Remember The Alamo

Apr 1 Easter Sunday  (and Right in the middle of NCAA championship)

We thought Easter Sunday might be a really good day to take in The Alamo.  WRONG!  We are not basketball fans, however one would have thought that we were paying enough attention to know that the championship games were being played in San Antonio TX.  We headed into town and after we found a parking place for $25, no we didn’t buy it we just wanted to rent it for a few hours, we were ready to find the Alamo.  It is everything we had heard, small, tucked right in with all the downtown buildings.  Still I was impressed.  Unfortunately we were pressed by the crowds, and cut our time short in the long hall as trying to read and admire artifacts with hundreds of people in an enclosed space is uncomfortable to say the least.  But we did see the Alamo (check)

Apr 2 Mon

Natural Bridges Caverns.  This is a really pretty cavern.  Or I should say caverns.  We signed up for 2 tours with enough time in between to sight see and shop.  The first tour was excellent!  Our guide was great and the group wasn’t so big that we couldn’t hear.  After the first our we got our lunch from the truck and relaxed.  The park has a ropes curse and a zip line and we could watch the people on both.  Looks like fun, if I were 10 years younger.  As we headed out on the second tour we had been spoiled by our first guide.  The second tour guide wasn’t the best we have had and he did admit that it was his first tour in “awhile”  he was a tour guide and as the park was so busy today they pulled him into duty, I think he needed a refresher before he took us out.  Too bad but the cave was very impressive.

Apr 3 Tues 

We are tired, its a day to stay put and do some laundry.  We learned later that the final NCAA game was last night. and today all the tourist areas were much less trafficked, just poor timing on our part.

Apr 4 Wed.

Moved to Ft. Stockton,  this is a really nice park and we would stay longer but we are making a few adjustments to our travel plans.  We came here as a cutoff to turn north and head to Carlsbad, NM.  I had been checking for various tours and reached a dead end all around.  Well the thing I learned when I called the park was that the secondary elevators were out of order.  They were the only elevators being used as the primary ones had failed a few months ago.  So faced with a 1.5 miles walk into the caves, downhill, and a 1.5 miles walk out, uphill, we decided to catch Carlsbad Caverns on another trip. 

Apr 5 Thur.

Moved to Vado, NM  and this is not a park I would recommend to anyone, except it was quiet.  We got set up and headed back into Anthony TX for a run to Camping World. We had a list of things to get and we found everything and more.  

Apr 6 Fri

Stayed in Vado, and found nothing to do.  We did go for groceries in Las Cruces, and went to Cracker Barrel for lunch and had Pizza for dinner, then turned East and ran back to Anthony TX for another stop at Camping World for the things we saw yesterday and didn’t buy, but now decided we want.  It goes like that sometimes.  We (I) really wanted a little gas bar-b-q that we could do steaks or burgers on and they had one there on sale so we got an O-Grill, now really isn’t that perfect for an O’Hagan.  And Danny found a table online called an O-table for the O-Grill.  So he ordered it for delivery to Green Valley.

Apr 7 Sat

Speaking of Green Valley

We were invited over to Richard and Ritas for dinner and just visiting time.

Apr 8 Sun

Richard and Rita came over to our place for a visit, and aside from that we just took it easy.

Apr 9 Mon

We made a run into Tucson to go to Walmart.  Now this got confusing as I discovered later that there is a perfectly wonderful Walmart in Green Valley, so why did my phone lead us to Tucson when I asked for Walmart, I don’t know but I will double check things like that in the future as it made for a much longer drive then needed.

Apr 10 Tues  

R&R came by and picked us up today for a short hop into Tubac for lunch at the Wisdom Cafe.  Nice little place and we had a good visit before heading into Tubac for a little shopping and browsing.  There were so many lovely pieces of furniture I would buy, except for the fact that we have no room for any of it.  Good thing about living in a 5th wheel, it keeps one from making impulsive purchases. 

Apr 11 Wed 

One of the things we wanted to check into while being here was the pharmacy in Mexico.  So off to Nogales we went.  The border crossing was very easy as we parked a block from the border and walked over.  Rita knew just the right pharmacy to go to and Danny had brought a couple of his medicine bottles.  In the end we could purchase 2 of his meds and as we could only get a 4 week supply we saved about $50 which is really pretty good.  If we decide to spend a winter in Green Valley we will take advantage of this little trip at least a few times.

