Holiday Happenings

'Tis the season, so our touring of the area has included special holiday events and spending time with friends.

 

We cruised on our motorcycles one afternoon to meet up with Brenda and Hank, co-workers from Crazy Horse, who were visiting the area.  It was nice to see them and catch up.  And, we actually enjoyed some terrific Margherita pizza at Grimaldi’s in Grapevine, TX!  Definitely worthy of Rambling RV Rat’s 5-cheese rating!

 

We learned Grapevine is the Christmas Capital of Texas, and it surely lives up to its reputation!  Mike and Claudia joined us one evening to take in the beautiful lights and decorations.   And the Christmas parade with bands, classic cars, and floats, was just what we needed to get us into the holiday spirit!  Mommy thinks Amazon should enter a float in the parade, and Daddy says “Big Boomer” could tow it!  We shall see for next year!

 



Mike, Claudia, and Yours Truly!

 

Since “Big Boomer” doesn’t do well with parking in cities, one day we took the train from Richland Hills into Dallas Union Station, where we hailed a cab to take us to the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden.  Our driver took us “for a ride”, taking us to the aquarium instead of the arboretum.  So we got a bit of a “scenic tour” of Dallas with the meter running.  The Arboretum was once part of the 44-acre Rancho Encinal, the estate home of geophysicist Everette Lee DeGolyer and his wife, Nell.   The estate home was gorgeous—beautiful woodwork, unique ceilings and rooms filled with original home furnishings.   But even more enjoyable was the special holiday exhibit—more than 500 nativities from all around the world on display, designed so creatively from an assortment of materials--ceramic, porcelain, pewter, crochet, seed pods, wood, etc.  There were different “character” themes for the nativities as well-bear, dogs, cats, penguins, moose—you name it! 

 

 

 

 

 

Outside were gazebos decorated for each of the “Twelve Days of Christmas.”  It was a magical, beautiful day!

 
We visited the Fort Worth stockades in 2009 when meeting with Wayland Long of 2L Truck and Trailer Sales, the custom builder of “Big Boomer”.  So while here in Haslet we just had to revisit what we consider the best steakhouse in the area—DelFrisco’s.  And our memories served us well—the food once again was delectable—we were not disappointed!  The place was packed, especially for a Thursday evening!  We burned a few of the calories we devoured by walking down to “Sundance Square”, Fort Worth’s version of Rockefeller Center.  Texas sure does take Christmas seriously!  All the buildings had coordinated lights, a beautiful tree the centerpiece of the square.  It was a “selfie haven”. 

 

 

Well, I am pooped!  Time to hit the sack!  Speak to you again soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taking Some Scenic Tours

Hi, everyone!  Hope you all had a good Thanksgiving!  Ours was quite nice!  Mommy cooked up a storm:  antipasta, roasted turkey, ham, sweet potato pie, cheesecake squares, apple crumb cake—I’m getting fatter by the minute just thinking of all the good eats!  Claudia and Mike, our traveling buddies, joined us, and a wonderful time was had by all.

 

 

I'm sorry I have not corresponded in quite some time, but it’s been quite hectic here.  My parents have been working 50 hour weeks, so they come home pretty bushed!  We have had some very traumatic weather here in North Texas over the last month or so, too.  Tons of rain causing flooding in many areas, severe thunderstorms with booms so loud, I fell off my chair.  And even more frightening, tornado warnings!  We have been fortunate, however, and have fared well.   Some of our friends and co-workers were not so lucky.  Several had to relocate their RVs due to flooding.  And one campground advised their guests to evacuate due to tornado warnings!

 

 

On the few days off where we had good weather and my parents had the strength, we visited some area attractions.

 

 

 

The Fort Worth Botanical Gardens were wonderful and a real value—the general gardens are free of charge!

 

 

  

How Cool--Madame Butterfly Got in This Pic!

 

 

 

  

The Conservatory, a tropical paradise complete with waterfalls, cost a mere $2/person.  What funky plants, trees, and flowers!

