30 Apr 2024 - Pre-Rally Ski Replacement and Rear Wall Repair

 

Today was one of the first pre-rally days.  The official rally does not start until Wednesday but many arrive early to socialize with other Alliance owners or to simply relax.  Some are getting work done on their coaches.  There are contractors here detailing RV's such as washing and waxing.  In our case we teamed up with our friend Mitch and helped him install stainless steel slide skis on someone else's coach.  

So the stainless steel slide skis are what we picked up near my sister's in southern Texas last week.  They are used in place of plastic slide skis that have failed.  Stainless steel is much stronger than plastic and will last much longer.  My son-in-law Keith and I worked with Mitch last year to install several slide skis.  It is much easier than trying to do it alone.  

Later Doreen and I headed out to do some shopping, replenish our pantry and pick up a few other things.  Upon return Mitch and I installed a tee brace on each side of my rear wall.  

While Mitch and I were working on our coach, Doreen was inside baking some cookies and getting things ready for the rally that starts in a couple days.  After our project was completed Mitch and I enjoyed a cold beverage and some conversation!

Tonight most of the rally attendees that have already arrived gathered in the middle of the campground around some propane campfires and had a great time.  We met some new people and talked with them about their camping adventures.  There is usually a gathering every night during the rally.  

That is kind of how the pre-rally goes.  Relaxation, meeting new Ally's, getting some work done.  Tomorrow more of the same and then the rally kicks off.

29 Apr 2024 - Arrived at the Texas Alliance Rally in Mineola TX + Stats

 

Wow!  Stop #10 of 42 already!  We departed College Station TX this morning at 0853 hrs  and believe me it was a short night.  We had torrential rain with almost 5.5 inches falling between 1700 hrs yesterday and 0100 hrs this morning.  The weather alerts went off with flash flood warnings. WE opened the door and glanced out a couple times and it looked like a river running through the campground.  So we were not sure what the campground was going to look like this morning when we got up, but all that rain either soaked in or drained off somewhere.  We had some puddles, but we were able to hook up and get out of there without any issues. 

The trip up to Mineola was fairly uneventful, except there is no direct shot up there.  We had quite a bit of two lane roads and even had about a mile of wet, mucky dirt/gravel where the pavement had been removed and they were preparing to resurface the road.  But that did not last long, luckily.  We rolled into Mineola Civic Center RV Park in Mineola TX at 1237 hrs after traveling 187 miles today.  The rally crew had to make a couple adjustments because the site(s) we were to go in were occupied, but we quickly got parked and set-up.

The Mineola Civic Center RV Park is laid out uniquely,  The sites are primarily in a circle and they are doubled up.  The sites closest to the road are paved.  The sites on the outside of those are in the grass.  Needless to say, depending on where you are parked you may need quite a bit of sewer hose, power cord and water hose.  Every other site faces the opposite direction also, so your doors may face your neighbors.  So things are a bit snug here, but we are camping with a huge gathering of friends, so all is well.  Our site is circled in red.  We are nose-in which puts our door facing the open grassy field, so perfect!  Liberty has lots of burr-free grass!

This will fill up as a total of about 60 coaches arrive in the next couple days

Our coach from the street - notice how it is nose-in

Our coach, door side

The Texas Alliance Rally does not start until Wednesday, so arriving on Monday gives us time to socialize with our friends and get caught up with them and their travels.  We will also be helping others with repairs and likely helping with some stainless steel slide ski installation.  I completed one repair on my coach this afternoon, replacing a warranty water solenoid on my Delta Touch2O kitchen faucet.  I will also likely install a T-brace modification to prevent rear wall separation that has occurred on some coaches. 

The defective solenoid on my Delta faucet

Once the rally starts things will get pretty busy.  They have various events planned for each day, many of them occurring in the Civic Center building.  This is really a nice location for an event like this. plus we have a good shelter location in the event of inclement weather.  

