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....................

March 18, 2012

We met some really nice people this week from the Houston area. They were John and Sue Frank and John’s Sister and another lady. They are camping down in the Equestrian Camping area. John and Sue have a custom built horse trailer with a living area in the front half, a dog sleeping area/tack room in the middle and their horses ride in the rear of the trailer. John did all of the custom work himself, complete with a bed, TV and Electric Fire Place up front over the hitch and a mini kitchen and bath room/shower area just behind it where you entered. It was cozy but really nice.

The Equestrian Camping area is within the Coe land but the camp sites, and pavilion as well as some riding trails were built by the area Equestrian Club members. The Equestrian Area is open to horse back riding as a “Day-Use” designation which they pay about $4 a day or they can buy an annual pass. This area is also open to camping to anyone, not just horse owners, year round, but by reservation only, as opposed to the regular Camp Ground being closed during the winter.

There is also a huge (10’ or so diameter) fire ring near the entrance to this area, so last night My Sue and I gathered some firewood to take down to them and built a fire while visiting with the Mayor of Valley Mills, TX along with his two grand children whom had been camping there since last Sunday and they are close to wrapping up their visit here. After John and his family and friend finished their dinner they came over to join us. John brought his guitar along and treated us to a few songs including a few he had written himself. A very talented man for sure! Around 10 pm we all retired to our respective “homes” as they had a very busy day of getting camp set up and trail riding.

Next Saturday, the 24^th, we, along with Dick and Judy will be moving back to the regular camp ground area about a half mile north of where we are located now, so the summer Gate Attendants can move in. The good news is we have an absolutely beautiful view of Waco Lake. The bad news is we will have to break camp once a week so we can dump our septic tanks as there are no sewer hook-ups in the Camp Ground, only Water and Electric. We wouldn’t have had to move until Sunday or Monday but Sue is having her surgery Monday morning, so we wanted to get set up ahead of time.

Thanks for following our blog. till next time.................

Well, Sue's Mother and Sister Kathy showed up on time at Dallas Airport this past Thursday morning. The timing was absolutely perfect, as we waited until Kathy let us know when they were aboard the plane in Minneapolis, before we left home. We had to stop for gas in Waco and then drove on to Dallas. When we first arrived at the Terminal, I inadvertently pulled into the bus and taxi lanes and there was no way to get over the cement island to the lanes we were supposed to be in. About the time I realized what I had done and had pulled over to the curb, one of those security guys, on one of those slick new cycles that they stand on, scooted right over to run us out. So we made another loop around the parking area and this time stayed to the left like we were supposed to do the first time. We were only stopped for a minute or two when Mom and Kathy walked out the door.

On the way to Waco We made a brunch stop on the south end of Fort Worth. We were going to introduce Mom and Kathy to a place called the Cotton Patch but they were not open until 11:00AM so we went across the freeway to I-Hop instead. All was not lost as we did do Supper at another Cotton Patch in Waco that evening.

Sue, Mom and Kathy did some shopping while I worked Friday morning. Sure, they fly all the way to Texas just to hit the "Good Will Store"! Later they came out to our camp ground to just sit in the sun and veg out. We sat around talking and I cooked burgers on the grill for all of us. We wound up the evening by driving through the Park looking for and finding many deer.

Thanks for stopping by and reading our Blog. More to come................

Gate House

Dick and Judy Mott



We have the second site on the right as you drive in.

     What a beautiful day we have this morning. The first thing I saw, when looking out our back window, was 2 deer crossing the blackened field. When they stopped running it was really difficult to see them. I tried to take a photo of them but they were too far away for my cheep camera to zoom in on them.

     Two days ago, while driving in from the camp ground area, I happened across 3 deer just 25 yards away on a down hill slope. Again I attempted to get a picture and by the time I got the batteries in the camera they had stepped into the cedar woods just far enough that I couldn’t see them. I followed the road which actually circles the area of woods that the deer walked into. I was about half way around when I glanced into my rear view mirror and saw the deer were kind of following me. I continued on to the front gate area knowing that it would be impossible to stop, turn around and take a picture. By the time I reached the gate our neighbor, Dick met me and we were standing around discussing the trash the workers from the “Burn” of the previous day had left and suddenly Dick blurted out, Look It There! Deer! I turned to look where he was pointing and sure enough, there were the 3 deer that I had seen only a few minutes ago. They evidently, being the very curios creatures they are, had followed me the half mile or so to the front gate area. How Fun!

     You got to love it in the country…..

   
Ye-Gads, Time flies when you’re having fun. We spent 4 months working at what we thought was going to be a KOA camp ground just North of West TX. The day we arrived (Sept 29th) they were replacing the sign at the main entrance to read “Good Sam RV Park”. We should have taken this as a warning because there is no way they would get good reviews from KOA. Every thing looked as if it came from the "Peanuts Cartoon" with junk laying all over.

Well we figured we would give them the benefit of a doubt and go to work. We checked in with the gal at the office, who wasn't too friendly, and basically gave us the third degree.


