Houston.... What a wonderful Christmas!

Soooooo many things have happened since I last reported here:
      Thanksgiving with friends in Brevard, NC
      Our "adventurous", eventful trip back to Houston
      My dog Toby has finally recovered from severe, chronic pancreatitis
      Back with our church family of friends
      Enjoying friends in Galveston     
      A great Italian turkey Christmas dinner
      Reconnecting with campground friends here in Pearland    
      Some great time in the puzzle/crafts room in the clubhouse
      Back in water aerobics at the Pearland Natatorium
      and..... thinking forward to a new year:
               time to get back to a healthy food plan, exercise more
               purge our 10' x 30' storage space down to about half that size
               decide which direction to head when we leave here about mid Feb.
We are all healthy and happy, and very grateful to be back together and still in one piece. 
We really miss North Carolina and our friends there, but are thinking about going on with our previous plans to head to Alaska this next season..... or, at least to the Seattle/ Vancouver area, and see how it looks from there.


   First, we had two blowouts on the way home.  One on the rear inside, which the roadside service truck fixed very efficiently at a rest area we had pulled into.  And then the big, "exciting" one on the right front.  That one we had to call 911 and get towed to the Freightliner truck place in Beaumont.    
  

The interesting thing about the front blowout was that it didn't pull to the right at all and I was able to pull to the shoulder safely (would have been 'easily' except for the rumble strip).
This safety I attribute to a very expensive device we had installed in Florida on our first trip. They are metal bands placed around the front wheel rims, that hold the tire in place on the rim after it has gone flat.... and enables it to be driven without coming off the rim.
The technology is from the military vehicles in Afghanistan... to keep them rolling.
And guess what .... it works!
When we got back to Pearland, we learned that campers we knew here last year, had a similar blowout and lost control and their 40' coach turned over and was totaled. Wow, I believe (in addition to God's protection) that this little metal band may have saved us!

Next, let me tell you about my best friend Toby.  He visited a total of 3 emergency Veterinarians between North Carolina and here. Not until we got back here to Houston to our home vet, Westbury Animal Hospital, did he get diagnosed: Chronic pancreatitis. He's now doing very well, but he has a new nickname: "poodle paws".  Three of his four legs were shaved for IV's, at different times and places.  A friend suggested I should shave the fourth, to make him feel balanced.  :-)

And, in the same photo you can see a glimpse of Vera's Christmas nativity decorations on the dash of the motorhome.
And the view at our current camping space at Advanced RV Resort here in Pearland:

And, lastly, we had heard descriptions of a great Texas Tradition destination in Baytown, TX,  Buc-ee's.  So, we had to stop and check it out.  And the stories are true!  It is HUGE..... with Deli, Café, Grocery, Souvenir, Clothes, Bakery, Barbeque pits, outdoor sculptures...... and all things TEXAS!!!!   plus 48 gas pumps, (most busy), in fact there was a crowd. The place was packed, and the parking lot was full, and it was 8:00 pm at nite!    If you haven't been to one, you 'oughta' go.

Happy New Year,
Marilyn

sand, water and sunsets

We had to have a window replaced on the motorhome..... while it was out, Boo took advantage of a new perch:

Let me tell ya, the Outer Banks of North Carolina are .....  waaaaay    out there!
Very interesting, beautiful, ...... but not much there. 
Charlie and I managed to get the car stuck in the sand on a little road leading to the beach.  Two local fishermen got us out. As we backed out to the main road we saw that we must have passed a good sized sign that said we should have had 4 wheel drive to have attempted that road.    Someone was really quick in putting up that sign! :)

"light housecat" at Ocracoke Island

very chilly on the ferry

but awesome sunsets

and the grandest of all, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse:

In 1999 they moved this 208' tall lighthouse (think space shuttle style), 1600 feet inland, to protect it from shoreline erosion.



more later, Marilyn

at last !!!

several great things to report:

a. Vera is heading back home (to us). She is now visiting with her friend Mindi in Bloomsburg, PA, and we will go retrieve her from there next week. So she will be back with us for Thanksgiving with all our family of friends here (our campground is actually in Fletcher, NC, near Asheville).

b. I have a computer working properly... makes my whole life feel lighter.

c. I have (finally) downloaded pictures from my phone which I had wanted to share with you..... so here goes:

campground store where I worked

gatehouse where Charlie worked

2 days before we left Cascade Lake for the season

  


these are some of our "family of friends" here

more later,
Marilyn

Connectivity ...... yeah !

