Merry Christmas Everyone

Hello, Hard to believe it's Christmas again. Where did the year go.
We're having a wonderful Christmas this season. For the past couple of years I've has either a sinus infection or the flu during December so I didn't get to enjoy the festivities but this year has been different. I started off the month with Stephanie visiting and getting the tree up and decorated and we've had our golf cart parade and cookie decorating party this week so we're in the Christmas spirit.
Danny arrived yesterday and we've had one get together after another since he arrived. Tonight we had our traditional Christmas Eve supper of Clam Chowder with cheese and cracker munchies. Then we sat around the tree and waiting till Lady found which gift was her's. The smell of the treat gave it away. That was the most fun watching her get into her bag and get her treat out.
Tomorrow will be another day of food and get togethers. We're having turkey with the trimmings here tomorrow. Our friends from the park, Linda and Jim are coming over to eat with us. By Sunday we'll all need a day off from all the baking, cooking and parties that we've been too.
Hope everyone's Christmas is merry and bright and we all realized how blessed we are.

Way to Go, Danny

I'm happy to say that Danny rec'd his diploma today via mail. He finished his last class earlier in the month and his college graduation was on Sat. He didn't walk but his diploma was mailed to him and he rec'd it today. We're so proud of him.. He's also coming to town...tomorrow. Yeah. I'm so excited about his visit as I was with Steph's visit. He can only stay a few days but we'll have fun as long as he's here.
Tomorrow is our Christmas decorated golf cart parade so we'll be doing that later in the evening. Phyllis and I will be in the golf cart, one of us driving and one tossing candy. The rest of the group is helping us decorate and we'll be hanging out at our place later for snacks and some darts. That's our new thing. Darts.
We've been playing at P&L and Reid decided we needed a board too so now we're getting in some extra practice..
I'm fixing Christmas dinner and I'm hoping the weather stays nice for it since we want it to be outside if at all possible.

Super busy week

The past week was really busy with Steph here. We were on the go the entire time. Steph comes in like a hurricane. Just kidding Steph. (really not) I do love it when the kids get to visit. It took the rest of the weekend to get the casita and rv back in order but I still had time for some fun too. On Sat night our neighbors across the street, Nancy and Ed, invited us over for chili. We had an early supper with them cause we were heading to the dance later. the chili was very good. There's so many ways to make chili isn't there.
Last night was our parks first dance of the season. It was also Betty's birthday so we had a table with four of our couple friends to celebrate her birthday. The group was Phyllis and Larry, Betty and Rich, (Phyllis' sister) Dan and Rita, (Phyllis' brother) and Ralph and Bonnie, (Rich's sister). We had a great time and we were surprised that Reid stayed as long as he did. He was a the hit of the party, all the women were taking smoke breaks with him.
This week is shaping up to be really busy and next week Danny will be visiting so I'm having a wonder December.
I also talked to a couple of "old" college friends today. I met Darlene and Eve 31 years ago and we've always kept up with each other but the past few years we'd lost touch but Steph found Eve on facebook and she called me today and we talked and talked and then I called Darlene and had a long talk with her so we decided to stay connected more often from now on.. Eve lives in TN and Darlene lives in VA. I'm so glad we've reconnected.
thanks Steph.

All about Danny

I have to give each child (I know they are adults) equal time.
Just wanted to say that Danny texted me earlier and he had his last college class today so it's offical, he's finished with college. Yeah!!! It took a while. He went a couple yrs. changed majors a couple times, changed schools a couple of times, stopped and then went back a couple times but he stuck with it and he finished. He's going to teach Elem Ed somewhere in East Tenn and most likely coach too. We're proud of him and glad he hung in there and finished.

Week with Steph is going good.

The week has been cool, warm and windy but I guess that's to be expected. We've walked some, rode bikes, had a happy hour, played darts with P&L, grilled out, gone shopping, ate out at some of our favorite places, got our hair and nails done and we still have a couple more days. Today she and her dad are going to the shooting range for some practice.
I was so looking forward to today being warmer but I didn't know it was going to be so windy.
Steph and I have discuss putting up the Christmas tree but last night we were looking around the casita and there's no real place to put it but where Reid's computer is at so we'll need to get his imput about the bigger tree.. I have a small table top tree I can use but the bigger one is prettier.
Steph will have to leave on Friday so we have to enjoy the next two days. Tomorrow the 3 of us will have a late lunch somewhere, probably of Steph's choosing then we take her to the airport at about 10 on Friday.
The week has gone so fast.

My Christmas is starting early

Stephanie couldn't get leave to come visit for the week of Christmas but she could get leave this week. Yeah!! She's arriving on Thursday and staying a week.I'm so excited. I don't mind celebrating the entire month...She can help decorate the tree and we can ride around the park and check out the lights. Danny's going to vist the week of Christmas so I'll get a week with each of them. Can't wait.

A wonderful Thanksgiving

Thurs was just a beautiful day. The sun was out and it was windy. But I've decided not to let the wind bother me. The turkey went on the grill about 9:30. I took a walk and visited with people in the park. With Reid watching the turkey I just had to get the veggie hot and set the table. We ate about 2 with Phyllis and Larry. The wind actually started calming down about the time we ate. I got a call earlier in the day from Wilma. They are back for the winter and they came over to visit later in the afternoon. We had a good visit and we're still here..even after the pumpkin bread. Last time we saw them was at a rally in Aug. We're glad they are back.
Another couple, Ed and Nancy stopped by later for a visit so we had a wonderful day of friends..but don't worry about me I talked to both my kids and caught up with them and also talked to Reid's Mom and my sister, Penny. Got Happy Thanksgiving emails from several other friends and family members. Family is never to far away when you have friends that are like family and emails.
Yesterday was our winter..now it's over hopefully, The cold front came through and after Thurs at 90 degrees I woke up on Fri to 40's (not good) It took most of the day but it did warm back up to the 60's I was bored so I went Warmart and I must have hit a shopping break cause the store wasn't too busy, I was able to browse without any problems. I got a couple of gifts so it was productive. Now it's time for me to start planning Christmas. I know that Danny will be spending it with me not sure yet if Stephanie can but we'll have fun.
Some more of our friends are heading our way.. Rita and Dan will be here in about a week and Jane, Rich, Bonnie and Ralph aren't too far away. There's another party waiting to happen.

Thanksgiving is almost here

Some one reminded me that I haven't blog lately so I decided I'd better catch everyone up.. We're still in Texas where we'll be for another 3 and a half months give or take. We've been here already 8 weeks and they've gone super fast. Most of our friends are back. A few more couples will be coming in around the first of Dec. We've had happy hour and a cook out and have another one in the planning probally Sat weather pending. I still have the other end of the block to invite over before our cool month hits.
We're having Phyllis and Larry over for Thanksgiving dinner. That should be fun. Most people in the park are going to the Rec Ctr for dinner but we didn't want pot luck so we'll just have our own here. I really don't mind fixing a tradition turkey dinner except this yr we're going to try the turkey on the grill. It should be great.
I'm back in the swing of things here at the park, there's somthing going on all the time, when I have a free minute I usually enjoy it, they're so few.
I guess you're now updated so I'll close. Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Kicking off the winter season

When november hits so did the activities. The park is filling up fast with the bulk of the residence back. There's never a shortage of stuff to do. I'm going to be working in the office again on Tues mornings, we have line dance on Mon and Wed. Then there's breakfast Thurdays, bike rides, and Happy hours. The rest of the week will be meetings and get togethers. So much to do.
We've actually already been here for 6 weeks and time has gone fast. A couple more people arrived today with the last couple from our end of the street scheduled to arrive tomorrow.
Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I'll be fixing a traditional Thanksgiving dinner here. Hopefully the weather will be great and we'll be able to eat on our newly expanded patio. (Pic's on Reid's journal)
That's all for now.

End of Oct

This was our first month back in the valley and it went fast. I expected it to be slow but it wasn't. My November is filling up fast. On Tues I start my volunteering in the office and I'm also Welcome greeter for the Month. We have a group that welcomes new people to our park and we break it up where a couple of us greet each month. Leah and I are doing it for Nov. Besides that I'll have my walking and riding, line dancing and Bible study that I do weekly then fill in other things to do around that. I'm ready to get busy with it all.
Yesterday was a beautiful day and Reid wanted to take a ride. So we got in the Challenger and headed west on 83. That would be toward Laredo but we didn't go that far.. We stopped at Falcon Lake State Park.. why you asked.. because it was there. It was really nothing interesting. The park does have an rv park but really not much else. There was a boat ramp with a small inlet that flowed into the big lake but you really couldn't see the lake from the park. There was a group of people looking at and taking pictures of plants and butterflies and that was it. We stopped at a picnic table for a break (smoke break) and there was a swampy area near it but still no big lake. We left and headed back home. We had fun on the drive so all was not lost.

Rumor: No

It was true. Jim and Linda are here. I finally saw them. They were getting stuff settled and their golf cart batteries needed replacing so that's why they hadn't been out much. I saw them taking a drive last night when Lady was taking us for a ride.. I expect we'll see them out and about now.

Was it a Rumor

Reid told me that Linda and Jim are back but I haven't seen them yet. I've rode by their place a few times but still no sightings. Could Reid have been wrong? Maybe he just thought he saw them. I need to investigate this some more.

Last week of Oct

It's the last week of the month and it's been pretty busy. I've had plenty to do with meetings starting up and stuff. Next week the office will open and I'll start volunteering on Tues again.
The temp is returning to normal this weekend. It was 97 yesterday and only 85 today with some wind. It's still not going to get as cool as they first said. We were hoping for some 70's.
I told everyone about Steph's trip to SA didn't I. Well after a 1000 mile drive one way and 4 hrs of class they realized she's still on medical restrictions and they send her back to GA. So after driving down last Fri and Sat she has to make the return trip back to GA on Mon and Tues. She wasn't happy but she made it home safely.
Reid and I went to the mall today. He needed jeans and I needed a curtain for the casita. After that we went to KoKo's, It's a mexican place we found and it was pretty good. There was a couple things we'd change but it was the best ones we've found here so far but the search isn't over.. About once a month we like to try a new place so on date lunch Thur we never know where we might end up.

