May 9, 2006 - Thackervill, OK - 4

After getting the coach worked on, we went to Rainbow's End, the Escapee RV Club headquarters and RV park to capture some mail we needed.  And while there we drove up to the upper end of Lake Livingston, and the little town of Point Blank.  And there on the bulletin board was somebody looking for their lost Wallaby!!!  Only in Texas, would you call your pet Wallaby "Billy Bob."

One of the joys of putting this website together is the neat people we meet who've found us.  One fellow who lives in Livingston, TX, found us while he was in St. Croix, and lurked for a while until a year or so ago when he wrote and invited us to his place for dinner.  We finally got to take him up on his invitation this time through town.  It was special for several reasons.  He and his wife Lee had gone to Alaska last year, and had met our good friend John on the way, and we'd heard from John about meeting Hector.  Also, some friends of Hector's happened to also be at Rainbow's End the same time we were, so we got to meet Mike and Carole first.

That's Hector standing there explaining something regarding computers to me, and George, his neighbor in the background.  Hector and Lee are considering the ramifications of full time RV'ing, and George and his wife are thinking about getting a RV of some kind, so as you can guess, there's plenty to talk about.  Lee, and I think Mike, of Mike and Carole, Hector's friends from Rainbow's End, are busy there at the sink making the bread sticks for dinner.

Carole is enjoying some shrub that I think is a Coontie, but Barb thinks is something else, and then a view of Lake Livingston and Hector and Lee's boathouse.  High and dry because of Hurricane Rita.  Lessee here.  We've just seen the devastation from Katrina, we cleaned up after Wilma, and now we're seeing what Rita did.  This must have been our hurricane year.  Anyway, what happened here is that Rita damaged the dam that holds back the lake, and they let some water out to repair the dam, and people scurried around repairing bulkheads, etc. while the water was low.  But with the lake some 8 feet lower than usual, a cocktail cruise on Hector & Lee's pontoon boat was put on hold.

From left to right are Mike and Carole, George's wife and George, then Lee and Hector.  What a wonderful meal!  Chicken marinated in some solution that made it even more delicious, some string beans wrapped in bacon to die for, a wonderful green salad, and some home-made twisted bread sticks.  Then some delicious cream cake for dessert. It was a meal not to be forgotten quickly.  The sunset on the lake just added to the beautiful time we had.  To top it off, Hector told us a little about the insurance adjusting he and Lee did after Hurricane Wilma in the Miami area.  He came over the next day to check out Barb's kitchen storage to see if he could modify their kitchen some as Lee really enjoys cooking, and has been less than happy with the kitchen in their motorhome.  While he was visiting us, we got lots of good information about the adjusting business, and it's in our "to be considered" bucket for the future.

What's this?  Where did these pictures come from?  What's going on here?  I don't remember anything like this at all!!!  I wish.........  Yup, stuck again--ever heard of Texas sand?  Been a while though, eh?  And this is the first time for the motorhome too.  And if I recall correctly (and I do) Barb told the story the last time "we" got stuck, and I'm going to let her do it again.  I'm never going to hear the end of it anyway......... 

You got that right bucko!  Stupid  #@$%*+ !!!!!!  Instructions say turn right, then two miles down the road turn left at CR 424 (SOWERS HQ).  He checks the speed limit and resumes the 45 mph speed limit, then bingo we're there.  Only it's too late to make the turn.  So we go past and look ahead; nothing but narrow, two-lane road as far as we can see.  We begin looking for a turnaround spot. He pulls over and asks me to get out and check the ground to see if it's solid enough to make a turn (I thought that was a good idea).  I come back and say no, it's too soft.  He goes a little further and turns left onto the sand despite my vocal objections.  And there you have it . . . stuck!  Now I ask you, why did he EVEN bother to ask me to get out and check the ground if he wasn't interested in my opinion in the first place, huh???   What really irked me was that while I headed to SOWERS HQ to see about getting a shovel to help dig us out of the mess, one of the SOWERS had seen the whole thing and got on a tractor.  By the time I got back he had already been pulled out!  (Not that I didn't appreciate the help you understand.)  It's just that he does things like this and it's like it was planned.  When we were dating or first married--we only dated for four months, he used to run out of gas as we were pulling into a gas station.  Just what is it with this guy anyway????        

Lastly, we're parked at one of four brand new concrete slab RV sites at the SOWERs office in Lindale, TX.  In fact, we were the very first people to use one.  It really is a beautiful spot to spend some time.