Back Home again in San Antonio

Tuesday found us unpacking the truck and trailer and getting Peggy to her doctor. She's referring her to an ENT for her vertigo and tinnitus. We're glad she's getting this attention. We are also thinking that, when she feels better, we might take a trip close by for a few days. I'll fill you in later.

Final Catch Up of Adventure

Saturday, Peggy awoke with the vertigo and nausea again.  We’re now getting quite concerned and are about to terminate our trip and head back home for medical diagnosis and treatment.  We hate to cut the trip short, but we need to find out what’s wrong with Peggy. 

Saturday, Peggy’s sister Ann, her husband Jerry and their sons Jonathan and Joseph joined us for lunch and a good visit.  Then we packed and loaded ready for an early departure Sunday morning.

Sunday was a good travel day.  We made it all the way to Sam Houston Jones State Park in Lake Charles, Louisiana, almost in Texas.  The park is nice and I got some good RV parking tips from my next-door neighbor.  Tip #1:  Adjust your right mirror down so you can see your trailer/RV wheels and it makes backing so much easier!  Louisiana definitely wins an award for the number and quality of their state parks.  We passed at least 5 state parks just along I-10/I-12.  With good fortune, we should be back in San Antonio tomorrow night.  No internet access here so we’ll have to post this tomorrow.

Monday, we had another good travel day and made it home about 4 PM.  In Houston, we dropped by that Channelview Supply again and stocked up on a few supplies for the Airstream.

Catching Y'all Up 2

Thursday we’re off to Childersburg to visit my mother’s sister, Aunt Elizabeth who’s 91 years young.  We had a great visit and some of her famous potato salad.  Returning to Birmingham, we visited my mother’s grave and I showed Peggy and Clayton where I spent many of my pre-teen years on Valleydale Road, in the house behind Bryan Memorial Presbyterian Church that was built sixty years ago for a young 35 year-old widow and her 4 youngsters.  That evening, Peggy had another bout with vertigo and nausea.

Friday was a good day, with a visit from Mary Ann and Donald and their 7 year-old grandson, Kevin.  Kevin and Clayton spent a lot of time in the pool where Kevin demonstrated his skill in jumping off the high board for his grandpa.    (See above)   We were treated to a BBQ lunch at the famous Top Hat BBQ Café in Blount Springs.  In the evening, Peggy’s sister Ann and her family treated us to supper at Cracker Barrel, We picked up a piece of strawberry pie and dropped it off to Aunt Pauline at the nursing home.  (She loves anything with strawberries!)

Catching Y'all Up 1

Tuesday was a workday.  My sister Sally allowed me to plane down one of her doors that wouldn’t close properly.  I figured I owed her that chore for all of the mischief that I had caused her when we were children.  Those of you who have older sisters will know how boys love to harass them and reject their instructions.  I’m afraid to tell about all of my misdeeds as there may be no statute of limitations on some of the acts.  Handymen will be pleased to know that it took me 3 trips to the home improvement store and two trips to Wal-Mart to finally finish the task.  The following day, my lower back spoke to me all day long about the stretching that I had done all day on the ladder.  Yes, I know I should have removed the door, but I was taking the “short cut”.

 

Wednesday, we drove back to Rickwood and as we arrived at the trailer, Peggy discovered that she had left her purse at Sally’s.  That provided me the opportunity to turn around and drive the 50 miles back to Arab to retrieve the purse.  It was a nice drive, all three times.  In the evening, we had a great visit with Donald and Mary Ann in Gardendale.

Ten Days on the road

Yesterday, we had a good day at my sister Sally's.  We don't get a chance to visit very often.  Her daughter Karen with her daughter Andrea and her daughter Addison came for dinner and we enjoyed meeting Addison for the first time.

North Alabama is beautiful.  Lush and green.  We could sure have used some of the rain during our South Texas drought this year.

Today we head back down to Birmingham for a little more R & R.  We're beginning to adjust to this mobile lifestyle.

Catching up for a few days

We’re required to write off-line for a few days, as we don’t have wi-fi access.  We’ll post these when we can.

Saturday Peggy and Clayton worked on Clayton’s schoolwork and we enjoyed the park during the day.  In the evening, we had dinner with Marty and Chantal and had a terrific visit.  Their apartment is lovely and is located in the Garden District.  The meal was gourmet and the company was delightful!  Marty gave Clayton a large metal airplane that is yellow, Clayton’s favorite color.

Sunday, we launched from New Orleans on one of the longer legs of the trip.  371 miles to Birmingham.  The trip was uneventful, with clear and sunny weather until we approached Birmingham.  There, the bottom fell out!  Rained so hard that, if I could have safely done so, I would have pulled over and waited it out.  We arrived at Rickwood Caverns State Park around 5 PM to greet another rain shower.  The park, located just north of Birmingham, is nice with only 13 campsites but a large swimming pool and many hiking trails.

