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. 

More Maine and Joining Our Tour...Lessons Learned

*National Parks are such a treasure and Arcadia Park is no exception. Grand beauty and vistas and nice surprises like Thunder Hold where the crashing wave into the hole delivers all the thrill of sound and water spray. Why is getting wet so much fun? It is always a surprise when it happens and yet we go there because we know it will happen. But like the axe man jumping out of the closet in a movie (we know he will yet we jump) the water crashes into the hole and we are still surprised when the water leaps out of the hole and spays us.

*Cadillac Mountain tip puts the world at your feet, beautiful views of sea and islands just like on the postcards.

*Fantasy RV Tours: Meeting up with 24 other RVs to start a new type of adventure with a “caravan tour” begins the process of forming community with rules and common goals:
+Rule: No Bad Days
+Rule:It is your vacation so personalize with side trips as you want
+Rule:Be at the assigned campground or let the Wagon Master know your other plans.
+Goal: Travel safe
+Goal: Share experiences and create memories.

*Group whole lobster dinner with others on the tour always makes for fun times as those who have never seen a whole lobster on their plate are a bit taken back by it “staring” at them. But soon enough those who know show those who do not know and the crackers are fast at work. There are of course those that just cannot, so they have alternative meal. I like those that have the alternative meal because it means their lobster is available…thank you Charlotte.

*A trip mascot (a stuffed lobster) was presented to the group and each couple was to host it for a day and enter into a diary the experiences of the mascot. We jumped on being first (let’s just get it out of the way). It was named Claude or Clawed depending on if you wanted him to be French Canadian or a Maine Rapper…we went with French Canadian.

*WE GET A DOG…ok so it is a black wooden lab dog sitting nicely  with a cute bandana around his neck we have named Band short for Bandana, but hey most everyone in our group has a dog or two or three and are out walking them, or making plans to have them walked if needed because we have several days with full day bus tours. We have a nice dog that needs no walking and funny as it is as when those other dogs are out walking they stop and look at Band and some have even barked at him. So far none have “marked” him. Then one morning we notice someone has put a leash on him? A nice like bike red bike wire with lobster clamps on either end and put around Band and the picnic table…well after all there are lease rules in the RV park, never did find out who did this nice touch.

Bar Harbor, Maine is a busy tourist town with shops, restaurants and the usual issue of too many cars and not enough parking. To solve this their is a nice lot outside town with a shuttle bus every 15 minutes to the downtown area. While so many wonderful small towns are fun to visit and offer nice ambiance they all have the small streets with too many cars and no parking syndrome. At least Bar Harbor is trying to find solutions.

More lessons later, off to eat more lobster…travel safe as school kids are now on the road.

Thunder Hole

Welcome dinner with tour group

Claude is on the road

Summer Fun on the Road Heading to Maine

Living in a Rectangle has many lessons the first being when you don’t write you might get behind and then it is a month later. But there has been lessons…

