Sunday - a tour and ICR

These pictures are actually from last Sunday... but I haven't shared them yet!

Our home church here in Valley Ranch, is just finishing up a huge addition to the building - primarily with space for children (we had semi-annual parent/child dedication today - there were 11 families and 12 children dedicated - and I think the pastor said that there were 10 more due in the next few months). There are tours available done by church members for church members and we signed up for one last Sunday afternoon. The pictures don't really do it justice, but we are really getting excited about having the additional space.

One of the hallways in the children's area.

One of the rooms in the children's area.

I think all of the children's area rooms have storage areas, a sink, and an attached bathroom (some of the bathrooms are shared between two rooms).

This water fountain area was complete with the tile on the wall behind it.

Pastor's study area with LOTS of room for books!

Looking down the main entrance area - this is the hall from the main lobby. There will be secure entrances into the areas for pre-k and younger, as well as for the 1st-5th grade areas. The youth will also have space in this new facility.

Right now, most of the Sunday Bible study classes are meeting off-campus at Ranchview High School. The youth and a couple of adult classes have been meeting there for a few years now as we had run out of classroom space in the existing building. With the construction, and additional children's classroom space needed, almost all of the adult classes moved off campus this fall. We are looking forward to all of them coming back together in the next few months.

On the past few Sunday evenings, we have been enjoying a series on how science supports the creation account in Genesis, presented by the Institute for Creation Research (ICR). This is a presentation series that they evidently do at churches all over the country, and we are privileged to host this series for the DFW area this fall. ICR is based not too far from our church's location, and many of the researchers are members of our church. It has been fun hearing from other members that we know as "church family members" presenting on the topics on which they are experts and about which they are passionate!

Last week, Dr Henry Morris III presented on "Back to Genesis". Each evening, after the presentation, the presenter takes questions that have been submitted by audience members. Here, Pastor Rickey is posing one of the audience questions to Dr Morris. (Note: Dr Morris is a member of First Baptist Dallas, and was the teacher of the Sunday Bible Study class that some of our friends there were attending a few years ago).

Tonight, Mr Brian Thomas will be speaking on "Dinosaurs and the Bible". The excitement was building this morning as there were models of dinosaur fossils in the church lobby! If you want to listen in, the live stream will be available at http://www.macarthurblvd.org/resources/sunday-sermon-live-stream/ at 6pm central time. Or, after the conclusion of the talk tonight, it will be available in the archive at http://www.macarthurblvd.org/resources/sermon-archives/ (I don't know how quickly the archives are placed - the first 4 topics are available on the archive site now - I don't see Dr Morris' topic yet - it may be that it cannot be released to the public for some reason).

Hickory Creek Corps of Engineers Park - Part 2

Since we didn't stay at the site originally booked due to the slope, we booked two sites for the 8 nights we were to stay. We were at site 13 for 3 nights, but it was booked for tonight (Saturday) - just for one night. So we booked a different site - 95, 50A, very level - for the additional 5 nights.

We had looked at the site on Wednesday when we were making the site changes to make sure it was relatively level. There was a 5th wheel on the site. It turned out that we passed by this site multiple times - it is near the main in/out road, and we could see that the 5th wheel was still on the site, but we never saw a pickup or any vehicle there with it, and we never saw anything that made it look occupied. Even when we were returning to the bus after dark, we didn't see lights. It made us wonder if someone had parked it and left it and wasn't planning to move it.

This morning, we walked up to see if it looked like anyone was preparing to leave - at 9am and 10am, still no sign of a pickup truck and no one around the rig. But, we knew they had until 2pm to leave. We did drive up to the ranger station to ask if they knew of any issues with the folks who were in the site (like when we were in Hershey, PA and Dwayne was in the hospital, we ended up overstaying our reservation in the campground by one night but had let them know ahead of time so they gave us grace). They said they were unaware of any issues, but they could not start taking any action until 2pm if the rig was still on the site. The ranger said that they would arrange for the rig to be towed off the site at the owner's expense if the owners did not vacate the site and if the owners could not be located. We checked a few more times, and finally at about 1:15pm, we saw a pickup at the 5th wheel, so we felt confident we would be able to get onto the site. By 1:45pm, the site was open, so we pulled out of site 13, went to the dump station, and then got pulled into site 95.