We went to a hotel for lunch that R&R liked and it was a pretty good meal, I had the lunch special including soup, and Tacos and dessert.  Now the soup was good the tacos were ok, but the chocolate cake was perfect!  Good thing I only had 1 piece.  Crossing back into the US was a little harder than getting into Mexico.  When we finally got to the front of the line there was some hold up and we just had to wait while it was cleared up.  Given a choice of 3 lines I will always pick the slowest line!  But we made it back and the drive back home was uneventful.

Apr 12 Thur

We took a trip to Benson, AZ to go to Kartchner Caverns.  This is Arizonas newest State Park and after hearing the story about the caverns and  how the young men kept the discovery secret for so long I was very impressed.  Knowing how people can destroy cave systems, both intentionally and by their simple presence it was nice to hear a good story.  After the land owners found out about the caves they spent years working with the State to secure the area as a State Park.  After the land was acquired the state went about finding out what to do to best protect the caves and took all the measures that other cave systems had learned and they have a truly beautiful natural resource to show off for generations to come.  We were only able to go into one part of the cavern as the other tour was booked out and as they were going to close it in a few days due to Bat Maternity, we knew another trip would bring us back here. After that adventure we made a quick stop at the local Walmart and then over to R&R for dinner and games.  I learned Mexican Train and we played a round of RummyCubes.  A fun time.

Apr 13 Fri 

Arizona Sonora Desert Museum.  I have been to this museum a few times in the past and was very happy to see it is still growing and improving.  There was so much to see and docents to talk to, this little guy was just hanging out in the breeze.  And as for breezes, we picked a good day for this museum as the temperature was down a little and the breezes were keeping everything really temperate.

Apr 14 Sat

Dinner at R&R  The guys go for coffee, or Tea and desserts and Rita and I visit the park.  There was a fair of sorts at the local park earlier in the day but there was no sign of it left by the time we wandered over and just walked around, there were swings to sit and relax in and just watch the birds. Richard and Rita fixed a nice dinner again and we played Farkle.

Apr 15 Sun

Quiet day for chores, laundry, buy fuel, groceries, steaks on the grill yummy

Apr 16 Mon

WE are prepped to go and meet Richard and Rita to go for a last meal together at a local Mexican restaurant.  We went early and it was a good thing as by the time we left the patio had people waiting.

Apr 17 Tue

We are up and ready to take off.  But, we have a flat tire, a very flat tire, so having hooked up the Lake House, we now unhook and talk to the office, just in case we are staying a little longer.  I got a recommendation for a tire shop, and we almost could have walked.  They pull the truck right in and pull the outside duelly.  It doesn’t take him long to fing=d the screw, or what left of the screw and patch the inside and get us aired up and on the road.  So we didn’t even need any late check out as we hitch up again and hit the road about 11:00.  The drive to Apache Junction isn’t far and when we pull into the KOA and get assigned a pull-thru right at the entrance its a really easy day.  Danny gives his cousin Ken a call and when he asks what kind of food we want I just pop off with Indian Tacos.  I don’t even know where that came from, hadn’t even been thinking about it.

On the Road again

Mar 21st  Wed

WE head out, its not early, its not late.  We only have about 75 miles to go today so its easy, its also no Freeways, so its a slow trip.  Checked in at Villager RV in Wildwood, FL and we got in touch with Dick and Marilyn.  We drove on up Beverly Hills, FL and got to spend the evening catching up on all the news of the last year.  We went out to The Front Porch for dinner and were told they have the BEST fried Chicken

Danny and Jeannine  Marilyn and Dick

I have to say that the chicken was soooo good I had my leftover piece for breakfast the net morning and it was just as good. 

Mar 22nd  Thur.

Trying to get moving this morning is just hard, maybe its after 4 months of sitting still, but we finally get moving and head to Richard and Jans to visit, but wait, a barber shop!  So Danny gets the buzz he's been talking about for 2 months.  It is great to see the g'kids and get a chance to visit some.  Jan and Richard direct us over to the village square and we wander around a bit before stopping to listen to the music.  Riley loves to dance.  Then we have dinner at a Steakhouse before heading back to the rig.

Mar 23rd Fri.

