05/25/2022
I awoke early as I was not sure if James would show up to do the repair and I checked my phone in the hope that he may have left a message. No luck though. We went out for the usual walk covering around a half mile. We did not see any other campers while we were out and it was not until we were almost home, that we ran into one of my neighbors who was getting her RV washed. We chatted for a while and she told me that as soon as the storm blew in, she phoned a friend and spent the night with them.
Back at Mr. George, I inspected the covered outdoor pile of all my worldly belongings, and it seems to be OK although the only way I will know of any water damage to any of the contents will be when I start to move the pile into Quatro, hopefully Saturday afternoon. It is amazing how dirty the rain is as Mr. George’s windshield is absolutely filthy. The temperature has dropped, and it stands at 64 degrees at 10:30 am. Almost unheard of for a Texas summer day.
Following breakfast, I sat and wrote for a while wondering what the rest of the day would bring. I am really hoping that James will show up and do the repairs so that it is out of the way, and I can concentrate on the move. I was checking the posts that I had already scheduled and noticed that I had made an error in posting one of them and had to spend quite a bit of time making the corrections. I am so far ahead that I have now resorted to posting three collective blogs a day in the hopes of catching up closer to the current date. The problem is created by blogging for seven days and only posting on five with Saturdays for poetry and nothing posted on Sundays. Consequently, I am always playing catch-up. I would like to bring that closer to say three to four days ahead just to give me a cushion. I was straightening out the blog when James, the repair man showed up. I hurriedly shut down to meet him at the door and we chatted for a bit before he started to address the problem. Working on the slide was no easy task and he worked diligently changing cables and putting in new ones for almost 4 hours before he was satisfied, he had it fixed. To be sure, he ran the slide in and out several times. I happily paid the bill because it brought me one step closer to getting Quatro although it does not change the pickup date and angry that it broke in the first place. James drove off to work on somebody else’s RV in the same park and I put a few more things in the Jeep. About the only thing left, what is in the fridge, which is very little as I am eating most of it, the coffee maker, the contents of the desk and the clothes on hangers in the wardrobe. Changing RV’s will be relatively easy this time around as it will take longer to do the paperwork than to transfer the contents.
With the work on the RV complete, the dogs, who had been tied up outside the entire time that the work was ongoing, now had their chance to make a fuss of me before we went out walking following our usual pattern, first the park, then the lane before returning to work on the blog. The dogs were tired probably from being tied up outside for 4 hours as well as the walk and they quickly settled down to rest. The evening followed the usual pattern of food and wine. and television.
Written 05/25/2022 Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com
Henly RV Park Day 26, Thursday
05/26/2022
We got up at a reasonable hour and went out for the morning walk around the park. It was quiet, peaceful, and we only saw one other camper, Jeanette, with her little dog off in the distance. I waved to her as we made our way back to the RV for breakfast. We have nothing planned although I have a few things to do around Mr. George in preparation to trade him in as I am trying to get the transfer itself as simple as possible by leaving everything here in the park and in the Jeep. It is much easier, and I will have a couple of days to put everything back into Quatro
Breakfast comprised of toast made in the microwave which although crispy was not brown. Still, it did the trick. I also had to drink instant coffee having run out of milk and not wanting to replace it until we have the new RV. Plenty of time to stock up the larder and freezer then. I am really scratching for things to eat but at least the refrigerator, especially the freezer, is almost empty and it looks like all that will need to be transferred are things in jars and bottles. I have at least one more breakfast and two evening meals to go. Not to say that it is food I would normally eat by choice and that is the reason it is still left in the fridge and me wondering why I bought it in the first place.
I wrote in the blog for a bit after answering a couple of emails. I also contacted my insurance company to add the insurance for Quatro to start early Saturday morning. I cannot cancel the insurance on Mr. George until after I no longer own him. Then we went about the task of packing and placing a couple more boxes and such under the tarps outside. Prior to that, I exchanged the electric door lock that I had purchased a while back and put the original lock back on. It took a while to figure out which keys operated this lock and which ones are for the electric lock which I will keep until I get the new RV. I thought I noticed an electric lock already installed on the new one but if I cannot find the code anywhere or figure out how to reprogram it, then I will exchange it for the one I have. If it fits the same hole in the door, that is. I also took off the elongated door handle that I had installed as I will need that on Quatro. Not as mobile as I used to be, especially with my bum knee. I go up and down one step at a time hanging on to the handrail. Unfortunately, long gone are the days of bounding up and down stairs. Come to that, I don’t “bound “anywhere. More like slow walking getting helped along by Sandy’s constant pulling on the leash. At least, she keeps me moving with poor little Mikey bring up the rear. His choice, by the way although it is as if he has had some training and walks to heel automatically.
