7 Weeks of Doing Nothing

We came to Texas to work for the winter.  We were really busy the very first day.  A little traffic on the 2nd and 3rd day, after that nothing.  Oh, on some days we might have a few trucks but some days nothing. Than we also deal with  lost truckers and the rancher entering or leaving.  So we are getting paid just to set here.

So what do you do all day when there is nothing to do?  I could clean the RV, but that's no fun. lol

I play games on the computer and  i-pad and read forums.   I am getting really good at Bejeweled. lol  Of course any one that knows Ed, knows he has to be doing something.  He has explored the area, which I have showed you some of him pictures and he has been working on the Ranger. He also is doing some walking.  He said he is finding he really likes taking pictures of nature.

At one time we had butterflies everywhere
but we don't have any birds

It looks like it lost a good portion of it's wing

The butterflies are all gone at this time

Walking stick & Praying Mantis
Did you see the Mantis?

Look at the differance in size

Ed says this is a grasshopper, but I never saw one with so much color
Did you notice he is missing a leg?

catus behind our place

We are still dealing with the mice.  We are up to 13 and still counting.  Since we have caught the one that was avoiding the traps, the new ones don't seem as smart.  They get caught regularly.  Every couple of days we are catching a new one.  We have so many traps set , Ed had one get caught in 2 traps.  He said he had one leg in one and another leg in the other.  He still had to take it out and finish killing it.  ugh!   So Ed gets creative and makes me a mouse tomahawk.

Ed found the rock in Florida and has been waiting to do
something with it

It actually turned out nice,
but I hope he doesn't expect me to use it.

Since we were told mice don't like moth balls, this is what Ed did.
Looks like we had a hail storm under the RV

Plus we have decon under there
We are going to keep those mice at bay!

We still have the cows coming around.  I guess they like our company.  We were surprised when this one climbed the hill.  Ed said he was camera shy because he ran off when Ed took his picture.

This is the hill he climbed

King of the hill

Running away when Ed took his picture

Even though Halloween is past,  Ed took this picture at our local Ace store.

Ed's Halloween fairy
This is our Ace store and boy is it packed

This is the local vegetation.  Every thing has thorns or burrs and Ed finds them all. 

The thorns are big

Thorns everywhere

 



This is what he gets when he goes walking.
Of course, he tracks them in and I have to pull them
out of the carpet.





So why does he go walking in sandals?
These burrs are really sharp

We have a trailer in the back that holds a generator and a water tank.  Ed was checking the water and slipped and fell.  Thank God he wasn't hurt.  He is just now getting over the problem with his back that developed earlier this year so he really didn't need this.  It's so amazing he wasn't hurt. I think he has an angel.   So here is Ed's reenactment of that event.

This is how we get our water and electricity

Ed was checking our water level

His feet slipped and the next thing he knows he is on
the ground looking up

Second day after and he is doing fine. 


Happy Trails!!!   Ed and Lyn



1 Timothy 2:1  Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and givng of thanks be made for all men, (2) for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.  

We need to pray for our leaders.

All's Quiet on the Southern Front

I can't believe we have went 3 nights without any sighting of a mouse.  Thank you Lord!!!

Remember I was battling it out with one mouse on my last blog.  Our nephew suggested we take it in as a pet.  I don't think so. haha  I shudder when I even think about it.  Well, it took 3 more nights but he finally made a mistake.  I am sitting there on that night and I hear him scouring around where the air vent is.  Remember we had all the other traps on the other side.  I was watching the vent area and the trap went off.  I almost jumped out of my skin.  I didn't hear anything for a while, then I heard him moving.  The noise stops and starts for quite some time.  There was no way I was going to look in there.  When Ed gets up  he pulls up the panel to get the trap, it is his job to dispose of them .  It's empty so he pulls out the sticky tray.  We have one of those that is a flat surface with glue on it or it can be folded into a narrow tube.  Anyways, Ed pulls it out and I jump back and scream because there he is and he is not quite dead.  Still makes me shiver to think about it.    So Ed has to take it out and finishing killing him.  That's horrible, I don't think I would recommend them.  But yet the mice seem to be avoiding the other kind of traps. 

