As I have mentioned several times, I plan on spending more and more time in the Eagle at the Henley RV Park while awaiting the Estate Sale and then the final closing on my house. I have reached the point where I no longer need to be back checking on the Koi or the condition of the ponds following the fish rescues and subsequent repairs that I have made and can be away for much longer periods at a time.
While I was back this time, I also met with the Estate Sale company owner and we discussed what to do and where to go from here. We set a sale date of around mid May giving me plenty of time to collect the few remaining things that I plan on keeping. .The last time I was back last week, I collected a bunch more stuff to take with me to the Eagle and as I have mentioned before, there is not a lot of storage room anyway plus the additional weight is not a good thing. Most of what I have this time around are more of my small hand tools and wrenches that I am very reluctant to give up “just in case”. I did bring back another bird feeder pole and the feeders themselves to add to the one that I already have. Love watching the birds.
At last, pictures of trails 2021 style.
Yesterday, I took Sandy and Mikey to Riemer’s Ranch Park where I have done a lot of my walking in the past. I wanted to see how they handled something different than just walking on the road plus how walking two dogs on a single leash would work out on the trail. I had devised a way of hooking the leash handle to my belt leaving my hands free to take the occasional picture and needed to see if it worked. Normally, in the past, I have always used two walking poles for extra traction and stability while out on the trail and they have saved me more than once from a fall. This time though, I decided to leave them in the truck and try it without them. I brought my camera along as I always do but didn’t bring the backpack containing the spare camera and lenses.
Riemer’s Ranch is about a 30 minute drive from the Eagle. One thing I have noticed about this F250 truck is that the suspension is much “harder” and I can feel every bump in the road especially on the country back roads that are not very smooth anyway. Don’t notice it so much when I am towing but that is exactly what the truck was built for so I shouldn’t complain. I paid my $4.00 which incidentally has doubled in price since the last time I was there and chatted for a bit with the sweet young thing wearing a Travis County Park Ranger uniform. She was bright and cheerful and was a very welcoming start to our hike.
I opted for the second parking lot as I knew it had a steep road down to the river which would lead me onto the middle river trail. There are actually three trails that follow the Pedernales River for about 3 miles. One is on top of the gorge and is comprised of either concrete or crushed granite, the second is at the bottom and follows the same distance as the top and is a real trail but with much rougher terrain. The last is the lower trail which at times requires walking on the river bed, which incidentally, is very difficult as it it is mainly loose sand and rocks. We chose to take the middle trail and set off along it as the pictures show. It’s not difficult walking but does require keeping a careful eye out on where to place your feet. Sandy was in her element and her nose was working non stop at all of the different scents she discovered. For such a little dog, it is amazing just how much she can pee as she tries to mark everything. Michael, the little boy dog doesn’t have any of those traits and rarely marks anything and he and I both have also learned not to be in a direct line behind her after she has marked as she also does a little dance movement which involves scratching up huge amount of dirt and gravel.
Another view of the Pedernales showing how low the water is. This is actually the Lower Trail and is normally covered in water as a part of the river.
We made our way along the Lower Trail until we hit a spot that led down to the River Trail. Sandy, who was leading the way, decided that is where we should go so Mikey and I trudged along behind her trying hard not to trip or slip on the rough terrain. I guess I was the one doing the trying as Mikey didn’t have any problems. We headed out over the soft sand to where the river was flowing which incidentally, is the lowest I have ever seen it. Upon reaching the water, Sandy decided she needed to cool down and immediately flopped down in the water. When she had enough and it was time to move, she was covered in dirty brown sand and I had visions of a very dirty truck.
Sandy laying in the water
We eventually headed back to the main trail retracing our footsteps as we slowly made our way back to the truck. The climb back up the concrete hill was actually made much easier as Sandy was a real help in pulling me and Mikey back up. Probably the one and only time that I was glad she was pulling on her leash. Back at the truck, I took a while to brush off the worst of the sand from her which by now had dried and we all piled in and made our way home stopping at Starbucks in Dripping Springs for a latte. Perfect end to a great couple of hours.
We found a few wild flowers showing off their pretty faces.
This particular parking lot also leads to the main swimming area and is very popular for families and groups. There were families with kids, groups of young people and best of all young women in bikinis. We did not cover much in the way of distance around maybe a mile and a half but it was really an experiment to see just what we could do in the way of trail hiking. I think, in order for it to be more comfortable for all of us, we need more level trails like the ones within the park and not the lower ones that follow the river and are of a much rougher terrain. As there are plenty of them, we will return. All in all, a very enjoyable first hike.
This is what I hope to see eventually or beautiful birds just like it. A Painted Bunting
I am sitting at the desk in the RV writing this, gazing out of the window at the many birds that have found the feeders that I have rescued from the “house” and placed on their stands in the ground behind the Eagle. The birds are very busy and provide an endless source of interest. So far, nothing exotic. Just sparrows and finches and such but even they are entertaining as they fight and squabble over the seed. Occasionally, a bigger bird comes along and pushes them out of the way but they return just as soon as the coast is clear. I have a couple more of these pole type hanging feeders back at the house which I will bring along to add to the variety for the birds.
For those of you following my blogs, you have been reading about the activities that have been going on in the garden as I prepared the ponds for the “fish rescues” that have both now happened, leaving the ponds active but lifeless fishwise for want of a better way to put it. Now, with that out of the way and the ponds back up and running, I can concentrate on what remains as I do not plan on doing anything more in the garden.
Living in an RV is very different than living in a “bricks and sticks” house in very many ways. First there are the obvious things like the difference in the square footage of my house at 1800 to my RV at 300. Being a Bachelor for the the past nearly 30 years with only dogs for company and no wife to pick up after me meant that I really didn’t need or use all of the space available. True, it wasn’t empty space and used mainly as a place to “keep” things that were either no longer immediately useful or “just in case” they might get needed in the future. Consequently, my house is filled with junk and the drawers and closets full of clothes that I no longer have a use for. Nowadays and pretty much most of the time, it is shorts and tee shirts although I did put on jeans when the freezing weather was here. Can’t remember the last time that I dressed up for anything and probably most of my “dress up clothes” no longer fit. Hell, as far as I am concerned, they can bury me in the same shorts and tee shirt preferably dirty and well worn from all of my activities along with my oldest and most scuffed up pair of hiking boots.
There are about 200 hundred books for others to enjoy. I wonder if anyone reads anymore?
I did go through all of the nearly 200 books that I have gathered over the years. Unfortunately, I have not cracked one open or read any of them for a long time with the advent of cell phones, computers and TV and so currently, they are all sitting on the bed in the spare room awaiting their fate. Such is the way of this modern world. The same is true of the many LP records and tapes that have not been listened to in years.
The workshop and storage shed are just the same as the house, places to store unwanted and unused “stuff” only of a more practical nature such as tools and spare parts for both ponds and house. As you can imagine, over the 35 years of living in this house and being very much a “do it yourselfer” plus of course the fact that I spent my entire life either in or associated with construction. I am trained as both a bricklayer and carpenter and can even weld a bit plus I used to operate heavy equipment whenever the opportunity arose. Back in the day when I lived in New York State, I drove tractor trailers in the wintertime, hauling a tanker trailer with 6500 gallons of heating oil to schools and such. I had my own construction company for 5 years, so it is no surprise that I have a lot of hand tools. Many are electric but in my later years, I opted to go with the Ryobi line of battery operated tools both for the convenience and also that most of my heavy construction days were over. Nearly all of the Ryobi tools are already in my RV along with many wrenches and such and will be my travelling companions just in case something needs repair. I even have an expandable ladder just so that I can blow off the slides before withdrawing them. The couple of Ryobi’s that I will sell are garden related which I do not see in my future. Oh yes, the other shed contains motorized garden equipment like lawn mowers and weed whackers and such many of which no longer work. The greenhouse come storage shed contains nothing but pond related repair pieces and parts. The Estate Sales people will have a field day as they try to sort through all of that stuff in those buildings as will the prospective buyers as they search for that certain something. One man’s junk and all of that…
Where I would rather be. Out on the trails.
I guess the point is, there is still a lot of work left to do before I can hand it over to my Realtor and spending time in the Eagle does tend to lessen the pain making it easier to transition from big to little. I also get to figure out just what I want to keep in the way of kitchen equipment for example. What pots and pans should I bring, What about the pressure cooker and the crockpot? Can I use them in the future and what about all of those dishes and cutlery? Way too much for just one man and two little dogs even if I could find the storage space. Currently, I am making do with a single piece of everything and it works just fine. One cup, one plate, one set of cutlery and one wine glass and on and on. Incidentally, all of these items are of some lightweight and unbreakable material as opposed to ceramic or china dishes and cups. I was going to bring all of the cutlery from the house with me but when I took a good look, I realized there are at least two full sets of the stuff so I opted for two pieces of each just in case I ever get a guest stop by. I don’t know how many in a setting but probably eight.
