Oasis in the Desert

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Looking to the future

Today, I looked at the blogs of lots of fellow RVers.  Some are brand new and others have been at it for many years.  I went looking to enjoy reading other's news and look at some great pictures.  Also, to get new ideas for full-time travel.

I saw a few ideas that sent me searching on Amazon.  One is a sort of crock pot that cooks all day long after you start it on the stove, sans the electricity better known as a nissan thermal cooker. Look her up on Amazon.   Expensive, but a great idea.  Make the stew, put it in the uber-insulated container and voila, you have stew at the end of a long drive.

Also, today, I downloaded some new apps on my iphone. Love the Passport America App.   It is an addiction, that phone.  I am sure I would love an ipad but, for now I get it on the phone.  We did order a Kindle so that we could load books and cut back on weight issues.  Waiting for Fedex.

Really, pretty scary how addicted we are to our electronic toys.  What will be next?

54 days to blastoff   C, H, and Boo too

Sunday, August 28, 2011

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER


FREE HOT DOGS
Advertising for Dogs

Several times each summer as GoodWill Ambassadors for Camping World, we have the pleasure of serving hot dogs that we cook for customers coming into the store.  It is always a lot of fun and we always hear lots of great stories.  Of course, the big story in Dallas this year is the heat.  Herb cooks the dawgs outside and I stay inside in the cool of the store's entry hall.




GREAT FOLKS AND GREAT STORIES

Camping World is the candy store for RVers.  Arrive to buy one thing and leave with six sacks.  Too much fun stuff.  So....the hot dogs look great and are a nice reward for a maxed out credit card.

We met a couple who were on their second marriage.  They had both been best friends as former couples of other's and when each lost their spouse, they became friends for a dinner or just company and voila...the magic.  The camped in a teardrop camper that the husband had built himself on a frame he bought from Harbor Freight.  He said it cost him about $2,000.  It had a queen size bed, an air conditioner, a TV, and the kitchen was outside in back.  They like to boondock, so he was looking for a generator.  They have a kind of canopy that covers the kitchen so that HE can cook when the weather is bad.  Also, a port-a-potty that fits under the tent.  WOW, I am really impressed.

See strips for the table and bench
OTHER FASCINATING FOLKS

I also met a young woman who had just lost 60 pounds.  Just willpower, amazing. 

There was a family from Germany turning in their rental RV after touring Texas.  They said the weather in Texas was just perfect for them.  It was cold in Germany. There have been over 60 days of 100 + temps, a new record. 

Met a guy who is a professional poker player.  He was on his way to a tournament at the big Winstar Casino on the Oklahoma-Texas border.  We gave him a Camping World cap for good luck.
We met lots of other interesting folks, 3 sets of twins.  Campers are just so interesting.  Looking forward to seeing new country.

Our journey west begins in just 56 days.  Too much to do. 

More to Come  H, C, and Boo too

Friday, August 26, 2011

Movin' on

DALLAS IS TOAST

Literally,  we have reached 60 days and counting of over 100 degree temps.  Everyone is grumpy, grouchy, unable to do anything about this life threatening heat.  Mother's rejoice to send their children back to school.  These days schools are air conditioned.  This morning at 11a we prepared and served hot dogs to hungry RVers at the local Camping World.  They came and they ate.  A whole Sam's Club package and buns to match.  It was just slightly hot outside where we cooked the dogs, but we served them inside.  Tomorrow,  we will do the same.  "Doggone", it was too much fun. People are so friendly and appreciative and it really is lots of good social interaction with other rvers.

Cooking Dawgs is hot work


MOVING ON

Come November, we will be moving west to be the Goodwill Ambassadors for the stores in Las Vegas.  This will be a Winter position as there will be NO MORE work in supremely hot climates.  We are looking forward to the trip and a new kind of country.  The territory is large and the terrain is changing and interesting.  We are looking forward to re-entering our RV lifestyle.  There are many todos before then so, we will move onward and forward and sort, sort, sort.  The task a fulltimer must attend to religiously or we gain weight, or the RV does.  I guess we do as well.  It is a fun and challenging way to live life and we embrace it.

More to Come   C, H, and Boo too

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Young persons in our lives

I read a blog today written by a nine year old.  It is the story of her and her family as the biked from the Arctic Circle to Argentina.  I will include the link to their website later on.  It is really amazing.

ANOTHER MEMORY JOG FOR ME

It reminded me of our first car  in Mexico.  We moved to Mexico in 2000 and went without a car.  The bus system in Mexico is amazing.  You really can go anywhere, anytime on any kind of bus.  From super first class to the clunker complete with the senora with the chickens and really no real seats.  That being said, we lived without a car for several months and decided that it would be easier and in some ways less costly to have a car.

