It misted on us now and again on our trip north and we arrived in Three Rivers in fairly dry condition. While we were visiting with Tom and Wanda it began raining-HARD. And it rained quite hard throughout the night. It is 2 pm Saturday and seems to have finally quit. We decided to stay put as we do not like to travel in the rain. The forecast for tomorrow will let us be on our way. Our next planned stop is in Sulphur LA just because it is 350 miles from here and we could locate it on the Internet. A+ Rv park and it promises to be easy to find and I certainly hope it is easier than this one. Three Rivers South Texas RV Park is a bugger to find and we would not have without the gps. It is basically an oil workers park and we would not choose it again. Not because of the workers but because of management. We have made three trips to the office to pay and there is no one in attendance. There was a guy near the office yesterday and he told us to pick a site and she would come look us up. She hasn't.
I spoke too soon. It is raining again.
We have certainly been sun-deprived in Texas the past two years!
Saturday, March 21
First travel day done...
We arrived in Three Rivers South RV Park. Not a bad travel day in all. I always have an adjustment period. It's just me.
About 30 miles south of Falfurrious, Butch says there is a patrolman behind us with his lights on. So he pulled over a bit but decided it wasn't us he wanted. A big, black imposing pickup went whizzing by us and Butch says there is the guy he wants. The pickup did not slow down right away but eventually it did and all the doors flew open and about 10 people boiled out, jumped the fence and ran off into the brush. The vision of one woman/girl with long black hair in a ponytail stuck in my mind all day. And that was the most amazing thing that happened all day.
We met up with friends Tom and Wanda Burnell and they invited us over for enchiladas. Tom does the cooking in their family and the enchiladas were mighty delicious. We met Tom and Wanda at Thunder Bay Golf and RV Resort in Hillman, MI in 2010 so it has been 5 years since we have seen them. Their lifestyle intrigues everyone including us. They are full-timer RV workcampers and they have had many interesting assignments; Campground managers in El Centro California, Stonington Maine, Matagorda Tx, a couple of stints at Amazon, and currently gatekeepers at oilfields in the Tilden Texas area.The gatekeeper job is 24/7 and their duties as a team are to check in and out trucks entering and leaving the oilfields. While working they are very well paid every two weeks. And otherwise they wait for a new assignment in a full hookup RV site with free wi-fi and cable at no cost to them. They said they waited 4 weeks for their first assignment but when the rent is not an issue why worry? They are led to their assignments as they are usually in very isolated areas and while there, they are provided a large generator, plenty of propane, water, and, sewage removal. In other words, they have all the comforts of an RV park. On the downside of the job, they have to be ready within three hours to be led to an assignment. And someone has to be on duty throughout the night. They have a doorbell system that lets them know when a truck pulls in the gate.They lead a very interesting life. If there are people interested in doing any of this, I am sure they would be happy to lead them in the right direction.
While they were at Matagorda they would look for shells. (Matagorda is on the gulf not far from Corpus Christi.) On one of their shell gathering excursions, Tom found this item.
It is shell and barnacle encrusted and very, very heavy. After looking it over closely, Tom decided it could be a sword. And after we looked it over we decided he was right! They would love to get it x-rayed and find out for certain. What a find!!
Wanda was taking a photo of us taking a photo of her.
This was the view out their door. As you look around the countryside where they are located there are hundreds of these "bonfires" in the air.
This is Tom and Rosa. Rosa and Tom were singing a tune for us. Maybe an aria would be more accurate.
Not difficult to discern that Tom and Rosa are tight.
We enjoyed our visit with our Michigan friends. One of the great benefits of the fulltime lifestyle is the number of fantastic people you meet from all different parts of the country.
One of Wanda's choices of fun is mowing. Yes, I said mowing! It was her job while workamping in Michigan and she was always raring to go. Tom said she was mowing after dark one night and he was trying to get her to quit and come in for supper. He said, "You can't mow after dark." She said, "They would not put lights on mowers if they were not meant to be used." She has much in common with Butch's brother Leo.
About 30 miles south of Falfurrious, Butch says there is a patrolman behind us with his lights on. So he pulled over a bit but decided it wasn't us he wanted. A big, black imposing pickup went whizzing by us and Butch says there is the guy he wants. The pickup did not slow down right away but eventually it did and all the doors flew open and about 10 people boiled out, jumped the fence and ran off into the brush. The vision of one woman/girl with long black hair in a ponytail stuck in my mind all day. And that was the most amazing thing that happened all day.
We met up with friends Tom and Wanda Burnell and they invited us over for enchiladas. Tom does the cooking in their family and the enchiladas were mighty delicious. We met Tom and Wanda at Thunder Bay Golf and RV Resort in Hillman, MI in 2010 so it has been 5 years since we have seen them. Their lifestyle intrigues everyone including us. They are full-timer RV workcampers and they have had many interesting assignments; Campground managers in El Centro California, Stonington Maine, Matagorda Tx, a couple of stints at Amazon, and currently gatekeepers at oilfields in the Tilden Texas area.The gatekeeper job is 24/7 and their duties as a team are to check in and out trucks entering and leaving the oilfields. While working they are very well paid every two weeks. And otherwise they wait for a new assignment in a full hookup RV site with free wi-fi and cable at no cost to them. They said they waited 4 weeks for their first assignment but when the rent is not an issue why worry? They are led to their assignments as they are usually in very isolated areas and while there, they are provided a large generator, plenty of propane, water, and, sewage removal. In other words, they have all the comforts of an RV park. On the downside of the job, they have to be ready within three hours to be led to an assignment. And someone has to be on duty throughout the night. They have a doorbell system that lets them know when a truck pulls in the gate.They lead a very interesting life. If there are people interested in doing any of this, I am sure they would be happy to lead them in the right direction.
