The Skies Are Leaking!

Yes, it's true.  It's raining in San Antonio. I can hardly believe it.  Twice in a month, several days each time.  The burn ban is still at bay.  So how does that affect me?

Well, I have a friend on her way back from an Alaskan RV excursion and she is getting close.  I traveled to Alaska via her blog and blogs from about 5 other ladies who all the made the Alaska trip this year.  Yes, that's right, all women.  Sometimes some of them traveled together for parts of the journey and sometimes they traveled alone.  Anyway, my friend asked me to meet her up the road for a few days of RVing so, of course, I said YES!

The only thing that I worried about being able to do with my 5th wheel is putting the battery in.  Yes, I know how, silly, but it is pretty heavy and the battery bay is about shoulder level.  We take the battery out when the RV is in storage and keep it on a maintenance charger.  DH was going to put it in for me yesterday before the rain hit.  Well, he called at 4:00 and said he was going to have to work later than planned.  So I decided that I would take the battery over and see if I could get it in before the rain hit.  It wasn't raining at the house but by the time I got to the 5th wheel, only 1 1/2 miles away, it was coming down like a deluge.  Long story short, I got the battery installed but I looked like a dripping, wet rag by the time I got home.  And the run off ditch in the storage area was full and running fast.

Yesterday the chance of rain was only 80% and today it was supposed to be 100%.  Hmmmm.  It wasn't raining this morning so I thought I would hotfoot it over there and see if I could get hooked up and out of there--just hoping the ditch wasn't running over the road.

Success!  The ditch was down and I backed up, hooked up, and high tailed it out of there.  Made it home, circled the cul-de-sac in spite of all the cars angle parked in the circle, and backed up into the driveway.  By the time I put out the chocks and put the front stabilizers down, it started to sprinkle.

By the time I scooted in the front door, it looked like this.......

Yes, it did rain in San Antonio.  The aquifers should be filling up from all the run off.

The rains were heavy then stopped then heavy again.  At 5:00 PM they were predicting more heavy downfalls with thunder.   You guessed it...the sun was shining.  Well, in between showers, I started loading up.  I will finish up with fridge and freezers items in the morning and then I'm out of here!

Fun With A Friend

Yesterday morning Margareta picked me up about 10:00 AM in her Zigeunerink (Winnebago View) and we were off to New Braunfels.  Margareta drives her View everywhere.  Usually Lusci, her retired working K-9 rides along.  No need to lock those vehicle doors with Lusci on the job.  Today Lusci stayed at home because it was going to be pretty hot.  Our first stop was Granzin's Meat Market.

This place is located behind Bluebonnet Ford right off I-35.  All the times I have been to Bluebonnet, I never had a clue this place was there.  Margareta buys most of her meat there.  It's a real butcher shop where they cut it onsite.  If what you want isn't already in the case, just ask and they will cut it for you.

She picked up a couple of bones for her neighbor's dogs and had them cut into smaller pieces.  She also got some meat to make more rouladin.  You may remember the luncheon at her house last week where she served rouladin.

Granzin's is not huge but it is a pretty fair size and they carry a wide variety of food items including fresh fruit and vegetables.

Margareta popped her purchases into the freezer of her RV along with some freeze blocks.  She doesn't keep the refrigerator running all the time but this works great to transport cold items.  Our next stop was the Outlet Malls in San Marcos.  Margareta was on the hunt for some Oscar de la Renta body lotion and soap for her sister in Germany.  We checked out about 6 perfume shops and found the body lotion.  (An Internet search later on turned up the soap she wanted.)

Back in New Braunfels we stopped at the Theis German Bakery.  They have German specialty bakery items.

A cup of coffee and genuine apple strudel.  Mmmmmm, heaven.

Margareta had a pretzel--also delicious!

Theis Bakery is actually part of the Fork and Spoon restaurant.  They serve authentic German food Thursday through Sunday nights and lots of other good food at other times.  Margareta and her German friends all frequent this restaurant so you know it is good German food.

Oops, didn't get a picture of the Bienenstich Cake (bee sting cake) that I took home because it disappeared right after dinner.   It was delicious.  But I did find a picture for you. http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipes.recipeListing/filter/dianas/recipeID/474/Recipe.cfm

Return of the Adventurer-Pursued by Rain

The last couple of days have sped by.  Saturday morning my DH called from his overnight stay in Ft Stockton to check on the weather here.  It was already 10 AM and he hadn't left yet because it was pouring with rain there. Our forecast here was for the rain to move in around suppertime so he decided to head out.  He rode through 40 miles of rain before it cleared up.