*Remember lessons of the past and plan your route back to Penn State to have ice cream at the Berkey Creamery. Yep just as good as two years ago.
*When driving down the road to Maine and one learns the roads can be very bumpy, very bumpy and that is when things can fall down…like the shade on the drivers side as one is going 60 miles and hour. Oh my it is a shock when a very heavy double shade comes down, the good news it fell straight down rested nicely and we continued down the road.
*Getting the shade back up was a fun game of how many toothpicks can you shove up a hole to create “new wood” that a screw can go into and hold up a shade?  Answer, not enough, so one goes to plan B…New hole, put in a sheetrock anchor into hole and a heavier screw. Ahhh, problem solved.
*Going into Thomas Point Beach campground in Brunswick, Maine and we see Band Camp signs everywhere for Band Camp Registration, Parking etc and we think how fun to see the high school band camp students but then one realizes it is not high school, it is a music festival for alternative rock. One must then adjust the expectation of what the music will be….it was however very good.
*We had a delightful camping site at Thomas Point Beach……. It was a rocky start with our neighbors. We pulled in and went to the electrical pole. Two 30amp plugs, so I picked one and put in the electrical upon which I hear this booming voice yell “That is not your plug, that is my plug.” and rushing at a fast pace was a man most intent in making sure I heard him so he said it a couple of more times. I stood silently until he stopped and I said, OK. This was a not what he expected and he began to explain how he camped here in the same spot  every year forever and he grew up in the area and last year only one of the plugs worked and on and on. I said OK as David looked on. David called the office upon which the man (Mike) began to talk about how he had known the owners forever and the new person in the office would not know anything and etc etc. Bottom line is the manager came over and explained all the electrical worked as they had done all the repairs from last year, so all was good. Mike came around to being pleasant and a good neighbor.
*Sounds of camping. Squirrels in the trees, Woodpeckers getting food, Leaves making music in the breeze and SILENCE, just silent. Peaceful
*We made it to Bar Harbor, Maine to meet up with our Fantasy Tour group in good time and then had our first Lobster Roll. Yes, as good as anyone can imagine. I love Lobster Rolls  Can one ever have a enough lobster?
*A local farmers market gave us the most tastefully fresh Romaine, so no worry from all the mayhem over the Romaine we were hearing on the news. It was sweet, crisp, and totally delightful.
*Sleeping with no AC widows open with fresh clean air makes leaving Texas not so bad.
*I like when Main Street is spelled Maine Street…so cute

Penn State Ice Cream is Perfection

Get your funk on

More lessons to come

Week One 2018

One week into our 2018 adventure

*A number bed mattress that does not work and is stuck on 100 can be a challenge but guess it is better than 0. We have it on our list to fix after all we have a new motor we ordered before we left. 
*Why do wasps always build their nest in the electrical box at parks. We stayed at the Corps of Engineer park in North Little Rock,Arkansas and yep a wasp was a building nest. I swatted it away and popped off the nest, a very small one, the wasp then dived at me but I expected that so dodged the dive. Then I hear a voice say “I have spray to kill them, do you want it?” The lady across from us was watching and offered her spray, I declined as I thought the wasp should live, after all I was the one who interrupted the home building. She was insistent with “Kill it, it will just build a nest somewhere else”. I declined again and she gave up.
*Don’t you just love how a farmer in a large tractor moves over to let a large Motorcoach pass on a two lane road.
*There are churches and then there is the over the top larger than life church mansion First Pentecostal Little Rock, wow quite a site.
 *Arkansas grows A LOT of rice. Who knew?
*Hoosier comfort food — pork tenderloin fried sandwich — is perfection.
*Sitting on a veranda with a family friend grieving the loss of his wife of over 50 yrs;  sipping wine and throwing the frisbee for the dog while the cool breeze blows helps ease grieve if only for a while
*Spending time with youngest son in Columbus hearing him play a couple of nights with a couple of bands makes the trip super nice.
*When leaving the RV Park in Columbus and a terrible noise coming from TJ(Tow Jeep) going to hook up with RV is a bit unnerving. But gee it was only the cone that had been next to The Rectangle I ran over being drug under the car. Quick jump out, a few tugs and all is good but the thought crossed my mind that someone saw it all and was laughing a lot.
*While at an RV park in Pennsylvania about 6am a very loud siren begins to screech….for about 3 minutes this goes on. Never did find out why…it was very unnerving had been raining all night and the river behind us was swollen
*We read the Star Telegram newspaper on line each morning and the article on using genetic genealogy to solve cold cases brought a word neither of us had encountered before :”He was whipsawed by the speed with which genetic genealogy led to an arrest.”  Whipsawed?
So, I am whipsawed by how fast time has already led us into our 2018 adventure.
AND 70 degree weather is really great!!

