Italian Social with Jerry and Carol - Mon., Feb. 10

A few days ago we were contacted by fellow bloggers Jerry and Carol of Waggin Tails RV. They are working at Hidden Valley RV in Van Ormy, just south of San Antonio. After a brief email chat, dinner was on the menu agenda. Monday evening worked out to be a good time to eat meet.

Italian sounded good (especially to us because we tire of eating Mexican food...AGAIN). Options were Macaroni Grill and Zio's Italian Kitchen. Zio's is in the area; Jerry and Carol had never eaten at Zio's so that's where we went.

As is the case in most instances of RV bloggers meeting other RV bloggers, we chatted and chatted around mouthfuls of food. We love that Jerry and Carol used to work with miniature show llamas in northern Georgia. While they worked there, we followed their blog and learned about their charges. Adorable pictures of llamas were in almost every post. They are full-time workampers (RVers who travel and work, like us).

The food we ordered went something like this: Chicken Piccata, Chicken Parmesan, Chicken Pomodoro, and Strawberry Salad. (Which of these isn't like the rest?) Bob was the healthy one who chose salad. The food was enjoyable, but instead of serving our salads first, we had to ask for them when they brought our entrees. Oops! Someone fell asleep at the wheel. The service could have been better. After we'd been there two hours, we had to ask for our checks. And then I forgot to take my to-go box. No yummy left-over chicken pomodoro tomorrow.

Jerry, Carol, Susan, Bob at Zio's Italian Kitchen

Jerry and Carol (WagginTailsRV.com)

We love making new friends, especially honest-to-goodness, down-to-earth, friendly folks. Carol loves being indoors, quilting, reading, being with their dogs and cats. Jerry enjoys being outdoors, woodworking, and enjoying nature. I wish we had time to get together again while they're here, but our schedule is packed to the gills until we head out on the road Feb. 22 to Las Vegas.

As for the rest of my day...I worked 7-1/2 hours as office assistant at a State Farm Insurance office in north San Antonio. I'll be there again tomorrow.

A few days ago, before it got frigid again, we put bird seed out and I swear the birds know cold is coming. We had eight white-winged doves on the feeder at once and sparrows pushing in underneath them to get to the seed. It was a bird feeding frenzy and, once again, we have very chilly temperatures in South Central Texas. Low tonight will be 37 (with wind chill will feel like 29); tomorrow night 31 degrees.

White-winged doves

In the following photo of the male Northern cardinal, I love how he's fanning out his tail. Unfortunately, I cut his head out of the photo.

Cardinal's tail fanned out.

"Can't a bird eat in peace?"

Female Northern cardinal.

Close up of white-winged dove's head.

 In the next two cardinal photos, you can clearly see which way the wind is blowing!

Wind blowing from left to right.

"If I turn this way, I get a new hairdo!"

Thanks for reading. Enjoy the rest of your week.

Travel Bug out.

Corn Star and a Fire! -- Sat., July 28

Today's post has some odds and loose ends.

First, happy birthday to my sister, Jan. Have a great day. I miss you.

Driving miles upon miles in remote areas not many radio stations come in: NPR, talk radio, country western music or religious broadcasting. Bob and I aren't country music fans, but we wanted to listen to something. For miles we laughed and laughed at the lyrics and choruses to some of those songs. I wrote down a few that tickled our funny bones: "She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy," "He's Got His Beer Goggles On," " Corn Star,"  "She Makes My Shirt Look Good," and "Is that Your Whiskey or Your Cowboy Talkin'?" Pretty good, eh?

Last night we were treated to the sound of raindrops on our roof. So soothing.

Our path today took us from Mesa Verde National Park (Mancos, Colorado), through Monticello and Moab, Utah north to I-70, east on I-70 to just past Grand Junction, Colorado, south on SR 141 to US 50 into Delta, Colorado. For days, thunderstorms have teased us with lightning shows in the distance, including today, but on our five-hour drive, we had rain only about five minutes.

If you are thinking of driving I-70 west of Grand Junction, Colorado, be aware there's miles of road construction. (They're repaving the freeway.) Part of the way, you'll be switched over to the eastbound lanes with one lane in each direction. For miles there is one lane of freeway open in each direction. Eastbound, Bob had to drive on the freeway shoulder for about six miles as both freeway lanes were closed.

Here are pictures of today's drive. (Note: I was driving south of Moab, so wasn't able to take pics of the beautiful red rock scenery.)

Goodbye Mesa Verde--photo taken from our campsite.

US 191 north of Moab almost to I-70.

Scenery south of I-70 east in Utah.

I-70 west of Grand Junction, Colorado.

Grand Junction, Colorado.

