We woke early and went down to breakfast and found we were companions with a group of German motorcyclists. They had come from Germany and rented motorcycles in Chicago. They were traveling the old Route 66 to Los Angeles. There were about 20 altogether, husbands and wives and friends.They were so pleasant and friendly. It was a pleasure to visit with them. I also got a picture of our hotel in the morning light.
After breakfast Jer decided to rearrange the mantel so it would ride better. He tilted it up and tied it well. And off we went.
From Gallup we continued to head east on US Hwy 40. We finally entered Texas that morning and at Amarillo we turned onto Texas 287. We stopped for lunch at a Sonic in Memphis, Texas. It was a fun restaurant because it had a full size statue of a cowboy on a horse. I'm sorry that at that point our camera died and I took a picture of the statue with my phone but I can't get the pictures off the phone so you will just have to imagine it. :o) It got exciting for a few minutes in Memphis because Jer's credit card was declined. this is the card that gives us travel miles and we really wanted to use it for the whole trip. We called the company and they wanted to make sure it was truly us using the card across the country and spending so much every few hours on gas. It was about $90 every stop and we were traveling pretty steadily across the states. It's good they keep an eye on that sort of thing and soon they corrected it so his card was good again. I still need to call the company and tell them that we truly are in Texas now so they will let me use my card too.
From Memphis we continued traveling and bought some yogurts and a banana at a gas station and that was our dinner. We finally got into Wichita Falls close to 9 and crashed at a Comfort Inn for which we were grateful after the Hotel El Rancho. I could finally feel comfortable taking a shower and changing clothes.
Wednesday June 4, 2014
Comfort Inn served a very nice buffet breakfast and got us off to a good start early in the morning. We felt so close to Houston we were really excited to make it to Barneys that afternoon. We headed toward Fort Worth/Dallas and hit there about 9 and thought we were after the rush hour but still ran into a stop and go section that took about an hour to get through. We had to condense into one lane for a few miles and when we finally saw the hangup it was the traffic division hanging a new sign over the freeway. We were just a little amazed that they would choose to do that in the middle of the morning but it must have been important enough to require it. Finally we were on our way again and had a straight trip to Kingwood. As it happily happened, the Uhaul place was exactly on the way to Barneys' house so we dropped off the dreaded tow dolly. Jer drove the van and I drove the pickup to their house. YAY! We made it! It was still just after 3 so Lara asked if we wanted to see the condo that day and of course we said yes! We drove in the truck to the condo and blessedly were able to finally remove that mantel and exercise bike and place them in their new home. I had worried ever since we bought the mantel that maybe it wouldn't exactly fit the space we have for it and I was so relieved to see that it is EXACTLY the right size for the space. We need to cut about 5" from the bottoms but the space in the center and the measurement from side to side is exactly right. We need to take off the fake brick and put up wall board to fill in where it's gone and the mantel will take its place between those windows perfectly. That will wait till all the necessary projects are done, but it will come in its time. On our way to the condo we got to see the community that we were moving into and it is lovely and so green with lots and lots of trees! Ir's a deed restricted community named Newport and our complex is called Fairview Port. Most all the streets are named nautical terms like Forecastle and Port o Call. Just before we come to our complex we cross a bridge over a sort of river bed called Gum Gully. It was probably named before the nautical naming began.
Thursday June 5, 2014
I felt 100% better the next morning. I was so grateful because there was going to be a lot to do. At 9 we were waiting for the son of a friend of Lara's and his friend to come help us unload everything. He finally called and said his friend wouldn't be available till 1130. We said never mind, we will go ahead and do it without him and so the boy (Mike) came along by himself. He turned out to be all we needed. He works out and practically carried everything in one hand with Jer and Lara and me carrying the boxes and fake plants and light ends of things. We were done in about 45 minutes and Mike left with his payment and our gratitude.
Then the work began. We arranged all the furniture approximately into the right places and started trying to get it settled in. Lara and I started taking labels off dishes and place mats, putting dishes in the dishwasher, and finding places for food and pots and pans. Jer started looking into the places that need to be fixed. He started with the garbage disposal. Of course he brought as many tools as he could think of needing.
Lara and Jon had graciously loaned us their old tv so we were expecting to have to sign up with Verizon in a day or two, but there was a knock on the door and there stood a neighbor in shorts and a t shirt and he said, I know I don't look it but I work for Verizon and saw your Uhaul van and wondered if y'all were interested in getting tv service. We welcomed him in and he set us up right then. He came back in a few minutes with the box and wires and remote, gave us some numbers and told us what to do. Lara had also arranged for the air conditioning guy to come by this day and he was also here looking around in the attic at the unit. We had been told before we came that the unit was too old and would cost about $6000 to replace. We wanted a second opinion and this man was great. He said the unit was okay but the compressor needed to be replaced and charged with freon and he could do it tomorrow morning for under $1500. Since the temperature was in the high 90s that day and the humidity was about equal to that we were extra grateful and looked forward to his speedy return. We learned that the dishwasher is just fine but needs care closing it. We had been told that it may need to be replaced. The garbage disposal does need to be replaced. Some of the roof over the patio has fallen down and needs to be fixed but the HOA is rexponsible for that. :o) We went shopping for some things we could remember so we could have breakfast the next morning. The refrigerator was running all day and didn't keep the ice cream frozen so we were concerned about that..
