Itinerary Done

 

Yes, I finally just took a day, sat down, and got it all planned and reserved.  We will stay the first 4 days after leaving here, in Wallisville, Texas.  It is just a small place right before you cross the State line into Louisiana.  Next we will be stopping for a couple of days in Slidell, Louisiana, to hopefully visit with my nephew and his family.  I haven’t heard from them yet so, this may not be in the plans, but we are hoping.  Next is Gautier, MS for a couple of days.  Hoping to meet Judy, if she has the time.  We then will take a small side trip to Montgomery, AL. to meet with a couple I have been talking to for a couple of years through  my blog (old blog on mytripjournal and new blog on blog spot).  You may remember me asking for your prayers for Judy, who has cancer.  This is the lady in Alabama we are going to see.  We can’t wait to spend a couple of days with these great people.  Next we will make a stop in Milton, Florida.  My little brother’s good friend, Harry lives in Pensacola, Florida, and we hope to at least go and eat with he and his wife, Kay.  After a short stay in Milton, we will head on over to Lake City, Florida for a month’s stay.  I will be writing on the road if possible, and will give you more info on our parks, etc..

It has been up in the 80’s here all week so, it was a big surprise when the temps dipped down into the high 30’s last night.  Had been staying up in high 40’s or low 50’s.  Spring is definitely here though.  The grass is starting to green up..  It’s much harder to tell by the trees here.  Some hold their leaves, and only lose them when the new ones come on.

Want to welcome my 2 new followers.  The first is Wayne and Roberta. Check out their site.  I have been following them for quite a while.   The second is Mike and Gina.  I know they have a site, but I can’t get the URL to insert.  Don’t know what is up with that.  But, welcome to you all.  I hope you enjoy the ride.

We went  to Uvalde on Monday and had the oil changed in the truck.  Does it get on your nerves how the service depts. always say “you are next in line”, “and we will have you out of here in 30 minutes”, and then 2 hours later you are still there?  Really drives me crazy!!!!

 

They did have a very nice waiting room, but come on…. :(

I took a picture of all the flags that Uvalde had flying for Presidents Day.  They really take this Holiday seriously.

Like Nellie, I have been thinking very strongly about not blogging so much.  I have come to a point where it all sounds the same to me, and I think I need a break.  I will continue to have some updates, but not near as often.  No excuses, just don’t want to do it.

We did take another drive this week.  A couple of weeks ago we drove the 3 sisters, and I told Don at the time that we needed to do them in reverse so, that is what we did.  This time we started in Uvalde on 55, headed to Camp Wood, then hit 335 over to 41 and back on 336.  We didn’t back track on 337, we had done that before.  It was just as beautiful going this way as it was going the other.

We still have been playing games really often.  I will miss this so much when we leave here.  Not all parks even have club houses for use, let alone schedule things for you to do in them.  Hopefully we will find some along the way this summer.

 

Our dear friends, Marrolyn and Al are pulling out in the morning.  She has been feeling really bad, and wants to see her family Doctor.  We pray all is well with her, and that they have a safe trip home.  They live in Childress, Texas.  Up close to OK.

We are having another potluck breakfast in the morning.  I am taking donuts this time.  There is always soooo much food, but it is a lot of fun to get together with everyone.

 

That’s it for today.  Later…  :)

Happy Birthday Donnie!!

 

Yes, today my big, tall, good looking husband turns 73.  Most people are amazed that he is that old.   I don’t think he looks that old either.  We are going to celebrate quietly, here in our wheel estate.  I am making him a cake that Marolyn gave me the recipe for.  It uses 4 eggs, scramblers for us, 1 cup of water, 1/3 cup of oil, a yellow cake mix, and one can of Pecan, coconut icing.  Mix all together and bake in a Bundt pan.  Bake as directed for cake mix.  I don’t carry a Bundt pan with us so, I am baking in a regular cake pan.  Very moist and tasty cake.

