Ups and Downs…

First the Ups…

1.  My yearly medical exam went fine yesterday and the doctor said I’m good for another 60 years or so, or maybe she said 6 years. I’m not sure.

2.  Even with the bad weather, I’m still managing to get some things done around the coach.

3.  The weather is supposed to be good this weekend so hopefully I can get the rest of the stuff done.

4.  We picked up our truck from the repair place

 

Now the Downs…

1.  Driving our truck and rent car back to drop it off at the rental agency, our truck started losing oil pressure, sometimes dropping down to zero. Not a good thing. So it was back to the shop with the truck. Since they only did new shocks, rear brakes, and a tuneup, I don’t think it’s anything they did., Just bad luck. We’ll see.

2.  It’s supposed to get real cod again here next week, maybe even snow. So more nasty weather while we’re trying to get ready to leave.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better…

Still on Schedule…

Well, things improved a little today. We were able to schedule our oil change service visit for Friday, Feb 12th. So we will be able to leave on time on the 15fh.

Since our rig has about 10 gallons of oil it’s not something I want to handle myself. The service guy will also change the fuel filters, the oil filter, check the air cleaner, and lube the chassis and driveline. He’ll also do a check of my coolant quality.

I also want to talk with him about changing my Allison transmission over to TranSynd synthetic fluid, and is it worth the extra $170 ($280 vs $450). Then we’ll talk about about whether my generator also needs service. We’ll see.

I dropped off the truck yesterday afternoon to get new shocks, new rear brakes, and a tuneup. They also found a broken emergency brake cable that meant it won’t be ready until tomorrow, since the new one has to come from Dallas. Anticipating problems like this is why I rented a car for a couple of days.

In between rainstorms today I was able to get up on the rig roof to fix a stuck microswitch on our bathroom roof vent fan.

And in my spare time I’m also trying to take care of all my computer clients who waited until the last minute to have their computers looked at.

Tonight we had dinner at Genghis Grill, a local Mongolian grill type place, with Bob and Beth Young, some friends of ours. We also got to see our granddaughter, Piper, who works there as a hostess.

Afterwards we dropped by our daughter’s house to pick up some drawer slides for our son who is building a 3 drawer cabinet for us that will fit in the space where our old CRT TV used to reside in the dashboard.

Tomorrow I have a doctor’s appointment for my yearly checkup and prescription renewal.

More tomorrow…

Two Weeks From Today !!!!

The Hitch Itch is getting bad!

We plan on leaving two weeks from today on 2/15. Although it may slip a day or so due to scheduling the on-site RV Mobile Repair people to come out and change the oil / filters/ belts, etc., on the rig.

I’ve also been trying to get a bunch of things repaired / upgraded, etc., but the weather is just not cooperating.

So far, I’ve replaced a leaky water tank fill valve and a leaky water heater pressure relief valve.

I’m in the process of replacing a broken cable on our house battery bank, and painting some rust spots on the framework that holds the batteries.

I’m also going to replace my headlight bulbs and adjust the aim, lubricate my PacBrake exhaust brake, replace a leaky tire pressure sensor, fix a balky roof vent fan, install a new door strut, and about a hundred other things.

Unfortunately, it’s been rainy and/or cold for the last several weeks which has put a real crimp in things.

I had also planned to pull up the carpet in the front part of the coach and put down Allure laminate flooring. However, Home Depot decided that this was not to be. I placed my order on 1/6 and was told it would arrive on 1/15, leaving me a month to get it installed. No problem.

On 1/15 I was told it was on its way and would be here on 1/18. On 1/18 I was told that it had not really been shipped and was actually back-ordered and would not arrive until 2/10, maybe.

At best that’s only five days before we plan on leaving, and of course, it may not show up in time. If it does show up, I’ll take it with us and install it on the road. If not, there’s always next year.

Sure am glad that I didn’t go ahead and rip the carpet up before the flooring came in!

On better news, it looks like we’ll be cutting our travels short this coming year by about 2-1/2 months, and return to Houston the first part of September instead of right before Thanksgiving as usual.

