April 8- 14, 2010

April 8, 2010, Thursday

Up early enough to get things put up in the motor home and be on the road by 9:20 am. We left the Heartland RV Park riding our magic carpet (our motor home) driving up highway 19 northbound. Rhonda drove the first 152 miles. This basically was a travel day for us. We arrived at Lake Texoma after I completed the last 97 miles. We found the campground around 3:30 pm. We pulled in with a little apprehension because the sites were small and narrow making the back-in to our site a bit tricky. After settling in we took a walk around the campground and out to a point where we could see the marina. This is a huge lake reaching into two states; Texas and Oklahoma. After our walk-around we took Sadie back to the RV and went out for another good meal. With bellies full and a good night’s sleep ahead of us, we traveled back to our RV home.

April 9, 2010, Friday

I went out this morning to walk our exit strategy out of the park. I wanted to make sure we could make the turns with the dolly and car hooked up to the motor home. I walked to the turn which I felt would be our major concern, when I just happened to look down and saw a $10 bill lying in the road. Our stay cost us $10 for last night. So the newly acquired $10 bill was either going to pay for last night’s stay or a breakfast at McDonalds.

McDonalds would eventually win out. We hooked up the dolly and car pulled out of the campground at 9:15 am. We stopped for breakfast at the first McDonalds we came to and then filled up with gas ($110) having our lunch in the parking lot of the gas station where we stopped. By mid-afternoon we stopped at Paradise Casino located about eleven miles south of Ponca City, OK. Our total miles traveled today was 229 miles. I went in to inquire about the cost to stay the night. They have seven hook-ups for RV’s, all with 50/30 amp service and water (no sewer). The price was free for the first night. Plus they gave us each $10 free spending money for the slot machines. The $10 didn’t last long but what the heck it was their money. After losing their money in their slot machines, we went into the restaurant but really didn’t see anything on the menu that tantalized our taste buds. So we walked hand-in-hand back to the RV, where I cooked up a little supper. The rest of the evening found us watching TV and saving our money. This little Casino had neon palm trees at its entrance and scattered all around the parking lot. It was a profitable travel day for us.

April 10, 2010, Saturday

Not sure what’s in store for today but weather wise it’s going to be great day. We left Paradise Casino at 9:50 am stopping at Wal-Mart about eleven miles up the road in Ponca City, Oklahoma for some supplies and $40 cash back. We stopped at a Long John Silver’s for lunch before taking off for our new home for the next six months – USI campground in Wichita, KS. Rhonda called the owner and our new boss, Sheila Wagner asking her if it would be okay to come in one day earlier than expected. She sounds like such a nice lady; she had no problem with us coming in early. We traveled a total of 104.2 miles arriving at USI at 1:45 pm.
The first person we met was Sondra Pegg who was working in the office. She is the better-half of Frank Pegg; together they make the other couple we will work with until June 1st. This will be their third summer working here at USI. There will be another couple coming in around Memorial Day weekend and they are supposed to be here for the months June, July and August. Until June 1st and after Labor Day we will be working three-days on and three-days off. The months of June, July and August our work schedule is suppose to be two-days on and four-days off. No matter how you look at it, whether it’s three on and three off or two on and four off, that’s not a hard work schedule. We also met Sheila and her husband Keith Wagner the owners of the park. They too seem like a real nice couple. It looks favorable for a real good summer. Sondra checked us in and Frank guided us into our new site for the next six months. The site we were assigned is very nice with shade trees, a picnic table with a brick patio and a yard to enjoy. We couldn’t have asked for a better site the only thing lacking is room to put out our awning. We are close to the office, rec-room, restrooms and laundry facilities. I think we are going to like it here.

April 11, 2010, Sunday

Today was a take it easy day before we start our training tomorrow. I called my youngest daughter Katie and my granddaughter Ally and I had a really nice conversation with both of them. Kevin my son-in-law was playing in one of his baseball or softball leagues so I didn’t get to talk to him. I then called my son Ted but was unable to talk to him, but did talk to my sweet daughter-in-law and the two oldest boys, Brady & Kyle. They sound so cute and Brady is talking like a little grown-up man. Kyle surprised me with how much his speech and vocabulary have improved.

