Monday 8-30 Camping & Hiking

 

Grab a buddy and go hiking

We had a gorgeous sunny day. 

We woke up to a brisk 40 degrees. I woke up an hour earlier than a thought, I always wear my Garmin activity tracker and it hadn't changed the time yet so I thought it was 7:45 am instead of 6:45 am. I got out of bed and started the oven (it runs on propane). While it was preheating I got dressed. When it got to temperature I baked biscuits. Our refrigerator runs on either propane or electricity. 

After breakfast we went on a 3.5 mile hike. We started from the campground and caught the lake trail. We hiked it the opposite direction for 1.5 miles to Archuleta Trailhead. Archuleta Trail is a wilderness trail that is 6.5 miles long one way. We hiked it for a half mile and rested. After resting we turned around and went back to the Minnie. During our hike we saw people fishing from their small blow up boats, cars in the parking lot, ducks swimming in the lake, we saw a rodent who was apparently living in a rock slide and a beaver swimming in the lake. We were the only ones on the trails until we were almost back when we met a gentleman going to the lake to fish. The cars in the parking lot were people who were fishing.

 

Big Meadow Lake from the hiking trail

 

Larry resting on a log

 

The hiking trail 

A meadow

 

A rodent we saw 

The hike was great and at times got our hearts pumping. We climbed over a few small boulders and downed trees, crossed creeks via rocks or bridge. We stopped now and than to take in the scenery because it was gorgeous. As we hiked we heard the creek flowing. On the way back we saw a pretty waterfall coming down the mountain. I took a couple of pictures but they didn't come out. We try to enjoy the scenery when we can but when we're hiking the trail we have to watch where we're going, there are lots of rocks, tree roots and fallen trees. We had an outstanding hike. 

In the afternoon Larry read. I did the Solitaire Event: Medium Mayhem of 27 games. It took me 2 hours, 2 minutes and 48 seconds, which put me in 15th place in my group. Then I walked around the campground and to Cascade Falls. In order to get to the falls you have to take a short trail. It's a small fall but very nice. I walked for 40 minutes. When I got back I read until it was time for dinner.

 

Cascade Falls

I barbecued seasoned pork for dinner. After dinner Larry and I went for an hour hike. We walked a half mile through the campground until we got to an old service road. The gate was closed to keep vehicles out but we walked around it. It was a wide moderate level trail that went uphill. We saw a few grouses. When we got close to the grouses their tail feathers would fan out. They are great flyers. We only hiked about a mile of the trail but it was very peaceful. When we got home I walked around the campground for 45 minutes to finish my steps. While I walked I said hi to a lot of other campers and saw a beautiful doe. I ended up doing 26,000 steps, which is a good start for the week. I ended up being in 6th place in my group.

 

A grouse we saw

 

 

 

 

  

 

Sunday 8-29 Big Meadows Campground

 

Overcast Afternoon

We woke up to a brisk 46 degrees with a little wind. It felt great. We didn't have any power so I put a lite jacket on.

I made oatmeal for breakfast. We weren't in any hurry to leave because we didn't have far to go. We put things away and were on the road by 7:50 a.m. 

Larry wanted to check a few areas out in the area for camping and hiking. First place was in Del Norte, it was a BLM hiking trail. There really wasn't any place to park an RV, we could have parked in a neighborhood but that would not be ideal. Next up was another BLM area called Elephant Rocks, it was a half mile down a dirt road. Larry drove slow to try to keep from beating the Minnie up. From the description of the place Larry was hoping it would be like City of Rocks State Park in New Mexico. It is gorgeous and has a lot of huge rock formations to camp in. The rocks are red and very picturesque and there is quite a bit of hiking within the rocks. This area was much more plain with small rock formations, there were a couple of places where we could camp but we were not excited about the area. Next we headed to an area with good reviews that had rock climbing and Native American carvings. The roads to this area were very rough and when we got to the gate we discovered we would have to travel about three more miles down a dirt road. Nope, not interested.

