Where did the winter go?

I know many of you in the north have been having some great weather and the same is here in south Texas. I haven't been very good about writing on this blog.............I never was good at keeping a diary. With Facebook, I find myself more on there and haven't given this blog any time. I do read a few other blogs everyday, so I can't say I haven't thought about it. Just lazy I guess.

We spent the fall working on our place, like I said in last blog, we did a new shower. After the shower was finished and the bathroom painted, Roger and Dick went on to work in the Texas room. For those of you that are not sure what that is..........it is the sun room. It had paneling on the walls and popcorn ceiling. Took all that out, put up sheet rock and painted. Sure looks nice now. Roger even got a new TV for that room. Besides sun rooms being called Texas rooms, it only seems fit as Roger has all his "cowboy" stuff in there.

After the TX room was done, we started painting the rest of our mobile home. It had all paneling and it was a ugly blonde color. We had to move furniture away from one wall at a time and paint that wall then go on to next wall. We also painted all the doors and frames, so it is all painted now. Sure looks nice and makes the rugs look really bad. Guess it will be new flooring next winter.

I was asked to be a hostess here in our park. Our park has private owned lots and we have no hired office or other help, it is all volunteer. There are 12 hostesses and they put on 6 activities during a 3 month time. I really didn't want to do it, but I said yes and got involved in it and have met some very nice people here in park. The first thing the hostesses sponsored was the Christmas dance. For that we hired a band, decorated and made sandwiches for everyone. They served sandwiches, chips, pop and coffee during the dance. Each hostess had to make 2 dozen sandwiches and we had some left over. Next was a pie social for the men. All the pie they could eat for $2. Not a bad deal. Each hostess had to make 2 pies, there were other ladies in the park that donated pies as well. There is also a memorial service for all those that passed in the last year, then we have the flea market. The park has a flea market/garage sale and the hostess furnish the food. That involved making 2 pans of bars which were served Friday night when the park people got to go through things before the big sale on Sat. The left over bars and donuts were served the following morning and then lunch was serving. That included, maid-rites, chips, bars, pop or coffee. The big event for the winter is the ladies lunch. This years theme was Mexican Fiesta. The hostesses husband get to help with this one and they serve the women. It was fun for all. Roger worked in the kitchen, dishing up the food. There was then the party for all couples that are married 50 years or more, and believe me there are a lot in a senior park. LOL

Last Monday the hostesses went to lunch and had their last meeting. At this time the outgoing ones are done and the new ones take over. They have 4 leaving each year. They also elect officers and that is where the fun started. No one wanted it..........after much asking, pleading and such, I agreed to be President next year. Now mind you this is only because no one else wanted or would do it. I guess I felt like someone had to say "yes" or we would of been there all day. NOW THE FUN BEGINS.

Our friends are all packing up and leaving for the summer, things are going to be lonely around here till time for us to leave. We are planning and looking forward to a visit from my daughter Janis and her husband John in April. We are planning a boat trip in the gulf and going to the beach as well as a trip to the King ranch. I am so excited.

Till later, everyone have a fun and safe summer.

Back in Mission

We left Iowa at the end of August to return to Texas. Everyone kept telling us how hot it was, but we wanted to get back home. Seems like we had come to the point that we were tired of our cramped RV and we heard our recliners calling our names. But wait.........I am getting ahead of myself.

As many of you know, Roger and I had our 25th wedding anniversary in August and after returning from the RV rally in Madison, we decided to get the family and some friends together and have a pot luck to help us celebrate. That is just what we did, our anniversary was the 16th but we had the potluck on the 21st. It was a nice way to share it with everyone and also a little of a last chance to say good-by to everyone before we left for Texas. We only wish my other two daughters could of joined us. Do to the short notice and the cost of traveling that far, we understand. Kim and Janis, we missed you, but knew you would of been there if you could of.

From Anniversary

We arrived home on Friday the 26th and on Saturday evening our air conditioner went out at our mobile home. Wouldn't you know it was 10 at night and no one to call that late and a weekend to boot. The friends and family were right..............it is very hot in South Texas in August. We ended up running the window A/C in the Texas room (sun porch) and leaving the door open with fans blowing it into the house. Made it through till Monday then got a hold of the repair man and he came out that afternoon. The part was a whole $19 and service call was $60. Thank goodness it was more then that.

We had planned for sometime to replace the old gold bath tub/shower in our main bathroom. After taking a trip to Lowe's and a mobile home place, we decided we didn't like any of the shower liners. The opening was 56 inches and the ones we had to pick from were either 6 inches too long or 6 inches to short. After visiting the mobile home place, they did have a shower base that would of worked, however there was still that step up into it and the floor of the shower was smaller then the tub floor we were using. We then decided to spend a little bit more and go with a tiled shower. Our friends, Larry and Mary knew a guy so they sent him over and after getting an estimate, we were ready to go for it. Made a trip to the tile store and picked out the tile, brought it home and waited for Loopy (that's his name) to start. Here is the finished shower...........we love it.

From Blanket, bird and bath

We also painted the bathroom and got rid of the yellow flower wallpaper. Be sure to check out the rest of my photos by clicking on the pictures.

I received an email about a good friend of mine. He is in the hospital in Mason City. I sure wish I could be there to visit him and be of some help to his wife, Erma. Doug if you happen to read this, please know I am thinking of you every day and our prayers are with both you and Erma. Please get well soon and get a lot of REST.

It won't be long before the parks around here start filling up again with all the snow birds. We have been to two pot lucks and to Peter Piper Pizza with the park people here in Valley View. It is good to see our friends again.

