Sunday’s family time was really nice. We met at a sushi restaurant (the only sushi restaurant) in Livingston. Not surprisingly, the sushi wasn’t that great, but it “scratched the itch” as Brad put it. After lunch, we all met back at the RV for cold brew and catching up. Fernando was happy to finally bond with Brynn – she’s not easy to impress.
Tuesday we dropped off the RV to get the new fridge installed, then we enjoyed coffee and devotions at the Bull Shack Coffee Shop again. Brynn and Hooley behaved so well – even when a man who was clearly injured and medicated stumbled onto the patio with us. It was difficult to understand his story trail, but it appeared he’d gotten in an accident at 3am that morning (flew through the windshield!) and had just been released from the hospital – so he was walking to his car. We told him we were sure the coffee bar would give him some water (they did) and Deron tried to convince him to sit for a bit, since he mentioned he’d started bleeding again (!) but he said he needed to be on his way. After he left, the coffee bar manager came out to check on us (so sweet) – I’m guessing they don’t get a lot of out-of-the-ordinary people there.
While we were in town I took a leap of faith and got my hair done at a local shop. I think it turned out ok! I enjoyed getting to know the stylist (Maggie) and listening to all the conversations (often smiling and nodding as I tried to decipher what in the heck they were talking about. For instance I had no idea what a “homecoming mum” is – apparently they’re a really big thing here). Meanwhile, Deron drove around to different parks trying to entertain the dogs without dying of heat exhaustion. (When I asked Maggie and the other stylists whether this humidity is constant all year, they decided it must be, because none of them could think of a season where their hair wasn’t damp and greasy ☹.)
Thankfully the fridge install was done sooner than the mechanic had predicted, so we got to bring the coach back to camp the same day 😊.
We were excited to wake up to cool weather (well, cool for here) the next day, which, coincidentally was the first day of fall! We actually opened the windows and had a beautiful breeze flowing through the RV all morning, and for the rest of the week we were able to sleep with the windows open instead of running the A/C!
This last week here has been mostly business – Deron replaced one of the little fans in the front of the coach, changed the water filter and added another one (the water here is no bueno), put screens on all our mechanical vents (a mud dauber had started making a nest behind the fridge which is also no bueno), and got some recessed lights to eventually replace the gaudy light fixtures in the coach. He took the old leveling legs to a metal recycling place and got $11 – woo hoo! (Now we just have to figure out how to get rid of the mini fridge – it’s on OfferUp but unless we sell it today we’ll have to lug it around with us or ???)
Today Deron got his License to Carry range certification out of the way and now we’re pretty much packed and so so so ready to head out tomorrow morning! Sadly, unless the armadillo makes an appearance tonight, we probably won’t see one, since we’re headed to more populated parts. But you never know…
coming
mum
pic
but we can’t stay
random observations
Apparently saying “ma’am” in a deadpan voice is the polite way to say “what?” in Texas. (Deron has perfected the exact tone and accent, and randomly says “ma’am” when he doesn’t hear what I said. I crack up every time, and even stopped breathing at one point because he made me laugh so hard 😊.)
I asked a Texan if I (people from CA in general) sound like I have an accent – she said no, we just sound more proper, like we had better grammar teachers, Lol.
praise & prayer
Now that we’ve been gone for over two months, we’re starting to really miss family and friends, and going to church in person to worship and fellowship with our church family. We’re excited to find a new church home and make new friends (and invite old friends to come stay with us), though we realize it’s going to be quite a while before we’re in a place where we might settle down. In the meantime, participating with Foothills online and keeping up with friends and family via social media and occasional texts or calls are keeping us going.
We’re really really excited to get back on the road – but a little nervous too, since it’s been so long, and since we’re traveling into areas we’ve never been, where there’s more possibility of inclement weather – and obviously we’re pretty much over having mechanical issues. Thankfully Deron has an app that’s supposed to keep us from traveling onto roads our RV can’t survive on, but it’s still dicey sometimes. Praying for God’s protection over us as we drive!
Schutzonthemove 
Hair looks great! I meet “interesting people” daily. Congrats Deron.
What is a homecoming mum in Texas?
Made of mostly ribbon, the homecoming mum is given to a girl at Homecoming to wear to school then to the Homecoming game and dance, if any. Males wear a mum as well referred to as a “garter”, the mum is attached to a garter worn on the arm.
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