Rio Concho West Independence Day Parade

We're pretty well settled in our new home, and just in time for the community July 4th parade. Now, keep in mind ours is a small community, but we have a pretty nice little parade. The procession made 2 loops through the neighborhood, and everyone seemed to have a good time. Below are some pictures from our little celebration.

The Honor Guard led off the parade, followed by local EMTs and fire department.

You can't have a patriotic parade without Boy Scouts.

I'm not sure of the significance of the stagecoach, but it was about to turn onto Stage Coach Trail.

There were several refurbished older cars.

And since we are an active retirement community, there were lots of golf carts in the parade.

Someone did a nice job fixing up this truck.

This old panel wagon was nicely restored.

Yeah, a simple parade, but one showing off the community's patriotism. I think I'm going to enjoy living here.

We Ain't Homeless No More

We closed on Monday. We moved on Tuesday. We had everything connected and working by Wednesday afternoon. And Donna and I are both exhausted.

It's great to be in our new home. Although we still have much to unpack and put in order, we are now settled and comfortable. But this move was, by far, the most difficult we've ever experienced.

The move itself went very smoothly. The closing was on time. The movers arrived exactly when they said they would, and they had us in our new home in a very short time. New items were delivered when they were scheduled. Everything went like clockwork. It was, perhaps, the best organized and most efficient move we've ever made.

But the old woman and I are not spring chickens anymore. The physical act of moving furniture and boxes really took its toll this time. It has also been quite hot here in San Angelo the past several days, and the humidity levels have been higher than normal. I find myself getting dehydrated much more quickly than I used to. In fact, even our recent 4 mile walks have been affecting both of us. We have been walking later in the morning when the heat and humidity have started rising. Now that we are settled in an area that is safe for walking, I'll start doing my walks as soon as it gets light and before the heat sets in.

It's so nice to be out of the trailer. I pulled it over to the house Tuesday afternoon to unload. Later that evening, we took it to our new covered parking area just down the street here in our new community. It will be convenient to have it stored where we live.

Now the real work begins. Time to notify all our providers -- insurance companies and so forth -- with our new address. It's not hard, especially in this age of technology, but it is tedious and takes time.

I've enjoyed traveling in our trailer. Our trip out west -- to Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico -- was fun, and we really enjoyed ourselves, but it is good to finally be home again.

It's Been Quient

If you read the blog regularly, you've noticed that I've not been posting much lately. That's because we haven't been doing much lately. As a rule, I only post when something has happened.

Actually, we have been pretty busy, but we haven't been doing anything worth reading about. Currently, we are parked at the KOA in San Angelo. We've been here about 3 weeks now. We've been busy getting things ready to move into our new home at Rio Concho West (RCW). We are set to close on Monday, June 20, and we will actually move in the following day.

We've been watching as upgrades to the house have been done. Upgrades to the bathrooms -- new counter tops and tile in bathtubs and shower -- came first. Then the new counter and back splash in the kitchen was done. The new light fixtures and faucets were then installed. Last week, the entire house was painted. Currently, new flooring (tile and carpet) are being installed. Other little jobs have been performed also, such as replacing the fan on the patio, installing a new fan in the kitchen, and things of this sort. We should be ready to go by the close date.

Donna and I have been busy making some new purchases. When we moved out of our old house, we donated our antique washer and dryer units to Goodwill, so we needed to get a new set. We also gave away an old bedroom suite to our daughter, so we've replaced that with a new king size bedroom group. I've also been contacting all the utilities to get service set up.

So, although I've had nothing of note to write about since we have not been traveling much lately, we have been busy. And one of the best things is that we have been assigned a covered parking space for our travel trailer at RCW. Now our trailer will be protected from those violent West Texas storms that we've endured for the past month or so.

And the Years Roll By

On May 26, 1977, Donna and I stood before a minister in the Methodist Church of Conroe, Texas, and said our vows. After 39 years, I'm still putting up with the old woman. She's mighty lucky to find me; I don't know of anyone else who could put up with her this long.

We don't celebrate things too much anymore. One day is pretty much like another now. But I did take the old woman out to H.E.B. yesterday so she could buy some food to cook for me. They were having a good sale on beef ribs, so we bought a large package as well as some other things we were hungry for. I then had to take Donna to another grocery store so she could buy some wine. Upon checking out, the clerk asked if I was stocking up; I replied that I was simply trying to keep the old woman sedated. Sometimes life is easier that way.

We then went to the movies and saw Money Monster with George Clooney and Julia Roberts. We enjoyed the movie. It wasted little time getting into the action, and the plot was intricate and interesting. I do wish the movie industry would refrain from using extremely vulgar language to such an extreme, though. I simply see no purpose in it. It seemed like the "F word" was in every sentence. I don't enjoy that.

After the movie, we went to Cheddar's for a late lunch. We both ordered sirloin steaks, and they were good cuts of meat cooked exactly to order. I was happy. The baked potato was just right, and the red beans and rice was also quite good.

It was a good day. I wonder how many more we will have. If we don't get out of this trailer soon, we may not make it to our 40th anniversary.

I'm an RV Watcher

When Donna and I go to the mall -- which isn't often -- Donna will go into a store and often I'll just sit outside on a bench and watch people. I've always enjoyed watching people. I know many of you may be the same way. Well, I'm also an RV watcher.