Site 95 does not have a view of the lake, but it is quite convenient to the road in/out of the park. It is also quite level and shady.

There is a good amount of area on our "public" side of the bus and good separation between us and the next campsite (the next site is beyond the left side of the picture).

We have met one of our neighbors and are looking forward to meeting other folks who are in this area of the campground.

Note: when I drove up to the ranger station to process our "check out" of site 13 and "check in" of site 95, I saw a doe deer right by the side of the road. When I slowed to see her better, there was a magnificent buck just beyond her. No pictures - they were too shy to have their pictures taken. But the ranger told me that it was likely we would see deer near site 95 as there is a large open meadow nearby and they come there in the evenings.

Hickory Creek Corps of Engineers Park

On Wednesday, we moved to the Hickory Creek Corps of Engineers Park just on the north side of Lake Lewisville. We had had reservations to stay at this park back in April of this year, but decided that we would prefer staying at Lake Park if we could (and we were able to) so we cancelled our reservation at Hickory Creek (at a $10 charge - which I thought was somewhat unfair after I found out that they would not have honored our reservation anyway because the park was still closed at that time due to flooding - but... it was good that we had already gotten a reservation at Lake Park).

Anyway! We moved to Hickory Creek on Wednesday and we really like it here! Of course, as sometimes happens, our arrival was not without its challenges. We left the National Indoor RV Center about noon, driving separately since it was a relatively short distance. Dwayne was going ahead in the Jeep to make sure that the roads were passable on the route that the Garmin was taking us (there is still a LOT of construction in this area). He found that the road was passable, but it had a 15 ton weight restriction (and Miss Doozie is 25 tons), so we decided for me to try going a different way - unfortunately, that road *also* had a 15 ton weight restriction. We decided to just go ahead and drive on it and hope that there weren't any bridges (for some reason, we are more comfortable driving on a road surface that is at a lower weight limit than crossing bridges with a lower weight limit - go figure!?!).

We got to the campground a little before 1pm, and were surprised to find out that the check out time was 2pm, check in time was 3pm, and the site we had reserved was still occupied. The ranger recommended that we go back up to the Walmart (which was on the route that I had passed on the way in, back up the 15 ton weight limit road) to wait for a couple of hours until the designated check in time.

When we came back at 3pm, we were easily checked in and on our way to our reserved site 10... this time, I was driving the Jeep, and as I came to the site, I thought, "Uh oh, this is on a bit of a slope..."

It may not look too bad... but that much slope means that our front end (where our door is) would be way up in the air if we leveled the coach, and it might be that we wouldn't even be able to get it all the way level (which is wearing on the senses if you're dealing with it more than a day or so).

This view from the other side may show the slope a little better.

So... we parked the bus, and then I started checking on the reservation website to see if any other site was available. Nothing was available for the whole 8 nights, but we found that there was one site available for 3 nights, and two others for the last 5 nights. We drove the Jeep out to check them, and found that all of them were a lot more level.

Back to the ranger station to ask if they could switch us to the other two sites. The ranger indicated that he could only switch from one site for 8 nights to another site for 8 nights. We headed back to the bus, and I decided to see if I could do the switch online - couldn't do the switch, but I could cancel the original booking (and pay a late cancel + cancellation fee) and then book the other two sites. I called the service desk, and they said that the ranger could make the change from an 8-night reservation to a 3-night and then book the separate 5 night, but... the ranger had indicated he couldn't do it, and I didn't really want to make another drive out there (it is about 1.5-2 miles out of the park to the ranger station) and then have to come back and do it myself anyway. So, we forfeited the late cancel ($14) plus cancellation ($10) fees, and got booked into the other two sites.

The site for the 3 nights is site 13 - I guess people don't book it because "13 is unlucky" but it is a really nice flat site.

A picture of Miss Doozie from site 10. You also might notice the trailer in the site to the left - and the pickup that is their tow vehicle on quite a slope on the entry into the site. This shows that trailers/5th wheels are not as impacted by the slope if there is a flat area at some point in the site - their pivot point is at the wheels, and the door is usually near the wheels.

 

 

In the picture just above, you can also see site 11 - a pull thru site that is also quite level. It actually might have more of a side-to-side slope, which, I think, is harder for trailers and 5th wheels - they will run up on blocks to level side-to-side.

