02/07/2022 Monday

These are a small deer herd that we saw on this morning’s walk

We had to get up early as we had a doctor’s appointment for 10:30. Our walk around the park was pretty short but enough to get some exercise for all of us before heading back to Miss Daisy for a quick breakfast. I had to be in Dripping Springs by 10:30 and arrived only to find that I had screwed up and that I should have gone to the Austin office. The Staff very willingly worked with me although it was too late for me to make, the trip in and we settled for the Doctor to call me on a video call a bit later. By then, I was in the HEB store and missed the video call and had to settle for a regular phone call which tuned out to be good enough as not much had changed Healthwise since my last visit. I had also asked to get my ears syringed out, something I regularly get on these visits as my ears tend to wax up a lot. Maybe wearing hearing aids has something to do with that. I had to make a separate appointment for that procedure, but it was just for an hour later, so I drove back to Miss Daisy and unloaded and put away all the groceries, ignoring their pleading looks and patting the dogs on the head and stepping back out the door for the trip back to the Doctors office. 
 
The Nurse did a great job, and my hearing was a lot better when I walked out. I did not realize just how much it had been impacted by the wax and at least my hearing was normal, for me, again. I am partially deaf anyway due to a childhood complaint when I was just 11 years old… 

On my trips back and forth, I noticed a single vulture just sitting on the grass in the area. As I watched, two more came in as if to check on him but flew off as a car passed. There did not appear to be any carrion close by and I thought it strange and that maybe the buzzard was hurt or even sick. The next time I returned, the buzzard had laid down as if resting and in the back of my mind, maybe even dying. I went into the Doctors office for the wax removal which took about a half hour before stepping outside and by this time, the buzzard had gone. There was no sign of it so apparently, it had flown off. Either that or it had died, and someone removed it as there is a school close by with kids playing outside. For some reason, I felt so incredibly sad as I watched and feared the worst for this magnificent bird and have no idea what did happen to it. Such is the way of Nature with so many things we do not understand. They may not have the best job in the world, but someone must do it. 
 
After such a busy morning, my day was still not over as I had made arrangements to drive Miss Daisy over to the propane filling station which is in the same campground. We had run out because of the cold weather. I have two heaters in the RV, one electric and one propane and had to use them both. Normally, I only use the electric one but had no choice on this occasion as it got so cold. The electric units’ ducts are in the ceiling and the propane ones are in the floor with a lot of cold air in between. I also have a space heater which I use when I am just sitting around as I can direct the heat at me and not waste it by heating up everything else.  
 
Moving Miss Daisy even just to the propane filling station about 100 yards away still requires the same break down procedures as if for making a longer trip. I had to carefully stow away any moveable items just as I normally do, clear the space for the slides to come in, disconnect the hoses and electric power before lowering the jacks. I had already moved the car to anther parking spot just next door before driving Miss Daisy to the propane filling station. There was a big Class A getting filled before me, but I only waited 5 minutes and then it was my turn which took all of 10 minutes. I thought the tank was bigger, but it only holds 12 gallons. Something to remember. Normally, propane only gets used for cooking except in the cold weather and this was the first time I had filled it since I purchased her back in August. 
 
With the tank filled, I slowly drove back to the campsite ready to park again. This time, I had learned a few things from the first time of parking there and carefully drove the front wheels up onto some levelling blocks that I knew I needed. When I initially parked here a couple of months ago and although it has an automatic leveling system, because of the slope of the ground, the front wheels of Miss daisy were literally hanging free in the air. I had to make adjustments that time and add blocks under the wheels so this time I was prepared and drove up onto the blocks. I also learned that the system does not always work unless it is plugged into the electricity probably needing the extra power. 
 
With Miss Daisy levelled and set, I finished hooking up the sewer and water before letting out the slides and spending time straightening things out inside of Miss Daisy. Even for that short trip, a couple of things had bounced around which just shows how important it is to have everything secured and put away. Through all of this, the dogs had sat on the front seat and watched probably wondering just what the hell I was doing as we did not go anywhere which is what they are used to. So, with everything shipshape and propane in the tank, we went out for our last walk of the day. Altogether, I covered 2.8 miles for the day, some of it walking around HEB grocery shopping. The dogs probably got in 2 miles, a good day for them. 

Written 02/08/2022 Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com