We do have one other project we are going to under take. Roger and I spent this afternoon, clearing out the Texas room. Roger and Dick are going to take off all the paneling and ceiling and insulated it and sheet rock it. I will be taking pictures of that as well. It seems now that we don't have Keota any longer and family is so far away about the only thing we have left to take pictures of is flowers, birds, projects.

Catching up..............

I guess I have some catching up to do, haven't posted since May.

After leaving Nashville, we headed north and spent a week visiting with some friends we met in Florida in 2005 -2007. They live in Aurora, IN and we did a lot of eating out while there. We then pushed north again, staying in Indiana and met up with Dick & Darlene, then Larry and Brenda to attend a FMCA rally. Had a great time, I went to two different seminars on Satellite TV and after the second one, we decided to do away with all the stress we have in setting up our DirectTV satellite. We had a roof dish installed that will hunt for satellite after pushing just one button. Boy is it nice, we have been using it ever since and I must say............it was money well spent. Where we are right now, among the trees, I really thought we wouldn't get a signal, but we have one. :) I guess the best buy at the rally was the great patio mat I got for $40. Yes, you are reading it right. I saw it at the new RV display and asked if they sold them? They said no, but they had them at their dealership. I then asked if they would sell that one, it was just the color I wanted. The guy looked at his boss asked and boss asked him what they sold for at the shop. He said $140 ..............boss then said to me.....how about $40. SOLD. Love it, it is 20 foot long and just fits under our awning. It rained on our last day there, I didn't sleep well all night worrying if we were going to get out of our spot. Here is a photo of our motor home, surrounded by ankle deep water.

From 05 - May

We made it to Cedar Rapids just in time for me to attended the retirement party were I use to work, for all those retiring this year. It was good to see some of my old friends again. Can't say I miss the work, but I do miss seeing my friends, they were like a second family.

Granddaughter, Emily's gradation was next. It is just so hard to believe that these grand kids are all growing up and it just makes one feel so much older. She had a nice party at the park, it was cold and rainy but we all had a good time.

From Emily Graduation

June brought some more activities, met with the "Iowa people" from our park in Mission. (Valley View Estates). We met at the Riverside Casino and had a great meal and conversation. Won't be long and we will all be down there again doing our potlucks. A couple days later was my birthday and we were camping at West Overlook by Iowa City. Family and friends came to campground to say hi. My three daughters and my great hubby went together and paid for me to take a hot air balloon ride. Roger was going to go with me. We decided to wait awhile till the weather got better before doing it. I would have to call for reservations. Fathers day we were still at West Overlook, so made arrangements for the family to meet us in Coralville and go to a Chinese restaurant for diner. Had a good time there.

From 06 - June

Later in the month of June, we decided to head North to Mason City/Clear Lake area. Our good friends Tom and Sharon, offered their yard for us to park our motor home in. What a great place to stay, so quite there and watching the birds right outside our window was really nice. Tom and Sharon were great host, had us over to eat at there place and we went out many times. Sure wish we could of stayed longer, but one does not want to wear out there welcome. We sure are going to miss them and Max (there little Maltese that looks just like our Keota)

From Galena

Over the 4th of July weekend we were very busy, as I am sure everyone is. We had a family picnic in Hampton on the 3rd. It was for Roger's mother side of family and there was a cousin from Denmark visiting so got to meet them. Had a great turn out and with me into working on family tree, I also learned a little more about the family.

From Nielsen reunion

On the 4th we headed out with our car for Davenport, about a 4 hour drive to attend a surprise birthday diner for Roger's cousin Peggy. It sure was good to see all the Trafford's and get to visit with them. We were given some old pictures of the Shook - Harding families and Peggy helped by naming some of the people in the pictures. Of course Peggy had many stories to add to some of the pictures. Only wish I had taken a tape recorded with me. I made up Peggy a book with all the Shook - Harding family tree information I had at that point. Sure hope she and family enjoy reading all the family history.

From Peggy Birthday

We spent the night of the 4th in Cedar Rapids at daughter Sandra's house. On our way home, I asked Roger if he wanted to stop in Charles City and check out a cemetery where his 3rd great grandfather was laid to rest. I had found a picture of the grave marker on Ancestry and sent a message asking where it was. Got an email back with directions. We found it and that got Roger excited about looking for others. While in Mason City and Clear Lake we went to three different cemeteries and found many graves. I took pictures of 61 grave markers, I wasn't sure if some of them were related, but took the pictures anyway. I shot anything with Shook, Harding, Nielsen, or Theilen on it. After getting back to RV and going through my Family Tree Maker program, I found many of them were related, I think there were only a couple that weren't and who knows, I may find them after more research.

On the 12th of July, we left Tom and Sharon's and headed for Galena, IL for our balloon ride on the 13th. The morning of the13th, that was yesterday, we headed out to find where we were suppose to be that night, then back into town. Decided to take the trolley ride around town and learn a little more about it. It was an hour ride and very informative. I will never remember all that man told us, but nice anyway. You will have to check out my web albums to see all the old homes and downtown. I did not know that U.S.Grant was from Galena.

We had to be at Eagle Ridge Resort and Spa by 6:45pm. Left the campground at 6 and headed out that way. After everyone arrived, they started to blow up the balloon. They did this with 3 large fans. It didn't take them long, as soon as it had all the air in it, they removed the fans and started the burner and blowing heat into the balloon. At this point the basket was laying on it's side, but as soon as the balloon got enough hot air, it turned the basket over and it was time to get in. I must admit, this was the part I was dreading the most. I am not too good at climbing into anything let alone a basket that is chest high. They had step stools to climb on, but getting my leg over the edge was a challenge. I gave Roger instructions, not to take my picture getting in. The flight was GREAT, and so glad we went. It was something I have been wanting to do for years. It was like floating and so peaceful. We ended up going just a little over 5 miles in 47 min. The balloon got up above some clouds and we were up to 6000 feet. We ended up landing in a cow pasture. The landing and getting out of the basket was my next worry and I must say, that was easier then the getting in. The basket landed on it's side and we were on our back, holding onto some ropes. I had to wait till the people on the other side of basket got out then the ones next to me and then I just rolled out and sat on edge and feet on ground. Afterward we walked to the awaiting van and they had champagne, Sprite, and chocolate for all of us with a toast for the safe ride. What a great birthday gift................thank-you Kim, Janis, Sandra and Roger. I LOVED IT and will have this memory for a very long time.

