Last nights adventure!

For most of the day yesterday was rather uneventful with just walking the dogs, going to Wal-Mart again plus finding a PetSmart for Missy's $3.00 a can food of which she eats 2 -2.5 cans a day.  With that accomplished we settled in for a quiet evening.  However, quiet it was not to be as Missy was in one of her "moods" and wanted to bark at everything.

Because it has been so hot we hoped with the evening's cooling we could turn off the air and just opened the windows.  We tried that for a while but it turned out we still needed the air plus Missy would not settle down and kept whining so Tim shut all the windows again.   As we were getting ready for bed Tim asked me if I had seen the cats?  Somewhat stunned considering our cats are totally inside cats we started looking for them.  Granted our 5th wheel is only 35 feet it didn't take long to realize that both had gotten outside as it turns out one of the screens opened with the window was opened.  So Missy's barking and crying was to tell us the cats had gotten out but did we pay her any attention; of course not.

So, Tim and I bail out with flashlights to try and find them.  We spotted Jackson aka "butterball" under the trailer next to ours.  But once Tim put the flashlight on him he freeked and took off running as fast as his little short legs and very round body would let him.  We ended up following him for a good part of the park until he finally jumped up on a retaining wall into my arms.  Poor baby, he's probably never run that much and his heart was pounding so fast it almost matched his breathing.  I think the reason he freeked so much is the fact he only has one eye, never goes out in either the dark or day time, and he just didn't know where he was.  I threw him into the trailer and then we started looking for Harpo aka '"old man."

Tim head in one direction and I grabbed Missy and went down to the river.  Thinking that Missy tried to tell us the cats were out in the first place she might be of some help finding Harpo.  She took off immediately like she really knew what she was doing.  What she didn't know is that I was barefoot and she took through every pile of small rocks she could find.

After about 10 minutes I heard Tim yell that he had found our geratic cat so Missy and I headed back to the trailer.  Of course I had to go back through the rocks so my feet were thrashed.  I was curious where Harp was and Tim replied laughing that he was under our truck and probably had been watching us running around like we had totally lost our minds.

Needless to say both cats sleep very well last night and so did we.  Note to self:  Missy is not a good tracking dog but does tell us when the cats get out so we should pay more attention to what she telling us.  I guess her $3.00 a can food is worth it.

We have arrived!

Well, after a long day of travel we arrived at the RV park in Highland, TX which is a suburb of Houston on the San Jacinto river.  The park is fairly new and has great features such as it's on fishing pier, an adult pool, an exercise room, a internet/library, walking paths and beautiful sunsets (see pictures).  It is also very dog friendly as almost everyone has at least one dog.

We have explored the Town of Highland and it is very small but found a Wal-Mart two towns over from us.  Still dealing with the heat but we've been told that within the next month it will start to cool down.  Only negative thing we've found so far is the mosquitos are still very healthy this time of the year!

On the Road to Texas - Part 5 aka a slight bump(s) in the road

I'm sure all of you have had those days when you get up early with plans for a nice quiet time.  Well, that was our plan for today.  Started out getting away an hour early because we anticipated a longer drive after slacking off yesterday.  So, we were in the truck at 7am even though it was still dark which we have found more difficult to get away usually because an RV park always looks different when the sun is not up.

We were set to get on the on ramp to the 10 but it was not lit well and Tim missed it - worse yet he was heading down a dead end street.  So, that meant he was going to have to back approx. 300 feet to get back to the off ramp because the road was too narrow to turn around.  If case you didn't know Tim hates to back up the trailer and he will be the first to tell you he doesn't do it well.

Well, after a few twists, turns, and going forward (plus words I hadn't heard for awhile) then backing we are lined up for the on ramp and Tim gunned it.  I had looked down at the map when I heard two loud Ka booms, asking what the "heck" that was Tim simply answered "a dead deer."  Well, at least it was already dead.

For the next 30 minutes we watched a beautiful sunrise over the foothills.  We also noticed that after about 10 miles the landscape was changing and we were actually seeing larger bushes and eventually they changed into trees!  Lord, I have missed trees.

