December 18, 2004

December 18, 2004

Beaumont to Livingston, Texas

DAY 184

 

“Warm winds blowing

Heatin’ blue sky

And a road that goes forever

I’m going to Texas

Big steaks, big guns,

No trouble here

That’s the place for me”

from “Texas”, a song by Chris Rea on his album “The Road To Hell”

We have completed the pilgrimage to the Mecca of full time RV'ing. We have arrived at Rainbow's End, the Escapees RV Park and National Headquarters near Livingston, Texas.

Today was sunny and warm. Bright, blue, “big” sky ! We had a nice breakfast of big cinnamon bun, and big chocolate chip muffin, courtesy of Gulf Coast RV Resort’s continental breakfast. We headed out on Interstate 10, back tracking east about 7 miles to Hwy. 69. North on Hwy. 69, we stopped at Lumberton for diesel and groceries, then continued north to Woodville. We turned west on Hwy. 190 at Woodville, and stopped at a very pretty road side rest area for a late lunch. An hour after lunch we were at Livingston, then Rainbow’s End, about 6 miles south of Livingston on Hwy. 146.

This is a very nice, very large RV Park. We’re in the older, original section, where the sites are further apart, in a forested area. We were unhitched and set up just in time to attend the daily 4:00 P.M. social hour. At the end of the daily announcements, as newcomers we were required to come up to the front of the large activity centre, and announce on the P.A. system who we were, where we’re from, etc.. Then everybody in attendance was invited up to give us our Escapee hugs, welcome us, and chat. We stood there getting hugs and chatting with a variety of people for an hour and a half. This organization does such an exceptional job of making newcomers feel welcome. A few people were expecting us, and Bo. They were at Rainbow Plantation in Alabama when we adopted Bo.

It’s a little village here. In addition to Rainbow’s End RV Park, Escapees National Headquarters offices are here, as well as their Mail Forwarding Operations Centre, and the C.A.R.E. Centre. C.A.R.E. is the adult day care and health centre that we will be WorkCamping at for the month of January.

Joanne made gumbo for supper, and we studied the activities schedule for the next 2 weeks to decide what we’d like to participate in. There are half a dozen activities on a daily basis here. With Christmas and New Year’s, the next 2 weeks are particularly busy with activities.

Since I had Wi-Fi access, late last night I updated my investment portfolio files. Since Bush's re-election, the markets have finally shown some positive activity. For the first time since we "left home" six months ago, our investments are worth more than when we left. That needs to continue for us to be able to afford this lifestyle.

Teddy has decided he likes dog biscuits, so whenever I give Bo a biscuit, I have to snap off a corner of the biscuit and give it to Teddy. Stupid cat !

DSK