WHAT NOW COACH?

What the heck? only the floor of the trailer was done in 2 weeks. To say the least I was a tad upset. I went over and knocked on Winnie's door but no answer.

Being very careful to bypass Fire Ant Mounds on the way back to Jeanie's Bottle, I was probably very quiet. Thoughts were spinning through my head like race cars. It took a few minutes to get a grip on the situation and realize the first thing is nothing could be done about anything tonight. 

We didn't discuss it and wonder about what if or why, we ate supper and got a good nights sleep. I must admit that several time thoughts of " what the heck" did try to invade my serenity. Each time I turned my mind to something positive and I did sleep good.

The next morning after breakfast, I went over to the Winnie again. Still no Junior. This was a tad disturbing but right about then I decided we were  going to have a great day no matter what. 

I asked Jeanie if she would like to make a day of it doing a little sight seeing. She was all for that, after all we had just completed  a pretty full schedule.

Bluebonnets everywhere.

We drove around the back roads looking at all the wild flowers, checked out the Lake Waco C.O.E camping and ended up back in West,TX... No not West TX but the City of West on Infernal State 35.  Some say it is best known for the Great train wreck stunt but for me, it is the Little Czeck Bakery Kolache. OMG they are so good. Jeanie had never had a Kolache, so we bought a couple of smoked sausage Kolache for a snack and a bag full of mixed to go.

I  had in mind an early supper at Ed's truck stop at Elm Mott. They serve a platter size chicken fried steak with white gravy and fried okra. This was another first for Jeanie, she had never had Fried okra and was not real sure she wanted to try it.

It was a tad to early for supper when we got to the truck stop so we just walked around the little town until we got ready to  eat.Jeanie has been a big city girl all of her life, she was amazed to see people with chickens, and goats in the back yard. She also thought it was pretty cool.

 It was a nice quiet little town even if it was on the Infernal State.

We walked back to the restaurant and I ordered the chicken fried steak and okra for both of us. I had not told Jeanie how big they were and I told her if she didn't like the fried okra we would get her something else. she tried it and love it.:-)) The quart size Texas Sweet Tea did not have to be refilled and as Grandma use to say there was"A plenty" in the to go box.

Next we were off the the H.E.B. grocery store, a big Texas chain, to stock up on their Spring Water. Jeanie and I agreed it was the best we had ever tasted.  As we walked in I saw a sign that said Yellow meat Watermelons. I put one in the shopping cart and when Jeanie got back from her run to the produce section I told her I had bought a Yellow meat watermelon and they were almost as sweet as honey. She just smiled and said " You can't pull my leg on this one" I just smiled  and left it at that.

 I told her I had one more unusual sight I wanted to show her, and with that we were off to pick up our mail from the mail forwarding service.  I needed to add her name to the box so she could get her mail on the road too.I had spent a good part of the day pulling her leg about something or the other so she didn't know what to expect at the Mail service.

 Is this a blind man's nightmare or what?

 We picked up the mail and headed back to the gun club. It had been a fun day and come tomorrow I would be able to get the story on the trailer when the club opened for the 4-H Club  kids to practice.

 Look at the hair, about the time we got back to the club a little thunderstorm was approaching and the wind started to blow.  We retreated to Jeanie's bottle  and I set Jeanie up for another surprise.

The watermelon.

The yellow meat watermelon, Jeanie couldn't believe it and she was amazed at how sweet it was. She had to call home and tell her family about it.Her family had never heard of such a thing, they thought I was corrupting her.

Sometimes if you pull a leg just right, you really dont have to pull at all. ;-)))

Tomorrow: Making new plans.

I plan to have a great day, I hope you will join me.

Rojo

WINDING DOWN AND PACKING UP.

The shoot went relative well, I had a few disgruntled clients who were unhappy because I didn't drop whatever I was doing and take care of their emergency. It became  easier every day to say "No". Jeanie and I had a pretty good routine going and were giving some thought to canceling  1/2 of the shoots I had scheduled for the year.

I was in a hurry to get back to Waco and the new trailer.   I completed the work I had taken in on the last morning of the shoot and did not take in any work for the afternoon. I spent  the afternoon cleaning the shop and getting ready to pack up. I had everything packed in the trailer before 10 PM. The next morning when the dew had dried I packed the tents and said Good by to National until the Fall.