From Galena

From Galena

From Galena

From Galena

Be sure to click on any of the pictures to view all of the photo's in my Photo Albums.

That catches you up on our adventures, we will be in Iowa till we head to Madison for another FMCA rally in August, then our 25th wedding anniversary, and back to Texas.

On the road again.

We left Mission on Easter Sunday and made it to Huston for our first night. Before leaving we had a leak under bathroom sink, which had to be fixed and then the left turn signal would not work on our tow Vue. Didn't get it fixed right away, but Roger did fix it later.

Our first night was in Huston at South Main RV Park, it was right off the bypass and one of those places you don't want to miss or it is a puzzle how you are going to make it back to the entrance. On Monday we drove on east along I-10 and being so busy and Roger not liking high traffic, I drove all day. It was a long day (I'm not use to driving all day) but we stopped at the welcome rest area as we entered Louisiana and after lunch I took a short 15 min. nap and was good for rest of trip. Stayed our second night in Independence, La. Along 1-55, the campground was Indian Creek Campground and with me driving that left Roger to read the directions and he missed reading one of the turns to the campground and I ended up going strait for 5 miles before I could find a place to turn around. The turn we needed was just past the interstate, we finally found it and and settled in for the night. We can now add Louisiana to our state map on side of motor home.

Leaving Tuesday morning, it was raining, but we soon drove out of it and the rest of the drive up I-55 was pretty good, I had marked where all the rest areas were and who would of known every one of them in Mississippi were closed. We ended up pulling into a truckers pull off to eat our lunch and change drivers. Tuesday night was spent in Coldwater, Mississippi (had to get another state sticker) at Memphis South RV Park. It was about 25 -30 miles south of Memphis. We spent the night watching the weather on TV as there were bad storm warnings and tornado warnings out. As soon as we heard the warning go off, we headed for the bath house. We were told to go to the mens showers as they were in the middle of building and the stalls we built completely enclosed and were the safe place to be. By the time we got there.............all the shower stalls were taken. I was thinking okay...........only so many people can be in there. Well they weren't full of people...............everyone had stuffed there dogs and cats in the stalls and all the people were standing in main part of bathroom with the main door right in front of us. At one point I said " If the tornado does come, at least all the dogs and cats will be alive even if we aren't." That didn't seem to make any difference to these people. I had even asked if any of these dog and cat people could get one of the chairs out of the shower stall so I would have a place to sit. That didn't happen either. One gal said her cats were sitting on it. We gave up after the worst of the storm had passed and decided to take our chances in the RV. The bath house was starting to smell of dogs and cats, and it was very warm in there..............no windows at all. After a stormy night.............we slept really good that night. It was still storm warnings the next morning and they were heading the same directions we would be headed, so decided to stay another day. These were the storms that killed so many across the south on Tuesday and Wednesday.

We headed for Nashville on Thursday and stayed at a Corp of Engineer park east of Nashville. Seven Points, and it was really a nice campground. I had reserved a site on line for Wednesday - Sunday and so glad I got one on the inside of the loop. The lake was up and flooded most of the sites on the outside part of the loop. It even flooded the road we drove in on so had to get directions on a different way in and out.

While in Nashville, we ended up on Friday, going to downtown Nashville and did a walking tour through downtown and to the Ryman Auditorium. This was really nice and learned alot, got to go back stage and see the dressing rooms as well. We do wish we would of had more time to look at things and read some of the stuff, but maybe another time. Just getting around in that town was a challenging as a lot of the streets were closed for construction of the new convention center. I was almost ready to say the heck with it and forget the whole thing. We didn't and after the walking tour, we took a trolley ride around with a tour guide. One could get off anywhere if they wanted but, we didn't. I did find the Bicentennial park. They had a wall that was a time line with pilers along the way with the dates. I think that wall must of went one for a couple of blocks.

From 04-April

From 04-April

From 04-April

On Saturday we went on the General Jackson lunch cruise with a great lunch and entertainment by the Shotgun Red band. So glad we did that one. I had taken the card out of the camera Friday night to upload all the pictures from that day and wouldn't you know, I forgot to put it back in camera so didn't get any pictures on the boat. Well we did, but they are on the camera hard drive and my cord wouldn't work to get them off. After getting off the boat, we had over 3 hours to kill before the Grand Ole Opry so decided to go back to RV and take a nap.

We went back to The Grand Ole Opry for the evening show. It wasn't really what we were expecting. They do commercials through the whole thing and Roger really hates commercials.

We are now in Indiana at a State Park and will be going to see our friends, Ida and Bob tomorrow. We haven't seen them since we were in Florida for the winter of 2006 - 2007. We use to pal around with them all the time, so this should be fun to see them again.

Till later..............Alicia

Upgrades and Fish fry

I had to go back on read my last blog to know what I wrote about last time, guess that means it has been too long.

