Still Livin The Life!

Welcome back to our Blog!  A lot has happened since last we met here on our little Blog. We worked on that job Near Bossier City, LA for, just a day shy of 3 months, so we spent Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years alone but not really alone.  We didn’t get to spend the Holidays with our own Families but rather with our Oil Field Family.  We had no lack of food during these Holidays either.  Between the drilling Crew bringing everything from Louisiana Gumbo to Smoked Turkey and Ham and the other Gate Guard Crew bringing cookies and the land owners furnishing a complete Christmas Dinner with all the fixings, we were definitely over eaters.  Then there were all the sales people bringing different offerings of food and little gifts.  This all helped us get through the Holidays with a little less loneliness but we still missed our families!
On December 30th I made a trip to Waco TX for a couple Dr. appointments which I had scheduled for the 31^st.  Had I known we would be moving so soon and to be in Alvarado in a couple weeks, I would have waited a bit and saved driving a couple hundred miles.

We left Bossier City on January 8^th and immediately headed for our next assignment near Pointblank Texas.  We spent only 10 days there while they did their clean up of the well area then we were released and sent to the Gate Guard Services storage lot near Buffalo TX.  Shortly after arriving there, our Boss offered us a position for a drilling site near Mansfield TX.  It was a temporary job actually filling in for another GG Couple that was on vacation in California until the first week of March.  The catch was they wouldn’t start drilling for about 10 days so we would have a little time off.  We agreed it would be nice to have a little R&R, so on Sunday the 11th we moved up to the GGS (Gate Guard Services) lot near Alvarado, TX to wait. 

On Monday we got together with a few of our friends in the Lake Whitney area and had a wonderful meal at Johnie and Janet Barefield’s Motor home.  Janet made a new dish called Peach and Whiskey Chicken.  She didn’t have any whiskey so she substituted water but it was still very good.
On Tuesday the 14th we drove to Bossier City to get all of our stuff out of the storage building.  We rented a U-Haul trailer so we didn’t have to try to get everything in the back of the pick-up. The scooters are especially difficult to get in there and pack everything around them without damage. 

When we returned to Alvarado we decided to purchase a small trailer to use for storage and easier transporting of our extra stuff.  Wednesday we bought a 6’ X 10’trailer with a side door and a Ramp door in the rear.  We need to install a couple of shelves or something in there yet but it works a lot better than packing everything in the back of the pick-up.
We spent the next 2 days installing wheel chocks and tie down hooks for the scooters and loading every thing else into the trailer. 

Thursday Noon we met a bunch of our friends in Cleburne TX, for lunch at the Grand Buffett.  Another day of over indulgence.  Then Friday afternoon we found out we were requested, by the drilling company we had worked for down by Pointblank, to come back.  We decided as long as they requested us to come back we would accept that rather than waiting for this other job to start up.  So, Saturday morning we pulled up stakes and moved back to Pointblank and got set up and ready to start work right away Sunday morning. 

It turned out to be a smart decision as the other job didn’t start until February 5^th which would have been another extra 9 days off.  Another good thing is we found out this job could last another 60 or 90 days, which could be perfect for our plans to take a couple months off for the summer to go visiting in Minnesota.  If it only lasts the 60 days we can still accept a short term assignment somewhere, just so we can get further north before the real heat of summer sets in down here. 

