February 28, 2006

February 28, 2006

Mardi Gras in Opelousas and Eunice, Louisiana

YEAR 2 DAY 256

 

HAPPY MARDI GRAS

 

Today's Mardi Gras "throws" caught ;

1 cold beer

2 plastic footballs

1 Mardi Gras frisbee

1 beer cup ( advertising Dr. Thibodeaux, one of the half dozen or so surnames covering about 80% of Louisiana's population )

1 key fob ( from Joe's Sandwich Shop in Opelousas )

2 insulated bottle snugglies

3 doubloons

many wrapped candies, Tootsie Rolls, gum balls, jaw breakers

Joanne's beads caught ; 33 strands

Dan's beads caught ; 113 strands

 

Today was sunny and warm. A great day to be out celebrating Mardi Gras in Louisiana.

Joanne wanted to experience a small town Mardi Gras, so this morning we headed for Opelousas, about 25 miles north of Lafayette. As we drove through Lafayette, we got stuck in a traffic jam caused by one of today's many Mardi Gras parades. We sat in one spot, in traffic gridlock, for over half an hour, waiting for a parade to pass by. We finally got to Opelousas just in time for the parade, sponsored by the Half Fast Krewe Of Frank's ( a liquor store in town ). I had to explain "Half Fast" to Joanne. HA HA HA ! It was a great parade. Much different than the sophisticated, big city parades in Lafayette.

After the parade, we wandered around Opelousas for awhile, sightseeing in a typical little Louisiana town. We went for lunch to the Palace Café . Great meal..  Superb service by an elderly woman who was the only waitress in a restaurant with about 25 tables, all filled. Somebody should videotape her and sell it as a training aid for customer service workers. After lunch we drove around the town awhile, doing a bit more sightseeing.

We decided to drive to Eunice, about 25 miles west of Opelousas, to partake of their street festival, parade, and Courir de Mardi Gras. What a great decision that turned out to be. We got to Eunice, found a place to park, and started to wander around the downtown area, filled with thousands of people, young and old and everything in between. We walked by all the street vendors, mostly selling food. The Mardi Gras souvenirs were mostly sold out. We sampled some cracklins / gratons, deep fried chunks of pork skin with attached fat < shudder >. Sorry, Mr. Colon ... it was just a littlepiece ... and I'll never do it again. As we walked by these booths with the stench of pork skin frying in grease, the locals were all inhaling and smiling. I guess it's an acquired taste ... and smell. We went into a couple of stores selling Zydeco music, and Mardi Gras costumes. Great costumes in the crowd. The small town people really get into Mardi Gras in a big way. Finally the big parade started. It was different than the other parades we saw because it was a combination of parade floats, and Courir "runners", who don't actually run, they ride horses. There were 67 floats, and hundreds of "runners" on horseback who had been out on the Courir for about 8 hours, collecting the fixings for a communal gumbo dinner from their neighbours. I think they did a lot more beer drinking than they did collecting food. Most of them were so drunk, they could barely sit up on their horses. I guess 8 hours of riding around the countryside, in full Mardi Gras costume, including face mask, drinking beer in the hot sun, will do that to you. Many of them were severely sun burned as well. It's Mardi Gras ... laissez les bons temps rouler !

After the parade / Courir was finished, we wandered around town, buying some Zydeco CD's and a Mardi Gras shirt for me. One of the food booths was selling fresh, boiled crawfish. Three pounds for $11.00. It seems to take three pounds of boiled crawfish to make a decent meal, although I did see many families sharing a 3 pound batch. I asked a big, young black man ( football version ) to show me how to eat boiled crawfish. He showed me, then offered to let me try. Okay ... sure ... when in Rome ... ! I grabbed the head with my right hand, tail with my left, twisted and yanked. Separated just like it was supposed to. I sucked out the head. Oh ! Another acquired taste, I guess. I tried to pull the meat out of the tail, but I sort of mooshed it up. I tried another one. Didn't suck the head the second time. Once was enough, thanks. Mooshed up the meat in the tail again. Oh, well. Thanks, Bubba ! We wandered around a bit more, listening to the Cajun band playing on the main stage in the town square. We reluctantly left shortly after 6:00 P.M for the one hour drive back to Lafayette. Our feet were sore, and we were tired and hungry.

Back at the trailer at Maxie's Campground, we took care of the animals, then while Joanne prepared supper, I counted today's bead "throws" caught. HA HA HA HA HA ! What a couple of goof heads. Almost another 150 more strands of beads. It's contagious, and hard to stop, when at the parades. HA HA HA HA HA ! We watched the premiere episode of Amazing Race, then I worked on today's accounting and journal entry. I got online, using Wi-Fi, to send and retrieve e-mail, and update my blog, before we leave here tomorrow.

What a great time we've had here celebrating Mardi Gras over the last 5 days.

Ooops ... Joanne just called me to the bedroom to put some Aloe Vera gel on her sun burned neck. Fortunately, my neck isn't sun burned. I had so many strands of beads around my neck there was no exposed skin. HA HA HA HA HA !

DSK

February 27, 2006

February 27, 2006 ( Lundi Gras )

Le Festival de Mardi Gras à Lafayette, Louisiana

YEAR 2 DAY 255

 

Joanne's sociological observation of Louisiana ; The reason why so many young, black men are shot around here by law enforcement are because the really fat, white sheriffs can't catch them when they run.

Dan's sociological observation of Louisiana ; They grow their young, black men around here in 2 versions. Football and basketball.

This morning we drove into Lafayette, and filled up with diesel at Wal-Mart. We went to a specialty store for something, but they were closed for Mardi Gras. We headed for the nearby town of Breaux Bridge, to shop at Poché's Market. Last year we stayed at Poché's Campground, and had shopped at their nearby meat market. We wanted to return this year for some of their specialties. We bought a few boxes of the Gumbo mix that Joanne likes, as well as a frozen shrimp stuffed chicken, and a tub of frozen crawfish étoufée. Poché specializes in stuffed poultry, and is one of only a few places, all in Louisiana, that make turducken for Thanksgiving. A turducken is a chicken stuffed inside a duck which is stuffed inside a turkey. They're very expensive. Well ... as are most of Poché's products. When I went to pay for our purchases, I opened my wallet, and ... my MasterCard was missing. I had lost my MasterCard ! ! !

We drove quickly back to Lafayette, to check our credit card records, to determine where was the last place I had used my MasterCard. It was Le Vieux Moulin in Church Point, 2 days ago. I phoned them. Yes, I had left my credit card there. Mrs. Norman told me that her husband had my credit card with him, and he was in Lafayette playing a Mardi Gras gig with his Swamp Pop band. He and I played telephone tag this afternoon and evening.

I was feeling ill, so I took a nap before we had an early supper. We left for Cajun Field, for a second night of Le Festival de Mardi Gras à Lafayette. Joanne wanted to see the main stage performance of Geno Delafose & French Rockin' Boogie, one of her favourite Zydeco bands. Traffic was much heavier tonight heading for Cajun Field than it was last Friday evening. We set up our folding chairs in front of the stage, and enjoyed an hour and a half performance of Zydeco music. It ended when the King's Parade approached Cajun Field. We moved over to the area where the parades pass through Cajun Field, to take up our chants of "throw me something, mister". My sore throat prevented me from hollering, and Joanne says she just feels too silly doing it, so neither of us actually did any screaming of "throw me something, mister" tonight. Nonetheless, I caught 14 "throws", and Joanne caught 12 "throws". Three of my "throws" were bundles of a dozen strands of beads, as was one of Joanne's throws, so altogether we caught 70 strands of Mardi Gras beads tonight. What the hell am I going to do with all these beads ? A lot of people must ask themselves that every year after Mardi Gras in Louisiana.

After the parade, I was finally able to connect with Mr. Norman in Church Point, and arrange to go pick up my credit card. Since he and his wife were going to be leaving early tomorrow morning for a trip out of town, we went tonight to get my credit card. We pulled out of Cajun Field about 8:45 P.M. and it took us about an hour to get to Church Point. By the time we got back to the trailer it was 10:45 P.M.. We were tired and hungry. We had a snack, I did today's accounting and journal entry, and we went to bed.

DSK

February 26, 2006

February 26, 2006 ( Dimanche Gras )

La Grande Boucherie des Cajuns, St. Martinville, Louisiana

YEAR 2 DAY 254

 

Today was sunny and mild. The recent rains made the Magnolias bloom. The creek behind our trailer is swollen from yesterday's heavy rains. I wonder if it's big enough now to be called a bayou ?

The good news is that Teddy and Bo are both back to good health, after having some sort of flu like virus. Teddy was sick for 2 days, and Bo for 9 days. The bad news is that now I have a cold, and feel awful.

I got a late, slow start to the day. I was feeling really poorly, until I had a hot breakfast and a shower. I did today's preventive maintenance, and some chores. I sat down at the computer with a cup of tea while Joanne prepared lunch. We phoned our sisters.

We left for La Grande Boucherie des Cajuns at St. Martinville. A boucherie is a community slaughtering and roasting of a pig, a Mardi Gras traditional. Okay ! We drove a short distance south on Hwy. 182, turned east on Hwy. 96, then turned north on Hwy. 31 to St. Martinville. We found our way to Magnolia City Park, a lovely, large park, filled with huge, stately, old Live Oaks, on the banks of the Bayou Teche. We parked, and walked around the park, checking out the vendors. We arrived a bit too late to see the “squeal like a pig” contest. We walked by the boucherie, where the pig had just been slaughtered. Not a particularly pretty sight. It was lying on a butchering table, blood coming out of its sliced open throat, mouth, and nose. The butchers were pouring boiling water on the skin, and scraping it with sharp knives. We had seen enough. We walked over to the band stand main stage. The performer on stage was Hunter Hayes, a 14 year old Cajun, Zydeco, and Country singer and songwriter, playing guitar and diatonic accordion. One of the songs he performed was an original, written by him when he was 6 years old, recorded when he was 7, and released on his first CD when he was 8 ! We went back to the truck, got our lawn chairs, and set up to the side of the stage, in the bright sunshine, on the banks of the Bayou Teche, for a couple of hours of listening to Cajun and Zydeco music. I was feeling quite ill, and was happy to just sit in the sunshine. Next performer was Damon Troy & Louisiana Beat.

Late in the afternoon, I went over to see the exhibition of rooster fighting. Sheesh ! Louisiana is the last state that permits this "sport". As stunning, and appalling as this exhibition was, I was even more stunned and appalled at the audience. Most of the audience were young girls, ages 3 to 10, who found the fighting roosters' antics very amusing. There were quite a few young women, huge smiles on their faces, with their pre-school age daughters, introducing their little daughters to this "sport". I have a very hard time envisioning my sister-in-law taking Madeleine and Amelia to a cock fight. "Look, girls, watch the pretty roosters kill each other" ! ! !