Grand Junction, Colorado.

As we entered Delta, one lane of traffic was closed due to this accident. We don't know what happened.

We're staying at Four Seasons River Inn and RV Park in Delta. Our pull-through site is right next to the Gunnison River. I can see it from where I'm sitting. 

As soon as we had the 5er set up in place, we did laundry. When I do laundry, I set the kitchen timer on the microwave so I have a reminder to keep the laundry moving. Tonight, I set the "timer" and walked away from the microwave. About 30 seconds later Bob walked in the door of the 5er and raced over to the microwave. He opened the door and hauled out a flaming bag of chips and put it in the sink. I had set the microwave to cook, not to put on the timer. We had a bag of chips stored in the microwave. It's a good thing he came in the door when he did!!! I was mortified.

Bob took me on a dinner date to Davelo's Italian Restaurant in Delta, Colorado. It was "okay." Don't know if I'd eat there again.

Tonight there are fireworks over the lake (that couldn't be set off on 4th of July because of a drought causing a burn ban). The burn ban was lifted and we're fortunate to see the fireworks from our site...through the cottonwood tree...but it gives the fireworks a cool effect.  The cats are freaked out. Sunnie is hiding behind the couch. Bowie is on the couch with his back turned toward the fireworks.

Animals we've seen over the past few days: one prairie dog, one red fox, six pronghorns, squirrels, chipmunks, turkey vultures, and lots of mule deer.

Tomorrow we plan to explore Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park: south rim in the morning; north rim in the afternoon. After our day of hiking and sightseeing in the park, we will have dinner with Jeanette, a full-time, RVing workamper friend we met while working at amazon.com in Fernley, Nevada, last winter. 

I must say goodnight in order to sleep, then wake up early for another full day.

Travel Bug with lights out.

Warrior vs. Worrier Mode - Mon., July 23

San Antonio, Texas:

A fine way to say, "Farewell." Today Bob was out having lunch with the owner of the company he works for. When he returned to his pick up, his computer and cell phone had been stolen.

All of our financial and his company's financial records are on the computer. Bob lost all of his own personal computerized files. 

According to the owner of the company, there are electronic equipment organized theft rings in San Antonio. The owner has had his computer stolen and another worker at the company had his computer stolen as well.  We don't know what this might mean in terms of identity theft. I shudder to think.

In a conversation with Bob later this afternoon, he already had his previous cell phone shut off, and had purchased a new computer and a new smartphone. When he got his new computer back to the office, their I.T. guy told him he needed to take it back and buy a computer with "Microsoft Professional" software. Back Bob went to Best Buy to trade it in and add some new software as well.  He is going to purchase the full Adobe Acrobat package...all we've had until now is Adobe Reader.

Here's my take on this in a Men-are-from-Mars-Women-are-from-Venus kind of way. When a problem occurs, men go into WARRIOR Mode and women go into WORRIER Mode. Bob is out there running around taking care of business in true Warrior fashion. I am sitting here in true Worrier fashion worrying about all that can happen with the stolen items...the biggest worry of all is identity theft. 

Bob's all grab-the-bull-by-the-horns-we're-going-to-get-through-this and I'm saying, "What if this happens? What if that happens? Did you call the police? Will insurance cover it? What if the thieving pigs charge beaucoup bucks on the cell phone?" You get the picture.

In the long run, we'll work through it and deal with all the ramifications (which I hope won't be many).

We will pick up my Escape pod from the auto detailer in the morning. The carpets and seats should have had a chance to dry by then. Bob will have to go back to the office in the morning and finish loading programs onto his new computer and make sure their I.T. guy connects his computer to the company server so Bob can work remotely.

You know when bad stuff happens you just gotta look the devil in the eye and say, "Pfffffffffffffffffffft!", take care of it, and move on. ("Build a bridge and get over it," is what we like to say.) Which is what we'll be doing literally and figuratively tomorrow. We may not get out of town as early as we hoped but that's okay. Our next stop is about five hours away and it's all freeway. How hard can that be? Then we'll have something in common...BOTH of us will be ROAD WARRIORS.

On a happier note, all the mail/packages we were expecting have arrived. The manager of the RV park has offered to store my Escape pod for free in a locked storage yard on the property since we plan to come back to this park for two more months after our six-week trip. (How nice is that? We love this place!)

I am so thrilled with the response to my blog from earlier today about Choosing an RV. It's only been a few hours and people's Comments are exceptionally well thought out. I'm happy RVers are willing to share experiences and knowledge. Thank you so much.

Tonight, I need to get some sleep. I told Bob as soon as "The Closer" is over to clonk my night owl self on the head and make me get some sleep.