This Family Tree Maker is keeping me on the computer and busy. I haven't even done any crafts since we got back from California. I had put all the family info in the program in one tree and then decided to split it up with my family in one tree, Seaton (x-husbands) family in another and Shook (Roger's) in another tree. I find it so interesting to be finding old pictures, census records, draft cards, etc. from Ancestry.com. I also have been saving all the prof I find and loading it to tree and making copies to save and print up. Found some information on my x's (Mike Seaton) 4th great grandfather. He was taken prisoner in 1776 by the British and on Jan. 20th, 1777 he died on a British Prisoner ship in New York harbor. It is these kinds of things that makes history so exciting. Also found one of my greats (can't remember how many) helped with the underground railroad. Another one was in the civil war. I am still having problems tracing some of them to their mother countries. What with all the name changes and spellings, it gets confusing.

The middle of Jan we moved our motor home (RV) into storage as our friends Dick and Darlene were expecting company and they were using their RV spot for one cousin and needed our RV spot for another cousin. We had Ron and Sharon Faught from Mason City in our driveway for about 6 weeks. While here, Tom helped Roger put in a new sidewalk connecting the driveway with the shed in back. Sure glad Tom offered to help........thanks Tom.

From Fish Fry

We also had a fish fry on our deck in February and had 12 people here eating fish, fries, coleslaw, fruit salad, potato salad, popcorn, pies, cake...............lots and lots of food. Speaking of lots of food, we also had a Super Bowl party at our place.............we were the only ones with a big screen TV. We had so much food left over from that, had to give some of it away.

After Sharon and Tom left to head to Florida, we called the painter and got some paint to paint outside of our mobile home. It was a "John Deer" green and I just hated it. It is now a nice grey to match the grey trim we had on shed. It sure looks a lot nicer. Along with the improvements we have been making, we decided it was time to finish off the kitchen and get the new microwave/convention oven for over the range. It finally got here and we picked it up this past Thursday and Dick and Roger installed it yesterday. I JUST LOVE IT. Now the kitchen is finished and the only thing left is I plan on doing some painting next summer or fall when we get back down here. Roger is planning on tearing the Texas room (sun room) apart and taking down all the old brittle paneling and popcorn ceiling. Will then insulate and put up dry wall. It should be cooler in there, don't think it has any insulation right now.

From RV.net party and New place

From Fish Fry

That pretty well brings us up to date, I do want to add a touch of Spring, Roger brought 2 rose bushes home from Kim's in California and our friend MaryAnn gave him. See...............Spring is coming.

From Fish Fry

Forgot the other news.........................Roger is now learning the computer. He hasn't been getting on it each day, but he is trying and that means a lot to me. One step at a time. Won't be long and he will have his own email address on maybe even on face book. :)

Christmas in California and 2011

I don't know why I have such a hard time coming up with things to write about on this blog. Some of it is just that I don't get around to it.
I am in California for Christmas. You notice, I didn't say SUNNY California. That is because it has been raining for days and will continue to rain for more and more days. Can't wait to get back to SUNNY TEXAS. We drove out here last week and are staying with my daughter Kim and her son, Zeppelin. She got a new house last spring and has been fixing it up. It really looks nice and she is doing a great job. She has three bedrooms, 2 baths, living room, office, family room and kitchen. The kitchen was already redone so she didn't have to worry about that expense. The living room is still in the dry wall stage. She scraped off all the popcorn ceiling and painted everything. Also put in all new floors. She went after her Christmas tree yesterday and due to the rain, it had to sit in garage to dry off before bringing it inside. It isn't decorated yet, I was going to do it for her, but she told her son if he did it, she would redo it after he went to bed. Guess that means, she wants to do it her own way.
We have been using our GPS a lot out here. This is the most we have used it since we got it 5 years ago. Sure is nice to set it and let it do all the work. The traffic is terrible, sure glad we don't have to drive in it all the time.
I have two cousins that live around this area and plan on going to see them. Sally, from my mom's side of family lives in Lake Elsinore and Patti from my dad's side lives the next town to the south. I got a hold of Patti and plan on going to see her on Wednesday afternoon. Tried the phone number I had for Sally and it was disconnected. Don't know if I copied it down right. Anyway, thought I would stop by and see if she is home, if not, leave a note. I got to see Sally in 2002 when we came out here. Patti, I haven't seen since sometime in the 50's. Boy, that is a long time. Going to take the camera and get some pictures for sure. Patti has been working on family tree so we will have a lot to talk about.
We did make it to the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage over the weekend. We were going to go to a flea market, but due to all the rain, it was canceled, so the museum was close by and dry. It was nice, but not like we expected. Think we were expecting more on Gene Aurty.
Last night we went to a Christmas show, the All American Boy's Choir. They were very good and it did help to take ones mine off the rain and get you in the Christmas spirit. It was a long drive there and back, but using Kim as our chauffeur and she does a great job.

Okay, we are now back from our California trip. Came home between Christmas and New Years. It is good to get back home. We did get down to visit with my two cousins and so glad we did. Had a great visit with Patti and she told me things about my father's family and my father that I didn't know. Hope to stay in touch with her and learn more. Took Kim and Zeppelin with us to go see Sally and her hubby Winston. Had a nice visit, they do a lot of traveling so we had a lot to talk about. Fun listening to others adventures.

Had a very nice Christmas with Kim and Zeppelin. Got a Family Tree Maker program for my computer with a 3 month membership to Ancestry.com so I have been busy with that. I have found some interesting things and hope to find more. Patti was telling me about my dad's side of family and I didn't have any information on them. Didn't get any from Patti, but with Ancestry.com I traced them back to Jamestown, Va in 1650.

Now for a few pictures to share with you. Remember they are all on my "web albums" and you can click on link under picture or on picture itself to take you to the whole album. I don't post them all........too many of them.

From Christmas 2010

This is your place in Mission, yes we did get up a tree and decorated before we left.

From Christmas 2010

This is daughter, Kim's house in California

From Christmas 2010

Cousin Patti and myself with her grandson, Peter.

From Christmas 2010

My cousin Sally her hubby Winston with Roger and myself.

