A Nice Getaway

We had an extended weekend getaway last week, spending 5 days in Florida. My godchild is having her first baby and I didnt want to miss her baby shower. Kevin preferred not to go with me but I convinced him that we would have a good time. I made a reservation at a Doubletree Hotel on Redington Beach (near Tampa) with Hilton Honor points that we had saved up.  I thought some rest and relaxation was in order for the two of us.  The weather was great and the beach beautiful. We ate out alot and savored our seafood.  Spent time both on the beach and the pool overlooking the beach.. It was just what the dr ordered.. Until Monday morning when we were getting ready to leave at 5am. We fly standby and all the flights had filled up overnight Tampa to Houston.  So we drove to Orlando by way of the Hard Rock Casino. (this casino never had blackjack tables when we lived in Florida so Kevin was thrilled to find this and had made a visit on Saturday night while I was at the shower, had won about $500 that night)l.. So we spent a few hours depositing some money, (well at least I did, Kevin gave back a bit) then stopped at Downtown Disney to waste some time. Our flight wasnt until 8:40pm.  We didnt arrive back in Houston until 10pm and then they lost Kevins baggage.. We then spent 1.5 hrs looking for it and filling out paper work.. It was a very long day but at least we arrived home safely, even though it was late.. The luggage was found and delivered next day to us!

I have worked everyday since we got home. All that relaxation has now left my body.. I need another vacation!

Home from Boston and To This Heat

Well a week ago today I returned from my trip to Boston. What a great little get away. I left Houston Wednesday morning at 7:15.. Got upgraded to First Class, which makes such a difference in flying. I was served a nice breakfast and watched a movie. Before long, I was flying over familiar territory. My daughter and my 20 mos old grandson accompanied me on this trip, however they flew in coach due to the 20mos old. We promptly rented a car and started on our way. We didnt get too far when bam, we got slammed into from behind. I pulled into a hotel parking lot, assuming the car that hit me would follow. Well, guess what, they didnt. A police officer was accross the street and he came rushing over. Luckily while we inspected the car there didnt seem to be any damage. We were all quite amazed. It was sure a lucky thing since the person that hit us hadn't stopped. What a pain that would have been with a rental and all the paper work.. We continued on our way. Spent the three days visiting family and friends. I didnt get much sleep but it was sure worth it. We also enjoyed the cooler temps, although we had rain. They sure are getting alot of wet weather there.. We arrived back in Houston to the horrid heat on the weekend. Since then we have had five days in the 100's.. It is really bad. I have worked three days and the air conditioner at the golf course hasnt been working well, so the temps inside in the 90's.
Kevin and I did go out on Wednesday and purchased ourselves a vucube satellite system. Of course we don't have a clue how to connect it. We had planned to take the trailer up to Lake Conroe this weekend but because of this severe heat we opted out of it. We have a feeling we may have a wiring problem in the RV and may not get it to work. We have had several people try to help us connect to satellite with our portable dish and never have connected. The salesman told us it is possible that the wiring was never connected properly. Soooo, we shall see. I guess if we can't get it working we will have to bite the bullet and bring it into a dealership and pay the $90. per hr to have them look it over. Wish we knew where else to go but we don't.
In the meantime we are hanging in the house trying to stay cool. We take a few dips in the pool but the water is getting warm and it isnt that refreshing. I have been spending too much time on this computer farming and fishing!!!!
Looking forward to cooler temps this week.. Ya, they say 98!!

