70 Years Old Tomorrow and Memories

 Location: Heart of Haynesville RV Park (home base); Mansfield, Louisiana

As I enter my eighth decade of life, I’ve become a little more retrospective. Lately I’ve been thinking about and remembering people, places, things and ideas. Wow, that was an elementary school year flashback, using the definition of a noun. Oh well, I guess it fits in with my pensive mood lately.

At some point in my life, I went from spending most of my time looking forward and planning my future to looking backwards at my past and what was or what could have been. I’m guessing that break point is when you realize the days you have left are less than those you’ve already used. It becomes a combination of some regrets and some “patting myself on the back”. I don’t think I spent enough time just enjoying the present. That is a life lesson I learned too late. But dang, the present moves so fast and changes constantly. It doesn’t feel that way when living it daily, but when you stop and look, it just zips by you in a  hurry. One minute your children are crawling on the floor, the next you’re helping them with algebra at the dining room table. Turn around again and they are receiving their diploma at graduation before heading off to a life of their own. And that is the combined sad and happy thing, “a life of their own”.

I remember myself as a twenty-year-old planning a cross-country motorcycle trip. I’m about 99% sure I won’t be taking it now. That was a youthful dream. I bought the motorcycle and double checked my plans. The plan was to travel and explore the country during the day and sleep in wooded places alongside the road while using my motorcycle and a tarp as a windbreak/bedroll. There was no time limit on the plan, and I fully intended to do it until I either ran out of money or got bored. But then, like so many times, my plans changed when life got in the way. I sold the motorcycle within a year of buying it. With it being only a year old, it was a quick, albeit emotional sale. Notice I’ve held back 1% on the motorcycle trip because that is another life lesson I’ve learned, never say never and expect the unexpected.

I enlisted in the Navy when I was seventeen years old. That was back in the early seventies when the Vietnam War and Hippie movement were both winding down. Veterans were coming home and being spit on while being called “baby killers”. Active-duty military were encouraged not to wear their uniforms to avoid possible conflicts. Combine that social environment with Watergate and you get a mood that wasn’t very patriotic. Being realistic and looking back on it fifty years later, I know the reason for my enlistment was a combination of patriotism and a sense of adventure. Those four years reinforced the foundation of my life that my parents had started. Honor, truth and respect. Those life lessons have stayed with me to this day.

I stumbled on my first love while I was in the Navy. I was drowning in love and life was great. Then she showed her true colors and broke my heart. I like to believe that she felt guilty about deceiving me, but she probably knew I was wising up to what she was doing. So, after happily swimming in love for three whole months we went our separate ways, and I drowned in heart-break. I had been broken. I hadn’t yet learned another life lesson. When two people are in a loving relationship and one is “living a lie”, that lie only affects the other person when it becomes known. Prior to the lie becoming known, the person only knows the love of the relationship. Ignorance is truly bliss, until the truth is known. Of course, the truth was she was a cheater and a liar. I hope her son turned out to be a solid, well-adjusted man. I pointed him in the right direction, but our time was very short. The odds were against him though, due to the influence of his mother. Maybe she met a stronger man than me who helped turn her life around. Fingers crossed.

Those were just some of my thoughts about a part of my life. I read something the other day that applies here. "If we erase all of our regrets and mistakes in life, we ultimately erase ourselves". That's a bingo, come check my card. 

This blog has never been totally about traveling. I use it sometimes as a way to talk to my grandchildren in the future. Someday, maybe 30 years from now they will read the words I wrote on the day before my 70th birthday.

A blog post needs a picture. Tonight, there will be two oldies, but goodies but are applicable to the subject at hand.

A nice sunrise over the Gulf of America while parked on the beach. I was camped at Mustang Island State Park, near Corpus Christie, Texas. 

Sunset over the Pacific Ocean from a beach near Fort Stevens State Park Campground, Oregon. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.  

