Summertime....and the livin' is easy

This is one Happy Camper Couple

TV and Dinner

Molly after her trip to the Beauty Parlor

Working Man

Sundown on the RV

Nothing really new for today. Well, since David was hired for this job,,,he got a raise before he started and then today during orientation, he got his hours changed to days. So I think it will work out for awhile. We are having to get new jacks on the front of the 5th wheel so there goes his first check and then tires for the truck which will be his next 2 paychecks. The weather here is really warm. It is just like summer time. It seems like everyone that travels has a dog. It is nice for Molly. She loves being around other dogs, doing dog things, sniffing each others butt, etc. I'm always busy with my projects. So, I guess that's it for now...

David and Carol

NEW MEXICO, ARIZONA AND NEVADA

5. Coming into Nevada

4. Arizona

3. Almost to Arizona

2. New Mexico

1. Going thru New Mexico

We have been here in Nevada for awhile now. We just got to a place where the internet would work right. We are in Laughlin, NV and when you go across the Colorado River you are in Arizona. So just to go shopping you will be in 2 different states. The river is the real jewel here. It is really pretty and the casinos are right along the river. We are staying out of town aways. We are at the KOA which is next door to the AVI Indian casino. So the place we are staying is basically an Indian reservation.

We were not sure what we were going to do. So, we stopped here to regroup while waiting for some other things to come thru. David decided to go over to the casino and see if he could get a short time job. They hired him on the spot as a security guard so I guess we'll be here until something else comes thru or we get itchy feet. He figures he can work enough to pay for new truck tires when we need them.

I'm going to try to get home for awhile to visit family and pick up a few things.

Molly went to the beauty parlor today and got a hair cut, bath, nails and teeth brushed. She wasn't happy when we picked her up. She thinks we tricked her but she sure looks pretty.

The desert isn't what you would call Paradise, the sunrise and sunsets are different but they have their beautiful times too when they hit against the mountains. So, goodby from a place that's almost Paradise.

STILL HERE

Our internet service has not been too great. Hopefully, it will get better. We are in Nevada but will be moving again tomorrow. Nothing much has gone on lately to talk about. The weather here is nice and warm so I guess we can handle it for awhile. I can't send any pics because of the internet so I'll try later.
Love to all,
David and Carol

THE GREAT STATE OF TEXAS

Texas is definately the state we would move to if we could. Texans have so much pride in their state. We were really impressed by all the homes that fly the Texas flag. That is something you never see in California. Not only do they fly their flag but somewhere on the outside of their house, they tack up the lone star of Texas.

Texans work hard and they play hard. They are friendly and will wave or talk to anyone. We were amazed at even teenagers who would sit down next to us to eat and start up a conversation. One of the towns we went thru had a population of 400 people but they have 3 churches. It is a conservitive state where they don't talk about political correctness and think everything runs fine without it. God, family, country and guns are what they live by and what they think is important. No one can buy alcohol before noon on Sunday and some stores close, hanging a sign in their window that says they are closed so their employees can worship and spend time with their family.
There are big skies where the clouds are low because there is nothing to hide them. Texas is a huge state that is like a country all to itself, a place where young people say yes mam and no mam. Speed limit signs are posted for day(75) and night(65). It is the only place we've seen where a young girl can wear daisy dukes, play pool, have only one leg and no one gives her a second glance. A place where David can mistakenly go into the womens restroom, not notice that was where he was, come out and no one even notices.
Texans are proud of their sports. They love the Dallas Cowboys even when they lose(sorry Michael). It is a place where everyone makes you feel welcome, (thank you Celeste). We met nice, respectful people and had a lot of fun with some(Steve and Joy).
We are born and raised Californians and we love our state but we love Texas too and felt right at home there. Even though we are no longer there, we know the sun rises and sets in the paradise called Texas.

