Having a look at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway (part 1 of 3)

When we saw the listing for jobs available at the NASCAR race in Las Vegas, we thought it sounded like an interesting opportunity. We picked working as greeters for the VIP suites instead of working an information booth. The jobs at the RV lots were already taken. Arrival day for the NASCAR job was February 26. We were given some basic information and taken to our parking spot. The rest of the day we wandered around the infield and had a look around. The pilots from Nellis AFB across the street supplied us with a constant air show, as they practiced.

Our home for the 6 days we were at the Speedway.

We enjoyed watching them take off and land. Boy they are fast!!

One rig parked on Motorhome Hill already.

They were practicing in formation and solo.

Trucks arriving to get the infield ready.

A quiet look at the grandstands. The suites are on the two glassed in floors above the grandstands.

Cars were arriving for the weekend.

Trip from Austin, TX to Las Vegas, NV

After spending a few days in Austin we headed for our next adventure in Las Vegas. We traveled 4 consecutive days to arrive on February 25. We had very strong headwinds on the 23rd and got the worst mileage ever. On the 24th we got the best we ever have, almost twice the mileage of the day before, so it averaged out. Other than the wind, we had great weather even though it was pretty cold at night. We stayed the first night at the Wal-Mart in Fort Stockton. We had lots of company! The second day we fought the wind all the way to the SKP park in Deming. On Sunday we made it to the SKP park in Congress, Arizona, our first time there, and got caught up on the laundry. Monday we drove through one of the largest Joshua tree forests along route 93. We have seen them many times before, but it was nice to see so many of them growing wild. It was interesting to drive over the Hoover Dam again The construction on the bridge there is well under way. What a huge project. They hope to have it completed by 2010.. We arrived at the Lake Mead National Recreation Area and decided to spend the night at the Las Vegas bay campground. It cost us all of $5.

Windmills under construction

If you look closely you can see all the windmills on the mesas in the distance.

Old energy source alongside new.

We had a strong headwind on this travel day.


A VERY large roadrunner along the road.

Three views along the road between Deming, NM and Congress, AZ

Location of Super Bowl 2008. Glad we weren't traveling through here a couple of weeks before.

Typical Arizona scene.

Two pictures of the Joshua Tree Forest along route 93 in Arizona.

Along the road to Hoover Dam.

Another beautiful desert sunset at Las Vegas Bay Campground, Lake Mead Rec Area.

Photos from Dallas

Red-bellied woodpecker outside our kitchen window.

What's for breakfast?

Our quiet back yard. Lewisville Lake is in the background

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The skating rink within the Galleria. View from third level.

Another view of the rink and the mall all decorated for Valentine's.

Our store which is on the third level.

From Hondo to Dallas, TX

Our stay in Hondo was a combination of chores, remodeling and participating in park activities. The rig got a spring cleaning, sorting through cupboards and donating items we no longer need or use. We took out our dinette and put in a table and chairs. Larry used the materials from the dinette to build some cabinets on either side of our chairs in the slide out. They look like they were built in when the rig was made. When in the park, we attended social hour at 4:00 pm which gave us a break from chores and the opportunity to meet members of the park and visitors. The last week in the park, we were judges for a chili cook-off. It was a new experience for us and very enjoyable. There were 12 entries, so our palates got a work out.
On our departure day our truck didn't want to start and when we were almost here, we lost the back brakes on our truck. Maybe it's a sign! We did get underway and stopped at the Wal-Mart in Hondo to get a new battery. The traffic on the back roads from Hondo to Dallas is doing a good job of cutting down on the skunk population. It was a very fragrant ride. (No pictures needed.)
We are staying at Lewisville Lake Park which is 18 miles from the mall. We could have stayed closer, but it's nice and quiet and peaceful here.
Pictures in the next couple of days.

Hondo,TX - SKP Park

We moved from the Canyon Lake area to Hondo, TX about a week ago. Friends are letting us stay on their lot in the SKP park. We have our name on the list for a lot here and it looks like we should have one by spring 2009. No, we are not giving up our traveling lifestyle. It will give us a place we can come spend some time in the winter and also give us a place we could stay for an extended time if we needed to. We have been taking care of chores around our place and doing spring cleaning. Just because we live in an RV doesn't mean we are on a permanent vacation. We do have our share of spare time, but we keep pretty busy. Yesterday, they had a musical treat for us here in the clubhouse. It started at 11:00 and ended shortly before 5:00, with a break for lunch. As you can see from the pictures that follow, there was a wide variety of musical instruments: guitars, fiddles, mandolins, mountain and hammer dulcimers, harmonica, accordions, keyboard, stand up bass and many singers. Some performers were from the park and others from the surrounding area. The songs ranged from gospel to outright hilarious. Just like traveling, music keeps these folks active and extends their life.

Great Blue Heron at Canyon Lake.

Oops! Got too close.

Sign welcomes visitors to this nice Texas town.

Our 'house' where we are today.

We were not the only ones having a good time.

There were 34 performers in all.

Jam sessions are great.

Many talented people.

Sure can tell we are in Texas.

This fiddler has been playing for 80 years.

We had a very enjoyable day.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!
The last couple of weeks have been busy but relaxing. First we traveled from Dallas to Georgetown to visit with family. We camped in Cedar Breaks Corps of Engineers (COE) park at Lake Georgetown. It is very close to where one of our nephews lives with his family. Two of his brothers and their families were also there along with their parents (Claudia's sister and brother in law). We had a great time catching up with them and playing with the young children.
From Georgetown we moved a short distance to the Oak Hill area of Austin, where another of Claudia's sisters lives. They were kind enough to let us park in their driveway and we had a great time. Our power steering pump gave out as we were backing into their driveway. It's amazing how breakdowns seem to happen in what turns out to be convenient locations. We ended up staying there for almost a week and appreciate their help and hospitality. Most of you know we don't follow any sports. That being said, it has kind of become a tradition to attend high school basketball games at our nieces' Waldorf school, when in Austin. All three of their girls play or have played. This time, we had the opportunity to attend three games at the Austin Convention Center. The first was a Waldorf HS girls game. The second was a Waldorf HS boys game and the third was a game with the Austin Toros, a Development League team against the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. The boys game and the Toros game were both very close. The Toros game had 2 overtime periods and they finally won the game. It's wonderful how this lifestyle exposes us to people and activities that we might otherwise have missed.
Now we have moved a little further south to the Canyon Lake area. Again, we are staying at a COE park called Potter's Creek. We had never stayed in these parks before, but now that we have the senior pass and only pay half price, it makes it easier on our budget. Both of the parks are near the water, well laid out with good spacing between sites and most important they are quiet and dark. Some of the COE campgrounds have been closed or turned over to concessionaires to run. Hope that doesn't happen to many more.

Map of states we have visited together. In 2007 we added 3, Idaho, Nebraska and Kansas. Only 6 more to go, besides Alaska and Hawaii.

This is a picture of our address (the UPS store) in New Braunfels. In the last 3 years since we have 'lived' here, we have been here twice.

Another picture of the center of New Braunfels, Texas.

Deer in front of our campsite at Potters Creek Park.

View across our site to Canyon Lake.

Boaters enjoying the challenge of a windy day on the lake.

Another of our residents walking through our campsite.