06/14/2022
I watched TV way too late or too early depending on your point of view and consequently woke up around 9:00 am. It did not really matter that much as we have nothing planned. I harnessed up two very excited and eager to get outside little dogs and we went for our morning stroll. I have given up the idea of walking for exercise at this park as it is so small that I would need to spend half a day just walking to make even a mile going round and round in circles. We ran into the owner and stopped to talk for 15 minutes or so. He is an interesting fellow to talk to and Sandy, as usual, quickly made friends with him. We went to the dog park, and I let the dogs off their leashes. Sandy at once went exploring while Mikey jumped up on the bench and sat guard in case something came to get me. He did keep a wary eye out on Sandy just in case she discovered something of interest.
We moved on back to the RV where I put the dogs inside and spent time on household chores like emptying the tanks. There are gauges comprising of lights that are supposed to tell you when the tanks are full but invariably, they do not function well. Even on my brand-new RV that I previously had, they did not work properly showing full even immediately after the tanks were emptied. It is a well-known and well documented problem in RV’s not to rely on these gauges. A much more reliable way to tell is when the water is puddling up around your feet when taking a shower and will not drain. When this happens, needless to say, the shower is quickly finished so as not to flood the bathroom. Incidentally, the Grey tank is usually the one that fills up first. The gray water is from the sinks and showers. The Black tank is strictly from the toilet and had to be maintained to keep it clear by dropping in additives from time to time to break down the solids. It is also important to only use single ply toilet paper that also quickly breaks down. This is all normal RV maintenance.
BTW, that is why I always try to find campgrounds that have full hook ups which include electricity, in my case 50-amp, water and sewer hookups. Many only have electricity and water and do not have sewer hook ups but may have a dump station to be used as needed. The only problem is that it requires lowering jacks and such to drive to the dump station and then back and reset back up all over again. Bit of a pain and I had to do that at the last campsite at Bastrop. It also means that you must watch water usage and such and not be extravagant with it. In those sorts of cases, showers become a luxury.
With the household chores out of the way and the RV tidied up, I settled down in front of the computer to read my emails. For those of you that do read my blog, you have heard me complain many times about emails wondering why I bother as I rarely get anything of either interest or importance and a lot I do not even bother to open and read other than the title. One click and they are gone. The trouble is that I need to at least check everyone just in case it does fall into the attention category. With that chore out of the way and true to form, nothing of interest, I worked on the blog. Luckily, I am very much up to date which is a good thing as my recall is not so good nowadays.
My friend BJ is still complaining because she is reading blogs that are recounting what we did three weeks ago, and she wants more up to date material. We are catching up though by posting blogs that contain three and sometimes four days’ worth of events. I will never be truly caught up as I need a cushion in case I do not write for a couple of days. Heaven forbids that my readers, if there are any, should go a day without hearing from me…Anyway, if I do not write every day, I cannot remember what I need to write about. Writing does two other very important things at least for me. One is that it occupies my brain, and I must think about things that I write about. The other is that it also fills in the time on these bloody hot days when I do not want to go outside at all, and I refuse to watch the television during the daytime. That, to me, is an utter waste of my time which already is in short supply…
I spent some time doing research on the front window covers that I really need to have installed to keep out the heat from the sun especially on these super-hot days. I could probably do it myself but am somewhat reluctant to drill into the outside of the RV to attach the clips that hold the shades in place. I found a place that manufactures them for the exact model of the RV, which is important but have left it too late to order them to be delivered here at this park. Something else to work on.
We went out for our final walk of the day. The guys had spent most of it sleeping under my feet and were ready for some exercise although to them, sniffing every bush and blade of grass and peeing on everything, is sufficient.
The rest of the day was spent in the usual way, food and a glass of wine and watching television.
Written 06/14/2022 Read my other blog at https://pondblog2012.com
Tranquil Garden RV Park-Salado Day 6
06/15/2022
We got up around the usual time and went out for the first walk of the day. I watched as my next-door neighbor walked over to the fence where the cattle are, calling and waving at the two cows in the field and both came over to her. She gave them treats just like one would a dog and they both nuzzled and made a fuss of her. I wandered over to chat and she said there used to be a lot more animals. When I suggested they went to the big pasture in the sky, she agreed but said that she did not want to think about that’s what happened. I agreed with her not being much of meat-eater myself. We chatted for a bit and then we continued with our walk.
