Outrunning a cold front

Saturday-Sunday, Dec 18-19, 2016

Friday, I left work a little early so I could get to Cisco and we could start packing the rig for travel. We had originally booked to arrive on Sunday at Bluebonnet Ridge RV Resort in Terrell, but because of the cold front they was coming, we decided to head out a day sooner. Luckily, the park had room for us. We had some chores to do to narrow down some of our stuff for travel, and take some of it to the mini warehouse, as well as pick up a few things from there as well. We also took our extra propane tank, because we will need it for our colder trip weather!

This was also the first trip with a few items Santa brought early. We have a new Furrion Rear View camera on the back of the rig. Our Big Country came pre-wired for this, so it was simply plug and play. We did however decide to upgrade the antenna to a stronger one that an HOC forum member had recommended. Tony said it worked great! He could easily see what was in his blind spot on the passenger side before changing lanes!  Whohoo!

Camera with upgraded antenna

View inside the truck

A few other upgrades include a King digital antenna, keyless slam baggage doors and a Winegard Satellite for the roof. We've been getting these items the pat few weeks so he has high hopes for this Christmas break to get some things done.

We got going about 1:15, and made good time through DFW. -- but we didn't beat the front. It was already 56 and dropping, with a bitter wind blowing! We got set up as quick as possible.

Sunday was cold and somewhat drizzly, so we mostly stayed put.Tony got our propane tanks filled, and ran some errands. I headed back to the apt for work.

Thankful for all families!

Thursday, Nov. 22nd-Saturday, Nov. 24th

Thanksgiving, we met our family at  Luby's cafeteria. Last year we had trouble getting into the restaurant and waited over an hour to get through the line. This year we decided to be there at 10:30 AM, and they opened at 11.  At 10:45 they started letting us in. We had a great meal and visiting with our family. After lunch we headed back to the rig, took an afternoon nap, and then settled in to watch the Cowboys play. They are on a win streak!! It's great to watch good pro football again.

Friday,  I worked some, and Tony ran some errands and checked on our storage buildings. We got our Christmas plans worked out with the park. For dinner, we met my folks at El Chico in Rockwall.

Saturday, we packed up and headed back to Cisco. I followed in the car. It sure seems to take longer when you're only going 60-65, vs 70-75!

We got set up with our heated hose and insulated the faucet, and settled in somewhat. Tony had picked up Pops Chicken in Terrell on Friday, so we had leftovers.

Saturday, we found out Heartland friends, David and Donna would be passing through our neck of the woods, so we agreed to meet them for lunch at Shannon's Burger Barn on Sunday. We had a real nice time visiting. David retired earlier this year, they sold their house and have been traveling all over the US, including parts of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Wyoming, Oregon, California, Nevada, Colorado and back to Texas.

After our lunch we parted ways and then I had to head back to work in Dallas.

Trip to visit and Upgrades

Sunday, November 20th, 2016

I've been working in Dallas for a customer, so Sunday I was back home to help Tony pack up the Mammoth to head to visit family.

We pulled out about 1:20pm, and I followed in the SUV. The trip was uneventful, thank goodness. We each listened to an exciting Dallas Cowboys football game on the radio.

We got to the park about 4:30, and got set up. Originally, we had planned to depart on Thursday because we anticipated the Cisco Loboes would advance in the football playoffs another week and we would be heading to a game Friday. Well, unfortunately, the Loboes were defeated, and now our Friday was free to stay longer. We talked to the park about extending our stay,  but we couldn't at the moment due to another guest that was having rig problems and could not move on yet. Hopefully, that would change, and they would let us know if it did.

Set up at Bluebonnet Ridge RV Resort, Terrell, TX

After setting up, I had to get back to the place I've been staying so I could get some work done for my freelance customers, so I left (it's about a 45 min drive away from the RV park.)

Monday, Nov. 21st to Wednesday Nov. 23, 2016

These days I was working, so Tony was left to his own devices. 

We bought a Toilet from another Heartlander in Oregon, about a month ago. Why, you ask? Who would buy a used toilet??? Well, it wasn't actually USED. PJ had bought it and tried to install it, only to find out he could not because the flange on the floor was too close to the wall for the new toilet to fit. He tried to sell it for a few months, with no takers. He even hauled it from Oregon to Las Vegas, NV for the Heartland Owners Club Rally, but had no takers. He dropped the price from $225 down to $200, then $175, then $150, to $100... So I decided to take him up on it. Even with shipping, I would definitely come out ahead. However, our trusty Heartland family came through... Nancy and Dave were returning from the rally, and they had room to fit it in. So it came with them back to Texas. Nancy and Dave stopped off in Cisco and dropped it off. We just have not had time to install it yet. 

