Friday,
November 13, 2009
We both woke up early this morning and neither one of us knew why. I got the coffee brewing and once it finished brewing we fixed a cup and went outside to enjoy the beautiful weather together. The weather has been perfect each morning here and we have really enjoyed the cool mornings. I did finally sit down and write an entry for our blog. I know that it wasn’t much but we really have just relaxed since we arrived here in south Texas. While I was writing Gina fried some bacon and fixed me a bacon sandwich. We didn’t have any plans for today since I was waiting on FedEx to deliver a package today from the 3G store. We have wanted a wireless router along with an external antenna and amplifier for awhile. We would have ordered it sooner. However, we have not been in one location long enough. A little after two o’clock I checked on the status and somehow the zip code got turned around and it wouldn’t be delivered today since it was sitting in Round Rock, Texas. Gina went inside and baked some little sausages wrapped in crescent rolls to take over to Mike & Pats for our happy hour. Gina and I really enjoy the happy hour here because we socialize for an hour and then we go home and eat. Tonight we had invited Rocky & Sheri over for dinner. The menu for tonight was filet mignon wrapped in bacon, baked potatoes with bacon, cheese & sour cream, and hot Italian bread. We visited with them while we waited on the potatoes to bake. When they were almost done I lit the grill and put the steaks on. The food was excellent. After we let our food digest a little Gina served each of us a slice of her homemade chocolate pie. We enjoyed the fellowship with this fine couple who are doing great things for Jesus Christ. We're looking forward to going over to Mexico with them on Monday to see some of the work their ministry has done the past few years. If you want to read and see what they are doing I encourage you to go to their website: www.heromakers.org and add them to your daily prayer time. Below is their ministry’s philosophy:
Hero Makers enables and inspires ordinary people to do extraordinary things through first-hand field experience aiding children at risk. HERO Makers provides an opportunity for people to share with others the experience of being a HERO through short-term missions; thereby each HERO becomes a "HERO Maker" as well.
Around nine o’clock they left and we said good night to them and we then just relaxed for the night.
Saturday
November 14, 2009
I woke up at five o’clock this morning. Gina continued sleeping until six o’clock. I brought her a cup of coffee to enjoy in bed. She had a big day planned with Dale, Pat and Sheri. They were leaving this morning at 8:30 for the flea market for a day of shopping. I didn’t have anything planned other than getting the inside of our truck cleaned out. After I finished with the truck I went inside and surfed the internet trying to figure out what makes one solar panel better than other ones. I read a lot of information. However, I’m not sure that I understood everything I read. I called Thomas a few times to talk to him. Gina got back home around two o’clock. She found a lot of neat stuff but she didn’t buy anything. However, she had a catch to not buying anything. She decided that we would go to the flea market tomorrow so she could show me everything she found. Stay tuned since I'm sure we'll be bringing something home. We sat outside for a little while then went for a bike ride. While we were out bike riding we stopped at Larry & Linda’s house for happy hour today. We left there a little after five o’clock to go home. We were having homemade pizza tonight. I began grating cheese and ham while Gina fried sausage. I rolled the dough out and Gina placed the ingredients on each pizza. The pizza hit the spot and tasted great. We then sat back in our recliners watching a new movie on the Hallmark channel called “Flower Girl”. It was a cute love story / fairy tale kind of movie. After the movie ended we called it a night and went to bed. We are enjoying our time down here doing a little of nothing other than relaxing.
Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Relaxing Down In South Texas
Let’s see what have we been doing this past week? We have not anything other than relaxing, visiting with friends, and enjoying some beautiful weather. I should have been updating our blog. However, we haven’t really done anything to write about and I kept telling myself maybe tomorrow I'll have something to write about. Well, I still don't think I have anything interesting to write about. However, I need to keep our family and friends updated.
So with that I’ll just tell you about what a normal day consists of or more specifically what we do each day with very little variance. We wake up and put coffee on. Once it's finished brewing we enjoy a cup together. Sometimes we stay inside and sometimes we sit outside enjoying eachother while drinking our coffee. The weather here has been absolutely beautiful. From there we might ride our bikes for a little while and then we'll just sit outside talking and relaxing until four o’clock. At which time we walk over to Mike & Pat’s home and sit outside socializing with our friends here at Retama Village. We only visit for an hour which is why everyone here calls it "Happy hour". Then at five o’clock we walk back home to eat dinner. After dinner we both get our laptops and get online to see what our other RV’ing friends are doing. Then we go to bed. I know that doesn’t seem very interesting. However, Gina and I are so relaxed and we're really enjoying these slow do nothing days.