The reason this is good news is that we’re doing this to try and be here for the birth of our 2nd grandchild. As I tell people, we try to have a new grandchild every 17 years or so.

And it’s working out perfectly. This one is due on September 7th, which is the same day our granddaughter Piper turns 17.

And here’s our daughter, Brandi, on the left, and our granddaughter, Piper, on the right. Although they’re often mistaken for sisters, they’re really aunt and niece, since Piper is our son Chris’ daughter.

I’m hoping for a boy, but everyone else apparently wants a girl.

My thought is that we’ve already got one of those and she turned out great.  So let’s try the other one. But we’ll see how it works out.

More later…

‘a vacation from our permanent vacation…’

Since we’re not traveling right now, I probably won’t be posting every day, just for special things.

If you’re just visiting our blog for the first time, or you are new to blogging, note that the most recent posting is at the top of this page. To read the posts in order you can start at the bottom and work your way up. To go to the very beginning of our blog, Click Here and then scroll to the bottom of the page. Also, at the bottom of each day’s post, is a reference to Comments. You can click here to post your comments, or read what others have written. You can also email Greg at gregw@whiteserv.com or Jan at jan@whiteserv.com.

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Yesterday, today, and for the next few days, we’re taking a ‘vacation from our permanent vacation’, as our friend Nick Russell put it.

We’re in the Texas Hill Country, staying at a friend of our son’s lake house on Inks Lake, near Lake Buchanan, northwest of Austin. We’ll be here until Sunday and then drive down toward San Marcos to visit a friend of ours for a few days.

With Jan and I is our daughter Brandi, our son Chris, his wife Linda, our granddaughter Piper, and her boyfriend Porter. This trip is kind of a Christmas tradition with us, as we always try to come up sometime close to Christmas.

This morning we drove into Burnet, about 10 miles away to eat lunch at Tea-licious, a really nice tearoom with very good food. After that we hit the HEB and Walgreen’s for some stuff and then home.

Tonight we’ll probably eat at Diego’s, a local Mexican place we like, and then head down to Marble Falls to look at Christmas lights.

More later…

The Christmas Sweater…

Back blogging by popular demand!  Well, one demand, anyway.

Today I worked on getting two new computers set up for one of my clients. Then tomorrow I’ve got appointments with two more to look at their problems too.  And I’ve got some others to contact also.

It’s going to be a busy time, just like last year.

Tonight Jan and I joined three friends to see Glenn Beck’s “The Christmas Sweater” at a local theater.  But it was not a movie.  It was a live video feed, done the same way they show sporting events there.

I dare anyone to see this production and not tear up repeatedly.

It’s the story of Glenn’s early childhood and is based on his bestselling book by the same name.

Glenn’s father died of cancer when he was 10 and his mother struggled to keep the family afloat. I don’t want to give away any more of the story, because there’s kind of a double twist at the end.

It was shown at over 400 theaters around the country, and there will be an encore presentation next Thursday, December 10th.  You can go here to get more information.

Note that this story has nothing to do with Glenn Beck’s political views. Politics is never even mentioned.  It’s just a 12 year old’s story of love and redemption.

This is well-worth seeing if you have a chance. You won’t be disappointed.

More later…

Leftovers…

Today was another nice quiet day, complete with sleeping-in, turkey leftovers for lunch,  and a nap.

What more could you ask for?

Our daughter Brandi called about 2 pm, during nap time, so we didn’t call her back until around 4.

About 5 we headed out for dinner, and ended up at Monterey’s Little Mexico again, for their great Chicken Tortilla Soup.

After that it was back home tor Amazing Race and Desperate Housewives, at least for Jan.  I read in the bedroom.

More later…

A two movie day…

We’ve settled in here at site 80 at Galveston Bay RV Park in Dickinson TX.  This is the same site where we spent last year, and we have the same neighbors on each side.

And view out our front window is still spectacular!

Today was a movie day.  We picked up our granddaughter Piper at about 11 am and drove over to Friendswood to have lunch at the Charleston Tea Room.

After a great lunch, we stopped off at our daughter Brandi’s to feed her cat, since she’s been staying at Shawna’s since Thanksgiving.

