Full Time RV Living - Serving the Purpose

I must say. . .this RV Park we are at right now is nothing to write home about. . .

but considering how busy we’ve been running back and forth

between two different hospitals,

checking on two different parents. . .

a $100 a week for 50 amp service and full hookups is not bad. . .

serves the purpose.

 

Dad’s hip repair (for a prior hip replacement) went well. . .

he is now in rehab. . .hopefully for only about ten days. . .

then he will stay at my brother’s

while our stepmom continues to mend. . .

 

Nothing too exciting to share in the last couple of weeks. . .

Our buyers showed up to pick up the rig. . .

and although they’ve never officially RV’d he did have experience with heavy equipment,

and took to the whole set up thing like ducks to water. . .

hope they love it as much as we did!

 

We leave here Monday. . .Dave has a couple more fire school classes to teach. . .

our oldest grand graduates high school. . .

and then we head out for our Summer 2013 trip to Maine. . .excited!

Full Time RV Living–Excitement or Drama–No In Between

Our very last weekend as park hosts at Stephen F Austin State Park was just plain excitin’

Friday evening the family began arriving for a mini family reunion. . .

there’s my fabulous baby grand in the purple shirt. . .

Saturday. . .with about 20 family members in attendance. ..

the rains began. ..

didn’t stop the washers game though!

and seriously. . .is this not the cutest thing you’ve ever seen. . .

my bub. . .his grandson. . .my great nephew. . .

can ya see the family trait. . .LOVE IT!

Monday was the day to have the tow package installed on the jeep. . .

they got it right in and got it done. . .very impressive. . .

I begged our service advisor to let me go back in the shop area to take this pic. . .

being without our transportation was no problem. . .

they set us up in their RV lot. . .50 amp service. . .

much better than the waiting room. . .

Once the tow package was finished. . .we merrily set out for our new digs

at Colorado River Preserve Thousand Trails. . .

but. . .about midway there. . .while traveling in a bit of rain. . .nothing serious. . .

the awning over one of the slides decided to unfurl

while driving down I-10. . .helloo. . .not a good plan.

 

I am telling you for a fact. . .we no sooner got pulled off the freeway

and into a truck stop. . .that the bottom fell out. . .it was pouring. . .

crazy wind rocking the rig. . .I told Dave our guardian angels knew

that we needed to be off the freeway at that precise moment. . .

I am a believer. . .more than a believer in divine intervention. . .thank the Lord!

 

And then Monday afternoon. . .the drama began

when I learned that my stepmom had fallen. . .fractured her pelvis. . .

was in the hospital. . .and was set for a very long recovery. . .not good.

 

Add to this. . .my Dad is scheduled for hip repair surgery next Monday. . .

so Dave and I were already planning to be there for that. . .grrrrr. . .

trying to coordinate family things long distance is no fun. . .

thank God for my Bub. . .the one you saw in the pic above.

 

He has totally stepped in to handle the entire situation. . .

between him and my youngest stepbrother. . .

they seem to have a great plan and making it all work. . .so thankful!

 

When my Dad had a bad car accident a couple of years ago. . .

Dave and I dropped everything. . .took the rig down there

and stayed until his recovery was well under way. . .

it was just going to be very difficult to do that this time,

since our buyer is scheduled to be here in a couple of days

to pick up the fifth wheel and truck. . .so all is well. . .

when our business here is concluded, we will be taking the rig

down to stay for Dad’s surgery and recovery. . .

which should just be a 5 or 6 day stay in the rehab hospital. . .

and then back to my brother’s  UNTIL. . .it’s the UNTIL

that concerns me. . .but I know it will all work out!

In the meantime. . .remember those crazy Carolina Wrens
we were at war with over at Stephen F Austin?

Their kinfolk have already found us. . .bring it on! 

 

Full Time RV Living–A Little Nature - Red Shouldered Hawk Babies

Red Shouldered Hawk’s Nest with two (not quite) fledglings. . .awesome!

Baby Hawks are called eyas. . .and two hawk babies are called eyases. . .

this is from wiki/answers

ey-as (ahy-uhs)
-noun
1. a nestling
2. an unfledged, or not-yet-feathered bird, specifically, a nestling hawk or falcon.

looking around for Mom and Dad

there they are!

