On The Road Again

My honey, SO, you know who, got on me for not having today's update. So here it is!

I'm parkd for the night at the rest stop on US I37 north of Corpus on my way to the RGV. We arrived here after 6 long hard hours of driving. I gassed up just before here and put in $125.00 at $2.44.9. This will get me to the park in Mercedes, TX tomorrow, about 4 hours more.

We will stay till the end of February and then head home.Its 73* here and will be windy tomorrow as a cold front is coming thru. Hope I can keep on deiving and not have to stop because of the wind.

That's it from here, I did the up date DEAR!

Now see where I'm at by going to this blog.

We Got New Tires On The RV Today

This is the changing of the tires. I got the price from T & W tire in Burleson, TX. They quoted me a price of $2440 mounted with taxes, stems, balancing and sales tax. It was $120 less per tire than Camping World. May not be the lowest price but it was for here. I got Goodyear G670 245R70, 19.5 with 2308 date code on all tires. Its ready to roll.




The price of the RV went up with the new tires. All that is left for this RV is the new brakes at 90k miles. If someone were to buy this it is a good deal with the amount of work we have had to do to the RV since we got it in 4/05.



These pics were taken with the cell phone and its about as good as it gets. So be happy with the pics and it is a little history of the new tires being installed on that day, 10/23/08. The mileage is 82683.



If your traveling like I see so many with the cheaper gas, be careful out there and have fun.

Another Old Home in Fort Worth

This one is next door to the other one we show. Both are old mansions of owners of bygone days. The could have been bankers, lawyers, cattle barons and oil men. But they are gone and so is the generations after them. This home is just a well kept in appearance as it appears.

When we drove by the people you see were setting up chairs on the front lawn for what looks like a wedding. You can gust see that to the far right of the picture. the car in the fore ground is a guest arriving. It does look like an ideal place to have a wedding since her daddy is footing the bill. One sure bet in today's climate, it will be another marriage in the future for some of them.

There are a very few of these homes left and then they to will be gone someday. The Berkley edition on the near south side is full of large older homes of the 20-30's. There are blocks and blocks of them. I would put the price range in today's market at 433k to 700k. They are mostly very large two story and a few three story homes. In this time period most of these homes had partial to full basements. The square footage would be in the 8k to 15k range on some of them. Just very large. But there are some smaller two and single story homes mixed in. And with the natural gas drilling we see in the area, these same homes will be getting royalty checks in the mail should the proposed drilling permit be passed.

Not much else to say, I did get a call from the Hobbs, NM police about my complaint. I left it that my credit card bank would be doing any follow up and not me since it was or would have been their money. I got one lawsuit now, sure don't need a second.

Gas in the area runs from #2.35 to $2.70. Yes, you read it right, TWO DOLLARS AND CHANGE. Go RV'ing and drive safe. I will be getting new shoes on our coach this week if the weather stays dry. $372 for Goodyear G670 series, load range "g". That's a hundred twenty less than Camping World and the same warranty by Goodyear. See ya down the road later.

And if John and Marie still read this blog, see ya when you get there.

I Got My Refund

There are a few, and its a very few, of the old mansions left in Fort Worth. We litterly stumbled upon this one. Its located just west of the downtown area and off 10th street. Its the current home of a law firm and its just magnificent in its well kept state. Simply outstanding. For those that know of Thistle Hill mansion this is about as large a house but on 1/2 the size of the lot.

I received an email from the hotel corp and there was included a refund notice from the general manager of the hotel that I was getting a refund. The was after my email to corp and before the letters were delivered. With the letters will be proof I was not there the night in question. But its a little to late for the GM.

The Hotel Overcharge and Other News

I filed a complaint on the website and then followed up with a letter. Since the position of the hotel general manager was I had spent the night and she said I did. Well I wrote a letter of inquiry to the Sheriff of the county and did a copy with attachments to the hotel corporate office and to the credit card bank. We will see how that flies with the possibility of credit card abuse or fraud.

And yes I was at home with the necessary receipts to show I was 388 miles away from Hobbs, NM.
There were three documents to that effect for placing myself at some place other that where I was charged for.

No news on the lawsuit at this point. It appears I will go ahead with it. Will cost me some money but it will ruin somebody else. That's the way it will have to be.

Gas here is $3.31 on the west side, $3.35 in town and generally in that price range that I saw today.

RV Tire prices

I called Camping World and got some tire ptices for the RV. They priced me 245R7019.5 which are the right size but I don't know if its the "F" or "G" rating. This was several weeks ago. I'll revise the price when I get ready to buy. As I stated before I have to have tires if I take the RV off the MHS sales lot.

They are to get a price also when their tire person comes there, when ever that is. I'm not in a hurry for it though. All prices will be balanced, mounted and on the RV. The tires we have hold air pressure. But, and its a big but, they are now seven years old and beyond the service life. The max safe age is six years. Seven years is stretching a dangerous situation. The damage a blow out can cause costs much more than a set of tires.

Camping Worlds price for Michelin XRV tires, set of six, is $413.01 plus sales tax.
Camping Worlds price for Goodyear G670 tires, set of six is $496.79 plus sales tax.

I have two other places to get prices from that handle RV tires. They are located close to each other in North Fort Worth. One is Wingfoot, 2563 NE 33rd St, 817-831-6258. The other is TCI #629, 2563 Berner St, 888- 803-9330. I have not called them yet but the website says they service RV's. Once I make the call, I will up date the information and prices here.

A Hotel Overcharge In Hobbs, NM

It seems that my stay in Hobbs, NM was extended by one more day beyond the receipt I got when I checked out. I got a surprise when I was checking the charges on my upcoming statement. I emailed the hotel GM and was told it was a legit charge since I stayed the night.

I emailed the receipt for the hotel stay, my gas receipt and my stop at the dealer for a oil change and state inspection. Each has the same credit card numbers and the time of the purchase. The dealer service receipt has the vehicle mileage as well as the time of the service. The response was that I had stayed the night and there was to be no credit.

I have contacted the hotel corporate office by their website email and advised them of the possible fraud of my credit card. I'm sure I made someone's day with that. I have written a letter, assembled all my receipts and will send all that to the sheriff of the Lea county, NM. A copy of same will be going to my credit card bank as well as the hotel corporate office.

I have stated that the hotel has used my card fraudulently and asked the Sheriff to investigate. The charge will be removed from my statement and I will not have to pay the charge until the charge is investigated. I was at the dealer at 4pm getting service in Fort Worth, 388 miles form Hobbs. I paid and played a round of golf the next morning at 10 am in Fort Worth. My vehicle mileage at the time of service on 9/24/08 and on the service receipt today, 10/4/08, differ by 153 miles. I had service today because of an airbag alert and to get a valid mileage receipt.

I will have to go to the post office to get the three packages weighted and mailed on Monday. The GM there is in a bit of a bind and will be hit hard by her company, my credit card company and hopefull the local sheriff. More on this as it unfolds.