One more stop!

The end of our trip begins tomorrow. After 48 hours of torrential rain, thunder, and lightning, the weather is finally clearing up. High winds will end tonight and we will make our way to Virginia. By the end of the week we will be arriving in Pennsylvania. A few weeks there (hopefully) and we will make our way to Old Cedar in Monroeville, NJ, our final stop on this trip.

Then, on September 1st, we will begin The Big Trip, heading to the mid- and Northwest to see some of our country's great parks. And anything else along the way that catches our fancy. 

All fixed!

Last week we were in Red Bay getting RV things taken care of. We had made an appointment to get our satellite dish repaired. Last November a lightning strike nearby killed our ability to watch satellite TV. We knew the strike was close, but had no idea how close. Close enough as it turned out;  it shut down our dish. I replaced a part on the roof, but that didn't correct the problem. 

Our appointment wasn't until Tuesday evening, so on Monday, I started calling people to clear up our list: we had tree scratches down both sides of the rv from a wrong direction heading from our GPS; our door was extremely difficult to open (Nancy could not get it open, and I would have to bang the bottom across from the hinge with my knee to open it); we had some scheduled engine maintenance to get done; we needed the armrests of our chairs fixed as metal corners of the frames were threatening to rip through the fabric; we had a leak somewhere on the roof that had water coming through one of our medicine cabinets; and although our main awning was replaced in December after being torn apart during a storm in August, we could not get it to open. Only the satellite and engine work were scheduled ahead of time. It's not good planning to just show up and request to be put on the schedule, but we tried anyway. We were lucky. I was able to schedule Wednesday morning at a shop to check our door and awning, and got a maybe from a paint shop for the scratches. I stopped several times at a custom shop and finally got someone to come down and see our armrests. The guy took the armrests off and suggested what we needed to do, then left. I was able to do what was suggested, and got the armrests back in place. No mean feat, let me tell you!

While we were at Marjorie's in Texas we had mail-ordered some rugs to cover our tile floor, but one needed to be cut and trimmed to fit around our cabinets. So we laid out the rugs and marked them, then took them to this shop where they cut them and bound the cut edges. Perfection! And from the scrap they made us a mat for in front of the galley sink. We liked the results so much we had new entryway rugs and step covers made to coordinate with the new rugs.  

On Tuesday afternoon we went to the satellite shop. Even the technician had difficulties finding out what was wrong, but he eventually did. In the process we upgraded our system. He also looked at our cable system and found out why our cable TV would not work. Apparently several years ago when the manufacturer replaced the floor of the water bay (under warranty) where the cable connection is made, they had done a shoddy job of fastening the internal connection to the cable. So he tightened that up for us.

Wednesday morning we went to the other shop and in about an hour our door and awning worked like new. We went back to the rv park and waited till our appointment in the afternoon for our engine work. There they replaced all the fluids and discovered the coolant reservoir had numerous internal cracks in it 

which needed to be replaced or the internal pressure might have caused it to leak or possibly fall apart. Our luck it would be when we were on the road. In the process, several bolts on the frame broke from rust and a part of the frame needed to be replaced. All legitimate because I watched all their work and witnessed everything.

While this all occurred, the Tornado warning siren in town went off.  We had been expecting violent storms in the area, but when that happened,  I made reservations for an overnight stay at a guest house so the mechanics could get to their homes and get make whatever preparations they required, and we headed to the storm shelter. There were actually 2 funnel clouds about 3 blocks away, but they never touched down.

After that excitement we headed to the guest house where we spent a comfortable night. 

Thursday morning was taken up by the completion of the engine work,  then we headed back to the rv park. I spoke to the paint specialist i had spoken to on Monday, and he cleared Saturday morning for the work on the scratches.

Friday was a relax day, then very early Saturday morning we had the paintwork done. The scratches, some deep, were only in the clearcoat. They were sanded out, buffed and polished, and it now looks great! He also found and repaired the leak on the roof (we hope). All this took most of the day, so then we went back to the rv park.