So far we’ve only had 2 sunny days all the while on this job site and the forecast doesn’t look very bright.  We had a 2 inch deep puddle of mud in front of our steps so the well crew sent a grader in and scooped the mud out and scraped some of the road base into the same spot. it’s not perfect but it should be better, although we haven’t had enough rain the past couple days to test it out. We did have a little snow a couple days back, but no accumulation to speak of.
That’s everything in a nut shell up to now.  Thanks for Stopping by!
Dave & Sue with the Dachshund Security Team 

Total Communication

Up until a week ago we were at the mercy of mother nature and our surrounding terrain for our communication needs or lack thereof. Whenever we had rain or fog we couldn’t receive a signal for any communications what so ever. Part of the problem was the distance from the cell towers and the fact that we are so low with the tall trees surrounding our pad. This included our cell phones, either voice or texting as well as our internet capabilities. When the weather was good, we could get a weak signal if we stood outside on the road.
We bought a booster system and I finally got it fully installed and operational last week. After reading several reviews and getting recommendations from people who had them in their RVs, I bought the Wilson Electronics - SOHO - Cell Phone Signal Booster kit from Amazon.com. It included almost everything I needed to install the system including the, outdoor antenna, booster unit, indoor antenna and 2 antenna cables with several adapters..

I wanted to install a lightning surge suppressor and the necessary antenna cable to hook it in, so I had to order those pieces separately. After receiving those items, I was able to install the antenna cable through the generator box into the living area by using the smaller diameter extension cable and drilling only one 3/8” hole. Each portion of the kit came with it’s own installation instructions but even with out the instructions, any mechanically inclined person would be able to figure out the system in short order.

A couple of things I discovered while setting this system up; you should try to make the locations of the interior antenna and the booster units temporary until you have tried using your phones and or Internet cards. After installing everything, I discovered that I got a very week signal once I was out of the living area and only a moderate signal within 5 or 6 feet of the interior antenna. By moving the booster unit closer to the floor, and further from the interior antenna, the signal increased significantly. I’m not sure why that worked so well, but we now have phone reception throughout the motorhome and outdoors with a limit of about 25 or 30 feet. We can even use our MiFi unit inside or outside as well.
While I was waiting for the Booster system to arrive by snail mail, I went ahead and built a platform and stairs, so we can get in and out of the Motor Home.        Now we can exit the Motorhome safer and quicker than with the slippery metal swing-out steps that we’ve been using. I should have done that 2 years ago! The dogs like it as well. Even crippled up old Molly can navigate these steps.
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Thanks for stopping by; till next time…..
Dave, Sue, Molly, Jody and Lucy

New Dawn, New Job

We had a going away party of sorts with a fish fry with all sorts of goodies to go with it on Monday, Oct 7th with our friends and co-workers on Whitney Lake TX. We were anticipating leaving for our new job on Tuesday morning but that didn’t happen. Sorry, these are a little fuzzy due in part to the low light and maybe part due to operator error.

According to Dave Gunter, we had to have 2 Going Away parties before one took.   The second one being on Wednesday, Oct 9th. We sat around a camp fire and roasted marshmallows while visiting with our friends. Well, it must have worked because the next morning we got the call to head out to Bossier City LA.

Reality Check; This new job as a Gate Guard is definitely a change from the cushy Gate Attendant gig we had with the USACE. No more air conditioned Office to take shelter in. We have already had more rainy days since arriving at our new digs near Bossier City LA, than we had during 2 seasons at Cedron Creek Park. It’s not really too bad working out of our own “home”, especially when it’s a slow Sunday morning.  

Wednesday Oct 22^nd
We are getting to know some of the people here, or rather I thought we were, but now we had another shift change and a few new faces this morning. It seems they are letting about a third of the crew off for 2 weeks every week. All I know for sure is that part of the people coming on now, were not here when we started this job.
All 3 dogs seem to be doing well here at our new digs. A few days ago Lucy was sitting on the back of the sofa watching a Surveyor across the field from where we are parked. As I watched her I noticed that occasionally her eyes would go closed as she was sitting there in the warm sunshine. She was sitting rather precariously and occasionally letting out a low growl, when she must have fallen asleep, and in slow motion, toppled over backwards and landed in a pile on the cushions.    She kind of looked around to see if I had caused her fall then promptly hopped up onto the back of the sofa and resumed her “job” of watching the surveyor.
Well, I think I should finally post this edition and start a new one. Thanks for stopping by.