Hot Here In Texas

Man, is it hot this week. It's not even summer yet..What do we have to look forward too, yuck..
Temps have been 98 the last few days with high humidity, feeling like 108!! Too much for me.
Last summer I said this is the last summer here for me but here I am and once again saying THIS will be the last summer in this unbearable heat.
I had my usual schedule of work this past week. On Monday, we took the truck to a place that was recommended to us to have the bedliner sprayed in our new truck.. We also caved in and paid to have the siderails(nerf rail, as they call it) put in. We decided it just wasn't worth the fighting with the dealership to get them to do it. Actually, the dealership themselves said they wouldn't but the salesman said he would pay for it...Ya, I'm sure that was going to happen.. Anyway, I am a happy camper now that I can get into the truck with ease. Tomorrow morning we have an appointment to bring the truck to the dealership to have the detailing done which they never did and also to have our electric brake installed. They have put us off on that also, so we shall see. They were told to take it out of our trade and reinstall it in this one.. We can only hope for the best....
I am taking a little mini trip to Boston on Wednesday. I got a call from a good friend that they are having a 90th birthday party for a great lady that we worked with for many years. I couldnt pass up the oportunity to go and see all my old working buddies. We had a great group of people and got really close in the 23 years that I worked in the hospital. I am looking forward to seeing all of them again. Who knows when the opportunity will arise again.. Kevin opted out of this little trip. I guess he wanted to stay in the heat of Tx instead of being cold in the delight of 70's for a few days! I will fly into Boston and arrive early afternoon Wed. I have a full schedule of visiting already planned. I plan on taking the 5:30am flight out of Boston Saturday morning. I fly standby and must look at the best opportunity of getting on a flight. I must be home as I am scheduled to cook a Fathers Day Brunch at the golf course on Sunday... Have to be in at 6am for that, so I will be rather exhausted..
Today I am off from work but we do have the gkids. I will try to get my things organized for I am working the next two days. Once that is done, will either stay cool inside or lounge with the kids in the pool.. One way or another we will try to stay cool....
See you in chat tonight. Happy Birthday Deb....

Not Much News

Well, I have been a slacker.. I really don't have anything exciting to report. The last few weeks have been the same, work and some babysitting.

We are still having a problem getting things done on the truck that were promissed. I doubt they will ever get done. The major one is the running board that they said they ordered. I really do need that to get into the truck. Also, they were to take out the electric brake from the old truck and reinstall it in the new truck. No luck so far. Sooo, it will probably cost us some money to do these things on our own. We do plan on having the spray in bed liner done on Monday. Just not sure if it is worth my blood pressure going up every time we go to the dealership and they say, oh part not in yet.....

We haven't done any more shopping for 5th wheels. The last salesman sort of discouraged us by saying we would have to put down ten to fifteen thousand dollars to get a loan. I know we should check it out on our own but havent as of yet. We go back and forth as to whether we should buy now by financing while rates are down or take our chances and wait til real estate gets better and sell our house.. So many decisions...

Plans Change

This week has been busy at work. Some short days and some very long. I will head in at noon today for what will most likely be a long one.
Yesterday I had a day off. Ours plans were to go looking at 5th wheels. Camping World in Katy was having a sale. But first we had to go to the dealership to leave the truck off to have some things done that were promised.We had not given them the check that came in a week ago from the credit union. I was afraid if we paid them, then the work would never get done. Well, we headed over there at 10am and had been promissed a loaner for the day. Got there and we were told that they couldnt give us one because Chrysler had filed for bankruptcy. Have no idea why that changes things but we were mad. They also informed us that they would put on the rim covers and mud flaps, but that would be all they could do. They still had to order the running boards and they hadnt taken out the electric brake from the old truck. Once again we were not happy. We went next door for a bite to eat while they did those few things. We had to turn the check over to them and are now taking their word that they will come thru with these last few items. They also still have to wash and detail and put in floor matts. We left there after 2 hours.
Now we were on our way to Katy, but a quick stop at the racetrack to bet on the Preakness Race. Ok, now we are on our way.. The exit we get off to get to Camping World goes by another dealership that we spoke to at the Houston RV Show in February. So we stopped by there to take another look at the Montana that we were a bit interested in. This stop turned into 2 hours.
Our heads were filled with quite a bit. The salesman has been selling Montana's for 9 years and really knows alot. Of course he is a salesman, and you know where this is going. He completely downed Heartland products and Camping World. He told us this particular Camping World is in big trouble and will most likely go out of business. He said they had to borrow quite a big sum of money from Thor and that Thor made them promise to sell their products, so they will be doing away with Heartland. He also said that Heartland is in trouble and probably closing one of their factory's. Hmmmm. You just never know what to believe. Anyway it was getting late at this point and we wanted to make it home for the Preakness, so we never did make it to Camping World. I still want to plan another trip to see what they have to say. Of course they most likely will tell us that Keystone is no good and that they are in trouble! Oh and the bad news for us is he said the banks are requiring quite a bit of money down right now on RV's. We may be out of luck until we can sell some real estate.