From Christmas 2010

Daughter, Kim and her son Zeppelin.

Hope every had a great Christmas and got a good start to 2011. We are making our plans for this next year and working around the place to get it the way we want. Busy with park activities and running around with our friends.

Roger got a book for Christmas called "Don't Whiz on a 'Lectric Fence" I am going to use one of the passages from that book for my closing. hehehehe

"Don't name a pig you plan to eat"

And Life Goes On

I read a number of blogs each day, and after coming across most of them with no updates, I got to thinking I need to update my blog. I am not sure what I am going to write about. We are still in Mission and taking one day at a time. Still having hot and humid weather, but we stay inside during the day, so not to bad. We do make it to the pool on some days. Try to go in the late afternoons as there is a canape over one end of the pool and it provides some good shade. I don't like being in the sun, so found this the best time to go.
The park has pot lucks twice a month and they go out to pizza one time a month. The pizza is not a great place, but good to get out and visit with others. Pizza place is called "Peter Piper" and it is cheep pizza and one of those places with games for the kids.
As many of you know, my grand daughter, Emily wanted a zebra afghan for her graduation next May. I did get it finished and I am really pleased the way it turned out. Just hope Emily will like it. Here is a finished picture of it.

From Life in the RGV

I did get a few days off from working on afghan, I was asked to make four cross stitch bookmarks. They were name ones and I had to do them before our neighbors left to go back to Iowa. Got all four done in 3 1/2 days. Soon as afghan is done, I am going to have to find a new project to work on. Been thinking about starting to make baby afghans and hats for the babies in hospital. I just need something to keep me busy while watching TV.

Before we left Mission last spring, I was walking every morning for an hour and was hoping to get back to it again. Due to a heal spear, I haven't been able to do that. I finally went to the Foot DR and was told to stay off it, wear a special boot at night that would stretch the cord in foot, take Aleve twice a day, get new inserts for shoes from sports store, and finally get new shoes. I have done all that and I am still having problems. Dr. told me I could start walking short 10 minutes walk, but every time I try it, I am back to heal pain. He had told me if it hurts stay off it, so I have been spending a lot of time doing just that. That only means one thing...........more craft projects.

I did go to a garage sale here in park and bought three x stitch kits and I am now working on one of those. I thought I would buy it so I would have something to take in the RV during the summer. Anyway.......having fun working on it right now.

Roger seems to keep busy finding small projects to work on around our place here. I keep thinking there isn't anything else he could find to do.......but he seems to find something. We did have a car port put up to park our car under and it sure is nice to have it out of the HOT sun. Should help keep it looking nice too. Being as Roger's dad was a farmer, I think he has some farmer blood in him, he always wants to have a garden. Once again he has fixed a small area in yard to have one here. It is not very big, but he wants a few tomato plants and pepper plants. I guess the yard is his..............so go for it Roger.

Our friends from PA wanted to buy a place down here, they looked around when they were here last winter and we told them about a place here in the park that was for sale. They asked us to go over and take pictures and I did that then emailed them to them. Next, we were asked to go look at it and take more pictures. Did that too, and emailed them. They ended up buying the place. I am excited that they are going to be close to us and looking forward to them arriving any day now. It is about 3 blocks from us. This park is one that you own the land as well as your home and like us, they will have a place to park there RV.

The park activities will be start in full winter mode starting in November. That means lots of jam sessions, craft sales, dances and entertainment. All the parks list their activities in a paper called the "Winter Texan" and it goes out to all the parks for everyone to pick up a copy free. Then you can go to what ever activity you want, you are not limited to just your parks activities.

We are planning a trip to California over Thanksgiving. Daughter Kimberly has bought a new house and wants us to come see it. We haven't been out there since 2005 when grandson Danny graduated. We are not taking the RV, just our Saturn Vue and staying in motels. Will be a little different for us.

Till later, life is good here in the Texas.

Improvements

As many of you know, I have started making afghans for the grand kids when they graduate, so while in Iowa I asked Emily what color she wanted. I had intended on making her one with same pattern I had made the rest. That was doing it with co-hooking..........a new technique I had learned a few years ago while here in Texas. Emily decided she wanted a Zebra afghan, not having a pattern for this, I went on the Internet and found a site what had pictures of one, I copied that picture then printed it on graph paper. To make it large enough for afghan size, I had to print 4 sheets and reverse two of them to match up the stripes. After doing this, I decided I couldn't see the graph squares where the black part was, so now I outlined all of the design on one sheet and then very carefully square by square drew it out on another piece of graph paper. Now I have the pattern on something I can read. I highlighted the part that was to be black and proceeded to count all the squares so I would know how many stitches of each color. Graphs are hard to read when working on them, so my next step was to write out the directions, one row at a time. The Internet site said I could carry my yarn across my work, I tried this for a couple rows and didn't like the looks of it. I was seeing white thread, behind the black stitches and black yarn behind the white. I ripped that all out and started over, this time I rolled the yarn in balls and I am now changing colors every time the pattern calls for it. Needless to say, at this point (I am about 1/4 of the way done) I am carrying 29 balls of yarn for each row. It is a challenge and as many of you know, I am up to a challenge. Besides, what do I have besides time. I have worked out a system, with two baskets to put the balls in. I put the ones I will be crocheting with in basket between my legs while sitting in recliner, I crochet across and as I finish with a color, that ball goes into a basket off to my right. When I finish the row, I switch the baskets around, putting the full one on chair in front of me and empty one to my right. Now I have to flip my work (afghan) over with out tangling the yarn. Here are a few pictures.