Trip Wrap-up & a Random Thought

 Location: Sam Houston Jones State Park; Westlake, Louisiana (about 10 minutes north of Lake Charles)

Today is day nine of my self-exile to the safe temperatures of southern Louisiana. I head home tomorrow and should be set up in my old RV homebase campground my mid-afternoon. The temperature should be in the low 50's by the time I get there. The electric company says the power has been restored to the campground, but I don't trust them 100%, so we will see. The linemen and workers are great, but the company overall is less than trustworthy. The absolute best question the head shed of any electric company should ask of their linemen/workers is: "If power goes off in your area and you haven't been notified where the problem is located what would be your best guess as to the location". The problem area is usually always the same. Why they don't permanently fix it is beyond me. 

I'll be hitching up tomorrow morning with hopes of being on the road by 10:00. I'll empty my waste tanks while I'm hitching up since I have full hook ups here. I'll also take on some fresh water since the water at my homebase is questionable due to the number of water line breaks. 

As far as my future trips? I'll be staying put through February and then also be close by but on short trips through March and two weeks in April. I'll be hanging close by due to grandkid activities. I plan to be in Louisville, Kentucky in May for my granddaughters' archery tournament. This will be the second year for this event in Louisville. After that, I'm not sure but am leaning to re-visiting Michigan. Every state except for Rhode Island and Delaware would be a re-visit for me. I wish I could access Malia Lane's blog of her travels through Michigan but about a year after she passed away, her blog was erased and her domain name sold. All the work she did and words she wrote for almost 20 years of solo RV traveling went away with a single click. There is a lesson there to learn if you're wanting your grandkids or great grandkids to read what you've written. 

I'm a little tired this evening so I'll just finish the post with a couple old winter pictures and a meme with a thinking bench.

This was at my homebase for a few years ago with the first Liberty and Freedom. I didn't escape that time.

This from a few years ago when I visited Rocky Mountain National Park. Once the road turned white, the temperature dropped below freezing and I could see Freedom's tracks in my rearview mirror, I turned around. Great memory. Big "wow".

Emerson was right. That is something to ponder when you find that "just right" thinking bench.

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.  

Tow Boats on Parade at the ICW

 Location: Intracoastal Park Campground; Hackberry, Louisiana (about 15 minutes south of I-10 at Sulphur)

Today is day seven of my self-exile to south Louisiana to avoid the massive winter storm that hit the area of my homebase campground and my house. The electricity at my house where my X-wife and my son, Brandon, lives was restored last night after having been off for five days. It was an experience they would rather not repeat and were glad to be able to sleep warmly in their beds instead of on couches near the fireplace. Thank goodness for the firewood and generator although the generator ran out of fuel on day four. The state highway that runs in front of my RV homebase had been closed since shortly after the storm hit but re-opened yesterday evening. I believe the electricity has been restore to the campground but I'm not 100% sure. I am positive that Liberty would have frozen solid and had many burst waterpipes/fittings. I would have been repairing her for weeks. 

I had planned to return on Tuesday, day 4, but realized too late that the weather conditions were still too bad to return. By the time I made up my mind to extend my stay down here, there weren't any vacancies at my original campground. I was able to find a campsite at a campground I've stayed at before and it is where I'm at now. I'll be here for three days before returning to Sam Houston Jones SP for two days. I'll then head back home.

This campground is located right on the Intracoastal Waterway. It is an old section of the waterway and was built a little more than 100 years ago. The original intent was to build a canal to connect the Calcasieu River in Louisiana to the Sabine River on the Texas/Louisiana border so that cargo could pass between those two navigable rivers without having to get into the Gulf of America. Later it was incorporated into the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) system which is a waterway system just inland from the coast and runs about 3,000 miles from Massachusetts to the Mexican/Texas border. Of all the places I've camped alongside rivers, lakes and canals, this one is the best at watching the tow boats/barges work. There are at least a dozen tow boats per hour that passes within a stone's throw of my campsite. They work 24 hours a day and you can hear them throughout the night. If you are a very light sleeper, this may not be the place for you. That's OK with me, because that means more vacancies when I return. Also, the daily rate is $12.00 per night for water/electric with a dump station on site. That is an excellent price with a great view.