Wow, this blog just wrote itself. What fun! I hardly had to think.

Worrying Travel Bug out.

I leave you with a few kitty pics...

Stuffed animal cat packaged just for you.

"I'z not fat, the camera angle iz weird."

Mice are better in a box.

Give a cat a box...

Ride Like the Wind -- Thurs., July 5

San Antonio, Texas: 

Bob whisked off to work at 7:00 a.m. while I finished my sleep; woke up at 10:30 a.m. (This night owl goes to bed at 2:30 a.m.) After a shower, I washed out the kitty litter box, made it fresh and nice with new litter. Breakfast consisted of sweet Bing cherries, Cheerios and string cheese.

My priority today was to drive to Cotulla and pick up our mail. We moved to San Antonio so quickly two pieces of mail were left there. 

Bob said, "Why don't you call the post office and have them forward the mail." Duh. So that's what I did. Rocky at the Cotulla Post Office was very sweet, took down our new address and is forwarding our packages to us. Yay, Rocky!

That left me with a free day. Since "Marvel's The Avengers" isn't playing very many places, I decided to see it in downtown San Antonio. After reading reviews of the AMC Cinema at Riverwalk, it seems the parking is $8.00 and the movie is $4.00. Not on my watch. I decided to ride San Antonio's City Bus into downtown. The bus stop is directly across the street from the entrance to the RV Park. Cost of bus one way $1.10. Easy as can be.

I hopped the bus at 3:00 p.m., rode into downtown, walked from the bus stop to the mall, was 1/2 hour early for the movie. The theater is the old type put in malls in the 1980s: no stadium-riser seating, no rocking chairs. Oh well. The $4.00 worked for me. Snacks cost as much as the movie and round trip bus combined.

"The Avengers" was a good summertime romp with loads of superheros. Led by Nick Fury, Captain America, The Hulk, Iron Man, The Black Widow, Hawk, and a god, Thor, all try to stop Thor's evil step-brother, Loki, from taking over the earth with his alien henchmen. I had a couple of good laughs along the way. I also noticed a few similarities to the early Star Wars flicks. Bob would not care for this movie.

After the movie, I walked about 1/4 to 1/2 mile across downtown to catch my bus back to the RV Park and was home just a little after 7:00 p.m. Rain must have fallen while I was in the movie because all the way back to the RV park, the bus kept splashing through puddles sending water flying up into the air. I'm glad I wasn't walking along that route!

Bob stopped at Costco (as it's near his work) to pick up a few items on his way home.

When he walked in the door, he asked, "Do you want to go for a walk or a bike ride?" 

I said, "Yes, I'd like to after I eat my dinner." We had a nice green salad tossed with kidney beans, cauliflower, sugar snap peas, carrots, red cabbage and pecans. Bob had a slice of pizza at Costco, so I supplemented salad with hummus, salsa and chips.

After we ate, Bob unlocked the bikes and off we went to the Riverside Bike Path. Dusk is a good time to ride. The temperature has moderated a little. The bike path is up and down, not steep, but enough for a good workout. On the downhill runs, we rode like the wind. On the uphill slopes I rode winded. Good for me, though, I was stronger this time than last time we went out riding. I need to get in shape for hiking in Yellowstone. We rode as far as the old Lone Star Brewery. I'm guessing it was about 5-6 miles round trip.

Anyone know what kind of heron this is? I don't think it's a great blue.

Bob at Lone Star Brewery entrance to Riverwalk Trail.

It's really not this dark yet. My flash had a mind of its own.

Old power plant--no longer running.

A few nights ago when we were sitting on the patio chatting, I looked down and saw a creepy crawly advancing rapidly toward my foot or chair leg. 

"Bob," I said, "Look, it's a scorpion." 

That sucker was moving fast. I jumped out of the chair and squashed it with my sneaker. One flat scorpion. After that sitting out in the evening wasn't looking so enticing.

Tonight, I took Bowie out on my shoulder for a walk on the patio. He loves these little shoulder excursions, by the way. Sniffing, sniffing, turning, looking, curious kitty. If I take Sunnie out on my shoulder, he freaks and claws my neck or shoulder trying to get back in the 5er. He will, however, stand in the 5er (if he's on the floor), and step out onto the first step. Since I don't want him to bolt under the 5er, I usually shoo him back in.

Anyway, I digress, while I had Bowie out on the patio, I looked up at the underside of our awning. There was a spider (maybe two) up there. We moved out from under the awning. No need to be in the path of a spider if it decides to drop down now, is there? {{{{shivers}}}}
We made it back in the 5er spider free!!