Entrance to the Mineola Civic Center Building

Stats:  This is campground #10 of 42 

# States Traveled Through So Far This Trip, in order: 5 (IA, MO, KS, OK, TX)  

# States left to visit on this trip: 27 (AR, MO, IL IN, OH, PA, NY, VT, NH, ME, MA, CT, NY, PA, MD, WV, VA, NC, TN, AL, MS, LA, TX, OK, AR, MO, IA)

Baseball Parks Visited So Far This Trip:  2 (Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, Oklahoma City OK; Texas A&M Olsen Field at Blue Bell Park)

Lighthouses visited:  0 

Lighthouses climbed:  0

Point to point travel miles:  2100 miles 

  - Avg point to point travel miles between campgrounds:  175 miles

Vicinity miles:  617 miles 

  - Avg vicinity miles:  62 miles

Total miles driven:  2717 miles 

Total point to point driving time:  42 hrs 46 minutes

Total diesel fuel purchased: 287.829 gals 

Total diesel fuel cost:  $1019.03 

Average diesel fuel cost/gal:  $3.606

Max diesel fuel cost:  $3.899 (Bradt TX) 

Min diesel fuel cost:  $3.179 (Corpus Christi NAS TX) 

Avg MPG:  10.60 miles/gal

Cost/mi of operation:  $0.35

# Nights at end of this stay:  52 (Includes Griff's start)

Total lodging cost:  $1438.87  (includes Griff's start)

Average cost/night:  $27.67

28 Apr 2024 - Last Day at College Station and Dinner with DeHaes's

 

Today was our last day in College Station TX, so we first finished yesterday's blog post since we got back later last night.  Then we whittled away at our pre-departure tasks such as dumping tanks, stowing hoses etc.  In between times we tuned in to our Ankeny grandson's Daniel and Calvin baseball games.  We caught parts of several games but unfortunately could not watch them all.  We did get to see them bat a few times and a few fielding plays.  We missed this nice pickoff play that Daniel completed which was caught on camera:

Later this afternoon we drove to Drew and Dorothy DeHaes home and enjoyed some wine and bourbon tasting and great conversation. 

I was so fortunate to serve with a great military leader like Brig Gen Drew DeHaes for many years.  He was always firm but fair, and there was never a question where he stood.  He listened to his enlisted leaders and officers and then made a decision and headed forward, leading from the front.  Now that we are both retired from the military it is such a pleasure to reconnect, raise a glass and get caught up on our lives including our spouses and kids. Thank you to Drew and Dorothy for your friendship!

Tomorrow morning we will break camp and head north about 175 miles to Mineola TX and attend with Texas Alliance RV Rally!

 

27 Apr 2024 - George HW Bush Presidential Library and Museum; Texas A&M Baseball with Drew and Dorothy DeHaes

 

Busy day and late night so this post is tardy.  Today (yesterday actually) we spent the morning at the George HW Bush Presidential Library and Museum.  We visited here 19 Jan 2019 but failure of our legislators to pass a budgets there was a partial Government shutdown, so the library and museum were closed, but the atrium and gift shop were open as was the burial site.  so today we revisited this beautiful place, watched the movie and toured the museum.  

The atrium, as far as we made it in 2019

We watched a very informative movie that highlighted the life of 41st President.  He joined the Navy, became a naval aviator and fought in World War II.  He was shot down in the Pacific and two of his crew members perished.  After the war he attended Yale University, married Barbara and completed his studies in just two years. They moved to Texas where he got involved in the oil industry, raised their family and got involved in politics.  The rest is history and I won't try list it all out, but following his Presidency the Bush family returned to Texas to live the rest of their lives.  George H.W. Bush's entire life was dedicated to service, and the museum really emphasizes this.  Barbara Bush is also highlighted with all of her initiatives as First Lady.

Also in the museum at this time is a display of 100 years of Texas A&M football and how the Bush family supported A&M.

  I took over 100 pictures in the museum but will try to keep this brief:

His presidential limo

A replica of his WWII aircraft

1947 Studebaker, a graduation gift from his parents

Doreen and the President chatting about the condition of the Nation!

He was director of the CIA

If I were President for a day...!

.... I would also keep a baseball glove in my desk drawer!

His office at Camp David.  The PC is an IBM!

A tribute to the end of the Cold War.  A piece of the Berlin wall.

