Golf in Livingston & a Fond Farewell

Anyone who knows Dan knows that he likes to golf. One thing he will do in a new town is check out the local courses, and if the opportunity presents itself, he will try to play a round or two before we leave the area. Livingston has one golf course, named of all things, Livingston Golf Course, and Dan was able to get in two rounds during the five plus weeks we were here. I don’t play, but Dan tells me this was a somewhat challenging course and that he was happy with his game, especially his last round. I walked through the course with Dan when he was taking the pictures, and I can say that it was very green, tree-filled, and pretty. I attached a couple pictures of the golf course, one of Lake Livingston, and one from the Sam Houston National Park.

We are leaving Livingston on Saturday, December 1st. We spent enough time here to take care of our Texas residency requirements, to become familiar with the Escapees RV Club Headquarters, and enjoy a travel hiatus. We took a brief trip back to Sacramento (by plane) for Thanksgiving, and have spent the time since coming back preparing for our next move. On Saturday we head for Mission, Texas which is in the southern most tip of the state, just a few miles from the Mexican border. The weather in Mission next week is predicted to be in the mid to high 80’s for the highs, and in the mid 60’s for the lows.

We really enjoyed our stay in Livingston, but as Tom Petty would say, “Its time to move on, time to get going, what lies ahead I have no way of knowing, but under my feet, baby, grass is growing, its time to move on, it s time to get going”.

Update From Livingston

Hi Y'all!! Dan and I are now officially Texans! Last week we re-registered our vehicles (the Ford and the 5th wheel) and received our Texas plates; we obtained Texas driver’s licenses (and had to relinquish our California driver’s licenses!); and we registered to vote. I must say, it felt a little weird to me! I’ve always been a California Girl, and I guess in my heart I always will be. However, I cannot argue with the financial advantages of being a Texan, not to mention that Texas is an RV friendly state, and besides, the license plates are sort of cool! I would really like to be considered a citizen of all the states. Going through this exercise got me to thinking about how we are forced to designate only one of our fifty states for residency, and I thought how sad it is that we can’t just declare ourselves a citizen of the country at large. In essence, I guess that’s what full-time RV’ing is all about, and the entire country really does become your home. But there will always be the government bureaucracy, and you have to have an address somewhere, so here we are, Texans!

Yesterday we took a drive to Houston to visit the Space Center. It was an awesome experience! From their website: “Space Center Houston is a place where people can experience space -- from its dramatic history and exciting present to its compelling future. Space Center Houston is the only place on Earth that gives guests an out-of-this-world journey through human adventures into space. Space Center Houston's unparalleled exhibits, attractions, special presentations and hands-on activities tell the story of NASA's manned space flight program. SCH is the only place in the world where visitors can see astronauts train for missions, touch a real moon rock, land a shuttle, and take a behind-the-scenes tour of NASA. At Space Center Houston, guests can understand the past, experience the present, and be a part of the future of the space Program.” I’ve attached a couple of pictures from our tour.

We also wanted to go to The Museum of Natural History to visit the “Lucy” exhibit, the 3.2 million year old human fossil remains from Ethiopia. We ran out of time, and will have to make another trip to Houston to see her before we leave the Livingston area. That’s okay, there is a Whole Foods in Houston (actually there are three Whole Foods in Houston), and I always seem to need something or another from that store.

We have been enjoying our travel respite and using the down time to take care of minor maintenance on our vehicles, hiking in the Sam Houston National Forest, riding our bikes, and taking morning runs. Come December 1st we will be on the road again, heading further south.

Next Stop (after our brief Thanksgiving visit to Sacramento): Mission, Texas!

Rainbow's End

The last scheduled destination for us in 2007 was Livingston, Texas, home of the Escapees RV Club headquarters and Rainbow’s End RV Park. We arrived at Rainbow’s End on Tuesday, October 23rd. When planning to become full time RV’ers, we made a decision to relinquish our California residency and find a more tax friendly state to call “home”. Since we wouldn’t be living in any one place permanently, we were free to become residents of any state we wanted to. Texas is a full-time RV’er friendly state. There is no state income tax, and vehicle registration is a fraction of what you pay in California. Escapees publishes a pamphlet called “How to Become a Texan” that walks you through the necessary steps, including instructions on where to go in Livingston to change your drivers license, register your vehicles, and register to vote. In addition to handling our residency tasks, we wanted to come to Livingston and Rainbow’s End to see the mail service operation we have been using for a number of months. It is quite impressive; we took a tour of the facility, and it is like a small post office – in fact, the postal service gave Rainbow’s End their own zip code due to the volume of mail they receive.

The park sits on 140 acres, amidst pine trees and other abundant greenery. The acreage is divided up into areas for travelers (like us); permanent RV residents who have purchased a lot and park their RV on it; and parcels of land sold only to Escapee club members where dwellings other than RV’s have been built (like small cabins or modulars). The street we are parked on is called “Dream Catcher”, cool, huh? All the amenities are here – WI-FI, laundry rooms, a Club House, an Activity Center, a swimming pool, DVD/Video lending library, books & magazine library, and scheduled activities including tours of the grounds, social get togethers, dinners, breakfasts, music, games, yoga, and tai chi, just to name what I can remember off the top of my head.

I think the most wonderful thing offered by Escapees, and located here at Rainbow’s End, is the Care Center, a nonprofit adult day care and residency program designed for RV’ers whose travels are permanently ended because of age or temporarily interrupted because of an illness. A participant's RV is parked on a Care Center site. Personal and health care is available through a professional staff on weekdays at the center, and each evening, participants return to their own RV with the security of knowing someone is within call if needed. The full program is $800 a month for a single person and $900 a month if you have a caregiver. This fee includes all meals for both, two loads of laundry per week, and transportation to medical appointments and shopping trips. Although this does not help someone who needs 24 hour care (you go home to your RV each night), it is still a heck of a deal! I hope we’ll never need to use these services, but if we do, it’s a comfort to know they are available.

We plan to stay here through November to get our residency changed and to get some maintenance work done on our 5th wheel. We haven’t decided where we will go come December, but we will definitely be in the Southwest somewhere, possibly back in the Albuquerque area to take advantage of nearby skiing.

Next Stop: Sacramento for Thanksgiving week to visit with family!