Now that I have told you what our days here in south Texas generally consist of I’ll tell you about a few other things we have done. One day we enjoyed a pot luck dinner at the clubhouse. One day we went to McAllen to ship a package to our daughter in Grenada and while we were out we stopped at Sam’s warehouse, Wal-mart, Academy Sports, and a few other stores. One day I rode with Rocky in his Volvo truck up to the Volvo dealer to buy a new air filter. One day Gina went for a bike ride with Sherri. One day Gina bathed Zoey. One day we got our truck and home washed. It was looking pretty dirty. One day we had a pot luck dinner at our place.
Probably the big event for me was that I finally broke down and bought a smoker. For me the biggest thing that I miss since we began traveling is being able to smoke meat. I'm not sure what I was missing more eating the smoked meat or smelling that pecan wood smoking all day. My main issue has always been finding a smoker that will smoke meat the way I like it and will not take up a lot of space. After searching and looking for months and I was even going to make one. However, I was really missing the smell of pecan wood burning that I just took a chance and bought one. I bought a 36” vertical gas smoker. For my first test I smoked two pork roasts and a chicken. I was quite impressed with it. The chicken tasted great and the pork was a little over cooked but that was my fault. I’ll need to use it a few more times and I should have it figured out. We both think it will be a nice addition to our lifestyle.
To let you know just how hard this lifestyle is. It’s Friday and I’m sitting here in my recliner writing this entry while my bride is fixing me a bacon sandwich. This is such a hard life but as they say someone has to do it. LOL We are having the time of our life. We are both so glad that we didn't put off getting on the road any longer. We are so thankful of the blessings that Jesus Christ and his Father has so richly blessed us with.
I would like to congratulate Thomas, our son on his selection as Class Commander for his Marine Corps MOS school. I also want to say congratulations to Shane, our son-in-law, for scheduling his final classes for his last semester at LSU. It's been a long time coming. He graduates in May 2010. Gina and I are so proud of them both.
Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.
So with that I’ll just tell you about what a normal day consists of or more specifically what we do each day with very little variance. We wake up and put coffee on. Once it's finished brewing we enjoy a cup together. Sometimes we stay inside and sometimes we sit outside enjoying eachother while drinking our coffee. The weather here has been absolutely beautiful. From there we might ride our bikes for a little while and then we'll just sit outside talking and relaxing until four o’clock. At which time we walk over to Mike & Pat’s home and sit outside socializing with our friends here at Retama Village. We only visit for an hour which is why everyone here calls it "Happy hour". Then at five o’clock we walk back home to eat dinner. After dinner we both get our laptops and get online to see what our other RV’ing friends are doing. Then we go to bed. I know that doesn’t seem very interesting. However, Gina and I are so relaxed and we're really enjoying these slow do nothing days.
Now that I have told you what our days here in south Texas generally consist of I’ll tell you about a few other things we have done. One day we enjoyed a pot luck dinner at the clubhouse. One day we went to McAllen to ship a package to our daughter in Grenada and while we were out we stopped at Sam’s warehouse, Wal-mart, Academy Sports, and a few other stores. One day I rode with Rocky in his Volvo truck up to the Volvo dealer to buy a new air filter. One day Gina went for a bike ride with Sherri. One day Gina bathed Zoey. One day we got our truck and home washed. It was looking pretty dirty. One day we had a pot luck dinner at our place.
Probably the big event for me was that I finally broke down and bought a smoker. For me the biggest thing that I miss since we began traveling is being able to smoke meat. I'm not sure what I was missing more eating the smoked meat or smelling that pecan wood smoking all day. My main issue has always been finding a smoker that will smoke meat the way I like it and will not take up a lot of space. After searching and looking for months and I was even going to make one. However, I was really missing the smell of pecan wood burning that I just took a chance and bought one. I bought a 36” vertical gas smoker. For my first test I smoked two pork roasts and a chicken. I was quite impressed with it. The chicken tasted great and the pork was a little over cooked but that was my fault. I’ll need to use it a few more times and I should have it figured out. We both think it will be a nice addition to our lifestyle.
To let you know just how hard this lifestyle is. It’s Friday and I’m sitting here in my recliner writing this entry while my bride is fixing me a bacon sandwich. This is such a hard life but as they say someone has to do it. LOL We are having the time of our life. We are both so glad that we didn't put off getting on the road any longer. We are so thankful of the blessings that Jesus Christ and his Father has so richly blessed us with.
I would like to congratulate Thomas, our son on his selection as Class Commander for his Marine Corps MOS school. I also want to say congratulations to Shane, our son-in-law, for scheduling his final classes for his last semester at LSU. It's been a long time coming. He graduates in May 2010. Gina and I are so proud of them both.
Gina & I hope everyone has a pleasant and wonderful day, enjoying what our Father has so graciously blessed us with.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
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
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.
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.
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