RV’ing is all about adaptability. How to make do with less and still have a very nice lifestyle. In a “bricks and sticks” house, generally speaking, space is not an issue or shouldn’t be. Neither are things like electricity, septic systems and water supply. These are all built into the home in a very standard way and all the owner does, at least most of the time, is pay for the cost of the services with the occasional repair thrown in here and there. Life is much different in an RV and the owner has to be very aware of such things as the black tank or the grey tank and when to empty them or even the water tank and when to fill it or what voltage to hook up to, 30 amp or 50 amp and many other things that are used and needed in the day to day working of an RV. Keeping an eye on the propane levels and then reinstalling the heavy tanks is quite a challenge. Not checking on if they are empty as there are electronic gadgets that can do that but lifting the filled tanks which in my case weigh over 40lbs, into their spot which is usually very cramped to begin with, can be frustrating.
Even the comparatively simple process of backing the rig into a narrow site and then levelling the rig can be very daunting especially if one is on their own. Yet, many people choose this way of life for various and different reasons as I have done. I am a newbie at this and the first to admit it. Many things I can do for myself but when I suffered the freeze damage a few weeks ago, I had to call in a specialist to make those repairs as I had no clue and what made things tick. Again, the difference between a regular house and an RV. To work on an RV, one also has to be a bit of a contortionist or at least much more flexible than I am nowadays. Now, back in the day…..
Even with the different challenges that an RV lifestyle presents, more and more people are choosing it as their way of life. If you were to ask them, they would all have many different and yet much of the same reasons for choosing this lifestyle. Circumstances might be different but the end result, still the same and I can’t wait to be a member of this particular tribe or group or is it a clan. Whatever.
This has been a very busy week from my perspective with the first three days all tied up with different things. On Monday, I paid a visit to a skin doctor, not the one who I have seen forever who makes the initial examination and if she can treats, whatever she finds. No this one is a specialist in the Mohs procedure, whatever that is. All I know is that he very lightly injects the area to be treated and then I suppose, he starts cutting. Anyway, between him and about three different nurses, they worked on two different areas, both on my upper cheek and both very visible. I guess it doesn’t really matter too much regarding spoiling my good looks as they are long gone, disappearing into the sunset to be replaced by an old and wrinkled face that I have difficulty in recognizing some mornings.
Seriously though, too much Texas sun can play havoc with my skin and as I am out in it so much, I really should pay more attention and put on sunblock if I know that I am going to be out for any length of time. I have resorted to using skin cream that contains sunblock but I am not sure how efficient it is. Obviously not too much judging from my latest trip to the Dermatologist. I was a bit sore when the numbing wore off but nothing too bad. As a badge of honor, I now have two very large Band-Aids adorning my right cheek for all of the world to see. Incidentally, the process required a lot of waiting as they perform in house testing to see if all of the cancer has been removed and if not, they go back in and do more cutting. I was in there for almost three and a half hours.
Dell Diamond. Notice the size of the parking lot.
On Tuesday, I got my first Covid 19 shot. I had not bothered about it too much but the more I thought about it, I decided that rather than keep telling anyone that asks, “No not yet”, it was easier to go ahead and get it done. As no one had turned into a zombie that I had heard of, I figured the shot is safe. So I started looking in earnest and managed to locate a website that looked promising. I filled out all of my details adding with much pride, my age and sat back and waited. Two days later, I received a response telling me that I needed to be in Round Rock at the Dell Diamond at a certain time in a couple of days. Round Rock is in Williamson County but apparently, that doesn’t matter as I live in Travis County and also Hays County with the RV.
My appointment was for between 11:00 and 11:30 giving me time to drive there as Round Rock is a good hour away as long as there is not too much traffic on the Interstate. Luckily for me, it was comparatively light and I made good time arriving just at 11:00. The first problem I ran into was actually finding the location where the shots were given as the address was not that clear. I asked an older couple who happened to pull up alongside of me and they pointed out where I needed to go. Thanking them vert profusely, I made my way to the entrance to immediately be confronted by lines of orange cones which I assumed needed to be followed. This was confirmed by a young lady who was directing this traffic in this giant parking lot. I drove for what seemed like ages following the cones that twisted in all directions and sometimes doubling back on themselves with no rhyme or reason. Luckily, where there was a tricky intersection , there was a live person directing the traffic. By now, I had caught up to those in front and was boxed in by those behind as this endless stream of cars and trucks traversed in weird directions around the parking lot. Eventually, one of these people that were directing us, was stopping the line of cars and trucks and asking questions and when it was my turn, I discovered that he wanted to see my appointment paperwork and asked a few questions about if I had Covid and stuff like that. Satisfied with my responses, he marked on my windshield and sent me on my way following the car ahead of me. Before long, we had split and become two lines slowly creeping forward for what seemed like an eternity. Then, after being stopped for the final time, we were directed into one of at least ten different lanes and we could see the tents just in front of us. Slowly, very slowly, the cars inched forward until there was just one car in front of me. Many people were scurrying around all in a state of high activity as they asked questions, made notes and finally administered the Pfizer Covid shot while we sat in our vehicles. They made one guy get out but that was because he was such a big man, the nurse was having trouble administering to him in his car. Just as I thought we were all through, I was in for yet another surprise. We were directed to yet another area and a staff member with an iPad arranged for the follow up shot giving me a date and time. They also made us wait for fifteen minutes to make sure that no one was having any after effects from the shot.
Finally, I was cleared to go and make the long trip back home this time, in rush hour traffic. Altogether, it took an hour to get there, almost two hours for the shot and another hour to get home. Still, at least I am halfway there and next time, it won’t be so strange with the intricacies of following the yellow brick road or rather the orange lines of cones. My follow up date is in three weeks time.
The third day, Wednesday was spent at home cleaning the 5000 gallon pond and getting ready for the upcoming fish rescue.
The worst part of having a whole bunch of plans for the future is not getting instant gratification. Instead, one has to wait around for all of the bits and pieces to all fall into place which can be very time consuming. Generally, I am a very patient man sometimes to the extreme but as I grow older, I notice that I am nowhere near as patient as I used to be, maybe because time is slipping away much faster than in the days of my youth. Back then, a day took a week to pass but now a day is much shorter than even a day or so it seems.
Getting the house ready to put on the market has been a slow process from my perspective. My problem was not making up my mind what I wanted to do with the eighty or so Koi some of which are almost three feet long and the probably one hundred or so Goldfish. I diddled between keeping them and selling them along with the house and/or donating them to the Austin Pond Society Fish Rescue. After much more consideration, I decided that it was a big task to have someone else take care of them especially if they had no previous experience. I certainly did not want to see anything bad happen to the fish hence the decision to donate them. It actually felt like a load off my mind knowing that they will be going to good homes and will be well taken care of plus of course that I would no longer have to worry about them.
Having made that decision, the first of the rescues took place two weekends ago with the 5000 gallon pond off the deck. It contained around sixty Koi, twenty of which were very big and some were almost thirty years old. The other forty or so were last years babies which incidentally, was the biggest hatching ever. Usually there are no more than a half dozen or so. I say babies but some are already eight inches long. This pond also contained eight turtles ranging in size to two that were probably a foot long and the others, anything in between. These were transferred to the 6000 gallon pond where they will stay temporarily although I saw Clarence, the biggest of them all in the Goldfish pond yesterday. Goodness only knows how he got in there as the sides are about three or more feet high. Guess Clarence is a bit of a rock climber. The members of the Fish Rescue crew led by Jeannie and Stephen are very efficient and they took it upon themselves to also rescue about twenty baby goldfish from the pond that I am in the process of closing down. Just in time too as the Landscape contractor was busy filling in that particular pond.
Needless to say, it was with mixed emotions that I returned from staying in the Eagle while all of this was going on. I just did not have the heart to be there as it would have made me very sad. As it was, it was a bit disconcerting to return home to an empty and drained pond. At least I can clean it out and find the leak and get it ready for the next rescue. The plan is to pump the water from the 6000 gallon into the 5000 gallon which will help my water bill immensely and then to put a few goldfish in it along with the turtles for appearances sake.
Next up on the list on the on the 28th of this month is the 6000 gallon pond that has about twenty very large Koi in it. Most of these are going to Zilker Botanical Garden ponds to replace those they lost over the winter. Great to think they will visible to the general public and hopefully giving them as much pleasure as they have given me. There is also the Goldfish pond which is around 2000 gallons and as I said before, contains more than a hundred goldfish of all sizes. Some of these will go into the pond off the deck just to give the appearance of fish in the pond strictly for the visual effect. Goldfish are easier to take care of than the very large Koi and are considerably tougher.
