It’s a Beautiful Morning

just can’t beat waking up to this view. . .and sunshine. . .

it’s gonna be a great day

It’s Spring Break Week. . .

but only one of the grands could come spend a few days. . .

the oldest one was working. . .

the next oldest was sick. . .

the youngest had softball stuff going on. . .

which left only the middle grand daughter, Morgan. . .

who, at 15,

was more than content to spend her day

sitting on the couch with her computer,

and the TV Remote. . .

I guess it’s time for me to have a reality check. . .

We always had so much fun with them when they were little. . .

but I’m beginning to think at this age,

maybe just taking them out for dinner is a better plan.

I truly do understand. . .guess I’m just still hanging on. . .

not quite ready for them to be all grown up. . . (sad face)

Oh well. . .on to the next adventure!

Til then,

Janice and Dave 

 

Where’s Weaver? Well. . .We Found Them. . .

Oh my goodness. . .we have been following

Marsha and Paul’s Blog . . .Where’s Weaver since 2011,

when they, and we, were both headed down the East Coast.

 

I was googling our next stop. . .their blog popped up. . .

we discovered we were about a week behind them. . .

somehow made contact, and have been in touch

through our blogs and by email ever since. . .

but have just NOT been able to meet up until last week. . .

and then.. .the day we were supposed to meet,

this is what we woke up to. . .Winter Wonderland. . .ice everywhere. . .

(pics borrowed with permission from Ed’s RV Tips Blog)

but with eye doctor appointments already made,

we determined that if the roads weren’t icy,

we would go ahead and head out.

I sent Marsha a note to tell her

there was no need for them to get out in ALL this. . .

however, it was just misting on their side of town,

they didn’t get all the ice,

they couldn’t imagine why I was saying such a thing. . .

so on they came, and quickly found out. . .to their surprise,

how bad everything (except the roads) was.

here we all are. . .with our delicious Genghi’s Grill

Mongolian Wok stir fry’s. . .

this was Marsha and Paul’s first experience

at a Mongolian Wok. . .they really loved it. . .

if you like stir fry, and you’ve never been to one

you need to give it a try. . .

You basically go through a buffet line with a bowl. . .

choose your (uncooked) protein, veggies, sauces, toppings

and either rice or noodles. . .hand your bowl over to the

guy at the counter. . .and they cook it all right then, right there

on their humongous wok. . .really, really delicious

It was a great way to spend a couple of hours,

great food, even better conversation,

discussing all our travels,

their decision to buy a house in Ohio, sell their Phaeton,

and purchase a truck and fifth wheel to travel in.

We all basically flipped our traveling experiences. . .

they went from a motor home to a fifth wheel. . .

we went from a fifth wheel to a motor home. . .

I think we’re all really happy with our decisions. . .

which is just as life should be. . .all good!

 

As always, we are loving our time here

at Colorado River Thousand Trails Preserve. . .

 

Jan and Greg from Our RV Adventures Blog

were here the first week of our arrival. . .

it was nice to touch base with them again.
Although we are all from the same area in Houston,

our paths rarely cross. . .so we enjoyed

spending time visiting a bit. . .

then on to an FMCA Rally over the weekend. . .

these great folks do a lot of good things,

collect funds for the Ronald McDonald House,

makes lap quilts and blankets for the Fischer House.

We’ve enjoyed making their acquaintance over the last few months.

Lots of good eating and playing of games goes on at all the rallies too. . .

in between the projects. . .

 

hmmm. . .I guess that’s about it. . .

 

It’s kinda hard to believe that it will be time to roll North,

for our Summer 2014 Adventure in a five short weeks. . .

 

Til next time,

Janice and Dave

One Project Done. . .on to the next. . .

as stated previously,

we decided to take out the propane cooktop. . .

and retrofit my induction burner into it’s place. . .

we purchased a piece of cabinet grade oak plywood

with the intention on painting it black,

and sealing it with a high heat sealer. . .

that would have worked out fine. . .

but of course things are never, ever that simple

and I mis-measured. . .go figure. . .

so this tile was our solution to my boo boo. . .

either that, or start over. . .this was easier. . .

two days later, after installing the tile, allowing the grout to dry. . .

and the grout sealer to dry, we dropped in the cooktop. . .

and voila. . .beautiful. . .love it!

now, I can just put the stove covers on. . .done. . .so much easier

than dragging it out and putting it away. . .

and. . .remember a couple of weeks ago,

we had all our cables and wires out in preparation

for the rooftop, satellite dish install. . .

here’s the improved version. . .much better. . .right?