What's been missing in South Texas

We've been here almost a month and we've had sunshine, low humidity, high 80's to mid 90's, no rain...what's missing...oh yeah! wind...well, we got it on Thurs. First sign of the wind after three wonderful weeks. Yesterday was the worst with wind gust over 30 but today was some better and I believe over for next week. Now the wind doesn't bother me too much unless I'm trying to petal my bike.. that doesn't work too well.
Our park is getting busy.. I had to wait on traffic to go by me while on a golf cart ride with Lady last night..Tonight we had the Hobo dinner. It was a blast. There was a great turnout and everyone had fun.
I know of several that are arriving this week so it will be fun seeing them.
Steph is close.. she's in San Antonio for the next two weeks. She has 7th level training (whatever that is). Don't know yet if she'll have time to see us.. If her weekend is free she might come down but she's probally going to be so busy we wont see her.

I'll tell you about my week

Hey everyone. I'm trying to get the RV all "spring cleaned" but I keep putting it off. I guess I have about half if it done. Once I finish I want to have the carpet shampooed and I'd like to have it all done before activities start Nov 1st. That's when the offical schedule cranks up but there's enough of us here that some things have started or are starting up soon. Card nights have started and a pool party was held on Friday.. (I forgot about it but I'm not a pool person but I am a party person) Lady is going to the groomers tomorrow and I'm going looking for curtains for the casita.
Looks like Danny and Stephanie will get to spend Christmas here this year so that's got me really pumped. We're still working out the days and times with the kids and checking for tickets but I think it will all work out.
We've been cooking on the grill ever since we got it. I love it when Reid does the the cooking. He's practicing before we have guest over..
Several more people have come in this week. I'm seeing 4 or 5 new couples each week. Were looking forward to seeing everyone and we know that a few are planning to be here the end of Oct and some more arriving the end of Nov. The weather has been nice. Today got back to the low 90's but the 80's should be back by mid week. That's all I have now. Ya'll hurry and get down here so I'll have things to do and talk about.

Nice in the Valley

Every since we've arrived the weather has been great. We had a couple of mid 90's last week but mostly it's be mid 80's and sunny. The humidity has been low and that's been great. I got to go walking and biking this morning cause it was so nice and comfortable. Our low's have been mid 60's so the evenings have been nice too.
I went back to get groc today and I can see the winter Tex prices are comming out. I say that cause we've been down here as early as mid Sept and the prices are cheaper in Sept and Oct. The closer we get to Nov the prices start to rise. I got beer last week at 18.47 today is was 19.47. Pepsi last week 2.97 today 4.38.. It's not just a few things either it's a lot of stuff so back to my point...they raise the prices for the winter crowd. Oh you laugh but it's true.
Lady is getting her golf cart rides in the evenings. She loves them so but the other day when I told her we were going for a ride and let her off the chain she rain toward the Challenger instead of the GC. She likes a nice ride sometimes too.

where did I go right

hey there again. We arrived in the Valley on our lot Monday afternoon. Got something to eat and started some unpacking...I wasn't feeling good so I layed down and got up on Thurs about 10am.. wow...I was running a fever and super dizzy...Vertigo...I've had it before but usually after an ear infection or a cold..
Anyway I was able to stay up yesterday for the first time and today was better. I'm hoping to be myself again real soon. I still have some "spinning" so I have to be careful, I don't like it when everything spins and there's nothing you can do to stop it.
Now about the Valley. It's real green and lush here. That's unusual. It's usually brown... We've been told that the valley has had over 30 inches of rain since Jan so that's rare too. Having two hurricanes skirt the county will call lots of rain. Very little additional lot improvements happened over the summer. We see where one new house was built and one rv lot had concrete poured. Another developed lot had a mobile home put on it but that's it. Winter projects will get started soon.
There's several people here already. Beside the ones that live here yr round a few have already arrived back in town. I was told more are heading in next week.
I plan on taking it easy this weekend. I have to let all this dizziness and light headedness go away and then get the rv unpacked and cleaned out. I like to be settled before the "stuff" started happening for the winter.

In Texas again

We got up early this morning and headed toward Houston. We always like driving through there on Sunday not really thinking there was a home football game. I'd looked it up earlier in the month but I was checking for next Sunday cause that was our plan date to go through there but when we changed our plans for a week early I forgot to check on it again. We saw the signs about football traffic and realized we were heading right into it but they either had a small crowd or we were ahead of the crowd cause we got through pretty easily. I'd never driven through Houston myself before but I thought it went pretty smoothly. We are in Victoria, TX for the night and we'll get into Mission and our park tomorrow. We've been on the road for over 6 months and it's time to take it easy for a few months and by take it easy I mean get back on my Leisure schedule where most everyday has something scheduled to do. There's never a dull time there that's for sure.

Happy Anniversary Baby

Yesterday was our 29th anniversary and I didn't feel good so I didn't get on the computer very often. I had a sinus headache and didn't feel like focusing my eyes much. Since next September is a milestone birthday for me it will also be our 30th wedding anniversary so I plan to party all yr anyway. Nothing wrong with that is there. Anyway, we celebrated early by getting the new car and it's been a dream to drive. I've put more miles on it that Reid has so it's all good. I always said back in the 80's and 90's that I would want a new one with the old body style never thinking they would remake them years later. Back in those days Reid was always under the hood trying to make them go faster...I didn't want one that he was going to be "working on" all the time. I believe he's has 6 over the yrs in various drivable stages.
Anyway, Happy Anniversay again Reid..It's been and still is "A FUN TRIP". Here's working on our next 30 + years!!!

We've been traveling

We left Gulf Shores on Monday. We're taking our time getting to TX. One of the reasons is because I'm driving the Challenger (yeah for me) but I also get very sleepy when I drive/ride so we have to do short days. The other reason is we don't have to be in a hurry to get there. Our first stop was in Bay St Louis, MS. Reid wanted to take the car and cruise the beach, Hwy 90 runs right by the coast so it was fun. So far I've driven 400 miles and managed to stay awake!!! Today we drove as far as Kinder LA, We'll be here a few days since I need a break after the long five hrs today. (golf starts on TV tomorrow and Reid will be watching it.) Our next stop will be in Victoria but that's just for over night and after that we'll be back at Leisure Valley for the winter.

Bye Bye Tigger !

A sad day today . Tigger, our travelin cat died. We knew it was coming but it's still sad to have to go through it. Tigger has been a family pet for 14 1/2 years. Stephaine got him when she was about 11 years old and once she left for the Air Force he became ours. He's traveled with us for the past three and a half years and for the most part he was a good traveler. He'd lost weight over the summer but today was still a shock when we had to take him to the vet. I know he had a good life so that's comforting but it's still hard to think about it.

Seafood, Crusin and Sports

I can think of nothing better. We've enjoyed this week in Gulf Shores. It hasn't rained and that's been a rare week for us this summer. We're checked out our favorite places to eat. We took the car up and down the coast and I've been watching football and baseball.. can't asked for much more can I.
I wasn't going to say anything till Reid did but I can't wait him out any longer..He's been wanting something and he finally found just the right one so we went and got it on Wed. He or we now own a Challenger..he's had several of them back in the 70's 80's and 90's and since the new ones came out he's been drooling, debating and deciding on one and he finally threw caution to the wind and got it. Now he bought it here (or in FL) cause they had the one he wanted in the color he wanted (you can't find black autos in south Texas) so I'm driving it to TX..cool right..if I can just stay awake cause we all know when I travel I get real sleepy. But have caffeine will travel. We want go back quickly and we'll get early starts in the mornings so I should be fine..I think I'll have fun driving that car to TX.

Checking our Foley AL and Gulf Shores

The cities of Foley and Gulf Shores run together. Gulf Shores is on the beach where Foley is west of the beach..We were here in late March till late April when the spill happened and even though we left before any oil made it this far we've heard things about the area and we wanted to see for ourselves if it was affected. We're gonna be checking out the area so we'll pass along any news. So far the air smells great..we'd heard that it smelled really oily here back in the summer and if it did then it's all better now. We didn't smell anything this afternoon and we sat outside and watched the Braves play ball (they won!!!)
Later in the week we'll check out some of our favorite seafood places (ok probally start on that tomorrow) and see how those places are doing. Traffic was a little lite when we arrived in town but it's off season for tourist and the winter crowd wont get here till Oct so they are in their "off season this month.

Back to one of our favorite areas

Today was travel day.. I've said that alot over the last few weeks. But our traveling summer is just about over..We decided to head south east (I think that's right) and go to Gulf Shores one more time this yr. We really like this area and we could see ourselves wintering here if the temps were warmer all winter long.
Today was our longest travel day of the season. We don't usually go over 300 miles (and we've gotten use to not doing long days) so when today rolled around I wasn't looking forward to a long day and Lady and I didn't handle it too well. We were restless all day..I couldn't get comfortable and I don't know why and Lady decided she needed a rest stop and there was no place to pull off for several miles so she whinned and I kept saying "how much farther". It wasn't a bad drive it's just been awhile since we've done it but I didn't want to do two short days so it was just better to get it over with. and we did with no problems.
Our very good friends Jean and Tim have a rental lot here and since they weren't using it and it's not rented this month we decided to use it. we plan to be here till the end of Sept./first of Oct time frame. We're going to be having some high 80days and low 70's nights and that's not too bad. (we're use to it, it's been 90 degrees plus our whole summer)

