Showing posts with label Little House Customs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Little House Customs. Show all posts

3/15/14

Fun, Food and Friends! The 2014 GE&H

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WHERE:  We are just west of Montgomery, Alabama on the Alabama River at a COE park, Gunter Hill.

WHO:   Between 70 and 80 fiberglass trailers, mostly 17 foot Casitas.

WHAT:  The fourth annual rally of the Green Eggs and Ham, a St Patty’s Day event.

It’s Saturday morning and the campground is still asleep; everyone resting after a very busy week of activities.

This rally has more scheduled activities than any of the others we attend.  For example, this week we can pick from a craft class, an Alaskan trip talk, a Dutch oven cooking class and a Casita maintenance class.  And that is just during the day!   Each night at the pavilion there is food and music.

Yesterday we squeeze a paddle in just before the cooking class and it is way too much for this gal.  Right after dinner I head back to the trailer, too tired to have any more fun!

We arrive on a balmy, 73 degree Tuesday afternoon finding the park full of little white trailers.  Pleased to see our good friends, Jerry and Wanda, are right across the road in a beautiful waterfront site.  Our site, while not on the water, is private and nestled in the woods…no need to pull the blinds on the back window. 

It’s exciting to walk around and find old friends scattered around the park.  Friends from Georgia, Maureen and Todd, offer us sandwiches, leftovers from feeding others at lunch, and we are grateful not to cook.   That night the warm weather ends with rain and we watch TV in the camper.  Our first night of camper TV viewing since 1/5/14!  The joys of a full hook-up!

The next day there is more visiting and greeting old friends as eggs are arriving regularly all day.  The rally starts today, Wednesday, but campers have been arriving since last Thursday.

While Larry performs some minor repairs we visit with Texas friends at our campsite.  Later, the chili coalescing affair, (the chili dump), takes place at the pavilion.  This involves two large pots and lots of contributions from homemade chili to store bought.

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It’s cold, the wind cuts like a knife, and while hubby stays for the music, I opt for the warmth of the trailer.

Thursday, the sun is out and even though it’s too cold to kayak, I find other ways to have fun.  This trike belongs to a friendly couple from Pensacola who we had previously met at this same park last year.

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Lots of fun and a good workout…one makes it go forward by leaning side to side!

I try to find something pretty to photograph but the drab water and winter landscape is uninspiring.  On my bike I spot these trees, a promise that spring is coming!

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That night we are back visiting with friends.  This is Wanda and Melanie laughing in spite of the smoke.

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Donna’s strawberry cobbler did not last long!

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Everybody is full of cobbler and brownies!

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View from our dinner site!

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Alabama sunset….made me miss Arizona!

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Picking’ at the Pavilion.

Our boats look forlorn while we wait for the temperature to rise.

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A friend joins us and we head down the creek to the Alabama River.  We do nothing strenuous, just poke along.  First time in our boats since returning from Florida one year ago.

Our buddy, Donna from Florida, asks us to be a part of the Dutch oven cooking class.  Could not say “no”, especially after learning it would be fun.  David prepares his specialty, “dump cake”.

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We have a blast doing this!  And everyone gets a small taste of all the different dishes!

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Everyone waits patiently for the food to be done.

As the cooking class ends, the gumbo begins!  Another lovely couple, Bob and Pat host the gumbo night.

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Our neighbor, Lora from Virginia, takes a turn stirring the gumbo!

Even with the erratic weather, really having a good time.  Lots of fun, making lots of memories! 

We enjoy having Mike and Gerri of Happytrails  camp next to us and meeting Bob and Sharon from Illinois.  Always special to run into other bloggers, and more special when they know who you are!

This our last day and it’s overcast. Hope the rain holds off until tonight so we can paddle and cook another meal in the Dutch oven.  Another day to visit and eat……

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1/8/14

Surviving the Freeze!

 

(We are on our way to Arizona!)

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COLD!!!! That’s been the word for the past 5 days!

We are able to get packed and leave last Saturday morning.  Not  a pretty travel day but not too cold.  Made it to a Meridian, MS Passport America park….not much there.  Just a gravel parking lot with a nice bathhouse and office.  Free chocolate candy!

The next day the forecast got scary with talk of sleet and snow but we pressed on driving through rain and wind and back into the sunshine….cold sunshine!  Got through all of MS and LA arriving at another Passport park in Longview, TX.  The predicted low for the night is 19 degrees!  (Need to stop here and remind everyone that we do not have a furnace….just a little ceramic space heater!)  We manage to sleep warm with our  comforter and a few throws.  I worry about our cat, Sylvester, staying warm.  I try to cover him and he does not cooperate.  Eventually he makes his bed on David’s stomach.

The next morning we have ice on all our windows….on the inside!!!!  It is 17 degrees that morning and I hope to never experience that again!  The freeze is predicted to extend another day and night but I’m not concerned as we will be camping inside Little House Customs’ shop that night. 

For the past two years we have had BAL stabilizers on our wish list for the Casita.  And it’s going to finally happen!

Tada!  The finished product!

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Since it has been way too cold to take any pictures outside….and thought it might be different to show what it’s like on the inside of a Casita. Not the pretty little doll house pictures that I see on Facebook and the forums but our version of real camping!

David reading (or sleeping)

David reading his Nook (or sleeping!)

Sylvester enjoys the heater!

Sylvester enjoying the heater!

David enjoys our makeshift supper

Supper….the leftovers did not fill us….second course, vanilla wafers and peanut butter.

