2005 Blogs

September 18, 2005 - Ingram / Kerrville Get-A-Way
Our plans were to spend some time in the Texas Hill Country (which in our opinion is like a "whole other country"..and to be with Skip and Terbie for Skiper's first few days of recovery from his surgery. Well, Hurricane Rita had other plans. Little did we know that our town would be just 15 miles from the eye of the storm as it passed us to the East.
We checked into the Guadeloupe River RV Resort on the banks of the river. We had no "toad" since our daughter Sara was to start her new job that week and needed transportation. It is a good thing we did since she was between cars and time was not on her side. Sara and Lucy, along with three million other Texas residents, all hit the roads at the same time..it was not pretty. They both got to safety at some point and "hunkered down" so to speak.
Shari, Terbie and me were fussing over Skip making sure he got what he needed...and was on a fast track to recovery. He was a pretty good patient, we only had to beat him a few times....only kidding. Each day brought progress and now he is up,driving, eating well and doing lite chores around the house. He was never big on heavy chores but a few rounds of golf would be great about now I am sure.
During our stay we discovered that we had little ties to High Island any longer...with all three children settled in their own homes and making lives for themselves. We looked at about 20 homes, lots and views in the Ingram and Kerrville and liked what we saw. We have a new look at where "home" really is. This trip was a landmark since October 3 marked our second year with the MH and we still were in love with traveling and having our time together. It was another milestone since we had never stayed in one park for this long of a time...being 31 days. The cost for the park with metered electricity and phone was just at $13/day and some of the days were record heat days requiring both AC units.

Bobbie and Skip were great hosts even in their time of recovery and we had a great time.


August 19, 2005 - Shortened Chat Rally Trip
We set out after a long run at getting our coach repairs done after the Workhorse brake recall event taking three trips and numerous moments of frustration. We loaded the supplies and headed North. Our first stop was at Texarkana KOA for a short rest then to visit some friends in Fayetteville at the Southgate RV Park, a small, well kept park at a good price. We did 15 years of catching up with one of Shair's school friends, and 27 years with the other friend.....all in about ten days. It was a relaxing and fun visit.

Next to St. Louis to see the Arch. What a nice town to visit. Our trip was to include a stop in Indianapolis to meet up with Tom NC then to Michigan for the rally. However, due to a family emergency at home we decided to head back to Texas and to cancel our further plans. It was with mixed emotions that we came home but it was best.

June 3, 2005 - Galveston Fishing Trip
We took our first summer fishing trip in Galveston and visited with an old high school friend Neill and his wife. We had a nice visit, munched on some shrimp. We spend most of the next day fishing off the Seawolf Park Pier then on Monday we went to Rollover Pass in Gilchrist, TX. Photos are on the album pages.

May 24, 2005 - Alto Texas 'Chris & Brenny' are in Texas for the week
Being fellow Texans, we felt it appropriate to inflict ourselves on Chris and Brenny as they visited family and friends in Alto and were trying to pack some things from their house there. We stayed at the Rust / Palestine State Park, home of the "Texas State Railroad" which is about 15 miles North of Alto. We had a fine visit with our friends and caught up on some of the happenings since our gathering for the rally in Maine. Shari helped pack some things with Bren and I helped Chris tote boxes to the MH for transport later to their new home in PA. We said our goodbyes and went on our way south, stopping for a brief visit with Arby & Blondie at the new Vegas style casino, hotel and golf club in Lake Charles, L'auberge du Lac Casino. For this short stay we camped at the "V" Campground in Vinton, LA at Exit 8 from Texas. They are laying concrete over the old gravel as fast as they can....the sites are long, level and close to Lake Charles and Vinton Casinos.

May 18, 2005 - Trip to the Repair Shop
From Haven's Landing, we went to Houston Leisure RV Park to be near our service center for the Workhorse W-22 Chassis. We were about ten minutes from Monument Chevrolet, the only repair dealer we have ever heard of that is open and working from 7AM to Midnight Monday thur Friday. They did warranty recall work on our brakes, changing many parts and about 9 hours of labor all under the fantastic Workhorse & Newmar Warranty. They also changed the oil and did the 25,000 mile Allison Transmission filter change and fluid flush. I will have to say that the folks at Monument Chevrolet are tops. The job was done as promissed and their service is fast and priced fairly.

May 15, 2005 - Haven's Landing Trip
This trip was planned for another purpose however being able to make chicken salad out of chicken poop, we decided to make the best of it since we have already paid for our spot at Havens Landing RV Resort, Montgomery, TX for our stay. We had the opportunity to meet in person, "Penny-Lake Conroe" alias "Penny -South of Huntsville", 'Penny-North of Houston"....which as far as we can figure out is near Willis....Sorry Penny, I am a joke'ster....