While he was traveling, I spent most of the day with Margareta, one of the Pink FlaminGoes from the lunch on Friday.  We met at Costco in the morning and then I went back to her house to provide a little more computer assistance.  She has friends across the world from all her travels so I helped her make some "business cards" a while ago.  That way she doesn't have to spend so much time writing all her contact info down when she meets people with whom she is interested in sharing.  She used almost all of those cards on her last jaunt to Alaska this summer.  We made a couple of changes, added a little info, and changed the picture she has on them.  She travels in her RV with a retired "working dog, K-9 Lusci" and Yenta, a cat who walks on a leash.  She had a new better picture of them with her Winnebago View motorhome.  Margareta is a retired working dog trainer so she is well qualified to provide one of these K-9s with the right type of home when they retire.  While she was busy making some vegetable dumpling soup for us, I spent some time helping organize her computer recipes and showing her how to organize a little better with folders.  She has thousands of photos from all her travels.

DH had just arrived at home when I pulled in.

After my post on Thursday night's rain, we didn't get any on either Friday or Saturday.  It started raining again about 6:30AM this morning and just quit a few minutes ago.  Let me tell you, 67 degrees is pretty cold when you are used to 95 or better.

"No, mom.  We don't have to go outside to potty.  It's raining."

"Nope, nope, still don't have to go.  Why do you have the leash mom?"  Gretchen gritted her teeth and headed out to go potty on her own.  The "boys" got taken out on the leash several times during the day.

Can you see the rain??

Okay, how about here?  It rained all day, not hard, just a nice steady soft rain.

And tomorrow (Monday), the sun will be back and the temps return to their normal 90 plus degrees.  Yay!  I think the nights will be down in the high 60s so that will be nice.   Now to prepare for the muddy paw syndrome.  The dogs will want to check out their yard including the flowerbeds which is where they get muddy.  Darn.

Lunch with 3 Pink FlaminGoes

Today we had an impromptu gathering of Pink FlaminGoes at my friend Margareta's house.  She invited Vicki and me to lunch at her house where she had fixed a special German dinner.  We had Rouladen which is beef wrapped around pickle, bacon, ham, and some other ingredients all browned and simmered in a special sauce.  You can see it in the upper middle  of the plate below.  It was served with Semmel-knoedel which is a kind of bread dumpling shown on the left side of the plate.  On the far right side of the plate you can see the Goulash.  She also made a gherkin (cucumber) salad which you can barely see in the bowl to the left of the plate.  It was all delicious. 

Vickie (on the left) is just getting ready to enjoy her dinner.  Margareta is on the right.

Vicki and I had to pose for another picture.  You can see the gherkin salad on the left, goulash in the blue bowl, rouladen right behind the goulash and semmel knoebel dumplings in the cornflower corning dish to the left.

 We had a great time telling each other about our summer trips.  Margareta took her RV to Hyder, Alaska and points along the way.  Vicki went to Seattle and took a cruise part way up the Alaska coast to Juneau.  I stayed with the hotter weather and took the RV to Florida as you all know.  All in all, we all had a great summer but it was good to get together again.

San Antonio Can Count on Rain

Well, San Antonio is definitely going to get some rain.  How do I know that?  No, I didn't wash the car.  I scheduled carpet cleaning today.  Usually I rent a machine and do it myself but, my shoulder is still sore from that hiking trip back in July.  So I called in a pro.  Everything looked fine this morning before they arrived with their equipment.  They did a thorough job which took about an hour and a half.

Mom.....Mommm........Mommmmm.

Are you serious, we are locked out?????

I say we hit the doggy door all at once and break it open.  Gretchen...you go first, Harley....you're second.....if you guys screw up, Big Willy will get it.

An hour after the carpets were finished......

Hey, we've had days like that before and haven't gotten any rain.  So I decided to take the Traveling Longdogs for a ride to keep them off the carpet while it dried.

Hmmmm......

Well, that was the middle of the afternoon and those droplets were about all we got.  Those big black clouds skidded from east to west without dropping much around here.  Ha!

However.............I just listened to the news and they have flood warnings out for downtown San Antonio right now.  This time it's coming from the southwest!  And it is headed right for us.

Now, the Longdogs won't be eager to head out in the rain.  Gretchen will go out first.  Then the boys.  That won't be a problem.  They'll "hold it" and then they will run out so we are okay there.

The problem will come when the rain ends and the mud in the flower beds begins.........ahhhhhhhhh!  Remember muddy paws????

Two Wheels On the Road to Ruidoso, NM

A trip to the Aspen Motocycle Rally in Ruidoso NM used to be a more regular occurrance for my DH back in the days I worked as a branch chief in the Sheppard AFB Contracting Squadron.  September meant 60 to 80 hour weeks for me as my branch manhandled the huge end of year contracting workload.  His trip made life easier for both of us as he enjoyed it and I didn't have the additional stress of a DH annoyed due to my workhours.  Well that was about 8 years ago.  DH decided that this would be a good year to make the trek back.

He spent most of the weekend getting ready to go.  Saturday he pulled a muscle and thought that the two wheel trip might have to turn into a four wheel trip.

He already had a hotel reservation in Ft Stockton as well as nights booked in Ruidoso.  In the old days, he took a tent and it usually rained and was a lot colder than it was in Wichita Falls.

