18 March – 9 April 2025 Break through on our house hunt!

 When we met with a house builder we liked to get a feel for a house we liked, they mentioned a new development off Old Granbury Road south west of Cresson that they had heard about. The next day we checked out a house in Bear Creek Hills that had a lot of potential and on the way back went and investigated the Cougar Mountain subdivision. As we drove through, we saw most of the properties were already sold but a few were available through real-estate companies. The subdivision was formerly a part of the True Grit ranch and all the streets were named after characters in the movie True Grit. Since John Wayne is Davids favorite actor, it seemed serendipitous that we found several properties that we liked. We had our agent, Laurie, gather information on both areas. The property in Bear Creek Hills did not have a view, but it did have a perfect shop building, big enough to hold the Wanderer and give us plenty of room for David’s wood working. The house had solar install and a nice pool. But the house was 25 years old and was in need of $100K of renovations to the kitchen and bathrooms. We had Donny and Diane come over and tour the house to give us a second opinion. We decided to make an offer but it was well below what they were asking because of the renovations that would be required. We also picked out a property in Cougar Mountain we liked that had a wonderful view out over they Brazos Valley and made an offer on it. After some back and forth with both owners, we decided the house in Bear Creek Hills was not going to be able to come down to a price we were willing to pay. So we signed a contract to buy the lot in Cougar Mountain (Lot 80). We were able to negotiate a good price for the 2.15 acres. We had the property surveyed to make sure we knew where the lot lines were and found out the lot was further west than we thought and there was a dirt road running through the middle of it. After much angst, we were able to verify there was no easement and that it was just an old ranch road. So, we are going forth with the buy of the land this week. We will need to drill a well which should be about $20K to reach the first water layer called the Paluxy Aquifer. We have started working with Home Designs by Marcy based on a model home design of hers we saw that we really liked. We will get the house plans defined, then shop it around to several custom home builders to see what kind of price we can get. 

Sunset from the new property

8 March 2025 We Almost Learned to Fly

 

We were woken up at 5Am this morning when the whole trailer shuddered and then began bucking wildly in extremely high winds. We have experienced high winds before but nothing like this. For the first time we were worried we might actually flip and were holding on to the sides of the bed for dear life. Poor Keira flew up into our bed for reassurance. Then we got hit by extremely heavy rain and dime size hail that made it impossible to talk over the noise from the roof. We had received no warning this storm was coming, nothing from our weather apps on our phones or from the National Weather Service. We later learned a man had died a few miles north of us near Cresson when his trailer flipped and rolled multiple times. After the sun came up, we went out to inspect the damage. The trailers on either side of us suffered significant damage (Broken sky lights, tail lights, etc). One lady claims she heard the sound of a train believing it was a tornado. We found a few shallow dents in the hood and side of the truck but nothing broken on the Behemoth or Wanderer. A few days later, David got up on the roof and found the cooling fins on both air conditioners had taken a beating and would need work to open them back up for air flow. The rear air conditioner took the brunt of it. The front air conditioner seems to have been sheltered a bit by the TV satellite antenna. The antenna case for the Cellphone amplifier was broken, but we don’t use the system anyways. Otherwise, no damage to our vents, solar panels or sky light. Some of the RVs in the campground suffer over $8,000 damage. David later got on the roof and spent a day straightening the cooling fins and performed the yearly maintenance work on the air conditioners. Overall, we were lucky and the good Lord was watching over us. 

Damaged Cooling Fins on Rear Air Conditioner.

Damaged Cooling Fins on Rear Air Conditioner.

Damaged Cooling Fins on Rear Air Conditioner.

Damaged Antenna

Damaged Cooling Fins on Rear Air Conditioner.with cover off

Fins on rear air conditioner after hours of straightening.