All of this is taking time. I have been spending more and more of it in the Eagle at Henly and I watch as the RV’s pull in and then notice when they are gone. Some stay for a week or two, others are overnighters. Me, I am there until the house is sold which seems incredibly slow. There we go again the the patience thing that started the blog. Once the ponds are cleared, cleaned and refilled and the pumps running, I can concentrate on clearing out what little I will be taking with me. As it is, I have been moving stuff to the Eagle every time I go visit and as I have only so much storage space, probably will not be taking much more. The Eagle or another like it will be my final resting place so there is no sense in putting anything in storage.
The final act will be an Estate Sale and a final house clean up and hand it over to my Realtor. Can’t wait for that to happen.
When Sandy takes us walking every morning and evening, it gives us time take a look at which RV’s moved and the new ones that came in. Just lately, there seems to be quite a few of both kinds with it being a weekend. My neighbors on either side are more permanent, as I am and most of the RV’s in my row, 1 thru 6 fall into this category. Even the new section that has only just been completed is real busy and is almost full. These appear to be mostly of the larger kind of 35ft and up. Makes sense as the sites are very wide and easy to back into and very level.. Many are pull thru’s which most of us really like. Much less hassle and not as much of a test of an individuals driving skills.
There are quite a few kids around out early and playing with each other and riding their bikes. It is great to hear their cheerful, happy voices as they shout and fall out over whatever is bothering them at the time.. When we walk past some of the RV’s, we set the dogs that are inside off into a spasm of barking frustrated at the fact that another dog is encroaching on their territory and there is nothing they can do about it. If we pass other campers, it is usually with a smile and a pleasant word and always a “Good Morning” or “Hello”. When it comes to other dogs, Mikey is just fine always making sure that I am between him and the other dog. Sandy on the other hand, wants to tear the other dogs throat out and it is very embarrassing to hear her screech and bark at them. I am always full of apologies and sometimes, if their dog has reacted, the other people are too. This park as with most RV parks has very strict leash laws but doesn’t have a dog park area.
I have been doing some work around the RV. Not so much with the RV itself except for what Michael is doing on the water system but with installing some of the gadgets that I have bought these past few months and have not yet installed. The latest one is an indoor motion and sound driven camera that shows pictures of the inside of the living room on my phone. Pretty neat but it is so sensitive that it sends me a message at the slightest sound or movement. Probably will drive me nuts in the end as I can’t even take a deep breath or change position without it sending me a warning email. Incidentally, it shows me pictures on my phone from inside the RV when I am at my other house which is 25 miles away.
I have a couple of Doggo transmitters for the dogs which will let me know where they are in case they wander off. It could happen if something was to happen to me but the chances are slim unless I have a heart attack or something similar.. Still better to be prepared. Now all I got to do is figure out how to activate them. I probably have directions somewhere that I need to find. Ain’t technology great?
Not sure of it’s name, Smart Camera, Cloud Storage Camera?
I spent time trying to get the Roku sticks working on the TV but gave that up as a bad job and will wait until I bring in the TV’s from the house which are both HGTV and much newer. I probably have some other gadgets to install if I can find them. Getting organized is a big job and I just can’t wait to start going though and organizing my files many of which go back several years and contain a lot of obsolete and outdated material. Change that, I can wait…
Reading some other people’s blogs about their full time camping experiences gives me a lot of ideas. One of the things that seems to be true for most of them is not to worry too much about the RV getting untidy. Dirty, no as it takes no time to run a small vacuum or a simple brush and dustpan but that is different from untidy. With such a small space to worry about and limited storage, stuff is going to lay around. Depending on your point of view, it could even add character. By the way, installing this desk is the best thing I could have ever done and it was a stroke of genius on my part. Gotta give myself a pat on the back for that move. Incidentally, my house is untidy too and that was before I started getting ready to sell. The difference is that there is much more space to be untidy in and it it gets to be too much, one can always close the door to that untidy room. Can’t do that in my RV as basically except for the bathroom and bedroom, it is just one room.
It is almost 5:00 pm and it doesn’t look like Michael will make it back again today to install the new pump which is no big deal as the old one works sufficiently well to get by. I am on the freshwater supply tank and can refill that if I need to without creating any water leak problems. I do have a Dentists appointment for tomorrow at 10:00 am and am debating on going back to the house tonight. On the other hand, there is no real reason to do that as I could get up early and drive into town, dropping the dogs off on the way. Just got to remember to set the alarm tonight. I think I will bring back one of the house TV’s tomorrow and hook it up so that I can watch the soccer games on a big screen instead of my laptop. The end result will be the same as it is always a toss up if my teams win or lose…
My previous blog described the fish rescue of all of the Koi in the 5000 gallon pond, which will be followed by the same thing happening in the 6000 gallon and Goldfish ponds on the 28th of this month. Some of those large Koi will be donated to Zilker Botanical Gardens here in Austin, Texas to replace the fish they lost. Nice to know that they will give much pleasure to a lot of people in the general public.
As it happens, when I got back to the Eagle, I discovered that there were several leaks in the plumbing resulting in us having to rough it and literally camp out for a couple of days. These leaks were partly caused by running out of propane during the recent freeze and losing heat. I don’t know but I get the feeling that even if I had been here, I might not have prevented it from happening as the freeze was that severe and RV plumbing is not built to withstand such temperatures. When the storm was at it’s highest, the roads were impassable and there was no way that I could even make the trip especially as my truck with the 4 wheel drive, was in the shop. . Not sure how my neighbors here in the Park fared and if any of them had any damage.
RV Parts Diagram – Photo Credit: RVPartsOutlet.com
My next door house neighbor, Michael, turns out, not only owns an RV but he works on them. He is also one of those that checked on me during the freeze and brought me food and water in case I needed it so I gave him a call for help. He very obligingly came out to the RV and began a systematic check to find the problem. The first was in the gooseneck faucet in the sink which was barely running. and was leaking water all over the wood floor. Now Michael is a very large older gentleman who is looking to retire from his business and yet, by laying on the floor, he managed contort himself and reach back in to where the gooseneck was situated. He had already decided that it was the cause of the problem. The next day, after a trip to Crestview for a new gooseneck, he came back and finished installing the unit. That cured that particular leak but as he had just left, I discovered that the toilet was running continuously and would not switch off. I called him and he turned around and came back to take a look. Again, it required parts which he got the next day and although I was not there having a Dentists appointment, went ahead and repaired that problem.
Silly me, thinking that all of our plumbing problems were a thing of the past. I went out yesterday and discovered water dripping from under the RV. With a little experimentation of turning off water and after filling the 20 gallon onboard water tank, I figured that as long as the water was shut off at the main, it would not leak and as I still had water in the freshwater tank, I could get by. All this meant was that I would have to keep an eye on the water levels in this tank and turn the hose on occasionally to top it up. Just like if I was boon docking. The onboard pump and the heater appear to be working just fine so there is water pressure and hot water. I called Michael and he said he would be out later today but as it is raining, maybe not. As it happens, he did show up just as it was getting dark and after taking a look underneath the RV and making a couple of adjustments to release some built up water, he moved back to check in the storage compartment where he had access to the pump. Turns out that pump was damaged by the frost after all and although still working, is leaking when under pressure. Michael left and promised he would be back tomorrow although with it being a Sunday, was not sure that Crestview would be open and have a new pump available.
A lot of this stuff I can do but RV plumbing is all new to me and I need time to learn the intricacies of the system. Watching Michael work is showing me where things are located and what to look for in the future although, I hope that it will not be necessary. That plus it is much harder to contort my body to reach the difficult places means that sometimes, I have to rely on others to make these repairs. All it takes is money and friends.
Sandy took Mikey and me for a walk this afternoon. This time, we explored one of the roads outside of the RV park and covered around a couple of miles. It’s pretty quiet out there and except for encountering one dog on the other side of the fenced in yard and two trucks that passed us in opposite directions. we had the road to ourselves. We walk around the park for the morning walk as that is just to let the dogs relieve themselves. Oher dog owners are out there all doing the same thing. Usually, I am half asleep and kinda stumble along as Sandy decides where we are going. I did notice that there has been a lot of trailer movement with a several empty campsites. The new section looks almost complete and is already accommodating RV’s, most of them pretty big. It’s been very windy here for the past few days with some quite powerful gusts, enough to rock the RV. I can understand how easy they can be to overturn in a real windstorm. So high and built so light and only a few points of contact with the ground. I spent some time messing around with the TV setup which is by Furrion. I think the actual TV is a bit outdated and is not an HGTV as it only gets a limited number of bloody awful channels even with the roof antennae. A lot of old Westerns and ancient comedies and a couple of Hispanic channels. As I am not conversant in the language, I can’t watch them either. I have a couple of Roku sticks but couldn’t get them to work nor could I get my computer to transmit to the big screen. I guess the TV is outdated technology and I need to bring at least one of the two modern ones from the house. Won’t need them there anymore anyway.
