Sorry, but I’ve been very lax in updating my Blog. In my defense a lot has taken place since the last time I was on here. I noticed Dick and Judy Mott have been remiss in their duties of up-dating their Blog also, so I don’t feel quite so bad.
Sue had her surgery and as most of you has heard by now and it was an elective Bariatric by-pass surgery. Everything went, and is still going very well. She has lost over 57 lbs and still counting. I really notice the difference in her face, as it is thinning down.
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| Dick & Judy gittin a little....................dirty down under. This was the day we moved. |
We also moved again. 3 days before Sue’s surgery we got a call from one of the Rangers from Lake Whitney COE office asking if we would be interested in applying for a Gate Attendant Position at one of the Camp Grounds up there. We had toyed with the idea of finding some sort of work here in Texas, as we had to stay down here for Sue’s follow-up appointments for half of the summer anyway. One of the stipulations for her surgery was that we remain in the area for at least 3 months; maybe longer. So, we made an appointment with Ranger Jennifer and took the trip of 45 miles up to Lake Whitney to look around the area and discuss the requirements of the position at Cedron Creek Park. We had to go o-line to do an application to become a Government Contractor on-line and then had to submit a bid. You have to bid the job by the day rate and it covers 2 years. A 1st Year bid and an “Option Year” bid. So, after much hashing it over we did all that and our bids were accepted.
On Monday the 26th of March, Sue had her surgery down in Temple, which is about a hour from Reynolds Creek Camp ground. She got to come home Wednesday and I worked a couple more days to help get the Camp Ground ready to open on April 1st. We planned on moving up to Lake Whitney on that following Wednesday
In the mean time, our Daughter came to visit for a few days. She actually ran through the Minneapolis Airport in order to make the connecting flight to Dallas. It’s a good thing she did, because as we were leaving the Dallas/Fort Worth area we saw some pretty angry looking storm clouds moving in. Two hours later several tornadoes and some large hail hit that area including the airport area. Several airplanes were damaged by the hail which shut down the airport for several hours. Had she waited to get on the later flight, who knows where she would have ended up. Fortunately we were back down to Waco when it hit and we only got a little ping pong size hail stones and not much wind but a fairly heavy rain for a short time.
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| View out our side window just about every day. |
Julie was going to stay until Friday morning and then fly out of Dallas and be back in Brainerd by that afternoon to work her evening shift at the Airport. Well Thursday morning, in light of the storms hitting Dallas, She had a feeling the flights might still be back-logged, so she went on-line and checked. Sure enough, everything was booked solid and there were several delays. She immediately got on the phone with one of her colleagues in Brainerd and she did some checking of flights from other airports and finally came up with one in Houston that had some seats open.
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| Roy Feeding the deer. |
This was around 11:30am and we are about 4-½ hours from Houston and the flight was leaving at 6:05pm. We through some sandwiches and water in a refrigerated bag and jumped in the truck with the 3 dogs and headed for Houston. We made it just in time with rush-hour traffic. When she went to check in the clerk informed her that the flight was full and Julies heart skipped a beat or two. Being the persistent person Julie is, she stuck around just in case something changed. Sure enough, there was a no-show and the 2 couples that were the stand-by people that were ahead of her, didn’t want to split up so she got on. Everything went perfect and she actually called us from her home just 10 minutes after we arrived back here at Lake Whitney. Julie was able to work her shift on Friday so life was good.
We had to wait for our Contract to come through, so in the interim we acted as volunteers, picking up trash that had floated up along the shore line during the high water time following the heavy rains back in March. We really didn’t have that much to do in that respect because there wasn’t as much trash here as there was at Waco Lake, so I spent quite a lot of time in the Gate House. I was learning the computer reservation system with the Temp People (Roy and Toni) that were covering our shift while Sue was rehabilitating. Roy and Toni are actually Gate Attendants at another Park straight across the lake from here. Their shift at the other park runs Friday thru Sunday and Our shift runs Monday thru Thursday, so they work 7 days in a row for 3 weeks. They were definitely ready for a break after that!
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| Deer feeding on the corn. |
April 23rd was actually our first day to work the Gate house. On top of that we have tentatively sold the Laundromat. We were scheduled to Close on Friday the 27th, but there was a delay on the title work on a piece of property we are taking in trade. So, now it is rescheduled for this coming Friday, May 4th. Wish us luck!
We have a lot of deer running around throughout the park, upwards of 25 or so. We have 5 that frequent our yard here looking for a handout. Roy and Toni actually spent the winter here in our spot as volunteers and fed the deer some corn just about every morning and evening. Yesterday morning I let the dogs out and there the 5 deer were, standing in front of the motor home. The dogs didn’t see them as they were intent on getting their business done and get back in for some breakfast.
A lot of you probably saw Sue’s comments about getting a Texas Drivers license on Face Book. Had she not been listed as an owner on the pickup title, things would have been a lot easier. As it was, we had to register the pickup here in Texas before they will let her get her DL. We will find out Monday because we didn’t have time to get back to the Licensing Office before they closed on Friday. She only has until Tuesday to get it renewed (her Birthday) or she would have to take the written and behind the wheel test over again. Oh well, I was going to get my license here in TX also so, eventually it would have had to be done.
Last night we were invited to the Group Site for a fish fry. UMMMM GOOD! It was a group of 4 brothers, and their dad, along with a passel of cousins and close friends that get together every year for a men’s week out camping. No women allowed! Well they made a small exception last night as they allowed Sue to come along for the fish fry. They made sure She was aware of that fact though.
We’ve sure have met a lot of nice people down here as well as making some life-long friends. That’s not saying there aren’t a lot of nice people in Minnesota but every one has made us feel real welcome down here. For that we are thankful!
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| Right along side our truck, looking out our bedroom window at 7 in the morning. |
Till next time………..
