Day 15 - Tuesday, November 25 - Victoria to Harlingen

 Today I drove the 208 miles from the Victoria RV Park to the Lakewood RV Resort. The drive was uneventful.

When I stopped by the office Mary Beth, one of the campground movers and shakers, saw me and said, "Don't you leave until I tell you what table number you are to sit in for the Thanksgiving Dinner.", I checked in at the office and moved over to park in our site. Before I could get the electric cable plugged in Bruce, another mover and shaker, walked up to welcome me back and make sure I knew that they were having pulled pork sandwiches and entertainment at the clubhouse at 3:30.

Parked at Lakewood.

Looking west down the street. For some reason all the sites to the east were empty.

Typical weekly activities.

November and December activities.

It was HOT here today. A sunny 88 degrees.

It's good to be a winter Texan. We know more folks here than we did in homes we lived at for over twice as long as we have been coming here.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Day 14 - Monday, November 24 - Livingston to Victoria

 Nothing exciting today. I dropped of the rental car this morning and one of the guys gave me a ride back to the campground. I was on the road a little after 9:00.

From Rainbow's End to Victoria's RV Park (River Park) was 199 miles. I've put 1,311 miles on the coach since I left home. It's 210 miles from here to Lakewood RV Resort in Harlingen.

Traffic was bad except for a 3 mile section in downtown Houston. It took me an hour to drive the 40 miles through Houston, 20 minutes of the time was driving the 3 miles where I69 splits off and heads southwest.

Light rain fell in a couple of places , the crosswinds were brutal the last 60 miles.

Kathy and I have stayed here multiple times in the past. Victoria has some interesting places, which I won't be visiting this stay. Lord willing I will be in Harlingen mid-afternoon.

Below are links to a couple of blog posts from previous stays here, :

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2025/04/day-124-tuesday-april-1-cuero-museum.html

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2025/03/day-123-monday-march-31-harlingen-to.html

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2024/12/day-16-saturday-december-14-enjoying.html (I remember Mumford's but had forgotten about Double Daves)

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2024/03/day-93-tuesday-march-5-full-day-victory.html

The refrigerator is still running, but it isn't as cold as it should be. Looks like we will need to have it replaced.

Kathy is currently planning on heading this way on Saturday. It will be a 1,100 mile drive for her.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Day 13 - Sunday, November 23 - AWESOME CHURCH SERVICE!!!

We attended a service at First Baptist Church in February 22, 2015. I was impressed then and am still equally impressed. If you are interested you can read about my impressions at:  https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/feb-22nd-first-baptist-church.html

The Pastor's message, and the atmosphere then, left a lasting impression on me. I didn't remember his message until I scanned the post above and then it came back to me. One thing that wasn't in the post was he announced that the following Sunday there were going to be representatives from 5 local civic groups giving a brief description of their groups, so that church members could get involved if they were interested. As he was talking about this it occurred to me that he was opening up a "sea" for members to fish in. He was giving his flock a "sea" of opportunities to become involved in other organizations and to spread the Good News while they rubbed shoulders with others in those organizations. By the way, they still don't take up an offering, no mention of an offering was even made. As I was walking out I saw a small, unobtrusive kiosk where offerings could be dropped in a slot.

They now have 3 services. At 9:00 there is a contemporary service in one auditorium and a "classic" service in another. (I think they must have put on an addition since we were here 10 years ago.) At 11:00 there is a 2nd contemporary service. I felt led to attend the 9:00 contemporary service, I'm wasn't sure why since I prefer the old hymns to most contemporary Christian music. The Pastor preached "live" in the Classic service while those of us in the contemporary service watched him on the big screens. After the service I walked around a bit and saw the area where the Classic service was held. There was seating for about 200, with room to add at least another 50 chairs. There were probably close to 200 in the contemporary service, with room for at least another 200.

I wasn't in the best of moods this morning and almost didn't go to church. I've let myself get stressed over the problems with the coach and am not sleeping enough (my fault, I've always been a night owl, and just to dumb to get enough sleep). Yesterday evening the refrigerator quit working again. Am I glad I went! On the way into the building I was greeted by several folks, always a nice touch. As I walked into the auditorium and sat down I could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit. In general the lyrics of the contemporary music did little for me, but a line or two in most of the songs touched my spirit. I knew the Holy Spirit was working on my spirit. 

Then came the Pastor's message. The core of his message was from Isaiah 41:1-10, with emphasis on verse 10 (NLT)

God's Help for Israel

[41:1] “Listen in silence before me, you lands beyond the sea. Bring your strongest arguments. Come now and speak. The court is ready for your case.

