Jackie's Birthday & Camping Preparations

Saturday was Jackie’s birthday so we went to League City for a little get together to celebrate. She didn’t know Dana had invited a few other people so it was a bit of a surprise for her.

I remembered to take my camera but the battery was dead and I had left the charger at home so Connie took a couple of pictures with her iPhone.
Dana was worried that the pool water was too hot so he bought three two hundred and fifty pound blocks of ice and threw them into the pool. It did lower the temp by about two degrees for a little while but not really enough or for long enough to justify the cost of $125. The kids did have fun playing with the mini icebergs so it wasn’t completely wasted. Dana sure gets an A for his effort to make everything perfect for us and the rest of his guests.

We had beef, chicken and shrimp fajitas along with rice and beans and the usual fixings. All of the food was excellent and everyone filled up. Later we had a delicious cake and a coconut cream pie. I was hurting by the time we finished eating after snacking all afternoon.

We got home about midnight and Sam was impatiently waiting. He had quite a bit to say to us and I don’t think it was good. He even kept grumbling as I walked him. Normally we would take him with us but we can’t keep him out of the pool when the kids or Connie are in it.

Sunday morning Connie made me breakfast and afterwards she had to go back to Jackie’s. She had left her purse there. Jackie wanted to meet us for lunch but I had too much to do so Connie decided to just drive up and get the purse.

We are taking Chase & Megan camping on Friday. We haven’t used the RV in several months so I spent Sunday checking all of the systems. We don’t have a thirty amp plug at the house to I fired up my generator and ran the AC for about an hour. I also ran the hot water heater on both gas and electric. The stove/oven work as well as the microwave and refrigerator so I guess we’re ready as far as all that stuff goes.

I replaced the water hose on the outside cooktop/sink with a new 25 foot coiled hose. The old one was only five feet long and had developed pin hole leaks. The last time we parked the RV I noticed that the sway bar bracket on one side had moved so I repositioned it and tightened it down.

Last night I made sure all the tires including the spare were aired up correctly and checked the ones on the truck. Next I finally readjusted the angle of the ball on the truck hitch. After Hurricane Ike we used the truck to pull some landscaping and to drag debris out of the yard. All that pulling had tilted the ball down a little and I finally remembered to reset it.

Tonight I am going to pull the three storage boxes I use for all of the stuff we take with us. I think most of the necessary stuff is in them but I’m sure some of it has spread out around the garage and house.

The sewer box should be fine as we don’t have any tanks to drain. The other two are dedicated to tools, lights, extension cords, etc. That’s the stuff I think may have migrated. By the end of the evening I should have everything ready to go except clothes and food. Any bets on whether or not we need something that we left home?

Connie tells me there is the possibility we will be facing a storm in the Gulf when we get home Monday. I sure hope not because that’s one headache I don’t ever want to have again.

More pics from the past........

Jackie at age 2

Connie & I a couple of years ago on the Galveston Seawall (that's the statue commemorating the 1900 Storm)

Adios for now, enjoy the day.

--Rod