The 2006 Travels of Richard n Shirley

Guess what I forgot to do? Yep, but there will be another day next week. We got the second coat painted and its finished. The new paint has a different base and hence has a different color ever so slightly. This is not a problem as the second coat will cover the first coat and no one will see the difference. The rest of the patio wood will be given a coat of paint at a later date. So the difference in color will never been noticed.

We need to put in 2 line of handrail at the exterior steps they have. The railing will to top only with no midrail. DW is looking at fittings that can be screwed together. I will make an AutoCad drawing of welded railing and get it priced, delivered to the house. This is probably the cheapest way. Lets see what the brother, Mike, says about doing it this way.

Forgot to take the camera for this and do wish we had. DW's brother was there to do the manual work while I lent a helping hand.The project was to replace some roof trim and roof drip boards that are rotting. The necessary wood was pre purchased and ready. The old wood was removed and there we found some additional rotten wood. No worry as there was plenty of wood.

The trim below the galv drip rail was ripped, to 1" x 2", and ends cut at 45*. The front trim, 1" x 6", was ok in all but one place and that was replaced. They had added a covered patio cover and the front trim was about as deep as the joists. Hence there was no drip rail as the piece stopped short. He added a 1" deep piece to this trim and obtained a drip rail. In a few places the soffit had to be trimed for the 1" piece to be added.

All this was nailed in place, caulked and painted. DW did the caulking and painting. Tomorrow we will go back and put on a second coat of paint. Once all this is painted, it should last for several years. The patio has a wood railing that is in need of painting too. DW made a run and brought back 2 gallons of paint for the second coat and to paint the railing. Tomorrow I will take pics of the work and post here.

DW's mom is not much better and will see her Dr on monday. We will decide monday when to leave for son's house and Lake Lavon. The worst thing we can do is go off and to then have to come back or Shirley have to drive/fly in for her. The wise thing for us is to stay and see what the Dr has to say and go from there. We are planning on going to my grandsons 5th birthday party on sunday and checking out the parking at Lavon COE. We will get to spend a few days and see everyone. Then its south to daughter and her grandkids if Shirley's mom is doing much better. Its a good 4 hour drive back to here if we need to come back.

Our space 2 here at Bear Creek Campground of 1187 and south of the lake. turn at the Mustange Park sign and follow the road till you see the entrance. The first space and this space are old camp hosts spots. New spots and a new entrance gate and house were built which allow these two spots to be used. They have FUH and are fairly nice.


There is the new toad, our Vue. ready to be towed behind the rv.




A view of the hookups There is phone but its not hooked up or even activited. I got the hose out and washed the rv and both vehicles. The car is still clean but the suv is not. Its got to be washed again.

We are still here because DW's mom is not well enough for us to leave. We paid for two more days which puts us out on Friday. If she is doing better by then, we will leave.

We have a 5 year old grandson whom is having a birthday this week and a party sunday afternoon. We would like to be there provided. Time will tell. We will go over there thursday to see how she is and help replace some wood trim on the house.

Temp: 89 with a forecast of 92.
GPS: N32*36.201', W97*29.742'

The last thing we have to do is put a brake in the toad when we travel. We went to Camping World and got the new Roadmaster "Add a brake. CW was $400.00 cheaper than Ancira and Hitches, etc. This was our Monday chore. Once I get the yellow clearance light bulb in, the list is finished

This is a pic of the toad breakaway switch. Its located to the right of the round 4 way connection for the toad lights.

We should have our plates this week, fingers crossed.


It out order in pic sequence is the Roadmaster Falcon 2 tow bar. Its masked off and redy to paint. We are awaiting the winds to die down, sometime we hope. While a CW we got a tow bar cover to keep the thing in. Sounds like a good idea, it wont keep it clean unless it gets washed after a road trip.

Hanging down there is the other end of the wire for the dash light. its to tell the driver when the brakes are bveing applied on the toad.




And here is the light on the dash. More to watch as we drive.
Lets see, there is water temp, oil pressure, voltage from alternator, speed (only in town and when its under 50-I drive slow to see too), gas tank level when it gets under 1/2 tank, idiot lights and now the new brake light.

No wonder the pic is blurred, thats the way I'll see it.





And the brake unit itself. Its sitting on the rv driver seat. The only time it will be in the suv is when its being used. it can't go in the cargo area as thats full of cargo, golf clubs. If I can find a place, it will go in an outside storage bay. The question is IF. I got new chains as the others, 2, were damaged.

In this pic is the dolley brake adjustement device we kept. It will stay with the rv and go to the next owner. If they have to pull a dolley, its a $200 savings as its installed with a 7 way plug in the back.
Its real simple to hookup and unhook. Shirley will be doing the unhooking if I can con her someway. Otherwise its me while she is paying for a site or we are pulled to a spot to unhook. Anyway, I got the outside chores while she does the inside ones. I setup the tv and internet dishes and hook up the rv connections. DW is moving the slides, the rest of the stuff that we have to put away to travel. To move takes us probable 1/2 hour and about an hour to setup. It takes 1/2 an hour to assemble and get signals for the dishes on a good day. It has taken an hour when we cant get a signal quickly. While I'm outside, she is inside working the tv for the dtv tone and the computer for the internet dish. Oh, the King Dome is a touch of a button and its done.

Shirley's mom is not doing well and needs you guys to remember her. She is having a shortness of breath and dizzyness. The Dr has not found the cause. We will be staying here a Benbrook Lake for awhile longer so Shirley can be with her and her dad. Shirley has the time and can be there for both of them. Her mom will have her 75th birthday on the 13th.