Beaumont, TX

This is our current view out the back window.  Nice big Texas sky!

We drove on to Beaumont, TX yesterday.  Beaumont is at the far eastern end of the state very near Louisiana.  It seems like a nice little city and the fact that it is in Texas has to mean something.  I spent most of my childhood in Texas and still feel a deep love for the state.

We made good time even though the roads at times were miserable.  Shook the heck out of us and our rig. ( I am wondering if we will find this all the way to Arizona.)  I think that the trucks that move the country might be causing it or maybe is it just the lack of money for maintenance.  Possibly we should keep some of our money in our country to repair our roads rather than give it to other countries.  Novel approach don't you think?  Anyway, Interstate 10 reminded us of our travels in Mexico.

We arrived here at Hidden Lake RV Park about 1:45, got all set up and headed off in search of a grocery store.  The nice lady in the office sent us to HEB and wow, what a lovely big store it was.  And - the price of wine!  Wow, much better than South Carolina and much, much better than Mississippi where the prices were through the roof!  I think I might have to drink more wine while in Texas!

I did a couple loads of laundry here also as it was almost half what I have been paying.  Nice clean facilities and cheap.  I HAD to do some!

Allergies are bad here - my eyes are so sore and swollen.  I was hoping it would get better but guess I will have to wait for Arizona which is not too far off.

We are off for Houston in a couple of hours!  Just hope we don't get stuck there with the rain and winds that are expected.

View From the Back

This is the view out the back window here at Hidden Oaks.  They rent out cabins - like the blue one on stilts above.  And just beyond that line of trees, you can't see it, but there is a small lake and we watched people fishing there all day long.

We are still in Hammond, LA at the Hidden Lakes Family Campground.  It is so lovely here and we are enjoying relaxing.  Yesterday we spent a couple of hours down at the river with our chairs and our Kindles.  The birds are very noisy and make for some nice music along with the slowly moving waters rippling over the rocks.  I think we needed this.

We did get some chores done – Kirby scrubbed the roof and I cleaned indoors.  I can’t believe the dust that collects and how fast!  Of course having a 60 pound dog may have something to do with it.

Today Ray and Lucy are going to be our tour guides and we are going into New Orleans.  They are locals and know NOLA like the backs of their hands.  Ray said he can get us around with his eyes closed – well, not literally!  So – off to begin this new day!

Just a Movin' On

After 2 1/2 weeks we left Meridian, MS behind us and headed south on Hwy 59 towards New Orleans.  We will miss the family at Bonita Lakes RV Park.  Beverly McDevitt and her son, Kelly, were awesome in taking care of us and made a point to come over and wish us well as we hitched up to go yesterday morning.  Thank you to the whole staff there for taking such good care of us!

So we drove a little less than 4 hours and are now parked in a beautiful lush green park in Hammond, LA.  We really enjoyed our drive yesterday with all the trees leafing out and the first wild flowers of the season growing beside the road.  And we are really enjoying the green grass of Hidden Oaks Family Campground and the big towering trees all around us.

Our friends Lucy and Ray are here with us too!  The reason they are here is sad news but being together is awesome.  We were going to meet up in Texas but they had a family emergency here in Louisiana so we decided to rendezvous right here for a couple of days.  They will be busy with family but we will get to see each other some and will enjoy each moment.

After arriving yesterday (within 30 minutes of each other, I might add)  the four of us immediately set off in search of some of Louisiana's famous food.  Being locals, they know where to go and where to find the good places to eat.  Their favorite place only serves lunch until 3:00 and we just missed that but they knew of another awesome place in Covington.  The Chimes was a perfect choice.  Beautiful, great food and right on the bayou!

Kirby and Ray - friends for over 20 years!

Ray and Lucy both got an oyster Po' Boy which they said was one of the best ever!

We hadn't been out to eat in several weeks and besides that, I was starved.  I ordered the Jalapeno Bacon Burger and my, oh, my but it was good!

This was the view off the back porch of The Chimes.  Beautiful!!

Day One of Month Two

Today is the first day of the second month of my retirement.  I think I should celebrate or something.  Retirement has been really great.  Sorry all you folks that I used to work with but I don't miss SRC at all.  I do miss you but not the job!  I am loving my life!

But that is not to say that it is all roses and wonderful things.  Right now as we sit in our RV in Meridian, MS, there is a trailer parked next to us that came in yesterday.  I feel like I am in a first floor apartment with someone over my head.  It is really weird but they have a least one small child over there and when he/she runs (which is constant) the booming takes us right back to apartment/condo living.  Explain that to me!

I expected not to have stress in my life but we have had so much of it, I might as well still be working.  Of course some of my stress is self induced and wouldn't bother someone else at all.  Kirby has done a great job of pulling the 5th wheel, changing lanes, merging and all of that.  But because I am not in control, I get to be the one stressing over it - and I have to keep my mouth shut!

We have learned so much over the past 2 or 3 months!  OH, my, I didn't realize how little I did know!  I have started a list of Lesson's Learned and it is a very interesting little list!  And it is just for me!