We have been in this area before and have enjoyed camping at Big Meadows Campground so that is where we headed. We stopped in South Fork, at Rainbow Express to fill up the Minnie. From there we passed by Fun Valley Resort where we have wonderful memories of square dancing and camping, unfortunately they no longer offer square dancing. From the highway we could see the square dance hall and the area where square dancers camped, the area was empty. A few more miles up the road is Big Meadows Campground. It sits above a small mountain lake, it has hiking, campsites with fire pits and picnic tables but no power or water, some sites are first come first serve. Our site has a great view of the lake. The rest rooms are pit toilets but very clean. We are not sure how long we will be here but we started off paying for three nights.  

 

A view of the lake from our site

Larry set up the solar panel so we can have a bit of extra power. So far it is working super, time will tell how much it helps and of course you need sun for it to work. We're very excited about using the solar panel.

There is some cell service in this campground but the signal is weak and sometimes it disappears. Fortunately for me we had enough power and cell service to allow me to play my games. The computer uses quite a bit of power so I might have to cut back on the game playing.

We spent the afternoon reading. I played my games. I did the Daily Challenges and the Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Klondike and 5 Spider). It took me 2 hours and 59 seconds to complete, which put me in 24th place in my group.

In the evening Larry and I hiked the trail around the lake. It is over 3 miles long and took about an hour. We only planned to go on a short walk but ended up going further. As we hiked we saw people fishing off the banks and in small blow up boats. We met people on the trail and met a couple of dogs. The trail is very nice and well used, you do have to be careful of the rocks, tree roots and fallen trees. At times you had to cross over a creek via a bridge. We had a super hike.

Wildflowers on the hiking trail

After resting a bit I walked around the campground for about an hour. In the afternoon we had some sprinkles and come evening we had a mountain shower for about fifteen minutes. After it stopped I finished my steps. I ended up doing 25,000 steps, which put me in 8th place for the week with 177,069 steps.

 

       

Saturday 8-28 Not in Texas - Del Norte Colorado

 

Awesome Day

We woke to a beautiful day. I rolled out of bed a little early because we wanted to get an early start, today's drive was going to be about 330 miles. A couple of our neighbors left before sun rise, I heard them leave around 6:00. A few more left a bit later.

We had breakfast and put things away. We left a little before 8:00. Before leaving we put some money in the donation box. Good-bye Texhoma Park.

Today our drive was mostly on state highways and took us through parts of three states. Larry drove about seven hours. Somewhere near New Mexico the time changed to Mountain so we gained an hour. The highways took us through small towns, by farmfields and ranches. We drove 75 miles in Texas to Stateline, Texas, where we entered New Mexico. We drove about 100 miles through New Mexico seeing lots of cattle, horses and a few pronghorns. Along the way we stopped for fuel, to stretch our legs and in Trinidad Colorado to have lunch. The drive was very nice.

We arrived at Del Norte City Park in Colorado about 2:00. Del Norte is a cute little park and good for an overnight stay. It doesn't have any hookups but it has bathrooms and it's free. It has a paved walking trail to the Rio Grande River, along with picnic tables and grills and a small play area for the kids.

For dinner Larry barbecued hamburgers. 

 

Del Norte City Park

A cute neighborhood frontyard

I did my Daily Challenges and Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games. It took me 43 minutes and 37 seconds, which put me in 17th place in my group. I also did my Mahjong Daily Challenges.

In the evening we went for a walk around the park, neighborhood and river. Larry walked with me for a bit. During the walk we saw people swimming in the river and tubing. We saw a doe and fawn. After dropping off Larry so he could read I continued walking for an hour. Then I rested and walked another hour. During my first walk I saw the doe and fawn. My second walk I saw a gorgeous buck. By the end of the night I did 25,000 steps, which put me in 8th place in my group. It was a very special evening of walking.

 

Tubing on the river

 

Made it through a little dip

 

The doe and fawn

 

The buck

Friday 8-27 Dumas Texas / Texhoma Park (Still in Texas)

 

Beautiful Friday

We had a beautiful day with the temperatures in the low to mid 90's with wind. No 100 degrees yet. Tomorrow should be the last time we see temperatures in the 90's for a bit.

After putting things away and making sure everything was secured we left Hamlin around 8:30. Today Larry drove 275 miles to Dumas, Texas. The drive was two lane and four lane highways through small towns. I spent most of the time napping, I'm like a small child, put me in a vehicle and I'll go to sleep even if I have a great night sleep. We stopped at a roadside picnic area to use our bathroom and stretch our legs. A couple with their dog had the same idea to stop and stretch their legs. We didn't visit but we did wave at each other. Next stop was in Childress to fill the Minnie with gas and to have lunch, I made sandwiches. Our final destination was Dumas, Texas.

