Still alive...

Wow, with work and more work, there has not been much time for anything - travel, photography, blogging.... OK, maybe photography. The agency I work for has for the last year had a new building under construction. This building, about 9,980 square feet will house all of our administrative offices, a Data Center, Training Center and storage. The Training Center and Data Center are both constructed to withstand an EF5 Tornado. Only makes sense since we live along Tornado Alley. Part of what I did was every week visited the site and took pictures of the construction progress. With more than 65 GB, yes, 65 gigabytes of photographs, it has been a large undertaking. The photos are filed by date. I am now working on taking a few of those pictures to try and make a time lapse slide show that will give people an idea of the construction process. Not as easy as one would thing.  But, it has been with great joy that we moved into the facility on October 15, 2015. Now we are in the final completion stage, fixing door closers, touching up paint, working bugs out of the telephone and access systems. But, it is ours and we will be here for a lot of years. This rendering is just about spot on as to what the building actually looks like.

Dedication and a Holiday Open House are scheduled for Wednesday, December 9, 2015

The Texas Weather ain't as sweet as the Tea

14 degrees with 3.5 inches of snow on the ground and it is still falling. I don't think that this is what we signed up for when we moved here 15 years ago. Of course this is the worst winter in 20 years. Well, for sure it is the worst in the last 15 years.

Backyard at 1PM

Most winters are dry and cold. I think I like that better than cold and wet. Like most places in Texas, Lubbock has few if any snow plows. Snow removal is sun and a chloride mix in the intersections. Our biggest advantage is that the State DOT has snow plows and they keep the Interstate and most of the major roads through the City cleared as they are part of the State Road System.
This weather certainly does not help the construction of our new facility. Still don't have all the concrete poured and they have been working on it since October of 2014.
Well, I'll wait a day and the weather will change. It always does.

Thanksgiving in PEP, Texas

Pep, Texas is a very small town located about 50 miles west of Lubbock, northwest of Levelland, TX. The path to Pep is on State Highway 114 and then Farm to Market 303. On this beautiful Thanksgiving day, with temperatures in the high 30s, we headed out on our journey. Passing through the bounties of this part of Texas, Cotton waiting to be harvested and cotton in big modules, stripped from the plants and waiting to be hauled to the gin, Cattle, Oil and some occasional Sorghum thrown in for a change of color.

Cotton Modules ready to go to the Gin

Cotton Seed Oil Plant

Cotton waiting to be stripped and oil wells

Cotton Module press on the move to another field

Loose Cotton Hauler

 Of course we passed the other parts of Texas in this trip also. The fields of brown grass, sage bush, and mesquite brush, run down and abandon homes, businesses, lone windmills, abandon cattle watering troughs and run down fences.

Abandon Business

This is a land of dreams as big as the Texas skies and dreams that can get dashed into the brown and arid land.
OK, so why are we going to Pep, Texas?

Well, for the last 15 years we have been told to visit Pep on Thanksgiving and partake of the wonderful dinner that is provided by the Catholic Church (St. Philip Neri Hall).

St. Philip Church

 From the Handbook of Texas on-line (William R. Hunt) "The site was part of the Yellow House Ranch of the XIT Ranch. It passed to the Littlefield estate and was then sold by the Yellow House Land Company in 1924. Much of this farmland was sold to Germans interested in establishing a Catholic colony, which they originally named Ledwig for Rev. Francis Ledwig, their pastor. In 1936, reportedly the name Ledwig did not suit the post office department, and Pep was chosen as the town's new name, to reflect an admired characteristic of its residents." Pep had a population of 35 in 2000. Now the population is two (2), and I believe that they both live in a residence at the church. The town consists of a school, Post Office and the church. We were warned to get there early. In a period of three (3) hours (11AM to 2PM) they feed a thousand people or more (about 1,200 in 2014). In addition you can get great German sausage, Breakfast Sausage, home made bread and sauerkraut.  They have been doing this for about 69 years. It started as the annual church Thanksgiving dinner and has emerged as a major fund raiser fr the church.
We were told to arrive early. We did, by arriving at 10:10 A.M. There were already 30 people ahead of us. We passed the time talking to others in line, buying bread, sausage and sauerkraut and trying to stay warm in the mid 30 degree temperature, with a 15 mile an hour wind.

