Calan's Graduation

Wow, it really makes me feel older when you have your grandkids graduating. In 2005 we made a trip to Colorado and then California you attend two grandson's graduations. Dustin (Janis' oldest son) was in May that year and Danny (Kim's middle son was in June). We are now back at Janis' for her youngest son, Calan who graduated on Wed. It was at 8:30 am and so we were up early to go and save seats for rest of family. I can remember attending Janis' graduation and it was very stuffy and the kids weren't allowed to have any fun, if they did, no diplomas. Here in Grand Junction, they are all for the kids having fun. They take blow up balls and animals and bounce them around up in the air and after it is all over they are allowed to throw their caps in the air. You won't see that in Cedar Rapids.

From Grand Junction - Calan's Graduation

After the graduation Janis and I worked at getting her house ready for the party. She doesn't like to decorate, so I did that........not much of it, but Calan didn't want much. They had a good turn out and everyone had a good time.

The past 2 weeks we have just been chilling out. We have made many trips here and seen all the sites, so not much else to do. Did get some shopping done and just hung out. Spent today getting the RV ready for travel tomorrow. Took it over and fueled up then to a RV park and dumped the holding tanks. We will be leaving early in the morning. Roger is dreading the drive up over the mountains. I know we will make it just slow and easy. I guess the this will be the last post till we get home. Till then.......Happy Trails

In Grand Junction

We made it to Grand Junction on Tuesday.........and are now parked in side yard at daughters house. They added another 3 stall garage on side of the 2 stall garage and we weren't sure if there would be room for us. It is working out great..........only longer walk now to get into house.

Decided to set up our DirectTV will we are here, and have been working on it since Tuesday when we got here. Finally, yesterday I decided to give up on the DVR and use the basic box and see if I could get the roof dish to work. We had the dish with tripod hooked up and could get no signal. It was really weird as I got it to correct evaluation and was turning it slowly back and forth and watching and listening for a signal to come and all of a sudden............a station came on the screen. Never did get the signal................but we now have the satellite working and I am going to play around with the one for bedroom today. Hoping to get the DVR set up there...........but I am going to move the portable dish to a different spot. I think it is in line with trees where it is.

We haven't done much here........after making a lot of trips here over they years.....we really don't think there is much to see that we haven't already. Yesterday was spent catching up on the laundry and working on the satellite dish. Everyone is working, going to school or playing gulf here. I did spend most of yesterday on line and getting my gps maps updated. It took all day to download onto the lap top then another couple hours getting it onto GPS. It is done now and we are set to visit new places. Wish I had done it before we left last October, as we could of used it a number of times. Hadn't been updated since we bought it back in 2006.

Till next time..........happy trails

Alburquerque - The Rally

The Rally is now over and we are spending a week in Cortz, CO to rest and unwind after a week at the rally.

We arrived in Albuquerque on the 13th and checked into a KOA north of town. This gave us a chance to do laundry, shower, empty holding tanks and fill water tank.

From Albuquerque - Rally

From Albuquerque - Rally

While at the rally we are dry camping except for electric, which we paid extra for. On the 15th we headed into Albuquerque to park at the Balloon Fiesta Park, we had a morning time to check in and were some of the first to get there as we were only about 10 miles away. We got a pretty good place to park and it was close to where the buses loaded to take us to the fair grounds for rally, the bath rooms and the night entertainment was very close. The first thing we did after getting set up was catch the bus to the fair grounds to register and get our information. Ended up buying two rally sweatshirts for $5 each. Now you say what a bargain.........yes it was but they were from last years rally, but we didn't care. They are quite nice and we knew there was some cold weather headed to Albuquerque so we would need them.

We attended a few seminars and did some shopping at rally. It seems as tho the more rallies one attends the seminars seem to be something we don't think we want to do again. Went to a couple of heath type ones and I went to one on Google Earth and one on Picasa, both given by the Geeks on Tour, Chris and Jim. It was good to finally get to say hello to them, I am sure they don't remember all the people they meet at these things.......but at least I stopped by the RV.net booth where they were and introduced myself.

From Albuquerque - Rally

One day the Balloon Fiesta park was offering half price off the entrance to the museum so we went to that. It was quite interesting......giving the history of ballooning, I think we must of spent most of the afternoon there.