As you may remember, I love Volkswalking! Turns out San Antonio has 14, count 'em, 14 Volkswalks and a couple of bike rides too. I told Bob we could do a Volkswalk a day until we leave for Yellowstone. (Realistically, we won't because he's working, but each weekend we can do two! More getting in shape for hiking in Yellowstone.) I'll post on those as we walk them.

That's all folks. Travel Bug out.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame! -- Tues., July 3

San Antonio, Texas:

Talk about a rude awakening this morning...I was sorta reading, then snoozing UNTIL I heard the riding lawnmower. Whoever was driving that thing was in a big hurry. I leapt out of bed and dressed for the day remembering that the internet cable for our booster is lying across the grass behind our 5er. Bob hooked up our booster to a shed by the back fence of the RV park.

Out the door I flew to unhook the cable to prevent damage. The riding lawnmower guy headed away from our rig so either he didn't mow in the back (not much grass or weeds) or the riding lawnmower didn't send our internet cable to internet cable heaven. All was fine. By then I was wide awake.

Stayed up, ate breakfast, showered, washed dishes, paid some bills, took out trash, thought about the gate guard ladies having lunch at DQ in Cotulla, and checked my email and blog comments. 

This afternoon, I did some shopping at a Super Walmart 1-1/2 miles from our RV park. We learned to appreciate city conveniences when we were out in the caliche dust at the oil field. Out there an old, small Walmart was 40 miles away.

On my drive to and from Walmart, there is Mission San Jose, a National Historical Park.  Our sightseeing will include a number of missions very close to our RV park. The place looks like it has some stories to tell. The outer wall is limestone. Inside the wall are a number of buildings. I can't wait to learn more about them.

When Bob returned home from work, we went to see the San Antonio Missions play baseball against the NW Arkansas Naturals. The Missions are a AA affiliate for the San Diego Padres; the Naturals are the AA affiliate for the Kansas City Royals. 

We arrived at the stadium a few minutes after the 7:00 p.m. start time. A crowd was lined up at the ticket windows so we joined the group. We weren't there a minute when a gentleman walked up to us and asked us if we would like free tickets. 

Bob said, "Seriously?"

The man said, "Yes. I work for a hospital and we have a group of tickets. No one is using these and we'll be in our company suite."

We thanked him profusely and headed into the game. Our seats were the first row, A5 and A6! Wow! What a great view of the game.  Sometimes we're in the right place at the right time.

The evening was perfect for a baseball game. Temperature was in the mid-80s with a light breeze--so pleasant--and no humidity. San Antonio won 2-0.  The San Antonio Missions currently have a nine-game winning streak.

We got home and Bob was out like a light in the recliner in the living room. I'm falling asleep at the computer. Time to head for bed. 

Happy Independence Day everyone. Nitey nite.

A Splendid Evening -- Mon., July 2

San Antonio, Texas:

Today was relaxing and refreshing. Earlier today, I wrote a blog as I thought of it. That's quite a luxury as opposed to being a gate guard and having to jump up at the sound of the bell (to check someone in the gate) which interrupted my train of thought.

After writing earlier, laundry and vacuuming chores were finished. (I did EIGHT loads of laundry. Good-bye caliche dust!)

Bob started his new job today. He enjoyed getting to know everyone in the office. A change of pace and a challenge is just what he needed.

When Bob returned home this evening he wanted to go for a bike ride. First we put away clean laundry, re-made the bed, made and munched down egg salad sandwiches, then rode our bikes. One of the entrances to the newly opened Riverwalk bike/walk trail is at the entrance to this RV park. And get this, the brand new trail opened today. Yay for us! 

Dusk was upon us, but it was also the coolest time of day with no direct sun. We rode four miles roundtrip. Lovely new trail. Now if I could just keep the bugs out of my eyes, nose and mouth! After I've built up my biking muscles, we can bike into downtown San Antonio on this bike trail (20 miles roundtrip). The proximity of the bike trail was a major reason we chose this RV park. Good choice.

Full moon. Bike trail on crosses the river on a bridge here.

Some ups and downs, I'm learning to use all the gears.

Dusk descends.

Yeah, that's Bob WAY ahead.

Moonflower!! LOL.

Getting a bit dark. Love the lighted sign!

Our park entrance to the bike trail.

Back at the 5er we sat outside and had a protein bar and some chips. We had so much fun playing Sequence a few nights ago, I suggested we play a few games which we did. Bob reviewed some accounting data for a meeting with the company's accountant tomorrow morning.

Not much more to report since I've now done two blogs in one day.

I'll leave you with one kitty pic:

Sunnie's ready for the laundry.

To Suffer or Not to Suffer -- Mon., July 2

One does not love a place the less for having suffered in it, unless it has been all suffering, nothing but suffering.