From 08 August

From 08 August

Roger has been busy too. We had talked about getting a carport for some time. He ordered one and it came the other night and was put up in about 45 minutes. It is 12 x 21 and sites on our driveway off alley. Now the car will sit under it and be much cooler when we need to use it. Things get pretty hot down here. He also paid extra to get the height he wanted. Standard was 5 foot on sides and he got 7 foot. That makes the peek 9 foot.

From 08 August

From 08 August

From 08 August

The next night we had two more workers here, Roger decided we needed some sun screens installed on windows in Texas room (sun porch) so ordered them and the 2 guys came to install them. He got a special deal to do the whole mobile home, so we now have new sun screens on mobile home. Check out the before and after pictures.

From 08 August

From 08 August

So what do you think ? We can see out, but you can't see in from the outside. Now we will see if it improves our electric bill. It is suppose to.

Our good friends that we met from RV.net that come down here in winter, just called me tonight and told me they bought a place in our park. I am so excited, we sure will enjoy having them so close and hanging out with them. Way to go Mary Ann and Larry, congratulations on your new place.

Roger and I will be celebrating our anniversary on Monday and since the park is going to Peter Piper Pizza, guess that is what we are going to do. I don't really consider that a anniversary dinner, but at least we will be with others. Till later, stay cool.

To view the rest of this album and my others click on the blue leak under pictures.

Back in Mission now.

Boy it has been awhile since I posted on here. What can I say, I have been mega busy. After looking over my last blog to see where I left off, I guess the best place to start is our camp out with family at West Overlook. We had reserved spots and a good thing we did as the lower area were we usually park was flooded. Met Roger's brother Larry and wife Sharon along with son Matt and wife Heather there. On Tuesday the night we arrived, grandson Marcus came over and told us his mom (Heather) had been bitten by their dog. To make a long story short, she had been trying to separate her two dogs and one of them bit her on knee cap when going after the other dog. I took her to hospital, and after xrays, they decided she needed surgery to clean out as he had bit her on knee cap and it had caused air to get under it, thus infection. Heather ended up staying in hospital till Sunday afternoon. She was going to help us drive to Texas and Doctors said she couldn't. She is still undergoing treatment and having some problems, but hope she mend soon and can return to the things she loves to do.

From 07 July

While camping at West Overlook, we had a RV service guy come out and look at our TV antenna and our toilet. After the full week of waiting we got a new TV antenna and a new toilet. We also got a nice hefty bill, think the guy got over paid for his service. But you learn, he was recommended to us by a guy that was camped across from us, we won't be calling him again.

We left West Overlook on the 13th of July and headed back to Morgan Creek campground in Cedar Rapids. The rest of the week went very fast, as before going to Morgan Creek, we went to Battery Plus to get new batteries in RV. Roger wanted to replace our 4 batteries for 3 and so they took out the old batteries, then after awhile told us they couldn't do it, so were going to put 4 batteries in like the 4 we had. Low and behold, they didn't have any, so they had to put the old ones back in. Roger new we were in trouble when the guy said, he should of made a diagram of how they were hooked up. He hooked them up and then it was my turn to drive to campground. Well, the step would not go in, so Roger called them back outside and they checked the connections and said it was right. Okay, I drove to campground with step out. After getting to campground we hooked up to the 50amp and turned on the air. All of a sudden the overload light came on so unplugged the electric and unhooked the batteries. Now what to do, we ran and extension cord from back of RV ref. to electric on pole, packed some things and went to daughter Sandra's house to spend the night. Next morning, Roger went over to RV and found the ref not working at all, so he pulled out what he could and brought it back to Sandy's to stash in her ref and freezer. The guy from Batteries Plus called a little later and we took RV over to get it fixed. He said he looked it up on line and found out he could hook up the 3 batteries so that is what they did. Everything working fine now, but all could of been avoided if they had done it right to begin with.

On Saturday the 17th we picked up the truck and went to Stanwood to load all our things we had in storage. Granddaughter Emily went with us and with her and Matt and Marcus' help we got it loaded in about an hour and a half. I must say, glad we ended up getting a 16 foot truck as we needed the extra space. We didn't load it to the top, but all the floor space was used up. We left on Sunday morning for Texas with Sandra going with us to help with the driving. We were planning on her being a relief driver, but she ended up driving the truck all the way by herself and Roger and I driving the RV. It took us 3 days on the road with 2 overnight stays. It sure was good to have all the help we had, both in loading and the driving.

We are now in Mission and still organizing things. It would of been so easy if we were just moving our things into an empty place, but we bought this place furnished so it is what to keep and what to get rid of. We now have a pile on our deck of stuff for a deck sale and still sorting things. I do have the the house pretty well done, a few boxes left in my craft (extra bedroom) room, but it is looking good. Now what to do with all the stuff on the deck, hoping to make room in small shed for it till sale.

While Sandra was here for a week, we got to take her to some of the things she wanted to see. Made a day trip to South Padre Island. It was up in air if we were going to make it to Mexico. They have some flooding here and the road going there was closed. She was to leave on Tuesday the 27th so on Monday after checking on the Internet for road closings, we took off for Mexico. The DOT didn't have it that road listed as being closed, but it was. We then decided to go the the outlet mall. While at the mall we talked to a clerk who gave us information on another route to take to get to Mexico. Off we went after stopping for lunch and spent the afternoon shopping in Mexico. She had a good time and we got back to the car just as a big rain storm was about to hit. We sure enjoyed having Sandy here, it means so much to me to have her come and see where we are living and share with her some of our life here. I am not sure if she enjoyed going to the park potluck and eating with all the seniors. LOL We miss her already, but life must go on.

Roger got me a gift card for my birthday in June for a new dishwasher and while Sandy was here we went and picked it out. It came in and Roger and Dick went to get it, so thanks to Sandy's suggestion, we decided to move the lower cabinets to other side of kitchen and put the dishwasher by sink. Roger and Dick worked on it one day and tore my kitchen apart, but it was all for a good cause, and I love the new dishwasher. Here are some pictures to help explain it all. Be sure to go to my web album to view all the pictures. Click on picture.

