I had left the electric heater on overnight to help compensate for the RV heaters and Miss Daisy was nice and warm when we crawled out of bed. It did little to help outdoors as it was still freezing when we went out for the first walk of the day. The heavy jacket did the trick for me, and the dogs were very frisky obviously enjoying the wintry weather. Our success is judged in how many times, they “go” and today was an outstanding day. Hell of a thing when success is measured by dog poop. We covered our usual half mile before returning to Miss Daisy for breakfast and coffee.
I had stopped filling the birdfeeders as I discovered that I was feeding the deer instead which accounted for the feeders being emptied overnight. I have plans for a couple of modifications but have not gotten around to it yet, so I decided that I would fill the feeders for our feathered friends during this cold snap and chance feeding the deer. Today, the birds started to visit again making the most of the free food and a welcome sight for me. So far, the deer have not paid us a visit.
The park is quiet as it is Saturday with a few people doing their laundry. It is easy to spot the laundry goers as they walk by in the same direction with their hampers of clothes. In an hours’ time, they will walk by again and then do it all over in a second hour as it takes two hours to do a load. Then they come trudging back carrying their clean laundry, good for another week or two. If they are single men like me, then good for two weeks, or in my case, until I run out of shorts, underpants, and tee shirts but if there are women involved, then only a week as they tend to be a little fussier on how long to wear something. Not saying that men are slobs about clean clothes, but we are not as picky in wearing something more than once. After all, isn’t that what camping is all about?
The temporary spots in front of me are all empty with the last one pulling out early this morning. This is surprising as usually; the weekends are when they seem to fill up. Most full-time campers tend to travel through the week, staying overnight at various locations and finding a campground for the weekend. Mine is a very nice, blacktopped site on the end of the row. I have an Airstream on my left which just moved in, and a vacant site far left behind me. I miss the antics of the Boxer dog that lived in the Airstream that previously pulled out though as he kept me amused, tossing his toys around.
The rest of the day was spent writing and then going for the final walk of the day.in which we covered 1.6 miles.
It was late when I crawled out of bed having slept well and the first thing was the walk around the park. It was still below freezing outside but the heavy jacket kept me warm. The coldest part of me was my face and not my legs as many people think. I guess wearing shorts all the time my legs are used to the changing temperatures. Now if it gets really cold, then I will have to rethink the shorts thing. We are scheduled for a couple more overnight freezing temperatures and then hopefully, we will get back to our normal Texas weather although, these past couple of winters have been much harder than what we are used to. Climate change and all that no doubt.
We walked around for about a half mile taking care to avoid any icy patches which still remained in the shady areas, but it was cold enough to be uncomfortable even for the dogs as they made a beeline home when I suggested it by a gentle tug on the leash. We had a leisurely breakfast before settling down to read emails although to be truthful, most of what I get are junk with only the very occasional one of any interest or that needs my attention. In some ways, that is not a bad thing but in others, it shows just how much I have cut myself off from all my friends and acquaintances of long ago. My choice, I guess but not intentionally. Our paths just went in different directions as we all moved on with our lives. Now, if I only had a way to control the junk email. Everything is thawing rapidly although I carefully knocked the long icicles off Miss Daisy for fear they would drop and damage her. The roads are clear although I have nowhere, I need to go for the next few days. Monday, I have a doctor’s appointment in Dripping Springs, just a short drive up the road for a regular annual checkup.
Late in the afternoon, I went outside as I had to hook up the hose to fill the freshwater tank for the next couple of days. Much to my surprise, the Park standpipe was frozen even though I had it covered with Plankets which are supposed to help in this respect. Melinda, the Park Super, happened to walk by and asked if things were OK. I told her the problem and she suggested that I pour some hot water on the faucet which I did, and which did the trick. However, when it came time to hook up my water hose, I discovered that it too was frozen even though I had previously drained it, or so I thought. Obviously not. Melinda brought me a hose so that I could fill my tank and stood by to help as needed. I thanked her profusely and she said that most of the park standpipes had frozen and they had spent all day working on defrosting. I stretched my water hose out by Miss Daisy so it would thaw and be ready to hook back up when this cold spell has passed in a couple of days. With water in the tank and everything covered up again, we went out for the afternoon walk. Altogether, walking a mile for the day.
It started to rain as I was going to bed which was not a good thing as there is a deep freeze warning for the early morning hours and sure enough, when I awoke, the ground was covered with ice and a light dusting of snow. I harnessed up the dogs but the minute I opened the door, I knew we were not going to walk very far as the rain had frozen and the ground and the road were covered in ice. We settled for the green patch outside of the RV and the dogs did their thing before they and I were glad to get back into the warmth of Miss Daisy. Needless to say, we have no plans for the day except to stay warm.
I spent time working on the blog and took a couple of pictures of the view from inside. There are even icicles from the snow on the roof that has melted, on the front windshield. A couple of brave people have walked by heading for the laundry room which is closed for the day because of the weather. The water in the park has also been turned off and will not go back on until tomorrow, weather permitting, which is why we filled our freshwater tank yesterday. One truck pulled in that was covered in snow and icicles and had obviously braved the roads outside. Who knows why? When I look outside and compare in my mind, some of the snow falls and ice storms that I was unfortunate to live through the first 10 years of my time here in America in New York State, what we have is nothing. The problem is that forty-five years of living here in Texas with mostly mild winters, at least up to these past couple of years, has spoilt me. Now, I am a Wimp regarding the weather just the same as the rest of the Texas population and I will take the hundred-degree summer heat anytime. That is until it actually gets here and then I will wish for more like this. We humans are never satisfied or maybe it’s just me.
