Port Aransas

I'm sorry, I've not been updating my blog again! 

I arrived in Port Aransas on Saturday. 

I decided against boondocking on the beach & now I'm glad I didn't do that. 

Why?

I had this image of my dogs bringing in enough sand to build sand dunes & sand castles!

And I'm not fond of thinking of running my generator on the beach, on top of sand, thus getting even more salty sand in the RV's generator as well as in the engine & everywhere else. I know the damaging effects of it. 

Sooo, I opted to go to the RV park here instead. IB Magee RV park, which is county owned & ran. 

I chose to park in the grassy section. They have a concrete section & grassy section. 

I chose grass to walk my dogs on. 

Pulled in, got set up, put out & staked down my outdoor mat. Was so excited to walk the dogs behind my rig. I had SPACE, LOTS OF SPACE! 

Oh YIPEEEE!!

B-u-t....I did not count on the sticker burrs!

Oh my poor dogs! The first one I walked there, was covered in the nasty spiny thorny things. As was his leash, then my hands, my pants, my socks, my shoes! OK, this was not good. So I went inside, grabbed my slicker brush & proceeded to brush them off my poor guys. I got thorns stuck under my skin on my hands now & they hurt! 

So I'm learning where I can walk the dogs to minimize the problem, but they are still there. Just not as bad. I'm stil talking the stickers, the dogs will always still be there with me ;-) 

And I keep my slicker brush outside on the picnic table where I can grab it & use it before I bring them back in to brush their feet off - just in case. Maybe sand castles would have been better?

Except today. It rained, it's cold. The winds kicked up big time last night. Really strong winds. I had to get out of bed & roll my antenna back down as it was really getting beaten up. Then my front window bonnet opened up as it has screen panels on it. So I had to fix that as it was banging on the side of my RV. We also got a wind storm like this when I was in Corpus Christi, but I was surrounded by bigger rigs & didn't get the effects of that wind at all. They told me I was cheating at that park. ha! 

So anyhow, boondocking on the beach in these conditions really doesn't appeal to me at all. It's supposed to rain the next two days, then clear up on Thursday. That can't come soon enough! 

Yesterday was nice though, although cold, still nice. People were out on the beach. People were out fishing everywhere too. I rode my bike around with my cameras & took pics. Haven't uploaded them yet though. 

Got a Dolphin on Video too! So cool! And some pelicans begging the fishermen for their catches. And something really cute. Some boys were playing with a remote control car, racing it on the beach & creating their own dunes for it to race over. The effects of watching it kick up sand & race over their dunes was just too cute! So hopefully, tomorrow, I'll get those pics in & edit them. 

Anyhow, that's my update on Port Aransas to now. I'll see if I can put some pics here via cell phone. 

I have met two wonderful people here & we're going out to lunch with some other people tomorrow. I'll unhook the RV & meet them there. I need to find a grocery store & get some groceries & dog food. IF they don't have the dog food I feed, which I hope they do, then I'll have to take the ferry to Aransas Pass to HEB or Walmart! I'm going to lock my bike down (must remember that I have it sitting on the ground right now, locked to my ladder or I'll be literally towing it along). Anyhow, I'll lock it down to the picnic table & leave my matt with a NO VACANCY sign so no one will try to park in my space! Although no one should because you have to pay & mine is paid through Friday night....but I don't totally trust people not to try anyhow. 

Take care everyone - hope all is well with ya'll! 

Seabirds - can you identify?

I can't say that I know what all these birds are.

But I know a couple of them! But then, so does everyone else on those couple of them too....

                                                           White Pelican. (a floatin`)

                                   Brown Pelican - with his mouth full. (a floatin` too)

                                               Brown Pelican. (a flyin`)

      Gull - aka Seagull - not a statue. Although he liked to strike a pose. (a standin`) Don't know what                                                        variety it is though.

A curved bill something or other...tried to Google, but could not come up with descriptions of Gulf Coast Seabirds! (a eatin`)

Some kind of crane. I got footage of it in flight too. It looked like it took off to attack another bird?
(a struttin`) In the camera, the neck looked pinkish, but in the photos, it looks brownish. So I don't really know what colorish it really isish.

This guy, I really don't know what it is other than it's a bird that caught a fish! I found this one the most fascinating, but what is it?? Wish I could have gotten a closer shot of it. I tried to walk closer when it was on the short pole, but it flew off. Then I saw this one at the top of the light pole, it was still pretty far away though. Anyhow, I found it of the most interest to me. (a eatin`)
It has a hawk like beak & a cute little tuft of black feathering on the crest of it's head.

