(RV !) I retire from Mobil Oil and start a new life as an RVer.

Jackie and I had been exposed to the full time RV way of life by friends and during our travels. We were ready for it. Champing at the bit. As soon as I could retire at 60 we did. We were still with Mobil for awhile and living in the Woodlands. We went to a trailer dealer and bought a 35 foot Alpha fifth wheel trailer. The stated length was 35 feet but it was actually 37 feet. Truck and trailer were over 50 feet.  Jackie liked the trailer because the bathroom was across the rear and separate from the bedroom and living areas. It was an unusual floor plan.

I had just bought a new Ford diesel pickup (a lemon). I was afraid to pull the trailer home through the heavy Houston traffic. I paid a man at the dealer $25 to drive the truck and trailer home. We parked it in the driveway and sat in it. We had a lot to learn about RVing. While we shucked our house and I worked my last few months at Mobil we lived on a space in a mobil home park in Greenspoint.

We had previously bought a lot in an RV subdivision in Willis, Texas. Willis is about ten mile north of Conroe. The subdivsion was named Walnut Cove and was on a cove at Lake Conroe. The pictures below show what our home looked at Walnut Cove. John Adams helped me to build the deck.

We ate many family meals on that deck. Mr Early's Barbecue was about three miles away in the woods. When you drove in his yard the chickens ran for cover. He had the best brisket, chicken, ribs, beans, and potato salad in the world. His place was busy every week end. He never did advertise.

On time Jackie and I were having dinner inside the trailer when a gust of wind came up and lifted the awning clear over the trailer. The legs on each end of the awning made creases down the back wall of the trailer. 

Thus began our education in RVing!