As I walked back to the main stage area where Joanne was waiting, I walked by the boucherie to see what was going on. There was nothing left of the pig except a few small bags of cracklins ( English ) / gratons ( French ), strips of deep fried pork skin, a popular local "delicacy".

We drove back to Lafayette, and over to Wal-Mart. I needed some cold medication. We returned to Maxie's Campground, and had supper. We watched the Olympics closing ceremonies. I did today's accounting and journal entry.

DSK

February 25, 2006

February 25, 2006 ( Samedi Gras )

Rendez-Vous des Cajuns, Eunice, Louisiana

YEAR 2 DAY 253

 

Joanne's joke of the day ; what do you call a square foot of empty floor space in Eunice, Louisiana ? A dance hall ! HA HA HA !

Today was cloudy and mild, with intermittent rain.

Today was one of those extraordinary days that this lifestyle occasionally affords us.

This morning we headed off for the town of Church Point, about half an hour away from Lafayette. We drove north on Hwy. 90 through Lafayette, then west on Interstate 10 to Rayne, where we turned north onto Hwy. 35, to Church Point. We wanted to attend a small town Mardi Gras parade. When we got to Church Point, it was raining heavily, and we saw no evidence of a parade anywhere. We stopped at a small business to get directions. We walked into a quaint little store called Le Vieux Moulin ( The Old Mill ), and were met upon entry by Tom & Jean Norman, the owners. What an eclectic business, and an eclectic, old couple. First thing we saw upon entry were Cajun diatonic accordions for sale. Tom explained them to me. He's an accordion player in a "Swamp Pop" band. He explained the differences between Cajun music, Zydeco, and Swamp Pop. Jean is also a Cajun musician. Their store sells Cajun musical instruments, Mardi Gras masks and costumes, elaborate clocks made by Tom, who is a clock maker, and Cajun memorabilia. We browsed around their shop, with Tom and Jean providing a running commentary / guided tour. We bought a Zydeco CD. Jean gave us a copy of her music album, "On The Banks Of The Bayou" on cassette, as a gift. We haven't listened to it yet. She's a Cajun Gospel singer / songwriter, nominated for induction into the Cajun Music Hall Of Fame. We're finding the Cajun people of southern Louisiana to be very friendly and generous. The Church Point parade was cancelled because of the rain. We headed for the town of Eunice.

We took Hwy. 95 to Eunice, about half an hour northwest of Church Point. Eunice is a larger town than Church Point. Our first stop at Eunice was the Cajun Music Hall Of Fame. Interesting. We walked next door to the Eunice Museum. The museum directed us to the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park / Acadian Cultural Centre a couple of blocks away. We had our picnic lunch sitting in the truck, then drove over to the Acadian Cultural Centre, arriving just in time for their weekly Saturday afternoon exhibition of Cajun music. We walked into a small exhibition hall where a small band of Cajun musicians, led by a female Park Ranger, started playing Cajun music. Immediately people started jumping up, and began dancing around the small floor area between the seats and the stage. Old people ! We sat through an hour of Cajun music, ( and dancing ) with explanations by the band leader / Park Ranger. When the Cajun music exhibition was finished, we moved to the large kitchen in the building to see their weekly exhibition of Cajun cooking. Today's demonstration was Mardi Gras King Cake. I realized the box office was soon to open, for the Rendez-Vous des Cajuns at the nearby Liberty Theatre. I left Joanne at the cooking exhibition while I went to get tickets for tonight's show.

Le Rendez-Vous des Cajuns is a weekly musical entertainment show, at the elegant, old, restored Liberty Theatre. The show is broadcast live on both radio and television. Sort of the Cajun version of The Grand Ole Opry. Tonight's show was the special Mardi Gras show. The Park Ranger announced that it would be a sold out show, so I wanted to get tickets as soon as the box office opened at 4:00 P.M.. By the time I got to the theatre, the line up was quite long. I stood there in the rain, eventually getting to the box office and buying tickets. When I returned to the Cultural Centre, the Mardi Gras King Cake cooking demonstration was over. Joanne was sitting talking to a local Cajun couple, about their planned visit to Canada. They have previously visited Alberta and Nova Scotia. We chatted with them for about an hour.

We walked over to the Liberty Theatre, and decided to go in and get seated an hour before the show began, because it was unreserved seating. Tonight's performers were Wilson Savoy & The Pine Leaf Boys. The hall was filled to capacity. The musicians all wore elaborate Mardi Gras costumes. The instant the musicians struck the first note, the space between the front row of seats and the stage, as well as all the aisles, filled with dancers. A lack of available space does not stop those Cajuns from dancing. Halfway through the show, the hall was invaded by a band of costumed Mardi Gras revellers, demonstrating a Mardi Gras Courir ( Run ). In a traditional Courir de Mardi Gras, costumed revellers, led by a Capitaine, "run" through their neighbourhood, going house to house, or farm to farm, begging from their neighbours the fixings for a large communal Gumbo dinner that they will later prepare for the neighbourhood. Traditionally, the children will be told that whatever chickens they can catch can be contributed to the Gumbo dinner. So ... les Courirs de Mardi Gras always include a chicken catching contest for children.

This morning I woke up with a sore throat, and as the day wore on, I felt the effects of a cold coming on more and more. By the end of the Rendez-Vous des Cajuns, I was feeling poorly. We drove back to Lafayette, a little more than an hour away. South on Hwy. 13 to Crowley, east on I-10 back to Lafayette, then south on Hwy. 90 to Maxie's Campground in Broussard. We took care of the animals, then had a light, late supper. I did today's accounting, and journal entry. Joanne planned the next 2 days.

For dessert after supper tonight, we had Mardi Gras King Cake. My piece had the little plastic l'enfant Jésus. Woo-Hoo ! That means I have to host the next Mardi Gras party. Y'all are invited, y'hear ? !

DSK

February 24, 2006

February 24, 2006 ( Vendredi Gras )

Le Festival de Mardi Gras à Lafayette, Louisiana

YEAR 2 DAY 252

 

WOO-HOO ... laissez les bons temps rouler ! ! !

I would not have believed it if someone had told me 24 hours ago that tonight I would witness my 52 year old wife waving her arms in the air, hollering loudly at people on parade floats "throw me something, mister". HA HA HA HA HA !

Today was mostly cloudy, and a bit cool.

This morning we headed off to do a bit of exploring in and around Lafayette. First stop was Poupart's Bakery. WOW ! ! ! Mardi Gras King Cakes ! We bought quite a bit of specialty baking, including a small King Cake. Leaving Poupart's, the 3½ week old starter had its first "failure to engage". < sigh > Here we go again ! Obviously the heat shield blanket didn't solve the problem. We drove around checking out three different restaurants for lunch. We returned to the first one, Chris' Po Boys. Great choice !

The food was excellent. The service was excellent. The waitress had a bit of difficulty understanding us. I guess our Canadian accents sound pretty odd down here. I really wanted to buy the t-shirt the restaurant staff were wearing, but they were not available for sale. They had the restaurant logo in the front, and my favourite new Cajun phrase imprinted on the back. "Lâ che pas la patate". Don't let go of the potato ... or ... don't give up / hang in there ! For lunch, Joanne had a muffuletta, and I had a shrimp po boy. When the waitress found out we were from Canada, she brought us each a complimentary bowl of gumbo. Joanne's gumbo was sausage and chicken, mine was shrimp and okra. On the way back to the trailer, we stopped at Wal-Mart for a bit of grocery shopping.

Back at Maxie's Campground, we put away our purchases, I started today's accounting, we fed the animals, and I walked Bo. We had 2 strands of Mardi Gras beads, so we each put on a necklace, and left for Le Festival de Mardi Gras à Lafayette. We found out later, from a woman standing next to us while we were watching the opening parade, that it is traditional to start Mardi Gras with a strand of "starter beads" from a previous Mardi Gras, and add to them as you catch beads thrown from the floats in the parades. So, quite by serendipity, we fit right in, each of us with a strand of starter beads.

We drove to Cajun Field, the football stadium adjacent to Cajun Dome, the indoor arena. Welcome to Le Festival de Mardi Gras à Lafayette ! We wandered around the midway, then wandered around the perimeter of Cajun Field. The perimeter of Cajun Field was occupied by large, expensive RV's. We were puzzled by that at first. As we wandered around the outside of the stadium, we realized that each RV was the domain of a business, or politician, or service agency, and each served as the social hub of activity for their clients, and other invited guests. All had tables and chairs set up around them, with food, drink, even bonfires. All of the many Mardi Gras parades of the next few days end by circling Cajun Field, so all these RV's are in prime parade viewing territory.

We wandered over to the main stage to watch the fantastic performance by Nathan Williams Jr. a.k.a. Lil' Nathan & The Zydeco Big Timers. He is known as "lil' Nathan" because he's the son of a well known Zydeco artist, Nathan Williams Sr.. He's a seasoned performer at 19 years of age, having performed since childhood with his father. His 6 piece band includes his 6 year old brother playing washboard. Great Zydeco performance ! The performance, and joie de vivre of the crowd, was so exciting, I felt I had to share it. I phoned each of our sisters, to allow them to hear the sounds of Mardi Gras. They both must think I'm crazy !

We wandered over behind the midway to see the opening parade, just as it was entering the festival grounds. The parade format was high school marching band, followed by float, followed by marching band, followed by float, and so on. The elaborately decorated floats, each sponsored by, and representing a different "krewe", or group, had costumed people throwing beads, and other stuff, into the audience. Hence the "throw me something, mister" chant from the audience. I caught 26 strands of beads ... and one unopened full bag, containing a dozen strands. One of my strands had a doubloon, labelled "The Mystic Krewe Of The Renaissance". Joanne caught 22 strands. The woman standing next to us caught 2 Frisbees, and gave one to us for Bo. The man she was with caught a silly sombrero. I saw an umbrella tossed off a float. I wasn't watching closely enough as a float went by, and I got smacked in the forehead with a strand of beads. Same thing happened to Joanne. She looked away for a minute ... WHACK ... beads in the face. HA HA HA ! After watching a parade in Mission, Texas a month or so ago, and now watching a Mardi Gras parade in Lafayette, we made an observation. The black kids in Louisiana sure have a lot more rhythm than the Mexican kids in the Rio Grande Valley. The Louisiana kids' shortcomings as musicians are more than made up by their ability to dance while they march carrying and playing instruments.