We have stayed at Texhoma Park many times. It's a free overnight stay for RVs in a paved parking lot. There is a donation box. Each site has an electric hookup, there is a central water station and dump. There is an area for picnicking, play area for children and bathrooms with running water but no showers. There is also a dog park, 2 fire pit areas and a cornhole game set. There are a few places close by to dine at.

 

Playscape at Texhoma Park

 

Teeter Totter 

 

Spider bars

I did my Daily Challenges and Event: Pyramid Mini of 5 games. It took me 16 minutes to complete, which put me in 40th place in my group. I played Mahjong Daily Challenges and I finished the Pyramid games (10) in the Star Club Xbox 20th Anniversary.

After dinner I walked around Texhoma Park for an hour. As I was walking I saw some of the RV folks enjoying the park and visiting with each other. I saw a couple of local families show up and have a picnic. The children played on the merry-go-round, swings and playscape. Texhoma is a great neighborhood park.

As the evening went on more and more people came in. I think the area was about 80% full.

After I cooled off I did some more steps. I ended up doing 20,000, I missed my daily goal by 5,000 steps. But for the week I had 127,000, which put me in 8th place in my group. We a had a great day.   

 

Thursday 8-26 Camping at Hamlin City Park

Happy Birthday Honey

Happy Birthday Larry. 

We were very excited because we started our Fall Trip today.

 

We're excited

We woke up and finished putting the last minute items in the Minnie. We had mini waffles for breakfast. After cleaning things up we were on the road at 8:45.

Larry drove 235 miles to Hamlin, Texas. The drive was mainly two lane highways through small towns. We stopped occasionally to stretch our legs and go to the bathroom. That's the nice thing about having an RV that is self contained, you can stop anywhere. When we got to Cross Plains we stopped at a Subway for lunch. This is the first time since Covid started that we actually stopped at a restaurant of any kind. Larry put his mask on and went inside to buy a Spicy Italian foot-long for lunch. We ate it in the Minnie. It was 98 degrees so we ran the generator to run the air conditioner while we ate our lunch.

After lunch we continued to our destination which was about another 75 miles down the road.

Before we left the house Larry read some reviews on the Hamlin RV park and it had mixed reviews. Years ago we stayed at Hamlin's RV park, it was just a dirt parking lot with no trees or bathrooms but the sites did have power. Some of the reviews described this park. But other reviews described the park as having a restroom, baseball fields, playground, covered picnic ramadas, electricity and water. 

 

Entrance to Hamlin Park

 

The Minnie at our camp site

Sunset at Hamlin

 We arrived around 2:00 and the GPS coordinates from the reviews were pointing Larry to someplace different than we stayed previously. He drove by the park we had stayed at before and it was exactly how he remembered it, a parking lot right next to the highway. There was a sign indicating Hamlin RV Park and a couple of RV's were there. Larry decided to check out where the GPS was sending us. We were surprised, there was another park. The sites were on a nicely mowed grass field. Each site had a covered picnic table, three 30 amp plug ins and water. There were baseball diamonds, playground and restrooms with running water. We had no problem finding a site, we were the only ones there. We setup the Minnie for the night. There was no signage at all, most of these city campgrounds have a pay station or a donation box. This one had neither. This is a lot nicer than the other park and it is blocks from any main road making it nice and quiet..      

For the remainder of the afternoon we stayed indoors keeping cool under the air condition. Larry read. 

I played computer games and did some Sudoku games. I did the Daily Challenges and Event: Tri Peaks Mini of 5 games. It took me 10 minutes and 15 seconds, which put me in 31st place in my group. I also did the Mahjong Daily Challenges and some Pyramid games in the Star Club session to celebrated Xbox 20th Anniversary. I know I told Louise and Larry I wasn't going to do these games but somehow I got sucked in.

After dinner we walked around the park. The park is located by the school so while we were walking we saw mothers walking the track and kids practicing in the field. While they were practicing the sprinklers were running so they had to keep moving around. The school facility was very nice and the public can use the track, many schools have fenced these fields off and won't let the public use them. After walking a bit Larry went in the Minnie and I continued walking around another half hour. By the end of the night I ended up doing 25,500 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group.