                                                            ~Jane Austen, novelist (1775-1817)

With two days behind us out of the oil fields, here are our perspectives/opinions on our gate guarding experience. 

Even though we suffered some, it was not all suffering. To describe it accurately, I would use the words adventurous, on-the-edge, different, hot, buggy, beautiful (sunsets, exotic animals, birds), available 24/7, disruptive, preoccupying, monopolizing, confining, but not boring. (Bob would say it was boring.)

Sure there was some suffering which included: H2S gas; heat; bug bites; bugs, mud and dust in the RV; blowing dust; remote location; flooding and gooey, slippery mud when it rained hard; company-provided generator problems; sand in the water; poor cell phone and internet connections; hard to get in exercise; no TV; feeling imprisoned (we couldn't leave to go anywhere TOGETHER unless we found someone to watch our gate--in two months it happened once).

Positives include: becoming part of a wonderful network of other gate guards (friends), bird watching, beautiful sunsets, no cost for site/water/electric/black water pump out, pays well for the amount of work you do, the oil field workers (for the most part) are polite and friendly, exceptional lightning storms, time to read, blog, watch DVDs, play games, your RV is your workplace (no commute). Did I mention making good friends and having their backs? Oh, and we didn't have any animals on the ranch so we didn't have to open and close the gate all the time.

Would we do it again? Yes. Would we do it differently? Probably. We'd make some requests about the type of gate we'd be guarding.

Welcome to new followers: The Back Porch View, Vicky at Full-Time RVing, Merikay at Merikay's Dream has Six Wheels, Mike at Mike and Pat's Travels, and Kittie at Kittie Howard. I started this blog to keep family and friends informed of our whereabouts AND to remember all the things we've seen, done, thought, experienced so we don't forget as we age. Now I have 55 followers who enjoy reading about our life. Thank you for journeying with us.

The requisite cat pics. Stop reading here if you don't like cat pics.

Remember...

There's always time for a catnap!

Breathe deep. (Look at them choppers!)

Keep yourself clean.

You can never be too clean. (Ha ha.)

Enjoy your week. 

Travel Bug out.

San Antonio Loops -- Sun., July 1

San Antonio, Texas:

Normalcy returns. We spent time together traveling around the San Antonio loops -- I-410 and 1604. Found movie theaters to see summer blockbusters, restaurants to try, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, Seaworld with a new waterpark called Aquatica, caverns, a laser tag arena (Susan LOVES laser tag!!), bike paths everywhere, Hemisphere Park and Tower of the Americas. So much to do and explore! We're back in our element.

When we started our drive this afternoon, Bob took the route he will take to work while we're in San Antonio. It is about 25 minutes away. Here are some pics of where he will work when we're not "remote."

The office

Their trucks. (Bob will use his own truck, not a company truck.)

After searching out his work, it was lunchtime. Right down the street we found Culver's. Good find! It's an upscale fast food restaurant similar to DQ but with a much more fun menu. I had a classic Reuben sandwich and a chocolate/peanut butter malt. Bob had a cod sandwich and fries. The food was excellent and the decor was very clean and pretty. Culvers has been in business 20 years. They're located all over the midwest and as far west as Arizona and Utah. Photos of Culver's in San Antonio...

Culver's interior decor.

Our drive started out going east on the I-410 freeway around the outskirts of San Antonio. That didn't take us too long, so I said, "Let's drive the Hwy 1604 loop too." Turns out that took a lot longer. It took us through rural farmlands on the south and east sides of San Antonio. We saw a park as we were driving by one spot at 60 mph. I caught a glimpse of a sign that said something trail. "Let's go back," I told Bob, "It might might be a bike trail." Turns out it was Saspamco Paddling Trail. Here's a photo and a link for our RV friends who like to paddle.

The north part of Hwy 1604 went past shopping malls, laser tag arena, upscale shopping malls and construction of new freeway overpasses. At the 1604/I-10 intersection we finally saw Six Flags Fiesta Texas. Now I know where to go for my thrill ride fix! 

Toward the end of our drive, we took I-10 west toward Boerne (pronounced Bernie) to look at another RV park. It was right next to the freeway and not near as nice as the one we're in. Both of us agreed it was "okay" but there was no "it" factor. 

After we left that RV park and headed east on I-10 toward San Antonio, we could see the storm that had been threatening to break out all day finally had. We couldn't see the hill about 1/2 mile in front of us. Then we drove into a wall of water and hail. Lightning flashed. We could barely see the cars in front of us. This was at 6:30 p.m., full daylight. We saw brake lights as everyone slowed way down! Some cars pulled over on the side and stopped. We continued, went about 20 mph, and kept lots of distance between us and the car in front. The car behind us stayed way back. We made it through. The temperature had dropped from 95 to 75. 