 Monday morning his back was feeling better and he was off.  

I'm betting he will still get to use his rain suit while he is there.  But at least I will know he is warm and dry in a hotel room and he is still "on the road" again.  Have fun, be safe.

A Day with Another RV Blogger

The RV was unloaded and back in the RV storage lot and my son Steve was headed off back to Florida.  And I was off to.....Camping World....to meet my friend Susan from What's Up with Susan and Company.

After following each other's blogs, Susan and I met last spring when she came to Texas to take on her first camphost job at Garner State Park.  She had just recently become a full-time RVer.  This summer she took on a Gate Guard job in south central Texas.  It was hot and not easy since she travels solo but she stuck it out all summer.

Susan and Angel (the little furry bundle on her lap) are at Camping World to get a new awning installed as well as having a few other minor booboos fixed up.

I picked her up and we headed out for breakfast at Denny's.  Then we were off to do a few errands.

Once the errands were done, we headed out to Canyon Lake for a little tour.  We spent the whole day together and had a nice time.  Angel tagged along while Susan's 5th wheel was being worked on.  As soon as it is done, she is off to a new workcamping gig in West, Tx.  That would the town of West not the part of the state.  It's up by Waco.

Hope you enjoy the new job Susan and hope we can get together again soon.  It's fun to meet other bloggers and get to know them.

Some Simple RV RV Updates At Last

I've had this 5th wheel for a couple of years now and have used it many times but it still needs a few things to make it mine as well as to make it more functional.  I have been looking for a spice rack for quite a while but couldn't find exactly what I wanted.  I have lots of storage and cupboard space but counter space is not huge.  So, I wanted a spice rack that I could hang on the inside of the cupboard door.  Since the cupboard doors are paneled but the center panel is not solid, I needed one just the right size to mount on the frame of the door.  I know the rack looks crooked but it isn't; the angle of the open door is what makes it crooked.

I got this installed just before my trip to Canyon Lake and it was really nice to have the spices corralled instead of  tipping over in the big cabinet.  It fits perfectly between the top and bottom shelves.  I never claimed that I was reinventing the wheel, just making my RV better for me.  My second mod was also very simple.  I wanted to get the paper towel roll off the counter but hanging it under the cabinet looked cluttered and took space I didn't want to give up.  So I planned on putting it inside the cupboard again, on the door opposite the spice rack.  Finding a rack with the screw brackets in the right place was a difficult task.  I had one but the screw brackets were in the wrong place.  Finally found one at the ACE Hardward Store in Sattler out by Canyon Lake and, it was the cheapest one I've seen.  These are deep cupboards so the space the two mods take up is not missed at all.

On to some picture hanging.  I didn't have a single picture on the walls but I do now.  I used some of the Command Velcro Picture Hanging strips.

I put up several other frames but they don't have pictures in them yet.  I think I may have to make one small change though.  I wanted the frames on each side of the living room slideout to match so I hung the clock over the door.  It looks fine but.....I can't easily see it from the recliner so I may have to switch it out with the frame at the end of the slide by the dining table.  Good thing they are attached with velcro.

The spice rack came with two other racks but so far I haven't found a good place to use them yet.  Something to ponder until I get back on the road again......

Let the Fun Times Continue

The kids really enjoyed the playground at the park.

They even had a little log cabin which led to all kinds of imaginative playing.

You can almost see the ideas bouncing around.  Just in case you are wondering, Steve has a camera with a fish eye that is also water resistant.  The log cabin is not bulging.

And we have to show off all our muscles.

There was also fun to be had at the horse shoe pits.

Of course, the rules had to occasionally be modified for small players.  I think the shoes belonged to a clydesdale.

And then there was more swimming......this is an activity that never grows old.  Morgan is the belly flop champion!

She does it on purpose and she can really make a splash.

There were a lot of games of Marco Polo.  Steve got caught here.

And lots of physical activity leads to snacks.

And occasionally even leads to unplanned naps.

Fun Escalates at Lake Pointe RV Resort

Quiet times came to an end on Friday evening.  The day started quiet and then picked up when my son Steve arrived at the park in the morning.  We walked around the park and checked out all the facilities.  Then, of course, my computer was put to good use while we relaxed outside.  Later in the afternoon, we drove up to Marble Falls to pick up the Grandkids.  The Traveling Longdogs were thrilled because they got to head out in the car too.  Of course, they were already excited just because Steve arrived and they were delirious when the kids arrived.

This looks kind of serious but the kids were looking at pictures of their Dad riding his motorcycle from Florida to Texas to visit.

And Grandma smartly brought along some of the smaller toys out of the toy box at Grandma'as house for those times when it was too hot or too late to be outside.

Of course, most of our time was spent outside.  As much time at the pool as possible.

Yes, all of us were at the pool.  And it was not crowded either.

Now, of course, the pool was not the only activity.  More on that tomorrow.