I spent the rest of the day working on the blog. Turns out that I managed to get myself confused on the posting dates and had to spend time in straightening out my mess, again. This is the second time this has happened, a sure sign that I am growing old. I got it sorted in the end and was able to continue with the writing. I noticed that even though the temperature never got above freezing throughout the day, the ice on the roads melted away. Must be that the blacktop holds in some heat. As the afternoon wore on, the clouds began to dissipate but not completely as it was still a bit cloudy but much brighter although we never got to see the sun. Meanwhile, the icicles on Miss Daisy’s windshield grew longer and longer as the ice thawed off the roof. I noticed that they are not hanging straight down but are sloping off to the right a little which either means that the wind is blowing them in that direction or that Miss Daisy is no longer level. Something I need to check tomorrow. and maybe push a few buttons to re level her up.
We went out for the afternoon walk and the wind had a real chill to it. My face was very cold but my legs wearing shorts, were simply fine. Even the Super commented on my wearing shorts, but I just laughed it off. We covered a mile for the day which is not bad considering the conditions.
Today is the second day of the second month of 2022. 02/02/2022, a date I will never see again in my lifetime. The other even more novel one that is coming up will be 02/22/2022. That is a lot of 2’s and in 200 years’ time will be full deck of 2’s or at least as many that are possible under our calendar.
On our walk around this morning, Daniel, the Park Super stopped to chat with me and make a fuss of Sandy. She recognizes his Four-Wheeler and heads towards him, so he pulls over and they say hello. She does this every time she sees the vehicle. We chatted about the upcoming weather and the precautions to take before moving on. I do not need to do anything until later today and then it will consist of half filling the freshwater tank and disconnecting and draining the hose. It looks from the weather forecast that the freezing weather will only be at night and not during the day, which is a help, but it is scheduled to last at least 5 nights.
With nothing planned for the day, I sat in front of the computer and made a couple of appointments for next week before continuing with the blog. I have probably mentioned this before that I use Word to write as it does all kind of wonderful things with grammar and suggestions. I guess we all write by habit which can be repetitious, so I welcome the suggestions especially if it makes the blog more interesting.
I watched as the Airstream that pulled in yesterday across from me, hooked back up with help from other male campers and Melinda and moved to one of the more permanent sites in the new section. It helped that the owner was a pretty lady I guess in her thirties which would account for all the help although I am quite sure that those same people would help any of us if it were required. Yesterday, another Airstream that had been parked on the lower section for a few days suddenly appeared alongside me taking the spot vacated by my Boxer friend. So, it appears they are here for a while as their site is considered a permanent site. No Boxer dog to amuse me though. The weather is dull with rain showers as we head towards the cold front tonight, but I harnessed up the dogs and putting on my heavy coat, we braved the rain and cold and made a trip around the park. They did not care, only glad to be out. We did not do too bad as with the morning and afternoons walk, we covered a mile in miserable conditions.
The rest of the day was spent in the usual manner with food for us all followed by TV watching until it was time to go to bed.
The weather is going to get much colder as we have frosts forecast for the next several days. Shades of last February around this time when we had the worst winter in history. We will have to go through the usual winter precautions like turning off the water, draining the hoses and I cover the water source with light green sheets called Plankets that should protect it from freezing. If it gets really bad, the park will turn off the water anyway. I will also half fill my water tank which will see us through the nights. The biggest fear is that the electric grid might fail although I do have a generator that I can run and a propane heater to switch over to.
We went out walking as we usually do to check on my neighbors as they come and go. My neighbor from across the street has pulled out and another Airstream has pulled in. It would be interesting to know their stories as to why they do this and where are they heading but one of the beauties of living in an RV is that you can be as incognito as you want to be, or not. If you are of the gregarious type, the hail fellow well met sort, the extrovert, then this life may be difficult. For the rest of us that are more withdrawn, then keeping to oneself is not a problem. Unfortunately, or not, I fall into this category and although I like people well enough, most of them anyway, I do not need them to survive or maybe the word is exist.
I had to go into Austin to PostNet to get my mail which had accumulated over the past week. You must arrange a pickup day and time beforehand which I suppose is necessary for those who receive a lot of mail. In my case, it is never more than a half dozen pieces every two weeks or so. The one piece that I was especially looking forward to getting was my new driver’s license after all the worry it had given me. I collected it and this time around, it has a terrible picture. Looks like I am drunk, and it is a police lineup mug shot instead of the aging but still handsome old man that I am. Oh well, the main thing is that I am good for the next two years. After that, who knows…
I also stopped at PetSmart to buy a doggy gate that will go between the driver’s cab section in Miss Daisy and the rest of the RV. Someone and I suspect it is Mikey, has discovered it as a pee place for the night and although it is easy enough to clean up with the rubber floors, I need to point him to the pee pads that I put down in the night for just that purpose. I left a perfectly good gate at the old house when I sold it not thinking that I would need such an item in my travels. Oh well, I can say that about a lot more things that I wish I had kept but left behind because of the space problem or rather, lack of it.
From PetSmart, I went across the road at Brody Lane in Austin to the Home Depot located there and bought another small indoor mat to put in front of the sink in Miss Daisy. It matches the two that I currently have except I chose a brighter color to cheer things up a bit. I also stopped at another store to see if they have any of the Thick Cut Marmalade that I like as they were out the last time I was there. This time, I was in luck, and I stocked up with a half dozen jars and also a jar of Marmite, another English throwback. With this my last stop of the day in Austin, I just happened to drive in the direction of a Starbucks on the way home and naturally had to stop for both coffee and breakfast which I had missed with my late start.
