Things we learned today...

We learned that it's a short distance from Welfare to Comfort...

We learned that driving in West Texas Hill Country all day while towing your house down the road makes your fuel mileage terrible!...

We learned that driving two full days will not get you out of this state when you start out "deep in the heart of Texas". Tomorrow we will finally make it to New Mexico and will stop for the night in Deming, NM...

We also learned that there is a very large roadrunner dressed in a Santa suit in Fort Stockton, TX...

The Weather Outside is Delightful

Not to rub it in to our friends and family in the north, but here's a picture of the external temperature taken today in our truck...Bob thinks the actual temperature was a few degrees less than that, but it was still a nice, warm day in the Rio Grande Valley! We went to Los Ebanos, TX to try and see the hand-operated ferry, but we would have had to cross the border into Mexico to get that close to it and decided to pass on that. We drove on to Rio Grande City and checked out the town since we had not been that far west of here. We stopped at Chili's for dinner and then headed back here. We stopped by Reid & Debbie's and suddenly it was thundering & lightning and then it started raining. It had been a long time since it rained here. It was refreshing and Bob was a little disappointed that we weren't at our place so he could listen to it hitting the aluminum roof over our lot.

Hidalgo Festival of Lights

Last night we went to Hidalgo, TX for the Festival of Lights. We used to go to Domino's Farms in Ann Arbor, MI for their light show, but it paled in comparison to this one. We rode the trolley around town for the guided tour and then we walked around the center area and drove the truck around town to take more pictures. It was really something to see! The dragons pictured here are made with 8,000 tiny medicine bottles that are filled with colored water and then wired together and lit. There is a close-up picture to show the detail of the work.

Happy Holidays!

We spent Christmas Eve at George & Wilma's with Reid, Debbie, Danny & Stephanie. Wilma prepared a delicious meal with a variety of Mexican dishes. The pictures shown here are of poinsettia plants that have been planted in their RV park. I had never seen anything like it!

On Christmas Day we went to Reid & Debbie's for dinner. We had turkey, ham and all the trimmings. It was really good and we were all stuffed for hours afterwards. We really enjoyed spending meeting their son & daughter, Danny & Stephanie and spending some time with them.

Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park

Yesterday was a beautiful 83 degree day and we took advantage of it by visiting the Bentsen-Rio Grande State Park and then the Anzalduas County Park. The javelinas pictured here were at the state park and the view of the Rio Grande is at that county park...yep, that's Mexico on the other side. That's how close we are...our park is only about 4 miles from the border. We were going to go on a boat cruise on the Rio Grande today, but the winds have kicked up and they probably won't take the boat out today. We'll try again next Sunday. We will be leaving here on the 29th and heading toward Arizona. Have I mentioned that "THIS IS THE LIFE???"

South Padre Island, TX

Here's a picture of "The Beast on the Beach". (We saw a dually here the other day with lettering on the back window that said, "Do these fenders make my rear look too wide?") :-) We spent yesterday on South Padre Island. We drove the truck along the beach for about 2 miles and then stopped and collected some shells. It was a beautiful day and we really enjoyed the island. They were still repairing quite a bit of damage from Hurricane Ike. In fact, where we entered the beach the bathrooms and showers were still closed. The guard said they had about 3 feet of sand in the parking lot when it was over.

We thought we had a rear main seal leak on the truck, but it ended up being a coolant leak that was dripping from above. We were very relieved that they did not have to pull the engine to repair it and we can leave here on the 29th of December as planned.

Rio Grande Valley - Mission, Texas

We arrived early Wednesday afternoon at "Hidden Valley Ranch" in Mission, Texas. We decided to stop at King Ranch on our way out of Mission on December 29th since the tours don't start until noon. This is a very nice RV community...Reid & Debbie's lot is in the connecting park, "Leisure Valley Ranch". They are only 3/10 of a mile from us, or for them just a short golf cart ride. The weather has been great here...in the 80's with a light breeze most of the time. We are only about 4 miles from the Mexico border. We went out to dinner with Reid & Debbie for Thanksgiving and the 4 of us have been eating together most evenings. Reid grilled up some delicious steaks last night and tonight Bob is grilling pork chops. I must say, "THIS IS THE LIFE!" The guy from Michigan that we rented this lot from even gave us the combination to the shed so we can use his grill, patio set, etc. Our lot has an aluminum roof over most of it and is all concrete. Much different than what we are used to!

