"Cool nites"...Nice Days!

It has been really nice weather here for the past week....you guys are-missing- out on some really good camping weather!

If you're coming-out for the Fourth....come early as possible in the week..I'm hoping to be full!!!

C'ya then!

Forecast Changes Every 12 Hours!!

I'm sitting in Stanley at the Mountain Village Saloon having coffee with Kevin, online catching up and updating and getting ready for the "Father's Day Crush"...which is not going to happen if it keeps going on like it has been!  Right now I only have about 7 campers in Sunny right now. It has been a really slow start to the camping season here! But the weather has not helped a whole lot!

Right now it is 40 here, and so far today it has rained, sleeted and snow showered!  Low tonight is supposed to be 29! It is forecast to warm up Monday and Tuesday.  But it is looking like for the weekend it is not going to be nice up here. So that might keep the number of folks that come up here to a minimum. At least, that is basically what I'm hoping!  LOL!

Besides that, everything is rolling along just fine here. I'm happy to be back in "Idahome" for the summer! I'm loving it, as usual! 

And a footnote....Snickers is getting a little more settled each day! Almost acting like a cat!!!

Getting Warm in the Mountains!

It has actually been in the 90's here in the Sawtooths for the past couple of days!  And we had a bit of rain also. But today is cooling down, Hi in the 70's, and supposed to stay cool thru the weekend.

I have still not really had hardly any campers. This season is just getting off to- a very slow start. But my reservations are full this weekend, and 90% full from there out until August 15th (more or less)!

Due to the temps, the snow melt and rain have really caused the lakes and the river to have risen a lot!  And the water is a little muddy looking, even my well water is cloudy!

Compared to last year, the snow pack was awesome from this past winter!

The pic above is from last year.....(the date on the pic is a month off, so that is "my mtns" about 1 yr ago).

This was this morning! There is still a ton of snowpack up there!

'But with the warm days we have been having, the Salmon River here is roaring, and up about a foot and a half. The lakes are even higher right now!

But I'm in my mtns....so all is well with life!!

A Slow SZtart at Sunny Gulch

Been a couple of weeks since I had a chance to update here. Opened the gates at Sunny Gulch on 20 May.  Up thru Memorial Day Weekend, I've only had about 33 campers!  But have about 11 in here now ( June 4).  It has just been a strange start to a camping season! The Redfish Lake campgrounds are all full, so I'm not complaining about the peace over here!

The weather has been just glorious! A little chilly at nite, but very nice during the days.  Today actually hit 82 degrees. But at nite we're dropping down into the low 40's & upper 30's. Perfect camping weather!

Went into town for lunch today. Kevin came in from Mormon Bend & met me at Papa Brunee's. Had a Stanley Cheesesteak Pizza! Oh how I love them! Got a small...and it will feed me for two more meals.  And Idahome is really good for me also! Been here for 21 days &- have dropped 7 lbs already! Which has also dropped my BP by about 30 points! So maybe I've found my "fountain of youth"!!!  LOL!

I'm beginning to start shooting video & stills of Sunny & the area.  And Ill be starting to work on a cople of video podcasts in a week or so.  Once I figure oujt where to post them & get them on here also.

Guess that about covers things for now.  Abbie & Snickers are doing well here in the mountains. I'm working with Snickers now to get her used to walking on a lead. It is rather slow going! LOL!  But we'll get there!

Sunny Gulch is up and running!

Well,we are here, in Idaho and Sunny Gulch Campground is open for camping! But the weather is acting just like Stanley in spring! Cold today, calling for freezing mix, snow tonight down to the 7000 ft level.  Tomorrow night more chances of snow, and the snow line is expected to drop down to the 6000 ft level. Lows the next couple of nights in the low 20's.

But this is where I belong! BP has dropped about 30 points already. Pulse is down about 20-25 ticks. And I'm loosing weight daily! And smoking is down almost over 50% from what I can tell!  So this is the good life!

I'll get some pics uploaded with my next update! C'ya!

IDAHOME!!! We Made It!!!

We got to Sunny Gulch about 1pm today...and boy does it feel right!! It felt soooo good driving thru the gorge getting here this morning/afternoon! I must admit that it felt like coming home! Back to the wilderness, the woods, the wild lands! It feels like being freed from a cage!