I arrived back in Dripping Springs and stopped at the HEB to complete my shopping for the day. It was surprisingly busy and the lines at the checkout stretched back into the aisles even with all the registers working. I wandered around taking my time and carefully selecting the same old stuff that I usually buy. I am very much a creature of habit which includes a lot of the food I eat. I guess the old palate has accumulated its own tastes over the years and I like simple food. I am not much of a meat or fish eater, but neither am I a vegetarian in the strict sense of the word. It is just that food is more of a necessity than a journey and as I get older, just does not taste the same anymore. So, I settle for soups and salads with the occasional roast chicken or cooked sliced ham or turkey. My one failing is that I like a small ice cream for dessert. By the way, so do the dogs and they recognize the carton when I take it out and are all attention with a begging look in their eyes. So, one gets the lid and the other gets the tiny single serve carton, both with a little ice cream added for their enjoyment. I have no idea if it good for them, but they really do like the tiny bit they get.
We went out for our afternoon walk a bit earlier than we normally do as Sandy was giving me, “the look” which generally indicates the need to “go.” We walked around the park and out on the roads outside with her leading and pulling us in all directions. She never has a plan and is constantly changing her mind depending on which scent or smell attracts her the most. Mikey and I are just along for the ride although occasionally, I do exert my authority. We spent the rest of the day working on the blog and after the final meal of the day, watching television. Sandy was being a bug again which usually involves sitting on the couch and staring at me. If I make a fuss of her, this is normally enough to satisfy her as she is just looking for attention, just like most women. However, this time, she kept it up even after a fuss, so we had no alternative but to harness up and go out for a very short walk on the piece of grass outside of Miss Daisy. This was at 10:00 pm at night and it was dark but this short and I mean short, walk was enough and she and Mikey both did their business. So ended the first day of February 2022. Time sure does fly as you get older.
What shall I do today either in the form of play or work around my RV which goes by the name of Miss Daisy several things come to mind mostly of the playful kind for I really do not want to go outside in the wet and snow instead, indoors prefer to be warm and cozy in my RV my two little dogs snoozing sound no worries or fears for them around they are as safe as they can be keeping our company in Miss Daisy we really have nothing planned today take a walk where they can play outside on the trails or in the lane where we walk the paths always the same as other dogs who walked before taking their humans to explore the smells and sights that Nature brings when only the nose of a dog finds things interesting to them enough to smell causing them to pause and dwell in one place longer than the rest until it passes their final test and on to the next making progress slow as only the dogs really know just who or what created the smell which made them stop feeling compelled before moving on along the lane dragging me with them our paths the same returning back home to Miss Daisy cozy and warm inside the RV looking out at the mist and the rain knowing our life is not the same as it ever was before no idea what lies in store just as we live this RV life only knowing it has little strife and me and dogs are having fun in this phase of our life that has just begun.
It rained in the night hard enough to wake me but not for very long as I rolled over and fell asleep safe in the knowledge that Miss Daisy would protect us from the elements. Well, most of them anyway. It had left off when we finally crawled out of bed to face the day but was very overcast and the skies were very threatening. Taking the opportunity, we went out for our mornings walk covering almost a mile walking the outside road where we had previously spotted the buzzards. There was little left of the sheep’s carcass except bones and lots of wool. Such is the way of Nature and her own re-cycling efforts. Nothing wasted in her world unlike its human inhabitants who do not know the meaning of the word.
I fully expected my older neighbor to have left this morning, but he is still here. Maybe waiting for tomorrow which is the first of the month and a normal travelling day for those that are not constantly on the move. We do have overnight frosts forecast starting Thursday all the way through the following Wednesday, almost a full week meaning that we will need to follow the usual freeze precautions like disconnecting the water at night and making sure our freshwater tanks have sufficient water for overnight use. The freeze is not expected to extend into the day, just overnight. It was February of last year when we had the worst winter in living history for Texas. Sure, do not need another like that.
Miss Daisy is brand new and is a 2021 model. The only reason I went that route was that she was the only one available when I was looking for a Class C and she had most of what I was looking for. The “new” part was a bonus and of course, an added cost. Like all “new” things in the automotive line, they do not come without their problems and Miss Daisy is no exception. Even though some are covered under warranty, there is still the other problem of scheduling a date and time to get the repairs done. It is even worse in the RV industry as it is going through its own boom period. Consequently, when I called the RV dealership today to try to get the radio repaired or replaced along with the hub cap, the earliest that they could fit me in is May, later this year, 4 months from now. How do we do that if I plan to travel to New York State? I guess I could try to find a Ford dealership that could do the work sooner and hope they honor the warranty. If not, I will pay for it just to get the work done. I can live without the hub cap, but the radio is also my map and direction finder and is really a necessity. I have had to use my phone which although very adequate, does have a small screen. Amazing that as trouble free as my life should be, there is always something to add to the frustration. I wonder if they would do the work any quicker if it was a blown engine or something just as serious?
Taking a few deep breaths to relax myself. I thanked the guy I was talking to and hung up to consider my alternatives, which consist mostly of finding a Ford dealer that can fit me in without keeping the RV overnight or an RV repair place although it is a Ford problem and not an RV problem. At least I have a plan going forward. We have not had a wet, rainy day in some time but today is just that with intermittent showers and cloudy skies, a great day to be indoors which we did until it was time for the afternoon walk around the park.
Another quiet day here at the park. My next-door neighbor in the little Airstream moved out yesterday taking her wonderfully playful Boxer pup with her. That dog kept me amused for hours as I watched him play with his toys throwing them around and then doing it all over again. Gonna miss watching him. It turns out that the Airstream belongs to someone else, and she was renting it from them. Today, the owner and Malinda, the Park Super, moved the Airstream to the storage area freeing up the RV space for another resident. My other neighbor across the street that had all the repairs done, has dismantled his entry staircase and deck and has them loaded in the new carryall that he had installed a couple of days ago. It looks like they will be moving soon as well. Such is the life in an RV park.
