Latest News

I see that it's been almost a month since I posted anything, and we've done lots of traveling in that time.

We left Fentress, TX on September 12, dropped the camper off in Katy, TX to have some work done, headed to Lafayette, LA and spent some time with my brother, George, before heading to TN for doctor's appointments.

We headed back to Lafayette on September 28, then on to Katy the next day to pick up the camper (which of course wasn't ready). We had to spend the night in a hotel and finally got the camper on the 30th and headed to Hondo, TX for our winter job.

When we got here, the managers that were here had been asked to leave, so we got to set up in the manager's site which is beside the office. We are working more hours right now than we intended, but that will change when they get another couple or two hired for the winter.

We are looking forward to having a little time to explore the area and I have a new camera lens that I'm excited to try out. And George lent me one of his film cameras that I'm going to try out as well. I'll get some pictures posted as soon as we are able to go exploring!

Till next time--

Leaving TX (for now!)

Well, we left Fentress, TX yesterday. Stopped in Katy, TX to leave the camper to have work done on it. Made it to Lafayette, LA after going thru bunches of rain and thunderstorms. And there were plenty of wrecks along the freeway as well. And were the cops ever out! Must have seen at least 50-60 in the stretch from Houston to Lafayette.

Staying here for a few days, then to Tennessee for doctor appointments, then back to Lafayette, to Katy to pick up the camper, and then on to Hondo, TX for the winter. 

Looking forward to being settled for a little while and hopefully some cooler temps!

Only 2 days till football!  GO VOLS!!!

Anyway, we had a beautiful sunrise this morning:

There's a town near us (Luling, TX) and they paint some of the oil pumpers as whimsical different things. I've only gotten a picture of one of them so far, but here it is:

I know the picture is small, but it's a grasshopper. More to come soon!

Jimmy was helping to move some campers around a few days ago, and this is one of the ones he moved:

Not sure what vintage it is. There is a group that is coming here in a couple weeks that all have vintage rigs and this is one of them.

Finally, a couple pictures of a flowering bush that I've seen around here. Someone told me it is called Esperanza. All I know is that they are absolutely gorgeous when they are blooming. I managed to catch a bee in one of the blooms (guess I'm getting good at that!).

Till next time, safe travels to all.

So, we are counting down the days till we leave here--19 or so as of today. 

We were off on Wednesday, so we drove over to Hondo to see the park where we will be working this winter. And we just loved it!! The couple that gave us a tour was great, and the people we met were hoping we were there that day instead of a month or so away. And we won't have to deal with too much of San Antonio's traffic when we head that way, either. I didn't take any pictures, but will have some when we get there in October.

I'm still looking for some prickly pear fruit so I can make a few jars of jelly. We've had so much rain, and only had sun the last 3-4 days, so hopefully when we're off next week, we'll be able to find some ripe fruit. Keeping fingers crossed!!

Only 5 more days till start of college football season!! Can't wait. Go VOLS!!

Fentress, TX update

Well, we are at the end of our second week in the booming metropolis of Fentress, TX (not booming, not a metropolis!!).

I'm only working a couple days each week and Jimmy is working at least 5 days. They don't want to really teach me anything about using Campground Master--which was partially the reason we came here, to see how a non-KOA park works! And it sure makes us appreciate all the KOA places we've been.

I haven't really gotten out to take many pictures, but here are a couple critters I've managed to find, and a couple flowers I found today when I went shopping. So enjoy--

 I think he was posing for me. Wasn't at all scared when I drove up on a golf cart.

 This guy was sitting on the cart return at the grocery store a couple days ago. Wasn't too scared at all.

I like how this flower is facing me and there's one in the background facing the opposite direction.

We are planning to try to take a day trip to Hondo, TX to see the SKP Co-op where we will be working this winter. They invited us to come over and get the grand tour, so we plan to take them up on the offer. So perhaps I'll come back with more pictures.

We are also keeping an eye out to find some prickly pear fruit so I can make a few jars of jelly. Keep fingers crossed that we can find some! It's not as plentiful here as it was in Carlsbad, so it may be an iffy proposition, but we'll see if we can find some.

That's it for this update. More updates to come--

Here's a picture of us set up in Fentress. We have trees! And are able to leave our awning out--been a very long time since we've been able to do that. Not much space between sites, but it's still good.

Well, we made it to Fentress, TX over the weekend. This park is large, and extremely busy on the weekends. Right on the San Marcos river, so it has tube rentals and a shuttle to drop off tubers. So it stays very busy.

Haven't gotten any pictures yet, but will in the next day or two.

More later---

My second critter of the day!! Finally was able to see a roadrunner close enough to photograph it.

It ran from our yard to the neighbor across the street, first under their camper, then their porch and finally came out onto their driveway so I could get a really good picture. So tickled--been waiting 4 years to see one up close!!!

Critter on this morning's walk

Took the girls out for their morning walk today, and wasn't going to take my phone. Just before I walked out the door, I decided to put it in my pocket. Am I ever glad I did!! Look what I saw on our walk:

Cute little guy!!   I almost stepped on it cause it blended into the road so well. Just happened to look down and there it was.

Here are a couple of blooms that were on some type of flowering bush at the Alamogordo KOA. Very pretty blossoms.

AZ to NM

So on Friday, we drove from Casa Grande, AZ to Alamogordo, NM. 

The job we had been offered and accepted vanished when we got to AZ. Evidently the controller had hired us without the owner's knowledge, so the job was withdrawn. So we decided to stop in NM for a week or so while we weighed our options.

We had been to Las Cruces before, but had come through Carlsbad, not from the west. The painted water tanks were in Las Cruces.

We had not been to Alamogordo or through the White Sands Missile Range before, so it was all new territory for us. 

We spent the night in Alamogordo and then drove on to Lakewood, NM on Saturday. 

We are staying at The Ranch in Lakewood for a week or so. The last picture shows us parked at The Ranch. Have visited some friends, and will be visiting them again. 

As normal for me, I sort of got carried away with the pictures of rocks and mountains, but they were so unique, I couldn't help myself. 

Enjoy the pictures below.

 This roadrunner sculpture was on a hill overlooking Las Cruces.

A quail on her morning stroll through the park.

Yesterday, I was leaving to go to the grocery store and there was a roadrunner sitting on the hitch in the back of the truck. I couldn't get my camera fast enough without scaring it, and my cell phone didn't take a very good picture. But it was very cool to see one that up close.