Christmas In Corpus Christi, TX

Merry Christmas Everyone! 

I hope ya'll have had a splendid day! 

My little Christmas Tree. It traveled rolled in a towel! 

So yes, I made it to Corpus Christi & spent the day here in the RV park. 

It was a really nice day. 

Who knew you could enjoy the company of total strangers?

Well, I did! They did 2 fried turkeys & everyone brought a covered plate. The food was wonderful, I didn't bite into one thing I didn't like! 

It was really nice, I was invited to sit beside Jenni, the park manager. 

She's really friendly & outgoing. 

Everyone loves to gather around her - this is a great park, full of friendly folks from everywhere. 

It's almost embarrassing when someone asks me where I'm from - expecting to hear something fascinating...um...Houston. Haha! 

I am at the Laguna Shore RV Park in Corpus Christi, actually, I think it may be Flour Bluff, but it still uses a CC address. It's a nice park, quiet & well managed. Very pet friendly too - but one must respect the rules or you might get the boot! 

I've been keeping my guys quiet & they've nearly gone unnoticed - almost. People do see them when I get them out to potty them, but I try hard to manage the dogs to keep them quiet while here. 

I will be leaving on Saturday, heading to Port Aransas. I think I'm going to do some boondocking parking on the beach (with a pass of course), then I won't have to be as strict with my guys. We'll be able to take longer walks & if the others behind make some noise, I'll be where it won't matter so much. And it's not like they'll make a lot of constant noise, but they might fuss a little from time to time while others are taking nice long walks. I just don't feel they can do that so much here as I must keep them quiet here. Which is why I don't stay at many RV parks. I usually prefer to stay at state parks & such instead. But again, it's been nice to spend Christmas Day with like minded folks that are so into the RV thing. Most seem to have pets, so they were discussed a lot today as well. 

 Where I am parked. They put me in a small spot, actually, the only open spot they have in the park. But it's all working out well for me & the dogs. My rig is a 22' rig, so it backed up nicely into this spot. And I have full access to my entry door, thus making it easier to get the dogs in & out - plus some privacy here in the corner too. It's all good! 

                            Ellie's view. 

Across the road from me is the beach, full of seabirds. You can't really walk near the water as it's too boggy. So I took my camera over there yesterday & today for some shots. The problem is, most of the birds are so far away that I have to shoot in full zoom, so I lose a lot of detail. Today was a gray day, which also gave the camera a challenge as it kept losing focus. But I still managed a lot of pics anyhow. 

You can see Padre Island across the waters. This shot was taken with my camera's 60x full zoom. 

Above are some beach shots. As you can see, you can't really walk on this beach near the water. It's too boggy & well, you probably would not want to wear it's odor either! You don't really hear the water wake & such here like you do at most beaches. It's been too cold to walk over there in the evenings to see how far the water comes in, but today, I got an idea of how far it must come in due to the standing water pools that were still visible. The seabirds don't mind though...

The beach is also full of deer tracks, so I guess they come in at night there. There's also a lot of dog, possibly coyote tracks as well. But definite dog since a lot of the people here like to take their dogs over there & let them loose for some play time. Unfortunately, I can't do that with mine! It's too risky for my guys, they might just take off & leave! 

I'll share some of the bird pics with ya'll tomorrow since I've already loaded a lot of pics in today's post. 

Again, I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas day. 

Merry Christmas Everyone!! 

Season's Greetings!

Season's Greetings Everyone! 

I hope everyone has a safe & wonderful holiday season! 

I took this picture of Birdie while in Dallas during the great ice storm! 

I'll be heading south tomorrow -- I've decided to spend my Christmas Holiday Season in Corpus Christi, then head up to the big Port Aransas Get Together! 

I'm looking forward to the trip. 

Now, if we get an ice storm in CC, then something is wrong with the world! 

I also set up a small Christmas tree in the motorhome. It's cute, I'll have to take some pics of it. 

BUT, I bought the tree at Target! Yep, Target. I NEVER shop Target, so waaahhhh!!! 

And yes, I used my debit card. I should have paid cash!! ARGH! My bank (ha, I don't actually own a bank, that always sounds funny), notified me on Thursday. Grrrrr

Sooooo, Friday was spent running to my bank to cancel my debit card. Then off to my storage place to re-secure my monthly payment plan onto a different source. 