A beautiful couple

The situation room as it was for Operation Desert Storm

A father and son

The last time we were here we visited the garden and burial area so we did not revisit that today.  The George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum is expanding with the construction of a 29,000 square foot Marine One/4141 Locomotive Pavilion. The pavilion is scheduled to open in June 2024 as part of the centennial commemoration of President George H.W. Bush's birth. 

On the way back to the campground we fueled the truck and stopped at H-E-B for a few supplies.  I really like the selection that H-E-B has.  

Later in the day we attended a Texas A&M baseball game vs Georgia with our great friends and military comrade Drew and Dorothy DeHaes.  Brigadier General (ret)  Drew "Toto" DeHaes served with the same Air National Guard unit that I served.  He was an F16 fighter pilot, served as Wing Commander and then transitioned to Headquarters with me as the Assistant Adjutant General-Air.  After Drew's military retirement they returned to College Station TX and the Texas A&M area where they are proud alumni.  Drew continues his flying with United Airlines.  

Due to the weather forecast the weekend games were rearranged into a Saturday double header, so we met at the stadium for game #2.  

As with most colleges, Texas A&M is steeped in tradition.  When we were here in Jan 2019 they gave us a tour of the campus and pointed out many of the iconic places and the related traditions.  So attending a baseball game here it would only follow then the most appropriate place to sit would be in the student section!  

The A&M baseball team is awesome, second only to Arkansas in the SEC West with a record of 15-6 in the conference. 

We saw some outstanding baseball and truly talented players, but along with that we saw some outstanding A&M traditions!  The support of the team from the students and others is amazing!  The stadium was packed.  And it was LOUD!  And did I mention they have many traditions?!!  One of them is using bubble machines when they score a run (picture above and video below).  

When an opposing pitcher walks an Aggie hitter by throwing four straight balls, the crowd chants "Ball 5" while waving their right hands forward and backward. If the next pitch is also a ball, the crowd chants "Ball 6" and so on.  They relentlessly chant, in a playful way, the pitcher's first name to hopefully distract him.  Fans play "Happy Trails" when an opposing pitcher is removed from the game.  War hymn and Deep in the Heart of Texas: Fans sing "War hymn" and "Deep in the Heart of Texas".  One of the really funny ones is when an Aggie pitcher strikes out an opposing batter,  they play the lead-in video clip and song of the American western TV show "The Rifleman" starring Chuck Connors.  Chuck rapidly discharges his rifle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsitJZUcFL4

  I'm sure I missed a few but the entire experience was a blast!  In between innings we had a chance to talk with Drew and Dorothy a bit and enjoy a cold beverage or two!  A&M lost the final game 4-5 but it was hard fought and we enjoyed it a lot.

This afternoon (Sunday) we plan to meet Drew and Dorothy at their house and then go out for Mexican food at one of their local favorites.  

26 Apr 2024 - Arrived at RV Haven RV Park in College Station TX

 

We departed Corpus Christi Naval Air Station RV Park this morning at 0815 hrs knowing we had a pretty good drive ahead of us to get to our next stop, College Station TX.  There is no direct route there, so we let our Garmin GPS select the route based on our RV parameters that are programmed in there, including height, width, length, weight, etc of both the trailer and the truck.  I always do a sanity check on the route with Google Maps and I always do a separate low clearance check using a different map.  Sure enough we found two 13 ft 8 in railroad overpasses in Schulenburg TX but there is an alternate route so we took it with no issues.  In theory 13 ft 8 in should be OK as we are 13 ft 4-1/2" but not knowing how accurate the TXDOT measurements are, if there have been any pavement overlays, etc, why take a chance, so we didn't.  

The winds at Corpus Christi have been insane since we got there, such that we just left our satellite dish down and never used our flag pole.  As we departed this morning the winds kept at it to the point of during our Highway 77 portion I just about abandoned the drive for today.  Nasty, nasty side winds for miles, but the route finally turned north and the side wind turned into a welcome tail wind and we kept going.

