Time off is a relative thing.

Over six months, that is the amount of time its been since Toie and I have had any time off that didn't involve having to rig up or rig down the RV. Not that we haven't tried to have someone come out and keep an eye on things while we take a little much needed time for ourselves, it just seems to be "that" time of year.  We started upon our quest for a bit of time away over a month ago and it seems that the stars have not been aligned to our favor, so we kept soldiering on, the days becoming a never ending blur of traffic and dust.

We actually had an ulterior motive for taking the time. Lacey (daughter) moved from Missouri and has been staying with us so we figured on taking her to the coast and getting all the paperwork done so that she could make a little money and cover for us when we wanted a "date" night.  After many failed attempts of getting coverage for ourselves we finally decided that the girls would strike out for the coast on their own to get all the details taken care of and spend some time at the beach.

Yesterday morning Toie and Lacey made the 100+ mile, 2 hour drive across South Texas towards Corpus Christi. Traveling south on Highway 181 gives a glimpse and feel of what travel was like before the federal highway system existed.  Overgrown and abandoned roadside gas stations along with other "attractions" now barely visible hearken back to a time that the journey was part of the adventure, not just an inconvenient intermission to the destination.

Below are a few photos from that trip.

Corpus Christi Beach

Windmill near Taft, Texas

USS Lexington

Shrimp Boat in the Marina

Along the Waterfront

Standing on the seawall looking for fish in the water below

Changes of the season... My God it's freezing in here.

It's easy to forget that most of the rest of the country is now experiencing the phenomenom known as Fall.  There already has been a freeze warning in the part of Iowa we came from and it snowed at my sister's place in Montana. With the continued warm temperatures and occasional rain shower the weather has been nothing less than fantastic here.

I decided the other day to get up on the roof and clean out the drain channels for the roof air conditioner and give it an overall look.  We hadn't been using it due to the channels becoming clogged and causing it to drip water inside. Besides, the second a/c had been keeping up pretty well with assistance from our big fan.

Everything checked out up top, I got rid of the few insect nests on the underside of the cover and buttoned everything back up.  I plugged the roof a/c back in, ran the extension from the generator for the second a/c and fired EVERYTHING back up.

I was pleasantly surprised the the roof unit is quieter than it has been recently and with both units running it never got over 72 inside yesterday when the outside thermometer was reading over 90 and we had the door open.  At 4:30am, I had to turn off the main unit because it had gotten so cold in here, chill sides of beef cold, without use of the fan.

I took some time yesterday morning and re-adjusted the lights on the tower, I haven't been real happy with the pattern and I also wanted a larger area lit up.  I am now lighting up an area large enough to cover the rv and most of the area around us, even part of the county road that passes us.

The EMS PT30C from Progressive Industries has been working great!  It's been nice to be able to see at a glance how much power the rv is consuming.  And the piece of mind knowing that if the generator should have a problem, we are protected.  It's not a matter of if it happens, but when.

Toie is going to the Ladies Luncheon today in Kenedy and I hope she has a good time.

Have a Great Day! If you are on a gate, please be safe.