[2] “Who has stirred up this king from the east, who meets victory at every step? Who, indeed, but the LORD? He gives him victory over many nations and permits him to trample their kings underfoot. He puts entire armies to the sword. He scatters them in the wind with his bow. [3] He chases them away and goes on safely, though he is walking over unfamiliar ground. [4] Who has done such mighty deeds, directing the affairs of the human race as each new generation marches by? It is I, the LORD, the First and the Last. I alone am he.”

[5] The lands beyond the sea watch in fear. Remote lands tremble and mobilize for war. [6] They encourage one another with the words, “Be strong!” [7] The craftsmen rush to make new idols. The carver hurries the goldsmith, and the molder helps at the anvil. “Good,” they say. “It's coming along fine.” Carefully they join the parts together, then fasten the thing in place so it won't fall over.

[8] “But as for you, Israel my servant, Jacob my chosen one, descended from my friend Abraham, [9] I have called you back from the ends of the earth so you can serve me. For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. [10] Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.

I can't do a good job of conveying his message but he noted that we can't help being fearful (or getting stressed) at times. When those times do occur we need to focus on the God who has chosen us, the God who is with us, the God who will strengthen us. There was a lot of additional Scripture mentioned during the message. I haven't looked but I'm reasonably sure that the sermons are available online. I will look for it in a couple of days and listen to it again.

In the hour between services there are 14 different Classes you  can attend.

The First Baptist campus, thank you Google.

As I scanned my 10 year old blog post I saw the mention of Shrimp Boat Manny's. Lord willing I leave in the morning and have missed the opportunity to eat there again. Bummer! I checked, it is still operating.

After church I stopped at Walmart, Tractor Supply and a Dollar General looking for more magnets. The good ones were out of stock at Walmart and Tractor Supply and Dollar General didn't stock them. I took the exterior vent cover off the back of the refrigerator and again it looked dry. Even though it looked dry I ran a hair dryer over it for 10 minutes or so. I worked with the magnets I have and eventually I was able to reset the relay and get the refrigerator running again. After that I set up a 4" fan so that it was blowing on the back of the refrigerator, to be sure the area was dry and to get more air flow across the coils.

After that I made a hamburger for my lunch and took a 2 hour nap. About 3 hours had elapsed since I left the fan running. When I checked on it I could see droplets of moisture hanging on a couple of the wires. I have no idea where the moisture came from. It's 7:45, I just shut the fan off. No moisture is visible. The refrigerator is 47 degrees and the freezer is 27 degrees. It should be colder but that is sure better than not running at all.

I'm not the only one here with a motorcycle. 

This 5th wheel toy hauler is across the street from me.

This unit is next door to me. The trailer looks big enough for a small car as well as the motorcycle.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Day 12 - Saturday, November 22 - Trip To Diboll to Visit a Cousin

 Today I drove up to the Duncan Unit in Diboll, TX, about an hours drive, to visit a cousin who is incarcerated there. The Duncan Unit is designated as a "geriatric" facility by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The Duncan Unit is considered a small unit, with its 500 inmate rated capacity. 

We had not seen one another in over 55 years, but have corresponded via letters and email for the past 10 years. Jeff is about 7 years younger than me. His family moved from Michigan to Texas about the time Jeff graduated from high school. After high school he joined the Navy and was a member of a Underwater Demolition Team (UDT), a frogman. (In 1983 UDT's were redesignated as SEALS.) After 17 years of service he took a disability retirement (I don't know if I phrased that correctly. He retired with a 40% disability.) After leaving the military he worked as a Construction Manager.

Because I live so far away I was approved for a 4 hour contact visit, one where you can shake hands or even hug. The procedure for getting into the visitation room was interesting. As I entered the prison grounds I stopped at a small, one man, guardhouse. He asked for my drivers license and the name of the person I was to visit. I was then asked to open the glove compartment, exit the car and then to open all doors, the hood and the trunk. As the guard looked the vehicle over he rolled a mirror on wheels under the car a couple of places. I then signed in. 

I parked, walked up to the entrance and showed my license to a camera. The door was unlocked and I entered. Once inside I handed my license to the guard at a desk inside the door and again was asked the name of the person I was visiting, and signed in again. All you can bring into the unit is your drivers license, your car key and either up to $35 in quarters or a debit card. Everything is supposed to be in a clear plastic bag. The quarters/debit card are so that you can buy food items to take in to the visit. Food items where typical snack/candy items. Jeff had mentioned that he had not had a hamburger for a long time. I got a hamburger, a small pizza, several candy items and several cans of soda. They had a small microwave where I was able to warm up the hamburger and pizza. I was furnished with a box to carry the items into the visitation room. A guard then "wanded" me and patted me down, and accompanied me to  the visitation room. We went through two locked doors to get to the visitation room.

The visitation area was a room about 15'x30', with multiple tables and chairs. It was set up similar to a small, very plain, dining area in a restaurant. While we were in the room other inmates were also being visited. Most visits are limited to 2 hours so inmates and visitors cycled in and out of the room.