Aransas Wildlife Refuge & Port Lavaca Lighthouse

Yesterday we explored more of the Rockport area and went to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge and then to Port Lavaca to see the Half Moon Reef Lighthouse. The Wildlife Refuge was a little disappointing. At the information center they indicated that we would see javalenas, coyotes, whooping cranes, alligators, etc. We did see 3 alligators and several deer and a couple of small armadillos, but that was all. Compared to the refuge we visited a few times last winter in Merritt Island, FL it was rather boring.

We then travelled to Port Lavaca to the lighthouse. It's the first lighthouse we've found that was "drydocked". It sits on land in the middle of town. It was moved there in 1979. It was still interesting to see and I've added to the pictures to my collection of lighthouses we've visited.

We have definitely explored this entire area. It's been a great week and we will try to return here in the future.

Tomorrow morning we are leaving Rockport and going south to Mission, TX to spend about a month with Reid & Debbie. On the way there we are planning to stop in Kingsville at King Ranch. Our truck is a King Ranch model and we've been wanting to visit there. This ranch is larger than the state of Rhode Island, so it should be something to see!

The Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi

We spent yesterday afternoon at the Aquarium in Corpus Christi. It was very interesting and entertaining. I loved the dolphin show! Since it was my birthday, Bob asked where I wanted to go last night. I mentioned that I would like to go somewhere expensive and he immediately pulled into a gas station! :-) Actually, we went to The Big Fisherman restaurant in Rockport for dinner. We are enjoying the nice weather and all the sights of this area.

Rockport, Texas - November 19 - 26

We are in Rockport, TX for a week before heading to Mission, TX for over a month. This is a very nice area and is close to Corpus Christi. Today we went on a tour of the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi and then drove to the Port Aransas area. We took the truck on the ferry to & from Mustang Island to see Port Aransas. That was a unique experience. We wanted to visit the Texas State Aquarium while we were in CC, but it was getting ready to close, so we plan to go there tomorrow. The weather has been in the high 70's. Have I mentioned that "This IS the life???" :-)

Tunica, Mississippi - November 13 -16

We spent the weekend at the Hollywood Casino RV Park in Tunica and it was a fantastic weekend! We not only had comps for a free show at Harrah's on Thursday night, $140 in free play at The Fitz and free dinner buffets for the 3 nights we were there, but we also WON over $650.00. We could have stayed at the hotel at The Fitz for free, too...but we like our own bed and bath so we stayed at the RV park. It was only $12.00/night and well worth it. Our friends, Larry & Barbara, came down from Memphis to join us for part of the weekend and we had a great time with them. When we were leaving on Sunday morning large slabs of ice fell off of our slide-out awnings and crashed to the ground. We knew for sure that we were headed in the right direction...time to get further south!

On The Road Again!!!

We left Waldenwoods at 7:00 a.m. yesterday and stopped for the night in Cave City, KY. We left there this morning and headed to Natchez Trace State Park in TN. We were fortunate enough to get the last lakefront campsite and it is a gorgeous site! . The view out our large back windows is fantastic! I've posted a couple of pictures of our campsite...the 1st shows the site before we backed into it and the 2nd shows the back corner of our trailer. We will be here for 8 days and then we are meeting some friends from Memphis in Tunica, MS for 3 days. After that we will begin to head for Mission, TX to meet up with Reid & Debbie for a month or so. We plan to arrive there the day before Thanksgiving. We will leave there on December 29th and go to Arizona and then California. Did I mention that THIS IS THE LIFE???

I had my last physical therapy appointment on Monday and got the clearance to leave town. :-) Thank goodness! I sure didn't want Bob to leave without me. My new knee is doing quite well. I still have to do my exercises every day, but that's OK.

