COTTAGE AND THE QUIET LIFE

Since my last blog post, we have moved from our 5^th wheel RV to our Athens park model which is actually classified as an RV although it is not one that you just hook up to your truck and pull down the road.  It is firmly anchored to the ground and has a regular bathroom, a regular kitchen with residential stove, refrigerator, and a small dishwasher!  In the last couple of weeks, we had a roof built over the side deck giving the impression of more living space.  We also had a new shed put in the yard to replace the original shed which is too short even for me—I still have a bruise on the top of my head where I banged it a couple of times.  In the next couple of weeks, our front porch will be screened just in time for the mosquito onslaught.  Here are pictures of the interior and exterior (Pat was taking a nap and I was taking the pictures, so there are no people in them!) J

Front of Cottage

Cozy Front Porch

Screened Back Porch

Side deck with New Roof

Living Room--Comfortable for us!



Loft above the Kitchen



Kitchen and Dining Area looking back towards bedroom

In other news, we are getting to know our neighbors before they all depart for cooler climates (it is already in the mid-80’s every day so who knows what the summer will be like).  I have enjoyed sitting outside on one porch or another to read.  That is almost my major decision of the day—should I sit on the front porch, the back porch, or the deck?  I recently finished reading The Fifth Horseman  by James Patterson.  I’m not sure what I will read next—a friend recommended Fifty Shades of Grey.  I understand that the series is flying off the shelves so I might give it a try.  What a rough life retirement is!!  Of course, we make trips to either Kroger or WalMart/Sam’s Club for groceries.  The closest store is a brand new Kroger that is competing with WalMart by carrying much more that just groceries. 

In June we will head up to Southern Indiana to see both John and Cathy and help Cathy to move from the current apartment to another one.  John will be moving to Louisville to share an apartment with a friend.  I don’t know if he is going to want our help or not.  Then we will be making some other trips during July and August.  Our land lease requires that we be gone from our cottage at least 65 days a year and since the summers reportedly are miserable in the Houston area, I suspect that we will head to some place cooler—not sure where that might be though.

That’s about all for now. 

EASY LIVING!!

New Venture (Lake Conroe, Texas)

March has come and gone; the trees are all in leaf; we haven’t done much in the way of sightseeing but a lot has happened.  On March 2 we moved from New Caney to Thousand Trails at Lake Conroe (about an hour north of Houston). We had driven to the park a couple of times and liked what we saw so decided to stay here for our two weeks maximum stay.  We parked the camper so we could drive around in the car to find the “perfect” site.  We finally found what we wanted with 50 amp service so Pat went back to get the truck and camper.  Unfortunately, as he tried to turn down the road to the campsite, he didn’t quite make the turn and the camper went down into a ditch.  Somehow he was able to drive out of the ditch but we are not sure if the axles are damaged.  We will have it looked at before we take any long trips.

During the first week, we attended a membership meeting to hear about changes to the Thousand Trails membership.  Since we only had a one zone membership for the Southeast, we made an appointment with Randall to hear more about the new plan.  We liked what we heard because we would be able to stay three weeks at a in-system park and then move to another park in the system (our current membership required that after our two week stay we had to go elsewhere for a week).  Now our campsite costs are minimal since we upgraded our membership and can go to any of the Thousand Trail parks around the country.

While meeting with Randall, we also heard about the cottage program and looked at the model.  Pat really liked it which would give us a home base.  Also, if anything happens to one of us, the other one will be set with a place to live.  Anyways, after talking to Randall several times, we looked at some of the cottages that are for sale by owners.  We found one that we really like and are in the process of moving in to it within the week.  The cottage itself is considered an RV but is more of a pre-constructed cabin with 399 square feet that includes a living room, dining area, full kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and a loft.  In addition there is a front porch which we will screen in and a back porch which is already screened.  It also has a large deck.  We do not own the land so it is like a condo in that respect. 

Our Cottage!

Lake Conroe

The neighborhood for the cottages is full of super friendly folks and I think we will fit in just right.  The dogs like to walk around the neighborhood and we are hoping they will continue on the path to better behavior around the other dogs.  We still plan to travel during the summer months when the heat is pretty oppressive in the Houston area. 

During the past month and a half, we did have to go to another campsite for a week.  There is one a few miles away that has a special rate for Thousand Trails members so we stayed there and then returned a week later.  The campsites were close together but it served the purpose.

I’ll post more pictures of the cottage after we move in and get settled.

EASY LIVING!!