of January

Where has the time gone. Can't believe that we currently have 65 degrees but the wind is outrageous. The wind is 24mph gusting to 38. Every now and then we can feel it but mostly just hear it whipping around.

Sharon's had a bad head-ache the last couple of days so just been hanging out in the camper. The tree pollen count has been high and her sinuses are acting up. Hopefully, it will be better soon.

Have been enjoying the birds at the bird feeder. Here are a few pictures from this past week.





Made our reservations today for San Antonio on March 2nd. It will be nice to visit our friends again. Hopefully we'll get to El Viaje in Medina to visit Anne & Susan. They've built a new house on the hill and we'd love to see it. They own an resort there.

It's been a quiet kind of day. At least I'm trying to stay quiet so Sharon can get rid of her head-ache. But then it seems I just can't help clanging and talking. It is close quarters.

Well, guess it's time to pack it in and try to get some work done. Of course, I shouldn't clean out cupboards today. That would definitely make too much noise.

Friday - Killing Time

Sharon's working this morning and I have lunch started so thought I'd kill some time with an update. Hopefully I'll finish before noon.

The weather has been great. Some days it's been a little cold but no snow and last Monday it was 70. Felt strange working around in a t-shirt. It's been a lazy kind of week. Last week we had to work 3 days due to the RV show in St. Louis. We're back to working 2 days a week.

Started copying slides to memory cards. Just got a couple of boxes done so far. Posted some on facebook from our trip to Kentucky visiting Ruth & John. A couple of pictures from that trip in 1987. Can you figure out who these young people are?




The other box had slides from the Grand Canyon from a 1992 trip. The day we were there it had rained earlier in the day. Got a shot of a rainbow over the canyon. The slides weren't too bad after 20 years.




Sharon received a new game for Christmas, Spicy Farkle. We tried it out the other day. It's a twist on regular farkle but we sure can get caught up in it and the afternoons just fly by.

Well, Green Bay didn't make it. That's right - it was a little noisy here on Sunday. Have no idea who she'll be yelling at on Sunday. I know it won't be the Pats.

Well, it's getting close to lunch time. Making italian sausage sandwiches. Time to put them in the oven. Sharon will be home soon.

We're doing fine. Sharon's getting over her cold but is now getting over 3 cold sores on her upper lip. I can definitely tell the knee shot I got in August has worn off. Aches and pains of getting old.

In case you haven't heard, we will be working here in Springfield for the summer. We're working from April 1 through July 24. Hoping to make Dan's graduation from Lackland.