After the parade, we walked back to the main stage. A cowboy band was playing. No thanks. We decided to have a late, light supper. Joanne bought 3 boudin links. Boudin is a Cajun sausage made with pork and rice. At another booth, that won the World Championship É touffé e Cook-off last year, I bought a bowl of their award winning Crawfish É touffé e. The night air was getting a bit cool, and we didn't like the cowboy music, so we walked back to the truck parked in the parking lot, and ate our supper sitting in the truck. We did a bit of planning of where to go, and what to do, for the next few days, then returned to the main stage. We thought the next band was going to be a Zydeco band. It was a Cajun band, but not Zydeco. We watched for awhile, then left about 11:00 P.M..

MMMMM ... as I sit typing this at 1:00 A.M., Joanne has just served me a slice of Mardi Gras King Cake.

While eating her boudin sausages, Joanne broke a tooth. It seems very odd that a tooth would break while eating sausages ! What actually broke was the veneer applied to one of her front teeth, to repair a tooth she broke over 20 years ago. She was clearing snow, using a snowblower, while I was away from home on a business trip. She slipped and fell, smashing her face on the snowblower, breaking a tooth. She thinks it will be amusing, if she goes to a dentist while we're still down here in the deep south, and explains that to a dentist who most likely has never seen a snowblower. Too bad that tooth didn't break while we were still down by Mexico. Dentistry is a lot cheaper in Mexico. Maybe it wasn't really the sausages that caused the tooth to break. Maybe it was getting whacked in the face with a strand of Mardi Gras beads ! HA HA HA !

DSK

February 23, 2006

February 23, 2006

Rainbow's End SKP Park, Livingston, Texas to Lafayette, Louisiana

YEAR 2 DAY 251

 

Today was mostly sunny, and warm.

Helllllooooo, Cajun Country ! Helllllooooo, Mardi Gras !

After some improvement over the last few days, Bo was sick over night. Like one step forward, then two steps back. We're worried about him. This morning we prepared for departure from Rainbow's End. We drove over to the air station, and while Joanne walked over to the office to pay our bill, I adjusted the air pressure in the trailer tires. We left Rainbow's End and drove to Livingston. I filled Dee-Dee with diesel while Joanne went into the grocery store for a few items. I walked over to the Post Office to check if our mail was at General Delivery. It was not < sigh >. I filled out a form to have the Post Office forward our mail to Wauchula, Florida, if and when it does show up in Livingston. We drove back through Livingston, and headed south on Hwy. 146.

South on Hwy. 146 to Hwy. 105, then east on Hwy. 105 to Beaumont. As soon as we were on Hwy. 105 we started to see the damage caused by Hurricane Rita. We took Hwy. 96 through Beaumont, and got onto Interstate 10 headed east. We crossed the border from Texas into Louisiana, and stopped at the Travel Information Centre. Joanne prepared lunch while I went into the Travel Information Centre to get information on Mardi Gras celebrations. Teddy was sick. Gee ... I wonder if both Teddy and Bo picked up some kind of virus ? We continued east on I-10, stopping at Lake Charles to fill up with diesel at Love's, then continuing on to Lafayette. We drove south through Lafayette on Hwy. 90, to Maxie's Campground in the Lafayette suburb of Broussard.

A year ago we had hoped to visit New Orleans during Mardi Gras this year. But the damage to New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina made us decide to spend the Mardi Gras period in and around Lafayette, the centre of Cajun culture in Louisiana, and second only to New Orleans when it comes to Mardi Gras celebrations. Laissez les bons temps rouler !

We got settled into a site at Maxie's Campground. I took Bo for an obedience walk. Good dog, Bo. While Joanne prepared supper, I did today's accounting. We watched Survivor while eating supper. After supper I did today's journal entry. I feel quite tired tonight. The traffic on I-10 was heavy. There was a lot of construction on I-10, and wherethere wasn't construction, the road was rough. It was a long, tough day of driving.

DSK

February 22, 2006

February 22, 2006

Rainbow's End SKP Park, Livingston, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 250

 

Today was cloudy, warm, humid, foggy in the morning and evening, with occasional rain.

This morning I phoned the Livingston Post Office to check if my mail had arrived at General Delivery yet. It had not < sigh >. I took Bo for an obedience training session, no dog biscuits for reward. His digestive tract is improved, but still not 100%. He had a bit of a brain fart during obedience training. We came across a small group of people standing, chatting. There were 3 dogs with the group. I put Bo into a "sit, stay, leave it", and walked away. About 100 feet away, I turned, looked at Bo sitting, attentively watching me, and I blew my whistle, which is my command to "come". Bo leapt up from the "sit, stay", and ran over to visit the 3 dogs. No, Bo ! Talk about misunderstanding the concept.

After lunch I read for awhile, then napped briefly. Joanne iced the birthday cake she had baked for Arley's 80th birthday. We walked over to Arley's, sang Happy Birthday to him, and had some birthday cake. I still think it's silly to present a blind man with a birthday cake with lit candles, but Arley seemed to appreciate it. I held the cake up in front of him while he blew out the candles. We visited for awhile, then I left to go to social hour, while Joanne remained visiting with Arley. After social hour, I visited with Cathy & Jan Emrick, walking back to their rig with them to get some information on the manufacturer of their fifth wheel hauler conversion. We chatted for awhile about trucks, and WorkCamper / Volunteer positions. I said hello to Marsha and Gerald, who had just arrived here at Rainbow's End. Marsha was a short term patient at C.A.R.E. when we worked there a year ago, after she had both her knees replaced. We bumped into them once since then, at Casa Grande, Arizona. Marsha's new knees are doing just fine.

I went to the computer room to get online, send and retrieve e-mail, update my blog, and retrieve my U.S.$ MasterCard statement. After we had supper, I worked on reconciling the U.S.$ MasterCard while we watched some Monty Python retrospectives on PBS. HA HA HA ! Very funny ! I did today's accounting, then watched a bit of Olympics coverage.

DSK

February 21, 2006

February 21, 2006

Rainbow's End SKP Park, Livingston, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 249

 

Today was cloudy and cool.

I slept late again this morning, still not feeling well. And Bo's diarrhoea problem persists. He's been ill ever since his vaccinations 5 days ago, concurrent with him eating a plum pit. We're not sure which of those is the cause of the problem. The typical dog diarrhoea therapy of feeding a boiled ground beef and rice mixture hasn't solved the problem. We're getting worried.

After lunch we headed to Livingston to run some errands. On the way to town we stopped at Allen Propane and refilled an empty propane tank. We've been running the furnace since we got here, so we used up a tank of propane in a week, quicker than usual. Next stop, in town, was Miller's Barber Shop for haircuts for both of us. Miller's is an old, "wild west" looking barber shop, with 2 barbers, real old fashioned barber chairs, and a bunch of old men sitting around, chatting, waiting for haircuts. Drawls so thick I couldn't understand much of what they were saying. Got the worst haircut I've had in a very long time. I don't think they get too many men with long hair in Miller's. This part of Texas looks pretty much like a short hair kind of place, old men and young. Joanne seems satisfied with her haircut. How come they can cut a woman's hair well, but can't seem to cope with a man with long hair ? After our haircuts I dropped Joanne off at Wal-Mart, then went to Lowe's to buy some hardware to repair the truck tailgate latch. From there I went to the Post Office to pick up our mail. It still has not arrived. I'm not optimistic it will. We're leaving Thursday morning, with or without mail. If it's not here by then, I'll have to arrange to have the Post Office forward it to us if and when it arrives here < sigh >. I picked up Joanne at Wal-Mart. On impulse, as we drove back through Livingston, I stopped at a "pit barbecue" take out stand, and we bought some "barbecue" for supper tonight.

Back at Rainbow's End, I worked on the tailgate latch repair. I ended up completely replacing the tailgate latch cable. That wasn't what I set out to do, but the further into the repair job I got, the more sense it made to replace the entire latch cable. Initially that seemed impossible due to corrosion, but with persistence and perseverance, and a teensy bit of luck near the end, I did it ! Yippee ! Joanne helped with me with the parts where 2 hands weren't enough, then she went to visit Arley. I cleaned up, took Bo for a long walk, did today's accounting, and started today's journal entry. I'm going to suspend obedience training sessions with Bo until he feels better. I use dog biscuits as reward when we're training, and I don't want to feed him any dog biscuits until his diarrhoea problem is solved.

While Joanne prepared fries and coleslaw for our barbecue, I went to the computer room, got online, sent and retrieved e-mail, updated my blog, and attempted to retrieve the MasterCard statements. I was able to get the Canadian dollar statement, but the U.S. dollar statement was unavailable due to some technical problem < sigh >. I'll have to try again tomorrow. Back at the trailer I printed and reconciled the Canadian dollar MasterCard before sitting down to supper.

Supper was a disappointment. We've had “barbecue” in Memphis in Tennessee, Hondo and Harlingen in Texas, and Lafayette in Louisiana. Livingston’s version wasn’t as good as any of them, and was very expensive. HMPH !

DSK

February 20, 2006

February 20, 2006

Rainbow's End SKP Park, Livingston, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 248

 

Today was cloudy and cold, temperature in the 40's. The Texas women are wearing fur coats, and the Texas dogs are wearing sweaters. I made a comment to our 81 year old Southern belle neighbour, that I could tell from her fur coat that she was a Southerner, and with great indignation, she pointed out to me that she was a Southern "lady" ! Joanne said later that the woman reacted as if I had called her a skank.

I slept very late this morning, still feeling weak and tired from being ill. After doing regular morning chores and preventive maintenance, I refilled the fresh water holding tank, then took the truck to adjust the air pressure in the 4 rear tires. I took Bo for an obedience training session.

We drove to Livingston to have lunch at Catfish King. Last year Rodney Elam treated us to lunch at Catfish King to show appreciation to us for caring for Ginger. We really liked it, and wanted to eat there again this year while we were here. Catfish is one of the Southern specialties we really like. After lunch we stopped at H-E-B to buy some rice, to make more boiled ground beef and rice mixture for Bo. His digestive tract is settling, but still isn't quite normal. Back at Rainbow's End, Joanne went to visit her blind friend Arley at CARE. I started working on the truck tailgate. The tailgate latch broke quite some time ago, and I haven't bothered to repair it yet, because I so rarely need to open the tailgate. I decided I should fix the latch before I try to sell or trade the truck. I worked on it today, and will have to buy some hardware tomorrow to complete the repair. Then I sanded and painted a section of the tailgate where the paint was flaking. This louvered, V-notched fifth wheel tailgate has a terrible paint finish. This is the fourth or fifth time I've had to scrape flaking paint, sand, and repaint a section. Between the bad paint job, and the poorly designed latching system, it's a real piece of crap tailgate, for a real piece of crap truck. Just as I finished working on the tailgate, Joanne returned from visiting Arley. She has decided that since we have to stay here until at least Wednesday because of our late mail, she wants to stay here until Thursday, so that she can bake a cake for Arley's 80th birthday on Wednesday. I did today's accounting and worked on this journal entry while Joanne prepared supper.