To celebrate Larry's birthday I made some Betty Crocker No Bake Cookie Bites. We had a super day. 

 

 

Wednesday 8-25 Ready To Go

 

I'm excited

We spent the day tying up loose ends for the trip.

Yesterday, we went to the post office and stopped our mail. This morning we swung by the UPS Store to pick up our mail and let them know we were going to be gone for a bit so we needed them to hold our mail. On the way home we stopped by Jack n Jill Donuts to get a couple donuts.

I spent part of the day loading the rest of the food and clothing. Larry finished doing the maintenance. While I was finishing up getting the Minnie ready I found a couple of the throw rugs were falling apart so back to Walmart we went. We took the Minnie this time because Larry wanted to fill it up with fuel. Found two rugs that I like.

Larry thought the Minnie wasn't getting cool enough with the air conditioner on so when we got home Larry put some freon in it. He said it still isn't cooling like it should but its getting down to 50 degrees so it should be fine.

While Larry checked the air conditioner out on the Minnie I cleaned the house and did a couple of loads of clothes. Earlier in the day I made a bake to take with us. We had some of it for our dinner.

Larry loaded the motorcycle on the back of the Minnie.

Tomorrow we will need to add just a few more things and we will be on the road.

 

Doing chores

I did my Daily Challenges in Solitaire and Daily Challenges in Mahjong. I also did the Event: Xbox 20th Anniversary with solving 20 Solitaire games. It took me 3 hours, 24 minutes and 54 seconds, which put me in 8th place in my group. 

In the evening we relaxed in front of the television watching YouTube videos. Then I started watching the 15th season of Silent Witness. I ended up doing 26,000 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group.

      

Tuesday 8-24 Dancing and Trip Preparation

 

Doing Errands

I got up early so we could do some errands. First stop was Top Donuts to get donuts for breakfast. Next stop HEB to pick up a few things that Walmart doesn't carry. Next was Walmart to recycle our motor oil and to buy a couple of things for the Minnie, Walmart had windshield washer antifreeze but not the rest. Larry needed tire valve extensions that would work with his air pressure sensors on the Minnie's tires. We stopped at Auto Zone and O'Reilly but they didn't have them. We went across the street at Eagle Auto Parts & Paint and found the extensions and weatherstrip adhesive for the seal Larry worked on yesterday. 

On the way home we stopped by Today's Car Wash to give the car a bath. It has been a long time and the car was filthy. After going through the wash, we wiped it down and vacuumed it out. This car wash supplies towels for you to use to wipe down your vehicle.

We attended two virtual square dances. First was Dayle Hodge's Weekly Plus at 11:00. He called four two couples tips with 16 participates and one four couples tip with 13 participants. Larry danced with me. We had a great time dancing to Dayle and friends.

Second was Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly A1/A2 at 1:30. Di and Terry called five two couples tips in the hour A1 session with 21 participants. Di and Terry called five two couples tips and a four couples tip in the A2 session with 25 for the two couples tips and 22 for the four couples tip. I dance by myself and had a super afternoon dancing to Di and Terry.

 

Get up and dance with a partner or by yourself

While I danced with Di and Terry Larry continued getting the Minnie ready. 

For years Larry has been using a tire air pressure monitor, he loves it but it was designed for cars and only worked on the four rear dual tires. He ordered a new one that works with all six tires and it arrived yesterday. Today he installed the senors on the valve stems of each tire and programmed the monitor with the sensors. The monitor displays the air pressure and temperature of each tire, if it senses something wrong with either parameter an alarm starts beeping and the display will start blinking showing you which tire is having the problem and what the problem is. It also really helps with tire maintenance. Normally to check the air pressure on the tires Larry has to remove all the hubcaps and go from tire to tire removing each valve stem cap and checking each tire with a pressure gauge, it is a bit of a pain, time consuming and messing with truck wheels is dirty. He would do this before every trip and before we leave a campground he would try to remember to walk around and look at each tire. With the tire pressure monitor he no longer has to do this.

I did my Daily Challenges and Event: Spider Mini of 5 games. It took me 17 minutes and 28 seconds to complete, which put me in 15th place in my group. I did the Mahjong Daily Challenges and did a couple of Sudoku games.

