Atlanta to Port Isabel via Houston

Tuesday November 3, 2009 to Saturday November 7, 2009
We leave Atlanta and motor to Houston.  We decided to try the Lakeview RV Park about 2 miles further South on Main Street from the South Main RV Park we have stayed at in the past.  The Lakeview RV Park is new with concrete streets and pads.  It has a large recreation room with computer area and WiFi throughout the park.  Free popcorn, excercise area, hot tub and swimming pool.  All for about the same price.  The shuttle to the Medical Center is also available here.  A loop around the perimeter of the park is about one mile, so two loops is just about right for us and Jake in the  mornings.

Our first appointment at MD Anderson was Wednesday morning, so we took the shuttle over and back, really convenient.

Wednesday evening we joined friends Joe and Pearl at the Rotary House for happy hour and dinner.

We had one last Appointment Thursday afternoon.  We drove over and used the valet parking, because the shuttle timing was not good for us.  We find that all is normal thanks for all your prayers.  Coming back, we got to enjoy 5 PM Houston traffic.  Luckily we only had a short distance to travel back to the RV park.

We stayed over another day so we could have dinner with our daughter and her family Friday night.  On the way to Pearland for dinner, we stopped at the Verizon store to check out the new Droid.  It appears to be a neat phone.  I start to buy one, but find I can save another $100 if I wait until my "New every Two" is effective in January.  The way things go, there should be another bigger and better model available by then.

Saturday, we drive about 100 miles further than we like to drive in a day to make it on in to Port Isabel.  This trip was just over 1400 miles and we were gone 15 days.  Good to go, but good to be back.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

Amazing Grace

We needed to check on some of our business in Atlanta, Texas.  So we decided to try out the Amazing Grace Acres RV Park.  This park is located right in Atlanta, so it was convenient for us this trip.  A very nice couple, Larry and Charlotte Patterson operate this small park of about 30 sites that surround their home on a hilltop off South Boggie Street.  Even though the rain over the past several days was excessive, the hilltop drained well and we did not have any problems with the gravel sites.  Charlotte brought us pears from a tree in the park the first evening we were there and the day we left, she brought us bran muffins.

All Saints Day, we got to attend All Saints Episcopal Church here in Atlanta.  We were members of this church many years ago when we first came to East Texas from Louisiana.  It was nice to renew old friendships here.  In Port Isabel, where we now live, this holiday is known as the "Day of the Dead".  Where the departed family is honored.  It brings to memory my South Louisiana heritage and the All Saints and All Souls Day celebrated in the Roman Catholic traditions.  All of this has little to do with Halloween, which has fallen out of favor with many of my Christian friends.  These holidays are quickly followed by the US Marine Corps birthday on the 10th and Veteran's Day on the 11th.

Cool nights and pleasant days and lots of sunshine.  We leave Atlanta for now and head South expecting to return and visit our new friends at Amazing Grace Acres soon.

Walldog, Willie and Jake

Lewisville, Texas

We spent three nights in the "Campground" at Buddy Gregg's RV in Lewisville.  The part we ordered did not fix our smart wheel, which controls the horn, cruise control, and wipers.  The service manager determined that we needed a "clock spring".  That is a cassette that contains about 10 feet of wound up flexible printed circuit that allows connections from the switches on the smart wheel to the steering column and on to the computer.  A broken plastic piece had creased the flexible circuit board and broke the copper strips inside.  A new one made everything work as designed.  The campground at the dealership is a circle that holds about a dozen motorhomes.  A small rec room with tv, kitchen, and free washer and dryers makes for a nice stay if you need service or are just passing through.  With the economy, the complexion of the dealership has changed from just a high end Class A facility to a sales outlet for fewer of those to many pull behind units.  The sales staff has dwindled from 8 or 10 to 2.  Our service was excellent, and the technicians were competent.  This seems to have fixed the intermittent problem we had with our horn blowing during the night.  We left Lewisville on Friday for Atlanta, Texas.

Walldog, Willie and Jake