Not sure how I will handle it when we finally get on the road. Other than the hope of making it back to New York State to see my family, I have no real plans or desires. By the time I get on the road, it may be too late to make that trip as I definitely do not want to be anywhere North come wintertime. I could stay anywhere for a month or a couple of weeks or just a couple of days at the different and various campsites. A lot depends on what future plans I have in regards to travelling. I would prefer to not drive everyday and will just have to play things by ear. As that is still a a couple of month off, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Incidentally, today is one of those rainy and dismal grey days that make you want to curl up with the blankets over your head in a nice warm bed. Both me and the dogs.
This is not my truck but same model and year. 2016 Ford F250 King Ranch
I am siting here and wondering when I will see my truck again as it has now been in the shop almost five weeks and that’s a lot of time to repair a couple of things none of which or so it seems were very big or very wrong for them to fix that should take so long I received a call and we discussed the leaky diesel tank that I just had installed and he said that I should take the truck instead back to the place that did the install and have them do the overhaul and for them to undertake the task to repair the leak that they unmask as it is still in warranty and they are the ones who I should see I agreed and hung up the phone sitting here all alone trying to decide my next move wondering how I can improve the current situation at hand and wondering just where we stand as there was little else to see but fix the leak and make a new key and change out the wiper blades for new other than that I haven’t a clue as to why they have not given me a call to pick up the truck and why they stall as tired I am of my loaner car they gave to me which is quite bizarre as I am used to driving a truck and with this little car I am stuck I should not really complain as the bill for the car is in their name and the use of the car for me is free but it does not make good company as I really miss my truck and very soon with any luck I will have it back with me to drive around most comfortably.
Boarding the ship with our meager possessions was not hard at all. We already had tickets and our trunk and other luggage had already been checked in. So had Melody, our dog who would not be allowed to stay with us but would be kenneled in a special place on the main deck. BTW, the US does not have any quarantine laws so we would all be reunited upon arrival. We made our long slow walk up the gangplank waving to the crowds there to see others off. It mattered not that they didn’t know us or us them as they seemed to understand the finality of what those boarding were about to undertake. Stiff upper lip and all of that. I stopped to think of the thousands of others who had made this one way trip before us and marveled at the way of the world and humanity in general. We really are an adaptable race.
Our cabin was one of the cheapies and below decks inside and without a porthole. It really didn’t matter as we didn’t plan on spending too much time in it. We had sleeping arrangements for the six of us and not much else except a bathroom, of course. We boarded on March 6th, 1967 for a voyage that was planned to take six days. Immediately we were aboard, we visited Melody in the Kennel deck to make sure she was OK before joining those at the guardrail waving to the people still on the dock with some still boarding. In a remarkably short time, they hauled in the gangplank and the ship was underway. We learned later that the staff and crew outnumbered the passengers as the heyday of trips across the ocean in a big ship were coming to a end. We remained on deck to watch as the tug boats busily pushed and hauled the big old ship out into the harbor for the trip out into the sea and we stayed there as the coast of England gradually slipped out of sight with no one, not even Lesley, the youngest, saying a word. It was as though everyone knew that it was goodbye for the very last time.
We spent what remained of the daylight exploring the huge ship. There were some areas that were off limits to us below deck passengers as the class distinction was alive and well but on the whole we could walk and visit most everywhere. We took full advantage of that exercising as much as we could and keeping Melody company. The cabins were set up as sleeping quarters with a bathroom and room to sit and relax. With six of us, it was pretty crowded which is why we spent so much time exploring the ship. It had a swimming pool and other forms of entertainment like shuttle board and croquet. The meals were out of this world with a huge selection of just about everything and we as a family made the most of them. Some of the food was truly exotic and we got our first taste of the American addiction to drinking coffee. Tea was available if you wanted it along with many other beverages. If you wanted liquor, you had to pay for it. The night time entertainment was fabulous and kept us all amused.
Shades of the Titanic. Below Decks. Obviously not of the Queen Mary on my trip. Can’t imagine what it was like for these early immigrants.
We even had one of those “ships that pass in the night” things when we met another ship going in the opposite direction. The Captain announced it so that the passengers could crowd the rails and wave to the other passengers. It was kind of weird watching that ship disappear into the night and then we were left alone on that big ocean. I have always had a fear of water and the unknown things that lurk under the surface so being at sea for me was not the most comfortable thing in the world. Shades of Titanic.
We befriended a couple who were heading back to Connecticut for the second time after having been over once before. For them, they got homesick for the old country and did in reverse what we were doing, selling all of their stuff and headed back to England. but for whatever reasons, England didn’t work out for them so here they were, making the trip for the second time returning to what they had previously left. They could not put into words exactly why they reversed themselves and headed back except that they enjoyed the American way of life more.
That was until around the fourth day out when the weather changed to rain with a stronger wind and the ship began to lurch and sway along with it. You would be walking the stairs in either direction and the stair treads would either come up to meet your foot on your next step or would drop away causing a loss of balance. It was impossible to walk in a straight line as the ship swayed and lurched. I should mention that in one of the many outfitting’s done to this grand old lady, stabilizers were added to help compensate. I would hate to think what it was like before the addition as they certainly didn’t help much or maybe they did and we couldn’t notice the difference. When in the dining room at meal times, as the ship lurched, plates and food would slide off the tables or pile up in an ungodly mess keeping the wait staff very busy. It was quite funny to watch people trying to grab as much as they could. The food of course was free and the kids took full advantage of it that is until the weather got progressively worse. We soon discovered that my step son William and myself were only ones who could keep our food down and it wasn’t long before the women of the family retired to the cabin never to re emerge until we were pulling into New York Harbor. William and I would bring them back food but invariably it ended up in the toilet.
Maybe not quite that bad…
Because of the stormy weather, we were blown off course and landed a day later than we were supposed to. I have a picture of the family standing on the deck, except I can’t find it, watching as the Statue of Liberty came into view and we slowly cruised by. The expression on all of their faces including my wife was of total shock and disbelief as they realized exactly just what was going on. We were no longer in England but in the United States of America and there was no turning back Up until now, it had been a great adventure until the reality of the moment sank in.
We were ushered into the famous Pier 13 by the ever present and busy tugboats and passengers began to line up on deck waiting for the gangplank to be lowered. We opted to wait a bit before making that move until the rush had subsided. We retrieved Melody and walked down the gangplank for the very last time, glad to be on terra firma and made our way to the check out area to find our luggage. It took a while and all the time we could see the lines of people as friends and relatives waited for those they came to meet. I spotted my Mother in the crowd mainly because she was waving so furiously. She was with a stranger who I did not recognize.
We finally were allowed through and we greeted each other with open arms. After all, it had been a long time and I was only 11 years old the last time I saw her and now I was 32 years old and all grown up. She, on the other hand was a woman that I recognized by a photograph. I could barely remembers what she looked like back then but had seen plenty of pictures in the time since so the women hugging me was no real stranger. I introduced her to Valerie and one by one, the kids. They all gave her a hug and called her Grandma which I could tell pleased her to no end. Finally, the other gentleman stepped forward and introduced himself as Harold Warner, a friend of the family that my Mother had hired to make the 200 mile drive from Fort Plain to the City. One reason was that he had a bigger car than Herman, my stepfather and my Mothers Husband. Herman was the GI from the Second World War that had stolen her heart enough for her to leave for a whole new life in the USA. Harold’s car was big, the biggest I had ever seen. It was a Ford Station Wagon which could easily seat all of us and Melody and all of our luggage, some of which was strapped on the roof including the by now, famous trunk. The 200 mile drive which was at night was uneventful except for the Tractor Trailers that came roaring by at 80 mph. I had never seen anything that big as many were hauling doubles and all lit up like Christmas trees.
The hallways. Notice the grab rails.
