DOWN TIME IN LIVINGSTON

Saturday/Sunday, November 7-8 - We spent the weekend visiting our Girls. It's been over four months since we've seen them. We've really been looking forward to this!

Carrie is doing wonderful. We spent some quality time catching up on her exciting life in the third largest city in the USA – Houston. She drives like a real Houstonian too......YIIKES! We spent quite a bit of time driving around enjoying each other's company and seeing Houston. What a thriving city. Growth is everywhere. New restaurants, clubs, shopping, housing, condos, and HIGHWAYS stacked on top of each other. As Marsha said, “If you can't buy it hear, they don't make it!” We went shopping for cowboy boots. Exxon awards employees for safety by giving them gift cards. Carrie had enough gift cards saved to get a free pair of boots at Cavender's, a huge western wear outfitter in Texas. As we were driving to Target, we saw these HUGE figures. Carrie quickly turned down a side alley and walla…we were in the heart of the Arts community in Texas. It just so happens they were setting up for the Orange Show, a big fundraising event that evening for the Arts in Houston. We walked right in and started to take pictures. One of the organizers walked up to us and asked if we needed help. Paul asked what was going on, and this gentleman answered all our questions. It  appeared that it would be a beautiful event. About 20 caterers arrived while we were there. Everyone was making decorations or painting, etc. Lots of excitement. One of the better know artists did sculptures of the presidents. Each was about 50 ft. made out of stucco. They were fascinating. Here are a few pictures from the event. Look how small Carrie and Paul look next to the Beatles. They were also playing their guitars. The next is President Obama. The second row has John F. Kennedy and a row of past presidents.

 

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Carrie has some wonder friends, and we visited with several throughout the day. Carrie treated us to dinner at the Hickory BBQ. Delicious dinner was had by all. We headed back to Livingston about 7:00 p.m. but not before a detour sent us through the heart of Houston....in the dark. Wonderful driving experience (LOL), but a chance to see a beautiful city all lit up. Livingston is only about an hour and fifteen minutes north of Houston, so it wasn't a bad drive at all.

Sunday morning we were back on the road to Tyler, Texas to visit Kelly and Scott. We checked out several campgrounds we are considering staying at next week. We chose one about 12 minutes from Kelly's place. It doesn't really have that “it” factor, but it will do for a few days stay at Kelly's next week. We went to eat at the Purple Pig. A barbeque place on the outskirts of Tyler. Very good! Scott graciously picked up the check....thanks Scott. We returned to Kelly's and visited the rest of the afternoon. Kelly seems to have adjusted well to her move to Texas. She's happy! Tyler is another thriving and growing Texan city. With a population of about 84,000 it is not near has big as Houston, but a very nice town. It is located about two hours southeast of Dallas or about four hours north of Houston. At about 4:00 p.m., we decided we should head home so we didn't have to drive the entire way in the dark. It's only about two and a half hours from Livingston, but it's a tough drive. Numerous small towns that require you to slow down and deal with local traffic. After arriving back in Livingston, we relaxed and watched a football game on TV.

A nice weekend visiting with Kelly and Carrie. Glad to see they are both doing so well and seem to enjoy their lives here in Texas. We will be spending additional time with them during the upcoming holidays. That's a big reason we chose to begin full-timing. We would like to see them several times a year.

Monday, November 9 - Marsha did house work today. She cleaned the MH from front to back. I went to the grocery store, tried to get a haircut (and failed), and did a few “outside” jogs. Did some future campground planning and getting reservations. One of those slow days

Marsha and I have talked to several Canadians about their universal health care system. Each and everyone of them say they would not trade it for the American health care system. They are very happy with the care they receive and express no truth to the idea that they have to wait for long periods before receiving care. They chuckle when asked about many Americans fearing a similar health care plan. Hmmmm.....straight from the horses mouth!

Tuesday, November 11 - First thing this morning I went to town to get my hair cut. $5.00! That was the total cost at Miller's Barber Shop. I had to wait about an hour. The place was packed. She is a small black grandma that just loves everyone. She DOES NOT accept tips. WOW! Didn’t know anyone did that now a days.

I installed a Progressive EMS electrical monitoring system today. Many campgrounds have faulty electrical system that could do severe damage to your motor home electrical system, air conditioners, microwaves, TV, and other electrical components. The EMS monitor shuts down the MH electrical system automatically if it senses faulty current. It also displays your voltage, amps being used, and checks to see if you have 60 hertz. Manufactures should install these on all RV's but of course they don't. The installation went well.