We had a good time catching up during the 4 hours. As I exited the I went through the same process with the car: exit the vehicle, open doors, etc. Jeff is an example of a guy who seemed to have a lot going for him but one stupid "act of passion" cost him 20 years of his life. He has done 17 years. He was first eligible for parole in 2019. So far he has requested parole, and been denied, least 4 times. He doesn't know why.

PS. Every one of the guards with whom I interacted was friendly.

All in all it was an interesting day.

God is good. I pray that He bless you and yours. He has blessed me.

Day 11 - Friday, November 21 - Car Rental & Refrigerator Repairs

 When I went to get in to the refrigerator this morning to start my breakfast I noticed that the light didn't come on. I looked at the information screen and saw an error message. Last March we learned that a heavy rainfall can't cause a fault in a safety device on the back of the refrigerator, but yesterdays rain was not heavy. If you are interested you can read about last years rain and the campground flooding at:

https://bertdsblog.blogspot.com/2025/03/days-120-121-friday-saturday-march-28.html 

Like last year I didn't have a magnet strong enough to reset the safety device relay (I was praying that would get the refrigerator going). Today was the day I was supposed to pick up a rental car so I figured I  would go buy some magnets once I had the car.

On to breakfast. I did good.

A guy from Enterprise called me to tell me he was on the way to pick me up, and that he would be here in about a half hour. 45 minutes later another guy called me to tell me he was waiting for me, I told him I had been standing outside for nearly a half hour waiting on him. Three phone calls, and 20 minutes later he finally made it to where I was waiting for him. He was a nice young man who rides a Ninja ZX-14 back and forth to work, from the north side of Houston, every day, year round. He is a Christian. He loves the bike and says that it has been a blessing for him. It costs him about $5/day to commute. (A ZX-14 has 190hp and a top speed of 180 mph.) He said he really has  to be watch his speed. Several days ago he looked down and was running 110 mph, which felt totally comfortable.

After I picked up the car, a Hyundai Elantra, I went to an Ace Hardware store and bout $20 worth of small rare earth magnets. I bought the only 2 packs they had in stock. I wanted a larger size but they were out  of them.

Then it was off to lunch. I checked Google and saw 2 local BBQ places that were far from chain restaurants, and not to far off the beaten path. I drove by the first one because the parking lot was packed. When I got to the second one, just a mile down the road, there was only 1 vehicle in the parking lot. I went back to Florida's Kitchen.

My brisket sandwich and an order of onion rings. It was very good and EXPENSIVE. They did have a $14 lunch special, chicken. If they had paid me $14 I would have tried it. (Chicken is not on my list of edibles. Fowl/foul is a good name for it. 😀)

Back at the coach I tried the magnets and it appeared that they were not going to work. I wasn't sure if they weren't strong enough or if the relay was bad enough that it wouldn't reset. Finally after fooling around with them for several minutes I heard the click of the relay resetting. So far, so good. THANK YOU JESUS!

My tendency is to get upset over problems like the coach jacks and refrigerators that quit running but fortunately I know enough to try and focus on the promises of Scripture. Things like these are just patience builders. I like the way the New Living Bible translates Galatians 5:22&23: But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law.

Back to the levelling jacks. I know that a jack is  leaking, but I'm not sure how bad it is leaking. I did some research this afternoon and after some searching I located the hydraulic pumps that control the jacks, and the hydraulic fluid tank. There is just room enough to get my head in to a position to see the tank and the dip stick. In order to get my hand in a position to unscrew the dipstick and check the level I have to remove my head. Sunday afternoon I may go buy a gallon of fluid, and a flexible funnel with along spout, and try adding some fluid. Maybe that will let me level the coach once I get to Harlingen, and put the slides out. The leak will probably make it necessary to relevel regularly but that may get us by until I can find someone down there to work on the jack. The jack weighs over 100#. There are two coil springs STIFF looking coil springs that retract the cylinder. It's not something I'm up to messing with.

I walked around a little and took a few photos of the campground. This is a big place. Below is a Google shot of the campground. There are campers under all the trees in the photo.

The main entrance is up near the red dot. I'm parked down close to the blue dot, near the Escapee Care Center. The Care Center is a place where Escapee's with mobility problems (knee replacement, etc) can come stay and recuperate. There is a dining room in the care center and both paid staff and volunteers

 who do cooking and cleaning.

Note the ramp access to the Class C.

The coaches under these roofs all have ramps for access.

These units are across the street from me, not part of the Care Center. Note the little "house" at the back, similar to the one in the photo of the Class C. If I brave enough I'd ask to look inside one. I  suspect they have bathrooms and a kitchenette in them.