From 07 July

We have built ins in the bedroom and the one on the end has no door so it was hard to put anything in it and I wanted it shortened so I could put our hall tree in corner. Once again, Dick to the rescue and he cut it and I now have a place for hall tree. Thank you Dick for all your help.

Guess that pretty well brings us up to date. We will be working around here to get things settled. We only work in early mornings and evenings due to heat. We are planning a trip to California to visit with daughter Kim, but no date as of yet. Everyone keep cool and have a good summer.

Surprise

Not sure how to title this entry, will have to think about it as I am posting this.

The 1st was Sandy (daughter) and Brian's 10th anniversary so we went out to eat with them. They wanted to go to Granite City, so off we went. I can't say we were over impressed with the food and it was high priced. Don't think we will plan on returning there very often. Sandy saved leftovers in a take out container to take home for Brian's lunch the next day.........and wouldn't you know, we walked out and forgot it. Poor Brain had to buy his lunch the next day. Anyway, Happy 10th Anniversary Sandy and Brian.

We hadn't had a visit with two of our grandkids yet, Aj and Mariah (Matt's two children), so on the 3rd we invited them to our campground to have a cookout. Joining us were Sandy, Brian with daughter Emily as well as Roger's daughter Jenny and her 2 daughters, Maggie and Heidi. We sure had a good time, had some yard games going and Emily brought a new card game along so some of them played that. We were very lucky as the rain stayed away that day and didn't make an appearance till the 4th............wouldn't you know it.

From Morgan Creek Camping

The 4th found Roger and I spending the day alone in the RV. Nothing exciting mind you, a little tv and then watched the fireworks in NYC on the blube tube.

Monday I took off and went to do some laundry, we were headed to West Overlook so wanted to get it done before we left. By afternoon, we were once again just passing time...............retired folks do a lot of that. About 3:30 I received a phone call and low and behold it was Dale and Terry Pace. They winter in Mission and we met them with some other people at an eat out with the RV.net group. That was 3 years ago and we have been friends since. I had just been reading Dale's blog earlier in the day and she stated they were headed to SD from Indiana, so I told her I would wave to her as they passed thru Iowa. It happened that they were spending the night at West Overlook, outside Iowa City. We were going to be headed down there the next day to do some camping with family. We decided to drive down and have a quick visit with them. After picking them up at campground we drove into Iowa City and took them to Jimmy Jack's Rib Shack. They seemed to enjoy the meal and we sure had a great time visiting with them. Upon returning them to there RV, we found son Matt and wife Heather setting up their pop up, so stopped and chatted with them.

While heading to West Overlook last night to pick up Dale and Terry, I was stopped in North Liberty by the town cop. At first I thought maybe he thought I was speeding, I might of been just a tab over, but no, he said my windows were tinted to dark. He got out his little meter and checked, it showed 70% and he said state of Iowa only lets you have 30%. He said I would have to have my front windows scraped, gave me a warning. I asked how much a ticket was if he were to give me one, $90. Not sure I want a ticket, but sure don't want to scrape the tinting off my windows either. We need that extra protection in the south. Have to give it some thought. I was thinking maybe I could just roll down the front windows every time I see a cop, or at least when I go thru North Liberty. He did say as long as we have Iowa plates it would be that way, if we had TX plates it wouldn't be a problem, he wouldn't stop us then. Oh well, you can't win them all.

We will be camping with family for this week and then back to Cedar Rapids and Morgan Creek campground. On the 17th we are picking up a 16 foot truck and taking it to Stanwood and loading our things in storage. We will leave the truck there and back to campground for one last night. Leaving on the 18th for Mission. My daughter Sandy and our daughter-in-law Heather are going to help us drive the truck and RV to Texas. Sandy said no way will she drive the RV but Heather has no problem with it as she drives school bus. Roger and I could of done it by ourselves, but neither one of us really like driving long distances and besides it will be more fun with the girls along. We have been teasing Roger about traveling with 3 women, he said he would just get in truck, lock the doors and be by himself.

Till next time, happy trails.

June ......... Birthdays and Weddings

June is the month for weddings, we all know this, but for me it has always been a month of birthdays also. At least, my birthday. This one was one of those milestone ones. This is the year I start on Medicare. Boy...........that makes me feel old. Some say you get that feeling when you become a grandparent or hit the magic over the hill age. Not me, Medicare did it for me. Maybe it is all the ace and pains that I am getting along with it. LOL. Hopefully, I won't have to use the Medicare very much.

I knew my DH (Dear Husband) was up to something along with my DD (Dear Daughter) as she kept calling him on his cell phone and he would take off around corner to talk in private. What it was, I was not sure, but I knew they were planning something and who am I to spoil their surprise. Yes, they were planning a surprise party and it was fun to have everyone gather to help me celebrate my birthday. To start things off, I had a surprise visit at campground from my friend Dawn on the 10th. I didn't know it then, but she was invited to the party but was leaving on a vacation the next day, so couldn't make it. We had a nice visit and she brought me a plant and some balloons. Thanks Dawn.