Sunday, Nancy did laundry. I don't think we did anything else that day. Monday morning we left Red Bay and drove over 6 hours to Sevierville, Tennessee. We set up our rv, then headed to Big Daddy's for pizza. The best we have ever had! We were there last year and just loved it. 

Yesterday we went to Smoky Mountain Knives, a shop that bills itself as the world's largest knife shop. It has four floors of every knife you can imagine. It also has a newly enlarged gun shop where I saw a handgun I liked very much. We returned from there and one of our sinks drained extremely slowly, so I took the pipes apart and unclogged and cleaned them. I also reversed the hot and cold connections as they needed to be switched to keep up to standard. Today I went back to the gun shop and purchased the handgun, which I can get when we get back east, as it has to be sent to a Federal Firearms Licensed dealer first.

We are going to relax the rest of the week. We are expecting bad storms and possible tornadoes tomorrow, but the rest of the week will be fine. We will leave sometime next week, stopping in Virginia, then heading to Pennsylvania, where we have to move our stuff out of our daughter's basement to a storage facility, as she is moving out of the house. We will get to Monroeville,  NJ, hopefully by mid-april.

And now you are caught up!

Did I really say "Once a week"?

Okay, it's been more than a week. More like eight or nine. But we're back on-line. Hope this finds everyone well! We have been busy "workcamping" at Marjorie's, lol!

Lasr weekend as we were getting the RV ready for our departure Friday morning, we had wanted to disinfect our fresh water system as it been 2 years since the last time it was done (it's supposed to be done every 6 months). In doing so, we discovered our water filter canister had cracked after freezing during the winter storms we had here. We would not be able to have any flowing water until fixed, but we had to wait until Monday to overnight order one. All the dealers in Texas were out of them, as many RV owners had the same problem. We had to order it from our Rv manufacturer here in Alabama.

We received it Tuesday afternoon and quickly completed the work. But in the process found another filter housing that had developed a hairline crack and was leaking. Fortunately we had a spare on hand, replaced it and was able to complete the fresh water tank sanitizing.

Before we left Marjorie provided us with a list she had compiled showing that we had completed at least 65 projects. From small size to large. We are glad to have assisted, but they are already compiling a list for our next visit. On the more positive side, we did get both of our Covid shots, so we are good to go. And go we did.

We left Friday morning and drove 333 miles north, and east of Dallas, to an overnight campground named Shady Lake in Sulphur Springs. Just an overnight stop.  Saturday morning we drove another 183 miles to Downtown Riverside RV Park in North Little Rock,  Arkansas, right on the Arkansas River. Then today we drove to Memphis, TN, through Mississippi, and finally arrived at our destination in Red Bay, Alabama. Hopefully some of the workmen will return our calls and we can get our repair list completed. Nothing to do tomorrow but relax. Tuesday we get our satellite system repaired, Wednesday the RV fluids changed and our tires rotated, and the rest of the week waiting to fit in the other workers.

So I'll update this blog as things occur. Stay tuned!

Inauguration Day

As of today we have a new President! Let's put politics aside and work together as one nation towards the common good. If things don't work, we can change the course of our nation in another four years. Let's all be positive.

Since New Years Eve, we haven't had much to share. Just finishing up our work around this home, which has turned out well. We did two on-line painting evenings. Here are Nancy's paintings:

and here are mine:

Hey, nobody said we were artists! But we are doing another round on Sunday night.

My sister Marjorie and I have been learning Hebrew conversation from audio DVDs. She is doing well, but it's difficult for me. Too much vocabulary with a lot of gutteral sounds!

Last Friday we got our first covid-19 shots (Pfizer vaccine). The center was very organized. One station to sign you in, the next for the shot, a third where they automatically schedule your 2nd shot, and a 4th where you wait for 10 minutes to ensure you don't have a reaction to the vaccine. Our next shots are scheduled for February 5th. We hope everyone can get theirs sooner than later.

Because not much is happening, I will be posting a new blog once a week, otherwise there wouldn't be enough to write about.

Until the next post, be safe!