18-21 February 2025 Deep Freeze 2025

 We had four very cold days for Texas. We prepared ahead of time by filling up the fresh water tank and topping off the Propane Tanks on Friday. On Tuesday morning before the rain moved in, we disconnected the water line and put the hoses up. Then dumped the grey and black tanks. The low Wednesday morning was 12F with snow flurries and wind chills below zero. David had to go into the plant Wednesday and Thursday for work. We were initially concerned Wednesday morning that there might be ice on the roads, but fortunately it stopped raining before temperatures dropped below freezing Tuesday and the north winds dried up the roads. Between the electric fire place on the propane heat, we stayed warm and cozy. Thursday morning the temperature dipped down to 8F. When David got up in the morning, he found that no hot water was coming out of the faucets in the bathroom, but cold water was running. When he went downstairs, no water was coming out of the faucet at all and the trailer was chilly. A quick check showed only one furnace was running and the stove burners would barely lite.  After taking Keirra for a quick walk (no she did not want to be out in the cold either), David checked the propane tank and found it was frozen up. The lower half of the tank was covered in ice and the pressure gauge showed a very low level even though the tank was half full. When the temperature of propane tanks is low and the level of liquid propane in the tank is below a half, the propane does not flash into gas as easily, this results in a pressure drop in the tank and can ice up the gas valves. With the pressure low, only one furnace could run. David swapped us over to the backup propane tank and reset the furnaces. We also suspect that the low temperatures in the basement had resulted in the water in the valve tree freezing up and cutting off water. We had learned about these issues from a fellow New Horizon owner that winters over in Missoula Montana. He had told us how his propane tanks had iced up and his valve tree froze. He had to buy special electric tank warmers to keep his propane warm in the below zero weather in Montana. With both our furnaces now running, the trailer quickly warmed up but it took a couple of hours for the water lines to unfreeze and water flow freely. Fortunately, there are no water leaks. Later that night, while trying to close the front door, the lock was very stiff from the cold, David was pulling hard on the door lock handle and it broke off! There was just enough handle left in one corner that we were able to get the door to close and latch. David replaced the lock and handle over the weekend with a better version. We were very happy for the warmer weather to come back for the weekend! Meanwhile, we continue our search for our next home. 

Broken Lock Handle

13 January 2025 Conroe to Granbury, TX

 Today we left our adopted southern home, Leisure Lane RV resort for Granbury. We ended up getting a late start when it took almost an hour to air up the trailer tires to the required pressure due to the cold temperatures. The Leisure Lane staff was sorry to see us leave since we have been a winter fixture there for the last five years. We are staying at Bennett’s RV Ranch ($500 per month plus electric) until we find a home to move into. The drive was uneventful and we pulled into Bennett’s just before sundown. We have a long term back in site near the entrance. We chose Granbury since it is central to the area we are looking for a home. The RV Park is close to everything in Granbury and only 30 minutes to Fort Worth, but it is a long drive (1.5 to 2 hours) over to Dallas to see Leslie’s Mom. Leslie plans to try and get over to her Mom’s at least once per week. It has helped us figure out we may want to be more to the east in the Godly area to reduce that drive when we find our home. 

11 January 2025 Happy Birthday Leslie

 To celebrate Leslie’s latest Birthday we had two parties. One on 10 January at Cynthia’s and Felix’s House with the Family, including Lauren, Bryan and the Grand Nieces. Avery picked out some flowers and insisted that there had to be a Birthday Cake! Everyone had a fun evening that ended when Avery stuck herself in her eye with a plastic straw that she was playing with. Luckily, no serious damage was done. On Saturday night, David treated her, Cynthia and Felix to dinner at Schilleci’s New Orleans Kitchen for some wonderful Cajun cuisine. On Sunday we went to church and said goodbye to our adopted church family. 

3 January 2025 Trip to Dallas

 Leslie and Cynthia took the opportunity to drive up to Dallas and visit with their mother, Diane, for the afternoon (before driving back). The took her out to lunch at Nordstrom’s and spent time catching up. Not to mention the 6 hours in the vehicle to catch up with each other. 

1 January 2025 Happy New Years 2025

 We spent our New Years enjoying a fire in our fire pit in the RV Park. The neighborhoods around us set off plenty of fireworks in celebration we did not feel like we missed out. Poor Keira does not like fireworks and spent the evening hiding in her kennel. We tried to bring her out by the fire, but the fireworks were too much for her.