Look how nice and level site 13 is! The only downside is that we have a drainage ditch right outside our "public" side of the coach, so the picnic table and fire pit for site 13 is behind and a little to the driver's side of the coach.

View of the lake from site 11 - really pretty!

 

We can see the lake from site 13, but it is more of a "peek-a-boo" view.

Right next to site 13 is one of the many paths in the campground (this one goes to the restrooms that are on the loop just behind us).

I wanted to show y'all our new rocking chairs - we got them when we were in Livingston (ordered from Camping World). We really like them! They are ideal for having rocking chairs on uneven ground - with pistons in the back to provide the rocking motion.

Camping World Rocking Chairs: http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/mesh-folding-rocker-green/75019

Because we really think we like this park (nice walking trails, sites have nice distance between them), we decided to create a spreadsheet with all the sites and mark it up with slope information.

Yes, we're weird that way!

We walked around almost all of the sites (121 of them!) today and marked whether they are "flat", "very slight slope", or "slope". This way, we can try to book a site that is flat when we come back in the future.

One last picture of the campground - this is from the I-35E Lake Lewisville bridge - the campground is in the area about in the middle of the picture to about 3/4 of the way across the picture.

We aren't the only ones with towbar issues

Somehow it is a little comforting to know that we are not the only folks with a towbar issue... here are a couple of pointers to blog posts from WheelingIt (Nina and Paul - 6 years on the road) on their accident when their tow came loose - I'll let you know up front that no one was hurt... but some vehicle damage to their tow vehicle and their motorhome.

http://wheelingit.us/2016/10/28/our-first-rv-accident-tow-comes-loose-in-nc/

http://wheelingit.us/2016/11/01/a-few-updatesannouncements-our-accident-health-insurance-lithium-video-chat/

I was looking around on Nina's blog - I definitely see some things I would like to do on our blog!!! Maybe we'll have some days of "doing nothing" that I can use to experiment and explore!

Another part that does not work

A couple of weeks ago, we stopped by a trailer place that is near to where we are staying in Lewisville to see if there was any possibility that they might have a solution for us to be able to raise the hitch receiver where the stinger of the Jeep's tow bar gets attached.

This is the picture that Dwayne has drawn of our need. In the middle to the left are the dimensions of receiver on the motorhome. It is almost 4.5" from the entry point to the hitch pin center point (4 3/8"). Then the opening of the receiver is recessed under the back of the motorhome, 4" from the outer edge of the bumper. The bottom diagram is of the hi/low hitch that we ordered from Amazon (Roadmaster, same brand as our tow bar).

They didn't have anything in stock, but really worked with us looking at catalogs of what they could order, looking at the measurements, trying to find something that would work. We found an adjustable shank for 2" receivers that indicated that it was 16" long - if that was the case, we figured it would surely be long enough to fit into our application.
https://www.hitchweb.com/product/88/45059/CURT-Replacement-Shank

Well...

We aren't sure where the 16" part is... at most, that part across the bottom is 12", and the distance from where the diagonal place connects to the stinger to the hitch pin hole is not 4 3/8".

Recording the part number just in case we need to know it later (to know we've tried that part number and it didn't work).

They were SO nice in that shop, and all was not lost. While browsing there, we saw skid wheels that we had been thinking about ordering, and they were willing to sell to us for less than what we'd get them for in the catalog as they had had them for a while and didn't really think they would be moving them.

We were able to verify by the stock number that this was the item that we had seen in the catalog.

So, now we have two skid wheels - just need to figure out where to install and who can do the installation.

While at National Indoor RV Center, we were looking at the hitch attachment on one of the other motorhomes in for service. This one happens to have a Demco tow bar - but what we found interesting was the rub-bar that is attached under the back of the motorhome - it has one on each side of the hitch, and would keep the hitch receiver from being dragged on the ground (and the safety cables from getting damaged).

Maybe you can see the rub-bar under the motorhome - it is just to the left of the connection on the tow bar.

Another view - may be a little easier to see.

So far, we don't have a solution to the tow bar. We went by U-Haul today to see if they do any custom hitch fabrication (they do not). They recommended a truck customization shop.

No solution yet!