This is my third or fourth time being here over the last 11 years and I've seen a couple new things this go around. I'll let the pictures with captions finish out the post.

This is just one example of the industry around this part of Louisiana. It is the Citgo refinery and is only one of many, many around here.

This at another refinery on the way here and something like this usually has the extreme environmentalists pulling their hair out. The flame is the fire from the "flair stack". It is used to burn off excess gases that is not needed in the refinery process. It is considered a safety feature.  

This is my site here at the Intracoastal RV Park. You can see how close to the ICW the campsites are located. 

This is the view out my back window and door. The tow boats pass by about every 5 minutes.

The attachment to the front of this set of barges is called a "bow-boat" or "switcher boats" or "bow thrusters". It has an independent engine with either thrusters or propellers that can rotate 360 degrees. They are used for maneuvering when connected to long runs of barges, in tight or narrow channels, for docking and/or to help control the barge combination in high winds. This is the first time I've seen them working before. 

This a zoomed in picture of a "bow-boat" on a different set of barges. They are usually unmanned and controlled wirelessly from the pilot house of the towboat. They can help steer the barges around sharp turns, etc.

I got lucky and caught a nice sunset on the second evening here.

Same sunset as in the above picture just with a towboat.

This is the Lorraine Hooks. She is a 300-foot suction dredge with a 27-inch cutter. This picture only shows about half of the "train". 

The lift bridge had to be raised to allow the Lorraine Hooks to pass under. It was the first time I've used the night shot function on my new phone. I like it.

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road. 

Hunkered Down at Sam Houston Jones SP

 Location: Sam Houston Jones State Park; Moss Bluff, Louisiana (Just north of Lake Charles in the Southwest corner of the state)

I pulled out of my homebase RV park about 10:00 a.m. on Friday, the 23rd. The massive winter storm hit that night with a fury. By the time it hit, I was safely tucked away in my current campground, but Brandon and my X-wife remained in my house. That was essentially ground zero for the worst possible type of winter storm. An ice storm came barreling out of Texas, through central Louisiana, and eventually stretched all the way to New York City. Yep, New York City, that city where Pace Picante Sauce is NOT made (you'll have to ask a seasoned citizen about that memorable commercial). As it passed through, it snapped trees in half due the weight of the ice and the freezing temperature. These downed trees blocked roads that were being used by the first responders and crazy people who shouldn't have been out and about. The temperature dropped into the mid-teens with alternating rounds of ice, sleet, freezing rain, snow and just plain rain. You Yankees may be used to this type of weather every year, but down here it only happens about every 5 to 10 years. The power at the house went off early in the morning on Saturday and it is still off as I'm writing this post. The predicted restoration time is Tuesday around 7:00 p.m. The number of customers without power in Louisiana is measured in the 10's of thousands.  Brandon and my X are staying warm due to our foresight from 40 years ago to buy a house with a fireplace. They also have a generator that I bought a few years ago. It keeps things charged up and allows power to the coffee pot. They have enough food and water to last for a while, so it has turned into a waiting game for them.

As for me, I rode out one of these storms many years ago in my first RV and knew not to do it again. So, with that in mind, I started looking for a place to go to escape. I chose my current campground, which was far enough south, so the temperatures would only be in the mid-20's with a little bit of sleet/snow. My plan was to return home on Tuesday, which is tomorrow. I underestimated the damage done by the storm and realized late on Sunday that I needed to extend my stay here. Ut oh, I waited too long and there weren't any vacancies in this campground. I searched around and decided to move to a place I've stayed before, Intracoastal Park along the Intracoastal Waterway. It's about 30 minutes away and I'll move there tomorrow for three days then back here for two days before returning home on Sunday. Wow, I'm living it and it sounds confusing.

Anyway, there is always something interesting to learn about a place no matter why you're there. The first question that should come to mind is who the heck was Sam Houston Jones, why is this campground named after him and why did he have such a large impact on my life. That should have made you go, "hmmmm". 

