Packing to Sew

 abSEWlutely there will be a day in October when we get back on the road and three RV Rallies to look forward in attending. The Rectangle and TJ are ready to get out of the city and kick up some road dust. I have been looking forward to sewing in The Rectangle in the evenings so have to get things organized. A friend asked me how I utilize space in The Rectangle for sewing/quilting...for me easy, just be organized. The bay I have for my machine and stuff is roomy so that is not an issue. Before we leave I kit up several projects with all that is needed (pattern,cut pieces,thread,notions,backing,binding) giving me freedom to pull a kit and get sewing. Most of the time I have pre-cut all the pieces I will need for the quilt and so that cuts down on a lot of time and space which cutting certainly sucks up. Making kits is also what I do before I would go on a retreat also to cut down on the cutting time and then can focus on the 3Sss sewing, sipping (wine and water) and speaking (talking with my gal pack). I do a lot of kits, when a pattern draws my interest and I start to pull fabric I start to think "kit it up". I love to have a quick pull and pack ready for whenever I want to get going. Kitting for me is my organizational go to. Currently I have 5 kits ready to go and more on the list to kit. A kit allows me the freedom to sew which is the fun part and if I have to stop I can quickly put back in the bag for travel. When I use kits there is little chance of forgetting what I need or wondering if I have enough BUT that does not keep me from going to a local quilt shop to see what there is to see (maybe purchase).

Living in a Rectangle....Road to New York?

Returning home with a stock up of wines. We have reds, fruit and sparkling. A good variety of reds so we are ready for dinner parties to happen again. I know it will be a while, but dang we are ready for just eating and visiting.
*The getting ready  to leave was a breeze and not a hitch one.  NICE
*going down the road we did have a few things we did not secure as well as we might, like pens and papers and bags and a cart on the couch so they flew around to land on the floor as we bounced down the road. The traffic was almost non existent and we really noticed a lot less trucks on the road.
*The construction crews were still hard at work to make better our traveling in the future.
*We stopped for lunch at a roadside stop and then realized there was not really room to turn around unless we take TJ off we had to go forward….so we headed down this small country road hoping to find a spot to do a turn round. It was not promising and even less so when the sign ahead said STOP bridge out ahead road closed. Now we had to choose, take TJ (the jeep) off and back up to some spot we could turn The Rectangle around and then rehook TJ or take a wide turn off the road and hope we could make it. We decided to take the wide turn and all was great and we made the turn and got back on the road. We saw a white truck coming out a dirt road but we were committed to our turn so no stopping that. Yep he started honking and honking. We were back on the road so we stopped. He pulled up yelling something about this not being New York….and he did to appreciate us turning around in his yard.   Now folks, this was road frontage and we did not even see a house..but he thought it was his so we apologized and he yelled more as he was driving off. Not sure where he was going as he headed back in the direction that said the bridge was out. No worry, we drove on down the road and got back on the highway to New York.
*Home safely and all is well. Looking forward to our next adventure in The Rectangle.

2020 The Year of Unknows Living in a Rectangle

Living in a Rectangle  2020 

*How does one do Living in a Rectangle in 2020? There are no rallies, no gatherings, Texas state parks will still not allow overnight as of May 2020.  Many questions abide during this time so we press forward and get ready to take our first trip of the year to Fredericksburg, Tx . Now for the fun to begin as wineries say they are open.

*The question of why Texas state parks will not allow overnight for RVs that are self contained remain a question. Is it because the park rangers would be put at risk? We would not need to be near them, just tell us what spot we have for our reservation. WeI understand that the bathrooms would be closed but we don’t use them as The Rectangle has everything we need.
Oh well rules are rules.

*Fun times are ready to begin as the coach is pulled out of “storage” from across the street and it is all super nice and clean after a wash. It shines. Fridge is on and we are packed except for the food.  Tuesday night and we are ready to depart in the morning

*Wednesday looks good for a road trip….BUT, But but    Flat tire on inside tire back passenger. David spends time on the phone to determine if he can still drive the RV to a tire place. After about an hour of “these people are of no help” he calls National Indoor RV and they lead him to the right place to call. NOW he remembers from when we were in Canada two years ago these great people in Denton were who got him to where we got the tires fixed in Maine.

