We had a nice Memorial Day weekend. I have been getting out a bit more but not for long, not into any crowds, mostly just run an errand and return.
We were invited Sunday to a Tomball campground by friends who had 5 people besides us at their RV. Plans were if it rains, grab a plate of food and head for home. There was brisket, ribs and chicken besides lots of other stuff too. I made a Black Forest cake to take. We all were outside sitting apart. It rained horrendously on the way down, broke for about 3 hours, and when it clouded up, we headed home in another horrendous downpour. Our water meter lid was floating in the yard, the emitter lid had been blown off and our side yard on top of the French drain looked like a river. Nothing was damaged, just lots of water draining away eventually.
Monday we were having Terry and Carol over so Ted smoked ribs in his smoker. I used red/white/ blue dishes and put a dozen little flags out around the wall. I even told Alexa to sing The Star Spangled Banner before we sat down to ask the blessing. I thought it was a nice touch. I made twice baked potatoes, beans, Texas toast and served applesauce with Carol’s coleslaw. I also made a very berry cobbler which we all enjoyed.
We played cards. I had a Shanghai and came in second. Hooray, finally my dry spell has broken. I am used to playing cards at least once a week and this not socializing is getting old fast!
Irene and I both had Chico gift cards so when they finally opened we went to the Premium Outlet Center to see what trouble we could get into. I used up my gift card and then some at Chico’s but Irene had two cards and had some credit left on one. A fair amount of stores were not open yet, some had social distancing outside waiting to get in and some allowed only a certain number in at a time. I made one purchase at Ann Taylor and Irene bought a piece of jewelry at Swarovski and we shared some mini Annie pretzels on a bench that had the middle seat roped off. So much for lunch!
While I was cleaning house and preparing for having company, Ted was working on getting the plates for my Jeep and the motorhome. The consignment lot that sold our truck had all our Jeep paperwork and were in no hurry to get the plates but finally this week Ted picked them up. When the motorhome title arrived he was able to get the motorhome plates. They are now on the vehicles with the inspection stickers in place. The titles should come sometime in June. Nancy will watch out for them.
Our trip is mostly in flux right now. What I have in place isn’t working because the events we were aiming for have been cancelled. New ones are in their place. Michigan is still on shutdown until into June so the county campgrounds aren’t open, I need to change the dates in the Ohio state park but no one answers the phone and the mailboxes are all full. Sam’s commencement may or may not happen. The party venue may or may not be open with permission to have enough people to cover the guest list, etc., etc., etc.! We were able to get Ted registered for a different Shoot in Ohio with my brother. That venue has cabins and RV spots but all 600 spots and the cabins were full. So we opted for the nearby KOA and Dan and Sue rented a camping cabin. Let’s hope those reservations hold!
But we are self contained now with a generator so the worst that can happen as far as parks go, is we end up in a Walmart or Flying J for a night. We will do our best to get confirmed reservations as we move along but with things changing day after day it is hard to stay on top of it.
And this is the reason for my Title. Today we reached 100,000 Covid19 deaths. So I Googled how many people normally die each day from all causes in the US and the answer from a few different sources is 7,000. We have been “locked up” for the most part, for 56 days. You can do the math.
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
Happy Mother’s Day Week
Saturday we watched Mass and ate at home. For Mother’s Day we rode to Lowe’s and in the outside garden center, bought a flat of impatiens. Ted planted them along the front wall at home. Later in the afternoon we went to Saltgrass Steakhouse for dinner. The tables behind each of us and next to us were empty. The tables are totally cleared off and the menus are paper. We had a nice dinner with no incidents and came home to talk to all three of the girls. I had a lovely day.
I stayed in the rest of the week venturing out to Dollar General Thursday to buy a sympathy card, five graduation cards and six birthday cards. Busy times coming up. Later on I decided to seal the granite in the master bath. It isn’t hard or time consuming. You just have to set the timer to do the things in the proper order at the proper time.
Friday I did nothing! Absolutely nothing. Ted even fixed dinner. One thing I did accomplish was ordering the baby gift for the shower we are attending for my great, great nephew in Indiana in June. We had tickets for the theater but there was no performance so I have no idea what they will do. This was the end of this season and a new season will start in the fall. They have not sent the new tickets or put the credit card through so they may be going to give a credit. I just have to remember to watch for what they do.