RVs are built to move which is why many people live in them to travel and see this great country. Others have them as their homes set up in some RV park on a more permanent basis. Whatever the choice, living permanently in an RV is not for everyone. Twice as hard if there are more than one of you or a family. For one thing, the space is very small and confined and it is quite easy to get on one another’s nerves with no place to escape, except outdoors. For another, constantly traveling around and all that goes along with it can be a real chore. Of course, we do not have that problem as there is only me, Mikey, and Sandy, my two little travelling companions and we restrict our travelling by staying in the RV parks for a week or longer.
Originally, we were scheduled here for two months having business and medical appointments, but I decided that we should stay another month through the end of February, which is a short month anyway, before heading in the general direction of Fort Plain, New York where I have relatives I want to visit. That will not be a rush trip as we plan to make lots of stop along the way. After that, who knows except I will not winter out anywhere up north. Been there, done that.
We finished off the day in our usual fashion with a walk around the park in an effort to not only give the dogs exercise but also for me as well. It is really easy with nothing special to do just to sit around and that is not a good thing especially as I grow older. The day ended in the usual way with food and television. I found a spin off to Yellowstone named 1886 and watched the first 6 episodes of it. Life was tough back then and we think we have it hard. Give me a break.
It’s the weekend although to me, no different than any other day. I can remember as a working man that the weekends, Saturdays, and Sundays, were so welcome giving us the breaks we needed from our jobs and at the same time, allowing us to do the things we liked the best. In my case, most of the time was spent in some form of physical activity either by myself like working out in the gym or going on long hikes. In my younger days, I played football, the kind with a round ball, twice a week on both Saturdays and Sundays. To me, it was all about physical activity and team sports, the more the merrier. That was not counting maintaining the 5 ponds that I had built and the half acre yard at my old house. I managed to play football until I was seventy-two when I had knee replacement surgery which put an end to my playing days which is when I turned to hiking to keep active.
Now, as I age, most forms of real physical activity are behind me although hiking is still in my future. Not so much at the present time except for the mile or more that we cover every day. Hiking by myself or with my friend BJ is one thing. Hiking with two dogs, albeit of the small variety presents a different set of problems. I do not trust them off the leash which means that they are always attached to me whether by my hand or hooked to my belt making it more difficult to walk and take the many pictures that I like to take along the way. I like to hike using two walking poles but with the dogs, I can only use one. The poles not only help my balance but also my walking speed. Back at the old house, I could leave them as they had a doggie door for both exercise and natures calls. Cannot do that in my RV which is why they always come with me. Oh well, we just got to make adjustments as we age. That is what life is all about, learning how to do things a little different to make it all work.
Today is a beautiful sunny day with not a cloud in the sky. The Park is very quiet with hardly any activity going on as people enjoy their weekend. I sat at the computer and worked on the blogs. Somehow, I had managed to get some of them out of sequence and it took quite a while before I finally had them straightened out. I tend to write several at a time before adding the photos. They get posted Monday thru Fridays. I reserve Saturday for the poems I write and then nothing is posted on Sundays. It took a couple of hours to straighten out my mess following which, as frustrated as I was, we all went out walking in the fresh air to clear the cobwebs from my overworked mind.
I awoke really late after sleeping like the proverbial baby and it was almost 10:30 am before we rolled out of bed. Our walk around the park and the outside lane was uneventful and we managed to cover a mile this morning. The day was sunny, but the air was very brisk, and I was glad of the heavy jacket. The big dog was out and barked us a warm welcome as we walked by, but his smaller buddy was not to be seen. A quiet morning with very little activity around the park.
Back in Miss Daisy, I prepared breakfast for me, nothing exciting, just a bagel and coffee and did not feed the dogs their normal canned food as they appear not to want to eat it. They will not starve nor is it punishment as there is always plenty of hard food for them in their bowls. They just got to decide just how hungry and how spoilt they really are before eating it. Maybe, they only need feeding once a day.
With nothing planned for today after such a busy day yesterday, I settled down to answer emails and write the blog. I spent a couple of hours working on both the blog and on trying to find a lost file in Adobe Lightroom which is the program that I use to work on my pictures. I never did find it but was able to re-create it with no pictures or touch ups lost. I do not know if it is my computer, but Lightroom is extremely slow, and it takes forever to load stuff. Just adds to my frustration.
We went out for a final walk of the day and covered a total of 2 miles. It was very chilly with a brisk wind adding to the discomfort. We took the walk on the road directly outside of the park that leads down the hill. There is one house that has a couple of big dogs. One is very friendly, but I am not sure about the other. It barks a lot and does not make any attempt to be friends even though Sandy tried. Luckily, they are both on the other side of a strong fence. As we walked, several vultures took off as we approached. I could see that they had been feeding on the carcass of a sheep that had died from something. Such is Nature’s way to not leave anything unused even when it is dead as it provides food and nourishment for something else that is still living. Nothing gets wasted under her system. Not like us humans who are the most wasteful things on the planet. We continued our walk to the end of the road and on the way back, the vultures were still perched in the tree waiting for us to pass by before resuming their important clean-up work. We finished the walk, and I was glad to be back inside to the warmth of Miss Daisy for the evening which was uneventful.
We got up early as I knew we had a busy day ahead of us and I wanted to make that early start so as not to be late for my Dentist appointment, scheduled for 1:00pm. We went out for a short walk around the park and then returned for breakfast. I was originally planning to leave around 11:00 am but instead set out at 10:00 am as I had added another stop to the trip, this time to my Optometrist. The new glasses needed a minor frame adjustment as they were pinching my nose. This was the first stop as it was on the way in and as luck would have it, I was seen immediately and in no time flat, was out of there and on the way to PostNet to pick up my mail. This time of the year, mail is more important than normal as some of it is tax related. I sat in the car and opened all the letters checking to see just what I had and if any of it was important enough to be worrying about or only normal stuff that is handled routinely. Luckily, none fell into the former category so with a big sigh of relief, I headed to Walmart’s to do some shopping as I had an hour to kill before the final assignment of the day. I wandered around checking stuff out and convinced myself to buy a couple of towels to cover the seats in Miss Daisy to stop the dogs from dirtying or damaging them. I also bought food as that was the principal reason for shopping there.
