December 18th

Our last day in Center Point we spent a few hours in the indoor hot tub and then flew the drone for some video of the campground.

Friday we left for Schertz. It was a windy day so I only drove 60 mph while the speed limit was 75. Any faster and the crosswind made it hard to control the rig. We arrived in Schertz at 11:10 am. Before we parked the RV in the driveway, we walked in on mom and asked if she wanted to go to lunch. Needless to say, she was surprised since she wasn't expecting us for a few more days. Marjorie was at the gym at the time.

When she got home we did go to lunch, then thru the car wash, as the car looked white from all the caliche that had been accumulating on it. Finally we drove to U-break iFix to have my laptop screen replaced. It was shattered about 4 weeks ago, and they were gracious enough to order the screen ahead of my appointment, which is not the norm. It took about 20 minutes to replace, and it is now back in action.

We had a strong storm this morning, with reports of hail up to 3/4" in size. Fortunately the hail missed our area. I spent the morning andpartof early afternoon working on a partial list of technology corrections for Marjorie. The rest of today and tomorrow will be relaxation days, so I probably won't have an update til Monday.

Today my son Chukk is 43 years old! Happy birthday, Chukk!

Pecos to Center Point

Yesterday we asked for and got a late checkout. We went to the West of Pecos Museum and spent a little going through the 50 rooms. The museum was originally the Orient Hotel and was built in 1896 of Pecos Valley red sandstone. It was a hotel from 1904 to 1946, across the street from the only crossing of the Pecos River for 60 miles in either direction, which made an ideal location for travelers on stagecoaches to stop and rest. Rooms rented for 25 cents a night with up to 3 people in a bed. Stabling of horses was free. After the hotel closed it became the museum. 

Some of the rooms were occupied by the town doctor (4 rooms), the barber (2 rooms), a church, and a bar, the original room in the hotel. There was a gunfight here and the original bullet holes are still in the wall.

Now the rooms contain memorabilia of the history of Pecos and the surrounding towns. They include the Texas Rangers, Sheriff's posses, Buffalo soldiers, gunslingers, and bank robbers. Local organizations like the Freemasons, International Organization of Odd Fellows, army and airforce posts, Hispanic organizations, Native American groups, womens organizations, local ranches and prominent personages that all made up the history of the area.

Afterward we returned to the RV Park, finished getting ready to depart and left at 11:27 am. We then drove 313 miles insuring cross winds and more beautiful scenery to Center Point, 63 miles northwest of San Antonio. Our GPS had us turn on a "road" which was used to be a road to our new RV Park, but is now an unused path leading to nowhere except a vacated barn in a field. We turned into it between two posts and realized it was wrong, but the path was too narrow to do anything but go forward, in the process getting the sides of the RV scratched by tree branches. We proceeded to the end, drove around the barn thru dips in the field, and continued in the direction we were going before we turned. Lo and behold there was a sign for the RV Park 1/2 mile further down the road.

We arrived after hours, at 5:20 pm (fuel stop included). The park has wide level sites, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, and an indoor hot tub,all alongside the Guadalupe River where campers go tubing in the summer. I was too tired to write anything yesterday and went to bed early.

Today we went to breakfast, The Coming King Sculpture Garden, had lunch, went to Lowes and Harbor Freight, and Nancy did some laundry. As we will be visiting with Mom (96 years young in 6 days) and Marjorie soon, and we've been traveling all over the country, we also had Covid-19 tests (negative).

Not much on the schedule for tomorrow and this is a long blog, so I will end it here.

Pecos - 2

Today we drove to Wink, TX, about 40 miles Northeast of Pecos to visit a one-room museum about this guy... any ideas who he is? This is his entry in the Wink High School yearbook of 1954.

and this picture might give you more than a hint...

If you haven't figured it out, the guy was Roy Orbison, 1936-1988. By the way, Nancy is wearing a real pair of Roy's glasses. Wow, are they thick!

