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Friday, October 9, 2009

Is It Time To Build The Ark Again?

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We were awakened by this system this morning at about 5:45am. We are located in the very upper corner of Northeast Texas. It has rained most of the day and at times very heavy. Perhaps we need to consider rebuilding the Ark.  We had to get some groceries for Sandy’s Mom so we drove into Longview to Wally World. Longview is not one of my favorite place to go when it is raining. We saw three incidents of where vehicles hydroplaned and ended up in the median or ditch. Don’t understand why people feel they have to drive so fast.

We got a update on my sister, Dren and she is showing some signs of improvement. Hopefully  they’ll move her out of ICU this weekend to a regular room. She can not talk to much now as she as tubes down her throat (my BIL says boy it is sure nice now when around her). Like most of us men he allowed her to handle all the bill paying and did not get involved. Now he doesn’t know know what to do and is having to wing it. Sandy says husbands and wife's both need to be involved just because of emergencies like this. I can’t agree with her more. Soooo the next time she does our bills I plan to be by her side.

Have you ever seen a Redneck Bull Hauler? Here’s one that really will get your attention.
NHD No Harm Done Red Neck Bull haller

The NHD painted on the bulls side stands for “NO Harm Done”. The story behind this is this guy drove from Kansas to Tulsa OK with this as his co-pilot. I find this story hard to believe. It says he stuck to two lane and gravel roads.
Red Neck Bull Hauler The back seat I’m sure
is not a place to be or carry groceries.
Whether the story is true or not I find it to be what a Redneck would probably do. It would certainly get your attention if you happen to meet it traveling down the same road.

Received a email from our friends Mark and Dortha http://www.rvingwithpoppa.blogspot.com/ saying they were now back at base in Fort Worth, TX after being on the road for the past ten months. We had hoped to have joined them at some point on this journey but were unable to. However, thanks to Dortha’s excellent presentation of her journal and the photo posting of their daily travels, we felt as if we where there with them. I know they enjoyed it thoroughly. Maybe some day?

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

I Do Believe Summer Has Returned-Fur Animals

It reached a high of 91F today. With all the rain we’ve had over the past few weeks you just would not believe the humidity. The fog was quite common for most part of the morning. A cold front is coming our way tonight that should bring more rain and cooler weather. I don’t believe Sandy will ever get to work again. I had good intentions of getting up on the roof today but it was so hot and humid I put it off. Sandy has always said I was The Great Procrastinator and my philosophy has always been put off today what you might can do tomorrow. Actually I would have got on the roof today and painted the sealer on the seams but the instructions says allow 48 hours to dry before getting wet. Our rain chances tonight through tomorrow is 80%.

I contacted the local Stewart-Stevenson dealer in Longview and got prices on the Castrol Transynd transmission fluid and the gold filter kit. It requires 5 gallons of Transynd at $41.43 per gallon and the Gold Filter kit $71.88 and their labor to change the fluid was $280.00…..ouch. That's $559.00 plus sales tax!! I discussed this with my BIL and he advised their was an excellent diesel and transmission guy in Dangerfield that would do it a lot cheaper. We contacted Mike and his labor was $35.00 and I provide the fluids and gold filter kit. Now that's a lot better. We will be looking at $314.03 plus sales tax. We will pick up the fluid and filters the next time we go to Longview and set up an appointment with Mike to change the fluids hopefully before we go to Canton toward the end of the month.

nurse doctor dogs

This is for Jim and Ellie at Justravelin http://justravelin.blogspot.com/ , They have two of the cutest Schnauzer fur kids Mr. Bo Jangles and Jasmine. I just can see them dressed up for Halloween. They would make an excellent nurse and doctor pair. Every time I see or I’m around Schnauzer’s it reminds me of the two we had. Misty was our first  and Holly the second. They both are in doggie heaven now and boy are they missed.

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Misty (right) Holly (left)

I wrote a memorial about both dogs and someday I’ll post them for those who love their fur animals to read. Talk about a softie, I’m one who could not take their pet to the vet to have them euthanized. Sandy had to deal with this. Thanks to our dear friend, Dorothy Baker, drove Sandy to the vet. I don’t know why I got on this subject but there are so many fond memories I guess the Halloween photo brought them back.