I headed for my last stop to my Dentists to get the caps installed to which I was 5 minutes late and was directed to the dreaded dentist chair. My memories of such visit’s years and years ago were of needles and pain as back then, Dentistry was not as sophisticated as it is today. I was there to get the new caps installed and after a bit of gum numbing on the back of a cotton swab, the Dentist got to work. It took quite a while for him to remove the temporary caps and he had to resort to using his drill and breaking them off in pieces, he had done that good of a job in attaching them. He then went about the task of fitting the new caps and had to make several adjustments before finally attaching them in place. He was immensely proud to show me his workmanship through his mirror and I have to say, they looked great to me too. In all of this, which took a little over an hour, there was no pain or discomfort and no use of any anesthetic although he offered it if I needed it. He did an excellent job and as I had paid in full the previous visit, I walked out of there a happy man, with any luck, not to return until the next teeth cleaning which is due in 6 months’ time. Who knows where I will be then?
I found a Starbucks on the way home and rewarded myself with a latte and a piece of Nut bread which lasted all of the 10 seconds, the latte a bit longer, before making the drive back to Henly. This time, I took a different route home just for a change, driving past Zilker Park in Austin and recalling the many, many hours of enjoyment playing soccer there in my younger years. Next to Zilker Park is Austin Botanical Gardens which is now home to many of the very large Koi that I raised in my old abode before donating them to this park.
The rest of the drive was uneventful, and I arrived back to two little dogs who were overjoyed to see me. I made a fuss of them and then put away the groceries before taking them out for their walk. We actually covered 2.4 miles for the day which included walking around Walmart’s for me.
I got to thinking about the world and the way our lives unfurl as we live from day to day usually in the same old way with habits long established ways as we spend each passing day doing what we did before hoping for just a little more of the things that please us the most for in our brain, we are the host of all the things that happen each day and each in its very own way either pleases us in our wildest dreams or into darkness plunges where it seems that there is no way out then with an almighty shout we rise again on top of the world with trumpets sounding and flags unfurled ready to face another day even if it’s the same old way for life for us doesn’t change a lot which is good for us less we forgot that our time here is not very long we need to enjoy it with a smile and a song and live each day to our very best hoping that we pass the test although in the end it is my belief that the spiritual end that we seek will return us to Nature where we began to be a part of her promised land.
Today was another of those with nothing planned of any importance and it started in the usual fashion with a long walk around the park where we covered a little over a mile and then breakfast for me. Both dogs are ignoring the canned food that I normally serve them and if they get hungry, there is always the good old standby, hard food. I vary the cans so if they do not like one, I try a different kind but lately, nothing seems to appeal to their very fussy tastes. Some of that is due to the fact that they get the chicken skins and such from my evening meal and it has made them fussy. Me, I warmed up a burrito and made coffee and I was all set probably until the aforementioned evening meal as I very rarely eat anything through the day. Occasionally, I might make an instant coffee but not often. If I am out and about and happen to pass a Starbucks, well that is a different story although just lately, I have not had much luck at the local Starbucks store as you may have read if you follow my blog.
Today, the sun is shining and after the last few miserable days, it is indeed a welcome sight. Funny how the sun can change the spirits and make a person feel good especially this time of the year. It is winter after all but here in my part of Texas, very mild compared to other parts of the country. Yet, we still complain if it gets cold or we have the occasional frost or snowfall. There is just no pleasing some people, including me. I like the sun and the feel of its warmth but when it gets around the 100-degree mark then I hibernate inside in the air conditioning. There are limits after all.
My neighbor across the street who had his carrier re-installed on the back of his RV must have some problems with it as both he and Darryl, the park super, are working on it again. I too have a couple of things I need to work on like the bird feeder that I must rig to stop the deer from tipping it and eating the seed and then indoors, I have a large wooden cutting board that I use to cover the stove and give me more worktop space. It needs a little work which is as simple as attaching two small pieces of wood, one on each side to raise the board up to make a better fit over the stove. Of course, in order to do any of this, I will need to locate the right tools which I have somewhere. Maybe tomorrow…The trouble with this RV life is that unless something is essential or an emergency, it is easy to put it off for another day. Me, I would rather write. When I stop to think of how I am today compared to how I was a few years ago when nothing was impossible or beyond my capabilities, I really am but a shadow of my former self. So much is mental although the physical side is not anything like it was. I hate growing old as I am sure does the old guy in front of me and probably 50% of the people in this park. The other 50% are still too young to realize they are growing older. Besides, they have their whole life in front of them unlike those of us that have already lived most of ours. Any years we have left are a bonus.
I spent a couple of hours trying to reset up the indoor camera. I had it set previously to where I could click on the app on my phone, and it would give me a current view of the inside of Miss Daisy. Very nice and re-assuring for those times that I had to be away for any length of time as I could see the dogs in real life. I had it situated on the bunk area so that it gave me an interior view of the RV but during one of our travels it was dislodged and has never worked since. I played around doing this and that and then doing it all over again but to no avail growing increasingly frustrated after each attempt. In the end, I had to admit defeat and put the darn thing away to try again another day. Not that another day will make much difference, but it did give me a chance to ease my frustrations by taking the dogs out walking instead, something that I knew I could do without too much trouble and managed to get in 2 miles for the day.
We met this very inquisitive sheep walking the roads outside of the campground.
