More volunteering, medical appointments and guests!–June 8-26, 2014

The next week was fairly uneventful, with another road trip to Webster, TX on Monday, June 9th, for  my follow-up hand appointment (following left hand carpal tunnel and trigger thumb surgery on June 2nd) and annual checkups, including blood work, for both of us. We stayed overnight with Michelle and Logan in Seabrook – and, as always, enjoyed our visit. Dick is still waiting on his test results, but I have received notice that all is good for another year. Keeping our medical professionals in our “home” area has been important for us, but it is challenging to get all the appointments in while nearby. It has been necessary to see other physicians in other parts of TX and out of state, but we always hope and pray that this will not be necessary – and we carry our records with us to make the process easier.

Before heading back to Martin S. Dies, Jr. State Park near Jasper, TX on Tuesday, June 10th, we stopped for a Popeye’s Fried Chicken “fix” in Seabrook. One advantage to taking the back roads was passing (and stopping at) a fruit-and-veggie stand (near Village Mills) - and bringing home tomatoes, cucumbers, avocados and watermelon. Yummy!

We had enjoyed our version of Cobb Salads so much that Michelle had fixed that we took our extra pieces of Popeye's Fried Chicken from lunch and added our fresh tomatoes. cucumbers and avocados, combined with Romaine lettuce, purple onion, boiled eggs, bacon, cheese, croutons and Ranch dressing. Another yummy dinner! Recently, Ree Drummond, “The Pioneer Woman”, posted her recipe for Cobb Salad, which is what we remember from ordering them in California many years ago, so check out the recipe at www.thepioneerwoman.com.

A couple days later, as we were driving over to the Walnut Ridge area of the park, Dick spotted a Western Mud Snake (Farancia abacura). Dick described it as “a really beautiful creature”, which did not run away, so he had to carefully pick it up and show it to me – while he enjoyed my hysterics for a moment - and, then, released it on the opposite side of the road (where it was heading) and watched it disappear into the woods and freedom. As Dick said, this snake is totally harmless to humans, and made no effort to sink its teeth into him. Therefore, please do not indiscriminately kill these snakes, but simply ignore them, as they are seeking a semi-aquatic habitat and will leave the area in search of one. If you would like to see more of Dick’s photography, please go to Dick's new Flickr page, and leave him a comment if you see something you like.

On Friday, June 13th, while I was volunteering in the Nature Center, Dick captured the following shots throughout the park.

Since we were on the schedule on Father’s Day. Dick offered to barbecue chicken for his  dinner - but I did make potato salad and baked beans - and it sure was yummy!

The following Tuesday. we were “on the road again” to Seabrook and Webster to have my stitches removed. We only had a few minutes with Michelle, but we took Logan out for lunch and had a great visit. On the way north on Highway 146 from Seabrook, this is what we faced and, fortunately, the accident was cleared not long after we got stuck in this line.

When we finally returned to the park, we stopped by for a visit with our friends Ed and Debi Hurlburt, who came to visit for a few days.

The following morning, Ed followed Dick to RV Services in Jasper, TX to have the Blue Ox base plate for our new 2014 Subaru Outback and receiver hitch installed. Finally, after suffering through several "rip-offs" by what should have been quality service centers, we were amazed at the courtesy, consistently good quality and fantastic turn-around George and Sheila provided us. Plus, George suggested that we order the parts (which we found on Amazon Prime, so we received them in 2 days with no shipping costs) and let him install them. He saved us approximately $400 over what we had been quoted by Camping World and Discount Hitch in the Houston area. Our first experience with them was a doubtful repair of our HWH leveling system that we thought we were going to have to travel to FL for qualified service by a "factory" service center - after having 2 very much larger centers unable to handle it. Not only did they complete the installation in approximately 5 hours, but we do not think the Subaru dealer could have made it look any better. If you are in East Texas and want true quality work done at a truly reasonable price, take your RV over to George, Sheila and Dustin, and tell them Dick and Judy Mott recommended them! Unfortunately, the parts are black, so no pictures, since they blend so well that you barely see them. One step closer to hitting the road on July 8th!

