A New Adventure Begins In Mission, Texas

Sunday
November 1, 2009

Gina and I woke up bright and early this morning with the anticipation of our departure from Smith Center, Kansas. Our home was already packed up and we were ready to hit the road. The only thing this morning was to hook up the truck and dump our tanks. So, while I was dumping our tanks I took out our pressure tank and aired up all the tires. I love our pressure tank and I know that it’s a luxury item. However, I would never be without it. We were finally saying our goodbyes to Smith Center, Kansas. Gina said, “Praise the Lord I have never been so ready to leave a location”. She followed that up with “Don’t get me wrong, I love the people here and I had a great time while we visited this quaint little town. However, there was only so much you could do here”. We were on the road by 8:30 heading south. As I was driving, we both reflected on our stay in Smith Center. Gina and I learned so much about farming. Thanks to Curtis we both knew what we were looking at as we traveled through Kansas.

We stopped at Petco in Salina, Kansas to buy some dog food for Angel & Zoey since they ran out yesterday. We then arrived at North Star RV park located in Valley Center, Kansas. I picked this park strictly on the fact that it was only four miles away from where we needed to be at tomorrow morning to get our air conditioner replaced. After we got our home parked we jumped back into our truck and drove to McConnell Air Force Base. We try to stop by a base commissary once a month to either restock our pantry and or freezer with meat. We thought about camping on the base. However, that would have meant a 22 mile trip north through morning rush hour traffic in Wichita. That wasn’t going to happen. We finished our restocking trip and made it back home around six o’clock. We have both been missing home cooked food. So we decided that we would have veal cutlets, fresh steamed broccoli topped with cheese, and rice a roni. Let me tell you, it tasted great!!! With our stomachs full we just chilled out for the night. Ok, our stomachs had a little more room since we split the last piece of pie topped with ice cream. We enjoyed another wonderful day.


Monday
November 2, 2009

I woke up early and then woke Gina up. I wanted to make sure we arrived just as they were opening. We arrived there right at eight o’clock and they had me back into their shop so I could unhook. We then headed over to a small country store to see what all they had. While we were there Gina found a pair of blue jeans that were on clearance so she tried them on. I told her that they looked good but they would look better with cowboy boots. So she went and picked out a pair and put them on. Then I said you need a western looking shirt which she found as well as a cute tee shirt.

Check Out That New Look


Now That's A Cowgirl


Ok, Maybe That's The Cowgirl Look


She's Definitely Having Too Much Fun!!

While she was trying all of this on I ran out to the truck and grabbed our camera so ya'll could see Gina’s new look. She said, “I don’t think so”. She did buy the jeans and I bought a new adjustable propane regulator for my big propane burner. We both had fun and a good laugh. This is proof that Kathy Going down hill at full speed was right last week when she commented that no matter where Gina and I are we're gonna have fun. You can click on the link if you want to check out her and Chuck's blog.

From there we headed back over to see how our air conditioner install was going. They were installing the new one on the roof when we got there and they said they would be done a little after twelve o’clock. That was great news. We got on the road around 12:30 heading south. We were going to stop by Hickory Creek COE park located just north of Dallas. However, I was feeling great and decided that it would be better to be south of Fort Worth so we wouldn’t have to deal with any traffic. Once we got south of Fort Worth I was still feeling great so I continued driving. Around ten o’clock Gina started asking me when I was going to stop. I said I don’t know. I was just excited to be in a little warmer climate. Finally around midnight Gina quit asking me when I was stopping but started telling me she was tired of riding. I said, “Ok”. I pulled into a rest area just north of Austin. Gina didn’t want to sleep in our truck so we both jumped into our bed inside our home.


Tuesday
November 3, 2009

I woke up at a little before six and jumped into the shower. I then woke Gina up and we got back into our truck so we could make coffee before heading down the road. This was a first for us. We have never slept in a rest area before. It wasn’t too loud. However, you could still just barely hear all the truck’s diesel engines running. We both slept good and felt refreshed. We hit Austin just as rush hour traffic was beginning. It wasn’t too bad until Gina had me get off the highway so we could stop at an HEB. This wouldn’t have been bad but I had to get onto the service road for two miles then make a u-turn to go back two miles. It wasn’t too bad and it allowed the traffic to thin out a little. Once we got back on the highway it was smooth sailing through the rest of Austin and San Antonia. We arrived at Retama Village located in Mission, Texas right at two o’clock. We were greeted by Dale who gave us a big hug.

Our Site at Retama Village

(Thanks Jack & Danielle)

We got our home setup and then we walked over to Mark & Dale’s home where Mike & Pat were along with Rocky & Sheri. These are some great friends and we highly recommend that you all check out their websites. We had a great evening talking with everyone. We then headed back home where I fried some eggs and sausage for dinner. Gina wanted me to install our satellite dish but it was dark and I convinced her that I would do it tomorrow. We did watch a little local TV before I told her that I was tired and headed off to bed. I had just drove 1,200 miles in three days and 1,000 of those miles in just two days. Both Gina and I were ready to settle down for a little while and I just didn’t feel like stretching out our drive another two days.


Wednesday
November 4, 2009

We both woke up this morning at our normal time of 7:30. I got the coffee brewing and just kind of relaxed waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. I fixed Gina a cup and brought it to her in bed so she could wake up her more normal way. Once she finished her coffee she joined me in the living room where we discussed our plans for the day. I went outside and turned the air conditioner on in the truck so it wouldn’t get too warm inside. We still had all of our food inside of it. I went and got Mark so he could hear how quiet it was while it’s running.

Mark & I Talking

We then sat down outside and visited for awhile. While we visited outside Gina grabbed the camera and started taking pictures of butterflies. She took over 150 pictures but only about 30 were worth keeping. Here are a few of them and the remaining are on our online photo album. I'm not into butterflies so I cannot tell you the name of any of them.

I thought this was the best shot she took










There are so many butterflies, There are five in this picture




I thought this was a nice shade of blue

After Gina took all the butterfly pictures Mark’s wife, Dale joined us outside.

Here we are visiting with Mark & Dale

Around two o’clock Mark & Dale headed back home and we were going to head into town. However, I suggested to Gina that we don’t go into town today since it was already early afternoon and there was no way we would get everything done today. Instead I said let’s just head to town tomorrow. She agreed with me. I then pulled our bikes out while Gina put some pork ribs into a crock pot. We then went for a bike ride over to see Rocky & Sheri. We visited with them for a couple of hours and then headed back over to our home. Gina stopped at Mike & Pat’s where Mark & Dale were visiting. I continued on to our home to check on Gina’s ribs. I then went over to Mike & Pat’s to visit with everyone. The girls decided to head over to the pool around six which only left an hour for us to eat. Gina made some macaroni & cheese and heated up some green beans to go with our pork ribs. While Gina was doing that I set up our satellite dish and then ate dinner with Gina. Pat and Dale showed up right at six and Gina hopped on her bike and they all headed over to relax in the pool. They must have had a great time since Gina didn’t make it back home until after eight o’clock. Now that Gina had her DirecTV she kicked back in the recliner while I slept in mine. Around 11:30 she woke me up and said she was going to bed. I joined her in bed which I was sound asleep in a matter of minutes. We might not have done what we wanted to do today. However, we had a great day relaxing and visiting with our friends.

Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.