Dwayne's colonoscopy and welcomed at a friend's house

Dwayne had his colonoscopy scheduled for this morning, so... he prepped for it last night and early this morning (in a "tiny house" aka motorhome, it is hard for one person to "prep" for a colonoscopy without the other person being somewhat involved - 'nuf said)... and then we went over to Baylor Carrollton for the procedure. We got there early (about 7:15am for an 8am checkin) but his doctor was also early, so they were glad we were there.

Dwayne is all ready for them to take him back for the procedure.

The colonoscopy went well - the doctor said that there was one small polyp that he removed, and although it will go for pathology, he is pretty certain it is ok. He also said that Dwayne could wait for 5 years before the next one - hurrah!!! (This one was after 3 years.)

After we were done at the hospital, we stopped at "The Original Pancake House" for "Dutch Baby" pancakes: http://www.originalpancakehouse.com/phm_specialties2.html
I had been at a restaurant before where these were called "pannekoeken" - the waitresses would run from the kitchen to your table yelling "pan-ni-KUK-en" to clear their path in their effort to ensure that the item made it to your table hot and before it fell.

Since the bus was in the shop, and we could not be in it during the day, one of our dear sweet friends, Janell, had offered us the use of her home as a place to "crash" after we were done at the hospital. It was so nice for her to offer, and we got to play with her kitties!

Dwayne was "fishing" for Koshka.

Koshka really enjoys his toys!

"Why are you taking pictures? Aren't you supposed to be playing with me too????"

Nogi came out to play a couple of times, but I didn't manage to get a picture of him...

Thank you, Janell, for use of your home and of your kitties!!!

Making our list, checking it twice...

We are now at the "campground" at National Indoor RV Center (NIRVC). It is really just a parking lot, but it is nice that they let us stay here while we're in for service. We've been going over our list and figuring out if there is anything we need to add or remove from the list of things we'd like for them to look at.

Dwayne had noticed that the driver's side low beam headlight wasn't working as we were leaving the campground on Friday, so when we got here, we decided to see if we could fix it, or if we'd need to put it onto our "list" for NIRVC. Although we had successfully gotten the passenger side one replaced ourselves (http://trekincartwrights.blogspot.com/2016/09/a-productive-day-but-not-in-way-we-had.html) when we were on Prince Edward Island (PEI), we had also determined that getting *to* the bulbs in the two lights on the driver's side was going to be more complicated. We had also gotten extra bulbs while we were on PEI (http://trekincartwrights.blogspot.com/2016/09/an-anne-kind-of-day.html) so we had the bulb to make the replacement if we could get to it.

Since the jacks are now working, we were able to get the front end of the bus a little more into the air than we had been able to do at PEI, but access to the back of the driver's side bulbs was still challenging. The wonderful thing about being married and working on these things together is: while either one of us could only get one hand at a time onto the back of the light area.... but *each* of us could get one hand on it, and working together, we could get the old bulb removed, and eventually (with amazing contortions being performed, unfortunately, no pictures!) we were able to get the new bulb installed and the daytime running lights and low beam headlights are both working now! Hurrah!!!

While we were preparing to work on the headlamp, our "neighbors" in the "campground" came back - they are a nice couple, fulltimers, from the Austin area. Unfortunately, they have been here 6(!!!) weeks getting warranty repairs done on their brand new (!!!!) motorhome. This seems to be more common than I would hope; almost everyone who purchases a new motorhome finds that they spend quite a bit of time at the manufacturer or dealer for repairs of things that probably should have never made it off the assembly line. I don't know what the solution of this is for anyone else, but for us, it is to purchase used and let someone else deal with all of that!

To some extent, it helped validate our choice of purchasing Miss Doozie. We've had a few days over the past few months of being annoyed at finding "this" or "that" thing that needs fixing. But... most of them don't need immediate correction, and many of them are "it sure would be nice if...". And, even though warranty repairs on a new rig are "free", with the items on our "list" for NIRVC, we will get a price on the repair/maintenance, decide if *we* want the repair/maintenance done for that price, and then give them the go-ahead, or not. With the warranty repairs, the request has to go back to the manufacturer on whether they will pay the shop to make the fix for the price that the shop wants to do it - I guess there may be some negotiation that goes on with that - and then there may be 6 weeks (or more) of waiting to get all the approvals and all the work done.

And.... they don't get the joy of figuring out that if each of you uses one arm/hand, you and your spouse can replace the driver's side lowbeam bulb on a 2000 Bluebird Wanderlodge!