On Thursday night, Dick and I picked up Ed and Debi for a trip to our favorite restaurant in Jasper, The Cedar Tree, for their buffet. No seafood this time, so Dick had the buffet, but the rest of us ordered fried shrimp from the menu. Some good eating!

While I was volunteering in the Nature Center on Friday morning, Ed and Debi came by to visit and check out the exhibits – and they were very impressed!

On Friday evening, Ed and Debi had us over for dinner - grilled ribeye steaks, twice-baked potatoes, stuffed jalapeños, rolls and iced tea! Thank you, Ed and Debi, for a delicious meal and great visit!

On Saturday morning, after Dick’s photo walk at the park, we again picked up Ed and Debi and drove about 20 miles from the park to Mott’s Wholesale in Spurger, TX. We had been told that, not only was this store the largest distributor of Case knives in the United States, but the store had lots of cast iron pots and lids. Dick needed some new lids, so we met my high school classmate and our friend Jay Price, and everyone made purchases. A successful trip!

We then returned to the park, and Jay visited for the day while Dick prepared a Cajun meal – chicken stew with rice, green beans with new potatoes (bought at a local vegetable and fruit stand) and fried corn with brownies for dessert. Ed and Debi joined us and everyone chowed down. Success!

We had a busy few days with friends and it was hard to say “see ya” until the next time!

The park posted the following picture with a quote the first of this week, and I thought it was perfect to include in our blog.

Check out more on the park at the following site: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/martin-dies-jr.

Recently, while “cleaning up”, Dick noticed some wrens burst out of our lawn chairs that were folded up and stuck away in a corner. Upon closer inspection, this is what we found! We have 1-1/2 weeks before heading out, so we are hoping the mother continues sitting on the eggs and that they hatch before we have to pack away this chair.

While off this past Tuesday, we spent about 3 hours reorganizing and deciding what we really need to keep on the motor home. It is amazing what we thought we had to have when we bought it and, now, not so much. Both our son Mike and daughter Michelle will be “inheriting” a few items. Then, the afternoon storm came, so we had to quit our “project”.

We are not quite through, but lots of progress was made. We made a vow not to use our new vehicle for extra storage and, so far, so good!

Dick trained a new park host the last 2 days, so it was nice to sleep in – especially since the weather was pretty dreary and humid (still not 100 degrees, though). The rains came earlier today, and we had lots more rain than previously - as you can see from Dick's photo below.

After running a few errands when the rain let up, we visited the vegetable-and-fruit stand and picked up fresh grown tomatoes, potatoes, onions and yellow meat watermelon. Then, we made a final visit (until our next trip) to The Cedar Tree for their lunch buffet – less expensive and still yummy. with free tea for “happy hour” – since we arrived before 4 p.m.

It’s hard to believe we have only 8 more days as volunteer park hosts – and 2 of those days, we are off. Stay tuned for more on our final week and preparations for our 1-month “RV vacation” with our 13-year-old grandson Logan. Let the countdown begin! Heading north on Tuesday, July 8th!

Thanks for coming along for the ride and see ya!

~judy~

Another week–June 1-7, 2014!

June started with an anniversary (actually, 2)! May 31, 2011 – 3 years ago – was the last day of my real job as a legal secretary! June 1, 2011 – 3 years ago – was our first day of full-time RVing! Best decision we ever made and no regrets!

We met another person who we had only known previously from Facebook – Peggy Krepelka! Peggy first contacted me on Facebook a few months ago when she and David were considering becoming gate guards. Recently, she posted that they were nearby (after gate guarding for the last few months) and, after exchanging posts, she and David came to the park last Sunday, June 1st, for an overnight stay. We had a great visit and, then, met David later in the afternoon when we picked them up for dinner. Naturally, we returned to our new favorite restaurant – The Cedar Tree in Jasper, TX, which is just a few miles from Martin S. Dies, Jr. State Park. It was just as yummy as always, and David and Peggy were pleased with their meals, too!

