HOUSTON, TX, HOME FOR A FEW MONTHS

Monday, October 9 – With Houston, TX, just down the road about four hours, we took our time getting on the road this morning. Many of you will get a kick out of this but it was about 8 a.m. when we headed south on US-59 (future I-69). That's a late start for us. We like to head out early and finish our day's drive early.

Skyline of downtown Houston.

We arrived at the Houston Elks Lodge before noon finishing another uneventful drive. Wonderful not to have driving problems! We feel at home at the Houston Lodge. This is actually Paul's home lodge. He transferred his membership here last spring. Our youngest daughter lives in Houston also, so it's nice to spend some time with her. We've learned our way around the Houston area and even are pretty use to the driving. We also know when NOT to drive through town!

The Elks Campground has ten full hook-up sites. Eight are concrete pads and two are gravel. The road to the sites behind the lodge is gravel. The sites are not spaced very far apart, especially when some insist on crowding their car of truck in between the sites. There's a 100 space parking lot thirty feet away but people don't walk much these days. The Lodge does have free internet, but you have to be in the first four or five sites to pick it up.

We always try to get the end site (Site # 1) so we have a little privacy on our patio side, and it is Bella’s favorite spot. Although the lodge patio and swimming pool are nearby, people aren't there until evening. There are a couple sites occupied full time by permanent residents (not happy about that) but most are over-nighters or monthly renters like ourselves. We've tried several times to convince the Lodge to add some sites but they don't seem to interested in doing that.

Looking right.

Looking left.

We will be here through the Christmas holidays. Well, our RV will be here. Marsha flies back to her Ohio family in early December to spend the holidays, and Paul and Carrie fly in just before Christmas. We then return before New Years with intentions to head to the Rio Grande Valley for January.

Update to Elks Lodge membership: Marsha is now a member of the Ladies Auxiliary group. If we were here fulltime, she would quickly work herself up to President….lol   She also read all the By-Laws. Who does that?

WELL…THIS ISN'T GOOD!

Sunday, November 12 – What a day! On Thursday, Paul replaced the burned-out heating element in the hot water heater. We were able to heat water with propane but not electric. This isn't a big job if you have the correct tool. Unfortunately, Paul did not have the socket wrench necessary to remove the element. After searching Lowes, Home Depot, Harbor Freight, Sears and Northern Tools, he finally took Marsha's suggestion and went to PPL, a large RV consignment dealer and parts store here in Houston. Yep, Marsha was right again, they had one, and Paul picked-up the heating element while there.

Paul had to practically take the entire front off the tank to get to the element, but he was successful. We now had hot water via electricity, which is included in our $15/night price here at the Houston Elks. (If staying a month it's only $300/month – that's $10/night!)

Wish we could say that was the end of our hot water issues! After cleaning up and putting everything away, Paul noticed water on the concrete slab. No, the element wasn't leaking. After removing panels under the kitchen sink to expose the entire hot water tank, Paul found a soaked floor and a leaking hot water tank.....DANG!

So, Saturday morning it was back to PPL to purchase a new Suburban hot water tank. Never having replaced a hot water tank, Paul was a little worried, but luckily the neighbor has done a replacement and encouraged Paul that the job is pretty straight forward. Of course, Marsha was there with plenty of encouragement also!

He started by removing the old tank which involves detaching hot and cold plumbing lines, 110 volt electric lines, 12 volt electric wires, propane lines, and exterior trailer moldings. It requires some contortionist positions under the kitchen sink as well! OUCH!

After removing the old tank, Marsha helped hold the new tank in the hole while he reconnected wires and propane lines.

The new tank slid in fairly easily, and Paul crawled back under the sink to complete the plumbing connections.

After filling the tank and finding no leaks, Paul fired up and tested the propane heating element. Finding it working correctly, he then tested the electrical heating element and was happy to see it working correctly. And most importantly, we have hot water with NO LEAKS!!! Yeah!

SIDE NOTE #1: Paul checked the service desk at PPL, and they wanted $240 for installing a hot water tank and couldn't get to it until late this week!

SIDE NOTE #2. Regardless what Marsha might tell you, Paul was not stressed-out, didn't swear, and completed the job with a smile on his face and whistling a happy tune! At least that is Paul's story, and he is sticking to it.

Happy Veterans day to all who have served our country so proudly and bravely. Thank you for your unselfish service.

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

MOSLEY PARK…THE EDIBLE PARK

Tuesday, November 22 – We spent most of our weekend with our daughter, Carrie. We did some outlet mall shopping on Saturday and watched a ton of great college football games. On Sunday, Carrie came down and watched the Cleveland Browns WIN. 

We do most of our shopping in an area known as Missouri City. It is a newer area of Houston with every store imaginable. When driving there, we pass a walking park, Mosley Park. This 3.08-acre park is on the sloping banks of Oyster Creek. The park includes picnic facilities and parking surrounded by glorious pecan trees for a picture perfect setting. This trail is a head location for the Oyster Creek Jogging Trail. There is parking available, as well as an excellent opportunity for fishing.