It was a beautiful day. Sunny, passing clouds....and rain coming! It looks like we shall have rain tomorrow, possibly thunderstorms, etc. The west side of the state is getting hammered as I type. They have severe storm and flash flood warnings going on now.

Stopped at Mormon Bend CG and visited with Kevin for a while on the way in. He's doing good, been here for about 10 days already. After I get parked in my site, I drove over to Redfish Lake and checked out the campgrounds there, said hi to several of the host couples that have gotten here, got my paperwork and supplies from Carol, saw Tom for a few minutes, then came home and started getting setup.

Of course my second imperative was to get the first fire of the season going! Then Kevin dropped in here and brought supper. He helped me get the EZ-Up raised. Keith and Carol brought me a load of water (I was almost dry), then John dropped by and we sat around the fire and just got caught up on news.

So it has been a great evening! Time now for a little Ancient Aliens and then a good nights sleep!!!  C'ya! 

241 To GO!!

Working on getting to Sunny! And we're making progress...slow as it might be!  LOL!  Bertha is having a rough time getting there. She still has the very deep charging issue, so needless to say, that has slowed down progress quite a bit. As it stands, we drive for 30-40 minutes, then we take a "charging break" of 1-2 hours to get the battery up to full (or very close to full), then we roll hell bent for leather for another 30-40 minutes, then repeat as needed!!!!  LOL! I'm thinking that this just might end up being Bertha's retirement run!! She just might have to stay in Idaho this coming fall! 

I was at the Flying J on I-15 just south of Pocatello last night. Was a good nights sleep. I've "moved" Abbie to my chair for the nights...in her bed...which gives me a lot more room. She is not real happy with the change, but she is dealing pretty well with it!  LOL!

Right now I'm adding a couple of hours more charge on the battery before heading out for the day. Have 241 miles to go to Sunny. Yesterday I covered 140+ miles in one day, so if I can get far today, I'll be close to the Hwy 75 cutoff when I park tonight, which means most of the day tomorrow I'll be in the gorge on 75 headed for the camp. Once I make the left turn onto 75, should be about 58 miles from Sunny's gate!!! Can't wait!!!

The Storms just keep on coming!

Just a quick note.....

Have had several ask if we were in the middle of all the storms that have been coming thru North/NorthCentral Texas....and the answer is....

Kinda!!

We have gotten hit with a LOT of rain, lot of rain! And some pretty high winds...but have not sustained any damage from it. For some reason, where we are here seems to be in a "safe spot". When the storms come in, even when they seem to be directly headed for us...they seem to just  bend either south or north and just give us a glancing blow!!

Love it!

This coming Sunday is my "official" day of retirement....in case I had not mentioned it!!!!  Heheheheheh!  At 6pm!!

Will still be headed north to Sunny Gulch for the summer!

So stick around and keep checking in for the further adventures of Frog, Abbiegail and Snickers!!!

12 Days to "Outta Here"!! LOL!

I have waited to long to update this! So here is a short upate....

12 DAYS TO "HEADED TO SUNNY GULCH!!!"  LOL!

I have 4 more shifts to pull for the security work, then take about 5 days to pack up and store-up things....and then headed for Idaho! I have to swing open up the gates for Sunny on May 20....and want to be able to take my time getting up there. So leaving on the 7th of May, take 8-9 days to get up there...that will give me 4-5 days to get the campgrounds ready (or at least on the way to being ready) for my campers.

Then I'm in my little piece of heaven for 4.5 months! Can't wait!

And as of May 1, 6pm...I am considering myself competely retired!  Just going to spend my time getting around to see the kids and grandkids, trying to do my video shoots of places for "America, have you seen it" project....and just trying to relax for the first time in....oh, I guess 49 years!!!

I've got a FaceBook page up for "Sunny Gulch Campground", one for "America, have you seen it?", a "GoFundMe.com" project for the "America, have you seen it" set up (and hopefully folks will want to be a part of that project)....and otherwise....I will be on the road for 7 months out of 12 each year from here on out!!

28 Days....And Counting!

Well, folks, we are down to about 29 days until I head back up to Idaho! And I can hardly wait!  I've had just about all I can stand of "the big city life"! Being away from the mountains and the outdoors for close to 7 months makes you really appreciate the grace of the outdoors! 