Columbus Ohio Jazz and BarBQue Festival

Our youngest son Matthew doing what he loves on percussion

A great German deli in Columbus

Saturday worship at the 150 yr old church Trinity Evangelical "German" Lutheran (ELCA) Coumbus, Ohio 

always special

7 Days Till We Roll

Living in a Rectangle countdown continues
7 Days till 2018 Trip


*Make an appointment to take The Rectangle in to have the front end alignment checked (wear on tires not even?) and cruise control not working (a long trip without cruise control is not good), and propane shut off for refrigerator reset or whatever it needs (safety first).

As always, they get in The Rectangle and the cruise control works just fine
As always, they totally try to get refrigerator to duplicate the shut off issue and everything works just fine.
I love how with many mechanical things they play with us. I imaging a laughing universe saying “got another one”.


*Check all those tires to make sure they will make the next big trip in good shape.

  Tires have a way to tell those who know where to look the year the tire was made (who knew?) So when the tire guy doing the front end alignment tells us they are 2013 tires on our 2015 Newmar it set off a hunt for the question of why or what that does to the longevity of the tire. With RVs tires are very important and there is some guy rule or thing rule that tires at between 5 and 7 years they need to be replaced. Our question then is if we got the tires already two years old on our new RV does that mean we will only get 3 more years till the 5 year mark? or how does that work? Newmar says it is a Ford issue as they get of course the chassis from them, and Ford says well we only give a one year warranty on that so it is now not their issue. So Ford builds a chassis and calls the tire people and they send tires and that is that. BUT then, another look at the tires and well really they are 2014…ok so we picked up a year. Bottom line, the tires are the tires and we are in alignment.  Whew, too much information re tires, sometimes I rather not know.


The time spent on the phone on this issue was a lot and the number of people who passed us on with the that is not my expertise was fun. Hearing Hmmmm after your questions always makes you know you are about to be passed along.

The true story about any vehicle is only time and travel will tell the rest of the story.

30 Days Till We Roll

Living with The  Rectangle when not Living in The Rectangle

UPDATE ON THE GETTING READY TO TAKE TO THE ROAD:
*There are now things that have to be done like wash sheets/towels/an anything else just to put it back into The Rectangle    check it off  all clean and ready to roll
*Let Miss Kitty snoop around inside The Rectangle  check it off Miss Kitty has done the inside check
*Redust everything and vacuum again  check it off nice and clean
*Unload all the food and check for those spices that are out of date. Not sure why I have all those spices except all the big cooking plans that are in my head and never make it out of my head.  check it off and the many many spices not good were spread over the ground and some in the compost
*Give The Rectangle a really good bath!  check it off  BUT it still needs a nice wax before we roll
*Check all those tires to make sure they will make the next big trip in good shape.  Interesting story here
*Make an appointment to take The Rectangle in to have the front end alignment checked (wear on tires not even?) and cruise control not working (a long trip without cruise control is not good), and propane shut off for refrigerator reset or whatever it needs (safety first). Interesting story here too
*Design and make a holder for the front car safety guard for TJ (our Tow Jeep Cherokee) so when The Rectangle is at rest and TJ is in action the safety guard can be on hold till needed again to protect TJ from road rocks, bugs etc. when trailing behind The Rectangle. This entails welding and luckily our neighbor can do that.  check it off  nice job of design by David and welding by our neighbor perfect  picture soon
*Buy a waffle maker -- need a waffle maker. Could take the one from home but it is a rather large one and storage is always a consideration in The Rectangle, so maybe a smaller one?  check it off  thanks to my BFF who had one she was not using The Rectangle now can make waffles.
*Check out the number bed mattress for a leak? or a pump issue? Small white caps were sent from Number Bed people so now to get on phone with them and figure out how to run "the test" on that...will keep you posted on this.  check if sort of off  Test done and they sent us a new pump (for a small handling fee) and story to follow as we try to install before we roll.

30 Days before we leave….time still to get some things done like we both got new eye glasses so we can see all the beauty on our trip.