But why change out a 10-month-old toilet? Well, if you recall, we switched out our toilet on the ElkRidge in July before we sold it in January. This is the same toilet. The Dometic 320, which is a more residential style and shape. Our original toilet in this rig was a Thetford, and they are known for developing leaks or sticking valves that can cause floods. Plus, the plastic seat was already starting to mis-shape . We considered pulling our  Dometic 320 from the ElkRidge and swapping it when we traded, but decided to wait and see if we liked the standard one. We did not!

We brought the toilet along with us from Cisco (we had been storing it in our  storage building), and Tony set out to find parts needed to connect the water line. We wanted to do a flexible hose, since the location of the original toilet connection was different from this one. He went to Home Depot and the local plumbing supply, and thought he had what he needed. However, once dry-fitting the pieces, he felt the connections were not secure. So he opted to reuse the connection from the previous, and use some Sharkbite elbows to reposition the connection. We also added a cut-off valve, for a "just in case" scenario.

Tuesday, Tony spent the day with his dad, so no toilet work this day!

Wednesday, the toilet install was completed.

It fits perfectly! See how close it is to the wall? PJ, who sold us the toilet, was not able to fit the toilet there because the floor flange was too close to the wall in his Bighorn.

A Heartland Camp-Out

Wednesday, September 28th

Since Tony did not have a football game this week, we planned to have a Heartland "Camp-Out" for our Heartland family. A Camp-out is far less "scheduled" than a rally, with no set events.

Since many of the "usual suspects" would be on their way to the National Rally in Las Vegas, we did not expect a large turnout. I reserved 5 extra sites at Lake Brownwood State Park.

We had 3 other couples plan to attend, plus one that had to back out a week before due to health issues.

We originally planned for arrival on Thursday, but realized all the others would likely get there before us. So we instead planned to get there on Wednesday, after school. One other couple also decided to arrive on Wednesday.

We decided since Tony would have to drive back and forth for two days, we'd also take my car, so I would not be stranded there.

Luckily, the workload today was not too bad, and I had the rig ready to go when Tony got home. We got on the road about 5PM, and got to the park about 5:45.

Tony towing the BC Mammoth

Tony  towing the BC Mammoth

Ted and Dee were already there, but they were out and about when we arrived. They got back about the time we were almost finished setting up outside.

We visited a bit, then decided to eat and visit tomorrow, since we were all tired from the drive.

Thursday,  September 29th

Today, Tony headed off to work at dark-thirty, and I got up about 7:30 and got dressed and set out our wooden sign and the Heartland banner. 

Then I visited briefly with Ted, and then went to work (in our rig.) Luckily the park  had good AT&T 4GLTE coverage. There was a  Park provided free wifi available, but I could not get it to work with my secure router, so I just used my own device.

I worked until about noon, ate lunch, and went out and visited a bit more. About 1:30, Jeff and Lisa arrived, and so we welcomed them and let them get set up. Back to work I went.

About 3:30, Malcolm and Val arrived, so again, I went out to say hi and let them get settled, then back to work.

Tony got home about 5:30, and we ate, then went out to visit with folks. We all gathered around Ted & Dee's where they had a fire going. There was a gorgeous sunset, and we took a few pics from Jeff & Lisa's site.  It was really nice!

Panorama from the backside of Jeff & Lisa's site

Sunset

enjoying the warmth of the fire (it was a little chilly!)

visiting around the glow of the campfire

One thing we noticed out here at Lake Brownwood State Park was how bright the stars were! Malcolm took this long exposure pic, and shared with us.

Friday, September 30th

Today Tony again left to go to work, and between my own work I visited with folks throughout the day, off and on. 

The weather was perfect for this Camp-out! Highs in the 80s, and lows in the 60s.

Most folks took time to explore the area and/or run errands, go fishing, go hiking, etc.

pics of the attendees 

My view while I work

Cats getting to look out the screen door, thanks to the wonderful weather!

Friday night, we agreed to get together to cook out and have a potluck. Everyone brought something to grill or eat -- we had plenty of food including monster cookie dip, cake balls, burgers and hot dogs, dips, chips and potato salad, just to name a few. We had  a good meal, and hung out visiting until about 8pm.

Having a great meal with great Heartlanders!

(Ted took these two pics, I borrowed them.)

Not a great pic, but everyone was sitting under Ted's canopy, lighted with rope lights.