New Year's Eve/Day

 We hope everyone had a fun yet safe New Year's Eve! For dinner on NYE, everyone had filet mignon (from TrimRite Meats in NJ) and broiled 8-10 oz. lobster tails, along with green beans and French fries, and served with Dom Perignon, 1988. Everything was made to perfection.

We scheduled our first Covid-19 vaccination shots for January 15th. So that means we won't be traveling like we had expected. We will now be here until at least mid-February to allow time for our second shot. We ordered a few things from local stores we needed for our reorganization, and used curbside delivery, where they bring the items from the store and put them directly in the back of your car. Keeps everyone safer that way.

NYE day, we continued with our redesign and reorganization of rooms, furniture, etc., but only for half a day. We installed and configured some Wyze lightbulbs and a security camera, installed the software on Mom and Marjorie's phones, and created automated schedules for all.

Today, the 2nd, everyone continued with the reorganization, and we set up a corner desk for use as Mom's sewing area. 

Now it's late, so once again, Buenas Noches!

Catching Up

A lot to catch up on! To those of you readers that kept looking for a new post, sorry! We were afraid that Mom or Marjorie, my sister, would be looking at the blog so we decided it best not to write anymore. Since we wanted to surprise them upon arrival we felt it best not to write anything more. More on that later.

While in Nashville, as you know, on Christmas morning a distraught person blew himself and his RV to kingdom come, damaging 40 buildings, hurting 8 people, and causing internet and phone service throughout Northern Alabama, parts of Georgia and Mississippi. We were about3 miles as the crow flies from the explosion. A Christmas to remember for many Nashvillites.

On Christmas eve we called for a reservation at Little Rock KOA right on I-40 for two days hence, but they had availability for that Saturday night. We then left a message for Downtown Riverside RV Park, an RV park situated right on the banks of the Arkansas River. We had stayed there last year and found it to be a well-maintained campground.

On Christmas Day we received a phone call from the manager who, although they were off for the holiday, stopped into the office just to check for messages. Very fortunate for us, and also that they had one site available for us right on the edge of the river. Before she even finished speaking, I accepted the site (we had no other options). 

On the 26th, we woke to 18 degree weather, wind chills of 5 degrees. We planned to leave for Little Rock by 9:30 AM, but didn't get to leave until 10:45 AM. When we were ready to go, one of our levelers had frozen to the ground. I played with the controls, banged the leveler with a small sledge, then crawled under the RV and finally was able to raise the leveler with a drill. (It takes 1200 revolutions to raise the leveler one inch, and we had 12 inches to raise. The drill makes it sooo much easier!) Seven and a half hours and strong crosswinds later, we arrived in Little Rock.

We spent a relatively warm night in Little Rock. Not much to say about it when you spend the rest of the evening in the RV. But we had good WIFI to stream TV. 

Next morning we left for Elm Mott, Tx, just north of Waco. A nice campground right off I-35 South. Another 8 hour drive. Temperatures in the low 70's. They have their own WIFI here, having spent over $100,000 to have fiber optic brought in..  Every morning some women come to the campground and make breakfast for everyone. You tell them what you want from their list, and they prepare it for you. Very good food! The breakfasts are free; the ladies work solely for tips.

Mom called us while on the road here inquiring about our trip, what time we left, how far til we stopped, things like that. She also asked if we would be starting this blog again. See, she thought, as we originally told her, we would be leaving on Sunday, the 27th, not as we did on the 23rd. We wanted to surprise her by arriving four days early. So we told her the time we left, but not from where, and when she asked where we were stopping, we told her first stop on this year's trip was Fort Chiswell, Va. See, we didn't lie to her, we just didn't answer her question. So she thought that's where we were heading. I told her I wasn't writing the blog that night, that I was exhausted from driving. Again, not a lie, just a little subterfuge.

Monday morning we got on the road at 9:45 AM. Aside from intermittent rain and fog, we had no incidents on the road. We got to Schertz in 2-1/2 hours, fueled up and drove to Marjorie's house planning to surprise Mom and Marjorie. The surprise was on us. We pulled up to the driveway just as Mom had decided to let dogs out into the yard There went the surprise.