This is a picture of the old courthouse in downtown Fort Worth. Taken as I was headed home after a night on site doing my security job. It is a gorgeous old building. Just wanted to show it off and also....to let you know that I still have the "Go Fund Me" project going for my hope to start traveling the back roads of the U.S. & finding places that have "fallen by the wayside" as our daily pace of living has gained speed! I've worked this winter on getting used to living on a "fixed income"....and that can be a challenge!  But I'm getting a grip on it!

As I've said...I go to Idaho each summer now, and plan on it for the next several years. But during the "off season", I am planning on making my travels to areas that have been passed up with all the new highways. For example, on this last run to Alabama, I found "Grant's Canal". It is literally on the side of I-20 as you approach the MS River bridge right before crossing over from LA into Vicksburg, MS. It is an actual part of the Battle Field Park group in the Vicksburg area. Over all the years that I have driven that road, I had never noticed it before!  Looked it up online & learned about something that I had never read about before in any of the Civil War books that I have read!

So, as I do my Travels, I plan on doing as many updates as needed to keep this blog up to date with all I find. And I'm also going to, hopefully, start a YouTube channel and also make "Video podcasts" of these places that I find. And for those that join in for the experience of helping me to reach these places, I'll be making DVDs of all that I do every few months and sending a copy of the DVD to them each.  Plus on the DVD I'm planning of including "Video directions" to these places and things to see and places to stay around each spot that I find.

Something that I just thought about...these projects will also be turning into a blow-by-blow account of "Full-time RVing"....which is what I have been doing for the past 2 years already!
It is a grand lifestyle of you are cut out for it! But I'll get into that more later.  And I'm beginning to put together a "cookbook" of one pot meals.  Not fancy, but so far,  they have tasted pretty good!

I've also learned and have become a fairly good miser of water.  You can live & live well AND stay clean using a whole lot less water than you would think. And water is going to become more and more critical as time goes by and we keep adding to our population. We're almost too late to start conserving water.... but hopefully it's not to late!

I've been sitting here thinking about the past 2 years.... and it has dawned on me that what I'm currently doing and the direction I'm headed, I've spent the last 35 years headed for where I'm almost at!!  :-) There have been a lot of ups & downs, but I've basically weathered it and .... here I am....living on 6 Wheels with a chihuahua and the chihuahua's cat!! What more could I ask!!??!!??!!  For folks that can't get there from where they are but want to see what is out there on the backroads and byways that we have bypassed with our "Modern" society to join with me on the adventure!

If you would like to help fund this project, just go to ....
                     www.gofundme.com/thetruckingfrog

Or drop me an email & I can let you know more about what I have in mind (with what mind I have left!!! )

And if you have places that you have always wanted to find out about, and haven't been able to, or just can't get there....let me know! I'm open for ideas on places that would be prime to visit and document!

Guess that about covers it for now....More to come soon!

And don't forget....you can always come visit me at Sunny Gulch Campground, In the Sawtooth National Wilderness/Recreation Area, Near Stanley, ID!!!

C'ya!!

7 Weeks To Go!

Seven weeks to go and it will be time to head back up to Sunny Gulch! And I can't wait! Need to get back into the mountains!

The washing machine/spin dryer that I have wanted to get for the past 18 months....I have finally gotten! When I first looked at them they were running $329 +++....way out of my price range. A couple of weeks ago I started looking at machines again, and I came upon a online store that had them for $97.97! And free delivery! 100% positive feedback and very good reviews on the machine. So I ordered on and it came a couple of days ago.

And I'm impressed! The user manual leaves a bit (well, it leaves a lot!) to be desired...but it gives enough info to get started....and boy does it work well! It will take several more loads to get the hang of just how much of each type of clothing it can handle per load....but just did almost a week's worth of clothes. And after they go thru the spin dryer, they are probably about 80-85% dry...so hang drying will not take a massive amount of time!

Next week I'll be ordering the shocks, coil springs for the frontend of Bertha. And getting a pair of leaf spring "enhancers" (they add about 1/2 ton of capacity) for the rear leaf springs. Also trying to work out how to redo the charging system on the engine part of Bertha. I have to get her charging before I head out of here....or I'll have to do the solar panel thing to get back up to Sunny. Not exactly the way that I like to make trips...but it will get me up there and then I'll have the summer to work on it some more! But would rather get it working while I'm down here.