Happy Birthday to me....yesterday

Now everyone knows something is wrong when I don't blog to myself on my birthday so I'll explain...I woke up feeling great...I prompted Reid to sing happy birthday to me...only because he was busy working but I wanted him to say it first before anyone else called to sing..I was sooo happy to get 14 emails, calls and texts..two of those emails were from Famous D's and my Mary K lady but that still counts..I went walking, riding and took Lady for a walk then after showers and once Reid finished working we went eat at a restaurant of my choosing..all was great. About 3ish I started getting chills and a fever..So odd..(I'd ran a low fever on Wed evening but when I woke up on Thurs I felt fine) by 6ish I was on the sofa wrapped up in a blanket (it's 90 degrees outside and I'm shivering) My fever finally broke sometime about 3am cause I woke up so hot...and miserable..so I took more meds and fell back to sleep till 10am..Today I've kept a headache and slept alot but I've felt really wore out. Don't know what caused it or if it's over yet but Reid said I "willed" myself to feel good the first part of my birthday...But one day isn't going to stop me this is my last yr in my 40's so I'm celebrating all year...
We're in MS now. Our plans to stop at Natchez Trace fell through cause they were calling for rain all week and when Reid drove through the lakeside sites were taken. We didn't want to stay there without a lake front site and possible rain for a week or two..Now we're here waiting on our mail and once that's comes in we'll decide where to head next.. As everyone knows we're making our way to TX and we'll be there probally early Oct

Labor Day

Labor Day means an end to our weekend. Monday morning I met the kids over at the Inn for breakfast with their Granny and Aunt Con. It was sad cause we were going our seperate ways after breakfast. But I don't want to be a downer so I'll remember the fun weekend and even though I got blamed for some car Toilet Papering that I didn't do (wish I'd thought about it...and I'll admit I might have help in yrs past) this go around wasn't me...but I think I know who did it...It was a fun time.
Everyone got home safely (there was approx 50 people at this weekend party.) I got to see three of my "greats" and met my neices' new husband.
We headed south once we left. I know what all you from the North are saying...why so early...but since we were in souther IN we didn't want to back track north so we headed to west Tenn. Our plans are to stay one night at this RV park that we need to rate and then head over to the state park..Reid is not letting me "plan" any more of this summer's travels so where we go and when we go will be up to Reid..I have a feeling we'll be back in TX before Oct 11.
This park we're rating was one that we visited yrs ago and it got a very poor rating but the new owners contacted us and since they've made improvements they wanted us to re review it again so since it's on the way we agreed to stop it..They've done wonders to the place.
Once I know when we're heading to TX I'll let everyone know.

The other part....

The other part of my fun weekend was having both Danny and Stephanie with us for the weekend. All I can say is the weekend went too fast.
Steph drove up from GA on Thurs. She had about a 10 hr drive. We visited and talked and did fun stuff. On Friday while waiting for Danny to arrive we drove into Bloomington to get a couple of things for the Birthday Girls. Danny arrived about 5ish and we grilled out steaks with them on Friday evening. Aunt Con and a few others arrived during the day on Friday so we visited with them. On Saturday the four of us went into Mitchell for lunch.. We weren't sure what food places were there but we had to find out. We found the small pizza place with only a few tables and no customers at noon so we're thinking why! is it empty at lunch time..Well we stayed and ordered and it was very good. All four of us enjoyed what we ordered so it was worth the try. Reid's Mom, brother, sister, sister in law, neices and nephews were going to be showing up over the next several hours so we stayed at the inn waiting for them. The Inn is beautiful with a cirle drive and rockers on the front porch so we rocked and waited, laughed and talked. Saturday night it was back to town for mexican food with about 15family members and again the food was really good. The funny part was having the waiter try and put a sombrero on two 80 yr old women.. They were having none if it.
After we have breakfast tomorrow morning we'll be heading out on our seperate ways, Steph heading back to GA and Danny going to East TN while Reid and I head south. I've had a great time this weekend and hopefully their schedules will allow for a visit to TX around the holidays.

Happy Birthday Mom and Aunt Con

Oh what a weekend. Some of the family starting arriving Friday afternoon and the rest arrived on Saturday. We've had a blast celebrating the birthdays of the 80 yr old twins and it's been great catching up with everyone. Several of us went into town on Sat night for Mexican food while others stayed in and rested up from their drive. Today was the party day. We had a buffet lunch for the birthday girls and along with gift openings and cake.. gotta have cake. Mom and Con were smiling all weekend so we know they had a great time.

Spring Mill State Park

We traveled over to Mitchell IN today. It was a short trip. We're getting use to short travel days. this is our Birthday weekend get together. About two hours after we arrived Steph arrived. She had her leave approved so she decided to head on up from GA a day early. Danny had to work today but he's driving up tomorrow. (I say up cause they are in the south you know). I love having my kids together even if it's only for a couple of days.
We're going to grill out tomorrow night if it doesn't rain..Some more of the family is coming in tomorrow.
Mom will arrive on Sat so we're looking forward to seeing her too. It's her weekend. She'll be 80..for those who's met her she doesn't look or act 80 does she. We have a party planned on Sunday so it's going to be a weekend party...In fact theres so many birthdays this weekend I can't even talk about mine till after Monday.. I know of four birthdays between now and Monday and mine's not untill Thurs..
We're staying at the RV park (of course) but everyone else is staying at the Inn. This is a nice park and plenty to do.
I must be quiet now Steph is asleep..she left GA about 4:30 this morning and drove about 11 hours. I'm surprised she stayed awake this long.
**I doubt anyone will try to call us this weekend but our phone reception is pretty bad so just keep trying if you need to talk to us**

What September means

When I think of September I think of my birthday...yeah..but I also think of fall weather, football games and the beginning of our winter season.
Tomorrow we are leaving for a state park in IN for a birthday bash. Reid's Mom's birthday is Sunday so we're getting together for it. Both my kids are coming up for this and I'm so excited about that too. Steph will be arriving tomorrow afternoon and Danny on Friday. It should be a fun weekend.
After this weekend I don't know what's up.. Reid want let me make plans cause the entire summer has been scheduled and he tired of being on a schedule. So the next 6 weeks or so we are just heading south and who knows where our stops will lead. Our plans have been to get back to Tx around mid Oct so we're on "schedule" to do that..oh there's that word again.
I'll keep you posted and all those heading to TX (and there's a bunch of you) see you soon. I know we're going to have a fun winter.

Back in IN

Today was travel day. We went another 140 miles. We're traveling more and more like W&G each week. The last four weeks we haven't driven more than 200 miles at a time.
We arrived at Indian Lakes RV park around noon. The park is pretty nice. We've stayed here a few times before. It's a nice stop when we're get into IN heading north or when we're starting our trip back south. Once we got set up we went into town to the Hobo Hut for a quick burger and sandwich. We spent the rest of the afternoon chillin. The day was wonderful. Mid 70's, low humidity and sunshine. The night is so nice that we have the windows open. I love it when it's cool enough to have the windows open at night.
chat later.

Computer error in last post

the post for Danny's birthday was suspose to be posted for the 26th. I know when my son was born. I posted at 12:30 am this morning so I don't know why it printed wed the 25th. That makes me mad cause I stayed up to post it on his birthday.
Reid, how come this date is wrong on my blog.

Happy Birthday Danny

I just have to say Happy Birthday to Danny...yes, my guy is 28 today..now you wonder how could I possible have a 28 yr old. I ask myself that all the time. It's been a fast 28 yrs cause it seems like yesterday he was heading off to kindergarden. Now he's in first grade...ok ok, he's student teaching first graders this semester. He's also the assistant coach to the middle school team and in his free time he coaches jr high AAU girls. He stays busy but he enjoys what he does. I'm going to see him next weekend and I'm so excited. He didn't get to come to So TX for the holidays last yr and we didn't get to see him when we came through TN back in June so I'm looking forward to seeing him next week.
Again Happy Birthday... love ya

Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum

We're in a small town called Wapakoneta and this is the hometown of Neil Armstrong. Theres a museum so today we drove over to check it out. It was pretty interesting. Reid really likes stuff like that but I found it interesting too. It wasn't a big place but it has some orginal items. There was a 25 min video about the first moon walk. Over all it was worth the price. We stopped at Taco Bell for a lite lunch afterwards.

Cute and Clueless

No, not me...(cute yeah) Clueless, I'm talking about Lady. Where's Randy when we need him. This park has two wonderful doggie parks..the sad part is poor Lady doesn't know what to do off her leash. I've been taking her there to play but I was doing more playing than she was. She sees me getting to far away and then she follows me. She did better this afternoon but after about 5 minutes she walks over to the door ready to leave. Oh well, she's still so adorable on her leash or off.

travel day

Our week of visiting with friends ended today. We had a great rally and fun seeing friends but the party started breakin up on Sat and Sun. Several people left over the weekend to get to their next stop. We want see some of these people again for a while, could be a yr or longer depending on where everyone will be next summer. So there were lots of hugs before we left this morning. Some people did leave before they got their hugs on Sunday though. Earlier risers.
We were only going a little ways today cause we wanted to get our rig's oil changed and since we had three days to spare we thought this was a good time to try and get it done. Reid found a place in Fort Wayne and called them. They said to be there between 9 and 10 and we arrived about 9:30 and we sat for over an hour before anyone started working on our rig..There were workers there but no one was doing anything. A couple of tow trucks came in and we found out that the tow truck driver out on call also did the oil changes. After an hour or so of waiting they finally started on it. I'm glad it was a cool day and I had a book to read.
We arrived at our park about 3 and just chilled. We'll be here till Thurs so we're going to take it easy.

Rally week

This had been a fun week at the rally. We've sat around the fire pit at night all week. Yes, some nights with a fire and some nights without one. Still don't get needing a fire when it's 80 plus degrees but some people just love looking at a fire..I will give Bob credit. His fires are more flame and not smokey..I'm allergic to smoke and if it had been smoky I couldn't have stayed out and enjoyed the "bonding" time but I was far enough from the fire that I didn't feel the heat and could sit out and enjoy.
Thur night we did pot luck and there was plenty of food. We had leftovers stuffed in everyones fridges. We didn't have a meal planned for Friday only ice cream social so we decided to have a "Must Go" meal on Friday afternoon. Must go means if it's not eaten it's tossed and by the time we were all done eating there was very little left over. We ate all this about 4 and then 7 was Ice Cream social, we managed to eat the ice cream before it melted but we were all saying..why are we eating again.
The rally offically ended Friday but most people are staying till Sunday before getting on the road. Today has been a down day for everyone. It's raining. Not storms just showers lasting all day. It's suspose to move out tonight and be nice for the next several days. We're staying till Thurs before heading over to our membership park in Batesville, IN. We plan on using the next few days to just veggie out.