Always something huh?

Again, Happy Holidays to everyone!! 

Ice Ice Baby

Ice, yesiree, ice. 

Everywhere. 

Still. On 12-09-2013

Took myself a little vacation & well, I'm frozen in Dallas, TX! 

Day One of ice

Nice. 

Actually, I came up for a Saluki Specialty & the ice storm hit that very day. 

So strange to go from 79 degrees to freezing sleet the very next day. 

That is not snow, it's icy sleet coverage - It's been hard walking the dogs!  

So we made it to the specialty on Thursday, then could not make it to the shows on Friday. That was the worst day for the icy road conditions, so we stayed home & made soup instead. I came to a friends house in Euless, TX, which is a Dallas suburb, so I have the luxury of being able to plug in & use my little space heater in the motorhome. Which is still under ice. And it's now Monday. 

My hood is definitely frozen shut

Road conditions are getting better, it's supposed to get to 39 tomorrow & 48 on Wednesday. I figure Wednesday will be a good day to make a run for it! 

My entire roof is still under ice, so it would definitely not be safe for any traffic behind me. I'd feel awful if I caused any kind of traffic accident if a big sheet of ice were to fly off into traffic behind me, possibly even killing someone! So I'll stay put & that sheet of ice will be gone by Wednesday. 

As a precaution, I taped plastic over my kitchen & passenger side coach windows. BUT I should have also taped plastic over the big window on the other side too. The weep holes froze up! So I hope no damages were done to that side, so far, it looks ok. But I'm glad I did the passenger side because the awning caused HUGE sheets of ice to form down the walls & over those windows. So they were protected. It looks funky, but I think it's also helping to keep the RV a little warmer too?

Man am I glad I did the plastic thing. Note the vent area over my kitchen window! 

My overhead cab was KOLD though! brrrrr. The nose was covered in ice & I could feel it all the way through! Thank goodness for electric blankets! And 4 other blankets as well. Usually in the middle of the night, I was kicking blankets off, then pulling them back on again. ;-) 

I knew that it was going to be cold, so to be on the safe side, I bought the pink RV antifreeze to pour down my drains & toilet into my gray & black tanks. I did NOT know that there was going to be an ice storm though. Someone said, well, you should have known, it was all over the "Dallas" news. Well, um, all the news I got from my weather app was that it was going to get cold. And well, I don't exactly get Dallas news in Houston. So I'm glad I took that precaution. My water tank & plumbing are safe & ok as they are inside my motorhome & protected with a nice warm space heater. Cabinet doors in the kitchen & bathroom are also open to let that warm air to flow in there to protect plumbing. 

So far, I've been extremely careful. I have to walk my dogs here, so I make sure that I have my ankle brace on each time. And fortunately, the shoes I wear to walk them seem to have pretty decent traction. It was still kind of scary, the landscape here is hilly where I walk, so I make sure to stay on the flat parts. I have this image of the dogs trying to run (& they have because they like this stuff!) & dragging my butt right down to the street just so they can watch "Mom" become a speed bump for oncoming traffic! This mornings challenge was a squirrel. That jumped out of a tree & landed right in front of us, then took off running. The dogs tried the same, but I had a good grip on them & was on a safe surface! Whew! 

And I feel fortunate that we never lost power here as many folks did. Of course, I could run my onboard generator, but I would have ran out of gas too as I am sitting with a half tank of gas instead of a full tank. Gas here is around $3.17 a gallon. I got it for 2.98 along the route here.  (but I blew it, missed a turn off, which added another 75 miles to my trip! grrrr)

So anyhow, that's what I'm up to - how is the weather your way?

More photos below, for even larger images, click on each photo:

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~

***And yes, I am still cleaning up after them too!!! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! 

My computer would not let me do any photos earlier, so I had to leave for dinner at a friends house. 

When I got back, I was able to get the photo done. 

LOVE my new camera! 

On the homefront here, or would that be the steps of an RV front door? Not much going on with me right now. 

Have one more day of therapy coming up on Monday, then that ends the 2nd round of my therapy. Doc isn't happy with my lack of progress (not anyone's fault, my foot just isn't that strong yet), so he's ordered another round. Here we go again! But I am thankful because it could be so much worse. 

I hope all is well with everyone! 

I am grateful for ya'll - your great blogs. Your great knowledge. Your great photos. Your great RV trips. 
And the wonderful kinship that we all share. 
RVers are a very special group of folks!