We have spent the last two days with Nancy redesigning some rooms Marjorie wanted changed, redecorating, moving furniture, packing books, just making their house more functional. We have a lot more to do so will be busy for a few weeks.

Now you, dear readers, are caught up. More to come in a day or two. Ciao!

Nashville

We left Fort Chiswell this morning at 8:57 EST after filling our onboard propane tank, which was less then half full. We had checked the weather for Nashville and knew the temperature would be going down to around 18 degrees. With everything closed down for Christmas eve and Christmas we wanted to be sure we had enough propane to keep us warm.

It rained almost the entire trip but traffic was relatively light. We had freezing rain for about 70 miles then about 75 miles from Nashville the rain stopped but traffic increased. During the trip we checked the weather in Clarksboro and saw it was 63 degrees. We wanted to go south to avoid the cold, and ironically where we left was warm and where we were heading was cold.

We arrived in Nashville at 3:50 EST (2:50 PM CST), having driven the 363 miles without a stop. We knew the campground office would be closed but they had left information about our site on their late arrivals board. We parked, unpacked and had an hour-and-a-quarter before a zoom Christmas eve gathering with my kids and our grandchildren, so we rushed out to Logan's steakhouse, had dinner, and was back inside the RV with 10 minutes to spare.

We spent an enjoyable hour or so with the kids/grandkids, playing fun games previously emailed to us by Stacey that we printed out and played the games with. After the games, it started snowing, although its not supposed to accumulate.

Temps tomorrow, along with projected 45 mph winds, are expected to create a chill factor of 0-5 degrees, so we're glad we had filled up with propane.  When we leave Saturday the temps are expected to go from near zero in the morning to 50 degrees. Our next stop will be Little Rock, Arkansas, where we will continue the blog. Taking the day off tomorrow. Until then...

Merry Christmas!

A Long Day

We got up at 6 AM and hit the road at 8:25. The traffic was okay until we got to Maryland. We were stuck in a 7 mile traffic jam due to road construction. We averaged about 9 miles an hour. Hit another traffic jam on 495W around Washington DC, then an even bigger one near Tyson's Corners, Va., this one about 15 miles long.

The weather was sunny and wind was calm until we got on 81 south, then the wind picked up and strengthened the further south we drove.

Our GPS was acting up on us. At one point it took us into a residential neighborhood and said "You have arrived at your destination!" Only 283 miles from the actual destination. Then, instead of keeping us on 66W to 81S it took us via 29S, a route full of traffic lights, small towns, and low speed limits. Maybe it thought it was the fastest or shortest route. Who knows?

We arrived at Fort Chiswell RV campground at 5:40pm in the dark. The office was closed so we picked our own site and settled in.

Weather for next leg calls for heavy rain with a winter storm warning with heavy snow and freezing rain. We get this weather every time we stop here. But this is why we are traveling, to try to avoid that kind of weather.

This post is a day late. It was written three times but wifi connection kept cutting out losing the post.

Our next stop in Nashville will be a little better. We are staying for two nights before continuing on. Christmas in Nashville! 

Merry Christmas to everyone, and to all a good night!

Getting Ready for Our Next Trip

 The past two weeks we have gotten all of our medical appointments taken care of and we are in good health. Yesterday we went and had a Covid-19 Rapid Test. It turned out to be not so rapid. Last week we called to set an appointment and they told us since the reason we wanted the test was because we would be travelling we could just show up and get the test. So yesterday we just showed up.

Not so fast, we were told. Without an appointment we would have to wait for an opening in the schedule. After all, the other people had appointments! So we waited almost two hours before we got in, then another 40 minutes until we were done. As we knew, we were negative, but we wanted the test before we left in case of any problems with authorities in different states.

Today we (95% Nancy) went through everything inside, and threw out a lot of stuff. We shredded old and private documents and rearranged the cabinets et al, to make everything fit.