We ate a very quick supper ... I hate rushing a meal like that ... and hurried off to the Clubhouse to join "movie night", already in progress. We missed the first ten minutes of the movie. I watched 20 minutes of the movie, some kind of a documentary on penguins, then left to return to the trailer. Joanne stayed at the movie. I prepared an application for a Campground Host position at Pinery Provincial Park, on the shore of Lake Huron, in southwestern Ontario, for September and October. When Joanne returned from watching the movie, we did some trip planning for May to October, in Canada. We watched the Olympics Ice Dance competition finals.

DSK

February 19, 2006

February 19, 2006

Rainbow's End SKP Park, Livingston, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 247

 

Today was cloudy and cold, with a bit of light, misty rain.

I woke up feeling ill this morning, so our plans for the day changed. We had been planning to go to Livingston's "Trade Days", which is some sort of an occasionally scheduled flea market in town. From there we were going to have lunch at Catfish King. We ended up doing not much of anything today. The weather and my health made it a day for doing nothing. I slept very late. Joanne drained the waste holding tanks while I did regular preventive maintenance. We bought a newspaper. I spent the rest of the morning and all of the afternoon alternating between reading the newspaper, watching the Daytona 500, and napping. Boy, the Daytona 500 is a huge sporting event down here in the south.

At 6:30 P.M. we went to the Sunday night ice cream social. We ended up sitting and chatting until 9:00 P.M. with a couple who are headed to the Canadian Maritime provinces this summer. They have travelled Canada extensively. It's a pleasant change to meet Americans who know something about Canada.

We returned to the trailer for a late, light supper, and spent the rest of the evening watching Olympics, while I did today's accounting and journal entry.

DSK

February 18, 2006

February 18, 2006

Rainbow's End SKP Park, Livingston, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 246

 

As of today we've been on the road for 20 months, and we've travelled almost 55,000 km. / 33,000 miles. Today was cloudy and cold, with a bit of misty rain this afternoon. First rain I've seen in over 3 months.

Bo was sick over night, waking us up 4 times to be taken outside. I'm hoping that's it simply a reaction to his vaccinations the other day, and not a result of eating the plum pit that Joanne dropped on the floor the other day, and he quickly grabbed and swallowed. We're a little worried that the plum pit could be causing a bowel obstruction. We woke up this morning feeling not very well rested as a result of being up so often for a sick, little dog. Poor Bo. I'm sympathetic to your dilemma ... been there, done that ... a lot !

We drove to Livingston this morning to pick up the mail. It wasn't there. DARN ! Monday is a holiday here in the United States, so the Post Office will be closed. Tuesday will be the earliest our mail will arrive, and Wednesday will be the earliest we can depart. Our first plan was to depart today. Then we were planning to depart tomorrow. Oh, well. This is a nice place to be. And departing on Wednesday will put us into Louisiana just in time for the Mardi Gras festivities. Mardi Gras is February 28. The main festivities will begin Friday, February 24. Joanne did some trip planning, using the Louisiana tourist information we picked up last year. Mardi Gras is a big deal all around the Cajun portion of Louisiana, not just in and around New Orleans. Lots of Mardi Gras happenings in and around Lafayette. We think it might be a good idea to avoid the New Orleans area because of Hurricane Katrina's impact, but we'd like to experience Mardi Gras in and around the Lafayette region.

From the Post Office we went to get haircuts at Miller's, the shop where Joanne got her hair cut last year, but it was closed today. We'll return on Tuesday for haircuts. We passed by a Baptist church where a wedding party was beginning to assemble. Hmmm ... somewhat odd looking bride's and bridesmaid's styles down here in Texas. Sheesh !

Back at Rainbow's End, I took more items to donate to the bargain table at the Activity Centre, then took some books over to the library and exchanged them. We had lunch. I watched 2 periods of an Olympics hockey game on TV, then fell asleep for a long nap. Joanne cooked a ground beef and rice mixture to feed Bo, to settle his stomach, then went to visit Arley. I did some trip accounting, then started today's journal entry. Joanne did some laundry. She has just returned from the laundry room as I'm typing this. We sure meet interesting people in Escapee parks. Joanne was just chatting with the woman who moved into the site across the road from us a couple of days ago. She's 81 years old, travelling and living full time in a large travel trailer, towed by a large SUV, just her and her little dog. She recently removed her younger sister, who has Alzheimer's, from an unsatisfactory nursing home not too far from here in Louisiana, and moved her here to a nursing home in Livingston.

While Joanne prepared supper, I went to the computer room, got online, sent and retrieved e-mail, and updated my blog. After supper we watched Olympics coverage, and I compared the research data on new trucks that I had downloaded and printed recently. So far, I think my first choice would be a Dodge truck.

DSK

February 17, 2006

February 17, 2006

Rainbow's End SKP Park, Livingston, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 245

 

Today was cloudy and cool. It rained a bit over night, although I personally have not seen any rain since early November in Oregon.

I got up early this morning, gave Teddy his pill and fed him, walked Bo, then went back to sleep for a couple more hours. After regular morning chores and routines we headed for Livingston. We stopped at the Post Office to pick up a batch of our mail sent by Sharon before she left on their family vacation to Cuba. The batch of mail had not yet arrived at General Delivery in Livingston < sigh >. We'll check again tomorrow morning. If it's not there tomorrow morning, we'll have to delay our planned departure from here on Sunday, to wait for the arrival of our mail. We had problems receiving our forwarded mail in Livingston last year as well. Our December, 2004 batch of mail was lost, and never found. From the Post Office we went to Wal-Mart, for a groceries and supplies major replenishment. It was a long, expensive shopping trip.

When we got back to Rainbow's End, we unloaded today's purchases, and had a very late lunch. I read for awhile, finally finishing another one of Tom Clancy's long, convoluted, suspense adventure novels. I took Bo for an obedience walk. Joanne went to today's social hour. I gathered some items we no longer need and took them to Rainbow's End's bargain table. Items that I've replaced in the trailer. The dinette light fixture, the light fixture over my computer desk, the faucets fixture from the shower. Joanne went from social hour over to CARE to visit Arley. I prepared for my magic show.

At 6:00 P.M I headed for the CARE Centre, to perform my magic show. The audience was small, and subdued. Everybody at the CARE Centre seems upset by an incident earlier this week, when a long term participant / resident was "evicted". I performed the three new magic tricks Joanne bought me for Christmas, including the most difficult one, a levitation illusion. It was my first performance of the levitation illusion, and I performed it well. The CARE participant / resident who had invited me to present a "slide show" 2 nights ago, and perform a magic show tonight, was Kitty Haire. She invited her 13 year old grandson, Trent, to my magic show tonight, because he is a fan of magic. Last year, I taught him a magic trick. I agreed to teach him another one this year. After my magic show, I took Trent into a back room, and taught him a new magic trick, one that I performed tonight. It would have been nice to have a more enthusiastic audience, but ... oh, well. I'm pleased that I pulled off the levitation illusion.

We returned to the trailer, Joanne prepared supper, and I did today's accounting. We had Jambalaya for supper tonight. We're close enough to Louisiana that Cajun specialties are available in the local grocery stores. After supper we watched the Olympics, and I did today's journal entry. Bo seems a little ill today, probably due to yesterday's vaccinations.

DSK

February 16, 2006

February 16, 2006

Rainbow's End SKP Park, Livingston, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 244

 

Today was partially cloudy, warm, and humid.

This morning we took Bo and Teddy to Arena Veterinary Clinic nearby. While we were driving to the vet clinic, Roger, my investment broker in Ottawa phoned to discuss a reset of our segregated funds. Bo had an examination, and vaccinations / inoculations. Teddy had an examination, and blood drawn for a thyroid hormone blood test. Our animals behave oddly at the vet. Bo is excited and eager. "Oh, boy, oh boy, somebody is going to shove a thermometer up my ass, yippee !" Teddy hisses. Nothing else, no other aggressive motions, just hissing. And he doesn't even really know what hissing signifies. He learned that behaviour when he was a few years old, and was in a veterinary clinic waiting room. He saw another cat hiss. He thought it seemed neat, he tried it, he liked it. Teddy's blood will have to be sent to Texas A & M University to be analyzed, so we won't have the results for a couple of weeks.

We returned to the trailer and had lunch. After lunch we drove to Livingston and found Timberwood Nursing & Rehabilitation Center. It was a little bit north of Livingston on Hwy. 59. We went to visit Rodney Elam, our friend from CARE last year. When we worked at CARE 13 months ago, we walked Rodney’s dog Ginger 3 times a day. Rodney was recuperating from heart surgery at that time. He was hoping to be well enough to get back out on the road in his motorhome by last summer. Unfortunately, he did not get better, and had to “hang up the keys”, a concept all full time RV’ers dread. Rodney has deteriorated quite a bit in the last year, since we saw him last. He expects that his son will relocate him to a nursing home in Flint, Michigan soon. I wanted to visit Rodney, mostly to reassure him that Ginger is being well cared for by Donna and Bill, the couple who have adopted him. I thought it would put Rodney’s mind at ease to have an “independent, third party” opinion of how Ginger is doing. I was right. It was somewhat sad for me to visit Rodney. He kind of reminds me of my father. It’s a tad disconcerting to be reminded that a failing body can prevail over a determined mind.

We drove back to Rainbow’s End, and drove into the permanent residence section of the park. We found Ray & Susie Gearing’s place. Ray was working in their small yard, doing “spring cleaning”. I guess spring comes early to east Texas. I wanted to once again express our appreciation to Ray, and especially Susie, for helping find Rain a home a year ago with Phyllis Bridge. Ray was working outside in the yard with their new 3 month old puppy, Dolly, and the oldest of their 4 cats, 18 year old Cocoa. Susie wasn’t home.

Back at the trailer, we brought Teddy outside, sat at the picnic table and trimmed his claws. Then it was Bo’s turn. Bo’s rear dew claws seem to grow faster then the rest of his claws. Or maybe they just don’t get worn down from friction, like the rest of the claws do. I trimmed a bit too much of one of the rear dew claws, and cut the nerve. Ouch ! Lots of blood. Darn ! Sorry, Bo. His nails are black, and the nerves can’t be seen. To distract him from the slightly sore, slightly bleeding dew claw, we immediately took him for an obedience training walk. Good dog, Bo. By the time we finished an obedience walk, the claw had stopped bleeding. Joanne went to visit with Arley at CARE, while I did today’s accounting and started working on this journal entry.