Then it was off to the movies. Jan and Piper wanted to see the second installment of the Twilight series, “New Moon”.  Since it was about vampires and werewolves, I let myself be convinced to go along.

Turned out it was pretty good. Since it was the 2nd one, it took a while to figure out who was who, but all in all, I enjoyed it.

After the movie we dropped Miss Piper off at her house and headed back to the rig for a while.

Then about 5 we headed over to our friend’s Bob and Maria Sutton’s house for order-in Chinese and a movie.  After dinner we watched “The Proposal” with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. We enjoyed the movie, I mean, what’s not to like about Sandra Bullock?   Especially with a semi-nude scene!  And since Ryan Reynolds was also semi-nude, there was something for everyone.

One thing we thought was kind of funny is that about half the movie supposedly took place in Sitka, AK, where we’ve been. And it was obvious from almost the first shot that it was not filmed in Sitka.  I figured maybe somewhere on the Oregon or Washington coast, but it turns out that it was filmed in Rockport, MA, not Alaska.  Oh well.

More tomorrow…

Grey Friday…

For us it was Grey Friday because I only planned to get a couple of things at Radio Shack for our part of the sales day.

We headed out about 11 to first eat lunch at Monterey’s Little Mexico in Dickinson, one of our favorite Mexican places.  I love their Chicken Tortilla Soup, so much so, that’s usually all I have, along with the chips and salsa.

On our way there, Nick Russell called to catch up on things. They’re presently in Summerdale, AL, about 16 miles north of Gulf Shores.

After lunch we headed over to Radio Shack to pick up a couple of things on sale,  Then, after checking out the Walmart next door, we decided to give it a try.

Actually it wasn’t bad.  We weren’t  shopping the sales, we just had to pick up a few things.

Getting back to the rig, we let Mister out to roam while I set up the bird feeder Jan got at Walmart.

All in all, a very nice day.

More later…

It’s Turkey Day… and Ham Day… and Stuffing Day.. and…

We got up about 9 to get Jan’s world-renowned squash casserole (made with fresh squash) in the oven before we headed out to Shawna’s for Thanksgiving dinner.

We headed out about 11, stopping by Brandi’s to pick up the Honeybaked Ham we left there, since we didn’t have room for it in our rig fridge with the other stuff in it. We also stopped at a convenience store for a Houston Chronicle to get all the ads for tomorrow’s sales.

We got to Shawna’s in Katy, TX about 65 miles away, about 12:30 pm.  We have known Shawna and her husband, Jason, for about 15 years.  Shawna, my daughter Brandi, and I worked at the same place for a while, and we’ve been friends every since.  For a number of years now, at least once a year, either Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter, we all get together for a big meal at Shawna’s.

And then we walk in the door and everyone wants to know the sausage balls. Jan is also famed for her sausage balls, and everyone loves them, and all 8 dozen go fast.  There would probably be a mutiny if we showed up without them.

After a great meal and a nap on the sofa (when I fell asleep Green Bay & Detroit were playing. When I woke up it was Dallas & Oakland).

About 4:30 we waddled out (I told you it was a BIG meal) to the truck and headed home with a lot of leftovers, stopping at Buc-ee’s for coffee.

It was dark by the time we got back to the rig, so we were in for the night, still so full we didn’t even think about supper.

More tomorrow…

 

Thanksgiving Eve…

Today was a ‘get ready for Thanksgiving’ day.

We headed out about 8:15. I was dropping Jan off at Brandi’s to fix her Thanksgiving dishes and I was going to beat the crowd at the HoneyBaked Ham place.

NOT!

When I got there at 9, the time they opened, there was already a line out the door and down the block. About 150 feet.  So much for early.

About 90 minutes later I had my ham and headed back to Brandi’s. Then after Jan was finished, we drove over to King Food for lunch. And it’s still great as always.

Getting back to the rig, I left Jan and headed back out.

I first went by the park office to settle up and then headed over to pay a visit to one of my clients who had called with a problem.

Finally got back to the rig about 5pm and we settled in for the night.

More tomorrow…