We wandered around the park and Sandy directed us to the dog run. She can be quite determined when she has somewhere in mind that she wants to go, pulling strongly and even laying down to prevent my efforts of direction. It’s all good fun and I generally let her have her way unless there is something dangerous that she wants to explore. Mikey, on the other hand, just follows along and goes wherever I go. Occasionally, he will discover something that requires his attention, and we go in the direction he wants. Inside the dog run, I take their leashes off, and they are free to explore while I sit on the bench and keep watch. Sandy is the explorer, Mikey, not so much unless she discovers something and then he must go and give his opinion. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, these walks are not for real exercise as the park is so small, so we walk slow in many circles and backtracks for the dog’s enjoyment.
Back inside of Quatro, I fixed breakfast for all of us which of course, the dogs turned their noses up. Even though they look for food, they do not appear to like anything much I put in front of them. They always have access to hard food, so they never go hungry, just fussy. There tastes are for pork tenderloins or chicken and to hell with the canned food. Of course, they are not spoilt…
Talking of pork tenderloins and chicken, I had a large packet of chicken breasts that I put on the indoor grill to cook while I wrote. Sort of doing two things at once although one was simple requiring only that I open the lid, lay the chicken on the grill and close the lid, turn it to the desired temperature and go back to writing. The hardest part is cleaning the grill after the cooking. Today, is a cloudy day, thank goodness and is much cooler with a slight breeze. The new fan I recently bought, is doing a good job and helping to keep the place cool. I did more research on front window covers for Quatro and they are easy enough to buy but I have not had any luck in finding a place local that installs them.
It occurred to me that the July 4th weekend is coming up and I need to review the trip that I am planning in RV Trip Planner. Although I have sort of a trip planned with a general direction and hopefully sites picked out along the way, I do not call to make reservations until a few days before I am ready to move just in case something comes up. However, now that RV’ing is so popular and that it is Summertime, many campgrounds are full and are not taking reservations. With the July 4th weekend coming up very soon, I started checking around. I am here at this campsite until the 20th when I pullout to stay at Shiloh on the Lake thru July 1st and I realized that it might be a problem for the holiday weekend. Luckily, I found a place that caters for older people that had a spot available 100 miles further up the road but still in Texas, Hawks Nest RV Park that had an opening which I jumped on. I plan on staying there thru July 11th or maybe even longer. It can be a scary thing planning a trip. You never know of site availability or the quality of the campground. That is one reason that I like to stay at least a week or longer if the campground is nice or even OK. Once you pull in and pay the money, you are sort of stuck as very few parks will give back a refund if you pull out early. Although you are driving or towing your house, it still needs a place to stay overnight even if it does not have any hookups. You can’t just park on the side of the road hence all the planning.
The Park that I am in now caters for older long-term residents although there are a few younger ones that still work. It is a small park with only 25 sites, 23 of which have permanent residents with only 2 sites for travelers like me. There was another RV in the other site next to me when I pulled in, but he has left already. Just a weekender and not a full timer. It is an older park with gravel roads and gravel sites, but it does have water, electricity and sewer hookups which is all that really counts. The biggest problem is the lack of shade as there are no trees to talk of and the few there are at the front end of the park and not where the RVs are. Hence the fussing over finding the shades for Quatro that I need. Incidentally, the other Class A parked a few sites away is bigger than mine. I was talking to the lady of the house about the window covers that they have, and she told me they came with the unit. She was also telling me that they are here full time at least for a while and that once a month, they must raise up their jacks and drive forward 10 feet and then back and set up again to keep everything lubricated. In my view, it is a very expensive rig to be parked full time as it is not only bigger than Quatro but cost quite a bit more. When the time comes that I find a place to park if I no longer can drive, then I will trade in Quatro for a large 5th wheel and park it permanently somewhere, God willing, and the creeks don’t rise…
Satisfied that we have a place to stay through mid-July, I returned to writing the blog this time with the safety of having reservations for the next few weeks. Thank goodness for RV Trip Planner. All the time I was writing, both dogs are asleep at my feet and looking very relaxed and comfortable. Of course, the minute I make a move to stand up, they are wide awake and ready to go.