NEVADA

ARIZONA

NEW MEXICO

NEW MEXICO

ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO

I guess I got the pictures in the wrong order, oh well. Don't you just love that there is a UFO museum in Roswell? I think I am going to try to do 2 blogs today. I really just wanted to let everyone know where we are right now. It was a very long ride to get here and guess what? The wind is really strong here this morning. I have said this before but for those of you that know me, you know I hate the wind. The last time the wind was not blowing was when we were staying in San Antonio. Maybe that's why it is my favorite Texas city. While in San Antonio, we actually got to use our awning. That was over a month ago and we have not used it since because of the wind. I'm hoping I can get back to the blog page again today. The place we are staying does not have a great wireless signal. Until then....

WE ARE HERE....WHERE?

I had so much to say tonight but it is now 9:30 and I just finally got online. I will say, we are in Nevada. The wind is blowing a little but not near as much as last night. Last night we were in New Mexico and got caught in the middle of a huge windstorm. We ended up with about 4-5 hours of wind the magnitude of an earthquake. It rocked our poor 5th wheel so hard we really did feel like we were in an earthquake. Of course, neither one of us slept. I had to lay with a pillow over my head because it was so loud. David came out to the couch. We both prayed. By morning the wind had blown so hard we had about 1/2 inch of sand on everything in the 5th wheel. We left as early as we dared to and drove all day to escape what they said would be another night of wind. So tonight, yes, it is windy but it is a warm gentle wind. Tomorrow I will write some more. I'm not really sure if anyone even reads this blog because there are no comments left. So please, if you read it, just leave a little note that you read it.
Until tomorrow,
David and Carol

....STILL ON THE ROAD...

Tonight will be another short one. Traveling all day and getting ready to travel the next wears us out. We are in New Mexico today and plan to be in Nevada tomorrow. If you ever want to take a mindless ride on straight road with nothing to look at, try going Highway 285 thru New Mexico. Miles and miles of nothing. Who ever thinks our planet is overcrowded should come out to the middle of America and see the thousands of miles of empty land. We passed thru Roswell today. I didn't see any aliens (from UFO's) but I'm sure they must be there. My Mother spent some time here with my Dad when he was in the service and they had just gotten married. She remembers it very fondly. I called her as we were going thru the town and let her know how much it has grown. I took some pics to take back to her. Molly still has not pooped so I guess she misses Steve more than we thought she would. Hopefully, I'll be able to give a better story with pictures tomorrow.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Well, we are on the road and movin'. Tonight we are in Fort Stockton, TX. Nothing much going on here. Tomorrow we are going through New Mexico. We will be going through Roswell so maybe we will see some aliens or UFO's. Tomorrow night we will be in Albuquerque. The weather is a little cooler here than it was in Magnolia Beach.

I also did not see the sunset tonight. The RV park we are at hires workcampers in their little restaurant. Pretty darn good food. Molly also misses Magnolia Beach. She is sitting at the door with her head hung down...all depressed. She misses her boyfriend Steve. She hasn't even been able to go to the bathroom because she only went when Steve was standing there.

So, for now this is as much excitement as I can muster up. Maybe tomorrow will be better.

It is with Sadness....

SUNRISE
SUNRISE
SUNSET
STEVE AND JOY
It is with sadness that we will be leaving this beautiful place and wonderful people. Steve and Joy, we will miss you immensely . We have had a good time with you and hope to see you again and travel with you.

This area is really pretty to look at and the weather is still so nice it's like summer time here. I hope we have made a little bit of a difference here and we will miss seeing the sunrise every morning over the gulf and the sunset every night over the lake.

We will be leaving in the morning for parts unknown. We will let everyone know where we end up. Please keep reading and leaving comments.

David and Carol

Wonderful Weather Here

Top Left-Pelicans
Top Right-Deck at Marina
Bottom Left-At Marina
Bottom Right-Sunset

Last night Steve and Joy took us to the Marina for cheeseburgers. The weather was perfect with no wind and lots of sun. We had a couple of drinks and just sat and enjoyed the nice day. People were fishing aff of the patio and they were actually catching fish. The marina patio edges right up to the water and while people are fishing, the pelicans are also fishing. After eating and drinking we came back and had another bonfire. It was a really nice evening in Paradise.

