A little "twist"er on things. . .

We left the RGV on Monday. Made it to Houston and on Wednesday put my 92-year old Mom on a plane nonstop to Indy. First time she had ever flown by herself, but she had always insisted this was what she wanted instead of having a "babysitter." I put her in a wheelchair right away and got a gate pass so I could go with her to the gate. Southwest Airlines was wonderful with her and I left her in good hands. We decided to exit Houston once her plane was off because bad storms were headed our way. Actually by the time we were pulling out of camp, my sister had already intercepted her at the Indy airport and all was well. We drove to Kinder, Louisiana, to try and escape the storm chasing us there.

Along the way my sister reported that 15 minutes after leaving my Mom at her house to "take a nap" she had fallen and they were awaiting the ambulance. Turns out she cracked her pelvis in 3 places, but thank God, who was watching, there were no broken hips. She will soon be transferred to a nursing home for rest and rehab. I know my Mom will try. Surgery was not called for because neither hip was broken and this is the standard treatment. I'm sure she will always use a walker from now on but we all thought she should have been anyway and she refused. I asked Mom if she wanted me to come to her and she said, "Heavens no. There is nothing you can do here. I'm being cared for." So we will move on and in two weeks will be back to check in on Mom once we arrive for doctor appointments as we planned. I only get to see my grandkids twice a year for one week as it is and Mom knows how important that time is.

In the meantime, we were at Coushatta Indian casino and Red Shoes campground at Kinder, Louisiana, to dodge that storm rolling through Houston and had a tornado hit our campground at about 5:15 am yesterday morning. It flipped a 30' trailer over about 100 feet from us and then passed on to the perimeter fence where it took out about 600 feet of board fence. Then it crossed a small field almost directly hitting a house, tearing the roof and twisting and downing trees around it but leaving the main house intact. Before crossing highway 165 it hit a new motel and left the metal roof in pieces strewn across the lawn and highway. Next time I vote for staying put.

Power was out in the camp till noon when we left. We heard the occupants of the trailer were okay. EMTS and workers arrived very quickly and pulled the residents out the top which was actually the side escape window since is was laying on its side. I think it would have continued to roll but it had rolled into a picnic table which seemed to hold it.

Living in the midwest all my life, I've seen enough tornadoes for a lifetime and don't need anymore. This one was so quick, almost just a microburst of wind, but the telltale twisting of the trees was there.

We are now in Zachary, Louisiana, visiting Terry's cousin and wife. We had a fish fry last night which is second to none at Gary's since his hobby for 30 years has been as captain of a fishing service off Grand Isle. Hmmmm hmmmmm good.

Take care, and stay safe out there.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Moving right along

Once we left the Intracoastal Park, we drove on to Houston and stopped at Advanced RV Park in Pearland. We arrived on Tuesday and went to visit my cousin Jim.

Jim continues to recover from a cardiac event from a few years ago. He has started Scuba diving again and is looking forward to a trip to Cozumel in March to dive in open water. Good luck Jim. Hope that all goes well for you.

On Wednesday, we had a doctor's appointment for Terry with a new cardiologist in Houston. In the past four years, all his doctors/specialists have either retired or resigned, going into other lines of work. A really sad thing to have happen as a result of changes in the health care system. So he has all new doctors. None have known him  before and we struggle to make sure they know what is going on with Terry. But he had a good report and we are good for another six months.

Wednesday evening we headed out to Hobby Airport to wait on Mom's plane. Her plane was almost a half hour early in arriving, so we wanted to make sure we allowed enough time. I was able to get an NPE (non-passenger escort) pass, go through security and meet Mom at the gate. My niece Kellie flew down with her and saw to it that she had good help. Mom was surprised to see me there, and we all got a ride on a cart by one of the airport stewards and we got to baggage where Terry was waiting. Kellie had left us earlier because she had another flight to Las Vegas to catch.

We got Mom's luggage and walked to the car which wasn't far away and off we went. I had made some homemade soup that was waiting for us when we got back and we had a late supper, then off to bed.

The next morning we got up early and drove 300 miles to Edinburg, Texas. It's only 40 more miles to the park, but that would have meant setting up in the dark and I did not want to do that. So we spent the night and Friday we drove on in.

