We are Escapee’s

All it takes is a plan and pig headed Yankees determination.  Not too much different from our Forefathers leaving Europe with a couple of trunks or less. 

Escapee’s home park in Livingston, TX (About 14 in the system) is it’s largest.  It has about 300 spots from tents to 1/2 acre owner occupied homes.  Simple, Clean, Friendly, Accommodating combined with good dollar value is their goal and they fill it well.  We are about 5 miles from town which has all the services we need.

 

 These sites are typical of those when are making a short stay of usually 1 to 4 weeks.  Cost is about $20/nite + Electric which is metered.

 

 

This building houses the mail forwarding service we use.  It is a major source of income, the service is friendly and as efficient as the USP allows it to be.  Our land mail is often 3 weeks in transit, may as well put it in a bottle at sea!

 Escapees Care is a service to those who have lost their ability to live & thrive on the road due to age or disability.  These folks park their RV in long term site adjacent to a modern facility which serves them with basic support services; 3 meals/day,  24 hour on call volunteer help, basic travel need for in town visits, ECT.

The CARE ‘Club House’ is about 10,000 sq ft.  It has Industrial kitchen, large Dinning Room, Comfortable Day Rooms and administrative offices.  While we were there it was filling the needs of about 40 folks {Usually with their spouses}.

 

  This shows a 1/4 section of the day room.  There is also a card/game playing area and a sewing area.  There are about 20 Volunteers and 5 paid staff.

 

 

The CARE day building is on the left, to the right is an RV that is owned and used by a resident, volunteers built the ramp system.

Natchez Trace to Texas

The Natchez Trace is a foot path from Memphis to Natchez.  It is shadowed by The Natchez Trace Parkway. The best way to see this beautiful 400 mile ride is to go onto this site http://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm

Anne-Marie is shown out side of ‘Big Mamas’ Great BBQ and Pecan Beer.  Great southern comfort food here.  They also sponsor a ‘Track Team’ that meets the patio

Not to be missed is a stop at the Natchez Cemetery.  This Angel Stature is over looking the graves of 5 little girls that died at the turn of the century.  The Angel’s eyes appear to follow you as you approach from the side

Best told here http://www.ghostinmysuitcase.com/places/natchez/index.htm

We knew we were in Texas when the longhorns came out to great us.

 

 

 

Than of course there are the Texas size waffles.

Finally Home!  We spent a few days in Austin area taking care of insurance & registration issues.  We will move 200 miles south to Livingston which is where the home park of our camping group: http://www.escapees.com/default.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2f

Late in April we will relocate to Huston where we will attend a N.H.R.A. fuel meet.

Driving South, Go’in To Find Our Home

We spent the evening before leaving attending the Grand Lodge Banquet held in Cromwell, CT.  While speaking with soon-to-be MWB Gary W. Arsenault, he told me to feel free to bring his greetings during my travels.

 

Our good friend, W.B. Chuck Landeau was pressed into service passing out sweet to charm the ladies in visiting the hospitality suite.

 

The next morning we loaded the PT Cruiser to the brim

The trip south to Washington DC was uneventful with the exception of a terrible lunch on Route #1 in Stratford.  Never has pot roast been hurt that bad in the memory of this writer.

 

 

We spent the next morning resting, that afternoon we spent several hours visiting and taking the tour of the George Washington National Masonic Memorial.

View from the top

Anne-Marie and I found Patrons and Matrons that fit our unique styles

A great day, topped with BBQ for dinner.  We rode for a bit and than look what we found:

Leaving Connecticut Winter of 2012

Praise the Lord for his help during our evacuation during February & March.  Prevailing temperatures in the 50’s and no snow must have been the work of a divine force.

During one of our road trips, I took a photo of The Arnold home on 136 Victoria Rd in Hartford.  After 45 years it would have been nice to go inside, present  owner is PD and not home.  I remember my dad throwing a 40’ wooden ladder to paint the peak you are looking at.  Big task for a 50 year fellow who flew a desk for his living.

 

Our POD is 7’ x 7’ x 8’, not very big when you start looking at a dining room set,2 small tables, 3’x4’ x4’ Serving Piece and Great Great Great Granny’s Rocker.  We also had to put the 2 rear seats from cruiser which turned that into a mini moving van.

Loading the POD and the car took 2 weeks.  I’m sure I did handled each item an average of 3 times.

Note the weather, there are buds on the trees, in March!  Last year we had 3’ of snow on the ground 

During the last week of this exercise, we were sleeping on a mattress on the floor, just like 48 years ago!  Not quite, 48 years ago we both had considerable less trouble moving from the floor to the vertical.

Hidden Hero's, we had lots.   Lodge Brothers and family would show up to help move furniture.  Dick & Ursula Kaminsky friends for 40+ years did yeoman duty.  Ursula move several truck loads of our ‘surplus’ to her church for a tag sale and opened her home to feed us when we were ‘homeless’. 

Grace & Kelly’s families took possession of the major furniture and appliances. Big Brothers made several stops and I used freecycle and Craig's List to great advantage.

We negotiated with the young couple that bought our home to leave a bunch of domestic  ‘stuff’. We parted friends and wised them the very best.

March 28, 2012, we are on the road at 10:00.  Last minute stuffing of Cruiser would give credit to a Signfeld show.  Hope to make Washington DC this evening.