Monday, we enjoyed the park.  Clayton went swimming and got his schoolwork done.  Then we went down to Birmingham and visited Peggy’s Aunt Pauline, 91 years old.  She’s doing quite well, having fallen a number of times with no resulting broken bones.  Peggy’s sister Ann and her husband Jerry met us there so we had a chance to visit with them.  We drove to Arab to spend a couple of days with my sister.

Seeing the Crescent City

Today we re-connected with our dear friends Marty & Chantal, residents of New Orleans.  Chantal and Marty were good friends when we were first married and living in Terre Haute, Indiana over 40 years ago.  Chantal accompanied us to visit the Audubon Insectarium, a brand new museum in downtown New Orleans.  This fantastic  re-use of the Customs House has just opened and in fact will be having its Grand Opening in two days.  What a treat!  Clayton had a ball, even daring to eat a fried insect (Crispy Cricket).  See photo

On to New Orleans

The Dodge and the Airstream travelled well to New Orleans today.  We arrived at Bayou Segnette State Park across the Mississippi River from downtown New Orleans about 6 PM.  With our National Park Service Golden Age pass, the campsite daily fee is a whopping $9.oo a night.  

Upon leaving Houston, we discovered Channelview Supply, a treasure-chest seller of RV parts and supplies where we found exactly the part we needed to fix our sewage hose problem. This after the Airstream dealer in Houston said our 20-year old trailer might be too old for us to be able to obtain the odd-size part.

The campsite is great!  As we ate supper outside, we were joined by 3 rabbits and an armadillo.

Day Four ... Good health news!

Peggy was feeling good enough this morning to be ambulatory so we got her down to Kingwood, Texas to see Dr. Melissa Young, coincidentally a graduate of the Medical School at University Health Science Center - San Antonio.  Dr. Young and her P.A. diagnosed a sinus infection, administered an injection and sent a better-feeling Peggy on her way with some antibiotics.

Clayton's waiting now for thunderstorms to pass so he can get in another swim before leaving.

We plan to stay in New Caney tonight and head to New Orleans in the morning, only a day behind our original schedule.

Whew, what a relief!  For a while, we were afraid that we might have to return to San Antonio.

Day three ... a little setback

Steven changed his mind last night and really wanted to go home.  So we took him after having a great day with Clayton and Steven enjoying each other.  Then we picked Steven up this morning and brought him back to the RV Park so he and Clayton could swim.  They did and enjoyed the water until the thunder forced them out!

Peggy is really sick today: dizziness, nausea, etc.  She had these symptoms before leaving home last week but attributed them to being over-tired.  So, we may stay in New Caney an extra day and see how she's feeling.  We're a little reluctant to travel further from home until we know what's going on and how she's going to feel.  She's resting now.

Day two... We see Steven

We're settling in to this trailer living.  Makes you appreciate all that room you have back home to bounce around in.  We picked up Steven this morning to spend a night with us.  Clayton and Steven were thrilled to see each other!

The park is on this small lake nestled in the pine trees.

The boys are each enjoying playing with his brother.

Day One! (We're underway!)

We got off a little later than planned this morning but we did get off.  Intermittent rain while we were loading...even that delay was welcomed.  Our dog, Speedy survived her first ever day of travel.  She's our watchdog tonight here in New Caney, just north of Houston.  We're staying at Lone Star Lake RV Park, a quiet location on Highway 59.

Believe it or not, we got all trailer connections  made: water, electric, sewer, etc. and then had sandwiches for supper.  We forgot to turn on the refrigerator for the first two hours, but even that's OK now.  I'm sure we'll get this check list down by the time we tear down and set up the trailer nine more times on this trip.

There's not very much nice to say about Houston's traffic, so I'll let that be.

Clayton's writing a daily journal, too even as I type this.

Almost ready...

Got Clayton from camp yesterday. He had a ball. Those Texas Elks do a great job with these kids.

We've just finished loading the truck and trailer and the sky opened! Welcome rain to San Antonio. We'll leave in the morning. Pamela had to cancel as she is under the weather.

Getting loaded (the trailer)

We're getting packed today. We'll get Clayton from camp this evening. South Texas has had some welcome rain this week... a relief from our record drought this year.

I'm learning the art and mechanics of blogging so please be patient with me.

Happy Birthday, America!

Countdown to Departure

Well, only three more days until Peggy, Clayton and Knox depart for our six-week, first-ever Airstream adventure. We've planned this for a few months and are almost ready. I pick up Clayton tomorrow at Elks camp. Our daughter, Pamela will be joining us on the first leg to Houston to visit with her son, Steven, who is Clayton's biological brother. We're late in life to be taking up trailering and camping but we've had a good role model in my brother Conrad who with his wife Rita have camped for many years.