A Last Time For Everything . . .
Jan and I were on the road by 10am, heading about 80 miles south to the PPL Motorhome lot at the intersection of Beltway 8 and I-69/US59.
We got there about 11:30 to find Nick and Terry Russell already there waiting for us, having left Beaumont about 9.
Nick was bringing their Winnebago RV over from Florida to put it on consignment at the PPL lot, hoping to sell it with less trouble than he’s been having trying to sell it himself.
I was surprised to see that PPL now closes on Sundays. Don’t know how long that’s been going on, but I’m sure it wasn’t that way back in 2007 when we were looking to buy from them. Besides, it seems like Saturday and Sunday would be their two biggest days. But even though they’re closed, there are sites with full hookups outside the locked gates so people can park overnight waiting for them to open the next morning.
After catching up for a half hour or so, we all piled into their Ford Explorer and drove down US59 to have lunch at Floyd’s Cajun Seafood. We first ate at this location with Lowell and Landon a couple of months ago after Landon’s hockey practice, so we knew it would be good, as all the Floyd’s are.
Jan got her usual Chicken Fried Chicken with fries,
while I went with my favorite, a bowl of Shrimp Gumbo.
Nick, however, went a little to the wild side, with an order of Fried Alligator Bites, saying it was the best he’d every had.
Miss Terry wrapped things up with an order of Crawfish Half and Half, half Fried and half Étouffée.
And after a great meal and a lot more talk, we headed back to the rig about 2pm.
And then began the End of An Era.
Although we had met Nick and Terry at RV rallies, starting in March of 2007, we didn’t really become friends until early October of 2009 when we both ended up at the Elkhart RV Park in Elkhart, IN, after his Gypsy Journal RV Rally in Celina, OH.
It was a cold, rainy afternoon when Nick knocked on our door and said those fateful words, “I hear you’re good at fixing things.”
And thus, a friendship was born.
They had just bought their 2002 Winnebago Ultimate Advantage, the one they’re now selling, and knew when they bought it that the gas side of the water heater didn’t work. And now suddenly, the electric side didn’t work either.
So a few minutes later, there I was out in the cold, with Nick holding the umbrella over me, while I found the problem with his water heater. One of the small thermal fuses had blown, so I spliced around it and told him to get a replacement the next day at the RV place next door.
And now today, coming full circle, I was doing my very last repair on his Winnebago (I hope). Nick had a replacement latch that needed to be installed on one of his bay doors. To do that I had to drill the pop rivets out, disconnect the old one from the mechanism, install the new one, and then rivet it back on.
Only took about 15 minutes, but as they say, there’s a last time for everything.
Finally about 6pm, after getting our goodbye hugs, Jan and I headed back to Punkin, getting home about 7:15.
Tomorrow is another Clear Lake day, so it’s on the road again.
Thought for the Day:
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