R & R for The Rectangle

Living with The  Rectangle when not Living in The Rectangle
*There are now things that have to be done like wash sheets/towels/an anything else just to put it back into The Rectangle
*Let Miss Kitty snoop around inside The Rectangle
*Redust everything and vacuum again
*Unload all the food and check for those spices that are out of date. Not sure why I have all those spices except all the big cooking plans that are in my head and never make it out of my head.
*Give The Rectangle a really good bath!
*Check all those tires to make sure they will make the next big trip in good shape.
*Make an appointment to take The Rectangle in to have the front end alignment checked (wear on tires not even?) and cruise control not working (a long trip without cruise control is not good), and propane shut off for refrigerator reset or whatever it needs (safety first).
*Design and make a holder for the front car safety guard for TJ (our Tow Jeep Cherokee) so when The Rectangle is at rest and TJ is in action the safety guard can be on hold till needed again to protect TJ from road rocks, bugs etc. when trailing behind The Rectangle. This entails welding and luckily our neighbor can do that.
*Buy a waffle maker -- need a waffle maker. Could take the one from home but it is a rather large one and storage is always a consideration in The Rectangle, so maybe a smaller one?
*Check out the number bed mattress for a leak? or a pump issue? Small white caps were sent from Number Bed people so now to get on phone with them and figure out how to run "the test" on that...will keep you posted on this.

Only 68 days till The Rectangle leaves for the next fun trip...Nova Scotia is waiting.

Martin Accordion -- Louisana Music

Accordion tour was so fab. Learned all about them, heard great music and history of the music in the Cajun world. Martin Accordion family owned and only the family members working making them. Family is Junior Martin who started the business his dtr, son and grand son who is a musician (26 yrs old) and plays world wide with his Zydeco music (he can play any accordion handed to him). Order your accordion today.  Martin Accordion  web site link

Our Pirate group having fun

April 2019 Rally in Port Aransas with our Kountry Klub Lone Star Newmar group had our "small group" getting into the fun of a pirate themed weekend. First photo we boarded a stangers RV for a group pic and the second our group had its flag and selfie to prove it.

The strangers did not know what hit them before we boarded their "ship" and you can see we recruited a few young ones for the pirate life.

red spider flag for the fabulous crew...we are all smiles at the fun we are having.

April 2018 Aransas Pass

Living in a Rectangle
*It is off to Aransas Pass to get some coastal fun with our RV Newmar group.
*Wish we could stop quicker along the road to grab a pic—like when we saw a pink VW Bug on a trailer with a big white metal crown on it. (note: It was a bit rusty, been there a while) OR
like the big painted “waving” American flag done in muted but beautiful colors. OR of course all the brilliant wildflowers. (note:does anyone else think of the warning about snakes and ants in the wildflowers re picture taking when you see all that beauty?) Alas it is not a thang The Rectangle does on a two lane Texas farm to market road.
*The “cornies” are on the road moving all those fun rides and food booths to the next small town so when one of those trailers loaded with a ride has a flat it takes a village to get it changed. Luckily there is “a village” going down the road to do that.
*When putting TJ (note: Tow Jeep) into neutral don’t do it till it is connected to The Rectangle or until you know for sure  the master of the hookup has told you - it is close enough or too close or to the left or to the right or whatever…
*Pilot filling stations now have Cinnabon Bon Bon Bites, 4 same great petite buns that don’t make you feel so guilty.
*Next saga on TJ. TJ towed perfect except at some point the check engine light comes on and an urgent email from Jeep U Connect (big brother of the Jeep world) comes to tell us…Action needed on your 2018 Jeep Cherokee! Your Jeep Cherokee has detected issues that require your attention on Engine and Transmission System, Oil and Fluids, Brakes and Suspension. Hmmm that’s a lot for an engine that as not been running? Called dealer in Aransas Pass, cannot see us till maybe next Tuesday and no don’t come in because they are so over booked and slammed with work they have closed their service dept to catch up!! OK, so next stop in Rosenberg they can see us on Monday….our dealer calls us back and says so go to Auto Zone and have them do a diagnostic at least to see what it says. OK off to Auto Zone with check engine light on, Jeep runs perfect, we turn off car,  AZ puts in diagnostic stick then starts car and poof no check engine light and readout shows everything is fine. We leave and will have  to see if the light comes back on after our next towing on Sunday…stay tuned for more TJ light adventures (or not).
*Nice and warm on the coast, but whatever the wind is blowing in or out wish it would get it done. (note: but don’t need Beyonce wind machine for hair blowing great pics)

