Monday, February 25, 2019

Another Milestone

San Angelo, TX Concho Pearl RV Estates February 24, 2019

Another birthday has come and gone. I don’t feel any older today than I did yesterday (well maybe a little). I do have a few more medical hiccups than I did a year ago. I have discovered one thing though, I am impressed by a lot less stuff than I used to be. But as long as EJ is by my side, the weather is nice and there is a great view, I doubt that life could be any better.

EJ and I really don’t want to gain any more weight, meaning we try to manage portion size and our sweets intake. So we started the tradition of birthday cupcakes instead of birthday cakes. And as the years go by, it decreases the potential fire hazard too. (I mean you can only stuff so many candles on a cupcake)

70th birthday cupcake

And Gabby, my lil’ buddy, had to be right in the middle of things.

Gabby helping with birthday

Then EJ took me out on one of my favorite hobbies. Hunting for stuff other people have hidden, also known as geocaching. We have encountered some clever hides, such as a cache disguised as a bolt on a sign, or an official looking post that is the cache or an electrical cover on a light pole that hides the cache. Here in San Angelo though, you have to be tough because you  are fighting thorny bushes, goats head stickers and the occasional snake. Here is EJ holding one of the treasures we found on my birthday.

70th BD Geocaching

After a vigorous afternoon of hunting geocaches EJ took me to one of our favorite watering holes for a great big honking monster top shelf margarita.

70th BD Margarita

Here’s to another great year!

Monday, February 18, 2019

North San Angelo Report

Feburary 17, 2014

Howdy partners! We’ve been in San Angelo so long we are starting to look like the locals.

EJ Dad Frank Cowboys

It’s been almost 4 months since we arrived here and we have really enjoyed having the opportunity to spend this time with Dad. Miss Mosey has been stationary for too long so we’ll be leaving the first week in March. Dad is in much better health now and has given us the OK to continue our travels.

We’ve had a great time visiting with Dad. Here is  a view at dusk from his apartment.

View out Dad's Window at Dusk

His lofty digs have allowed us to watch the drama that unfolds in the neighborhood. One morning on our way to see him, Rio Concho Drive, the road that goes by the front of his building, was narrowed to one lane of traffic. A Cadillac had run off the road and plunged into the Concho River. Once we got upstairs we were able to watch them remove the car from the water.

Car in Water 1Car in Water 2Car in Water 3

My sister and her husband came over from California for a visit and Dad invited all of us to the Valentines Day Dinner the Manor ( apartment building where Dad lives) was hosting.

20190212_174818

The table setting..

Valentines Table Setting

And my sister Fran and her husband Gary.

Valentine with Frank and Gary

Meanwhile back at the RV one morning we woke up to frozen rain creating an icy mess.

Ice Tree

We even had a double rainbow following one afternoon rainstorm.

Double Rainbow over Pearl of the Concho

Least you think it’s been all fun and games, Miss Mosey has needed her share of attention too. Some of the drip guards on the windows had taken flight (disappeared) and several more were in the process of vanishing. One afternoon was spent cleaning and replacing those varmints.

Window Drip Hole Cover

It’s vitally important to go over your RV on a regular basis tightening things, replacing things that fall off and just generally making sure everything is still working the way it is supposed too. During one such scrutiny I noticed that a front shock had decided to disassemble itself. This was rather irritating as the shocks were barely a year old. So I ordered a replacement from Shock Warehouse. This is what a shock is not supposed to look like.

Broken Front Shock

I hate to say it, but the water here is San Angelo is terrible. One day shortly after we arrived I washed the front of Miss Mosey to get rid of all the bugs. The film and hard water deposits left behind took two days to clean off. Needless to say we haven’t washed her since and she is beginning to look a little ratty. I hope we find some soft water soon.  But, that hard water has also been rough on our water filters. So far we have replaced the whole “house” water filter and the under sink drinking water filter. The drinking water faucet had been running slower and slower. A new filter fixed that right up.

Sink Filter

We have managed to squeeze in a few walks and some geocaching. On one geocaching outing we met a police officer that was practicing with a drone. He said the fold up Mavic drone was his personal favorite. Here he using a stick on landing pad to keep the dirt and small rocks away from the drone as it takes off and lands.

Police Drone

A walk along the Concho River revealed some of the local artwork.

Mosaic Chevy PickupMosaic VW and EJ 

We even managed to find a local coffee shop that made fantastic mochas. Try Strango’s if your ever in town.

Strangos Coffee

And EJ has even had time to experiment with her new 3 QT Instant Pot.

Instant Pot Dinner

Another project we’ve been dabbling with as time allows is creating a map of potential boondocking/low cost camping locations. EJ watches the Boondocking Facebook groups and whenever she finds a spot that looks promising we add it to the map. I’ve been doing google searches and reading blogs looking for boondocking sites also. The main criteria is that it has to be big rig accessible. The map also includes city, county, and utility parks that may or may not have hookups that may be free or use a donation system. The idea being that as camp sites are getting harder and harder to find as more and more RVs are on the road having these locations in our back pocket will be a big help.

boondocking_map

Well, time to wrap this up as I’ve gotten a little long winded. Our next “planned” adventure will be in Quartzite Arizona where we will be attending the RV-Dreams Boondocking Rally March 24 to 31, 2019.

Warm Cat

Stay warm!!