You should have seen us up at Lake Hartwell.  We could have entertained a great audience but luckily there were no other RV'ers there.  The pull-through that I reserved was way too short for our long rig.  Finally Kirby ended up pulling all the way through and then backing up.  It was very narrow also so that made it even more stressful as I watched him (him being in control and me just an onlooker).  He didn't think it was a big deal.  Oh, how I miss being in control, which I was when I worked!  But of course I am not willing to learn to drive the rig!

Traveling through Atlanta is way high on the stress list.  It is one of the worst cities in the country to drive in and there we were!  But, no mishaps, no missed freeway changes, everything went perfectly.

At the top of the list of course was when we got stuck in the sink hole.  That one even made me cry and want to sell the RV!!  Having things break in our brand new rig has been a big disappointment.  We have day and night shades that are really, really cool - until the strings break.  One is completely ruined and the next is on the way.  We need to get some string and learn to fix them as it is obvious that this is going to a constant in our lives.

Ah, but the good does out-weigh the bad.  I love being in new places.  I love seeing beautiful parks and having new views out my windows.  I love meeting new people.  I really adore spending each day with the man that I love.  I married him because I enjoy his company so much and when I was working I didn't get to see him often enough.  We have such fun together.  And I love my home and living in a small space.  I have everything that I need right here! I can get the whole place cleaned up in not too much time at all.

It will be fun to see where my 2nd month of retirement takes us and what kind of adventures we will have!

Other RV Blogs

Good Morning!

I have added another feature to my blog.  On the right hand side I am going to list blogs that I read from other folks who are out there doing what we are doing....running around the country having fun in their RV.  Sometimes my reading is limited by our internet plan and other times I can get on the free internet provided by the parks and read them all.  My list will grow when I find blogs that I like!

Have a good day!!

Out There

There we are with our bicycles on the back.  I feel like we are living in an RV Sales Yard!  At least we have a cement pad which helps so much with the dirt and we have free cable for the first time.

 When was the last time you watched “Captain Ron”?  We watched just recently for the umpteenth time and enjoyed and laughed just as much as every other time.  My favorite quote from the movie is, “Well, Skipper, if it’s gonna happen, it’ll happen out there.”  And sure enough it did.

We were all set to leave Meridian – we had picked up a few items from the store and washed the rig and the truck.  And then the rain came.  Did you read about the horrible rains in Mississippi and Alabama and the winds and hail?  We were lucky here in Meridian – we only got the rains.  Lots of rain and a bit of small hail.

So on Tuesday we hitched up and departed for our next stop.  But, we didn’t even get out of the RV Park. Did I mention that it had rained the night before?  Well, this soil is pretty weird.  What looked like a little puddle was a sink hole and we sunk almost up to the axle – over a foot and a half! The rig was leaning at such an angle I was certain the slightest movement would tip it over.  It was a very unfun experience and this morning my back and shoulders are stiff and sore from the stress.  It took about 2 1/2 hours but they managed to finally get us out. (I couldn’t watch so I waited in the office) They tried to use the back bumper even when Kirby told them it was not strong enough and they bent the bejeebers out of it.  The folks here at the RV Park are being wonderful about the whole thing. They are paying for everything with a smile.  If it weren't such an ugly place it would be fantastic. So we are working on getting the new bumper.  Since they are paying we want to remain here until it is fixed and we don't have any idea when that will be.

Redeeming Qualities

Life would be pretty miserable if we couldn’t always find some sunshine amid the clouds.  We have found 2 major redeeming qualities in Meridian, Mississippi.

This is a picture of the office here at the park.  Quaint?  Is that the word I am looking for?  Friendly works!  Very friendly folks!

 First is the staff here at the park.  Beverly is the manager and she is a sweetheart – they don’t come any nicer - a true southern lady.  She was so supportive of me when I was having my crying episode yesterday.  I really appreciated her kindness.  And everyone worked so hard to get us out of the mud, shoveling the goo being the worst of it.

The second redeeming quality is the Bonita Lakes Park which is just across the main road from us.  We went today and checked it out.  We had walked half way around the lake when we saw a sign that said, NO DOGS.  So we finished on the street.  But we have found picnic areas all over the place (where dogs can go), beautiful trees and ducks and geese.  Now we just need nice weather so we can have picnics.

We have no idea how long we will be here.  One week, two weeks?  Who knows so we need to settle in and make it home.

Meridian, MS

No, that is not us in the picture - that is the view out the back of our RV.  We adjusted our schedule because of weather and the place we were going to didn't have room for us.  We quickly located Bonita Lakes RV park and they said they had a nice pull through for us.  The lady who welcomed us was so sweet that it set the tone for the place.  Not much of a park but I like it!  It is a pull through, we have a concrete pad, full hook-up and no dirt!

We drove too long yesterday as I am just now learning how to schedule our travel.  It is NOT like traveling in a car at all!  We go slower and more tiring (especially for the driver) so you don't want to do much more than 4-5 hours.  About 200 miles is good.

