Friends Visit Canton First Monday

Around noon Friday the 27th our dear friends Mark and Dortha from Ft.Worth arrived in Canton. We  were so glad to see them as the last time we saw them was at The Gathering at Cowtown RV Park last Thanksgiving.

 

 

 

After they got set up,  we  had a long visit to catch up on all the things they have been doing since our last visit and their new Granddaughter Kinley. Joe and Sherrie joined us that evening for some Chinese food at Chens Buffet. What a great time and visit we had reminiscing when we all did Canton together.

Saturday morning we were off to Tyler TX for some shopping. We first went to Southern RV looking for some beading rope to repair our window awing's. They did not have what we needed so we went to Home Depot where we purchased a package of weed eater string to use as the beading string to hold the fabric of the awing in the c-channel. After we finished up their we went to Bed & Bath for the girls to do their thing. We then went to Juicy’ s for lunch and had excellent hamburgers, onion rings and pinto beans. The meal was just great and the onion rings were exceptionally good.

Joe and Sherrie had told us about a new store concept that Brookshire's had recently had their grand opening. They had stocked the store with what ever they do. The store was very similar to Central Market and they named it Fresh by Brookshire's.
Let me tell you this place will blow your mind. Talking about great looking veggies, meat and can goods they really do a bang up job of presenting the product as attested by the following photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After we finished our shopping we headed back to Canton. The girls fixed an excellent salad and we ate chicken strips they picked up at Walmart. More fun visiting and talking about the things we've done together over the years we've known them.

Before dark my handyman Mark was able to fix our awing fabric that came out of it's track about three inches. Thanks Mark for all the things you do for me. He also was able to fix his which had come out of it's channel on one end.

Sunday morning we drove over to Joe and Sherrie's   place to visit and see their new Allegro Open Road motorhome and the red barn they had put up to park their home in. Joe is quite a carpenter.
He is very knowledgeable about building and you could see the fruit of his abilities in the things he has done around is place. I need to invite him up to Lone Star when we get moved to our new base.
We had a wonderful visit with them and all returned to Canton.

Monday morning came and brought a little sadness to Sandy and I as our friends Mark and Dortha were departing back to Ft. Worth. All I can add is we had a great three day visit with a lot of laughs and great stories about our friendship we've built over the years. Looking forward to when we can do this again.

Let us not forget our veterans and those on active duty protecting our liberties and freedom. And Especially those that have made the maximum sacrifice and gave their lives. God bless America!

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers.

We're Done Still Waiting For Electrical Company

We have finished all of our full hookups and now all we need is for the electrical company to do their thing. Sandy called them yesterday for an update and they are now saying next week. They may have some of their crews over in Missouri helping them restore their electrical grid. If they get in all we will have to do is a check with the meter to make sure our wiring is okay.

 

We're hoping today will be our last day for using the blue boy and Bad Boy to haul our waste water to the sewer clean out. I believe we won't miss this chore at all even though Sandy loves driving it. I use the Bad Boy to pick up trash thrown into our ditches by people who just don't care where they dump their trash and beer cans. I police this area just about every other day and will usually pick up a five gallon bucket of trash each time.

It looks like the 50amp service which we are presently using will stay. We purchased new wire for the run over at our new site. So, we will have a spare if some one should drop in for a visit.
I mowed and edge the three acres here today. It will be a while before I will have to mow next door as we don't have a lot of grass right now. My BIL does use the brush hog on the back forty though.

Here are some more shots of the area where we will be parking soon we hope. Maybe when we return from First Monday in Canton we will be able to park our home over there instead of our current spot. After twelve years it will be so nice to have full hookups. Also as you can see we will have an abundance of shade. (click on photos to enlarge)

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers.

Still Waiting On The Electric Company

We had hoped they would have been here by today but they were a no show. We picked up our 50amp RV breaker box today with a 20amp receptacle. They wanted $229 for one at the local RV Dealer but we found exactly what we needed at the local hardware store in Dangerfield for $146.

Tomorrow Wendell and James will go ahead and mount the box at our pole. They will then  run the wire in conduit and tie in to the  meter pole. This way we will have our part done and after the electric company does their part we will  have our electrical hookup. Once this is done and everything checks out they will bury the in ground electrical run.

Since its been four days with out any leaks we buried the water line today. Our plans are to put in a concrete slab around the sewer, water lines and the 50amp electrical pole. This way I will have a nice place to walk and do my hookups.

Sandy and I spent a good part of our morning cutting small tree stubs and raking in the area we will be building our patio. Our weather alarm just went off announcing we are under a tornado watch until 3am. There is a system moving our way from the west. Boy with all the bad weather we've had this year you just never know.

Oh I fell to mention we moved our 8x16ft cargo trailer over to the land today. We primarily use this for storage of our seasonal clothes and a couple pieces of antique furniture.

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers.