It sprinkled most of the evening. When I went outside the 5er around 9:00 p.m., the humidity must have been about 95%...it felt like a sauna. The temperature was back up too. Thank goodness we have two workhorse air conditioners.

We had a wonderful time driving, sightseeing and talking. Gate guarding taught us how important our travel time together is. When we don't have that time, we really miss it.

This morning while cleaning, Bob was reinstalling the air filter for our air conditioner. He had a supervisor making sure it was put together per specifications.

Bowie supervising Bob (and taking up half the stepladder!).

Bowie wants to do everything we do!

Tomorrow morning Bob is back to 40 hour weeks for the next three weeks. I will be cleaning the 5er from top to bottom, starting with the ceiling, then the walls, counters, and appliances. When I get done with all that, we'll rent a carpet shampooer and scrub that caliche dust and any wayward bugs out of our carpet. On any given day, when I'm sick of cleaning, I'm going to take off and see a movie. So many to catch up on.

Currently, the fur-kids are running laps in the RV, flying over the stairs and each other. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, let's not forget the mountains of furniture to climb! Bowie hides in the bathroom and when Sunnie runs by Bowie ambushes him and the race continues.

Bob is out for his training run/walk. Said he'll be gone one to two hours. Tomorrow, I can start my workouts in the AIR CONDITIONED exercise room. 

So thrilled to be back in a city, especially one that's new to us. Exploration awaits.

Travel Bug out.

Life Continues On -- Wed., June 27

Cotulla, Texas:

Amazing what a day off can do for your psyche. We're all entitled to bad days...you just gotta pick yourself up, dust yourself off and continue on.

 

For the record, I'm no stranger to hard work. When I was 14, living in Oregon, our family didn't have much money so we kids had to go out and earn money for our clothes and school supplies. 

Summer in the Willamette Valley in Oregon means picking time: We started with strawberries in June, then progressed to blackberries, marionberries, blackcaps (which were used to make dye for USDA stamps for grade of meat), and string beans. We were up at the crack of dawn to catch the school bus that picked up all the local children and which a short time later deposited us at whatever field we would be working in that day. (Not many migrant farm workers in those days. Local children made up the work force and there were no child labor laws that we were aware of. Kids of all ages and some adults worked the fields.)

To me, strawberry picking was the worst. I'm tall. By the age of 14, I was about 5'6". Strawberry plants are on the ground. Picking them meant bending over from the waist, stooping, or crawling on hands on knees...many times in the mud and slugs...it is Oregon, after all. We worked in all weather (except heavy rain). Light rain was good because it kept the bugs--flies, mosquitoes, bees, wasps, hornets, but not the slugs--at bay and provided shade and a little coolness. However, heavy rainstorms usually meant running for the nearby orchard or a bus to stay dry. By the time we reached cover, however, we were soaking wet. If the rain continued, they took us home. If the sun came out, we went back to picking in our steam-sauna-like, miserable wet clothes.

Marionberries (a cross between a blackberry and boysenberry), raspberries and thornless blackberries were the best picking. Mornings were crisp in the shade of the berry plants,  cool dew moistened our long-sleeved white cotton shirts. Drawbacks were the thorns, but there was a quick learning curve on how to avoid the sharp, painful scratches. Oh, and from time to time there would be a three-foot-tall thistle plant to work around. Yee-ouch! We picked standing up, a bucket attached to our belt or waistband, and moved down the rows between the plants. When our bucket was full, we'd empty the berries into large, low cardboard boxes called flats. We could stack about six flats on top of each other. For each full flat, we received a punch on our pay ticket (the size of a business card). At the end of the day, each punch on our card was tallied and we were paid in cash before we boarded our bus. 

Second worst crop after strawberries was string beans. While we could stand up and pick and be shaded by the six-foot-high plants, I was allergic to the beans. When the tip of the beans touched my wrists or forearms, an itchy rash developed. Wearing long-sleeved shirts helped a little, but I still had an itchy, allergic reaction. The other problem with picking beans was putting all the beans into a burlap bag and dragging the bag down the row with you. Heavy and heavier, who knew string beans could weigh so much? And you had to make sure the bags were FULL. Our bosses made us shake the bags down and even sit on the bag to compress the beans. That way we could fill the bags completely to the top. When the bags were full, we had to drag/carry them to the person who weighed the bags. If memory serves me correctly a full bag weighed somewhere between 40-60 lbs. (Some bags were larger than others.)

