2022-04-25 Trip to Brownwood TX

 No posts for a while with not much going on. We did have a sick dog on our hands. At first we thought that he was eating too many bugs outside which really messed up his digestive track. He was having problems with both ends which we were treating with pumpkin and peptobismal. All of a sudden I thought about infection and his teeth. I called the vet (this was Wednesday) and initially they couldn't get us in for a week but, miraculously, while I was on the phone, someone cancelled an appointment in half an hour. We were on our way. Harley has never let anyone touch his mouth since he got him at 9 months old. A retired vet was filling in at the office because they were shorthanded and very busy. She was great. Harley wouldn't let her get much of a look but she honed right in on the problem. Infected teeth. Before anyone thinks we don't take care of dental, you have to know that Harley has a very tiny liver so anesthetic is a risky procedure. We were faced with that difficult decision again. The vet had a bunch of blood tests done immediately and said his blood levels were very good considering his liver issues. He has been on special food and liver supplements since he was 9 and he is now almost 14 so it has helped. Next she sent the vet tech to check on the surgery room to see if it would be free any time soon. They were just about done with the scheduled teeth cleaning. Harley ate first thing in the morning so we were okay there. The vet said that she recommended extraction of his remaining teeth so he would never have to go through anesthesia again. He came through it all like a champ and was able to come home just before dinner on pain pills for a week and antibiotics for 3 weeks.

Friday, I was supposed to go to Brownwood TX where my granddaughter was having a Drill Team Show and my grandson was going in to be in his last band concert. My Son and DIL and their dog drove their car so I didn't take my car. Harley knew I was going in the RV and would have been real upset at not being able to go. We decided that he was doing well and could sleep in the RV just as well as at home so he got to go.

The Drill Team show was on Friday night. It was a great show. Morgan on the right.

Then on the left.

In front...

All the teams at Brownwood seem to sponsor a connection with younger kids and they participated in the last number.

After the show was over, we planned to boondock at Walmart because I couldn't get an RV spot anywhere in town for that night. Instead, we just decided to stay right there in the school parking lot. It worked out just fine although the parking lot was really well lighted. Steve's dog Angus slept very well.

The next morning, we moved to the Riverside Park which belongs to the city. It has full hookups and is located right on the river. There are no grills or tables at the sites which makes some sense as the rest of the city park is right next store and the RV spots might be a big temptation for day users if they had picnic tables.

Being next to the rest of the park made it easy to take dog walks. Harley just did short walks but otherwise he was doing fine and back to chowing down on his much watered down dog food. Vet said to keep him on his regular food and just soften it with water.

That's us in our site.

The city park has lots of amenities like disc golf.

A bridge to nowhere....

And plenty of trees for shade.

The RV park area has a nice patio right over the river with tables and chair.

There are family style bathrooms and a laundry room as well.....all in all, a nice place to stay.

They moved Cameron's band concert from Sunday to Monday at the last minute. We felt really bad but we just couldn't stay longer to attend. However, he plays on a city soccer team now that high school soccer is over so we showed up at his game on Sunday. He was really surprised to see us. He's the youngest player on the team but very experienced since he has been playing soccer since he was 5.

All in all, it was a great weekend. We were very sorry to miss the concert. We got to spend a little more time with Cameron since he has a truck and can get out and about.. It wasn't Steve's weekend with the kids so Morgan wasn't allowed to spend any extra time with us. Unfortunate but true.

2022-04-11 Junction TRR Rally

 From Fredricksburg, I had a windy drive to Junction and the Tree Cabins RV Resort for a Texas Ramblin' Roses Rally.  The office was not manned but Olivia, one of the hostesses, had a list of the RV sites we were assigned to so I pulled in and hooked up.

I was lucky enough to get a site with a tree. It was a buddy site so I just hoped that the other site was occupied by one of our group members. No problem with that as we had every site in the park plus one of the cabins.

The park is right on the river so our women that love to fish were right there. We actually scheduled a rally here because last year we were at South Llano State Park and some of our members ended up in town at this park because the state park was all booked.  Booked but 4 or 5 sites sat empty all weekend which has been a huge problem with RVers reserving and then not showing up. Anyway, the river access is far better here than it is at the state park.

The park has a very nice rally room. It's up at the top of the hill which is a drawback but there is a parking lot so it's all workable.

We had our potluck here, played games, had a Skymed presentation complete with wine and cheese, and we also had a really neat craft presentation from Lisa Ward. The craft involved wildflowers, a hammer, and paper to make a picture.

You place the flower on the heavy paper, cover it with thin baking paper, and pound the heck out of it.

And you end up with a very nice picture like this one.

Or, you can also use a T-shirt and end up with a great piece of wearing apparel like this.

We also did our normal rig christening tour for new members or members with new to them rigs.

As you can see, our ladies drive or pull all kinds of RVs.

Some rigs are quite unique like this one. Looks and drives like a car but.....

has everything you would find in a very small RV.

Space is expanded with this nice little screen room.

Inside has everything you would need including a microwave and A/C.

You will see every size rig from small to large.

These ladies are full-timers and want for nothing in their shared home.

The park had no bluebonnets or wildflowers this year but there was wildlife.

A nice shady spot to enjoy the riverr.

And fish!

It was a great rally and we have already booked the park for next year.

2022-04-10 Fredericksburg Bluebonnets???

As you can tell from lack of posts, not much has been going on since my hip surgery in February. That progressed okay but kept me from any time on the road. Finally, I was off to a rally but I left home early so I could check out the bluebonnets this year.