TJ = Tow Jeep/The Jeep

2018 RV Season is On the Road

LIVING IN A RECTANGLE 2018

RV Season is getting underway and that means what?

*First trip is RV Rally with Lone Star Kountry Klub staying at the Choctaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma…3/8-3/11 2018

*unwinterize The Rectangle water system and remember to shut off the water to the washer hookup so water does not come shooting out (like last year, see we do learn)

*Start off with clean sheets, towels and new My Pillows.
in The Rectangle..

*Restock wine in The Rectangle…Put other alcohol on board.

*Take out of The Rectangle anything no longer needed from last year…like how many mugs can a person use?

*Reestablish where things will go in the cargo bins. Really just see what is in the cargo bins after all no-one has looked in them since December.

*Start list of who can feed Miss Kitty (and Daisy the outdoor cat across the street we feed since her owner passed) and establish calendar for this.

*Double check all the electronic charger cords are still where they should be in The Rectangle.

*Make sure all the remote apps are working to monitor house when we are on the road.

*Buy the latest road atlas…paper sometimes is the only “go to” when phone signal is a no bars area.

*Make sure phone plan is international for Canada still.

*Then the worst and most frustrating thing EVER…2018 Jeep Cherokee we just bought  that should be tow ready? Well it would take me more words then I currently have room for to tell this on going saga about the “harness” for the 2018s and the mess it puts us in. On the count down as we leave in July for months…Did I say most frustrating thing EVER!!!  (note: alternate plans are available but have not floated them out till we just have too.) URGGGG

*OK this did not just happen…well yes it did. Not towing the Jeep so pulled up behind The Rectangle since he had it in park and well one would think it was parked…but NO NO the reverse lights come on and OH NO…yep into the Jeep. Really? The Jeep now has a cracked in the bumper. (sad face) It is not terrible and hopefully it will be not a catastrophic fix. I of course think Jeep should pay for the fix, since after all if they were not having the problem with this harness thingy part so we could tow the Jeep this would not have happened (just my rant). The “Kit” has been on order for over 3 months, David is on a first name basis with a few folks at Jeep Corp.

Of course there is more fun and times to come this season of The Rectangle, after all we are going to Nova Scotia and the Canadian Maritime in July and August.