We spent the day inside in the cool until Sandy began to remind me that it was time to go out walking. We harnessed up and followed out usual walking routine ending up in the dog park where I let them off their leashes. Sandy explores and pees a lot, marking het territory, Mikey sits on the bench with me acting as my personal bodyguard.
So ended another day in luxury camping.
Written 06/15/2022 Read my other blog at https://pondblog2012.com
Tranquil Garden RV Park-Salado Day 7
06/16/2022
We got up at a reasonable hour and the dogs somewhat impatiently waited as I showered and changed clothes before we headed out the door for the morning walk. There were several neighbors out by their RV’s watering their gardens or just sitting outside. Many of the permanent residents have small flower gardens surrounding their RV’s giving them a more homely effect and also take care of the little patch of grass. Makes for a very nice and personal appearance. Two Sheriffs cars pulled in and toured the park and I got to chat with one of the officers. He complimented me on my rig and proudly explained that he had a small travel trailer that he and his 5 kids go out camping whenever they can. He said they were in the park to check for a “missing” relative who had called in worried because they had not heard from that person. Apparently, the individual has moved on.
I did some chores around the RV, well actually in the Jeep, taking the pictures that I had hastily stuck in the back, putting them into a tote and then putting them in the storage space in the RV. I really do not know what to do with them as I cannot hang them in Quatro unless I drive hangers in the wall. They are too heavy for the stick-on kind. After all, the RV is not a house permanently located in one spot. I also put the collapsible outside garbage container in the car and made the trip to the dumpster.
With the chores out of the way, we adjourned back indoors for breakfast. Again, the dogs are just not interested in what I offer them, so I have given up and they can eat the hard food that is always available to them. My own breakfast was substantial enough but not particularly appetizing except for the Latte which always hits the spot. Gone are the days of fried eggs, hashbrown and bacon. Nowadays it is toast with something on it, maybe cereal or even a breakfast taco. Times and tastes change. At least, I am able to control my weight this way and with not much activity, watching what I eat is important. I am managing to stay at 162 pounds which is only 4 pounds more than when I was at my fittest way back when. Of course, most of that is fat with very little muscle left anymore. I hate growing old but when I think of the alternatives, I settle for what I have.
We settled down, the dogs to sleep and me to write in our respective places and then followed the usual routine of reading the latest news to see if the end of the world might have happened in the night and then checking and responding to emails, which nowadays, is an easy task. Over the years after retirement from playing team sports and eventually followed by living full time in an RV, I have lost touch with pretty much all my former friends and acquaintances. Except for a couple that still stay in contact, my only other means of staying in touch is through Facebook and relying on my good friend BJ to keep me filled in with whatever is going on. I am a loner anyway and am quite comfortable with the current state of events. Not sure if I could stand close contact or living with another person for very long, anyway.
With the emails out of the way, I turned my attention to writing the blog. I noticed that I am only scheduled out 9 days ahead, so we are catching up which will make BJ happy. She complained about reading stuff that was a month old and wants to know what we did yesterday. The only problem with that close of scheduling is if say on travel days, I do not have time to write and then fall behind and with my memory as bad as it is……
I worked on some other stuff that I had been intentionally ignoring and finally got it out of the way. The outside temperature is at 97 degrees and bloody hot. Way too hot to be outside without a very good reason and right now, I cannot think of one. We will have to go out walking but not until a bit later when it cools down by a couple of degrees. Maybe, just maybe the next campground will have more trees and shade.
Written 06/16/2022 Read my other blog at https://pondblog2012.com
Oh dear! This is the first mention I have heard of getting a fifth wheel someday. Well we don’t know if that will ever happen so I won’t think about how long it will take to move all the boxes back-and-forth. Although you did a pretty good job with that this time with no help from me.
Not sure where the 5th wheel comment came from but when I enetually stop driving, I will probably sell Quatro and find a 5th wheel permanantly parked to live in…or an old folks home.