The museum is all about Roy, from his elementary school life forward. He was actually born in Vernon, TX, but his family moved to Wink (a shortened name of Winkler County, where it is located) since his father was an oilfield worker. He was the graphic artist for his yearbook and started a group called the Wink Westerners while in high school with some friends who remained with him after he became famous. They later renamed themselves the Teen Kings and that is the group that first recorded with him on the famous Sun Record label in Memphis, Tn.

The museum is staffed by an alternating group of 5 volunteer women. We called before we left for the museum to make sure someone would be able to open the museum. Barbara was our host, and she gave us a lot of interesting information about Roy and his life. We spent 1-1/2 hours there and then drove home.

We will be doing a late departure tomorrow so that we can spend an hour or so at The West of the Pecos museum before heading to Kerrville. 

Pecos, Tx

Park. We left Carlsbad at 10 am MST, and arrived at 1:10 pm CST in Pecos. Kings Road is a HUGE RV park. The office is open 24/7, it is 300 sites, more or less, and every one is covered so the RVs are not in the sun. It has a gym, swimming pool (not in season now), and they provide recommendations for nearby eateries and RV service.

One of the things we planned to see here was The West of Pecos Museum, which has 50 rooms of West Texas memorabilia and history. We planned to go Sunday  or Monday, and as is our luck, they don't open until 10 am Tuesday,  the day we are leaving. I'm sure there are other things to do here (hopefully) so we'll keep you informed. 

Relaxation Day

Our plans changed this morning. We were awakened last night with 35 mph winds, and very frequent gusts of 55 mph that had the rv shaking and rocking like it was at a 60's sock hop. These continued all day until between  4 pm and 5 pm.  We knew this was coming and despite temperatures in the low 60s we decided to forego Sitting Bull Falls and stay home.

We read, ate our meals, and watched TV. We discussed and agreed to modify our travel plans. Instead of going to Marfa, which would take us south, then southwest, we are going to Pecos, Texas, which is southeast of Carlsbad and more in the direction of Schertz, which is our holiday destination. Marfa would have put us between two of our destinations, Big Bend National Park,  and MacDonald  Observatory near Fort Davis in the Davis mountains of West Texas,  but our time there would not have coincided with available observatory sky viewings. So we will add them to a future trip. It cost us our camping fees in Marfa which were paid in full and due to their reservation policy was non-refundable. But our route now is more in line with our original plans. 

The winds have died and should be only 6-8 mph tomorrow, much more suitable to driving. The sky is cloudless tonight and it seems that we can reach up and touch the constellations.  The temp will be 33 tonight and a more suitable 52 degrees during our drive, which will only be 2 hours.

The Caverns

Today we went to the caverns. We had made reservations last week, which are required. We had 11:30 reservations which meant we could arrive between then and one hour later. Any later than that and we wouldn't be allowed in. Our National Parks pass saved us the entry fee, $30. 

Nancy was on her electric scooter and we took the elevator down 750 feet to the Big Room. I am SO proud of her! She is claustrophobic, but down she went for the one and a half mile self-guided tour. We took dozens of pictures of the formations, then we were done. An hour and twenty minutes, and Nancy was fine during the entire tour.

When we left, we drove down a one-way trail that was 9.5 miles long, with a maximum speed of 15 mph, and at times 5 mph. We drove through canyons, along ridges and valleys, but again, the scenery was gorgeous. It took us 1-1/2 hours to reach the end of the trail.

Afterwards, we came home and let the dogs out. We drove back into town and had BBQ for dinner, then returned and ended our travels for the day.

Tomorrow we are heading for Sitting Bull Falls. 

Roswell, NM

Today we drove to Roswell, where in 1948 an UFO exploded and crashed 50 miles north. It created a defense department incident for many years, and was the basis for many movies, tv shows, and books.

It was a long 60-some mile trip north to Roswell, in the Permian Basin, in the Chihuahuan desert. The basin extends from New Mexico across Central Texas,  and is the home of most of Texas' oil wells. We stopped at IHOP in Artesia, 20 or so miles north of here.. Most of the towns, like Artesia, Roswell, Odessa and Midland owe their existences to the oil industry.