SHRIMP BOATS AND BOB..LIFE IS GOOD

SHRIMP BOATS


MY BOB FLAG


The morning dawned with a great sunrise. David was kind enough to get up and go to the beach and get a picture of it. I'll put it on tomorrow.
The shrimp boats go in and out all day. I love watching them with their nets in the water. Of course, the only shrimp I have had was at Olive Garden last night. David does not like any kind of seafood so we don't really ever eat it at home.

David was out this morning working on the front fence and some plumbing. I stayed in and did some cleaning.
I ran to the beach this morning to get a picture of the shrimp boats and then on the way back I saw my Bob Marley flag waving in the wind and realized I had never gotten a picture of it. So, here it is.

The wind blew all night (surprise), and is still blowing this morning. It has been really nice at night though because it blows right in our bedroom. With the 5th wheel rockin' (because of the wind) and the wind blowin' it was another night in Paradise.

WAITING FOR FLAMINGOS

'Our Keepers, Steve and Joy'

I know I mentioned that it does not seem like winter here. Well now I changed my mind. Yesterday and today have been kind of cold. Cold enough that I actually put on a long sleeved shirt. I could still wear shorts and flip-flops.

The lake behind us is where the Flamingos are supposed to come to. I haven't seen them yet but I know it will be exciting. I've never seen them in the wild.

Yesterday we had a problem with our computer. It would all stay on except the screen. I could hear it running but no picture. This had happened to us once before but it came on by itself. So yesterday after hitting every button we could think of, we gave up and called Dell support. They would not help us since we bought it at Best Buy. David was getting really angry so he called Best Buy. They would not help us over the phone unless we paid for their help. Needless to say David was beside himself and took everyones name and number so he could file a complaint. We then decided to take it to Victoria, 25 miles away. We got to Best Buy and David took it to the Geek Squad desk while I walked around. I came back in about 3 minutes and it was fixed. There is always something to make you feel more stupid than you already do. It seemed our computer was in hibernate mode and all we had to do was hold the button down for 7 seconds. Of course, no one could tell us that on the phone without charging us. That was just something we did not know. Now we know.

The evening was pretty slow so we went to bed early, it was too cold to do anything else. So, the lights went out in Paradise.

THE LAUNDROMAT/OFFICE/LOUNGE I GOT THE PAINTING DONE

Despite the rain yesterday, we managed to get some things done between outbursts. They say rain for the next few days. In the evening yesterday it poured hard rain. We had of course closed all the windows. However, when I got ready to go to bed, there was a huge puddle in the middle of the bed. We had left the vent over the bed open. We were changing sheets and drying out the bed until about 11:00. So this morning we had to go into town and do laundry. A trip to town always means a trip to wal-mart, we love the sweet tea. New people came in to the RV park this afternoon. They are from Florida going to Mexico. They arrived in a 40ft. bus, towing a car behind it. That to me is like driving a semi truck.

We are watching another glorious sunset at the end of another day in Paradise.

TROPICAL RAIN

THESE LARGE BOATS GO BY EVERYDAY HOUSE FOR SALE ON BEACH $150,000

I got up extra early this morning so I could get an unobstructed view of the sunrise. It was still dark so I hunted around for clothes, made coffee and went outside. I was so disappointed to find out it was so foggy I probably wouldn't be able to get a picture. I walked down to the pier anyway thinking it would clear at any time. I stayed there for quite awhile but no sunrise.

I began the painting on the side of the laundromat/office/lounge. I got my little boom box and played some Bob to get me in the mood. I almost got it done and then the rain clouds came in. I stopped right away so the paint could dry before the rain came. David and Steve dug a trench and put in the power to the little building. We all stopped what we were doing just in time. The rain came in huge gushes for awhile. Now I'm afraid to go look at the painting...hopefully it was dry. It was hotter after it rained than it was before. There are giant, ominous, clouds in the sky but I may be able to go and paint some more.