 The owner never did look us up to welcome us to the park or let us know what he wanted us to do or when to expect to start. We had to search him out, which was no easy task as he was out of the Park every day hunting or on another mission of some sort. 

Joe "Workamper"

I ended up working with a great guy named Joe.

















One of the Cabins

We started out repairing and replacing porch boards on 7 Rental Cabins.











Work Bench we built.

After finishing those projects we began another major undertaking of building a new shop for the owner. The Owner had the basic shell erected by another Contractor and we took over from there.

 






House Burning

While I was back in Minnesota for Christmas break, Sue called me to inform of a fire . The Owners House went up in smoke due to a cat tipping over a Ceramic space heater. Evidently the "tip-over" switch failed and burned a hole in the floor and it spread quickly through out the biggest share of the house.

    







So there went the next "Scheduled Project".  Joe and I were supposed to do some remodeling in the house next after finishing the Shop.



Meanwhile.................
Joe fell in love with a very nice lady he had known for several years up in Dallas. In light of the fire and considering the cost of commuting to and from Dallas every weekend he decided to put a temporary stop to his Workamping adventure and gave his 2 week notice to leave.

And 2 weeks later................
After 4 months of putting up with the Interstate Highway 35 Noise, (Besides My job basically came to an end any way), we moved to Waco Lake.

This put us closer to my new Dr. I had to get a new primary Dr. so I could get my colonoscopy and port flushes taken care of.




Arriving at Reynolds Creek

Our new location is much quieter than Waco/West RV Park is. I think you can actually hear the grass grow out here. We are at a COE park on the south side of Waco Lake called Reynolds Creek. We do miss the shade trees though.













Our neighbors are Dick and Judy Mott, who were at Waco/West RV when we were there. They moved here a month earlier than us.


Current Job Location

Our Job Description is still Maintenance but are doing a different project entirely. I started working with a opinionated gentleman named Ken. We worked together for a total of 2 days (not consecutive) and then he decided there were greener pastures up east of Dallas at another COE Camp. He and the Camp Manager really didn’t see eye to eye either so I figure that was a contributing factor for his leaving.






On February 21st The Corp did a controlled burn of about 180 acres just 50 feet south of our location.
We had to relocate to the actual camp ground itself which is about a half mile north of here. We had an incredible view of Waco Lake at our site up there.






Just getting started!

What a sight to see!














DIck Mott's Fire Photo

Our neighbor, Dick Mott took many pictures of this burn also.
This is but one example of his phenomenal collection. You can see the rest at...............

 http://dickandjudymott.blogspot.com/



More to come..................

Sept 20th. 2011; In The Begining.......

We left Merrifield MN and headed south towards the end of September 2011. This was slightly earlier than we had originally planned. Our destination is West Texas; More specifically the KOA Camp Ground just 2 miles north of West.
We left around noon with a 40 to 50 mph head wind. Our first scheduled stop was at our Son's home in Svea, MN, just 7 miles south of Willmar and it came none too soon, as my arms felt like they were made of rubber.
We did find out that the pickup we were towing, suffered a dead battery on the way down. It turns out we had the plug wired incorrectly and was missing a live voltage feed. A half hour later all was well thanks to Gene's quick work.

By the next morning we were happy to find we had a slightly milder tail wind out of the north. The bad part of that was it got much cooler but we accepted it with a smile.
As we headed into Iowa we found much of our planned route had to be detoured around because of spring floods washing out road beds and bridges. We had remembered seeing this on the news but, we had no idea the damage was that extensive! This made for much slower going than planned. We did make it to a little town in the south west corner of the state but it was dark by the time we got there so we drove into a Walmart parking lot for the night. We didn't get a whole lot of sleep due to all the trucks pulling in and out all night.

We got lucky again when we left the next morning as we had another tail wind plus we got out of the hilly country. As we worked our way further south it started to get pretty warm in the Motor home. I started the generator so we could run the rooftop air conditioners. A short time later the generator quit running and an attempt to get it running again failed. I seems the ignition coil started to shot out, swelled up and quit working. In a way this was a good thing as we figured out how much it cost us to run it twice a day. We were using it to run the refrigerator, once in the morning and again when we stopped in the evening. We figured we used about $28 worth of gas each day with the generator. Well we opted to stay at a camp ground just north of Joplin MO for a mere $18. That way we were able to use the camp ground's electricity to cool the refrigerator which stayed cold for over 10 hrs (as long as we kept it closed). I guess we will rethink the refrigerator use on our next trip and use our 12 volt cooler.


Primary Transportation on Work Sites

The next day, after stopping at Colaw RV Salvage to look for an awning ,we made it to NE Oklahoma and checked into a site at the Snow Dale State Park about 6 miles east of Pryor. After getting set up, we headed out to Pryor for a visit with my Oldest Sister, Lois and her husband Herman. We ended up staying in the Pryor area for about 3 days before continuing south again.