April 7, 2016. Been at Advanced RV Resort in Pearland for a week – got here April 1 and will leave here April 8. Picked this place because the last place we stayed at – Safari – is a dump and Green Caye was booked. There was a new place we looked at on the Bay but it was the same distance to Josh & Karen’s as this place, and there is a huge park next to Advanced where I was able to take the dogs and let them run loose.
Saturday we went and picked up Ellie & Jason and brought them back to the RV park to give Karen a day alone to pack. Josh was participating in a relay race and was not home Saturday until Sunday afternoon. We had a good time Saturday. Went to the club house and put together some puzzles; then I took them to Tom Raines park to the playground and we were there a couple of hours. Back at the RV they watched Charlotte’s Web and the Fox and the Hound. Soon after that it was time to drive them home. It was a great day having them with us.
Jim’s brother Jack and his wife Tam’ra got to Houston on April 3 and stayed with Josh & Karen – they left Wednesday to get back home as Tam’ra had to be back to work on Monday.
Monday afternoon we drove to Galveston Island and went to the Moody Rainforest. That was quite interesting with a lot of the animals and birds loose all around and not in cages.
Had dinner with Fran & Paula last night – it just so happens that they were in Houston working the rodeo and basketball tournaments and staying at the same RV park where we were. It was great seeing them again – hope we can meet up with them again in the future. From there they were heading to Adventureland to work for a couple of months and then in July heading to Alaska.
Fran & Paula had a guy come out to clean their black and gray tanks as their sensors were not working. Jim happened to go over at that time and watched the guy for a while. He asked him to stop by to talk about cleaning our gray tank, as those sensors have not worked for years. So after talking with him, we let him clean the gray tank. A lot of gunk came out of it and it is now clean where the sensors are working! I also bought some probiotics to put in the tank to keep it clean and the sensors working.
Thursday we went to watch Ellie at Kuk Sool then over to their house to visit one last time before heading out. Jason is getting into the Grandma stage and says it all the time. I helped put him to bed and then of course he wanted Mom. I also read Ellie a story but I did not cuddle enough with her, so Dad had to go up and cuddle more. It is good that the kids like to be so close to Josh & Karen, cuddling with them and all.
April 9, 2016. Friday we headed out west on I-10 to Columbus, Texas to a Thousand Trails park – Colorado River RV Campground. This place is nice like Medina Lake. It is huge with lots of land all around with deer and who knows what else. There are walking trails all over and I took the girls on the back trail so I could let them loose to run for a while.
Saturday afternoon we drove into Columbus and went to the Visitors Center to find out what happens in Columbus (not much). We met a woman outside who talked and talked to us about everything around and about her life as well. She is from the area and also helps with all the festivals and tourist attractions. She seemed kind of interested in our Foretravel and Jeep so I sent her the links, so maybe something will come of that. Who knows. We also drove around the city of Columbus and found the Second Largest Oak Tree in Texas (the first being in south Texas).
We have also gotten an email and call from another couple who seem very interested. Jim has talked to them a couple of times, but they are currently in Albuquerque and we don’t know when they will be coming out our way.
April 20, 2016. Spent a week at Lake Pointe RV Resort in Canyon Lake, Texas. The park is a lot like a Thousand Trails preserve – lots of vacant land, trails down by the lake, and deer all over the place. We stayed here through Coast to Coast so could only stay one week. We picked a site overlooking the lake and land, which was very enjoyable. Only thing is – it rained a lot – as the saying goes … “April showers…” The other thing weird about this place is that most of the sites are water & electric and they allow you to hook a hose to the sewer outlet and let the gray water drain down the hill.
The other day I was walking the dogs around the park looking at the different sites when all of a sudden a man came out from his trailer and said Hi – do you recognize me? Took me a short while, but discovered that it was Mark & Rhonda, two workampers that were at Yogi Bear Jellystone while we were there are now working here at Lake Pointe. I talked to him for quite a while, and then we met him again around the park. Wednesday night we went out to dinner and exchanged information so we could keep in touch.
We love the world of RVing and workamping – there are so many people out there, but we meet up with so many people here and there. I think keeping our position posted on RVillage will help as well, as a lot of our friends post on that.
May 14, 2016. There is a museum in Hico, Texas dedicated to Billy the Kid where they think Billy did not die at the hands of Garrett in New Mexico, but survived and moved to Hico, Texas under another name. I'll let you decide on the real story.
May 27, 2016. We left Lake Pointe on April 21 and headed back to Tres Rios for three weeks. We are still trying to sell the Foretravel and Jeep, and we wanted to go back to run the engine and make sure it was doing OK. During our stay there I washed the trailer, which was in dire need of washing, and also washed the awning. We have tried all sorts of awning cleaners, including a Clorox and dawn combination, but nothing takes off that darn mold. Since I probably stripped off the water proofing, I bought some fabric guard and sprayed that back on to make the awning waterproof again. That did help, as we have been through some down pours since then and the awning does not leak.
