Happy Valentine Day!! 💘💘 Some Interesting Days!!

 Monday February 14, 2022, HAPPY VALENTINEs DAY!!!

   Diane headed into PT like any Monday. They worked her hard today trying to get her back into shape before the sessions run out.  We relaxed most of day and made these huge T-bone steaks for Valentine's Day meal.  And no, we didn't eat it all, close, but not quite, enough left for on a salad tomorrow.  We were sitting inside just after dark when Diane hears a noise, I run out trying to keep the coon/cats, whatever from getting in the grill. I was too late; we were already raided.  But being in such a hurry to get out the door I broke the plexiglass slider in the door. Something else to fix!

Tuesday February 15, 2022

   I headed into town right after breakfast for a piece of plexiglass and to look for a ladder, a good study 8-footer so I can safely wash and wax to Moho. I couldn't make my mind up and couldn't find anyone to get help from, so I came home without a ladder.  We put the trail camera out to catch the critter in the act.  The first time they almost knocked the grill completely off the table and now they barely move it at all.  We will find out tonight.  In the meantime, Diane ordered us a roll of the felt we need for the edge of the plexiglass, for now I have one old piece and one new piece. It works.

Wednesday February 16, 2022

    Diane goes in for PT, her last scheduled session.  She is doing so well, now walking without a cane or anything.  She gets done and they tell her they would like to see her one day a week for four more weeks, for strengthening and just make sure she is not regressing.  She gets home and we get the camera card to see who the guilty party is.  As we look through the pictures it turns out the coons now can remove the grease pan clean it out without disturbing the grill at all.   BUT we also have a couple cats and the neighbor's dog visiting during the night. It seems we will have to shift some blame to the other critters. 

The neighborhood cats, raccoon and Frisbie the dog, all visiting

our site, we are the only ones that cook out.  

Thursday February 17, 2022

   We went to town, stopped at Martin Mexican Restaurant for lunch, it was good but nothing over the top. I dropped Diane off at the grocery store, went to a computer repair store picked up a fan to put in the electronic cabinet, then over to Lowes for my ladder and back to pick up Diane.  I have enough projects going, somedays I don't know which one to work on.

Friday February 18, 2022.   This would have been Shawna's 50th (we miss her)

     Workday today and our first busy weekend 17 campers coming in. I got busy checking campsites and restrooms while Diane went to the Verizon store to switch her old phone over to me. Despite the fact she spent two hours there 2 days ago getting her new iPhone, she had to start all over again and spent another two hours in the store today.  At least it was no cost.  Then she had to go to a phone repair shop to download my phone data 'cause my iphone4 was to old for Verizon to work with. Then she headed to pick up a chain saw that I looked at last week.  It is just a small electric one to keep in the Moho. 
     I made all the rounds in the campground, had everyone checked in and taken care of.   By the time Diane made it home around 5pm.  The temps dropped as the wind picked up quite a bit. We made the last round people were all huddled around campfires, and some had "interesting" devices to block the wind and stay warm.   I guess the holiday weekend got everyone out. 

When a campfire isn't enough, bring the heaters out,

and on a windy day, build a wall!!

Saturday February 19, 2022

    We made our rounds, cleaned the restrooms, picked up some debris that blew around the campground.  After lunch I went to saw up some limbs and downed trees that need to be removed.  Diane says I was playing with the new saw.  I can neither confirm nor deny the actual reason, but the saw works well, and I was happy.  The wind finally died down, the sun came out and campers were out and about.  Kids everywhere!!  The temps only made it into the 50's but the sunshine made it feel warm.  Everyone was having a good time.  In between rounds Diane put the felt on the windows and I installed it and guess what, the felt was too thick you couldn't slide open the slider.  Figured I'll trim it up tomorrow. It was a good day! 

Sunday February 20, 2022

    I got up had a coffee took Diane a cup of coffee to her in bed and poof the day went to crap!! Diane spilled her coffee (which was in a sippy cup) it ran over the ledge, down beside the mattress and came to rest under the bed frame.  That was it! We spent most of the day tearing the bed apart along with the bed frame and then putting it all back together. And when we made it to the bottom, cleaned everything we noticed there appears to be mold along the outside edge of the platform.  I wanted to work on the plexiglass but spent two hours looking for my razor knife which I never found. Just another adventurous day of living in the Moho. The weather was nice today and the ground was busy with outdoor gatherings/parties.

The suspected mold under the bed!  UGH!!

Monday February 21, 2022

    Workday today and even with the holiday, not much going on.  The kids are out early this morning riding bikes, playing on the playground just happy to be out of the campers. Another nice day! It was warm we actually had shorts on all day. We made our rounds visited with some campers and enjoyed the sunshine.  Diane ran to Dollar General for a few items and to get me a new razor knife they didn't have any anyway.  We have chicken on the grill sat outside until dark. A really nice day.

