From Vicksburg to Texas. We drove to Livingston, Tx area for a few reasons.

1. ESCAPEES (an RV organization) has their home park there and as members we wanted to visit it.

2. Bob & Donna Eberly, who we met in Harlingen, Tx the year before were camped in the area.

3. An old friend (Charlie Keller) from high schools days was living in the area.

We followed Bob & Donna's directions to Woodsy Hollow campground in Goodrich, Tx. Nice, quiet place in the woods situated on a lake. After setting up the MH, it took awhile as Donna kept harassing me while I was setting up the satellite dish, Bob built a nice cozy fire and we all sat around it drinking Bob's beer. I hadn't picked any up yet and found out we were in a dry county. Bob said the nearest place to buy was 1/2 hour away to the north. The four of us went to visit the ESCAPEES (SKP's) park. It is nice but the sites were close together. They have a program called CARE (Continuing Assistance for Retired Escapees), if you are no longer physically able to travel due to age or disability you can continue living in your MH while receiving assistance. It is something to consider as we are in our Golden (???) Years.

One evening we went over to Charlie's place, met his wife Carole, and had a nice feed---with beer. They were very good hosts and we thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Bob & Donna took Kay fishing and the next day Kay immediately went out and bought some fishing equipment. I think she liked it. We hadn't been fishing since the mid-seventies when we used to go to Canada for Walleye and Northerns. One day, the 4 of us took a drive around Lake Livingston to look things over and find a place closer to Charlie's for a couple of days. We came back to Woodsy Hollow from the south and lo & behold, there was a liquor store within 3 miles of the campground--just across the county line.

Too soon it was time for us to leave. We moved over to a Federal Park near Charlie's. This place was great! Nice, clean, roomy, etc. And they let me wash our MH. Most campgrounds will not let you wash RV's on site. I can't remember the name of the place. I'm going to have to make daily entries on this site to keep things straight! Damn short term memory loss.

After a couple of days we headed cross-country (no interstates) to just north of San Antonio to San Marcos, Tx. There is a Camping World (CW) and Eddie Bauer outlet store in the area. We entered the campground and it sure seemed familiar. Went inside to register and realized we had stayed there last year. Last year we were headed north & south, and this year we were heading west and ended up in the same place without realizing it.

Then we headed west cross-country to pick up I-10 at exit 477. No town on map. Made it as far as Ft. Stockton, Tx and stopped for the night. This is the boondocks. Desolate. No offence to people that call it home but........ Started to put out our slide and heard a big thump and could feel it through the floor. The slide was over halfway out so I continued to extend it. Next morning the slide hesitated when trying to put it in, and it finally came in. We decided to go to Las Cruces, NM and have it looked at. Found a nice park where we could park and they would work on the MH while it was on site. It is called RVDOC's and is just off I-10. Serviceman (Ron) came out and we tried to put slide out and it wouldn't go all the way. We ended up pulling it out by hand. Next day we dug into it and the mounts on the electric motor (they were pot metal) had snapped off and part of the bracket was broken. Didn't seem like a good design for the weight it had to move. When all arrangements were made with the extended warranty company and parts ordered we settled in to wait on the parts. These extended warranties are nice to have but a hassle to deal with. While waiting for parts we visited the local Elks lodge three times. Another great lodge. Very friendly and they had slot machines. Lots of regulations for slots in NM but Kay was able to play. She did OK. Four days later the parts arrived. They also included an extra bracket besides the replacement for the broken one. Kinda makes you think they have had this trouble before. The replacement bracket had the holes in a different place! Had to weld the original one. New motor was put on and all seems well now. Not quite the same but acceptable. Next morning we had RV washed while waiting for warranty company to handle paperwork. By noon, they still didn't have it completed and on the phone everyone was blaming everyone else for the delay. It might take until tomorrow to straighten it up. The counterperson was sympathetic and we took care of the parts of the paperwork on our end and we were on our way to Sierra Vista, Az. Next day we called and everything was Ok. I highly recommend RVDOC's in Las Cruces. Very professional and polite. Good people to deal with.

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