We spent some time at the International UFO Museum and Research Center learning the history of the UFO crash, but as far as a research center, even a museum, it was a dud. Most of the stores across the street and around the block sell "alien" t-shirts and souvenirs, but otherwise Roswell is a small city owing to their existence and a former Army Aviation Training Field, remade into Walker Air Force Base until 1967.

We then left Roswell and returned to the campground. Tomorrow we will be getting wind gusts of 35-40 mph, and Friday up to 50 mph. Fortunately the winds are expected to be a more normal  15-20 mph on Saturday,  when we leave here.

Carlsbad, NM

We left El Paso this morning and three and a third hours later we arrived at our next site, which we thought was in Carlsbad, but instead was 16-18 miles north, in a place called Seven Rivers, even though the campground is named the Carlsbad KOA. Unfortunately that puts us 55 minutes NORTH of the caverns.

We drove along the Texas Mountain Trail, which had us cross over the Guadalupe  Mountains and Guadalupe Mountains National Park, ascending to 6280 feet, then into the Chihuahuan Desert. It was 73 degrees when we arrived and will be going down to 34 degrees tonight.

After setting up the RV we drove back to Carlsbad for dinner and are now watching Designated Survivor, season 2, for the 3rd time thru the years. The campground is situated in an area where we have very good wifi signal; ours, not theirs. I think its the strongest wifi we've had on this trip.

We are about an hour or so south of Roswell so tomorrow I think we'll head there to see all the alien kitsch. Thursday we have a reservation for the caverns via the Big Room Entrance so that Nancy can use her electric scooter and an elevator to descend into it. The other entrance, the Natural Entrance route, is not wheelchair/scooter accessible and is too steep for her to go down. It is a 1.25 mile, 750 foot descent down switchbacks into the cave.

Friday we may visit Sitting Bull Falls, a 150 foot waterfall. Aside from that,  we don't know what we will be doing. Saturday we will be heading back to Texas where we will stop in Marfa for a few days.

El Paso

Thursday we took the pups to Banfield and they wouldn't take them. Here in El Paso apparently there are no walk-ins, only appointments. They couldn't be seen until December 20th, so we left.

Next we went to Wal-mart to pick up Nancy's prescription. On Wednesday the doctor had called in her prescription,  on Thursday we waited in line for 40 minutes to pick it up, only to be told Nancy wasn't in their computer (she IS in every other Walmart system, so why not this one?). So her information was added to THIS computer system, and then we were told it wouldn't be ready until Friday . We stopped at What-a-burger for lunch, then came home.

Friday I woke up with a killer headache and stayed in bed until after noon. Even with the headache we picked up Nancy's prescription, only a 15 minute wait this time. Then came home and did nothing.

Tonight we went to Cattleman's Steakhouse at Indian Cliff Ranch, which is about 15 miles east and 5 miles north of our campground. It is a 430 acre ranch situated in the Chihuahuan desert with a small zoo; partridges, ptarmigans, golden pheasants, fancy ducks, peacocks, long-horned sheep, bison, etc. 

Oh yeah, and fantastic food. We both had shrimp and filet mignon, baked potatoes with butter, sour cream with chives (Mark) and bacon chips (Nancy), sweet mushrooms, pineapple coleslaw, spicy ranch beans, bread and butter,  apple pie ala mode, and drinks, and it was considerably less expensive than that "ritzy" place in Truth or Consequences  whose food was tasteless and chewy. Cattleman's food was delicious! 

Here are snapshots of the ranch 

and the sky as we drove home

TorC and El Paso

Monday in TorC we drove around, scouted a few new RV parks for future trips, and visited Elephant Butte, a city next to a reservoir of the same name. The reservoir was created by a day on the Rio Grande and named for, naturally, a butte they say looks like a reclining elephant. But the dams explain the lack of any water in the Rio Grande to the south which our route to El Paso crisscrossed several times. We got back to our site and decided to forego another hot tub experience. They were very nice. Here are a few daylight pictures of those we were in.