We are having a little get together at our place tonight. Just some appetizers and drinks. It will be fun. The ocean is a beautiful color today and it looks like another day in Paradise.

TECQUILA, TRIP AND TRAILER

Last night we were invited to Steve and Joys for nachos and margaritas. They have very cute house built over the top of their garage. They get a lot of things off of ebay and other web sites. They got a huge stainless steel side by side refrig. and stainless steel stove for $1100. She also has a pounded copper sink that I love. Joy said copper kills any bacteria. I'm going to try to get one of those. Their little 900 sq ft house is decorated all in a tropical theme. They have a deck in the front that has a veiw of the whole shore and some of the lake. Beautiful veiw. We had a great time.
This morning Joy and I discussed me doing a painting on the side of their office/lounge/laundermat. We were soon on our way to town to get the paint. Going into town of course is always a trip. While there I also did some grocery shopping. After all this is a super wal-mart. Inside is also a subway sandwich place so of course had to stop there for lunch.
My next step is to paint. The theme will be palms, ocean and sunrise. I think I will start this in the morning when it is cool out. David and Steve worked all morning putting in electricity and water to the trailer. I think both of them are pooped out. So David and I are sitting in our 5th wheel listening to Freddie Fender (?) and David is working on a painting while I write.
Best wishes and love to all from our little corner of Paradise.

IT IS NOT WINTER HERE

Steve and Joys House Part of the Yard and Palms

I know it may be close to winter other places but not here. This morning I got up just to see the sunrise. Every morning it is the same. It starts with a little sliver of orange and soon a full flouresent orange ball is hanging right above the horizon. It floods everything in sight in a warm glow. As soon as it turns its normal color, it starts getting warm. There can be a whole sky cloud cover but it is still warm.

David is out helping to move a deck from the front of the property to the back. They are taking it apart and moving it in 3rds on a tractor. I went out this morning and trimmed the palms, again. Since hurricane Ike, and the storm surge where everything was covered in 2-3 ft. of salt water, the plants were almost dead. So, I continually trim and water in hopes they will come back to life. There's about 25 palms and I think most of them are coming back.

Last night we all took the golf cart down to the marina. It is so nice there. You can get beer, bottled hard drinks and food. After ordering your food you go to the back patio where the sea meets the concrete patio. Alot of people fish off of the patio. We have seen some big ones caught there. Anyway, we had some drinks and some deep fried pickles. Yummy. As soon as I can I'll get a pic of the patio, I'll show it. The sea is beautiful this morning, as usual, with huge boats going in and out of the port. Life is good as we face another day in Paradise.

THE TROPICAL WEATHER

This is a picture of the road we live on. To the right is a lake and on the left is the gulf. I looked at Paso Robles weather this morning and the low was 37. Our low this morning was 68. I'm going to send some pictures thru email because I can't get more than one on this page.

We took a ride along the beach road yesterday and took some pictures. One thing that we may have forgotten to talk about is how the houses are all on stilts. If anything is built under the house like a garage, it has to have break-away walls so that the water can just go thru. Of course the water would be from a hurricane here or the storm surge of a hurricane near by. Some of the windows here are still boarded up protecting them from the wind from hurricane Ike. There is still some water puddled up along side the roads and the county mosquito spray truck comes by every night. I don't know if it does any good or not. The wind is blowing pretty hard today and this morning we had some rain clouds but nothing happened. It's another beautiful day in Paradise.

BEAUTIFUL PLACE

This is a picture of the sunset we see every night. This is over the lake that is behind us. We also get to see an incredible sunrise over the gulf every morning. Right at sunrise you can see all the pelicans diving into the water for fish. The shrimp boats come out early in the morning and drag their nets behind them. Cars go by with their fishing poles sticking up. Life here is all about the fish. However, in a place where fishing is everything, I have not seen any fish markets. So where are the fish and shrimp? Our people here(Joy and Steve) have left us alone to run the place for a few days. Nothing much is going to go on. Last week we had a couple here from San Antonio, a man we never see that works in construction somewhere and a grandfather that stays here just to fish. The people from San Antonio left and then we got in a couple from Oregon. So, there is not much going on. Our only job right now is to take care of Steve and Joys little dogs while they are gone. They have 5 dogs. They are really cute little things. Three of them are Yorkies and two are chiwawa's(I spelled it that way because I don't know how to spell it and I'm too lazy to look it up). Well, I guess that is all the news I have for today. If you read this blog, please leave a comment so I can get some feedback.