I worked outside, checking fluid levels in the batteries, installed a transmitter at the back of the RV for use with our tire sensors, installed the sensors on the car (I had put them on the RV tires weeks ago), confirmed next year's reservations for here and for our 2nd and 3rd nights of travel this trip. 

Yesterday we noticed that the basement door to our propane tank was very loose. It turns out it was several things: a bolt hole was enlarged allowing the catch to move, and the latch had a broken support which allowed it to pull out of its fixed position. So I did the smart thing: I called Danny, my stepson, a wizard at fixing things and designing parts (he does this for a living at refineries and hospitals). Sure enough, the two of us got both problems repaired after two hours. Thank goodness for Dan's ingenuity.

Soon enough we will be on the road. Our first day will be long, eight hours of driving to Southern Virginia. The next day 6 hours to Nashville, TN, where we will stay for two days. Then on to Little Rock, AR, and then onto Texas.

That's it for now.

Catching Up

Sunday evening and Monday morning we attended Bill's viewing and service. He would have been uncomfortable as so many people showed up to pay their respects. He always said he wasn't the popular one. There were over a hundred people each time. In addition to civilians, on Monday everyone in his son Michael's precinct showed up in uniform. More than 50 officers. His son Billy, his oldest granddaughter Emily, his daughter-in-law Amy, and I all spoke. After the service Nancy and I had to skip the luncheon as she had a doctor's appointment.

The good news is Nancy does not have a retinal tear. The floater should absorb on its own and we'll go back for another check in a month.

Tuesday we shopped for a few essentials, Wednesday Jim and I went shooting while Nancy started making pirates costumes for Chukk's wedding next month(it's prayer themed on the Mosholu schooner docked on the Delaware River in Philly.

New Jersey

While we were waiting for our repairs to get finished on Thursday, we contacted our eye specialist in Pennsylvania for Nancy. She started seeing floaters and light flashes in her right eye. They said she needed to be seen right away and to contact someone locally. So we called the retina specialist in Huntsville (91 miles east) I used several years ago and they referred us to their office in Florence, about 40 miles north of us. I told them that would be a waste of time, as they can only diagnose problems there but if Nancy's retina was detaching, they don't perform the surgery in that office. They refer to Huntsville, which was why I was skipping that step. I learned that the hard way as that is what had happened to me. They insisted we go to Florence, as Huntsville wouldn't have a doctor in their office till the following Thursday. I said thanks but forget it, and called our doctor in PA, explained the situation again and got Nancy an appointment for Monday afternoon.

So back at the campground we ordered Subway sandwiches for Friday's lunch assuming we'd eat them on our trip and save a stop.

We got up early on Friday and left Red Bay. The temperature was 16 degrees. We drove 500 miles to Wytheville, VA, stopping only for fuel and a potty break for the dogs. We hadn't eaten our Subway sandwiches, so we had them for dinner. Got up early on Saturday, temperature 10 degrees, and drove non-stop to New Jersey, another 500 miles, arriving at 2:30 pm. The reason for this intensive travel was to get back in time for Bill Boyes' viewing and funeral service.

We surprised Jim Goldsborough, our brother-in-law, with a phone call inviting him to join us for dinner. We met him and Karen Sparks, had dinner, caught up, then came home.

Now we are preparing to go to the viewing. 

All Repaired YAY!

Sorry for not posting earlier. Monday we called our paint contact about the scratches on the side of the RV and also the installer of the slide topper, lazed around till 4pm, then got ready to move the RV to RV Electronics about a half mile away to get our HDMI cables checked and replaced. Two were damaged, but we only needed one to be repaired for our satellite dish to work. Nick Brewer, the proprietor, knew from the description of our problem that at least one would need to be replaced, so he had come prepared. The cable is 54 feet long and gets threaded through the walls of the RV. Within 2-1/2 hours he had the old cable out and the new one in. It pays to go to the best!

Brad, our paint contact came by on Tuesday. The scratches can be buffed out but he is booked solid til mid April. So we'll probably get it done when we return home, although it will cost much more there.