So anyways, the saga continues.  Two nights later another mouse.  They just keep coming.  This one gets stuck on the sticky mat behind the vent.  I had put another one back there,  plus a regular trap.  So I can hear him struggling to get free.  Then every now and then I could see him because he would stand up and look out the vent.  I wanted to get Ed up but I know he needs to sleep so I just sat there listening to this for over an hour.  What a horrible experience.  So I finally went outside and was out there for over an hour.  When I came back in, he was gone.  He got loose.  I couldn't believe it.  I thought those things were supposed to catch them.  Not catch and release them.  Ed's comment, "You should have put something in there and poked him down."  Right, I couldn't believe he even said that.

So the next night I see him again.  Him or another one, who knows.  But this time he is on the other side where the pedals are.  We have moved some of the traps, so there aren't so many.   He comes out in the open and than runs back.  The usual "mo," they do that a lot.  So later I hear him again.  Sounds like he is stuck.  It takes me a little bit to get up my courage, but I go over to look.  I don't see anything.  I go set down and keep hearing the noise.  I go back over and this time I get the flashlight.  Still don't see anything.  While I am sitting there, I remember I had bought these 4 little  sticky traps.  ( I have spent a fortune on traps.)  I knew where 3 of them are but couldn't  find the 4th one.  So I get the flashlight again and go looking for the trap.  I found it in a small cubby hole behind the pedals.  If the mouse had been there, I know I would have screamed.  But he had made his escape, again.  They do leave their hair behind.  If it was the same mouse as the night before, Ed says it probably looks like he has mange.  Ed again says "You should get something and smack them."  For one thing, he was stuck back in a hole and I couldn't even find him.  And number 2, where does he thing I am going to get this courage.

Well, it's been 3 nights and we haven't had any more sightings.  So did this mouse decide he had enough and leave.   Ed says they don't think like that.  We will see.

Well for our other interesting day.

I got up to go to the bathroom about 12:30 am and realize we have lost some of our power.  I realized it because the night lights weren't on.  And the air conditioner isn't running,  the fan was running but not the air itself.   So I go out and ask Ed if he realizes we have lost some of our power.  He hadn't.  So he goes out and checks the generator and it seems to be working.  We check the breakers inside and outside.  Everything is ok.  He shuts off the outside generator and starts the motor home generator.  I go back to bed and I can't hear the air conditioner running.  I get up and see the night lights are still off.  So I tell Ed, it appears our generator is not working.  We had some power but not all power.  As far as we knew at that time, we were running off our batteries and not sure if we would  be able to charge them.  So we shut off everything we can and I go back to bed.  You know how hard it is to go to sleep when you know you have a problem.  But I managed to sleep and got back up at 3:30  to relieve Ed.  So Ed says don't run anything you don't need to and goes to bed.  And "Oh by the way, I saw a mouse in the kitchen area."  (This was back before the last mouse.)  Well, up until than we hadn't seen them in that area.  They had only been in the front where  I could keep an eye on them.  Plus I usually keep about 3 lights on in the morning,  this morning because of the electrical problem, I only left 1 on.  So I am sitting practically in the dark, worrying about where the mouse may be and also if we are going to be able to fix the electrical problem.  What a morning. 

Ed was up by 8:30, so he couldn't sleep either.  Still couldn't find the problem, but we did find out our generator was charging our batteries.  This meant we could get by until we could find someone to come fix it.  So that was a little bit of relief. 

That morning I called all over trying to find someone to come out and work on our problem.  That was on Monday,  I did get one commitment for Wednesday, after about 5 calls.  They were coming from quite a distance, so not sure how much that was going to cost.  At that point we were willing to pay anything.  So about 1:30 I received a call back from one of my other calls.  So I told him the problem and he says it sounds like a GFI breaker but he would come if we wanted him too.  So I told him I would check it out and call him back.  Can you believe that is what it was?  I couldn't believe Ed hadn't checked it, but then I guess he didn't think about it.  There wasn't any reason for the breaker to trip that we know of.  So that problem got fixed and we saved probably close to $200.  I am sure the service call would have been at least $100 plus their time.  I did call the guy back and thanked him.

On the gate guarding forum they say to watch out for the snakes.  So far we haven't seen any.  That's a big plus.  But there are other creatures. 

This is on the outside of the window.  We have had a few
inside but not as menacing as this one.  He is between the glass and the
covering we have on the windshield.  He was there almost a week but
now is gone.

Ed's walking stick

Ed says it's the biggest one he has ever seen

This is one creature that doesn't freak me out

We have officially  become Winter Texans.  You have heard the saying, we bought the t-shirt, well we bought the sign.