 

I insisted yesterday that he get himself some new clothes.  I don’t think he has bought a new pair of pants forever.  It is hard to get him to shop for anything, but clothes he has no patience for at all.  He picked out one pair of jeans and was through.  I picked out 2 more pairs of pants for him and 2 shirts in the mean time.  He finally conceded and kept them all, but it was a real struggle. Anyway, Happy Birthday Honey!!  I love you very much.

Want to welcome Ross along for the ride.  He is my newest follower and writes a very interesting blog about preparations for his own travel. Check it out if you get a chance… 

A few of you have asked me to please post my frugality tips.  Here is one more I have for you.  We don’t have satellite of any kind.  We opted not to get the very large and very expensive Hughes Net when we first started out.  We did have direct TV for a couple of months, but soon discontinued that also.  These two things are very expensive, and if you are careful you can always find camps with these amenities included.  Some of you have mentioned the “It” factor.  That word never enters my mind.  If a Park is neat and clean, with friendly folks running it, we can make do.   We try to make our own “It” factor, but don’t get me wrong, we do like clean and neat, but don’t need a big spacious site with the best views to be happy. I also try to stay away from Tourist Traps.  When looking for a Park, I may try to stay 40 or 50 miles away from something we want to see, because I know from experience, that a park close to a Tourist Trap is going to be much higher in rates.  It really has worked for us to just take day trips to something we really want to see or experience.

Thanks for all the good wishes for my grandson.  He is doing great.  I talked to him yesterday, and he is home and recovering nicely.  Here is a picture of him right after surgery.

He was one sick boy for a few days.  Again, thanks for all of your well wishes.

I received our game in the mail, that I had ordered last week.  We are very pleased with it.  It all breaks down and fits in it’s own bag for easy storage and carrying it for game night.  I even talked Donnie into playing a couple of games with me yesterday.  He won the first and I won the second.

I am so glad now that I bought the little Green Machine.  For those of you that don’t know, it is a spot cleaner for your carpets.  Since we got Rusty, it is really getting a big workout.   It does a really good job too.  Having an extra boy running in and out doesn’t help the stain situation at all, but we love him, and I think we will never, ever, regret getting him.

You got to love that face…. :)

I don’t know what is going on with the top two photos today.  They are really small, and I have no idea why.  Oh, Well, Live Writer, like all other computer programs, sometimes have a mind of their own.

I will make this a short post so I can decide what to make the Birthday boy for tonight.  I wish you could smell that cake…  It really has made the whole RV smell like coconuts and pecans.  Stay safe… :)

An Emergency Surgery

 

Tuesday night when we got back from the club house, my daughter had left a message on my phone.  My middle grandson, Mitchell had an appendicitis attack and had to have it removed.  When I talked to Shannon, he was in recovery and the Doctor had told them all was going well.  I have been keeping up with his progress on face book. What did we do before computers?

We have stayed pretty busy this week.  I apologize to all the bloggers that I normally read.  It just seems like when we are down here, there is always something going on that takes up my time.  I will try to do better from now on.

We had our big dessert night Sunday, and you would not believe the amount of dessert that turned up.  We all played games after, and I thought I may have to go home.  I love desserts and sweet stuff, but lately it doesn’t like me.  I took  a couple of shots to share with you.

I think there were around 40 people at Dessert night.

Monday Donnie and I decided to drive the Three Sisters.  We took 336 out of Leakey, to 41, with a short trip over to Rock Springs.  I wanted to see The Devils Sinkhole, but you have to have an appointment.  Anyway, then we drove back on 41 to hit 335, we then took it to Camp Wood and there we hit 337, which completed the Three Sister’s drive. I was only able to get a couple of pictures, but if you are in this area, this drive is a must.  Some of the prettiest scenery we have seen down here.  Of course, they are all in the Hill Country so, that explains why it is so pretty.