On May 12 we went to another Ocean Canyon property up in Oklahoma – Texoma Shores. That property is pretty small with not a lot of RV sites. It is mostly a fishing and boating campground, with no activities. There is a club house with TV and lots of tables and chairs, as well as a kitchen, however, no one seems to go up there to do anything. It is not close though, and that is a problem. The clubhouse is on the other side from the RV sites and it’s a good walk. Behind the clubhouse there are a few cabins, which are very nice. There is a lot of land around the cabins where I let Lucy and Hayley run, as there were no guests at the cabins. Last year in 2015 Lake Texoma flooded I think about 25 feet above flood stage. A lot of the area around the lake got flooded out and some places lost their docks and picnic tables. The only thing to do in the area was Fort Washita, built to protect the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians.
The town of Madill is really small, but does have a Walmart. We also visited the small town of Durant for shopping. There was not much else to do in the area, but we were able to do one geocache on an old bridge before you get to Fort Washita on Hwy 199. Last year this area also was flooded out and a lot of Hwy 199 looked like it was washed away.
From Texoma Shores we drove about an hour south to the other end of Lake Texoma to a Thousand Trails preserve – Lake Texoma. This is a 300 acre preserve with not a lot of deer around. I saw one so far. There are a few huge fields with overgrown grass where I can let Lucy and Hayley run free. We do enjoy that aspect of the area. Unfortunately, in order to get to a Walmart and Kroger we have to drive about 30 miles one way to the town of Sherman. There are some museums in Sherman, but it’s a long drive just for that.
We did go to one museum about WWII, and looked at all the stuff in there. That was pretty nice.
We are spending Memorial Day in this park and there was a small golf cart parade this morning. Later they will have bingo and some other activities. There is a family pool and family center, as well as an adult pool with hot tub, and an adult lodge. Not much goes on at the adult lodge though. The few times we have been down there, no one was there doing anything.
We got a good lead on the Foretravel, however, the guy who is interested in it has to see about getting a loan to buy it. He may be able to if he gets the Jeep as well, since I’m not sure a bank will loan money on a 22 year old rig, even if it is a Foretravel.
We are reserved here until June 2 at which we will head back to Tres Rios and see if that lead pans out. I have the rig listed with about 5 different places, and we get loads of views but hardly any calls.
May 31, 2016. We were sitting around the trailer this morning enjoying the nice weather. Jim got a much needed hair cut and beard trim. We started listening to the weather telling us it was going to start raining again for the next four days. Since we were scheduled to leave on Thursday, we would have been packing up in the rain. Soooo, we decided to pack it up and head to Glen Rose on Tuesday, before the rain hit.
Most of the drive to Glen Rose was uneventful but when we got into Granbury the rain had come in a fury and flooded 377 down near the break off to downtown. The lanes were down to one and was roaring on both sides of the road and over the road. We limped through it, scaring Jim as the driver. From Granbury we head south on 144 and luckily made it as well. We did go through two sections of the road where the water was over the road, and it looked like a third was about to bust through. We just made it before the road was closed – the traffic going from Glen Rose toward Granbury looked like it was closed to traffic, and we just made it.
Tres Rios is flooded and it was hard to find a spot. I picked 81, but I would have liked to stay up further from here. The ground is so soft the tires sunk in and we had to put the Excursion in 4WD just to get the trailer situated. The Brazos is real high and getting higher. I was able to walk on the trail next to it up until the Squaw Creek, which has totally flooded the trail.
On retrospect, I wish we would have waited until Saturday to head down here. The Thousand Trails Lake Texoma was really nice. We had a nice gravel site with some grass by the trees. It is a huge preserve, and I had a great place to let the dogs loose. There were three great huge fields where I let them loose. It looks like someone at one time mowed it and left the rolls of hay in the field to rot and now it’s just over grown. We were able to ride our bikes around the park, and I got a lot of walking in.
June 1, 2016. Woke up to no rain – hooray! Don’t know how long that will last through. Walked down to the Brazos this morning and it has risen so high that the trail is totally under water. It’s higher than I have ever seen it. Even last year when we were here the middle of June, the Brazos was low. During the July 4th weekend, some people went over to the island across the Paulaxy to set off fireworks. I was not able to let the girls loose in the area I usually do as it was all under water.
We have two leads on the Foretravel and Jeep, so we are hoping the people who called on them will buy them. Will have to call them today and see if they can still buy them. We also need to head to Houston for a week to visit.
June 20, 2016. Took a ride to Waco, Texas to visit some of the sights it has to offer. Many times we have just driven through the city on our way from Glen Rose to Houston, and we have always wanted to stop and visit. This day we started off at the Texas Ranger Museum, then the Waco Mammoth National Monument and lastly, Waco Suspension Bridge.