Tuesday February 22, 2022

    Another warm day today but wind was terrible overnight and throughout the day.   First was breakfast on the grill, been a long time since it was warm enough to grill breakfast.  We heard a tree crash last night and found a large pine had broken off and feel onto the boat parking area.  I grabbed the new chain saw and headed out.  The tree was already dead and just kind of blew apart when it hit the macadam.  We cleaned it up and yes, I had to saw a few pieces off to clear the area.  We were going through Diane clothes container in the basement storage she looked down and says there is your knife lying.  I don't know why it wasn't in my toolbox but there it was. With knife in hand, I finally got the plexiglass back in the screen door.

I've missed a few projects, so I'll sum then up.

The steps, I spent hours upon hours checking the wiring on the steps made several phone calls to manufactures and watched ten or more u-tube videos.  ...All done the steps work well BUT when you hit the remote lock the steps come in and out.  I quit.

The plexiglass, a simple job but it took me all week, two trips to town one, online order, countless hours looking for my tools.  All done looks good just took way to long.

The ceiling lights.  Two ceiling light were blinking so we (Diane) researched part numbers called Winnebago and ordered two new ones.  Another easy job took one to the bathroom, got the old one out hooked up the new one and it is just a mm to big.  Go get 10 more tools cut a little, bent a little and finally installed the new one.  Next the kitchen light. I can't get the lens off to even start.  Watch a video, posted on FB and checked with co-worker none of the ideas worked. Still lying on the dash.

The bed.  A simple job of cleaning up some coffee turned into an all-day job. I watched a video on dismantling the bed frame, I needed drill, screw drivers, flashlights, vacuum and of course some rags. And when we were done, we still have the suspected mold to deal with. Another day for that.

I get a lot of things started. They take 10 times longer than I think and often find something else to fix while I'm working.  I love RVing!

A slow but productive week.

Week 7 -11 February 2022

  Not much happening this week.  The weather finally turned nice and we had four days that it reached into the 70's.  As luck would have it, we worked three of those days Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Diane had p/t Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  With the nice weather we grilled out a few times and sat by the fire two evenings. 

     The big accomplishment this week was cleaning and fixing the slide topper and cover on the big slide out.  The slide is 25 feet long and collects a lot of debris over time.  We cleaned it last fall and noticed the end cap was broke but I put it back together enough to hold to get us out of PA then I forgot about it.  In the last blog I mentioned the tension on the spring.  Diane did some research on how to retention the spring correctly for the length of the slide, eight counterclockwise turns.  Wednesday we were surprised(pleasantly) when our part from Carefree Awnings showed up much earlier than we expected.  They said 3 weeks or more, it was here in a week.  So, Thursday I got the pressure washer out and started the task of cleaning out the debris, it was a little harder than I thought it would be, the stuff was packed in so tight I had to dig some out with my hands.  Diane was my safety observer, she sat outside reading her book, but with her phone handy in case things went south.  Everything went well it took over 2 hours to get it cleaned and another hour to clean up the mess.  I was hoping to get it all back together but that will have to wait.

The mess in the awning cover,
how does that stuff get in there?

Brad cleaning out the mess.

The mess left on the patio, YUK.

All cleaned up and ready
to put back together.  

    Friday after Diane's p/t and after rounds in the campground it was time to tackle the spring and end cap issue. It is the last warm day for a while so we had to get-er-done. I got the ladder and all my tools read while Diane got her book and chair, but today she was helping more than reading.  As I dropped wrenches and screws over and over, she would find them and hand them back up.  First try didn't go well and the re-tensioned spring got away from me, on the second attempt we made it.  The story doesn't do it justice because it took two hours or more with lots of frustration and nervy situations, but we made it. As the last screw went in the Shinner Bock came out. Oh yea!  

Saturday 12 February 2022

  This is the story of me getting a pair of $450.00 sneakers.  Sitting by the fire last night after climbing the ladder umpteen times we noticed they my sneakers were coming apart in the front.  So, we headed out for sneakers.  We left this morning at 8:30, guess what we did first, yep stopped for breakfast at Stumps, back in the truck next was gas, then to the shoe store, after we stopped at an antique store where Diane found two items she had to have.  Then the shoe store where I found a pair of Skechers right off while Diane shopped around a bit.  We left an hour later with three pairs of shoes.  We headed back into town, it was after 1:00pm so we stopped at Shrimp Boat Manny's for lunch.  I researched a few silver dollars while waiting for lunch.  Food was great but it was 2:30 until we were done.  I dropped Diane off at an outlet store and went back for my silver dollar at the antique store.  I picked her up and we headed home with my sneakers and all the other goodies we purchased today.  So, the trip for sneakers cost us breakfast, gas, lunch, two extra pairs of shoes, two trips to the antique store totaling $450 plus the sneakers. It was good day and besides, we had fun.