Tuesday, Marolyn, Nancy and myself went to Uvalde to get our hair cuts.  We went to Fantastic Sam’s.  Every Tuesday they give cuts for $10.00, and boy did they give good cuts.  I hope that I can find their shop for my next cut, somewhere down the road.  We also hit some consignment shops while we were in there, but the other girls are making some beaded Christmas trees so, wanted to get back.  I walked over to try and help them, and Pam from the office was lending a hand also, but we are sure the directions are wrong.  We tried every way possible to get them to work, but Pam finally said she was going to email the company for new instructions.

Tuesday night we played games again, and we always have a great time.  We played Pegs and Jokers and us girls were undefeated till then, but got our butts whipped Tuesday night.  All in fun so, no one really cares.  We did win the next game though :)

Don, Rusty, and I finally had a camp fire the other night.  It was lots of fun, and once Rusty learned it was hot, he didn’t even attempt to go near it.  He is just like Don’s shadow so, I was really worried that he would jump up on the pit when Don tended it, but he didn’t so, all’s well, that end’s well.

Yesterday, Joy, Nancy, Marolyn, and myself all went back to Kerrville, to do some more consignment shop, shopping.  Joy got some wooden bunnies to put on her front porch at home.  Nancy bought more books.  Marolyn is always looking for sewing things, and found some, I got another shirt and nightgown. We always have a great time.

We stopped at a restaurant, The Lake House, that  had been recommended to us by another camper here.  He was right.  The food was excellent, and the place just said “welcome” when you walked in.  It was also overlooking the Guadeloupe River.

From left is: Nancy, Joy, and Marolyn.  After finishing lunch we made a couple more stops then headed back to the camp.  Last night was a potluck, but we opted out and stayed home instead.  Tonight is another game night so, we will head over for that.  Today is also live music, but I am trying to get some laundry done so, probably will skip that also.

Want to welcome my newest follower, Russ.  Their site is very interesting.  Check it out.  Later….

Dessert Night-Yum Yum

 

Yes, tonight is the night we all eat dinner at home, then go to the club house for dessert.  I am making triple chocolate brownies.  It takes a very large cookie sheet, and a very large oven to make them so, the office said I could make them in the kitchen over there.  I will bring them back here and let them cool before adding powdered sugar on the top.

We ran into Uvalde yesterday to eat breakfast.  We haven’t done too much of this since arriving here.  Seems like something is always going on Saturdays.  We went back to Ofelia’s, since we both love the food there.  I took a picture of a beautiful clock hanging in there.  It is not the best of pictures.  I was sitting to the side of it, but it is so pretty I wanted to share it.

After eating waaaaaaaay too much, we ran over to WAl*Mart and picked up a few things.  Price shock on diesel!!!  $3.35 per gallon at Murphy’s Gas station.  With our card it is still $3.32.   We will have to do more sitting, than moving this summer, if the prices stay that high.

We ran onto a very nice little park yesterday, right in the middle of Uvalde.  We were searching for two different things.  The first was a pawn shop.  Donnie needs a certain tool, and thought he might pick one up there for little or nothing, but no such luck.  The second thing we were looking for was a place to walk with Rusty.  No such luck there either, but we did find this pretty little park.  There is a tribute there and is called Garden of Heroes.  Very nice little park with some big ole beautiful rocks, several benches, basket ball courts, and a very nice playground for kids.  If you are ever in the area, check it out.

I want to correct something I had in my last post.  The place we stopped to have lunch Wednesday, is not Elaine’s Plate, it is Elaine’s Table, and it sits on the Guadalupe River, not the Medina.  It is a little on the upscale of a place, but they have very good food, and very reasonable prices.

I know I don’t write enough about the Frugal part of my blog, but I am always afraid you will get sick of hearing how we save money, but just wanted to share with you, that since we are staying put for the winter, we have been able to stick some more money back.  Moving all the time is nice, and some choose to do this, we don’t.  We can always find plenty to keep us occupied, and we are very good at making our own fun.  If no one else is around, we play games, watch movies, take long drives in the area, and go geo-caching.  Being able to continue this life-style is what is important to us so, we do what we have to.  I don’t think everyone out there could live the way we do, but for us it works very well.