Happy Trails        Love Ed and Lyn


One of my favorite scriptures:

Isaiah 40:31  But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Being Terrorised by a Mouse

I have this mouse that comes out every morning between 4 and 5 o'clock.  I am pretty sure it's the same one.  I tried to take his picture but he won't pose for me, and he is really fast.   Every morning when I get up Ed says well I think we got him because I didn't see him.  Then  right on schedule he pops out.  He runs from the driver's chair to the passenger chair and back to the driver's chair.  Sometimes he makes a detour to the vent in front of the passenger chair.  I hate mice, so I am having a real hard time with this. lol  I was praying he would get in one of the traps, than I thought since God loves all creatures can I pray that way.  haha  Still not sure of that one.  So yesterday Ed sat up a barricade of traps.  If you have seen  the movie "Mousetrap," that's what this reminds me of.  I have a hard time believing this mouse is that smart.  But last night he avoided the driver's seat altogether and came out the vent in front of the passenger seat.  Ed had a trap in there but had taken it out.  We put 2 more in there plus one of those sticky things so we will see what happens tonight.

Do you think we are in overkill

Now he is avoiding the area with the traps and
going in the air vent

The other thing we are dealing with is Cows.  The first morning they came out Ed was still sleeping.  I didn't want them getting too close to the gate, plus they kept setting off the alarm.  I wasn't sure what to do since I really don't have any experience with cows. So, I go in and wake Ed up and ask him what to do.  He says "Chase them off ."  And I say "How am I supposed to do that."  He tells me to get a broom.   I wasn't going to do that because I didn't want them charging me.  I guess I have seen too many bull movies.  Well he finally gets up and comes outside.  But then he tells me to do it.  But at least I have him  for support.  (I think )  I was amazed at how easy they left.  No charging bulls here, thank goodness.

They like our area

First there was 1, than 2, than 3
now we have about 6
they keep inviting their friends

They just mosey away

boy, was that easy

They come around almost every morning about 1 o'clock and Ed has to chase them off because again they set off the alarms in the rv.  But, it gives him something to do.

I found this, what I call a butterfly, but Ed say's it's a moth.  Isn't it beautiful.

I found it on the ground next to our generator

Trying to show you the size



I think it was dying

Then we also have a lot of these black bugs around.  Haven't seen any snakes yet.


They are all over, and they run really fast

Really ugly

Ed want to the store yesterday and found some interesting things. 

He found a shrine that use to be a church.  This guy comes and mows the grass just because it use to be a church.

Sets along side of the road, and this guy comes and mows
the grass just out of respect for the church

Church was made into a Memorial Shrine

In 1942 Father Ries bought what was a grocery store and
converted it into a chapel.  It was demolished in 2008

He turned around and went back because he thought he saw a big snake in the road.  This is what it turned out to be. 

Ed's snake

Ed took a picture of this house.  This is the local scenery.  Seems to be a lot of them around here.  Whenever I see a building in bad shape, I always think about the fact that at one time it was someone's  new house or building.  Seems sort of sad.

Look at the antenna, strong wind

We were told when we first got here they were going to start fracking the next week.  Well it hasn't happened.  In fact nothing is happening.  Not sure when or if they will.   So we are very slow at this time.  Maybe 4 or 5 trucks through the gate a day.  Not bad, because we are getting paid to just set here.  We just hope they don't close down the gate.  From reading the forum, I know people are waiting to get gates.  So if they close this one it might be awhile before we get another one.  Oh well, I think we should know something by next week. 

I can honestly say this is not a bad job. 

Letting Ed out.
He has become our grocery shopper

Happy Trails.   Love Ed and Lyn



Hebrews 11:6  And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Gate Guarding, doing a new thing

Well it's new to us.  Other people have been doing it for some time.

We first heard about it this year when we were at Quartsite, Az.  Someone in our group ask if we had heard about gate guarding.  I hadn't, so he told me to go on the Escapee's forum where they were discussing it.  So here we are, 8 months later, doing it.  I find that amazing, considering I didn't even know about it 8 months ago.

I really wasn't even looking for a job back than.  Although, if you remember, I ended up working for Johnny's Seasonings while we were at Quartsite.   I wasn't looking for a job than either, someone just said they  needed one more person and would I be interested. (Thanks Toni)   I said sure why not.  Anybody that knows me, knows I have a hard time saying no plus I thought it might be an interesing thing to do, plus a little extra cash wouldn't hurt.  How could I turn it down?  lol

The other thing I had considered was working for Amazon at one of their warehouses.  They hire  right before Christmas.  But than I started reading horror stories about that and didn't think we could do the job.  Anyway the gate guarding job seemed like it might work for us. 

