Tranquil Garden RV Park, Salado-Day 1

06/10/2022

We got up early and went walking around the LCRA park for the last time before returning to start putting things away ready to travel. We ate breakfast or at least, I did. Cannot seem to get the dogs interested in food in the mornings unless it is a pork chop or something real and meaty. They are just not interested in doggy canned food. Today is the big day when we need to pull out of this site and head to Salado. Unfortunately, it has been one mix up after another here and now I must move on. Luckily for me, I have located a site that is available in a quiet park off the beaten track which will be good for us to recuperate from the reservation problems at Bastrop LCRA North Shore Park. Plus, it has full hookups. Yeah. 

My friend BJ came over as I was halfway through the moving process. We sat and talked for a while and as we did, I realized just how different our lives are. She is a happily married lady of many years but has different interests than her husband, the same interests of where I used to be a couple of years back. Our mutual like of ponds and all things related is what spurred our friendship. That and BJ is an eager to help sort of person and I need all the help I can get. I am lucky in the sense that we are simply good friends and nothing more and in fact, she is one of my Executors. 

When she arrived, other than lowering the jacks and stuff, I had everything ready to travel. She helped me attach the Jeep to Quatro which was difficult for some reason, but we eventually got it worked out and started on our way. BJ went on by and I followed the map builder on my phone to head off to Salado. 

I use RV Trip Planner to guide my way and asked for it not to include highways which it did not. My route took me through little towns and a lot of countryside where at times, I was the only vehicle on the road which seemed like for miles. I may have been, and it took longer but was well worth it. Very little traffic and lots of scenery. We eventually arrived at Tranquil Garden RV Park, and it was clear that this is a small park. I had to call the owner to get him to the office to check me in and when we he arrived, it took a while to complete the paperwork. I paid my bill for the next 10 days giving me a chance to review our progress so far. To be truthful, I have no real goal and just want to wander wherever as we travel around. 

After setting up with little difficulty even though the sites are gravel, they are fairly level and did not require any supporting blocks. My next-door neighbor who looked as old as me, came out and asked if I needed help. I thanked him profusely and passed on his offer. Not much he could do anyway once the RV is situated. Then it is just a question of leveling (Automatic) and hooking up the services. It was hotter than hell and the humidity was high making for an uncomfortable time outside. I finished all the hookups in no time flat getting to be an old hand at it and went back inside to straighten up. I must have left the door of the Jeep open as one of my neighbors knocked on my door to tell me so. I thanked her as she said she would close it for me. I got a few complements on Quatro as it is a nice-looking RV. It appears that we are facing the wrong way, not that we have any choice, and get the afternoon/evening sun directly on the windshield and even with the blinds down and the small fans running plus the A/C, it was extremely hot inside of the RV, and it did not cool down until the sun went down. There is no shade as there are no trees. 

We went out for a stroll around the park just to see what was going on, but it is very small and quite obviously made up of permanent residents as they have all kinds of plants and such surrounding their RV’s. We are going to have to make several circuits to get any exercise. Following the walk, we retired to the RV for the evening. 

Written 06/10/2022 Read my other blog at https://pondblog2012.com   

Tranquil Garden RV Park, Salado-Saturday 2
06/11/2022 

We slept late and I could not get any hot water when I tried to take a shower. Then I remembered that I had the propane tank turned off for the journey and I had not turned it on when we parked. The cold shower really woke me up, fast. We went out for a short walk as most of our walks will be in our stay here as there really is nowhere to walk and with the park being so small…. There is a dog park, but we have not found it yet. 
 
Back in the RV, the first thing I did was turn on the gas at the tank. Better late than never, before fixing breakfast. As per usual, the dogs ignored the food I put in front of them. My toast was not particularly tasty either so maybe it is time to find something else to eat. Following breakfast, I tidied up the place before settling down in front of the computer. Only a couple of messages of any interest and quickly taken care of before recounting yesterday and today’s events. 

One thing I have noticed on the drive up that Quatro does drive better than the previous RV, Mr. George. There is not as much sway although to be fair, we were not on the Interstate with the large trucks roaring by and creating their own wind forces. I use RV Trip Wizard to plan the trips and I must have inadvertently clicked the “No Interstate” button as it indeed, kept me off them and on less travelled roads. At one point, I travelled the frontage road for 8 miles with IH 35 right next to me but as I was making good time with much less traffic, I chose to stay on it. The reason I made good time was that I was the only vehicle on the Frontage Road that I could. At the very end, I worried about the last road we were on as it was a bit narrow, but it did not have any traffic and it led us to the campground. 

I had to press a button to summon the owner who quickly appeared, and we took care of business. At least, this time, I have a sewer hookup even if the sites are gravel and close together. Incidentally, the “office” also has two washers and dryers which I will need to use, ASAP.so I grabbed some quarters in exchange for the last of my $2.00 bills. 

Back in Quatro, I received a call from LCRA, and we discussed the scheduling problems that I had. I told my side of the story, and if my original booking had been correct and apart from changing sites, I could have stayed there through the weekend. The lady on the other end of the line was very apologetic and said she would issue a refund for the days I did not stay. How much is yet to be decided. 

With Quatro facing into the sun, the front of the coach is very warm even with the A/C and two fans going full pelt. The bedroom, which is located at the rear of the coach and has its own A/C unit, is much cooler. Normally, this is not a problem but with the outside temperature hitting 106 degrees with the humidity and the same is forecast for the next few days. 100 plus degree temperatures are forecast to last a while. Cannot wait to hit the mountains in Colorado. We adjourned to the bedroom for a while and took a nap before venturing out to write some more. The dogs kept pestering me, but I tried to put them off as long as I can for it to get a bit cooler. Not all parks are created equal and this one does not have any shade trees. It cooled off quickly as the sun went down and we went for that stroll around the park. We found the doggy run and explored every inch of it before returning to Quatro for the evening. 

Written 06/11/2022 Read my other blog at https://pondblog2012.com 

Tranquil Garden RV Park, Salado-Sunday 3
06/12/2022 

I got up early as I wanted to find the Walmart’s that my phone brought up. We went out for our morning stroll walking in the shade as much as possible before returning to the RV. I said goodbye to the dogs after giving them different treats which, incidentally, they turn their noses up and used my phone to find the closest Walmart’s which it said was 9.5 miles away. It was a long 9.5 miles and I think I must have been redirected for missing a turn. 

I eventually found it and it was humongous. I wandered around and bought food and drink before checking out. The Cashier approached me and said I had to wait a couple of minutes before checking out the bottle of wine due to Sunday liquor laws. It took me that long to check out the rest and she gave me the green light for the wine. Something was nagging at me, and I knew it was important, but I could not for the life of me remember what it was and drove home. Of course, when I was in the RV, I knew what I had driven all that way for in the first place and that was the added fan. Stupid me. Maybe next time and I will write it down. I passed a couple of Parks and had a splendid view of Cedar Creek Reservoir and even drove over the dam so if I get the urge, there are places to go. A bit hot for that though. I thought about going back to Walmart’s for that fan but so far, it is not as bad as yesterday so I will wait until tomorrow or the next day when I will need other things as well.  
 
I looked up online to see about the covers that are made that fit the front of a Class A to help block out the sun. They are not that expensive, less than $300.00 but the installation requires drilling the bodywork to install the snap on hooks. Maybe I can find a shop that will install them for me. It would certainly be a big help to keep out the sun’s heat. 

Back at Quatro, when I opened the door the first time, I noticed that my neighbor to the right had moved on. I did not hear any activity of his packing up, but neither was I listening for it and the A/C units are very noisy. As quickly as he had packed up, he obviously knew what he was doing  

I decided that as I had nothing to-do, it might be a good time to do laundry and after gathering everything up, I drove over to the laundry room. I got lucky as nobody else was using the machines considering there are only 2 washers and 2 driers. I packed my clothes into both washers and then went back to wait it out. I realized that I did not have enough quarters for the drier and called the Super. The phone was answered by his assistant who met me at the Laundry Room and gave me the quarters for the drier. I drove over to fold the laundry even though it is less than 100 yards away. Too hot to carry it although the car was also hot. Lesser of two evils. With the laundry folded and put away, I wrote some more while waiting for the sun to go down so we could take that last walk of the day. Texas summer has hit us with a bang, and it reached 102 degrees here in Salado. 

Written 06/12/2022 Read my other blog at https://pondblog2012.com 

Tranquil Garden RV Park, Salado-Monday 4
06/13/2022 

I crawled out of bed after a very restful night’s sleep ready to face whatever today might bring. We went walking and stayed in the shade as much as possible as it was already up to 90 degrees outside. This at 9:30 in the morning. It is going to be another scorcher. Well, this is Texas after all although it has not been this hot this early in several years. Last year, we only hit 100 degrees on a couple of days, and we have already had several this summer with more forecast for the rest of the week. 

I skipped breakfast but I did feed the dogs before I left to go back to Walmart’s to buy that fan. I found a Walmart’s a bit closer to us that is not as big and is mostly rows and rows of groceries. They did have a small area of everything else and I was able to find a fan. I had my choice of them and settled for a 24” with 3 speeds. I restocked up on Seltzers while I was in there and bought some dog food in the hope, they might be tempted with this one. Probably not…My dogs are either spoilt, very well fed or not hungry and add fussy eaters to that list. 
 
I stopped at a gas station as the Jeep was showing low air in one of the tires and wasted $4.00 on a air pump that did not do any good. When I got back after a very pleasant drive through beautiful countryside with hardly any traffic, I found my own Ryobi air inflator and finished off the job on the Jeep’s tires. With the outside work taken care of, I adjourned to join the dogs inside of Quatro which, incidentally, was nice and cool at least for now. Late afternoon will be the real test. 

There is one other Class A parked here and it has the window covers installed on it. It is here in the permanent section, so it makes sense to have them. Putting them up and down is easy except it requires a ladder to reach any part of them which of course I have with my expanding ladder. 

I did a load of laundry yesterday and was the only person in the washroom which, incidentally, is in the one very small building that is the office, laundry room, bathrooms, and showers and whatever else they can cram into it. The park is small with only 26 sites, 24 of which are classified as permanent. Mine and the one next to me are for travelers so I was lucky to get a spot. My neighbor pulled out yesterday, another old guy like me… 
 
The countryside is beautiful with lots of green pastures and hills covered with trees and cows everywhere. Probably not cows, more like the castrated kind that get eaten. The Stillhouse Hollow Lake is close by and I drove over the dam yesterday. If it was not so bloody hot outside, I might consider visiting one of the two parks close bye, but this heat just drains me. That is not true as it is more of a mental thing than physical. Of course, I get hot, and the sweat pours off me, but it is all in the mind and mine says, “Stay inside Quatro in the relatively cool air.” 

I took my own advice and worked on some pictures that I had taken plus spent some time in organizing some of my files on my computer that are all over the place. I now have them in some sort of order but of course, cannot find anything I want. At least previously, in my own disorganized and muddled way, I knew where everything was… 
 
I left it as late as I could before taking the dogs out walking. They were bugging me by giving me “The Look” which interpreted from dog to human means, “We gotta go.” We harnessed up and went for the evening walk around the park which usually involves spending time in the dog run where I can let them off the leash. Sandy takes full advantage and wanders around smelling and leaving her own mark on everything. Mikey stands next to me most of the time. He sure is a funny little fellow and is either very scared or very protective. 

We adjourned for the night back in Quatro with the usual evening meal and television. 

Written 06/13/2022 Read my other blog at https://pondblog2012.com