So again, Happy Thanksgiving! 

I am a sicko

Ugh. I'm sick.

I think it's a sinus infection or a weird cold.

No fever, light muscle ache. light headache. Dizzy and my ears are ringing. they might be ringing from me coughing so much and blowing my nose too much.

Who knows.

had to cancel my therapy today and will again tomorrow.

Bummer, that sets me back another week. but I'm sure they would rather I stay back in my tiny little home instead.

I've always said, it's nice to recoup in the motorhome.

I'll check in with ya'll tomorrow.

have my electric blankey on...nite ya'll...

Sleep well.

Redid the color on the Motorhome

OK, this gives the RV more of the tan color I'm looking for. 

And it's not permanent. It can always be peeled back off. 

In fact, I could change the color every year if I wish to do so! 

At least it's not yellow looking anymore. 

And I thank all of you on your input! Blue was the definite winner, but I kind of wanted to try something different. 

Again, I can peel it off & go back to blue if this doesn't work for me once I do the job.

Anything is better than the old, faded, crackled decals! My brother actually thought I did a crackle finish to them -- um...could I use that excuse instead of painting them?? ;-) 


So here was what the photo program did & turned it more yellow than tan. I actually got one vote on the yellow from a friend! She thought it was bright & cheery. 

Below is the tan I'm thinking of:

Or............I could go crazy. Leave the decals blue & go for a gray body!! haha! 

Thought this was kind of cool looking, but it also looks like winter doesn't it?

Now all I need is some time for this project! Won't be happening this week. All I have to do to prepare her is wash her & tape off the areas to protect the paint from getting on. Even if the paint does get on the other areas, it's still fine because I can peel it off. 

It will be interesting to see how it holds out too. So far, it looks  good on my friends hub caps! He did his about a month ago. 

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~

Opinions wanted on Painting Ellie's Decals

Hi Everyone, 

As you know, Ellie, my motorhome is getting up there in years, but not in mileage since we sit so much!

Ever since I bought her, her decals were cracked, faded & well, not attractive. 


I heard about spray paint that is rubberized. You spray it on & it sticks well. If you don't like it, you can simply peel it off. 

I heard of this from a guy that did his hubcaps & that paint looks great on them! 

So I thought this could be an easy solution for Ellie! 

I did a mock up photo. I really want to paint in tan, but I could not get the color right on my color chart, so it looks yellow. 

But I plan on doing tan, with a little bit of red accent. The black striping oddly has not faded, so it can stay as is. 

Let me know what ya'll think please. 

Before & current photo:

Repainted image - it turned yellow, but I want tan. 

So what do ya'll think? I think the tan will brighten her up a little & the red is subtle, yet a bit of an accent. 

Happy Halloween!

 Happy Halloween 

Have a safe and wonderful day everyone!



Photo taken at a store with my phone....

Looks like it says enter if you date! """snicker"""

Nature in the back pasture

When I got the camera, I wanted to get some nature shots with the new zoom lens. 

I got LUCKY! I got this guy! 

How cool is that! It's a Pileated Woodpecker. I've been trying to catch one for 3 years now. They are shy & pretty much stay away if anyone is outside. They are actually quite big - known as the crows of the woodpecker world because they are big, kind of clumsy & very loud. Yep, that's how I heard him! I heard the noisy wingspan as he was flying to that tree. Then I heard his loud pecking at the tree. I had to be very careful to stalk the tree with minimal noise as not to scare him off. Got it! Then he flew away when I tried to step just a little closer, but I was able to catch him on video as well. I was shooting in weird light too. Against the sun, but in a very black shady area, so I'm happy that I got anything at all. 
The photo image isn't as clear as I'd like, but I'm glad I got anything at all. 

I didn't get any other bird photos...they all seem to disappear when I appear! Little stinkers. I can hear them in the front of the acreage when I'm in the back & vice versa. 

I did get a Mockingbird on the video, the Pileated Woodpecker & a really sharp image of a dragonfly. 
Oh & a vulture in flight. I have to practice up on flying birds. They are hard to track in flight! 
If possible, watch the video in HD for a better image. 

Please enjoy! 





~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after your travels & respect your neighbor~

Google plus + my new camera

Well, Google plus really doesn't have anything to do with my camera, I just combined the subject line! 

I just wanted those that use Google Plus for their comment section, that I do read their posts. 