Hermie and my Mother lived in an old farmhouse that Hermie was born and brought up in along with his brother Clark who lived in a separate house about 100 yards away. Clark was a confirmed bachelor with his love of his livestock greater than for any woman. My Mother had the upstairs remodeled to make it livable with a big old wood stove for heat and that would be our home for the next few months while we were getting established. That night, March 13, 1967, it snowed 13 inches of wet snow to welcome us to this great country. Oh the irony of it all, emigrate here to get away from the rain only to run into a lot of snow all at one time. The next day, I was out shoveling the bloody stuff to clear the driveway as the kids and Melody played in it. At least, they were not fazed by it. My Mother already had a job lined up for me on the Maintenance Staff at a cloth factory in a little town named Fonda. I stayed with it using my many construction talents including welding steam pipelines until I joined the Bricklayers Union and started earning real money. I forgot to mention that I served as an apprentice Bricklayer back in the old country and I could lay a lot of brick in a short space of time. Much to my dismay, the Union frowned on speed and I had to make a lot of adjustment working to the slowest man on the line. In the end, the Foreman partnered me with an older and slower bricklayer and together we would work on a project. I usually outpaced him around at least 5 -1, sometimes more which benefitted both the older bricklayer and the Foreman. It was on that job that I first ran into discrimination when one of the other workers started picking on me for being an immigrant. A few words were said and the Foreman instantly fired the other guy for which I was very grateful. Not that the guy lost his job but for the fact that the Foreman stood up for me and would not tolerate any form of discrimination. I stayed at that job for a few months but it was a long drive everyday so I found work closer to home. I advertised in the local paper for work I could do on weekends and it wasn’t long before I decided that I had enough of working for someone else and opened up my own construction company in Fort Plain. We did pretty good for almost 5 years before I ran into trouble with the IRS and closed the business down. I then found a job with a Pipeline Company and had to drive 50 or so miles to Albany everyday which soon got old so I rented an apartment and stayed the week coming home on weekends. It came as no surprise that my marriage was failing but I was too bloody stupid to recognize it. Finally, it fell apart and I moved out permanently after 10 years of living in Fort Plain and eventually ended up in Texas with Susan, my third and final wife.
Canal Street, Fort Plain, N.Y. Incidentally, the last time I was there, it still looked like this…
My first impression of America was that everything was big and that people talked funny with an accent so different from what I was used to. Over the years, that has not changed that much as everything is still big but I have grown used to the accents and am full of wonder to hear an English accent. Now, 54 years later, I am alone with two little dogs for company. As I mentioned earlier, Valerie, after our divorce made several visits to England finally moving back to live there full time. She had trouble in settling here in the US and was very homesick. She died there in 2018 at the age of 85 back in the land that she loved. She had never adjusted to the American way of life. Her son William, my stepson, has made several trips but none since 2018. Alison, one of my step kids who was a nurse, died in 2014. She was 58 and unfortunately died of Alcoholism. She could never get over her husband divorcing her. Both my Mother and Stepfather are dead, my Mother from natural causes at the age of 95 and my stepfather from cancer. He was in his late 70’s. My Oldest Brother, Norman and his family followed by my Sister Peggy and her family all ended up here living in Fort plain in later years so my Mothers quest to bring over her entire family was a success. Both Norman and Peggy have passed on leaving me as the only surviving original transplant. Harold the driver whom incidentally rented us a house just after we moved to Fort Plain also passed on. Melody lasted 14 years and was my best friend. She accompanied everywhere when I ran my own Construction business.
Catherine, William and Leslie are all alive and well with the girls living in Fort Plain and William, the most successful of all of us is a Doctor, married to a Doctor and with a family living in Houston.
My Thoughts in Retrospect.
I have tried to keep this blog and the preceding one as details and descriptions of the actual journey leading to this point in time. Obviously, what followed in the next 44 years are subject to other blogs both here and on my previous blog site at https://pondblog2011.com/with many stories of the years within that time frame and a lot left to be written. If you, the reader were to ask me regarding this move, it would go something like this. Do I regret all that has happened in these past 54 years and of course, there is no yes/no or black/white answer. I would say this, although America has been kind to me in so many ways both financially and memoratively, I still have many regrets for making the move. I miss a lot about the old country that America, for all of its wealth and prosperity can never replace. The fact that I failed at three marriages two of which were exasperated by living in this country really is nothing to be proud of. I missed not watching my two boys grow up into the successful men they are today or getting to know their families. Maybe I wouldn’t like the present day England as my memories are of one I left 54 years ago. As for my time in America, it has been a strange bag with a mix of the good, the bad and the ugly. But, here I am and here I will remain until I die which hopefully, is still way down the road. I still have more adventures to follow and write about…Oh yes, I still dislike the cold rain but this being Texas, we can never get enough of it.
After celebrating my 54th year of arriving in this great country by publishing a blog recounting that trip that can be viewed here, I got to thinking that the trip alone and all of the surrounding events are worth writing about.
As you can imagine, coming to such a life changing decision in the first place was no easy event and required considerable thinking by the family to arrive at. For starters, several factors were in play leading us to even think about such a move and leaving behind the life that we had all grown up with. I had a good job with a pipeline company, William Press and Sons that did occasionally take me away from home but other than that, I had established roots in the small town of Hailsham. We owned a small house that we purchased brand new which was home to myself, my wife Valerie and four kids, three from my wife’s previous marriage. They were Catherine the oldest, Alison and William, the youngest and Leslie who was our daughter. There was also a cocker spaniel dog named Melody who had to be included in our planning. I say owned and what I meant was that we had a mortgage which we had worked hard to attain. So, I had a good job and my wife stayed home and was a housewife in every sense of the word, not a bit unusual back in the day. I was the breadwinner and sole provider.
I drove a Mini Station wagon and my work on the pipeline company took me anywhere up to 40 miles away on a daily basis. Anything further than that required overnight lodgings on a weekly basis as there were no Thruways or high speed roads to talk of. As you can imagine, I spent a lot of time on the road leaving early in the morning and arriving home late at night but generally worked a 5 day week. There would be times when road crossings or gas connections needed to be done at night or even on weekends requiring additional time away from home. I still found time to play for my local football team in the winter and cricket team in the summer. All in all, life was good. In the past and prior to settling down with this marriage, we had endured several run ins with my future wife’s ex husband chasing us around and on a couple of occasions, inflicting bodily harm on the both of us, but that is another story.
You could say that life was good except for one thing. The bloody awful English weather with it constantly raining and I mean constantly. If we ever had more than 30 days without rain, it was considered a drought. Seriously! It would rain for day after day and was very depressing and by the way, it was always a cold rain even in the middle of summer. We were just coming off one such wet period when it had rained for two week straight when I received a letter from my Mother who was in America and had been since 1946 which started off like this, “Well it’s 8:00 am in the morning and the sun is shining and it’s going to be another beautiful sunny day. The forecast is for it to be sunny with a high in the 80’s”. I read this completely forgetting the pictures she had sent us of the snow in the winter time that had drifted to the peak of her two story house in one big snowdrift as all I could think about was sunshine and warm weather. I should mention that my Mother had been trying for years to entice first me as I was growing up and then after my first marriage to Anne and second to Valerie, both families to emigrate to the United States. I kept putting it off as even with the problems we endured, life was still pretty good. It was a huge decision to make but that letter and that one sentence did it.
So we started the process of changing not only the adults lives but also those of the kids, forever. It took 6 months of preparation work involving many different things. We had to make two trips to the American Embassy in London to obtain our entry visas. On the second trip, we followed a famous football player around, Phil Woosnam as he was coming over to run the NASL. Bert, a German friend and workmate lent me his much newer car for both of those trips as my little Morris Mini Wagon had developed a slipping clutch that required some mechanical work. As I was about to sell it, I was not going to put money into it. Bert too had a very interesting story as he was an ex German Prisoner of war who had remained in this country. He was one of the nicest men I have ever known. We methodically went about the business of disposing of all of our furniture and worldly possessions with the exception of the clothes that we chose to bring and all of my work tools that would fit into a large trunk. I remember selling something to my Brother-in-law, Bill Vidler who immediately returned it and we got into a shouting match over it.
English Rain
All this time of preparation, I continued working for William Press and it was a very sad final day when it was time to leave. In fact, even though I could have driven home at noon time, I stayed to finish out the day. That was a great company . BTW, I loved operating the heavy equipment. Just like playing with full size Tonka Toys.
I too had been previously married which ended after 4 years with her moving in with another one of my previous work mates. We had two wonderful sons by our short marriage which custody had been given to my In-Laws, her parents, as they had been raising them during our troubled marriage. In the divorce, the Judge had decreed that is where they should remain and they did so until they were young adults. We have remained in touch over these years but alas, I have never made it back to visit them as adults. Now they are both in their 60’s and I will never make that trip back across the water. So much missed.
Instead of selling the house, I arranged with yet another friend, Eddie Hicks who was living with my wife’s Sister Barbara, that they should stay in the house until such times as we had decided that America was the place for us and we were going to remain. Then we would decide what to do with it. In lieu of rent, he paid the mortgage. Eventually as it turns out, we sold that place after deciding that America was indeed the place and we were going to remain.
My friends and neighbors rented a local hall and gave us a huge going away party that was attended by lots of friends and associates and members of my football team. Many brought gifts that we had to give away as we had no space for them but the thoughts did not go unnoticed. We made our final rounds and said our last goodbyes knowing full well that we would probably never see any of these people again. Saying goodbye is not easy especially when you know it is final.
Queen Mary Interior
And then came the final day. I had arranged with Bert to drive us to Southampton where the Queen Mary was harbored and we loaded all of our worldly possessions in his car with the very large trunk on the roof. On the way, we passed Felix, an Irish crane driver who had been on many of our jobsites and he waved as we went by. We could see the harbor long before we reached it and it was full of very large ships, some passengers like ours and others that carried freight and cargo and were a hive of activity. We unloaded all of our stuff which was ridiculously meager considering the change we were making, said our final goodbyes to Bert and made our way to check in leading our dog, Melody for this amazing adventure.