The salons opened so we got haircuts on Saturday. Cindy has a new place, a salon with all little rooms of individual stations. We waited in the car until she was ready and went in together. It certainly was an improvement for both of us. She has been very busy and we appreciated her getting us in so quickly. To make up for the missed haircuts, we paid her double. The last thing we did before leaving Mission was to get a haircut. Otherwise I have no idea how bad we would have looked,
Since we were in the area we opted to eat at Mel’s Diner. They required reservations, which we didn’t have, but she said she had a table for just two so we went in. Everything is disposable or single servings but the chicken was as good as ever.
We had chosen to eat out because we missed our Church.’s live-streaming of Mass at 5 pm. When we arrived home, I searched on line and found one from Massachusetts in a gorgeous cathedral celebrated by a Cardinal. It was of course empty but the vocalist was exceptional and the message very good. So we now have two Texas churches, Toronto and Massachusetts to add to our repertoire.
Sunday we were back at Terry and Carol’s for the country club’s $5 pick up spaghetti dinner and it was great. I made a pineapple upside down cake for dessert. We played cards. I did not win!!
Monday we ventured to the Container Store. I wanted plastic lipped trays for the coach’s medicine cabinet. It is almost 4 feet wide and fairly deep. We would have things rattling all over the place if just set in there when traveling. When we arrived they said we had to make an appointment and wear a mask which we had. But then he asked for our names and phone number and let us shop. Two ladies came but had to wait for us to leave before they could come in.
We had not eaten and it was 2:30 so we went to House of Pies. We were seated all alone, received plastic ware and everything was individual - salt, pepper, ketchup, jelly, etc. I was given a wipe for my hands and credit card when paying the bill and she wiped my card handing it back! I guess that’s the new normal.
It is Tuesday and the laundry is done, baby present wrapped, 3 bags put out for Texas Paralyzed Veterans and the refrigerator cleaned out. My Rhoomba isn’t charging properly so now I am going to research that! It is always something.
I stayed in the rest of the week venturing out to Dollar General Thursday to buy a sympathy card, five graduation cards and six birthday cards. Busy times coming up. Later on I decided to seal the granite in the master bath. It isn’t hard or time consuming. You just have to set the timer to do the things in the proper order at the proper time.
Friday I did nothing! Absolutely nothing. Ted even fixed dinner. One thing I did accomplish was ordering the baby gift for the shower we are attending for my great, great nephew in Indiana in June. We had tickets for the theater but there was no performance so I have no idea what they will do. This was the end of this season and a new season will start in the fall. They have not sent the new tickets or put the credit card through so they may be going to give a credit. I just have to remember to watch for what they do.
The salons opened so we got haircuts on Saturday. Cindy has a new place, a salon with all little rooms of individual stations. We waited in the car until she was ready and went in together. It certainly was an improvement for both of us. She has been very busy and we appreciated her getting us in so quickly. To make up for the missed haircuts, we paid her double. The last thing we did before leaving Mission was to get a haircut. Otherwise I have no idea how bad we would have looked,
Since we were in the area we opted to eat at Mel’s Diner. They required reservations, which we didn’t have, but she said she had a table for just two so we went in. Everything is disposable or single servings but the chicken was as good as ever.
We had chosen to eat out because we missed our Church.’s live-streaming of Mass at 5 pm. When we arrived home, I searched on line and found one from Massachusetts in a gorgeous cathedral celebrated by a Cardinal. It was of course empty but the vocalist was exceptional and the message very good. So we now have two Texas churches, Toronto and Massachusetts to add to our repertoire.
Sunday we were back at Terry and Carol’s for the country club’s $5 pick up spaghetti dinner and it was great. I made a pineapple upside down cake for dessert. We played cards. I did not win!!
Monday we ventured to the Container Store. I wanted plastic lipped trays for the coach’s medicine cabinet. It is almost 4 feet wide and fairly deep. We would have things rattling all over the place if just set in there when traveling. When we arrived they said we had to make an appointment and wear a mask which we had. But then he asked for our names and phone number and let us shop. Two ladies came but had to wait for us to leave before they could come in.
We had not eaten and it was 2:30 so we went to House of Pies. We were seated all alone, received plastic ware and everything was individual - salt, pepper, ketchup, jelly, etc. I was given a wipe for my hands and credit card when paying the bill and she wiped my card handing it back! I guess that’s the new normal.
It is Tuesday and the laundry is done, baby present wrapped, 3 bags put out for Texas Paralyzed Veterans and the refrigerator cleaned out. My Rhoomba isn’t charging properly so now I am going to research that! It is always something.