Saturday, October 1st

Today, we got up and got moving, started visiting with folks about 10. We planned to gather at 11:15 to head in to the town of  Brownwood, to eat at Underwood's BBQ/Cafeteria. Started in the 30s, this restaurant is a family run business that feels like stepping back in time. It is cafeteria style, with all the veggies and cobbler and rolls you can eat! YUM! I always get full and never go back for seconds. 

Caravan to the restaurant in Brownwood -- our SUV, 2 Duallies and a motorcycle.

Everyone seemed to enjoy it and we had a great time visiting some more.

After lunch, we all went our own way to explore or go back to the park. Tony and I ran some errands, then went back to the park. 

I did some work, Tony took a nap. We went out and did some more visiting, and decided to take our group picture while there was still daylight. Thanks to Malcolm and his camera, tripod and timer!

We all decided to do their own dinner. No one was really overly hungry after the large lunch!

We had a knock at the door a little after we had finished eating, and it was Malcolm and Valerie with a jump drive holding the pics Malcolm had taken. We sat and talked for a while so I could copy the images over,  then we decided to look around to see if anyone else was outside. 

Ted had a fire going, but we found them on Jeff & Lisa's back deck visiting. We all joined them, each couple telling more Heartland and travel stories. About 9, we all decided to head home. We all have to pack up and get going  tomorrow.

Sunday, October 2nd

Today, we got going fairly quickly since we knew folks would be leaving and wanted to say our last good-byes.

About 9:30, we went out to visit with folks that were packing up and we made sure to visit with all of them before they hit the road throughout the morning. We were the last to pack up, as we didn't have as far to go. We ate lunch, then We ran up to the Park office and renew our Texas Parks Pass, since it expired in September, and it was now October. (They could not renew it before it expired!)

Eileen at Lake Brownwood State Park, Brownwood, TX

A view of our Torklift Glowstep Revolution steps, which were a big hit with folks that came to see our rig.

We hit the road about 1:30, and made it back about 2:30. We had no issues getting back into our exact position and setting up.Before extending the slides,   we put our new tire covers on the tires and also the valve extension on the spare, so we can check the air in it easier.

By the time for the Cowboy game started at 3:35, we were set to watch!

All in all, a great trip to visit our Heartland family, and spend time relaxing at Lake Brownwood State Park.

"Family" time and RV Show

Well, this is an entry not about our travels, but sort of!

Saturday, September 10th

Today we got up early and drove to Canton, Tx to attend the Heartland Owners Club North Texas Rally. Even though we didn't tow our rig, we missed seeing our Heartland "Family", so away we went! 

We met them at the ExploreUSA between Canton and Wills Point- they were sponsoring lunch for us that day, and letting us look around at all the new coaches, including the redesign of the Oakmont, rebranded at BigHorn Traveler. 

We had a good time looking at coached and visiting with folks.

After that we went and checked into  the local Motel 6, took a brief nap, went by and got our "potluck" item (Fried Pies from Bakers Ribs) then headed over to visit with everyone at Mill Creek Ranch Resort. 

We sat outside and visited with folks, also watched fellow Heartlanders work on a member's coach that had an issue, until time for the potluck. 

At the potluck we had a good time visiting with more folks, and participating in the "brown bag white elephant". Everyone was to bring "something they no longer want" in a brown bag, as a gift. The gifts were numbered, and everyone got a random number. It was great fun to see how some items were random stuff, some were gag gifts, and some were useful to someone and not to others. There was some trading of items also at the end. We are definitely going to consider this for our rally!

After that, we went over to the Moses' rig for more visiting, until about 10:15, when we decided to head to the hotel for the night. 

Sunday, Sept. 11

We headed back over to the park for continental breakfast. Many folks were staying on another day, so we got to visit some more. We missed getting it see some folks that left, but we were glad we stopped in to say goodbye to many. We left about 10:30am to head back to home. 

We stopped in at Bucees for fuel, then hit the road. We also decided since we didn't have rig or cats to stop in at Camping World in Burleson. We picked up a few things we needed like a new water hose, a vent cover and some caulk.

We got home about 3ish, and the kitties we're glad to see us! 

All in all, a fun time.

Saturday, Sept 17th 

Due to strong storms the night before, Tony's football game was cancelled before it got started so he was home by 9:450pm! We had talked about going to the Southwest RV Supershow at Market Hall in Dallas this weekend, but didn't know what day. We decided to go on Saturday, so Sunday we could take it easy.

We got going about 11:00, and stopped in Weatherford to eat. We got to the RV show about 1:30, and had a good time looking at Heartland products, talking to reps, salespeople and people touring the rigs. 