Flea Market and Das Essenhaus

We've had a wonderful week so far at the rally. We have 14 rigs here and 4 of them are first time ralliers so it's been fun meeting and getting to know all of them. We've had cook outs, campfires and lots of food to eat. Today was Flea market day so we headed over there about 10ish. Wilma rode with us and we had a great time. I really like the flea market. They usually have cocker spaniel stuff so Lady got a new tag for her collar, a pillow to lay her head on and we got a statue for outside. We actually didn't see it when we were there but Nancy and Bob did and they told me about it so she and I headed back over to check it out. It's cute. Nancy also found a booth that had homemade doggie treats and spoiled Lady yet again.
Tonight we headed over to Das Essenhaus with 30 or so of our Everest friends. Noone should ever go home hungry from there. It's served family style with bowls and bowls of food. Love it. Everyone had a good time. We're doing a crockpot breakfast in the morning and then pot luck tomorrow night...see food, food and food.

OOOPS

**Post below needs to be edited**
I should listen better when Danny talks...Yesterday and today Danny is involved in classes at his college as prep for student teaching to begin on Wed. When he told me he started Monday I just "assumed" he meant with the kids. I was wrong so just to clear that up: Am I still excited for him: You Bet, Am I still proud of him: Oh yeah.. When does he start "Student Teaching: WED. Does he need his Mom to listen better: Yes

Yes, Mr. Rucker

I just have to say I'm so excited for Danny. That's my son (sorry, our son) if anyone doesn't know. Today starts the beginning of the end of a long college process. Today is his first day of "Student Teaching". He's working with FIRST GRADERS for a few weeks and then he'll move to another grade. I can imagine the class room now..scared, tear stained little faces looking up at him wonder what's the giant in the room for. (he's 6 ft. tall) He'll do great though cause he's been working with kids for years and after today they'll all love him. he's great with them. Good luck Danny and we're proud that you hung in there.

Shipshewana, IN

Our travels had us leaving OH today and heading west to IN. We're in Shipshewana for the week at our annual Everest Rally. We missed last yrs rally so I've been excited about the one this yr. We've had this trip planned since last Aug. We have about 15 rigs scheduled to attend this yr and several arrived yesterday. When we arrived guess who was checking in. W&G. Wilma and I got a quick hug in before we had to move rigs and get out of the other rv'ers way but we'll have plenty of time to talk and visit this week. Everyones is getting set up and getting ready for a fun week.
Reid was getting stuff set up outside and I've been busy with inside stuff. Reid came in from the outside and I was on the phone. He realized I was talking to Nancy and he thinks thats so funny cause she's parked right next door to me. Nancy and I were trying to explain to him that we're busy getting each place set up for living this week and it's cooler inside so it just makes sense (to Nancy and me) to just say what we need to say in a quick phone call. what's funny about that.
This will probally be the fastest week of the summer cause we all have so much fun and stay so busy. It's just so nice to get together with old friends and met new ones at the rallys.

Randy and Lady

Funny story:
T&J stopped by yesterday afternoon and then decided to bring Randy over. Randy is their german shepard pup whose very playful and larger than Lady. She likes him at a distance. He's younger is more playful than Lady's reserve manner. Anyway they've played some (they are on leashes and chains so how much can they play.) After a while Lady lays down and Randy's walking around and found a couple of pieces of her chew bone leftovers and Randy started playing/chewing with one. Lady's not happy now..she's checking him out and getting as close as she dares and reaches the one he's not playing with and grabs it takes it over out of his reach and then leaves it (she didn't want it she just didn't want him to have it) then she walked back over to him and watched him eat the other stick, whinning a little as she watch. He finished it and walks away and she follows him back to the spot he was at then checkout if he left any. Later that night I gave her a fresh new chew treat and she finished it off leaving not a crumb...just in case Randy stopped by later and wanted it I guess..

Great week visiting with Friends

This week went by pretty fast considering it was hot, humid and we had only 30 amp and needed both airs running all the time. But we had friends here and that kept us busy so the time went fast.
Tim and Jean are here this week and their freinds, Pete and Chris are with them. We met them and the six of us hung out some together. We decided to go to the lake and grab a bite to eat one afternoon. We all know that eating at a tourist stop is pricey but we're tourist so we went to Dock's. As the name implys it's docked on the beach with Lake Erie for the view. It was nice and the breeze coming off the water was great. They had a Kobe burger on the menu for 13.00 but that did come with chips and a pickle spear. No one really wanted a burger and I had peel and eat shrimp (no surprise there.) Reid couldn't find anything on the menu to his liking but the daily special showed Jumbo scallops with mixed veggies.. That showed 3 scallops but considering they were jumbo Reid felt that would be fine and he does love scallops.. When the plates arrived everyone had plenty of food except for Reid. he had about a cup of undercooked baby carrots with some wax beans tossed in and the scallops the size of maybe a half dollar. It looked sad in comparison to the undercooked carrots. but Reid did say he had four on his plate not three but we've seen sea scallops larger than those jumbos. We couldn't help but laugh but Reid took it well. Reid doesn't eat undercook veggie so he ate is scallops and then sat and waiting for the rest of us to finish ours. He did require supper later that night.
Oh Friday we went over to T&J and grilled out. Pete and Chris had to leave so it was just the four of us. Today the four of us we're heading into town to check out the groc store for some grilling meats and then to Crosswinds for a late lunch. We tried it earlier in the week and it was good so Tim and Jean want to try it. We're all leaving tomorrow and probally want run into them for a while.

Erie Isles RV Resort

We left Akron and headed over to Port Clinton, OH for the week. We had a good time at the golf tournament but it's a lot of walking for Reid. We decided not to go on Sunday and watch it on tv.
We arrived here at Erie Isle's RV Resort around noon today. We've been to this park once or twice before. The park is nice enough with paved roads for biking and walking. I just hope it's not too hot before I get out each day to walk. Our friends, Tim and Jean arrived yesterday so we'll have fun visiting with them this week. The park is pretty empty right now but will probally fill up during the weekend. It's alot different than the kidfest we just left. I love kids just not 20 or 30 running around at one time. I'm starting to sound like Reid aren't I.

Our miss Lady has a birthday

Yes, Lady turns 6 today..I think that makes her the oldest puppy in the world..I can't think of her as a dog..dogs are older and less fun..she's still lots of fun with her chew treats and stuff animals. She's adorable when she's looking out the windows checking out the chipmucks and squirrels. (oh yes rabbits and birds too). It's adorable till the barking and whinning continues for a while then I have to calm her down or close the curtains. I've been singing happy birthday to her today and yes I heard Reid sing a few notes to her too. Later tonight she's getting a cup cake and an "oinkie" (that's what the package calls them) they are really chew bones.

Day 1: Golf Tournament

This was the first day of the tournament and we had fun. I was just a few feet from the biggest names in the business: Phil, Rory, Boo, and Steve oh yeah, the other one, Tiger. It was great seeing them in person. I'm amazed at how many I recognize these days. Besides phones we can't take in cameras or food and drink so you can imagine we spend a fortune on drinks. The highs was mid 80's and the sunny was out so we kept ourselves hydrated. Regular size pepsi and water was 4.00each.. I can't even admit how much we spent on drinks.. but you have to have them to stay hydrated. I looked for a water fountain but didn't find one. Tomorrow's high is suspose to be 75 and if that's correct it will be a nice and welcome change.

Yes I'm addicted!!!

to my phone and not for you all think: talking.. for lots of other reasons. Today we headed over to the golf tournament. We knew going in that cell phones weren't allowed and that's no problem. I had already told both kids that we'd be unavailable during the day time in case they called and didn't reach each of us..Steph seems to think that if I don't answer my phone after a coulpe of attempts she needs to call Dad and report that I'm missing. I also let some family members know just in case they tried to reach us so I figured if anyone else called we'd just call back later.. so we leave our phones behind and head into the gates.. It wasn't long that I reached for my phone to check the time. Then again to look up a date on the calendar..then the time again. Then I thought of something funny and thought I should text Steph.
Can't no phone...so then I realized I use my phone for my watch, my day planner and my messages to the kids all without making a call. I'm lost without it and I'm doing it the rest of the weekend. I'll have to wear a watch, not worry about what day it is and keep my funny thoughts to myself all weekend.

Stephanie's Day and Ohio for a while

First of all: my baby turned 25 today. So Happy Birthday Stephanie.....She's like me with celebrating. One day just isn't enough. She's been partying since the weekend. She and a friend, Cass took a road trip to sightsee a town near Atlanta over the weekend. Then tonight Cass invited her over for Lasagna and a birthday cake.. I know she's having fun.
Today was a travel day for us. We packed up and left MI for Ohio. Believe it or not we actually planned this week of our summer back in Feb. We knew we'd be near here during Aug and Reid wanted to go to the golf tourney. So we planned this week and the other stops around it. The tourney is held in Akron. I should see some of the "big names" in golf this week. We went to our first tournament last yr and it was a lot of fun. I really didn't know what to expect but I had a good time. I told Reid to lead the way, it was his week and I'd happily follow him around. I was the one that wanted to see Lake Michigan and west MI so it's his turn to do what he wants too. I do like golf too so I know I'll have a good time. I plan on putting my golfing skills to use this fall when Bonnie and I start playing weekly. (pause for laughing)
I'll let you know what golfers I see.

Finishing out July

July is almost over and than means summer is starting to wind down.. We'll be leaving MI on Tues for the rest of the summer. We've had a good time seeing the state and visiting with friends but it's time to move on. Aug is shaping up to be a very busy month with us moving every week to a new location. I'll keep ya'll posted on where we're at and what's going on with us.
Today was spa day for Lady. We decided to get her groomed again here cause the place we go to does a good job and you never know what kind of cut she'll get on the road. I had her cut short but she'll be needing a cut by the time we get to the RGV in the fall. Tigger is sitting beside me watching me so I guess I should mention that he's doing good too and looks like he'll be returning with us this fall..We didn't know if he had another year in him or not but he just had his 14th birthday and most days he's looking pretty good.