8 Weeks to Go!

Things here in Texas are just rolling along. Have finally gotten a young man to work with me doing the security work and that is going to allow me to have time off to work on Bertha and get ready for the run to Idaho. It took about 4-5 weeks for find someone...people just don't want to work anymore! I guess I should have not been surprised.....but I was! And still are surprised that people just really think that sitting on your butt and watching an area, being able to read, watch movies, listen to the radio....in all actuality just sit is really worth more than $10/hour!  Dang!

Anyway, weather here has been just fabulous! Spring seems to basically arrived in North Texas! Have some rain coming in a few days, and the wind has been pretty strong the past week of so...but it has been really nice most of the time!

Got new tires for Sidekick yesterday...amazing the difference in the ride!  And boy did it help the handling!  LOL!

Time to get back to cleaning and getting ready to paint the inside of Bertha over the next couple of days. :-)

Almost feels like Spring!

Well.....still in Texas, still doing security work, and enjoying the weather!  It has been in the upper 60's and the 70's for the past couple of weeks overall!  There might be a little rain tonight...but we're dry here, so it is needed.

John & Rosanna, my friends from Idaho (well, they moved to Colorado) were up by Sunny Gulch this past week, and sent me a few pics of Sunny.  It's cold up there....and a bunch of white lumpy stuff all over....but I'm still a little "homesick" for my Sunny Gulch"!   Just a couple of more months and I'll be headed back up for the summer!  Can't wait!

And before I forget....Happy Valentine's Day!!

Spring! In Texas? A Taste of Spring!

Feeling like spring here in Texas!  It is in the mid 70's for the weekend! But of course next week another cold front will be passing thru, so the roller coaster of temps continues!  And I wonder why my sinuses keep giving me fits!

Got back all in one piece from Alabama. It was a nice week and it was good seeing the kids and grand kids! The "little ones" are growing up sooooo fast!  Just helps me to feel all the more "old"! But except for the normal everyday aches and pains....still can't believe I will be 62 this year!  Too bad my body can't keep up with my brain!  

Pelen and Abbie consider me their personal doorman!

And Jolene is just growing too fast!

 And I can't wait to get back up to Sunny Gulch!!!

This is the way things are supposed to be!!!

Until later....Happy Travels to All!!!

On The Road to TX

It has been a good trip so far....no really bad weather, got a fair amount accomplished in Alabama, good visits with the kids......now back to reality!

Have a ton of pictures to go thru and scan and divide up. Brought a few things back for the folks. Will have to go  back the first part of May and get a little more done in the house. If all goes well, should be done by the fall!  LOL!  It is just so time consuming and at times seems almost overwhelming! But slowly & surly getting thru it all.

I hit 3 different traffic jams last night...this one in Jackson, MS was a goodie! Between the three of them they cost me about 3+ hours of road time!

Mother's Magnolia is doing well! It is amazing what happens when someone pours I'm not sure how many gallons of "Miracle Grow" directly on the root ball of a plant when it is young! This thing is huge!

Olivia and I spent a fair amount of time playing! She is going to be a handful when the time gets here. Has already gotten pretty good at getting around...they really grow up just so fast that it passes by right in front of you...and quick!!

Addie has really gotten the skill of "big sister" down pat....at times....almost too well!  But that is just another part of growing up. 

And Sylvia is growing up so fast!  And she loves her Uncle Josh!!

The winter storm of 2016 was a flop....in Alabama, anyway! It came...it was....it was gone!!!! 

And I had a good time going thru pictures...at least some of them! I have seen pics this week that I don't remember having ever seen before.......

Sidekick was full for the run back....and what you see in this next pic...except for the shopping bag...all those boxes are full of pictures!!!  I have my work cut out for me in the coming weeks!

And I'm not sure where this came from or how it got in the boxes....but the Frog now has a Micky D's collector prize....A Frog!!

About to head on into the house...about 3 or so hours out...time to roll!

C'ya!!

 Here I sit in the deep south....waiting for the snow and ice to get here!  LOL!  The temp here was 51 at 11am....by 4:30pm it was 29....and is expected to drop another 3-5 degrees tonight. So even if we don't get but about 1/2-1 inch of the lumpy white stuff....the roads will  be GREASY/SLICK by in the morning, so I'm also interested to see just how many idiots will be out running around in their 4X4's....you just can't tell some folks that ice & rubber treads just don't mix!