We went to the communal spaghetti dinner at the Activity Centre tonight. We volunteered to be part of the clean up crew after dinner. We returned to the trailer to watch Survivor, then some Olympics coverage. I went to the modem room to get online and retrieve updated investment data. I spent the balance of the evening updating my investment records while we watched the Olympics.

DSK

February 15, 2006

February 15, 2006

Rainbow's End SKP Park, Livingston, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 243

 

Today was partially cloudy, warm, and humid.

This morning after regular morning chores and preventive maintenance, I paid the monthly cell phone bill, by phone. I phoned Arena Veterinary Clinic, to make an appointment for an examination and inoculations for Bo, and a thyroid blood test for Teddy. I took Bo for an obedience training session. As we were walking along the road through the campground, a trailer door opened, and a Jack Russell Terrier, who evidently had heard Bo’s tags jingling, came running out of the trailer at full speed, and attacked Bo. Bo was stunned, to say the least, as was I. The owner of the Jack Russell came running out of his trailer, screaming at his dog. I thought the best course of action was simply to lift Bo up, into my arms, away from the attacking Jack Russell. Our animals have always worn body harnesses, and I’ve always felt it was okay to just lift them up by the leash attached to the body harness, when they need to be lifted for any reason. I yanked up on Bo’s leash, yanking him off the ground, up into the air, and into my arms. He yelped loudly. OMIGOD ! ! ! I forgot that his leash wasn’t attached to his body harness, it was attached to a choker training collar. I yanked him up off the ground and into my arms by a choker. Oh, Bo, I’m so sorry. The Jack Russell’s owner had grabbed his dog by then, and was gushing apologies. Yeah, yeah, I don’t really care ... I was worried that I may have really hurt Bo. He seems okay. I guess he’s got a pretty thick little neck, and while it hurt to be yanked up by a choker like that, it didn’t seem to have any lasting effect. There’s no stiffness, or soreness, or any other sign of injury that I can ascertain. Poor, poor Bo. Stupid, careless Daniel ! I replaced the batteries, and made some adjustments to my digital camera. I did some work on the computer, updating vehicle maintenance records, and entering the details of a recent investment transaction. I planned and prepared my digital photo “slide show” for tonight at the CARE Centre. I’m going to show my photos of British Columbia in the spring, mostly Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast, as well as Jasper National Park and Banff National Park in the fall. I suspect most of the people at CARE haven’t been to Canada.

Joanne left to go visit her blind friend at CARE, Arley. She took Bo, and asked me to come along in 15 or 20 minutes, say hello to Arley, and take Bo away. I did that. After visiting briefly with Arley, I left Joanne visiting with Arley and I left with Bo. We walked around the volunteer’s camping area at CARE, and I stopped and visited with Mary Lu, a woman who was a volunteer here last year at the same time as us. She was very impressed with Bo’s and my exhibition of dog obedience skills. Very well done, Bo ! You’re quite impressive. We returned to the trailer, and I made lunch for myself. I wasn’t sure how long Joanne would be visiting with Arley. After lunch I read for awhile, then napped with Teddy and Bo.

When I woke, Joanne and I walked over to see Phyllis Bridge, the woman who gave a home to the cat we rescued a year ago, Rain. Phyllis still has Rain, renamed Baby Cat, then renamed Cat. We’ll always think of her as Rain. She now weighs 17 pounds, more than double what she weighed a year ago when we rescued her. She’s certainly not starving. We visited with Phyllis, and Rain, and Tooty the old Yorkshire Terrier. Phyllis found out from the vet that Rain is much older than we thought. The vet pegs her age at about 11 years. And when the vet surgically opened her up to spay her, he discovered that she had already been spayed. OOOPS ! Phyllis walked us back to our trailer to see Teddy and Bo. We’re so very glad and grateful that Rain has a good home. Thank you, Phyllis.

We went to the daily 4:00 P.M. social hour. I chatted with a woman who, upon finding out that we’re from Winnipeg / Lorette, told me how much she enjoys shopping in Steinbach. Yeah, I know. You told me the same thing a year ago. After social hour I began to work on today’s journal entry before going over to CARE to do my slide show. We walked over to the CARE Centre, and while I did a "slide show" for a small but appreciative audience, Joanne visited and chatted. I showed photos of Vancouver Island, and the Sunshine Coast of B.C., taken in late April, West Hawk Lake and Whiteshell Provincial Park's Petroforms, taken in July, and Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper National Parks, taken in September.

Joanne made Gumbo for supper. She wanted to use the last of her Gumbo mix before we get to Louisiana in a week or so. She plans to stock up on Gumbo mix when we get to Louisiana. We spent the evening watching Olympics coverage.

DSK

February 14, 2006

February 14, 2006

Wharton to Livingston, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 242

 

Happy Valentine's Day. Today was sunny and warm.

Last night in bed I read the 19 page document provided to us by Ardrianna, the Park Ranger at Padre Island, explaining the J-1 Visa process. My goodness ... my first impression is that the paperwork and bureaucracy isn't worth it. I've sort of had enough of bureaucratic government paperwork when we were small business owners.

We got up quite early, and left the Wal-Mart parking lot by 9:00 A.M.. We continued heading north on Hwy. 59. We had to drive completely through Houston, from southwest to northeast, and we wanted to get to Houston after the morning rush hour. Except for a brief period of stop and go, bumper to bumper congestion right near Houston's downtown area, driving through Houston on the freeway wasn't any worse than driving through any other large city. It's never easy with the rig. After passing through Houston, we stopped for diesel and propane at Flying J at New Caney. I really like Flying J's, as an RV'er. Pull up to the island, and there are fuel pumps, fresh water, sewage dump, air for tires, and propane refill, all in one spot. We continued north on Hwy. 59 to Livingston. We drove through Livingston, eastbound on Hwy. 190, then turned south after passing through Livingston, onto Hwy. 146, to the SKP park, Rainbow's End.

We registered, and parked in our assigned site. We had lunch. I napped. We took Bo for an obedience session. As we stepped out of the trailer, we met a couple walking by with an apricot coloured miniature poodle that looked just like Rodney Elam's dog Ginger. When we worked at CARE last January, we walked Ginger 3 times a day. This poodle and Bo greeted one another like old friends. We commented to the couple walking the dog that it looked just like Rodney Elam's Ginger. Well, that was because it was Ginger. Rodney is now in a nursing home, and this couple have adopted Ginger. We chatted with the couple for awhile about Rodney, and some of the other people who were at CARE a year ago when we worked there. We learned of some very interesting political and organizational developments at CARE in the last year. Bill and Donna, who have renamed Ginger to Buster, were very impressed with Bo's obedience skills. Good dog, Bo ... I'm proud of you.

At 4:00 P.M. we went to social hour. We were introduced as new arrivals, met some old friends, and made some new ones. We chatted until 5:30, when we walked over to CARE to visit with old friends there during their supper meal time. Before we even got to the CARE building, we met Chuck, and chatted with him for awhile. While working at CARE, we were parked behind Chuck, and his old dog, Jack. Jack died since we were here a year ago. That's a huge loss for Chuck, whose wife has been in a nursing home since before our time here a year ago. We continued walking toward the CARE building, and met Mary Lu, who was a WorkCamper / Volunteer here at the same time as us. She took over responsibility for walking Ginger when we left. She has recently returned for another stint as a WorkCamper / Volunteer. We walked into the CARE Centre, and found Marsha Squires working in the kitchen. She and her husband Lee were also WorkCampers / Volunteers here at the same time as us. They have also recently returned for another stint. We sat down and chatted with some of the participants that we knew from a year ago. I was remembered mostly as the magician, with the photo shows. I was invited to do another magic show, and another photo presentation. I will do a photo presentation Wednesday evening, and a magic show Friday evening.

We returned to the trailer about 7:00 P.M.. While Joanne prepared supper, I downloaded and processed my photos from Padre Island. We had supper, then we watched Olympic coverage on TV while I did today's accounting and journal entry, and Joanne washed dishes. I practiced my newest magic. I am cautiously optimistic that I might be ready to try performing this illusion for the first time on Friday at CARE. I took the laptop down to the computer room, got online, sent and retrieved e-mail, and updated my blog.

DSK

February 13, 2006

February 13, 2006

Padre Island National Seashore to Wharton, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 241

 

Today was sunny and warm.

We had a meeting scheduled for 1:00 P.M. this afternoon, and we didn't know how long it would take. We thought that it made sense to have a late, large breakfast, in case we had to skip lunch. We started today with a pancake brunch. We spent the morning romping on the beach, all four of us. Well, Teddy doesn't exactly romp. He just flops. He loves flopping and rolling in soft sand. We took Bo off his leash for a short while, to give him a chance to run around on the beach unencumbered. It's always a huge risk to allow him to be off leash, because usually he resists returning to be leashed. It wasn't a problem today. We explored the beach at low tide, finding interesting shells. Mostly we just enjoyed the bright sunshine and warm, soft sand.

At 12:30 we retracted the trailer' s slides, and drove off South Beach to the Malaquite Beach Visitor Centre for our "job interview". Ardrianna's superiors wouldn't permit her to offer us a 2 week assignment as Campground Hosts. The National Parks Service has a formal International Volunteers In Parks program. Because they're a federal agency, they're sticklers for doing things "by the book". They require their International Volunteers to acquire a U.S. J-1 Visa for "temporary employment", with the National Parks Service as the "sponsoring employer". That paperwork takes 6 weeks. So we had an "interview" with Ardrianna discussing future assignments for us at Padre Island National Seashore. I believe we made a good impression, and are likely to receive a winter job offer next year. We attended an Interpretive "deck talk" conducted by another Park Ranger on the Visitor Centre's outdoor deck. It was a very interesting "show and tell, touch and feel" presentation on the shells and sea creatures that can be found on the beach at Padre Island. Since we weren't going to be their campground hosts for the next 2 weeks, we decided to leave Padre Island today. We drove over to their trailer dump station, drained the shower grey water holding tank, and refilled the fresh water tank.

We drove out of Padre Island National Seashore, following Hwy. P22 back to Corpus Christi. We drove through Corpus Christi, then onto Hwy. 181, first north across Corpus Christi Bay, then west to Sinton. At Sinton we got ontoHwy. 77 headed north. We stopped at a road side rest area to change drivers. Joanne drove to Victoria. At Victoria we changed drivers again, and got onto Hwy. 59 heading northeast towards Houston. We stopped at Edna to fill up with diesel at a Love's. We were considering stopping for the night and staying in Love's parking lot over night, but I wanted to drive for another hour or so, since we got such a late start today, leaving Padre Island about 3:00 P.M.. As we pulled out of the Love's, I had to be careful not to run over the baby armadillo on the side of the road. Cute little thing ! We drove to Wharton, where we stopped for the night in a Wal-Mart parking lot.