From Alicia's Birthday

My birthdays use to always start with a phone call from my mother, very early in the morning. I was born at 8am sharp, and mom always reminded me of it with a phone call on that day. Now I get calls from my three daughters. All three live in different time zones, so first it was Sandy(central zone), then Janis (mountain zone) and then Kim (pacific zone). It was so good to get their calls, means alot to me. Next Roger took me out to lunch, he had called Sandy to join us, but she called and said she was too busy and had too much to do. Another reason to believe something was up. She had called he a few days before asking me to supper at her place, so she was busy cooking (sure). Anyway, Roger felt guilty for her doing all the work, so he took me back to campground and said he was going to stop to see if he can help Sandy with potato salad. Ended up she was done, so he went to get hair cut. That was ok, as I had a nice quite afternoon alone at RV. At 5:30 we went over to Sandy and Brian's, and surprise Jerry and Theresa were there waiting outside. I guess the real surprise to me was who they invited and getting to see everyone. Thanks Sandy and Brian and dear hubby Roger, it was a great birthday.

From Alicia's Birthday

Yesterday was the grand-daughters wedding. This is the first grandchild to get married. It started off as a very stormy day. Park ranger came by to tell us of bad storm coming. It came and was letting up when it was time to leave. We drove to Muscatine for the wedding and it was at the rose garden at Weed Park. (Sure hope that park was named after a person, and not because of weeds) LOL We were first to arrive as Sandy and grand-daughter Emily rode with us and Sandy was doing pictures for the wedding. Since it had just stormed, the roses were covered with rain drops and they were really pretty. We had 2 hours of picture taking then the wedding, so nice the storms stopped and the sun came out for the outdoor wedding. The only problem was the humidity and the sun. After have heat exhaustion a long time ago, I don't seem to do very good in heat or sun. Anyway, it was a very nice wedding and everyone looked so nice. After wedding everyone took off for the reception, which was a little drive out of town, but we found it. Fun was had buy all and the food was great.

From Elizabeth's Wedding

Here we are with the bride, Roger's grand-daughter Elizabeth. Be sure to click on the pictures to take you to the rest of them in my web albums.

We are camping at Squaw Creek Park, which is outskirts of Marion, IA and camping with Roger's brother Larry and wife Sharon and Roger's son and family will be joining us today. They already have their camper set up, just never made it back here after wedding. LOL It is Father's Day weekend, so will have a cookout and enjoy the family.

Till later, happy trails and enjoy your summer.

"May" a busy month

Where to start. We are in Iowa and are now at our 3rd campground. We are only allowed to stay in one campground for two weeks, so it is move every two weeks. We started off at West Overlook on Coraville Dam (North of Iowa City). While there we drove back and forth to Stanwood where we have our things stored in a unit there. The thought was we would sort though everything and have a sale in Stanwood on the day they were to have their City wide sales. This we did, we spent four days hauling things to Matt and Heather's building up town and setting up for a sale. I must say it was quite a job. The sale was on the 8th and after a week at working for it, we made a whopping $118. We both decided it was not worth all the work we put into it. If we had to do it over again, we would of forgotten the sale.

One of my past co-workers stopped in at sale and asked me if I was going to the retirement party the following Tuesday. I hadn't heard anything about it, but said sure. There were 11 bus drivers and attendants retiring and most of them were there when I drove. I had a good time visiting with some old friends and getting a first hand view of why I am glad I am no longer driving school bus. My good friend Julie is retiring after 32 years of driving, I sure wish her well and hope she enjoys her retirement.

From May activities

While at West Overlook, we spent one afternoon visiting my good high school friend, Janis and her mother. She lives not far from West Overlook. Seems the only time we really get to see each other is once a year when we stop. Had a very nice visit with both of them. Found out Janis was going in for knee replacement the following Monday. I haven't talked to her since but hope to make it down to see her once more before we leave.

Our next move was on to Squaw Creek Park. This is a county park and on the outskirts of Marion. The county parks have a coupon book you can buy that brings the cost of camping down buy at least $5 a night. If you get the larger book, you can save $6 a night. We had a nice spot on a hill and a clear view to set up our satellite dish. I must say that was a challenge. After working at it for a time, we called good friend Dick and he came over and after about a half our standing out there moving it ever so little, he got a good signal. I came to the conclusion, I just don't work at it long enough. It is good to have satellite back again. We had been without it since we left Mission. While at West Overlook we weren't even able to get ABC or NBC in on our antenna, so this was a real treat. Thanks Dick for your help.

Our grand daughter, Elizabeth is getting married on June 18th, and what is a wedding without a shower. On the 22nd, my daughter Sandra and I drove to Davenport to attend a wedding shower for Elizabeth. She got some nice things.

From May activities

Next on our calendar was Sabrina's graduation. She hasn't had her party yet, it will be the 5th of June, but we went to the ceremony and afterwards to the house for a cookout. Had a good time. I had gotten an idea from our grandson's graduation to roll money up and give it that way. I went to bank and got 200 one dollar bills and made two rolls of 100 each. One for Sabrina and one for Elizabeth. I taped them end to end, put a few sticky notes along the roll to encourage them to keep on rolling and put the roll in a small purse I had bought. Sabrina and family could not stop laughing and everyone had a ball watching her unroll all the bills and then take the tape off them. I also made each girl an afghan, Sabrina's was orange and lime green and Elizabeth's was purple with purple variegated. Here is Sabrina with her roll of one's.

From May activities

On the 30th we drove to Muscatine to attend Elizabeth's graduation party. I must say, she was not as excited over the roll of ones, but everyone else had a good time watching her unroll them. Sandra took a video of her.

From May activities

Be sure to click on one of the pictures or the link below picture to view all the photo's I took. I think you will enjoy them.

We are now at Morgan Creek Park on the NW side of Cedar Rapids and will be here till the 14th when we will return to Squaw Creek. We went to Riverside casino, South of Iowa City today. Met up with Iowa people from our park in Mission (Valley View Estates) and had lunch and a little gambling. We are not gamblers but did put 4 dollars in and lost it all. LOL We still have birthday parties, a middle school graduation and doctor appointments to take care of, then we will be planning our trip back to Mission.

Till next time, happy trails.