Trevor, who put in our slide topper, wasn't available until Wednesday. Every then it took two texts, 2 calls, and a visit to his shop to get him to come inspect our slide topper (ST). The ST droops and doesn't function as it should.  He came out late in the afternoon, then said have it at his shop at 8am on Thursday and he'll have it done by noon. During the night a severe storm front moved thru the area and popped the entire ST from the slideout. (We were there 5 days, and had thunderstorms and flood watches every day). Anyway, we checked out of the RV Park and got to Trevor's shop well before 8 am, and they decided it needed a new spring. Which they couldn't get until after 1:30pm. After putting it together and reinstalling it several times, they decided they needed to narrow the width of the ST, which is what Nancy and I suggested to them last year when it was installed. After that, it works perfectly. But by then it was too late to go to our next destination so we had to go back to the RV Park for the night.

But the good part is that we are now ready to roll and continue our travels.

A Sad Day

Received a phone call today from our great friend Betty Boyes. Her husband Bill passed away this morning. Bill had been in hospitals and rehab many times this year for various problems related to his liver and kidneys, probably a result of exposure to agent orange during the Vietnam crisis.

I have known Bill since 1989. We enjoyed many of the same things, computers, camping, our kids, etc. Bill and I joined the Masonic Lodge at the same time and we worked together as Secretary and Treasurer of the Lodge for seven years.

He was there during my troubled marriage, my divorce, my engagement, and was the best man at my marriage to Nancy. He did not enjoy country dancing at first, but learned his first dance so he could dance with Nancy at our wedding. He provided counsel to my children and celebrated the births of my grandchildren. All while doing the same for his own children and grandchildren.

When my RV had problems, he would drive to Alabama with me and we'd share stories of... everything. Nancy and I shared vacations with Betty and Bill in our RV, (the picture above was taken at Churchill Downs and the chapeau he is holding was not for him) and their generosity extended to inviting us several times on their vacations to Florida and St. Maarten.

Bill was my brother, a great man with a large, generous and compassionate heart, and I will miss him dearly. 

Red Bay Before The Storm

We left North Little Rock this morning at 9:45 and although we had 14-20 mph winds we had no problems. Until we got near Red Bay that is. But more on that in a minute.

We stopped for food and fuel in West Memphis, AR, and while there, right next to the station was a Blue Beacon. So we pulled in and had no wait. We had the RV and the car washed and waxed, and boy did it look good!

So we were on route 23 North in Mississippi about 5 miles south of Red Bay when our GPS tells us to make a turn. Since we were heading to a new RV park that has only been opened since September, we followed the GPS. WELL... Apparently there are two places with the same address, but miles apart. We went down a two lane backwoods road and when it said we were at the correct place all that was there was a tiny house and a barn. It seems that one of the addresses is in Franklin county and the other in the city of Red Bay, which is also in Franklin county. Go figure!

So there we were in East Jabip with only two lanes, not enough to turn around. But on the right side of the road was a small incline the owner uses to get his truck up to the barn with an exit ramp back to the road, although it would be tight.

So we started up the incline and small (but strong) tree branches were overhanging the incline. We pulled to the right to avoid them and the RV and car got stuck in the shop. They had a lot of rain here last week and the ground was very soft. We were able to back up somewhat (something you can't normally do when towing a car, but the soft ground acted as a track for the wheels) and got back on the incline, but those sttong branches we mentioned earlier scratched the paint all the way down the length of the driver's side of the RV. 

So after a few unprintable words we disconnected the car and with Nancy driving it, and against her wishes, I took the RV down the exit ramp, made the hard left turn back onto the road, and retraced our route back to 23N and kept going north. In minutes we were at the new campground.

All the sites are paved and have a paved picnic area with table...

the park is enclosed, they pick up the trash every day from your site, they have free WiFi, etc. They have a restaurant here and a beautiful fishing pond...

and this is our view at night...

We were hungry so we went to Cardinals, much like Sonic, only better. Them did some food shopping and came home.

So tomorrow afternoon we go to get our satellite cables worked on ( the first of three days) and it will be raining thru Thursday. Floods warnings are out as we are expecting 5 inches of rain.