The great Pickle Ball Game.  Robert had gone up to Walmart and picked up a set of pickle ball paddles and Jan was taking the kids over to the courts so I joined them and we all learned how to play pickle ball.  It was all fun and games until G'ma Sheridan took a fall.  I tried to continue but finally had to acknowledge the fall took a tool ad I called Robert to come join us so he could step in as Riley's partner and 'the boys' took the tournament 2 games to zip over the girls.  A fine time was had by all and it was soon time to return home for Jans hamburgers for lunch.  Then it was time to take my injury home and get out the 5lb. bag of frozen corn.  And the kids were into their swimsuits and off to the pool.  It's clear that they are enjoying their spring break.

Mar 24th Sat.

We are up and ready to go this morning and made it to Holt, FL.  It was a long drive and we are only here 1 night.  When we come back through this part of the panhandle we will stay at Eagles Landing again, it is a great little park, all pull thrus, all very level, and great WiFi.  We also got directed to a little diner Susan's and had great Catfish.  We actually were a little sad to hit the road again the next day, but we will be back.

Mar 25th Sun.

Back on Highway 10 and this was a drive out of Florida, into Alabama, then on the Mississippi, and a short time later into Louisiana and the hardest part of the drive was the streets outside New Orleans trying to get to our campground.  Why does a Garmin, designed for RVs and truck take us down a street called Little Farms Ave, which is anything but an Avenue and is very little.  Later I found that the access to the park was moved from one lane to another so as to have access from both sides of Jefferson Hwy.

Farewell Florida

hello Alabama

Hello Mississippi

and Hello Louisiana

After we got set up we took the recommendation of the staff and headed over to Harbor Seafood and Oyster Bar.  We got in before the big crowds and only had about a 15 min wait.  The table we got was terrible, up against a wall, with a 'party table so close Danny was bumped everytime some moved, BUT the food was great.  We started with a stuffed artichoke, it wasn't all that great, but tasty.  He had a mixed plate Turtle Soup, Jambalaya, frogs legs, gator sausage and crawfish.  It was more then both of us could finish, especially with saying room for dessert.  Bread Pudding.  We went to bed with very satisfied tummies, and leftovers for another day.

Mar 26th  Mon.

Since we were unhitched today and had 4 days ahead of us it was time to scout.  They have a shuttle from the park that runs into town at 9 am and 5:45 pm.  But they tell us we can go down to the head of the St Charles Street car line and just find a place to park and ride it into town.  So we scouted this option and decided, the dually is not going to be an easy park anywhere in New Orleans.  Then we headed back to the freeway and the local Sams club to stock the frig.  

Mar 27th Tues.

We had cereal for breakfast as we knew that there were beignets in our future.  We caught the shuttle and 45 mins later were at the river front in New Orleans.  We discuss our options for the day and as we are right in front of the ticket booth for cruises on the Paddle Wheeler Natchez, we decide thats a good idea.  We get tickets for the afternoon cruise.  Cafe duMonde was just a one block walk and in no time at all we were joking with the waitress and starring at a plate of fried dough buried under a mountain of powdered sugar, yahoo.

We walk around the French quarter and decide to go see the St. Louis Cemetery #1.  Its right on the edge of the french quarter and while it will cost us about $20 ea.  It will be a guided tour so we head up that way and buy our tickets.  Interesting!  Supposedly the crypt of Marie Laveau,  the pyramid that Nicholaus Cage has for when he needs it.  Lots of history and not exhausting. 

What is she praying for?

 Then it is back through the quarter just wandering in and out of shops and storefronts.  At 2 we are ready to board our River Boat and wondering why we didn't pay extra for the buffett lunch.  The calliope is being played, and, well, it's a Caliope.  

Oh well, we get a good seat at the bow and enjoy the trip up river before moving into the bar for bloody Marys and a wrap.

After we disembark we head over to a bar near by for a beer and some appetizers,  Boudain balls and Crawpuppies.   We caught the shuttle back home and decided that we could skip another day in town for a drive up River to a Plantation.

Mar 28th Wed.

Taking it easy we pack sandwiches and head to Oak Alley.  Its about an hr drive up river from NOLA and it really is beautiful.

The rows of 28 Virginia Live Oaks that are all over 200 years old are spectacular weather you are looking out from the house or in from the river.