Yesterday we moved to Mission RV Park on the east side of El Paso, a short 160 miles from TorC. The landscape in New Mexico is so beautiful! Then we hit the traffic in El Paso. Imagine I-295 in rush hour, then at least double it. But we made it to our site easily, set up, then did something we hadn't done yet on this trip: we went grocery shopping. We stocked up, got a prescription renewal phoned in to Walmart for Nancy, then had dinner at Peter Piper Pizza. Then we relaxed for the evening.

Today was a maintenance day for Nancy. She did the laundry, gave Cocoa a bath and me a much needed haircut, while I did ... well, nothing in comparison. The cable here doesn't seem to work, the wifi is intermittent at best, so we connected to the satellite dish. Lots of channels. That is, if you like shopping channels. We have maybe 5 TV channels to choose from. But we can get Netflix over the dish, so that helps a little.

Tomorrow is another day. We'll do something. I know you can't wait to find out what that will be, and neither can we.

TorC

That is the abbreviation for Truth or Consequences,  New Mexico. Yesterday we left our campground in Bernalillo, north of Albuquerque,  and proceeded 165 miles to TorC. It was a straight shot down Interstate 25, through a bunch of Indian reservations.

A little history of TorC. Originally called Palomas Springs in the 1800s because of the doves (palomas) and the hot water springs, the town was renamed Hot Springs in the early 1900s. In 1950, the radio show Truth or Consequences was a big hit. Ralph Edwards, the host, announced that for the 10th anniversary of the show, he would broadcast from the first town that would rename itself after the show. The citizens of Hot Springs, wanting to rename the town, feeling that they wanted a new name to differentiate from all the other towns in the United States named Hot Springs, changed the name tto Truth or Consequences by a ratio of 10 to 1 votes on March 30, 1950.  Ralph Edwards broadcast from TorC the very next day. There is also a park here named for him, Ralph Edwards Park.

Anyway, we got here at noon and pulled into our trash heap. Sorry, campground. I don't think there was an RV in the place that was manufactured after 1985. It looked like a squalid village from the middle east! The office, we found out later, was outside the campground across the street. We had to call to find out where our site was and the owner told us he would stop by for payment. He never did. We backed our rig into our site with the back against the fence and our front sticking out halfway into the road. Later, I went to the office and was told the owner was in Las Cruces and would be back Monday, and to go to a particular site and we could pay the campground handyman.  Well, he had gone to his mothers for Thanksgiving and wouldn't be back until Sunday. 

Once parked and while I was setting up outside, Nancy went to walk the dogs when they all got attacked by a pitbull whose owner didn't tie it down and who couldn't control the dog. Nancy had Cocoa in the air with the pitbull jumping on her to get at Cocoa. I rushed over to help and got the pit onto its back so the owner could get him. At that point, the owner's next door neighbor rushed over and asked HER if she was alright. No care or concern for Nancy. Later, when I went to walk our dogs, the pit tried to attack us, but this time it was tied and couldn't reach us. I was ready to shoot it.

So with the condition of the campground and the "neighbors" we packed up early this morning and went to another, much nicer campground.  Here is our view from our windshield: 

Tonight we have a 2-hour session at one of the hot springs. We might go to another tomorrow and a third on Monday.  After all,  that's why we came to TorC.

Santa Fe

Cathedral of St Francis of Assisi

We started off today wanting to take our dogs to Banfield Pet Hospital in Albuquerque,  but found them all closed until Friday.  We changed plans and instead drove to Santa Fe, about 40 miles north. At 75 mph it doesn't take long to get there, and the wide open scenery is gorgeous; the sun passing thru the clouds which creating shadows on the hills, which had snow on their peaks, and on the arroyos deep and long. You can literally see for miles in all directions. Getting into town you drive along the original  Old Pecos Trail. 

In town we drove around looking for a parking spot, which are at a premium. As soon as a car starts to leave a spot another is right behind to fill it. Cost: one dollar per half hour.. We went into Winding River, the largest seller of Indian artcraft; jewelry, pottery, clothing, paintings, statuary, all of which was beautiful. Nancy looked at a ring, but we were shocked when the price tag showed $4800. The clerk told us not to worry; everything in the store was half-priced. We just happened to have a spare $2400 -- NOT! One young woman thought it was a good deal as she purchased a small pottery bowl for $1800. Remember, that's half-price!

