COMPUTER ISSUES PUT A DAMPER ON POSTING

Saturday, November 23 – Marsha's been busy, busy, busy! Her computer died on Monday, dead motherboard. It was time to replace her aging laptop with a new one. Buying the new computer is an “ouch” on the wallet, but that's the easy part. Now she has to load everything to make it useable. That is absolutely CRAZY!!! It's like buying a car without tires, or a transmission. Paul just doesn't understand this.

Regardless, Marsha has been using the DSL line at the clubhouse to download software and other updates, amazing.....a new computer needs updates. She broke away from the HP brand name and bought a Samsung. She read rave reviews about her choice. She loves the feel of the keyboard. Yes, it came with OS 8, which now causes her some additional headaches. The first issue she ran into was our printer software…not suitable for OS 8. She went on line to research update drivers. This is just one example of why it takes so long to set up a new computer.

It's been three days now, and Marsha is still at it! She had the hard drive removed from her old computer and placed in an NexStar TX 2.5” hard drive enclosure. Now she can transfer “stuff” from her old hard drive to her new computer. Will she ever be done???

Marsha wants to share her opinion of OS 8…..not difficult to learn at all. She can’t get over how many people are having so many problems with it. One girl here in the campground said she is having a difficult time leaning how to use the new operating system. All she wants is her desktop back. Marsha showed her how to hold the window key down and hit D…desktop appears. She showed her how to pin her applications to the task bar. Debbi is now a very happy camper. She says it looks just like her old desktop…imagine that.

Paul's been diddling around the RV, cleaning his truck, reading, and snoozing in his zero gravity chair. At least the weather has been beautiful here in Houston.

TIDBIT: November 22, 2013, marks our 1500^th day on the road.

We will post a new blog hopefully very soon.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

REPAIR DAY!

Thursday, October 31 – With the rain finally slowing down (Houston area received over 4” of rain from this storm.), we prepared to haul the RV out to find replacement parts for the broken landing jack.

Paul ran down to the office to let them know we were pulling out but would return shortly. To our delight, one of the campground managers said he would take Paul to get the parts. Marsha was delighted she didn't have to close up the RV, and Bella was ecstatic she didn't have to get all nervous about traveling.

So with the girls smiling, Paul and Jack, one of the husband/wife management teams, headed to town to find a shear pin for the landing jack. They visited several hardware stores and found close to what they were looking for at a marine/boat repair shop. The only problem was the new shear pin was 1" long instead of 3/4” long.

Paul tried to cut off the shear pin using his hacksaw but it was just too difficult to do without a vise to hold it. So back to the campground office to ask for help. Jack took Paul down to the repair shop and gave him use of the bench grinder to shorten the shear pin.

Yes, Marsha yelled at me for cutting it this way.

Now, Paul need to remember how to re-assemble the jack. It's been two days since he tore it apart....short term memory, you know. Luckily for Paul, Marsha had the sense to take pictures of the innards of the jack as he disassembled it.

By consulting pictures on her cell phone, he was able to get things back together successfully.

Again with Marsha's help (I love this lady.), we re-installed the jack. Testing proved the thing was working as designed. So after two days sitting hooked-up, we finally are were able to setup here in the campground. YEAH!!!

In case you're wondering........total repair cost = $1.50. Lots of misery for a measly dollar and a half.....JEESH!…… And yes, Paul bought an extra shear pin as an emergency backup.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

WE GOT CLOSE TO HOUSTON

Wednesday, October 30 – We are about 30 miles north of the heart of Houston on Rt. 59.

Traffic isn't any lighter since we were here back in March.

We are staying at Forest Retreat RV Park, in New Caney, TX.

The park has concrete sites, concrete streets, nice grass between the sites, 50 amp FHU's, some nice trees, and a beautiful club house. We are in site 122. We have a Maple tree, and it is turning colors. Marsha just stares out the window. This is the first "real" autumn colors we have seen.

