T-Time: Thanks and an Update

Friday 4/27/2012

Hastings Campground

Hastings, NE

Thanks everyone for your comments, e-mails, and phone calls. Mike and I, both, really appreciate your concern and support.

My wrist seems to be mending well, but my shoulder has been the main concern.  We met with an orthopedic surgeon in Kerrville last Friday, and after X-rays he recommended surgery on my shoulder. Our health care plan network of doctors doesn’t extend down into Texas, so Friday afternoon I made an appointment for this past Monday with an orthopedic surgeon in Hastings, Nebraska. (I’ll let Mike catch you up on our aggressive trip to Nebraska this past weekend.) After more X-rays and a CT scan, the orthopedic surgeon in Hastings advised against surgery. It appears that with or without surgery, I’ll always have some stiffness in my shoulder, and this orthopedist doesn’t feel that surgery will warrant that much of a difference. So we’ve decided against surgery. The cast I’m in right now which extends over my elbow will be replaced next week with one that only extends half way up my forearm, and physical therapy will hopefully begin a few weeks after that.

Coping with only one hand – my left hand, and I’m right-handed – has posed its challenges, but I’m blessed to have a husband that has willingly, patiently, and tirelessly jumped in to take care of me as well as all of the household chores. His birthday was last Saturday, and how did he get to spend it? Doing ALL of the packing up to leave Kerrville, driving 442 miles to Oklahoma, and doing ALL of the setup once we got there. (Happy Birthday honey. )   Saturday may have been Mike’s birthday, but Mike has always been MY gift.

So it looks like we’ll be hangin’ out here in Nebraska for a little while.  Stay tuned!

Sunday we went for a bike ride…

Sunday 4/15/2012

Buckhorn Lake Resort

Kerrville, TX

Sunday we went for a bike ride… and ended up here.

The Peterson Regional Medical Center Emergency Room. 

We were casually riding our bikes on the paved, smooth streets of Buckhorn Lake Resort.  We had just ridden by a trailer with some humorous license plates and bumper stickers when Terri attempted to turn around to go back and get another look.  Unfortunately, she didn’t make it.  She lost her balance and fell to the ground, breaking her fall with her right arm.  I quickly jumped off my bike and helped her up.  She had hurt her arm, couldn't lift  it up, and was unable to ride her bike, so we walked the short distance back home and examined her arm.  Her wrist was beginning to swell, and she was in quite a bit of discomfort.  We put some ice on her arm, but she wasn't feeling any better, so I strongly suggested a visit to the ER!!!

We arrived to find (much to our surprise!) no one waiting in the waiting room.  The two very nice front desk staff said that they were experiencing a lull, so we were immediately taken back to an exam room.  As soon as the nurse saw Terri’s arm we were moved to a larger, more extensive exam room.  The staff swarmed over her like flies on you know what.  Everybody we encountered in the ER was very nice and professional, and SIX hours later we were on our way to Walgreen’s for a prescription and then back home.

To make a long story short, Terri has a small fracture in her right wrist AND a small fracture in the bone just below her right shoulder.  They realigned the bone in her wrist and put a splint on her arm from her hand to just above the elbow.  She has to keep her arm in a sling as much as possible, and in six to ten days we'll see an orthopedist.  He will remove the splint, examine her arm, and then put her arm in a cast.  She'll have to wear the cast for six to eight weeks.

Tomorrow I’m going to put her bike away for a while.

Fredericksburg, Boerne, and the Gypsy Turtles

Thursday 4/12/2012

Buckhorn Lake Resort

Kerrville, TX

Monday was mostly a day of relaxation.  We did make a run to the Post Office and Walmart in the afternoon, but otherwise we just relaxed.

Tuesday, we ventured up to Fredericksburg for some sightseeing.  We traveled through there on our way to Kerrville last week, and we both knew we wanted to spend more time there.  First stop was the visitor center.