Water Is In Electrical Next....Then

This past Friday May 20th, we dug the trench for our water hookup at the new site. We had to drive to Lowes in Mt Pleasant about 26 miles west of us to pick up our PVC pipe and fittings to lay the line. While we were gone Wendell and James dug the trench for the water line. We picked up 6 10ft sticks of Schedule 40 PVC pipe and the fittings.

We were back a little after noon and by 2:00pm the line was in the ground and the turn up with two faucets were secured to our power pole. We waited 24 hours before turning the water on to allow all the glued joints (about 50ft) to set. We did not want the pressure to blow them off. Saturday morning we turned the water on and found no leaks.

All that's keeping us from moving now is the electrical hook up. The electrical company inspectors showed up Friday afternoon and approved our work on the meter pole. They should be out next week to set a new transformer and run the power line to the meter pole.

Sandy and I went into Longview Saturday afternoon looking for a RV 50amp power box. We want something similar to this but neither Lowes or Home Depot had one. Our SIL Bev works for an electrical supply company and is going to order one for us.
The trench for the line from the meter pole to our hook up site is already in place waiting on the box. Soooo when that is all done we will be moving over to our new site. We still have a lot of clean up and landscaping to do but we can do that over there. It's going to be so nice not to have to use the blue boy to dump our waste water.

This is the area we will be landscaping and we are real excited to get in some flower beds, grass and perhaps a concrete patio pad on the passenger side of the motorhome.

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers.

Moving At Warp Speed

Will I didn't have all the facts regarding the progress we have made on the future site for our home on wheels. I stated in my last post the clearing would come after we had all of our hookups in place. Well things progressed so fast today that the clearing of low lying limbs and underbrush was all done this morning.

Wendell used the backhoe and cleared out the low limbs so that we were able to drive the motorhome over to test fit where we would park it. This also was good as it helped us pinpoint where to locate the electric box, sewer and water for our full hookups.

 

While doing this the city was doing their part in connecting a 10ft sewer pipe to the main sewer line. After they finished and left Wendell got busy with the backhoe and trenched a sewer line to where we needed it. This was just a little over 200ft.

 

Tomorrow they will lay the sewer line and install the turn up for the sewer hose connection. He also trenched the electrical line from the meter pole to where we will place the 50amp RV electrical box.

We are not sure yet when we will be able to move over but the way things are falling in place it probably won't be long. As a side note while over there in the motorhome we were able to get out with our satellite for Direct TV.

Here is a photo showing where all the under brush and low limbs have been cleared out. We have some fine tuning to do to this area but as you can see things are falling into place. We are hoping to be able to move some time after Canton First Monday. We need to do some major burning of the many piles we have of the limbs and underbrush.

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers.

Making Progress On The Land

Sandy and I have taken advantage of the cooler weather we've been enjoying these past two weeks. We've been busy clearing out under growth from my BIL’s land. I've been busy with the weed whacker and Sandy using the chompers to cut back small limbs. We will have to get a crew in with chain saws to take out the larger trees and limbs.

Tuesday my BIL and his sidekick Wendell extended the culvert where we will some day use to enter our new site for parking the motorhome. They added another ten feet to the existing driveway so we now have a 33ft wide driveway to turn into the property.
The next thing will be to trim back some of the trees of the circular driveway where we will park the home when at base.

The electric company came by  to see where we wanted the meter pole for electricity to the home. We also have a plan for hooking up to the city sewer sometime in the very near future. All it takes is money and a little time. Time we have a lot of since we are retired.

My other BIL David and his wife Carol pulled out Tuesday in their 09 Discovery Motorhome heading for a small town near Ft Smith, Ark. They have purchased not quite two acres of land where they will live and base. They both are avid fisherman and their place is not that far from the Arkansas River. I see a trip for Sandy and I once they get settled in.

Today they dug the hole for the meter pole and attached the meter and main breaker boxes. Here they are lowering the meter pole into the hole. Afterwards we completed the pre hookup of the boxes and 8ft deep copper ground. The city electrician  showed up a little before 3pm and green tagged our work. We await now for the electric company to come and install there meter.

The city will have a crew here early in the morning to dig for our sewer hookup. After that we will run city water to our future site and a RV  50amp/30amp/20amp electrical box will be installed. We will do  the limb/tree clearing after all of our hookups are in place.

 

 

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers.

Spring In May??????

Our weather this week has been nothing but outstanding. Our lows at night about 45-52F and highs around the low 70's. This kind of weather and my feeling 90% better has Sandy and I outside by 8am doing lawn, edging and raking leaves. We work until around 2pm each day and then set outside in the evening admiring our work. The birds and squirrels seem to be happy too as they have really entertained us singing and fighting over the one feeder. We just may have to get another one so there is room for all of them except of course Mr. Squirrel who really plays havoc with the feeder.