The region’s first Edible Arbor Trail is located in Mosley Park. It features groves of newly planted hardy trees and shrubs that will produce edible fruits and nuts. The unique environmental project includes educational signage detailing tree facts and displaying sponsor logos. Ultimately, it will give visitors a chance to experience and taste nature.The Trail was just dedicated on November 10.

This was a new one on us…Mexican Persimmon.

Well, it seems me made a huge mistake in our last blog. Thank you to all who just ignored our ignorance and read on. BUT, our daughter, Carrie who lives in Houston, caught the mistake. We both can't believe that we didn't catch it. What was the mistake you ask? When we showed the picture of the traffic, we miss labeled the outer loop as I-610. It is really the Sam Houston Toll Road. That makes the inner loop I-610. So sorry for leading you astray!

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

 

 

CHUNG MEI BUDDHIST TEMPLE…HOUSTON, TEXAS

Wednesday, April 6 – The Houston Elks Lodge is located in a culturally diverse section of Houston. Today we took the opportunity to visit a Chung-Mei Buddhist Temple located across the street from the Elks.

Fifty years ago, Venerable Master began propagating Buddhism in the small rustic town of Llan Northern Taiwan. From very humble beginnings, Venerable Master has established over two hundred Fo Guang Shan Temples worldwide. Venerable Master has dedicated his life to raising the standard of Buddhist culture and education, taking Buddhism to national halls and onto international stages. It is now recognized as one of the world's major religions.

The Venerable Master realized Houston's unique geographical advantage as a city centrally located between North and South America. He decided to establish the temple here, anticipating that it will play a central role in the assimilation and propagation of the Eastern religion in a Western land. The temple is named “Chung Mei” Central America, because it not only signifies the unity between Eastern and Western cultures, but also symbolizes the integration of Asia and America.

We were welcomed to the Temple by the Reverend Dharma, a young lady, who has been in the Houston Temple for four years. She came here from Taiwan. She was delighted to give us a tour and answered our questions. There are numerous colorful Buddhas (Enlightened Beings) and Bodhisattvas (Compassionate Beings) lining on the sidewalls surrounding the Main Shrine. We were also given an explanation of the other objects on the shrine in the front of the Temple and invited us to attend a Sunday Meditation Service.

No inside pictures were permitted. The next two pictures are taken from their website.

The significance of the three Buddhas in the main temple from left to right.....
Amitabha Buddha (Pure Land); Lord Sakyamuni Buddha, the Great Teacher of Buddhism; Medicine Buddha, and Amitabha Buddha (Pure Land).

The other parts of the Temple are the Waterdrop Tea House, which is still under construction; a library, a meditation room, classrooms, and offices.

Waterdrop Tea House

Outside is the Chan Garden with many Buddhist Statues and beautiful landscaping. It is also used for the Meditation garden.

Across the street is the Buddhist Cemetery, Columbarium Memorial Shrine. It is the second of what will be a ten building community that will be built on the 36 acre site. It is a memorial complex built to cherish the memory of the deceased.

One of the advantage of the full-time lifestyle is the opportunity to have so many different experiences. This is just another one of those experiences.

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

HONG KONG MALL IN HOUSTON

Tuesday, April 5 – When we played Frisbee golf at the park on Saturday, we noticed some long pine needles under some trees on the course. So Marsha needing needles for her pine baskets, we returned to the park today to gather some. They weren't as long as she would have liked, but at 7-8” she gathered a bag full and may use them.

We also stopped at the Hong Kong Mall in the Chinese/Vietnamese section of Houston. Hong Kong City Mall is one of the largest Asian indoor malls in the U.S.

This was like an Oriental Sam's Club. Most of the items were packaged in Chinese so we couldn't read many of the labels. But we could read some and what was in the packages surprised us.

Lobster crackers and squid crackers?

The Bamboo trees were beautiful

The place did smell like a fishing harbor. There was every time of live fish you can image…for purchase of course.

At the checkout we saw the strangest fruit called Jackfruit for $1.99/lb. It is a Thai food. Enormous and prickly on the outside. Once a jackfruit is cracked open, what you will find inside are pods or "bulbs". The fleshy part (the "bulb") can be eaten as is, or cut up and cooked. When unripe (green), it is remarkably similar in texture to chicken, making jackfruit an excellent vegetarian substitute for meat. In fact, canned jackfruit (in brine) is sometimes referred to as "vegetable meat". We weren’t in an adventurous mood.

It was a neat experience. Unfortunately, the deli isn't open of Tuesdays, so we may visit again to see what's available. We did buy some soup, some shrimp flavored chips, a cream roll and a small tart. We ate the roll and tart in the car for a snack.....yummmm.

The entire mall contained only Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc. type of shops. We only knew what they were selling once we got into the mall.

There was a deep blue pond in front of the mall.

Right down the road is a memorial to the South Viet Nam servicemen.

Spring has sprung all over Houston. The flowers are out in full force. Marsha loves this time of year.

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