*Can he drive the RV to Denton (about 35 mines or so). Sure says the man at the tire place, just air it up and come on up. OK David gets it aired up and off he goes. I am at home waiting for the phone call of whatever the outcome from this adventure. The call comes in and $14 later and a couple of hours behind schedule we start the journey to Fredericksburg.

We chose Fredericksburg because our wine closet was depleted and the Canadian border is like closed so our trip to British Columbia wine country is a no go. Texas wines or whatever delightful wines we find in Fredericksburg will have to fill the wine closet.

Stay tuned for what The Rectangle has in store for us.

Lone Oak, Texas Rally..Living in a Rectangle

October 2019
It has been a long time but the RV fall runs are always the best. The RV rally was in Lone Oak, Texas and we hosted with another couple...so much fun. As always there are those moments  that bring joy and other emotions.

 Living in a Rectangle:
*Packing is always over packing, why do I take so many clothes when this will only be a weekend? Because it seems so easy to throw in something else (no suitcase weight).

*It was strange to only put in one bottle of wine but then we were going to a winery the next day and I am sure they will have enough for me to add a few bottles. (yes I did)

*The weather was like so totally cooperative with rain one night and that dropped the temps to perfect fall cool. When you can wear a sweatshirt in the AM and peel it off during the day it does not get any better.

*We planned for a church group to bring a hay ride trailer for a fun ride through the park. Donations to go to the youth group. The perfect ride trailer with benches on the side shows up, perfect. We pile on and the ride is going so well, so much fun....but then a back wheel makes a not good noise and the trailer starts to swerve. Stopping we discover the wheel has two lugs and one of them is loose and he wheel is about to fall off. A good angel comes by and in his truck he had all the tools to make the plan to take a few lugs off the other wheels to get it stable....nope the lug screws were stripped so the lug would not hold...bottom line walking back to the club house gave us all some exercise. BUT we gave a generous amount to the church and hopefully when they come to get the trailer they can gte it back to the church. Such fun.

*After a great weekend we r traveling home and it happened...coming around the bend on 635 near DFW airport the car started the "death wobble". Yes it is shocking to feel the car you are towing being "tossed around". Now we have all the right equipment and have towed for two years this Jeep Cherokee with no issues. Slowed down thew on hazard lights and finally found a place to pull over. Took the Jeep off and I followed the RV in it. It drove just fine. The Jeep Wranglers had this issue but not the Cherokee, needless to say it is going into the dealer service bay tomorrow.  

*I love margaritas but when you are taking a full bucket out of the freezer of the RV and the lid popes over and it pours onto the top of your head and completely over you? Well it is a sticky mess a very sticky mess. Got myself out of the clothes and showered then had to clean the RV floor and etc. It was like a sit com moment. You can't make this stuff up....

Will They or Will They Not Love the Location

It is always nice to get away to a place not been before and discover that there is a world of camping that families really are active and children can play and have fun outdoors. In getting to know a campground to host a rally for our Class A RV group in October we were in East Texas at just such a place. Now this campground is very different from most of them  our group goes to in that it is not concrete slabs but nicely done sites with stone "slab" and I must say very level so no problems with that. But I know there are those Class A RV people that do not see themselves as campers but "resort" campers. This rally will test there ability to let go and get out of the norm for them. Now one can only hope the weather will in some way cooperate with the outdoorness of the camp. (We will see about that).

All the sites are on the lake and it was so nice to sit out and see the water and the fish jumping and the birds of all sorts flying and the deer running around and the buzzards doing their thing....it was nice and quiet, peaceful even with the weekend filling up the camp with families. I enjoyed being there and look forward to what it will be in the fall.

We have a really great rally planned from music, to food, to golfing, to day trips, to  games and fellowship. It will be interesting the feedback we get on the location of which we had no input into; just this is what the club has booked and we said we would host with another couple. Location comments from the group will be whatever, but I can promise they will love the food and fun we have planned. The meeting room is nice but once again not the norm in that we will have to drive to it from our rigs, not a long way but not a walk to distance. Good news plenty of parking and on the lake with nice views.