BACK TO THE USA

So, we flew back to Austin, TX and purchased a 1992 Chrysler Van.  Maroon with lots of miles, but in pretty good shape.  We purchased Mexican insurance, crossed the border and decided to go back to Ajijic via Saltillo and Zacatecas.  The road between Saltillo and Zacatecas runs 200 miles and it is two lane and has virtually no shoulders.  It is not a toll road and heavily traveled by big rigs.

OH NO

About midway, Herb asked if I could drive as he was tired.  I took the wheel and proceeded to continue the trip.  The steering on this car was a bit slushy and I took my eyes off the road for an instant and I heard Herb screaming at me.  I had slipped off the road onto the non existent shoulder and was heading for the cactus lands.  By some miracle, the car caught a concrete guard rail over an arroyo (small dry stream) and it rode over it like it was a monorail.  We could hear the bottom of the car being destroyed and we soon flew off the end and landed flat.  The car was totaled.

HELP

We were not injured, a few seat belt burns, and we climbed out of the car.  This site was 100 miles from either Saltillo or Zacatecas, the literal middle of nowhere and trucks and cars were zooming by and not stopping.  Finally, a car stopped and we gave them our insurance info and he said he would call.  (He did.)  But, not another soul stopped and there were all of a sudden all kinds of people coming out of the cactus, on bike, by foot.  We are told that if you were injured they would strip everything from you and your car.  Fortunately, we were pretty shook up, but, not injured.

THE MIRACLE OF A CHILD

After some time a couple in another old van stopped.  They were returning from a vacation on the coast and lived in Monterrey.  Problem was,  they did not speak a word of English and we did not speak a word of Spanish.  The only bilingual person in our group was their 8 year old daughter.  She held her baby doll and translated what we said into Spanish and what they said into English.  This little girl literally saved our lives and what happened from there on is another story.  Until then, I hope you enjoy the story written by a 9 year old about their bike trip from the Artic Circle to Argentina.  http://vagabonders-supreme.net/TomlinsonFamily/Tomlinson1.html  All you need to do is left click on the link. It is a great read!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Memories: First Trip in the RV

I just finished reading a blog titled " RV Sue and her Canine Crew".  The writer is very clever and has sold everthing she owned to buy a small "Casita" RV to tow with her Chevy Van.  She is on the road now with her two dogs and living the RV lifestyle fulltime.  She spent her first night at a Corps Park on a Lake outside of Corsicana, TX, where she picked up her Casita.  Luckily, a great couple met her at the campground and helped her with her "first time."

Ah, the memories.  It took me back to the first time we spent the night in our first fifth wheel.  We went to Waurika Lake.  A good size lake in SW Oklahoma.  I should have known that something was amiss when there was only ONE space left on a lake that has at leat 100 spaces, maybe more.  We left home, paid our park fees and headed for our "spot".  Oh my,  it was sloped downhill toward the lake, seriously.  Undaunted,  Herb backed in (always an adventure) and we began to set up.  The space was so sloped that there was no way to level the rig.  So,  getting up in the night to visit the loo was a downhill adventure.  We only stayed one night.

     Backing a 37 foot fifth wheel hooked to a 22 foot pickup was always an exercise in driving me to drink.  Your hands go on the bottom on the steering wheel and you go the way your hands go, left or right.  Herb did not think that was ever a good idea.  We have had truck drivers jump in and save us from losing our voices screaming at each other.  But, it was fun and durn....Herb just remembers the good stuff.  He is such a blue sky day kind of guy.  Eternal optimist bound to an eternal pessimist.  Maybe a good mix for life on the road.  RV Sue only has canine companions.  They do not comment.  More to Come....H, C, and Boo too

Friday, August 12, 2011

Aging Gracefully

HEALTH
I have friends who are dealing with life altering health problems.  I think about them and pray for them to find their peaceful place in the later years of this life we were given.

OUR HEALTH ISSUES

Herb and I are very blessed to be in good health for our age.  We know that this can change at any moment and so, we are continually planning how we want to use these years for our best life.  Herb, of course, wants to get rid of the house, responsibilities, and tendency to just sit around and watch TV.  We have friends who plan their lives around their Doctor's appointment.  I am not being critical, because for some it is life saving, but for others, it is their life.  We do continue to work for Camping World as Good Will Ambassadors.  This time we are attached to the Denton and Fort Worth Texas stores.  It is safe to say that the record breaking heat has kept up inside our RV.

WHERE OH WHERE

Where is the perfect place to live, weather wise?  There are lots of nice places in Mexico, but that is off our radar at this time.  Sooo, that leaves maybe two places, north in the summer and south in the winter or the West Coast.  Yes, California offers it all.  We have worked Camping World in Ventura and again in Vacaville.  So, the conversation goes on as to whether we want to "sit" in our nice house or hit the road again.  I think the travel has an edge right now.  More to Come   H, C, and Boo too

Monday, August 8, 2011

My Life in the Television

THE TEMPERATURE RIGHT NOW

If you could see my indoor/outdoor magic thermometer, you would see that it is currently 104 on my front porch, in the shade.  Since our fine AT&T iphones do not work in our house, we have to step out on the porch to talk to anyone or the call drops.  Of course, AT&T says that we are in a HIGH reception area.  That being said, I have a new connection with the world.