In the evening we watched a documentary on Amazon called Waiting for Lightning, it was about pro skateboarder Danny Way. Danny came from a broken home and developed a passion for skateboarding. He always pushes the limit on skateboarding including jumping China's Great Wall on a skateboard. Danny's passion drove other pro skateboarders to push their limits. It was a good documentary. Then we watch a Bee Gees concert on Amazon. When Larry went to bed I finished watching the 14th season of Silent Witness. I ended up doing 28,000 steps, which put me in 5th place in my group.

 

      

Monday 8-23 More Trip Preparation

 

Another hot day

We are almost finished with August and we still haven't officially hit 100 degrees. We have been close with 97 degrees. Today we again got to 95.

Larry started the day by replacing the motorcycle battery and putting the bike back together. Afterwards he took it for a ride to make sure everything worked correctly. 

Next up was more RV maintenance, first was the two batteries, had to check the water level and clean the posts, next was checking all the fluids, coolant, power steering, engine and transmission, while Larry was working under the hood he noticed a rubber strip that runs along a piece of trim at the bottom of the windshield had come loose. He removed it and cleaned everything up but will need to pickup a proper adhesive to hold it in place. 

Years ago Larry built a couple of insulation panels for the overhead sleeping area, he made them from blue foam board insulation and to cover up the blue he glued a cloth that matched the interior to the inside. The glue on one of them was deteriorating and the cloth was starting to fall. Larry removed the panel and re-glued the cloth, looks perfect again.

While Larry did these things I did my games. I did the Daily Challenges and Event: Free Cell Mini of 5 games. It took me 9 minutes and 59 seconds to complete, which put me in 20th place in my group. I also did the Mahjong Daily Challenges.

Then I attended Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly Plus dance at 11:00. They switch calling the five two couples tips with 28 participants and Di called the four couples tip with 14 dancers. I had a super time.

After the dance I continued getting the Minnie ready for our trip. I made the bed and put more stuff in it. 

In the evening we watched an Amazon documentary called Steep, it was about snow skiing in extreme conditions. It was very interesting. The skiers had great skills. After the documentary we watched an Eagles Concert on YouTube. While we were watching the concert Larry continued working on organizing our photos. I did my steps, which was 27,500 steps. This put me in 2nd place in my group. I continued watching the 14th season of Silent Witness.

Sunday 8-22 Helping Our Neighbor

 

Busy Day

We had a busy day. 

We started the day out by washing the Minnie. It was filthy and there were a lot of bugs that were difficult to remove. Larry climbed up on top of the roof and scrubbed it. Afterwards he climbed down and started washing it from the back to the front. I joined him after I had breakfast. After washing the Minnie, I dried it and Larry cleaned the wheels and hubcaps.

While Larry was washing the Minnie our neighbor Jason came over to ask Larry if he could help him with a project. Jason and his family are suppose to close on their house this Friday and the inspection is tomorrow. On the back porch they have a sink and the wall behind it that is suppose to be tiled was unfinished, Jason wanted to cover it up. After washing the Minnie Larry cut a board the size of the hole and put it in. It was a bit tricky because there were two electrical outlets that had to be cutout. I helped Larry by holding the board when he was cutting it. When Larry was finished with the project Jason was very pleased. He just had to paint the board.

I had to leave before Larry was finished to attend a virtual square dance at 12:00. Darren Gallina moved his Thursday Mainstream/Plus dance to today to celebrate National Tooth Fairy Day. He invited Di Green and Terry McCann to come and call with him. Di and Terry dressed up like fairies, they wore square dancing dresses, wings on their back and had a wand. They looked cute and surprised both Darren and his partner Tom. Darren called one tip of mainstream and one tip of plus. Terry called a mainstream tip and Di called a plus tip. We had 36 participants. Which is great considering it was 10:00 am on a Sunday in California where Darren and Tom are. Each tip had a pattern song and a singing song. I had a great time.

 

Celebrating National Tooth Fairy Day

I did the Daily Challenges and Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Free Cell and 5 Tri Peaks). It took me 6 hours, 5 minutes and 20 seconds, which put me in 20th place. It took me so long because I forgot to log out when I helped Larry and attended the dance. I also did Mahjong Daily Challenges.