People waiting to enter - 10 minutes before doors open.

The meal is served buffet style, with three serving lines.

Two of the buffet lines

You had a choice of dressing, mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy, sauerkraut, turkey, German sausage, bread and your choice of about seven different kinds of desserts. A large sign is posted in several places that state "Take as much as you want, but eat everything that you take." The food was terrific and abiding by the signs was very hard to do. If anyone leaves there hungry, it is their own fault.

We did not leave hungry. We left with sausage, bread and sauerkraut and a wonderful memory. Another thing to check off the list. So, if you find yourself on the Plains of Texas on Thanksgiving, be assured that you can get a great Thanksgiving dinner for $10. But, get there early.

Texas Handbook On-line

The Weather Outside is Frightful!

12 degrees with a wind chill of -5 degrees. Snow on top of Ice and still a light snow falling. Weather to be the same into 2015. What a way to end 2014. Thought that when we moved to Texas that I would not have this kind of weather. Guess we didn't move far enough south.

We are still alive

When we last spoke we were on Mt. Lemmon outside of Tucson, AZ. That was like back in November and here it is August and nothing new, nothing, nothing.
Well, since the November 2013 Arizona trip, we have been to the Corpus Christi area, staying at one of our favorite RV Resorts, made a couple trips to Washington State - thanks Southwest - (Happy 95th Birthday back in April to my Mom) been to Amarillo and a long weekend in Caprock Canyon, with the dog. The Caprock Canyon Trip was Annie's (the dog) first RVing adventure. Not quite sure how she liked it.  Think she likes staying at Tipton Pet Hotel better and playing with her dog friends.
We do have another trip planned for later in the year. We will see how that goes. But, this is a stayin' alive post. Will get back into the swing of things later - promise.

Mt. Lemmon, Arizona

Mt. Lemmon was the next all-day adventure. (Warning, picture heavy post) Who would have thought that outside Tucson, AZ, known for its warm climate, was a 9,100 foot mountain and Ski Area. It sure seems out of place, but it was a beautiful drive and a pretty day. Off we went, climbing almost 8,000 feet in about 21 miles. The road is a great two lane paved, though narrow in some places, and on this day, heavily traveled by bicyclists. 

Bicyclists pedal toward the top of Mt. Lemmon

There are ample pull-outs and view points along the way. As always I took a number of "windshield" pictures during the trip. The start of the road, called the "Sky Island Scenic Byway" 

starts out at the general elevation of Tucson, about  2,389  feet above sea level.

As the road climbs out of Tucson proper, you see the cactus, mostly saguaro, anchored in the desert landscape. 

Saguaro Cactus along the road and hills

Looking out over Tucson, you get an idea of just how high you have climbed in just a few miles.

Overlooking Tucson

I have a friend  who had a buddy that lived on the lower portion of this very road. My friend told me of times when he and his buddy would take their wives up this road, my friend driving a Corvette and his friend driving a Ferrari.  The speed was above the posted limits (probably well above) and it included screaming wives telling them to slow down.  As you will see this road is not for the feint of heart. 

The cactus in some areas looked like sentries standing guard in the desert. 

Saguaro Cactus standing tall

 In other places they look like they are just trying to hang on to the cliffs.

As we continued to climb up the mountain, we noticed a distinct change in the ground cover. We were not win scrub brush and Oak. At the Molino Canyon Vista we found this sign that explained the transition.

Looking around you saw little cactus, a some green scrub Oak and other species.

Then as we continued it seemed like a dramatic change to HooDoos and a little scrub greenery. 

That is the road at the top of the picture

Different colors of the rock in the cut

Here you can see the road double back

Again, we found several pull outs and actual view points on the way up. Including this one where this couple is probably feeling like they are on the top of the world

I know I did. Soon the HooDoos gave way to Pine trees typical of high elevation mountains. 