April 12, 2010, Monday

We start our first day of training today but before going into work I called Good Sam’s Emergency Road Service trying to get our front door fixed. This time they told me I would have to pay for the service call too. The reason was because we could get inside our motor home through the driver’s side-door. I explained just few days ago they had sent someone out, a locksmith no-less and they paid for it. They wouldn’t budge on us paying for the service call so I called Camperland an RV repair shop that was recommended by Frank Pegg (the other workamper) and Sheila Wagner the owner of the park. Camperland sent out Eddie at the end of our work day. Promptly at 10 am we went in for our first full day of training. It was mostly listening to Sheila explain the inn’s and out’s of daily operations. There are a lot of procedures that are addressed in a notebook she gave us to take home to study. Bob May (a workamper soon departing) told me about a website to download the program Rhonda will be working with over at the office. It’s a demo that will give her hands-on practice which won’t be as stressful for her if she uses it on our computer. My first impression of Sheila was that she's a very organized person and I like that. She also is very businesslike in her approach, yet she does give you a feeling of being able to relax and do your job. My gut feeling is it’s going to be a long summer but one that we’ll learn from at this park. It was a long day with a happy ending. Eddie and his wife from Camperland came out and opened our door. It seems a bolt sheared off lodging itself into the hole and wouldn’t allow us to open the door no matter what we tried. I didn’t feel so bad knowing even a locksmith couldn’t open it up. Eddie from Camperland had to basically tear the lock apart to open the door. They will have to come back tomorrow to complete the job because he has to order a new lock. At least we can go in and out of our front door.

April 13, 2010, Tuesday

(Tom, Rhonda with Barb & Bob May) Today we had to report at 8:45 am for training. Rhonda will be working with Barb May and I will be shadowing her husband Bob. It was a long day but an enjoyable day working with Bob and Barb. Rhonda and I were both tired after this long day. The end of the day had its good moment and then ended on a sad note. The good moment was Eddie came back to complete the door job putting in a new lock (cost $161). The total bill was $322.30 for the repair after the service call and labor. And no that’s not the sad note, it was however a little sad for my wallet, because there goes my first two weeks of pay. Then we had to grocery shop at a store called Dillon’s which is like shopping at a Kroger’s. This cost another $67. WOW, I hope I get a pay raise soon.
No the sad note was Bob & Barb May are scheduled to leave tomorrow. They are such a nice couple and will be missed. I would have really liked working the summer with him.

April 14, 2010, Wednesday

(Frank Pegg on golf cart) We had a long journey of 100 feet to the office this morning. Today we will be working with a new couple, Frank & Sondra Pegg. I enjoyed working with Frank today. Rhonda worked with Sondra and she enjoyed working with her. Sheila the owner was home sick today; really sick; sick in bed – sick. Frank said that has never happened since they have been here the last two years. Frank and I did our daily routine of chores and he was a good trainer. Our day went rather well.
Arriving home a little after 6 pm there was a tail-wagging little doggie girl so happy to see us. I never get tired of Sadie’s greeting for us. I fixed supper; we ate; we relaxed and then I studied for a quiz on dispensing LP (propane). Just another qualification I will be able to put on my resume. Now we are just waiting on tomorrow for another full day.

April 1- 7, 2010

April 1, 2010, Thursday

Today we arrived in Waco, Texas after traveling 199.5 miles. We drove up highway 77 seeing some beautiful bluebonnets and other Texas wild flowers growing along the roadway. It was a beautiful day to travel and the road conditions were just perfect. We made a stop in Giddings, Texas hooking up with Rhonda’s sister Barbara and her friend Ken. We stopped in a Wal-Mart (where else?) parking lot to have lunch and give Barbara the medication we picked up for her in Mexico. Dave & Clair who were traveling with us, along with Barbara, Ken, Rhonda and I were in our motor home having lunch and visiting when there was an unexpected knock at our door. A gentleman by the name of Monte Alford from the town of Rockdale, about 35 miles away wanted to ask us a few questions about our motor home. A very likable fellow we invited him in so we could answer his questions.













Before leaving Giddings we had to top off our fuel supply at an easy round number of $53, so we could continue our travels to the Samboree in Waco. Once we arrived at the Samboree location we were greeted by six or seven gentlemen helping to park the rigs as they arrived. We asked to be parked side-by-side.

“So how many rigs are you expecting for the Samboree?” I asked one of them.