Wednesday, November 11 - After supper we went up to the activity center to learn how to play Mexican Train. It's a domino game played at many RV Parks across the country. I guess each area of the country has their own version of the game. It is really a fun game. You'll never guess who won?????? I did! Marsha came in a close second (10 points behind me). The newbies win....LOL Not sure if they will let us come back again….HAHA

Thursday, November 12 - We'll be closing up shop here at Livingston with plans to pull up the stabilizers and hit the road tomorrow morning. We'll be driving the MH up to Tyler, TX (Kelly's town) for a mini-family get-together. Carrie will be coming up Friday evening after returning from a week in New Orleans on a work assignment. From Tyler, we'll drive up to the Dallas/Fort Worth area on Sunday for a week of sightseeing. Then back to Livingston and the Houston area for Thanksgiving.

LAID BACK IN LIVINGSTON

Tuesday, November 3 -  DRIVER TEST DAY….That was a cinch! The driving portion of the test was much simpler or should I say realistic than the written part. I arrived at the license office and picked up the lady test officer. We drove for about fifteen minutes and at the end she informed me I had passed. I didn't see any errors I had made, but she only told me I passed nothing about mistakes. So......I now possess a Class B Texas License!

Just a note of interest. Unlike Ohio were the sticker is put on the plate, the stickers are put on the inside windshield. Go ahead and try to guess why……. Well, it is because there are so many illegal Mexican who either steal the plates or peel off the stickers and then enter the states appearing to be legal. What will they think of next.

Check out the plates!
    

The weather has been fabulous! High in the upper 70's during the day and low 50's at night. Low humidity too! Sorry folks back in Ohio.

Wednesday, November 4 - Marsha had an 8 a.m. hair appointment this morning. Her first one since leaving Ohio. WOW! Everything went well with the hair appointment, she looks great. Thanks, Paul.
Really if you are in need of a color and cut, Edna’s the place. I have Brenda. She was wonderful. They were so nice; they even invited me to eat breakfast with them….TACOS! YUM!

     

This afternoon, we went looking for a bridge. We read a book about a fellow getting into a car accident and having a near death experience. Many of you have probably read “30 Minutes In Heave” by Don Piper. Well, it so happens, that the accident was on a bridge near Livingston, TX. So off we went in search of the bridge. We found it and enjoyed seeing Lake Livingston, the second largest lake in Texas and the source for Houston's water supply. The rest of the day we just chilled out around the motor home.
First picture is the old bridge. It was very narrow, and it was easy to see how an accident could happen on a rainy night. The second picture is the new bridge.

  

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Thursday, November 5- Marsha and I went on a tour of the Escapees Headquarters this morning. They take you on a trolley to the mail service building, and a trip around both parts of the campground.



It was very informative. Escapees started in 1978 with 13 sites and today has about 250 sites. It was started by Joe & Kay Peterson, who still live here.....we met them! Their close friends and current neighbors, Bud & Kathy Carr, are still full-time travelers. Their daughter-in-law, Angie Carr is now the Executive Director of Escapees. They have a beautiful serenity garden in their front yard. Below is a picture of Joe and Kay Peterson, a picture of their lawn ornament at the entrance to their driveway, a picture of one part of the garden and Bella’s new sleeping spot. Click on the link below to see other pictures.

     
     

We also visited the Escapees Mail Service. WOW! There are over 10,000 members receiving their mail through the Escapees forwarding service. Livingston, TX receives over $7200 in Federal and State funding for every person with a PMB (personal mail box) at Escapees. Even though our address is Livingston, TX the mail does not come through the Livingston Post Office. Since Escapees has their own ZIP code, the mail is sorted in Houston and sent directly by truck each day to the park. Simply by calling Escapees, we can have our mail forwarded to us anywhere in the world.

This evening, we are heading to the activity center for a meatloaf dinner. I love meatloaf! They have dinner every Thursday, lunch every Tuesday and breakfast every Saturday. Pretty nice deal too.

More exciting pictures.

Friday, November 6
We headed to Lufkin, TX today. Big town business to take care of. We stopped at Bank America to open new checking and saving accounts. That really took care of us. We found a Pet Smart to buy Bella's “special food” and a Target to buy a few items the Livingston Walmart didn't carry. Lufkin, TX is a thriving and growing town. Everything seemed to be new and a lot of road work was taking place. That done, it was back to Livingston. We spent Friday evening hanging around the MH watching football and believe it or not……the CAVS.

WE ARE OFFICIAL TEXANS!!!!

RAIN, RAIN.......GO AWAY!!!
Wednesday, October 28 - Geeze Louise......enough with the rain. Texas had over 6” of rain overnight. This is suppose to be the wettest year in Texas recorded history. Isn't this one of the reasons I wanted to get out of Ohio???

We wanted to get the motor home and car inspected today, but they are not permitted to do the inspection if the streets are wet. Something about brake inspection. Maybe we'll look for flu shots instead.....lol.

Something we haven’t told you about is the Escapees Care Center located right here at the campground. If an Escapee member is alone and needs help while recuperating from surgery or age makes it difficult or cook meals, clean and do your laundry, or eyesight makes it unsafe for driving, the Escapees Care Center will come to your RV on the campground and take care of you. OR you can spend time in their facility. Notice the speed limit in the park. Everyone is a comedian.