September 2008

Connor "getting air" on his bike and Jillian deep in thought while painting her dolphin figurine. Both pictures were taken Labor Day weekend at Waldenwoods...

We have had a very nice summer here in Michigan. I need to get back in the habit of updating this blog more frequently! Jason and the kids have spent many weekends with us here at Waldenwoods and we had Connor & Jillian for a week while Jason was working in Illinois. Over Labor Day weekend Jason, Connor, Jillian, Andrea, Devin, Noah & Meaghan stayed at Waldenwoods with us. They stayed in his tent on our lot. The 5 kids were busy every day with all the activities they had going on here.

Our friends, Reid & Debbie, have been here most of the summer. They left today for Ohio and we will meet up with them in Texas sometime in December. We will miss them the next couple of months, but look forward to meeting up with them again. We went to The Henry Ford Museum with them this past week and everyone seemed to enjoy it. There is definitely something there for everyone to see. Afterwards, we stopped at Reid's favorite...Famous Dave's Barbecue for a late lunch. M-m-m-m GOOD!

I am having total knee replacment surgery on September 30th. I will have 4 weeks of physical therapy after that and (hopefully) we will be on the road the 1st week of November. We plan to go to Tennessee for a couple of weeks, then on to Texas for about 4-6 weeks and then on to Arizona for a few weeks. After AZ we are going to California in March. We plan to meet up with some of my cousins in CA that I haven't seen in many, many years and go camping with them. I'm also sending for tickets for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in hopes of seeing Jay before he leaves the show in May.

On a sad note, my Aunt Norma passed away on Labor Day. We took my parents to the funeral home on Thursday. Now my parents have outlived all of their siblings. My Dad is still having problems with his balance, but seems better than a few months ago. His speech is getting so slurred that it is often nearly impossible to understand him. Bob is really good about helping with him and they sure appreciate it. We're going tomorrow to take my Dad to get his state ID, he's giving up his driver's license because he hasn't driven in a couple of years. Their car is 2 1/2 years old and it doesn't have 6, 000 miles on it yet.

I will finish this for now...but I promise to update more often!

Enjoying Michigan with Friends & Family

We are enjoying our time in Michigan with friends and family. We've spent a lot of time with the grandkids and Jason. Jason is finally back in his house, so they will be staying there when he has the kids. Starting this Sunday he will have them every other week for the rest of the summer. They sure do enjoy their time with him. He is a great father and loves doing things with them. We are spending a week at our friends, Mark & Sandy, in Lapeer. They bought some lakefront property in Millington and Bob is helping them to get it ready to bring their 5th wheel out there for the rest of the summer. We've got a great "campsite" here with full hook-ups and a nice view. We'll be back at Waldenwoods next Tuesday for 2 weeks. We have cancelled some of our plans for the summer that were too far away to justify the fuel costs. We are trying to stay local as much as possible. Our last fill-up was $370.00. :-( We do have 88 gallons of diesel fuel capacity, but that is just ridiculous!

We're Back!

This was such a beautiful sight after being gone for over 6 months! I just realized how long it has been since I've updated this blog. We arrived back at Waldenwoods Resort on May 6th and we've been pretty busy ever since. We've spent a lot of time helping my parents and this week we went to court with Jason and he FINALLY got his house back. She had agreed to be out by May 1st, but then she wouldn't leave so he filed a motion and they went to court and she had no defense. Bob has been there the last 3 days trying clean up the mess she left. :-( Hopefully Jason will be able to move his stuff back in by next week. This divorce has taken a toll on all of us. She sure has made it much worse than it needed to be. Jason & the kids spent last weekend here with us and will be spending this weekend with us, too. We love having them here, although it does get a bit hectic with all of us in the 5th wheel.

We met Jason's girlfriend, Andrea, and her children. We really like all of them and are so happy that he has found someone that treats him the way he deserves. Andrea has been very good for him. She seems so down-to-earth and very ambitious. She's a substitute teacher and a hairdresser.

We leave next Tuesday for a week at Lakeshore Resort in Davison and then we'll be back at Waldenwoods for 2 weeks. It's been great seeing the family and friends since we got back. I just wish the weather would warm up a little more. It's been unseasonably cold since we got back here. We keep asking ourselves why we left Florida.

