Alvarado to Richardson

Wednesday, 28 February 2018
Richardson, TX

It's been a busy 2 days and I need to catch up.

I tried to download this photo a couple of days ago to illustrate the stunning lack of ambiance (compared to state parks, for instance) at the campground of Motor Home Specialists http://www.mhsrv.com/   But, as I said before, the price is sure right.

Alvarado's "campground"

First thing Monday morning, Art the technician zipped over on the golf carts they use extensively here because the lot is so huge (many of their RVs are huge, too).  He was pleased to hear his ice trick worked.  I had noticed a few days earlier that I had wires and a flap of something hanging down from the rear undercarriage, and Monday Art fixed it by replacing the pad that keeps the sewage tank from freezing in cold weather (ghastly thought).  He also picked out a new sewage hose for me and answered all the dumb questions I'd thought up over the weekend.  Nice guy.

Then I settled with the Service Department (all under warranty except the new sewage hose).  I then went and bought an extended warranty that is supposed to cover almost anything for the next 6 years.  I don't usually do extended warranties, but this one looked worth the money. 

I bought gas in Alvarado ($2.07/gal) and by then it wasn't far off noon so high time to skip town.

I got to David and Anna's easily - a surprise that Monday morning Dallas traffic would cooperate so well - and they set to work to take care of me.  Which, by then, was needed.  They let the dogs run around their yard and wiped the mud off them afterwards.  They fed me real food and offered a shower and washing machine.  They helped me make a list of all the things I needed to do (like new tennis shoes) and gave me my forwarded mail.  Too bad they only live here.

Tuesday, they drove me all over town (well, it seemed that way because Richardson is now so huge and spread out).  To the bank to put my will in the safe deposit box and check to be sure the house sale money had been deposited.  To the storage unit to drop off the last of the stuff I want to hang onto from Momma's house.  To Sears to get me some new shoes.  To Anna's former employer to buy some latex gloves to wear when dumping the sewage using my new hose.  To Lowe's to get something David could use to fix the screen door Dexter wrecked, and a tub to hold the (used) sewage hose (which, I'm told, everybody has), and a smaller tub to hold the water hose.  To Target to get something to hold the broom in one place so it won't fall on the floor noisily when I go over a bump (scaring Gracie), and a clock to hang on a wall because I'm having trouble functioning without at least one clock in this place.  And in between all that, we came back to the house so I could walk the dogs and feed the critters, and we had some great Mexican food at Cafe Milagro.

When we got back to their house, Anna helped me move the RV close enough to their house that we could run extension cords - the power cord attached to the RV + my extension cord + their extension cord just barely was long enough.  And Anna dredged out a couple of orange cones to protect the connection in the road.  They filled my windshield washer fluid, which had been totally empty - never filled, I think.  And in the evening, David figured out what I was doing wrong when trying to download photos from my camera, and he and Anna fed me supper, and we watched NCIS - my first time in more than a month.

Today, they have more plans for doing things for me.  Amazingly generous people.

Tomorrow's March 1, which means I have only a month to get up to New York.  I know that sounds easy, except I'm still getting used to all kinds of little things - inside ones like how to use the windshield washer and outside ones like where the front and rear of the RV are and where the mirrors extend to and how tightly it can turn - just all kinds of things that aren't like driving Momma's Honda Civic.  And I need to find places to stay along the way.  Texas was easy because I've spent so many years here.  I'm not at all familiar with Georgia or South Carolina or up the east coast - I mean as far as parks and campgrounds go.  It's something else to learn about.

I'm sure that by the time I get to New York, this will all have become routine.  But routines always have a beginning, which is usually awkward.  That starts tomorrow.  Always something to look forward to.