We got to the park in Mission at about 10 a.m. on Friday and worked the rest of the day to get things opened up and all systems running. We got Mom's water and electric and gas all turned on and she was happy to piddle around in her trailer. We carried over her luggage and the few things we had brought with us and she spent time getting things in order.

Saturday morning we left around 8 a.m. and went to Walmart to shop for groceries. Mom wanted to get stocked up on things so she wouldn't have to go for a while. We got a few staples as well.

The biggest challenge for Terry was the golf cart. A battery post had literally been dissolved on one battery. He had never seen that happen nor had anyone else. For 8 years he has gotten it ready to store and nothing like that has ever happened. So he thought it might require all new batteries, because replacing just one will lead to the others failing. But the batteries seemed to be fairly good. Terry got on the internet and found a YouTube video which showed how to "fix" the missing battery post. I took him out yesterday to get what he needed. He came home, performed the fix, and she ran! Best part was that it cost $4 vs $500 for all new batteries! Whoo hoo! O Happy Day! So we put it on charge all day and night and it's fully charged this morning! Hope it all holds. Mom has her wheels back and I am grateful for that.

We continue to whittle down our list of stuff that needs to be done. The Texas Room is in good shape and we are busy getting stuff out for the Thanksgiving season.

All is well here! Mom is happy in her trailer and we are doing well. Duchess has had many walks already. She is always willing to go. She remembers familiar things around here and she is certainly happy that Mom's trailer is occupied again!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Leaving the RGV behind

We left the valley last Saturday, March 12, around 9:10. A lot of people came over to say goodbye, chat a bit. We made some new friends the last few months when some renters moved in across the street. Les and Aggie were a lot of fun . . . even if they are Canadian. LOL And some other Canadian friends of theirs came later. Sandy and Danny were back for year two. Danny is the rocker I have posted pictures of. We hated to leave these new friends, but they will all be back next year.

The plan was to drive to Wharton and stay at one of the parks there; but as we drove on, the parks did not look too appealing and the ones we would consider were already full. We ended up driving all the way to Houston and staying in Advanced RV Park in Pearland, the same park we stayed at last fall when we were through the area. The rodeo was going on at the time, so we decided not to go anywhere while we were there for overnight. The traffic was pretty bad as the evening wore on.

The next day we got on the road about the same time and traveled to Kinder, Louisiana, to the Coushatta Casino RV Park. It's one of the nicer parks you will find at casinos and we parked next to the dog park, so it was convenient with the dogs. We met and talked with another camper who is talking about going fulltime and was picking our brains for details. A lot of people talk about it, but I'm not sure how many act on it. You really have to not care much about "stuff." If you are in love with your "stuff" you won't be a happy fulltimer.

Cousin Gary called while we were there and said that his yard was quite saturated from all the rain they had over the past few days and suggested it might be hard to get our motorhome in/out of his yard. Not wanting to tear up his yard or our rig, we had already decided on seeing if they would meet us at a campground and spend a couple nights with us. So we met up at Lakeside RV Resort in Livingston, Louisiana. We arrived after they did, but just as they were getting parked, so it worked out pretty good. We parked right next to each other. The park was having a spaghetti dinner that night, so we signed up for it. We went over to the hall about 5 and got in line for dinner. We were all seated at tables facing each other and after dinner we were asked to introduce ourselves and tell a little about us. There were several who have just started out fulltiming. So many of them, however, go fulltime and then just live in the same RV park 100% of the time. To me that is not what fulltiming is all about. If weather is too hot or too cold, you can spend a lot in fuel or electricity trying to stay comfortable. The fulltime lifestyle is really about moving along and seeing this great country.

We spent the next day with Gary and Jo. We first hit Camping World in Hammond where we found few bargains but did get some stuff. We headed over to Mandeville next because Terry liked the name. What can I say? That's what happens sometimes. It appears the old part of town may be gone due to Hurricane Katrina, but we did find a little cafe for lunch that had really good food. Later we drove to Lake Pontchartrain, which we could access from the town. We walked out onto a fishing pier with the causeway bridge in the background and took some pictures. The bridge is 27 miles long. We didn't drive on it, but perhaps someday we will. What an engineering marvel! We have actually seen it from the air flying to Brandon's before.