Tonight is Part Two of Lonesome Dove can’t wait tell that time gets here.crop10

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Lonesome Dove Revisited

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AMC featured this wonderful western movie again tonight. Part One is four hours long and Part Two four hours will be featured Thursday night. Sandy thinks I’m obsessed by this movie but it so happens to be one of the best. I’ll say it again what a masterpiece they just don’t make Westerns like this anymore. In fact in my opinion no movies made today are worth your time nor money at the box office.

I was able to repair the towed electrical cable and all works fine. I need to add this to my check list. Speaking of check list Rick does a good job of providing check list for RVer’s. His latest is for gizmo’s and gadget’s. Check him out here ttp://rickpaulettervjournal.blogspot.com/

My sister came through her surgery okay. She was moved to a regular ICU unit today. She is really been medicated and sleeping a lot, I am sure it is for the pain.  They did leave her partially open to treat the infection, I am guessing its a liquid antibiotic.  Sounds like when she is able and well enough she will leave the hospital and will go to a Rehab Hospital. She has a long road to recovery.

Sandy’s job looks like it will be rained out for the rest of this week.We had a pretty good storm roll through this area about 2am this morning and are expecting more Thursday night.

The prior owner of the MH changed to Castrol Transcend synthetic  transmission fluid and gold filters. The next change is coming around the corner and in checking with Stewart-Stephens in our area this will run approximately $500. However, its my understanding that the next change will be 150,000 miles. I may just have to buy the fluid and filters myself and find some mechanic in the area that will do it cheaper.

If I can get a 48 hour period where we don’t have rain I need to get on our roof and re-seal the seams, crowns and vents. While on Sandra’s blog (Nightly  News) http://www.srmerrikinblog.blogspot.com/   I ran across this blog http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/ they sure did a nice job on their fiberglass roof. I put a comment on their blog and jokingly ask them to do mine. Darn, if she didn’t reply and quoted their labor was just $100 per hour.LOL  If you compare this to most dealers their hourly rate is much higher than $100. humm

!cid_7_1013266610@web82502_mail_mud_yahoo Can you see the frog and the horse?

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Back at Lone Star

Since it rained heavy Sunday…. Sandy’s brother called and said they would not be mowing Monday. So we decided to stay Sunday night at Canton. We did move the MH over to the creek side which has full hookups. Sandy wanted to do some laundry. WE had to first wait for the parked cars behind us to move. Around 5:30pm we finally were able to get the MH out from behind our booth. Here’s another photo of our flood Sunday. This happens to be a food vendor. Notice the water running through their booth.
Oct Canton 017 While doing the laundry we balanced our books for  October sales which were down compared to last October 2008. Afterwards we ate pizza and watched Sunday night football. Monday morning we were up early and ate breakfast at The Dairy Palace. If you ever travel through this area we highly recommend this restaurant for their breakfast and hamburgers. Parking for RV’s is not the best but across the street their is a truck stop and McDonalds that have parking in the back. After breakfast we went back to the MH and got it ready for travel. We arrived in Lone Star about 10am without incident. However, when I went to unhook the Jeep I noticed our cable from the MH to the Jeep was on the ground and really chewed up. I did the usual light check before leaving Canton and did not notice anything unusual. Can only suspect we might have made a tighter than usual turn to pull the plug from the MH.

After setting up the MH we loaded in the Jeep and drove to to our bank in Mt. Pleasant. While there we did a quick Wally World stop for groceries for Sandy’s Mom and ourselves. While in Mt Pleasant her brother called and said that TXDOT said no mowing for Tuesday due to the ground being saturated. We then decided that we would go to Longview Tuesday to get new plugs and cable for the towed wiring. While at the RV dealer I purchased some roof sealer to re-seal the seams on the MH roof provided the rain lets up.
Monday evening Sandy’s sister Pam and her husband Mike dropped by for a visit. We talked them into staying foe some good chili dogs and Frito pie. We watched the Vikings and Packers play and Sandy was so excited to see her favorite player Bret Farve do so well against his former team. I do have to admit for a forty year old he’s pretty darn good.

I received a call Monday night from my BIL Frank who informed me they rushed my sister Dren to the hospital. It seems she had a perforated colon and was in severe pain.  They did major surgery on her tonight and she went through the procedure in flying colors even though she’s not out of the woods yet. She will be in ICU for the next two  days and they anticipate her recovery time could take as long as six months. She’s been the primary care giver for my Mom so it looks like a trip to Houston might be in our near future.  My younger brother Ward also lives their but he has a full time job to take care of. You do what you have to do.

Oct Canton 010 These gals have baby pot belly pigs they purchased at Canton
There names (pigs) are Boot and Scoot

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Catching Up

Friday September 25, 2009

We were up at 6:30am and made final preparation to leave for Canton. Before heading out we first had to travel to Dangerfield about six miles north of Lone Star to purchase propane which would be only our second fill for the year. It cost $2.25 per pound about $33 worth to fill the tank. Afterwards we hooked the Jeep up and departed for the First Monday grounds arriving about 11:30am. We unhooked the Jeep and Sandy drove the MH to our booth but prior to pulling up to the pavilion, we first had to lock on to the Direct TV satellite. Once locked on she slowly droved forward (so we wouldn’t  loose the signal) to the back of our booth. 
We unloaded our displays from the basPurse Insert Displayement of the MH and  proceeded to set up our booth. This is normally sooner than most months but we felt Sandy would be going back to work as she’s been off for two weeks due to all the rain.

Saturday September 26, 2009

We were up early and headed out to Tyler TX about 38 miles east of Canton for Sandy and I to do some shopping. This is normally the only time we have to do this since  we live in the piney woods where there is just not that many shops. Our first stop was Target as it was the only store opened this time of the morning. Then we stopped at the AT&T store for some new protective film for the face of her Iphone. Bed and Bath one of Sandy’s favorite stores with all those kitchen gadgets was our next stop. For some reason I have always called this store “Bird and Bath”.  I just can not shake this saying. All of our friends and Sandy know what I mean though. This store is a must for Sandy just like a Camping World store would be for me. Best Buy was our next stop as Sandy wanted me to pick out something that I wanted for my birthday. I just could not come up with anything as there is a difference between wants and needs. Yes their were several wants in the store but I decided to hold off for something I really needed. Our last stop was Macys' where Sandy was looking for three-quarter length sleeve blouses. We bombed out here and then made a quick Wally World call for last minute groceries.

Once back at Canton our two neighbors next to us had just arrived and we helped them back in with their cargo trailers loaded with goodies for the weekend show. Then we proceeded to help them unload and set up their booths. Afterwards I watched several college football games, The University of Houston (29) and Texas Tech (28) game turned out to be one of the best high scoring big offence games I’ve watched so far this year. Both teams managed for a combined total offence of over 1000 yards.

Sunday September 27, 2009

Watched both NFL football games and NASCAR (more Racing than Football) most of the day while Sandy put her final touches to our booth. Broke out the Baby Q grill and proceeded to grill some rib eye steaks for our friends and us. We all gathered in our next door neighbors booth had a wonderful meal of bake potato, salad, mushrooms, garlic bread, rib eye and chocolate chip cookies covered with sunflower seeds…. yummy. After dinner we watch some more football  and went to bed early as Sandy was expecting that call from her brother to go back to work.

Monday September 28, 2009

imageSandy received that expected call from her brother where it was back to work. She left the MH around 8am and headed to Pittsburg TX where she would meet up with her fellow workers. After she left I proceeded to work around the MH doing some odd and ends. Will start polishing the aluminum wheels this pm when it gets a little cooler. Our friends invited me to their taco salad dinner they put together with some of our other neighbors and boy was it good. We visited and shared stories. We broke up just in time to catch the Cowboy game. Sandy called about 7:45pm and said they where just now headed to her Mothers home. Boy, she just about put in a 12 hour day. They are so far behind due to TXDOT not allowing them to mow the highways due to the wet ground. They do not want ruts left by the tractor wheels.

Tuesday September 29, 2009

Fall is officially here. Woke up this morning and it was 53F outside. I just love this kind of weather. Sandy called about 7am and was already on her job in Upsure County. She forgot her jacket and said she was cold. My neighbors really look after me with Sandy gone. This evening Carla brought me a chicken dish and Sandra our next door neighbor roast beef, potatoes and green beans. Maybe they all know I’m no cook.Can’t beat that, all kidding aside they really look after me with Sandy gone. 
Sandy just called (8:40pm) and just got to her Mother’s. They worked till 7:30pm. They are doing 12 hour days as the weatherman says it will rain in that area this coming Thursday.

Wednesday September 30, 2009

RVer’s are coming in and the creek side is full already. This area and the one on the hill and the circle near Hwy 19 have full hook-ups. Looks like our crowd is going to good one. Now if the weather continues to be cool we just might sale some purse inserts.

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My neighbors came by and said tonight was tacos and tamales night. I’ve never been known to turn down Mexican food. I just wish my bride was here to enjoy the fellowship and good food. Sandy called about 8:15pm was on her way to her Mom’s. She said she was stopping by Sonic and was going to get her and her Mom some chicken strips for their dinner.

Thursday October 1, 2009

Our weather changed today as it was much warmer than the past several days. Our crowd wasn’t a normal Thursday October crowd. We managed to cover most of our expenses with today's sales. We had brisket, beans, potato salad  and garlic bread for dinner tonight. As i write this journal we have a pretty good system headed toward Canton that has a lot of red in it and in the Dallas area they had winds 70-80 MPH. Just heard the siren go off for a tornado warning will finish this when I get back from the bath house. We were blessed the system had a lot of wind (no tornado) and heavy rain which lasted about 35 minutes. Our neighbor across the way lost his big awning due to the wind. He failed to let it in. We are suppose to be a little cooler tomorrow.

Friday October 2, 2009

It’s official, today I rolled the clock forward to 73. I don’t feel any different…. may look it though. Our day was a good one. We had a huge crowd and some of our customers advised it took them about an hour to work there way into the parking lot and the feeder road off I20 was backed up. Our weather was just about perfect for the shoppers.  My neighbors had another wonderful meal planned and surprised me with a coconut cake for my birthday. Sandy called and will be in tonight around 10pm. Looking forward to her arrival and her working the booth tomorrow. She does a much better presentation of the product than I do and will probably out sale me again.

Saturday October 3, 2009

Sandy and I did not go to bed until late Friday night as she was felling me in on her daily job activities this week. I took a Benadryl before going to bed (I had a reaction to the antibiotic medicine I took after my surgery). I had little red whelps all over my chest and arms. The little pill must have knocked me out as I did not get up till 10am today. Our crowd today was the biggest we’ve had so far this year. However it was no where close to prior October fall shows. I guess the economy may have something to do with that. We had a customer today all the way from Victoria, Canada. She says she comes here every October.
Sandy fixed her excellent white chicken chili for tonight's get together. Boy was it good. Everyone wanted the recipe. We had a little excitement down from our booth tonight. Several policemen came running down the aisle past us to about four booths down. We learned that one of the female vendors had broken off her wedding and her boy friend had a knife and wanted to commit suicide. Wow! we’ve never had anything like this. They subdued him and came walking back by our booth with him in custody.
The rain settled in around 4:30 pm and it’s suppose to rain through tonight and all day tomorrow. This isn’t going to help us tomorrow.

Sunday October 4, 2009

It’s a gulley washer! Boy did it rain last night and is still pouring today.  We had several incidents yesterday evening in the parking lot and Hwy 19 where pedestrians and automobiles were involved. One incident is where a husband accidently back over his wife and the other was a hit and run. I guess when you get this many people in one place things like this is bound to happen.
We’ve had so much rain now that water is coming across the pavilion on the north end of Pavilion 4000 and vendors are shutting their booths down. S0, far our end has not flooded and we are okay where the MH is parked. EMS just drove by between the two pavilions' where we are at to the plant peoples’ booth. We are told the lady that runs the booth had a heart attack. It must have been brought on by all the water gushing through her booth.  Here are some photos of our flood.Oct Canton 019 Oct Canton 012Oct Canton 020

Until next time….MtnAire Travlers.