Tomorrow I head to prison, to visit a cousin. I've never been to a prison before so it should be interesting. The prison is an hours drive north of the campground.

I just got off the phone with Kathy. She picked up the Flex this afternoon, after the $2,700 water pump replacement. Everything seems okay, except for the sharp pain I have on my left butt cheek, in the area of my wallet. 😀

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

 

Days 8, 9 & 10 - November 18, 19 & 20 - Lakeshore Custom RV to Rainbow's End, Livingston, TX

 

Tuesday, November 18 – The guys at Lakeshore took the toilet out again and this time they replaced all the mechanical innards. They were done by around 11 AM.  I decided to stay another night, just to make sure it was fixed. I was to lazy to unload my motorcycle and go for a ride, even though it was a beautiful day.

 

Wednesday, November 19 – I left Lakeshore Custom RV around 7:45 AM and drove 404 miles to Texarkana, AR.  Traffic was HEAVY, especially truck traffic. The speed limit was 75 for cars and 70 for trucks, on a road similar to US 50 west of Jefferson City. In one area, a rural area, traffic suddenly came almost to a complete stop. I think I did actually completely stop for an instant. Then it was back up to 5 mph over the speed limit. I didn’t see any reason for the slow down.

I stopped at a rest area and ate my lunch. Later I stopped for fuel. The pump at the station wasn’t working properly and after putting about 30 gallons I gave up and left.

I parked at a Walmart in Texarkana, walked in and bought a few items. I asked if I could park overnight and a lady in customer service said no. She said they used to allow it but stopped the practice. By the time I got back in the coach it was dark. I did fill up with fuel, another 48 gallons at $3.19/gal. I drove across the street and stayed in an Albertson’s grocery parking lot (I didn’t ask). I was in Arkansas, but only about 150’ from the Arkansas/Texas state line. It rained on and off during the night. It seemed like a sketchy neighborhood. I didn’t sleep well, I was waiting for a cop to knock on the door and tell me I had to move. I got up around 3:30 AM and looked out the front window. The rain had let up. A guy was aimlessly walking across the edge of the parking lot talking like he was with someone. I don’t think he was talking on the phone.  When he got to the street he kept looking back. About the time he was across the street a second guy came into view. He was more or less following the path of the first guy. The second guy stopped and sat down on the curb along the edge of the parking lot. The first guy made a lap around the CVS across the street, came back across the street, but further down the block and walked back the way he came. The second guy got up, crossed the street and walked out of sight. I didn’t see him come back. Weird.

 

Thursday, November 20 – Kathy's appointment with the surgeon seemed to go well. I think her only restrictions are self imposed ones. They are waiting for her in Texas. This morning I received a text from a lady at the campground, apparently she couldn't find Kathy's number. She wondered when Kathy would be down, and if she would again, occasionally be willing to again fill in playing the piano at the campground church.

I drove 233 miles to Rainbow’s End campground in Livingston, TX. It rained lightly during the first 90 minutes, then the sun came out, with a few big white puffy clouds. The high temperature was 81. Tonights low is forecast to be 67. 

I stopped at 3 different truck stops before I found one with a space where I could park while I ate my lunch. I checked in at the office and then drove over and got set up in my space. The coach wouldn’t “auto level”. I played around with the controls a little and then looked at the leveling jacks. It appears that one of the rear ones has a leaking seal. I called 4 different places, looking for someone who was interested in doing the repairs. The first guy only does tires. He referred me to a second guy. The second guy had sold his RV Repair business and gave me the number of the new owner. I called and they are booked until after Thanksgiving. They gave me the name of another local RV mechanic. I called him and learned that a week ago he had neck surgery and won’t be working for a while. I think I will just drive on down to Harlingen and find someone down there who will work on it. Without functional levelling jacks I won’t be able to put out the big slides, but I can live with that.

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours. He has blessed me.

Day 7 - November 17 - Camera Screen Replaced

 It was another beautiful day today, but boring. Janice, from Lakeshore, called me around 10 to tell me that they had the camera and that I could bring the coach over. I had to wait for a load of clothes to finish drying and then headed over. I sat over there and used their WiFi to study different routes to Texas, and surf the Net. They finished around 3 PM.

I had lunch and did another couple of loads of laundry after I got back to the campground. I also got my motorcycle back on the trailer and strapped down. In the morning I will dump the waste tanks, unhook the water, sewer & electric and head south. I'm supposed to meet a guy for coffee in Madison, MS around 3 PM.

I've mentioned before how pleased I am with the work, and prices, at Lakeshore, and so are a lot of other folks. Some guy bought a coach in New Hampshire. He paid Brian and his wife to fly to New Hampshire and drive the coach back to Mississippi. They flew out Friday morning and he was back at work this morning, over 1,300 miles. 

God is good. I pray that He blesses you  and yours. He has blessed me.