Lessons Learned on Down the Road

*Personal guided tour of the Olympic Training center by David’s college roommate made it a special tour and then
*Dinner with college roommate at a great Greek restaurant Jake and Tellys in old town Colorado Springs made for a good time. Oompa
*Two bunny rabbits playing outside The Rectangle brings smiles…one could tell they were great buddies
*The grandeur of Air Force Academy holds one breathless. The chapel next June will be closed for 4 years as they disassemble and rebuild it. One can only hope they recapture its spectacular glory.
*Trying to grow herbs in The Rectangle is anew adventure. A $10 galvanized three “bucket” pots hold the basil, mint and rosemary. OK so the Rosemary has already died and the new one planted is not doing well after a week…brown thumb seems to be lurking
*Took nice trolley tour of Boise and discovered a lot of homes of interest, capital building and cultural neighborhoods like the Basque population. The sliced lamb sandwich and bean soup we had for lunch made us ask about the Basque flavors. We bought smoked paprika to add to onions, red bell pepper, cracked black pepper, and salt to make a yummy chicken.
*Blue boxes like small sheds on rollers in the fields are bee hives. Now if they would only put signs in the fields to let us know what they are growing…please?
*Going to church and being invited to breakfast by the senior group was nice (of course we fit into that group——When did we exactly get into that group??)
*Forest fires and lack of rain were the big topics at breakfast.
*Viola is 86 and her mobile home place in the RV park is beautifully maintained. She will only be there a few more weeks as her children think she should no longer live alone, so her daughter has build her a room in her house and she is moving in with them. Viola’s hands are bent with arthritis, she has brittle bones from osteoporosis but at 6am she is outside tending her yard, watering the grass, loving the flowers to bloom and sweeping everything spotless. She wants to stay in her home but as she told us “those darn kids think I am too old to live alone”. Her flowers were a joy to see every morning as I read my paper on line. I am sure she will make sure flowers bloom wherever she is planted.
*Watermelon from farmers market that people told us was from an area that made the melons special and wonderful..David stood in line a while to buy the melon and paid $7.00 (this the most he has EVER paid for a small melon but after standing in line for so long he paid the price) then….we stopped at Walmart to get something and they had melons from that same area for $4.00 but we felt good we had helped Terry a small farm grower.
*We are Syrah people, at least at the wineries we visited in Pasco WA area. After three a day for 6 days we have a few bottles in The Rectangle. OK not all Syrah but mostly.
*Walla Walla is a nice college (three there) and agricultural area town. visited 3 wineries and came back to The Rectangle with 3 reds. According to the pourers in the tasting rooms,  One of the tree colleges there Whitman University a liberal arts school is noted for teaching a lot about “the arts” but not getting anyone ready for a job. Hmmm sounds about right and not just at Whitman.

2017 Lessons Learned First Week

Lessons Learned Living in a Rectangle

*We are now one week into our trip starting off with a couple of days in the Cap Rock Canyon Texas State park and long the way…
*Small museums are still a thing Blue Spruce museum was unfortunately closed
*Dirt devils dance on the fields being turned for the next crop
*Red Earth rises like smoke behind the tractors turning the earth
*Corn and cotton are in the fields
*Turkey Tx is the home of Bob Wills
*Prairie dogs are endlessly entertaining
*Bison at your Rectangle door will keep you inside….they do not move quickly and they are REALLY big
*Our trusty truck LilRed honked? then honked again? someone trying to get into it? No, just a woodpecker on LilRed pecking at the windshield wiper…guess bugs were there? But LilRed was “crying out” and I had to make woodpecker move on. It was a very large orange headed one but no-one or thing will I allow to hurt LilRed our trusty companion
*If you are in Cap Rock Canyon State park try and get the camping spot 35…prefect view of the canyon in the distance, prairie dogs up close and Bison very close too. No other spot has this view
*Moving on and the overnight at the next “RV Park” was shall we say was OK for a pull in and sleep, not much more in Clayton, New Mexico. The park was very old and when you are woken in the middle of the night with the electricity going off and on because luckily you always use a serge protector we laughed and finally got up at 3am to have coffee thanks to our generator and see the sun rise.
*BUT Clayton does have a very good Dairy Queen! and then David says he has spent the night in Clayton before with a group of bikers…who knew? (things wives learn)
*Learned that when going down the road and you stop to have a bite to eat and you see liquid on the floor it is not always water or oil and looking up and down inside and out for where it might be coming from …maybe from the road; the tires; or the slide out into The Rectangle? Then you taste the liquid and find it is very sticky, very sweet…rule out water or oil…follow the stream to the pantry to find a jar of peach jam leaking onto the floor…hmmm it is usually something simple.
*Road construction continues to be everywhere. More lessons to come.

2017 Trip

It is now time to leave for a few months on our 2017 trip Living in a Rectangle. The Rectangle has inspection and tags renewed and water tank sanitized. The loading is beginning and on Saturday, July 8, 2017 we are off to Texas Cap Rock State Park for the first of many nights Living in a Rectangle. It is always fun and love seeing our country along the road. Will be going into Canada this trip so passports are packed. Now to load up knowing if we forget anything there is always stores to explore too.