2007 Blogs

October 1 , 2007 Fishing with Ken & Char
Ken and Char are at the beach for a Fall fishing experience on the Gulf Coast and are staying at Gilchrist at Rollover Pass. The Last-Re-Sort was closed as we were "Making Hay at the Lazy A" the day they arrived. Fishing was slow, wind was high but Ken managed to bag a few nice ones. We visited off and on and are going to Sugarland Sunday to visit more of the chat room group for a Bar-B-Que.

September 30, 2007 Hay NEVER Sleeps
Good weather has set in in Southeast Texas and with all of the rain it is time to get serious about harvesting hay. We moved the MH to the ranch today from Lake Charles to make it easier and safer for us not having to work from daylight to dark then drive home. Reason #672 for having an RV.

September 28, 2007 Casino Trip
We got the itch so off to Lake Charles to Isle of Capri Casino RV Parking area...yes we made a nice donation but ate and drank well

September 13, 2007 Surprise Trip to Beaumont, TX
What was billed as a small disorganized Tropical Storm on Wednesday, Sept. 12 turned out to be "Hurricane Humberto" packing winds in excess of 85 mph and took out power for several days. When the sun came up on Thursday we found several homes destroyed and/or damaged, the towns only grocery/gas store in ruins and trees down everywhere. Our damage again was minor compared to some of the others but rather than attempt to keep the generator running with no gas available we moved to Gulf Coast RV Resort in Beaumont for a few days until power was restored. As always GCRV Resort was a great stay and we were able to return after three nights at about Noon on Sunday, Sept. 16. Reason # 623 for owning a fully stocked RV.

August 30, 2007 Kerrville TX for Labor Day
We left for the "Second Annual Guadalupe River RV Resort Labor Day Party", on Friday morning with the promise of rain and general bad weather. We did not care. The trip was going well, we had just reported to our friends in Kerrville that we were about an hour away when "Zap" the serpentine belt went south again. We were exiting Loop 1604 West in San Antonio onto West I-10 at about 4:00 PM when the belt just snapped as I was excellerating to merge with I-10 Westbound traffic. I immediately called Good Sam Roadside Assistance and once again they went right to work for us. They dispatched a mobile repair person as we were in a wide shoulder area and out of harms way. They dispatched DELGADO MOBILE MECHANIC 210-685-0520 (I offer the number and hope you will jot it down for those times you need service in or near San Antonio TX. Delgado, was on site at rush hour within about 40 minutes WITH a new belt and tools to take care of the job. He even stopped to offer another RV'er with severe break troubles assistance who had stopped behind us that day. My hat off to Delgados and Good Sam for a job well done.
Back on our way we arrived in Kerrville about 90 minutes late and had a great four nights at Guadalupe RV Resort. They had live music Friday and Saturday, events for young and old alike along with food, beverages and dancing. Thanks to Guadalaupe River RV Resort for another fine stay at your park. We departed on Tuesday Sept. 4 on our way back home.

June 21, 2007 Heading West...Take I-10 East
We have not always done the obvious and this trip is no exception. WG-Victoria invited some of us to venture to the Lake Wood Recreation Area in Gonzales, TX for the weekend so we loaded up a few things and hit the road. Our plan for that week was to boondock at Delta Downs Racetrack and Casino in Vinton, LA for Shari's birthday. So, we headed East to make our donation to the casino, had a great night out and managed to consume a few King Crab legs and toss down a bit of Jack Daniels. Happy Birthday Shari. Friday we turned our MH West and headed for Lake Wood about 260 miles from Vinton. The trip was fine, traffic and construction was good to us and we rolled in about mid afternoon. The park is a great spot to just get away. Cell service is very low but if you lean to the East it works enough to make a call. Satellite is impossible due to the 90% shade and I think we had three channels on the antenna making for a quiet, restfull weekend. Wendy and Jeanelle, Skip and Terbie and Shari and I camped for the weekend and Billie and Billie along with Bob and Sally from Victoria joined us for Saturday evening at the campground and we all went to town for dinner. The park was moist from off and on rain but dry enough to sit out and take a few walks around the park. All in all it was a grand visit with friends and a good RV'ing weekend.

June 2, 2007 Adventure Trip
Well, having missed the iRV2 Chatroom Rally in Arizona in May, we started an adventure of boondocking at our local gaming establishments...or at least tried to. We left Saturday AM heading East to Vinton and the Delta Downs Racetrack and Casino. Now that the Texas Legislature decided not to allow Texans to vote on gaming in Texas...again we find ourselves once more adding to the income of the State of Louisiana and I fill up the MH there also as the prices are better there as are "smokes" for which there is a $10 a carton state tax on them in Texas. Yes, I still have a smoker in the family.

As we passed Winnie heading for Cracker Barel for breakfast I lost all steering, charging voltage and all at once I felt as if I were steering the Queen Mary across wet sand. Yup, the serpentine belt came apart into an unrecognizable collection of rubber and metal straw. I called Good Sam Roadside Assistance and they had a large wrecker on the way in less than 15 minutes. The wrecker service called us back to confirm our safety and location and we cancelled the tow. The MH was just across the highway from a NAPA outlet and a CarQuest Auto Parts shop. Not having the number of the belt we tried several before finding the one that fit. My Brother-In-Law and his son Ron came by to help with the repair and we followed them to the ranch to assist with loading some hay for a customer. By that time Shari was working with the new pony "Honey-Buns" and we continued working with the horses for the rest of the day. The motorhome is still at the ranch as we are having some work done next week as well as spending much time there this week as I plan to wash and wax the coach in the barn out of the sun, change the oil and grease the chassis. I think I saved a bundle not making it to Delta this weekend.

March 2 2007 Whirlwind Trip
Other than a trip to Beaumont for tires from Wingfoot Commercial Tires, we have both been busy trying to get thru the Winter here on the beach. We had two things working for early March. One was a trip to Vinton, LA to see Sammy Kershaw at the Texas Longhorn Club staying at the "V" RV park in Vinton. The Longhorn is a great club, large dance floor, two hugh bars and great music. The First Friday show includes live bull riding inside the club. Afterwards we went to Delta Downs Casino and took a fist full of dollars home with us for a change.
Saturday we went back Eastward to Silsbee, TX at the Mill Creek RV Park and a short hop to Ron-Tx's house for his 60th birthday crawfish boil. (note that he IS older than me by about 6 months...LOL. On Sunday we moved to Haven's Landing RV Resort..now the Houston North KOA for one night as I had to be in Houston early that morning for a little consulting job. We arrived at our next stop, Whispering Pines RV Park, just North of Tyler, TX. We had been there before and just love the quiet, clean park. We did part 2 of the consulting job then made a quick trip to Distant Land Coffee Roasters, one of our favorites for coffee beans. Then on Wed. it was home again for a bit for the rest of our tires and off again.

March Mardi Gras Trip February 2007
Ron-TX, our long time friends, were meeting some of Peggy's classmates at Crystal Beach and we decided to join them. We stayed at the Bolivar Peninsula RV Park which was very nice and the service top notch. They had a "tailgate party" for the parade which passed in front of the park. Other than a brisk wind, it was a perfect day for a parade.