I've Not Been Posting

For those who follow the blog, it's obvious that I'm not posting very much. Quite frankly, Donna and I have not been doing very much. We're just trying to settle in to a routine in our new home and become fully settled. Nothing much exciting about that, so nothing much to report.

We've bought season tickets to our local community theater, Angelo Civic Theater. We'll attend 6 performances this year, and we'll see some pretty interesting plays. You can click here to see what shows are appearing this season. I'm most excited about watching Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe in October. I did my thesis on Edward Albee, so I have a natural interest in this play. Albee's female characters are extremely interesting and fully developed.

We're also simply settling into our community, and with each passing day, we enjoy Rio Concho West (RCW) more. I wish we had moved here years ago. We attended an orientation meeting a couple of weeks ago and came away even more excited. What I like best about the place is how peaceful and calm it is. Each time we return from shopping around town, we marvel at the island of serenity that is Rio Concho West. Outside the property, traffic is a bit hectic and fast, but once you enter our property, the speed limit drops to 20 and all is calm. There is only one way in and out of RCW, so there is no through traffic at all. That is great.

I've read a great deal about people hiking the long trails of the United States (see "The Big 3 Hiking Trails of the Continental U.S.A." in June 2013). Many people who do long hikes over several weeks or months make the same observation. They spend so much time out on the trails that when they return to "civilization" they experience a type of culture shock, especially as regards traffic. After spend long periods seeing very few people, no buildings other than shelters or small country stores or farms, and virtually no traffic, they become accustomed to a slower pace of life. For them, traffic moves along at just a few miles per hour, somewhere between 3 and 5 mph for most hikers. Upon entering a town, they are shocked by traffic moving at speeds of 30 mph or greater.

We can sort of relate now that we live at RCW. We spend most of our time in our little community, where people exercise daily by walking the streets. Posted speed limits are 20 mph for the entire property, and there is often more foot traffic than auto traffic. And for traveling within the community, many folks rely on golf carts or bicycles. So when we leave RCW, we experience just a little shock. It takes a few minutes for me to adjust to a faster rate of travel and a greater volume of traffic. It's always nice to pull back in to RCW from our little excursions out. We can slow down again and move at a more comfortable pace.

We do have some trips planned, but not until the fall. Right now, we are simply waiting out the heat of the summer and trying to get settled.

Staying Healthy . . . I Hope

During our recent 6 month tour in our trailer, I got a bit lazy. Although I tried to walk as much as possible, there were many places we stayed where there simply wasn't a good or safe place to walk. We also ate out much more than we normally do. As a result, I put on a few pounds.

As I've aged, I've learned that good health really boils down to two things: diet and exercise. I've also learned that both must be done regularly.

Now that we are settled, I've gotten back into a solid exercise routine. Three days each week -- usually Monday, Wednesday, and Friday -- I walk. Our new neighborhood is ideal for walking. We live in a secluded community with only one way in or out. Once in the community, we have several streets, and if you take what I call the perimeter loop, you have a 1.5 mile loop. Right now, I'm walking 3 loops for a total of 4.5 miles on my walking days. I average about 17 minutes per mile, which is roughly 3.5 miles per hour.

On alternate days -- Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday -- I ride my bicycle. This is a bit new to me. My legs definitely are not in bicycle shape. It takes a different set of muscles to ride as opposed to walking. Although our community is on fairly level ground, we do have some high ground which creates a slow but noticeable slope when you are riding. As I go up that slope, my legs burn quite a bit. And the wind -- which really has been blowing hard lately -- makes a noticeable difference when you are biking. I've noticed that even when I'm on level ground, the wind blowing into my face slows me down considerably and makes my legs work harder. When I first started, I was only able to do a couple of miles on my bike, but now I'm up to 5 miles. Those first few attempts almost crippled me. After one of those rides, my legs were like rubber, and I really didn't even want to walk. My goal is to get my legs in good enough shape that I can bike the O. C. Fisher dam, which is a length of just over 7 miles, one way. Since I'll have to make a round-trip ride, that is a total of just over 14 miles. That's not far if you are a young bicyclist, but for an overweight old man, that is a pretty good ride. But I'll get it done.

In addition to exercising regularly, we are now eating more meals at home. We still eat out twice a week, but most of the time we stay home. We eat a salad almost daily, and we're starting to watch our calorie intake much more closely, something I stopped doing early during our trip. As a result, the pounds are starting to slide off. I gained close to 15 pounds during our trip, so I need to get that amount back off as quickly as possible. Then I need to lose a few more pounds on top of that.

A lot of people don't like routines or schedules, but they have always worked for me. I'm glad to be back on a regular exercise schedule and to be eating healthier food.

Today's bicycle day. Time to go burn my leg muscles.

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.