We could not wait to board this wonderful old ship that would take us on the adventure of a lifetime.
I am tired of writing about ice and snow and need a different direction to go something light and cheerful would be fine and focus on life far down the line and of all of the plans that are made to get into the lifestyle I currently crave which for those of you that well know me is to tour the country in my RV outside my window is a blanket of white with the snow covering everything in site and birds by the dozen eating the seed in the feeders placed just for their need I have never seen so many birds gathered here over the years but then again its never been this bad in all of the other winters we had and they could always find something to feed without resorting to eating my seed. I wonder how the Eagle fares sitting in Henly which she shares with so many other different RV’s many of whom are very pleased to live all year long in this way in an RV park built for their stay which is what I plan to uphold just as soon as the house is sold and the fish in different homes to stay making others happy with their array and give them pleasure in the next few years as they have to me including the tears of fish that were lost in different ways as nothing is permanent and here to stay so when I hit the open road I will not have to share the load and worry that everything is OK as I travel the countryside in my own way joining millions of others who have gone before breaking the ground to adventures galore hoping that I live that long and see a lot of America before the last song which I hope is a long way in coming and life and me keep on humming as we travel along without a care on the road with whom many others we share each following their dream and in so many ways the RV lifestyle living out their days it is not the most impossible dream as crazy to some as it may seem but there is only me and two little dogs and no one else who will feel the loss of living in a bricks and sticks home in a permanent place and nowhere to roam.
The Queen Mary in all of her glory. She was launched in 1936 the same year that I was born or was I launched…
What is special about the title, you may well ask. Well, it was 54 years ago on this date that my family and I set foot on these shores after the trip across the Atlantic on the Queen Mary. The blogs below all tell the story of that trip and the life since over several different years.
What has changed in those years that makes this anniversary any different? Well for starters, I have recently celebrated my 85th birthday and except for being much feebler as compared to the young man that landed that day and for getting more and more absent minded, another thing that comes with older age, I am still pretty much the same happy go lucky, grumpy person that I was way back then with the outlook of one that has seen and done a lot in a lifetime. I became a citizen in 1976 mainly so that I could have my say in the general elections. I have been married 3 times, have several children and stepchildren spread between the USA and England, some with families of their own and all grown older following the years as they advance. I grew too old to play football (soccer to the uninitiated), the love of my life which probably accounts for 3 wives leaving me, retiring from the game in my 72nd year because of knee replacement surgery and spent the next 10 years going to the gym to stay fit and healthy. Ten years ago, I started blogging and writing poetry and this site is the second on which I post. My original site is still up and can be reached at this link. After my third and last wife moved on to her greener pastures, leaving me the house, I became interested in Ponds, Pond building and keeping Koi which I have done as a hobby for the past 29 years. Now, in the twilight of my years, I have other plans which involve selling this house and moving full time into my RV to travel for as long as I can drive and then, when I become too big a menace to others on the road, park it somewhere and wait for the end.
Incidentally, of the members of my family, several have passed on including my Mother and Stepfather. my two Brothers and my sister, all whom were older than me. The ones who made the trip who have passed include my wife of that time, Valerie, my stepdaughter Alison who was a nurse and the dog, Melody leaving my other step daughter Catherine, who is a Librarian now retired, my daughter Leslie who owns her own business and William, my stepson who is avery successful Doctor. William lives in Houston and Catherine and Leslie live in Fort Plain, New York, the town in which we originally settled all of those years ago.
So, Happy Anniversary to me on this day and to Catherine, Leslie and William. Hopefully there will be a few more to celebrate and write about.
I think that I mentioned in an earlier blog that when I first moved the Eagle to the Henly RV Park, it would only be in the first parking site temporarily until the start of the month when I would move it to the permanent site that had been allotted to me. In the meantime, I was able to enjoy a few days camping out.
Prior to the end of that first month, I received an email from the park owners telling me that I needed to be ready to make the move to the permanent site as soon as possible as my current site was allocated to neighbors, yet unknown, who would be coming in within a couple of days. It was nicely written and very friendly and was just a reminder. However, I had taken my truck into the dealership for some repairs and was without the means to move the trailer which I wrote back to inform them. They were very understanding about it and suggested that if I would be in attendance to help, one of the owners, a young healthy looking dude of 6 ft something, named James, would move it for me and help with the set up.
We arranged a day and time and I was there ready and waiting for them to appear. “Them” was James and the Park on-site Manager, an older gentleman by the name of Kim who I had met previously. James had come over and introduced himself the first time that I pulled in and helped me set up that time. I sat in the loaner car just passing time looking towards the construction site of the additional trailer parking and watched as a dually truck backed out of the worksite which was at least 100 yards away coming towards me. i figured it was James and was in awe that he chose to back the entire distance. He jumped out and introduced himself and about that time, Kim pulled up on his 4 wheeler and came to join the party. Kim has to be at least as old as me if not older.
Anyway, in no time flat, with very little help from the both of us, James had the RV hooked up to his 5th wheel and had hauled it over to the new site. Kim and I both followed in our respective vehicles and I watched as James proceeded to back the RV into the new site with very little adjustments and getting it right almost the first time. I kept thinking back to the last time that I had to do the same thing when I camped at Bastrop and managed to make a wonderful park job between two trees. Unfortunately for me, I was off by 45 degrees that time and it took me a while to start over and get it straightened out. In my defence, I didn’t have a spotter to help me. James happened to mention that he and his family had been RV’ing a long time which probably explains why he is so good at backing up. Some things get better with practice.
We spent some time levelling the RV until we were all satisfied and they both helped with the hookups. Between them, they could just not do enough for which I was very grateful. I finished with the sewer and water hookups and then opened up the 3 slides, turned on the gas, checked the refrigerator to make sure it was working, set the thermostat and before heading home, checked everything again. I left the water turned off as I needed a new washer to stop the connection from leaking and didn’t have one with me. Satisfied that was all that I needed to do, I headed home all the time, wishing that I didn’t have to.
As it happens, later in the week, I received another email from the Park Management, this time directed to all of the tenants to make them aware of the upcoming winter weather. This was a warning that would result in several days of freezing weather and to have the water shut off by 9:00 pm each evening and the hoses disconnected to minimize the risk of freezing pipes. So, I jumped back into my loaner car and headed back to the park to disassemble the hose from the spigot, covering it to prevent it from freezing and unhooking the hose from the RV. At the same time, I also turned on the heat and set the thermostat to 65 degrees to keep the RV safe. Looking around, I could see that the tenants had changed quite considerably and most of the parking spaces were full as several new RV’s moved in. Even the new site that was still under construction, had a couple of RV ‘s parked in them.
Satisfied that I had done my bit, once again I headed home to a couple of noisy little dogs all excited to see me knowing that they would be going for their evening walk. I will need to make another trip within a couple of days to check on the gas and change tanks if need be.
This is my permanent site at for least all of the time that I am at this Park. It all depends on how much longer it takes to sell the house and close out that part of the business but I do have it reserved until the end of June. Hopefully, I will be long gone before then but again, who knows what is in the future. I didn’t see these icy conditions coming either. BTW, as I write this, it is 33 degrees outside…
Written 02/11/2021
Don’t forget to check out the companion site at https://pondblog2011.com , my previous blog for more articles and poetry.
The remaining trophies. The picture behind is of Colorado.
As a part of the general clean up and preparation work that goes along with selling my home, I decided to take a look at the 20 or so trophies that still remained. At one time, there were over 60 of them all sitting on top of the cabinet on display and I might add, gathering dust. The funny thing with trophies is that the actual time of winning is much more important than the trophy.
They all belonged to the period of my life when I was not only playing but was also a very active soccer coach both at the Coed Soccer, Youth Soccer and also with Adult women. I had already donated the Youth trophies with the exception of a couple that I came across in the recent clean out which I will try to find a home for. The remaining 21 of them were won by a couple of very good Women’s teams who competed as Amateur and then later as Over 30 that I coached back in the day. The original team was named the Redstone Allies and was sponsored by one of the players, Mary, who was the owner of Redstone Ranch and although very pregnant, continued to play as long as she could. The team lasted 2-3 years and a new team, the Austin Allies formed as an Over 30 team. The players just progressed from one to the other as they reached the age limit. Both teams started off as Amateur Women’s teams playing in a local Women’s League here in Austin with varying degrees of success. Eventually, the Redstone Allies disbanded and the Austin Allies became the team to beat. The players competed in the local league and usually the Texas State Championship and always gave a good account of themselves in winning the State finals a couple of times. In one final, Lisa, who was a stand in goalkeeper with our regular one out injured, saved two penalty kicks to help us to the win. She was definitely the hero of the day. It was not until the team turned into an Over 30 team did they really come into their own. They made it to the National Tournament finishing second twice to a team from Dallas, our nemesis and finally becoming National Champions for the one and only time.