Sam Houston Jones was the Governor of Louisiana from 1940 to 1944. He won the election by beating Earl K. Long, "Uncle Earl" who was the younger brother of Huey P. Long. The Long family, some refer to it as a crime family, controlled Louisiana for 12 years before Sam Houston Jones won the Governorship. I like to believe the people of Louisiana rose up and kicked the crooks (Long's) out of office but that would be wrong as they made a come-back just 4 years after Jones left office. But while he was in office, he made a difference. He started the State Civil Service which I retired from in 2014 (Thank you Governor Jones). Prior to that, the people who worked for the state owed their allegiance to the Governor and got/kept their jobs depending on if "their man" was elected. That meant, the state workforce would turn-over depending on who won the election. Ole Huey Long carried it a step further and required all state employee to "kick back" to Huey 10% of their salaries. Huey had men go around the state on payday to get the money and it went into what Huey called the "deduct box". When Huey was assassinated in 1935 and lay dying on the floor of the Capitol Rotunda, his family and cronies were begging him to tell them where the "deduct box" was located. It was never clear who ended up with the box, but many think Uncle Earl got it. Jones also implemented competitive bidding for state services. Prior to that, the Governor would choose who go what work and for how much. If you guessed the ones who got the work were the ones who paid off the Governor, you would be correct. Basically, Jones started the state down the road to honest relations between the public and politicians. Note, I said started down the road. We're still on that road but we've gotten sidetracked several times over the years but are still headed in the right direction. We are currently on a small detour, but we will see how it all works out. 

I'll get off the history soap box now and post a couple of pictures. 

This campground was re-build a few years ago. The concrete pads are nice if you need to crawl under your RV. Not in this weather though.

I'm in campsite #27 and it surprised me how unlevel it is. It took 3 layers of block to reach level. I haven't had to use so many in a long time. When I come back in a few days, I'll see how level another campsite is. 

Even in the chilly weather, I was able to walk around a little bit. I couldn't find a thinking bench but was able to find two "thinking picnic tables" that overlook a nice, small cypress swamp.

This is looking out from the boat ramp. That old bridge in the background is called a "lift bridge". We'll be passing over it tomorrow on our way to the next campground along the ICW. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.

Running from Cold Weather & Barostim

 Location: Hearth of Haynesville RV Park; Mansfield, Louisiana

It's been a little more than two months since I made a post and the holidays have come and gone. I've been stationary for September of last year and I think moss has started growing on the Liberty's tires. All of the family was able to attend Thanksgiving and all but one of my grandsons attended Christmas albeit a few days after the actual day. Anytime the family is together is a great time. I completely understand the difficulty in gathering the entire family at the same time. That's why over the years we have focused on Thanksgiving as the annual meeting time. Any time other than that is lagniappe (cajun word loosely meaning 'a little something extra'). My son and daughter who live a couple of hours away and each has two kids who are involved in many school activities. That's life, or at least that's my life. 

My initial plan was to hit the road after the first of the year. I had to delay that because my X-wife had several doctor's appointments that I needed to attend. Yeah, yeah, I know, she can go alone just like I do or one of the kids could take her. But, with me taking her, I'm making it easier on the kids as well as hearing first-hand what the doctors are saying. She has several medical issues but one of the major issues is her heart problems. She suffers from congestive heart failure, enlarged heart and a reduced ejection fraction. A couple of quick and way oversimplified definitions: Congestive heart failure allows fluid to build up around the lungs and heart resulting in shortness of breath and fatigue. Ejection fraction is the percentage of blood your heart pumps out with each heartbeat. Normal is 50% to 70%. Hers is in the mid-20's. 