After we got too tired rearranging and putting away we tried to hook up the internet and tv and became very frustrated. We called a number the neighbor gave us and got more frustrated till the rep told us some simple things and HOORAY! we were on the internet! Success is a wonderful thing especially after a lot of frustration. The tv still didn't work but that would wait for tomorrow. After putting away and working all day we were pretty tired so we went to bed with the fan blowing across us and slept warmly till morning.
Friday June 6, 2014
This morning we woke early in order to be ready for the a/c man at 8. He had called the office the day before and made sure they had the compressor we needed in stock and the man on the phone said, yes, they had it. He made him go look and be sure. But this morning he didn't come. And he didn't come. We continued to put away and work but would have liked to know what was happening. Jer spent the morning putting together the tv stand and it looks really nice. We are really pleased with it. In the meantime, our neighbor came back, this time dressed in his Verizon shirt, and told us what to do to get the tv working. That was a comfort to get that done and working. Very satisfying. Feels more like home, right? if you have the internet and Netflix.
We went shopping again for more things we had discovered we needed. We had gotten up for breakfast and Jer was going to scramble some eggs but we had no spatula. I was going to have cereal and had milk but no cereal. We had bacon and toast, made more lists and got to work. I hung pictures and plugged in extension cords and tried to learn which plugs were connected to what switches. I ironed the clothes we had brought and hung them in the closet and arranged the bathrooms and tried to find places for the Christmas tree and the bags we had brought. Finally the a/c man called and said they hadn't had the compressor we needed after all so he had to drive to Katy, TX to get it and would be here in the afternoon sometime. We were just grateful that he was finally coming whenever. We went shopping yet again and bought more things that we didn't know before that we needed. I bought a spatula and other cooking utensils, some cereal and some waste baskets. Lara showed us a little fruit stand she had discovered and we got a wonderful pineapple and some other good things. We were really happy with our visit to WalMart in Atascocita where we got some little tv trays that serve as great living room lamp tables and some other things very economically. We got a nice little tiny Canon camera at Best Buy there.
When the a/c man came we welcomed him warmly and he got to work. It took him about 3 hours to complete the job and the air began to cool immediately. We were so grateful. It's hard to express how grateful we were. We could handle the heat, but it was so much better without it. We actually felt good moving around and doing things.
For dinner we went to a great little bar-b-q place called Straight off the Road BBQ that is on the main street here. We took the Barneys as a treat for all the wonderful help they have been to us over this whole long time getting the place and getting settled. It was the absolute BEST BBQ I have ever ever tasted. When we came home we changed and found a movie and watched it and went to bed comfortably. Every day things here get better and better.
Saturday June 7, 2014
After an almost normal night and a normal breakfast we felt almost moved in and settled. We still have the great hurdle of the dryer installation, though. Before starting that Jer suggested looking for Home Depot in Baytown for the supplies and then looking up our new ward in Houston. He had tried to find Home Depot yesterday but gave up after getting lost. We started out with renewed instructions and his past experience to help us and we found where he had gone wrong. We just knew we had to go 6.4 miles down one road and turn onto Main St. We went the 6.4 miles and there was the road, no name post, just a little obscure road between green fields in the country. We were very happy to finally make it to Home Depot, Jer's favorite shopping spot, and get the things that we needed for the dryer. I have to say here that any time we have had to find something in a store the clerks have been more than helpful; they have been warm and friendly and genuinely interested in helping us find what we need. This was no exception.
After getting all that we needed we set out to find our little ward building. It's a 20 minute drive and we're glad we did the exploration today. We are excited to meet our brothers and sisters in the gospel tomorrow. I hope it's as good an experience as shopping has been with the warmth of the people.
For lunch Jer wanted to try the little Mexican restaurant down the street. It's a really cute little place inside with lots of colorful decorations. The people are fun and very nice. Most of the food we had was good, but the rice was really good. Jer had shrimp enchiladas. They also offered Mexican hamburgers and chicken fried steak. Read the sign.
After getting home Jer installed the garbage disposal and I started writing this blog. Sorry that it's been so long, but we have been busy. And it has been hard to think when we have been so tired. The disposal went in well because he just replaced the bad one with it's new twin and then he replaced the doorbell button. Then he started on the dreaded dryer installation. He fixed the electrical box fairly easily and then started on the vent. It vents onto the front porch. :o( But that's that so he is making it as neat as possible. It takes creativity to do this.
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