      

Friday, October 30 - Eventually the cloudy skies gave way to SUN! We sat outside in the afternoon and dried out. Friday night we attended an Escapee's dinner and entertainment by an East Texas country duo. These were real back-country E.Texas/Louisiana singers. They were from the Ledgious Review Opery Company. They sang OLD country songs like…..Bubbles In My Beer, Humpty Dumpty Heart, She Woke Me Up To Say Good Bye. I am sure are OLD friend, Red Burgess, could sing you all a few verses. We never heard of any of those songs. We enjoyed the company of new friends Betty and Jay Crane from Richmond, Virginia. Jay graduated from Virginia Tech. Carrie got a kick out of that. They are just wonderful people. They are helping us along by giving us advice, places of interests and even invited us to come join them The Valley, Mission, TX, for the winter. As a matter of fact, we are going out with them again tonight to the VFW for another country band.....guess I'm going to learn Texas two-step. Lessons begin at 7, dance at 8. Jeesh!

Here is a picture of our new friends and look what is growing outside our motor home door. LOVE IT!
     

It was so warm today even the Halloween pumpkin was happy.


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Saturday, October 31 - We had a great time with our new friends at the VFW. And yes, I learned to 2-step, although I need to practice to get “smooth.” The “kicker” was....when we went in the door the owner informed us the lessons were on Thursdays not Saturdays. Shoot! But not to worry. He asked me if I could walk. Well, “Yes” I replied. He informs me, “if you can walk, you can 2-step”. HaHaHa. We even did a few polkas! The singer was fantastic....he's blind. His name is Walter Plant. He plays four keyboards at one time and is an excellent singer!!! We really enjoyed talking to Betty and Jay and learning from their full-timing experiences. They've been full-timing for about nine years. We have plans for meeting up with them in the future, either in south Texas this winter or Albuquerque, NW for the balloon festival next October. Just a side note: They are really good 2-steppers and do a mean Waltz. A Waltz down south is a sloooooow polka. Paul didn’t want to do the Waltz for fear he would forget the 2-step….fast, fast, slow, slow.

Sunday, November 1 - We went to the local Presbyterian church, First Presbyterian Church. Very nice service. Marsha is designing a separate blog with all the religious places we visit. Look for the link in a few days along the right side. Later, we did some organizing in the motor home, went for our daily walk and rode our bikes. It was a hang around the motor home and take it easy day. We did do some long range planning of where we're headed. Our tentative plans call for going to Quartzite, AZ in January for the “Big Event” and then head for southern Texas to escape the cold until March. Remember, all plans are formed in “Jello”! Ours are more like “whip cream”!

     

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Monday, November 2 - Today was the day we officially become Texans. We were headed to Harrison Body Shop for the inspections by 7:40 a.m. After having the Jeep and motor home inspected we returned to the campground to park the motor home and then took off again for the Tax Office. That was a very expensive visit because we had to pay sales tax on the motor home having just purchased it before coming to Texas. Then be went to the License Office to turn in our Ohio license and get Texas licenses. They give you ONLY a piece of paper with your name and address and an official seal. NO picture. We now have to carry our Passport so we have a picture. We both know that we will need it to be able to buy a beer in a bar OR buy liquor. Since neither of us look our age….fat chance! Paul had to take a written test for a class B license to drive the motor home. Marsha will take it sometime in the future after she gets a little driving experience. The written test was HARD! They asked crazy questions about farm trucks, pipe hauling trucks, and things a motor home driver would not be concerned with. I passed.......but barely. Tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. I have to take the driving portion. JEESH!!!!

On the way home from the post office, we stopped at this little place called Rosita’s. We drove by it many times and always saw so many people eating there. It has a covered outside patio. So, we decided to stop…..WOW!!! The best REAL Mexican food we have ever had! Paul had a wonderful Gorda and I have a delicious Tortas (Mexican Sub). Both only $8.00. We are definitely going back there!

     

Tuesday, November 3 – Paul passed his test! Now we are both officially Texans. What a good feeling it is to be done with this stuff. Now to get our banking in order. We will be visiting Carrie on Saturday and Kelly on Sunday this week. Next weekend, we will be moving the MH to Kelly territory, Tyler, and Carrie will come up on Friday. We will all spend the weekend together. Can’t wait to see them and have some good old fashion family time. These days go by so fast. We make plans but never get to most of them. Maybe you can see why we can’t get anything done….get up, eat breakfast, sit in the sun, talk neighbors, take a walk, sit in the sun, talk to neighbors, ride our bike, eat dinner, talk to neighbor…OMG it is now 7:00. Dark…go inside, do some emailing, watch some TV…bed time. Where does the time go?!?

     

You know you aren't teaching high school any longer when you see this in the restrooms.

Is this what we have to look forward too!