Hawkins and Holbrook Lakes, Texas

We took a turn south down 287 into east Texas.  This part of Texas looks a lot like Minnesota. It has lakes and tall pines.  We found a place to stay for a few days while we explore the area.
It was great to see Texas so green after the drought they have had. Our cell phone coverage is weak and we were out of data on our hotspot until we started a new month today.  So, here's a quick blog before I need to log off.

We are staying at a park on Hawkins Lake, TX.  It's full of shade.  The temps have been in the 90's, but the humidity is too.

We are in a spot up the hill from the Lake.

It's hard on us to be by a lake like this without a fishing license or a boat.  We may have to rectify that first issue today.

There is a very nice beach area and I imagine it will be very busy this weekend.  We have to leave the park by Thurs. because they are already full for the Holiday weekend.

We took a drive around the lake and saw this unusual site.  

Sunday afternoon we drove to Mineola and Holbrook Lake.  It's another very pretty lake.  We will look at a couple of properties today.

The Mimosa Trees are beautiful.

Then, just for a little oddity we had to look twice and take a picture of this Ostrich "kneeing" to get a drink from this puddle.  It was just roaming loose near the road.  Who knows what was up with that?????

We hope to see friends in Gun Barrel City and Bonham before continuing our trek to Indiana.

Blessings,
Kathy

Change of Direction

The night before leaving Winslow, AZ we realized that something was wrong with our RV refrigerator.  We had to do some research, but we decided that a fuse had been blown in the power surge that we had at Duck Creek RV Park.  We stopped in a Camping World Parking Lot just before Albuquerque and quickly learned they were too busy to help us.  The frig would work on propane, but not AC. 

This is outside the frig and under a cover.  We watched a couple of YouTube videos and got out the manual to figure out where the fuse was located.  It was buried under the black cover on the left hand side.  It was not easy to get into that cover.

 We took it apart and replaced the 5 amp fuse.  It would now work when we ran the generator on AC, but when we turned off the generator, it should have gone back to LP (propane), but it didn't.  We stopped to fill the propane and talked to the nice guy that was there near the Enchanted Trails RV park where we had stayed before.  We decided that the propane igniter was damaged.  We drove on to where we had planned to stay for 2 nights just east of Albuquerque on I 40.  We called for some prayer and then called a couple of Mobile RV guys.  We found one that said he thought he could fix it, without replacing the Power Supply Board which would have been around $400.  He wasn't sure if he would make it out Thursday or Friday.  He came Thurs and fixed it in about an hour.  He soldered a connection and for $100, we are all good to go again.  Thanks be to God!

We were so glad to see Charlie doing better.  The last time we were in Albuquerque, he was in the hospital and his kidneys weren't working.  We had supper with him and he is looking good. We drove over to see his wife, Janis, who is in a Home with Dementia and they told us that she was on an outing on the bus.  So, we didn't get to see her.

We stayed at Hidden Valley RV Park and it wasn't very well kept, but we had two good nights there.  We enjoyed the shade trees and the cool  Sandia mountain air.  It even rained on us.  We found we still have a bit of a leak on the bedroom slide.

We pulled out of the park just after 7 am Friday and continued our trek down I 40.  The plan was to spend a night in Amarillo, Texas and then go on to Oklahoma. 

When we crossed into Texas, we both looked at each other and said, "Maybe we should turn down 287 and stay in Texas for awhile".  So, we looked for the next RV Park with a good rate and did just that.  It's a familiar road since we traveled this often during the times we lived in Texas.

Things looked so green and fresh after all the rains they have had.  Just as we made our decision, Craig got an email from a realtor that has been watching homes on lakes for us with a few interesting properties that we may take a look at while here.

We ended up driving 430 miles today, which is way more than we like to do, but we found another nice park.  It's the Rocking A RV Park in Vernon, TX.  Tomorrow we will drive another five hours to Hawkins Lake RV Park and we have a reservation there until July 2nd.  We'll look over the area and a couple of homes and see if the Lord has anything for us.  We also would like to have time to visit old friends while we are in the State.  A storm cloud had rolled through just before we arrived, but it looks all clear now.  It's 81 outside now and they say this cool front will lower the temp and the humidity for the next few days.  We will have to ease back into that after being in the west for so long.

Craig was outside setting up and I started putting out some supper.  I had a cupboard door open over the dining table and my back was turned when I heard this load explosion.  It was a large Corelle serving bowl that shattered when it hit the table.  The good news is that I have another bowl just like it.  The bad news is that we had to take time to pick up and vacuum everything because it exploded everywhere.

So, we have been through some drama and two time changes in the last couple of days, so we are very much ready to head to bed.  It's nice that we always take our bed and pillows with us wherever we travel.

Not sure that I have ever shared the scripture that most comforts me during these times.  Joshua 1:9 says, "Be strong and courageous, do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord God is with you WHEREVER you go".

We'll be in touch with our Texas friends once we know what we are doing.  Hope to see as many of you as possible!

Love and blessings,

Kathy

Winslow, AZ to Albuquerque, NM

We hit the road early again this morning to beat the heat.  It was actually a very pleasant drive down I 40 from Winslow, AZ to Albuquerque, New Mexico.

As we were going to bed Tues night, we realized the Refrigerator has been running on LP (propane) and not AC as it should when plugged into power.  It was something we missed when we had the electrical surge at Duck Creek RV Park.  As long as the Propane part was working, we realized there wasn't anything we could do about it until we got to Albuquerque.  It runs on LP when going down the road.

We started out with good weather with a little haze.  We felt kissed by the sun as it came up over the hills.

It was in the 70's and very pleasant driving.  As you drive through miles of desert, it's amazing that you come upon a sign that reads, "Petrified Forest".  I guess the trees just couldn't stand it out here.  We passed through miles of what looks like volcanic ash, too.

We changed drivers at a rest area and there was an Indian Trading Post.  As we pulled out we saw that they had these fake animals to catch your eye.  I did see a real red fox run across the road in front of me today or was that yesterday?

As you approach The New Mexico Border, the terrain begins to change from flat lands to hills and mountains.

The mountains on the right are called, "Window Rock".

We stopped for some help at Camping World.  My opinion of them didn't go up, at all.  They had no time to help us.  Craig researched our frig issues online and purchased a glass fuse.  We took the outside part of the frig apart and replaced the fuse. I also called a friend and asked for prayer.  This was not an easy fix.  We now have the electrical portion working, but now the LP doesn't light on it's own.  So, we called a mobile guy who is helping to find some parts for us.  We could use a day of no travel, so hopefully, he will come up with a fix for this issue.  All prayers are greatly appreciated.

Charlie is one of the reasons that we come to Albuquerque.  The last time we were here in April, Charlie was in the Hospital and sedated because his kidneys had stopped working.  He looks much better now as the Lord has worked some miracles in his body.  We hope to see his wife, Janis, tomorrow.  She is living in a Dementia Unit.  It was good to break bread with Charlie and catch up on what has been going on.

So, it's time to catch up on some sleep.  We changed time from Pacific to Mountain today, too.  Thanks for the prayers.  We know that things will all come together.  Thankfully, we don't need to be anywhere until July 23rd.  We should have the frig fixed and catch up on sleep by then, ya think?

Blessings,

Kathy