David and Carol

THE AWESOME STATE OF TEXAS

nickers1
Today we went into the largest city around here, Victoria. It has all the places to eat, a mall, Lowes and all the other big stores. We ate at a place called Uncle Mutts Bar-B-Que. The sign on the door said they open about 10:30. One of the things we thought was kind of funny is that there is a store called Rent-a-Tire. You can go in and rent not only a tire but fancy wheels. I guess it's in case you want to impress someone. But all in all we really love Texas. It is a very people run state not a politically run state. Everyone is really nice, even the cashiers in wal-mart. They sell different kinds of things here than they do in California. Sweet tea is really big in the south. You can even order it at McDonalds. We have fallen in love with sweet tea and always keep some in the frig. Yes, we go thru alot of mosquito repellant, and the truck is always dirty but on the whole people smile and wave to everyone, say excuse me and hold the door open for you. We love the slow, easy going lifestyle. So, when we leave here we will miss not only Texas but the great people we have met here.

SWEET COOL BREEZE (WIND)

Last night the wind blew really hard but it happened to be blowing in the right direction so we got it right inside the 5th wheel. It felt really great. Slept like a baby in a rocking cradle. Steve and Joy are moving things around this morning. Joy has a little trailer that she has wicker funiture in and has planned to make an office out of it. The county for some reason told her she couldn't have it there so Steve and David are moving it. I think they plan to make it the laundry room/office. Steve and Joy have this RV park up for sale. It is a cute little place and right next to the gulf but there isn't much going on here.
Everyday huge barges and boats go by. I think they go to the Alcoa plant. It really is a sight to see. They are really big. Yesterday we went to town to do some laundry and today I ironed. Busy life, right? I think we will be leaving in a couple of weeks. David has some plans up his sleeve, but we'll see.
Carol

DRAMA ON THE SEA

This morning started out pretty darn warm and humid. We have storm clouds all around us with a sprinkling of rain. David took Molly for her morning walk to the pier. It seems that sometime in the middle of the night, someone was drunk and drove up on the pier and got stuck with one tire over the edge. Someone must have come and pulled them off but left alot of damage to the pier. Soon the police, sheriffs dept and constable were there taking a report. Who knows who did it?
Yesterday we really didn't do much. I fixed an early dinner and we played Scrabble. This morning I sat and watched the Pelicans dive into the water for their breakfast. Sarah and Terry have temporairily moved into our house and Nicky starts his first day of school up there. They both have tons of apps in for jobs and Sarah just interviewed for a position at Pleasant Valley Mental Health Care. The owners of their house sold the house so they had to move. Well, so far today that's it...I'll be sure to let you know if the mystery of the pier is solved.

Trucks, Batteries and Toilets

It has not been a real pleasant day today. I mentioned this morning that we had to replace both batteries in the truck yesterday. So, this morning the toilet plugs and David can't get it unplugged so we were going into town to get a plunger. The truck started great and we were on our way. About a mile down the road we noticed that the air conditioning was not working. Of course we didn't know why. So, on our way to get the plunger, we stopped at the GMC dealership to see why. Well, $160 and an hour later we found out that if you take both batteries out it erases the computer thingies and it has to be reprogrammed.
We get back to the 5th wheel so David can work on the toilet and it would not unplug. I think he worked on it for 2 hours until finally he went down and banged on the pipes and it unplugged. Now this was after backflushing, using the plunger, having Steve backflush while he used a plunger and getting crap all over the bathroom. It was not a pretty picture. So I donned rubber gloves and went in. Yuck, what a smelly mess. Anyway, I got it cleaned up and now I'm just waiting for everything to dry. I have 2 fans going so hopefully it will be OK. David thinks that when we bought the 5th wheel no one had gone in and really cleaned the tank out so what makes it even worse, it could have been someone else's crap. So while ending this post, I cannot say it has been another day in paradise.