Donna and I both enjoy watching rigs pull into the park where we happen to be staying and then watch them set up. Everyone has their own way of setting up. With some couples, the husband will set up everything on the outside while the wife gets the inside ready. That is how Donna and I do things. Sometimes the wife will help the husband outside. I've seen instances also where the wife takes the lead outside. Some folks set up quickly, while we've seen some RVers take 2 hours. I'm always interested in learning from other folks. I like to see what gear they have and how they do things. Perhaps I can improve our process.

But what I really enjoy is looking at different rigs people have. Rigs often reflect how people live and what they do. Now, it's always dangerous categorizing people because there are always exceptions, but here are some general lifestyle trends I've seen over the years.

People in larger rigs, both class A motor homes and large 5th wheels, tend to enjoy their comforts more. First of all, these rigs have more comforts to begin with. Some motor homes, for example, practically set themselves up. Simply push a button and the rig will level itself. Many of these folks have their satellite for their TV. Larger rigs have more storage, which means more goodies can be stored aboard. Many larger rigs also have washers and dryers. Yeah, life aboard these rigs can be very comfortable. Now here comes the generalization, and keep in mind this certainly does not apply to everyone, but I think it is often true. From my observations, many of the folks in these larger rigs tend to live a lifestyle very similar to someone living in a traditional stationery home. During the day, they may go out and visit a museum, take in a movie, or do something else, but usually at night they are home in their rig watching TV and enjoying a good home-cooked meal. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. These folks are living comfortably while they travel about the country visiting places on their bucket list.

The folks I really admire, those, are the ones that show up in the smaller, more efficient rigs, such as pickup campers, Casita trailers, or Trail Manor trailers. These rigs are much more fuel efficient, and I admire that. I probably average about 10 mpg pulling my trailer, and I envy those rigs who get considerably more. I've always admired efficiency. But you give up some comforts and storage space with these outfits. In many smaller rigs, you have wet baths (shower and toilet in same space) that are very tight. As a result, I see many of these folks using public facilities, even when full hookups are available. Many of these rigs also take more work. The awning on a Casita, for example, requires manual setup, and a Trail Manor requires quite a bit of "unfolding" to set up. Setting up a Trail Manor in the rain is not fun.

But the folks I see in these rigs are pretty rugged folks. They don't mind using the public facilities, and I often see kayaks and canoes lashed to their rigs, as well as bicycles. They hop out of their rigs early in the morning, backpack in hand, and disappear into the wilderness to return at night. Many of these folks live outside, not inside. The camper they occupy is simply a shelter for the night and a place to carry limited gear and clothing; it serves as a sort of base of operations. And some of these folks do this full time.

Donna and I are somewhere in the middle. We don't have a large rig with all the luxuries, but we do have enough storage to carry a sufficient amount of clothing and gear, and we do have enough space to be comfortable without using public facilities. We enjoy our television, stereo, A/C and furnace, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom, but we still try to spend a good amount of our time outside. And it doesn't take us long to set up, usually 30 to 45 minutes.

And I guess that is the good thing about the RV lifestyle; however you want to live, you can do so.

House Update

When we arrived in San Angelo well over a month ago, we visited Rio Concho West (RCW) and were shown the houses that were available to purchase at that time. After considering our choices, we opted for one. We then began visiting supply houses in Angelo looking at tile, carpet, counter tops, and other housing options. Since then, we have made all choices and submitted those to RCW. In turn, RCW received estimates for all upgrades. We have approved those estimates, so work is underway transforming our new home.

I can't predict exactly when we will be able to move in, but I hope we are settled in there by the middle of June or so. In the meantime, we will continue to travel about.

We are currently in San Angelo checking on the house. We will stay here another week, then store our trailer for a week while we take a quick trip to East Texas to visit family. Then we come back to Angelo and check the progress of the house. If time allows, we'll hook up the trailer and take off for another week or two. If not, we'll hang around Angelo and prepare to close on our house.

Red Arroyo Trail

Quite a while ago, the city of San Angelo undertook construction of a walking and biking trail along the Red Arroyo, which runs through the southwest and southerly portions of the city. You can read a couple of stories about the trail in our local paper by clicking the links below:

• Red Arroyo on Track for Summer Completion
• Red Arroyo Trails Nearing Finish Line

Although there is still some work to do on the trail system, people are already using it. Donna and I got out this morning and walked the easterly portion of the trail.

This map was part of one of the stories listed above. Donna and I walked the trail on the east side of College Hills Boulevard.

We parked the truck in the parking area on Sul Ross. We began the hike by walking east to Knickerbocker Road. It was almost exactly 1.25 miles from the parking lot to Knickberbocker and then back. We then followed the loop west to College Hills and back. This portion of the trail was right at 1.5 miles. Our total walk was 2.74 miles.

And that's all you really need to know. I'll let the pictures below tell the rest of the story. I'll just close by saying I feel this is a great addition to the city. This is property that is in the flood plain, so it is not suitable for other development. And since the trail is in the heart of several residential areas, it is easily accessible.

One of the many fine bridges that cross the arroyo.

Looking upstream at Red Arroyo from the bridge.

East end of the trail at Knickerbocker Road

Apartments along the trail near Knickerbocker Road.

View of Parkview Lakes through the trees. The lakes are near some condos located just off the trail.

Stormwater pond along the trail near College Hills Blvd.

View from a bridge of the arroyo, a driving range, and a miniature golf course.

Miniature golf course along the trail at College Hills and Millbrook.

More stormwater ponds along the trail.