Then about 12:30p we are cruising down the 10 just about 50 miles from San Antonio when Tim yells that a tire on the rig had just blown out.  Fortunately he must have seen it just as it happen and we were able to pull over immediately.  So, the Good Sam Club has a new app on smart phones for their emergency service so we tried it out with less than satisfaction than we were hoping for.  Eventually Tim was able to get through to them directly and from that point on the service was great.

We only lost about an hour on our trip so it wasn't too bad after all.  The RV park here in San Antonio is great and the pool felt good after a 95 degree day.  I've attached pictures of the tire which shows we were very lucky not to have sustained more damage either to the rig or the rim.  Guess the big guy upstairs was protecting us.  Maybe he can help us while we deal with the tire manufacturer?

On the Road to Texas - Part 4

Today was somewhat uneventful which is a good thing.  Tim has given you a pretty good describtion of the Fort Stockton and it's history.  Interesting fact that we are finding is that most of the RV parks that we have spent the night in AZ, NM, and TX are already filling up with "Snowbirds" flying home for the winter.  So far, I will give a "thumbs up" for the TX residents, nice, polite and very helpful.

As far as traveling goes we only have 6 hours tomorrow and 4 hours Thursday and then we will be in Highland (suburb of Houston) and I don't think any of us could wait another minute!

Fort Stockton, TX

Is located in Pecos County.  Camp Stockton grew up as Comanche Springs.  Once housed the famous 9th Cavalry known as the Buffalo Soldiers.  About 87% of all soldiers at Ft. Stockton from 1867 to 1886 were Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th & 10 Cavalry Regiments and the 41st, 24th & 25th Infantry regiments.  Surmounting obstacles of harsh living conditions, low pay & racial prejudice they gained a reputation for tenacity and bravery.  Stationed continously on the frontier during the years of indian hostility, black regiments played a major role in the settlement & development of America's western frontieer.

On the Road to Texas - Part 3

Buenas Noches, esta tarde llegamos a El Paso, Texas!

I guess my high school Spanish teacher would be proud that I remembered something that was taught in class.  Most of you realize that this is Nj writing tonight as the only thing Tim studied in high school was baseball and girls.

You always know when you enter a community that has a Latin influence because the restaurant signs all say, "Try our muendo, it's the best."  Funny thing is I like muendo especially as a cure for a hangover.

So, we just completed day 3 on the US 10 and for those of you that have traveled it you know that the only scenery is desert, desert and more desert.  Unfortunately neither Tim or I are "desert people" but I have to give them that they do have gorgeous sunsets and beautiful evenings.

Well, our luck didn't hold.  We were in the truck 5 minutes when Harpo upchucked his breakfast then a 1/2 hour later he jumped into the litter box.  Fortunately he only had to do #1 this time.  One thing I did laugh at today were all the signs warning of "blowing sand" which is on the same level of Maine's "blowing snow" so I guess we all have our problems with "blowing."

I snapped this picture of Sadie (10 y old) sleeping in the back seat with Jackson.  Sadie is usually the one who looks out the window a great deal of the time while we are traveling.  But I think even she was bored with the desert. 

Only 2.5 more days and we will be in the Houston area where there are real trees and even the gulf.   It seems funny that now we are in Texas but we completed only 50% of the trip.  Really looking forward to getting there and I think the critters would agree.

On the Road to Texas - Part 2

Today was a total opposite of yesterday.  Neither cat dropped a load in the litter box, Harpo didn't vomit and I managed to keep my other 9 fingers out of harm's way.  I can't say that we enjoyed the ride much  as once again we were entertained only by the desert and high temperatures.  We did manage to across the state of AZ landing in Benton near the New Mexico border.  Tomorrow's goal is El Paso.  I can smell Tex-Mex already!

This morning I took this picture of "His Royal Highness Harpo" sleeping on his "throne" (aka the console) between the front seats.  By the smile on his face he was having a great dream - I wonder what 17 yr old cats dream about?

We can only hope that tomorrow will be as a calm as today.  Oh I forgot to mention the train.  It seems to go by this RV park about every 2 hours and I would bet it goes all night.  Oh well you can't have everything.