After walking Bo, and feeding Teddy and Bo, we walked over to a fried chicken restaurant across the mall parking lot to check it out. It was late, and Joanne was feeling a bit too tired to prepare the meal she had planned. We bought some take out fried chicken, and brought it back to the trailer. We fried up some hash browns, sliced some tomatoes, and had supper. I did today's accounting and journal entry.

DSK

February 12, 2006

February 12, 2006

La Feria to Padre Island National Seashore, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 240

 

Today was sunny and warm.

This morning we prepared for departure, and left La Feria RV Park about 11:00 A.M.. We drove east on Hwy. 83 to Harlingen, then turned north on Hwy. 77. From "The Valley" to Corpus Christi is a long stretch of nothing but scruffy desert. Much of that stretch is King Ranch land. King Ranch is a massively huge ranch in southern Texas. If I recall correctly from our visit there last year, it is the largest ranch in the world. We stopped for lunch at a road side rest area. After lunch Joanne drove for awhile. We changed drivers again when we turned off Hwy. 77 onto Hwy. 44, heading east into Corpus Christi.

We drove through Corpus Christi, and across the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway / Laguna Madre onto Padre Island. The road became P( for Park )22 leading into Padre Island National Seashore. We stopped at the Visitor Centre at Malaquite Beach to get a camping permit. Malaquite Beach has a small National Park serviced campground, and camping is permitted along the first 5 miles of South Beach. Just drive onto the beach, pull over beside the sand dunes, and you're camping. As we were getting our free beach camping permit, I asked the Park Ranger for a Volunteers In Parks / V.I.P. application package for Padre Island National Seashore. Well ... talk about being in the right place at the right time. The Malaquite Beach Campground Host that was supposed to work until March 1 left today due to a family emergency. The next Campground Host starts March 1. The campground host position is vacant for the next 2 weeks. When the Park Ranger found out that we have experience as campground hosts, she asked us if we were interested in being their campground hosts until March 1. We immediately said yes. Not only would it be a great assignment for the next 2 weeks, it would give us some preferential consideration for a future assignment. Padre Island National Seashore is one of the most desirable National Parks for WorkCamper jobs. They have a lengthy waiting list for Volunteer positions. Preference is given to previous WorkCampers / Volunteers when the park needs to fill vacant Volunteer positions. The Park Ranger, Ardrianna gave us an application form to fill out, and asked us to return at 1:00 P.M. tomorrow to be interviewed by her boss.

I shifted Dee-Dee into 4 x 4 mode, drove onto the beach, drove about a mile south, did a U-turn so that the door of the trailer faced the Gulf Of Mexico, and parked. I made the U-turn wide enough to get Dee-Dee's and Harvey's tires wet in the Gulf Of Mexico. We're camped on Padre Island's South Beach, on the western edge of the Gulf Of Mexico. It's great. Bo seems to remember this place from last year, and was absolutely thrilled to romp along the beach, apparently having no recollection of last year's unpleasant experience with a jelly fish. We did an obedience session along the water's edge. Joanne joined us when we were done, and we went for a long walk / romp along the beach. I took off my shoes and socks, and we got our toes / paws wet. The Gulf Of Mexico water is a bit cold. Teddy came out of the trailer, and did “floppies” in the soft sand, making his little cat version of “snow angels” in the sand. Teddy loves flopping in soft sand. Strange cat !

I set up our solar panel to catch the morning sun. We filled out the application forms for tomorrow, then went for a walk along the beach as the sun set. By the time the sun set behind the dunes, there was a full moon over the Gulf. Very lovely ! Joanne prepared supper while I did today's accounting and started work on today's journal entry. We went to bed early, as we often do when we’re boondocked / dry camped without electricity.

DSK

February 11, 2006

February 11, 2006

La Feria, Texas, Nuevo Progreso, Mexico, & Weslaco, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 239

 

Today was sunny, cool, and windy in the morning, warming up nicely by afternoon.

After regular morning chores and preventive maintenance, we left for Mexico to go pick up my repaired glasses. We drove to Progreso, parked, and walked across to Nuevo Progreso. We walked to Flores Optical, and picked up my glasses. Hmmm ... nice repair job. I didn't know glasses could be welded like that. We walked back toward the International Bridge, but before we crossed back into the United States, Joanne wanted to walk around and shop one last time. Joanne enjoys recreational shopping more than I do. I followed along behind her while she shopped for nothing in particular, like a typical gringo tourist in Mexico. We bought a box of Nugs ( pronounced Noogs ) and a box of Coconugs, Mexican chocolate bars we like. Finally I got tired and hungry, and told her I wanted to leave. We walked back across the International Bridge to the large parking lot where we left Dee-Dee.

We drove north on Hwy. FM ( which stands for "farm to market" ) 1015 to Hwy. Business 83, then west on Business 83 to the Farmer's Market between Weslaco and Donna. We bought quite a bit of fresh fruits and vegetables, stocking up a bit before hitting the road tomorrow. We bought more of the great Rio Ruby grapefruits, and a Mexican vegetable called a Jicama ( pronounced Heecama ). I asked the woman working at the vegetable stand to explain Jicama to me. She showed me how to peel it ( like a potato ) and she cut me a sample to taste. It's somewhat like a water chestnut. Joanne is going to use it in a salad with carrots, like a turnip and carrot salad. We really enjoy trying local fare, wherever we are.

We drove from the Farmer's Market to Weslaco, where we stopped for a very late lunch at a Texas based fast food chain called Whataburger. Wow ... what a burger ! HA HA HA ! Joanne was musing that eating at regional fast food restaurants, like Whataburger, should be a part of our travel experiences. I guess she's right. We still haven't eaten at a Bob Evans, or a Jack In The Box, or Mr. Gotti's. Or Blimpie's ! I want to eat at Blimpie's ! After lunch we walked across the parking lot to H-E-B and did some grocery shopping. We're about to head north tomorrow, heading away from Mexico. It was our last chance to buy Mesquite flavoured potato chips, or Jalapeñ o and Queso flavoured potato chips.

We drove back to La Feria. I went to the office, and settled up our bill. The office doesn't open until noon on Sunday, and we want to leave tomorrow morning before that. I washed the truck. It's the third time in 3 weeks that I've washed the truck. The horizontal surfaces, the roof and the hood, are always covered in a thick grimy dust around here, because of the frequent winds blowing up desert dust storms. I took Bo for an obedience training session. I did today's accounting, then started working on this journal entry as we began to watch the Olympics coverage on TV.

We had a late supper, then I spent the evening watching the Olympics, and working online, sending and retrieving e-mail, and updating my blog. It certainly is nice to watch NBC coverage of the Olympics, rather than CBC. Why, you ask ? NO BRIAN WILLIAMS ! ! !  I've disliked that jerk ever since I met him about 15 years ago in Whistler, at a World Cup Downhill.

DSK

February 10, 2006

February 10, 2006

La Feria, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 238

 

Happy Birthday to my sister, Sharon

 

Today was partially cloudy, hot, and windy.

First thing this morning I took the truck to Gerry's Automotive Service, a small independent repair shop nearby, to have them install the starter heat shield blanket. While they worked on the truck, I refilled 4 jugs of water at the water refill machine across the street. Then I went to Best Tire next door and did some comparison shopping for new tires. Very good pricing at Best Tire, but I'm not quite ready just yet to buy new tires. I also went to Auto Zone across the street and browsed for some automotive accessories. Gerry's Automotive Service charged me less than their quoted price, a very pleasant change from the norm.

Back at La Feria RV Park, I took down, folded and put away Teddy's tent, in preparation for our departure on Sunday morning. I crawled under Dee-Dee to examine the installed starter heat shield blanket. I did some "tidy up" work on it, trimming off the long, excess end of the retaining strap. While Joanne went off to do some laundry, I spent the rest of the morning doing online comparison shopping and pricing of a new truck.

While Joanne prepared lunch, I took Bo for an obedience training session. Good work, Bo. Very well done. After lunch I phoned Sharon to wish her a Happy Birthday. We chatted for quite awhile, about truck problems and colitis problems. I started working on today's journal entry. I can't read a book with my "emergency spare" glasses, but that didn't prevent me from taking a long afternoon nap. HA HA HA !

Olé ! Viva Mé xico ! ( Olay ! Veeva Mayheeko ! ) At 5:30 we left for the Allegria concert in Edinburg. We drove about half an hour west on Hwy. 83 to Pharrr, then about a quarter hour north on Hwy. 281 to Edinburg. With a bit of difficulty we found the University Of Texas Pan American. Before we drove onto the campus, we pulled into Wal-Mart to buy diesel. WOW ... what a line up at the pumps. Evidently there was a gas war going on in Edinburg. We decided we would get diesel after the concert. We went for supper to a small Mexican restaurant called El Pato. We drove onto the campus, parked, and found our way to the Fine Arts Auditorium. What a fabulous concert ! Allegria was a 2 hour performance of Mexican dance, song, and music, performed by Ballet Folklorico, a Mexican folk dance company, accompanied by Mariachi Mé xico Lindo, a ten piece Mariachi band. All the performers are students at the University Of Texas Pan American Faculty Of Performing Arts. Attending tonight’s concert was definitely the highlight of our 3½ weeks in The Valley.

During intermission I chatted with a couple from Edmonton seated behind us. As we were leaving after the concert, I chatted with a couple from Ottawa. We drove across the street from the university and filled up with diesel at Wal-Mart. Lowest price I've paid for diesel since we entered the United States on November 1. We drove out of Edinberg, and back to La Feria. With all the construction, and detours, and darkness, getting home was a bit difficult. The roads in La Feria were wet. It must have rained a bit this evening here in La Feria, although there was no rain in Edinburg.

DSK

February 9, 2006

February 9, 2006

La Feria, Texas & Nuevo Progreso, Mexico

YEAR 2 DAY 237

 

Today was sunny and warm.

Last night Teddy knocked my glasses off the dinette table where I had left them, and the frame broke. I sure wish that had happened a week and a half ago, before I had purchased new lenses. I fear that the expenditure on new lenses may be lost. I'll return to the optician in Mexico, and see if he can provide frames that the new lenses will fit. Otherwise, last week's U.S.$45 for new lenses goes in the garbage. I'm trying to type this Thursday morning, without wearing glasses, and I can't see the keyboard, or the monitor, clearly. My spare "emergency" glasses are in the truck, which is still at Knapp Chevrolet, for the fourth day < sigh >. I just phoned them for a status report. They're still working on the truck. The service writer will call me back with an estimate of completion time. The lengthy duration of time that the truck was in being repaired this week, and now the broken glasses, will likely delay our planned departure from La Feria on Saturday.

