"All systems are go, and confidence is high"

Rainy day in Austin

I have always liked that NASA phrase......of course, the one you don't want to hear yourself saying is "Houston we have a problem". Any of you who know me well know there is a pessimistic side to me. Even though, intellectually, I understand that I did the pump installation correctly, and there should be no problem whatsoever, there is a little part of me that is often waiting for the other shoe to drop. Anyway, I say that to say this.....the first 20 miles on the road yesterday my eyes were glued to the water temp gauge.....as it slowly approached it's idling operating temp of 180 degrees I was half expecting it to keep on going. Of course, that didn't happen, and after 20 miles it kept a steady reading and I began to relax and enjoy the beautiful driving day.

We spent 8 days at my sister-in-law's home and thoroughly enjoyed the time with all those related to us. I wish I had been able to spend more time riding my bike instead of having my head stuck in the engine bay. Even though I wear mechanic's gloves when I work on any part the coach I still suffered a few minor injuries to my hands that are still healing. My back hurts from the awkward positions required to put the pump in place, but it is getting better each day.


Our driving goal for Monday was an easy 243 mile jaunt down to Austin, TX where more relatives and friends await. It was a partially cloudy day portending the rain that would descend upon us last night, and the temps were so pleasant that I drove with the driver's side window open much of the time. The last time we headed south from Bullard in the Spring of 2009 we took HWY 79 all the way to Round Rock where we got on I-35 for about 10 miles and then got off again. There are a lot of small towns along the way, and even though it is 20 miles shorter going that way, I takes longer because of all the towns. This time we decided to head directly west, or at least as directly as is possible....we took FM 344 west to HWY 155 to HWY 79 to HWY 84 and hit I-35 around the 135 mile mark giving us 98 miles of freeway driving before we exited at HWY 45 to FM 620. This route was a good choice....very few towns, and beautiful pastureland and blacktop all the way to the Interstate.


Each time we took a driving break I walked around the coach looking for anything out of the ordinary, and found nothing each time. Even when we arrived at our destination I was concerned again that something might go wrong just as it had the last two times I parked in front of friend's home.....haha....but again, nothing. Right now we are parked at a fellow Newell owner's home on the shores of Lake Travis, which, until recent rain storms, was 52' below normal....they got 3.2" of rain the other day and the lake went up over 4 feet! The last time we were in this area we were attending a Newell mini rally at La Hacienda RV Resort, which is less than a mile from our current location. It rained on and off last night, and is still drizzling as I write, but the sun should poke its head out around Noon time. We'll go visit Elaine's sister and brother-in-law this evening. Our host has offered to take me gun shopping today. I'm looking for small shotgun to keep under our bed in case someone decides to "intrude". This does happen on rare occasions, and has happened to others we know. While it is a rarity I plan to be prepared. I hope I never have to pull the trigger, but I'm sure an intruder hearing the pump action of the shotgun will not think twice, and retreat.


Hoping that the weather clears up so we can take a short bike ride around this neighborhood.


Thanks for stopping by!

If it weren't heavily overcast you could see Lake Travis behind those trees!

The first time I have disconneted the trailer since January 31st