A Day in Little Rock

Back in January on the way to Texas our windshield was hit by a thrown stone. This morning we had Safelite come out and fix it. There was no evidence of a crack on the outside but we could see a crack inside the glass. They did their repair and then we got ready to go to the"RV" show.

We got the trolley and crossed the river. The first stop was across the street from the state convention center where the show was. This was the Arkansas RV show. It consisted of 15 side vendors and RVs ranging from teardrops to pull-behinds, about 3 class C's and only one class A. Maybe 30 rigs in all.  We got through it in less than a 1/2 hour. What a disappointment!

On the bright side, at another corner from the trolley stop we went into a pizza place, Irianna's. It's been in business for 35 years and my gosh what great pizza!

We had a hamburger and mushroom 🍕. It was chock full of both, not like most pizzerias. The dough was light and crunchy to the teeth. Absolutely wonderful! By the time we were done it was 4:30, and most of the places, except for most of the eateries, close at 5:00.

So we got back on the trolley and took the full route around the city, which left us both saying we need to come back for at least a week next time, so we can visit all those places. 

Our trolley driver had non-stop patter, full of interesting tidbits along with a wonderful sense of humor. Did you know that there is a 4000 square foot glass-enclosed building on top of the Clinton Presidential Library? It is actually the home of the Clintons when they are in town.

They spent $30 million on renovating an old building, and now it's the US Bankruptcy Court. Across the street is the federal court and the statehouse. He said it's the only place you can get married, go bankrupt and get divorced without ever needing to get in your car.

Near the RV show was a Pagoda, in memory of H.U.Lee, the founder of American tai-chi.

 It was made entirely without nails, pregs, or glue, but in pieces like a puzzle. There is a large center where each year 1000s of Tai-chi followers come to a festival to honor Lee.

The city used to have 35 trolleys.

 There used to be 87.4 miles of track, but in the '40s the bus company shut it all down and paved over the tracks. In 2004 the business district wanted the trolleys back, so now there are 5, on 3.3 miles of track. They are made in Ohio of Red Maple and Oak, and each cost $850,000.

The only thing original in each is the speed control and the brake. It cost $3.3 million for each mile of track.

There is enough here to make us want to come back and spend some time.

We caught the trolley back and saw the USS Razorback, a submarine that spent some time in Tokyo at the end of WWII. 

Contrary to common belief, it is not named after the Razorback, a feral domestic pig, but the Razorback whale. We were told the submarine is still mostly functional, and can still submerge --- once! 😂

We also found out North Little Rock is not part of Little Rock, but is a separate city.

We came back, took care of the dogs, and watched streaming TV, finally getting to the end of McLeod's Daughters. It's a good show, all of you should watch it.

Tomorrow we leave for Red Bay. It is supposed to rain there non-stop from Monday thru Thursday, meaning we will be setting up the RV and closing it every day in the rain to get it to service. That's it for now. Have a good day tomorrow.

Downtown Little Rock, AR

We left Sulphur Springs this morning at 10:05. So we slept a little later this morning, but isn't that what retirement is for?

The RV park was bare basics, and it could be nice except for the potholes in the entry/exit drive. No way to avoid them and it threw the RV and it's contents violently from side to side as we left. They should really fix it.

We drove a little under 4 hours to the Downtown Little Rock RV Park, run by the city. It is a big open area right on the bank of the Arkansas River. It is gated and all 50 amp.  We will be staying here for two nights. Our front window gives us this view:

After setting up and settling the dogs we drove a few blocks to a free parking lot to catch the trolley across the river to River Market, where we ate dinner. The trolley is a free service from the businesses in the district. The driver pointed out all kinds of interesting facts about the city and buildings in town.

We met an interesting couple on the trolley. He was a disabled vet, a former tour driver on the trolley, and now a real estate agent. He pointed out many interesting things for us, the most interesting of which was Arkansas' civil war. It occurred during the tenure of President Grant. The story goes that the outgoing governor refused to vacate his office to the newly elected governor. He and his armed friends barricaded the building and shot anyone who tried to enter. About 200 citizens were killed in the stand-off.