I can't imagine how my younger brother and sister did it. My sister was 12 and my brother was 10. We worked three or four summers in the crop fields. Made us strong and instilled a work ethic in us. Kids today could use some good, hard, honest-to-goodness work. It would help with the obesity epidemic as well. When you're outside working, you're not inside eating, plus you burn many calories being on your feet picking all day.

By the end of our workdays, we were beat and completely filthy (especially after picking strawberries). Some days Mom came to pick us up when she wasn't working. If we got off early, my sister, brother and I would walk to the creek on the way home. Sometimes we'd catch crawdads or, if it was really hot, we'd just sink down into that creek and cool off. At its deepest it wasn't more than four or five feet, and it sure felt good. Mom would pick us up and we'd sit in the bed of the pickup and let the breeze from driving cool and dry us. Somehow we survived without seatbelts. Sometimes we would ride up on the side of the pickup bed. Horrors!

It was nice getting paid in cash every day. Each of us kids set up our own savings account and the money went into them. Once or twice a week, we'd go to Nap's Grocery Store and have a malt: 19 cents for a small and 29 cents for a medium, any flavor. Mmmmm...those were so tasty. Once in a while, for a super special treat, we went to Dairy Queen. Haven't outgrown DQ to this day.

When fall came, a whole new crop started--nuts (walnuts, filberts/hazelnuts). Fall in the Pacific Northwest is rainy and cold. Harvesting nuts usually meant going under trees dripping rain and raking piles of leaves and nuts, then hand sorting the nuts and putting them into burlap bags. If memory serves me, I think we only did one season of walnuts and filberts. That was enough.

This morning Bob had the excitement of thunder, lightning AND pouring rain. The rain didn't last long enough to create big, muddy puddles or flood anything, but it dampened the caliche dust enough so we're not getting clouds of dust in our faces when the semis pull up. (Gate guarders, you know what I'm talking about.)

Bob and the Gate Guard Guys had lunch at DQ today. Six showed up and they had a nice time talking and catching up. Attendees were Bob A., Bob H., Jerry R., Jerry B., Bruce S., and Dennis. 

Followup items: 

1. The water pump on our LOMA-provided trailer was replaced today. The switch went out. It took our repairman, John, an extra day to come out, but he had to buy the replacement head for the pump. I made a 3-2-1 Cake to thank him for fixing our water pump. He really appreciated it. 
2. Speaking of 3-2-1 Cake, I really must thank Susan again for turning me on to this easy-to-make cake. If any of the drivers are having a particularly bad day, I can make this little cake in the microwave. Total time from start to finish about two minutes. The drivers LOVE a nice warm, fresh-from-the-oven cake! One guy was so appreciative he brought us two old-fashioned GLASS bottles filled with Coca Cola! Nice.
3. Our refrigerator: Apparently the lack of coldness is a common complaint in RV refrigerators during a very hot spell. We called a very helpful mobile RV repair man (Russell of Scruss and Smith RV) who told us over the phone we needed to put a fan in the outside compartment behind the refrigerator where the coils are. You see, all day long, the unrelenting summer sun beats down on that side of the 5er which is overheating the coils. Bob took our small fan from the bedroom and put it in by the refrigerator coils. He also took a wet paper towel and washed the dust off the coils. Pretty soon the refrigerator should be humming along providing us with nice cold food. Who do you think we're going to call if something breaks? Russell. He was so nice to give us the info.
4. Something else we learned today from John, our LOMA repairman. During the high heat of Texas summer we need to leave both side doors of our generator open to cool the engine. He said if we don't, the generator will over-heat and shut down. No, no, no, no, no...definitely don't want THAT to happen!
5. Today the wind shifted so the gas smell blew off into the mesquite trees. Nice to have a respite. As soon as I said that, the wind shifted and guess what? Yep, it's blowing right at us again. P.U.

Kitty picture alert...don't scroll down if you aren't interested in fur-kid pics. Bowie hogged all the photos last time, now it's Sunnie's turn...

"Yeah, so? I'm comfortable. Leave me alone."

Uh-oh. A disturbance in the bedspread. What could it be?

It's Sunnie...directly under the air conditioning duct.

I took the above picture by putting the camera on the floor and shooting directly up under the covers. You can see the overhead light at the top of the photo. What a look he's giving me.

So cute!

Can you tell I'm back to normal??

Travel Bug out.

To Hell and Back -- Tues., June 26

Cotulla and Laredo, Texas:

Gate guarding is not all birds, antelope, flowers and rainbows. Here's a little of what the dark side looks like.