We also changed time zones for the first time in years. We woke at our usual time this morning - but it was in the new time zone time.  I thought maybe we would sleep until six but no, we woke at 5am.  Stupid old people!

We are going to hang around Meridian today and see what there is to see here and get some chores taken care of.

Have a good day!

Talona Creek, Talking Rock, GA

This was the wonderful view from the back while we were at Talona Creek RV Park in Talking Rock, GA.  There were even horses back there, you just can't see them!

I would love to see this creek in the late spring or early summer.  It really was charming!

As I write this we are on the way to Mississippi from our visit to my sister in Georgia.  We arrived there on Friday and went straight to the campground closest to their home which is Talona Creek RV Park, in Talking Rock. (You have to love that name, don't you?)  There were some good things about it but mostly it is just very iffy!  It was very quiet, very pretty with a creek running along the side, lots of beautiful trees (not blooming yet) and horses on the hillside.  But the spaces were just “spaces” in the dirt with old hookups.  There were many campers there that didn’t look occupied, very few people around.  And the dirt!  Oh, the dirt!  I am very tired of dirt!  This morning as we were leaving, the ground was damp from the dew and so we just had mud.  But the location near Patti and Dave was perfect.

This is Patti and I after having breakfast at Annies.

We had so much fun on our visit to this beautiful part of the Appalachians. I loved breakfast at Annie’s Country Cooking and wished I could have taken pictures of some of the interesting people there – long beards, multicolored hair and lots of suspenders.

We were told that there were like 20 million daffodils that bloom at different times.  We saw the early bloomers.

We spent a couple of hours at Gibbs Gardens viewing millions of daffodils. Millions and Millions of them.  And other beautiful plants too but so many weren’t in bloom yet.  If you are ever in that area, don’t miss it!

I loved these River Birch right beside the little stream of water.

Our wonderful hosts, Patti and Dave.  Thank you for such a fantastic time!

If you are ever in Ball Ground, GA be sure to stop by Frankfurt Doner & Meats for some old fashioned German Sausage.

We made a quick stop at Ball Ground for some authentic German Sausages which we later had for dinner along with some German Sauerkraut.

We loved learning a new fun game - Skip-Bo!  And Beezer loved having Jake visit him.  It was a love affair!

We even got to learn a new game called Skip-Bo.  Simple, easy fun with lots of laughs.  Patti totally won each game!

Lake Hartwell State Park II

This is the view from our window at Lake Hartwell.  It doesn't look so good because it is still all brown from winter but the day was warm and sunny and we enjoyed working outside.  Kirby went through all of his tools because the truck was too heavy when we stopped at the scales.  I cleaned out some of the dog hair from the truck.  There is no way it will ever ALL come out.  Jake sheds more than any dog I know.  He gets excited in the truck when we have been gone and shakes when we get in.  You can see the hair flying everywhere.  But - we didn't see this life in our future when Jake joined our family so it is just part of the gig!

Lake Hartwell has been an awesome place to stop during the off season.  We aren't sure we want to come back here when we return for Casey's graduation next year or not because the spaces are very small and close together.  It would be so different in May with people and kids everywhere.  Maybe the leaves on the trees would make it seem less crowded.  We got spoiled at Buck Hall!  But this place is extremely beautiful!  I would recommend it if you haven't been here.

Lake Hartwell State Park, SC

Kirby did a fantastic job of getting us on this little RV pad.  It was a tight squeeze.

As we left the Charleston area yesterday, I told Kirby that I felt that I was on a holiday again, just like when we were at Buck Hall last week.  Next thing I know, Kirby is singing, “Life’s a holiday on Primrose Lane”!  Now I just want to be singing that all the time and I want to rename Myrt, Primrose, but I won’t!  I am just having so much fun, this can’t just be everyday life can it?  Surely it is a holiday?  And guess what, the fun continues!

We got away by 9 am just as we planned, went to the weigh station just like the big trucks and got ourselves weighed.  Kirby made me stay in the truck with Jake so our weight was included!!  Yikes, that will tip the scale!  Our overall weight was perfect but our truck is a little on the heavy side because of the tools Kirby brought.  Will he need them???  I don’t know.  (I think you could read this - My overall weight was perfect but my butt is a little on the heavy side.)

By 3:15 we were all set up at Lake Hartwell State Park.  The park is just one mile from Georgia and near Clemson University so we will get to visit with Casey, our grandson.

I can’t believe this place!  There are over 100 campsites and we are THE ONLY ONES here! It feels like a ghost town – but we LOVE it!  The leaves haven’t even begun to bud here and all is brown and grey but the quiet is awesome.  No sirens, no trucks, no motorcycles – all that noise we have lived with for the past 3 months.  (Since it is so brown here I decided to do all the photos in B&W)

Oh, and you have to remember that we are from the Lowcountry….we don’t have hills of any type.  Poor Jake, our dog, just stood for the longest time looking down.  He won’t leave the flat pad – too funny!

You can see us through the trees.  Notice there are NO other campers here.

We took a quick stroll down to look at the water.  This must be gorgeous in the summer.

More empty spaces.  Really - there is NO ONE but us!