Until next time from Dave, Sue and the 3 poisonous wiener dogs.
                                     

In Anticipation of Our Next Move!

We are so near our move date I can almost smell it. Then we are off to, Who Knows Where, for Gate Guard Services for hopefully 6 to 9 months of work. The plan is to then take a couple months off and visit friends and family back in Minnesota, then back South to Texas for the winter again. If they don’t keep us busy enough through this winter, we can always bid on another COE Gate Attendant Job for next summer. So, we have a few options to fall back on.

We have one more day (Monday) to work, then we get to check out on Tuesday morning. This year we have to bring all our paperwork, and anything that has been issued to us over the course of the summer, down to the Corps Office ourselves. Last year we were able to check out right here at the gate house while the Ranger in charge of the Contractors made the rounds to each of the gate houses. I can understand the reasoning behind the change. With about 12 Contractor Teams checking out, the paperwork is less likely to get lost or mixed up with the others.

We have been getting “stuff” packed for the past 5 or 6 days. I don’t know where all this “stuff” comes from! I ended up finding we have 6 hammers; 3 claw and 3 ball-peen. I also came across 3 cordless drills, one of which has dead batteries and a leaf blower with the same problem; time to thin out some “stuff”. New rule in our Motor Home! Out with the old before in with the new! We traded our Rhino Side by Side ATV, for 2 scooters which should equal about a 700 lb. savings and a little more room in the back of the pickup.

We also got the dogs all current with their shots and Lucy is fixed, even though she didn’t know she was broke.

Notice Molly by Sue's feet.

My Dr. appointments are taken care of as well as current prescriptions up to date and the next 3 month supplies delivered on Thursday. Gotta like that Express Scripts Home Delivery. Now I just have to remember to update our address before the next fill time comes around.
We had a slight problem with that address thing when I was in the hospital last April. The Tri Care insurance gets the address of coverage from the Express Scripts information. It wasn’t any problem for Express Scripts to have a physical address and a mailing address, however Tri care picks up the mailing address only so they thought we were living in Minnesota rather than Texas so they weren't going to cover my hospital stay here in Texas. It took several days and a 4 way telephone conference call to figure out the problem, but they finally covered the bill. Thank God, because I don’t know where we would have come up with almost $200,000.
During one of our moves to McCown Day use park, I noticed the Imperial (Motor Home) was running a little hot. Now this was during a cool morning and that trip is only 3 miles, so I was more than a little concerned. About 3 years ago I had taken the rear heater core out and had a leak repaired. Evidently the guy didn’t do a very good job, because it started leaking again about 2 weeks later. When I tried to call the guy he had already gone out of business. As Andy on another blog ( myoldrv.com )puts it, “another 80%er” gone. Well, I made a bad move of my own and put in a couple of bottles of stop leak to hold it over until I could find another repair shop. I guess time got away from me and my mind isn't as sharp as it used to be, so here I am in a predicament I shouldn’t be in.  A few weeks ago we took the Imperial  out for an exercise run and to get the radiator flushed, OH what nasty stuff! It resembled oatmeal coming out of the radiator. The guys at The Valvoline Shop in Whitney did a great job flushing out all that nasty gunk but I am still stuck with the leak in the rear heater core. There’s another item on my to do list before we head out on our new adventure in a few days. I’m going to get a piece of copper tubing to stick between the hoses for the time being. We don’t really need the heat here in Texas anyway. Mother nature is supplying us with plenty yet this fall, although it has cooled down about 20 degrees the past couple of weeks.  Along with the cooler weather comes rain and some very interesting critters.


I think this is a walking stick on the Imperial’s mirror.

Well I best get back on task here!
Thanks for stopping by:
Dave, Sue, Molly, Jody and Lucy

    August 2013, Lake Whitney, Texas

This is part of the crew we worked with At
Waco North RV Park in West, TX

Well we are down to 2 months left on our Army Corps of Engineers Contract. It has been a fun and interesting 2 years. We probably won’t bid the summer positions again, however we may bid on winter positions after we earn enough money to upgrade our motor home to something with a little more room.