Once we got back to camp, Gary cooked fish on the grill for supper. It was really good. We enjoyed our time with them and glad that they could take time to come camp with us.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Houston!

We finally made it to Houston. We arrived on Sunday in time to watch the Nascar race. It was raining pretty hard, however, and we weren't able to get the satellite to work. Once the rain slacked off, the picture came in and we were able to watch it.

Today we went to Terry's cardiology appointment. We were seeing the doctor who did the implantation of his new ICD last year. He is a really nice doctor and we really like him. We had to wait a bit to see him, but there had been a death in his family and he apparently had to take some time off, so they were squeezing everybody in. No problem for us.

When we got done there, we drove over to my cousin Jim's house. He was waiting for us. We had a lunch of grilled cheese and tomato soup and it was really yummy. Jim is doing well and it was great to be able to visit with him this afternoon. We always enjoy touching base with him. His sister Pat will be arriving in a couple weeks and then they will both go back to Oregon for Christmas.

We are staying in a different campground this time. This is Advanced RV Resort in Pearland. We could not get a campsite at our regular haunt here in Houston. But this was a very nice camp. A bit further away from where we needed to be, but certainly do-able. I was able to do laundry here and got all caught up. With all the rain, I had lots of towels to wash from drying the dogs off, etc. I used my washer as well, but took two loads to the laundry here in the park. It was close by and cheap.

Tomorrow we head to the valley but will likely stop short of going in. We like a short drive the last day so we can get in and take our time setting up. It is dry there right now, so we want to get in before it starts raining again.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Back to Houston

We really do like Houston and we lived here for three months 4 years ago while Terry underwent treatment for prostate cancer. That was successful. He didn't have surgery because of heart issues, but had the proton beam radiation. Thank goodness for choices today.

We will get into Houston later this morning or early afternoon. I have been up since 4 a.m. Grrrr. I hate stinkbugs. I had awakened and while laying there trying to get back to sleep, I felt something crawling on my arm. I jerked (my usual response to unknown creepy crawlies), then jumped up and got my little flashlight I keep at my bedside. Sure enough, there it was, so I ran to get a kleenex, but couldn't find it when I got back. Not to be outsmarted by a stupid bug, I kept looking till I found him and quickly grabbed him and did the quick flush with him. Ugh. I hate those things. So there's no getting back to sleep after that stimulus, so here I am blogging a bit later. Quick note:  I keep a flashlight bedside so if I have to get up during the night, I don't step on the dogs laying at the end of the bed. Butterscotch is the same color as the carpet and the flashlight has saved her getting stepped on multiple times!

We are in Houston for Terry's followup following his new ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator commonly called a pacemaker/defibrillator) placement two weeks ago. We commonly call it his "super deluxe auto a$$ kicker" because if it goes off, that pretty much sums up what it does. The previous device had used up its four years of battery life, but fortunately for Terry, it never "administered appropriate therapy." Tomorrow he will get the itchy tape off and a quick incision check then he's good to go.

Tuesday we head back south the the Rio Grande Valley with a stop back here at Gateway to the Gulf RV Park in Victoria, Texas. We are going to meet some other fulltiming friends who will be there for a doctor's appointment. Whoo hoo!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Getting ready to roll again. . .

We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with Mom and Dad yesterday. I had fixed all my side dishes in disposable pans, so clean up would be quicker. We had turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green bean casserole, dressing and rolls. Then Mom brought cranberry salad, a relish tray and deviled eggs. We didn't make big portions of anything, so we wouldn't have so many leftovers to eat, but it was still a lot of food. It was all good, except the dressing was a flop. I pretty much know why. Next time I'll try my regular recipe. After dinner, we watched TV for awhile and just visited. It was a great meal and a great time with my parents. I really cherish these times with them.

Today I decided to get the Christmas tree put up. I was worried about whether or not I had enough time to decorate since it was already 1:30. By the time I finished the tree I looked at the clock and it was 2:30. Hahahaha. So I got more decorating done inside the Texas Room, but didn't put anything outside yet.