After the dance Larry was going to take the motorcycle for a ride but it wouldn't start. The voltage of the battery was good but it wasn't getting power to the electrics. He tore the bike apart looking for the problem. Everything tested out fine, finally he hooked a jump pack up to the battery and it worked. Apparently even though the voltage of the battery checked good the moment a load was put to it it failed. He found a battery on Amazon but it would not arrive before we were going to leave. He found one locally at Batteries Plus. Can you believe they are open on Sundays until six. We went to Temple and picked it up. It is a brand new battery and was shipped to them without acid so they had to fill it and then it needed charged. Larry told them he could charge it but that meant he will have to wait until tomorrow to install and test it.

While Larry was trying to find the problem on the motorcycle I put some food in the Minnie for our trip.

In the evening we watched an Amazon documentary called Bigger, Stronger, Faster. It was about the use of anabolic steroids as performance-enhancing drugs in the United States. It was interesting. Then I finished watching the 13th season and started the 14th season of Silent Witness. I ended up doing 25,000 steps, which put me in 1st place in my group for the week with 190,252 steps.  

  

Saturday 8-21 Preparing for Trip

 

Hot Day

We had a wonderful day. It was hot with the temperature of 95 degrees.

I started the day out by playing games. I did the Daily Challenges and Event: Hard Road Mini of 10 games. It took me 3 hours, 44 minutes and 1 second to complete. I did the Mahjong Daily Challenges and the X-Box 20th Anniversary Celebration. I did the 25 Free Cell, 9 Pyramid and 9 TriPeaks in this section.

After I finished playing games we took the truck to town to recycle our aluminum cans. On the way home we swung by the storage center to get the motorcycle carrier.

 

Recycling aluminum cans

After lunch we continued getting the Minnie ready for our trip. I started by loading  a few things up.

We made an online grocery order from Walmart for our trip. We didn't place the order until mid afternoon and we figured it would be delivered tomorrow but they had a slot for 9-10pm today. The order arrived just before 10. Hard to believe they will deliver that late in the evening. 

 

Grocery shopping for trip

In the evening we watched an Amazon documentary called Valley Uprising. It was about rock climbing in Yosemite National Park and the history of rock climbing. It was very good. Afterwards we watched a Nanci Griffith Concert on YouTube. I continued watching the 12th season of Silent Witness. While watching television I did a couple of loads of clothes and steps. I ended up doing 27,000 steps, which put me in 1st place in my group. 

 

Doing laundry

 

Friday 8-20 Getting the Minnie

Getting the Minnie ready for our trip

We had a beautiful day with clouds and temperature in the mid 90's.

I started the day off by doing the Daily Challenges and Event: Easy Street Mini of 15 games. It took me 32 minutes and 5 seconds to complete, which put me in 19th place in my group. I continued play the Spider games in the 20th Anniversary of the X-Box. I did the Mahjong Daily Challenges.

While I played games Larry continued working on a paper project. 

Larry signed me up for a Medicare Supplement Plan. Starting September 1st I will have Traditional Medicare, a Medicare Supplement Plan and Prescription drug plan. A grand total of about $250 a month and it will increase every year. For comparison we have been choosing a Bronze Plan via the Affordable Care Act Program (Obama Care) and most years we have payed nothing. Of course all of the Bronze plans have deductibles over $7000 and are HMO's. Fortunately Larry and I have remained healthy and neither of us are on any prescription drugs so we have spent very little on medical care. 

One big problem with HMO's is they only pay when you are in network. Since we normally travel quite a bit this is not ideal. If you are out of town they are suppose to pay for emergency treatment but good luck in getting them to pay. A number of years ago we were in California and Larry's finger got badly infected, he ended up going to a minor emergency care center where they had to cut the finger open to drain and clean it out. He was prescribed a number of drugs and told if it got worse go directly to the hospital. There was a chance he might lose the finger. We were told to stay in the area and come back for a followup. He received terrific care and everything came out fine but our insurance declined the bill. Said he used an out of network provider. The policy clearly stated if you were out of the area they would pay for emergency services. Probably should have fought it but it was easier and less stressful to pay the bill and move on.