MOSQUITOES, MOSQUITOES, MOSQUITOES

Yesterday we went with Steve and Joy (our keepers) to Victoria. It is a pretty big town with all the bells and whistles. There is where you can find Home Depot, Red Lobster, etc. Of course when traveling something always breaks or stops working. This week it was both batteries in the truck so we had to go and replace both of those. After doing all of the chore things we went to Texas Roadhouse. We had great drinks and a nice dinner. When we got back Steve and David decided to have a bonfire to burn all the extra stuff hanging around on the grounds here. It did actually help with those blasted mosquitoes. They are everywhere and that is why there are so many dragonflies, they eat them. The mosquitoes never give up. Anyway, we sat and watched the bonfire and laughed so hard at Steve and David trying to talk in some language(don't know what it was). Steve and Joy are from Massachusetts. They have that Boston accent. So Steve tries to talk like a Californian and it is really funny. The OJ verdict came in last night as guilty. Can't believe they actually found him guilty. I was beginning to think he was invincible. Now let's see how many appeals he gets and how long he actually serves. By the way, another great day in paridise.

JAMAICAN WEATHER

This morning I went out early and sat for awhile. The sun does not come up until about 7:30 Texas time. But I get a clear view of the sunrise over the water and it's beautiful. It reminds me of the time Perlow and I went to Belize. Every morning we were up in the dark and got to see the sunrise over the Caribbean. Since neither one of us pay any attention to time, we didn't know if it was midnight or morning but there we were drinking our coffee, writing and watching the sunrise. But today it feels just like Jamaica weather. It makes me come in and put on some Bob music and think about all the people we have met in Jamaica and all the people we miss so much. Big up to all our friends in Negril. Jah Bless.

Carol

A Day Looking Inward

I was sitting outside today and realized how fortunate we are to be in this beautiful place doing what we like to do. I think we get so used to looking for the next thing to do instead of savoring this time, this day. I watched a show on TV today, a narration of Into the Wild. It is a true story. David and I had watched it some time ago but it really makes you think about the life we live. In this story there was a young man about to go to college. Instead, he gave his money to charity and headed to Alaska to live in the wild. The freedom and the knowledge in your head that this is the right thing to do is something I guess we all do but on a smaller scale. As you get older there is a fear that you don't have enough saved or that you won't be able physically to do something. I guess that is why you should really do all you want before you have those life responsibilities. I thank God for all He has given me. My children and grandchildren are everything to me and I am proud of each one of them and all of the talents God has given them. I am thankful I still have my Mother and I have David who is a rel blessing to me. I truely am blessed.

So Much for the Daily Grind

Last night was so nice here. It had cooled down a little and a light breeze was blowing. Yesterday we went into Port Lavaca to do some laundry. We have only seen 2 laundermats in town. We went to the cleanest one. Of course, since we were in town, we went to super WalMart. I love that store. It is perfect for someone like me that hates to shop. I can do all shopping in one store.
I have the habit of listening to AM radio at night after I get in bed. I really don't understand why the only stations you can get is sports and Spanish stations. It really frustrate me.
Since there are alot of mosquitoes here, there are alot of dragonflies to eat them. There are hundreds of them flying around. I really like to watch them.
This morning David rewired the television or something and now the tv sound goes thru-out the 5th wheel in the speakers. I am not really sure what else we are doing today. This morning so far I have read, filed my nails, made the bed and talked on the phone. You never know what you will be doing. I am hoping for some big job to need doing. I'm going to need some kind of direction just to use my brain once in a while.
There really is no daily grind here since you never know what's coming.