Then we headed over to Main Street.  There are several blocks of shops and restaurants.  We walked along Main Street

and browsed through some of the shops.  Of course, we didn’t buy anything.  Many of the restaurants had menus posted.  We checked them out to see if we wanted to come back sometime to try the cuisine.  We did find a couple of places that may get a future visit.  Many of the stores had amusing things for sale.

A highlight of the day was this store, the Lone Star Candy Bar.

They had all kinds of tasty temptations,

including homemade fudge, chocolate dipped jalapeños, and this.

 

That’s right, twenty-one different colors of M&M’s!!!  Some of the colors included pink, gold, silver, black, and white.  Also, included were aqua green, teal green, dark green, dark blue, light purple, and maroon.  Believe it or not, we DID NOT get anything from this store.  It was hard to just walk away, but we did it!!!   There’s a lot of stuff to see in the Fredericksburg area.  We’ll have to go back at least one more day, possibly two.

Wednesday we travelled to Boerne (pronounced Bernie) for lunch with our friends Rick and Gail, the Gypsy Turtles.

We first met them at the RV-Dreams Rally in SC in 2010.  Then in 2011 we saw them again at the RV-Dreams Rally in TN.  A month later we spent an afternoon visiting them at a campground in Louisa, VA.  Finally, our paths have crossed again and we were able to have lunch and spend the afternoon together.  We ate at The Dodging Duck Brewhaus on River Road.

There’s an outdoor dining area that we took advantage of.

The food was very good, and I finally remembered to take pictures.  Gail had a turkey, bacon, avocado hoagie and a house salad.

 

Rick had chicken tortilla soup and the Hamberry Panini  which had ham, raspberry-chipotle sauce, cheddar, Swiss cheese, and bacon.

Terri had a house salad and  the Three Cheese Panini which had tomatoes and cheddar, Swiss, and provolone cheeses.

I had the sausage plate which had one bratwurst, one knackwurst, COLD sauerkraut, sharp cheddar cheese, and a very HOT pretzel.

We all had beer, and I opted for the DARK beer.  It was very dark compared to Terri’s beer.

We sat and talked for quite a while, and then decided to move downtown and check out some of the shops.  We found the small city park and sat for quite a while just talking and having a real nice afternoon.  We ended our time together with some ice cream at the Boerne Grill.  It was so nice seeing Rick and Gail again.

Today, Thursday, we just took it easy and relaxed and enjoyed the wonderful Texas Hill Country weather.

Gladewater to Waco to Kerrville, and a reunion with old friends

Easter Sunday 4/8/2012

Buckhorn Lake Resort

Kerrville, TX

We left Gladewater, TX, on Monday morning, the 2nd of April, and travelled about three and half hours to Waco, TX.  We arrived in the early afternoon at Riverview Campground east of Waco.

When I did my research, I wasn’t real sure about this campground because my first impression was that they were way out in the country and quite a bit off our route, I wasn’t sure about a clear view for satellite, and I questioned how good the cable TV would be.  I studied Google maps extensively and decided they weren’t too far off our route after all and, after a phone call to the campground, I was reassured that both satellite reception and cable were adequate.  I’m so glad we decided to stop here.  This campground is very quiet, a very nice woman was working the office, good satellite reception, excellent cable, and not nearly as far out there from the highway as I thought.  I actually wanted to stay longer than just one night but we needed to get going the next day to Kerrville, TX.

After we got all set up, we jumped in the car and went to check out a COE campground where we had considered staying.  It’s called Midway Park and is located on the southeast tip of Lake Waco.  It’s a small campground with very limited views of the lake.  There are about a half a dozen full hookup sites, but they’re located right next to Texas Loop 340, a very busy, noisy highway.  The rest of the sites are water and electric sites.  Both of us were glad we chose Riverview instead of this COE.  On our way back to the campground, we found the Flying J and fueled up the car and checked to make sure we could easily get the rig in there tomorrow to fuel up the truck.  Then it was back to Riverview for the night.  Here are a couple of photos of our site at Riverview Campground.

Again, we really liked it here and will probably return someday for a longer stay.