I had originally planned on heading back to TX tomorrow, but as of now I'm planning on heading that way on Monday. The roads should be cleared off by then, and the temps are supposed to be coming back up some by then also.

I've been going thru boxes of pictures here for the past 2 days....and I've seen pictures that I have never seen before!  So the next few months will be very interesting as I go thru all the pics and digitally copy them and sort them, there is no telling what I might happen to learn about my kids family tree!

 

These pics of Mother and her parents I've never seen before....Awesome!

And these pages were in the front of her "wedding book"....so it gives a little more ammunition for the kids to track down more of our family tree....never know what we might find!!

"Warm" in Texas!! Kinda!! LOL!

It is still warmer in Texas than in Idaho! So I do believe that I will continue coming south for the winters! In fact, today, the high will be around 66*, and the high in Stanley is supposed to be 28*....I'll take 66*!!  

I have to admit, even though the price of oil keeps dropping, and soooo, the price of gas here keeps dropping also....I still don't think the economy is doing all that great! In case you have not been keeping up with the Stock Market....it has dropped for a 10% "correction"...and oil keeps dropping....and people keep eating out....and the "national personal debt" keeps going up....and the US national debt keeps going up....it will all catch up with us before too long!

And one of the things that amazes me is that there are so many "paper tags" running around here! Paper tags means new cars....and they are all over the place! I can't remember ever seeing so many new cars....is is just amazing.

It has been nice being able to hang out with part of the "grandkid herd"! Jolene is growing like a weed! And before too long I will be running out to Alabama to see that part of the herd before too many more months go by.

I'm getting Bertha sorted out and cleaned up a bit more each day...and putting things into storage...but there is still time for Snickers to play fetch! 

As you can tell from the pic below, Pelen is just the old man of the house and makes a good subject for pics! I do believe that you could say that he was completely relaxed here!

And I just couldn't pass up putting this pic in! Now this is what you call a work of love and imagination!  I love this thing!

The following is on the end of one of my "Universe" dvd's...look at the second paragraph...I don't think they have missed much in their description of where it is NOT allowed to be shown!

Back in Gadsden, AL we have "Nocalula Falls"...and my son Joshua posted several videos and pics of the falls during the heavy rains that they were having there. It has been a long time since I have had a chance to see the falls that full and overflowing! 

In the pic below, the "dark line" in the middle of the pic, in the middle of the creek, is a foot bridge that is normally about 6' over the creek in the middle of the walk over. Not that way in the pic! And the noise of the falls if just fabulous in this type of a flow!

I do believe that brings me about up to date with life here. I've gotten a lot done on the inside of Bertha, now I am getting ready to do the work that needs to get done for the run back up to Idaho this May. It keeps me out of trouble!!

Take care and more soon!  :-)  C'ya!

Another Year....Come & Gone!!

As I sit here on a construction site I'm looking at the old train station in downtown Ft Worth....and the downtown "old" Post Office....it makes me think about how, in today's society/system the "old things" seem to be relegated to somewhere in the closet/basement/attic....it's just not "relevant" in this advanced/progressive/technological age in which we are living! What seems rather strange to me is that the old buildings have to be torn down (even those that are in "bad shape")...get many of the newer buildings seem to have a hard time just staying up!

Granted, as things age, they take more upkeep than when new...but if they are looked after they offer a utilitarian style of almost exotic lifestyle for those that become involved with them. But old & exotic is just so much more interesting!  Things that have stood the test of time are the things folks look at to get a sense of stability in their lives.

1/7/2016.....

Adding a little bit more to the post....the New Year has started! And it has rained most of the time, more or less!!  LOL!  Today the sun is shining!  YEA!!! I come south to get away from most of the cold....but this year the relative cold and rain has followed me! But I can deal with it!

Looking a little bit more at "the old things"....the new is better is the oft used refrain....but when you balance out the cost of purchasing/paying for the new (taxes, insurance, additions, etc...) compared with being able to work on something yourself, lower insurance, no interest....just have to think about the possibility of keeping the "old" thing!!

That being said...the next few weeks will involve more "updating" on Bertha, ripping and replacing a few things, getting the propane system working, a tune-up, some painting (interior and exterior) to ready her for the upcoming summer to Idaho.  SideKick has to have a tune-up and a turn-signal/parking light socket rewired in (since one of our furry friends here decided to try to make a bed under the hood and chewed off 3 wires from it!) But that issue will hopefully be fixed by this afternoon - thanks to Cary helping (actually doing) the soldering of new wires onto the socket!