Knapp phoned at noon and said the truck was ready. They sent a shuttle to pick me up. As soon as I got to Knapp, even before I paid the bill, I went to the truck and got my spare glasses out of the glove box. They're not very good, but better than nothing. They're a 10 year old prescription. I paid the bill, drove back to La Feria, picked up some mail at the Post Office, then went to reschedule the installation of the starter heat shield blanket ... again ! We had a quick lunch, then left for Mexico, to return to Flores Optical, to see if what could be done about my broken glasses. We drove to Progreso, parked, and walked across the bridge into Nuevo Progreso. We walked quickly to Flores Optical, running the gauntlet of hawkers. "Need dentist ? Need dentist ? Almost free today !" Flores Optical said they could send my glasses out to have the frames repaired by welding, cost $10, ready Saturday at noon. Okay. Guess we're not leaving La Feria RV Park until Sunday.

We walked back to the bridge, and across, got the truck, and drove back to La Feria. Joanne wanted to take the truck and go to Harlingen to do some Wal-Mart'n. First I had to do a bit of work on the truck. I removed and replaced the fuel filter. I wanted to be sure that the rubber gasket was seated properly. Sunday night when I removed it, in the dark, under the freeway, I was having some difficulty getting it reinstalled properly. Once I removed the fuel filter, and ensured that it was reinstalled correctly, I replaced the turbo engine cover that I had removed Sunday night, and tossed in the back seat. I got some tools I needed out of the truck, to do some work on the trailer roof, then Joanne took the truck and left for Harlingen. I climbed up on Harvey's roof to do some repairs. There were three spots where the rubber roof had small cracks, right along the edge where it wraps over. I patched them with rubber roof compound, sort of a very thick rubberized paint.

After cleaning up, I started work on the computer. Very tough to do, with these old glasses. I can't read the screen. I did some truck maintenance records updating, then some accounting. I found the Wi-Fi signal, so I quickly sent and retrieved e-mail, and updated my blog. Then I continued working on this journal entry.

It’s currently 6:30 P.M., half an hour after Teddy’s and Bo’s supper time, and they’re both sleeping. Very unusual for Teddy to sleep through a meal time. He’s been ill yesterday and today. Poor Teddy. I’ll take Bo for an obedience training session, then feed him. Maybe Teddy will want to eat a bit once Bo starts eating.

I walked Bo, and as I was feeding Bo and Teddy, Joanne returned home from shopping. She was feeling ill. We had another quiet evening in front of the TV, Joanne nursing a backache that has persisted for a few days, and now she also has an upset stomach. Poor Joanne. I wonder if the two problems are related ?

DSK

February 8, 2006

February 8, 2006

La Feria, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 236

 

Today was sunny and hot.

This morning I phoned Knapp Chevrolet to check on the status of the truck repair. When they traced the shipment progress of the diesel fuel injection pump, it showed as being in Harlingen, but not yet at Knapp. They were expecting it would arrive by early afternoon. They expect that the truck will be ready to go by noon tomorrow < sigh >. Without the tools in the truck, I can't do any of the few maintenance items left on my things to do list. I drank coffee, read, composed some e-mail, and took Bo for a long obedience walk. Joanne stayed in bed all morning, nursing a backache that she's had for a couple of days.

We had lunch, I read, then napped. Not much else to do. I cleaned out Teddy's cat tent. I had noticed that a lot of sand and dust had blown into it. While cleaning out the sand and dust, I discovered that at some point he had urinated in the tent. Poor Teddy. Sorry ! I had not taken his small litter box out of the back of the truck, and put it in the tent, as I usually do when I set up his tent for him. I had thought that since I was only allowing him to be in the tent for short periods of time, he wouldn't need a litter box in there. I was wrong. I sprayed the tent floor with Natural Chemistry, an enzymatic odour eliminator, although I know from experience, both personal and business, that total elimination of a cat urine odour is impossible. Oh, well ... that doesn't render the cat tent unusable ... like it did to our expensive luggage when Toby pissed on them to show us his displeasure when we returned from a vacation in Costa Rica a few years ago.

I administered flea treatments to Teddy and Bo, and heartworm medication to Bo. I missed their December and January applications because the monthly scheduling entry in my laptop calendar had expired. Darn careless of me ! I blew off most of the afternoon, and all of the evening, just watching TV. Lethargy attack ! Late in the evening I practiced my new magic. It's getting good.

DSK

February 7, 2006

February 7, 2006

La Feria, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 235

 

Today was sunny and warm.

This morning I sat down with a cup of coffee, and built a spreadsheet to compare the costs of our current truck, with its attendant high repair costs, versus the costs of a new truck, with no repair costs. There's not as much difference as one might think. I want a new truck next summer.

I walked over to the small independent repair shop nearby and rescheduled the appointment I missed yesterday to have the starter heat shield blanket installed. When I returned, I drained the waste holding tanks and refilled the fresh water holding tank. I took Bo for an obedience training walk. I found a wallet. I was going to take it to the office, then decided to just knock on the door of the nearest trailer, and ask for the name that was on the cards in the wallet. Bingo ! The old guy didn't even know he had dropped his wallet. I climbed up on the roof of the trailer, and cleaned the skylight over the bathroom. Then I carefully examined the rubber roof, looking for any cracks that might need repair. I found three. I'll repair the roof before we leave here Saturday.

We had lunch. I read for awhile, then napped. I got online, sent and retrieved e-mail, updated my blog, and did some online research. I'm currently watching the 6:00 P.M. news. The story that's on right now is about an attack on the newspaper office in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, across the Rio Grande from Laredo, Texas. We were in both Laredo and Nuevo Laredo a couple of weeks ago. The attack involved grenades and lots of gunfire. They sure play rough down here !

We had supper, then spent the evening watching TV.

DSK

February 6, 2006

February 6, 2006

La Feria, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 234

 

Today was cloudy, warm, and windy.

We woke up this morning at 7:30 A.M.. Joanne walked the dog, and I phoned Knapp Chevrolet to explain why Dee-Dee was sitting out in front of their service department. We went back to bed. At 9:30, Knapp phoned to ask some questions. They had started the truck with no problem, and had driven it about 20 miles, with no problem. SOML ! ! ! I advised them to look for dirt or water in the fuel, or fuel lines, or fuel pump, or ... ? ? ?

I spent a lazy morning drinking coffee, and composing a letter of complaint to Camping World's Roadcare Emergency Road Service, about last night's experience. I got online, sent and retrieved e-mail, and updated my blog. We had lunch. I filed our corporate GST quarterly return online.

Knapp Chevrolet phoned. The truck requires a new diesel fuel injection pump. The pump costs about U.S.$1300 ! With labour, and miscellaneous other parts, the bill will be almost U.S.$2000! ! ! How the hell can a pump cost $2000 to replace ? ! ? The service writer at Knapp advised me that GM has a "Special Policy" regarding this diesel fuel injection pump. A "Special Policy" is an extended warranty, acknowledging some manner of parts defect or design flaw. The limitation of this "Special Policy" is 120,000 miles / 193,000 kilometres. Dee-Dee has 217,000 kilometres. He advised that I phone GM to discuss the matter. Interestingly, the GM vehicle maintenance database shows that Dee-Dee has already had the diesel fuel injection pump replaced once under this special extended warranty, at 144,000 kilometres, just before I bought the truck.

I phoned GM. To make another long story short, as is always the case in my discussions with GM, they refuse to do anything. They have a warranty, they have a policy, I'm out of warranty, goodbye ! ! ! Joanne and I spent some time this afternoon discussing a new or newer truck, buying or leasing, doing it here, doing it in Manitoba next summer, etc.. We've had Dee-Dee for 29 months. She has been an ongoing maintenance problem of huge magnitude. We've decided she has to be replaced this summer, in Manitoba. No more waffling ! Goodbye, Dee-Dee. You have about 5 or 6 more months with us, then you're gone !

We did an analysis of our vehicle costs. Depreciation costs, maintenance costs, cost of capitol (we paid cash for Dee-Dee, as we do for allour purchases). It doesn't make economic sense to keep her much longer. It certainly doesn't make emotional sense. That truck causes me more angst than my wife, my money, and my family, all put together ! I'm going to slowly start doing research on GM vs. Ford vs. Dodge, buying vs. leasing, warranty issues across international borders, etc.. I did some online research this afternoon, and sent e-mails to GM, Ford, and Dodge, asking about international application of new vehicle warranties.

While we're down here enjoying the great winter weather of The Valley, I'm using the "down time" to accomplish some of the low priority items on my things to do list. Once we leave here, we're going to be travelling pretty much non-stop for a few months. This afternoon and evening I did some planning and organizing of my juggling and magic. I inventoried the routines, assessed the degree of difficulty of each, and choreographed them into a cohesive performance.

We had supper, then watched TV. I did today's accounting and journal.

DSK

February 5, 2006

February 5, 2006

La Feria, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 233

 

Today was sunny, warm, and very windy.

I got up early this morning to feed Teddy and walk Bo, then I went back to sleep for a couple more hours. When I got up the second time, I made us a huge omelette brunch, necessitated by Joanne dropping a dozen eggs last night. We took Bo for an obedience training walk, and bought today's newspaper. I cleaned the barbecue. I composed some e-mail. I got online, sent and retrieved e-mail, and updated my blog. I practiced my new magic. It's getting better. We spent most of the day lazing around, reading the newspaper.

We decided to go out for dinner. Today was the Super Bowl football game, which we're not interested in. We thought it would be a good day to go out for supper, as the roads and the restaurants would likely be empty. Joanne had a coupon for a barbecue restaurant in San Benito she wanted to go to. We drove east on Hwy. 83 about 8 miles to Harlingen, then about the same distance south on Hwy. 77 to San Benito. With a bit of difficulty we found the restaurant in San Benito. It was a dump, and I didn't want to eat there. We drove back to Harlingen, and decided to eat at Cici's, a pizza buffet chain restaurant. We had a nice dinner at Cici's. When we left Cici's, I decided I wanted to stop at Wal-Mart nearby to get a money order. We stopped at Wal-Mart, and I got the money order I needed, to send to SKP Kofa Ko-op in Yuma, Arizona, as a deposit to get on the waiting list for a lot in their park. Their waiting list is approximately 8 years long.

