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Robert and Tina Davis—Native Texans from Two Tiny Towns

Robert began life in the two-square- mile town of Agua Dulce, which means sweet (or fresh) water. There, 60 Mexicans defeated 27 men from the Republic of Texas in the 1836 Battle of Agua Dulce during the Texas Revolution. When Robert was 18, he left home to fight in World War II and afterwards “had a Beaumont, Texas, address for 50 years.” “Most of my working life was spent in the oil field,” says Robert. “I was with Baker Oil Tools for more than 20 years until they made me a manager. But, since I didn’t want to be boss, I moved to TIW (Texas Iron Works) where I ran tools in wells and super- vised tool operations.” Tina is from Merkel, Texas (found- ed in 1880 and originally named Windmill Town), where the first school was held in a box car, which also served as a post office, church, telegraph station and railway station while the Texas and Pacific Railway was being constructed. “I became a nurse,” says Tina, “working in post-and pre-op surgery in the days before kidney or heart machines, dialysis or chemo. We had to figure it out ourselves by looking at

film.” In 1995 she quit and moved to Austin for a while before coming to Livingston and buying a house. Robert and Tina met at the Living- ston Walmart. He was looking for a woman with a house. She was looking for a chauffeur. They were married in November 2007. “I had to wait ’til I was old to finally have a church wed- ding,” says Tina.

to Kentucky and realized we were tired.” They drove back to Rainbow’s End, gave up the ERPU lot, sold the fifth-wheel, bought a pull trailer, had it delivered to CARE and moved in. “I like CARE,” says Tina with a big smile. “We eat all our meals in the CARE dining room and someone else cleans the rig, changes the bed and takes care of the sheets and towels.” Robert likes having others take care of dumping, switching propane tanks and site maintenance. “If something goes wrong with anything, there’s someone to help,” he says. “One morning, after we overslept and missed breakfast, someone called to make sure we were okay.” They both like the ease with which they can get to the Texas Medical Center in Houston, where they go regularly for Tina’s checkups following surgery for glaucoma at Methodist Hospital. “We’re here for the duration,” says Tina. “These people are friendlier and more helpfu l than anyplace else in the world!”

Robert and Tina Davis #46271

“After the wedding, we lived in Tina’s house,” says Robert. “Then we got an ERPU (Escapees Rainbow Parks Unlimited) lot and a fifth-wheel, traveled to all 50 states, cruised to Alaska and took a trip to Mexico. A couple of years ago, we switched to trips by car, and last year were headed to the Midwest until we got

Article and photo by Anita Hickman #41291

Escapees CARE Needs You! You may provide your support through PayPal Giving Fund, www.iGive.com, www.escapees.com/store/CARE, or a bequest to CARE in your will. You can set up automatic do- nations, starting at $10 per month, directly from your bank account or credit card by calling us at 936-327-4256. WWW.ESCAPEESCARE.ORG

CARE needs Volunteers! Volunteers receive a free site and three meals/day for one month in exchange for 24/32 hours/week (a $760 value). For summer months (June—September), electric costs are reduced by $100. Please call 936-327-4256 for more information. You will enjoy volunteering at Escapees CARE!

66 . ESCAPEES | May/June 2015 | www.escapees.com