 We really enjoyed the tour of the antebellum house and grounds.  Then we took our picnic down the levee and climbed to watch the river traffic as we sat and ate.

Great day for our last day in NOLA.

Mar 29th

We got a late start today as we met our neighbors while we were dumping tanks and packing up hoses. They are from Oregon City!  We wish we had met them earlier, seems we even both spent the day before at the plantations.  Well maybe one day we will cross paths again.  On the way to Texas.

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After a day on the road we got a recommendation from our Old friend Dusti and headed over to th Rodair RoadHouse.  What a great place!  live music!  As first time diners we were offered an appetizer of Crawpuppies and fried green tomatoes.

While we sipped on our Corona Lights and waited for our dinner order listening to a little country music.  This is nice.

My Crawfish étouffée and crawfish tails

Danny had Fried baby backs and Cajun Greenbeans

If you are anywhere near beaumont Tx,  try this place.

Mar 30  Fri.

Now we had plans for today.  Museum of the Gulf Coast.  Well its Good Friday and the Museum is closed.  So we rethink this day and go to the Spindletop-Glady City Boomtown.  Now why I didn't take any pictures here I don't know, maybe I was just too engaged with reading everything and visiting with the blacksmith.  It was a very interesting and educational day and we did spend about 5 hrs wandering around here and it is not a very big place.  They have a square of period correct buildings, everything from a print shop to a land office, a blacksmith and a saloon.  The 'city' was built in 1975 in honor of the bicentinial and 75th anniversary of the Lucas Gusher then it was gifted to the state of Texas and cared for by Lamar University.  The Lucas Gusher was, as they say, The start of the craziness.  On January 10, 1901 The gusher blew and they estimate 100,000 barrels of oil a day for 9 days gushed out before they capped it.  The first Gusher.  The second picture was taken about 22 months later.

 While the day wasn't what we expected it was very memorable.

Mar 31st  Sat.

A driving day.  From Beaumont to San Antonio.  I know Danny would take a break from all the driving but until the pickle ball injury is fully healed I am not up to doing any driving, so I navigate, and a fine job I do if I say so myself.

ITs good to be back on the road.

Finish the Winter in NSB

Feb 2 to 28   and Mar 1 to 21  We set to work getting the bedroom floor done.  First there was the remainder of the carpet to get up and then clean the floor.  The nice discovery was that the existing vinyl was solid in the hall, and about 12" into the bedroom.  That meant we could leave that exposed and get a cap for the top of the stairs.  We pulled the mattress out and got all we needed to lay down an underlayment, then the flooring.  We selected a stone pattern since we couldn't find a wood grain that looked even close to what we had.  It took a full 2 days to get the flooring down and there were a few lessons we learned along the way.  Using the vinyl tile that snaps together works well when you can lay a floor out wall to wall.  Since we had to break the flooring under the bed because the hydraulic mechanism is mounted to the floor and we had to work around it.  So we did screw the tiles to the floor in a few places to hold it steady.  But after 2 days we had the floor down.

We had to order some quarter round trim that will curve around the bend in the bedroom so we will finish the trim probably in California.  But for now the floor in done and we love it, and it is so much easier to clean.

nice to find the vinyl floor under the carpet

see the same floor bathroom and hall

Dark walnut header for the new bathroom door

Now there were a few other projects to do.  The replacement door for the bathroom needed to be installed.  We purchased a magnetic accordion door for the bathroom when we were in Lodi and it is way past time to get it out of pass thru storage and installed.  We cut a notch in the valance to fit the mounting hardware for the new door.  We got some walnut spray paint and painted the header for the door to match the wood valance.  mounted the new door and we love how it looks.  That was another full day project. So we replaced the solid wood door that weighed in at 38 lbs for a fabric door weighing in at about 7 lbs.  Danny figures that gives him 30 lbs of tools to acquire.

Project 2:
We mounted a magnet to the wall and bedroom door so the door stays open when we want it to,

Nice new magnetic door stop

Project 3:
We bought rugs for the living room.  Butters legs were giving her some grief and watching her walk on the vinyl floor we thought it might be aggravating her joints.  We found a nice rug at Walmart and then found runner at Lowes.  Now we have 13 ft. of runner from the door to the big rug and a 5'X8' rug in front of the fireplace.  Butters limping and gimping improved overnight.