I am sooooo glad to have our desktop computer back with internet.  We have some sort of amplifying antenna for the wifi in campgrounds..... which has to be reset each time we move...... and Vera is the one who knows how to do all that..... and Vera is still not back with us. 

Charlie and I haven't starved (quite the contrary), but we don't do this cooking thing too well. Not a day goes by that we don't say we don't know where something is or we don't know how to do something.... cause "Vera always does that".    So, do you get the picture that Vera is really missed?

Her sister Donna is not going to be able to be independent, and Vera has been committed to seeing that she gets the best therapies she can while in the rehab. unit of the nursing home.  But we are now planning strategies for picking her up, and heading back to Houston the first week of December.

In the meantime, Charlie and I finished our duties at the campground, and went into maintenance mode for the motorhome.  We had servicing done about 1 hour east of Asheville, then  went another 2 hours east to Greensboro, NC to have some foggy windows replaced..... we were stranded there for exactly a week without the big front drivers window.

We put the dogs in a kennel and took off in the car for The Outer Banks.  and let me tell you, they are a way out there !  Always heard about them, never been there.... so we went for four days.  It is an exceptionally beautiful place..... just not much there except sand, water, and an occasional lighthouse.
We did see the wild ponies on Ocracoke Island, and managed to get stuck in the beach sand.... rescued by two local fishermen..... and lots of beautiful sunsets in between.

So, here we are back in Asheville for a couple of weeks until we pick Vera up and head south. We'll have Thanksgiving with a group of friends who all live close around this area.
We've already had snow here a couple of times, and we have to be careful to keep our water from freezing.  Right now its 33 degrees and we have two heat lamps positioned under the motorhome where the tanks and water connections are.  We don't have any hoses hooked up, so we'll be ok for now. 

More later,
Marilyn

pop....pop......pop

Our home on wheels has a metal roof (or maybe fiberglass, or....) anyway, when ANYthing falls on the roof, it sounds really loud.
Now think acorns (very big acorns), falling..... all nite long..... for weeks! 
We have been parked in this one spot since April, under many very big, very tall trees.  We did not, however, pay too much attention to what kind of trees.  But for several weeks now we have been bombarded with acorns (very big acorns).   Fourteen thousand and forty one, fourteen thousand and forty two, .......   the ground all around our campsite is a carpet of acorns.  Sometimes if the wind is blowing at nite, we get awakened a lot by showers of "pops".
Enough.... you get the idea.

Vera is still in NY, her sister Donna is in rehab.  Her prognosis for independent living is not realistic.
So, their other sister Susie, and Vera are slowly weeding their way through the necessary and inevitable things that need to be addressed.
Really reminds us of the uncertainty of tomorrows.

Meanwhile Charlie and I are doing our best to make Vera proud: we "usually" vacuum twice a week, wash dishes "most" every day..... and are really good at cooking from the microwave.  Oh well.... but we really do miss her !

We made a day trip with some friends, down into northern Georgia..... beautiful trip. Problem is my camera is in the shop for repair so I've been taking pictures with my phone.... but have not the foggiest idea how to get them into this blog.  I'll work on it.

We are scheduled to leave here on Nov. 2nd and travel eastward maybe to the coast for some time, then northward to pick up Vera at some point..... back to Houston by Dec. 1st.  I would like to "do DC" and see all the new memorials. Also I understand there is an earthscape portrait being installed on the Mall...several acres.... different colors of dirt... should be interesting.