Don't know if I mentioned it or not, but last year ended up being the wettest year on record for this area of Texas...over 62 inches for the year. All the ponds, lakes, resivoirs (however you spell it!) are full and the ground is like a full sponge....but still not complaining about the rain! We're out of drought now.

Time to get to work. Hope everyone is having a great new year and looking forward to a full year!!

Doing Security in Ft Worth. :-)

Well....I'm back to working with SiteWatch doing construction security in Ft Worth. But this site is really good...right downtown, in the middle of it all. That is a good view of the buildings...but not as good as my mountains in ID!  LOL

I'm also learning to "make do" with what I have available to me for getting my NCAA Football fix each week during the college season and then the bowl games!  

It is snowing blizzard style in El Paso for that game right now. And we have nasty weather coming in here and there is the "Dallas Bowl" going on right now at the Cotton Bowl here. It is going to be getting real cold (real cold for DFW that is) starting tonight, and we even have a good chance of getting some frozen mix here. Right now we have tornado warnings all over the place.  

Just had a "people powered" trolley from "Cow Town" come rolling by. Not a good focus..but that is hillarious!

As much as I don't like "the big city" I have to admit that I understand why people like it....you can find almost anything that interests you, meets you epiurian needs, socialization needs....it is all here.  And if there just wasn't so many people here I would probably like it too! But there is just too much of a crush of humanity here for me to be able to really enjoy any of it. I have not been in one yet that is quiet and peaceful that unless it was either $70+/person or Vegan!  LOL!

Every time they cut in with a weather update it just keeps looking worse! Another hour and I'm headed for the house. Hopefully I'll be home before it starts for real here!

Since I started tis update we had a massive group of storms come thru the area, mainly SE from where we are. We got LOTS of rain and thunder...but on the other side of DFW they had 10 tornadoes....most have been registered as EF3 or EF4 size. They tore up Garland, TX and Rowlett got it pretty bad also. There were a total of 8 or 9 deaths and I have forgotten the house destroyed count. The really mangled that side of town! Just keep those folks in prayers & good thoughts!

I'm muddling along each day. Still doing food delivery and also Security work (as I started out this update with). Doing work on Bertha still. Lining up what parts I will be having to order to get the front end fixed. I also got a 4X5 storage room at the U-Haul place close by. So I'm also sorting out what I don't need with me all the time and getting it setup. Will probably put some of those plastic storage shelves they have at Lowe's in it and it will be about perfect for what I have/need to store.

I guess that about covers it for now. Had a quiet Christmas and will have a quiet New Years (working this weekend also).

So I will close with hoping you had a great Christmas and that your New Year will be just everything that you are hoping for it to be!

HMMMMM.....Oil is DOWN....Again!?

Hey kids, just had to take a moment to get on here and update a little bit!

Still doing the "deliver food" gig!  And actually still loving it. Have to keep reminding myself that the company is young...growing....learning....and using LOTS of young folks!!!  So it has and is a very good way for me to work on my "patience quotient"!!!  Heheheh! 

I'm almost done with Christmas shopping...first year in a bunch of years that I have actually do shopping...be it that I am wearing out Lakeside Collection and Amazon...both online....and they deliver!!!  LOL!

I'm also deep into keeping up with the oil prices....and it doesn't look except for us end users. The price of crude Brent opened today under $37....that's not a good thing. And just read an article dealing with how "supply" numbers are about to take a very big beating ( http://oilpro.com/media/ec?l=642743939&r=1979684 ) and an "open letter" that everybody should read...to maybe think about the issues the the O&G field has to deal with every day to meet "our needs/wants" ( http://oilpro.com/post/20785/open-letter-to-anyone-tired-og-industry-causing-climate-change-bo?utm_source=DailyNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_term=2015-12-11&utm_content=Article_5_txt ).

Folks, we all need to decide what we are going to leave for our grand and great-grand children....where are you in this thought process????

Christmas is on the way!

Christmas is getting into full swing here.....well.....at least full swing as far as the outdoor lights & decorations!  LOL

These shots are from an area in Addison, Tx called "Vitruvian Way"

Winter is here?? Could Be!! LOL!