Project 4:
After 2 weeks of talking about it we decided to change our RV king bed to a Queen.  There are several reasons for this.  First reason, the mattress is shot,  a spring popped out the side and hooked me in the leg.  It was getting hard to sleep.  The size of the bed required me to alter the bottom sheet and move the pockets in about 8 inch to keep the sheets fitted.  So after much debate and measuring we took a drive to Orlando and went to Ikea.  We decided on a new mattress and arranged for delivery, which cost a whopping $29.00.  If we had bought a bed that is rolled up we would have taken it with us but we picked a thicker bed with an additional layer of springs so we had to have it delivered.  Wednesday we picked up some heavy plastic to cover the bed board and headed home to cut down the platform.  We cut the board down 5" on both sides and Danny removed the shelf from his side.  I was cutting the plastic when the delivery truck arrived, so I got a few staples in and then moved into the corner as the guys brought the new bed in and stripped off the covering and placed it on the platform.  They grabbed up the old mattress and were gone in about 10 mins.  We have our new bed, and new down comforter, and new sheets, and a really great thing, 5 extra inches on both sides of the bed!  They sad part of this saga is that Butter really can't get up on this bed.  She has slowed down a lot and even getting up on the old bed was getting hard for her, the new bed is about 6 inches thicker and she won't even try.  The strange blue thing on the bed is a floor mat that I found for butter.  It has a texture that makes it easier for her to walk and it is usually on the floor.

There were a few Wednesday dinners with the group at the park, we managed to have 2 outdoor potlucks, but the rest had to be at local restraurants as the weather was just not great for evenings outside.

There weren't too many movies as the month progressed, it seemed that we had too many things we wanted to get done before heading out, so we stayed busy.

The brakes?  Yes we did deal with them.  After asking around, and around some more, we located a local guy that agreed to come to the park and take a look.  He liked how high up the rig sits and decided that working on it in site was the best idea.  Two days later he came over and jacked up one wheel to take a look at what he needed to get parts wise.  Well when he got the wheel off, then the brake drum and the parts just sort of fell off, melted springs, fried electrical actuator.  It was ugly.  The nice thing is he found a local supplier that had our brakes in stock and he purchased the whole package all pre-assembled.  Al found a friend to come help him and in about 4 hours they had all 4 brakes replaced and the bearings replaced lubed.  Now we would need to take it easy and brake them in but we now had brakes and that is a big deal moving down the road with 8 tons of 5th wheel.   The sad part of the story is we had planned to stop in Grants Pass on our western trip this summer and get independent suspension and disk brakes put on the rig.  That is a whole other story.  Late in the month we called the dealer in Grants Pass and they sent us an estimate and a worksheet to determine the specifics.  The estimate was considerably higher then Elkhart Indiana, so now we are thinking about heading out from Seattle to return to Indiana and get this job done.  The trick is of course to make the appointment in May to get it done in Sept or Oct.

One other event from February:  DAYTONA!!  It was a beautiful day, we had a great time and the race was really exciting. except of course laps 120 to about 180.  Then it got very exciting, again.

We had a passel of Dr. appointments to end the winter and at this point it looks good for another year.

My son Robert was in touch in March to let us know that he was bringing Riley and Robin down to Ocala for spring break and if we were still around maybe we could hook up.  This was a great opportunity so we then set our departure for March 21st at which time we would take a short hop to Wildwood, Fl and spend 3 days.  This also gave us the chance to catch up with Dick and Marilyn, friends and neighbors from last year who were in the area as they prepared to pack up and move out of their 5th wheel.  Health issues have forced them to give up the road but they are still trying to figure out if winter in Florida might still be in their future.

We did get in touch with our Dive Master and he had a scheduled trip to Blue Grotto for a dive.  Well we were up and out early that Sunday morning and about 30 miles from our destination, bang! Blow out on the right front tire.  WE called Good Sam and had a trunk enroute, then called Keith to let him know we probably would not make it to the Grotto.  About 2 hrs later the tire was changed and we were heading back home.  Monday we found a place to replace the tire and we replaced one other tire that had some funky wear on it from back in Oregon and we discovered the loose hub on the right front.  So new tires on the front and we will install the TPMS on the truck tires now.

On Mar 21st we say our farewells for about 7 months and head out of Gold Rock.  We will return.