Sawmill Creek and Stuff

 Is Sawmill Creek woodworking site dying? While I do not spend a lot of time checking on it every time I do there are very few folks logged in, lately around 50 or so. Of course I check infrequently and it may be the times I do check but that's not a lot of traffic.

In any Eden there is usually a serpent. Good management will take care of the problem before the apple is eaten. Makes you proud to be associated with the system.

The girl child, hubby, and first grandchild have joined us for several days before they head back to Houston. MsBubba is in heaven.

I've been looking at older 40' ForeTravel motorhomes. If we do end up doing this Guest Hosting gig full or near full time I expect we will step up from 34' to 40'.

We had a Park Host spaghetti pot luck dinner last night, what a great group of folks to work with. One of the problems with getting old is over time losing social life. Jobs end, friends die, move on, and change. John Prine wrote a song (I believe called "Hello in There") about getting older that brings tears almost every time I hear it.  The Host Family is from many walks and places and changes often but is very tight and often visit other parks and of course return from year to year.

See you on down the road,

ken

The Street Where I Live

 This year's Cape Lookout gig is one week shy of half over. Time flies.

Today is cold, gray, and windy. Here is a photo of the street where I've lived for the past two months:

 

On a normal July day the road would be full of kids on almost everything with wheels. It is amazing to watch kids as young as two pushing scooters, skateboards, and bicycles down the road. One group has an electric "jeep" that I've seen carrying seven and most had bicycle helmets on.

With retirement I no longer wish to afford the $50+ US dollars a month that Adobe charges for the "Creative Cloud". Instead I'm using Gimp instead of Photoshop and Light Room. I've used Photoshop almost from the first of the digital age and know it, Gimp not so much. If the page or photos load too slowly let me know so I can dig around in Gimp and fix the problem.

ken

One of The Joys of RV Living

 For some reason my black water system has been plugging up every two or three dumps. Not sure the reason. Our routine hasn't changed, the TP is RV approved but it could be different, the brand changes often. Other than that not a clue. But whatever it has been a PITA.

One of the things I will try is dumping a little earlier at a little more than half a tank so I can run back wash water a little longer. In other words I'm lost as to a fix.

In a week we will be half thru the Cape Lookout gig, it sure goes fast. Humbug Mountain the month of October then November and December up near Coos Bay. We are booked to return to Cape Lookout next year. We are not sure about January to May, maybe Tucson or Texas.

See y'all on down the road,

ken

A Good History Of Texas

 I'm reading Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth. If you have any interest in the history of Texas it is a great read. As I have posted before my family was in Texas before Texas was Texas and BTW it wasn't that long ago. The book is an example of CRT and makes the case that preserving slavery was the driving force behind Texas leaving Mexico and and becoming an independent nation for 10 years before joining the States as a slave State. Of interest to me as I've always been proud of my family history of civil rights work is were the early Maverick family slave holders. I have doubts as they were ranchers in the San Antonio area and the slave holders were mostly cotton farmers on the coastal bottom land of Central and East Texas. But I did grow up on the family West Texas cotton farm.

Last night we walked to the beach shortly after Sunset. The Sun was still lighting the scattered clouds and a New Moon was setting with Venus just below the Moon to the right, breath taking beauty.

ken

Camp Host Site

 This is our Host Site at Cape Lookout:

It is a very short walk to the beach from our site. Once on the beach Cape Lookout is to the left and it is a half mile or so walk to the base of the Cape. When the tide is out there are deep pools along the base of the Cape. The pools are Sweet Maggie Dog's favorite place to swim and dive for rocks.

To the rear of the coach is a fire ring with enough room for two couples and Maggie Dog to enjoy the fire with drinks and telling stories, some may even have an element of truth.

Living in the coach is like living in a small one bedroom apartment. It has everything needed,. About the only thing I miss is no dishwasher but even that is no biggie. One of us has to wash dishes several times a day to keep the mess down.

The current motorhome is 34', if we end up doing this full time or near full time I expect we will go to a 40 footer. It is not needed but the extra space (and a dishwasher) would be nice.

See y'all on down the road,

ken

RV Life

 For the first time MsBubba said "it may be time to sell the Tucson house". The nomad life ain't too bad if you can stay in State Parks for a month or more at a time. 

One of the things I'm figuring out is packing for a trip with multiple stops and short stays is different from the needs when there are few moves and long stays in one place. Kitchen needs are one of the big differences. With short stays, sandwiches and a bag of chips works but with longer stays more kitchen gadgets are needed to stave off food boredom. BTW, we had great fish and chips for lunch cooked on the new from Amazon outdoor propane burner. Desert was a homemade mincemeat pie, mincemeat also from Amazon.

That is one of the advantages of longer stays and Amazon, Amazon can catch up with you and most of the things you didn't pack can be had in a day or two. For now we can store excess "stuff" under a 10' EZ-Up, next year or later this year we could need a second one for use as a shop.

The one thing Amazon can't fix is not bringing the workbench. Oh well, next year or after a pass thru Tucson whichever happens first.

See you'll on down the road,

ken