I headed up to Fredricksburg since it was on my way to the rally. I checked in to the Oakwood RV Resort. Parking was challenging because, while they have pull-throughs, they are extremely narrow with a concrete island in between. The first site had the neighbor's slideout opened over the picnic table in my site. The second site they gave me was a bit of an awkward angle and I didn't ace it. Right away a guy in the next row came out just insisting that I just needed to back up a few feet and pull in again. I explained nicely that I was pulling a toad and could not back up. After the third time he insisted I should just back up I said....you are in that fifth wheel right? Well, I don't think you want to pay for my tow bar so I won't be backing up. Luckily, I had just enough fractions of an inch to go slowly forward without scraping my tire. I really wanted a back-in site but they only had 30 amp and would not let me use a dogbone to come down from 50 amp. 
 

Next I was off to tour the Willow City Loop, one of my favorite drives. unfortunately, it was almost totally devoid of bluebonnets or any wildflowers. I should have mentioned that Fredericksburg had flashing signs on the roads leading in to town about severe fire danger. It was beyond dry there.

Next stop, Wildflower Farms.

While their normal flower fields were pretty barren, they did have one field that was obviously planted and watered well where you could see bluebonnets.

Otherwise things were pretty barren.

A few brave flowers poked up around the fence posts.

And in a little flower bed.....

Otherwise, bluebonnets were limited to decorations.

It was pretty hot so Harley napped in the RV with the generator running while I toured but he did get out to sniff a few flowers before we left.

 Hopefully the Texas Hill Country will get some good rains soon to help with the drought and next year will be a better year for bluebonnets.

2022-02-18 Moving Right Along

Tues - As everyone knows, a hospital is the last place you get any sleep. The staff is great at North Baptist Orthopedic Hospital. I admit that I was probably a little grouchy when I got woken up at 4:20 am with a cheerful " Good Morning, Im here to draw some blood." I mean, really, 4:20 is not morning in my book and never had been. Breakfast arrived at 8:30, PT arrived at 9 and we walked down the long hallway to the PT room after I got dressed. I already did PT yesterday evening after surgery. Very nice doctor on my Drs team showed up to chat and answered any questions. At 11:00AM, I called Dave and he picked me up to go home at 11:30AM. I had lunch and then I walked upstairs with a little help from Dave. My only scre up was that I fell asleep and slept 2 hours past when I was going to take a pain pill. I will never make that mistake again as it took 2 pills to get back on track 

Wednesday - PT supervisor Jeff arrived at 9:30AM. Same company as last time, Abiding Home Health Care. I asked for them when my doctor setup the surgery. They called me before I had surgery and I asked if I could have Kris again. She is great. Jeff went through my exercises and said I was ahead of schedule on what I could do. At noon, the nurse showed up up to check me out. I felt really bad as I was upstairs and my deaf husband and deaf dog never heard the doorbell or her knock. I'm shouting down the stairs to come in. Just as she opened the door and said, I hear you but don't see you, Dave and Harley showed up to greet her. It was a comedy. She was new as nd a huge improvement over the ancient woman I had last time.

Thursday - Dave and Steve went for a motorcycle ride and Helen teleworked from here. We also got two led wifi bulbs set up in the bedroom so I can just tell Alexa to turn lights off up or downstairs. Very convenient as Dave turns on the overhead bedroom fanlights and 160 watts in your face is way too much. I tritted downstairs for dinner and a movie or two.

Friday - much the same as Wednesday.

Saturday - I came downstairs in the morning and went back up right after lunch. Some friends called from nearby so I called to get an assist downstairs. We all had coffee and flowers and brought me some beautiful roses. Steve and Helen were coming for dinner so I just stay d down. Helen fixed Eggplant Parmigiana and her own version of spaghetti carbonara. It was my birthday so we had cake and ice cream. Singing happy birthday around here is interesting. Cameron was on the speaker phone from Brownwood and Angus, Steve's dog always joins in. Cameron and Morgan both called from Brownwood. Morgan was supposed to be here but her mother refused to drive her halfway even though it was their weekend with Steve. Morgan was very disappointed. 

In case you were wondering, we have a "family birthday hat" and plate. It was a great birthday but we missed the kids.

Sunday - More of the same. I do all the exercises when PT is not here so progress is steady. Plan to be able to drive the motorhome 30 days after surgery. 

2022-02-14 Valentine's Day and more

So, if you know my husband, you know how he must have searched for this particular card. He strongly believes that smart phones are horrible unless, of course, I am using it to find something online for him. It came with candy and something else. I had hip surgery scheduled for the afternoon.

Anyway, it went very well and I was up walking an hour later.

2022-01-11Sanicon Maserater Fix

Today was a great day. I had an appointment with Texas RV Supply in San Antonio to take a look at my Sanicon Maserater pump. It worked great at a trip out in November but didn't even make a sound when I turned it on at the end of a trip in December. My RV also has a regular dump set up so I was not up a creek without a paddle. I drained all the water for winterizing but held off on adding the link stuff until I could get the pump checked out. 

My regular RV repair place (Texas Hill Country Coach Repair) told me that they didn't currently have someone really knowledgeable in that area. I really appreciated Terry's honesty right up front. He said he thought that Camping World and another place in Seguin had experts in that. I was equally honest right upfront......Camping World will never touch my rig. The other place said they didn't have someone. I thought about it and decided to call Texas RV Repair as they have helped me out before. I explained the winterizing situation and they told me to bring it in a few days later. I thought (and hoped) it might be an electrical issue since it worked and then it didn't with no bad noises in between. They put their best electrical guy on it and one hour later I was ready to roll. Just as I hoped, it was a switch fuse but I would never have found it because the tech had to unscrew the top of one of the twin beds on the opposite side of where the pump is located. It was a $5 fuse switch that could have cost me many hours of labor time had the tech not been really knowledgeable.

Good to go and prepared if it ever happens again. Thank you Texas RV Supply for fixing it and Texas Hill Country Coach Repair for being honest right up front.