On Saturday we are heading back to Houston because Terry has to have his incision checked for his ICD and at the followup they we check to make sure the device is continuing to deliver the proper treatment for him. We are taking Phaeton Place and stopping in Victoria on the way up for a night and then will drive on in to Houston on Sunday. We will be staying at Lakeview this time. We will head back down to Victoria on Tuesday and will stay the night there. We will be meeting up with some friends who have to be in Victoria for a doctor's appointment, so we invited them to lunch at Mumphord's BBQ. Can't wait!

Once we get back down here, things will pretty much be back to normal which means relaxing for the next couple of months. We didn't get our "bling" out yet because we knew we would be leaving to go back to Houston. So we will be doing that when we return. The weather has been pretty good since we arrived. We have some cool nights, but it is warm during the day and coats have not been required.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Time Stands Still . . .

Last week we left cousin Gary's and traveled to Paragon Casino in Marksville, Louisiana. We had been there years ago and we weren't disappointed. It's a beautiful campground and very well laid out. The sites are all 75 feet long, so you can pull in and take your time unhooking later if you like. It is full hookup with 50 amp and is a Passport America Park. We camped here for $11.23 a night. WOW!!!! We stayed two nights and went to the casino. The first night we didn't score anything, but we made up for it the next day. We aren't serious gamblers, but it is fun to play a bit.

When we left Paragon, we drove down to I-10 by way of Coushotta and the Red Shoes Indian Casino. We had lunch in the parking lot and spent about an hour playing the slots. Not as lucky here, so didn't stay long.

We drove on to Beaumont, Texas, and spent the night there. On Monday morning, we drove on in to Houston and are in the South Main Street RV Park. We went to the medical center and dropped off some documents of Terry's to the doctor we hope will change out his ICD. The battery is nearing the end of its life and it has been signaling every day now. We could go back to Indianapolis, but who wants to do that in this cold and blustery weather. We hoped to be able to find a doctor here who would change it out. Terry called and talked with his office last week and they said they could see him this week and change it out the next day. Apparently she hadn't done her homework because when we went to the office to get the paperwork done, they didn't know about any appointment. Isn't that the way it always works? So he has an appointment for tomorrow at 2 p.m. We are hoping that the doctor will change it out yet this week, but we will just have to wait and see. If he can't do it this week, we are shooting for sometime after Thanksgiving. We are ready to get down to the valley.

The weather here was nice when we got to Houston, but has been nasty since then. It got cold, but I'm sure everyone reading this knows that as it got cold over most of the country. . .EXCEPT for Florida where Brandon is. I saw on Facebook the other day where they declared it "HATE FLORIDA" day. LOL Once it got cold here, then it started to rain. So that has been nothing short of miserable if you have to be out in it.

A big plus being here in Houston right now though is that my cousin Pat is visiting her brother Jim so I get to see her. I first saw her last spring when she was visiting Jim. It had been about 40 years since we had seen each other. They lived in another state growing up, so we only got to see each other every summer, but she was always my closest cousin. We are the same age and always enjoyed each other. Still do. She has been helping me with some of my "yarn" projects as she is quite the accomplished knitter. Her Mom, my Aunt Ginny, was a great knitter as well and passed that on to her children. Pat and Jim are flying back to Oregon for the holidays, but we may get to see them again before we leave.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Heading out. . . and more family time!

Saturday morning we said goodbye to Mom and Dad and our other neighbors and friends and headed north from the valley. Our plan was to stop in Sinton at a different campground and then head into Houston and Lakeview on Sunday. The camp, however, turned out to be "less than advertised" which is almost the norm, sad to say, and we took a run through the park and back out onto the highway. What were supposed to be "pull-through" sites were actually "back-to-back" and not really useable for big rigs. So we drove on to Victoria to our favorite camp there, Gateway to the Gulf. We got a back-in site and after wrestling the "spotter" duties from the park person, I got Terry in there first try. I don't understand parks which insist that they spot campers into spots. I know they are worried about their pipes, hookups, etc., but in addition to my being concerned about those things, I am also worried about the four corners of the rig as well as what's over the top of us. They try to use the same instructions for everyone weather they are in a small trailer or a big Class A. I am going to start having a "release" they have to sign saying if they mess up and we end up with damage, they will be responsible for it. Nobody does my rig better than me. Period.