Donnie’s Birthday is coming up in a few days so, yesterday he bought himself a new watch.  We don’t really worry about gifting each other, cause we usually just get what we want or need.  For valentines day we bought each other Pegs and Jokers.  A new game we learned down here.  Got it on eBay for $37.00.  The cheapest one on there.

I don’t know how much weight Rusty has gained, but he looks bigger to us.  We don’t take him back to the Vet’s till the 22nd.  I took some pictures so you can see how big he is getting.  He is still so full of energy, we don’t know some days if we can take it, but at other times, can’t imagine life without him.   While Don was laying down yesterday, I put Rusty out on his lead.  I attached the lead to the wrong ring, the one with his tags on it.  Yes, by pulling on it, he sprang it open and lost his tags.  My fault, and I am just so happy he didn’t get loose.  We did find one tag, but his new name tag and others are gone.

If any of you have any idea of what kind of dog he may be, I sure would appreciate your guesses.  I did put a chow and terrier mix in Google, and it sure looks a lot like Rusty.

Going to get busy on those brownies.  Our weather has finally taken a turn for the good.  It is supposed to get up in the 70’s today, and for the rest of the week.  Lows just in 40’s and 50’s. 

A Day Trip

 

We took a very fun day trip yesterday.  Nancy, her husband Paul, Donnie and myself.  We first headed back to Bandera.  They have a really nice RV Camp there, Skyline Ranch RV Park, and we wanted to talk to the folks that run it.  Please do not take me wrong.  We love the park we have stayed at here in Concan, Texas for two different winters, but the cedar pollen is really making me sick this time.  Several others have also been affected by it, so some of us may try to stay at this other park next season.  They don’t have any cedars in their park,  and don’t expect the owners here to cut down their beautiful trees, just for a few of us. I am having nose bleeds a couple of times a day, and I constantly sneeze and feel stuffed up.  We have one lady here that is taking 3 different medicines, with no relief.

Skyline Ranch RV Park is a very nice Park, and is priced about the same as Parkview.   They also have game nights, bingo, potlucks, craft classes, and 3 club houses for patrons use.  An extra perk is across the fence from the park is 2 longhorn cows/steers, and some adorable miniature donkeys.  I took a few pictures that I will share with you of the park.

After talking to the owner of the Park and looking around we decided to give it a try next winter.  We will miss everyone here, but it can’t be helped.

We left Bandera and headed a little North.  I wanted to see the Stonehenge II  that is near Kerrville, Texas.  It is cute, but I thought it would at least be in a nice setting.  There were a couple of statues copied from the Easter Island statues also.  A bit of a disappointment, but it was a fun trip.  I got a shot of Stonehenge, but it looked like it was in front of some kind of Art School, so we didn’t tarry.

It was getting close to lunch time when we left Stonehenge II,  so we went on the look for a nice place to have some lunch.  We found it  on 39, right on the Medina River.  It was a very pretty little place called “Elaine’s Plate”.  Where we were sitting we could see right out over the river, and at one time 3 deer walked across the dam, but I wasn’t quick enough to get their picture.  I had soup of the day with a half sandwich, Nancy and Paul both had turkey sandwiches, and Donnie had the special: a taco pie made with Fritos.  It was all very, very good, and we all plan on going back.  They were served with some potato skins that were slightly scorched, and believe it or not, they were good.  That is the way they are made and a first for all of us.  My soup was the best I have had in forever.  It was a creamed pepper soup, can’t remember the French name.

We left after lunch and were on the hunt for the Motorcycle Museum.  We did find it on 187, but it is closed through the week.  I had looked on line, but couldn’t find a number to call and check when they are open.  They are just opened on the week ends, so we will go back later.

We did run into a bunch of snow flurries yesterday.  We are very cold down here again.  Nancy and Paul’s water froze again, but ours survived.  We let it drip every time it even gets close to freezing temps.  It only got up to 40* yesterday and just the low 50’s today.  I am sick of it!!!