We stopped into a native American Indian art gallery but it had artwork from indigenous people's from Australia,  Canada, Greenland, Japan,and the US, all of it speaking to the mining of uranium and nuclear testing on these people's lands without their knowledge or consent. It was very informative but also depressing. 

We walked around town and we love the architecture there, but it is clearly for a different breed of person, the RICH! We had lunch at the Inn of the Anasazi. Nancy had a bowl of tortilla soup and I had chicken enchiladas. We both drank water. The price: $52! Everyone in the Inn were dressed to show off; we were slumming in jeans.  We drove around the town and decided to return home. Again, the scenery was just as beautiful on our trip home.

Tomorrow  is Thanksgiving,  and we will try to get into Albuquerque, but we expect everything to be closed as tight as a turkey's . . . well, you know! And if you're  reading this, we wish you a happy gobblers day!

North of Albuquerque

We departed Amarillo at 8:20 am CST and aside from some 30 mph wind gusts, we had an unremarkable trip. Except for the beautiful views. The Texas panhandle is nice to look at if you like prairie views, and the state maintains Interstate 40 very well. When we crossed over into New Mexico we started to climb. Amarillo was 3672 feet above sea level (ASL), the highest we climbed was 7,073 feet, and here in Bernalillo, which is 16 miles north of Albuquerque we are at 5,075 feet ASL.

We arrived at 12:30 pm MST and set up. We are using our heated water hose for the first time this trip to prevent any water problems. Weather forecast for tonight is for rain or light snow (I know, I know, that's why we left the east coast: to avoid that stuff) after 9 pm. Temps for tonight are forecast at 41°, but tomorrow night will be 28° and Thursday night will be 19°. Brrr!

If it wasn't for the RVs in the row in front of us, this would be our view through the windshield 

Tomorrow we plan to explore Santa Fe, and Thursday we'll do Albuquerque. 

Amarillo Day 3

Today we went to, you guessed it, Palo Duro Canyon State Park. It was 28 miles south of our campground, which I forgot to mention earlier, is located on Route 66. We knew there was a fee to enter the park,  but didn't realize we needed to pay and print out a pass before we arrived.  The office at the gate was not open due to covid but there was a staff member outside who assisted us in getting online and getting a pass number. We had to fill out a form and put the pass number on it, attach it to our windshield, or the park police would fine us.

The canyon is the second largest canyon in the United States.  It is 120 miles long and at places 20 miles wide. We drove down 500 feet to the bottom of the canyon and drove all 16 miles of paved road, past several lodges and multiple campgrounds. We had lunch at the bottom, and the dogs enjoyed roaming around. All the campgrounds were full, and hikers and bikers were everywhere to be seen. It is a beautiful place as can be seen in these pictures.

We came home, packed up a little in preparation for our trip tomorrow,  then went to an early movie and saw The Eternals.

We plan to be on the road tomorrow at 8:30 am again.

Amarillo Day 2

Today we extended our stay here by one day. Since our stay in McKinney ended so late on Friday and being unwilling to drive 7 hours at night, we changed our arrival in Amarillo to the following day. Today's extension brings us back to the length of our original stay, but at a cost; we had to shorten our Albuquerque trip by the same and being Thanksgiving weekend Albuquerque was full for the weekend so we couldn't extend there. That leaves us with one day to see Albuquerque and one to explore Santa Fe. For the weekend and beyond we made reservations in Truth or Consequences (TorC), New Mexico, from the 26th to the 30th.

TorC is right along the Rio Grande River, and has many natural hot springs, some right next to the river. People have reported heating up in the springs then jumping in the river to cool off. Not sure we will do that,  but we do intend to frequent the springs. 