The team was so good that in order to get competition on a weekly basis, instead of playing in the local Women’s League they competed in the Men’s top over 30 division. The men were on the whole, both bigger and physically stronger but the women were way more skilled and played well as a team. In fairness to most of the men, they respected that the women were generally better skilled with the odd exception when a man would get tired of being beat by a women and would resort to having to foul them. Usually, following one of these fouls, the male would help the woman player to her feet offering many apologies. It was all good training for the many competitions that the team entered with a huge amounts of success travelling to such places at Oklahoma, Florida, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Utah, Colorado and California. For our local tournaments and games within driving distance, there would be as many as 8-10 players all crowded into my big blue travel van with me being the only male. They were so comfortable around me that I got to hear some amazing stories of the the most intimate kind as they chatted amongst themselves. One thing I learned is that a bunch of young ladies are far worse than a group of men when it comes to disclosing their most intimate secrets. It was as though I just was not there.
Sadly, like all good things, it was time to move on as eventually I decided to give up coaching Women and moved into coaching Youth soccer, a totally different challenge. In itself, it was very rewarding as I helped young and talented players to develop their skills and get a better understanding of the game in general. This lasted until I had just turned 72 when knee replacement surgery put an end to both my coaching and playing career.
Now all I have left are memories and a stack of trophies that I am looking to give back to the players, most of whom have retired from actively playing but hopefully still have the same memories of those wonderful soccer teams and camaraderie and teamwork that went along with it. Those ladies honored me on my 80th birthday with a party and it was great to see them again. Those were the good old days and some of my fondest memories, never to be forgotten.
Written 02/09/2021
Don’t forget to check out my other blog, Life and Day to Day things by a Pond Enthusiast. It is no longer active and has many stories, pictures and poems that I first started 10 years ago. The link is https://pondblog2011.com
The weather has turned very cold with blustery winds as we get our first taste of winter coming on. Almost right on schedule with the winter solstice starting on Tuesday, December 21. I don’t like winter or cold weather having lived in upper New York State for 10 years when I first came over from England before moving to Texas. I had more than my fill of freezing cold weather and 2 foot snow falls although I did have a snowmobile and enjoyed skiing. No, what I didn’t like were cars not starting in the morning unless plugged in to an engine block warmer and having to put on snow tires every year and of course that outside construction in general was closed down for three months. I also didn’t like driving on icy roads and not always having control over the vehicle. It didn’t help that the first frosts would come as early as late September and I remember that we landed from the Queen Mary on March 13, 1967 to wake up to 13 inches of overnight snow in the little town of Fort Plain, NY. My Mother had sent me pictures of one winter when the snow drifted up to the roof of her two story house. When I looked at it, I commented to my then wife on on how pretty it looked not thinking for one minute of the consequences that snow like that brings. Welcome to America indeed . With the exception of the February storms of this year, 2021 here in Texas which were the worst in all of the 44 years I have been in this great State, we normally only have a couple of overnite frosts, enough to kill the plants. These are gone by mid day and any snowfalls are generally just a dusting and lasting not more than a day or two. Most of any winter weather is finished by February. Maybe global warming is affecting Texas weather just as it is in many other parts of the World.
We went out for our first walk of the day and this time I was prepared with my jacket and hat on.The dogs don’t really care about the change in temperature as they bounded along with endless energy and curiosity of all of the smells. I imagine that as we are walking the park and outside roads that are traversed by many other dogs taking their humans, out walking, that the smells must be boundless and exciting to any dog. Sandy knows only one way to walk, nose down and full speed ahead dragging Mikey and I along behind her. I sometimes wonder if she wishes we weren’t there as we slow her down. That is until another dog comes along and then she is very happy for us to stand up with her. All 5 of the temporary slots in front of us are filled for the weekend or maybe longer. By temporary I mean used for overnight or short term campers, all pull through, all blacktopped and all easy to set up. I imagine with Christmas not far away some of them may be visiting relatives and friends in the immediate neighborhood. Maybe not…
We stayed indoors writing and working on pictures for most ot the day. I had given some serious thought to trying to get a hair appointment with Great Clips and then logic stepped in and trying to do that on a weekend when working people would be doing the same thing, didn’t make a lot of sense so I abandoned that idea for another day. I played around with my new Olympus camera attaching the hardware to it that enables me to use my belt carrier leaving my hands free. When I’m on the trails by myself my hands have the walking poles. When the dogs are with me, I usually have just one pole so I can control the dogs leash with the other, We use a split leash that has them both hooked up separately leading to a single handle to control them. I tried to carry the camera by the use of the neck strap that is attached to it but I still need one hand on it as I walk to stop it from swinging about. The waist harness is the most secure and the clip attached to the camera allows me to quickly get it up and/or put it away. So far, I have not put the camera to serious use but I want to start to carry it with me on our walks even just around the park. That was the whole purpose of buying a lightweight camera and trading in my two Nikons and all of my lenses anyway as they were getting real heavy to carry around. That is another thing growing old can do and that is finding a different way to manage ongrowing weaknesses both in strength and balance. For me, it is a lighter camera and a walking pole and both poles when I hike alone which I don’t do much of nowadays. One of the tenants in the temporary section right in front of me had some work done on his unit by a travelling RV mechanic. I watched as the man climbed under the RV and was pounding on a part of it with a hammer for some time besides doing other stuff. The problem was either in one of the slideout’s or with the trailer axle area. He eventually left after several hours work and I don’t know if he fixed whatever the problem was.
Monday 12/20/2021
Henly RV Park
We got up early as I had an appointment with my Dermatologist as a result of the biopsies from the previous visit. We went out for a short and uneventful walk before returning to Miss Daisy where I gave the dogs their breakfast and after consulting the clock, decided that I didn’t have time to eat at home and would stop at Starbucks on the way into Austin. I was busy thinking these thoughts and noticed that the grey tank needed to be emptied and went outside to perform this small task. With my mind elsewhere, I forgot to duck under the bedroom slide out to where the tank valves are located resulting in quite a bang on my forehead. The thing is, this is the second time in about the same number of days that I have done this and both in the exact same spot on my forehead. I cussed and swore a lot and stemmed the bleeding before continuing with my chores totally frustrated at my own stupidity. It seems that I knock myself a lot more as I grow older as my hands and legs are covered in places that I have made contact with something or another. Some of that has to do with the cramped space inside Miss Daisy. I guess when you are younger, the skin is much more flexible and gives a little instead of tearing as it seems to nowadays. At least, my balance is still good and if I do happen to stumble I can react accordingly. I even have a rope burn on my leg where we all got tangled up with the dog leash.
I was going to stop in the Starbucks in Dripping Springs but the line was almost out onto the road so I kept driving and hit the one at Oak Hill without too much trouble and continued on to the Dermatologist office n Austin only to be told when I walked in the door that I was a full hour early. Somehow, I had gotten the times mixed up even though they were on my phone resulting in me sitting in my car for an hour. At least I was able eat my breakfast sandwich and drink my coffee in peace before, an hour later, making my way back into the Doctor’s Office for what I knew would be the very last time. She went to work and removed the skin cancer in her usual methodical and I must say, comparatively painless way and after saying my goodbyes, I walked out of her office for the very last time after 16 years of her treatment. The drive home was uneventful and I toyed with the idea of trying to find a hairdresser but gave up on account of the recent treatment and drove back to Henly. As a reward, I treated myself to the second Latte of the day, pretty much an unheard of event.
The rest of the day was spent in the usual fashion with a much longer walk around the park and the outside roads followed by working on the blog.
As I plan to do all of my blogging in the future on this site, it will also contain a lot of items that are not immediately related to RV’ing and todays blog is a perfect example of that. I also write a lot of poetry and those too will also appear here. In fact, anything that I blog about will now be on this site.
Having said that, today’s topic is a review of the past couple of days as we slowly wend towards closing and selling this house and moving full time into the RV. Yesterday, I had to take the truck in to the dealership to have several items worked on. The main one as far as I am concerned is why is the “check engine light” is showing on the dashboard. That could be anyone of a number of different things and the cost could range up to hundreds of dollars. Hopefully, it will be some small problem that is easily resolved. Since I installed the larger gas tank, I have had problems with the truck not firing up instantly as it did previous to the installation. It still starts but turns over several times before catching which is another item on the list.
I mentioned in a previous blog that I had not noticed the old tank in the back of the truck until a couple of days later. Luckily for me, my truck salesman has taken that off my hands as he has a friend who needed a new one. Me, I’m just glad to have it gone as not only did it take up room in my truck which has limited room anyway because of the 5th wheel hitch but it also stank of diesel everytime I was close to the truck.