Another dull and miserable day weatherwise although it was not actually raining, just damp and foggy and on the chilly side. I put on my heavy jacket with the hood to take the dogs walking and we strolled around the park and on the outside road for a bit before returning to Miss Daisy. One of the dogs, Mikey I suspect, had found a corner to pee in which I had not noticed before. The problem was it had soaked under the single mat that I have inside of Miss Daisy. Luckily, it is in an Indoor-outdoor mat, so no actual harm done. I took the mat outside and hosed it off and left it to dry and then went about the clean-up needed because of the dog pee. I also sprayed with anti pee spray in the hope of deterring both dogs from going indoors in the future. Mikey and I had a serious discussion as to his actions and he acted very contritely as I lectured him. I hope he got the message. No good further punishing him as he would not associate it with the peeing. He needs to be caught in the act for anything to register, and I suspect it all happens at night when I am asleep or during the day when I am away.
With the clean-up done, we settled down to breakfast and coffee following our usual routine. Included in that routine, are the taking of the few medications and supplements that I take daily except for my memory loss pills which are taken at night. if I can remember that is. I spent time on the blog and worked on a few pictures as we have nothing officially planned for today. I decided that I should do laundry but I still have plenty of clean clothes so there is no real urgency. I thought about it for a bit with one part of me saying, “Let us do it now” and the other part saying, “Nah, leave it for another day.” I thought of a couple of other excuses like, “Maybe there are no machines available,” and “It can wait until tomorrow.” Then I reminded myself that tomorrow never comes and, in the end, I sucked it up and headed for the laundry room as I really did not have anything else to do. I should mention that prior to that, I had to go through the dreaded change the sheets on the bed routine which I have complained about before at least a half dozen times. This time, it went much smoother as I think I have figured out a way to make it work and twenty minutes later, the bed was made.
I usually drive to the laundry room rather than carry the heavy laundry bag plus detergent and today was no exception after having previously watching a gentleman carrying an empty bag, go into the room. I sat outside waiting for him to come out knowing that with him finished, there would be at least one open machine. True to form, the washers closest to the window were both open and I split my laundry between the two. This time, much to my delight, I managed to get the app that not only pays for the wash but also lets me know of the progress, to work, although it did not register the same time for both machines for their completion time. It was off by 10 minutes even though both were set the same. Go figure. I headed back to Miss Daisy to wait for the next phase of putting everything in the driers. When both machines showed, by the wonders of modern technology and this same app that the wash cycle had completed, I walked back to the laundry room and transferred everything into one dryer adding several sheets of static control, and then, back to Miss Daisy to wait it out. By checking my phone periodically, I was able to tell when to go back. Love this system when it works. With the clothes all folded, I headed back to Miss Daisy and then took the dogs out for their evening walk. The rest of the evening was spent in the usual fashion which included putting away the freshly laundered clothes.
We got up late as I slept late after a peaceful night with no wild dreams or thrashing around and went out for a short walk. It was a dull and miserable looking day with a lot of moisture in the air. I could feel my clothes getting damp as we walked although it was not actually raining. We did less than a half mile before returning to Miss Daisy. Thank goodness that we have no plans for today as it came on to drizzle harder as we ate breakfast, and it really is a dull and gloomy day. Reminds me a bit of the English weather which was one of the reasons that prompted our coming here to America in the first place.
Following breakfast and a kitchen clean up, I settled down in front of the computer. My recent neighbors from across the street have all pulled out including the parked truck and trailer in the lot next to me. My other neighbor who lives across, must have had problems with his Airstream as he had towed if off about a week ago but had left his mats and such still outside, a sure sign that he was returning. Today, I noticed it was back in its parking space so hopefully whatever was wrong has been repaired. On our walk about this morning, we usually walk the park to see the comings and goings and there is a brand-new Airstream parked in one of the lower lots. They really are nice rigs. I wonder why I never really looked at them. Probably because they are so expensive, and I was set on a Class C because of the ease of travel, setup, and parking.
I had received Birthday wishes from the Salesman that had sold me Miss Daisy, a nice gesture on his part which also reminded me that I needed work done on her, most of it of the service and warranty nature. I emailed him and am now waiting to hear back. The problem with having any work done on Miss Daisy is that as I live in her full time and unless the repair shop has space and hook ups for overnight stays, then I will have to make other arrangements like a Motel, for the time it takes to do the work.
I worked on different things and even wrote a couple of poems to pass the time which will get posted on Saturday which I have designated as my Poetry Day. It had stopped raining, so we went out for the final walk of the day around the park and out on the lane leading to Hwy 290. For some reason, both dogs had a strong interest in whatever was in the breeze on the far side of the road and spent a lot of time just sniffing the air. Of course, I could not see or smell anything, so I have no idea what interested them. We got to see the two Zebras that are in the fields across from the RV park but not close enough for a picture. Have not seen them in a while and it is nice to know they are OK. Altogether, we covered a little over a mile for the day. Not bad considering how miserable it was outside.
We finished off the day in the usual way with food and drinks and English soccer on the television.
Sunday, start of another week here in Henly. Compared to last week when we had something going on nearly every day, this week is slow, so far. I do have a Dentists appointment on Thursday to get the new crowns installed but other than that, nothing else. We did our short walk around the park in the morning with nothing unusual going on. It was cool but this cold front has passed on and there is nothing in the forecast for the next several days. It is quiet around the park but as today is Sunday, it is supposedly a day of rest. Not that it makes any difference to us as every day is a rest day unless we choose otherwise.