  Back to the Moho poor Rudy must have had his legs crossed, he ran out the door. 

PT, PT and more PT and a then a bit of sight-seeing!!

 Monday 31 January 2022

  Diane headed in for PT while Rudy and I finished packing up the Moho.  We pulled out at 9:30 and arrived in Jasper just as Diane finished up with PT.  After hooking up the truck we headed to Houston to sign the paperwork on our new/next Moho.  We parked at our campground around 3pm.  It rained most of the way down, let up while we parked and walked Rudy, then rained most of the night.  We were a bit nervous about tomorrow activities.   We ordered wings and talked about how we would fix up the new unit. 

Tuesday 1 February 2022

     We were up early and despite the fact that we were only 25 miles from the dealership, we were still late arriving, who would have guessed. Once we arrived we walked in/through/around the new unit, checked where stuff would or would not fit.  Found several more broke, worn and not working items. We sat at the table and almost simultaneously said we wanted to keep ours. Into the office told them we changed our minds. They were very nice about it; said they understand it is hard to trade to an older unit. So off we go back to Sam Rayburn.  We got back by 5pm hooked everything up and started a list of things to fix/upgrade on the Moho and promised we won't go look at another Moho. The other hosts were over to see what the decision was.

It's a 2010 Ventana, just couldn't do it.  

Wednesday 2 February 2022

   Diane went to PT, it was just plain miserable cold, raining and windy.  She came home and we stayed in. Diane baked a cake (Keto) to help keep the Moho warm (or herself entertained). When the rain quit I started in on my first Moho project, replacing the broken end cap on the slide topper (the big one).  I loosened the back endcap and opened the metal cover I moved to the front one and as I loosened the one remaining screw the whole thing broke loose. The spring which was fully tensioned with the slide being out left loose. Luckily all my body parts were out of way and no injuries, but the noise scared Diane, she thought I fell off the ladder. She ran out (as fast as she goes) to check on me. Now I have one more thing to do, try to find out how to retention the spring while installing a new end cap.  In the meantime we can't bring the slide in until it is fixed.  Three weeks at least until new part arrives. Now we are having fun.

Thursday 3 February 2022

    Today was the long awaited volunteer luncheon.  The rangers provided all the food all homemade.  The food was great, one of the best items was beer bread.  We hung out and met some of the other volunteers from all the campgrounds scattered around the lake. We got back to the Moho about three walked Rudy several times.  He didn't need the walks but we did.   

Friday 4 February 2022 

   The coldest day yet 26 degrees this morning when we got up.  Dallas just above us got hammered with snow and ice, luckily we didn't get anything.  Diane was getting ready for PT and as she walked back to get her phone she stepped on Rudy's paw, he yelped but she couldn't pick her leg up very quick and after the second yelp he nipped her pretty hard. She moved and he crawled all over her licking her leg, I'm sure he was feeling bad.  They both felt bad and made up quickly.  She headed to PT early just in case the roads were icy, but they were dry.  We stayed home as the counties around us all had icy road issues.  

Saturday 4 February 2022

   A nice sunny morning but only 29 degrees. After a nice breakfast we headed up to Hemphill, Texas.  First stop...are you ready... was not lunch! It was a NASA Museum for the Space Shuttle Columbia, which blew up and crashed right near were we are staying, on February 1st, 2003, 19 years ago. It is a small museum but full of a lot of history and information.  Many stories of how this very rural town of less than 2000 pulled together to feed and house some 10,000 people, both government and civilian that came to search/collect debris over a 100,000-acre debris field.  To best sum it up people who were away from their homes for whatever reason called back and let workers stay in their home for as long as they needed it. Food came from private citizens, homemade casseroles local eggs and meats, enough to feed everybody for days, until supplies came in.  The bodies of all seven astronauts were found. Best part, our museum guide was part of the first searchers in the fields and was present when one of the astronaut's remains were located.  A very moving and informative visit. We would recommend to anyone in the area.

   Next was lunch at a small coffee shop in old town Hemphill.  We split a chicken and basil panni and it was good.  Best part is the decor/atmosphere of the place was very veteran oriented. We took a bunch of pictures and I'm sure Texas is one of only a few states you can sell toy guns in a family restaurant. Go Texans. And of course, it wouldn't be a complete day without hitting all the antique stores which we could find.  Four stores but no purchases came close on a few items but went home empty handed.

   It was nice to get back into our old routine especially with Diane walking almost unassisted just using/carrying a cane.

Our tour guide at the museum,
was part of the rescue crew and
a wealth of information!!

The restaurant had a lot of military honor displays,

but on the side, they sold pop rifles for kids!!