When we left Arizona in April we went by Fort Worth, Texas to start the paper work.  We had to take a test and have our fingerprints taken.  It was about 150 miles out of our way, but it looked like the thing to do to get started.  After we did that they just said give them a call when we came back to Texas.  Seems pretty easy, right.  The only bad thing was they lost our fingerprints.  They blamed it on the post office, doesn't everyone use that excuse.  So we had to come back to Fort Worth and and have them redone.  So after that they told us to head to San Antonio.  Which we did, and that is where we were our last blog. 

We got to San Antonio on Tuesday, When I called Loma, that's the company we are working for, they said they didn't have anything right then but they might the next week. So we were prepared to spend a few weeks here at the campground.

We had a very nice week in San Antonio. That Saturday we went to a Cajun Festival in Lakehills, Texas. The town is so small it doesn't even show up on your gps. But this is something they do every year to raise money and it has a pretty good turn out.

 

They had bands in two different locations
People were having a good time

We were off to the side trying to learn the Cajun steps
We haven't danced in years

We had a good time trying

Ed eating a Cajun pot pie, too spicy for me

Ok now back to gate guarding. 

On Monday we hadn't heard anything and I'm thinking maybe it will be awhile.  Well we got a call on Tuesday morning telling us to be at a site as soon as possible.  They don't give you much notice.  Ed was a little stressed because we had everything all over the place.  We had planned on starting to pack up on Wednesday. Ed kept saying tell them we will be there tomorrow.   But when I had talked to the guy  earlier he had said they would want us to be able to leave in a couple of hours.  So I said sure we can be there   We packed up and were there by 4 o'clock that evening.  Ed was a little stressed. 

 And so our adventure begins.  What did I get us into?

That's what I was thinking Wednesday, which was our first day on the job.  The rock trucks kept coming and going almost faster than I could log them in and out.  I think Ed was thinking the same thing.  Only he wasn't thinking, "what have I gotten myself into;"  He was thinking what has Linda gotten us into.  lol  But here we are 4 days later and we made it.  Thursday and Friday were quite a bit slower; I actually had time to breathe.  And Saturday and Sunday were really slow.

 

The trucks are big and noisy
Every driver has to sign in

Waiting for him to come back so I can let him out

I think part of our problem is we haven't worked for awhile so we are not use to a schedule.  I retired in 07 and Ed in 09.  Right now I think the hardest part is the schedule. I work during the day and he works at night.  He takes over around 6pm and stays up until 3 am than I get up at 3 and let him go to bed.   Right now there is not much traffic at night so he doesn't have to do much but he has to be up just in case someone does come.  After 40+ years of marriage it is strange not sleeping together. 

I bought a small refrigerator, just in case we were in the boonies. 

We are only a short distance from the highway
It is rather noisy

Although, I don't think I am going to need it here, we are only 8 miles form a grocery store.  I think I am going to like having it.  It is nice having the extra refrigerator space.  Than on Thursday, Ed went out and bought us a 10 x 10  E-Z Up tent for a covering.  I had sat out in the sun all day on Wednesday.

He did a good job of setting it up

We are this close to the gate
The motor home is just on this side of the tent

 

  It helps not sitting in the sun.  Although right now there is a mud puddle under it.   I can't believe how everything turned to mud when it rained.  I think we are going to need some throw rugs to cover the carpet.  We did put the wood pallets in front of the door. 

We have a few trees around us
Even though they are scrappy trees they are still trees
and I am thankful for the shade

This is where they were going to put us but because
of the mud they decided against it

This is our generator and water supply
They supply this for us

Anyways, we have decided to take it a week at a time.  They said the spot should be a long term one.  Ed is getting us all set up.  Then I told him last night, "you know they could up and tell us to move to a different location at any time."  That's not what he wanted to hear.  He doesn't like change  haha

We had our first visitor the 2nd night, a mouse.  Ed put the trap out and he got caught very quickly.  I am glad it was on his shift.  I don't do well with mice.  A couple days later we had another mouse.  I heard the trap go off but I didn't even go look.  That's Ed's job.  I did go out and buy some D-con to put around the rv.  I hope that keeps them away. 

Well I could tell you more but will save it for the next blog.

 

Happy Trails    Love Ed and Lyn

 

Psalms 46:1  God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble