Sunday, August 10
We were up pretty early for a Sunday morning…took time to sit outside, enjoy the beautiful scenery, and watch the hummingbirds and squirrels as they started their new day.
As we were watching, Barbara spotted a squirrel on a branch about forty feet up in one of the pine trees. We could tell he was gnawing on something, because chunks and flecks of that something kept dropping to the ground. After watching closely, we could see that he had a pine cone that he was balancing on the branch, and he was leaning over and eating away at it, just as we would eat corn on the cob. As he finished with the pine cone (with nothing left but the core), he dropped it on the ground, grabbed another one, and started all over again.
We’d never thought about squirrels eating pine cones, but this one devoured everything about it that was edible before discarding what he didn’t want. The picture shows the pine cones “before and after” the squirrel’s feeding frenzy.
We returned to the Rim Rock Cowboy Church this morning and heard a couple of very good sermons, both of which touched us in a special way. We say a couple of sermons, because the Little Pards sermon is every bit as meaningful as what the pastor has prepared, and both messages were what we needed today.After church we joined Ladd, Angela, and Madeline for lunch at The Dinner Bell, a restaurant just south of Quitman. Angela said it was under new management and they wanted to try it out. We enjoyed sitting around and visiting, mainly talking to Madeline about going off to college tomorrow.
When lunch was over, we drove back to Mineola to check in on T.J. and Mother. I’m pretty sure we woke T.J. up from her nap, but she was gracious about it and we talked for quite a while. From there, we drove over to Mother’s house. I don’t believe that a B-52 flying 50 feet overhead would have waked her from her nap, but we did enjoy a short visit with Ernie and Billee while we were there.
Before returning to Lake Hawkins and Big V for the afternoon, we stopped in at Legal Grounds to see if we could get internet access. I guess last week there was just a glitch in the system, because today we had great service as we sat outside at one of their tables to check our mail and send off a couple of messages.
Back at Big V we decided it was time to lie down and read (which almost always leads to taking a nap). Sure enough, both of us dropped off for a few minutes, but we were soon up and moving around.
We wrote last week about how we managed to get the wonderful site where Big V has been parked. Well, we were going to have to move to another one by noon Tuesday, so we decided we’d just go ahead and make the move today. We started by loading all the loose stuff outside (tables, chairs, grills, etc.) into the Vibe to carry up to the new site (which has lots of shade, but no view of the lake). When we got up there, we found that someone was using the new site for their picnic, but they had all evidently gone down to the lake.
We went back to the office to let them know what was going on, and the manager just told us to take Site 36, which ended up being much better than where we were going to be. Now we have full hookups (at no extra cost) and a view of the trees and the lake as we step outside. It’s a little farther down to the lake, but still an easy 4-minute walk.
After getting Big V into the new site and getting everything hooked up, put out, and/or straightened up, we decided we make one more run into Mineola to check email and look at weather predictions for different cities for the next couple of weeks.
From Legal Grounds we drove around the corner to Dairy Queen to get our supper, a pecan cluster Blizzard for Barbara and a chocolate malt for me, and then drove back to the lake to settle in for the night.
Monday, August 11
As we started the day, I already had the opening line for this entry in my head, “I believe we’re beginning to get the hang of this retirement thing.” We both woke up early and by 6:45 were sitting in our lounge chairs outside Big V, enjoying the beautiful view from our new site. I was working on my first cup of coffee and Barbara was drinking a Diet Coke and reading a book…both of us living the life of leisure.
One of the first things we did after moving yesterday was to set up our hummingbird feeder where we would have a good view of it whenever we were outside. We watched carefully this morning, but there were no hummingbirds in sight. Since we’re pretty far from where we were for the last week, we weren’t sure the little critters would work their way up here, but we working from hope.
I went inside to fix some breakfast, something that I haven’t been doing too much lately, probably because we just don’t want to generate more heat inside than necessary. But, this morning I felt the urge to whip up a big breakfast, so I fried up some thick-sliced peppered bacon, scrambled eggs, and French toast. Then, we settled back in our lounge chairs to eat and continue the watching and waiting for the birds and squirrels.
I came back in to clean up my cooking mess and get the kitchen put back together. When Barbara came back in, I settled down in the chair outside, armed with our t
rusty camera, just in case. Sure enough, pretty soon a lone hummingbird made a tentative foray around the feeder post, left, and then returned to sample the nectar we had put out. Luckily, I was able to snap a couple of shots of him/her (I wasn’t THAT close) at the feeding trough. However, with patience, we finally got some close up shots. We were really excited to know that the birds had found us, because we enjoy sitting out and watching them feeding and playing.Around 10:30 we finally got dressed and ventured into Mineola to go to the post office and swing by Legal Grounds to check our email. Legal Grounds is closed on Mondays, but Barbara was able to get a good wireless signal while she was sitting outside at one of the tables.
From there we swung by Sonic for a drink and then over to Mother’s house to visit everyone. Mother had been out with T.J. this morning taking care of some business and the two of them decided to have their lunch at Pizza Hut. We say it nearly every week, but it is wonderful to see Mother getting out and around after so many months of being cooped up in her house in Artesia. It wears her out, but at least she’s tired for a good reason.
We left the house, went by Wal-Mart for a few necessaries (including a new bird feeder…now we want to put out some bird seed and see how many other local characters we can attract). Then, it was time to head back to Big V for lunch and our afternoon rest.
Barbara was working at her computer and I was reading a book when we first heard the slap of raindrops on the roof. Soon, the slaps became a heavy and regular drumming, accompanied by house-shaking thunder and brilliant flashes of lightning. We don’t know where the storm came from, but it hit hard and fast, and stayed around for well over an hour, giving the park a much-needed drenching and soaking.
Tonight Barbara worked on a dessert for tomorrow evening’s planned meal with T.J. and Marge. She used Kelly’s recipe for chocolate éclair cake…it’s made with chocolate, a stick of butter, a cup of sugar, pudding, Cool Whip, graham crackers, and assorted other goodies. It’s probably not something that would be served to a bunch of cardiologists, but it is wonderful for the rest of us.
Tuesday, August 12
We spent most of the day in Tyler. We went over mainly because we thought the motorcycle would be ready and we wanted to be there to pick it up. But, around 10:00 we talked to David and he said he wanted to run some more diagnostics on it to make sure the battery wasn’t draining somewhere. So, that part of the day was the old-fashioned good news/bad news scenario…the good news was that he’s 99.9 per cent certain the charging system is working the way it’s supposed to. The bad news is that I will have to wait at least another couple of days to get the cycle.
While we were there, we decided to go to the Sprint and Verizon stores with our laptops and ask what they could do for us in terms of broadband cards for internet service. This came after I received an email from our good friend Max in Santa Fe who stated that he had read all my whining about not having internet access at the lake and asking why I didn’t do what he had done – purchase a broadband card and have access virtually anywhere we travel. I wrote back that he needed to understand three things about me…1) I like to whine, 2) I’m cheap, and 3) 1 & 2 are interchangeable. Besides, I’ve always said that they’ll have to drag me kicking and screaming into the 21st Century! But, after talking it all over, we decided to quit relying on ads and word-of-mouth…we’d go straight to the source.
Our first stop was at Sprint, where we got some good information…especially the part about a 30-day trial. If, at the end of 30 days we are not satisfied with the product and service, we can return the equipment and get our money back.
After visiting with Jennifer at Sprint, we started looking for the Verizon store, but it wasn’t where the phone book said it was and we had no idea where else to look, so we went back to Sprint and told Jennifer we’d try their card and piggyback it on our Sprint cellular service.
After filling out the paperwork, we sat down and loaded the software on the laptops and then gave the card a test run on each computer. With Jennifer’s help, we finally got the system figured out, at least enough that we felt comfortable about taking it back to Big V to give it the ultimate test in an area with a very low signal.
We decided we’d better stop at the new Wal-Mart SuperCenter in Tyler on the way home to get gas for the car and a few groceries for ourselves. Then, it was back to Lake Hawkins and Big V to put everything away and try out our new gadget.
We immediately came upon another good news/bad news situation. The good news is that the card worked beautifully, even with a limited signal. The bad news is that we have only one card, so we’ll have to learn to play nicely with each other and share. But, we’re pretty sure we can work that out. I couldn’t resist the impulse to write to Max and let him know that he was receiving the first email from our new system.
This evening…sit outside and watch the birds, play a couple of games of washers, watch some TV, and work at the computers…just relaxing at the lake.
Wednesday, August 13It was a bit of a slow morning. While I had my morning coffee, we sat outside and did our morning devotional. Then we just sat around a while longer enjoying the beautiful view from our site.
During the morning we did some cleaning and straightening around Big V to get ready for our company tonight and then went into Mineola to buy a few things we needed for dinner tonight. While we were in town, we stopped by Mother’s house for a short visit. Mother was taking her afternoon nap, but we had a good time talking to Ernie and Billee and checking the progress of the construction people who are remodeling Mother’s back porch and doing some other home improvements.
Back at Big V we started getting everything ready for T.J. and Marge’s visit. In addition to the dessert that Barbara made last night, I baked a loaf of bread, cooked up my green bean recipe, and grilled some beef filets. Meanwhile, Barbara made some tea and got all the dishes and silverware set out.
T.J. and Marge arrived around 5:00, bringing a salad and a dish of “slick potatoes,” and we all had an enjoyable evening with plenty of conversation and delicious food. By the way Kelly…your éclair cake recipe was a resounding success!
Thursday, August 14
It was moving day again. We had to give up our temporary site and finally make the move to Site 38 for the next two weeks. We were up by 6:30 and, after checking the email (and playing a couple of games of Free Cell), we started loading the “outside stuff” in the Vibe to carry up to the new lot. With that done, we turned our attention to putting things away in Big V, disconnecting the hookups, closing everything up, and moving to the new pad. While we were packing and moving, I noticed the fog rising over the lake and the surrounding area…the sight just called out for me to grab a camera and take some pictures.
Luckily, the move went smoothly, and by 9:00 a.m. we had Big V all set up and ready to live in. It wasn’t much longer before we had all the outside things set up where we wanted them, and were ready to get cleaned up and start the day.