It was time for a haircut and for Jeanie to meet Mr. Earp. We looped around San Antonio got back on the Infernal State 35  and hooked it through downtown Austin on the Overhead. We took exit  266, which is TX 195 north to Florance,TX Home of the best barber I ever found.

Jeanie in front of the barber shop.

 Jeanie and Mr Earp 4th or 5th ( I cant remember which) Great Grandson Of Wyatt Earp.

After a long over due fine hair cut, Jeanie and I stayed on back roads to Waco. The Bluebonnets ,Texas state flower were in full bloom as were many other wild flowers.

This picture just doesn't do justice to what we were looking at. Close to 600 acres of beautiful Bluebonnets behind Jeanie.

More wild flowers along the back roads.

We arrived at the Waco gun club just before Dark, the big pecan trees in front were just starting to bud.

  We got parked in our spot for the shoot, plugged in and went over to check on the new trailer.

Jeanie was brand new to Fire ants and drove her wheel chair through a fire ant mound. They were hard to see in the almost gone daylight.  Thankfully she was moving fast enough that none got on her tires or if they did they fell off. I stepped right where she had been and they were in full attract mode. When I felt the first sting . I started stomping my feet because I knew there was more to come if I didn't get them off.  Only 2-3 got me but we were more careful after that. It was not unusual to see Jeanie giving the Fire Ant mounds a wide berth while we were at Waco.

Fire And mound.

 When we got to the new trailer ,we could hardly wait to open the doors and check it out .

C & M FACTOR STRIKES AGAIN.... What the heck only the floor is done :-((((

Tomorrow: What now Coach?

I plan to have a Great day, I hope you will Join me.

Today is our 6th anniversary of going on the road and being together 24/7. 

Rojo

JEANIE MAKES NEW FRIENDS

 A bright sunny day to start the set up for the shoot. we would be here a total of 12-13 days. This set up and set up again at Waco and  from then on it would be just like old times. Back the trailer in open the doors and go to work. I was looking forward to that.

This would be  the first large shoot I had done since Jeanie and I had been on the road together. I was glad that I had worked a smaller shoot first so I knew what to expect and could plan  for the shoot.

I didn't take in any work while I was setting up and I gave myself 2 days to set up. Before I opened the doors on  first day of the practice shoots ,I made 2 signs.  one that said" I WILL NOT BE OPEN UNTIL 8AM. IF YOU NEED YOUR GUN BEFORE 8 AM PLEASE PICK IT UP NO LATER THAN 10PM THE NIGHT BEFORE."   the second sign said"IF I AM HERE I AM OPEN IF I AM NOT HERE I AM CLOSED"

 Skeet fields at National

I knew this was going to be a shock to some of the more demanding shooters but that was how it was going to be. I didn't have a lot of problems but a few shooters were unhappy with my new hours. Unless it was a very special shooter, special as in friend, I only took in fast high dollar jobs like  installing new recoil pads. Adjustable combs,In stock recoil reducers and Barrel polishing.

Jeanie was being Jeanie, she was up and down vendors row meeting people and being a ray of sunshine. I set her up a corner in the Big tent and she had fun looking after the the tent sales.

She was a lot better than I was with the ladies who were just shopping. She just about doubled my candle and lotions sales. I bet you never thought of buying candles and lotions at a shoot did you. 

Jeanie didn't know about all the shooting related items but she would drive up to the shop door and ask. The customers all love her wonderful personality and she saved me a million steps.

Not every day was a good day for her. If she had had a recent seizure  or her Arthritis was bothering her, she usually stayed inside Jeane's Bottle which was parked just a few steps away.

I was already learning some very important lessons from Jeanie, I just was not aware of them yet. In that first 8 months that we were on the road together I learned what living life was really all about and how people try to convince themselves they are happy. Had it not been for Jeanie coming into my life, I would have done just exactly what I said I would do, fall over dead in that shop trailer.

For the first time that I could remember ,in my adult life , I was really enjoying life. My body did not hurt as bad and I enjoyed things that I had never seen before.... they had been there all the time. More on that later... back to the shoot.

I was not aware that seldom does it thunder in Orange County. We were about 1/2 way through the shoot when one of the Texas Spring thunderstorms with hail hit us. Jeanie was scared to death, I was trying my best to reassure her we were safe and that we would not be blown away by a Tornado. It was a pretty good thunderstorm with lots of thunder and lightning. The hail  got up to about the size of a quarter but only broke one clearance light on Jeanie's Bottle.