  

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

The expansive Japanese Gardens were $5/person, but well worth the visit.  There were HUGE koi in the ponds, and they were so accustomed to visitors, they actually came up and begged for food!

 

 

Turtles sunbathing on the rocks!

 

Yours truly resting on the park bench, taking in all the beauty around me!

The begging koi!

 

The visitor center had a huge aquarium filled with clown fish, yellow tang, long-nose butterfly, starfish, live coral, and an array of other salt water habitants, which brought back some memories of the 55- gallon reverse osmosis salt water fish tank Daddy had many years ago.  It was an expensive hobby—especially when the lion fish ate all the others!  Not to mention the $100 octopus Mommy bought him one year that kicked the bucket after 2 days!  Daddy didn’t want Mommy to know it died, so he went out and replaced it—for another $100!  Sorry, I digress…

 

We visited Eagle Mountain Park, a unique area “where the prairie meets the timbers”.  Most of these 400 acres of land remain pristine, natural habitat, unaltered by man.  Saw lots of wildlife—deer, cranes at the lake, even a red tail hawk who swooped down to grab a snake for lunch before soaring back into the blue sky!

 

 

 

 

Well, gotta run—Mommy is baking cookies and I am the “official” taste tester!  Talk to you soon!

 

 

Sweet Cheeks Sings No More - Farewell to our Boondocking Bird

It is with deep sadness that we say goodbye to our cockatiel, Sweet Cheeks.

 

 

 

She showed no outward signs of being sick.  However, on Thursday, we noticed she was sleeping more.  But she still ate, drank her water, and had healthy poops.  She hissed at Mommy when she cleaned her cage, just as she did every other day since the very first day we adopted her (she was never hand-trained).  And she got excited when Mommy gave her a special treat.  Ditto for Friday.  Everything was status quo.

 

But when we woke on Saturday morning at 4 a.m., Mommy found the bird dead at the bottom of her cage.

 

We adopted Sweet Cheeks in 2010 from a Humane Society that rescued 400 birds from a neglectful aviary.  Yes, we had a choice of 400 birds of various species, colors, and sizes.  But apparently Mommy had as good luck picking a bird as she has picking winning lottery numbers.  We were assured that Sweet Cheeks was a female.  But as time went on we realized “she” was probably a “he”, especially based on our experience with our prior female cockatiel.

 

 

 

Sweet Cheeks was very smart—she could tweet “Jingle Bells”!  And when we watch the TV show, “The Middle”, she would respond to the crow call every week.  She loved the ticking of the countdown clock on the series “24”, which we have been watching via Amazon Prime these last few months.   She would say “Hello Mamma”.  And, best of all, she was a terrific alarm system, signaling to me when my parents’ truck pulled up outside the RV!

 

 

May Sweet Cheeks rest in peace in that big nest in Bird Heaven.

 

Meeting Big Tex

Despite feeling tired and sore from working so many hours at Amazon (mandatory overtime is already in effect!), my parents kept their promise of taking me to the State Fair of Texas!

The fairgrounds were really nice—paved roads/walkways, colorful flowers, clean restrooms, interesting architecture, beautiful water fountains/reflection pools, and a heartfelt memorial for Vietnam veterans.

 

We toured the exhibit booths, getting lots of free goodies and samples, including pudding, chile, even toothbrushes and toothpaste!

 

YeeeHaaa, this is the festival of all foods fried—Oreos, cheesecake, Fritos, catfish, even alligator!  It was interesting that no money is accepted at any food vendor.   Instead, you buy “tickets” from the official State Fair booths.  Each ticket is worth 50 cents, and you buy tickets in $10 bundles.  Every food item costs a specific number of tickets (Daddy plunked down 7 tickets just for my soda).  I have never seen this system used before, but think it is a great idea.  Much easier and safer for the vendors.