“We’re expecting 389 at least that’s what the big-shots told us,” he said. “But we don’t think they are going to make it,” he added.

“Why not?” I asked him.

“Because your number 266 and your friends here are 267, it’s only a gut feeling but we don’t see it happening,” he replied. “Just follow me and I’ll get you parked.”

We unhooked and I did my blue-things outside (men stuff) and Rhonda did her pink-things on the inside (ladies stuff). Dave and I did have trouble finding the sewer lines but thank goodness for Dave’s, Boy Scout attitude because he had the shovel we needed to dig up the sewer lines. I would have been up the proverbial creek without a shovel if it hadn’t been for him. The four of us took a little time to catch our breath before venturing out.

April 2, 2010, Friday



We went to the Texas Ranger’s Museum today which was extremely interesting. We didn’t spend as much time there as I would have liked only because we arrived later in the afternoon. We still had a couple of hours to explore. Although we didn’t find anything connected to Cordell Walker the fictitious Texas Ranger TV Series, we did see something about a real Walker Texas Ranger. The museum houses the history of the Rangers from beginning to present day. What a wealth of knowledge under this roof. There is a 45 minute movie explaining a lot about this elite group, but in no way can a 45 minute movie cover the entire history of such a great organization. There are different weapons on display through the beginning in 1821 up to the present day, outfits of clothing, saddles, terminology used, currency (did you know Texas had its own currency at one time?) and so many more facts of interest. There are certainly many books on this subject that I personally plan on reading and of course there’s always the internet. Leaving the museum we came back to the Samboree area.

April 3, 2010, Saturday

Dave and I walked to the building where most of the activities took place picking-up some FREE donuts (not almost free like you hear in Mexico) but really free donuts and coffee. After rounding up a dozen or so free donuts we brought our stash back to the girls and everyone was happy. We polished off our allotment but of course I’m not telling what that amount was for each of us.

Then it was just a waiting game until half past the noon hour because our little Sadie was going to be in her first pet-parade. We signed her up in two of the three categories not realizing she was only allowed to be in one. (Nobody told us this when we signed her up). The first category was best dressed and the second one was best trained. We were called out around the 4th or 5th participant in the best dressed category. Sadie had a cute little yellow raincoat on and I had an Indianapolis T-shirt on with a blue raincoat. To make it look and sound authentic, Clair had a water bottle and she walked with us spraying us – okay mostly me as I sang, “It don’t rain in Indianapolis in the Summer time.” Okay singing probably is stretching it to say the least. Rhonda took pictures while a panel of six judges watched the proceedings taking place in front of them. Sadie certainly was cute, I think my singing sank us or Clair sprayed me enough to sink me, either way we didn’t place. We did enjoy it and of course Sadie was ooohed and aaahed by the crowd on hand. When it came time for the best trained they wouldn’t let Sadie compete because she’d already competed in the best dressed category. I believe after watching the best trained dogs do their stuff Sadie would have placed in this event. Nevertheless, it was all in good fun and Sadie did receive a ribbon for participating. And like any parent with a four-legged child we were very proud of her. We always think she deserves first place; at least in our hearts. After this fun filled event Rhonda took Sadie back home, Dave, Clair and I went over to where they were giving away (FREE) Blue Bell ice-cream. Each couple was given tow pints of Vanilla flavored ice-cream. Free is always good.

April 4, 2010, Easter Sunday

Oh, the waking up to diesel trucks running their engines at 6:30 am and might I add very loudly. But that’s part of the territory when you RV. There will be a mass-exodus of RV’s today and it will be a travel day for us as well. All the Good Sam Members need to depart from the county fairgrounds we are staying in by noon today. Dave and Clair will be heading to Longview, Texas and we are going to the city of Huntsville, Texas. We will be staying in Huntsville for 3 or 4 days, taking one day to go to Woodville, Texas to say our goodbyes and give everyone their items we picked up in Mexico for them. Then upon our return to Huntsville we will explore the area as much as time will permit.


Traveling 144.3 miles today we pulled into a real nice spot in Heartland RV Park, arriving at 2:40 pm. We decided to stay four days here in this nice park. We walked around the campground taking a few pictures and talking to fellow campers as we encountered them. Kimmy my oldest daughter called to wish us a happy Easter just as I was in the mist of calling all my kids. I did call Katie and Ted wishing them a happy Easter. I was able to talk to Katie and Ally but I had to leave a message on Ted’s machine. Rhonda called her family to wish everyone a happy Easter as well. Then the rest of the evening was for relaxing and we did.