Trip back to Hartland

We packed up on Wed and headed back to Hartland. We checked the weather and the temps & rain chances were going to be about the same for either Alpena or Hartland so we decided to finish the month out here. Today didn't disappoint or did it. It depends on who you ask. The rain started about mid afternoon and was still going strong after midnight. As far as I can tell it's going to rain most of the weekend. Good thing I have a few books to keep me busy. Nancy and Bob are here but we haven't had a chance to hang out due to the weather.
We'll be in MI till the 3rd and then leaving MI for the summer. We have events planned in OH and IN for the next 5 weeks that will keep us busy.

Fast week

Our week in Alpena went fast. We got together on Friday for the fish fry with Phyllis and Larry. The food was really good. Sat and Sun was golf weekend. The tournament was held in Scotland so the tv coverage started at 4am. Thank goodness for DVR's. Sunday was a rainy day so it was a good day for watching golf and baseball. Go Braves. Monday we headed over to P&L for dinner. We had another nice visit and then said our good byes till the fall when we all get back together at Leisure.

Flooding in South Texas

Over to course of the last week I've talked to people that's been in the Mission area and rec'd emails from others about how things are going in Mission. Our park is doing ok and looking pretty good with plenty of green grass. Fruit trees are full of developing fruit. (that's a good thing.) The rain has brought the mosquitos though and they are pretty bad. Hopefully they will be gone before any of us head back down in the fall.
Based on the local newspaper article the businesses along the river are flooded. Pepe's and Riverside cafe were taking a hit. Riverside was trying to salvage some of its tables and chairs and other items. Below is what was written in the paper about Pepe's:

Nearby Pepe’s on the River was almost completely submerged in water.

On Saturday, the widening river banks lapped at the back deck, with families and drinkers enjoying the popular bar.

On Wednesday, only a portion of the roof and its supporting bars could be seen above the new river levels. (end of paper's comments)

Also Chimney park was flooded too. I believe I'm correct in saying that's where the border patrol was located. I've seen pic's of the flooding in this park. If anyone wants to see those pic's email me and I'll be happy to forward them on to you..I don't know how to put pic's on this.
Just thought you might want to know how things are going after a couple of tropical near misses...(if these are misses what would a direct hit be like)

Alpena Mi

We left the west coast yesterday and moved over to the east coast. That's the coast of MI in case anyone was wondering. We orginally had plans to go back to Hartland but the weather was calling for high temps this week so we decided to stay farther north. Hopefully the heat will break by the time we head back down toward the southern parts of MI.
We're staying at Thunder Bay RV park in Hillman. We've been to this park before and really like this area. It's quiet and away from the hussle of some of the MI parks we've been to.
Phyllis and Larry live near here and we saw them last night along with Jim and Jan.
Jim and Jan have a lake house here for the summer and they winter in Bandera. They've come down to Mission to visit before so we've seen them several times over the last couple of yrs. We all met up at Bolton's Bar and had supper. Reid loves the pizza there. We had the place pretty much to ourselves and we sat and talked for a couple of hours.
Friday night is fish fry night here at the rv park grill so P&L are heading over here for that tomorrow night.
No real plans for the rest of the week. Reid will golf some and we're going over to P&L's sometime before we leave here.

Where to next

Reid has been watching the weather and it looks like it's going to be a really hot week in Hartland so we decided to go farther north and stay in Hillman, MI for a week. We've been to this rv park before and it's really a nice quiet place. There's plenty of area for me to ride my bike and walk to get my miles in each day. Our friends P&L live in this area and if they are home and if they are free we'll visit with them. We have a couple of places we like to hang out when were in town with them so that will be the plan if they are available.
We'll head back down toward Hartland on the 21st..weather permitting. that's the plan right now but when it comes to the heat we never know.

Sightseeing in W MI

West Mi was new for us and we wanted to see a couple of the things people told us to visit. We drove up the scenic route on 22 up to Sleeping Bear Dunes..I was looking for bears along the way but didn't see any. I did see a deer.. There was a pull out on the way up that we got a great view of Lake MI. I could have looked at that view all day. It was just beautiful..We saw dolphins...No we didn't that was a joke and the person it was directed to will get a laugh out of it. I love looking at the water, hearing it lap upon the shore, I just love it. Later we took a driving tour around the dunes. That was pretty interesting to see. This dune is 450 feet high and people do walk down it to the water but getting back up is the trick..no we didn't go down it. Kids were running up and down it and anyone over 30 was having a rough time of it and others (like us) we're even gonna try it.
We decided to head into Traverse City and take 31 back to the rv park. We saw a groc store and stopped to get a couple of items so I could make spaghetti sause then found a mexican restaurant for a late lunch. it was really good. You all know our trials of finding good mexican food.. We always try to hit local places when we're traveling cause we can do the chains anytime.

we moved...West MI

Where have I been. For some reason I hadn't gotten around to update my blog till now. We left on Thurday heading to W MI. this is our first trip to the west coast of MI and I've been looking forward to it. We had planned to come here last yr but Steph's surgery changed all that so we postponed it till this yr. The weather had been nice. Cooler than it was last week but the temps will be climbing most of the week. We plan to do some sightseeing next week. Traverse City is on our list to visit but they are having their Cherry festival this week and we want to go after that..I know most people visit during festivals but not us..Crowds arent' for us.
Also on the list is Sleeping Bear Dunes and Lake MI so that will keep us busy.
We finally found a pizza place today.. Reid had been talking pizza for several days so I knew he would find one soon. Tomorrow we're going out for breakfast.
I like the park. It's nice and paved..I've enjoyed walking and biking around the park the last couple of days.. Lady too is getting in her walk. No dogs off their leash so she's getting out and about.

Alex stayed away

You know me I was watching the weather channel..While I do watch hurricane coverage this time was a bit more interesting cause it was heading toward our place in TX. But it went farther south so we got lots of rain but not alot of wind. We haven't gotten any calls so everything in our park must be ok. I heard last night that McAllen had gotten 7 inches of rain already and more expected.
Now for some good weather..oh it's been great. The lows this past week have been around 50 (one night was 48) and the highs 70 with lots of sun. We're enjoying it.
I even had a jacket on last night while we sat outside.
This has been a fun week. On Sunday Rita and Dan stopped by. Phyllis and Larry was going to but the weather was bad and they had a long drive so they headed on home. We had fun seeing Rita and Dan again. They spend last winter with us in So TX.
Tues Nancy and I went to get our hair done. I needed my root therapy again...where does the gray come from. We stopped for lunch afterwards.
Tim and Jean were here all weekend and we got to met their daughter Trina and granddaughter Alexis. She's such a cutie. You just wanted to hug all over here.
Tomorrow is Lady's day. She's getting her spa treatment.
I don't know what we're doing for the 4th. The park is having their fireworks on Sat night so we'll watch them.
take care everyone

No bad weather where we're at

The storm that hit Detroit missed us. We had some rain but not alot and no wind. My sister called this morning making sure we were ok so I thought I'd blog. We're about an hour west of Detroit. We has some friends that drove through part of that storm on their way to us. They said it was rough going for several miles. The weather behind the storm is going to be cooler and sunny.

Randy

In my last post I forgot to mention Randy. Tim and Jean adopted an Alabama boy.. Randy is Lady's newest camping canine buddy. Randy is about 2 yrs old. He's a shepard mix and he was a rescue baby. We met him for the first time yesterday and he's a keeper. He's so mellow and lovable. He's playful and loves to watch the other dogs in the park. He sometimes thinks he's a lap dog and we all know shepards aren't lap dogs. He reminds us of our shepard, Joker, that we had for 12 yrs.
Lady and Randy have been getting along great. Lady's pretty laid back while he has some puppy in him still but they are being very socialable and took their walk together tonight.

Michigan for the summer

Three months after leaving Texas we arrived in Michigan on Thurs. Our first thoughts was: it's cooler here. We arrived and the temp was 77..that's about 20 degrees cooler than the weather has been for us in various states. (now I know its suspose to hit 90 this weekend here but for now I'll enjoy it) the low this morning was 57 and it was nice. I could breathe. I got a nice walk in around the park first thing.
We know it's going to be a couple of fun week cause Nancy and Bob and Tim and Jean are here. T&J will be here for a week and the rest of us for 2 weeks. Nancy had supper in the crockpot for us all last night and we visited and talked for hours..Tonight we're all grilling steaks out with more talking, laughing, and visiting. Friends of B&N, Cheryl and Dan, that have become our friends too, are here this week so we'll see them alot too...and we're not done yet. Our Winter Texas friends that's from Alpena, Phyllis and Larry are in this area for the weekend and we're suspose to see then on Sunday for a visit..and theres more, Phyllis' brother Dan and his wife Rita, who stayed at our TX park last winter, live near here so we're going to be seeing them sometime this week too...This lifestyle has given us some wonderful friends...
and we enjoy spending time with them all.

summing up our week in IN

One word: soggy. Our week in IN was wet..the park didn't drain well either so even if it had been a couple of days without rain we still had standing water by our door..Lady didn't get to sit out any during the week cause of the sogginess. (is that a word) She wasn't happy..Monday it rained most of the day and we stayed inside most of the day..We decided it was time to get out and decided to try a place for supper called Lil' Charlies. We had a street name and the restaurant name so we're in business...wrong..we didn't know about the road construction and road closing..every way we went said closed...we tried several different directions and finally saw a little sign saying Lil' Charlies was open for business now if we could just find the place..so after seeing other cars driving on the roads with the closed signs we heading that way too and we found it..It didn't disappoint. the food was very good and we were glad to be out of the RV for a while.