Well, the coldest in the past 8 months was here about a week ago and the past several nights and days have been pleasantly cool.  The low here at Bertha last night was 38*,  hi for today is supposed to be about 56*. Still better than Stanley..they have already seen -6* and snow on the ground. I do believe that this is why I tell folks that I'm a "modified snowbird"!!  LOL!  I've seen enough snow in my years to do me for the rest of my life! So I'll just go south to see the kids and grandkids for the winters and then go back to Idaho to do the camphost thing for the summers.  :-)

Slowly getting a few things done on Bertha. Not sure just how much will get done by next spring, but she will be in much better shape for the run north when we head out in April '17.  Right now just trying to get into the habit of getting things done each day!  Like keeping the house cleaned up!!  LOL!  And doing some rearranging. Will probably start doing some painting in Bertha this coming week. Hoping that I have finally gotten all the leaks stopped. I guess I'll know for sure this coming weekend, supposed to rain some on Sunday.  Also have to start pricing out the parts to rebuild the frontend on Bertha. That will be a job and a half...but have to get that done before I head out north. And probably will have to replace shocks and possibly beef up the springs on the rear of Bertha.

Sidekick is doing great. Getting about 25mpg in town delivering. On the run to AL averaged about 30-31mpg on the highway. Couldn't ask for better!!  And she is still a joy to have...I enjoy every day with Sidekick.  And haven't seen another one on the roads around here since I got here....so I guess she is almost a novelty!  :-)  And since I wrote the beginning of this, on the way to work yesterday I pulled up behind a twin to Sidekick! Same color, JX model, original spare tire cover....a twin....all the way down to having a towbar mounted on the front!  LOL!  First one I've seen....and it had Oregon tags on it!  LOL

Speaking of rain, this area has had 58.78 inches so far this year...that is about 25.5 inches over the annual amount or rain.  And we still have December to get thru and they say it is usually one of the wettest months of the year...so there is no telling just how much the total will end up being for the year.  I can assure you of one thing, whenever it rains now about 90% of the water runs off, headed for waterways or lakes, because the soil here is totally saturated. And the lakes are very close to being beyond full!  But after all these past years of drought, it is actually a pretty pleasant "issue" to have!  :-)

For those of you that are following my blog, especially my campers, I have "re-activated" my Facebook page, and I have created a "Sunny Gulch Campground" page also.  I also started a page called "America, You Need To See It" page. So if you have a chance, check them out.

Time to finish getting ready for the day...have to dump tanks on Bertha today, Abbie needs a spa day, need to get propane and a some more "sealant" to try adding to the roof...have slowed down all leaks, but still have a couple that still have to be "plugged"!  There are times that I consider possibly getting a "newer" rv...but Bertha is what I was looking for, and once I get it all done, there is no way I could buy one setup the way that I would want one, so the "restoration" goes forward!  Not to mention some updating of the insides of her!  :-)

Have a great day and I'm trying to get more consistent with the updates!  :-) 

Some things never change!

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-16/oil-theft-soars-as-downturn-casts-u-s-roughnecks-out-of-work

Not my normal post.....

Folks,  this is not what I normally post about,  & i usually stand clear of these types of subjects.....but i truly feel that everyone needs to take the 7-9 minutes to read this article.

I don't really care what your politics are,  but this surpasses politics....this his at the basic base of our culture & our overall daily living....both in the near term & the future for our kids & grandkids!

Take the time.....and think about it.....

http://m.truthdig.com/report/item/the_most_brazen_corporate_power_grab_in_american_history_20151106

Rain, Rain, Rain!!

Things are going well here in Texas! I've been totally amazed at the weekly income that I've been able to attain doing food delivery! It is crazy to me! The neat thing is that we deliver from any food/deli operation! I've done Taco Bell, Wendy's, Olive Garden, Pei Wei, Burger Street, Best Thai, sushi, Indian, Wing Stop, Phil's Philly Grill, Little Greek Grill....And I have been to 5 Star places and hotdog joints!!  It is cool!  And I have found some really neat little hole in the wall places that I will be going back to try personally!!

We had rain and storms last weekend, a few days of dry & sun, and now we are bracing for another night of storms! And the humidity here is unreal right now for this area! Cool...but muggy!

It's time to get ready for another night of delivery!  So this little short update is done!!  C'ya!!  B-)