Still playing games on several nights a week, and Sunday night we have a dessert night.  We all eat dinner at home, then go to the club house for dessert.  I think I will skip dinner. :)

Welcome to my newest follower, Donna K.  She writes a very good blog.  If you get a chance, check it out.  Hope you enjoy your ride along with us.

Stay warm and I will catch you later….

Super Bowl Sunday!!

 

Hope I am not stepping on any toes here, but I am backing “The Pack”.  I really like their Quarter back , and hope he goes all the way.  He was also my brothers favorite new quarter back, so hope they win in his honor.

Ok, enough of that.  We are having a Super Bowl party at the club house tonight and everyone is just bringing whatever they want in snack foods.  I am taking a tray with pepperoni, hard salami, Colby jack cheese, and cheddar cheese.  And, lots of Ritz crackers .  We had a good time a couple of years ago.  Everyone usually plays games till the last quarter, then all eyes are on the game.

It turned out to be an all-girls-day yesterday.  Winnie, Nancy, Marolyn, and mysellf.  We started out by going to Bandera.  The flea market we intended to go to must have been canceled, because we couldn’t find a soul around the Legion, where it was being held. There was also supposed to be one at Pipe Creek, a little place not far from Bandera, but it was also canceled.  Just too cold for these Texans.

So, we decided to hit the consignment shops in Bandera, I think there were two.  We found a few items, but not much.  While we were driving around looking for others, we noticed a sign that said Kerrville 24 miles, and since we had all day we went.

The very first place we hit after getting to Kerrville was pretty nice, and I think it was just called The Family Thrift Shop.  I got 2 very nice nightgowns for $7.00.  One was new and one was like-new.  The other girls got some sewing items, clothes and books.

After leaving this store we decided to go to Denny’s for lunch.  Winnie had breakfast, Nancy and I had  a lunch pizza on flat bread, and Marolyn had their nacho’s .  Everyone agreed the food was very good, and the waitress headed us in the direction of another consignment shop.

It was another really nice one, and Marolyn really hit pay-dirt at this one.  She uses lots of zippers, and materials to make items to sell and was able to get a lot of both here.  While there, Marolyn struck up a conversation with two older, very well-dressed ladies, and asked them if there were more stores of this type, and they laughed and said, “ Kerrville is full of them”, so we all hopped in the truck and followed them to the next one.  They were so sweet to do this for us.  This store is called Rerun, and I think it was the nicest store I have ever seen for a thrift shop.  Everything was neat, clean, and very organized.  Marolyn was able to get more sewing supplies, Winnie got a new basket for her fruit, and Nancy got more books.  The night gowns were my only purchase for the day.

After leaving that one, we stopped at a couple more, then made tracks for the RV Park.  Last night was game night and since it was already going on 4:00, we thought we’d better high-tail it on back, but I am sure we will go again.  We all had a ball, and made it back for game night.

We played Mexican train last night, another table played Pegs and Jokers, and the third played Golf, the card game.  We have so much fun down here, and I thank God every day for the opportunity to do this.  I wish you all could be here with us.

   

 

You all stay warm and I will catch you later… :)

Heading To Bandera

 

On the first and third weekend of the month there is a flea market at the Legion in Bandera, Texas.  Seven of us from here are going to run over and see if we can do any better than we did last week in San Antonio.  It will be fun and get us all out.  I don’t know about everyone else, but we have been holed up in our RV since Tuesday.  We missed both game nights and a potluck this week.  Once we got the pipes thawed we were afraid to leave for fear something else would freeze, or break.  I know some of the campers had their drain hoses freeze and break, so needless to say, we have stayed right on top of things.

 

We did run to town earlier and pick up some snacks for tomorrow nights games, and also a snack tray for the Super Bowl Party here at the park.  It actually got up to 39* here, but is supposed to go back down into the 20’s tonight.