     It looks like we are going to try our hand working as Gate Guards on the Oil Fields. There seems to be a fair demand for those positions. We have some friends, Dick and Judy Mott that have been down south of San Antonio for about a month now as Gate Guards, and are enjoying doing it. They’ve had to make some adjustments to some of the things they do but overall it has been a good experience and good money. We are going down to Corpus Christi sometime this month to get the ball rolling so to speak, then as soon as we are released from here on Sept 30^th, we will head south hoping to get a gate assignment right away. We need to get a position before the “Winter Texans get down here right after Thanksgiving. We’re hoping they will keep us busy for about 7 or 8 months, then we will take a couple months off, then back to work again next fall. We're both looking forward to another adventure in our semi retirement years! We also love the fact that they don't require us to shovel the heat down here!

     With the hot summer down here in Texas, our Rhino Side by Side just wasn’t working out. It had a heat duct running between the seats and there was no way to shut it off. Then there was the fact that the Corps didn’t allow anyone else to bring their ATVs in the park unless it was licensed for highway use. Texas doesn’t license ATVs anymore so they are out of luck. We didn’t feel comfortable driving it while there were people in the park because it looks like it is OK for them to do the same, so other than a few days early in the week when there weren’t very many people here we didn’t use it to make rounds. Another fact was it didn’t get any better fuel mileage than our pickup, so there wasn’t any advantage there. A few of the other Gate Attendants used small scooters to make rounds, so we started looking for a small Scooter to use for making rounds with. We stopped into Waco Motor Sports to see what they had. To make a long story short, we ended up trading the Rhino for 2 New Scooters with Covers, Helmets, Storage Pods, 2 quarts of oil and a nice pair of leather driving gloves for Sue. One of the Scooters is a 2013 Tymco 50cc so Sue doesn’t need a motorcycle endorsement on her drivers license. The other one is a 2012 Tymco 150cc. It was a demo unit with about 25 miles on it. The best part is they get about 85 mpg for the 150cc and well over 100 mpg on the 50cc.

Notice how petite Lucy Looks compared to Molly

      On Friday ,Aug 2^nd, our little Lucy got her last shots and also got fixed. She sure had an awful time with that big funnel over her head. We finally removed it on Sunday and she hasn’t bothered her wound all that much and is much happier. She hasn’t grown much since she joined our family but has certainly developed quite a personality. She has also grown very fond of Johnnie, one of our Gate Attendant partners. Sue has dubbed Johnnie the Godfather. He always gets her going and all excited till she pees, then he gives her a treat. Just the opposite of what we want, but it makes an old fart happy.

    

 

Lucy alongside Jody

Still Sue's Favorite "Velcro Dog"

Surprisingly Molly is still doing rather well other than she refuses to go with Sue on her early morning walks anymore, so it is just Jody and Lucy. One thing that surprised us all though is, Molly started riding on the scooter with me in the mornings while doing rounds. She sits on the floor board between my feet and peeks around the cowling to see where we are going. Now I have to see if I can get Jody to ride with me. That could prove to be really interesting as one time I tried to get her to ride with me in the Rhino Side by Side, and she leapt off the seat as soon as I started the engine. I did finally get her to ride with but it was a challenge to hold her still.

     Sue’s walking partner, Ruth, is moving into an apartment in Whitney, so she won’t be out here every morning anymore. So I guess it will be up to me to motivate her to get up a little earlier to walk with me. It really is tough to get motivated on those mornings when it hasn’t cooled down much, which has been the case the past couple of weeks. We’ll probably have another week of the temps getting over 100° then we should be on the down hill slide heading towards Fall.

I guess we better get busy and change our sign.
 