The beautiful colors of the rock in the wall

 

Up at the Ski area 

we found a restaurant called the Iron Door advertising homemade pies. So, we thought that we would stop on the way down from the end of the road.  At the very top, the University of Arizona has an Astronomy Center - called the "Sky Center" it however was behind a locked gate. 

This area, as you can see in the pictures, was subject to a fire a couple years ago and the damage is still evident. Unfortunately for us, and about a dozen other people that stopped, the restaurant was closed. The sun shining in the window illuminated the "Open" sign, and if it had not been for the hours listed on a small sign by the gate, we would have found the door locked.

Headed back down the mountain, we discovered the little village of Summerhaven, which is also known as Mt. Lemmon. Located next to the post office a rustic looking restaurant called the Sawmill Run.

We went in and had a piece of pie and we were not disappointed. This little community has a couple of shops and is made up mostly of summer and/or winter cabins. A cute little place at the top of the mountain. The drive up the mountain had taken us something like three hours. The drive down, about 45 minutes. If you are in Tucson, this is a great little side trip, the views are outstanding. Of course, I wanted to take a different route back that would have taken us to Oracle Junction, which is north of Tucson. In checking with the locals, they stated that it was about 20 miles - known as the "Control Road" and would take about two hours. Had it not been 4PM already, that is the way we would have gone home.

Rincon Country (West) RV Resort - Tucson, AZ

Our next stop was Tucson, Arizona. We had read in Family Motor Coach Association magazine about a 55+ RV Park (actually two of them) called Rincon Country RV Resort. There is an east resort, located on the east side of Tucson and a west resort located on the west side of Tucson, just off I-19. These resorts intrigued us, as they offered all sorts of activities for the residents. The west resort includes a wood working shop for the residents use.  We were also kind of looking for a place to spend time during the winter after we retire (OK, so we have 60 more months to work). Some place a little warmer than Lubbock. Yuma, Tucson and the Florida Keys and maybe even south Texas are currently in the running. I'll warn you now, this post is picture heavy.

Deb and I have stayed several times at what are considered "high end" RV Resorts in the past. Mustang Island and Lake Havasu City were both in the $50-$70 per night range. For this price you get nice paved roads, beautiful landscaping, controlled access and, location. We were convinced by our friends Dan and Cindy to join Passport America as it would be a great cost savings. Well, they were correct. Using Passport America for our stay at Rincon Country West reduced our stay total by about 50%.

The first thing we found after passing through the staffed entry gate was beautifully manicured landscaped curbs and dividers. 

Looking out the "gate."

 

Office is on the right

This beautiful setting continued well past the office into all of the park. This park, like the one in Lake Havasu City is a combination of Park Model homes and a section for Recreational Vehicles. Inter-mixed on some of the streets, (probably lot owners) but, for the most part in a separate area.

Looking down a nearly empty RV Section.

 

Typical RV Spot - Back In

They also have a separate section for RVers with Pets. We were fortunate to stay in the pet section even though our dog was at home.

RV Pedestals in the Island - One RV each side

 

These are Pull Through sites - quite pretty

Another view of two pull through sites

 

There are four (4) Pull Through sites around each "block."

In the information packet provided at check in (could almost be a binder) they provided a list of upcoming events that were taking place. Since we were there just before Veteran's Day, one of the events was a pancake breakfast to honor all of the Veterans. There were various exercise classes offered, from Yoga to Pilates. There was a swimming pool Shuffle Board Courts,

Courtyard at office area - looking toward pool.

 

Swimming Pool area - dressing/changing rooms on the right

Shuffle Board Courts

plus Bocce Ball, Tennis Courts, Basketball courts and even a model Railroad group.

Just a part of the model rail line

 

Great detail and engineering!

They also have at least two laundry facilities

 which were very clean and an activities office to get more information on what activities are going on, what to see and the like.

The people, both staff and residents I talked to were friendly and outgoing. One of the gentlemen I talked to, as he was helping to clean the Shuffle Board Court, said that he and his wife had started coming here in an RV. When health issues made it difficult to live/travel in the RV, they bought a place here and come every winter. Deb and I used this for a base as we explored other areas of Tucson, so we really did not make use of all of the things this park has to offer. But, we will be back here - probably before we retire.