Jeanie suffered the most damage, she had a seizure. After The wheelchair wreck on Halloween '94 she  would usually have 1-2 seizures every month. I had been taught  how to deal with them and what to do  so she was never in any physical danger. The next day she said she had never been so scared in her life. This is Texas in the Spring and it was going to get worse but she handled each storm better.

The spring flowers were blooming more every day. After supper we would go for a walk and look at the flowers.

We loved to go set under this huge live oak tree and just enjoy nature, the birds, the flower and being together.

Tomorrow: winding down and packing up

I plan to have a great day, I hope you will Join Me

Rojo

Now for the rest of today's (3-19 )Blog

My what a difference a day makes,especially when most of it is spent laid back in the recliner checking your eyelids for light leaks. I am happy to report that I have Perfect seals on my eyelids.

Now for the rest of today's (3-19 )Blog

 Jeanie and I arrived at the factory to pick up the new trailer and after a few minutes we were greeted by the sales manager who escorted  us to see the Trailer. Rut Row...... The C & M factor strikes again.  When I ordered the first trailer, I had ordered internal door locks. After the  first C & M factor strike of  someone at the factor attaching the wrong spec sheet to my order, I changed the door locks to External cam lock doors at a fairly healthy additional expense.

The trailer didn't have Cam lock doors. That was not a deal breaker. I told them we would come back in a few weeks and install them on our way out of the state.

Jeanie and the New trailer

Both sides open like this.

 8'6" wide and 6'4" inside

We dropped the trailer at the Waco Gun Club for the Floor and Display grid installation, It was late in the afternoon, we decided we had had enough for the day and Plugged Jeanie's Bottle in next to Ole Winne. I think I saw a tear in Winnie's headlights. She had served me well for many years and it was time for her to have an easier life.

The Next morning we checked with the welder and the Homeless guy, Junior, to make sure everything was set to go. We would be back in Waco in 2 weeks for a shoot. We wanted to be able to make the switch to the new trailer after the Waco shoot.

We were off on a little side trip back to San Antonio. I took Jeanie  to Meador Grove,TX. It is Just a Junction of 2 Rural Roads now.  It was founded By my Granddad and was at one time the center of the community.  It had 2 churches, a Grocery store /gas station combination. A dirt basketball, volleyball,tennis court area. For hot summer time church and revivals it had a Brush Arbor. My grandmother's funeral was held in the church. The Meador Grove story will be one of the many stories that I Promised on the first day of this Blog.

As bad as I hated to do it, we got on Infernal state 35 at Belton, TX and hightailed it to the gun club at San Antonio The spring flowers are starting to pop open ad the weather is nice..

Tomorrow: Jeanie makes new friends.

I plan to have a great day, I hope You will join me.

Rojo

MY CAN DO CAN'T KEEP UP WITH MY WANT TO...

I will be back Latter in the Day... Just wouldn't get er all done.

I plan to have a great day ,I hope you will join me

.

Rojo

GETTING BACK IN THE GROVE ....OR NOT

After coffee and Breakfast, I help Jeanie get spiffed up for the day.   I Started Jeanie's Bottle and while she was warming up and building air pressure I checked all the tires on Both the trailer and Jeanie's Bottle. I noticed that Fire Ants had decided to make a home around the base of the tongue  jack. I sure was glad I had waited until day time to hook up. I probably would not have noticed them at night until they all stung at once from the knee down. I got them on the run long enough to get hook up and move the trailer  for the shoot.

The old trailer hitched to Jeanie's Bottle the first time at Capitol City Gun Club  Austin, TX

Jeanie at Entrance of Capitol City Gun Club

New decals

Officially " Jeanie's Bottle"

on Bug deflector

Jeanie's dual purpose supervision/observation platform.

I took a couple of days to set up. I really was not in the mood to be doing this. This was the best time of the year to be in Texas as far as I was concerned. It wouldn't be long before the wild flowers would be blooming and the temperature was tolerable as long as we didn't get hit with a hail storm or tornado I was going to be able to handle this until I got the new trailer.