Its Been Awhile

Well I have been very remiss at writing my blog.. I know, I got a talking to last night on chat.. So here goes..  I never feel like what I have to say is worth writing, kinda boring is more like it.  I have been very busy at the golf course. My little part time job that started out at 2 or 3 days a week has turned out to be 5 days a week.  They only have myself and two other cooks. They are open 7 days a week. So you can see where it leaves us.  The boss keeps saying she has been searching for another cook but  no applicants as of yet. What do you do. I am not the kind of person to let them be stranded.  We will just stay on her.   Luckily Kevin and I have not been babysitting much the last few weeks. My daughters sister in law was visiting and helped with the kiddos.

In my spare time Kevin and I were on a hunt to buy a new truck.  We only had a 1500 and wanted to upgrade to a 3500 in hopes of buying a 5th wheel.  Well, we came across a good deal. We found a 2007 Dodge Ram 3500 6.7 cummins turbo diesel (think I got that right) brand new.  We are on a budget so opted for the 2007.  It amazes me how the dealership just hands over the truck before they even have their money or before I had even applied for a loan. We have had it for two weeks now and I just now got the check for it today.. We have to go in with the check, pick up our plates and they will clean it up, add sideboards, mudflaps, new wheels. Hope it was a good decision.  Now we will take our time looking for a 5th wheel.

Another big decision was made this week. My daughter and her husband have decided to put the house on the market and downsize so that she can stay home more with her kids. She is a flight attendant and has many options for schedules and hours.  I think this is a good decision. I have told her that her children will benefit from her being home more and that they grow up so fast.  As many of you know, we have a small guest house attached to their home by a breezeway.  So of course this means we will be moving out also, if and when the house sells.  The market is starting to improve a little but who ever knows what will happen. It could take a year or a week, you just never know.  So the fun will begin!! We will go fulltime on the road. But what to do with  all the “stuff” we have, including all our furniture..   I don’t want to start getting rid of it now in case it doesn’t sell.  Alot of you have been in the same boat so come on give your feedback..

Sounds like we are in for a busy summer here. The heat has already hit us hard. Very hot and humid week..  I have had a very bad spring with allergy’s this year.  They are just now starting to improve, and hope they are gone soon.

I continue to follow the blogs or as Speedy would say the journals of all our friends.  What a tough decision to decide where to head first when we finally hit the road!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to all my friends. I sure hope the Easter bunny was good to you all. He sure was here. We are babysitting for 3 of our grandsons and were woken early to view what the bunny left. Everyone seems happy.
Not much to report over the last few weeks. I have been busy at work. I am scheduled to work today at 2pm. It is not a pretty day here and we have had rain on and off, so if it keeps up I will not have to go in. I hate to punish all those little ones looking forward to showing off their Easter bonnets but I really don't want to work today. I have been cooking early just in case. We will have a late dinner. My daughter will get home from work around 5:30 and so will I, if I go, so it will just be a matter of reheating. We are also holding off having the egg hunt until then.
I try to go into the chat room every night. Last night though, computer problems kept me from that. It sure seems strange when I don't go in. The talk a few nights ago was the upcoming Escapade Rally in Missouri. Several friends will be attending in late May. We would love to but probably won't be able to this year. It is a long distance to drive for just one week. We have iffy plans right now to fly to Florida for a long weekend sometime in May. If I take too much time off of work then I will have to quit my job. I am trying to save my penny's now in anticipation of maybe buying a new truck. We would have to do just that before buying a 5th wheel. I have been reading that alot of people are having a hard time financing new purchases like that right now. We are not too sure if we should hold off and hope things get better or just go for it and have more debt hanging over our heads. I think it will be awhile before the housing market is where we need it to be to sell the Florida house......
Look forward to seeing alot of you in Yoville.. Is it time yet to go to the factory?!