After getting set up, we took off to Mumphford's Place BBQ, our favorite in the area. We hadn't planned it, but since we drove further, it was handy. LOL We got up on Sunday morning and drove into Houston and into our spot in Lakeview.

Sunday evening we drove over to my cousin Jim's house. He is recovering from a heart event from last year and his sister Pat is helping out. She lives in Oregon and is a retired registered nurse, so he has some good help. He is making good progress and when his brother was here a few weeks ago, they both rode in the Tour deHouston, which is what Jim was doing last year when he was stricken. Jim rode his recumbent trike while Rick rode one of Jim's other bikes. They rode 20 miles which is a remarkable feat for most anyone!

Pat and Jim hosted a dinner party Sunday night and we had lasagne, bread, salad, and apple cake and ice cream for dessert. Yum yum. Even got to bring home some lasagne and salad to eat on the road. There were other guests, all people we had met when we were living in Houston for Terry's cancer treatment. We were often invited to Jim's home to share with other friends and we have come to know these people well. Such a great time and we all enjoyed the company and the visit with friends and family.

We returned this morning and visited one last time with Jim and Pat over lunch. Pat will be there probably another month, then head back to her home. It has been great that Jim has had family to help him and we were glad we got the chance to see his sisters while they have been here.

Tomorrow we head north looking to stop at Motorhomes of Texas to look at Foretravel coaches. They have some sharp ones listed on their website. Just gonna look at what they have. Then it's on to Henderson to see some friends.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Cousins!

Last Thursday, we took Mom and Dad to Houston in Phaeton Place to visit some family. We left around 8:15 a.m. in the misting and cold wet weather and made it to our planned stop in Victoria. Once we got there, we unhooked the truck and we all went to Mumphford's BBQ. I had taken them and Nita there for lunch when we brought Mom and Dad down in October and they really loved it. It was just as good this time and since we went in the early afternoon, there weren't many people there. There were customers, but it wasn't crowded, so that worked out great. Afterwards we went back to the motorhome and turned up the heat. We had finally run out of the rain/mist and we were hoping that was it. We stayed in the rest of the evening and went to bed early.

Mom and Dad were in the bedroom, so we put an air mattress in the living room. Some time during the night, the air started leaking out and we suspect the valve wasn't tightened. We didn't want to use the pump at 2 a.m. fearing we would wake up Mom and Dad, so we opened the couch and slept there the rest of the night. We were able to get out the backup air mattress for the second night out and that worked great.  On Friday we drove 115 miles on to Houston and parked Phaeton Place at Lakeview RV Resort, where we had spent three months when Terry was undergoing cancer treatment. We had lunch and then we headed out. We took Mom and Dad to see where Terry's treatment had been and also past the Astrodome and the Reliant Stadium. We also passed by the main hospitals in the area which have changed a lot since their last visit.

We then went to visit my cousin Jim. He is having some health challenges and his two sisters have been taking turns spending time away from their homes in Oregon to help him here in Houston. I haven't seen the girls in over 40 years and we planned our visit when they would both be there.  It was so good to see them all. Jim and his wife Lillian you may remember from my blog of a couple years ago did a good job of keeping us entertained when we were here for Terry's treatments. They invited us to dinner parties frequently, a Super Bowl party, and gave us lots of information on where to go and what to do to keep us busy. We will always be grateful for that time. Jim's wife died suddenly about 14 months ago and he was stricken four months later. But he is back on the road to recovery and is making good progress. 
 
We visited all afternoon, then headed back to the motorhome. Mom and I had made a couple casseroles that were ready to pop in the oven, so we had a good dinner waiting on us. It was still cold and wet out, but the wind had died down, so it was easier staying warm. We spent the night there, then headed back home to the valley Saturday morning. We are back home now in Mission and it was a bit warmer yesterday and today.

I hope it won't be as long before we see each other again, Cousins

. We had a lot of fun talking and did a bit of catching up, but we have lots more to talk about!

Till next time. . . 

Dale

Frogs!

Before I talk about frogs, I wanted to share some photos of our journey out of Texas. First, about 60 miles from Mission is the Falfurrias checkpoint on 281N. This checkpoint is featured on "Border Wars" and is known for the amount of illegal drugs seized and for the smuggled illegal aliens that are found in vehicles passing through the checkpoint. Fortunately we sailed right through.