But. 

Since I'm not ready to join Plus yet, I can't comment....bummer. 

I'm still hanging around, just haven't been as much lately as usual. I've taken an interrupted break from blogger due to other things, but hopefully, I'm back now! 

I sure am glad I bought my new camera. Last week, my van started to idle rough. Took it in yesterday & it's the catalytic converter :-(   They wanted an arm & 2 legs to fix it! I said no & brought the van home, but they still charged me $94.00 to determine that! So I am NOT happy! That could be used towards the repairs instead! Dammit. 

So after talking to another mechanic, he suggested I buy one & take it to a muffler shop to have it installed instead. He said it's cheaper that way & it will be installed properly. So I'll talk to a few muffler shops to see what can be done. 

Always something! 

So like I said, I sure am glad I got the camera before this happened or I'd still be using my cell phone for pics! My old camera is fine, but windows 8 won't accept it. And the memory card is so huge that I have to shell out $25 to buy a specific memory card reader that can read that card. It was time for a new camera. The other is 11 years old. 

I bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ70. It's been so much fun to use. I can even shoot the moon with it & get craters! Awesome! 

Another example of the zoom range on this thing, and this is not at full zoom! 

So it's a fun camera. Will be really fun once I do a little traveling! I want to do a couple of state parks here to catch some different birds & such. 

I'll be sharing some of what I've caught within the next few days. 

It's a bridge camera, which means it's capable of being a point & shoot, to professional quality settings. It has a huge powerful 60x zoom lens. Lens is fixed, but you can still purchase extensions for it to attach to that lens. Seems to be the perfect camera for me! 

I'm still in therapy. I hope all this will be over soon! I'm so ready to be done with it all. 

Video from the camera is very good too. 

Later, I'll share some of that as well. Or you can check out my channel on youtube -- ReignbeauHounds to see what this camera is capable of doing. 

I hope everyone is doing well.

Guess I'd better get ready for my afternoon doc appointment & therapy. Have a great day everyone! 

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~

no blog roll again

Hmmmmm....no blog roll again.

Loverly.

Sitting at docs office and wanted to catch up blogs while II wait.

Well Boo then!

Not a whole lot is new with me. Got approval for another round of therapy in an attempt on getting the foot stronger.

I'd rather be out meandering somewhere instead....

I do have some cool news though -- got a new camera!

I needed a new kick-butt camera since mine is 11 years old and not quite up to par these days.

I played with it yesterday -- it's really cool!

It's a Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ70

You can shoot the moon with it and actually see the craters.

I'LL share pics later.

It has a huge 60X zoom range....you can spy on people with this thing. ;-)

OK, back to waiting...wish my blog roll would load.

Laters ya'll.

life

Life can change so instantly.

Another friend in the hospital in ICU.

Seems it never stops.

I've lost 3 good friends in recent months.

I feel it's a lesson for us all to get out there. Follow our dreams. Grasp life by the horns and LIVE!

I had another doctors appointment the other day. Although my situation is not at all life threatening, I am so ready to be done with it all so I can move on with life. But my foot is still weak, so they want another round of therapy. Will be interesting to see if it will be accepted or denied since I'm federal! Our crazy world is falling apart at the seams.
Betsy Ross could not sew this one up, but let's hope someone can soon!!

Anyhow, my point is, for those of you that are just existing like myself), get out there and live life! Weather will be better here soon, so I'm at least hoping to work in some camping time.

I hope all is well with every one.

I have Ewoks. Will share them when I get access to my computer again.

I did not need Ewoks, but they found me! Oh well...such is life.

I Ran Away...

Hi all, I hope everyone is doing well. 

Sorry, I've not been around much lately. 

Not much has been happening. 

Just more therapy & doc appointments. I have two more therapy sessions this week & a doc appointment on Wednesday to see where we go from there. Not healing so fast this time around & it's bringing on other complications to my poor beaten body! Good news though, nothing life threatening. My heart goes out to those that really have serious ailments. Life can be hard. 

But with not being able to get out much & such, it still works on your mind & puts you in a black space. A space that I fight from time to time not to go visit! Depression isn't fun. 

So, I thought I'd test myself & enter a dog show! I've not been to one since March of this year. At that show, I decided I could not run anymore until I had my surgery. It was just too painful & difficult. So had the surgery & decided I'd test myself in the ring this weekend. Actually, the ring wasn't bad. But I'm showing Birdie who is easy to show & the ring was not big, so it was no challenge. When I'm showing, I don't focus on anything except presenting my dogs to the best of our abilities. So any pain or anything goes on the wayside of my mind anyhow. Having said that, I experienced no pain. In the ring. 