On Monday. June 2nd, while traveling to Houston for surgery on my left hand – both carpal tunnel and trigger thumb – we booked our first 10 days of our month-long motor home vacation - 3 days near Crater of Diamonds State Park in AR (7/8-7/11) (they had no vacancies, but we save lots of $$$ at Corps of Engineers parks) and 7 days near Mountain Home, AR at COE Dam Quarry Campground on the Norfolk River (7/11-7/18). Our 13-year-old grandson Logan will be with us, and we will be getting out of TX for the first time in almost 2 years. Getting excited - and more on this trip later!

We were glad we left early for our drive to Houston, and glad that we do not have to deal with Houston traffic every day! This was the scene as we neared downtown at 9:00 a.m. We had to arrive by 10:30 for surgery at 11:30.

Surgery was delayed about an hour due to a surgery that took my doctor longer than expected. I told her to take all the time she needed! All went well, and I had to keep my left hand elevated for 2-3 days and use an ice pack every 20 minutes – both to keep the swelling down and have less pain, which worked. Fortunately, I only had to take a pain pill once or twice a day, and I could use my right hand to hold a cell phone and peck the keys on my iPad Mini. Unfortunately for Dick, I am unable to get the hand wet, including washing dishes, for a week. I know he is hoping that. after our visit tomorrow, I can again wash dishes and write with my left hand – although I am now able to use the fingers of both hands to type this blog. Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes!

A couple days later, Dick saw that the park had chosen his photo as its new cover photo! How awesome!!

To see more of Dick’s photos of the park, check out the following site:

 Dick's new Flickr page

For more information on the park, check out following site:

  http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/martin-dies-jr

Thursday, June 5th, was our middle grandson Colby’s last day as a first grader. Second grade, here he comes! Life should be smoother for our DIL April, as she will have both Ben, who will be in kindergarten, and Colby at the same school for the next few years.

Our friends - Michael and Olivia and their 3 kids from Plano, TX - came to the park for a few days and stayed in one of the shelters with AC, which was very smart, especially with a 7-week-old (Max), 2-year-old (Sarah) and 4-year-old (Jackson). We first met them when we hosted at Mary’s Lake Campground in Estes Park, CO almost 2 years ago, and they have come to visit us at each of the 3 state parks where we have hosted (Fort Parker State Park, Brazos Bend State Park and, now, Martin S. Dies, Jr. State Park). Friday afternoon, they came by the Nature Center while I was volunteering for a few hours!

Yesterday (Saturday, June 7th), the park had a very successful fishing tournament for kids through 12 years old – “Fish Flop” - with lots of goody bags, door prizes, trophies and great prizes for those catching fish. These were the kids fishing from the pier closest to our motor home, plus 2 girls who came to us with their Mom to measure and record the fish they caught. At the awards ceremony back at the Nature Center, Dick also got a great picture of Max and Olivia!

Then, we had another visit with our friends Michael, Olivia and their kids before they left this morning. See ya soon!

With our volunteer duties at the park, we were unable to travel to Katy yesterday for the 50th wedding anniversary celebration of Jay and Sue – the parents of our DIL April and her sister Charli. I want to wish them many more years of happiness from Dick and I!

It was a pretty busy week, so I will close for now and hope you enjoyed traveling with Dick and I. See ya soon!

~judy~

May 2014 at Martin S. Dies, Jr. State Park - with Trips to the Houston Area!

Friends and family, do not go into shock! It is June 1st and I am posting our blog for the month of May! It may be a bit long, but I want to be up-to-date, finally, after 3 years of full-time RVing and maintaining a blog. Hopefully, I will now be able to post every 1-2 weeks – depending on how busy we are. Enjoy the ride and please let us hear from you.

Dick and I started the month of May with 2 days off, which is always nice, but we never seem to have time to get things done on our “to-do” list.