I went into Dripping Springs to the HEB and did some shopping although not needing a great deal. On the way out, just on the off chance they may be open, I stopped at the Starbucks and saw a lengthy line of cars so felt hopeful that I might get lucky. I watched as the car in front of me, pulled up to give its order and then turned out of the line and knew without bothering to stop, that they had closed and once again with customers in line. It is though they have a clock that switches off all the equipment at whatever is the designated closing time for the day. Sure enough, as I passed the order kiosk, there was that sign that said, “Sorry, we are closing at ….” If they got to close, at least put the sign at the start of the drive thru. I drove home and had time to bring in the groceries before taking the dogs out walking. I covered 2 miles for the day, the dogs, not quite as much but as they do not count the miles anyway, it does not matter for them as in my mind, a successful dog walk is that each one does his or her business at least once. More is a bonus (for me).
Back in Miss Daisy, I put the groceries away and then went about preparing the evening meal for us. Currently, I am on a salad and chicken kick, the chicken, one of the Roasters from HEB. The dogs like this choice of a meal as they get their share of the chicken’s skin and such. The problem with that is they will not eat their canned food even if I mix it as they just pick out the best parts (chicken) and the rest sits. Their choice, their loss. As Marie Antoinette is reputed to have said during the French Revolution, “Let them eat cake” in this case, let them eat dry dog food. The rest of the evening was spent in the usual fashion watching the television with a glass of cheap wine.
I awoke late, surprise, surprise to a beautiful sunny day. It was still cold out but no longer freezing as we walked around the park and the outside lane and managed to walk 1.3 miles making it a good start for the day. We passed the two dogs that live in a house along the way and was greeted with a very noisy reception from them. Obviously, we did not belong in their territory. We walked on past and continued for a bit before heading back to Miss Daisy for breakfast.
Generally speaking, it was a very quiet and slow day. I worked on emails and then the blog for a while and then a few other things that needed my attention. I turned my attention to Miss Daisy where the radio/everything else are on one big screen that supposed to open when the ignition key is turned on. It is a fold out unit and has never worked properly since I had it. I tried to get it to work just to be sure that it did not as I need to contact my Crestview Salesman and get it replaced because it is still under warranty. A brand-new vehicle and this unit has never worked right. So much for quality control at the Ford end.
Getting an RV worked on when it is your only home, is somewhat of a challenge, unless it is a simple problem and easily fixed. That is why, it is easier to use the travelling mechanics that come to you rather than take it to the repair place. Those mechanics do not work on warranty projects or anything to do with the Ford parts of Miss Daisy. Some of the repair shops, are set up to let you stay in the RV at their place of business while the work is being done if it is only an overnight thing. With this being a warranty repair, Miss Daisy will need to go Georgetown and hopefully for a one-day repair. More on that later.
There has been a lot of activity across from me in the temporary lots. Temporary in the sense that short timers park in these pull through lots before moving on. I watched as an Airstream appeared to be setting up. I had not seen it come in or noticed it in site 33 where it was now parked. I was busy and not paying attention but the next time I looked, it was gone. Later, two others pulled into the same row and set up. One of them had also parked a tow vehicle pulling a large, covered trailer in another space and the two occupants joined one of the new RV’s. They must be caravanning and had to book two lots even though one is just used as a parking place.
We went out for our afternoon walk and managed to cover 2.1 miles for the day. We are averaging between 10-12 miles a week consistently which is surprisingly good when you consider it is all short walks around the RV Park. Gotta stay fit somehow as I can’t run and jump anymore and my weightlifting is now limited to 5lb and 10lb hand weights, that is, if I can find them. Sure, they are around somewhere. The rest of the day was spent in the usual fashion.
The old way to travel. You didn’t need a license for one of those.
At long last the time had come six years after it had begun to make the trip a distance far in my trusty little car forty miles to a place well known a place my friend has her home Bastrop is the name of the town and in that place can be found a DPS office where I could renew my driver’s license and some could argue that at the age of eighty-five why on earth would I want to drive and the simple truth that I live alone dependent on no one as I have shown for the past thirty-six years not by choice and with many tears my only company in all of that time were the pets who I could always find close by when I needed a friend keeping me company to their end giving me love and raising me up if they felt I was down in the dumps so, I made the trip and made good time arriving there just to find a small wait and fill out a form answer questions that I had to brainstorm take a picture and fingerprints too acting dumb like I haven’t a clue and before very long I was on my way with a new license with which I could play at living my life as I want it to be travelling the highways in my RV.
With the excitement of having yet another birthday out of the way and hoping that they never end, we settled back into our normal routine although not without incident. Sandy was demanding that we get up in no uncertain terms which is unusual for her so I deemed she must have an emergency on hand and quickly threw on my clothes and we hustled out of the door. Neither she nor Mikey could barely make it to the small patch of grass outside of Miss Daisy which is considered as “mine” before relieving themselves. I knew something was wrong before that as one of them, I suspect Mikey, had an “accident” inside of Miss Daisy overnight luckily on the floor and not on the floor mat which I cleaned up on our return. It must have been something I fed them that caused their upset tummies. After cleanup, I went back to shaving and showering that I had foregone in view of Sandy’s urgent and desperate pleading.
I refrained from feeding them any sort of canned food for breakfast in view of their upset tummies and if they get hungry, they can eat the hard food which is always available to them. It was cold out on our walk, and I was glad of the heavy jacket. We did not see any other dogs walking their humans. I made breakfast and coffee for me as I did not have the same problems as the dogs and felt perfectly fine and we settled down to our normal routine. We do not have anything planned for the day except for maybe a trip to the local HEB. I really do have to find something interesting to eat for my evening meal as most of my latest efforts have been very disappointing. Even the stew I made in the InstaPot was a disaster and just did not taste right. Something was missing but I do not know what. Food has now become just a necessity something, I must do to stay alive. I do not eat for the pleasure of it except for things like ice cream or chocolate or something similarly as bad. Oh well, like everything else in my life, things are changing.
