Our RV Adventures

The other day I’d complained about the fact that our fresh water tank was black so that with the summer sun on it, the water was always hot and you couldn’t take a cool shower even if you wanted to.

Well, reading on another blog, I found out why the tanks are black. Or at least the good ones. It keeps down the algae. The black tanks keep the sunlight out which greatly retards the growth of the green stuff. Actually I should I remember this from my aquarium days. But then that was back in my sticks and bricks lifetime, and far, far away.

I guess hot water is better than green water.

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One of the many perks of being a gate guard, well, one of the perks, maybe, is the occasional catered meals brought in by vendors for the crew. And lucky for us, the gate guards are included in “crew”. But although we’d heard about the meals, this was the first time we’d been on the receiving end.

OK, there are two perks, the pay, and the occasional catered meal.

Ok, there’s one perk, the pay. The meals are just a bonus.

Last Friday, right before we got back from our granddaughter Piper’s graduation, they dropped off Fried Catfish and Shrimp Dinners, with Hushpuppies, Cole Slaw, and Corn, and though we didn’t have it until lunch the next day (Saturday), it was still good and crispy heated up.

But even better, right before suppertime the same day, a delicious! steak dinner showed up. Consisting of a great piece of meat, green beans, au gratin potatoes, salad with ranch dressing, a roll, and apple cobbler for dessert, it was really, really good. And the steak covered the entire bottom of the compartment. The green beans are on top of it.

The steak was still hot and juicy, and tender enough you could cut it with the plastic fork. In fact, everything was hot, except the salad, which was cold. Not sure how they did that. Guess they added the salad at the last minute.

Anyway, it was amazing how good everything was. The potatoes were melt-in-your-mouth, and I’d swear the green beans were fresh, not canned or frozen. Even the roll tasted fresh baked, not the generic pull-apart variety. All in all, a great meal.

And the rumor is, there’s another meal coming today (Wednesday) or tomorrow. Here’s hoping.

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I was reading on the RV.net forum about a gate guard couple working a gate with multiple rigs. They’re apparently handling about 600 vehicles a day (We normally do 60-80), but because of the heavy traffic, they’re making $565 a day.

Wow! That’s a little over $206,000 a year. When I mentioned this to Jan, I guess I had a little too much excitement in my voice, because she gave me “The Look”, and . . . you married guys know “The Look”, right?  The one that means you just stepped in quicksand and there’s no way you’re getting your foot back in one piece . . . yeah, that Look. Anyway, she Looked at me, and said “Don’t even think about it.”

Hey, a guy can dream, can’t he?

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Thought for the Day:

If it’s true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the others here for?

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Well, trip day started off with a bang, or maybe just a ssssss!  When the sun came up Wednesday morning, I found I had a flat tire on our truck. Bummer! It had been fine when I drove to the rig at midnight to turn in the logs, and my tire pressure alarm had never gone off, but flat it was. So after Jan came on duty at 7am I got it changed before getting a few hours of sleep before we left.

Our replacement gate guard, Kay Runyon, showed up right on time at 2pm, and after getting her briefed, Jan and I headed for Houston about about 2:45pm. We were going back to our old home for a couple of days for our granddaughter Piper’s High School Graduation Thursday night.

Since we knew we wouldn’t be eating supper until about 8pm, we stopped off at the McDonald’s in Pleasanton for a quick bite, and then it was back on the road. Our first bathroom break was at the Buc-ee’s at the Luling exit on I-10, one of our favorite stops. This place just keeps getting bigger. To give you some idea how big, they’re installing ANOTHER 40 gas pumps to keep up with demand. And this Buc-ee’s is not the biggest one.

We got into Webster, TX about 8pm just in time to meet Chris, Linda, Piper, and Linda’s sister Ingrid for dinner at Mario’s Flying Pizza. It was really good to see everyone again, and after a good meal and great company, Jan and I headed down the road a few blocks to check into our room at the Comfort Suites Hotel. Our son-in-law Lowell’s mother, Sonja, works for Choice Hotels in Oklahoma and was nice enough to get us a Friends and Family Discount there. Thanks, Sonja.

Jan and I were up early the next morning for another busy day. I dropped off my flat tire at a nearby Discount Tires, and then Brandi picked us up at 9am for Landon’s first trip to the Houston Zoo.

He’s all ready to go.

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He really liked the giraffes.

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So much so, he tried to ride this one.

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And of course, what’s a day at the zoo without ice cream?

After a fun, but exhausting time for all concerned, and right before the rain started, we headed back down to the Clear Lake area for a late lunch at one of our favorite places, Monterey’s Little Mexico, for some of their great Chicken Tortilla Soup.

It was pouring down rain when we left the restaurant which didn’t bode well for tonight’s graduation ceremony, which was supposed to be outside in the football stadium. Hopefully it will work out.

Getting back to our room, Jan and I both had showers, and then luckily, had time for a nap, before meeting everyone at Clear Springs High School to catch a shuttle bus to Clear Creek High School for Piper’s graduation. And Clear Creek High is where Piper’s father, Chris, graduated from too.

Luckily the weather had cleared up and the graduation went off outside as scheduled.

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Piper swore later she wasn’t crying, but there seemed to be a awful lot of tearing up, like here,

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and here.

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Finally the big moment.

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And then it’s over.

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The proud graduate.

After hugs all around, Piper headed out to party with some friends, and the rest of us headed out to Denny’s for a late supper.

Finally it was back to the hotel before another early morning the next day. I dropped the truck off at Discount Tires to get the repaired tire mounted while we met everyone for breakfast at the Egg and I, one of our favorite breakfast places. They have a great hazelnut coffee.

Here’s Landon clowning around with Uncle Chris.

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And whatever’s going on here between Landon and Jan, Landon’s not having any part of it.

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And it was good to see that Miss Piper hadn’t partied so hardy that she wasn’t bright eyed and ready to go the next morning.

And after a great breakfast together, we said our goodbyes and got in our last hugs, Jan and I got ready to head back to gate guarding. We had a few errands, and then a couple of stops for food to take back with us. BBQ from Rudy’s and Chinese food from King Food, and then it was back on the road.

We got back to our gate about 5:30, and after giving our thanks to Kay, got back into the routine, with Jan taking her usual 6-11pm shift, while I went to bed for a few hours before coming on from 11pm to 7am.

We had a great time, but in a way it was good to be back here just to get some rest. We were certainly on the go there.

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Thought for the Day:

Five out of four people have trouble with fractions.

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