Dick did have some time to take some more photographs of the birds around our campsite!

We also had a visitor from our neighborhood raccoon, who was probably headed for the trash in the Gator!

On Friday evenings, at our new favorite eating place, the Cedar Tree Restaurant in Jasper, TX, it is an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet, and Dick and I “splurged” – again – and went for dinner that evening. By the way, 1 of these plates was mine, and we finished our meal with pecan pie for Dick and bread pudding for me. Yummy!

The weekend was perfect for camping, and this was our view of the lake from the Walnut Ridge shelter area while doing site checks on Saturday morning!

On Sunday, May 4th, I volunteered at the Nature Center for a few hours – while Dick picked up trash as campers were leaving. The Nature Center is very educational and has hands-on activities for kids and adults, as well as tanks with fish, an alligator, turtles and non-venomous snakes. On weekends, various activities are also planned for the young and the young-at-heart.

The next morning while making our rounds, we realized the Magnolia trees were really beginning to bloom.

Later in the day, Dick got a private message on Facebook from our former Superintendent at Brazos Bend State Park to see if we were available to volunteer as park hosts at Garner State Park near Concan, TX and on the Frio River. We have always wanted to return to Garner and have more time to tour the area. Dick contacted Steve and told him that we were not available until next Spring, and we were confirmed for April, May and June of 2015. After talking to the volunteer coordinator, we were excited about everything at the park, EXCEPT she said the only phone service that works is AT&T, and we have Verizon, with a Jet Pack for our internet service. I am trying not to think about this and hope that either Verizon will add towers in the area or we can find a “fix” for the short term. Check out the park at: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/state-parks/garner, and come visit us in the TX Hill Country next Spring!

On May 6th, Dick and I made another trip to the Cedar Tree for what we thought would be a healthier meal (and definitely more reasonably priced). Not sure about healthy, though. but it sure was yummy!

The following morning, we found that the raccoon had visited during the night and destroyed our Hummingbird Feeder. Dick’s research showed that the best "plan" was to have a covered box on our patio and put all the feeders in it each night. A bit time consuming, but …. Upon investigating, Dick found that the raccoon was apparently climbing the ladder on the back of our motor home (“MH”), going across our awning and, then, messing with the hanging feeders. Smart!

The next couple days were spent making rounds and getting our MH ready for us to leave for a week. Thanks to our co-hosts Don and Bev, we were able to leave mid-morning on Friday, May 9th, for Katy, TX – to keep our 2 grandsons, Ben (5) and Colby (7), while our son Mike and DIL April went on a week-long cruise. For dinner, Mike brought home fried chicken with all the fixings and we had great family time.

On Saturday afternoon, April took me for a pedicure – my Mother’s Day gift from her and Mike. Then, for dinner, we all went to El Rancho Mexican Restaurant and Bar. The food was great and their “usual” waiter was awesome! Later that evening, while Mike and April packed for their cruise, Grampa and Grammy (Dick and I) had movie time with Ben and Colby – “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief”.

Mother’s Day was a bit different for us all. Mike brought home breakfast for all of us before they headed for Galveston to board their cruise.

Shortly after Mike and April left, we drove to Galveston with Ben and Colby to meet Michelle and Logan for lunch at Willie G’s, which is located near the cruise ship.

Following lunch and bidding Michelle and Logan farewell, we drove to the far East end of Galveston Island and waited for the cruise ship to pass by. It was a dreary day, but the boys were excited to wave “bye” to Mommy and Daddy.

Other than getting back to Katy way too late on Sunday night, the rest of the week went well, and the boys stayed on their schedule. Each morning, I would wake at 6:00 and get the boys up for breakfast at 6:30. Colby was dropped off for 1st grade at 8:00, and Ben arrived at pre-school at 8:45 in order to attend devotion before going to class. Ben was then picked up at 11:45 and Colby at 3:40, which meant arriving for the pick-up line by 2:45. Then, it was homework for Colby, play time, dinner, showers and bed. A crazy schedule and kudos to Mike and April! The boys were awesome and we had lots of quality time with them.