Friday, May 8, 2020
Feeling Good
A lot of prayer went into our motorhome decision, going all the way back to last summer. One day we saw a couple who looked older than us buying a brand new motorhome while we were at the Newmar factory to the next day a good camping friend not waking up that morning, he was 68. God has a sense of humor I think in giving both sides of an answer which really didn’t help me much!
We are back in isolation after our 2000 miles sequestered trip in the car and motorhome. We came in contact with a hotel clerk, Jim and his wife who had also been sequestered, and one grocery store visit in our 8 day saga.
But everything went so seamlessly in the midst of the pandemic I think only God could have smoothed the road so well. And we couldn’t have found a better couple to buy from. They bought the best of everything, were meticulous all the way down to the files and then left it all for us to have, including an Epson printer, Blue Ox tow bar, Towmate brake lights for the roof of the Jeep, Air Force braking system so the car brakes with the motorhome. There are one, if not two, of everything that ever needs replacing at some point including the yearly maintenance filters. Windshield wipers, water filters, lounge chairs and tables, two sets of wheel covers, etc. It was like buying a furnished model home.
Of course all that “stuff” sitting all over my house was an accumulation of 40 years and 5 other RVs. What was now in the motorhome was staying so this others had to go. I took a second set of sheets, several towel sets, dishtowels and potholders (Sandy was no cook by her own admission). I wanted my electric can opener, some baking dishes, glasses and coffee cups (just 2 didn’t work). There are cleaning supplies galore, boxes of trash bags for the self closing can, laundry detergent, toilet chemicals, etc. Thank goodness for the half bath cabinets where a lot of this is stored.
Once we had all we wanted in the motorhome we tackled the piles at home. A friend wanted my original bed ensemble from the 5th wheel. I got it out and put it on the bed in the 5th wheel only to find it on the floor because the buyer didn’t want it. Ted’s friend runs a camp for at risk boys and he wanted towels and blankets. The rest filled the Expedition up twice and landed at Goodwill, the first place to reopen. There was a vacuum, Keurig coffeemaker, toaster, Corelleware, silverware, pots and pans, etc. It is amazing what we had in there.
When we look back over those two weeks we are amazed at what we accomplished while flying by the seat of our pants. The people paid cash for the trailer and left with a title. I notified the state of TX that the vehicle had been sold and taken to Arizona then cancelled the insurance. The truck sold and the people left with a title back to Tyler TX and I did the same notification and cancellation for that.
We were given the title for the Jeep so we insured it and have a paper tag while awaiting the plates and title. In the meantime it needed a front plate bracket and running boards will get put on next week.
There was a lien on the motorhome so we returned with no title just a bill of sale and odometer reading. We bought insurance and are awaiting the title to apply for our plates. That lien has now been removed but we don’t know who is working or not in NCDMV! We sent both plates back to Jim in NC so he could cancel his insurance. The motorhome is in storage with no plate yet. But all in all, things went smoothly.
John and Irene brought us dinner that night and we sat outside at the picnic table to keep distance.
We spent most of the next week getting new homes for all our trailer stuff. It required redoing some of the closets I had straightened when the lockdown started. And since I was in them, I decided we should get rid of excess stuff here at home too.
The salons are now open and while Ted went shooting I went to the nail salon. They had only four customers at a time, wore masks and gloves and there were plastic shields between them and customers. You had to have an appointment to be inside. My fingernails had pretty much all broken off so she did the best she could. I did not want tips put on. They will grow out quickly. My toenails really needed trimming. It felt really good!
This is the week we should have been in Cancun which was canceled, our Michigan campground reservation had to be pushed back 10 days due to a delayed opening, and our New England trip has been canceled. Our group is talking to the Holy Land tour people to see where that stands. I have no idea of how the virus is being handled in Jordan or Israel. I do know my Israeli neighbor is stuck in Tel Aviv and not allowed to return.
We are back in isolation after our 2000 miles sequestered trip in the car and motorhome. We came in contact with a hotel clerk, Jim and his wife who had also been sequestered, and one grocery store visit in our 8 day saga.