During the trip we received a text from our destination campground wanting to know if we still wanted our reservation.  That in itself is weird, but I answered them that we were in route and yes we wanted our reservation.  I then attempted to called them but got voice mail so I left a detailed voice mail.  Never got a return call.  So we rolled in to RV Haven RV Park at 1355 hrs after about 279 miles, and we waited nearly an hour for the office person to return from lunch before we got out site assignment.  Needless to say I was smoldering by then, so I just pulled into a vacant site and set up.  If they forced me to move I was going to leave completely.  I finally connected with the young lady in the office and lets just say we worked things out...

Kitty cat wanted to meet Liberty.

The site is level for the most part, full hookup 50A

So today has not been the highlight of our adventures, but with 42 stops and almost 9000 miles this year days like today will happen.  We are set up and ready to enjoy a couple days here at College Station before we head north to Mineola and the Texas Alliance Rally.  

We had a nice walk with Liberty around the park tonight and then relaxed a bit and got caught up with our kids and their activities.  Our son made us aware of a huge tornado outbreak which clobbered Nebraska and several towns in Iowa.  Luckily our house and our town were untouched. 

 

Due to the weather forecast here in College Station the Texas A&M baseball game we were going to attend with our friends Drew and Dorothy DeHaes on Sunday has been rescheduled to Saturday.  Looking forward to it!

25 Apr 2024 - Last Day at Corpus Christi: Texas Sealife Center, Black Diamond Oyster Bar, Prepare to Depart

 

This morning we drove to Padre Island to visit the Texas Sealife Center.  It was very windy and overcast so the views from the JFK Causeway were limited.  

The Texas Sealife Center is a nonprofit 501c3 organization dedicated to the rescue rehabilitation and release of coastal and aquatic wildlife. The organization was formed due to a recognized need for additional wildlife support in South Texas and the growing number of animals that are admitted to wildlife centers in the U.S. annually.  Education is also a big part of what they do including taking selected animals to schools as ambassadors.

There is an indoor area in the main building shown above that is free to visit, and then for a nominal donation there is a guided outdoor area with various pools and habitat areas with all sorts of animals.  Some are being rehab'ed and will be returned to the wild while other non-native animals that have been rescued and are living the good life here.  

We headed outside with our guide who is a volunteer at the center.  She introduced us to the various turtles being rehab'ed in the pools.  Some had been injured by sharks and propellers.  On Sunday they will be releasing a bunch back into the ocean.  

Some pictures of the area behind the building:

Leaf lettuce in the tank for the turtles.

This one is being fed fish 

Turtles are fed based on their weight which is checked weekly.  They also check their blood chemistry and make adjusts accordingly.  The green appearance of the water above is due to a broken filter assembly and parts were expected any day.  Who would have asked that question?!

Another tank with specific turtles being rehabilitated

These guys suffer from some sort of turtle virus

We then transitioned down a path to another area of the property where we saw falcons, turtles, porcupines and other critters.  

Porcupine quill

Donor porcupine!!

Each of these critters has a story.  It is obvious the volunteers here really care about the animals and do everything they can to make sure they are cared for.

We headed back towards the mainland and visibility had not improved.  

We stopped at H-E-B on the way back to replenish supplies a bit, and then back to the campground to put everything away.  I scored a few bags of the elusive and apparently seasonal Old Bay flavored Gold Fish crackers!!  They are awesome as are the Frank's Red Hot flavored version!

A bit later we exited the base to the west and stopped at the Black Diamond Oyster Bar for lunch.  I wanted oysters on the half shell before we departed the coast and ordered a side of boudin balls which were awesome!!  Doreen is not much of a fish eater, but she ordered whitefish with fries and said it was really good.

  

We fueled up on the way back to the campground on base and scored diesel for $3.179 on base!  We also stopped at the Naval Exchange just to have a look.  Back at the campground we made preparations to depart tomorrow including the normal draining tanks, stowing hoses, etc.  I also scrubbed the bugs off the front cap and wrapped things off to exit in the morning.  While I worked I was closely supervised by an inquisitive wabbit! 

Tomorrow we will bug out and make our way north to College Station, home of Texas A&M University and also the home of my former commander Drew "Toto" Dehaes and his bride Dorothy.  We are looking forward to seeing them again, breaking break together, raising a glass and even taking in an A&M baseball game!!  Nothing better than reconnecting with great friends and military comrades!

Next freport, RV Haven RV Park in College Station TX!