We left about 5:00 to head home, and stopped at MiCocina in Ft Worth to eat diner. The sun was setting making seeing the exit difficult, and we missed our exit. We took the next one and tried to cut back to the highway, but soon found ourselves in a "not so good-looking" neighborhood, which included an old run-down convenience store that was now a "HipHop R Us" clothing store, with hand lettered sign. I guess it's good to know where a "HipHop R Us" is located in case we need some attire in the future, lol!

We made it back to the highway and to our destination, and had a wonderful meal. We miss MiCocina's style of Mexican food, so it was extra yummy, especially after a long day of driving and walking around the convention center! 

We got home about 9:00pm. Another fun (RV related) time! 

Labored Days

Friday, September 2

Since Tony had an "away" football game, I stayed home to work on prepping the rig for tomorrow.  We plan to go to Terrell, to visit family and do some shopping. Tony got home from the game about 2am!

Saturday, September 3

This morning, we were a little slow to get going, but we were ready to go by 11:15 and hit the road to the metroplex. We stopped for lunch at DQ Restaurant, then continued on. We had talked about stopping at the Blue Beacon to get the truck and rig washed, but figured the Weatherford location would be pretty busy. As we drove by, I looked over and saw it really wasn't! So we exited and went back, and did not have to even wait! First time, ever! They did a really good job.

After the wash we continued on. There were quite a few rvs on the road, along with lots of folks moving. We passed these folks, I guess they got a good deal on a Labor Day Mattress sale! It was quite scary, the wind was catching and pulling the mattresses into the air. It looked like it was going to bust the rope at any time.

We were also slowed about 10 minutes from our exit due to a wreck. We got to Bluebonnet Ridge about 3:15pm. One of the nice things is they give you fresh cookies when you arrive! We ate our cookies and got set up pretty quickly. 

Tony laid down on the bed while we tried to cool off, and promptly fell asleep. 

After a nap, we got up and decided to head over to the outlet mall for shoes, then went to eat Mexican food. We ran in to BigLots and Brookshires for a few things, then headed back to the rig. A busy first day!!

Sunday, September 4th

Today, we got up and met Tony's folks for lunch. Then we went to Rockwall for some more shopping. We also went by our storage units. I got a replacement monitor for my desk -- one that is much lighter, runs cooler, and has a better resolution. We then headed to Mesquite, and went to Harbor Freight for a few items, and then met my folks for dinner. We had a good visit.

After dinner, we headed back to Terrell, and did a little driving around town to see our old neighborhood and see how town had changed some since we moved away in 2015.

We got home about 8:00, Tony watched a little tv while I set up my monitor, and went to bed. Another packed day!

Monday, September 5th (Labor Day)

Today we got up and going fairly quickly, and started getting ready to go. However, Tony needed fuel, so we decided to go over to Bucees to get fuel and look around a bit.

Things you see at Bucees!

 1.5 hours later, we got back to the rig, ate our Bucees sandwhiches and started packing up. 

Tony was outside when some Heartland Owners Forum folks dropped by to say hi. They are waiting to take delivery on their new Landmark. We didn't get to visit long, but glad to meet them!

Eileen and our new wooden sign at Bliebonnet Ridge RV Resort.

We pulled out about 2pm, and headed home. We had some traffic around 175, where there had been an accident. 

The road back home was busy, but not too bad. We pulled in about 4:30 and got set back up. Tony went and got us food, while we waited for the rig to get cooler. 

We ate dinner and crashed in front of the tv for a while. I had some work to do, so I did that while Tony headed to bed.

Glad to be home again, but trip was way too short. We "Labored our Days" a lot more than rested for our 3-day weekend!

The same, but different -- SA in July

Wednesday, July 20th, 2016

Today, we packed up and headed to San Antonio for the Texas Bandmasters Association Convention. nearly every year for the past 25 years, Tony heads down to the San Antonio Convention Center in mid/late July to learn from great seminars, see great concerts, hopefully a DCI performance, and view what vendors have for sale in the world of music education. Sometimes I've gone, sometimes I haven't, and a few years, we have taken the trailer down to stay at the San Antonio KOA. This year, we took the our (Mammoth II), the Big Country.

We didn't take a lot of pics this year. It's the same, but different. We left about 1:30PM, arrived at about 6:30PM, and got set up as quick as possible as the temps was close to 100 and very humid!

Our site was right next to a Bighorn, and they were sitting outside. So, close to the end of our chores, Tony stopped and visited with them. Surprisingly, they are from Dumas, TX, which is in our Heartland Owners Club Chapter! He gave them our card and recommended they join us for the upcoming West Texas Chapter Rally. We had a nice chat, before our pizza arrived! (this park has an on-site Hunt Brother's Pizza, and they will deliver to your RV site!)