 

Of course, no state fair is complete without livestock, and plenty of them--cows, goats, pigs, and steer, including the grand champion steer that sold for $130,000.  That’s a lot of burgers!   We watched Yoda, a Dallas K-9 “officer” as he demonstrated his police duties, and visited Gus, Moose, and Trojan, some REALLY BIG horses used by the Dallas Mounted Police.

 

Wow--what a pair!!!

$130K Steer!

 

 

But the highlight of the day was me seeing Big Tex, who truly lives up to his name.    He is gigantic!  His boots alone are taller than I am! 

 

PoPo and Big Tex.  Look at Those Boats--I Mean Boots!

Everything is bigger in Texas, including the cost of attending a State Fair.  $15 just to park, and entry normally is $18 per person.  Fortunately, we went on discount day—bring 4 cans of food per person, get in for $4 per person.  Then, of course, food and Midway ride tickets cost extra.  Not to mention games of chance.   Boo, Hoo, I blew my whole month’s allowance in just a couple of hours!

 

We headed home on the motorcycles just in time for rush hour evening traffic.  A bit of a nail-biting experience!  But we were rewarded with an absolutely gorgeous sunset.

 

Talk to you again real soon!

Oh Fiddlesticks! The Fridge Fizzles Out

Mom and Dad completed Week 1 at Amazon!   Comprised of four floors of conveyer lines, KIVA robots, computers, automated guided vehicles, and thousands of people, the Haslet Fulfillment Center is ginormous!  And it is like Fort Knox—scan your badge to enter the facility, scan your badge at the time clock, scan your badge at your workstation, scan your badge to get supplies, and go through security scanners to leave the inner sanctuary!

 

My parents are in the Receiving Department doing the task called “Decant”.  Scan the package, open the package, deposit the contents in a tote/totes, and scan the tote(s).  Mom says scanners have overtaken our lives.  She thinks St. Peter probably requires us to “scan” to enter the pearly gates of heaven!  (Imagine how bad Scanner Hell must be!)

 

This week, they only worked five hour “hardening” days, giving them an opportunity to get acclimated to the processes.  Thank goodness—they came home quite pooped out!  But my parents are troopers, so I know they will survive “peak” season.

 

In the meantime, our RV fridge fizzled out.  It worked fine when we arrived, but seemed to take a turn for the worse when we switched from propane to electric.  It just wouldn’t stay cold.  Ironically, the freezer portion of the unit worked fine.  We waited several days to see if the extreme heat wave here in Texas was having a negative impact on the unit.  But alas, the temp in the fridge never went below 43 degrees.  It seemed the fridge was stuck in “defrost” mode.  This is our third fifth wheel, and the second time we needed to replace an RV fridge.  In both instances our rigs were under 2 years old!

 

 

After much deliberation, we bite the bullet and purchase a residential fridge, scheduled for delivery on October 1.    Low and behold, my parents come home from their Amazon shift on Tuesday, just 2 days before the scheduled delivery, to find the darn fridge operating perfectly, registering at 34 degrees!

 

 

 

The last thing Mom wanted was to spend 1,500 bucks on a refrigerator.  But if we cancel the order, we will be subject to a 50% restocking fee.  Screwed either way.

 
 

Mom’s been ranting and raving since the discovery (she does this VERY well), while Dad dismantles the old fridge and preps for the new fridge delivery.  This includes capping the propane tank connection, insulating the holes from where the vents were, removing the drawer underneath the fridge, etc.)  Needless to say, I’m being quiet as a church mouse, staying out of both of their paths.
 

Cap propane connection - Check!

 

Insulate the holes from the unneeded vents - Check!

 

Fast forward:  The fridge is delivered!  Dad secures it for use during transport.

 

 

Securing the fridge for mobile transport - Check!

 

It looks great!

 

 

 

 

And unlike our prior fridge, it has loads of room.  It even fits me!

  

 

 

We just returned from food shopping.  So now that our shelves are restocked, I'm due for a much needed cheese break!