But there is good news just around the corner. There is a new device developed and approved back in 2019 called a Barostim. We had never heard about it until her P.A. and Cardiologist mentioned it at her last appointment. It is very interesting how it works. The device is located under the skin around the collar bone with a wire run under the skin to the Carotid Artery alongside the neck. That wire is sewed to the artery. That part of the Carotid Artery senses things happening in your body and sends that information to the brain so it can direct the heart, lungs and kidneys. If you have heart failure, the signal sent to the brain gives some misleading information. It tells the brain "we're having problems, time to change the heart rate, retain fluids and increase blood pressure. This implanted device replaces those misleading signals with new ones from the device which is programmed and adjusted my medical people. The success rate is in the upper 90% range and people show dramatic success. We are very hopeful for positive results once she is approved for the procedure. 

Her evaluation for the Barostim was to be Monday, the 26th but that has been canceled by the doctor due to extreme weather predicted for this area over the weekend. By extreme weather, we're talking about ice, snow, sleet and temperatures in the low teens. The temperatures are supposed to be below freezing for around 50 hours. That's too cold for Liberty. She is built to handle temperatures down to about 25 degrees if the temperature is above freezing the day before or the day after. This is mainly due to Liberty radiating heat through the floor which protects her down to 25. However, if it's below freezing for very long (more than about 15 hours), the radiant heat is reduced resulting in frozen water lines. Liberty has had frozen water lines before but has never had a waterline break due to the cold. Her waterlines are mostly PEX lines which can handle temperatures in the low 20's without bursting, but the main problem is the plastic fittings which may burst at or around the 25-degree mark. So, with that in mind, it's time to head south to warmer weather. I did this same thing a couple of years ago and went to Galveston to wait it out. This time, I'll be heading to Sam Houston Jones State Park located just north of Lake Charles, Louisiana in the southwest part of the state. They are due for low temps too, but I think Liberty will be able to handle them. I'll pull out tomorrow a little before noon and return next Tuesday. It'll feel good to get away for a while even if it is fighting the cold. 

I'll make some more posts while I'm down south. I'll upload a few pictures to finish out this post.

This is our campsite at Heart of Haynesville. The campground if filling up due to a construction project going on in the area. To keep my site from being taken, I'll leave a traffic cone, sewer line, etc in the site. 

This was taken from the balcony at a condo my X-wife and I rented on our annual trip to Galveston. 

It doesn't get much better than enjoying a nice cup of coffee while watching the sun come up over the Gulf of America.

 

One of the days spent with my granddaughter enjoying a mani/pedi with her grandmother. I sat patiently waiting.

This was a selfie my youngest grandson and I took when I attended the Veterans Day at his school.

An unusual sky as I was looking out Liberty's door.

I'm not going to proofread this post before posting. I'm just too tired.

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.  

A thought on a lazy day

Location: Heart of Haynesville RV Park; Mansfield, Louisiana,,,,,"homebase". 

Today was a lazy day which means it was a thinking day. I was reminded of something one of my former employees told me several years ago. She had been reading and following my blog since I hit the road back in 2014. I asked her once if she was getting tired of seeing the pictures I posted. Her answer was priceless and has stuck with me over the years. She said something like, "No, I'm not tired of the pictures. Lord knows that is the only way I'm going to see God's creations in this country since I probably won't go more than 50 miles from my home and work before I die. And it is different seeing them on your blog than on TV or in a book, because I know you. Thank you for showing me what is out there." 

This is one of my favorite pictures of the sunrise from the beach near Mustang Island, Texas (near Corpus Christi). If she's still reading, I hope she likes it. 

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road. 

Random Thoughts

 Location: Heart of Haynesville RV Park; Mansfield, Louisiana

I've been back at my homebase for two weeks. I've done a few maintenance items but mainly waiting for cooler weather. I always seem to come back a few weeks earlier. I haven't figured out the reason for that yet. My simple justification is I need to experience a little bit of the hot weather in the south so I will be able to appreciate the nice fall weather to come. Also, by coming back early, I can complain about the heat and not be looked at like a "reverse snowbird". The RV Park is about 60% full and the owner isn't doing much more than receiving monthly payments. There are still several workers in the park but I'm beginning to see it turning more and more into an old style trailer park. Lots of people have started living in their RV's instead of houses/apartment. Nothing wrong with living in an RV, heck, I've been doing that for over eleven years now. This campground is conveniently located to my family and doctors, so I'll be here at least one month and possible through Thanksgiving.