Love my Greats

One of the fun things I did while I was home was seeing some of my greats..Two adorable great nieces, Claire and Kate and one of my nephews, Sam. We have 7 greats total and one on the way so anytime I can see them it's good. I visited with them for a while on Tues and then went to lunch with the girls on Wed. Sam is the oldest and being a guy doesn't give me as many hugs as he use to. Claire's old enough to remember me or rather she knows I'm the one with Lady and always has a bunch of hugs for me but Kate is only 2 so she's not sure who I am when I stop by every once in a while but I do love them so. Kate sat beside me at the restaurant and smiled at me and as long as I didn't touch her she was ok. You know it was all I could do to keep my hands off her precious cheeks.

Happy Father's Day

Happy day all you Dad's out there. I tried to play it up but Reid wasn't having any of it..Steph called to start off his morning. Danny will call sometime today he always does.
We didn't do much today. We had lunch and watched the Braves win. Reid is watching golf now. We're going to grill out steaks later and that's pretty much our day.
After some thunderstorms went through Friday night the heat has broke some so that's good.
Yesterday we went to get groceries and stopped by the Hobo Hut for lunch. We saw it when we were going through town and decided it would have a good burger..It did. We like the local places when we're traveling.

Beginning of summer

Summer is here..at least for our traveling schedule. We knew our Spring would be spent in the south cause we were hanging around for Steph's surgery and our DR's apts but once we were done with that we would be heading north for the rest of the summer. We had a great time this spring and we're glad Steph is doing so well since her surgery but it was time to get our stuff done in TN and get going cause it was close to 100 degrees while we were there.
For the next several months we'll be traveling to various locations around IN, MI, and OH.. we have friends and or family in these areas so we'll stay busy.
We're in a town called Batesville this week and it's not really around anything (like a walmart) but it's a nice area and after the busy time in TN it's nice for a slower pace this week. I was surprised to see how empty the park was considering it's June. It will probally fill up this weekend. We were able to get full hook up and 50AMPs so we're in business.

Fun time is Tennessee

Even though it was super hot we still had a great time. We arrived in town on Sat afternoon and just chilled. Sunday Reid went golfing with Larry, a friend from home that's also a RV'er. He and his wife Pauline spend their winters in AZ and travel thrughout the summer. They had just got back from an east coast trip and are gearing up for a trip to Alaska later this summer. After golf Reid and I stopped by his Mom's house for a visit and to borrow her car and I was headed to my Mom's for a visit so we met back at the RV later that night..
Monday was another busy day. Reid had lab work to do in one town while I headed to another town for my dr apt.(the reason we were borrowing Mom's car). I met my good friend Lisa for lunch at our favorite Mexican place and we had a nice visit. We were having birthday supper for Reid's sister, Betty, later that night so we ended back up at Mom's house for supper with them and his brother, Dale and his wife Linda. That was fun. I think we laughed more that night than we had in a while. Reid was having a good laugh too.
Tues was Reid's dr's apt. He had the usual mishaps. First the lady doing the test was late.. Reid wasn't impressed with her. Then right before he had lunch they called him back and said they ran the wrong test so he had to go back again..He spent most of Tues at his Dr's. I went to visit our niece Jennifer and her kids, Sam, Claire and Kate for a while before heading to my dentist. Once that was over it was a late lunch with my sister Penny before heading back to Mom's for a wedding shower for another neice..It was perfect timing cause two of her aunts (Betty and I) live out of town so since we were both in town at the same time we were able to give her the shower.. another aunt, Mary help and so did another niece Jessica.. It was fun having us all together cause it doesn't happen often.
Wed morning was Lady's time but not for fun. She had to go to the vet for her shots and then a trip to Granny's while I ran errands. I had to go to Sams for meds and then all us girls met for lunch at a favorite place called Millers Grocery's..That group was Mom, Betty, Jennifer, Claire, Kate, Mary and Me. Again another fun time, Betty and I were trying to get in as much fun as we could since we're there so rarely.

How Hot was it today.

99 degrees. Today was the hottest day of the year so far. It just had to happen the day we got to town. tomorrow is forcasted to be even hotter..We'll see. This is June and it's early for this heat..
We left Ga this morning after spending 6 weeks there..6 long weeks. The first four were ok weather wise but then a week of rain and storms and finally high heat and humidity. Not Reid's idea of fun.
We arrived in our home county this afternoon. Theres no RV park close by so we're staying in the "big" town a few miles away. No RV park here either but a friend has a very large parking area at his business so we can stay here whenever we come through. We have 50amp but no water. Still it's nice to have the 50amp in this heat.
We just got set up today and didn't see any friends or family. By the time we arrived I wasn't feeling good. the dreaded sinus headache..I just took some med's and laid down while Reid finished setting up (what little there is to set up for a 4 day stay) then he watched golf and I napped. Hopefully my sinus headaches should ease up once we leave the south later next week. Tomorrow will be an easy day, we don't have a lot of plans just some golfing and visiting.

Almost time to leave GA

Steph is doing great and she's able to get out and about now. She will have appointments next week and she'll also go back to work. She's doing better this time at the three week mark than she was last year but they did do more grafts last yr. She's not ready for us to go but I baked her some brownies today to ease the pain of me leaving. (Ha)
We're glad it's time to leave. Today was the hotest it's been and it was 95 with heat index making it over 100. Lady was laying on the kitchen floor under the air conditioner panting...she was so funny..she was looking around at us like "is anyone else hot"..Inside the rv with both airs running it was still 86 degrees. I can't count how many times Reid said today it's time we were leaving so I just have to get him through tomorrow and I think I can keep him happy. We have spent 6 weeks in GA and we're ready to get on the road. We like traveling and staying in one place only a week or two. Our plans right now will have us moving around every week or so for the rest of the summer into early fall.
We were here long enough for the peaches to ripen. I had some locally grown ones this week and they were delicious. I'm going to pick up a few more tomorrow before I leave town. (by picking I mean off the shelf at the store)
We're heading to Tenn on Sat and will be spending about 5 days there. We have dr's apts on Monday and Tues and also a family birthday dinner and a wedding shower to attend for our neice. Reid want be attending the shower but I'm helping give it, in our free time we'll be visiting with as much family and friends as we can see. It will be a busy time but fun also. .
More later

It's June already

Wow It's already June. This year is moving on fast. I'm ready to get out of the south but only because my sinuses hurt so much when I'm here..It was painful when I lived here and I forget how bad it use to be till I'm back and the symptons start up again. The past couple of days have been so bad I can barely function.
We'll be in GA for another week then on to Tenn for a few days. We'll see some family and visit dr's then head out of town to start our summer traveling season. We planned our spring around Steph and her surgery. Your welcome Steph, Once we leave GA will be staying in one place for only a week or two before moving on. We have some fun stuff planned and we'll see several of our RV friends and some family during the months of June, July and Aug. Can't wait for that.
Reid isn't golfing much right now, it's either too hot, humid or raining. It's that time of year here. Lady is good for all you Lady lovers. she's tired of me spending all my time with Steph but as long as Reid lets her sit outside with him she's fine.
Tigger is hanging around too. He only needs his food and a place to nap so he's good to go.
I hope everyone has a happy and safe June. Email me and let me know what everyones doing.

to blog or not to blog

Did everyone have a cookout, picnic, or a party today. Memorial day is like the kick off of summer but I hope everyone remember to say their prayers for those who have served and are serving and those who paid the price of their lives for our freedoms..I did...I love seeing troops in uniform it makes me smile or tear up depending on my mood..I teared up alot when Steph was in Iraq and I'd see a uniform but right now it makes me smile..If I'm in a situation where I can speak to someone in uniform I thank them too. (I can almost turn any situation into a "talking" one if someone will stop long enough to listen to me.) Steph said one time that people she didn't know would tell them thanks for their service, or thanks for what you do and it means alot to them to know people care. Being here the past few weeks I see uniforms everywhere and no I haven't talked to all of them..
I was very American today. I watched baseball (go Braves) fixed brownies (didn't have the stuff for apple pie and "tried" to bbq chicken.(The Georgia afternoon monsoons happened again today about 5ish and lasted till after 9, doesn't mean they are over they've just stopped for now.) so I had to put the BBQ chicken in the oven and bake it. It turned out ok anyway.
I never really know if anyone is reading my words of wisdom or not but a couple of people this week told me they knew we were close by cause of the blog or found out about Steph's surgery update so it's nice to hear that people are reading and enjoying it. I like letting you guys know what's up with us, sometime it's imformative and sometimes just me rambling.
We'll be here at least another week. The rainy afternoons are putting a frown on Reid's face and I believe there is a chance of rain the rest of the week. We've had a good spring as far as the weather has been up till this week but it looks like alot of the country is having lots of rain right now.
I hope everyone had a great May and looking forward to a great June. We'll be on the move a lot more once we leave GA so visit often and see where we're at and what we're up to.

A surprise visit

We love it when RV friends stop by and tonight we got a call from an Everest friend of our, Rjams, he was passing through and found out we were close so he stopped in for the night. It was perfect timing cause we were fixing to grill and he hasn't had supper so we put another steak on the grill and had a nice visit. It had been over two yrs since we'd seen him so it was fun to catch up.. I did miss seeing his wife, maybe next time.