As we pulled out of the Wal-Mart parking lot, Dee-Dee died. Just stalled ! I tried and tried to get the truck restarted. It wouldn't start. Finally, it started. We drove a couple more blocks, and it died again. Tried and tried to restart it ... no luck. It wasn't a starter problem. It wasn't a battery problem. It seemed to be a fuel problem. We weren't out of fuel. Just to be certain, I poured the 2 gallons of emergency diesel into the tank. Tried and tried to restart. Occasionally, it would start, and run for 30 seconds or a minute, then stall. I removed the turbo charger engine cover, and opened the bleed valve on top of the fuel filter canister. Joanne turned the key. Diesel came out the bleed valve. Okay. I removed the entire fuel filter canister. Joanne turned the key. The fuel pump pumped diesel out. Okay. We' re not out of fuel. Thefuel pump is working. The fuel filter doesn't appear to be clogged or dirty. I just changed it in Yuma less than 2 months ago. There was nothing more I could do but phone for a tow truck.

Very disappointed, I walked a block back to a Wendy's restaurant to use their phone. We didn't have our phone with us. I was disappointed that I was finally going to have use Emergency Roadside Assistance. I was telling Joanne just today that I was proud of my self sufficiency over the last year and a half on the road. I hadn't yet encountered a problem that I couldn't deal with on my own, that required me to phone Emergency Roadside Assistance. I borrowed a phone from the manager of the Wendy's and phoned Emergency Roadside Assistance. They were reasonably quick and efficient, and said the tow truck service they were dispatching would be there in 90 minutes. Gee, I thought that seemed like a long time for a tow truck on a Sunday evening in a medium sized city. I returned to the truck to wait.

A police officer stopped to offer assistance. I didn't need his help, but we chatted for awhile until he had to respond to a call. Occasionally, I would try restarting the truck. It would restart, then die after a minute or two. There is a sensor to detect water in the diesel fuel, and a dash light to indicate water in fuel, if that's the problem. The water in fuel light wasn't on, but I remembered that there are instructions in the owner's manual on how to purge the fuel system of water, if that's the problem. Following the owner's manual instructions, I purged the fuel system, to get rid of any water that may have been in the fuel. No change. Truck wouldn't start. If and when it did, it would stall in a minute. It was amazing how many cars would pull right up to my rear bumper, and sit there for fairly long periods of time, ignoring the fact that the emergency flashers were on, and the hood was raised.

After waiting for 2 hours, I stomped back to the Wendy's to phone Emergency Roadside Assistance again. Their phone system put me into the queue, waiting for an attendant to answer. I stood there in the Wendy's restaurant, with their phone pasted to my ear, for 40 minutes, waiting for the next available attendant. I was pissed off ! ! ! Finally, I saw the tow truck arrive. I hung up, and returned the restaurant's phone to the manager. I stomped back to the truck. Joanne was explaining to the tow truck driver that we wanted the truck to be towed to Knapp Chevrolet, about 2 miles west, then we wanted to be taken back to La Feria, about another 5 miles west. He was just in the process of refusing to drive us back to La Feria when I got there. I was really pissed off at the two and a half hour wait. I was really pissed off at the 40 minutes on the phone, waiting for someone to answer. There wasn't going to be a debate about whether or not he drove us to La Feria. He realized quickly, from my tone of voice, that he was indeed going to be driving us to La Feria after we dropped the truck off at Knapp. I made it quite obvious, as well, that I was pretty pissed off at the two and half hour wait. Emergency Roadside Assistance called a tow truck business from McAllen, about 30 miles west of Harlingen. And when the driver got the call to respond to us in Harlingen, he was dealing with a tow in Falcon Lake, about an hour a half west of Harlingen ! ! !

I tried to take a deep breath and calm down. We got Dee-Dee hooked up, and towed to Knapp. Their gate was closed, and the tow truck driver wanted to drop Dee-Dee outside Knapp's gate. I don't think so, Bubba. Just take a break, and let me look around. As I was looking around, and checking out the locked gate, a security guard showed up. He opened the gate for us, and we got Dee-Dee dropped in front of the service department. The wizard tow truck driver wanted me to sign for the service rendered. Yeah, sure, pal ... as soon as you drive us to La Feria, which is in the same direction he was headed anyway. I sure dislike dealing with tow truck companies, and tow truck drivers. I signed his voucher, he drove us to La Feria.

The truck broke down before 9:00 P.M.. We didn't arrive home until after 12:30 A.M.. Teddy and Bo were frantic to be fed, and walked. We fed Teddy, and walked Bo. Joanne went to bed. I was too "wired". I prepared the money order to send to Kofa Ko-op, then walked down to the nearest mail box to post it. I did today's accounting. I did this journal entry. I'm going to have to get up about 7:00 A.M to phone Knapp. They didn't have a late night drop off service, so I couldn't just fill out a late night drop off form to explain the problem. And I guess I won't be making it to my 10:00 A.M. appointment for installation of the starter heat shield blanket. It's now after 2:00 A.M. and Joanne is asking, with an edge in her voice, when am I coming to bed ?

DSK

February 4, 2006

February 4, 2006

La Feria, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 232

 

Today was sunny and hot again.

This morning after regular morning chores, I went down to the office to extend our stay by 2 more days. Joanne bought tickets to a Mexican folkloric concert next Friday night, so I extended our stay here at La Feria RV Park until Saturday. I took Bo for an obedience walk, and presented him with the most difficult challenge yet. He passed with flying colours. As we were walking, there was a woman approaching with a Schnauzer. I put Bo into a "sit and stay", then walked about 100 feet away. As the woman and Schnauzer approached Bo, I kept commanding him to "stay and leave it". As the woman and other dog passed within a few feet of Bo, he trembled, but held the stay. Good, good dog, Bo, great work !

I did some very minor maintenance work this morning, tightening all the screws in my glasses, and replacing a felt bumper that fell off the back of one of the dinette window day / night shades. I opened the batch of incoming investment mail, sorted it, reviewed it, and made updating entries in the computer. This batch of incoming investment mail finished up the calendar year data, so I completed all the 2005 investment data in the computer. Tomorrow I'll print and store it all. I keep paper copies of my year end investment files.

We had lunch. I read for awhile, then napped. When I woke, Joanne left to go buy some milk, and refill some water jugs. I practiced my new magic. It went well today. I'm making progress.

It was cooler today, with lower humidity. A very pleasant afternoon. I sat outside and read a book for much of the afternoon.

Supper was a bit late tonight. Joanne dropped a dozen eggs on the floor. After supper we watched some TV. I did today's accounting and journal entry. My eyes are sore, burning and itching again tonight. I'm having some problem with my new lenses. I think it's because they don't darken outside, as I'm used to. I think the eye strain is from unfiltered bright sunlight.

On a more positive note, I have been very aggressively treating my colitis, and related problems for the last 2 weeks. I’m feeling better than I have in over 6 months.

DSK

February 3, 2006

February 3, 2006

La Feria, Texas

YEAR 2 DAY 231

 

Today was sunny and hot again, high of 95 degrees ! The afternoon was a bit windy, quite common for Texas in the winter.

This morning after doing regular morning chores, I drained all the waste holding tanks, cleaned and polished my shoes, then took Bo for an obedience training walk. I spent the rest of the morning, and half the afternoon trying, unsuccessfully, to install the starter heat shield blanket.

I thought I would have to raise the front of the truck, and hold it up with axle stands while I worked on the starter. First thing I did was crawl underneath the truck to see how high I would have to lift it to work underneath it. I decided I could get it high enough to work underneath it by just driving the front tires up onto some boards, eliminating the need to use the jack and axle stands. Once I got the front up onto boards, I crawled underneath with the heat shield blanket. I tried and tried to force the blanket around the starter, but finally realized it wasn't possible. I would have to remove the starter, wrap the blanket around it, and reinstall it < sigh >. I got 2 of the 3 mounting bolts removed, but was unable to loosen and remove the third bolt < big sigh >. I didn't have the correct size of socket extension, and I couldn't get enough leverage lying on my back underneath the truck, all twisted up in a confined space. I gave up, and took a break for lunch. I was filthy, covered in grease and grime from my fingertips all the way to my shoulders.

I cleaned up my hands, making a horrible greasy mess in the bathroom vanity. I had lunch, then returned outside to put away my tools, return the neighbour's tools that I had borrowed, and figure out whether to wind my watch, take a shit, or steal third base. I put everything away, and showered to clean off all the grime. I realized while showering that I had scraped my back and shoulders quite a bit, squirming in and out underneath the truck, on the concrete pad. Ouch ! I guess I should have worn a shirt to do that work.

I decided to drive over to a nearby small, independent repair shop and get a quote on having them remove the starter, wrap and strap the heat shield around it, and reinstall it. I drove over to the shop, but the owner was out for a couple of hours. I told them I'd return to see him at closing time. Back at the trailer, Iprinted and reconciled January's bank statements. While Joanne went to do another load of laundry, I trimmed my beard. I'm just about due for a haircut, but I think I'll wait until we're at Livingston. I found the elusive Wi-Fi signal, so I got online, did e-mail, and updated my blog. When Joanne returned from doing a load of laundry, I did today’s accounting. I drove back to the repair shop, got an estimate, and made an appointment for Monday morning. The owner of the repair shop says he has experience in installing these starter heat shields. Unbolt the starter, lower it, wrap and strap the heat shield blanket on the starter, bolt the starter back on, no need to even remove the electrical connections on the front of the starter, ... $38. Okay. I want this starter problem solved, and if a $10 part, and $38 worth of labour is what it takes, so be it. And if this heat shield blanket doesn't solve the problem, then it's worth $48 to me to find that out.

Joanne read my series of ongoing e-mail correspondence with FestiVELO in Charleston, South Carolina. We've been offered a WorkCamping job for the one week duration of this huge bicyclists' rally, the first week of December. She's ambivalent, but disinclined to accept this WorkCamping job offer. We'll probably meet with the FestiVELO organizer in a couple of months as we make our way north along the Atlantic coast, and make a decision at that time. Joanne made some phone calls to get some information on some events taking place in The Valley this weekend. We were interested in attending a rodeo at Los Fresnos, near South Padre Island, but decided it’s just too expensive. Maybe we’ll drive to South Padre Island for the kite festival, although that’s a long drive just to watch some kites flying.. I guess we were on South Padre Island on the first weekend of February last year, because the same kite festival and rodeo were taking place while we were on South Padre Island last year.

We were going to barbecue an early supper, so that we could attend Fun Night, but the wind kept blowing out the barbecue. We cooked supper inside, then went to Fun Night, not knowing what it was. It turned out to be the La Feria RV Park's annual talent / variety entertainment show. YUCK ! An hour and a half of old people acting goofy and stupid. Neither of us finds old people acting silly to be particularly amusing or entertaining. It strikes me as somewhat ironic that the senses of humour of old people seems remarkably similar to that of children.

After Fun Night we took Bo and Teddy for a late night walk. It was cooler tonight than it has been the last few evenings. I guess today's wind cooled things down.

DSK