Roger loves the entertainment that is at the rallies. This year on opening night.........which happened to be Roger's 66th Birthday, Neil Sedaka was at the Rally.

From Albuquerque - Rally

It was very good, but wish he would of sang more of his old songs. The bad thing was it was cold out and the whole thing was inside a large tent like building with a dirt floor. The chairs they had were cheep folding ones and very uncomfortable. One has to get to these things early to get a seat, so when arriving about 6pm and he didn't come on stage till after 7:30 we already were tired of sitting. You will notice in the photo's in my Albums (if you click on photo it will take you there) that while waiting for the concert to start............people walk around.....up and down isle with signs with numbers on a sign. Ok..................this looks funny to you, but they are looking for a match to their number to win a prize. We are each given a number when we register and have until Saturday to find it. There are 4 of each number, so one has a chance to find 3 other numbers like theirs. People walk around with the numbers on front of them, on back of them and even signs held in the air....all during the rally. They even post them on their RV in hopes someone passing buy will see it and be a match. Needless to say............we have been to 5 of these rallies and have never found our match yet. Oh well, maybe next time.

The good night of entertainment was when the Osmond Brothers came. That was a good one and we both totally enjoyed that one. One year they had Debbie Reynolds and boy was she good.

From Albuquerque - Rally

There was also a balloon glow one night and I got some pictures of that as well as one morning I looked out the RV window and saw balloons getting ready to go up.......wow more pictures.

From Albuquerque - Rally

We left the balloon fiesta park on Tuesday morning and headed to Cortz. I must say, the traffic was a pain getting out of Albuquerque and the Balloon Fiesta Park along with over 3000 other RV's.

Next stop will be heading to Grand Juction and staying at our daughter Janis' house. We will be parking in their side yard. Going to grandson (Calan) graduation which is May 13, then we will be heading back to Iowa, hopefully it will be warmer then.

Don't forget to veiw all my pictures in My Web Album, you should click on one of the photo's and them go thu all of them, I only posted a few. Enjoy

Till later...............drive safe and Happy Trails

Made it to Albuquerque

Friday, April 10, 2009
We left Bentsen Grove Resort this morning about 7:45am and headed West along Hwy 83. I started off driving and drove till we were past Lorado and ready to turn off I-35 and follow Hwy 83 again. That was at Exit 18 and we stopped at the Rest Area which also was an Information Center. While there we ate our lunch then proceeded on with Roger driving. We followed Hwy 83 to Carrizo Springs, then cut across on Hwy 277 till it met up with Hwy 90 in Del Rio. We are now at a Passport America Campground for the night. The campground is called Buzzard Roost , not sure where the name comes from, but the price is right. We got a pull thru and we even have cable TV. I tried getting on the Internet but found out Verizon is on Extended Network and it would of cost me extra.........so that was out of the question. We ended up going about 315 miles today.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
We pulled out of Buzzard Roost Campground about 8:30am. Took Hwy 90 West to Sanderson where we caught Hwy 285 North to Fort Stockton. I must say Hwy 90 was a very good road and had a lot of road side parks to pull off onto. There was hardly any traffic and no cell phone service at all. Roger liked the road, but I was driving so what wasn't there not to like. We got fuel in RV at Sanderson, it was $2.19 a gallon. Put in 50 gallons. We got on I-10 in Fort Stockton after stopping at the Dairy Queen. I told Roger I didn't care what he got, and he brought back 2 banana splits. Like either one of us really needed that. I was thinking more along the lines of a small cone. Guess that is what I get for not speaking up and saying what I wanted. Once we were on our way on I-10 we started getting wind and it continued to get worse. We made it to Van Horn and are now at another Passport America campground. It is called Mountain View, it is right along the interstate, may be a little noisy tonight, but hey, we live by railroad tracks.............so can't be that bad. We do have cable again tonight, but no list of what the stations are, so it will be flip.....flip.....flip all night finding something to watch. Sure miss the Direct TV where you have a on screen guide. Oh well, guess this is what us Rver's call roughing it. LOL
Roger did say he misses Keota. He can remember every time we stop, Keota would want to get out and lift his leg and pee on everything. It does seem strange not having him with us.......it will feel that way for awhile and every time we go someplace were we had him. When we get home, we will have all his toys, bowls, etc around to remind us. We sure miss the little guy.
Easter Sunday
We drove from Van Horn to Las Cruces, NM........it was a short drive and that was a good thing as we had winds again............but not as bad as Saturday. Once again we stayed at a Passport America park. The half price looks good but this campground had alot to be desired. We will not be going back there again. It was Coachlight RV Park off I-10 at exit 140. The lady at the desk was very rude and the whole time we were there we were smelling sewer. I went over to use the bathroom/shower at about 8:30PM and it was all locked up. Crossing that one off our list. We had to unhook the car, even tho we had a pull through. We had been having Taco Salad every noon meal since we left Mission so decided to cook up a Easter Dinner and wow..........we had ham and pineapple frozen pizza. It was good, but not really a great Easter dinner. Decided as long as we were unhooked we would take a car ride and find a Wal-Mart and picked up a few things. Watched a little TV and called it an evening. We did get some phone calls from our kids and it was so good to hear from them.
Monday, April 13, 2009
We drove on into Albuquerque and are now at a KOA north of there in Bernalillo. I had reserved a spot here for the 14th, so we called ahead to see if we could get an extra night for tonight. Ended up with a nice spot..........we are right by office and check in area, so we are watching all the rigs coming in. They have free cable here and it is good as well as free WiFi and it is very good and fast.............so that is what I am using now. After getting settled it we watched Dancing With The Stars............that is one show Roger likes to watch with me.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Today is get ready for Rally day. Got up and headed for the laundry room, as I knew there would be a lot of people doing the same thing today before they head to the rally. Roger washed outside windows and filled the water tank. We will be getting up in morning and dump the holding tanks and head the 8 miles back to Albuquerque, not sure if I will get much of a chance to write then, but I sure will be back with more after the rally.