April 5, 2010, Monday

I forced myself out of bed at 8:17 am this morning after sleeping soundly all night. I stuck a couple of waffles in the toaster and poured myself a glass of chocolate milk. Turning on the TV, I watched a little of the news until Rhonda woke up. A little after 10 in the morning, I went to the park office to pay our bill of $54 for the four nights stay. This total was for our electricity, water, sewer and cable TV. This is a very nice park with lots of trees for shade, a recreational room with a big screen TV, physical fitness equipment and a clean laundry facility, which even has a TV and A/C. It’s located approximately eleven miles north of Huntsville right on highway 19.

Today is going to be a really busy day for us because we are going to Huntsville to explore the city and some of its history. First up is the Texas Prison Museum. Huntsville is the home of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). The administrative offices and seven prisons are located in Walker County. Over 13,690 inmates are housed in Walker County and 8,362 are included in the city’s population census. That number will surely go up in the new 2010 census. The TDCJ has over 6,789 employees in Walker County. The Texas Prison Museum is the only one of its kind in Texas. On display are many exhibits including “Old Sparky,” the Texas electric chair, confiscated inmate weapons and fascinating facts about characters of the past who served on both sides of the bars. The Texas prison system began its work in 1848 (100 years before I was born) with a prisoner population of three men. Today it houses more than 143,500 offenders. This was a very interesting way to start the day.













The next stop for us was at the largest and tallest statue of an American hero. It took three years to construct this 67’ statue on a 10’ base, weighing approximately 60 tons (30 tons of steel and 30 tons of cement). The statue is visible for 6 ½ miles from the south of Huntsville next to Interstate 45. The cement mixer used to mix all of the cement was placed inside the statue in the “heart” area. The statue is of Sam Houston the only man in American history to be elected governor of two states. The pictures I took make Rhonda look so small standing beside “Big Sam.” He even looks like he’s towering above the tree-tops.













Here is Rhonda under a dogwood tree at the Sam Houston Memorial Statue.

Lunch time jumped to the head of our agenda and the attendant at the memorial for Sam Houston steered us in the right direction. Just a few miles up the road was a place called Farmhouse Café, with excellent food and service. It’s a local hang-out for the college kids (Sam Houston College), but older folks such as ourselves frequent the eatery too. Filling our bellies, our tour continued.














We drove less than one-mile to the old homestead of Sam Houston. On this property was a house called “Steam Boat House.” This was the house Sam Houston died in and his wake was held in. There is an interesting story/history concerning this house. It was built by Rufus W. Bailey for his son and new daughter-in-law as a gift for their marriage. But they refused to move into it because of its likeness to a steam boat with the pillars on each side giving it the look of a steam boat. It was made fun of because of its looks and made fun of by a lot of the citizens in the area.


On the homestead was another home of Same Houston’s and his law office a separate building. There was a nice spring fed pond with many ducks, turtles and a bed of azaleas to enjoy. Walking on this hollow-ground gives you a feeling of walking down history lane.






































We drove to the heart of downtown right on the square. Our next location was the “Cabin on the Square.” It’s the oldest log cabin in Walker County. It was moved to the site where Huntsville began as a trading post and right across the street was the Walker County Courthouse. We strolled across the street and visited inside. Walking around the square were many quaint shops to visit. There was one in particular I found interesting, the “Henry Opera House,” in service from 1883-1913. It was built in 1880 as a lodge hall. The first floor soon became a dry goods and grocery store, and the second floor was made into a fine theater by owner, John Henry (1828-1897). Here traveling troupes played Shakespeare and dramas of the times. The famous magician Hermann the Great made his Texas debut here; and blind Tom, a self-taught Negro piano virtuoso once performed on its stage. After a period as a skating rink, the opera house showed the first motion picture in the city about 1909. Then after a new theater was built it closed and again became used as offices and stores.

