August 31, 3003 - Nacogdoches - 6

Finally!  The coach is ours.  Done with the back and forth every day to and from the shop.  They finished it up on Friday, we paid the bill, and could have left for NH were it not for the 33.4 million people that CNN said were going to be on the roads for Labor Day weekend.  So, we'll be leaving on Tuesday.  Get the U-Haul trailer early as we can, toss our leftover stuff in it, and haul it outta here.  Can't believe it's been over a month that we've been in Nacogdoches and this area.  We're not going to intentionally come to East Texas in August again, and for those of you who don't particularly like heat and humidity, I suggest you visit some time other than August.

Any proud parents would want to brag about a sign like that, now, wouldn't they?  When son Doug sent the picture, he said something about it being able to be seen from the moon it was so bright.  And there we are, happily keeping ourselves busy in the hotel room.  We were on the 4th floor by this beautiful tree.  The last day there we discovered a hole that a squirrel lived in right outside our window, and every evening we'd hear the cicadas making their raucous racket.  The noisy air-conditioner would drown it out pretty much, so they didn't keep us awake. And Barb took advantage of a hotel swimming pool just about every night; I went with her once to keep the peace!

Not much question about where the owners of Foretravel stand regarding spiritual matters, is there.  That's not the reason we like Foretravel, but it sure doesn't hurt either.  And there's Barb's file drawers that replaced the little end table that had been built there and, sure enough, the armrest of the couch is gone.  And not missed I might add; pillows work just fine.  The junk on the couch is computer stuff that needs to be put away.  We'd just walked in after they finished the floor and furniture modifications.  We were told that the difference in color between the "new" and the "old" wood will be minimal within 6 months, though the picture doesn't really show the significant color variation between the two.  We're not wood aging experts, so we'll wait and watch.  It dang well better match closer than that eventually!  Nice tile work, eh?

The laptop (and in-house tool box) are sitting on the computer station.  You'll see more of it in a moment.  And then the tile from the bedroom forward.  See that little stool sort of hiding under the dining room table?  Well, that's there because Barb can't always stand on a drawer to get what she wants from the cupboards above her head.  At least that's what she tells me.  I'm convinced its only purpose in life is to rip off my toes as I walk by.

And the tile goes clear to the entrance.  After 5 years and 3 months of fussing about the carpet either needing cleaning or getting dirty, Barb's happy at last.  And since I'm dirt blind (must be a guy thing), I'm still happy.  One morning we were wakened by this gonging sound.  I figured it was birds hopping around on our ladder, as we could hear them walking around on the roof.  Barb wasn't convinced, so we went around to the ladder so she could climb up there and see what else they might have been playing with.  And there was a pretty good sized multicolored moth taking a nap.  Those are Barb's fingers, so you can appreciate its size.  East Texas has some pretty big bugs, and a whole passel of neat looking ones too.  We even saw an in tact, but dead,  rhinoceros beetle one day--wow, they're big and fascinating. 

There she is, peeking around to make sure there's nothing up there for the birds to mess with (there wasn't) and another wild looking bug.  This guy was hiding on the underside of a window awning, and I took this shot at the window sans glass or screen.  Its body was about an inch long, but those incredible and wonderfully stripped antennas were about 4 inches long.  Amazing, eh?  Anyone know what it is?  Though the picture shows some pinkish color, there wasn't any pink; it was mostly gray and black.

There.  The computer station is loaded. All the cables are run through holes in the shelves, a hole in the side lets the laptop "talk" to everything.  There's the printer, scanner, CD RW, external drive, and surge protector all stuffed in there.  I leave the door open when using the computer so it doesn't all overheat.  And then the little shelf we had built to house the junk I use when underway.  Things like log books, sun glasses, calculator, extra pencils and pens, cable to charge the phone from the dashboard, and things like that.  When we're parked, it's the perfect place for that pretty little clock.  Please ignore the rest of the junk hanging around--we're still moving in ya know.

That's it for now.  We'll be in touch again from NH in a couple of weeks.  It'll take most of a week probably to get there, and then we'll be hustling around gathering all our junk into one place.  Barb's sister Carol and her husband Guy have been kind enough to store our Jeep, boat,  & bicycles, as well as letting us use their address for shipping the tow bar, base plate, braking system, water filters and whatever else we needed to get our act together.  We're hoping to get into Wyman's Beach campground, about 7 miles from where they live.  However, for a $100 non-refundable deposit, we opted not to make a reservation.