While they were at Matagorda they would look for shells. (Matagorda is on the gulf not far from Corpus Christi.) On one of their shell gathering excursions, Tom found this item.
Wanda was taking a photo of us taking a photo of her.
We enjoyed our visit with our Michigan friends. One of the great benefits of the fulltime lifestyle is the number of fantastic people you meet from all different parts of the country.
One of Wanda's choices of fun is mowing. Yes, I said mowing! It was her job while workamping in Michigan and she was always raring to go. Tom said she was mowing after dark one night and he was trying to get her to quit and come in for supper. He said, "You can't mow after dark." She said, "They would not put lights on mowers if they were not meant to be used." She has much in common with Butch's brother Leo.
Thursday, March 19
On the road again...
Or at least we will be in the morning. It will be a short driving day. Less than 200 miles so it should be an easy day and meeting up with old friends at the end of it.
Wednesday, March 18
Doctor Visit
Butch went to the doctor this afternoon and discovered that his allergies have developed into bronchitis and ear infection. He received a pulmonary treatment, an injection of antibiotics plus a 7 day supply of oral antibiotics. She said he should feel 50% better by tomorrow or we are to call her.
We have high hopes and now plan to leave on Friday. For one thing, we want to get away from all the allergens here right now. The citrus are in bloom and their overwhelming scent is big trouble to some and I am guessing Butch is one of those people.
Knowing he is on his way back to good health makes us both feel better.
Till next time...
We have high hopes and now plan to leave on Friday. For one thing, we want to get away from all the allergens here right now. The citrus are in bloom and their overwhelming scent is big trouble to some and I am guessing Butch is one of those people.
Knowing he is on his way back to good health makes us both feel better.
Till next time...
Nowhere yet...
Butch's cold/allergy event has not improved. In fact, it is worse and we are on day 4. He put in a rough night so I have put my foot down and we are not going anywhere until he is better. So off to the doctor this morning. I will be letting people know via various means of media that we are stationary until he feels much better. And then, when I am certain of our departure date will let everyone know again.
Tuesday, March 17
current situation
Butch is being frustrated with not feeling better. Usually, a cold does not lay him low like this one. Despite this, he says we are leaving on Thursday. As it so happens, the Burnells have had their location changed and are currently at Big Ranch RV at Tilden TX. Little pricier than we like, but we do want to see our friends so will stay for at least one night.
While we are traveling, Internet connections may not always be suitable but my plan is to write anyway and then post them when we can. Sequences could be a bit sketchy for the next month, but I am hoping my faithful friends are still out there and checking in on us.
There were a few items we needed from Mexico before heading north so we went down about 11:00 AM and made a few purchases, ate our favorite Pancho's at Garcia's, then made our way back to the good ol' USA.
So tomorrow will be finishing up details like taking our Internet modem/router back to Time Warner, securing all items for travel and getting back into travel mode. Some of this was done today. I made sure our mp3's were fully charged so we can listen to books on long lonely stretches of highway. It sure makes the miles fly by in a hurry. We also did some shuffling around of things. We seem to be returning with many more items than we came down with. There are some surprises for a few friends and family tucked away here and there. Now the challenge is remembering where they are hiding. I purchased a billfold for Jason and Gary a few years ago. Gary received his gift, but I apparently didn't give Jason his as I found it a few weeks ago. Three years late is better than never.
While we are traveling, Internet connections may not always be suitable but my plan is to write anyway and then post them when we can. Sequences could be a bit sketchy for the next month, but I am hoping my faithful friends are still out there and checking in on us.
There were a few items we needed from Mexico before heading north so we went down about 11:00 AM and made a few purchases, ate our favorite Pancho's at Garcia's, then made our way back to the good ol' USA.
So tomorrow will be finishing up details like taking our Internet modem/router back to Time Warner, securing all items for travel and getting back into travel mode. Some of this was done today. I made sure our mp3's were fully charged so we can listen to books on long lonely stretches of highway. It sure makes the miles fly by in a hurry. We also did some shuffling around of things. We seem to be returning with many more items than we came down with. There are some surprises for a few friends and family tucked away here and there. Now the challenge is remembering where they are hiding. I purchased a billfold for Jason and Gary a few years ago. Gary received his gift, but I apparently didn't give Jason his as I found it a few weeks ago. Three years late is better than never.
Sunday, March 15
Update
Butch has developed a miserable head cold. It became apparent when we returned from a visit with Marlene and Bernard in Harlingen. So now the weather has moderated a bit but until the driver feels at the top of his game we will remain here.
We played cribbage all afternoon so now I am hoping our immune systems are up to snuff and the other three people sitting at the table can avoid the miserable business of having a head cold. Wish us luck.
A side note...My hairdresser Yolanda, shared with me that if you really want to know what is happening along the border tune into channel 7. It comes from Matamoros and gives a more accurate description of the situation in the deep south Rio Grande Valley. Yes, it is in Spanish but still we can tell pretty much what they are covering.
We played cribbage all afternoon so now I am hoping our immune systems are up to snuff and the other three people sitting at the table can avoid the miserable business of having a head cold. Wish us luck.
A side note...My hairdresser Yolanda, shared with me that if you really want to know what is happening along the border tune into channel 7. It comes from Matamoros and gives a more accurate description of the situation in the deep south Rio Grande Valley. Yes, it is in Spanish but still we can tell pretty much what they are covering.
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