We caught the trolley back and completed the trolley tour of both sides of the river. The city lights up all the bridges at night with changing colors and a light show at the top of every hour.

Tomorrow we may catch the RV show at the convention center and go to the comedy club, The Joint. Sunday we will leave for Red Bay.

Sulphur Springs, TX

Temperatures were going to drop last night so we covered the orange and lime saplings. Started sleeting and snowing (lightly), before we finished, then we went inside to warm up.

Couldn't sleep well last night so got up at 4:30am. Sat in the living room till 6, showered, then woke Nancy up at 6:15. Temperature outside was 28°.While she showered, I moved all of our gear into the RV. At 8am, we went to Garcia's for a Mexican breakfast, then went back to the RV to stow everything away.

We left at 9:56am after hugs and kisses with Marjorie and Mom, and 330 miles later we stopped at Shady Lake RV Park. They actually have 4, count em 4, spots for overnight RVs.

After setting up, we drove around and about Sulphur Springs, looking for a place to eat. A very nice, small town, with a church on the town square.

We found a very nice place on one corner of the town square called, naturally, The Corner Grubhouse. Very good food! Afterwards we went back to the RV and watched some streaming TV.

Tomorrow we will be heading to Downtown RV Park in Little Rock, Arkansas, right on the Arkansas River. Our plan is to spend two nights there and see some of the sights, like the Clinton Presidential Library.

Storm Delay

After prepping to leave tomorrow, Wednesday, for our trip to Alabama, we decided to delay by one day. That major winter storm will be crossing Dallas tomorrow with heavy rain, snow, and sleet. I'm just not interested in driving thru that. So we will leave now on Thursday morning, travel for three days, and get to our final stop in Red Bay, AL, sometime on Sunday.

Shoot

I forgot to mention that Marjorie's fish pond has had a major algae bloom. We've been raking out algae every day since we've been here. On Wednesday a company came out, transferred all the fish to a holding tank and started pulling out the algae by hand, then spraying the remaining with chemicals. They fixed a leak in the liner, and the next day refilled the tank, to mostly the same water they pumped out the day before, replaced the fish, and added a UV treatment to the water to help limit another algae bloom. It was interesting to watch and to learn how they maintain ponds.

For retirement dinner on Friday we drove a little north to New Braunfels to a place called BJ's Saloon and Grill. The place was packed with long waiting lines, and justifiably so. The food was excellent. They had a deal that if you purchased a meal worth $11, you could pick up to three take-home meals (from a choice of 5) for only $6 each. We wound up bringing six of them home.

On Saturday Ron, Marjorie and I drove to the Bracken gun range for some pistol and rifle shooting. We started on the rifle range and they enjoyed shooting my rifle so much we spent all afternoon shooting it, never making it to the pistol range.

Ron was good, but it was surprising how good Marjorie is. We were shooting at 50 yards, the shortest course, and once she got the hang of it and some pointers, she was always hitting the target's inner circle. She even scored a dead-center bullseye! The two of them did most of the shooting and then we left. On the way back we stopped at the Bracken Gun Ship and Ron signed up for the Texas Concealed Carry course. We came home, and ate some of the meals we brought home Friday night, then spent the evening with McLeod's Daughters.

Today we spent the entire day working our way thru another season and a half of the show, and then had a dinner of macaroni salad and filet mignon we brought down from New Jersey.

Tomorrow we will begin planning our exodus from here. We are leaving on Wednesday.

Retired!

Well, today was the last day of my contract with Aramark. Remember, they shortened my contract by one month due to financial restraints. So I passed all my work to a co-worker, submitted my timesheet and logged off. I will hand in my equipment when I return to New Jersey in March.

Sooo, rather than look for another position, I am going to join Nancy, Richard and Joanne in the retirement world. Nancy and I are now free to dance, travel, and whatever, whenever! As long as the money holds out, at least. Sleep as late as I want in the mornings, without having to get up early to get online.

I'm looking forward to it.