A day later we were in our spot at Lakeview RV Resort so Terry could touch base with his radiation oncologist. Great news! His PSA is lower than it ever has been and at two years out, they now consider that his cancer has a less than 5% chance of recurring. He talked a little about the controversy surrounding the use of the PSA test as a routine screening test for prostate cancer. The doctor said, "In your case, it saved your life." He released Terry with the understanding that his internist order a PSA every year and send him the results. So thankful we are. While we were there, we passed by the Reliant Stadium and the Astro-dome. The Houston Rodeo is in full swing and, as you can see, Styx was playing there Monday night. No we didn't go.

Monday evening we visited with my cousin Jim who lives within three miles of our campground. He fixed us a lovely dinner and we stayed and chatted till time to leave. It was great seeing him.

Today we left Houston and stopped at the Welcome Center for Louisiana for lunch. The site is built on a bayou, so we went out back to take some pictures and enjoy the sun briefly. What we found were some "NOT so Welcome Signs" close to the water's banks. LOL We also saw a lot of crawfish ponds along the road. We have seen these before and they normally alternate planting rice in the ponds and raising crawfish.

We drove on to the town of Rayne, Louisiana. This is the Frog Capital of the World. We drove into town and saw some frogs. LOL They have frog statues all over the town. They are all the same pose, but are painted up very differently. Some have themes to them, etc. There are also many murals painted on the buildings. Interesting little town, but I think that is their only claim to fame.

I did take some pictures of their cemetery. They claim it is the only cemetery in the world that has the gravesites running north to south instead of east to west. Graveyards down here are very different than Indiana ones. Here they have concrete boxes above the ground. I guess you'd call them mausoleums, but they are for one person. Occasionally a family will be buried together in a larger one, but almost everything is above ground. It's really kind of creepy and I tried to make sure "nothing" followed me out.

We had a nice dinner this evening at Chef Roy's Frog City Restaurant. It was quite good. I had shrimp and Terry had a shrimp pasta. We eat out very rarely and this was a real treat.

Tomorrow we are heading to New Orleans and will be visiting with Gary and Jo, Terry's cousin and his wife. They are bringing their motorhome down and we are all camping at Bayou Segnette, near the city. What great fun!

Till next time. . .

Dale

The Rodeo is coming to Houston!

It's no surprise that the rodeo is coming to town. The dates this year are March 1-20. . . yes, that's right. . . about 3 weeks worth of rodeo. The action all takes place just about 3 miles from us at Reliant Stadium, Reliant Arena, and the Houston Astrodome. We have been forewarned about traffic.

The are places to park, but we are told the best thing to do is to go to the metro station and park, then take the train in to the grounds. We aren't completely sure we want to go and brave the traffic and the crowds. It sounds like the entire town of Houston must come out on a daily basis. We have heard tales of waiting for 3 hours for a shuttle bus and that is at 11 p.m. when the rodeo shuts down. We really have no desire to get caught up in a real mess, but everyone says we must do this at least one time. We shall see. We may get brave.

This weekend is the BBQ cookoff. There are teams here who compete for producing the best chicken, pork and brisket barbecue. Saturday is the best time they tell us to go. Our neighbor here in the park says he will get us tickets which will allow us to go inside his tent. . . the tents are by invitation only. It might be fun to do that.

This morning we were seeing off our friends, Dave and Reba. They had returned to MD Anderson in order for Dave to have some cancer surgery. He has been a little sick all week and was running a low-grade fever yesterday, so they would not do the surgery. They will be returning in 4-6 months for another attempt.

While they were hooking up, we saw a wagon train on the road beside the park. It was a trail ride and I think it signifies the cowboys all riding in off the range to compete in the rodeo. I particularly like seeing the horses. So many beautiful animals. Some of the carts were drawn by mules also, and there were a few ponies in the group. Everybody was having fun and enjoying the ride.

Today was Terry's 18th treatment. Monday he is half-way done. He is having a little fatigue, but tolerating everything really well. He is anxious to get everything wrapped up and get out on the road again.

Till next time. . .

Dale