The first thing on the agenda was to gather a hamper full of dirty clothes and drive the three miles into Hawkins to do the laundry. We could have gone to Mother’s house, but the workers were still there, and it would take time to run three separate washer and dryer loads. The laundromat in Hawkins was easily accessible and we were able to get everything washed and dried in about an hour and a half while we sat in air-conditioned comfort and read our books.We hadn’t heard from our friends Margarita and Maria in Puerto Rico in a long time, so Barbara went out to the parking lot for a few minutes and found a strong enough cell signal to call them. Margarita and Francisco were at school, but we did enjoy a nice talk with Maria, who let us know that it was warm there, but there were also those great views of the rain forest and the Atlantic Ocean, as well as nice cool breezes from time to time…what wonderful memories we have of our visit with them!
We got back to Big V, put all the clean clothes away, and had just settled down for some rest when David, the cycle repairman in Tyler, called to let me know the Voyager was ready to roll. There was nothing mechanically wrong with the cycle, but he did clean up some electrical connections and re-wrapped a couple of the wiring harnesses.
So, we ginned around and drove down to Tyler and picked up the cycle. I rode the cycle back to Lake Hawkins while Barbara followed in the Vibe. It was 98 degrees in Tyler when we left…a little too warm for a comfortable ride, but the ride along Highway 14 back to Hawkins, with rolling hills and nice smooth curves, was really fun.
After putting the cycle away, we drove into Mineola to see the family for a few minutes and to inspect all the work that had been done on Mother’s back porch. We invited Billee and Ernie to come out for dessert and a couple of rounds of washers and they agreed, so we had to leave and go back to the park to get ready for them.
They came out around 6:00 and we had a wonderful couple of hours eating, talking, and playing washers until it was too dark to continue and they had to go back to Mineola.
Friday, August 15
Looking back, this was a relatively relaxing day, but we did get quite a bit accomplished.
We awoke to some pretty heavy rain showers that continued throughout the morning. I finally decided that this would be a great opportunity to put on my swim trunks, and go outside to scrub down the front of Big V, which was covered with bug remains and other assorted road grime. I got everything out and started scrubbing away only to see the rain disappear…there went my rainwater rinse!
So, I broke one of the park rules and quickly hooked up the water hose so I could rinse off everything I had washed… not exactly what I had in mind, but the front of Big V did shine again.
We decided to drive to Mineola to check our mail, visit Mother, Ernie, and Billee, and do some shopping at Wal-Mart. We had seen a screen canopy on sale that we really liked and wanted to set up outside Big V, and finally decided to buy it. When we got there, we also found a new (and larger) charcoal grill that had been greatly reduced in price. Since the one we bought when we first started living in Big V was falling apart, we went ahead and got another one so we could have an easier time grilling food for so many people.
Back at Big V we put away the groceries we had bought, Barbara started installing a new side curtain for her window, and then we tackled the job of putting up the canopy. It appeared at first that it was going to be a daunting task, but it went together much easier when we both started following the directions (imagine that), and soon we had it all assembled and set up right where we wanted it. With the outside furniture set inside of the tent, we had a new large outdoor room, just the thing for sitting around in during the early morning and late evening hours.
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We sat around in the canopy for a few minutes and then decided to play a couple of games of washers (we split the games 1-1, taking them both to 6-6 scores before the deciding washers were thrown) and then went back inside for the night.Saturday, August 16
Neither of us slept well last night, so we ended up sleeping in until 8:30 this morning. When we finally did get up and around, we found that there was a heavy overcast…no great surprise, since the weatherman predicted off and on showers for the day.
What was a pleasant surprise was that in spite of the clouds, the humidity wasn’t overpowering, so we decided to open up the place, turn on the fans, and enjoy natural air-conditioning. It was great to have the windows and door open and breathe fresh, clean air all day. This was the first day in at least three months that the air-conditioner didn’t come on, and we took full advantage of it.
We went out to the new canopy where Barbara had her Diet Coke and I had my first cup of coffee. Then, we settled in to working on our prayer list and having a morning devotional.
We had invited Mother and T.J. out for lunch today and with our late start, we found that it was soon time to get things ready for our visitors. I fired up the charcoal grill and when it was ready, threw on some pork chops. Meanwhile, Barbara was getting things ready to cook mixed squash, corn-on-the cob, and some broccoli and cheese.
As soon as Mother and T.J. arrived, Barbara fired up the micro-wave oven and cooked all the veggies. When the pork chops were done about the same time as everything else, so we settled down to a great meal and talking “family talk.”
T.J. helped with the dishes and by 1:30 we had everything put back together the way it should be. She and Mother left to go back to Mineola and Barbara and I decided it was time to make up for some of our lost sleep by taking a nap.
Around 4:30 we drove in to Hawkins to do some shopping at Fred’s…nothing serious, just some odds and ends that we thought we needed.
We then returned to the park, went swimming in the lake for about a half-hour, and then went back to Big V to play washers, have supper, watch TV, work on the journal, and generally close out another week here in Wood County, Texas.
“Give without remembering. Take without forgetting.” – Church Signs
From our lake home,
Jim & Barbara