We had a nice visit and I got her photo on the RV Chatters Picture page, which for us is a treat to be able to do so in a timely manner. Our stay at Haven's was nice but the hot tub was not bubbling on Sunday but they had it fixed on Monday morning...very early. Next we moved to Houston Leisure RV Resort where we overnighted prior to taking our MH to Monument Chevrolet who does our warranty and service work. They are taking care of our ABS brake problem and some routing 25,000 mile maintenance. After we dropped it off we headed for Smitty's Custom Welding and RV to find out why the adapter plate seperated from our toad frame. Smitty's assured me that it was a rare event, he did not care why it happened but worked feverously to get us fixed under "warranty".....this is the ONLY place I will go for towing matters....EVER. The only bad thing is that Shari found our next toad....so I guess we will be looking at a new adapter plate and tow bar soon...once we find "the"Chevy Colorado 4 x 4 Pick-up" to tow.

May 9, 2005 - Maintenance Can be Fun Too!
This day we wanted to get closer to Ron Hoover RV and Marine to prevent driving in the early morning through Houston Traffic so we overnighted at Shiloh RV Park in Sugarland, TX parking next to our friends Arby & Blondie who were already there having just returned to the area from a Winter stay in the Yuma area. We had a great visit and went on our way the next day for RV warranty service. The repair was done in the usual Ron Hoover professional way and we were off in just a few hours back home.

April 17, 2005 - Short Trip to the Casino
Having the opportunity to act as escourt, safe haven, gambling instructor and beverage advisor to a young 22 year old lady, Shari and I escourted Lucy on her first trip to a casino. It was bound to happen sooner or later since we have been know to frequent such places of ill repute from time to time ourselves.

Two of her best friends actually went with her but we were there for support and to make sure the casino had plenty of money for her in case she hit it big. Our donation once again was appreciated we are sure.

We arrived ahead of them and parked the MH at the Isle of Capri in Lake Charles. They have a few narrow and short spaces with 30/50 amps for $5/night only steps from the door. Also the pool and hot tub are nice.

They arrived after work, about 7 PM and we hit the gaming area. My sister Alice and her newly retired husband, George arrived earlier and we all played vigerously until about 4 AM. Breakfast, hookup and then to home on Monday about mid day.

April 7, 2005 - Wabbit's Visit to Kerrville, Texas
We missed the opportunity for Venice and his wife to overnight in our driveway due to a dash air problem with their coach. Guys, the offer is still open...just let us know when.

We were to leave on Thursday but due to a giltch in Shari's medication order we left early to pick up a temp supply from our doctor. This put us into Buckhorn RV Resort a day early. We got setteled and made good use of the time to relax. There was a Liberty Coach rally in progress there with some fantastic rigs in the park. The gang from the RV America chat room began to arrive and what a group it was. The photos (see Texas Wabbit Visit in the Photo albums) tell only part of the tale of the weekend. There were lots of chatters there, some we had met for the first time and some old friends also.

At some point, we found a broken part on our coach, the crosstie between the frong jacks had broken at the weld. We stopped by Ron Hoover RV in Beorne, TX who reported it to Newmar and had the part ordered for instalaltion in Houston once it arrives. They assured us that it was not a hazard to drive so on we went to our next stop, Galveston, TX.

The Dellanera RV Park, operated by the Parks Board, is located at 7 Mile Road in Galveston and right on the beach. The slots are very narrow but each has a concrete patio with table and good hookups. The slide on my coach extends onto the patio of the site next door but we survived. If you like full hookups on the beach...this is the spot for you.

We chose Galveston as a stop due to my medical test this week and not wanting to fast for two days and take the ferry ride to the doctor after being on liquid diet for 24 hours. The colonoscopy was completed...I don't remember a thing but they found nothing which put my mind at east. Enough about that.

Next we hope to go to Lake Charles to celebrate Lucy's birthday for a couple of days, but for now, home Friday afternoon and to Louisiana Sunday and Monday.



February 10, 2005 - Canyon of the Eagles Trip
Our first real trip of 2005 was our well planned visit to Canyon of the Eagles to view the Bald Eagles wintering in the area. While we did manage to see several eagles and some other rare birds on the Vanishing Texas River Cruise, the best spot was just off Hwy 29 East of Llano, TX where a family of Bald Eagles has been nesting just off the highway for the past three years. The images are great and the view is fantastic. We hope to return to this site next year to witness this fantastic site.

From there we visited Kerrville, TX where we spent some time with Skip and Terbie, Harold and Linda and some old local friends in the Ingram/Kerrville area. The visit was to have been two days but due to our encounter with a wild turkey smashing our windshield (see photos off the main page), we managed to spend 9 days in the area waiting on our glass to arrive at the glass shop.

The trip home began with breakfast at Cracker Barrel in Kerrville and then our journey home for a few weeks.

February 4, 2005 - Vinton Louisiana Trip to Make our Donation
With the "White Christmas and Happy New Year bringing a halt to travel activities, we decided to escape to Delta Downs, in Vinton Louisiana to try our luck at their remodeled facility. While we did not win big, we did manage to play for hours on just a few dollars. It was a trip well worth the time and effort. We camped at the "V" Rv park which was fine for our needs at the time.