Finger Treated and Wrapped

We attended two virtual square dances. First was Dayle Hodge's Weekly A1/A2 Four Couples at 11:00. He had 14 participants for the two A1 tips and 13 participants for the two A2 tips. We had a great time.

Second was Di Green's Weekly C1 Workshop at 2:00. She worked on Mini Busy Concepts, Triple Boxes/Columns/Lines, Interlocking Diamonds and other C1 concepts and moves. She had 28 participants. I did the workshop by myself and had a fun afternoon.

Before the dances we went to the storage center to get the Minnie. About a week before we leave on a long trip we bring the Minnie home to get it ready. We normally park it in our driveway so it is easier to load, Larry has a large extension cord that reaches from our RV to a power plug so we can run the AC as we load it up. Larry designed the house so that we have a RV parking spot on the side of the house and we have full hookups.

In the evening we watched an Amazon documentary called Time Well Spent. It was about four young surfers who have endured poverty, abandonment, abuse and death. They are invited to go to Panama to find themselves. One of the surfers visa was turned down so he went to the Philippines to find himself. It was very well done and good. Afterwards we watched a live concert on YouTube: The Petersens. It was good. Larry continues working on our photos. I started watching the 12th season of Silent Witness. I ended up doing 27,500 steps, which put me in 2nd place in my group.      

Thursday 8-19 Medicare

 

Hot humid day

We had a humid day with the high of 95 degrees and humidity of 42%. 

I started the day out by doing the Daily Challenges and Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 6 games (3 Tri Peaks and 3 Pyramid). It took me 14 minutes and 21 seconds to complete, which put me in 24th place in my group of 100. I did 24 out of 27 Spider games on the X-Box 20th Anniversary. 

A few weeks ago Larry signed me up for traditional Medicare and a prescription drug plan but he also wants to get a Medicare Supplement Plan. He has done lots of reading but still had questions. He called a lady in Dallas who sells these plans and talked to her for quite some time. At first she just wanted to sell me a plan, she didn't go over any options, just said you want Plan G and wanted Larry to purchase the plan.  Larry explained he really wanted to understand the options. Since he had done lots of reading he had questions. She was very knowledgeable about Medicare and anything he asked she was able to answer. Medicare is different from state to state. In many states including Texas if you sign up for a Supplement Plan during your first six months of Medicare eligibility all companies have to take you regardless of your health. After six months you have to apply using your health history and many people are turned down. If in the future you decide you want to change to a different Supplement Plan you will have to apply using your health history and can be denied. Of course you can still purchase traditional Medicare or a Medicare Advantage program, neither of them can turn you down. 

We were very surprised because The Affordable Care Act did away with this, any plan sold on the Affordable Care Act exchange has to take anyone regardless of health and there are absolutely no health care questions asked.

Some states have also mandated Medicare Supplement plans have to take anyone regardless of health . Seems to me that the Federal Government should require this of any company selling Medicare Supplement Plans. 

Larry will probably purchase a plan from the lady he talked to but since you have to give her all of your Medicare information along with your Social Security Number and lots of other personal information he wanted to check her out, she gave him her insurance license number and he used that via the Texas Department of Insurance website to ensure she was licensed to sell these plans.

We attended two virtual square dances. First was Dayle Hodge's Weekly C1 at 11:00. We danced the four two couples tips with 20 participants. Dayle is starting to call more challenging and put us in positions we're not use to be in. Even though I broke down now and then I still had fun. Larry danced with me. Dayle told Larry that he was very impressed by his paper projects.

Second was Jeremy Butler's Weekly A2/C1 at 6:00. Jeremy called four A2 tips with 11 participants and one C1 with 9. The fourth A2 tip he called full square material and the C1 tip he did the same. We had a super evening of dancing to Jeremy and friends.

 

Having fun square dancing

In the afternoon while Larry continued working on his new paper project, I worked out for 40 minutes with my 2014 Just Dance program.

After Jeremy's dance we watched YouTube videos. I finished watching the 12th Season of Silent Witness. I did 26,500 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group.  

         

Wednesday 8-18 Laid Back Day

 

Laid back day

We had a laid back day. It was overcast with a mild high temperature of 91 degrees.