2nd Annual Natchez Trace Everest Rally

We spent the past 2 weeks at Natchez Trace State Park in Wildersville, TN and last week we had our 2nd Annual Everest Owners Rally there. It was a great success. There were 16 rigs there and we truly enjoyed reuniting with old friends and meeting many new ones. We had some great meals and plenty of laughs around the campfire. This is our 3rd time at NTSP and we can't wait to go back again. It is such a beautiful park with huge campsites. We left Natchez Trace State Park yesterday and traveled to Natchez Trace Thousand Trails Preserve in Hohenwald, TN with Reid & Debbie. This park is just off the Natchez Trace Parkway and we will travel part of it tomorrow to see the historical markers and get some pictures. We will be here for a week, then on to Kentucky for one night, then one week in Indiana and then on to Waldenwoods on May 6th. We are anxious to get home and see everyone. It's been a great 6 months on the road, but it's time to get back to Michigan for a few months.

Natchez Trace State Park

We spent 4 days in Tunica, MS and played at the casinos with Reid & Debbie. Debbie hit a Royal Flush for $1,000.00. Let's just say Bob & I were not that fortunate. We had a great time and ate for free all 4 days. We comped our meals with our players cards. Our campsite at The Grand Casino RV Park was only $48.00 for 4 nights, so we were pleased about that. We arrived at Natchez Trace State Park on Monday. We are getting ready for the Everest Owner's Rally here next week. The others will start arriving on Sunday. We've had a lot of rain in Tunica and here, but no tornadoes...we've been very fortunate that the really bad weather has missed us. We've had the weather radios on listening for any tornadic activity heading our way. It's going to be pretty cool here this weekend and then warm up to be very nice next week for the Rally. Bob & Reid went into the woods today and gathered lots of firewood. I'll post some pictures next week when the Rally is underway. It's going to be a great time here!

Getting Ready to Head North

We are getting ready to leave Florida on Wednesday. We've changed our plans and we are going to meet Reid & Debbie at The Grand Casino RV Park in Tunica, MS on Thursday and then go with them to the rally at Natchez Trace State Park next Monday. We both have a bad case of "hitch itch" and are ready for a change of scenery. I gave up my trip to the aquarium in Chattanooga (again!) but I just know that I WILL make it there one day. The weather is still gorgeous here and we're hoping that it stays nice on our travels. We're still planning to be back to Waldenwoods on May 6th and we sure hope there is no white stuff on the ground by then. Did I mention that THIS IS THE LIFE???

Disney Adventures

We decided that yesterday would be a good day to use our free passes to Disney and go to Epcot Center. We had not been there since 1999 and we heard a lot had changed since then. We thought on a Monday in mid-March there would not a big crowd there. We didn't think about Spring Break! It was packed, although not nearly as bad as when we went to Magic Kingdom right after Christmas. The weather was perfect (high 80's with a slight breeze) and we were excited about spending our 29th anniversary at Epcot. Well...we were very disappointed in Epcot and were very happy that our free passes were "park hopper" passes...so off we went to Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney-MGM Studios). We had a great time there and they did have some new attractions since we were there in 1999. I am posting some pictures from our day. The one of Donald Duck is showing his "attitude" when I snuck around to get a picture of him at Epcot. The one of the red car in mid-air is from the "Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show" at the Hollywood Studios. There is one of Mickey at his "Fantasmic" show in the Studios and then one of the Power Rangers heading down Main Streeet. It was a fantastic day and one that we won't soon forget.

Endeavour Launch

I couldn't believe it's been more than a month since I posted here. We have been busy, but I guess we haven't been doing anything that interesting.

Here are some photos of the Endeavour Launch which we were fortunate enough to see from the Causeway at Kennedy Space Center. It was a night launch - 2:28 a.m. on March 11th. We felt like teenagers pulling an all-nighter...but it is much harder to recuperate from at this age! We didn't get back to Brooksville until 8:00 a.m. It was an awesome sight and one that I'm sure Bob & I will never get to see again and it was well worth it.