Danny did it. Yeah

For those who don't know Danny, he's our oldest.. He's been putting himself through college for yrs now.. He attended U of Memphis, changed his major, attended another yr, decide to transfer to U of Tennessee, attended lots of football games, changed major again..stopped going and works for a couple of yrs went back took some more classes, stopped again. (get the idea) any way he finished his last class today and we're so proud.. he want offically graduate till Dec cause he will student teach in the fall but for now his classes are done. His class celebrated with a cookout and then he and another friend played golf. great way to spend the day. Again we're proud of you Danny.
We're still in Warner Robins GA with Steph. She's doing good. We actually got out of the apartment yesterday and did some errands. Using the crutches isn't easy but she's pretty good with them. I took the day off from visiting with her to hang around the rv and get some things done. Reid and I went shopping for steaks and then out for lunch. (living the exciting life aren't we)
No real plans for the holiday. I'm spending tomorrow at Stephs doing all our laundry and watching the Braves play. I think Reid might be golfing in the morning and watching it in the afternoon.
take care

Surgery is over

The dreaded knee surgery is over..We have planned our spring around Steph's surgery and now it's behind us. This is her 3rd knee surgery and we're hoping the last one.
It's no fun to live away from family and not be able to get around without help.
We arrived last Wed and spent the week hanging out with Stephanie. She had part of the week off so she and I took advantage of it by having our nails done, shopped some and got a hair cut. We also grilled out some and Reid played golf. On Friday she had the surgery and today has been pretty good. Yesterday was rough. She was in lots of pain and sick. The anesthetic took awhile to get out of her system. But I think she's on the mend now. This surgery wasn't as involved as the last one so hopefully her recovery time will be faster. They grafted two bones in her knee, one on each side of the knee. (Last time it was three.) The dr said she can be driving within two weeks and she'll probally go back to work then too.
Not alot of other stuff going on. I'll be spending my time between the RV park and her apartment. The first week she want leave the apt much but I'll get her out and about some after that. It's getting into the low 90's here now and the humidity is starting to climb so it's gonna get uncomfortable for Reid real quick. My allergies are pretty bad too..for some reason TN, GA, and KY are rough on me.
We're gonna check out a couple of resturants next week that look pretty good on billboards we'll see how good they are.

Travel day

Today we moved from Americus to Warner Robins, GA. We're about 10 miles from Stephanie's apartment. I'm glad we're so close cause once she has her knee surgery (May 21) I'll be going back and forth all the time.
We got all set up and decided to go to Sonny's BBQ for lunch. It was pretty good. We've been there before. Their cornbread is as good as Famous Dave's (but not their ribs). We'll be here till mid June and then a stop over in TN for dr. appointments before heading north for the summer. We have several things planned this summer and I'm looking forward to them. Since we "sat" all winter and part of the spring it's gonna be fun moving around every week or so and checking out new sights.
I talked to Larry this week and he and Phyllis are leaving Mission and heading to MI. It's been very warm there and my fruit trees are loaded with fruit. Let's hope the birds don't help themselves to it all.

Happy Mothers Day

Happy day to all you Mothers out there. We've had another great week here. The temps have backed off some. We had some 90's last week and that's on the border of my comfort level. We're suspose to go back to the low 80's this week which is more in the normal May range.
Our time here in Americus will be up on Wed. We've had a nice quiet time here. After the month in Gulf Shores and three weeks of that was spring break for every elementary and jr high kid in the southeast this has been a nice break. I am getting a little needy for conversation, it's been just Reid and me the last two weeks and we all know Reid wishes I had someone else to talk to so I'd stop talking to him.
He's has fun golfing those. The course here is close and not pricey. We've tried out a couple of the local restaurants and they've been so so. Nothing to really brag about. We've had to grill going almost every night. Trying to figure out new things to fix is a chore.
Wednesday we move over closer to Steph. She and I have several things planned to do on her days off. We're doing Mother's Day on Thur cause she's gotta work today. She'll have a week to run around with me cause once she has her surgery it will be very hard for her to get around. She's usually off the leg completely for 2 weeks and then she can be up but very little pressure on that leg..she'll be on crutches and therapy for about three months. Let's all hope this surgery works...
I know some of our northern friends got some cold and snowy weather the last few days anyone wishing they were back in Mission. P&L are still there and it's so hot they can't do much outside..Every place has it's downside doesn't it.
Everyone have a good week.

May is here

Ok this year seems to be moving right along. We've had a nice quiet week here at this park and we liked it so much we decided to stay another week. We're were going to move up the road but when we compared the two parks this one was prettier. Oh the other one was ok it was just located by the interstate, It's in a pecan grove and we need our internet for work, and it was more crowded. Since Steph will work all next week and we wouldn't see her any we decided to just stay here till May 12. Speaking of Steph she did get some time off this weekend and drove out to see us on Sat. She spent the night and had to leave for work Sunday afternoon. BTW she said the drive from the interstate was more like 23 miles (I'd told her and previously posted that it was about 17 miles.) She said she kept driving and driving and finally found the turn off.
It's raining here right now but nothing stormy. Luckly most of the TN flooding was north and west of our families so everything was ok with them.
Reid had gotten to play golf several days so he's had fun. I think we have more rain tomorrow but Wed should be sunny again.
Hey TX people! I've talked to Phyllis whose still there and she said the temps hit 100 a couple times last week. They will be there a little while longer but most of the park has emptied out except for the ones who live there all the time.
We tried a couple of restaurants around here. One was Mexican and although Steph and I were ok with it Reid didn't care for it..yes it had gravy on his stuff. We tried a restaurant today that boasted best pizza. It was ok nothing special. Reid thought it was light on the sause..Mine was fine.

Middle of Georgia

Hey everyone. We packed up and left AL yesterday. Our time was fun there and we'll go back that way in the fall as we head back to toward TX. We are at a park in the middle of nowhere about 18 miles from I-75 and about as hour south of Steph. We don't have to be at her place till later in May and with her work schedule we wouldn't see her much if we were any closer so we're taking our time getting to her.
This is a very nice, quiet place. There's about 50 sites and it's full hook up. It's also a PassPort park so the rate for a week is very low. All 8 nights gets the discount rate. There's about 10 other RV'ers here all spread out around the park. The only traffic I've seen except for our neighbors car was the host golf cart and a tractor in a field behind us past a cluster of trees. There no street light shinning in Reid's window at night this week so that's very good. We are pulled in facing a nice lake with ducks and geese swimming on it. I've been told there's bass in the lake but I don't have a fishing pole. We're going to stay here at least a week and might decide to stay the second week too. Of course we're not too far from the important stuff, there was a walmart and restaurants about 6 miles back so when I need a shopping or food fix I'll be about to get one. It's a nice change of pace after the spring break traffic all over Gulf Shores.
We were a little surprised at the cool temps. We've lived in GA before and getting to 46 overnight last night was a tad of a surprise but it warmed up nicely today for us. After tonight our lows should stay in the mid 50's but the cooler days and nights means I can keep my windows up longer.
Chat later

Next Stop

Our time in Gulf Shores is winding down. We'll be leaving in the morning for GA. We've had a blast here and hung out with some more "E" friends. W&G arrived last week and checked out the area. They've moved on out already. T&J will be here till May sometime before heading on. This is a nice area for spring and the weather was great except for Saturday when the storms came rolling through but luckly for us the rough stuff was north of us, we had some thunderstorms and heavy rain but that was it and only about 3 days total did we have any rain at all.. Good for us bad for farmers...
Not a lot of plans today, we're going to met for one more Shrimp Basket lunch with Tim and Jean before we leave town and the rest of the afternoon will be spent putting things away. We're stopping somewhere overnight and then on to a town called Americus for a week. We've never been there so I don't know what's to do there except the rv park is on a golf course..wonder who found this park...
that's all for now.

Another great week

Times does fly. We've had another great week in Gulf Shores. I have a walmart approx 4 miles from me north and south..so I have my choice when I pull out on the the highway to go left or right. Right is toward the beaches so it's usually crowded going that way but who cares right. We saw Tim and Jean a couple times this week. On Tues we drove into Pensacola with them to Famous Dave's. Got to visit Dave when we're this close. Reid went golfing some this week and I've stayed busy shopping, reading and walking and watching baseball.
Danny got his test results back from his third of four state test for teaching so he has one test to go and another mon and a half of classes then it's a semester of student teaching and he's ready to begin his career. Yeah for him. We heard this week that our neice is having a baby so that was wonderful news. Steph's surgery is getting closer and we'll be headed toward her in a couple weeks and she and I get to pal around for a while..
I'm getting my hair done on Monday and I'll be taking Lady in for her spa day as soon as I can get an apt. As you can see busy busy busy...take care everyone
oh yeah....prayfully and thankfully Larry has some good medical news this past week.
G&W are on the move and heading our way...N&B will be getting on the road next week for their trip north.. I'm always praying for safe travels cause our friends and us spend so much time on the roads.

Friends Fun and Food

Hey everyone Happy April. We've got no complaints on the weather. We've had sunshine for well over a week with no rain and a cool breeze coming off the gulf and it's been great. Reid has Jimmy Buffet on the radio in the evening and something on the grill most nights. He bought a new grill before we left TX and he's been trying all kinds of foods. It's now baseball season and we can sit outside and watch the Braves play while Reid grills.. We won our first game and now only 161 more to go.
We had a blast with Paul and Rosemary and hated to see them leave so soon after we arrived but we've got plans to see then a couple more times in '10. Tim and Jean are still here so we see then several times a week plus our weekly (at least) meeting at the shrimp basket. We went there on Monday night. We also tried the Mellow Mushroon again with them on Sat. they hadn't been before and really liked it too. I want to try a couple more places while we're here but we've got plenty of time.
I went golfing again and it was not pretty. I hadn't been in a long time and I can tell it's one of those things that requires lots of practice. I've got someone lined up to go with weekly once we're back in Tx so I think I'll wait till I can go more often and try to learn.
I can't finish till I say Go Duke...they've been my (and Danny's) team since 91 and I was so happy they won the National Championship Monday night...

gulf shores al

We arrived in GS on Sat. We had a good travel week once we got past the rain on Sat morning when we left Mission. The only other time it rained was on Thurs morning that had stopped by the time I got out of bed. It was forcasted that Thur would be a wash out so Reid didn't get a tee time and he should have. It ended up being the prettiest day of the week.
The first site they gave us here at Gulf Breeze RV park was a swamp..They got the heavy rains on Thurs but it looked like this site caught all the run off from the rest of the park. We drove around on Sun morning and found another site we liked better so we ask to move and they said no problem..
We called Tim and Jean to let them know we were here and tell them we were headed to Doc's Seafood for lunch but they were at the Sausage Festival with Paul and Rosemary and had already eaten (you guess it sausage) Reid had been waiting 6 months for Doc's seafood gumbo and it didn't disappoint. (the waiter did but not the gumbo) The four of the came over later and we got to visit. Today we're going Tim's place for a cookout. Paul and Rosemary are leaving tomorrow so we are getting together day for our good byes.

on the move

Today was the day. We heading out of the valley. We decided to take 77N this time since we'd never taken this route. it was a good choice. It seemed like a better road. There were ranches off in the distance and the wildflowers planted along the medium was a nice touch.
We knew leaving Mission that we were going to run into cold weather and it didn't disapoint. About a hundred miles from Leisure we saw the storm clouds coming our way or maybe we were headed their way. The rain started and the winds too. (gusting to 43mph at some points). When we got to our over night stop at Gateway to the Gulf, a very nice place to stay overnight and went outside of the rig and it was freezing...it was 48 degrees. The rain moved on out and the sun came out but the wind stayed with us the rest of the evening...(it's still blowing very hard as I type).
Tomorrow is another travel day. It will take us through Houston and into Louisana. The high there will be around 50 with a low again in the mid 30's but after that we're expecting a warm up so I'm looking forward to that.