March is coming to a close and it will be April in a few days. We are planning on leaving Mission on Good Friday the 10th. It is now time to get our list going and the plans made for our next adventure. As many of you know we are headed to New Mexico the "The Rally" in Albuquerque. I have made reservation at a camp ground outside Albuquerque for the 14th and we will be entering "The Rally" on the 15th. We need to spend the night before at a campground close by so we can make it in that morning (our appointed time to arrive) and also so we can fill our water tank and dump our holding tanks. We will be dry camping with only electicity while there.

We moved our motor home from Sleep Valley park over to Bentsen Grove where we have been spending the winter. It sure was good to get behind the wheel again and drive if only for a few miles. It is now parked across the street from our trailer so we will be able to wash, clean and pack it before leaving. I have list going for what to take what needs to be done before we leave. The next 2 weeks will be spent getting ready.

The Rally is from the 15th thru the 21st. It is always fun to go to these and see the new things, attend seminars and the fun and games. Our first one we went to was in California and we keep going back. Besides this rally we have been to Safari Rallies (that's the make of our motor home) and FMCA rallies. FMCA is Family Motor Coach Ass.

Today we went to the Don-Wes Flea Market in Donna. We both had a list of things we wanted to look for and seemed to find most of them. When we moved into this trailer in Nov. we had taken some things out of the motor home and we now want to add those things here and put the ones we took out, back in the motor home. The one thing I have not been able to replace as yet is all the "Lock Lock" containers I use for all staples in RV and at home. I would like to find the same sizes I have now as they stack in cupboards nice and I know just what size of flour, Bisquick, etc. I can buy to fill them. So far I have been able to find 2 of the sizes I need, but can't find the rest. I will keep looking, I may have to settle for a different size.

There really isn't much more news here. the weather is getting hot, was over 100 degrees the other day, but it is still cold up North so not really in a hurry to go home. The activities in the park are slowing down. The computer club I go to on Monday mornings is still meeting as well as the Line Dancing class I go to three days a week. I must admit, I didn't go this past Thursday as it was just too hot. I get over heated easy and decided to just stay inside and stay cool. I did get up before the sun came up and went for a long walk, the hummity was high and I was in a sweat before returning home. I am sure you don't want to hear about all that, so will close for now. Hope everyone is getting into Spring and enjoying the nice weather when they can. Till later......Happy Trails to all.