I was back to the point of not having anything else to do or at least, that I could do immediately. I had already determined that I still have the contents of the desk left which will be the last thing I pack up, but I had run out of totes and tomorrow is Friday and the very last day to be able to pack anything with the early start planned on Saturday. I drove into Home Depot in Dripping Springs to get what I needed but before going into the store, I test drove a route that I had planned for Mr. George as the turn onto Ranch Road 12 from Hwy 290 is very acute and Mr. George, being so long, a bit like a tractor trailer and requires a large turning radius. I was concerned that my approach and with the traffic already making the turn at this remarkably busy intersection, I would be in trouble. I think that the route I have picked out will work much better and I will have straight run onto Ranch Road 12.
I wandered into the store and took a while making up my mind which totes, I should buy. I am thinking that I need to keep as many totes as possible when the switch is done and not give them away as I did before. Then again, I have been smarter over which sizes I bought with that in mind. The only other thing I needed was a packet of screws to fill the holes left where I took off the door handle. My next stop was Starbucks and because it was so hot, I ordered my Latte iced for a change. It still tasted good. From there, it was back to Mr. George and the dogs but before we went out walking, I filled up the washer fluid tank on the Jeep having discovered it was empty on the way in to Dripping. I do not know if it is blowing dust or dirty rain or a combination of both but in either case, both the Jeep windshield and that of Mr. Georger are filthy. I packed a couple more items into the Jeep and have only the passenger seat left which I will fill with the clothes that are currently hanging in the wardrobe and that will be it. No more “Room at the Inn’ or in this case, the Jeep. I will park it next to the dumpster in the overflow parking site on Friday so it will not be in the way when we pull out and when we return with Quatro on Saturday.
We went out for the final walk of the day around the park and on the outside road. Traffic, or rather, lack of it, has improved immensely now that the road construction has finished, and it is much safer to walk out there. Back at the RV, I spent time writing before we ended the evening in the usual fashion of food, wine, and English football on the television.
Written 05/26/2022 Read more of my blogs at https://pondblog2011.com
Henly RV Park Day 27 Friday
05/27/2022
We got up early to practice for tomorrow when I plan to crawl out of bed around 6:00 am. or so to get that early start on the road. My appointment is for 9:00 am and I want to get there a bit early as it takes about an hour to drive. The walk around the park was uneventful except for running into Daniel with Uzi on board just driving around and checking things out. Daniel, along with his family, is taking a trip this weekend, it being Memorial Weekend and all. They are going kayaking and taking his 4-wheeler as well. Sounds like fun. The park was quiet with not much going on but that might change as Friday is the day when weekenders arrive although, being Memorial Weekend, it may be different.
We arrived back for breakfast of whatever was left in the fridge and instant coffee. The dogs just sniffed at what I put in front of them and went back to sleep. Fussy bunch. Mr. George is looking extremely bare, with most of the stuff either under the tarp or in the Jeep which is almost full. I have room on the front seat for the last two boxes I have packed which are currently sitting in Mr. George. I decided I should do a small load of laundry as I had the time, wandered over to the Laundry Room, and grabbed a machine. This time, instead of using the App, I used the quarters that I had collected just to use them up and consequently, could not rely on the App to tell me when the laundry was complete. I guessed when the wash was done and walked back over to throw the things in the dryer which takes about an hour. Compared to my usual wash, this load was light and only required one machine. An hour later, I folded the small amount of clean laundry and walked back to Mr. George. Incidentally, I was the only person doing laundry at that time which is a first.
As regards Mr. George and the swap over, I think I have done all I can do in preparation. Everything is packed except for eating utensils for the final meal this evening. My last action will be to remove my Roku stick and sound bar from the TV before going to bed. Tomorrow, I will move the car to the temporary parking site and can drive straight out after moving in the slide, lowering the jacks, and disconnecting the power, water, and sewer hose. I received a call from Crestview just to confirm that in fact, I was still coming at the allotted time which, of course, was answered in the affirmative. Excitement indeed.
Written 05/27/2022 Read more of my blogs at https://pondblog2011.com