Hello from Bonnie & Tommy in HOT Houston, Texas. As you all know, Houston has had a very interesting year, and we have been here to endure it.
Let me tell you, having a hurricane run through your hometown is just one more reason I love having an RV. Beryl came through Houston with a vengeance in the early hours of Monday morning, July 8th. Immediately power went out almost all over the city. Not to worry, we have a whole house generator that we had installed in August of 2023. At 8am the generator shut off, so I went out in the rain to see if I could see what happened. Long story…short, it was broke. And to top it off, our local Generac dealer was not answering their phones. You would think if anyone had power during a power outage, Generac would!
By about 2pm, things were much better. The skies were clearing and rain was slowing, but winds were still blowing pretty strong. We began moving everything from the house refrigerator and freezer to the RV since it was parked in the backyard. Later that day, we were finally able to get a Generac repairman out, but parts were needed and had to be ordered. Fortunately, by Thursday about noon our power was restored, but the house was so musty smelling we decided to go ahead and stay in the RV. By Friday afternoon the Generac was repaired and all was good. We survived and all is well.
Many of you may have heard we picked up our new 2025 Entegra Coach on a Freightliner Chassis at NIRVC in Nashville, Tennessee. Since purchasing our coach out of state, this meant we needed to buy plates and pay the Texas taxes in Houston. Well, this has proven to be a real challenge. It seems you must have an appointment to buy plates and pay fees. We had our appointment set up for the day the storm hit Houston. So far we have had 5 appointments cancelled trying to accomplish this. It seems there are still a lot of government offices still with no power.
On to better news, the year is half gone and it has been a fabulous one. The next rally is the FMCA Convention in Redmond, Oregon. We are surprised there are not more of you signed up for that rally. Redmond, OR truly is a beautiful area of the United States. There is still time to sign up, so come join us! If not, we hope you are all doing something equally exciting. After FMCA we will head over to West Glacier, MT for AIM’s very first annual Lifetime Member Rally and it is guaranteed to be an exciting event. Hope to see a lot of you guys there!!
Next up…AIM’s Alaska Cruise!! Then off to Hilton Head, SC in October and finally we will finish out the year in Gulf Shores, Alabama!!
We hope to see everyone soon.
Happy RVing from Bonnie & Tommy