 

it takes a couple days to recuperate after each

and every project now. . .really feelin’ it. . .

 

still working on getting all the solar screen installed. . .

til next time,

Janice and Dave

Lake Conroe Thousand Trails Feels Like Home Now. . .

that might be a bad thing. . .

we’re getting way too comfortable. . .

and beginning to understand how RV’ers

get into a rut of staying in the same places year after year. . .

this needs to stop. . .

 

We are so thankful that our friend Judy felt inspired

to post this update yesterday morning on FaceBook

there had been a major, major accident at I 45 and Loop 610. . .

right in our line of travel. . .

it took hours, and hours to get it cleaned up. . .

no telling how long we might have been stuck in traffic

had she not decided to let friends and family in the Houston area know. . .

Thanks again Judy!

We were able to bypass around all of it by taking Beltway 8 to Hwy 288

and then straight back on to I 45 at the Pierce Elevated downtown. . .

So here we are. . .back in our comfy RV spot at Lake Conroe. . .

the Mobile Oil and Lube tech is here

getting all things square away before we head out

in a couple of months. . .

transmission filters, fuel filters, air in the tires. . .

did you know the front tires should have 120 PSI. . .

the rear tires should have 95 PSI. . .

and the tag should have 85 PSI. . .

This was news to us. . .the tech sent Dave in to check the specs. . .

and there it was. . .plain as day. . .

I definitely learned something new today. . .

this cute little poster was making the rounds on

FaceBook today. . .thought you guys would enjoy. . .

 

Til next time,

Janice and Dave

Well. . .at least half the week was fabulous. . .

the other half. . .not so much. . .here’s how it went. . .

Monday required fasting in preparation for medical testing and stuff. . .ugh. . .

so we just hung out at the motorhome, and did basically nothing. . .

Tuesday – Dave’s turn to report to Outpatient Services at 7:15 AM –

really, do they know how early in the morning that is?

Wednesday – my turn to report to Outpatient Services at 6 AM -

we just thought 7:15 was early. . .dear Lord. . .up at 5 AM. . .are you kidding me?

ahhh. . .but after that was over the good stuff began. . .

took pizzas over to our son’s house that afternoon. . .

got our hugs from two of the grands. . .really, nothing’s gonna top that. . .

didn’t remember to get any pics. . .but these will work. . .

three of my loves. . .

 

Thursday morning. . .breakfast with friends Winnie and Dale. . .

we so rarely have time to just sit and visit with them. . .

so for them to have time to come over to our place

after breakfast . . .see our little rolling castle,

and just visit was priceless. . .

we need to make that happen a lot more often guys!

followed by supper with cousins. . .lots of reminiscing at that table. . .

so much fun. . .we gotta get together more often. . .seriously!

 

Cousin Renee’ in the red with hubby Steve. . .

and Cousin Glynn with wife Tammy. . .

Glynn was off working (nasty stuff) so didn’t get to be there. . .

we’ll catch him next time. . .but we filled Tammy in on his shenanigans. . .

we used to run the woods of the Big Thicket together. . .

oh my goodness. . .the stories we can tell. . .

 

Friday morning – breakfast with the Walea’s

who came into our lives several years ago

when we were travel agents, and put together an Alaskan Cruise. . .

we love them so much. . .and just really enjoy getting together with them. . .so great!

and then Friday evening. . .supper with Jacque and her Mom. . .

oh my word. . .we had so much fun. . .

Dave was at his ultimate comedic self. . .

we nearly busted a gut laughing at his one liners. . .

Lord have mercy. . .I don’t know where he comes up with some of that stuff. . .LOL!

So, see. . .the last half of the week has been just fabulous. . .

we really thought we would move the coach back over to

our membership park in Conroe on Saturday. . .

but alas, remembered we can’t return to the same park

until we have been out a week. . .so that will hafta wait

‘til Sunday as originally scheduled. . .

We definitely need to get out of this moving on Sunday

mode that we’ve somehow gotten in to. . .

we’re retired. . .there’s absolutely no need to

be traveling on the weekend. . .yuck!

Once we get set back up at Conroe,

we have several projects to complete. . .

More about that next time. . .

Til then,

Janice and Dave

There’s Been a Lot Going On

 

We don’t usually have a lot going on. . .

we’ve really become homebodies since we retired,

and even when we are traveling,

rarely venture out more than two, maybe three times a week. . .

 

but wow. . .things have been hopping. . .