So today we visited PetSmart for a winter coat for Tiffin (Cocoa  already had one), and some anti-itch spray for Cocoa. No fleas, but probably an allergic reaction to something. He started scratching all the time.

We dropped the dogs back home and then visited the Cadillac Ranch, a tourist destination/curiosity site. The owner of the ranch half buried ten Cadillacs in a section of his fields and sells spray paint to tourists so they can "decorate" the cars as they see fit.

 Afterwards, we went to Salt Grass Steak House. Good food during which we struck up a conversation with a fellow at the next table by the name of Abe. He was a photographer for the University of Montana's football team in Missoula, but due to covid all games were canceled. He got hired as a production assistant last season on the blockbuster TV show Yellowstone, and was hired back this year as the dailies coordinator for the Yellowstone origin series, 1883, which is being shot somewhere near here. (They no longer film in Utah as that state did not extend the tax credits to the production company as they had for the previous seasons). His job is to collect all the dailies, the film that is shot each day, catalog them and get them to Los Angeles for processing, then get the digital copies sent back to him to put in order for the editors. He has been here since the beginning of November and won't leave until the season is finished shooting, sometime in January. His position at the university was filled in his absence, but he doesn't mind too much as he said he makes the yearly equivalent of his university salary in 3 months with the production company. It was very interesting speaking with him.

Tomorrow  we plan to visit Palo Duro Canyon.

Amarillo by Twilight

We left McKinney this morning at 8:30, added a quick stop for fuel and breakfast sandwiches, then made our way to Amarillo. We arrived at 3:40pm, having driven 379 miles. Although the speed limit was 75 mph most of the way we never exceeded 65. Along the way we saw many wind turbine farms. Did you know each of the propellers are 120 feet long and the structures are, on average, 308 feet tall? We didn't. We also saw what looked like fields covered with snow. Nope, it was cotton! Who knew cotton was such a huge crop in North Texas?

As mentioned, we arrived at 3:40 pm, CST. It took an hour to sign in, get to our site, and set up. Nancy took her second shower of the week. It's amazing how much you appreciate having running water, and being able to flush, without fear of filling your holding tanks. In McKinney we only had electricity, no water or sewer hookups. After all, we had been in a parking lot/truck delivery area for a week.

We then rushed out to grab a quick meal, our first real meal of the day, so we could get back in time to conduct our family's monthly Zoom social hour.

We simply love our new window shades. So much nicer and easier to use, than the old ones. An interesting fact: the company we were at manufactures 2500 shades a day, 6 days of the week. They manufacture them not only for RVs, but companies like Chili's, Applebee's, and many others.

McKinney - Final Update

Work began at 8:30 this morning. First up was the windshield shades. It took two installers to put it in place, then the electric was connected via a wire and fuse to the ignition switch. Then the limits were created. Basically, the furthest down I would use the shades while driving is the low limit. Once set, I cannot lower them any further while the ignition is on. This was set for both the day and night shades. Then they were set for when we are parked (ignition off). 

Next came the wiring for our passenger side shades, then the galley shade, which is only a night shade. Theses were wired incorporating a fuse and a wire off the power lead of one light under the overhead cabinets. The false bottoms of the cabinets were replaced and the limits set for each day and each night shade individually  and as a group, followed by a thorough testing of each. Lastly came paying for the installation.  We had an estimate of 9 hours work before it all started, but Brian, the installer, took good care of us. We weren't  charged for some upgrades and he only charged for 5-1/2 hours, which was only slightly more than the veterans discount we received on the materials.  He finished at 4:53 this afternoon and then we started restocking the cabinets and getting ready for our 380 mile trip to Amarillo tomorrow. Finally, exhausted,  we went and had bbq beef brisket for dinner, and I am writing tonight's blog from bed while Nancy is watching the newest episode of Blue Bloods..