But everything went so seamlessly in the midst of the pandemic I think only God could have smoothed the road so well. And we couldn’t have found a better couple to buy from. They bought the best of everything, were meticulous all the way down to the files and then left it all for us to have, including an Epson printer, Blue Ox tow bar, Towmate brake lights for the roof of the Jeep, Air Force braking system so the car brakes with the motorhome. There are one, if not two, of everything that ever needs replacing at some point including the yearly maintenance filters. Windshield wipers, water filters, lounge chairs and tables, two sets of wheel covers, etc. It was like buying a furnished model home.
Of course all that “stuff” sitting all over my house was an accumulation of 40 years and 5 other RVs. What was now in the motorhome was staying so this others had to go. I took a second set of sheets, several towel sets, dishtowels and potholders (Sandy was no cook by her own admission). I wanted my electric can opener, some baking dishes, glasses and coffee cups (just 2 didn’t work). There are cleaning supplies galore, boxes of trash bags for the self closing can, laundry detergent, toilet chemicals, etc. Thank goodness for the half bath cabinets where a lot of this is stored.
Once we had all we wanted in the motorhome we tackled the piles at home. A friend wanted my original bed ensemble from the 5th wheel. I got it out and put it on the bed in the 5th wheel only to find it on the floor because the buyer didn’t want it. Ted’s friend runs a camp for at risk boys and he wanted towels and blankets. The rest filled the Expedition up twice and landed at Goodwill, the first place to reopen. There was a vacuum, Keurig coffeemaker, toaster, Corelleware, silverware, pots and pans, etc. It is amazing what we had in there.
When we look back over those two weeks we are amazed at what we accomplished while flying by the seat of our pants. The people paid cash for the trailer and left with a title. I notified the state of TX that the vehicle had been sold and taken to Arizona then cancelled the insurance. The truck sold and the people left with a title back to Tyler TX and I did the same notification and cancellation for that.
We were given the title for the Jeep so we insured it and have a paper tag while awaiting the plates and title. In the meantime it needed a front plate bracket and running boards will get put on next week.
There was a lien on the motorhome so we returned with no title just a bill of sale and odometer reading. We bought insurance and are awaiting the title to apply for our plates. That lien has now been removed but we don’t know who is working or not in NCDMV! We sent both plates back to Jim in NC so he could cancel his insurance. The motorhome is in storage with no plate yet. But all in all, things went smoothly.
John and Irene brought us dinner that night and we sat outside at the picnic table to keep distance.
We spent most of the next week getting new homes for all our trailer stuff. It required redoing some of the closets I had straightened when the lockdown started. And since I was in them, I decided we should get rid of excess stuff here at home too.
The salons are now open and while Ted went shooting I went to the nail salon. They had only four customers at a time, wore masks and gloves and there were plastic shields between them and customers. You had to have an appointment to be inside. My fingernails had pretty much all broken off so she did the best she could. I did not want tips put on. They will grow out quickly. My toenails really needed trimming. It felt really good!
This is the week we should have been in Cancun which was canceled, our Michigan campground reservation had to be pushed back 10 days due to a delayed opening, and our New England trip has been canceled. Our group is talking to the Holy Land tour people to see where that stands. I have no idea of how the virus is being handled in Jordan or Israel. I do know my Israeli neighbor is stuck in Tel Aviv and not allowed to return.
Friday, May 1, 2020
Changing On A Dime
Well, things certainly kicked into gear on Monday. We were just having coffee mid morning when the phone rang. It was the AZ couple. They asked if we would put the RV in a campground so they could check it out better. So we did. They looked again and made us an offer. Then we had to move quickly. We had the title and they wanted it notarized though it doesn’t call for a stamp. It took 3 banks and 3 UPS offices before finding a notary. Then it took two Chase offices for them to transfer the money from their Chase accounts into our Chase account. Once that was done we had to unload everything we had in the RV.
It took the balance of Monday and half of Tuesday to accomplish a complete purge. They wanted nothing but did accept paper plates, paper towels, cups and two sets of flatware to get them home while eating in.
We had stuff on every bed, counter, garage floor and our neighbor’s garage floor. I realized we had accumulated all this from 5 RVs we have owned and it was time to clean house.
In the meantime we called to advise our North Carolina motorhome owner we were ready to buy. We left on Thursday, made sandwiches and ate in a rest stop and stopped at a Hilton Garden Inn at Germantown, TN, just east of Memphis. We bought sandwiches from a nearby restaurant to eat in our room. In the morning for breakfast there were empty bags and all sorts of things to choose from to eat in your room or wherever. Since we couldn’t just stop anywhere with the pandemic I took muffins, protein bars, Cheerios, milk, OJ and bananas. It got us through the day.