 The other thing that was different was I now needed to consider Jeanie. My Breakfast for Years was either  Raisin Brand mixed with cheerios and a Banana or hot oat meal. Usually eaten in the shop with my coffee. Lunch would be a Sandwich with an Apple later in the afternoon.  For supper, I just never knew what it was going to be or when. Since I didn't cook it was going to be microwavable or cold. One of my favorites was cold sliced peaches and cottage cheese. Many times I would start a TV dinner cooking in the nuker and go back to the shop and not get back to it for an hour or so. I remember the first time Jeanie ask me what I was having for supper, I told her a TV dinner. I told her the way they tasted the best was to open them up when they were done , scrape the stuff out for the coyotes and put Green Chile salsa on the box and eat the box.

That wouldn't work for Jeanie, we had already talked about that. Jeanie  likes good food. Ima not talking gourmet food , Ima  talking good, tasty food and she does like it to be pretty.  She likes 3 meals a day and on a somewhat reasonable schedule. We had discussed this at length over and over again. We knew the first month was going to be the toughest.

We decided to have our coffee and my Breakfast in the morning along with our peace and quite time  from 7-8. At 8 I would open the shop and if she needed to make a potty call before 10 she called me. She liked breakfast around 10 so I would take her for a potty call , if she had not been already and make her Breakfast and go back to the shop. Jeanie liked a light lunch so that was an easy one.I worked in the shop until 6 and if she needed something she called or if she was out visiting she just came to the shop door.

At 6 until 7-7:30 I made supper and relaxed a tad and then back to the shop until no latter than 10PM. Then showers and bed time. I was not taking in any new work. I was just doing the work I had promised to have done before the big shoot in San Antonio.

I managed to get all the jobs I had promised done and a few new jobs before the week was over. It was a stressful week for us both. Jeanie thought she was taking me from my work and I thought I was not devoting enough time to Jeanie.

Spiders were building huge webs in all of the trees.

It was spring and we found this unusual tree,just down the street from the Gun club.

 I Got permission to Set up early In San Antonio so I could go to the factory and pick up my new trailer. The plan was to pull my new trailer back to Waco Gun Club and drop it there.

The Homeless guy That I had given the old Winnie to was going to be Installing the grid on the inside while I was at the shoot at San Antonio and back to Waco for a shoot. The welder was lined up and ready to build the frame for the display grid.

I dropped my  shop trailer in my vendor spot at the Gun club in San Antonio, picked the display grid for the new trailer and hooked it to the factory to get the new trailer.

Tomorrow: the New Trailer and another C & M factor strikes. 

I plan to have a great day, I hope you will join me.

Rojo

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MEETING THE FAMILY

Part of the family anyway.We didn't get off to a rip roaring start today,no reason to because I had a whopping 35 miles or less, planned for today. Back in those days that was unthinkable. I was use to getting up and hitting it hard every day.I was on the way to a shoot, at a shoot, or setting up for or tearing down after a shoot.

Today we were only going from the lake to the big city of Leander,TX My X Sister in Law, who I had adopted for a sister when she became an X, my Niece and her two kids lived in Leander. Carol has  owned a Beauty shop in Leander since the Moon was 2 weeks old. The Beauty shop had a handicap ramp and the real Plus was a great Mexican food restaurant next door.

We visited with Carol for a while as she washed, rolled, dyed, tinted, cut and blow dried hair. Over the years I had been in and out of the shop and met a lot of her clients. Everyone got to meet Jeanie and Jeanie's head was in a whirl from all the new names and faces. A little later we went out to Jeanie's Bottle and took a nap while we waited for Carol to complete her day at the shop.

After work We all went next door and had a fine Mexican food supper and visited some more.

Niece, Deanna-Great Niece, Tiffany-Jeanie-Great nephew, Justin and Carol

.

I decided I might just as well get a head start on the Austin TX  morning rush hour traffic so Jeanie and I left about dark, when the evening traffic had slowed down and drove about 35 more miles to the Austin gun Club. As we drove up to the Shop we saw lots of Deer grazing on the trap field. The sound of Jeanie's Bottle and the headlights did not appear to bother them, They just look up and went back to munching grass.

Jeanie and I had a great relaxing day,  A wonderful visit with Carol and Family,our tummy's were full ,we were home, in Jeanie's Bottle.

I started to hook up to the shop trailer and move it into position for the shoot that was  3 days away but I decided  to wait until daylight. I knew I had better get as much rest as possible because  I had been gone so much since just before Christmas. I still had work to do that I promised to have done before the Big shoot  at San Antonio in April.

Tomorrow : Getting back in the grove ...or not

HAPPY BIRTHDAY  RV KITTY

5 YEARS OLD TODAY .

Rojo

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