The big Houston RV Show was last week,

so we attended that with Debi and Ed Hurlburt. . .

there was a lot to see and do. . .

but since we’re not really in the market for a new coach,

I was just there to see what new and marvelous things have come out. . .

and boy did I get some great ideas!

As most of you know,

I haven’t used the propane stove in my coach for over five years.

I choose instead to cook on an induction burner. . .

well. . .that is the latest thing in the upscale coaches this year. . .

they all have the induction burners installed

in the counter in place of the propane stove. . .very nice!

 

Told Dave I wanted my induction burner installed like that

instead of having to get it out from under the cabinet

every single time I want to use it (which is usually daily.)

and that my intention was to remove it

while we have the coach on the south side of town

near our son’s place, so I could store it in his attic

(if we ever decided to sell or trade this coach,

I would want to reinstall the stovetop)

so, guess what. . .

it only took a few minutes to pull that sucker out. . .

Dave stopped by Home Depot for a cap for the propane line. . .done

when we get back to Conroe, we will purchase a countertop piece

to fit into this space, cut the opening for the induction burner, install it. . .

add the covers. . .done. . .sounds simple. . .right? 

ha ha. . .I’ll let you know. . .

Ed has some woodworking skills. . .

and he HAS offered to help. . .so we should be fine!

this was our first move since we’ve had the rooftop satellite dish installed. . .

it performed beautifully. . .AFTER. . .

we backed out from behind the tree you see to the top right. . .

we’ll learn. . .at least we knew not to get the coach set up

until we made sure the satellite was okay. . .

learned that trick from friends in Colorado. . .good to know!

 

Dave finished up all his medical stuff this morning. . .

I should finish mine tomorrow morning. . .

then we can commence with the visiting. . .

breakfast with friends on Thursday and Friday. . .

supper with cousins on Thursday, and more friends on Friday. . .

and hopefully we can spend time with the kiddos and grands Saturday. . .

we’ll see how the schedule goes for the softball tournament. . .

 

My favorite part of the week was meeting our kids for lunch on Sunday,

and then attending worship services at our “home” church that night. . .

no matter how far we roam. . .First Church of Pearland will always be home. . .

 

til next time,

Janice and Dave

Out with Old ~ In with the New

 

January started of with a bang. . .a good one!

First, RV Friends Debi (Debi’s RV Cooking) and Ed (RV Tips) brought their MH out to Thousand Trails – Lake Conroe for a few days.  There’s always some good eatin’ goes on when we get together. . .

then, folks we met in Ohio, Janice and Rick, showed up with their beautiful Mobile Suites. . .

this is their very, very first trip following retirement in December. . .their maiden voyage. . .

they are going to love it. . .we had so much fun getting to know them better. . .

and will meet up with them again in Columbus TX before we all head

our separate directions for the summer. . .

then folks we met in Lubec Maine this past summer, Kathi and Ron, also showed up. . .

although I didn’t know it when I was taking this beautiful pic of the sunset from our campsite in Lubec. . .

that is Ron and Kathi in their sailboat out for an evening sail.   They are very, very active. . .

carrying kayaks, a sailboat, bicycles and two scooters, and are headed to California. . .

They are going to have a great winter season. . .

 
and then will return this summer to their beautiful waterfront property in Lubec. . .lucky ducks!

They were in the process of getting all their utilities finished out on their property. . .

when we met them at the RV Park. . .glad they were still there. . .

Kathi gave me a lesson on preparing a lobster, and convinced me I could do it for myself. . .

we all made it out for an Italian Meal at Joe’s in Conroe. . .really, really great!

 

and then the weather turned yucky. . .which meant kinda staying in and hibernating. . .

 

in between the yuck, David from Sats 2 Go managed to get our old dome removed,

and install the new Traveler SWM Dish. . .

we’re thinking we’re really gonna like it. . .

it’ll mean one less thing to take down and set up on travel days. . .

always a good thing. . .right?

 

Tomorrow, we follow up with some more medical appointments. . .ugh!

The things that are necessary after you turn the big 50 are just yucky. . .

so we’ll spend the night with our son to avoid

driving back across town during rush hour. . .

Catching up with them, and seeing the youngest grands

basketball game will be a bonus. . .looking forward to that!

my entertainment for today. . .

with another cold front moving in,

is sitting at my computer,

watching the birds at the feeder.

They seem to be enjoying it. . .

and I am enjoying them!

 

See you next time. . .stay in touch. . .

send us a note at EvansEscapades@gmail.com

let us know what you guys are up to. . .and where you’re headed.

Never know when paths might cross. . .

Til then,

Janice and Dave