When we arrived, Jim said we had a problem in that when we entered NC, we were to quarantine for 14 days. The rental car had Florida plates and they didn’t want the neighbors at the park where they kept the motorhome to see them. So they insisted we have dinner with them, spend the night and return the rental car first thing in the morning. Once we did that we were given the Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit we were also buying. We spent Saturday and Sunday in the motorhome getting lots of lessons from Jim including a driving stint for Ted.
On Monday I called Morgan Stanley and had them wire the money to Jim’s Merrill Lynch account. It all went seamlessly. He had all the paperwork ready so it was easy. We drove to Crossville, TN for our first stop. That got us through Knoxville. The next day included driving through Nashville and Memphis stopping in Forrest City, AR. It was very windy so was a difficult day for driving. Our last stop was Carthage, TX. We pulled into Woodlands Lake RV park about 1:30 on Thursday. Tommy and Susan were waiting for us to welcome us home, they drove from Southeast of Houston just to see our new rig.
We drove home to load up the Expedition and the Jeep. In the meantime, Ted got a call and our truck was sold. He went to put the V gate in the truck since we had put the original tailgate back on. The people are looking for a 5th wheel and it is easier with a V gate.
I started going through boxes and bags setting things aside for Ted’s buddy who runs a Christian boys ranch and someone running a women’s shelter. Sheets, blankets, towels, pots, pans, etc. all were put into piles. When I had my car filled, Ted arrived back and I filled his. We returned to the campground and got busy. Ted washed the windshield and front of the motorhome while I tried to put things away. It took a long time but I made great progress. We were both too tired to do another run and we had a late dinner and called it a night.
Tomorrow will be busy. A few people are stopping by and Irene and John are bringing us dinner. It is good to have accomplished so much in 10 days time,
It took the balance of Monday and half of Tuesday to accomplish a complete purge. They wanted nothing but did accept paper plates, paper towels, cups and two sets of flatware to get them home while eating in.
We had stuff on every bed, counter, garage floor and our neighbor’s garage floor. I realized we had accumulated all this from 5 RVs we have owned and it was time to clean house.
In the meantime we called to advise our North Carolina motorhome owner we were ready to buy. We left on Thursday, made sandwiches and ate in a rest stop and stopped at a Hilton Garden Inn at Germantown, TN, just east of Memphis. We bought sandwiches from a nearby restaurant to eat in our room. In the morning for breakfast there were empty bags and all sorts of things to choose from to eat in your room or wherever. Since we couldn’t just stop anywhere with the pandemic I took muffins, protein bars, Cheerios, milk, OJ and bananas. It got us through the day.
When we arrived, Jim said we had a problem in that when we entered NC, we were to quarantine for 14 days. The rental car had Florida plates and they didn’t want the neighbors at the park where they kept the motorhome to see them. So they insisted we have dinner with them, spend the night and return the rental car first thing in the morning. Once we did that we were given the Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit we were also buying. We spent Saturday and Sunday in the motorhome getting lots of lessons from Jim including a driving stint for Ted.
On Monday I called Morgan Stanley and had them wire the money to Jim’s Merrill Lynch account. It all went seamlessly. He had all the paperwork ready so it was easy. We drove to Crossville, TN for our first stop. That got us through Knoxville. The next day included driving through Nashville and Memphis stopping in Forrest City, AR. It was very windy so was a difficult day for driving. Our last stop was Carthage, TX. We pulled into Woodlands Lake RV park about 1:30 on Thursday. Tommy and Susan were waiting for us to welcome us home, they drove from Southeast of Houston just to see our new rig.
We drove home to load up the Expedition and the Jeep. In the meantime, Ted got a call and our truck was sold. He went to put the V gate in the truck since we had put the original tailgate back on. The people are looking for a 5th wheel and it is easier with a V gate.
I started going through boxes and bags setting things aside for Ted’s buddy who runs a Christian boys ranch and someone running a women’s shelter. Sheets, blankets, towels, pots, pans, etc. all were put into piles. When I had my car filled, Ted arrived back and I filled his. We returned to the campground and got busy. Ted washed the windshield and front of the motorhome while I tried to put things away. It took a long time but I made great progress. We were both too tired to do another run and we had a late dinner and called it a night.
Tomorrow will be busy. A few people are stopping by and Irene and John are bringing us dinner. It is good to have accomplished so much in 10 days time,
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