     We’re looking forward to seeing some of our Family members in Oklahoma when we go up for Michael and Katelynn’s Wedding in September. We’ll be boarding the dogs so we don’t have to worry about what to do with them on our trip. We’re planning on switching a day of work with Janet and Johnnie so we can stay up there an extra day.

     I guess I’m running out of things to ramble on about so I’ll sign off for now. Thanks for stopping by our Blog, and we’ll write again later.

Hi everyone:-)
Well, we finally finished up our fill in job at McCown Valley Park this past Sunday. It was Memorial Weekend, and it was super busy over there. The other couple that works week days over there worked the Day Use Gate to take part of the load off the main gate. We had to close down the Boat Ramp for about an hour because of a lack of parking available. The other couple had to shut down the Day-use part for the same reason.


Sue with Lucy

We gained a new member to our family on Saturday, May 18th. A couple came in and had a couple dogs and Sue reminded them to keep their dogs on a leash. The Lady said they just found the one at a Wal-Mart parking lot and was looking for a good home for it. About that time a little brown head poked in the air in the back of their pickup in an oversized cage. The lady hopped out of their pick-up and took the little dog out of the cage and brought it over to the gate house window to show Sue. Well the next thing I knew, we were back to a three dog family again.



We think she is part Chihuahua and part Dachshund, but not positive. The Vet wasn't sure either so I guess we'll  have to wait until she matures and decide at that time, in the mean time we'll call her a Chiweiny, or Mexican Hot Dog

 

We only had one day off this week and spent most of it at the Vet's office and running errands. Today we are filling in for our co-workers Johnnie and Janet for their Family re-union here at the Cedron Creek Camp Ground Group Camp and Shelter. We owed them time for when they worked for us while I was in the hospital.
 

Next weekend we have one Dr. appointment just for a blood draw, then we will be looking over a couple camp grounds that will be open for bid this fall for the winter Gate Attendant Positions. Then we will have a better idea of which ones we will want to bid on for our winter job. Hopefully we will be able to find another Corps Camp Ground further north for next summer. Then we will have our winters and summers switched around the way we want.

 



I have so much to say about the past month and I don’t know where to start. I guess the beginning would be the smart way to do it, so here goes.


 Tuesday morning I got turned loose from the Hospital and was back in the Gate House working by about 1pm. The cardiologist just said to do nothing strenuous for a while. I’m pretty sure that a Gate Attendant position qualifies as non strenuous!

The Corps lost their “B” team for the weekend Gate Attendants at McCown Valley Park, which is just on the other side of Whitney Lake from where we are here at Cedron Creek. They quit after only one day on the job. Here-say has it that their excuse was that it wouldn’t allow enough time for traveling with their friends, or something to that effect. We were asked if we could fill in at the end of April as the “A” team over there would work 7 days a week but only until April 30th. That means we will be working 7 days a week but only until May 31, at which time the Corps temporary funding for us would run out.

As we were dealing with my heart attack, we also were dealing with our Emma's back injury. She evidently had jumped off the bed while we were at work just before I went into the hospital. Sue was trying to Dr. her as best she could, as well as driving to Waco to visit me. Well after administering some Steroid medication and trying to keep her resting comfortably, we still lost her. Her internal organs started shutting down and eventually she passed away on April 27th.

We have worked the past 2 weekends at McCown and other than being super busy compared to here at Cedron, but we handled it with ease. Instead of commuting back and forth we have been moving the motor home over there for the 3 days so we were able to tend to the dogs on a more regular basis and prepare meals much easier.