Here he is preparing for his launch on to the feeder. (Click photo to enlarge)

As you can see we have cleared out the area next to our home on wheels. The grass and small bushes were cleared from under each of these three trees. We must have raked thousands of sweet gum balls along with the leaves. We have about six piles similar to the two in the foreground. The far tree in the left back ground is what the three trees looked like before clearing out the under brush. The building in the background is where we connect our fresh water hose.....about 200ft. Today was my morning to weed wack the four culverts and trim the hedges around my BIL’s home.

In the evenings it is so peaceful setting out side in the shade watching the critters go about gathering their meals. We've had a light breeze that just makes you feel good all over. The crows are really cawing,  I wonder if a hawk may be near by. In a distance you can hear the roar and see the concourse of a jet plane.

Here is just some of our entertainment around the home.

This woodpecker was the most entertaining. I was intrigued by the way he hung off the feeder.

This is good therapy for one at the end of a busy work day.

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers.

Health Issues Round Two

Let's see picking up from my last post of May 1 I stated I had no complications until.....,

Friday the 22nd we left for Canton for May First Monday. Everything was going fine until Sunday April 24th were I passed a large amount of old blood. Our thought was could this be from the polyps removed at VA. The closets' ER was in Tyler so we went to Trinity Mother Frances arriving at 7:30pm. Assigned to a room at 2:30am Monday morning. Monday about 2. pm they rolled be down to their gastro logy surgery room for a EGD (upper GI). About three hours later Dr. Kai came in and told me all the bleeding was coming from the lower third of my esophagus and not the colon area. My Dr. at VA called Sandy several times checking on me

They wheeled me back to my room and said I might to go to our home on wheels Wednesday. They had a heart monitor on me and sometime Tuesday a heart Doctor visited my room. Asking the usual questions and he informed me he wanted to do some further testing. In the mean time Sandy returned to the home on wheels as she had to get our booth set up for First Monday that started that Thursday.
To make this post shorter I want go into the details but at that time things seemed to check out okay. They were going to release me Friday but during the night my heart rate dropped to 33. The night  RN Nurse came inane said we need to get up and walk around the room a bit. She said my heart Doctor had scheduled some more test and if it look okay I might get to go home late Friday evening. I called Sandy to give her a heads up as the drive from Canton to Tyler was about an hour.

Friday evening comes no release in sight. The 7-11 shift nurse came in and informed me they wanted to do a couple more test Saturday and depending upon the outcome I could go home Saturday. In the mean time Sandy was in Canton during the  bad storm that passed through Canton Tuesday night. The sirens went off five times but no tornados. Thank you Lord! She said they had lots of wind, penny size hail and heavy rain was all they got. This was the same terrible storm that tore up the Southern states. Our heart goes out to them.

To draw this to a close I was released Saturday night around 9pm. Sandy picked me up and we were home around 11pm. The heart Doctor subscribed some new meds and will probably do some kind of stress test later in the month. Bulletin……..Just learned I  have a stress test scheduled for May 31st. I have lost 18lbs in the past 12 (mostly fluid) days and my strength is returning. Sandy and I worked in the yard most of the morning. First time I’ve been able to do this in a while.

I close with this I truly believe Trinity Mother Frances hospital was  a God send. I feel a lot better and will let you know something as soon as I find out.

A big welcome to our 44th Blog Supporter Froggi Donna.

Until the next time. . . . MtnAire Travlers.

Let's See Where To Begin

I guess we'll start with my trip over to Shreveport to the VA hospital on April 15th for a shingles shot, a education class for a colonoscopy procedure scheduled for me on April 20th. After the class I got the shot and had an echocardiogram done. Then to pharmacy where I picked up the kit that will clean me out prior to the procedure. Then it was off to home.

They took me off the Warfin blood thinner and B12 iron
supplement meds. Then on Monday I started the liquid diet which consisted of lemon jello, broth and clear liquid drink like water or 7up. I did this for two days and started with the clean out kit on Tuesday the 19th which by the way did it's job. Since I was taken off the Warfin I started the Lovenox shots which is a bridge between the blood thinner med and still prevent clotting.

After nearly starving to death The 20th finally rolled around. we both were up at 5am and on the road to Shreveport a little before 6am arriving at VA at 7:30am. They called my name at exactly 8:45am my scheduled appointment time were they escorted to a make ready room. I put on the open back hospital gown and laid on a stretcher watching TV. About 9:30 they rolled me into the procedure room and gave me the pain and twilight shots in my IV. They did not take me all the way down due to a low heart rate.

So, I was able to watch it all on the Large TV monitor with a little discomfort. After they finished I was able to get dressed and went to another room where they explained the gastroenterology doctor removed two polyps. I should get the pathology report some time this next week. They average 25-30 of these procedures each day of the work week.

It was a little after noon and since I had no solid food for the past three days the first thing we did was stop at a DQ and ate  lunch. We arrived home just about 2;30 pm and I crashed in my lounge chair waking up at 10pm to go to bed. I had no complications until . . . .

More to follow………………..

Until next time. . . .MtnAire Travlers