Covid Ford here in Austin where I purchased my last three vehicles, provided me with a loaner while working on my truck. It is a Ford (what else?) Edge and is a very nice little car, When you come to a stop with your foot on the brake, the engine shuts off to conserve fuel and the minute you release the brake pedal, starts back up again. Pretty neat. It also has a few other gadgets which I was previously unfamiliar with and which took me a few minute to work out. I’ll bet one thing is sure. It will definitely get better gas mileage than my truck does. I find it a little more difficult to get in and out of compared to the truck as it is much lower to the ground.
Since coming back from Henly a couple of days ago, I have not made much progress in actually doing much in the way of physical work regarding selling the house. I have contacted a couple of Estate Sales people to try to get someone interested in holding an Estate Sale of all that is in the house and sheds and am waiting on them to contact me. In truth, other than clean up and such, there is not a great deal I can do regarding the house except maybe check out whatever else I may want to keep as whatever remains will either be sold or trashed. Besides, my heart is not in it. Selling thirty five years of a lifetime plus all of the memories is difficult.
I have given the future of the Koi and the ponds a great deal of thought and have finally come up with a plan. What I am going to do is to have our local Pond Society do a “fish rescue” meaning they will catch all of the fish and then distribute them to the members who may need more Koi, some of which are thirty five years old and nearly three feet in length. There are also around a hundred goldfish that need new homes. Then, the ponds will be refilled and left running without any fish until the house is sold. At that point, the new owners can decide what they want to do regarding the ponds, keep them or fill them in. I would like to say that I will miss the ponds and the fish but in all honesty, that would not be true. Like so many things in my past, those are another episode in my very busy and interesting life and it is time to move on to other things, whatever they may be.
Well, I have spent the last three days here in the Henly RV Park for several reasons. The first and most obvious is for the joys of camping out in my RV. There are a couple of others like wanting to check out that everything is functional in the RV and that the campsite is everything I hope it to be. So far, I have not been disappointed in both areas.
I am learning more and more how to adapt the RV to suit our needs. “Our” of course, is me and my two travelling companions. When we first got into town, Dripping Springs that is as I have yet to find much in the township of Henly, we stopped at the HEB and stocked up with groceries, enough to last a couple of days which has now turned into three days although we do plan on going back this afternoon. I have some business in Austin to take care of which will take me through Thursday. After that, who knows although I really should stay at the house and do more packing and cleaning out the rest of my stuff. The problem is that my heart is not in it anymore and I just want out. Maybe I can find a company that will come in and complete the task for a percentage of any money I might make.
I have decided that I really like living in the Eagle. The small space is not a problem to me as I am not claustrophobic. Neither do I need a large area for comfort. My only complaint so far is my inability to get the TV channels that I really want to watch. I have bought a couple of gadgets to help with this and we are in the experimental stage to see what will work. I plan on exchanging the TV that is already installed with one of the newer ones from the house which should help in this area. Maybe I need an Dish antenna as well. I compensated yesterday by watching a football (soccer) game on my laptop. The new desk setup is working out great and I spend quite a bit of time at it. Building a new website does take time.
Yesterday, it rained a fine,misty, drizzly sort of rain all day. Not enough to stop us from walking but we did get a little damp. Today is sunny and warm and not a bit like a winters day. Well OK, maybe in Texas. Today, I have got to view several of my neighbors as they have gone about their business. One couple made several trips to the campground laundry, another came over to clean her RV and let her cat out. Not sure if she lives there as I have not seen her before but that is not surprising as I haven’t been here that much. I saw a couple of cats that another neighbor had let out and they scampered around for a bit before returning to their RV. This looks like it will be a very interesting place.
Now, I really do need to make some effort and head back to the “Bricks and Sticks”. I was going to head back yesterday and changed my mind and had to ask my neighbor to take a quick peek at the ponds. She is such a smart lady as when she contacted me, it was via video phone and I could see what the problem was and able to give her instant advice. Technology is a wonderful thing, sometimes…
A week or so ago, I moved the RV to a site named Henly RV Park located just outside of Dripping Springs in a little township of Henly. As far as I can tell, there is not much to Henly and the RV Park may be the largest thing in town but I have yet to fully explore the neighbourhood.
Henly RV Park Entrance.
I had a couple of reasons for moving the RV which I named Eagle. This is not only the model name as in Jayco Eagle but it seemed like a good name of choice for her. One reason for moving was because of its location in the driveway of my house and I was giving myself a kick up the rear end as I was perfectly content to let it sit there and was not making much headway towards getting the place ready to sell.
My plan is to spend time at both locations heading to the Eagle when sorting and packing my stuff gets the better of me. Knowing me, that will probably be as much time as I can spend in it. Sorting stuff that I have had for more than thirty years is no fun as much of it has not been looked at or touched in a lot of that time. Besides, I am moving from an 1800 square foot home into an area not much more than 200 square feet with not a great amount of storage space. I don’t ever plan on a permanent home again unless its an Old Fogies Home and I really don’t want that. Consequently, in my case, its a matter of selling, giving away or trashing the contents of the house except for the few things that I do want to keep which won’t take up much room. There are several items that in theory should have sentimental value but the practical person in me is not leaning in that direction and they too, will hopefully find new homes.
Space, especially storage space is of the essence in a Travel Trailer and cannot be wasted on frivolous things that will probably never see the light of day once installed in some closet within the RV. Hence the approach outlined above. I figure at the current rate of progress, it will take me a couple of months to get it all done and the house on the market. By that time, I will have made a decision on rehoming the fish.
Moving the trailer went very well. It is always better to have a helper if for nothing more than to give directions when hooking up the 5th wheel or helping to get the RV in position at the new site. Backing an RV especially one of the longer ones is no fun on your own. You gotta keep remembering that if you pull the steering wheel down on one side, the trailer will go in the opposite direction. It goes against all logic to the non initiated. I had that happen when I took it to Bastrop a few weeks back and managed to steer the RV pretty neatly between two trees. I couldn’t have done a better park job in a hundred years. Unfortunately, that was not where it was supposed go but at least I didn’t run into anything, that time. I had to drive out and start over. Like I say, it’s great with a helper but there is only me and the dogs and they aren’t very good at that sort of thing. Consequently, I spend a lot of time jumping in and out of the truck to check where I am heading/backing.
Actually as it turns out, I had a bit of help when I pulled in. I checked the site and I thought that I needed to raise up one side and was playing around at that when a young gentleman walked up and introduced himself as one of the owners. We chatted for bit and he told me that he was working on the new section of the park where they were adding spaces for about another thirty or so trailers. He helped me level the trailer which was nice of him and went on his way. As it happens, my next door neighbor pulled in just as I was trying to get the 5th wheel to disengage and having my usual problems. He gave me a couple of tips and the 5th wheel came free. These are the neighbours to my left that have the noisy little Dachshund. I finished setting things up and reluctantly, made the drive back home..
The trailer park is exactly thirty miles from my house or roughly two and a half gallons of diesel fuel. The new sixty gallon tank that I had installed in the truck this week will really help on the long trips meaning that I won’t have to stop every three hundred miles to fill up when we are on the road. Of course, filling the new tank costs at least $100.00 as the old tank only held thirty gallons and I could empty that really quick just driving around town. As you can guess, the truck does not get very good diesel mileage usually around 14-15 without the RV behind it. Then, it is closer to 10 mpg as long as there is not a headwind.
When I had the new tank installed and after paying my bill, I never thought to look in the back of the truck until a couple of days later and much to my surprise, the old tank and its components was sitting there. I called up the installers and they said that they had no way of disposing of the old tanks and left it up to me. More on that later
So there you have it, the start of my adventures with the new blog site. I wonder if many of my followers from the old site, https://pondblog2011.com will follow the new adventures. Here’s hoping.
This is the very first post written on the new site. The reason for the new site is pretty simple. I am in the process of selling my house and moving full time into my RV which means that I will probably no longer be posting about ponds. Unless of course, that my travels take me to some beautiful location that happens to have a pond or two worth writing about..
The point is that the title of the old site was Pondblog 2011.com and it was not solely restricted to pond articles as I used it to write about everything that interested me. However, I could not change the title to show that the blogs have changed and that there would be very little, if any pond related articles as the heading was also the domain name. The only way out was to take advantage of a free domain name that was offered to me and give the new site a title more suited to the content.
As a lot of my future blogs will be about RV ‘s and life spent travelling and living in an RV, this new site is named http://livinginanRV,blog Just like the original site, articles will not be restricted as to their content and I will continue to write about anything that interests me. The original site https://pondblog2011.com/ will always be available for any of you wanting to re read some of my blogs and poetry.
Thank you for your support over these past ten years. It’s been a wild ride… Written 01/21/2021