McKinney Update 2

Today was a productive day. Brian, the installer, arrived a little after 9am. Nancy had cleared the access to the bedroom windows and Brian removed the old shades and installed the new ones. He installed the two shades next to our captains chairs and then started the electrical wiring for the 3 shades on the driver's side. This involved prying up the false bottoms to our overhead cabinets, drilling a hole from one to the other and also through the bottom of each cabinet and thru the valence for the power wires. Also fishing a wire from the cabinets to the area behind the refrigerator where we had an unused electric receptacle to provide the power. I noticed some small holes in one shade that got thru QC, so that one had to be taken back for mitigation. When that was done, he installed the 3 shades and tested that the remote control worked, replaced the bottom panels in the cabinets,and that was it for the day.

In the meantime, Nancy and I cleaned the outside of all the windows in the RV. When Brian left, we replaced everything back in the cabinets and on the sofa (they had to be cleared off to provide Brian working room), then removed everything from the sofa and cabinets on the passenger side so the same process can be repeated tomorrow, in addition to installing the new windshield shades. When that is done, Brian will set the limits for each shade. The limits establish where each shade will automatically stop when raising and lowering it. Each one is different due to the size of each window. Then Nancy and I will have to repack each cabinet and the sofa before we are finished. We finished the driver's side tonight at 9 pm, so you see we have another long day tomorrow. 

The day shades are a tighter weave than our old shades, so it will be harder for someone to see inside from the outside without affecting our ability to see outside.  The night shades completely block outside light making the bedroom very dark. We are very happy with the results so far.

Saturday morning we will hookup and depart for Amarillo, Tx, which will be a loooong  drive. We had to tell Marjorie and mom we would not be at their Thanksgiving table next week. I am glad they, and our niece Jenn, enjoyed the past 3 days at the beach at Port Aransas.

McKinley Update 1

Yesterday, while waiting for updates on our shades, Nancy hemmed some curtains that were too long and dragging on the floor while I cleaned the bugs that had smashed on the hood and windshield as we traveled here. Fun times! Then they came to remove the windshield shades to begin work on them. We removed everything out of our overhead cabinets so he could check how to do the wiring for the side shades. Later, we went to a small Italian restaurant nearby where Nancy had baked ziti and I had chicken albanese, a pasta dish with mushrooms, spaghetti and a chicken breast in a creamy brandy sauce. Delicious! And it cost less than a meal for two at chik-fil-a.

Today the installer came and told us they were remaking the shades as the QC folks found the first ones made were the incorrect size. We took the dogs to a self service dog wash where we bathed both dogs. This place apparently had a small extra room where they threw in two wash tubs. No choice of soap, and they had a POWER dryer for drying the dogs. No kidding, it blew Cocoa off the table. We stopped using it right away. I could literally fill the rv tires with it, it was that strong!

We got back and the installer came by to tell us they were on their third iteration of the windshield shades for some reason, and the motors on them had to be replaced due to changes in regulations so that when the ignition is on, the shades can only be lowered so far. Then he and I began running wire on the driver's side cabinets in preparation for installation of the motorized shades, which will probably take place on Friday. The passenger side wiring will begin at 8:30 tomorrow morning. We are expecting that the non-motorized shades in the bedroom will take place tomorrow.

Tonight we had pizza from the Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakery which is located in a section of town which looks like a more modern West Chester downtown. Have to say they know how to cook in this town.

MCD Starting the Work

Brian and Candace (names sound familiar? Ironic?) came in this morning to see what we wanted done with our window shades. We are replacing ALL the shades in the RV. The shades in the bedroom will remain manual while those in the front will be automatic. We will be able to open or close them in any configuration we desire, one- by- one,  all at once, the day shades or night shades, etc.

We gave them our fabric choices and they measured each window.  We are also replacing the material on the windshield that Cocoa chewed this summer when he got on the dash and wanted to look out. They're going to look so nice. 

After the measurements we waited about an hour for them to price out the materials, then we went over to the office and paid for them. The new shades will be ready on Thursday and they will be installed Thursday and Friday. Then we will have to pay separately for the installation labor. We will stay Friday night,  then move to our next campground. 

We also thought we were done with the stink-bugs, but wow were we wrong! Here is a picture of the two bags (!) of them we've been catching. Hopefully there aren't many left. And we've caught 2 dozen more since the picture was taken!