Headed for Wall SD....

On the road to Wall South Dakota, want to see a place called Wall Drugs... Have not a clue what to expect so hoping to have fun. Tonight May 29, 2010 finds us camped at a Casino called Kaw Southwind, in Newkirk Oklahoma. Price for the space is great "free" and it has electricity. Only problem is not any restaurants in the casino, so have to make due.. Still it will be on our list of places to stay in the future.

Tonight we will figure out how far to go tomorrow and how to find a place for free or as cheap as possible... Thing about living this way is you spend so much on fuel that you have to cut back on other things... We ended up being the

only RV staying at this casino overnight. Had the place all to ourselves... LOL

Next stop will be......

Found a City Park in Concordia Kansas.

It is just off Hwy 81 across from a Wal Mart, enter by passing the National guard tanks, and just down from the small airport. Once again it is free and has electric hookups. Weather has changed big time, we have gone from running the air-conditioner to putting on more outer wear... LOL... Did a walk around the park and took some photos just to show...

The next stop on the way to Wall will be????

Galveston Mini Vac

First day after job completion in Texas City I rented a car and went to Galveston beach. The first day about all I did was walk on the beach and eat, then it was time for bed. Next day was not a lot more exciting... I did my wash, went shopping to replace some cloths, and checked out the State park ( total dud as far as I am concerned ) Kay made it down in the early afternoon and took a nap for the rest of the afternoon..... :)... LOL... Went to dinner and then back to hotel for Television and sleep... Not very exciting but just what I needed after working long hours...

Third day was a bit more busy, it was up early for breakfast and packing to leave the hotel, then we drove around looking for a spot to pack the RV... Found one near the water and cost was zero. Walked the dogs, and then drove around in the rental car looking at what was around. To be honest except for the beach there really is not much to see or do here without spending a lot of money.. So we are thinking about picking up and moving on Friday instead of Sunday.

Well we turned in the rental car Friday and hit the road, being a holiday weekend things were looking a bit crowed for us.. So headed north to get out of the heat and away from the crowds. Managed to go about 50 miles north of Dallas ( still too hot ) before shutting down for the night at a small RV park for the high price of $19.00... Not too bad seeing how the place we had in mind was shut down and locked up!!! Very unpleasant surprise...

So hoping to get some sleep and tomorrow we will be off again..

All photos are of Galveston... did not take any others yet...

The End Of Time on The Geco Snapper

May 2010, we the Western Geco crew are no longer with the Boat ( Geco Snapper ) .....

The boat was de-rigged ( all Western gear moved off the boat ) and the crew reassigned to other boats. It was a happy day and a sad day when I found out about leaving the boat. I have been on the Snapper for over four years and have made many friends and at the same time have grown to dread going onboard because of the boat itself.

We spent ten days getting gear off the boat working 12 to 16 hour days, then the gun crew was sent to the wear-house in Texas to clean and organize the gear that was sent there. None of this was as easy as it may sound, took another 7 days to clean, inspect, and rebuild some gear this time only working from 6:30 to 5 so we at least got some rest. Schedule was because of wear house hours not because of us.

The last two days work I found to be very sad, Had to say good bye to people leaving for new boats. After working with someone for two to three years it is sad to say bye. For myself I will go to Galveston for a few days and meet up with Kay, just going to take one day at a time until it is time for me to go to my new boat.

When I do join my new boat I will have to prove myself all over again just loke starting a new job. I have to say I am not looking forward to it. At my age I do not want to start over yet again.

So now to decided what I want to do today besides sleep......

Oh the photos are all of my last day on the Snapper..

Just my luck

Going to make a long story very short... Drove from Tucson to Phoenix and visited a friend. Then drove to Casa Grande and stayed the night in a parking lot of a casino.. Today we drove all the way to the four corners area planing a trip to the four corner monument in the morning... Wellllllllll as my luck would have it the bloody thing is closed this year for some sort of work.. Best we can do is a drive by and wave at it... I will not take photos from a moving RV anymore... have to take too many to get one good one.. So we are here in Another casino parking lot.. this one is set up for RV's and does have internet.. so it is okay.... Name of the town is something like tocoma ???? who knows.. so ends days nine and ten... stay turned for more fun and adventure who knows might even stop sometime and get photos..

Night after leaving the four corners area ( that was closed ) found our way to a small out of the way RV park in Del Norte Co.. Name of the place is Woods and River RV Park.. It has internet, it just does not work... so no blog, facebook or anything else got updated. Did see deer during our early morning walk with the dogs along with a duck. Very nice place to visit, would do it again .... would like internet next time...