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Saturday we went and picked up Ellie & Jason and brought them back to the RV park to give Karen a day alone to pack. Josh was participating in a relay race and was not home Saturday until Sunday afternoon. We had a good time Saturday. Went to the club house and put together some puzzles; then I took them to Tom Raines park to the playground and we were there a couple of hours. Back at the RV they watched Charlotte’s Web and the Fox and the Hound. Soon after that it was time to drive them home. It was a great day having them with us.
Jim’s brother Jack and his wife Tam’ra got to Houston on April 3 and stayed with Josh & Karen – they left Wednesday to get back home as Tam’ra had to be back to work on Monday.
Monday afternoon we drove to Galveston Island and went to the Moody Rainforest. That was quite interesting with a lot of the animals and birds loose all around and not in cages.
Had dinner with Fran & Paula last night – it just so happens that they were in Houston working the rodeo and basketball tournaments and staying at the same RV park where we were. It was great seeing them again – hope we can meet up with them again in the future. From there they were heading to Adventureland to work for a couple of months and then in July heading to Alaska.
Fran & Paula had a guy come out to clean their black and gray tanks as their sensors were not working. Jim happened to go over at that time and watched the guy for a while. He asked him to stop by to talk about cleaning our gray tank, as those sensors have not worked for years. So after talking with him, we let him clean the gray tank. A lot of gunk came out of it and it is now clean where the sensors are working! I also bought some probiotics to put in the tank to keep it clean and the sensors working.
Thursday we went to watch Ellie at Kuk Sool then over to their house to visit one last time before heading out. Jason is getting into the Grandma stage and says it all the time. I helped put him to bed and then of course he wanted Mom. I also read Ellie a story but I did not cuddle enough with her, so Dad had to go up and cuddle more. It is good that the kids like to be so close to Josh & Karen, cuddling with them and all.
April 9, 2016. Friday we headed out west on I-10 to Columbus, Texas to a Thousand Trails park – Colorado River RV Campground. This place is nice like Medina Lake. It is huge with lots of land all around with deer and who knows what else. There are walking trails all over and I took the girls on the back trail so I could let them loose to run for a while.
Saturday afternoon we drove into Columbus and went to the Visitors Center to find out what happens in Columbus (not much). We met a woman outside who talked and talked to us about everything around and about her life as well. She is from the area and also helps with all the festivals and tourist attractions. She seemed kind of interested in our Foretravel and Jeep so I sent her the links, so maybe something will come of that. Who knows. We also drove around the city of Columbus and found the Second Largest Oak Tree in Texas (the first being in south Texas).
We have also gotten an email and call from another couple who seem very interested. Jim has talked to them a couple of times, but they are currently in Albuquerque and we don’t know when they will be coming out our way.
April 20, 2016. Spent a week at Lake Pointe RV Resort in Canyon Lake, Texas. The park is a lot like a Thousand Trails preserve – lots of vacant land, trails down by the lake, and deer all over the place. We stayed here through Coast to Coast so could only stay one week. We picked a site overlooking the lake and land, which was very enjoyable. Only thing is – it rained a lot – as the saying goes … “April showers…” The other thing weird about this place is that most of the sites are water & electric and they allow you to hook a hose to the sewer outlet and let the gray water drain down the hill.
The other day I was walking the dogs around the park looking at the different sites when all of a sudden a man came out from his trailer and said Hi – do you recognize me? Took me a short while, but discovered that it was Mark & Rhonda, two workampers that were at Yogi Bear Jellystone while we were there are now working here at Lake Pointe. I talked to him for quite a while, and then we met him again around the park. Wednesday night we went out to dinner and exchanged information so we could keep in touch.
We love the world of RVing and workamping – there are so many people out there, but we meet up with so many people here and there. I think keeping our position posted on RVillage will help as well, as a lot of our friends post on that.
May 14, 2016. There is a museum in Hico, Texas dedicated to Billy the Kid where they think Billy did not die at the hands of Garrett in New Mexico, but survived and moved to Hico, Texas under another name. I'll let you decide on the real story.
May 27, 2016. We left Lake Pointe on April 21 and headed back to Tres Rios for three weeks. We are still trying to sell the Foretravel and Jeep, and we wanted to go back to run the engine and make sure it was doing OK. During our stay there I washed the trailer, which was in dire need of washing, and also washed the awning. We have tried all sorts of awning cleaners, including a Clorox and dawn combination, but nothing takes off that darn mold. Since I probably stripped off the water proofing, I bought some fabric guard and sprayed that back on to make the awning waterproof again. That did help, as we have been through some down pours since then and the awning does not leak.