Luckily, our site had a large tree between us and the afternoon sun, so we managed to get the rig cooled down fairly quickly. I had some work to do, so I went to it. Tony headed to bed about 10PM.

Thursday, July 21st, 2016

Today, we got up and got going fairly early, since Tony had to head to the convention center to register and start attending seminars. He caught the bus right outside the park, and only paid $1.30 each way. A lot cheaper than paying for parking downtown!

I worked all day, and the kitties really enjoyed the new sights and sounds out of the windows. Grackles would come around, walking around the sites looking for food. Squirrels ran all about. And, because we were close to the very back of the site to allow room for the truck in front, we were very close to folks out walking dogs, kids riding peddle-bikes, and more.

After his seminars were done about 5:30PM, Tony took the bus he thought would bring him back to the park, but turns out it was the wrong bus #24. He was finally transferred to the right bus, and when he FINALLY got home from convention and hour later than planned, we ate, collapsed and watched tv for a bit, then I went back to working and he went to bed.

Friday, July 22nd, 2016

Today was the same but different, I worked and Tony conventioned. We had planned to get together with his folks and sister that were also coming to town to watch the Drum Corps Southwest  Championships with us on Saturday. However, it was getting pretty late, and we were all tired and hungry from the day -- we decided to not get together after all. We ordered another pizza from Hunt Brothers, but we piddled around the KOA store while waiting for the pizza. They have a lot of stuff if you forget something!

We ate, watched a little tv, then I worked on preparing the artwork for the Band T-shirts. Tony had asked me to scope out possible vendors for those and colorguard related items, at the convention center, so I plan to go with him tomorrow.

Saturday, July 23rd, 2016

Today we got up early and got going to catch the bus. Tony had a seminar at 9AM, which meant we had to catch an 8AM bus -- which meant be out at the stop at 7:50AM. Which meant eek! I had to get up way too early for someone who has been working 'til midnight almost every night the past week.

Well, we made the bus and Tony made his seminar, and I went around and talked to vendors about shirts. We met back up for lunch, and ate at the Marriott's lunch buffet. It was very good! 

After lunch Tony had more seminars, while I looked into vendors for colorguard uniforms and flags, and a few more T-shirt folks. I found a t-shirt vendor I think will work out well!

About 3:45PM, we headed (with 3 bags of heavy stuff from the convention) over to the Rivercenter Mall to meet Tony's family to go to the Drum Corps Performance. Unfortunately in the early morning rush, I forgot our tickets! So we drove back over to the KOA and picked them up, along with our seat cushions and bottled water. 

Tony drove us all over to the Alamodome, and we luckily found a fenced parking area about a block from the Alamodome property. "Whoo hoo!" we thought, not too far to walk! Well, we were about in the center of the field, and the entrance has typically been at the north endzone. So walked over to there. Due to construction, the north endzone was closed, so we had to walk all the way around to the south endzone! Then, we had to walk inside to the north side of the pressbox, and up stairs to level 200, to our seats. We were all pretty hot and tired once we got seated. Luckily, we got there just in time to see The Colts, Tony's former Corps, perform. We enjoyed their show.

We saw lots of amazing performances at the DCI Southwest Championship this year, the athleticism and musicality of the shows are increasingly more difficult and awe-inspiring to watch. Unfortunately, more and more of the music is custom written and not recognizable, so you don't go away with anything "sticking" in your head. Honestly, they all kinda blended together this year for me. The Bluecoats won the night, and they did have an amazing show. They did things we've never seen on a marching field --  they used giant "skateboard style" 15ft tall ramps! Running up them, hanging on them, sliding down them, all while playing, as well as moving the ramps around the field for various visual effects.

We enjoyed the night and didn't have too far to go to get back to the car, now knowing the faster way to get there. Tony drove us back to the KOA, and they dropped us off. We head back home tomorrow.

Sunday, July 24th, 2016

This morning we were slower to get up, but we wanted to get on the road so we would not be getting home so late. We pulled out about 11AM. The trip was nice and easy up 281 to 183. We got home about 4:30PM, and decided to try pulling up in our site to be under the trees a little more for shade. upon entering the trailer, it was 96*! It took us a bit to get set up because we had to set up longer dump hose, water hose and cable lines, and move our rug out of the way a bit. Since it was still quite toasty inside and the cats were still in the truck (running with AC), we decided to run to town and get the mail, and pick up dinner. This would give the ACs time to cool the rig some more. Luckily, we had less humidity! Ours was only 25%, while it was 30% in SA, 34% in DFW!

All in all a good trip. We'll be staying put for a bit, now.