Gotta Stay Flexible

We didn’t get the new RV out for our shake-down trip as planned this week. 

The contractor called to say he was ready to put down our new flooring.  We have learned that when the contractor is ready to go, we have to be ready too.

Also, the weather man was predicting horrible storms with hail and high winds.  Those storms turned out to be calm winds, no rain, no hail and pretty nice days. 

When we bought this house, we noticed the flooring in the kitchen/dining area had been put down incorrectly.  There were gaps and the edges did not come together correctly.  We debated on whether to totally replace the floor or try to pull up the current flooring and see if it could be put down correctly.  In the end we decided to just go with all new.

We met the contractor at Home Depot on Tuesday and picked out what we wanted.  He delivered and unloaded it all at the house.  The next day they showed up at 8, as promised, and got to work.  

Old flooring did not extend

under the washer and dryer.

Much nicer!

Old flooring did not extend

into the pantry.

Baseboard still needs to be painted.

The new floor is almost the same color as the old floor but, all the joints fit together like they should!

This contractor also put in our new doors.  I was very glad to get this project finished.  I was getting tired of seeing wax paper taped to the window!

Back door

Still needs some painting and plugs put over the screws.

We bought doors for the front and back.  They are Benchmark by Therma-Tu.  The blind is inside the window and is easily raised or opened by a lever.  They're pretty cool!

Front Door with blind closed.

I know I’ve said this before but, after a little painting around the new doors and baseboards and our new refrigerator that is supposed to be delivered on Wednesday, the kitchen really will be finished!

What's The Worst That Could Happen?

Here’s a question for you:  What is the worst thing that can happen to you when you’re in a boat? 

Mark ordered our kayaks from Kerrville Kayak and Canoe.  The owner, Corey, is very nice and helpful.  The kayaks arrived a couple of weeks later.  Can you tell which one is mine?  Orange of course!

The Guadalupe River runs through Kerrville.  There are several put-in spots along the river.  We chose an area where we have birded many times.  Flat Rock Park is only about 30 minutes from our house.  I had physical therapy in the morning so we weren’t able to get to the river until noon.  Being a Monday, we had the whole river to ourselves.

This is a beautiful area.  In some areas the river is clear and shallow enough to see the bottom.  

 

Mark brought out one of his older cameras and got some nice bird pictures.

 

Double-crested and Neotropic Cormorants

There were plenty of turtles sunning themselves.

Right next to where we launched there is a bridge with a feeder stream that looked like a nice, cool area.  So, after about an hour in the river we headed that direction. 

 

We had no idea how far in we could go but it turned out to be a really nice place to spend some time. 

Mark led us in.

We get all three kingfishers here (Belted, Ringed, and Green).  Kingfishers excavate burrows in sandy riverbanks. The burrow consists of a horizontal tunnel with a nesting chamber at the end and are usually about a meter long.

We had been seeing both Belted and Ringed Kingfishers flying back and forth in front of us.  We came around a bend in the stream and found the textbook example of an area they would be nesting. 

We didn’t see the Kingfishers go into any of the holes but a couple of the holes looked freshly cleaned out.

There were plenty of turtles in this area too!

We came to the end of the stream and headed back under the bridge to take out. 

I led us out.

Our 2.5 mile paddle

We got back to the boat ramp and loaded my kayak first.  We started loading Mark’s kayak and were quite surprised by how heavy it was. 

Our kayaks are sit-on-top kayaks.  They are easier to get in and out of when you’re in the water and the inside stays dryer.  I stayed completely dry during our 2-hour trip.  Mark commented that he had more water in the bottom of his boat than he was expecting.

So, did you know the answer to the question “What is the worst thing that can happen to you when you’re in a boat?

Answer: It leaks.

Yep, the reason Mark was getting wet and his kayak weighed so much was because the hull had taken on 3-4 gallons of water during the two hours we were in the water.

Even though Kerrville Kayak and Canoe is closed on Mondays, he immediately called Corey.  Corey answered the phone and said that definitely shouldn’t happen and to bring it back on Tuesday for a replacement.

We dropped the kayak off with Corey.  He’ll file a claim with Wilderness Systems, and Mark will have a new kayak soon.

Even with the leaky kayak, we had a blast.  These kayaks are much more comfortable than any we have ever rented. 

We're looking forward to our next outing.

IT’S HERE! IT’S HERE! IT’S HERE!!!

What’s here?

Our brand spanking new travel trailer.

A little back story on our decision to get a new, smaller, trailer.

After this past year with many months sitting at home in quarantine, we started considering what we wanted to do with the remainder of our traveling years.

We love volunteering.  It can be limiting in some ways (length of stay, commitments when other opportunities pop up, etc.).  It can also be a wonderful opportunity that would be unobtainable if we weren’t volunteering (access to areas that are off limits to the public, private camping areas, learning new skills, and meeting really nice, fun people).

Behind the locked gates at Laguna Atascosa NWR, Texas.

So, we made the decision to, not necessarily quit volunteering but, to change the way we volunteer.  To not commit 1 - 2 years out, and to shorten our length of stays.

When we left Goose Island State Park at the end of December, we were told that whenever we wanted to come back to lead bird walks -- even if it’s just for a month -- just to call them up and we would be welcomed back.  We had never thought much about volunteering for just a month.  That really started our decision to downsize our RV and opened up a lot of new opportunities for travel. 

We also wanted to get back to our original travelling roots and make shorter and more frequent trips throughout the year. 

Before we retired, we had a very small travel trailer for 2 years then a fifth-wheel for 10 years. 

We drove the tires off those trailers!!  Yearly trips to Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.  Many trips every year to beautiful state parks in Texas.

Glacier National Park

Once we started volunteering our travel destinations changed drastically.  We traveled to places we would have never thought to visit and stayed in some really amazing areas of the country.  The volunteer “work” was enjoyable and gave us a sense of pride and accomplishment in our daily lives.

Mark milking a cow at the Sauer-Beckmamn Living History Farm, 

LBJ State Park, Texas.

Feeding Atlantic Salmon.  Green Lake NFH

Ellsworth, Maine

But, with this past year behind us and moving into our new home, we came to realize that we really want to do more traveling.  We want the flexibility of hooking up the trailer and heading out where ever and whenever we feel like it. 

We’ve come to the decision that there is a very large world out there that we want to visit.  Even though there are some places in the world we have no desire to see, there are more than a lifetime of countries to explore.  

Without volunteer commitments we have the flexibility to hop a plane and fly anywhere we want or hook up the trailer and head down the road.

So, the decision was made to buy a smaller trailer.  One that we can quickly pack up for a week or two and head out.  We also wanted a smaller trailer in order to be able to get into areas that our large fifth-wheel just wouldn’t fit. 

We also wanted to buy a couple of kayaks to take with us and now, with a travel trailer, we will have the back of the truck to carry them

Mark built a very nice rack in the garage for our new kayaks.  

So, with all kinds of new ideas and thoughts towards destinations, we put our HitchHiker up for sale.

The day we picked up our HitchHiker, December 27, 2011: 

We ordered a Grand Design 2500RL Imagine.  

It took a few weeks to be built and delivered but that gave us plenty of time to get a new RV pad put in.

 

New RV Pad

Disregard the shed.

It will be torn down and a new workshop will replace it soon.

We picked up our new trailer on Thursday.  We have reservations next week for a 2-night shake down trip close to home.  We also have reservations for two other trips in the next couple of months. 

Hitching Up

 Perfect Fit!

Stay tuned. We will be on the road again soon!