SUMMER TELEVISION

We receive our Television via satellite and suffice to say, there have been no outages this summer, not a cloud in sight.  I have done numerous rain dances.  Learned those as a child when we would go to Indian pow-wows in Tonkawa, OK where I grew up. Sound like an indian town?  There is a casino there now, but eveyone knows that the Tonkawa Indians were cannibals in their heyday. Now, back to the many forms of entertainment received via the satellite.

RERUNS

Summer used to be filled with reruns, but no more.  We now have new reality programs to take over while real actors take their vacations.  We also have a DVR.  The world's mostest, bestest answer to zapping commercials.  I can record almost anything and zip right through the commercials.  Dish is really nice to give us a few days of IFC, HBO, and other movie channels.  I must record frantically.  IFC sometimes has 2 minute commercials. HA, zap those suckers.  A two hour movie can last 45 minutes less commercials.

TRAVEL

We long to go someplace cool and Dallas is not that place.  Soon we will travel again.  Until then, Gracias Dios...We have the Travel Channel.  More to come.  H, C, and Boo too

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Cloud in the sky

Our world has been covered by a large heat dome.  Thus the extremely hot weather in Texas and Oklahoma.  We do pray...mostly for our air conditioner to keep working.  There are those who have seriously prayed and it just seems to get hotter.

Tonight, we have a cloud in the west.  The temp outside is still 101.  It has been a strange year.  Of course, many say it is global warning.  We have looked at past years and this one is sometimes a record, and sometimes just as hot as past years.

My husband thinks that it is a great year, as the grass has not grown an iota.  In fact, the grass looks January-like.  The mower sits unused, replete with a new battery for the reason that when the rains come, the grass grows like crazy here.  I don't think it will happen this year. I continue to water my one healthy weed.  Some animal managed to work its way under a wire fence and eat my only tomato on four plants.  Not a good year for an avid gardener.

Now, we think about winter when we will complain about the cold.  Oklahoma has a short winter season normally.  Although last year was pretty cold.  I have seen it 80 on Thanksgiving.  I do hope for some rain so that the farmer's can plant the winter wheat.  Farming is the way of life for many here.

Nuff about the weather....more to come H, C, and Boo too

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Comida, past and present

MEXICAN FOOD, OR MEXICAN FOOD?

Today, as we did our deliveries in the Dallas area, in the 113 degree weather, we stopped and had lunch in a highly recommended Mexican Restaurant.  It was good food, abundant, fresh and typical texmex.  NOT Mexico Mexican food.

REAL FOOD IN MEXICO

I say this loosely as food differs in all parts of Mexico.  Each state has its own specialty and there are WIDE differences.  The only food we had trouble eating was in the state of Oaxaca.  My spanish language instructor took us on a foodie run in the suburbs of Oaxaca.  Famously, a favorite for foodies, authors, and visitors.  We first had goat cooked, grilled with vegetables.  It was tasty.  A bit gamey for me



COULD NOT EAT THE STREET TAMALES

On the way back into town, via buses. taxis and our feet.  He pointed to a lady selling tamales out of a container on the street.  He said they were the best in el todo Mundo.  So, we bought both the red and green variety.  Wowee.....red might be hot. but green could even be hotter.  We just could not eat them.  We gave them to the maid at the apartment we were renting.  We only stayed in Oaxaco for 10 days and we had rented the apartment for a month.  We just could not eat the food.  It is an amazing, mind boggling beautiful place on earth.  Cool and Mountainous.  The food...hot, certainly not texmex.  More to come  H, C, and Boo too

Monday, August 1, 2011

Back in the RV at 115 degrees

We returned to Denton today to do our deliveries for Camping World.  When we left 10 days ago, we turned the AC off.  Mercy, it is so hot in here.  Everything heated up.  Except the frig, it was running fine.  We turned the AC full force and left to buy some food.

Boo is not feeling well.  I hope he ate a spider at the house or some kind of bug, since he really doesn't go outside.  I had sprayed for spiders, so maybe they were puny and made him puny.  Anyway,  I worry about him.  He seems to be eating and drinking okay so, I guess he will be himself tomorrow.

We have our nice view of the pool and the garden lady has kept the flowers around it pretty and green. She appears every morning in her garden gear and checks the moisture.  Right now, there is none....just mind boggling heat.  Dallas is usually quite humid, but not this year, just HOT. Tomorrow, we will hit the road, hopefully early.  More to come.....H, C and Boo too