One of the ladies, here at the park has been carrying a beautiful carry-all every time we play games or go shopping.  I finally asked her if she made it and she did, so naturally I had to know what she sold them for.  She sells them for $20.00 a piece.  They are so nice.  They are pretty large,quilted bags, have a zipper/pocket on the front, so if you want to run into the grocery and pick up a couple of things, your wallet and keys will fit in the front pocket, and items in the bag part.  I could see my girls names all over these, so ordered 3 of them right away.  Marolyn also makes a jewelry carrier.  You place your earrings in the little pockets on the sides and your necklaces and bracelets in the middle.  All of my girls wear lots of jewelry too, so these will come in handy also. Jennifer has a Birthday in a few days and this will make a nice gift for her.  Jen’s is green, Angie’s is reds, and Shannon’s is fall colors.  I will share a picture of Jen’s with you.  Marolyn does all the work in these pictures.

It is hard to tell in these pictures, but all of these materials have a green background, so they all contrast well.

I had another woodpecker at the feeder this morning.  When that happens, it just makes my day.  I get scores of other birds too, but I think the woodpeckers are my favorite to watch.

I also got a picture of this beautiful dog.  I have seen him several times, but Donnie is never with me when he is out, so I stopped and took a couple of pictures of him to show to Donnie.  I think his coloring is very unique.

Want to share Alan and Marilyn’s site with you.  I welcomed them as a new follower the other day, but didn’t have the address for their site at the time.  Check it out, it is very interesting.  And, again, welcome…

Also want to welcome Luci and Loree to my blog.  I have read some of her site and find it very interesting too.  Hope you enjoy the ride with us. 

And, welcome to The Old Geezer.  His site is very habit forming, and very informative, so please check it out.  Hope you enjoy your time with us.

I have another question for you.  I am taking fish-oil pills 3 times a day, 1,000mgs each.  My question is can I take flax seed pills with these, or do you know of a site where I can find this kind of thing out?  I have high cholesterol, but refuse to take statins.  My ratio is 2.6, so I think my main concern is trying to lower bad cholesterol.  Can someone help?  Thanks…

We did finally remember to stop and get a tag for Rusty that has our info on it.  It is very cute.  A little bone with his name on one side and our info on the other.

Stay warm you all….. :)

Pipes Froze

 

Yes, it got down to 17* according to the internet and my weather widgets I have on the computer.  Not only did our pipes freeze, but the electric also was off this morning.   Of course we didn’t know this when we were sleeping, so the electric blanket went off and didn’t come back on when the electric did.  When the electric did come back on, we were able to listen to the news enough to find out that there will be rolling outages in our area until further notice.  It will be this way, the weather, for at least a couple of more days, then a small warm-up, and then cold again.  What a disappointment this year has been for weather here in South Texas.  It is never really warm at night, usually in the 40’s, but this year is certainly colder.

I made chicken noodle soup the other night, and a big pot of bean soup last night.  Nothing tastes better on a cold evening than a big bowl of steaming soup and warm cornbread.

We passed on playing cards last night.  I hated doing that, but I guess with all the high winds, the cedar or whatever that pollen is called, was blowing around.  I had a splitting headache all day yesterday.  I love game nights, so won’t be missing very many.

We did play Sunday night and we had the biggest crowd that I can remember ever showing up.  There were 13 of us playing golf, and six playing Joker and pegs.  Hopefully we will get to play Mexican train again before we leave. 

Right now our plans are to leave the 5th of March.  Probably stop and visit with the kids in Louisiana for a day or so, then hit the panhandle of Florida to visit another friend in Pensacola, and maybe on to Carrabelle for a month or so.  Nothing in concrete, but that is the plan right now.

Want to welcome my newest follower, Alan McMillan.  I couldn’t find a site for you, so if you have one, please contact me with the address and I will add it here.  Hope you enjoy the ride along with me and Don.

I did get the laundry all caught up yesterday, and went to the grocery on Monday.  No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to get out of the grocery for under $100.00.  You would think with just two of us it wouldn’t be so much, but it is.  Don’s beer also comes out of the grocery, so that is in with it.

Going to make this a short post.  The internet keeps going off and on too, so want to get this posted before it goes back off.  Later

Can you find the man is these beans?  If you click on the picture, and make it larger,  he is easy to find.