I spent most of the day playing Solitaire games. I did the Daily Challenges and Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 6 games (3 Spider and 3 Free Cell). It took me 26 minutes and 56 seconds, which put me in 30th place in my group. I did the Mahjong Daily Challenges and I did the fifth game from a couple of days ago I hadn't solved. I started another set of Star Club Solitaire called XBOX 20th Anniversary, which has 27 games of each type of Solitaire. I did the Klondike session.

I attended Dayle Hodge's Weekly A2 dance at 11:00. Dayle called four two couples tips with 26 participants and one four couples tip with 17. I had a great time dancing to Dayle. I showed Dayle and the other dancers the Scarecrow, Winnie the Witch and Fairy that Larry made. Dayle requested Larry to make a square dancing caller figurine. Everyone was impressed. 

In the afternoon I got tried of playing games so I worked out using my Gold's Gym program for a half hour.   

In the evening we watched  the 2001 movie Lara Croft Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie on IMDb TV. Then I watched four episodes of the 12th season of Silent Witness. I ended up doing 28,000, which kept me in 3rd place in my group.  

Tuesday 8-17 Birthdays Celebration

Happy Birthday Louise

It was a beautiful day to celebrate birthdays. Most every year we go on a Fall camping trip and our birthdays come around while we're gone. Larry's at the end of this month, Louise's today and mine is near the end of September. Before heading off for six to eight weeks we celebrate all our birthdays together. 

I woke up very early 7:00. Larry was making French toast sticks for our breakfast. After breakfast we got ready to go to Round Rock, we loaded birthday gifts, lunch and a small cooler in the car. I almost forgot Larry also loaded his small tool box just in case he needed to work on something at Louise's house. 

We got there about 9:00 and Louise and Alice were waiting for us in the frontyard. When Alice saw us she ran around the yard, she was very excited to see us. We took the gifts and lunch into the house. We visited until it was time for lunch. I made a tamale pie using chili and cornbread. I baked it at home and heated it up at Louise's. It came out good. Louise made dessert. She made a cake using a brownie mix and she put icing on it. I put some candles on the cake. We sang happy birthday and Louise blew out the candles because it was her birthday. Louise gave us six balloons to celebrate Larry and mine birthdays. After having lunch and dessert we opened our gifts. Larry made a cute summer bag for Louise and we stuffed it with small gifts: birthday kisses, a travel pack of Q-tips and cleaning pad, candy bar, a couple of different types of incense, puzzle and other incense packs. We also bought her a cordless vacuum cleaner, the same one I own and love. Louise gave us a lot of gifts: cookies, a couple of gift cards from Amazon, scrubbing pads, a small ring toss for a childs head, peanuts, flower rocket (just plant and add water) and trail mix. Shirley send us gift cards for Walmart and Amazon. She surprised us by sending the gift cards in gift boxes that Larry had made for her at Christmas time. Thank you Louise and Shirley for the super gifts. 

 

The birthday balloons for Larry and me

Louise enjoying her birthday

Our birthday brownie cake

Opening my birthday gifts

Louise opening her gifts

Re-gifting gift boxes

Another re-gifted box

After opening all the gifts Louise played with her new vacuum cleaner and was very excited. While I worked on her jigsaw puzzle Louise and Larry found a place to hang the bracket for her new vacuum. It ended up being easy, many years ago Larry had built a shelf in her garage and there was a perfect place on the shelf support board for the bracket, to top it off there was an electrical outlet right by the shelf. Now she can simply keep it plugged in while it is being stored out of the way. 

We had a wonderful birthday celebration at Louise's.  

We got home around 3:00 and spent the rest of the day relaxing.

Yesterday, I told Larry we needed to go grocery shopping at Walmart. We had just renewed our online delivery so Larry decided to do our grocery shopping online. There was no opening for home delivery or curbside yesterday so he picked 4:00 today since we would be home by then. They had to do a couple of substitutions. One was replace one of our salads with a different one, the replacement was smaller so they gave us two. The other one was replacing pecan pies with apple pies. The substitutes were fine with us. The lady who delivered our order did a super job.

 

Weekly grocery shopping online

In the evening we watched an Amazon movie called When Did You Last See Your Father. It was a good movie about a son's conflicting memories of his dying father. Then I started watching the 12th season of Silent Witness. I ended up doing 28,500 steps, which put me in 3rd place in my group.