A great trip to Louisana

It was a smooth start to the journey to Louisiana today. All good even getting through the Dallas 635 traffic. I like smooth takeoffs and this one for reasons unknown was one of the smoothest. It may have been that we did not stock the refrigerator but will buy things when we get there and it may have been that we did not leave at 8am but 11:30am and it may have been that we left a day later than planned and it may have been we decided to just go as far as we can and not worry about finding an RV hook up but just grab a motel for the night. Now for some RVers staying in a motel is almost against the “rules” to the whole RV image and while overnight in the Walmart parking lot is no cost it also does not give us the best nights rest. The cost of motel is a bit more than an overnight hook up at an RV location so we are OK with doing that.  With all the packing done, motel reservation done we are off smoothly.
The drive is pleasant and we are listening to the music munching on pretzels when David says “there is something I forgot to do”, hmm OK what? “I forgot to take my house shoes out of the oven and turn it off”…what?  Yep he got his shoes wet this morning so decided to “cook them” so he could take them with him.( so much for the plan). Good news, our neighbor was home and we have the app to open our garage door so she could go in and retrieve the shoes and turn off the oven. she did say this was the first shoe rescue she had done.
Meanwhile, back to the peaceful driving with no thought the house could catch on fire. all good.



Living in a Rectangle 
A lovely evening in Longview, Tx at the Fernbrook RV Park. Lovely park, quiet, nice pull thru.
What a great weekend at the Canjun Rally. in Rayne, LA  Lots of music and good food and beautiful site seeing. Also we brought the best gin ever, Roxor  a wonderful gin made in Dallas, Tx. Friends at the rally also agreed the gin was super good. This is my new go to gin for sure . Then I learned some things about gin I was not aware of?? When going down the highway and you do not put the bottle in the cabinet it will go flying off the counter, you then hear like an explosion and a cork closer shooting across the floor and gin following. The Rectangle then wafted nice with expensive gin floral/botanical smells. Nice as it was it was not meant to be on the floor. Rescued the bottle saved most and continued down the road (we will clean it up later). Finally at our overnight RV park and guess what? gin evaporates nicely so not a bad cleanup and we got to enjoy the fragrance while driving  But now time to enjoy a gin and tonic. David made them nicely and then with a wave of a hand hurled one of them to the floor…ice, tonic, gin and lime were the next floor cleaners. Paper towels, on hand and knees makes short work of the second cleanup. AT LAST new drink made with an added plus of the really clean floor. Cheers

2019 The Rectangle Gets Ready to Travel

It is 2019 which means it is time to get The Rectangle ready for a new season of road tripping. Our 2015 Newmar Canyon Star (wow has it already been 3 years for The Rectangle?). Yes and so to get ready there is always the maintenance of which David is a stickler for. Houses can sometimes be called "money pits" but The Rectangle is more a "money puddle" where jumping in can get you wet but you will not drown. Into the shop it went and since we got two new front tires during our Canada trip last year at least tires are not on the list. The list is get the air/heat pumps serviced and cleaned; reseal around the skylight and other things on the roof, get a new couch and the driver and passenger seats recovered (at least this is no cost because covered under warranty). The cost was a puddle, but it will keep The Rectangle in great shape for the travel year.

Our first trip out was to the Hill Country city of Evant, Texas. We stayed in the Buena Vista Wildlife Safari RV Park... This is the story we heard: (have no idea if it is true or not?)  this a ranch that has exotic animals that a wealthy oil person used for hunting of them with his wealthy friends. As will happen hard times came and he had to sell the ranch and animals which for the animals was a good thing as the new owner did not want to hunt them. The ranch is now a sanctuary for the exotics and one can pay to drive thru and see them. As far as new RV parks is it good, even with the road noise that after the second night we are pretty used to. Everyday the feed truck goes out and you can follow it to see all the animals really up close and personal.  This link will give you all the info on the park and the animals.     https://www.buenavistawildlifesafari.com/

Evant was small but with several places to eat.  Hamilton down the road had good Chinese. now the story here is interesting as the locals say there was a couple running the restaurant and they went back to China and another couple returned from China with the same name and is running the restaurant or something like that? Whatever the story, the food was great. The winery in Hamilton is a delight and should you be in the area worth the visit.  link: Red Wing Dove Winery

Next adventure soon...until then The Rectangle will get a bath and polish and staple goods restocked for the season.