Full Time RV Living–What a Difference a Couple of Months Make

When we arrived at Stephen F Austin in January. . .

this was how our campsite looked

and only three short months later. . .

completely green. . .all the tree canopies filled out. . .just beautiful

For the most part, we have enjoyed being Park Hosts at

Stephen F Austin State Park in San Felipe TX,

and wanted to share just a few of the projects we have taken part in. . .

cement work. . .I’ve never been that close to a cement truck in my life. . .

finished project looks great. . .I also painted the barbecue pit. . .

assisted with painting the eaves around the perimeter. . .

and putting a second coat of stain on the cedar. . .fun!

helped with staining the furniture. . .that was some potent stain. . .let me tell you!  Wow. . .

this itty, bitty little woman, Donna, built all that massive furniture you saw in the previous pics. . .

I don’t even know how she managed it. . .but she did a great job!

here’s the extent of my building ability. . .

Dave and I put together these bird feeding platforms for the Wildlife Area. . .

gave intern Brittany a ride to the river to release a catfish

that had outgrown the aquarium in the Nature Center. . .

took 100 kindergartners on a hike. . .25 at a time. . .

Ranger Lisa took the other 100. . .so 200 kindergartners total. . .

it was quite a day! 

Mulched the Nature Garden

more mulching

and created Nature Garden signs. . .

 

Add to all this our regular duties of bathroom maintenance,

mowing, and fire pit clean out. . .

it has been a very busy few months indeed!

 

We leave here a week from tomorrow to meet up with our buyers

who are driving down from Pennsylvania to pick up

Beauty and the Beast. . .we are looking forward to meeting them. . .

and introducing them to their new ride. . .

 

Until next time

Janice

Full Time RV Living–Escape Is Getting Closer

Oh goodness. . .

now that we are only 10 days away from the end of our Park Hosting duties. . .

hitch itch is really, really setting in

so I decided escaping with Dave when he left to teach at College Station

this week would be a really great idea. . .

the bluebonnets are beginning to be at the end of their peak season,

but we found these beauties. . .so lovely!

as a wonderful fabulous bonus. . .

since Dave is a “priority club” member Holiday Inn

upgraded his room to a King Suite with a whirlpool. . .

escaping has turned into a fabulous, wonderful decision. . .

tomorrow. . .back to real life!

Full Time RV Living - A New Ride–or at Least–A Different Ride

Not sure how anyone could have missed it. . .

but just in case you did. . .

we SOLD Beauty and the Beast on EBay. . .yaaaa!

and chose yesterday of all days. . .with those crazy winds. . .

to move it to storage, until the new owners. . .

a couple from Pennsylvania. . .can get here to pick it up!

Of course, selling the rig necessitated purchasing a tow vehicle. . .

or a TOAD in RV terms. . .

Dave did all the research. . .yada, yada, yada. . .

my only request. . .that it match the motor home!

I’d say he picked a winner. . .

Anyone who knows us, knows we don’t buy new. . .

so it’s a 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee. . .4 wheel drive,

so we can tow it four down. . .important.

Just gotta get the tow bar and set up done on the rig. . .

and we will be ready to roll towards Maine! 

Lord willing. . .

Full Time RV Living–We Were Just Pooped

The entire month of March was  grueling. . .just flat wore us out .  We were told the month of March/April would be the busiest in the park, and they were correct. . .Spring Break Week. . .ai yai yai. . .

but we survived, and in an effort to recuperate drove over to Brazos Bend State Park to visit Park Host friends Judy and Dick Mott.  We originally met them in Estes Park last summer, where we all park hosted for Larimer County. . .then later, when Fort Parker had an opening, they called us, and we park hosted with them for a few weeks there. 

I love the juxtaposition of the flowers with the alligator

This reminds me of post cards I've seen at National Preserves

Young alligators were everywhere. . .not in the least bit afraid

this humongous specimen. . .Dick said it was a female. . .was lying fairly close to the walking path.  I can certainly see why patrols are posted on the weekends. . .they say the teenagers will walk right up to the alligators, even go so far as to poke them with a stick.  I would say. . .if this one gets ahold of ya. . .you are in a world of trouble!

I almost wish we had followed them over to Brazos Bend. . .so many fascinating, fabulous things to see.

Notice the young gator at the bottom of the pic. . .almost camouflaged

and all the different varieties of birds. . .just amazing!

Anhinga drying it’s wings

After a five mile bike ride around two lakes. . .getting off multiple times to take pics. . .and an hour drive home. . .I lay down across the bed and went into a coma. . .a seriously relaxing day. . .thanks Judy and Dick for playing hosts. . .we loved it!