We stayed here before, back in May of 2010. The WIFI is excellent. They offer free coffee all day and night and one bag of ice per day. It's a very nice campground and fairly well priced compared to other parks in the Houston area. But compared to the Elks lodge the price is high, but the amenities are better.

Looking right.

Looking left.

When we got ready to unhitch the truck, we were disappointed to find the left landing gear jack would not work. Remember, we knew it was acting up but hoped Paul had repaired it. “Not so fast, my friend.” It is out of commission! Well, after removing the jack from the 5^th wheel and figuring out how to dismantle it, Paul found an internal sheer pin broken.

Pointing at the sheer pin that is broken.

Of course, it was pouring down rain making repairs difficult, and now we were faced with the problem of how to get to a hardware store to buy parts. No bus service in the area, and the closest hardware is about five miles away. Paul asked the office workers if anyone was considering a Home Depot trip but didn't have any luck. So, I guess tomorrow morning we'll haul the RV with us to fetch repair parts.....JEESH!

The good news is Paul was able to locate the problem and is able to make repairs once parts are obtained. So check back and see how the fix turns out.

He needs to keep all the parts together.

One more splash of autumn for you.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

A VISIT WITH OUR DAUGHTER, KELLY

Sunday, June 6 – We attended the 2nd Baptist Church of Houston, North Campus, this morning. A Mega-Church, the campus we attended in Kingwood is one of five Campus Churches. Very nice but too big for us. The five campuses have over 18,000 worshipers every Sunday.

We take Bella for a walk a few times a day. Today, she decided to be the hunter cat. Look at her catch.

She was soooo proud of her catch….some type of green leaf hopper.

Monday, June 7- The hot weather continues in the Houston area. It's been over 100 degrees the last several days with very high humidity. It's very difficult for the MH's air conditioners to keep things cool. It's even too hot to be at the pool in the afternoon. We usually go to the pool for several hours in the morning and then find something to do in the comfort of AC for the afternoon. The campground we are in meters your electric use. Since we signed up for the monthly discount on the site, Paul's been keeping an eye on our electric charges each day ($.10/KWH). We've been averaging about $3/day. I'd say it's time to follow the other retired Texans to the mountains!

We went to Katy, TX today to see where Kelly, our oldest daughter, will be teaching next school year. She will be at Mayde Creek High School teaching Geometry.

That school is huge. The Katy district is humongous. We also drove over to her new apartment. She'll move in July 17. Very nice! She should be very happy with her new job and new apartment.

These are pictures of the model, but this is the layout of her apartment.

The workout room is awesome. Great equipment and plenty of it. It overlooks the pool.

The pool has a fountain, hot tub and a lap lane. It was pouring when we were there, so we couldn’t get a real good picture.

Then of course, since there is an outlet mall in Katy, we went shopping. Paul stopped at the Camping World first for a sewer hose extension (that was the end of my shopping) and then followed the girls through the mall. It was a fun day!

Thursday, June 10 – Paul went to the back surgeon today for his 3-month check-up. All is well, and he is progressing ahead of schedule. He will now begin some physical therapy and is encouraged to swim. The doctor told him to swim, non-stop, for thirty minutes.....yeah right! He's going to wait until we get to Ohio for the month of July to do his physical therapy. In the meantime, he'll stretch, walk, swim in the campground pool, and ride bike.

Kelly has her two kittens here while she spends sometime with us. This has been a serious adjustment for Bella, our cat. She's use to being the “Queen of the Roost” and doesn't enjoy being “annoyed” by two young, energetic kitties. She'll be happy when her “nieces” go home.....ha ha!

A little story behind this picture. Bella, the big one, was just lying there minding her own business, when along comes Cleo, the one under the chair. Cleo was doing everything possible to get Bella’s attention. She eventually reached out and touched the Big Bad Bella’s paw. Of course that through Bella into a hissing fit. “I’m not getting involved, Abby,” the one under the chair, just sat and watched the drama.

