Keene, TX

Well, we still had hubcaps at this point.

Yesterday we arrived at Keene, TX for a week.  This was a long day for us - about five and a half hours of driving. It's also been one of the most expensive as we lost three hubcaps by the time we arrived.  Pretty expensive cosmetic items if you ask me.  We'll take some time, check and tighten all the plumbing fixtures we can reach while we're here, too.  To say Texas roads have deteriorated in the last 20 years would be an understatement.  Maybe I shouldn't be so rough on Illinois.  At least it put up a sign warning you its interstate was rough!  You know, I always thought Illinois would have been smarter to take the money from the "rough road" signs and fix the roads.  Apparently, that's what Texas is doing.  I don't think it's working.

However, Texas does have some good rest areas.  Pictures at the bottom are from a rest area near Crabbs Prairie, TX along I-45.  This one had nice picnic pavilions, short nature trail, playground, and the museum type showcases inside to tell the local history.  Hard to say if the nice rest area was worth the price of three hubcaps, though. 

Mike and Sandy Hopkins drove down and visited yesterday evening.  We had a great time and hope to meet back up later in the week.  Maybe Mike will take me flying!  Anyway, I hope they enjoy us being around.  We can be a little burdensome.  We're using them as a mail drop/shipping drop (for hubcaps, of course)! 

Day-to-day life continues.  We've got the truck at Cleburne Ford for an oil change and to get the air mixing doors for the a/c system replaced.  They're already shot after having been replaced at Sunrise Ford after Thanksgiving last year.  The real concern is that we've got a couple of aftermarket items attached to the dash which can be easily damaged when the dash is removed & reinstalled.  Ford says they're responsible but next time we're having all that stuff  installed, we'll have it connected with quick disconnects to make life a little easier for anyone having to work on the truck.  It just never occurred to me that we'd have to have the dash removed twice a year. Reminds me of a VW Jetta we once owned...

I'm pretty much convinced that Verizon's 4G service with 3G compatibility is really just a fantasy (or a civilian version of NMCI).  We've had one good stint using the Mifi for 30 minutes while in Pearland, TX.  We typically get about 2 to 5 minutes of connectivity before we receive the "insufficient signal" flag on the computer and everything comes to a halt.  Kinda surprised to see this as the Mifi will show 4 bar signal strength through the whole episode.  This occurs whether we're in a 4G or 3G area.  And...did you know that if you have a contact on your "smart" phone that's also a Facebook friend and you link them, that you can no longer edit that contact?  Try deleting that 1 from the 1+ area code+phone number that magically gets added as your contacts' phone number.    Try adding a phone number.  Try going to the Backup Assistant online and edit the contact's info.  Try even finding the contact in Backup Assistant!    Stay with your simple phone, Theron!!

Nature trail

Playground

Picnic pavilion