THE SURPRISE WORKED!

Tuesday, November 13 – We pulled up the jacks again early Saturday morning for the long drive to Leisure Valley Ranch in Mission, TX, known by Winter Texans as the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). We drove 345 miles in 6.5 hours....these long drive days must stop!

We are here to celebrate a 40^th anniversary with dear friends, Angie and Rick, and Dave and Marie. They are having a party and dance to celebrate the glorious occasion.

We started the weekend at a Happy Hour at Susie and  Chuck's house so Marsha could spring the “Big Surprise” on Angie and Rick. Marsha and her crazy plans! It worked out well, and Angie and Rick were shocked we were in town.

Marsha and Angie

Marsha, Susie (Marsha's partner-in-crime), Angie

We then attended a dance at the club house. The Country band, Sweetwater, was performing. This is a good band, and we had a great time renewing friendships with old friends.

There's never a dull moment here at Leisure Valley Ranch. You can do something everyday if you wish. With warm weather and many old friends, we'll be busy that's for sure!

We are staying a week and will then head back to the Houston Elks to spend the holidays with Carrie, our youngest daughter. After Christmas, we'll return to the RGV for several months.

We are located on Lot 243, 2003 E. Bogey. Our site is HUGE. We have privileges to use the garage. This is where we will stay when we come back in January and February.

Not sure what Paul is doing in this picture.

We have no one directly next to us.

Looking left.

We are directly across from the Clubhouse. How convenient…we can use the hot tub everyday!

Looking right.

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

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!

GETTING THE 5TH WHEEL WEIGHED

Tuesday, November 6 –  Our voting precinct is right here in Rainbow's End, so we were able to walk over and cast our ballots early today.

Only in Livingston would you find this type of sign.

We also are getting the 5^th wheel and truck weighed today. We first drove the truck fully loaded with fuel and supplies, as it would be on a typical travel day onto the scales.

Mark Nemeth reads the scale.

We then returned to our campsite and hooked-up the 5^th wheel. We returned to the weighing sight for the final weighing.

Chris helps out with the weighing.

The results were very good with all four corners of both the truck and the 5^th wheel coming in way under maximum allowed weight.

Chris and Mark go over the results with Paul.

We now need to download tire statistics so we can adjust inflation rates. Since we are under weight, we can reduce the tire pressure in both the truck and 5^th wheel tires.

After weighing, we pulled-out for the two hour drive to the Stafford Elks Lodge on Route 59 just South of Houston. We are frequent visitors of this Lodge, staying here whenever we are in town visiting our daughter, Carrie. We are at site #6 and will be here through the Thanksgiving holiday.

Look at that blue sky, and the temperature is in the 80's….ahhhhhhhh! 

It still looks like summer here with all the green trees and bushes still in bloom.

Most of the afternoon was spent trying to aim the satellite dish properly and get reception on the TV. Two of the neighbors were here offering their advice, Marsha was on the phone with Direct TV, and eventually we were successful in getting reception. We did find out that it will be necessary for a service technician to pay us a visit to fix our receiver. We do have a picture, we just can't record on the DVR.

With the TV working, we settled back to watch the election returns and spend the evening unwinding after four hectic days traveling from Ohio.

ON A SIDE NOTE: While taking pictures at our weighing session today at Escapee's Rainbows End, Marsha was reading the SmartWeigh poster.

She looked closer and noticed a picture of us at our last weighing in Livingston two years ago. It was on the poster advertising Escapee's Smart Weight Program. Then later that evening while reading the latest edition of the Escapee's magazine (November/December 2012), Paul saw the same picture on page 96, the last page in the magazine. Pretty neat!

That is our Phaeton in the upper-right hand corner and Paul and Mark.

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