Still hotter than blazes outside. We really don't like sitting inside the MH all the time, but it is unbelievably HOT outside. We need to be in the mountains somewhere...not Houston, TX. By evening a cool breeze cooled things off so we took a walk around the RV park and decided to sit outside and play a game of Mexican Train. Kelly won....it was a fun evening.

Thanks for stopping by. See y’all real soon.

PLAIN OLD WEEK IN NEW CANEY, TX

Wednesday, June 2 – It's Marsha's Birthday!!! We planned on having our air conditioner fixed this afternoon, but we ended up having a thundershower. Unfortunately, he has doctor appointments on Thursday, so we'll have to suffer until Friday....and that's in 100 degree temps......YIKES!!!!

Paul washed and waxed half of the MH. That's all he could take in the heat and humidity. After that we hit the pool for a few hours!

Ahhhh....the AC guy did make it back this evening, 6:30-8:30! Unfortunately, we did have to replace the entire AC....shucks! There are some positives though. We replaced it with a Carrier AC which runs significantly quieter. The old one (Dometic) was really loud. You couldn't hear the TV when it was running. This one is very quiet. It's suppose to have a better compressor too....that's what burned out on our old one. Who knows??????? Anyway, we finally have AC running and Bella (our cat) is much happier and so are we!

We are going out for Marsha's birthday. Kind of a late start but we better celebrate. One doesn't turn 39 every year!

Thursday, June 3 – Rainy day. Marsha cleaned the inside of the MH. We went grocery shopping. Watched Girls Softball World Series

Friday, June 4 – We headed up to Livingston, TX this morning for a memorial service for a friend's wife. We met Wayne Bray this spring in Livingston while Paul was recouping from surgery. We played Mexican Train with him. His wife has been battling Alzheimer's for quite a while.

We also stopped at the Escapee's mail service and picked-up our mail. It's been several weeks since we've received our mail. Boy, did we have a ton. The mail service girl wondered what happen to us.

We visited with Wayne and Fran over lunch. Had a great time. Went by and saw their new motor home and then out to the house where they will be parking it when in Livingston, TX. They have a very nice looking MH and a beautiful home in the country to park when in Texas. Hope to bump into them on the road!

Watched more Girls World Series Softball this evening.

Saturday, June 5 – Paul finished washing/waxing the MH this morning before the heat set in for the day. We then headed to the pool for a couple of hours to cool off. We returned to the MH to watch the Girls Softball World Series and chill out in the AC....ha ha! The games today were very good. They have the final four games tomorrow and then the finals Monday and Tuesday. If each team has won one game, the final game will be played on Wednesday.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back soon.

NEW CANEY, TX

Monday, May 31 – Can't believe it's the last day of May. Where did May go??? Today was a travel day for us. Headed to Forest Retreat RV Park in New Caney, TX....about 10 miles north of Houston. Paul has an upcoming 3-month post surgery check-up. We will also visit our two daughters again, before heading for Ohio for the month of July.

We traveled towards St Charles, LA on LA-14. One of the reasons we chose this route is the poor condition of I-10. It's pump, pump, pump the entire way across Louisiana. We will use US-90 from Beaumont, TX to New Caney, TX which is a few miles north of Houston.

Arrived at Forest Retreat RV Park with no problems.....man is it HOT! And, one of our air conditioners is not working.......YIKES! Have to get this fixed real fast, it's suppose to be in the 90's all week.

The campground is real nice. Large concrete pads, full hook-ups, nice pool, beautiful activity center, shuffle board courts, shelter house, very clean bathrooms, and wonderful location. We were surprised how crowded it is in the Houston heat. Though everyone high tailed it out of here in the summer.

Office Building

 

Our site

Restrooms and laundry

Pool

Street View

Pavilion with shuffle board and horseshoes

You have to check out the extended bus that is here. It's a revamped inter-city bus that bends in the middle.

We just relaxed after arriving in the campground. Marsha took Bella (our cat) on several walks. She's been cooped up for about a week. She really enjoyed it. We also had an unexpected guest…a blue heron. WOW!

Thanks for stopping by. See y’all again soon.