This morning I woke up to the smell of sulfur (H2S gas). I had a meltdown. Started crying and couldn't stop. For the past four to five days the wind has been blowing smelly gases from the work pad directly to our RV. The gas is heavier than air so it comes down off the pad to our RV which sits lower than the pad. Bob and I both have sore throats and stinging eyes. I wonder what it's doing to our long-term health.

Between the 100+ degree temperatures, the smell, and rarely getting away, I told Bob when he found me crying, "This is my vision of what hell is." I feel like there's no escape. That was about 10:00 a.m. I couldn't go back to sleep so I read until I fell asleep. Woke up at 1:00 p.m. The temperature outside was 102. Our refrigerator is still not cold and then the water pump on our company-provided generator trailer stopped working. It was all too much for me today.

Bob, bless his heart, could tell I was not a happy camper. He suggested I take a trip into San Antonio or Laredo to get away for a day. I was hesitant because our gate has become busier and I didn't want to leave him with part of my shift. He insisted. 

Once I got to thinking about it, my excitement level ramped up and my mood changed. I checked out movie theaters and times in San Antonio and Laredo. Laredo is a bit closer so I chose "Marvel's The Avengers" or "Men in Black 3." I was more interested in "The Avengers" but the timing of the movie didn't work out by the time I shook my booty into gear.

The drive to the movie theater in Laredo took about one hour and ten minutes from our gate. I made it in time for "Men in Black 3." When I bought my ticket, the guy at the counter said his friends thought MIB 3 was the best of the series. 

I hadn't had lunch, so I hit the snack stand and purchased Nestle's Buncha Crunch and a small root beer to abate and assuage my growly tummy until after the movie.

"Men in Black 3" was okay and had a touching ending, but no way, no how was it better than the first MIB! Clever scenes and lots of special effects made MIB 3 interesting, but the humor in the original MIB won hands down over this.

After the movie, in rapid succession, I spent money at Walmart, Target, a gas station (I bought gas for $3.11/gallon; saw it even cheaper at $3.07/gallon), and Subway. I didn't take time to get my car washed and vacuumed, but I know where a car wash is next time I (or we) go to Laredo. Overall, I found Laredo to be a nice town.

Tomorrow, Bob is going to Dairy Queen for lunch with the Gate Guard Guys. The wives/significant others thought it only fair that the men have good conversation and good food. So Bob will have his little get away. On Friday Bob is going to San Antonio for a Costco run. (Hopefully our refrigerator is repaired before then.)

Here's another thought for anyone thinking of gate guarding: Be sure you plan alone time. Two people spending so much time together in a confined space, makes it easy to get on each other's nerves.

Sure we love our spouses. As Bob says, on this job we're joined at the hip everywhere except bed. Being on duty 24/7, with each of us on a 12 hour shift, there's not much time for intimacy. It's come down to: be quick, be creative or miss out.

When I headed out of Laredo this evening, a huge thunderstorm glowered (origin of glower means "to be overcast") to the west. Added to that, the setting red-orb-of-a-sun made for a dramatic sunset. Didn't have my camera. The red sun had a few clouds in front of it. The clouds had a red lining from the sun behind them, PLUS streaming rain pulled down the clouds in dark gray wisps in front of the brilliant red sun. Very beautiful and dramatic.

About 15 miles out of Laredo on I-35 north, I saw a sign for a rest area and visitor information center. Since I was in need of the facilities, I pulled over. OMG! I thought I was headed for a fancy motel. The information center is a beautiful adobe building with a dome and lushly landscaped grounds complete with ponds, birds, pampas grass, trees, and a beautiful sculpture of Texas. (You can sure tell my mood has changed...we're back to birds, sunsets and landscapes.) Unfortunately the visitor center closed at 5:00 p.m., but the restrooms were open and clean. Whew.

The journey home went by fast with massive lightning flashes (in the distance) as entertainment. After I got back to the 5er, I continued to watch the lightning out of the dining room picture window. Flashes streamed from clouds to ground in big bolts. Other lightning flashed across the whole sky making intricate electrical abstract art. 

Throughout all the arcing, flashing and bolting, I hoped for rain to clean our vehicles, cool the air and tame the dust. No such luck. We received a few drops that made individual indents in the caliche dust, but no relief from the searing temperatures. As one of the truckers who came in tonight said, "We got 100 drops of rain."

At Kit and Jerry's site six miles down the road, their outdoor thermometer measured 111 degrees today. The oil rig crew on their site measured the temperature at 115. I wonder how hot hell is (if there is an actual hell).

My belief is we create our own heaven and hell in our mind and if we look at things differently we can change the outcome. Thank you so much Bob for reading my mind as to what I really needed and insisting I take a break. It made all the difference in changing my day from hellish to entertaining.

Travel Bug out.