I sat and wrote for a while and posted a couple of blogs before deciding that I really needed to go into Dripping Springs to the HEB store and get some necessities. There are a few staples that always need replenishing, bread, wine, frozen food, more wine, milk, and so on. Oh yes, did I mention wine? Actually, I am very good and always limit myself to no more than two small glasses an evening and I prefer white over red, and it is always of the cheap variety. As I know nothing about wines, cheap stuff tastes just as good to me as the more expensive variety. I noticed that about 50% of the shoppers wore masks and it looked an even split between young and old. I wore mine and the one good thing is that my new glasses did not fog up anywhere near as much. I have no idea why not but maybe it’s the different lens size or the lack of frames. With the groceries stowed safely in the Jeep, my next move was to stop at Starbucks as I had already forgiven them for their previous lack of service only to discover that, yet again they were closed due to the shortage of staff. They must be losing money hand over fist.
I drove back to Henly, and I was met by my two little buddies ready to go walking. First though, I put the groceries away with lots of help, I might add before we trucked off around the park for the last walk of the day. I remembered that I had to add water to the freshwater tank for the evening as another frost was forecast which only took 10 minutes before unhooking the water pipe from Miss Daisy and covering the water spigot so it would not freeze. Just like in a regular house where one covers the outside faucets, we do this it is to prevent the hose from freezing up and either bursting or causing damage to either the RV or the water standpipe. Putting water in the freshwater tank gets us through for however long there is danger of freezing. That was our last chore of the evening apart from the usual food preparation and clean up before settling down to watch the television. So ended another day, the first of my new year as an 86-year-old. Funny, I don’t feel any different…
We did not have much planned for today except a trip into Austin to CRN, the company that builds and colors the teeth implants that we are currently working on. They needed to confirm that the coloring was correct and would match my existing teeth. As this was not until later in the day, we went about our usual business of dog walks and breakfast before settling down to read and answer emails.
The appointment was for 1:30 pm which meant leaving by 12:00 pm to make sure to get there on time. I hate being late for any appointment and usually err on the early side preferring to wait around rather than be rushed or even worse, late. The traffic is so unpredictable especially with the road construction going on Hwy 290 in Oakhill. I did arrive 30 minutes early and per their instructions, called them to let them know I was in the parking lot. Twenty-five minutes later, I got a call to “Come on in”. I must have spent 5 minutes in the office as they matched colors before I was out of the door and on my way home. Before leaving the parking lot, I thought and thought if there was anything that I needed in any of the stores before heading back to Dripping Springs, but nothing came to mind. I stopped at the Farmers Market there but was a bit early and rather than wait around even more today and not really needing anything, came back to Miss Daisy and to two excited little dogs.
My neighbor across from me who had first problems with one of his slides and then having to get the rear bumper on his RV re-welded back on, had James, the travelling repair person stop by again. He had mentioned that the slide needed parts and that is what they worked on this time around. With such a busy week, I was glad to not have anything specific planned for the rest of the day. We went out walking as is our customary fashion and met a couple of other dogs walking their owners along the way with Sandy doing her best to make friends. Mikey not so much. Altogether, we covered 2.0 miles for the day.
01/20/2022 Thursday
UT Cheerleaders
I woke up to a big day in my life, my 86th birthday although there were no fireworks, marching bands or pretty girls in pom poms to welcome it in. It was quite literally freezing when we got up this morning, and I had to put on warmer clothes, except for the shorts and I haven’t decided just how cold it needs to get before I wear long pants although my metal/plastic knee replacement does get a bit cold. I think I wore long pants maybe a half dozen times last winter, and it was the worst winter on record so more of an exception. It’s not that I have anything against wearing long pants, but I am a creature of habit and wearing shorts is who I am.
We went out for a very short walk and even Sandy was ready to come back in for breakfast and coffee for me. I sat in front of the computer and read a bunch of emails many of which were of the congratulatory sort from friends and well-wishers before it was time to go to Northwest Austin to PostNet to pick up my mail which had accumulated over the past couple of weeks. On my drive back to Henly, I stopped at one of the Starbucks stores on the way as the company had offered me a free drink or goodie of my choice for my birthday and after all the money that I have given them over the years, getting something free from them was too hard to turn down.
Arriving back to be greeted by my wonderful companion dogs who always miss me and make me feel special when I return, I promised them we would go out walking, but I had to check emails first. I wish I had done this while I was in Austin as one of them was from my Optometrist telling me that my new glasses were in and ready to pick up. Cursing silently under my breath, I jumped back in the car and made the 12-mile drive back to the Optometrist’s office where I tried on and walked out with the new ones. They have improved my vision quite considerably, thank goodness. I even went a bit fancy, and the glasses are almost frameless, very lightweight with big lenses all in an effort to get as much vision as possible to my old eyes.
The drive home was uneventful, and we went out for a very short walk around the park. It has been cold all day with a strong wind and trying to rain. With the temperature hovering around freezing, any sort of precipitation is not a good thing, and we are under winter precautions here at the park. This means to fill up the freshwater tank in Miss Daisy or at least, have enough water in it to last a couple of days and turn on the pump inside the unit and disconnect the hook up to the city water to see us through this cold spell. Hopefully, it will not be too severe or too long. I do have a backup space heater of the tower type that swivels from side to side, and it does mean wearing a sweater inside Miss Daisy. The bedroom is the warmest of the two rooms so if we really get cold, that is where we will go and crawl under the covers, but I don’t anticipate that having to happen.
The rest of the evening was spent in the usual way with food, wine and television, nothing special or different. So ended my 86th birthday. The many birthdays wishes that I received, some from friends and acquaintances that I have not heard from in years, was very heartwarming. Long gone are the days of birthday celebrations and wild parties or just plain old having a few beers with my mates. Now I celebrate reaching one more year in this journey of life and wonder what the next may bring.