Next day was driving thru the mountains.. after a stop at the great dunes of Colorado.. It was windy and cold at the dunes, and windy and bloody cold going thru the mountains... All photos are being posted on facebook at this time.. Ended up just south of Colorado Springs at a Wal Mart for the night....

Today all we did was get to Colorado Springs, and found a RV park that had working internet.. Was going to do the Cog train to Pikes Peek, but it still is not going to the summit so crossed it off list until some other time.. Not sure were we go from here, just think it should be South, or SE, SW.....

Road trip week one.

Lets see if I can sum up the first week of the RV road trip.. First day was April 1st when I got off the boat. Started with the helicopter ride off the boat to heliport in New Orleans, then a ride on the bus to the airport. Then the plane ride from N.O. to Houston to meet Kay with the RV, and off we go. First night we stopped at 7pm in an RV park that was full and had to stay in the overflow lot. This made for a long day......

Second day we were off like a herd of turtles headed west, next stop Fort Stockton Texas. When driving on the I-10 in Texas it seems like you will never leave Texas, it is 800 plus miles from border to border. Most if not all photos taken on the trip at this point were taken from the inside of the RV as we went down the road at 60 MPH... We did make Fort Stockton but once again did not pull into a spot until around 6pm.... Now I am cranky and in a bad mood... Hate long days when off the boat, days on the boat are 12 hour work days so when off like as much free time as I can get..

Day three started with for breakfast at the local flying J ( one of our favorite places ) truck stop before hitting the road for real. Then only went as far as the Flying J in El Paso Texas for fill up and lunch.. Still only photos from the road, really not all that much to look at to be honest... Then drove across the border into New Mexico, ( betting Kay would have preferred Old Mexico )... Still nothing worth stopping to look at so on we go... Stopped for the night in Los Cruces New Mexico.

Fourth day we sort of took it easy, only had to get to Tucson Az and that was only around 300 miles. Started with a stop at the local TA for fuel and breakfast, Lunch in Wilcox AZ at a small cafe that had the best salsa ... This was Easter Sunday and our waitress was wearing the most interesting Easter hat I have seen in years, and of course I did not have a camera with me at the time.. At this point we thought as long as we are here lets take in some of the local museums. Well we ended up out of luck on that one, it was not only Sunday, but Easter Sunday and as the local we asked said " we still honer the lords day in this city, everything is closed today "... So back on the road, next stop Tucson AZ... Made it to Kay's son's place sometime around 4 or 5 pm not sure because of at least two time changes... Setup the RV in the yard, spent a short amount of time with the folks and called it a day.

Monday.... Day 5..... Big deal today was doing my taxes... this took the better part of the morning before I felt somewhat comfortable enough to send it off.. Really really hate taxes.... The afternoon was used to go rent a car for the time we are to stay here ( Friday ), picked one up at the Tucson airport then drove around checking things out until around 5pm when I headed back to base and dinner for the night.. Tom Kay's son made pasta..... So ends the day.

Tuesday Day 6... This day was spent running around town finding things we forgot to take with us and just looking around the general area... Have friends we are trying to contact to visit at least for a short time well we are in the area.. Had a great lunch at the Grand Buffet (Chinese )

.... He he... got my Sushi and was my tummy full... :)

Back to base and checking emails and making phone calls to set up the rest of the week and visits.

Wednesday Day 7... Today I had lunch in Casa Grande with my sisters, have not seen since my last visit three years ago.. had a nice time and a good meal. After lunch we went back to Tucson .. Stopped at an RV place to get some things needed along with information about how much things will cost to have done, if we decide to do them.. Looked for and found a Chinese Restaurant that Helen likes ( Tom's wife ) ... Found the place by shear dumb luck!!! Got enough takeout to serve a small Army and back to base for dinner and the end of another day..

Thursday Day 8... okay over a week... All we did today was visit a friend in Green Valley, that I have not seen in three years, was nice to see her again and see that she was doing okay. She and Kay seemed to hit off so that was also good.. Then back to the RV.. Will be pulling out for Phoenix tomorrow..

All Photos of the trip are posted on facebook...

Upcoming road trip

I get off the boat in nine (9) days, and start a little rode trip in the RV the same day. Current plane is for Kay Julia to meet me in Houston April 1st and head out west. Really can not say how long this trip will last but I do have five weeks off. We will be stopping along the way, however the first layover to visit friends will be in Green Vally AZ. Spend a day or two with old friends from the area, then it is off to Phoenix AZ to see more friends and family. Not sure how long of a stay this will be could last as long as four or five days, maybe... Then we are headed to Colorado for some fun. Want to take the Cog Railroad up Pikes Peak, go to a live show, eat at the Buckhorn, walk the dog in the woods, kick back and enjoy life. Take lots and lots of photos along the way... So that is my plan.... now to see what really happens....