We will be leaving Florida on April 3rd and heading toward Tennessee. We plan to arrive back in Michigan on May 6th. With the price of diesel fuel skyrocketing so quickly, we may have to stay down here indefinitely. :-(

We Are Clear For Launch...FINALLY!

We FINALLY got to see the STS-122 Atlantis Space Shuttle Launch this afternoon. It was originally scheduled for December 6th. Titusville was a ZOO! We paid $20.00 to park next to the river and watch the launch. We were both a little disappointed. It wasn't nearly as loud or thunderous as we were told it would be. The coolest part was when it disappeared behind the clouds and the came back out the top. (See 2nd photo) We both decided that we would only go back to see another if it were a night launch. Lo & behold, on the way back to Brooksville I checked my email and I find out that STS-123 Endevour Shuttle Launch is scheduled for March 11th at 2:31 a.m. Guess we may be going back there next month. A night launch just has to be an awesome sight! We are calling Kennedy Space Center tomorrow to see about getting tickets to view the launch inside the Space Center complex.

Brooksville, FL

We will be moving to Brooksville this Sunday. We went there yesterday to pick up our mail at Morrie & Dixie's. This beautiful bird was perched on their dock. I've since identified it as an Anhinga (aka: Snakebird Darter and Water Turkey). We've gone to Pine Island a couple of times to a beach on the Gulf. The first time we saw an eagle perched on a tall, dead tree and got several pictures of it. The second time we saw some dolphins, but they did not jump out of the water at all, I only got pictures of the fin. We are going to go on a Dolphin Cruise from Clearwater. They go out in the Gulf for 1 1/2 hours and guarantee that you will see dolphins. I should be able to get some great pictures then. We have been thoroughly enjoying the wonderful weather. This IS the life!

A Golden Sunset on the Gulf of Mexico

We went to a Citrus County Park on the Gulf of Mexico when we left Homosassa Springs State Wildlife Park yesterday. Here is a picture of the golden sunset that we watched. Just another day in paradise!

Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park

We spent most of the day yesterday at Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. Above are just 3 of the 400 pictures I took there. The 1st is an eagle in front of Old Glory, the 2nd is me petting a snake and the 3rd is a pair of flamingos. You will notice who was NOT petting the snake and was (for once) behind the camera. :-) We had a great time there and we saw alligators, a huge rhino, manatees, a panther, several types of birds, bears, several owls, etc. It was fascinating to see so many birds and animals in one place. They also had several shows that were very informative. I would highly recommend this place to anyone that is in this area. I wish we could have taken Connor & Jillian there, but there just wasn't enough time. Maybe next year!

We've been hanging around the campground quite a bit. We went to Winter Haven last Friday to visit with Bob's cousins. This Friday we are going to a huge RV show in Tampa with Richard & Joanne. I just have to check Bob's pockets before we go to make sure he doesn't have the title for the 5th wheel with him. :-) If we aren't too tired after the show we plan to go to the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa to do a little gambling.

We are moving to Brooksville, FL on February 3rd. Our friends, Morrie & Dixie, are there and we finally got into the park there. If the woman in the office had a clue about what she is doing we could have been there this month. We had to go there with Morrie & Dixie and show her that she had lots available that we could fit on. Grrrrrrrr! We've been checking out several parks in the area in case we decide to come back here next year.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! Our year hasn't started out too good. Jason and the grandkids left this morning for Michigan. Last night the heater core on our truck blew, so we are staying in Titusville for a couple of extra days until we can get the truck fixed. We really didn't want to try towing the trailer 130 miles and worrying about the truck overheating. We had a fantastic 4 days with the grandkids (AND Jason!) We are totally wore out, but it was well worth it. They had a blast and are not looking forward to going back to snow after swimming in the Atlantic yesterday. I took over 1,000 pictures while they were here. Thank goodness for digital cameras. I burnt 4 discs for Jason last night so he would have a copy of all the pictures. The kids asked me to print them copies of the alligator, snake, space shuttle on the launch pad and Disney for them to take to school. This was certainly a memorable Christmas vacation for them!