Pictures next time
Later, Marilyn

Burlington, Vermont

Long story short:  Vera's younger sister had a major stroke, and Vera and I drove to Burlington to stay with her in the hospital. When she was released to a rehab. facility, they transferred her to Binghamton, NY, to be close to their other sister.  Vera stayed there and I drove back to North Carolina to complete my Work Camping obligations.  So it's just Charlie and I in the motorhome now, without our cook  :(   Vera's sister Donna is progressing, slowly.

About the best thing that came from the 10 days in Burlington was the beautiful sunsets across Lake Champlain from the 6th floor of the hospital:

On the way back to NC thru Virginia, I took a detour along part of the Skyline Drive, which is the northern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway:

We live in an incredibly beautiful world, don't you agree?

Later, Marilyn

kayaking a waterfall

The next day we drove the Cherahala Skyway, and visited an old growth forest.  While we were at Bald River Falls, we saw the most amazing thing: Two guys were hauling their tandem kayak up the rocky ledges of the waterfall by ropes.

 

Amazing !

 

This is by far the prettiest falls we have seen.

 

Later, Marilyn

 



Cades Cove, Tennessee

We went across the Smokey Mountains and down almost to Gatlinburg, to a rather large valley known as Cades Cove.  It was discovered and settled in the early 1800's .... maximum population at that time approx. 700, scattered over several miles of the most beautiful setting:  blue ridge mountains, ringing a broad, gently rolling green valley.  Many of the buildings have been preserved: log homes, barns, churches, grist mill, etc.  It can be visited by a single lane road winding around the edge of the valley... takes about 2 hours, depending on how many stops you make.  A real utopian place.  Now it is a park, no one lives even near there, since it is a part of the Smokey Mountain Nat'l. Park.

 

In Memory of Bugsy

Sadly, one of our tail wagging traveling companions has passed away. Bugsy, affectionately called "Mr. Bugs", aka "The Godfather".

 

He was 14 plus years, the happiest doggie I've ever known.  He has left a huge empty space in our motorhome and in our lives.

 

 

 

And here he is in a younger version

 

 



  

Miss BooBoo has already taken over as "bosslady".  After all, she has been in training for a while now. This image has been in my sideview mirror for several years now.

 



 

 

Later, Marilyn



More of heaven on earth

Vera's latest finished piece of stained glass:

Eleven of the hosts here at our campground went to a "country breakfast" at a nearby historic bed and breakfast.  An old farmhouse on a hill above a wonderful valley:

We have 5 days in a row off so we are going on a 4 day road trip.... to Tennessee:  Cades Cove is the major destination (west of Gatlinburg, in the Smokies).  Also some hiking along the Cherahala Skyway (Joyce Kilmer old growth forest).  Leaving in the morning ..... report later.
Marilyn

Mountainside report

We've been working mostly 4 days (4 hour shifts) per week, with 3 days to run, play and explore:
We've been on several hikes, and Charlie has gone on a river kayaking trip.  I've been watercoloring a lot .... and Vera has taken up a new hobby.... stained glass!  She is currently taking a class at the local community college, and has made a couple of really nice pieces.
This is her 'studio':

 

which reminds me to mention our deck .... which we are very proud of

The dog ramp was the original reason for the whole thing.... but then it grew.... and grew. but it surely makes our lives easier.  There is the longer "permanent" ramp, which gets Bugsy up to the bottom of the door level.  Then there is the shorter 'moveable' ramp (seen at the right corner of the deck), which we pull over, open the door and set it to go up/down the last two big steps inside the motorhome.
Actually, most of the time we still lift Bugsy up the last two, but that is still much easier.

The interesting thing about the whole thing is that it "theoretically" comes apart in sections so that we can take it with us to the next long term location. But it is unknown if the step section will actually fit in the back of the car ...... also, the unknown weight is .... well, unknown!  :-)

I am including another picture of the valley at the bottom of "our" mountain.  Note the everpresent rising mist .... think temperate rainforest.

I promise some hiking pictures next.
Later, Marilyn