Our last stop on the square we found an old-fashion ice-cream parlor. Walking inside we order a couple of dishes of ice-cream and sat down to rest our weary bones. Enjoying the ice-cream, our day and each other’s company, we packed it in heading for our home just north of this historic city. We arrived home tired but very satisfied with the day’s events. Now the only thing that could put the cherry on the top of this day would be a win by the Butler Bulldogs for the National Championship against a very good Duke team. It wasn’t to be. The championship game was just that – a game of championship caliber. The magical wand provided by the Butler Bulldogs during the NCAA Championship Tournament finally ran out of magical dust. It was a great ride for these young men and their coach of three years. It was a tremendous story of David & Goliath. Almost a sequel to one of the greatest basketball stories ever – “Hoosier.”

And NO – I don’t feel sorry for this team. They wrote their own destiny in history, accomplishing many first in school history and it will be a run of success they will carry with them the rest of their lives. It came down to a last second shot from half court which rimmed off. Butler lost by two points. They did themselves proud. If that last second shot would have fallen in, they would have been the champions but in my eyes they are already champions.

April 6, 2010, Tuesday

Today we made our way over to Livingston, TX to pick-up our mail and then travel over to Woodville to say our goodbyes to our friends before heading up to Wichita, Kansas to start our new jobs. We arrived at Livingston approximately 1:10 pm which was pretty good timing on our part because you can’t pick-up the mail until one in the afternoon. After mail call we traveled over to Woodville stopping in to see Danny Self, Rhonda’s boss at the tanning salon. She dropped off a couple of gifts she had purchased in Mexico for his son, Michael. We went a couple of miles out of town to our winter-park of Paradise Senior RV Park and visited with our friends and owners of the park Guy and Linda LaFoy.

At 4:30 pm Sadie (our little dog) had an appointment to get her shots up to date and have her nails clipped. We have the best veterinarian in town, Mike Moran and his assistant Christi. They are just super individuals and we enjoy seeing them anytime we are in town. After visiting with them for a little while we were off to Pizza Hut to have dinner with our friends Bobby & Annette Adkins and Guy & Linda LaFoy. We ordered a couple of large pizzas which filled us all up. We talked and laughed over dinner before heading over to the Adkins new home they had bought since we left the area. They found a steal of a deal in their new home. Its just what they were looking for in a home and we’re very happy for them. After a short visit and tour of their new home we headed for ours too.

April 7, 2010, Wednesday

Rhonda was getting the laundry ready and I was getting things put down in motor home for an early morning travel up the road for an inspection on the motor home.
I took the motor home to Trinity, Texas which is about thirteen miles up the road for the annual state inspection and a sticker for the windshield. First place I stopped at was a VW place but they were out of stickers so they couldn’t do the inspection for me. So I moved to Plan B and took it to Trinity Muffler shop where they were out of stickers too. Now I’m not use to going to Plan C very often but this time it became a necessity since we needed the inspection before leaving the state of Texas. Just another ½ mile up the road was an auto repair shop.

They were so nice and I was in and out in a flash but there was a problem before I left. My entry door to the motor home was locked and I couldn’t open the door. Never fear, I had my keys and unlocked both locks on the door; the latch lock and dead-bolt lock. The door still wouldn’t budge. Now this presented a problem I hadn’t encountered before – being locked out and having keys which were suppose to open the door with ease. A little embarrassed I borrowed a ladder to climb through the driver’s side window. Thankfully I had left the window open and I unlocked the driver’s side door. Reaching for the door handle I pulled on it with no luck, it didn’t budge either. Now I was really embarrassed. Forgetting that there was a bar lock at the top of the door to prevent someone easy access. Stepping up the ladder I reached inside to the top of the door and released the bar lock allowing me access to the inside of my home. Once inside I was able to try from the inside to open the door, again no luck so my only thing to do was lock up the driver’s door and return to the RV Park. Upon my return I called Good Sam’s Emergency Road Side Service who went into their help mode. They called a locksmith for us and then followed up with us every 20 minutes by telephone to make sure we were okay. The locksmith worked on the door for almost ½ hour but with no results. The next thing for us to do is find a RV repair place and see what they can do for us. The weather late afternoon and early evening turned nasty on us raining and for a short while some small pea size hail. Tomorrow we head on up towards Kansas.
Now here's a picture Rhonda took on Highway 77 in Texas on our way up to Kansas a Wisteria in front of someone's home. Sure is pretty isn't it?