Random Thoughts:

1) Charlie Kirk was assassinated a week or so ago. He was in the middle of one of his conversation meetings on a college campus. His wife and children were there nearby when he was shot. As I posted on Facebook after it happened, his assassination is solid proof that there are real demons among us, and he was silenced for not only his strong Christian beliefs and for also for being a proud, outspoken Patriot of the United States. They may have silenced the messenger, but his message is now being amplified a thousand times over. He knows all the answers now.

2) I got tired of getting what I thought was spam from Verizon and went down to my local Verizon store to find out for sure. The deal they were offering was a free Google Pixel 10 Pro cell phone and a better/cheaper phone plan. Well, I showed them and didn't accept that phone but did get the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL for $1,000.00 off. That leaves me paying about $200.00 interest-free spread out over 36 months. My new plan also has an unlimited amount of hot-spot data instead of only 30 GB with my old plan. Plus the new plan is slightly cheaper. I've had a Google Pixel Phone before my current phone and loved it. I meant to replace my old Google Pixel with a new one last time but some goodlooking salesperson told me she thought I needed the Motorola that I ended up buying. I'm just happy she was only selling phones and not car or houses. Anyway, I walked out of my local Verizon dealer a happy man this time. Oh, and I just got another surprise, when I was downloading my pictures, they went directly to my Picasa account. I wasn't able to do that over the last couple of years. My new phone solved that problem. All around, its a "Good deal, Lucielle".

3) My Curt Echo brake controller has worked perfectly. I would have preferred having an integrated controller hard-wired in the truck, but a few things prevented that from happening. I've been 90% satisfied with the Echo. I'll clarify that statement by saying, I'm 100% satisfied with the Echo in terms of safety and brake operations. Cheaper/adaptable/as-good, is always a good deal.

4) My Starlink is another item that I've been satisfied with it effectiveness. There has been times when I've received a star link connection when I would have thought trees would be blocking access. Surprise, surprise. I'm prepared now for those campgrounds where I can't get a cell signal to use my new "unlimited hotspot data".

5) I've been super happy with Trump's selection of cabinet members. They are all reform minded secretaries who are shaking things up. Although I don't agree with everything being done, I do think the whole system needs shaking up every so often and it definitely overdue. 

6) I believe all illegal immigrants should be deported but at the same time, the legal immigration should be increased. I wish Trump would establish a 3 to 1 rule that would say for every illegal immigrant deported, the number of legal immigrants is increased by 3. And if he wanted to increase that to a higher number, I'm OK with that too.

7) I started using Fire Honey last weekend and have had positive results in a short period of time. I'm not completely convinced about it's effectiveness but will continue using it to verify. Fire Honey is made when you combine local raw honey with turmeric, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, black pepper and ginger. The proportions are 1/2 cup of honey to 1/2 teaspoon of each spice. You can take it any number of ways from just swallowing it or like me, in my morning coffee. Yeah, yeah I know the heat from the coffee kills some of the beneficial effects of the honey but I'm OK with it. Adding black pepper surprised me but after reading up on it, black pepper really jacks up the effectiveness of the turmeric, who knew? Oh well, so far, the preliminary results are positive and I'm real sure it won't kill me.

This is from my last night at Rocky Point COE before arriving back here at my base camp. This was looking out my door, can get any easier than that. 

That blue sign means I'm back in Louisiana. She has some problems, but it's home and my kids, grandkids and X-wife lives here. That brown sign in the backgrounds is a memorial sign dedicated to Greg Wall. He worked for me for several years and before that we were co-workers for years. He was a good Christian man and a respected engineer. He and I had our disagreements over the years, but it was always a respectful disagreement. Both of us being kind of hard-headed may have contributed some to the disagreements. The Cancer took him not long after I started traveling. He was one of the good ones. 

This is looking out my back window at my current campsite. It is also the first picture I've taken with my new Pixel Phone.

Not too much proof-reading tonight, so please bear with me.

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.