Outside the ring, at the RV, walking all the dogs, walking to the building, doing all the RV related stuff, etc, I had pain. And bad pain. The kind that doesn't let you sleep. Last night was much better as I had nothing pending today, so I was able to take my strong pain med & sleep with a heating pad, so that helped. I actually got some good sleep for a change! 

I left on Friday, the show was only about an hour away. It hurt to drive, but I managed. Pushing that pedal is still a bit hard on the foot. I feel a difference in vehicles too. Fords hurt me more as I have to push the pedal harder & it's placed differently. On my Dodge van, it's easier to drive. But the motorhome is a Ford & that's what I took. Us fulltime  RVers don't leave our houses at home y'know! 

We won 2  second placements, so no championship for Birdie at this show. Oh well, she'll get it. She only needs one more point to finish. 

Weather wasn't the best either. Hot & humid on Friday & Saturday. I ran my generator a lot for the a/c. Saturday night, the cold front came through, so it was much better! Even though it rained for awhile, it stopped & turned very pleasant. 

Downside, the dogs picked up some bug, so now some of them are under the weather :-(  Hope it passes quickly! 

OK, now to try to catch up with ya'll! I've missed everyone. 

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~ 

BzzzzzzzzBzzzzzzzzzzBzzzzzzzzzzz

It's 2:30am.

I can't sleep.

Actually, I'm a bit nervous.

Bzzzzzzz...Bzzzzz...Bzzzzzz

And no.

That is NOT me buzzing.

There is a bee in my motorhome....

And well...YIKES!

I be allergic to bees.

I just heard gunshots.

Maybe someone out there also has a bee in their house?

Or more likely, a Coyote in their pasture.

Oh please bee, leave!

:-(  

Now the cattle are mooing.

At least the donkeys are being quiet tonight.

They bay a lot at night.

There are two catty corner across the street to protect the chickens and ducks from the coyotes....or maybe bees?

Maybe I need a donkey in my RV???

Oh crap!

Silence.

I think it's stalking me now.

Shhhhh...buzz off bee!

HeeHaw!

More silence...

Maybe it's just a fly...

Nite all.

The cows are singing again. And this darn bee fly is buzzing again.....

The Pitts

And if you think your life sucks.....


And if you think your job sucks....


Well, then I have an exciting job FULL of adventure...

FOR YOU! 

<insert evil grin here>

<insert picture below>

                                Photo untouched, unedited---because who would want to??

Yea, so this is what you get to see while driving in Houston & sitting at a traffic light. 

Aren't you glad I was in the right spot at the right time?

There's even a phone number for those that wish to apply!

Good luck!! 

(I need a life)

What's for dinner?

Shish ka bobs! And they were good! 

I marinated some boneless chicken breasts in regular old italian dressing today.

Along with button mushrooms, onion slices & bell pepper. 

My friends got a new grill. What a fiasco that was! 

But we scored a good deal! 

I went around with her yesterday looking at grills. We went to our close WalMart first. I thought they'd be marking them down by now to clear them out for other seasonal items. 

But not many places are doing that yet. 

So we looked, took pics of the grills & price tags. 

Went to WalMart, Home Depot & Lowes. 

WalMart came closest to what we were looking for pricewise & what type we wanted.

But we were in another town (towns here are all clustered together anyhow), so went to the Walmart there. They had grills on sale! Cool. One that was already assembled had a little paint chipped area that showed just a little bit of rust. So we talked to the manager of the lawn & garden department. She gave us a 10% discount. Cool! 

The grill was on sale for $158, regular price was $198. The first WM had theirs still at $198. Then we went inside to get a cover & noticed how many boxes they still had of the grill on sale. BUT, the boxes were marked $147. Hmmmm....Texas law has it that items must be sold at the price they are marked & well, they were marked at $147 from a previous sale that they didn't change back! So, they sold us the grill for $147, then the 10% discount. So that covered the price of the cover, so it was like getting the cover for free. Cool Beans! 

Last night, their friend, Aaron cooked pork ribs. 

Tonight, I cooked chicken shish ka bobs. 

Tomorrow night, no cooking -- I get a break! Even better! We have leftovers anyhow. 

Hope all is well with everyone! 

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~