On Monday, May 13^th we found out that a couple, we met this past winter, are taking over the weekend duties at McCown as of the first of June. They worked that same park during the past 2 winters so they will have no learning curve to go through. Even though the extra money is nice, we are glad that we won’t have to work 7 days a week all summer. We still might help occasionally at the McCown Day-Use Gate House if they don’t find anyone to work it. (17 days and counting)

Day 2 in the hospital

As most of you have already heard, I have suffered my first (and hopefully my last) heart attack. I had been working on a water heater and was pulling real hard on a wrench. Shortly thereafter I was experiencing pain running down my left arm and was trying to convince myself it was a pulled muscle. Later that evening it got worse so I downed a couple aspirin and it helped relieve the pain. Well to make  a long story short, it continued to get worse for the next couple days and I finally decided to tell Sue that I needed to go to the hospital. A quick trip to the ER after work on Thursday evening and a long wait in the waiting room, went without any major problems. Once in the Emergency room they put me on a heart monitor and performed an EKG. It turned out that all the bad foods I've consumed the past 64 years caused a bunch of plaque buildup that prevented oxygen from getting to my heart from my lungs with almost 100% blockage. The Cardiac team was already in the hospital due to a previous coronary emergency, so they had me on the table installing a stent in my coronary artery within 15 minutes. They admitted me to ICU for a night, then transferred me up to a regular room. They started me on some medications to thin my blood an start to get rid of the plaque and on Monday they put in 3 more Stents. There was a little drama in the Cardio room when my IV blew out but otherwise the outcome was good. So there is going to be a diet change as well as a little more exercise in my future.

Wow, it has been a long time since I’ve written anything on our Blog. I hope this edition finds every one has survived the winter intact

We have just begun our second season here at Cedron Creek Camp Ground on beautiful Lake Whitney in Central Texas.

We drove back to Minnesota in October, and visited with many of you while there. It was especially nice to see the kids and grand kids! While there, we were able to clean out a 10’ X 15’ Storage unit at the Laundromat. It was nice to be able to get rid of a good share of the “stuff” stored there, so we don’t have to continue paying rent there. We were lucky enough to escape Minnesota before any snow storms moved in.

Upon returning to TX the first week of December, we spent 3 months at the Waco North RV Park just north of West TX, where we had started out the fall of 2011. I was working on some cabin remodeling, adding bathrooms etc, as well as helping set up 2 new “Park Model” Cabins while Sue worked in the office.

Judy Mott and Sue

In February we had a chance to drive over to Fort Parker State Park just a little south of Mexia, TX to visit with Dick and Judy Mott before they moved to Brazos Bend State Park down by Houston. We had a excellent visit and a very informative tour of their campground while there.

As I eluded to earlier, we moved back to Cedron Creek on the 8^th of March and are really enjoying the quiet here, with out all the Interstate 35 traffic noise 24/7. We can actually hear the birds singing in the mornings interrupted only by an occasional vehicle traveling on the county road. We have approximately 35 does and not sure how many Bucks yet but we had 5 rather large ones last season. We started out volunteering, getting some of the camp sites cleaned up a little. It was mostly brush and a couple trees that were laying down on or near some of the camp sites.

Last Monday, March 25^th, we along with Johnnie & Janet Barefield (our co-workers here), took a trip over to Liberty Hill Park on Navarro Mills Lake, to visit with another Couple we met here at Lake Whitney (Roy and Tony Ogle). They worked our position here at Cedron for the first 3 weeks of the season last year and are currently working at Liberty Hill Park on a 2 year contract which runs Winter and Summer. Tony cooked up a delicious batch of Catfish and Crappies. She also had home made Hush Puppies, Coleslaw and pickled Cucumbers made with Red Hots. Janet baked a chocolate cake for desert. Thanks for desert Janet and Thank You so much Tony and Roy for the wonderful meal and your warm hospitality!



As I said earlier, we started our second season as Gate Attendants on April 1^st, 2013. It started out rather slowly, as we only checked in our first guests today (Wednesday). I have a feeling it is partially due to the cooler weather and it is rather early in the season yet. Once school is out for the summer I’m sure it will suddenly get much busier.

We had almost an inch and half of rain the past two days. I believe that is the most we’ve had at any one time this year. We need a lot more rain as the lake is very low again.

Until next time.

 

This is part of the heard just befor they started having Fawns

These are the Twins from Cedron

Well, we are still hanging around Whitney Lake. It's sure been a beautiful summer here in Texas so far. We have quite a few new Fawns in both parks.
When we first started work down here, we had approximately 35 deer in the heard in Cedron Creek Park. That amount has since increased by an ever growing number. Yesterday we discovered another new addition to the heard.

One of the new additions at McCown Valley Day-use Park

We just discovered there are a set of twin fawns here at McCown also. Tried to get pictures but they we at a bad angle and I was leaning out the window. I will see if I can get them on here next time.

-81 lbs

We will have to find somebody who knows how to run a camera, so we can update our Blog Spot Heading picture. (Hint Hint Dick Mott)








.


As some of you know, Sue has lost a considerable amount of weight since it was taken last summer, and I think we should have a new picture to celebrate that fact.

Our Gate house at McCown Vally Day-Use Park.

We had Friday off so we went to Waco to run a few errands. It turned out to be a very expensive trip.
Don't ever follow traffic through a left turn when the yellow arrow is on, because evidently the light is green for the on-coming traffic and you WILL get a ticket for failure to yeild. A VERY EXPENSIVE lesson to be learned there.

Gate House at Cedron Creek Park

We are geting a nice gentle rain this afternoon so the traffic coming in is very light. It might have something to do with the lightning. It can't be the fact that they would get wet; after all, they are at the beach to get wet and cool down.

Most of the garden in front of the Cedron Gate House is due to the hard work put in by our co-workers, Janet and Johnnie Barefield. Janet planted a row of Merrigolds around about 3/4s of it, not knowing what we wanted to do with our part.

Our camp site at Cedron with tree stump.

Well as it turned out she should have went all the way around because the deer are eating off the blossoms from our 2 tomato plants on the left side.
Johnnie and I repaired the sprinkler system out front of the Gate house when we got here so the grass gets watered twice a week and stays nice and green

We neglected to water our grass in our yard for about 2 weeks and then realized it was drying up on us. We started watering this past Monday and it is already coming back and ready to mow.

We lost one tree and a few branches from another due to the drought. I was tying the dogs out one afternoon and a very large branch fell and nearly hit me. It weighed nearly 100 lbs and was more than I could move by myself. We had one of the CETs come out and cut it up with a chain saw. The next day they hired a contractor to remove a bunch more of the dead branches and cut down the other completely dead tree next to it.

Thanks for stopping by!   Until next time .......................Dave & Sue

Hi everyone!
It's been a busy month here. I hope this new posting finds everyone well. We are doing great here. Sue has lost 67 lbs thus far and looking and doing really good. I corrected her loss on the last Blog as I was a little off ....... kilter :-)

We have had over 3 inches of rain past week, so it's been pretty easy to keep the grass green. Tuesday morning we watered the lawn and garden in front of the Gate House. That same morning the neighbors washed both of their vehicles so I figured I better wash ours too. The old adage goes, "If you want it to rain, wash your car". Well then it rained Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.

We started a new job in addition to our regular Gate Attendant Position at Cedron Creek Park. There is another Camp Ground across the lake from Cedron called McCown Valley Park. Part of it is a Day-Use Park, where people come to swim, picnic, play horse shoes or use the Equestrian Trails. It is a separate area from the Camp Ground and has it's own Gate House. The people that had the contract for that Gate had some medical problems and had to quit, so We figured we weren't doing anything else on the weekends anyway, so we bid on it and they put us to work right away. We worked there Friday, Saturday and Sunday over Memorial weekend so we had 11 days in a row, on duty. That was a good way to get our feet wet on a new job, but we won't have to keep up that pace all the time. Now we work Monday through Thursday at Cedron, Take Friday off and work Sat and Sunday at McCown. It only gives us 1 day a week off but it pays pretty well, we set our own hours and besides, we can't spend any money while working. The Day-Use has a lot more traffic, so we enjoy the faster pace for 2 days and then go back to our regular job to rest up for 4 days.

We have a new batch of Fawns at our regular park. We came home last Saturday night and noticed one of our pregnant Does lying in the grass in a meadow just out from our Gate House at Cedron Park. When our headlights swept across her, she slowly got up, and ambled towards the woods. I told Sue that "I bet She has her Fawn tonight. Well she didn't show up for her morning breakfast clutch of Corn in front of our motor home the next morning nor on Monday. Well Tuesday I got a glimpse of her fawn as Momma Doe briefly brought the fawn by the Gate House that morning as if to say "Look What I Have". Then as quickly as they appeared, they vanished into the woods again.

Thursday afternoon while I was staring out the Gate House window, there appeared 4 Does (the mother does with their respective yearling does) along with their new-Born's. The yearlings have been sort of acting as nurse maids for the past 2 weeks, following their mothers everywhere, cleaning them all over, warding off insects and chasing off the bucks while the Pregnant Does ate our corn. Well as the 4 older ones were grazing, the two Little fawns were frolicking in the field and all of a sudden the fawns tore off in opposite directions, one across the road and the other into the woods. At first the adults were running in circles trying to determine which scent they should chase after. I just sat there laughing while they circled around and finally 2 went each direction to round up the younguns. I have yet to capture the little darlings with the camera.

We heard via the Internet Grapevine that our friends Dick and Judy Mott had some roof damage on their motor home while Workamping up in Colorado, and had to have their whole roof replaced. I really feel sorry for those guys as it has been one problem after another with their motor home ever since we met them. I sure hope their luck changes soon!

We had an unfortunate incident happen last weekend. One of our guest was hosting a get-together for his daughters Wedding at our Park. They got Married at another Camp Ground just across the lake to the north of us Saturday night. Instead of taking cars across the bridge and a mile down the road, they evidently took some boats up there. After the wedding, evidently they were partying on the boats and diving off the back of the Brides' Dad's boat. One of the young girls (20) dived off and never resurfaced. They found her body about 6:30am in 80 feet of water. What a horrible way to remember your wedding!

On the lighter side.... (Heard on the Waco 100, Radio Station) Why do Chicken Coops only have 2 doors??????? If they had 4 doors, they'd be called Sedans!

I have no pictures to post today as My adapter card is at the Motor Home, but I will try to edit them in tomorrow.

I hope everyone enjoys my rendition of our little adventures..............
Thanks for stopping by!.................

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.

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.

View out our side window just about every day.

The next day, with Julies great help, we packed up our home and the dogs and headed north. Being Sue couldn’t drive yet, and as long as Julie was here, we opted for her to drive the pick up loaded with the Rhino, rather that towing it behind the motor home. That sure made life a whole lot easier! (Thank you Julie!!!)

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.

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!

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!

Right along side our truck, looking out our bedroom window at 7 in the morning.

Till next time………..



The water is already 2 ft above normal level at this time.

I am a little behind on the Blog this week. As a few of you probably know, we had about 7 inches of rain last week. That put my work project behind a few days.  I’m posting a few pictures of our boat launch area, both before and after, to show how much the lake level rose. We gained over 6-¾ Ft of water. They have the gates open and are letting out over 5600 cubic ft per sec of water out. The water came in at an estimated 24,000 cubic ft per sec, just from one of the rivers flowing into the lake, so you can see why they gained so much.



Remember this One-Way Sign.

Just about covering the 100 ft wide parking lot.

The level went up one more inch than this sign shows.




There is a picnic table and BBQ grill under this canopy.

　

Today, Waco Lake is still 4-½ ft above where we were before the last rains began. Now consider this; The Lake was over 5’ below normal when we moved here almost 2 months ago.



Thanks for tuning into our Blog.  More to come later....................