Boat Boat Boat

Now been back on the good ship Snapper for 11 days, still have 17 to go.. Counting???? YES!!!!!!

Been an easy trip in many ways, and yet a pain in the you know what at the same time. Gear has given us very little problems, but paper work and online courses being added to our learning system has gone crazy... I have all of 17 days to complete 24 online classes for to meet my goals. (set by someone else )... Sometimes I think this happens to see if I will give up and walk away.. Someday I will... Just do not know when, but it will be on my terms not someone elses....

Hoping to take an RV road trip during the next break... Were??? Depends on what road we take..

Strange Break

Break is over and it has been a strange one. Started off with getting off the boat in bad weather, we did not know for sure we were going to get off until the helichopper landed on the deck. Landing could have been called off at anytime so when it did land it was a relief. Once on land it was now off to the airport to see if the plane would leave on time or how low a delay it would be, had to go from New Orleans to Houston, then Dallas. Over all things worked out okay, made it to Dallas only two hours late, picked up a car ( rental ) and found a hotel for the night. Ended up staying in Dallas area until the 10th. Was able to get my sisters Meds on the afternoon of the 9th just in time to head back to Mexico and what I thought at the time would be some rest.

Made it to the Mireda airport late on the 10th and was picked up by Kay. That was when I found out Kay wanted to head back to Texas the following Monday, the 15th. Now had to pack up the car, dispose of the furniture, clean the house in four days.

Trip back was done in the rain so no good photos of the way out, same as when we drove down only two months before. On the bright side we did stay at a hotel called Marty's Hotel just north of Veracruz. Great food, nice people and best of all the dogs were welcome.

Took four days three night to drive out of Mexico , then another three day drive to get back home. One day was spent in Houston looking at an RV that we ended up buying, to be picked up later.

Once home we found the water pipes busted and in worse shape then we first thought. To make a long story short, we could not fix it ourselves so called for help Saturday the 27th of Feb. Plumber came out on March the 2ed of March. In between working on the pipes we went back to Houston and picked up the RV, another two day on the road.

So now it is the 2ed of March, I get on a plane tomorrow the 3ed to go to New Orleans and will be back on the boat Thursday the 4th... Been a very strange break and I feel just as exhausted now as when I first got off the boat. This is going to be an extremely difficult four weeks on the boat... I have a new boss, weather out they is bad, and I start of less then rested.

Strange break...

Back in Mexico

Been an interesting week, first just getting off the boat was an adventure all its own. Seas were coming up so we did not know if the chopper could land or not, then it was a wild ride back to land staying low and close to the water so the pilots could see. Once on land it was easy getting to the Airport, but not a sure thing what time the flights would take off. As luck had it I was lucky at both New Orleans and Houston, flight took off close to on time and I arrived in Dallas at 5pm. Only been going since 10pm the night before so was starting to drag. Now time to find the car rental and a hotel for the night. Once outside Dallas ( 2.5 hours later ) traffic I found a hotel and called it a day. Skipped dinner, took a shower and crashed at 9pm for the night.

For the next few days I stayed at our house in Wills Point, only problem was a broken water pipe that meant the water was shut off.. Oh, Joy... Now the main reason for coming back was to get meds that Kay needs to take and can not find in Merida... It took from Friday the 5th until Tuesday the 9th to get all the correct meds, can not do this often... Cost too mush to reschedule airline tickets and rent a car for a week...

Made it back to Merida the 10th of Feb. 2010... Since then Kay and I have spoken and we will go back to Texas and regroup. Need to find a place that is close enough to the border to allow us to drive out when meds are needed.. Looking at places between 600 and 800 miles form the border... So that is were we are today, packing and getting ready to hit the road again...

One more week on the Boat

This is Thursday, Jan. 28th, 2010. I have one week remaining until crew change. Went outside this morning and had to take a few pictures of the sunrise. When I see a sight like this I wonder why I want off the boat so bad. Then I recall that this is winter and the next 14 to 17 foot storm is just around the corner. Fact is we are expecting one this coming weekend, I am just hoping it will not be real bad and that it will come down in time to go home on the 4th.

When I get off I plan to go to Dallas/Wills Point Texas for a few days, have to check on things and pick up the odd item or two. Then it is back to Mexico on the evening of the 7th.. In a strange sort of way I do miss Mexico, looking forward to walking on the beach with Kay and the dogs, and being able to sit, stand, sleep, or eat when I want to and not when it is scheduled. LOL..

Enjoy the Sunrise.