It had been a long tiring day!

Baby boy staying warm.

Enjoyed our time at Little House Customs as Larry and Debbie are great hosts!  I stuck to Larry’s huge wood burning stove…it felt sooo good to be warm!

Lynne enjoying the wood stove at Little House Customs

The wood stove!!!!

A better view of this wonderful stove!  This is the main source of heat for his shop.

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Our Casita baby all snug and warm for the night!

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View from upstairs.

Writing tonight from Monahans Sandhills State Park (west Texas) ….last night was spent in Ranger, TX.  May be through with Texas by tomorrow afternoon….sure takes forever to drive!

The good news!!!!!!  It was 60 here today!  But 28 predicted tonight….still camping with hookups.

1/3/14

Getting Ready to Roll!

 

Less than 24 hours away, departure day is upon us and we are awakening to snow on the ground!  Unexpected show….they said flurries!  It’s not much but coupled with the low temps, the trailer packing becomes more challenging.

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Wish we had planned better…..  This year we decided to stick around after Christmas instead of hitting road right after the big holiday.  Now we are paying the price!

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So it is either pack in the sub freezing temps today and get out of town tomorrow or take the chance of being caught in more inhospitable weather.

Just trying to keep the eye on the prize this AM as I survey the white stuff around me.  We are heading to east Texas and a visit to LHC and from there, well, it depends on the weather.  We have friends on their way to Big Bend and it would be nice to camp with them again.  ( Hi! Glenda and Jeff) but I don’t want to be cold!  Current temps across our pathway….Big Bend National Park 33 degrees, Quitman, TX 27 degrees, Phoenix and Yuma, AZ 49 degrees….and it’s 8 AM in AZ.

We are taking our newest family member, Sylvester, to the Southwest with us.  In anticipation of his needs, we’ve gotten more cat carriers, kitty beds and litter boxes.  Not sure where everything is going to fit.

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This will be the first time we have taken a pet.  A bit nervous about it but so many other people travel with their cats and dogs…surely we will adjust!

Don’t have the time to do a proper post….just know we are heading to the sun!  A visit to the boon docking lands of Yuma and Quartzsite and a wedding in Phoenix….these are our only concrete plans….and there’s some jello in them!

Wishing everyone on the road to stay safe and everyone else, stay warm!!!!

12/22/13

Winter Solstice, Valances and Good Tidings to All!


While fighting the cold, a bitter winter day five or six years ago, I made a vow to escape winter once retirement happened.  And we have, fleeing successfully for the past two years!
The pictures below are from our last winter at home in 2011.  This snow was much heavier than normal but it does happen occasionally.  I do not like snow; can tolerate maybe two hours of it!
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Yesterday was the winter solstice…the shortest day of the year.  I always look forward to the day that signifies the increasing daylight.  Suffering in the past from seasonal affective disorder….I hate the long, cold and dark nights.  Our annual trip to the sun has eliminated the depressive symptoms.  Looking at pictures of the desert sunrise is great medicine!
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Sunrise at Dome Rock
We’re getting excited as our exit day approaches but also a bit worried that winter will follow us into Texas where we will be visiting Larry and Debbie Gamble.  Another mod, BAL stabilizers are on the schedule.
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The long awaited valances are finally complete!  Pleased to say they are up and there are no complaints.  Enjoyed taking the sewing machine out of storage and dusting it off.  The last time it was used was when curtains were made for the old 13' foot Casita.
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The material is leftover upholstery from a chair…(see previous post).  The café rods are from the Dollar Store and they were secured by zip ties.  The blue in the window is not the ocean but a tarp that’s covering the trailer!
Just mentioning the old trailer makes me nostalgic.  We sold it  after two years in order to get a bathroom.
This was our first love……a 1990 13’ Casita.  Sure hope it’s somewhere still on the road!
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Just had to share the pictures from our first Casita!  We never, ever realized how that purchase was going to change our lives. Changes including travel all over the states and a new family of friends….our fiberglass trailer friends!
Wishing everyone out there a very Merry Christmas, Happy New Year! Please stay safe on the road for another year of travel and good times!

9/6/12

Hot, Hot, Hot!

"Milford, Kansas....and it is soo hot!  The Chatta-Egg's thermometer registered 102 degrees during the last leg of our journey here!"

This is what I wrote as a draft several days ago before I succumbed to heat exhaustion! Looking back at Monday and Tuesday, we were really in a survival mode.  The combination of high temps and high humidity made hydration the number one priority.

A brief recap...we arrived at this Kansas egg rally at dusk on Monday after struggling through miles of heat.  Didn't stop because it was just too dang hot to stop when our destination was so close!

Tuesday was spent waiting on a fifth wheel and a pontoon boat to vacate our site...they waited until checkout time to leave, 6 PM!  
While we were waiting, Larry of Little House Customs, www.littlehousecustoms.com, put Window Max covers on two of our windows and added a new high rise faucet to the kitchen sink.

Jerry C of Eggrollings, www.eggrollings.blogspot.com, greeted us shortly after our arrival.  Nice to put a face to the words.
The next day an Oliver trailer pulled in entertaining us with the high tech set up.  Later during a tour inside I learned I was within the Wonder Egg, www.peteandthewonderegg.blogspot.com.  And Oscar, the dog, is delightful!

The weather has moderated, our first potluck breakfast is completed and the agenda is to visit, to sit, and  to look at the lake!



our home

waterfront property

Jerry's inflatable kayak


Milford Lake

sunset

Milford Lake