Tuesday, the 3rd of April, we left Riverview and, after fueling up the truck at Flying J, headed south/southwest for about five hours to Buckhorn Lake Resort near Kerrville, TX.  We’re here for an RV-Dreams Rally at the end of April.  We decided to come down early and stay for a month.  The monthly rate is substantially less, and there’s quite a bit to see and do in the area.  I’ll have photos and more about Buckhorn in upcoming posts.

Saturday, the 7th of April, we drove over to Blanco, TX, to have lunch with a childhood friend of Terri’s.

Terri and Mary met each other in grade school many, many years ago.

Mary and her husband, Ron, relocated to Texas about eighteen years ago, and we haven’t seen them for over twenty years.  We ate at a place called Uptown Blanco Restaurant.

The food was excellent, and the company was even better.  There was a lot of reminiscing and catching up to do.  After lunch, we walked around the downtown square and went into a few shops.  Then we stopped in at the Blanco Bowling Club Café.

Ron and I each had a Shiner Bock Beer,

and Terri and Mary had colas.  It was my first Shiner Bock but it won’t be the last.  We spent most of the afternoon talking and enjoying each other’s company.  Later, we said our “goodbyes” and headed home.  Thanks Ron and Mary for lunch and a most enjoyable afternoon.

Sunday we got up and went to a local church in Kerrville for the Easter worship service.  Later in the day I grilled up a couple of rib eye steaks for dinner.

I also cooked up some potatoes and onions, and Terri heated up some corn.  Dinner was delicious.

We hope that everyone had a great Easter Sunday!!!

Vicksburg to Gladewater, TX… and Lone Star Speedway

Sunday 4/1/2012

Antique Capital RV Park

Gladewater, TX

I forgot to include pictures in the last post of the campground we stayed at in Vicksburg.  So here they are now.

We left River Town Campground in Vicksburg on Saturday morning the 31st of March.  About five and a half hours later, we arrived at the Antique Capital RV Park in Gladewater, TX.

I had called ahead and made a reservation this time.  It’s a good thing too because there was what appeared to be a Monaco Motorhome rally going on.  We were parked amongst about 15 or 20 Monacos.  This was a nice park with concrete pads to park on.  The utility hookups were toward the back of the site but not nearly as bad as the last place.  The sewer hose reached this time without an extension.  Cable was available and it worked well, and I could get a satellite signal with the dish.  There was also a nice laundry room which we made use of.  Here are a couple of photos of our site.  I took these late Sunday afternoon after most of the Monacos had left the campground.

After we got settled in Saturday afternoon, I left to go to another night of stock car racing for the second night in a row.  This time the track, Lone Star Speedway near Kilgore, was only about ten miles away from the campground.

It was another Lucas Oil Late Model Series event.  Again this was my first visit to this track, it too was nicely prepared, and they had an excellent turnout of racecars.  Here are a few pictures of the track.

This track was originally a 1/2 mile track.  When the new owners took over in 2008, they shortened it to a 3/8 mile track.  In the pictures above, you can see the “old” turns 1 and 2 for the half mile and the “new” turns 1 and 2 for the shorter track.  This track is known to be the fastest half mile dirt track in Texas, and I can just imagine what it was like to see the speed of the cars on the “old” track with that banking in the turns.

The dark colored seats are molded plastic and are anchored to the concrete.  Behind the top row is room for lawn chair seating.  That’s where I sat for the evening, and it was much more comfortable.  I decided to try the Texas Lonestar Nachos which consisted of nacho chips, melted cheese, ground beef, and jalapeño peppers.  The nachos were excellent.  I washed it all down with a 32 ounce unsweetened iced tea.  Jared Landers of Batesville, AR, won the 50 lap, $10,000 to win feature event.  It was another great night of racing, and once again the weather was excellent.

Sunday, the 1st of April, was a quiet day at home.  We did some laundry, and I watched the NASCAR race at Martinsville on TV.  I also fueled up both the car and the truck in preparation for travel day on Monday.

Tomorrow, Monday, the 2nd, we head to Waco, TX.