On May 12 we went to another Ocean Canyon property up in Oklahoma – Texoma Shores. That property is pretty small with not a lot of RV sites. It is mostly a fishing and boating campground, with no activities. There is a club house with TV and lots of tables and chairs, as well as a kitchen, however, no one seems to go up there to do anything. It is not close though, and that is a problem. The clubhouse is on the other side from the RV sites and it’s a good walk. Behind the clubhouse there are a few cabins, which are very nice. There is a lot of land around the cabins where I let Lucy and Hayley run, as there were no guests at the cabins. Last year in 2015 Lake Texoma flooded I think about 25 feet above flood stage. A lot of the area around the lake got flooded out and some places lost their docks and picnic tables. The only thing to do in the area was Fort Washita, built to protect the Chickasaw and Choctaw Indians.
The town of Madill is really small, but does have a Walmart. We also visited the small town of Durant for shopping. There was not much else to do in the area, but we were able to do one geocache on an old bridge before you get to Fort Washita on Hwy 199. Last year this area also was flooded out and a lot of Hwy 199 looked like it was washed away.
From Texoma Shores we drove about an hour south to the other end of Lake Texoma to a Thousand Trails preserve – Lake Texoma. This is a 300 acre preserve with not a lot of deer around. I saw one so far. There are a few huge fields with overgrown grass where I can let Lucy and Hayley run free. We do enjoy that aspect of the area. Unfortunately, in order to get to a Walmart and Kroger we have to drive about 30 miles one way to the town of Sherman. There are some museums in Sherman, but it’s a long drive just for that.
We did go to one museum about WWII, and looked at all the stuff in there. That was pretty nice.
We are spending Memorial Day in this park and there was a small golf cart parade this morning. Later they will have bingo and some other activities. There is a family pool and family center, as well as an adult pool with hot tub, and an adult lodge. Not much goes on at the adult lodge though. The few times we have been down there, no one was there doing anything.
We got a good lead on the Foretravel, however, the guy who is interested in it has to see about getting a loan to buy it. He may be able to if he gets the Jeep as well, since I’m not sure a bank will loan money on a 22 year old rig, even if it is a Foretravel.
We are reserved here until June 2 at which we will head back to Tres Rios and see if that lead pans out. I have the rig listed with about 5 different places, and we get loads of views but hardly any calls.
May 31, 2016. We were sitting around the trailer this morning enjoying the nice weather. Jim got a much needed hair cut and beard trim. We started listening to the weather telling us it was going to start raining again for the next four days. Since we were scheduled to leave on Thursday, we would have been packing up in the rain. Soooo, we decided to pack it up and head to Glen Rose on Tuesday, before the rain hit.
Most of the drive to Glen Rose was uneventful but when we got into Granbury the rain had come in a fury and flooded 377 down near the break off to downtown. The lanes were down to one and was roaring on both sides of the road and over the road. We limped through it, scaring Jim as the driver. From Granbury we head south on 144 and luckily made it as well. We did go through two sections of the road where the water was over the road, and it looked like a third was about to bust through. We just made it before the road was closed – the traffic going from Glen Rose toward Granbury looked like it was closed to traffic, and we just made it.
Tres Rios is flooded and it was hard to find a spot. I picked 81, but I would have liked to stay up further from here. The ground is so soft the tires sunk in and we had to put the Excursion in 4WD just to get the trailer situated. The Brazos is real high and getting higher. I was able to walk on the trail next to it up until the Squaw Creek, which has totally flooded the trail.
On retrospect, I wish we would have waited until Saturday to head down here. The Thousand Trails Lake Texoma was really nice. We had a nice gravel site with some grass by the trees. It is a huge preserve, and I had a great place to let the dogs loose. There were three great huge fields where I let them loose. It looks like someone at one time mowed it and left the rolls of hay in the field to rot and now it’s just over grown. We were able to ride our bikes around the park, and I got a lot of walking in.
June 1, 2016. Woke up to no rain – hooray! Don’t know how long that will last through. Walked down to the Brazos this morning and it has risen so high that the trail is totally under water. It’s higher than I have ever seen it. Even last year when we were here the middle of June, the Brazos was low. During the July 4th weekend, some people went over to the island across the Paulaxy to set off fireworks. I was not able to let the girls loose in the area I usually do as it was all under water.
We have two leads on the Foretravel and Jeep, so we are hoping the people who called on them will buy them. Will have to call them today and see if they can still buy them. We also need to head to Houston for a week to visit.
June 20, 2016. Took a ride to Waco, Texas to visit some of the sights it has to offer. Many times we have just driven through the city on our way from Glen Rose to Houston, and we have always wanted to stop and visit. This day we started off at the Texas Ranger Museum, then the Waco Mammoth National Monument and lastly, Waco Suspension Bridge.
Back to Daily Journal 2016