Company here in Texas

It has been awhile since I last posted......but have been very busy as Roger's brother and his wife were here for a visit. It sure was good to have them and we kept somewhat busy. Larry and Sharon arrived here on a Thursday and the next day.........Roger had a dentist appointment in Progreso, Mexico. We took off with Roger's school buddy, Dick and the five of us went to Progreso.......Dick and Roger to dentist and Larry, Sharon and I shopping and looking around. Needles to say........we didn't buy anything.........but we did a lot of walking.

I can't remember the date line of everything we did..........but we did make a trip to South Padre Island. We lucked out as the spring break kids had not arrived and it was not crowed at all. After checking out the visitors center we took off for the beach. All had a good time walking on beach, getting feet wet in gulf as well as picking up small sea shells. We then drove on up the highway a ways then back with a stop at the turtle rescue place. Roger and I had been there earlier so we sat in car and let Larry and Sharon go check it out. Now it is lunch time so Larry wanted to see how "Church's Chicken" was..............so that is what we had. I was all for something different, but his was their vacation and we aim to please. Our next stop was the gift shop. Had a good time roaming around inside and out and taking pictures.

Be sure to click on the picture to take you to the rest of My Web Album!!!!

From Larry and Sharon

From Larry and Sharon

Larry had a guy he worked with in Mason City, Iowa that is also staying here in Mission, so they spent some time with them as well. Mike and his wife are at Hidden Valley Resort. We also got to visit the Riverside Club as well as Pepe's. It was cold and rainy when we went to Pepe's and we were in the teekee (sp) hut and it was cold out there. I thought the food was better at the Riverside and better priced. We went on a Wednesday and that was tenderloin special day......so that is what we had...........very good. We will return there. After our tenderloin lunch we drove up to the only had drawn ferry left in the USA. We didn't go across on it as they were very busy but we got to watch it. Maybe someday we will make the crossing. It crosses the Rio Grande River and cost 50 cents to go from US to Mexico and 75 cents to get back.

Our other adventures included shopping and eating.........and Sharon fixed a great steak dinner for us here at our place in Bensten Grove. Thanks Sharon, I really think it was the best meal of all. She also fixed us home made Spaghetti with meat balls..........very good.

They left this morning and it is now time for Roger and I to start getting ready for our departure which will be in a few weeks. Not sure of the date yet, but it will be around Good Friday sometime. We are headed for Albuquerque, NM for "The Rally" (RV rally) Looking forward to that.......I think Roger is ready to head out. Till later..........drive safe and Happy Trails.

Line Dancing

As many of you know, when I was in Jr. High and High School, I spent every Saturday (all day) teaching dancing......It was what I loved to do. Before Roger and I got married, we were Square Dancing and Round Dancing.....now I have taken up Line Dancing. The park here, has line dancing three days a week and we dance from 2 to 3 hours at a time. I must say.....my first time there......I lasted an hour and 45 min. then I had to leave. I was red faced and dripping wet. I took this up for the exercise......but it is more then that now. I have met some great people and had so much fun.

The group goes to nursing homes and adult day care centers to preform. I have not gone with them........I just can't take the heat. They have the heat turned up at those places and I have a hard time with over heating during class......when I am dancing in air conditioning and under a fan. They did get to preform at our weekly park meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 25th and I went with them. Most of the pictures you will have a hard time finding me.........I am in back row.......but you can get the idea. It was great fun and I have learned so many different dances. The yellow shirts we have say....."I know this dance.................now how does it start" How true that is. I don't know if it is a senior thing or what......but when the music starts or a dance is named, it is hard to remember which dance that is. I wish I had a video to share with you.........but these photos will have to do for now.

Remember to click on the photo to take you to the Web Album.

From Bentsen Grove Line Dancers

From Bentsen Grove Line Dancers

We are expecting a visit from Roger's brother (Larry) and sister-in-law (Sharon) sometime this week. It is going to be great to show them around and give them a taste of what life is like here in RGV (Rio Grande Valley)
I am hoping to get more photos now that I will have new subjects. Not sure when I will be back to post.........depends on how busy we stay.

Life is great and spring is coming......everyone stay warm.....drive safe and .........Happy Trails