Ready to leave the valley for the summer

Yes, the time has arrived. We're leaving the valley in the morning. We arrived here on Sept 13th so we've been here a long time. We spent the last couple of weeks getting things ready and this past wednesday we got moved back into the rig. I had to make serveral trips over with clothes, and various items including one cat and puppy but we're all ready to head out about 8 tomorrow. wouldn't you know it, another cold front is moving through and our stop over tomorrow night will have a low of 36. Tomorrow is the first day of spring where's the spring like temps..
We'll be traveling for the spring and summer staying a night here a week or month there. We have plans to see friends in Gulf Shores AL and having plenty of seafood before heading to Steph's place for a month while she has knee surgery. I'll keep everyone posted here as to where we're at and we could be in your location so let us know if we're close and we'll get together with ya.

fun busy happy sad

What does that mean!!! We'll it's time to leave the valley for the summer. So we're going to be pulling out next Saturday Mar 20th. I have some fun things planned for next week. It's gonna be busy getting the rig ready to go. I'm happy to be getting back in travel mode but sad to be leaving the park and missing friends and all the fun we have here during the winter.
Today we had our season ending lunch with George and Wilma before we leave town. Now it's possible to run into them again sometime during the summer. We met at Logans and had a great lunch. We've know this couple the longest (along with Jo and Steve) and always have a blast when we're together..you never know what Wilma is gonna say or do... Next week we have lunch planned with Phyllis & Larry and Dan & Rita. Another fun outing there.
We'll have a busy week getting everything we need moved into the rig. I have a list so things should go smoothly. We have a couple more dance classes that I hope to attend. I've really enjoyed learning line dance this year.
Tomorrow marks 6 months we've been here and we're ready to get on the road. When we started rv'ing full time we never intended to stay anywhere 6 months at a time. Speaking of full time on Thur the 18th it will be three yrs of full timing and we're still enjoying it so much.
It will be sad to say "see ya" for the summer but most everyone will be gone by mid April. There's a few residents here year round but most of the park have summer homes in northern states with a few of us traveling around the country in our RV's all summer.
Keep viewing during the spring and summer and you'll know where we're at and what we're doing for fun.

A beautiful week

This was our prettiest week so far. The temps were 70's and 80's with mostly calm wind. Lots of people outside walking, playing, washing rigs and autos, biking, you name it.
Since I last blogged I went to Ropa with some ladies from the park. It's something you should do once while you're here in the valley Ropa means clothes I think but there's warehouses all around the valley full of clothes. Picture this. clothes are brought in off semi's and stacked in mounds and as the trucks are emptied the mounds of clothes grow to 12-15 ft high and then there's people on these stack searching thought for their size or color. Some of the clothes are used some knew with tags stll on them. It's priced by the pound and the day we were there it was .20 a pound.
6 of us went and we had a fun day of it. We stopped by Cracker Barrel for lunch before heading back to the park.
On Tues we had a ladies luncheon which was fun also. The ladies at this park are so nice and friendly I've made some great friends here.

What's happening in March

When March rolls in RV's start rolling out. A lot of people have told me they want to be home by Easter but I am at home (in my RV) but I'm ready to get moving too. We've been here almost 6 months and we don't like sitting for that long. We're just waiting for spring in the south. Yesterday morning was beautiful. It was in the 60's when I got up and calm. People were outside early walking, biking, talking just having a good morning. Then noon came and the wind gusts blew in. We knew the last two Marches have been super windy and we were really hoping that wasn't going to be the case this yr but if yesterday is any indication it's gonna be breezy..So on that note we don't know when we're leaving. We'd talked about leaving the weekend of Apr 3 but if we start to get days of gusting winds we'll head toward Houston around mid month and then east on I-10. It will take me to mid March to get my rv spring cleaning done and everything packed back up. We will be spending the spring in the south visiting friends & family and staying with Stephanie after her next knee surgery.

last part of Feb Feb 28

The last part of the month has gone fairly slow. The weather has been nice one day and either cold, windy or cloudy the next. Today was wind gust over 40 miles an hour. It was a good day to stay inside and catch up on blogging. The park activities are still going full force. I've really enjoyed line dancing and have tried a few dances at our Saturday night dances.
A few people have started to leave for the winter. Most of them will leave between now and Easter.
My plans for next week is going to Ropa. I've never been and they say it's a must see and my Bible Study class is going to tour His Hand Ministries. I'll know more about it after the tour but I know part of it has a food bank that provides food for the people of Penitas, TX. The park has done some food drives to help out and some of our Ladies in our study group volunteer there so we thought it would be fun to tour it.
Now your caught up on my Feb. I'll try to do better about keeping you informed. We'll be hanging around here for another month (give or take) and then heading north through Houston and then on to the Gulf Coast for a few weeks.

First half of Feb (Feb 28)

Once we said our goodbyes to Gary and Marge (they were heading to AZ when they left here) we had more company heading our way.
Mom arrived on Feb 2 for her two week visit. We picked her up at the airport and stopped at her favorite restaurant on the way home. I'm so lucky that her favorite place (Red Lobster) is also mine.
The next 12 days was filled with partys and events. Our street host Happy Hour at a differt place each week so I was hosting on the 5th. What fun we had, about 50 people show up. It was a great turn out. We had about three other partys that week and we attended Bible Study on Thurs together and did breakfast one morning. (we not only ate we helped get the food ready..) that was an early morning.
Some days the weather wasn't good so Mom sat in the casita with Reid and read books, watched tv, movies and some golf while I did my walking, riding, line dancing, office work and other stuff that Mom didn't want to do with me. But it worked out great she got to spend time with me doing the "fun stuff" and with Reid (her son) doing what he liked to do. (golf and movies)
We tried a couple of restaurants when she was here and yes, I cook some too. We had a great two week and we were so glad she was able to visit. We're already talking about next yrs visit.

what happened in Jan. Feb 28

I did it again! I let too much time pass between post so here are some updates. Ok, it really didn't warm up..we've had a very cold winter by south Texas standards. The propane companies here have enjoyed this season.
Our friends Gary and Marge arrived in the valley Jan 20th. We grilled out with them, G&W and Jo & Steve the following Sat and we were happy to see nice weather that day. We had a fun afternoon catching up with different adventures we've had since last being together. As it turned out Gary, Jo and Reid all had birthdays around that week so we had cake with candles for them.
I was taking Reid out for his birthday the following Thurs and Cracker Barrel was the place he choose. Phyllis, Larry, Dan and Rita didn't have any plans so they went along with us as long as we didn't call it a birthday party. Reid doesn't do birthday parties.
We decided to visit the flea market on Sat Jan 30 since Gary and Marge hadn't been before. We couldn't have picked a colder day. It was windy and just plain cold. Later, not ready to call it a day we went to Luby's for lunch and a place to get out of the weather and visit.
We had a great time with so many "E" members being here for a few weeks together.

We're warming up Jan 17

The month started off cold like Dec but the past couple of days have warmed up nicely and we're looking for 70's and 80's this week, can't complain about that. I've had a couple of busy weeks but they've been packed full of fun stuff to do.
We had a BBQ Pork supper on Tues and Lady had a vet apt on Wed (she's a cocker so you know it was an ear infection)then on Thurs Wilma and I had plans to go our for Chinese and then see a movie. We had a great time. I hadn't been to the movies since the kids were too yound to drive themselves. Friday was our pancake breakfast at the rec ctr and then we (Reid and me, Phyllis and Larry, and Dan and Rita) went to the rv show. We stopped at Denny's on the way home for a late lunch. Sat was the dance that we turned into a birthday party for Dan..Sun was Church and it was pretty and warm enough for a bike ride and a walk. (we'll a walk and a half Lady did 1/2 a mile with me.) We played darts for a while over at P&L before heading home to watch the new season of 24. See how busy my week was. This week is shaping up to be busy too but that's the way I like it. I need to stay busy so I want be ready to get on the road. We've been here over four months and if I didn't have anything to do I'd be ready to get moving and it's still too cold to be leaving the valley. We'll be hanging around here at least another 7 or 8 weeks but I've got plenty to keep me busy.
We have some Everest friends, Gary and Marge heading into town on Wed so we'll be seeing them this week. Can't wait.

happy new year 2010

Hey everyone..happy 2010. hope this will be a great year for everyone. I know all you people in the north don't want to hear me say it's been a cool Dec with the temps only in the 50 and 60's...but since we're use to 70's and 80's it was a cool month for south Texas..here's hoping for a warmer Jan.
The month of Jan will be a busy one with all the park activities back in full swing. We had our New Years Eve party that went great. We had a big turn out and everyone seem to enjoy themselves. Our park entertainment is starting up on Thurs nights and we have a couple more dances scheduled for Sat's so that will keep things moving along.
We hope to see our various friends through out the month too, we're having another "E" cookout later in Jan when Gary and Marge arrive and maybe we can get a free day for a game of Tripoly, who knows we all stay so busy we really have to plan around anything extra.
On New Years Day Phyllis and Larry had a few people over so we "walked" the 50 steps or so to their site and had a fun afternoon. As long as the sun was out we were warm and we all had a good time.
Well I guess that's all for today. We have friends returning this week from MN so I hope they have great weather and good travels. see ya'll soon.