In-between caring for the boys, Dick and I contacted the salesman who helped Mike and April purchase their new vehicle above, Alex, and discussed trading in our 2008 Dodge Nitro. After researching vehicles that could be towed 4 wheels down behind our MH, we determined the best vehicle for us was a Subaru and. after checking out both the Outback and Forester, we decided on the Outback. Alex works for a company which handles the financing and takes all the leg work out of buying a new vehicle. Because of towing, we had to purchase a manual transmission, which was not available locally and had to be shipped from the factory. I did not get the color I wanted this time (since there was not a wide choice of colors available in the 2014 model, and the 2015 will not be available until October), but we love our vehicle, which Alex delivered to us a few days after we returned to the park. We also got a great trade in on our old vehicle and lowered our payments substantially. Can you tell we are excited?! Now, it’s time to get the base plate ordered and installed before heading out in July.

On Friday, Dick took the day and drove to Galveston Island State Park to hopefully get some good pictures. He did say that driving so far, especially alone, was not really worth I – but he did have a good day.

On Saturday, Jay and Sue, April’s parents, came for a visit, with Jay picking up fried chicken and all the fixings for lunch – and the boys having a picnic out back while playing.

On Sunday around noon, Mike and April arrived home with goodies for all, and Dick and I headed back to the park after a short visit!

The next week at the park was spent with site checks, meetings, campground rounds, including picking up trash and cleaning fire pits – all in preparation for Memorial Day weekend. While out and about, we had some great picture opportunities, for both Dick and I.

Once again, we had a visit from the Masked Bandit - this time in broad daylight, stealing a free meal of birdseed – but Dick was ready with his camera!

After fighting sinus headaches AGAIN (the price I pay for living in the woods), I finally felt better by the weekend, and Dick fixed us French Bread Pizzas for dinner, which were yummy – and something we will have to do the next time the grandsons visit.

After working way too many volunteer hours over the Memorial Day weekend at the park – primarily picking up after picnickers – we were too tired to cook and clean up! So another trip was made to the Cedar Tree in Jasper. Dick had the buffet, but I had the shrimp off the menu. Yum! I believe we are now “regulars”, as the waiter brought me a homemade roll, let me get dessert off the buffet and did not charge us for our iced teas! Yes, there are other restaurants in the area, but I guess we are working our way through the buffets and the menu at the Cedar Tree.

On Tuesday, May 27th, we  headed to Webster, TX for 2 medical appointments, and it rained all the way. The good news was that our Subaru Outback's all-wheel drive was awesome. According to Dick, there was no feeling of looseness on the road, and it hugged the road, even when hitting an unexpected patch of water. We also got almost 30 mpg, according to the on-board computer.

As a result of my visit with the internist, I have hopefully found a way to deal with the sinus headaches and continue living in the woods. Also, after seeing my hand surgeon, I have surgery scheduled on Monday, June 2nd, on my left hand for both carpal tunnel and a trigger thumb – hoping to “kill 2 birds with 1 stone”. Dick will handle our volunteer duties for a few days, and I am sure I will have a successful outcome. More on this in our next blog – when I can use both hands again or peck on the keyboard with 1 hand.

We finished our whirlwind trip on Tuesday with a quick visit to see Michelle and Logan’s new house, and hope to see them settled in when we return for more appointments on June 9-10. As soon as we began the trek back to the park, the storms started again, and this was our view heading north out of Beaumont later in the afternoon – and no, those are not mountains in the background, but a bank of clouds.

On Friday, May 30th, while I was volunteering at the Nature Center, Dick took a walk along the 3/4 mile Island Trail to see what he could “stir up” and, before we leave, his intentions are to “gift” the Nature Center a disk of some of the pictures he took while at the park.

I will close for now and leave you with this thought!

Thanks for stopping by and see ya soon!

~judy~